New Workshop...

I have the first workshop done and ready to go for September.
I have gone a bit circle mad this month, so both of the workshop pages are all about circles. The best way to cut these out are going to be with a knife ( especially the first page) so dont forget a knife and a cutting mat when you come.

The first workshop page has 4 photos on it. When selecting your photos bring ones that the main focal point on them is in one place, as you will have to cut the photo into a circle so therefore you will not be using the whole photo. Does that make any sense at all???? lol

The workshop is on16th September and will start at 7.30pm and bring your normal cropping tools. :)

Jazzing up your chipboard lettering...

If you are anything like me, then you will love the glittery American Crafts Thickers - they can make such an impact on a page by adding a real dimension to your layout. However, what happens if you can't find them in the right shade or style for your layout? No problem - in true Blue Peter stylee, just make your own! Vanessa sent me some raw chipboard lettering this month, along with this gorgeous Scenic Route Garden Grove paper (have I mentioned before how much I adore Scenic Route? Just in case I haven't, I'll mention it again). I knew straightaway that I wanted to make a record of Ed's successful foray into 'growing your own' this year - the strawberries and blueberries were great (though the greenfly completely destroyed the raspberry plant!).



I managed to get a close up shot of some of the strawberries before we devoured them all. With such a strong photo and background paper, I knew that the lettering would have to stand out - so glitter was the way to go.



A couple of years ago, Vanessa had sent me some red Stickles glitter glue in a Christmas kit, and I hadn't used it since, so I knew this was the perfect time to break it out of the drawer again. The glitter glue goes onto the chipboard really easily, though you will need to give it a few hours or preferably overnight to let it dry completely before you start moving the layout about. This red glitter glue kept a really strong colour, and I quite liked the rough effect of allowing some of the raw chipboard to show through, but if you were using a lighter colour or wanted it even stronger, you could paint the chipboard first.



To continue with my theme of embellished lettering, I added some little red gems to the white chipboard thickers too. The embellishment on the rest of the layout was kept to a minimum - too much would have been overpowering on an already very busy layout. I couldn't resist using some more of my gorgeous Basic Grey Offbeat chipboard though - seriously, this pack is so versatile and just keeps on going!



The finished layout is bright, bold and a bit bling - perfect for Summer.

Boys, books and butterflies

The October Afternoon Ducks In A Row papers can be used for layouts about babies and toddlers but they don't have to be. Which is good because I had something else in mind.

I love this photo of my eldest son using his new-found skills to read a story to my youngest son and thought the Splish Splash paper emphasised the big brother helping/leading the little brother aspect of the moment. I also thought that the Lullaby alphabet paper was perfect for a layout about reading!



It's barely visible in these photos but I used a mask to add some yellow Glimmer Mist to the Sleep Tight paper.

I made the scalloped frame by edging a rectangle of Peek-a-Boo paper with the Threading Water Fiskars Border Punch and then cutting out the centre. The frame felt a bit fragile for my next step so I temporarily adhered it to a sheet of copier paper. I dampened the frame and then crumpled it fairly vigorously. Once the frame had completely dried, I used sandpaper to distress it some more.

I cut the butterflies from felt and transparency using QuicKutz dies. I then embellished the transparency butterflies with Stickles in turquoise. The transparency layer is stuck to the felt layer using Glossy Accents.



I created the bingo card in Microsoft Excel and the little butterfly is punched from card using a Martha Stewart punch and covered in yellow Stickles.



The journalling spot was made with the digital equivalent of a journalling stamp. Papermaze don't have that particular stamp in stock at the moment but this, this, this or this would make a good substitute.



I finished the layout with a couple more butterflies and quite a bit more Stickles which I think just may be my new favourite product!

For my love of Cosmo Cricket...

Cosmo cricket is, i think one of my new firm favorites. The girl friday went out of stock in the shop really quick, but i managed to grab quite a few sheets before it went. Then came Early Bird... and OH MY GOSH the colours in this line are AMAZING!!!!!

There are not lots left to buy some dont miss out!!!!

Jenni Bowlin Bingo Cards

It can sometimes be difficult to know how to use the giant Jenni Bowlin bingo cards. They look great, and come in a variety of designs and themes - but a huge card like this could look overpowering. However, when I received this 'Mine' card with a love theme, I knew that it would make a perfect backdrop for a layout about my other half, with the card forming part of the title of my layout.

I wanted to give the layout a really 3D feel, and accomplished this with a generous layering of sticky foam pads - several layered up at once in some places! Both the bingo card and photo are layered up with foam pads, and the rainbows are layered up on top of these. The background cardstock and little rainbows are from a sheet of paper in the Fancy Pants Kraft range - it was easy to make embellishments to match by cutting them from the same paper!

I did my journalling on a sheet of Making Memories spiral notebook paper - I use these so much as journalling is such an important part of my layouts, so I can never have enough journalling cards and papers (though I will happily just write all over the backdrop of my layout if no journalling items are to hand!).

The only other items in this simple layout are some Making Memories tiny alpha stickers (another staple supply for me at the moment) and some gem stones for a touch of bling. I'm thrilled with how this layout turned out - it's such a dimensional layout, but was so straightforward to create.

BasicGrey Lemonade

I just fell in love with this new basic grey paper collection. I was sent some of the papers, plus the sticker die cuts and I've acheived two layout using a lot of paper folding!

CUTE AS A BUTTON

steps

1 start off by cutting two strips of paper as shown placing them to the left hand side of the card stock

2 add a third strip to the right hand side of the card stock and place two identical photos on top as shown

3 using a crafters stitching template stitch two circles one overlapping the photos and the other about 4 cms wider

4 cut about four strips of the green paper about 1cm and pleat around the circle using your stitching as a guide line

5 then go round this circle using buttons as shown

6 repeat the pleating of the patterned paper on the outside of the circle this time add bobble ribbon to the inside as shown

7 finish the layout adding the title.

PUCKER UP

steps

1 cut three strips of patterned papers and layer onto card stock as shown

2 using the sticker flourish place to the left hand side of the card stock as shown using 3d foam pads for more dimension add two strips of ribbon

3 use 3d foam pads to raise your photo then place this over the flourish

4 add title and a few brads using 3d gel pen go around your photo and over your lettering for more detail

5 finish off by making the two paper folded flowers for the right hand side of the photo.

Another new DT member

Our second new DT member is Nicky, and here's what she had to say:

"My name is Nicky Childerhouse, I live near Norwich and I'm a stay-at-home-mum to two gorgeous boys, currently 4 & 7. My papercrafting life began in 2000, when I made my own wedding stationery as a cost-saving exercise - little did I know at the time where that was going to lead! I started to make my own greetings cards, and after a while became aware of scrapbooking. I gave it a try and was instantly hooked! I've been scrapping since early 2006, and I mostly scrap my boys and their antics. I guess I would describe my style as fairly clean and graphic, although I have been known to dabble with paint now and then, and I've just discovered the joys of spray mists.

I'm really excited about being asked to design for Papermaze, and look forward to getting to know you all on the blog!"

And she sent three of her favourite layouts to share with us: