Another few 'Things About Me'.

Hello all. I just thought I'd share another page from my '25 Things About Me' list which I'm scrapping using the latest Quirky kit: 'Note to Self' .
Luckily for me [and the 19 'things' I have left to scrap] this kit is jam-packed and bursting with bright, unusual and interesting items - so I'm not in any danger of running out just yet.

[For more of the pages I've made using the 'Quirky Kits' - past and present - then feel free to have a wander around my Crafty Templates Flickr set.]

I think my favourite thing on this whole page is the Sassafras Lass Paper Whimsies card [with the arrows] and I tried to match everyhting else on the layout to it's lovely combination of red, purple, black and white. And that strawberry trimming was just too nice to hide so I simply stapled it to my paper with about an inch overhanging so that it can be handled and used to turn the page as I'm not using any page protectors in my album of lists and randomness which it will be going in.

I know that this page is perhaps a little odd in places. For one thing it has no photograph, which isn't a way I usually work outside of Circle Journal entries, but it's one which I'm finding a really satisfying and quick means to achieve a finished piece. Add to that my little magazine clipping and the angry little speech bubble stickers [a gift from a friend - not from the kit] and I suppose I'm fulfilling my role as a designer with a 'Quirky kit'.

But just how quirky does that make me ... or you for that matter? To find out just how quirky you are then take the very quick How Quirky are You? personality quiz I stumbled across last week.

Luckily for me, it judged me to be quite far along the 'Quirky' scale and said I resided in an 'Alternative Universe' ... so now that it's official, I guess that means I get to keep my job as quirky kit designer for the time being!!!!

It'd be great fun to hear how you get on with your kits ...and the quiz!

:)

Note To Self: 4 down ... 21 to go!

Here's the first page I've made using the latest Quirky Scrapbooking Kit: 'Note to Self'.

Last week on my blog I mentioned how I intended to scrap my list of '25 Things About Me' - which a friend on Facebook prompted me to try out before Christmas. So I've started ... I've only got up to No.4 but wanted to share how perfect the latest kit is for scrapping this kind of focus on journaling.

I wrote my list directly onto the Adornit ‘Notebook’ paper from the kit [Which I'd layered on to a 6X12 sheet of kraft Bazzill - not from the kit]. I then cut the cute little bird from one of the Petra Bose sheets of patterned wrap and tucked him beneath the gorgeous custom made ‘Note This’ Ring a Roses embellishment. To draw together all of the colours I'd already chosen I used the scalloped edging from a sheet of Sassafras Lass, some of the hand-dyed baby blue crochet lace, a strip of graph-paper design, again cut from the Petra Bose patterned wrap and finally added some of the co-ordinating vintage buttons especially selected by Leo for this kit.

To stamp my '25 Things' accent I used a really basic interchangeable office supply stamp for a retro feel inspired by the vintage feel of the Note to Self kit itself. I didn't even mind when it stamped unevenly and left black lines across the card - I like a certain amount of imperfection [and if I'm totally honest, I can't really avoid it, so am really better off embracing it!!!].

To create my list I've used Banana Frog Steelfish Outline Numbers with a mix of coloured inks which again draw together the colours I'd picked out from within the kit. Leo too has found that Banana Frog stamps work well with this kit as she demonstrates below:

Leo recently won a challenge on the Banana Frog blog and her prize was a set of their brand new 'It's All About ... Documenting' stamps. As Leo points out: "they do make the perfect accompaniment to Note to Self so I had to share, there's even a little 'note to self' line in the set!".

I'll be back soon with more projects using the glorious kit ... perhaps I'll even manage to get the remaining 21 Things About Me scrapped!

This is such a bright, versatile and eclectic kit that I most definitely am in love with it and I know Leo feels particularly proud of how it all came together. So, we'd love to know what you think of it and your plans for how you're going to use yours. Better still why don't you leave us a link to any projects you've made. Please don't be shy, after all on my layout I do share with you the fact that I have a habit of chewing bits of plastic ... surely that counts for something???

You know where to find me.

Julie

:D

Scrap Like You Mean it With Fabric.....

This week we have a special Quirky Kit called 'Fabric Sundae' for you to work with along with the current Scrap Like You Mean it challenge on UKScrappers which if you didn't know yet is for everyone to make a scrapbook page with fabric. Quirky Kits are all about making or using something a little bit more unusual than the usual so what better way to play along with a challenge to use something you wouldn't normally use in you scrapping!
If you didn't get a kit to play along with then raid your sewing cupboard (or the sewing cupboard of someone who has a sewing cupboard?) and grab some felt, fabric scraps, thread and have a play. Here Julie who shows you loads of wonderful things to do with Crafty Templates Quirky Kits shows you what she did with her Fabric Sundae Quirky Kit........

Scrap Like You Mean It: Scrapping With Fabric

If you’ve never scrapped with fabric before then don’t panic. It’s really not that different from using paper. It can be layered up onto the base cardstock of your layout like any paper and, when using it in this way, I’ve found no need to use anything other than my regular tape rollers or double sided tapes to secure it.

It can also be used to create your embellishments as Leo has done with her handmade rosette included in the kit. You can also draw or stamp simple appliqué style designs [such as hearts, flowers, birds] onto fabric cut them out and add them to your page either with DST, glue or even by sewing them directly onto your cardstock. Most sewing machines will easily stitch through a layer of fabric and card at the same time - plus you can experiment with contrasting cotton colours along with the different stitch designs and settings on your machine.

You can use your fabric to journal with. Try cutting out large individual letters for your titles, write directly onto paler, less patterned fabrics using a fabric pen or even stitch your message directly onto your swatch. This can be done either freehand, as I did on my layout, or using traditional [and straighter!] cross-stitches.

One of the reasons I enjoy using fabrics in my work is that you can treat it badly and yet it’s a very forgiving material. It can disguise any lumps and bumps you’ve made on a page, helping you cover up your mistakes. If it tears or frays the effect only adds to the texture and creates a unique tactile quality to the work. It can be ironed back to perfection if you’ve accidentally creased and crumpled it or it can even look interesting and artistic even if you want to leave it crumpled and say you did it deliberately!!

So here’s how I ‘scrapped like I meant it’ with fabric:

- I wanted to showcase the adorable Russian doll design fabric, to mirror the little dolls in my photo, so I cut a strip of it and displayed it across the bottom of my page.

- I often use fabric in flat strips like this but, inspired by a layout in Ashley Calder’s incredible book Scraptastic I was eager to add in something different.

- To make use of its texture and depth I worked my way around my page, from bottom to top, looping the yellow felt and red polka-dot fabric strips and securing them along their top edges with Crafter’s Pick ‘Incredibly Tacky’ glue.

- There’s a whole skein of embroidery thread included in the kit and, even after using it to wonkily hand stitch my title, there were metres of it left over.

- Wanting to capture some of its silky textural quality, which is best displayed while it’s all still looped together, I left it in a bundle and simply glued it straight on to my cardstock backing.

- I added extra colour and detail by looping up the bright pink ribbon and turquoise faux suede strip and tucking them under the next layer of fabric or covering the top with a button to disguise my adhesive.
[My backing paper is American Crafts ‘Study Hall’ and I used Adornits alphabet stickers – everything else came from the ‘Fabric Sundae Quirky Kit’].Along with producing a layout with your fabric, you could also try covering the pages of a mini book. This works especially well as you get to handle the finished item and enjoy the tactile quality which fabric brings to your work. One of my favourite projects of all time is this mini tag book: http://notesonpaper.blogspot.com/2008/12/shining-example.html which I decorated with off-cuts of polka dot fabric and which I keep closed using a safety pin!

Hope you enjoy scrapping like you mean it with your Fabric Sundae as much as I did.
Julie

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If you'd like to print out Julie's tips and LO I've put together a PDF version you can save and/or print off to use you can download it click on this link:

http://www.craftytemplates.co.uk/SLYMIJuliekirk.pdf

Loving Julie's layout!

If you'd like some more things to play with I've also picked out some Templates from past sets and projects that I thought would be fun to use with fabric both of which I used on my own layout. If you're not sure how to use them here's what I do with them:

Print the template off and roughly cut it out (don't cut along the line just cut it out of the sheet so there's a space around it). Turn it over and dab a little Pritt Stick on the back then stick the fabric/felt to it. Turn it back over and then cut out the template sheet, carefully sticking to the line and cutting through both the paper and the fabric. When you're done peel the paper off and you have your shape perfectly cut out.

I picked out the Fancy Frames template and the Poppy Flowers template.

You can download them both from here just click on the above links.

Here's the page I came up with. It's mothers day soon so I thought of making a special page for mum. The felt flower I made with the Poppy Flower template (my mum's fave flowers) and the Fancy Frame template I cut out from the fabric in the Quirky Kit and then just inked around the edge, just like you normally would with paper.

If you want to use some other freebie Crafty Templates have a peek on the Freebie page.

I also made my own fabric brad with the dolly fabric. If you want to have a go at that all you need is a large brad (I used one of the Dovecraft jumbo ones from my stash) a sewing needle and from your Fabric Sundae kit a small scrap of your felt a single strand piece of your thread and a square of your fabric that has a motif in the center ...........

Stick the felt to the front of the brad with doublesided tape then cut around the edge. Turn the brad over and open out the prongs. Place the fabric under the brad so your chosen motif is central on the front of the brad. Stitch a running stitch around the brad so there's a small space around the edge and then pull as tight as you can so the fabric wraps around the edge of the brad.Close the prongs and then put more stitches across the back of the brad to pull together the loose fabric edges and make the edge really neat. When it looks right make a knot with a stitch and cut it off to finish. Push the prongs back to how they looked originally. There you have your finished fabric brad. Once you've made one it gets easier to do and you can have great fun inventing your own brad designs!

Hope you have fun with your fabric and don't forget at the end of the week Julie is going to pick out her favourite scrapping with fabric layout from those uploaded to the UKScrappers Scrap Like You Mean it gallery, http://www.ukscrappers.co.uk/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=7264

I've got a pizza box full of Quirky Kit goodies for the winner!

Happy scrapping!

xx Leo