Getting sticky
Hello again, is it Thursday already.
I have had a busy week at work, with this week being my 3 day week, plus running an education session for parents last night. Hence i haven’t even been home to do a post and save it as a draft like i normally do. Then today is my monthly meeting over in Dandenong. So I fly out the door, the poor kids were eating cheese sandwhiches for breakfast in the car, LOL. Other weeks are more relaxed and I get to work when i get there.
So I have a feeling I mentioned adhesives in a past blog post. It is hard to know what to use to stick down all of the different product we use. So i thought I would tell you my favourites.
There are all sorts of special glues and tapes on the market. You can also spend a lot of money on fancy adhesives. The most important feature of any adhesive is that is it acid free, and secondly that it gives you the desired result. Some adhesives are permanent whilst others will allow you to move items. It is up to you to decide what tapes and/or glues you prefer, you will decide what you find reliable and cost effective. It also depends on what you are sticking down.
For adhering photos to card stock I like photo tabs, the click and stick type. If there is a lot of matting, or heavier card I love double sided tape, just for extra support. For embellishments this tape is also awesome for things like buttons and even metal. If you need a super strong double sided tape in my experience you cannot go past Francheville. Glue dots are also fantastic for all sorts of embellishments and come in a range of sizes. I also know people use hot glue guns, and wouldn’t be without them. I prefer more portable methods. To get dimension on a page 3D foam tape is fantastic, and again this comes in different sizes and shapes.
For lasercuts i simply use acid free glue. I use a small applicator bottle for more accurate application. I have seen some people use glue sticks to stick down paper. Just be careful, as they can tend to buckle the paper in my experience. For sticking down ribbons I love the convenience of a xyron (a little device you can thread through ribbon and card and it adheres the tape automatically), and even more convenient is something like a roller tape adhesive, which i use all the time now. I have found trial and error to be the best, and of course word of mouth helps guide us to what works for other people.
Todays LO uses some of these different adhesives. The photo is stuck using adhesive tape, click n stick. The bazzil is stuck into the metal frame with glue, and then adhered to the page with dimensional tape. The buttons are stuck down with small glue dots.
This layout was so fast. I already had the paper (scraps) and pics chosen, and just layered it until I was happy. I do this alot. It took me about 15 minutes to do the LO before i did a class recently. I then stuck the buttons and frame on later. Don’t you just love how the BAZZILL swiss dots just pop.
Ok I am home in my lunch break, just so i could share with you guys, so I better get back to work.
I should also point out, that all my layouts are 12 x 12, i am just not very good at resizing them on this system and they often look A4, hehe.
Take care, until next week
Cheers Karen
School Photos
At the start of this year my eldest son started high school, and recently the school photos arrived and naturally I wanted to scrap a page about this important milestone. However I was pretty disappointed at the available range of premade school themed products, because they mainly focused on the early years of school and did not seem appropriate for my (almost) teenage boy.
It’s a good thing I didn’t have to search very far before finding just the thing to get me started when I came across this very cool RW Alphabet border strip to give my page an instant school feel. I love that the border strip was large enough to be a feature of my design and fit right across my 12×12 page, and although I have left mine raw for this page, I think it would also look great coloured on an elementary school page. 
I chose black Bazzill in the Dotted Swiss texture for my background and added some simple grid paper under the photo. There are plenty of grid and ledger papers available and are a good way to reinforce a school theme. I also picked up a very inexpensive student diary and tore out a few pages as an alternative to patterned paper and just imagine how many usable pages you will get from just one diary 
The arrow embellishment was made by simply adhering a page from a school newsletter onto some cardstock then cutting it into an arrow shape before going around the edges with a marker. Other ideas for simple embellishments are to use stationary items such as paperclips, staples, envelopes and even note book paper. and because I have two boys and I plan on using some of these ideas to scrap all the other school photos we’ve accumulated.
Agnus 
It Feels Good!!
Na, na, na, na, na, na (sung in my best James Brown voice). Trust me, you don’t want to hear me sing in real life LOL. Even the kids ask me to stop!!
Anyway, I bet you’re wondering what this has to do with Remember When Scrapbooking Company. Well, today’s post is all about Bazzill’s embossed cardstock. Shaz had a great post last Tuesday where she showed us some great techniques for colouring it and today I’ve got a couple of layouts to show you.
In the first layout today, I’ve left the Peek-a-boo leaves (in Parakeet green) as it is and have just used my scallop punch to create an interesting edge to the bottom and sides.
The embossed leaves suited the colour and theme of the layout. Apart from the patterned paper, I’ve added a RW laser cut tree and more Thickers letters to complete the page.
Speed Racer, which is the second layout I have to share with you, features the Swirlpool Geneva cardstock as the base. To highlight the embossing, I’ve used a cream ink and rubbed it over the cardstock - I love the subtle effect. I’ve added some Bo Bunny patterned paper, some KI cardstock shapes and the obligatory Thickers lettering.
If you haven’t seen the embossed cardstock in real life, add a sheet or two to your next order from RWPC,
Finally, I promised a RAK to someone who commented last week - Karen it’s you!! Email with with your mail address and I’ll pop a little something in the mail to you. dhosking@internode.on.net
Until next Monday, have a great week everyone.
Cheers, Debx
Friday Photography #6
Hi there everyone, I hope you have all had a fun week. Well this week in pretty much the first sentence of this post I’m putting out there a challenge! Run outside now, yes right now as it’s not raining where I am and hopefully not where you are and take a photo of your shadow. Grab that sun whilst you can, put your back to it and turn your flash off and take a photo of the ground, you should see a cool shadow. It’s a great way to do a self portrait in an abstract arty type of way:)
Here is a layout I did that is ever so simple using my shadow photo. I took the photo off to one side as I knew I wanted to photoshop in the words later.
Here is a family photo I took when Tahli was a baby. I had it on our wall for ages as our family portrait. This is as it was straight out of the camera but you can also turn shadow photos into black and white for a more dramatic effect.
Shadows are great for self portraits and also if you are the photographer taking photos of others. You just need to stand to the side to capture the person and their shadow together like theses next few photos. My girls at this age are really fascinated by shadows and how they follow you around and I wanted to make sure I had the photo to match the story of shadows that I wanted to journal.
These photos were taken last August in the middle of winter (I love the beach on a sunny winters day) You don’t have to wait for summer for great shadows.
And a colour version
This next photo was taken at the park with Kyra on the swing. Her skinny little legs are so cute!
This is a RW follower and fellow blogger who let me snap a picture of her and hubby on a special weekend away. It’s a cool way to capture a couple too.
Here is a photo of my hubby and I when we went to Byron Bay for my 30th birthday…I wish I was back there this past week!
Well I’m going to keep it short and sweet this week and hope this has given you some good ideas for capturing an arty shadow photo. If you take a shadow photo email it to me joanne.andrew@optusnet.com.au and I’ll post all the photos I receive before my next Friday Photography post. Be inspired and get creative, happy clicking until next time, JO
Laser cut your money…
Greetings on this wonderful Thursday. Hope you are all well and feeling creative, all ready for some free time on the weekend.
Today I wanted to highlight how you can get such good value for money from RW laser cuts. Like many scrappers and card makers we have to try and stick to a budget. This is why I love the lasercuts. Not only do they so easily and quickly add great interest and texture to a layout, and often put a wonderful finishing touch, but most importantly they are budget friendly.
Many of the lasercuts are under five dollars, and several under $2, an absolute bargain addition to a layout. Yet i like to make my budget stretch further, and look for more bang for my buck. For example the baby set 1, where you get 5 pieces for $6.50. This means they are only $1.30 each.
For this layout today I have used one of the circle mini scallop frames. They come as a set of 3, and they are great for highlighting a certain area on a layout or for putting a picture on the inside. I like packs where you can also trim a section off and use just a part of it. Some of the bigger scrolls, for example are perfect for this.
I also love the Just the Edge, because you get soo many in a packet. All of the different shapes mean they are perfect for cards and layouts because they are easy to cut down to size.
The scallop circle on this layout beautifully highlights the birthday cake, and helps make it a feature. I have made the base using swiss dots because they are just so great. And if you look closely you can see some Just the edge loops, which I have inked vanilla to match.
have a wonderful weekend,
Cheers Karen
Playing with pastels…
Hi everyone!
Pastels (more commonly known as chalks) are one of those products that you may have purchased some time ago or maybe even recently, but tucked them away because you weren’t sure how to use them. Many people really are not sure what they can do with them, so I decided to show off a really easy little technique using one of the new embossed cardstock designs. When Lee sent me a few of these to have a play with, I just loved them immediately!I decided to use the pastels on the white cardstock as it shows up really well and is suitable for any colour combination. I have gone with a pastel colour combo, as it is very light and pretty
Firstly I took the 12×12 sheet of cardstock and cut it down to make myself a nice sized strip. I simply folded it in half and pressed flat with my bone scorer to give it a nice crisp fold. Here is what the cardstock looks like prior to chalking it.
See how the little embossed flowers sit up on the cardstock? These are what you apply your colours on top of. Load up one colour onto a white cottonbud, and gently apply in a circular motion over the flowers. Swap colours and colour until all flowers are coloured in the desired combination. I chose an apricot, pink and celery colour for mine.After I had finished this I sponged some coloured ink around the edges in the pink just to give the outer edge a little definition. I have added a lasercut and then some little foam flowers to finish off and of course some bling just added those finishing touches!
This technique is super easy and lots of fun, and a great way to create your own lovely canvas to work on. Why not even colour a whole sheetof cardstock and create your own scrapbook layout!
Have fun!
Shaz
This post will have you In Stitchz!
Happy Monday everyone. Sorry today’s post is late - I tried really hard to have it ready to go this morning, but time conspired against me!
Has the title of today’s post got you a little confused? Or maybe you’ve already seen Bazzill’s Stitchz line of templates and thread in glorious Bazzill colours?
I got to play with some of these on the weekend and they were lots of fun. My finished layout is very basic, but I wanted to focus on showing you how to use the templates rather than produce a fancy layout. I’ll probably add some things to it later - I could really do with some suggestions on what it needs though.
Now to get started with the templates.
The first thing I did was to work out where I wanted the first word to go.
I then used my hole piercer to poke holes in my cardstock using the template as a guide.
Once all the holes were punched for the first word, it looked a little confusing, so I used a lead pencil to lightly join the dots so I could see where I needed to go.
The next step was to start stitching. Personally I prefer back stitch, but you can use whatever you choose. The Bazzill threads come with a needle, so I was ready to go.
I stuck the end of the thread to the back of the cardstock with some double sided tape. A tip here is to make sure the tape doesn’t cover any of the holes or else you will have trouble poking the needle through.
Be careful not too make your thread too long or else it could get tangled. Keep sewing until the word or shape is complete.
It’s so easy!!
And here’s the finished (or nearly finished) layout!
Feel free to leave me some ideas on what this page needs in the comments section. I’ll choose a random suggestion to receive a small RAK from me - stay tuned next Monday.
In the meantime, enjoy the week and I’ll catch you all again next week. The boys have a bye at football next Sunday, so a whole day at home is certainly something to look forward to.
Cheers, Deb x
Colour Inspiration - June
Finally I have managed to find some colour inspiration for June. I was finding it very hard to get inspired, so last night sat down and made sure I found something. I started with my husbands new scarf, but then realised it was very similar to colours I had used in a previous inspiration. So I grabbed the latest catalogues and started flicking. What I found was something very different for me, very out of my box. When you initially look at the colours if you are anything like me you will think - wow bright! and how could you possibly use them all on one page. I figured that if some designer thought they fitted on a doona cover then I could make them work too. Below is the catlogue page I used for inspiration, followed by my Bazzill colour choices and lastly the layout I came up with. I have also used some RW lasercuts and brads. Again I have left the lasercuts raw, one day soon I will paint them or something
In the end I was stoked with the outcome and hope you enjoy June’s colour inspiration as much as I have. If these colours are out of your box, I would love you to have a go at using them and email me your layout at sales@rememberwhen.com.au. Enjoy the weekend.
Lee
My apologies for the photo, I left it far too late in the day to take it. I used the doona cover in the bottom left corner for inspiration, but the top right is very similar and easier to see because of the flash. I hope you get the idea.
Go forth and be BOLD!
That’s right this week I went bold. I think sometimes certain papers can be a bit confronting or scarey to use. But I am here to tell you they need not be. This paper is so dense, the red and black together being very heavy. But using this type of paper can be easy if you take it back to basics. So keep it simple. I have used1 main sheet of something really bold on black BAZZILL (which is as dark as it gets). Once the pictures were on there is only a hint of the paper and I was able to tone it down and blend it with some white JUST the EDGE and a small strip of white and black patterned paper to balance the overall layout.
I then tied it all together with the “Lovebirds” lasercut which I inked in a matching shade of red. I find inking is the easiest and fastest way of adding colour to a laser cut. I added a little hidden journaling tag, as I had no room anywhere else. It just sits in behind the photo. What a great solution to making extra room on a layout.
Enjoy a great weekend and i will see you next week.
Cheers Karen
I have also finally learned how to make my image smaller, woo hoo. Thanks Lee, LOL..
Divided page protectors
Hi again, just a quick post from me today as I have had another tooth extracted today and am not feeling the best.
Over the weekend I started playing with the American Crafts divided page protectors in the 12 x12 size. And while essentially they are very similar to the traditional photo pocket albums, but because we are scrappers there is so more much we can do with them
Each sheet is made up of six 4×6″ pockets so using photos in the size seemed like the logical choice, however you are not limited to just that size and could also use a few portrait 4×3″ photos. I opted for 3 landscped photos of my boys playing in the park, and really liked that I was able to use enough pictures to tell the story without overwhelming the space. I have also used a few pieces of blue Bazzill in the Swiss Dot texture innstead of patterned paper which may have made the page look too busy.
Another great thing about the page dividers isthat you can also add details to the top of the pockets as I have with the title, as the foam thickers do add a slight amount of bulk, and you could just as easily use rub-ons or stickers in the same way.