"Live, Love Laugh (Almost 3)" Mixed media layout 'Finnabair style'

"Live, love, laugh (Almost 3)"

Hi everyone,

I'm here to show you the first layout that is published upon the Canvas Corp Brands blog! I am so proud! 

When I made these pictures of Connor to use for his upcoming 3rd birthday invitation, I already saw a lovely layout in my mind, with emphasis on the brown and mint. 

Soooo, this "Live love laugh" paper from Canvas Corp from their Kraft series, went perfect with the merry picture! Don't worry about all the black gesso, you won't even know it's there once it's finished. I hope ;)

The embellishments were picked out to suit Connor at this age: numbers, cars, planes, trains, gears, puzzle pieces (I actually used a cheap puzzle of Connor, ssshhh, don't tell him!) and some quirky arrows, stars and feathers because what else can you use for boys that isn't girly like flowers?

Also, I drew some quirky lines with my glue gun.
You may wanna skip the next step I took though... I burnt my fingers terribly when a star covered in hot glue fell and I picked it up. I do burn myself occasionally while using the glue gun, but this time it was different! My finger felt like it was on fire and even after holding it in lukewarm running water, it kept burning. I had to delay my layout  (and almost everything else!) for hours. By then it was evening and I was too tired. The day after I approached my glue gun with new feelings...

My colleague gave me the hint to put a bowl of water near while using my glue gun. If anything happens dip your fingers straight into the bowl! 

So finally I was able to piece all my embellishments together.

Next came the time-consuming gesso'ing. Turned all of the embellishments white.

Oh dear, what's she doing now? I had a brilliant idea you probably shouldn't copy, because it didn't really work out anyway. I wanted to 'gesso' the edges black. And the edges of the embellishments too. But that didn't go smoothly, so I just dabbed some more black on the surfaces.

Then, against better knowledge, I sprayed the whole shebang with glimmermist. At first just the 'Verdigris'. VERY shimmery indeed. But it didn't cover up the fugly, harsh black spots I had made. What to do? 

Let's give the white gesso mixed with 13Arts Magic Powder (for more texture) a try, by dabbing it on with a foam brush. Like I learned from someone the other day. 

Wowzers! That worked incredibly well! 

But it became a bit too boring for my taste, so I sprayed some more glimmermist. Verdigris, Rolling Tide and even some Boardwalk to darken it up. Still not satisfied, I brushed everything with a bit of Goldenbrown Inka Gold

There. All done. Gave the (already distressed) edges a little spray too and then I wrapped some iron wire around my embellishments. To spice it up a bit.

So here you have it. Hope you like it. I for one am happy with the outcome. And believe me, I am not always.

Comments are very welcome, questions too. Hop on over to my facebookpage too, I'd like that! 

Less is Bore!

Or come and follow me on Instagram!

Happy scrapping!

"Treasure" Mixed Media layout

Hi all,

For some time already I had my mind set on the 7dots papers. I hesitated on the "Cold Country" collection, though. On second thought the colours did speak to me. Once they arrived the colours weren't as intense as I'd hoped. That's okay though. Paper is just a background you can adjust, after all. 

Furthermore I had seen the deliciously intense colour scheme with rich purple, green and bright blue from the February challenge over at the Words and Paintery blog. But I simply had to add some cobalt blue and gold to make it a bit more 'peacock'. Yumm...

To make those intense colours even more intense, I wanted to use Inka Gold metallics. The challenge asked for glitter and shine, so they can have it!

After working with these creamy pastes I am totally in love. I cannot imagine life without them anymore :P

Velvet flowers, Prima star vines, metal embellishments coloured gold, feathers and Inka Gold applied through stencils, and there you have it...

A creamy, rich, intense, velvety, luxurious, warm layout that makes Connor's eyes POP! 

The radiance of a treasure cave filled to the brim. The way I feel about my little boy. He's my greatest treasure.

Like it? Leave me a note!

You can also stop by my facebookpage "Less is bore!"

Or check me out on Instagram: mandylessisbore

Take care!

"You're a rainbow full of possibilities" Mixed media layout February inspiration board Scraps of Darkness

Hi everyone,

How have you been? 

Despite my silence I have been busy! If all will go accordingly, my first layout ever will soon be published on the Canvas Corp Brands Blog! Can you imagine how proud and excited I am??? 

The layout I am blogging about is not that layout however, of course ;)

This particular layout was inspired by the moodboard over at the Scraps of darkness and scraps of elegance mixed media scrap community. It's their February Inspiration board Challenge!

I had been wanting to scrap a particular picture of Connor and his dad in the swimming pool already, where they sat leaning against all sorts of rainbow colored slides and structures. Connor was about a half year old then, I think.

Because of the rainbow I had in mind, I needed a rather white background paper. This one from 13Arts, called Fly Away "Imagine", suited my need perfectly. 

The circle in the background is also from 13Arts, however I have recently bought whole rolls of this decor fabric at a local store that sells everything and anything (it's called Action). I used gel medium to glue it to the background and let it dry overnight.

The next day I added a layer of gesso all over the circle, then sought out some stencils to use with modeling paste. 

Hardly worth all the effort, because the shapes that were large enough still vanished in the fabric, and the smaller shapes became sort of a blur. But whatever, I created some texture ;)

Threw in some nail caviar (micro beads) assorted beads from my jewelry making stash also.

Time to add some chipboard. Among my chipboard shapes there is also the Scrapiniec Monograce "R". (Of the entire alphabet I won and am slowly but steadily scrapping away.)

I wanted to emphasize the idea that Connor still has endless possibilities, so I used some arrows to indicate him moving forward, etc.

Once all my embellishments were in place it was time for some more layers of gesso...

Then the spraying started. I just used the colors in my stash, not really regarding what brand they were, just picked them because of their color. After everything had dried overnight, I did notice differences. 

Tattered Angels glimmermists dry very nicely (noticed that on my little canvas too), but the Maya Mist and Dylusions tend to stay very wet.

Which does not come in handy if you want to coat everything with gesso, by dabbing it with a sponge brush. Something that succeeded very well I might add, while I was creating the layout I made before this one. (The layout that I mentioned before at the top and will hopefully be on the Canvas Corp Brands blog!)

However this time the gesso simply picked up the colors, especially the red and blue. The wet inks. Well...

So...

I just played some more and re-added some spray inks, and even coated the whole with a pearlescent glimmermist for more glimmer.

Once I had settled on the best and most clear way to add the rest of my quote "You're a rainbow full of possibilities" I gave the Scrapiniec Monograce "R" a few dabs of black gesso. 

Hope you like it! Comments are always most welcome, followers on my facebookpage Less is bore! and my Instagram mandylessisbore even more.

I'll leave you with some close-ups and wish you

Happy Scrapping!