Bee Yourself - Photoplay - Sweet as Honey Collection

Hi everyone, it's Rebecca here with you again sharing my second layout using Photoplay's 'Sweet as Honey' collection. 

I was really inspired by one of Claire's recent layouts (you can find it here) and her use of rosettes on the page, so I decided I wanted to make a giant rosette for my layout.

I selected the 'Sweet Pollen' patterned paper as it is my favourite paper from the collection. The yellow and white florals just 'pop' against the black background and just makes my heart sing. I'd used some of it on my previous layout, so I didn't have a full 12x12 sheet left.... so I was dubious about whether I'd have enough paper to make a full circle or not... but decided to give it a go anyway!

I cut what I had left of the 'Sweet Pollen' paper into two strips - approx 4.5x12 inches. I used my paper trimmer with a scoring blade and scored along the 12 inch side of the strips, at every 1/4 of an inch. I then folded the strips back and forward to create 'mountains and valleys' and stuck them together to create one long strip. 

It was at this point that I knew it wasn't going to be long enough to make a complete rosette so I had to get a bit creative in my page design (by 'creative' I mean 'sneaky'!). My strip was long enough to make about 80% of a full rosette, so I punched a circle from some scrap cardstock, and stuck the rosette (with what looked like a pizza slice missing!) onto the circle to help it hold the shape. 

I then had to figure out a way to cover the missing section of the rosette! I printed my photo in black and white and cut it into a circle and used this to cover a lot of the gap. I wanted to add some flowers, and remembered that I had a sheet of yellow and black flowers left over from my Vicki Boutin Color Study kit, so I took some time to fussy-cut some of them as they matched the Photoplay collection perfectly - and they also covered a lot of the gap!!

Because this collection is full of really cute bees, I wanted to add a couple of bees to the page, so I've used a cutfile by Peartree Cutfiles and backed two bees using the B side of the 'Buzzing By' patterned paper. I've placed the bees onto my white background, to the edge of the rosette, to help extend the design out a bit.

I've selected an acrylic perspextive title from Bramble Fox which says 'Bee Awesome' and comes with a really cute little bee. This perspextive set is perfect for this collection - you get a black set and a mustard yellow set so the colours match the collection too! A match made in heaven.

I selected the XXX patterned paper and cut a tag from it, which I placed above my photo with some yellow satin ribbon threaded through the top.

The layout was coming together nicely, but I wanted to add a cluster to the left of my photo. I fussy-cut some really beautiful bird houses and a Bee from the 'You're a Keeper' patterned paper, and added these to the left of my photo.

I was in the mood for some mixed media, so I decided to add some colour to the white background, behind my rosette. I used a Distress Ink in Mustard Seed and brushed some colour on using a blending brush, and then added splatters in yellow, metallic gold and black.

Once my background was dry, I began getting everything stuck down. I've used quick drying tacky glue and foam pads to bring a bit of dimension to the page. I placed my title and flowers strategically to fill the gap in the rosette and now you can't tell there was ever a section of the rosette missing.

I finished my layout by adding a banner from the Cardstock Ephemera pack which reads 'You are my sugar pie honey bunch' and a fussy-cut bee from one of the circular ephemera pieces.

I'm really pleased with how this layout turned out. In fact, I love both of the layouts I've created with 'Sweet as Honey'. The colours in the collection really appeal to me (even if the gnomes don't!!) and I've really enjoyed working with it. 

If you'd like to see how this layout came together, there's a process video up on my YouTube channel which you can find here.

Thanks for reading, I'll see you next month!

Take care

Rebecca x

Pinkfresh Studio Happy Blooms - You are My Sunshine

Hi everyone!

Claire back with you today sharing my third layout with the Pinkfresh Studio Happy Blooms collection. You can find it in the shop here.

For this page, I decided to set myself a personal challenge - No white cardstock!  

To really push myself out of my comfort zone, I opted to create my layout on a piece of patterned paper. I selected this beautiful pale blue paper with a white daisy pattern for my background. It is called Memories, and has a vibrant yellow pattern on the A side as well as this softer pattern on the B side.

I created a fishtail banner from the B side of the Embroidered paper. I distressed the edges and added machine stitching before placing this horizontally across my page on foam pads to create an anchor for my design.

To this, I added a torn piece of the Cottage paper creating an additional textural element and contrasting colour between the two blue patterns.

When designing my page, I decided I would create one large cluster, with my photograph at its core and from which everything else would gather around. 

As the base layer, I chose a pocket, journaling card and a tag from the Journaling Bits pack - I adore these packs. I think they're my favourite part of a Pinkfresh collection.

Next, I placed my photo on foam pads, layering it on a piece of tissue paper for a delicate mat against the pretty papers.

I took a selection of florals from the Floral cardstock Ephemera Pack. In this pack, there are some florals that are full colour and some that appear sketched with a stitched effect that's really pretty.  I have used a combination of both here.

I layered these around the sides of my photograph, complemented by a heart from the Cardstock Ephemera Pack.

To the other corner of the photograph, I added a Cardstock Banner from the same pack saying "You are My Sunshine" and placed a small plant from the Puffy Stickers - perfect for my garden photograph.

To finish the page, I fussy cut a butterfly from the Homegrown paper and added a few Nuvo Drops in yellow as a final touch.

And that is my layout complete - and not a sheet of white cardstock it sight! :) 

This collection has been an absolute joy to create with. I hope you've enjoyed seeing the layouts and they've inspired you to give this beautiful collection a try.

See you in August!

Claire xxx

Echo Park A Slice of Summer - Create Your Own Sunshine

Hello, Karen C here with a final layout using the Echo Park A Slice of Summer collection.

I started with a 12"x12" sheet of white Bazzill Cardstock and onto this I placed a sheet of the Summertime paper which I had trimmed about a quarter of an inch from each edge. 

I found a sunburst cut file in the Silhouette Store and cut this from my favourite Craft UK smooth white cardstock. The sunburst was stuck to the top of the layout and using my sewing machine and white thread I stitched round each sun-ray.

I matted three photos which were slightly smaller than 3"x4" in a row on white cardstock and also added machine stitching to the photo mat. A piece of the Squeeze The Day paper was added to the bottom of the layout and the photo mat was placed on top of this.

I also included one of the 3x4 journalling cards in the row of photos which acted as a title for the layout.

I created a cluster with die cuts and pieces cut from the sheet of multi journaling cards to the lower right corner of the layout. I added blue bakers twine to the tag and a puffy camera sticker from my stash to the cluster.

I cut a speech bubble from the sheet of multi journaling cards and added this to one of the photos as well as an epoxy circle with an image of flip flops from my stash. I've had the epoxy circle for ages and thought that this was the ideal opportunity to use it on a layout about my daughter paddling with her shoes on. It also introduced some blue to that area of the layout.

Finally journaling strips were typed on the computer and added beneath the photos.

Thank you for popping by today. I hope you have enjoyed seeing how I've used this collection and that it's inspired you to scrapbook your summer photos. 

Until next time, Take Care.

Karen x x

Bella Blvd - My Candy Girl - 'I DONUT know how I got so lucky!' by Meg

 

Hello everybody, I hope you are well - it's Meg here sharing my first 12x12 page using My Candy Girl by Bella Blvd!

I was absolutely thrilled to find this candy collection in my July DT box, because I have such a sweet tooth! The colours are fantastic, cheerful and perfect for scrapping every occasion - I can just imagine birthday scrapbook layouts, celebrations, summer fairs, meetings with friends or every day moments like the one I've scrapped here. I'm even thinking this collection could be used for a non-traditional candy themed Halloween page! 

The first thing I did was pick out the photo for my page. I picked out lots of 'sweet' photos that I wanted to use but decided on this photo of my daughter because her pink baby suit just matched the pinks in the My Candy Girl collection perfectly! 

Next I used my Cricut to cut out a doughnut cutfile by Paige Taylor Evans. This actually came as a set of four doughnuts, but I knew I only wanted one larger one as a central element. I backed it using the My Candy Girl All Girl patterned pink paper, the white border with hearts on from the Borders paper and the heart 'sprinkles' were backed with the multicoloured hearts from the Daily Details paper, which happened to fit perfectly. I added some extra 'sprinkles' from the Sugar Coating Puffy Stickers, using the smaller dots and circle puffy stickers, plus some silver crystal Nuvo Drops for added glitter. 

As I'd already decided on using a doughnut cutfile as my centre, I popped an upside-down bowl in the middle of my page (I used Romance Bazzill cardstock) and daubed and splattered white gesso over the top to create some mixed media interest around my doughnut. I fussy cut lots of little cakes, sweets and ice cream sundaes from the Sweet as Sugar paper to use as embellishments, backed my photo in a yellow Lemonade Bazzill cardstock (which matches wonderfully with the yellow elements in this collection!) and the sprinkles paper from Daily Details. I also cut out the 'Remember' journalling element from Daily Details to layer behind my photo and a few borders from the Borders paper, which became a bold stripe across the page under the doughnut. 

I built up my fussy cut cakes, sundaes and candies underneath and around my photo to create a large, eye-catching cluster and popped lots of puffy stickers in there too. I used alphas from my stash to create my title around the doughnut - 'I DONUT know how I got so lucky!' - which was a little doughnut-related quote I'd found on Pinterest! 

Finally I cut out some L-shaped corners from the Candy Crazy paper to finish the page corners and I added my journaling. And there we have it - I hope you love this sweet collection as much as I do and you enjoyed my page today! 

Take care and have a lovely day - I'll be back soon to show you my second Candy Girl layout!

Meg x 

P13 Summer Vibes - Fun and Sun by Meg

Hello all! 

Meg here today, sharing my second layout using P13s gorgeous Summer Vibe collection!

I absolutely love fussy cutting P13s papers so that's the very first thing I did here - starting with some beautiful large tropical leaves from the Summer Vibes Paper #07. I picked out Paper #06 as my background as I thought the colourful world map would be great for one of my holiday snaps. 

I always try to incorporate some texture into my scrapbook layouts to stop the page from feeling flat - sometimes I do this by using natural wooden chipboard (like these ones in the Summer Vibe collection), fabric, texture paste or mixed media backgrounds, folding paper. On this page I decided to tear out the middle section and roll back some of the edges, to break up some of the colours in the background. I backed it with my go-to white Bazzill Avalanche cardstock, which has a lovely subtle texture to it and is just great quality. 

After that I picked out my photo and backed it with some dark wood effect cardstock - it was actually the packaging from the Decorative Tags #2 packet, but it just matched the wooden door in my photo perfectly and I liked the contrast with the lighter background. 

I fussy cut some more pieces - some pink Converses, tropical clusters, the wooden signpost, a parrot, some more foliage and a cocktail - from Paper #07, focusing mainly on some of the pink pieces. I arranged my photo and the fussy cut embellishments around the edge of the rip I'd made, with some pieces peeking out from between the sheets and with a larger cluster on the corner of my photo. 

I added a few banners from the packet of Decorative Tags #2 in the top right corner, some journalling and I stamped on my title 'Fun and Sun' onto the wooden signpost and tucked it in behind my photo. I finished with a painted pink border around the whole page to tie it all together, a plane charm from my stash and some flat back gems dotted here and there (I just love a bit of shine, especially on a sunny page)! 

And there we have it - a sunny tropical page for some treasured holiday memories. I hope you enjoyed my page and that we all get some sunshine today worth scrapping! 

Take care and I'll see you again here soon, 

Meg x 

Papermaze July Kit - Part 1

Lynn here today with the beautiful July Kit and my first pair of layouts for this month. The pretty kit has a selection of dreamy, watercolour effect papers, which are great for feminine, romantic, family history (and many more) layouts. The kit is now available in the shop or online.

For today's layouts I have chosen floral papers and embellishments.

Before looking at how they are made, here are the details of the kit:

Patterned paper:
P13 - When We First Met collection - #03 & # 06
Prima - Watercolour Floral collection - Dreamy Florals & In the Water Garden (both foiled)
American Crafts - Maggie Holmes' Garden Party collection - Blossom in Blue
Pinkfresh Studio - Keeping it Real collection - Deep Breath
Bazzill Bazics Cardstock - Avalanche & Boysenberry Delight

Reverse side of papers:

Embellishments:

Sheet of 49 & Market rubons, 12" washi tape, 2 Prima Waltercolour Floral flowers (1 glittery), 6 wooden hearts, 1 star, 7 pieces Prima Watercolour Floral ephemera, 5 silver heart stickers, a pinch of sequins

Extra Bazzill Basics Cardstock pack:

Romance, Wildberry Pie, Aqua, Heidi

Roses Around The Door - The photo for this layout shows the progress of the climbing roses around the arbour in front of our door, after three years.

The base for this page is the Aqua Bazzill. The papers were distressed and inked with Iced Spruce Distress Ink.

With the sheet of 'Dreamy Florals' paper, I picked a few of the images I wanted to use and cut them out. Then preserving a few more images for later use, I backed my photo with the remains of this paper. With a circle template, the photo and images arranged in place, I outlined, with pencil the space where I wanted the stencil to show.

The photo and images were set aside. With the Tim Holtz, Layering Stencil - Scribbles (I think this looks like roses.) and texture paste mixed with Distress Stain - Worn Lipstick; I worked this through the stencil to fill the space marked out. I altered the strength of the stain to vary the colour of the 'roses'. I also made two small areas of stencilling on the edges of the cardstock - I set this aside to dry.

Once I had adhered the images and photo in place, I added a selection of paper roses from my stash (in shades of pink and cream). I worked around the stenciled area, between the images. A few roses were also added to the areas of stencilling on the edges of the cardstock.

I scattered a few roses among the images too. The title was made with some scraps of Pinkini Bazzill from a previous kit and some Sizzix alphabet dies. Finally I added the date with some alphabet stickers.

Christine - Another black and white negative found among my Dad's collection - this time his cousin Christine. Another relative found to add to my family scrapbook album.

I started by making a 2.5cm frame with the Boysenberry Bazzill. Over this I placed the P13 - #03 paper, which I trimmed by 0.5cm on all four sides. I cut four notches into the edges of this
paper and trimmed behind these with a little lace. I distressed the edges of all the papers and card. 

With Distress Oxide Inks in Dusty Concord and Faded Jeans, I brushed some colour onto the background, then splattered it with water, and black ink.

The photo was mounted onto scrap white card, then onto Boysenberry Bazzill. I placed this where it was to go and arranged some burlap, corrugated card and cheesecloth under the photo. Once arranged it was all stuck in place.

Then came the embellishments - I created two large clusters and one smaller cluster of flowers by using a selection of the following:
Fussy cut rose clusters from P13 - #06, inked and raised on 3D foam pads
Two Prima paper roses from the kit
Additional paper flowers from my stash
Silver stamen
Rose ribbon
Owl Charm and purple Baker's Twine
Sizzix Thinlits - Tim Holtz Wildflowers set and Boysneberry Bazzill and scraps of P13 - #06 - all inked with the Distress Oxide Inks.

Finally I added the title - 'Christine' with some alphabet stickers.

That's all for today, back with more from this kit soon.
Thanks for looking
Lynn x