Hope you’re ready to put some bold papers to work with a striking design! Nicole Nowosad found her inspiration in this page when Cathy Martin posted it to Scrapbook like a Superhero. I hope both takes on this page design inspire you!
I was really drawn to this page by Cathy Martin. I just love her use of pattern and color and her use of graphic shape just drew me right in! I started this project with the idea that I would mimic the graphic triangular design with a photo in the center. I started by cutting large triangles of different Shimelle patterned papers and aligned them like Cathy did on her page. I changed up the color and patterns but wanted to keep that really bold graphic feel Cathy created.
The easiest way to do this is to find the center of a patterned paper with a ruler and then using a ruler, draw a faint line on your patterned paper to two corners to get your triangle! Really quite simple. I found it easiest to mount each piece to a scrap cardstock that I had on hand to line everything up, as I knew the whole thing would be covered completely in the end with patterned paper.
Once I created the base for the page, I decided to take the liberty to change a few things, using the rest of the page like a sketch. First, I added in a second photo and made them slightly smaller to 3“x 4” size. I added some layers of different patterned papers behind my photos to co-ordinate with the other papers in the background. This allowed me to bring more of those same colors in around my photo and bring all the different colors to the central photo area.
Next, I added a bold black title by using some Amy Tangerine Thickers. I love the fun and playful font and kept it under my photo to almost weld the two photos together as one. I added a sprinkling of embellishments around my photo and title area: little wood embellishments, plus signs and even some droplets of mist as in the original inspiration piece.
I love the idea of taking inspiration from someone else and twisting it to make it your own As you can see, both pages are quite similar, but they are unique in their own way. Thanks Cathy for allowing me to use your great layout as a jumping point for my project! I love how it turned out thanks to you.
If you put Nicole’s inspiration to work for you on any project between now and the 10th of August, please share it here. We’d love to see what you make!
This weekend is brought to you by The 20 Project – a brand new online class with 20 new process videos. Class starts Wednesday, so now is the perfect time to sign up!
Good morning and happy Sunday! Welcome to another day of inspiration, kicked off by contributing designer Sheena Rowlands, who is trying something out of her box and hopes you will too.
I love looking at all the layouts that are uploaded daily onto the Scrapbook like a Superhero Facebook page. It’s such a great way for us all to share our creations with each other and also acts as a source of inspiration for us all.
I recently saw this stunning page – Hello Love by Zinia Amoiridou. It really drew me in and I had to take a closer look. I liked the way the title seemed to be in and below the paint stripes and this got me thinking of how I could achieve a similar effect on a layout of my own.
My daughter has just finished her Art GCSE exams and whilst completing her school work has brought art supplies into our home which as a scrapbooker I’d not used before. I wanted to create a title which would be the main focus of my page so I traced a phrase onto smooth watercolour paper using a white pen. Carefully following the directions on the bottle of masking fluid, I painted in on to each letter in a thin coat.
Once the masking fluid was dry, it formed a waterproof glue like layer on the letters. Taking inspiration from Zinia I painted 5 bold stripes of watercolour paint over the title before allowing it to dry overnight.
I removed the masking fluid by gently rubbing it with my finger tip. It reminded me of when I used to pick dry glue off my hands as a child. The images aren’t as crisp as I had initially hoped for but the masking fluid did a great job keeping the letters paint free.
Life is a Grand Adventure. I really enjoyed using Zinia’s page as my inspiration. Even though we don’t have similar styles doesn’t mean you can’t be inspired. I’m not totally sure what my style is even after nearly ten years of scrapbooking as I like trying new things and feel its always evolving. So I asked some crafty friends what they thought was my style and they said – controlled clean messy, if thats not a contradiction! – a lover of layers – colour-driven. I would agree with them and feel this layout actually highlights all of these factors in my work. What would your scrapping friends (online or in person) say about your style?
Zinia’s layout has five bold stripes of colour and these are echoed here but in colours more suited to my personality and photos. I’ve followed her horizontal placement for papers and photos with lots of layers and I used pops of navy while Zinia used black. I struggle with white space on my layouts but by filling the page with the title it doesn’t feel too overpowering I hope.
Since making my inspired page I have found and watched Zinia’s process video for her page. It made me smile that she was also using a new technique to her for creating her painted title. It’s lovely how we can all learn and be inspired by one another within this community.
If you put Sheena’s inspiration to work for you on any project between now and the 10th of August, please share it here. We’d love to see what you make!
This weekend is brought to you by The 20 Project – a brand new online class with 20 new process videos. Class starts Wednesday, so now is the perfect time to sign up!
Hello there, and welcome back to Inspiration Weekend at Shimelle.com! It’s Meghann Andrew with you, and I am honoured to be a contributing designer here! Today I’d like to share a layout that truly inspired me to want to pull out my scrapbook stash, created by Nancy Damiano from the shimelle.com archives.
I was immediately drawn to the large amount of white space, horizontal design, and all of those colorful, painted wood veneer pieces! Knowing that I have quite a few of those in my stash as well, I went to work to create my own layout that stays true to my style.
The colors in the Shimelle True Stories collection worked so well with a photo of my daughter in a field of wildflowers, so I started pulling out floral, red, navy and green products to match the photo. I pulled out several wood veneer pieces that would fit my layout, and even planned to create a title with the wood veneer too. I often mix and match several elements to create a visually interesting title.
To add a bit more colour, I taped off my wood veneer pieces and painted them with blue, red and gold acrylic paint.
Along with the wood veneer, I also added various die-cuts and chipboard embellishments to add variety to the layout. I placed my photo, sized at 4” x 4” and backed with white cardstock, directly in the center of these elements, to make it the focus of the layout.
I almost never walk away from a layout without stamping on it first! These small flowers from the Starshine stamp were perfect for adding to the embellishment cluster.
To add a small bit of journaling to the page, I layered three different tags, and tucked them into patterned paper layers which grounded the bottom of my layout. Mixing and matching pattern is something that I do on almost every layout- and it’s made even easier when you use papers from the same collection.
A little bit of inspiration can certainly take you a long way, and by adding your own personal touches, you can still stay true to your style!
If you put Meghann’s inspiration to work for you on any project between now and the 10th of August, please share it here. We’d love to see what you make!
This weekend is brought to you by The 20 Project – a brand new online class with 20 new process videos. Class starts Wednesday, so now is the perfect time to sign up!
The next challenge is one that is minimal on supplies and time – perfect for getting something done right now. You can probably do this without clearing your desk! May Flaum and I both heartily endorse that particular artistic technique!
For my inspiration, I was scrolling through projects I’ve done for Shimelle.com over the years and I stumbled across this card (it has a video) and I got to thinking about washi tape, shapes, and cards. I suppose you’d have to be inside my mind to make the connection on first glance, but trust me, it’s there!
For my card I first took washi tape and loaded up some white cardstock. Then I cut stars out of it with a paper punch. I love doing this – so quick and easy and it’s always interesting results.
The next step, I stitched five lines in a grid pattern with my sewing machine on a 4 ¼ x 5 ½” card. Don’t have one? Just use pen! With this done I was ready to rock! First up, add the stars to the grid, decide which you like where, and then really get crazy. I used various Heidi Swapp mists and flicked colors here and there. Then I added a few sequins, buttons, and fun accents and bam! Card set.
Stickers or rub-ons would be great for the sentiment, in my case I stamped thank you. What I love about this and the original inspiration is that it’s bits & pieces. Lines & details on a plain white card. Great for scraps, when you’re short on time, or if you’re just wanting a splash of color on a homemade card.
I hope I’ve inspired you to drop a note to a friend today!
If you put May’s inspiration to work for you on any project between now and the 10th of August, please share it here. We’d love to see what you make!
This weekend is brought to you by The 20 Project – a brand new online class with 20 new process videos. Class starts Wednesday, so now is the perfect time to sign up!
I love using geometric shapes on my layouts and I love color! So I recreated some of those elements on my own design. Like her original design, I also used squares to create a large diamond shape on my page. I started by using a square 1 1/2” punch to punch out various patterned paper squares from the Shimelle Go Now Go collection.
I then cut some squares in half at a diagonal to create two toned geometric squares, I then adhered them to a piece of white cardstock paper.
To add a homemade feel to my layout I added some hand stitching using white embroidery floss around the outside of my triangle design.
I then created my title using a combination of stickers and thickers and finished my design by adding ink, paint, and a few other embellishments to my page.
If you put Gina’s inspiration to work for you on any project between now and the 10th of August, please share it here. We’d love to see what you make!
This weekend is brought to you by The 20 Project – a brand new online class with 20 new process videos. Class starts Wednesday, so now is the perfect time to sign up!
I’m delighted to bring you a full weekend of scrapbooking inspiration here at shimelle.com, starting right here! Each post today and tomorrow includes a chance to link up and share your work, with the deadline not until the 10th of August, so you have plenty of time to participate. We’re taking all our inspiration this weekend from the pages posted in the Scrapbook Like a Superhero Facebook group, the #shimelle hashtag on Instagram and posts in the shimelle.com archives. Kirsty is kicking off the fun by going all the way back to 2011!
Sketches can be a great way to develop and feature your own scrapbooking style without having to go to the trouble of designing a page completely from scratch. A sketch, and indeed layouts made from that sketch, offers a lovely starting point to a design and can still give you lots of freedom to include all those little things that make scrapbooks so personal.
I do think it is important to choose a sketch that you know will work for you. I wanted to use this sketch from Shimelle’s archive largely because it featured a single square photo and had lots of white space. I’m really enjoying working with square photos at the moment, which perhaps has something to do with Instagram, but it also allows me to pair a layout with a divided page protector of nine photos. That means I get more pictures in my album, and the square format means it doesn’t matter whether they are portrait or landscape.
This layout gave me really great guidance in placing my photo, and then including words and embellishments on the diagonal.
More often than not, I like to work with a white cardstock background. I think it helps the pictures and embellishment to really stand out. During the last few months, I have learned how to use a craft knife to make paper cuts, which are detailed, hand-written titles. I love the white-on-white subtlety of a lacy title on a white cardstock background, and this is probably the most recent technique I have incorporated into my pages. Learning to make papercuts was in some ways easier that I thought: the only equipment you need is a knife and a cutting mat. Using this technique has given me so much flexibility with my titles, and while I am still practising to improve the detail I can accomplish, it’s a process I’m enjoying very much. I like to learn new things!
Once I had made my title, The Very Friendly Zebra, I realised it was a little large to go in the space suggested by the sketch. So instead, I moved it into the journaling spot. This worked well for me: it was still a spot on the sketch marked for writing, but placing the title there balanced the page so much better. Following that decision, I wrote my journaling on little cards to include with the divided page protector, instead of on the page itself. Finally, I put a neutral, grid journaling card underneath the title to ground it, and frame the words.
By the way, if the title seems a little unusual, this page is about my experience in the town of Sucre in Bolivia. The traffic there is a nightmare, with drivers simply ignoring pedestrian crossings and the rules of the road. To combat this, the government employs students to wear zebra costumes and stand by the zebra crossings to manage the traffic, and so whenever it’s time for pedestrians to cross, the zebras dance out into the road, halting cars, walking small children to safety and generally being wonderful and cheery and cuddly. They do an amazing job!
When I scrapbook, I don’t stick anything down until the end, so my next step was to position some embellishment options. The photo here has black and white from the zebra stripes, and also features a lovely blue in the sky, and the sandy and grey neutral tones of buildings. So this was the colour palette I worked with. I pulled out scraps of patterned paper to layer behind the photo which would complement these colours. I love to use layering to emphasise a photo, and it’s a technique that is pretty much a staple feature of my layouts.
I also like to complement the story of my page wherever possible, so I included a camera icon and little luggage tag stickers to suggest travel. Once I was happy with the position of everything, I could build up the finished design. I inked the edges of all the patterned paper (something I always do as it can really define the layers) and splattered black droplets of mist onto my background sheet. Then I gradually built up my page, adhering the different layers, and arranging my embellishments along the diagonal as the sketch suggests. I also popped up the title on little foam squares; again something I do regularly for hand cut titles as it gives them a bit of depth off the page and creates a little shadow. The final touch was a scatter of wood veneer stars, and a quick hand-drawn border to include the date and add a bit of definition to the edge of the layout.
I loved using the sketch to incorporate key elements of the design, and reflecting on the finished layout, I can see a lot of my signature in it! From white cardstock, a single photo and a 12×12 design right through to using a camera icon (always my favourite and works for ANY theme), hand-cutting a title, using layers and adding ink droplets.
To complete this project, I filled a divided page protector with other photos I had taken of Sucre and the wonderful zebras. The colours in the photos tied in with the page very effectively and I was able to slip a couple of journaling cards in behind. Actually, this is perhaps the one part of my style that didn’t make it onto the layout; I usually make it a priority to include hand-written journaling. But given that I have included it here, I suppose my handwriting got into the layout after all! These two pages will go together in my album and tell the full story of a lovely day exploring the town.
If you put Kirsty’s inspiration to work for you on any project between now and the 10th of August, please share it here. We’d love to see what you make!
This weekend is brought to you by The 20 Project – a brand new online class with 20 new process videos. Class starts Wednesday, so now is the perfect time to sign up!
Just so you know this definitely happens here, the layout I was working on to share with you at 4pm has gone horribly wrong. I’ve reached that point where I need to look at something else rather than stare continually at something that just isn’t working for me. So I’ve made a little change to this final challenge. I want you to challenge me.
I’m going to scrapbook the photo above. It was taken Friday, so the story is all very clear in my mind and I will happily share that with you when I finish the page. But I will take all my design suggestions from the comments on this post. Feel free to give me your choices of things like photo size, techniques, colours, specific supplies, motifs – whatever you would like to see me try. I’ll wait just a bit to get started, and I’ll share the page as soon as it’s complete!
As for how you can then take part in the challenge – you need to choose one of the other comments left and use those suggestions for your challenge. You can read them all and pick or you can just close your eyes and point and see what you get in a lucky dip! It’s the Choose-Your-Own-Challenge!
Hands up if you still have some of the original American Crafts Shimelle collection in your stash! I’ve asked three inspiring crafters to share their ideas for putting those supplies to use. They’ve made me want to go back to those patterns and embellishments, so I hope they get you crafting too! Please welcome Stephanie Baxter, Steffi Ried, and Jana McCarthy!
Stephanie says: There are a couple of birthdays on my calendar that always fall when I’m busiest and can catch me unawares if I haven’t prepared for them in advance of all the hustle and bustle! I decided to make a birthday gift box ahead of time so that I can just pop the gift in and have it ready to go in no time at all. I’ve been loving looking on Pinterest at all the gift-wrapping inspiration lately, feeling super inspired by all the lovely paper, doilies, and die-cuts that I’ve seen layered on top of gift boxes. I used an empty box that my Studio Calico Project Life kit comes in as the foundation and built up layers using various beautiful pieces from Shimelle’s first collection, adding in a couple of doilies and other bits and bobs to finish it off. I didn’t glue anything down but kept it all together with a wooden peg instead, so that the recipient can reuse each piece if they want to. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!
Stephanie’s first scrapbook page was about her high school prom and made in maroon in 2005. See more of her work at her blog.
Steffi says: And here comes my layout. The name of the layout is “Good Morning”. I used a snapshot from my little girl in the morning with her hot chocolate in the kitchen to capture a sweet moment in our everyday life. The embellishments and colours from this beautiful collection fits perfectly with my photos and the theme. They made it so much fun to scrap!
Steffi lives in the south part of Germany. You can see more of her work on her “blog”: (www.steffiried.blogspot.de) or on Instagram.
Jana says: I really love the greens and blues in this collection, perfect to scrap photos from my boys! This photo was taken on a lovely walk into a little forest. We had a great trip and so much fun, but we needed to take some breaks and just enjoy the moment! That’s what I hoped to capture on my page.
Jana’s first scrapbook page was about her youngest son and made in kraft with a touch of blue in 2013. See more of her work at her blog.
Now it’s your turn – and hopefully you could see this coming! It’s time to craft with that first Shimelle collection. If you don’t have any on hand, please don’t worry and just enjoy any of the other challenges! But if you do, it’s time to move something from your stash to your albums! And we’d absolutely love to see what you make. You’ll inspire someone else to get using that stash!
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