I love how your eyes sparkle | Di Willcox | Sparkle

Good morning Scrap Addicts! Di here today with my first layout as a UKSA creative team member, how exciting!!

'Sparkle' is this month's theme and as it so happens, I had the exact word in a puffy sticker set from the PinkFresh Studio 'Joyful Day' collection. Perfect!

I have lots of photos of my daughter (who's now 24) as a toddler but I struggle to scrap them as they have some distraction in the background that I'm not happy with or the colours/ patterns don't go with the modern papers. After scrolling through Pinterest for ideas I saw a few grid style layouts that use several photos cut down to the main focus point, so I chose a few of Molly, cut them down to 4 x 2 inches and arranged them on the page with papers from the a kit that featured papers from PinkFresh Studio and Pretty Little Studio. I also fussy cut some of the mandala style flowers from one paper and punched some chevrons out of another to create embellishments. 

 After I'd stuck the photos and papers down it seemed a bit flat to me so I doodled lines between to create more of a grid and then I got the 'pop' I wanted to achieve!

I added the title, embellishments and a few sequins (well it is sparkle month!) to finish the layout off.

I can't wait to see what you all come up with for 'Sparkle', I'll be looking out for lots of shiny layouts in the UK Scrap Addicts group on Facebook ;)

Di x

Cool Kid | Sarah Costain | 6x6 paper pads

Sarah here today with my take on this months challenge.

I have lots of 6x6 pads in my stash from my card making days. I chose to use the Cool Kid collection by Crate Paper as it is so perfect for my numerous pictures of my little boy.

I started my layout by creating a mixed media background using inks and water. I let the ink run through the water to create fun splashes in colours matching the papers.

When my background was dry I added pages from my 6x6 pad across the bottom of the layout. I trimmed of the excess and secured it with some messy machine stitching.

The off cuts from the papers were perfect to create lots of layers behind my photo. I added some vellum and popped it all up on foam for added dimension. 

I used a journaling spot from the sticker sheet and added a silver clip and embellishments in the bottom corner which helped balance the overall look of the page.

You can check out the process video here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvCiyo8JJpQ

Thanks for joining me have a scrappy day :)

Sarah

Hello Adventure | Gemma Summers | Journalling

Hello Scrap Addicts!

Gemma here with my layout using our theme for this month ... Journalling.

Journalling is something I have recently been adding to my layouts and I can now see its importance to me, in it helping to record my memories and story. I chose to base this layout on my love for walking and a new hobby, geocaching. 

I started by creating a mixed media background. The inspiration for this came from a rainbow stencil and enamel dots I used from 'Pretty My Page' our sponsor this month!

As I love rainbow colour the rainbow stencil was perfect. I used texture paste through the stencil, then added watercolour paint over the top, blending the colours together. I then sprayed extra water to help the paint run down the page. With my photo being black and white I went for a colourful background and I like the stencil's texture.

Once I had added my photo, the layout came together quite quickly.

All the embellishments I have used came from my 'Mind the Scrap' September subscription scrapbook kit. This included my title of the large 'Heidi Swapp' wood veneer 'Adventure'.

I created 3 clusters which were coloured according to the mixed media behind it, for a tone on tone look. One in pink, blue and yellow, which worked perfectly with the enamel dots. Each cluster also has a star in that colour too.

I always like to do my journalling last and I hand write it.  I added this onto a speech bubble die cut. To continue the colour on colour, I wrote this in pink pen to help it blend in. I like the personal touch the handwriting adds and the coloured pen makes it not too bold.

Don't forget we would love to see your layouts using journalling this month
on Instagram using #ukscrapaddicts

I hope you enjoyed this layout!

Discover | Kirsteen | Clustering

Hello, it's Kirsteen here on the UK Scrap Addicts blog today and this month we are talking; clustering. Love it or hate it? For an embellishment junkie like me, clustering is seventh heaven. I usually stick to circles but I wanted to try something different. Inspired by a layout I saw online (and have promptly forgotten to take note of the maker) I decided to give creating a page with a rectangular cluster going from one side of the page to another, a go.  

I have created layouts for friends and family using Simple Stories 'You Are Here' but I've not used it for any of our scrapbooks and I really wanted to make something for us. I decided to go with this photo, taken of my youngest son Noah last Summer on Ellie Beach on the East Neuk of Fife in Scotland. He is in his element enjoying his first trip to the beach.

I popped the photo in place and used a steel rule to position the embellishments. Just like circles, it is a lot of fun fitting in all of the embellishments and very satisfying when they fit perfectly.

When you've had so much fun creating one cluster, you might as well create a couple more, right? As all of the detail on my page was central I decided to add a cluster to the top and bottom of my layout. Starting with the Happy Place die cut I added some more embellishments behind and on top to create another focal point for my layout. Doing the same again at the top of the page only on a much smaller scale as there was less white space to play with and I managed to fit in two separate clusters.

I always try to use a mix of die cuts, stickers, chipboard, wood veneers, brads and enamel dots as I think it gives your page more depth and a more tactile feel. If it's feeling a little flat you can always pimp up a sticker or die cut piece with some foam pads.

Lastly, I added some hand-drawn lines for journaling and a couple of die cut flowers to tie it all together.  

I hope you have enjoyed today's layout, I was absolutely in my Happy Place creating it! Thanks for stopping by.

Our Getaway │ Gemma Summers │ Large Photo

Hello, Gemma here with my first layout for UK Scrap Addicts!

This month we are focusing on large photos in our layouts, and so I decided to challenge myself with a large 8x12 photo. I went with a big landscape view of our trip to Scotland last year, so the large photo could reflect the beautiful scenery.

I started by cutting into the photo! I trimmed the mountains edge because I had an idea to add to the scene by creating a cloudy blue sky. On some white cardstock I used some distress inks to create the bright blue backdrop. I fussy cut some clouds from Pink Paislee 'summer lights' paper no.05 and also used my cloud die to cut out clouds using paper scraps. I doodled round the edge of them with black and grey pens to help them stand out. 

Once I had stuck my photo on top of the sky layer I began to work on my title, which I placed on the photo. I used the chipboard 'Getaway' from Crate paper's 'Oasis' collection and kept the cluster simple with black enamel dots.

I used the white globe perspextive from Bramble Fox, who is our sponsor this month!

The Layout was looking very blue and green at this point and I love colour so wanted to add some accents in. I went with some small bright buttons, which I glued down and drew lines up to meet the clouds. I think this added some whimsy to the page and worked on a diagonal with the title.

Don't forget we would love to see your layouts using large photos this month
on our Facebook page and Instagram using #ukscrapaddicts

Thanks for joining me today and I hope you enjoyed this layout.

See you next month!

Let's Stay Home and Party | ScrappyNerdUK (Claire) | Large Photo

Hello my friends. Its been awhile. Hope you've been keeping well.

I'm here to share with you today my layout based on this months theme - large photos. What a challenge. I prefer more white space on my layouts for embellishments so this was something that put me outside my comfort zone but I really loved how this turned out. So here goes....

 I used Paige Evans collection, Oh My Heart, for this layout. I had this photograph of myself and my husband with some of his family on New Years Eve and I would never have paired this photo with these papers and embellishments but I felt like doubly challenging myself with this one!

I set about thinking about the title first as I knew that my title would have to be fairly short and contained due to the amount of space I would need for my photo. I had this die cut piece from the ephemera pack and I decided to use this as part of my title which reads "Lets Stay Home and Party". I created an embellishment cluster to the left side of the photo and used a mixture of chipboard stickers, foil stickers, ephemera and cut parts, all from the same collection.

Next I created another cluster to the top right of the photo using the same items and layered a gold foil doilie underneath it all. You can see in these pictures the finishing touches I added with a few tiny wood veneer stars and some enamel accents liquid by Dovecraft (I love this stuff as it creates the same effect as enamel dots and costs a fraction of the price).

 Here is the title in its entirety. I normally make my titles completely straight but for the word "party" I decided to try something difference and slanted each letter slightly to create this look.

For the background I liked this paper where it was a pink ombre one side and different coloured circles the other. So I decided to try and use both sides of the paper, without cutting into it. So I folded one side over and glued it down to create this look. I was a little bit chuffed with myself for thinking of this and can see many more layouts like this in the future. I finished it all off with a messy border and instead of using black ink, I decided to use a co-ordinating pink colour for a change.  

If you'd like to watch the process video then head on over to YouTube using this link here.... https://youtu.be/99HuFm5jmMA

Thanks for looking and i'll see you all next month...

Perfect Pout | Kirsteen | Mood Board

Hello, it's Kirsteen here with my layout for this months UK Scrap Addicts theme - mood boards. I've never used a mood board to create a layout before, although I have one or two 'mood boards' on Pinterest so I'm not a stranger to the concept, I was excited to give it a bash. I was even more delighted when I saw the rainbow mood board I was working with. Hello colour!

I kicked off by pulling out some suitable stash. I reached for my most colourful and cheerful collections; Bella Blvd's Color Chaos and Simple Stories Carpe Diem.

Holding on to the colourful happy theme I'd picked from the mood board, I selected these two funny photos of my niece perfecting her duck pout. Along with colour I homed in on the black backgrounds on the mood board and the black stripes of the zebra and included some black on my layout with black Thickers.

I used a 3x4 card cut out from the Bella Blvd collection and chopped it to work with my layout to act as a matt/background for the 'pout' part of my title and to include that lovely splash of pink and the black lettering.

I shuffled some more colourful and black embellishments around until I was happy with how it all looked. Lots of layering, lots of colour and lots to look at. I love this crazy colourful layout and I can't wait to send it to my sister-in-law to add it to my niece's scrapbook.

I hope you've enjoyed my colourful page. Thanks for stopping by.