Wednesday, September 30, 2015

A Journey.....

Every week my hubby works hard to provide for us.  
He drives truck so that means he is away from us a week at a time.
Its not easy for him or us but its a good paying, honest, and demanding career that takes him to a lot of wonderful (and not so wonderful) places and meets some interesting and fascinating people - some that have become his friends and some that he would rather forget.
Its a stressful job because you have to deal with a lot of people that do not understand the rules of
road - like not driving in the middle lane if you are driving slow on a three lane highway because trucks can not pass on the far lane. Or they think that big trucks can stop on a dime raced around him and then slammed on the brakes...its dangerous and unappreciated job.  People don't want big trucks in their way but they want their stuff on the shelves at their store.  Some people do not realize that without those big trucks in their way while they are racing to work (usually checking emails, brushing their teeth, combing their hair or things I can not mention) they would not have a job - nothing to bring the raw materials in and nothing to bring the finished product out.
Like I said he works hard at a thankless job he really does love most of the time.

So, thanks honey

Here is the layout I created using the Scraps Of Darkness September kit 'Tanya's Industrial Odyssey'


Photo by Breaultography!

I had a lot of fun creating this masculine layout using the Marion Smith Time keeper papers


I die cut some gears and added natural sand texture gel to them.  I covered them with two different liquid pearls from precious kits. I then added some crackle medium to spots.


I had seen on the Bo Bunny blog a technique using a stencil, modeling paste and different colors of liquid pearls.  The effect was very cool, but I wanted it o be more textured so I used natural sand texture gel, then the liquid pearls.  I LOVE how it turned out.


For the title - I cut the 'journey' out of one of the papers, inked the edges, added the smaller letters from my stash then added some crackle medium


I also made drips using the dark chocolate truffle lindy's mist from the color add on.

Thanks for stopping by!




Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Our 2015 Halloween kit: Danse Macabré


If you've followed us through the years, you probably know that Melinda always does a Scraps of Darkness Halloween kit in October.  And if that's the case, you also know that she never does a "cute" Halloween kit!  So with no further delay, I am excited to be sharing our October 2015 Scraps of Darkness kit:  
Danse Macabré
 
 
From Melinda.... 
 
How could I possibly resist including Graphic 45's GORGEOUS and EERIE Rare Oddities collection in THE Halloween kit?  The answer is simple: I couldn't! So I've included 7 of the irresistible papers from that collection, as well as the 12x12 Cardstock Stickers, and Chipboard 1.  I also sneaked in 2 fabulous papers from Authentique's Moonlit collection, and one from Echo Park's Hocus Pocus collection (that purple plaid goes splendidly with the G45 goodness!). I of course needed some apothecary bottles, and Blue Fern Studios Chipboard had just the perfect set... And you know I love Lindy's... so I added in a rockin' Jazzy Jivin Purple Starburst mist. Even a Halloween kits needs beautiful flowers, and I knew this Prima Sylvan flower stem was the perfect find (I think that Jazzy Jivin Purple would be the perfect touch on that flower stem, don't you?).  I couldn't stop there, so the kit also includes an 8x8 wood bracket shaped surface, the most adorable little frog stamp from Paper Parachute, 2 spooking resin skulls by Tim Holtz, a sheet of coordinating solid color cardstock, and 2 colors of Prima Jute Trim, 1 yard of each.

And then of course, there are the add ons...  because who doesn't need more "stuff" to create with?!

Patterned Paper (these are the same papers you will find in the Main Kit - it's just an extra set so you can play with both sides!):
 
 
 Coordinating Paper (these are NOT in the Main kit, but will coordinate with the items in the Main kit):
 
 
  Elements (kinda self explanatory, lol):
 
 
Color (customize it with color!):
 
 
Floral (you can never have too many flowers!):
 
  
Creativity (create an amazing Halloween Banner this month):
 
  
And finally, Cardstock
 
  
You can stop by the store to check out what's in the add ons, or to pick up our limited edition kit before it sells out.  If you do stop by, check out our Halloween selection, we have lots of goodies that will go nicely with this kit.

I also want to mention that the ladies on our Design Team will be sharing their work with this kit throughout the month, providing tons of inspiration, and our Educators will have 4 video tutorials to go along with the kit, as always, so be sure to stop back regularly so you don't miss a thing...
 

Monday, September 28, 2015

More from the SOD September kit!

Good morning!
Well its the day after my birthday and life goes on AND its a Monday!
I am not a fan of Mondays or mornings for that matter!
With the BOTH boys in high school we are up at 6am to get ready for the day - and since I am not a morning person 6am feels like its the middle of the night! lol!!!

Well I did some creating and have created some fun stuff I think with the awesome September Kit from Scraps Of Darkness 'Tanya's Industrial Odyssey'


This is our youngest and I just before his confirmation in the spring.  I can not believe how fast time has flown by since I became a mom!

I fussy cut all the corner flowers and clocks out of the gorgeous Marion Smith Timekeeper papers.


I did lots of layers under the photo of different Marion Smith Timekeeper papers.


I used a Blue Fern chipboard piece from a previous kit and the distress stain then the Heidi Swapp 'mustard' mist from previous kits.  I allowed them to dry, added a bit of the Lindys Stamp Gang Midnight Bronze and Scotch Butter Yellow embossing powders from the color add on.  I then added some crackle medium in spots. 


The cool metal piece at the bottom of the chipboard piece is a Prima Industrial Lighting piece from the Elements add on!
The flowers are some I bought at the store and sprayed with the mustard mist then inked and added some crackle medium!




here you can see all the details on the chipboard piece.


Here you can see all the layers under the photo and a doily I sprayed with the Lindys stamp gang mist from the color add on and the mustard one


I do not like seeing the white from the foam dots when I want to add dimension and I did not have any of the black ones so I used a bit of the brown mist on a paint brush to color the sides so they were not so noticeable!

I had lots of fun using the tags that were in the kit! 

Here is a quick little tip!  Keep some tags on your work station so when you use mists or inks on you can clean up some of the mists or inks from your craft mat with your tag.  you will always have fun colored tags



this one was fun - did not turn out as I planned but I still think its cool!
I had mopped up the yellow and brown mists after using them on the flowers and chipboard piece on my Time Flies layout with one of the kraft tags from the kit.
I then used the Rebecca Baer stencils and an embossing pad then the Lindy's Stamp Gang midnight bronze embossing powder from the color add on.  heat set it, added some crackle medium to sections.  To highlight the crackled parts I also dry brushed some gesso! then inked the edges!


This one was fun too!  I sprayed a tag with the mist from the color add on, then used a different part of the same stencil and embossed again!  I then brushed a bit of gesso, inked the edges, add some of the Renea Bouquets chunky glitter glass, Kaisercraft title sticker and a few Prima flowers from the floral add on.


My final tag I layered the Marion Smith papers and fussy cut the 'journey' from one of the papers!
I also mopped up the colors after using mists with a doily!
I love those feathers from Prima!


I inked the edges of the journey piece and inked the edges.  I also did a fine layer crackle medium to age it a bit!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Daddy's Little Helper!

Good morning everyone!
We are one day closer to the weekend!

I finished another layout with the Scraps Of Darkness September kit!

This little cutie is Cody just a few short years ago!
He and his brother were helping my hubby strip the Laguna  to see what parts we needed to buy.


He loved being out in the shop with his dad when he was young


I did LOTS of layering of the awesome Kaisercraft Time Machine papers!



I just kept cutting and distressing the edges until I got the look I wanted.


In the main kit is these wonderful Prima/Finnabair Mechanicals Metal Gears



I covered them in with my embossing pad then with the Lindy's Stamp Gang Midnight Bronze Obsidian embossing powder  and heat set.  I also added Flourish With A bling Pearls from the elements add on to centers of the gears!

I die cut the chipboard ones, then misted them with the Lindy's Stamp Gang Dark Chocolate Truffle Starburst Mist, added the Lindy's Stamp Gang Midnight Bronze Obsidian embossing powder, heat set them misted a bit with the Lindy's Stamp Gang shabby Turbine Teal Starburst Mist - all from the color add on.


I also misted some cheesecloth tore it and stuck it into places around the photo and layers!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

My first layout with Septembers kit!

When this months Scraps Of Darkness
kit arrives - 'Tanya's Industrial Odyssey' - I was stoked!
The colors in this kit are awesome!

so for my first layout I wanted to highlight the gorgeous color combos of the teal and browns!


I started with the 'Caribbean Sea' cardstock from the add on...
I inked the edges with Donna Salazar Mix'd Media Inx from a previous kit.

Then I stamped using the Kaisercraft texture stamp - flutter from the main kit.


I tore that sheet of kaisercraft paper and layered it on top of the cardstock.  Then tore more of the papers and layered them as well.  I added some teal Petaloo flowers and some of the Prima 'The Archivist' flowers from the floral add on and these really cool mosaic tiles from the main kit that just screamed BEACH to me!  I also fussy cut the title from one of the papers and distressed the edges!


Under the photo I added a cluster of flowers from the floral add on, the ties and some cheesecloth from a previous kit.

To achieve the look that I wanted on the cheesecloth I sprayed it with Lindy's Stamp Gang 
Shabby Turbine Teal mist then dried it.  I used dome glossy accents to adhere some of the Reneabouquets Patina Glitter Glass.  It adds such a wonderful sparkle!  I also added some sequins from the elements add on


In the Elements add on is this really cool box of goodies from Prima.  In the box is sequins (which I used on the cheesecloth) , some chipboard, and these cool feathers!  I added one of the feathers to my cluster!


Here you can see the dimension and textures!

Have a great day!