Scrapmatts Design Team Reveal

I was very excited to learn that I had made the Scrapmatts design team for the 2013 term. I have wanted to be on that team, since the very first time I got to work with some of their amazing products when I first started designing with Scraps Of Darkness. I am a super busy mom, wife, business owner & person, and limit my DT positions, so when the call came up, it was at a perfect time, because I had cleared my plate enough to take on one more :) 

I just loved digging into my box of goodies and getting to work!! I used lots of Scrapmatts chipboard and combined it with this month's gorgeous Scraps Of Elegance Kit-A Dream Within A Dream to create a layout that kept to the criteria of "About Me". I chose to scrap my roll of mom, and titled it "Love Being Draven's Mom". Somehow when we become a mom, our identity tends to change from our name, to such and such's mom. Well, I went from being Renea, to being Draven's Mom, and it is one identity change that I embrace with all my heart, and I absolutely love, being Draven's Mom~ I have a wonderful relationship with my son, and although I may be a bit biased, I think he is turning into one of the most incredible and most beautiful souls I have ever had the privilege of knowing. He just has this amazing personality and intellect that makes my heart overflow with joy and love. 

I created this layout using a sketch that I found on Pinterest by Anita Bounds. Sketches are a great way to get your mojo going and to give you a starting point when you are stuck, so thank you to all the amazing sketch artists out there who inspire us all. The top photo is one that my sis, Tammy took of us back a few months ago, and the smaller photo is one that my husband, David took of us when Draven was around 9 or 10 months old. The large photo is surrounded by a frame that I created using a Scrapmatts CB6011 Ornate Frame 09,  and two end pieces that I cut from CB5095 Ornate Frames 16 , and then inked and stamped, then added ZVA pearls to.

I used 2 of the CB1107 Clocks 08, and inked them and their hands with Ranger Denim Ink, then spot painted them with puff paint, heated the paint up and let it puff. I attached the hands to the side and topped them with a ZVA pearl. I love using my hands in strange places on clocks, because it represents how I live outside of time when I scrap. Me and a scrapbook friend,  Stephanie-TwoBoysForMe, were just discussing the other day how when we scrap, time seems to disappear. Scrapping has a way of taking me to another place and the world and all time seams to fall away when I get caught up in a project.

I then topped each clock with a sweet little Scrapmatts dragonfly-CB1036 Dragonflies 04, that I had painted up with Stickles.

Here I created the "Love" part of my title, by taking a Scrapmatts CB1168 Assorted Words 10,  inking it with black ink, painting it with Stickles and layering it onto a Tim Holtz Book Plate that I had inked and painted, then sealed.

I took a small Scrapmatts Frame CB5095 Ornate Frames 16, and popped out the inner frame, then inked and stamped it to match the large frame. I then topped it with another one of those glittered up dragonflies CB1036 Dragonflies 04, and some ZVA pearls.


I just loved how this layout turned out, and will treasure it for years to come~

This next layout was created using some past Scraps Of Elegance kit pieces and lots of Scrapmatts Chipboard, and was scrapped using this months DT criteria of "something new".  My son, Draven does photography and gets a lot of his work displayed at one of our local visual arts museums, downtown, and he had taken this photo of a seeding dandelion head, and when I saw it, I thought about how something can be at what seems the end of  it's life cycle and actually it is at a new beginning. So, I took his photo and digitally added the journaling, " What appears to be the end...... may really be a new beginning", and based my layout on that concept.

I did lots of layering and modeling paste work.

Sorry, I know these photos are a bit darker than I like, but the lighting has been terrible here. I reshot the main photo, but didn't have time to reshoot the details, and no amount of tweeking in PhotoShop seems to help either.  For the top right and bottom left corners, I used Scrapmatts CB1126 Australian Federation Corners 01, that I painted with gesso, then misted, and then sponge stippled with a lighter color. I then layered a little heart from the CB1166 Cupids O1 set  , onto each one that I had inked and then painted with puff paint for texture.

For my flower layers, I created lots of hand made flowers with some pre packaged ones, and then used some Scrapmatts flourishes, CB1004 Flourishes 05, that I sprayed with mist for foliage pieces.

Here I took a Scrapmatts Clock CB6047 Clocks 01, and tucked it into my smaller flower arrangement. I ordered this chipboard piece in white mist, and I just love the 2 toned coloring~no need to do anything to it, just add it onto your work.

Thanks for stopping by for my first Scrapmatts reveal! I hope you have enjoyed my layouts and all the chipboard techniques that I have used. Have a great week, and I hope you find the time to create something beautiful of your own!! ~Renea