My Tribute to Summer by Nicole Doiron

Hello, Nicole here! This month, as part of my 2Crafty DT reveal, I wanted to pay tribute to summer as here in Canada we are in the final days of this gorgeous season!

"Tons of Fun"

My first layout is full of bright Summer blooms and two pretty little girls,

(our friends' daughters, Celeste and Jade) having "tons of fun in the SUN" at our local beach! 

I used the "Word Circles Set 2" and "Scrabble Tiles" to make up the title.

I decided to pull out most of my leftover 2Crafty chipboard flowers 

from past projects and use them up on my page.  

You can see "Flowers Frames" and "Daisy Flowers" 

which I covered with pink paint and mist.

I cut each leaf off the "Summer Leaf Stems".

The silhouette of the black butterflies on the left edge of my layout were done using 

the negative space of the "Graceful Butterfly" set.  I used the chipboard as a stencil.

Below, you can see the actual "Graceful Butterfly" as mentioned above.

 

Because the picture is so fun, I found that the "Word Bubbles" would be a perfect addition.

I added one "Geotag" and tied it with a string of pink twine.

Note: In case you're wondering how Jade is suspended in the air, upside down, 

her dad was standing outside the frame holding on to her feet.  :)

Summer = Beach = Ocean
Those words sum up perfectly my next layout.

"Such an Amazing Day"

I had a bit of a hard time creating this layout.  

My first attempt at a background is all crumpled up in the waste basket. ha!  

I'm much more pleased with this one.

The first 2Crafty piece to showcase is this very nice "Lighthouse".

I wanted to give it an old woodgrain effect using texture paste and other different  mediums, 

but I didn't exactly succeed.  I still like the finished result though.

 The "Such an Amazing Day title" was covered with white gesso, then dabbed with a little
 pink and blue distress stains, then finished off with some metallic champagne paint.

Also seen on the image below is the ship's wheel from the "Pirate Treasure" set.

I used a circle stencil and gems to create the effect of light rays in the background.

Tucked amongst my flower clusters are different treasures of the sea

included in the "Seashells" set: seashells, seahorse and star fish.

The sea anchor is also from the "Pirate Treasure" set.

I treated it the same as the ship's wheel, covering it with white gesso, heated to a boil

and then topped with different shades of brown distress stains.

 

Now on to these "Surfy Waves"!

They gave me a hard time, mostly because I am so fussy when creating. 

I wouldn't stop until they turned out perfect (in my eyes anyway)

so I used layers over layers of different mediums to try to give them

the color and foamy look of real sea water.

I started off with white gesso, then added crackle paint.

Then, I dabbed on some distress stains (all shades of blue I could find in my stash).

Next, I put on a generous coat of Liquitex Glass Beads gel followed by more gesso.

I added some regular gel then more white gesso, dabbed again with distress stains, 

metallic champagne paint, and more white gesso.

These chippie waves have got so much product on them 

that I think my finished layout now weighs at least 10lbs!

And, saving the best for last, a beautiful picture of Yves and I 

enjoying a great day of Summer vacation in Percé, Quebec.

If you'd like to try and recreate my techniques and do your own sea-themed layout,

check out all the 2Crafty chippies I used (and more!) on the 2Crafty website.

   

"Sweet & Delightful"

 

This layout is a very bright and cheerful one like the first one, this time celebrating
my sweet & delightful (and sometimes mischievous - look at the picture!) nieces
enjoying a beautiful and happy Summer's day!

I created this layout as a guest designer for Berry71bleu and was therefore inspired
 by their August challenge which is to create a layout based on the sketch below.

In addition to the beautiful background paper and flowers from Prima,

 I used a lot of 2Crafty Chipboard on my layout, starting off with the "Everyday Font L/C"

which I embossed using my Cuttlebug, then painted black.  

I then added a touch of metallic Perfect Pearls and some light dabs of white acrylic paint. 

Also seen below are a small "Circle Revolution Frame" 

as well as a piece of the "Corner Flower Spray" 

which I both painted pink with some gray metallic mixed in.

I also used the Summer Fun "Word Circles Set 2".

 All the Word Circles Sets are a must-have as they come with 6 different
circles each and are perfect for any type of layouts or projects.

The "Skeleton Leaves" are definitely a favorite of mine 

and I have ordered them a couple times, for fear of running out.

I added 2 different shades of green Luminarte silk glazes to them.

Here, you can see another piece of the "Corner Flower Spray".

I found that it went well with the linear design of the sketch.

And last, but certainly not least, the focal point of my layout 

(besides the beautiful picture of Ella and Daphne obviously!) 

is this pretty butterfly catcher from the 2Crafty "Catching Butterflies Pack". 

Well, that's it for me this month!   I hope you enjoyed my Summer layouts. If you want to see more of my creations, please visit me on my blog, Scrap-Utopia.  

And remember, to find a 2Crafty stockist near you, drop an email to...

salesat2crafty@optusnet.com.au