Talking colour with Suse

Hey friends! So happy to be back with you today. I thought we might have a little chat about colour... do you have your favourites that you always gravitate towards? I certainly do! A *lot* of my layouts feature my very favourite colours, pink and mint.

But for this layout, I wanted more 'pop' than pastel... so here are a few of my tips for getting a really fresh, zingy look on your page.

I love papers like this original Citrus Twist Kits design: it's fresh and bright, but has those gorgeous graphic elements positioned in just the right places to really help frame your cluster. So from the word go, there's colourful interest happening in the background without it overwhelming anything.

My next tip would be to be a tiny bit braver and take a side-step away from your regular favourites. The bubblegum pink of her t-shirt looks delightful next to that bright hit of canary yellow; the hot pink title really zings on it's jade background. And I love how the turquoise flair works next to that yellow heart. 

We've even got bright red in there with the strawberry design on her top... but to me, the colours don't clash. They just pop away next to each other quite happily!

I've not used them on this layout, but other accent colours that work well alongside our girly favourites include orange, periwinkle blue and lime green. And of course: black and white!

My final tip for using bright colours is to keep the colour pops restrained. In the same way that a pair of red and turquoise cushions look awesome on a plain white sofa, make sure you're leaving plenty of white space, both to allow your image to breathe and to allow your eye to rest as it roams the page.

Thank you so much for joining me today: I'd love to hear your tips on how you use colour a little more bravely!

So Much Love

Good Morning!  I'm here today to share a little page I made this week.  As soon as I opened my box of goodies, I knew exactly what photo I was going to use the little bear with.  In fact, I had been anxiously awaiting his arrival.

My littlest munchkin has this stuffed bear.  She has had him since she was about 18 months old.  She still has him and sleeps with him every night.  Once he was even lost.  For three months.  Apparently he felt the need to hibernate in a cooler in the pantry.  She was the saddest little buggy when we couldn't find him.

Anyway...I ran across this photo in my FB memories a while back and was dying to make a page with it.  Along came that darling little bear with the September main kit and this page was made.  I think he is just perfect.

I used the "Maggie" September main kit for this page as well as bits from the "Like a Girl" add-on and the Sprinkles kit.

That's it from me today.  Thank you for stopping by to read my little story and have a look at my page.  Have a wonderful day.

Brenda

Let's get digital with Aimee Dow

I've decided I'm going to be a cut file designer. I don't expect it to make me millions or even enough to fill a piggy bank. It will however be a great defence when my husband asks why I have doodled all over our latest electricity bill - I was inspired and it just couldn't wait. Having said that here is my my latest doodle "design" from the back of the target receipt.

No one should ever leave their fine liners unguarded around me, but the good news is that you all benefit! Just click on the raw gem design above and you can download the .svg file and/or the .jpg file from my google drive. Then the word is your oyster. Make it big and use up all your pattern paper scraps filling it in, shrink it down and add it to you clusters or even make it your boarder. Just think of the possibilities. Jewel layouts for girls AND boys. Any page that you can put "Crystal Clear" in the title. Hell you could even back it with brown and do a layout about the outdoors or rock climbing. Me? Well I choose "You are such a Gem".

I made the page with this months Main and Sprinkles kit. The sprinkles kit has some really great little gem looking ephemera in it. I love the subtle use of the cut file here. It filled a huge gap in my design too. If you'd like to give this cut file a go I would LOVE to see it. You can tag @aimee_dow on instagram. Oh and don't forget to hashtag it #citrustwistkits and #aimeedow.

Aimee Xx

Sunday Sketch 9/4

Good morning!  I can hardly believe we are already in September. Where did the year go?  Of course today is Sunday which means it is time for a new sketch.

Here is my page using the sketch. I stuck pretty close to the original.  I loved the simplicity of it and how it helped me to highlight one of my favorite photos from this summer.

September "main" kit

My favorite part is the painted wood veneer word.  I used a metallic acrylic paint to make it shiny.


Now it is your turn to create something with the sketch.  Don't forget to upload to the gallery or facebook group for the chance at a $5 gift certificate.  Place 9/4 in your title so we don't miss your page.

Brenda