Heidi Swapp - Sun Chaser - So Happy

Hi everyone,

Claire back with you today sharing my second layout using Heidi Swapp Sun Chaser.

If you've taken a look at this collection in the store already, you'll know there are some absolutely stunning papers to choose from, and this week, I have decided to focus on making the paper the star of the show.

It's called Chillax and it is absolutely gorgeous!

Because the paper is so colourful, I have reverted to my standard Premium White Cardstock, and have cut the paper to fill a cutfile (Peartree Cutfiles, Pinwheel Mandala).

I considered placing the design centrally, but thought it would be more fun to cut the design into two unequal pieces. I've positioned these off centre on either edge of my page, leaving space for my photograph in between the two sections.

Where the photograph would be placed, I created a mixed media backdrop for it to sit on.  Having prepped the paper first with Gesso, I added Distress Oxide Sprays in:

 - Abandoned Coral

 - Fossilized Amber

 - Squeezed Lemonade

And also some Shimmerz Vibez in Love Ocean #9.

Although I've had Distress Oxides for many years, I am new to Distress Oxides Sprays - I LOVE them!! I find them so much easier to work with as they swish around the page much easier once a few splashes of water have been added. I'm definitely hooked!

Once the ink was all dry, I took the Sun Chaser Clear Stamp Set and selected the phrase "so happy". It's the perfect sentiment for how we always feel when we manage to get away from it all.

I repeated the stamping across the whole section, ignoring any gaps which would be covered by my picture.

The stamp set also contains a small heart - perfect for filling smaller spaces in between stamping.

Once all the mixed media elements were dry, I placed my cutfile on ether side, raising on foam pads for dimension.

Next, the photo and the clusters.

I mounted my photo on a piece of Be Bold black scripty paper, along with some polka dot tissue paper from my stash. I layered it on top of a tag from the Ephemera Pack and a small sun sticker from the Sticker Book.

Next, I created a small pull out that sits under the photo, using another piece form the Ephemera Pack. This holds some hidden journaling.

A small cluster to the bottom left of my photo created balance. Using black ephemera pieces helped tie in with the stamping and bring some grounding to this very colourful page. 

I used a circular tag, again from the Ephemera Pack, alongside some hearts from the Mini Puffy Stickers which feature in each cluster.

I decided, that with my repeated stamping, I didn't want a separate title, so ran with 'So Happy' as the title for my page. I used the remaining paper, left over from the cutfile, to cut some small 1" hearts, which I folded and scattered across the page along with some Pinkfresh Studio Jewels in Stargazer and Glacier.

As a final finishing touch, I felt like the page needed a little bit of foliage - in the photograph, we are in the Dominican Republic - so I cut a few leaves from the Juicy paper and added underneath my tag.

I really love how this page turned out.  These statement papers really do a lot of the work for you and need only minimal embellishing - especially with a splash of mixed media in the background.

I hope you've enjoyed these pages with Heidi Swapp Sun Chaser - It really is a beautiful collection to create with, and I hope it's inspired you to get your stories documented.

See you next month!

Claire xx

@Scrappysoulmate

Heidi Swapp - Sun Chaser - Good Life

Hi everyone!

Hope you've all been enjoying the recent Bank Holiday weekends - They've given me some precious scrapping time to play with the most gorgeous new collection - Sun Chaser by Heidi Swapp. 

For my first layout this month, I wanted to explore all the summer vibes, and relive some happy holiday moments from a trip we took a few years back.

To push myself out of my comfort zone, and away from my usual white background, I opted for a beautiful piece of Bazzill Cardstock from the Matchmaker pack in shade Aqua.  It has a really soft pretty tone and matches this collection like a dream. I trimmed it down to 11.5", distressed the edges and added a machine stitched border. I really love this effect.

I was immediately drawn to the Sunburst paper.  This paper has so many possibilities and is perfect for scrapping sunny photographs.

I decided to cut each slice of the sunburst and create chards, picking out the blue, pink and orange shades. I machine stitched down the centre of each piece, leaving the thread ends loose, and distressed the edges of each chard to create a bit of additional texture.

I lay each piece in a diagonal pattern across my page, raising some on foam pads for height, and some flat. I folded the edges up to create extra depth and movement.

Around my circular photograph, I created some clusters using the circle puffy phrase stickers from the Colorful Phrase Thickers pack, and some hearts from the Mini Puffy Stickers.

I layered in a rainbow, Ice Lollies and cactus from the Ephemera Pack and Sticker Book, which contains 390 stickers! Some, like the cactus include gold foiling which adds a really nice touch to the page. I also added two ephemera clouds across my chards to create a whimsical effect.

From the Definition Stickers, I placed some tone on tone phrases to the sunburst chards, to run alongside the stitching. I also added some puffy stars from the Colorful Phrase Thickers. (The thicker sheet is jam packed of fabulous titles, but also loads of fun elements including hearts and stars in all the pretty colours - it's a must have for me in this collection).

The small teal banner is from the Mini Puffy Stickers.

For my title, I of course turned to those stunning Colorful Phrase Thickers - they are sooo beautiful!

To help the title stand off the background, I outlined it with a black Sharpie.

To finish, I splattered watered down white and black paint with a very fine paintbrush across the design and that was the page done!

I am loving this collection  - it's super fresh, with such happy vibes. I'm excited to share another layout with you later this month.

Until then, take care.

Claire xx

@scrappysoulmate