First things first - the UKS challenge - September Week 4. With all that activity, I decided it was essential to multi-task. One of the lovely sets of stamps Bev sent me was Swirls and Butterflies. What's not to love about this set?
I used it perhaps differently to the way a lot of people would - a girly layout springs to mind immediately, but instead I used the set to embellish a panoramic view. Here's my layout!
I really wanted to use some kind of glimmer mist or shimmery wash, but I only own two mists, neither in the colours I wanted. So I mixed up some pastel Jo Sonja acrylic paint to a watery wash, and used the Ranger mini-mister to squirt onto the background.
A very difficult layout to photograph, being a double, and full of painty effects. However, I have done some close-ups:
I used the largest swirl in the set to emulate the water. I embossed the swirl with pink translucent embossing powder and painted over the top with a pinky yellowy wash, some Jo Sonja Opal Dust (which are the glittering holographic particles) and a shimmery orangy/pinky wash which glimmers. It looks a bit of a mess in the close-up, but the effect is beautiful (in my opinion!) from normal viewing distance.
I used a Rebekka Erickson "Fancy" Box Board alphabet, which I then painted with a wash of Jo Sonja pink and peach acrylic paints, to which I added a dollop of violet iridescent. I then embossed over the top with pink translucent embossing powder, which gives a lovely lustre. Straight on, the letters are a pearly pale yellowy/pinky cream, and at an angle, they are quite reddish! Perfect for a sun setting.
I couldn't complete the layout without using some of those beautiful butterflies! I embossed the butterfly straight onto the cardstock for no reason apart from working out my placement, and then I washed over the immediate area with some of those glimmer paints. I then stamped out the butterflies in a pigment blue ink, heat dried and set, and then washed over the surface with some washed out glimmer pastel colours. I stamped and embossed the butterfly "trails" onto recycled packaging, and attached everything onto the layout with acid free silicone glue. I love the dimensionality of that stuff!
To sum up, this week's challenge on UK Scrappers is to use panoramic photos (no people or pets allowed!) of nature/landscapes etc. Use stamping, and also to alter an alphabet using techniques, a mix of colours/fonts, etc. I shall be checking to see what people come up with!
Back later in the week to share another Banana Frog project.
