Aussie Scrap Source

Weekend Inspiration: Li'l Davis

A little bit of the old, and a little bit of the new as well. Nic shows how timeless Li'l Davis product is, with items from the Vintage wood, Jenny Bowlin, and Crillion ranges as well as various ribbon.

As Caz’s daughter Darcy seemingly rockets towards being a teenager, Caz has noticed many changes in both her appearance and manner. This beautiful photo was taken on an outing at Luna Park the day after Darcy turned 12. Caz used the Heidi Swapp Days of the week Journaling Spots to list some of the changes that she has come across during this past year.

The fabulous flourishes, flocking, drama and colours of the Li'l Davis Vanderbilt Collection worked perfectly with this oversized photo of Suz’s son Alex atop his ‘pirate ship’. The gorgeous velvet ribbon woven through the patterned paper echoes the ‘rigging’ in the photograph.

Li'l Davis Glitter Garden spotted and floral patterned papers form the basis of this layout by Suz. The colours are bright and funky but still allow the eye to be drawn to the photo. We R Memory Keepers Dipsticks, a bit of Heidi Swapp bling and some Queen & Co keep this layout light and colourful but still cohesive.

Suzy Plantamura is in love with the Love Affair line by Li'l Davis, and we are in love with Suzy’s layout. From the funky mix of papers and embellishments, to her unique journaling idea, to the sweet photo of little Chloe. It’s a layout that just jumps out at you.

These two stunning layouts are shared with the permission of the very talented Renee Camacho.  They showcase two of Li'l Davis' newest paper ranges - Spring Fling collection (so new it's not in the country yet but look out for it soon!), which features printed acid free acetate, metal flowers, bo plates, stickers, and stunning pastel papers. The second layout is from the Endless Summer range - beautiful rich reds and browns and blues which would work as well for deep winter as it would summer.

No longer do we have to hide our adhesive tabs when we are sticking down transparencies, Mary Grace Abuzman has made them the new fashion!  This fabulous layout has it all. A beautiful photo, innovative design and fabulous textures from combining a large number of products. Thanks for allowing us to share, Mary Grace.

We thank Kori Babb who has allowed us to share a couple of her layouts.  Here she has used the Rockstar range of Li'l Davis products to create this layout. Striking photos, along with a clever arrangement of Li'l Davis embellishments, finished off with some clever machine sewing all makes for a stunning Rockstar layout.

‘Cherish’ also by Kori Babb caught our eye, as the simple colour scheme of the Li’l Davis Glitter Garden accents lets the black and white photos remain the focus of the page, while adding sweet girly elements.

Embrace by Vanessa Reyes. The Crillion range of Li'l Davis products was a hit as soon as it was released. Here we see the Crillion Motif paper paired with Crillion Chipboard rounds and finished with Li'l Davis flower and alphas. It's a fairly simple layout that is visually stunning, and this is exactly what got our attention in the first instance.

And thanks again to Vanessa Reyes for letting us share a second layout. "Dream Big" shows wonderfully how the Tinseltown range of Lil Davis products makes it so easy to create a fabulous layout. Even the blue journaling is Lil Davis. We love how it has all come together.

May Class Kits

Check out our new month's Class Kits - shipping from today.  If you love the look of one or more of these kits and your local scrapbooking store isn't running it as a class, why not ask if they wouldn't mind ordering you one to do at home.

Celebrations happen all year round. Chris Millar has created this wonderful kit so that you can capture one of those special moments with these funky new papers from Sassafrass Lass and get the most out of your kit by also creating a matching card.

Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate. Time Required: 2 Hours.

 

Since delving into the art of scrapbooking Donna noticed that although most of her photos were going into albums, more and more were left unprinted on her computer's hard-drive. The idea of keeping a few photos nearby really appealed to her.  This class kit aims to solve the problem of what to do with those photos that you love, but haven't yet made it into a scrapbook album.

'Mum's Photo Album' contains a beatiful SEI preservation series 6x4" photo album that your customers will come back to time and time again. Altering it makes it just that little more special and personal. The kit also contains 2 full sheets of alphabet stickers, so the album could just as easily become 'Grandma's Photo Album' or 'Mary's Photo Album'. You get the idea, right!

Altering is a fun way to give beginning scrapbookers that little burst of confidence and the bright, funky colours will have your seasoned scrappers stepping outside of their comfort zones.

Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate. Time Required: 1.5 – 2 Hours.

Using the fun and bright SEI Hippie Chick papers, Cheryl Durey has designed these four simple and stunning layouts to bring your photos to life. With flowers, ribbons, buttons, paper piecing, stitching and doodling you’ll dabble with lots of techniques to create these beautiful pages.

Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate. Time Required: 3 - 4 Hours.

Cheryl has also created this kit containing the papers from Scenic Route Cape Town range to showcase these bright, fun layouts suitable for boys of any age. With loads of layering, cutting and creating of chipboard embellishments and a full alphabet sheet to personalise your layout, you’ll be amazed at how easy it can be to create these fantastic pages.

Difficulty: Beginner – Intermediate. Time Required: 3-4 Hours.

"Half the world will never know what it’s like to be a small boy”. Caz has designed this kit so that this classic saying can be easily adapted to suit any number of subjects. Children and pets are only some of the possibilities! This kit contains enough textured Crate Papers to create both the layouts shown. Also included is a full pack of “raw” Heidi Swapp chipboard letters that can be painted, inked or covered to match your layouts.

Kits also include templates for the words “girl”, “boy”, “dog” & “cat”. Leave these beautiful layouts as is or finish with a little machine or hand stitching for that extra special touch.

Difficulty: Beginner – Intermediate. Time Required: 3 Hours.

Layers of paper and embellishments are the focus of this boy themed double layout by Nic Howard. The masculine BasicGrey papers are paired with buttons, chipboard and a full BasicGrey alphabet giving us the basis to let loose and create.

Suitable for any photos that will go with blue/orange, as there is plenty of letters to spell many titles.

Difficulty: Beginner – Intermediate. Time Required: 2 Hours.

Layers of paper and embellishments are the focus of the gorgeous feminine equivalent of this double layout by Nic Howard. The pretty papers of Heidi Grace designs paired with buttons, chipboard and a full set of Heidi Swapp alphabets gives us the basis to let loose and create. Suitable for any photos that will go with the flower theme.

Difficulty: Beginner – Intermediate. Time Required: 2 Hours

Create this beautiful screen-style hinged frame for mother’s day - or any time of year you want to show someone how much they mean to you.  Susan Doyle has used the timeless pink and green Crate Paper Twirl collection, with the little details in this beautiful frame make it as fun to make as it is to receive. Room for up to nine photos of family - children and grandchildren.

Difficulty: Intermediate – Advanced. Time Required: 2 – 2.5 Hours.

technique focus: flourishes

They come in chipboard, rubons, patterned paper, transparencies.  You can make your own out of ribbons, fibres, beads or a multitude of other products.  You can hand draw them, hand stitch them, machine stitch them, paint them or stamp them!

We asked our design team to stretch the boundaries of flourish usage on layouts.  Donna kicked off with this delightful example.

Donna says that this photo is a new favourite of hers. Being a photographer, she is rarely the subject of photographs so each and every rare photo of her with her children is treasured.

The light in this photo was one of the most 'stand-out' elements and Donna wanted to emphasise this in the layout.

The title is from a popular song and seemed very appropriate and the Cherry Arte chipboard worked perfectly as little rays of sunshine (flourishes). The effect is a little dreamy, yet bold, colourful and fun!

Check back next Tuesday to see what the rest of our talented design team have come up with.

product focus: fabric

this week we share layouts our design team have created using fabric in both novel and normal ways.

Caz didn’t really know her Grandad as he lived in England and she only really met him twice, but what she does remember are his beautiful flower gardens, his love of the kids tv show “Postman Pat” and the sweet smell of his pipe.

She has used the Junkitz Fall Swatchz as the rough textures and check pattern match the tweed on her grandads jacket. Carolees Creations Twill Letters, Metal Buttons and rough machine sewing finish off this manly looking layout.

Wanting to keep a very boyish feel to this page, Mel selected a range of denim and red fabric products to work with (Junkitz boy swatchz, Lil Davis Chenille Varsity letters and Junkitz love line canvas tabz). Star shapes were cut out of the fabric and then handstitched into place. The large Lil Davis letters add interest to the title.

Rach loves using fabrics and velvet on her page, so she relished this challenge. She has layered the velvet onto two sheets of cardstock, and then used it as the focal point of her layout.

Another technique is to use velvet paper with a Quickutz or other diecutting tool, it cuts like paper, with no fray, Rach created diamond shames, which draw you to her title which she also made using the quickutz. Finally to finish the layout off, she hand cut one of the lady bugs from the SEI Doodley-Doo Boy Velvet paper, and one of the little branches.

Nic knew this photo would be perfect for a hanging for Abby's wall as soon as she saw it. When deciding on materials to use, the full texture of the Michael Miller Memories fabric papers made them her first choice.

The fabric papers are full of colour, they coordinate beautifully and they are versatile and easy to work with, as shown in the way Nic used her circle cutter to create the circles within this layout. The tweed paper has an especially interesting texture, perfect for a layout to hang above a little girl's bed.

Steph created this way-too-cool canvas for a class she taught earlier this year.  She uses a heap of Michael Miller fabrics in different ways, both radiating out from the uber cool of photo of her daughter in the very centre of the layout, and she has also cut out swirls and cats from the fabric seperately to integrate into her design.

A smattering of cherryArte chipboard finishes the canvas fabulously.

Donna considered this month's fabric challenge a 'real' challenge. She had never used the Michael Miller Memories fabric papers and before now had never comtemplated ways that they may be incorporated into a layout. Donna was definately surprised by the strength and versatility of these fabric papers and in a fit of hole-punching madness created an interesting feature by running a length of Basic Grey velvet ribbon down the length of the fabric piece.

In keeping with the haberdashery theme, she simply couldn't resist completing the design with a bunch of Heidi Grace Designs heart pins.

Weekend Inspiration: Heidi Swapp

Heidi Swapp produces one of the most extensive and versatile ranges of embellishments, alphas and accessories in the scrapbooking industry.  It's fair to say that in most of our Design Team layouts, you would be able to find something Heidi. 

Here are some layouts produced by our Design Team with almost all things Heidi, as well as some recent pages by Heidi Swapp herself which we are very proud to be allowed to share.

We officially welcome Jaimie Emmerton to the Aussie Scrap Source design team with this fabulous layout designed by her.

The Heidi Swapp range was perfect in every way to showcase this gorgeous photo of Jaimie’s daughter. The soft pinks of the paper, decorative tape and flowers is teamed beautifully with the bold red and black letter stickers to create a lovely girly feminine page.

Donna was keen to scrap this photo that focusses on her daughter's first lost tooth. She knew that this style of photo was the best way to showcase Bella's new smile and was thrilled to discover that Heidi's 'Sassy Sweet Big Flower' patterned paper would essentially balance the photo when trimmed. Donna has added a bunch of Heidi Swapp products to finish the layout in her usual style, although she especially loves the Bling.

A big thanks to the talented Rachel Eadie for this layout.  She loved these beach photos of her son Danen (taken at Couran Cove) and wanted to keep the layout simple. Heidi Swapp products are so versatile, she says she seem to use something from her range on every layout (-see!) and they don't 'take away' from the photos. The decorative tape is ideal - which Jaimie used here instead of patterned paper - it has a great effect and was perfect for this layout. Rachel added some stitching around the border to finish it off.

'She' by Kim Henderson is just so typically 'Heidi' and girly that we simply couldn't do a Heidi Swapp feature without selecting this particular layout. It contains a variety of Heidi Swapp products, from chipboard alphas to masks, yet remains uncluttered and extremely feminine. Very Heidi indeed!

We stumbled across this gorgeous layout by Trisha Ladoucer from Alberta, Canada and were quite impressed with the way Trisha filled this page with all kinds of journalling and embellishments. It is slightly 'collage-ish' in nature and features some beautifully hand-written journalling. It is also great to see that this manufacturing guru (Heidi Swapp) is still mixing it up with her customers at scrapping events all over the States.

And last but certainly by no means least, who better to go to for the best examples of the use of Heidi Swapp products, but Heidi Swapp herself?  We thank her for allowing us to share these two wonderful layouts she just 'whipped up' recently.

Design Team Challenge: Double Layouts

Donna is predominantely a single-photo scrapper. However, for this particular challenge she decided to attempt a multiple photo layout that clearly maintained that creative 'simplicity' that she generally strives for. After some fiddling in Photoshop, Donna created this 3-photo storyboard that is essentially still a single photo.

By adding a simple border that spans across the three photos and by keeping the embellishments minimal, she was able to remain true to her style while featuring more than one photo. The effect is simplistic elegance that even a die-hard single-photo scrapper would be sure to appreciate.

Suz Doyle created this double page layout to celebrate being able to work from home how how she loves that her not very professional photography studio (a board by her french doors) and being surrounded by her 'helpful' young children can still result in very lovely vignettes and product shots.

She has used a range of green tones in her papers - Lil Davis, Sassafras Lass and BasicGrey and turquoise in her embellishments - the new Crateboard alphas and SEI Morning Meadow expoxy stickers.

Rach decided to scrap some old photos of Megan exploring in the laundry and kitchen.� She has chosen to go quite geometric with the layout, tilting it on an angle and highlighting the direction on the photos with the strips of striped paper. The new Heidi Grace range is perfect for creating a monochromatic layout like this one.

Caz’s son Jesse was recently hit by a car while playing at a friends place and had a lucky escape with only a fractured skull and a few bruises. Her friend Tanya had taken this main photo of the boys playing not long before the accident. This page is just a reminder that it only takes a second for your world to turn upside down.

The main photo is hinged and has journaling behind it. The photo strip is also hinged so more photos can be added to the back of it. Caz has hinged the hospital report behind the photo strip so it can flip open and has included a visitors pass, head injury card and hospital bracelet behind it. Papers are Scenic Route Laurel and heading is Heidi Swapp chipboard and plastic alpha.

At first glance this layout is fairly simple, but look closely for the clever little details. Machine stitching in the background leads the BasicGrey lettered title to a BasicGrey Rub-on declaring, 'Life is Good', which in turn leads on to the journaling.

Nic has used BasicGrey Color Me Silly patterned paper and has finished with the BasicGrey photo edges rub-ons around her main photo to add focus.

Weekend Inspiration: Sassafras Lass

This Easter Weekend we leave you to enjoy a range of layouts created with Sassafras Lass patterned papers, die cuts and stamps.  We not only put our design team to work but we scoured the net looking for stunning examples of the use of what we fondly call 'Sass' and we certainly found some!

Although this is Caz's daughter Jordan, the page was created by Suz.  She just wanted to call it Beautiful Girl, but her mother suggested the addition of 'with attitude'.  Perhaps it had been a rough day!

Suz used the new Scrumptious papers to create a playful layout, reinforced by the co-ordinating funky alpha die cuts.  Jordan's a bit of a sparkly chick so some Heidi Swapp bling was scattered around for good measure.

The new Sassafras Lass “Blue Boutique” range of Papers was a perfect match to Jaimies photo of her son. By using a colour blocking effect and mixing plain and patterned papers (who says you can't use flowers for boys!) she has created a lovely masculine page.

Warning: May Cause Cluckiness. A perfect title for a layout with the 'ohhh' factor. Chris Millar has used the Sassafrass Lass Sew Fine papers coupled with the Sew Fine die cut blooms to create this layout about her new Baby nephew.

Here, Chris has used the Sassafras Lass Sew Fine papers and die cut monograms to highlight this crazy photo of her daughter. By using the Deluxe Designs Plain Jane chipboard arrows Chris has drawn attention to the main subject of the layout. Chris found that the Heidi Swapp large retro photo corners also match perfectly with the Sassafras Lass papers.

We're beginning to suspect Chris loved these papers! She also created these gorgeous canvases of her family using the Sassafras Lass In Stitches & Sew Fine papers and die cuts. The Basic Grey Wholy Cow rub-ons add a subtle but perfect finishing touch.

The Playtime range is full of fun and fantastic for those boyish layouts that you want to create.   In this layout Mel combined diecuts and patterned papers from the range, cut in large strips which were then a perfect edge for her journaling.  A splash of hand stitching heped to tie the layout altogether.

Thanks to Shawna Webster for allowing us to share this layout.  Using the wonderful Playtime range of papers and die cuts she has created a layout full of colour and light.  We love how she has inked the edge of each paper giving her page a perception of depth and direction.

We also thank Peg Manrique for sharing two of her spectacular Sassafras Lass layouts with us.  We were instantly drawn to the girliness of these two layouts, so pure and delicate.  We loved the white space in 'Radiate' and the hand cut branches and subtly added Sassafras Lass stamp in the 'Etch' layout give an almost windswept appearance.

Wishing you a happy and safe Easter from all at Aussie Scrap Source.

silhouette: tutorial 2

Di Turner has prepared the second in a series of tutorials using the fab new Silhouette from Quickutz.  You can find it here.  A permanent link to each of the tutorials can also be found in the sidebar.   This chapter is all about turning your ordinary fonts into cursive script - or joined up writing - so that this cool machine can cut out your words in one piece, rather than individual letters. 

The official line is it can't be done - but Di says it can!  If you have or are thinking of buying a Quickutz Silhouette, these tutorials are invaluable.

Quickutz's library of Digital Designs is growing at an amazing pace. This month they're introducing boxes, cartons, folders, flowers and more! If you are a QuicKutz user who's loved some of their discontinued shapes, a select few are now available to download as Digital Designs for your Silhouette.

Here are some of the newly released very cool templates you can create using your Silhouette.  You can find the full range here.

Design Team Challenge: Double layouts with lots of photos

Although we don't have comments turned on on our blog, we do love feedback, and try to respond to it when we get it.   We've had a few requests to feature more double layouts, so this weeks challenge to the design team is just that:  double pages using lots of photos.

In this layout Mel Goodsell chose to scrapbook some of her 'not so perfect photos', although they look pretty good to us! Because the photos were rather busy, she contained them to a block in the centre of layout based on BasicGrey Pink Lady paper, and added a selection of soft colours from the Scenic Route Laurel range around the edge of the photos.

Check back next Tuesday to see how the rest of our design team respond to the challenge!