Simple Stories - Game Night - Family Tradition

Today I'm sharing a new layout featuring the fun Game Night Collection from Simple Stories. This collection is packed with images of dice, playing cards, game pieces, and classic board games and is perfect for scrapbooking your memories of game nights. I love that this collection uses the classic primary colour scheme with bold reds, blues, yellows, and greens. The collection also has a vintage, nostalgic vibe and was exactly what I wanted for my layout.

I started by layering vertical strips of "It's Your Turn", "No Cheating" and the B-side of the "2x2/4x4 Elements" paper. I also mixed in a woodgrain strip from Echo Park's Wood Grains collection for a bit of contrast and to echo the woodgrain background in my photos.

For texture I tore the edges of the paper strips and arranged them onto 12x12 sheet of yellow cardstock, leaving a narrow border.  I machine-stitched a white straight stitch around the entire perimeter to add more texture.

 

Two 6x4 photos were matted with more yellow cardstock and placed on the layout. Two die cuts from the Bits & Pieces pack were used to embelish.

Using my Silhouette, I welded two words in different fonts together to create a custom large-scale title. I then cut this from yellow and black cardstock and attached it to the layout.

To the left of the title I layered more die cuts. I was careful how I glued only the outer edges of the die cuts so that they created a pocket into which I was able to place my journalling tags.

I cut the journaling tags from the "Tag Elements" paper and printed my journalling on the computer. To finish the tags off, I strung them together with some black and white baker's twine before tucking them into the pocket.

Photoplay - Christmas Junque - Oh Christmas Tree

Today is the eve of Epiphany, which means the Christmas decorations are coming down tomorrow! 🎄 To say a proper goodbye to the season, I’ve created a new layout featuring my Christmas tree. I used the gorgeous Christmas Junque collection by Photoplay, which I think was the perfect match for the photo.

I started with a sheet of  Mrs. Claus Bakery paper. While I originally saved this for a festive food-themed layout, I realised that by layering embelishments to hide the 'Bakery' reference, I could use the entire sheet for this tree layout instead.

After printing my photo slightly smaller than A4, I double-matted it using Christmas Time paper and gold mirror card. I then stuck it to the right-hand side of my layout.

From the Collage Cut Out Sheets I fussy cut several images, matted them with gold card and used them to embellish the photo. Stars from more gold card were also included.

A fussy cut arrow was used to pinpoint a favourite ornament in the photo.

To cover the 'Mrs. Claus’ Bakery' text, I used a cut-out piece as a pocket. I secured it to the layout using gold brads, which added a touch more gold to the layout and also hid the original paper's theme.

I printed my journalling onto a tag, created a red tag top, threaded it with some red and white twine and tucked it into the pocket.

Tucking a few additional cut-outs into the pocket created a layered, cluster effect that gave more interest to the layout.

At the top of the layout I added a die cut title and finished it off with a scattering of gold sequins and punched cardstock stars which carry the gold theme across the whole layout.

Favourite Layouts

It's been a few years since I posted my favourite layouts of the year, so have decided to put that right and so, here are my favourite 9 layouts from this year. 

Photoplay - Christmas Junque - Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time

Despite the chaos of the season, I have managed to squeeze in some scrapping time and today I have another layout to share with you, using the gorgeous Christmas Junque collection from Photoplay.

I began the layout with a sheet of the Unwrap the Magic paper (B side). I trimmed the paper down slightly, rounded the corners and then matted it onto a sheet of red Bazzill cardstock from the Matchmaker Pack, making sure to leave a narrow border around the edges. Before gluing the patterned paper down, I gutted the middle of the red cardstock so I still had the rest of the sheet available to use.

Using the remaining red cardstock, I cut a bauble shape using my Silhouette machine. I combined two different cut files from the Silhouette Store, 'bauble flourish drop corner' and 'bauble frame' but manipulated and welded the two files together before cutting them. I then backed the cut file with patterned papers from the collection and two photos.

I also used some gold mirror card to back the tops of the baubles. The backed cut file was glued flat to the layout.

Thin green ribbon bows were used to embellish the baubles and add some texture.

Some phrase strips and small images were cut from the Collage Cut Out Sheets and added.

On the left side of the layout there was a convenient space to add a word plaque from the Collage Sheets.

I positioned the title at the bottom of the layout, which I cut using the Silhouette from more gold mirror card. I always like to add a touch of gold to my Christmas project. I think it really gives a layout that perfect festive sparkle!

Finally, I added the date in the bottom left corner and a scattering of green sequins at the top.

Photoplay - Christmas Junque - Merry Christmas

Today I'm sharing a layout featuring Photoplay's Christmas Junque Collection. Sadly, this beautiful collection was one of Photoplays last releases before they ceased trading. It captures a wonderfully nostalgic, rustic, and cosy Christmas feel, with a classic colour palette of reds, greens, creams, and kraft. The collection features vintage images of Santa, snowmen, old ornaments, sleighs, sheet music, trees, poinsettias and more.

For my layout, I paired this collection with a cute photo of Lara writing her letter to Santa many years ago. I even included the words of her original letter as my journaling.



I started by matting a slightly trimmed down sheet of white cardstock onto a sheet of green Bazzill ‘Rain Forest’ cardstock, leaving a narrow border.



In the centre of the layout, I layered pieces of the Christmas Time, December and Mrs. Claus Bakery papers. Each piece was matted with gold mirror card to add to the festive feel of the layout, before being arranged in the centre. My 6x4 photo was also matted with the gold card and placed on top of the layered papers.

The ‘Merry Christmas’ title was cut from the Collage Cut Out Sheets and positioned beneath the photo.



I used cut-out baubles and word strips from the Collage sheet, cascading them down the right side of the photo.

I typed up a copy of my daughter's letter to Santa, printed it, cut it into strips, and glued these to the layout as journaling.

I threaded gold twine through one of the paper layers along the top, giving it a tag-like appearance.

Red felt stars from my stash were added for texture.

To complete the layout, I added soft, watered-down green ink around the layered papers to define the edges and dotted tiny stars -punched from the gold card - around the layout for a final sparkle.

Mintay Papers - Rust & Rose - Remember

Today, I'm thrilled to share my second scrapbook layout featuring the beautiful Rust & Rose collection by Mintay Papers.

What instantly drew me to this collection were its stunning colours. The pretty pinks and reds in the Rust & Rose papers were perfect for scrapbooking a favourite photo of my daughter, captured one autumn.

I began my layout with a 12x12 sheet of smooth white cardstock. In the centre I created an inky texture using the smooshing technique with watered-down Pumice Stone Distress Ink.



I skipped applying gesso first which let the cardstock absorb the ink directly. This resulted in a cool variation in colour. Even though much of this background gets covered up by papers, it still peeks out in places, providing a nice contrast between the white cardstock and the patterned papers.

With the inky base dry, I cut strips from Paper #4, distressed and inked their edges, and layered them horizontally over the centre. In my stash I found some very old copper metallic mini brads and used them to secure the ends of the strips, giving the layout a rustic touch.



I also found some lace and added this to the paper strips.



A 3x4 photo was matted with a very narrow white border and added to the layout.

Die cuts from the Die Cut Pack were used to create a large cluster across the bottom left corner of the photo. 3D foam was used to raise some of the pieces to add some dimension.



The title was added using small foam alphabet stickers. Unfortunately I had run out of the letter 'e' so had to Frankenstein some of the other letters to make my own e's. Sometime a scrapbooker has to get creative with their supplies!

Finally I splatted some pink acrylic paint over the layout.

Mintay Papers - Rust & Rose - Autumn

I'm so excited to share a project today featuring the brand-new autumn collection from Mintay Papers: Rust and Rose. What makes Rust and Rose stand out is the unique colour combination which is not the typical autumn colour palette. As well as deep reds, warm browns, and orange it also includes soft pinks and burgundies. You get the perfect autumn feel with images of cute creatures, beautiful leaves and florals.

For the base, I chose the b side of the 12 x 12 elements paper. I cut down the sheet slightly and layered it onto 12 x 12 sheet of white cardstock, which left a narrow border round the edge.



Using my Silhouette, I die cut a circular floral frame. I originally wasn't sure what colour I wanted it to be, so I cut it from plain white cardstock. Later, when I settled on pink to match the collection, I simply coloured the frame with a pink alcohol marker.

I then mounted the finished pink frame onto the centre of my layout. I took the inner piece that the machine cut out and glued it back into the middle, leaving it white.



I also die cut a large maple leaf, which I coloured the same pink, backed with more of the patterned paper and layered inside the frame. To give the die-cut a little extra sparkle and dimension, I added some pink sequins.



My photo was placed on top of the leaf, positioned over the right edge of the frame.



I delved into the pack of paper die cuts and created a scene at the bottom of the page using florals, pumpkins, leaves and a cute cat. I used 3D foam underneath several of the die cuts to raise them up a little.



In the top right corner I added a title cut from navy blue cardstock. This echoes the navy colour in the photo.

Finally I scattered some navy blue enamel dots along the bottom of the page.

Carta Bella It's Autumn - Autumn Leaves

Here is one last layout using Carta Bella's It's Autumn collection.

For the base, I chose white cardstock. I cut down the 12x12 white sheet slightly and layered it onto a dark brown sheet, which left a narrow border round the edge.

I used a hexagon die (from my stash) to cut out hexagons from the patterned papers. I then arranged them to cascade across the page, moving from the top right to the bottom left. After mixing the colours up, I stuck them to the layout. Before adding any further embellishments, I splattered some brown acrylic paint over and around the hexagons.



Three photos were matted with some light brown cardstock and arranged horizontally across the layout.



Title words were cut from dark brown cardstock on the Silhouette and added to the layout.



Words stickers from the Elements Sticker Sheet were used to embellish the layout.





I added some journalling, printed on the computer, to the bottom of the layout. I used a Vintage Photo Distress Oxide Ink Pad to distress the edges slightly so that the word strips stand out against the background.



The layout was completed with a scattering of gold and copper sequins.