Aussie Scrap Source

layouts of substance... 'out with the old, in with the new'

  

When it comes to New Years resolutions its important to look backwards as well as forwards - so as not to make the same mistakes and to learn from the challenges we have faced and to set realistic goals that may extend past the year thats ahead. Jaimie created this LO after re-discovering a 'bucket list' that she compiled back in 2007 of things she would like to do before she turned 40. It was encouraging for her to see that she has accomplished several of the items on her list already and has marked them off with BG brads. Jaimie has decided to remove the self imposed time limit on her list and looks forward to crossing off as many if not all of them while she is able.

Instead of making NY resolutions that may end in failure why not make your own realistic bucket list and enjoy the journey you take in order to mark them off.
 

New Years Eve is one of those times that many people reflect on how the year has gone and what lies ahead for them. Nic says that most the time her new years resolutions revolve around her health and her family, and the time she spends with them! Nic decided to base her celebration of old and new on the vows she took with her husband Paul on their trip to Las Vegas in 2006.

Their trip fell on their 10th wedding anniversary, so what better time to renew their vows! It's not so much out with the old and in with the new, as just celebrating the good things in life.
Nic has created her layout with a variety of papers - the majority is from Basic Grey and Sassafras Lass. The clusters of embellishments contain bits and pieces from BasicGrey, Hambly Queen & Co and Pink Paislee.

Setting new year resolutions isn't something that Mel usually does, but this coming year she hopes to work more on buying or making homemade gifts for her family & friends when special occasions crop up. One of the pretty features of this page is the addition of bling to the circles in the patterned paper. Mel has used We R Memory Keepers Christmas glitter brads for this and also added a brad for the bird's eye (Grungeboard Element Shapes, Nature). The Sassafras Lass In A Stitch Blossoms were also a lovely addition and fast embellishment to place down. The stitching on the blossoms adds to the homemade feel Mel wanted to achieve for the layout.

We love this layout by Louise Williams - not only is the detail in the layout stunning, but the theme tugs at the old heart strings! Louise captured beautifully the feelings we all feel at some time when our babies start growing up. The rich colours of BasicGrey papers paired with Queen & Co burgundy reflect the mood of the journaling well. We just keep going back for a second look at the detail - thanks so much for sharing, Louise!

 

Another sentiment all of us as mothers and wives  and carers can relate to - that of time passing being filled with all the things that we have to do, leaving little for those things we want to do - the me time and creative time.  We thank the lovely Tamar Bostock for sharing this beautifully soft and feminine layout with us - and we're glad she found the time to create it!

pow! storage solutions

 

 

Caz loves her Vituri Urban Handbag by Cropper Hopper. Up until she bought this bag she has always been a small purse on a strap, keys and phone in the back pocket kinda girl. There was never anywhere to hold an emergency hairbrush for the kids, tissues, a pen, or any of the other incidentals that the 'good mothers' always seemed to have on them. lol.

This gorgeous bag changed all this. Possible for the worse. Now there is a space for everything, Caz finds she is carting around more stuff than she probably needs. Sudoku book and pencil for waiting in the car for the kids, panadol, hand-cream, lipstick (not that she wears it), a space for a can of coke (excellent thinking on the designers part) and even that air drying hand cleaner stuff, she has definitely crossed over to the "good (slightly obsessive) Mummy side".

The best thing about the bag however is the removable sleeve which holds photos of her kids. It is such a conversation starter. People are always commenting on what a great idea it is, even complete strangers in the check-out queue. The photos are held in a plastic sleeve which is waterproof and slips out easily when you want to change them.

Here are the specs on the bag -
* Three external photo windows for showing off your loved ones
* Metal feet on the bottom provide durability and stability
* Large zippered pouch
* Zipper to close the bag has concealed magnets for finely tailored appearance
* Rear external pocket for easy access
* Elegant and stylish lining throughout
* Detachable matching key chain with photo window
* Pen loops
* Convenient pockets for credit cards, mobile phone and glasses
* Durable faux-leather finish

Dimensions 15.5" x 4.25" x 8.25"
24.5" strap

The sturdy yet lightweight album bag is more than big enough to hold all the things you would need for a crop night. There is ample room inside to hold work in progress albums and paper carriers. Inside there are also 3 mesh pockets that velcro shut, a place to safely store your paper trimmer and elastic pen holders.

There is a large zippered pocket on the outside and the top of the bag zippers shut. It also comes with a detachable shoulder strap.
note to self: measuring approx 40cm x 40cm it would also make a great carry on bag for a flight.

This fabulous embellishment case from Love You More is made from translucent plastic so you can easily see what is inside without opening it. It has six sections which each contain a stack of generous sized screw together embellishment containers.

This storage system is perfect for keeping your brads, eyelets, beads etc separate yet contained together, all ready to throw in your bag to take to crops.

Acrylic stamps are one of those items that always seem to get lost or mislaid and are crying out for a good storage solution.  This fab little folder is a Stamp Carrier Starter Kit from Crop-in-Style and is exactly that - a solution.   With five pockets to store acrylic stamps, and scope to add more of them this folder is fab!  The pockets are clear so that you can see just what you have inside each and with the velcro flap over each they're never in danger of becoming unstuck or slipping out and getting lost.

The Cropper Hopper 12 x 12 paper holder is possibly Mel's most favourite storage item that she owns. It's fabulous for storing patterned paper and plain cardstock and sits neatly on a shelf for handy access. The holder is made from a really strong plastic and also comes in a 6x6, 8x8 and 8.5X11 size, which makes the smaller sizes great for holding paper pads or offcuts to keep for a later date.

   

One of the very first storage solutions Mel bought was this Cropper Hopper 12x12 Supply Case in blue (it is also available in black or ice). Still going strong it houses patterned paper/cardstock (in the underneath section) and various tools and embellishments in the top section.

Now though, one of these cute little AMM storage totes houses the majority of Mel's tools. It has a turntable on the bottom (attached with a strong magnet) which means you can swing the tote around while it sits on your work area - perfect for reaching items from the other side. There are many pockets and compartments of various sizes and the middle section is really handy to keep larger tools in (such as a cutter) or even a work in progress mini album.

weekend inspiration: tattered angels

You may have seen this layout already in Creative Paper, but we love it so much we thought we'd share it again as a beautiful example of Tattered Angels products.  Though this is a simple enough page to look at at first, there are lots of details here we wanted to share with you. 

Suz has used the Glimmer Chips - the large beautiful flourish and corner from the Cocoa Regal pack and check out the lantern she has used - the back has been covered with dimensional magic and then she has adhered a mixture of the Pink Paislee glitters so that the lantern pattern can be seen from the front, and the glitter sparkles from behind.  The Grungeboard title has also been covered with glitter which she has then sprayed with Suede Glimmer Mist to create an antique glitter look. 

Note also the touches of Queen & Co felt fusion for added colour and a whole different texture.

 

 

if you are looking for an elegant feel to your LO, then look no further than Tattered angel glimmer chips. These beautifully designed chipboard embellisment are a gorgeous addition to any scrapbook page. Jaimie used the cocoa regal glimmer chip shapes on her page as subtle embellishments and sprayed glimmermist pearl then silver over the HS velvet flower to give it a little extra shimmer all complimenting the photo of her daughters awe at their Christmas tree.

 

Tattered Angels have just released another exciting product to their collection, and Steph had the chance to play with it. Glimmer Glass is a beautiful, transparent embellishment which adds glamour and layers to your layouts. Here Steph painted the back of the butterfly Glimmer Glass with Sparkling H2Os to change the colour of the glass.

She altered her Crown Glimmer Glass with Jewels and used Glimmer Mist on the wings to give the impression of more depth of colour. Steph can't get over how easy and much fun Tattered Angels products are to create with.

 

 

 

 

 

    

Its always lovely to do something a little different when creating your layouts, Carole used the Denim Blue Glimmer Mist and Glimmer Chips by Tattered Angels to highlight her layout.

She sprayed the Glimmermist onto the Glimmer Chips and then embossed with Matallic Ink by Encore. She added the Jenni Bowlin Brown Transfer Brown Flower and Vine and Grafton Draft Surf Leaf pattern papers to compliment the Blue of the Glimmermist.

 

 

 

 

Liz Hicks from the Tattered Angels design team allowed us to share this amazing album she has created using the Regal Glimmer Glass Album.  She shares some techniques for creating this look ...

• First, I made sure that only the front cover was showing. I Iaid the album open and flat with the cover on the right side. I covered the left side of the album with a gallon size zip lock bag to prevent overspray from getting on the rest of the album. I then sprayed Seafoam Glimmer Mist on the cover and using my brayer, I smoothed the color evenly over the cover. I then dried it with my heat tool to speed up the process.

• Second, I took Olive Vine, Suede, Gold and Turquoise Blue Glimmer Mist and did a medium mist of each over the entire cover. After letting the colors settle a bit, I then mottled the colors together by taking the album in both hands and moving it from left to right and up and down. This allowed the colors to blend together a bit. I then used my heat tool to not only dry my album but also move the puddles of glimmer mist through out the cover to create streams and veins.

• Third I laid a thin coat of Patina Glimmer Mist on selected areas giving the cover an additional aged effect.

• Last, I took coffee shop, suede and Creme de Chocolate and individually sprayed each color into a baby wipe and blotted the color onto the edge of the album. I rotated the colors to give depth.

For the title, I put Platinum glitter glue on chipboard letters, dried it with my heat tool then with a watercolor brush, I used Patina Glimmer Mist and painted over the glue. This made it nice to be able to customize the color of the glitter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This stunning treasure was created by Tattered Angels design team member Cheryl McAdam using one of the gorgeous Glimmer Glass Nature Album kits, alongside Glimmer Screens.  Thanks Cheryl for allowing us to share some of the images of this wonderful keepsake album.

 

 

 

And lastly, Michelle Jackson created this stunning diorama using the Frosty Memories Glimmer Chips.  She says.. "They look great on cards and layouts, but they can also be the entire focus of a project. These Chips come from the stamped line, which is navy blue printing on the ivory chipboard. Don’t want blue? That’s where the Glimmer Mist comes in! On this project, I used a mix of Forest and Meadow Green, and Creme de Chocolat. Instead of misting directly on the Chip, I painted the Glimmer Mist on with a paintbrush. That gave me the control I wanted to paint specific areas. I also used watercolor markers to add more texture on the Chips. When you color with the markers, then apply the Glimmer Mist, the Glimmer Mist really helps to blend the marker colors, and soften any hard lines.

"Another fun detail is the Frosty Memories Glimmer Glass wreath. First, I heated the Glass piece with my heat tool for about 4 seconds, until it became soft and pliable. I quickly shaped the wreath, as once it cools, it hardens very quickly. Then, I painted the back of the Glass piece with green acrylic paint, added a red bow, and green sequin leaves for texture. Painting the Glimmer Glass piece is a great, immediate way to make these pieces match any project you have."

a beautiful christmas

All of us at Aussie Scrap Source - both the warehouse and the design team - hope you are having a magical and memory-filled Christmas season.  Here is some final beautiful Christmas inspiration from our design team to get the creative juices flowing.

 

 

Steph loves to mix things up and here she show how funky cute papers can be mixed with classic roses and traditional Christmas Images. The weight of the embellishments too is a juxtoposition of chipboard to sheers. This adds interest to the layout and draws the eye to the image.

 

 

 

 

This photo is a favourite of Donna's. It speaks volumes as far as she's concerned and deserved to be treated with pure simplicity. To achieve a page that was creative, christmassy & classic, Donna has combined several manufacturer's products - the main one being Technique Tuesdays Classic Tile Toppers. This frame-like star says "Christmas" without stealing the focus away from the photo itself. To add a little more festive charm, Donna has used Luminarte Pigment inks and Sparling H2O's to paint some golden colour around the edges of her SEI and BasicGrey patterned papers. The gold foil strip on SEI's Oasis 'Samarkand' blends perfectly with the gold paint and again reminds us that this layout is indeed Christmas-themed.

 

 

 

Jaimie cut a Christmas tree design from the BG Wassail Tree Lot paper, she machine stitched around the tree to give definition and then embellished with the Wassail Chipboard stickers and glazed brads. Jaimie used a calendar sheet from the Junkitz 6x6 calendar kit as a combination title and journaling spot to put down her thoughts about the first Christmas morning photo. Her simple tree design really sets off her page keeping the feel of the LO light and fun.

 

When it comes to the festive season, Jaimie loves Christmas decorations and goes all out in her home. This double page spread showcases some of the decorations and knick knacks that adorn her home.

 

    

 

 

Jaimie converted to B&W a sweet photo of her daughter playing with a santa hat. The cool tones of blue and silver of the BG Figgy Pudding range really gave the page a winter Christmas feel. The embellishments were a simple grouping of BG Figgy pudding sticker snowflakes, buttons and HS silver stars. Stunning photo and beautiful LO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NIcole decided she needed a whole little album to scrap last Christmas. She used this divine little "peek-a-boo" album by Tinkering Ink. She loves the mixture of chipboard and acrylic pages and most of all the little windows cut out of the pages. Each page invites the viewer to look at the next. She used Cosmo Cricket OH joy and Be Good papers and embellished with Cosmo Cricket rub-ons. They were a cinch to apply to every surface!

Nic slipped a Cosmo Cricket journal card in between the pages for her journalling. With the pre decorated cards and lines already ruled, the writing of events was quick and oh-so-easy as well!

pow! tools

The Tim Holtz Texture Hammer is the latest tool to make it's way onto Caz's collection. The hammer comes with 4 interchangeable heads - rubber (for smoothing), metal (for flattening & attaching eyelets), dots (to create a bumpy texture), and lines (to create a canvas texture) plus a handy little mat.

The hammer is quite light-weight and the tips are easy to take on and off. The fact that the head is double-sided means that you can have two different heads in use at any one time.

Tim himself recommends that you wet grungeboard or paper before you distress it as it will hold the distressing more effectively.  Caz found that if you painted the item you were distressing first or sprayed it with Glimmer Mist then it has the same effect as if you were wetting it. She loved the look of the combination of the dots effect tip with graphite coloured Glimmer Mist as it made chipboard letters look they they were made from beaten metal.

The hammer can also be used on paper and metal embellishments. It is particularly useful for making brads look old and beat-up. If you are into the whole 'distressing' scene then this is the ideal tool for you.

One of Mel's most favourite tools, the Heidi Swapp distresser is pink, cute and easy to use. You simply hold the distresser in your hand and swipe it gently along the piece of paper to achieve a nice distressed finish. They're great for the 'small scrapper' too who wants to be just like Mum, easy for them to use without cutting any fingers or small hands that might get in the way.

Mel's now onto her second box of Heidi Swapp Coloured Pencils and apart from looking really cute in their long cylinder container, they write and colour in beautifully, coming in a sweet array of colours. They are pretty much shatter proof too - Mel's have been shaken up many times in their container by little fingers wanting to look and use the pencils!

The Heidi Swapp sandpaper is the perfect size for distressing your papers and embellishments. Each packet contains 5 sheets that you tear off as needed and here's a tip from Mel - cut the sheets in half to make 10 sheets or else once the outer edges wear down a little, snip them off to make a smaller (yet unscathed) sheet of sand paper.

Perhaps not considered a tool as such, but another little Heidi Swapp product that can't go by without a mention is the lip gloss. A sweet stocking filler with Christmas coming up, great to keep in your handbag or perfect for little girls. It has a roll on applicator with a touch of glitter (for extra sparkle) and the lip gloss itself is really lovely and shiny. Spoil yourself :)

The Basic Grey rub-on tool is a wonderful new-ish little piece of equipment on the market. Nicole has owned one for some time now and at first she wasn't convinced that she needed one, her stylus was just fine thankyou.

That was until she realised that the tip is spring loaded to make it a little harder than normal for you to apply too much pressure and makes applying rub-ons over a multiple layers a breeze! The flat end is perfect for smoothing out wrinkly rub-ons and picking up any stray bits. The verdict here in Nic's opinion, is that every scrap bag should have one. Once you try it you'll love it!

This unassuming little craft knife is without a doubt Nicole's most essential piece of scrapping equipment. Made by Heidi Swapp the rubber grip makes handcutting even the most delicate elements easy. Changing blades is simple and the thicker stem is comfortable in the hand. Nicole has owned quite a few different craft knives but the Heidi Swapp one is by far her favourite ever!

The Crop-A-Dile by We R Memory Keepers may look daunting and a bit scary but it is neither of those. With a simple squeeze you can easily and cleanly punch holes through heavy media like chipboard, leather, acetate, fabric, just about anything you scrap with! It punches two sizes and sets just about every sized eyelet you could ever use in your scrapbook.

Nicole uses her Crop-A-Dile time and time again and says that she could not create mini-books as easily as she does without it. It's durable as well as it's used constantly in classes that Nic teaches.

It's handy to have around the house as well Nic realised when her son's new belt was too big she effortlessly punched a new hole in the leather and set an eyelet within seconds and WITHOUT a hammer or other noisy equipment, just a squeeze of the Crop-A-Dile. It may seem a little pricey for a hole punch and eyelet setter but in Nicole's opinion once you realise just how much you use it, you'll know it's great value for money.

The Basic Grey file set was a long time coming in Nicole's opinion. She can't remember not having little files for chipboard now and wonders how she ever managed without them.

The small files are essential for filing and sanding places where sanding blocks and paper just cannot reach like inside chipboard letters and accents and the larger files are perfect to quickly take the edge off a photo, or for off the page projects.   The flexibility of the large files makes them perfect for filing round and odd-shaped items as well. If you haven't got these, you need them!

 

This is Steph's favourite tool and she can't scrap without it. The Basic Grey precision mat is a 15"x15" cutting mat, which is a great size to pop your layout on, plus any embellishments on the side. The 18" ruler is magnetic and fantastic for lining up photo mats and embellishments with the grid lines each side of your art work. Steph loves the magnetic tacks included in the kit that can hold bits and pieces down while you play with the design.

Best of all, little fingers can't move things while they are held down by these magnets. You can also buy replacement/extra magnets if you need them.

Everyone loves going along to conventions, classes, retreats and crops, and I'm sure we all hate carrying around our cutting mats - they are either too big making it awkward to carry or too small leaving not enough room for even a 12in cut.

Deja Views has a fantastic product that really is a must for any scrapper who attends crops, classes, retreats and conventions; and with some conventions now placing a limit on how much you can take into the classrooms it really is a tool that all scrappers need.

So what is it I hear you ask - Expand-A-Mat. It is 3 mats of 3-61/4" x 12 1/4" which snap together to create one Matt that is big enough to work on a 12 x 12 layout. It's self healing, light weight , and easly fits into most totes. Snaps together in minutes, and is just as easy to pull apart for storage.

The first question I asked was "does the blade get stuck in the groves" - answer NO !! it slides right over the top. 

Want to make your mat a little bigger - simply purchase another pack and snap them to your old one .. and when you have finished working simply unsnap your matt and place it back into your tote bag.

weekend inspiration: heidi swapp

 

 

Heidi Swapp is the queen of versatility and 'little treasures' as far as Donna is concerned! A layout just doesn't feel finished without a little Heidi located somewhere on her pages. In this example however, Donna has shown that Heidi Swapp embellishments are enough to complete a layout without the need to mix manufacturers. Here she has used a transparent butterfly overlay to set the 'feel' of the page then used a Glossy Extras frame to highlight the photo. Layering various other products creates added interest and of course, where would a Donna Wild layout be without the all important Bling!?

 

 

The Heidi Swapp Carefree range is pretty, light and very sweet to use on your scrapbook pages as Mel has demonstrated here with this layout. Several layers of patterned papers from the range were positioned behind the photograph and journaling was added down the right hand side by cutting a sheet into small strips. The white title is a mix-up of Heidi Newsprint and Centre of Attention chipboard letters, while the pretty pink felt butterfly was layered over a Clear Extra butterfly for extra dimension.

To create the swirl at the bottom of the page, Mel has used a chipboard shape (Technique Tuesday, Flora & Fauna), inked it well using an ink pad and added several layers of embossing paper to give a very luscious and beachy feel to the layout.

 

  

Overhearing some words that her son Alexander said, Nicole realised how 'worldly' he has become as he has grown and what better way to bring the 'wordly' theme to a scrapbook page than by using the World Traveller collection from Heidi Swapp.

Nicole has proven that this range has far more application than just travel pages and what she loved most about the range was the gorgeous masculine colours. The clear overlay accents have a fun feel to them and the papers come with journal tags attached. It was easy to use and creates a gorgeous project with ease!

Suz has used Heidi Swapp's Dream Dining Room range of patterned papers and embellishments to celebrate a favourite old photo - probably one of the last ones taken of her parents before her dad died.  It was the occasion of their 40th wedding anniversary and the starkness of the black in the embellishments just seemed to work with the warmth of the touches of pink and blue.

 

When Nic H thinks of Heidi Swapp she thinks of a minimal style with lots of pretty detail. Heidi Swapp's products reflect this with the large blocks of colour and bold patterns. Nic chose the Runway line of papers, knowing full well that it would suit some pictures she had of her daughter beautifully. She cut strips from several different patterns and turned them horizontally to make a division she across her page and then layered photos, journaling, titles and embellishing carefully.

There are some finer details that are easier to see in real life, such as a gem border running just below the photo and the way the damask butterfly is gently folded to add dimension.

This layout entitled 'Step by Step' comes to us all the way from Manilla (Philippines) and was created by the talented Iris Babao Uy. Iris' layout stood out to us with it's bold Pink, Black and White contrast which is of course, "very Heidi"! We love the simplicity and attention to detail of this beautifully feminine page.

Leeanne O'Connor has also really captured the spirit of Heidi Swapp products in this stunning layout entitled 'Cousins'. Leeanne has used a huge variety of Heidi Swapp products from felt butterflies to overlays and the unmistakable Heidi Swapp bird and butterfly mirrors.

 

Two Peas member Brook kindly shares with us this sweet, fun layout featuring the Heidi Swapp Butterfly overlay. Here Brook has trimmed the edges of the overlay allowing her to position it on her page on a slight angle. By adding a few scraps of patterned paper underneath the butterfly, Brook has contributed a little extra colour without taking anything away from the main focus...the photos!

What a fabulous way to create a layout with so many photos! Kelly Goree has created this layout using Heidi Swapp's World Traveller range. The kraft/black and white theme is simply stunning and adding the colour photos really makes them pop. Thanks for sharing, Kelly!

layouts of substance... 'you're just like your...'

  

Jaimie wanted to use this theme to focus on the similarities between her husband and their oldest son. The older her son gets the more alike they become - says Jaimie. Its a common occurrence when a phone call is taken that the two of them are mistaken for the other. They are so alike from their in jokes shared and annoying habits, right down to the way they walk! The phrase "you're just like your ..." doesnt always evoke nostalgic memories but hopefully when her son hears those words he will always smile.

Though sometimes her children appear to come from another planet rather than herself or their father, every now and then she gets a glimpse of similarities in her son Alex.  Some of them are the more difficult aspects of his personality that she knows come directly from her and because she understands them she knows she should be more tolerant, sometimes they just butt heads completely and sometimes they just have to look at each other to know they've just got the same joke or have thought the same thing.  Suz has turned some of these into a list format. 

And for the record - the gorgeous design for this layout comes from Cathy Zielske's design class at Big Picture that Suz tried her best to find time to participate in!

Rather than compare her daughter Darcy to somebody, Caz decided to concentrate on what makes her unique in their family. The journaling reads -
you are like...
no-one
but
YOU.
Confident
Self assured
Energetic
Darcy you are like no-one else in our family. You are unique in the boundless energy you display, the self confidence you exude, and your continual love for life and excitement about what tomorrow will bring.

 

Mel's daughter Bella has many traits like her Dad (other than their similar appearance) and this challenge seemed the perfect opportunity to record these details on a layout. Mel wanted the title to have a snow like appearance to compliment the photo, so she used Scenic Route plain berkely alphas, sprayed them heavily with Glimmer Mist (Pink Bubblegum) and added a sprinkling of embossing powder before heating.

The trees were handcut from Sassafras Lass Woodland Whimsy patterned paper and the Basic Grey buttons along the bottom were added just for fun.

Creating a journal-heavy layouts is superbly simple with the papers by Carolee's Creations. Nicole attached the ? paper onto a plain piece from the BasicGrey Ambrosia range, attached her photos and title, wrote her journalling and then finished off with some rub-on accents from the Cosmo Cricket Fleuriste range that complimented the Carolee's paper perfectly.

People always comment that Nic's daughter Madeleine is a lot like her and while she agrees that they have some physical characteristics in common, Maddy's personality is more like that of her Dad. This layout celebrates the similarities that Madeleine shares with both of her parents. It will be interesting in years to come, to see if any of these things change.

pow! borders

To get a great effect with stamps you don't have to use difficult techniques as Chris has shown us with this layout. By co-ordinating ink colours with cardstock colours and using the 3 flourish border stamps from Hero Arts Chris has created this attractive design. Chris has basically created pattern paper background with the border stamps showing their versatility. By adding a few Hero Arts flowers and gems the layout is finished off beautifully.

In this example, Donna has taken a Crate Paper Prudence Glitter border to create an elegant embellishment and focal point for her page. By threading some SEI ribbon through the diecut holes & adding small details to the top of the border, Donna has maintained the simplicity of the page while still creating something interesting and whimsical.

 

Jaimie used the pink paislee topsider borders to create a decorative edge for her LO. Keeping the embellishments to a simple uncluttered style was achieved easily using the borders topped with matching stickers to give texture, dimension and a bit of cute. Jaimie also cut down one of the larger Topsider borders to create a complimenting journal spot for her page. Some BG thrown into the mix and Jaimie has created a beautiful page.

Sassafras Borders are the perfect accompaniment to weight your layout and frame your photo. Here Steph uses the borders to tilt the axis of the layout, and by doing so makes the layout more interesting to the eye.

 

 

Nicole could not have been more excited to see this new range by Crate Paper called Prudence. The deliciously die-cut papers and colours inspired her immediately.

What surprised her though was the Glitter borders. Anyone who knows Nic knows she doesn't love glitter. Once she laid eyes on the Crate Paper border strips though she was hooked. Perfectly understated, the Glitter borders add the pop that the papers need without being obviously 'blingy'.

On Nicole's layout, they create the perfect photo mat alternative anchoring her smaller photos together and creating balance on her page. She was even able to trim the circle border into a scallop and use it to soften the top edge of her journal space. Nic admits, she may now almost be a glitter convert if this is the way that glittery products are headed.

Mel selected Lil Davis Beloved Borders (Secret Crush) for this challenge and not only used them as a border directly underneath the photo, but also to create some cool flower stems for her paper circle flowers.

The flowers were punched out using two different sized circle punches, scrunched in a ball, unfolded and lightly sanded before adhering with a stitched button. The papers used for this layout were from the Crate Paper Prudence range (Charity and Discretion) with a splash of Heidi Swapp Carefree Hearts patterned paper to help lift the photos.

Chris shows us once again that border stamps don't have to be used for just borders. Chris has jazzed up this address book by using border stamps from both Luxe Designs and Sassafras Lass. I'm sure you'll agree it give the address book a funky new look! Chris stamped the borders with black ink and then coloured them with Inque Boutique blendable markers.

weekend inspiration: basicgrey

Caz loves the new Offbeat range from BasicGrey and with paper names like Carefree, Nonchalant and Light Hearted how can you not create fabulous pages?

Caz cut out a few of the little birds from one of the papers as they reminded her of sea-gulls and she 'borrowed' a couple of surf-boards from the BasicGrey obscure range to finish off this fun beach footy page.

Jaimie says that the new BG Ambrosia is delicious! The rich Autumn colours mixed with steely greys, beige and black are beautiful and complement each other easily. Jaimie used paper from the 6x6 pad and layered them over BG Smoke as her background, she then created a simple corner embellishment with a combination of stickers, jewel bling and brads before adding her title of BG and Carolees Creations tiny stickers.

Nic Howard has been looking forward to scrapping this picture of her new niece, ever since she had it printed. When the chance to use BasicGrey's Eva presented itself, she knew it'd be a perfect match for this sweet baby pic.

Nic used a Teresa Collins diecut bracket paper to set the scene and imitated the same shape from one of the BG Eva papers. She then added a splash of orange with BasicGrey's Archaic. The sweet little heart with wings is cut from the Teresa Collins paper and the title are two variations of BasicGrey alphas. Nic accentuated the splash of orange with some Queen & Co adhesive gems - the perfect finishing touches.

It's no surprise that Steph wouldn't be able to resist Urban Prairie for long with it's soft girly colour palette and hint of black.  She has swirled and layered many of the papers from the range in this layout, backing it on the more neutral Jenni Bowlin diecut paper.  Sequins, Hambly woodgrain and flourishes and machine stitching add to the amazing and perfectly executed detail in this layout.

 

Suz too, admits to love at first sight when it came to BasicGrey's Urban Prairie, and she too chose to back it on white cardstock, just because it suits her aesthetic and makes the colours pop even more.  The co-ordinating chipboard stickers are delightful and work perfectly to reinforce the theme of this summery layout.

This is a layout that Carole adored creating (and we adore sharing!).  Basic Grey Two Scoops is such  a pretty and pastel patterned paper range and the co-oridnating element stickers just finished off the layout nicely with a touch of bling.

   

This layout was actually inspired by the BasicGrey Stickers which Carole fell in love with, and she created the larger Dinosaur in the same way by using the smaller sticker one as a template.  This is such a cute and fun layout for a boy.

 

Kathie Link is a regular and welcome contributor to our blog posts, and when she sent through these three BasicGrey pages, we couldn't say no to any of them.  In "little baby butt" (we loved that title!) Kathie shows that Urban Prairie isn't just for girls, and her two Offbeat layouts are simply stunning.  We love some of her trademark paper-piecing in "in the garden" and love the light she captured in both the photo and the page in 'peach gates'!  Thanks for sharing once again, Kathie.

Finally, a BasicGrey post about isn't complete without a layout or two from Kelly Goree! Here Kelly used BasicGrey Granola in this layout of her gorgeous son - Granola has a range of earthy tones perfect for this kind of layout. 

 

Urban Prairie- again not just for pretty girl layouts! Another layout by Kelly Goree, this one features Kelly's youngest son at the park. The contrast of colours in Urban Prairie never fails to make a layout pop, and this layout is no exception. Thanks for sharing, Kelly!

layouts of substance... capturing a time frame

when Jaimie sat down to document a day in her life she was very surprised at just how much happens on a daily basis. Jaimie noted down each task, no matter how small that she did throughout the day, printed it onto SEI chalk paper and added this as her journaling. Calling on past ranges of basic grey, a combination chipboard and sticker title and minimal embellishments were all this LO needed to finish.

Suz used her favourite Tinkering Ink Retro Metro papers alongside one of her favourite new products - Tinkering Ink Rip Strips - adhesive fabric strips you can use as borders, scrunch for texture, fold into flowers or anything else you can imagine, to create this bright and bubbly layout about the activities of her bright and bubbly daughter.  It's not a timetabled schedule, it was just a random list of some of the stuff that keeps Phoebe occupied during the day.  As she starts school next year, these kind of daily pre-school activities will slowly disappear so 'what we did all day" is a wonderful thing to have a record of.

 

For this challenge Mel decided to work with a photograph taken of her niece Bonnie at a recent sleep over. The journaling is about snippets of her day from meals, funny things she did, places they went, nap time, etc... and was written in letter form from Bonnie to her Mum. Hopefully a special page that will be treasured for many years to come.

The alphabet and papers used are by Crate Paper (Prudence range) and to add some girly features to the page Mel included Basic Grey buttons (Sultry) and also hand stitched pink french knots around the outside of the diecut sheet (Prudence, Hope diecut).

Crate paper Prudence with a splash of bright Sassafras Lass sets the scene for Nic Howard's take on the 'time frame' prompt. Nic took pics of the activity in the quiet cul-de-sac where she lives on a typical Saturday night and developed the photos in black and white to cut down on the huge array of colour that was involved. She printed her photos small and arranged them in 2 lines, showing the time line involved with small journaling along the bottom of each strip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since it's Christmas now and we're all on holidays, what better way to remind us to relax and enjoy this time than by being reminded of our morning routines?

Nicole captured the events of weekday mornings in the Finlayson inside this cute little 4" x 4" mini album by Jenni Bowlin. Using one of the Jenni Bowlin mini paper packs, stamps from Queen and Co and Sassafras Lass and some random BasicGrey buttons, she was able to detail every moment from waking until school drop-off.
The pre-cut and lined pages inside these little books allow a lot of room for journalling, notebook style.

Nicole captured the events of weekday mornings at the Finlayson household, inside this cute little 4" x 4" mini album by Jenni Bowlin. Using one of the Jenni Bowlin mini paper packs, stamps from Queen and Co and Sassafras Lass and some random BasicGrey buttons, she was able to detail every moment from waking until school drop-off.  The pre-cut and lined pages inside these little books allow a lot of room for journalling, notebook style.

She's certain that in years to come, this teeny book will become an important keepsake into a seemingly ordinary daily event.

pow! image stamps

Image stamps are always fun to play with and for this challenge Mel has used the Bold Pop Flower (although most of the Hero Arts flower stamps would be suitable), stamped the image onto a piece of cardstock with an embossing pad, sprinkled embossing powder over the flower and heated. Once the embossing powder was cool, the flower was handcut around using scissors and then another layer of embossing powder was added to give a nice glossy finish.

A button was then adhered onto the middle of the flower using dimensional magic. Mr Campy ribbons (Cosmo Cricket) were then used to create the flowers stalks and complete the embellishments for the layout.

   

Using the Sassfras Lass stamps was always in Steph's mind when she had to create a layout for this blog challenge. She had wanted to use the strawberry stamps and here Steph stamped the image onto cardstock and then used Luminarte's Twinkling H2O's to paint over the image. After she cut around the image and adhered it onto the layout. The result was just beautiful, the colours were perfect for the photo of Madison she based her layout around.

 

  

Photos are an enormous part of Donna's life. Not only as a Mum & scrapbooker, but also as a photographer. It was only a matter of time before she grabbed hold of this particular stamp by Scenic Route Paper Co.! The thing that most appealed to her was the endless possibilities of its use.

In this example, Donna has stamped directly onto a SEI Coaster Tag allowing the embossed silver design of the tag to add to the character of the effect. She has also added some bling to the 'lens' of the stamp and jewels to highlight the other working parts of a camera. While she hasn't done anything outlandish in this particular layout, the effect is strong and could be repeated on many layouts without "over doing" it.

Donna also wanted to demonstrate that stamps are not destined only to be used on cards or layouts. Donna sends photos often and by using the stamp on this envelope she is protecting the photos while also adding a personal touch to her mail. Here, Donna has also stamped a DVD containing digital photos using the Snapshots stamp and also a small plastic snaplock bag that she uses to store her camera batteries. StazOn ink will work beautifully on just about any surface and by labelling the bag she will never confuse batteries again!

 

 

Nicole created this adorable little journal by covering a plain hardcover notebook in Micheal Miller fabric, and then embellishing with stamps by Pink Paislee and Inque Boutique. She customised the stamps to her own liking by colouring with watercolour paint and adding little adornments like jewels by Queen and Co. and a button by SEI.

Note also that Nic allowed the gorgeous fabric texture to show through the skull and borders by stamping directly onto the fabric, yet gave the title and cupcake extra pop by stamping onto plain cardstock before colouring and stitching.

Chris has become a huge fan of the balloon stamps since using them and finding out what amazing birthday cards they can create. Chris used the masking effect again to create the card on the left and for the card on the right she simply stamped onto white cardstock, cut a rectangle around each balloon and mounted on her card. The Heidi Swapp Runway papers added some extra pizzazz to the set.

Using the Hero Arts Balloon stamps and Happy Birthday oval stamp Chris shows us how to create both male and female cards. For the card on the left Chris has stamped the balloons onto white cardstock and then cut them out and place on her card. For a different look Chris has masked the centre balloon in the card on the right and stamped directly over the mask with the other balloon stamps and straight onto a cardstock circle. She has also inked the strings of the balloons in black.

    

Chris was very excited to show us this fabulous layout by Jennifer McGuire. Jennifer has long been an inspiration to Chris and even more so now that Chris has discovered the wonderful world of stamping. Jennifer shows us how simple it is to use the Balloons stamp set to create fantastic accents for this wonderful birthday layout.

Jennifer has also created this quick and easy card again with the balloon set. Many thanks Jennifer for inspiring the views with your creations!

layouts of substance... "i do this because..."

We're starting a new Wednesday series to roll over the next two months.  Christmas and New Year  is often a time to reflect on why we do what we do, and in the spirit of this we've chosen a series of journalling prompts, to remind us that our scrapbooks are the better for it, if they contain our words, reflections and observations as well as our pretty pictures and embellishments. 

Our design team have worked hard to make these layouts honest, open and meaningful (as well as beautiful!) and we hope you enjoy getting to know them all a bit better.

Jaimie wanted to create a page that was straight to the point regarding the 'real why' behind her total obsession with this craft. Choosing the Cosmo Haunted range kept the feel of the little dark secret that Jaimie has when it comes to scrapping - its all about ME ME ME - my thoughts, feelings, views. Of course Jaimie creates page after page, album after album as a keepsake for her family and beyond but first and foremost its all for her.

It took Nic a while to decide on the real reason she scrapbooks. There is many facets of scrapbooking she loves - the paper and glue, the creativity, the time out and especially the social aspects. When it really came down to it though, Nic knew that it was the need to capture the things she was sad to see slip away - the little stuff, the moments and the fun times. Nic's layout is quite complex, with layers of papers and photos made from Scenic Route, BasicGrey and Sassafras lass papers.

The details are important to Nic, and this is reflected in this layout. Notice the tiny SEI epoxy stickers cut in half and used as a border with the adhesive Queen & Co pearls. The journaling is printed in a circle and Nic's favourite new alphas - BasicGrey Micro Alphas - are used for the title.

When faced with the question, "Why Do I Scrapbook?", Nicole found herself re-assessing her motivation. Creating this layout forced her to really think about the true drive behind the volume of layouts she produces and realised it is about a whole lot of her personally as well as the preserving the stories of her children's existence which was what started her in the first place! It was a great opportunity to reflect on her scrapbooking journey and a great way of sorting out where she's headed with it all.

 

When Suz found this quote by Brian Andreas, it struck a loud chord and she salted it away for this particular time.  Truth is, she has a pretty lousy memory, and details of the recent past are as likely to disappear from her sieve-like brain as those of the distant future.  It's only one of the reasons why she scrapbooks, but it's an important one.

For her "I do this because" substance layout, Caz has chosen to explain to her children why she takes so many photos of them. The journaling on the back reads in part...

"You sometimes complain that I take too many photos of you. I do this because I want to help you remember. When you are older, when you have children of your own, I want you to be able to reminisce with each other about the birthdays, the outings and just the plain old everyday stuff that you did.

Because of financial reasons and the fact that people just didn't take many photos back then, I have very few photos of when I was growing up. But the ones that I do have are precious.

No matter how grainy, no matter how far away the person taking the photograph was, no matter how many people had heads, arms or legs chopped off. I still love looking at them and thinking "Hey, that was the Christmas I got a new desk. There is Rinty, the german shepherd that adopted us for a few years. That was the year that my younger brother got a bike and I only got a scooter" . Memories. lol.

When we found this on Alison Shearer's blog, we were thrilled and immediately asked her if we could salt it away for this post.   We love that she has dedicated nearly half a 12x12 page just to journalling the reasons behind her motivation for scrapbooking, as well as her beautiful use of Crate Paper's Sweet Branch papers.

 

  

As you may know, our Carole is a woman of few words, preferring to express herself in her three-dimensional art.  It made this series a challenge for her, but how precious will these words be for her daughter in years to come.  

The reason for this layout was for Carole's daughter Sarah who just loves to play the flute, and has been loving it ever since she started, so of course the focus is on the journaling, but Carole still had to add some type of embellishing, so she created pockets of embellishments, where it would not cover up the most important part of this layout the journaling or interfere with the photo.

Carole used Pink Paislee Spring Fling papers and diecuts as well as some Basic Grey Chipboard Sugard and Urban Priarie and a cute Jenni Bowlin Bingo Card.   Also if you look closely you will also see other cute embellishment pieces, such as rubons, chipboard and buttons.

  

And finally, the lovely Miss Mel Goodsell.  For this challenge, Mel went with a Christmas theme, journaling about their tradition at home on Dec 1st which includes putting up the Christmas tree, decorating the lounge room, turning up the carols and wearing Santa hats and aprons to complete the occasion. She used the new line by We R Memory Keepers - White Out Christmas, which includes a beautiful range of sparkly and pretty coloured papers plus embellishments perfect for any Christmas theme.

The title for Mel's page was completed with the Christmas Alphabet box, which contains a very generous 150 numbers/letters/tags. The letters are sprinkled lightly with glitter which adds the perfect touch to any scrapbook page or project.

pow! chipboard shapes

The Technique Tuesday chipboard shapes are a lovely base to work with - nice and white all the way through to the core and easily, painted, covered, inked or as Mel has demonstrated on this layout they can also look very striking embossed. To create this effect on your chipboard begin by choosing 3-4 different ink pad colours. Run the inks over and all around the shape (Fundamental Swanky Frames) creating a rainbow effect of colour. Let the ink dry and then add several layers of clear embossing powder to ensure a beautiful glossy finish. The little bird on the page (Flora & Fauna also by Technique Tuesday) has also been covered in ink and then clear embossed.

Journaling strips were then added to tell the story behind the photo and a striking red backdrop (Basic Grey, Scarlet) finished off the layout.

 

 

 

BasicGrey are one of the best when it comes to chipboard products. With mountain loads to choose from it is never difficult to find a BasicGrey chipboard product to suit a layout. Here Donna reminds us that although patterned chipboard is perfect on it's own, adding your own little touches to the chipboard shapes can only make a good thing even better. In this example Donna has used BG's Euphoria Chipboard Stickers and carefully trimmed small 'petals' of patterned paper to place underneath the chipboard flower. In doing so, the chipboard flower pops right of the page and is cleverly separated from the underlying patterned paper without looking too 'busy'.

 

Suz has combined BasicGrey's Urban Prairie papers here with SEI Chick-a-dee and Chick-a-doo Chipboard Coasters to create a beautifully soft rainbow palette on which to showcase one of her favourite photos of bedtime.  The chipboard coasters are wonderfully versatile and can be arranged to create borders, patterns or single accents.  Notice also the Michael Miller 'canvas' paper she has used as background cardstock - the perfect complementing colour and the texture just adds to the idea of the 'cosy' time theme.

When Steph put her name down for this blog challenge she couldn't decide which chipboard to use because there were so many awesome choices. In the end she just went for four different styles !!!! The feature of this layout is the Technique Tuesday scallop circle which Steph painted blue and sprayed with Pearl Glimmermist just to lift the matt colour.

The Scenic Route chipboard butterfly has been covered with a serviette and two coats of mod podge. Chipboard is so perfect for this medium because you can gently wrap the serviette around the defined corners. The BasicGrey leaves have been painted with a couple of mixed Heidi Swapp Paints and sprayed with Glimmermist. When the mist is still wet, Steph added some glitter to give the leaves even more texture and shine.

The last little chipboard accent was the Sassafras Lass bluebird which is a beautiful finishing touch to her layout.

 

 

 

Using the wonderfully detailed cog shapes from the Cogsmo range by Cosmo Cricket, Nicole was able to use them to symbolically represent the theme of her journalling being about how her son is a thinker.

She painstakingly covered each shape with papers from the Zach's Life range by Little Yellow Bicycle then handcut and sanded the edges. Using the file set by Basic Grey made this task easy! It took a while but we're sure you'd agree that the results are well worth it. The layered shapes have given the layout interest and a grungy boy theme is achieved easily.

An easier and far quicker way to achieve this result would be to use the die-cut sheets by Cosmo Cricket that match the blackboard chipboard perfectly. In this instance though, Nicole wanted to use these colours and she also gains a strange enjoyment from covering chipboard!

The blackboard chipboard has a lovely texture that sands well and of course the dark colour means no ugly edges.

          

Using a frames from a discount shop, leftover Cogsmo blackboard chipboard and scraps from her paper stash, Nicole quickly and easily created these cute little custom-made photo frames. We think these would make gorgeous gifts.

Any type of chipboard is so versatile, and Inque Boutique's is no exception.  This entire breathtaking wall-hanging is made from the die cuts in the Memoir collection.  She covered most of them in Crate Paper Kaitlin patterned papers and diecuts, which gave it a pretty whimsical feel, and such delicate detail.