Designers at Embellished

CHA WINTER 2008 Sneak Peeks

Okay guys,

I LOVE this time of year and what we are going to see what is coming out from the best in the industry. It almost gives you a hint of what the style will be for the year.....LOVE new stuff !!!

So here are some sneek peeks from some of the companies so far

CRATE PAPER (this one is for you Ang!!)

COSMO CRICKET (one on my favs so far!!)

More to come soon!!!

We Want to know your thoughts

Friday Night's Allright For.....

.....Scrapping.....Get a Little Action IN!.....(thank you Elton John)

Check out our Friday Night Live Challenge for this week - I can't reveal it yet BUT you need to bring along some of your Musical Talent and potentially even grab me for some Trivia!! hee hee.

In the meantime, here's a look at my latest Tip and Technique for this week - I'd love to see you use some of this technique in your LO's!

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I like to add elements of hand drawn stuff on my LO's but they are not always the best thing to add to some pages. I mean, doodling on a more formal page would look a bit "off" somehow - depending on the doodling of course.

This week I would like you to add some hand draw elements to your pages as an EXTRA LARGE FRAME - either around the photo or behind it.

The key to this technique is to use a large shape as it will act like an extra layer of paper - giving the photo depth and linking the background with the foreground.

Here are a couple of examples:



In this example, I needed something to offset the straight lines of the papers and photo - not only to make the LO "POP" in terms of deisgn, but also to reflect the mood of the photo - it needed to be a bit more "edgy" given the title. I also had a black mark on Hannah's head which I needed to cover up - but let that be our little secret! LOL



In this LO I used the large star to frame behind the photo to link the background and foreground colours and shapes. The star shape also added to the "Spacey" theme and also goes with a young/ boisterous/ boy page.

So go ahead and have a go at using this technique - you'll be suprised how much it adds to the LO!

take care all,
Sares xx

A Textured Look

It's no secret that I have had a long love affair with layers and texture - I love the epth that they give a LO and it also adds meaning to the subject as well. People have many different layers and I like to think that the combination of layers in some of my LO's reflects that way I see my children (or whoever I am scrapping)...

So here are a few tips on creating texture in a LO....

1. Add multiple layers in the same colours scheme - their slight variations in tone will add a textured effect.

2. Use the first layer as a flat, 2D single layer. Then raise some up on chipboard and some up even futher using mounting squares.

3. Layer using different textures - you can add things like fabric, hessian, canvas, lace - all these things act as a different layer.

4. Or try my latest technique which is to use a painted background with tissue as a texture painted in. Then rub over the top with oil pastel when it's dry to pick up the texture and create a rich, warm feeling in the background.

Here's a sample:

and here's the final product using that technique:

Have fun creating your layers girls!

Christmas Gift Ideas

In celebration of Christmas, I have some cute ideas for making some quick, easy and (very importantly) affordable gifts that are perfect for friends, family, your kids teachers, workmates… anyone really!

Personally I have a fair bit of trouble motivating myself to create off the page items, so that’s why I have some examples here in order to get you creating gorgeous gifts!

Fridge Magnets

I used the Kaiser circle mini album to make these fridge magnets. For me, using it as an album was a bit more daunting but the fridge magnets ended up taking about 15 minutes each!

Hanging Albums

Again, I used Kaiser OTP items. All the wooden products they make, along with their matching range of papers and embellishments, make it so easy to whip up a really quick gift! I ended up choosing to use the Basic Grey mellow papers. Whilst I am a lot more comfortable mixing brands on my layouts, I find to make an OTP item look well put together it is so much easier to match brands!

Art Journal

I used a Collections prepackaged journal kit to make this (inspired by the gorgeous work of Vivian Bonder). There is enough chipboard in the pack to make one that is approx 8x8 in and another smaller 6x6in journal. I used the Blush and Infuse collections from Basic Grey and created a patchwork centre using small chipboard tiles. You could however go bright and funky, or use darker, muted tones for a vintage look. You can hang ribbons and small embellishments from the jump rings for a shabby chic look too! It could be made into a notebook, address book, sketch book… Anything your heart desires!

Mantle Piece Decorations

I have made a page that is approx 8x11 but backed it onto some extra card so I can stand it on a plate stand.

Other suggestions:

Pen holders, storage for scrap supplies (Kaiser does a gorgeous ribbon box), mirror frames, photo frames, calendars, canvases on little easels….

There is a huge wealth of OTP items out there just ready to be decorated for Christmas gifts! Hope this inspires you to create some beautiful items to give to others this year!

Create Your Own Journalling Cards

I had a lot of fun creating my journalling card for my FNL Simple Pleasures challenge, so I thought I'd share with you.

If you got hooked on Julie's butterfly transparencies (like me) you probably already have a good stash of clipart up your sleeve, so this'll be a breeze - if not I've got some links to share with you ;o)

So let's get started....

Step 1. The first step is to make sure you have some images you want to add to your journaling card ;o)

For this example I have created an image in Photoshop Elements 4 (PSE4) using a brush from http://brushes.500ml.org/  - if you’re familiar with Photoshop its easy to do.

If you’re not a Photoshop wizard, clipart is the way to go ;o)

Here are some sites that I have found to get you started on your way:

http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/

http://www.wisegorilla.com/clipart.html

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/?pID=clipart

http://www.first-school.ws/

http://www.fromoldbooks.org/

Step 2. Open a blank word document & insert your picture – you may need to resize it ;o)

To make it sit correctly on the journaling card you will probably need to hit the enter button a few times to move it down the page. (I have shown the character marks here – but they won’t print ;o))

~~if you're feeling quite techy you can right click & "show picture toolbar"/format picture/layout/infront of text. This will allow you to move your picture with your mouse ;o)~~

Step 3. Add a rectangle box wide enough to cover your picture & tall enough to add journaling. The click on the fill button & select “no fill” – now your image should appear ;o)

Step 4. Adding journaling lines: click the line button on your drawing tool bar & drag it to create a line (hold the shift button to keep it straight). Once you have your first line I find it easier to copy & paste the line so that all my lines are the same length…so ctrl + c to copy & ctrl + v to paste – you’ll want to paste 7 or 8  times, then holding the shift button, click on each line to select it (make sure you have little white circles on each line) then go to draw/align or distribute/align centre – this will make them all nice & even, then the next step is to move them over to make sure they’re above your image….you can do this with your arrow keys or with your cursor (making sure that all the lines are still selected).

Next, you want to make sure your lines are evenly spaced – so sit your top line where you’d like to strat journaling & your bottom line just above your image. Now, you’ll need to select al your lines again – so hold your shift button & click on each line then go draw/align or distribute/distribute vertically & voila – evenly spaced lines.

Oh…one more little tricky trick with our lines...we can make them dotted or solid or diamonded or dashed…and if you want to get really fancy, you can skip one button over & you can even add arrow heads to them ;o)

Step 5. the final thing you want to do here is group the image – this way, instead of going through all those steps again, once grouped, you can simply copy & paste your journaling card to create a whole page of them :o)

To group the image you can select each individual piece by hold the shift key & clicking on each item, or you can use your cursor (when it turns to an arrowhead pointing towards the margin) to click & drag a selection – then choose draw/group.

For a Jenny Bowlin-esque look I have printed my cards onto the back of some cream coloured bazzill – this gives a smooth finish along with the card weight quality :o)

I hope you have fun making your own journaling cards.

If you have any questions - just email me

Colour Theory

There is something about Colour that has the ability to provide so many different feelings and emotions. We surround ourselves with it - we wear it, we eat it, we paint our walls with it and, of course, we scrap with it.

The Colour Comp at Scrapbook Creations made me look twice at the colours that I traditionally use to scrapbook with. I realised that I scrapped with a fairly limited palette and that the concept of involving "brighter" colour combos actually sent me into a bit of a panic.

I'm not the sort of person who sorts my papers according to colours. I just tend to grab what feels right at the time.

But there are a few combinations of colour that really work well. And they are:

Black and Green 

Red, Orange and Yellow

Pink and Purple

Red, White and Blue

Red and Black

Any and all combinations of those colours will also work really well.

Some of the girls have asked me to put up my LO's from the SC Colour Comp and so here they are as seen in the mag. I have used grades and tones of both colour combinations - so they have layers of colour, as well as layers of paper and layers of embellishments.

Kirsty has a marvellous way of using colour ono her LO - she uses really bright and summery colours that are often contrasting but just WORK. They highlight the photo but don't dominate it.

So go ahead and start pulling out a combination of papers that will make you seem a little out of your comfort zone - it will do you good!!

Take care all,

Sares xx

My Creative Process

Hi Guys,

At the last crop Ali made a comment to Dee that the page that she had started didn't really look like her usual style. So, I thought it might be fun for everyone to share some progressive shots of how their layouts are created. I will post a new topic in the forum for anyone who is interested in sharing their creative process.

Here are some pics from a layout that I created about Dee earlier in the week.

Basic layout with photo and paper elements:

Adding a background wash of paint and a mask across the patterned papers to link them together on the design:

 

Messing it up with some ink and shimmer paint:

Adding the title:

And voila... the finished product after some fluffing:

I look forward to seeing how everyone else's layouts evolve into creative masterpieces over in the forum!

Peace and Patchwork, Baby!

The Tip and Techniques "Lesson" for this week is all about creating texture on your page - just using ordinary scraps! Don't we all want to use our scraps??

Texture on a scrapbook layout adds dimension and a sense of depth and can be added using lots of embellies but also a lots can be done with just plain paper.

You can scrunch it into a ball, then fold it out flat, then ink or sand the raised edges. That gives a great textured "olde worlde" vintage look.

You can paint the edges of paper or cardstock or water and then wash them with some watered down watercolour paints for an "arty farty" feel that also gives depth.

Or you can stick them down onto your LO and then tear and raise the outer edges. Done with multiple scraps all over the page, this also gives the feeling of texture and depth - not to mention goes perfectly eith those Hippy 70's photos of our parents and beyond - LOL.

Here's a few pics of LO's that have used paper as the primary texture on a page - go ahead and get into the Tips and Techniques section of the site and try some of the lessons there - you'll be suprised at how easy they are and what a little effort can produce in a LO!

Have fun with it, girls!! Sares xx

Spring Blooms

In celebration of spring, I have a cute technique for making your own blooming flower gardens. This technique could be used for layouts, cards and off the page projects.

Flowers:

These can be made out of circles of patterned paper, cardstock and transparencies. If you really want to personalise your flowers, try layering these, and adding bling, buttons and primas as flower centres.

You could also cut little triangles at each point around the circles for another funky look. Try outling them with a fine tipped pen, or inking them to add dimension and help make them stand out. I have layered mine on foam dots for height as well!

Other ideas for flowers to try: get out those foam stamps and some good old paint, stamp onto cardstock and cut out. You could also stamp onto white cardstock with waterproof ink (eg, Stazon) and use some of Sare's cool watercolour techniques, or make a garden from either Julie's cool bubblewrap flowers or Kirsty's funked up florals!

Stems:

I have made my flower stems with a Hambly transparency, but you could also use ribbons, machine or handstitching; thin strips of patterned paper, doodling, lines of bling, paint and anything else you can think of!

Grass:

To make a little patch of grass where my flowers can grow, I have used a fringing technique! I'm sure you all remember this one from primary school! Other ways to create a garden are ribbon strips, paint, scalloped cardstock or patterned paper and fabric. If you are really adventurous you could even use some real grass!

Final Touches:

To fill your garden with life, you can then add butterflies, bugs and some glitz! I have stamped some autumn leaves butterfly stamps onto a transparency, added kindy glitz to make them "pop" and adhered them to my page. I have also added kindy glitz to the chippy alphas to keep with the theme!

So go and have fun with a cute little garden on your spring projects. I will be offering a little RAK to the person who I think has used this technique the best. Projects must be uploaded by 30th September at midnight.  Upload your images in this gallery with "Spring Challenge" somewhere in your image title!

http://www.embellished.com.au/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=641