Hi Ladies!! This month the November kit features some pretty amazing papers - and pretty neato products. Rather than focus on one particular tip I thought I'd take a few of my projects and offer tips on each one....
Ready?
Sorry, this photo is huge!!
1. Ok, I've had several comments about the 'stamped' edges of this layout... SUPER easy. I have a really small circle punch from Stampin' Up. All I did was go around the entire border and punched half of the circle. Upon completing I inked around the tips and it honestly does look like a die cut page. Quick and simple.
2. Altering your fantastic paper is a little intimidating. You don't want to 'wreck' it (I actually did!) Anyhow, I found that if you mist the paper, it gives a little more of a solid looking colour. Mind you, I used 'brown' mist so it might look a little less severe if using lighter colours? I found that I prefered the 'inked' look much more. I used distress inks rather than alcohol inks as I found they blend a little softer. Start at the outside rim of your page and blend inwards using a circular motion with your blending tool. If you concentrate more on a particular area it will result in a darker shade. In addition, if you want to introduce a different colour (as I did) simply use the same technique as above. I actually used the yellow catseye inkpad directly on my page (and when mixed with the blue resulted in a gorgeous green) as I found the ink blender soaked up too much of the ink for this type (for the distress inks like Tim Holtz they seemed fine)?
3. Faux stitching. I'm sure you've all tried? I LOVE the look of stitching on pages. I even went out and bought an inexpensive machine so that I could try this technique and I've yet to set it up.... too much of a hassle. But, you can easily achieve a similar look with a journal pen (I prefer white stitching to darker, but both look fantastic - I've used both on my page above) and a paper piercer. Simply go around with your paper piercer in whichever shape you would like to 'stitch'. I normally just do around the borders of my projects or photos but you can do anything from a flourish, title, etc. It may make it easier to draw in lightly with a pencil beforehand. After you have poked all your holes, connect the dots with your journal pen and c'est tout!
4. If you find that your alphas are too punchy... ink them darker or paint them!
5. Add dimension to your projects! I made simple fan flowers (as seen in previous cork tutorial) and used as a base for my hot air balloon tag. It adds a unique dimension to the card that an otherwise card would lack.
More dimension is seen here where I've simply rolled the edges of my papers. This is also a fantastic tip for revealing the reverse side of gorgeous double sided patterns of paper.
6. If you feel your project is missing something - add another layer! I love adding tons of 'stuff' to my projects.
7. Be resourceful/thrifty. I loved the worn look of these papers by My Mind's Eye. So much so that I kept the headers on each paper! I simply inked around the edges and it almost looks like a die cut shape! I added some twine (cheap) to complete the rustic feel of the page. With your bling flourishes, don't be affraid to alter them. Cut them in half so you have 2! I TOTALLY hacked this bling - so that it would fit on my card primarily, but I also wanted to use it on each side.
I hope that some of these tips will prove useful to you when you're designing your next page or project! Happy Scrapping! ~TARA~
