Fresh Start | Laura Jane Thomson | Journaling

Hello UK Scrap Addicts!  Hope you're all having a scrappy week and are enjoying the selection of journaling ideas for your memory keeping that our creative team have been sharing throughout the month of September. 

This month I have decided to incorporate a cut file which was issued by UK Scrap Addicts for National Scrapbooking Day 2017 alongside a beautiful stencil from Pretty My Page, to show case a photograph taken on a day where my life took a turn for the better and we had a fresh start.

This is my completed layout and I will explain the stages throughout this post:

I started with using the Fleur De Lys cut file which was a UK Scrap Addicts exclusive for National Scrapbooking Day 2017 and is available to download HERE.

I had this cut file in the centre of a sheet of white 12x12 cardstock and in each of the four corners of the white cardstock I used Wilted Violet Distress Oxides using a sponge blending tool through this beautiful Fleur De Lys stencil from Pretty My Page.

Next I layered my photograph onto a couple of pieces of patterned paper, and matted onto a piece of patterned cardstock which I had cut into a banner shape, before adhering to the page.  

Using embellishments from my stash I added floral pieces to two corners of my photograph and a flair badge to the top right cluster, to complete each of these clusters I added some gorgeous enamel dots which are also from Pretty My Page.

I decided to add hidden journaling to this layout by adding a folded piece of cardstock to the bottom left quarter of the page, the front of which is also decorated with the Fleur De Lys stencil, after stenciling the main page I flipped the stencil onto a second piece of cardstock and using a baby wipe to 'clean' the stencil achieved this faded effect.  

Lastly, I added my title "Fresh Start" using yellow Thickers to co-ordinate with my background paper. 

Using cut files in my scrapbook layouts is not something that I am overly familiar with, however I am quite happy with how his page has come together and I personally think that the colours work well together.  

Pretty My Page have recently re-launched their website with more of a focus on Mixed Media products to compliment the beautiful products Lisa has spent so long working on, so to celebrate this launch Lisa is offering our wonderful UK Scrap Addicts readers a 10% discount on purchases made through her website by using the code: UKSA10

Don't forget to check out our September 2017 challenge by visiting our blog here.

You can show your support for Pretty My Page's business by visiting their Facebook page or shopping on their website.

Thank you so much for popping into our blog and reading my post, and I hope you'll pop back soon. 

Laura xxx

LARGE PHOTOS

Our monthly theme for July is large photos. Over the next month our creative teams layouts and blog posts will all feature photos sized 6"x 8" or larger.

In today's joint post the team are discussing how we use large photos...

Jess Claire: A large photo can mean different things depending on what format you're using. My examples might sound small in comparison to 12x12 scrapbookers, but my format is smaller. In my December Daily album and my recent Week in the Life album I used a number of 6x8 photos, which, for those albums, was a full size photo. In my Week in the Life I also used an 8x12 photo which covered a double page spread (photo 1). I have done this in a Traveller’s Notebook, where I printed my photo at 8x10 and cut it down to cover both pages (photo 2). In all of these cases I have left the embellishing to an absolute minimum. I usually include one or two small pieces and maybe the date. For two of my Christmas pages I used the large acrylic words from Ali Edwards' story kits (photo 3). As a predominantly pocket scrapbooker they always seem too big, but paired with a full size photo in a mini album they look really effective. 

Photo 1...

Photo 2...

Photo 3...

Maria: Before I started scrapbooking on 12x12, I used to use 8x8 books all the time. They were very convenient for me and for a while I loved them. The problem with an 8x8 page is that a ‘normal’ sized photo looks huge! So I have quite a few layouts in my 8x8 albums where the photo is the main feature. My advice would be to not only make your photo the main focal point but also try to keep the embellishments to a minimum. The photo is already taking a lot of space in your page, so don't distract from it with tons of embellishments. Yes, keep your clusters in 3s if that's your thing, but keep them minimal as otherwise your page could look too busy. 

Michelle: To be honest I have never scrapped a large photo, I always print 6x4 and often use an app to print 2 photos on that one 6x4 print. I'm super excited to give it a try though as I find it really satisfying when I get out of my comfort zone and try something new ... and it gets all the school photos out of boxes!

Pol: I really enjoy scrapping with large photos but I don't do it as often as I should. I absolutely love the look of a page where the photo is huge and has been directly embellished or journaled on. I usually print my photos at 3x4 so even a normal 6x4 is a large photo for me!

Terri: I love scrapping with large photos, especially in my travel albums. I like to use them as a title page or as a divide between countries or cities. It annoys me that the cost of printing large photos is significantly higher than a standard print size so it means I don't do it as often as I would like. I try to use large photos that have some space in them so I can cover parts with embellishments and journaling. 

Laura Jane: I have only ever scrapped one layout using a larger size photo; this was using a 6x8 photograph on a 12x12 page, as one part of a double page layout. I did find the larger photo challenging to begin with as I was unsure which direction to go with it, but I chose papers which I could mirror on each page, added my title and kept the embellishing to a minimum. Once the layout was completed I was really happy with how it looked and have since seen some beautiful layouts using large format photographs which have really inspired me to consider this again in the future. I think the most important thing to remember is that if you're not happy with the end result you can always take it apart and re-do your layout ... as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained. If you have never used a large photograph in your scrapbooking I would urge you to give it a try as I think it gives a different perspective to have your photo as the main/largest component of the page and can be really effective. Here is my double page layout showing the page with a large photo and minimal embellishing. 

Jackie: I find that large photographs on a layout looks great in my holiday albums. For my New York album, which is still on going, I've used a large photo as a way to divide the places I visited. For these large photograph layouts I tend to keep the embellishments to a minimum. This is also something I intend to do when doing my other travel albums. 

Susan: I love to use a big bold photograph in my scrapping, especially as I tend to stick to just one photo on a page. I like to balance the photo with a big bold title, too. My favourite thing to do with a large photo, especially one that has a central subject, is to cut the photo giving emphasis to the important bit. Usually I cut vertically, as in the page featuring my husband walking on the beach. Sometimes I’ll even cut the photo into a jigsaw of nine pieces! I have a blog post on the technique I use to do this here. My final tip; don’t be afraid to stick titles or embellishments right on your large photos.

Lisa-Jane Johnson: I do love using a large photo on my layouts - they are always so striking because they are not what we are used to seeing. They also leave a lot less room for anything else so you are working with a much narrower field of decision making! These layouts use photos you get printed on the day from some sort of visitor attraction and features one of my children sitting with Father Christmas in his sleigh at Warwick Castle. They sit right at the front of our Christmas 2013 album because of the impact of the large photos. I've seen large photos used in pocket pages by cutting them up and sort of piecing them back together in the pockets and I love the way it looks but you do have to choose the right photo and the right distribution to pull the look off and I've not managed it so far!

So there you go, my lovelies! I hope we've inspired you to break out of your comfort zone slightly and have a go at scrapping a large photo with us this month!

Mitzi | Laura Jane Thomson | Sketch

Hi everyone, it's me again... Laura Jane and today I am working with a lovely sketch by the very talented Laura Rumble. 

For the month of May, our theme was to work with a sketch - two of the lovely members of our UK Scrap Addicts Creative Team designed great sketches for us to work with and it was a difficult decision on which one to choose.  The deciding factor for me was that Laura's sketch called for a mixed media element and lots of white space which is not something I am used to doing, so I wanted to challenge myself. 

Here is Laura's sketch that I chose to work with: 

The photograph I chose to work with is of me with my very first Long Coat Chihuahua puppy back in May 1992, this has particular significance to me as in May 2017 we welcomed our new Long Coat Chihuahua puppy into our family and having dogs in my life really changed my outlook on things for the better so it's an important photograph to me.  Also working with a May challenge, I thought that a photograph taken in May twenty-five years ago was quite fitting. 

In the photograph, I am wearing a purple top so I decided that this would be my main colour for this layout which is based on a 12x12 sheet of plain white cardstock. 

For the purple aspect behind my photograph, I decided to use watercolour paints - it was a very simple technique to use and the colour gradient almost happened by accident.  In my watercolour palette, I have three shades of purple next to each other so I just swiped the brush across all three colours before brushing onto the page so see what finish it gave and I really love how it turned out.  What do you think?

I layered my photograph onto a couple of scraps of patterned paper before adding a lilacy-pink doily and adhering to my page, also adding a tag behind the photograph in keeping with the sketch. 

I added my title, which is quite simple... "Mitzi" was the name of my little puppy in the photograph and we got her in May 1992 when this photograph was taken.  I didn't think that this photograph needed a fancy titled as I just wanted to document the moment as it is a special photograph to me.

The photograph brings back lots of memories to me as well as lots of positivity and thoughts of how she changed me, so I didn't feel that this layout needed any journalling. 

Lastly, to bring in the circle elements of the sketch, I added some small metal word embellishments and silver puffy hearts. 

I really enjoyed working with this sketch and how my layout turned out, it's also great to see the layouts from out other Creative Team members who have used the same sketch but have such a different end result.  

Our creative team add new blog posts and YouTube videos daily so don't forget to check back regularly to see some fantastic layouts and exciting inspiration!!

See you all soon!

Laura Jane xx

Adhesives

We're back with part two of our group post on adhesives...


Susan:  My trusty old pink ATG gun travels everywhere with me, making me a little unpopular at crops as it’s recently begun to complain loudly sounding like a strangled seagull! I will buy a new one if it gets too much; I couldn’t be without it.  The downside of ATG guns is the cost of the refill tapes.  I have found Viking Tapes www.vikingtapes.co.uk to be good value and they have a speedy service. Have you invested in a Diamond Press Mini Cutting Machine?  I absolutely adore mine!  The best deal at the moment is at The Range and also Hobbycraft, where they have it for £15.  Anyway, the reason I am wittering on about this little machine is I have a tonne of teeny dies (they go through a Big Shot absolutely fine) which leaves the fiddly problem of adhering the die cuts to your projects.  Three solutions – the first is dust off your old Xyron Sticker Maker.  Cut a length of paper or card and post it through the Zyron; you can then put the ‘stickered’ paper/card through your die cutter! Jen of Wearcraft and Crafters’ Companion demonstrates this far better than I can describe it in her video here.  The whole video is well worth watching but the sticker bit is at around 19.00.  Recently, I’ve found an even better way is to cover the back of your paper or cardstock with double sided tape before cutting the die - hey presto you have turned the die cut into a sticker! 


Roxy: How would we scrapbook without some kind of adhesive?  I tend to use whatever I can pick up easily, and is cost effective.  I have tried out the "ATG" gun, but personally found it bulky to hold, and tricky to use.  Safe to say I don't have one now! However, I recently attended a craft fair (Make It & Stitch It) and bought a fair amount of good quality double sided tape!  Honestly, you can totally tell the difference, once stuck it won't move! 

Maria:  I must confess that I am no expert in this subject.  I was always on a budget when I started scrapbooking so sadly I stuck to bad quality tapes for a long time and now I regret it bitterly!  I used to buy Hobbycraft’s own double-sided tape because it was cheap, and to be honest, it was not too bad for the majority of tasks.  However, it did let me down a few times, making me realise that you do get what you pay for

I found that it was showing through thin paper and also it was no good for attaching thick cardstock or cardstock with a bit of glitter on it.  Unfortunately, I learnt this the hard way and some of my projects were ruined because of it.  For glitter cardstock I then started using the commonly named ‘red tape’, a very strong adhesive that gets its name from the red release paper.  I buy mine in bulk in a variety of widths from Affix It Craft.  This tape is really strong and sticky!  So be careful where you put it because you won’t get a second chance to move things around.  I use this tape every time I want to make sure that something is definitely not going to move!  I have also used cheap tape runners, both permanent and removable, however, I found that I was going through them at a very high speed and wanted something more durable.  The removable tape runner is perfect for when you are adding layers but you’re not too sure where you are going to position them, so it gives you the chance to change your mind before you apply the permanent glue!

Jackie: I used a yellow ATG gun, had it for years and even though others complain about theirs, I love mine.  It does have its problems when re-loading a new roll of tape, sometimes it's straight forward, other times I could gladly through it throw the nearest window, but like I said, I wouldn't be without it.  As mentioned above I buy the tape from Viking and do a bulk order with a few friends, so it brings the cost of the tapes down per roll and also saves us on postage.  My 3D foam, I buy from Poundland, yes Poundland, you get 1 large roll and several sheets of the small pads for a £1, its works for me.  I do have some American Craft 3D pads in my stash, which are thicker and give a better dimension to my layouts.  Also in my stash, I have some funky foam sheets that I got from Hobbycraft, again I saw someone use these on a you-tube video as 3D foam pads, use with double sided tape, great for large areas that need dimension.

Emma C: Ahh adhesive... when it comes to glue I’m really not fussy.  As long as it sticks and stays then I’m good.  I generally use double sided tape and actually haven’t bought any new tape in about 2 years. I went to the NEC Hobbycraft show 2 years ago and one of the show deals from Meiflower crafts was something like, 16 rolls of tape for £8 - and I split it with a friend!  Not sure whether the fact I still have it says more about how much I craft or how much is on a roll!  

Jess Claire:  In terms of adhesive I go for what I can get hold of quickly and cheaply.  I have bought cheap tape runners in the past but they ran out too fast and not everything I want to add tape to is flat.  I tend to go for Wilkos' double-sided tape or glue dots.  Both £1 a pack.  I have a Wilkos a walkable distance from me so I can always pick some up when I do a photo paper run (hint also Wilko finest).  They both work great on paper and card, on acrylic or flair.  I tend to choose based on size; glue dots for small bits and tape for bigger pieces.  Because I am predominantly a pocket scrapbooker everything ends up encased safely in the pockets so the tape doesn’t have to work too hard.  In 3 years of scrapbooking, I've never had anything fall off.  I did, however, need to seek advice from my fellow UK scrap addicts on how to adhere wood veneer because I wanted something that wouldn't show through.

Laura Jane:  When working on scrapbook layouts I use a variety of adhesives depending on what I am working with.  For layering and matting cardstock or paper I use double sided tape, which I have found to be most cost-effective from the UK store The Works - a pack of four rolls for £1; I tend to bulk buy these as I also use them attaching my fun foam to the back of layers/photos/embellishments to add dimension.  If I am attaching small embellishments or small pieces of ephemera I will use glue dots.  So far I have found the Bostik brand to be the most reliable although there are many brands available.  If I am using particularly intricate die cuts, I will run the cardstock through my Xyron sticker maker prior to cutting the piece in my die cutting machine as this allows me to create a fully adhesive die cut sticker rather than having to try to get tiny amounts of glue onto very small areas.

Laura:  I buy all my red backed tape and foam from Affix-it Craft.  They are a UK manufacturer and are very reasonably priced - I guess because you are cutting out the middle man and buying direct.  I have an EZ grand too, which a similar to the ATG but smaller and more compact.  I like it and have never had any issues with it gunking up, nor have I had a problem putting a new cartridge in.

Sarah:  I use a variety of different adhesives in my scrapbooking depending on what I’m doing or what I’m sticking.  For most things like matting and layering and sticking ephemera, punched paper shapes or die cuts I use a tape runner from Stix 2.  Foam dots are always close at hand for raising up embellishments from the background.  I avoid using Double sided tape as much as possible (I can’t get on with peeling the backing tape off!) but I will use it occasionally if I have a big stack of multiple paper layers which might be too heavy for the tape runner adhesive.  My advice is to try lots of different adhesives - what works for one scrapper won’t suit another.  Find what ‘works’ for you!

Lisa-Jane:  One thing we can’t scrap without is adhesive of some sort and we all have our favourites and the ones we’ve come to loathe!  My main go-to is my ATG gun which works out really cost effective when you consider that the rolls last for ages!  The other glues I prefer to use are glue dots in all sizes - perfect for buttons, sequins, even wood veneers (get the ones on the roll that don’t have annoying clear static bits), foam tape from the pound shop when I need dimension and, wait for it, a glue stick!  I’m currently using the Tim Holtz collage stick which is triangular in shape rather than the round tips we’ve known for years.  They stick paper to paper pretty well and can even help to move things around because they are a bit slippy.  If I’m trying to line something up, I’ll coat the double sided tape with glue stick so that I can move it a little bit if I need to.  Once it’s in place and the glue stick dries, the DST does the main job of keeping things in place for good.