Jelissa Mei : MajaDesign

Summer Love

9 July, 2015 - Collections, Layouts

Hello Maja fans!

Summer is upon us, although in here in Singapore, it’s nearly summer all year round. Don’t be envious though, the heat can drive you nuts and I can take cold showers up to three times a day!

Summer is also a season of love and Maja Design has just released their newest collection Summer Crush. I can’t tell you how much I love the colors and designs on these papers and I have had so much fun creating with them, and even made my own embellishments as well. Here is a layout I made, with a step-by-step photo tutorial for you.

Step 1:

Summer is all about fun right? So I had these mini rosettes made using papers from the Summer Crush collection with one of my Sizzix dies and they are just too cute. I also used Glossy Accents as a glue as it has a very strong hold and dries decently fast enough to keep my rosettes in place.

Step 2:

For some reason, straws came to mind and I rolled these up with some of the papers from the collection. Just lightly spritz with water (not too much or else the paper becomes mushy) to make the heavy patterned paper easier to roll and glue down the edges with Glossy Accents. I then brushed the ends with gel medium and dipped it into gold embossing powder. I chose the papers with the chevron design because they were simple and do not distract the viewer away from the page, even though the straws themselves were such a cute addition.

Step 3:

My chipboard pieces which I had painted with different mediums and also layered different shades of the same color for a nice ombre effect.

Step 4:

Assembling my paper layers and embellishments together so that I can start working on my background.

Step 5:

Spread a very thin layer of gesso over the area where I wanted to work on, followed by some stenciling with modeling paste to follow the general flow of my layout. I constantly placed my paper layers down as a guide over the stencil to see where else I should add the modeling paste.

Step 6:

Misting and watering the color down. Some parts I painted straight from the bottle for gradations in tone. Finish with some random stamping, and start gluing everything away!

Here is the completed page:

Love the summery feel this piece has! But I have a confession – I cheated on the photo because it was taken in fall during our Perth trip. But it was the perfect kind of weather which I wish Singapore would have in summer (or throughout the year for that matter!) – balmy temperatures, refreshing breeze, blue skies dotted by little white clouds, and that amazing picnic in the park… I deliberately chose the patterned paper with the sunburst because it adds to the composition – sun rays radiating out from my main cluster and that pattern is repeated in my mini rosettes. Also, I distressed the edges of my background paper with gesso using my finger to enhance the white-washed feel.

More details in the close-ups:

Loving the patterns and colors from the Summer Crush collection, and how easily I can layer them together. The info strips at the bottom of each page also came in handy to add more interesting details.

Lots of touching up with mediums. I made more splashes with Light Turquoise chalk mist, Raspberry paint all over the page, followed by Acrylic Splash! Ink in white. The mist and paint were watered down to give enough hint of color, but not over-powering the gorgeous background paper.

I layered some of the die cut Polaroid looking pictures from the Snapshot patterned paper beneath my chipboard title. Everything was also given a dab of gesso for a vintage washed out look, followed by Silk glaze for a shimmery effect. And lastly, a generous patting of a yummy paste made from Gold Pearl paint and Magic powder.

Another floral cluster with a metal piece and some resins.

I hope you have enjoyed my project and found the techniques I used helpful!

Maja Design papers used:

Off to meet him, He gives her flowers, Butterflies, Falling in love, Dancing the bop, Long summer nights, Snapshots

Other supplies:

Mediums: 13@rts, Shimmerz, Colorarte, Tattered Angels
Chipboards: Blue Fern Studios
Die: Sizzix
Flowers, resins: Prima Marketing Inc

Green Fingers

Posted by Jelissa Mei

25 June, 2015 - Äntligen, Layouts

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Hello Maja friends!

I’m in on a hot Thursday afternoon to share with you my latest project made for Maja Design using the Antligen collection. By the time I finished my layout, my fingers were all purple and white, but what I really want them to be is green! I’ll explain why later, but firstly, here is my page:

I’m using the Antligen collection from Maja Design, which is really all about Springtime and the earth coming back to life with beautiful flowers after a long cold winter. That fitted the nature theme in my photo perfectly (although the photo I chose was one I took of my favourites – Lavender Augustafolia, was in autumn). Now, the climate here in Singapore is really not suitable for growing lavender because of the over-bearing humidity which kills off the plant by encouraging root rot. In my last tries, I managed to get the seeds to germinate and sprout, and then suddenly they all died off after a month. Then someone gifted me a pot of blooming ones, but they all never survived more than two months even with full sunlight and careful watering. Bear in mind I’m someone who can actually kill cactus…. So when we booked ourselves into the Lavender and Berry farm on our Perth trip, you can imagine how gaga I went over the gorgeous flowers in bloom. And it was effortless for them. *Green eyes* Now I’m trying to grow some cherry tomatoes but they all seemed to have stopped at the seedling stage. Maybe I should give up and just paint my fingers green instead.

So my long story aside and back to the project. I’ve kept my paper layering to a minimum, with just enough to create the flow in my composition and focused a lot more on the background details this time round. Maja Design collections come with a mixture of beautifully drawn images as well as neutral plain papers, which are perfect for adding on mediums to create your very own background if you are into experimenting with mixed media like me. The colors also make it easy to match papers across different collection as well.

Some close-ups:

Back to my usual style of tucking in chipboards in between my papers. I have strips of green and purple paper from the Antligen collection, as well as some fussy cut flowers from the collection to fill out the composition nicely. To make the fussy cut flowers stand out, I doodled the edges with black gelato. The chipboard I colored with three different shades of purple, two shades of green, and adhered clear Distress Glitter on the edges for some interesting texture.

A closer look at what I did for the background – stenciling and doodling around the relief, sprinkling of transparent and black microbeads, splatters of watercolor and acrylic inks.

Hidden details behind the photo with random stamping, a painted metal water fountain with little roses tucked in. It’s starting to look like an English garden! My title is “Great Outdoors” and it describes so well my love for everything under the sun.

Filling out the bottom part of the composition nicely with some chipboard vines. I painted with two different shades of green and sprinkled on clear microspheres when the paint is wet. And just in case, I sealed the beads with a thin layer of gel medium.

So that’s all I have for today. Before you go, I would love to hear some of your gardening wins and woes too!

Maja Design papers used:

Syrenen blommar, Kaffe pa trappan, Naturen dofta, Forsommar, Vardagjamning

Other supplies:

Flowers and embellishment: Prima Marketing Inc, Wild Orchid Crafts,
Stencil: Prima Marketing
Chipboards: Blue Fern Studios
Mediums: 13@rts (modeling paste, gel medium, acrylic inks, paints, microbeads), Shimmerz (Inklingz), Rangers (Distress Paint and Stains), Twinkling H2Os
Stamps: Kaisercraft, Blue Fern Studios

Family

Posted by Jelissa Mei

11 June, 2015 - Altered Items, Coffee In The Arbour, Created Art, Vintage Autumn Basics, Vintage Spring Basics

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Hi Maja fans! Today is my turn on the blog and I have a cute little project to share with you. I based it on the June mood board because the theme and colors really sing out to me.

I recycled a wooden tray that some embellishments came in and treated the sides and back with gesso before adding a nice layer of stucco and paint on.

Some closeups:

I took a sheet of Vintage Spring Basics paper and stamped some script on it with embossing ink, followed by some dual-toned black embossing powder. This creates a lot of details in the background and makes my backing more interesting. Then I layered on different patterned paper chosen from the Spring Basics 6×6 paper pad and some mini tags from Coffee by the Arbor.

The picket fence was die cut from a sheet of the Spring Basics 6×6 paper pad and given a nice thick coat of clear crackle. When the medium is dried, I distressed the cracks with some paint to give a weather-worn look.

Home is a place for family and friends to gather, and my favourite question is “Can I make you a cup of coffee?”. It is the perfect excuse to spend time together and learn about each other’s lives. So naturally I have the tea-cup fussy cut out from Coffee by the Arbor 6×6 paper pad, as well as the clocks from Vintage Autumn collection.

That is all I have for you today, hope you like my project!

Maja Design papers used:

6×6 paper pad

No. XVI

6×6 Paper Pad

Smile!

Posted by Jelissa Mei

28 May, 2015 - Layouts, Vintage Summer Basics

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Hello Maja fans!

I’m happy to be in today to share a layout of my boys, using papers from the Vintage Summer Basics collection and working with a different color palette.

Here is the layout:

Sometimes when I’m out of ideas for what colors to use, the photo I have chosen helps to give me a clue. In this case, the turquoise, blue and grey in the photo were a lovely combination and I managed to match the papers from Summer Vintage Basics perfectly with it.

I made my background by dabbing on paint with a sponge to create a sort of triangular shape – this will be my visual line for the whole page. Then I spread some modeling paste, layered on pieces of patterned papers, and did my stamping to further accent that visual line. The idea of keeping this consistent is to create a flow that will capture your attention and draw your eyes to the main subject, which is the photo.

My embellishments are usually very simple items – chipboards, flowers, little tags and maybe sometimes a resin or two as I like to spend more time on my background. Embellishments have a tendency of stealing the thunder from the photo (who can resist pretty flowers!) but the background sets the mood for the entire project. In this background, I have different sized micro-beads and distress glitter, with some paint splatters to create more interesting small textural details that will both contrast and complement the bigger but simpler photo. I also made my background more intensely colored as I desaturated my photo colors slightly when editing it to enhance that contrast.

Chipboards are a favourite to add to my projects. I have used a variety of techniques here – heat embossing, stamping, painting and sealing with crackle paint to achieve different effects.

That’s all I have for today. Hope you find the tips here useful!

Maja Design papers used:

1914, 1934, 1946

Other supplies:

Chipboards – Blue Fern Studios
Mediums – 13@rts (gesso, paints, mists, microbeads, modeling paste, gel medium), Faber Castell (gelato)

It’s a Girl!

Posted by Jelissa Mei

14 May, 2015 - Cards, Collections, Crea Diem, Created Art, Vintage Baby

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Hello wonderful Maja Design fans!

I’m in today after a nice family holiday to share a card I made using two seemingly different collections: Crea Diem and Vintage Baby.

The colors in Crea Diem are quite muted, and complements the tones in Vintage Baby. The designs are also more flourished, so for those who prefer a different kind of background for their baby cards, it is a good alternative. Here, I used some of the neutral grey tones and layered my cut outs from Vintage Baby on top to get a card that is both classic and baby-ish at the same time.

The grey toned paper layers I used didn’t have the black border on all sides, so it was just a matter of inking the edges with black ink to achieve the same effect.

Some close-ups:

A simple background of mists and stenciled texture paste over my layers of papers, plus my must-have floral cluster. Some stamping with a vine stamp as well to create the effect of spreading leaves and direction. I had also done some stamping on my cut-out from Vintage Baby before layering the beautifully drawn image on it.

I like to add chipboard to my projects because it’s additional dimension and texture, and breaks up the monotony of just papers alone. On this piece, I have a few different layers of tones of pink and lilac to make it complement the papers.

And that’s all for now, thanks for dropping by!

Maja Design papers used:

Sann vänskap, Ord flyger bort

Ephemera cards, Journaling cards pink