July | 2022 | DDDesignz

These two! There may be a 5+ year gap between them, but they are thick as thieves, as the saying goes. It is lovely to see them playing together, enjoying each other’s company! My daughter captured this beautiful moment as they played on the sidelines of their sister’s tennis lesson last week.

Once again, I turned to Pretty Little Studio’s Wildflower collection to document this precious moment. The base patterned paper is called Wildflowers, and I used a coordinating Bazzill cardstock called Nixon to create the grass boundary on the bottom of the layout design. To create the border, I started by sketching borders on scrap paper and then placed them on the patterned paper to get a preview of the result. Once I was happy with sizing and positioning, I traced these patterns onto the cardstock and hand cut. Using a pair of Fringing Scissors, I cut a fringe along the rolling tops to replicate grass.

Before adhering the cardstock to the base paper, I chose several clusters of flowers from the Wildflower Stems coordinating ephemera pack. I made placement decisions for these clusters and used removable adhesive to adhere the bottom of each stem cluster to its respective grass border. The larger grass border was secured directly to the base paper, while the top grass border was added by using a layer of thin black Crafty Foam Tape from Scrapbook Adhesives. This dimension helps to accentuate the look and feel of grass and provides some texture to the overall design. NOTE: I find it very helpful to place my layout in my 12″ x 12″ Scor-pal to secure it tightly and ensure proper alignment of borders, such as those found in this layout. With the grass borders firmly adhered to the page, I placed small white 3D Foam Squares behind each flower cluster to raise them off the page and provide the illusion of flowers growing in the field.

The picture in this layout was mounted on black Precision cardstock by American Crafts. The title to the left of the photo is from the Chocolate Bunny Word Die-Cuts package belonging to the Wildflowers collection.

The three phrases above the picture belong to the Delightful Spring Word Stickers, also belonging to this paper collection. All the coordinating butterflies and bees found on the layout came from various Wildflowers coordinating ephemera packs; Garden Blooms Die-Cuts, Spring Mix Die-Cuts, and Wildflower Stems Die Cuts. The butterflies were folded down the middle and glued down the centre to the base paper using a strong, clear adhesive. The wings were lifted off the page using small 3D Foam Squares. The bees were adhered to the page using more 3D Foam Squares.

And that’s a wrap on the design process for this layout. The final product came together quite quickly. I hope you get a chance to relax on the grass this summer and soak in all the beauty around us. Wildflowers is the perfect collection for documenting these special memories!

Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

Well, life derailed me these past three months, but I’m happy to say I’m back in my craft room and starting to get creative again! After a few false starts, I’m pleased with the results of this layout. It seemed fitting to work on a layout about rainbows after the ups and downs we’ve been through lately. This fun picture of our youngest grandson, Ben, captures the joy he was feeling at that moment. And let’s admit it, who wouldn’t want to play on that rainbow xylophone?!

I was excited to use Pretty Little Studio’s Wildflowers collection to create this layout. The background paper is called Color Palette. I paired it with a cut file from Peartree Cutfiles called Rainbow Vibes. I used black American Crafts Precision Cardstock to cut the main title and backed it with coordinating cardstock colours matching the page’s rainbow. I took the liberty of adding a soft green to mirror the colours found in a rainbow. Once I reached this stage with the title, I set it aside.

The next step was to add stitching to the rainbow on the patterned paper. A paper piercer was used to punch holes in the small white channels found between each colour of the rainbow. Each channel was stitched with a separate colour using a simple straight stitch. Seven colours were used overall, including a soft green to bring continuity to the layout. The following DMC embroidery threads were used, moving from left across the layout (718, 3689, 725, 907, 3761, 0851, 554). One exception is the teal embroidery floss; it is an Anchor product. I love the bit of texture these stitched channels add to the design. After the stitching was completed, I placed the title and photo in their respective positions. The title was elevated slightly by using Taylored Expressions Foam Sticky Strips. These strips are highly flexible and come in both black and white options.

The final steps included adding ephemera from the Wildflowers collection. Three hearts and the rainbow phrase were added from the Chocolate Bunny Word Die-Cuts package. The pink and yellow hearts were included in the package, but the third heart, teal in colour, came as a black and white image. I used a Copic marker to colour the centre to coordinate with the Rainbow Vibes title and the rainbow on the patterned paper. Doodlebug Designs “my type” stickers were used to add “Storybook Gardens”.

To complete the layout, I used more ephemera from the Wildflowers collection found in the Spring Mix Die-Cuts package. These elements include the tab above the picture where the date was stamped and the two small flag banners in the bottom right-hand corner of the completed design. Foam Sticky Stips were used to raise these two small elements.

And there you have it! Such a fun layout to design and work on as I try to get back in my creative groove! I hope it’s brought a smile to your face today. Thanks so much for checking in.

Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!