Today | Tic Tac Toe | Elaine King

Good morning all

Today I am delighted to bring you a layout featuring our monthly Tic Tac Toe challenge card here

To start with I cut the black circle background paper that I first obtained as a free cut file from the UK Scrappers 

forum. They hold a wealth of free files for your own use so why not pop in for a look to see what's available?

I then chose my photo and selected a collection of papers that included black in. I came across this Simple 

Stories, Bliss collection,  that I bought from Craft4Eternity as a monthly page kit. 

I cut a selection of three strips from the Enjoy the Ride sheet and Remember to Shine page too. I then punched 

several 1 & 1/4" circles and placed these in a circle around the edge of the placement of the photo. I then 

mounted this on co-ordinating card-stock and mounted this on foam pads on top of the circle of circles to 

give dimension. I then drew some 'stitches' on all the papers too. 

a 

To embellish I used several flowers from my stash and a journalling card along with some stickers from the 

Bliss sticker sheet and a chipboard butterfly and bird from the same collection.

The Today title was made using a sticker and then mounted on a piece of yellow paper scrap which I then fussy 

cut around.

The little flair badge was for a collection that I bought from Lottie Loves Paper. I added some strips of washi tape 

in co-ordinating colours and the pink arrows were cut using my Silhouette Cameo.

I hope you like what you see.. don't forget to pop over to the shops mentioned above. ..they hold such lovely pretty 

things to stroke!!! Lol 

Superstar | 6" paper pad | Elaine King

Good morning all. 

My turn up on the blog today showing you my way to use up 6" paper pads. These can be very versatile to use for scrapbooking as they are, of course, already perfectly co-ordinated and even have nice little pop out ephemera all ready to use. 

To start with I found a photo I was keen to scrap, (my Mum and I back in March at her birthday celebration.) She was, conveniently, wearing a black sequin top and I too had a jumper with a silver star all in sequins too. How handy was that? 

Anyway, I went through my, not inconsiderable, collection of pads and found this one from Heidi Swapp which had pale blue, black and dotty papers that I knew would work with my photo. I found this pad at TK Maxx when they used to stock a decent range of craft supplies. 

I 

I then matted my photo onto some black card that I got from Crafts4Eternity. Michele who runs the group stocks very good card stock that is brilliant for mixed media too. 

Once I had done this I took several sheets of the pad and cut them into 3/4" strips which I then cut further into 2" blocks ready for the herringbone piecing. I then inked all of the edges for definition. This was my practice run

To start I tried all of the pieces on the background card to make sure I had tried all the combinations to form my herringbone pattern. When I was happy I then took to sticking them all down. 

TIP: Use wet glue at this stage as it gives you more 'wriggle room' than DST or tape runners. 

Here it is.. almost straight! lol 

When they were all stuck down and dried I trimmed the overhang off the black card stock from C4E too. I then mounted the photo. 

To finish I added some die cut stars and sequin stars to embellish finishing off with some silver alphas for the title. 

I do hope the team are inspiring you this month to start using up those long hoarded paper pads. I know they are me! 

Thanks for stopping by, do remember to let us know you've visited. 

'til later

UK Scrap Addicts| Elaine King | 6 x 4 photo

Good morning all

Thanks for joining me again on my journey showcasing British suppliers in the UK Scrapbooking industry. It gives me so much pleasure to support these small businesses and share my experiences with you all. 

For this month's prompt the Creative Team were tasked with creating a layout using just one 6 x 4 photo. As this is something I do regularly I wasn't fazed by this challenge but I wanted to share some techniques with you that may inspire you to get involved too. 

To start with I took several pieces of scrap white card stock and cut them into rectangles and layered them on a white background. I adhered them with medium gel and spread texture paste using a pallet knife to create texture. I also used a stencil with the same texture paste to add further interest.

Next I took some Tim Holtz Distress Oxides, (bought from Crafts4Eternity in Weston Super Mare) and added some pink and grey and misted with water to give it a splattered look. Once dried I then took an inch off each edge and layered the white cardstock onto a pink sheet of card (having gutted it first to use later).

I then took some scrap of pink and grey patterned papers an arranged them over the top of the textured rectangles with some die cuts I'd had for a while in my stash that one of my dear friends had cut for me. We got to know each other through the UK Scrappers forum and I am still an active member there. It's a shame more people aren't so if you have a spare few minutes, why not pop over and say hello? 

Anyway.. then I used some Prima washi tape, also sourced from Crafts4Eternity from one of their add ons from a monthly page kit, and layered this too. 

Finally I added the photograph that I had matted on  the gutted pink card and decorated with flowers from my stash. The little word expressions to the left of the photo are from a sticker sheet from Kaisercraft called P.S. I Love You as is the little heart above the photo too. 

I do hope you like the layout and it gives you some ideas how to use some of your scraps and add dimension. 

Thanks for stopping by!

UK Scrap Addicts| Monochrome layout

Good morning Everyone

Thanks for joining me on my first blog post since becoming a member of the UKScrap Addicts Creative Team.

Today I am bringing you a layout using a monochrome colours. There was some discussion in the team as to how we would define Monochrome, but essentially we all agreed that using just one colour, regardless of how many tones there were, and, if you would like to, adding in a tiny amount of black in amongst the colour was the definition. I hope that helps?

So, here is my layout.

For this I decided to use one of my all time favourite collections from Kaisercraft that I originally sourced from Merly Impressions, one of the leading Kaisercraft suppliers in the UK. This collection is called  Indigo Skies and, of course, is predominantly blue! Lol

To start my layout, I used a starry stencil using texture paste that I had added a little denim coloured distress ink too. 

I then used a 3" piece of the collection paper to pace at the left hand side where I then added two further strips of paper too. I then set about fussy cutting several flowers from the patterned papers and created a cluster at the bottom left of the photo and added a tag and some strips of paper on the right.

I added several enamel dots and a twirl of blue and white bakers twine in amongst the cluster and added a couple of wood veneers that I had coloured with distress ink too. 

One of my favourite 'techniques' and one that gets overlooked a lot, is to literally take a few 'chomps' of punched edge from the sides too. Once I had done this I trimmed the paper down to 11" x 11" and backed it onto a piece of blue cardstock too. 

I do hope you will join in our challenge this month..especially as we are in the month of National Scrapbooking Day too! Go on! Have some fun and do let us know what you've been up to. 

Some exciting news!

Good morning all

Well today I have some very exciting news! 

I'm delighted to announce that I have been selected to become a new ambassador and designer for the UK Scrap Addicts Blog! What an honour to be chosen amongst so many talented designers. Thank you to the selection team. 

So, what does this mean? Well, for a twelve month stint, starting next month, I am to join the team and will be designing layouts for you to glean inspiration from to kick start your own projects. 

Each month I will be selecting a layout and/ or technique showcasing as many English brands and companies as I can and sharing lots of other hints, tips and projects from other designers on the team aswell. I do hope you will be joining me on my journey and will be commenting on the blog posts that myself and my fellow ambassadors will be sharing with you. 

Here are the the layouts I submitted for my DT application, I look forward to designing more for you as time goes along. Let's get behind the British Scrapbooking movement everyone! 

I hope these may keep you going until my term starts in June later this year! 

In the meantime I look forward 'seeing' you all online. 

Elaine

x

Some fresh layouts from me

Good morning all

I thought I 'd come on here and surprise you all with an update of my recent layouts made within the last month. 

Some were made at a retreat I went to in Birmingham recently and some were made at my local crop in Tonbridge, Kent, wherever they were made, I hope you like! 

I used a sketch from Stuck?! Sketch blogspot for this and added it to the White With One challenge blog aswell. 

This was made using Stampin' Up Designer Series Paper in Navy

This was made using a kit from Crafts4Eternity 

I dug out my Silhouette Cameo to create this cut file and used Kaisercrafts Let's Party collection

This was created using Kaisercrafts's Mint Wishes collection. I made the Christmas Tree using origami folds. 

This was another Crafts4Eternity kit

This was made using scraps of lots of collections

This was made using Simple Stories Winter Wonderland. I bought this collection from the wonderful PrettyMyPage shop

Another using the same collection 

And the final one using this collection. 

I hope you like what you see? Do let me now which one is your personal favourite..it'll make my day! 

Elaine

xx

Kaisercraft blog challenge hexagon layout

morning all

A very quick blog post from me today using the Open Road collection. From Kaisercraft.
My beautiful niece inspired me with this lovely photo of her in this hat whilst on holiday within Australia where she now lives.

I am entering this into the Kaisercraft February 2018 blog challenge..wish me luck!

Elaine

xxx

Kaisercraft Open Road collection Layout

Good morning everyone

It’s Elaine here today and I have pleasure bringing you a scrapbook layout using the Open Road collection and the fabulous Australia shaped die cut from the collection.

To start making the layout, first I took the Undiscovered paper from the Open Road collection. I then took a 3″ strip from the Prospecting paper and matted it on a piece of Sprout cardstock. I then stuck this on the left hand side of the base paper.

I then layered the Australia shaped die cut paper over the top and set about matting the six circular photos onto Toffee Weave Kaisercard. I had five photos I wanted to use for the layout (it’s a great way to use up multiple photos like this). However, I couldn’t make the five photos work effectively so I used a page from the 6.5″ paper pad and cut the bottom photo out of one of sheets. It’s very realistic looking isn’t it? The pad and the whole collection has iconic photos of Australia within it including their ‘outback’ page which is featured twice in the paper pad and once in the whole collection and is called Unearth in the 12″ papers

I then set about using embellishing the die cut using the Collectables pack and a extra elements that I fussy cut from the paper pad.

To finish I added the leaves from the collectables pack to link all of the circles around the edge and added my title.

I think you’ll agree this collection is just fab for all those travel photos you may have if you’ve been lucky enough to visit Australia, or have family there, as I do.

I do hope this has given you some ideas. Don’t forget to show us what you have created with your collection by linking your blog post to this post or, alternatively, adding it to the Merly Impressions Facebook page or to the Kaisercraft Corner Facebook Page where you can share all your creations using any Kaisercraft collection. I look forward to seeing you there!

Elaine

x

Kaisercraft Porcelain Rose scrapbook Layout

Good morning all

Today I am bringing you a scrapbook layout using a vintage Kaisercraft collection called Porcelain Rose. 

I am entering this into the Kaisercraft November Blog challenge. This month this come in the form of a bingo square to complete. 

For my take on the challenge I used the second line down which includes, two photos, stencil, title 'A Picture Perfect Day' and a white background only. 

I chose this Kaisercraft collection because it had the blues and reds in it that both my husband and my granddaughter were wearing.. And it helped me use up the papers I'd just been 'stroking' for some while! Lol

I used a KC stencil with texture paste to create the large rosette at the top of the page then liberally misted the page with spray inks. Once dried I used the collection for the background and added the embellishments. Most of the items are from Kaisercraft, including the little wooden butterflies and the bird. I inked these in an ombré effect to match the papers. 

I do hope you like my take on this challenge. Do let me know you've visited..it'll make my day!  

Elaine

Xx

Kaisercraft Mint Wishes Christmas Card

Good Morning all

Elaine here again, this time bringing you two card made using the scrumptious Mint Wishes Collection.

The first card I am bring you is an easel card, now I’m not saying you should make lots of these      cards as that would be way too time consuming, but making them for the special people in your life would certainly put a smile on their faces I’m sure.

To make the card I followed a You Tube tutorial and there are lots on easel cards to choose from, so… once I had the base made ( I used a smooth piece of white cardstock) I took a 12″ sheet of Forest Paper as the background of the front piece. I have made my card at 7″ x 6″, however, this paper also features in the 6.5″ paper pad too so you could make the card slightly smaller to accommodate that size paper instead.

I then covered the base of the card with a piece of Shiver Paper and then mounted a piece of the reverse of the same Shiver Paper on silver Mirror card and mounted it using Mounting Foam Tape to create the ‘stop’ on the easel card. I inked all of these paper pieces with the Island Ink Pad.  I then die cut some silver flowers using a die from my stash but I think these individual snowflake dies would work just as well.

I then created a floral cluster using a large Poinsettia using this Decorative Die, centred with a Sea Breeze Sparklet, that I mounted on an inked frame that I got in a Little Birdie collection previously. I then used several die cuts from the collectables pack, some silver mirror card flourishes (cut using my own die), some cheesecloth gauze, and two flowers from the Little Birdie Chrissy blooms.

As a final flourish I splattered watered down white acrylic paint over the cluster and added small white pearls as a flower centre and on the frame and bottom left corner.

I do hope you’ll give this a try!

For my next card I took a 6″ square white card base and added a piece of silver mirror card slightly smaller to the front. I then distressed a 5.5″ square piece of the reverse of the Logs Paper and sponged it using the Baubles Mini Designer stencil and a black ink pad.

I then used my Sew Easy Stitch Piercer to make holes to sew using White embroidery thread. I used double sided tape to stick this to the mirror card and added a piece of cheesecloth as a base for my Christmas cluster.

I added a Kaisercraft Rhinestone flourish, two die cut flowers and leaves from the Mint Wishes collectables Pack that I then centred with Silver Glass Glitter. I added a couple of flowers from my stash too, (also with glass glitter added to the centres), and a die cut flourish cut from silver mirror card using my own die. To finish I used a little more wet glue and sprinkled extra glass glitter to the cheesecloth base with some tiny polystyrene balls to represent snow together with a doily die cut and a saying also from the collectables pack.

So, I hope you like my two cards for those special people in your life and that my tips will give you some ideas to create your own. Do let us know if you do, won’t you?

Elaine x