Some things are worth repeating

A long, long time ago, when this blog was brand spanking new (last month), I switched hosting services. I just now discovered that something went awry and the pictures to an early post disappeared. What’s worse, I’m not able to edit the post that was created on the other hosting service.

Since I only had about five readers the first time this was posted (and one of them was my fictional test character), I figure there is no harm in reposting it. If you saw the post the first time around you can compare the experience to re-watching your all-time favorite movie. Because some things are worth repeating.

Honestly, I’m not that arrogant about my work. From my experience, it is pretty near impossible to be cocky and anxious as the same time. However, I do hope you like these pages and inspires you to repurpose unusual materials for scrapbook pages. 

Teal Appeal

Today I made two scrapbook pages using a teal, brown and white palette. At the same time, I kindly rescued poor and orphaned upholstery samples from a terrible fate. (i.e. when my dad closed his architectural firm, he gave me a big bunch of the stuff).

For the scrapbook page above, I first painted swirls on the upholstery with a mystery substance. It is a mystery because it is devoid of labeling and I bought it a gazillion years ago.  I’m pretty sure it is an an early version of Twinkling H20’s by Luminarte. Since I read every Nancy Drew book ever created, I should eventually be able to figure this out.

Although the camera did not capture the sparkle of the swirls well, they contrast nicely with the rough fabric. While I let the the swirls dry, I applied a Tim Holtz mask to 12 x 12 cardstock and painted teal acrylic over the top half. After it dried I added a layer of mystery substance. Then, I lightly inked the white clock. I should have done this before the acrylic, but you know what they say about hindsight.

I also inked the bottom half of the cardstock and the edges of some packaging I re-used behind the photo. After adhering the upholstery to the cardstock, I added the rest in the following order: metal elements, cardstock packaging, mini frame, flower, photo and gems.

 Stuff I used:

• Upholstery sample
• Re-used cardstock from packaging (K&Co)
• Cardstock
• Turquoise Gloss Acrylic Paint by Craft Smart, WHICH, BY THE WAY, I got for less than 50 cents on sale at Michael’s Craft Store.
• Masks by Tim Holtz
• Life’s Journey frames by K& Co
• Flower by Prima
• Mixed batch of sprockets and gears some manufactured by Tim Holtz and Oriental Trading Company
• Vintage Photo distress ink by Tim Holtz
• Blended fibers by Liquitex
• Mystery sparkle paint possibly Twinkling H2O’s by Luminarte
• Crystal stickers by Mark Richards
• Clock pieces from personal collection

Every dragon needs some glitter

This second piece is fairly self-explanatory. I applied a blended fibers paste to part of a 12 x 12 cardstock and then created additional texture with a scallop-edged spatula. Before it dried, I liberally covered the paste with teal glitter.

I then frayed the edges of the upholstery sample, glued the ribbon onto it and inked the edges of the background cardstock. After the paste was dry, I adhered all the elements into place.

Stuff I used:

• Upholstery sample
• Turquoise Gloss Acrylic Paint by Craft Smart
• Turquoise glitter by Martha Stewart
• Crochet-like ribbon by Petaloo
• Butterflies by Prima Flowers
• Vintage Photo distress ink by Tim Holtz
• Cardstock by Bazzill