Friday 1 November 2013

November 2013 Challenge 7 - A Colourful & Optimistic Mood Board by Leonie Neal-Dawson





Welcome back to Scrap Around The World Challenge SEVEN,
hosted by Design Team member Leonie Neal-Dawson from Australia!


We have some SUPER AWESOME prizes for you this month & we are SURE
 you will ALL want to play along for a chance to snag some of them!


Feel free to interpret Leonie's mood board in any way you like, using one image, several of them, 
all of them or even just one aspect of an image, using ANY COLOURS! Our sketch is OPTIONAL!! 

 Please let us know HOW YOU WERE INSPIRED!! 
{we suggest you read our 10 GOLDEN RULES before you begin}


To be eligible for judging please include in your blog post:-

1)  Our mood board image.{you may show the sketch image but ONLY IF YOU USE IT}

 2)  Our name "Scrap Around The World" & a LINK BACK to this current challenge.

Please link to YOUR BLOG POST NOT your entire blog & please turn off word-verification 
if you would like some of our Design Team members to comment on your entry}.




Leonie Neal-Dawson {Australia}








Riikka Kovasin {Finland}




              Carla Marchee {Netherlands} Art Journal Page




Di Garling {Australia}




Juraci Falcucci {Brazil}




Keren Tamir {Canada}


I used Ayeeda Gesso & Modelling paste from our sponsor 13arts.


Gayle Price ({Australia} Art Journal Page






I used papers and mists from our sponsor 13arts :-



Kim Ewins {Australia}




Helen Tilbury {South Africa}









 Alexandra Polyzou {Greece}





Eila Sandberg  {Sweden}





PRIZES!!!

1st Prize - Imaginarium Designs Chipboard valued at $50.


NB:- Prize may vary slightly from what is shown.


Imaginarium Designs was created in late 2010 in Adelaide, Australia, as we saw
 a need for some unique designs in the industry.  Chipboard is such an amazing 
medium to work with...perfect for scrapbook pages, projects, cards & so much more!

 Our designers are everyday scrapbookers & cardmakers who work in the
 Papercrafts industry and design chipboard specifically for everyday projects. 
We make sure every design is perfect & fits pages & cards just as it should! 

We design & produce chipboard daily & pride ourselves in custom service & unique 
designs - nothing is too small or too hard! Our incredibly talented Design Team is full
of awesome local & international talent & we cant wait for you to see our designs!

Just click above to be directed to our website.



2ND PRIZE 2 Crafty Chipboard valued at $30!



2 Crafty offers affordable & versatile laser cut chipboard products to the Australian & International Craft market.  2 Crafty’s products are manufactured in Australia & are suitable for scrapbooking, cardmaking, altered art, invitations & mixed media. With over 700 designs every area has been covered!   

2 Crafty’s owner Vanessa stumbled upon a demonstration of a laser-cutter at a Sydney craft fair in 2006 &, although her background was Human Resources & Payroll her creative mind recognised unlimited possibilities!  
So began her journey into the world of craft wholesaling!!

 Vanessa provides the highest level of customer support & is happy to discuss personalized orders with customers via their local scrapbooking store.  2 Crafty has a fabulous blog Facebook page updated weekly with projects created by it's international Design Team.  Check out the 2 Crafty website for products available to wholesalers & ask your local store to order products for you if they don't have them in stock.



3RD PRIZE - Scrapmatts Chipboard valued at $25!


Australian Made Laser Cut Chipboard to compliment your scrapbook pages, cards & paper-crafting projects. Scrapmatts has a Ning site that showcases an amazing talented international design team who post daily 
on the blog there, a gallery, customer challenges & an online store. Come join in the fun here!

Below is just one example of some of the awesome products they stock HERE.

CB5102 Window 02



4TH PRIZE - YOUR CHOICE of Purple Pumpkin products, to the value of $15.

Purple Pumpkin


Purple Pumpkin manufactures high-quality embellishments of a fun & funky nature!  They are
 Australian based & specialize in fabric buttons, handmade flowers,resin, twine & washi tape.  
They have a great blog that is constantly active & they hold monthly challenges open to all, with 
Guest Designer positions up for grabs as well as awesome prizes of Purple Pumpkin loveliness!  
They stock a huge range of embellishments, washi tape, motex tape, etc in their online store HERE

Below is just ONE EXAMPLE of the many products stocked in their online store.




5th Prize - Assorted Prima blooms and embellies donated by Design Team member 
Eila Sandberg - to be eligible for these you must first be a Follower of 
her blog so please follow the link & sign up you won't be disappointed!


Eila is one uber-talented scrapbooker who also has a well-earned reputation 
for being one of the sweetest & kindest people in the business & is loved
by all for her encouragement & giving heart.



Random Prize - This amazing Prize Pack from Bo Bunny!!!




The story of BoBunny Press began with a young girl named Jan Lanoy. 
She was raised in the Ozark area of Arkansas, then headed west to study art in college. 
In 1974, she married Don & packed away her paint box while she raised three sons.

As the family moved from Arkansas to Texas to Taiwan & then to Utah, 
Jan satisfied her creative side by restoring houses. 
Her children claim she can do anything with a drill & hammer!

That old paint box wasn't reopened until 1996 when, at the urging of her sister, 
Jan started designing scrapbook papers. She still vividly remember standing
 outside a local craft store in Layton, Utah, terrified to show off her first 2 designs.

Now, 16 years later, BoBunny Press is an industry leader with its innovative paper
 & embellishment lines. Starting with 2 designs in a single store, BoBunny products 
can now be found in over 39 countries around the world.

Long a favorite of card makers and scrapbookers, BoBunny papers, stickers, 
albums, brads, buttons, trinkets, jewels, ribbons, stamps & kits are always
 hot topics on consumer message boards. 

Each item still carries Jan's personal attention to detail and colour, but she's no 
longer doing it all on her own. Her team of graphic designers, each with different styles
 & expertise, help to create the variety of product lines that BoBunny is known for. 
Whether your taste is whimsical, elegant, classic or playful, there's something
 for everyone with BoBunny.

The deadline for this challenge is Saturday 30th November 2013.

Please take a moment to leave us some FEEDBACK on our REVEAL & some love for our designers, 
who contribute their time & expertise free of charge to provide this varied inspiration to you.

Share your valuable thoughts with us!!



Sunday 27 October 2013

Canvas Inspiration from Design Team Member Riikka Kovasin!




Hi everyone!  How are you all getting along with our current mood board HERE?
Time is running out as our challenge closes midnight EST on the last day of the month!

Do you remember that you are allowed to submit CANVASES to our challenge?
 As long as they are a minimum of 8 x 8 inches??  Canvases are FUN TO MAKE - 
let's take a look at one recently created by RIIKKA KOVASIN - our Finnish Ambassador!!


Hello! Riikka here, haring a canvas I made for the Prima PPP challenge this month!
 A while back I got small light-bulbs from my work place & immediately saw their potential
as part of a canvas, together with some Prima blooms. The image I had in my mind 
was a towering cluster of flowers, bulbs & random pieces in the middle of a canvas. 
{inspired by the fabulous work of a favourite scrapbooker, Kasia Krzyminska}.


I began with the background, using patterned paper scraps that I adhered using gel medium.
 Next I started layering different pieces on top - the light-bulbs,die-cut flowers,
 puzzle pieces, Prima embellishments & lastly the flowers. 
Then I waited for the gel medium to dry.


Next I painted over everything with gesso {EXCEPT for the light-bulbs, 
as I wanted them to remain clear}.  I dried my canvas off using my 
heat gun then added a few epoxy stickers.


 Time to colour! I grabbed a few mists & sprayed the canvas with yellows & reds thus creating a yellow-orange 
colour scheme. As the gesso prevents the paints from soaking in the mists have to be layered. 
I sprayed three coats in total,wiping the light-bulbs & epoxy stickers reach time so they remained clear. 
Then I added touches of black & also flicked black, white and yellow paint across my canvas.


For the final touch I doodled some pencil lines around the design. 
This is something I almost can't live without - a little touch of pencil goes a long way!
  Then I added the alpha stickers, which I shaded using a chalk inker.


 I took my canvas back to my workplace to show my co-workers why I asked them to collect the burnt-out light-bulbs for me :)  They liked it so much they asked if they could keep it & of course I said YES!!   I was only happy to give it to them!  I hope I have inspired YOU to create your own canvas SOON!  Wishing you a lovely week full of light!!

THANK YOU RIIKKA!
Please leave some ♥ for Riikka if you enjoyed this tutorial.



Wednesday 23 October 2013

Step-by-Step Layout Tutorial by Design Team Member Eila Sandberg!




Hello there everyone!  
Today we have one of our Designers,Eila Sandbergsharing her creative 
process with you in this EXCLUSIVE tutorial created just for us!!  Yay!!!


You can read more about Eila on our Design Team page HERE.

Hello everyone! I actually don't have much of a planned process
 but it always starts with either the papers or the flowers. I have a 
huge crush on papers & flowers!  Always GOT TO HAVE  flowers on 
my pages!!  This particular page came about when I was sorting a
 pile of papers & they happened to come up in the order almost 
identical to what I ended up using! Here's a peek at my finished page...


Step 1 - Choose papers & layer them in the 
order you want them to appear on your page.


Step 2 - Select the embellishments you want to use
& decide approximately where you think they will be
placed or clustered on your page.

Step 3 - Remove your chosen embellishments 
then cut, layer & adhere your papers.

Step 4 - Prepare your background by adding your mixed media.
I almost always use modelling paste through a stencil/mask, as well
as misting & stamping.  I love my Prima brick stamp & use it often,
as well as toilet rolls, lids & cups to stamp circles on my pages.


Step 5.  Once your background is dry layer up & adhere 
your photo & main embellishments, ie fussy-cut papers & 
chipboard.  NOT your flowers at this stage!

{Note to other "chunky" scrappers - if you love bumpy details
this is easily achieved by using foam strips or 3D pop dots under
your photo so that other layers can easily be tucked in around
& under it.  You need to leave about 1/2" around the edge 
for this to be possible so don't position your foam tape right
to the edge of your photo -remember to leave a small gap}.

Step 6.  Add mediums to your embellishments too.  Here I decided
 to add more dimension to my chipboard houses once they were 
already adhered, so I smeared out some Glass Gel Bead medium
 on them with my finger as well as adding it randomly around my page. 


Once dry the gel bead medium looks much nicer as you see below!


Step 7 -  Add some light touches of acrylic paint to your raised areas 
to bring out the dimension.  Often I use several colours for this.



Step 8.  Continue to layer!  That is what my style is all about!!  
Layering first with papers, then with mediums, then with 
embellishments!  Here I added a crackle effect on top of 
the chipboard elements & background using a crackle stamp.


Step 9.  Take a look at your layout & add more embellishments 
in order to enhance the "flow" of your page.  


Step 10.  Add mediums to your embellishments, for example
I often dab cream acrylic paint onto my flowers to tone them
down a bit (I find white gesso too stark!} I often add an
accent colour using acrylic paint, applied with my index finger.

Step 11.  Set your layout aside then look at it again the following day,
with "fresh" eyes!  Often I add my finishing touches at this point.
{that little " something something!!"} or I may shift something from
one point to another.  

Step 12. Day 2!  Distress & ink the edges of your page (ALL the layers!) 
{which is why I don't  stick my papers down all the way to the edges}.
Sometimes I spray a little water on my papers to fluff them up a bit, drying off 
with a heat gun (this adds a nice, lightly distressed look). Lastly I add some
 extra touches of misting & stamping, making sure to protect my photo by 
covering it with a piece of card first.


And here is a reminder of what the finished page looks like.
So there you have it! 
 Backwards I know but that's how I do it!!

***As my process is fairly lengthy I work on a couple of pages at a time,
so while the mediums are drying on one, I am working on the other :)***
This is the page I created on the same day as the one you've just seen!


Thank you Eila!  

I have always wanted to know exactly how Eila achieves such beautiful creations!!  
Now I see that there are no short cuts to perfection & every page she creates
 is a labour of love!!! If you are interested to see what products Eila has used
on these pages please pay a visit to her blog to see!




Saturday 19 October 2013

October 2013 Guest Designer Zeneva Kovic of Australia!





*Please view our latest challenge HERE - you have 12 days left to enter!*

Today we welcome the winner of our September 2013 Challenge, 
Zeneva Kovic of Australia, back as our October Guest Designer! 


Hello! My name is Zeneva & I live in a regional sea-side town of South Australia with my 3 young children. 
I study at university & shall complete my degree at the end of this year - after 5 years - YAY! 

For 'me' time I love to scrap. At first it was to document the moments & memories of my 
children that I feared I would otherwise forget, but it has become so much more than that. 

In addition to memory keeping, it is about self-expression, creativity & letting go,
 in what has become, for me, a connected, supportive & safe environment. 
Plus, I love all the colour! It makes me happy!

I'm thrilled to be Guest Designing here at Scrap Around The World!
 Thank you so much for having me!!


Zeneva worked with our current mood board above.


Phew!  Now THIS is the type of layout that makes me catch my breath!


I LOVE how Zeneva has incorporated so many of the colours from our mood board into this beautiful piece!


The blues, greens, pinks & yellows as well as the splash of gold from the shoes are all evident!


Well THAT was awesome!  Don't chya think?!?
Thanks so much Zeneva for creating this special layout especially for us this month!!  

Zeneva is clearly one seriously talented artist with an obvious zest for life that comes through in her pages!  Please remember to leave some comment LOVE for her ♥  & please enter our challenge if you haven't already done so!