Wishing everyone a Scrappy New Year

The festive period has flown by and we can soon get back to normal.  I am making a start to return to normality by finally getting around to the challenge on Merly Impressions.  Despite being allowed an additional few weeks I did not plan effectively and have only just got around to putting stencil to paper.  

 

 

 

 

The challenge was to do whatever we liked but must use stencils.  I have recently bought a new Crafters Workshop pebble stencil and was keen to try it out. 

 

The next stage was photo selection and what better for these dark winter days than a day out at the beach.  My gorgeous granddaughters came to visit in August and we had a very windy day at the beach.  The wind was so strong that we were completely unable to put up our new windbreak as we could not fathom the instructions and the paper kept flying away while the girls kept trying to crawl away!

 

They enjoyed eating the picnic and also eating the sand.  They had great fun splashing in the shallows and watching Nanna build sandcastles.  Most of all they enjoyed watering the sand with their new watering can and then crawling through everyone else's sand castles.

 

Scrapping this layout brought back all those memories and gave me a warm glow in this dismal week.

 

I started out with brightly coloured Basic Grey 'Sweet Threads' paper and decided to spread the Deco Art decorating paste through the stencil like pebbles on a beach.  The paste went through and appeared white until it dried and then I was astounded to see that it had taken up the colour of the paper and showed the pattern through it. I'm new to using paste and had not expected this effect:

 

 

In an attempt to differentiate the stencilled area I thought it might be a good idea to use some blue colour to represent the sea so I used Tim Holtz distress stains with good effect in another area of stencilling, having mixed the stain with the paste.

 

I used a mix of papers from my scrap pile and the Kaisercraft Remember collection to mat the photo and then softened the overall look by painting gesso haphazardly around the edges and over some stencilling. 

 

 

 

A Kaisercraft wood flourish found its purpose and when hunting for a title from my stash, 'Wonderful' summed up how I feel when looking at this photo.  The distress stains also worked well for colouring the chipboard title and I would be lost without a glossy finish.

 

I used some small paper strips left over from a previous layout and used them to underline the photo secured by a link from a necklace of my mothers.  Sometimes it's good to be a hoarder as I couldn't bring myself to throw away the broken jewellery and it seemed a perfect embellishment to use as it appeared to me to look like a wave.  I also have very fond memories of being a child at the beach with my mother ... so generations of beach memories!

 

Although not very visible on the layout I used Kaisercraft mini alphas to spell out that little things mean a lot and then journalled on the hidden tag.  Organza ribbon is my personal favourite for attaching to tags and adds a certain softness.

 

 

 

 

In creating this entry I have realised that I really must make a note of all the products that I use.  I used to list them all on the back of a layout and when I looked at a layout done in the middle of the year (as I used a little of the left over scraps today) I was disappointed to find no record of those products.  This is one resolution that it should be easy to keep in the coming year.

 

Thank you for looking and I wish you a very Scrappy 2014!

 

Having submitted this entry by the skin of my teeth I was thrilled to see that two days later I was one of the 'Top Acts'.  What a wonderful start to the year!  And another badge to add to my blog, and it begs the question do I display it down the right hand side with the other one or is it too boastful?