Mother's Day Card

I just finished making this card for my Mum for Mother's Day. I used the Kaisercraft LaDiDa 6" Paper Pad and matching chipboard embellishment flower. I die cut the "Happy" and "Day" words on my Xyron Wishblade and the "mother's" letters are Thickers Foam Letter Stickers. I'm pretty happy with it apart from my Xyron Create a Sticker ran out of adhesive and the chipboard flower got a bit mangled unfortunately.

As I don't have to worry about posting the card I made it a large 14.5cm square (5.75") and I've got an envelope that's even larger so I left the chipboard flower hanging off the edge of the card.

Hopefully Mum will like it, I know I enjoyed making it.

TFL. Till next time.
Ingrid

Quick Page using Paint, Stamps and Scraps

This week I challenged myself to come up with a layout using supplies that I had in my stash. This is what I came up with, it's a fun, easy, quick layout that is very budget conscious too.

I don't know about the rest of you but I've got so many stamps I've never used in my stash that I thought it was about time I used them on layouts rather than just cards. I also wanted to challenge myself to do something a bit different and with mixed media. The hardest part about this layout was waiting for the paint to dry so I could start stamping.

Here's a quick step by step guide to recreating this look:

1) Start with a piece of Kraft coloured cardstock - I used Bazzill. Kraft coloured cardstock is great for using up scraps as it goes with anything!
2) Lightly draw around your stamps with a pencil as a guide of where to apply your background paint. Lightly draw a rectangle slightly larger than the size of your photo in the position where you want your photo.
3) Using a dry brush and acrylic paint apply your paint to your marked areas.
4) After the paint is completely dry stamp over the paint in your chosen ink. I used Lagoon Blue Versa Color Ink. Be careful not to smudge your ink and allow to dry before continuing as the paint creates a less absorbent surface than paper. StazOn ink might be a better choice over the paint if you have the right colour to use - I didn't.
5) Stick your photo down over your paint "matt".
6) Add a strip of patterned paper below the photo. I've used a scrap of Kaisercraft's Christmas Carnival paper I had left over from my Christmas layouts. I used the Fiskars Threading Water Punch to scallop the bottom of the piece.
7) Stamp a journalling block onto a scrap of white cardstock. Cut out and place on an angle behind your photo. (I haven't written my journalling for this page yet, but I'll get around to it soon. I just have to think about what to say).
8) Add flowers, buttons threaded with hessian string or other embellishments to match.
9) Add a title using stickers or painted chipboard letters and you're done.

I hope you've enjoyed this article. TFL.

Till next time, Happy Scrapping!

Ingrid

The Need for Speed - Time savers to get more pages completed

Most of us are time poor and need to make the most of any time we get to spend on our hobby. Here are some tips to maximise the use of your scrapping time and get more pages completed in less time.

1. Keep your desk organised and uncluttered. Only keep the essentials on your desk and get other tools as you need them.
2. Have a plan for your layout before you start cutting, use a sketch or a layout you like as a guide. This saves time and money.
3. Decide if you could use papers you have in your stash before running to your local scrap store.
4. If you are shopping for papers take a few sets of photos with you to your LSS and buy all the papers and supplies you need to complete all the layouts so you don’t have to keep running back to the shop for more supplies.
5. If you like having a white photo matt behind each photo, consider printing your photos with a white border instead. This will save time and money.
6. Don’t be a perfectionist. Cut and stick it down without over thinking placement of each piece.
7. Not every layout needs to be a masterpiece. Sometimes it’s a matter of getting those photos scrapped and into an album quickly. Spend more time on layouts for the photos you absolutely love.
8. Try standing up to scrap. I raised the height of my desk by changing the legs so when I’m standing the table is just above waist height. I stand when making the initial decisions about my layout and can walk around the room gathering supplies quickly. I sit down when getting closer to finishing my layout and for writing any journaling. (N.B. if you raise the height of your desk you might need a different chair or a chair with a height adjustment).
9. Watch less TV. TV is such a time waster. If I want to watch a TV show I try to scrap or do something in front of the TV. Painting BTP Projects is a good task to do while watching TV as it doesn’t require too much attention.
10. Try shopping online for your scrapbooking papers and supplies. I usually order what I need from one online shop in bulk and get free shipping. The prices are usually lower than in a shop too and it saves me time running around. Although sometimes it can be tricky matching colours to papers without seeing them.

These are my 10 “rules” for getting more done. I have to say I’ve been guilty of breaking every one of them but I find when I try to stick to them I definitely get more done. Do you have any tricks to make the most of your scrapbooking time?

Thanks for looking. Have a Happy Easter!
Till next time,
Ingrid

Simple Double Page Layout

I just finished this Double Layout last night and I'm pretty happy with the results. My aim was to complete the LO quickly and get my photos into albums ASAP as I have such a huge pile waiting to be scrapped.

I used the Kaisercraft Shaken Not Stirred Papers and Alpha Stickers. I started with 2 sheets of "Daniel" of the reverse side of the paper. I worked from the bottom up adhering each piece as I went. I hand cut the pieces at the bottom of the page from "Sean" and the pieces above them from "George" reverse side. The "George" sheet was good value as it had lots of elements I could cut out and use including the black strips below the photo and the "ribbon" and circle elements at the top of the page, placed either side of the title to draw the eye there and give the top half of the page a bit of balance.

I tried not to over think this layout and tried to just work quickly. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist and I'm trying to become a speedier scrapper so I can get more layouts finished before the photo backlog builds up too much more.

This LO was probably also one of my more economical layouts as apart from the Alpha Stickers I only used paper cut outs to embellish the pages. I also cut the Journaling Note out of the background piece of paper as it was covered by the red paper so no one will see its missing... shhhh, it's our secret.

Here's a photo of the back of the RHS. You can see where I cut the piece out for my journaling note.

BTW, I made the Journaling Note look like it had been ripped from a piece of notepaper. I punched small circles in the paper and then cut to each circle from the edge of the page. This was a tip I picked up from the Kaisercraft Blog in the last few months and it was the first time I'd tried it.

Till next time, happy scrapping.
TFL,
Ingrid

One Page Into Two - Meeting Santa

Last month I created a LO based on a one page sketch for an online sketch challenge on the Kaisercraft Blog. However, I still had a few more photos from our Santa "shoot" that I wanted to add so I decided to convert my page to a Double Page LO so I would have
room for the extra photos.

I used the Kaisercraft Belle Range of patterned papers and the Belle 6" paper pad. I cut the letters for the title out using my Xyron Wishblade from some of the patterned papers to match the rest of the layout. I also used the swing tag from the packaging for the Kaisercraft Dear Santa range as this suited the theme of my layout.


This is a photo of the Double Pages together. Sorry the colours don't match the colours of the photo of the original layout. I tried to mirror the left hand page to create the second page and continued the horizontal lined paper through the middle of the page on the RHS. I replaced the flower cut out with a journaling block in the top right corner and angled the flower in the bottom right corner to mirror the flower on the bottom of the left hand page. The strip of paper on the left hand side of the right page refers to the date that the photo was taken, but I think in retrospect the double LO might have looked better without this strip as it creates a barrier to the eye traveling across the LO from one side to the other.

If I was doing this LO again as a double layout from scratch I'd probably do things a little differently. I'd continue the strip of horizontal paper to the edge of each page so they met at the join rather than having a gap. I would also have drawn the faux stitch border around the outside of the double page rather than around the edge of each page.

Here are a couple of close ups of the flowers I cut out from the Belle 6" Paper Pad. These are just so gorgeous and have a flocked finish on the flowers themselves, so have a lovely matt texture and soft feel giving a lovely contrast to the smooth papers and glossy photos. I raised the flowers on some foam tape to give the pages some dimensional feel.





I'm happy I managed to create a second page to match my first and get all my photos onto the layout and overall I'm pretty happy with the result.

Have you ever gone back after completing a page and tried to turn one page into two?

TFL, Till next time here's to successful scrapping.

Ingrid

Kaisercraft January Saturday Sketch

Last month I entered the Kaisercraft Saturday Sketch Competition with my Digital Layout "Wedding Day", which is a layout of my friends' wedding last November. I used the Kaisercraft Loire Valley Mega Kit. January was the first time that Kaisercraft had included Digital Sketches in their monthly Sketch Competition.

I couldn't believe I WON! The prize was 2 Mega Kits to the value of $19.98 of my choice. I chose the Apple Tree Mega Kit and the Grunge Kit.

My layout was based on the fabulous sketch provided by Brittney, thanks Brittney for the gorgeous sketch.

I decided that instead of using 2 photos I'd just use one for more impact. The sketch used a polaroid type frame for the photos but I replaced this with a gorgeous frame in the mega pack that just worked perfectly.

The background paper is Loire Valley Dahlia, which I reversed to suit the sketch (one of the advantages of Digital Scrapbooking over traditional Paper). I overlaid other papers, using masks to create the cut out shapes I wanted. I added other elements from the mega pack, including more birds, flowers and brads, some to mask patterns on the background papers that I didn't want showing in my final image.

There were a few more elements I would have liked to have added and if I'd had more time I would have fine tuned the masks and the text, but overall I was fairly happy with the final result.

Happy Scrapping.

Ingrid xx

Welcome

Welcome to my Scrapbooking Blog. I'm totally obsessed with Scrapbooking at the moment and thought I'd share some of the tricks and tips I've learnt on my Scrapbooking Journey.

I discovered Scrapbooking, like so many other Mums, when I was pregnant with my son, Kieran. I've only recently had time to get into the hobby seriously and have a huge backlog of photos to scrap.

I have a background in art and design. I studied Fine Arts majoring in Sculpture and Jewellery at University and then worked as a Graphic and Web Designer before starting my own small Jewellery Company.

While on maternity leave from my Jewellery I discovered Scrapbooking and was immediately hooked. It combines so many of the hobbies I love, painting, drawing, photography... and gives me a creative outlet that's easy to fit around the demands of an active little boy.

I hope you enjoy my blog.

xx Ingrid