Weekly UKS challenge

This week the challenge was set by SheilaJ and it is by far the trickiest challenge I have seen but then they aren't meant to be easy :)

This is the challenge as described by Sheila;

Good Morning all!

Your challenge this week is a tribute to one of the huge benefits of being a UKS member.
You are invited to produce a page or other scrapped item about TEACHING and /or LEARNING. Size and format can be anything you choose.

Points
5 points per technique that you have learned anywhere in the last 3 months to a maximum of 20 points (4 techniques).
5 points for adding something secret to your work. Interpret this any way you like!
5 points for including instructions or a recipe or other "How to" information in your work. This need not be serious practical instructions but could also be funny etcetera.

I have learnt plenty of new techniques over the past 3 months having newly returned to scrapping and following so many inspirational blogs and galleries in UKScrappers the issue is how to get 4 in one LO. I knew I didn't have to do the whole four but I am fairly stubborn and determined and I wanted to keep my perfect scores on the challenges going lol.

My first decision was to use the reverse decoupage technique I came up with a couple of weeks ago (not claiming to have invented it just not seen it anywhere else yet). I then decided to use paper flowers, a moving element, and to cut the title out of the paper used and have a cut out rather than stuck on title which I have not done before.

I made the LO about what I have learnt as a Mum, and my hidden (secret) journalling is done in the form of a recipe. Here is the finished LO if you don't want to be bored with all the how to's ignore the rest of the post as it's going to be long and photo heavy :)

Here is a close up of the layering on the reverse decoupage as you can see it is very dimensional I used my Cricut to cut out the shapes this time instead of hand cutting them as I did with the Sweet Dreams LO;

This is a close up of the cut out title. I used my Cricut to cut the word Mum out of the first decoupage layer and then backed it with the pale yellow card I used for the journalling card so that the word could be seen clearly;

This is a close up of the paper flower. This is a new one to me I started using 6 petal flowers with the intention of making a paper rose but decided to change it slightly by making all the flowers different sizes but with the same number of petals so it is less rose like. I used a brad to attach all the flowers together and attach it to the journalling card as a "pull" then bent the petals back so they could be seen;

Here is the hidden "secret" journalling card with a recipe for a good mum :) I foolishly attached the flower before writing my "recipe" so excuse the handwriting lol ;

For my last technique I used a brad and some card attached to the bird to allow it to "fly" around the LO. I love this technique which I learnt from the lovely MJM and plan to use it again but on a more traditional circle shape so that it is easier to do and also on a flatter LO so there are less obstacles to movement! ;

So there you go. I hope you like the finished product as much as I do and maybe saw a technique you would like to try :)