Happiness & Cocktails | Sue Plumb

Hi everyone!

It's Sue Plumb back again today to share my latest guest designer project with you.

For today's post I wanted to go "back to basics" and create a fun 12x12" scrapbook layout that was focused on paper. (My love of paper is, after all, what first led me down the rabbit hole of scrapbooking.) I chose to document some fun photos that were taken almost a year ago at my retreat on the Sunshine Coast.

The collection I chose to pair with my photos was the 'Good Vibes' collection from Crate Paper. This collection is full of bold, playful patterns - perfect for pairing with my retreat photos!

I began with a sheet of the Girls Night paper as my layout base, which I topped with a sheet of white cardstock, that I trimmed down to measure 11x11". This left me a nice, even 1/2" patterned paper border all the way around the edges.

I then turned to my other papers and was immediately drawn to the gorgeous All Good paper, with its rich colours, florals and sweet bird motifs. I cut a large rectangular piece which I placed vertically on the left side of my page. I then cut a smaller piece of the Hashtag paper and layered it horizontally over the top.

Next, I cut one of the stripey pattern strips from the Passion paper, which I added on top to provide a strong, horizontal line on which to place my photos. 

I still wanted more layers behind my photos though, so I cut two tags from So Chill cut apart paper; punching a hole in each and then tying them with twine. These were then tucked in underneath where my photos were going to go. I also tucked a small white doily into my layers before sticking my photos down.

For my page title, I cut the large "happiness" piece from the Big Heart foil accent specialty paper and placed it below my photos. I then used some blue Pinkfresh Studio 'Boys Fort' Mini Alpha Stickers to complete my title. (These are such a cute size, and there is also a sheet of both tan and green alphas included in the pack.)

With so many busy patterns at play, my layout required very few embellishments (as the papers had already done most of the hard work for me). I reached for the remaining piece of the All Good paper I had used earlier and fussy cut one of the little birds from it. I the added it to my page using foam tape to give it some dimension.

Above my photos I added a gorgeous 3D butterfly embellishment from the One Canoe Two Globe Gallery range.

To finish off, I added a scattering of blue sequins from the Teresa Collins Urban Market Sequins pack. (These were the perfect match for the blue of our cocktails!)

That's all from me today, I hope I have inspired you to get back to basics too and create something featuring lots of pretty papers too. 

Until next time, happy scrapping!

For the Boys - Traveler's Notebook Spreads | Sue Plumb

Hi everyone! It's Sue Plumb here with my latest guest designer project to share with you. You might recall that last week I shared a pretty floral 12x12" layout (you can see it HERE); so for this week I decided to go in an entirely different direction with some boy themed traveler's notebook (TN) spreads.

My love for TNs has really grown over the past 12 months, as I approach this format quite differently to the "traditional" layouts I do. These little books are less about the process, and more about getting the memories down so I include a lot more journalling. For today's post I was working in one of my sons books and getting a couple of stories recorded for him.

I started this spread with a piece of leftover patterned paper from another project, so I thought I would take the opportunity to use it up on this. (This is a great way to use up scraps.) The paper I used was the I Love You paper from the Simple Stories 'Heart' collection, and I placed a piece on either side of my spread as my base.

The next step was to arrange my photos and my printed journalling. (I pre-print my journalling so I know exactly how much space it will need on the page.) Just like a larger layout, once I have those things in place, it's simply a case of filling in space with embellishments. For this spread I was working with the Ephemera Pack from the Pinkfresh Studio 'Boys Fort' collection. 

All the embellishments you can see on this spread are from the same Ephemera Pack; and I simply shuffled through the pack and found ones that work work to fill the spaces on my page. The final step to finish off my spread was to add some spots to the white space using a very fine grey felt pen.

For my second spread, I again began with my background. This time I used a scrap of the Treasured Memories paper (also from the Simple Stories 'Heart' collection); along with a scrap of the Happy Go Lucky paper from the Cocoa Vanilla Studio 'Boys Rule' collection. 

This time I also matted my main photo with the same Cocoa Vanilla Studio patterned paper to help it stand out more on the page. Again, I placed my photos and journalling before turning my attention to the embellishments.

I used the same Pinkfresh Studio 'Boys Fort' Ephemera Pack to embellish this page as I did for the previous spread. This time however, I needed an extra pop of blue so I fussy cut some blue stars from the Starshine paper from the Cocoa Vanilla Studio 'You Rock' collection (using my awesome limited edition gold Fiskars scissors).

I finished off my spread by stamping some little banners using StazOn black ink and a roller stamp from my stash; and with some doodling using fine tip felt pens.

I hope I have inspired you with some ideas for the next time you get creative - maybe try the traveler's notebook format if you haven't already, or even just create something masculine?

Thanks so much for stopping by, I will be back again next week with another project to share.

Happy Days | Sue Plumb

Hi everyone!

It's Sue Plumb here with you today and I am so excited to be joining Kylie and the rest of the Scrapping Clearly team as this month's guest designer.

For my first project I thought I would start with what I know best - a 12x12" scrapbook layout to document some photos that were taken at the Cocoa Vanilla Studio retreat back in May.

I began my page with a sheet of Bazzill 'Marshmallow' Smooth Heavyweight cardstock; choosing the heavier weight cardstock because I was going to be applying wet media to add some subtle watercolour detail to my background.

I started with Ranger 'Stormy Sky' and 'Tumbled Glass' Distress Oxide ink pads, which I swiped onto my non-stick craft then spritzed with water until large droplets had formed. I then used my fingertip to swirl the water through the inks, blending them together in a few places before laying the cardstock over the top and smoothing it down to absorb the ink.

I set my background aside to dry whilst I turned my attention to the patterned papers. The ones I had chosen to work with were all from the gorgeous 13Arts 'Blue Magnolia' collection. I cut a large piece of the striped Evening Letters paper and added it to the right hand side of my page, leaving my watercolour work visible on the left side of the page.

Next, I added a small piece of teal paper as a mat for my photos. I used the reverse side of the Forever in My Heart paper from the Simple Stories Heart collection and then added my photos on top using some cardboard underneath to pop them up from the page. 

Now it was time for some fussy cutting! I took the Flowery Day paper (also from the 13Arts Blue Magnolia collection), which is full of gorgeous elements to cut out. I cut a few floral pieces and added them to my page with foam tape so that they formed a "visual triangle" around my photos. I also used black cotton thread in each cluster to add some soft texture to my page. 

In the bottom right corner I added a fussy cut branch with a sweet little bird perched on it; then three butterflies (also cut from the same sheet) which I placed around my page to form a secondary visual triangle.

For my title piece, I used the happy days die cut from the Pinkfresh Studio 'Boys Fort' Collection Ephemera Pack, which I also applied using foam tape for dimension.

Next, I added a simple doodled border using a black Fude Ball pen; a small strip of paper along the bottom edge to record the details about my photos; and finally, a scattering of black and white sequins from the Teresa Collins Urban Market Sequins. To finish off, I couldn't resist a few tiny black splatters of Indian Ink.

Thanks so much for stopping by, I will be back next week with another project to share with you.

“My Love’

Hi All!

I am super-excited to be here as a new part of the Scrapping Clearly community! – and I hope you enjoy my first post in this group.

I have here, a project that is my take on this month’s gorgeous mood board.

This photo was captured on a summer trip to the Victorian high country with the love of my life and our two boys.

To start the page, using some heavy white cardstock from my stash, I prepped the background using Dina Wakley Clear Gesso.

After this, to prepare the background, I mixed some water with some Tim Holtz - Ranger - Distress Oxide in the ‘Fossilized Amber’ and smeared it around the page with some plastic until I was happy with the coverage.

Then I added some splatters of ‘Pure Sunshine’ Dylusions by Dyan Reaveley and some splatters of Dina Wakley Heavy Body Acrylic Paint in the ‘Elephant’.

Using some more of the Amber Distress Oxide, I stamped around the page using ’49 & Market - Gabi’s Textures Stamp Set.

For the layers behind the photo, I have used some papers from the Pink Fresh Studio ‘Boys Fort’ Collection.

Then, I adhered the photo in place …and it was time for embellishment!

In this cluster here, as pictured, I have used words from Tim Holtz Idea-ology – ‘Small Talk’, with some Prima flowers.

Around the page, I have used wood veneer painted corners - these are Wanderlust Embellishments.

The title is made using ‘Thickers’ foam letter stickers – the ‘Together’ range. For the square border I have used ColourBlast Colour Spray (‘Roadbase’) mixed with water. The squiggles around the page were done using a Posca Uni Marker pen, from the shop.

Well I sure had fun putting this page together with all these goodies!

I hope you, too, are inspired, and I look forward to seeing your take on this month’s mood board!

Ciao, Amy 😊

Crazy Even In Emergency - with Melinda

Good morning and welcome to the blog for the first post of the weekend!
Do you have any scrappy plans?
I do, and I hope to be super productive!!

Anyway, I'm here today sharing my newest page created with the very fun Photo Play Boys Rule Collection. I am documenting an interesting story today of my boys being maniacs, even while we were in Accident & Emergency with my husband last July. The journalling sums up how well they coped and all in all what an awesome job they did in such a gloomy situation!

I was inspired by a couple of stickers in the collection and built my page starting with those...

And, I also created a process video which you can see here. Make sure you subscribe to the ScrappingClearly YT channel too, so you don't miss mine or any of the other DT's shares over there!

I've torn 3 pieces of patterned paper from the Collection Pack (Seeing Stars, My Boy and Smash Bang) and layered them on the right hand side of my white background paper and then added a coat of white gesso both over the bottom of the papers (where my photos were going) and onto the white cardstock.

Time, of course, for some messy fun! I started with a text stamp in black Archival ink and then used a dotty texture stamp with dark blue Archival ink.

Then more colour! Back again to my Distress Oxides. I was going to use LOTS of colours but then ended up using only Squeezed Lemonade and Spiced Marmalade and the packaging technique over where the gesso and stamping was.

I also added some splatters using the Faded Jeans Distress Oxide watered down as I felt the white half of the page needed some of that darker blue to balance the right side.

Once that was all dry I added all my stickers and some messy thread in both a dark blue and a bright lime green and I love how that brings all the colours together through the page. The black word stickers are from the Boys Fort Phrase Stickers sheets.

Lastly, my title using the Black Glitter Heidi Swapp chippy alphas paired with the fun Mini Alphas from Pink Fresh Studio's Boys Fort collection.

I have to document the actual story of the reason we were at the ER in the first place but am kinda stuck - it's one of those stories that I certainly feel like I want in our album but am unsure how to add it in. Have you shared one (or more) of those types of stories in your albums?
Tell me how? Please do share, I would love to hear!

Anyway, I shall leave you here with my last close up. I love the craziness and hectic feel of this page because, for so many reasons, that was exactly how those few hours felt! Oh, and just for the record, in case anyone is wondering, hubby's finger is almost completely healed and you wouldn't even know that he had a run with a table saw last July!!

Until next time, happy scrapping!

Melinda

Catching Up on 2017 Project Life ~ Week 12 with Melinda

Welcome to the ScrappingClearly blog!!
Today I am sharing a 2017 Project Life spread for which I have done a bit of a "ScrappingClearly Stash Dive" to find supplies.

The Project Life style of memory keeping, with pocket pages, is quick and allows lots of space for story-telling if that appeals to you.
I love the variety of page sizes and pocket orientation available too
it just makes it so easy, which is great if you have a busy life!

I've started with the following goodies and I will link to the store both here and where they appear throughout my blog post. I also have a process video up HERE on the ScrappingClearly YT channel which I would love for you to check out!!

Pink Fresh Studio - Boys Fort - "Bold" 12 x 12 paper

Pink Fresh Studio - Boys Fort - "High Five" 12 x 12 paper
Pink Fresh Studio - Boys Fort - "Wowzers" 12 x 12 paper

Pink Fresh Studio - Boys Fort - "You Rule" 12 x 12 paper

Pink Fresh Studio - Boys Fort - Mini Alpha Stickers

Pink Fresh Studio - Boys Fort - Cardstock Sticker Phrases

Pink Fresh Studio - Boys Fort - Ephemera
Pink Fresh Studio - Boys Fort - Printed Veneer Stickers
Teresa Collins - Something Wonderful - Washi Tape

Teresa Collins - Something Wonderful - Ephemera Tags

Teresa Collins - Something Wonderful - Photo Overlays

Heidi Swapp - Wood Veneer

Studio Calico - Brighton Pier - Wood Veneer
White Gesso
Distress Oxide Ink - Faded Jeans

And here are my pages, first up is the left hand side

On this side I have used the "Wowzers", "High Five" and "You Rule" papers from Pink Fresh Studio as my cards. I've also used some of the Mini Alpha Stickers, ephemera pieces and also the Sticker Phrases from the same collection. A little washi and some veneer pieces from this pack by Heidi Swapp and this pack by Studio Calico. Some journalling and date stamps and the left hand side is done.

Here are a few close ups of this side

And here is the right hand side

On this side I have used 3 of the ephemera tags by Teresa Collins for the cards and cut a piece of the "Bold" patterned paper to 3x4 for my title card. I didn't feel like I needed heaps of extras on this side but I have used the photo overlay on the bottom left hand photo, a couple of ephemera pieces and one of the printed veneer stickers. The bottom right photo is a flip pocket and on the inside I have a piece of the "Wowzers" patterned paper for my card and also one of the Studio Calico wood veneer pieces.

On my title card I have used another of the Heidi Swapp veneer pieces, covered it with 3 coats of white gesso and used a stamp from my stash with Faded Jeans Distress Oxide Ink. Some washi, mini alpha stickers and a couple of the ephemera pieces and this page is all done too!

Here are a couple of close ups including one of the flip pocket opened

It feels so good going back and getting these pages done!
Slow and steady and in the album is way more important than "perfect" to me
and I am happy in that place right now!

I had lots of fun mixing and matching all of these different pieces together and really like the way it all came together in the end. I hope I inspire you to get some more stories documented and until next time, happy scrapping.

Melinda