Guest Designer - Nicola Mardlin

Today we welcome our first guest designer Nicol Mardlin... 

Hello everyone!  First of all, let me say what an amazing honour to be the first Guest Designer for UKScrap Addicts! Thank you so much to Laura and her wonderful Design Team for inviting me.

So, who am I? I’m Nicola Mardlin, a Derbyshire-based former Primary School Headteacher and the owner of like for ever, a UK Kit company. When I’m not choosing and playing with lots of lovely scrapbooking products I'm Mum to my two children, Samuel and Georgia.  Friends and family will tell you that I’m an absolute perfectionist and complete neat freak and (much as I hate to admit it) they’re absolutely right!

My close friend, Emma, introduced me to scrapbooking around 10 years ago during a holiday in Cornwall. Let’s just say that we spent ALOT of time in the local craft shop that particular holiday! I’ve always loved photos and stories and so scrapbooking seemed like the perfect creative outlet. Ten years on my layouts look completely different and my style has definitely evolved but that love of creating a lasting legacy remains. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of telling those stories.

Today, I’m sharing a step by step of a layout titled ‘courage’. Often when I create a layout, I have a particular person in mind and so my journaling is written directly to them. This time, I created with my Dad in mind and repeatedly used a quote about courage for the journaling. 

Here’s a photo of the photo of the supplies you’ll need:

I used Maggie Holmes’ Chasing Dreams collection, but any bold floral paper would work just as well.  

STEP 1

Using white cardstock as your base, journal diagonally across the layout from bottom left to top right. I created a journaling box on my laptop and ran the cardstock through the printer but you could just as easily draw a faint pencil line to guide you and hand write your journaling.  Add your title to the top edge of the journaling. I used this cut file by Jodie York to create my ‘courage’ title.

STEP 2

Using a floral stamp and ink, repeatedly stamp the floral image 4 or 5 times as shown. I used Heidi Swapp’s new Magnolia Jane ‘Only You’ stamp set. You will eventually cover some of this stamping with embellishing but the idea is to create a backdrop for your floral cluster. Add a strip of washi tape too.

STEP 3

Fussy cut 5 or 6 flowers from your floral patterned paper and 8 or 9 leaves. Wherever possible, try to choose different sized flowers so that you can layer them more easily. Arrange the flowers and leaves in the area shown, leaving a space for the photo. Once you’re happy with the positioning, stick the flowers and leaves to the background, gently curling the edges up as you go. You’ll see that I also tucked some die cut white ‘foliage’ under the edges of the flowers. This cut file is great for adding that little bit of extra texture. 

 

STEP 4

Using foam tape, add your photo to the layout. I positioned two photos on a 3x4” canvas before printing. Add a die cut shape to the left of the photo, again using foam tape.  Finish the layout with a few sequins tucked amongst the foliage and a few splatters of mist. A tip for adding splatters after you’ve completed your layout is to unscrew the top and dab the end of the plastic nozzle wherever you want your splatters to be. Works perfectly every time!

The final touch is to trim 1/4” from the left and top edge of the layout. Mount the layout onto a contrasting background, ensuring that the contrasting pattern shows along the top and the left edge. 

I really hope you’ll dig out a bold floral paper, a floral stamp and give this one a go!

 

Once again, thank you so much to UKScrap Addicts for allowing me to share my layout on the blog today. To all of the UK scrapbookers out there, remember that every layout is a gift and a lasting legacy for those you love the most. Keep cutting, keep sticking and, most of all, keep celebrating your talent!

Nicola xx

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If you're a UK scrapper and would like to guest design for us drop us an email at UKScrapAddicts@gmail.com

Boy Racer | ScrappyNerdUK (Claire) | Multiple Photos

I am super excited to be a part of this new venture to raise the profile of UK Scrapbookers alongside other amazingly talented UK Scrappers.

I don't normally scrap more than 1 photo on my layouts (unless i'm doing Project Life), so this was challenging for me - but I really enjoyed it and it has spurred me to want to make more multi photo layouts!!

I've had these photos floating around my house for a long time now and never thought it would be something I would scrap. I'm so glad that I chose these photos.

We had gone away to Butlins for a midweek break with my parents and I caught on camera a silly moment when my now husband and my dad had trolley races across the near empty car park. I love these photos as I had used the multi shot function on the camera and chose 4 that showed the movement towards the camera.


I've had these photos printed on a 4x6 for 10 years now and I am so glad to get them scrapped.

So, here is the layout in its full glory!! 

I used Dear Lizzys new line, Lovely Day in this layout. I chose to use the bicycles and mopeds paper and thought it was very apt for these photos. I laid my photos in a line vertically and backed them on some white cardstock and then backed them further onto some mint green paper.   

 From the mint green paper I also punched out 3 3inch circles which were placed to the left of the photo, to the right of the journalling and to the bottom of the journalling. These created the visual triangle and were the perfect spots to place my ephemera.

To the left of the photo I added a tag from Lovely Day and popped some red ribbon through the tag.

I used the same red ribbon to create a line across the bottom third of the layout for my little flags to adhere to. From the cut apart sheet, I cut some some triangles to make the flag banner which runs from under the photo to the right edge of the page.

I added some journalling to this one as I used a sketch and felt it suited the layout to include some writing and I added the title in the middle of this. I had a 3x4 cut apart that I wanted to include on the layout but it was pink and I found it too hard to tie it in with the colours on the layout. I did like the sentiment on the card as it said "Choose your own adventure" So I decided to include this as a subtitle in a circular motion around the circle punch and added a camera which I had fussy cut from the cut apart sheet. I added some little flags to the left of the photo and I was finished.

If you would like to watch my process then there is a process video that accompanies the layout and you'll find the link right here https://youtu.be/Lr8lBFlqYIQ

Off to market | Terri Morris | Multiple Photos

Hi, It's Terri here with my first blog post for the new team. I'm super excited to be getting involved with this fabulous team. This month's focus is on multiple photos. I do often use multiple photos on my layouts but I mostly seem to scrap single page layouts. So I thought I would challenge myself to do a double spread instead.

When I travel I always take way more photos than needed to tell the story so I like to add them to a pocket page with a single layout on the other side. I try to make them look cohesive by using the same patterns, paper and embellishments so they become like a double page layout.

I choose my main photos to create a bold statement along with the title and then create a single layout. At the same time I try to do the pocket page so I remember to use the same supplies on both sides of the page. I'm really pleased with how these pages turned out and it was great to use a paper collection that wasn't aimed at the theme I was documenting. The papers are from Crate Paper Cool Kid with added embellishments from Fancy Pants Golden Days and older My Minds Eye embellishment packs.

We had a great morning exploring the fish markets in Negombo, Sri Lanka at the start of our tour. Surprisingly there wasn't really a fishy smell as it was all so fresh. There were 2 different markets, the dried fish and fresh fish sections.

It would be great to see any of your multiple photo layouts.

Happy Crafting!

Terri

x

Just two hours old | Maria | Multiple Photos

Hello everyone and welcome to my first blog post for UK Scrap Addicts!

Today I bring you a layout with two photos. The technique that I have used is printing the same photo twice, one in colour and the other one in black and white. I think the result is really lovely, don't you?

I am lucky to be able to print at home, so it was easy for me to just go back to my photos and reprint one in black and white, however I am sure that with a little bit of planning you can also do the same when you send your photos to be printed by a third party. I didn't use any fancy software to turn it into black and white, either. I just used the default edit options in Microsoft Photo Viewer.

Here is my layout:

The background paper is from Pink Paislee's Fancy Free by Paige Evans. Funnily enough, I bought this paper because of the other side: a very big and colourful, flower-like pattern. But I ended up going for the B-side, crazy huh?

The pink paper and most of the embellishments are from Cocoa Vanilla Studio "Love Always". I first got these embellishments with a kit and I loved them so much that I ended up buying two more packs of ephemera!

The gold thickers are from Hazelwood by One Canoe Two and the other alphas are from the Simple Stories' Hello Baby collection. The doilies and the rest of embellishments are from my stash (you know, those things that accumulate month after month and that you promise yourself that you will use more often!)

Here are a few close ups:

I don't know if you can notice them, but the gold splatters left a bit of a "wet ring" around the splatter. This really upset me when it happened, as the layout was all finished and glued together, and the splatters were just the finishing touch! I have learnt since that this is something that can happen if you don't shake your Heidi Swapp Gold Shine long enough. 

So remember, always SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE your Heidi Shine!! Shake it well!!

Fortunately, once the splatters dried the ring is less noticeable, so I am not so upset any more :)

I hope you have enjoyed this layout and it has inspired to use this multiple photo technique!

Read you soon!

Maria x

Love Tonight | SciFi Scrapper | Multiple Photos

Hi everyone, Emma here and today I'm sharing this layout I created, both on YouTube and the blog.

Each month we have one or two prompts/themes. This month one of them is 'multiple photos', which I loved. I often make multiple photo layouts, but it'd been quite a while since I'd last done one so I was happy to have this 'push' to get me creating them again!

I decided to make a layout about my Valentine's Day, and chose three photos to include. None of the photos feature me, but tell the story of my evening.

For Valentines I'd decided to take my self out on a little 'dinner and movie' date, and so my photos are of my cinema ticket, a still from the film and a photo of my meal. When I use several photos on a Project Life layout, I tend to cluster the photos together. This is because 9x12 offers less room than a 12x12 page and scattering them too far apart can make the layout feel cluttered to me - I like to keep mine feeling light and airy where possible.

When creating this layout I mainly used Crate Paper's 'Hello Love' collection, with a little Maggie Holmes thrown in. What better collection to use on a Valentine's layout?

When picking my supplies, I tried to keep away from anything too themey or romantic in the collection, and instead picked out some lovely florals and wood grain to use. I wanted something a little more elegant and less cutesy.

One of the little touches I love on the layout are the little cream flowers. These are actually beads from Tiger. They do several colours and are perfect as a finishing embellishment!

If you'd like to watch the YouTube video where I share a little more about my process you can click here or watch below.

MULTIPLE-PHOTO LAYOUTS

Today some of our creative team share their views tips and tricks to using multiple photos on a single layout... 

Laura R: I have two favourite ways of including multiple photos on one layout. One is to use a series of photos. When my nephew first started moving himself he did a character-full bum shuffle and I caught it on camera. As he moves towards the camera he gets larger in the frame. To show the movement I printed them all in a fairly small size and spread them across my page.

My other favourite is using then and now photos. In this layout it is the same person on the right of both photos, taken 31 years apart.

Jess: As a pocket scrapbooker most of my layouts have multiple photos. I tend to approach this in one of two ways. Most often my layouts will have multiple photos from a range of days and activities that week. When doing this weekly approach I look for similarities in colour in the photos to tie in journal and filler cards to compliment them.

Also I have started doing double page layouts which means I can group photos together where they match, even if it's not chronologically accurate. Occasionally I will use multiple photos all from the same event, these layouts tend to be special occasions like birthdays or if there's a day when I take lots of photo of the same thing, for example a trip away. 

I really like working with multiple photos from the same location and time frame because they tend to include the same colours and finding cards to match is much easier.

Michelle: I started scrapbooking with pocket page layouts which are perfect for multiple photos, especially if they don’t all follow a “theme” so I was a bit dubious of attempting a 12x12 layout with more than one picture as the main focus.  I’m glad I gave it a go as now I love to scrap multiple photos.  I like to trim my pictures so that they are different sizes and focus on the main image with very little background, then I cluster them together; often overlapping them and balance the page by adding embellishments in empty space.

Pol: I don't often use multiple photos on a layout, but when I do I like to get a series of photos printed as a photo booth style strip. That way I don't have to worry about the placement of the photos, just where I want my strip. 

I also like to incorporate the photos into the design. For example here I used different sizes of circle punch for the photos to make them look like the 'bubbles' in the bath. 

Sarah T: By nature pocket scrapbooking uses multiple photos on a layout. When I'm doing my weekly pocket page layouts I sometimes have multiple photos I'd like to use for one event. I'm trying to stick to a one sided layout for each week, but I'm really bad at sticking to one photo. So in this instance I turn to my favourite photo collage app. Picframe. I can group together multiple photos of one event on one 4"x6" photo. 

Roxy: When it comes to scrapbooking I find scrapping multiple photos easier, as the main focus is on the photos rather than the rest of the layout. I like to make my photos different sizes or use a range of small photos, and cluster them together on a layout. To make them stand out, I like to back my favourite photo with foam. The layout below shows this. 

I also like to scrap multiple photos in my travellers notebooks. In this format its easier to do a double spread and span the photos across the pages; this way you can add some journalling or let the photos do the talking. Whatever format you scrap by, don’t be scared to use multiple photos! You will find lots of inspiration in this post!

Lisa-Jane - I’m not very good at limiting my photos and I often use two or more very similar photos on a layout or series just because I can’t bare to not use them! A really quick and simple way that I often use to start a layout with multiple photos is to use the whole width or height of the layout for the photos. Once you’ve placed your 2-3 photos (depending on orientation) you are more limited on your options to use the rest of the real estate which can make decision making a lot easier!

You can fit 3 landscape going vertically...

 ... or two landscape going horizontally...

...or even with a little bit of trimming, 3 x 3inch square photos vertically or horizontally. 

Because these placements don’t involve much decision-making they can be a great way to get me into my creative flow and they can also give me a starting point at a crop too. 

Susan: I find scrapping more than one or two photos quite difficult and the best way for me to include multiple pics is to start with a sketch. You can change any element of a sketch into a photo; the original sketch might have had, for example, squares or rectangles of patterned paper. You can substitute these with photos that layer, tessellate or overlap in exactly the same way as the patterned paper did on the sketch. Your photos do not have to stay as right-angled shapes - try hexagons, circles, ovals, anything you choose! And don’t be worried if part of a photo disappears off the side of your page. One other tip from me; if you want to scrap photos that don’t fit together colour-wise, try matting them all on the same neutral colour to give some cohesion to your page, or you could edit your photos and print them in black and white.

Kirsteen: When telling your story requires a lot of photos have you considered ordering a photo collage from Truprint (other photo printers will have similar products). All the hard work is done for you. All you need to do is cut out the photos and place them on your layout. 

Here's an example of a Truprint collage cut and placed on a 12x12 layout. 

Do you have any tips to share about using multiple photos on a layout?  Leave us a comment... we'd love to hear from you!

 

Welcome!

Hi and welcome to the UK Scrap Addicts blog!  This exciting new adventure kicks off today with the aim of promoting, growing and cheering for the UK scrapbooking industry.  Over the next few months you will see these talented ladies scrapping up a storm... you can find all their social media links here.

I'll give you a quick outline of what we are planning...

We have two themes per month.  This month we are focusing on MULTI-PHOTO LAYOUTS and ADHESIVES.  Each and every 12x12, 8.5x11, mini album, pocket page or traveller's notebook spread we share this month will use more than one photo.  Tomorrow we will publish a joint post talking about our approach to creating multi-photo layouts.

Later in the month (Thursday 16th) we will publish a post about adhesives.  We'll give hints and tips as to what glue works best with what material.  We'll also answer any adhesive related questions you have - in fact, we encourage you to ask us questions!  Leave them here on the blog, email us at ukscrapaddicts@gmail.com or leave them on our Instagram account.

We will be bringing you one or two process videos each week on our YouTube channel, and blog posts from the creative team spread out over the month.  We encompass a variety of experience levels, styles and forms of scrapbooking so hope to give you lots of ideas and inspiration.

We will also feature a few guest designers each month.  If you want to join us drop us an email at the address above.  If you are an Instagrammer follow us (@ukscrapaddicts) and use #ukscrapaddicts and we will follow you and you may get a repost.  We will be sourcing guest designers from this hashtag too, so make sure you pop it on all your scrappy photos!  And finally, if you are a facebook fan we will be hanging out in the For The Love Of Pretty Paper group... see you there!

Thanks for all your support so far,
Laura Rumble