A Few Tips On The August Challenge Layout

Thought I would do a little bit of a 'how to' with hints and tips in case you want to follow the initial layout done for his months challenge.

Materials needed:

2 sheets of the same double sided patterned paper (Ideally with a pattern to one outer edge of the paper)
1 sheet cardsock to compliment the colours in your paper.

16 brads

1 sheet alphabet stickers

Chalk ink

Foam 3D sticky pads

For my version I used Petals in the Sand, from the Rusted Sun collection by Fancy Pants, these were purchased from Paper Maze. Contact Vanessa at the shop if you wish to purchase the same paper. Fancy Pants have other paper lines which have suitable papers too. I also got the Doodlebug Designs alphabet stickers from Vanessa. I used Bazzill cardstock and this was from Cardinal Colours, but Vanessa sells this too. The brads are from American Crafts, a stock of which I already had in my stash.

 

You can refer to this sketch if it helps, if you copy and save onto your computer you can print this out for easy reference while working.

 

First trim one sheet of patterned paper down to 11.5" x 11.5", this is the sheet you will be working on. Do not attach it to the cardstock yet. Ink the edges of the paper.

You may also find this template helpful, print out onto a see-through medium, I used tracing paper, Jakey used acetate. This will help you to select the right size of photo by checking through the centre circle. You can also use it to work out the placement of your apertures on the page. Once you are happy with the placement use a paper piercer to make a tiny hole in the patterned paper where each petal meets the circle, you should end up with a circle of tiny eight holes. If printed onto A4 this should give you apertures of about 8.5 cm, so 4x6" photos are ideal.

oops gone to get template, back soon!

The beauty of using patterned paper which is double sided means the pattern on the reverse side (blue dots in this case) show through when the paper is cut and folded back. I used two sheets of this paper. The flowers from the second sheet were cut out and layered with 3D sticky fixers onto the first.

This picture shows where to cut, use your craft knife, cutting mat and a metal ruler to join the tiny holes you made, across the diameter of the circle four times.

This is when I inked the edges of the points.

Use the paper piercing tool again to make a tiny hole through each point (where you want the brad to sit), and the paper underneath. Add the brads.

Add some double sided tape or other adhesive to the back of the aperture you have now created. Flip the paper over and lower down over your picture, stick down firmly when you are happy with the picture showing through.

Once the photos are in place you can attach the paper to the cardstock, You should have a 1/4" coloured border.

Add your title using the sticker letters. Cut out some flowers from the second sheet and apply them to the layout using 3D foam pads so they are layered and 'pop off' the page, bringing the whole thing to life. I inked my flowers before attaching them.

That's how I made my layout and I'm really looking forward to seeing yours. Don't forget if you want the same papers they are from Fancy Pants and Paper Maze have them in stock (at time of writing this post).

A is for Apertures

A is for apertures -
or in this case starbursts!

The inspiration for this months layouts was taken from my talented friend Anita.She has made these two stunning layouts based on the same idea (see below).  She kindly agreed to me featuring them on this blog for the first monthly challenge from Scrapology. Please take a look on her blog Inky Blossoms for even more inspiration - you won't be disappointed. Please click on each DT members name to visit their blog where you will find more details about their layouts.

There is a prize on offer for the best layout uploaded, for more details see this post. The prize has kindly been donated by Jill of Cardinal Colours. 

Sketch which can be used in any orientation:

Lynn

  

Jakey 

Alison

Linda 

.

Sue 

Deirdre

 

                         

 Anita

Linda 

Lynn

Please join in the fun and create a layout using these pages for inspiration.  We hope you will let us share your finished layout on this blog. You also need to become a follower of this blog to be considered for the competition.

Don't forget there is a prize on offer for the best layout to be selected by Anita on 5th September. Please see here for details of the prize.

Please uploaded your layout to your blog by 4th September to be considered for the prize.  

If you don't have a blog - no problem just drop us an image attached to an email.
(If you don't have Outlook, simply copy and paste the email address into your normal web based email system.)




OVER TO YOU:

I have moved your entries to a post of their own, so we have more room to play! Please see here.

Sneak Peek

Not long now until we unveil our first month's design.... Here is a little sneak peek of the first design coming up tomorrow!

Hope you will pop back to see what all of the design team have made. If you do have a go yourself we would love to see what you create and add it to the blog for all to share. I will add details of how to do this to each month's post.

Linda

Last but not least, here is Linda to introduce herself. She is the expert when it comes to making double layouts. Her blog is Linda's Cards and Scrapbook Pages.

"My name is Linda, married to Robert for nearly 10 years with a 20 year old daughter from a previous marriage.  I live on the London/Kent borders and work in Central London as a Business Travel Consultant.

I have always loved crafting and started with dressmaking many moons ago, along with knitting, jewellery making, even candles at one time! I started making cards, I think, about 6 years ago but have only been scrapping for about t3 years, so I'm the new kid on the block :)

I am addicted to Basic Grey papers and Martha Stewart punches at present. I have a loft full of photographs that need to be dusted off and scanned, ready to go.

Recently I photographed the Elephants on Parade 2010 exhibition which was in London, so expect to see a lot of elephants featuring in my layouts."

I'm really thrilled to be part of this Design Team too.

Here are some of Linda's layouts:

Thanks Linda for joining the team and sharing your layouts.

Lynn

Now it's time to introduce myself as part of the Design Team! 

My name is Lynn and I have been scrapbooking for about 8 years. I have always taken a lot of pictures and arranged them in albums with lots of journalling and then when I read about Scrapbooking I realised this was exactly what I wanted to do. I have always been crafty, making things myself from a very young age. I love knitting, sewing, quilting, cardmaking, embroidery (I have made lots of cross stitch pictures). I love taking photos and am very fortunate that my family have always been interested in photography so there are plenty of photos to choose from, especially of the more heritage type. I am also involved in tracing my family tree.

I like to try out many different techniques and embellishments on my layouts and I love using patterned papers. My favourite range has to be Basic Grey.

 

I live in Kent with my husband Alan (we have been married for 26 years), and our 18 year old triplets Andrew, Catherine and Emily.  I work for a local hospice charity as a children's nurse in the community. You can read more about my crafting and other things on my blog A Moment in Time.

Here are a few of my layouts:

Sue

Hello, back with another Design Team member for you.  This post is to introduce and welcome Sue. Sue takes some fantastic animal photographs and a lot of her scrapping showcases these photos. Sue is not a blogger but has her layouts stored on scrapbook.com forum, she is known a Doogle007.

Here are a few words from Sue:

"Hi, I'm Sue and I'm chuffed to bits to be part of Scrapology.

I have been scrapbooking for about 8 years and cardmaking for a little longer.  I love animals, so zoo trips are a main topic in my scrapbooking pages along with my 3 cats, Fluff, CT and Jinx.

I live in Sussex on the South coast with my cats and dozens of seagulls. I work for a local advertising newspaper on the night shift.  When I am not sleeping I can be found in my little craft room or in the garden."

Here are a selection of Sue's favourite layouts:

                           

Thanks so much for joining in Sue, and look forward to seeing your layouts.

Alison

On to another talented scrapper who is part of the design team - Welcome Alison or Ali, You can see her blog 'Bricabracadocio' here .

"Hi everyone! My name is Alison, and I am delighted to share in this new scrapping venture.  I never realised that I was creative until shortly after my wedding nearly seven years ago, when one day like a lightening bolt I had this epiphany and simultaneously started scrapbooking and cardmaking. I haven't stopped since!  I have now broadened my interests to anything I can put onto a page - painting, sewing and other associated arts and crafts.

I always have difficulty defining my style, but I guess I would call it liner but arty! I love righ colours and textures and incorporating a variety of techniques into my pages. As an Australian living in Hertfordshire, I enjoy the history and heritage of this country and love to scrap days out like visiting stately mansions or events further afield such as holidays. I try to theme my pages about the subject of my photos and teach locally when  I come up with a project that I think will interest others.

I look forward to seeing what every DT member produces and am so pleased to have been asked to join in with the adventure!"

Here are three of Alison fantastic layouts to share with you:

Welcome to the team Alison, and thanks for joining us. I'm looking forward to seeing your new layouts.