Cards for the Boys with Lisa J

Hi everyone,

My boys always seem to be going to birthday parties lately and my stash of premade cards was dwindling
so I took some scraps from the gorgeous Cocoa Vanilla You Rock collection and some kraft cardstock
and set about making some cards.

Bright, fun, and quick - exactly my type of birthday card.

The first card, 100% Awesome, I personalised for my soon to be 14 year old.
I have added some stickers from the You Rock Accessory Sticker Sheet, a wood veneer star,
enamel dots and some Thickers for the 14.

 For the second card I fussy cut some stars, added offcut strips of paper and washi strips, together with some more wood veneer pieces and tiny letter stickers.

I decided to try colouring the wood veneer with markers for the next card.
They turned out pretty cute.

Enamel shapes, thickers, wood veneer and lots of paper strips made up the next card. I love to use up all my left over bits and pieces.

And lucky last card I added some cute sequins.

Do you make cards with your leftovers before you clear the desk for the next project?
I am trying to make sure I do before my scrap bin overflows even further.

Don't forget today is the last day to enter the awesome Scrapping Clearly sketch and mood board challenges.
You have to be in it to win it. 

Happy Scrapping

Lisa J

Black & White Plus One Makes a Striking Colour Scheme

Hello Scrapping Clearly peeps, Leonie with you today.
I'm feeling my age today, as I had my eyes tested and paid for my first pair of multifocals.
Great way to spend my day off! Not sure I'll be able to get used to wearing them
and certainly not feeling like a spring chicken. How did this creep up on me?

I have a Black and White plus Yellow scrapbooking page to share with you today.

I love scrapping with black and white papers, it means you are free to add whatever colour you fancy and
it will always match. I chose Yellow mainly because I had a gorgeous Yellow Hambly Screen Print I wanted to use
but I also find it such a happy colour and it suited the tones in my photos. 

Primarily I used THIS paper from the Maggie Holmes Gather collection.
I also used these other black and white papers from Crate Paper Chasing Dreams Collection. 

In my last pack of goodies from the Scrapping Clearly shop I received THIS pack of Vicki Boutin Acrylic Paints. I was quite impressed with them, the size is good -40ml bottles- so not too large and they have a flip top lid which I like, makes it easy to use and less wastage. 

It was easy to water them down a little on my craft mat and then roughly paint
some of the flowers and foliage on the patterned paper.  

I added a border of machine stitching around the papers for texture and to add interest to my page. I tied in the cotton thread of the border with my photos by adding some messy cotton thread underneath the photos.  

The Silliness Acetate word from the Heidi Swapp line in the store captured the essence of my photos and made a great title, along with the Teresa Collins Summer Stories Border Strip. For extra interest and detail on my page I added some Tim Holtz Rub-ons around the edge of my page.

Here's a close up of that Hambly Screen Prints overlay I mentioned earlier.  I cut out one of the frames from the 12x12 sheet and attached it to my photo with some glossy accents. 

A little sprinkling of sequins completed my page.

And that's a wrap from me for this month as I await delivery of my specs!
Oh No!

Thanks so much for stopping by, Happy Crafting,

Leonie Neal-Dawson

Enjoy The View Cable Beach ~ A Scrapbook Layout with Melinda

Howdy scrappers and happy Monday!
I hope you had a great weekend. A large chunk of mine was spent chauffeuring one of my boys to various birthday parties. How did my 8 year old get more of a social life than me?!? Haha. Which, funnily enough, brings me around to this photo, pre-children and pre-Mum-ing. My, how times have changed!

Today's share is using the fabulous February mood board for inspiration. I've taken inspo directly from the colours in the bottom image which also happened to remind me of the glorious sunsets we get here in the west. Which took me to a Heidi Swapp Minc paper phrase "Enjoy The View" and the photo I chose!

Here is my page

And here again is the mood board!

I love working with big photos for BIG impact. This photo was printed a smidge smaller than A4 on matte photo paper at home and I surprised myself with having so many bits on top of the photo but I do love
how this looks and the feel it gives the whole page.

My background is white cardstock - no prep done, a Heidi Swapp Sunshine stencil and some Distress Oxide Inks. I have ALWAYS struggled getting Distress Inks to blend but these Oxide Inks are so beautiful to work with on so many different levels and blending with a sponge and ink blending tool is SUPER easy and fun! I have used Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick, Wild Honey and Fossilised Amber,
starting with the darkest pink closest to the centre of the sunrays.

For a really cool effect I splattered water all over the sun rays and, after a few seconds, rolled my paper towel over them.  See that awesome oxide effect happening? I LOVE it!

For some extra bling I added some splatters using my Bling Colour Shimmer Pot and a paint brush.

Time to foil.

I started with the pieces I knew I wanted to use - the title - which came from the Paper Phrases pack and also the letters to spell Cable Beach from the Alphabet Stickers Sheet and orange foil. You can get the foils in a HUGE range of colours in 2 sizes - 6" foils and 12" foils. The stickers/ephemera packs tell you which setting
to use your Minc machine on and these were both 3 so off I went.

My title ended up in a different place from where I expected but I really love how it looks,
and love how the die cut words look layered over the alphas!

I decided I wanted to do more foiling - it's true - once you start you CAN'T stop! I grabbed 3 pieces from the Tags Minc set (these are currently on special in the shop by the way) - the heart, the "breathe" label and the "enjoy" triangle. I added orange foil to the "breathe" piece and light pink foil to both the heart and triangle. I love this!

A little journalling with a white paint pen, my date stamped onto the breathe tag and my page is done. I love all the foiled goodness on this page.

There is a process video available on the ScrappingClearly YT channel if you'd like to see this page come together.

Remember, you have a few days left to get your entries in for the February challenges and for your chance at a store voucher. Head over to the FB group here for the challenge albums.

Until next time, happy scrapping,

Melinda

Heidi Swapp Gallery Wall Art

Hi everyone

Marelle back again!

I love the idea of having either photos or scrapping pages on my walls in my scrap room

and this gorgeous Heidi Swapp Gallery Wall Art frame is ideal because you can easily change the content of the frame and have new wall art in seconds!

Heidi Swapp keeps inventing and reinventing such amazing products

and Scrapping Clearly has the largest stock of Heidi's products in Australia!

I have made the frame simple and pretty, and have used the quote that came with the frame kit. I used Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Patina and decorated the frame

using hessian strips and flowers, there are endless possibilities for decorations for this frame.

There are packs of inserts available for this frame kit in the Scrapping Clearly Shop so if you feel like using one of these for a change it will only take seconds to create a new wall art piece. 

This frame kit would make a beautiful Wedding, Baby Shower or Birthday gift.

Until next time,

happy crafting,

Marelle

Loved - A Pretty Floral Layout with Katie Howard

Good Morning and Hello!
How are you all this morning?
Did you start the year with any scrappy type resolutions?
Personally, I am not really into the whole "New Years resolutions" thing, but I have decided
that I really need to try and use what I have in my stash more.
Mind you, that doesn't stop new things finding their way there too 😉.

With that in mind, today I am sharing a page using a slightly older Maggie Holmes collection called Gather, I only say slightly older because a couple of new ones have been released since this one (the designers are pretty prolific aren't they?!). It is very much in Maggie Holmes style with pretty florals and great basic patterns making the "B" sides just as usable as the "A" sides. So without further ado, here is my page:

I went with a vertical design for my page, with the photos overlapping strips of patterned paper on the bottom right-hand side, roughly on the bottom third cross point in the rule of thirds design. To balance this I created a small cluster at the top right, this also helped me repeat some design elements without it looking too crowded.

For my patterned papers I used - Thankful Heart, Beautiful, Jane and Kate. I also used these, or their reverse patterns, for matting my photos. By creating several thin layers behind my photos it helps to make them stand out against the busier patterns behind them. In my quest to use what I have in my stash I also pulled out an old border punch and gave the exposed edge a pattern as well as the thin middle paper, the other edges I roughed up a little too, creating some texture and interest.

After creating the basic design, all that was left to do was embellish! I pulled out the ephemera and used pieces that I could tuck in behind, and into the layers of, my photo and mats. Don't be afraid to cut things in half. It makes it easier to tuck into layers and gives you two for the price of one!

Here you can see that I added some glittery gold to my page using the title, which was from the Thicker accents that coordinate with this collection. In fact, there are many great embellishments included in this pack. How cute are the mini tassels?! I included them under my title as a way of "underlining" and drawing attention to it on the page. They are also a great way to add more texture.

This little cluster includes some bits and pieces from the ephemera and sticker sheets, as well as the word/phrase stickers. I also had the perfect place to add my date, I love using a date stamp to do this, makes it so very easy!

Finally, my top cluster, to tie it in with the main design of the page I repeated some of the paper strips, including border punching, and then used some of the die cuts, word stickers, and Thicker accents to finish it off. 

The last step was to grab some gold ink and create some splatters, I have used Liquitex gold ink as I have found the dropper included in the lid makes it really easy to get nice sized and shaped drops! Best of all it comes in all kinds of colours, because, well, you know, I am a scrapper therefore I collect things! And if I love one thing I need to have it in every colour it comes in!

I hope this inspires you to use something that you have had in your stash for a while or combine it with something new to make it all feel new and exciting! And if you haven't checked out the gorgeous Maggie Holmes collections, I suggest that you do, so many beautiful papers and pretties to use! Thanks for stopping by today and see you next time!

Katie x

HeART Journal Inspiration

 Morning Bloggers,
Lisa here with a Friday Mixed media update.

Our Friend has departed and life is returning to post JPL life, hence it's a little quiet.

To keep some focus and unwind after my working week, into my art journal I go.

Today I am sharing with you a few pages from what has hit my desk in the last few days.

This one above is a heART piece.

I came across a clipping of a young friend's obituary floating within my supplies.

We all have these sort of items that we collect through our life journey to remind us about

special people, events, and celebrations of life and times.

Art journaling is the perfect avenue to use these important clippings and items from your life

and incorporating them into art that has a story and special meaning to you.

Even when you're dealing with life its also a perfect way to channel feelings. 

I was playing with this unfinished piece below yesterday

 using the new Kinder Kreations Eye stencil.

Hello my new balanced friend.

A little background work first with DWM Sky and Ocean and a Darkroom Door crackle stencil

(another fave - if you have noticed it throughout this blog).

more detail using a Darkroom Door background stamp and black Stazon ink.

and then the Kinder Kreations EYE stencil,

applied using a sponge and a little Dylusions black acrylic paint.

Heading back to this one today, to add a little detail and substance .

Thanks for dropping by the Scrapping Clearly Blog today, 

I'll be back next week with a new mixed media update.

Lisa xx

Why I Art Journal, and a few pages

G'Day Arty Peeps.

This week has been cooler at home, with yellow leaves underfoot,

a delicious hint of Autumn in the air, and a sense of more creative time to come.

I'm looking forward to more indoor play time, how about you?

With my kids growing up and fewer photos to scrapbook I find myself turning to art journals for creative release. They are a place for me to practice with products to see what I like, but also somewhere to explore my thoughts.

Some pages are deeply personal and never shared, others more playful,

still more others meaningful in emotional ways.

I find art journalling cathartic.

So, today I'm sharing just a few of my pages,

I have listed products under each image, in order of use.

Playing with products, seeing what I can layer onto what without making a big mess.

White gesso

Dylusions ink spray - Lemon Zest

Archival and Stazon inkpads - Cherry Pink, Sunflower Yellow, orange, black

The Crafter's Workshop & Dina Wakley stencils

Darkroom Door stamps

Colour Blast pastes

Fude Ball black pen

A cathartic piece, scribbling 'train of thought' journalling.

White gesso

Vicki Boutin acrylic paints - set #2

Vintage magazine images & paper napkin applied with gel medium

Fude Ball black pen

Black Archival ink pad

White Sharpie marker

Ceramcoat black paint

Dylusions ink spray - White Linen

Inspired by a challenge - yellow, navy blue, and a secret.

Off-white metallic paint

Dina Wakley acrylic paint - Lemon, Night, Lapis

Prima Bloom stamp (on special)

The Crafter's Workshop tree stencil

Black Archival ink pad

Flower cutouts made with a freebie and my Silhouette

Alpha stamp set

Liquitex acrylic ink

I really like the freedom I have in my journals.

No rules, no striving for perfection.

It's a whole new world for me, and a great tangent for my creativity

as I'm finding less and less to put in my scrapbooks.

Thanks so much for dropping by today,

'til next time,

New Background Technique with Emma.

Hi! 

What have you lovely peeps been creating lately?

I’m really excited to share with you this layout I created using a new technique I’ve been playing around with.
I’m in awe of, and a little stalky when it comes to, abstract acrylic painting at the moment
and so I’ve been trying and practicing this out and adapting it to scrapbook layouts.

In my video at the end of this post, you can see it come to life. 

My background consists of mostly acrylic paint, Dylusions to be exact.
I chose the rose quartz and mushy peas, not 2 colors I usually put together but I loved the feel they gave. 

For my black lines, I used Liquitex artist ink in carbon black. 

I used a Colour Blast shimmer pot in envy to add contrast splashes as well. 

Then using a Kaisercraft texture stamp, layered this over the now dry paint. 

Yes, I only used one stamp this time, so hard for me cos I love using 4 or 5,
but I really wanted the ‘art’ to shine this time. 

Then, keeping it sweet and simple, only used a strip of paper from a Heidi Swapp paper pad
and 2 tags from Heidi Swapp's Color Magic notes which I painted over
using the same paints (but on a baby wipe) to show the pattern. 

A little bit of twine, some sequins, and some ink splashes, and this little beauty was done.
So quick so simple, and so much fun!

Please check out the vid. I made, you can be sure you will see more of this style of background very soon. 

https://youtu.be/Xpmr5AUUKsA

Catch you all next month

Em xx