Aussie Scrap Source

design team challenge: comparisons

 

When Sue looked back through her albums, this layout was one of her favourites. Sue loves the photo of her daughter Lily. This was three years ago before Lily started prep and they had many days just hanging out at home together. The layout is about Sue feeling wistful about Lily starting school the following year and how much she will love it but how Sue will miss her.

The design was a lot of fun. Sue used a Jenni Bowlin artisan shaped paper as the base for the page and a mixture of Sassafras and Basic Grey to create the little forest scene.

 

Sue found the process of scraplifting herself a lot of fun! If you already have a design that you like, it makes the creating part of things a whole lot more enjoyable! Sue decided to scrap a photo of her son Bailey and use the Basic Grey Curio collection. As there isn't an artisan shaped paper in the range, Sue traced a Jenni Bowlin paper onto one of the Basic Grey papers and cut it out. They make great templates to keep in your stash!

The Curio collection is nice and versatile and can be used for both girl and boy pages, even with the flowers, birds and butterflies as Sue shows here. The embellishments in the range are really beautiful and were perfect for the look Sue was hoping to achieve. Sue has kept the design of the page fairly similar to the original but by using different products she has given the page a different look.

 

 

Nic created this layout several years ago and it has remained a favourite layout of hers ever since. This layout embodies everything that matters to Nic about scrapbooking - meaningful images, simple design and heartfelt journalling that captures a really important moment in her life.

 

Using the same simple design principles as her original layout, Nic created this page again recording an important moment in the life of her family. Nic didn't change much from her original design, however the colour palette she chose is much brighter. She also has negative space here which isn't present on her original layout.

 

 

Although Nic created this special layout over a decade ago, she still remembers how pleased with it she was once she was finished.  Typical of Nic Howard style is the love for blues, greens and neutral colours, including a lengthy story and the fussy cutting of elements such as the branch across the top of the page.

 

Nic decided she would concentrate on those things whilst creating a more updated version of the layout.  She found an updated photo with her son Jacob, she wrote lengthy journaling and this time she even has a title!  Nic continues to love blues and greens in her work, this time adding a splash of orange for contrast and though she tried to emulate the design of the original layout, she didn’t quite manage it (we think she could at least have slipped a bee in there somewhere, surely!). 

Details in Nic's layouts these days often come in the form of layers or dimensional clusters, this time in a the form of layered Prima and Tattered Angels products - and there it is - the branch, just a little updated from the version Nic created 10 years ago!

 

Next week we look at comparing childhoods -  “when i was a kid….”

weekend inspiration: echo park papers

 

There is just so much to love about this range of papers from Echo Park when scrapping the boys in your life!! Janine adores the way the papers have so many monochromatic patterns on the reverse side, offering so much potential for layering papers! The colours are so vibrant and fun and make it easy to create fun boy pages!

 

Kathie’s fussy cut the road map from one of the patterned papers in Echo Park’s Little Boy line, and used as the basis of her layout. Laying it on the bright orange paper from the range immediately creates a vibrant page suitable for busy toddler boys.

The papers contain loads of images of cars and boats, which Kathie’s cut out and added to her scene, along with paper pieced houses, trees and road signs. The end result is a charming countryside through which her son and his little mate drive their red peddle cars.

 

Nicole Pomeroy, Qld, has used a white cardstock background to offset the vibrant colours of Echo Park’s Sweet Summertime range in this layout. We fell in love with the distressing, the splatter paint, the ruching and the stapling. They combine to create a textured page that perfectly showcases the sweet photo of Nicole’s kids playing pretend.

 

 

 

How much fun is this LO by Lauren Bell! She has used the Echo Park range of papers perfectly to showcase this fun series of pictures! The colours of this range were the perfect compliment to her photos! Thanks Lauren for sharing this LO with us.

 

 

I adore the way Sarah has mixed the "cute designs" of these Echo Park papers with the more neutral stripes and plaids. She has also used the "Boys will be Boys" sticker as the perfect title to her page and I love the way she has placed the adorable photos either side of the title. Thank you so much Sarah for sharing this page with us.

 

Wendy Smith, Tas, is a master at creating boy pages. Here she has taken Echo Park’s Walk in the Park papers and letter stickers and teamed them with kraft cardstock and embellishments, text paper and a touch of string. Together with her trademark inking and distressing, it all comes together in a perfect grungy but colourful page

weekend inspiration: teresa collins designs

 

 

 

How Funky and Fun is this Collection by Teresa Collins "Celebrate", Carole loved the bright and bold pattern papers and the gorgeous colours and the trendy Chipboard pieces. Carole created this fun layout of her son Chaise and the colours where perfect for this layout.

 

 

 

 

 

Caz was shocked when she realised her daughter would be turning 16 in just 4 months so she decided to make this album that she created using the gorgeous Teresa Collins Freestyle range into a keepsake for her. She used one of the pre-covered Chipboard Albums and added various Chipboard Elements to create the title for the album. Caz then added pages to hold photos and messages from her friends.

 

 

 

 

 

And because we just love bringing you projects designed by the designer, here is a gorgeous mini album from Teresa Collins herself.  Entitled ‘Gratitude’ she has used the gorgeous orange and black colour palette of the Giving Thanks line of patterned papers – beautiful flourishes and damasks that would be appropriate for any number of both masculine and feminine themes.

weekend inspiration: cosmo cricket

 

The Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 range is quite different from what Sue is used to working with so it stumped her for a little while as to which photos to scrap. Sue discovered that photos of her niece Taylor worked beautifully especially as Sue wanted to highlight the fact that Taylor is 14. The strong bold colours in the range represent the teenage years perfectly!

Cosmo Cricket always produce a 12” Chipboard set to co-ordinate with each of their ranges and they really take the hard work out of choosing matching embellishments. Other products that went well with the Circa 1934 range were the Crepe Ribbons from the Heidi Collection from Tattered Angels, and Peacock Glimmer Mist Chalkboard.

Sue sprayed one of the crepe ribbons with the Glimmer Mist Chalkboard and dried it using a heat-gun. It was very easy to gather up into a frill for the page and added a cute feminine touch to soften those bold colours.

 

 

How cute is Suz’s daughter the Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety range?!  Perfect for far more than just gardening layouts, these bright fun patterned papers are perfect for all kids of childish pursuits!  Suz has used the Ready Set Chipboard including the custom made ‘my garden’ title. 

 

 

 

What a lovely subject to create a layout about - 'grateful for everything in my life', sometimes we all need a gentle reminder to be grateful, don't we? Tanya Tahir is the clever creator of this gorgeous layout using Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 products. We love the clusters of embellishments Tanya has created.

 

 

Tanya has again created this cute layout featuring an adorable photo. We love the fun feel that Tanya has achieved with the use of the Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 products.

 

Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 product work really well with older photos as demonstrated by this awesome layout by Julie Dudley. The grid paper is perfect for a school photo. We love Julie's embellishments she has placed down the side of the layout and the banner is super cute! Thanks Julie!

 

 

A cute layered card by Georgia Keays using Cosmo circa 1934 products.

 

  

 

"Our Lives' was created by the talented Kim Arnold. Her beautiful family photo has been cleverly scrapped using a mix of Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 products with a little Basic Grey Curio too. We love the layering of embellishments used to frame the photo. Thanks for sharing your gorgeous page with us Kim!

 

 

 

Kerry Lawson has kindly shared this cute layout she created using Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather products. Kerry has layered the patterns beautifully and the hit of purple is a lovely accent to the page. Thanks Kerry!

 

 

 

These three adorable layouts were created by the talented Georgia Keays using the Togetherness range by Cosmo Cricket. We love the pop of colour that the products give to complement those lovely photos. Georgia has created a unique look to the second layout by adding in the black cardstock and the cool paint splatters. The addition of the cute chipboard foxes is just perfect too. Thanks Georgia!

make it yourself: patterned papers

 

 

Last week it was background papers, but this week our challenge to our design team – and to you, our readers! – is making your own patterned papers.  So not just the shy retiring papers that form the backdrop to our photos and patterns, but the patterns themselves.  Stamping, drawing, templates and masks and  more lend themselves to creating custom patterned papers to work with your photos, themes and colour schemes.

We’d love to see what you come up with this week for this patterned paper challenge.  Email your projects to [email protected] by midday next Wednesday and we’ll include them in the blog post for a chance to win a prize pack!

Congratulations to Heidi Barclay for winning last week’s challenge.  We loved the innovative way she brushed ink all around the Crafter’s Workshop template as well as the inking and misting.  Our best wishes go to her and her fellow New Zealanders following the devastating events of this week as well.

 

 

 

It’s been one of Kathie’s goals recently to use more paint and stamping on her layouts. On this gorgeous non-photo page, she’s used text papers, paint, ink, stamps and templates to create a custom background.

To begin, Kathie took a sheet of text paper and washed it with a diluted mix of blue acrylic paint. She then stamped the blue background with a variety of stamps and found objects to create further visual interest. She’s used glasses and laundry rolls to create rings, bubble wrap and a Tim Holtz Dots stamp to create dots, and a Fontwerks Paintlines stamp to create lines.

Swirly vines in dark green paint begin to build up the scene. Kathie created these by sponging dark green paint through a Crafters Workshop template. She also added some fine detail brick pen work, by tracing through another Crafters template with her journaling pen. To finish she added some butterfly and bee rub-ons onto the page.

She now had a perfect garden background to add her floral paper images. Some further fine detail paintwork and pen outlining blend the images into the background.

 

 

Nic wanted to create some perfectly grungy looking paper for this layout of her son Alex. While there are some paper ranges out right now that suit the "tween to teen" boy theme, Nic figured she'd get a better match to her vision by creating her own.
She started with the brick wall template from The Crafter's Workshop, lightly colouring the white base using watercolour paints. They weren't particularly fancy paints, just the type that come in a cake palette.

She then created the wonderful variegated coloured, textured and layered patterns by applying these same paints to Stamper's Anonymous stamps by Tim Holtz and stamping them over the painted base. The trick to achieve this look is to avoid being careful. Apply the paints in varying colours and dilution quickly and then stamp. You will never achieve the exact same effect twice and that is the beauty of scrapping this way.

To create the patterns on the kraft background, Nic used stamps and masks by Prima with more watercolours, this time painting the colour directly onto the masks, then quickly flipping them over and using as a stamp.

 

Jane Clark said that this little BasicGrey 'stamp set was begging to be used for a random patterned background, with the smaller designs fill in the gaps perfectly. Now she has a card suitable for her tea drinking friends!!

Jane picked out co-ordinating inks, in this case she used Tim Holtz Distress Inks. She started with the largest stamp - the teapot, and stamped the cup second. Jane placed the teaspoons in between these images then stamped the small flower and the word 'yum!' where it was needed.  A handy hint is to turn the design of the stamp each time you stamp it and make sure the images go off the edges.

 

 

 

For this final card, Jane needed a paper that was colourful but didn't overwhelm her embellishment tag, so she grabbed a Hero Arts woodgrain design stamp and choose colours that complement the tag.

First Jane stamped the woodgrain image four times using different ink pads. The flower is a We R Memory Keepers 2step Flower Stamp with which she first stamped the outlined image over the background in a random pattern, and then stamped the solid matching image over it using a light coloured ink, so it was visible but not dominating.

a readers challenge: make it yourself! background papers

Wow!  Thanks to everyone who sent in layouts showcasing so many different and inspiring ways of creating background papers.  We’ve loved looking through them and are thrilled to share them here.

 

 

Leeann has shared her technique for producing this gorgeous background.  She writes:

Place a Couple of strips of masking tape on your cardstock. Pick a colour and paint the masking tape. Allow to dry.  Paint the entire background with white gesso. Be generous.  While the gesso is wet use a foam stamp and stamp the entire background.  Spray a coloured mist on the stamp and randomly stamp in places. This adds a subtle hint of another colour.  Let it dry.   Now scrap it!

We love the pattern and texture this gives!  Thanks Leeann.

 

 

This layout is by Anthea Petersen, who also kindly shares her technique.  She writes:  I wet some old music sheet paper and adhered it to my cardstock with some modge podge. I then added another layer and flattened it all out. I applied some white paint and then an ink cube over the top. Quite different for me but totally loving it!

 

 

  

Christiane Mueller has created this vibrant and wonderful background on canvas.  We love the depth of colour she has achieved and all the exquisite details.

 

 

 

Heidi Barclay sent in this fabulous layout.  She writes:  I have used the CRAFTER'S WORKSHOP template together with ink and Glimmer Mist.  I used the Brick template from the Crafter's workshop to create a brick template.  I used a paintbrush and Brilliance Graphite Black Ink to create the brick background.  Once completed I used some Chalkboard Glimmer Mist to add a little colour.  The papers used were from ECHO PARK, together with some of the embellishments.

Thanks Heidi – we love it.

 

We love the fun of this layout from Katie Howard and creating your own masks is a great idea.  Katie writes: My layout has used misting and masking to create a "scene" type background. I used my electronic cutter to cut the clouds and grass that I used as masks and misted over them. I love creating my own "bits and pieces" for my pages so I am looking forward to more of these challenges!!

  

Livia Andrade shares this stunning sunset scene, and explains how she created her background paper… 

I did the background with paint and modeling paste. I stamped the folder modeling when nearly dry, so I could make the title ('ever' and '01.15.2006').  Thanks to ideas!

Thanks Livia!

 

This bright funky layout comes from Sharmaine Kruijver.  I used misting, masking, paint, circle punch and some doily cut offs to alter my cardstock. Thanks for the inspiration to create.

Thanks Sharmaine – we loved the quote too.

 

This wonderful page with its memories from Paris comes from Tanya Tahir.  She has masked and misted her lovely background.

 

Thanks to everyone who participated in our first weeks challenge.  We’ll be back shortly with next weeks challenge!

design team challenge: comparisons

We’ve got the design team thinking this ‘term’ and one of the themes we’re exploring is comparisons.  Comparing old layouts to new ones, one generation to another, one years' photo to the next.  We’re starting with one of the easier concepts – taking an old layout and seeing how you would use elements from it in your scrapbooking now. 

It never hurts to go through some of your older albums, and even if some of the design elements might be a bit dodgy by todays’ standards, there’s bound to be ideas in there that you still love, that you could incorporate again in a page without having to reinvent the wheel.  It’s great to learn the lessons of your earlier albums - to see what you would never do again, what you wish you would do more of, to perhaps note that there are some things that you’ve never changed, or just take to a trip down memory lane and lose yourself in the photographs.

Here are a few of the design teams efforts – let’s see how they fared!

 

This particular layout is perhaps Louise's all time fave! At the time Louise created this layout she had only just started scrapbooking in 2005 and is about her tenth layout that she had made. Whilst she appreciates that in retrospect it no longer has the same wow factor LOL, she still loves it, as she felt so very proud of herself when she had made it, at the time she thought it looked really good.

 

With time Louise has developed a style that is far removed from when she first started scrapbooking. Whilst she still has a passion for patterned paper [and still buys and hoards it] she tends to use a lot more mixed media and upcycled products mixed in with traditional scrapbooking products. Her style is a lot simpler with a bigger use of 'white space'
To create this particular layout Louise has lifted elements of the design of her earlier favourite layout and used them as masks for her background.

To create this layout Louise has used some packing board that came with her DT order from Aussie Scrap Source, its like the back you find on a patterned paper pad. Using two different masks Louise has scrapped white gesso over them and the back board in a random thin layer. Whilst the gesso was still wet she then sprayed the entire board with dazzling diamonds glimmer mist and then chalk chalk board mist.

To finish off the background she has used peacock chalk board mist to highlight the bird and flourish patterns left by the mask.

 

This was one of Carole’s favourite layouts about 4 years ago now and a lot has changed since then, styles, placement of photos and embellishments and design -  this is a very full on layout. Carole recalls that  when she created this, she was so excited when she finished.  She can still look at this layout and realise the time and effort that went into it, and what it meant to her back then.

 

The changes in this layout are in the frame around the photo instead of the transparency, and the depth of layering, this is more delicate with a little more finer detailing, and Carole also some added misting and masking thrown in. The older layout was one of her favourites at the time, but looking back on this layout she acknowledges there are elements she would change today

 

.

Iris created this colorful whimsical layout using the new BG Lauderdale papers and canvas tags. When she was asked to lift from one of her older pages, Iris decided to lift the style and look she created with the "15 Months" layout. According to Iris, there are many ways to lift a page. You can lift the entire design or you can lift the style and techniques you used on a previous page that you love. In this layout, Iris duplicated the misting, the bottom border design and the use of hand-cut elements.

Next Monday: we bring you ‘then and now’ layouts from  Suzanne Tonga, Nic Finlayson and Nic Howard

weekend inspiration: basicgrey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

Louise jumped at the chance to create using the Marjolaine range from Basic Grey!! She confesses that she doesn’t think she will ever stop being a fan of their classic patterns. With the Marjolaine is a strong pattern, but it is a classic that lends itself to being able to use a little, or a lot of it. It typically coordinates perfectly with a full range of wonderful embellishments.

Louise has created four layouts to showcase how, 'a little or a lot' of Marjolaine will make for an amazing layout that will suit both male and female orientated pages. It’s almost a journey of its own watching Lou transition through layouts using the same range of products – we never tire of it!

 

 

The photo really is the focus of this vintage-styled layout from Louise. She adores the Curio range but didn't want to overpower the page. By sticking with a neutral background from the Basics range by Basic Grey and building up lots of layers with vintagey touches, she has created a heavily detailed page that still has a light and soft feel to it.

Some vintage buttons threaded with bakers twine add a sweet touch, and punched edges and a partially hidden doily finish the look.

Louise found the 6 x 6 pad the perfect size for a quick photo mat, and the chipboard stickers were so easy to use and saved hours of fussy cutting, adding dimension and finished with some distress stickles for a hint of glitter.

 

 

This layout featuring the Marjolaine product range has been created by Basic Greys awesome designer Kelly Goree. Kelly never fails to create the most wonderful layouts and cards with Basic Grey, and these are no exception! Thank you so very much Kelly for allowing us to share your fabulous creativity.

 

 

This amazing layout from Robin Shakoor shows her expertise in layering busy patterns with flair. The intertwining circles reflect the meaning behind the photo, and the whole page is tied together with hints of Curio teamed along with some stunning Prima flowers. The large circular journalling block also reflects the circles, and a row of dimensional dots along the circle edges just accent the pattern with delicious detail.

 

 

Louise found this stunning example using the Curio range and was immediately attracted to the large rose, painstakingly cut out along with the little bird detail. Elaine Rolfe has tied the page together perfectly by creating a large, handstitched flower shape that sits behind, acting as an anchor for the floating photo and embellishments.

 

Luz Maria Bruna has created this eye-catching layout that although busy, is balanced and stunning in it's detail. The beautiful Prima flowers work perfectly with the cut out bird and butterfly details, and the hint of black grounds the elements into a visually-pleasing, cohesive look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And because it surely wouldn’t be a self-respecting BasicGrey post without at least one layout from Nic Howard, we bring you two.  These are from the latest CHA releases and these two lines are both available now for pre-order.  This is Hello Luscious which Nic says is beautiful and rich and full of energy but can be toned down too if you’re after something more subtle. 

 

 

Life of the Party is a birthday (or anniversary…) themed line, bright enough for kids but rich enough for grownup celebrations too.  So Nic assures us!  You could look at this layout for ages and just keep seeing more little details.

weekend inspiration: crate paper

 

In this School themed LO, Janine decided to have some fun with the gorgeous range of Crate Paper by picking out the fun die-cuts to accent her page and using several layers of distressed paper to compliment her fun photos of her children at the beginning of the school term.

She added more dimension by creating a strip of rolled paper pieces, (Janine has been wanting to use this technique from the moment she saw Tracie Hudson create a page with rolled strips of paper) and a school page is the perfect place for them.

 

 

With her new found resolution to do more double page layouts, use more photos, and tell more stories, Suz found the Crate Paper Restoration line the perfect accompaniment to this layout.  With its rich, deep hues it adds just the right touches to the page without overwhelming it. 

 

  

Sue Tonga created this layout for the sketch challenge last year, but it’s such a great use of the Restoration line that we thought it was worth including again.  We love the incredible attention to detail she has shown, from cutting and out and layering all those circles to the stitching round the chipboard elements.

 

 

 

Speaking of details, we couldn’t go past sharing this one from the master of details (and of Crate Paper!) herself – Christine Middlecamp.  She defined the Restoration line with this wonderful layout, contained in its matted square, but bursting with inspiration from within.  Thanks Christine – we love being able to showcase your work.

 

 

This LO by Cindy Stevens caught my eye immediately! I love the yellow background using the Restoration line and then she has teamed it up with the School Days line using wonderful design element of the circle. I also loved the way she embellished with just a few items that reinforce the school theme. Thanks so much for sharing this LO with us Cindy!

weekend inspiration: wer memory keepers

 

Iris loved the stitched cardstock of We R Memory Keepers. To emphasize the stitches, she cut out the edge of the paper and laid it over another patterned paper from the Merry January line. The Hero arts block stamp provided a nice and subtle background to her page. hand-cut patterns and prima vines finish off this sweet page about her daughter having a "fancy breakfast" during one of their trips.

 

 

 

 

Oh my did Louise have a blast with this breif. Louise loves to include elements like sewing into her layouts, so using the WeR Memory Keeper Sew Easy was a dream for her. There are a fabulous range of stitch styles available, and the piercers are very easy to use. Louise loved that she was able to take a 'freestyle' approach with the handle tool. This opens up the creative possibilities enormously.

 

 

The beautiful embossed papers to We R Memory Keepers White Christmas is just so beautiful, really lush and beautifully textured. They also have a gorgeous range of cardstock stickers, tags and alphas which worked really well with this layout of Carole's. Christmas layouts are always alot of fun to create, and this collection makes it that little bit easier.

 

When Louise saw the Funfetti range from We R Memory Keepers she knew exactly the photos to use with it. These photos from her son's 4th birthday party have been lurking and waiting to be scrapped for a while, but the bright colourful papers with a hint of glitter were just the perfect partner for them.

By using a neutral cardstock as a background, she was able to tone down some of the bright patterns to keep the photos the focus and by fussy cutting some banners and layering the sticker shapes with foam tape, she has created a layout with lots of dimension and a fun, whimsical touch.

 

This beautiful layout by Megan Klauer just makes you want to let loose and have fun with your scrapbooking style. These gorgeous colours come from the Maple Grove line (and how good is it that they include the word “Autumn” rather than ‘Fall’?!

 

The warm colours and clever design made this stunning layout from Mirelle Divjak really stand out in the gallery. Louise loved the combination of papers used alongside the Jillibean Soup alphabet to create an eyecatching combination.

The small details like the hand-drawn stitching and pleated paper strip add interest without overpowering the page, and the slight sepia toning to the photographs make the whole layout both interesting and visually pleasing.

a reader’s challenge – make it yourself!

 

 

After the success of our reader’s challenges last year, we decided we wanted to create more opportunities to share your layouts on the blog.  So we have!

We’re starting off the new year in the spirit of all things handmade and upcycled – with a ‘make it yourself’ challenge.  Each week we’ll issue a new challenge to create a layout using different handmade items, and this week we introduce the series with the most fundamental of requirements for all our scrapbook pages, whatever our scrapping style – the background cardstock.

The challenge:  to create a layout using coloured, inked, misted, masked, textured or somehow altered background papers.  As always we prefer that you use Aussie products as much as you can – and considering the amazing list of suppliers we have (see here on our sparkling new website for info) that shouldn’t be difficult!

There will be little prizes each week featuring ready-made versions, from some of your favourite brands, of whatever the weeks challenge is (so you don’t have to ‘make it yourself’ all the time!).  These will be awarded for the most innovative solution, and if you manage to send us something every week for the whole eight weeks of the series, we’ll send you a prize pack at the end as well.  Please email your layouts to us at [email protected] by midday, next Wednesday 23rd February.

To get you thinking, we share some inspiration and tips on three very different techniques for creating background papers from three of our talented design team.

 

There is not one single piece of patterned paper in this layout by Iris Uy. Iris loves stamps so much and she puts it to good use by using it to create the background design in the cardstock as well as the artist trading cards which served as the base for her photo.

To create the background paper, she first misted the white cardstock in a shade of yellow and a shade of light brown. Next, she rubbed "Broken China" distress inks on random areas to get light blue greenish tones. She then inked her script stamp with "Frayed Burlap" distress ink and stamped on her still moist paper. This allowed for the image to slightly blur and wick which is exactly what Iris wanted to achieve.

To create the ATC cards, Iris rubbed different colours of distress inks on her craft mat and used her stamps to pick up the ink from the craft mat. This resulted in two to three colours in her stamped images. Once the cards have dried, Iris applied "Pumice Stone" distress ink to deepen the tones and outline the edges of the ATCs.

 

 

 

 

It goes without saying that Louise Nelson really enjoyed this particular brief LOL :). Louise loves to create her own backgrounds and paper/effects. For this particular layout Louise has used a piece of 12x12 chipboard. She has then applied a layer of kraft tissue paper using a glue stick adhesive.

 

Using a numbers stamp, embossing ink and embossing powder Louise has created grungy random pattern. To achieve the embossing on the folds of the tissue paper, Louise has lightly rubbed them with the embossing ink, sprinkled on the embossing powder, and then selectively brushed away some of the powder with a fine soft dry paint brush to create the desired pattern.

 

Louise has then heat set the embossing powder, and whilst it was still hot she has sprayed the whole background liberally with Chalkboard Glimmer Mist and dried the mist with a heat gun.  The final result – an amazingly textured and detailed grungy background with shimmery highlights.

 

 

 

This gorgeous background was created by Louise Williams using a sponge brush to apply a thin layer of gesso to the cardstock. Once dry an old credit card was used to liberally apply the gloss gel medium, making sure to leave texture marks that would become more visible once the Glimmer Mists were applied.  Louise began with the Antique Brass along the top and bottom edges and then added 3 layers of the Caribbean blue along the middle, allowing each layer to dry in between.

The final layer was allowed to run and pool to add extra detail. A large circle was cut from the paper and sewn onto the background with lines of sewing spaced evenly. The paper was then wet in between the stitching so it could be torn and distressed, finishing with an inked edge. Finally all the other elements were added along with the bottle tops, that were filled with beads and covered in a thick layer of dimensional magic.

 

And now – over to you!  Remember to email images of your projects to [email protected] by next Wednesday 23rd February.  We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

weekend inspiration: pink paislee

 

 

The warm, earthy colours of the Old School range were the perfect compliment to these photos of Louise's son's first day at school. By adding smears of acrylic paint and distressing ink, she added interest and grunged up the layout to suit her 'rough-and-ready' boy's fearless attitude.

 

 

 

 

Pink Paislee Hocus Pocus inspired Iris Uy to create this page for her daughter during her latest Trick or Treat activity. The Pink Paislee Parisian Anthology paper was a perfect base for this page because she easily blended in the colours of Halloween into the paper using distress inks over the resist images.

 

Anne Jo Lexander created this striking layout using Hocus Pocus papers and alphas.  We love how this range can work not just for Halloween but lots of other themes as well – great for teens and party pages!

 

Stacey Michaud is a designer for Pink Paislee and considers herself quite lucky to be able to play with such amazing products. She used the Hocus Pocus line to create a non-Halloween layout. The Hocus Pocus Arsenic arch was hand cut from a 6X6 sheet of paper and gives her title a clear starting point. She layered lots of stickers and rub-ons to add color and interest!

 

The gorgeous layout by the talented Kathleen Glossop shows the versatility of the Old School range, proving it's not just for school photos! with clever layering and small clusters to grab interest and draw your eye across the page, Kathleen has managed to keep the focus on the photo without overpowering it.

 

This gorgeous layout from Agnieszka Piskorz really shows off the diecut paper, stickers and co-ordinating elements from the Pink Paislee Old School collection. By creating her own flowers to use as a focal point, your eye is drawn back to the photo that has been cleverly framed with the banner stickers.

weekend inspiration: jenni bowlin

 

 

 

Kathie decided to use Jenni Bowlin’s new Family Tree line to make a page that deals with a decision she recently had to make regarding the balance in her life between her work and her role as a mum. She’s teamed the new product with some of Jenni’s older Apothecary Stickers and added a touch of some bright yellow Hambly overlays.

Kathie has confined herself to mainly the cooler shades of the collection – the yellows and greens, with pops of red for impact. The vellum butterflies are beautiful with their pearl centres, and make the perfect finishing touch.

 

 

The Family Tree papers are typically vintage, as we’ve come to expect from Jennifer Bowlin. But have a look at this next layout, by Wilna Furstenberg in Canada. Wilna has stayed beautifully vintage, with the addition of old text and replicating doilie pattern rubons. But, oh, look at the drama she’s injected by the addition of that glorious peacock feather! Stunning!

 

 

 

These two pages above are thanks to Michelle Lanning, in California. We love that she’s obtained two distinctly different styles of page, simply by the way she’s used the Family Tree range. In her layout, Wonderful, she’s adopted an eclectic style and cut circles from the various coordinating pattern papers, which she’s applied to her page along with a doilie and some tissue paper paper. The Jenni Bowlin butterflies and buttons work perfectly to finish off this page.

 

 

Thank you so very much to the wonderfuly talented Dina Wakley for shareing this wonderful mini Album created in a range of the fabulous Jenni Bowlin Products. After Seeing this arent you inspired to rush out and create a Christmas Daily Album in Jenni Bowlin papers and embellishments!!! We Are!! Thank you Dina :).

weekend inspiration: october afternoon

 

Kathie has based her beach layout on the reverse side of one of the patterned papers from the Seaside range. The textured wood pattern is sufficiently distressed and yet subtle enough to form a great background if you want a change from plain cardstock, but don’t want a heavy pattern on your backdrop. Kathie used the seaside images from the Seaside sticker sheet to embellish her layout. There’s a variety of seaside images that will work fabulously with any water-play themed layout.

 

 

Belinda Venables will need no introduction to many of you, as she is a regular contributor to Australian scrapbooking magazines. We are delighted to share one of her pages here today, using October Afternoon's Seaside collection.

These products work so well against the neutral kraft background. We love the way Belinda's echoed the scalloped pennant flag through the rest of the design of the page, by incorporating inverse scallops created from punched pattern paper. Note also the visual triangle created by the black dymo tape and sticker that draws your eye to the black and white photo of Belinda's daughter.

 

The weathered wood pattern that appears on the reverse side of several of the papers in the Seaside range are perfect for basing pages upon. This is what Mardi Winen has done, in the next layout. Mardi's pages always show such warmth and this one is no exception. We love how she's showcased the Die-Cut Wild Cards. Their retro/vintage imagery really lend a fun, happy look to a page.

introducing jillibean soup

 

 

Happy Valentines Day!  Suz had found the day had sneaked up on her and was in need of a card, fast.  But what she had on her desk was Jillibean Soup’s Christmas Range – which surprisingly with a little editing,  lent itself quite beautifully to a cute card.  She cut out two christmas mittens from the Turkish Bay Leaf patterned paper (and tried hard to ignore the fact that the cherries were upside down) and shaped them instead into two halves of a heart.  A few layers of Journalling Sprouts, some of the string from the Bean Stalks ribbon and twine – the palette was perfect for a Valentine, and she had herself a card!

 

 

 

So here, Jillibean Soup’s Christmas line, called Chestnut Soup is used for the purpose it was designed!  It’s a subtle traditional Christmas palette, olive green, crimson, a watermelon red, and kraft.  Christmas is traditionally a busy time of year and, with busy photos, muted colours and smaller patterns help so that they don’t overwhelm your layout.  Containing small bits of pattern and art within boundaries is something Suz is concentrating on with her layouts this year, along with her intention to do more doubles, use more photos and tell more stories, and the Jillibean Soup designs – and journalling spots - are the perfect tools to help her achieve this goal.

 

 

 

 

What a cute collection by Jillibean Soup "Monster Stew" all the adorable little monster make for a fun boys layout. The colours to this collection are just gorgeous so vibrant and very easy to coordinate and a great selection of pattern papers, chipboard pieces and stickers to make a great layout.

 

 

 

Janine fell in love with the Jillibean soup papers, so bright and so much fun! They were so perfect for her boy pages and the journaling circles were so versatile! Janine layered the journaling circles to create the look she wanted on the page. Her favourite thing from the range was the corrugated lettering! It is so wonderfully textural and you can dress it up with inks, or paints or just keep it the way it is.

 

 

We sent Leeann Pearce a well deserved prize pack for a challenge last year, and this is what she did with some of it.  She has used the Jillibean Soup Basics on White and the Pasta Fagioli papers long with Journalling Sprouts to make an awesomely fabulous page.  We loved all the little details like the Bakers Twine and the Corrugated Flower Shapes too, and love that she was happy for us to share more of her talent in this post. 

 

Jane Clarke loved this range of Jillibean Soup, it was perfect for this get well card. The strip along the bottom shows beakers filled potions to make a concoction to make them feel better!

 

 

Jane reports that the stickers have great, versatile captions.  The word 'love' was created using the chemical alphabet stickers and could pass as a great non-traditional valentine!   Jane fussy cut the honeycomb design paper to compliment the DNA designed paper seen at the top and bottom.

cha winter 2011: tattered angels

Tattered Angels have consolidated their hold on the colour, glimmer and glaze market with this years releases.  Apart from expanding and improving their core products, they also bring us Colour Connections – teaming up with some of the leaders in the scrapbooking market to bring delightfully co-ordinated offerings.

 

cha winter 2011: the girls paperie

Three beautiful feminine fun lines as pretty and whimsical as we’ve come to expect from Margie.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

cha winter 2011: simply renee – clip it up

Simply Renee have released a whole new Clip It Up organisation system – with the All-In-One Base, you choose the components you need to create the storage that works for you.

 

 

The All-In-One Base takes advantage of the vertical space in your craft room.  It eliminates the horizontal clutter of things spread out on a desktop or tucked into shelves.  See it, reach it, use it, yet keep it in its place!

The All-In-One Base allows you to add and adjust components for your own personal needs.  With its sturdy, yet simple, design grooves are placed every inch apart to allow maximum use of the entire frame.

 

 

Add the multi-purpose trays for loose items you need organised but want within easy reach.

 

The All-In-One uses the classic Clip It Up rotating storage arms that continue to be a favourite of crafts, scrapbookers and quilters everywhere.  Now the opportunity to have it your way is combined with the unique visual storage concept fo the Clip It Up line of products, all in one location.

Want more ribbon space? Check out the double-sided ribbon holder.  This new system will be available after May 2011!

cha winter 2011: studio calico

We’re excited to announce another new manufacturer that we’re bringing to Australia this year – Studio Calico!  If you thought they were ‘just a kit club’ prepare to be surprised!  Here are some of the fabulous products from their current catalogue which will be up for preorder soon.

 

 

cha winter 201: we r memory keepers

Two of these releases are already instore, and Fiesta and the cutest ever Peep are coming soon..

 

Fiesta

 

Peep

 

         

 

 

 

Be My Valentine

 

Family Keepsake