Supply Savvy: Stencils and Paper Piecing

Stencils are a good investment for your scrapbook supplies. Choose designs that you know you will use again and again. Designs for backgrounds will more than likely see the most use, though alphabets and fonts are another good way to extend your stencil collection. Some stencils can be used for paper peiceing, just as I will show you today.

This particular stencil doesn't necessarily follow my own advice. I have had it for years. As you can see by the stray crayon marks, my son got more use from it then I did. The design is very specific and for the most part, would be used mainly for little boy or dinosaur layouts. Unless you plan to use it often ( and some people would be able to do just that), it might not be the best investment for use as a long term tool. In my case, it sat for quite some time until I challenged myself to use it. I decided to create a paper pieced  dinosaur.

The first step is quite simple. Just trace the design onto a piece of paper.

This particular design breaks apart the body of the dinosaur. I don't want it to look like that on my layout. So I filled in the areas around the legs and body, then erased any undesired lines. Two of the legs will be layered under the body to give the dinosaur a little extra dimension.

From the Age of the Dinosaurs by Christy Strickler Supplies: Cardstock: Colorbok; Patterned Paper and Stickers: October Afternoon; Stencils: Delta; Brads: Basic Grey; Alphas: Sassafrass; Ink and Markers: Ranger;Other: Google eye






I used papers from my October Counterfeit Kit. The stencil allows me to theme the papers used to match my story. This small tree is actually a fern whose ancestors lived in the time of dinosaurs. We were visiting a Rain Forest in Puerto Rico. Bright colors remind me of Puerto Rico and I did not want to use the traditional grungy colors in the Dinosaur themed kits from my Stash. I added some Dinosaur footprints to the layout using the stencil and Ranger's Picked Raspberry Distress ink.The flowers were fussy cut from the patterned papers. I outlined the dinosaur with a Chipped Sapphire Distress marker and added a google eye.He is a simple, but effective paper pieced dino.

I'll be submitting my Dinosaur layout to Scrapfit's paper Piecing Step Challenge. If you'd like to play along but need more ideas for Paper Piecing, check out these links:

How to make a Paper Pieced Monkey from Get it Scrapped.
Free Paper Piecing Patterns
More Free Patterns

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• Tales of a Craft Class Junkie: Gesso and Ice Cream
• Pattern Paper Mish Mash

Angry Birds

  No...this isn't anything to do with Alfred Hitchcock. As I am writing this, I am also wondering how many people out there know who Hitchcock is. ( My son had no clue) Which makes me feel a bit old...but then I digress. This is about a silly little phone app. You see, last fall, my husband got me a new android smart phone. After which, we searched the app store to see what fun games we could find. Angry Birds was one of those games. If you have never played, the object of the game is to shoot various types of cartoon birds at some green pigs who hide themselves in strange looking buildings. Sound ridiculous? Well, it is...but, it's also fun and addicting. Which leads me to my next scrapbook page. Both my son and my husband liked the game so much, that at first, I barely got to use my phone. I snapped these photos of my son's cute facial expressions as he was playing the game.

Practical Scrappers March Sketch

I went on-line and found a photo of the game which had the name of the game in it. This enabled me to print it and then fussy cut the title. All of the papers, chipboard and stickers are from Crate Paper's Seasons collection. I chose them because of the birds. I only had one chipboard bird and I wanted to give the impression of the birds flying across the page. So I used the chipboard shape to trace and then cut out additional birds from the paper.  I used a white gel pen and a Martha Stewart white chalk marker to add the bird's details. My sew easy left a series of holes which simulated the birds' movement.

Scrapfit workout#40 - sketch

Having a little green pig on the page was a must. So I cut a small circle, added a green chipboard button and hand cut some ears. With some google eyes added, I now had a cute pig for my page.
 So...if you have a smart phone and have yet to try it, I highly recommend angry birds. If your family catches on and steals your phone, well...take some photos and scrap them while you wait to get your phone back.
 

Someday

   As part of a recent writing assignment, my son was asked to illustrate and write about places he would like to visit. One of those places was France...or more specifically, Paris. I was struck by how passionate my son became as he talked about what he thought Paris was like. I felt like this would be a great moment to capture...one of my son's dreams. I think someday it will be neat to reflect back upon this page...especially if we ever get to visit Paris.

Sketches 4 All January Gallery girl Scraplift

  To capture the romance of Paris, I chose this older, cream colored paper from my stash. I don't know who makes it, but I do love the look of the white on cream words and phrases printed on it. For a Masculine vibe, I chose to go with a black, green and blue color palette. The Making Memories and crate paper patterned papers were a perfect fit. I mixed in some Crate Paper die cuts with Restoration border stickers, along with pink paislee chipboard, making memories flowers, and some office supplies. I must admit, that when I received the package of Pink paislee chipboard, I never thought I would find a use for the Eiffel Tower!

Scrapfit,workout#36
Scrap Whispers challenge #86
Frosted designs 1-25-11 Sketch

 The journaling was done on a Maya Road sheer ticket. A Tim Holtz compass mask with black magic glimmer mist adds to the travel theme. A fun set of pages, and a fond memory...and maybe Someday, there will be some photos of us in France.