Mix it up!!

Hi Folks!!!

And we have another lucky dipper prize today for our Scrap Your Boobs campaign. Its an A4 sheet of Zettiology rubber stamps donated by 3D Jean and the winner is Hazel Harris. Please email us your address at acreativeworld@hotmail.co.uk and we will get your prize to you!!! And a big thanks to our very generous sponsor!!!

Woo Hoo we are giving away another prize today. It's a Scrapping Angels kit donated by the lovely Anna @ scrapping angels! There will be a draw tomorrow so leave us a comment to be eligible for the prize!!!

It's Tuesday again and today we are bringing you the last in a series of LO classes!!

Mixing patterned papers :)

We are so lucky to be joined once again by the very talented ~Angie~ who has created these fab LOs as examples of mixing different patterned paper line on a LO.

Crocs Rock I've been trying to scrap this photo since I got my first pair or Crocs earlier this year. When I started to think about how I could use a mixture of papers from different manufacturers, I went straight to my box of scraps. This seemed to be a great place to search through for papers that might go together. Having found a few different patterns I cut the pieces into strips,inked the edges, and lay them across the cardstock base. I like the way the different papers create a bold interesting background. Usually this would overwhelm a photo, but as the subject is only a pair of shoes I feel it doesn't matter in this case. The finished layout is quite layered....I used some Hambly overlay, and Heidi Swapp Ghost letters so all the time the papers can be seen through from underneath.

You Spin Me Right Round On this layout I didn't want to overdo the paper,I wanted quite a clean look, so I found 3 papers with a similar feel to them. Two of them I simply placed in opposite corners, and the third I used for the arrow and to mat one of the photos.

Sweetie Pie This time I wanted to create a vivid fun layout, using lots of bright colours and patterns. I started with the Doodlebug flowery paper, then found other papers that co-ordinated with it. I wanted to use quite large pieces which I layered under the photo. A spot of doodling around the edges of it all adds another fun element. I love this layout- so bold, and it was great fun to put together. I don't think I'll ever be afraid of mixing papers again! And Di has used different patterned papers to create this fab LO!! I hope this will inspire you to get out your scraps and start mixing papers!!

haPPy creATing!!

Caz

xx

Working from a sketch

Welcome to another Octobers Tuesday LO class!

Today we are going to be looking as scrapping from a sketch.

Sketches are very versatile because you can use as much, or as little, of the elements on your page, or turn it any which way you want.

The IT place to find sketches is Pencil Lines. An inspirational blog run by a FAB group of ladies who create the most awesome work every week to inspire their readers.

And here at It's a Creative World we are very honoured to have been given an exclusive sketch for our class by the lovely Anna!!

Hi , my name is Anna Bowkis, I live in a small village in Cambridgeshire with my hubby and two girls. I have a very fond love for sketches and a year ago I came up with the concept of Pencil Lines, the sketch challenge blog. Every week we have a new sketch for our readers and a guest designer. Our readers gallery is very popular, and one lucky reader each month recives a RAK form one of our sponsers. This month is our first anniversary, and we have lots of sketches, prizes and RAK’s to give away. I have made this sketch especially for “It’s a creative world” readers and hope you enjoy creating. Thanks for having me as a guest this week, its been such fun! Hugs Anna x

And this is what we have done with it.........

Charlotte!

Andrea!

Angela! Caz!

And here are a few more examples of LOs using PL sketches from the lovely Joy!

And of course it wouldn't be IACW without a great prize giveaway! Today we are offering you a gift from the amazing collection over at A String Of Beads. All you have to do is leave us a comment before midnight tonight and we will do the prize draw tomorrow :)

haPPy creATing!!

Caz

xx

Thanks for visiting!!

WOO HOO, we have reached our fundraising target!!!!! You ladies are just awesome and the support you have shown for a great cause is just amazing. Keep those donations coming in and get you BOOBIES SCRAPPED!!!!!!

There are still loads of prizes to be won this month so visit often :)

Stitch mania

Good morning to you all!! Caz here, with another LO class :) And we are so honoured to have the lovely ~Angie~ as a guest DT member today!!

Stitching on layouts, whether by machine or hand, seems to come into fashion so often and it is one of the most effective ways to add dimension to a LO. In the layout below Angie has even added some hand stitched doodling which looks great and of course you can make up your own designs. She has also stitched around each square of patterned paper which gives the LO a quilt effect and around the photograph which frames Emily beautifully :)

~Angie~ says.....

I have been scrapbooking for nearly 2 years now. My children Emily and Adam are the main things that inspire me to scrap....I love to capture moments in my photos and on my layouts that otherwise may get forgotten. To capture little details of everyday life, to keep to look back on in the years to come. They love it when Mummy has made yet another page about them- I'm not so sure they'll see it the same way when as teenagers they look back at layouts with them having a strop! Currently I'm going through quite an experimental stage with my scrapping. I don't think I really have a style as some scrappers seem to do, but there are various elements and techniques that I use over and over again, and nearly all my layouts have some if not all of these included. What do I like? Chipboard alphabets, inked edges, buttons, ribbons, stitching- mainly by machine (as I'm generally too lazy to hand sew!! lol) I had great fun creating these two layouts, I find stitching adds great extra depth and texture.

Machine sewing around the edges of your cardstock also frames the LO, and I just love how Angie has stitched around each felt flower.

Our own lovely Joy has also contributed to this project with a totally different style of stitching. Joys stitches are randomly placed and hand done, she has also used fabric, ribbon and bits of a real pattern to match the theme of her 'handmade with Love' LO.

Aren't these just the MOST beautiful photographs!!

A massive thanks to both Angie and Joy for sharing their stunning work with IACW today.

And remember we love to see our readers layouts so please leave us a link to your gallery/blog so we can drool, lol.

haPPy creATing

Caz

xx

Good morning!!

It's a Caz here with a scrapping class and a side to scrapping that I find very important :)

I started scrapping in 2003 and not having had all my childhood photos scrapped, it is something that I am doing along with photos of my parents as children and the photos that I take now.

Often there is no story behind an old photograph, it's random.

BUT every now and again you will look at a photograph and memories will flood your mind, and this can often relate to the 'other things' in the photo!

In the photograph on the LO below, I am sitting on the grass, holding my poor dog around the neck with a patio suite in the background. Now I have no idea why this photo was taken, what date it was taken and who it was taken by, but what I do know is........

Memories flood my mind when I look at this photograph. That outside table and chair unit was so uncomfortable, the chairs where a silly angle so when you sat, it was like sitting downhill - backwards! And if you did not have a seat cover on, you got a waffle pattern on your butt, lol!!Tiger, who I am holding around the neck, came to live with us from grandma and grandpa. He was old and not so playful but I loved him and evidently he didn't mind having a cuddle!

At the time we lived in a house with yellow garage doors, a large garden, and a swimming pool. I remember it so clearly even though we left there over 25 years ago.

The second LO is slightly different. I actually went out and took this photo to go with a memory, that I have no photographs for.

Way back in 1986 when we lived in Kloof dad decided to keep chickens! He built them a really cool coop with a sheltered bit at the back for them to sleep and lay eggs in. Occasionally we would let them out to walk about the garden and surprisingly the cats, of which we had 6, never bothered with thm. Maybe one day we can have some again!!

When I found out one of our neighbours had chickens it triggered the memory and I knew it was something I had to document :)

Sometimes when a photograph seems to have no place in any of your albums, take a look at the surroundings and stop focusing on the subject. You may just find some memories tucked away!!

Thanks as always for visiting It's a Creative World, and a big TOOT TOOT from me to the rest of the design team for the continued inspiration :) haPPy creATing :) Caz xx

Memories of......

Hey from Caz!! I hope you have all had a good week and have an exciting weekend of crafting planned!

In todays post we are going to be looking at a themed mini book. And it's in a format I totally love to do....envelope books! They are seriously so easy and quick to put together, and of course you can make the book as small or large as you need it. With the added bonus of ready made pockets!

As we near the end of 2007 I am amazed to think back at how eventful this year has been for us so far. My DHs son came over to live with us for 6 months, going from 0 to 13 in no time was a shock to my system but has also been a massive learning curve for me. It snowed, heavily, for the first time since moving to the country and that brought with it some very interesting experiences. We got married!! That was a great day, and one I will never forget *heart*. Very good friends of our left to return to NZ for ever (!!) to start a family and settle down, very sad for us :( but FABBO for them. DHs daughter has returned to live in the UK, which we are very happy about. And finally we have 2 new babies in our family which is just too flippin' exciting!

So without further delay, here is the cover for my Memories of 2007 'book' and below it is open showing January to June, July to December are on the other side.

And some close up details photos :)

I have used 7 envelopes to make 12 'pages' plus the front and back cover.

To make up an envelope book all you need to do is adhere the envelope 'flap' to the body of another envelope. You can either lay all the envelopes the same way ie all the 'openings' facing up, or alternate them, so you have openings (ready made pockets) at the front and back of the book. Concertina it and use ribbon to tie it closed.

I have used different papers throughout to represent the theme of the month and photos. And of course it's a great way to use up your off cuts and scraps :)

Print smaller photos so you have loads of room to journal.

I do hope this project has inspired you, and don't forget you can adapt this to use as gifts too.

Grannys would love an envelope brag book of their grandchildren ;)

Ciao and haPPy creATing!! Caz

xx

Layout Class

Hi everyone! Cath here with another VERY easy multi photo layout. For this layout i used 5 photographs, the equivalent of 3 x 6x4 pictures. Apologies for the poor photograph, my scanner is not my best friend! Supplies : KI Memories Green color theory paper CherryArte chipboard alphabet American Crafts Alphabet Stickers Sticker studio Alphabet stickers Bazzill Cardstock So like i said, this is amazingly simple. I cut out a smaller piece of coordinating cardstock for the centre and inked both with black. I matted the photographs on black bazzill, this makes them stand out a little bit. The title was then just placed bottom right but you could actually put it anywhere as there is a lot of space. I computer printed the date and place and also some journalling and placed this top right and bottom left. I've left the top left free but you could put some embellies there if you wish. So, a very simple layout for when you have an hour or so spare!

Guest Designer time! Welcoming Jakey :)

Hi! Jakey here, and I’m very honoured to be invited by the Creative World team to share a li’l technique of mine with you today. I’ve been playing with transparency – well, who hasn’t, eh? And I’ve had some fun making and adapting my own ‘ghost lettering’ to add to cards, layouts and other projects. Transparent letters can be quite expensive to buy – but they’re so easy and economical to make! Great fun too, and they give you a fab opportunity to get your hands grubbied up with paint and inks… now what could be better? So, to start with, you will need some supplies – but it’s almost certainly the sort of stuff you have in your stash already! You’ll need: Inkjet transparency sheets Assorted acrylic paints A pen that will write on glossy surfaces – a slick writer or gelly roll. Inks – chalk and/or alcohol Any bits you want to add… beads, glitter, bling, buttons… whatever. You’ll also need access to a PC or some lettering templates. I make mine in Microsoft Publisher, but you could use Word, or whichever DTP program you use normally. If using good old fashioned lettering templates, just place template over the acetate sheet and trace the letters! Cut out, and decorate – nothing could be easier. If you plan to make them with Publisher I have added some instructions here for you to follow. For the beginners amongst us, I have assumed no prior knowledge - so all you PC whizzkids, do not be offended please! Open publisher and choose blank page > word art (left hand side). Select highlighted box on top upper left, giving you an outline font. Type your title word. Select edit text and choose font >choose bold. Click text box to select and stretch word to the size you require. In edit text choose format text > grey > at 1 point. The reason you want grey is to avoid deep black outlines. You are going to cut these letters out and the grey outline is for guidance only. Cut just inside the lines, so your transparency letter is clear of any markings. (This, you may like to add back in later with a slick writer style pen for a freestyle look). Print title word out at desired size. Cut out and you're ready to play! Do remember to set your printer to ‘mirror image’ or reverse printing and to print onto the rough side of the acetate. This way, you can flip it over once printed, and the good smooth side will be the side that shows on your project. So - You now have your blank ‘ghost letters’, which you can grunge up, jazz up, colour up, doodle on – however your mood takes you! 1. The letter has been cut out and dry brushed with acrylic paints. 2. I’ve added some scribbled circles to the letter here. 3. Next I blobbed paint onto the circles. 4. Then added some doodling detail – and I’m done! Took minutes! A different style. Flowers and dots! And again, but with a bit of chalk ink smudged on the back – who says you can’t do freestyle lettering? Lol! Read on for some tips on having fun with these versatile letters – but why stop at lettering? Print out butterflies, birds, flowers, stars… anything you like! Paint them, doodle on them, add glitter, bling, alcohol inks…. your imagination is your only limit! A few tips for enjoying these versatile letters/shapes! The transparency will accept acrylic paint very well. Paint on the back (rough side) for more durability. Or paint on the front and scratch some paint off for a grungy look. You can completely cover the letters with paint or dry brush as I have here. Use a slick writer to doodle outlines, circles, flowers, dots or stars… or whatever you want to go on them. Write on them, add glitter, buttons and beads… Alter the colour with alcohols inks, or stamp over them using stazeon inks for a permanent finish. Why not paint first – then stamp over? You really can do so much with them – and can customise them easily to fit your project. I’m sure you can think of lots more ways to use this technique. Just remember to have fun whatever you do! Happy Scrappin! Jakey xx A HUGE thanks to Jakey from the Creative World team - there's a little something on it's way to you in the post!! ;)

Kids Creating Art

I'm sure that all of us deal with Children in one way or another. Whether you are a parent, carer, teacher or someones relative we all are involved in some way. What better way to create a keepsake than by getting the kids involved in the Art itself. Some of the us ladies on IACW have been getting crafty with our children and here are some ideas you might want to have a go at! Enjoy!!! Cath xx Andrea I am a teacher in A Special Needs School and also the Art Co-ordinator so the children in my class do a lot of art! A couple of weeks ago I set them a challenge to make an art gallery to brighten up a corner of the classroom. They really took the challenge to heart and produced some fantastic pictures on the theme of 'landscapes'. I thought I would share this on It's A Creative World as I know a lot of you will be at home with your children over the long summer holidays and will need to fill in the odd rainy afternoon.

These pictures were all made with just coloured tissue paper and pva glue. I was so amazed at how well they came out, especially when you take into consideration that these children all have very severe special needs and are only 7 and 8 years old. Just tear the tissue into strips, glue onto the background using pva and then cover the whole thing in another layer of pva to seal it and to give it a shiny finish.

This method could be adapted to create colourful art for your home by taking on a theme of spaceships, seaside, sunshine, under the sea etc. and your children could make an original work of art for their bedroom.

Love from Andrea x

Cath

I decided to get my son Corey involved in making a canvas for my kitchen. Not only did i make a work of art but also a unique keepsake. Keepsakes are very precious to me. Corey was a very sick little boy when he was born 12 wks early and spent 5 months in hospital. During those times, not being a scrapbooker then, i didn't value the concept of keeping everything so to have memories for the future. I truly understand how important it is now.

I picked up a canvas at Home Bargains for £1.99 and used the paint i already had so that is literally all this cost me! This really couldn't be any simpler. I basically painted Coreys hands with a variety of colours and the pressed his hand down on the canvas to make the pattern.

You can obviously just let the child go for it but i wanted something that was somewhat neat. But if you aren't bothered about that then just let them rub their hands in paint and go for it. The result, i think, is a stunning work of art and one that will have pride of place on my wall! Thanks! Cath xx

Joy 2 fabulous projects from Joy!

Shells

Materials: Shells, bag/bucket, water, Adirondack inks, plastic tubs, paper towels/newspaper/messy mat, spatula, bowl

This is a simple project you can do yourself or with kids of any age. My 2 year old son helped me, and he's still talking about it :0)

Collect your shells from the beach... Look for bright colours - anything that grabs your interest. (I even gather little rocks - heart shaped ones - for other projects.) Wash them thoroughly, and leave them out to dry.

Then fill small plastic tubs with water and add a few spritzes of Adirodack colour wash of your choice in each tub. You just want enough water to cover the shells you place in each tub. Leave them overnight to soak.

Have a messy mat (or old plastic table cloth - something you don't mind getting paint on) and paper towels ready. Line the messy mat with paper towels. Gently remove the shells using a spatula or spoon. Pour the excess water down the sink (but leave the water running a bit to rinse any dye from the tub). The shells should be ready for use in a few hours.

Then pick a lovely bowl for display. :0)

PAINTING with your kids with Berol Water Soluble Wax sticks opens up a WHOLE NEW WORLD of creativity... I had the adult version for messy play, and I went looking for some for Calum that would survive little hands. These fabby little things are coated in plastic for easy grip, and the break down easily when dipped in water to make opaque paint - so easy, so much fun, and something just a little bit different to try with kids....

Trish

I used 2 6x6 canvases

Anitas acrylic paint

Anitas metalic acrylic paint

Black felt tip pen

The hands of 2 small children

The handprints, outlines and writing on each canvas were done by my 6 year old and 4 year old kids.

It says ***** right hand, aged *

They had great fun doing this and getting covered in paint, a lovely gift for a family member.

REALLY easy peasy quick card

This will probably be one of the quickest cards you can possibly make! It took me about 10 minutes but that was thinking it up in the first place too! It's really economical as well as you can use bits of card and paper you have lying around. You can make this any size you want really but for this one i used a x blank card.

• Cut a piece of cardstock to adhere to the front. Trim to size and ink the edges
• Then i used a 1 inch square punch and cut out six squares of patterned card. My squares were from the same sheet which was patterned on both sides.
• Ink the edges of the squares and then adhere to the cardstock symmetrically.
• Then all i did was print the greeting onto the same colour cardstock as the card background. You can use whatever greeting you want.

And it's as simple as that! Happy Cardmaking!!

Layout Class

Good Morning everyone! Are we all looking forward to a wet weekend? Why not stay inside and do some scrapping instead of venturing out then!! Today is a layout class that shouldn't take you too long to do, ideal for doing when you have an hour or two spare :) So, todays class is an 8.5 x 11 layout. This however can be interpreted into a 12x12 or 8x8 layout or whichever size you scrap in if you wish. Supplies list – Bazzill Cardstock – Yam Bazzill Cardstock - Chocolate Crate Paper – Crush, Longboard Crate paper Crush Tag Pressed Petals Chip Chatter American Crafts Felt Flowers 3 brads Chalk Ink pad, Dark Brown I cut my Yam Cardstock to size and inked the edges. Then cut the Crate paper to 7x9 inches, inked and attached to the cardstock slightly off centre, leaving a bigger gap at the top. I used a 6x4 photo and also one slightly smaller 5x3.75 inches. I sandpapered the edges as it makes them stand out a bit more and then matted them on the Chocolate cardstock. I then adhered my photos, one to the left and the other to the right, overlapping near the bottom. I sanded the edge of the chip chatter letters ‘PARK’ and attached these to the top just off centre. The word ‘LIFE’ was printed onto an off cut of blue paper that matched the flowers and stripes in the paper using the font 2 peas weathervane which you can download here. I used the Crush tag to write my journaling on but wanted it as more of a little card so the little tag hole I kept in and taped across the back so it didn’t fall out. I attached the card on a slant to give the layout a quirkier feel. Then I simply attached the 3 flowers with the brads and cut a piece of the left over cardstock that I wrote the date on and attached to the bottom. A really simple layout that shouldn’t take too long to do. So while the weather is wet, SCRAP! I hope you’ve enjoyed it. If you do decide to have a go, please don’t forget to send us a link to your layout.