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

Happy Friday scrapping friends! This weekend, I’m delighted to bring you a series of scrapbooking challenges so you can join in our online crop and scrapbook right along with us. You’ll see quite a few sketches as well as some theme and technique challenges, and you can work with any supplies, any photos, and any pace you fancy – no pressure, just inspiration and ideas from a group of lovely guest artists! There are couple challenges tonight then more throughout Saturday and Sunday, so please check back whenever you need a boost. For now, Corrie Jones starts us off with a sketch and layout!

When I plotted out this page sketch, I imagined it as a design that would work well with a sheet of patterned paper you really liked and didn’t want to cover (something I also covered in this week’s Glitter Girl Adventure actually), but Corrie made me realise it can work just as well with something simply and airy too. With one block for photos and writing then some banners in the opposite corner, this is a design that can be made with just one full sheet for the background and everything else made from scraps.

I love creating with sketches. I find that I can be incredibly creative with a sketch as a jumping off point. Instead of trying to come up with a design, I can just play with supplies. Sometimes, I will take one or two things that I am inspired by from a sketch and other times, like with this sketch, I will be more true to the overall layout. With this sketch, how was I not supposed to be more true. I just love the design with the white space and two elements. Totally my kind of page. This page is the continuation of my personal pages about me. I rarely scrapbooked about myself and honestly, except for these monthly pages journaling about myself each month on the 8th, I still rarely scrapbook about myself. But I like these. I like that I have a few pages that are more than what my kids are doing or what event we have going on. These pages are a glimpse of inside me that I am sure one day I will really be happy I have.

To share what you create with this sketch, upload it to a page gallery like Two Peas or UKScrappers, or your Instagram account, then link us up here. (If you’d like to start using Instagram for your sharing, you can find info on that here at Inlinkz, but it’s easy and just look for the Instagram logo, really!)

Corrie Jones lives with her dear hubby and three active girls in the ‘burbs of Atlanta, Georgia. She has been scrapbooking for four years, ever since two large plastic tubs jammed full of photos started laughing at her. Four sheets of paper, blue Thickers, some double-sided tape, and a scrapbook magazine later and she hasn’t looked back since! Now scrapbooking is her way to relax, to stretch her creative side of her brain, and a great reason to spend my time with her friends. Other than scrapbooking, Corrie enjoys being at the beach, photography, and reading.

Comment [8]

I LOVE using quilts as inspiration for my layout backgrounds! This layout is no exception. It’s also a great way to use up your paper scraps. I have a hard time throwing anything that can possibly be used away so pieced paper backgrounds are perfect.

Gather your favorite 6×6 patterned paper pads or paper scraps.

Trim papers 2.4” strips and vary the width.

Trim a few dozen paper pieces.

Begin filling up the background of your chosen cardstock with the paper pieces, leaving a gap between each piece.

Keep going until the entire background is filled and you like the way it looks!

Use a sewing machine to stitch across each paper strip for the quilted finish.

Keep the threads long to also help with the quilted look.

Layer a photo on doilies (the larger one is misted) then create a title around the doilies.

Die cut phrases and leaves from Wilna Furstenberg then adhere it behind the photo. Embellish with a badge, tag with journaling and the date stamped, sequins, and more!

Try finding an image of a quilt on Pinterest and recreating it with patterned paper! You’ll create a bright and vibrant layout and use up your paper scraps you’ve been holding onto!

Paige Evans has been scrapbooking since she was 16 years old and worked at her first job at a local scrapbook store. The first time she put pictures and papers together it was a match made in heaven! She is the design team manager/blog hostess for American Crafts, a Garden Girl at twopeasinabucket, and on the creative team for Studio Calico. While not scrapbooking she makes pacifier clips for her etsy shop. Paige is the mother of two adorable children – Fox age 3.5 and Jane almost 2. She and her husband Chris have been married for 7 years and currently live in Grafenwöhr Germany where Chris is a dentist for the Army. You can check out more of her and her work on her blog, Instagram, Etsy shop, Pinterest, Twitter, 2Peas Gallery, and Studio Calico Gallery.

Comment [5]

Some time last winter, I apparently came down with a special ‘can’t say no’ sickness and took on a few big projects. Because, you know, growing a baby was not a big enough project on its own, apparently. One of those was creating a collection of craft supplies that will be available so soon now, and the other was a book… which is available now! I was thrilled to have the chance to guest edit this special edition title from Mollie Makes all about photography.

I am not a professional photographer. I am someone who loves to take pictures, loves to look at pictures, loves to learn new things with my camera, and loves to talk to others about photos in general. When we started this project, I said that very thing: but I am not a professional photographer and it turned out to be just right because we didn’t want to create a book about professional photography. If you’re making your living shooting photos, I am not your girl and this is probably your not book. But if taking photos and surrounding yourself with photos is something you enjoy, then you might find this book right up your street.

Mollie Makes Photography steers clear of technical jargon and instead encourages you to embrace simple things that can help you create more consistent images with your own style, be that by brightening things up with more light or getting the hang of your desired field of focus. It includes interviews with inspiring creative people working with their photos in some amazing way – Wilna, Kelly, Liz, Claire, Chantelle, Melanie, and Sophie. Both Kirsty and SJ actually built and customised cameras to share. We figured out how to turn an old camera into a lamp (and it was actually pretty easy), gathered tips from the professionals on styling and DIY photo booths, stitched camera straps and photo pillows, and shared some scrapping projects too, with a mini book from Amy and a look at Project Life for lovers of photos and paper craft.

This special edition is 130 pages in soft cover and can currently be ordered online for £7.49 to UK addresses, £8.49 to Europe, and £9.49 to anywhere else in the world (so it works out to $16.10 in US dollars with shipping to the US). UK readers can also find it via your newsagent, though it would be £7.99 and might be a special order if they don’t already have it on the shelf. Special edition titles are just available while supplies last, so if you are interested, please don’t count on it still being available at Christmas necessarily!

Many thanks to Mollie Makes for inviting me on board this project and to the Mollie team for their beautiful layout and lovely way of making it all come together. I hope it strikes your fancy if imagery is something you would like improve upon over the coming months!

Comment [12]

I think on the ‘Technique’ spectrum I fall more on the tips and tricks side. I like to find new ways to do things and find ways to make things easier. I’ve loved creating starbursts on layouts for a while now. Especially in summer. They just seem to ‘fit’. I wanted to share how I’ve been creating them lately… highlighting a little trick that will make them a whole lot easier and faster.

I want to hide the base of my sunburst behind my photos so I decided on two photos running across my page and sitting on top of a large title. I cut this title out with my Cameo.

I chose some scraps of papers in summer-y colours and adhered them behind the letters cut out in my background.

I matted my photos with patterned paper individually and then adhered the both of them to another piece of patterned paper. This way I’m guaranteed to have the centre of my sunburst covered.

I’ll be sticking the photos and their patterned paper base down later so I’m going to move that aside and layer a few bits under it here and there.

I chose a yellow paper for my sunburst. I was picturing a thin/skinny sunburst but this would work with thicker strips as well.
I trimmed random skinny strips of that yellow paper and got them ready.

Now, here’s where the trick comes in. I could just mark a spot on my card stock and adhere all the strips down coming off that mark. But I’ve found an easy way to do that… to keep them in that centre point but also allowing them to be moved around and adjusted until I was happy.

I gathered up my skinny strips and piled them all together. I made a pencil mark on my page where I wanted all the strips to originate from.

Using a long-reach stapler I stapled them onto the centre of the page…. having only one prong of the
staple going through the pile of strips. You could easily do this with a regular stapler too. You’d just have to open the stapler and staple into the pile making sure you have a mat underneath to bend your prongs back.

Now I simply fanned my strips out.

Having the staple keeping my strips anchored to my page lets me spread them out until I’m happy. They’re not going to move from that centre mark and I’m not going to accidentally brush one aside and have to line them all up again.

I did a quick check of their placement by putting my photo collage on top and adjust the rays again.

In the end I decided to add some more and and just quickly tucked in some of the extra strips with the B side showing.

Using just a bit of my roller adhesive I tacked down the strips and got them ready to run through my sewing machine. I added a few sequins in between the rays to sew down as well.

Now I have all my strips sewn down. By not adhering my photos till the very end I can sew right down to the centre. At this point I removed my staple. The stitches will hold everything in place.

Once my photos are glued down over top I sewed them down a bit and did some journaling under my title and some enamel dots and washi tape.

Sunbursts were always challenging for me to put together… mainly because as I added strips and adjusted them things got moved around pushed aside. But using a stapler to anchor them I’m free to adjust to my heart’s content and not always find myself back at square one.

Anything to make things a little easier.

Marcy is a self-proclaimed simple girl. She is married to her high school sweetheart and they have three kids. For the last 12 years they’ve been living on the family farm, homeschooling two of their three kids and renovating a 120 year old farmhouse in Canada. Yes. Still renovating! She’s a major homebody so country life is a great fit for her! Back in the day she earned her Bachelor of Education degree, but an artistic life has always been calling her name. She’s always busy doing something creative, photography (sometimes shooting others, but enjoying shooting her own family the most), scrapbooking, decorating… you name it! She loves that scrapbooking combines so many of her hobbies into one! It’s the perfect fit. You can find Marcy at her blog, Hello Forever , and hanging out on Twitter and Instagram. She also design for Studio Calico and is a Garden Girl over at Two Peas in a Bucket.

Comment [14]

It’s the first of June. June! Time for me to stare at the calendar in shock that we’re nearly halfway through what still feels like a new year, that Wonder Boy is a month-and-a-half old, and that it’s been a very long time since I slept for more than a couple hours at a time. Of course. But it’s also time for a new month’s scrapbooking product picks, which can now be found here.

This month’s kit includes plenty of summery brights, with a bit of distressed detail to bring it back from Rainbow Brite territory. Nine double-sided papers give you a mix of bold patterns and smaller, more subtle designs, brought to life a bit with red Thickers letters. This chipboard set is one of my favourite products in a few months, at least. It will stretch to so many layouts! Enamel dots always make a great finishing touch, and the travel motifs made me think it was time to bring in a map background for those of you who love to stamp.

This was my mystery item this month: in the store it looks like a pack of playing cards! But it’s actually a lush set of double-sided 3×4 cards. The Crate Paper design team have been creating gorgeous projects with these, so I’m inspired to see how they will come to life on my projects. Have a look at these posts to see the cards in action: travel notes, two mini books, springtime cards, and a pre-made vacation journal.

Plus a printable for some creative fun. My plan is to print it once in the original colours then also recolour a few elements so it can match any page made from these supplies. There is also a matching cut file if you are a print-and-cut fan!

As always, the Best of Both Worlds kit gives you the flexibility to customise your selection – add more, make substitutions, or keep to a specific budget. You can start your shopping here and add one of everything or make any changes you like. Thanks as always for your support!

Comment [7]

With a beautiful weekend ahead, what are your crafty plans? If you’re looking for the right project, why not dive in with some of your most special photos? Have you scrapbooked wedding pictures lately – either from your own wedding or as a guest? If it’s a project you’ve been putting off, perhaps now is the time to embrace it before those memories fade any further. I’ve been adding to my wedding albums for more than five years now and I love how the ‘when the mood strikes’ approach has removed all the stress from the intimidation of making a wedding scrapbook. Today I’ve asked three scrapbookers to join me in sharing their wedding page ideas. I hope you enjoy!

Wendy Sue Anderson gets us started:

A few years ago my sister-in-law called me in a panic – her best friend was getting married and their wedding photographer was not going to make it to the wedding. I hesitantly stepped in to help out, figuring that even the amateur photos I could take were better than none at all… and that was the day I was a pretend wedding photographer. I wanted to document this event in my scrapbooks but didn’t love the red and black colour scheme from the wedding. I simply printed a few photos in black and white, then chose a fun, bright colour palette for my layout.

A touch of vintage, courtesy of Veera Saarivo.

I love using white space on my layouts as I think it draws focus to the picture. I have used three main elements to create a flow to my layout starting from the top left corner through the picture to the title/journaling. This whole layout tries to capture the feel and atmosphere of our wedding day: warm, happy and full of love.

And bright happiness from Laura Craigie.

I started this page by selecting two pictures from our wedding day, and pulled out papers and embellishments to match the pinks and greys in the pictures. One of my favourite parts of this page are the floating hearts on the side which I die cut from corrugated paper by Fancy Pants, and adhered them by sewing down the middle of them individually.

Glitter Girl actually has a pretty big collection of wedding pages in her archives, covering her own wedding and being a guest. But if you’re setting out to make a wedding album rather than just a page or two, there is one video that might be most helpful:

In truth, these steps apply to any time I start an album as a complete project rather than a chronological collection of random memories, so it doesn’t have to be a wedding album in question, but there is something special about a wedding book that just makes me enjoy this part of the process a little more. The couple in these photos celebrated their first anniversary earlier this month and I still have days when I dip into that collection of supplies and add another page to the album.

Most of the supplies in this video are still available and can be found here.

(Also, I realise it’s not really normal to have whole albums for weddings that are not your own. I have two volumes for my own wedding, one album for a friend’s wedding, this album of my brother- and sister-in-laws’ wedding, then a heap of cases that fall in between, like six to eight 12×12 pages per wedding in my chronological albums. I just really like the pictures and I find I come home from a wedding with plenty of stories to remember, so the result can be a big stack of new scrapbook pages!)

Wendy Sue Anderson loves scrapbooking and paper-crafting and has been working in the industry for almost 15 years! She lives in Utah with her handsome husband Brad, her two teenagers, Meagan and Josh, and her two little boys, Seth and Zach. Wendy feels lucky to be able to design for some of her favorite manufacturers in the scrapbook industry – stop by her blog to get to know her and to see more of her work.

Veera Saarivo lives in Finland with her husband who is her high school sweetheart. She is as an HR professional by day and scrapbooker by night. Veera fell in love with scrapbooking about a year ago and currently designs for CSI: Colors, Stories, Inspiration and Paperilla Magazine. You can follow Veera on her blog, Instagram and Facebook.

Laura Craigie lives with her husband and three busy boys on the west coast of Canada. She started scrapbooking in 2004 while pregnant with her first son, the rest as they say is history. Laura is proud to design for Pebbles, October Afternoon, and work as a Garden Girl at Two Peas in a Bucket.

Comment [390]

Just getting back to the teensiest amount of time at my craft desk this week, making a single scrapbook page with a napping Wonder Boy all wrapped up in the sling. I need longer arms to reach around him to the desk really, but at least I was already used to scrapbooking standing up. Now if I can just get used to blogging with one hand when he naps on my lap, I’ll be onto something, just now and then. Anyway: that page I was able to finish this week relied on a pack of beautiful die-cuts, so I’ve asked three lovely scrapbookers to join me today to share a variety of ideas for scrapbooking with die-cuts. I hope you find something useful for your inspiration file!

Let’s start with Patricia Roebuck.

I went through Dear Lizzy and Amy Tangerine American Crafts die cuts and pulled out several that caught my eye. I decided the yellow chevron die cut card would be the main element to highlight my two photos. To make the yellow pop more, I backed it with grey pattern paper. Cutting up a few more sheets of pattern paper, especially the sheet with “Photographs” on it, gave me the idea for the title. The pre-made die cuts, the title I cut with my Silhouette, and the fussy cutting of pattern paper made this layout come together quickly.

Then a focus on bold lettering from Heather Leopard.

I love using die-cuts to make a big impact on my layouts. For this one, I wanted to relive the feel of the fun run experience when we look back at this page. I also wanted to include lots of photos. The best way for me to do this was to blend the photos into the title. I created my title “SPLASH & DASH” by super sizing the letters in my Silhouette software. I then downloaded ink splatters and added them around the page. Once I liked the design, I cut it out, chose my favorite photos from the run and then matched them up to the letters that best fit. I used one large photo for the word “DASH”. I then filled in the rest of the words and ink splatters with patterned papers and embellished with traditional paper die-cuts and embellishments that came with the Plus One collection.

and thirdly, Shanna Noel shares a fresh layout.

I love my digital die-cut machine and every single time I use it I am thankful I have it! Whenever I get a new cut file I cut it out right away on white cardstock and keep them all in a special box. This is one of my items that I reach for the most. If I need to color them with some watercolor or mist, it is super easy to do so, and if I need a certain cut out of pattern paper it is always easy to go back and do that as well. With those white cardstock cuts I just find myself always grabbing for them. One of my favorite looks is tone on tone and I thought this cut that I designed for Studio Calico was perfect for just that. I thought the die-cut on its own really made enough of a statement and didn’t need much added to it. I added a little heart at the bottom just because everything is better with a little love, and some splatters. The journaling on the side is something I have never done before but I love how it turned out.

And I’ve Glitter Girl has actually been up to some die-cut play as well!

This week’s mini adventure is all about dressing up the page with printed die-cuts. They make for lovely layered embellishment in a hurry. This pack is from the Maggie Holmes Styleboard collection.

You can find the supplies for this page here, including that handwritten ‘remember’ flair badge, while supplies last.

What do you use more often: printed die-cuts purchased ready to go or custom cut pieces from a digital gadget like the Silhouette or Cricut? Or are you happy to live in a crafty world that includes both? We’d love to see your favourite pages with die-cuts, so link us up in the comments! Happy Scrapping!

Patricia Roebuck lives in Mandeville, LA, about 30-45 minutes from New Orleans. Patricia lives with her husband of 23 years, her five-year daughter, and her nineteen year-old cat. She discovered her addiction to scrapbooking while waiting to adopt her daughter from China. Patricia has been published in Scrapbook Trends, Creating Keepsakes, Scrapbook & Cards Today, Scrapbooks, Etc., Scrapwerk, and Paperhaus. She is currently designing for American Crafts, Pink Paislee, Elle’s Studio, and Cocoa Daisy Kit Club. She blogs at Patricia Roebuck. She is frequently on Instagram and Facebook to connect with friends and family.

Heather enjoys capturing and documenting memories for her family of 5. She currently designs for American Crafts, Simple Stories and Gossamer Blue kit club, while managing social media for Scrapbook Circle kit club. She lives in Cypress, TX with her husband, two daughters and her bonus son. You can keep up with her on her blog, The Spotted Leopard, and Instagram.

Shanna Noel lives in Northern California with her high school sweetheart and husband of 14 years. They are loving having a house full of laughter that includes their two children Jaden (11) and Addison (6). She discovered digital scrapbooking when she was pregnant with Addison and just loved capturing her families memories in such a creative way. In June 2011 she ordered her first paper kit, and never looked back! You can now find her work in the gallery at Studio Calico as well as a peek into her daily life on her blog and Instagram.

Comment [7]

I love combining my favorite techniques at any given moment. Currently I am digging stamping, torn washi tape and hand-stitching.

Today I am sharing how to use all three of those techniques on a scrapbook layout. I gathered these supplies.

To create my own pattern on the cardstock background, I used the blending tool to stamp polka dots.

Then I used different frame stamps.

I took a piece of wide washi tape and ripped it into pieces.

Love the look of thin washi tape as well.

I wrote out the title I wanted to be stitched in pencil.

Using a paper piercer and mat, I poked holes on my pencil lines as guides for stitching. This makes it so much easier on the hands.

Then I erased the pencil lines.

And began using a back stitch for the letters.

I completed the rest of my title using Thickers.

With some finishing touches like wood veneer and journaling with a white pen, the layout is now complete.

It’s hard for Amy Tan to imagine where her life would be had she not fallen in love with scrapbooking in 2007. This hobby has afforded her so many amazing opportunities—including a number of signature lines with American Crafts, many of her projects published in a variety of magazines, her own book, and the chance to meet so many inspiring people—that she is endlessly grateful for. Her company, Amy Tangerine keeps her busy with creative collaborations ranging from custom scrapbooks to celebrity events to consulting services. When she’s not at home in Los Angeles, California with two mischievous Jack Russell Terriers, her long-time partner, JC and their adorable son, Jack, she is traveling, finding great places to eat, and doing her best to enjoy every moment. All while Instagramming everything along the way. Amy loves salted caramel anything, doggy cuddles, baby giggles, palm trees, riding her beach cruiser, and nachos. Always nachos. You can see what she’s up to on her blog and Instagram and join her for her latest online workshop, entitled Here & There Inspiration at Big Picture Classes.

Comment [6]