Aussie Scrap Source

weekend inspiration: studio calico

 

 

 

This style is not usually seen in many of Iris' pages. Being a designer that is more keen to whimsical and romantic pages, working with Studio Calico papers were initially difficult for her. The beauty of these kinds of papers however - subdued prints with bright colours, is that it allows the photos to shine!

One other great thing with Studio Calico according to Iris is that it is easy to mix and match the different lines to make one unique look. This page uses mostly State Fair papers with with element taken from previous lines as well.

One other great thing with Studio Calico according to Iris is that it is easy to mix and match the different lines to make one unique look. This page uses mostly State Fair papers but with elements taken from previous lines as well.

 

Here is another layout from Iris Uy using the older lines of Studio Calico .

 

Kathie loves the subdued palette of Studio Calico’s Countryside collection. It’s colourful and yet restrained which makes it extremely versatile. Kathie layered a combination of patterned papers from the collection onto a kraft cardstock background for a colourful yet masculine page. The rub-on clouds and birdies add a playful feel to the page, and team nicely with BasicGrey Hopscotch bloomers and a brightly painted Twiddleybitz whimsy bird friend.

 

Nicole Samuels, USA, has used the Countryside collection for this next page. Nicole used the die-cut paper from the collection as the backdrop to her page. The subtle woodgrain effect adds a touch of interest to what would otherwise be a plain cardstock background.

Nicole says she used several different sized circle and scalloped-circle punches to make the flowers from the Wildflower patterned paper sheet in the collection. The flowers look fabulous dressed up with jewels and pearls. Thanks for sharing your page with our readers, Nicole.

weekend inspiration: pink paislee

 

Louise rarely creates with this style of patterned papers; however in saying that she has decided she may very well have to change that as she just loved creating with this range of Pink Paislee.

The coordinated range of embellishments are just perfect and make the creation of a layout or card so so much easier, especially for someone who struggles with patterned paper as Louise confesses she does!  To add a little dimension Louise has used some wonderful Martha Stewart punches to create simple embellishments out the patterned paper.

 

 

As with the first layout, Louise has kept embellishment of this page to a minimum; as the patterned paper is so beautifully designed and doesn't require it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suz used the gorgeous Nantucket range, and in contrast to Lou above, she loved the embellishments so much she wanted them to speak for themselves so ended up using no patterned paper!  The patterns are represented though, in the cute hexagon Chip Tiles that Pink Paislee have introduced with this range.  She misted the wood shapes in co-ordinating tones of Glimmer Mist and Chalkboard, and layered the wood title with one from the Bling Stickers set.

 

 

 

Thank you to the amazing talent Steph Devlin for sharing with us this beautiful Pink Paislee layout featuring her gorgeous youngest daughter.  Steph has used the Butterfly Garden range in a way that emphasises its softness and beauty.

weekend inspiration: we r memory keepers

 

 

Sue has started (very slowly!) scrapping some of her wedding photos. She decided to create the pages in an 8 1/2 x 11 inch format rather than 12x12. This has allowed Sue to keep the pages fairly simple but beautifully elegant. The Tres Elegant range from We R Memory Keepers consists of lovely soft patterns in shades of dark cream, apricot and white and was perfect for the timeless style that Sue had in mind for her pages. The embossed stickers in the range are particularly lovely when used to accent pages.

 

The 72 and Sunny line by WeR Memory Keepers was a lot of fun to create with Leeann said. She loved how the colours really popped on the Kraft card stock.   Leeann loves a bit of stitching, machine or hand so the ever so handy Sew Easy Stitch Piercers by We R Memory Keepers added the finally details to this page.

 

 

This fantastic layout was designed by Christie Bryant, and uses the Travel Light collection. We love how Christie has used the embossed stickers on her page. Thanks Christie.

 

 

 

We LOVE these two very groovy pages created by Larissa Albernaz, who has used the "Travel Light" range by WeR Memory keepers. Thanks so much Larissa for letting us share your creations.

 

 

 

Pamela Young shares this gorgeous layout with us, using the Friends Furever collection. Thanks Pamela.

 

 

We just LOVE the explosion of colour that Taj White has created using the 72 and Sunny range. Thanks so much Taj for letting us share your colourful pages.

generation gap: family outings and holidays

 

This week we look at how families have changed in terms of their holidays and days out have changed from one generation to the next.

We’d love to hear your experiences.  Send us your pages by next Wednesday 6th October to aussiedt@iinet.net.au.

 

 

 

Janine was surprised by the fact that her childhood holidays and her own children's holidays are not that different! Mostly it is about spending time with family, as to go anywhere with 5 children costs a fortune, so it is always simple holidays such as camping trips when we do go on vacation. Janine's childhood was spent on a farm, and that made it difficult for the family to go away as animals always needed to be cared for, so most holidays were spent at home or she got to stay with her Grandparents.

 

 

 

Louise W has fond memories of a childhood where she was fortunate enough to go away for a couple of weeks every Christmas. They were spent at motor camps around the North Island, mostly in Tauranga where they spent countless hours doing the normal stuff - fishing, swimming and playing through the long, hot summers.

The Echo Park "For the Record" range was perfect for this 70's photo, with the colours and soft patterns echoing (excuse the pun) a bygone era. The blossom pattern created with texture paste and a Crafter's Workshop adds to the softness and slightly retro feel to the page.

Journalling reads: Annual Christmas Holidays spent at a motor camp in Tauranga. Fishing off the wharf and swimming at the Mount. Summers of sun, fun and family.

generation gap readers: sports and hobbies

 

This week our readers looked at their own sports and hobbies as well as those of their children.  Thanks to everyone who continues to share their experiences.

 

 

Agnus Kasprzak writes:  I never really played sports when I was a child but I did grow up with a love of soccer and have many memories of watching the English Premiere League with my dad. Manchester United was our favourite team long before stars like Rooney and Ronaldo came on the scene - back then it was all about Eric Cantona and a young David Beckham thrilling the crowd. But it doesn't compare to the excitement of being there when my children started playing the game, cheering them on as they scored their first goal and being able to share a passion for the sport with them has been wonderful and it's nice to see that at least one of the goes for Manchester too ;)         

 

Christine Rumley used some goodies from her recently won Jenni Bowlin prizepack to create the above layout!  Her journaling reads: You kids started the "Aussie Hoops" basketball program at the ages of 4 and 6. So far you have played for 3 terms and your skills are developing rapidly. You look forward to going along every Saturday morning and you really miss it during the holidays. I started playing basketball when I was about 8 years old and it became a huge part of my life. I loved it so much that I ended up training, coaching or playing games almost every day of the week. It might not be basketball, but I really hope you both find a sport that you truly love. Some of my happiest childhood memories came from the sportsfield.

 

 

Heidi Barclay writes:  I have based this layout it on my eldest's hobbie - we were fortunate enough to come down to Christchurch last year in March before we moved down in April and we were sooo lucky that she took these beautiful photo's of the Cathedral - something special for us to remember since both the earthquakes have destroyed it.

 

Finally, Rebecca Young’s layout reads:  This Winter you've begun playing soccer for the first time. Your team is called "Rangers". You have training on Thursday nights and play on Saturday morning. By the end of the week you are very tired! I played soccer in Newman too, my team was called "Hearts." It was my first time playing too and I enjoyed playing on Saturday. 

She has used papers from Echo Park -- For the Record collection.

colour theory: triadic

 

 

The triadic color scheme makes use of a combination of three colours that are equally spaced around the colour wheel. This scheme is popular all over the design world (including patterned paper designers!)  because it offers strong visual contrast while retaining balance, and colour richness. The triadic colour scheme is softer than the complementary scheme, and is easier to balance. 

Like many of these combinations, the triadic scheme can work more effectively when one colour is dominant and the other two are accents, although as you can see from the layouts below, it also works harmoniously when all three colours are fairly equally weighted.

 

 

 

Today Louise had the fun of creating using a Triadic colour scheme. What is a Triadic colour scheme?  As we’ve explained above, it is 3 colours from the colour wheel [equally spaced on the wheel], for example red, blue and green – each spaced with two colors between. Can you find another triad scheme?  For this particular brief Louise has chosen to use purple, orange and green (the three secondary colours, which make up a triadic combination). Louise has chosen to use layers of beautiful Tattered angels Chalkboard Glimmer mists and Hambly rub-ons to depict the triadic colour scheme.

 

 

Leeann found out that triadic means using 3 colours that are evenly spaced on the colour wheel. So now that she was armed with this knowledge she set about checking out what manufacturers have used this colour scheme. She didn’t have to look twice at the soiree range by pink paislee, they had the perfect papers and embellishments to help create this page. Leeann also notice that this colour scheme is used by most manufacturers as it offers great balance and harmony.

weekend inspiration: little yellow bicycle

 

 

 

 

Chris Millar thinks Little Yellow Bicycle have made it so easy with the Tiny Princess range of papers to make the most darling baby and little girl cards. The papers lend themselves to be inked up just a small amount to add a touch of shabbiness and depth. And the dimensional stickers and jewels are wonderful embellishments to give the cards that extra bit of something special!

The card directly above was created following a sketch on the Mojo Monday blog group.

 

 

 

Jane Clark decided to continued the circle design of the Layered Flower Button Dots to her card, she trimmed three circles slightly larger than the stickers from the Fuschia Flower Dot paper then sanded the edges to make them stand out, and mounted the piece on teal daisy paper. The Button Dots were added in the centre, for one of them Jane pulled the layers apart and added a butterfly cut from the Flutterby paper between the layers.

Jane placed the square canvas word in the bottom right-hand corner to balance the design. Quick and easy idea!

 

 

Upon looking at the Fluuterby paper covered in gorgeous pattern butterflies, Jane's first thought was to cut them all out and have them flying across the card, that's a lot of butterflies!! So a lovely strip with three butterflies trimmed around the wings will also do a lovely job! Jane popped one butterfly on an angle to create more interest and to show off the beautiful paper underneath. Jane found the canvas word stickers to have great texture and add elegance to cards.

 

 

Now wouldn't one of these cards just brighten up your whole day?!! Rae Barthel has captured the complete essence of the Sweet Summertime range with these 2 bright and cheery cards. We love the way Rae has used the clear cut shapes and canvas border stickers in such a fabulous way! Thank you Rae for sharing your gorgeous card with us!

 

 

These two amazing layouts are from Mary Ann Jenkins. Mary Ann has also used the Sweet Summertime range, including their fabulous chipboard shapes which add such wonderful dimension to her page.

And here's a little bit from Mary Ann herself about creating with this range "I love the bright Summery colors, and how about that cute fruit and button banner!" We do love that fruit and button banner too Mary Ann! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful creations with us!

weekend inspiration: basic grey

With this post we welcome a new design team member to the Aussie Scrap Source fold – Georgia Keays! 

 

 

 

Her stunning pages have a unique style all her own and it’s not just us who have noticed her of recent times, she has also been included in the first ever BasicGrey design team.  Alongside her, we’re thrilled to congratulate fellow Aussie DT members Leeann Pearce AND Iris Babao Uy onto their team!

 

 

BasicGrey papers for Iris are synonymous with beautiful patterns and vibrant colours. Whenever she designs for BasicGrey the first thing she does is take a good look at the papers and figure out how to make the patterns pop out and not get lost in a design even with layers of papers one on top of the other.

This page is an example of how one can make the most of a patterned paper. Without much embellishments on hand, Iris was able to make a paper look like a die-cut sheet (red floral one), and make embellishments from hand-cut papers.

 

 

 

Here is one more page from Iris using the Picadilly line.

 

Janine loves the Out of Print range by BasicGrey! She loves all the distressed newsprint style in the background of the papers and the glorious palette of colours in the range. In this LO Janine used some large strips as the base to her photo and then built it up with lots of open circles in black for some punch to the design. She continued the distress look of all the layers by inking and distressing each piece and this also adds depth to the design.

 

 

 

 

Thankyou to Lisa Barrie for sharing two wonderful LO's using the BasicGrey Out of Print range. She has worked with the grunge/distressed look of the papers in this first LO, adding touches of mists and lots of fun flags and arrows that give so much "teen feel" to the page.

weekend inspiration: hambly screen prints

 

 

 

There are some times when we are working on a project, and totally love the design of a Hambly overlay but the shiny transparent surface just won't suit - Danielle was inspired by a recent Hambly Screen Prints blog post to try out this fantastic technique which is perfect for that exact situation. She simply painted her kraft cardstock with an acetate-based nail polish remover, placed the Hambly overlay ink side down on the cardstock and then rolled over the top to transfer the design.

The best bit is that she still has the original overlay to use another time, now with a slightly shabby effect due to being partially transferred! Danielle also enjoyed applying Hambly rub-ons in a scattered design across her page, and adding random Hambly clear label stickers as a design element. A couple of strips of the Hambly 'bird on a wire' overlay finish it off nicely.

 

 

 

 

 

In Leeann’s eyes there is so much fun to be had with Hambly…She loves getting completely inspired from each piece they bring out. Leeann has created very arsty background using a mixture of overlays and rub-ons. And you can see how they work perfectly together. The frames are a massive favorite as they can be used in so many great ways.

 

 

Felicitas Klink of Germany created this gorgeous card using a Hambly 'birds on a wire' overlay as the main feature. Her painterly background behind the birds looks fantastic!

 

We love Leena Loh's use of Hambly on this fun layout, where she has layered pieces from a variety of Hambly designs yet still creates a cohesive, vibrant look. Thanks for letting us share your work, Leena!

 

Finally we have some fabulous pages and cards by Kim Jeffress who is also a design team member for Hambly. When you look closer at Kim’s work you will notice little finishing touches that give you a whimsy feel. Thanks for sharing your creations with us.

 

 

generation gap: sports and hobbies

 

 

There’s a body of thought that says that kids are too busy these days – oversubscribed with extra curricular activities from sports to music lessons to dancing and gymnastics.  Is it different from when you were a kid?  Is there any time (or interest) in stamp and coin collections these days?  Maybe you collected swap cards?  Are you inundated with pokemon cards?  Send us your pages by next Wednesday 29nd September to aussiedt@iinet.net.au.

 

 

Kathie and her sister both trained as ballet dancers for a great part of their childhood. Kathie’s sister in fact left school after year 10 to forge a career in the arts. In this layout, Kathie reflects that she would have rather played sports, particularly tennis and netball; however, her mother had different ideas. For both sisters it was strictly piano and ballet lessons; exactly as their mother had done many years before.

Kathie has contrasted a photo of her mother as a girl, in the focal photograph, with smaller index prints of herself and her sister. She used a base of Sassafras’ Sweetly Smitten papers – they are delightfully light and feminine with just a hint of a vintage overlay. As such, they were perfect for her theme, and for her photos which span twenty years. The layout is embellished with an eclectic mix of Prima flowers and odds and ends from Crate Paper’s Emma’s Shoppe and Restoration lines.

 

 

 

 

Most definitely a favourite pastime and one that Leeann has in common with her 2 eldest girls today. Leeann’s girls have an assortment of collections as did Leeann when she was their age. The only real different was Leeann’s little collections were found objects from second hand shops which ended up as her news at school each week.

Leeann created this page around the idea of bits and bobs using clouds, punches buttons, bling, overlays, pattern papers, inks and stitching. She also took a photo of one of the many collections that the girls have and also used a pic of the girls and recorded when they first started this collection. Leeann wanted to personalize the title so she added 3 simple words to it - just like me…

generation gap–school readers challenge

 

Thanks to our readers contributions this week. We love your shared stories each week, and this weeks about school days is fascinating reading.  Thanks for continuing to contribute to this meaningful series.

 

Christine Rumely writes:  My kids go to the same school that I went to when I was younger so I have included photos of each of us in our school uniforms. My journaling reflects the way that this common experience has made it easier for me as a parent to let go and allow my children to take this next step in their lives and also about the way that we find joy in being able to talk and laugh about the similarities and differences between when I was there compared to themselves.

 

Heidi Barclay:  The journaling reads :-  We started school at the beginning of the new year.  I got this brand new suitcase not like the backpacks you have today.  I remember there was this one little girl who cried the whole day - but I was a brave girl.

 

Agnus Kasprzak shares: I recently found a picture of my boy's dad from year 2 of primary school and decided to record his school yard memories for this challenge. I asked him what he remembers most about his days at primary school as and he says that while the school work seemed a lot easier than the work our kids bring home today, the teachers were not as relaxed and even though he was a good student he remembers the sting of the cane and our boys listen in disbelief to hear that this was the normal type of punishment back in our day. I have included some of these memories in the pull out tag under the photo.

 

 

Anthea Peterson writes:  My first school experience was Pre-School. I attended on a full time basis due to Mum and Dad working full time. My own children however haven’t attended preschool full time, in fact they have only attended 1 day a week leading up to them starting school as I have had the luxury of being able to stay at home with them while they are growing up.

 

 

Rebecca Young writes:  This week I've used papers from MME Lime Twist collection.
My journaling reads:  "As much as you say you hate school, you really do love it. You are very clever at reading, writing and counting.   I loved school too! So much so, that I became a teacher. From Year 2 I began collecting my worksheets so I could use them in my own class!!  At your school you have lots of materials and resources available so you can learn in a hands-on way instead of boring worksheets."

colour theory: analogous

 

Analogous colours are any colours that sit next to each other on the colour wheel.  They create gentle, harmonious colour schemes that reflect those found in nature.  These soft schemes are pleasing to the eye and are guaranteed to match beautifully, but as Danielle notes below, where the colours share similar hue and saturation they can lack the punch and contrast of a more dramatic scheme. 

 

 

 

 

An analogous colour scheme uses colours that are adjacent to one another on the colour scheme. The number of colours used is mostly three to five and their tints and shades may also be utilised. In this layout, Danielle has chosen to work with pink, orange and yellow. With analogous colours schemes, one of the colours is chosen as the dominant hue - in this case, pink - with the remaining colours used to deepen and emphasise the design.

Danielle began with a Pink Paislee Nantucket patterned paper base, adding a touch of yellow chalkboard mist over lightly swiped gesso. A second Nantucket patterned paper, a Sassafras Sunshine Broadcast journaling sticker and an Anna Griffin die cut shape add touches of yellow to the page. Vintage buttons from Jenni Bowlin Studio add the orange details that complete the colour scheme.

Of analagous schemes, Danielle says she enjoys creating with such harmonious combinations, but had to restrain herself from adding a punchy contrasting colour! The black and white photo allows the colour combination to take centre stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Iris started on this assignment, she had no idea what "analogous" colours meant. Put simply, these are colours that sit beside each other on the colour wheel. What Iris did was choose the colours Blue to green. She started with light blue colours going to dark blue colours and the adding on some greens.

When working with analogous colours, it is best to choose one focal colour and support it with two other colours. One may also use black, white, and brown for the highlights. In order to make this work for Iris who hoards loads and loads of colourful patterned papers, she decided to work on a Pink Paislee Mistable paper for her background. She slowly added colours using distress inks and blended and built on colour after colour until she was satisfied with the result.

weekend inspiration: jenni bowlin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was love at first sight when Louise Williams discovered the Jenni Bowlin Hodge Podge album. With a mix of elements including a transparency, frame, seed packet and bingo card, she created this mini album of favourite quotes. By mixing in papers from the Jenni Bowlin Haven range, the album has a modern vintage look with quirky feel.

 

 

 

Sue has been intrigued by the Jenni Bowlin Hodge Podge books for a while now and she decided this was a perfect opportunity to create a mini album of some 'everyday' pics of her children. The books come with six pre-punched pages made from various materials such as heavy cardstock, transparency, book board etc. They provide the perfect base for your photos and other odds and ends to create a fun and interesting album.

The pages are then held together by two brass rings and of course you can add your own pages too.

 

This adorable layout was designed by the talented Lisa Dickinson. What a fabulous idea to use the Jenni Bowlin clock design to represent the growing up of a child. We can all relate to wanting time to slow down a little.

 

We love the simple design of this layout using the Jenni Bowlin Haven collection. And what sweet photos. Thanks Lisa for allowing us to share your work.

 

 

It's the little details that Celeste Smith has used in this clean and simple layout that attracted Louise to it. The Jenni Bowlin kit that was used all co-ordinates beautifully, but it's the touches of stitching and the strips of paper that add a punch of colour that bring it to life.

 

This cute layout from Dina Wakley is another layout using Jenni Bowlin products in a fun, whimsical way. The random stamping and staggered line of photos along with the hand journalling on a punch of orange, all come together to make a layout that's simply "Oh Fun".

 

Louise spotted this amazing canvas by Leah Crowe in an online gallery and immediately recognised the Jenni Bowlin cherries. She loves the layering of collaged elements and the little birdcage adds a touch of whimsy to this lovely piece.

weekend inspiration: the crafter’s workshop

 

 

Jane loved this quote so much that she decided to turn it into something she could hang in her craft room. Jane laid the leaf frame over the canvas and spread a thick costing of texture paste then gently lifted the template away and dried the canvas.

Layers of Glimmer Mists were sprayed over the top and allowed then to dry. For the quote piece Jane first applied a coat of spray adhesive to the back of the 'If You Believe' template, this will ensure that it will stay in place on her cardstock, she then applied VersaMark ink all over the card, removed the template then poured clear embossing powder over the whole piece and heat set it. When the Glimmer Mists are applied over it is when the magic begins and the quote comes to life!!

 

 

 

Jane loved playing with the leaf frame so she decided to try it on a card as well.  She created this stunning effect above by laying the template on watercolour card and spreading a thick layer of texture paste over it and leaving it to dry.  The leaves were covered in layers of colour – first she sprayed Key Lime Pie Glimmer Mist was sprayed all over it  and then painted Olive Vine Glimmer Mist with a paintbrush. She then sprayed Vanilla Breeze over the entire piece and dried it once again.

Jane recommends that the piece must be completely dry for the next step. She dabbed the VersaMark ink pad over the whole piece then poured clear embossing powder over it and heat set it, she repeated this step to give a rich thick shiny coating to resemble a glossy tile. Jane just loved the outcome and will definitely be doing this technique again!

Chris also shows us how the Crafter's Workshop Templates can easily be used to create a piece of artwork for your wall. Chris used the Inque Boutique blendable markers again on this project to create the background on the white cardstock. She scribbled with her markers onto a acrylic stamp block and then using a paint brush and a little bit of water she painted the background.

Chris then laid the template over the painted background and inked all around the template with black ink. The exciting part is removing the template and revealing the gorgeous image! Chris then inked the butterflies onto another piece of white cardstock, cut them out and used 3D foam tape to layer them over the butterflies on the image to give them extra pop! The sentiment is also from the Hero Arts Anytime Messages set.

 

 

Oh what fun Chris had with the 6x6 Crafter's Workshop Templates. For this bright and colourful card she used the Inque Boutique Blendable markers to colour in the flowers of the template onto white cardstock. She then coloured in a few of the flowers a second time onto another piece of white cardstock and cut them out to mount them onto her card using 3D foam tape.

To make the flowers pop even more Chris added some Hero Arts flowers and Zva Creative Crystals. The sentiment is also Hero Arts from the ‘Anytime Messages’ set.

 

 

With the Houndstooth template Chris has mixed together some polished pigments and acrylic medium and painted it over the template onto the Basic Grey pattern paper. This creates a whole new look for the paper and can be used as a background pattern on the card. The flowers on the card are also cut out from the Basic Grey Hello Luscious 6x6 paper pad . The card was finished off with the Hero Arts 'Anytime Messages' sentiment.

 

 

We thank Roberta Wax for sharing her lovely card using The Crafters Workshop 6x6 template. Roberta placed the Gathered Flowers template onto the cardstock and used a few different coloured sprays to create this wonderful effect. Roberta says "The fun thing about playing with sprays and templates is that you can make several background sheets at once, giving you a nice stash for later."
Thank you Roberta.

 

Finally we spotted this fab card by Angela Ploegman using the inner circle of the Sunburst 12 x 12 template by The Crafters Workshop. Angela says the card was Inspired by an Allison Davis Card Sketch (Sketch Support) and she used Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists with The Crafters Workshop template to create this effect. Many thanks for sharing your lovely card with us Angela.

weekend inspiration: memory works, simple stories

 

Suz Doyle had a lot of fun with the stickers and journalling blocks that come with the Simple Stories collections.  She has used the Elementary range which is obviously school themed to chronicle the age old after school feeding dilemma.  The primary colours of the patterned papers are bright and fun but also have a vintage quality that would lend itself to older photographs as well.

 

 

Sue has used the 100 Days of Summer range to scrap lots of photos from a recent fishing expedition with her family. The papers are designed to scrap your photos quickly with minimal fuss and Sue found most of her embellishments were simply cut from the paper designs. A quick way of recording your memories.

 

 

This gorgeous set of cards was designed by the very talented Danni Reid, also using Simple Stories 100 Days of Summer. Thank you Danni for sharing your designs with us.

generation gap: school days

 

 

School days – best days of your lives or thankful the nightmare is over?!  No matter what your recollections, this is bound to be a page that would interest your children, and your children’s children! Write about your memories, the changes, how much easier or harder kids seem to have it now…

Send us your pages by next Wednesday 22nd September to aussiedt@iinet.net.au.

 

 

It’s easy to see how proud Nic is in this photo, while Abby starts school, Nic remembers her own school days.  Her journaling explains how Nic feels life back when she was a child was a little easier, with less pressure to keep up with the other kids, no cell phones, no facebook, everyone wore what they liked, and no one seemed to judge!  This layout is a lovely chance to express how different things were back when Nic was a child, but also to record how things are for Abby now.  Nic chose to use fabulous new release papers by BasicGrey – Piccadilly, due out soon, is a wonderful bright collection of amazing colours and patterns.  Nic has splashed strips of colour across her page with varying papers and toned some of them down with white paint, just to let the photo shine.

 

 

 

Suz had reason to visit her old primary school earlier this year and was sad to find it was closing down. It was an old school and so near the centre of Melbourne that the land must be very valuable, but it’s a shame that it will no longer be there for future generations of little catholic children.  Though she couldn’t find a photograph of her at the school she did find one of her older brother looking rather special in a blue corduroy suit, so she used that to juxtapose the old and the new photographs.  You can recognise the distinctive arches in the background of both shots.

Suz based her journalling on information she found about the school’s history and her own memories. Click on the pic above to enlarge it  to read.  She used the unlikely combination of Bo Bunny’s vintagey Et Cetera range with Fancy Pants bright glittery Off to School embellishments.

generation gap foods and meals: reader’s challenge

 

 

We loved all the creative angles our readers came up with this week in the meals and foods challenge.  How fun are comparing lunchboxes?  I think back to my own soggy tomato sandwich and bruised apple and can’t help thinking today’s kids don’t know how lucky they are!  And remembering little details like your own childhood meals will be a fabulous keepsake for your own kids in years to come – especially if they come with the recipe, like Agnus’s!  Thanks so much girls for continuing to provide us with inspiration each week.

 

Agnus Kasprzak writes:  My layout is about a family favourite recipe for Rosół pronounced (Ro-suh) which is a traditional Polish broth style chicken noodle soup. Soup is a staple part of the polish diet and and this particular recipe was always a favourite in our household when we were growing up. My mum still makes a serving of soup for us whenever we go to her place for lunch or dinner and she passed the recipe down to me (which I have added to the back of my journaling tag) because all 3 of my boys enjoy it so much, and I actually had to print his photo out twice because my 18 month old so got excited when he saw the picture of soup that tried to eat the first photo :)

 

Anthea Peterson:  Growing up every night we would eat dinner at the table, we would eat every meal at the table as a family. Looking back it was lovely to have that family time to discuss our days and talk about family things. Now as a family we are so busy and caught up on homework, work and study it is hard to all sit at the table together, made especially harder by Shane being away as often as he is so dinner time is usually in front of the telly.

The meals we do have at the table are more special and treasured as it is usually when we are all together which isn’t often enough.

 

We loved that Christine Rumley printed her journalling on a paper lunch bag to fit in with her topic.  Her journalling reads: When I was a kid, the contents of my lunch box were pretty similar to yours. Sandwich, fruit, yogurt, water. I might have had some dry biscuits like Cruskits or Sao's as well. To me, the most significant difference is the packaging and presentation. Mine used to be wrapped in Glad Wrap, a plastic cling wrap that was sometimes tricky for little fingers to open. Yours is in reusable plastic boxes. The school insists on it to minimise waste. Anything you don’t consume is returned home so us parents can monitor what you do and don’t eat and so we are encouraged to be environmentally friendly. I think it’s a great concept and it’s certainly not unique to your school. So I get back the wrap from Bec’s cheese, the packaging from the squeezy yogurts (which  technically I should be providing in a reusable tub) Will’s empty Yakult bottle and the bits of Bec’s uneaten crusts. I have taken to cutting your apple to remove the core and peeling your mandarins so I don’t have to deal with the sticky remains at the end of the day. I find you are much more inclined to eat them that way anyhow, as I gather that the longer you take to eat, the less time you get to play!

 

 

We loved this fabulous grungy layout from Heidi Barclay.  Her journalling reads:  As a child, my dad would make a BRAAI (AKA BBQ) every single Sunday for lunch, and would make these fantastic black mushrooms on the Braai, that is something I will never ever forgot.

 

Finally, how cool is it that Rebecca Young has photos of two generations of Bubble’O’Bill icecream eaters!  She writes:  When I took this photo of my daughter eating a 'Bubble - O - Bill' ice cream it reminded me of a photo of myself eating the same type of ice-cream.  These ice-creams are a favourite in our house and are obviously popular with the rest of Australia for them to still be available to purchase.  I love how you get three flavours of ice-cream, a chocolate hit as well as a bubblegum all in one ice-cream!

colour theory: complementary

 

Complementary colours are those which sit opposite each other on the colour wheel.  Each one is actually made up of each of the primary colours  - red sits opposite green which is made from blue and yellow; yellow sits opposite purple which is made from blue and red and blue sits opposite orange which is made from red and yellow.

When placed next to each other, these colours make the other appear brighter and more vibrant.  This means you have to be careful how you use them, but they are certainly useful when you want to make something stand out as they create a strong contrast. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sue Tonga has chosen a complementary colour scheme of red and green, using papers and embellishments from the gorgeous MME Lost and Found 2 Rosy collection. By using faded reds as the dominant colour, splashes of green as a colour pop and neutrals of black and cream to soften, Sue has achieved a balanced colour scheme that doesn't detract from her photos.

Complementary colours provide a nice contrast that is pleasing to the eye but it is important to use one colour as the dominant colour and the other in a supporting role. By using different shades of the colours, you can achieve a visually interesting colour scheme.

 

 

 

 

Suz Doyle has created this layout as a record of the issues her poor old son has with sleeping.  She made good use of the darkness around the edges of her photo and printed her journalling directly onto it.

In this layout Suz has used fairly equal amounts of the complementary pairing of orange and blue, and it works because they are used on the neutral base of the cream cardstock and mostly black photograph.  Despite searching through her piles of papers and finding a multitude of orange and blue alternatives, she ended up using no patterned paper as the strong colour combination seemed to keep dominating the page.  She opted for a lighter smattering of SEI buttons and gorgeous Webster’s Netting to give the colour pop without overwhelming the photo.

weekend inspiration: crate paper

 

Crate Paper’s Toy Box collection is one of the best boy lines that Kathie has seen. It is versatile, colourful and the images contained within it are totally spot on for busy little boys. Even for little superheroes!

As the photos of Jamie dressed in his Batman costume (with a Ben10 undershirt!) were so precious, Kathie chose to keep the embellishment on her layout to a minimum so that the photos really shine on the page. She’s used the Border Stickers and Trims to add some colour above and below the photos, then added some Chipboard Accents. The bats were cut from black cardstock.

 

The Neighbourhood collection is among Iris' most loved lines from Crate Paper. Iris cut apart the border stickers to create a fun and funky edge. A bit of misting, layering of embellishments and the addition of brads in the edges of the layout results in a page where you find so many details to look at. Crate always comes up with gorgeous and fun designs which makes designing this page seem like a breeze for Iris.

 

 

 

Here is another layout from Iris this time using the Emma's Shoppe line. Iris added a bit of stamping to the background to further emphasize the vintage and shabby chic look and feel of this sweet page about her daughter.

 

 

This next layout is by Georgia Keays, Perth. Georgia has used Toy Box with a little bit of Emma’s Shoppe thrown in. We loved her title treatment – the clustering, the mixture of fonts and colours. Can you see that she's curled the letters on the title words so they bend up off the page. Isn't it effective!

 

This is another page by Georgia Keays. We loved the title of this page, and just had to know more. Georgia tells us that the page is all about how you can tell how naughty her son is being from listening to the pet name she chooses to call him. Toy Box papers and embellishments are paired here with a neutral kraft background, twine and frayed fabric, giving a delightful worn and textured feel. Thanks Georgia!

weekend inspiration: sassafras lass

 

 

Louise W combined digital frames with the Sunshine Broadcast range from Sassafras Lass to create a whimsical page with a modern vintage feel. The simple use of paper layers, punched paper strips and co-ordinating flower 'Foldies' add depth and interest while a Prima iron-on quite finishes the page perfectly.

By layering strips of the papers and adding some machine stitching for details, she utilised the distressed look of the papers to enhance the old style photos.

She also mixed and matched by using a base paper from the Sweetly Smitten range that featured a messy, worn look. Together it forms a beautifully aged looking page with a twist.

 

 

Siiiiigh!!! That was Louise Nelsons response when she got to create with Sassafras Lass! They continue to create just the most wonderfully coordinated ranges of patterned paper and embellishments that never fail to inspire and please scrappers creative hearts… and this line is no exception!

 

 

Iris shows her absolute love for mixing old and new products in this colorful and whimsical layout. She combined papers from Sunshine Broadcast, banner stickers from Cherry Delicious, and a turtle felt shape from her Sassafras Lass Stash. Iris absolutely loved the background paper she used here because it looks so artsy and layered as it is and required very little effort to complete this bright happy page.

 

 

This stunning page by Michelle Hernandez uses the gorgeous Sunshine Broadcast range from Sassafras Lass. The combination of diecut 'Foldies' flowers, corrugated card, chipboard and handmade kite embellishment add to the retro look that co-ordinates so beautifully with the digitally altered photograph.

 

 

Louise loved this layout from Kyoko Kobayashi using the Sweetly Smitten range from Sassafras. The doily touches and the canvas heart add a homestyle charm to this warm and happy page.