Graphic 45 in Living Colour

Hi everyone.

I've just managed to squeeze in one extra Graphic 45 layout for my July Guest DT position for The Scrapbook Store. Again, I'm using the stunning Bohemian Bazaar range. I thought I'd try something different this time though and show how those knock-your-socks-off bright colours can also be used for a softer layout.

To soften the bright yellow background paper I brushed it lightly with gesso and gave it a few sprays of white Dylusions ink spray. I used gesso through a stencil to give the background a bit more interest and fussy-cut the leaves and flowers from the Bohemian Bazaar papers

Don't you just love the shutters? They're made with a die I got from The Scrapbook Store. You can buy it here. The "Wish List" tag is from the Bohemian Bazaar Chipboard Tags set.

I wanted a bit more happening a the top of the page so I hand painted a few little seagulls. Here's a close up:

I'm no budding Rembrandt but I think it works!

A big thanks to Suzanne, Marelize and the team at The Scrapbook Store for having me on board for the month of July. It's been fabulous!

Til next time...

Heather

Just made it!

Hi all,

I only just realised that this month's challenge at Scrap Around The World closes in 17 hours! I've just scraped this layout in!

You can find this month's challenge here. Here are July's mood board and sketch:

I went to a wedding a couple of months ago and this mood board just yelled "wedding" to me. The pictures on the mood board are gorgeous. I started with the sketch but got this great idea about sitting the photo on a bouquet of flowers so this changed the design significantly. I realised at some stage that I was so far from the sketch that there was no point trying to make it look like it so I just went with the flow.

Here's what I came up with:

I'm not sure I've done the layout justice with this photo. It's a 12 x 12 layout with edges punched with a Martha Stewart border punch. I loved playing around with the gorgeous Manor House Creations flowers to make the bouquet. I think the all-white theme is so elegant. I added lace around the photo and in the bouquet to highlight the gorgeous lace wedding dress. I added my jounaling in silver pen unobtrusively around the photo as I wanted to keep the design simple and uncluttered.

Here are some close ups:

Thanks for looking!

Heather

All Frocked Up

Hi there.

Gosh, I've had the biggest scrapping month ever and I'm managing to get a lot of blogging done as well! I must be slipping behind on something - I suspect it's work!

I have a new layout to show you using those amazing Bohemian Bazaar papers from The Scrapbook Store. I had a lot of fun and a lot of frustration with this one! I knew exactly the sort of photo I wanted for this layout and finally found it. It's a couple of years old and it's been patiently sitting on my computer waiting for the right occasion.

First the fun - aren't those fussy-cut flowers amazing! The papers are so rich and detailed that even smaller pieces like these make such a big impact. I finished off the cluster with a stunning Manor House Creations peacock feather, available here. and a Zva Creative bling flourish, available here. Here's a close up:

I used a label from the sticker sheet as the background for my title - all very easy really. ( I removed the friend's name from the journaling as she's not a relative of mine.)

Now the background was where I had all the frustration. I spent quite a while making a gorgeous textured background then was too heavy-handed with the Dylusions ink spray and ruined it. I was spraying red Dylsuions with a splash of yellow through a The Crafters Workshop honeycomb stencil. I contemplated starting again but had an idea how I could fix it so I gave it a go. I brushed gesso over the Dylusions really thickly. I made the brushstrokes go all different directions, adding to the textured look. I laid the gesso on thinker at the edges then thinner as I approached the photo so more of the Dylusions and stencilled pattern showed through. I then gave a very small spray or two of black Dylusions through a The Crafters Workshop Burst stencil behind the pic. You can't see a lot of it but it helps to ground the photo. I really love the final effect.

Here's a section of it:

I added a few splashes of red and black paint and scattered a few flowers from the sticker sheet to help balance the page.

You might have noticed the border. It was really easy to make. Here's how:

Step 1
Lay a piece of film strip washi tape on a craft mat.

 Step 2
Run a piece of double sided tape along the centre of the washi and adhere a strip of patterned paper that has been cut to fit between the edges of the film strip.

Step 3
Tear the whole thing down the middle.

Step 4
Adhere it around the edge of the page with the black side to the edge.

Easy peasy!

Bye for now.

Heather

I just want to Scrap Everything!

Hello again. We've been having some wild wintry weather here. It's nasty outside but cosy in my scrap room!

It's time for a new post for Scrap Everything. This month I have a gorgeous range called Sisters by Echo Park. It's available here. I had a few photos on my desk that I've been wanting to scrap for a while and I was looking through these with the Sisters papers in mind. I also received another sheet of Echo Park paper from the "here and now" range called chalkboard.. When I found the photo of my daughter with a blackboard I realised I had found the perfect match!

Here's my layout:

Aaaaw, I forget how cute my kids were when they were little! This is my daughter who is a very talented artist now, so I'm stoked that I have a record of her early artistic days.

To create the background for the photo, I layered two of the Sisters sheets after punching along one side and inking the edges. I tied them up with Maya Road twine.  I cut out a chevron section from one of the papers and added this across the bottom. I backed the photo with two We R Memory Keepers cardstock cards, available here. I used more of the cards as journaling blocks. The journaling blocks set the retro rounded-corner feel so I rounded the corners on everything else too. I never tire of this look!

Here are some close-ups:

To make the blackboard background I raided my daughter's arty stash (quite appropriate really!) and found some chalk pastels. These worked beautifully on the paper. A few simple child-like drawings and I was done!

I reckon there are endless ways you could use that grey chalkboard paper as a blackboard on layouts.

I wish I had taken lots more photos of my kids when they were little. If yours are still small, get that camera out!

Bye for now.

Heather

More Graphic 45

Hi to all,

If your kids have gone back to school I hope you're soaking up the peace and quiet. If not, I hope you're enjoying the family time.

My kids have gone back and I've had a chance to get into the scrap room. I've had a ball playing with the Graphic 45 papers from The Scrapbook Store. Here's what I made this week.

This is one of those pages that looks better in real life but there's not much I can do about that! The Graphic 45 papers work so well with white cardstock. This is the Bohemian Bazaar range and it's available here.

I gave the background a very light spray with Dylusions (available here) and used texture paste through a Kaisercraft Bubbles stencil (available here) to create the background. I dragged out my Cricut machine to make the retro title. I was inspired to do this when I googled Michelin Man and found a lot of the advertising was done in the 50's and had this font style.

Here's a close up:

I gave the title and the outside edges of the paper section a light black edging to help anchor them. To create the bubble look below the title I punched different sized circles from the G45 paper. I did a few things to tie in with the bubbly spa theme.

I LOVE the Memory Box Loopy Rings die I used to cut these bubbly circles. Aren't they adorable? They're so fine and delicate. They're available here.

And here's a final closie of the same die used at the bottom. I also used part of a strip of paper left over from punching the circles for the top section.

I made this entire page using the Bohemian Bazaar range and I love it! It creates such an impact on a layout.

Hope your scrapping is bright and cheery this week!

Heather

Who wants to see some Tour sneaks???

Hello everyone!

I think it's time to share some sneaks of our tour classes. In case you've missed the info before, the three Victorian Scrapbooking Memories Masters are doing a tour in August and September. The three Masters are Beck Beattie, Leonie Neal-Dawson and myself.

So without further ado, here are some sneaks to give you an idea of what you can expect to create in the classes.

If you look below you will so many different mediums used in various ways to create three very different styles. Attend all three classes at the discounted price and learn them all. You also get to take away so many different products so you create these looks time and time again in your own individual way!

Sweet as a Pea - Leonie Neal-Dawson
Leonie had such fun creating this layout for the class. It involves using a range of different mediums and a beautiful, bright colour palette. Doesn't it look stunning?

Dylusions Dreaming - Heather McMahon
My layout uses techniques that you will be able to use in different ways to create your own unique layouts. The colours and design are suitable for either a male or female page.

A Bit of Boyish Charm - Beck Beattie
Just take a look at Beck's awesome dimension in this sneak. Everything is beautifully finished and executed. It's a stunning page.

Here are the class dates and venues:

Kaisercraft Geelong - Saturday 3rd August
Address: 506 Latrobe Blvd, Newtown, Vic, 3220
Phone: (03) 5222 3965

The Imagination Factory - Saturday 24th August
Address: 402 Main Rd, Ballarat, Victoria, 3350
Phone: (03) 5331 6108

A Fastlane Scrappe Supplies - Saturday 7th September
Address: 135 Railway Avenue, Werribee, Victoria, 3030
Phone: (03) 9742 2000

If you'd like any further info just drop me a line on this blog or there are further contact details on www.vicmasterstour.blogspot.com.au You can also follow us on www.facebook.com/VictorianScrapbookingMemoriesMastersTechniquesTour

I hope you can make it to some classes!

Heather

Packing a Punch with Graphic 45

Hi there.

I've just returned from 5 days in gorgeous Port Douglas. I've never been there before and I was pleasantly surprised at how laid back it was. We walked, snorkeled, explored and of course, ate and drank far too much! It was a fabulous place and I can't wait to return one day.

Of course, now I have heaps more photos to scrap - 370 to be exact! Luckily it's my guest DT month for The Scrapbook Store and I have the most amazing Graphic 45 papers to scrap with! The range I have is called Bohemian Bazaar and you can find it here.

Graphic 45 can have incredibly bold, bright papers, and this range is the boldest and brightest I have ever seen! I remember someone saying once that Graphic 45 papers scare them. I can understand this but I hope to show you over the next few weeks how you can make the most of these amazing papers. They can make truly incredible pages and off the page projects.

I have started with a very straightforward page. I wanted to make the entire layout from G45 papers so I kept the design very simple as a busy design would have clashed and detracted from the photos.

Here's my layout:

Don't the bright colours just knock your socks off? I chose papers that matched the clothing on my (very silly) family. Although the background paper is bright and busy, I chose it as it contains only one colour. This allowed me to get away with using a whole sheet of it.

I nearly always back G45 papers with black or white cardstock. This helps to define the space and clearly separates the layers. To show you what I mean, look at the papers around the photos. If I hadn't used white cardstsock between the layers, the papers would have all just merged into one another and the photos would have got lost among the papers. Here's a close up.

Note that I left the strips behind the photo unmounted as I didn't particularly want them to stand out. They're just the support team, not the feature!

To help create a border around the layout, I backed the page with white cardstock too. I used a Martha Stewart border punch to soften the straight edges on the top and bottom and to add a bit of interest.

I only used about 1 1/4 sheets of paper to make this layout, plus cardstock. The joy of good double-sided paper is that it looks like I've used more. The reverse of the blue paper is the red and yellow one and the reverse of the green and blue paper is the blue diamond one. I cut the paper away from underneath the photos, cut it into strips and flipped some of it to show the other side.

The Bohemian Bazaar range also has chipboard buttons, tags and shapes, some of which I've used here, as well as a sticker sheet with letters, border strips and other designs.

I hope to show you more of these over the next few weeks.

Hope this has "brightened" your day!

Heather

More exciting news - we're doing a tour!

Hi everyone.

I am so excited to announce that the three Victorian Scrapbooking Memories Masters are doing a tour! Beck Beattie, Leonie Neal-Dawson and I will be touring around Victoria sharing our tips and techniques in a series of classes. I so hope you'll be able to join us!

The Kaisercraft Outlet in Geelong has offered to be the host for

our first day of classes to be held on the 3rd August 2013.

The Geelong Kaisercraft Outlet has a large beautiful classroom that we will be using.

It's going to a be a fun filled day with door prizes offered for each of the three classes.

Tea and coffee are available from the outlet and it's

BYO lunch if staying the whole day.

How the day will run?

Each of us will teach a technique based class of approximately 1.5hours long. 

We're hoping that you will want to stay for each class 

and have offered a discount for those wishing to do this. 

However if you can only make it for one or two of the classes that's fine also. 

Class times are as follows

Sweet As A Pea by Leonie Neal-Dawson 

9.00am - 10.30am

Dylusions Dreaming by Heather McMahon

11.00am - 12.30pm

A Bit Of Boyish Charm by Beck Beattie

1.00pm - 2.30pm

Cost is $40 per class or $110 for all three classes.

Bookings can be made in-store  at the Kaisercraft Geelong Outlet

506-508 Latrobe Blvd  Geelong VIC 3220

(03) 5222 3965

The other dates and locations so far are:

August 24th - The Imagination Factory - Ballarat

September 7th - Fast Lane Scrappe Supplies - Werribee

If you have any questions or queries please leave us a comment or email any one us.

All our email addresses are located on the top left of the blog.

I hope you can make it to a class or two!

Heather

Exciting News!

Oh hello everyone! I'm thrilled and honoured to be asked to be a Guest Design Team member for The Scrapbook Store. Suzanne and Marelize are such wonderful ladies and their design team has some of my all-time favourite scrappers ever, so I'm thrilled to be working with them for the month of July.

I thought I'd start with the monthly sketch challenge. Here's the sketch:

I had some pics of my daughter wearing steampunk clothes to her year 12 formal which I wanted to use. I really admire my daughter for her unusual tastes in clothes and the way she's not afraid to get out there and wear them. I figured there mustn't be too many teenagers who can figure out how to wear steampunk to a formal event. I think she pulled it off beautifully!

Even though the sketch is quite soft and pretty I figures I could adapt it. I flipped it vertically and dropped the top circular element as my page was getting quite heavy visually. There was a cluttered background in my pics so I photoshopped the background out completely. The blank background on the new photos allowed me to have a fairly busy page as the photos stood out quite clearly.

Here's my layout:

The background is made from the leftovers of other backgrounds. I was using Dylusions ink sprays through a The Crafters Workshop stencil for some other projects and every time I finished, I flipped the stencil over and stamped it onto cardstock. I did this a number of times onto the same cardstock and the result is this background.

I also used Dylusions to colour the chipboard and the flowers. I used to spend ages hand-painting chipboard until I discovered Dylsusions! The Scrapbook Store sells a whole range of Dylusions ink sprays here and The Crafters Workshop stencils here.

I attacked my stash from a class I did with Finnabair and found all those yummy screws and cogs. They're perfect for this page! I added some small Manor House Creations flowers along the bottom, colouring them with Dylusions.

To lighten and brighten the page, I added the bright pink flowers. I love the juxtaposition of this splash of girliness against the steampunk setting but my daughter doesn't like it. She's the steampunk expert and she thinks the pink flowers shouldn't be there. This raised a whole new issue - who do I make pages like this for? Are they for me or the people they're about? Should they contain what I like or what they like? I haven't been able to answer this question yet but the flowers are still there!

Hope to see you over at The Scrapbook Store soon!

Heather