A Rustic Monotone Layout

 

I've had the stamp set "Creative Elements" on my wish list for ages.  I finally got around to ordering it and it arrived last week.  I knew exactly what photos I needed it for!

I tested out a number of different base cardstocks; Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Sahara Sand before deciding on Soft Suede.  I think the effect of the white swirls on it looks so cool!

 I wanted a rather rustic monotone feel to this layout to go with the photos which didn't have alot of colour in them either and just love how it turned out.  I also sanded around each photo which gave them a aged look.

Stamps: Creative Elements. Calendar Alphabet, Hearts A Flutter, Lovely As A Tree, Woodgrain
Cardstock: Soft Suede,Sahara Sand, Early Espresso
Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Whisper White Craft, Garden Green
Accessories: Big Shot, Hearts A Flutter Framelits, Chipboard, Simple Letters Alpha Dies, White Bakers Twine, Sponge Dauber, Spritzer Tool, Stampin' Spritzer, Sanding Block

Who Doesn't Like Rainbows?

No one I hope!

This double layout is pretty much a straight case from this layout and it was perfect to showcase the last litter of puppies my springer had last June.

 

 

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Chipboard, Big Shot, Blossom Party, Boho Blossoms Punch, Black Stampin' Write Marker

JAI Scrapbooking Challenge #15 - Sketch

Here's my entry for this months challenge.

I had more photos from the same event so had to create another page to go with it.

Making it a double layout!

Stamps:Itty Bitty Banners
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Sycamore Street DSP
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Island Indigo, White Craft
Accessories: Big Shot, Bitty Banners Framelits, Bigz Simple Letters Dies, Chipboard, Sycamore Street Ribbon & Buttons, White Bakers Twine

Lessons in Scrapbooking - Titles

The title of your scrapbook page is an important part of the layout as it often sums up the whole "feel" of the page. If you’re having trouble deciding on a title, think about song, movie or book titles, sayings/quotes etc. When all else fails try www.scrapbook.com/titles or www.theperfecttitle. These sites are sorted by topic so it's easy to find the appropriate title.

SU! have a wonderful range of chipboard letters and alphabet stamp sets available. I highly recommend the stamps as you never run out of a particular letter and can make them any colour! If you have used alphabet stickers before you'll know how frustrating it is when you don't have an "e" or "a" to go with your chosen title.

Which brings me to a wonderful hint. I still have lots of chipboard letters and stickers that are waiting to be used and I discovered that anagram-based websites for scrabble work well for using these up! Today I used this one, but if you google "scrabble word finder" you'll find lots of other pages too. I used it to produce this title today as I was feeling particularly uncreative. (Was very surprised I had an "E" left too) The photos are of my sister and brother-in-law when they lived down at Wanaka. I covered the letters in the co-ordinating (retired) DSP (yes, still have lots of that left too!) I was really happy about the way the flowers came out, I wasn't feeling like cutting butterflies out today.
I followed this layout for inspiration:
Stamps: Good Friend
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Spring Showers DSP, Very Vanilla
Ink: Barely Banana, Chocolate Chip, Basic Grey Marker
Accessories: Very Vanilla 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Border Punch, Chipboard letters (not SU!), Crimper, Pretties Kit, Mini Glue Dots, 5 Petal Flower Punch

HB2U! HB2U!

My younger son Devon, turned 4 today & here's the card I made for him. I covered chipboard letters with DSP, but the "2" is actually just DSP with dimensionals (foam dots) behind. I used a stencil to trace it as I didn't have a chipboard "2". I also didn't have any Tempting Turquoise ribbon to match so coloured white ribbon using my TT marker. He just loved the card. Oh, and we did give him presents too!The background music stamp is from Penny Black. Stampin' Up! don't have anything like it at the moment, but having been a pianist in my past life, just had to buy it.Because the card base is black, inside I attached Whisper White and stamped lines using the long skinny stamp from Big Bold Birthday.Stamps: Big Bold Birthday
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, East Coast Prep DSP (Retired)
Ink: Basic Grey, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: Whisper White Ribbon, Photo Corner Punch, Chipboard Letters

Lessons in Scrapbooking - Layout

I LOVE scrapbooking! And I LOVE talking about it and teaching other people how to do it! On this blog I would like to share some techniques and ideas which I've learnt since I started scrapbooking 4 years ago. Today I'm going to talk about Layouts.

This refers to the placement of titles, photos, accents and journaling on the scrapbook page. Remember that you don’t need to include all of your photos in your scrapbook – choose the best which “tell the story” so to speak. Before you adhere anything, experiment with the placement of your photos and title until you find a pleasing arrangement. Journaling and accents will add balance and interest to your layout. It's a good idea to choose one photo as a focal point and make it stand out by framing, adding additional mats or using accents to draw attention to it.

TIP – Sketches are great for creativity. Checkout www.pagemaps.com, www.stickersnfun.com or just google “scrapbooking sketches”. You can also gain inspirations from scrapbooking magazines and books or by visiting layout galleries at websites such as www.splitcoaststampers.com, www.scrapjazz.com or www.scrapbook.com.

Here's a double layout I completed today.

I haven't yet got the hang of putting photos side by side yet but bear with me!

I started off using this sketch from PageMaps but then steered a little off course:

But that's the great thing about sketches, you can follow them close or just use them to get started. The "Welcome" title was a chipboard word which I had bought at Spotlight at least 10 years ago (I had some plan to make a Welcome Friends sign with a sheep in the middle). Soooo glad I kept it now (I knew I'd use it someday, ha). It was coloured by pushing into Brilliant Blue stamp pad but then I decided to make it black. Crystal Effects were then added over the top and the final effect ended up being midnight blue. I planned it that way, NOT!

For the banner, I popped the designer paper through a crimper then used my 1 3/8" square punch to cut a nice straight, even triangle out.

I was really happy with the final effect!

Cardstock: Bashful Blue
Ink: Brilliant Blue, Basic Black
Accessories: 1 3/8" Square Punch, Patterns Pack II Designer Series Paper, Crystal Effects, Crew Kids - Girl Simply Scrappin' Kit (Retired), Crew Kids - Boy Simply Scrappin' Kit (Retired)