Make A Wish | Rebecca Meadows (Guest Designer) | Sparkle

Hello UK Scrap Addicts.

My name is Rebecca Meadows and I am really pleased to have been offered a guest designer slot for this month.


I have been wanting to scrap this photo for quite a while now and this months UKSA theme of "sparkle" is a perfect opportunity to use it.

I have used Carta Bella, Flower Market papers to make my layout. I love to fussy cut and these papers have a great selection of flowers that are perfect for this so this is where I started!

I had a layout plan in mind for this photo. I wanted the threaded sequins to represent coins being thrown into the fountain.

So, here is my process.....

Having fussy cut lots of flowers, I put these to one side while I began working on my background. I chose a pink patterned paper and cut two triangles from the sides. I roughed up the edges using a paper distressed and then marked our with a paper piercer where my thread and sequins would go.

I used a threaded needle to post the sequins on to, if you do this, be sure to check that the sequins will fit over the eye of the needle before continuing. I used a bit of washi tape to hold the thread at the back, then kept the stitches quite tight to help kept the sequins in place, a couple of the sequins still moved and grouped together so I added a small amount of glue to keep them in place.

Next, I added the pink paper to a piece of cardstock and stuck down my matted photo. I wanted similar flowers in each cluster to give a look of symmetry and used foam pads to add definition to some of the flowers. My title was an obvious choice and I think the sparkly alphas really finished off the layout.

Finally, I added pink and black mist to the background and some journalling strips.

I loved creating this layout. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. This months theme has been really inspiring and I hope you are having fun with it too.

Love | Sheena Rowlands | Punches.

Hi there Scrap Addicts x Sheena here again.

This month our challenge is to use punches to create our page. I have to confess to having plenty of punches that never see the light of day! So I had a look through them and chose an old favourite to use for this page.

Generally when I use punches I tend to use papers from my scrap box so as you can see I went through and picked all the blue scraps and starting punching heart.

Love.

I started arranging all the punched hearts into a heart shape but also trying to create an ombre effect.  I only used the 2 bigger sizes of hearts I'd punched and included them in a haphazard pattern mixing the papers.

When I was happy I stick each one down using foam pads to the cardstock which took longer than I'd thought it would! I really didn't want to cover them over so I added my matted photo and a few clustered flowers to one corner plus a couple of butterflies. Finishing off with a few splatters of paint, a machine sewn edge and a Perspective title.

We would love to see you layouts using punches on our Facebook group.

Till next time x

WKND VIBES | Amy Kattenbelt | Grab 5

Can you believe its December already! This month the Creative team at UK Scrap Addicts are working with a Grab 5 challenge for our projects. Join me over on You Tube to watch how my scrapbook layout came together using the 5 products I picked to use, namely

1. Watercolour paints

2. A stamp set

3. Gold sequins

4. A 6x6 paper pad

5. Chipboard stickers

Its quite a summerly layout, using bright fresh colours, just the thing to liven up these long dark nights. I used a black & white square photo on my layout.

The layout involves a mixed media background with some doodling and stamping in black.

Thanks for stopping by, and like i said do check out our You Tube channel for more detailed information about how i created this layout. Merry Christmas, and I will be back with another layout in the New Year.

Embrace Life / Sheena Rowlands / Stamping

Hi there Scrap Addicts x Sheena here again.

This month we have been challenged to create using stamps. I don't know about you but I tend to collect stamps rather than use them! So I had a look at the ones I'd most recently purchased - they were Vicki Boutin stamp & die sets & challenged myself to use them on a layout.

Embrace Life.

Back in August I'd visited the Frida Kahlo - Making Herself Up exhibition in London. It was a fabulous collection of photos, artefacts & clothing telling her story but photography were prohibited. Luckily they had this sculpture there & I took advantage for a few quick photos.

To recreate her flower head dress I water coloured paper using Vicki Boutin  Art Crayons to get a range of different shades of yellow, orange and pink.

Once dry I stamped flowers over this with similar coloured inks picking the parts of the water colour paper I liked the most. Then using the corresponding dies I cut them all out. I got a little carried away & made over 50 flowers!

Next I set about arranging the flowers to create a Frida type head dress, then sticking them down some on foam pads around my 2 photos. 

I kept the rest of the page quite simple just adding a little machine sewing, chipboard title and journalling. All papers used & title are from various Paige Taylor Evans ranges.

I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed stamping out these flowers & I need to try and use more stamping on my pages & have a good look through the stamps I own.

We look forward to seeing what you create with stamps over on our FB group.

Till next time x

Dinotastic! | RamblingsofGeo | 4x6 Photo

Hello everyone, Welcome to June's theme of 4x6 photos!

4x6 photo layouts, quite easy you would think... however when you document in a SmashBook it's so normal to ram loads of photos in it. Having the opportunity to only use one photo was somewhat of a challenge for me.

I picked a photo of my godchildren at a birthday party as i knew i had a couple of bits of memorabilia to bulk it out with. I used one single 4x6 photo, a leaflet of the party organisers, a cupcake topper, and lots, and LOTS of random embellishments.

Its quite a full on page full of embellishments, but i think i made it work..

If you want to have a look how i threw this together, then check out the video below!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RmkIEtxsE7k" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Thank you for reading!

Dad met Bear / Sheena Rowlands / Sketch

Hi there x Sheena here again x

For this months challenge Jackie set us a sketch to use or be inspired by from Page Maps. I find sketches to be a really useful tool to speed up my scrapbooking or help when my mojo is lacking.

I generally scrap 12x12 layouts so continued for this challenge.

Dad met Bear.

I love this photo taken at Windsor Castle when my Eldest was collecting his Queens Scout award. Bear was chatting to the crowds & I asked him to pose with my Dad who had also received an award. I only had 1 photo but that didn't stop me using this sketch, I just adapted it.

I used Crate Paper - Cool Kid range as I wanted to add some primary colours to this page to co ordinate with their neckerchiefs. I reduced the details of the sketch so it no longer touched the edges of the 12x12 background paper. I added lots of layers mixing different patterns & colours and ripped the edge of one for more interest. I just had to add this Bear from the chipboard sheet as its so cute.

I clustered embellishments in 2 places to draw you into the photo and rather than stitching then added arrows at the top and bottom. I added black splashes and blue ink through a stencil to the background patterned paper.

I still think my page looks like the sketch, kind of! Hope you get the chance to create soon x

UK Scrap Addicts Blog Hop Winner

Good afternoon everyone!

As you may remember, we did a blog hop recently. Some members of our design team made layouts using scraps, and in their blogs you could find a letter. When you put all those letters together you could form a word... And now we can reveal that the word was: STICKERS!

Thanks so much to everyone who participated. Out of all the entries with the correct secret word we have drawn a winner....

Congratulations Kirsty! Please get in touch with Michelle to receive your prize!

Keep scrapping!

UKSA Challenge 4 | Winner

Thank you to all the participants in September's challnege.

Our sponsor for September was Pretty My Page and they are generously offered a £25 voucher to spend instore.

We have consulted Random.org and our winner is...

Jane Gwynn!  We love this layout sharing poems written by Jane's late Mum.  We'll be in touch via Facebook, Jane.

On a personal note this is my last contribution to UK Scrap Addicts.  I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported the launch and wish the remaining team all the best for the future.  I believe they will do an excellent job of carrying on the promotion of UK scrapbooking and inspiring new scrappers to take up our fabulous hobby.

Challenge 3 | Winner

It's time to reveal the winner of August's challnege!  We'd like to say a huge thank you to Thompson's Craft for sponsoring us.  The winner, selected by random.org, wins a £30 voucher to spend...

Well done Essie!  Drop Laura an email at ukscrapaddicts@gmail.com and she'll sort out your prize!

Don't forget challenge 4 is up and running - you can find the details here!

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

Challenge 2 | Winner

We had some awesome entries for last month's Large Photo challenge.  A big thank you to all those who entered.

Just to recap the prize is a big bundle of goodies from Bramble Fox worth £35.

Random.org has done her job and chosen Ruth Sim as our winner.  This is Ruth's bright and fun layout:

Ruth, get in touch with Laura at ukscrapaddicts@gmail.com and we'll get your prize sorted out!

This wraps up the month of sponsorship from our friends at Bramble Fox.  I hope you got an order placed with our discount code and have some Perspextives and Flair ready to play with... I have some 'Bloomin Lovely' flair calling my name!

UKSA Challenge 3 - August

Back with our next monthly challenge and for August the Creative Team challenge you to create a layout, pocket page or travellers notebook spread using 3 or more clusters. The team will be posting their 'cluster' scrapbooking examples throughout the month to give you inspiration.

Once you have finished your creation take a photo (tips here) and post it in the comments of the challenge thread over on the UK Scrap Addicts Facebook Page. You have until midnight on the 31st August to get your entry in.

The prize up for grabs is a £30 voucher to spend at Thompson's Craft Supplies.

Not only have Thompson's offered a prize for one lucky participant, they are also offering 10% off any order placed throughout August with the code uksa10.

Here's the small print:  The winner will be selected by random.org - we encourage crafters with all levels of experience, all creative styles and we do not accept 'my layouts are not good enough'.  Everyone started somewhere, it looks better than you think, we are happy that you are scrapping!  Prize for UK shipping address only.
You may enter up to three times.

We can't wait to see what you all create! Happy Crafting!

Challenge 1 | Winner!

It's time to announce our challenge winner...

First let me remind you of the awesome prize!

 
allthingssticky offered a generous prize of £50 to spend on adhesives.  We'd like to say a huge thank you to allthingssticky for sponsoring our first challnege.

random.org has spoken and Sarah Elizabeth Wilkins as been chosen.

Well done Sarah!  Drop Laura an email at ukscrapaddicts@gmail.com and she'll sort out your prize!

Don't forget challenge 2 is up and running - you can find the details here!

UKSA Challenge 2!

We are continuing with our monthly challenges and for July the Creative Team challenge you to create a layout, pocket page or travellers notebook spread using large photos. These photos should be 6x8inches or bigger.

Once you have finished your creation take a photo (tips here) and post it in the comments of the challenge thread over on the UK Scrap Addicts Facebook Page. You have until midnight on the 31st July to get your entry in.

One lucky entrant will win a prize ... from Bramble Fox - a new UK shop selling fantastic flair badges and ace acrylic shapes called Perspextives.

Not only can you win a bumper stack of Bramble Fox goodies in our monthly competition, there is also a 10% voucher code available to all UK Scrap Addicts fans throughout July...

Here's the small print:  The winner will be selected by random.org - we encourage crafters with all levels of experience, all creative styles and we do not accept 'my layouts are not good enough'.  Everyone started somewhere, it looks better than you think, we are happy that you are scrapping!  Prize for UK shipping address only.

We can't wait to see what you all create! Happy Crafting!

Challenge 1 | Features

A huge thanks goes to everyone who has joined in with our first monthly challenge.  There is still time to join in - you have until midnight!  Details here.

We want to share a few layouts that caught our eye...

Antonia Sherlock - the gold polka dots, the perfect pink and mint combo, and the photos off set to the left made this layout by Antonia stand out from the bunch.

Kaylie Hooper - that awesome rainbow coloured paint explosion caught our eye in this layout from Kaylie!  And we love the detail in the bottom corner...

Maria Twizell - working on a black background is eye catching enough but Maria has also nailed the rainbow colours in her patterned paper choices.

Ruth Sim - and finally this layout from Ruth is just the perfect combination of colours, patterns and sparkly sequins.

We hope to see all four of these ladies - and YOU - joining in with next months challenge which is coming on the 1st July!