Tuesday 30 April 2013

Scrapmatts Card & Tags {Beautiful Memories - Love - Adore}





Sharing my post that went live on the Scrapmatts blog HERE today!

Hi there everyone!  Helen here with my Scrapmatts work for this month!!
I have a mother's day card to show you, using the CB1170 Wicker Chair 02, the beautiful CB4056 Ornate Frames 13, plus a teeny offcut from the CB8005 Layered Frame 03.
 I'm sure you can see how much fun I had creating this card!  I started off with a square card blank which I inked up & stamped.  I then applied some rub-ons in opposite corners & began layering up my elements.  I used a die-cut doily (Cheery Lynn French Pastry Die), some Prima sentiments (cut from a sheet of Prima Paper), a whole Prima vine that I cut up, some Etsy stick-pins & some seed beads.  
For the ornate frame (window piece) at the top/base layer of my card I left the chipboard raw but sealed it with Ranger Glossy Accents for a lovely tough sheen.  For the offcut chipboard piece I simply painted it black, and for the chair in the forefront I painted it with white acrylic paint, rubbed it with bead gel from Golden, then inked the edges with black ink for a 3D effect.  I sealed the entire card with glitter varnish.
I made a couple of sweet gift tags using the tag blanks CB3009 Tags 05 which I covered with patterned paper on the front & painted up at the back.  
These little beauties took a while to make as I loaded them with loving detail :)  
I used an offcut from CB8003 Clocks 10 & leaves CB5087 Leaf Spray 09 (2 sets).  I inked up the clock part with bronze distress stain & brown inks then sealed with a glitter varnish & I sponge-painted the leaves with white, yellow & 2 shades of green before sealing with gloss multi-medium.
I really layered things up on these tags, starting with paper & paint, followed by a doily, the chipboard pieces (I also have the 'negative' piece of chipboard from around the clock hands placed under my giant flower so as not to waste it!), then the flower & metal sentiment.  I also scattered some seed beads for extra texture & dimension & sealed everything with multi-medium to keep everything in place.  I adhered all my elements using my hot glue gun as it's the strongest adhesive and best for off the page projects that get extra handling.
Here's my next tag, which I worked on simultaneously, switching up my elements a bit.  I used the same tag base & leaves & another offcut from the ornate frame used on my card.  I went for brighter Spring colours on this one & added a corrugated paper circle in place of a doily, an extra layer of patterned paper, some seed beads again & this time I used a wire sentiment 'love' & added a couple of metal heart embellishments & a strip of lace.
I did some finger painting on the flower, corrugated card circle & the edges of the tag to blend all the colours & elements together.  
When it comes to what techniques to use on chipboard I vary mine a lot depending what mediums I am working with at the time.  I have several baskets lined up at the back of my work counter, that hold paints, varnishes & various mediums so everything is very accessible for me & not a hassle to dig about to find.  
This helps a lot as I have what I need on hand, together with some rags, sponges, brushes & old credit cards for application.
Lastly I have a layout to share with you featuring the awesome new Ornate Frame CB4060 Ornate Frames 17.  I painted the frame black, sprinkled black glitter onto the wet paint then adhered a tiny bling dot to the centre of each flower shape, then sealed the entire piece with Ranger glossy accents.  
This gives a high sheen look & is also a very tough & durable finish for off the page projects too.  
I hope you've enjoyed viewing my projects today & that I've inspired you to be advernturous when it comes to how you treat your chipboard.  
There are no rules, just break out your mediums & enjoy experimenting!!

Monday 29 April 2013

Zva Creative Blog Hop! Guest Designer for March, April & May!!






Zva Creative, their Design Team  & little old me 
(Guest Designing for Zva for March, April & May!  Yeah!!)  
welcome you to our April blog hop! We are excited happy you are joining us and look forward to sharing our new work with you!

Today's Blog Hop begins at Zva Creative's Facebook page
Be sure head on over to check it out! 
Here's a list of participants (in case there is a glitch along the way) :-

Irene Tan 
Helen Tilbury THIS IS ME!
Fabi Ormerod    

As you know, Zva offers many beautiful colour groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals.  If you like what you see along the hop you can find a list of stores and online retailers that sell Zva HERE.

I used Zva bling on THREE of my projects this month!  

Let's take a look shall we?!

3 different ways to use Zva Bling 

1) For a trendy ombre effect 
2) On a masculine page
3)  As the star of a simple page!


I went for an ombre effect on my page here - mixing various colours and blending them into each other, so I decided to use an array of bling colours to match.


I cut up & mixed pink, purple & green bling flourishes for an array of colour.


When working with bling I am never dictated to by the shape or size of the flourish as I simply cut the flourishes down to suit my page.


Above you can see that I have mixed four different colours together & softened the effect by adding flowers, vines & leaves intermingled with the bling.


Next up is BLING ON A BOY PAGE!  
Yup, why not?!  I went for a masculine, pewter colour & I laid my bling over a mess of tangled threads!!


Just LOVING the look of that!


I also used smaller black bling underneath my photo & to draw attention to my title at the top left of the page.


 Lastly I created a simple page using one big, black bling flourish that I cut into two pieces & repositioned. 


I didn't have to add much else at all - often bling jazzes up a page SO much that little else is necessary!  I hope my pages have inspired you to use up your Zva bling in different ways!

If you want to see my pages in more detail - with LOTS of close-ups and explanatory text - check back soon as I always showcase each layout separately here on my blog & do just that!

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If you would like to play along with our design team, just follow along the blog path.  I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way!

The Blog Hop starts today, April 29th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, April 30th.

***Prizes***

Hidden on FIVE of the designer's blogs is a Zva Creative prize package! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over. All you need to do is leave a comment on this Blog Hop post... you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. However, the more times you comment along the blog hop path, the more chances you will have to win.

The 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, May 1st on

We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to Zva's blog on Wednesday to see if you are a winner!

We also thought it would be more fun to add even more chances to win our blog hop prize!  To increase your chances of winning:
* Comment to let us know that you posted on your Facebook page about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)
* Comment to let us know that you "tweeted" about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)
* Comment to let us know that you asked your local store to carry Zva creative products.  If they already do, that's fantastic, maybe you can suggest other products that they don't carry.
*Hop over to Zva's facebook page and "like" our page or leave a comment there to tell us that you stopped by if you already like follow us there!

The blog hop begins here at Zva Creative's Facebook page! Your next stop is Fabi Ormerod. Enjoy! Thank you for joining us!

P.S. Mark your calendar to join us again on May 27th for our next Zva blog hop!



Friday 26 April 2013

'Saying Goodbye to Lulu' Mini Album - My Creative Scrapbook Off the Page Project Kit April 2013





Hi Everyone!  I'm here today with a really cute & VERY dimensional mini-album from My Creative Scrapbook this month.  It was a pure delight to make & I split it into 3 creative sessions of a few hours each as there was drying time between each layer.  
I used many different mediums on this little piece & am really happy I was prompted to create this teeny book as I generally don't get around to making mini-albums due to the time that they take.  Of course they are always well worth the effort & really suitable for keeping complete events in one place, as they are able to tell an entire story.

The story mine tells is of our last bittersweet trip to Cape Town, where we visited my sister for the last time before she died, last year.  Here's the kit that I was sent to work with.

The Maya Road mini-album was a combination of raw chipboard & undyed linen so I misted, stenciled, gessoed & varnished each piece before I begun putting the album together.  












































I provided some instructions to go along with the kit too so am sharing them here as well :)


Mini-Album Tips & tricks by Helen Tilbury for My Creative Scrapbook April 2013 Album Kit


Working on this gorgeous little beauty should take you about 12 hours - I suggest making it over the course of a week (during the evenings if you work during the day) as there's drying time between processes.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN assembling the album you need to do the 'ground work' preparing the raw chipboard pieces, the linen cover & pages & the inside chipboard cover & chipboard pages.

You do NOT need to use the same colours or mediums as I have used so feel free to improvise & use what you have on hand!

FOR THE PAGES - I misted using the 'Driftwood' mist from the kit & also used a PINK mist for some contrast - spraying randomly on each page - once dry I used the Maya Road 6" grid mask (from a previous My Creative Scrapbook Kit) together with some gesso & quickly added some texture/pattern to only some areas of each page.  I finished off my page preparation by spraying each page with 'Glitter Varnish' (in a spray can) to seal.

FOR THE COVER - I misted with the 'Driftwood' mist provided aswell as some yellow mist (with the driftwood towards the edges & the yellow mist towards the centre/spine) then toned the mist down by rubbing white acrylic paint over the mist with my finger then using Golden Hard Molding Paste on the cover (using the negative from the chipboard pieces as my mask) & finally sealed with Glitter Varnish.

FOR THE INSIDE COVER - I used Golden Glass Bead Gel then rubbed over with a sponge dipped in the 'Driftwood' & PINK mist for a mottled effect & finally sealed by spraying with glitter varnish. 

FOR THE CHIPBOARD PIECES - I painted them with white acrylic paint, followed by Golden Glass Bead Gel followed by misting then glitter varnish (drying between layers). I cut these all into smaller pieces to fit my tiny album too.

FOR THE FLOWERS - I dabbed them with gesso on a sponge then sealed with glitter varnish.

FOR THE ARTISAN ELEMENTS from Pink Paislee (the cream rubber embellishments) I painted these with gold glitter varnish (I use nail varnish & it works perfectly) then cut these elements up smaller so I could tuck them under my flower clusters.

FOR MY ALBUM SPINE - I reserved one flower & hot glued the lace & measuring tape ribbon on first before knotting & inking up the remaining measuring tape ribbon to make the bows.

Once you have prepared all your pieces & selected & printed out your photos the fun begins!

A tip to make sure you have a balanced album = lay out all the photos on your desk and pair with a selection of embellishments until all your embellishments are utilised - that way they will be evenly distributed! (I cut up the black rhinestone swirl into smaller parts too!)

Now cluster & layer to your hearts delight!

Want your mini-album to last 'forever'?  Turn on your hot-glue gun & use it for EVERYTHING - it's the strongest hold & it's what's required for something that gets handled often & is not behind a page protector in an album.

Have fun & create your own mini masterpiece!!

Don't worry that your book won't close - that's the whole idea - it's a 3D shabby delight & meant to stand upright on a counter just waiting for passers by to take a peek.  It also looks awesome up on a shelf away from little hands :)




Thursday 25 April 2013

Go Sharks! Layout {Challenge Me Happy Sketch} Purple Pumpkin - Dear Lizzy for American Crafts





Hello again!  Happy Thursday!! I love the Autumn here - these months are the best.  They're like Summer in Europe.  The temperatures are just right & humidity is at it's lowest. Anyway, I'm not here to talk about the weather!  Here's a fun little page I did especially for Challenge Me Happy!  It's a cute challenge blog that I've been wanting to play at for so long so finally I did :-D


I used an older photo I had already printed & have been meaning to scrap for the last 4 years :) The challenge at CMH is a sketch at the moment - here it is...You have until the end of the month to play along!


I used lots of my stash from Purple Pumpkin on this one - tickets, bottle cap & spotty button.



Papers are from Dear Lizzy - various collections - they are all as yummy as each other & they all go with each other - amazing.  That girls is uber-talented...


As our local rugby team (the Sharks) wear black & white I added some black splats using Maya Road 'Charcoal' Mist & some gorgeous new spotty Thickers for my title.



I layered up the American Crafts elements with some doily die-cuts (using Cheery Lynn French Pastry doily die) & some Heidi Swapp mistable banners that I swiped over with a black ink pad.


I fussy cut the balloons for a festive vibe & inked along one side for a 3D effect.

Rugby at Absa Stadium is all about a fun family day out but this tragedy will no doubt change things.  Much has changed since that report but online no news can be found (by me at any rate!)

I do know that the 5 are now all out on R2 000 bail each, I think was the figure I read (about US$200).  Yup life is cheap here...(the mind boggles...)