Polly! Scrap Kits Blog Hop

Welcome to the Polly! Scrap Kits blog hop. Today we're celebrating the fabulous exclusive stamps that Polly stocks. You can get your hands on a new stamp every month from the kits, or in sets which are sold separately.

There are some fabulous Guests along with the Polly Design Team showcasing some of the stamps today. You should have made it here from the talented Kayla's blog. But if you're lost, or you stumbled here by chance then I suggest you start at the Polly blog and work your way through from there. Leave a comment on any of the blogs in the hop to go in the running to win your choice of the 3 stamp sets in the Polly store!

For my project I took the stamp that came exclusively in the November kit and used it on this card. The stamp includes the sentiment "Proud as a Peacock" which I've used to create a banner out of, and also a small peacock feather. These are a hot trend right now and I had lots of thoughts running through my mind on how I could use it.

But ultimately I wanted to do something a little different with the peacock feather part of the stamp so I turned it into a digital cutting file and used it to cut this delicate feather from some glitter card!  That way I could turn it into a large feature point and really highlight it, rather than risking it getting lost in the business of the other embellishments. 

In case you're wondering why I've gone a little nuts mixing my peacock sentiments with teacher appreciation ones... it's because my daughter's teacher is called Miss Peacock!! This card will be making it's way to her at the end of the year. I hope she likes it :-)

The next stop on the Blog Hop is the fabulous Kate. You'll just love what she's created to share with you. And don't forget to leave a comment here for your chance to win your choice of a Polly stamp set of your own! The giveaway will close on Monday 16th December.

Good luck!

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!

The Story of the Armmade Teddy

I am super-excited to be able to say I am Guest Designing as a Special Deputy all this month at Color, Stories, Inspiration! The first case I got to crack was the new Scrap 365 challenge which runs until the end of December. Here's how I solved the case....

It's based on this stunning colour scheme and inspiration.

I had a lot of fun including many pieces of 'evidence' which were the pearls, beads, needlework, feathers, glitter and texture paste. This is my favourite bit right here, the mason jar full of treasure. So much texture and fun bits right?

My testimony? Well I used one of the inspiration words 'handmade' to draw direction for this layout. The photo is of my Munchy's teddy bear. You know the type - the one she was given at birth, the one she sleeps with every single night, the one that goes on many a day-time adventure with too. We all had them right?

Well after 7 years of loving I was fearful she was about to have both her arms drop off! So putting my hand-stitching skills to good use (honed over many hundreds of real surgeries) I gave her some new ones. I replaced the original pink floral version with these multicoloured neon felt versions instead at my daughter's request.

Even though the teddy as a whole isn't handmade I figure she's as least now 'arm-made' ;-)

If you feel like playing along with the challenge too you can find all the details on the forum here.

The Story of the 10th Anniversary Album

At the very last minute I've decided I might try and attempt another December Daily this year. Not too sure how successful I'll be. Maybe calling it a Documenting December album will be more accurate. Possibly.

This is not it of course...

When I say I decided at the last minute to attempt a DD I mean here I am on Dec 1st and I've managed to finish the front cover but not even photograph it, and I certainly haven't done anything inside it! So instead I thought I'd share a different mini-album I completed earlier in the year that I never blogged (because it was published before I ever had a chance to get it up here!)

Back in January The Man and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. We had originally planned a trip to Japan, just the 2 of us. But upon further contemplation of the fact I had the biggest exams of my life pending in February, and then again in October we thought it wiser to hold off. He still took me on a romantic weekend away though, and this album tells the story of that.

Not your ordinary album with pages, I took a little twist with this one. The album base is all one piece of folded card with a series of pockets into which I've placed tags and cards to pull out individually. That allowed me to tuck in all the photos (with journaling on the back) as well as little bits of ephemera we collected on the trip. And when it started to get a bit bulky I tied a ribbon all around it to make sure it stays together securely.

All the patterned papers are from the Amy Tangerine Sketchbook collection (yep - still digging this!) I needed to keep all the embellishments fairly flat so I've stuck with plenty of Silhouette cuts and stickers.

Hopefully I'll be back soon blogging my Documenting December album.
Or at least my front cover ;-)

Welcome to the festive season!!

The Story of Her New Do

I was super-chuffed to have this layout requested for the Imaginarium Designs blog before it had even dried on my scrap table! I shared a little sneak on my Instagram, and apparently that was enough to convince them ;-) The post with this layout and another card went live earlier in the month, and you can see it here.

It's true that the fabulous Imaginarium Designs chipboard feather became a focal-point of my layout embellishment. It's quite something isn't it? I absolutely adore it, but if I can be honest... it actually wasn't planned for this layout at all. It was destined for a card project that just wasn't working for me, so off it came.

There it happily sat on my scrapbook desk in a pile of similarly (discarded) embellishments waiting for the perfect project to come along. It experimentally made it's way onto many more layouts, trying it out this way and that way to figure out where it would fit but to no avail. And then in a frenzy of creative passion I started piecing this layout together with all that was surrounding me at the time, and the feather found a home at last.



Does it represent anything in this layout's story? Nope, don't think so. It's just pretty. Same with the deers. I really like deers, they're definitely my Christmas icon of choice, but for this layout they really have no clear purpose or direction, apart from the fact I like them! Perhaps it would be easy enough to suggest they represent a mother and her offspring, or that I think of my daughter as my 'dear-est'.
Yeah. Let's go with that!

The story of this one is how my youngest insisted on getting a hair cut recently. It's only the second one in her 4 years so as you can imagine her hair was quite long. But without hesitation when the hairdresser asked her what she wanted she replied, "I want my hair all cut off like Mummy". Well we didn't quite go as drastic as that and settled on this cute bob-cut instead, but I was rather chuffed at the idea she wanted to emulate me :-)

The Story of Autumn Days

Continuing on with my projects made with the Jenni Bowlin Mercantile October Papercrafting Kit, here's another layout I wanted to share with you here...

The colours in the kit were geared towards Autumn, and even though we're very nearly in Summer here I couldn't help but go along with the theme anyway. I mean, lets be honest, there's a pile of photos on my scrap desk still waiting to be scrapped that span back many years so it was easy enough to find some seasonal photos that would match.

The first thing I did was break open the ol' Cuttlebug and cut some leaves into the bottom portion of my page. Obviously I could have used my Silhouette for this, but the poor Cuttlebug has been quite neglected of late so I thought it only fair to share the love around ;-) A little sprinkling of the sequins in the kit and they found their way into the negative shapes almost by magic.

Autumn memories for us this year included our annual Easter trip up to the farm, hence why Moodles is wearing rabbit ears in the photo (in case you were wondering!!) I included my journaling on a hidden tag tucked behind the photo as I find it more challenging to find space for all my writing when I do these 8.5 x 11" layouts.

And before I go I wanted to share with you a special offer that's almost ready to expire at Jenni Bowlin. For this month only if you sign up for a new subscription you'll receive a past kit or add-on kit for free!

With all the new exclusives included in the kits there is no better time to subscribe, but you better hurry because it runs out at the end of November!!

PS. If you mention you're signing up because I referred you... I'll get a free kit too!! ;-)

The Story of Thanksgiving

November is a great month for reminding ourselves to be more thankful of the blessings in our life right? And even though we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia, I find that it's still such a fabulous reminder to take the time and get a little bit of perspective on some of the things we might otherwise take for granted. 

Munchy is 7 now, and is at that stage where she really loves to write things down. She writes little stories, and lists of things she wants to remember, and letters to her grandparents and so on. This month on the Jenni Bowlin blog the DT members have been sharing the different versions of their gratitude albums. It inspired me to decorate a version of the same idea for Munchy to fill in.

I used the October Papercrafting Kit which is full of the Basic Grey Persimmon and Crate Paper Close Knit collections. The warm colour scheme is perfect for this heart-warming project (!!)

The inside is filled with blank pages which prompt her to think about what she's feeling and to list a few things she's grateful for. She's already filled out a handful of the pages, and trust me... she's not always feeling "fine". Here's a few of my favourites which I'll promptly translate for you since her writing is a little hard to read.

The one above says,
"I am thankful for my whole family, my washing machine and food and water. I am also thankful for clothes. Also money. Don't forget houses! I am also thankful for toys. I just adore them!"

This one is when she's angry, and she says,
"I am thankful for my school and class mates. Also my church friends including Michaela, Amber, Lara and Adah. Also I am thankful for horses because they don't give stinky air like cars do."

And lastly, this one from when she's feeling super happy.
"I am thankful for my friends that care for me and that play with me. They keep secretes when I ask them to. I am also thankful for God and Jesus. And the roof over our head."

Not a bad effort for a 7-year-old right? I love the sweet innocence and sincerity of these.
What are you thankful for?

The Story of my Fave

If you didn't already love the new Maggie Holmes Flea Market collection then it's probably because you haven't discovered the gold doily vellum yet ;-)

There's 3 things that make this particular product a hit. One - it's vellum, which makes it awesome for layering. Two - it's in a doily print, and everyone loves doilies. And three - it's shiny shiny gold, which is the hottest colour trend of the moment!

Using the vellum doily as a base I built up a few more layers of tags, string and a real doily for added texture and dimension.

And in case you're wondering, I gave this card to my sister for her birthday. Yes, she is my only sister!

PS. I've drawn another winner for my October Afternoon RAK which I'm attempting to give away as part of the Frosty Festivities because the last winner hasn't contacted me yet.
So a great big congratulations to JANIS who is my new winner!!
Janis, can you please email me your postal address and I'll get your prize in the mail ASAP. 

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.