Write. Click. Scrapbook.

Using Punches to Stretch Your Scraps

 

Hi, Sue here today, with my favorite way to use up leftover patterned papers. I’m pulling out my punches! Metal dies or a die cutting machine would work just as well, but nothing beats the speed and convenience of a basic punch. Let’s start today's tour with organic shapes. These are the shapes you find in nature.

Stars are such a fun shape with a variety of meanings. I have star punches in several sizes, as you can see on this layout. The larger stars were perfect for creating a quilted effect using scraps of patterned paper.

 

Cloud punches are another favorite. I dug into my blue scraps to create this collage that takes up one-third of the page. It might be hard to see, but a few of the clouds are mounted with pop dots while others are outlined in black marker. The small red butterflies (another punch!) add a touch of contrast.

 

Ah, heart punches. Can you have too many of those? (the correct answer is "no") On this layout, the hearts are placed atop geometric shapes. Yay for circles and squares! Yes, more punches, and some of my most-used.

 

I have some basic square punches that I consider essential scrapping tools. How else could you take leftover patterned paper from a Christmas collection and make a page about petting a camel at the Fall Fiber Festival? Punches are a great way to disguise themed papers and stretch their versatility.

 

The triangle pattern in the top and bottom borders of this page are repeated in the middle of the layout. I used my square punch and cut the shape across diagonally. A little stitching adds texture to the contrasting colors. Shape, color and texture: what endless possibilities!

 

Do you have a collection of punches? Do you still use them or are they gathering dust while you reach for that fancy die-cutting machine? (I’m guilty of that) I challenge you (and me) to take the quick and easy way next time you want to stretch your patterned paper scraps!

 

Letterpress and Scrapbooking

 

Hi there, it's Cristina here with some letterpress inspiration. Last week, Jennifer talked about learning to letterpress, and I want to show you how easy it is to build a scrapbook page starting from some gorgeous letterpress designs.

A while back I showed you how to create a faux letterpress look using embossing folders, but today I want to show you how to do real letterpressing.

Supplies

Here is what you'll need:

• Die cutting machine. I have a Big Shot.
• Letterpress platform. I have seen people who say they can letterpress just by adding some cardstock shims and the regular cutting pads, but I didn't want to have to guess every time so I bought the platform - and I have no regrets! Especially since letterpress paper is pretty expensive and I don't want to waste it on trials.
• Letterpress paper. The type of paper you use is critical to get a deep impression and get the most out of your letterpressing. I know some crafters have great results with watercolor paper, but that has not been the case with the watercolor paper I had on hand, so letterpress paper it is for me. 
• Letterpress plates. There are many designs available, I'm sure you'll have fun picking your favorites!
• Ink. To be honest, I have not tried letterpress ink just yet. I've heard horror stories about how hard it is to clean up, so I started going the easy way, and I have just used ink pads for now. :) The examples on this page use distress ink pads (I love the bright colors). I also love doing blind impressions (no ink) as I think adding the ink detracts a bit from the deep impression.

Letterpressing

With the idea of putting a page together, I made two letterpressed cards using plates from Studio Calico.

For the card on the left I used the picked raspberry color, and I added spiced marmalade for the card on the right to get an ombre effect.

Putting the page together

I used the Poet Society kits by Studio Calico. Using the letterpressed cards, it was very easy to build a design using my photo and some strips of patterned paper. I added some stamping with grey ink to tie to the background paper, and completed the page with some gold splatters and sewing. 

Here are a couple detail shots.

I hope this has inspired you to give lettepress a try - I love how easy it is to put together a page starting from a couple of letterpressed cards. Share your creations in the comments! I'd love to hear your tips too, as I am just starting out myself.

Back to Scrapbooking School: Math

Jenny Larson again, sharing inspiration on what may seem to be an unusual subject to draw inspiration from: Math.

I always tell people that I have gotten much better at math when I started scrapbooking. I can eyeball measurements now, and I understand percentages much better as well. Other elements of mathematics may give you inspiration as well. Here's some of my ideas:

1. Numbers: This is the easy one. Use numbers as a design element on your page, use a number to inspire your subject, or use it to organize your journaling.
2. Equations: Think about describing a photo is terms of an equation. What plus what equals what?
3. Math tools: Use a ruler, a protractor, or a compass to design the page.
4. Shapes: Think geometry and take design inspiration from a shape. I also remember long ago a Creating Keepsakes article that showed ways of using the Fibonacci sequence as a design tool. Here's a link that shows ways it's been used as a part of design outside of scrapbooking, and here's a link that explains how to use the golden spiral in design.

Here's some pages that use math as an inspiration.

Numbers are an easy way to take inspiration from math. Here I cut numbers from patterned paper and used them as the title on the page.

Here I used number patterned paper, stitching over one to highlight a birthday.

Birthdays aren't the only number inspiration. Here I highlighted the number of miles I ran last summer. Christine Newman also used numbers both for design and inspiration:

The way this mimics three-dimensional shape is also pretty cool.

 

In my gallery this month I used a compass to trace the interior circle. And before you think the ruler is something just for ordinary scrapping purposes, check out what Christine Newman did:

The sunburst she made by tracing it with a ruler. Just amazing.

I like using a formula as the journaling. It's simple and fun. In this case, I had a ton of photos to use, so the equation was quite big. Hopefully I got the order of operations right. I don't think I needed the parentheses, for example, but I had them and wanted to use them up, so I did.

I love circles in general (you'll see them on a lot of my pages this week), and on this page I did a lot with circles in patterned paper, embellishments, stamping, and misting. There are lots of geometric shapes to try, but if you want to be trendy, try triangles too. Those three-sided beauties are the next hot trend.

I hand cut a curve--not a parabola, but still mathematical--to highlight this page about how we taught my son fractions: through cut apples, of course.

I hope this gives you some ideas for incorporating math into your pages beyond measurement. If it did, please share your inspiration with everyone in the comments!

Ombre embroidery layout

Hi! Everyone. Jina here with you today to share my layout using ombre stitch. Usually I love to put stitch into my scrapbooking pages with sewing machine because that adds some textures to my layout. Especially it's fit for PL card decoration to insert in the photo pocket pages is flat and small. I'll never give up stitch on my page. :) And I found more trendy sort of stitch than machine stitch lately. Right! You know it's just embroidery. It can make more bold and fancy effect than machine stitch on the paper.

I got an embroidery stencil kit last week. :)

I chose ombre color threads instead of solid ones. These are really gorgeous!

Even if you don't have any obmre threads, it's okay. You can make your own colors of thread using color mists.(or water colors, dye inks . . .)

Pierce the holes on the paper using the stencil template and the awl.

And embroider on the paper with ombre thread. It's so easy peasy and fun!

I finished ombre embroidery patterns on the white paper. I think these colors and textures look great.

 

Here is my layout with ombre embroidery.

These bold stitches absolutely make my layout more rich and bright. 

 

I hope you like this trendy technic, too. Thanks for stopping by.

 

Hybrid Week: Digital Graphics + The Silhouette

Most of us are familiar with the Silhouette digital cutter.  You can buy shapes from the Silhouette online store and cut the shapes out using your paper stash.  But did you know that the Silhouette works with any digital graphics? 

The first way I use digital products with my Silhouette is to use black & white png/jpeg files to trace and cut shapes.  The ability to trace & cut inside the Silhouette Studio software is what makes this tool so powerful.  It means you can cut out any digital graphics you desire!

I love this set of digital arrow sentiments by Ali Edwards and wanted to incorporate the "love this" arrow into a paper layout.

So I dragged the png file into my Silhouette Studio software and performed a trace to get the cut outline.  (If you are unsure how to do that, you can see a video tutorial on Ali's blog.)

I cut the shape out with some patterned paper and adhered it to my Polaroid photo on my layout.  This one is actually a little sneak peek into my June layout for the Write.Click.Scrapbook. gallery!

I used these png edged border files by Amy Martin to trace and cut.

I resized them to 6 inches and cut them out with various patterned papers.  I ended up sewing these borders onto 4x6 cardstock to make custom journal cards!

You can trace & cut any digital shape you want.  This opens up your Silhouette cutting possibilities to any digital file you can find/purchase on the internet!  For this layout, I found a map of California on the internet and traced the cut outline in Silhouette Studio. 

A second way to incorporate digital graphics with your Silhouette machine is to use the print & cut function.  This is very similar to trace & cut, but you would use colored digital graphics, and you would only trace the outline versus everything.  After tracing the outline of the digital graphics, you would turn on the registration marks in the Silhouette Studio software.  Then print out the graphics with the registration marks using your regular printer.  Put the sheet back onto your Silhouette cutting mat and let the machine detect the registration marks so it knows where to cut.  I will show you a few examples.

Using these Everyday Story Doodles by Lauren Grier.

I traced the cut outlines in Silhouette Studio.  Then I printed out the sheet and had the Silhouette cut it.

I did the same thing using other various graphics from The Lilypad.

I created a video tutorial on how to print & cut any digital graphics using the Silhouette for The Lilypad blog.  You can find it here or on youtube here. 

More print & cut diecuts using digital graphics.

Which I used to make these two cards.

My coolest print & cut project was probably doing a whole hybrid 12x12 layout using digital scrapbooking supplies.  For this project I used the digital kit "For The Record" by One Little Bird and Paislee Press.  First I created a digital layout in Photoshop so I get the sizing and placement correctly on my page.

Next I placed all the elements I want to print & cut onto a separate 8.5x11 canvas in Photoshop.  I saved the 8.5x11 as a jpeg file.

Then I opened up the file in Silhouette Studio and traced the cut outlines.

Then I printed the page with the registration marks.  After that I put the sheet back onto my Silhouette cutting mat and sent it through my Silhouette machine to cut.

Then I created my hybrid page by placing and adhering all my elements onto white cardstock and adding other embellishments such as punched glitter paper, wood veneers, twine, paint, and sewing.

A third way to use digital graphics with the Silhouette is to trace the digital graphics and then use the Silhouette sketch function to draw them onto paper with a pen.  I made some cards using this method and some digital frames from The Lilypad.

Silly Frilly Frames by Valorie Wibbens

Thin Doodley Frames by Jacque Larsen

I traced the graphics inside my Silhouette Studio software.  Then I used a Chomas pen holder and used some Sakura glitter pens to draw the shapes onto white cardstock.

I arranged them so that I got two cards out of 8.5x11 cardstock.

After the Silhouette sketching was done, I just cut the sheet in half, folded both of them, and adhered some other digital elements I had print & cut (see above) using dimensional foam adhesive.

I hadn't gotten enough of the Silhouette sketching using the doodled frames, so I used some more digital graphics and made some sketched 3x4 journal cards for Project Life using more Sakura glitter pens.

 

These hybrid projects incorporating digital graphics with the Silhouette opens up a world of possibilities!  I love everything about it.

 

 Hybrid Week header graphics made using digital graphics by Kate Hadfield.

A Week of Tutorials | Paper Saving & Stash Busting Tips

Hi again! Today I am sharing two paper saving and stash busting tips. The first one is for saving paper when using the Slice die-cutter. I know that the big thing these days is the Silhouette machine, but I am still in the "dark ages" with my little Slice, and I figure if anyone else is too, you would find this tip useful. The second tip is one that can help you use up some of those older papers, and should come in very handy if you do Project Life!

 

1. Saving Paper When Using the Slice cutter

Whenever I have to cut a lot of the same shapes with my Slice digital cutter, I find it frustrating not to know exactly where to put my paper for the least wastage possible. I finally came up with a way to save myself that little frustration (yes, it is indeed the little things).

Here's how!

1. Use scrap paper to cut the shape you need. Make sure to line the cutter up exactly on the edges of the glass cutting mat when cutting.

2. Leaving the cut out design on the mat, turn it over and use a permanent pen, like a Sharpie to draw around the shape.

3. Remove the paper and you're good to go!

Now you can position your paper over the shape and maximise your paper use! Just remember to always line the cutter up on the glass mat edges and it will cut in the same place. Since there are a few shapes I cut regularly, You will see that I used a different colour for each one.

Oh and the reason it is drawn on the back is so that it's not lost when you need to clean and reapply the adhesive. I learned that one the hard way! You can always do it that way if you'll be using one shape for just one cutting session though.

So what do you think? Will this help you when using your Slice?

2. A Quick Stash Busting Tip for Project Life

Here's a way I found to save some money and use up my stash. After I downloaded a bunch of printable journaling cards for Project Life, I realised that I didn't have any cardstock weight printer paper. I really didn't want to purchase anything, and then I had an idea: why not use the backside of older patterned papers?

If you're like me, you probably still have some older single sided patterned papers in your stash. I quickly rifled through and found that the back of the papers from BasicGrey were perfectly white, plus I still liked many of the patterns. So I chose the colours and designs I liked, cut them down to letter sized and printed away.

Front

 

The patterned back of one sheet

 

 

The great thing about this (apart from saving money and using up older stuff) is that if I want to I can leave the backside of my journaling cards empty on the following page. Or I can use it as a mat for the other side.

Here's a look at how that worked for me in my album

 

On this side you can see the Details journaling card and on the back

 

You can see that I stuck two smaller cards to the patterned paper side. 

I hope you found these tips helpful!

Something Different with Masks and Templates

I'm always looking for an excuse to get out some art supplies that I might have *gasp* forgotten about. Recently I pulled out some colored pencils from my basket of miscellaneous supplies and might have needed to dust them off. I have a fun and simple technique to share with you today. It has popped up on a couple of my recent layouts. All you need is a mask or template and a colored pencil. 

The masks I have been using are these two simple "handmade" circle templates. The templates were made with my Silhouette SD and some leftover cream cardstock from an invitation project.

Don't worry if you don't have a die cutting machine. Any shape punch will work too. To make a mask using a shape punch, cut a strip of paper and then punch evenly across the length of the strip. 

Here are my recent layouts with a circle mask and colored pencil:

(for Little Black Dress Kit Club)

(for Elle's Studio)

Usually, I use masks or templates with mist or paint. Here's the same circle mask with paint:

(for Little Black Dress Kit Club)

Try dusting off your masks and templates or make your own this weekend and use a different medium that is a little out of the box for you. I'd love to see what you create. Please link up your layout(s) in the comments section below. 

DIY inspiration projects

Hello there, Clouds here again hosting this wk, it's four days of fun and quick ways to get ready for the holidays, whether its gift cards, tags or treat boxes, so get ready to use what may already have, put it to use and make those handmade gifts that anyone on the receiving end will enjoy. So, here's some inspiration, if you're having guests over for Thanksgiving, or if you're planning on making gift boxes for your family for Christmas
:) Enjoy!

Here what you'll need:

punches, twine, gift boxes, scrap paper, rhinetsones, tags, treat bags ...

 

Here's what you can do with them:

I hope these simple quick projects inspire you to start thinking of what you can do for the holidays! 

See you tomm,

Clouds :)

I {heart} Punches

In the series of posts I've written so far this summer I've shared with you my love for two of my favorite products.  First, my favorite basic supply, patterned paper, and then my favorite embellishment, buttons.  This month I'm back to share with you my love for my favorite scrapbooking tool, the punch.  I am slightly partial to border punches (I confess to having a rather large collection), but I love regular punches too and today I thought I'd share my favorite ways to use punches.

 

Use punches to add a decorative touch to your projects

This is the most obvious example, simply use the tool as it was intended.  On this simple layout about my favorite summer love, iced coffee, I used a border punch to add detail to my layout and to add a little more color too:

On this card I did the same thing using one of my favorite butterfly punches:

I tend to keep my cards very simple.  I find that punches are an easy way to add an embellishment or pop of color to a card.  And when it comes to me and cards, easy is best.

 

Use punches to create custom embellishments

There are countless ways that you can use your punches to create custom embellishments.  These are just a small sampling of my favorites. 

The first example comes from our own Monika Wright:

On her blog she shares a tutorial on how to make these layered paper flowers.  She made hers from old book pages, but of course you could make them from any paper of your choosing.

Next is an example that has been shared here at WCS before, but I think it is so adorable and creative that it deserves a second look.  Brenda Johnston used a combination of punches to paper piece together this cute little owl:

Here are the punches she used:

In another example from Monika, she used punches to create a custom embellished tag for this layout:

 

Use punches to embellish gifts

You can use your punches for more than just scrapbooking.  I used a border punch, patterned paper and some thick twine to wrap this small gift box:

In the following examples, Monika used punches to embellish a variety of packages and envelopes:

So many great ideas - thank you for sharing them, Monika!

 

Use punches to create a custom background

On this following example, Karen Grunberg used the Heart Confetti Punch from Martha Stewart Crafts to make this amazing sun shape for a layout's background:

Isn't it incredible?  I love the colors in this layout too, this is certainly a very happy page.

One of my favorite scrapbookers, Davinie Fiero, made a custom background by punching out various shapes in the same color as her background cardstock in this layout to create a tone-on-tone effect:

I love how the punched shapes mimic the look of the macaroni necklace.  Such a sweet layout!

Finally, an example using a Punch All Over the Page.  These punches let you punch anywhere on your page.  They are great for both punching into paper to create a negative space, and because they come in a great variety of shapes you can use them as you would use a traditional punch too.  I used a combination of a punch and a stamp to create a custom background for this layout:

    

 

Use punches with reckless abandon because you love punches

Does that sound familiar?  When you really love something you don't need a specific reason to use it.  I didn't realize how many I had used on this layout: 

I just kept pulling out punch after punch and before I knew it I had used several, 8 in total.  Notice all the patterned paper and buttons too?  This layout basically covers all of my favorites in one example!

Here is another beautiful layout from Karen:

She used a variety of border punches in different patterns and colors to create this layout (I think I counted 11 punches in total).  I love how it looks simple and then you look a little closer and notice all the details.  This is definitely an idea I plan on using in the future.

The projects and layouts I shared today cover just a few the ways that you can use both traditional and border punches.  How about you, do you love punches too?  Share your creative ideas, and link to any visuals, in the comments.  I'd love to hear your ideas and see what you've created!

Since this is my last post for the summer I'll say goodbye, for now.  Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for give.away.day!

WCS/Ella Publishing Spring Cross-Training Day 4

Good morning and welcome back! What, surely you didn't think you'd have the day off just because it's give.away.day? With all the great momentum you got with Monika, we've got to keep on going!

Today we're talking about finishing touches: specifically distressing. I know all the clean and simple scrappers are probably shuddering right now, but never fear, there are varying degrees of distressing and today Celeste and I will show you how.

In my early days of scrapping I went through a major distressing phase where no product or layout was safe from the attack. Luckily I eventually learned that I could use distressing in subtler ways to finish things off. Here are some tools and methods you can use to add a distressed look to your work

1. Edge distressor tool

2. Ink, specifically Distress Inks

3. Sanding

4. Scissors

5. Digital brushes

6. Predistressed products aka cheating!

On this quite messy page Celeste used a distressing tool as well as simply tearing the papers

I think we can all agree that if Celeste can do distressing, then we all can! As she herself said "If you know my style at all, you know I'm all about clean, straight lines. Here i tried to rough up the edges of the papers a bit - tearing some and using a distress tool on the others. Nothing is perfectly straight playing off the messy face in the photo!"

In my experience I found a pair of scissors to work very well for distressing. Open them up and run the cutting edge of one blade along the edge of your paper. The degree of distressing will depend on how hard you press while moving the blade.

 In the layout above I used my scissors on both the kraft background and the green photo mat. When I moved the blade lightly I got a rough edge, when I moved it with more pressure I actually got torn bits in the paper.

I did the same on this page, but just on the edge of the paper flower

Celeste goes one better and used her fingernails to rough up the edges of the polka dot paper on this page.

Inking and sanding are other great ways to give a grungy look. Here I used both on this page to form a sort of "photo mat"

The cardstock here is by Core'Dinations and made for sanding. They come with a white or contrasting core that shows through nicely when the top layer is sanded off. You can use regular sandpaper or a tool like these files from BasicGrey. Once sanded I then ran my ink pad directly over the paper.

Here's another layout showing inking techniques used on the paper edges as well as to "age" the white flower embellishments

However if you don't want to get messy you can also get distressing effects using either predistressed products like the papers on this page

or do it digitally using distressed look papers or a distressing brush

Now you can to pop on over to the Ella blog to see what today's expert, Tammy Tutterow, has in store for you.

WORKOUT REWARD

What would a good workout be without a reward? You've worked hard sanding that paper and now your fingers are all inky too!  Good for you! Wipe the sweat from your brow, take a deep breath or two, and head on over to the Ella store and drop this eBook in your cart.

Use the code HAPPYDESIGN tosave $1 on Design Workshop by Lisa Dickinson. Code expires May 15, 2011.

Don't forget to participate in the challenges going on at Ella Publishing through May 7th...fun to be had and prizes to be won...you don't have to be registered in the class to be eligible.

Thanks for joining me today! I'll be back tomorrow with even more training.