One Walk A Day | Amy Kattenbelt | Homemade Embellishments

Hello UK Scrap Addicts,

Amy here sharing my layout featuring a few homemade embellishments. I have to admit, I struggled with this theme. I am definitely the type of scrapbooker who will reach for the purchased ready made embellishments that coordinate with the collections. However I tried to rise to the challenge and came up with these two ideas to use on my layout.

The first, very simple, bit I think effective home made emblishment I created were the three white daisys. They were cut using dies and thick white card, and then I used a black pen to outline each petal. To the two smaller flowers I added a yellow enamel dot to its centre, and to the larger flower I added a die cut circle of yellow paper. Simple yet eye catching focal points for my layout.

The second embellishment I created was slightly more tricky, but just as eye catching and adds loads of texture and is a unique touch to my layout. I used beads to create this border of flowers and simply adhered it to my layout using gluer dots under the flowers.

To create this you will need 3 colours of seed beads, some strong beading thread and a beading needle. I will try and walk you through how I created it, but you could also Google for 'daisy chain bead technique' to get some diagrams and videos.

Tie several knots at the end of your thread. If the knot is not big enough to hold your beads securely you can tie the knot through a bead to hold everything in place.

Thread 5 of your stem colour beads onto the thread (in my case green). Then thread 4 petal colour beads (yellow) followed by a bead in your 3rd colour (blue)

GGGGGYYYYB 

Now take your  and thread it back through the first yellow bead you put onto your thread. This will form a loop of the yellow and blue beads.

Now thread three more yellow beads, and then take the needle through the 4th yellow bead that you originally threaded.

Start over by threading another 5 green beads, then form another flower etc until the bead chain is the required length.

I hope you enjoyed taking a closer look at my layout. Be sure to pop back soon when we will be sharing our new theme for August!

Take care, and stay safe,

Fabulous | Sheena Rowlands | Inspired by another craft

Hi there UK Scrap Addicts, Sheena here again x

For our challenge this month we are to create a layout inspired by another hobby. Over the years I've had a few different hobbies and still quilt, sew and crochet alongside my scrapbooking & Project Life.

For this page I decided to use Quilting as my inspiration.

Fabulous.

I decided to use a quilting type pattern as my layout background. I die cut lots of 3in circles from various Pink Paislee Paige Evans paper ranges then cut them into quarters.

I arranged them on the base & when I was happy stuck them down with a little adhesive before machine sewing them in place. This did take some time but I like the finished effect. On line you can find lots of quilting patterns that could be easily translated to paper crafting.

I didn't want to cover too much of the background up so I added my photo to one corner with various patterned paper layers and a doily beneath. 

I added my title and various colour co-ordinating embellishments either side of my photo using foam pads to add depth.

I hope you feel inspired to try our challenge this month. Please share your creations with us over on our Facebook group.

Till next time x

Santa Baby | Sheena Rowlands | Vertical Design

Hi there UK Scrap Addicts, Sheena here again x

Our challenge for you this month is to produce a vertical design on your layout. I knew straight away that I would like this challenge and this layout came together really quickly for me.

Santa Baby.

I added a strip of paper down the right hand side of my layout then went in search of my Christmas embellishments.

I matted my photo on some off cuts of patterned paper then began to tuck die cuts and chipboard pieces in and around the photo building up a vertical line.

The embellishments are from various Christmas ranges spanning many years, I just picked the ones out that were suitable colours and went with this cute photo of my nephew. The snowman head is a mini rubber that found its way into my supplies.

When i was happy I adhered it all down using foam pads under some layers to add depth then added my title and a few stars to finish.

I hope this inspires you to try a vertical design and please share with us over on our Facebook group your creations.

Till next time x

Go Girl | Zoe Hailey zola28 | Hidden Journalling

Hi Everyone, it's Zoe here on the UKSA blog today.

I can't believe we are already in December, I made this layout a couple of months ago as I knew I would be busy with festive preparations and creative projects!

Inside of page before journaling

I worked with Crate Paper's All Heart collection (one of my all time favs!) and created a flip up on the left hand side of my layout for my hidden journaling. The story in my journaling is about me being kinder to myself and learning to love some of features , rather than focusing on the bits I don't like!

Photo Flip Up

I created some simple patches of metallic background for my clusters using Vicki Boutin's Iridescent Glaze. I tore my paper to act as the base for my photo and cluster on the left hand side. I attached this to my page with washi so that the whole thing moves. I absolutely love this affect, especially as it created dimension with embellishments sitting on the background page when you flip up the photo. I added the she shines sticker to make it a little easier to lift the whole thing.

Around my title, I created a banner style embellishment using the charms and tassels from the collection and attaching them with my Tim Holtz tiny attacher. I really love that I have another moving element on my page.

Remember ladies, No One Is You, That Is Your Power! Have fun with hidden photos and journaling this month and be sure to share what you create.

Boys will be awesome boys - Masculine - Stephanie Squires

Hello all and welcome to this moths blog post!

So as you might be aware - I am a girl!  I have two girls and I love pink girly stuff so this months challenge - Masculine was a challenge for me too!!

Well lucky for me my sister gave me two adorable nephews a year ago so I had plenty of lovely photos to choose from but my scrap stash is a bit girly....so I dug deep and came out with Shimelle's box of crayons collection from last year and I thought it would be perfect!

I found this cutfile on the Silhouette store and I cut it out on some coconut swirl bazzill basics cardstock (I always ensure I set my silhouette to pass through twice to have that nice clean cut) I then trimmed the cutfile down to 11.5 inch square.

I used the centre part of the cutfile first and backed some of the letters with some bright and funky paper from the collection and the "O's" with photos of my nephew Oscar!

Once that was done I started making up the layout....I chose my 12 x 12 page and stuck the outside of the cutfile down flat but I used foam risers on the back of the boys will be boys part of the cutfile to give my layout some more dimension.

I put a small embellishment cluster in the bottom left hand corner and raised the word "Awesome" on some foam risers before sticking it onto the layout.  I added some additional stickers and paperclip lightbulbs to complete the layout!

Thank you so much for reading - happy scrapping

Steph xoxo

Sunny Days | Sam Ball | Masculine Layout

With three step-daughters and a husband who is a photographer and rarely appears in photos as he’s the one that’s always behind the camera, my layouts always tend to be more feminine, so this months’ theme of making a masculine layout did throw me somewhat!

I wasn’t entirely sure where to start, but having made a mixed media background a few weeks ago, I found a photo of Harvey that I took when we visited Thailand. It seemed to co-ordinate perfectly, and so I settled upon using the background as the basis for my layout.

Often I’m sure that I overthink my layouts, staring at a blank sheet of white cardstock, afraid to commit to making the first mark! No matter how many times I try and convince myself that it’s ‘only a piece of paper’, nothing changes!

However, having a pre-prepared background this time has made the creating process so much more enjoyable and speedier, so I shall definitely be employing this tactic again!

The layout itself uses the fabulous ‘Indigo & Ivy’ collection from Pink Paislee. I loved it from the moment I saw a preview of it, but had yet to ‘cut’ into it.

After backing a heart cut file, I layered it with embellishments, ephemera and phrases. Often I find that the sentiments in the word packs are a bit ‘soppy’ and repetitive, but I really like the mix in ‘Indigo & Ivy’.

Having been away on a crafty weekend, a friend let me play with her Nuvo mousses. Similar to a texture paste in consistency, they can be mixed with water and applied using the packaging technique, but also dragged through a stencil to create a texture relief. They even have a few mousses that are classed as ‘expanding’ which are supposed to do just that when heated.

The expanding results were subtle, but nevertheless, I have succumbed and no doubt these mousses will appear on many more of my layouts!

Remember to share your layouts with us over on our Facebook page, or tag us on Instagram?

You Set My Heart On Fire | Zoe Hailey | Masculine Layout

Welcome to our challenge theme for November; creating a masculine layout.

I'm not sure what comes to mind for you, when you think of masculine pages but for me dark colours spring to mind, particularly black.

For this layout I have worked with Bella BLVD's collection 'Squeeze The Day'. I created my background using the deco foil transfer gel through a stencil and ran it through my Minc to bond a red foil to it. I loved the stencil as it reminded me of a metal grate texture; what more could be masculine? It certainly seemed to fit with my page which is an image of my husband who got to experience being a fire fighter for the day.

I used the Becky Higgins Project Life App to write on my photo, I always love other people's layouts when I see this but never really get round to doing it myself.... so this month I have finally managed it; My Hunk, My Hero!

So despite the brief of masculinity, I have managed to include red, yellow, hearts and even sequins on my page! I did find this theme slightly challenging but mainly because I over thought it! Whatever masculinity means to you, have fun creating a layout or two this month.

Thanks for taking a look at the blog and I look forward to seeing what you create this month.

Happy Scrapping!

Zoe (find me on Instagram zola28)

Good Times | Sam Ball | Multi Photos

I’m not normally a scrapper who used more than one photo on a layout, so this months’ theme certainly took me out of my comfort zone.

I looked through my photos and came across some from a couple of years ago, when we were lucky enough to go on a Caribbean cruise. One of the island tours we did was to visit the location of a Pirates of the Caribbean film.

With memorabilia including a flag signed by all cast members, completely exposed to the elements and a dressing up box, complete with actual costumes, it was too good an opportunity to miss!

Normally the one behind the lens, once Harvey was donning a ‘jolly roger’ hat and pirates wig, the camera started quickly snapping, as I knew he wouldn’t stay in character for long!

The layout itself was made with some very old stash – the beady eyed amongst you might recognize it from around 2013? It was a collection that I loved, so much so that I bought vintage ephemera and playing cards to co-ordinate with it.

But as is so often the case, when we love something so much, we tend to ‘save’ it, only to ultimately forget about it!

As soon as I saw the cut file, I thought it would be cool backed in all this saved vintage ephemera, and perfect with the photos!

A watered down, distressed oxide ink created the base background colour, but I did feel it was looking too pinky, so I used the same colour through a script stencil and added modeling paste through a cross stencil to replicate the scull and crossbones, and add texture.

Are you a scrapbooker that only tends to use one photo? Why not play along, and share your layouts with us over on our Facebook page, or tag us on Instagram?

Smash that Selfie! | RamblingsofGeo | Selfies

Hey everyone!

I hope your all well, and enjoying September's challenge so far!

I have completed the challenge in my Purple cutesy smash book, and I have used 4 snapchat photos printed on a 4x6 and cut into 4 individual 2x3 photos printed on my own printer at home.

I decided to use mixed media for this layout challenge; i used some Vicki Boutin Creativefx in Rose gold through a Bramble Fox stencil. I also did some stamping, and used the Vicki Boutin Stamp and die set with a flower style stamp. The brightest ink i had to hand was the Vicki Boutin Color wheel inks which i got for a really good deal in Hobbycrafts clearance section a while ago along with the Die/stamp set! - I then flicked some Shimmerz 'Its mint to be' over the top.

I backed the papers on a floral printed paper, and then layered up some washi tape behind the photos.

I used some stickers from the Shimelle sticker book, and some Amy Tangerine puffy stickers from an older collection of hers. I tried to used colours that would compliment the page on the left hand side of the Smashbook layout.

 There is a process video of this layout getting put together, enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddj2YbSk3UU&feature=youtu.be

Smile | Sam Ball | Sketch

I always find a sketch a great starting point for inspiration, especially if your mojo is a bit lacking… Sometimes, I’ll even do a quick pencil sketch of a layout that I really like, so that I don’t get too fixated on not having the same product as the layout uses!

I’ll sometimes rotate the sketch to suit the orientation of my photo and quite often the result ends up only remotely looking like the sketch!

Initially when I first saw the sketch I must admit to thinking yikes, stars – that’s so not me! Once I had doodled my own version of the sketch, literally re-drawing the geometric lines and curved shapes within the layout, the sketch was immediately more me!

Now when I compare the sketch and my layout, I think it fundamentally does look like the fab Laura Rumble sketch, albeit that the theme doesn’t incorporate stars.

I find fussy cutting such a therapeutic task and these papers were just crying to be cut into and layered. Mixing large blooms, floral elements and leaf fronds enabled me to easily create the soft curvature on the left of the layout, whilst achieving a near central geometric vertical panel using a series of the same photo.

The mixed media effect background is pre-done so like a sketch it’s a great way of not being faced with a daunting piece of white cardstock.

After adding a few white paint splatters across the background, I either glued or used foam pads to attach the floral elements and butterflies.

I’ve loved using a sketch this month, and with the option to rotate it too, I’m sure it’ll get you in the creative zone too.

So if you’re feeling inspired by this sketch, why not share your layout with us over on our Facebook page, or tag us on Instagram?

Live Life in Full Bloom | Karen Moss | Sketch

Hello, hello, Karen here with my August page using the lovely sketch designed by Laura Rumble.

I decided to give the sketch a quarter turn and use a piece of patterned paper to replace the two photos, I then added a 5 x 7 photo and flowers in a swag at the bottom of my page and horizontally either side of my photo.  

My page turned out differently to how I had envisioned as I had made a water colour painted title but then decided not to use it!

This was the result - more details, including the abandoned water colour title,  can be found in my process video here. 

Karen x

Instagram - karenmoss100