Fun with Flags

Sometimes you have to climb out of your comfort zone and venture into unfamiliar territory when it comes to your scrapping.  Using colours that you are not crazy about or scrapping photos that are not your usual, is sometimes a good thing!  You are forced to look at things a bit differently! Cariena scrapped some photos of a friend of hers' granddaughter.  Cariena does not have children, so scrapping little ones are not something she is familiar with.  The theme and the photos forced her to think a bit out of the box.

While scrapping the page, a few thoughts arose......to chalk/ink the edges of your papers or not?  If you look at the photo above, you can clearly see the difference between the inked and the uninked piece.  Of course it all depends of what kind of scrapper you are - if you don't have a lot of time, but want to get the page done, inking is totally optional.  If, however, you do have the time, use it, and ink your paper's edges!  It just gives a more finished look!

The next question is - do you HAVE to sand the edges of your photos?  The answer - of course not!  But, as can clearly be seen by comparing the sanded and un-sanded photos, the one that is sanded, does seem to "pop" a bit more off the page than the un-sanded photo!  Do you sand or not?

Don't like the look of a paper or if it is too bland?  Ink it up!  Stamp an image and heat emboss it with Clear Embossing powder to create a resist effect, or purchase resist papers that already has a motif on it!

Are your photos mismatched when it comes to size?  Don't be deterred!  Use the empty space to stamp or write your title!  These sentiment stamps are always handy!  The size is perfect for cards and Scrapbook Layouts alike!

 

If you have a space that needs some filling and you don't have a shop close by or loads of embellishments that suit the page?  Cut your scraps into flags of varying sizes and create a fun banner!  People tend to get really intimidated by cutting the flags, and they want them all perfect.  That is really not necessary!  You can just cut them with your free-hand and utilise all your left overs to fill the space!

And there you have it!  A fun page with not too much detail and very little embellishments! To create this page Cariena used 5 patterned papers, one cardstock, some wax cord, a few blings, a border punch, a Tim Holtz die (the label) and a butterfly cut from a scrap piece of paper, embossed with Clear UTEE, a stamp and a button!  Why don't you go through your stash and see what you have that you can use to create a simple, yet effective page of a theme you are not entirely comfortable with?  You might just surprise yourself!

Chrismas Card Fun!

Cariena has a step-by-step tutorial on her blog using some stamps and Perfect Pearls!  Enjoy!

Another Amazingly Simple Card!

Once again it is time for a card tutorial by the briliant René Sharp!  This time with a Rosette Tutorial!  We LOVE the effectiveness of this card – so simple but so striking!  Enjoy!  (Remember that we appreciate your comments – if we never get comments, we don’t think anyone is reading the Blog!)

STEP 1:

I use a piece of white cardstock included in the kit and my Martha Stewart Score Pad to score a line down the centre of the card.

STEP 2:

I cut strips of paper using the various different patterned papers included in the kit.

STEP 3:

I trim them in varying lengths and adhere them to the white base in a bit of a staggered pattern.

STEP 4:

I cut a 4cm strip of blue paper, and keep it at a length of 30cm. I score a line at every ¼”.

STEP 5:

I fold along every score line in a zig-zag pattern.

STEP 6:

I then manipulate the paper into a rosette shape. The paper tends to jump around a bit, but just be firm with it!!

STEP 7:

Stick the two ends together with some double sided tape.

STEP 8:

I use a large glue dot to secure the centre of the rosette.

I added some punched stars, and a little bit of machine stitching. I also punched two different sized circles to add to the centre of the rosette. I finished it off with the “hello” sentiment and some green ink around the edges.

Gift Box with Tutorial!

 

Once again René Sharp has prepared an amazing tutorial for us!  She covered a plain tin and turned it into a gorgeous and one of a kind Gift Box!  Here is the tutorial!!  We hope you will enjoy it and make a few boxes of your own!

STEP 1:

For this tutorial I decided to do something completely different from my previous tutorials. I grabbed a tin that has been lying in my drawer for ages, and decided to make a gift box. This tutorial will work with any box, you would just need to adjust your measurements accordingly!

STEP 2:

I took the measurements of the base of the tin, and of the lid. In my case the measurements of my box were: Base 3.3cm (I cut this the width of the 12x12 cardstock) the top of my box measures 10.2cm x 15.4cm.

STEP 3:

I cut the strips and the piece for the top. I used my very trusty (and well loved) Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper by We R Memory Keepers to round the corners of the top piece.

STEP 4:

I use double sided tape on the top and around the sides of the box to secure the pieces of cardstock.

STEP 5:

I use a border punch by EK Success to cut a masculine diamond strip to add a decorative touch to the base of the box.

STEP 6:

I secure the border strip with a very thin double sided tape.

STEP 7:

I cut another rectangle of paper, this time in the lovely red houndstooth paper included in the kit. I size it smaller than the original navy piece. This can be any size you would like, if you prefer more of the red, don’t size it down as much as I did. I also cut 2 mini cards from the gorgeous “cheer ‘em on” paper included in the kit.

STEP 8:

I adhere the 2 cards to the top as well as a tag from my stash.

STEP 9:

I spray the “Winner” chippie included in the kit with Mister Huey’s Color Mist in the color Classic Tan. I love the aged vintage look I ended up with.

STEP 10:

I spray a button chippie (from my stash) with the same Classic Tan, and pop it up with some adhesive squares. I also used the gorgeous FabScraps double page of letters for the word “our”. These letters are part of the kit, and really go a long way!!!

STEP 11:

Using some of my very thin adhesive tape, I adhere some dark brown & white twine to the lid. I see Scrapbook Studio now stocks twine, yay!!! This is such a versatile product for cards and scrapping too!

I don’t often make gift boxes, but I am super happy with the way this turned out. It will be perfect as a gift box for that special young man in your life!!

Smiles, Rene’

Another Step by Step Tutorial!

Our Design Team Member René Sharp has put together another amazing tutorial to show everyone how she created this amazing layout! 

Sit back and enjoy!

STEP 1:

I decided to base this layout on one large focal photo. The idea for this came from the lovely large “Friends” rub-on that was included in the kit. I had just the photo to use, this one taken of my son and his classmates on their recent class tour. I decided not to change the colour of the photo to sepia this time, and work instead with the lovely bright colours in the photo. The main colours I chose to use are green red & blue.

STEP 2:

Once again I turned to my trusty (and well loved) Studio Calico Mr Huey Color Mists. I used the colour Real Red and used a Tim Holtz mask called “Compass”. I thought this mask was perfect to work with my travel themed layout! I purchased both of these items from Scrapbook Studio!

STEP 3:

I love my punches, and used this Knock-Outs Bracket punch by American Crafts to create a lovely subtle effect on the edge of the lovely red houndstooth patterned paper included in the kit. These punches are gorgeous and are also available from Scrapbook Studio!

STEP 3:

These Enmarc Crafts rub-ons were perfect to go around the edge of my photo, some of the wording was just right for the vibe I was trying to create on my layout. I have always been a bit weary of South African produced rub-ons, but these went on like butter!!!

STEP 4:

As per my previous tutorials I used white embossing powder, which I heated and then inked some Tim Holtz Distress Ink in the colour Peeled Paint over the image. I then fussy cut around the edge of the cute little sun!

STEP 5:

I adhere some of the elements of my layout. I popped the sun up with some foam tape, it fit perfectly in the centre of the compass mask.

STEP 6:

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut some circles for my layout!

STEP 7:

For me, this is the most fun part of putting together a layout, adding all the bits and bobs. I ended up using some of the gorgeous FabScraps alphapbet stickers to add the words “dbn tour”, as well as another Enmarc rub-on. I cut some arrows with my Silhouette and attached them with my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher. I purchased this mini stapler at Scrapbook Studio a while back, and I have got to say I LOVE this little thing, I used it on my layouts, all-the-time!! I see it’s still in stock at Scrapbook Studio!!!

And here it is, the end result, a fun bright and happy layout. I hope you have gained some ideas from my tutorial.

Smiles, Rene’

Friends....

Once again we have a stunning layout by the talented René Sharp, one of our DT Members!  Once again, René used some Mister Huey Mists, as well as a few other great products available at Scrapbook Studio to create this page!  We will be back later this week with the step by step tutorial!