hello best smiles!

14 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mixed Media, My Favourite Things

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Mixed Media Layout, My Favourite Things, Twinkling H2O's, watercolour

This past Thursday was the last class of the year at The Paperie and it was the second last class of My Favourite Things for 2015 (we’ll finish up the album in January).

I knew I wanted to use watercolours, specifically my favourite Twinkling H2O’s, but was unsure how to incorporate them until I saw Kristina Werner do a simple masking technique to make some trees. I simply extrapolated to a larger size and made what might be my favourite pages for this class ever! The colours are amazing!

As a head’s up, if you want to try this, it works just as well with regular (and super cheap) watercolours. You won’t get quite the intensity of colour, or the shimmer, but they still work perfectly – I demoed with regular watercolours for class just to see!

This was the simpler, but still impressive, first LO. We used black gesso for the center and the Twinks around the border.

For the title we used Heidi Swapp watercolour paper words and coloured them with the same paints. I also added some Dear Lizzy gold foam Thickers.

The second LO used a ton of masking but it was worth it!

How much fun are all those colours?!? Looks just like stained glass, especially with the shimmer!

This time, we used black gesso on the watercolour words, plus some more of those Thickers:

And just look at the sparkle from those paints!

Seriously, these shine and shimmer like crazy!

Do you love them? We all did – it was a fun class and worth the masking work – please tag me if you try it out because I’d love to see!

Cheers!

Sweet Sunny Smile | My Favourite Things 2015

29 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mixed Media, My Favourite Things, ScrapBook

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Dylusions Ink Spray, Little B, Mixed Media Layout, October Afternoon

edit: Ack! I forgot to hit post yesterday! Sorry!

You know how you have products you love but sometimes they get laid aside so you kind of forget about them until you’re looking for something new and/or different to use and suddenly hey! there they are and you fall in love all over again?

Yeah. That was me and Dylusions Ink Sprays this month. The colours. Seriously people, the colours. Yum.

Look at that face. First day of school and she (actually they) let me take pictures even though it was cold outside.

I added rub-ons, iridescent sequins, and those amazing gold feathers from Little B:

For the second LO – hello sweet little face –

I punched it up a notch with overspray, ghosting, and overheated molding paste.

I still added the same embellishments to tie both pages together:

And I love how the titles worked out on both! Those alphas are from October Afternoon’s new holiday line, Under the Tree, and I love how it can be totally Christmassy, or not.

As always, it was fabulous seeing how everyone used the exact techniques and products I did and yet they are all so different. Gorgeous and amazing pages were made, as usual! If you’re a regular who missed the class this month, you really did miss out! #sorrynotsorry Lol!

Cheers!

amazing dear | My Favourite Things 2015

16 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mixed Media, My Favourite Things, ScrapBook

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diecuts, Distress Ink, Simple Stories

I’m super duper late today but it’s still Friday so it counts, right? 🙂

Here’s the latest Fave Things LO’s – some of my personal faves from this year! We did a quick wash of Distress Ink – of course! – and layered. layered, layered!

For the first one, we only used Simple Stories diecuts:

I make the diecuts work by cutting and/or hiding the pieces I don’t want to see, like this banner:

We also used Crate Paper cork stickers from a previous month and added some metallic pink phrase stickers to the mix:

For the second LO we used a lot of Amy Tangerine paper scraps and then added a few diecuts to finish it off:

I love all the levels and depth in the layers!

For both, we added a finishing touch of a few sequins and stars for some shine:

Pretty simple, but so fun to do – I love sitting down and layering up diecuts and paper scraps!

There are extra pictures at Flickr, including pics of the envelopes we matted the photos on – we used them to hold mini albums of extra pictures, a favourite trick of mine, since I’m a one photo per page lover!

Hope you enjoy!

Cheers!

hello love | My Favourite Things 2015

14 Wednesday Oct 2015

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mixed Media, My Favourite Things, ScrapBook

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Distress Ink, Mixed Media Layout, My Favourite Things, Perfect Pearls, Ranger

I think the August class of My Favourite Things was one of the most popular so far – everyone loved the technique (which I originally got from Jennifer McGuire) and everyone’s turned out so beautifully but all so amazingly different.

I love how the ombre turned out on this one! Molly’s favourite colour these days is blue and since the Distress line has so many incredible blues, I decided to use a bunch! What better way than ombre? You can’t see it, my photography skills are just not up to the challenge, but the shimmer of Perfect Pearls over the Distress Ink is amazing!

We embellished up the LO’s this month with cork stickers from Crate Paper, some paper strips from Amy Tangerine, and more rub-ons from a few months ago.

The second LO is the exact same technique but with a different shape, ink colour, and Perfect Pearl colour.

Still more cork and rub-ons for the title and journaling work – I love how those pieces all came together!

We also mixed a few colours together on this one; you can see the blend if you look closely. It added great depth without breaking up the visual of one colour tone.

And now we’re almost there – on Friday I’ll have you all caught up with My Favourite Things so make sure you check in for that!

Cheers!

Sweetness | My Favourite Things 2015 (& Happy Thanksgiving Canada!)

12 Monday Oct 2015

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mixed Media, My Favourite Things, ScrapBook

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Balzer Designs, Mixed Media Layout, My Favourite Things, Prima Color Bloom, Stampendous Embossing Enamel, The Crafter's Workshop

Back in June, a local photographer, Stacy Breen-Crane, was offering mini photo shoots with the proceeds going to charity. I jumped right on board and got some amazing pictures of Molly and Gabe at the park on one of the only nice days we had that month! They were perfect to use in our July class with lots of Prima Color Bloom sprays.

We layered mist through a stencil, then modeling paste through a large stencil, then more paste through the same, but smaller, stencil. All of that was heated in between to overdry and bubble up the paste, making lots of gorgeous texture. Then, we sprayed and sprayed and sprayed. And dripped. And tossed on some Stampendous embossing enamel while the spray was still wet. Look at the awesome texture!

As if that wasn’t enough shine, we dusted Perfect Pearls over the spray to take down the stickiness (thanks to Cathie for that fabulous tip!)

You can see there’s also gold thread under the photo, and we finished with some sticker labels and rubons:

Believe it or not, the second LO is almost identical, including the sprays. Just to show how different these colours can look depending on how much you spray and how you layer them, I used the exact same colours but in different order and intensity:

We also sprinkled the embossing enamel on the paste before we dried it, which allows it to cover a completely different area than the first LO.

There’s still tons of shimmer and texture, just done in a slightly different way:

We had a ton of messy fun doing this one, and it was incredible to see how different all the LO’s were, even when people used the same products and colours.

For my fellow Canadians, it’s Thanksgiving – enjoy, eat lots, and have fun doing your thing!

Cheers!

Foxy Guy | My Favourite Things 2015

09 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mixed Media, My Favourite Things

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Derwent Inktense Pencils, Mixed Media Layout, My Favourite Things

Yeah. So…. I’m waaaaaay behind in posting the Fave Things LO’s. Sorry. 😦 The nice thing for all of you is that there will be a whole bunch in a row which means lots of awesome inspiration – yay!

The class we did in June featured Derwent Inktense pencils. If you haven’t tried these yet, they’re incredible! They’re watercolour pencils but better. The lead is ink based and so the colours are super vibrant and blend really well when wet.

We coloured over some dried texture paste and misted water to blend. We followed that up with layers of paper, drywall tape, and cheesecloth. I love how the title turned out – black marker covered with Sakura Clear Stardust pen for shimmer:

The second LO was very similar, though the placement of the elements was different. The big difference here was the way we used the pencils. Instead of just misting and letting them run, we misted and used our fingers to blend the colours together more smoothly, leaving less pencil marks on the paste.

We had some fabulous chipboard stars from Bella Blvd. as our embellishments this month and I love them!

Adding a bit of white paint pen to each really makes them pop as well! The star sequins were added because, of course, I need a bit of sparkle and shine on my layouts!

See you Monday with the next set – they’re all about Prima Color Bloom Sprays!

Cheers!

Snuggle Bunny | My Favourite Things 2015

02 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mixed Media, My Favourite Things, ScrapBook

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Balzer Designs, Color Lab, Marion Smith Designs, Mixed Media Layout, My Favourite Things, The Crafter's Workshop

This month was packed with two Fave Things classes. The second one introduced a fun new product that I’m loving these days – Color Lab by Marion Smith Designs . If you’re new to mixed media, a fan of mists, want something easy and portable for crops or traveling or just want more colour options then this is the product for you! The class peeps loved it and had an awesome time picking out their colour recipes.

First up, we made mist and sprayed the background. Then we made coloured paste and made the layer under the photos. Next we heat embossed gold (or silver on the second LO) over Ranger Texture Paste. Finally, we added some awesome rubons and metallic thread. Layers, layers, layers!!!

Look at that texture and all the fun bits! Love it!

For a bit of a change, I went with green and silver here, with the same base mist colour.

And look at the sparkle on those alphas! I kind of liked them a lot. 🙂

I have some fun ideas for the next class – thinking cheesecloth, drywall tape, and watercolour pencils….. Should be fun!

Cheers!

Beanie Baby | My Favourite Things 2015

14 Thursday May 2015

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mixed Media, My Favourite Things, ScrapBook

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Distress Ink, Mixed Media Layout, My Favourite Things, Ranger

One of my all time favourite products are the Ranger Distress Inks. I use them all. the. time. And one of my favourite ways to use them is as if they were watercolours. And look at how gorgeous that works out::

I added some awesome Amy Tangerine Thickers directly on the photo for the title:

And on both LO’s I added tons of stars, sequins, and gems:

The second LO uses the same technique but the placement was quite different:

I still used the Thickers and coloured them with my Sakura Clear Stardust pen for some shimmer:

And for both LO’s, I added hidden journaling behind the photo:

As always this year, the pictures are black and white for a couple of reasons:

1. I like the look of black and white these days, and

2. I can use whatever colours strike my fancy to make my backgrounds.

We have another class next week and will be using an awesome new product! Make sure you check back for those layouts!

Cheers,

Sara

What a Charmer| My Favourite Things 2015

01 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mixed Media, My Favourite Things, ScrapBook, Techniques

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Alcohol ink, Classes, Mixed media, Ranger

I stuck with my plan and used Ranger alcohol inks for this month’s Favourite Things class. These inks are made for use on non-porous and slick surfaces where they move and blend beautifully. Although I do like using that technique, my favourite is to use the inks on porous elements, like watercolour paper and sticky back canvas.

The first LO was simple blending of colours to make a striped effect. I love the intensity of the colours – I can’t get such richness with any other product I’ve found yet!

There were some awesome colour combos used in class for this! Although I generally use black and white photos when doing mixed media and/or colourful backgrounds so I can go with whatever colours I want at the time, many people brought colour photos and picked inks to work with them. I love seeing all the different preferences and ideas!

Once the majority of our background was done, we used Alcohol Blending Solution and extra ink to add some splatter and texture:

We finished it off by inking enamel chevron stickers to use as embellishments:

The second LO was made by using the alcohol inks over a stencil:

We brought the chevrons back in on this LO but with wood veneer instead. We still coloured them with the alcohol inks and then added some shimmer because I’m obsessed, lol!

I’m sorry I’ve been a terrible blogger lately – I know I’ve been totally AWOL! – but I can’t seem to get around my own self lately; I think winter is taking its toll! I do have posts for tomorrow (some fabulous “guest artists” will be featured!) and on Friday I have something fun to share so come back and check out all the eye candy!

Cheers!

Always Remember | My Favourite Things 2015

11 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mixed Media, My Favourite Things, ScrapBook

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Classes, Mixed Media Layout, My Favourite Things

In 2009 (I believe) I went to the owners of The Paperie and asked to teach a yearlong class – one that people would sign up and commit to for an entire year, once a month. Although I’m sure they were more than a little hesitant, they went for it. I’ve been teaching the Yearlong Album class ever since.

If you ask anyone from the original class most will probably say it was their favourite one. I was into some basic mixed media back then, when it wasn’t the popular thing to do and it was much harder to get product, and boy, did we have fun playing! That first year it was a small 8×8 album, if I remember correctly, and we used every single little bit in our kits. Right down to the paper pad cover and sticker sheet leftovers. We literally had nothing left. It was actually kind of stressful for me, lol!

We moved onto a 12×12 LO plus pocket page system the next year. Then an 8.5×11 album. 2013 was all mixed media and last year it was sketch based. 5 years of albums and photos. And I loved every minute of it!

But it was time for a change so this year the class has been overhauled. It’s now called My Favourite Things and that’s exactly what it is – all my favourite items, techniques, and stuff! Plus, you no longer have to commit for a full year; it’s month to month so it works better for those people who travel or know they’re going to miss a bunch of classes. We’re also focusing on journaling and how I add it in, since I hate doing it! What hasn’t changed are the awesome people (thank you to all of you who have stuck with me from the beginning, or who have come back after taking a break, or who are brand new this year) and the fun times we have in class. Plus, there’s new product, and what’s more fun than tearing into a brand new package of stuff? Nothing!

The first 2015 class was last month and we played with one of my top 3 faves – Distress Inks!

Our cover page used one of my favourite colours in the Distress line, Evergreen Bough, and a wet on wet watercolour technique.

We added lots of layers with some October Afternoon speech balloon and label diecuts:

Some shine with Studio Calico silver star rub-ons:

And a bit of bling with embossing powders on the Thickers:

The layouts were made with the use of Distress Ink though a stencil and then more ink through another stencil layered over the first:

My journaling trick here was to use a quote – I do that all the time! Google is my friend!

We also used hidden journaling here, written on one of the speech balloons and tucked in the top corner:

The second layout used the same techniques but we added in some drips too – I love drips!

The water and stencil layering, plus a glitter pen and some enamel elements added lots of texture:

So we’re off to a good start! If you want to join us anytime, just give The Paperie a call and they’ll sign you up. If you want sneaks of what’s coming up in class, I try to post them to Instagram with #FaveThings2015. I’m still debating exactly what we’re doing this month but I’m leaning heavily towards alcohol inks!