Shaping up

Hello ladies! Tracie here, this month I have been playing with all the little wooden veneer shapes that are available in the shop.

There are lots of shapes available but I loved the tiny little sundrifter ones from Studio Calico, and because they aren't themed you can pretty much do anything with them.

For my first layout I started arranging them to make branches and flowers.
Once I was happy with the arrangment I glued them down onto my background paper (I used the stunnning Basic Grey avalon paper from the Serenade range) then I painted over it all with white acrylic paint to soften it.
Sticking with the Serenade range (Just because it's so lush!!) I cut some branches and birds from the Chemise paper, to give it some depth.

Then all it needed was a few rub-ons (I do like my rub-ons!!) I used the Pink Paislee Cottage Farms ones, I also added a little of the white acrylic to the edges of the photo to soften the edges.

For my second layout I wanted to try a much bolder approach.
The wonderful thing about these shapes is that they work equally well on vintage and modern layouts, and are also ideal for adding just a little interest to the more simple style of layout too, the possibilities are endless!

Foregoing all patterned papers, I started off by stamping a background with the fabby Beed Background stamp from Basic Grey Hipster collection onto white cardstock.

Sticking with the Hipster range and I was back to my trusted rub-ons again!  These aren't just any rub-on these, oh no!! These are flocked rub-ons!! ease and texture all in one rub!!

I added  a few Hipster alphas and a mix of embellishments from Fancy Pants and Pink Paislee
and a photo of my gorgeous grandson of course!

then out came the shapes agan!
This time I inked them slightly and glued them randomly all over the stamped background.

I've loved playing around with these shapes and seeing just what can be done with them, but I would love to see your creations, so please leave a link to your work in the comments box so I can have a nosey!!

That's all from me for now, I'm off to enjoy what's left of this lovely weather!

Getting messy!

Hi, Tracie here,
I have recently been trying my hand at Art Journalling and I suppose it was only natural that some of the techniques I have been playing with have found their way onto my scrapbook pages.

The shop has an amazing range of masks and templates and they are so versatlie, they can be used on so many projects and in so many different ways!

I love the way you 'build' a background for Art Journalling, and using the same principle but with the addition of some scrumptious papers, can give your layout a really unique look.

For my first page I used the hexagon mask with Tim Holtz tattered rose ink and using the same ink I stamped randomly with a script stamp.

The paper I used were the absolutely gorgeous Pink Paislee Cottage Farm and Basic grey Serenade
 mixed with some Websters pages Modern romance embellishments (those ribbons are LUSH!!) and rub-ons.

I loved the little heart from the simple accents but the colour was a tad too peachy for me so I just dry- brushed some white acryllic paint over the top to give it a much softer look.

For my second layout I used Simple Stories Vintage Bliss! 'Bliss' is the word for this range! I just loved working with these.

Out came my trusty Gesso and this time I used the Crafter's workshop life shapes template, once the paint was dry I stamped all over with the American Crafts Amy Tan yes please stamps

I couldn't resist cutting out all the little butterflies to create a frame for the photo of some of the lovely ladies at my local crop on our 2nd anniversary. I handstitched these in place because I wasn't sure I'd end up with a circle and not a squiggly mess if I used the machine! I'm not altogether sure it's a circle as it is but I'm claiming artistic licence here!

So that's it from me for now, hope you all have a good Bank Holiday weekend and that the sun keeps shining for you!

An October Afternoon Scrapping....

Yes...I actually spent an afternoon, in October, scrapbooking with papers and embellishments from October Afternoon. Fancy that!! The lovely new Midway line to be precise, and the bright, happy hues and geometric patterns were just what I needed to inject some colour into a dull Autumn day. As always, direct links to the products I have used can be found at the end of the post.

My first page uses pictures actually taken just this weekend - Mr T and I attended a children's rollerblading party where towards the end the adults were all getting in on the action too. I must admit, I wasn't keen and was somewhat harassed into having a go, but I did manage a length of the sports hall and back without breaking any bones! It was good fun :) The round designs on the papers were perfect for recording our "wheely" fun adventure (see what I did there?!!) *ahem*...moving sharply on to the layout then.....

I'm totally in love with the new washi tapes that match the Midway range -  you can see a strip of the "Word Bubbles" across the photo of Mr T, and the "Photo Log" one along the bottom of the page. They are so usable - it is going to be ridiculously hard not to pop these on every page I make!

I had a pack of Pink Paislee "Artisan Words" to play with, and loved the puffy, rubbery texture they added to my page - and how they made incredibly light work of adding a title to my page.

 

The Artisan Words also contain elements other than text, and the Travel pack contains lots of fun stars and arrows. They can be used in their natural state as I did with my title, or customized using many mediums- inks, stains, markers, paint....... I chose to colour some of the stars for this page using mists (spraying liberally and mopping up any excess with a tissue).

I made little flag embellishments by wrapping strips of washi around decorative pins - you can layer up as many different tapes as you like, here I used two:

I then added a word sticker from the October Afternoon sheet, and popped the finished flag onto my page:

My second page utilised the funfair theme of the range to document a recent visit to the fair - and my niece and stepdaughter's first ever ride on a "roller coaster" - it was only a small one for children but I think it's fair to say they both loved it and will be raring to have a go on proper ones when they are big enough.

I wanted the page to be really busy with lots of movement to reflect the chaos of fair rides, and created this by adding lots of layers of elements and using them to move the eye around the page. The long vertical strip on the right takes your eyes down the picture to the title; next the horizontal strip runs your attention from the title across the page, and finally the arrows on the left return your gaze to the photo.

I created the assortment of arrows by beginning with a misted pattern using the arrows from the Artisan shapes as masks - the rubbery texture allowed me to pop them down, mist my paper, and peel them away easily to leave a negative shape. Plus, as they wiped clean, I could return them to the pack to use on another page. I mixed these with arrows hand-cut from one of the strips on the Duck Pond paper.

And now for something completely different.....my third page is very unlike my usual style but I'm pleased with it. It sort of made itself - I kept trying to add little things which I think are my "signature touches" to it, but it kept looking overdone. So I left it as it was - and it is the perfect addition to my pages about our short camping trip during the summer. It just goes to show that sometimes just a few basic elements are all you need to create a page - here I used one sheet of paper, some of the Studio Calico Ephemera, Pink Paislee Artisan Words, mist and a single strip of the Photo Log washi tape, and I was done.

Thanks as always for joining us at the Sarah's Cards Blog!

My Supplies included:

InLinkz.com

In Vogue with Pink Paislee's - Vintage Vogue

Hi all :) Gems here. 

This month I got to play with the gorgeous Pink Paislee - Vintage Vogue. The girly tones are perfect for scrapping photos of my daughter and I got to work straight away on the first of my layouts....

[A love of Words]

 

[Please Click to View Larger] 

Ashton is an avid reader and can often be found with her nose inside a book. One afternoon I popped into the kitchen and found her reading the Secret Garden and decided to snap some photos to record her love of reading. 

Purple is a colour I usually avoid in scrapbooking as I find it difficult to work with, but I challenged myself to create a layout using purple as one of the main colours, and I absolutely loved the challenge I set myself, and I am happy with the results. 

My second layout I created using the range was....

[In her Element]

 

[Please Click to View Larger]

Ashton was a flowergirl for my Brother-in-law's wedding back in July and I thought these pretty, feminine papers were perfect for photos taken on the day. 

I will be back tomorrow with a couple of cards I created using the same range and a gorgeous, extremely versatile product I adored using! 

Below are the products I used.......(Simply click on the picture to take you to the product in the shop) 

Pimp Your Thickers!

Hello all. Happy October... can you believe how warm it is at the moment? Hope you all have something wonderful planned for the weekend... but if you don't hopefully I can provide you with a little inspiration to get your creative juices flowing.

This month I chose to work with the stunning Bella! Paper Boy range from Ruby Rock-It. As soon as I saw the fab designs, and the glitter papers, I knew they'd be perfect for scrapping pics of the terrible trio... lol!
Don't let the fact that these are 'boy' papers put you off buying them, with the exception of a couple of patterns, the range is really versatile and could easily be used with so many photo themes.

My first LO is of Thing 3 doing what he does best... being incredibly cute, cheeky and funny! We had a fun afternoon in the garden and I got this fab photo of him hiding from the camera. The Sphere paper is really quite busy as a whole sheet, but the octagonal design makes it really easy to cut into strips, which I did to edge the page. I layered strips of different patterned papers with a couple of the Fancy Pants, Off to School chalk stickers, and a strip of Pink Paislee mistables scalloped trim.

When it came to adding a title I had a bit of a 'wardrobe' moment! A cupboard full of clothes and absolutely nothing to wear.... or in this case, a box full of Thickers and nothing that was just right for the LO. So I decided to 'pimp' some pink pearl chipboard Thickers I was not likely to use any time soon.

Here's a little step by step as to how I changed the alphas to suit my LO.

Firstly I used a fine emery board to sand the pearly finish, leaving a nice matt base.

I then painted the alphas with white acrylic paint... they needed a couple of coats to make sure the pink was covered.

I used black ink to stamp onto the alphas once they were completely dry. I used an alphabet border stamp that I bought from Sarah's cards ages ago and had forgotten about.

I then added a thick layer of glossy accents putting the alphas to the side until they were dry. I left them over night to be absolutely sure I wouldn't be tempted to touch them to see if they were dry yet... you know you've done this too!!!

Once they were dry the alphas were ready to add to the LO. I also used a mix of yellow teeny alpha stickers and white stickers from Making Memories.

I just love how these turned out, and they were so easy to do. So I had another go for my next LO...

This time I had a 'happy accident' with my title. I used a grid pattern roller stamp and turquoise ink (an ink pad I stole borrowed from the boy's craft cupboard). I gave them a coat of white before stamping, but when I added the glossy accents, the ink bled. Once they were dry they looked like turquoise glass with a feint grid pattern... and actually looked pretty cool. As the grid pattern was now very subtle I used some black ink  to roll the same design lightly over the top. I think it works well.

I created a wrinkled/textured background for this LO, by firstly stamping with bubble wrap and acrylic paint onto white card. My original intention was to have that as my background, but when it was done it was just too 'in your face'. I covered the whole LO with a coat of diluted pva glue and added 2 sheets of white tissue paper, not worrying about the wrinkles. To added a bit more texture I also added a sprinkling of white embossing powder and heated until it melted. I used the same grid roller I used on the alphas on the background, gave the corner a spray of green mist and machine stitched around the edge before adding any patterned paper. 

To complete this LO I used some Jenni Bowlin Star stickers, and some Air Mail baker's twine, and dipped a pen lid in paint to stamp random circles onto the page.

My last LO has a very different feel to the previous 2, even though it uses paper from the same range. I did lots of very random machine stitching over the base of this LO to represent the box designs Etch A Sketch are well know for. By using a poloroid stamp onto red card, and punching some circles from white, I created mini  etch a sketch frames for my two photos. I used the Teresa Collins Stampmaker machine to make my own guinea pig stamp.... I know I've said it before, but if you are in two minds about getting this tool, I'd say do it... it really is a so easy to use and perfect to make the stamp you absolutely do need to complete a LO but might not be able to find to buy. If you are interested in one of these, and they are out of stock, just contact Sarah or Lianne and I'm sure they'll be able to order one for you.

I used the same pink pearl thickers, this time painting them red. I stamped over the red with black and used a grid stamp from this Glitz distressing set. Once the ink was dry I used a white gel pen to highlight some areas and fill some of the areas in.

With very little effort I have created 3 customised titles for my LOs. This technique would also be perfect to use when you don't have enough letters from one set to make your LO. You could easily mix different colours and different fonts, but create a unified title by 'pimping' them all in the same way.

Why don't you have a go at customising some Thickers... please share with us anything that you create that has been inspired by what you see on the blog, and we'll pop by and leave you a comment.