Feeling Fringey!

At the retreat I taught a class with the lovely Vicki Boutin "All The Good Things" papers, I had an plan for what I wanted to do for the first layout and then I planned to use strips of the paper in the second layout to create a stripey background.

When I came to assemble the second layout I just couldn't make it work how I wanted and I got a little frustrated - it just seemed really plain and uninspiring. I decided to get out my fringing scissors and have a play - the fringed edges added a lot more texture and created interest and suddenly my page came together quite quickly.

Usually at the retreat I spend most of the day time setting up classrooms, teaching, answering questions about shop items and liaising with the hotel staff about meals, refreshments etc... but in the evening I usually get chance to spend a little time playing with paper myself. To try and make the most of that time I made a few sketches, packed a few bags of product I wanted to use together on a project and matched it up with photos. This time I knew I wanted to make use of those fringing scissors to indulge myself in a little scraplift.

I love this layout by Paige Evans and wanted to make my own version. I precut the LOVE YOU out of a sheet of kraft cardstock using my Silhouette and decided I would use the Pink Paislee range Pick Me Up (designed by Paige Evans) for my version. On hers she cut the letters, added the fringed strips then adhered those to a background, I wanted an easier option so instead I used the negative from the cut words as a top layer on a sheet of white cardstock. This allowed me to add simple strips of fringed paper onto the white and then add the kraft so that the fringing showed through only in the cut areas.

To finish I outlined the letters, added the words Sweet and Heart either side of the photo and a few co-ordinating embellishments.

 Don't forget to share your latest creations with us over on the ATDML # Create Facebook page - we love to see what you have been making.

Color Caos

Well, yesterday's class was a success and I was up first again today.  Another three page class but this time using Bella BLVD's Color Chaos.  These papers are the polar opposites to the ones I used yesterday, they are very bright and bold.  

I loved these as soon as I saw them too - what a fickle scrapper I am - and the first layout came together very quickly.  This has the option of using the flower paper with cut out flowers as embellishments or using the star paper with cut out stars for a more masculine layout.

The second features different ways to use embossing folders - embossing silver foil, embossing plastic, embossing and sanding Core D'Ination cardstock, using the folders to print on water colour paper.

 By using the reverse of the papers a very different look can be achieved.

My final layout shows how this paper can look just as good against a black background and involves lots of layering. As soon as I saw the cut-a-part with the words 'You Will Forever Be My Always' I knew I had to use it on a page or on a card.

Retreat News - Class 1

Today is the day!  The first day of the long awaited ATDML Retreat and I was first up to teach at 1:30 with my class using the absolutely gorgeous Enchanted range from Simple Stories.  Unashamedly girlie - perfect to scrap photos of my unashamedly girlie girl!  

This was a three page class 

Page 1 - Hello Princess

The second page - Happily Ever After - not quite so feminine but still making the most of the gorgeous pastel tones of the papers. 

 Apologies for the camera flash across Josh's head!

 And the third one - Make A Wish - back to the girlie/princess vibe of the range.

Photo requirements for next weekends virtual crop

Here is the heads up ladies (and any gents who have snuck in at the back!) of the photograph requirements for the three classes next weekend Saturday February 21st 2015. Hope you are all looking forward to our second virtual crop of the year.

Class 1 - Mel

• Layout 1 - Between ten and sixteen photographs each measuring 2" square.  Mel cut these from standard sized photographs that hadn't been cropped too much and hers are a tiny bit bigger as she has used a 2.125" square punch!
• Layout 2 - one 5" square photograph (including a border) and six 2.25"x3" portrait photographs (2"x3" photographs would also work so long as the are all the same size!) Mel adds that you could reduce the photographs required to a minimum of three 2"x3" photos
• Layout 3 - one 3.75" square photograph  (again cropped from a standard sized photo) 

Class 2 - Ann

• Layout 1 - one 4"x6" portrait orientated colour photograph
• Layout 2 - one 3.25"x5" portrait orientated colour photograph
• There is also a quick card you can make

Class 3 - Denise 

• Layout 1 - one 4"x6" portrait orientated colour photograph
• Layout 2 - one 4.5" x 4" photograph - Denise has used a black and white photograph but colour will also work.

Any questions in the meantime please ask and one of us will do our best to assist. As always we will kickstart the day with a challenge for you as well.

Coffee Break Class times Four!

One of the many "Sold Out" classes over the retreat weekend was Ann's Prima Coffee Break class which featured one of my all time favourite class layouts. I was not the only one to fall in love with this class and many of those not booked on the class were rifling through the Prima papers in the shop to recreate the layout (including me!)

This was Ann's Class Sample:

and with their permission I wanted to share a couple of variations on the class.

The first one is by Sarah Keerie, she went for a slightly "cleaner" look with less of the gold spray but added a little more glitz with a few more of the Say It In Crystals coloured gems.

The next layout is by Tricia Edie and you can see she has added a large colourful title to complement her photo in place of some of the journaling. She has also swapped out the choice of paper for the frame in favour of a yellow one to work with her photos as well as adding some yellow splats as well.

Finally, here is my take on the class. I loved Ann's original and wanted to recreate most of it as she had designed it but I couldn't help myself and had to add a few chipboard embellishments (hearts, stars and arrows from the October Afternoon Daily Flash series.) I also added a little extra journaling in the form of a journaling card peeking out from behind the photo.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the different take three people had on the same class. I was so inspired by this range (which considering I don't drink coffee or tea I didn't think I would be) that I have another layout to share later in the week using the same range!

Simple Stories 24/Seven

This time last week we were in full swing at the retreat with the first day of classes over but with plenty more to come! I had taught my first class of the weekend which was two layouts using Simple Stories 24/Seven papers.  The first page was based on this paper and the ever popular hexagons that we see so often on pages these days.

As part of this class we also made the twine/cork button flowers which I also taught as a quick make and take on the Sunday.

My second page using the same 24/Seven paper collection was based on this paper from Simple Stories Vintage Bliss collection. I loved the layout of  the page elements and wanted to create it with 24/seven colours and a little more dimension.

And here was my page based on using this paper as a guideline for a layout design, perfect to house photos of my family of five but you could use the design as a multi-photo page of a single event or similar shots of one person too, perhaps pulling a range of quirky faces?! 

Both pages also feature a couple of other papers from this collection and the rather lovely chipboard stickers too which can be found HERE in the shop.

It's Starting To Look A Lot Like A Christmas Class!

My Friday afternoon class at the autumn retreat was a triple layout class. Well three single layouts to be more accurate. I loved the My Minds Eye All Is Bright Christmas papers and decided to use them to make some seasonal layouts. All the ladies had the option to make the layouts without photos in case they wanted to add photos from Christmas 2012 to them. On one of the layouts we added an acetate frame where the photo goes as there were stickers overlapping the photo. They could then slide the photo in behind the actetate.

The layout below IS straight in real life but the photo is wonky! I wanted to use the layout to tell a story about a family tradition as "Telling the Story" is something I am trying to make sure I get into all of my albums as often as possible.

 

This last layout features and pull out zig zag accordion booklet with space for adding photos of my favourite Christmas things.

 

It was only the beginning of November when we did the class but it was quite nice to play with Christmas papers!

Pretty Patchwork Long Weekend Bonus Class

Anyone who books the Long Weekend package on our retreat gets a bonus class kit with instructions to complete in the classroom. We tend to keep this nice and simple so that when you arrive you can ease yourself into the weekend with a relatively straight forward project which is easily completed in a short space of time. There's nothing like getting off to a flying start to keep those creative juices flowing.

 

Followers of this blog will know my great love of patchwork style layouts. For this kit everyone had half a pack of a My Minds Eye Love Me paper pack and a sheet of cardstock. I added a sketch plan with info on the sizes of pieces I used and all that was left was to choose which pattern to use in each section.

I saw so many lovely examples of this layout and also a couple of the delegates did a second version using their own scraps. Of course when making a kit for nearly 50 people using a 6x6 pad is the easiest way to do this but I do like to use this technique as a good way to use up my scraps and you can create quite different looks by mixing up the colours and styles.

If you want to have go see below for the sketch we used - each small square represents an inch.

Working 9-5

I knew the moment Oct Afternoon 9-5 range came out that I wanted to create with it. The background paper alone entitled General Ledger had me excited as an Accountant!! So this was my second class kit for my Sunday morning class.  Using six tags as the basis for the layout design we had a title tag, then 5 tags for Mon through Friday and the Friday tag opened up to reveal Saturday and Sunday.

There were other interactive elements and plenty of products to play with from papers to journalling tags, washi tape and alphabet stickers too.

Papers from  October Afternoons 9-5 can be found here in the shop.

Interactive Year In The Life Class By Mel

This is one of the layouts I taught over the weekend of the retreat. The house opens up to reveal an expandable pocket holding months of the year bingo cards. The idea being that you document the year ahead by adding a small photo and some notes to the back of each months cards.

 

There is some journaling behind the door (mine is about what kind of a year 2012 has been) and then the roof pulls up to reveal a second journaling spot to journal a similar piece about 2013 next December.

 

To add extra "ooomph" to the sun, clouds and dots I outlined them in black pen to make them "pop" more. 

 

Below you can see how the roof lifts and the expandable pocket inside the house

 

and here is the layout with the house open.

 

Thanks for stopping by. Come back later in the week to see my Long Weekend Delegates bonus class and the triple layout class I taught using My Minds Eye All Is Bright!

Mels Mini Book Class

I totally loved the Studio Calico Yearbook range and used this to teach my mini book class. Now I do usually opt for the majority of my classes to be layouts but my all time favourite class I have taught is my 7 Gypsies Travel Mini Book and I do like to do a mini book here or there.

In this class we constructed the book which includes pages which are pockets and little sideways pocket spaces in which you can tuck tickets, leaflets and memorabillia. My example is blank at the moment and the delegates only had time to make the book itself in class but it will be ready for photos, journaling and additions when the right subject comes along.

 

Despite some precision scoring needed to create the binding and a little confusion over pairs of mountains and lonely single mountains the delegates got on really well with this in the end and I saw lots of lovely examples in the crop room over the weekend.

 

Back over the weekend with another of my classes!



What a Difference!

Hello, Karen here with a quick 'show and tell' of the class I taught last weekend at the retreat.  It was made from just two pieces of paper and a set of stickers plus various office supplies.  I also took a couple of typewriters into the class so that the ladies could type their journaling. 

The class focused on using normal stationery products such as post it notes, labels, staples and page reinforcers on your layouts.  My two pages also illustrated the big difference between how boy's like to play and how girl's like to play!

A gentle girl version

 

about the companionship of baking.

 

A frantic boy version

 about competitiveness of boys playing sport.




p.s.  If you like my class enough to want to make one yourself I believe that ATDML may have some spare kits.