Monday 4 May 2015

May Sassy Scappers moodboard inspiration

Hello again! Have you seen the new Sassy Scrappers moodboard for May? It's so gorgeous. Anita does an incredible job!


That amazing heart and the phrase stood out immediately! So I decided to create a crazy puzzle of my little girl's face. To be honest, I wasn't really sure how it would turn out, but that's half the fun!
I printed off the photo onto an A4 piece of photo paper. I then measured it exactly and set up the rectangle in Silhouette Studio. I went about placing loads of butterflies in various sizes all over to fill the space.


I cut it with blade set to 7 and a slowish speed of 3. Ta da! It worked (this is where I did a little dance!) I very carefully pulled off the negative of the cut and left the butterflies on the cutting mat.


It took about an hour, but I transferred each little butterfly into place, glueing as I went with Glossy Accents. Half way through I was really not convinced, but as soon as I had finished and took a step back, I was pretty chuffed with the outcome!


It was at this point that I decided I would frame it. I wanted to have some sort of title and then I remembered that a few years ago, I asked Heidi Swapp to write my kids names on a piece of paper. How perfect for the title! I scanned the paper in and then converted it to a cut file for my Silhouette Cameo.

I liked the paper cut but I really like the subtle shadow effect of her acrylic words, so I figured I'd add some! Again, this was an experiment, cutting an acetate sheet. I gave the cut file a small offset and sent it to cut....


How cool does it look once the two are layered!


If you decide to give this a go, please show me! I'd love to see. You can tag me @chantallemcdaniel if you have an Instagram account, or link it up on the Sassy page. The April winners will be announced this week. I hope you will join us!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great week!

Sunday 3 May 2015

Kraft Plus May challenge

The new May Kraft Plus Challenges 'kraftboard' is up on the blog and once again, full of inspiration. Lots to draw the eye and gentle hues in keeping with this wonderful time of year. I was particularly inspired by the florals, the green wooden wall and the beading.


When I was at Escape 2 Create, I taught a little 'puffy sticker' technique using Heidi Swapp's clear magic medium. This stuff is pretty awesome and can be used for a cool resist effect too. Late one night, I created what was affectionately dubbed the "curry wallpaper". It had way too many crazy layers of mist, so I've kept it aside for something one day (maybe, lol). Anyway, I started over with the stencil, just in the centre, to demonstrate the resist look more effectively.


The Magic Medium was spread through a Heidi Swapp floral stencil and carefully dried with a heat gun. Once it was dry, I first used Citron Color Shine, then built up the shade with a bit of Mint Color Shine over the top. With each one, I rubbed gently with a paper towel in a circular motion, to blot excess mist as well as create the outward, halo type effect. The clear parts of the resist took on a bit of the sheen in the mists and have a lovely, subtle glow.


The 'hello' title was a free Basic Grey cut file which I cut onto thin chipboard that can be used in a Silhouette. I have given it a bit of colour with inks and then stamped over the top with white StazOn, finally edging it with green to make it stand out a bit.


Loads of layering going on and the wonderful Kim Price would be proud that it's all been torn not cut!


Thanks so much for popping in. Head over to the K+ blog to see loads of inspiration from the DT as well as Guest Designers and find out more about the amazing sponsors this month! Looking forward to seeing all the entries!