Blue Fern Studios April Challenge + STYD

For this blog post, everything was inspired by Blue Fern Studios April Sketch Challenge. 

Click here for more info!

The thing about my usual style whenever I do a sketch challenge was that I will take a look at the sketch and try to remember the stuff that caught my eyes. I tend to do this as I do not want to replicate the sketch exactly and may look similar to other challenge participants. But. BUT I THINK I'M REALLY OFF THE MARK THIS TIME!!! :((

The thing I remember about this layout was that the focal point should be going from up to down vertically and I'm supposed to have some form of stripes behind my photo, keeping in mind that I need to use Blue Fern Studios products.

This is the moodboard that we set as a STYD Challenge. STYD Challenge is actually a challenge that we frequently have among my crafty friends that I befriended in a local craft store. Everytime we managed to meet up, we will have a STYD Challenge with the photo that we took during our meetup. 

Since my previous few projects are pretty sweet and pastel, I decided to go for some stronger colours. Hence I used this Kaisercraft paper from the Blue Bay Collection. As the background colour was too strong, I gesso-ed the centre portion so I could add some colours. :)

I do not know why I failed to notice that the gesso-ed part was off-center until I'm blogging about this now. Oh well, what's done is done. 

Anyway, the mists I used here are mainly from Tattered Angels in Mustard Seed and LED Red as well as 13 Arts' Pastel Cobalt and Teal and Lindy's Stamp Gang's Witch Portion Purple. As you can see, I actually let some of the colours flow, adding some dripping effect. I also watered down my black and white gesso to create some splatter. 

Next, I grab my Tim Holtz Flourish Stencil and swipe on a coat of modelling paste. Before the modelling paste dries, I quickly poured on some black embossing powder. The wet embossing paste will trap the embossing powder. The trick to this method was to be patient. I would recommend you to wait for the modelling paste to be dried before heating your embossing powder, otherwise, you might get some bubbles on your modelling paste, and your embossing powder won't look as smooth.

Then it's time to embellish! As my colours are rather strong, I went ahead with a photo with muted colours. My layering papers are from Blue Fern Studios Ombre Dreams and the 'Friends' Chipboard is from Blue Fern Studios as well. I also randomly grab some cords and circle it around my photo to give it some interest. :)

And this is the final look of my layout. 

It's rather different from the sketch, I really got too carried away that I somehow forgot about the sketch. But if it's not askew and the photo is a bit bigger, I would have thought that this layout is pretty perfect. #ohwell

Most of the flowers I used here are from Prima Marketing, with the exception of the tiny blue flowers from Petaloo and the diecuts from Maggie Holmes.

My sentiment is from Tim Holtz Phrases Sticker Book.

Here are some close-up shots.

I mixed some beads with matt medium and applied it on random places on the layout as details. 

That's all for today's post. 

Please leave some love in the comment section below! 

THANKS! <3

Let's Get Sketchy Challenge

This layout is for Let's Get Sketchy April Week 2 Challenge as inspired from this sketch. For more details you can click HERE.

My final layout is pretty different from my usual style, it's less on the mixed media and more on layering (AND NO FLOWERS!!!). Haha.

Most of the products I used here are from Crate Paper. Some of the embellishments are from Mambi Stickers, Tim Holtz Rub-Ons, Amy Tangerine Stickers.

I chose a BW photo for this layout as the colours are pretty bright and colourful, hence BW photo gives a very good contrast.

I actually did layering first and intend to stop there. However, in the end I actually decided to add some colours to the back of my paper that was not gesso-ed. I used Tattered Angel's Patina Blue, Mustard Yellow and Tim Holtz's Distress Stain Spray Milled Lavender. I first sprayed them on my craft sheet and used them as my watercolours. I think the trick is to really water down your watercolour, instead of applying it with a mere wet brush. If your brush is really wet, you actually get the opportunity and some time to 'manoeuvre' your colours before they get soak into the paper and create harsh lines.

As the finishing touch, it's always nice to add a some splatter. In my case, I watered down my black gesso and splatter it around my centerpiece.

That's all for today's post.

Thanks for reading. :)

Layout for Prima & Off the Rails Scrapbooking April Challenge

I seem to be blogging a lot recently! Haha.

My inspirations come from Off the Rails Scrapbooking & Prima's PPP this month. 

As you can see, the colour scheme is CRAZY! The thing that came into my mind after looking at this moodboard was that the person who designed this must be a master at torturing people. Haha. This colour scheme completely pushed me out of my comfort zone which was why I decided to take up the challenge. After all, it'll not be a challenge if it's not challenging rite?

I pulled out my A4 size canvas and began to layer a piece of Tim Holtz Idea-ology tissue wrap. It's actually my first time using it after getting it for so long. The packaging is rather interesting, like our aluminium foil packaging with a jagged edge at the side for easy tearing. 

So before putting the tissue down, I applied a thin coat of matt medium evenly on my canvas so my tissue will stick. You can use any type of adhesive as long as it's applied evenly. I then added butterflies chipboard from Maya Road on it.

A close up shot of the tissue. It's really thin so I actually adhere extra pieces so to build up the background to make it look more complex. 

After the matt medium dried, I brushed on a coat of gesso randomly.

And this is how it looks like after I began to colour it!

I used my Tim Holtz Distress Stain Spray in Shabby Shutters, Spun Sugar, 13 arts Turquoise Pastel Spray and Dylusions Pure Sunshine Spray on canvas, as well as Luminarte Silks in Pink Grapefruit and Guatemalan Green on the butterflies. 

The coat of gesso applied previously sort of created a whitewash effect on the canvas. 

And because I realised the moodboard has got hot pink on it instead of soft pink, I splattered on some Dylusion Spray in Hot Pink and some diluted black gesso. Oh! I also added in some Honeycomb chipboard from Sizzix Tim Holtz range before splattering. Haha.

This is the final look after embellishments! I used mainly Prima flowers and die cut some intricate leaves from Prima as well. I also mixed some tiny glass beads with gesso and brushed it on around the centre piece to highlight it. I also used Tim Holtz's Small Talk Sticker Book for my sentiment. As for my wood veneer, I'm sorry that I couldn't remember where it come from cos the packaging was long gone, but I think it might be from freckled fawn. 

Here are some detail shots. :)

So throughout the whole process of creating this canvas, my head was screaming NOOO as the colours coordination complete go against my natural instinct but my heart was telling me YESS and to finish what I started. Hahah. And that sounds like a song lyric. Hahaha. Despite the difficulty of executing this moodboard challenge, I had fun doing it especially the part where I had to crack my brain to somehow incorporate green in the canvas since I don't own sprays in vivid shade of green (AND I STILL THOUGHT PURPLE WAS DIFFICULT PREVIOUSLY!). Haha. 

Anyway, that's all for this week!

Thanks for reading and leave some loves in the comment section below~

Let's Get Sketchy Design Team Call

HI! IM BACK AGAIN!

So I decided to apply for Let's Get Sketchy DT call. They currently have a DT call that runs till 9 April. You can find more information HERE!

I've decided to use this sketch as the inspiration for my layout. All you have to do is to do your layout using one of the 2 sketches they provided. As for me, since my style is mixed media, I tend to relate to this kind of layout better. Hehe.

Before I start anything, I sorta gave myself and extra challenge, that is to not use any new materials. So I picked up all my old papers, papers that are no longer in 12x12 size, old packets of flowers, etc.  So I'm not supposed to open new packaging for everything.

I choose this chevron paper from Teresa Collins from my paper pile and straight away swiped on some modelling paste using Prima Finnabair stencil. Before the paste dries, I quickly poured some Ranger's Embossing Powder in Liquid Platinum colour on most of the wet surface as well as some Black Embossing Powder from ZING! on selected areas. 

I owned these powders for ages, but I don't seem to be using it so I just thought why not use it now. Haha.

If you happened to see some of my past layouts, the colours are pretty intense. Hence for this layout, I chose colours that are more vibrant and cheerful.

I used Tattered Angel Shimmer Mist in Yellow (Sorry I can't remember the exact name and I'm not at home to check!) as well as Patina Blue. I added in shades of purple and pink with Tim Holtz's Stain Spray in Tattered Rose and Milled Lavender. 

I didn't spray the colours on directly to the paper. I wetted the paper first and splatter the colours then I used a wet brush to 'manoeuvre' the wet inks so they will not all mixed together and form some yucky colours. Haha. I find I can control the colours easier using this method.

I also watered down some black and white gesso to create some random splatter! This is a great way to add some details to your projects. Splatters make everything look better!

That's all for the background!

This is the final look after embellishments!

The flowers are from Prima Marketing. I added some black threads to create some fine details. I also used Prima's wired ribbons to highlight the picture of me and my friends taken in Strasbourg, France. I briefly studied in Freiburg, Germany for awhile and this is one of our escapades. Haha.

I used wood veneer stars from Studio Calico as well as Blue Fern Studios paper for layering behind my embellishments. My sentiment phrases are from Tim Holtz sticker book. I absolutely love this sticker book and I really recommend you to buy it. IT'S SUPER USEFUL!

Here are some close up shots.

I added from frayed burlap ribbons underneath the flowers.

I also adhered some clear glass glitter from Prima Finnabair using matt medium. After everything dried, I actually go back in with more Tattered Angels Patina Blue. I really love this technique as the ink will flow through the cracks of the glass glitter. It just looks super nice. 

I also added Prima Finnabair Platinum glass glitter in random areas.

And that's it!

I'm very happy to use up some of my paper scraps, otherwise these scraps will just keep piling up! Haha.

Hope you like my tutorial! 

Comment if you like it! :)