Jan Swirlyhues Challenge entry - Confident

This is my entry for the January Swirlyhues Challenge. You can find all the details for the challenge on their blog. Lisa Valentine is this months host and I must just say that I absolutely love the colour palett she selected and the sketch provided is absolutely gorgeous!! Remember that this challenge is open to everyone and not just Swirlydoos kit club members.
Firstly, I turned the sketch design around for my layout but then kept most of the other elements of the sketch in my design.

One of the requirements for the challenge is to use one or more of the Swirlydoos tutorials provided by their incredibly talented DT. One of the tutorials I selected was Lisa Gregory's Corner Punch Deco Circle . This is one of my all time favourite scrapbook tricks I've learnt. I even did my own version of the tutorial while on staff at SNR magazine. The paper fan frame was inspired by the brilliant Natasha Naranjo Aguirre (thanks Natasha!)

Another Swirly's tutorial I used was Camilla's Chipboard with Crackle Accents but I used Ranger Rock Candy Crackle paint instead of the crackle accents. I first painted my DA chippie with some Denim Creative Inspirations paint and then randomly dabbed on some snow cap paint. Once that dried I painted over it with the crackle paint which I inked over with some Vintage Photo disress ink once it had completely dried to highlight the cracks.
The third swirly's tutorial I used was Lidia's Deep Distressing. This is an amazing technique which I absolutely love. My version is not quite as stunning as Lidia's but I really enjoyed trying the technique.

This incredible corner bouquet is from my very dear friend Katie's Etsy shop. She makes the most amazing embellishments and I'm a huge fan of her bouquets.

Another one of my favourite products is Lindy's Stamp Gang embossing powders which I used to alter this TPC mirror chipboard sticker. I removed the "mirror" part and replaced it with a piece of cs which i inked and added some Kaiser tiny alpha letters.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my post, I hope you enjoyed it and learnt a little somthing along the way.

August SNR publications

These are the LO's published in the August edition of SNR magazine. The LO above was sone for the "Just the two of us" call. I decided to use this pic of Erin with Matt when he was only a few weeks old. I just LOVE this pic. I used it together with more of my Bella Vollo Swirlydoos kit. I altered my Dusty Attic frame with some molding paste which I then coloured with some alcohol ink for a really gringy finish.

This is my oldest son at his Hip Hop dancing show. As is the norm with most kids, he no longer does hip hop but it was really fun while it lasted. I create the bg myself using stamps and platinum UTEE on some red cardstock.

Last but not least, is a LO I did with my DD and she really is quite the charmer, especially when it comes to dad...LOL!! I kept this one quite simple with some lacing to finish it off. I altered the Dusty Attic chipboard with some Creative Inspiration paints and made my own pearl flourishes sing liquid pearls.

Thanks for taking the time to check in.

July SNR publications

Wow, time seems to have run away with me. I can't believe we're in mid September already. I have been crazy busy with all my projects for the fabulous events being held over at SNR that I completely forgot to post on my blog. To save time I'm going to post all the LO's published in the July issue of SNR on this single post. The above LO was done for the Color of te Month call which was obviously orange for July. If you enjoy colour challenges then pop over and make a submission for the Oct/Nov issue which will be purple/lavender

This LO was done as a finished project for my corner punch circle border tutorial I did. I'll be posting the tutorial shortly but I must just give a shout out to my dear friend Lisa Gregory who was kind enough to allow me to use her idea.......You're the best Lisa and THANKS!!

This is one of my favourite pics of my youngest two and they really are little rascals...LOL!. I used my gorgeous vine which I bough a while ago from KatiesKreations4U.com. She doesn't make the individual vines anymore but still has some geat kits. I altered the number (previous tutorial posted) with some alcohol inks and ribbon.

This is a LO I did for the Back to School call. I tried doing a multi-pic LO but I'm really no good at them...LOL! These are just pics of my some from Grade R, Grade 4 and this year Grade 7. Boy, does time fly!!

I used one of my fellow SNR staffer Lucy Chesna's sketch for this LO together with the Bella Vollo Swirlydoos kit. I absolutely adore the colours of this kit and the Gabrielle Bo Bunny papers.....YUMMY!!

This was another LO done as a finished project for a tutorial on using lefyt over chipboard to create borders. I'll be posting the full tutorial shortly.

Thanks for stopping by and keep a look out for some of my tutorials which will be posted at regular intervals over the next couple of weeks.

~Special Bond~

This is a pic of my youngest two taken when we were on Vacation in the Drakensburg. I used the swirlydoos Moulin Rouge kit for this layout. I also decided to try the sketch that came with the kit. The sketch made it easy to place some of the lovely Prima embellishments that came in the kit. I am totally inlove with the Prima paper collection in this kit too. Krissy is a superstar at putting them together.
This layout was also featured in the May issue of SNR.

When I first saw the large feather that came in the kit I had no idea how I would use it without it looking totally ridiculous. Using the sketch resolved this. By simply placing the feather behind my paper  circle helped it to blend into the layout without over powering it.

I used the Prima flowers to follow the lines of the circle. I broke the vine up into three pieces and positioned them between the Prima blooms.
I also used one of my mini Prima masks on the top right corner with some vintage photo distress ink. For some finishing touches I added some Zva Creative pearl flourishes and Prima pearls which I scattered randomly on the paper circle.

~Daddy's Boy~

This is one of my favourite pics of my hubby and youngest son. It was therefore an obvious joice to use for my layout for the May Fathers Day call at SNR.  I also used my March Swirlydoos kit for this LO. The colour palett of this kit works for both femanine and masculine layouts.

I used the "remember"die that came in the kit. I covered the design with a scrap piece of cardstock and then inked a border using some Ranger vintage photo and Walnut stain distress ink.

I used some of my Prima masks for the corners and to border the bottom of photograph. I again used a combination of the vintage photo and walnut stain distress inks. I used an old makeup sponge for easier control and dabbed the ink in a tight circular motion for even coverage.

My floral cluster is made up of a combination of black petaloo blooms which came in the swirlydoos kit and some Gardenia's that I bought at iamroses.com. I also used my Heartfelt creation leaf stamps which I cut out and inked.

There were also some Petaloo CMC large daisy petals in the swirly's kit. I used one of the small petals which I inked the petal tips and then folded into thirds with some distress ink. I added a brass vintage charm and made the stem using Prima pearls. I added some mini skeleton leaves to complete.

I really enjoyed working on this LO and the TPC papers from the Swirly's kits was just perfect for this picture.

TFL

~Sweet Memories~

I used the February Swirlydoos kit for this layout. This kit is one of my all time favourites to date. I absolutely love the vintage colours and embellies that Krissy put together. I used the fabulous sketch that came with the kit and am delighted with how it turned out. This was also featured in the April issue of SNR for the scrap your stash (Flowers) call.

I used a photo technique I learnt from my very ggod friend Lisa Valentine which I'll be posting a short tutorial for in the very near future. The tones of the TPC pp's complimented the picture perfectly. I matted the pic with some pp's that I used my Martha Stewart border punch on.

This gorgeous Prima bloom complimented the pp's perfectly and then I added some Hydrangeas that I got from iamroses.com which I misted with some of the tattered angels mist that came with the kit. The smaller peach Prima blooms have been in my stash forever so I was excited to see I could finally use them. I pasted a piece of cardstock over the mirror part of the frames that came in the kit and stamped my title using some JustRite stamps. The ribbon was also from my stash.

The large petaloo flower was also part of the kit. I misted it and inked the edges with some vintage photo distress ink.These are more of the iamroses blooms from my stash

Anyone who knows my work, knows I LOVE distressing so of course I had to throw in some water distressing here and there to finish it all off. I'll be posting some water distressing techniques in the very near future so if you wan to learn the technique then check back soon.

~My Love ~Jan Swirlydoos kit

This is another LO I did for the March issue of SNR. This was for the cardboard base call where your background had to be a cardboard. As much as I love working on cardboard, I sometimes find it difficult finishing the edges off properly. Mine always look to tatty. This is when I decided to cut the centre out of a pp that was part of the Jan swirlydoos kit and use it to frame my cardboard base.

The flowers are from iamroses.com. This company stocks the most beautiful paper flowers and very competative prices and only charge $0.50 per item no matter where you are in the world. Shipping is also very quick so  place regular orders. The leaves are stamps from Heartfelt creations which I coloured with some distress inks.

I embossed this gorgeous wrought iron fence piece from Dusty Attic with some walnut stain distress embossing powder. I used some of the blue perfect pearls that came with the kit to accent the tips of the gates. I must just tell you that Rangers new formula for their perfect pearls make much better pearl drops than their original formula. I misted these mini rose buds with some homemade mist I made with spiced marmilade reinker and perfect pearls mixed with water. I then wrapped the rose buds around the wrought iron fence.

This is another Dusty Attic piece which I treated the same way as the wrought iron fence. Dusty Attic are by far my favourite chipboard manufacturer. I'm yet to see a piece I'm not completely inlove with.

I used some Creative brads as a pop of colour against the orange cardstock ring. I absolutely love the vinatge range of brads from Creative Charms.

I'm not sure if these chippies from Scarpbook King are supposed to be angels or cupids so I decided to make mine a cupid.....if I say it's a cupid, then it's a cupid!!! LOL!

I painted the body with some acrylic paint and then outlined him with some stickles.

Thanks so much for taking a moment to look.

~Gorgeous~Jan Swirlydoos kit

This LO was for the monthly Scrap your Stash call over at SNR. Each month an item is chosen for readers to use out of their stash. March's item was rub-ons. I had originally planned to try and do something unique and interesting with them but then when I looked through my meager stash I realised I didn't have any that would work for what I had in mind so I just went with a standard rub-on title.......boring, I know!!

I also used the Jan Swirlydoos kit for this LO. The yellows and green of the pp's were perfect for this picture I had of my DD. She was dressed as a bumble bee for a party she was going to. I picked up the red from the berries of the plant she is standing next to to add the lovely red petaloo blooms that came with the kit. The gold and green Prima blooms were from my stash. I was so glad I finally had a LO to use them on.

As a finishing touch, I fussy cut a bird from one of the pp's and outlined it with some crystal stickles. Every LO needs a little bling after all...LOL.

I must just say that Krissy really challenged me with this kit because these colours are soooo out of my comfort zone. But it was nice to work with pp's that I would never have conidered buying if they weren't in the kit. It's always good for ones creative spirit to try something out of the norm once in a while.