Using Paper to create in The Cereal Box Art Journal

Never knowing when and what I am going to be in the mood to create, this month I woke up at about 4 am each morning wanting to play with paper to go in the Cereal Box Art Journal.  I would only play for about an hour or two before it was time for me to rest.  While I was playing, I made a banner to go on the left side of the page.  On the right side of the page, a full size pocket was created with a file card to fit.  Tim Holtz distress pads were used to create color and texture to the pocket.

 On the one side of the file pocket card, I placed two Polaroids with Journal space. 

On the other side of the file card, I decorated with a Polaroid where photos can be placed. I also did two tags placed in a pocket.  It was a lot of fun creating this page.  Make sure to use your imagination to place what ever your creative mind comes up with in the empty spaces and make sure to have fun with this as I did!

Supplies:

Paper

Twine

Glossy accents

Tim Holtz distress pads

Using Coordinated Collections - A Challenge

Happy May, Ladies!

How many of y'all made it to the Gulf Coast Crop and Shop weekend in April? I was able to go for a few hours on Saturday and was impressed with how creative you ladies are. Well done! While I was there, I picked up some fun new Basic Grey papers and stickers to play with. There are times when I want to mix and match patterns and manufacturers. There are times I want to be artsy and make my own backgrounds and embellishments. And then there are times that I want quick and easy. I don't want to think about whether this paper matches that paper. I just want to grab supplies and pictures and create. The easiest thing to do at these times is to use products from a single manufacturer. Scrapbooking companies spend many hours designing and producing lines that coordinate. They WANT to make this easy on us. They WANT us to be able to use their papers and letters and stickers and stamps all together. That is their goal! And sometimes, that is exactly what I want, too.

The line that I brought home to play with was Basic Grey's new Bowties line from their winter CHA release. They had several bright and happy lines this release, including Hipster, Bowties, and Kneehighs, but this is what I chose to play with. All the supplies coordinate. All the supplies are colorful. All the supplies begged me to play with them. All I added to my layouts was some cardstock, ink, and miscellaneous bits and pieces. Everything else came from the Bowties collection.

My challenge to you this month: Choose a line of products that you like. Pull out 3-4 papers from that line, plus some coordinating embellishments, and create a layout (or card or whatever project that you are inspired to make). You may add whatever supplies you want to your project. Post a link to your project here or to the ScrapHappy Facebook page before June 3, and Christy will randomly choose someone to win a $5 credit to the store to spend however she wants!

This first layout, I added washi tape and a printed label from Studio Calico. The journalling block was actually packaging from the Basic Grey enamel dots, and the letters were cut from one of the papers in the collection.

 I only added cardstock to this second layout.

 On this last layout, I added cardstock, washi tape, thickers, more label stickers, and some stitching (a friend loaned me her new Amy Tangerine stitching template, so I was experimenting and playing...highly recommend this product...so...much...fun...).

So...are you ready? Then run grab your collection of papers, get set, and GO!!! I look forward to seeing what you create!

Supplies:
- patterned paper, stickers, brads, enamel dots, transparent frames - Basic Grey
- washi tape - Doodlebug, Hambly
- label stickers, thickers - Studio Calico
- stitching template - Amy Tangerine
- cardstock, stamping ink, bubble wrap/dots stamp

Mineral Spirits... who knew?

I love my Copic markers so much that sometimes I forget about the humble color pencils. There are such beautifully soft colors in my hummingbird. I wanted to get a good blend of blue and violet but sometimes the colors remain flat. That’s where a surprise from the garage comes in handy, mineral spirits. You can use those Crayola color pencils that have been stashed in the drawer. They work very well with mineral spirits. By taking a Tortillon blender (pointed little rolled pieces of paper) and dipping the tip into the mineral spirits, you can blend the blue and violet to get a vibrant blue violet on my birds.

In this pretty tulip card, the mineral spirits blend the colors into something special. There is a smooth mix of the soft shadows and the vibrant edges. So next time you sit down to color and just can’t get the life like quality that you want, pull out your color pencils and mineral spirits.