Fun | Amy Kattenbelt | Monochrome

 Hello UK Scrap Addicts, Amy here today to share my example Monochrome layout. I've decided to use Green as my colour, and have gone for a mixed media based layout as I love creating these style of layouts in Monochrome.

I used a fee shades of Distress Oxides pads in various greens, especially my favourite green called Cracked Pistachio. I used both the packaging technique and also a sponge applicator through a stencil. I also used the Cracked Pistachio Distress Oxide Spray to make some splatters (I had to let this dry overnight!). I also used my finger to make smudgy shapes with the darker share of green ink.

To add more texture and details I ripped up tiny slithers of a green triangle patterned washi tape and randomly stuck them to my background vertically.

I used a Bramble Fox leaf die to cut various scraps of green patterned paper and layered them up, mainly at the bottom right corner of my photo. I also used the diagonal net type die in a green paper behind my photo.

I pulled out random pieces of ephemera and stickers in matching green shades and added them to the layout. I added my title from green stickers. I finished the layout off with some little green gems

Thanks for coming to take a closer look at my Monochrome layout, they are really fun to create and a great way to use up scraps and random ephemera.

Take care, and stay safe.

Smile | Amy Kattenbelt | Moodboard

 Hello UK Scrap Addicts,

I've really enjoyed seeing everyone's creation using the moodboard I created for this months theme. I love using moodboards as inspiration, there are always so many ways to use them.

I decided to mainly be inspired by the colour theme and the rainbow, as well as the butterflies.

The new Daydream collection by Cocoa Vanilla Studio works really well with the colour palette of the moodboard, namely 2 shades of pink, 2 shades of blue and yellow. 

I used the rainbow patterned paper, and decided to keep it whole. I added stitched crosses in the edges of the arcs and lots of gold ink splashes for added shimmer and shine.

I have used two old photos because I felt the colours really matched well. I struggled with a title for a while, and finally settled on a subtle title 'smile' using foam phrase thickers. 

I then enjoyed an hour of fussy cutting, both florals out of the flower patterned paper and some butterflies from another paper from the same collection. I adhered the flowers, along with some floral die cuts, around my photos and also to the upper right corner. Finally I finished my layout by adding the 3 butterflies, using foam dots on the wings for added dimension.

Thanks for taking the time to take a closer look at my layout, Don’t forget to share your layouts over on our Facebook page, or tag us on Instagram if you’ve played along this month. I am very excited for our new September theme which will be revealed after the bank holiday weekend.

Take care, and stay safe!

Amy x

Tokaido | Amy Kattenbelt | Old and New collections

Good Morning Scrappers. Amy here, sharing a cleans and simple layout that combines a very old collection with a brand new one.

The old collection I am using is called "All About A Boy" by Lori Whitlock which was manufactured by Echo Park in 2013.

The new collection I am using is called "We can just stay home" by Michelle Coleman which is manufactured by Photoplay in 2020.

I thought the two collections would work well together because they have similar yellow, orange and green tones. They also have similar images of spinner game pieces. This influenced my choice of photo and theme of my layout.

I kept the design really clean and simple, a style I don't often do. But I think it allows the colours to really pop. It would be a very easy layout to Scraplift, should you wish.

Why not share your layouts that use really old stash combined with new stash, join us over on our Facebook group!

We will be back at the start of July to share our new theme. So be sure to check back for that!

Take care, and stay safe,

Jonah | Amy Kattenbelt | Inspired by another hobby

Good Morning UK Scrap Addicts, I am here to share with you my layout that was inspired by one of my other hobbies....Art Journalling.

For more than 10 years I avoided all things mixed media when I was scrapbooking. I discounted anything that used paint and sprays. I thought they were too scary as they were pretty unpredictable and messy.

Then, thanks to Shimelle's influence I tried finishing my layouts with a little controlled splatter of ink...and I loved how it looked. Slowly my confidence to use mixed media products grew and I learnt to embrace the curled pages and the whoops moments when something didn't turn out how I wanted.

 Last year I started down the slippery slope of Art Journalling (a hobby that involves as much stash shopping as scrapbooking!). Now I absolutely love nothing more than sitting with an empty page in my journal and some tubes of paint and just playing about...sometimes I love the results and other times not so much.

I wanted to created a layout that was heavily influenced by some of my favourite art journal products. Here is what I pulled out to create my layout...

I picked my favourite colours of Golden Acrylic paint, scraps of papers (photocopied old family documents, book paper, music manuscript and a photo from a magazine), a stencil, black pen, tim holtz ephemera and word stickers, matte medium, a date stamp, some rub one and my heat gun.

I started by using clear gesso on a piece of 12x12 card stock and printing my photo on matte paper and cutting it out.

I then created a collage base using the scraps of paper with the matte medium. My favourite tool to do this is my hands...applying the matte medium (which I use as a glue) to the back of the scraps and then also to front once they are in place. I created a very rough diamond shape design to the right of the page for my photo to sit on, and a smaller triangle shape to the top left for my title. I made sure to leave plenty of white space.

I then used a flat brush, and my fingers to layer up my acrylic paints. I added pops of teal towards the end of the process, and also used a stencil brush with one of the paints and the leaf stencil. Something I'm still having to be mindful of is that often "less is more" When I was happy with the paint layers, I added some tissue paper that had been stamped on and layered that in with the paint. The black lines on the tissue gave me something to ground my photo on to. I then doodled black squiggly lines around the painted areas trying to emphasis the diamond and triangle shapes. I added some wings to my photo and stuck it to my layout. 

I finished my layout with some very old teal rub ons, some phrase stickers, some star stickers and star enamel dots plus a couple of black heart puffy stickers.

I encourage you all to give something new a try...challenge yourself to do something you think isn't for you...it might turn out to be one of the best things you ever do!

Thanks for reading, be sure to head on over to our Facebook group where we will be sharing our new challenge at the start of June!

Thomas | Amy Kattenbelt | Vertical Design

Good Morning Scrap Addicts,

Hope you are all keeping well and safe. I'm sharing my take on a vertical layout today. I've gone old school using plenty of patterned paper rather than a white cardstock background.

The papers I am using are from an older Paige Evans collection. I am using 3 small photos, stacked one on top of another to create a vertical column. This is then accentuated with a full length magenta floral patterned paper strip. Even the larger yellow block of patterned paper runs vertically.

I added some clusters of embellishments in a triangle around the photos and stamped my journaling to the background ledger paper.

I finished the layout off with some little cute glitter puffy heart stickers.

This would be a really quick and easy layout to scraplift, you could really add your own style. You could go with the more modern white background and use new papers, or go retro like me and use up some of your older stash. Did you spot I've also used older photos too!

I hope you will understand that at the moment it is not always possible for me to be able to bring you a process video along with my monthly Creative Team layout, but rest assured that the UKSA team will continue to bring you plenty of inspiration. Join us in a few days time for a new monthly theme!

Stay safe, and stay at home!

2019 | Amy Kattenbelt | Paper Folding

Hello UK Scrap Addicts, Amy here with my layout that uses paper folding. I hope you have enjoyed seeing all the ways the creative team have used the technique of paper folding into their layouts this month.

I really fancied creating a rainbow layout, one of my all time favourite things to do! I cut this 'Fold and Tuck Star' by Alaa K on my silhouette in white cardstock. Once it is cut you fold each 'V' cut of the star over and tuck it under the one next to it.

I used watercolour paints to create this circular rainbow background. I decided as there were 10 points on the star I would create a 'best of 2019' style layout. I picked 10 photos from last year that represented some of our family's highlights, and printed little 1" square photos.

With the star cut and folded, the photos printed and and the background painted, the layout came together really quickly. I added some thickers for the year in the middle of the circle and printed some journaling for each photo which i then cut into stripes and stuck down.

I hope you enjoy this different approach to paper folding. I think it will be pretty eye catching as the title page in my 2019 album.

Do pop over to the UK Scrap Addicts facebook group and share your layouts, we love seeing them! We will back with you in just a few days time to share with your our new theme for February.

this photo | Amy Kattenbelt | Masculine Layout

Hello, Amy here sharing my layout on this month's UK Scrap Addicts theme of 'Masculine Layouts'. As a mum to 3 boys its safe to say that the majority of my layouts are could be classed as 'masculine'. However several years ago, after the arrival of my youngest, I came to the conclusion that I could either continue scrapping in blues, greens and browns (with the occasional primary colour scheme) or I could embrace all the pinks and florals and scrap with products that I love and that make me happy. So these days I don't think anything of using what some might class as traditional feminine collections. 

I know that for some this is a difficult thing to try and do, so i thought i would show you how you can start to introduce pinks and flowers into a layout without it being too overwhelming or typically girly.

On this layout I used a reddish hue of pink, almost salmon in colour, along with a pale mustard and a light aqua. The papers were from a 12x12 pad I found in The Range called Forest, by Craft Sensations. I had fun creating a splattery water colour background using the pink and yellow (deliberatly not picking the more obvious aqua colour).

I used hexagons as a repeating shape, I find geometric shapes can really work well on masculine pages. The straight edges are a nice contrast to the floral puff stickers.

As well as little puffy pink hearts, I also used little crosses, another great shape for masculine layouts.

I added a black puffy sticker title, and love how this stands out against the more muted colours. I added flecks of black ink on the background too.

I hope this layout might inspire you to think out the box when creating layouts featuring the males in your life. Be brave and give it a go...balance traditionally feminine elements and make elements, I hope you agree there should be no limits when scrapping these photos...do whatever makes you happy!

Stirling Views | Amy Kattenbelt | Multi Photos

Hi, Amy here today sharing with a layout that features multiple photos. I am a scrapbooker who more often than not uses just one photo on a layout. So this month was quite a challenge for me. I decided to go with 3 photos, placing them in a row with the larger one in the middle.

I created a mixed media background using distress oxides and a stencil, as well as some stamping. I used 3 colours to create 3 zones, one for each of my photos. 

I layered a few muted coloured patterned papers and doilies behind my photos, as well as used some thread for texture. On the larger central photo I also used some white leaf and branch die cuts.

I added a title using two types of Thickers and finished the layout with some ephemera, a butterfly sicker and some enamel dots.

37 | Amy Kattenbelt | Selfie

Hello Lovely UK Scrap Addicts. Amy here, sharing this months layout on the theme of "Selfie". Like a lot of us scrapbookers I am guilty of not being in many photos at all, and therefore do not feature on many of my layouts. Actually that is not true, I scrap plenty of my childhood photos, but that's not a selfie so I digress. However I have always tried to use a profile photo of myself on Social Media, and from time to time I think its a nice idea to scrapbook them. So that's what I have done for this layout.

For this layout I went with a drippy watercolour mixed media background in pale purple shades.

The papers and die cuts are from the new Pinkfresh Studio collection 'Just A Little Lovely'. I am really enjoying working with pastel tones at the moment so this collection is perfect.

I knew I just had to include this 'love your selfie' sticker from the new Vicki Bouton 'Wildflower and Honey' collection. But I also used some postive phrase stickers and die cuts from the above mentioned Pinkfresh studio collection too.

I love this little tag from the Cocoa Vanilla Studio collection called Midnight, but being a mum to 3 boys I hadn't had an opportunity to use it until now!

 I finished of my layout by adding a simple title of '@ 37', my age when the photo was taken, and some shiny enamel dots.

Thanks for popping over to look at my layout in more detail. Why don't you join on on our Facebook group and share some of your Selfie Layouts, we would love to get to know you better!