At last, it's the end (or Colours of the Rainbow 3)

The Never-Ending Rose Album!

Remember this?  Yes, I know it was a while ago, but we're finally going to see the last few pages of the Rose Album.  If you want a recap, please have a look here and here - we'll wait here for you...

Okay, all up to speed?  So here we go, final act.  (Romance warning - it's really pretty girly stuff, so if you prefer your scrapping a little grungier, try these pages instead!  But do check out today's quotes at the bottom of the post before you go.)

As you'll recall (since you've only just been there, right?), I enjoyed myself on this album by adding extra layers of images to some of the papers I was using.  

This double-page spread was especially fun to do as, for some reason, I find birdcages really enjoyable to stamp.  Thankfully, it seems plenty of other people do too, as birdcages of all shapes and sizes seem to crop up pretty frequently in stamp sets.  Or maybe that's just the ones I'm drawn to...?

The pages are trimmed with the Tim Holtz Scallops On the Edge die.  The paper to the left in the picture is from Paper Cellar, with my elaboration; the one to the right is from Prima's Fairy Belle 6x6 pad, with one extra birdcage from me.

Right from the start, as one of my first acquisitions, the Tim Holtz bird on a branch stamp has been an absolute favourite.  He's stamped here in Stormy Sky Distress Ink.  I used my Tattered Rose Distress Marker on the rose (makes sense, I suppose) to give it some colour, and to tone in with the flowers on the opposite leaf.

As well as the lovely Pink Paislee birdcage (from the London Market stamp set) in the top left corner and on the Prima page, I've also added the fabulous Kaisercraft tall birdcage on the inner edge.  I'm in love with this stamp: it's elegant, ethereal, perfectly proportioned... just delicious!


I like how it looks as though the fairy is reaching up towards it, perhaps to release the spring and let out whoever's inside, whilst keeping her eye on the mischievous butterflies, of course.


This page also feels quite close to home.  My first love was ballet; I was headed that way for quite a while when I was young... and the dancing fairy is balanced on a mushroom - fungi are one of my mother's passions... fungus forays galore in the Czech Republic!

Here, I've added the shabby chic frame (TH) and some additional script to the right-hand page, to complement and mirror the left-hand side.   


I love the gentle blue-lavender shades of these two papers.  The edges of each set of pages are distressed using inks that tone in, so here I think I applied Weathered Wood with a blending tool.  I think it just gives a lovely sense of definition to the pages to give them that edging.


For this next double page spread, I wanted to add some extra interest.  I created a half-page insert in translucent paper (you try getting it to stay still for a photo on a windy day!), stamped with another of my favourite TH stamps, and edged in blended Bundled Sage and Forest Moss.  

The On the Edge dies used are the brackets pair: the wide bracket is visible on the left page, and the wavier one echoing from the insert to the edge of the right-hand page.

The butterfly in the top left was part of the packet of Tattered Florals die-cuts I bought on ebay for an absolute song (plenty of flowers, leaves and a few butterflies to keep me going while I decide whether to invest in the dies myself), so in its original form it was just plain brown Kraft cardstock.  I gave it a coat of white acrylic, and then inked over that with Tattered Rose Distress Ink.  And where did I choose to do that?  Yes - well spotted, top marks! - in the bottom corner of that left hand page, so that I got a lovely shadow effect by using it as a stencil at the same time as getting it to the colour I wanted - gotta love a shortcut!  I then stamped the music (Pink Paislee - they're going to need a PP abbreviation soon!) on to the butterfly itself in Forest Moss.  He also has a coat of Rock Candy Crackle Paint.

So that's all, folks, as far as the Rose Album goes.  Sorry it took so long, but I hope it was worth the wait.  


If you enjoyed this album, here's a sneak peek of another you might like which will be coming up shortly.  Watch this space...


If you would like to buy or commission albums, cards or other pieces, do get in touch by leaving me a comment.


For now, I'd just like to say thank you for spending some time here today.  If you've stuck with the Rose Album this long, I think you deserve a double quote so... here's a hilarious one from, of all people, Eleanor Roosevelt:


I once had a rose named after me, and I was very flattered.  But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: no good in a bed, but fine up against a wall.
Eleanor Roosevelt


... and here from Dorothy Parker, one of my favourite writers, a blend of just the right amount of romance and bittersweet acerbic wit (and it works best out loud):

One Perfect Rose


A single flow'r he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet -
One perfect rose.

I knew the language of the floweret;
'My fragile leaves,' it said, 'his heart enclose.'
Love long has taken for his amulet
One perfect rose.

Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it's always just my luck to get
One perfect rose. 


Dorothy Parker

Colours of the Rainbow Part 2

A quick recap - here's my mini album using Prima Fairy Belle and Paper Cellar Victorian Classic.  We're going to take a quick flick through the album page spreads.  If you want to see the cover embellishments in detail, have a look here.


With all these On the Edges lined up, I've entered this in the Allsorts Challenge "Any Die Will Do" this week.





In some cases, I've allowed the papers to pretty much speak for themselves - they're so lovely - with just a little inking/distressing to bring the edging into focus.   The Tim Holtz On the Edge dies offer lovely, decorative definition to the pages.  This one to the left is one of the two edges in the Brackets die.





Here you get to see both halves of the Scallops die, with the perforated one on the left page.  When they lie one on top of the other, the scallops are designed to line up perfectly, with the holes adding an extra dimension of decoration.
  
I've also added some stamping to the Paper Cellar paper on the left: the chandelier embossed in white; some extra text; and I used the lacy corner from the Pink Paislee London Market collection to create a matching semi-circular pattern on both papers.



I used the Brackets edge die again to create the vertical pocket on this page spread.  It echoes the edge of the page.  And I used the wavier bracket to add a border to the tag inserts I made for journalling.  


The stamps are from Prima's Nature Garden Collection, and the background text is also a Prima stamp.  







The little girl and the teacup are stamped in Black Soot Distress Ink rather than Archival, as I wanted that aged, vintagey look, rather than a pin-sharp image.


For the inking I used a blending tool to layer TH's Distress Ink in Weathered Wood and Stormy Sky.

There are some pages I altered very little, once I'd decided on the papers.  There is a little guest appearance from the Pink Paislee lace corner in this one... can you spot it?  I wanted to pick up the lace detailing and carry it over.






Other pages got a lot of attention before I decided I was happy with them:

This double page spread takes advantage of one of those happy accidents you encounter while crafting.      I was experimenting with creating my own misting spray.  I've got some with me, but nothing green, and scrapbooking supplies are pretty thin on the ground here in South Bohemia.  I did, however, have some Perfect Pearls mica powder, and a Bundled Sage Re-Inker (all Ranger/Tim Holtz), and a newly empty deodorant mister bottle!  



And I was actually doing all that for another project entirely.   I tried out the spray (on the gorgeous Tattered Angels Timeless Romance Glimmer Screen) and left it to dry while I carried on looking out papers and ideas for this album.  


When I brought the heart back to the table, I put it down without really paying attention, but when I looked, it was lying on this page saying, "hey, look, why don't you make a pocket out of me?".  So I did, adding the mirror image in Forest Moss using the matching Timeless Romance stamp set.






As well as the little hearts, there's a tag for some journalling bundled together in this little collection.  It's very plain and simple: just a small size luggage label that I've inked with vintage photo.  The hearts are diecut from the seedling pots Ive mentioned before. 











I stamped them on the lovely canvas-effect side, using Sepia Archival Ink with the London Market set from Pink Paislee, and inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. 








I edged the reverse with the TH Vintage Photo too, where you can see what I mean about the gorgeous, knobbly texture of the outer side of the pots.











In case you're not sure what I'm talking about with the seedling pots, here they are.  They were only 25Kc (Czech Koruna, or Crowns) for 18 pots... that's about 75p, or just over a dollar), and I'll get plenty of use out of them... so many crafting possibilities!




I'll share the remainder of the album with you soon... more ideas and discoveries to share, but I do have to spend some time on my Czech, or I'll be for ever stuck with standing and pointing in the shop, instead of being able to ask for my seedling pots by name!

He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.
Confucius

Colours of the Rainbow

Finally, as I promised you, some proof that I do have colours other than blue and brown on my palette!  Here's my Rose mini-album:

I also want to start showing some of the new techniques and possibilities I'm discovering every step of the way.  

This is a 6x6 album, with the front and back covers made of heavyweight chipboard, and the internal pages based on lightweight kraft cardstock.  The papers for this one are partly from Prima's Fairy Belle 6x6 pad (gorgeous!), and partly from Paper Cellar's Victorian Classic 6x6 pad. 

I found the Paper Cellar pad very much reduced in The Range one day (I guess it's sort of as close as we get in the UK to Michael's but, from what I read about it, oh, how I envy the American crafters having Michael's!), so I bought two or three books of it.  They're nice shabby chic designs in fairly neutral colours, but with plenty of scope for me to get creative dressing them up, as you'll see.  This is one of them on the cover, with additional inking round the edges.

The metal corner edgings were one of my e-bay bargains.  I'm sure you'll spot them coming up again somewhere down the line.

I added some mixed ribbons and strings to the binding rings, some lace ribbon across the centre, and then the silky rose in the corner.  It was originally white (part of a very cheap bridal set, from the same place as the ribbon... the Czech Republic may not do much scrapbooking, but they do do white weddings), so I used my Tim Holtz Distress Markers on it.  

The rose is backed onto some die-cut distressed florals I got on e-bay, cut out of kraft card.  I used pale acrylic to get a matte background, and then inked the colours on, again using the markers to get the detail of veins on the leaves and petals.  Over the top of that I painted some Rock Candy (clear) Distress Crackle Paint, 
and left them to get on with crackling.

I mentioned in the last blog that I'd been playing with the TH On the Edge dies... well, here they come in to their own, I think.  Page by page, different edgings reveal themselves (though I've not got a full set yet, so there are some repeats!).


I love how you get a tantalising little sneak-peek of what you're about to get and, most of all, I like letting it fall open like this, so that you get a sense of the whole paper collection in one go.


Next time we'll take a closer look at the page spreads, and some of the detailing I've been adding to get the Paper Cellar designs to reflect the Prima ones they're being used with.


Thanks so much for dropping by... there'll be more very soon!




I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.
Lousia May Alcott