CSI case file #114

Hello and welcome! I am sorry I missed last week's CSI:Color, Stories, Inspiration case file. Here is the case file for this week:

 

 

And my layout:

 

From the evidence I used: circles, rub-ons, and numbers. I was inspired by the name theme of the testimony and wrote about a new funny saying by my son, that he is a little bit shy of someone 'because I don't know his or her surname'. The green paper was in my stash of gelli printed paper and I cut it into the same shape as on the sketch. The journaling is on the tag behind the photo.

For the background, I used watercolour paper and applied gesso on top with a palette knife. I pressed a paint lid into the gesso to make circles. When the gesso was dry, I coloured it with a yellow Gelato, using water and a paint brush to give it a watercolour look. The dots were inked with Red Geranium Archival Ink through a Tim Holtz Bubble stencil.

I stamped the background with a coffee stain stamp and with this great number stamp, both by Tim Holtz.

I also used some rub-ons, tissue tape and new Idea-ology Alpha Parts plastic words and arrows.

The potty man was masked and to make him stand out more I drew around him with a pen.

Thank you for stopping by!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Surfaces: Daler & Rowney watercolour paper; Basic Grey patterned paper
Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz: Ultimate Grunge, Mini Muse
Ink: Ranger Archival Ink: Red Geranium; Tsukineko Stazon Jet Black
Stencil: Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous: Bubbles Kelly Purkey: Potty People
Paint: Faber-Castell Gelato: Buttercream
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Label Letters, Numbers Remnant Rubs, Alpha Parts Framed, Elements Tissue Tape, Life Quotes Remnant Rubs, Vial Labels

Altered Artsy Almanac

Hello everyone! A new fun challenge is up at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog, 'A is for'. I had so many ideas for this challenge and couldn't make up my mind. Then I got the phrase 'Altered Artsy Almanac' in my head and remembered a planner from some years ago that I never used.

 

'Almanac' is a common word in Swedish for a calendar or a planner, I think it might mean something slightly different in English, more in the line of weather, tides, planting times and such. I wasn't sure what to do with my almanac, but figured that something that was meant for planning a year, might work well for recording a year too. I used a bunch of different techniques to make this and turned it into a tutorial. 

 

The original planner, just a plain planner.

I started by gluing pages together with multi-medium, leaving me with 12 spreads, one for each month. They were left to dry overnight, under a book with wax paper in between each page. Then I gave each page a coat of gesso. The planner had really thin paper and they didn't handle the gel and the gesso very well, with quite a bit of warping involved. I almost gave up, but decided that it wouldn't matter and wouldn't show as much in the end.

When the gesso was dry, the pages were coloured with Gelatos. I knew I was going to use Graphic 45 A Place in Time 8 x 8 papers, which contains pages for every month of the year and picked colours to fit with the patterned papers. Just scribble the Gelatos over the gesso and then spread and blend with a paint brush and water.

Each page has different colours. My son actually helped a bit with the colouring, but since precision wasn't necessary here, that was fine. Except that he wants to include a bit of black everywhere, which would have created mud.

After finishing preparing the inside pages it was time for the cover. I embossed foil tape in two different embossing folders. I used the bubble folder embossed foil on the back.

I coloured the cover with Patina Ink (Verdigris, Marine and Moss), applying the inks with a paint brush and letting them blend into even more shades. The Patina Inks dry very quickly.

Lightly burnish to reveal some of the metal.

Water down Black Soot paint and paint the cover. Leave for just a little while and then wipe most of the paint off with a cloth.

I swept a Ranger Emboss-It Dabber around the edges and embossed with Stampendous Aged Silver Embossing Enamel. The Prima metallic rose was also embossed with a little bit of Teal and Silver powder. Be careful since it gets hot.

The letters were die cut from grungeboard with the new Vintage Market die. They were painted silver, sanded and scratched and inked with Black Soot. I coated them with Glossy Accents. The Prima metallic word was embossed with a little bit of silver powder. I used washi tape to cover the joint between the two pieces of foil. Quite a transformation from the plain black cover.

I used the Graphic 45 papers to decorate the inside pages. I made sure to include enough space to write on. I used similar parts of the 8 x 8 papers on each page, but still have lots of left-overs.

Potting Soil ink was used to ink the edges of the pages and I also stamped each page randomly with a different background stamp, using Jet Black Stazon ink.

I made sure that the month on the original planner pages showed through at least on one place on each spread. Love the bird images here.

On each page spread I used the monthly planner paper, a strip of postage stamps, and a title strip.

The background stamping adds nice texture to the pages. This script stamp is from Darkroom Door.

 

Beautiful flower images for June. 



I tried to pick stamps that fit with the months, a wavy scalloped pattern for the sea images of July.  

August, apples and pears.

As you might know, I love text and script stamps, this is a part of a Hero Arts stamp.

 

September, with some sweet school time images.

 

My son's favourite page, and here he could add some black Gelato to the background too.

As you can see, the initially warping of the pages, isn't as visible once they are decorated.

The gesso gives a nice surface for the Gelatos and also makes the pages sturdier.

 

And finally December, with a new favourite background stamp, Tiny Star Background by Hero Arts.

I hope you will join us this week! As always, one random participant wins a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp.

Thank you for looking!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

Surfaces: Graphic 45 A Place in Time 8 x 8 paper pad; Tim Holtz Idea-ology Grungeboard; old planner; Ranger Metal Foil Tape Sheets

Dies: Sizzix: Vintage Market
Embossing folders: Sizzix: Clocks & Print Blocks; Bubble & Honeycomb,

Stamps: Darkroom Door: French Script; Hero Arts: Tiny Star Background, Coupon Background, Lacy Background, Tiny Heart Background, Lattice Background, Grid Pattern, Three Cats, Snow Dots; Prima: Lines; Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz: Seasonal Catalog 1

Ink: Ranger/Vintaj Patina Ink: Weathered Copper, Victorian Gable; Archival Ink: Potting Soil; Distress Ink: Gathered Twigs, Black Soot; Tsukineko Stazon: Jet Black; Ranger Emboss-It Dabber

Embossing powder: Stampendous: Aged Silver Embossing Enamel, Teal Encrusted Jewel Kit

Paint: Faber-Castell Gelatos: Gift Set, 50s Diner; Ranger Adirondack Silver Dabber: Distress Paint: Black Soot

Medium: Ranger Claudine Hellmuth: Gesso, Multi-Medium Matte

Embellishments: Prima: Sunrise Sunset Flowers, Sunrise Sunset Roses, Plate & Label

CSI case file #104 - A White Paper

Hello everyone! The first CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration challenge of the year is up. CSI is also turning two years old, I am happy to have been on the DT from the start and can clearly remember making my first layout. If you have never done the challenge, I hope you will. This week's case file:

My layout:

I really liked all the frames on the inspiration photo and used that on my layout too. From the evidence I used: frames, bird, hearts, and polka dots. The journaling is framed and is about smiles and art. There is more journaling at the back of the layout. When I was looking through some photos for the case file I came up on these, which are some of the first photos I took of my son drawing with crayons, something he's been doing almost every day since then. I called the layout 'A White Paper', because of all the things you can create with just a white paper and some crayons.

To fit with the theme, I used crayons on the background too, namely my Gelatos. A light wash of blue was painted on the background first and when that was dry, I just drew some random lines, pretty similar to what he was drawing on the papers in the photo. For the photos, I stamped a frame on acetate with white Stazon ink, also adding a circle. 

The frames were stamped with different colours ink and die cut with the coordinating dies. They are from a Sizzix/7 Gypsies set. I like that this set die cuts the stamped images without a white border. I stamped various Hero Arts images inside the frames.

Most of the sentiment stamps come from Wendy Vecchi, who has designed a lot of great stamp sentiments about art.

Love this sentiment. The washi tape comes from Kelly Purkey.

I also used some tiny wood veneer hearts.

Thank you for looking! I hope you can join us in the first challenge of the year, with many more to come.

Happy scrapping!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Surfaces: Derwent Hot Press Watercolour paper; acetate
Dies: Sizzix/7 Gypsies: Gypsy Frames stamp/die combo
Stamps: Hero Arts: Brushed Frame K5785, Remember AC028, My Favorite AC030, Time AC029, Texture and Shape LP283; Stampers Anonymous Wendy Vecchi: Art Comforts, New York Art, The Purpose of Art
Ink: Ranger Adirondack: Stream pigment ink; Archival Ink: Chrome Yellow, Jet Black; Distress Ink: Worn Lipstick; Tsukineko Stazon Cotton White
Paint: Faber-Castell Gelatos: Lemon, Watermelon, Aqua Dolce
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Label Letters; Studio Calico: Tiny Hearts wood veneer; Kelly Purkey washi tape: Name & Date, Teal Polka Dots

CSI case file #90 - My Friend

Happy Saturday! And of course another CSI:Color, Stories, Inspiration challenge. Here's this week's case file:

 

 

 My layout:

From the evidence I used: birds, hearts, dots, something transparent, fabric, and sort of white space. From the testimony I was inspired by the friends theme and by a phrase my son says very often 'mommy, you are my friend', which is also the title of the layout.

 

I used watercolour paper for my background and first applied molding paste through a tree stencil. When the paste was dry, I used watered down acrylic paint for the orange ground, simply because I had the right orange bottle on my desk. The leaves, and some dry brushing, were done with Gelatos (Tangerine and Blood Orange). The sky was done with watercolours.  

 

I love the texture of the paste tree and the paint. The hearts were die cut from felt and I also hand cut two clouds from felt.

 

The photo is layered on cheese cloth, two patterned papers, a die cut and embossed Baroque label, and a strip of stamped acetate.

 

Thank you for visiting!

 

Anna-Karin

 

Supplies:

Surfaces: Daler & Rowney watercolour paper; Tim Holtz Core'dinations Color-Core cardstock; Basic Grey Basics patterned paper; Studio Calico 6 x 6 paper; vellum; acetate; felt; cheesecloth

Dies: Sizzix: Flower & Heart, Cargo Stencil Numbers, Baroque

Embossing folder: Sizzix: Dot Matrix

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz: Mini Ornates, Tiny Textures; Hero Arts Basic Lowercase letters

Ink: Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black: Tsukineko Stazon Platinum

Paint: Daler & Rowney watercolours; Distress Paint: Spiced Marmalade; Faber-Castell Gelatos: Tangerine, Blood Orange

Medium: Golden Artist Paint: Light Molding Paste

Stencil: The Crafter's Workshop: Mini Branches Reversed

Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Lavish Trimmings

CSI case file #86 - Admire

Hello and welcome! We have another lovely case file for you at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration this week. If you have never played along at CSI, I hope you will join us, it is such a friendly place and a really great challenge.

 

You might know that I love watercolours, so I was pretty inspired by this week's inspiration photo.

 

 I have pile of 'waiting to be scrapped photos' on my desk, and this photo of my sister holding my son when he was a baby has been on top of that pile for a while. I love the way they look at each other on the photo and he really admires his fun aunt. From the evidence items I used: art medium (gelatos - since the word is even written on the inspiration photo), vellum and transportation images. From the testimony, I made a window and placed my journaling behind it, and also handwrote the journaling. 

 

The background is watercolour paper. I stamped it with a mix of images and then coloured with Faber-Castell Gelatos. You can get the same effect with watercolours or Distress Ink. The stamps are from Hero Arts.

 

I love this bird stamp. The heart was white embossed on vellum. The small hearts were die cut from grungeboard covered with sticky-back canvas, using the great Flower & Heart die, which cuts five hearts at once. The cafe look of the inspiration photo made me think of this chalkboard paper my stamping friend Jan sent me. I die cut labels from it, using Karen Burniston's Funky Labels and Wavy Labels dies and stamped words with Picket Fence Distress Paint.

 

I was happy to discover that the smallest wavy label fit perfectly inside the doodled frame stamp.

 

These fun flowers and the birds are some of my favourite Hero Arts stamps. I used a grey Gelato to paint shadows under all the stamped shapes. The Gelatos were applied with a paint brush and not directly to the paper with the crayon, for a softer and more fluid effect.

The photo is taken in my parents' kitchen and they have two cabinets with frosted glass, I tried to imitate that on my layout and made a window with Eileen Hull's Window Box die. It was die cut from mat board and stamped with a woodgrain stamp and Antique Linen, ending up looking very similar to the kitchen cabinets. To make frosted windows, I used vellum, which was first white embossed with the Dandelion Frame stamp. I used a pen nib as a handle.

 The window opens and the journaling is written behind it.

The butterflies were white embossed on vellum and stapled to the layout.

The vine was die cut from vellum and the little banner from white cardstock.

Thank you for looking!!

Have a lovely weekend!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Surfaces: Daler & Rowney watercolour paper; Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock; Claudine Hellmuth sticky-back canvas; Tim Holtz Idea-ology grungeboard; Sizzix Little Sizzles white mat board 6 x 13; Canvas Corp Chalkboard paper; vellum
Dies: Sizzix: Window Box, Vine #2, Hearts & More, Flower & Heart, Funky Labels, Wavy Labels
Stamps: Hero Arts: Dandelion Frame CG153, My Favorite AC030, Time AC029, My Notebook AC027, Tall Circle Flowers K5581, Just Because CG351, Untitled Heart AC002, Three Flower Balls K5598, Past Times AC007, Wise Bird H5719, Life Can Be S5773; Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz: Wallpaper & Wood
Ink: Ranger Archival Jet Black ink; Distress Ink: Antique Linen; Versamark
Embossing powder: Ranger Seafoam White
Paint: Distress Paint: Picket Fence; Faber-Castell Gelatos: Butter Cream, Squid Ink, Guava, Mango
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Pen Nibs