1 mask, 3 ways

Hello everyone. It is Ifa today, sharing my love for this mask.

I am smitten. So much so, I have 3 layouts to share with you.

For my first layout, I simply mist through the mask onto my background cardstock. I made sure the top and bottom stayed clear of ink by masking further with some scrap A4 paper.

In my next layout, I misted the two sides of the background paper.

For my final layout, I misted the middle of the mask, turn over and carefully place on my background cardstock...I ended up with the negative of the mask.

So what do you think ? Do you like it ?

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* * Three super quick layouts using 6x6 paper pads * *

Hello all

It's Laura here with a couple of ideas on how to use 6x6 pads to create quick and simple 12x12 layouts. 

6x6 pads are the perfect way to get a whole collection of papers and incoperate lots of patterns into your layouts without having to buy the whole collection.  They are also the perfect opportunity to "trial" a paper collection and then you can go onto buy the full sheets of your favourite patterns.

6x6 pads are small and very affordable.  Its a great way to build up your stash.  In this blog post I have featured three 6x6 pads. 

* Autumn Press by Studio Calico

* Vanity Fair by My Minds Eye

and

* Happy Days by Echo Park

Links direct to the shop are at the bottom of this blog post!

These three layouts are all super quick... I completed these three layouts in less than 2 hours.  A great way to get some memories documented.  By using a set of patterened papers from a 6x6 pad you can be sure that the papers are already colour co-ordinated and work well together, thus taking the guess work out of matching patterned papers.

Firstly... I created the layout below by creating a paper stack using the Studio Calico pad.   I took five 6x6 pieces and roughly cut them (as in I used scissors, not a trimmer and I didn't measure) into smaller and smaller squares.  The bottom piece, the red polka dot one, is the full 6x6 size and the papers layered on top get slightly smaller with each layer.

The whole stack was added to a piece of dark cardstock, journalling and title added and this whole sheet was then cut down and mounted onto the kraft cardstock.  Off cuts from the cut squares were then added in underneath the dark cardstock.  All scraps used up... layout done!

This layout documents the first night we put our baby to bed upstairs.  I sat by the baby monitor all night constantly asking my husband to mute the tv so I could listen to snuffles via the monitor.  She was five weeks old at this point and the first time she had ever been out of my sight.  Of course she slept soundly until we went to bed and I was happy to be back in her company once again!

The second layout uses the My Mind Eye paper pad.  For this layout a background was created by using four full sheets of 6x6 papers.  I edged them all with an AC pen to add some definition and then my photo was added on top.  I used a large photo but any size would work.  To the top left and bottom right I added an embellishment cluster and titles.  The journalling was written directly onto the pink patterened paper.

Again the beauty of using 6x6 paper pads in this way is that you can be sure that the four colours and patterns will work together in this way. 

This layout features one of our first photos as a new family of three.  The journalling talks about the fact that life now revolves around this tiny person and although she has only been here for a few short weeks, it feels like she has always been here.

And lastly, this is my layout for the January Sarah Card's blog challenge and uses the Echo Park paper pad. 

A block of patterned paper was created down one side of a background sheet using strips cut from the 6x6 papers.  To keep the creation of these layouts quick, I roughly chopped these strips.  Not worrying about how exact or straight each piece was.  When you cluster them together in this way, you won't notice if a couple of them are wonky or not straight so embrace speedy scrapping!

I selected a few sheets of paper and chopped some strips from them.  These were then layered up together in no particular order.  I didn't pre-plan the layout of these strips... lets keep this quick.  I started at the top and I just stuck them down one by one until the block was created.  Photos added on top, title and journalling written... job done!

I hope this post has given you some ideas to embrace the 6x6 pad.  I used three different collections here but you could easily create all these layouts using one paper pad, an excellent way to make your stash go further.

While I am here... don't forget to link us to your projects for the January blog challenge! There is a £20 shop voucher to be won!  You have until 31st January to take part!

My Minds Eye 6x6 Paper Pad Vanity Fair	Studio Calico 6x6 Paper Pad Autumn Press	Echo Park 6x6 Paper Pad Happy Days
American Crafts Foam Thickers Rockabye White	American Crafts Foam Thickers Rockaby Green Leaf	American Crafts Kraft Cardstock
American Crafts White Cardstock	American Crafts Cardstock Grey Shadow	Martha Stewart Butterfly 3 in 1 punch
Amy Tan American Crafts Fabric Remarks All Together	Adhesive Rhinestones Clear AB	American Crafts - Precision Pen - Black

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Decorating Blank Chipboard

I have to admit I look at blank chipboard shapes and sheets and think "what am i going to do with that?" and I've lost count of how many pieces i've ruined along the way.

This month I wanted to share with you a simple way to bring your chipboard to life.

Over at Sarahs Cards I fell in love with these amazing cogs from the want to scrap range, I just loved the layers and the depth of each piece.

And here is the layout I created with the cogs

and closer images of the cogs..

To bring my chipboard to life i did the following;

1..Dry brush white paint all over cogs leaving plenty of chipboard still showing through.
2..Allow paint to dry
3..Use a black inkpad and add accents on black paying more attention to the edges to create depth 4..Add highlights of white paint
5..Add a few metal brads (I left a few holes blank for effect...im just not sure what this effect was)


Here is my complete supply list;
White paint
Liquid Pearls
Black inkpad
Chipboard cogs
Black cardstock
Tim Holtz Sprocket Gears
Adornit tiny blue alphabet
Thickers - Hardcover, Aquatic
Bakers Twine, Aqua
Ruby Rock It - Bella Paper Boy, Cogs
Ruby Rock It - Bella Paper Boy, Collage
Ruby Rock It - Bella Paper Boy, Token
Ruby Rock It - Bella Paper Boy,4x4
Ruby Rock It - Bella Paper Boy, Superstar
Ruby Rock It - Bella paper boy, Borders
Maya Road Zip Trim, Sea Blue

Post-Christmas Scrapping

I love reading all the "Christmas Scrapping" inspiration in the run up to the big event in December, but if you're anything like me, it is only now that you have the stash, edited pictures and most importantly time to actually document any of the festive season! So I hope you are not all fed up of seasonal pictures and posts, as here I am with my take on recording Christmas! Grab the left over chocolates and sit back and relax.....

Another thing which sometimes makes me hesitant to scrap my Christmas pictures is that I feel that I *should* use festive, themed papers......it's not that I dislike them in anyway, but they somehow serve to get me incredibly stressed about getting my annual Christmas pages *just right*.......totally ridiculous but very true. Thankfully, as many of the design team showcased last month, that really needn't be the case, and like many of them I enjoy the challenge of using "ordinary" stash to create my own, individual seasonal theme, without my self-induced "must get this right first time" pressure that for some bizarre reason themed paper brings out in me!

I chose to use the absolutely gorgeous My Minds Eye Kraft Funday ranges - these were hugely popular at the November retreat, but if you have yet to check them out, have a look at them here, or follow the links at the end of my post.  The gorgeous colour-printed kraft designs reminded me of my favourite type of wrapping paper, so felt like a natural choice for my Christmas photos.

My First page is Wonderful Day:

please click on any photo 

to see a larger version

We had a fantastic day back in November when my niece was chosen to be Santa's helper for the day and, following a special breakfast and lots of treats, open his grotto - complete with the local paparazzi there to record the moment!

I used the star-spangled reverse of the Lollipop Dots paper as the base for my page, with a spritz of white mist for a frosty feel. I matted my photos on several different layers of paper, and wanted to create the effect of it all being bundled up together like a parcel. So using bakers twine, I attached long lengths behind the paper and brought them to the front, passing them through a single point with a needle so that they would give a "tied together" look when I had finished:

To make the bow on top, I punched several bows shapes from different patterned paper, folded them to give them dimension and stacked them on top of each other using a good dollop of ultra tacky glue.....

and added a sparkly rhinestone to the centre.....I LOVE the iridescent sparkle of the aurora borealis rhinestones - it doesn't photograph well but they give so much more colour and sparkle than plain clear ones!

I used a pre-made, printed chipboard embellishment for my title; you don't have to create your own with alphas every time - printed journalling cards and stickers can some times do the hard work for you. To customise the chipboard I gave it a blast of pink mist,

before matting it on some paper, and a strip of mix tape that I stamped some bunting on top of:

And of course, a bit of added bling to bring the sparkle and magic of the day to life!

A little cluster of stamped images and sentiments and embellishments finished my page:

I adore the little Amy Tangerine camera stamp, and sincerely believe everyone should own it!!

The second page I'd like to share with you was based on my favourite snap of myself and my other half on Christmas Day morning before the chaos and madness descended.....

As the page was based on our "Christmas Portrait", I wanted to use lots of frames to emphasise this idea. Using the frame in the Amy Tangerine stamps, I stamped it onto kraft cardstock in three colours, before cutting them out and sticking them under my photo. I removed the centres from two of them using a craft knife and decorated the resulting "holes" with heart rhinestones, stamped stars and buttons. I left the centre stamped image in tact, but stamped the word "favourite" using a versamark stamp to give a subtle impression. It gives a lovely, tone-on-tone watermark effect.

I created the swags by trapping bakers twine underneath punched bows with some 3d foam pads. To make sure the twiddly twine then stayed flat in the billowing swag shapes rather than twisting up, I put a generous amount of ultra tacky glue on to a clean finger and rubbed it over the twine. It dried quickly and ensured my twine has stayed in shape where I wanted it:

As well as the frames, my photos were matted with patterned papers, mix tape and journalling stickers.

At the bottom of my page, I swiped a stripe of acrylic dabber paint thickly across the page, and whilst still wet dropped lots of ultra fine glitter into it, to create a thick sparkly strip - reminiscent of fresh snow or icing on top of a gingerbread house :)

Using an Ek Success border punch, I added a chain of hearts across this once it was dry, punched from the candy-cane striped rear of the pinwheel paper. This served as the base for my title/journalling chipboard shape, which I decorated with a chipboard button and some decorative pins.

So there's my 2011 Christmas Scrapping achieved without a themed piece of paper of embellishment in sight! We would really love to see your Christmas creations so please feel free to share your links in the comments section :)

Here's to 2012 - I wonder what it has in store for us all!
Thanks, as always, for stopping by :)

My Supplies included:

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