How I Love To Scatter - By Jennifer Grace

Hello and a very Happy Bank Holiday Monday to you!!

 

Remember a couple of weeks ago Lisa-Jane shared her current love for die cutting ... if you missed it it's right here!!

 

I'm here today to share one of my current favourite techniques with you ...

 

Scattering!!

 

Regular readers of my blog will already know  how much I like to scatter gems or sequins on my layout, but here I'm going to show you how I also applied the 'scatter' mindset to other aspects of this layout.

I wanted this page to be particularly scattered - as bits of these cakes got scattered all around my house while the kids wandered around eating them - I hadn't put enough chocolate on and they were super crumbly!

I started with a piece of paper from the DIY shop collection pack, and splattered some Mister Huey Pretty Pink mist droplets over it, keeping the drops more concentrated near the centre of the page.

 

Then I built up a photo mat, using scraps from the DIY Shop collection pack and the Maggie Holmes collection pack. Normally I'd layer a photo mat more like a frame, so the edges would be seen evenly all around the photo. But to make it look more scattered I piled them up so they stuck out a different amount each side. You can see that one scrap had a hole in it, but I knew that would not matter as it would be covered by my photo!!

When I stuck the photo mat onto the layout I only adhered it in the middle, so that I could tuck things in at the edges if I wanted to. My photo was stuck on with 3D foam pads to give some extra dimension.

I then chose a couple of journaling spots, and a date sticker, and scattered them about so the journaling wouldn't be all in one place.

 

Now comes the fun part - choosing an ecclectic mix of other items to scatter about! I used a mix of stickers and die-cuts from DIY Shop and Maggie Holmes plus some Studio Calico Wood Veneer Tiny Stars (painted pink) and Cameras (painted light blue), some sequins and gems.

And I started to scatter them all over the page! I left the gems until last, as they are harder to move about (although usually possible if you do it quick). All the other bits were stuck on with Ranger's Glossy Accents, except for the 'fun day' and 'yes, please' sentiments which were adhered with foam dots, once I was happy with their position.

I also made the title look "scattered" by off-setting the letters in 'cakes':

 

 

If you don't want to scatter things all over a layout, you could just confine them to a journaling spot or embellishment - like I've done here on the speech bubble cut from some DIY Shop paper.

 

 

Keeping the scattered elements close to to a larger element like your photo stops them getting lost on the page.

 

And having some items tucked under each other (like the flower and date sticker shown below) and some completely separate (like the 'yes, please' sticker) also helps to make things look more random.

So you end up with a lively, scatter-filled page!!

 

I hope you've enjoyed an insight into my scatter-love! If you try it out please let me know!

Jennifer x

My "Right Now" Inspiration! - By Lisa-Jane

"What's inspiring you right now?"

 

When Sarah (S J Crafts owner) asked me this recently I had to answer that I am loving using my Silhouette Cameo. It is great for lettering because I never run out of any particular letters and it is also wonderful for titles like the "Just Because" title from Heidi Swapp that i've used on my layout. I am also loving the current trend of highlighting the negative areas and so decided to create a layout where the negative space of the cut is a prominent feature of the page. I created this Star cut file myself and then cut roughly similar shapes of patterned paper to stick to the back so that they show through - kinda like a stained glass affect!

I used papers from the Snippets collection papers by Studio Calico. This layout is part of a series in my album so this one didn't need any journalling.

I really love the simplicity of the page with no other embellishments.

You could try using punches or cutting dies to get a similar affect and it's also a great way to use up all those small off cuts  and scraps of your favourite papers. 

 

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope my "Right Now" inspiration inspires you too!

 

Lisa-Jane x 

 

Don't forget to check out more of Lisa-Jane's layouts at her blog: Inside My Head

 

NSD Special Offer .... 15% Off

 

To celebrate National Scrapbook Day and the long Bank Holiday weekend here is the discount code for 15% off in the shop!

 

Enter the code NSDMAY2013 during checkout.

 

Code expires at 11pm (BST) on Monday 6th May.

 

 

I hope you've enjoyed the NSD celebrations here at S J Crafts today.

Thanks to all who have joined in and played along with the challenges so far and don't forget the challenges and the giveaway are open for a few days to give you chance to catch up!

 

Click To Go Shopping Now!

 

 

Visit the Design Team - Challenge 3 (For NSD)

Hello again!

 

So, how is your day going? Plenty of scrapping? Enjoying this beautiful weather?

I certainly am! I have been scrapping lots today and enjoyed a fun trip to our local park with my girl this afternoon!

It's time for another NSD challenge!!

 

If you're new here, a big welcome to you!!
You can catch up on Challenge 1 here: A Sketch Challenge

Challenge 2 here: Just ONE manufacturer

And details of a giveaway here: Facebook Giveaway

 

For this next challenge I'd like you to "meet" the wonderful  S J Crafts Design Team!!

 

 

These ladies have all been with me since the start and have been a fantastic support to me and S J Crafts. Their endless enthusiasm for papercrafting and desire to share their creative talents with others is second to none! I now consider them my firm friends and have been lucky enough to meet and craft with three of them and hopefully one day soon I'll also "meet in person" the fourth!!

So, for this challenge you will need to visit each of their blogs and have a browse around and find the answers to the questions below.

 

When you have all the answers send an e mail to me with DT Visit Challenge in your subject line and tell me what you think the answers are.

E mail me at:   sarah (at) s j papercrafts.co.uk (remember to turn it into a proper e mail address .... just don't want loads of those rubbish spam messages in my inbox!)

 

Whilst you are visiting the DT Blogs it would be absolutely wonderful if you would leave a comment for them to let them know you stopped by and of course if you like what you see there you could follow their blog too! I know they'd all appreciate it!! 

 

Here's the blog links:

 

Lisa-Jane :  Inside My Head

Jennifer : Jennifer Grace Creates

Louise : Boys Bugs and Beautiful Buttons

Jenny : Dragonllews Spot

 

And the Questions:

 

* What was the item of clothing that Lisa-Jane scrapped about recently on a layout featuring her young son?

 

* Jennifer recently scrapped about a wet weather walk with her daughter. What colour and pattern are on Jennifer's footwear on that layout?

 

* What did Louise's son say about the Harry Potter ride in Florida which features as a title on her recent layout made with Studio Calico's Snippets collection?

 

* Jenny recently made a lovely Christmas card featuring a snowman. What colour is the snowman's tie and which papers did she use on the card?

 

One winner will be picked at random from all the correct entries (all questions must be correct!) to win a prize pack of Crate DIY Shop papers and stickers (shown in the pic below).

 

 

 

Closing date for entries: Saturday 11th May 10pm BST

The winner will be announced on this blog soon after the closing date!

 

Good Luck and enjoy "meeting" the Design Team Girls!!!

 

I'll be back later this evening (or possibly first thing sunday morning!) with a special NSD discount code just in case you fancy a little stash shopping this bank holiday weekend!!