Layout Ideas

Self Portrait

I never show photos of myself, and I really don't know why other than the fact that I'm always the one with the camera. So for this week's share I decided to do a little self-portrait layout.

From Flamingo Scraps: Prima: Innoscence 2 flowers, Marion Smith's Trinkets, Bling.
Other: Bo Bunny Razzi Mamma paper, Graphic 45 buttons, Lindy's Stamp Gang, Tim Holtz film strip tape, charms, Houseof3 digital file.

Yep – that is me with the big camera hanging out at a youth sports field taking action shots. I think every child in my area has been photographed by me at least once. For my self-portrait layout I included all my favs.

I used the Bo Bunny Razzi Mama paper for the layout, and then added a spray of my favs. Marion Smith's Trinkets, Prima bling, and Prima Innoscence 2 Flowers, and of course Tim Holtz's film strip ribbon.

The transparency at the top was melted with my heat tool to give it a little interest. I got the image from the House of 3 during the 21 day challenge. It has a lot of uplifting phrases to remind me to look at things differently and stimulate creativity.

Have you done a self-portrait? Every now and then it is healthy to let someone else take the photos.

First Birthdays

First birthdays are so magical with yummy cake all over such a delicious face. Who could resist these photo ops? Well, not I.

This is a photo I took of my niece Addy at her first birthday party. I wanted to select a paper that would not take away from the photo, so I picked the B side of the Prima Madeline Rosalee paper. I loved how the subtle blues on the borders complimented the blue in the frosting on her face.

I used a paper doily as a mask and sprayed my Lindy's Stamp Gang gently onto the paper. Then I moved the doily to the upper left hand corner to reveal the unsprayed area.

My friend had sent me a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) and it had all the beautiful flowers wrapped in Turquoise tissue paper. The paper was sprayed with a Gossamer Gold and then I cut it into strips and made a bow.

June Guest Designer for alilscrapofheaven.ning.com

I am completely honored that I have been chosen as a Guest Designer for LSH in the month of June. I have met some really special and talented artists here in the last few months. This is a great place to hang out and share ideas. Notice the bent wire piece holding the Tim Holtz Adage ticket.

Deckled Edges

I always rip and grunge up the borders of layouts. But lately, I have wanted a fresh new look. Something that is a little more sophisticated, but still gives the feeling of an uneven edge.

Once again, **DING, DING** Inspiration from Prima. When I pulled the products for the layout below, all that luscious Prima packaging and its deckled edges SCREAMED "Duplicate Me".

So I went to my tool grave yard, and resurrected these gyms.

I used the scissors around the border of the backing cardstock, and along the border of the photo mat. After looking at this layout, I'm sure you will agree, these scissors could make a comeback.

Next time you are making a card or layout, and I stress ONLY IF IT IS APPROPRIATE, experiment with the deckled edge scissors in your own tool grave yard.

Beyond Scrapbooking

Prima makes it so easy to cross over into other mediums. From instructors to products they inspire genius in scrapbooking, clothing accessories, altered art, and yes mixed media paintings.

I have been dipping into mixed media for a few months now, and was totally inspired by Prima's very own Marion Smith and Donna Downey.   I wanted to create a piece of art using the techniques that I learned from both artists.  I titled the piece "Be Free"  because that is the motto for both artists. Inspiration comes from exploration. So the painting is hanging in my craft room, to remind me to "BE FREE" to try new things and play.

Live with Prima Broadcasts are an excellent source for learning. Marion's broadcasts are always filled with mixed media techniques. For example,  I have learned that by adding concentrated heat to acrylic paint will cause the paint to expand and bubble like Puffy Paint, multiple colors of Glimmer Mist can create an irrodescent look to your acrylic paints, and she is always demonstrating dry brush techniques - like the one I used to paint the sign.

Donna Downey's Inspiration Wednesdays  are another great source of technqiues. Donna's "Drippage" techniques were used to paint the background of the canvas, she also demonstrates how different gel mediums react with paint.  The Birdcage uses her technique for mixing bead gel with paint for added texture.

You don't have to be a florist or have an art degree when you have Prima.   It litterally took more time for the paint to dry than it did for the design to come together. Prima's Cherry Blossom Vines, Dandies, and Wildwood flowers were the perfect "Earthy" touch to this canvas.  Again the layout was inspired by Marion Smith.

Share with us ways Prima has inspired greatness in your projects!

Layout Inspired by Creating Keepsakes Magazine.

This was the inspiration

Here is what I created using this layout idea. I used the Annalee collection from Prima, Prima Flowers and lace. Also used some Fancy Pants Design Lace, Prima Swirls.

Tag Inspired by Tim Holtz

I followed Tim Holtz on his 12 tags of Christmas. Wow he is such an inspiration. While I didn't have all the supplies to complete all of the tags. I took pieces of what he did on several tags and created my own out of recycled packaging.

The background is a the packaging for some Prima bling that I stamped with a music note and Forrest Green Stazon Ink. Before the ink could dry, I took a baby wipe and rubbed the ink off the flower at the bottom right corner.

The snowy branches are a piece of decorative branch for Christmas trees/flower arrangements. I cut it down to fit the tag.

The little bird was cut from the Tim Holtz Birdcage die, out of recycled EK Success Punch Packaging.

The little pink flowers are the cameo roses from Prima that I opened up the centers and glimmered them pink.

The little Note was distressed with the Tim Holtz distressing tool.

I made several of these for Christmas and attached them to gifts for my friends as gift tags. the backs had the to and from and the year, so that these could be used on their Christmas trees as ornaments. They were very well received.

View a YouTube video of me making a tag very similar to this one.

Pumpkin Carving Layout Idea.

I saw this in a friend of mine's Facebook status, and thought it would be great used as a Journaling Spot on a pumpkin carving layout.

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God picks you from the patch and washes all the dirt off of you. He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed. He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine...for all the world to see.

Tough Girl

Last year I shared with you the photos that I took of my daughter Brittany at a graffiti wall. Well, I finally got around to doing something with the photos. I made this gorgeous canvas layout. I love how I took feminine elements, like the jewels, bling and roses and made them "shabby chic".

I have gotten some e-mails asking, “how do you look at a photo and decide where to take the design?”   It is just this simple.   I take the photograph, and study the elements.  I do a mental breakdown as follows (and if you need paper until you are accustomed to doing this, then by all means, take notes. BUT DON’T OVER THINK IT).

1. First off, I don’t create anything until I study it.

• I decide what the subject is.
  In this case Brittany, female, but not girly.
  
  
• What story do I want to tell?
  I want to remember the surroundings and circumstances of this photo, since most of that is lost in the way the photo is cropped.  This photo was taken at a closed warehouse that had been graffitied. “Urban Grunge” is what I called it.
  
  
• Colors
  What is the dominant color -   BLUE
  complimentary colors – Black, Red
  
  
• Accent Brainstorm
  Leather, Metal, edgy, rustic, shabby, denim
  
  
2. Then I head to may arsenal of creative material, and start pulling out things that I think will complement the photo. 

I wanted this layout to have an edginess about it.  So I decided to try my hand at making the roses from aluminum cans.  By dabbing the Staz-On black ink on them, they were transformed into a black hammered metal look.  This combination of the metal and the black paint took an element that would be soft and girly to something rustic and tough. Bling is also one of those elements associated with feminine designs. However, the use of monochromatic colors like clear and black further enhance that tough but girl feel of this piece.  Even the jewelry accents of the chain and the locket seem to add to the edginess with their black tones.   The background brings the denim colors forward and mimics the graphic art deco I had already made in the photo.  By duplicating this theme, the background doesn’t compete with the photo.  The photo mat reminds me of the walls you can’t see, so we will always remember the setting.

This eco-friendly layout made of recycled cans and cardboard, reminds me of the urban grunge theme made popular by Tim Holtz. I really think this layout makes the statement “I’m not your average prissy girl.”  

Watch the YouTube Video for a better look at this layout.

School Photos - Ho-Hum to Fabulous!

My sister is always faithful with sharing school photos of my nephew. I've always made scrapbook pages with them, but this year I decided to continue with my Family wall and create an 11x14 canvas. I think I'm really liking the canvases so much because of the collage ability, and the fact that your layers can be as thick as you would like. The stars were something I contemplated for a while. I wanted them to pop off the page, but not too heavy on the patriotic theme. So I decided to recycle cardboard, and distress it using Donna Salazar's techniques. I am very pleased with how this layout turned out. I have prepared a complete walk through in a YouTube video.

Scrapology 101 - Lesson Three
Revive Dated Paper

Turning dated paper into trendy and chic paper.

This week I'm going to show you how I take my paper that is from some of my older collections, and turn it into something super awesome. The paper in the video is from the Bo Bunny Romance collection, while it still is nothing wrong with the design of the paper. It lacks the luster that I yearn for these days. Seems like as I look at all the latest and greatest trendy patterns, they seem to have many many layers to their already flat paper. Look at the paper in the canvas projects below. Notice how it looks like the paper has been misted to give the butterfly in the upper left hand corner. Notice the text scrawled across the paper, notice the distressed lines, and the butterfly in the lower left hand corner appears to be a sticker. All of these elements were on the original paper. So I have taken this bland paper that is over 3 years old and have turned it into something a little more chic!

Scrapology 101 - Lesson Two
Turn Scraps into embellishments

There are tons of ways you can convert the smallest of scraps into a wonderful embellishment for your projects. When we had the store, we always made tags, titles, or borders out of them. My latest infatuation is making flowers. I have several YouTube videos on different styles of flowers. Make sure you take a look. But what do you do when you have a tiny sheet of paper approx. 2" or smaller. Do you just give up and toss it? NO WAY. If it is large enough to punch or die cut, then I keep it. The only problem is how do you manage it. In Lesson One, I showed a YouTube video on how I store these scraps. But I have also found that if there is a particular punch that I use a lot, then I go ahead and punch it, and discard the rest. This helps me cut down on the small pieces, but makes it easy for making layouts.

In the layout below I used a lot of hand made elements. From the 1" roses to 3" roses and butterflies. The flowers and butterflies were punched ahead of time. The entire layout took an hour or so to create. If I had to hand make the flowers and butterflies it would have taken half the night. By pre-making these elements, I find that I can satisfy my need to be creative in less than 30 mins. And feel gratified at the end because I have something to show for it. When I'm ready to make a page, the time goes by much faster.

Now, what to do with patterned scrap paper? I have found that very small pieces are difficult to match to later projects. However, remember that by the time you punch it, or make a flower out of it, you really can't see the pattern anymore, you only see splashes of color. Another cool thing to do with them, is mist them with a spray die like Glimmer Mist, Shimmering Mist or Smooch. This often changes the color and will give you the ability to match them to your projects.

Another idea is make a card immediately after you make your project. I have found that this uses up quite a bit of the remaining scraps, and it is always nice to have a card laying around. I usually try to match the card theme to the paper selection, but sometimes I leave the sentiment blank. Blank cards are a great gift for an unexpected event. When they start piling up, I make bundles of them with fancy ribbon, and give them to friends or family as a "just thinking" of you gift.

Scrapology 101 - Lesson Four
Turn Scraps into cards

Organza Rose made from scrap fabric and the rest of card was created with dated scrap pieces.

Endless mounds of scrap are crowding my project area, and card making has been the simplest way of disposing of them. I love making cards with the smallest of pieces. In the card below, I added a new technique (the rose, feathers and pearl combo), with some dated product, and WOW, look at the results.

How I made the rose: This is the newest rose I've added to my collection of MUST MAKES. I die cut a piece of organza tulle that was folded for 8 layers. Starting with the largest size, piece all the rose patterned pieces together. (This die cut has three different rose cuts). Secure the sections together with a brad. Hold the back of the brad with tweezers, then gently heat the bottom and edges of the rose with a heat gun. There will be a YouTube video posted soon. This flower was made from a 4" piece of fabric, and it is approximately 3" in diameter.

Scrapology 101 - Lesson One
Organization

Let's explore how I organize it all. Before scraps of ribbon, fabric, paper, stickers or embellishments can be used you have to organized them. If they are not right in front of me, I usually forget about them. I have developed a habit of pulling scraps first when I work on a project. But how do you store these things? Here is a storage solution that I have found as a great way to organize pieces that are 4x6 or smaller.

The storage container in the YouTube video is made by Iris. I found mine at Michael's and it was worth every penny I paid for it. Since this is an item that is RARELY on sale, and you will NEVER find in a local scrapbook store, I use my 40% off coupon on them.

I am a huge fan of recycling, so I also use containers like Mayo Jars, P-nut butter jars, almond jars from Target are The BEST! I prefer the jar to be plastic if possible. Mason jars also come in handy. When elements are made like my flowers or butterflies, they are stored in these jars until they are ready to be used. I also have found that baby food jars (even the little plastic ones), and small condiment jars (like tiny jars you get in hotels for room service) are great for storing beads, rhinestones, brads, etc...

I hope this has been helpful and has inspired you to get out there and get organized.

Scrapology 101 - From Scrap to Treasure

I have enough product in my scrapbook room, that I could re-open the store. Seriously, it is terrible. Way too much room is being consumed with product that I just simply cannot toss. I keep the smallest of scrap paper/cardstock and ribbon. If it is large enough to punch it is not tossed. I have dozens of projects that I bought stuff to do over the years, and never got around to doing them. Some of these are page kits, or paper I bought to use on a scrapbook that was never created. Does this sound familiar?

So I took a weekend got everything organized, and thought I would share a glimpse of my plan for removing these old out dated products out the door. I will make things with them, donate them, or have swaps, but every single thing must go!

Last year I made a deal with myself, that if I bought something new to go onto a page or project, than I must use something old as well. And this has really cut down on some of the bulk, without sacrificing the results. I have taken up the card making hobby and that has really eliminated some of the tiniest of product.

Canvas Layouts

My latest obsession began when I started making the 3D roses. And man my craft room looks like a flower shop these days. The problem is they don't work on regular scrapbook pages because they are too thick and bulky. So I had to explore other mediums for them. Until now, mini book covers have been how I've used these blossoms. But the other day I strolled through a store that had wall canvases on sale for $3 each. I bought a few and decided to try my hand at this latest fad. I used some of the techniques that I have been learning lately in this project. There are lots of details here.

The paper used in the background is from Prima's Flights of Fancy. The fruits of the spirit are written across the paper. Since the paper did not fit my canvas size, I decided to rip it then add the lace to give it a vintage look.The flowers were hand made from coffee filters of all things. Check out the YouTube video "Carnation". The butterflies are my favorite part of this layout. The one at the top of the layout is a Martha Stewart punch, that was misted to have a pinkish/golden hue. The ones at the bottom right, were cut from the Home Accents cartridge of the cricut. I used black cardstock, then spritz with a bronze shimmering mist spray. After each butterfly dried, I dipped them in melted UTEE. When they cooled enough to touch - only a few seconds, I began to shape them. There is a walk through video of this canvas on my youtube channel if you want more details.

Introducing "Plaper"

Yes, you read that right, Plaper! This is a plastic bag and freezer paper fused together. Benefits to plaper, it makes things stronger so they are great for covers of book, and give the durability of chipboard without the weight or bulk. It is also very pliable and holds it's shape, and the best part - It is Green. No more plastic bags clogging up landfills. Suggestions for plaper uses, word books, charms, roses, tabs, medallions, oh I could go on and on. Here are three tutorials on how to create your plaper.

Part I - Creating the Plaper & cutting with your cricut.

Part II - creating the design with Cuttlebug.

Plaper Part III - Creating the Tim Holtz Grunge Rose from Plaper

Playper with scrap paper

Bird Cage Mini Album

Wow, I'm so into the minis these days. This mini was created from #10 envelopes. I found a tutorial from Following the Paper Trail on how to create the book. The paper I used was from Daisy Dee and some from the scrap paper left over from the vintage recipe book I made. Lots of scraps were used in this book. I bought absolutely nothing to go into the book. I used my cricut to create the bird & bird cage on the cover. Both were cut from Plaper with the serenade cartridge, and as you can see in the video, they are very sturdy. I hope you enjoy this project.

Here is a quick tutorial on how to assemble the book.

Hybrid Layouts - Part 2

Remember that a hybrid layout contains both digital and traditional techniques. Computer knowledge is necessary, you also need a mechanism for printing your files. The same principles for preservation apply.

In article 1, we discussed photo editing software. You will also need to look at file storage options. The beauty of digital is that, once you create the element, you can use it over and over again. So I create a folder on my desktop that says DigiArt and I organize my pieces in sub folders as native files. A native file, means that if I create it in Photoshop it is saved in the photoshop file format. The makes it easy to modify at a later date. Caution: Make sure you periodically archive these elements to another storage option. Hard drives and CDs are not always reliable. It is always a good idea to keep them in two different places. I archive them to CD or DVD and make 2 copies.

You may print your masterpieces in the same manor as you currently print your photos, or you may use your ink jet printers. I would decide the best method depending on my project.

I like to evaluate the photos that I plan to use in my hybrid layout before I start. Depending on your design the amount of photos used is only limited to your imagination and your desired document size. Images should be created in at least a 250 dpi, and you want to leave at least a 1/4 to 1/2 inch border for printing margins.

Remember that hybrid does not just mean photos. It also means graphics that in traditional printing were called "clip art", titles, journals, and anything else that is printed and used in conjunction with traditional scrapbook supplies. I know a lot of people who avoid digital scrapbooking because they can't draw. There are some fabulous online companies that sell Electronic Stamps (word art and graphics that can be printed as needed), digi kits (backgrounds, textures, and 3D looking elements that mimic traditional supplies), Graphical Fonts, and so much more. Most of these supplies are fairly inexpensive. Please respect the copyright of the artists who create them.

I've given you a lot to think about. For now, get out there and explore the web for products you can use in your hybrid layout.

Hybrid Layouts - Part 1

It is no secret that I love to make digital layouts. Just look at my gallery and you will see. A hybrid layout takes the photographs created in the digital layout process, and combines them with paper and 3D embellishments.

Digital Layouts when printed 12x12 or 8x8 and placed in a traditional album can appear cold and flat. By adding 3D elements, you add warmth and texture, that is hard to achieve with digital layouts. If I choose to go completely digital, then I use services like Shutterfly and Snapfish and print them into a storybook.

This layout is an example of a hybrid layout. The photographs contain text that is layered onto the image then printed as one image. The rest of the layout is completely paper and 3-D embellishments. Notice the I heart Chick-Fil-A on the photo below. You can click the smaller image above to see the entire layout.

For the next few weeks we will explore how Hybrid layouts can help create a unique look in your scrapbook pages, and how easy it is for you to integrate them into your own projects.

Let's get started...

First thing you need is an image editing program. I use Photoshop CS4, but there are lots of programs out there for making this easy. You may even have one and not realize it. We will explore a few in this week's article.

MS PowerPoint
Many people have MS PowerPoint on their computers. This program is not ideal, but will work in a pinch. PowerPoint is an object based program so it allows you to create layers. It can also export files as jpegs. You can change the "slide" size to the size you want to yield in your final print job. You can created several slides in one project, and export them individually as JPGS. Powerpoint also supports the PNG-24 file format, which many digital layout designers use for their kits. It displays your fonts in their WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) form. The down side is that it is not much of an image editor. But again, basic editing of changing the colors, sizes, and cropping can be done with other MS Office products. Not my first choice, but it will work!

Photoshop Elements
If you would rather spend a little money, and get something a little less frustrating, I recommend Photoshop Elements. It retails for less then $100, which makes it affordable. Elements is basically a simplified version of Photoshop. You can easily create layers, tweak the color of the photographs, mask, and perform basic drawing techniques. Bonus to using Elements over many others, is that it has customized brushes, filters, and vector shapes. There are TONS of free downloads out there that will add to your creative experience.

Turn something old into something
new in Minutes

Click images to enlarge.

I have been experimenting lately with old products and have made a few fascinating cards. With a few pieces of scrap paper, a little ink, and a lot of stamps or stickles I have been able to turn old products into something new in minutes. Each of these cards recently sold for $4 each. Yippy - Found money.

This first card was simple. I used scrap paper left over from a layout. Butterflies were an EK Success Punch. I had a tiny bit of white lace left over and used it to tie on an clear die cut. The flower is a scrap piece of plastic that I cut with the Cricut George cartridge. I then painted clear glitter stickles onto the back of the flower, then added a ridge of black for outlining. I used silver stickles to bring out the butterflies and draw their trails. Happy birthday was a stamp from Studio G and it was used on the inside of the card and the outside envelope. A peek-a-boo hole was punched to show the stamp on the inside of the card.

This fish card has a LOT of detail. Here are the details starting from the bottom layer. An old piece of baby blue paper was given texture with the cuttlebug embossing folders. Then it was rubbed with blue iridescent perfect pearls to lift the texture. Sand was added to a beige piece of card stock to make the ocean floor. The fish were circles cut with Cricut - George, and their fins and lips were a free hand cut. Googly eyes were also added to the fish, and black doodle marks were added with a fine tip black pen. The Title was cut from Storybook, and stitching was drawn with a white gel pen. The coral/sea grass were left over Mrs. Grossman's stickers. The fish hook was made from wire, and fishing line was tied and draped around the top of the card. Friend stamp was Studio G. Finally clear stickles was added to give a shiny texture to the fish and also enhance the wet look.

These scraps went from trash to treasure in about 30 mins. If you are experience a burn out from making scrapbook pages, try designing a few simple cards to boost your creative juices.

Tip: After you make a layout, make as many cards as you can with the scraps. Don't add a sentiment to them, you can add that later, and the card will be there when you need one.

2009 Challenge

My room is overrun with worn out supplies that just need to be used. My self-challenge for 2009 is to use up all of my scraps (paper, metal, letters, etc...), out dated products, YUCK paper, old tools, and anything else I have been unable to toss. I made a pack with myself, for every new item included on a page; there must be an old one to match. Surprisingly, I have found new inspiration in these tired old products. Look at my Heartbreaker Layout below as well as this cute layout of Averie.

I used the Cricut Storybook cart for the swirls, #2 and the sideways butterfly. The flowers were a Paper Shaper punch, and written in silver is "Spread your wings" then over the top right hand swirl Averie.

The paper used to make the swirls is OLD! But with a little stickles it was given new life.

The number two has a coarse grained crystal colored glitter, then it was spritzed with cranberry Color Wash from Tim Holtz.

Spring Poppies

click image to enlarge.

Here is a sample using paper Click the image to see larger.

Spring is in the air, and people are using butterflies and flowers on EVERYTHING. There are some really cute ones out right now, but don't be scared to create your own - like I did with the layout on the right.

The only thing to remember when making these cute buds, is you want enlarged tops and Long thin stems with little or NO leaves.

My poppies were made in Photoshop using shapes that I layered to give them a flower effect.

To make a paper version, sift through your scraps for coordinating patterns of paper. Then start punching shapes and layering them. Add tiny brads, micro beads, stickles, jewels, glitter, and ink to give depth and pizzazz. Use your Hearts, Circles, Scallops, and snowflakes punches for flower accents. Also, don't be afraid to hand cut the circles too. Uneven shapes are fun with this project. Remember not every bloom has to look the same. Use embroidery floss, yarn or thin ribbon to make the stems. 

Use your Cricut to create these blossoms! Accent Essentials and Home Accent Solutions have a bunch of cuts that are perfect for this project.  Stretch your imagination elongates everything, so just use the flower cut for a simple cut file. 

Wordles.net
Next time you are looking for a creative way to add pizzazz to a title, journal or an interesting background to a digi layout, try creating a Wordle. A wordle is a group of text that is made into a "cloud" like image. You see them a lot on scrapbook paper. Wordles.net is a fun site that makes creating these designs easy. It's fun and can add an interesting look to your journaling.

Refreshing Old Product with Trendy techniques.

Grunge is really in now. This dirty tattered style will really freshen up your old products.



Brighton is 12 years old, and yes he is a heartbreaker. How could he not be with those eyes? I took this photo while we were waiting in line for breakfast one COLD morning.

Layout DNA:

• Software: Adobe Photoshop CS4 to create the overlay and to create the split tone color effect in the photo.
  
  
• Cricut Cartridges - Indie Art
  • Heartbreaker word - this was cut from chipboard, then inked with silver ink, and distressed to look like hammered metal with black ink and a cotton ball.
  • Barbed wire border cut from silver Bazzill scraps. I pealed some of the top coat off to give it a more distressed look (it was too shiny). Also distressed with a touch of black ink.
  • The edges around the patterned paper are the relief from the barbed wire border. Again, I pealed some of the top coat off to give it a more distressed look (it was too shiny). Also distressed with a touch of black ink.
• JOCK - Stones from Sticko, EK Success
  (at least 5 years old) this word was created from my LIMITED letter selection.
• Metal Mesh - Making memories (at least 5 years old)
• EK Success Fastenater - distressed with Black staz-on Ink (at least 2 years old).
• Transparency overlay: I created the design in Photoshop and then printed on a transparency. If you try this, remember to print it mirrored since you will print on the back of the transparency. After the ink was dry, I used a Versa Dew Drop-white ink (new) to add a little depth and texture to the back so it would pop a little more.
• Black Barbed Wire - Making Memories wire (at least 5 years old), I twisted it to look like barbed wire. and then stapled it with the Fastenater.
• Tag - Was a piece of old cardstock, I inked black to make it look dingy and used a washer (I stole from my husband don't tell him), and a gold brad to attach it to the layout. I hit the brad and washer with Staz-on black ink to dull a bit (too shiny). Then I wrote my journal with a white gel pen from American Crafts.
• The background paper was Jet Black textured paper that I bought a few months ago, and never used. I took a cotton ball and rubbed it in silver ink and lightly ran it to pick up some of the texture.
• The patterned paper was scrap, and I have NO IDEA who makes it.

Great Photobook Ideas

Photo books are awesome gift ideas. With so many people branching into the world of Digital layouts, it's now so easy to make one. Create your layouts with image editing programs, upload the jpg files to a service like Shutterfly and Snapfish. Print your book. ** NOTE: Final images need to be high resolution.

Inspired by the Teresa Collins collection, I decided to create a template for my family's favorite recipes. As I make their favorites, I will photograph the dishes, or maybe the preparation processes. To make it really special I'll also keep little notes of how much they liked a dish, whose favorite it was, and maybe a little story about the dish. When my kids decide to get married, this will be an awesome gift to pass along to their spouses. I know there are dishes my Mother makes special for us, and no one in our family knows how to make them. We often take for granted that she will always be here to make them for us. It would be a shame for that secret to die with her, especially with all those yummy traditional meals like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. We spend so much time preparing these meals; we should document this for life.

** Something to think about: Design a 5x7 card as a recipe file. Then print the 5x7 and use it in place of a photo in your paper scrapbooks. You can also laminate them, and put them into a recipe box for a nice gift! With this idea, make the back of the card a 5x7 of your family memories, then laminate them together. If you need the font bigger, do one side the ingrediants, and the other side the instructions. Here is a sample recipe card made in a 5x7 design.

2009 Scrapbook Trends

White - White is the "NEW" Color. If you think it's boring, think again. White can add drama to your layouts. Pair it with bold colors and watch it POP! It's clean, and fresh, and that is just what you will want in 2009.

Monochromatic is HOT! Add WHITE with just 1 color. Monochromatic is when only one color is used throughout a page or album. Shades of that one color are o.k. but only one color! Remember, black and white are part of the same color palette. To really make your photos sing on a monochromatic layout try printing them in black and white or sepia.

Repeated Patterns: Look for geometrical patterns and grids repeated in designs. Polka dots are so "LAST YEAR". They are replaced with Hexagons, rounded corner squares, triangles, Circles (hollow or created with other circles, but not polka dots), and grid lines. I've seen lots of scrapbook pages, advertisements, and TV. commercials where layouts are designed on grids, and when that grid is turned on a 20 degree angle even better, oh and missing patterns in the grid are HOT too. Look at how the title in this sample layout is broken up Toys Power Small Boys. You don't have to see the entire child to get your statement across. Click image to enlarge.

Additional trends are Bumble bees, owls, turtles, robots, anything Transportation (Martha Stewart has the cutest stamp set with planes, and trucks on it.) VINTAGE is very in. Look for ephemera of 50s and older post cards, and clip art. These trends will be highlighted later.

Idea for a scrapbook page or card
Everyday there are more and more people "Getting Connected" in one way or another. With on-line communities, blogs, and texting you can pretty much keep up with whomever, whenever. Often you will see these cute Emoticons pop-up in the on-line arena. Teenagers are not the only ones who have a license to use them. For those of you who have no idea what an Emoticon is, they are the icons that show your emotions in text, sometimes they are created using symbols from your font-library examples are ;-), wink :0), smile. Add them to your scrapbook pages along with texting lingo like LOL (Laugh Out Loud), BRB (Be Right Back), IDK (I don't Know) etc.... Use a die cutting system and cut them from your favorite font-library, and piece them together on cards, scrapbook pages, or tags. These can be a lot of fun on your pages, and it will introduce some pop-culture to your designs. They may even make your kids think your SICK!
*** side note: sick is cool ;).***

Computer Graphic Design Tips

WordArt Tricks
Ideally you would want to use a vector program to generate these cute icons, but that isn't always an option. MS Word offers you an economical alternative, but with limited options.The medallion at the right was created using MS Office 2003 Word Art. Once you master the concept, you can do this in all kinds of shapes. Think arrows, curly brackets, etc. Here is a tutorial I put together so you can practice. Circle Tutorial in MS WORD

* TIP * Instead of text, try using symbols from your font library to create objects. In the flower icon below I use a period in Times New Roman font made it bold and 72pts. When the circle was drawn it elongated the period to form a petal. Keep the circle the same dimension as a circle punch that you currently own, and it will be easy to trim and use on your scrapbook pages. You may also want to print this on a clear label so that it becomes transparent.

Doodle Art Deco Pages
Are you missing the art chromosome that gives you the ability to draw; but you like the look of doodle art on your pages? It's easy to achieve that look. You will need black construction paper (or carbon paper), your desired design (from magazine, coloring book, or another piece of decorative paper), ball point pen, your decorative paper. Sandwich your construction/carbon paper between your decorative paper and your design. Trace the design. The image will then be transferred to your paper. Children's coloring books are great for kid layouts. Try this same technique with wax paper instead of construction paper for a transparent design.

Heat Embossing on Ribbon
Add some sparkle to your dull grosgrain, sheer or satin ribbon by heat embossing simple designs and use metallic embossing powder. You can also use a coordinating color with the fabric to make a tone on tone effect.

3D Stickers Made Easy
It’s easy to make your own 3D stickers. Take the sticker and place a pop dot on the back. Do not remove the protective tape from the outside of the pop dot. Dust exposed back of the sticker with baby powder. Remove the tape back from the front of the pop dot and apply the sticker to your project.  Want to make a larger sticker appear 3D take two-three of the same stickers, and cut out dimensional parts and place pop dots behind them.  Example:  Using a dog sticker, take the first sticker and place it on your project.  Then take the 2nd sticker and cut the dog’s head out and place a pop dot behind the head using the technique above. Next, place it over the flat dog’s head.  Then cut the tail and do the same.  You can keep adding layers of elements to make the dog pop off the page.  Try cutting out his nose from a third sticker to make his nose pop out. Try using pop dots with different depths to create a realistic look.

Turning Layouts on a 20 degree angle

O.k. so you like the 20 degree angle but how do you get everything turned that way, and keep it lined up?

Paper: just turn your background paper on a 20 degree angle, and begin your layout placing everything straight.

Digital: In your graphics program (I used Photoshop, but this principle works in most all programs). I create everything in layers, straight. Then select all the layers and transform them -20 degrees to go to the left or 20 degrees to turn them to the right. To follow on a grid, you can always turn grid view on, and make sure you are set to snap to grid.

Fabric in Scrapbooks

Lately, I have really been drawn to fabric. I can't really sew or at least nothing fancier then a straight line. But the texture, softness and richness of fabric just can't be beat.

Fabric is a great medium for scrapbooking and card making. You can cut it into strips to make interesting ribbon (sew a small hem for a clean look or leave the edges frayed for a rag look), you can die cut it, stiffen it for an epoxy look, you can stamp on it, dye it, paint it and just about anything else you choose. I love the textile look the pages have when a swatch of fabric is used for a color block.

Did your child have a favorite ragged out blanket that was like death if you couldn't find it? Instead of tossing this well loved "velveteen bunny", why not take a photo of your child snuggled up with it, and use the rags as accents on the page?

Prima introduced some really interesting canvas tags and album kits in the winter of 2009. The tags are embroidered and ragged on the edge. One was used in the layout above (enlarged view below). Look at how well the fabric complements the paper.

Can't wait to try them? We will have a collection of these tags at our next swarm. We will create a wonderful version of our own that we will stamp, paint and distress to complement your scrapbook project.

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