Blueprint No. 006

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Ann-Marie Morris

Happy Friday! Today the amazing Maile Belles is here to show that Blueprints aren’t just for layouts! I threw this image from The Proper Pinwheel her way without too much guidance and she totally rocked it.

Here’s how Maile interpreted this week’s Blueprint in card form:

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Maile: I drew inspiration from a couple items in the bottom right corner. The balloon cookie cutter (I think that’s what it is anyways) tied with bakers twine inspired the balloon theme and the big aqua ball shape inspired my big blue and fuzzy brad embellishment.

Don’t be overwhelmed; focus on one or two items and run with them. This will allow you to utilize an inspiration pieces in a number of different ways.

S U P P L I E S

Hey You 6×6 Pad

Hey You Vintage Buttons

Hey You Sticker Elements

InLinkz.com

Home: Sunny California

Workspace: In my craft room or at the dining room table. My crafty cart on wheels helps me transition to either one, depending on my mood.

Favorite Color Palette: Usually blues/aqua with oranges/melons.
Social Media Preference: Instagram

Playlist: If I’m at the dining room table I’ll turn on some old movies. I love the TCM channel.

Inspiration Source: Pinterest. Keep a notebook handy, use it to jot down any creative idea that pops into your head.

Early Bird or Night Owl: Night Owl

BG Product You Hoard: Stamps!

Three Random Facts About You: (1.) I’m 5’3″ and I drive a lifted Jeep. ( 2.) I love triangles. (3.) My first name and middle name are Hawaiian. My mom was born and raised on the islands, but I have never been there.
Advice for Newbie Crafters: Keep to the basics when it comes to supplies. Start by selecting and item or two and brainstorm unique ideas or uses for them. This is great practice to enhance your creativity and unique style.

Follow Maile here: Blog | Instagram | Pinterest

Guest Designer | Julie Ebersole

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Ann-Marie Morris

Julie was first introduced to stamping almost 25 years ago by a cousin, and has been designing and teaching in the industry for over 20 years. She has had numerous designs published in a number of trade publications and after the end of her 6 month term as a member of the original “Dirty Dozen” design team, she assumed the role of Design Team Coordinator on Splitcoaststampers.com, the world’s largest online rubber stamping community! Nowadays you’ll find her developing and teaching online classes, as well as designing/creating educational videos for Ellen Hutson, LLC and Hero Arts. Primarily a card maker, Julie’s most most widely known for her love of clean and simple style.

Since the arrival of her first grandchild, her latest obsession is taking photos of the baby with her iPhone and sharing them with family and friends on Instagram. Julie also shares her love of art-stamping and creative projects whenever she can on her blog at papertrufflez.com.

P R O J E C T N O . O N E

Julie: I love the retro vibe in the Hipster collection–so fun and swanky! I can’t resist the 6×6 paper pads–the scale is perfect for card making, which is what I most enjoy creating. The focal of the card centers around the greeting, which was simply stamped in black ink, with different portions highlighted with markers to match the paper colors. Embellishing the card was relatively quick–I just trimmed a portion off a border sticker and added some of the Mixed Brads in staggered sizes. I wanted the largest of the brads to pop out a little more, so I actually cut off the prongs and mounted it to the card front with a double layer of foam adhesive.

P R O J E C T N O . T W O

Most of my designs are very clean and simple–I love white space. On this design I chose to dip a paint brush into a puddle of ink mixed with water and then spatter it onto the card. The results are always unpredictable but I try not to get too carried away and am usually very happy with the outcome! Here, I think it makes a nice back-drop to the strip of paper and the large sticker, and I like how the glazed brad adds a touch of gloss and shine against the matte textures going on with the rest of the card.

I tend to be more of a minimalist but I do like to cluster several elements together to help keep my designs balanced overall. I think varying the hights of different pieces also helps keep things interesting so I use a lot of foam adhesive… This is the first time I’ve ever tried flocked rub-ons and I’m amazed at how well they adhered–and such an easy textural touch to add to a project. This is also one of the rare times I’ve actually made a card without any stamping whatsoever!

P R O J E C T N O . T H R E E

Stamp the camera, trim it out and use a craft knife to trim out the opening of the camera. Next, stamp the mustache and spectacles onto a long strip of card stock slightly narrower than opening of the camera (this will be the piece that slides in and out of the camera slot).

Trace the slot onto a piece of patterned paper.

Trim out the opening and 3D mount the camera over the top, aligning the slot openings.

Make sure the strip slides properly by inserting it into the slot to test it; if needed, trim slightly along the long edges.

Slide the strip down as far as you want it to be able to go, then flip the panel over to the back side and attach a small strip as shown; this will serve as a stop gap, to prevent the strip from sliding completely out.

Your strip may have some excess length; trim it down as needed. Now slide the strip up as high as you want it to be able to go, and attach a piece of foam tape; this acts as a stop gap to prevent the strip from sliding up too far inside the card.

Continue adding pieces of foam tape around the outermost edges of the panel, taking care not to obstruct the strip–it needs to be able to slide up and down easily.

Mount the panel to the card front and test the mechanism by sliding it up and down; it should move easily. You can embellish the strip with a little arrow sticker–it’s a fun way to let the recipient know they need to pull on the tab!

I have truly enjoyed playing with the Hipster Collection and guesting here on the Basic Grey blog. I hope these designs have inspired you to make some hip and swanky cards – maybe even one or two with a little surprise, like the slider I shared today!

S U P P L I E S

InLinkz.com

Think Technique : Building Layers

Posted on March 29, 2013 by admin

There is one thing about my style that is consistent, and it’s that I LOVE layering on my pages in fun and creative ways. Today I am going to show you a few techniques on how I approach putting a page together.

supplies

I am exclusively using the Basic Grey Bow Ties collection. My pages aren’t normally super girly, but I don’t often have the opportunity to scrap in a purely masculine way with 4 females in my house, either! (6 if you include our dogs).

step_1

First, I will start with my background. I chose a solid black cardstock as my base.
You could choose any neutral cardstock and change your paint color.

I am going to add some texture and fun with watered down white acrylic paint and bubble wrap. I’ve had lots of bubble wrap in my house lately with a recent move, so why not put it to use!

step_2

I added a small amount of water to some the acrylic paint and painted on my bubble wrap.

step_3

I randomly stamped the painted bubble wrap onto my cardstock in a clustered, diagonal pattern until I was happy with the look. There is no right or wrong here, just play with your items and experiment with what pleases you. Make sure your background is dry before you proceed. Acrylic dries pretty fast, but using a paper towel to blot excess helps or even a heat gun will speed up the drying process.

If you want to add paint blots, thin your acrylic out with more water then load a brush with paint and begin dropping paint or splattering. Remember that experimenting is part of the fun, don’t be afraid!!

Now, I start adding elements to my page. I matted my photo first with a textured white cardstock, then used papers from the bowtie collection as well for background layers. I also cut thin strips of paper to embellish the top and bottom of my page.

step_4

In keeping with the circles of the stamped bubble wrap, I also chose a round sticker from the Bow Ties elements sticker sheet.

step_5

I began adding more elements like title stickers, vellum tape stickers, printed chipboard buttons, and tags to frame the photo and embellish the page.

step_6

One of my favorite things to do is add a “nest” of thread to a portion of my layout. Just wrap some thread around 2 or 3 fingers, a little or as much as you like, remove and play with the “nest” and insert under a piece of your project, like the corner of my papers/photo grouping, with a bit of tacky glue.

step_7

I always finish my pages with some machine sewing. This helps add texture, fun, and secures embellishments down.

Now, it’s your turn to play with layers and texture!!

BasicGrey Guest Designer : Jennifer Kinkade

Posted on March 5, 2013 by admin

A new month means a new guest designer here on the BG blog. Each month, we bring you a guest designer share their use of BasicGrey and inspire you to try something new.

Jennifer Kinkade

We’d like to welcome and introduce you to Jennifer Kinkade, our guest designer for March 2013.

I live in the hills of WV. I am married to my high school sweetheart and we have 3 beautiful daughters and two crazy dogs that round out our family.
I am a former nurse turned craft junkie and have been scrapbooking since the birth of my second daughter almost 15 years ago.
I have always loved scrapbooking and photography, but 2012 turned into a dream year when I had the opportunity to be a part of the design team at Elle’s Studio.
I am currently designing for Pink Paislee, Ormolu, and scrapperin–a German-based product company. In 2013, I will also have my first layouts published with Northridge Publishing.
I am excited for all of the opportunities 2013 and would like to thank BasicGrey for having me as March’s guest designer.

Jen says, “I was drawn to the bright colors in the knee highs collection, specifically the more geometric patterns. I used a few of the papers for layering and created a triangle covered with vellum that directed straight to my photo. I loved the contrast between the black and white photo and the bright colors in the papers. I embellished the page with little details here and there using lots of different coordinating embellishments in the knee high collection, like the banner at the top right of the page using a sticker, vellum, and the vellum tape sticker to create a banner. Every little detail matters and I wanted to reflect that in creating my page with the photo, title and embellishments.”

Thanks for sharing your time and talents with us, Jen. We’re excited to having you joining us this month!

melanie blog signature

BasicGrey Blog

Category Archives: Guest Designer

Blueprint No. 006

Guest Designer | Julie Ebersole

Think Technique : Building Layers

BasicGrey Guest Designer : Jennifer Kinkade