Welcome to our new weekly reader’s challenge!
This term we’re looking at different scrapbooking styles and attempting to identify and emulate them. We’re proud that our design team contains artists with a vast array of representative scrapping styles, and we’ve asked them for the purposes of this challenge, to identify their favourite style and create and share some examples of that style.
The challenge for you, our readers, is to create and send in a layout or project that reflects the style of our featured design team member. There will be a different artist with a different style each week. We’ll share all your projects in a post and our designer will judge a winning layout that best represents the featured style. The winner will be sent a prize pack of goodies reflecting the featured style. And at the end of the series if you’ve completed all the styles by the weekly deadlines we’ll send you a little prizepack for that too!
We hope this series will be fun, rewarding and give you the chance to perhaps ‘try on’ some different styles and see how they fit and feel.
Janine bravely kicks off with a timeless style that needs little introduction…. the slightly vintage, slightly distressed, very flowery, and undeniably beautiful… shabby chic.
Though the style has evolved over time, some identifying characteristics of a shabby chic style would include soft patterned papers with distressed edges, perhaps stitching, and a soft colour palette often containing the warmer tones of pinks/greens on a neutral base. It will have a slightly vintage or well loved romantic feel, perhaps incorporating fabric, braids or lace and more than likely a flower or two.
Janine has always had a love affair with patterned paper, so when asked to scrap to find her "happy place", Janine went straight to her patterned papers for some enjoyment!! Janine then proceeded to add some of her favourite products to the page. The products that she loves to surround herself in and colours she adores.
On her journey to her scrapping "happy place", she started by distressing and layering her papers, all edged with machine stitching, one of her most favoured techniques. She also delved into her decorative punches, another often used staple of her style. Then to finish off her design, Janine put layers and layers of embellishments and flowers to create a wonderful, feminine shabby style layout, with a hint of vintage chic.
Anyone who knows Janine well, knows that she has a little love affair going on with the colour yellow. For Janine, she will always notice a LO in a gallery using yellow as she feels like it brings a ray of sunshine into the world. It goes without saying that the new "Emma's Shoppe” from Crate Paper, was a must have line for Janine to create with. Not only does it feature such a gorgeous shade of yellow but it has a vintage chic feel to the papers as well – DIVINE!!
Janine teamed these up with some gorgeous teals from Prima her all time favourite manufacturer and perfect for her shabby style. Once again she created her layout with lots of luscious layers, finished off with distressing and machine stitching. Janine just adores adding layer upon layer of decorative edges and swirling elements and this is evident in the intricate layers of matting under her photograph. This layout is a wonderful example of Janine's ‘shabby chic happy place’ while creating.
Janine adores the femininity of Lene Bjornerud's (from Norway) pages. The photos are always so exquisite and fit perfectly with her chosen colours for the LO. She has embellished this page to perfection with a few well placed embellishments clusters that enhance the overall appeal of the LO. Janine is a huge fan of the way Lene creates multiple layers on the borders of many of her layouts, often having 3 or more layers of distressed edges and all sewn down to perfection.
Lene also has the ability to add touches of art mediums in such an effective way, from the distressed painted edges to the splashes of Glimmer Mist on this layout, it all enhances the page and offers interesting details to take in. Once again Janine adores the layers of distressed edges and her colours choices are impeccable. Thanks so much Lene for sharing these amazing projects with us all and being such an inspirational scrapper.
So with this beautiful inspiration, what are you waiting for? Break out your prettiest patterned papers and your Prima flower stash and get scrapping! Send your shabby chic projects to [email protected] by next Wednesday 4th May to be included in the post.
