Cupcake - Keeping the Best Challenge Blog

Hi everyone!  Today I have something new {well new to me} to share with you... this is a sketch and layout to share with you that I was asked to create for Russian Sketch Challenge Blog "Keeping the Best".  I was delighted to be invited to be a Guest Designer for them and got my sketch app out and started sketching again!

I've created this using some new papers from Websters Pages, yep, I know... so different for them!  I loved it as soon as I saw it, such gorgeous patterns and colours!

[click on the image for a larger view]

This is my cute little niece Lily, like all kids and cupcake that's in the vicinity, she needs it!  This pic was taken while I had a girls day out with her, my sister Nev and my mum - need to have more {and we all need more cupcakes!}

So go check "Keeping the Best" out - the challenge is HERE with samples of their DT's work following my sketch.  They have fabulous sketches every 2 weeks as well as inspiring designers with such different takes on scrapping... I'll be visiting there much more often!  And don't worry, it may be in Russian but they usually take the time to also translate everything into English and there is a translation gadget on the blog!

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Read - Show Us Your Stuff

This month I was invited to be a Guest Designer over at Show Us Your Stuff, a sweet little Aussie challenge blog which has a focus on hand made or hand dyed elements.  They usually have 3 challenges a month as well as a technique prompt.

 I was given this image to use as inspiration... did I get lucky or what!?!  There are so many wonderful things to draw from in this!!

I was inspired by the shape so I created a 11x8.5' layout, the bricks and the books... and the message on how reading fuels the imagination and creates beautiful worlds to escape into.

For a long time we couldn't get Kellan to read anything, let alone a whole book and then one day he realised how wonderful it is... now he always has his head in a book!!

 

The sprockets and the flower were created using Donna Salazar Dies by Spellbinders...

And these fabulous bricks that were perfect for this, are made by Dusty Attic.

I have a tutorial on how I dressed the chipboard bricks HERE.

Pop on over to Show Us Your Stuff and check out their challenges, they are cute, fun and definitely inspiring!!



Thanks for visiting, take care and

Products used:

Patterned Paper: 

GCD Studios - Antiquities by Donna Salazar
GCD Studios - Crafty Chronicle by Donna Salazar

Chipboard:

Dusty Attic - Brick Wall Panel

Dusty Attic - Bookman ABC Set

Flowers: 
Green Tara - Paper Rose

Ink: 

Clearsnap - Mix'd Media Inx {Pewter, Leather, Truffle, Patina, Jasmine} 

Embossing Powder: 

Clearsnap - Mix'd Media Inx Embossing {Honey, Leather} 

Dies: 

Spellbinders - Rose Creations by Donna Salazar 

Spellbinders - Sprightly Sprockets by Donna Salazar 

Tools/Machines: 

Spellbinders - Grand Calibur 

Zutter - Distrezz-It-All 

Other: 

Bazzil Cardstock  {Chatterbox Range}

Digital Elements: 

Designer Digitals - Carded Stacks No1 by Katie Pertiet 

Designer Digitals - Notebook Edged Photo Masks No2 by Katie Pertiet 

Sketch: 

Sketches by Mistra - Sketch 20

Sketches by... Me!!

On my holidays, instead of the mountains of scrapping I had planned to do, I started sketching layout plans.  What started out as just doing a couple of rough ones for the Dusty archives from existing layouts, ended up being over 50 sketches, loads of them new!  I am having such great fun creating them!!

I am sketching them in an iPad app called Paper 53, it's sooo much fun... and instead of just keeping these for myself I thought I'd share them for anyone to use.

I have created a blog for them called Sketches by Mistra {original hey, but it's easy to remember and find that way LOL}.  

I have loaded the 1st 15 sketches and the others I will add each week, so keep checking back if they inspire you!

They are Mistra'style... so lots of layers, lots of embie placements and most certainly not perfect!  They were simply created as a kick off point for inspiration, so twisting and tweaking it certainly on the cards!   I like the rough water coloured look of them, for me they have really fuelled my imagination!

This is one of that I'm just waiting for a photo for to finish, hopefully I'll have it ready over the weekend to share with you all!

Thanks for visiting, take care and