Smile – tutorial –
Design Team projects Inspiration Nerd Academy Scrapbooking Tips & Tutorials
Hello Everyone,
I am Nathalie, one of the new members of the design team. I am so grateful for this opportunity as I get to share and learn from a great community. This is my first post in this blog, and I am excited for you all to see what I have created.
For our first project kit, we all received Crate Paper’s “Wonder” collection to play with. It is a personal favorite (I had stashed away a few pieces of the collection since it was released) for its rich colors and beautiful patterns. But after working a few layouts with the papers, I was left with scraps -i don’t like to waste paper-, so I thought of a way to rework the scraps into a layout. Here is how i went about creating it.
- I cut the leftover paper scraps into squares of 2.75 inches per side. I made sure to mark the center point of each side (17/8 inch) – the size of the square depends on the effect you want to create on the page-
2. I marked a line, with a bone folder, from the center point of the square’s side to the following centerpoint -as in the picture above-. I proceeded to use the bone folder to fold the square corner about the marked line, remember to make sure that the design is showing outside of the folded square.
3. I used scrap pieces from most of the papers of the collection, so I was left with a nice array of colors and patterns that worked harmoniously. For this layout you will need about 20 folded squares (of the given dimensions), but i only ended up using about 15 of them.
4. My idea was to lay the squares to form a heart in the layout. For that i started by penciling two lines at a 45 degree angle that intersected in the middle point of each edge of the layout’s mat. Once the lines were drawn (they will look like a large V ), I went ahead and started laying down the folded squares -making sure that no repeating pattern was next to each other-
I forgot to take a picture of the formation of the squares before being permanently attached to the page. My apologies..
5. I wanted the picture to be part of the heart, so I removed two of the center squares, and replace them with the picture. I used a large piece of foam to mat the picture, and raise it to the same height as the folded squares.
6. For the title, I chose a piece that will continue the geometric pattern of the layout, but will stand out in the layout. Part of the kit was this SMILE wood plaque, which fit perfectly in between the folded squares. I lightly painted the plaque with white acrylic paint, once dried i used washi tape to divide the piece lengthwise. I colored the bottom half of the plaque with the new MInc Toner Ink Marker from Heidi Swapp, layered a piece of gold foil on top, and put it through the MInc machine at its highest setting, #5. I had to push the folder a bit until the rollers caught the plaque, and began to roll forward; as the plaque was about to exit the rollers, I pressed the reverse button, so that the rollers will roll the opposite way. This ensured that the plaque was pressed twice by the machine. Note: This technique works with the MInc machine, I am not sure if it will work with other laminators, check your machine’s instructions before hand.
7. I added a few pieced from the sicker sheet, around the squares for some added interest.
8. To balance the page, I created a small cluster made up of pieces from the chipboard, sticker sheet and some fussy cut elements.
9. Finally, I added some black and gold ink splatters and a few lines of journal to finish the page… I hope you like it, and reconsider using your paper scrap pieces after working your projects.
I hope this inspires you into using your paper scraps. You can always contact me in the forum, Facebook or Instagram if you have any questions about this layout, or just to say ‘Hello’.
See you soon…
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