Jenni Bowlin Hexagon Love!

Every now and then a new trend hits the scrapbooking world ... one of the latest seems to be hexagons!! So today I would like to hand over to DT member, Louise to share her fab ideas with hexagons!
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Hexagons seem to be everywhere in scrapbooking at the moment so I was pleased when Sarah sent me these lovely Jenni Bowlin vintage journaling tags, Identify, Numbers and Memo stickers.

         

      

To go with the hexagon based stickers I cut out, by hand, lots of hexagons from papers from my Dilly Dally 6" x 6" pad. My journaling is on the Jenni Bowlin vintage tag which you can just see peeping out from under the photo.

So that I could get the placement of the hexagons exactly where I wanted them I first mounted the stickers onto card. This also made it easy to draw around them onto the patterned papers.

Stanley Age 6 - hence the number 6 stickers.

Some of the stickers are specifically for journaling or recording on, you can see in the above photo that I put words on these ones using Glitz white alphas.

Wondering how these hexagons would look on cards I used the same papers and some of the Jenni Bowlin stickers to make up a couple of cards.

Firstly, a card for him...

....and this one for her, using paper scraps from MME's lost and found two collection . The Jenni Bowlin identify sticker that you can just about see under the best wishes flag actually had "Place" written on it so I turned it upside down and placed the flag over the word.

I really enjoyed working with these stickers and as the sticker sheets are so generous I was able to use them on several different layouts and projects.

You can see more hexagons on this layout and also on this mini book!!

Thanks for stopping by!

How To .... Punch the edge!

As many of you know I teach at classes and Craft Days and I am often asked for ideas on getting the most out of your stash and how to use various tools and products. In just the last two weeks I've been asked about stamping, heat embossing, using punches, paint dabbers and distressing.

This led to an idea for a new series of blog posts we will be running through 2012. Each month we will highlight a tool, a crafting technique or a particular product and explain how to use it and also show you some samples of projects incorporating some of the ideas!

Now, I know we have a wide variety of readers of this blog, some are very experienced crafters and some who have only just discovered the wonderful hobby of papercrafting. So, I will say now, before we go any further, some of you may read some of the "How to... "posts and discover nothing you didn't already know and that's ok, but for others who may learn something or pick up a new idea or two, we hope you will find these posts useful!

So, first up is .... BORDER PUNCHES!!

I set Design Team member Louise to work on our first "How to ... " blog post using one of my favourite craft tools, the Fiskars bracket border punch and she has created some step by step instructions for using border punches.

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Hi, it's Louise here ...

Punches are most probably my favourite scrapping tool - they are easy to use and small enough to store easily. The table I work on is usually pretty full when working on a project. I make a huge mess and spread right out. If I want to use my die cutting machine, I have to get it out of the cupboard and attempt to clear a space on the table for it, so more often than not I prefer to reach for a punch!

Border punches are straight forward to use, they have guidelines on them making them easy for lining up your paper or card, enabling a continuous line. Lots of craft manufacturers make border punches but two of the most popular are Fiskars and Martha Stewart. There are lots of different designs for creating pretty and interesting borders. Here I show you how I use my new fabulous bracket border punch.

When I buy a new punch I always like to give it a test run on a piece of scrap card before using it on my projects. On the punch you can see the continuous design with the punch section in the middle.....

.....line up your card ready to punch. I always start with the card in the middle of the punch, so I get a nice half design on the edges. You can do this or punch in the middle of the card and work on either side of the design. Ensure the edge of your card is "butted up" against the raised lip on the punch.

.... make your first punch. You may need to press on the lever quite firmly!!

.... next, carefully line up your punched card with the design marker on the base of the punch. You can see the white design lined up with the pattern you've already punched. Again ensure the card is lined up against the raised lip and then punch again.

.... continue lining up your card with the design pattern, and punching.

.... until you have punched the desired length of your cardstock.

Here, in the final photo, I've punched the two edges to show you how gorgeous the design is.

Here's a couple of layouts with punched borders:

For my Pumpkin Carving page, I punched two borders and put them together with the design offset. The punch was also used on the edge of the green paper, right at the very bottom of the page.

 

The Spooky page shows one of the simplest ways to use a punched border - to add interest between two patterns.

Also, don't forget to use your border punches on your cards too!!

Here's a couple of ideas:

On this last card I also used  a couple of regular punches, a scalloped circle and a Martha Stewart butterfly punch.

I hope this has given you a few ideas for border punches!!

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To see more of Louise's work you can visit her blog here!

Don't forget to enter our monthly challenge where the theme is "Happy" and the "added extra" is to use a punch!! One entry picked at random will win a £10 voucher for the S J Crafts shop!

Echo Park Cards

Remember the layouts on this post by Design Team member Louise .... the other day she sent me some pics of some cards she made with the scraps left over from the November Kit so I thought I would share them with you.

This card was made for a male 15th birthday!

The colours of the Echo Park Times and Seasons Papers is perfect for male cards and layouts.

Using the car from the elements sticker sheet Louise has made this fab card for a friend who has recently passed his driving test.

I've been adding a few new products to the shop this week including some American Crafts D Ring albums, Jenni Bowlin paint dabbers and MME Lost and Found Two. See all the new products here!

Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads have also been restocked here!!

I'll be back soon to show you some sneak peeks of some page kits I'm putting together!

Thanks for stopping by!

November Echo Park Kit Layouts ~ By Louise

Today's post is brought to you by Design Team member Louise with two very different layouts created using the new November kit.

Louise says:

The kit really is full of great papers and with the sticker sheet, alphas and the journalling cards, there is plenty of choice. The papers are gorgeous on both sides so the biggest decision was which side to use. I love patterned papers......and some of them were very busy patterns!! It's funny as I thought on first sight that I would use the plainer patterned sides......but the bolder sides kept calling me!

This first layout I based around the moustache stickers and used photos of my three boys and my nephew where they were playing around with Keith Lemons mouthboard, a download application on the phone!! Rest assured the boys have no idea who Keith Lemon is!!

For the second layout I chose a photo of my great grandmother and grandfather - I have had him on my mind this week......there is a very sad story to go with this layout. My great grandfather died in WW1 at the Battle of Somme, left behind his two daughters (shown in the photo) and his pregnant wife. My grandmother was born one month after he died. Last weekend I found myself explaining to the boys that my great grandfather (and lots of others) is the reason we wear poppies and have a two minute silence to remember them all.

For this layout I added a doilie and used some AC brads and two pins. It is a very full kit and there is plenty leftover to make another layout or some cards.................a job for this weekend hopefully!!

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Two fab layouts!! You can see more of Louise's scrapbooking or maybe join her on her photography challenge here.

If you want to grab yourself a kit pop over to here or you can buy the Echo Park papers individually here!

* November kit is now sold out!! *
* Watch out for our December kit coming soon! *

Thanks for stopping by!

Special Offer: 2 For 1 on Papers .... And Beach Boys Layout

Beach Boys Layout ~ By Design Team Member Louise

For this layout Louise has used the Summer's End Collection again but this time using the patterned paper as the base and a single black and white photo to give a very different look.

Supplies: Fancy Pants Summer's End Papers : Abundance and Growing, Bazzill cardstock, chipboard banners, American Crafts alphas, Orange star ribbon, Orange Paint.

A close up showing the chipboard banners

You can see more of Louise's work here.

So, we are still celebrating our new Design Team here at SJ Crafts so this week's special offer is....

 2 for 1 on selected 12" x 12" Papers

The collections in the offer are:

Fancy Pants Summer's End 

AND

   Crate Paper Random

AND

My Minds Eye Quite Contrary

No code required, just add the paper you want to buy to your shopping cart and checkout as usual. I will add another sheet of the same design to your parcel when I pack your order. So if you order quantity 1, you will receive 2 sheets!

This offer is for UK delivery only and runs from 7pm today (28th sept) to 7pm on Sunday 2 October or until stock lasts.

Click here to go shopping now!!! 

P & P free when you spend £15 or more!!

Thanks for stopping by! x

Summer's End Layouts ~ By Louise

I know Louise was very nervous about taking on her first Design Team contribution but I have to say I think she has done an awesome job!!

I sent her a selection of products including the new Summer's End collection by Fancy Pants designs, some assorted Bazzill cardstock and Jenni Bowlin Chalkboard Stickers.

Today I will share her first layout which I hope will give you a few ideas. This layout tells the story of a photo shoot with a 7 year old in charge of the camera!!

A great idea for using the fall frames paper is to make journalling spots. By cutting them out and postioning them along the page they provide an ideal area for telling the story.

Louise carefully hand cut the individual doily shapes out of the changing paper and used them as a line of embellishments under her photos! This really draws the eye along the pictures

The Jenni Bowlin alphas make a great title, framed by the Summer's End Chipboard Banners.

Other tools and supplies used: Martha Stewart Butterfly and scalloped circle punches.

I'll be back tomorrow to show you Louise's second layout and I will have a great offer for you too!

You can see more of Louise's scrapbooking on her blog!