Club Scrap Blog Hop - Fire & Ice

Hi there!  Welcome to the November edition of the Club Scrap blog hop!  This month we're creating with the oh-so-hot and super-cool Fire & Ice collection.  I'm going to show you how I added some dimension to my scrapbooking pages using the stencil from the kit and some items I had in my stash.

If you traveled here from Lisa's blog, then you are following the hop!  If you've lost your way or just want to see all the links in one place, head over to the Club Scrap Creates blog to see a list of all the talented bloggers participating today.

I'm a big fan of themeless kits - I love being able to let the colors and patterns in the paper compliment my photos and let the pictures tell the story.  The great thing about Club Scrap kits is, even if there is a "theme" per se, I can always make the photos I have on hand work.  I consider this one of their themeless kits - Fire & Ice is a little abstract and the colors and patterns speak for themselves.

But this time I the perfect photos to go with the themeless theme!  Seriously.  Perfect.

Fire

 And Ice!

Yeah.  Like I said - perfect!

While we were in Queenstown, we went to an ice bar there - the bar, the chairs, the tables, even the glasses were made of ice!  We got to bundle up and hang out in negative degrees with our drinks.  Cleverly, once you were done with the ice bar, they gave you drink coupons to the bar next door - The Boiler Room!  There were cozy fireplaces all over and we warmed our hands by the open flame with drinks in hand.

I knew I wanted to try a lot of different techniques with my stencil, and one of the ideas that came to mind was using the stencil as a guide for stitching.  I poked holes at each corner of the design and then used a backstitch to sew onto the paper using craft thread I had in my stash.

Despite all of the stitching, this was a pretty relaxing process and I really like the results!  I kept the stencil in place on the paper using washi tape while I stitched - this allowed me to keep track of the pattern much easier!

I loved using this icy paper for the background paper - it really helped to convey how cold it was in there!  To add some texture to this side of the layout, I used the stencil and some home made gesso on the panels to the left.  The gesso is pretty dimensional, so it gave some interest to this side of the page.

On the right side of the layout, I carried over the stencil but used a dry embossing technique on the last panel.  Using a light board, I placed the paper over the stencil an used a stylus to gently deboss the pattern into the paper.  Flip it over, and you have handmade embossed paper!  I highlighted the embossing by swiping over the raised surfaces with a Club Scrap ink pad in Lagoon.  You can see the embossed pattern a bit better below:

This stencil was so fun to play with and I can't wait to try these techniques out with the other fabulous stencils Club Scrap has.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Head on over to Annette Dragon's to see what project she has up her sleeve.  Don't forget to come back in December when we showcase Club Scrap's Aspen collection!

Supplies // Paper: Club Scrap Fire & Ice: Turquoise, Red, Navy, Yellow, Navy, Orange Print, 8.5x11 Orange Print, From Stash: Club Scrap White paper / Inks: Club Scrap Earth, Lagoon, Sapphire, White Pigment / Tools: Club Scrap ink applicators, Fire & Ice stencil, We R Memory Keepers Paper Piercing Tool, Embossing Stylus / Embellishments: Club Scrap: Destinations Stickers, From stash: Basic Grey Eva chipboard stickers, Thickers - Journal, Homemade Gesso, Craft Thread