Let's Scrap Sketch 2-15-16 ~ *Woodbush Forest*

Well Hello There My Dear Arty Scrappy Friends,

Remember I told you about our INCREDIBLE holiday when we visited the lovely Limpopo Province in December 2015??
Well... this week I decided to scrap the magical photos I took in the Woodbush Forest,
just outside Tzaneen in the quaint village of Magoebaskloof.


I have sad news though... this would be my last Design Team layout for my much loved Let's Scrap blog for now... I have been on the Let's Scrap DT a few times now over the years, also before when we were on the .ning site and dear Betty Ann was still "in charge"... I met so many wonderful ladies through this beautiful and super special hobby of ours and especially through Let's Scrap...
and I will never forget any of them.  Let's Scrap has become so much part of my life
and has a very special place in my heart.  But for now I will be stepping back and taking a break...
My life has been super hectic, actually beyond super hectic the last weeks, sometimes I truly do not know where to start and where to leave...

I have so many ideas in my head and in my heart though... {so this is definitely not a goodbye},
 
...but first, I need to calm down my head,
my heart and my soul and find my peace again.

So... enough of me already...
here is the beautiful Sketch #2-15-16
designed by the ever so talented Michelle van Wyk...

This is my layout all about the magical Woodbush Forest...
{{I am not an "old forest dweller"... but boy, is this place AWESOMELY BEAUTIFUL...
I surely lost a piece of my heart there... <3}}

And today I have a whole lot of close ups....  Just couldn't help myself...

I used some awesome alphas in gold I found in my stash, think they were in a kit from Heidi Swapp, and distressed them a little with Forest Moss Tim Holtz Distress Ink.

I used A2 card stock paper of 250g which is a lovely thick paper and works wonderfully with inking without wobbling {which I kind of hate!?}
I then cut it to size and made the background paper by using Shabby Shutters by
applying it onto my craft sheet and spraying with water...
the paper is then carefully placed onto the wet surface, picked up without rubbing over the ink
 and left to dry.

I used the same technique with the ribbon, but using all the colours.

 I used these 4 different greens from the Tim Holtz Distress Ink range to colour the ribbon as well as all the white papers:
Crushed Olive
Peeled Paint
Shabby Shutters
Forest Moss {Very appropriate I think!! ;-)}

I incorporated some Vintage Photo & Walnut Stain as the brown elements
and Frayed Burlap for a touch of grey.

I used an off cut piece of the same white paper and splashed and played with all the greens until I was happy with how it came out...

Here is all the different tags I made with all the different greens and also using some Frayed Burlap to give it a little bit of a greyish undertone too...

Notice the small leaves in the corner right under the ribbon...
More on them in a moment...

A close up of the ribbon and small leaves...

 The leaves on the right page...

And the quote I used, which was so appropriate and I just LOVE it!!

*Wilderness holds answers to questions
we have not yet learned to ask.*

I used some brown handmade paper to accentuate the photo with the magical mini little stairs...
ripped it into 2 pieces and inked it with Walnut Stain.

A close up of the background double layout with splashes of grey and green.
I also distressed the sides of most of the papers and photos with a small sharp scissors.

More on the leaves:
I picked up these leaves off of the forest floor... it was on the ground forming a beautiful carpet...
back at our holiday rondavel, I put it into the book I was reading to dry and keep safe...
At home and when dried {which was quite fast in this Africa heat} I used some Mod Podge
 and wax paper and very carefully applied the Podge with a soft sponge brush...
As the leaves were very delicate, patience was the answer... :-P
I left it overnight to dry completely on the one side and I must say that some of the leaves were difficult to remove from the wax paper {and yes, I did use the glossy side}, but as the leaves were so delicate, it needed to be done with a great deal of care and patience.
In the end, it worked out quite well, I think.
I surely hope it will be preserved well like this and enjoyed for many many years to come.

Some of the papers that was distressed with the small sharp scissors...

Do you see the magical reflections on the photo??? <3 

So this is "goodbye" from me for now...

I will still be back at our sister blog Feeling Sketchy here...
until the end of March after which I will be
"Closed for Restoration"
for a while/until further notice. :-)
 

Thank you so much for visiting, I hope to see you again soon.

And I hope you enjoyed my layout as much as I enjoyed creating it!

Have a lovely & blessed week!

 

Hugs

*~Erica~*