Mintay Paper - Summer Highlands - Wildflower Smile

Hello, Karen back today with a final layout using the Summer Highlands collection from Mintay Papers. My layout today uses another heavily patterned paper so I kept the layout very simple with minimal embellishments and a single, large photo.

I started with a sheet of Paper #4, which I trimmed down slightly and layered onto a sheet of white cardstock to create a narrow border around the edge. 

For a  touch of texture, I added some machine stitching around the edge of the paper using white thread.

I matted my photo with white cardstock and some woodgrain paper from the 6x8 Add-On Paper Pack, finishing it with some machine stitching around the edge. 

Using my craft knife, I carefully sliced a slit around some of the printed flowers on the background paper. This created a slot to tuck my matted photo into, blending the photo into the floral design.

Under the right edge of the photo, I tucked a honeycomb die-cut. Choosing to cut this from green cardstock was a way to echo the green tones found in the rest of the layout and also added  a bit of texture.

Since this collection doesn't include large alphabet embellishments, I decided to make my own faux chipboard letters. I die-cut my title letters once from the woodgrain patterned paper and then cut the same letters four times from white cardstock. Using wet adhesive, I stacked and glued them all together. This is the perfect way to create a sturdy title from papers in the collection that coordinates perfectly with your layout.

I placed the title at the bottom of the layout, finishing it off with the word "smile" cut from  gold mirror card.

I printed a few words onto a kraft tag and tied this to one of the title letters with some neutral twine.

Next, I fussy-cut a few creatures from Paper #9 and the Add-On Paper Pack to scatter across the page. I also dug into my stash and found a couple of leftover die-cuts from the Wildwood Secrets collection I used last year. Wildwood Secrets coordinates beautifully with Summer Highlands and it's still available in the shop if you want to mix and match them yourself.

Finally, I scattered a few gold sequins here and there.

Thank you for stopping by today. I really have enjoyed using this collection and will be eagerly awaiting Mintay's next collections.

Until next time, Take Care

Karen x x

July Crop

 Last month we had our extended fundraising crop and we managed to raise £380 for Arthritis UK, which is a fantastic amount - all while having a good day scrapping!

This month we are back to our normal times of 10am until 4pm and our optional kit uses Stamperia Timeless papers...  

As usual, we are at Otley Village Hall with yummy homemade cakes, tea and coffee - and of course, great company!  Drop us a message if you'd like to join us!

The Little Details - Uniquely Creative - Sweet as Honey Collection

Hi everyone,

It's Rebecca here on the blog today, and I'm excited to share a layout I've created using one of the newer Uniquely Creative collections – Sweet as Honey. I have such a soft spot for yellow on a scrapbook layout! It's not a colour you see used all that often, but I absolutely love working with it. You can check out the full collection in the shop here.

With the collection featuring honey, bees and beautiful florals, it felt only right to create a layout using hexagons! I selected four different patterned papers and cut a variety of hexagons using my Sizzix Big Shot. I then layered the hexagons in groups of three, offsetting them slightly to add interest and dimension, before arranging them in a circular design in the centre of a sheet of Premium White Cardstock.

To continue the theme, I also cut my photo into a hexagon, making it slightly larger so it would become the focal point in the centre of the design. I wanted the photo to really stand out, so I backed it with brown Bazzill Cardstock to create a bold contrast against the softer colours in the collection.

Using the Creative Cuts Ephemera and Creative Cuts Vellum, I created two embellishment clusters that run diagonally across the photo. I love how easy the vellum pieces are to work with—the backing peels away effortlessly. I like to adhere them to white cardstock before fussy cutting them out, which gives them a little more stability and makes them easier to layer.

For my title, I chose one of the die-cut pieces from the Creative Cuts Ephemera, popping it up on foam adhesive to add extra dimension and help it stand out from the background.

To finish the layout, I added a couple of die-cut butterflies, gently bending up their wings to give them a more realistic look and a lovely sense of movement.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you've enjoyed taking a closer look at my layout and that it's inspired you to get creative with the gorgeous Sweet as Honey collection.

Take care,

Rebecca xx

@preciouspagespapercraft

Simple Stories - Open Road - Pit Stops & Photo Ops

Hello!

Claire here today, and I've managed to survive the heat in my craft room just long enough to get a cute travel layout made with the fabulous Open Road collection from Simple Stories!!

I started with some stencilling using a stencil from my stash. I brushed some Distress Ocude ink through onto some Premium White Cardstock and used this as the anchor from which to build my layout.

I cut 3x3" squares of patterned paper from the Roadside Memories,  You are Here and Journal Elements papers, and positioned these on the centre of the page, overlapping each square to create a large cluster.

I backed my photo with some Adventure Awaits paper and then positied this centrally on foam to help separate it from the background papers.

To add interest, I cut a tag from the Tag Elements paper and layered a small ticket and camera from the Page Pieces.

Whilst I was adhering the ephemera, my eye was immediately drawn to the big roadside saying 'Pit Stops and Photo Ops' in the Page Pieces, and this was perfect for my photo as it was taken on a road trip in America.

For an extra pop of colour, I also added the flowers, laying some flat and raising others on foam, some cacti and a butterfly from the Cardstock Stickers Icons.

As a final touch, I couldn't resit that fun car, again from the Page Pieces. Isn't that just the cutest! I love how this brings the page to life.

Thank you for joining me on the blog today. You can check out the Open Road collection in the store here - it's one you won't want to miss as its perfect for documenting your summer adventures!

See you next time.

Claire x

@scrappysoulmate

Simple Stories ~ Sweet Summertime ☀️ #1

Hi everyone, 

It's Anna here and today I'm sharing my first layout using Simple Stories Sweet Summertime. 

You can find the collection in the shop here. 

For my first layout this month I decided to create a grid style page using paper windmills. As soon as I saw ‘summer fun’ the paper inspired me to create this layout. 

I cut out each of the squares and I made paper windmills using 10 of the squares. 

To make paper windmills you begin with a square of paper, then draw a cross. You then cut about halfway along each pencil line and then fold each corner into the middle. I then like to secure with enamel dots in the centre.

I adhered the windmills onto my white bazzill cardstock and left some gaps to place my photos.

 

I added my title using Pinkfresh Studio Paige Evans Crafted Moments Mini Puffy Alphas.

I then added some of the cardstock stickers icons dotted around the page. I tucked them in where I had some gaps around the photos and windmills.  

Thanks so much for looking! 

See you later in the month for another layout using this collection!

Anna 

@acraftylifewithanna

 

June Papermaze Kit - Part 2

Lynn here today, with more from the colourful June Papermaze Kit.  Patterned papers, Bazzill card stock and a selection of embellishments, in a beautiful array of colours (yellows, pinks, oranges and fawn).

Here is the second pair of layouts I made with this lovely kit.

Before looking at how the layouts were made, here is what you will find in the kit.

Patterned Papers - 
49 and Market - Vicki Boutin Artful Moments - Starters Paper #7
Carta Bella - Silly Goose - Best of the Best Bunches
Graphic 45 - Scenic Route - Lemon Yellow Pattern & Solid
Graphic 45 - Always & Forever - Perfect Pink Pattern & Solid & Timeless Floral
Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Lavender Fields - Almond

Photo below shows both sides of the paper sheets

Embellishments - Rosie's Studio - Heartfelt - glitter foam sentiments, Prima - Among the Wild Flowers - Flowers and Tickets, Cocoa Vanilla - Bloom & Grow - Puffy Heart, Paper Favourites - peony diecuts, Pinkfresh Studio - Gems - clear with gold dust, Ivory Ribbon. 

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Bazzill White, Yukon Gold (included in kit), Chiffon, Tutu Pink, Stream and Quick Sand (in Extras pack).

Your Smile Makes My Heart Bounce - My daughter Emily having great fun on a bouncy castle.

The sheet of Bazzill White was chosen for this layout. I worked out where the patterned paper would go, then set about stencilling Distress Inks, through a bubble stencil onto the card.  

With the Perfect Pink Pattern paper, I cut up into the stripes - I counted three stripes for each cut, but cut them randomly to different lengths. I inked the edges, and stuck this to the top of the layout. 

My photo was double mounted using Chiffon & Stream Bazzill from the kit. This was placed onto the layout to the right side. The next stage was to select buttons in colours to match the papers and Bazzill. I stitched one button to the bottom of each stripe, using yellow DMC stranded cotton. 
 

I created my title and the date using the Cricut and the same two sheets of Bazzill cards stock. These were glued into place, and outlined with a fine black pen.

Finally, I scattered the Pinkfresh Studio - Gems - clear with gold dust from the kit, over the layout to add a touch of sparkle.


Pearly Queen - My granddaughter was taken with these pearls my daughter was given. Here she is wearing them and looking very pleased with herself!

For the background I chose the Lemon Yellow Pattern paper, I toned  down the pattern across the centre by dry brushing with some cream chalky finish paint. This was left to dry, while I made two large tags from the floral side of Best of the Best Bunches paper. I cut these using the Tim Holtz - Sizzix Thinlits Tag Collection die set. I inked the edges and placed them sideways on, halfway down the layout, with the holes facing each other near the centre. I joined the tags by tying them together with two strands of Baker's Twine. This was tied in a big bow. 

The two photos were trimmed and placed to the left of the layout overlapping the tag and each other. I made two journalling spots, using Tutu Pink & Stream Bazzill and a set of Sizzix Thinlit dies- Layering Frames. There were placed to the lower part of the right tag.

My title was cut with more dies - this time I used the Spellbinders Say Cheese Pooh's Alphabet and Numbers set. I cut the letters twice, once with some pearlescent card and the second set with the Stream Bazzill. These were layered up to create a shadow, and arranged onto the layout. Some letters were glued in place, others were applied with 3D foam pads. 

For the date I used Tim Holtz - Sizzix Thinlits - Alphanumerics Label set. These were cut from Chiffon Bazzill and applied to the oval journalling spot. I added my journalling to the square journalling spot. 

To embellish the tags I used several items from the kit - Embellishments - Prima - Among the Wild Flowers - Flowers and Tickets, Cocoa Vanilla - Bloom & Grow - Puffy Heart and Paper Favourites - peony die cuts. From my stash I added more paper flowers. I also added some pearls to the page in small clusters. 

That's all from the June kit. I'll be back with a new kit for July soon.
Thanks for looking.
Lynn x

Mintay Paper - Summer Highlands - Chamonix Mont-Blanc

Hello, Karen here. I’m back with another layout featuring the gorgeous Summer Highlands collection from Mintay Papers. For this layout, I decided to challenge myself by working with one of the busy, full page background prints. To make it work without overwhelming the page, I used a technique I've used before framing a specific section of the pattern with a large circle cut from white cardstock.

To get started, I took a 12x12 sheet of smooth white cardstock and cut a large, 10-inch circle out of the centre. I trimmed down the outer edges of the cardstock slightly and layered it directly over paper #1. This allowed the pattern to peek through both the central window and around the outer border.

Next, I added some machine stitching around the edge of the cardstock using white thread for a bit of texture and also added a few splatters of watered-down Peeled Paint Distress Oxide.

Sitting on my desk was a scribbled circle cut file I’d cut from some woodgrain cardstock for a previous project but never used. I held it up to the page and couldn't believe it fit inside the circular hole perfectly and as I liked the look I glued it down!

 

I matted four small photos onto a single piece of white cardstock to resemble a photo booth strip. Then, I layered this strip onto some woodgrain paper from the 6x8 Add-On Paper Pad and placed it on the right side of the layout, overlapping the circle frame.

Beneath the circle, I used some die-cut letters to spell out the location where the photos were taken.....

..... and included the date at the top of the layout.

Next, I grabbed paper #9 and fussy cut some of the images  to use as embellishments.

I popped up the fussy-cut images using 3D foam  to add some dimension to the layout.

As a final touch, I scattered a few green enamel dots here and there.

Thank you so much for stopping by to look at my post today. I hope I’ve inspired you to try this technique, and don't forget you can pick up this gorgeous collection right now in the shop.

Until next time, take care

Karen