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!

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.

Inspired by the December Mood Board - Christmas Cards with DT Katie Howard

Well we are in the thick of December now, how is everyone's shopping going? Me, well I have done some, but my holidays start half way through next week so I have a little time up my sleeve to finish things off!

Today I thought I would share some simple Christmas cards inspired by the December Mood Board and cards on Pinterest (who doesn't love wasting time here?!).

So here is the Mood Board:

I was inspired by the natural and neutral aspects in the pictures, the trees and the wreaths and also the darker greens and this is what I came up with:

I started with a cream base card and added a background using Maggie Holmes Gather paper in Kindred, which was perfect with it's leather look and stitching. I love that it looks like I stitched on the page! I used some more of the Gather collection in Magical, So Sweet and Beautiful to cut tall triangles to make some trees. This card is perfect for using up your scraps! I added some faux stitching through the trees using a black paint pen and topped them with stars from Heidi Swapp's glitter puffy sticker alpha set (I love when they have more than just alphas!) and a chipboard star from the Crate Paper Good Vibes collection. I finished with a Christmas stamp sentiment from an old stamp set I have and there you go one quick card.

This second card is inspired by the wreaths and in keeping with the darker greens and neutral colours. This is also a great card to use up left over scraps. I started by punching out some circles in 0.5 inch and 0.75 inch sizes from the following papers from the Maggie Holmes Chasing Dreams collection: Be Happy, Garden Club, Gold Glitter acetate and Lovely and also My Story from the Gather collection (this one is a gorgeous light wood patterned paper). Once I had an assortment of circles in patterns and sizes I drew a rough circle outline and then began layering and filling in the circle. Once I had the punched circles down, I added some sequins from the Pink Paislee Birthday Bash pack which included the gold stars as well, but pick whichever sequins suit your colour scheme! The I added a puffy sticker bow from the Chasing Dreams collection and stamped a Christmas message, and a second card is born!

So a quick and simple couple of cards for you to try out and use up some of your scraps. Thanks for stopping by today and catch you next time!

Katie x

Handmade Christmas Cards

Hi everyone! 

I have here some simple handmade cards from the Pink Fresh Studio 'Oh Joy' range. 

This range is perfect for these four cards, as the colours are fresh, with simple designs.

For this first card, I used the following papers: Winter Wonderland, Under The Tree, Advent Love.

To decorate the card, I used a red 'Tis The Season Bitty Bow, Cocoa Vanilla sequins, and Cocoa Vanilla Totally Rad Little Stars - all from the store.

 

With this shaker card I used Jingle Bells and Joyful Christmas papers from the Pink Fresh Studio collection. 

The buttons and snowflake were from my stash. For the sentiment, I used ephemera from the Fancy Pants 'Merry and Bright' collection. 

Here I used Joyful Christmas, Jingle Bells, Winter Wonderland - all from the 'Oh Joy' collection. 

From the store, I have used sequins from the Cocoa Vanilla 'Tis The Season Range. Across the top of the card, I have used Teresa Collins 'Tinsel and Company' decorative tape.

On this final card, I have used Jingle Bells, Advent Love, and I cut the stacked presents from 'Under The Tree' paper. 

To embellish this simple card, I have used Heidi Swapp - Marquee Love Collection - in black, Cocoa Vanilla 'Tis The Season sequins and ephemera from Fancy Pants 'Merry and Bright' collection.

I hope you enjoyed this post and that it might have inspired you! 

Thank you for stopping by, Amy

Smile Pretty - a scrapbook layout with Lisa J

Hi Scrapping Clearly friends,

Lisa here today to share a scrapbook layout using Dear Lizzy, Crate Paper and Heidi Swapp.

I started with a base of white cardstock and added some strips of paper across the top third of the page using papers from the Dear Lizzy Happy Place collection (Bananas, Be Free). I added some sprinkles of Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Coral.

I created some layers around my photo with the gorgeous Good Vibes 6x6 paper pad from Crate Paper. I fussy cut some of the elements including tags and mini houses.

 

I inked up some Heidi Swapp diecuts with Distress Oxide Ink in Mermaid Lagoon.

The final touches were some sprinkles of sequins and pink glittery buttons. 

Thanks for stopping by the blog today. Hope you have a great scrappy week. 

Lisa J

Birthday Cards - With Karyn Schultz!

Hi Scrapping Clearly Lovelies!

It's Karyn here, 

and today I have 2 cards to share made with papers from the Bella Bllvd Illustrated Faith Bright and Brave collection and Heidi Swapp Embellishments - all available in the Scrapping Clearly Store.

The card bases are 6" x 6" and made from white cardstock. I added a layer of Illustrated Faith Bible Journalling paper (text) and a layer of Illustrated Faith Count the Ways paper (coloured polka dots). Then added some Heidi Swapp glitter tags, a Heidi Swapp bow embellishment, some Heidi Swapp glitter alphas, Heidi Swapp puffy number stickers, and a handmade sequin pocket.

I made the sequin pocket by sewing 2 pieces of plastic (from pocket page protectors), leaving a small opening to insert the sequins (from the Teresa Collins Daily Stories collection) then sewing the hole closed. The heart was trickier to do - I marked the shape with a pencil first but it was very hard to see on the plastic and it was very slippery to sew - still, I like the rustic look. This is a great way to use up sequins and I love the look! 

For the next card I used a layer of Illustrated Faith Bible Journaling paper (stripes) then attached a strip of the reverse text side to the bottom half of the card. I added more Heidi Swapp glitter tags, some Heidi Swapp glitter alphas, a Heidi Swapp glitter wood veneer word, and a handmade heart sequin pocket. 

Here is a close up of the sentiment. 

Thanks so much for stopping by 

Crafty Hugs xx

Karyn

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

Sweet - A Girly Scrapbook Page with Katie Howard

Good morning!
Half way through another month already, can you believe it?!
February is a busy month for me with two of my three kids having birthdays, as well as other things,
and being a shorter month it always seem to disappear as quickly as it came.
How about you? Do you have a month that seems to come and go in a flurry of activity?

Today I am sharing a page that I created based on the February sketch, have you had a go yet?
I hope that my take on the sketch might inspire you to give it a try if you haven't already.
This is the album location in the Facebook group where you can find the sketch
and load your entry - here. To get you started here is the sketch

This is my take on it

The most obvious thing I did was flip the sketch, I did this because my photos have my niece looking into the page with this orientation rather than out of the page if I had left the sketch as is, this helps keep your eyes within the page. A good tip to remember in your own designs! I also shrunk down the main sketch so I could mat it on a background.

I had a bit of fun playing with the Crate Paper Maggie Holmes Chasing Dreams collection, I love how I was able to pick papers and elements that carried through the pink, green, and yellow colour combination. I used Graceful for my pink mat of the main sketch and Library for the background of the main sketch. Then there were bits from Be Happy, Cheerful, Garden Club, and Adventure for matting and fussy cutting.With the floral nature of the collection I decided to continue the theme with some of the Heidi Swapp Minc Art Screen flowers. I turned these Art Screen flowers into foiled flowers to add some extra shine to the page.

Besides the art screen I used Reactive Screen Ink and Rose Gold foil. If screen printing isn't your thing there is also reactive paint and mist for adding touches of foil to your projects! Use the paint and mist through stencils and with masks, so many options!

Once my print was dry and I foiled it, I decided to colour the flowers using some Distress Oxide inks. I simply swiped some ink on my craft mat, added some water, then painted as I would with water colours. The great thing about doing this is the foil acts as a resist and can be painted over without losing its shine and effect. I used Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberries, Fossilized Amber, and Cracked Pistachio as they matched the Crate Paper collection the best.

Once painted I just needed to let them dry then fussy cut them out. Lucky for me the shapes weren't too complicated as I am not very good at fussy cutting!

 Then it was time to assemble. I created some clusters with the foiled and painted flowers according to the sketch and finished off with some chipboard hearts from Heidi Swapp. This set of stickers worked perfectly with the Chasing Dreams colours too.

The vintage buttons from the Chasing Dreams collections are way too cute, here I used one of the black ones over the hole in the tag. The stickers in this collection are also fabulous with some being gold foiled, which worked with my gold foiled flowers perfectly! To finish off I used the puffy thickers to create my title surrounded by some cute sequins. Have I said lately how I love puffy stickers??!! This font is nice and thin and, being white, it gives a nice subtle look that doesn't overpower the softness of the page.

So that is it from me today.
I hope I have given you some ideas on how to change up the sketch to suit you and your photos, and that you give it a go!

Thanks for stopping by,

Katie x