CCC 190 Sleepy - May 2011

We are wrapping up our month-long April Showers theme with a delightful image that inspired a soft, lovely palette and a topic-focused Designer's Challenge: Create a project that focuses on siblings or pets.

With 3 cats in the household, I immediately chose to focus on pets. Don't think I have any pics of my brother and I that are worth scrapping.

As you can see, I am once again into printing the photo on canvas. With a sleepy cat like our old Bettie having a nap in the sun, the image turned out wonderfully hazy. The inspirational photo inspired me to use soft and hazy tones and textures in my page.

The papers are mainly Prima Jack and Jill, I used 2 of the same pps so that I could cut out a frame that I mounted on top of the other pp. I had seen a layout by Gerry v Gent in which she used Gesso mixed with "sand" applied as extra texture. I had an old jar of something called "snowpaint", cannot even remember what I had planned to use it for. It has the same texture. That's the thick, rough white inner frame that goes around the page.

The yellow is TA mist in Lemon Grass, different green and chestnut chalks used on the frame and matting. Everything in the cluster is from Prima.

That's all folks! Thank you so very very much for your visit! It would make my day if you would want to leave any comment! Todeloo! xxx

TCR # 56A Swing With Me and 56B Can I Keep Her Please - I'M A TCR SOCIALITE GIRL!

Hello and a very warm welcome to my very brand new blog! It is only in its humble beginnings and needs a lot more work done. A truly mega mega big THANK YOU to all of you lovely ladies out there who for the passed year have nudged, pinched and encouraged me to take this leap into the blogosphere. I am utterly grateful for your support! Mwah!!

So, 1-2-3 - on we go!

Yay......finally we are announcing our new team for the next 6 months. Our Socialites play a huge role in the maintaining of our site. They are integral to the Social aspect of TCR. We are so glad to have some of our original team back and to announce the new girls...... So without further ado......

We welcome back

Jennifer Smith
Eila Sandberg
Yasmina Tin-Sang
Samar R N

And introducing our new Social Girls.......

Joy N
Denise Surritt
Lean de Ruiter
Joyce
Melissa Williams
Lya Lin
Marelle Jackman
Andrea Cockrell
Yuz Yusof
Maiko Kosugi
Qadira Gomez and
Nadhrah Maidin

You will see them around LOTS on TCR from now on. Lovely to have you all on board Girls!

Now for the release of Palette #56....

This month we have partnered with Prima and it's been wonderful. We meet in 'Her Room' with Prima today! More gorgeous colours from the Prima "Petticoat Collection".

Because the colours are so lovely, I made 2 layouts; one with more of the Mauve and Sea Foam Blue. I called it 56A Swing With Me. And the other with more of the Lime Yellow and Light Coral Red. I called it 56B Can I Keep Her Please.

You might recognize the older girl from some of my previous pages, it's the daughter of DH's cousin, miss T. The photo was taken last summer at a family do. The dollie, miss W, sitting in miss T's lap, was thoroughly pampered and played with.

For my birthday a couple of weeks ago, the mailman brought me one of the coveted parcels from the US. It contained some new punches and Tattered Angels mists. Couldn't resist playing with them last weekend, have to admit misting is an almost white spot on my map. Good thing I had covered the kitchen table in a good sized wax cloth and wore an apron. Don't think I have to say where most of the mist ended ... I bow in respect to thee fair ladies who can master the evil bottles!

First I sprayed the cardstock with water as I though I would get a water colour effect when spraying on the TA mists. For the background I used: Lavender Fields, Spring Violet, Timeless Lilac as well as Pashmina and Tattered Rose. I then zapped the whole page with my embossing gun to make it dry a lot faster. I like the effect of the little rivulets.

I also misted white gardenias in the same tones as the background and then generously doused them in heavy whiffs of Dazzling Diamonds. Too bad the shine and glitter doesn't photograph, it's really beautiful IRL.

Some dry painted Gesso around the area where I then placed my matted photo. Papers are Crate Portrait and Norwegian Vibeke Spigseth.

Lately I have seen both Julie Winks and Larissa Albernaz print their photos on canvas. The print gets a really fantastic dreamy blurred quality which I love. So that's what I did with my photo too.

First I printed it on regular printer paper to see where on the page the photo placed itself. Then I just used double-sided tape on top of the printed image, cut out a square slightly larger than the photo from the canvas and made sure the patch was well stuck down. After printing it out I simply started pulling off threads from the edges to get a shabby look, stitched it onto the matting and unravelled most of the stitching higgedly piggedly. Voilà!

The fussy cutting is from Prima Fairy Flora, all the blooms and embellies except the clock which is Girl's Paperie Whimsy, are also from Prima. The "fuzzy" white threads under the lace covered button, are torn off from the muslin that I have used under the photo.

For my second layout, I started by stamping haphazardly around the edges of a white cardstock before I stitched it onto black cardstock. Then I misted randomly with TA Coral Reef, Marigold and Lemon Grass to get a background. Tiny splatter in Aquamarine and Dragonfly.

The matting is a mix of Prima, Crate, and from my stash. The teal punched bit at the bottom is misted in Dragonfly and Acquamarine. Photo is from the same family do as in my above 56A but this time it is the little sister of miss T who's hugging little missy W.

The large Prima daisy was originally white and is misted in all the above red and yellow hues. Brad is from Danish Tilda. The white heart pin is a kind gift from fabulously talented Leeann Pearce (thanks darling!).

I will definitely be experimenting more with the mists, perhaps dressed in my rain jacket and protective goggles!

Ahem, thanks for your patience and for bearing with my longwinded intro. xxx

CCR 189 Happy Face - April 2011

Happy Easter weekend!! This week's Designer Challenge: Focus on Product - shimmer and shine! Use cardstock, paints, stickles, glitter glue, whatever you can think of to add shine to your projects this week! Shine on!!!!

This week's palette is really soft and girly, almost too easy to make something that is OTP sweet. This is miss T whom some of you have made acquaintance with before. The little doll that she's holding in her lap is her cousin's daughter W. The photo was taken last summer at a family do and because it was a special day of celebration, miss T was allowed to wear lipgloss again (shimmer, see!).

White cardstock, the punched pale blue paper is from Girl's Paperie and misted in TA Gold, Shimmerz Concrete and then chalked in 3 different blue hues. Too bad it only shows IRL.

I stitched a narrow blue satin ribbon over a blue/white checkered cotton ribbon which I then mounted on a strip made of punched white cardstock (EK Success) and cut-out strip of dotted pink paper from Girl's Paperie. That's the frame that goes around the whole page.

The centre floral pp in the cirlce is Prima Botanical (peach), mounted on white cardstock misted with TA Vintage Pink, chalked in Victorian Velvet and Ash Rose before I cut the edge in scallops to mimic the PP Artisan Elements. Matted with a white paper doily. Pale blue liquid pearl is dotted around the outer cirlce of the Artisan Element and a bow made of the both ribbons mounted with a stacked button of blue/white. The birdcage is Girl's Paperie (shimmering little jewel hanging from the bottom).

I also decorated a large white button with a peach rose and a pink one with white liquid pearl dots around the rim and a small peach bloom as can be seen at the very bottom. I mounted them on b/w stencilled floral circles and sticky padded them for added height.

The photo itself is triple matted in white, peach checkered Graphic45 Spring Fairy, and the same pink dotted pp as in the frame, then stitched. Gesso is then applied throughout the whole page for added shabbiness. Pink printed chippie letters are from the same Girl's paperie line as all the other products used, Whimsy.

Thank you so very much for having a peek at my page and any comments that you may want to lave are infinitely appreciated! xx

TCR # 55A It's a Dog's Life and 55 B 8 Going on 14 - APRIL 2011 - PRIMA IS SPONSOR

We are in the family room with colours like Teal Gree; Burgandy; Mustard; Chocolate.

I didn't like this palette when I initially saw it, but when I remembered the photo of Buster, my friend K's dog, things started cooking anyway. Have to admit the mustard was a no-winner with me, Finnish mustard however has a more ochraish tone than Coleman's so I just pretend it is mustard too. I see that the main photo has an offish mustard tone, the close-up shows the correct hue.

Buster is sitting on the front porch, contemplating whatever dogs contemplate. Its late autumn 2010 as you can see from the leaves in the yard.

Die-cut is MME Stella & Rose, I cut it in several "rings" just like Leeann Pearce did and also cut-out a window where I then placed the triple mounted photo on sticky pads to add dimension. DA swirl is misted in Shimmerz Mudslide + chalked in Mudslide + Stickled in Cinnamon.

Big flower, leaves and red glass vine are Prima, mustard felt centre in big daisy from Precocious Paper's Etsy shop and teal doily is a kind gift from Leeann Pearce (thanks!).

Stickers are Crate's Portrait and tiled letters are Girl's Paperie. With the cut-out leftovers, I made a second LO instead of a card. Called it 55B.

I made this second layout with some of the left-overs from my 55A A Dog's Life. This is Miss T whom you have seen before picking spring flowers with her little sister, and giggling at the tivoli with her bestest friend. This photo was taken last autumn when missy was 8 years old but getting sassy as only 14-year-old girls can be according to her mother (remember?).

Chocolate brown cardstock, striped pp is Crate, teal is BG Luscious, checkered is Graphic 45 Spring Fairy and the floral is MME Stella & Rose. The strips to the right are BG Luscious and lace is from MME. Tiled letters Girl's Paperie and October Afternoon, lovely doilies are courtesy of Leeann P, felt fern and blooms Prima.

Frosted berries and acrylic star from local store, brown fabric bloom is from Precocious Paper's Etsy shop. Buttons and sticker are Crate. MIL's old sewing machine is still working dandy.

Thank you very much for taking the time to look at my page, any comments you may want to leave are truly appreciated! xx

CCG 188 Chrysalis - FEATURED AS TODAY'S FAVE

Happy April!! This week‘s Designer Challenge: Focus on Technique - dry embossing.

This is my step DD the year she turned 18. From being a very natural girl without a hint of make up, the photographer turned her into a lovely enchanting young woman. Just like a butterfly sprung from its chrysalis. The journaling is a verse from an Indian-American poem about the transformation into young womanhood.

As I don't own any embossing templates, I went for the other kind of embossing with heatgun. Inspired by the bangle I added flecks and splashes of gold here and there.

Black cardstock, b&w backing pp is Crate, stitching inspired by the boots of course. Thanks to Helen Tilbury I printed the photo in an unusally large format, I really like it. Cream floral pp, newspaper print and all 3 horizonal strips are MME Lost & Found.

The silver glittery thickers and the Prima Sultans are inspired by the bejewelled buckle. White small doilies are a gift from fabulously talented Leeann Pearce (thanks mate!). I chalked the DA leave first in brown, Stickled it in cinnamon and then heat embossed in gold. The butterflies were originally white but I chalked them in black and then Stickled them in Diamond.

Chalked here and there in 3 different hues of tan and brown. The white silk fabric bloom and the one in cardboard are from Precocious Paper's Etsy shop, the creamy tan silk dito is cut-off from a Prima ribbon. That's about it folks, thank you ladies for wanting to have a peek and for any comments you may want to leave! Happy Easter to all of you! xx

TCR # 54 From Bud to Bloom - PRIMA IS SPONSOR

This is my step DD the year she turned 18. From one day to another the very natural girl without a hint of makeup was transformed by the photographer to a lovely young woman. Emelie really loved the make over and being in the focus.

The darker punched cardstock photographed really weird, it looks maroon here but is actually a dark fuchsia/purplish hue. The pink cardstock under it is Prima. Checkered pp is MME Stella & Rose, lace from my stash, darker pink/orange is also MME ST&R, the pale pink at the top is PP Butterfly Garden.

The resins are Girl's Paperie, all other blooms and SIP swirl are Prima. The mini cluster at the top are leftover clippings, yellow resin rose is G'sP too. Thank you very much for taking the time to look at my page and if you leave a comment, you will have made my day! Happy Easter ladies! xx

TCR # 52 Bygone Happiness - April 2011 - PRIMA IS SPONSOR

Just about made it in time, boy has this week been all about unexpected changes of plans! Plus the palette was extremely hard. It wasn't until I spotted these smouldering hot off the press Swedish papers with the slate blue as dominant colour that I actually got down to putting anything together.

This is FIL's parents on their wedding day in the very early 1920's. The journalling is at the back and the title "Svunnen Lycka" roughly translates into Bygone Happiness. As I haven't distressed the pps much at all, it is not easy to see that there are actually 6 layers + all the elements on my layout.

Anyhow, pps are by Swedish Pion Design, and distressed with 3 different chalks and Gesso. The letter "S" stands for our surname, Sandberg. Lace from my stash and Prima blooms from this week's featured line. The text at the bottom says: "We live as long as we are remembered".

Thanks a mill for looking at my page!! I treasure any comment you may want to leave. xx