Scraptastic Club | Darlene

Hi Everyone! I'm here today and to share one of my last layouts created for Scraptastic Club, using the gorgeous "Darlene" kit. I just love how frivolously girly it is and I decided to take full advantage of the fact by creating a layout just for me!

 

 

Recently, I had an amazing opportunity to travel and teach at a scrapbooking retreat. My very first one (both teaching and going to a retreat!). So I knew I wanted to capture the special moments with a kit that seems dedicated to celebrating oneself. I met so many talented ladies and of course we had to have selfies!!

 

 

To solve the issue of too many photos and not enough space on my 8.5x11 layout, I resorted to using a collage app on my phone. Once I collected nine of my favourite photos, I positioned them to create a single image.   note: I have used Diptic on my iPhone.

 

 

To offset the multiple images, I added a cluster of embellishments both in various heights and textures.

 

 

This cluster was also ideal for placing my hidden journaling beneath. I trimmed a 3x4" journaling card from the Scraptastic Club Journaling Cards "Darlene Add-on" patterned paper, and slipped it directly beneath the gold foil patterned paper.

 

 

The touches of gold foil elements in the "Darlene" kit also inspired me to want to use all of them! But I knew I had to limit the amount so as not to create a huge mess on my page.  The easiest thing for me to achieve the look I wanted was to use layers and negative spaces.  The butterfly shape was cut from my silhouette, but if you don't have an electronic cutting machine, a manual die cutter will create the same effect. Where the butterfly shape has been removed, I've layered the gold polkadot foil below it.

 

Also note that I repeated the negative space idea with by using both the ampersand "&" and the miniature heart above the photo. Repeating elements on a page helps to create continuity.

 

Thanks so much for joining me today.  I have had an amazing 12 months of creativity with Scraptastic's fabulous kit club.  I will still add my projects to the gallery but for now I am stepping down from the design team. Thanks goes to all the wonderful team members who have supported me with this hard decision..x

 



Scraptastic Club | Scrapping Siblings...

Hey Everyone! Today I am sharing my take on scrapping siblings of both genders. You know, the pigeon pair, boy/girl... *grin* It's not always easy, especially when it comes to the colour palette, but this is how I work around it.  Last month, I wrote this post for Scraptastic.  I hope you enjoy...x

 

Like most families, my children have both their good and loving moments together, equal to their total disdain for one another! I try very hard to capture all moments and with four children,  I can guarantee there are plenty of moments! But when it comes to scrapping siblings, what do you do to encapsulate them if you have both genders in the one photo? Today I am going to share a few tips on how I scrap a brother/sister combination with colour. 

 

"2+"

products used: Scraptastic Club kit - Good Day Sunshine; Add on - Good Day Sunshine; flair/badges - Good Day Sunshine; other - black paint; tools - typewriter.
 

My eldest two children have a mutual admiration for each other. Most of the time. The photo in the layout above was shot while they were having fun but in the next frame, little brother scratched big sister's new watch on the wall, and then the love disappeared in a flash.  It was a blink and you miss it moment. *grin*

 

However, trying to be a glass half full person, this is the image I wanted to share today. Using the Good Day Sunshine kit this month, the yellow hues convey their initial happiness.

 

Yellow has always been considered a neutral gender colour. This is something I keep in mind when I have a photo of both my daughter and son in it. But, I am not afraid to add a strong dose of pink or a flower to my layout, just because my son is in the photo too.

 



 

The colours in the photo often dictate the colours that are added to my page. The black t-shirt is punctuated and repeated on my layout with embellishments, to prevent it from becoming too feminine. And even though the bow is classically a girly thing to add, because of its colour I don't have an issue with it being there.

 



 

The same applies to the splashes of grey. It too is linked back to the photo because of the colour shirt my daughter is wearing.

 

But what do I do when the colours they wear in their clothing, is particularly strong? I can always convert the photo to a black and white image. Or I can embrace it.

 

 



products used: Scraptastic Club kit - Good Day Sunshine; Add on - Good Day Sunshine; flair/badges - Good Day Sunshine; other - gelatos (grape).
 

To make a connection with my photos on layouts, I will often create a cluster of layered patterned papers and embellishments with at least one colour from the photo added directly to the cardstock. I then build up the layers once again using a neutral selection.

 

A "grape" watercolour wash was added directly to the white cardstock background and the cluster stack has been added to one side of the page.  White space on a layout can also help neutralise a gender divide. It gives your eye time to rest and focus in on the photo rather than whether of not your page is boyish or girly. 

 



 

In this case, the embellishments used on the page can be singled out to being either feminine or masculine on their own. But used in a layered combination the pieces complement each other and help to tell the story.

 



 

Thanks for joining me here today. I hope I have shared a few ideas that will help you prevent a gender dispute on your layouts when scrapping photos of both boys and girls together on the one page.

 

 

 



Scraptastic Club | March Sketch...

Hello Friends!  I'm fresh back from THE most amazing scrapbooking retreat held in Australia - Escape2Create.  I was honoured to be teaching a class to 80 wonderful and already incredibly talented ladies and I had the. best. time!! But more about that later, after I've dug through all my photos from the weekend to share with you.

 

Today I want to let you know about the sketch challenge over at Scraptastic Club.  The ever fabulous Susan Stringfellow has designed a fun sketch.  It is so inspiring it had 14 of our team designers put their hand up to participate.  You really need to check it out.

 

 

 

Here's my take on the sketch...

 

"Hello"

 

products used: Scraptastic Club kit - Good Day Sunshine; Add on - Good Day Sunshine; other - embroidery thread, gesso; tools - watercolour paint, chevron punch, label punch.

 

 

So if you get the chance, head on over and play along. You could win $20 to spend in store.  Good luck and thanks for visiting..x

 

 

 



Scraptastic Club | Pinterest Monday...

Hello Friends! Today on the Scraptastic Club blog, Monique and I are sharing a little inspiration from an image we found on Pinterest! We decided it was time to challenge ourselves with a limited palette and only words to guide us. Our other challenge point was to somehow include celebrating International Women's Day which was held earlier in the month.

 (Pinterest source.)

 

Here is my take on the challenge.

 

 

"Beautiful Girl"

 

products used: Scraptastic Club Kit - Counting Stars; Add on - Counting Stars; other - October Afternoon mist (Midway), versamark ink (black).

 

My daughter is growing into a beautiful young woman.  And she is an incredibly hard worker.  Everything she does is done with a 110% work ethic.  But like most teenage girls, self doubt can sometimes cripple her.

I hope you get the chance to head on over for a visit and find out what it is I love about this challenge.

Thanks for visiting...x

 

 

Scraptastic Club | Pinterest Monday..

Hi there!  I feel like I've been a stranger around these parts lately.  Sorry for the absence but with a household of sick children for the last two weeks, sometimes blogging gets put on the back burner! LOL!

 

Today I am sharing a layout created for Scraptastic Club | Pinterest Monday.  Shellye McDaniel and I conspired together and found a gorgeous image on Pinterest.

 

 

 

"You are Nine"



 

products used: Scraptastic Club Kit - This Must Be The Place; Add on - This Must Be The Place; wood veneers - This Must Be The Place; tools - typewriter, circle punches.

 

 

I have used several sizes of circle punches and trimmed to create a straight edge across the punched patterned paper.  I have then overlapped the patterned paper from the This Must Be The Place kit (January) to create a similar design as seen in the Pinterest Inspiration.

To make it easier to line all the paper pieces together, I cut a thin strip of cardstock and adhered the circles to it before adding them to the final layout.  This also allowed me to easily adjust the placement around my photo, title and journaling.

 

Thanks for visiting! I hope I have shared a little inspiration to help you keep the mojo flowing.  Perhaps your next project will include a few arched and layered lines..x

 

 



Scraptastic Club | Pinterest Monday...

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to share  with you a layout created for Scraptastic Club Pinterest Monday.  Monique and I are up on the blog here.

 

 

 



 "Happy Heart"

products used: Scraptastic Club Kit - This Must Be The Place; Add on - This Must Be The Place; flair/badges - This Must Be The Place; tools - typewriter, silhouette portrait.

 

Once again I broke out my Silhouette Portrait to recreate the quote.  I positioned the words on the right side and justified the edge to allow the individual words to line up perfectly. Below the cut I placed the moon phase patterned paper from the This Must Be The Place January kit and then layered the Crate Paper Open Book | Chapters patterned paper and the yellow cardstock beneath that.

If you would like to see more details, please visit the new Scraptastic Club website.

 

Thanks for joining me today.

 

Scraptastic Club | A - Z Challenge...

Hello Friends!  We have a fabulous challenge on the Scraptastic Club blog today and I am hoping you are all willing to play along.  The wonderfully talented Anna and I are challenging you to use the full alphabet on your layouts.  Quite a big ask perhaps, but for those of you in organisation and purging mode for the new year, this challenge is perfect for you!

 

What better way to use up some of your scrapbooking stash?  Anna's layout is simply stunning and I love the way she has incorporated journaling into her challenge process.  I have chosen a more subtle approach and dusted off my Silhouette to create an easy 3x4 alphabet card from plain white cardstock.

 

"Here"

 

products used: Scraptastic Club Kit - This Must Be The Place; Add on - This Must Be The Place; flair/badges - This Must Be The Place; tools - typewriter, silhouette portrait.

 

Like Anna, I have also used the Scraptastic Club This Must Be The Place January kit and have used the challenge this week to express the transitional phase my youngest son is going through right now.

 

 

At first glance the alphabet card really doesn't seem to be related to anything else on the page.  But for me, it represents an age where he is learning.  He is about to start his very first year at school and the process of getting into a new routine is very relevant.  Including having a space all of his own in his bedroom.

 

 

I've drawn out the beautiful teal blues and yellow colours in the kit and teamed them with a masculine grey. But to soften the entire look I've added the gorgeous vellum embellishments, including the flowers.  Also by using the reverse side of the vellum, see above, I've kept the focus of my layout on the photos and story, rather than the bright pop of colour.  It stood out on the page like a beacon shouting "Look at me!!"

 

 

Thanks for visiting here today and I hope I have inspired you to take up the challenge over at Scraptastic Club.  Good luck and I can't wait to see the layouts in the gallery!

----quick tutorial-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

To create your own alphabet cut file, open a new file in Silhouette and using the rounded corner rectangle, create a shape at 3" wide x 4" high. This forms your background/base card.

 

Click on the text icon and type in 'a, b, c, d, e'.  I used the Aharoni font. Resize the text to fit onto the 3x4 background shape.  Continue the same process with the following text lines: 'f - l'; 'm - p'; 'q - v'; w - z'.

 

Hold the 'shift' key and select the entire cut file.  Group all the elements together by right clicking the mouse.

Now you can send the file to your silhouette to be cut out.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Scraptastic Club | Heartbeats...

Hello Everyone!  It is almost the end of the year and  today I want to share with you a little super fast inspiration, using the gorgeous December Heartbeats kit from Scraptastic Club.

 

 

December is a really busy month in my household, but it doesn't necessarily mean I stop being creative!  To keep myself from going a little nuts during the holiday season, I love to play with pretty paper and shiny things!! And the Heartbeats kit has plenty of both.  But remember that part where I said December is really busy?  To keep myself from stressing even more (by starting something I can't finish!) I often take inspiration from a layout, to also create a card.  It's a two for one deal!

 

 

I've kept my layout simple, highlighting my photo with embellishments and layers.

"Love What You Do"

products used: Scraptastic Club Kit - Heartbeats; Add On - Heartbeats; Stamp Set - Heartbeats; Cut Aparts - Heartbeats; tools - hand stitching, typewriter.

 

The patterned paper guided my placement for the photo with it's vignette.  The darker grey around the outside edges, frames the photo.  Using a black and white photo takes away all the guess work when it comes to selecting a color palette.  I have chosen a complementary teal to work with the grey and then added bright pops of yellow for fun!

 

 

Hand stitching can sometimes be time consuming, but by using the Heartbeats clear stamps as a guide, I can quickly make the stamped image a feature.

 

I've finished my layout by journaling directly onto the Heartbeats cut aparts and mounting it onto foam dots for more dimension.

 

 

The clear stickers have been placed directly onto white cardstock and then embellished with puffy stickers from the kit.

 

 

After creating this layout, I had plenty of leftover supplies already sitting on my desk.  Instead of putting them away with my kit, I quickly used them to my creative advantage.

 

products used: Scraptastic Club Kit - Heartbeats; Add On - Heartbeats.

 

I've stayed true to the layout by using the same color palette and patterned papers.  But I've also adapted similar techniques, such as hand stitching, placing the clear stickers onto white cardstock and adding a triangle to the corner of the card. 

 

To create the hand stitched flourishes, simply draw some elegant swirls with a pencil and then pre-pierce the paper.

 

Thanks for joining me here today.  I hope I have managed to share a few simple ideas to keep you creative during this busy season..x

ps - all this information has just been repeated over at Scraptastic! Ha!  Word. For. Word.  I told you it was a busy, time consuming month and at the moment, I'm all for taking short cuts! *grin*  I hope you don't mind.
 

 



Scraptastic Club | December sketch...

 Hi Friends!  Last week Scraptastic Club shared their December sketch.

 

And I decided to create a non Christmas themed page with it!  *gasp!!*

 

 

"Grin"

products used: Scraptastic Club Kit - Heartbeats; Add On - Heartbeats; Stamp Set - Heartbeats; tools - machine stitching, typewriter.

I really enjoyed playing with the triangles and the fun pops of yellow!  Head on over to Scraptastic to enter your version of the sketch.  Thanks for visiting..x

 



Scraptastic Club | Pinterest Monday...

Hi Everyone!  Monique and I have created a Pinterest Inspiration mood board for Scraptastic Club and I love her fun take on the images!  Here's what we pinned...

I too have played with the pops of yellow but on the cardstock background, I took it one step further and dipped my dot clear stamp image (from the Shake It Off Stamp Set), directly into white paint!

"All You Need Is Yoga"





products used: Scraptastic Club Kit - Shake It Off; Add On - Shake It Off; Stamp Set - Shake It Off; Cut Aparts - Shake It Off; other - paint; tools - typewriter, machine stitching.

If you would like to see more details, please visit the Scraptastic Club blog. Thanks for visiting..x





Scraptastic Club | Shake It Off

 Hello Friends!  Up on the Scraptastic Club blog today I am sharing two quick and easy ways to enhance or create your own embellishments.

I absolutely adore the November Shake It Off kit and it already comes with gorgeous products to embellish your pages.  But sometimes I want to add a little extra something, just to make my layout feel complete.  Especially if it helps to relay the story I am documenting.

"You Had Me At Hello"

 

products used: Scraptastic Club Kit - Shake It Off; Add On - Shake It Off; Stamp Set - Shake It Off; Cut Aparts - Shake It Off; other - mist (Heidi Swapp); tools - typewriter, gold pen.

 



On this first layout, I enhanced the Jillibean Soup mini placemat by misting it and adding gold highlights...

 

 

The mist provided the colour I wanted but after placing the mini placemat onto the patterned paper of my layout, it tended to become lost.  Thank goodness for gold pens and a reasonably steady hand!!  I placed the dried placemat onto a foam mat to help keep the penmanship neat.

 



 

The mini placemat/title card was then added to the cluster near my photos to help highlight the premade embellishment of the typewriter.

 



 

And I love that the Shake It Off Stamp Set provided extra hints to support the typewriter story with both the font and bold "+'s".

 



 

With my second layout, I have created a very simple embellishment using cardstock, patterned paper and the Shake It Off Stamp Set.

"Here's The Story"



products used: Scraptastic Club Kit - Shake It Off; Add On - Shake It Off; Stamp Set - Shake It Off; Flair - Shake It Off; other - twine; tools - typewriter, machine stitching, hole punch.
 

I needed a place to add journaling to my layout "Here's the Story".  My patterned paper choices were already quite busy but the clear stamp brushstroke image sparked an idea and allowed me to add an area of white space without adding more clutter.

 



 

Head on over to the blog for more details.

 

To finish my layout I added the rest of the embellishments on a diagonal line to help lead the eye back to the journaling.

 



 

 Thanks for visiting..x