Friday, December 30, 2016

Joy - DT layout for The Cut Shoppe

Hi there,

I'm back with you today with a new layout I made for The Cut Shoppe. It's hard for me to let go of Christmas just yet, so I have a Christmas layout for you :).

I used two cut files on my layout:



I chose a photo that is very poor quality, taken in the dark with flash, but the story was important to me so I wanted to scrap it. I took this when I took Maxim for a walk so Santa can bring presents while we are away :).

I wanted to work with the beautiful My Mind's Eye Comfort and Joy collection, mainly because I love the plaid papers and embellies! 

I really loved this note paper for background but I already cut both my cut files and they covered up the deer. So I decided to cut a part of the deer out with my Xcto knife and put the cut file behind it. I backed the Geo Globe cut file with patterned paper and adhered it to my background. The wreath I sewed on with black thread to give the circle more definition.


To add a bit of gold and some texture to my layout, I tucked some gold thread behind a couple of chipboard pieces. 


For my title I chose a chipboard sticker too, which fit my story perfectly. 


I layered some patterned papers and tissue paper behind my photo to give it a lift and also to help it stand out more. I stitched on a few cute chipboard buttons with gold embroidery floss.


I added my date on a tab I had left from an old Citrus Twist Kit. For my journaling I used a long tab sticker from the MME sticker sheet which I cut into two pieces and tucked under my photo.


I hope you like this layout as much as I do!

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful day X



Friday, December 16, 2016

Open When... - DT Project for Fancy Pants Designs

Hi guys,

I'm back today with another off the page project. I have to say I'm quite enjoying these! I love layouts but sometimes a bit of change is refreshing!

While I was browsing the Silhouette Store on Black Friday (I will not tell you how many cut files I ended up buying...) I happened upon a cut file that spiked my interest. I'm not sure whose original idea this was, so I can't give credit, but it's such a neat idea! It's called Open When...Basically the idea is, you have a few (or many if you wish) envelopes with the text Open When on them, and then you write different things on them like Sad, Happy, Bored etc, whatever you like. Then the person you give these to can open the envelopes on the day they feel sad, happy, bored etc. You put some small items in these envelopes to match your titles...You get the gist.
I really loved this idea! So I decided to make one for a friend of mine as a Christmas present using the gorgeous Merry & Bright collection. Here's my finished project:



I made five envelopes. I tried to use some of the ephemera pieces, so I came up with these titles:
Open When...Now
Open When...25 December
Open When...Naughty
Open When...31 December
Open When...Sad



I used an envelope cut file and cut all five from different patterned papers. I then cut five rectangle shapes (slightly smaller than the envelopes) with the title "Open When" with my Silhouette Cameo. I backed the text with different patterned papers so they stand out. I drew around the letters with a black marker because some of them didn't stand out as much as I hoped for. I adhered these to the front of my envelopes and then machine stitched around them. Then to close my envelopes, I punched some 1" circles and attached them to the envelopes with eyelets. Just wrap around some twine and you're done. I wanted to decorate my envelopes a little, so I picked out some embellishments from this collection: ephemera and puffy stickers. I also used some puffy alpha stickers from the Attwell collection and the small red alphas are from the Childish Things collection.



I then put together my box. I cut the base from one of the busier and darker patterned papers in the collection, and the accent pieces from a different color paper, that was not so busy. This way I could add some embellishments as well, without the box getting too overloaded. I remembered I had a big red button from the Summer Sun collection, and it turned out to be perfect for my box. I stitched it on with some twine and I left a long piece of twine around my button so I can wrap it around the box to close it.


To fill the envelopes think for instance gift cards, chocolates, gummy bears, tags and flair buttons, Kleenex, sparklers, cards, crossword puzzles etc. Something small. If my friend was a scrapbooker it would be quite easy to add little embellishments in each envelope :).


I made two cards for her too, one to go in the Christmas Day envelope and the other in the New Year's Eve one.



I like how it turned out, I hope my friend will too! Hope I could inspire you to make some handmade gifts this Christmas! Even if you don't have a die cutting machine, this box and these envelopes are not impossible to make, so don't get discouraged!

Thanks for stopping by! X

Monday, December 12, 2016

December Story - DT layout for The Cut Shoppe

Hi there,
 
I have a new you layout for you guys today! This one is for The Cut Shoppe.
 
It's winter and while I am not big on doing fall and winter layouts (probably because the weather here is awful, ha!), when I saw the Tinsel Town cut file set, I knew I had to create one!
 
 
I picked the deer which is also my favourite image in Tinsel Town, Ashley's Christmas collection for Pretty Little Studio.
 

I had some scraps from last year's Pinkfresh Studio Christmas collection, Christmas Wishes and since I loved that collection I really wanted to use those up. I mixed in some papers from this year's collection, Oh Joy too. Thankfully they work great together!
 
I cut my scraps into strips and glued them on the negative shape of the cut file. Once done, I glued the outline on top. This was a bit tricky with this particular cut file, because it is a very thin outline and I cut off the bottom so the piece did not hold its shape. It did not turn out perfect but I still like the way it looks! I distressed the edges of my strips to give them a bit of depth. I used 3d glue dots to pop up my deer and give some dimension to my layout.
 
 
I then had the idea that it would be fun to add embellishments to the antlers in a way that they resemble Christmas lights. So I added some red twine and randomly glued some embellishments on it, puffy stickers, acrylic shapes and acetate shapes.

 
 
For my title I wanted something small, so it doesn't overpower the deer. I picked one of the acetate pieces from the ephemera pack. I love the font and the pop of red it adds to the layout.
 

I added my journaling below my title. I tucked in my photo under the cut file on the right side and also added my date on the right bottom side.


 I hope you like how this layout turned out! Thank you for stopping by X

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheCutShoppe?ref=l2-shopheader-name


Thursday, December 1, 2016

A non-traditional advent wreath - DT project for Fancy Pants Designs

Hi there scrappy peeps,

I'm back today with an off the page project for Fancy Pants Designs!

I am a bit late posting this as first advent was last Sunday already...But maybe you are like me and create an advent wreath just to have a nice piece of decoration to get you into Christmas mood! 


I used the wonderful Merry&Bright collection for my project, of course. Turquoise being one of my most favourite colors, I was immediately drawn to those papers in the collection that use this color. I used a tray to set up my wreath in. Well. It was supposed to be a wreath :). But then I found this piece and fell in love with it. I was thinking it would be easy to make it too, just collect some small straight branches and paint them white, then wrap jute cord around them and there you have your cool, non-traditional base for your deco piece!


I cut a few poinsettia flowers from the patterned papers. I added pop dots in between each layer to have more dimensional flowers. I used my hot glue gun to adhere the 3 flowers on top. The rest of my flowers I placed around my base, without adhering. 

There's some gorgeous white-gold vellum in this collection, from these I made rolled flowers. Obviously I used my Cameo to cut these, since I have it, but if you don't, you can still cut these by hand. You just need to cut a spiral form, I'm sure there are templates online. It might take more time, but you will love the results!


I really love acrylic pieces lately so I was very happy to find two in the Merry&Bright collection! I really wanted to use one with this project. Both fit actually, but I preferred the clean white look so I went with the white Believe piece. I adhered this to the cord with glossy accents.

I had some black and white tiny baubles and a lot of small black stars at home, which I scattered all around my tray. I also added some of the flair buttons from this collection!


These amazing candles I found in an online shop in Germany. Apparently they are called onion candles :). I love them! Most probably I won't light them, so I can use them again :D.


Some more detail shots:




I hope you like how this turned out as much as I do! I will be back soon with another off the page project! Happy crafting X



Monday, November 21, 2016

Loved - DT layout for The Cut Shoppe

Hi there,

I'm back with a new layout for The Cut Shoppe!


I have so many collections I haven’t used before (surely you guys are familiar with this issue?!) and lately I’ve been so frustrated by this. So I decided to use something new on every layout where I don’t have any specific requirements as to what I can use. I mean, cut files are not a problem ;P. I have a few papers from the Gather collection from Maggie Holmes and some chipboards. I did not buy the whole collection as an exception, as I generally can’t use so much pink. But sometimes I, too, need a bit of pink and flowers in my life! So I grabbed these papers and the heart cut file from the Over the Moon cut file set and got to work!
 
https://www.etsy.com/listing/223160463/the-over-the-moon-cut-file-consists-of-5?ref=hp_rv

I knew I wanted to use this soft pink paper as my background, the cobalt blue paper for pops of a contrasting color and I knew I finally wanted to fussy cut out those beautiful mint flowers! I wasn’t quite sure if all these would work well together but I was determined to try ha!
 
I backed my cut file as usual, with different patterned papers. Then I machine stitched over the cut file with cobalt blue thread to add some texture. And because I like sewing! This did not take long but to clean up the mess on the back…thread tangling up everywhere…I’m not going to lie, it must have taken close to an hour to do this! But I like the look so it was worth it.

 
I put my heart on 3d foam adhesive to add some dimension to my layout and tucked in my fussy cut flowers under it in two clusters. I added a third cluster of flowers next to my photo for a balanced look. I don’t always follow the visual triangle rule because I don’t think every design needs it, but this one did.  To me, anyway!


I pulled out some chipboard pieces (the ones in this collection are so awesome!) and added them around the page. For my title I could have chosen something more meaningful, but I really loved the font, the color and the texture of this sentiment so I went with this. Again some machine stitching at the bottom to ground my title. At the top I also added some chipboard pieces for interest.
I added my date and journaling to finish off my layout. I used some labels in matching colors for these.
 

 
 
I hope you like how it turned out! Thank you for stopping by today X


https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheCutShoppe?ref=l2-shopheader-name

Monday, November 14, 2016

Magic - DT layout for Fancy Pants Designs

Hey guys,

I'm up on the Fancy Pants Designs blog today with this new layout! 
I've used the beautiful Golden Days collection. I just can't get enough of it!


For my background I chose a cut file from Creative Scrappers and cut it from the wood paper in this collection. I then backed it with another paper and machine stitched over the openings with navy blue thread, to give it some texture and a dark accent.


This gorgeous fall wreath cut file I've found in the Silhouette Store. I cut this from white cardstock and backed it with several different patterned papers. I wanted to draw the outlines of the petals (originally in navy, but since I didn't have the right pen, I went with black instead...), so that they stand out more. I also put the whole wreath on pop dots to add some dimension to my page.


I really wanted to use the alphas that come with this collection, because I haven't yet and they are so awesome. Since they are pretty big, I needed a short title. Magic fit my photo perfectly! My son's best friend spent a Saturday afternoon with us recently and as an exception we actually had beautiful, sunny fall weather! So I took them out to play football and they were throwing around these leaves. I am thankful for these happy little moments, that is why the "thankful" cork sticker ended up on this page.


I layered some tissue paper behind my photo (something I picked up from Missy Whidden!) and used some foam squares to raise it. I glued my title right on top of my photo so that the letters are kind of floating. I doodled around each letter with a black marker because they didn't stand out from the background. I attached a couple of pieces from the ephemera pack to my photo with my tiny attacher.


Since my whole design was kind of heavy on the left side, I added a small cluster at the bottom right , using some tags and labels. I added my date here and did a bit of messy machine stitching too to give it some interest.


 I hope I could inspire you in some small way! Thank you for stopping by today X