Lovely Daydreamer

Michelle Sheriff had taken these photos of Lewis at Bay Explorers in Urangan just after his fifth birthday, on 11th July 2016.  I took about a week after the boys finished kindy to go and raid Bay Explorer's archives of my boys' photos - rich scrapbooking fodder - the boys had an unbelievable time at this amazing facility.  The staff were just amazing and so full of fun. 

I have been itching to scrapbook these photos ever since I got them, really - and then I actually printed them out some months ago.  So finally the urge could no longer be denied! 

I do really enjoy mixing new and old stash - it kind of justifies the collection of it ..... really? Well, in my mind, lol.  I took advantage of the sale our beautiful local craft shop, Art and Soul Studio, had on its first anniversary.  Yeah! So I bought some Crate Paper 'Wild Heart' collection, together with 7 Dots Studio Word Stickers and a few other bits and bobs.  I actually cut into my newest stash - hurray!

Supplies:
CTMH Burlap, Stamp Set - Sweet and Lovely, Black Ink

Patterned Paper:
Crate Paper - 'Wild Heart' Collection - Paradise, Palms
Stamperia
Simple Stories 'Romance' - You and Me
Glitz Design 2013 'Sunshine in my Soul' - Birds (Base Paper)
Kaisercraft 'Chapter One' - Reflect (Quote)
Various Scraps

Ephemera and Embellishments:
Embroidered Brad - My Mind's Eye
Stamen, Beads, Aqua Stickles, Microbeads
Heidi Swapp Sheer Stickers 'Love'
7 Dots Studio Word Stickers 'Garden Party'
Chipboard - Memory Maze
Prima flowers
Making Memories Washer - 'Believe'

Mixed Media:
Ranger Opague Matte Texture Paste
Paints - Jo Sonja acrylic 'Stillwater', Burnished Copper, Kaisercraft Burnt Umber, Raw Umber
Hero Arts Stencil Pair - 'Sky'

Dies:
Tim Holtz Alterations - Sizzix Thinlets - 'Holiday Greens'
Sizzix Framelits Nesting Dies - 'Stars'

The background paper Glitz Design 'Birds' was a lovely combo of Burnt and Raw Umber - but I have more or less obliterated the background with paint, which is such a shame.  I had to cover up my mistakes - I used the Ranger Opaque Matte Texture paste, sloshed around with ink and paint, to form the clouds on the background, lightly adding some touches of Burnished Copper to make the clouds stand out.  But I botched it when I added in the dark pine green texture paste stars - I ended up painting them mostly out as they didn't come through the stencil cleanly, so I have applied a whole starry background onto a piece of black cardstock, glitter glueing them, then cutting out and sticking onto the layout later.  What a palaver! 

I matted the photos with the Crate Paper 'Paradise' paper - it had enough pattern to be a contrast, but was still soft and muted.  Bay Explorers have a lovely tropical garden in the middle, so I wanted something lush and green to go with this layout.  I didn't want to showcase the cardbox box in the photo too much, so I ended up embellishing over most of it.  I added tiny slivers of patterned paper as contrast, and a softening of the edges between the quote and the photos - that piece of Kaisercraft Chapter One 'Reflect' paper has the most gorgeous quotes all over it, so I just cut out exactly what I needed, to be able to use the rest elsewhere.   

I covered the Making Memories washer with Rose Gold permanent marker and then sealed in the colour with Glossy Accents.  I have a huge tub of metal embellishments bought in 2004 - 2005 - and it will probably take me my lifetime to use them! 

I painted the Memory Maze chipboard with Raw Umber, and then Burnished Copper.  I have used some of the negative waste from the chipboard as embellishment points around the layout to add some impact.  

 

I think the Aqua Stickles and Microbeads just give a lift and add some light and brightness to the layout.  I had to keep glueing in individual microbeads to satisfy my OCD in terms of placement.   No wonder I hardly scrap like this anymore! 

Annoyingly, my left detail image won't rotate, but it does the job - I have used minute quantities of about six different pieces of patterned paper.  It really does justify the hoarding! I added stamens to one brown flower, and then glued copper beads in the middle of two others.  For my black flowers, I robbed some other flowers of their metallic bead middles as they needed to pop a little.  

So I've dusted off my blog and my multi-media scrapbooking at the same time - let's hope I get the time and inspiration to continue! 

Thanks for visiting today.  :)