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!

Crafting Cards with a Common Theme - Part One!

 Hello! It's Louise here today, and before I share my creations with you I'd like to wish you all a very Happy New Year!

For many of us this is the time of year when we are all considering both our personal and creative goals for the new year. The biggest question I have asked myself is "to do or not to do...project life?"...and while I am still considering taking on such a big project I wanted to start the year making a selection of general greeting cards, so I have a small stock to pick from.

At the end of last year SJ Crafts announced the Six on the 6th Christmas Card Challenge. A challenge that I enjoyed immensely and one that inspired me to want to make general cards. When I made my Christmas cards for the challenge they all had a common theme and it is this idea that I am going to use again today.

I started off by choosing some papers from the Wild and Free Glitz Design 6x6 pad. I don't know about you but I struggle to cut into a sheet of 12x12 patterned paper to use on a greeting card, so these little 6x6 pads work perfectly and you normally get 2 sheets of each pattern, so it's a win win for me. Next I pulled together some rubber stamps that are very rarely (or never used), 2 Studio Calico Mr Huey Mists to complement the papers I chose, a black Memento Ink Pad, and a selection of gems.

I find it easy to work on card pieces, rather than the actual blank greeting cards, so I cut four pieces of white card a little smaller than the actual blank greeting card. I like the effect of the card stuck to the base card - if you wished to, you could add more colour by mounting the card. I chose to keep the fresh feel of the white card:

After I cut the card :-

• I used the Memento ink to stamp a scrolled image to the top half of the card.
• Then I flicked drops of Mr Huey Mist ink onto the card. You can see from the four cards made that when I do this there is no technique or precision. For me the ink goes where it wants to and I work with it.
• Using two stamps I stamped the sentiments onto the card. Two of the cards I left blank so they can be used for any occasion.
• Knowing that I was going to place paper bows across the scrolled image I added some Gems for that sparkle.

While the ink was drying I made the paper bows using a template I found on the internet (or HERE is a paper bow tutorial by another team member, Jennifer) I adapted the size of the template for the card, added some white cotton to the back of the bow for some added interest and then adhered the bow to the card using double sided foam tape.

By keeping a common theme for the cards they came together nicely!

I loved making these cards so much that I repeated the common theme by creating four more cards. Making all these cards means that I now have a nice stash of cards waiting to be used!

Stop by tomorrow to see the next set of four cards!

Louise x

Louise is a mum of three boys and she blogs her life and crafting at Boys, Bugs, and Beautiful Buttons!

Playing with Paint!!

For the second post in our "How to .... " series, DT member Jo has been having fun with paint and come up with some fab ideas for using paint dabbers! 

If you missed the first "How to....." post which was all about border punches, it's here!

Over to Jo.....

I have always loved playing with paint .... long before I found scrapping I was playing with paint!! I was delighted when Sarah asked me to come up with some ideas for using the Jenni Bowlin Paint Dabbers. I love the these paint dabbers because they never seem to clog or dry up so they're always ready to use. All my projects in this post use the "cough syrup" dabber.

First of all I created this layout:

I used the dabber over a mask to create the circles on the cardstock.

I used the dabber to colour some patterned paper shapes. I think most of us have some pattern paper that has writing or newsprint on it, well the shade I had didn't fit with my page so I changed it. The paints aren't thick enough to totally hide the print which is perfect.

For my "Lillies" layout, I really went to town with the paint, emphasising the beautiful colour of the flowers in my photo.

I used the dabber to ink the edges of the pattern paper and cardstock and coloured the chipboard flowers and Thickers letters for the title. 

I applied the paint, direct from the dabber, to get this lovely finish on the plain butterflies.

You can also use dabbers to create little paint splatters by unscrewing the lid and use a paintbrush to pick up a little paint which you can then gently "flick" onto your page. Using the non brush end of the paintbrush you can "dot" the paint on your cardstock. Paint dabbers are also great for stamping because they add a tiny bit of texture, you just apply them in the same way you would ink as I have done with this woodgrain stamp!

If you have some embossing folders then you can create this great effect simply by using the paint on one side of the folder prior to adding the paper and embossing through your die cutting machine. be sure to thoroughly clean the folder afterwards though!

If you're on a budget and trying to do some stash busting then these dabbers really are a great investment. How many of us have blooms and ribbons lying around, unused and maybe not even in the colours we want? You can easily customise them with paint dabbers.

I've just used the dabber on just half so that you can see the great coverage they give.

I hope this has given you a few ideas for using the Jenni Bowlin Paint Dabbers which are available in the S J Crafts shop ... here!!

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!