Aussie Scrap Source

design team challenge: heritage

 

Maxine admits that heritage scrapbooking is not something she is used to doing. Ready for a challenge she was pleasantly surprised when she came across the Junkitz Mom Collectionz range, the colours and texture were perfect for what she wanted to do.

She selected two sheets of the Mums bouquet paper which enabled her to layer the flowers on the right hand side of the layout. If you look at the close-ups you will see how she cleverly cut into the petals of the flowers, inking, curling and scrunching them to bring them to life.

She stamped the word ‘sweet’ using Fontwerks Miss Fancy Alphabet stamps adding a Heidi Swapp heart to complete the title. To ingest some light pink into the background she used a couple of Heidi Swapp damask stickers, adding a touch of one to a Heidi Swapp chipboard heart.

The brads are also from the Junkitz Mom Collectionz as is the vintage buttons which have been dyed to colour match the layout. The beautiful heritage scroll under the Pressed Petals ‘precious’ is a Sassafrass Lass elegance border stamp which has also been used to create a photo corner at the top left of the layout. Add to that some Heidi Grace flowers and alphabet rub-ons, some Basic Grey rub-ons words and ribbons plus Crate Paper ribbons.

Its amazing how so many different companies’ products can combine to create a layout that is still pleasing to the eye and colour co-ordinated.

 

 

Chris said she thoroughly enjoyed sifting through her Mum's collection of old photos for the heritage challenge this month. She has enjoyed creating many heritage layouts since begining scrapbooking, but said she oftens forgets to with her ever growing supply of photos from recent events usually getting first priority. She loved putting together the Crate Paper 'Crush' range with a combination of heritage type embellishments from Lil Davis and Basic Grey.

 

 

The Basic Grey Infuse range had the simple and understated feel that Jaimie was after to showcase these photos of her mother on her First Communion (c. 1950). Jaimie chose embellishments that gave her LO an old world feel, with Jenni Bowlin felt flowers complimenting beautifully with the BG ribbon, Love you More crystal brad and Lil Davis brass keyring.

 

 

 

Rounded corners, inked edges and the lovely distressed look of the BasicGrey Phresh and Phunky papers create this heritage style layout of Caz and her Mum on a ferry not long after they emigrated to Australia from England.
Caz cut down one of the BasicGrey file folders to act as a frame for the smaller photo and to hold journaling about what was happening in Sydney in 1968.

 

 

 

  

  

The aim was humour for this LO poking fun at Jaimie's pre-teen attempt at fashion statements! The mix of wild colours in the Basic Grey Recess range was made for this tongue in cheek LO - Tales of a Fashionista (victim) - Jaimie mixed and matched the BG Mellow, Obscure and Heidi Swapp mask alphas for her funky title with the addition of hand drawn and hand cut swirls as extra embellishments a little Heidi bling and Plain Jane chipboard arrow finish it all off nicely.

 

 

Though not technically a heritage layout with photos taken this year, I swiped this layout from Nic Howard to go on this post rather than the BasicGrey one a couple of weeks back because the colours and design could so easily be adapted to suit vintage photos.  The sepias and rusts and warm blues running through the colour palette of the BasicGrey Recess range are muted yet striking and Nic's layout design is, as ever, timeless.

we have a winner! tinkering ink

Simply stunning range and the layouts are just gorgeous.

• Commenter name: Jenni

 

Congratulations Jennifer.  We'll email you.

meet the dt: chris millar loves junkitz

Junkitz has long been a favourite manufacturer of mine, in fact I love their products so much that I applied to be on their international design team earlier this year and was very excited when they chose me for one of the positions on their team!  Although I have since resigned, I still love their product. 

 

Junkitz is a family owned business and Stacey and Kenny Panassidi have both poured their creative talents into Junkitz to make it the wonderful company that it is today.  Starting with just a button and zipper line of products to now producing over 1000 different products. I think the Junkitz motto 'Unzip your Imagination' says it all - their ranges are always innovative, creative and most of all fun!

 

 

The flowers on Junkitz papers are always begging to be cut out as Chris has done with the Fanciful papers here. The flowers themselves them become a matching accent on the layout.

 

Chris says she can't get enough of this range of papers, which she says is quite unusual for her as she doesn't scrap a lot of boy layouts. The Extreme boy range is so striking and each paper in the range has it's own fantastic design allowing layouts to be created so easily and with such a fun and eye catching effect.

 

Once again Chris has cut out the flowers from the Fanciful papers and used them as accents on her page. Combining them with Heidi Swapp bling accents to create such a pretty, feminine feel to the layout. The Basic Grey Vine border rub-ons also helps to create a softness to this layout. Chris also loves the matching alpha topperz that Junkitz have created for their range of papers as it makes it so easy to co-ordinate a title for her layout.

 

 

 

The Salsa Celebration range has fun written all over it! Perfect for all types of layouts from birthdays to a girls night out. Chris has used the papers and a Junkitz ruler book to create a signature book for her sister in laws 21st birthday party.

 

Carole Janson is a fellow Aussie who is also on the Junkitz International design team. Carole works wonders with the colourful flowerful range creating this stunning folding card. Thank you for sharing with us Carole.

 

  

 

Kathleen Taylor from the Junkitz design team had the perfect photo for the new School Days papers. We love how Kathleen has allowed the photos, accompanied by these paper tell the story on this page.

 

 

Debbie Hill who is also on the Junkitz design team has created this fantastic mini book using the School days papers. What a great concept for these papers. Thank you Debbie for sharing your work with us.

weekend inspiration: tinkering ink

This weekend in the inspiration comes from our design team and guests featuring the fabulous tinkering ink patterned papers, die cuts, alphas and very cool felt and rubber embellishments.  Leave a comment and we'll send one random lucky person a pack of your favourite line!

 

 

 

 

Suz has combined the yellows and turquoises of the Botanical Bliss line in this layout with the copper from the We R Memory Keepers Metals range.  She has overlaid the tree as well as the bird from underneath the photo onto the photo to give it a feeling of continuity with the patterned paper.  Each blossom in the design has been embellished with a sprinkle of Queen & Co beads to pick up the splash of red from underneath the title.

 

 

Maxine has created this wonderful layout using the Perfectly Posh range.  She shares a cool technique on how to easily get a stitched circle to look right by going off the edge of the page onto another piece of paper (see above). Then after the stitching is done, you just fold the additional bit behind the layout. Very easy and worth it to get a good looking circle without lots of ends.

Max also cut the centre of the white flower out, placed co-ordinating paper behind it and painted dots with the end of the paintbrush. We love the rub-on swirls over the Heidi Swapp hearts and Max loved the way they went over the Tinkering Ink felt embellishment too.

 

 

We have Virginie Wurtz to thank for this stunning layout which we thought was a masterpiece of simplicity.  Perfectly dsigned and balanced with overlapping circles using the Perfectly Posh patterned papers, Virginie shows that pink doesn't just have to be for girls.  We love the tiny splash of perfectly placed Queen & Co felt ribbon on the top left hand side.

 

This delightful card by Betsy Feldman caught our eye immediately.  She has made beautiful use of the Botanical Bliss papers, and we love how she has teamed it with an not immediately obvious choice of the olive spotted ribbon.  Thanks for allowing us to share Betsy.

 

 

We featured the tremendously talented Iris Babao Uy last week in our BasicGrey post, but judging from her gallery she's also a fan of Tinkering Ink and does just as stunning work with these papers.  Here she makes beautiful use of the Perfectly Posh range, handcutting the spectacular flowers and flourishes to underline her photos.

 

 

More handcutting from Suz using the gorgeous pastels in the Covent Garden collection, you'll find this layout in the For Keeps Elite Team Special Issue which is out now.  She has 'crowned' her photo with a handcut design from the patterned paper as well as making wonderful use of the co-ordinating die cuts and alphas.

 

You'll find more inspiration as well as previewing the two new ranges we can't wait to get our hands on - Blur and Beloved on the tinkering ink blog here.

design team challenge: the brights

Brightly patterned papers can be stunning to look at, but they can also be intimidating when we come to use them.  They can easily overwhelm a photo when we want our photos to take pride of place.  Coming into Summer though, we often have brighter photos that can balance these papers.

Today the design team comes up with some tips and tricks for using these high chroma and brighter papers to make some eye catching pages, where the photos still shine the brightest.

 

Although high chroma is a look that not everyone can appreciate, when Donna stumbled across this photo of her daughter...well, what else could she do!? By balancing the beautifully colourful strips of Cherry Arte's 'Princess' pp's with plenty of white space, the colours haven't taken over, but instead bring a sense of fun and happiness to the overall 'feel' of the layout.

 

The gorgeous blues and greens of Arctic Frog's Refreshing Blend papers worked perfectly with these beach photos of Suz's brother and family.  The papers range in intensities so by using more the brighter ones in smaller doses she maintained a balance.  The Hambly dandelion overlay gave the page even more zest, but also served to highlight what Suz wanted to be the focus of the photo, her very nearly new niece Zoe (whose wide brimmed floppy hat was whipped off just for the photo!)  Another easy way of cooling down hot colours is by adding a touch of contrast - in this case the Strano ribbon.

 

Jaimie wanted to show how you can use the gorgeous Luxe paper without it blowing your eyes out of their sockets! To tone down this vibrant paper she also added a Hambly overlay - which still allows the beautiful design of the Luxe paper to show through.   Adding the Luxe Alpha die cuts over torn Fontwerks paper allows her title to pop without being lost on the page.

 

Bright and vibrant papers can be a lot of fun to play with! For this layout Mel has used a plain (but bright) background (Basic Grey, Flint) and added smaller splashes of the Basic Grey Obscure range of patterned papers.

Some Cherry Arte chipboard (Morocco) has been scattered across the page to help enforce the happy, fun feel Mel was aiming for.

 

Although not entirely high chroma, these BasicGrey Obscure papers are indeed - well, obscure!! So we thought we'd spend a bit more time investigating their uses (like the design team needs an excuse to use more BG...!)  Here Suz created a fun layout about her pint size daughter trying to dunk her unsuspecting older brother.

She used the Obscure papers as the basis of the layout, the stripes giving the sequential feel to the layout she was looking for.  So fast and easy to use the patterned paper die cut alphas with the co-ordinating patterned paper die cut chipboard, this stuff is a dream to work with.  The final quirky touch to indicate the (not so scary) shark theme was making a 'shark's fin' out of Queen & Co Sequins and filling it in with the Obscure rubons.

 

         

Nic Howard created this stunning layout with the oranges from the Obscure line picking up the bright orange of her sons jumper.  She created this for the BasicGrey booth at CHA.

We love the movement she has created in the bottom left hand corner of her page with the use of the Obscure surfer rubons and 'waves'' created from the patterned papers.

we have a winner! basicgrey

More wonderful inspiration - if only the house wasn't only half painted this weekend.

• Commenter name: Siobhan

Congratulations Siobhan!! 

meet the dt: steph's scrap space

 

 

We have been really blessed in that we have moved into our dream house which has taken over 2 years to build.  After much pleading and gratuitous begging Mark finally gave in and gave me my own room to scrap in.  He also gave into the colour scheme.  After he recovered from the initial shock of lifting the paint tin, I think he has finally come to terms with the fact that I'm colour obsessed.  So my scrap space is a candy floss pink and aqua blue, mixed in with pristine white. Its very eclectic, modern and shabby chic, but it inspires me no end when I go to create.

 

 

 

 

 

I love all my supplies to be hidden, so I have heaps of containers hiding way too many scrap supplies.  The pink and green end of the room is where I scrap, and directly opposite at the other end is where I sew.  There is a beautiful big window which lets in lots of white light making it perfect to create in.

 

In "My Scrap Space" - Steph used the bright playful colours from SEI's new Ally's Wonderland to create a layout showing her space in which she creates.  She has used the circle die cuts to create a border and to anchor the rest of the layout.  The Heidi Swapp black flourishes create a frame for her photos and the Hambly Transparency has been cut out to add interest to her work.

 

 

Steph has just had a full week of sleep at night, after 10 weeks of getting up to feed her new little baby girl.  So as you expect, she is feeling pretty peaceful and relaxed, as Madison settles into life.  To reflect this, Steph created a layout showing her favourite pastel colours and to showcase that she has used Tinkering Ink's Convent Garden Range of Patterned Papers and Alphas.  To give the layout a delicate touch she has mod podged lace onto acetate, and adhered that to the layout.  This gives the wonderful effect of transparency and being able add layers to your work.

weekend inspiration: basic grey

It's never difficult to find volunteers when it's time for a BasicGrey weekend inspiration!  Enjoy working your way through these beautiful projects brought to you by our design team and a very special guest.

And again with the giveaways!! Leave a comment and one more lucky person will win a sample of one of the new collections - we might even let you choose which one!

 

 

Jaimie loved the fact that the Mellow die cut shapes are so different from the traditional. The Mellow range has a good mix of feminine and masculine patterns without being too babyish for her almost 10 year old son. Jaimie layered the brown Alpha stickers over the the green in her title, to make them pop on her page. She certainly has created an "All boy" LO.

 

With her two youngest children having birthdays only two weeks apart - Jaimie has decided to hold a joint birthday party. She has used ASS cardstock as a background for the Basic Grey Mellow paper which holds the birthday information and has decorated each invite with the die cut shapes from both the Obscure and Mellow ranges and the Mellow buttons - a little bit of pen doodling, sewing and bling and she has created very simple yet eyecatching birthday invites.

TIP: If you have to mass-produce party invites take a tip from CD Muckosky - Create one traditionally then photograph or scan (high resolution) then print multiple copies. You then have the original for your childs album or as a keepsake and you have saved time in the process.

 

Nic also used Mellow to glorious effect here complementing this photo of her daughter in her favourite winter garment, her poncho.   In this layout it's because the stained glass colours of the poncho are so different to the autumn tones that the photo stands out, and it still creates a unified whole because of the brick tones in the background.

Nic created her own foliage and flowers from the papers and layering them under and over rubons. 

 

 

 

Donna isn't much of a 'heritage' style scrapper - as much as she likes the 'look', her personality is best reflected in those brighter colours that aren't always as popular. This being said, the bold, but muted tones of Basic Grey's new 'Recess' range of papers seems to fit under both banners. Donna loved that the collection of Recess papers can be manipulated to fit virtually any theme or style - I guess that's why BasicGrey is a scrapping power to be reckoned with!

 

 

The fun colours of the BasicGrey obscure range match the bright colours in Caz's girl's bedroom perfectly.
Caz painted the reverse side of one of the BG Obscure skull die-cuts with glitter paint and added a couple of Love You More gem brads for eyes. She teamed this up with some painted and glittered Lil Davis chipboard swirls to create funky accents for the page.

 

 

 

Suz loved the look of Periphery the moment she saw it and secretly wants to decorate her house in it.  But until they start coming out with wallpaper rolls of it, she has to be satisfied with smaller projects.  With thanks to the lovely Raylene Wilkinson for the stunning photo of her son, though it's true that Periphery would make any photo look a masterpiece.  It's beauty lies in its ability to stay in the background and keep the focus on the photos, but also make that background a very beautiful place.

 

 

And Nic's layout here is a perfect example of that.  She has combined and layered the papers with her usual consummate skill adding glorious details like the rubon three behind the title.

 

    

 

 

Jaimie found a different colourway in the Periphery range where the soft greys suited this winter photo of Jaimie's daughter. Simple additions of the XL playing card, rubons, buttons & florals accentuate the photo and the combination of large ghost alphas and Periphery sticker title compliment every aspect of this sentimental LO.

 

   

We finish this weeks marathon post with some true eye candy from the incredibly talented Iris Babao Uy.  As we scout about the internet looking for inspirational talent to share with you in our weekend posts, occasionally we strike serious gold, and finding this artists work was very much like striking gold.  Funnily enough, a few days later she was announced as one of this years Memory Makers Masters, and we congratulate her on a very deserved win.   Enjoy the magic she has created with these earlier BasicGrey ranges -Dasher, Urban Couture as well as Infuse.

SEI Giveway Winner!

"Can always find inspiration here, now if i could only find the time LOL

• Commenter name: Belinda"

 

 

Belinda - come on down!!  Congratulations, you are our random winner of our SEI prize pack this week.  We can't help you on the time front, but we're happy to supply a few goodies to play with when you find some!

Meet the DT: Scrap Space - Maxine Hazebroek

In this weeks getting to know our design team we travel all the way to Western Australia in the leafy suburb of Woodvale where Maxine Hazebroek lives with her family.

Surprisingly Maxine’s scrapping space is not in her house it’s actually in her backyard that she does all her scrapping. She has her own studio that was purpose built for her crafts. It was built in 1998 and back then it was stamping, card making and folk art that were her passion- but since discovering scrapbooking way back in 2000 there has been little time for anything else. Although those previous crafts still make a come-back every now and then in her creations it’s scrapbooking that has remained her focal point.

 

 

 

The biggest bonus about having a scrapbooking space in the backyard is the beautiful view Maxine has. Directly outside the window is a tree where two doves have nested and a baby bird has only just hatched a week ago. Maxine has been able to watch as the birds have gathered sticks and built their nest. As yet the bird hasn’t opened its eyes or got any feathers, but she anxiously awaits the time when it ventures out of the nest and learns to fly.

From her vantage point she can watch the kits ride their bikes around the backyard and see Lauren playing in her cubby.

The following layout shows the view Maxine has from her studio. In the front yard they have a tree that has recently died and you can often find Maxine looking at it; watching the clouds move above it and watching as day turns to evening. Behind the backyard images in the layout she has included a large picture of the dead tree. She has used Crate paper, ribbons, paper & rub-ons because the texture and colours match perfectly to her theme. She has also used Hambly rub-ons with a touch of orange paint to blend them more to the layout.

 

In tribute to her backyard Maxine created this gorgeous canvas. The bird, flowers & leaves are from Jeni Bowlin patterned paper. We love the texture in this design from the tree bark and the way she has scrunched the leaves, such eye candy!

 

 

 

 

 

The beauty of having a scrapping space outside of the family home is that it doesn’t need to be kept tidy; Maxine can create into the wee hours of the morning with her music blaring loudly and not have the worry of disturbing her family. Although she may have a mess when she’s finished creating something, Maxine cannot start something new until everything is cleaned up and put away.

For Maxine everything has its own place. One side of her studio hosts wall to wall cupboards, where loads of ‘stuff’ is hidden away. She uses Cropper Hopper Paper Holders to store her cardstock, which is filed by colour. She also uses clear ones to store her patterned paper, by brand name. Maxine also has a love for baskets & tins and she uses both of those to store embellishments.

 

 

 

One of Maxine’s favourite storage items is this rolling drawer set; being able to move it from place to place is a huge bonus.

 

 

 

If you were to ask Maxine what two items she couldn’t live without, hands down it would be her Cropper Hopper Supply Case, it goes everywhere with her and because she teaches at scrapbooking stores her Crop In Style XXL is a must for going from place to place.

 

Its here that Maxine leaves us to head back down to her scrapbooking studio, as she gets busy with her next creation. And if you happen to be passing by late at night, and you see the lights blazing and the music blaring from her home away from home; just give her a gentle toot.

weekend inspiration: sei

This weekend we bring you inspiration from the extensive and diverse ranges of papers, alphas and embellishments of SEI.  From the new Madera Island range which is lusciously chocolatey and earthy - to the happy girliness of Ally's Wonderland, SEI has something for everyone.  And that something also comes in the form of another giveaway!!  Leave a comment on this post and one lucky random person will receive a so-cute-we-can-barely-bear-to-give-it-away sample pack of one of their new fun and funky new lines - the doggy themed Park Buddies.

We hope you enjoy this Friday's inspiration post.

 

 

Caz created this layout of spectacular photos she took of the recent eclipse. The colours in these new SEI Madera Island papers seemed to go perfectly with the colours and the moon. The little owl serves as a pull-tab for the journaling card and adds a whimsical ‘night time’ touch.

 

 

We love that Emily Potts captured this important stage in her son's life both by her photographs and by including a little piece of history - his handwriting. These SEI pp's co-ordinate perfectly with her theme and the 'blocked' style layout mimics the structure and routine that we all remember when we think about our early school years. What a creative and inspiring layout! Thanks, Emily.

 

 

 

The colours and patterns that feature on the new Ally's Wonderland range of SEI products are bold, funky and totally HAPPY! Donna couldn't go past them. In fact, this layout was created in a frenzy of inspiration and creativity within minutes of their arrival at her home! The range of glittery flowers are beautiful and the new extra large brads make a fun embellishment all on their own.

 

 

This gorgeous layout by Ingrid Ijsselstein from the Netherlands is based on Sketch #22 designed by Valerie Salmon. Ingrid has used SEI Ally's Wonderland papers and rub-ons plus a semi circle of SEI Penelope's Potpourri Buttons to create a beautiful, bright page. Thanks for sharing Ingrid.

 

 

 

SEI's Doodley Doo Girl pp's have a certain whimsical appeal that are perfect for candid photos of children doing, well...childlike things. Anna added a little doodling, a mixed alpha title and the all-important journalling and voila - the gorgeous layout you see before you. Thanks for sharing, Anna!

 

 

 

This layout was also made by Ingrid. She had to use 10 different sorts of patterned paper for a challenge. Ingrid used a mix of Penelope's Potpourri by S.E.I. and Cape Town & Charlotte by Scenic Route. You have to agree that they go together beautifully .

 

 

Ingrid made this Mothers Day album for her Mum inspired by one that her sister in-law had made. Made entirely from the funky Penelope's Potpourri papers from SEI, she has also added SEI buttons, Heidi Swapp Flowers, Basic Grey Rub-ons and Quickutz letters. Such a gorgeous gift.

 

 

Simple, elegant layouts have timeless appeal and this layout by Staci Compher is no exception. Staci demonstrates that the beautiful patterns on SEI patterned papers don't always require masses of embellishments, but matched with just a few little bits and pieces can result in stunning layouts such as this one.

October Class Kits

Check out our class kits this month!!  They are ready to order now for shipping on the 25th.  There's LOTS of layouts for beginners this month, a couple of gorgeous mini albums and, to get you start thinking about Christmas (yes.. Christmas!!) we offer a couple of stunning gift ideas.

These kits come with everything you needed including step by step illustrated instructions and are designed to be run either as a class or created in your own time at home so the choice is yours.  If you like the look of any of these projects, ask your local scrapbooking store (nicely!) to order them in for you. 

 

You will have a play making your own spotted patterned paper and create multi layer fringed flowers on this beautiful and versatile layout, where 'just another day' could be adapted to anything.  And no layout designed by Mel Goodsell would be complete without a a splash of hand stitching which just finishes off this beautiful double page layout for your album. Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate. Time Required: 2 – 2 ½ Hours.

 

Using the bright and colourful SEI Doodley Doo Girl range of paper, alpha stickers and rub-ons, put together some random photos of your daughter, sister, friend or niece to create this girly layout. Difficulty: Beginner. Time Required:1 ½ to 2 Hours.OR....

 

Using the bright and colourful SEI Doodley Doo Boy range of paper, alpha stickers and rub-ons, put together some random photos of your son, brother, friend or nephew to create this boyish layout.  Designed by Chris Millar.  Difficulty: Beginner. Time Required: 1 ½ to 2 Hours.

 

Nic Howard says 'Let’s have some fun with decorative scallops!'  Gorgeous double sided Scenic Route papers, a full set of Heidi Swapp alphas, jewels, acrylic stamping, this all culminates in a fun class focusing on a current hot scrapbooking trend. Create two coordinating single layouts to sit side by side in your album, or work with the layouts together to create a stunning double layout. Suitable for any theme that suits more girlie colours – the title can be changed to suit. Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate. Time Required: 2 Hours.

 

So you think Brads are boring? Jaimie Emmerton will make you think again as you use brads to add colour, texture and charm to these pages. Create three Layouts for both boy and girl as well as a Month in review double page spread designed to showcase 15 photos as well as a calendar to record those special events. Coordinated with 3 ranges of CherryArte paper plus a full sheet of large Paperloft stickers & Carolee’s Creations tiny alphas will ensure your participants have plenty of choice to create a wide range of titles to personalize their pages. Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate. Time Required: 2 ½ - 3 Hours.

 

'It's All About Paper' is a fun, whimisical layout created by Donna Wild that focuses on several useful techniques for manipulating paper on a layout.  Check out that stunning butterfly!  This class utilises beautiful papers from Crate Paper's 'Carnival' range and includes a full sheet of die-cut alphabets and die-cut shapes. Difficulty: Intermediate. Time Required: 2 Hours.

 

This fantastic mini book by Nic Howard is perfect for almost any theme or topic. This class covers the creation of an easy mini album and completes 4 sets of double pages, each set emphasizing a different beginner technique. With an abundance of tips and tricks, this class is all about learning some basic techniques but the end product is a beautiful album that any scrapper would be proud of. Topics covered in this class include transparencies, rub-ons, layering, and creating embellishments from patterned paper. This is a great all-round beginner class with a very versatile end product. Difficulty: All Skill Levels. Time Required: 2 ½ - 3 Hours.

 

 

Finally, from Caz McLachlan, something for that person who has everything! We all know them… and secretly curse them… especially at Christmas time. This kit may just be your salvation. Made from the beautiful BasicGrey Blitzen papers, the booklet consists of 5 pockets which hold 5 gift vouchers that cleverly double as Christmas Tree Decorations, which can be used for many years to come. While the sample shows specific vouchers, you can tailor each of them to suit your recipient. There are heaps of ideas included in your instructions. Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate. Time Required: 3 Hours.

 

And finally, this versatile screen designed by Suz Doyle can be a meaningful memento of christmas times past to display in your home, or a stunning and thoughtful gift for one of those hard to buy for relatives. And because it is made from the beautiful BasicGrey Infuse range of papers whose reds and golds only suggest christmas, it can be made or displayed any time of year. Incorporates 6 or more portrait photos. Difficulty: Intermediate to Advanced. Time Required: 3 Hours.

weekend inspiration: scenic route: we have a winner!

Ooooh i love the new SR stuff - IT is soooo yummy!!!!! I cant wait to get my hands on some!!!! I hope you pick me so i can play with it!!!

• Commenter name: Kelley Forrester

Kelley - congratulations!!!   Email me with your address so I can send out your package!  - [email protected]

Thanks so much to everyone for your fantastic response - we were blown away at getting so many wonderful comments.  We'll be playing again this friday with drumroll.... SEI!!  So don't forget to check back.

our design team: what we're up to

The Aussie Scrap Source design team is a pretty talented bunch, with many strings to their bows, and you'll reguarly find them between the pages of your favourite scrapbooking magazines, as well as creating regular breathtaking work here for the blog.  We thought we'd show you a bit of what they've been up to lately.

One of them is sponsoring a regular feature in For Keeps Creative Scrapbooking called 'It's Easy as 123' where we showcase a brand and show you some clever things to do with it in three steps.  The article is formatted in a way so that you can cut out and keep the ideas in a reference card format, and even laminate them.

Talent right across the scrapbooking world has been called upon to contribute to these features, here we show you the work our design team has created.

 

 

 

 

It started back in Issue 54, showcasing Strano Ribbon and RibbonStiff.  Suz Doyle created this gorgeous mini album, using the RibbonStiff to bind the spine.  She also cut tabs from Strano Ribbon which will never fray because they have been sealed with RibbonStiff!  (Watch out for this project in an upcoming Aussie Scrap Source class kit...)

 

 

Issue 55 showcased (everyone's favourite!) Scenic Route Paper.  Nic Howard showed us a cool trick customising alphabet stickers to suit your layout.

 

 

Suz created this cool 'cavity' in a chipboard backed die cut to hide her sons first lost tooth, which was wobbly for a long time.  What she didn't know at the time was that he would actually lose it before the tooth fairy got anywhere near it!

 

 

In For Keeps Issue 57, you'll find a Queen & Co feature.  Here it was no surprise that Nic Howard was asked to showcase one of her trademark techniques, outlining shapes with Queen & Co Beadifuls, to stunning effect.

 

 

Steph Caskey-Devlin showed us how to create this gorgeous layout of Emma using Queen & Co Felt Ribbon, which she embellished with beads and wire.

 

 

Jaimie Emmerton joined the 123 team in Issue 57 which showcased Heidi Swapp products.  She cleverly used the gorgeous Bird Mask not as a mask for this layout but as a stencil, and then stitched around the outline.

 

 

Steph collaged one of the Heidi Swapp playing cards to use on this soft girly layout.  We love how she used the flourish stickers to gorgeous effect as well, and who doesn't love those little Sassafras Lass owls?!

 

 

 

Suz used one of the Heidi Swapp clock overlays to lament the speed at which time passes when your children are young.  She embellished the clock with rubons, hambly overlays and SEI morning meadow butterflies.

weekend inspiration : scenic route paper

This Friday our weekend inspiration comes from Scenic Route Paper, in particular their two gorgeous new lines Ashville and Sumner.  Vibrant colours with a line of co-ordinating printed kraft papers, these papers are fun and versatile and could probably adapt to just about any theme.  We love papers that can do that.  The line also carries chipboard themed shapes, stickers, alphas, everything you need really to record some great memories.

Starting this week, we're not just sharing inspiration.  We've decided to have fun with a bit of a giveaway in the form of a sample pack of whatever we're featuring on our weekend inspiration post each week.  Leave a comment on this post and we'll draw a random name to receive a sample pack of these gorgeous Scenic Route Paper patterned papers, embellishments and alphas.  We'll close comments next Wednesday and announce a winner, so make sure you get in before then for your chance to win! 

 

A fun, boyish layout by Mel using the Sumner range of patterned papers from Scenic Route. The leaves have been hand cut from some of the patterned papers in the range and the Journaling Die Cuts are cool and very funky for titles and ofcourse their original purpose - journaling!

 

The new Sumner range by Scenic Route is incredibly fresh with beautiful tones of crisp blue, green, red and cream, just to name a few colours that are included in the range. For this layout Mel has used a sheet of Kraft Willow patterned paper for the background and then drawn attention to the blue water in the photographs by placing some Parker Road patterned paper directly underneath the pictures.

 

And one more layout from Mel using the earlier Metropolis range.  Again lots of fresh orange and blue on a kraft background, these are perfect photos for scrapping those summer photos.

 

Suz scrapped this simple layout of her daughter in motion using the new Scenic Route Ashville range.  The vibrant oranges greens and blues of the patterned papers are just happy and lively which reflect the photo.    

 

We have the lovely Jane Fitchett to thank for this work of art, celebrating her daughter's art.  Jane has used the Kraft Tree paper from the Ashville range to simple but stunning effect to showcase some of the pictures of fruit trees her daughter drew.  We love the whimsical look she ended up with.

 

Anita Letts has captured the sweetness of this photo perfectly in her stunning layout. The black and white pic looks gorgeous with the scattering of Scenic Route papers and the journaling accent helps balance the layout nicely.

 

    

Cathy Bodini has put together this stunning layout using the Sumner range of Scenic Route papers. She has used one of the journaling die cuts (also from the range) to create a large flower on the layout (how cool is that!). Thank you Cathy for sharing your beautiful page with everyone

meet the design team: scrap space: suz doyle

 

welcome to my scrap space. and, actually, the whole family's living space. it's not perfect, of course i'd love a bigger area in which to go about all our daily rituals, from dancing to Hi-5 on the sofa, to clearing off the textas and crayons so we can actually dine on the dining table.  those textas and crayons usually then get dumped on my scrap table...

having said that, i love it.  i know now that even in a bigger house, even with a spare room or study, i wouldn't want to move into a little room all on my own.  i spend too much time at the computer and scrapping to do it away from the family, although there is the argument that my workload wouldn't take quite so long if i weren't constantly interrupted to help build a cubby house, find glitter glue for a fairy or provide regular drinks and meals, often as not for dolls as for real little people.  but it's my experience that no matter how big the house, a close young family will still generally find themselves in the same square metre of space. whether you want to or not.

anyway. my scrap space has slowly grown and evolved over the last five or so years, from a couple of shoe boxes and an accordian file of paper, to a bookshelf and drawers and um. a wall unit (not shown in this pic).

 

 

 

 

 

most of my storage is still pretty primitive - covered shoe boxes or cardboard idea boxes, plastic drawers.  i love my glass jars and jug of ribbons.

 

when an alphabet set gets too low to make any plausible words, they go in this fishing tackle box. great for mixed up title layouts.

 

these handy pots sit on my desk and occasionally hold what's on the labels.

 

it's more important, though, that these contain what's on the labels. if i didn't keep my patterned paper organised, i'd be in deep you know what, and the cropper hopper vertical storage is without doubt the most efficient - and space saving - way.

 

these were marked down at ikea to like $2 for the rail and shelf and $1 for each pot or something. and are brilliant for holding stuff i dont need every day, but i want to keep handy like stamps, paints, buttons and all the glues and punches that i might not actually use if you had to stand up and dig through stash to find.

 

without doubt though, this is probably my most vital thing in my scrap area.  it's just a plastic storage box, but it holds these brilliant cropper hopper 'page planner' wallets.  they have three separate little pockets, the centre one holding 12x12 papers, one at the back for smaller embellishments and/or photos, and a project card at the front.  whenever I receive an assignment, i pull the basic products i'm going to need (this also means i don't forget and use them for something else), write the project and deadline date on the front, and put it into my storage box in the order that work is due.  so whatever is on top is the next thing i need to work on. a simple system that works!

 

finally, i love that i can peep through the holes on my bookshelf and watch telly.  and i love it more when it's not the backyardigans. :)

 

it's no secret i'm really loving working with tinkering ink papers, and they work so well in this layout about my scrap space i recently did for for keeps magazine, setting off the whiteness in my photos.  the alphas are just quirky enough, and the flourishes at the top of the layout are a mixture of tinkering ink die cuts, hambly transparencies and cherryarte chipboard, to symbolise the point in the room from which all the creativity flows.  sometimes.

 

journalling reads: "our home and my scrapbook pages share a few similar aspects in common.. a slightly eclectic simplicty, a shard or two of the rainbow, a backdrop of white, and a general unwillingness to commit to a single colour scheme.  only nobody's allowed to mess up the scrapbooks!"

Products i've used here are Fontwerks 'George Outline' alpha stamps, Heidi Swapp White Bordeaux rubons, SEI Ally's Wonderland Expoxy Letters.  Hambly overlay, Junkitz Salsa Chipboard Roundz, Heidi journalling spots and the odd wire of Queen & Co Beadifuls.