Introduction and First Layout

Introduction and Halloween Mixed Media Layout.

Hello, my name is Tosha and I am a hobby scrapper who also likes to experiment.  After being asked rather or not I had a blog I decided to make one.  Feel free to scrap-lift, but please credit back.  when known I will give products used, I have a big stash of thing I've had for quite some time.  I will have some step by steps on newer things, but things I've already created will not have step by step photos.  The biggest thing here is that you get to see my experiments, both good and bad.   Not everything here will be pristine.  So, take what types you like and learn from my mistakes.

Without further ado, a recent and favorite layout of mine.  I did this from the October mood board offered by Scraps of Darkness/Elegance which you can see here: October Mood Board.  I am happy to say I even won the challenge last month and $20.00 from the store.  I am a fan of their kits and many items below came from various kits.  I will link the names as I recall them.

The inspiration for this was the lady with the umbrella and dark dress on the mood board.  I wore a costume with a dark dress (the photo) in which I tried to Cosplay the little girl below.  She was just a image I found randomly online years ago. If anyone knows who drew it I would be happy to give credit where it is due.  The term, "express yourself," is similar to being able to free yourself, but through costume.  I love to dress up and Cosplay, so it was very fitting for me.  The prim and proper lady (which I am not in real life) thinking of that time where she gets to be what she wants.  Hopefully she keeps her dark thoughts as a costume only ;)

Detail 1, The pretty Lady:

The pastel tentacles were stamped using chalking inks.  I used Quick Quotes Powder Puffs Caribbean Blue and Brandywine as well as Prima's Blossom Tree.  I stamped them onto some pale tan/manila looking cardstock that I had.  Even though the red and brown tentacle at the top looks like it has white dots (at least on my computer and a little bit on the layout in person) I actually put it on the same cardstock. 

I did take some time to pick out all of the extra little chipboard bits that were left in the chipboard from the cut the studio made.  I then gessoed (that is a word, right?) the Express Yourself lady from Blue Fern studios with white gesso.  I sprayed her with Simply Sheer Very Purple mist and Dragonfly glimmer mist from Tattered Angels.    I did the first layer of the Express Yourself letters the same way.


The flowers are from Prima's Aquarelle set.  Before sticking them on I shaped the green jeweler's wire and glued it down with some Beacon 3-in-One.  If you just run the wire across the glue bubble you can usually get a good enough coating without leaving globs of glue everywhere.

Detail Two: Express Yourself

To add the red to the Express Yourself, which I sprayed with the pretty lady, I used Ranger's Garnet Liquid Pearls.  I just squeezed it out of the tube onto the chipboard as well as on the edges of the butterfly.  Before doing the butterfly tips, however, I scuffed some red ink from a Color Box Petal Point Provence set.  Mostly the darker red color, but a few small smudges of the brown.  It doesn't show up much in the photos, but I also lightly touched up the lighter side of the butterfly's edges with the chalk inks I used on the tentacles.  You can kind of see hints of the teal and the pink.  I randomly tore the paper and tried to match the color changes with the tear.  You can see a small amount of pastel chalk ink on the edge of the black roses.

Detail 3: Black Rose

These roses were originally white paper stencils by Heidi Swapp in the Lace Paper Pack.  They are pretty papery.  I originally used it to make a negative white rose design with modeling paste (with the flowers as a single piece) on a Big Benefit Board I made for the Totally Tiffany Organization group I am in.  I then made another layout (I will post both on here eventually) in which I made the same relief, but with black modeling paste.  I could tell that the flowers couldn't handle being a stencil much longer, so I cut up the stencil and laid them on here in various places.  That is what gives them their thick and textured look.  I will try to post the other layouts soon so you can see what the stencil left behind and decide rather or not you want to take the same route, if you use this technique.  I really like the texture of the roses.  You could just paint them with a couple of layers of modeling paste verse filling in all of the negative space of the stencil if you want.  I use a artists knife when I spread mine which also adds a little of the line texture that you can see.  The black and white skull paper was just a scrap that I had of some Bella Blvd Funny Bones paper.

Detail 4: Butterfly and Skull

The Skull in the glass is a cutout from Graphic 45's Rare Oddities.  I "fussy" cut it out of sheet #4501142.  Be forewarned, I have been on a fussy cutting kick, so you will see it on a fairly regular basis.  I love how it looks, though it can be a time consuming process.  Take your time and buy small scissors.  I own a few pairs, but right now my favorite are a pair of Ek Success Cutter Bee scissors.  I also have some generic tiny embroidery scissors that I use for really small cuts.  An X-acto knife (ro something similar) will work wonders as well.  For this glass skull I didn't have to get too fancy.  Most of it was a simple rounded edge.  I also cut out the tentacles after I stamped them.  When I did the red edge on the middle pastel tentacle, I just touched some dark red ink from my Color Box Petal Providence set.  I just guestimated where I thought it would land.  The top tentacle is all red and dark brown ink from that same set, no pastel chalk ink.  I brushed the dark brown and red on the top half of the small pink butterfly and used the same Ranger Garnet Pearl paint for the edge of the body.  The antenna are jeweler's wire, the top red and the bottom one is purple.  

Supplies used:

Papers:
Graphic 45 Rare Oddities #4501142
Bella Blvd Funny Skulls
Moxxie's Zombie Attack Hollowed Ground (to include the red blood spot paper strip you can see on the full layout page).
Echo Park's Arsenic and Lace Large Demask#AL71002
Light colored cardstock for the stamping

Embellishments  
Prima Flowers Aquarelle
Prima Flowers Evita-Elsa (brown butterfly)
Blue Fern Studios: Express Yourself Chipboard
Heidi Swapp Lace Paper Pack 
I think the butterfly came from a K&Company Smash bag of mixed butterflies.  If anyone recognizes it and can let me know, I will appreciate it!
Purple, Red, and Green Jeweler's Wire

Inks and Pastes
Quick Quotes Powder Puffs Caribbean Blue and Brandywine  
Prima's Blossom Tree chalk ink
Tattered Angels Simply Sheer Very Purple mist and Dragonfly glimmer mist 
White Gesso
DecoArt Media black modeling paste
Color Box Petal Point Provence set, Merlot and Chestnut (I think)

Feel free to comment below!  I hope you enjoy.  If you have any tips or constructive critics I am always happy to hear.