Back to Basics with 'Live Today' Paper Pack

Hi Everyone,

The month of May, as always has heated up the temperature to sky high but thanks to Craftreat's new released pattern paper "Live Today" with some beautiful patterns, I for sure was soothed off a lot.

I started my crafting days as a hard core card maker and scrapbooker and these papers really got me nostalgic. Plus the versatility of the patterns is incredible and is best suited to whip out some great layouts for both scrapbooking/memory keeping and card making.

As this pack had a lot of sentiments and quotes for family, I decided to whip out some quick gifts (Project1- Mini Scrapbook page and Project 2- Card) for my mom on the occasion of Mothers Day.

Lets have a look!!

I must confess, I have a weakness for checks and this is my favourite  page of the entire pack.

So I have cut the above paper into a rectangle piece of 6inches x 4inches with the corner pattern of the flowers on top for Project 1 and another piece of 6inches x 4 inches for Project 2 (without any flowers and only checks).

I cut a strip from this beautiful page for both Projects and the rainbow and kite for Project 2.

I also cut the sentiment from the same page for Project 1.

Sentiment and Banner cut from this page for Project 1.

Flowers cut from this page for both Projects.

Houses cut from this page for Project 2.

 I stamped the sentiment on the banner I had cut from the pattern paper.

Now that I had all my fussy cut images and sentiments ready for both the Projects, I started assembling them as below.

PROJECT 1:

I have glue the photograph first and then the cut strip along with the sentiment of "family"to the base pattern paper.

With the help of a double tape, I have then attached the sentiment of "It is the little things in life that matter" over the cut strip and also the flower next to "family" has been popped up. The stamped banner of "Happy Mother's Day" has also been fixed with the help of a double tape.

I have used a double tape to pop up the above images and sentiments to give more depth to my layout.

After the final layout was ready, I decided to frame it.

 I have picked a colour from the layout to balance it through the framing (also I felt I should use some cooler shades to enhance the layout and the 'hot summers' ). The frame has been painted with Home Decor chalks paints and Home Decor Crackle medium.


PROJECT 2:

With the balance fussy cut images I have shown above and the  second rectangular piece of 6inches x 4 inches of the below paper, I have made a card to go with the above project.

The card base is a Kraft Cardstock from Craftreat.

The sentiment is stamped on the pattern paper using Versafine Pigment Ink pad -Onyx Black.

I hope you enjoyed the projects as much as I did while making them. Hoping to see some of your projects made from the new released 'Live Today' Paper Pack.


With Lots of Love and Happy Crafting Wishes

Saumya



Products Used:

Upcycling Laptop Cover with Craftreat Decoupage Papers!!!

Hello Everyone

Saumya here with an upcycle project today. I have owned this clear plastic laptop cover for almost 4 years now and the moment Priya sent me these beautiful new released decoupage papers from Craftreat I knew my cover definitely needed some renovation. I first removed my laptop cover from the laptop so that I do not damage the laptop with paints etc.

As I was using Decoupage papers all through I did not feel the need for the gesso layer. I have used two sheets of paper. The center piece with the peacock is one design and the two victorian blue design papers on the two sides you see is another sheet.

I trimmed the Victorian Blue Design from the middle and with the help of Mod Podge, glued them on the two sides of the cover. I then took the Peacock Design paper and tore them from the two sides to give uneven edges. I then adhered it to the cover using Mod Podge. I allowed it to dry after which I gave a generous coat of Mod Podge over the entire paper. Once dry I sanded the edges all over and removed all extra paper. Then stenciled some scripts using Brown Chalk Paints.

After the stenciling was dry I have applied two step crackle medium all over. Using Brown and Black Waxes I have distressed the edges and highlighted only a few cracks here and there. Once dry I coated the entire surface with a varnish.


I also painted the back cover of my laptop to give it a wholesome renovated look and kept the colours close to the top cover.

I applied two coats of Black Gesso allowing a few hours of drying time between the coats. Once dry I randomly took a candle and rubbed it on the edges. One can also use clear wax or any other resist technique mediums. Then a single coat of Blue Chalk Paint as I wanted a little black to show underneath the blue. Once dry I scrapped out the top layer of paint on the places where I had rubbed with a candle to reveal the black gesso layer. I have then taken Brown and Black Waxes to distress the edges and used a little on the other areas too.

Once satisfied, I finished it with two coats of varnish.

Once dry I put it where it belonged...on my laptop!!!

Its upto you how you want to place the peacock. In the closed position my cover has the peacock upside down (head towards the laptop opening junction) as I want to flaunt it and decided that people seeing  me use the laptop should be able to see the actual design.

So in the open condition the design would look like this....

Hope you like the project and get inspired to upcycle or renovate your laptop or mobile covers. The options are endless with Craftreat Decoupage Papers!!!


Saumya


Products Used:

Use Animals + Give Them Wings

Hello Everyone,

The Twisted Challenges is here with its 10th Challenge!! April has just begun and the heat wave is already soaring high in Mumbai. With all the sunshine we need some wings to flap in some breeze and thats exactly what we have for this month's challenge.

This month we want you all to use an animal/animals in your project and give them wings (please note: insects/bugs/butterflies and birds DO NOT qualify as animals. However, their wings do qualify to be used on the animal/animals).

I have a sweet and a cute CAS card this month.

 I have taken a light blue Cardstock as the base of teh card and matted it with watercolour paper.

I then stamped the two cloud image and coloured them using my zig markers. I have also coloured the background using blue and yellow shades. 

I have then stamped the image of the cow with the birthday sentiment and coloured it. Post which I have fussy cut the image. I then stamped the wings on a vellum sheet using versamark and heat embossed it with black embossing powder. I have then stamped and  heat embossed the stars with silver embossing powder to add more character and depth to it.

 I stuck the wings behind the cow image with fevicol and then raised the image with double tape to give dimension to it. I have then glued the tip of the wings to the watercoloured based to create more dimensions!!

I love the way it turned out overall, but specially the dimmensions I could create through this project!!

Some extra photographs to show the dimensions.

I hope you like the inspiration and join us in our April Challenge. Do visit the blog and check out the other inspirations by our DT members and GDT.

Happy Crafting
Saumya

Be Thankful/ Grafteful + Use all colors of Rainbow!

Hello Everyone,

The March challenge at The Twisted Challenges is here!!! March for me is summer and Holi- both signifying a burst of colours and that's exactly what we want for this month's challenge.

The theme this month is to create a project with Grateful / Thankful as the core sentiment while using all 7 colors of the rainbow!

I have a card inspiration for this month and my inspiration is drawn from the rainbow cake which I love a lot.

I have stamped and fussy cut the layer of florals. They are coloured using zig brush pens in the colours from the Rainbow- VIBGYOR! (Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red)

First row- Red, Blue, Orange
Second row-Violet,Yellow, Indigo (I have tried to create the colour using one portion purple and three portion blue but definitely not the best possible shade of it)

I have layered the top florals with double tape to give dimension and the two layers of florals are stuck to a script pattern paper from DCWV.

Below it, taking inspiration from a rainbow cake I cut strips of cardstock in various colours and have stamped the sentiment on each strip .

I hope you like the inspiration and join us in our March Challenge. Do visit the blog and check out the other inspirations by our DT members and GDT.

Happy Crafting
Saumya

Upcycled Love

Hi Everyone,

Hope the first month of the year is treating all of you with happiness and growth. I am having very hectic schedules with the marriage season blooming in both sides of my family (My Own family and My In Law side).

Two years back if you met me, I would never belong to the category of the 'upcycle' girl. If a bag tore or a zipper wore out, my first instinct would be to get rid of the bag and get a new one if needed! The same phenomenon applied to practically everything in my life (except human beings :P ...hahhaha)

But post my sabbatical from work and crafting full time I have recycled and upcycled many things. Thats also after my Decoupage skills were brushed by many mentors who are friends and my regular practice gave me confidence to play around and take risks that I would have never thought of few years back with respect to Crafting!!

Hence, today as part of my second inspiration for this month's challenge at TTC I decided to upcycle some love. Love of my husband and a dear friend I made last year through the CraftyFeast.

This month's challenge as you all must be now aware of is - Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed/Gifted and Something Blue.

I have upcycled my birthday gift from husband - a mobile cover (Something Old). I loved the original but the design was wearing off and I didn't want to throw away something my husband gave me so I thought what best but create new memories in addition to the old ones.

I first sanded off the entire base and then applied two coats of white gesso allowing it to dry for a good 3-4 hours between each layer.

Once completely dry, I stuck the fussy cut design of a sassy looking lady from the Bob N Betty Decopatch papers that was gifted by a dear friend Deepika Sharma (Something Gifted).

I have then taken my fvaourite Memory Box Stencil (Something Old) and my new Pebeo-Studio Acrylics (Something New) in the colours Blue (Something Blue), Green and Gold to create patterns around the lady. These new acrylics in my craft room have an in built shimmer and they look gorgeous in any project that they are added to!

Once dry, I have taken the sentiment 'Hey Smartypants' from my new stamp set (Something New) and stamped it with black Archival Ink. 

After allowing sometime for the ink to dry, I have generously applied two coats of varnish allowing 3-4 hours of drying time between the layers. 

Now I have a totally awesome upcycled mobile cover .....I enjoyed making this project ...and I hope you enjoyed reading about it and get inspired to try your hands with something similar!!! Also I hope I have inspired you enough to join us with this month's challenge at TTC.

Happy Crafting
Saumya

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed/Gifted and Something Blue at TTC Blog

Hello Everyone

A very happy New Year to all of you. May this new year bring a lot more joy than the last year and much more peace to you and your families than last year.

This year's first challenge is based on an old marriage tradition in the Christian community. This tradition was something I have personally loved and appreciated a lot and so using it in a Challenge was super exciting!!!

So the Challenge is to have ALL the above mentioned elements in your projects. 

Something Old- You can use an old crafting technique or an old product from your craft stash.

Something New- You can have a theme with New Beginnings (New Year/ New Home/ New Baby etc) or use a new crafting technique or a new product from your craft stash.

Something Borrowed/Gifted- You can use a craft product either gifted to you or some embellishments that you might have borrowed from a family or friend, or an idea or inspiration borrowed from someone. (Please do not copy the same design as it is, you can CASE the design in your own style and if that is done please give due credit to the artiste)

Something Blue-Your project needs to have blue in it in any form. Other colours are permitted too but blue is a must


Decoupage has become an integral part of me now and I love the art form beyond words, and so am here with a Decoupage project for the Challenge!

This book box was gift to me by a dear friend so I decided to use this as the base and to complete one element from the challenge (Something Borrowed/Gifted).

I have then taken a page from an old book  ( Something Old) and to further give it a vintage look painted it with coffee water. Once dry, I applied Mod Podge on the base and stuck it over it. 

I have then used my newest craft supply- cut outs from Graphic 45 pattern papers (Something New). I am using the brand Graphic 45 for the first time in my crafting career and have totally fallen in love with them. My element of blue is there in one of the ladies dress and in the stamp cut out (Something Blue). After I cut out the things I needed from the pattern paper, I designed the placement of each element and once satisfied stuck them in the required fashion with the help of Mod Podge. 

Once dry, I have applied two generous coats of varnish allowing 3-4 hours of drying time between each layer.

On the spine of the book box,  I have painted it with Red Vintage Chalk paints from Cadence and then using drying brush technique given it some coloured layer of Teal Blue and Dark Blue (Something Blue).

I have then used clear wax to seal the paint and allowed it dry for few days (Minimum 7 days) 

I have also added a bit blue on the two edges of the box

Hope you liked the inspiration for the Challenge and that its inspired you enough to take part in the Challenge. Details of the Challenge are on the TTC Blog 

Happy Crafting 

Saumya