Tuesday 28 February 2012

A double page for you....

I do not like making double pages...there i said it..i am naff at them...never have any inspiration in doing them, and to be fair i never get enough good photos to warrant making double pages. But that will change.

So i am going to try and focus on them for a while....and i hope you guys can give me your tips and tricks on making them that we can share with everyone?

I am not good at starting them...so i have found that using a sketch can really help with this...so i went off and searched for some.

Page Maps has lots and i found lots on the Creating Keepsakes blog website...and that is where this one comes from...

I found these...

and for the purposes of this double page..i chose this one to use... sorry the photo didn't behave well when i cropped it down, but you get the general idea?

I like to use sketches as i think on a double page you can be more flexible on what photos you can use as to whether they are horizontal or portrait.

So first off i picked my pictures....as i wanted to mix and match my photos and paper lines it was easier to convert them to black and white as they had alot of contrasting colours on them. I do this using Picasa...if you don't have it...it is a photo editing software from Goggle.......free and quick to download and perfectly safe from viruses.It is also very easy to use...even for a non computer person like me.


 The theme of this page is from my recent trip to Disneyland...these are photos from the Alice in Wonderland Labyrinth....one thing i do when printing of lots of photos for one page is to un tick the box that says 'fix pictures to frame' this makes my photos just slightly different in size...something different to add to the page..and then i don't have to crop them down!
I then worked on one page at a time and not both together...not sure why but i preferred it that way.

I then typed out my journalling....then i had everything ready that i knew needed to be on the page and i could start. ( i started on plain white cardstock, so at the end i know how much colour or no colour i need for the base )

Here is how the photos and the journalling would go... ( vaguely)....i laid it out like this for both sides and used this as my starting point...




For this page i grabbed my two packs of the last two lines from Crate Paper....Farmhouse and Random and some old and the new line from October Afternoon...Sarsaparilla.

 and then set to work......i found that working on one side at a time really helped it not to be overwhelming!

Here is the end result...

Incase you are wondering the AWL stands for Alice in Wonderland.

Here are the pages separately...
  and the other side...

As you can see i kept the same types of pattern and embellishments on both sides to unify the page.

I had so much fun doing this page......the new wood grain paper from October Afternoon ( which will be up on the website soon ) is A MUST!!!!!!!!!!! and no matter how old this Crate Paper line is, i still love it!

I had so much fun making this page...i am off to make another....and when it is done i will share it on here...link us up to other double page sketches...or tips for making them :)

Saturday 25 February 2012

3 Things


As it's the month of love, I have another soppy LO to share with you using more of the 'We r Memory Keepers' Papers.

I cut one of the cards out to use as my subject of this layout and for my journaling.
I decided to add a bit more detail to this card by adding a silver brad to each white circle.

I love the word strips on the 'love struck' paper. I cut the phrase ' how sweet it is to be loved by you' and added it to the bottom. The dark pink then also tied in with the dark pink of the journal tag.



To add some more interest to the layout, I used a Martha Stewart border punch, a thin strip with some twine twisted, a Maya Road heart topped pin and these cute little white flowers.





I didn't want to draw to much attention to the white flowers as I wanted the main focus to be upon the journal card, so I used these clear beads for the centres.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Lisa x

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Love at First Sight??

February is the month of 'LOVE'.
So I have some 'lovey-dovey' projects to share with you over the next few weeks.

The first is this layout.
Love at first sight...NOT.

I've never really documented the history of how we met, my hubby and I.
But when I received these 'Love Struck' papers  I suddenly had the urge to get our story on paper.


I love the 12x12 paper 'cupid'. It has 12 of these little cards that you can cut out. Great for all kinds of projects. I've used this one here for my title by completing it with AC Thickers.



Another of the papers is just lots of strips. 'My Valentine'. These make great page accents.
I've cut two out here to add above my title.



And using a hole punch I cut the circles out. By adding 3d foam tape to the back of each one it really lifts the LO.



My misted background was made combining two Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists.

Have you ever documented your story?
Maybe this month you should.

Happy Valentines

Lisa xx

Monday 20 February 2012

Carol's Intro....

 Hi everyone...Today i wanted to introduce another new design team member to you...if you love stamps and inks and all things messy...you are going to love her!
Welcome Carol!

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I was thrilled to be asked by Vanessa to join the DT on a permanent basis.  I have done various pieces and taught classes for Papermaze, but, to do regular spots will be great!

So, who am I? I live near to Papermaze and attend the crops on a regular basis, as you get to know my "style" you'll appreicate that I don't "crop" lol.  I'm married to Steve and we have two children, although, I suppose they should be referred to as young adults! we also have a much loved weimaraner called Ty.

I have been crafting all my life and have dabbled in embroidery, cross stitch and crochet, now I concentrate mainly on paper crafts with my main love being mixed media and altered art.

I have been asked to pick a couple of my favourite projects to share with you:-

This first piece is a canvas board.....

A white Printers Tray

An inked tag...

As you can see using paint and inks are my thing! and I hope that you'll enjoy my posts.

Carolx

Friday 17 February 2012

February's Crop Kit

It's that time again - tomorrow is crop day for us, at Otley Village Hall. This month's kit uses some of the latest Echo Park papers - A Boy's Life. My layout is all about when my son's band played their first gig, so the papers seemed quite appropriate! The scan below isn't great, but you get the idea... I've used four photos, each measuring 10cm x 6.5cm, and each with a white border. Unfortunately, we won't be able to open the shop tomorrow - at least that leaves more time for scrapping! I will have the latest Scrap 365 issue though - and eggs! Hope to see you tomorrow - I'd better get back to the baking!

Monday 13 February 2012

More sketch inspiration

Today I wanted to share Wendy's take on my layout sketch! I love what she did with it :)


She used the Happy Days line from Echo Park.

I love how she made her own flags with some pattern paper, stickers and tooth picks! And the little envelope on this page could be used to add some extra photos or extra journalling!

thanks for popping in...see you next month for another sketch!

Friday 10 February 2012

Card sketch!

Hi folks! It's Amanda back again with a card sketch for you this time.


I used more goodies from the Picadilly collection to make my card. I have to say I LOVE this collection! It's so versatile - it works with anything and you can dress it up girly or tone it down for boy projects :)


I die cut a flower shape and labels from some of the papers to create some fun layers and then topped it off with some simple embellishments and twine. I don't think I'll ever get sick of using twine on my projects.

Lets us know what you think of the sketches! Have fun creating!

Amanda x

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Layout sketch

Hi guys! Amanda here to share with you my first layout sketch for Papermaze.


And this is my take on it... I used the Basic Grey Picadilly line.


I rotated the sketch and used the rectangles as inspiration to create a 'quilt' of patterned paper which I stitched together.


I hope you like the sketch! I'll be back in a few days with a card sketch for you :) Thanks for popping by, we'd love to see your creations if you decide to use the sketch!

Amanda x

Monday 6 February 2012

Decorative pieces...

Before the fire, Papermaze was covered with lots of pages, cards and projects. The fire destroyed all of these, so on my list of things to do was to make some more projects to fill the shelves and walls.

My first one is this frame.

This was really quick and easy to make. A scalloped circle punch and a circle....a butterfly punch and some flowers! it was done in about half an hour! A really quick and easy idea for a present.


I used the Picadilly line for this, which will be up on the shop soon! What sort of things do you like or would like to see when going to a scrapbooking shop? Let us know x