See through layout

When I saw this photo of Georgia I immediately thought of the John Denver song.

I wanted the photo to give the impression of a see through LO so used the Cricut machine to cut out my title from the background cardstock. Then I simply punched out the title leaving the negative space.

I folded a mulberry flower in half and anchored it visually to the photo and title by using a button. The DM dots for the sun's rays are an effect I have used a couple of times...I really like the subtlety of it.

Lastly I journaled on the bottom of the LO. I ruled lines using a White signo to guide my handwriting...they are so subtle you can't see them and there is no rubbing out to do after I've journaled. The writing was done with the fine point of a Zig Writer.

Here is a close up of the sun element. The blinds are open behind this photo. Can you see what I mean about a seethrough effect?

Origami fold album - Thinking of you

Here is a little gift for my MIL. It is an origami fold album with a little tag booklet inside it. It was so simple to make. All of the cutting was done by the Cricut although you could easily substitute mulberry flowers and save yourself some time. See another example here

If you look closely you'll see that all of the flowers have their edges slightly curled up. I've done this for dimension but also to expose some of the double sided Cherry Arte paper. And notice on the tiny, teeny flowers that I have used a dot of Dimensional Magic just to pop them a bit. I could easily have used HS jewels (just could not find them in my stash *sigh*)

I used a tag for the title to just pop it off the very patterned background paper. The tag is pop-dotted and the flowers over the end of the tag are too. This gives the project a nice depth when you put it in the envelope - it feels thick and interesting. And it fitted in a standard envelope!

This is the little tag booklet that fits inside the booklet. I cut two tags and wrote GET WELL SOON WE LOVE U across them. Then I doodled and journaled along the bottom of the tags to get the recipient to flip through.

We are going to run a class with this project. Will keep you posted!

6 x 12 inch layouts

Until just recently I was trying to work out what the fuss was about 6 x 12 inch layouts. I was so hung up on how I was going to store them that I simply dismissed them as a fad. That was until I saw Sara's layout which began as an 8.5 x 11 inch sketch and in an instant it all changed!





I've done a couple of these layouts now.





Firstly let's have a look at NOW which documents my getting a Cricut machine. All of the flowers and dots on here were cut with the machine in an instant as was the title! Using a sketch made doing this layout a breeze! It was so quick.

I really loved the fact that I could hang things off the side of the page, as far as I wanted, without worrying about fitting it into a page protector.

Also the semi-circular shape of the layout meant placement was easy...I mentally drew a semi-circle (you could use a dinner plate) and only placed elements OUTSIDE this shape. The photo and title went inside the semi-circle.

Because there were so many elements I also made sure I repeated each shape at least once, but preferably twice to make sure that it looked cohesive.

On the second layout I used part of a sketch to visually represent how tall our daughter is getting.

The long length of the page really allowed my flowers to stand out. The full Wild Asparagus sticker that became the tree trunk then provided the packaging for the stems of the flowers. The leaves were cut from WA tabs.

I love the Basic Grey flourishes that curl out from under the photo. They remind me of the traditional way of representing wind in illustrations for kids.

The photo itself is torn not cut. This is to blur the line between it and the layout.

The title on this was by far the easiest I have ever done. I simply ran it through the computer. A couple of test prints beforehand made sure it was in the right-ish place. In fact I didn't worry too much about its placement because I knew that the rest of the layout would just work around it.

And storing these layouts. Well I am going to slip them into a 12x12 page protector. Maybe anchoring them with some tape might help keep them upright but really...it doesn't matter.

Now...off to do a landscape 6x12. NOW that would rock!

Arty shape layouts

Using sketches is an easy way to get your creative juices going...

At Sketches for Freestyle Scrappers the featured sketch is a cute little house surrounded by trees and flowers and butterflies and a great big shining sun!

Here is my version of it using an A4 piece of white Bazzill as the background.

So what did I do to make this sketch mine:

• I printed my title straight down the side of my page. Using A4 as my size makes this a relatively simple job in Microsoft Word. I moved my margins as close as possible to the side of the page, wrote my title and then test printed it until I got the look I wanted. I also did this with my journaling.
• I chose my colour scheme of black and white to represent the penguins in the movie, Madagascar, who actually speak the line. Then I added touches of green for the wild.
• I chose not to have a photo block. Rather I built my house, layered white mesh on it and added the details like windows etc with my White Uniball pen.
• I handcut the tree trunk and then created the leaves. Each layer was surrounded with another colour until I got the size I wanted. I then pop-dotted this for dimension.
• The flowers are punched using the Heidi Grace flower punch. The petals are rolled upwards, again to give dimension and then these are pop-dotted. This gives a shadowed effect to the layout.
• I used a Versa ink stamp to lightly wash the sky. I laid it on its face and dragged it gently across the page until I could just see it.
• The sun was made using Dimensional Magic. I used my tape as the template for the circles.
• The butterflies are inspired by Charlie and Lola and are simply deep cut hearts. Again pop dots give them dimension. I wanted them to be flying above the page.
• Lastly...what is that grass at the bottom of the page. WELL it is my Wild Asparagus sticker packaging cut to size.

Article - Uses for Dimensional Magic

Dimensional Magic, or Crystal Laquer, is an opaque medium
In the past week I have used Dimensional Magic to:

• Stick buttons down safely and securely.


• Stick flowers down, especially the new flatter mulberry ones.


• To highlight part of a layout.


• To
  
  

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Origami fold album

This is a very simple origami fold. The actual album is made from one piece of 12x12 Basic Grey Urban Couture. There is no glue holding the album together, just the fold.


It holds my six current passions, each listed on a separate card. Each card is made from another piece of the PP range. The cards have a torn edge photo, a strip from the third piece of the range and a tag. All the journaling is handwritten with a Zig Millenium writer.



The tags were so easy. I cut my rectangles to size, folded them and then used the corner rounder. I then fed them through the Xyron machine and attached them. Because I used a repositionable cartridge in the Xyron, they were easy to shift around to make sure I could see them.

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