Hi everyone, my name is Cathy Cafun and I am so happy to have been invited by Artdeco Creations to be the Guest Designer for the month of May.

A little bit about me:  
I live in Brisbane, Queensland and was introduced to Paper Crafting 11 years ago.  Since then it has become an all-consuming passion and is a large part of my daily life.

If I had to describe my style, I would say it is predominantly shabby chic/romantic, but I am very partial to the grungy distressed look when creating masculine layouts.  My pages, cards and BTP projects always have elements of texture and dimension and I find any form of mixed media, fussy cutting, layering and distressing a wonderful way to achieve this.

I hope I am able to inspire you with my creations using the beautiful L'Aquarelle Collection of co-ordinating papers, dies, embossing folders and stamps.
Today I am sharing a layout and was inspired by the gorgeous purple toned flowers on one of the papers from the 12x12 L'Aquarelle Paper Pad, which has a beautiful array of 24 different flora and fauna vintage themed designs (2 of each design) with lovely co-ordinating watercolour background papers.

"You Are Beautiful Inside and Out" Layout

I started by using the L'Aquarelle Rolling Mesh Stencil design to mask my background with Anna Griffin Embossing Paste, and whilst the embossing paste was still wet I sprinkled with Couture Creations white glitter from the Be Merry Collection, which is superfine and gives a lovely shimmer effect.
For a distressed/shabby look, I tore a section of text print paper, then tore a few smaller mauve pieces to layer underneath, which I embossed with the Antiquity Embossing Folder.  I also used the sanding block to sand the edges of the Inspiration Card.

One of my favourite techniques is fussy cutting, so when I spied these beautiful mauve flowers, they were calling out to be fussy cut.  It is fiddly, but well worth the effort!!  I also fussy cut some stamped and clear embossed fern leaves from the Fern Flowers and Flourish Stamp Set and a butterfly from the Spread Your Wings Stamp Set. 

To add a touch of contrast to my flower clusters and to tie in with the masked background I die cut the Chirping in the Eaves Background Die from white cardstock and cut out the 2 sweet little birds.
I love to add white accents to add a touch of softness to my layouts.  I altered a few of the Jewelled Florettes by adding touches of glue to the edges of the petals, then dusting with white glitter.  I also used the Turbo Glue Pen to adhere some Prills to the flower centres to add a bit of texture. 



"LOVE" Card
The watercolour papers in the collection are so pretty, that I decided to create a card by layering the mauve and aqua green pp's, then sanding the edges for a soft and dreamy look.

To keep in theme with the soft and dreamy look, I diecut the Floral Bunting Background Die to use as a stencil to mask the top right and bottom left of my card.  I then layered one of the Inspiration Cards and a fussy cut butterfly to the centre, then topped the butterfly with a metal embellishment from the Metal Framed Trinkets and Cabochons Pack.
To create a few embellishments for my clusters,  I diecut 2 of the Watercolour Bloom Die in white cardstock, then altered by coating with Madagascar Liquid 3D Pearl Drops mixed with a touch of water.  I also stamped a couple of flowers from the Fern Flower and Flourish Stamp Set in black ink, embossed, then fussy cut.  
I hope you enjoyed my 2 projects created with the beautiful L'Aquarelle Collection.  Keep an eye out next week for a couple more projects.

Thanks so much for stopping by and happy crafting.
Cathy