Name Picture

We were invited to go to a christening yesterday, and I was scratching my head about what to give as a gift. 

I thought the traditional items (you know - a silver item, or a china dining set, for example) were, well - too traditional - and not really useful in this day and age. 

We were only invited one week before the event, and I didn't have a great deal of time to think about it.  When a friend suggested a name picture, that was the very thing and off I went! 

The images I found on the internet didn't really inspire me and I wasn't tempted to buy anything I saw.  So I decided that as I happened to have a *few* materials around, I would make a picture myself! 

Making more than a few amendments along the way, here is the final version. 



I happened to have a frame around the house (from an intended project some years ago!) and decided to use it here.  I used my Cricut alphabet (Opposites Attract) with the shadows for the letters.  The shadows were coloured using Promarkers, as were most of the animals. 

I originally kept the letters white, but it was too minimalist and not bright enough for a 6 month old boy, so I used scraps of patterned paper for each letter.  The grass was cut with a Sizzlits decorative strip die.  Handily enough, I had recently purchased the Cuttlebug baby animals set of dies when they were half price in the Papermaze fire sale - they proved more than their money's worth in this project!

I started off by colouring in the animals with the Promarkers - but if I were to do another similar project, then I would cut everything out using the individual coloured card.  It would make the project much more laborious, but I think worth it in terms of the quality of finish.  The Promarkers are great, but when the item is quite small, you are reliant on the quality of your colouring in - and it is very easy for my hand to slip when colouring in detail.  The eyes pop using Ranger black enamel accents - it is great stuff, but very hard to control the amount of enamel that comes from the bottle!  I had to redo several of the animals when they ended up with black all over their heads, rather than just the eyes.  I had to sit up late several nights in order to get it finished, but I hope the recipient's family like the picture and appreciate that it was handmade especially for their son.  In my mind, not bad for a first attempt I think! 

February Scrapology layout!

And ............... time to guess the old patterned paper competition!  This month, the design team from Scrapology scraplifted a Laura Buckingham layout that she taught at the inaugural Cardinal Colours retreat last September. 

Hers was a lovely sunny bright and busy design, full of summer colours. 

I am gradually ploughing my way through my pictures of the Chelsea Flower Show of 2009 and am probably about half-way through scrapping my pictures.  I chose to do this layout on one of the show gardens, called "Future Nature". 

Here is my layout below:

I know a lot of people love to scrap on Kraft, but most of the time I prefer to use brighter coloured cardstock.  But in this instance, I felt the Kraft really complemented the tone and theme of the photo.  I broke out my really old scraps from my various scraps bag for this one - can you identify any of the patterned papers?

I used my extended grass Sizzix die, and that patterned paper is by Debbie Mumm for Creative Imaginations from 2004.  The brown type paper bag paper is Karen Foster from about 2006.  There is also K & Co paper from about 2005, and a relatively! recent scrap of Scenic Route paper from about 2008.  How time flies!  There is also Scrapperdashery bits and bobs, and also some scraps from a stack I first got when I started scrapbooking.  Who cares, anyway!  But I am pleased that they are finally out of my scraps bag and on a layout, used up.  I added a layer of mist as a border of the layout by using Maya Road Garnet metallic mist spray and using low tack masking tape to make sure the mist stayed put.  I don't mind the odd blotchiness here and there - adds to the effect of nature, I think. 

I printed journalling onto some scrap card stock, and traced around the edge using a Tim Holtz die, but making it a bit bigger than the original die cut. 

I also used my Sizzie extended Fall Leaves and Acorns die to make a feature at the top of the page.  This was a bit fiddly, as I had to do several diecuts from different pieces of scrap cardstock, but the effort was worth the final affect, I think.  I then coloured in some of the dies with Promarkers, added some inks, and sprayed over the top with Golden Mist and Bronze Cosmic Shimmers to add some glimmer and distress the finish somewhat. 

The alphabet is Thickers "Shoebox" and I customised this to the right colour by mixing up some Jo Sonja paint and then glossy accenting over the top. 

My journaling reads"  A show garden by Ark Design Management,  This garden is representative of an urban drought-resistant garden especially suited to underutilised city spaces.  The key features of the garden include a green roof to help reduce surface water runoff, a living tower holding drought resistant plants, butterfly moulds and insect towers, stocked with colourful but suitable planting that provide wildlife habitats in a brownfield environment.  The garden was relocated to Yorkshire after the show and will be used to promote the inventive use of small urban space and water management".