december @kraft+...

Hi again :) It's been a busy month and I am very late in sharing my layout for this month's Kraft Plus Challenges blog and sadly this will be my final contribution as a member of the Kraft Plus team. I have loved playing along with all of the fun challenges and sharing my creations alongside this fantastic and encouraging team for the past few years but a shift in circumstances has forced me to scale down my commitments in the new year. 

Moving along, the theme for December is 'Needles and Pins' and I have used several sewing elements on my page. 

I mounted my photo onto some perforated paper that is designed for hand stitching. I had grand plans to add a cross stitched deign to the perforated paper but decided it would be too busy and in the end added a subtle watercolor border with a tissue paper layer instead. 

I added a hand stitched border directly onto the photo and stitched on a few plus sign accents around my embellishment clusters before tucking a couple of strands of embroidery thread behind the leaves to give my layers more depth. 

Be sure to check out the Kraft Plus blog and Kraft+ Community to see all of the fabulous inspiration for this month's theme and as always, thanks for stopping by xx

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october @kraft+...

Hi again :) a new month has begun and you know what the means.... yep, a brand new theme from the Kraft Plus challenge blog!!

This month's challenge is all about friends! 

I decided to go with a layout to celebrate the special bond between my little guy and his furry friend, Patch ❤ They are inseparable and it always warms my heart to see them together.  

I wanted the page to have a happy vibe and found a random mix of bright items from my stash that I contrasted with black to help the colours pop. 

I added a painted background and a fun pom pom frame to highlight the photo.

As always there are loads of awesome ideas from the rest of the team over on the Kraft Plus blog and don't forget to join the Kraft+ Community for more inspiration all month long.

Thanks for stopping by xx

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september @kraft+...

Hi again :) September is here and with it brings a brand new theme from the Kraft Plus Challenges blog and this month's theme is office supplies!

Office supplies work really well with your layouts and I'm sure that if you take a look around your house you will find more usable items than you might have thought you had,

I had so many ideas for this theme and actually had to pair it back to avoid overwhelming my page and in the end I decided to go with a neon pink theme using just a few simple items.  

My page design started with the neon pink envelope, and I used a pink highlighter and fine line sharpie to draw a heart pattern onto some grid paper that I pulled out from one of my notebooks. I used my heart patterned paper to line the inside of the envelope to back my photo.  I tucked a couple of large tags behind the envelope to create some depth and used a large paper clip to hold the black and white journal card in place. 

I used a hole punch to make some confetti from another envelope and more gird paper and used my laminator to create a fun transparency to use on my page.

Be sure to check out all the inspiring ways the rest of the team have used their office supplies over on the Kraft+ blog and join us over on the Kraft+ Community for more inspiration from many other fabulous crafters. 

Thanks for stopping by xx

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July @kraft+...

Hello July, and hello to another fun theme from the Kraft Plus Challenges blog! 

The challenge is to incorporate some weaving onto your project and can include paper, yarn, fibers or any other material you can think of.

I went with some woven paper strips and deliberately left some gaps between the strips to form a loose weave to use as a photo mat. Once my piece was woven together, I trimmed the strips into uneven lengths and like the texture they add to the page.

Be sure to stop by the Kraft+ blog to taker a look at all the inspiring ways the rest of the team have taken on this challenge. And if you haven't already done so, don't forget to join the Kraft+ Community of Facebook for loads of other inspiration. 

Thanks for stopping by xx

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Kellie Stamps...

Very excited to be playing with the awesome June release from Kellie Stamps this month and have another pocket page project to share.

I should confess that I have never really been a great stamper, but after playing with Kellie's fantastic designs I have to say that I am feeling very proud of how well my pages turned out this month and can definitely see myself using plenty more stamps in future projects. 

I started with the Railway Alpha stamp and loved how this simple font added instant impact to my pockets. 

The Yeah Nah set was fun to use - even when documenting some of life's not so great situations ;) 

The sentiments worked well with a variety of photos and were great for highlighting a range of different emotions.

I also shared a summer insert using more Kellie Stamps last week documenting one of our weekend getaways.

Using a mix of the Go See Do and 

Camp Life sets for these pockets, along with that awesome Railway Alpha again for my title.

I loved the images and sayings in the Camp Life set, and even though these photos were not from a camping trip I think that this set can easily be adapted to a variety of different outings. 

You'll find all of the stamp sets I have used over at the Kellie Stamps store, along with digital versions of three of them! 

  

 

Thanks for stopping by xx

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June @kraft+...

Hello again :) can you believe that it's already mid year? but as always a new month means another new challenge to help you document your memories over on the Kraft Plus Challenges blog!

This month's inspiration comes from Dr. Seuss and I can't wait to see all of your interpretations on this fun challenge.

I took my inspiration from the colours and playful look of the challenge image.

I found a Dr. Seuss quote that was related to reading online and printed it out in 3x4" size to go with the photo of my son reading to our dog :) 

I hand cut several black and white frames from an old sheet of Crate Paper cardstock and used these to add a playful element around the photo and quote and like the way they help to lead the eye across the page. 

I finished things off with a staggered title and cluster of embellishments.

As always, you have until the end of the month to share your creations but this month brings along some changes to the structure of Kraft+ and we hope you will embrace the feeling of community instead rather than competition these changes will bring. 

Thanks for stopping by xx 

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May @kraft plus...

Hi again :) I have a new layout to share for May challenge over at the Kraft Plus Challenges blog.

The criteria is to use a kraft base with a date included on your project - here's what I came up with...

I knew that I wanted to inclued a repeated date on my layout and was orginally going to attempt this with a roller date stamp but my stamping skills are not that great so I decided to print out the date onto a patterned paper background instead, and like the way it works with the bold stripes. 

I also included my age, which happens to match the day and month of my birthdate this year ;) 

 As always, you have until the end of the month to upload your entries to the Kraft Plus Challenges blog for a chance to win one of this month's prizes. Thanks for stopping by xx

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march @kraft plus...

Hello March, and hello to a brand new challenge from the Kraft Plus Challenges blog! The criteria is simple... use the sketch along with fussy cutting on a kraft background.

I aways look forward to sketch challenges because they give you a good sense of direction and tried to keep my layout close to the original design, making just a few changes to better suit my landscape photo.

I went with a tone on tone kraft background with some stenciled spots for the contrasting top portion and paired this with a jade and navy colour scheme with a few pops of gold and yellow to help liven things up :) 

My fussy cut elements were these delicate foliage sprigs which I cut from a sheet of Maggie Holmes patterned paper and I used a Uniquely Creative cutting die for the white scribble circles.

I used the foliage to lead the eye to the key focal points on the page and also repeated the die cut circle elements to help balance out the page. 

 As always, be sure to take a look at how the team and our guest designers have interpreted the challenge and don't forget that you have until the end of the month to upload your projects to the Kraft+ blog for a chance to win one of this month's prizes.

Thanks for stopping by xx

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