More Field Notes from Vicki Boutin!

Hey Magpies, Rachel here again and I’m back with Vicki Boutin’s amazing Field Notes collection! I used this collection for my blog post on October 1st and I loved the embellishments so much, I didn’t even break into my paper stash. But this month I did! I love this collection, clearly as I used it twice! I was late to discover Vicki Boutin’s amazing collections but now I am a big fan and I can not wait to see what she comes out with next time!
So I started off with the Among the Wildflowers paper, I love the watercolour effect papers in the collection, it saves me the trouble of trying to make my own! I used some of the awesome One of a Kind paper and left the cut off strip on it cause it is the coloured stripes and it looks cool! Then I used some Vicki Boutin Washi Tape from Field Notes and also the last Vicki Boutin collection which was available in the store but is sold out now. Then I dotted some Nuvo Crystal Drops above and below. Building a quick grid for the base of a LO is a very easy way to start. Then I dotted around some embellishments. I used some of the chipboard quotes from the Escape the Ordinary Chipboard Phrase Thickers. I love those Thickers, the sayings on them are not too smooshy or twee, they’re quite usable. My title is from the Icons Die-Cu Ephemera pack and I popped it up on foam pads. I also dotted around some of the Puffy Stickers and again, I love the Puffy Stickers, they’re so usable! I have used some of the little tiny dots and arrows, I could use a million of those they’re so cool!

The awesome thing I did want to tell you about this month is the Watercolour Sticker Book. This book is cool, there are 2 sheets of clear stickers which I will talk about a bit further on and then the clear acrylic sheet which I used on a LO last month, have a look here. Then there are 6 sheets of watercolour paper stickers which you can paint on.

I got to tell you, I bought this sticker book thinking I would just use the stickers as they are cause I’m too lazy to actually paint them. But I got all brave and actually did give it a go and WOW!!! The effect is amazing and it was so easy. I basically used a waterbrush like these one and simply swooshed some watercolour paints on the stickers. I even got all fancy and did more than one colour, it was so easy and it worked! So it’s definitely worth a try, it’s super simple and the worst part is waiting for the stickers to dry. I mounted my stickers on foam pads cause they’re thick enough to do that with. What do you think, I love the effect!


This is one of my favourite LO designs, just a simple grid built from strips of vertical papers with some horizontal strips above and below. It always works and is so easy to build. I chose the papers I wanted to use in my grid and cut strips of them the same height as my photo and different widths. Then just some Washi Tape above and below. Then I popped a couple of multicolour Nuvo Crystal Drop lines and then a couple of the chipboard borders from the Chipboard Phrases Thickers pack finished off my grid. My title is from the Puffy Phrase Thickers pack and I do love these Thickers, very usable, cool words!

Here’s a close up of another of the Watercolour Stickers which I painted in light pink, pink and red and again, popped on foam pads. I used a couple of them on this LO, my new favourite things!


Another product I want to talk about this month is the Vicki Boutin Mixed Media Art Crayons. These come in 3 different sets, #1 Warm, #2 Cool, and #3 Neutral. Don’t think there’s only a couple of colours in there, there’s 8 colours in each pack so it’s well worth the price. I bought the Warm & Cool sets and love the colours. I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t have the foggiest clue what to do with them when I got them, but have a quick look on YouTube because Vicki Boutin has some awesome videos on there showing what to do with them, have a look here. I watched a few of those and had a go. It was much easier than I expected and I created the background below in no time! So don’t be put off by not knowing how to use a product, have a look online cause there’s often tutorials on there.

So to create this watercolour background I used the Warm and Cool sets and what I did was just draw some of the crayons straight on a piece of Vicki Boutin Mixed Media Foundations Paper which is the perfect base for you to start whacking some Mixed Media on to. Then I got a paintbrush which I dipped in some water and swooshed over the crayons. The colours are so vibrant and they mix together really well and look amazing! I can’t recommend them enough, they’re fabulous and you need them in your stash! I made a background with the Amy Tangerine Officially Obsessed paper and then a border of mixed Nuvo Crystal Drops.
The rest of my LO is pretty simple after the bright background. I layered up the photo with some of the ephemera from the Icons Die-Cut Ephemera pack, the big circle is from the pack and the mushroom of which I think I could use a million no problem, to me they just seem to fit on a LO so easily, as do the feathers in the pack too, they’re fab! My title is also from the ephemera pack and I popped it on some foam pads cause the ephemera is thick enough to do that with.

I wanted to show you a close up of one of the clear stickers that are in the Watercolour Sticker Book, they stick on so well and look like they just belong where you put them! They’re very cool, as are the Puffy Stickers too.


I’m sure everyone reading this has seen all those awesome LOs by people using the embellishments in colours and they look so cool. I thought I would have my own bash at it and this is what I came up with. It didn’t work as well as I thought it would in my head but at least I’ve had a go at it eh!
I made my own background with the Watercolour Crayons again. This time I sorted out my embellishments from the Icons and Journalling Die-Cut Ephemera packs and found the colours I had enough of and then I chose the colours I thought would match from the Crayon packs. I masked off my strips and drew on the panels with a crayon, then went over the top with water on a brush and it worked really well. After that dried I just layered up loads of ephemera, Puffy Stickers, Watercolour Stickers, a title from the One of a Kind Puffy Thickers and some other little bits and bobs from my stash.

Here’s one last close-up of a Watercolour Sticker, they are honestly so easy to paint with a waterbrush and some watercolour paints, if I can do it, anyone can!

 
 
So I hope that inspires you to buy some Field Notes from Vicki Boutin, or start using it if you have already bought some!And please have a look at the Watercolour Sticker Book and the awesome Watercolour Crayons. I love both now that I’ve bought them and had a go, they’re much easier to use than I expected, I thought I’d have to be some mixed media goddess like Julie Taylor to be able to use them but even a novice like me could do it! See you next months Magpies, I already have in my hands the lush Whimsical collection from Pink Paislee to use and I’m looking forward to breaking into that!