"Handsome Boy" by Tina Ollett

Hello crafty friends and welcome.

So today's project layout is titled "Handsome Boy" and you will see why when you scroll to the photo below.........

Please meet Rafael, my chocolate shadow and partner in all things! The reason I say this is that this big guy does not leave my side pretty much at all.  I will leave a room and regardless of wether or not I only just entered the room he will only be two steps behind me. And don't ever close a door behind you because he will sit and wait and wait and wait and .............wait! I love this boy and his special ways. Never have I owned a dog that is this loyal and patient. 

So now about the project.

My starting point for "Handsome Boy" was selecting my background paper which is of course from Captured Adventures.  I have selected Wander Aimlessly as it a neutral piece that I can add the colours that I need. And to do this I spritzed the background paper with some gorgeous Shimmerz Spritz in the colour of Bamboo Leaf. What a great colour. It worked perfectly with my photo. And to pull the paper into the spritzing I did some stamping focusing on the area around where the photo will sit with the Faded Damask Stamp.

Wander Aimlessly

Shimmerz Spritz - Bamboo Leaf

I used a second piece of Wander Aimlessly and cut some matting for my photo which is a landscape 

4 x 6 inch. I also did a little tearing and tucked these pieces at either side of the matting layers.

I firstly adhered the matting to the layout and then went to work on add my chipboards. These were painted in Dusty in Colour Soot. I then swiped some Shimmerz Paste-eez (Salt of the Earth) very randomly over this to create highlights. And to make the chippies a little more noticeable I have also added in some sprinkling of gold prills and Dress My Craft Sequins in golden black.

Paste-eez Salt of the Earth

Here you can see more closely the layering of the Fleur de Lis. I used the whole set plus one extra and cut them in half to go most of the way around the photo to help make it pop a little more.

I have also added to these layers a 6 x 6 skeleton clock that I have coloured with a brown ink and random splatters of Dusty in Colour Soot and white Gesso.

From this view you can see the bottom half of the Swirly Frame. I cut the frame in half and elongated it. I added some leftover pieces of Wander Aimlessly to the oval sections of the frame and wrote Rafael's name in the top part and the year date at the bottom. You can also see the Fancy Flourish #2 here which has been layered amongst a large clustering of flowers and vines. I have also added a heart dot from the Decorative Dots pack in black. Just too darn cute these little dots.

And below are the flowers that I chose to accompany the page.

I have to say Sage is a great colour.  I have also added in some leftover vines from other packs of 49andMarket flowers. And the new release packs of the Vintage Shades now have the cute stemmed flowers that are just adorable and I just love to use.

Please remember that if you are looking to purchase any products used in this project you can just click on the link below the photo which will take you straight to the website. And also if ordering from Shimmerz just add my name in the contents box and you will receive a free gift with your purchase.

Well I think that is pretty much all from me today. Until next time take care and big hugs.

"Today's Favourite" by Tina Ollett

A very warm welcome back! So glad to see you here. Today's Favourite is my first share for this month using gorgeous muted tones of pinks and greys to celebrate a very cute and memorable photo of my two girls at a family gathering. 

I have followed the Maja Design's moodboard for this month which is really pretty and of course I have gone with the soft muted pinks and greys. And to combine this together I have used Shimmerz Paints gorgeous Creameez in Cheeky Pink and Twinkle Twinkle. I love my Creameez. They are perfect for my shabby chic projects and add that softness and shimmer to really help the layout pop.

I did some tearing of my Maja papers and layered them and primed all the layers with a clear gesso. I added in some texture using a loaded pallette knife of Salt of the Earth Paste-eez through a Dusty Attic damask stencil. What I love to do with the Paste-eez is to heat set it while it is still wet. This gives the Paste-eez a more raised effect.  

You can see the effect of the heat set Paste-eez above and below. Over the top of the Paste-eez texture I add some Creameez in the Cheeky Pink. I loaded it over the top and then spritzed it with more water and let it run over the texture and background paper. 

Once this was dried I then added in some stamping in black. I used some script stamps and bricks. 

Following on I have inked the skeleton clockface chipboard and title with a black ink. I dried it off and added over randomly some white gesso and then loaded my brush up with the Creameez Twinkle Twinkle and swiped it over the chippies and then heat set these.

My other chipboards were primed with white gesso and also dressed in the Creameez Twinkle Twinkle. Really gives the page a sparkly effect which unforunately you can't really see in these photos.

I have also added in some white pearls and changed them to the Cheeky Pink in the Creameez. Again I did this by loading my brush and wiping it over the pearl and heat setting it immediately. I do this a few times until the colour is built up on the pearl. This is a very good technique to use when you may not have the right colour.

Well that is all for me today. I hope you have enjoyed your visit here today.

Until next time take care and happy scrapping.