Aussie Scrap Source

product focus: acrylic albums

 

Although sometimes tricky to photograph, there's something magical about an acrylic album that makes you want to look and touch it over and over again. For this challenge Mel used a 4" X 6" Scrapping Clearly mini album and various papers and punch outs from the Amber Road range (Pink Paislee). The small size is perfect for scrapbooking all those mini photos and each finished page helps compliment the next one, with little snippets showing through the acrylic album along the way.

On the front cover Mel chose to add some dimension by adhering the Twiddleybitz Love Bird (lightly sponged with ink), which goes beautifully with the autumn theme throughout the album.

product focus: calendar pages

 

 

When we think of calendar products, it's easy to assume that the only thing that could be done with them is to create something to record dates and times. Not so, as you can see with this layout by Nic Howard. We have seen our calendar products used for yearly calendars, layouts recording the events of one month, highlighting one special day, and we think they'd be perfect for an advent calendar but Nic has done something a little different.

When creating this layout, Nic used two different Webster's Pages products. The first was a 12x12 sheet of patterned paper with a gorgeous month's grid on it. Nic had chosen to theme her layout around 'every day' and thought the papers depicting 'time' would be perfect.

The second product is a smaller journaling block, in which Nic has listed days of the week in Paper Trunk alphas. Perfect to finish a layout depicting time, with gorgeous Websters Pages products!

 

Nicole wanted to make a compact summary of some of the events that happened in her family over last year in a quick and easy to look at format. She created this little album from Jenni Bowlin calendar pages, trimming the pictures from the top to only use the calendar section.

On the back of each of these calendar pages she attached patterned papers and different embellishments from her stash and also used the calendar pages as a base for a major event from each month. With chipboard covers, this little album is easy easy to handle and a cute little keepsake that summarises a year.

product focus: 3d quickutz dies

 

The new Quickutz 3d dies are just beautiful, and perfect for adding a little dimension to your projects.  Suz has used the Flower3 and Flourish dies on this quick and simple layout – there’s no doubt that die cuts make short work of adding a beautiful detail when time is limited, without detracting from the subject of the page.  Suz has cut out both SEI Mimosa papers and Hambly transparencies with the dies – the transparency curls fabulously and adds yet another texture.

Caz was lucky enough to get to play with some of the new Quickutz 3d dies. She chose the bird and birdhouse 4x4 die and the flourish 4x4 die.combined with the Quickutz tree border die to create a layout about how her daughter is such a homebody.

Caz created this layout while her daughter was staying in Canberra on a school exchange program. It got to the 3rd and last night and she could tell by her daughters voice how much she longed to be home with her family and her 'stuff' even though she was having such a good time. She has included on the back of the page the self motivational post-its she found on Jordan's mirror when she had left - "Don't be scared" "Text message Mum everyday but don't waste credit" "But most of all, HAVE FUN!!"

Once again Caz has used the bird/house and the flourish dies. To make this sweet card she combined the die-cuts she made with some of the new die-cuts and paper from the Crate Paper Bliss range. A perfect card for someone who is moving to a new home or to welcome someone home.

product focus: trims

 

Steph has always loved the Webster's Pages Trims and she couldn't wait to share this technique with you. Steph got the Webster's Lace and cut the size she wanted for the gathered frill. Then she took a thin piece of organaza and threaded it through the tiny holes in the pattern of the lace. Once she had threaded the organza though to the end of the lace all she had to do was pull and she could adjust the gathers accordingly. She adhered it to the scallop circle with double sided tape.

           

Bobbly trims, with their fluffy texture and comfy colours scream Winter to Nicole, so with that in mind she created this little book showcasing some of her favourite Winter photos.

She started with a delicious Tattered Angels Glimmer Glass album and went from there using papers, die cuts and other embellishments from Webster's Pages, Cosmo Cricket and Grungeboard to name but a few. Transforming the pages in this plain album was easy ands lots of messy fun, using Glimmermist and Glimmer Screens, and every page features Webster's Pages bobbly trims for the ultimate in cosiness!

The various textures in this album invite the viewer to touch it creating yet another interaction between project and viewer and bobbly trim brings that invitation no matter what it is attached to.

product focus: lace cuts

 

There are a fabulous range of beautiful and intricate lace cut papers coming out at the moment – BasicGrey, SEI, Little Yellow Bicycle and Rouge de Garance are all stamping their own individual looks on to them.  They’re easy and beautiful to use, adding an intricacy to pages and projects with very little effort.

 

 

Carole loved creating with the new Lace sheets (intricate Cut paper) by Basic Grey, Carole used the cute June Bug Collection and also the Chip Sticky Shapes. The colours of this range are very vibrant and very colourful. The lace sheets are very versatile you can use them as full sheets or you can cut them into pieces as shown by Carole to make borders etc.,

 

 

 

And here Suz has used stunning Rouge de Garance Fine Designs – these come in a pack with a sheet of lace paper and a co-ordinating double sided cardstock weight patterned paper.  Suz has saved the patterned papers for future projects though, and has used just lace cuts on this gorgeous little 4x6” Scrapworks purse album. 

She found these ‘beauty secrets’, often attributed to Audrey Hepburn  but actually written by Sam Levenson, and decided to use them as a lasting keepsake to remind her make up loving six year old that beauty on the inside is more important.

product of the week: mini albums

every monday from now we will feature a new series called POW, or Product of the Week.  This week we cover mini albums, and have focused on the huge variety of acrylic albums that we stock.  We hope you enjoy seeing what beautiful things our design team have created with them.

Projects like these can be daunting. Donna has long been a loyal layout creator and has been reluctant to attempt mini-books. After completing this project however, she may well be THE mini-book convert of the year! The Tinkering Ink Peek-a-Boo album with it's combination of sturdy cardstock pages and pristine clear acrylic pages presented Donna with a whole new mini-book experience. She admits that this was one of her most enjoyable projects this year - a big call for someone who creates many projects each month.

By first choosing a large selection of entirely well-coordinating products and laying them out in front of her, she was able to quickly piece together this project featuring photos from a favourite photo session of her two gorgeous girls. This whole project was created, start to finish, in under 3 hours. The small-ish size of each page and the see-through nature of many of the pages meant that Donna didn't need to incorporate huge amounts of embellishments, but instead allowed the products from the previous page work together to create a beautiful and treasured 'finished' product.  Have a wander through her beautiful pages...

            

The Tinkering Ink Chipboard and Acrylic Albums really give mini albums a fresh face. Each album includes "windowed" chipboard pages teamed with clear acrylic pages. You can mix and match the pages to suit your album theme and as Jaimie has shown you are not limited to use just the album pages provided - you can mix in extra surprise products such as the Hambly transparency overlays. The creative possibilities are endless.

 

Suz created this magical mini album using the Scrapping Clearly crown shape.  You may have seen it in a recent For Keeps Creative Paper issue, but here's a little journey through more of the pages.  Suz asked her daughter what things she would do if she were queen for a day, and the answers make for a perfect time capsule of Phoebe's priorities right now!

Suz used the beautiful Glimmer Mists on this album, on a variety of media including lots of Tim Holtz Grungeboard, Queen & Co felt and Tattered Angels Glimmer Chips.  She used lots of Heidi Swapp Bling, Jewel Brads and Hambly transparencies for over the top girly-ness.

        

After all that girly-ness, we definitely needed a shot in the arm of BOY, and Carole provided the perfect antidote with Scrapping Clearly's arrow album.

Carole says she loved creating this album, the acrylic is gorgeous to work with, very sturdy and very cute. She embellished with Sassfrass Lass Robotics, one of her favourite lines  In typical Carole style, she  cut out and 3D-ed all the little robots and space ships from the patterned paper, and added plenty of Dimensional Magic.   She also used some Inque Boutique Out of this World Stamps which worked perfectly, stamping onto papers and also straight onto the arylic surface. A very fun project for Carole.

Stand back and admire the amazing amount of detail that went into this gorgeous keepsake.

 

Finally, Nicole created this gorgeous acrylic book from a Scrapping Clearly 8-inch scallop album. The beautiful smooth edges off a soft alternative to the straight edge and the thick pages make applying rub-ons and stamps a breeze.

Using a combination of stamping, rub-ons, lace, flowers coloured with Glimmermist and papers, alphas and embellishments from Little Yellow Bicycle, Nic was able to create this beautiful keepsake with ease.  Notice how she has staggered her photos so that on each page you can anticipate part of what's coming up on the next one.  Sometimes the very point of the acrylic medium can be lost by covering too much of it up, and this is a perfect example of using the transparency of the pages to perfect advantage.

product focus: tim holtz grungeboard

we know that grungeboard comes in a variety of fabulous designs and alphabets, and can be used fabulously and effectively on cards and scrapbook layouts.  but we wanted to explore the very limits of this versatile product, and so we challenged our design team to come up with new and amazing ways of using the grunge.  they have explored ideas for using the full sheets of grungeboard as well as the die cut alphas and shapes. 

we hope you enjoy what they came up with - i know i did!

 

 

This mini-purse is the perfect little spot to hold children's little treasures. Donna made this one for her youngest daughter who loves to pack small toys and jewelry whenever they head out of the house. The fact that it is made from Tim Holtz new Grungeboard, means that it is extremely sturdy and flexible. The material itself is not unlike leather and Donna says that had she more patience, she could quite easily have stitched the sections together with plastic or leather cord.

The unique 'leather-like' quality of this new product could actually lend itself perfectly to a whole plethora of similar projects. With bucket loads of free downloadable templates all over the web, the possibilities are literally...endless!

 

 

 

 

Many scrappers have asked why grungeboard is better than chipboard - for Jaimie the answer is easy - grungeboard's unique ability to take the toughest treatment and still look good. For this reason Jaimie decided to create a keyring embellishment for her car and house keys using the large grungeboard alphas. After mixing some paint and crackle medium and allowing the project to dry she then sanded over the swirl design and edges to give a shabby feel.

Then Jaimie covered the letter with a thin layer of Dimensional Magic to seal the paint effect and then once dry she added some Basic Grey sugared metal brads. Since adding the letter to her keyring Jaimie has had several people asking where she got her leather "J" - cant do that with chipboard - nice

 

 

 

Mel also wanted to create something to show the true flexibility of the Grungeboard for this challenge, so she had a go at sewing this little Cosmonaut Devil. She adapted the pattern slightly (out of her 'Softies, 22 friends for you to sew, knit and crochet' book) to fit the sheets of Grungeboard, adding a Basic Grey Archaic chipboard sticker on the Cosmonaut's suit and some Basic Grey buttons for eyes. The Grungeboard sews beautifully (much nicer than stitching through chipboard she reports) and was very easily stuffed (with a mix of stuffing and newspaper).   A splash of paint and our new alien friend was finished and ready for his photo shoot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carole made this Princess Skull Jar for her daughter's hair bands.

Carole loves the Element Stripe Grungeboard and she used it in several ways.  She painted and glittered and inked grungeboard shapes and also applied rubons onto the grunge as well as on the jar itself. Carole also used dimensional magic and still curved the grungeboard around the jar without cracking the dimensional magic. 

Carole used Carolee's Creations Love Pattern Paper as a base for the grungeboard, being black and white it worked really well.  She also used Heidi Swap bling circles for added glitter.

 

 

 

With this example, Nic covered the Stripe Grungeboard with Pink Paislee paper and pressed firmly to ensure good contact between the paper and the liquid glue. By lightly sanding over the patterned paper, Nicole was able to give the projects a wonderfully worn feel as the sandpaper picked up the ridges of the grungeboard. 

Nicole made this cute little photo folder by machine stitching pieces of covered Grungeboard together and hinging with layers of paper.  She finished the front with Cherry Arte Morocco rub on letters and a Heidi Grace ribbon tie.

This idea would be a wonderful gift idea or a nice way to present photos to a friend or relative, and was quick and easy given how easy it is to machine sew through Grungeboard. The flexibility of the board also allows you to bend pockets inside without the risk of tearing like you would find with normal chipboard.

 

 

 

 

Nicole was so impressed with the leather-like qualities of Grungeboard that she thought it might be fun to use it just like leather.
With addition of a few fabric eyelets, a D-ring and some leather thonging, Nic was able to create this funky necklace that would be perfect for your favourite teenage (or older) recipient! She covered the Grungeboard skull with CherryArte paper and then sprayed with red Glimmermist before punching with a Crop-A-Dile and hanging on the D-ring.

 

 

 

Grungeboard would have to be one of the most versatile products on the market. Folding, distressing, painting, inking and misting are only a few ideas to alter this remarkable product. The best thing would have to be that no matter how 'brutal' you are with grungeboard it always bounces back. A little crackle medium and paint create a lovely vintage look to the grungeboard elements on Jaimie's page, once dry she rubbed an ink pad over the embellishments to give that extra 'pop' to the crackle.

 

 

 

 

 

Suz can't get past Glimmer Misting her grungeboard. She loves how the glimmer settles into the crevices of the embossed grunge.  In this layout she sprayed the Alpha Stripes with three different Glimmer Mist colours - Watermelon, Pearl and Kiwi and both inked and outlined the edge of each letter.  She then intertwined flourishes from the Elements Grungeboard pack into and around the letters which is so easy to do given the Grunge's unique flexible properties.

Your local scrapbooking shop is bound to have some Tim Holtz Grungeboard in stock, so go check it out. If they don't - ask  them to order some in for you!!

product focus: simply luxe

 

luxe designs has released a new range of cardstocks called Simply Luxe.  This range was created to be the ultimate mix and match collection to integrate into your stash of scrapbook supplies.  Not only do the colours match all the lines from Luxe Designs, they also took care to make sure they matched favourite products from other manufacturers.  These are timeless designs and classic colours that can be used over and over and still look fresh.  They can either be used as they are or altered as the subtle designs are perfect for stamping, painting or inking or even glimmermisting!

 

 

This collection features ten items in each of Luxe's core colours - classic black, tiffany turquoise, cobalt blue, engine red, island green and hot pink.  There are six double sided patterned papers with simple designs such as lines, ledgers, dots, grids and pinstripes as well as cardstock label stickers, alpha stickers, punch out journalling jotters and epoxy stickers.  All in all, everything you need to make some fabulous basic layouts, and mix and match with the rest of your stash.

See what our design team have created with these colour ways - and then go ask your local scrapbooking store to order some in for you!!

 

To bring a bit of colour to the Simply Black range Chris used this terrific and very colourful photo of her kids from their recent trip to the Andy Warhol Exhibition. Chris also used the Luxe-urious Stamp borders to add some pizzazz to the layout. She stamped them onto white cardstock with coloured ink, but the ink just wasn't as bright as she had hoped, so she coloured over them with coloured markers and outlined them with black pen.

 

Chris has used the border stamps again on this layout to create a funky frame for her photo and to create the interesting border around her layout. Simply stamp the images onto white cardstock, cut around them and attach to layout. Add a bit of colour with markers. Chris has combined the Trinket range with the Simply black range for this layout

 

To create this fun layout Chris used the Trinket and Color Me ranges along with lots of hand doodling.

Suz immediately loved the softness of the Turqouise Simply Luxe, and of course combined with all that white on one side of the patterned papers, it was right up her alley.  The patterns are light and subtle and small, happy to take a back seat while the all important photos and story stand out. 

She found the softness of the colours also worked beautifully with the Grungeboard elements which she has inked and sprayed with Suede and Patina Glimmermists. 

 

 

Carole has also created this layout using the Luxe Blue Pattern Papers. Carole has incorporated Lime Green which really sets off this layout, and embellished with layered flowers and a cute bird, she has also used dimensional Magic on the dots around the photo frame, which has been raised with foam tape.

 

   

Carole loved using this Blue and White Combination from Luxe Design (Simply Luxe Blue), very striking layout with the added colour in the deep red of the Butterfly.
Carole created some 3 Dimensional Flowers with the different combination papers in this range, and loved the effect she achieved.

Carole also used the Diecuts as a background.

 

Sometimes we work really hard to fill a page, but there are times when we can just let the products and the photos (of course) do all the hard work for us! This beautiful range of girlie pink pp's by Luxe speak volumes and combined with a sweet black and white photo...well, all the hard work is done. This is one of Donna's favourite pages this year - simple, but adorable.

 

 

Mel loves spots and she loves red so she whipped up this vibrant layout in no time.  Combining it with black made it even more striking.

 

 

 

Nicole loved the way the Luxe Lime papers softened the stark white of her background. The green colour brought out the gorgeous greens in her photograph and by combining the Luxe Lime with Scenic Route Lauren and Lyndon, Nicole was able to create a high contrast and striking page.

The Luxe Lime combines beautifully with not only Scenic Route but also with these Tinkering Ink word stickers and possibly a whole host of other brand papers. By adding a few little pieces of chipboard and Maya Road/Luxe acrylic ribbon, Nicole was finally able to scrap this very old photoof her daughter beautifully!

introducing: luminArte inc.

We're excited to bring this fabulous new line of shimmery paints and pigments to Aussie Scrap Source.  They are currently up in pre-orders and as we have already had some enquiries about what and how to use these products, here is a rundown.  Our design team will soon be working on creating some gorgeous examples for an upcoming gallery.

If you would like to have a play with these exciting products, ask your local scrapbooking store to order them in for you!

 

Twinkling H20's

These are the most popular line of paints from LuminArte.  Twinkling H20s are fun, scrumptious, shimmery, lightfast watercolor cakes.

Twinkling H2O's are watercolor cakes that are incredibly shimmery, non-toxic acid free, lightfast and safe for all ages to use!  Simply dip a wet paintbrush or waterbrush into the solid cake of color and begin to paint!  You can use this paint on paper, canvas, rocks, wood and even Easter Eggs!

They are currently available in 156 colors in convenient packaging options.  Use Oyster or the iridescent colors to lighten the other colors without losing the shimmer.  Use colors in Kit TW-606 for adding metallic accents.  The possibilities and options are endless with these beautiful paints. 

These are just a few of the many colour palettes.  They are available in kits of either 6, 12 or 24 pots of shimmery colour.

 

 

Radiant Rain - Daubers

If you're after something even quicker and easier to use, Shimmering Twinkling H2O's are now available in daubers. Luminarte have even added extra shimmer for those intriguing projects you are working on. 

These are sold individually and are available in 24 colours.

 

 

 

Primary Elements Polished Pigments

"Old world Charm with New World Technology"  Imagine the old days when artists like Leonardo da Vinci ground their own pigments to make their own oil paint. LuminArte has ground pure colour and added the polish, sparkle or pearl of mica powder.

These are very INTENSE colors that sparkle.  They look like mini pearls in the bottle.  Polished Pigments are so concentrated a little goes a long way

Simple to use - mix with one part Polished Pigments™ to 2 parts Simple Solutions™ to make your own shimmering acrylic paints. Create a softer or sheer look by adding more Simple Solution™.

 

 

 

To kickstart inspiration and ways to use these stunning products, Luminarte have provided some step by step projects - click on the title to link you to the how-to page.

 

Precious Porcelain Beads

 

Bodacious Bangles - Fabulous Radiant Rain Bangles

 

 

Imagination Clay Patchwork Tray

 

Marvelous Memory Frame

product focus: glimmermist

Glimmer Mist, a Tattered Angels original product, is a quick and easy spray that delivers just a touch of glimmer in a fine mist to make all of your projects shine. Glimmer Mist puts an end to messy, clumpy, and time consuming conventional glitters with over 50 colors to choose from so finding the right one for your project is easy. Glimmer Mist was made by a scrapbooker with the scrapbooker in mind and is water-based, archival safe, acid-free, and non-toxic. Glimmer Mist is safe for and adheres to all types of materials including paper, acrylic, metal, and fabric.

 

Jaimie took this plain craft wood jewellery box and coated it with an even spray of Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist giving it a lovely deep colour and fantastic shimmer.  Decoration was simple by spraying Honeydew and Moonlight Glimmer Mist onto both large and small Tattered Angels Chip butterflies and then stamping them with the Hero Arts background stamp. Inking the edges and layering the chip elements on top of the lid with Heidi Swap Florals and BG flourish edge stamps keeps the project simple and stunning

Chris said she loved playing with the Glimmer Mist. She chose the colours Juneberry Wine and Antique Brass to experiment with. Chris dug up some of her old Pressed Petals Chip Chatter letters and made them funky and new with the Glimmer Mist. Chris sprayed the Juneberry Wine Glimmer Mist onto the letter. For the large 'Z' Chris held the sprayer closer to the letter and the result was a darker colour on the letter.

For the smaller 'Z' she held the sprayer further back and also used a paint brush to wipe off excess spray. Chris also lightly sprayed both letters with the Antique Brass Glimmer Mist to give them an extra sparkle. She then stamped the Hero Arts Old French Writing stamp onto the chip chatter letters using a brown ink.

Chris also used a VersaMark resist technique on the chipboard butterfly. She used the Old French Writing Stamp with the VersaMark ink cube to stamp onto the butterfly. Once that was dry she then sprayed over it with the Juneberry Wine Glimmer Mist. The result was a little different on the butterfly as it has a shiny surface opposed to the Chip Chatter letters which have a rougher surface.

Finally Chris also altered a Heidi Swapp flower to co-ordinate with the rest of her layout by spraying it with the Juneberry Wine Glimmer Mist.

This classic black and white photo of Donna's youngest daughter needed a no fuss background to really make it pop! Donna used the fabulous new Glimmer Mist in Graphite to create her own patterned cardstock simply by laying a piece of Junkitz felt fusion over the cardstock as a makeshift mask. The result is something completely original and unique. By adding a little doodling to highlight the masked area, Donna's layout has become something more than just a stock-standard page. This page will be treasured.

It's well known that Suz never misses an opportunity to create a rainbow, and when she was sent a stash of little sample bottles of Glimmer Mist in a range of colours, it was just too tempting.  Spraying it in small areas over a length of cream Queen & Co Celtic Felt Fusion produced exactly the effect she was after - a beautifully muted and slightly sparkling rainbow length of felt. 

She also had a field day spraying it on a range of Tim Holtz Grungeboard butterflies and alphas and loved the way the Grungeboard absorbed the colour but the very fine glitter the Glimmer Mist contained settled into the crevices of the embossed Grungeboard, accentuating the design.

Finally Suz exagerated the dreaminess of the layout by spraying directly onto the SEI Chickadee patterned paper creating subtle areas of light and shade.

Sometimes you just need that right shade of paper to finish off a layout perfectly. When you don't have the correct shade in your stash, Glimmer Mist is fabulous to use - just whip up your own piece to complete the layout. Simple spray the Glimmer Mist over a piece of white paper or card, leave to dry and adhere into position as Mel has done here. It gives such a luscious, glimmery feel to the page.

Nic used Glimmermist on many different surfaces and it really added to the vintage-feel of the Cosmo Cricket Fleuriste range.
She has used it to colour white ric rac, to add a thin layer over the die cut flowers and also to cover chipboard pieces.
Nic's favourite thing about the Glimmermist was that you have contol over the opaque-ness of the mist and best of all it sits on top of non-porous surfaces. It left a gorgeous sparkle on ricrac and chipboard without being completely absorbed.

Add a touch of glamour to your handmade cards by giving them a quick spray of Glimmer Mist.  Caz used Antique Brass which gave this Crate Paper card a subtle all over sparkle that is pretty without being over the top.

             

To create this effect on a chipboard frame, Chris used the Li'l Davis paint to randomly brush over the frame. When the paint was dry she then sprayed the Juneberry Wine Glimmermist and Antique Brass Glimmermist over the frame. Once it was dry Chris used the Old French Writing stamp with brown ink to stamp onto the frame.