Doodlebug Design - Cupcakes & Candles - Happy Birthday

Hello!

It's Claire on the blog today, and this month I'm using the Cupcakes & Candles collection from Doodlebug Design to document some birthday celebrations.

The vast majority of birthdays in my family fall in the winter months, so its been quite refreshing to have such a fun, vibrant collection that matches the vibes of my photos.

For this layout, I was inspired by the Surprise Party paper and wanted to make a bold feature of this on my layout. I cut a large star from a cardboard template and added a dotted black line around the edge and added foam to help it stand proud from my Premium White Cardstock, although I didnt remove the foam backing yet.

Next, I positioned it roughly where I wanted it on the page and drew lightly around the edge of the shape so that I could add some mixed media behind where it was going to sit.

To create an effect that looked like the patterned paper was exploding across the page, I chose some Distress Oxides in closely matching colours and applied these with a dry brush through a stencil from my stash, and a few splatters of black and gold spray. To get the positioning of the mixed media correct, I followed the pencil line from the shape outline as a guide.

I love how this turned out! However, once the star was placed on top of the mixed media, it looked a little lost. To fix this, I cut the same sized star from plain black cardstock and offset this slightly to give extra definition between the shape and the background. It worked perfectly!

I backed my photos in the Birthday Bouquet patterned paper and fussy cut two tags from the Party Plaid paper which I adhered underneath, one at the top, and the other to the edge of the left-hand side photo.

Across the bottom of the star, I cut some banners, made by adding fishtails and a few folds to the paper strips on the Stripes of Streamers paper. The Happy Birthday banner serves as my title.

I embellished with the Icon Stickers and a large Birthday Cake Doodle Pop. Its my first time using Doodle Pops and they are so fun!! Make sure you check them out.

As a finishing touch, I added a few gems from my stash for that extra bit of birthday sparkle!

Thank you for joining me on the blog today.

Until next time, happy scrapping!

Claire xx

@scrappysoulmate 

Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Timeless Harmony - Always

Hello

Claire here and today I'm continuing to document some of my recent wedding snaps using the Simple Vintage Timeless Harmony collection from Simple Stories.

This super quick layout started with some white Bazzill cardstock. I added some stencilling through the Quatrefall stencil from Arden Creative Studio, using this to anchor my design.

I created a large cluster of circles with some circular nesting dies. To draw the eye across the page, i used lots of different patterned papers, raising on foam of various depths for interest and texture. 

The papers I used were Combo Elements (b side), 3x4/4x6 Elements (b side), Perfect Harmony (b side) and Cherished Moments.

To follow the design, I made my photo circular and added some gold Nuvo Drops around the outer edge to provide an extra frame for the photo.

There are so many pretty embellishment options and in this collection, i used a combination of elements from the Cardstock Stickers Icons,  Floral Bits & Pieces, Page Pieces and some puffy hearts from the Foam Stickers.

To capture the feeling of the day, i added some sentiments from the cardstock stickers along with a few splashes of gold ink for a bit of extra sparkle.

To balance the page, i added a small cluster of patterned paper semi-circles to the bottom edge of the page, mirroring some of the heart elements and gold nuvo drops for cohesion.

I also used this space to house my 'always' title from the Foam Stickers.

Thank you for joining me on the blog today - I hope it's inspired you to check out this gorgeous collection. You can find it in the shop here.

Claire x

@scrappysoulmate

Simple Stories - Rustic Legend - Epic

Hi there

Claire here today. This month I'm creating with the Rustic Legend collection from Simple Stories and I'm loving it! 

This collection has a masculine feel to me and is full of fun Vintage icons that you can use for almost any photo. For my layout I'm documenting a trip we had to a karaoke bar is Nashville last year.

I added some stencilled arrows to my background to add to the rustic feel and to help anchor my layout. I chose papers to match the colour in my photo (Be Bold and Low Key Awesome) and cut these I to a fishtail banner and pennant layered on top of each other. I alsoayered a 'ruler' strip underneath which I cut from the Level Up paper.

Around my photo, I embellished with a tag from the Tag paper, a few small stars from the Cardstock Sticker sheet and some icons from the Bits & Pieces pack.

On the other side, I cut a large cassette tape from the Journal Elements paper and added some of the Bits and Pieces and a cardstock sticker arrow to finish the cluster.

There are SO many fun icons in the bits and pieces pack, I couldn't help but keep adding which is very unlike me! So to the top of my photo, I added a few extra stickers from the Cardstock Sticker Basics to help balance the colours across each cluster. 

I also added a bit of extra texture with some nuvo drops along the top which brought this layout to a finish.

I really would recommend this collection. It's such a fun one to use. You can find it here, but don't wait too long as it's proving very popular! 

See you soon. 

Claire

@scrappysoulmate

Carta Bella - Pressed Floral - Good Life

Hello,

It's Claire on the blog today, and I'm sharing a very pretty layout made with the gorgeous Pressed Florals collection from Carta Bella. 

Along with gorgeous florals, this collection has lots of frames, both in the Ephemera Packs and on the cut apart papers, so I decided to make a layout that enabled me to create lots of paper layers with staggered frames too.

To start, I added some Tumbled Glass blue Distress Oxide to my page using the packaging technique. Once this was dry, I used the same colour distress oxide and a dry brush to add some stencilling detail. 

I cut three pieces of paper, layering them across the middle of the page. I used the A and B side of the Grow Your Own Way Stems paper and the Dried Wildflower paper as my base layers. 

Next, I fussy cut two frames (one green and one golden yellow) from the 6x4 Journalling Cards paper. 

I also pulled a smaller yellow frame from the Tags and Frames pack, and cut this in half to extend it across either side of the design. For my gold yellow frame in the middle, I chose to mount it onto a piece of the pink card from the Matchmaker Pack using foam. This gave me a base for my photo to sit whilst also providing extra depth around the photo. 

Then came the fun bit. Those gorgeous florals, tags and ephemera pieces! 

I fussy cut the flowers and leaves from the 3x4 Journalling Cards paper and arranged these around my page to frame the photo. For extra interest, I also added in some die cut foliage using dies from the Arden Creative Studio ranges. 

In amongst one of the floral clusters, I added a tag and small ephemera piece for extra interest. 

I echoed this with another tag from the Frames and Tags set to form my title. 

I've really loved creating with this collection, as I've really missed creating with pretty florals during the colder winter months! 

I hope you've enjoyed this blog post and are also ready for some pretty Spring crafting! 

Happy creating! 

Claire xx

@scrappysoulmate

Carta Bella - Pressed Floral - Our Happy Place

Hello everyone

Today I'm sharing a layout documenting a day out to Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey). The gardens there are beautiful and this photo was the perfect inspiration to create a page filled with pretty florals.

I chose the Pressed Floral collection from Carta Bella. I immediately fell in love with the Full of Magic Floral Frame paper, but wanted a central design. I used a scalpel and scissors to cut out the frame, inverting the corners to place the floral clusters in the middle, brushing dry Distress Oxide into the centre of the page through a stencil to anchor the design. 

Using a frame from the Ephemera Frames and Tags pack, I mounted my photo, poitioning it right in the centre of the floral cluster.

Next, I wanted to add extra florals and foliage for depth. I fussy cut a selecion of flowers from the 3x4 Journalling Cards paper, complementing this further with some die cut leaves using the Fern Valley Craft die and Branch Mix Die set from Arden Creative Studio. 

I slotted some in under the floral cluster, raising some on foam for dimension. 

To create my title, I chose two phrases from the Ephemera Frames and Tags pack, aligning these along the edge of the inverted frame. 

Thank you for joining me on the blog today. I hope you've enjoyed it. You can check out the collection here. I'll be back in a few weeks with another layout for extra inspiration. 

Happy scrapping! 

Claire x

@scrappysoulmate