Everyday Life | Karen Moss | Recycled Elements

 Hi - Karen here with my page for this month's challenge, which is to use recycled elements on your project.  I think I have taken this to the extreme!

On this page I have used a piece of a white pizza box cut to 12 x 12 for my background, tearing some areas to reveal the brown corrugated card beneath.  I have also used tissue that Christmas presents and craft orders were wrapped in to make tissue paper flowers (details on my process video).  White card from the packaging of a new pair of shoes, cut into leaves with my BigShot and dies.  I made a shaker out of a tag, some clear packaging from a packet of enamal stars.  I filled my shaker with the 'circle waste' from a hole punch and some beads and finally my journaling card is the packaging from some flair.

I did make sure that my photo was mounted onto a piece of patterned paper so that the recycled elements didn't touch it as I knew they weren't photo friendly and used some stickers, made for scrapbooking, on the areas that my corner cluster overlapped my photo.

I stand by my claim that this is the ultimate recycled project as the only stash I have used is a 6.5 x 4.5 scrap of patterned paper and a few stickers!

If you would like to see exactly how I made the flowers, and shaker element pop over to our YouTube channel and have a look at my process video. 

Please show us your take on using a large photo on a page on our Instagram feed or our Pinterest board.

There are more pages that our talented DT have made on there too. 

Take care and stay safe

Karen

Home is the Heart of Xmas | Karen Moss | Embossing Folders

Hello, Karen here with my project for this month using Embossing Folders.  

 I used a technique I had taught in a class several years ago - embossing on coloured core card and sanding off the top layer to reveal the core colour. 

I used a cardstock called Core'dination - it's  not as readily available as it was when I taught the class but I found similar card that had been dyed on both sides, resulting in the centre being slightly lighter in colour so alternatives are available. 

I started by die cutting flowers and leaves and then run them through my Big Shot inside an embossing folder.  

One they had been embossed it was simply a case of gently sanding away the top layer with some fine sandpaper. 

If you would like to see exactly how I made the flowers, pop over to our YouTube channel and have a look at my process video. 

Please show us your take on using a large photo on a page on our Instagram feed or our Pinterest board.

There are more pages that our talented DT have made on there too. 

I would like to wish you a Happy Christmas and a New Year that is approaching normality.

Stay Safe

Karen

Our Memories | Claire Murphy (ScrappyNerdUK) | Embossing Folders

Hey everyone. How is it December already?!

Well that means we have a new focus and this month we are concentrating on using embossing folders. 

I tend to use embossing folders when making cards but rarely use them when making scrapbook layouts so this was a really fun challenge!

 

I thought about how I could incorporate this into my layout as the embossing folders I have are only 4x6 inches and so I thought about embossing small bits of white cardstock to back a cut file with. 

I decided that white was going to be best for this to really help the patterns stand out. Definitely a single colour cardstock would work best for this technique. 

I chose to use the very pretty Unforgettable collection from Cocoa Vanilla Studios. I chose a neutral background woodgrain paper and set to adding the small squares of embossed papers behind my cutfile. 

I then decided I would add 3 clusters containing bit of ephemera, stickers and also fussy cut some butterflies to add into each cluster. 

I chose my photo to have a stark contrast to the white in the embossing and cut file to really help the photo pop. 

I then added some white ink splatters using a Posca paint pen.

I completed my title by adding on a word from the foam word stickers from the same collection.

And here is my finished layout. I hope you'll give this technique a try and be sure to head on over to our Facebook group and share your layouts there with us too. 

Claire x

Fresh | Sam Ball | Large Photo

As a scrapbooker who inherently tends to only scrap small photos, rarely even scrapping as big as a 6 x 4” photo, this months’ challenge certainly took me out of my comfort zone!

I did order a print 12 x 8”, but try as I might, I really struggled to scrap it… I can only put it down to the lack of ‘white space’ left on the page. Plus, because the photo itself was quite busy, there was little room to layer any embellishments over it.

 

After what seemed like an inordinate amount of time spent paper shuffling, I decided to look for another photo and settled upon the one I ended up using. It’s a print that I’ve had for years – the image, which must have been taken about 20 years ago, is grainy, but I’ve always loved it, and whilst it isn’t ‘officially big enough’, I was finally feeling inspired…

 

Having cut up the sentiments, I sorted them by colour, then arranged them in a waterfall effect, in the same colour order as the photo.

I used clear gesso on the background, then reached for my gelatos to create a watercolour background to match the colour run of the words.

 

It’s not my usual style to place the photo centrally either, but it felt right! After distressing the edges, I stuck each word down, curling one long edge in the process.

 

After that, there wasn’t a lot of room for embellishments, and whilst I initially thought I would be adding them in and around the words, I wasn’t keen so kept them to the right of the layout.

 

Would scrapping a ‘supersized’ photo take you out of your comfort zone? If so, it might be worth giving it a go, as I really like the way this layout has turned out!

 

And if you do play along, don’t forget to share your layouts over on our Facebook page, or tag us on Instagram!