October Afternoon Farm Fresh Journaling Cards Layout

Hello Scrappers!

I absolutely LOVE using journaling cards on layouts! This is the Farm Fresh collection from October Afternoon:

I love the soft colour palette of this collection, it lends itself well to either coloured or black & white photos. These cards leave so much space for journaling!

 I thought I'd use this pocket style page for a traditional layout. I was able to use every single card on this layout!

Usually, journaling cards measure 3x4, however these cards actually measure 2.5 x 4. This allowed me to get 4 cards across the top of the layout with white space in between. 

The 3 cards in the middle are actually smaller than the others. They measure 2.5 x 3.5. This worked out great because I was also able to lay those across the middle with white space between them. 

Here's the layout:

I'm one of those people that think most photos must have a mat! You could pull any colour from the cards, I chose red so it would really bring out the colour of the fruits and veggies. 

The twine border was a bit tricky. I used Tombow Mono liquid glue to adhere it to the page. 

Here's how I did it: 

1. Cut a piece of twine about twice the length of the perimeter of your mat. Always cut longer than you think you need. It will look funky if your twine is too short and needs to be fused halfway. 

2. Starting at a point where you know you will be placing an embellishment over top, draw a thin line of glue in the shape you want your twine to lay. 

3. Working very slowly, lay your twine over the glue and hold it down until you're confident it's stuck. Continue around the mat, twisting and twirling the twine to create the effect we did here.

4. When you get all the way around your mat, cut your twine as close to the beginning of the border as possible. Cover with an embellishment, I used an apple from Jolee's Boutique that was in my stash. 

 A great tip for getting the journaling cards straight is to place your layout on your craft mat, lined up along the grid. Use a ruler to connect 2 of the grid lines and hold the ruler straight while you put your cards into position. 

I added a light brown doily, and cut a title on my Cricut and it all came together.

I have a great photo of the kids picking strawberries at a local farm for this layout.

We're headed back to the farm again this weekend! Can't wait! Have a great day!

Lori

xo

DIY Back to School Project Life Card

Hello crafters! 

Project life cards come in so many different varieties and with the most lovely quotes on them! But sometimes, we just can't find the right style we need! 

I created this PL card for a back to school page!

Here's what I used to make it!

The blue polka dot background is Doodlebug Petite Prints, cut to 3x4 inches. I used a corner punch to round the corners. 

The school bus paper is Recollections, cut 1/8" smaller than the Doodlebug. 

I cut a piece of vellum the same width as the school buses, but 1 full inch longer. That way I could fold the vellum around the back of the card to adhere it, and not have adhesive show through. 

I have the DCVW 'The Edumacation Stack' paper pad. This paper pack is awesome! It has glitter and embossing, and has tons of images that you can fussy cut. That's what I used for the pennant banner. They are individual pennants, I just put them together to make the banner. 

The #3 was cut from a Cricut a while ago, and it turned out I didn't need it so I put it away in my stash. It certainly came in handy here! The 'grade' letters are also old letters from my stash. 

Making custom Project Life cards are a great way to use up those small paper scraps and left over letters! 

I hope you enjoy our first Project Life card creation! There will be more to come! 

Lori
xo

Grid Layout & Birthday Card using Echo Parks' Dino Friends

Echo Park Dino Friends Layout & Card

Good morning scrappers!

Dinosaurs never go out of style for children! We had a great time using the Dino Friends collection from Echo Park Paper to create a card and layout!

Let's start with the card!

We started with a 5.5 x 5.5 off white card base. We used paper from the collection for the green mat, and the bottom third of the card. The Dino egg paper has such a great colour palette!

We used plain blue cardstock from our stash and embossed it using the embossing folder that is also part of the Dino Friends collection. It gave a great effect! We used thin yellow washi tape to divide the different papers. 

The collection also features stamps! "Rawr means I love you in dinosaur" is the stamp we used, isn't that the cutest sentiment! 

This card is on it's way to a 'rawrsome' birthday boy this week! 

On to the layout! 

Making a grid layout with blocks of varying sizes is not as much fun as it sounds! Trying to find the right balance of sizes while making sure the edges were even was challenging, but we pulled it off!

We used the same stamp set as the card to embellish the paper. The great thing about this collection is that some of the papers are not dino themed, but still fit in with the theme. 

Another great product in the collection is the chipboard accents. We used one for the 'You are so rawrsome' title at the top! 

My kids & I went to an awesome dinosaur exhibit with animated dinos last year, and got a great family photo that will go great on this layout! 

Thanks for looking!

Lori

xo

Using the Memory MISTI for Layouts!

Hello Scrappers!

We are so excited to be sharing this project with you! 

We are big Misti fans over here at WWSS, so when the 12x12 Memory Misti was released, naturally, we were ecstatic! We ordered a bunch in for the shop and of course one for ourselves. We started right away on our first layout!!. Here's the layout we would not have been able to create without the 12x12 Misti!

The filler in the heart was all stamped using the MISTI, as well as the sentiments around the heart. We used Lawn Fawn's 'Little Bundle' stamps. 

Here's how we made this layout and some tips to help you make one too!

We used a Cricut to cut a heart stencil out of 12x12 cardstock. Choose a colour that will contrast your layout background.

We  attached the heart stencil to the white cardstock base using a few small pieces of painters tape. We wrapped them around the edge, on the top of the dark cardstock,  but on the underside of the white cardstock. This way it would stay in place. If the painters tape was to leave any marks, it wouldn't show on the layout. 

We  placed the papers on the MISTI, heart stencil side up and began to place the stamps where we wanted them. 

Here's where you can learn from our mistake! Begin stamping in the spot where you know you will place your photo. There will be a bit of a learning curve with placing all of  the stamps correctly and seeing how far apart you want the images stamped. If you make any mistakes, you can cover them with your photo. 

Once you have all your stamps placed where you want them, lift the Misti lid and ink your stamps, then fold back over to stamp your images. We used a light purple ink and we had to stamp at least twice each time, thank goodness for the Misti or we  wouldn't have been able to stamp in the same spot more than once! Believe me, many mistakes have been made trying to line the stamps up perfectly, grrr.

Here's where it gets a bit tedious. The stamps need to be cleaned after each use or when you try to place the stamps again, you will get the excess ink on your page. We really didn't feel like running to the sink and back every few minutes so we grabbed another one of our new favourite tools...the Lawn Fawn Stamp Shammy! 

At first we was a bit skeptical about this product. "How on earth is that little cloth going to clean the  stamps"? Wouldn't we  just have to clean the cloth afterwards...isn't that extra work!?' Well...nope! This thing is  fantastic. You simply  wet the shammy, ring out the excess water and wipe your stamps clean. That's it. The ink that the shammy picks up does not transfer back onto your stamps. 

That is  a 100% unpaid, unsolicited review! The shammy really is just that fantastic! 

Back to the layout.. lol, 

We kept on repeating the process until the entire heart was filled with the stamped images. It took quite a while, but we put some music on, closed the studio door and  actually found it to be quite relaxing. 

The finished heart! Turned out great!

The heart turned out exactly as we had envisioned. The edges looked a bit unfinished  though, it need a little something. What goes better on a baby layout than some hand stitching?

We  put a piece of 1/2" thick craft foam under the layout and used a sewing needle to pierce holes about 1/4" apart. We used pink embroidery floss and stitched around the heart. We were really pleased with the result. 

We  felt the edge still needed a little something though. We knew turquoise would be an accent colour on this layout so out came the stamps again! Here's where the Misti really proved it's worth again. 

Once again, we placed the stamps where we wanted them on the layout and picked them up using the Misti. We wanted the sentiment to curve around the heart, something else we wouldn't have been able to do without the Misti. 

Turned out perfect! We stamped a few more sentiments. Now to embellish the layout & add the photo! 

We trimmed the edges 1/4" on each side and added a pink background paper to create a border. 

We added a title, some flowers and called it a day! I really wanted the stamped heart to be the focus of the layout. Mission accomplished!

The Memory Misti, the Lawn Fawn 'Little Bundle' set and Stamp Shammy are available in the shop. (Don't forget you get free shipping within Canada when you purchase the Memory Misti!)

We would love to see your ideas for using the Memory Misti for scrapbook layouts! Please share below!

Whew!!

Lori

xo