Fabric Challenge!

wow this one was a toughie!! I used different strips of fabric. I also cut out the flowers and the butterfly from my fabric. I used everything from the Tree House kit except of course the fabric and the Large letter M

Bow Down....

Because I am the reigning "Queen of Crap"! LOL!!

And this is my first LO for the challenge of using up those brads you have sitting in your organizer...collecting dust. Hop on over to the SYC blog and enter you brad LO, because I know I'm not the only one who has what seems to be thousands of them sitting around begging to be used up!

I used the Crate Paper Brunch Kit papers for this and a bunch of odds and ends including 32 brads! WOOHOO!!

Tree House Kit

another layout using this months awesome kit. Everything is from the kit other than I used Ranger crackle paint on the small frame. Love this papers.

Journaling Spots

Wanna quick way to add some journaling to your layouts? Try some pre-made journaling spots! Many manufacturers are coming out with journaling cards, tags, stamps, and die-cuts that make journaling on a layout easy.

For this first layout, I combined two Jenni Bowlin journaling cards to create a big enough space for the story I wanted to tell.

For "The Next Generation," I used some fun new tags by Collage Press that help make journaling about the occassion a little more fun.

And if tags are too big, you can always use small rubons or transparencies from Hambly or the little post-it notes from Heidi Swapp.

My New Kit Just Arrived

I had a quick chance to do a fast layout. It is great having a kit to do quick layouts. This new kit is great for all those outside photos you have to get scrapped. Everything is from the kit except the mini letters in my title 'day'

Arrival

The colors of the Tree House kit are so fresh and inviting! All items here are from the kit except for the orange stitching and one sheet of aqua cardstock from my stash. Thanks for looking!

Fun With Templates

Templates, formally known as stencils, are a fun and easy way to embellish your layouts or cards. There are many templates designed just for scrappers. Some of the more popular styles are journaling and doodling templates, but there are many ways to incorporate different template styles into your scrapping and card making.

Templates lend themselves to a variety of mediums such as ink, paint, markers, chalk and pens. Paint, opaque pens and sometimes chalk work best on dark papers. Use your scraps to determine which medium will give you the look you’re after.

You may want to use repositionable tape to keep the template in place while you’re working. I’ve found that this technique is especially helpful when working with paints, chalks and large templates.

Journaling/Doodling Templates

These templates usually have very narrow or small openings. One of my favorite methods for working with these templates is rubbing an inkpad across the template. It gives a nice soft, clean look. A pen or marker can be used for a sharper finish. Pencils can be used if you just want guide lines for journaling. Be sure to use pencils lightly as erasing can fade your papers.

This swirl was done by rubbing an ink pad across the template.

Paints and Templates

The key to working with paints is to keep your brush fairly dry. If you have too much paint on your brush it will leak under the edges of the template. Foam or stiff stenciling brushes work best. Dip the tip of the brush in paint then blot it until it’s fairly dry. Apply the paint with an up and down motion as opposed to a brush stroke.

Chalks and Templates

Chalks give a soft, pretty look. They are easy to blend, even within the boundaries of a template. Another advantage to chalks is they erase easily so if you don’t like the effect you’ve achieved, you can start over.

Same Template-different mediums

More Ideas

Use a pen, marker or pencil with your template, then cover your tracings with glitter glue.

Use embossing ink pads with doodling templates, then emboss.

Use the template as a guide for placing bling, brads or other embellishments.

Get those templates out and start playing!