Techniques and Tricks #5 - Die Cut backgrounds

Hey everyone! Its my turn on the CP blog. Here is the full link. For the longest time, I hesitated in buying a die-cutting machine, even after seeing the immense variety of background patterns that could be created. It's expensive and I wanted time to think deeper as to whether or not one was necessary. This resulted in me telling myself that I could replicate the "look" on my own. So today, I will share some tips as to how to create your own die-cut backgrounds with just your everyday supplies and tools.

1.Masking & Misting Technique

 

If we look through our scrapbook supplies, I'm sure that everyone owns a variety of mask templates. More intricate and rounded mask designs are harder to cut with your craft knife, so to save time and effort, I recommend locating mask designs that have straighter lines and larger surface areas.

When getting started, a good trick that I found is to first spray a layer of fine mist over the intended area for creating your die-cut background. This is the area in which you'll be cutting your design from. Now, select shapes to remove with your craft knife. Leave some of the misted areas untouched so that they shine through, creating a customized background pattern - something a machine can't do!

Using the same masking and misting technique, here is another layout created using the older Maggie Holmes collection. It's the same mask, but look how different the background looks on this page compared the earlier one.

~

2. Creative Templates On-Hand

For this next do-it-yourself die-cut session, you'll want to find a few punch outs, a 3 x 4 heart journaling card (Close Knit), some wooden veneers and a large chipboard heart. All are potential templates that may be used to create your own die-cut background.

Placing the chipboard heart on your sheet of paper, trace around it with a pencil and use a craft knife to remove it. Thereafter, position patterned paper behind the cut-out  and adorn it with embellishments.

Using the same steps as above, cut out the heart shape from this 3 x 4 journaling card. There are dotted lines, which makes it all that' much easier to go around with a craft knife.

Finally, to tie together all the elements on this layout, I created straight lines between each section. A simple needle and thread could enhance these lines and that's exactly what I did. Simply draw straight lines with a pencil, poke holes and sew away!

I hope this inspires you to get started on your own background die-cut patterns. There are endless possibilities. Explore them, come up with what works best for you and I'm sure the end result will be equally as good, even without a die-cutting machine. After all, a machine can only help quicken your scrapbooking process, but it's truly YOU that makes a page worthwhile as it embraces your creativity and effort. 

Leave some love on the CP blog today too..

Happy Monday! 

Techniques and Tricks #03

Today it is all about misting.

I would be sharing some tips that I have experimented and loved after all these while. This post would be split into 2 parts as it might get a little lengthy so I would focus on 3 techniques today.

It doesnt matter which brand of mists you own. They all work the same and the techniques that you see below can be applied too. Some of the techniques might be new while others might be what you know so pardon me even as I go through the steps. I will also be linking up my layouts after the technique has been shared so that you can have a clearer idea of how it can be transacted into a layout/project.

So lets get started...

Technique 1:  Basic small splatters

 

1) Tilt the bottle slightly to ensure that the mist seeps into the nozzle
2) Place your hand on the nozzle
3) Use hand motion to tap on the nozzle

Here are some layouts using this technique:

Technique 2: Big splatters

1) Spray a good portion of mist into the bottle cap
2) Use your hand motion and aim at where you want it to appear on your page

* Tip - the more mists you spray in the bottle cap, the bigger the splatters.

Here are some of my layouts using this technique...

Technique 3:  Mixing mists

Think back about your primary colour charts and understand that once certain colours are mixed together, an addtional colour might appear. So think of Red + Blue = Purple, Blue + Yellow = Green etc.

1) Simply choose the colour scheme you are going for
2) Spray both colours so that a certain section overlaps with one another. 

Here is an altered album I did using this technique...

I hope you find these techniques useful thus far. I will be back with Part 2 real soon. For now, do experiment with your own mists and remember, that more practice equates to better understanding and control of this medium.

Techniques and Tricks #02

Techniques and Tricks Number 2: I hope you find this post useful.

Titles are an essential part of every layout. They represent what the photo'(s) symbolize and how you feel about the story you're documenting. As Mark Rothko, an American painter rightly puts it...

"If our titles recall the known myths of antiquity, we have used them again because they're the eternal symbols upon which we must fall back to express basic psychological ideas."

One of my favorite ways to showcase long titles is to use alphabet stickers. 

For this layout, and today's post, I chose to use alphabet stickers from the Pretty Party collection and from them, I constructed sentences about how much my niece means to me. When it comes to title work, feel free to play around with adjectives to find what best represents your photo'(s). I went with an alphabet color that closely matches the patterned paper background of my layout, pale pink. Why, you might ask? It gave me the chance to outline my stickers with a marker and thus, lending more texture to my title work. A simple technique like this definitely makes the title stand-out more while increasing visibility and playfulness.

Following the placement of my title, I added embellishments along the right side of the page. I used the photos as a guideline for selecting matching colored embellishments and papers; a mix of orange, pink, green and blue.

Besides color, I brought even more texture via my embellishment choices. Ultimately, I recommend choosing a variety of both chipboard and cardstock stickers and mixing them together for increased layering potential. The beauty of chipboard stickers is they're already "bulky", making it extremely easy to generate dimension. They save on the need for "pop dots", too!

In terms of composition, I grouped embellishments throughout the right half of the layout, top, bottom and center. This set-up balances the composition of the layout while drawing the eye back to the photos and title.

To end the page, I created white splatters both at the top and bottom. I also attached a section of hidden journaling inside a not-so-noticeable pocket/kraft bag. Pockets are a quick save on space when working with a lot of embellishment clusters. 

Here are a couple of close-ups of the layout...

And Voila, this is how you emphasize a long title on a scrapbook page!
Have a great Thursday. (:

Techniques and Tricks #01

The March Hols are upon us and I am feeling so energised and recharged.

Here to share with you a nice technique I love using on my layouts... This technique is called blocking. Some of you might have heard it before while others are unfamiliar. Literally, you sectioned blocks in your layout, decorating them in individual blocks while ensuring that they look like a cohesive piece at the end of the day.

Here is one recent layout that I did...

Sections 1 and 2 (top left hand corner) : 2 blocks individually designed with vellum, tags, embellishments and buttons.
Section 3 (right hand corner) : Title, stamping, flags and buttons
Section 4: Photo with a scallop edge.
Section 5: Journalling and little embellishments.

I absolutely love this technique as it allows me the freedom to scrap in blocks while ensuring them the layout remains cohesive.  A simple way to ensure that it remains cohesive is to ensure that the embellishments and papers you choose match the photos. So in this case, the recurring red, black colours are present OR you can choose neutral colours (white, kraft) that could go well with any bold colours seen in the photo.

Here is another one that I did yesterday...

This time, i grouped my papers according to 2' squares, creating a grid pattern. This blocking technique allows your patterened papers to stand out on its own. You can add interest by stitching each square and I ensured that embellishments were kept to a minimal so that the focus could still be on the papers and the photo.

Lastly, another layout to show the blocking technique..

I have shown this layout before but literally, the blocking idea is the same. Grouping them into irregular sections and allowing each section to be individually assembled allow the layout to look cohesive after all. This time, using products and papers from the Maggie Holmes collection matched perfectly with the colours in the photo.

I hope you feel inspired today to try this technique.
Hopefully, I would find more time to share simple tricks like that.

Happy Wednesday!