pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.}

Messy Mood:: A Scrapbook Tutorial by Missy Whidden [6]

2013-06-18T05:00:00Z

Do you sometimes print out your photos and you just don’t know which papers to use or where to begin? I feel like that a lot. I tend to go through “scrappy moods” and sometimes I just don’t feel like using patterned papers. So I like to create a page completely from scratch, which means I get to dig through all of my old stash. I have so many random scrappy items that don’t get used because it’s either in a drawer or in a stack somewhere. I like to get out my paints, brushes, stamps, washi tape and random stickers, bling, twine and buttons and just start creating.

I started this page with a piece of plain white cardstock and my paints. I printed my photos in black & white, so I was free to choose my own color scheme. I chose blue, pink and orange and went from there. If you have color photos, you can totally choose paints that match exactly. Sometimes that’s hard for me to do with patterned papers. For this page, I didn’t use a sketch or have any ‘real’ plan. I just started by brushing paint onto the cardstock. I love this technique because it’s totally unique, and it feels liberating to be so messy and random and yet still create something worthy of going into my scrapbook albums. And the best part is that you can’t tell when you make a mistake!

Start off with a piece of plain white cardstock, your choice of paint colors and a foam brush.

I like to water my paints down a bit, so I use old plastic packaging from paper collections or stickers. I squirt some down and spritz it with water to give it a watercolor-like consistency. Then I just start brushing. I also hold the brush up high above the paper and use my fingers to squeeze the foam to create big splatters.

I like the blue and pink, but I wanted a third color in the mix, so I added some orange. Again, you have endless color options.

The hardest part is waiting for it all to dry. Once it dries, I start stamping. I like to use border stamps, but you can use whatever kind of stamps you like. There is no right or wrong place to stamp. Just add some here and there and use a variety to give it some interest.

Next comes the washi tape… my favorite! Again, you can choose colors that go with your color scheme. I always like to add in black because it contrasts against the bright colors. Just like the stamping, just stick it where you see fit. I like to make sure my three base colors are evenly spread out, so that helped me figure out where to put which color tape.

Lastly, I went through my stash. I found pink floss/twine, rub-ons, rhinestones, stickers, some old bubble wrap and chipboard that I wanted to somehow add to the layout. I simply glued down some of the twine in a few places and added some of the bling. I only used a few rub-ons. I found a cute little girl in my chipboard shapes that I painted blue. I stamped a little bit on the dress and added some twine for some texture. I also tore up some bubble wrap that I used as a stamp on another project.

I hope this inspires you to set aside your patterned paper for a minute and try creating something from scratch. It’s a great way to use up some of your older stash, and it’s actually a fast type of layout once you have all of your goodies ready to go. Plus, it’s fun to get messy!

Missy Whidden lives with her family in a small town in Florida. She and her husband both grew up there and went to high school together. They began dating in college in 1994 and got married in 2000. They have two beautiful daughters, Reese and Paige. She is a former high school English teacher turned fitness instructor. She loves all things crafty, reading and working out. She fell in love with scrapbooking in 2006 when her mother-in-law asked her to help her create a baby book for her son. She was instantly hooked and has been a scrapbooking fan ever since. She has been on several design teams and kit clubs. She currently serves on teams at My Scraps and More , My Creative Scrapbook , Challenge Me Happy and Love My Tapes . She loves inspiring others to create, and believes that being creative is a wonderful form of therapy.

Sketch to Scrapbook Page :: A Corner Gathering [16]

2013-06-17T11:53:31Z

Can I start with something almost entirely random for this post? I haven’t taught local (or local-ish) workshops for years. I think the last time I was doing that with any sort of regularity was when the Craft Barn was still open, and that’s been a while. This morning I’ve just had a possibility present itself, and I could teach workshops for eight to sixteen people (I’m thinking the smaller end of that scale would be more comfortable in the space, but it might take a bit of trial to see) in London. It wouldn’t be immediately, as it would take some planning and so forth! But it would be lovely to judge if this is something any of you would want to attend. Could you let me know if London-based scrapbooking workshops would be something you would put in your diary? Thanks!

And then to less random: the next sketch! (Look how close that date is to getting caught up! SO CLOSE!) This sketch is designed to feature one landscape photo and two patterned papers, perfect for setting a colour scheme, as you can have two bold blocks of those colours, then plenty of space elsewhere to work with various shades, lighter or darker. I’ve drawn it as a 4×6 photo, but it could easily be a 5×7 or swapped for something else you have in mind.

Taking a break from the May kit, I headed back to the wedding album supplies I set aside to create an album filled with the photos from my sister-in-law’s wedding. You can find more details on all those supplies here, along with Glitter Girl’s tips for starting and planning a wedding album. The camera stamp is from this set by Allison Kreft for Webster’s Pages, which is on sale right now. These stamps are red rubber with cling foam already attached and cut out, ready to stick to your acrylic block. They stamp so beautifully!

I must say creating this album is a little twist for me in terms of journaling! I have plenty of stories to write on my own wedding pages, and I do have quite a few things I want to write for this wedding too, but those stories mostly don’t seem to match the more formal photos – they match the more relaxed snaps from getting ready and the reception. So for now, some of the more formal photos are accompanied by just names, and I’m ready to start working on some pages with more writing soon to achieve a bit of balance!

Today I’m delighted to share a second interpretation of this page, by talented scrapper Stephanie Howell. Stephanie worked her magic on this sketch in an 8.5×11 format, and I love how she used a slide frame with a photo without cropping the picture. Definitely remembering that as a note to self!

I was so excited when Shimelle asked me to do a guest post for her blog. I haven’t had the opportunity to use a sketch in a really long time, and this could not have been a more perfect assignment at this point in my life. You see… I’m preparing my family of six for a big international move to Italy! This doesn’t leave me much time to scrapbook. And I miss it. But my time is extremely minimal, to say the least.

So this sketch was perfect! I kind of just followed it exactly. Hey! What can I say? I’m short on time and my imagination is seriously depleted. The only change I made is that I switched this to an 8 1/2 × 11 layout instead of the 12 × 12 in the sketch. I replaced the big square of paper with a doily. Because I have to put doilies on everything. I can’t help it. It’s a sickness.

The 4 × 6 photo had a distracting background so I used a Crate Paper chipboard frame to draw the focus to my two little monsters. I also put some pop dots under the ‘So Much Fun’ arrow embellishment from MME. The layout just needed a little visual interest.

Stephanie is the social media director and design team coordinator for My Mind’s Eye. She lives in Rhode Island, where she spends most of her days chasing her four maniac daughters and losing her mind. You can follow her adventures on her blog

An InLinkz Link-up

Sketch to Scrapbook Page :: Adding an angle [2]

2013-06-17T09:39:53Z

Having successfully managed the spelling of Hong Kong, I may have rediscovered a bit of creative energy and furthered this quest to get up to date with all my sketch and kit pages! Catching up feels pretty rad… as long as I only focus on the things where I’m making progress and don’t turn around and realise there are eleventy other elements in life that need some catching up too. Right? Onward, at any speed.

This sketch was designed for one portrait 4×6 photo, but I changed that slightly for my page. The idea here is to take a group of paper boxes that are layered in a nice and orderly fashion, then take the whole lot and angle it ever so slightly to create a different look. Easy enough, and perfect for the last 12×12 sheet I’ve been saving (that pretty camera print by Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper) and a stack of scraps cut down to nice box shapes instead of the random off-cuts they had become.

Again the products for this page are from my May Product Picks, and I think that makes for six layouts from the May kit so far. I’m now out of full sheets for the backgrounds, but I have paper scraps, letter stickers, and embellishments remaining, so I’ll mix those with some additional papers to finish off the May kit. I’ve also done a few cards with this kit, as out of character as that may seem!

This is one of those pages where the journaling becomes more reflective – not trying to tell the story of what happened in that photo, but reflecting on that occasion from the present point of view. Recently The Boy and I were in a discussion and someone asked us about our backpacking adventure in the sort of way that implied it was one of those things you would be happy to have over and done with and not want to return to living from a library bag once we had reacclimatised to living in one place. That’s really not our perspective at all and we both wish it was something we could do all the time, so please excuse the slightly mushy journaling!

Today I’m humbled by the gorgeous page Lisa Dickinson has created from this sketch. Lisa’s work is always beautiful, but this page has me in total awe! Lisa, can I scrapbook like you when I grow up?

The large photo takes center stage in this sketch and knew it would be a great design to feature one of the many newborn portraits I had taken of my niece. I printed mine at 5×7 (slightly larger than the photo in the sketch) and then gathered lots of pink supplies, everything from soft pink to brighter fuchsia. I used larger blocks of paper behind my photo, layering strips of wash tape at the top and bottom of the tilted design. Three embellishment clusters form a visual triangle around my photo and I added circles of stitching to reinforce their groupings. Because there was some empty space above the title, I splattered on pink and white inks. I added additional, smaller ink splatters to form another triangle. Once the ink dried, a few white enamel dots add dimension to these accents. Rather than block my journaling below the design, I incorporated it into a journaling strip that I adhered atop the washi tape.

Lisa Dickinson is a graphic designer living in Colorado with her husband, Mike, and children, Hayden and Riely. She started scrapbooking in 1998 and it grew from a part-time hobby to a full-time job. Her scrapbook pages have been published in various magazines and she is the author of the ebook Design Workshop from Ella Publishing. In addition to being a Garden Girl at Two Peas in a Bucket, Lisa also designs for Jenni Bowlin, Basic Grey, and Lily Bee Design. You can catch up with her at Gettin’ By, where she blogs about scrapbooking, motherhood, running, and her deep-seated hatred for the Comic Sans font. .

An InLinkz Link-up

Sketch to Scrapbook Page :: A Twist on Patterned Paper Quadrants [9]

2013-06-15T17:51:43Z

Trying another travel page, and this time with a location I may have a better chance of spelling correctly. One can hope. (I’ve fixed the Rotorua layout and issued an apology to all of New Zealand on Twitter and Facebook, if it helps. I need to take a new picture and edit the post. Darned spelling upside down!)

This sketch is a twist on quadrant design: instead of dividing the page into four equal quadrants, it’s divided into four boxes that are different sizes, with the join of the papers covered by two portrait photographs. I used standard 4×6 prints.

The supplies are all from my May product picks with the exception of the Simple Stories brads I added right at the end to finish the embellishment, and a sheet of white cardstock for the background.

I’m hoping some of you will try this sketch with a similar look but adding mats to the photos. I like pictures both matted and unmatted, but I am in such a habit of two portrait photos side by side sharing one photo mat that I felt I needed to change it up a bit, so that’s what I added to the sketch and this layout. The photos are from 2008, on a short stay in Hong Kong. (It’s not from the backpacking trip so no need for the kraft cardstock in the background. The album for this trip started well before I thought of such simple ideas as having a colour in common throughout the entire book!)

Today I’m delighted to welcome UK Scrapper Sam Ball to share her interpretation of the sketch. And don’t you know that in the video I say you could use this design with two, three, or four patterned papers in the background… and Sam made it work beautifully with one! The thought never even entered my mind. Now you know why I invite guests!

Staying fairly true to the sketch, I was keen to repeat the grid background element. But as a scrapper whose style is more eclectic than graphic, I distressed cut lines to reveal slithers of the dotty paper from Glitz, along with other papers and embellishments from Prima, Websters and My Mind’s Eye.

Guilty of always leaving the title until last, I’ve recently invested in a Silhouette Cameo. Now my title is committed to from the start and the layout evolves around it rather than me finishing a layout and wondering where best to site it!

The photos, taken last year on holiday are of my middle stepdaughter as we enjoyed one of the last days of our Mediterranean cruise.

Having tried her hand at many other crafty hobbies, including stained glass, pottery and needlecraft, Sam Ball discovered scrapbooking in 2007 and has never looked back! “Nothing has gripped me as much as scrapbooking has” says Sam “and over the years I’ve made many, many friends, who like me share this passion for paper.” Her style could be described as arty eclectic and Sam loves nothing more than taking a piece of paper and cutting out the intricate elements to layer in pages.
Over the years she has had her work published by magazines in the UK and has been a DT member of both the successful scrapbooking kit company ScrapaGoGo, the Pencillines sketch team and Scrapbook Inspirations. She currently teaches at the popular GoGoGetaway.
For more of Sam’s work, be sure to check out her blog.

An InLinkz Link-up

Five Ways to Show off those Special Moments by Naomi Atkins [1]

2013-06-14T05:00:00Z

Today we are going to be talking about five ways to use those great little polaroid frames that are so trendy right now in your projects! I’m a photographer, so I have an extra special soft spot for these frames. And anyone who scrapbooks or makes projects loves pictures, right? These little frames are so versatile and plan to show you some fun ways to use them! I have two home décor projects that use the frames in a variety of ways as well as a scrapbook layout to share with you. There are several types of frames on the market right not. Some companies, such as Crate paper, have added them to their paper lines in a variety of colors and styles. They can be chipboard, die-cut and flat, or even canvas. Many manufacturers are also making them for sale as die-cuts for your silhouette or other cutting machine and they often have fun wording and styles. You can also pick up plain white ones that are made of a very sturdy cardboard but not quite as thick as chipboard from craft stores. I will be using several of these as well because they can be easily altered!

Canvas Frame backed with Patterned Paper and a Photo.
First, I made a home décor project out of a scatter frame I picked up from Hobby Lobby. I had three small photos. I cut a sturdy piece of cardboard to fit the size of the frame, and then a piece of cream card stock to cover it for the background. I misted a doily and added it to the above left. I also added small picture to the back of a chipboard frame. Both of these are from Crate paper. I added a piece of Burlap and lace ribbon that I got from Hobby Lobby as well to the bottom of the design and stitched it.

Chipboard Frame Used to Highlight Words.
I love old dictionary paper. I have several old dictionaries that I love to use on my projects and layouts. I like to find a page where the heading is a word that I want to use to describe my layout. The word I wanted to highlight was “memory”. I simply added the Crate chipboard frame to surround the word at the top of the paper and stitched around it for extra emphasis. I also like to use things in patterns of 3 for visual emphasis. This project just wouldn’t be the same without the frames and I love the dimension they add.

Filling Chipboard Frames with Glitter on a Layout.
I really wanted this layout to be colorful and convey a celebration. My business partner and I were celebrating our 2 year anniversary and we did a photo shoot with all of our children and a cake smash to celebrate. I bought a pack of variety iridescent sequins and glitter from Martha Stewart. I loved all of the colors and they matched all of the colorful sprinkles on our cake. I simply modge podged the frames around my photo in various colors, modge-podged the insides and sprinkled a thin layer of the glittery sequins. I was really happy with the result and it made for a fun layout! These chipboard frames are also from Crate paper and they are some of my favorite ones. I simply added some Thickers for the title and my page was complete!

Stamping Plain Chipboard Frames and Adding Photos for a DIY banner!
I had so much fun stamping these plain white frames for my banner. I made this banner for my living room as a home décor project. I knew I wanted to add something to the frames besides the photos and I have several large wooden stamps. I simply inked the whole stamp and stamped over the frame which made a cool masked effect. Some of the frames I did not want to add as much to, so I used some small Ali Edwards stamps from Technique Tuesday to add words to the bottom of my polaroid frames. I then inserted the photos into all of my frames and added extra embellishments such as buttons and die-cuts.

Backing Polaroid Frames with Quotes and Paper for DIY Banners.
I knew I wanted to add some more to my banner besides the frames filled with the photos, so I decided to add a few frames with quotes (a “chalk it up” journaling card) and patterned paper. I put these in between my photo frames for something extra. I also cut circles from patterned paper, folded them in half and added some embellishments to them. I used Studio Calico tissue paper flowers for a few of my circles and I love the dimension it added. I then added ribbons and some more buttons in between my frames and I was done!

I honestly use these frames in almost every project lately. My gallery at Two Peas showcases several more layouts where I have used these frames in different ways (housing titles, embellishments and more) at Two Peas in Bucket.

Naomi is a wife to Jonathan, mama to five, and co-owner of Inspired and Enchanted Photography. She loves scrapbooking, quilting, baking and DIY projects!! She currently designs for Crate paper, Freckled Fawn, Kerri Bradford Studios and Gossamer Blue Kit Club. She has been published many times in Scrapbook Trends, and you can follow her on Facebook at Inspired and Enchanted Photography or on her blog at inspiredandenchantedphotography.