Thursday, October 15, 2015

Autumn Scrapbook Layout


This fun Autumn two page layout is made from several files from Paper Crafting World. The files used were:

Carving out Memories
Autumn Title
Bear in Sweater with Apples

I also used leaf dies from Prima to add an airy feel. The solid papers were from Recollections found at Michael's and the decorative papers were from "The Fall Stack" by Die Cuts With a View found at JoAnn's. (I think it has been discontinued so use any fall papers.) After cutting the pieces out with my Silhouette, I inked them all with Distress Inks. Optional, use a white gel pen for highlight and use colored pencils for details on apple barrel.


 I cut my mats for my pictures and ran them through my Sizzix Big Kick  for a little added texture. I used the a swirl folder from The Paper Studio found at Hobby Lobby. Each mat was backed with a tiny bit of black paper to help them stand out from the background papers. Lastly, I cut some strips of decorative paper in a wave to add movement to my layout and placed them behind my mats and title. (Before you glue anything down, you should lay them all out where you think they should go. I usually walk away at this point and then come back later to see if I still like how I have my items arranged. If there is anything that needs changing, I do it now and then I adhere everything down.)

If you already have photos you know you want to use, mat them first. Then lay them out to fit on the two pages and once you have all the photos placed add the die cuts.  I print my own pictures so I can make them fit any size mats that I make.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Scarecrow Card

I made this adorable scarecrow card from a Paper Crafting World design. It was originally a treat box but I wanted to show you how versatile the files are. It's like buying a treat box and getting the card file for free!



Let's make the card!

Open the Scarecrow boy treat box cut file in your die cutting program. I used my Silhouette Cameo.
Move the whole file off to the side of your cutting mat and ungroup. Select only the scarecrow pieces and place them on your mat.To size the scarecrow you need to assemble the pieces, use the "select all" button to select the whole scarecrow and size to 5.25 inches.


Next to make a card body you need to keep the design in one piece and use the shadow button and make a shadow .25 inches around the outside of your scarecrow. (If you want a white card base, keep a copy of this black shadow and then make the card base as described but make it white and add the black shadow to the white card base.)


Drag this shadow piece to the side and make a copy. Select the copy and flip that image vertically. Now merge the new flipped image with the original shadow copy and weld together at the hat. This completes the card base that the scarecrow will be built on. Move the card base to the right of the mat so you can work on the scarecrow body.


Take all the scarecrow pieces and group them according to color on your mat. You can place the black eye pupils next to the card base so you can cut together. (If you made a white card base then add the pupils to the copy of the black shadow piece.) I cut the shirt out of decorative paper but you can use solid paper if you don't have decorative paper.


Add your colored paper to your mat and cut out all the pieces. Ink around all your die cut pieces. I used Distress Inks. Prisma colored pencils were used to add details to my pieces. Add cheeks using chalk or Distress ink. Use a Zig Millennium .01 to draw on eye lashes and faux stitches around all the scarecrow features. Assemble all pieces on black card base. (Or black shadow base.) I used tiny brass brads for the pocket details and white enamel dots for the overalls buttons.
All Done!

Not seen on the directions:
I added a pumpkin! October's Challenge over at Paper Crafting World is "Anything Goes" and the "Twist" is to use a pumpkin!