Splendid Mini Album - Part 1

The May Scrapbooking Kit features the newest Paige Taylor Evans collection called Splendid. In classic Paige style, the collection is colorful and floral and whimsical and full of all kinds of fun patterns! While I love my usual 12x12 format, this bright collection had me thinking mini album!  

For this post I will show you how I made the actual album itself from the pattern and cardstock papers in the Kit - and in a few days, I will pop up another post to show you the finished album. 

Step 1: Decide the size of your mini album. For this process, we are using 12x12 papers so you can go any size really - for a teeny weeny little 2x3 to a 6x12. I went with a 6x6 for a few reasons. I wanted it small but not too tiny, some of the embellishments and stickers are pretty big and I want to make sure I could use them all, this size only requires one cut, and you get 2 album pages (so technically 4 album layouts) from that one cut. 

Step 2: Select your papers. I went through the Kit and chose all the papers that made me most happy and one of each coordinating card stock. The few papers I left behind will mat my photos in the album. Note, the more papers you pick the bigger the album / more pages the album will have. These are the A and B side of the papers I picked.

Step 3: Cut and score your papers. With a 6x6 album you want to cut the paper into 12x6 strips aka in half. For the pattern papers, pay attention to the pattern direction when you cut - some patterns only make sense one way (words, birds, flowers) so you need to cut so that when you fold the paper longways the pattern will make sense. 

I used my trimmer to cut and score my papers. Cut: line up each paper to 6inches on your trimmer and slice - so you end up with a 6inches high and 12inches wide strip. Score: then turn the paper strip once and line it up to 6inches again on the board (so the very middle of the 12inches is dead centre on the cutting blade channel). Then use a ruler edge or scoring bone or if you trimmer has a score piece - score the paper. 

Do this for every pattern you picked. Each 6inches x 12inches scored paper will make 4 layouts in your album. 

Step 4: Assemble your album. Take all those papers you cut and scored and stack them and fold them in half like a book. Sometimes first folding each paper in half before you stack them and fold makes it a little easier - especially with card stock. The paper on the very bottom will become your front and back cover so pick that one with care, and the paper on the top will be a very pretty double layout at the centre of your book, so pick that one special too. 

Flip through the book a few times to see if you like the order of patterns and colours - switching papers around as your heart desires. Once the album is in the order you want, bind the album.

If you have a long arm stapler you can staple the spine (unfold and flatten the book making sure your cover is on the top when you staple - so the pokey part of the staples are on the inside of the album). I don’t have a stapler, so I use an elastic around the middle where the score is or a few wraps of twine. The twine on the edge is a neat touch and looks pretty on the shelf. 

Step 5 - OPTIONAL! Prep the pages with the theme you want for your album. Before adding photos or embellishments or anything, I like to bring a touch of a theme to my mini albums. For this mini, it’s a wee gift for my nephew about our pup. So I used a Peartree Cutfiles Stencil of little Doggy Paw Prints and various Tim Holtz, Distress Inks in a coordinating colour to bring a subtle tone on tone dog paw pattern to most of the album pages. 

Next step is to make a whole bunch of mini-layouts to fill your album - the really fun part! I will share my process and the final album next blog post. 

Layouts with the May Kit - Bloom Street

Hello! Today I have two layouts to show you with the May Kit. This kit is fabulous!

It is full of Pink Paislee - Bloom Street. Pretty pastel colours fill the pattern papers. I'll be using every piece of this kit.

My first layout is of my daughter wearing my glasses. I cut a giant cut file of glasses using the Bazzill cardstock in the kit and some black from my stash. The green part is an inner offset of the outer black part. Then I fussy cut flowers like crazy from this paper.

The background I covered in gesso and then sprayed with green, yellow and blue Colorshine. The square cards come from the 2x2 paper pad. I layered them in some places. 

The title is made from foam Color Vibe Stickers by Simple Stories. The purple flower with a gem in the center is from the mixed embellishments pack. I used a pop dot to adhere it to the page which works really well.

I finished decorating the page with phrase stickers from the cardstock sticker sheet.

The journaling was done on a card from this sheet.

My second layout was inspired by the June sketch in the Creative Scrapbooker Magazine Facebook Group. 

Here is the sketch:

I followed the sketch really closely. I used a mixture of patterned papers but since I used butterflies on the base it only made sense to decorate with the Dimensional Butterfly Stickers. I tried to bend the wings so they would pop off the page. 

I love mixing fonts for a title. Here is an example:

That's all for me today. I'll be back on Monday with some more inspiration. Have a great weekend!

Product Showcase #2 - Paige Evans Pick Me Up Collection

Hi friends! Karla back today with another look at the Paige Evans Pick Me Up collection that will soon be available in the Scrap Shotz store!! If you didn't see my first product showcase of this amazing collection, be sure to check out this post HERE for a look at two layouts and two videos! Today, I'm back to showcase a gift set of 5 cards I created using the Swatch Book pack, the 12x12 paper pack and the Haberdashery stickers and sequins. The Swatch Books are just perfect to diecut little tags from, use your punches with or add any of those lovely border dies from your stash on! Here's a look at the full set of cards - I thought these would be great to tie with a ribbon and tuck into a gift bag for a teacher or friend gift!

The fun designs on the papers are great for fussy cutting, and I layered diecut papers and pieces from the Swatch Books to create this fun Cheers card. A pretty gold sequin from the Haberdashery set adds a little bling to match the gold on the watermelon seeds.

I used my Glossy Accents and a thin tip applicator to add a clear element over the Swatch Book Phrase, creating an enamel sticker look. The cute star button adds a little more dimension.

For the Hello card I cut the beautiful floral paper for a background, diecutting the edge with a stitched Waffleflower die. I used other various stitched border dies from my stash to add to the handmade stitched feeling on the card.

The Swatch Book phrases are printed on a heavystock paper and are wonderful to pop up with foam dots. The pretty butterflies are fussy cut from a background paper - I just love them!

For the Miss You More card I used some of the cute emoji paper and cut a tag from the Swatch Book pattern booklet, layering on an enamel sticker.

I used a glitter brush pen to add a shimmery glimmer to different areas on each card. 'Cause everyone needs more bling 😉

The Way To Go card has a pretty circle foil paper, diecut with a shape die, layered underneath. I actually cut the shape in half and you'll see the other half below!

The fun emoji paper has lots of sentiments and images in little bubbles. I cut around the bubble shape for these, but you could also use a circle punch to create your own embellishments.

For the last Thank You card I again used the gorgeous floral paper in the background and a few more of those beautiful fussy cut butterflies.

The sweet little sequin butterfly was just perfect to layer right on my sentiment, which I cut with a square stitched die.

I love all the sentiments in those Swatch Books - and I'm sure the special person who gets this set will love having an assortment of cards perfect for any occasion! Thanks so much for stopping by today! Be sure to check out the Scrap Shotz Store to pick up the amazing Pick Me Up collection. There are so many possibilities to create beautiful things 💗 Wishing you a fabulous and crafty week!

Product Showcase - Paige Evans Pick Me Up Collection

Hello! Karla back today with a fun and colourful layout and pocket page using the awesome Paige Evans Pick Me Up collection from Pink Paislee that is new in the Scrap Shotz Store!! My youngest sister and her family came to visit us last summer, and it was the first time meeting my adorable niece, Emily! Of course we were all over the moon to see everyone, but you know there's just something about sweet baby smiles 💓👶💓 This beautiful collection was just perfect for documenting this special visit, and I am so happy I have two more layouts completed to remember it. Here's a look at the 12x12 page. You'll be able to see the process I used to make this layout below.

I really love the 'Haberdashery' pack which includes buttons, enamel stickers and adhesive sequins, which made it so easy to embellish!

The Swatch Books are so awesome - full of beautiful papers and phrases on a heavyweight cardstock!

And these beautiful Lemonade Thickers, which also coordinate... Gorgeous!

Here's a look at the fun sketch I used from Stuck?! Sketches, turned on it's side.

I just had to keep creating and thought a pocket page would be the perfect thing to add the rest of the photos from the visit to. There are so many awesome elements it was easy to make a pretty page.

I love the patterned papers with all the sentiments - so nice to cut apart to add extra elements in the pockets.

And my favourite would be this pretty journaling card I created by fussy cutting elements from the patterned paper and then adding some gold thread and stitching!

You can have a look at the process I use to create the 12x12 layout in this video!

And be sure to check out this video where I give you a close up of all the pieces in this collection that I'm using today!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fabulous week, and be sure to check out this amazing collection at the Scrap Shotz store!!  

#I Heart February Kit Projects with Virginia

Welcome back for the final round of Creative Team projects using the fabulous Scrap Shotz February 2017 kit.

Virginia has used 8+ patterns on this layout, choosing one main pattern and then cutting the others into small squares so they do not overwhelm the main pattern and photo block.
So sweet how she accented the tiara with enamel dots.

The team used this sketch from Creative Scrapbooker Magazine for our sketch project:

Virginia did a lot of fussy cutting on this layout spotlighting a fun vacation memory. The hearts and circles are all fussy cut from kit patterned paper. Machine stitching provides the perfect accent to this whimsical layout.

A double page layout can accommodate a large number photos and journaling or provide the backdrop for lots of journaling and photos as seen in the following spread.

The left hand page is the base for the large journal card and the sweet cloud accents. The right page shows off some great up close and action photos Virginia's field hockey player. The fussy cut fox is such a cute addition to the page.

A plethora of odd size papers from the previous layouts provided Virginia's inspiration for this mini book.

The papers were made into envelopes with the Lawn Fawn envelope die and used as pages for this mini album and embellished with kit puffy stickers and fussy cut words.

The mini book is held closed with  ribbon.

Last is this layout featuring the die cut paper exclusive to the Scrap Shotz February kit:

The large circles are perfect for these special photos and the depth created by the shaker pockets backed with patterned paper and star sequins, add visual interest to this wonderful layout.
This layout echoes the title, it's #FAB YOU WOW!!

Thanks for coming by and checking out the February 2017 kit projects.

We'll have a look see at the upcoming March kit shortly so keep popping in so you don't miss it😀
SaveSave

#I Heart February 2017 Scrap Shotz Project Reveal...Round 2

**Please Note: Photobucket very recently changed their terms of service and no longer supports direct linking for 3rd party hosting of images. To view the images not displayed, hover and right click over image, then choose either "open image in new window" or "open link in new window" **

It's time for the second set of February kit projects to be unveiled, this time by me, Rosie...

Let's start it off with the sketch project based on this Creative Scrapbooker Magazine sketch:
and here is what I came up with:

A pot lid was used as a template for the circular alpha border.
Here are a couple of close ups of the layout:

Books are fussy cut from kit paper and pencil is adhered with foam tape.

Circle mat directly under photo mat is hand cut fringe which  I hope you can see fringe is gently curled upwards.

Do you remember the American Crafts Knockouts Border punches? Yes I still have some, they survived my last craft purge because of their compact size. I used them to punch all borders after cutting various strips of patterned paper.

Distress Oxide ink in Worn Lipstick, Broken China and Faded Jeans was applied to watercolour paper with a mini distress ink tool. I then flicked water on the paper and dried with a heat tool to activate the oxide effect. I love the soft shades of the oxide ink. After trimming the photo mat and border punching the side edges I added a white punched border to make the photo mat pop.

I punched butterflies out of the leftover inked watercolour paper, applied washi tape from the sticker pack to white card stock and punched butterflies from that as well. Butterflies are then accented with Nuvo Crystal and Glitter drops.

If you haven't seen the exclusive 12x12 die page created by myself, here is a look at it in the following layout:

The new Tim Holtz Oxide inks were used in the top left circular cut out with a Tim Holtz stencil, kit stickers, alphas and fussy cut hearts from one of the patterned papers are adhered over the ink. These inks apply so smoothly.

I used the die cut openings as photo frames, embellishment pockets and a journaling spot.

The large opening has a shell my son picked up on the beach in Rye, it's backed with an acetate pocket filled with glitter.

For this next layout I had envisioned a sort of wash of watercolour using Distress Oxide ink but it wasn't looking so good on the first layer so I changed the plan and instead flicked the ink on with a paint brush. I smooshed the ink on a craft mat, dipped a paint brush in water, picked up the ink with the wet paint brush and then flicked it on the page. I used a heat tool to dry each colour of ink before moving on to the next one. Paper strips of varying sizes were layered over the ink.

Here's the finished layout with the addition of stickers, alphas and a simple border strip on the right side to balance it all out.

I hope you've enjoyed these projects and thanks for stopping in 😊!
SaveSave