Scrap Matrix DT - Teal and Purple, Trio of Cards

Welcome back to the Scrap Matrix challenge this month 
where we have a gorgeous mood board to inspire you.

The challenge is open to scrap layouts, cards, art journalling, OTP, anything you like really, as long as you use these colours and at least one product from the Scrap Matrix shop.
Easy Peasy!

 I decided to make a few cards using lots of mixed media.  I love getting messy and not knowing if my plan will work or not.
It's fun to just play.

I began with a 6" x 6" piece of heavy white card stock.
It's a bit hard to see here, but using a small sponge,
I randomly applied some Finnabair heavy white gesso through two different stencils. Then I dried it thoroughly with a heat tool.

The larger flower texture is from TCW Tuscan Floral stencil, not currently in stock, but this one, Paper Artsy PS005 would work just as well.  

The smaller bits were made with one of my favourite stencils, Carabelle for the love of layers.  It's so versatile.
 It's not in stock right now, but I'm sure it can be ordered.

Using Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks, I mixed various colours on my craft mat before smooshing on with a Tim Holtz mini circle tool.

I used Peacock Feathers, Broken China, & Salty Ocean for the Teal & Shaded Lilac, Wilted Violet & Seedless Preserves for the purple. 

For added intensity, I also dabbed on some Paper Artsy Acrylic paints, Lavender and Caribbean Sea.

I'm showing a couple of different cards throughout.  This one demonstrates the next layer which is to add some darker ink through a different stencil, Tim Holtz Dot Fade.

This Honeycomb one would work well too.

The floral stencil is from Tim Holtz THS705

Another layer, this time some stamping with Black archival ink and a bit of gold pen work.

The stamp is from Carabelle, Bulles d'eau.

  Paper Artsy has a similar one.

The small images in this one, Ginko would work beautifully too. 

A close up showing some white pen work, a title and some bling from my stash.

The dark stencil work is made with Tim Holtz THSO70.
There are lots of Tim's stencils in the store.

The stamp on this card is made by using just the middle of a Paper Artsy Stamp, ETS16.

This Paper Artsy ETS20, stamp would get a similar result.

This floral stencil is from Tim Holtz THS705.

To finish this one off, I used a Happy Birthday stamp and a die from my stash.

For this any occasion card, I used some words from Pink Fresh Studio, "Escape the Ordinary".

Vicki has heaps of phrase stickers to choose from, 

this one from 13@rts would work well too.

The stencil I used for the flowers is from Paper Artsy 085
These word stickers are from the same Pink Fresh pack.

I hope you find time to play along, just add your entry to the Scrap Matrix Shares page in the corresponding folder and don't forget to let us know what Scrap Matrix products you used and what inspired you.  You could be in the running for a generous gift voucher or perhaps a Guest Design Team spot down the track.

The Colour Wheel - Helen's 2nd post, Dec 2018

Welcome back to the Scrap Matrix challenge this month 
where we have a vibrant and colourful mood board to inspire you.

The bright colours reminded me of the Spring flowers in our garden and that led me to thinking of my littlest Grand children blooming like flowers in another state, so the page is all about them.

  We connect on Face time and when our 22 month girl sees my face, she says, "Where's Pa?"  It's almost like she thinks we are the terrible twins; can't have one without the other!   She is  learning about colours now and she knows many of them.  I marvel at her ability to distinguish different hues of the same colour.  

I started with a piece of heavy weight white card stock.

As usual when working with mixed media, I applied a coat of Finnabair White gesso, so the mixed media has tooth to grab onto.

In an attempt to create a hillside of flowers, I mixed Dylusions paints, Periwinkle blue and a big blob of Dylusions White Linen and swiped it on with a baby wipe to create a sky. The colours looked a bit too lavender, so I added a bit of Dylusions Polished Jade. 

The hills were created the same way, but this time with Fresh Lime into a blob of white.

I like the mottled, streaky look created by using a baby wipe to apply the colour.

Next, I added an additional layer by dabbing white gesso through  a stencil from my stash.

While the background was drying, I stamped out various flower and stem images with Tim Holtz Jet Black Archival ink.   Then I  fussy cut the images before adding colour with Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks. These sticks are super creamy and smooth to work with and when water is added, their colours intensify.  Just yummy. 

I used the following stamps.

Paper Artsy ETS21

Paper Artsy ETS06

Paper Artsy EKC02

Paper Artsy EEG09

Carabelle - Textures, Mini Fleurettes

I may have bought a few stamps when I went to Tracey Scott's 

inspirational classes earlier in the year!

These two are currently out of stock, but can be ordered.

Paper Artsy ETS22

Paper Artsy ETS18

Next, I just fiddled around (yes, that's a scrapbooking term!) until I was somewhat happy with the placement.   I can never settle on the first idea that comes to mind.  

The background looked too bare, so I trialled various stems and small flower stamps on the first version of this layout.   Do you do that too?   Have a trial run, to see what works, make a big hot mess and toss it in the bin?

I won't bore you with pictures of each addition; the clouds, the butterfly, the branches and tiny flowers.

 Suffice it to say, I'm really happy with the finished result.  I'd forgotten to leave room for a quote, so I just scribbled it up the stems.

Ta Da! 

I hope you find time to play along, just add your entry to the Scrap Matrix Shares page in the corresponding folder and don't forget to let us know what Scrap Matrix products you used and what inspired you.  You could be in the running for a generous gift voucher and perhaps a Guest Design Team spot down the track.

Scrap Matrix Products used:-

Finnabair White gesso

Tim Holtz Jet Black Archival ink

 Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks

Dylusions paints

Paper Artsy ETS21

Paper Artsy ETS06

Paper Artsy EKC02

Paper Artsy EEG09

Carabelle - Textures, Mini Fleurettes

Scrap Matrix DT AALL & Create - Helen's 2nd share - Memories

Welcome back to the Scrap Matrix challenge where for the whole of August we are using Stamps and Stencils from AALL & Create.

If you have some AALL & Create products in your stash; or you are in the mood for a splurge on stamps and stencils, come & join us. 


 We're a friendly lot and will make you feel very welcome.  You don't need a blog, just link your work into the album on the 
Scrap Matrix album on Facebook.

These products are super versatile, as they contain lots of images and stencil shapes in each pack,  i.e. lots of bang for your buck! 
I may have one or two of these tucked away for a rainy day.

For the base of my layout, I chose one of the new papers from 7 Dots Studio, Garden Party Collection, "Born".  It was perfect for photos of my little Grand Girl planting up a frame of Cacti. I covered the whole page with clear gesso, as I wanted to add mixed media.

I fussy cut some of the flowers from another sheet of 7 Dots Studio, Garden Party collection, "Dreamy". I added some cacti from my own photo collection of flowers and foliage which I also fussy cut.

Playing around with placement of the fussy cut elements

and allowing room to add some texture paste.

To create a soft frame, I used texture paste through a stencil, 

AALL & Create #9.

Using the same stencil and some Tim Holtz Oxide inks, I added some detail to the bottom right corner and stamped a butterfly from the AALL & Create stamp set #47. I didn't have quite the right shade of Oxides, so I blended a few different colours; Peeled paint, Twisted citron, Iced spruce, Lucky Clover and Frayed Burlap. I think it worked, although I hear there's another 12 colours to be had.  

Not that I'm looking! 

With the AALL & Create stamp set #47, I stamped, fussy cut and coloured a Bee to hover among the foliage.

The circle and dot stamps are from AALL & Create Stamp set #10.

I tried to stamp directly onto the page and managed to stamp one of the quotes upside down!  Arrgh!  Hmmm!  Why do I tell you about all of my bloopers?   Perhaps to explain, that there is often a way to rescue the page rather than toss is in the bin, which I would have done in the earlier days.   So I painted some watered down white gesso over the mess; stamped on tissue paper and added the tissue over the mistakes with Gel medium. 

A bit more stamping from AALL & Create Stamp set #10.

I have tried writing directly onto a gessoed background before and it seems to bleed into the paper, so I typed my journalling into text boxes, printed them onto card stock, cut them out and splashed some ink onto them to help them blend into the background.

Thanks for calling in today, I hope you find something to inspire your creativity. We'd love to have you play along and perhaps win a prize or a Guest Designer spot, from the uber generous 
Vicki Christensen at Scrap Matrix

Products from Scrap Matrix:-

Finnabair clear gesso

Liquitex white gesso

7 Dots Garden Party "Born"

7 Dots Garden Party "Dreamy"

AALL & Create Stamp #47

AALL & Create stamp # 10 ( similar to this one)

AALL & Create stamp # 43 (Similar to this one)

AALL & Create Stencil #9 - not currently in stock, but there's lots of others to choose from

Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks

Tim Holtz archival ink

Tim Holtz texture paste

Finnabair soft matte gel

Other products:

Chipboard title from Scrapmatts

Scrap Matrix August challenge - AALL create, stamps and stencils, Dream Big.

Welcome back to the Scrap Matrix challenge where for the whole of August, we are challenging you to dust off your Stamps and Stencils from AALL & CREATE and join in the fun.

There is a huge range of products from this company. Why not check out what the rest of the team have done with them.

I chose one of the new papers from 7 Dots as my background and gave it a coat of clear gesso before using a stencil down the left side.

I masked off part of the stencil with post it notes, as I wanted
 just a strip of letters along the edge and the post it notes 
helped me to get a crisp result.

By stamping onto tissue paper, I was able to move the images around on the page, until I was happy with placement.  This particular stamp reminded me of a reptile image - just perfect to highlight my brave little Snake Girl!

I used Art Basics soft matte gel, to adhere the tissue to the paper.

Three stamps were just not enough, so I added a few more.  The Butterfly, bee and insect all remind me of this little kidlet, she flits here and there, always on the go and  eager for new experiences.

The "Dream big, fly high" quote, was perfect for her, 
as she's eager to travel and see the world.

I used some pencils from my stash to add colour to the images, 
but if you don't have any, you can find a similar product, by Prima, in the Scrap Matrix store.

Thanks for calling in today, I hope you find time to play along, 
just add your entry to the Scrap Matrix Shares page in the corresponding folder; don't forget to let us know what Scrap Matrix products you used and what inspired you.  You could be in the running for a $30.00 gift voucher and perhaps a Guest Design Team spot down the track.

Scrap Matrix products used:

AALL & CREATE stamp #47

AALL & CREATE stamp #37

AALL & CREATE stencil # 18

7 Dots Studio Garden Party collection, "Knotty"

Tim Holtz Archival ink

Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks, Peeled Paint & Fossilized Amber

Finnabair Clear Gesso

7 Dots Studio - Elements, Lost and Found

From my stash:

Coloured pencils - similar to these in the store

Prima watercolor pencils