One Step Further ... Playing with Patterned Paper!

Hi everyone, Annie here!

Like most scrappers, I love patterned papers and I have piles of the stuff. I can't get enough of it! It's beautiful just as it is, but it's also fun to tweak it a bit to add interest, or to suit a particular project.

Today I'd like to share a few ideas for altering patterned papers to take them one step further ...

This MME Lost & Found Record It! 6x6 paper pad is really gorgeous and so versatile - I've already used some of it to make a valentine for my DH and two pop-out birthday cards for a friend - but I have all of this left and I thought it would be perfect to experiment with.

Here are the results of my experiments with cutting sticking, punching, doodling, embossing, flocking, layering and eyeleting (if that isn't a word, then it should be!) ...

First I took the pretty heart pattern ...

... I cut a few of the hearts from another identical sheet, inked the edges with Distress Inks and adhered them with foam dots to add dimension ...

Then I took these three sheets ...

... I carefully cut out the bookprint hearts, inked the edges and adhered them to the bookprint paper to give extra interest and texture to the background ...

Layering the heart paper over the chevrons paper allowed the pattern to show through the cut-out heart shapes, and I doodled around them with a pencil to add some definition ...

Next, I dug out some eyelets (I can't be the only scrapper who has loads of these lingering in my drawers from years ago!) ...

... and had fun dotting them around to accentuate the spotty patterns ...

Out came my trusty heat gun next, and I used a pearlescent gold embossing powder to enhance some of the stripes ...

It works better with the extra-strong tape and I always burnish it with a bone-folder to make sure it's stuck and help the backing to come off more easily. Here's the result ...

Whilst I had the heat gun out, I did a bit more embossing, using a juicy Sakura pen to add handwriting and doodling to the bookprint background ...

... and then adding embossing powder in a deep shiny lipstick pink ...

I used a gold pen and more embossing to bring some fun textural detail to this lacy pattern ...

Finally, I broke out the flock and used it to create tactile accents ...

I tried a couple of different methods to make the flock stick, and this one seemed to work well. First, I filled in the parts I wanted to accent with the Sakura Glaze pen ...

... then sprinkled with the flock and left it to sit for a while until the pen had dried ...

... then, without shaking off the excess, I folded a sheet of copy paper around it and ran it through my Cuttlebug ...

... then brushed off the excess. This way, the shape stayed well defined and the flock was stuck fast, adding a nice tactile detail to the page ...

These little 6"x6" paper pads are so versatile and you can make them go a really long way. I used my "enhanced" papers to make a couple of scrapbook pages with very different looks ...

Watch:

For this page about my little great-nephew, I added in some chipboard stickers from the MME Chalk Studio Collection and a couple of scraps from the MME Chalk Studio 2 Collection, some Bazzill cardstock and black Prima Canvas Alphas.

I sanded the edges of all the chipboard pieces and used chalk inks to colour them - this is something I often do to make embellishments match my page.

I Love Us:

For this page showing a "double selfie" of me and my DH, I've used small pieces of my patterned paper to form a grid design. The camera is a Simple Stories Daily Grind chipboard sticker - I distressed it and added a button tied with twine to cover the heart motif which was the wrong colour for my page. There is also a cut-apart from the Teresa Collins Daily Stories Collection and I made a couple of embellies from the patterned paper scraps.

Well, after all this I still had loads left in my little paper pad, so I chucked in some more of the Chalk Studio chipboard stickers and four empty toilet rolls ...

... which have been squashed flat overnight for reasons which will become obvious when you see the finished project ...

... a little toilet roll mini book for my niece, with pull-out tags for photos and journaling. These mini books are so much fun to make - you can find loads of tutorials on You Tube.

I hope you will have a go at taking it one step further to give your patterned papers a unique twist and remember to share your results on our FB page!

Thanks for reading my post, see you again soon.

Annie :o)xxx

P.S. If you need more 'One Step Further' inspiration, check out Louise's Stitching and Stamping post HERE!

Annie blogs projects full of beautiful details at her blog Arty Farty Annie. Please pop by and say hello!

Flip Books!

Hello all, Jenny here!

Today I have something to show which really took me out of my comfort zone. Sarah recently received the new Teresa Collins Flip Books in stock at S J Crafts and asked the DT if any of us would like to have a go with one. I had already been looking at these and thought they would be fun to play with so I said "Yes!"

 Only then did I realise just how far out of my comfort zone I had taken my self. Now I’m not ashamed to admit that scrapbooking frightens the life out of me - all that space on a 12x12 sheet? No thank you I’d rather stick to my 6x6 cards! 

But these flip books are great - they are all ready for you to decorate, made from thick black card which is a nice and neutral for any colour scheme. They are available in two different sizes and have a clever built in mechanism so that when the tab is pulled the pages "flip over" one by one.

I decided I was going to use mine to record Aimee’s first experience of horse riding. I chose to use the Glitz Wild & Free papers as some of the papers had horses on and the rest had lovely bold patterns which went with my photos. I didn't mount any of my papers as the black pages looked perfect as a background for the papers, plus it helped not to make the book too thick so the flipping action still worked. Embellishment wise I used some washi tape, some Studio Calico wood grain enamel dots, punched flowers and some chipboard shapes which I coloured with my promarkers and ink pads. 

I'll warn you that the rest of this post is quite picture heavy ... I wanted to show you each page ... if you have any questions please ask by leaving a comment! 

Front Cover:

Inside Front Cover:

Page 1:

Page 2:

Page 3: 

Page 4:

Page 5:

Page 6:

Page 7:

Page 8:

Page 9:

Pages 10 & 11:

Pull Out Page:

 For those of you that have seen my blog will know I generally make cards but I hope this demonstrates that anyone can try scrapbooking using these flip books .... they really are a great way to record those precious memories! 

Don’t forget Annie from the Design Team also posted her flip book including a fab video, you can find her post here.

Jenny makes beautiful projects and shares them on her blog Dragonllew's Spot, check it out and be inspired!

One Step Further ... Stitching and Stamping!

Hello all, it's Louise here today! 

I want to show you something that's bright, that's fun, that's funky. It's Amy Tangerine's Plus One Collection!

A wonderful collection that I have really enjoyed using. Today I'd like to share with you how I've used Amy Tangerines Plus One Collection to build two layouts, adding stamping and hand stitching for texture, dimension and interest...

I had a handful of photos at the ready and eventually decided to go with three smaller photos. I roughly placed them on white card stock:

I flipped through Amy Tangerine's 6x6 paper pad umpteen times. All the papers are wonderful and any would have worked with a grid format I'd decided upon. Eventually I cut into two of the patterned papers and cut out a small word card and picture card. These were placed on the layout with the stitched feather tag.

Have you seen Amy Tangerines Plus One die cut tags? Some of them have holes in them for you to add stitching. A very clever idea, it means you can adapt them to suit your colour scheme, adding a dash of colour and texture at the same time!

Slowly (as I am a very slow scrapper) I added some more patterned paper pieces, wanting to fill in all the gaps I used Amy Tangerine's remark accents and sticker sheet and puffy stickers (my new addiction) and a fabric brad.

At this point I am only placing papers and stickers onto my page. Nothing will be stuck down until I am happy that everything is in the right place...

 You can see how the layout is coming together. I left a hole in the middle and decided to add a hand stitched heart using a template I have had in a draw for far too many years:

At this point I took a photo with my mobile phone. Mainly so that when I stuck all the pieces down I had something to refer back to....if needed (who am I kidding...I know I'll forget where everything goes), especially knowing that I'd be removing all the elements to add some Mr Huey Mist.

Before adding the mist..I went one step further and took out two roller stamps (like this one), adding rows of stars and hearts in places that I thought needed some added interest. I love how adding a stamp to a layout can give it a new look:

Clearing the page I used a mist  to add a few splashes to the stamped areas.

This is how my layout looks now. Everything is stuck down and a date stamp has been added. The feather has been stitched using pink cotton to blend with the other pink elements:

Hmmm....I wasn't happy though, my layout didn't feel finished.

I wonder how many of you have had that feeling from time to time?! 

Now, when I use stamps on a layout I tend to use them on the background paper/cardstock, as I have done this time. There are times when I use stamps to make my own embellishments and this is what I decided to do to finish off my layout.

Using a flower stamp I stamped directly onto a Amy Tangerine's paper and cut the flowers out. The paper has as Ombre effect and this stood out on the finished flower.  I hope from these photos you can see how this flower came together. Three Dimensional tape was used between each layer of the flower.

Still....my layout lacked something and that's when I decided to add some more little flowers, making them in the same way as the big one. All they needed was a pearl gem in the middle to finish them off.

I used a triangle stamp in the same way to make some tiny tiny bunting. 

Finally I was happy, taking this layout one step further with stamps and stitching has definitely made this layout for me. Would you agree?

 Here are some close up's so you can see some more of the details.

 

 Inspired yet to dust off your stamps and stitching templates?

If you are still unsure please carry on further and check out my second layout. Still using the fabulous Amy Tangerine Plus One collection. This layout will sit with the one I've just created as the photos were from the same evening and tell an Instagram selfie story.

I started in the same way. I picked some 6x6 Amy Tangerine papers and decided on a title using a tag from Amy Tangerines Die cut tags. To tie this page to the previous one I stitched another heart and freehand stitched the word "forever" this was after I used a roll stamp, to add some stamped hearts, stars and arrows.

I printed out the word and used a poky tool to make evenly spaced holes.

 

 Some more patterned papers pieces were added to the page.

I loved the flowers so much from the last layout that I made them again along with an Instagrammed stamp to create the arrow. 

The flowers and Amy Tangerines sticker sheet and puffy stickers were placed on the layout.

My layout is busy, fun, funky and bright. I liked it..so I got ready to stick everything down.

 The fabric black X brad looked wonderful on the top right corner. The orange bottom button didn't feel right. So after making a few minor changes, adding a black camera badge instead of the orange one, adding another printed word and to finish off with some of Studio Calico Stars.... I was happy that my busy layout was finished.

Here are some close up photos so you can see more of the details.

It's your turn now...

• How do you feel about stamping on your projects?  I use stamps time and time again on my projects. When you cannot find the right embellishment of paper try pulling out your stamps. I bet you have something that will fit the occasion.

• How do you feel about stitching on your projects? Maybe you have a stitching template hiding away somewhere ...pull it out and use it. You'll be surprised how much you like it!

• Finally Amy Tangerine's Plus One Collection. What do you think? Is it bright, fun and funky enough for you. Please leave us a comment and link if you have/will purchase this collection and create with it.

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you have enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed creating it. Louise x x x

Louise is a busy Mum of three boys and she blogs her wonderful crafts at Boys, Bugs, and Beautiful Buttons!