Hey there crafty friends, welcome back to the SN blog.
The starting of a new year for many is a fresh start, a time to start new routines, or make resolutions. Personally, I think we can make changes anytime throughout the year and I’ve been thinking about this change to several months. I have some creative goals set out and I have to make some changes to accomplish them. One goal is making space for more creative time (including videos)…I burned the midnight oil and got it finished.
The first video from me for 2019. Check!
The Nerds challenged us to use the theme Change/New Beginnings for our projects. I got out one of my big Dina Wakley Media journals along with some other products from DW.
I did not have a plan for this when I started except that I wanted to use a Face from the DW Faces Collage paper pack.
I hope you enjoy seeing how this page evolves.
Stay tuned later this week the rest of the creative team here at SN will be sharing their projects using the same theme.
Let me know in a comment if you’ve set any creative goals this year and what they are.
Happy crafting!
It is getting closer and closer to the magical days of Christmas. We are so excited to welcome the holidays and document all the memories that come with this season. Our Design Team has been busy creating projects that will inspire you. First up Mari.
Mari created these Christmas Tags using the Lawn Fawn Say What tag dies and the Lawn Fawn Holiday Critters stamp and dies. The patterned paper used as accents is from the Really Rainbow Christmas, also from Lawn Fawn. There are so many options with these stamps and dies; the middle tag has a shaker element using sequins and shaker mix from Studio Katia.
It’s fun to make your own tags at Christmas time to attach to a gift for someone you love! They will adore these fun tag elements! Thank you so much Mari for these beautiful tags!
Next up is Nathalie and her colorful Holiday layout,
This week’s tutorial focuses on creating embellishments that will work with the ones in the Holiday collections, Nathalie chose the new Merry Days collection from Crate Paper, and used mixed media and cut files to create the colorful background.
You can read more about her layout and see how it all came together in the previous post. The colors of the trees are nicely accented with gold and embellishments from the collection.
Well, that is all for us today. We would be taking a small break to enjoy our families and the season, so let us take this opportunity to wish you all peace, love and joy during the upcoming Christmas and thank you for all your support this year, we wish only the best for 2019.
It is December! Cue the confetti!!! it is the jolliest and happiest of times (for some of us that is!) so, what better way than to celebrate it with color. Today, I want to show you a simple way to make the most out of your Holiday collections while customizing some embellishments for your layout.
When I think Christmas, I always think of festive times with lots of color. Unfortunately, the Merry Days collection from Crate Paper has color, but it is not as vibrant or festive as i have in mind for this layout. Then, my choice was to create my own embellishments that will bring that much needed color to the page. The following video will show you how it all came together:
As you can appreciate from the video, the colorful Christmas trees are customized to bring vibrancy to the existing colors of the collection. The color is saturated in the trees so that they can show the small drops of white paint that are trying to create snow capped branches.
The colorful trees are the basis for this page, as they bring the color and focus of the page to the picture of my two kids on their last day of school before the Christmas break.
By adding accents of gold in the embellishments used in the page, I am able to marry the new created colors to the pre manufactured stickers and embellishments.
All the colorful embellishments and background of thie page are the perfect background for this happy memory of my kids a few years ago.
I really hope you are inspired to customized embellishments and backgrounds for your next layout, Remember you can always contact me if you have questions on how this came together. Also, you can find all the materials used in this layout in the Scrapbook Nerd shelves so, stop by to check them and all the new arrivals.
The weather is cooling, the leaves are falling, PSL is back and we all are looking for our cozy sweaters… It is Fall, y’all!! What a great time to enjoy nature, and all its splendor; this was the inspiration for this week’s projects from our design team, “Fall Colors”. So, let’s see what they created, first up is Mari.
For fall colors week, Mari created an 8 1/2 x 11 Scrapbook layout using the Vicki Boutin Field Notes collection. Using the Art Crayons and Vicki Boutin stencils, Mari added some color to the white card stock. Some Irridescent Glaze was added through a stencil to create some texture on the layout.
Other stickers and die cuts from Field Notes have been added, as well as a strip of patterned paper to the top 1/4 of the layout. The black title piece has been added using the gorgeous phrase sticker sheets in black.
What a beautiful color combination and all the mixed media on the background. Gorgeous layout, Mari. Now let’s see Milena’s project.
Milena was up on the blog this week with her take on this week’ s sketch. She also chose to work with VIcki Boutin’s Field Notes collection and multiple Pictures.
You can find all the details of her page on the Sunday blog post. What a great sketch, and Oh, the possibilities! Thanks, Milena; and now let’s see what Nathalie created.
Nathalie was up on the blog’s Tuesday Tutorial spot. She chose to showcase how to create a color family for a multicolor background using Vicki Boutin’s Acrylic Pop Paints. You can find all the details and process video in the previous blog post.
The color combo, all the stamped images, and the vellum leaves are the perfect canvas for the sweet picture of her niece. Great layout, Nathalie.
Well, now it is time to use some of this inspiration on your projects. Remember to check Scrapbook Nerd store for all the materials used in these projects. There are so many new products arriving at the store, so make sure to stop by to check them all!
Nathalie with you today to bring you a new project inspired by the colors of Fall. This week we will be creating projects inspired by color, and i wanted to show you how to build a color family background using acrylic paints.
The colors used here are the ones in a Fall sunset (i found the colors by doing a Pinterest search, “Fall color palette”), and were replicated using Acrylic pop paints The key to having a cohesive look to the background -not harsh transitions between the color stripes- is to build the colors using a same color base. This means you start with the lightest color, in this case yellow, and create the colors using this as a base. The background color will be the one that softnes the transitions and help create a cohesive color family. The following video will show you how this page was put together:
How simple and colorful is that background?! The color stripes are the perfect base to bring the rest of the layout to live. The simple stenciled details are just subtle enough to add interest to the stripes
The leaf cut outs and stamped flowers are a great way to create clusters in this page without losing a large part of the background.
The smalls pop of gold complement all those ephemera pieces and stickers from Vicki Boutin Field Notes and All The Good Things collection.
The title brings the warm tones of Fall into this page, and complete the golden look of a modern Fall layout.
Remember to stop by Scrapbook Nerd to check all the materials used in this page, and all the new goodies that are always arriving at the store. As always please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions on how this came together.
It is time for the weekend!!! The perfect time to relax, rest and hopefully get creative. This week our DT has been sharing some beautiful projects that are sure going to inspire you this weekend.
First up is Gisele with a gorgeous layout that showcases Simple Stories I AM collection.
GIsele used papers from the Simple Stories”Cabin Fever” and Crate Paper’s “Flourish ” to create the background for this page. She created the butterfly embellishments by combining fussy cut butterflies from the I am collection, and some punched vellum.
Gisele added some layers of papers from the collection behind the picture and then added a few fussy cut flowers to the corners of her layers.
Gisele combined alphas from different American Crafts collection to create her title, and then used stickers from the I AM collection to complete her journaling. Such a beautiful page, Gisele!
Next up is Mari with a series of mini book ideas.
Mari created her first mini-book page using a piece of Bazzil Marshmallow card stock. The paper was trimmed to 6×6. Then, using the packaging technique, Mari added color to the white paper with Distress Oxide Inks in colors that complement the Amy Tangerine “Shine On” embellishments and paper.
For this 3×3 folded mini-book, Mari used Pink Paislee “Turn the Page”. The book is created using a 12×12 piece of patterned paper, folded into 3×3 squares in an accordian fold.
This 6×6 album was created by covering chipboard with patterned paper from Crate Paper “Willow Lane” and then embellished with a variety of Maggie Holmes collections.
These minis are so gorgeous, Mari! Thank you for sharing!
Last is Nathalie with this week’s Tuesday Tutorial that focus on using black paint as the background for your pages.
She combined a bit of black paint with Kaisercraft’s Fleur collection to create this page. You can find all the details, and watch her process video in the previous post.
Truly an eye catching layout!
Our DT has truly been sharing beautiful projects this week. We hope these inspire you to get creative and used them as inpiration to start a new project of your own! Have a great weekend!
Hope you all are doing well, now that Autumn is almost here! YAY!!!
For today’s tutorial, i want to focus on using a “Black Paint Background” for your next project. I know that the idea of adding mixed media is a tough one for many of you, so hearing of adding black acrylic paint to your page is probably making you scared. But i am hoping by the end of this post you will take a try at this technique.
Can you see all the black paint in the back? Well, though you can see peeks of the mixed media, all the layers of paper and embellishments also pop from the page. It has to do with the contrast between the background and the many layers that are forming this page. The following video will show you how this page came together:
Now that you have seen how this page turns out, let me give you a few tips on how to be successful on using and creating this type of backgrounds:
Use black acrylic paint (heavy body work a bit better, as they have less water which will prevent paper bucking)
A wide acrylic paint brush or a hard bristle brush work best when adding Acrylic paint and creating the feathering effect of the background.
If possible use a heavier weight of cardstock. This will help with avoiding the paper curling.
A little bit of paint goes a long way.
Always start with a smaller area of mixed media. It is easier to add more paint than to cover or take it away. A good rule of thumb is to create a background that is only about half an inch bigger than the picture you will be using.
The dark background makes all the elements pop, think of it as the blackboard we saw in our classrooms. These were designed to prevent light reflection and make all the color chalks pop. In this case the black paint on the page works in a similar way, and brings forward all the details in the layers and embellishments.
Don’t you just love all the details and florals in the Kaisercraft “Fleur” collection!?! The muted palette shines on this background, and just bring the picture forward.
Even when mixed media is not something you enjoy, this technique can easily be used to create a page with a dark background, or try your hand on getting messy. I cannot wait to see what you create. As always, remember to stop by Scrapbook Nerd to check all the materials used in this page and pleae do not hesitate to contact me, if you have questions on how this came together.
Summer is rapidly coming to an end, and with it also go those long lazy hot days we all treasure so much. While many of you take time off work to visit your cottages or travel, our design team has been busy bringing you some inspiration.
This week, we have asked the DT to create projects using Pink Paislee’s Auburn Lane collection, and the projects are just beautiful, so let’s get started. First up is Mari:
Mari cari created this layout using the color palette and collection pieces from Pink Paislee “Auburn Lane”. This collection has such a romantic/vintage feel…perfect for this wedding photo!
The Distress Oxide Inks used on the white background complement the colors from the collection. The JustNick Leaf Background cut file has texture paste added to it for some extra dimension on the layout. The florals and hearts are the perfect embellishments for this soft, pretty layout.
Love the soft tones and details in this romantic layout! Beautiful page, Mari! now it is Gisele’s turn to inspire us:
Gisele create this page with a picture of herself with her mother. Pictures those days were rare, and this is one of the very few she has of both of them. Circa 1953.
Her title is made of AC Thickers “Happy Life” and goes great with the gold in the page. She added a doily as a feminine touch and added sprinkles of Heidi Swapp Colour Shine in gold. In the upper left of the photo, she cut the ephemera frame in half and added both as corner embellishments. A few tags were added with a punch from her stash as well as the gold floss and the added heart charm
The play of patterns and that sweet picture make this a stunning layout! Now let’s be inspired by Nathalie:
She created this page using fussy cut elements from papers from the collection. This page was the focus of this week’s tutorial (previous post) that focused on adding fussy cut embellishments to your projects.
All those florals bring the page together by framing the picture of her family. Beautiful page, Nathalie!
Well that is all for us this week! i hope the DT projects have inspired you to take a closer look at Pink Paislee’s Auburn Lane collection. This collection is available at Scrapbook Nerd, along with many of the newer liner releases. So stop by to check what is new at the Store.
This week, we have asked the DT to showcase the beautiful Pink Paislee’s “Auburn Lane” collection in their projects. This collection has a fall color palette, modern designs, and some beautiful floral illustrations that are perfect to embellish a page. The secret is to fussy cut each of the floral images so that they can be used as decorations in your page.
The floral images on paper #3 and #6 of the collection were carefully cut (fussy cut) so that they can be used as layered embellishments that form a large cluster of flowers in the page.
The secret to creating this embellishments is to detail cut the images from the paper. In this case, paper #3 has a dark background, so each image was cut around its edge, so that none of the dark background shows in the image. At the same time, paper #6 has a white background, so a very small white border was left around the image – this just helps to separate the images when layering them on the layout. The following process video will showcase how this page came together:
All those fussy cut florals are the focal point of this page, and bring plenty of interest to the layout that minimizes the use of other embellishments.
Really love how this page turned out using the large fussy cut floral elements. All the florals create the perfect background for this cherished memory of my family.
I hope this inspires you to create your own embellishments by fussy cutting embellishments off your patterned papers.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions on how this came together, Remember to check all the materials used in this page at Scrapbook Nerd.
Hope you are all enjoying this new week! It is time for a new tutorial, and this time i wanted to show a way to rework those layouts we some-and/or-many times we end up not loving after they are completely finished.
This is the original layout i had created for this tutorial, i wanted to show you a quick and easy mixed media background, but i think i got carried away, and ended up not loving the finished product. So i set it aside for a while, and played with a few ideas, but i knew that it was not up to my liking, so i decided to rework it. So please enjoy the following video that will show you how this layout yielded two new layouts:
How about those layouts!! Let me just give you a bit more information on what i created with that salvage layout.
This new layout is similar to the original one created. The major difference is all that extra gold stenciling that run diagonally across the opposite side of the picture.
This layout has a more refined background, and all the elements of the previous page (i kept them all as they were featured in the first page). With this simpler design, the picture is the focus of the page, and all the embellishments (all from Pebbles’ Patio Party Collection) shine without being overtaken by the background. Now onto the next page:
This layout features the background of the original page. The choice to cut circles out of the original lbackground takes away the busy pattern that all that extra stenciling created on the page.
A bit of a watercolor brings a new clean canvas for all those background circles. Due to the bold pattern of the circles, just a few of them are enough to complete the page, and add dimension to the layout at the same time.
To balance the bold pattern in the circle, the rest of the layout’s embellishments were kept simple, so that the picture becomes the focus of the page.
I am sure some of you might think that reworking a background into other pages might be a bit of a stretch, and i completely understand. But this might serve as inspiration to create your own patterned paper (so you could create shapes out of it), or to try a simple mixed media background. It is completely up to you!
As always please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. I would love to help you, it at all possible. Remember to stop by Scrapbook Nerd to check all the materials used in this page.
Site Title 