Arty Backgrounds

Hi,

Today I'd like to share some layouts that I had published in Issue 27 of Australian Scrapbook Ideas magazine.

I wrote an article about creating arty backgrounds and this layout is full of backgrounds techniques! I have a step by step guide on how I made it in the magazine.

Here are some close ups:

The second layout in the article made the front page of the magazine! Woot!

I used some interesting layering techniques on this background. Again, full instructions are in the magazine. I hope you got to have a look!

I also have an article in the current edition of the magazine using the amazing Tinby Designs Metallic Melts. There are heaps of other interesting articles in there too. All projects have full instructions. You can't ask for more than that!

Happy Scrappin'!

Heather

Family Is.....

Hello everyone.

Were you fortunate enough to be able to spend Fathers' Day with a special dad? I got to spend it with both my hubby and my dad, so I'm doubly lucky! I forgot to take my camera when I visited my dad but luckily I had my phone on hand to record the day. We just had a simple lunch with mum and dad but it made my dad's day.

Of course, when it came time to make a layout for Scrap Everything I had to use this photo! By the way, take a look at Scrap Everything's new blog. Not only does the new design look terrific, Scrap Everything is turning 5 so Katherine's offering 30% off almost everything. This lasts until midnight on Sunday so jump in girls!

I'm using the new 'Family Is' scrapping pack. It's available here. At first I had trouble getting the layout to come together. I was trying to use a busy background paper but every time I tried to add things to it it just looked too cluttered. The paper would be perfect if you want to scrap quickly and just put a photo and an embellishment or two on it. As a Design Team member though, it's my job to do more than this! In the end I ditched the background paper and used plain white cardstock. I could then scrap to my heart's content!

Here's the layout:

The blocks of patterned paper are cut from one of the 12 x 12 papers and I fussy-cut the banner from another one. Yes, that took a bit of time but that's ok - it's fun! I added a few of the buttons. These are soooo easy to use! They are self-adhesive and I'd love to know what adhesive they use cos it's super strong! So it's just a matter of peeling them off and sitting them where you want them. Super easy!

For the background, I sprayed some mist then decorated it with tiny hearts using Sassy Pink Smooch, available here.  I love the applicator tips on Smooch products. They're like a cross between a brush and a felt tipped pen which makes it so easy to create tiny detail. It's perfect for colouring in stamped images.

Here's a close up:

Those cute little chippie banners were included in the button pack and I used the letters from the Combo Stickers sheet to make the word 'Fathers'.

Cheers to all the dads!

Heather

PS - sorry about the black text. I worked out what happened but I can only fix it by re-typing it all. Black text will just have to do for this post!

My First Once Upon A Sketch Challenge

My goodness I've been a busy little Vegemite lately. (If you're not an Aussie don't even try to attempt to understand that comment - lol!) This is my third post in 4 days. That's a bit of a record for me. Must be cos my hubby's been away so I've got lots of scrapping done!

I thought I'd have my first go at a challenge on Once Upon A Sketch. I'm a journalling kind of gal so their focus on journalling suit me. The journalling theme for August is "I'll never forget" and here's the sketch:

My photo faced the other way so I flipped the sketch vertically.

I used a The Crafters Workshop Stencil on the background - I love the fine detail on this one. The yellow spray is Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and the flowers and leaves are from Manor House Creations. My niece's hair looks quite gold in this photo which is why I decided to go with the gold theme.

I had fun with the leaves and flowers. I originally had the idea to make a trailing bouquet of flowers but I saw the cream leaves and realised how well these would work with the gold theme. I painted the edges of the leaves with gold paint and cut up pieces of gold ribbon to form the extra leaves. They all trail from the gorgeous gold flowers.

Here's a closeup of the leaves and the journalling:

 Thanks for looking!

Heather

My Masters Layouts

Oh I've been busting to get these layouts on my blog! At last I can put them up!

Yesterday, three of the Masters - Beck, Leonie and myself - caught up for the first time. I won't bore you with the details but we all brought our Masters layouts along and it was amazing how much better they all are in real life. I was blown away!

Now this might be a long post. I'm very proud of these layouts so I'll try hard not to rabbit on too much!

I love finding unusual items to scrap with and was thrilled when I found these acrylic flowers, buds and leaves at Spotlight. I used normal wire to form the frame then I simply twisted the wire stems of the acrylic flowers around the frame, after first stripping the stems of their silver foil covering.

Here are some close ups:

I had to ensure the clear acrylic pieces could be seen so I kept the title cluster away from the frame and kept the layout fairly simple for maximum impact. The filigrees and charm are from my2angels.

 To create the letter “A”, I first stamped on it with gesso then coloured it with distress ink. I then coated it with Dimensional Magic. I love the way this gives a multi-layered look on one simple letter.

Next was the canvas challenge. We had to focus on texture.

This is probably the deepest I have ever gone in trying to portray feelings on a layout. I was trying to show that I love every part of my son.

I had had my eye on that fantastic rusty tin wall for a long time and this was the perfect layout to use it as a background for my photo. I wanted to extend the rusty tin look further across the page as well as provide a place to add words about my son’s many parts so I printed another photo on photo canvas for added texture then ran lines of glue from a glue gun behind the corrugations.  If you run your finger over the photo printed on canvas you can feel the “ridges” of the tin. 

I added all sorts of things to help create the explosion effect including pieces of broken glass, rusty clocks and rusty pieces of the chipboard chicken wire. The chipboard frames with the chicken wire attached were great Twiddleybitz pieces. There is also paint and my ever faithful Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists.

I didn't want to leave the edges of the canvas blank so I added more words describing all the parts of my son that I love.

The next criteria was to make a layout that included at least 3 photos plus memorabilia. Here's what I came up with.

This is a beautiful story about how my daughter inherited a necklace from a favourite great-aunt. I wanted to keep this layout soft and feminine while at the same time creating a glamorous, vintage look. My aim was to create a jewellery box feel, using pearls and satin as features. Cream was my base colour but the reason I chose the aqua for my secondary colour is because the beautiful Manor House Creations flowers worked so well with it.

The photos sit on a pair of Twiddleybitz chipboard doors which I took from a mini album of theirs. And no, I don't work for Twiddleybitz!

To make the satin “jewellery box” section, I covered foam with satin and secured it with brads topped with pearls. There are more filigrees from my2angels here - and no, I don't work for them either!

Here's the inside:

 My memorabilia is the original newspaper clipping of the wedding photo.

 And last, but certainly not least, is the double. It had to be about our childhood. This is the hardest one to see both in the mag and on this blog. 

This is possibly my favourite. It took me weeks to make!

Here's the first page:

And here's a close up:

My mum had previously given me a lot of her old sewing stuff. Some of the items were priceless – untouched packets of buttons with the price in shillings and pence still on them, 50 year old packets of hooks and eyes, old zips still in their packets and rolls of beautiful lace. When I started looking at old photos of me for this task and saw how I was always wearing home-made clothes, the ideas for the layout just kept coming.

Here's the second page:

Here are some close ups:

 There was so much to tell that I decided to make pockets behind each photo to keep the journaling in. I really wanted to use those old packets of buttons but wanted to keep the layout uncluttered so I made tag clusters, using a button packet at the back of each one. I love the wording on the button packets – “Boilproof”, “Hot irons cannot hurt them”. I also added a tag between the journaling and the buttons, just because there were so many beautiful paper options and I wanted to use them all! 

How cute is this photo?

Here's the three layers of one of the tag clusters:

I hope you've enjoyed reading this. If you still feel the urge to read more about the Masters' layouts, the others Masters are all in the process of putting theirs onto their blogs. Links to their blogs can be found down the right hand side of my blog. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Heather