Adore You | Sarah (ManxyCatCrafts) | Handmade Embellishments

Hey! Sarah here back after a break from the scrappy world and gosh I have missed it!!

I have my take on this months theme of Handmade Embellishments today.
I decided to create 3D butterflies one of my fav embellishments to make. I combined diecut vellum with alcohol inks to create an interesting pattern on each one and topped them with gems.

For my layout I chose a creative kit and handmade watercolours by Little Rainbow Moon to go with the mixed media butterflies. I used the Vicki Boutin mixed media paper and added lots of watercolour across the page with gilding flakes in silver over the top.

I printed the photo of my baby boy Jamys in black and white so it would stand out over the messy watercolour background. The papers in the kit were all different textures and worked well with the page, I added some of the alcohol ink paper matching the butterflies too which tied it altogether.

For my title I used white Perspective words by Bramble Fox I do love a scripty font!

Finally I added a few extra gems and stickers around the page and some splashes of white ink.

I have a video of the process linked below if you'd like to see it all come together.

https://youtu.be/ZV-gyvfKW_4

Thanks for joining me and have a happy scrappy day :)

Sarah

Sleep Amongst The Stars / Di Willcox / Fussy Cutting

May is fussy cutting month for us in UKSA and I think it's fair to say, we're all trying to think creatively about what we fussy cut! A majority of the time it's the floral or butterfly papers that tend to be cut into as they make great embellishments and compliment photos and papers, so I've gone for something a bit different and chosen stars.

I had a cut file backing sheet from The Cocoa Vanilla Studio's Boys rule collection and cut out the stars, some individually and some linked together, and made a crescent/ moon shape with them. 

Before I stuck them down on my white background I used water based crayons and the packaging technique to add some subtle colour splotches. 

After the photo was matted and stuck in place, I sprinkled and stuck some sequins around the page to add a bit more texture and effect. I did have a bit of an accident with the glue and this can be seen in my process video (here)!

Lastly I used a Thickers letter guide to help shape the title around the 'moon'. 

You're welcome to join us over on our Facebook group to join in with the monthly themes!!

And don't forget that we are celebrating (Inter)National Scrapbooking Day this weekend (3rd, 4th + 5th May 2019) and all the details can be found over at our Facebook group. Just search for UKScrapAddicts.

Thanks for reading and see you again next month!

Di x

Smile | Sheena Rowlands | Grab 5

Hi there Scrap Addicts x Sheena here again.

This month we have all been set a "Grab 5" challenge. To be honest I wasn't totally sure what this was but after watching a few youtube videos I started gathering my supplies together.

For my Grab 5 I chose - patterned papers, Vicki Boutin art crayons, embroidery threads, some Bramble Fox perspectives and finally  a selection of mini embellishments.

I chose the patterned papers as I tend to hoard pretty papers rather than use them, the crayons as I'm keen to find ways to use them in my scrapping since meeting Vicki Boutin earlier this year, the threads as I used to be a keen cross stitcher many years ago, the perspectives as I like trying new products and the sequins and drops as my collection of mini embellishments never seems to go down regardless of how many I use.

Smile.

I started off by mixing some of the art crayons with water and painting circles on my cardstock by hand and leaving them to dry.

Over these circles I hand sewed in a petal stitch in  co ordinating colours. This took me much longer than I anticipated but I was pleased with the finished result.

I matted my photo on a selection of the Paige Evans patterned papers and cut flowers from the leftovers to arrange around the circles to soften the look. I finished with adding sequins in the flower centres and a perspective as my title plus a couple of butterflies.

We would love for you to try this Grab 5 challenge and share your what you create over on our FB page.

Till next time x

Cool Kid | Sarah Costain | 6x6 paper pads

Sarah here today with my take on this months challenge.

I have lots of 6x6 pads in my stash from my card making days. I chose to use the Cool Kid collection by Crate Paper as it is so perfect for my numerous pictures of my little boy.

I started my layout by creating a mixed media background using inks and water. I let the ink run through the water to create fun splashes in colours matching the papers.

When my background was dry I added pages from my 6x6 pad across the bottom of the layout. I trimmed of the excess and secured it with some messy machine stitching.

The off cuts from the papers were perfect to create lots of layers behind my photo. I added some vellum and popped it all up on foam for added dimension. 

I used a journaling spot from the sticker sheet and added a silver clip and embellishments in the bottom corner which helped balance the overall look of the page.

You can check out the process video here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvCiyo8JJpQ

Thanks for joining me have a scrappy day :)

Sarah

Epic Fail | Lisa-Jane Johnson | Journalling

It's Lisa-Jane from Pretty My Page here today with my take on getting some journalling onto our layouts.  I'm the first to admit that although I believe scrapbooking should be about the story as much as anything else, sometimes there just isn't a story to tell, and that's fine.  Other times there is a story and we plan to come back to it and add it, but we don't, and that's fine too (there are no scrapbooking police thank goodness!) I am definitely guilty of this!  So for this challenge I chose a photo that had a definite story attached and I made sure I got it down on the page!

I didn't actually have a plan in mind when I was pulling out some papers to go with the photo.  Then I came across this Pink Paislee paper with the diagonal hand writing on and I was inspired to create something similar with my journalling.  I didn't intend to use the actual paper as it was the wrong sort of grey but I'm glad I happened across it.

I wanted to create the journalling on a slight diagonal like the paper but of course you can't do that with a 12x12 piece as you need a bit of extra real estate to allow for the slant.  Luckily the pattern in the paper worked in any direction so I was able to rotate it slightly to give me enough to cover right across.  I trimmed off the corners and then matched up the top and bottom, and voila - I have a diagonal piece that stretches right the way across.  

I wanted to add a contrasting strip in above and below the main piece but it obviously meant I would have the same problem with it not reaching.  The pattern on this piece couldn't be cut on an angle so I broke the strips and stuck the ends down first which left me with a little strategically placed gap to cover up.  I also added some stencilling to add another subtle layer.  I used the Ranger blending tool and the Grunge stencil from the Pretty My Page shop with some Tim Holtz Pumice Stone Distress Ink because the story was partly about the mess in the house during our first lot of renovations.

Before I set to work on the journalling, I wanted to add in any base layers for the clusters so that I knew how much room I had to work with.  I didn't add the rest of the embellishments until afterwards so I could write without being impeded or getting enamel dots stuck to my elbow...  The dots and hearts are from the Pretty My Page shop and the stick pins and metal studs are very old bits from my stash which always makes me feel good :-)

Typically on the day I did the journalling, my arthritis was quite bad in my hands and they did not want to be flexible and allow me to write neatly at all!  I didn't keep to the right slant on the stop half either and I considered redoing the background but, you know, life's too short!  And anyway, the whole story was to do with mess and chaos things being out of place so it's quite fitting really!  In the picture I was taking a moment to try and focus on the positives of the renovations which hadn't gone very well.  We were almost at the point of getting the bath in so I posted this picture on Facebook to say "yay, we are getting somewhere, it's not so bad, etc".

Then 5 minutes later the children were charging around and not heeding my warnings and consequently tipped over the bath bashing them both on the head and trapping them underneath! My son ended up with a huge egg on his head and my daughter was fine until she realised her big brother was getting all the attention and she started howling too!  I do think it is important to journal the not so good things about life too, don't you?!  The journalling here blends with the design because it was intentional in it's placement and the grey background means that the writing doesn't stick out.  I wish my writing was neater but here it becomes part of the design and I'm happy with that.  

Don't forget to enter the journalling challenge on our Facebook page to be in with a chance of winning the prize draw for vouchers for the Pretty My Page shop and as always, we'd love to see what you create so don't forget to hash tag us!

 Now go forth and make pretty pages!

Fresh Start | Laura Jane Thomson | Journaling

Hello UK Scrap Addicts!  Hope you're all having a scrappy week and are enjoying the selection of journaling ideas for your memory keeping that our creative team have been sharing throughout the month of September. 

This month I have decided to incorporate a cut file which was issued by UK Scrap Addicts for National Scrapbooking Day 2017 alongside a beautiful stencil from Pretty My Page, to show case a photograph taken on a day where my life took a turn for the better and we had a fresh start.

This is my completed layout and I will explain the stages throughout this post:

I started with using the Fleur De Lys cut file which was a UK Scrap Addicts exclusive for National Scrapbooking Day 2017 and is available to download HERE.

I had this cut file in the centre of a sheet of white 12x12 cardstock and in each of the four corners of the white cardstock I used Wilted Violet Distress Oxides using a sponge blending tool through this beautiful Fleur De Lys stencil from Pretty My Page.

Next I layered my photograph onto a couple of pieces of patterned paper, and matted onto a piece of patterned cardstock which I had cut into a banner shape, before adhering to the page.  

Using embellishments from my stash I added floral pieces to two corners of my photograph and a flair badge to the top right cluster, to complete each of these clusters I added some gorgeous enamel dots which are also from Pretty My Page.

I decided to add hidden journaling to this layout by adding a folded piece of cardstock to the bottom left quarter of the page, the front of which is also decorated with the Fleur De Lys stencil, after stenciling the main page I flipped the stencil onto a second piece of cardstock and using a baby wipe to 'clean' the stencil achieved this faded effect.  

Lastly, I added my title "Fresh Start" using yellow Thickers to co-ordinate with my background paper. 

Using cut files in my scrapbook layouts is not something that I am overly familiar with, however I am quite happy with how his page has come together and I personally think that the colours work well together.  

Pretty My Page have recently re-launched their website with more of a focus on Mixed Media products to compliment the beautiful products Lisa has spent so long working on, so to celebrate this launch Lisa is offering our wonderful UK Scrap Addicts readers a 10% discount on purchases made through her website by using the code: UKSA10

Don't forget to check out our September 2017 challenge by visiting our blog here.

You can show your support for Pretty My Page's business by visiting their Facebook page or shopping on their website.

Thank you so much for popping into our blog and reading my post, and I hope you'll pop back soon. 

Laura xxx

Hello Adventure | Gemma Summers | Journalling

Hello Scrap Addicts!

Gemma here with my layout using our theme for this month ... Journalling.

Journalling is something I have recently been adding to my layouts and I can now see its importance to me, in it helping to record my memories and story. I chose to base this layout on my love for walking and a new hobby, geocaching. 

I started by creating a mixed media background. The inspiration for this came from a rainbow stencil and enamel dots I used from 'Pretty My Page' our sponsor this month!

As I love rainbow colour the rainbow stencil was perfect. I used texture paste through the stencil, then added watercolour paint over the top, blending the colours together. I then sprayed extra water to help the paint run down the page. With my photo being black and white I went for a colourful background and I like the stencil's texture.

Once I had added my photo, the layout came together quite quickly.

All the embellishments I have used came from my 'Mind the Scrap' September subscription scrapbook kit. This included my title of the large 'Heidi Swapp' wood veneer 'Adventure'.

I created 3 clusters which were coloured according to the mixed media behind it, for a tone on tone look. One in pink, blue and yellow, which worked perfectly with the enamel dots. Each cluster also has a star in that colour too.

I always like to do my journalling last and I hand write it.  I added this onto a speech bubble die cut. To continue the colour on colour, I wrote this in pink pen to help it blend in. I like the personal touch the handwriting adds and the coloured pen makes it not too bold.

Don't forget we would love to see your layouts using journalling this month
on Instagram using #ukscrapaddicts

I hope you enjoyed this layout!

Summer Lovin' | Laura Jane Thomson | Clustering

As you have no doubt realised if you have been following our blog and social media, this month our topic is 'Clustering' in scrapbooking - something which I am not totally comfortable with as I never feel that they look the way they should do.  

As crafters we see the work of so many other amazing crafters and it is so easy to compare ourselves, for example I see some scrapbookers who create layouts with the most beautiful clusters at the points where they want to draw your eye around the page so when I create a layout using clusters of embellishments I then look at it and think 'YouTuberA' does it so much better, mine look rubbish in comparison.  

For this months theme I ended up creating three different scrapbook layouts with embellishment clusters before I finished this one that I am remotely happy with - I'm sure if I saw this layout on someone else's blog then I'd no doubt think it was lovely!

When I read through the blog posts and watched the process videos on 'Clusters' by some of the other wonderful UK Scrap Addicts Creative Team, I looked back at this layout and thought the clusters were rather minimal and perhaps not enough but I am quite happy with this layout, as this month is the first I have actively tried to add embellishment clusters to my layout.  

I have only been scrapbooking for ten months and I am still learning so much from fellow crafters, so I know I am nowhere near the level of scrapbooking talent as some of the other incredible people who share their work online, but I also know the progress I have made over the past few months and am slowly accepting that learning these new techniques takes time and to stop expecting instant results.

I would challenge you to try something new or out of your comfort zone the next time you decide to work on some scrapbooking or memory keeping... perhaps clusters are new to you to?  Why not give it a go and share it on our UK Scrap Addicts Facebook page or tag us (#ukscrapaddicts) on all the other social media platforms.  I cannot wait to see your creations. 

Enjoy the rest of your week. 

xx Laura xx

St Tropez Summer | Sheena Rowlands | Clustering

Hi there x Sheena here again x

The focus for us this month is to use clustering on our pages.

This was perfect for me as I love using clusters on my pages as I tend to hoard embellishments so need to get them stuck on a page.

St Tropez Summer.

For this page I've actually created a line of clustered embellishments running above & below my photo which also includes my title.

 Some of the embellishments are from the same range as the paper, Prima St Tropez but by clustering embellishments in this way also gives you a chance to use up odd bits & pieces, from old & new collections by tucking them in.

Also adding in different textures adds to the overall interest too. Here I've used stickers, wood veneer, chipboard shapes, epoxy shapes, flair...

I hope you get a chance over the summer months to getting some scrapping time for yourself x