The Studio Challenges

22nd January Challenge

2012-01-22T15:59:00.000Z

Today Julie's challenge is 'Do you remember Sesame Street? How they'd always do "Brought to you by the letter___" at the end of the show?

I'm sort of channeling that for this month's challenge. Do a layout 'brought to you' by whichever one of the 26 that tickles your fancy. It could be the layout content, title...whatever you want, just so there's a focus on one letter.'

Here's Julie's layout:

I went with I is for Ian. :)

I used the biggest chipboard "I" I had in my drawer...misted it, and then used some Goosebumps Shimmer Texture Spray, for a fun finish.

Jules:

Loved this challenge! There was only one letter I could use, which I incorporated into the title.

Tessa:

I loved this challenge and have mentally bookmarked it for future reference - so many possibilities! I decided to focus on the letter "U" as a play on words.

Anna:

I printed off words to do with the sea all beginning with S.

Valerie:

This was a fun challenge and I had a hard time narrowing down my subject. I'm definitely inspired to make a few more layouts thanks to this prompt!

We look forward to seeing all your letter inspired layouts, link them up!

December Challenge Winner

2012-01-15T20:46:00.001Z

Jules here, just popping in to announce the winner of the December challenges.

And the winner is......Karen Williams!

Congratulations Karen! Drop me an email with your details (scrappingmojodesigns@gmail.com) and I'll get your prize package out to you :D

Jan 8th Challenge!

2012-01-08T14:39:00.000Z

Hi everyone! Happy new year to you all!

Today's challenge comes from the lovely Julie Jacob...

Scrap a page using 5 or more photos!

And here are your inspirational layouts from the DT:

Juls

I found this challenge quite hard, as I don't often scrap with multiple photos - two is normally my maximum! I decided to keep them quite small, and very similar so it didn't feel too overwhelming. I also used black and white photos so they stand out against the colours in the rest of the layout.

Julie

This was a tough one for me...but a good challenge. I was shooting for 5 and ended up with 6! :)

Anna

This is a great challenge for when you have lots of photos from one day or time.

Valerie

I find the easiest way to get a lot of photos on a single page layout is to print them small. Wallet sized photos are great for overview pages - like this one that will start the 'Halloween 2011' section of my scrapbook.

And our prize for January is a $30 gift certificate to The Hen's Den store! Thank you for the generous prize :)

To enter, just link up your take on either of our January challenges (the next one goes live on 22nd) in the comments section of the challenge post. Can't wait to see everyone's entries!

December 18th Challenge

2011-12-18T10:00:00.000Z

We've got a nice easy challenge this week that should hopefully provide some inspiration for those of us still shopping for Christmas presents!

Create a layout about the best present you've either given or received

Anna

One of the most memorable presents I was given was this dolly and cot when I was 6, I loved it so much! It doesn't have to be the biggest presents that mean the most.

Julie

Christmas 2007, we surprised our two daughters with a trip to London & Paris with me, my niece & great-niece. So 5 girls on a big trip in February of '08! :) They were SO surprised, and we had a wonderful time...lots of good memories. :)

I will never forget the looks on their faces when they realized where we were going.

Valerie

The best gift I ever received was the item that came in this little blue box with the red ribbon tied around it:

It contained my engagement ring from my husband. It feels like it was just yesterday but it was so long ago. On the page I call it 'the gift that changed everything' because it really did. Christmas was never the same after I opened that box and said yes.

Jules

Last year my husband completely surprised me with a DSLR, it was completely unexpected and such a thoughtful gift - he's definitely a keeper!

This month's sponsor is The Scrapbook Garden, an online scrapbooking store based here in the UK. Ann, the owner, has donated a fabulous Christmas kit full of papers, alphas and embellishments ready for your Christmas layouts!

To be in the running, simply create a layout that satisfies the challenge, post it on your blog or in a gallery, and leave a direct link to your layout in the comments below. Happy scrapping!

December 4th Challenge

2011-12-04T10:09:00.001Z

Happy December! Jules here with your challenges for this month.
I love this time of year, as I love all of the Christmas collections that the different manufacturers bring out, but I have to admit that I'm struggling to justify buying any new stash, as I've still got loads from last year! I know I'm never going to use it all for scrapping Christmas photos, so today's challenge is to use up all that old Christmas stash in different ways.
Use your Christmas themed stash to create a non-themed, everyday layout
Anna:

I used Echo Park's, Everyone loves Christmas papers for this layout of my nephew and his love of bugs!

Tessa:

I focused on finding a Christmas line with non-traditional colors and decided on this sheet of patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather line. The lavender color was fun to pull out in complimentary embellishments and I added navy blue to the palette to tie in better with my photos.

Valerie:

Fortunately, holiday lines usually have lots of brown and green - making it 'not too difficult' to use them for non-holiday projects. For my page I used SEI holiday collections:Christmas Mint (the brown paper) and Kris Kringle (the green). I added some less-Christmasy elements to reinforce my story.

Jules:

I also used Echo Park for my layout, but I chose the 'Merry Christmas' line. I also managed to break into the Tim Holtz tissue tape that I've been saving for 'just the right project'!

To be in the running, simply create a layout that satisfies the challenge, post it on your blog or in a gallery, and leave a direct link to your layout in the comments below. Happy scrapping!

November 20th Challenge

2011-11-20T16:11:00.000Z

Tessa here again, ready with the next challenge! Around this time of year, many people wax poetic about being thankful for their blessings. Your challenge is to create a layout about something you are grateful for. However, rather than the typical answers of family and health, you must choose something superficial, silly, or something you could easily live without.

Ready to see what the design team is grateful for?

Julie

Such a little, silly thing...but I love my Starbucks hot chocolate. (If you can still call it hot at 140 degrees!) And like I wrote, I love that they know what I want before I even say anything. :) It helps that I order the same thing every time. ;)

Valerie

It seems like such a small, frivolous thing but it's almost like a security blanket for me; my favorite brand & color of lipstick. I always have it with me and I'm thankful for the little splash of color it provides every time I wear it.

Anna

I do try and be grateful for the little things in life like when you are making cakes for a special event and they turn out just as well as they were planned!

Jules

Having IBD means that there is a long list of food that I can't eat - I will be forever grateful that chocolate isn't on that list!

Tessa

While thinking about what I would scrap, I realized that my little blessings still have a big impact in my life. For example, I'm grateful that my husband doesn't mind when I steal his comfy athletic socks to wear to work as a hip hop dance teacher. He's a keeper :).

By playing along in November you could win $25.00 from Precocious Paper in the form of the Very Merry line, the Vintage Poinsettia line, or a shop credit (your choice). We can't wait to see what blessings you count - happy scrapping!

November 6th Challenge

2011-11-05T23:50:00.000Z

Happy November! Tessa here, and I'm excited to be hosting the challenges this month. Ready for a new one?

Your challenge is to use hand-cut shapes in a layout. Whether you cut hearts, stars, or even just circles, no die-cutting tools are allowed! Scissors only :).

Julie:

Such a fun challenge! I didn't realize how often I was reaching for border punches. :)

For this layout I hand cut two layers of border scallops, as well as the hearts.

Jules:

I had fun hand cutting the pennants underneath the photo - you can tell they're hand cut because they're all wonky - never mind!

Anna:

This was a great challenge for me as my scissors are my best friend!! I used them all the time to cut things, I don't even own a cutting machine! Everything on my layout is hand cut!

Valerie:

I love my die cutting machines so this was definitely a challenge for me! I hand cut my title, which I made by first priting the letters from my computer, then using them as templates to cut around. I also hand cut the little mixed banner from a strip of scrap.

Tessa:

I hoard punches and use my die-cut machine on a daily basis, but I loved the freedom of sitting down with just a pair of scissors and my patterned paper. I kept it simple with circles (well, round-ish shapes - they're far from circles!).

We hope you'll join us! Your scissors will appreciate the attention :). Should you choose to play, you could win your choice of the Very Merry line, Vintage Poinsettia line, or a shop credit for $25.00 USD from Precocious Paper:

To be in the running, simply create a layout that satisfies the challenge, post it on your blog or in a gallery, and leave a direct link to your layout in the comments below. Happy scrapping!

16th October Challenge

2011-10-16T08:00:00.001+01:00

Today I challenge you to create an altered background for you layout, you can used anything paints, mists, inks, stencils stamps anything to create some pattern.
The design team have done a great job with it!

Amanda

I altered my background by scrunching up a piece of tissue paper (I used a vintage sewing pattern) and pasting it onto my cardstock. I then painted over it with gesso and used a variety of mists and masks to create a random design.

Anna

I was inspired by the mixed media canvases you see around at the moment so I used my background as one! I used lots of different techniques mostly using paint!

Jules

I created my background using a mask with white acrylic paint.

Julie

I altered my background with mist (love that stuff!) and a cute stamp. Don't worry about lining up the stamp edges perfectly...and it's fun to use the stamp a couple of times without re-inking.

Tessa

I challenged myself to alter my background with something I don't use very often - rub-ons! I used gold metallic rub-ons in a punchinella (sequin waste) style by Glitz Designs. I moved the rub-on sheet around as I went, so the transfer is more free-form than the design on the sheet. I misted a bit over the rub-ons, too

Hope you like the challenge and enjoy creating! Please link up your creations in the comments section for a chance to win The Make and Create shop's Old Type kit.

Winners!

2011-10-03T09:26:00.000+01:00

Hi folks! It's about time we announced our winners for the August and September challenges! So, I'll get straight to the point...

The August winner is...

Wendy Crowe! Congrats Wendy! Email me (amanda@amandajonesdesigns.com) to claim your £15 Scrap Rat GC :)

And the winner of our September Ella Publishing $20 voucher is....

Sherri! Congratulations :) Drop me an email and I will hook you up with your prize :)

Thanks to all of our players, can't wait to see your creations this coming month!

2nd October Layout Challenge

2011-10-02T08:00:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone it's Anna here with you for October! For this challenge I've created a colour pallet for you to create with, here it is:

Grey, pink and yellow, I love these colours together!

Here's the layout I created:

Amanda

Jules

Love this colour palette! I'm sure there are plenty of current collections that fit the colour scheme, but as soon as I saw it I knew I had to use the Crate Paper 'Restoration' collection - it's one that I come back to time and again, I just love it!

Julie

This was a different color pallete for me. I have two daughters...but for some reason, don't scrap with a lot of pink! So much fun to put together colors you wouldn't usually. :) Thanks for making me go outside my box Anna!

Tessa

Val

I love grey and yellow together - particularly with a little pink thrown in!

The prize for this months is this kit from my shop The make and Create shop!

It's called Old Type and it's vintage inspired!

So please link up your creations in the comments, using my colour pallet for a chance of winning it!

Sunday Layout Challenge

2011-09-18T01:23:00.002+01:00

Hi Everyone - welcome to another Sunday challenge at The Studio Challenges! This week's challenge is to make a page that incorporates a list of some kind. As usual, the design team did a super job and I loved seeing all their interpretations. I'm sure you will agree there is lots of inspiration here...

Amanda

I made a layout documenting 3 things I wish for my son's future :)

Anna

I created a list of my nephew's favourite things on his 3rd Birthday.

Julie

I love making lists...so this challenge was so much fun! In case my handwriting is too small (or unreadable!) 3. take a picture 4. eat some bacon 5. read a book 6. go out for dinner 9. love a cat 10.. just be you.

I could have kept going and going...make a list, go shopping, drink iced tea, go to Starbucks, sleep in, watch an NCIS marathon... :)

Jules

When I first saw this week's challenge, I thought about creating a layout based on a list of my favourite things, but then I decided it would be more fun to create a list based on my dog's favourite things. Turns out those are (in no particular order) morning cuddles, food, walks, swimming, bones, posing for photos and evening cuddles :D

Tessa

I decided to document what a typical day in my life looks like right now. List journaling was the perfect way to get the words onto the page.

Valerie

List format journaling is definitely my favorite kind of journaling! Sometimes I just number photos and let them be the list, avoiding writing altogether, but for this page I listed my kids favorite rides at a local amusement park.This page came together super fast with the help of a sketch and a club kit.

Now it's your turn. Make your list based project and link it up to this post. You could be the lucky winner of this month's prize: a $20 gift certificate to Ella Publishing Co., publisher of inspiring eBooks for scrapbookers.

Can't wait to see what you make!

Sunday Layout Challenge

2011-09-04T02:34:00.001+01:00

Can you believe it's already September? That means a fresh month of challenges here at The Studio Challenges. It also means 'back to school' time in many places. For me, September always brings to mind the smell of new books and shiny new school clothes - what does 'back to school' mean to you? This week we challenge you to make a school-related page - maybe about your favorite classes, teachers, etc....your kids experience...anything school-related.
Here's a little design team inspiration to get you started....and check out our the great prize that is up for grabs this month....

Anna

Here's my take on the challenge, this is old Primary School, it's changed quite a lot since I went there but I do go and help out there with art and craft now!

Jules

I was lucky enough to spend 7 years of my school life, from 11-18, in this gorgeous old building. I don't have a photo of it, (shockingly for a scrapbooker!) so I used a postcard of a painting of the building as it was in the 19th Century - it doesn't look that much different today.

Julie

When I think of school (or back to school)...right after school supplies comes first day of school pictures. This year I had these cute little signs for the kids to hold (even my high school senior cooperated!) When I sat down to edit the pictures 80% of them had disappeared. Gone. Poof. Not in the file...nowhere. I was frustrated. I was mad. I thought bad words.

And then I made the kids hold the signs again the next morning and have a second-first day of school so I could take more pictures.

And when I went to edit THOSE pictures, 40 out of 50 had disappeared. AGAIN. So now I knew something rotten was going on. Long story short, (too late, right?) the files were just hidden...not deleted. yay! So now I have them all back, and my kids are happy not to have to pretend for a third day in a row that it's the first day of school. :)

Tessa

Valerie

The first day of school is always bittersweet for me. Last year especially, since it marked the end of the pre-school days for our family. The journaling about this day is in the little pocket of my layout.

We hope you will play along with us. Just link your projects in the comment section of this post. Up for grabs this month is a great prize: a $20 gift certificate to Ella Publishing.

You can use this gift certificate to download some of the great eBooks available by Ella. While you are there, check out the lineup for Boot Camp, a special series of 18 inspiring videos by 4 expert instructors starting on September 19.
Can't wait to see what you make!

August 21st challenge

2011-08-21T11:21:00.000+01:00

Hi folks! We're back with another fun challenge this week and the design team have done a fabulous job with their layouts! Your challenge this week is to create a layout about something you're looking forward to.

And here is a little inspiration from the design team :)

Amanda

Although the area I live in at the moment is quite rural, we're moving somewhere even more remote in a couple of weeks. One thing I'm looking forward to is being surrounded by all the luscious greenery every day! The picture on my page is of one of the little lanes I have to drive down on my new route home :)

Anna

I'm looking forward to my sister and brother-in-law moving to Bristol so they will be closer to home. They have wanted to move for years but it's now finally happening, exciting!

Jules

This was a really tough challenge! I've gone for something that I'm looking forward to hopefully happening one day. I have relatives in Vancouver, and I think I'm the only member of my immediate family who hasn't been out to visit them! This postcard was sent to me by my parents when they went over last - I didn't want to adhere it to the layout as I didn't want to lose what my Mum has written on the back, so it's held on with the mini pegs and tucked into the embellishments at the bottom.

Julie

This was a fun one. I cannot wait for this November, when my friend are I are going on a cruise. I've never cruised before and am so excited! :)

Tessa

We've had a pretty mild summer where I live, but I just can't help but look forward to crisp, colorful fall. One of my favorite things about autumn is the change of wardrobe. I'm already prepping my closet for cardigans and shopping for new scarves.

Val

Right around this time of year it kicks in - my absolute love for all things Halloween. I've always loved it and by the time September rolls around, I'm counting down the days before I can break out the decorations.

So to join in this month you need to link up your project in the comments section of the relevant post. You have until the 31st August to enter for any of the August challenges including last week's mini scraplift challenge, and you could win a gift voucher for Scrap Rat! We can't wait to see your creations!

August 7th Challenge

2011-08-07T10:27:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone! It's time for our first August challenge.

Your challenge is to gain you inspiration from books, whether that is a book cover, a title, story or something else...

I can't wait to show you the lyouts from the Design Team, they really rocked it!

This month the sponsor is Scrap Rat Kits. There is already a £10 voucher up for grabs for the scraplift challenge (redeemable against anything in the store) and I'm giving away a £15 voucher for the main August challenges! As always, we welcome international participants!
So on to your inspiration for the book challenge...

Amanda

I wanted to create a layout to inspire me to start reading some of the many non-fiction books I've amassed over the years. I took a snapshot of a small section of my bookshelf and focused on the fact that I have all these books I want to read, but never make the time. I find that, for me, just making myself aware of things that have fallen by the wayside inspires me to pick them up again. Here's hoping!

Anna

When I was looking around at books to inspire I was immediately drawn to this book cover, I love the images around the outside of the book.

Here is the layout that I created from it!

I couldn't quite stretch to photos of a beach cafe so I did it about the beach instead! I had great fun stenciling and hand painting all the images around the edge! Love this effect! I enjoy reading so maybe now I should actually read this book to see what its like!

Julie

The 'Old' side is based on my love for old dictionaries (I collect them)...and if you flip it, the 'New' side is about my Nook...which I love as well, but lately it gets used mostly when my kids take it to play Angry Birds. :)
The book picture is what I based my layout on. I collect the Companion Library series (old Children's Classics)...if you read them one way, it's one story...if you flip it over, it's another.

Jules

I absolutely love books! I've always been an avid reader, and it's not unusual to see me like this, hidden behind a novel. If I'm not crafting then chances are I'll be reading :D

Tessa

I found my inspiration for this challenge in an actual, vintage book cover. I love the distressing on the left edge caused by being pulled away from the spine, and I love the well-worn edges and imperfections. The book cover in turn inspired my title and journaling. I want my children to remember the precious, random moments from their childhood, and that's why I scrapbook - to tell their story.

Val

I made a page about my favorite books when I was a kid: the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. They became a popular TV show here in the U.S. in the early 70s - when I found the series of books in my school library, I was hooked. I still watch the re-runs of the show and recently found a whole set of the books at a yard sale - the same early 70's editions I used to read. They are featured in the photo on my layout:

The time has come...

2011-07-31T23:14:00.001+01:00

Well, the time has come to wave goodbye to our DT and welcome the new team! We will be going back to our old format of fortnightly challenges, with a monthly sponsor. Challenges will be posted on the first and third Sundays of each month :)

So in addition to myself, I would like you to welcome back four members of the DT:

Anna White-Sharman
Jules Dix
Tessa Buys
Valerie Mangan

And please give a warm welcome to our new DT member, Julie Jacobs!!

As we are not posting a 'proper' challenge this week, I will share a layout from each member of the team. But, I will make it a little fun... scrap lift one of these layouts for the chance to win a £10 gift voucher from Scrap Rat! Post your entries in the comments section of this post.

***Edited to add, the deadline is 31st Augst for this challenge and all entries for August challenges.***

Amanda

Anna

Jules

Julie

Tessa

Valerie

We can't wait to see your scrap lifts! Have fun :)

24th July - Layout Challenge

2011-07-24T08:00:00.002+01:00

Ready for another layout challenge? Hope so! Sadly this is the last challenge with our current design team, next month it will be changing again.
This week Amanda designed a sketch for us to play with!

Here's what the design team came up with.

Anna

I had great fun using this sketch, I love the butterflies so I had to make a feature of those, I used a mask and painted over the edges of it so the outline was left.

Heather

Lisa

I loved this sketch.
I've used mostly Studio Calico supplies on this LO.

This week Jules from the Project team has joined in with her take

I thought I'd join in with the layout challenge this week, as the sketch was perfect for these photos of Mojo that I've had for some time, just waiting for the right project!

We would love to see what you came up with so please link your layouts up!

Wednesday Extra: Altered Chair by Julie

2011-07-20T00:01:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone! Julie Tucker-Wolek with you here today and I want to share a chair that belonged to my Father when he was about 3 or 4 years old! :)

I am going to give a spoiler here and show you WHAT I did with his chair! AKA ... the final result first! :)

I just love how this turned out! Now let me show you what I started out with and how I turned this....

Into my "new" chair I have shared above :)

My Dad's chair started off yellow, and along the way someone tried to paint it blue, but never finished it :)

Now let's see what I did with the chair....

First, I started by spray painting the chair green :)

Then I got a Prima Mask that I used with white spray paint to create my flowers on the chair :)

Yep! That is me getting down and dirty with the spray paint! :)

Now let's see who it turned out with the"masked" flowers on it :)

I used all Prima goodies on my "new" chair (oh, and some Tattered Angels mists and Tim Holtz distressing ink!)

Prima papers to make my paper flowers-

Then I misted them...

Now, its time to decorate! :)

Prima trim around the edges...

Distress ink around the edges of my Prima paper to make my "bouquet" holder!

Making the paper wrap for my "bouquet"

Some Prima buttons to cover the spot that I stapled the paper together!

Now, to put my bouquet together! I put tissue paper in the base of my Prima paper wrap to fill in some of the gaps and have a place to glue my Prima paper flowers too!

Some Prima journal cards to help my title stand out...

These Prima mistable titles are amazing! I love them!

Some of the flowers I made with an added Prima flower!

Almost done! :)

Here she is! :) My final project! :)

A beautiful Prima butterfly!

A fun Prima birdcage!

I truly enjoyed sharing this with you! I hope you enjoyed it also! Thanks so much for stopping by!

~~Julie~~

Sunday Card Challenge

2011-07-17T03:37:00.001+01:00

Hi Everyone - time for a fresh card challenge here at The Studio. This week Amanda gave us a nice, simple summer challenge to use some chipboard on a card. Let's jump right in with some design team inspiration!

Val

Feeling the summer vibe, I used some colorful Cosmo Cricket chipboard stickers for my card.

Brenda

Brenda's focal point is a chipboard journal spot.

Natalie

I love the look of raw chipboard with happy and bright papers...makes me happy :)

This chippy is from an Australian company called 2Crafty...they have some gorgeous chipboard on offer!! I also used some curling ribbon to add some dimension to the card.

Amanda

I also used chipboard from Cosmo Cricket along with some scraps to create my card. Bright, summery colours... although the sun seemsto have disappeared this weekend where I live!

Now we'd love to see your take on this challenge. Be sure to link up your projects in the sidebar.

Have a great week!

Wednesday Extra: Handmade Notebooks by Jules

2011-07-13T05:36:00.000+01:00

If you're anything like me when it comes to crafting, then you probably can't bear to throw anything away - but the question is, what do you do with all of those scraps of patterned paper? Well here's a great way to turn some of them into fabulous handmade notebooks!

You will need some pieces of patterned paper, plain or lined paper for the pages, either embroidery thread, ribbon or a Bind-It-All, and a few embellishments to decorate.

To make the smallest book you will need a piece of double sided paper which is long enough to be folded in half (mine was 4.5"x8.5"). Cut several sheets of plain (or lined) paper slightly smaller than your patterned piece. Mark the centre point on the plain paper and then make two more marks above and below the centre mark (the distance will depend on the size of your pages, my marks were 1" apart). Using a pokey tool (or similar) pierce holes through all of the plain pages where you have made your marks.

Take a needle and embroidery thread and sew down through the centre hole, then back up through the top hole, down through the bottom hole, and back up through the centre hole again. Tie the ends together as close to the paper as possible, making sure that you tie round the thread running from the top to bottom holes (this is to stop the knot pulling through the centre hole). Trim the threads and then fold the paper in half. Take your patterned piece, ink the edges and loosely fold in half. Add a line of glue down the crease and adhere the folded spine of your pages into the cover. Add embellishments to the cover and you're done!

For the larger square book the steps are very similar to those of the smaller book, but when you're piercing the three holes you need to go through the cover as well. As your binding will show on the outside of the book you can pretty it up with some ribbon instead of embroidery thread.

Since the cover is included in the binding, there's no need to glue with this method, so all that's left is to embellish.

Finally, you can use smaller scraps of patterned paper to create a handmade notebook by using a Bind-It-All to finish the book. I used two pieces of the same paper to create my front and back covers, but you could use plain card for the back if you prefer. Another advantage to the Bind-It-All is that it doesn't matter if the inside pages are different sizes, so I was able to use the offcuts from the first two notebooks to make this one.

Use the Bind-It-All to punch holes down the side of each of your covers and the inside pages, and then bind with wires. A few embellishments on the front and you've got a really professional looking notebook!

I hope you're inspired to get crafting with your leftover scraps of patterned paper - if you have a go at any of these methods, link us up as we'd love to see!

10th July - Layout Challenge

2011-07-10T08:00:00.002+01:00

Todays challenge is 'How do you like to spend your summer days? Not the big trips but those lazy summer days...'
Hope you've been enjoying some lovely sunny days where you are this summer!

Anna

There's nothing like sitting and relaxing while having an ice cream on a warm sunny day!

Heather

Lazy summer days for us can mean just hanging at the house or in the pool but this particular day, we hit the beach for a little surf and sand. We had a great time filling buckets with sand, making sandcastles, burying each other in the sand and just playing in the waves.

Lisa

This is what I love about the summer.
The 'no planning'.
Just being able to just go out because it's a lovely evening.

Nadia

We would love to know how you spent your lazy summer days so please link your creations up!

Wednesday Extra: Smash Book by Irini

2011-07-06T04:53:00.000+01:00

This is my version of a smash journal!!

I was sent this beautiful Birthday card this year

inside the card were 2 pockets full of tag and images for journalling

So I wanted to put this card to good use...

and this is what I did!

I cut the card in half

and then cut 2 pieces of chipboard slightly larger than the card

Then I painted the chipboard red

Once they dried I placed the the front and the back of the cards on the chipboard

and made holes with the bind it all

Then I cut up some random pattern paper

and cut holes with the bind it all

found my favourite marker and glue pen

Then I added the wires with the Bind it All

added some ribbon, flowers and butterflies...

Now I am ready to journal!!!

Sunday Card Challenge

2011-07-03T00:34:00.000+01:00

Happy July everyone! It's that time again - time for a Studio card challenge! This week Amanda challenged us to make an invitation...timely since there is so much going on this time of year. So many reasons to invite people over! So, without further ado - let's see what the design team created with this challenge (you're not going to be disappointed ;)

Valerie

Since invitations are usually made in quantities, I made something that could be easily reproduced and put together 'assembly line' style. For my summer invite, which could be used for a pool party or barbecue, I used a Polaroid frame and journal lines stamp. The sun was cut with a digital die cutter and the sentiment was printed on my home printer.

Brenda

Brenda's take is a summery barbecue invite.

Natalie

Anyone for tea?

I love getting together with my friends to catch up over a cuppa. We are having a very cold winter here in Australia and there is nothing better than a hot cup of tea/coffee, a yummy slice of cake and a chat with a friend on a cold winters day! You are all welcome :).

Rossella

Rossella made this adorable birthday party invitation.

If I received a handmade invitation like one of these, I would be pretty excited to attend. How about you?
So now it's your turn. Let's see your take on the invitation challenge. Link up your cards in the brand new July link area!

Wednesday Extra: Altered Embroidery Hoop by Tessa

2011-06-29T00:01:00.000+01:00

Hello! Are you into embroidery? I failed miserably at it as a young teenager, and gave up with little hope of ever successfully taking it up again. However, I love the look of an embroidery hoop and the texture of embroidery floss. I decided to take my own approach to a hoop with my scrapbooking supplies, including embellishments and stamps.

My supplies:
Embroidery Hoop
Embroidery Floss
Muslin
Ribbon (My Mind's Eye)
Flowers (Studio Calico)
Birdcage Stamp (My Mind's Eye)
Doily Banner Stamp (Maya Road)
Small Alpha Stamps (Personal Stamp Exchange)
Large Alpha Stamps (Inkadinkado)
Cursive Alpha Stamps (Studio Calico)
Staz-on Ink in Black
Acrylic Block
Mist (Tattered Angels, Studio Calico)
Stick Pins (Maya Road)
Leaves (coming soon to my Etsy shop)
Buttons (Jenni Bowlin)
Doily (SEI)

First, I added my muslin fabric to the hoop. In the future I would like to try something a little bit thicker (you can see my black thread showing through from the back in the right light), but I love the look of muslin. I sprayed mist in a few different colors to add some depth to my background and let it dry.

Next, I laid out my embellishments so that I would know where to stamp. Happy with my design, I cleared the hoop and got to stamping. I placed a small book (Goodnight Moon - one of my little man's favorites!) under the hoop for a hard stamping surface. As you can see, I wasn't too fussy about lining up my text, but you could use a ruler and pencil to draw guidelines if you'd like.

I used a hot glue gun to adhere my embellishments and added a few little "birds" here and there with embroidery floss. I also added punctuation to my text with the thread.

I love the idea of the embroidery hoop acting like a small, round canvas. I'm sure I'll be making many more of these! Have you tried one? Link me up in the comments - I'd love to take a look. Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

26th July - Layout Challenge

2011-06-26T08:00:00.005+01:00

Hi Everyone, hope this finds you well and ready to get creating for this layout challenge!

This weeks challenge is to 'Create a page about something you dislike about your job. Whether you're a full-time mother or employed by somebody else, what is the thing that drives you nuts? Come on, everyone has something!'

Unfortunately I've had flu this week and I've been really poorly so I haven't managed to make a layout for this week so I will leave you with the other lovely DT members takes on this challenge.

Heather

This week's challenge was just that - a BIG challenge for me. I could have chosen to do a layout about my job as VP of Marketing for a small business but I really didn't want to do a lot focusing on what I hate about that job. I thought about doing it on Mt. Laundry and how it seems impossible to reach the top of that mountain. I could have chosen my absolute detest for cleaning bathrooms but to tell you the truth my hubby steps in and does all the things I hate to do around the house (he's such a great man!). Instead I chose to focus on my job as mommy because it's the most important one to me. I can't say there is anything I hate about it so I am focusing on the demands of it being a 24/7 job and how I would typically complain about it if it were any other job.

Lisa

I have a love/hate relationship with running my business. I love working for myself and from home but the hours are very tiring. I can never close the door on work. There's always something that needs to be done.

Nadia

This layout is based on the tough decisions I had to make when trying to decide whether to go back to work or stay at home with the kids. I was indeed at a crossroads, because I love my work, I had studied for so many years and of course the financial factor weighed in as well. Ultimately, the need and desire to stay with the kids won over and even when I went back to work recently I only work 2 days. I could not see my self as a career woman any more..not without sacrificing my emotional attachment with my children. I wanted this more than anything. I did not want to be a stranger to my kids or for someone else to raise my children. So this in the end, made the choice easy. I have included some hidden journalling at the top right about my feelings.

Hope these layouts have inspired you to get you feelings down on a page for this challenge, if you do create something we would love to see it so please link it up.

Wednesday Extra: Pinned by Nic Booth

2011-06-22T03:41:00.002+01:00

I spent last weekend in York - a city which has lots of gorgeous little crafty shops, quite a few of which were selling hand made pin cushions. My collection of pins is ever growing and I thought one of these cushions would do a great job of storing them safely. Although the pin cushions in the shops were really cute and I was very tempted to buy one, my crafty brain wouldn't let me and was thinking to itself, I could make something similar at a fraction of the cost! So instead, I purchased an offcut of material and got my needle out of it's case to make my own pin cushion:

The supplies I used were:

offcut of material

green felt

Scalloped nestability die

Sizzix flower and alpha dies

Big shot die cutting machine

white and green thread

bazzill sewing template

button

I began by cutting out my material for the base using a scalloped nestability die. I also cut a slightly smaller scallop frame from felt. I used the same material to die cut the flowers, rolled them up and stitched to secure their shape.

I attached the felt scallop by stitching a running stitch around it to the front of my cushion and also stitched on the flowers. I used a bazill stitching template to hand sew the swirls in white thread. I used an alpha die to cut my letters and again stitched them on to the front using running stitch.

I then handstitched around the outside, leaving a small gap so I could stuff the inside of the cushion. I used a mixture of small felt scraps and cotton wool for my stuffing. I then sewed the remainder of the border and my pin cushion was finished.

Quick and simple to make but also an effective (and pretty) way to store my pins :-)

Thanks for looking

Nic :-)

Sunday Card Challenge

2011-06-19T03:03:00.001+01:00

Hi Everyone! This week at The Studio we've got a fun card challenge - with a sketch from our very own Fabi:

Here's what our design team came up with for this challenge...

Valerie

These letters were cut from a patterned paper to make the word 'summer'. Since the sentiment was very wide I decided to let it dictate the shape of the card - a long, narrow rectangle.

Fabi

I love to make cards in advance and keep them for special ocasions, friends, bdays, etc. So the sketch just came as a perfect mojo to create one more for my "any occasion" card stash. I have used some paper scraps to create the flowers.

Natalie

My son started Kindergarten this year and that means CONSTANT birthday parties!! I have had to spread my wings in the cardmaking department and try my hand at cards that will appeal to five year old boys...not middle aged women :). This is an awesome sketch that can be interpreted any way!!!

Now it's your turn! We'd love to see what you could do with the sketch too - so link up your projects on the sidebar.

Have a great week!

Wednesday Extra: Altered Canvases with Julie

2011-06-15T15:40:00.002+01:00

Hi everyone! I wanted to share a fun project I made recently with some canvasses that I picked up at the Dollar Store :):):)

Here are the canvasses I picked up... they all ready had paintings on them of some birds... pretty, but doesn't match my decor :):):)

First, I gesso'd them :)

Then I chose my paints and painted them in two different tones to add some texture :)

Then I chose some stamps for my word that I chose for my canvasses and I used the white paint on the stamps themselves :)

Then I chose some embellishments to decorate my canvasses :)

And to protect my project once everything was adhered down, I used some liquid laminate paint to seal it :)

And here are is my finished project :)

I always love going through the Dollar Store and finding things that I can alter :)

Thanks for stopping by! :)

~~Julie TW~~

Layout Challenge- 12th June

2011-06-12T08:00:00.005+01:00

This weeks layout challenge is to Use up some of your die cuts. You can use ready made die cuts or cut your own with a cutting machine.
I'm sure most of us have an old packet of die cuts that are waited to be used or a die cutting machine that is gathering dust from lack of use, well now the time to use them!

Anna

This was quite a challenge to me as I don't usually use die cuts on my layouts, I don't really buy them and I don't even own a die cutting machine!! I had to dig out the couple of sheets of die cut shapes that I do own out, (one of the sheets came free in a kit!) and clustered them in the corners of my layout.

Heather

Lisa

I do use my dies quite often still. More or often enough for masking purposes these days like how I've misted over my butterfly die cut on this LO.
I also decided this was the perfect opportunity to get out a couple of dies that haven't been used for a while. So I dusted off my large circle and the scalloped circle.

Tessa from the Project Team joined in this week:

This is one of the first pages I have created for my Summer Smash Book. All of the accents are die-cuts except for the two original illustrations on the page (the flowers in the top left and the calendar in the bottom right).

We would love to see what you do with your die cuts so please link them up!

Wednesday Extra: Craft Room Decor with Jules

2011-06-08T00:01:00.001+01:00

We've recently moved to a bigger house, with space for a craft room for me. The house is quite old and needs a lot of tlc, so we're busy stripping wallpaper which means my craft room won't be ready for a while. In the meantime I thought I'd create a hanging plaque to go on the door, as a reminder of what the room will be for! This idea could be adapted for any theme, so I thought I'd share it with you today.

First I took a piece of thick chipboard (8"x8") and some patterned paper. I also decided what I wanted the plaque to say, and chose this wooden word from Hobbycraft, and the quilted word from Prima.

I covered the chipboard with the patterned paper and punched holes in the top using my Bind it All. If you wanted less holes then a Crop a Dile (or similar hole punch) would work just as well.

I painted the wooden word white, making sure I gave it a nice thick coat. Finally I embellished the plaque. I threaded ribbon through the holes at the top of the chipboard, and tied in a bow to create a hanger. I then added pleated ribbon around the edge, and embellished the centre. Now whenever I enter the room there will be a sign on the door reminding me why I'm in there!

You could adapt this for lots of different themes, but I think it would look great as a nameplate on a child's bedroom door. I hope this has inspired you to have a go at your own - don't forget to link us up if you do!

Sunday Card Challenge

2011-06-05T13:48:00.008+01:00

Hi, there! It's time for another card challenge at The Studio and we hope you will play along with us. This week, Amanda is challenging us to sew or weave on a card. Here's a little design team inspiration to get the creative wheels turning....

Val

I sew quite a bit on my projects so I thought I'd try the weaving for this challenge. For the circle accents I made panels of woven paper strips then ran the sheets through a die cutting machine. To secure the strips once the circles were cut, I machine stitched around edges. Since the woven patterns are complicated, I kept the rest of the card very simple.

Brenda
Brenda added some hand-stitching to her card:

Rossella
Rossella stitched on her card., as well. The image is from the site Vintage Papergoods.

...and we are also joined this week the very talented Lisa of our layout team...

Lisa
I've been playing with the new 'Baby Mine' collection from Fancy Pants.
I've hand stitched quite a lot on this card and weaved the embroidery floss along the holes of the doily too.
I've also hand stitched this inside the card.
Are you inspired to stitch or weave on your card? I know I am! We'd love to see what you come up with - so link up on the side for your chance to win this month's prize.

It's Video Friday!!

2011-06-03T18:38:00.005+01:00

Learn how to make cool charms and jewelry out of Tim Holtz fragments and your scraps!

Wednesday Extra: Ink Foam Pad Storage

2011-06-01T00:01:00.000+01:00

We all know that foam applicators are the perfect tools for giving our paper crafts an "inked" touch. But what do you do with all of your foam pads when you're done? Throw them out? Toss them in a drawer? Irini has a fabulous idea for storing your foam applicators in a beautiful and organized way.

This is my new storage box for

my ink foam pads!!!!

You need 2 pieces of chipboard 8 inches x 9inches

and a strip for the backbone of the box

measuring 2cm x 23cm

.78"x 9"

add a layer of gesso then decorate...

collect 20 match boxes

adhere then to a strip of chipboard

and if you want colour them...

I misted them with

Maya Road Tangerine Metallic mist

adhere strip of chipboard

to a piece of paper...

I misted the paper and used a punch to

decorate the edges...

Start assembling...

I named each box...

I do not have many distress ink pads

so I only stuck match boxes to one side of the box

If you have many ink pads you can adhere match boxes

to the other side of the box too.......

this is how it will look inside with the ink pads in place

The inspiration came from this link

here

Thanks Irini! If you give this idea a try, we'd love to see your box. Have any other creative storage ideas? We'd love to hear them! Just leave us a link in the comments. Thanks for stopping by!

29th May- Layout Challenge

2011-05-29T08:00:00.004+01:00

Time for another Layout Challenge this week the challenge is a sketch, which just so happens that I (Anna) designed! Hope you have fun creating with it, it's quite exciting for me as it's the first time I've designed a sketch!

Anna

I stayed quite close to the sketch with this layout, stars are probably my favourite shape! I masked off a big star shape and misted over it and then stitched around it to make it stand out, then added the rest on top.

Nadia

I really wanted to use these pictures and these papers together, so I substituted the star with a large doily for a more classic effect.

Lisa
Heather

This was a great challenge for me because I don't normally include large shapes on my layouts. I considered taking a different route with this and using small stars as embellishments but in the end I decided to tackle it head-on. The layout looks simple enough, which is NOT my style, but I did it that way intentionally, adding techniques to it to bring it back to my style. I used a Cricut, masking, misting, fussy cutting, stitching and more. None of the alphas were that color originally. More details about the techniques are on my blog.

It amazing the different layouts that you can get from the same sketch, how does the sketch inspire you, we would love to see so please link your creations up!

It's Video Friday

2011-05-27T19:00:00.000+01:00

Hello girls!!!
This Friday I am going to show you a fun and easy way to create small works of art out of canvas, your scraps and gel medium!!

And if you are wondering about the end of the video.... I forgot to film it before getting to Mykonos, but I am sure you'll love the pictures!

Wednesday Extra: Home Decor Accents by Tessa

2011-05-25T02:17:00.000+01:00

I recently purchased a pretty vintage bowl that I wanted to fill with something. When I saw these kraft paper mache balls in the craft store, I knew I wanted to alter them for my bowl.

Here are three techniques for covering these home decor accents with your scrapbooking supplies. First gather your supplies - a sheet of patterned paper (Pink Paislee), some tissue paper (Pink Paislee), decorative tape (Hambly), Mod Podge, a paint brush, scissors, a circle punch, and your paper mache spheres.

Technique One: Tape

Working with small pieces (about 2-4 inches depending on the size of your sphere), tear tape and adhere directly to the ball. Don't fret over wrinkles and allow the tape to overlap. When the entire ball is covered, cover with an even layer of Mod Podge and allow to dry.

Technique Two: Tissue Paper

When choosing tissue paper, go with the nice stuff! Quality tissue paper won't result in colors bleeding and the paper tearing. Cut tissue paper into squares. Working in one small area at a time, brush some Mod Podge onto the sphere and adhere tissue paper. Quickly add Mod Podge over the top of the tissue paper and repeat the process until the sphere is completely covered.

Technique Three: Patterned Paper

My patterned paper was cardstock weight, which made this a little more difficult. You might want to take that into consideration when choosing your paper. Punch circles from your paper. Using scissors, cut five slits around the circle. Doing this will allow the paper to form to the ball as closely as possible.

Brush Mod Podge onto the sphere, then add paper. Using your finger, work the paper into the glue and then cover the circle with more Mod Podge. This is messy! Use your finger to ensure the paper is secure and then repeat until the ball is covered.

Tips:

1. Spheres can be tricky to keep steady on your work surface, so use an empty paper towel roll as a perch. One tube is all you need - just cut several pieces and you have several stands.

2. Only work on 1/3 or 1/2 of your sphere at a time. Set the sphere on your stand to dry before trying to add more. Doing so will keep your tacky hands from sticking to portions you already glued and/or keep your hands more clean. I'm speaking from experience here :). Just work on the other spheres and go back when the first is dry.

3. If paper tears, just layer another piece on top of the imperfection. If you leave a fingerprint in the Mod Podge, just go back over the section with more glue. These are pretty forgiving.

4. Try an assortment of sizes. After completing this project, I decided that I should have used spheres of different sizes for more visual interest and a better fit in my bowl. Now I have an excuse to do some crafty shopping, though, right? :)

If you give something like this a try, I'd love to see it! Just link us up in the comments section or post a photo in the forum. Have a great day! Tessa

Sunday Card Challenge

2011-05-22T01:51:00.000+01:00

Hi Everyone - hope you enjoyed that chunky embellishment challenge from last week - and how about Nic's cool altered book? So much eye candy at The Studio over the past week!
This week we've got a card challenge for you - use something shiny on a card. Let's see how our design team interpreted this one - plus we are also joined by the fab Lisa this week, too!

Valerie

To add something shiny to this card for a bridal shower, I machine sewed a silver border on my clouds and used silver metallic embroidery floss to hand-stitch silver French knot raindrops

Fabi

Ive used a metal accent to bring the shining embellishment requested by the challenge. I loved how the metal contrasted with the papers and add an extra edge to the card.

Natalie
I found these little wings in a craft store when I was on holidays recently...yep, always on the lookout for crafty bits to feed my addiction :). They are iridescent and are just the sweetest way to jazz up a card or LO.

Rossella

I used some rhinestones and bright embossing powder for clothes!

Lisa
Finally I was able to use this very blingy heart that I've been saving for the right moment : )

Thanks for joining us, Lisa - now we hope you will, too. Link up your shiny creations in our sidebar!

Wednesday Extra: Altered Keepsake Book by Nic Booth

2011-05-18T01:00:00.002+01:00

It's been a long term crafty goal of mine to make something in which I can store those precious, irreplaceable keepsakes of my son's early years - the tags he wore when first born, a lock of his baby hair etc...

I recently came across a book called Altered Book Workshop by Bev Brazelton which details lots of amazing ideas about altering and adapting books. The book inspired me to have a go at making my own version of an altered book, a keepsake book made for the purpose of storing my treasured items:

I had loads of fun altering my book and found it really easy to make - it's very adaptable - you can use whatever techniques you like, and it's a great way to use up all those little scraps of stash left over from other projects.

The supplies you will need for this project are:
A hardback book - I bought mine from the sale shelf at my local library for 25p
Wet Glue - I used paper mod podge
Acrylic paints
An empty matchbox
Script Stamp - I used a wooden stamp called manuscript background from Hero Arts
Inks
Craft knife, ruler and cutting mat
Papers and embellishments for decoration. I used a scrap of cream fabric, paper scraps from kaisercraft - duchess line, My Minds eye, Bobunny and Crate Paper, brads from My Minds Eye and a Maya Road chipboard tag from the ScrapaGoGo May kit and a Martha Stewart punch.

My book started out life as this:

I prepared the book by taking the jacket off and covering the outside with several layers of acrylic paint - I then inked up and stamped my script stamp and then dry brushed another thin layer of white paint over the top.

I then prepared the inside of my book - you can make as many or few inside pages as you like - I decided that I wanted very few inside pages, instead designed my book to open directly onto the section storing the matchbox tray which incorporates a pocket to store my tags. I glued the inside cover page to the front hardback cover and glued the first ten pages of the book together.

I placed my matchbox on the last page of the book and measured around the outside - do not cut this page as the matchbox will be glued onto this. I then placed the matchbox in the same position on a page higher up in the book and began to cut around it until the stack of cut papers is the same height as your match box.

I took the tray out of the matchbox and applied glue around the box and slid the box only into the cut out which should be a tight fit. I then glued a set of 10 pages over the top.

You may need to remove some page sections from the rest of the book at this stage to prevent the book from being too thick when finished. I removed about 100 pages from the centre. To make sure everything remained held together I applied glue around the outside edges of my pages and once dry my book was ready to decorate.

I began by applying acrylic paint to all my glued sections and when dry, stamping the script stamp. The inside pocket was created by cutting the ten pages I'd glued and painted at the front of the book in half horizontally, attaching my patterned paper and gluing the outside edges to the main inside section.

The outside cover was decorated by using scraps of papers covered in a thin layer of dry brushed paint and a chipboard tag which I covered with fabric and embossed using a embossing folder. For the inside cover, I printed out this poem I found on the net:
From a child so fair, A miracle from above, Placed gently in my care, This child is growing up so fast, Tomorrow's the future, Today is the past. Walking, Talking, fading riddles and rhymes, This lock of hair and tags remain, A keepsake of past times.

I added a few embellishments and finished by decorating the front of my matchbox, fixing a small tab of ribbon for easy opening with a brad.

Thanks for looking :-)

15th May - Layout Challenge

2011-05-15T08:00:00.001+01:00

It's layout challenge week again this week, didn't the card team do a great job last week? We would love to see how you used fabric on your cards, so please link do them up.

Anyway on to this weeks challenge, today we challenge you to 'Add lots of dimension to your page. Layers, chunky embellishments, you name it, build up those pages!'

Time to get busy with your foam pads!!

Anna

I enjoyed this challenge, I don't raise things up enough on my pages!! I love all the different heights to get make. I used lots of foam pads to raised the border, a sticker (saved from the bags packaging) and I cut diamond shapes from the patterned paper and raised those up too. I then made my own little felt roses and added those along with my chipboard letters. The layout is about my new Cath Kidston bag that I got for my Birthday, I love it!

Heather

I love to layer because it adds so much depth to a layout. Sometimes I go full force and layer all over the page and then sometimes, like today I pull back a little to add just a little flair. To add dimension, I used corrugated elements, pop-dots, bunched up ribbon and just stacked the stickers, phrases, etc. on each other.

Lisa

I've used these cute Fancy Pants chipboard embellishments on my page from the Beach Babe collection. I inked the egdes in hot pink so they stand out better.

Nadia

I have added lots of flowers and embellishments to create a layered effect. Most of the embellies are stuck on 3d dots to create that depth as well.

How would you create dimension on your page? Please link them up as we would love to see them!

Wednesday Extra: Giving New Life to an Antique with Julie

2011-05-11T16:26:00.002+01:00

Hi everyone! Julie Tucker-Wolek with you here today, and I am EXCITED to share my project this month! :)

My family and I love to go antiquing! There is this one BIG antique store here in Phoenix, Arizona, and literally the place is so BIG that it takes almost ALL DAY to go through it! And our recent trip to this store... OH BOY! Did I hit pay dirt! I found this 3 foot tall metal birdcage for only $14.00!! EEEKKKK!! I was EXCITED!! Of course, hubby looked at me CRAZY for wanting it (lol!)... but I knew exactly what I wanted to create with it! :)

Here is the birdcage I started with! :)

I started by spray painting it...

Now its time to decorate it! :)

I found these at Michaels on clearance! Gotta love that! :)

And I found these vintage spools at the antique store also! :)

And I wanted to incorporate some yummy "Once Upon a Springtime" from Graphic 45! :)

To add in photos of my kids, I had 8 exact photos of my kids printed out that I wanted to use....

I cutout the photos and added them to the "Once Upon a Springtime" line....

And then cutout them out of the papers too....

Now its time to link the photos together....

I used 3D glue dots to give them some lift....

And used some vintage pompoms that I had to link them together....

And then I got to decorating the photos....

And now to put everything in and ON the birdcage! :)

As you can see to the left in this photo, I hung the pompoms with my kids photos attached to them from the top of the birdcage.... :)

A little Prima birdie sitting in the middle :)

And here is the completed project! :)

So next time you happen to be antiquing, I hope you look at the things that are offered in a way of giving them new life! :)

Thanks for stopping by, we appreciate it! :)

~~Julie TW~~

Sunday Card Challenge

2011-05-08T13:59:00.003+01:00

Happy National Scrapbooking day/weekend! Hope you are enjoying the plethora of challenges and blog hops out in the paper-crafty world!
We've got a fun card challenge for you today - we'd like you to use fabric on a card. So many ways to use fabric. Not sure where to begin? Our design team can give you a hand....

Valerie

I have a special place in my heart for fabric and a large stash as a result of that love. For this card I mixed two small prints. I cut the blue fabric bracket panel with a Big Shot die cutter. I made the flower with a strip of coordinating fabric and a Cosmo Cricket Gluber. (original image removed for publication)

Brenda

My flowers are made of fabric. I used the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals to cut them out of a K & Company fabric stack. So easy and fun!

Natalie
I decided to wrap a mannequin stamp with a strip of fabric. The digital stamp can be found here.
I finished it off with white seam binding, tiny pearls and a handmade flower. Fabric is such a great way to add texture to your cards.
Rossella

I made the flowers with fabric and added some small pieces of cloth instead of patterned paper.

Pretty great, huh? We'd love it if you would join us! Link up your cards in the sidebar and you could be the winner of this month's sponsored prize!

Sunday Card Challenge

2011-05-06T01:00:00.001+01:00

Brenda
Brenda added some hand-stitching to her card:

Rossella
Rossella stitched on her card., as well. The image is from the site Vintage Papergoods.

...and we are also joined this week the very talented Lisa of our layout team...

Wednesday Extra - Birthday Planner by Jules

2011-05-04T15:20:00.000+01:00

I quite often see things throughout the year and think 'that would make a great birthday present for x' and then when their birthday comes round can I ever remember what that great present was? Nope, not at all! So I thought I'd show you the birthday planner that I've made to try and organise myself a bit better :D

I've used seven plain brown square envelopes, which are just over 4"x4". Seal two of the envelopes closed (these will be your covers), and tuck the flaps in on the other five. I've used a bit of adhesive just to secure the flap inside the envelope. I then used a calendar stamp by Glitz Design which I stamped 12 times on to Kraft cardstock and cut out. I covered both sides of the five 'tucked' envelopes, and one side of each of the sealed envelopes in squares of patterned paper from the Basic Grey 'Hopscotch' collection. Using my Bind It All I punched holes in each envelope, making sure that the opening for each of the tucked envelopes was opposite the holes.

I kept the embellishments inside to a minimum, and followed the same pattern for each page: a calendar, a stamped journaling spot and the month. I adhered an office tab from the Basic Grey 'Hopscotch' collection in each opening in the tucked envelopes. I bound all the pages together using my Bind It All, and then embellished the front page using the sticker sheet that comes with the Basic Grey 'Hopscotch' collection pack, and a 'make a wish' sticker from SRM stickers.

I can highlight important dates and note people's birthdays on each page, and then each double spread has a corresponding pocket where I can store pictures and notes when inspiration strikes for that perfect birthday present - that way I won't forget!

You could create loads of different variations on this just by using different size and shape envelopes - and we'd love to see them so don't forget to link us up!

1st May - Layout Challenge

2011-05-01T08:00:00.015+01:00

Time for another layout challenge.
Today challenge is to: Create a double page layout with at least 3 photos.
I know some may find double layouts difficult and maybe some of you haven't even made one yet like a couple of our design team so now is the time to create one! It's not as bad as you think!

Anna

The photos were taken last weekend, we went to see my brother, Sister-in-law and nephew for the day as they were on holiday in Dorset. We had a lovely day it was like summer it was so hot! I wanted the layouts to show the fun that we had so I used lots of pretty colours. I used Echo Park's Springtime range, paint and embellishments from the April kit from The Make and Create Shop!

Heather

I don't do 2-pagers often because I am intimidated by them, regardless of how many photos I am using. I usually do 2 pagers using some sort of grid. I had 13 photos that I wanted to use of my baby's first steps so I tried to break them up in batches to make it look more like two separate yet cohesive pages. I chose to use limited pattern paper because I already had so many photos so I used paint, mist and stencils and then accented with paper borders.

Nadia

WOW! This was challenging! I have NEVER made a double before and I didn't even know what to do! LOL..So in essence, I created 2 layouts using the same photos and materials and on the one layout just focused on the big photo, while the other one I added the journalling and title.

Teresa

I was a little nervous about this challenge - this is my first ever double layout. I must say, I quite like the larger format. I have a feeling it will be the first of many doubles :)

I used Bazzill Kraft, together with some Kaisercraft patterned paper from their Candy Lane range.

The orange puffy alpha is from Thickers and the white corrugated one is from Scrapware:

The piece of whirly-twirly cotton adds a whimsical, playful touch, and the rub ons from Rouge de Garance add little splashes of colour here and there.

We would love to see your doubles so please link them up in the side bar!

Video Friday!

2011-04-29T22:05:00.002+01:00

This time I am showing you a funky technique on how to create a background for your art journal and your craft projects with Gesso and acrylic paints!
Enjoy...

Wednesday Extra: Family Mini Album by Irini

2011-04-27T04:45:00.000+01:00

Here is a mini I made as a tribute to my family......

The difference with this mini is that I have not documented

what happened where and when in the photos.

I decided this mini would be more about words,

feelings and information about each member of the family.

I decided to fill tags each member of the family's

likes and dislikes, fun facts

and on the actual pages I have added quotes about daughters, sons,

generally anything related to the family....

I used a chipboard mini from Sfragidomania

and these gorgeous Webster's pages

which are perfect for family themed projects

After dressing the cover, back and front I added some ice stickles (Tim Holtz)

for added shine, the scalloped chipboard heart was painted and then covered

in crackle paint and a touch of glitter!!

For the tags I added word stickers and more information about each individual

Bling was added!!

I covered the two chipboard hearts in WP paper then covered them with crackle paint and glitter hung them on a chain and attached them to the mini

the back page is dressed in the same paper as the front!!

Have a wonderful day!!!!!!

Sunday Card Challenge

2011-04-24T01:00:00.001+01:00

Hi Everyone - hope you are having a wonder Easter Sunday! We've got a sketch for you today for the card challenge and we sure hope you will play along! Here's our sketch:

Need some more inspiration? Let's see what the design team did with this sketch...

Valerie

I stuck to this sketch pretty closely because I liked the clean grid. I cut up a single sheet of paper and turned the pieces and rearranged them to make a sort-of patchwork. I embossed the sentiment and airplane so they would stand out against the busy background.

Brenda

This sketch is perfect for using scraps!!

Natalie
This sketch is so versatile!! A great opportunity to experiment with colour combos and textures. Keep it simple or just keep adding!!!
Rossella

Every little piece of paper is a piece of my preferred collections - purchased this year!

Now it's your turn - link up your projects on the side bar for a chance to win this month's prize provided by our sponsor Scrap With V. Can't wait to see what you create!

It's Video Friday !!!

2011-04-22T11:44:00.002+01:00

This week learn how to create a background for your layouts or mixed media projects with the use of gesso and alcohol inks!

I am wishing you all Happy Easter!
See you next Friday...

Wednesday Extra: Three Banners by Tessa

2011-04-20T02:31:00.002+01:00

I have a new favorite color palette, one that I am decorating my home in for Spring: yellow, ivory/white, apple green, and gray. Gray is my new favorite neutral, and I love the way it offsets yellow. To freshen up my living room, I created a trio of banners in these pretty colors and I'd like to share them with you today.

First, the pennant banner. Using papers by Pink Paislee, DCWV, and Lily Bee, I cut out my pennants. Each one is three inches wide and five inches tall. An index card makes a great template. Measure three inches down from the top on each side and draw a line. Then find the center of that line. Make a mark. Cut from each of the bottom corners to your mark. Use the template you just made to make the rest of your pennants.

To embellish each space, I began with a doily. I cut circles of wool felt and glued them to the center of each doily. Then I added Prima flowers to some, butterfly punches to others. I added leaves to a few of the doilies and then adhered the doilies to the pennants.

I cut a length of jute twine. You may want to do this first so that you can measure your banner and determine how many pennants to make - I just winged it :). I attached each pennant with a mini clothespin. I love that when I want to put the garland away, I can simply unclip each pennant and safely store the banner.

Next, I made a doily banner. I cut a length of jute twine then folded several paper doilies in half. Spacing the doilies evenly as I went, I secured the twine to the inside of each folded doily with glue. I used hot glue, but any liquid glue should do the trick.

Lastly, I punched circles and sewed them together with a sewing machine. This delicate little banner is a great way to use up scraps from the pennants and very easy to make. Just feed each circle into your machine as you sew, trying to space them as evenly as possible. If you're using double-sided paper, you may want to take into consideration the possibility that both sides could show (note my hot pink circles!).

So there you have it, three banners that freshen up my Spring decor. If you give a banner a try, I'd love to see it! Upload a photo to the gallery or leave a link in the comments. Have a wonderful day! Tessa

17th April - Layout Challenge

2011-04-17T08:00:00.001+01:00

Time for another layout challenge!
Today's challenge is: Play! Create a page that focuses on 'play'. This could be in the form of photos of your kids playing or you could 'play' with a new technique or colour combo on your page. Use your imagination!

Anna

I had a play with a new technique to go with my photo! I poured a bit of shimmer mist into a shallow bowl and added a little water and some washing up liquid and blow bubbles into it like in the photo! I then laid the cardstock over the bubbles so they popped onto the paper! I love how it turned out!

Heather

I chose to focus on several things "play" related. The most obvious is my daughter playing dress-up. My journaling reads "I don't know if you were playing dress-up with Rheagan's shirt or if you were playing football or if you were playing "kitchen". Either way, you were having a ball!" I also chose to play with mists to alter the alphas so that they would POP against the cream bracket.

Lisa

My page is all about Louis' room. You really don't know what you are going to find when you go in there to check on him before you go to bed. On this particular night there was a whole army of lego men across the room as you enter. I just wonder how on earth he manages to get up for the bathroom in the night and not fall over!

Nadia

Teresa
One day last summer, I could hear my three little monkeys giggling and having a wonderful time. When I stepped outside to see what they were doing, the older two ran off and this is what I found:

My innocent Elouise was at the stage where she could write some letters, but not quite read words. Well, you can imagine the fun the older two had! Here's a close up of the board:

I hope you can read at least some of the words - they don't really bear repeating LOL.

Julie joined in with us again this week with her take on the challenge.

I hope you have fun playing for this challenge! As always link you creations up, we would love to see them!

Video Friday

2011-04-15T12:52:00.001+01:00

This Friday I will show you how to create a beautiful super fun and easy gift box out of scrapbooking paper, or any paper you like!
Enjoy it, have fun and leave a beautiful comment!

See you next Friday!!

Wednesday Extra: Desktop Stamp Storer by Nic

2011-04-13T04:48:00.000+01:00

I *heart* stamps and more often than not include stamping of some form on my projects. I tend to find I have some stamp sets I will use over and over, and decided I'd like to try and make something I could keep on my desktop to store the sets I use the most. I wanted a storage system where my favourite sets are visible and easily accessible, but also portable, and this is what I came up with:

A desktop stamp storer.

To make this project you will need the following supplies:
2 pieces of chipboard sized 6.75" square
Patterned paper - you will need 2 pieces of the same pattern. I used papers from Cosmo Cricket - Delovely and Magenta.
Matching shades of Cardstock, I used a number of cardstock scraps
Variety of Stamps - I used sets from Inkadinkado, stampin up, HOTP, Prima, Basic Grey, Paperartsy and Technique Tuesday
Co-ordinating coloured Inks
2 book rings
ribbon and jems to decorate

Tools:
Cropadile and eyelets
laminator and laminating pouches
tab punch
Double sided tape

Step one:

I began by making the page inserts which will store my stamps using a laminator. I cut a piece of white cardstock and stamped the image from each stamp on the page in black ink. I then used a tab punch to make a tab, stuck this to the edge of my page, placed in a laminating pouch and ran it through the laminator.

The stamps then adhere to the laminated surface on the other side of the page.

Step two:

I then made the covers, you can adapt the size of your stamp holder as you wish, my covers are 6.75" square as I wanted to leave enough room to make different sized inserts, some of which will be larger than the ones shown. I used two pages from a board book for my covers, but you could also use thick cardboard as an alternative.

To cover, I used double sided tape and placed my chipboard on the reverse side of the paper, mitring the corners for a neat finish. In order to get a neat finish, I folded the paper around the chipboard, using a bone folder to ensure sharp creases. Once this has been done on all four sides, it leaves you with clear fold marks - I then cut along the outside edge of the folds as shown on the picture below:

and attached each fold with double sided tape.

Step three:

Once covered comes the fun part - decorating the cover! I used some of my favourite stamps to embellish the cover. I began by creating the heart shape, I stamped a canvas patterned onto a scrap of blue cardstock and cut a heart out of the inside. I then attached a ruffled ribbon to the inside reverse.

I repeated this process with a darker shade of cardstock stamping with a lace stamp from Prima, which I then cut out and used as a frame. I cut out the inside of my heart from a piece of patterned paper from Magenta and stamped one side using a basic grey swirl stamp.

Step four:

I created the frame and letters for my cover using a scrap of blue cardstock. I covered the cardstock with a flower stamp from Prima, then made the frame using a scallop stamp from HOTP.

I then stamped my title letters by stamping a harlequin pattern image from Paperartsy and stamping the letters over the top.

Step five:

I stamped the bird shape from an image by Inkadinkado and pieced the cover all together. I then used my cropadile to make holes in the cover and inserts and set the eyelets to secure and bound together using two large book rings.

The beauty of this storage method is that I can add and remove inserts as I wish in line with my favourite sets, it takes up very little space and is portable to wherever I am working -very easy to take along to crops :-)

Hope you enjoyed my tutorial, thanks for reading!

Sunday Card Challenge

2011-04-10T00:09:00.003+01:00

It's a card challenge week at the Studio - and we've got another fun one for you. This week, we challenge you to use a recycled item on your card. Our design team has some great inspiration for you:

Valerie
I don't know about you but cute packaging gets me every time. For this challenge I decided to recycle some of that cute packaging for an element on my card. Can you see it? It's the neutral grid pattern in the center.

That paper is the backing from a package of K & Co. embellishments and I used a die cutting machine to cut it into the bracket shape. Here's a close up:

Brenda

What looks like kraft paper is actually a paper bag on this card!

Fabi

My "recycled" card was done using kraft cardstock and the package of prima flowers...its a quick ans easy card to do, not fancy....but i liked the "clean" style of it.

Natalie
My card uses a clothing label that was on a Wiggles shirt that my son was given a few years ago. Can you tell I don't throw much out...lol.

Rossella
To make the flower I used a paper handkerchief. I took the vintage image from the site "Vintage Papergoods" .....there are fantastic pictures to use in our works!

So now it's your turn!! We'd love to see what you recycle for this fun card challenge.

It's Video Friday

2011-04-08T12:00:00.003+01:00

Hello girls!!
Today's video shows you the coolest ever technique on how to create a background for your layouts using glimmer mist, glimmer screens (or stencils) and LACE!! A tutorial I was taught by Wendy Senger, the inventor of Glimmer mist!
I hope you'll enjoy it...

Wednesday Extra: Altered Frames by Julie

2011-04-06T15:24:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone, Julie TW here with you today and I wanted to share a fun way to alter some frames I found at the dollar store! Here are the frames I started with...

Next, I tore one of the frames apart so I could trace my papers to fit the frames....

The papers I used are from Prima's new line, "Sweet Fairy"...

Tracing on the papers for the outlines of the frames...

Next, I made sure the papers lined up for the frames...

I used Mod Podge to glue the papers down to the frames...

I also added a layer of Mod Podge to the top of the papers to protect them...

Then I painted the edges of the frames with my Claudine Helmuth's Studio Paint...

I also painted the edges of the papers to add some texture....

Next, I took the paper that comes with the frame to use to trace for the inside of the frames...

Some of the embellishments I used from Prima and Maya Road...

I used Tim Holtz's Distress Ink to add color to the Maya Road chipboard pieces...

Now to put it all together!

And now for my finished projects! I made a total of four frames, using three pieces of paper, four Maya Road chipboard pieces and two Prima flowers!

Such a fun project to make! I am going to place these in my new home on my new craft desk! Thanks for stopping by today, I really appreciate it!

~~ Julie TW ~~

3th April - Layout Challenge

2011-04-03T08:00:00.003+01:00

Everyone ready for other layout challenge?!

This weeks challenge is to create a page about a place that is significant to you - What does that place mean to you? Maybe it has great memories or not so great memories. It could be a town, a house or even a whole country.

Here's what the design team have come up with:

Anna

Clevedon is by the sea not too far from us we always used to go there as children with my Nan and Grandad , we used to say that Grandad's car only knew the way to Clevedon! So when it was my Nan Birthday recently there was only one place we had to go!!

Heather

My husband and I LOVE scuba diving and when we were challenged to scrap about a special place, under the sea immediately came to mind. We love how peaceful it is underwater. Often times towards the end of a long dive we start to get a little silly and take self-portraits, like these. These are actually the "normal" pics...we usually cross our eyes or take our regulators out to make a silly face or just do something super silly. Of course we always keep nature and safety our #1 priority.

Lisa

We love to go to Mudeford. Down by the sea. We go all times of year, cold, sunny and rainy too. We always have so much fun here, down on the beach, wandering by the boats, making bacon rolls, playing on the grass and crab catching.
We love it here.

Nadia

Teresa

I have loved the beach since I was a little girl - I can't remember not having a good time while playing in the water and finding creatures in the sand and among the rocks. It's a magical place, and I'm so glad my children love it just as much as I do.

I took this photo on Australia Day a couple of months ago, as we were walking back to the car after a perfect day at the beach.

Amanda has also joined in this week with her take on the challenge

My layout features a local town which is a popular holiday destination, but I've never really liked it. It's got a bit of a reputation for drugs and anti-social teens around here. That said, it doesn't stop the tourists queueing up the road outside my house all summer to visit there ;) When I was looking through my photos I noticed that despite my dislike of the place, it does look really nice in the photos. I guess beauty really is only skin deep, right?

I experimented with vellum on this page - layering it over the busy patterned paper to tone it down a bit. I'm not really sure how much I like how it turned out, and I had a heck of a job sewing it down straight! I will try it again though, before giving up completely!

Julie also joined in too!

In Sedona, Arizona, there is this Catholic Church that is built right into the mountains. Even though I personally do not practice in this religion, we always make sure we visit this church when we visit Sedona. It is a beautiful church, and you can't help feel at peace when you visit it...

Where's your place? We would love to see it and hear about it so please link it up.

Video Friday

2011-04-01T13:07:00.006+01:00

Welcome to the first video of The Studio.

From today and every Friday I (Elina) will be posting here a craft video done especially for you!!

Themes will vary and I promise to show you tips and tricks for your crafting mania!

I hope you will enjoy the first video which shows how to create a plaid pattern for your layout with distress inks!!

I am very excited of being part of this fun blog again and I promise to share my enthousiasm with you!

Let us know what you think!!

Wednesday Extra: Altered Canvas with Jules

2011-03-30T00:01:00.001+01:00

I love working on canvas and thought I'd share one that I made for a friend recently, along with a few tips for having a go at your own.

First you need to choose your canvas. There is a wide variety of sizes available, and they are relatively inexpensive to buy. I chose a Windsor and Newton 24"x24" deep edge canvas, which I then primed by coating in white gesso. I did this stage outside, using the plastic wrapping as a protective sheet, because I tend to be a messy painter!

Once the gesso is completely dry it's time to add your base colours. I started off with a coat of grey acrylic paint, and then added a white base for my photo. I also stamped some areas using white acrylic paint and bubble wrap, and then sprayed some red mist.

The next step is to add your papers. I created a mat for my photo using red Bazzill cardstock, and added some black and white patterned papers and a sentiment from the Echo Park 'Be Mine' collection.

Finally, add photos and embellishments to finish! I added a 10"x8" black and white matt photo, butterflies cut from the Bazzill and Echo Park paper using a Cuttlebug and finished with red gems, Pink Paislee artisan tape, WRMK rub ons, a Glitz Design pom pom, and Scrap FX chipboard butterfly and swirls, which were inked with charcoal Chalk Ink, misted and finished with silver gems.

Here are a few close ups:

If you've altered a canvas, we would love to see! Upload your project in The Studio's community gallery or link us to your blog. Thanks for looking!

27 March - Card Challenge

2011-03-26T01:00:00.010Z

Hope you all had fun with that last challenge! I loved that sketch and just had to play along with the layout team. This week we've got a card challenge for you - and I think this one will definitely make you think outside the box.

We see them all the time in the card shops, but don't make them very much on our own...the challenge this week is to use a photo on a card. Let's have a look at how the design team was inspired by this challenge:

Valerie

I took this photo of vintage birthday candle holders a few months ago. I never intended to use it for anything, as I was just practicing with the focal length on my camera. I hung onto it though, and since then it's appeared on a layout and now this card. I printed the photo onto non-glossy cardstock and kept my design simple so that the focus would be on the photo.

Brenda

This picture was taken at one of our 10,000+ lakes here in Minnesota. I stamped on a photo with white Staz-On.

Fabi

I must say this was my favorite card challenge ever! Wow, what a creative idea, to use a photo in a card? I had a hard time to choose the photo and then saw this one on my stash...small, already cropped.

Natalie

I used this challenge as the perfect excuse to use one of the many vintage photographs that I have collected over the years. There are some amazing websites that offer these for free but you can also simple google 'vintage photographs' to find some stunning old time piccys :) This image is from this fabulous place.
I printed it out onto cream cardstock and then used Old paper distress ink along the edges to give it a vintage feel.

Rossella

The man on the photo is my favourite man on the world....my love! Is been wonderful to create a card with a photo, really my first one!

and our Guest Designer Pati

For this challenge I made a card using only a simple paper, as internal distress back in frame for photo with the colors symbol of the city of São Paulo: red, black and white! In the title card used a bit of brightness to
give a charm to the most, after Sao Paulo has a lot of life energy, is a charming city, modern, cosmopolitan and has a glamorous all up there in particular. I love this city!

Now it's your turn - we'd love to see how you incorporate a photo into a card. Link up your creations for a chance to win this month's prize!

Wednesday Extra - Potpourri Birdcage by Irini

2011-03-22T23:23:00.001Z

Altered birdcages are becoming more and more popular. Let your creative imagination take flight with this stunning project by Irini.

Using Tim Holtz dies, cut a bird and birdcage shapes from chipboard.

Cover die cuts with gesso to brighten the chipboard and prepare the surface for mist. Irini created a beautiful effect by layering Maya Road buttermilk cream, Maya Road turquoise metallic, Adirondack Colourwash in Stream, and Studio Calico Mr Huey white. To each piece she added a layer of Tim Holtz' clear distress crackle paint.

Build a base for the birdcage from chipboard and color it like the die cut pieces.

Add a hinge to create a door and assemble your cage.

Before adding trims, Irini highly suggests coating the birdcage with Mod Podge. Once dry, add your potpourri (or in Irini's case, Whittard of Chelsea "Very, Very Berry" Caffeine Free Fruit Infusion) and perch your pretty little bird.

Thank you for sharing, Irini! Do you love birdcages? Have you altered one? Feel free to let us know in the comments. Thank you for stopping by today!