a down day A Kisses for Keaton layout

For the past several months I have been scrapping Keaton layouts all portraying a happy go lucky little girl. This album is meant to document the entire journey from miserable beginning through horrific times to the road to remission. For the next little while Keaton's layouts will portray the horrible side of childhood cancer. It is a journey her family took and although they are immensely relieved that Kiki is doing better they don't ever want to forget the journey nor take anything for granted. This is Kiki resting at home on one of her many down days. The sad reality is that children must suffer horribly in order to get better. They are submitted to countless tests and procedures and are injected with toxic poisons that make them critically ill all in the hope of reaching that one special place, remission. We take our good health for granted for Kiki this will never happen. 

I love this paper from Bo Bunny (Primrose)!I did a great deal of inking, stamping and used moulding paste on this page. I loved this little faucet handle from Prima that says care on it. This is Stephanie Reid's middle name. Everyday of her life revolved around the care she gives or seeks out for Keaton while still trying to be "normal" mom to Mika Kiki's older sister.

A little flower cluster a the top of the page. I scrap lifted this page from Gabrielle Pollaco who did an awesome page called exploring on her blog with the same Dusty Attic scroll. http://gabriellepollacco.blogspot.ca/

I had a mishap with my Dusty Attic piece (Decorative Scroll #1). I painted it let it dry then inked the edges with brown ink. I then stamped it with a word stamp I have. When I glued the two pieces together some of the glue oozed out and turned the white yellow! UGH! So I thought hey I'll sprinkle it with some rubbing alcohol in the same color as the ink (Victorian Velvet from Tim Holtz). Well my spritzing technique was off (as I have been ever since I got sick) and it ended up heavy in some areas and not others. So I took a paint brush and just went over the whole thing again. I still wasn't happy because the bottom was lighter than the top so I misted it from top to bottom then put it aside to dry. I have to say I'm glad I made that mistake because I like how this turned out so much better. It looks more shabby/chic!

You can see some of the stamping I did (used a bunch of different stamps) and some of my flowers. I did some fussy cutting as well.

Last close-up is the title. Simply a down day which I am sure Kiki had and continues to have many of these. I pray everyday for this little girl with the looks of an angel and the constitution of a lion.

Thanks for checking in! All the best! :)

Luv 2 Dance Maja Design Mood Board April

 A layout I did for the April Maja Design Mood Board. Another Kisses for Keaton layout featuring both Mika and Kiki. I love how adorable these two look in their little tutus! I used papers from both the Vintage Summer & Vintage Spring lines.

This is the mood board. I chose to go with the pinks and purples.

I ran into a bit of trouble when searching for chipboard that would match the photo

 the way I wanted. So I dragged out my trusty Silhouette and cut out two different ballerina designs. Then I traced them onto chipboard and cut them out. Granted they are not laser cut but they came out alright. I primed them with Gesso and then decorated them. This is the pink one. I stamped her legs to give the impression of stockings. The top is Maja paper and the skirt  is some ribbon I had in my stash as is the headband.

This one I did in purple to keep the page consistent. Same scenario used Maja paper for the top. I actually stamped and heat embossed the design. The skirt is made from Webster's pages trim. The stockings were stamped on and I used some bling for the necklace and headband. 

 I had this ballerina dangling a pair of ballet slippers from her hand over the picture for a little added interest. You can also see that I used a mask and some moulding paste around the picture and in the corners of the page.

My flower cluster. I have a tendency to always make at least one flower out of the paper I am using. I wanted a big flower for this page to help offset the pink. I surrounded the big flower with various flowers from all over my room! In the corner you can see a Prima rose resin.

I used American Thickers sparkle Alphas for this layout. Again you can see a little bit of the moulding paste in the corner.

The second part of the title. This photo also shows how I stitched little pink beads all around the layout. Thought it looked cute! And that brings the layout to an end.

But

 I wanted to say that even though I feel like something the cat dragged in (still fighting that nasty bug) I did manage to make it to Scrapfest in Kitchener last weekend! Love the shopping and I got to meet some of my idols! lol Well they are!

 

 Proof that I did go! lol

The lovely Agnieszka Bellaidea to my left and the amazing Keren Tamir to my right. Agnieszka taught a canvas class that I took.

 

The awesome Karen Ellis (no relation) from The Art Shoppe Studio in Cambridge and Waterloo. She sells the most amazing selection of stencils and mixed media mediums. If you live in the area it's definitely worth a trip to her store. She has such an awesome outgoing personality. So glad we finally got to connect after several near misses.

Thank-you ladies it was nice to see you all!

Well that's it for me today. Already tired :( I will be spending Easter at home by myself resting as I still can't eat much and find long trips taxing. Maybe i'll do a little scrapping :) Have a terrific long weekend and Happy Easter!

All the best! :)

Precious : Sketchabilities/Off the Rails Scrapbooking (Stencils & Masks)

Another Kisses for Keaton layout with Stephanie and her daughter Mika sharing a quiet moment together while out on a walk. Mika is Kiki's older sister.

This layout is for Sketchabilities  sketch #112.

I used 7 Dots 9th Wave papers for this layout. I love the blues. greens and hints of purple in this line they are just gorgeous. I also am entering this layout into Off the Rails Scrapbooking  (Stencils and Masks).

I used five different masks on this layout and drywall tape to get this effect. For the background I began by inking the area with Tim Holtz's Weathered Wood ink. I then laid out four strips of drywall tape and misted the same area with Heidi Swapp Color Shine (Tropicana Teal), Tattered Angels Glimmer mist (Apple) and (Dark Denim) and Lindy's Stamp Gang  (Whale Watch Blue).I then pulled the masking tape off and used a Prima mask and inked some squiggly lines in with Tim Holtz's Broken China (You can see some of these at the end of the branch).

 The bird was done with a stencil from the Crafter's Workshop. I mixed some glass beads in with my moulding paste to give it just a bit more texture then colored it with Tim Holtz markers and my water pen. 

A close-up of my flower cluster two of which I made using 7 Dots paper to add consistency. Behind the flowers are tags one cut from 7 Dots paper the other one I made by using a Prima stamp and heat embossing the flower. Then I inked it with Dusty Concord again from Tim Holtz. I loved how that tag came out it's a shame I covered it with my huge flower allowing only a bit to peek out. Sadly I am often a stickler when it comes to sketches and this is what the sketch showed! 

If you look closely you can see arrows on either side of the flowers. I used the Mini Art stencil from Crafter's Workshop and added some moulding paste. To make it stand out more I went over the moulding paste with some Violet Mica powder from Viva Decor. For a cute touch I added a stickpin from My Little Yellow Bicycle saying simply  US.

Here you can see that I used one of the Finnabair Doily masks from Prima as a background for my photo. I also went along the sides of the page and the bottom with another Prima stencil. The little butterfly is also from Prima and happened to be sitting on my desk while I was working so I just added it to the page! I also wanted to add a sentiment to the page so I used a new stamp I just got from Prima's Something Blue line and stamped Always on the photo. I got this stamp in the March LE kit from My Creative Scrabooking kit club (love their kits!)

A final close-up shot of my title from Dusty Attic. Actually all the chipboard (except for the butterfly) is from Dusty Attic. Everything was painted with Gesso first then inked with Tim Holtz stamps in Dusty Concord, Peeled Paint and Broken China. Again you can see some of the masking done along the bottom. I added some liquid pearls (lavender lace) to the flower banner as a final touch. The teal lace is some I had hiding in my huge stash!

That's it for this post. Sorry for all the technical detail but I wanted to point out where I used the stencils.

I am still struggling quite badly with this infection. It's so frustrating feeling this sick when there is so much I want to do. I had hoped to be so much further ahead with things like my blog, my work, improving my self and my skill set. Unfortunately some actually many of my symptoms are getting worse rather than better and I only finished my antibiotics on Saturday! I am hoping to attend Scrapfest this weekend in Kitchener and take a class with the talented Agnieszka Bellaidea! Nothing will stand in my way! Power of positive thinking! :) Take Care and All the Best! :)

Life's Beauty

 Hello again! It has been quite a while since I lasted posted and for that I am very sorry. I have been quite ill. After a ten day stay in hospital and some bed rest I am back. Well almost back. I am still very weak and tire easily. Unfortunately it will take some time to overcome this nasty bug! Two actually. I have an infection in my lung (some rare antibiotic resistant bug) and E-coli (also antibiotic resistant which means they have to pull out the big guns for this one) in the bowel! It has been difficult to say the least but I am trying so hard to get back on track. I hate that I tire so easily and am still suffering a great deal of pain that keeps me awake all night but I am fighting back the best I can. In the meantime I have slowly made my way back into my scrap room and  am puttering around. I did this layout of my grandparents as I had just received this gorgeous paper before I was hospitalized.

This is one of Prima's new lines Stationer's Desk. Love the reds and neutral colors in this line. This is a photo of my Grandpa and Grandma Ziegler (my mom's side) shortly after their wedding in 1936. It has been a while since I did a heritage page for the albums I am doing for my family. I am doing three albums and splitting the history up among my daughters so that they need to get together to put the whole story together. This ensures that they will always share the albums. It is my hope that they will get together and enjoy these moments often.

Close-up of one of the corner flower clusters. I love the small chipboard pieces that Prima makes for each new line they make, they are adorable. Love the little frames, ink bottles and cute scissors in this line. 

The frame is from Blue Fern and came with a previous Swirlydoos kit, this one is the Salutations kit for March. I painted the frame with Gesso, let it dry then inked it with my music note stamp. I went around the edges with Chestnut Roan ink but then decided to add a little more color and gently swiped the whole frame with Tim Holt's Fired Brick. More gorgeous Prima flowers a few rolled roses I made with the cardstock from the kit. The kit also came with this gorgeous lace bling which I cut and made a corner flourish with.

Another cute piece of Prima chipboard! I love dragonflies!

And finally the last shot showing this cool fabric music paper  that came with the kit. I used my Bigshot and diecut the frames out for this layout. (Still feeling lazy) The kit also included tags and tickets from the Stationer's Desk which I used to document the names and date as well as used for the title.

I hope that the road from here is a little easier. There is so much I want to accomplish this year and I keep having to start over with my Mojo so lets hope that I pass my doctor's visit next week! Have a great weekend! All the best! :)