December Tradition layout...

Doing all this Christmas scrapbooking has got me into the Christmas spirit... I officially started my Christmas shopping today.  I know, I can't believe it either.

Today on my blog I am sharing another hybrid layout using the new digital stamps "no peeking" and "dear santa" from Kellie Stamps by Kellie Winnell avail now.    I love everything about this layout, the simplicity, the white space and the story.  This layout is made entirely of digital elements and was super easy to put together.  I even made my own pattern paper (that red strip down the centre of the layout).  The "traditions" word was cut out using my Silhouette Cameo and the trace and cut feature.

I totally love the holly, its prob my favourite image from these stamps.  Oh wait, I love the lights too, and then there is... yep I love it all.  Don't worry if you are not into digital stamps because they are avail in clear too.

Please remember, if you have any questions just let me know.

Thanks for stopping by
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Halloween hybrid layouts...

 

I had to search high and low for these Halloween photos, all the way back to 2008 to be exact.  I love these photos and looking at them instantly transfers me be back in time to one of the most fun evenings I have ever had.  To give you a little bit of the back story, I was working at Tomorrow's Memories, a scrapbooking store here in Perth.  The store would host moonlight crops (6pm till midnight) every 2nd Friday night.  They were lots of fun and many of the ladies were regulars not only to the crops but to the store as well so we all knew each other well.  As this particular moonlight fell on 31st October we decided to host a Halloween Crop night.  All the ladies got into the spirit of things, they dressed up, took part in all the challenges and games and just had a damn good time.

I thought for this particular layout I would explain my process about how I go about putting a  hybrid layout together.  The double page layout above is all done using digital products from Paislee Press available from The Lily Pad.    When I am creating a digital page I usually create the layout first in Photoshop to give me an idea of how I want to layout to look.

 I don't necessarily include everything in the digital layout, just enough to give me an idea of how things fit together and what size I need everything to be.  I do spend a little bit of time on this part because once I have decided on the final layout, I really then just want to print things out and stick it all together.

Here are the two pages as digital versions before I print everything out:-

Once I am happy with the digital version I then decide what I want to be printed on the background/cardstock page and what I want to print, cut out and stick to the background.  Very similar to how you would choose a piece of pattern paper to be your background/base paper and then you stick your photos and embellishments to that. 

To give you an idea of what I mean, below is a photo of one of the layouts when I have printed it out and before I stick it all together:-

You can see above that on my background I printed the spider web, the word "halloween" and the pattern paper (coloured circles) which I altered a little.  I changed the colour of some of the circles to match my photos (the beauty of digital paper).  I then printed on a separate sheet the photos, journaling and a couple of digital elements/embellishments.

Then it's just a matter of sticking everything down.  Usually I stick everything down in line with the digital version, but sometimes I do move things around.  You will notice in the digital version I didn't include the journaling.  Also on the Halloween Crop layout, the "crop" is actually letter stickers.  I knew I wanted to add letter stickers so I made sure that I left enough room to add them after everything was printed.

 Below I show the layouts side by side.  Digital is on the left and the hybrid layout is on the right.  The colouring is slightly different on the hybrid layouts due to it be a photograph:-

Digital products give me the freedom to create pretty much I want to:-
Digital products me that I can use the same thing over and over again
Digital products allows me to change the size of anything
Digital products lets me change the colour
Digital products gives me the option to delete certain parts of something if I don't want it.

Really, I could go on and on about digital products but I won't.  I still love the physical stuff like pattern paper and embellishments but digital just gives me another way to be creative.

If you have any questions please let me know.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope your week is a good one.

Love me :-)

Dear Santa...

Would you believe that there are only 9 Friday's till Christmas... at least that's what it says on Facebook so it must be true LOL!

Someone asked me the other day what I would like for Christmas.  My first reaction was, I don't know, I'm sure there is lots but right now I can't think of anything.  A little while later, while eating dinner I had this thought... I can't wait until food starts to taste like its supposed to.  Then it hit me.  Of course I know what I want for Christmas.  I want food to taste like it's supposed to, I would like to eat with proper utensils and not plastic ones, I would like to have hair, OMG how I would like to have hair.  And before I knew it I had a whole list of things that I wanted for Christmas.  Going through Chemo is tough and some of the side effects can be awful.  It's not until you go through something like this that you realise how much we actually just want the basic things in life until they get taken away from.

So with the help of the Comfort & Joy kit designed by Brandi Kincaid for Feed Your Craft I created this layout.

The Comfort & Joy kit was the perfect thing for this layout.  I used a little bit of everything from the kit but my favourite would have to be the die cuts.  I mean just look at them, they are so cute.  Infact it was the die cuts that gave me the idea for the layout design.  As soon as I saw them I thought they would look great hanging on a tree.  I cut the tree out with my Silhouette Cameo and I cut the speach bubbles out using the Word Bubbles Framelits Dies from Stampin Up.  

What are you asking Santa for this Christmas?

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Traditions layout...

Its release day at Kellie Stamps and this month we are all about Christmas.  I know, I know, who wants to think about Christmas right! Well just so you know there are only 73 days till Christmas.

I have used digital stamps from "no peeking" and "dear santa" sets which you can get here.

Now that I have put you into the Christmas spirit, I though I would share this layout with you and  all the different ways I have used the digital stamps.

I was always a stamper, and I guess I still am but since using more and more digital products I have  found that they open up a whole new way to create.  Plus my supplies never run out because I can keep using them over and over again.

If you own a silhouette cameo digital stamps make creating so much easier.  Using the christmas tree digital stamp I was able to use the trace and cut facility within the silhouette software to enlarge the tree and then cut it out in two different papers.  The outside of the tree cut in green cardstock and the inside of the tree in patter paper. Similarly, I did the same with the light bulbs which I love because I could cut them out so I could put them together with three different paper types adding more detailed interest.

Again, using the trace and cut facility, I was able to take the "traditions" digital stamp and turn it into a cut file to create my title.

Digital stamps are also a super great way to create your own journal cards like I did for this layout.  It's so simple and you can make them any colour you want.

Printing digital stamps onto cardstock/pattern paper and then cutting them out adds a great visual effect, it's like making your own embellishments.  You can use your punches (like I have to add Cheer to the top of my tree), decorative scissors or into strips like I have.

Here are some closeups of my layout:-

I use photoshop elements to work with digital files.  There are so many online courses to teach you photoshop which I highly recommend.  It's not a difficult program to learn, I promise.

Thanks for stopping by.  If you have any questions about digital stamps please leave them in the comments and I will do my best to answer them.

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I love my new Prynt...

 

I wasn't going to get one.  I really couldn't see the need to be quite honest.  I mean, I have an instax camera and the printer so really I didn't need another printer.  I was quite comfortable with my decision... then a few weeks back I was on the Big Picture site checking out the new classes.  Now I never go into the Big Picture shop, no particular reason, I just don't go in there but for some reason, on this particular day I went and had a browse.  It was then that I realised that they sold the Prynt Pocket so I went and checked it out.  Then the next thing you know I had pre-ordered one.  What?

So glad I did.  It only came yesterday and I am totally in love with it.  Besides the fact that you can turn your iphone into a printer (android coming soon I believe) its the video feature that will get you excited.  When you ordered your Prynt with Big Picture, the cost included a class about the printer to help get you started.  I just checked out their shop and if you purchase one through Big Picture it still includes the class.  One of the classes was all about adding a video to a photo - it's so cool I had to try it straight away...

For some reason I cannot get the video below to work.  I will keep trying but in the meantime you can check out my Instagram post here. 

Here are some more photos of my layout. I used the latest kit "Mila" from Felicity Jane. It's absolutely gorgeous.

Seriously, I can't stop playing with this little printer.  It's very easy to use but that video feature is what gets me.  It's just so cool.

Thanks for stopping by.  If you have any questions about the Prynt, please leave them in the comment section and I will do my best to answer them.

Have a great weekend.

Love me :-)

Currently watching...

Every month on the Paislee Press Creative Team we get to create a project using any Paislee Press products that we want.  I love this because it means I get to use my favourite pieces like those ink splatters and that banner.  

This month I created a digital layout all about my binge watching obsession with Gilmore Girls.  Since getting sick in May I have had a lot of time where I have had to sit or lay down and rest.  This TV series has stopped me from going insane I can tell you.  I have finally finished the series and I am now up to "A year in the life".  I have put off starting this next part, mostly because once I finish this it's all done and there is no more Gilmore Girls... and then what will I do?

 I have used lots of different elements on this layout.  I have put the layout up on the Lily Pad gallery which you can find here, and I have listed all the digital elements that I have used.

If you have any suggestions on what I can watch next I would really appreciate it.

I am back to work tomorrow after having 5 weeks off due to some bad reactions from the last two chemo sessions so wish me luck.

Have a great week

Love  me :-)

Week 49 - Comfort & Joy...

As you all probably know by now that I am on the Creative Team for Feed Your Craft which I am so excited about I can't stop smiling.  My first project is using the new Comfort & Joy kit designed by Brandi Kincaid and you are going to love it.  I don't expect this kit will last long so make sure you get yours now.

When you purchase the kit you also get the cards and papers in digital format which means you can start playing straight away.  I did this whole spread using the digital cards and papers and when my kit arrived I just added a few of the embellishments to finish it off.  You know that I am a fan of digital files because it means you can alter them to suit your layout.  

For excample, the "joy" card is actually yellow but that wasn't go to work for my layout so I changed it to green.  And because its digital I could make sure that I chose the same green to match the green in the rest of the kit.

L

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my take on the Comfort and Joy kit.  This is such a fun kit to play with and I can't wait to show you more.  As always if you have any questions just leave them in the comments.

Love me :-)

Pumpkin Crush...

Paislee Press has a new digital kit out called Autumn Vibes, available now at The Lily Pad and if you had on over there this weekend you can get it for 30% off.

Now, if you are like me and live in Australia or similar, then we are not having autumn right now, we are doing spring (well here in Western Australia we are still trying to finish off winter) but the best thing about these kits is that they can be used for so much more than Autumn.  

A few years back when we went to NYC I became obsessed with Pumpkin Spiced Lattes (and I think it's a crime that we don't have them here in Australia, maybe I should start a partition to bring them over!!) so much so that I had one every morning, with breakfast at Starbucks.  Recently a dear friend got me some Pumpkin Spiced Latte sachets from their family in America.  I will be honest, I have been hoarding them but when I saw this latest kit from Paislee Press I decided it was time to break open the packet and indulge myself.  Plus, I figured they won't last forever.

This layout, although made entirely from digital elements, it is a hybrid layout.  I printed all my elements out then created a tradition scrapbook layout.  The background is made using a 3x4 digital journal card that enlarged to cover my cardstock.  I also added some leaves and the pumpkin text, then printed it out onto a 8.5 x 11 piece of cardstock.  I added my photo and text to the photo template, printed it out and added it to my layout.   Next I printed off the coffee cup and more leaves, fussy cut these out then added as the finishing touches to my layout.

I also a "Vintage Summer Mini Flair" from Feed Your Craft and some ink splatters. 

The best thing about this kit being digital... is that I can used these elements over and over again.  They will never run out.

Enjoy your weekend

Love me :-)