Tuesday 28 June 2011

Flying in with a copy of my June Challenge/Technique Tutorial at Scrapbook Challenges {also my June Prima BAP} & my July RAK

***I have copied & pasted straight from the Scrapbook Challenges forum thread where I have just posted this challenge - you have until SUNDAY 17 JULY TO PLAY ALONG - all details below ***

***THIS IS ALSO MY JULY RAK POST - SEE RAK BELOW - TO BE IN IT TO WIN IT PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT & BECOME A FOLLOWER IF YOU ARE NOT ONE ALREADY - DRAW END JULY - THANKS GIRLS!***

My June RAK was won by Yolande Sowden & I am still to post her winning layout here soon!

Flying out again to get my son to vocal coaching, pick up my girls from the mall then create another layout due in today :)  HAPPY SCRAPPING!  I'll visit you soon - promise ♥

Hi Girls!  This is my last challenge as my DT term here is up & I have decided to move on to other things.  I have loved my time here with you all & thank you all for playing along with me so enthusiastically.  I have made many wonderful friends & I will continue to pop in & see you from time to time!  For now I am going to show you how I go about creating a floral layout for a BOY!
I LOVE pretty scrapbooking supplies & generally don't buy a lot of boy-themed scrapbooking products even though I have 2 sons & a husband.  Life is just too short to buy stash you just don;t like!  So...what to do???!!!  Use PRIMA of course!

1).  CHOOSE YOUR PHOTO.  To begin with you need a photo that is suitable.  Choose one where the clothes your subject is wearing are neutral if possible, as pages always look better if you can match your layout to the photo.

2)  EDIT YOUR PHOTO.  If your photo isn't already printed lighten it up using the "highlighter" slider - to make it "whiter" & to get rid of some of the background.  Play around with the light sliders in your editing program (and your saturation levels) so you end up with a photo that's suitable to work with.  That's half your battle won.

3)  CHOOSE YOUR PAPERS Now select your papers & other products that you think you may end up using on your layout.  I took out some Prima & Webster's Pages stash, although I ended up only using Prima on this layout.

I used Prima Madeline on my page as the colours are quite strong & not too pastel or feminine.

As you can see my background paper is mosly neutral & although I ended up using a floral border sticker there isn't much of it as it only appears in really small quantities at each side of my layout.
4.  FIND YOUR SKETCH/INSPIRATION.  Next, choose a sketch or an inspiration piece to work from, just to get your creative juices flowing & get you started.  I used the Prima BAP for this month.

5.   SHUFFLE. Start thinking about what you'll place where & start cutting & arranging your elements without actually adhering anything yet.  I didn't want to introduce another sheet of paper on top of my cardstock as they all looked too "girly" so I cut up my Prima Packaging (the acrylic doily shapes with the white printing) & adhered these in a scallop shape instead, then stuck them down using tiny amounts of tape on the white areas so that it wouldn't show through the front
6.  MiST/STAMP/PAINT/ETC.  If you are going to "treat" your background paper in any way now is the best time BEFORE you start adhering your elements into place.  I used Studio Calico "Mr Huey" Clover & Smooch Spritz Deep Red.

The trick with misting is to keep it light & get your angle right.  Slightly overshoot the page, don't squirt directly down onto it.  Rather too little than too much.

To achieve the splodge dots take off the lid & tap the top of it so that the drops slide down the suction tube onto your page.
7.  START STICKING.  I chose a journaling sticker for my frame & slid it under my photo before adhering it - so that my photo is framed just up in the top left - then I used a border sticker, cut to size, for the other 3 sides of my photo "frame" & stuck them down, then added the maroon floral border strip at each side of the photograph.  I fussy cut the journaling sentiment from some Prima paper & adhered this over the left-hand side of the photo to cover an ugly window that was in the background of the photo.

8. TITLE UP.  Once your foundation is in place (papers/photos/stickers, etc) add in your title BEFORE you embellish.  It is an integral part of your design so shouldn't look like an after-thought that you've had to squash in!

I used last season Prima alphabet stickers but wanted them a darker colour so I customised them using Colourbox inks in various shades of maroon & brown, to match my layout.
You mustn't be impatient & use these until they are completely dry or they'll smudge your beautiful, almost complete page!  So get up & go & put the dinner on, then come back to them in about 10 minutes!
9.  EMBELLISH.  Take a look at your flowers & other embellishments & decide which ones will work on a "boy" page.  I used my gold "Precious Metals" ones as the olde gold colour already looked good, but I customised them further by painting on a tiny bit of dark blue mist on one & maroon mist on the other.  I left them to dry then sealed them with a coat of clear glitter nail varnish.




I wanted to use a metallic Prima Vine but it looked too ostentatious, so I cut it up into 7 different pieces, discarded the thick central stem & glue-dotted the branches into place, bending them into the right shapes as I went along.

I added a pearl flower centre to the end of my title & a cut a Prima Bling Swirl into two pieces & tucked one underneath my metallic Vine scroll above my flower cluster & added the other half to the top of my journaling sentiment cut-out.  (I ended up using another vine but you get the idea!)

10.   Something I so often "almost" forget is to add the date!  This is REALLY important because future generations will be looking through your albums one day wanting to know all about "Great Uncle Jack" or whoever!  And without a date they'll just be guessing!

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial & are all ready to play along!  I will keep this challenge open until Sunday July 17th & will keep checking back for entries.

I will be choosing a winner on July 17th & will put in TWO entries for you into my July RAK which you can see below.  So you will have a double chance of winning it IF you leave a comment on my July RAK post AND are a follower of my blog (if not you can become one).  You can find my blog @ http://helentilbury.blogspot.com & look out for the RAK post coming up any time in July (before the 17th).  You can leave a comment as soon as you see this post (to be in with a chance to win even if you don't get the challenge in on time) then when I am choosing a RAK winner I will the challenge winner here an extra number (chance of winning) in my July RAK when I draw it at the end of July.
As you can see it's all BOY STASH & I'm just not that into it anymore!  But there is tons of stuff there.  Lots of colourful brads, chipboard, metals, rub-ons, Bingo cards & other game cards, felt words, tags, sentiments, stickers & alphas so if you want to WIN A CHANCE TO WIN!!  please play along & CREATE A FLORAL LAYOUT for one of the men/boys in your life!  Enjoy!!

30 comments:

Jessy Christopher said...

Your tutorial is FAB!! TFS the step-by-step, I enjoyed it. Love how you did the title, clever :) Yummy RAK too!!

tania said...

i agree 100% i can stick a prima flower ANYWHERE!!lol!!
lovely layout,beautiful boy:)

Kiki Aposeki said...

Another great job! Thanks for the instructions!

Lynette Jacobs said...

Great tutorial and great page Helen...you can make almost anything work with your flair.

Anne said...

Thank you for the great tutorial and the inpsiration. You make it look really easy but I am sure when I do it, it will just look weird !!I will give it a go anyway and come back and show you !!

Alison said...

Sorry to hear you're leaving the DT at SC...you will be missed, but I reckoned you would move on. Love the LO and will try to come up with something for the challenge!
Alison xx

Kerryn said...

Another fabulous page Helen!! You've made Prima work so well here. Love that you've used the doily packaging too :).

Oh and as for that "secret". Yes, it is a little frustrating. Hopefully we'll hear soon.

Kirsty Vittetoe said...

That is such a cool and fabulous layout, love those layers of prima backing doilies, so lovely!
And thanks for the step by step tutorial, it is always cool to see clear photos and instruction here!

Sharm Nidyanandan said...

OMG!! what a superb layout Helen!! Love wat u did with the alphas!! so cool!! :) Thanks for sharing a tute too on how you put this together dear!! :)

Leonie said...

absolutely gorgeous Helen. totally adore what you did to jazz up the alpha's, fantastic! Cheers.x

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

ABSOLUTELY LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEE how you put that lo together!! Just GORGEOUS! I loveeeeeeeeeeeee loveeeeeeeeeeeee that photo, what you did with the flowers and the doilies! And loving your AWESOME RAK!! Thanks for the chance! :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

Yolande (pronounced you-land-a) said...

Your layout is simply amazing Helen! I love the misted background, the way you've altered your flowers and created your title. Gotta love that Prima packaging too..so versatile. :) Have a fabulous holiday...you're leaving this weekend I think? A really wonderful opportunity to spend time with the family...travel safely.

Jasmine S said...

The misting and doilies look ace and what a fab page for a boy. How on earth can you use such beautiful flowers and mist and doilies yet make it look like it was all meant for a boy?
LOVE IT.

Eila Sandberg said...

Boss not yet in so I'm immediately off to visit you :) I'm all with you about flowers working just fine for boy pages too, you've seen pinks together with DH in my pages! Really love your customized Primas. Your tuts are just the best Helen, so easy to follow and no fuss. Waiting for some new mists to arrive, so I'll definitely be testing out techniques soon. Love all the inks you've used. The photo of Jack is just fab, he's catwalk material you know. Hope you'll have a wonderful time with your family sweetie! did you ever get to plop the Converse in the washing machine by the way he he ... Mille gracie for your visit, always treasure them dearly and you're absolutely right in assuming English is not my first language. Mwah mwah mwah!! xxx

Mel said...

Wow, what an awesome Tute, I love this layout, I too am sick of doing boy layouts without all the pretties so can get so much motivation from this. Jack is so handsome and the way you have scrapped him is amazing, the misting is awesome, the flowers with the dimensional product on them and the lettering is fantastic my girl. You rock. Melxx

Irini said...

Fabulous tutorial.....gorgeous layout....I backed up my blog too!! thanks for all the info you are a star!!

sandi said...

HELEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can not say enough about this lo! STUNNING!!!!! Thank you for your instructions...just fab!

Linda Brun said...

WOW... This is such a beautiful layout. I love it. Thank you for the great inspiration!! Also thank you for sweet comment in my blog.
Hugs

Karen Shady said...

my goodness Helen... You have so many wonderful ideas and tips... I love the nail polish idea... brilliant..... thnaks so much for sharing your wonderful wisdom... you are one very talented lady :)

Karen x

Unknown said...

Oh my goodness Helen what an absolutely great tutorial , love, love love boy pages with flowers and yours just ROCKS!

Cynthia Lloréns said...

Absolutely GORGEUS work..and the tutorial is so fantastic!!!!! You did a wonderful and explendid job my dear friend!!!!You are my hero!!

You are such a sweet and nice friend...I just love your visit always..makes me very happy !!!
Have a wonderful day !!!!
Kisses and huges from Brazil
Cynthia

yyam said...

Oh wow! Love the background on your layout...just awesome! :)

Pearl said...

oooo ! all your tips here are delish ! will have to come back & look again when I start another layout! ;)

Maggie Lamarre said...

This is gorgeous, luv the details for the title..
Don't forget to add it to our linking party for our readers to discover your blog at

http://www.passionatelyartistic.com/2011/06/2011-4th-of-july-celebration-menu-from.html
Maggie
http://passionatelyartistic.com

Anne said...

Hi Helen, I have managed to make a page of Harry with flowers on them but I am not sure how to link it to your scrapbook challenge blog !! ( I am blond you see !! )

Kim Sonksen said...

What an amazing page and wonderful tutorial.
Absolutely stunning

dstandard said...

This is amazing - you put so much work into each page - and it shows - gorgeous!

Annette Ysseldyk said...

What a great LO! I'm always struggling when it comes to using flowers on a boy's page, but you make it work. That's a great RAK too! I always seem to be short on boys' supplies, so I'd love to win it! I'm devoting the next couple of days to this LO.

Sherri said...

I am a follower now. I did this challenge and posted at Scrapbook challenges. wonderful example!

Annette Ysseldyk said...

Love your tutorial, and your LO! Also, I just wanted to mention that I'm a follower of your blog and I came from Scrapbook Challenges, where I posted my own LO for this challenge. :)