Saturday, October 31, 2015
Hi everyone! I've have a new Saturday Tutorial for you!!  There's a step by step tutorial on how to make this tag using pieces from the October 2015 Collection, Garden Harvest. You can find the tutorial HERE on SnapGuide. Enjoy!

 
 
Friday, October 30, 2015
Hello Ladies, 

Well what can I say, I have absolutely loved being a Guest Designer for Swirlydoos this month! I have learned so much since I joined Swirlydoos nearly 2 years ago and made many friends, to then be able to do this has been amazing ! Thank you for giving me the chance to join the very talented and awesome Design Team at Swirlydoos and the gorgeous kit I had to showcase !!!
 But I haven't finished, not quite yet !!! I have been busy finishing off using my kit up and have another 3 layouts to show you before I bow out !
These 3 layouts are all quite different, just to show how varied your projects can be out of these kits.

The first one is using THAT Ceiling Tile out of the Embellishment kit add on .... when I first saw it I said to myself   'what am I going to do with that' !!! BUT then I could just see so many ways to use it ! I had to do a mixed media layout with it and treat it a bit like a canvas, so here it is...


First of all this is going on my wall, so I punched hanging holes with a Cropodile in the top 2 corners and linked a chain on with link rings to hang. The photo is a favourite of mine, of hubby and the kids.
I used clear gesso as a base and then used mists to splatter and Finnabair gold crackle texture paste through a mask for the background. My photo is backed on to ripped misted cardboard. I  misted over a piece of the metal border strip and one of the chippie pieces that were both in the Embellishment kit add on. The flowers had a severe misting several times over ! Most of the other embellishment were from previous Swirlydoos kits and then I added loads of seed beads, chains and micro beads.
 
The next is a soft pretty layout, back to the shabby chic style I love !


This layout was done using up a lot of scraps and end pieces from the 12x12 papers, the last of my flowers plus a few extra from the Swirlydoos store and previous kits and some masking with texture paste. The edges have all had  Shimmerz Inklingz 'First Blush' brushed on them. I used some die cut pieces to finish of with the Prima Junkyard pieces from the main kit and the a tag.
For all you butterfly enthusiasts out there the butterfly die is called 'Little Frosted Butterfly' by Wild Rose Studio. The Ivy die is called Ivy Flourish by  Joanna Sheen Signature dies.

In my last layout I have really tied to keep the 'Autumn/ Fall' theme from some of the Blue Fern Studio 'Autumn Anthology' papers.



By this point I had run out of flowers from the kit (gasp...horror) so I used the BoBunny Noteworthy ephemera, my remaining chippie, the blackboard sign and Prima Wood Icons 'GardenFable', all from the kit and add ons, onto my stamped background. To finish the page I fussy cut lots of mushrooms and toadstools. 
And that's it......the kit is gone...... :(

Now looking forward to the next kit !
 Thank you for taking the time to look.

Ginny    :)
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Hi, here is a layout I shared with the Swirlydoos Kit Club's October Kit (Garden Harvest) reveal last week. Today I'm sharing the video I made to go with it.


Here is my layout again:




And the Video 


Materials used on this layout
October 2015 Main Kit -  Blue Fern Studio Papers Gazebo, Parumerie & Marcentile
Bo Bunny Paper Slate Dot, Chipboard piece, Prima Flowers (Esperanza Sarita), Prima wood Icons (Garden Fable). 
Flower add on kit Oct 2015 - Petaloo Flowers (DIY Dahlias Tea stained)
Mediums add on kit Oct 2015 - Blue Fern Mist (Sky), Art Anthology Medium (Bone), Prima Stencil (Stone Walkway)
Embellishment add on kit Oct 2015 - Bo Bunny Noteworty Die Cuts (Rose Cafe), Bo Bunny Double Dots (Emerald) 
My Stash - Extra flowers (Prima), Mists, Stencil & Cheesecloth



If you’re ready to start getting perfectly coordinated, top of the line scrapbook kits delivered to your door, please visit us at www.swirlydoos.com. Mention my name (Bec Genet) when you subscribe and you’ll receive 10% off your first kit, AND a coupon good for 30% off your entire purchase in the Swirlydoos.com store!

Can't wait to see everyone's layouts made with this amazing kit on the Forum and Facebook Gallery

Bec xxxx
Monday, October 26, 2015
Thanks to all who participated in our October blog hop!

Here is the winner:


Bonnie S. you have won this Kaisercraft paper pack!




Congratulations to all our winner. Please email Kim@swirlydoos.com with your info. As always, thanks for hopping along with us.   

As always, if you’re ready to start getting perfectly coordinated, top of the line scrapbook kits delivered to your door, please visit us at www.swirlydoos.com. Mention my name (Kim Heard) when you subscribe and you’ll receive 10% off your first kit, AND a coupon good for 30% off your entire purchase in the Swirlydoos.com store!


Sunday, October 25, 2015
The layout of the week this week goes to Sherri - Congratulations Sherri!!!!!

Sherri has made this gorgeous layout as a 50th Wedding Anniversary gift for a friends parents, what an beautiful gift. The blue and yellow are so stunning together, and I also love the lace border around the amazing extra large photo. 


Congrats Sherri 
Saturday, October 24, 2015
 Scrap your Scraps

Not being a great card maker, I use my scraps to create layouts. Typically I get 6-8 layouts from each kit. And, sometimes a mini album or OTP project. When I get down to the end of a kit my style changes from shabby chic to grungy or CNS. Today I'd like to share two more layouts created with the September kit of the month.

You can check out the tutorial here for the first layout. I do have a surprise tip for you at the end of the tutorial!


This is the second layout I created with the September scraps. I added ephemera from the embellishment add on, washi tape and bling from the main kit as well as bits of paper from the main kit. Some random stamping, inking, and rub ons added to the interest of the background paper.


I hope these layouts show you the versatility of the Swirlydoos kits. Despite all the flowers, frills and bling you can create masculine, CNS, or grungy layouts, too. The September kit allowed me to make seven 12x12 layouts, one mini album and one OTP project!

These are Design Team projects I created for Swirlydoos Scrapbook Kit Club. If you’re ready to start getting perfectly coordinated, top of the line scrapbook kits delivered to your door, please visit us at www.swirlydoos.com. Mention my name (Jan) when you subscribe and you’ll receive 10% off your first kit, AND a coupon good for 30% off your entire purchase in the Swirlydoos.com store!”


Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Welcome to:
Swirlydoos Kit Club 
October Scrapbook Kit Reveal & Blog Hop!

Swirlydoos is proud to bring you our beautiful October collection:

GARDEN HARVEST

  And check out the coordinating add-ons that perfectly compliment our October scrapbook kit.








Here is a video tour of the October kit:



 





Are you a subscriber? If so, your kit is on it's way if you don't already have it! If not, check out the Swirlydoos store to see if there are any October kits in the store!

Has it sold out? - become a subscriber and not only will you never miss a kit again, but you'll also pay less for your monthly scrapbook kits!
*Mention this blog hop and save 10% on your first kit*


 Never miss one of our kits again!



We have some absolutely beautiful scrapbook projects for you to see today!!  Make sure to leave a comment on all of the blogs for a chance to win!!! 



Make sure you've "LIKED & FOLLOWED" us on Facebook to get sneak peeks and coupon codes good for the brand new, must have CHA goodies in our online store!

And, join our Facebook online gallery for amazing inspiration from both subscribers and designers using all of our monthly kits! 



Our education/design team has created some amazing frames with the project/technique add on kit:  





 






Jan has prepared an awesome tutorial that you can find in the "Anatomy of a Layout" section of our forums on how you can create this page:


You can also see her step by step on Snapguide. Swirlydoos is now on Snapguide. Don't forget to follow us there and you will get a notification every time we publish a new tutorial.


SKETCH CHALLENGE!!!


October Sketch, created by our amazing sketch artist, Beggahuna! 




This beautiful sketch is your inspiration, now get creating! Our October sketch challenge runs until November 15th, and is open to EVERYONE! Upload your layout into the " Sketch" section of the Swirlydoos Facebook Gallery and you will be entered to win a fantastic prize pack from Swirlydoos! Check the sketch challenge thread in our forums to see what the designers and other members have created using this sketch for inspiration!

This is the sketch challenge prize:




And, now for the prize to be won during the Swirlydoos October scrapbook kit reveal blog hop!!!!!

Swirlydoos is proudly offering up the following blog hop prize:


So, let's get started! Make sure to leave a comment on all of the blogs for a chance to win!!! 

You have until midnight, eastern time, on 10/23 to complete the hop. Winners will be announced on the Swirlydoos Blog on 10/25. In order to qualify to win here is what you need to do:
1: Visit all of the blogs and leave a comment on each. This way we know you were there. Take your time. There are REALLY beautiful things to see along the way.
2: Before you leave each blog, look for the “special” words and write it down. 
Once you have visited all the blogs and collected all the special words, they will create a sentence. 
3: Finally, go back to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had, tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected. Can't wait to hear from you.


The party starts on Jan's blog.

Blog Hop Order

Sunday, October 18, 2015
The Layout of the week this week goes to Peggy - Congratulations!!!!!

I loved this layout, Peggy worked her magic with the September Kit - Moment in Time. The simplicity of the layout is stunning, it really made this gorgeous photo stand out. The hexagon cut-outs were a fabulous touch pulling the whole LO together.

   
Congratulations Peggy.
Saturday, October 17, 2015
 
Happy Saturday!! I'm so excited to be sharing my first post on Swirlydoos blog with you all today, as a Guest Designer this month! 
 
Question, what do you do with all your left over embellishments and paper pieces when you've finished doing your layouts from your latest Swirlydoos kit? Put them in your stash for another day?
I want to encourage you to firstly, use those left over embellishments up and secondly, get making some Altered Art!!
The beautiful embellishments and flowers we get in our Swirly kits are perfect for Altered Art/ Off the Page projects and personally I love creating them. Sometimes its nice to not have the restriction of trying to fit your colours and designs around a photo and instead create a beautiful gift or a lovely piece of home décor to be pride of place in your home.
Today I'm showing you how I make my home décor Plaques. I hope after you've looked at this you are inspired to go and create something wonderful for your homes and friends.
So here is what I'm creating....
 

Take a MDF ready made plaque and give it a coat of gesso on both front and back and sides. Allow to dry. The back may need more then one coat as this stays visible.

 
To cover MDF choose a 12 x 12 paper. I chose  Blue fern Studio Deja Vu Fripperies from a previous Swirlydoos kit. Cut to required size. Mine was 26cm x 10cm.  I used the other side of the paper as well, to fussy cut some elements out to use later.
 
 
 
 Using a wet glue, stick your paper to one side of the MDF. I always make sure mine is well stuck down by running a brayer over it. Use a craft knife and trim the rounded corners, and punch through the hanging holes. At this point I also give the back of the MDF a coat of Mod Podge. This gives the back a nice finish and protects it from marks and scratches whilst being worked on and when hung on the wall.
 
Next choose some main pieces to add to your plaque design. This is where I have used some remains of previous Swirlydoos kits -  the picket fence and a chipboard frame. Cover the picket fence with a coat of Distress crackle paint 'picket fence' (very appropriate !)
 
 
 Cover the chipboard  with embossing powder. I used gesso first to make colour coverage better. When the gesso was dry I used 3 different embossing powders, one was a Stampendous frantage Antique white to add texture.

 
Next step is to add some stencilling to the centre area of the plaque. I used a Dreamweaver Crackle texture paste and Prima mask.
 
 
Cut a 5" doily in half and ink the edge with some Frayed Burlap distress ink.
At the same time ink around the edges of the plaque.

 
Next add a lace trim to the bottom edge. I layered two pieces of lace and then added a pearl trim on top.
 

And now the best bit! Choose some embellishments! :)
I raided my Swirly embellies and began to play. Try different arrangements until you find a design that works before sticking down.

 
I wanted to use this vine, but it was too much as a whole vine, so I cut off the flowers and the wire twirls and used them separately.
 
 
 
Now stick away!
I like to use a Pinflair type glue. This makes it very easy to add height and dimension, also because it takes a while to dry it gives you plenty of time to move or adjust the positions of anything. It will dry solid over night. I added baubles of Pinflair under my frame to lift it off of the plaque and small blobs on the ends of any pieces I'm trying to poke into a cluster.
 

 
Use a length of chain to hang the plaque with. Thread the chain through the holes in the plaque. Then use a short length of seam binding ribbon passed through links in both tails of chain to tie into a bow. Repeat on the other side of the plaque leaving enough chain to hang it at a nice height.
 
 
 
A little finishing touch, rub a little Frayed Burlap Distress Ink over the cracks on the picket fence.
 

I will end this post with a couple of close ups.
 
 
 
 
Thanks for looking, enjoy the rest of your day. 
 
Ginny  :)
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Hey Savages Kim here. We are preparing to reveal our October kit and we have a great Guest Designer for October. I want to introduce her and let her tell you a little about herself before the reveal. We are so excited to have her designing for us this month. 

Swirlydoos would like to welcome our very own Swirly Sister Ginny Hickmott as our October Guest Designer. Please give her a warm welcome.



Here is a little bit about me:

Hello, my name is Ginny, as many of you know! I live in Wales in the United Kingdom, with my husband, two children and my beloved Labradoodle dog, Evie. I am a working Mum with every spare moment spent indulging my passion and obsession for scrapbooking and altered art. I was introduced to scrapbooking by my Mum in 2009 and was immediately hooked! I have been a Swirlydoos kit member for 17 months and adore Krissy’s kits. I love shabby chic, romantic, flowery ,distressed projects and have a new love for adding mixed media.
I am really looking forward to sharing my projects with you with this month’s gorgeous kit! 

Please come back on Saturday when Ginny does the tutorial Saturday. Trust me when I say you will love her gorgeous project.
  
Then come back on Tuesday October 20th, as we reveal the October Kit and all the add ons. The design team has been hard at work on this amazing kit. You will be so inspired by all the stunning work. 
 
Sunday, October 11, 2015
The layout of the week this week goes to Barbara - Congratulations!!!!

Barbara's entry's for the September Sketch Challenge is gorgeous, I love the distressed edges with the touches of lace peeking out, and that script stencilling on the background. The bird and branch chipboard pieces sets off the photo beautifully too. 


Congrats Barbara.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Hi everyone, I'm super excited to have my first DT post on the Swirlydoos team. 

Today I have a tutorial for you on how to make an easy watercolour mixed media background using a variety of different products.  To make a background like this you can use whichever products you have on hand,  like mists, mica powders, Gelatos and even ink pads. 

I hope you find this video helpful.

This is the first time I've narrated a video -  I'll happily take any tips to improve.





 See you all around the forums and on Facebook

Bec


Monday, October 5, 2015
Challenges are a great way to get your creativity going, and Swirlydoos challenges are an awesome place to look for ways to use your imagination, the amazing kits, and your stash! Take a look at we have going on for October:

Moment in Time Sketch Challenge

This challenge is open to everyone and runs until 11/15. You can use the kit, or any supplies on hand!


This is Jan's stunning interpretation of the sketch:

Join us, and you could win a prize!

Swirly Girls Challenge (SGC) Changes hosted by Swirly Subscriber Paula

Every month, a subscriber hosts a challenge, and this month, it's Paula! She has an excellent idea for this month and you can read more about it by clicking on the link above. This challenge runs through 10/31!




All that Flutters Challenge

Each month, Angelica hosts this challenge and it runs until 11/15. Add some butterflies or anything that flutters to your layouts using the September kit to join in the fun!

Here's her example:



Round Robin Challenge

Sign ups have already happened for this challenge, but it's fun to check out the transformations the layouts take each week. Kim is hosting this month, and it's all about vintage pics and fall colors, with an emphasis on BORDEAUX!

Here's her layout for week 1:


We hope you get a chance to play along with us this month!

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