Child’s Play/Inspired By Crossover!

Happy April, folks!  I’m pleased to be part of this month’s special event, a crossover between Child’s Play Challenges and Inspired By Challenges!  It’s especially exciting to me because I’m on both DTs.

Here’s the inspiration photo:

April Inspiration Photo

And the sketch:

April Sketch

Here’s my LO:

April Child’s Play/Inspired By Crossover

I am soooo pleased with this LO.  You know how sometimes they just turn out right?  This was one of those!

You may remember a few weeks ago when I posted my Ice Castle LO, and I talked about using a stencil and embossing ink/powder to create the background?  I used that same technique (even the same stencil!) here.  This time, I deliberately left out bits of the pattern to give it a wind/sand blown look.  The distress stamping was for the same sort of a look.  I used several BoBunny stamps for that.  I chose the colours for the stamped images from the sand in the jars of the inspiration photo.  I also created the file folder and both envelopes.  The file folder I used a TH Die to get the tab shape.  The envelopes I just free handed.  I LOVE the way the envelopes turned out.  They sort of polish off the “travel” look.  The tiny envelope in the top corner especially makes me smile.  The title letters I first coloured with red ink, but they were kind of dull looking, so I added a layer of red stickles and that really brightened them up.  And finally, I created the film strip look of the photos on my computer using some frames by Katie Periete.

Don’t forget to link your LO to both the Child’s Play and Inspired By Blogs!  And let us know what inspired you!  Happy scrapping!

Pipe Cleaner Tube Map

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking…. “Pipe Cleaner Tube Map?”  But it will make sense, I promise.

This week’s Child’s Play Challenge is Pipe Cleaners.  I’ve never done much with them, so I had to work a bit on how they were going to inspire me.  Finally, I realised that the colours were similar to the London Underground Map, and that you could use them to create the system, and that’s where I got going.  I didn’t actually USE any pipe cleaners on my LO, or in my photos, but that’s where my idea came from.

Here’s my LO:

March Child’s Play DT LO.

I used Golden Mediums’ Glass Bead Gel with an urban-y stencil to create the shapes along the edges of my page.  The shapes reminded me of tube lines and hubs, and the arrowed ones were fun in a “from here to all points” sort of way.  I then dropped ink from above to create splatters, and used a paint brush carefully spread the ink over all the gel, giving it definition.  I then fussy cut the shapes out to use on my LO.  It’s actually a very simple LO in terms of technique, but I really like the effect.  The perfect way to document my commute into London for work!

Don’t forget to let us see your work, and also tell us what inspired you.  There’s a link on the side of the Child’s Play blog for you to add your LO to!  Happy Scrapping.

Mama’s Boys

It’s a new reveal over on Child’s Play Challenges!

This week it’s “Classic TV”, and the choice was “Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown”.

Child’s Play February Challenge 1

I’ve never seen it.  Don’t lynch me.  I don’t like Charlie Brown.  I never have.  I like Snoopy, but he’s the only one from that strip that I like.

I’m not a Valentine girl, either.  Not only am I single, but I feel like Valentine’s puts too much emphasis on overt/saccharine displays of affection.  I prefer my friends and family know I love them by how I treat them all year long.

So, this was a real challenge for me.  Here’s what I ended up with:

Child’s Play February Team 1

I had a vague idea that I’d use a vintage Valentine doily look… but of course, I don’t actually HAVE any doilies!  So I went with paste, instead.  I decided to keep things very simple because I wanted both the sweetness of the photos to shine, and not to get too saccharine!  I threw in just a couple of blue and red ink splashes because… well, we are talking about boys.  They’re never pristine!  Seriously… I think they even acquire dirt in their sleep.  Also, it’s very subtle, but there are some gel hearts in the upper left corner, and in the upper right of the lower photo.  They’re just a bit of texture, really, but kind of a fun surprise.  Again, I was going for sweet, but not teeth achingly so.

The story behind these photos…. My sister had her second child in January, and they wanted to get some cute photos of the newborn.  They found a photographer who was willing to come to the house to do the photos (seriously, this is THE way to go for newborn shots!), but on the day my older nephew would *not* cooperate.  Seriously, he even refused to get dressed.  Running around in his skin because he did NOT want to take photos!  Said, “I’m too shy!” (which is such a lie, the little monkey.)  He genuinely LOVES his baby brother (“I named him Andrew!” — which is NOT his name.  But that’s what he calls the baby!) and once we said he could wear his jammies (some of you know that this kid is never out of jammies.  Like, ever.) I was able to entice him into the room by suggesting he give the baby a toy.  He loves to bring things to the baby, so that was acceptable.  And my sister and I started playing/tickling/teasing him, so we were able to get these two shots of mommy with her 2 boys.  Literally the only shots we were able to get.  Stinker.

Hope to see your projects soon on the blog!  Don’t forget to let us know what inspired you.  Also, if you don’t have a blog, you can always upload your project directly to our FaceBook Page!

Hogswatch 2013/14

Hey everyone!  Welcome to the 2nd reveal for Child’s Play Challenges!

This week, we’ve been challenged to use GLITTER.

Can I just say *UGGGG*?

I loath glitter.  Seriously.  Loath.

Sort of.  

I like how it looks.  I just loath using it.  It. Gets. Everywhere.  (Colleen, I’m glaring at YOU!  Vee, tiny pink beads count as glitter.  Just saying.)  So I had to come up with some way to play along.

Here’s what I came up with:

Glitter Tape

My sainted sister knows how much I hate loose glitter.  So last year (2012), she filled my stocking with 12 rolls of this stuff.  Hallelujah and pass the ammunition, I love that woman!

Here’s my LO using silver tape:

January Child’s Play Challege: Glitter

Those tiny stripes hanging down are slices of glitter tape.  There are also tiny sparkles around the dangles, and some of them are sparkles themselves, plus the metallic ribbon.  So, there’s a lot of sparkle going on here, even if I didn’t go in for the evil loose glitter.

What is Hogswatch?  Well, it’s a holiday on the Disk World, as created by Terry Pratchett.  The book is called The Hogfather.  Totally one of my favourite authors and books.  Fortunately, I have cool friends.  In January 2012 I was complaining to one of the coolest, Coi, and lamenting the fact that yet again I had nothing to do, no one to do it with, on New Years.  So we hatched this plan.  Hogswatch is sort of a mashup of Christmas and New Years here on Earth.  It’s very Christmasy in nature, but it’s set on the 32nd of December (yes, the 32nd!) which is the last day of the year.  So it made for an awesome backdrop for a New Years party.  Coi sent out invites, and suggested that whilst not compulsory, costumes would be highly encouraged.  And to speak up for your preferred part so we could have as many denizens as possible in attendance.  And they rose to the occasion!  Many of them had read the book, or at least seen the movie, so that helped.  But basically, they’re just awesome people who know that the more you put into a party, the more fun you get out!  Way to go folks!  You totally rock!

My character was Susan Sto-Helit, Death’s Granddaughter (by adoption), Duchess of Sto-Helit and Governess.  She’s one of the focal points of the book.  So obviously I had to go all out on her costume.  Fortunately, my sister is a pro.  Seriously, she has University degrees in costume and fashion design, and she used to work in the field.  Waahoo for me!  Unfortunately, she was 8.5 months pregnant AND had a cold, so we had to work quickly, cheaply and do something simple.  She rose to the challenge!  I did the spats myself (except for the top stitching on the frogging), but she totally made the awesome skirt.  It’s actually made from a single skirt with two layers.  She disassembled the skirt, put a new waist band on each layer and  bustled the front of the sheer pleated overskirt.  Then she added glass beads to the front of the bustle to weight it down and help it hang better.  The corset was my Christmas Present.  Yeah, she rocks.  I do have a different blouse, but it was still en-transit, so I had to use a regular blouse this time.  Oh well…. next year!  Have I mentioned how awesome my sister is?

So… now it’s your turn!  Be sure to add your LO using the link on CPC sidebar.  Be sure to let us know how you took the inspiration!

Lego Inspiration

Hey all! Today’s Child’s Play Inspiration is the classic toy Legos!

My nephew is not yet into Legos, so I didn’t have any obvious photos to use. But I thought the brick pattern went well with the “stone” construction of the play castle. And I used the colours from the Legos.

The bricks are paste I coloured using Distress Inks. It’s a pretty easy way to colour your paste.

Hope this inspired you, and of course, be sure to link your blog to the Child’s Play Blog, and let us know what inspired you!

Child’s Play “Favourite Things” Blog Hop

Hey everyone, and welcome to the Child’s Play “Favourite Things” Blog Hop!  You should have arrived from Stephanie’s Blog not, hit the Child’s Play Blog to get started!

When I was a baby, only hours old, I got my 1st Stuffed Animal:  Floppy.  I don’t know who named him, or how the name came about, but he’s always been Floppy.  He was a gift from my Paternal Grandmother.  She gave one to each of her sons’ 1st child.  I am the only one who developed an attachment to mine.  I slept with him every night til I was a teenager!  Now, he sits on my dresser and watches over me.

Me and Floppy at 3 Days Old and Floppy in 2013.

Ok, now… don’t faint!  I know, this is NOT the style you’ve come to expect from me.  In fact, I think this is the 2nd time I’ve ever used flowers on a LO.  Yeah…. I had to dig deep to make this work.  But, I like the way it turned out.  (Still never going to switch to this style permanently.  But it makes a nice change.)

The centre cream block is made from 1 piece of pp that I tore, distressed, tore, distressed, layered, layered with lace, distressed and finally let dry.  I quite like the effect.  And, it really is a fairly simple LO, even though it looks very busy.

Thanks for stopping by!  Your next point of call is Heather’s Blog.  See you there!

Little Boys are Made Of

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Curiosity.  That’s what Little Boys are Made Of!

It’s another fabulous challenge from Child’s Play today!  Curious George is our inspiration pint today. I saw these photos of my nephew from this spring and knew curiosity was totally the perfect theme for them!  So I combined that with the age-old nursery rhyme about little boys, and boom… the page was born.

Child’s Play Challenge – Curious George – DT

I did a lot of play with this background.  I used watercolour paper, then gel medium through one of my favourite stencils.  Let it dry.  Ground up some blue geloto and dissolved it into a tiny bit of water (grinding it up helps it dissolve smoothly) and just splashed it onto my page.  Let it run wherever it wanted.  After that dried, I took some spray inks and splattered with several colours.  And finally, I took a chevron stencil and embossing paste (Studio 490) and slapped (pretty literally.  I was going for messy, not tidy) it down in the middle.  The lightbulb is a TH stamp that I then fussy cut and coloured with spray ink.  Edged the page with a BoBunny chicken wire stamp…. and done!  Another fast LO, except for waiting for the mediums to dry.  (I usually speed that up with the warm setting on my oven.  I love that thing.)

Have fun!  And don’t forget to link your LO to our blog page, and let us know what inspired you!

Child’s Play Stringing Beads

Hey all! Here’s my LO for this week’s challenge over at Child’s Play.

I got inspired by the string this week. It’s a pretty simple LO, but I like it. My Nephew was so thrilled to pet the Duckies. He’s got a Green Cheeked Conure at his house, who’s older than HE is. He’s literally never known a day without a bird. So this was pretty exciting stuff.

Duck Wrangler

Don’t forget to link your LO to the Blog, and be sure to tell us what inspired you!

Seeking – Child’s Play Challenge

It’s reveal day over on Child’s Play.  Love it!

Today’s inspiration is…. Yahtzee!  I love this game.  I got inspired by a couple of bits.

1 – The Professor.  In the old version, there’s this little professor dude in the corner.  He totally inspired me!
2 – 4 of a Kind.  That’s how many graduations I’ve had.  Well… how many I could have had.  I didn’t walk for my High School or Undergrad degrees (Other opportunities calling me away!)
3 – 5 of a Kind (ie – the Yahtzee).  That’s what I’m working towards.  I’m trying to finish my PhD.

Right… so here’s the LO:

Seeking my Yahtzee

I’m currently applying to a joint PhD program between Aston University in the UK and the University of Hofstra, on Long Island.  Hopefully I’ll get to finally finish this game!  (Left – Right that’s High School, Brigham Young University, University of Sheffield and University of Essex graduation photos.)

So, pop on over to the Child’s Play Blog and have a look at the inspiration.  Upload your LO to the gallery, and make sure you let us know what inspired you!  Happy Scrapping!

Rocket Ship

Woo hoo!  Another awesome challenge from Child’s Play!

The challenge is “Gears”.  Those of you who know me probably guessed my reaction… total fist pump “Yes!”  I LOVE using gears on my LOs.  And you’re giving me an excuse???  I said to one of my scrapbooking friends recently, “I use gears like most people use flowers.”  I’m not a flower girl.  But I am all OVER the gears!

Child’s Play Challenge: Gears

My Linnie (Linnilated Parakeet) with my nephew.  The Linnie’s name is “Sprocket” because she’s just a tiny bit of a thing.  My sister jokingly called her “the Sprocket Rocket”.  My nephew (he’s 2) heard that and picked up on the “rocket” part…. and dubbed her “Rocket Ship.”  Yeah.  Guess what she get’s called most often.  Ethan just adores her.  He’s always begging to hold her.  He’s usually very gentle, and she will even let him give her scratches.  Of course, his family has a bird too (Green Cheeked Conure), so he has literally been around birds since he was born.  When I tell him “Auntie has to go home now,” he replies, “Ok… Blue Birdy stay at Ethan’s house?”  Haha… nice try kiddo.