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

Two videos in two days? It’s a start, at any rate. If you’re not off watching Doctor Who, you can watch a bit of Sketch to Scrapbook Page craftiness! (It’s also acceptable to watch this after The Doctor saves all space and time yet again. I’ll allow it. Just the once.)

Sketch thirty-one is designed for a single landscape photo (most likely a 4×6 print, but other sizes could work easily) and has substantial space for writing too. The vertical border strips beneath the photo can be paper, tape, ribbon, die-cuts, fancied up with a border punch, or whatever you fancy really.

I know the calendar will argue with me, but the supplies for this page are from the August Best of Both Worlds kit. (I said it’s a start!) Everything is back in stock with the exception of the aqua star paperclips, should you fancy anything for your own crafting.

For a second look at this sketch, please welcome Laura Kate with her interpretation adapted to a page in her Project Life album.

To me, this sketch seemed like it would best fit in a single pocket rather than across a whole pre-divided page. Adapting a 12×12 square sketch to a 4×6 rectangular might seem weird, but I often have little square Instagram photos and the ways I add them in have gotten a bit samey. As you can see, I turned the sketch a bit to aid in the horizontal flow of the card and worked with the b/w theme already in my PL spread to document a fun event we attended that made up the bulk of this PL page (using a great shot of the drinks snapped by my husband!). It was a bit of a challenge to figure out how to make this sketch work, but I really love the end result!

Laura Kate is a teacher, crafter, ex-pat, erstwhile musician, kitchen dabbler & lover of Blythe dolls. A scrapbooker since 1993 – starting with an awesome Lisa Frank album – she writes about all her exploits on her blog, tries her hand at designing some products, and occasionally remembers to update her Etsy shop with her doll fashion creations. Laura Kate lives in London with her husband and 4 fancy goldfish.

Now it’s your turn. I’d love to see you you interpret this sketch with your own style and stories. As always, this sketch is just for fun and everyone is welcome.

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On the 22nd of every month, the Garden Girl design team from Two Peas in a Bucket does a quick blog hop to showcase what we’ve been making, what products we’re loving, and what ideas have been inspiring us in the Two Peas community. This month, we’re changing it up, and we’re answering 5 questions in 4 minutes. This is my stop in that little adventure!

You can also find the most recent Glitter Girl Adventure here. It’s number ninety-seven!!

I’m the last stop on this month’s Gardeners’ Digest Blog Hop, so you can go back to the beginning with Paige or stop by the Two Peas blog.

But before you do… I have one class pass for Wilna’s amazing new workshop, Art Class 2, to give away today! So leave a comment (with a valid email address) on this post to enter. Entries close on the last day of the month, and the winner will be contacted by email at the beginning of December! Good luck!

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As much as I like pattern paper and embellishments, there’s another must-have staple in my stash: vellum. I find myself reaching for it over and over again using it on almost everything I create. There are so many fun things to do with just a plain ol’ sheet of vellum, but then you add the fabulous designer patterns on the market, and oh my goodness! The possibilities are endless. Today I’m going to share five of my favourite ways to use vellum.

Vellum Titles
When I have an enlarged photo that I want to scrapbook, but I want to keep the layout very simple and focused on the photo, I’ll use a vellum title. I love to use vellum titles cut with my Silhouette, but vellum titles can be hand-cut too. You could also emboss, paint, or freehand a title onto the vellum, then cut it out.

Layers with Vellum
I have to say one of my favourite ways to use vellum is layers and frames. I love vellum frames all layered up with pattern papers and die cuts. It gives that added dimension without a lot of weight on a layout.

Journaling with Vellum
If you’re anything like me you’re not always a fan of your handwriting, so when it comes to journaling you’d rather type it than write it. Sometimes typing it isn’t an option but then again writing it isn’t either so what do you do? That was the case with the Basic Grey veneer bubbles. I knew ink would bleed into the wood and my journaling would look really bad so I decided to give the vellum a go and it worked out perfectly!
TIP: when adhering vellum, use a clear-drying adhesive like the Martha Stewart glue pen. After your journaling is adhered, it’s a simple step to done. I use vellum a lot for journaling on a page, not just when using veneer.

Vellum & Imperfect Photos
I learned this next tip the hard way, and I’m so glad I did. My printer has been giving me fits lately with lines in my photos and not the right quality print, so I have a small pile of prints I thought for sure would go into the trash. As I was scrapping, it hit me: I use the vellum to make backgrounds subtle, so why not try it like a filter on a photo? I did and I love it! Not only does it give me that cool Instagram-looking filter effect, it also turns out I don’t need to throw those photos away. Simply cut a scrap piece of vellum slightly larger than your photo, adhere with clear adhesive, and use on your layout. Imperfect to perfection.

A Subtle Background with Vellum
We’ve all had those pattern papers we love, but when it comes to using them the pattern is just too loud so it gets shoved out of sight. This has happened to me often until one night while working on an assignment where I had to use that loud pattern I had no other choice I softened it up by adding a sheet of vellum to the top. Adding the vellum gives you a subtle look while still keeping the same paper and it’s much easier to work with.

Mandy Koeppen is a thirty something mom of three who juggles many job titles in her everyday life from chauffeuring family accountant to zoo-keeping therapist. She lives a small town, country girl life in Michigan with her Mr. K, raising their three children Teagan, Mavrick, and Avery. When she has time, Mandy loves to get creative with paper, browse her local antique shops, raise autism awareness for sweet Mav, and have fun with family & friends. Mandy’s work has been published in Creating Keepsakes, Scrapbook Trends, Scrapbooks Etc, and Somerset Memories. Mandy currently designs for October Afternoon & Cocoa Daisy Kits. To see more of Mandy’s work or to get to know her better you can visit her blog or follow her on Twitter or Instagram.

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For my husband’s first father’s day this year, I wanted to create something more personal than a card. I was looking to create a mini-album of sorts, but one that looked more like a card with a thin binding, rather than just using a hole-punch & binder rings, or a pre-made chipboard album. I turned to my trusty search engine to help me find options for book bindings & I quickly discovered the beauty of the Japanese bookbinding method. We both ended up loving the finished album, and now this is my ‘go-to’ technique for creating a fast, simple mini.

What I love about this technique is that it is a) very easy, it only took me a few minutes to learn; b) I had everything on hand to achieve the method, especially loads of patterned paper and colorful bakers twine; and c) it looks beautiful and creates a thin, easy to store mini album.

Begin by choosing a selection of patterned paper. In this case, all of my paper was from a single kit, so I knew that it would coordinate, and made my selection process faster. Choosing patterns from a single manufacturer’s collection would also ensure a fast selection process. Make sure that you only use paper in which you like the front & the backsides, so that there is less bulk in the album base. My pages are all sized to 5”x7”.

This binding method is permanent, so it is important to know how many pages that are needed at the beginning. This binding is very secure, so you can include just a few or a lot of pages for your album. I printed my photos & attached them with removable adhesive so that I knew what order everything was going in and that I had the right number of pages.

Once all of that is sorted, use a scoring board to score along the edge that you will bind, ½” from the edge. This will make it easier to turn & fold the pages later on.

Next, mark your holes using a ruler and pencil. On my album, the top & bottom holes are 1” from the edge and the middle hole is centered along the length at 3½”.

Use a 1/8” hole punch to punch a hole where you have marked. My punch will not go through all of my pages at once, so I punched the first page, then used that one as a template for the remainder of the pages.

Once the pages are all punched, cut a piece of baker’s twine roughly three times the length of your album. Thread a #1 embroidery needle with your twine.

To save you looking at 20 photos for the actual binding method, I’ve put it all in a quick video for your viewing pleasure (my first ever!).

Once the album is bound, add journaling cards & photos to your foundation pages with permanent adhesive.

Now for the fun part— if you haven’t already had fun! Select a group of coordinating embellishments. I find that by limiting myself to a selection of embellishments from the start, the process moves a bit faster. Also, it’s important to stick to less-dimensional embellishments for the interior pages, as the mini album is not as bulky as most.

Once you’ve embellished your album, you’re finished! Not only do you have a completed mini album, but you’ve also learned a useful, new binding method for creating your own, custom mini albums.

Meghann Andrew is a former interior designer turned stay-at-home-mom to a thriving 9 month-old micro-preemie. When not spending time with her family, which also includes her English husband & English Golden Retriever, she enjoys cooking, baking, spinning (to burn off the calories from all of the cooking and baking) and creating beautiful things with paper. She currently designs for American Crafts & is on the contributing team for Elle’s Studio.

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I’m a digital project lifer. As of 2013 I have been recording my memories with journaling cards, Instagram photos and quotes. I take a lot of pictures and on average I have too many to fit into a double spread each week. I also found, after only a few weeks of doing Project Life that I wanted a fresh way to display my photos in each spread. I got bored of simply popping them in the assigned pocket. Instead I was keen to use the imperfect pictures, keen to tell the stories and keen to include as many photos as I could. I developed several techniques to achieve this and these are my five go to methods that seem to work every time. My techniques for using your photos in Project Life are digital but would be just as easy to apply to paper and ink.

The Imperfect Photo
I strongly believe that my project life shouldn’t be a collection of perfect moments and pictures. Life isn’t like that and nor are my photos! This is an easy way to incorporate an imperfect photo into your spread.
Stop thinking of that photo as a photo and instead think of it as a patterned canvas-an abstract rather than a still life. With these photos I run them through a simple blur in Photoshop (filter, Gaussian blur) and then add text, or a strong black and white filter. By making the photo the background to the story, the imperfection isn’t noticed or even important. This would be easy to achieve in paper. Write straight over your photo with a permanent pen or add some tracing paper or vellum to blur the photo slightly and then write over it.

Blow it Up
Some photos need to be emphasized. If I want to make a statement I merge several of the pockets together to allow for one large photo. This also gives you a bit more artistic license with the photo. As in this layout, the photo stretched across several pockets however I used one of the pockets to contain the journaling. If the photo is big you can get away with a relatively large journaling card.

Use a Photo as a ‘Filler’
This is a great technique for the imperfect photo or a photo that doesn’t really have a story. I use these photos to add quotes or shapes. They then become a filler in my layout. For instance I really liked this photo of Autumn leaves but didn’t feel there was a lot I could say about it. Instead I added a circle of transparency and then added one of my favourite quotes. The photo is still documented in my spread but it is part of showcasing the quote as well.

White Space
This technique needs thinking about before you have even started creating a page. Consider how you take photos. Consider how you crop them. I will often frame my subject at one side of the photo so that I will have a lot of white space in which to write in.

The photo of the burger bar in this spread is a good example. When taking the photo I made sure that I framed the name of the restaurant at the bottom of the picture. That black background made the picture pop but also gave me lots of space to write in. It becomes a journaling card and photo in one.

Make a Collage
There are some weeks when there are just too many photos! Consider making a collage. Many photos can fit in one pocket and if they are of a similar theme or event, the result can be dramatic. I chose to put some of my favourite photos of Autumn together into a circle. This is easy to achieve in Photoshop with a clipping mask but just as easy to achieve with paper. Select the photos you would like to include and print them relatively small. On a 6 × 4 card arrange your photos so that they overlap and no white shows through. Add another 6 × 4 card over the top of these with a circle cut out. Your collage of photos will appear in a beautiful circle shape!

Abi Beach is a student studying at Durham University. She used to be a paper scrapbooker but with the demands of a student life and budget she has turned to digital memory keeping. She loves documenting the everyday, rejoicing in the ordinary and trying out all sorts of crafts. She writes about this at Creating Paper Dreams. You can also find her on Instagram as @abibeach.

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I’ve loved envelopes since I was a child. My crafty boxes were full of mini envelopes with letters, tiny buttons, leaves or flowers! I was thinking they are perfect for gifts so I gave them to almost everyone and I was well known for this. Well, envelopes are always a great idea so lets make them today! So, today I decided to go back to my childhood memories and make some mini envelopes. I prepared a tutorial and a bonus project for you!

It’s great that you can use any leftovers from your patterned papers. There size is great!
All you need is a piece of cardstock: 3.5 × 3.5 inches.

Now it’s time to measure the body of envelope. It needs to be a rectangle 2.5 × 1.9 inches. The easiest way is to cut the rectangle from a white cardstock and then match it to your square!

Then you need to cut out all four small triangles to make four flaps of envelope.

Fold all of them and round all corners.

Now, glue two shorter flaps with a one bigger.

Your envelope is ready! I added a small sticker with 3D foam to make a clasp.

And here is my envelope!

Bonus Project

You can use it in every craft project you want to – on a layout, card, in your Project Life album or as a small gift. I incorporated two of them into my layout. Then I wrote two notes for inside as a journaling add to my layout.

I also made a card and glued down an opened envelope with a tag “Best Wishes” inside.

I hope you feel inspired to add tiny envelopes to your layouts or other paper projects. Thank you for joining me today!

Magda is 26 years old and lives in the most beautiful city in Poland. She has a great passion for all crafty things! Scrapbooking took stole her heart over two years ago and is still her beloved hobby. Magda is a young, natural light photographer who loves to capture beautiful moments in life. She can easily describe her style, both scrapbooking pages and her photographs are bright, fresh with pops of colurs here and there. You can see more of Magdas work over at her Scrapbook and Photography blog or on Facebook

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Purple is my favorite color. My mailbox is purple. Our bedroom is purple. Purple is a star in my wardrobe. But, when it comes to my scrapbooking… I have the hardest time incorporating purple into my pages. Worst yet, if a photo contains large amounts of this perplexing color, I tend to avoid scrapping it. So, it is time to conquer this, yes?

I’m not sure exactly why purple is so hard to work with. Perhaps it’s how dominant it is? Or perhaps it conjures up certain emotions or connotations? I really don’t know. But, what I do know is that with just a few simple strategies, I was scrapping with purple in no time and you will be too!

Use it in Small Doses
Perhaps the easiest way to “get your feet wet” with any supply or color that is out of your comfort zone… use just little bits of it. When combined with soft pinks and blues, the purple confetti and subtle layers work harmoniously without distracting from the photo, which incidentally, is one of those photos that had been set aside on my desk due to the large amount of purple. So good to have it scrapped!

Add lots of White
Almost anything becomes calmer and softer when paired with lots of white. Purple is no exception. I kept the other papers, patterns, and layers on the softer side as well to avoid a high contrast. A lovely way to showcase purple, I would say!

Ground it with Grey
Purple has several complimentary colors… green, pink, teal… but, my most favorite is grey. I love the softness that grey can add to this over-zealous color. In fact, it even allowed me to break into a never-before-used sheet of purple alphas. Paired with grey, all of the little purple touches shine in just the right way and lead the eye to the soft black and white photos.

Embellish with It
Here is another case of challenging photos I had set aside. The high contrast and deep jewel tones were leaving me with a conundrum. Once I decided to focus on softer colors for the background and layering and only use the bright purples in the embellishments, well… it all came together. This was also a good stash stretcher as I don’t normally have an abundance of purple embellies on hand, I simply put some scrap papers, ink and punches to good use!

Play with Ink
Speaking of ink, another fun way to infuse your pages with purple is to get inky and play. For this page, I grabbed some stencils, distress ink, embossing powders, and an oversized tag. I just went to town having fun with all of my purple goodies and ended up with a lovely tag to include within the layers of my page. The best part about this? There is no fear in “messing up” a page with a color you are not confident in. Play with it off the page and add it later. Perfection!

So, the next time you are perplexed by purple, be it in your supplies or in your photograph, I encourage you to put your fears aside. Don’t be afraid to try some of these strategies, play with ink, and put your scraps to use. Before you know it, you will have that purple on a page and in your album!

Thanks so much for joining me!

Ashli Oliver (aka soapHOUSEmama) is a recovering graphic designer, a homeschooling mother, wife, daughter, coffee addict, knitter and gardener with an extreme passion for mixed media paper crafting and memory keeping. Ashli finds great joy in both the creative process and the final piece. Most of her craft time is found in the wee hours of the evening when all of her kiddos are in dream land. Although, Ashli never misses an opportunity to grab a snippet of time during the day to shuffle some paper around. Ashli has been an artist her entire life. She followed her dreams and attended art college. While Ashli mostly wanted to play with paint and glue, she chose a more sensible major of Digital Multi-Media and Photography. After working in that industry on and off, Ashli put her computer and brushes aside to start her family. Never in a million years did she think that scrapbooking and the paper craft industry would re-awaken her inner artist that she had put away so many years ago. Thanks to a good friend who showed her the ropes just a little more than a year ago, Ashli has jumped into a pile of pretty paper and is never looking back!

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Recently Alice and I were both a tiny part of a lovely, lovely project from the very talented Kirsty Neale, a new book entitled Hoop-La!: 100 things to do with embroidery hoops. Alice’s contribution is far more noteworthy than mine – the hands that appear throughout the book’s instructions are hers, and she got to spend the day working with Kirsty putting all those step by step instructions together. I mostly got to look at all the finished projects, turning from page to page with various different intonations of ‘oooh, that’s just lovely’!

Here’s a little look at what you’ll find inside the book, and a beautiful capture of Kirsty’s artistic style:

To celebrate the release of Hoop-la, we’re sharing a few embroidery hoop projects of our own!

There are so many lovely projects in Kirsty’s book, I had no idea which one to choose or what to use, how to use it etc… all the typical crafty questions you ask yourself before starting a project! In the end, I decided to narrow it down to two questions: ‘What project out of this book would be most useful? and ‘What project would fit in great with my style?’ This left me with the memo board embroidery hoop.

I am constantly pinning things to my wall, getting through a ridiculous amount of sticky tack or pins with little reminders or shop cards, anything that I think I need to know or remember. This seemed to be a way to perhaps control some of that while still being able to pin up plenty of things. Kirsty’s version of this project in the book isn’t exactly the same to mine, but it inspired my hoop in my own style. I think it’s lovely to add your own touch to it. What materials would make it your style?

I wanted a cute, vintage feel to my little memo board, and by using the tweed fabric and lace, this really helped add that touch. I used bird ribbon for the embroidery hoop and tiny flower pegs to hang those important notes. The stitching was hand stitched and I thought the little button was a great tiny touch to bring it all together! It didn’t take me too long and I didn’t run up a big bill for supplies, and I’m really pleased with this hoop for my wall. I hope you can imagine it in supplies or colours you would love.
-Alice

When Kirsty first asked if I made anything with embroidery hoops myself, this is the project that instantly came to mind. It’s an older project, but a display minibook (meaning it stands open on a counter top or shelf) where each page is an embroidery hoop filled with paper or fabric plus photos and scrapbooking embellishments.

Now my challenge is to create a new hoop that combines Kirsty’s stitched and photo projects from Hoop-la with my current crafting style! What would you suggest for…
…colour?
…types of embellishments?
…colour or black and white photos?

I’m curious as to whether you would choose the same sort of thing for your own room that I might choose for mine. Decision time!

For more embroidery hoop fun, don’t miss Kirsty’s blog for plenty of loveliness, and find more details about the book via Amazon or the publisher.

xlovesx

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