Welcome to Swirlydoos' October "Belle Chanson" Kit Reveal Blog Hop Block Party!!

If you came here from the fabulous Lisa V'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 !!  Also, as an extra special twist, 2 of our designers are hiding secret prizes on their blogs!!!!!  Make sure to leave a comment on all of the blogs for a chance to win!!!  Check out Swirlydoos on Facebook and Like Us!!!

It's true: I love every Swirlydoos kit, BUT, whenever the kit has blue in it, it makes me sooo happy! Belle Chanson is one of my favorite kits to date. The patterns are classic, yet chic, and you can use them for any subject. I found myself wanting to scrap my favorite pics, again! Krissy did a fabulous job, as always, putting this one together. :)

And click here to watch a video of our Lisa V unveiling this fabulous kit, and be sure, if you aren't already a subscriber to get to the Swirlydoos store and see if there are any left to buy! 

"Demure" Layout

As soon as I saw these papers, I thought of this pic: it's one of my favorites of my daughter. I've used it on a couple of layouts before, but I couldn't help using it again! To be honest, I was having trouble deciding what papers to use, hence all of the layers. I ran all of the layers except the punched parts through the Distrezz-it-All, The script paper has masking using a chicken wire template and faux stitching, which is my new favorite technique. I'm too lazy to sew!
I sanded the edges of punched mat because it's Coordinations cardstock, and sanding reveals a different color. The green leaves in the flower clusters were cut out using the Cameo. This image comes with the software.

"Love." Layout 

 So this is my take on this month's exclusive Beggahuna sketch. I added more layers and didn't include three pics. Again, this is one of my favorite pics. My husband took it when we were sitting on the beach two summers ago. I will probably scrap this many more times.
For the background, I lightly colored the white flowers on the black paper with the pretty teal chalk ink and a paintbrush. I used more of the Coordinations from the card stock add on for the punched border and sanded it. Again, I made faux stitching on the music paper which I intentionally placed upside down on the layout. It's symbolic of all of the discord in our lives, and we still love each other.
The rest of the layout has nearly everything from the bling add on! I used the Martha Stewart Cherish punch around the page for both the photo mat, and the black frame- I cut the middle out and put on the teal rhinestone strips to border it. I used lots of pop dots on nearly every layer to give this one a lot of dimension. The clock under the masking tape sentiments are from the Prima packaging of the pearl and lace border. I love how it's faded- more symbolism- time fades and is irrelevant.

"Hello Forever" Card

It's funny how some projects just kind of create themselves. I had a project, not Swirlydoos related, that I want to do, so I pulled out these skeleton cameos I had in my stash and set them on my table so I wouldn't forget I had them. Later that day, the teams for our new Card Round Robin challenge (Please check it out and join us!) were posted and I had the first spot for my team. I started looking through the Belle Chanson kit, and saw the cameo die cut, and I just knew I had to pair it up with the skeleton one. This is what became of it!

There were three twists for this challenge: be inspired by a picture, use stamps, and metal. So, I started with the music note paper, using a small swirl stamp and the teal chalk ink from the main kit as a border for the card. I added the frame and cameo die cuts from the embellishment kit after distressing and inking. Then wrapped the ribbon and placed the other cameo on there.The black rhinestone strip is from the bling add on.  I wasn't sure what sentiment I was going to put on the card, but then I remembered the sentiments that we got in the kit, and how I was not fond of the "hello forever" one and I thought I would never use it. :) It just fit here! 

Fairy Mixed Media Album (Technique Kit)

So, I was sooooo excited about this month's technique kit! This summer I was sooo lucky to be able to take a class from Anna Dabrowska making one of these Prima mixed media albums, and I have been dying to make another using the techniques I learned from her class and also put my own twist on it. This is what I came up with:

 First, I want to make a note that I added the Dusty Attic vine chipboard and Prima resin fairies from my own stash. I just want to make note of that because if you ordered the kit, you are not getting these embellishments.  But, the Prima brick mask DOES come in the kit! (YAY!)

So, here are a couple of things I did on this cover that are really wonderful tips I got from Anna's class: 1- spray the album with water before you mist to get better blending between covers, and 2- add the binding ribbon to the covers, then place embellishments on top, so it is secure.
I used the bamboo Primary Pigment that came in the kit to mist, along with a Moonshadow Mist to get the brown color. I also used Tattered Angels Patina, very lightly. I love how it came out!
Next, I used the gesso and brick mask from the kit to accent the top and bottom corners. Once dry, I went back in with a brush with the pigment and a small amount of water to make the "mortar" darker. I added some stamping and inking around the edges.
I painted the vines with gesso, then the Silks paint in Olive Vine. I heat set them, then glued them on, along with the rest of the embellishments. Under the door is a piece of muslin. Next, I covered all of the embellishments with the gloss gel medium. It seals them and really adheres them to the cover- they will not come off once you apply this stuff, and it protects them too, Those paper roses are now hard as rocks!
TIP: the gel medium will react with the Silk paint and cause a pooling effect as you can see in the picture below. I'm not sure why it happened because it was dry, but then I read on the paint label that it's not cured until 24 hours, so that may be why. So, if you are impatient like me and aren't going to wait for it to cure, this is what it will look like, which I think is AWESOME!!

Next, misted the whole album some more with Bronze Glimmer mist, then I glued my fairied down with the gel medium and painted them with it. After dry, I used other colors of the silk paints (not included in the kit) on the wings, dress and hair, then sprinkled on some Clearsnap Fairy Dust Glitter.

Here is the back of the album using the same techniques:

And a closeup of the design:

I can't wait to start working onthe inside of this album!

Thank you for taking time to check out my projects! I really appreciate it! :)




You have until midnight, eastern time, on Wednesday, 10/10 to complete the hop. Winners will be announced on the Swirlydoos Blog on Thursday 10/11.  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, tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected.     Can't wait to hear from you.

 My special word is : is

The party continues over at the super-talented Angelica's blog.  Have fun!