Tuesday Tutorial | Scraps and Bits

Hello all!

Wendy here to share up the Tuesday Tutorial and a crafty, quick and clever technique for using your scraps and bits.

If you are like me, you like to stretch your kits down to the last scrap and think of unique ways to use up all those trimmings and bits of papers.  Side note....I'm definitely not requesting anyone to confess to being a paper scrap hoarder....but this tutorial just my be the solution for you. Ha!

I really liked the paper in the kit but decided I wanted to cut it apart and have it be more of an impact on my layout. I loved how the square accents on the paper weren't exactly "square" shapes but "wonky squares" (i.e. not so perfect).  Hope that makes sense.  I like to choose a fun and whimsical paper for this technique.

So, I decided to cut out some of my favorite bits from the paper.  Also, look at your matching embellishments in the kit to add in some dimension and break up the "all paper" monotony effect on the layout.  Additionally, I added in a few rubber accents included in the kit within random areas among my squares.

Just a helpful trick, I prefer to arrange my squares on my layout and play around with placement BEFORE adhering to my layout with a glue pen (or your favorite adhesive).  In this way, if some shapes are not balanced, you can move around easily the shapes before committing with the adhesive.

Then, I take the plunge and commit with the glue pen in adhering down my shapes.

As a finishing touch, add in some stamping with the exclusive stamps from the shop, a couple of fun pictures of choice, and embellishments.

So, look through you paper stash, scraps and bits to see what will work for you in this technique.  You just might be surprised what you may find hiding around.

Overall, have some fun with your scraps and bits.

Wendy

Simple Travel Notebook Spread With Simple Embellishments

So when you scrapping and you end up with some die cut ephemeras, sentiments and stickers you still can create pretty and minimalist Travel Notebook Spread. All you have to do is prepare the TN, your fav pen for the handwriting, and also the stamp. All of the die cut and also the leather stickers are in Main Scrapbook Kit and also add on kit for March 2017.

 

This is my full spread using it. This spread is about me and what happend on me in February 2017. I try to focus on the summary of my life using my small handwriting so you don't have to use so many embellishments. For the left page I just decorate it using some die cut ephemeras and also do some stamping.

 

I'm not scare to let the blank space and just decorate the bottom area.

For the right side, I print out two square photos in strips of me. Do some layering with some tags and ephemeras. I also still can do stamping to decorate my photo.

I paste the stickers randomly first and after that I did handwriting. That is the best way to make your layout looks so full and end up pretty.

So you still can do memory keeping with what you got. Don't be scare just start and you will see the pretty result.

Love : Evelynpy

3 To Inspire with Emma

Hi friends!  Emma here with another 3-To-Inspire challenge! 

We share this challenge every Saturday for those of you that are looking for a little extra push to get scrapbooking, to keep scrapbooking, or those just looking for a challenge (and the chance to win a little something is an added bonus!).

I hope you'll join in with me this week using the following prompts:

1. Use 2 colours only (can go with multiple shades of the same colour though)
2. Use multiple photo's (3+)
3. Use your stamps!  This one is a big challenge for me; stamps intimidate me haha.

 And here's a look at the page I created:

As you can see I went with green and pink for my page.  I printed my photo's so they looked like a photo strip and centered them on my page.   And to add some contrast I went with black embellishments - I think they really pop against the white/green.

I really love the black foam stickers out of the main kit this month - they are the perfect script font! (don't I wish I could write like that!).  The 'hello fun' tag is actually from the 12x12 (Pink Fresh) paper in the main too.

Don't look to closely at my stamping effort but I am kind of proud that I used them for a change!  Don't get me wrong, I love stamps (and I've got a 6x8 album full of them!) but I always forget to actually use them or I worry that I'll mess a page up just trying to use them, haha.  I used the main kit stamp plus the "Camera Roll" and "Life Adventures 3x4" stamps here :) 

The black paper clips from the Embellishment kit are just adorable!  I popped one one of the black foam hearts on top to add a little more dimension to the top of my page (I also popped a foam dot under the right edge of the paperclip so it sits off the page a bit too).

Now it's your turn! Use the three prompts to create your own projects and share them with us here in the gallery and/or our Facebook Forum.  I really can't wait to see your pages!

Thanks, Em xo

House + Love = Home | Mini Album with Elsie

Hey CTK friends, it's Elsie here and I'm really excited to share the mini album I made with this month's Oliver kit. I had such a blast working with this kit!

To me, creating the structure of mini albums always seems like a really overwhelming and gruelling task, because I’m impatient to get into the fun decorating bit. But the 6x4 chipboard pieces in this months Main kit, made the mini album ‘construction’ super easy! 

I created a cover from the chipboard pieces, a small piece of cardboard (for the spine), some fabric and mod podge… and that’s it! No fancy tools or tricks and I had a sturdy and pretty album cover in no time. You can totally switch out the fabric cover for paper, but I think the fabric gives the album an extra bit of durability, and I’m notorious for accidentally ruining paper mini album covers!

Also to decorate the spine I used the Life Adventures stamp set and heat embossed the label with some gold embossing powder, for some extra sparkle!

I decided to split the book into two halves. The left side holds a small pocket which I'm storing a couple of spare photos and a tag with some journalling on it. And on the right side, I made this book out of white cardstock which is bound together with an accordion folded spine. (I'll hopefully have a tutorial up on my YouTube channel by the end of the week, to show you exactly how I made this)

This little book isn't actually adhered to the cover. I decided to not attach it because as you can see, it's a little chunky (!) so I wanted to be able to remove it so it was easier to look through. 

The first spread in the book doesn't have a photo. I wanted to create a title page and I mainly used some of the pieces from the Domestic Bliss ephemera pack (from the Sprinkles kit), to create a little scene.

This might be my favourite page in the album as it really makes me smile. The household ephemera pieces worked so perfectly with this photo that I've been wanting to document for a while. I was also pretty proud of using that washing machine, as I didn't think I would be able to find a way to use it as it is!

I love the spring colours in the papers from the Main kit, I grabbed a couple of flower and leaves stamps from my stash and fussy-cut them out. This was a super simple technique, but I love how fresh the page feels.

I love the exclusive CTK paper in this month's kit, it's such a gorgeous shade of yellow. I only have the tiniest scrap of it left, and I'm seriously going to have to hoard it!!

The Crate Paper cut-apart sheet from the Oasis collection had some really lovely elements I could to fussy-cut out. This page came together really easily because of that. And the exclusive cork pieces and stamps set from CTK were the perfect finishing touches to use for this page. I love that 'shenanigans' stamp, it's such a fun phrase to use!

I always like to make my mini albums as tactile as possible, so I always try to include different textures, flaps and pockets with hidden journalling or photos and windows... so I literally created a little window, where you can see the photos on both pages at once. I think this looks super whimsical and works well with the "home" theme of this album. 

Thanks for joining me today, I hope your inspired to create a mini album with this month's kit! 

- Elsie x

Sunday Sketch | Gina Rodgers

Happy Sunday everyone! I'm here with this week's fun sketch and hoping you can play along too!

and here is my take on the sketch..I've changed it up just slightly, according with what I had to work with in the gorgeous Oliver Main + Sprinkles kits, such as using pattern paper rather than tags and reducing the banner at the top of the page. It's always fun to put your own spin on your creations.

To play along this week, create a layout inspired by the sketch and upload it to the CTK gallery, include today's date in the title (03/19) One lucky winner will receive a $5 gift certificate to spend in the CTK Store

Have fun!

Gina x

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In My Studio with Andrea! Yay!

Hello! It's Andrea here and today I want to share with you my creative space! Well...one of them. I have a few places I like to create...in the living room is one, hanging out with my hubby, on the couch with my scrap stuff spread on the coffee table. And I also have a designated “scrapbook/craft room”. However, because of my CRPS condition, I was finding it increasingly hard to get over to my craft room or the living room to create so I asked my husband last year if we could set up our bedroom so that I could scrap and craft and plan, etc in bed! I am now a huge fan of this idea and I have been encouraging other people who suffer with different disabilities or health conditions or illnesses to scrap in bed also! It has been such a gift to set up my bedroom to make it easier and more comfortable for me to create. I love it!

My husband built me a special desk that I can slide, kind of like a really long tray, over the side of the bed and just sit in bed and work on my projects! It is my “bed desk” and it is so awesome! My husband, Ryan, is an amazing carpenter so the desk is perfectly designed to fit my needs! When I'm not using it, it has a spot in the bedroom where it just sits nicely, below some wall decor pieces that I made (like the little house shelf and the 3 hearts)!

I also asked Ryan if he could make some sort of storage for me to go in the bedroom and so he built a special shelving unit that I designed, which perfectly fits all my mini albums and displays them. It also has cubbies to hold my 12x12 plastic containers which I use to keep different collections and my Citrus Twist kits. And at the bottom, I designed a cute little cabinet section that holds other product and tools and my larger albums and layouts.

I also have a really cute vintage desk in my bedroom. It is up against the window and we painted it pink and it is just my favorite! I love the sweet little vintage pink chair that sits in front of it too. They are not the same pink and I love that! I think they just compliment each other and the rest of the room. I love that when I need to sew, I can just pull the chair out and sit at that desk which holds my sewing machine and do some fun stitching on my layouts and tags and things.

My mom bought me a We R Memory Keepers wall storage piece that holds my paints and glitters and punches and things. The outside is useful too because it has white boards and chalk boards that I can write on and put notes to myself.

I have these cool smaller storage pieces and containers that I have collected over the years to go in my bedroom scrap space. I have newer things from Crate Paper, like the muffin tin that is perfect for holding embellishments like the exclusive cut-apart pieces from the Citrus Twist kits and other ephemera. It is so easy to pull from when I am working on a project and I can see everything easily. 

I also have some neat vintage containers like the aqua depression glass dish with the lid that I like to keep paperclips and things in. I have some wooden boxes and divided storage pieces that my hubby made for me which I love so much! The big pink one that sits on my mobile “bed desk” is so great because I can fit everything for one project in it – the 12x12 papers, the chipboard stickers, the alpha thickers, the ephemera and other embellishments, and I love the drawer at the bottom too because I can put my pictures in there. And for my markers and pens and scissors, I use a simple mason jar.

Here, you can see me working at my “bed desk”(yes, in bed!), using the amazing March “Oliver” kit to do some planner decorating! You can even see the sheets in some of the photos. I hope that this all gives you an idea of how and where I create and that maybe I have inspired you to scrap in your bed too! Wherever you decide to create though, have fun and happy National Craft Month!!!

xoxoxoxo – Andrea (i.e. Fairytale Scrapbook)