My Scrapbook Evolution-Blog

Monday, December 9, 2013

Scrapbooking with Everyday Objects: Wrapping paper

If you have been following my blog, you know how much I love to work with everyday objects from around the house. When Document Life Workshop issued a challenge to use wrapping paper, well, you could say I jumped at the chance. We had just given a gift for a baby shower and I had some adorable wrapping paper left over.

Dream by Christy Strickler Supplies| Patterned Paper: Jillibean Soup; Wood Veneer: Studio Calico; Tape: Glitz Designs; Coloring Medium: Gelatos by Faber Castel;Wood Burning Stamp: Purple Cows; Other: Wood Blank

The grid pattern of this paper made things very simple for me. I placed a section of patterned paper over several blocks to create one larger block. My goal was to bring more focus to the photo. The background is very strong, so I felt it wasn't necessary to use a lot of embellishments.

Tips for Working with Wrapping Paper:
- Wrapping paper is often very flimsy. Mount it on a sheet of cardstock to keep it from wrinkling and to add support.
-Many patterns can be very busy. If you choose to use it as a background, embellish less.Or punch shapes to create custom embellishments.
- If you are concerned about the archival quality of the wrapping paper, use an archival mist before creating your layout.

As the holidays approach, consider keeping pieces of your wrapping paper for use on scrapbooking projects. You can easily customize your layout with paper or embellishments that match the photos. Don't forget to share your wrapping paper projects with us at Document Life Workshop!

Some of the Supplies Used Include:

I used the Craft Iron to stamp hearts on the wood blank.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

That Paper is BOLD!

Every once in a while, you come across a piece of patterned paper that is so bold you just don't think you will ever use it. Surprisingly, these very papers may be just the perfect thing for your layout.I received a piece of bold chevron paper in the December JBS Mercantile kit and at first, I just didn't think I even liked it. The zig zagging chevrons were playing with my eyes. The pattern seemed to be moving. How would I ever use such a distracting paper in my album?

I set the paper aside with the goal of using up some of the awesome Christmas prints. I had no intention of ever using that paper. EVER. That changed when I happened across the moth picture. Several years ago, we raised Oleander Moths. Many people regard them as pests, but I think they are gorgeous.The have a black body with red and white coloring. Colors that matched the papers in December kit. Once the moths emerged from their cocoon, they crawled out onto my sons hand. Then, one by one, they climbed up his arm, onto his head, then began flapping their wings before flitting away.

All Supplies from the December 2013 JBS Mercantile Kits

The whole process was fascinating. However,my son wasn't always comfortable with it all. I found that chevron paper to be a bit disconcerting. Do you see the connection now? It added that depth of feeling to the layout that helps the viewer to feel a bit of what was going on in the story. Since the pattern was so very bold, I tamed it a bit by covering a large portion with the photos and other patterned papers. The wood print and the feathers symbolize the outdoors. I felt I needed very little embellishing. The simple die cut and buttons were enough for me given the bold print.

I often hear the argument from friends that they are afraid to join a kit club because there might be one challenging patterned paper in the bunch. They worry about not being able to use it. I truly believe that sometimes a pattern might surprise you. It could end up being that perfect print to use for your project. You can use any print, even if it's not your style, if you can associate it to your story in some manner. You might even end up loving the layout. I know I like this one a lot.

Tips for Using Bold Prints
- Tame the print by using small portions of it. Either cover large sections with other prints or cut away( or punch) smaller pieces.
- Keep embellishing simple.
- Use the print to add a bit of tension to the layout. This can work especially well when emotional tension is part of the story.

Additional Resources

Motif- Chevron (a Get It Scrapped Pinterest Board)

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Welcome December!

A new month! One of magic and excitement for many! Today, I open with a very special announcement. Those of you who know me well know just how much I adore JBS Mercantile. Earlier this year, I was so excited to join their Ambassador team. Now I am pretty ecstatic to become a member of their kit club design team. There is so much that I love about their kits: the stencils, the stamps, the exclusive papers and now, the wood veneer! I am like a kid on Christmas morning every time I get a kit. It's my pleasure to welcome you to December with one of the layouts for this month's kit reveal.

When I received the box this month, I had such a hard time not sharing a photo. There are some pretty awesome items inside! As I had hoped, this month's kits have a lot of Christmas products. They will be perfect for documenting December and are so much more affordable for me than buying a December Daily kit.

Since it's not yet December, I chose to look through photos of holidays past. This is one of those layouts that needs to journaling. My son had a huge peppermint stick. I was struggling with the title until I thought about how the peppermint reminded me of a wand.

The vintage peppermint label was one of my favorite embellishments. It's the main reason I chose to work with this photo. The vellum scroll was a little too short. I also felt like it was getting lost in the patterns. After layering it over white cardstock, I cut it in half and stuck the pieces under the label. This elongated the scroll, allowing me to add a date and place.The kit also came with a set of twist ties. I cut them into pieces and then folded them to look like little bows.

I wanted to experiment with the Glamour Dust paint which came with the Mini Album Kit. I die cut letters for the title, then painted them. The glamour dust paint is sheer, adding just a touch of worn vintage sparkle to the letters. To help them stand out from the background, I used a gold gel pen to outline them, then stitched them onto vellum strips.

Each month, I will be welcoming you with a layout from the JBS Mercantile kit reveal. I will also be including any details pertaining to the My Scrapbook Evolution website, upcoming classes or specials. In previous roundups, I have been including recent articles you might have missed on the website. I made a little change to the blog and I now have an RSS feed with the most recent articles posted to the blog side bar. You may have noticed it under the badge. This will hopefully make it easier to stay informed of articles on the website while I concentrate on writing more content for you to enjoy. My goal is to share my scrapbooking journey as well as to provide useful information and inspiration.

This month, I will be continuing my journey through Your December Story. I am working through the first parts of the lesson and will be sharing the pages here. I will also be using Document Life's Daily Doc Holiday edition to supplement my December Pages. I am halfway through my gratitude pages. It's been wonderful to work on those throughout November. These projects have definitely helped me evaluate how I do Project Life. I plan to share my thoughts on that here on the blog soon.

I hope you all have a wonderful month! Happy Holidays!

Special Offers for JBS Mercantile December 2013