It's Friday afternoon and I'm sitting cross-legged on my comfy sofa at home. Why? Snow day! The F+W office is closed for the afternoon and I'm going to savor my unexpected free time. But before I dive into the early weekend, let me announce the Scrapbook PageMaps book giveaway winner.
Congratulations, Rita!!! You've won a copy of Becky Fleck's outstanding new book. I've left a message for you on your mycraftivity page; please reply to the message to receive your book.
Thanks to everyone for all your enthusiasm about the contest and the
book. Look for more book giveaways soon.
The best way to start this blog, is to say 'Hi' and a big thank you to my S+P team buddies for taking me under their wing and making me feel so welcome. In fact I'm based across the pond, in Devon (UK) and will be offering up British inspiration and innovation. As a crafter I have been influenced by many trends over the years, how can we forget doughcraft and glass painting! More recently card making and papercrafts have dominated and who wouldn't want to make a unique card for a special occasion.
What's happening now in papercrafts? The papercrafters are getting good and seeking out more and more challenging niche techniques - especially loving intricate paper pricking patterns. I am drawn to 3D decoupage; I just never knew what super results you could create in minutes. As a busy mummy of two little ones, pre-cut patterns are just the best at the moment, but more detailed designs are available. I made some delightful Mothering Sunday cards for my mum and mother-in-law - and they loved them. Brownie points for me!!!!!!!!!!!! Or free babysitting!!!
So I guess you'll all get to know me over time and I feel very privileged to be part of this community.
For me, coming up with a stunning page design is the hardest part of scrapbooking. It’s certainly easy enough to choose pretty papers and embellishments from all the fabulous choices on the market today. But once I have all my photos and supplies laid out neatly in front of me, I suddenly have a bad case of scrapper’s block. Enter sketches. Sketches are great for times like these when my creative muse goes on vacation. They also come in handy for whipping up layouts with supersonic speed whenever I’m short on time, which, lately, is just about every day.
That’s why I’m so excited to get this new book from Becky Fleck in my hot little hands. In Scrapbook Page Maps, Becky offers up 60 original sketches as well as a wealth of inspiration and ideas sure to give your creative energy a boost.
I created the layout above using this 1-photo sketch. I adapted the
original 8.5" x 11" size to a smaller 8" x 8" format and used a more
simple journaling style (who, what, where) instead of traditional
paragraph-style. It took about 30 minutes to complete and will make a
perfect anniversary gift for my parents.
Go to our project gallery to upload your own layouts. We’d love to see what unique creations you come up with using sketches.
And don’t forget to enter our book giveaway by noon this Friday to win a free copy of Scrapbook Page Maps. Visit Monday’s blog post to enter.
Why do I love sketches? So many reasons! First of all, they make my scrapping super simple and fast. The layout I posted on Monday, took less than an hour to complete, including time to pick out supplies. Becky Fleck’s Scrapbook Page Maps sketch gave me just enough direction to free up my mind to focus on color, pattern and content for that layout. I also love that her web
site features 8x8'' and round sketches, along with sketches for traditionally sized pages:
Sketches aren’t just for making quick and easy pages. They’re perfect for beginners who need lots of guidance. And they’re great for intermediate and advanced scrappers who want a challenge or fresh ideas. Anna Bowkis’ Pencil Lines blog is “all about using sketches to expand your artistic horizons, get you outside your box, and lift you out of scrappers block.” The regular artists—as well as the guest sketchers—are incredible talents and greats sources of layout inspiration. Here’s this week’s gorgeous challenge sketch by Kerry Lynn Yeary:
And sketches aren’t just for traditional scrappers. In fact, digi scrappers have the added advantage of using Photoshop sketches—called templates—where you can drag your elements directly into the template for easy placement. Plus, the program automatically crops papers to fit the template. Jen Caputo created some fabulous digital templates for the Paper + Pixels CD, and her blog is full of free sketches for your scrapping pleasure. Digi sketches, of course, can provide a starting point for paper pages as well.
Finally, for those of you itching to share your sketches, check out Shaker Box, where members can upload their own sketches to a gallery. The site is great for anyone interested in a wide variety of styles and ideas.
If you’re looking for loads of great sketches in one handy, portable format, don’t forget to enter the
Page Maps book giveaway by noon this Friday. Visit Monday’s blog post to enter.
If you’re like me, you’re probably looking for some time-saving ways to get all your photos scrapped. When I’m crafting I find I sometimes spend more time conceptualizing my design than I actually do crafting! That’s why I’m totally digging this new book from master sketch artist Becky Fleck. In Scrapbook Page Maps, she features 60 sketches adaptable to any page theme or style.
But don’t for a minute think this book falls short on tips and techniques. There’s also a wealth of inspiration and ideas for taking your layouts to the next level with creative ways to use brads, paint, seed beads, silk flowers, dimensional medium, fabric and much, much more. You’ll also fall in love with cool digital techniques such as using filters, color conversions, altering the contrast in a photo, mixing fonts and wrapping text around an image.
One of my favorite projects from the book is this masked painting technique, which you can use to create a title or part of your journaling. Gather these materials before you begin:
• A small block of cardstock (trimmed to fit your title) • Letter stickers (choose a type treatment that fits your layout’s theme) • 2-3 acrylic paints in colors of your choice • Acrylic thinner • Old toothbrush • Wax paper or newspaper to protect your work area
Step 1:
Spell out your text in an arrangement of letter stickers. (Tip: Select letters than can be easily removed later and don’t leave a sticky residue.)
Step 2:
Select several colors of acrylic paint that complement your layout. Squirt out a quarter-sized puddle and thin with acrylic thinner or water to an inky consistency.
Step 3:
Dip an old toothbrush into the paint and run your thumb over bristles to spatter the paint over the stickers. The more paint on your brush, the larger your spatters will be; less paint results in fine, smaller spatters. Multiple applications of each color will achieve the best result.
Step 4:
Allow to dry, then carefully remove letter stickers.
Don’t forget to enter our giveaway to win a free copy of Scrapbook Page Maps. To enter the giveaway, check out Kristin’s Monday post by noon (eastern time) this Friday.
And don’t forget about the free techniques and projects available on the S+P homepage. Stop by tomorrow for more fun with sketches!
