Scraplift Santa with Mel

Hello and welcome to the Boxing Day edition of Scraplift Santa brought to you by the ATDML Design Team!

Today my post is all about the white stuff. As I look out of the window typing this on Christmas Eve my garden is remarkably sunny and there seems to be a whole lot more greenery still around this Christmas. It got me thinking back to last winter when we had snow in December, January and February.

My layout features a favourite photo of Isabelle trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue! I started out planning to make a white on white layout but I decided I wanted to add some white sticker words and so I amended my plan to feature a whole lot of white embellishments on a simple kraft cardstock background.

To start with I cut some snowflakes on the silhouette and I also adapted a Paige Evans "Snow" title to include a space for the photo in the O.

Once the items were all cut I sorted through my embellishment and sticker boxes and hunted for clear bling, white stickers and words.

I added the photo behind my letter O and added the word title to the centre of the page before adding snowflakes above and below. I had some white doily stickers which I included and then I used lots of the white words from several packs of Simple Stories Photo Stickers.

I then added both crystal swirls and individual crystals to the page to give the snowflakes some sparkle and shine.

Join us on Saturday 29th for the Final Scraplift Santa and until then enjoy the rest of the festive season.

Feeling Nostalgic for Summer

Hi All,

Just a quick post to share what I have been making. With the dark evenings drawing in and the temperatures falling I am nostalgic for summer so I decided to scrap a photo of my girls relaxing in a hammock on Castaway Cay Disneys private island in the Bahamas.

I used the You Are Here collection from Simple Stories and a silhouette cut file from Paige Evans.

First I backed my cut file. As I very rarely scrap in the week I managed to use this as something I could sit down and spend a few minutes on here and there so over the course of a week I had finally backed all the separate sections. (patience isn't my strong suit - or more accurately I tend to need to use most of my patience quota up during a day working with some very characterful little 3 and 4 year olds)  so doing this bit by bit made it easier for me.

Then I pulled out a nice background from the collection with enough interesting bits already included that I only needed to add a few bits of stickers and ephemera to make it work.

To finish I added some enamel dots to the flower centres but it didn't look quite right so I added a little circle of tiny crystals around the flower centres.

I hope you enjoyed my little bit of summer to brighten the end of November!

Don't forget to pop over to the ATDML # Create Facebook page to say hello and share your creations.

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.

Clean & Simple

I have always admired those who can scrap a beautiful clean, simple page (I bought Cathy Zielske's Clean & Simple Book and loved it) but I always struggle with needing to add a bit more here and there so I rarely manage to make a clean and simple page even if that is my purpose when I set out.

I cut this title on my silhouette probably about 2 years ago and I knew I wanted to use it with this photo - (I just love those eye lashes in the photo!!) However I have spent a long time faffing about not knowing what to do with it all.

In the end I had a firm word with myself, stuck down the title, added a strip of camera washi tape and added the photo. It felt like it needed more (of course it did I told you I can't keep it too clean and simple) so I added the heart to pick out the pink on Izzys top in the photo.

And then I made myself photograph it and file it away! I kind of love it but I am am afraid that if it is out on a desk I might add more and more.

In the interests of full disclosure I should confess that after I took the photo I did handwrite Isabelle - August 2014 above the photo on the right because I don't like to leave my layouts dateless!

It would be great to see your take on the Clean & Simple look, or perhaps try a style you love and admire but find hard to do. Don't forget to share what you are creating over on the ATDML # Create Facebook Page.

Class 15 with Mel - Gridlocked

Hello and welcome to my third and final class of this cybercrop weekend. I hope you have enjoyed yourselves so far.

My last class is named after the (not very well known) film Gridlocked which appears to have been a vehicle for the man who played Wentworth Millers brother in Prison Break! 

 Layout one features a grid formation using different sized elements to create a block, it is a style I quite enjoy and have returned to in different forms over the years. It is also a good way to use a wide variety of patterns on your page while keeping them nicely contained!

The second layout in this class has absolutely nothing to do with grids and in complete contrast but I wanted to illustrate how the way you select elements from a collection can create quite contrasting looks.

Instructions can be found here

Don't forget to head over to the ATDML # Create Facebook group and share your creations. There are albums to share class layouts as well as individual albums for each of the challenges.

Happy Scrapping!

November Virtual Crop Class 3 - with Mel

Welcome to the last class of the day. I hope you have enjoyed Karen and Katherines classes. Next up is my class featuring Simple Stories 24 \ Seven. For those of you that bought the kit it also features my first foray into the world of Silhouette Sketch pens (Karen is to blame for my new addiction there!)

Click HERE for the Instructions

Don't forget to come over and share your work on the ATDML # Create Facebook page.