Epic Adventure Mini Album | Sue Plumb

Hi everyone! It's Sue Plumb back again to share my final guest designer project with you. Today I am sharing a special mini album I created to document an epic adventure I had with my sister - a surprise weekend away to celebrate her birthday that was organised by her partner (and a few sneaky scrappy gals you may recognise!)

There is so much to love packed into this album - not just the memories, but some beautiful products too. I have found myself using a lot more patterned papers lately, and falling in love with paper all over again.

So, let's get started on this album. I began with a pile of photos and a small 6 ring binder-style planner I had purchased at Kmart. I opened it up and removed everything from the inside, leaving me with the cover only. 

I started by making myself a "kit" of coordinating items to work from that included a variety of patterned papers; stickers; and die cut ephemera.

I chose a number of patterned papers from the Simple Stories 'Heart' and Heidi Swapp 'Emerson Lane' collections; with some odd sheets from Pink Paislee and Websters Pages added in. My main criteria when choosing the papers for my kit was colour choice - with both the A and B sides of each one needing to fit my chosen palette.

I started by cutting the sheets of paper into smaller "pages" - trimming each one into a variety of different sizes and shapes. I then used a few different decorative border punches to punch along some of the edges. 

Now it was time to sort the pages into some sort of order. I shuffled and stacked them, making sure that the sizes were mixed up and that colours and patterns on facing pages were complimentary to one another. I then punched each page using a 6-hole punch (check out the gorgeous DCWV 6-hole gold punch in the store HERE); adding some hole reinforcer stickers as I placed them into the binder.

With all of my pages in place, it was time to start adding my photos. (I do admit that the order of the pages did get shuffled a little as I began to work my way through the book.)

I treated each page just like a tiny scrapbook layout - I had a background, photo/s and now they just needed embellishments. I didn't want to use anything bulky because I wanted to make sure the pages would lay flat, so I chose a mix of stickers and die cuts to use.

To coordinate with the papers I had chosen, I used the Simple Stories 'Heart' Cardstock Stickers; and the Heidi Swapp 'Emerson Lane' Stickers and matching Ephemera. 

Throughout the album I added extra interest to some of the pages by adding "tip-ins" (extra interactive flaps) using tags / ephemera / pieces of paper, which I fastened with washi tape. (There is even a set of coordinating 'Emerson Lane' Washi Tapes!)

I left some of the pages in the album photo-free and kept them simply decorative. You can see how having a good variety of different page sizes, colours and patterns adds plenty of visual interest.

I did choose a couple of embellishments that were slightly dimensional to use in my album - the super cute Pebbles 'Spring Fling' Puffy Stickers - Flowers; and the 1 Canoe 2 'Globe Gallery' 3D Butterflies.

I made an effort to include handwritten journalling on as many of the pages as I could - using a variety of labels, journal tags and even paper offcuts to write on.

Another way to switch things up in the album is to add the photos sidewards - just as I did with the landscape shot, which allowed it to be printed larger.

Never be afraid to punch directly through a photo to turn it into a page itself; and when dealing with small pages, sometimes it is better to embellish over part of the photo.

When working on a small scale like this, especially with papers featuring bold patterns, it is better to keep to the "less is more" rule with embellishments.

Look at the papers you have and see what can be fussy cut from them to use as embellishments, such as flowers, labels, shapes and quotes.

Another way to add extra interactive elements to your album is to include small envelopes, such as the Heidi Swapp Memory Planner Envelopes I used,  which can be used to hold memorabilia, journalling or even extra photos (just like I did in my special "sealed section").

This is by no means all the pages from my album - there are just too many pages to share here (and some still to be completed). Once I have them all finished I will try and film an album flip through to share with you in the Scrapping Clearly Facebook group. 

Thanks so much to Kylie and the wonderful team for having me as a guest this month - I have so enjoyed sharing my projects with you.

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!

Mixing it Up with Pocket pages and 12 x 12 with Melinda

Howdy and happy Hump Day!

Hope your week has been kind to you so far, I know the beginnings of my weeks are always super busy.

However, here in WA we had a public holiday and I spent the day at Adventure World with my family, so today only feels like Tuesday!

I have a bit of a different share for you today but first, here are the photos of my 2 pages

that I created using the adorable PhotoPlay Boys Rule collection pack.

Yep, that is a 12x12 page and a pocket style page. Here is a little of the back story!

I like to have something in the boys' albums for each month to sum up what life was like for them that month.

I've found the best way for me to achieve that is to include a few small stories in a pocket page that make up their every day (like in this spread of Hunter setting the dinner table).

Then I do 12x12 pages with the bigger kind of stories (like this month his first day at 3-year-old Kindy). Depending on the month I have 1 or 12 lol

I'm not a huge "this is a really cute photo, I've gotta scrap it" kind of person,

I'm more of a "this is a great story and I have this awesome photo that goes with it" kind of scrapper

which works really well for me.

How do you like to get your stories in your albums?

Are you more of a "this is just an adorable photo" kind of scrapper?

I love learning what inspires others!!

So, I made a process video for this which you can see here.

My very first step was choosing which 12x12 paper I wanted to use for my background

and making sure that I included that as the title card for the pocket page spread.

I tossed up between the "Seeing Stars" and the "Mr Mischief" papers from the collection pack

and ultimately decided the photos popped more on the "Mr Mischief".

I now had a starting point!

I started on my pocket page and picked patterned papers that I thought would work really well then cut them to size (using some of the cut-aparts but also just chopping down some of the 12x12 papers).

I love the continuity over the pocket page and the 12x12 page.

I've used the Heidi Swapp Black Glitter Chipboard Letter Stickers for my title on both pages.

I've used quite a few of the stickers from the Boys Rule collection pack sticker sheet on both pages as well, I love all those little stars that I could sprinkle across both pages!

I worked on 3 areas of embellishment on my 12x12 page layering, a few bits of papers and quite a few stickers. I've also popped up a couple of the stickers to give more dimension and interest to the page.

My very final steps were adding a few stickers from Heidi Swapp's Puffy Stickers sheet,

my journalling in 2 places, and some Bling splatters using my Colour Shimmer Pot by Colour Blast!

I'm super happy with how this spread came together, and even happier that I now have these photos

out of the photo storage box and into Hunter's album!

Thank you, as always, for stopping by,

until next time, happy scrapping!!

Melinda

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

December Story by Lauren Hender

Hello Everyone and a big welcome back to the Scrapping Clearly blog. 

Today I am sharing with you a layout celebrating my December
and letting me reflect a little on the year that has been. 

In this layout I have used the stunning Oh Joy collection from Pink Fresh Studio. 

This beautiful festive collection can be found HERE in the Scrapping Clearly store. 

As you can see one of the key features I have used in this layout is this folk Christmas tree cut file
by Paige Evans. Having a large element like this on you layout can sometimes take over
but since it's Christmas, and since it's a Christmas tree, why not let it take over lol.
I did try and balance it a little though by triple mounting my photo
and placing it right next to the tree, and not at the bottom of it. 

In this collection there is a great set of Studio Puff Stickers.

They are adorable and add that something special to your layout. 

As you can see there is really not much to this layout.
It's clean and there has been no fancy technique applied.
I think that is the really great thing about Pink Fresh Studio collections.
They all have a clean classic look to them that make traditional scrapbooking easy. 

Check out the other Pink Fresh goodies in the Scrapping Clearly Store HERE.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and I will see you back here
on New Years Eve to share something a little special. 

Blessings 

Lauren xo