Aussie Scrap Source

christmas 2011

weekend inspiration: teresa collins

 

Louise W used the Teresa Collins Notations range to create this art gallery themed layout. Using the diecut frames and a fussy cut large frame, she's given focus to the smaller pictures without detracting from the main image. The background was created with a combination of texture paste, acrylic paints and mists and reflects the messy style of two young artists.

 

 

If you want to create some special, one of kind Christmas cards this year then the Teresa Collins 'Christmas Home' collection is an excellent choice. The designs of the pattern papers are elegant and rich in colour. Couple them with the die-cuts and rhinestones for an extra special card to give this Christmas.

 

This beautifully soft layout from the talented Steph Devlin utilises the details of the Teresa Collins papers perfectly. Using diecut shapes and hints of black, she's created a layered and detailed page that just screams "girl!"

 

Kristii Lockart has used the Teresa Collins papers beautifully in this sweet little girl layout. The handmade roses co-ordinate perfectly with the little crown accent and black crystal swirls but don't detract from the gorgeous photo.

 

 

Wow, we don't know which is more fabulous, Noel Culbertson's use of the the Haunted Hallows range or the amazing costumes in her photos! Noel says she loves the mixture of all the wicked images in this range, skulls, poison labels and witches as well as the softer option of polka dots, chandeliers, pumpkins, newsprint and spider webs.

She also loves that the Haunted Hallow trims have a lot of variety yet are perfectly matched, in style and color, to the line. Please thank Noel for sharing these 2 gorgeous layouts with us.  You can find more of her fabulous work here.

weekend inspiration: stamper’s anonymous

 

Louise will always be a die-hard stamp fan! she so loves her stamping briefs, loving how they stretch her to create simply, with impact, and not let anything detract from the photo focus. Louise just loves the simplicity and versatility of the Stampers Anonymous stamp sets, they are timeless, classic and so very versatile!!! not just for the fabulous Card makers :)

 

 

Jane loves this stamp set as it has such beautiful sentiments on it, she stamp one of them on calico using StazOn timber brown ink, frayed the edges then sprayed Glimmer Mists over the top. Jane stamped a floral image from the Nature Discovery set down the right right side using Distress Ink crushed olive for added detail.

 

 

Once again Jane has picked out one of the sentiments and stamped it on calico, the bird was also stamped on calico but left uncoloured. Jane recommends that you have a nice juicy ink pad for clear impressions. 

 

 

Finally here’s a cute little project from Wendy Vecchi demonstrating her Art Parts are not always as they seem.  You can see the lovely twist she has given her shapes here.

weekend inspiration: quilled creations

 

Louise loves embellishments that are simple and elegant; which is exactly what Quilled elements are. Louise has taken a simple approach with the use of quilling here and used the kit to create simple loose circles to fit inside her freestyle wire loops, and also to create oval shapes to suit the bodies of the butterflies.

These simple quilled elements provide just the perfect touch to any project; they can either enhance other elements, or stand alone, as they are so versatile they can be used to create elements of landscapes and animals etc.

 

Haven't tried Quilling before? then try this little card out that Jane has created for us. Create two little teardrop shapes, join them together to make a heart. Use the vibrant and colourful papers to brighten someones’ day, simple but effective!!

 

Jane layered two Quilled flowers together then added a tight coil roll on top, she then sprayed the flower with Dragonfly Glimmer Mist to change the colour and to add some shimmer!!

handmade christmas: last minute gifts

Today we’re bringing you some fabulous ideas for those gifts you find yourself ‘throwing’ together at the last minute, or for having on standby in case unexpected friends drop by.. you know that awkward moment when they produce a gift for you and you have nothing to give in return?  Keep a few of these ideas stashed away and you’ll never be caught short again!

 

Vintage jewellery is in fashion nowadays and this has also been seen much in scrapbooking products. As crafters, this makes it easy for us to use these products not only in our pages and projects but also in creating last minute gifts. Iris quickly made these beauties in less than an hour. She forgot about a few gifts and just by adding some jump rings and lace to a few vintage trinkets from Prima, she was able to come up with these beautiful gifts.

 

Jane saw these plastic book covers and immediately knew that they would made handy gifts for family and friends. All Jane did was to cut Echo Park Country Drive papers to fit inside the sleeve, decorated them with a label cut from the matching paper and add recipients name. Jane even made one for herself 'Mums perfect day' that's for when she can relax and just read for the entire day!

These plastic book covers can be found in a few sizes and are available at newsagents, some book stores and larger department stores that sell stationery.

 

Suz Doyle might well be known as ‘queen of the last minute’ for good reason.  Midnight the night before last day of school isn’t a great time to start thinking about how she’s going to package baked cookie teachers gifts, but it was this great stamping and crafting site that came to her rescue. 

Natasha Zandenberg  has a super easy to understand tutorial here for this fabulous cookie box and even Suz was able to follow the directions and whip up a couple from Tim Holtz Kraft paper, and of course some scraps of Hambly Transparencies for the window.  Add cute October Afternoon ‘Holiday Style’ twine and gift cards from the Miscellany pack and you’ve got yourself two gifts that look like they might have come from a boutique bakery in under an hour! 

handmade christmas: table settings and home decor

 

 

Suz chose a beautiful aqua and gold colour palette for her christmas tree and home decor this year, but guesses it’s an unusual choice for a christmas theme because she couldn’t find any blue and gold crackers anywhere!  Undeterred, she found some plainish gold ones and altered them herself, wrapping the central sections first with Core’dinations and patterned papers from the beautiful Prima Madeline range, and then embellishing with Tim Holtz Facets and Martha Stewart punched butterflies.  And of course, glitter.

One thing that occurred to her as she ‘Glossy Accented’ the last piece of patterned paper to a facet, was what a beautiful idea it would be to use them as table place-name holders, putting a small photo of each person at the table under a facet.

 

 

Unintentionally to start with, it seems every year Suz makes a different Christmas tree, and of course she couldn’t skip it this year.  The perfect accompaniment to her christmas crackers, Suz tore and distressed and curled the edges of strips of Prima Madeline patterned papers and glued them in layers all the way up this styrofoam tree.  Different coloured glitters rest on the ridges created by the layers.  She finished embellishing this festive tree with glitter coated punched butterflies, Prima flower centres and bling. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iris used the 7Gypsies Photo Display stand and Webster’s Pages ‘Botanical Christmas’ range to create a photo display to go on her Christmas table or sideboard. What a lovely talking piece a collection of the years photos would be on the table to flip through and remember as they celebrate Christmas.

 

 

We found these stunning candles created by Vicki Boutin on the 7Gypsies blog.  To create these she has used 7gypsies Life Tissue Paper and covered cream coloured candles.  You can see more details of these and other gorgeous projects here. 

 

 

Over on the Hambly blog there’s also lots of inspiring creating going on, including these gorgeous layered ornaments by Jaz Lee.  Pop over to see the tutorial for creating them here.

weekend inspiration: prima

 

The soft colours and patterns in the Romantique range really appealed to Sue and she has teamed them with beautiful photos of her daughter Lily, blowing dandelions, late one afternoon. Although Prima are very well known for their gorgeous flower collections, Sue also loves their papers and their other embellishments, such as the vintage buttons featured on her page.

The tags pictured, have been created by tracing manila tags onto the Prima paper, cutting them out and inking the edges and then attaching the re-inforcement circle stickers from the original tags. A technique used to create beautiful but cost-effective embellishments.

The vintage buttons have created a lovely feature on the page, and of course who can resist a couple of those gorgeous flowers!

 

This year Chris wanted to create a simple little gift for her daughters teachers for 'World Teachers Day'. She created each of the teachers these cute little cards with the Prima Paisley Road 6x6 paper pad, chipboard journaling note accents and essentials flowers. To keep the message simple Chris stamped the Hero Arts Tiny Bird Message stamp (an old favourite) onto the co-ordinating Paisley road paper from the 6x6 pad and added them to the card.

 

Chris then placed the cards and a small chocolate bar into the plastic lolly bag and created toppers from the Paisley Road paper to seal the bags. Her kids love taking these to school for their teachers.

 

Before packing up her supplies after making the teachers cards, Chris whipped up a couple of little gift tags using the Paisley road collection and little bit of machine stitching. These gift tags will be ready to go on the next birthday present!

 

 

Trudi Harrison created this stunning layout featuring papers from the gorgeous Prima Alla Prima Collection with a touch of Printery. Some subtle masking has been included on the background patterned paper. It can be seen peeking out from behind the photo. The Prima 8" x 8" Circular Flourish Mask #545574 and Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists Coffee Shop and Patina were used to create this effect.

Essentials flowers have been layered with hand cut paper elements and a variety of other pretty Prima blooms including Gillian and Angelica, Avon, Coventry, Lilliput, Love Letter and Sherwood Roses.

 

 

Trudi Harrison adored the soft and delicate Prima Romantique paper that has been used for the base of this gorgeous layout. It was combined with the softer lilac and paler olive colours of Prima Londonerry. Trudi also added doilies cut from Prima acrylic packaging. A bouquet of Prima blooms both new and older add a touch of girly prettiness. You will also spy a Bretton Vine, Splendor Leaves, Meredith Butterfly and some Resin tucked amongst the layers.

To create a decorative accent to the resin bird house, an architecture resin cornice was attached across the top. A little Say It In Crystal glittery heart was the perfect size for filling the little heart crevice. A larger butterfly element was die cut from patterned paper. The antenna's were created from a pastel twister as well as a little flight path.

 

Lots of gorgeous Prima products are featured on the third and final layout we fell in love with from Trudi Harrison, including some of the new Resistant Canvas, Masks, Resin Bird Homes and Small Birds and blooms. To create the background, Trudi first attached the Resistant canvas vines to cardstock and misted with 'Timeless Lilac' Glimmer Mist. The white resistant markings that show give a lovely subtle effect. 'Patina' Glimmer Mist was then randomly misted over the top and with a paint brush and again with 'Timeless Lilac'. More depth was added to the various leaves and flowers.

The gate element which sits behind the photo was first created with texture paste and the Prima #550042 Mask.  Once the texture pasted dried, Trudi then misted lightly with 'Turquoise Blue' Glimmer Mist. A touch of 'Timeless Lilac' Glimmer Mist was added around the edges with a paint brush. The gate was then cut out and attached.  The Resistant Canvas Scalloped Borders were coloured with Glimmer Mist 'Timeless Lilac' and then attached around the outer edges of the layout.

 

 

Please join us in thanking Trina McClune from the Prima Design Team for sharing the next 2 layouts with us! Trina says that she loves how versatile Prima products are and that she can combine older Prima embellishments with their newer papers. Here Trina has used the Printery collection paper with many of their wonderful embellishments as well as Prima's clear recital stamp.  You can find step by step instructions on creating this layout on Trina’s blog here.

 

And here's a final word from Trina about this last gorgeous layout. "I just adored the prettiness of the Pixie Glen line. The colours are muted and soft. So beautiful. It's also perfect for someone like me who likes to cut and layer."

weekend inspiration: anna griffin

 

The "Lizzie" range by Anna Griffin is such a bright and happy collection and Janine knew she wanted to create a bright and playful LO using it. Janine used the design of the paper to guide her in the design, but hand cutting the "rainbow" effect paper so that it appeared the floral heart cluster was at the top of the rainbow. She finished off the LO with stuffing Anna Griffin alphabet stickers, that add so much flourish to the design.

 

 

Louise W loves to fussy cut and the Francesca range from Anna Griffin was perfect for the technique. She cut out a selection of flowers and leaves from the Green Floral paper and layered them with foam tape amongst a variety of other embellishments - punched leaves, muslin, misted Prima leaves and roses along with the keyhole. She finished it off with dimensional paint dots and one of the Anna Griffin dimensional butterfly stickers.

The whole effect is combined with a digital frame she purchased online and printed out, bringing together a modern but heritage look to the layout.

 

Steph Devlin has used Anna Griffin papers to perfection in this lovely layout. With fussy cut elements, punched edges and a beautiful cluster of flowers and die cuts, the page pops with subtle yet purposeful colour.

 

Steph has again used Anna Griffin's paper designs perfectly in this soft and pretty page. Fussy cutting and punched edges add a delicate feel, while the soft hues used are perfect to convey a 'Simple Elegance'.

 

It was the monochromatic colours and the fussy cutting that caught Louise's eye in the gallery when she spotted this lovely layout from Joanne Bain. Joanne has raised the elements to add dimension and the clustering with the title and single rose bring focus to the photo perfectly.

handmade christmas: from the kids

 

Never one to be left out of ‘making things’ Suz’s daughter Phoebe came up with this gorgeous artwork to give to her teacher this year.  She used a mixture of Glimmer Mists and Luminarte Twinkling H2O’s to create the christmas tree painting, and covered the Pink Paislee frame in white gesso and white Glimmer Mist Chalkboard. 

The beauty of this kind of present is that when Christmas is over Mrs S can just take the tree picture out of the gorgeous Pink Paislee frame and use it for something else.  We can totally imagine a teacher, family friend or grandparent appreciating this idea.

These cute little canvas pouches are a fun and simple gift that kids can make with just a little help (if they are younger). With the Prima canvas sheets easily cut into a circle, trim of your choice can be threaded through holes punched evenly around the edge. When pulled tight, a pouch is created and can be decorated however the child likes!

Websters Pages tinsel trim and Tim Holtz baubles have been used to embellish these example pouches.

christmas special: scrapping the christmas tree shots

 

 

 

Sue loves the Christmas season and it has become a tradition to take photos of her children in front of the Christmas tree with some of their special ornaments. Sue says it is lovely to look back over the previous years and see how her kids have grown and changed. Sue has used the Peppermint Collection from Crate Paper to create this vibrant layout, with a lovely glittered paper from We R Memory Keepers Peppermint Twist range, and a beautiful star vine from Prima, added in for a little sparkle.

Sue handcut snowflake designs from the paper and embellished them with iridescent gold glimmer mist, silver stitching and white sequins. Sue has also used the Tim Holtz rosette die and fabric brads to add more detail and dimension to her layout.

 

 

 

To create this LO, Janine drew inspiration from a Becky Fleck Pagemap and based her design around that. Originally the sketch was for a double LO, but Janine adapted it for a single. Janine thoroughly recommends the Becky Fleck Pagemap books as it can be a great starting point when you want to create a LO, and for Janine, she wanted to do a reasonable amount of journalling so this sketch was ideal.

She has then used the Authentique Christmas range and created multiple layers of paper in her design. To finish it off she has used some Prima flowers and a Prima metal, which she altered by applying black Stazon over the surface, for a two tone effect.

 

 

The great chipboard pieces in the My Mind's Eye 12 Days of Christmas range made it so easy for Kim to add the perfect embellishments to finish this layout which showcases the two variations of the Christmas Card that she sent in 2009. The range is so bright and colourful which means it is perfect for any Christmas layout.

weekend inspiration: tim holtz

 

 

Janine loved working with these Tim Holtz papers and embellishments. She chose to create a layered background and then add some messy paint over the top of the blue paper for added interest. Then she proceeded to layer circles and die cut grungeboard. Janine ran the grungeboard through her sizzix machine using a Tim Holtz embossing folder and then ran it through again using the Tim Holtz Gears Die and Flourish die.

She then painted them with white gesso and finished them off with some iridescent medium for a shimmery effect. Janine also painted all of her Tim Holtz metals with white gesso to fit her "winter wonderland" vision. It does take a few coats for really good coverage but the results are so pretty. To finish off the winter wonderland theme, Janine used a large and small Martha Stewart snowflake punch and added a Prima flower center to the middle for even more sparkly goodness.

 

Leeann just couldn’t wait to get started on this project. She knew exactly what she wanted to do and had been waiting for just the right moment. So when Leeann was given this assignment to work with Tim Holtz products she screamed with delight!

When it comes to Tim Holtz the possibilities are endless there is so much you can do on the page or off. Leeann fell in love with the door knobs film strip and she just LOVES the die plates that make those fabulous paper rosettes, this was the point of inspiration for her – Paper Weights.

She put her DH to work and had him cut some blocks from timber posts. Leeann then sanded and primed each bloke with gesso. Adhered pattern papers and used a decoupage to seal all the papers. Then she simply arranged and adhere all the embellishments in place.

 

 

 

Dina Wakley is an extremely talented mixed media artist who knows how to work any Tim Holtz products. On these amazing tags Dina has used a mixture of Tim Holtz products from embossing texture plates, alcohol inks pattered papers metal elements and stamps. Thank you Dina for letting us share some of your amazing pieces of art!

handmade christmas: for girls

 

handmade christmas: wreaths

 

Louise created this wreath by rolling 6" squares of the Basic Grey paper into cones, then hot gluing them together along each edge. Using the reverse of the paper, she created a large rosette and layered it with mini rosettes and a noel word. She added layers of scrolls diecut from grungeboard, some Prima flowers and a few berries to finish this sweet wreath with a personal feel.

 

 

Why buy a Christmas Wreath when you can make one yourself and personalise it to suit your style! Chris has always preferred pinks and greens for her Christmas decorations rather than the standard red and green. Here she has combined some gorgeous textured and foil finished papers from SEI Christmas Mint and White Elegance ranges to create this very pretty wreath. Chris also used some Strano ribbon, Prima flowers and Pink Paislee Pixie Stick Glitter to finish off this piece.

For instructions on how to create your very own wreath please check out this link.

 

 

We found this gorgeous festive wreath created by Tracie Hudson by cutting 1/2 inch wide strips from sheets of Tradition patterned paper. The paper was then curled using scissors and simply attached to a polystyrene wreath using pins.  More of Tracie’s stunning work can be seen over on her blog, where visitors are always welcome.

weekend inspiration: 7 gypsies

 

Janine loves the pretty mix of colours in the 7 Gypsies Victoria line. She enjoyed mixing the pretty colour palette with touches of black to help make it all pop on the page. With a few hand cut elements from the printed papers mixed in with some Prima flowers, she was able to create a floral cluster that flanked the photograph. For added texture she has added some touches of 7 Gypsies Book Binding tape and a metal page edge as well, both in black for added emphasis.

 

 

Iris created this canvas art for her friend Arlene. She first misted the canvas and rubbed on the 7 Gypsies colour rubbings on the canvas. What is great about this product is that it takes on the texture of the material on which it is rubbed on - which in this case is the canvas. 7 Gypsies metal embellishments and wooden ruler together with Prima flowers complete the look of the project.

 

Tina Walker has been into scrapbooking for about 15 years now and she loves how scrapbooking has embraced all types of medium, styles, and techniques. Anything goes, and that is perfect for her.
This project is special to her because it features a photo of herself with her sister whom she sees only a couple of times a year. The layout came together pretty fast. She used an old vintage plastic doily for the masking together with patterned papers from the 7 gypsies Mykonos line.

The beautiful colours and the artistic approach to creating this page is just so amazing and we hope that you will all be inspired to take out your 7 gypsies stuff too and play along with us.

 

This beautiful card and gift box set was created by Laura O’Donnel. She used the Camden 8x8 paper pack from 7 Gypsies for the flowers on the gift box as well as the collaged background on the card. Laura has been a long time lover of 7 Gypsies and is continually amazed that even the older lines of 7 Gypsies can be used today and still look up to date and trendy. Thank you Laura for sharing with us your beautiful creations.

weekend inspiration: echo park papers

 

Louise loved the Seasons Greetings collection from Echo Park. With the papers and stickers already co-ordinated into a kit, it made it so easy to put together this seasonal layout. She used a generic tag from the stationery store as a detail behind the main photo and used clusters of circles to draw attention to the heading and secondary photo. Raising the stickers up on foam squares adds dimension and interest to them. Louise also used some bakers twine to add a burst of seasonal colour entwined through the layout and some punched leaves for some soft detail.

 

Jane spotted the street lamp on the sticker sheet and straight away decided to make a 'Welcome Home' card. Once again Jane mounted the sticker with foam tape to give the card dimension then she wrapped a Prima vine around it.

 

 

Jane couldn't decide which of the papers to use so she used a strip of each of her favourites to cover the card front! The wreath sticker was attached using mounting tape to give dimension and crisp wide satin was used to keep to the classic style.

 

This gorgeous layout by Maja Nowak caught Louise’s eye in the gallery with her fussy cut details and wrought iron gates. Maja has combined the Be Mine and Victoria Garden ranges from Echo Park to create a beautifully cohesive layout with lots of little details.

 

 

Jenny’s used the For the Record range from Echo Park to create this eyecatching and beautifully co-ordinated layout about her family. The little banner touches and small clusters of brads add sweet detailing, while the black matting helps prevent clashing of the papers, makes the photos stand out and adds colour balance to the project.

 

Kyoko has combined Echo Park’s Country Drive stickers beautifully with some Sassafras papers to create this busy, but not overpowering layout. The Echo Park stickers add the finishing touches and by raising some with foam tape, she’s managed to add some very cute and soft detailing.

handmade christmas: presents for boys

 

Janine knows how much her own children love to play the game of memory, so when she saw the Jillibean Soup Monster paper, she knew exactly what she wanted to create as a present for little boys! Every monster on the sheet of paper is different, so you just need to have 2 sheets of the monster paper and a lot of patience to handcut out lots and lots of monsters!!

Janine used a piece of chipboard as her base and added a sheet of cardstock to the back of it with a coat of gel medium, making sure it was well stuck. When completely dry she cut the 12x12 sheet into 2 inch squares and used gel medium to apply all the monsters to the other side of the squares. It is important that there are no differences in colour or pattern on the side that faces upward during the game.

Just keep an old box and cover it to keep your game pieces in. Janine let her kids have a play with the game and they LOVED it!!

 

 

Leeann really had to get her thinking cap on with this assignment simply because her family is all GIRLS. But this was not going to stop her from thinking about how she could make a little boys Christmas this year! She wanted her gift to be more than something to look at. All children love to draw and colour and write. So Leeann decide to make a backboard.

Leeann found some placemat wood boards and also grab some black board paint from the hardware store. She wanted it to be boyish and used a Twiddleybitz - Bulldozer Silhouette cut and adhere it to the board. Then just follow the directions on the tin of the black board paint. Leeann also made a duster to go with the board using a small wooden block that she painted and adhere some very thick felt to one end. It’s an easy project gift idea and one that you could make for all the boys this Christmas.