One blueprint, three layouts

The trend for patchwork on layouts is very popular right now. I am particularly drawn to my earliest patchwork pattern, the hexagon. I remember working with my grandmother, cutting out paper templates, cutting out the fabric, stitching the paper template inside the fabric...I remember, she had more patience that me!

I tried looking for a hexagon punch without luck. I reckon, the punches manufacturers are (probably) a season behind the paper people. I looked on the internet and found some printable templates instead. You can even vary the size of the hexagons...COOL ( or as will.i.am on The Voice would say, Dope! ).

I printed three sizes, 1.5", 1" and 0.75". I cut out a hexagon from each sheet to use as template.

I used the three different sizes of hexagon and drew an interesting arrangement on a white cardstock. This becomes my blueprint for 3 layouts.

Next I cut out some patterned papers into hexagons and attach them to the background cardstock. I added a photo and suitable embellishments and came up with my first layout.

I rotated the blue print for my next layout and made my second layout.

For my last layout, I wanted less colour and more texture so I used embossed hexagons and even scrap of lace. 

Here's a close up of all the texture.

I hope you will be inspired to try making your own hexagonal layouts. See you next month.

One Month Later

 A whole month has gone by since our fabulous retreat. Have you used any of the techniques we demonstrated over the weekend?

I combined techniques from Helen’s class and Jen N’s class on this page. I made the chevron pattern in exactly the same way as we did in Helen’s class, I just made it larger. For those of you who didn’t come along, here is a run through of how Helen taught us to make the chevrons:

First cut a strip of patterned paper about an inch wide. Then cut that strip into 4 sections that are the same size – mine are 2.5 inches. To make the chevron lay two pieces on top of each other in an L shape and cut diagonally from point to point (a mitre cut). Then lay two more of your strips in L shapes starting from the other end of your original L (I hope the photos make this clear as it is hard to explain!) Again mitre cut these pieces. I have made little pencil marks in the photos to show where to cut. Once you have made those cuts you can position the pieces to make the chevron pattern. You also have several cute little triangles to use as embellishments on your LO.

I covered a 6”x8” piece of kraft in a chevron pattern then used the tiny triangles along the top and bottom of my page. I then pierced tiny holes all around the edge of my page as seen in Jen N’s retreat class.

On all of the 3 LO’s I’m sharing today I have used the new American Crafts DIY Thickers, covering them in a different way each time. On this page I covered them with the new AC WOW! Glitter in silver.

 On my second LO I used techniques taken straight from Lou’s retreat class. I made a border for my photo and title by gluing Bakers Twine straight onto the page using Tombo glue. I used several border punches to create the layered effect across the top and bottom of the page. The little circle embellishments Lou demonstrated are so easy yet so effective. Punch a 1.5” circle from patterned paper. Then cut a 1”x1” square from a coordinating paper and glue it in the centre of the circle. Next simply fold the bits of the circle that you can still see inwards.

On this LO I covered the DIY Thickers with patterned paper. I rolled repositionable herma on top of the covering paper then stuck that, top down, onto the reverse of my paper. I cut around the letter shape then carefully peeled off and discarded the cover. This left me with a new cover for the Thicker in a patterned paper that coordinated with my LO. Lastly I drew around each letter in tombo glue and sprinkled a little more WOW! Glitter on there.

Finally I thought I would share one last LO that I made using the same papers. I covered the Thickers in the same way as above – some with WOW! Glitter and some with patterned paper. On the ones with patterned paper I covered them in a layer of Glossy Accents to give them a shine.

If you have used any of the techniques from the retreat please share them with us either via a comment or on our facebook page. We’d love to see them.

(P.S. Apologies if some of the images are a little blurry. My scanner seems to be on it's last legs!)

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* * Adding details to your pages * *

Good morning, it's Laura here and today I am going to share with you a couple of tips (and links to handy products that Sarah's Cards stock!) to help you add little details to your scrapbook pages.  I have created three pages using the same supplies.  As you will see the pages are all very different to each other but the same supplies keep popping up adding details through all three pages. 

Sarah's Cards stock so many gorgeous products that some times it can be overwhelming knowing what to choose so I like products that will work again and again across lots of different pages.  This means that they offer great value for money and there is nothing more satsifying for me that using up stash! I absoluntely love getting to the end of a sticker sheet or using up a whole piece of paper... after all this means we can just buy more right?!

So firstly... a family layout.  This page shows 4 generations of my side of the family.  We all have the name Ann.  Well it's my grandmother's first name and since then all the first born daughters have had Ann as a middle name.  This page documents this link between us all.

One of my favourite ways to add details to a page is to create a "sub title" in another part of your page.  For this I tend to use a smaller alphabet that I used for the main title and in this example I used a mixture of two small alphabets and a word sticker.

The Authentique range have some great sticker sheets that combine both word stickers and small alphabets, perfect for adding sub title details. 

I love these tiny alphas, including a couple from the new Studio Calico releases, but I tend to find them too small for main titles on 12x12 pages... but they are perfect for sub-titles!

I also used the smaller alphabets to construct my main title, the smaller sized letters are perfect for creating a longer title or squeezing more words into a tighter space.  Of course this technique is also handy when you discover at the last minute that you don't have the right letters left on your thicker sheet to create the whole title in one font!

Yes I am always guilty of that! So often I end up adding a title to a page but finding that, due to poor planning, I have not got the right letters left.  ahhhh.  But then I change my approach, create a mixed alphabet title and no one needs know that it wasn't on purpose!

This second page documents my wonderful husband and his new role as daddy.  He is a great hands on Dad and will (mostly happily) help with baby duties. 

Another great value way to add details to your pages is to look for patterned papers that you can cut down to create paper embellishments.  This sheet by Studio Calico is perfect for that. 

I cut the polaroid shapes out and used them to create the background for embellishment clusters.  Can you see the word stickers and small letter stickers that have re-appeared.  Here they add detail and interest.  Small letter stickers are also perfect for adding smaller details to your pages, such as the date or details such as people's names or the location of your photos.

Stickers... my all time favourite supply.  I think this is mostly due to the fact that they are so quick and simple to add to pages.  I am quick scrapbooker and I am not sure what came first... Am I a quick scrapbooker as I like to use quick style embellishments like stickers or do I use quick style embellishments because I am a quick scrapbooker?!?

Anyway little stickers like these star shapes from Studio Calico is that they are perfect for a quick addition to your page, they fill a gap and provide the perfect bit of additional detail to your pages.  I have used a foma piece underneath to add dimension.

Another perfect piece of patterned paper to chop up and use to add details to your pages is this one from Echo Park's 'Note to Self' range.  You can see that I have used various elements of this piece of paper across all three of my pages this month.  I particulary like the arrows and hands to point or highlight a certain piece of journalling on your page or direct the viewer to a particular detail.

My third and final page... featuring my darling daughter at her 6 month photo shoot! As you can use I used two pieces from this sheet to create the title to this page.  The number border combined with the arrow to highlight the number 6. 

I also used another one of my favourite tiny alphabets with the calender element of the paper to create a block of embellishments in the top left hand corner of the page.

Tiny letter stickers plus the calendar piece provide not only an embellishment cluster but also the opportunity to record a key piece of important information... the date that the photos were taken.

I know that adding dates to layouts is really important.  We all want to be able to look back through our albums and know exactly when the event we are reading about took place, so fairly frequently I add the date to my layouts in more than one place! This means that it won't be missed, plus I think its often an excuse to use another method to add detail to the design.   My current favourite is a regular date stamp.

This Dear Lizzy stamp is just gorgeous and at the moment seems to be being used on almost all of my layouts!

I hope these little ideas have given you some inspiration for adding details to your pages.   Check out the links below for the items I have used and talked about in this post!

Authentique Celebrate - Elements	Studio Calico - Abroad - Star Stickers	Studio Calico - Abroad - Mini Alpha Stickers - Aqua	Studio Calico - Abroad - Mini Alpha Stickers - Red
Studio Calico - Take Note - Mini alphas	Studio Calico Classic Calico V.2 Numerical	Echo Park - Note to Self - Borders	Jillibean Soup - Alphabeans - Roma Red
American Crafts Dear Lizzy - Neapolitan Stamps - Roller Stamp

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