Monday, March 20, 2017

Cuddles - DT Layout for Fancy Pants Designs

Hi there scrappy friends,
 
I'm back with you today with a new layout I created with the Sweet Nothings collection!
 
Still working without my best friend, my sweet sweet Cameo...Oh how I miss her! But I'm guessing it's good for some of you that don't have a die cutting machine, eh? :)
 
 
I wanted to do something with paper strips, but also with circles, so I thought why not combine the two? I cut up some of my scraps (finally I use my scraps I'm hoarding!!!) in strips of different length.
 
I chose 3 different black and white papers for my background. I took a big pot and drew my bigger semi circle (I know I know, it's technically NOT a semi circle but bear with me here :D) with its help. Then I used it for my smaller semi circle too. I just eyeballed them, tried to cut a similar shape from both papers.
 
I adhered these on my background paper, in opposite corners: a design I've done quite often but can't seem to get tired of! 
 
Then I just started placing my paper strips on my circles and when I was happy with the way they looked, I slightly adhered them down in the middle and stitched over them with my sewing machine. This way I could lift up both ends of the strips to add dimension. I love dimension and texture on my layouts!
 
 
I created a cluster in the bigger semi circle: placed my photo here on several layers of papers. I added some embellies around the photo, clips, tags, ephemera pieces. Glued my title below my photo - I'm running out of several letters in my Sweet Nothings Alpha pack so I have to think about titles for ages, even when they are so short and fitting as this one, ha! Awww this kid loves to cuddle! And he is very fair too, if he gives one of us a hug, he will go to the other too for a hug! And I enjoy it while I still can! :) They grow up way too fast...
 
 
Anyway, my smaller corner I kept quite simple. I just added a couple of hearts from the ephemera pack and done!
 
To finish it off, I used the You&Me sentiment stamp from this collection to add some interest to the white strips in the  middle.
 
 
I hope I could inspire you in one way or the other!
Thanks for stopping by today! X
 
 

Friday, March 17, 2017

First Ride - DT layout for The Cut Shoppe

Hi there scrappy friends,
I'm back with a new layout for The Cut Shoppe.
When I saw the new bike cut file, I knew I wanted to use it right away. I already did a bike layout last year, using my favourite Fancy Pants Good Fellows collection, but for this one I wanted to use a feminine line full of flowers, because of the basket filled with flowers in the new Full Bloom cut file! I also used some other cut files:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/240626846/the-make-a-splash-cut-file-includes-5?ref=shop_home_active_59
 
 

I blew up the cut file and cropped the front of it.
Since I already had Paige Evans' Oh My Heart collection on my table when I started working on this, I just went with that collection again. I went through the papers and found the perfect one for my wheels! Or at least I think I did! :) It's a shame I had to cut up two 12x12" papers just to get the right pattern but I still have one left, so it's OK, it was all worth it.
 
I adhered my bike to the background and hand stitched around the wheels to give them extra definition. I also glued enamel dots in the middle of my wheels, mostly for fun :).
 
I then fussy cut loads of different size flowers from one of the patterned papers and added these to my basket and also to the front of the bike. Some I popped up using some foam adhesive so they have a bit of dimension.
 
 
Looking at the layout at this point, I felt like the top was too empty and I wasn't planning to put my title there. After brainstorming with a friend I decided to add a sun and some clouds. Cheesy, yes?! I hand stitched around the sun and adhered it to my page with foam adhesive. The clouds I left as they were, didn't back them, just to have a bit of airy feel to them.
 
For my title I used the alpha thickers from the same collection. I was a bit hesitant to add my journaling where it is now, because the whole layout was kind of straight and this spot was tilted. But I took a deep breath and started writing...I actually like how it turned out.
 
I don't do such themed layouts often anymore, but I thought it fits my photo, since my son was just a baby back then.
I hope you found some inspiration here today! Thank you for stopping by! X

Monday, March 13, 2017

Forever - DT layout for Fancy Pants Designs

Hi there,
 
I am checking in today with a new layout I created for Fancy Pants Designs with the Sweet Nothings collection. It seems like I can't get enough of this line!

I've been having problems with my computer so I am often not able to use my Cameo exactly when I would need or want to. So I am now kind of forced out of my comfort zone to create layouts without cut files! On my last Fancy Pants project I used punched circles. Today I went more linear.
 
 
I wanted to focus on some papers I haven't used as a focal point on my previous projects so I chose the envelope paper and the plain yellow paper. Yellow. It had to be turned into sunshine right?! Actually the original idea was to have this background with My Ray of Sunshine for title and I wanted to use a different picture... But the alphas would have been too big for a long title like that and I am also missing several letters. Actually I was not able to come up with a title for my photo with the letters I have left :). With this picture I wanted to go with Silly Forever, using the Forever puffy sticker. But I have no Ys... Then I put Be U on top of the photo but it kind of got lost so I just went with the very original Forever for my title :).
 
 
I measured out my rays and cut them out. I wanted something more. So I took the black and white striped paper and layered it behind all the rays to create a barrier between the 2 patterned papers and add some interest. At this point my background looked more like a superhero themed thing than rays of sunshine but I like the way it turned out and it probably fits the photo I eventually chose better too. The black and white papers I adhered to the background with my ATG, the yellow I just stitched down in the middle with my sewing machine, so I could lift up the sides and give some dimension to my layout.
 
 
I then checked all embellishments from this line and took out everything that I thought would fit around my photo: puffy stickers, clips, ephemera pieces, tags and labels. I doodled around the tags so they stand out more from the background. I added some white tissue paper and foam adhesive behind my photo. I decided to keep the embellishments in this central area and let the background shine.
 

 
As a finishing touch I splattered some black ink around my page, added my journaling and date. I actually like how this turned out! I hope you do too and get inspired to get your scissors and papers out and start cutting!
 
Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!
X
 
 

Friday, March 3, 2017

You Rock - DT layout for The Cut Shoppe

Hi there,
I'm back today with a new layout for The Cut Shoppe.
I had a new photo of my son drumming and wanted to scrap it. I was not quite sure what cut files to use, but since I love big titles, I just picked my favourite Open Letter Alpha cut file.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/287883843/the-open-letter-alpha-is-a-hand-drawn?ref=shop_home_active_11


I knew I wanted to go with Paige's new collection, Oh My Heart, because I managed to buy way too much of it. Again. How do you guys hold yourselves back?! I really have no self control when it comes to scrapbook supplies. And chocolate. I'm always scared I run out of my favourite pieces! Please tell me I am not alone!
 
 
I had totally different plans for this layout. First, I wanted to go with patterned paper for background. Because, you know, I just prefer patterned paper for background! But then I didn't like my letters on it. So I chose a bluish grey cardstock. Or greyish blue. Seriously. This cardstock looks a different color in every photo I took. And I only noticed it was faded and has a yellow stripe on the left after I edited the photo. The perks of scrapping at night, ha!
 
 
 
So my plans. After picking this God-knows-what-color cardstock, I thought I might as well do some mixed media. I smudged some heavy body gesso around where my letters would go. And then I was stuck. I liked the way that looked without any paint. So I left it as is! If I did it again, I would use white acrylic paint since my gesso is a bit yellow. But I wasn't planning on leaving it like this. Thinking ahead is not my forte, I'm more the winging it type...
 
 
 
I backed my letters with different patterned papers, one of the O's I backed with a piece that was like a journaling card and this is where I wrote my journaling.
 
 
Basically none of the embellies from this collection matched my theme so I decided to go with flowers. Because flowers! I love them. I always did. And lately I'm not bothered by using them on boy layouts! So I started fussy cutting out the gorgeous big flowers from one of the patterned papers. I find this relaxing! I also cut out some small flowers that I then scattered around the page.
 
  
I tucked some tags and ephemera pieces under my photo and tucked the flowers under three of the letters. I also used some pop dots to raise some flowers to have more dimension. I added two chipboard pieces and stamped my date. Some bronze ink splatters and done!

Thanks for stopping by today, I will be back with more inspiration soon!
X
 

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Caught red handed - DT layout for Fancy Pants Designs

Hi everyone,

I'm checking in with a new layout for Fancy Pants Designs.
I used the super pretty Sweet Nothings collection for this. 

Well, this started out as a completely different layout. I made my background and for the first time ever I gave up on it! I do like it as a piece of art but not as a layout background. It's mainly white, and I seem to prefer patterned paper backgrounds. So I was sitting there staring at a blank piece of paper at 3 am and had no idea what to do. I did what I always do when I don't have an idea: I punched circles. I did several layouts with punched circles in the past so I wanted to do something a bit different. I cut them all in half (really just eyeballed them, didn't measure anything) and started placing them in a circle. Because circles...They are my favourite thing!


I liked the result so I just went with it. First I cut a big circle in the middle of the script paper and backed it with white, textured cardstock. Of course you could just cut a big white circle too and glue it on the patterned paper background, but I did not want to waste any PP :).  


Then I started adhering down my semi circles with my ATG. I only attached them at the bottom so I could slide the next row under them. Once done, I cut a thin circle from an accent color PP to cover up my edges.


I layered some patterned papers and tissue paper behind my photo and glued it all down. I added different pieces from the ephemera pack around and on top of my photo, plus some puffy hearts too.


I finally remembered I also have these super cute clips, so I added some to my photo as well. 


My title is Caught Red Handed, but I generally prefer short titles and I didn't have space for longer either. So I only used the puffy alphas for CAUGHT and the rest of my title I just wrote below with a pen.
To finish off my layout I added my journaling and the date.



It's very simple but I really love the way it looks! And you don't need a diecut machine for this either :).

I hope you found some inspiration here today! 

Thanks for stopping by today X