Sugarplum Wishes for Christmas

Just 13 sleeps to Christmas and I am feeling inspired to scrapbook some past Christmas memories. So I reached for the Paige Evan’s, Sugarplum Wishes  that arrived in happy mail from Scrap Shotz and had some fun! So many bright patterns and the embellishments are such fun. 

Go Busy or Go Home 

For this first layout, I wanted to use all the patterns and embellishments - go all out with way too much, in a good way. A great way to keep a busy page  focused is by using a single big feature - in this case I reached for a Peartree Cutfiles cutfile. The large, white cutfile on the page breaks up the busy patterns. So you can use them all but not worry about it being too much. 

For this layout, I first backed the cutfile with a few of the fun patterns from the Collection. Then I used the cut apart tags from one of the pattern papers to anchor my small black and white photos beside the cutfile. 

From there, I tucked in a few of the embellishments in and around the tags. I finished the page off with a little ripped feature at the top right of the layout and some Nuvo Crystal Drops in Snow White. 

Make Your Own Background

Loving the look of the bright Paige Evan’s pattern papers combined with a cutfile - I reached for another Peartree Cutfiles cutfile to inspire my page design. 

After backing the cutfile with a number of the amazing pattern papers, I realize of I had created a bit of a colour theme for the page - so I ran with it! Pink, red, dark green and lime for this layout. 

For my background I used a 12x12 Completely Dotty stencil from Peartree Cutfiles. I simply used a sponge dauber and Ranger Ink, Distress Ink in Barn Door, Victorian Velvet, Twisted Citron, and Pine Needles and rubbed them each in random across the stencil allowing some to blend here and there. I added a few splatters of each ink as well. To do this, smoosh some of the ink from the ink pad on some plastic and add a couple spritz of water - then flick over the page with a paint brush. I love how it turned out! 

From there, I added my three photos in black and white below the file (each backed with a coordinating pattern paper or two) and then picked a bunch of the Sugarplum Wishes die cuts and stickers in the layout colour theme. 

Full disclosure, I am also Design Team member for Peartree Cutfiles. The cutfiles featured here are from their exclusive December Advent subscription from year’s past. Such fun to play with. 

Are you scrapping this December or maybe December past? Do you create a December Album each year? Well, if looking for bright and fun design  - reach for Sugarplum Wishes! 

Happy Holidays! 

November Kit Catch Up, Garden Shoppe by Paige Taylor Evans

Happy new year everyone! Cold and rainy days here in West Coast Canada has me reaching for the brightest kits in my stash … well hello November Kit featuring Paige Taylor Evans, Garden Shoppe! All the colours of the rainbow, fun patterns, cute embellishments and more.

I decided to pair all my November kit layouts with a cutfile from Peartree Cutfiles. I cut the files in Bazzill Basics Paper, Avalanche and love how the bright white makes the colours of the kit pop even more! 

Hot Air Balloons 

I started this layout by backing the Peartree Cutfile A Sky Full of Balloons with a bunch of different papers from the Kit - a chance to showcase all the great patterns. I backed the clouds with Lawn Fawn Pearlescent Vellum. I popped it all up on foam dots and put it on this fun minimalist polka dot pattern. 

From there I added a couple of photos to the right, backed with a few layers of pattern paper and some embellishments. The pattern balloons were doing so much design work there wasn’t any pressure to add too much. I added a few phrases on the top left, a strip of pattern on the top and bottom, and a few little bees here and there. 

Hello You 

For my next layout, I reached for the farm inspired elements in the Kit and the Peartree Cutfiles Hello You file. I had these photos from a petting zoo where the animals were pressing their faces out of the fence looking for treats and the Hello You seemed a perfect title. 

I really liked the green plaid pattern for this one. I ripped it in half and paired it with the coordinating Bazzill Basics Paper in the Kit in that great mustard colour. I backed the ‘You’ in the cutfile with the dark floral pattern paper from the Kit then popped the title up on the green plaid. I first added a few splatters to the paper with some watered down Ebony Black Nuvo Crystal Drops. 

Before I added my photos to the cardstock along the broom of the page I stamped ‘photo op’ over and over using Star On in Black. The animals looked like there were trying to get in the photo so seemed fitting! I finished off with some embellishments here and there. 

Florals for the Win

For this layout, I was inspired by all the leaves in the Kit so grabbed this awesome pattern and reached for a Vicki Boutin Color Study Hello and Vicki Boutin Sweet Rush Sunshine stamp set. I stamped a cascade of flowers and leaves down the left side balanced with a couple on the right. I used the same floral stamp and some fussy cutting scissors to make matching embellishments. 

I cut a bunch of the Peartree Cutfiles Leafy Outlines so I could pair a couple of these with the leaves from the Kit with each of the floral embellishments. Before adhering things down, I added some Ebony Black splatters using watered down Nuvo Crystal Drops. 

I added two 2x3 photos of our pup walking in the leaves - was feeling the autumn vibes on this one - and a bunch of the gold puffy hearts peeking around the flowers. 

Tag us on Instagram or drop your creations in our Scrap Shotz Paper Crafting Group on Facebook so we can ohh and ahh. 

Add One More Colour for a Little Pop

This month I am playing with the bright and fun goodies of the Simple Stories, Summer Farmhouse  - think reds, yellows, dark blue denim, florals, and backyard BBQs for this collection!

When I say this collection is bright, I mean BRIGHT - beautiful, bold, primary colours. Everything you want in a summertime collection and then some. 

Full disclosure ... this is when the rebel in me comes out. When I get something really feminine, I want to see if I can make a super boy page OR when I get something really bright, I want to see if I can create a soft page. Well that second one is what I embarked on with this layout.

I started my rebellious journey with a piece of Vicki Boutin, Foundations Paper some Vicki Boutin Crayons, and, yes you guessed it, one of Vicki Boutin's stencils. (All from the Scrap Shotz shop which I know are hard to keep in stock - so grab em when you can! I think some of the warm tones Crayons are in stock - these are the ones I used here.) I used the stencil to create just some soft pink and peach designs on about a third of the page, just enough to bring some slight colour and a little touch of design to the white space.

Simply colour with one of the crayons on a mat or piece of plastic, spray one spray of water on the end of the brush, rub the brush over the colour you roughly put down on that plastic, and then in small circles rub it through the stencil on the page. Magic!

From there, I cut a massive lemon out of one of the yellow pattern paper in the collection. I found this lemon in the Silhouette, Design Store. Why a lemon you ask? I wanted to use the soft-toned lemons in the stickers, chipboard and die cuts from the collection to support my rebellion, and I needed a layout to document this photo of me and my bestie and the daily Lemon Radlers we drank on Spain and Portugal Camino!

With the lemon, my photos, and all of the soft-toned embellishments from the collection al adhered down, I liked it - it was soft and not awful .. but I didn't love it.

Well this is when you text a photo to your sister and ask her "what's bugging me about this?" and she says MORE RED!  Do not tell her I told you this .. she was right!

I went through all the collection goodies and added all of the red bits, a few more blue phrases too, a couple of white phrases too and then pulled some red enamel dots from my stash to finish it off. (You can buy the actual matching Simple Stories, Summer Farmhouse enamel dots in the store.)

So much for my soft-toned rebellion!

For additional inspiration or to see more of the Summer Farmhouse collection, check out the Facebook Live unboxing and process video I did on Sunday morning over on the Scrap Shotz Facebook group.

Thanks for stopping by - if you are using this collection, give us a @scrapshotz or #scrapshotz tag on social media so we can see!