When You Have Lemons....

When I started this layout, I really wanted to mat the photo and the other papers on a large piece of the Ice Cream paper... the one with the Cathedral Windows quilt design... but after carefully cutting out the scalloped design I just didn't like the way it looked. It was okay, but a little bit empty-looking and yet too busy all at the same time. I tried cutting out a smaller section of the design to just mat the photo... but it was still just a bit off. Now I had all of these scallop-shaped scraps laying on my desk. Yikes... it was my favorite paper and I wasted an entire piece cutting it this way and that! I hate when that happens. {{sigh}}

Looking at the pile of scraps gave me a new idea... what if I created my own scalloped border with the individual half-circles? Sure enough - it worked! I got the cool, scalloped border, but with a little more oompf since they could overlap. Placing them peeking out across the bottom of my paper and a few to accent on the top right kept it from looking too busy. I added a few Melissa Frances vintage buttons to finish off the layout.




thanks for stopping by!
erin

Distressing

The Fly a Kite line by October Afternoon is bright and sunny -- but a little distressing makes it work well with older photos.

I used a lot of distress ink on this layout. After inking the edges, I used a Tonic edge distresser all around my background paper. I mixed the in a bit of My Mind's Eye papers and alphas to bring out the red.

Creating Customized Embellishments

Using stamps to create embellishments is a perfect way to customize your layouts.  Here I used a Tattered Angels butterfly stamp and coordinating glimmer screen. 

I stamped the butterfly in Memento Tuxedo Ink (Black) and cut. Memento ink is perfect to use with Copic markers because it doesn't bleed when color is applied. I didn't apply traditional blending techniques when using the markers because I wanted a certain look and feel.  If you are interested in learning how to use Copic markers, take a look at the classes available on the website.  There is an upcoming Copics Club class in July that you will love.  When you sign up for the class, you receive three free pens. 

Thanks for joining me today.

Robin

Cards

This month I decided to try some very simple cards. For the "Wishes" card I used Complete Set paper from the Thrift Shop line by October Afternoon. I used the green side of Ice Cream as a border. The flower was made using Nestabilities. I used a Tim Holtz sentiment on Coordinations cardstock cut with Nestabilities. I used Diamond Glaze on the heart.

For the "Happy" card I used Coordinations cardstock as my background - run through my Cuttlebug. I then used a doiley and different sizes of flowers cut with Nestabilities. I used the "Happy" sticker from October Afternoon's word stickers. I cut a strawberry from paper scraps and covered it with Diamond Glaze.

My Favs Hanger by Esther

Cut chipboard into same size pieces. Mine were cut on the Cricut with holes aligned on the top and bottom. Make sure to line up the vertical holes because the ribbon goes through the holes to hang and attach the pieces when finished. Next, the edges were inked using a brown Copic Marker. Cut contrasting pieces of cardstock to fit both sides of all of the pieces of chipboard. Adhere and trim edges of cardstock when thoroughly dry. If not dry, the cardstock will curl away from the chipboard and tear.

Using the shape with one end smaller, I had to plan which of the ends would stack with others. About 32" of ribbon were strung through the holes with the loop at the bottom of the lower piece & ends adhered on the back top of the top piece. Thread a contrasting ribbon at the top through the two holes to use for a hanger. I knotted red ribbon and glued it to prevent it from pulling back out of the holes.

The embellishments were added last: an apple and cup of tea cut with Cricut, a butterfly that was colored Mustard yellow with Staz-on and copper dust by Arnold Grummer added to the edges before a paper finished was brush on top. A pocket was gluesd to one side of the last piece with a note on the bird tag. The journaling inside the pocket lists some of my favorite foods & things. Coffee filter flower and motifs from the scraps decorate the pieces.

Letters are October Afternoon Schoolroom Alpha and Green & Cream Mini Market Stickers. October Afternoon cardstock patterns used: Dandelions, Strawberry Jam, Front Porch & Picnic Table. The two-sided papers offered a great variety. This could be a chance to use some scraps after completing another layout.

Decorative elements and pictures can be added to the covered surfaces, as desired.

Going - Going - Gone!

As I mentioned before, the October Afternoon paper line was a lot of fun to work with this month. I love the green gingham check paper. I added some of the pink dotted paper and bingo, I have a cute layout. I punched out some pink dot paper flowers and also paper butterflies just to make the page pop. One of the newest products sold at ScrapbookPlus is the beautiful 3-D flower ribbon. They have it in several colors. I used it in green for this layout. I thought it added just a little something to the page. Since the baby is wearing a big white flower with clear bling in it, I also used the same concept for the page. It's just fun!

Jump!

I spent a day being a tourist with family in DC. It was fun & I took a ton of photos. This layout allowed me to get 7 photos scrapped. Using the October Afternoon strips of paper, distress ink, a border punch, & journal card these pages were put together very quickly. This double sided paper is made to match & makes designing layouts easier. There was room to add 2 journal blocks, which was convenient. While I do like this clean look (out of my comfort zone) , now as I look back on them I think something is missing.

What would you add to liven up this layout? Leave me your comment on what you would do! Do these pages need help or are they fine left alone? I can't quite put my finger on it!

Breaking Up The Block

I love grouping things together into blocks. It's a simple treatment that keeps everything looking neat and clean. But blocks can be boring too... that's why I like to add a few touches that break through the edges.


Here I used both the orange side and brown side of Picnic Table for the blocks flanking my photo. I added a mini border embellishment from My Mind's Eye on top of the brown. The reverse of Front Porch makes up the bottom block and a piece of brown twill underlines the photo and grounds the top pieces. I covered some chipboard buttons with scraps of patterned paper and sprinkled some buttons across the layout. I used a corner rounder on all of the corners except the top left.

thanks for stopping by,
erin

Wednesday Layout

Do you know about the Wednesday Layout? Each week one of the talented designers from the ScrapbooksPlus team creates a layout using current products from the store. These goodies are kept at the front of the store all together so there is no need to search for the things you'll need to make the layout. There are also directions and a photo of the layout for you to take so you don't need to stay at the store to complete the project... although you can if you want! The best part is there is also an embellishment you'll use to complete the layout that you get for FREE! Yep, that's right. All you need to do is purchase the papers, etc. to complete the layout and we'll give you the embellishment for that weeks layout for free. I am the designer of this week's Wednesday Layout. I used papers from Fancy Pants Designs to create this 2 page layout. I chose them for the red, white and blue hues that always remind me of summertime. The free element is this flower. In order to make the flowers I cut different size and shape flowers out of card stock on my Silhouette. Then I sprayed them with water, crumpled them up and dried them with my heat gun. I stacked the flowers and added a big red brad to the center to create this one big flower. So stop by the store on Wednesday to pick up your supplies to make this layout. I hope I've inspired you! ~Megan

Je T'aime

My daughter was blowing dandelion seeds so I grabbed my camera to capture the fun. The photos went well with Megan's page map for the month.

I started by Glimmer Misting the October Afternoon graph paper "Lemonade" with Tuscan Sun & Sherbet. Scrapbooksplus has a great selection of Tattered Angels product. Distressing the Tattered Angels Fleur des Lis screen with Rangers Spiced Marmalade gave this page a French feel & inspired the title. I also stamped Fleur des Lys with the same color & distress powder, on top, adding a layer of dimension. The flourish mask was sprayed with Tutti Frutti GMist in the top right corner then layered with dark, metallic, pink embossed swirls. Strips of the fun, colorful October Afternoon paper were distressed & added. The page was finished with Basic Grey Wilma letters for the title "I love you". The edge of the paper was distressed with Worn Lipstick to pull the page together.

We had a good time with this impromptu photo shoot. Now I am just waiting for all those dandelions to appear! Enjoy!

Fabric Flowers by Tim Holtz

American Crafts has a fabric paper as part of their "Dear Lizzy" line that's adhesive-backed which matches perfectly with this month's October Afternoon kit. A few months back I found an online tutorial on making flowers using sticky back canvas by Tim Holtz. So I tried it out with the fabric - and it works beautifully!

Here's the link to Ranger's tutorial. Download the pdf file and print it out. There's five different sized circles on the page to make five separate flowers. And you skip directly to step 10 to make just the flowers.

You can see a larger photo of the finished tag here.

Sweet Summer

This month's paper by October Afternoon reminded me of the lazy days of summer. I decided to try something new - I spritzed my background papers (Fly a Kite and Front Porch) with water and crinkled them up. When they were dry I ran them through my Zutter distresser - very powerful and impressive, available at Scrapbooksplus.

I inked all my edges using Tim Holtz Distress Ink. I cut the kite shapes from the Ice Cream paper. The flowers were made from circle punches - spritzed and then distressed. The premade flowers are from Prima.

My Favorite Thing

The new October Afternoon collection was just made for cards! Before I sat down to design my first layout, I already had several card designs in mind.

I used the beautiful sentiment die cut as my inspiration. The die cut is actually from My Mind’s Eye. I have noticed that many companies are creating retro papers. Because of this, I have been able to mix and match papers and embellishments beautifully.

Instructions

Create an A2 (4 ¼ x 5 1/2) card base, ink edges.
Cut a 4 x 5 1/4 piece of patterned paper, round edges using corner punch.
Adhere the journaling card to center of the card base.
Ink sentiment die cut and adhere to the top portion of the card base.
Tie ribbon below the sentiment die cut. Use a strong adhesive to secure the ribbon to the card base.
Adhere roses and leaves to the center of the ribbon where it is knotted.
Add a button below the center rose.
Place pins through the center of the large rose.
Punch butterfly and apply Stickles to the center. Adhere to top, right of sentiment die cut.

Supplies

Patterned Papers and Journaling Card – October Afternoon
Flowers – Prima
Decorative Pins and Button - American Crafts
Butterfly Punch - Martha Stewart Crafts
Sentiment Die Cut and Leaves- My Mind’s Eye
Distress Ink (Barn Door) and Glitter Glue – Ranger
Corner Chomper
Ribbon
Adhesive – Scor-Tape, Zip Dry, Glue dots

Thanks for joining me today.

Robin

Strawberry Girl!

Love love love this month's October Afternoon paper line. For this particular layout the paper worked well with my granddaughter's "Berry" shirt. So I made sure I would use all the sticker embellishments as well as the strawberry paper. There are a lot of embellishments used but I don't think it is too busy. It blends in well with the berry red photos. I also used the green October Afternoon small letters to make the word "SMILE". Which is very appropriate for this layout since it makes me "SMILE" when I look at it.

June's Page Map

I tweaked June's sketch just a bit. Instead of using three photos of the same size, I used two cropped photos and an October Afternoon journaling card. I decided to use blocks of paper instead of lines, and found this map paper by October Afternoon at ScrapbooksPlus.


To make my sun, I used one of the October Afternoon round stickers and cut out the rounded triangles around the edges of the Ice Cream paper (below). Then I just layered them over each other wrapping them around the edge of the sticker.

Get Well Card

A quick but cute card to make for any occasion is one with flowers. Whether they are hand made, purchased or paper punched, like I did here on my monthly project, it always turn out adorable. As I did with the page map layout design this month, I used the neutral colors in the October Afternoon Fly A Kite kit. I punched out three flowers, 3 small circles for the center and cut two strips of matching paper, and I had a card ready to go! To accent the flowers, I added some Flower Soft (Ivory) that can be purchased at ScrapbooksPlus.

Easy Titles!

Years ago... way before the digital camera revolution... I got into the habit of taking a photo of the sign whenever we went somewhere. That way I didn't have to remember the name years later. Combining that with having the camera put the date on it and I was set... time and place taken care of. Check! Now you can set some digital cameras that have GPS to record where you took the photo and the digital file always has the date, but I still like to take a picture of the sign. Old habits die hard.





This month, I wanted to feature photos from our trip to the orchard last year and when I pulled them out, there was my sign photo! I decided to print it off and carefully cut around only the sign. Then I added some text to my scenic photo and added a free digital flourish from Mary Ann Wise I downloaded years ago. It originally had butterflies flitting around it, but I carefully erased them off and flipped the shape around until if looked just like I wanted. To continue the "postcard" theme, I got out my handy-dandy deckle edge scissors and cut a white border around my larger photos. I always loved the deckle edge the best... no lining patterns up perfectly - just cut away and you're good to go!


Once I had everything laid out, I needed some red. The red in the sign is really a fire-engine red and the October Afternoon line has some red in it... but more of a raspberry red. Not working for me! I cut a couple strips of red cardstock to put under my orange paper "ribbon" strip cut from Strawberry Jam and tore a Jenni Bowlin journaling circle in half to add two more little pops of red. Some circles punched from Front Porch and buttons finished it off.


thanks for stopping by!
erin

Bambi

This little deer has taken up residence in the our neighbors side yard. He can be see most evenings & mornings, casually munching on grass. I went to take his photo & he just kept an eye on me as he kept munching. I wanted this layout to show how undisturbed & free he is. I painted white Bazill with a metallic blue acrylic & white Dabber paint. The October Afternoon papers are great when used as accents as I did on this layout. A strip on the bottom helped ground the page (literally), black paint was used on the tree stamp. I cut some leaves from the green graph paper for the tree. A piece of grunge paper & "Sprinkler" word paper was cut using the Holtz Alterations die cut, then distressed with Black Soot. The great thing about using grunge paper is you can shape it. I rounded the cage a little to give it dimension. I used the same process on the bird, cutting a piece of card stock & gluing the paper on top. I used a pop dot for the wing & a bling for the eye.

Metal is always fun! Holtz's ball chain, type charms, & word stick were used for the title, "Live Free". Beads & thread added some bling & dangles from the cage. The Prima flowers were glittered up using Kiwi Smooch & stickles. It was the first time I had used Smooch & it adds a strong & pretty shiny look, which you can see on the leaves. Most of these products can be found at ScrapbookPlus.

The edges of the paper were distress using Black Dabber paint. Adirondack Dabbers are a great product & so easy to use when you want to add some paint. No brushes or water needed, just dab away. To finish this layout a journal card from the October Afternoon line was added. Now this cute deer has a permanent home!

Beauty X 3

I loved working with the sketch and papers that Megan picked this month. For this page I used Picnic Table as my background page. I used Garden to cover "Beauty". For the strips of paper I used scrap paper, ribbon and a small piece of Tim Holtz Filmstrip Ribbon from Scrapbooksplus. Thanks for looking.

A New Chapter

As I mentioned in my post on the 1st the Fly A Kite line from October Afternoon as a whole has a summery look but the individual pieces themselves are not Summer specific. And while I have seen some Summer pages from the Design Team this month there are other themes as well. I especially love the baby and travel pages.

Here I created a school days page for my son's album. I used 2 sheets of Lemonade, the gridded side, and a strip of the striped side of Dandelions. The alphabet stripe goes well with my theme. The Notes journaling card was the perfect embellishment to the page as was the cork paper I purchased at the store a few months back.
I added this library book pocket that came in a kit I bought a while back. To make one of your own all you need to do is make a template and cut it out of any double sided paper. To make your template mark the measurements for the body of the pocket at 4"x10". Measure 4" up from one of the ends and add 1/2"x4" wings on each side. The notch in the front could be made using a circle punch with the edge of the paper going only half way into the punch. Fold the end with the wings up and fold the wings under, unfold and add adhesive to the wings. Fold it up again and you have a great little pocket perfect for some hidden journaling.

You are my Sunshine - Sketch Layout

My favorite food in the whole wide world is a strawberry.  When I saw the new papers from October Afternoon which featured strawberries, I knew exactly what I was going to do.

My dautghter took these photos last year of a perfect batch of berries.  The photos were so beautiful that I decided to keep them forever!  The title was created using my Silhouette digital cutter.  I found the felt strawberry from American Crafts while wandering through the store. I used my Martha Stewart Crafts loops punch and then inked the edges with Fired Brick Distress Ink.  I distressed the green checkered paper using my Distrezz it All distressing tool.  I also used a craft knife to scrape the brown background paper for an old, weathered look.

This layout is based on a sketch by Design Team member Megan Carey.

Thanks for joining me today.

Cleveland Places by Esther

The Ice Cream cardstock in October Afternoon was an eye catching design. My trip to Cleveland, Ohio gave me pictures of antique stores. Antiques remind me of quilts, just like the cardstock. The pictures were mounted to rectangles of Ice Cream and Front Porch utilizing the gingham checks. The corners were shaped with the Cloud Corner Chomper. The quilted pattern was torn and added on two sides of the layout. Since the pictures were dark, I left the light tones in the papers for contrast.

A coffee filter flower was used to accent. Lines of fruits and circles from Front Porch were mounted to chipboard. Schoolroom Alpha Sticker Letters were used for the title on a rectangle of Dandelions cardstock. The last accent chosen was a quilt from Microsoft Publisher printed on photo paper. A dark brown Copic markers was used to ink edges of the accents. You can obtain most colors of the Copic Markers at ScrapbooksPlus. They are good for concentration of color achieved by going over the area several times.

Florence!

Megan's pick of October Afternoon - Fly A Kite - was fun to work with this month. Lots of different colors to choice from. I also love the page map she designed for us. You can use it just about for any layout. I know I will use it again and again.

For the page map monthly layout, I choice to use the neutral colors of the page kit. I thought my photos from Florence would work well with them.

I like to add dimension here and there on my pages so I added some Prima flowers and Jenni Bowlin's butterflies. A pretty jewel bronze swirl at the bottom of the page, just finishes it off!

Hello Cleveland, Ohio by Esther

October Afternoon had great florals and colors to coordinate. This is the page map that was provided. My pictures are mounted on gold Dandelions & orange florals. Orange Bazzill cardstock was used to make the journaling shape that was cut a third from the bottom to insert the striped side of Dandelions. The green & cream letter stickers of Mini Market Stickers were a good contrast.

Flowers were made from coffee filters that are stained Mustard with Staz-on ink. Edges are inked with green to tone down the brightness of the orange. Leaves are colored green with Copic markers. Journaling boxes were printed from Word on photo paper. My attempt was to use two dominate colors and patterns. The flowers are a group of three to lend more interest as an odd number.

Favorite Paper Angst?

Ever had a piece of paper that you just loved, but were hesitant to use? Almost like you love it to much to use it? That's how I feel about the Ice Cream pattern -- the one with the adorable diamonds -- in this month's kit. It's really my favorite paper in the pack, but it was really sooooo hard to make that first cut. But don't let those feelings stop you from scrapping with your favorite paper!

A two-page design like this lets you showcase that favorite pattern alongside your photos. I got to use a huge block of my favorite paper, which combined with the two strips on the left help balance out the photo blocks on the second page.


And while I didn't have a lot of journaling to add to this page, you could easily replace the "Sprinkles" text paper on the right with a long journaling box.

So grab that piece of paper that you've been saving for just the right photo, or just the right layout and start using it!

Tag, You're It!

I love tags. I must admit I don't make as many as I used to. Our styles change as we learn new techniques... but I want to get back to more tag making because it is FUN! The challenge this month is "Make a Tag"!

For this tag, I used the very versatile October Afternoon paper Sprinklers. I embossed it using the Holtz Bingo Texture Fades. These embossing folders make a deep impression & work great with thicker products like Grunge Board. After distressing the tag with Spiced Mustard by Ranger I added this very old photo of my brother. The bottom of the tag was die cut with Sizzix Alterations "Ornate". Under the Holtz Film Strip I put small index prints & attached them with Tiny Attachers. To make this easier use a small stretched glue dot, on one end of the strip, under the black line to position it. Put a small glue dot under each photo & slide them under the strip. You could also just put the photo on top but the strips are distressed & photos look better under.

The Alterations 'Heart Wings' were used with "Picnic Table" paper. I cut grunge paper wings, layered them with the dot paper & distressed with Colorbox Cedar Roan Chalk ink. The flower paper heart was covered with Rock Candy Crackle Paint which gives it a cool cracked look. Once dry it was lightly distressed with Ranger Vintage Photo. This brings out the cracked look even more. The heart was assembled using Tiny Attachers. I added the Mini Market Letter by October Afternoon & some fibers. The cool thing is this tag has 5 photos on it! So come on & make a tag!

Quick Tip: Simple Sticker Sticking

Do you ever struggle to get your stickers in the right place? Some stickers allow you to peel them off and move them around, but others stick right in place and refuse to budge.... which is okay if you placed them perfectly and not so much if you need to adjust a bit. So here's a quick tip to get your stickers place just so. When I am using glue dots, I don't tear off the extra liner as I go, but keep it wrapped around the roll. Then when I have some stickers to line up, I pull off a strip of the liner and stick my stickers directly to it. I can move them around and figure out exactly where to place them.

I loved the bright, happy colors in the Fly A Kite line from October Afternoon. The dark turquoise in Sprinklers and the fun yellow in Dandelions just screamed fresh and summery to me. I pulled a photo of my daughter when she was a baby, wearing an equally bright pair of pajamas to pair with the papers. I stamped the date on some Jenni Bowlin banner stickers hung from bakers twine.

thanks for stopping by!
erin

Favorite Thing

The store is just full of items that coordinate with the October Afternoon collection: Fly A Kite. These pieces from the Quite Contrary collection by My Mind's Eye are a perfect match. I love this little bird. He is so cute! He was a little too tall for this particular card so I cut his legs down a bit. I think I might just have to get another one of these "Happy Birds" to use on a layout. There are several different title cards like this "Favorite Thing" title card that not only fit right in with these papers but are also a quick and easy way to add a title to your project.
Queen&Co. makes this self adhesive Felt Fusion loopy border that ties in perfectly with this line. It goes especially well with this background paper called Strawberry Jam which has a red loopy stripe in it.

June is HERE!

The weather is warming up and soon we will have those long summer days to look forward to. That was the inspiration behind this month’s design team kit from October Afternoon's Fly A Kite collection. This collections features great colors ranging from the perfect strawberry pink in Strawberry Jam to the true aqua blue in Sprinklers and Front Porch. The green, yellow, orange and brown hues round out the color spectrum making this line of double sided papers very versatile.

The embellishments for this line are so much fun especially the Wild Cards and the Journaling Cards. The Word Stickers are great for inspiration and the Label Stickers are the perfect way to incorporate journaling on a layout. While the collection as a whole has a very summery look the individual products are not summer specific making this collection great for many different types of layouts and projects.