It's all in the wrapping

Happy Monday bloggers! Recently I had been asked by my best friend to make her some evening invitations for her wedding, which I designed as a simple postcard design with the details on the back. I always love doing these type of favours for people because it gets my work out there and could create future orders. Anyway instead of just giving her the invitations when I was finished I decided to wrap them up in a paper bag with a design on the front, addressed to her and her fiance. When I gave it to her, her face lit up and she found such delight in the way I had wrapped the invitations that she initially didn't want to open them. However since the wrapping was so beautiful she knew that what would be inside would be just as good, so she couldn't resist any longer and had to open them. I suppose I am a bit of a perfectionist and when you have those creative juices flowing through you, you can't simply give a present in a plastic bag. So go and makes someone's day by wrapping up that present in a more unique way.

Until next time...................

Sue & Sarah

Crafty Saturday

Hey bloggers, so sorry we haven't been posting much throughout the past week but we have been extremely busy outside of our crafting lives but today we got back to it and had a Saturday dedicated to some crafting and also a little bit of shopping.
We are starting to get inspired for our September Spectacular which will see a whole range of crafting techniques and mini workshops for everyone to get involved in. At the moment we don't want to give too much away but it will involve a bit of jewellery making and an array of crafting techniques, so excited! Today was the first step in deciding what techniques we wanted to focus on and we will be teaching a few inking and stamping techniques and also making flower embellishments and charms. Mainly using Tim Holtz products because they are just so great!!!
When lunchtime ticked around we decided we needed a bit of retail therapy and took a drive over to Burgess Hill to check out The Glitter Pot which has relocated to Sheddingdean Business Park. And I have to say what a transformation. They had relocated a while ago but me and mum hadn't been around there since our last visit a couple of years ago because it didn't stock all the things we were into. But now they have a whole floor full of everything you may desire. They have a huge selection of Tim Holtz stamps and products, though they could expand on their ideology lines. They have mountains of scrapbooking papers and accessories and there is just something about the place that seems so laid back and relaxed. So this will definitely be on our favourite craft store list for sure.
With another busy week ahead I will try and keep posting with new ideas and inspiration whenever I can, but for now keep crafting and be happy!

Until next time.................

Sue & Sarah

Flower Power

Hey bloggers, I hope everyone is enjoying the lovely weather that summer's should be made of, not sure how long its going to last though. Anyway, today's post is about how to make a grungepaper flower which are a perfect embellishment for any project and saves the cost of buying flowers from craft stores. However you would need to have the required equipment first, so if you don't have the following items, maybe buying flowers is still your best option.
You will need, (1) a Tim Holtz Vagabond Machine or equivalent Sizzix machine, needs to be able to take the Bigz Dies (2) Tattered Florals die cut (3) Grungepaper Sheets

Step 1:
Firstly you will need to stick your preferred decorative paper onto 6" x 12" grungepaper. Make sure you glue the entire sheet, not just the edges, because when you cut the flowers out they may be in the middle so if you don't glue the middle the paper will start to come off once the flowers have been cut.
Leave to dry for about 30 mins

Step 2:
Next get your tattered florals die cut and cut out the flowers on your Vagabond Machine or equivalent Sizzix machine.

Step 3:
Once the flowers are cut out, you will notice that you get 4 flowers. In this example I am using the two biggest flowers. Working on the biggest of the two, you will want to turn it over so that the patterned side is facing downwards. You will then take each petal in turn and start by pinching the edge inwards and then rolling it until you get to the centre of the flower. Repeat with each petal.

 

Step 4:

Once you have rolled all of the petals turn the flower over and put your finger in the centre to press it down, this will flatten out the petals.

 

Step 5:
Next, take the smaller flower and this time, pattern side up, pinch the edge of the petal and begin to roll into the centre of the flower. Repeat with each petal.

 

Step 6:
Once you have rolled each petal, take this flower and place it on top of the larger one. Before adhering them together you could add some distress ink to give the flowers some colour and on the largest flower you could add a bit of black to the edges to define them.

 

Step 7:
Once you have achieved your desired look, layer the flowers on top of each other and add either a button or a brad to the centre and stick them altogether. Then adhere to your project. The more ornate the button is, the more effective it will look.

Using the two smaller flowers that are also cut out using the die cut you can apply the same techniques and also layer them on top of the larger flower, this adds more dimension to your flower.

 

There are so many possibilities with these grungepaper flowers and they only take a few minutes to put together, so have some fun!

 

Until next time..................

Sue & Sarah

It's not all about the vintage

When it comes to scrapbooking I think that creating a theme for your book or page is crucial to elaborating on the story that the photo is already telling. Sometimes the photo may be telling an old story that lends itself to a vintage shabby background with old bits of lace and buttons decorating its edge. However some photos can be young and full of life and that should be illustrated with the background colours and embellishments. Recently a friend came to me in a dilemma. After having completed two sessions with us on how to make a vintage scrapbook she couldn't then think of any other ideas for creating a scrapbook album that was more modern with a fresh twist. As a present for her daughter's birthday it needed to be a little bit more upbeat and funky. So over the past day I have been hunting through magazines and books to gain inspiration for her dilemma and also rekindle my love for scrapbooking and have realised it is something that I definitely want to do more of.

I have managed to find quite a few examples of different things about scrapbooking that I love and what can make your page more modern. I have even thrown in a few examples of my own!
What I found through most of the examples was a great deal of layering and I think this is very crucial for a younger appeal to your page or book. With a vintage theme you could get away with leaving the background very plain and simply placing a photo on top with a bit of lace or buttons. However to create a more youthful appearance a lot of designers layer several backgrounds and then use mountains of embellishments, layering each piece to create something soooo yummy to look at.

'Summer of 68' by Sheena Rowlands featured in Scrapbook Inspirations Issue 46

'1962' by Sandie Vincent featured in Scrapbook Inspirations Issue 46

'Easter Fun' by Cindy Russell featured in Rusty Pickle Idea Book Vol. 3

'About Me' by Anne Parry featured in Scrapbook Inspirations Issue 46

 However achieving the layered look can take a lot of time and practice and also a lot of patience to get each piece the way you want it. So if you're not feeling that creative a good way to achive similar results is to choose a very busy background so that you only need a few layers on top to make it look fabulous. A lot of papers these days have more elaborate designs and therefore make it easier for you to place a photo on a page and add embellishments. This is a quick and easy way to scrapbook, here are a few of my own examples.

This paper background by K and Company was perfect for framing my picture and all I had to do was add to the background using some buttons and flowers.

Once again the background paper framed my panoramic picture perfectly and let me add letters and embellishments very easily.

 

This background paper was soo busy that I just extended the patterns and swirls with a few embellishments and some foam letters. Obviously adding the birthday badge as well which was the centre of the theme of my scrapbook. The colours and embellishments also illustrate how I was feeling that day which was a lot of excitement!

If bright colours and a modern twist are still not your cup of tea when it comes to scrapbooking and you still don't want to settle for the same vintage look then you could mix and match the two. I found examples of using bits of lace and material as a background which combines elements of both old and shabby with a layered modern twist.

'Grandmother' by Robyn Lantz featured in Rusty Pickle Idea Book Vol. 3

'Audrey' by Tasha Anderson featured in Rusty Pickle Idea Book Vol. 3

'HKS' by Lisa Sanders featured in Rusty Pickle Idea Book Vol. 3

Another way to add plenty of interest to a page is by using letters and numbers. You could do this by adding a title to your page, elaborating on significant numbers or by journalling around the page. After all, scrapbooking is all about journalling and telling a story. This can help fill the background of the page and add lots of interest for people to read as they look through the book.

'Live life with abandon' by Chris Baker featured in Rusty Pickle Idea Book Vol. 3

'Just Me' by Diane Lyn McGraw featured in Rusty Pickle Idea Book Vol. 3

'Pure Joy' by Annette Waisner featured in Rusty Pickle Idea Book Vol. 3

'Peace' by Courtney DeLaura featured in Rusty Pickle Idea Book Vol. 3

If you're making a fairly small book and find that there isn't much room to embellish or layer then you could come up with a colour theme and also use similar embellisments on most of the pages. This makes the story consistent throughout the book with a photo on each page with a simple accoutrement to finish it off.

Created by Pete Hughes featured in Scrapbook Inspirations Issue 46

This book uses the same letters and flowers on each page which keeps it modern and fresh without the hardship of layering and over embellishing.

There are so many ideas and inspiration for anyone who wants to scrapbook these days. Just remember that each photo is unique and tells a different story so don't be afraid to let yourself run away with ideas and creative flair.

Until next time...........

Sue & Sarah