Tutorial: a Mixed Media Christmas Album

This post first appeared on the Scrapbook Creations blog here!

There are many different varieties of Christmas journals out there, probably the most popular being Ali Edwards "December Daily" and Shimelle's "Journal Your Christmas" where the idea is to keep some kind of record of what you do in the Festive Season. But today I'm not going to share ideas on what you can include in your journal, I thought instead I would show you how I put together my front cover. Along the way I'll show you how to use a variety of different wet mediums that you may not have tried before.

The base of my journal is a Spiral Notebook by Basic Grey. It's got lots of great inserts, but it's front cover is designed to be augmented so starts off as plain chipboard with a splash of colour just near the spirals. Obviously that was not going to cut it, so I set to work.

Step 1: I measured and cut a piece of October Afternoon Make It Merry paper to cover the chipboard. I adhered it using Gel Medium which is great for this kind of thing. It's a thick sticky gel like substance that dries clear and can be used as both an adhesive and a sealer, similar to Mod Podge. It sticks super-strong so will be perfect for ensuring my paper doesn't peel off half way through December! I applied it using a paintbrush for even coverage, just make sure you wash it soon after otherwise you'll never be able to paint with it again ;-)

Step 2: I used a palette knife to spread some Impasto Paste through my favourite star stencil. Forgive my home-made container for it... I broke the original one many months ago! This product is similar to texture paste, and is super thick (like the consistency of butter) so will give you a very raised design, if you have the patience to let it dry! My brand dries clear but you can get varieties that stay white. 

Step 3: Once dry I painted the whole thing with a layer of Gesso. I did this for two reasons, firstly because my Impasto Paste dries clear and I wanted to make sure you could see the stars, and secondly because it's going to act as a sealer so I can add even more wet mediums on top. If I didn't add the Gesso and went straight to my next step, the water would warp and buckle the paper underneath. After this photo was taken I used a wet wipe to dab off some of the excess Gesso so you could see more of the paper design underneath.

Step 4: Everybody's new favourite toy... Gelatos! Gelatos look and feel like lipbalm, but they're water soluble. I used my three colours and scribbled with each one in a different section of the cover. I sprayed it with water to dissolve the colour, then smeared and smudged it around just with my fingers. You can see how it's settled in the lower parts and left the raised stars relatively blank. Perhaps I could have stopped there... but it is Christmas after all and this is the perfect time to add some glitter!

Step 5: To get the glitter to only stick to my stars I first retrieved my stencil and laid it back down over the design. I then used a paintbrush to smear on some wet glue (any PVA-type glue will do) through the stencil and sprinkled it heavily with extra-fine glitter.

To finish off I simply added my embellishments. This mainly consists of stickers from the October Afternoon Make it Merry collection, some of which are raised up on foam tape for extra dimension.

Unfortunately I didn't think to take any photos of how I coloured my numbers, because they were a mini-adventure on their own. Again it was a process of painting the plain chipboard numbers first with Gesso as a base and then adding layer upon layer of Twinkling H2O's to build up a nice vibrant hue.

Are you making a Christmas album this year? I would love to come and check yours out so please leave a comment and a link. Yes you can read that as "I might have finished the front cover but I've not done anything inside and I need the inspiration"!!

Tutorial: When You've Got Way Too Much to Say

I know a lot of people have trouble adding journaling to their scrapbook pages. It's easy enough to add the 'who, what, where, when' details, but difficult to know what else to say. However, there are some topics that get your mind racing, your heart pounding and your emotions whirling right? And in those circumstances you find that you've got so much to say that you don't know where to start, and you certainly don't know where you'll fit it all on your layout.

 

Just this month I sat and passed my final exam in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. I've been studying for 12 years since leaving high-school and this was the last exam I'll ever have to sit. A pretty momentous occasion and I had a thousand things I wanted to record about it. 



My thoughts weren't necessarily coherent though. I wanted to journal about what the exam was like itself, all the support I was getting at the time and of course, what it felt like to hear I'd passed. I also wanted to include the letter of congratulations I received from my Professor as a keepsake, and tie it all together with a quote from a friend who said, "Wow, it seemed like you just breezed through that exam" when I felt anything but!



So I had a few choices. I could make a series of different pages on the topic (pretty boring... and made pretty difficult by the fact I don't have any relevant photos of the occasion either), fill the entire layout with everything I wanted to say (it can be done, but not what I wanted on this topic), or whittle down what I wanted to journal about so it was your standard paragraph in length.

My solution? Layer upon layer of hidden journaling! Think of it like a mini-book attached to a layout. Let me show you what I mean.

First layer: the photo flips down. I've typed my friends quote on a vellum speech bubble and stuck it to the back so people understand where I got my title from. My first topic of journaling is recorded on a card and briefly embellished.

Second layer: (no photo I'm afraid) the yellow polka dot paper is attached to the folded letter of congratulations from Prof.

Third layer: the black & white paper then folds to the left where I've included another journaling tag and even left space for some prettiness as well.

Each of the layers was sewn directly onto my layout in turn, making sure they could still be opened. The red clip holds it all together at the end so they don't flap around. With all these pages adding some decent bulk to my page, I kept my embellishments simple and flat, using mainly stickers and stamps.

I put this layout together using the "Roller Rink" kit from Studio Calico. The colours were perfect for this breezy and carefree theme. So what do you think? Good solution or not? What other ideas have you got for lots of journaling? I'd love to hear your thoughts.



PS. This post first appeared on the Scrapbook Creations Magazine blog. You can read it in situ here!

Tutorial: Working With Neutrals

This post first appeared when I was a Guest on the Scrapbook Creations blog last month. You can check it out here.

Neutral colours include all the tones along the black, grey, white spectrum as well as browns and creams. Neutral colour schemes are a big trend right now, but it can be hard to get it right. Without some simple tips and tricks in mind your layout can end up looking very monotone and dare I say it, boring?! Here’s some pointers to keep in mind.

1. Texture is the Key

When working with a limited colour scheme it’s important to create interest in other ways, and the way to do that is to include as many different textures as possible. On my layout I’ve included plastic, metal and wooden embellishments which all have a different visual appeal to them. Even my patterned papers have variations in their texture – smooth cardstock, crumpled ledger paper and the embossed hearts.

2. Layer Upon Layer

Along with texture you must have dimension. Make the viewer want to reach out and touch your layout by having certain elements jump right off the page at them! If the photo is your focus point then create a sense of depth around it by layering up loads of paper, tags and embellishments. You can use foam tape or the embellishments themselves to create the depth in between layers.

3. Create Contrast

The eye is drawn to areas of high contrast, so even though the majority of my layout is beige, cream and white I’ve added some important highlights in black which create quite an impact. These should be kept to a minimum though or else they risk overpowering the effect. Similarly you’ll notice a few teal embellishments and paper amongst my otherwise neutral scheme. This colour was carefully chosen as it’s soft enough to blend in whilst still creating a splash of contrasting colour.

4.  Use White Space

White space doesn’t need to be white (although in this case it is!) White space is simply an area on your page with minimal or no embellishment that allows your eyes somewhere to rest. Whilst it’s great to have clusters of embellishments and layers of paper make sure these don’t fill the entire page or it can be very overwhelming. On my layout I’ve left space down the bottom of the page that’s my designated white space. I too fight the urge to embellish it and you can see I’ve added a few rubons, but that’s ok because they’re quite subtle.

5. Photo Choice

You don’t necessarily need to chose a black & white photo but you’ll certainly want to chose one with a fairly neutral colour scheme of it’s own. Mine was a sepia print because it worked better with the dominating colours of brown and cream in my layout. But you could still have a colour photo as long as didn’t have any bright tones in it.

Well I hope I have given you some inspiration today and a few tricks on how to work with neutrals. If you give this a go please link up your projects in the comments, I would love to stop by your blog and see them.

Scrapbook Creations Issue 102

is on sale now.... and it seems I've managed to score myself another cover! Always such a surprise and amazing compliment. Geez listen to me... like I have covers all the time! I certainly don't! This is only the second time, and I'm also sharing the honour with a few other people. Can you guess which project is mine?

It's the Christmas tree centrepiece ;-) And here's another little sneak peak of it up close.

If you're a regular subscriber to this magazine you're going to notice quite a few changes in the format this time around. Editor Ellen continues to do amazing things, and one of changes includes making the gallery layouts into full double-page spreads. That allows plenty of detail shots to be included too which I think gives you so much more perspective into the texture and dimension of the piece. Here's an example of what I mean....

I was lucky enough to have one of my layouts featured and this is one of the amazing detail shots taken by the talented Amanda Reddicliffe that appears in the magazine. I'm kinda impressed myself looking at this!! LOL!

There's plenty of other new features too. I suggest checking out the Christmas Issue for yourself on the Scrapbook Creations blog :-)

Bloggin' all around the World

Well not quite, but I have got a lot of posts that have gone up this past week that aren't actually here on my own blog! (And speaking of my blog, have you noticed the clean new look? It's still in need of a bit of tweaking, but what do you think?)

Let me show you some sneaks, and then you can check out the full versions for yourself...

#1

First up, I'm sharing another page made with the gorgeous Maggie Holmes Flea Market collection over on the Paper Stories blog. This is surely one of my favourite lines ever. The colours are exactly me, but that doesn't mean that I couldn't augment it a little with a bit of mixed media.

In fact, I've even posted another video on my YouTube channel that shares the process of this layout coming together. But for all the details and explanation head on over to the Paper Stories blog.

#2

Today I'm super-excited to say I'm Guest Blogging over on the Scrapbook Creations Magazine blog!! Asked to share something that's trendy or inspiring me right now I chose to go with my recent love of scrapping with neutrals. I put this layout together with the September JBS Papercrafting kit. The kit as a whole was actually really bright and colourful, but with some careful choices I turned it into this tone-on-tone page.

I share my tips and tricks for doing this though, as I think if you're not careful with scrapping with neutrals it might turn out a little.... well.. boring!

Scrapbook Creations have got a Blog Hop going on right now (which I'm a part of) where you've got a chance to win a 1 year subscription among other things. Check it out here.

#3

I was recently sent the newest products from X-Press It in order to review them. X-Press It are known best for their high-quality adhesives and they've just released Wide and Extra-Fine Glue Markers along with the standard size. I have to admit... I really loved them!

Putting them to the test I whipped out this set of relatively simple cards with some Basic Grey goodies. The feature piece of each card is the series of glitter stripes running along it's length. It shows you the difference in width of the 3 Glue Markers at a glance.

X-Press It have also got a Blog Hop going on right now where you could win these products for yourself! Check it out here. 

#4

And lastly... over at Jenni Bowlin Studios we're celebrating all things Autumn and Halloween. Slightly tricky I admit, given I definitely don't do Halloween and it's currently Spring here in Australia! But it's not like I don't have a thousand photos from 6 months ago sitting on my desk waiting to be scrapped, so turns out it wasn't that hard after all ;-)

It definitely helps that the October Papercrafting Kit was filled with all things Autumnal too, which I loved. But I have to admit I've got my eye on the November kits and can't wait for them to arrive on my doorstep!

And one last thing..
I've got my own Evalicious Giveaway going on right now, and it's open for anyone to enter. Good luck :-)

SC / APOCD Blog Hop

Call them flair, call them badges, call them buttons... doesn't matter! These cute little embellishments come in every design under the sun, and they're such a huge trend right now. If you've ever seen any of my work you'll know that I love them to bits and there's barely a project that goes by without me adding one (or more!) to it. That's why I just knew I had to take part in the Scrapbook Creations and A Piece of Cake Designs blog hop!

Join us today as we take an online tour around the internet to show you some of the amazing creative people using flairs out there.

In case you stumbled here by chance or you're just lost... here is the full hop list in order:

Scrapbook Creations 

Kayla M 

Alison C 

Lizzy H 

Sharmaine K 

Michelle S 

Kylie C 

Holly C 

Natalie E 

A Piece of Cake Designs

Plus the awesome inspiration from the Scrapbook Creations Online Team: Natalie M – Renee I – Jenny G

And guess what? There's something in it for you for following along! All you need to do is leave a comment on all of the hop blog posts or you can post a flair project to your own blog and link to our blog hop, you go into the draw to win!

ONE Major winner: $25 gift voucher to APOCD and a one-year subscription (six issues) to Scrapbook Creations 

TWO Minor winners: Variety of flairs from APOCD and a six-month subscription (three issues) to Scrapbook Creations

But first, let me share with you a project I put together for the Blog Hop. It's a series of tags based on the design of a Dream Catcher, each featuring one of my favourite A Piece of Cake Designs Blushing Words Cherry Flair!

Inspired by the ombre colour scheme of the Cherry Flair I stuck with a basic 'white and one other colour' for each tag in turn.

I hung plenty of ribbon, lace and feathers from each one. And included a sprinkling of glitter and bling to give them a magical and whimsical feeling. I have to admit, my idea for these came from all the fabulous Dream Catchers my sister (Jasper Lane) makes in real life. But I'm kinda so happy with how these came out in paper-form that it's going to be hard to part with them.

Thanks for visiting with me today on the Scrapbook Creations and A Piece of Cake Designs blog hop! You're nearly there... just hop on over to the A Piece of Cake Designs Blog and you're done. I hope you've enjoyed the journey?

Don't forget to leave a comment here in order to go into the draw to win one of the fabulous prizes. Last entries on Friday 1st November at midnight, and the winners will be announced on the Scrapbook Creations blog Monday the 4th. Good luck!!

The Story of Her Personal Best (and Mine)

I never dreamed my girls would be all that interested in sports. I guess I just presumed that because I was never that way inclined as a kid. I mean, I enjoyed playing netball every week but that was about the extent of it. And I most certainly was not one for athletics (as anyone who has ever seen me run can attest to)!

So it came as a surprise to me when Munchy was super-keen to get involved in Little Aths. And not only did she get involved, but she really enjoys it too. Now lets get honest here, enjoying something and being good at something are two different things! But of course that's not the point either. Munchy certainly doesn't care that she comes close to last in every race ;-)

When she got presented with her certificates for achieving Personal Bests she was over the moon! I knew that this was going to be one of those pieces of memoribilia that had to be saved and included on a layout. And I knew that layout was going to require lots of flourish and bling in celebration (I chose to use a FWAB Jasmine Laser Flourish in Gold).

Because there was more than one certicificate I attached them to the layout in a sort of book-like arrangement, sewing them on down the edge of the paper so that you can open it up and see the different ones. That also allowed me plenty of space to get down all the journaling I needed to pour out here too!

Now since we're talking about Personal Bests and celebrations.....
I was asked by Scrapbook Creations a couple of months back if I would like to take part in a Sketch Challenge they were featuring in the magazine and I readily agreed of course. I sure was challenged myself when I found out the sketch was for a double-page, as I haven't done one of those in years. But I worked on my pages and was happy with how they turned out. Fast forward to a week ago when this months Scrapbook Creations magazine landed in my letterbox and I had the surprise of my life to find my very own daughter smiling back at me from the cover!! (thanks for the heads-up Sandra)

 Munchy also was proud as punch to be a cover girl ;-) heee hee he!