It's Magic At Our Creative Corner. . . . . . .

Morning everyone. It's time for a new challenge over at Our Creative Corner. Our host this month is the hugely talented Kerstin and here's what she has to say about her 'magical' challenge:

'Photographs can tell amazing stories of specific places or unforgettable moments in nature. 
For this challenge use a favourite photograph and add some special colours, moods and effects. 
Put these ingredients together in a vintage style and share your creative story with us. Especially suitable are classical scrapbook layouts (30 x 30) or canvases in mixed media style but you can also make cards or tags (as long as your project includes a magic nature photograph).

Note: if you don't like scrapbooking or are no photographer, the focal image can also be replaced by a cut out (or transferred) nature photograph from a postcard or magazine for example'. 

Was I out of my comfort zone when I read this - indeed I was!! I've never done a layout and simply wouldn't know where to start so I was floundering around for a while. I wanted to try but no ideas came so in the end I opted for the 'other' type of project which includes a nature photo. I'm ok with the taking photos bit thankfully!

Here's what I've made for Kerstin's challenge:

Front of vintage style photo album. I was inspired to make this little book by the wonderful Sue Carrington's tutorial HERE. 

Back of album

Edges of pages finished with Krylon gold pen

A piece of designer 12"x12" was chosen to make the album

The paper is roughly coated with DecoArt Americana paint applied with a brayer.

Add details using a stencil, paint and stencil brush. Fold paper to achieve 16 small squares as shown. Click here for full details from the amazing Sue Carrington on how to make these little albums.

Cut, fold and glue album together then apply various washi tapes to pages as required

Strengthen the spine of the book with more washi tape - I used several layers to make it extra strong.

Tone down each page by adding a thin coat of DecoArt Translucent white paint (not shown). Randomly stamp script images on pages with archival ink and use something circular to add rings as shown (I used a radiator key for this because it was just the right size!)

I made this tag a while ago by embossing the card then applying many layers of paint to try to make it look like tooled leather. Up until now I hadn't found a use for it but I thought it would make a perfect cover for my little album. Here's a close up view to show the texture and colour tones:

Detail of 'tooled leather' look tag.

Two pieces are cut from the tag to make the back and front covers. Each has the edges coated with a Krylon pen and then they are glued firmly into place. Some Tim Holtz braid is sandwiched between the both covers to make ties to keep the album closed:

Braid is firmly sandwiched between the inside cover and the outside cover.

A heart is made out of some Fimo clay and before baking, a stamp is carefully pressed into the clay to leave a decorative imprint. Once cooled, the heart is painted with the gold acrylic and antiqued with the cream - both are shown above.

I love making these little hearts (I do little button shapes too) and keep some ready made for painting to match any project that I may need one for.

Next job is to print out the chosen photos to size and cut each out from the sheet. The edges were sponged with archival ink to give them a 'framed' appearance.

The photos are then stuck into the album. Some random stencilling is done with archival to help integrate the photo into the page. I've kept with a circle theme to give continuity.

 The following pages show just some of the beautiful landscapes and seascapes we saw in the Highlands of Scotland. Who could fail to be mesmerised by this magical country?

Beautiful sand, clear water and looming rain clouds - what more could we expect? Yet still, we were taken by the pure magic of this place.

Who would believe such a beautiful sight can be found nestling between two rock outcrops by a sea loch? Stunning.

Not sure what kind of wildlife is shown on these last two pages! What I can tell you is that we had reached our destination on a 12 mile round trip in the middle of nowhere. It was cold, wet and very overcast but we had to keep going after a quick picnic - we still had 6 miles to walk back to the car!

So, get the idea? Many of you will choose to scrap a wonderful layout but for those, like me, who quiver at the thought of scrapping, you could make something else to show off your photograph. Just remember it has to have a vintage style. (I hope mine just about makes that category). I hope you'll be inspired by the DT's pieces and come up with a make of your own to link up with us. You could be the winner of some goodies from our Sponsor Nice Crane Designs. You could be one of our Top Three Talent or you could just have fun playing along with us!

Thanks for visiting and reading this post today.