Aussie Scrap Source

colour theory: achromatic

 

 

No need to adjust your monitors – this week we’re dealing with achromatic colour!

Achromatic colour is that which technically has zero saturation and therefore no hue, such as neutral greys, white or black.  Simply it means ‘without colour’.  Though it can be an effective colour scheme, it can very easily look dull.  Using an achromatic scheme with just one bright colour or the pop of a colour photograph however can be dramatic.   Lou and Jane demonstrate some fabulous examples of an achromatic colour scheme below.

 

 

 

Louise had no idea what Achromatic meant until this brief but she was pretty happy when she found out.   She needed to create using neutral greys and white or black!!! This was right up her creative alley, so to speak!

In the above layout and the two that follow, Louise has demonstrated how flexible an achromatic colour scheme can be.  She has used mostly black, white and assorted grey coloured cardstocks, with the occasional application of patterned paper/overlays, and sticker and rub0-on elements.

Oh and of course it would be a Louise layout without some string, wire or mist!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jane loves working with an achromatic scheme, the grey, black and white is a great way to create a crisp clean effect. Jane would recommend everyone to take the challenge and work without hues, it's very liberating!!

guest design team challenge: echo park

Don’t forget – this month we’re offering another opportunity to win a super-generous prize pack AND be part of an amazing design team as a guest – the fabulous team from Echo Park Papers would love to feature you on their blog!  

All you need to do is create and send us a layout featuring lots of Echo Park products to be in the running for a chance to win a prize pack of brand new Echo Park products as well a guest dt position on their blog using those products.  Email your layouts to aussiedt@iinet.net.au by Thursday 1st September.

And if the inspiration in this post wasn’t enough to get you started, we thought we’d share another here today showing off the fabulous Echo Park Be Mine collection, by Iris.

 

 

 

weekend inspiration: trimcraft

 

 

Leeann just adored these chipboard glitter shapes and the self adhesive ribbon by trimcraft called “Pepper and Friends”. They are such gorgeous pieces and are the perfect embellishment for any project whether it’s on the page or off the page.

Leeann has created two small clusters with her photos and glittered chipboard shapes. Layering and using 3D tape for added dimension. Leeann has mixed the self adhesive ribbon strips with some scrap bits of paper to create another cluster at the top, adding a little bit of detail by machine stitching and embellishing with a paper rosette.

 

 

Leeann decide to whip up another page, as she so wanted to create this page for her daughter storm using one of the gorgeous Trimcraft chipboard pieces - Pepper the dog.

 

Louise loved the flocked finish on the gorgeous 8" x 8" Laura Ashley papers from Trimcraft, and the intricate scroll patterns were perfect to do some fussy cutting on to create some detailed scrollwork. Adding a few white stamped flowers, a Prima crystal swirl and some glittered lettering, a simple page sparkles to highlight a sweet and simple photo.

 

How adorable is this layout by Chantelle Huizenga, we love how the chipboard shapes add a whimsy feel. Thanks so much for sharing your page with us all.

 

 

How totally yummy are these two cards made by Karen James using "fairy cakes" - by Trimcraft. Thanks so much for letting us share your projects.

weekend inspiration: stamper’s anonymous

 

By now its probably no secret that Louise loves to get her stamping briefs :) In the past she has be know to threaten her DT colleagues with rugby tackles to make sure she was first in line to get the chance to create with the Stampers Anonymous stamps. Alpha stamps will always be a top 5 fave with Louise, she just loves the versatility of them.

As far as Louise is concerned when you create with stamps they require little or no further embellishment to accompany them, and the fabulous designs by Stampers Anonymous are a testament to that.

 

 

 

 

For this layout, Danielle began with a swipe of white paint across the patterned paper background, creating a simple base to allow the stamping to shine. The Studio 490 'Thirteen Leaves' wood mounted stamp from Stampers Anonymous has been used with teal paint to create a punch of colour and shape cascading down the left side of the page. Paint stamping is one of Danielle's favourite ways to use stamps with strong silhouettes, such as this one.

Danielle also used a Tim Holtz single cling-mounted stamp called 'Fairy Garden' from Stampers Anonymous to create some custom embellishments. The white background was first sprayed with various mists to add colour. When dry, the Tim Holtz design was stamped on in black ink. Each stamped area was cut by hand into a rough circle shape and the circles dance around the focal point of Danielle's layout.

 

 

Wendy Vecchi uses Studio 490 stamps from Stampers Anonymous in this awesomely quirky project featuring a door knob base. The quote-stamped umbrella tops this creative piece.

 

 

These intriguing ATCs by Angela Donohoe use various Stampers Anonymous stamps and a beautiful crackle paint effect.

 

 

Dawn Gallop from North Carolina brings us this amazing page, where a Stampers Anonymous girl stamp sits over a rustic photo to great effect.

weekend inspiration: webster’s pages

 

 

Kathie has used the Yacht Club collection to scrap a school holiday outing to a local portside suburb. It was a glorious winter’s day and the sun shone off the water. Kathie’s son and his friend walked along the wharf, hand in hand, and deep in conversation (usually about the latest Wii games!!).

When Kathie saw the image of two little boys playing on one of the Yacht Club papers, she reflected on the joy her son had playing with his friend that day, and knew she wanted the image to form the main embellishment of her page.

The page background was created by overlaying two patterned papers from the collection, and then painting over them with a wash of acrylic paint in blues and creams. Kathie loves using patterned paper for her backgrounds and will often apply a wash of paint to busy papers to create a more subtle background. To emphasise the image of the two little boys Kathie used dimensional tape to pop them up off the page.

 

 

 

Webster's Pages adds another line of beautiful embellishments to their collection - the Dazzle Me Gems! It only takes a little of these gems to bring even more life and beauty to your pages.

 

Iris shows here how one can maximize the use of Webster's Pages Papers - and that is by cutting out the patterns and turning it into embellishments. A little foam tape under the cut out papers does wonders in adding dimension to your pages. She also cut out the bloomers trim here and turned it into individual roses.

 

This is a page created by Webster's Pages DT member Jaz Lee Soo Hui. Jaz Love the beautiful blings and the Let's Celebrate Collection and she created this to celebrate the everyday joy and love she has for her daughter Faith.

 

 

Stacey Michaud is another designer for Webster's Pages. Her layout "Thrills and Frills" showcases the new Western Romance line. Stacey loves this collection because of its soft color palette. The B-sides have beautiful patterns and the A-sides give lots of fussy cutting options. She hand cut the clothesline with the dresses to add as a banner and used new netting, Sparklers, Cameo Pins, Resin Hearts and Dazzle Me Gems to add finishing touches.

 

 

Gerry van Gent from the Netherlands has skilfully mixed four collections - Yacht Club, Spring Market, Country Estate and Lullaby Lane - to create this fresh, bright page. We admired how she’s used paints and hand stitching to pull the various elements together. And her use of the Vintage Inspired Netting is so clever - little netting hearts strewn across the top of the page create a whimsical floaty garland.

 

This layout is by Steph Devlin. Steph shows that the Yacht Club range is not just for masculine layouts. In her unmistakable style, she has used it to create a super elegant page of her daughter. The page is actually a hybrid layout, with digital images from Country Estate and Yacht Club added to the paper elements.

 

 

Emma Trout, UK, applies her distinctive style to Webster’s Pages with this final layout. Emma says that she loves the versatility of Webster’s Pages, and she certainly demonstrates it here with a combination of Trendsetter, Country Estate, Ladies & Gents, Lullaby Lane and Hollywood Vogue collections. Emma’s also used the packaging from some Vintage Netting as a frame under her bottom strip of photos.

generation gap: daily routine

 

If you haven’t already joined in, we’d love to hear from you.  This week we’re looking at the daily routine – what did you do ‘back in your day’ that’s different from what your own children or kids of today experience.  Mum’s after school baking, or fighting over who did the dishes, television before breakfast or walking to school – ring some of the everyday changes between now and then.  Louise and Danielle both look in different ways at how the pace of life has changed.

Email your layouts to aussiedt@iinet.net.au.  We’re loving the pages our readers are already contributing, but It’s not too late to join in.

 

 

 

 

 

When Danielle spent some time thinking about her childhood days, she realised that the single biggest difference for her own children is in the technology, but that's a whole other topic! One other significant difference, though, is in the freedom she and her sisters had as a child to explore the neighbourhood freely and walk to school alone from a young age. Although Danielle now raises her kids in a fairly safe area, she generally drives them, or walks along with them, to and from school each day.

School is something that we each have in common with the generation before us, in some manner, and is a great topic to think about how things change over time. Danielle has used a layered photo effect here to allude to the echo of the previous generation, even though she only used one single, modern photo. This was achieved by printing one of the photos in black and white, and layering the smaller colour version over the top.

Studio Calico Mister Hueys colour mist in Bluegrass has been sprayed over the background patterned paper to create a darker area, over which the Hambly textures rub-on was applied. Birds hand-cut from a second Studio Calico patterned paper, also from the Countryside line, flit across the page. Sassafras patterned paper has been cut into strips to create a photo frame and journaling strips. Jenni Bowlin milk cap chipboard buttons add a nostalgic feel.

 

 

 

 

Louise says: "One of the biggest differences for my children's childhoods, from my own, is the huge leap in technology. These days they all have computer access and are very technology savvy from a very young age. It's quite a change from when I grew up writing letters or being allowed to use the telephone."

Louise wanted to highlight this difference with a layout featuring her two boys on their toy laptops. Featuring some Sassafras Lass papers along with some of their 'Foldies" flowers with an old paper doily for detail, she has brought together the old and new in a modern, yet vintage look.

The journalling reads: "How different things are for you. We never had computers, we wrote letters. The world was a much slower place. You both are already computer savvy, and I can only imagine how people will communicate in your futures."

generation gap: technology readers challenges

 

 

Congratulations to Christine Rumley for having our favourite layout last week – we loved how you pulled out an old photo of you and your cabbage patch doll to contrast against your current photos!

This week, we loved seeing and reading all your pages on technology.  They’re all so different and yet the themes are strong and recurring ones – whether it’s phones, video games or computers - much has changed and we can have no idea how much more they’ll change in the future!  What better reason though, to have some record of it right now.

 

 

 

Rebecca Young’s journalling reads:  "You were born into a technology based world. It's all you will ever know. In our house alone we have an ipad 2, ipod, iphone 4, desktop computer, Wii console, Nintendo DSi, several digital cameras, wireless internet and two laptops which by today's standards, are ancient.
At Primary School we had one Commodore 64 desktop computer in our classroom for the whole class to use. Today, schools have computer rooms or trolleys full of laptops that can be wheeled around the school and easily connected to wireless internet. Some schools have ipads for each student. I was in high school when my family bought their first desktop computer, now it's uncommon not to own a computer! 

Holidays were spent driving in the car with the windows down, amusing ourselves. Nowdays, driving holidays are helped by DVD players in our car and games on the iphone or ipad to amuse the kids while Satellite navigation units direct us which way to go.  Writing letters or cards were once the norm but have now been replaced with emails, skype, video conferencing or text messages. So much has happened since I was a kid, I can't help but think what is in store for you in the future."
I could've easily written more!!

 

 

Agnus Kasprzak writes: Technology has come such a long way over the years and there was no shortage of topics this challenge could have taken me, but in the end I wanted to choose a topic that my boys would relate to and decided to do my layout about the Sony Playstation and the changes to computer gaming over the past 15 years since we began our family. I've included photos of the consoles we have had over the years and the larger photo of the controller opens up to reveal journalling where I have talked about how the games have advanced as well as listing some of the different types of games my boys liked to play.

 

 

Anthea Peterson writes:  Attached is my take on this weeks challenge. The journaling speaks of when I was younger we didn't have a computer, in fact there weren't many families that did, but now there would be a computer in almost every home, sometimes more. This photo represents what we did as kids, that was to use our imagination, my son is using his imagination and playing with his computer while I was doing some study on mine.

 

 

 

Here's my layout for week 2 - technology. I chose to focus on the changes in video gaming systems between my generation and my children's. The Cosmo Cricket "Boyfriend" range which included retro Atari joysticks was my inspiration. Unfortunately we no longer have our old Atari so I sourced some images on the internet and compared them with the consoles and screen graphics of today's Wii systems.

My journalling reads:

"Will, you love all things electronic and video games are no exception. In 2010 you were lucky enough to get given a Wii console from Gran and Pop for Christmas. You pretty much only ever play Wii Sports or Sports Resort, but you would play all day if I let you. These days, you play with a remote that is completely wireless and motion sensitive. It is totally interactive, so you get up and physically shoot a basketball, swing a golf club or bowl a ball. You can even personalise it by creating your own Mii character.

Watching you enjoy playing video games brings back fond memories from my own childhood. In the early 1980's, before we even had a computer, my family owned an Atari 2600, an early pioneer of todays video gaming systems. It had a simple 8-bit graphic system and a memorable wood grain console that we plugged into the TV. It took chunky black game cartridges and had a solid black joystick which featured a single big orange button. My favourite games were Pac-Man, Frostbite, River Raid, Space Invaders and Asteroids, which later became the most popular Atari game of all time. My sisters and I had hours of fun playing Atari, even though it caused the occasional squabble. I once remember being so upset with my sister because she was beating me at Frostbite that I ripped the cartridge out of the console so the scores got wiped! I always recall that particular memory when I hear you and Bec arguing over the Wii. I guess some things never change!"

 

 

 

Heidi Barclay has done hidden journalling which reads:-  Technology has certainly changed so much since I was your age, we had normal tape recorders and LP's - now you listen to music on your IPOD, or the computer, CD's, mobile phones which have computers and camera's on them, I had a instamatic camera with a 35mm film in it, nothing instant about that.

colour theory: monochromatic

 

 

Scientifically speaking, monochromatic light refers to light of a narrow frequency.  Similarly, monochromatic colour schemes use variations in lightness and saturation of a single or narrow section of the colour wheel.  Monochrome schemes are, perhaps, the simplest to create as they’re all taken from the same hue, but they can, in turn, be overwhelming or even boring, depending on the colour chosen.

No other colour scheme depends so much on the mood created by a single colour as a monochromatic scheme.  Blue is peaceful and calming, yellow projects happiness, green symbolises both nature or jealousy and so on.

The downfall with a monochrome colour scheme is that it can sometimes lack brilliance and contrast, but the upside is that a contrasting photograph will ‘pop’ beautifully against a single colour background.

 

 

 

Sue Tonga was excited when she was given the brief of creating a monochromatic layout. She thought it was going to be easy! But it was actually more of a challenge than she realised. Sue chose to design a layout with turquoise and used several different MME papers to build up the layers. Although it was very tempting to add in embellishments with a little colour, Sue stuck to the shades of turquoise to complement her Easter photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Janine loved creating this layout from luscious layers of pink! When you are a girly girl, a monochromatic pink LO is a little slice of heaven! Janine used quite a few techniques to create this pink creation, from stamping with a pink pigment ink and embossing with clear powder to allow the pink ink to show through, to masking with Tim Holtz distress ink and a Prima mask. Glimmer misting the laces allowed those to be customised for the page also, to fit with the monochromatic colour scheme.

weekend inspiration: teresa collins

 

 

 

Teresa Collins new range of papers is enough to make a girly girl swoon! Janine ADORES the "Timeless" range with its elegant mix of pastel pink, soft grey and black! Janine has used several different Martha Stewart punches to create lots of elegant borders to her papers and finished them off with inking, distressing and sewing. The flocked flourish was perfect for hand cutting around and creating a magnificent swirling element across the page.

Janine finished off the page with lots of Teresa Collins chipboard pieces and a few Prima flowers for a truly girly layout.

 

Jane founds these papers to be perfect in making her sons 14th birthday card, you have to create something cool for that age!! There were plenty of images left on the papers to fussy cut and make for his friends birthdays! Even the inclusion of a glitter star is cool, don't you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We love sharing Teresa Collins creating with her own products is always inspirational – and these examples are no exception.  Above is a mini album created from her Haunted Hallows range, and above that are sample pages from the gorgeous World Traveller collection.

 

 

Delania Burns created this striking page using the new Posh Collection from Teresa Collins. By keeping her design clustered to the center of the page, the whole LO has room to breathe and the touches of pink add just the right amount of drama to compliment this stunning photograph. Thanks so much for sharing this page with us Delania.

weekend inspiration: core’dinations

 

Before we start off this fabulous Core’dinations post, we are really thrilled to welcome back an old name to our design team – the delightful Christine Millar!  Chris was a stalwart on the team for years until she took a break, but has now happily agreed to become one of our resident cardmakers.  We know that you will be inspired by her techniques and willingness to share.

 

Chris can highly recommend the Core'dinations Cardstock to give card makers an added dimension to their cards without having too much bulk as she has shown with this card here. Chris sanded back the top layer of the Antique Vanity Marabelle cardstock to reveal this gorgeous pattern. She teamed it with some Basic Grey Hello Luscious papers, buttons and some Hero Arts flowers to created this friendship card.

 

 

Chris shows us with this card that the Core'dinations cardstock can also be used by layering to add dimension to a card. She traced 3 different sizes of a basic flower design onto both the Antique Vanity Marabelle cardstock and the In the Pink Dot Line cardstock to create this layered flower. She sanded back the top layer of the cardstock, scrunched them up and then straightened them out a little to get the great dimension.

Chris used the Cherry Cordial Simon cardstock as the main frame for the card and stamped the friendship message onto the Lemonade Sarsparilla cardstock. Buttons and Papers are both Basic Grey Hello Luscious.

 

 

Once Chris had sanded back the Mermaid Simon cardstock she discovered this wonderful flower pattern. She added Zva Creative Crystals to accent the pattern. She used 2 different sized circle punches to punch out pieces from the In the Pink Dot Line cardstock to create simple layered embellishments for her card.

Keeping with the friendship theme she stamped the sentiment from the Hero Arts 'Thank you for being my friend' stamp set as she has used for the 3 cards pictured here.

 

Lisa Dickinson, member of the Jenni Bowlin Design Team has also used the Uncle Jim Ruler cardstock, but in the Butter Churn colour. I think you'll agree that Lisa has used the cardstock in such a terrific way. We love how Lisa has inked the cardstock to make the embossed lines and numbers really stand out. Lisa has put together a brief tutorial about how she created this layout here.  Thank you Lisa for inspiring us!

 

 

Look how fabulous the Jenni Bowlin Core Impressions Everyday Hermit Uncle Jim Ruler cardstock looks in this layout by Melinda Thompson. Melinda has sanded more heavily over some sections of the cardstock to create this look and she has also distressed the edges of the cardstock. Melinda has also added a little paint here and there to really create a shabby look. Many thanks to Melinda for sharing her gorgeous layout with us.

guest design team challenge: echo park

This month we’re offering another opportunity to be part of an amazing design team as a guest – the fabulous team from Echo Park Papers would love to feature you on their blog!   

All you need to do is create and send us a layout featuring lots of Echo Park products to be in the running for a chance to win a prize pack of brand new Echo Park products as well a guest dt position on their blog using those products.  Email your layouts to aussiedt@iinet.net.au by Thursday 1st September.

In the unlikely event that you’re unfamiliar with Echo Park products, here are a few of their recent collections that should be stocked in your local scrapbooking stores right now.  If you’re having trouble finding Echo Park products, leave a comment and we’ll try and head you in the right direction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course it wouldn’t be an Aussie post without a heap of inspiration to get you started !

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst Louise doesn't always incorporate a lot of patterned paper into her scrapbooking she confesses that she is still a patterned paper hoarder and without a doubt this line of Echo Park papers is included in it :).In fact she states that it is one of her new 'faves'! Louise thinks the colour scheme especially is just wonderful, she especially loved the coordinated sticker sheet [LOL we couldn't tell that from these 2 layouts Louise :)].

 

Some paper lines have such a wonderful and unique palette, such as this Ehco Park range and Janine adored creating with it. The pretty delicate colours, mixed with the fun and whimsical prints in the range, make for some really unique combinations of colour and design. Janine loved the little bird images and focused on those, yet they did not detract from the cute picture of her daughter.

 

Larissa Albernaz has an amazing way of mixing layers of patterned paper and embellishments and this is no exception. She has created so much interest with layers of paper and such wonderful colours from the Echo Park "For the Record" range. Thanks for sharing such an inspiring LO with us Larissa.

 

 

 

 

 

A huge bit Thank You to the talented Georgia Keays for sharing her fabulous Echo Park creativity!!!! Georgia you Rock Echo Park!! :)

generation gap: technology

 

This week we’re looking at technology, and in terms of one generation to the next, this topic is huge!  We’d love you to join in the fun with this theme by next Wednesday 24th August by emailing us your layouts to aussiedt@iinet.net.au.

 

 

 

 

This steampunk style layout by Nic Howard is perfect for our generation gap series. Nothing screams '’technology’ more than this collection of random embellishments, cleverly pulled together to depict the widening technological generation gap between Nic and her son Jacob.  Nic had been wanting to attempt a layout like this for a while after being inspired by the amazing eclectic creations of artist Finnabair. 

She started the layout by creating a base with Prima papers, a Tim Holtz mask and Glimmer Mists in various colours.    Then she turned to a variety of Tim Holtz Ideology items for her embellishing; Word keys, grungeboard elements, tissue tape and coloured inks were bought together to provide a base for her photo.  Journaling about the difficulties Nic has keeping up with the electronic items is tucked in several tags behind the photo, this leaves room for the messy gathering of embellishments, look closely to see the details; paperclips, buttons, brads, chipboard elements, laces, ribbons, word keys, washers and even the can tab off the diet coke she was drinking while this layout was being created!

Journaling:

Abby’s homework the other day: “Ask your parents if they had a microwave when they were little.  If not, ask how it made things different”.  I answered the question honestly.  We didn’t eat as many quick meals or leftovers.  This would be, of course, because we couldn’t heat things up like we do now.  “Of course you could of, Mum!” Abby replied... “You used to rub sticks together to make fire, didn’t you?!”.

Seriously.  I’m not that old.  Although sometimes I feel it.  I struggled daily with the things the kids talk about.  Jacob’s talk of electronics sends me for a spin lately.  The wifi and wii.  X-Box, DS or even better (apparently) a DSi – sometimes it’s all too much for me.  Maybe I’m not as old as having to rub sticks together to make fire, but sometimes I feel like it.  July 2011.

 

 

Suz Doyle also has a journalling heavy layout and chose to focus her page on the technology of her childhood, while contrasting it with the ds’s and the ipads of her children’s generation.  Uncharacteristically she combined purple in her layout with what she could recall of a 70’s colour scheme (when you got away from the browns and oranges, there were the purples) with BasicGrey’s ‘Green At Heart’ papers and Crate Paper chipboard embellies.

Here is her journalling:

Thinking back, the technology of my childhood held a lot more promise than it perhaps delivered.  I’m focusing here on technology based games and activities that you could play on your own, rather like today’s ds’s, phones and tablets.

We had drawing stuff…   Spirograph was in fact cool and I spent many a long rainy afternoon drawing circles within circles.  It just worked with the whole 70’s decade.  Etch-a-sketch was ace – paper-free, so environmental before its time, but it was pretty damned hard to do those angles and curves.  Sketch-a-graph was just deplorable.  Based on the premise that anything you traced with the pointy end then sketched with the pencil end, it sounded brilliant.  But most things ended up with an unidentifiable drawing, and a frustrated child.

And then there was Simon.  Who knew how many hours of amusement could be wrought by attempting to repeat an ever-increasing sequence of lights and tones? Simon kept his promise.  The ubiquitous calculator was another popular choice – I spent many a spare moment testing it to see if it really got it right every time. 

But the best thing?  The old portable record player, that looked like a fat briefcase in two shades of 1970’s brown.  It had two speeds and a crackly old needle and speakers in it’s lid or base, I don’t really know.  We could only play the designated kids records because mum worried the either we or the needle would scratch good records, and we had what I would probably now call an eclectic selection.. from Bing Crosby to the Royal Guardsmen, via Elvis to the book and record genre of the likes of the Speedy Little Yellow Taxi (that always got to the fire first) and Bambi (that always made me cry).

generation gap: leisure and playtime readers challenges

 

 

This isn’t an quick and easy series and so we salute even more enthusiastically those readers who were moved to create and share their pages tackling the first theme in our generation gap challenge – leisure and playtime. 

Thanks to the following talented scrappers (whose style we’re able to see in this series!) for the first pages in what could be amazing albums.. We’ve loved what you’ve written and how you’ve shared your journalling as well so we have shared that here too.

 

Agnus Kasprzak wrote: I've done my layout about a much loved Fisher Price ''Happy Apple' which has been in my hubby's family since he was a child and then passed down to all 3 of our boys over the past 14 years.

 

 

Anthea shares her journalling:  I don't know if you can read the journaling but I spoke about how in my day we would roam the streets in the neighbourhood, ride on our bikes all day long and not have to come home till dinner time, even a ball and a park was enough for us, but now technology is so far advanced that they have developed things we could only ever imagine back then and our kids want it all. This photo is of my youngest playing Angry Birds on my Ipod, case in point LOL

Thankyou for the inspiration!!

 

Christine Rumley wrote: I absolutely love the concept behind this challenge, these layouts have been on my list of pages to do for ages. Thanks so much for the inspiration!

Heid Barclay writes:  Here is my take on the first week of the new READERS CHALLENGE, I just love that I will be able to give my daughters an album about ME as a child.

 

Rebecca Young:  I really enjoyed making this layout as I've always wanted to do some pages that compare my generation to my daughters.

It reads:  "At five years old you are a very imaginative little girl. Since you were three and you won Noodle in a lucky dip you have both been inseparable. You cuddle him in bed every night and he's always packed in your bags when we go on holidays. This year we bought you a friend for Noodle called Tahlia. Both Noodle and Tahlia love your cuddles and the way you include them in your little made up games or on the slippery slide in the backyard.  I had a Cabbage Patch kid called Julia when I was little. She was my favourite toy and I used to like playing Mums with her. She had a lot of clothes so I could dress her up.  Although you have a lot of toys, you prefer to play your own games where you use your imagination. You are forever having picnics or playing cafes with your toys and teddies.  It's interesting to watch you play teachers with your teddies and dolls because that's what I used to do too! I would sit them on the floor and pretend they were the students and I would be the teacher. I would write reports for them as is they were real!  Apart from imaginary games you also like to play the Wii, perform puppet shows and concerts, blow bubbles, create cakes in the sandpit and play with your little sister.  I wonder what job you will have when you become a grown up? Maybe a teacher like Mummy?"

Thanks for the challenge.

colour theory: warm and cool colours

 

 

This week we’re exploring the changes in mood and perception that can be produced simply by the ‘temperature’ of the colours you choose to use.  As you can see above, the colour wheel can be split pretty well down the middle into warm and cool colours.  Warm colours are created from red hues (red/orange/yellow).  They are vivid and energetic, have a visual effect of appearing closer to the view and usually create a sense of warmth.

Cool colours are created from blue hues (blue/cyan/green).  In contrast they recede from the viewer and are known to have a calming effect.

 

 

 

With this post, we are thrilled to announce a new design team member to Aussie Scrap Source -  Sally Wilson!  We look forward to sharing with you more of her beautiful, elegant style. 

Here, Sally has followed a simple page map of colour blocking, sprinkled with a small selection of intricately detailed embellishments.  Her layout illustrates a simplistic example of both warm and cool colours from the My Minds Eye Portobello Road Collection which combine to create perfect harmony and balance.  Though the colour palette is still muted, the balance of the warm browns and cool teals are clear.

My Minds Eye-Portobello Road Collection have cleverly achieved a very calming and elegant effect by mixing different tones of complementary greens and browns. Traditionally greens are recognised as part of the cool colour family as brown as part of the warm colours family. However in this collection, the colour selections have both a warm and cool bias for both the browns and the green sheets, making it harmonious to mix and compliment products. Sally especially loves the Designer pad in this Collection. They are terrific for simple colour blocking and making those extra embellishments, such as labels, journal tags and paper flowers, as shown above.

Making embellishments out of the pad sheets assures you will have the perfect partnership of colour and style for adding dimension and interest, enhancing the creative process.

Sally has gone outside the box and not only used a complementing manufacturer’s stickers but also their company logo printed on the sticker sheet and re-birth it as a sticker embellishment. A perfect match for her "Authentique" and original photo. A keen eye finds it's all in the details and knows no waste!

Sometimes using complimentary hues and tones to colour block can create what designers call a flat look. To demote a flat look, add a small amount of  dimension and compact your embellishments to a central area on your project. Here Sally has raised a covered chipboard shape and used this location to layer her embellishments, taking the eyes attention away from a flat platform.

 

 

Based on the colour wheel at the beginning of the post, there are ‘warmer’ variations of both purple and green, and so Suz was able to include almost all of the spectrum in her layout above which technically showcases the warmer colours – reds, oranges and yellows.

The pop of blue in both the bunny ears in the photo and her journalling strip are definitely on the cool side, but work well to balance the layout.

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn't difficult for Louise W to create a layout based on a cool palette - blues and greens are her obvious "go to" colours with having two boys! By adding touches of the third cooling colour on the colour wheel, purple, she was able to add a pop of colour that still tied in with the cool theme of the page.

guest design team: jenni bowlin–reader’s entries

 

We thank everyone who participated in this challenge – on offer was a spot as a Guest Design Team member for Jenni Bowlin and a prizepack of Jenni Bowlin goodies to work with.  As you can see there was worthy competition for the winning spot.  Jenni and her team decided to pick the very talented Christine Rumley for her beautiful layout below!  Congratulations Christine, and a big thank you to all the entrants, the Jenni Bowlin team loved seeing how their products are used on this side of the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7gypsies–artists trays

To finish the series from the holidays about the beautiful 7gypsies artist trays, our design team have scoured the internet to bring you some more stunning examples.  We thank all the artists below who have allowed us to share their projects here.

 

Nic Howard create this stunning example for a Live with Prima class last year.  We love how she has drawn on a narrow colour palette which just serves to make the black and white photos stand out.  She has cleverly incorporated packaging and a wealth of creative ideas in each cavity, and brought them all together with the bouquet and title which gives it depth and detail.

 

 

 

Aki, informs us that she has this hanging in the front room as a welcome display for friends and family to see. Aki has used a good mixture a products from 7gypsies, Sassafras Lass, My Mind's Eye
Jenni Bowlin. Thank You so much Aki for letting us share your fabulous project.

 

This beautiful tray was created by Janice Boon from Singapore. When she first saw this artist tray, she immediately thought of it as a perfect medium for her to be able to show a few memorable moments from her wedding. Aside from the stunning photos and lovely design, this tray also has a "secret" compartment which is the envelope from Maya Road which houses some of her notes about the event.

 

Here’s another Printer’s Tray decorated in a vintage style. Jasmine Low, Singapore, put together this adorable printer’s tray for her mother for Mothers Day. It features BasicGrey’s Capella line and Prima flowers. Notice how Jasmine’s put the photo outside the tray for prominence? Such a neat idea! Jasmine tells us that her mother adored the tray, and we’re not surprised.

 

 

Thank you to Kathy Wade for sharing two wonderful examples of how she decorated the 7 Gypsies Artists Tray. Here are some words from Kathy "I made this tray for my sister using photos from her recent wedding. I used a 7 Gypsies tray and lots of different embellishments including some Hero Arts stamps. I included part of her wedding program, a tag that was attached to the wedding favours and of course some very cute pictures"  It's wonderful that Kathy added these personal touches from the wedding day.

 

 

Words from Kathy on decorating this 7 Gypsies Artists Tray "I made this photo tray as a gift for my niece, Grace, for her 8th grade graduation. I included photos of Grace with her mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, family and friends. I used several Hero Arts stamps on this, as well as Technique Tuesday stamps. I made ATC's and inserted them into the tray." Thank you for sharing these wonderful creations with us Kathy!

 

Kelly Booth shows us another fabulous use for the Artist tray, to hold these awesome ATC's. These ATC's were made by Kelly herself, the Hero Arts Hostesses as well as Jennifer McGuire and Shari Carroll. How fantastic do they look displayed in the artists tray. Many thanks Kelly for sharing your fabulous idea!

 

7 Gypsies' DT coordinator Paula Cheney created this stunning Shadowbox Tray, which she shared on their blog 'One Lucky Day' - and has generously agreed to share here. As well as a range of 7 Gypsies papers and embellishments, Paula has used cotton reels, a sprig of lavender, a touch of fabric and a vintage glass bottle. It is a wonderful inspiration to use the little bits and pieces you find yourself hanging on to and create something beautiful with them.

 

 

Last but not least, we thank Ronda Palazzari for sharing this stunning Printers Tray with us, filled with Crate Papers gorgeous Restoration line. Love all the details that Ronda has put into this tray and the overall vintage feel of it. Fabulous piece of art.

 

And now we thank the following amazing artists who sent in images of their trays to participate in our readers challenge.  7Gypsies sent us a fabulous prize pack for the lucky winner who is…. Jill Geraghty-Groves!!!  Congratulations Jill – it may not be the ‘prettiest’ artist tray we’ve seen, but it’s definitely one-of-a-kind!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

generation gap readers challenge: playtime and leisure

 

 

If you were raised on bangers and mash for dinner, weetbix for brekkie, played in the dirt, got your bum smacked, had three television channels, changed the channel by getting up and walking, had a bedtime, recorded the top 40 from the radio on cassette tapes, drank from a hose, played in the creek, rode your bike all day without a helmet, school started with the national anthem …

 

Are you ready for a shiny new Readers Challenge series?!  We’ve got a lovely one for you this time – it’s not about colour or design or techniques – it’s about you!  More specifically it’s about the differences between the generations – we want to take a look at what we did ‘in our day’ versus the childhood our own children are experiencing today. 

Each week we’ll tackle a different subject area, and so you can start thinking about the possibilities, permutations and photographs I’m going to list them here for you below.

We really hope you’ll join us on this journey into your own past as well as your children’s present – I know how much I’d love to read about the everyday of my parent’s and even grandparent’s childhoods, so these pages could become an invaluable gift for generations to come.  Check out this site for some great prompts.

 

 

The Details

 

To kick this series off, this week we’re looking at comparing and contrasting just some of the differences in leisure and playtime between two generations. You could tackle this as a general topic, as Sue has done in her layout, or just choose one aspect to focus on and just write about that as Kathie has in her page' ‘Doll Houses’.

If you’re stuck for photos of your own childhood, don’t let that stop you! Why don’t you just write down your own memories and include current photos. That’s a great way of providing contrast.

If you don’t have kids, don’t let that stop you! Share something about any two different generations, perhaps yours and your parents or grandparents.

If you can’t think of what products to use, don’t let that stop you!  Below we’ve included suggestions including some of our favourite suppliers  - many of whom are currently producing wonderfully nostalgic designs, and patterns and colour palettes from bygone eras.  Having said that, you are free to use any product you like – as long as a good percentage of it comes from Aussie Scrap Source suppliers!

 

 

Please send images of your layouts to us at aussiedt@iinet.net.au by the end of next Wednesday 17th August. They will be judged by the Aussie DT and the weeks favourite will receive a fabulous prize pack.

If you participate in each weeks challenge, at the end you’d have not just a prize for completing every week, but an invaluable record to include in your family albums.  Kathie Link and Sue Tonga provide some inspiration to start you off…

 

 

 

Kathie remembers the playhouse in the backyard of her Grandma’s house. Her mother had played in it as a girl but by the time Kathie and her sister came along, the house had fallen into disrepair and wasn’t accessible for playing in. Kathie thought it must be wonderful to have a house like that to play make-believe. Probably as a result she has always had a fascination for dolls houses.

When Kathie had her son she didn’t expect that playing with doll houses would be in her future. When he was a toddler she would borrow toys from the local toy library, but always steered clear of the pink dolls houses. Imagine her surprise then, when he himself bee-lined for them! She chided herself for her stereotyping. Because little boys like to copy daily life just as much as little girls.

Jamie borrowed several doll houses during his time at the toy library. And Kathie had just as much fun as he did playing with them. Times have changed though, now that he’s nearly six. He turns up his nose at the photos of himself playing with the dolls and the houses. Just not cool Mum!

Kathie’s layout features Crate Paper’s Emma’s Shoppe collection, tempered with a few boyish bits and pieces from Toy Box. The journaling cards from the Accent Cuts patterned paper make great photo mats for small photos and add lovely pops of colour to the background.

 

 

 

 

Sue has wonderful memories of a childhood spent enjoying the outdoors. She and her sister climbed trees, played in creeks catching guppies and turtles, explored the canefields and even rode wild horses! To capture some of those memories, Sue designed a layout with a picture of her Mum with her two children and then added a smaller photo of herself and her sister when they were small. Sue attached the smaller photo to her layout by simply sewing down the left side.

This left the space behind the photo free, so that a journaling card can be slipped in behind. Sue was born in the 70s so the gorgeous colours and patterns from the Sunshine Broadcast range from Sassafras were perfect to use.

 

So, are you game to join our Readers Challenge?  Do you find yourself, to your dismay, starting sentences with ‘When i was a kid…?    What did you do spend your play time doing when you were a child?  How is it different to what todays kids do?

 

Tomorrow .. check back to find out the winners of a couple of past challenges, and some new Echo Park inspiration…

colour theory

Welcome to a brand new series from our Design Team – we thought we’d have a look at colour theory and how you can use (or knowingly break) these rules to create pages that pop. 

Each week we’re going to peel back the layers of the theory and see how it can be translated into perfect page layouts.

We begin with the very basics of the colour wheel – primary, secondary and tertiary colours.

 

 

 

 

 

These probably need very little introduction, but it all starts here with the traditional subtractive primary colours – red, yellow and blue.  From just these three colours, any other colour can be created. 

 

Two of these primary colours – red and yellow - just happen to be Leeann’s favourites!  When Leeann started to piece this page together she knew that the photo would be best in black and white for it to shine as well as the colours themselves.

Leeann used patterned papers from Echo Park - little boy and walk in the park.  Jenni Bowlin has a fantastic range especially embellishments in primary colours with that added vintage/retro feel - which Leeann also loves!  Leeann has used red and blue chipboard polka dot buttons, the yellow vellum butterflies and the red trim alpha stickers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the secondary colours in mind - purple, orange and green - Danielle knew she needed to choose a main colour for her layout to give her a good starting point. Orange is a vibrant secondary colour, made from yellow and red, and is the warmest of the three. Danielle added some gesso and orange paint to the Anna Griffin 'Carmen' patterned paper she had chosen as a background, using the swiping technique with an old store card, to create a stronger orange base.

While each secondary colour is created from mixing two primaries, the resulting hues can be equally strong. For example, here Danielle has used a Hambly overlay in deep magenta purple to contrast with the orange background, and the two tones together are a rich combination. The touches of green add freshness and a lighter feeling to the page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the 12-colour wheel shown above, there are then six, more subtle tertiary colours which are created by mixing a primary and the secondary colour adjacent to it.  Suz has used several of these of in her layout above including yellow-orange (amber), red-orange (vermillion) and blue-green or aqua which the My Minds’s Eye ‘Stella Rose Mabel’ line happily provided. 

Suz created a neutral background of kraft cardstock and 7gypsies tissue paper which she then gessoed over to soften it slightly and then colour blocked around her photo.  She echoed the amber under her journalling with a strip of co-ordinating twill.

 

Next week we’ll be looking at warm and cool colours and the differing moods and statements you can make by incorporating them into your layouts.

2011cha summer: prima

More insanely beautiful offerings from prima, that will have you itching to create.  There’s so much we’ve split the images into three pages – patterned paper collections, embellishments and bling, and finally flowers.