Monday 16 February 2009

Layouts from Last week...

Just a couple...
More to come later this week!
I'm on a mission to do what I can to make a dent in my printed paper & cardstock stash, aswell as to use up at least one (!) box of my offcuts this year ;-)

This creamy yellow checked printed paper I've had for years & the mustard cardstock strip, plus the blue strip are all from my offcuts. The shiny circles are newish but these pieces are offcuts from a layout I did last week, that I haven't photographed yet. The red dot paper behind the circles also came from my offcut stash. I cut around the circle design, before matting it with the dot, then I punched out the circles from the glitter circles paper & punched out the bigger dotty circles with my larger circle punch to matt them. I bumped these up with foamcore for a 3D effect.

I know matting so close to the photo is old-fashioned, but at times it does help to "pop" the photo from the background, as in this case! I used up a lot of my flower stash (that being the idea...) including the large felt "Fiesta" self-stick flower on the corner - that I recoloured from white to pink with an ink pad.

This was a quick layout - real "cut & stick" style, but I am realistic enough not to worry if every layout isn't a "masterpiece". One day last week I ploughed through 5 layouts, this being one of them. With my lifestyle it's not always possible to scrap every single day, so ,on other days, I have a "spurt" & try & pump out more than a few...to make up for lost time!

In this close-up you can see that I printed some text ("Sisters") on the photo in Picasa (my love/hate program,lol!) Obviously it's no PSE but, until I've got the time to get to grips with that program, at least Picasa offers various style & colour options. I used a bling sticker to dot the i (over the text) just for fun ;-)

I like it, I think it turned out pretty...

A foolproof method really, just offset the photo at an angle & embellish away!

The plain cardstock at the bottom "grounds" the layout & provides a good place for the title.

As there was a quote beneath the "Friendship" title I didn't feel any extra journalling was necessary.

As for the layout below, I bought this paper online & on sale...

I've noticed this type of background around a lot lately, being created with paint (the messy frame around the edge) then usually stitched on top or with a thinner line drawn on top with a fineliner pen. So I reckon finding this paper was a bonus! Think it is an older 7 Gypsies one...This is a photo of Chelsea & one of her school friends. The spotted paper was from my offcuts & I distressed it with my MM Distressing tool then "waxed" it (learnt this little trick from Cindy-see her lovely work here) What you do is stick down some gummy sticky tape (the stickier the better) around the edge, then rip it off!!! A lot less painful than on your legs, lol! Look carefully & you'll see the whitish bits around the edges of the spotty matt... I inked with my dark-brown cat's eye then stapled the bits back together that had torn off with my enthusiastic use of my under-used distressing tool...was after the ultra-distressed look after all ;-)

I tore the mustard matt, then heavily inked it with dark brown & stapled on some MM crochet lace ribbon. I stuck on one of my fave 7 Gypsies sticker quote strips (top right) & clicked out the journalling on the bottom left with my Dymo machine. The "friends" title was an embroidered fleece iron-on fabric one from an old kit & the date stickers are MM glitter alphas - black. I cut out the red flower from a MM Falala paper & pinned it through with an old hat pin. I finally got to use the roll of printed "Friends" masking-tape I bought last year, just under the flower. I added a glossy printed MM brad in place of the dot on the "i" & a fancy MM paper-clip on the bottom left (you can only see the glossy circle part sticking out).

I haven't done a heavily distressed layout all year (all 6 weeks of it,lol!) & thought I was sick of the look & only into fresh & funky, but I enjoyed mixing it up a bit on this one, for a change ;-)

Some close-up details...

Thanks for looking ;-)

Again I printed the text directly onto the photo in Picasa.

BTW if any of you are also experimenting, I saved these pictures in My Pictures, edited them in Picasa (which I now keep free of photos so it can edit fast & efficiently), exported them back to My Pictures in their newly edited form, but, beforehand, I e-mailed them to my blog...no more waiting for ages for each picture to load & you can send as many as you like! How's that for a tip & a trick???!!!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fab work ... I'm a fan of the really shabby/chic look ... but it's not something that I really do. I've never tried to email photos to my blog ... have seen the option ... but mine upload to wordpress in secs anyway ... loving that you are using up your old stuff and totally agree that sometimes it is better to mat photos ...

Mette Thomas said...

LOve the distressing technique will try that when i actually get some scrapping done !!

Julie Cortens said...

Love your sisters layout. Isn't it fun to use up stash??
And who says matting close to the photo is old fashioned. I do it all the time! LOL hey the beauty of scrapbooking is just using all the stuff we have in new (and sometimes old)fun ways!
Fun Blog!

Jenny said...

Great l/os! I like the "waxing" tip - it will look great on the Core'dinations c/s

Beryldene said...

Hi Helen,

Just stopping in for a quick cuppa!...saw your LO..they are FABULOUS...I'm impressed.

Looks like a lots gone into them! ...labour of love...

Michelle Ramsay said...

Stunning layouts and thanks for sharing all your tips and tricks!

Cindy said...

gorgeous layout, love the distressing.

Lynette Jacobs said...

All these layouts are gorgeous!

Jessica said...

Beautiful layouts and I do love your trick :) If I printed out more photos, I'd consider it. Right now, I'm not sure it would be worth the time to figure out how to use it. Feeling a little tired ;)

Desire Fourie said...

Just love your style Helen. You are one serious creative soul. And then you are also so sharing with all your tips and techniques. Hugs from Desire

brigitte said...

your scrapping is amazing, beautiful, fantastic....