Let's Have Fun | Lottie Loves Paper | Paige Evans Bungalow Lane

Hi everyone! Here is a new layout for Lottie Loves Paper using the very beautiful Bungalow Lane collection by Paige Evans.

In every Paige Evans collection there is a paper with square swatches and I always try to think of different ways to use this paper. Today I opted for a patchwork heart. I cut a large heart from the swatch paper using my Silhouette. I also cut a slightly larger heart in white.

I prepared a background which is a beautiful pink paper with material texture and wobbly grid lines by splattering it with white paint. I set that aside to dry while I worked on my patchwork heart.

I then cut apart all the squares on the heart. I distressed the edges of each and then stuck them all on the white heart, slightly spaced apart. I then machine stitched around each square using white thread. The result is a pretty patchwork heart with lots of patterns and texture! I positioned this onto my layout, slightly towards the top.

I added my photo which I mounted on a couple of paper layers, and a chipboard frame. I added one of the beautiful layered stickers and lots of epoxy stickers including flowers, leaves, butterflies, a bunny and a banner saying ‘wonderful’.

I added some foam phrase Thickers too ad added a title using a Bramble Fox Perspextive ‘let’s have fun’. I added this to the left of the photo but unfortunately it overlaps two squares so it doesn’t read as clearly as I would have liked.

I wanted to add a few smaller items but all the embellishments I had weren’t quite small enough, so I thought I would look through my Wonders collection to see if I had anything left over from that that might work. The little stickers from the Sticker Book, puffy stickers and paper flowers were perfect. I love that previous collections go well with the new ones as it means I can mix and match my stash!

I added some Bramble Fox hearts and a cute bee and finished off with some journaling on one of the patchwork squares.

Thanks so much for joining me today and I hope you have enjoyed this layout.

Happy scrapping

Niki xx

@nikiclairecreates

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HOT | Hip Kit Club | Mixed Media Monday

 

Hi everyone! Here is my latest layout for Hip Kit Club. Today is Mixed Media Monday and I am using the August kits. You can find the August kits on the website here: https://www.hipkitclub.net/august-2021

I have also used an exclusive cut file, which will soon be added to the August Downloads tabs. At the time of writing this the August cut files haven’t made it onto the website yet, but they will be up very soon and are worth the wait!

I started off with ink pads from the August Color Kit. I used the pink one and the yellowF one. There wasn’t an orange so I grabbed one from my stash that I got in a previous Color Kit. I created a blended area of the three colours in the middle of a sheet of white cardstock. I used ink applicator sponges to do this. I then used the Simple Stories stencil from the August Color Kit to stencil over the top. I used the same ink colours but just pressed hard through the stencil. The result is a tone on tone stenciled look!

I cut the HOT cut file twice: once in white and once in Roselle card from the August Cardstock Kit. I stuck the together, slightly offsetting them so I ended up with a shadow effect. I added a circular photo to the centre of the O. I placed the cut file over the mixed media colours in the middle of the layout and it looked great!

I then added a few colour-on-colour embellishments: flowers from the Vicki Boutin sticker sheet, chipboard from Simple Stories Sunkissed and a couple of labels. I also added some black stars to make the layout have extra impact.

Around the edges of the layout I added lots of tiny gold circle stickers from the Vicki Boutin sticker sheet. I also added splatters of ink in the same colours. I did this by putting the ink onto a kraft sheet, adding water and then using a paintbrush to splatter.

I finished off with my journaling and a few splatters of black ink. I love how this turned out!

Thank you so much for joining me today and happy scrapping
Niki xx

@nikiclairecreates

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Farm Friends Mini Album | Simple Stories | Homegrown Collection

 

Hey everyone! I have a new Mini Album to share today for Simple Stories, using the new Homegrown collection. We seem to be spending a lot of time at the farm lately so this collection is perfect for my photos and it is also completely adorable! I love all the farm animals and there are so many fun things in this collection.

I planned to make a mini album with this collection and figured I might make it square but when I was looking through the Bits & Pieces, I came across this super cute red barn and that totally sparked an idea to make the album in the shape of the barn! I focused on the main barn shape and roughly drew it onto a piece of copy paper. After several attempts I was happy with the shape so I cut it out and used it as a template. I have used the Homegrown 6x8” paper pad for most of this album.

I used the template and cut the shape from red woodgrain paper. I then cut a few details to go onto the front cover: the strip at the bottom of the barn, the roof and the door. I cut the door from white card, by hand because I was actually away on holiday while I was making this so I didn’t have any access to a printer or my Silhouette machine! And then I cut that out, including all the criss-cross sections. I backed the door with green paper and made cuts so the door would actually open and then attached this to the front cover. I added hand stitching around all the details on the cover and also machine stitched the door in place (I had to wait until I was home to do this part!)

For my internal pages and the back cover, I continued to use the template I made at the start, to cut pages the same size as my barn. I cut two for each page: front and back. This was so that I could use the ‘hidden hinges’ method for binding my album.

To make the binding, I cut a long strip of white card and I scored it at regular intervals to make the bits that stand out. I made five of these, plus the ones for the front and back covers. I was then able to sandwich my pages over the hinges which completely covers them – they cannot be seen now the book is complete. I covered the spine with turquoise polka dot paper from the Homegrown 6x8 paper pad. I also machine stitched around the edge of each of my pages.

I then added my photos and embellishments to the inside of the album. I had quite a lot of photos so I made sure I had several ways to include multiple photos: such as fold outs, pockets and overlays. I love to have a good mix of interactive elements in my mini albums. I used vellum to make some and for others I used sections of the Homegrown patterned papers.

I used loads of the Bits & Piece and Journal Bits. I adored the sunflower elements. I also used a lot of the Foam Stickers, Decorative Brads and Puffy Stickers. The Puffy Stickers are ideal for mini albums because they are really small so are perfect for adding cute details to photos or other small elements.

I made one of the pages into a large shaker pocket by cutting a piece of acetate to the same size as the page. I machine stitched around the edge leaving an opening which I then filled with sequins and then closed up. I also made a vellum pocket for this page, to hold a mini tag album, made from the Tags sheet of paper.

For the closure, I used two small bulldog clips tied through with two ribbons tied in a bow. I can’t take credit for this as I learned it at a scrapbooking class many years ago, but it is an absolutely awesome way to keep an album closed because you don’t have to untie the bow! I added cute charms to the bow, a sheep and a chicken. There is also a tractor charm inside the mini album. To open the book I simply need to unfasten one of the bulldog clips but the bow remains tied.

I really hope you have enjoyed this mini album, I loved making it and adore how it has turned out. My little boy who is three, absolutely loves looking through it with me, particularly photos of him and all the fold out sections!
Happy scrapping

Niki xx

@nikiclairecreates 

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Good Vibes | Hip Kit Club | Sketch Challenge

 

Here is my latest layout for Hip Kit Club, playing along with the weekly challenge which is a sketch. I've used the August 2021 kits and focused on the speciality paper by Amy Tangerine.

Play along with the challenge over on the Hip Kit Club group on Facebook.

Happy scrapping

Niki xx

@nikiclairecreates

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Having the Best Time | Hip Kit Club | July 2021 Main Kit only

 

Hey everyone! Here is my latest layout for Hip Kit Club. I have used the July 2021 Kits but the Main Kit only. You can find the July kits on the Hip Kit Club website here: https://www.hipkitclub.net/july-2021.

Today I have used an enlargement photo. It is 8”x12” which is a size with which I don’t think I’ve ever scrapped before! I stuck it to a sheet of white cardstock anchored to the left side. This left me with a 4” wide white strip on the right side of the layout. I decided to use the border strips, which I have been saving specifically for this layout, to create a fun panel of pattern. I started at the bottom and layered them up, overlapping each other slightly. I carried on until I ran out of strips. I then cut off the excess and used those parts to complete the look all the way to the top.  I particularly wanted the finished and curved ends of the border strips to feature on my photo and I arranged them so they are all different lengths. To finish the top part I had to turn them upside down so I had enough finished ends. I love how it looks with the photo emerging from beneath them. Design Team member Vicki Parker also created a similar panel with these border strips on an earlier layout but she has cut hers so they are straight on each side and has used it as a decorative panel on a white background – check out her layout for more inspiration of how to use these wonderful border strips!

Once all the strips were in place I machine stitched through each one and then ran my finger under the edges to make them stand up slightly in order to add dimension.

I then added the remaining leftover border strip pieces to the top left of the page to cover up an area of the photo that had some fences in that didn’t look that nice. It is much prettier now that the border strips are in place! I added a few items of ephemera, as well as some of the beautiful acetate doilies.

I added puffy phrase stickers to the layout saying things like ‘having the best time’ ‘relax’ and ‘favorite place’. I also added a few more bits of ephemera.

To add my journaling, I cut some strips from one of the backing pieces of the packaging all the exclusive products were packaged in this month! I could have used white card but the packaging was a better colour match to the border strips and had cute pink lines on it! I handwrote my journaling on these strips and added them to the border strips.

Thank you so very much for joining me today and I have you have enjoyed seeing how I used the border strips today.

Happy scrapping

Niki xx

@nikiclairecreates 

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Explore | Bella Blvd | Sketch and To the Moon

 

Hey everyone! I have a new layout to share today for Bella Blvd. I’m using the gorgeous and super-fun To the Moon Collection and am using it to scrap a photo of my little boy who loves rockets. I’m also playing along with one of our new sketches which are so fun to use!

I started off with a black background from the To the Moon Collection and splattered it with white paint. I cut three stars from different patterned papers in three different sizes. I also cut mounts for each, again using different papers so I ended up with a multi patterned layout. I stitched around the edge of the top three stars with black thread on my sewing machine and then layered them together with foam pads for dimension.

I mounted my photo and added it to my layout. I slotted it in between the stars. I added a title using the Explore title from the To the Moon Chipboard. This didn’t show up too well against the black background so I mounted it onto a lighter patterned paper first and fussy cut it out, leaving a narrow boarder. This gave it the lift it needed to show up against the dark background.

I fussy cut lots of planets from the Solar System patterned paper and arranged them around the layout layering some on the stars and some onto the background.

I then added smaller embellishments such as chipboard stars and star stickers. At the bottom I added some label stickers that say cute things like ‘love you to the moon and back’, ‘discover’ and ‘imagine’. I also wrote my journaling in this area with a silver pen, directly onto the black background.  

I finished off with a few enamel dots and a cute little alien from the ephemera!

Thank you so much for joining me today, I hope you like the layout, I think it’s super fun and am over the moon with how it turned out!

Happy scrapping

Niki xx

@nikiclairecreates

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Marauder's Map Harry Potter Mini Album | GoGo Getaway

 

Hi everyone! I have a new mini album to share today which I made as part of a GoGo Getaway Cybercrop challenge. The quote to be inspired by was ‘I solemnly swear that I am up to no good’. I have recently been to the Harry Potter Studios with my daughter and we had a wonderful day out . I now have soooooo many photos to scrap so I decided to put them all in one album. There are about 95 photos in this album!

I decided to make the album as the Marauder’s Map. I love this part of the books and films and I figured it would be perfect for a mini album. I created a very long concertina fold album, which I’ve worked out is approximately 60” wide! It is 9” tall. It opens out from the middle and extends a very long way!

I have used the Witches & Wizards collection by Echo Park Paper to make this mini album. I bought it when it first came out, knowing I would use it one day and I didn’t want to miss out! So I’ve been keeping it safe until the perfect time to use it. I’m delighted to see there is a Witches & Wizards 2 out now as well. As well as the papers from that collection the album base is made from cardstock. I used black cardstock for part of the album, which I covered first in tissue paper I received from the Harry Potter Studio Tour – this was a great way to include a little souvenir from the day. It is printed with newsprint…Wizard newsprint of course!

In order to get so many photos into the album I had to get creative with interactive ways to include so many. There are many pockets, flip ups, tags and cards hidden amongst the magical pages of this Marauder’s Map.

The album is bound with two ribbons and is embellished on the front with charms, several Bramble Fox stars in pretty gold colours and white. I’ve also included a journaling card of the quote from the Quote Challenge on the front cover which serves as the title of the album.

Thank you so much for joining me today and I hope you have enjoyed seeing this album.

Mischief Managed!

Niki xx

@nikiclairecreates

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SUMMER | Hip Kit Club | Using Cut Files

Hi everyone! Here is a new layout using the July kits and an exclusive cut file! I’ve used the Tropical Leaves cut file which you can find on the website under the July Downloads tab.

I cut the leaves quite small, multiple times on white card. My plan was to use these as additional ephemera, tucked into places around my layout.

I used the beautiful yellow paper from the July kit. It reminds me of tie-dying. I love yellow so wanted to use this as my background but the whole sheet was slightly too busy and needed an area of white space to balance it more. I therefore tore off a strip from the bottom of the paper and then mounted it onto a white background.

I mounted my photo onto a Pocket Life card and added the photo to the left side of the layout over the tear. I added some of the watercolour acetate stickers behind my photo to give the effect of mixed media – these stickers really do make mixed media very easy!

I used a large chipboard title from the June kit – I had this one leftover and it was perfect for this layout. I raised it on foam pads to give it extra dimension and stuck it right across the torn edge and my photo.

I embellished the layout with circle frames, chipboard circles and lots of little pieces of ephemera. I tucked in the white cut file Tropical Leaves to several places, I really love the layered effect they bring to the page.

I finished off with a few splatters of white paint.

Thanks so much for joining me today and happy scrapping

Niki xx

@nikiclairecreates

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Zoorassic Park Mini Album | Hip Kit Club | July 2021 Kits

 

Hey everyone! I have a new mini album to share today for Hip Kit Club, using the July 2021 Kits. You can find the July kits on the Hip Kit Club website here: https://www.hipkitclub.net/july-2021.

I wanted to make a dinosaur themed mini album because I had a series of photos from our trip to a little dinosaur exhibit at our local zoo. The July kits are very summery and I was a little concerned I might not be able to make it work with dinosaurs, but I was wrong!

I started off by drawing a rough dinosaur shape onto a piece of copy paper. I copied the basic shape from one I searched for on Google. I didn’t use a cut file or print a template (I was away on vacation when I made this so didn’t have those options!). I cut out my dino shape and that became my template. My daughter then mentioned that it looked like a turtle rather than a dinosaur so I figured I would need to do something about that!

I cut out two dinosaurs in the blue paisley paper from the July kit, and the green abstract paper. The green was to be the back cover with the blue one being the front cover. I drew a dinosaur spine/spike onto my copy paper and cut it out to use as a template. I then cut lots of these from another patterned paper. I stuck these behind the blue dinosaur all around the hump and then stuck them all onto a sheet of white card to secure all the spines in place. I then added hand stitching around the outline of the dinosaur and all the spines and trimmed off the white cardstock so there was a narrow white border all the way around.

I made the inner part of the album from navy cardstock from the July Cardstock kit, which is a simple pocket with concertina sides. This gave me a wide pocket to add all the contents of the album.

I made the album pages individually from other patterned papers. They are all semi-circle shaped. Some are single pieces, some are bound at the side so they open like a book and some fold down. I added lots of photos to these little pages and used LOADS of gorgeous embellishments from the July kits. I love the acetate doilies, and the blooms from the Build a Bloom set. I also added wood veneer pieces and made the pages interactive where possible.

Thank you so much for joining me today and I hope you have enjoyed my cute little dinosaur mini album!

Happy scrapping

Niki xx

@nikiclairecreates

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