Welcome to Swirlydoos' June Kit Reveal Blog Hop Block Party!!

If you came here from Bo Bunny's blog, then you are on the right track.  If not, go back to Swirlydoos' blog and start from there.  We have some amazing projects for you to see today and as a bonus we have a very special guest joining in the fun and offering a prize!!


You have until midnight, eastern time, on Sunday, June 10th to complete the hop. Winners will be announced on the Swirlydoos Blog on June 11th.  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. Become a follower if you're not already. 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 AND tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected.

I just want to start out by saying that this "Antiquities" kit has been so much fun to work with! This month's kit defines masculine elegance, and no one but Krissy can put a kit together like this with such amazing products! This kit is perfect for scrapping fathers, or any other male in your life.

 "Daddy's Trinket Box" Project

Here is the front view:

I started off by painting the box parts with Antique Bronze Distress Paint that came in this month's embellishment add-on kit. I know that most people prefer to paint the box after it is assembled because the MDF swells, but when I do that, I have a hard time painting the whole thing. And, even though most people won't be able to tell if there are parts unpainted, it will drive me up the wall, SO, I paint it first, making sure I avoid the tabs, and I have never had any problems.
So, after I painted it and assembled the box, I was sure I screwed it up- I really didn't like the color, or that it was shiny, and even though I used a whole bottle of paint, the "crackle" just wasn't there like I wanted it to be. I decided to grind a black chalk ink pad on various spots to create a worn look, and it did start to look a little better. But, after I put paper on it, and the drawers, I could tell I was really going to love the outcome.
The drawers have paper from the main kit (Bo Bunny Weekend Market). I used the Martha Stewart "Bangle Chain" punch on the yellow paper- nice and elegant, but has a manly feel to it. I finished off the drawers with the Tim Holtz clock keys. The ruler is from Kaisercraft, and the brads are also Bo Bunny.

Here is a view with the top open:

Top View:

I used a part of a Prima branch from the March kit to complete the flower cluster. I kept the wood clock plain, and added copper alcohol ink to the Tim Holtz lid topper, which I had to glue, insted of screw on because the wood was just a little too thick.

Side View:

 The Dusty Attic fancy scroll has all sorts of distress and chalk ink on it for a weathered look. I added jewels  (Bo Bunny and Kaisercraft) for added fanciness! I also used the inks on the keys, then used a fan brush to wipe some copper alcohol ink on them for a faux metal effect. I hung them up using a Tim Holtz pin from my stash.

And, finally, the back view:

 "Father Meets Son" Layout 

This is my take on this month's kit sketch. I chose to use this pic, which is one of my all-time faves: my husband took this shot of him touching our son's head, just seconds after he was born. I love that he took this. I really wanted the picture to be the absolute focus of the layout. so I tried (for me) to keep everything else on the page pretty simple.I did a lot of fingernail distressing on the layers, but the background paper is distressed with the Zutter.  Everything is from the main kit except the alphas which are from the embellishment add-on, and the roses are from this month's project kit.

"Little Boy Blue" Layout:

This is a pic of my sweet baby Elijah, eating a lollipop that he took from my mouth! 

I started out with distressing the Simple Stories grid paper, then added some Blue Bell Bottoms Glimmer Mist. From there, this layout really took on a life of it's own! I added the other distressed paper layers, then adhered some rub-ons that came in this months embellishment add-on kit. I covered the rub-ons with the chains that came in the project add on. 

The pic has black ink on the edges, and some Tim Holtz mini paper clips. I cut the Prima pearl swirl in half and added them to the corners. The black bar code on the right bottom corner of the photo is a piece of Dusty Attic chipboard.
I'm always a little hesitant to add flowers to boy pages, but I'm getting over it now because I think of my grandfather, and how much he loved flowers- he would plant all kinds and spent a lot of time gardening, so even though they look girly, they are a part of nature, not just adornment for women! So, I did add some flowers. The small roses were from a previous kit, but they match the larger ones that came in the flower add-on. I mashed two of the larger ones and gutted the middles, and replaced one with a layer from another flower in the kit, then added blue pearls so they would mesh well with color of the papers. They needed something more, so I used a Memorybox branch die and cut it up to fit under them, and I also punched out leaves of the same pattern.
For the title, I used more of the Kaisercraft scrabble letters (I need more!), and then I used the alphas from last months kit- the DIY Thickers. I used blue microbeads, then added black glitter over it to fill in the spaces. I love how they came out. I finished off the layout with some beautiful butterflies that I bought from Angelica's etsy shop. 

"Everlasting Love" Layout

So, although it is early, this is my example for June's Swirlyhues, hosted by Vicky. She did an amazing job picking the colors and the sketch (which is optional). The picture is of my and my husband when we went on a romantic getaway in 2010 to Coronado Island in San Diego.
The scroll on the bottom is a piece of Dusty Attic chipboard from my stash- I used different distress and chalk inks to get the color and dimension on there. I made my own layered flower from the flower add-on. The butterflies are, again, from Angelica's etsy shop. (I am too lazy to make my own, and she does such a fabulous job with them!) I used two of the Tim Holtz paper clips on the corner of the pic- it's supposed to look like a heart, but I don't think it's that obvious.
And, the gold flourish is from my stash. It's actually a wonderful piece from Flourish with a Bling, which I am on the Design Team for. I cut up what I didn't use as the flourish on the side and accented everything with them!

Thank you for stopping by to look at my projects!

My special word is : Muscles

 The party continues over at the amazing Vicky Alberto's blog.  Have fun!