Scrapbooking Made Simple

I've been a little bit quiet on here lately.... I've been distracted with my new venture... I'm starting my own digital stamp company and I'm so EXCITED!  My husband is an artist so between his talents and the other artists I've employed there will be some really fun images for you to colour in. I'm also going to have digital embroidery files for the quilters amongst us. All this started because I started colouring in with copic pens. At my work (Arnolds Scrapbook Store) we have been lucky enough to gain the very talented Alyce Keegan (this years Queen of Copic) as a Copic Instructor. Her work really inspired me to want to colour with copic pens and this led to me wanting my own images to colour in.  Hence "Kith and Kin" Stamp Company was born.  If you'd like to check out my website which I've just finished putting together you can go to:  http://www.kithandkinstampco.com  We are also on Pinterest and facebook under the name Kith and Kin...

 This is a kit I'm doing for the shop. It's a three page kit using papers from Imaginescence.  This layout uses those Miss M photography photos and as you can see they do go with such a wide range of papers... I'm not finished showing those photos and different papers though so you'll see lots more yet. I used flags and pin wheels to show off the papers and create a fun vibe to the page.  These photos aren't the greatest quality which is why I used them in this way. By cutting all the photos down to the same size and cutting out all the "useless" background the photos now tell the story better.  For this layout I've used two photos horizontally across the page.  In each of the layouts in this kit I've tacked the "design aspect" in a different manner to showcase how to tackle each of these scenarios 1. An enlarged photo for a single photo layout. 2. Multiple photos of poor zoom (bet you've got lots of those in your stash ...

Here's another layout using photos from the "Miss M" photoshoot. Here I used my cricut to cut the frame from Kaisercraft 75 cents paper range and a TCW stencil and glimmermist to creat the background. Unusually for me I didn't make any flowers (LOL) instead using flowers from Kaisercraft that perfectly match the paper range. The "tiddlybits" lamp post and chair look great raw but you can ink, paint or cover it in paper

More of those gorgeous photos by Miss M Photography.  This is a layout I've done for my beginners scrapbook class. This will give them a chance to try some more advanced techniques like stencilling and sewing.   I have used a Prima Stencil and glimmermist on my background to create a soft lattice effect. The hand stitched hearts are achieved using the sew easy tool with the heart head and the papers used are from the Kaisercraft 75 cents range.   A really simple layout with clean lines and a minimalist approach to the design.

Here's a canvas I did for Mothers Day using the same technique with the papers as my "So Happy" layout.  I made these flowers with crepe paper and sprayed them with glimmermist to get the right colour. The hand stitching on this layout was really easy to do on the canvas (Much easier than on paper!) I used a soft metallic pink paint for the background and tim holz distress ink on the edges of the canvas to create a  darker shadow effect.

Here's a layout I did for my beginners scrapbooking class.  This is a really simple but effective design. You can either cut the squares and cover the whole background or do as I have done and filll in the gaps around your photos with paper. I love this technique when I have papers I want to show off.   If you wanted to add more work to your page you could sew straight lines between the boxes from one side of the page to the other to form lines around all of the pieces of patterned paper.  This paper is from Imaginescence isn't it adorable? So appropriate if you have a new puppy in your life like us. lol

I love the Graphic 45 Secret Garden range of papers and thought it lended itself beautifully to a mothers day card so because I don't have anyone to give a mothers day card to I made this one up as a quick kit for sale in the store.  I used Tim Holz distress ink to ink the edges and stamp my sentiment, to give a "shabby chic" feel to the card. The centre is a stamp from kaisercraft 75 cents range stamped on acetate with silver stayzon.