New Tricks

I love using banners and pennants on my scrapbook pages. So, today after I had a little scary-themed photo-shoot with the Blythes, I decided to make a page with a creepy banner. Here's how...

Stamp your word onto cardstock (emboss, cut out, write, punch, letter stickers etc). Punch out circles (or flowers, hearts, stars, triangles, any shape you want).

Punch out slightly larger shapes in a different colour. I roughed up the edges of all my pieces. Glue the stamped shapes onto the middle of the plain shapes.

Using a shape needle and embroidery floss, thread your pieces onto the floss, making sure you are spelling the word correctly! I always thread a little closer to the top so the pieces hang properly underneath.

Attach your floss to tow different sides of you paper. I use masking tape on the backside. Allow enough slack in the floss for it to hang a little bit. Space your pieces they way you'd like and glue down if you want.

Here is my finished page. I think these look great for any sort of holiday page.

And here is the sketch if you want to have a go, which I highly suggest you do! If you do, let me know, I'd love to see!

New Tricks

I'm getting painty again this week, using my (cheap) water colours.

(Note: These are not acid free but I'm not too fussy about that.)

Colour wash packing tags in a rainbow of colours or to match whatever colour scheme you are using! Allow to dry.

Go over the edges a couple of times, allow to dry each time,to build up depth of colour. For a greater emphasis, I edged each one in a matching ink – acrylic paint would work nicely too!

Decorate/embellish like crazy. I added washi tape, stamps, acrylic paint, layered smaller tags, flowers, tickets, stickers – anything and everything you've got!

 

Here is my finished page. I kept the photos black and white so the colours weren't competing with the tags.

 And a sketch, for those of you who want to play along! Let me know if you do, I'd love to see!

New Tricks

 I love using paint on my scrapbook pages and thought I'd share a few easy ways you can get artistic with yours. It's also a really fun way to use up those plain coloured papers or change papers to suit your colour scheme.

Disclaimer: I don't spend any time making sure things are acid free, so if that is important to you, these might not be the best techniques!

All you need is some acrylic paint, some cheap watercolours, old bubble-wrap, spare paper, paper towels and anything else you can think of for getting messy!

The first technique is using watercolours. I got mine really cheaply at Spotlight. Using colours that suit your scheme, roughly put them all over the page. Allow to dry. Then I splatter the same colours over the top. You can use paper towels to dry things quicker, add texture and lighten colours if they are too saturated.

 Another way to add texture to pages is using acrylic paint and bubble wrap. I paint onto the bubblewrap and then press it onto the paper, you can repeat without adding more paint for a more subtle image. Here I've layered two different colours.

 Using a brush, you can roughly outline/edge pieces of paper to add definition.

 I use an old piece of card to drag paint down paper or canvas. Keep layering different colours until you have achieved your desired coverage. You can let it dry between layers or not. Just have fun playing.

Once you have painted all the pieces and techniques you wish, make sure everything is completely dry and then continue on with your layout as normal!

Here is the sketch of my page if you want to have a go. 

 Go on, get messy!

New Tricks

When I was doing my Learn Something Everyday book, one of my favourite new techniques happened on my very first page! Layering masking with ink and paper cuts. Here's how...

 1. Choose your favourite papers, in your favourite colours.

 2. Punch a whole pile of your chosen shape using punches, cuttlebug or by hand.

 3. Use the negative space from your punches to make masks. 

Tape some paper round the edges if they are not large enough to handle.

 4. Using ink, spray, paint or whatever you can find,
begin layering the masks all over your chosen area...

...until you have a good coverage. Carry on and complete your layout.

 6. Once your layout in pretty much done, start layering the punched out
pieces over top of the inking, lifting edges to give dimension.

My finished layout...

And here is my sketch if you want to give it a go yourself! I'd love to see if you do!

P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway!