Washi Tape Wednesday

Hey Scrap Fans! Remember that time I said I was going to blog about washi tape every Wednesday? Haha then I went on vacation and did a bunch of other stuff? Anyway.....

Today's layout may be a bit of a stretch when it comes to using washi tape. It serves more of a functional purpose than an aesthetic one. 

On this layout (inspired by Diana Waite) I used strips of pattern paper in various widths from various collections, to create my background.  I stitched each strip with my sewing machine. Not seeing any washi tape, you say? 

I used washi tape to tape down the stray string on the back of my layout to keep it from falling out. 

I know, it's a bit of a stretch, but hey, it works and it's washi! 

Other great uses for washi:

     Masking tape

     Taping your paper to your plate when using a manual die cutter

     Taping your paper to your Cricut or Silhoutte mat when they lose their sticky

     Closing envelopes when you don't want to lick them

I could go on and on, but I won't. I have to save something  for next week, right ;)

Until then, Happy Scrappin'!!

Using the 6x6 Paper Pads I've been Collecting

Hey Scrap Fans! I took a little break from blogging over the weekend to spend time with my husband, daughter and niece. I'll be blogging the pics of our weekend later in the week. 

Today I'm sharing a layout that shows a very simple way to use papers from all those 6x6 pads I've been collecting. 

On this layout, I used a pad from Heidi Swapp, and simply picked four sheets, trimmed off about a quarter of an inch on each one, and stitched them in a block on a sheet of solid cardstock. I then cut of the heart design from one of the pattern papers and used it as my focal point for my title. I journaled on a tag, did some stamping and embellishing and I was done! 

Here's another layout where I used my 6x6 pad The Pier by Crate Paper:

I cut two inch strips from various patterns and put them together as a base for my photo.  I also punched shapes from the paper to make my embellishments. The small scale of the 6x6 papers work well with the smaller shapes. 

On this layout, I used a whole 6x6 sheet of pattern paper as the base to layer up my photo:

I hope you've been inspired to pull out and use some of those 6x6 paper pads! Until next time, Happy Scrappin'!!

Sew Fun to Try Something Different

Hey Scrap Fans! Today's focus is on sewing. There are lots of different ways to add sewing to your pages, but no matter what way you choose, sewing can add that extra special touch you are looking for to take your pages to the next level. 

On this layout, created with the February Sugar Rush kit from Studio Calico, I used my machine to stitch down these vellum hearts and kraft arrows to form a vertical border. 

I created a background using punched stars and stitching them in rows on kraft cardstock. 

On this layout I shared in May, I stitched my misted paper to the background paper and pulled up the edges slightly to create a distressed look. 

I used my sewing machine to sew through vellum letters and elements to not only adhere them to the page, but to add visual interest as well. 

I used the embroidery templates from Amy Tangerine to trace embellishments on this layout and then hand stitched them with embroidery floss. 

And finally, I created a hand stitched border on this layout by piercing around the paper at even intervals and sewing with a needle and floss. 

There are so many ways to add stitching to your scrapbook pages. Whether you have a machine or just a needle and thread, the possibilities are limitless. I hope you've enjoyed these layouts and are inspired to try sewing on your pages. Until next time, Happy Scrappin'!! 

Fun with Circles

Hey Scrap Fans! Today's layout was another one I created for the Art + Science of Scrapboking class I'm taking at Big Picture Classes. I used something in this layout I pretty much never (if ever) do and that is circular photos. For some reason cutting my photos into circles reminds me of the early days of Scrapbooking when all the photos were cut up in to various shapes and sizes, layered with color paper and stuck on a page with themey stickers and premade border strips. But I wanted to try something different so I figured I'd give it a go. 

The concept of this layout was born when I was browsing my iPhone photos for a particular pic and in the process, discovered just how many Selfies my daughter takes of herself without me realizing. I found it rather humerous, and thought it would be a good topic to try using circular photos since cropping out the background wasn't a problem, since the focus was on her face up close. 

I chose not to further edit the photos other than to make them circles so I could preserve the various filters she had picked herself. If it were any other topic, I probably would have tried to unify the processing, but I felt the variety of filters better told the story visually. I edited the five pics in the Adobe Photo Shop Express app (free in the App Store) and printed them on my Canon Selphy. (Haha I printed selfies on my Selphy) 

I played around with a lot of different papers and color combinations on this layout before I settled on this background paper from the Glitz Wild & Free collection. I found my title "Selfie" in the Silhoutte store and cut it on my Silhouette Cameo on a sheet from a 6x6 pad from Dear Lizzy Daydreamer. I added letter stickers from Lily Bee Designs to complete my title. 

My matte circles were all cut on my Silhoutte from a sheet from the Carta Bella Wildflowers collection. I printed my journaling strips on another sheet from the Glitz collection and punched my heart embellishments from the coordinating background paper, only I used the one from the 6x6 pad to have the pattern in a smaller scale. I inked the edges of everything to unify my layout with Fountain Pen Ink by Jenni Bowlin for Ranger and a round ink blending tool. I finished it off with some epoxy puffy stickers from Amy Tangerine and I called it done. 

I hope you enjoyed this layout and you are inspired to try using circular photos. Remember, they work best when you are focusing close up on your subject and cropping out the background does not inhibit the story you are trying to tell.  Until next time, a Happy Scrappin'!!

Inspired by Color

As you may know, in an effort to make a dent in my seemingly endless supply of, well supplies, I've challenged myself to complete 100 layouts. I haven't really set a time frame, but I'm loosely working toward finishing before the end of the summer. By challenging myself, I've really been looking at Scrapbooking in a very different way, and I'm having a lot of fun with it. 

Today's layouts were inspired by color. I was looking around my desk and realized I had a lot of embellishments in various shades of teal and I was really drawn to it. I decided to look through my stash and gather a bunch of items together and see what I could come up with. 

My first layout was one that I had actually tried once before. It was a scrap lift of a layout that Two Peas in a Bucket Garden Girl Core Jones did last year for the 213 in 2013 series. 

I drew a heart using three different shades of gelatos and then layered my embellishments all the way around. I used a new Heidi Swapp stencil to trace the "love this" then painted it with some color shine. I used the frames to showcase two photos of Libby and me taking selfies at the mall. 

Even after using up all those embellishments, I still had a good bit left, so I pulled out a family pic from our church directory photo shoot four years ago that I've been wanting to get in an album. 

Here is the layout that resulted. My apologies for the lousy photos on this post, I have since rectified my poor lighting situation. I stuck with the monochromatic color scheme with this layout and placed my embellishments in a diagonal line. I sprinkled a little color shine to unify both groups of embellishments. I didn't have a whole lot of journaling so I hand wrote it under the photo. 

A great way to use up your supplies and spark creativity is to focus on color. Look through your stash, see what speaks to you, gather some items of like color and see where it takes you. I hope you afe as inspired as I was. Until next time, Happy Scrappin'!!

Showcase Your Journaling

Hey Scrap Fans!! Today's layout was the result of another challenge from the Art + Science of Scrapbooking class I'm taking at Big Picture Classes. What an amazing adventure this challenge turned into. At first I was a bit frustrated with the format, however, spending time looking through my photos brought up so many stories I could tell, in so many different ways.   

Once I chose the two photos I wanted to use and determined how much space I would need for my journaling, I pulled out an old kit from Citrus Twist and picked this hombre pattern paper from Chic Tags. I did a lot of playing around with the configuration of the photos before I finally decided to cut them down to 4x4 and mount the journaling in the center.  I trimmed down the Chic Tags paper and mounted it on the card stock to pull it together with the ampersand paper.  I wanted to pull in the pink from the journaling card so I used a strip of pink chevron washi tape, with a strip of grey on top to tone it down a little. I used the Remarks stickers from Amy Tangerine to balance out the pink. I opted for minimal embellishment as not to distract from the story.  A few dates with October Afternoon stickers and names with Pink Paislee stickers and my page was complete. 

Sometimes there are stories you want to tell that you may not have specific photos for. You'd be surprised at the connections you can make just by spending some time with your photos and looking at them in a different way. I hope you can find some inspiration to tell some of your stories. If you do, be sure to post it with #CropsyTurvy100Layouts. Until next time, Happy Scrappin'!!