Happy Little Stampers April Challenge...

Hi! The current challenge at Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies is up. We have a new challenge each month. You can link any projects that include a die-cut. I have a scrapbook layout for you today.

The photos feature my daughter and her best friend. They were at an inter-school competition when these pics were snapped. To start, I edited the photos and got them printed at my stationery store. The background is based on an art journal page by Shari Carroll for Simon Says Stamp. You can check out her detailed video here. 

I started with a piece of thick watercolor paper. I used a mix of chalk paints and pouring paints by Little Birdie to create the paint streaks and added some paint splatters with black and gold paint. While the paint was drying, I trimmed the photos into squares and rounded the corners. I also added white and black mats.

The mandala die-cuts were made using the Floral Doily die by Dress My Craft, an Indian brand. I was very impressed by the quality of the die. It cut through the paper like butter in the first pass! 

The sentiment is from the Critter Party stamp set by Mudra Craft Stamps. I die cut the letters BFF out of gold glitter foam and black paper and layered both on a panel of ivory paper.

I put all the layers together and added some gold sequins as a finishing touch. Finally, I rounded the corners and adhered the panel to a larger piece of black paper.

I hope my layout inspires you to create something beautiful. You can visit the  Happy Little Stampers challenge blog for more inspiration and link your creations. I look forward to visiting you in our gallery.

Love,
Nandini

Floral Layout with Altenew...

Hi! I am back with another layout I made using some of my favorite Altenew products. I was, of course, inspired by the A Year In Review Sketch Challenge 2019 on the Altenew Scrapbook Blog.

This time I went with the Sketch Challenge #15.

I used both the sketch and the colors as inspiration. Kindly excuse the poor quality of photographs as I am traveling and ended up editing to photos on my phone.

I started with a piece of Ivory cardstock and created the rainbow with different sets of Altenew inks. I used all for shades in each stripe.

Here are the completed stripes.

Next I matted the photo with shades of blue paper and added the date and place.

At this stage I felt today the layout looked a bit 'empty'. So I added some splatters with gold acrylic paint, to tie in with the hold embossing. To create the floral arrangement, I stamped the outline images of the flower from the Peony Bouquet stamp set and the leaf from the Beautiful Day stamp set. I heat embossed the images with Rich Gold embossing powder by Wow! and die-cut them with the coordinating dies.

After arranging the die-cuts in a pleasing way, I adhered them with glue as well as foam tape.

Here is the final layout again.

Entering this in the following challenges, along with the A Year In Review Sketch Challenge 2019.

Yes, Virginia... December Show & Share:

Moving Along With The Times Challenge #113:

Stamping Sensations December Anything Goes Challenge:

Watercooler Wednesday Challenges WWC252:

Love,
Nandini

Scrapbooking With Stamping...

Hi! I am here today with something new. I tried my hand at scrapbooking and I really enjoyed the process! I used to do lots of digital scrapbooking but hardly did any physical layouts. I was inspired by the A Year In Review Sketch Challenge 2019 on the Altenew Scrapbook Blog.

I selected the Sketch Challenge #17 for my first layout.

I used only the sketch as inspiration and went for a more monochromatic look, with shades of pink and red. Here is my layout.

I used the outline images from the Beautiful Day stamp set by Altenew for the stamping. Here is a closer look at the stamping.

The top left corner of the layout is above and below is the top right corner.

The sentiment was made by combining the Big World stamp set by Altenew for the stamping and the Inline Alpha die set for the die-cutting. To add more interest, I stamped the leaf from the Beautiful Day stamp set on the paper before die-cutting the alphabets. Here is a closer look.

I layered the alpha die-cuts to add more dimension. The location and year were handwritten. Here is another look at the layout.

I really enjoyed the process and the whole layout turned out exactly as I had envisioned. I would love to know what you think of my first attempt.

Entering this in the following challenges, along with the A Year In Review Sketch Challenge 2019.

Yes, Virginia... December Show & Share:

Moving Along With The Times Challenge #113:

Stamping Sensations December Anything Goes Challenge:

Watercooler Wednesday Challenges WWC252:

Love,
Nandini

Stamping and misting...

Hi! The current challenge at Beyond Grey Challenges is Stamping on Fabric and Misting. I was very excited because this was an opportunity to try my hand at something new. Since this was a month long challenge, I thought I would have plenty of time to get my entries ready. Alas, life intruded in the form of kids' illness, schools etc. And finally here I am, at the last moment, posting my entries!

My first entry is in the layouts category.

I was very inspired by a layout created by Corrie J, thanks dear. You can check out her great tutorial here. 

I made the mist myself by mixing some water and acrylic shimmer paint by Hobby Ideas. It is not visible in the pics, but there is a lovely shimmer to the misting. Using masks and mini mister, I created a radiating pattern.

I created the butterflies by stamping on various fabrics with Versamark ink and then embossing with gold embossing powder. I cut the butterflies out using the co-ordinating die.

Here is another look at the butterfly.

All the fabrics are backed by fusible paper canvas to give it some stiffness.



The pic is a selfie clicked by my husband that I absolutely love! The paper doily was dipped in coffee to give it a slightly aged look. The sentiment is computer generated. Two Cheery Lynn Flourishes and some pearls completed the layout.

Entering this in BGC #53 - Stamping and Misting.

I have been trying hard to get into scrap booking for sometime. I find layering very difficult since my style is very definitely CAS. I am quite pleased with the finished project. Though it still looks very CAS to me! Would really love to hear what you think about my effort from you.

Love, 
Nan

My first layout...

Hi! The latest challenge at Beyond Grey Challenges: BGC #51 is a wonderful sketch for a layout.

I was very happy when this challenge was announced as I have been wanting to get into scrap booking seriously for a long time. I have, of course, done several digital layouts, but physical layouts are a different ball game altogether!

So here is my take on this fun sketch.

I found this lovely pic of my husband and the kids playing and decided to use it. I wanted to use bright colours in the layout to convey a sense of joy and fun.

I converted the pic to gray scale to make it stand out. The little tab is to note the year this pic was taken.

The paper pieced band is made up of little squares of paper scraps that I die cut, pasted and then stitched over. The floral DP is actually a tissue paper that I stuck to a piece of card stock using cling film.

The car

the plane and 

the boat are all from the Shapeabilities Play Time Cut/Emboss & Stencil Die set which I bought from Itsy Bitsy ages ago. 

The glitter alphas are also from Itsy Bitsy. I changed the position of the title since I did not want to take away any thing from the band which actually reminds me of a warm and cosy quilt. The final touch were the dashed lines which add some movement to the design.

I am entering this layout in the following challenges:

Beyond Grey

BGC #51 - Layout Challenge

Sentimental Sundays

Challenge #206 - Wheelie Fun + sentiment

CAS-ual Fridays

CFC131 - Three Thirds

I have used 3 DPs, 3 toy die cuts and there are three people in the pic.

Virginia's View Challenge

Challenge #3 - Stitching

Hope you liked my first attempt at a layout. Would love to hear what you think of it!

Love,
Nan

A digital layout...

Hi! A quick post today.

I made a digital scrapbook layout for the Indian Scrappers 2013 Scrapbook Challenge #5, hosted by the talented Banu Honnavara.

This time it was a sketch, which I love making.

I used the colours from Dynamic Duos Challenge blog - DD#65, warm pink and soft green.

And my take on these two challenges is this

The kit I used is Tourbillons de Calins, a freebie I downloaded ages ago from Digital Crea.

Love,
Nan

My entry for Indian Scrapper's Challenge #3

Hi! I am here with a digital layout this time. This is my entry for the Indian Scrappers Challenge #3.

The Indian Craft Room hosts a challenge every month for Indian scrappers. There is a different theme every month and the goal is to complete 12 layouts by the end of 2013. This is also the only Indian site that I know of which accepts digital layouts.

Unfortunately I missed the deadline last month. But I decided to make it this month.

This month's theme is a fantastic sketch with multiple photos.

I love working with sketches, since they give a clear direction to take. Multiple photo layouts are even more fun because its almost like telling a story! When I saw this sketch, I immediately knew which pics I wanted to use. The layout came together very quickly and I am very, very pleased with it.

I used the kit Tyke by Rachel Dickson which I had downloaded as a freebie from the site {computer}scrapbook. I have also used assorted brushes, fonts and embellishments to make the layout.



I deliberately kept the journaling simple because, honestly, the pics say it all. 



The title probably took up the maximum time as I ended up using a mix of fonts and styles.




It was great making this layout as I got back to digital after a long time. Looking forward to making more in the near future. And still trying to gather my courage to attempt a physical layout soon!

Love,
Nan

A digital layout...

Hi! Back again with a digital scrapbook layout. This is my entry for the Indian Scrappers 2013 Scrapbook Challenge #1 by the Indian Craft Room. Here is the challenge pad:

There are going to be 12 challenges thru' the year and I have a strong resolve to complete all. It will be a good way to try my hand at scrapbooking. As digital layouts are welcome, I decided to make one first. Hopefully, I will be able to make a physical one too.

For the first challenge, Banu of ICR has given a fab sketch.

I really liked the possibilities of this sketch. So my take on this is:

The tough part was selecting the images to use.

I used the Sit Back and Relax kit that I had downloaded as a freebie from the site Digital Crea a long time back. The layout is 12 x 12 inches. 

I converted the photos to grayscale as I wanted a softer feel. The doily is a Photoshop brush downloaded from the Brush Directory.

I had a lot of fun making this layout as it gave me chance to brush up my Photoshop skills. Also, I learnt a lot about changing the colors of digital elements.

I am also entering this in Beyond Grey's BGC #28 - All boy/ Masculine Challenge. I hope digital layouts are acceptable.

Love,
Nan

Digital layouts...

I was doing a bit of spring cleaning in my PC and came across some digital scrap book layouts that I had done last year. I was almost due then and did not want to take up anything new. So I decided to use up the time to teach myself scrapbooking. Some of the layouts I ended up posting on my FB page. I thought I will also post them on my blog now.

All the papers and elements I have used are freebies that have been downloaded from the internet. 

This was the first layout I ever did. And had so much fun doing it that I had to make more!

This layout was for a sketch challenge, I don't remember which.

The day we brought our Nano home...

A memorable trip to Cape Town and probably the most memorable day of the trip!

First time I specifically took pics to make a layout...

I must make a special mention of Kristina Werner of kwernerdesign. She has been a huge inspiration. I am a total fan of her technique videos (and so is my daughter!). Most of what I have learnt has been through her videos on the Basic Grey website. So thanx a ton Kristina and Basic Grey!

Thats all for tonight. I will post more layouts soon. Hope you guys enjoyed them.

Love,
Nan