Technique Tuesday with Kat Glossop

I've seen so many gorgeous art journals lately I thought I'd make a mixedmedia inspired background for my page this week - perfect for using up scraps!

First up, cut down a piece of scrap cardboard to 12 x 12.

Cover it in mod podge to seal it.

Paint the background, here I've used 1 part Gel Medium to 3 parts paint justto get a little more texture.

Add strips of torn paper.

Here I've roughly cut out a flower shape and doodled around it.

This time mix 1 part Gel Medium to 1 part white paint and paint it thinlyover the whole page, add in dashes of other color if desired.

Use bubble wrap or other stamps to add more patterns to the page.

Add masks using misting sprays/airbrush/paint.

Then use a stencil to create the title.

Doodle around the title and use torn masking tape to attach the photo.

You can play around with more layers, adding stamps, more paper, stencils,then just add embellishments to finish it off.

Member Monday with Tonya Dirk

This week's Member Monday is brought to you by Tonya Dirk. She chose the layout below by Nicole Pomeroy for our Layout of the Week. Tonya said, "I adore the misting that she did with using the letters as a mask...looks awesome!"

"Somedays" By NicoleP


Be sure to leave Nicole some love and stop by her blog for more inspiration!

Little Something Sunday with Zoe Nemburt

Hi girls. Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend. Can you believe that the summer holidays are almost over? I know I can't. I'm not sure where my summer went, but I do know it will be a long time until the next one!!

We are all getting the kids ready for a new school year. They seem to be growing up so fast I can hardly keep up. Do you like you like to scrap your school photos of you or of your children? Well this is exactly what I'm challenging you to do this week.

We all have school pictures! Some good & some that are just downright terrifying! Whichever you choose, we would love to see it. Come stop by our Gallery on the forum and share some Back to School themed layouts with us.

For my layout I used the Report Card collection from October Afternoon. Happy Scrapping.

September Guest Designer Reveal!

I am so excited to introduce you to our Guest Designer for September, the lovely Julie Bonner. I first "met" Julie when I tried out for her Sketch Design Team. She owned a website called 52 Sketches 52 Weeks. Julie's sketches helped me create some of my most favorite layouts ever. I am very excited to see what she does with our September AMM kit. Be sure to leave Julie some AMM love!


Hello!! My name is Julie Bonner and I am so excited to be here at A Million Memories for the month of September :) I live right outside of Annapolis, Maryland with my husband and 3 year old son Ryan. We also have one more little man on the way in January!!! I have always enjoyed preserving pictures, cards, newspaper clippings, and mementos in albums, but it wasn't until the birth of my son that I threw myself completely into all the wonderful products and techniques the industry has to offer. In addition to designing pages, I also enjoy the process of simply designing the "blueprint" of a page and have created hundreds of sketches for scrapbooking. I have a slight obsession with layout design and love finding new ways to organize pictures, papers, and embellishments on a page. Feel free to come & visit me on my blog at www.julie-bonner.blogspot.com!!

I asked Julie to share with us some of her favorite layouts and/or projects so you could get a taste of her style. I think you will see what an eye for design she has!

So be sure to say hi to Julie and check out her blog from the link above. We will be back soon to share what Julie creates with the kit and to do a full kit reveal. Think Echo Park, new Cosmo Cricket, and more CHA releases!!

Guest Designer Layouts Part II!

Here is the second installment of our August Guest Designer's Layuts. Lisa Dickinson did such a fab job with the kit! Have a look see below and then be sure to stop by the Design Gallery for more inspiration!

Grandchildren
I mixed some of the patterned papers and die cut cards to make a horizontal background for my photos. I swiped some white paint over the cards and the wooden number to soften then and give them a vintage look.

Pretty Pink Peonies

I loved how all the pinks in this month's kit worked with these photos! I hand cut the large title from a font and punched some butterflies to add as accents. (I added the green rhinestones from my stash!

Leave Lisa some AMM love and don't forget to sign up or renew your kit subscription so you don't miss out on all the fun new CHA product coming out soon!

August Guest Designer Layouts!

This month our guest designer was Lisa Dickinson. I have always loved her clean and graphic style and she did not disappoint as you can see in these layouts made using the August A Million Memories kit. These are two of her fantastic designs. Have a look below!

"Explore" by Lisa Dickinson
I had fun mixing up some of the kit's letter stickers and stitching them in place! The compass was cut from the Webster's Pages pattern.

"Together" by Lisa Dickinson
I wanted to do something similar to the wedding ring quilt pattern for this page since it is about our 12th anniversary. I used lots of little circles + the Girl's Paperie flowers to create the design. The title is handcut from the font Fling.


I'll be back tomorrow to share the other two stunning layouts she created. Be sure to stop by the Design Gallery and see what the design team did with the kit and stop by Lisa's blog to say hi and leave some AMM love!

Technique Tuesday with Larissa Albernaz

Inspiration!
Today I’m going to demonstrate a layout whose design was inspired by a board game, Monopoly.

I love searching for different designs and the board game themes, their little cards, dies, card decks, dominos and little pieces inspire me a lot! I also like grids. It was easy to start from that idea and make a layout with the papers from the collection “A Walk in the Park” by Echo Park.
All you are going to need to do is imitate the board game, saving 2 inches of border from the sides of the page for the collage of little paper squares. Next, in the center, position a 7x7 inch square and to it add the elements from the board game.

Prepare the other elements you need to mimic the board game. You can cut and glue pieces to reproduce this idea.

Now, puncture the paper and embroider it using stitching

Incorporate it onto your page the way I did and then add the picture, decorating it with paper cut outs, felt and whatever else your imagination allows.

Member Monday with Kat Glossop

Here with a new Member Monday inspiration is Kat Glossop. Kat chose the layout below by Michelle, also known as "mommy5x" on the message boards. Kat said, "It's so textured and the colors are beautiful."

"Son Flower"

Here is a little interview Kat did with Michelle to help us get to know her a little better.
1. First up, can you tell us a bit about yourself? I am a mother of 5 wild, magnificent children. I have a huge passion for photography and scrapbooking and my children are my inspiration for both.

2. This page is stunningly beautiful, and those flowers are perfect, it made me wonder which came first? The photo or the flowers? And which do you normally begin with (ie. Photos or products) I took this photo last year of my 2 younger boys and finally found the Prima vine that I was looking for. Most of my layouts are inspired first by the photo.....but one of my worst habits is that I love to scrap the newer photos and forget about the older ones. I will admit though there are certain products that get my mojo going before the photo does.

3. The photo is equally stunning, where was it taken? This photo was taken in behind our home. We live on a farm and I am very fortunate to have an endless area to photograph.

4. Sneaking a peak over at your blog I've noticed you have a lot of texture on your pages, do you have any tips/tricks for making your pages jump off the screen? I love to ink everything....I find it adds a dimension to the paper and layout....I also love lots and lots of layers and colors. One of the photo editing tips that I can give you is something that I always do is to add extra black balance. I find this makes little detail makes the photo pop.


Thanks girls!

Little Something Sunday with Kay Rogers

First, I put thin double-stick tape on the edge of the trim. I also punched out some circles from cardstock to use as the base.

I then started the flower in the center, removing the cover to the tape.

You twist the trim around the center, removing the adhesive backing as you go.

As you get to the end, make sure you cover the edges of the circle with the
trim.

I made three flowers in different sizes from the trim in this month's kit.

I decided to make it a pin for clothing, so I glued the flowers onto a piece of
felt using Fabri-Tac

I trimmed the back of the felt, and glued on a clip on the back.

Here's my girl, wearing the pin. She tied the bow and attached it to the clip.

Design Team Reveal-The Monthly Sketch

There are a couple more days to get your layout entered into the monthly design team challenge. To help inspire you, we are going to take a peek at what the design team did with the sketch and kit.

It seems that the sketch designed by Zoe Nemburt was so great as is that most of the design team took the sketch pretty literally.

First is this layout by Tonya Dirk with those adorable out takes photos.


Next is this whimsical layout by Larissa Albernaz. I love how she replaced a photo with some embellishments. (Some items used here are not included in the kit)



Next is this beauty by Kay Rogers. The dark cardstock really makes the colors on this one pop. She also changed things up a bit from the sketch to use just one photo.


And lastly, is my contribution. I followed Kay's lead with just the one photo.

You can see more o what the design team did with the kit in the Design Gallery here. You can sign up for a kit subscription so you don't miss out on the awesome new CHA products that will be coming soon.

Get your layout posted to the challenge thread here by midnight on the 21st so you can be entered to win!

Challenge Reminder

Just a quick reminder that you need to get your layout posted to the challenge thread and posted in the gallery to be entered to win the awesome prize, a $10 AMM store gift certificate and a selection of AMM vintage trims to be shipped with your order! With all the fun CHA stuff coming in in the next couple of months, that money coud sure come in handy!

So here are the challenge details one more time: Create a layout based on the sketch below and make your layout about an inside joke you share with someone else and be sure to post it by midnight on the 21st!

I'll be back tomorrow to show you what the design team did with the sketch!

Technique Tuesday with Carole Janson

Creating Fun Embellishments, Borders, and Other Accents from Dramatic Pattern Paper


Cut out the circle shape as shown in the below photo.


Then cut the outside arch shapes from around the outside of the circle shape as shown in the below photo.


Then add these arch shape to the bottom of the layout, which creates a fun border, as shown in the below photo.


You can then use the rest of the circle by adding some fun stickers etc., and creating the shape into a pretty flower which you can then add to your layout with some dimensional foam dots.


You could cut out as many of these flower shapes as you like and layer them through your layout. It is a great way to utilise your pattern papers or left over pieces which you may have in your stash; no wastage.

Here is the finished layout.


I hope you enjoyed this quick tutorial.