Tuesday 30 October 2012

6 by 6 paper pads... day 4.

During this week I have had a few people email and  ask how I buy my paper pads, how I decide which 12 by 12 papers to buy.

I have been buying these for a few months now and have worked out a system which I am happy to share with you.

When I find a line that I like...I buy the Paper pad...as I said the other day, I like to buy the whole line...so that way I can get the whole thing without spending a fortune. This works brilliantly with companies like American Crafts...they always have lots of single sheets , which i always want them all....so the pad is a fantastic option....and leaves me money to buy the gorgeous embellishments they sell to match.


Then I move onto the 12 by 12 sheets...and I select which ones I am going to get. The way I scrap this makes it very easy.

I tend to use neutrals for the base of my page, and for long sheets across the middle ( knowing how you scrapbook helps alot....go though your pages to get a feel for what you use)
...so i get cardstock and neutrals sheets for the back.To be honest I think I may have more than enough of these already...but no one knows that lol!!! and I am a sucker for a ledger sheet of paper!

Using the new Amy tangerine  as an example...after the pad I would buy these sheets for backgrounds...
this one I would choose for the cream ledger paper side...

and this one...as i love the plain pattern but also love the little embellishment on the top!


So I would buy a few of the sheets that I would use as a base page. So instead of spending alot of money on all the sheets...i get the whole line.....very sadly this is just a revelation that has occurred to me.

After using them for a while I also realised that i prefer the small patterns...it seems to suit my type of scrapbooking. The other thing that it has made me do is think about the design on my page....without the comfort of that large sheet to just cut up, I have had to think out the box...and this had made some definite changes to my scrapbooking and I have come up with some ideas that I would not have thought of originally.

If you are like me...you piece your pages together, you love punches and love your die cut machines...the pads are perfect for you.

 But for today I have one final project for you....( some very old photos of me as a little girl)




The one thing I found was.... that the really cute paper that has the little girls on it....much easier to use when it is smaller!!!!


Today we also have a page by our newest team member....Tracee......
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Hi everyone!!!!
I used another sketch from page drafts for this page.






My Mind's Eye's 6 x 6 pads are ideal for creating embellishments.

 One of the papers in the My Mind's Eye  6 x 6 pad has an elements page. I cut them out and because they are in a smaller print, you can add more of them to the page without it looking too overcrowded. The 6 x 6 pads are ideal for cutting shapes like banners. Because the print is smaller,  you can retain more of the pattern on your small shaped pieces.

It might seem that 6 x 6 sheets could be too small for working on a 12 x 12 background page. To solve this dilemma,  I cut one sheet of 6 x 6 into 4 pieces and left an even gap in between each one.


 I used a vertical paper arrangement to cover the space,


 giving the impression that the paper is bigger than 6 x 6.
The paper pad comes with two sheets of each paper. One of the patterns has a doily cluster that I wanted to use twice, but they had the banners at the bottom of the doily, pointing to the left. I wanted to use this doily cluster on the opposite side of my page, but I had the problem of the banners pointing to the left. To solve this problem, I cut the banners off, rotated the doily  so that the part I had cut off could be tucked behind the photo mat, and then I reattached the banners.


Before I glued all my papers and embellishments down I inked them all with a black ink pad to give them a little more definition.


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So there we have it....5 projects using  6 by 6 paper pads...I fell in love with the pads a few months ago...so thankyou for letting me share my love of them with you....If you have any ideas for using these pads share with us!!!!


So..lets move onto the giveaway.....We are planning a few more of these focus week long blog posts...so leave a comment below about what you would like to see more about and you can win this little lot..... some 6 by 6 papers, matching buttons and flowers and the latest issue of Scrap 365 magazine.


We cannot wait to hear what you think!!!!!!
 


13 comments:

Lisa-Jane said...

How about how to use up those things that we once thought we couldn't live without or haven't used as much as we thought? Like sequins, stamps, eyelets etc? Such a pretty layout there, I much prefer using smaller denser patterns.

hotpotato said...

I love the first layout.

Penny said...

I seem to get stuck with odd stickers on sheets especially ones that use american sayings and spellings and odd letter stickers. Any help would be gratefully recieved

Ems said...

Some fantastic ideas for using the smaller papers….. think I need to do some shopping! Would love some ideas about making/ altering ‘things’ for displaying around the home?

Kerry said...

I am loving the sketches at the moment and would love to see more tutorials or ideas for making embellies from pattern paper.
I have also made a page based on the Pagedrafts sketch that Tracee posted on 18th October as I loved the inspiration.

http://scrapbooking-fortheloveofpaper.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/sketch-time.html

Hope you like it.

Jak said...

Loved this series. Ive been using and hoarding 6x6 and 8x8 pads for a while.

I think Id love to go back to basics and see you write up about Sticker Love. Lots of companies do stickers to go a long with their papers, how would you use them other an just 'plonking' on a page?

Jane said...

A page to suit a large photo would be helpful. 10x8 for example. Love the layouts though

Caroline said...

Love this series. I honestly don't do scrapbooking as, well lots of reasons, but I only buy 12x12 singles for altering projects. However, I do have stash of 6x6 & 8x8 sample packs or packs free with magazines. Used to use on cards but prefer doing my own paper now. What would you suggest i do with all the papers that i have. Do love idea of buying smaller pack & then thinking from there for 12x12s.
Sorry,bit rambled. Also agree with Penny's query. Thank you for lovely projects :)

Sadie green said...

Really lovely work :) you make lots of sence. How about titles and lettering? I always struggle for a great title, then when I come up with one there's always a letter missing x

Amanda said...

Great posts in this series. I'd like help using up my ribbon stash.

Lynsey said...

Thanks for the wonderful inspiration! The layouts are all really beautiful. I would love to see a series on journalling inspiration.
Thanks Lynsey x

Alison said...

Fabulous use of the 6 x 6 - and I love the smaller patterns, too. I would like to see some inspiration for larger bits of chipboard - I've still got masses!

Anonymous said...

This particular post was so interesting - great to see a LO coming along step by step. There are so many things that I would like to see, as a complete scrapbooking beginner! However, one that jumps into my mind is the different methods of actually putting a scrapbook together, ie using a ready-made book, binding yourself, simple mini books etc, etc. I have done a few little pages digitally, but then they just sit on my desk waiting to be put together! Ali x