Trends on Tuesday - The Beauty of Banners

I thought I would have a little look at banners today - which often appear on my pages.  You can buy them ready made on stickers or in embellishment packs or cut them out of your papers, which is what I did for my page.  I made straight banners, just cutting a little triangle out the bottom of the rectangle - you could also use a square punch to make the triangular shape if you are worried about your cutting.  If you want to vary your banner you could try making more of a rhombus shape and then cutting out the triangle (so the two long edges of the rectangle go at an angle inwards).  Don't only use paper for your banners...material and ribbons work too and add a bit more texture to your page.

I have used this style of banner for a page before where you make a nice fringe of different sized banners under the photo, I used the gorgeous Midway Collection that is in from October Afternoon - it is one of my favourite packs of papers at the moment as it is packed with colour and beautiful designs.  I also used some Firefly cosmic shimmer mist and some of the stickers that come in the Midway pack too.  

Some more banner filled pages :)

This is the one that is very similar in style that I made with another fringe of banners

Make your own washing line of banners

Beautiful MME banners

Some christmas banners under the photo but with a different look

and what about this beautiful Snap Mini from Simple Stories

I hope that inspires you to make some.

Upcycling

Have you ever use a product and then thought that the packaging is just too gorgeous to throw away? I often do and no more so than when I got some Prima 'Say it in Crystal' swirls recently.  I used the gems immediately on a layout but could not bring myself to throw away the packaging as it was so pretty.

Later that week, I was making a layout with Prima Rondelle and the flowers on the Prima packaging matched perfectly with the papers I was using.  I needed a journaling block and so cut the bottom from the card that the gems had been adhered to the layout and used that.

I than decided that the remainder of the card would be perfect to mat a photo, for another layout. 

So there you have it, in each pack you can have three gem swirls and if you are a frugal scrapper, like me, you also have a photo mat and a journaling block too.  Do you upcycle with embellishment packaging.

Paper Pumpkins

I am always in awe when I see paper engineered products appearing on the internet, made from the products you and I use for layouts, cards and maybe the occasional mini book. With Halloween just round the corner I  almost burst with excitement when I saw these cute paper pumpkins made from simple strips of patterned paper, perfect to adorn your table at the spookiest time of year. I decided to follow the instructions and have a go at making some myself using the MLS Farmers Market papers.

They are so easy to make too. 

• Start by cutting 10 strips of patterned paper 1" x 6". 
• Punch a small hole at the top and bottom of each piece.
• Then take two brads and wrap some string thread or wire around them so they are 4" apart.
• Then thread the top of your pieces onto one of the brads and affix, then thread the bottom of each strip on the other brad and affix. You will be bending your paper strips to enable the brad to reach the second set of holes.
• Then the slightly fiddly part where you fan each piece of paper round to make your pumpkin. You can fiddle and fix as you like manoeuvring the paper into the correct shape
• Add a rolled strip of brown card for a stalk (adhered with a glue dot or heat gun), a couple of leaves and some curled paper swirls to complete. 

You can always run your strips through an embossing plate first for some embossed texture to your pumpkin and of course add a scary face too if you like! Vary the width and length of your strips to make your pumpkins different sizes. You will need more strips the longer and narrower you make them. Enjoy!

New to ATDML - Studio Calico

I was overjoyed when I saw that the shop was now stocking some Studio Calico products, especially the new Yearbook range of papers. I taught a couple of layouts for the crop run by fellow design team member Karen using these papers which, being double sided, are super versatile.

The first layout uses a simply repeating diamond pattern (cut from card and used as a template to trace on the papers). Adding a stitch effect to the page with a white pen gives a patchwork feel with a difference and allows for journalling blocks to be created from the background card. I sanded the edges of my photo slightly and then completed the page with a thickers title and some days of the week words strips from October Afternoon 9-5 washi tape.

My second layout contained not faux stitching but the real deal to tie together wonky strips of 12x12 papers and some bubble wrap stamped background card.  Another great way to see both sides of the double-sided papers from this range.

My little burst of contrasting colour came from a photo mount and a dimensional heart cut from three pieces of paper folded in half the stuck together as shown.

Hope you enjoy browsing the new Studio Calico products in the store and are inspired to go create with them.

Trends on Tuesday - It's in the Grain

Woodgrain has been a long standing trend in papers, stamps, embellishments, embossing folders....I think most scrapbook companies have incorporated some wood into their collections somewhere along the line.  I thought I would try a really woody page to show you some of the lovely woodiness there is around.  The photo is from some gardens we went to visit and they had an amazing wall of logs which my kids quite happily posed in front of (they are used to it now and even offer suggestions of good places to have photos of them :)).  

I used woodgrain for my base which is by Scrapperdashery Under the Board Walk , and then added some gesso, just dry brushed across my background paper so my logs stood out.  My logs are made from Crate Papers Farmhouse Farmers Market with a 1" punch and a white gel pen.  I added an Simple Stories - awesome bingo card and some Crate Paper Farmhouse wooden stickers with some strips of burlap too to add some texture.  

I think woodgrain can be used throughout the year, but especially Autumn as all the leaves change colour on the trees and it is a great neutral as you can put any colours with it...so definitely a staple for your stash.

For a little more inspiration, check out these

October Afternoons Flower Tutorial and a beautiful card with a woodgrain base

Crate Papers - Farmhouse mini book packed with woodgrain

October Afternoon - Midway

Well it is October, and it is the afternoon, and we are almost midway through the month...so it seems quite appropriate to share my latest October Afternoon layout using the new Midway papers available in the shop now and the new Spray mask from Studio Calico which has sadly sold out already! I traced the mask pieces onto my choice of four patterned papers and simply covered the join with a photo. You don't essentially need the template though to create this page. Simply mark a point on your background card about 3" in from the right and 5" up from the bottom and draw your bursts by hand.

The papers are double sided so the zigzags between the paper block, the tickets below the photo and the arrows all come from the reverse side on the papers used in the sun burst!  

Hope this brought a little ray of sunshine to your Monday! Have a great week!

It's That Time Again!

It's that time again when we all go quiet as we are preparing for e retreat. Many of the DT are teaching classes for us and so most of our scrapping is top secret at the moment!

This time a few months ago I was making this pair of layouts using the Prima Almanac range.

I am currently putting together classes with Studio Calico's Yearbook range, My Mines Eye's All is Bright range and a mix of Echo Park products!