Wednesday 27 March 2024

Mintay Papers - Playtime - All the Fun of the Fair

Hello, Karen here again with another layout using the gorgeous Playtime collection from Mintay Papers. The collections form Mintay always include 12x12 papers with beautiful, large all over designs which can be quite intimidating and at first sight appear difficult to use. I decided to challenge myself to use paper #2 which is printed with an all over fairground scene. The scene made me nostalgic for the trips we used to make to the funfair whilst on holiday when I was child, and so I found two photos from the funfair we used to visit and used these to create my layout.

I started by cutting (gutting) from the centre of paper #2 a 10½" square and matted this onto an 11" square of Lava (red) Bazzill Cardstock leaving a ¼" border round the edges. The matted paper was then placed back on top of the original paper covering the hole in the middle. 

I wanted to add some subtle dimension to the layout so I sandwiched a sheet of corrugated card (cut from the pizza box my supplies were delivered in!) between the red cardstock and the paper underneath. This meant I didn't have to use lots of 3D foam to create a little depth.

Next I matted my two 3x4 photos, with more of the red Bazzill cardstock, and placed these onto the layout with more corrugated card underneath.

I tucked a scribbled circle cut file, left over from a previous layout, underneath the photos.

Using paper #6, some Aqua Bazzill cardstock and yellow bakers twine I created two strings of bunting and looped these across the page, raising the pennants on 3D foam pads and securing the twine with wet glue.

Gold glitter foam Thickers from my stash were used to create the title which I placed above one of the strings of bunting.


Before sticking my photos to the layout I had created a pocket behind one of them and into this pocket I was able to slide a journaling tag from the pack of paper elements.

The reverse side of the tag was less busy than the front, so I used the reverse side for my journalling.


Finally I added  a place name and date onto a piece of cardstock at the bottom of the layout and scattered some gold sequins here and there.

I hope I've shown that you shouldn't be scared or intimidated by the busy, all over design, scene papers in the Mintay Collections and with minimal embellishing can create a nice layout.

I'll be back soon with another layout but in the meantime take care and I hope you have a lovely Easter.

Karen x x



Monday 25 March 2024

Outdoors Adventure - Cocoa Vanilla Studio - Great Escape Collection

Hi everyone! 

It's Rebecca with you and today I am sharing my second layout created with the fun Great Escape collection from Cocoa Vanilla Studio. You can find the collection in the shop here.


When I first saw this collection, my eye was immediately drawn to the Happy Camper paper with all the different coloured flags and an idea started forming in my head. This layout is me getting that idea out of my head and onto paper! To start, I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch holes and set metal eyelets at 6 points on a sheet of Premium White Cardstock. Through these eyelets, I threaded some white embroidery floss going vertically down the page in 3 lines.

Using my Cutter-Bee scissors, I fussy cut several flags from the Happy Camper paper, and some stars from the Star Gazing paper and positioned them along the line of the embroidery floss. 


To the centre line, I placed a small, circular photo and underneath it, the word 'Outdoors' from the Puffy Title stickers.


I built up the clusters, following the lines of the embroidery floss using pieces from the Die-Cut Ephemera and Chipboard Stickers, making sure to have one circular piece in each line.


To the longer central line, I added the word 'Adventure' from the Chipboard Stickers. I love how this title is mutlicoloured and echos all the colours on the layout.


To finish the layout, I added several of the star Puffy Stickers, keeping them tight to the cluster lines.


I hope you've enjoyed this layout and it inspires you to use the Great Escape collection. 

Until next time, take care!

Rebecca x

@preciouspagespapercraft


Friday 22 March 2024

Pinkfresh Studio - Making the Best of It - Fun

Hi everyone,

Claire here sharing my second layout using the beautiful 'Making the Best of It' collection from Pinkfresh Studio. You can find it in the shop here.


To start, I chose this beautiful pink Bazzill cardstock from the Matchmaker Pack to use as my base. Taking the Yes You Can paper, I fussy cut each chevron and rearranged them on the page to create a central point of interest.

I loosely adhered them in place with a touch of glue and then ran them through my sewing machine to secure them. This also meant I could lift the edges to create extra dimension.

In the centre of the design, I placed my photo which I had cut into a circle to soften the edges, and backed with the yellow cardstock from the Matchmaker pack to echo the yellow chevrons and the sunflowers in my photo. I layered this on top of a tag from the Journaling Bits, adding some green thread from my stash, tied in a bow.

Next, the embellishing! I used a selection of Vellum Die Cuts and Die Cut Ephemera to create clusters at each point, and added a Chipboard Sticker saying 'Lovely Day' which mirrored the circular photo.


For extra interest, I also added some of the Puffy Stickers to my clusters, mixing the materials to add extra interest and texture.


For my title, I selected a phrase from the Die Cut Ephemera and the FUN stickers from the Puffy Stickers.


As a final touch, I embellished with some die cut butterflies, some enamel dots and some gold nuvo drops.



This collection has been so much fun to create with. It's beautiful colours, florals and patterns are perfect for Spring scrapping, You can check out the full collection here.

Until next time, happy scrapping!!

Claire xx
@scrappysoulmate

Thursday 21 March 2024

March Crop

This coming Saturday is our March crop day, as usual at Otley Village Hall from 10am until 4pm.  Our lovely kit has been designed by Lynn using the Vicki Boutin Discover + Create papers... 


If you would like to come along, just drop me an email!  There will be the usual selection of home-baked cakes, tea & coffee, punches & dies for you to use, and of course, a discount in the shop!


Monday 18 March 2024

Simple Stories ~ Noteworthy #2 🖊️

Hi all! It’s Anna here, I’m back on the Papermaze blog this month sharing what I have been working on using Noteworthy by Simple Stories.

You can find it in the shop here.

This is my second layout using this collection. You can find my first layout here.


I wanted to create a title page for my 2024 album. So I went in search of a 2024 cutfile and I found this one by Paige Evans - ‘Happy New Year 2024’. 


I backed it using various patterned paper from the collection along with bazzill cardstock from the matchmaker pack. 


I trimmed the reverse side of ‘November’ in half and then in half again to create two equal strips. I made the edges a bit distressed by tearing and carefully rolling back the paper, I then adhered these to either side of the page. 


I mounted my photograph onto some coordinating cardstock from the matchmaker pack and adhered it along with the cutfile to a sheet of cream 12x12 bazzill. 

I used various stickers from the cardstock stickers as well as the journal bits and pieces to embellish my page. 


Thank you so much for looking! 
See you again next month! How is it nearly April!? 

Anna 
X

Friday 15 March 2024

March Papermaze Kit - Part 1

Lynn here with my first two layouts made with the March Papermaze Kit. With lovely pastel spring colours making it ideal for birthday and Easter themed layouts.

Here are the details of what you will find in the kit:

Patterned Papers:
Celes Gonzalo - Rainbow Avenue collection - Rainbow Avenue and My Memories
Photo Play - Fresh Picked 2 collection - Country Flowers
Simple Stories - Fresh Air collection - Bright + Beautiful
Simple Stories - True Colours collection - Take the Photo
Simple Stories - Hoppy Easter collection - Hello Peeps

Embellishments: Selection of Rosie's Studio puffy stickers, 2  Rosie's Studio chipboard frames, 2 wax seals, selection of P13 stickers, 4 Simple Stories journal ephemera, 5 Prima flowers, 12" twine, and a strip of dew drops


Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Aqua, Coconut Swirl (included in kit), Blossom, Coastal, Purple Palisades and Pollen can be found in the extra pack.


Happy First Birthday Poppy - The cardstock in this kit is ideal for these photos of my niece's birthday.


For this layout I used the sheet of Coconut Swirl Bazzill as a background. I matched Distress Inks to the Coastal, Pollen, Blossom and Purple Palisades card. Then with a Tim Holtz Layering (Brush Arch THS168) stencil, I created a rainbow style background for my layout.

I cut a rainbow, complete with clouds and hearts using a Peartree Cutfile and a sheet of glittery silver cardstock from my stash. I backed the rainbow and the hearts with the Bazzill. I turned one cloud into a shaker box, using a scrap of acetate, some white card and a pinch of Rosie's Studio Simply Charming Sprinkles.

I backed the second cloud with white card and used this for my title. The letters used for this are Doodlebug Designs Alphabet Soup in Silver


The finished cutfile and two photos were arranged on the layout and glued in place. I used some of the hearts left over from the cut file to place under the photos.


I added a few of the phrase stickers from the kit.


With more letter stickers I added Poppy's name and the date of the party.

Egg Hunt - My three children together with their cousins at my parents' house. My sister and I set up an egg hunt in the garden.

With a sheet of smooth white Bazzill for the background, I matched Distress Oxide inks to the sheet of 'Rainbow Avenue' paper. I flicked a little of each ink, diluted with water over the page. It was important to work with one colour at a time and allow it to dry before adding the next colour, to avoid them running together.



I tore a piece from the Rainbow Avenue 12" by about 4" and applied this to the top of the page. Then I trimmed a strip 12" x 1" and trimmed it with a border punch, the was placed across the bottom of the page.



I created four 3" eggs using my Cricut and all the coloured Bazzill from the kit. I inked the edges of the pieces. These were arranged across the layout, where the paper reaches the white Bazzill.


I printed a selection of small photos in black and white, several of these were used to back the film frames from the kit. Then all the framed and unframed photos were arranged in a cluster in the centre of the layout.



I added a title with Dear Lizzy - Treasures Thickers (glitter, chipboard letter stickers). Other details of the event were included using Rosie's Studio - Simply Charming puffy alphabet stickers. I also added the flower and heart stickers from the kit.

That's all for today, back with more from this kit soon.
Thanks for looking.
Lynn x

Wednesday 13 March 2024

Mintay Papers - Playtime

Hello, Karen here. This month I am playing with the new Playtime collection from Mintay Papers. This brightly coloured collection is inspired by carnivals and funfairs and includes images of lots of cute critters and play things. It is perfect for creating layouts about toddlers and pre-schoolers or funfair trips. Some of the papers have large designs on them but today I chose to use the muted B side of paper #3 and images cut from the Elements Paper. I also used a 12x12 foundations page from 49 & Market's Spectrum Sherbet collection as my background. The colours in the foundation paper co-ordinated perfectly with the colours in the Playtime collection.

I started my layout by matting the 12x12 foundations page onto a sheet of Aqua Bazzill Cardstock leaving a 1 cm frame round the outside.

Using my fingernails I roughed up the edges of the foundation paper and then with a fine liner pen I doodled scribbly lines round the inside edge.

From a scrap piece of green/grey paper found in my stash I cut a scribbled circle cut file on my Silhouette Cameo and also cut the centre area from the B side of paper #3. Both pieces were placed onto the layout slightly right of centre.

I added my square photo and beneath it and glued a piece of white pom-pom trim.


Either side of the photo I layered images cut from the Elements Paper - balloons, building blocks, balls, a rocket ship and cute animals. I thought they echoed the pile of toys in my photo.


I layered the images with 3D foam underneath, so that some were flat on the layout and others were in front of the photo. 


Above the photo the die cut word 'Playtime' was positioned which was cut from the same paper as the scribbled circle.


In the top left corner another image from the Elements Sheet was glued, raising it on more 3D foam.


At the bottom of the layout I added details with die cut letters.


Finally I finished off the layout with a scattering of silver sequins and paper punched stars.

I enjoyed creating this layout using the Playtime collection and will be back again soon with another fun layout using the collection.

Take Care
Karen x x