For National Stamping Month, we’re sharing a stamping technique that will have you looking like you can draw and paint like a pro! The best part—it’s incredibly simple!
To start things off, you will need a detailed stamp. Look for one with elements that you would enjoy coloring in.
For our illustrations today, we are using the cardmaking stamp set from The Good Life paper collection. This stamp set includes a large stamp of a calm brook and a wide selection of beautiful sentiments suitable for a variety of occasions.
With Linen ink, stamp the image that you want to color and then use the light lines as a guide for applying the color, filling in shapes and tracing lines as you go. When you’re done, it will look like you freehanded the design rather than stamped it!
Most of our inks are water-based, and that means that they can smear if they are colored over with watercolor. If you choose to watercolor an image stamped in Linen, make sure to give the ink ample time to dry. Even still, the ink may run a bit as you paint and, in this case, that is okay! Linen is such a light color, especially when applied on white, that it will hardly be noticeable, if at all.
This image of a brook we are using, from The Good Life–Cardmaking stamp set, works especially well for this stamping and coloring technique because it was designed to look like it was hand drawn, even when stamped in a darker color.
Here it is watercolored again, but this time stamped in Intense Black.
The Intense Black stamp pad is intense not because of its color but because it is a non-smearing, fast-drying, solvent-based permanent ink. It’s waterproof qualities make it ideal for watercolor (and alcohol markers!).
We asked our Creative Arts Manager, Karen Pedersen, to share with us a few tips on how to apply watercolor once we’re ready for this step in our technique.
Have you ever tried this stamping and coloring technique before? What did you think? Let us know, in the comments below!
Our aptly named Cozy Up paper collection captures the familiar fondness autumn brings, including those warm, comforting colors and themes that draw us in.
Today we will be focusing on the Cozy Up cardmaking workshop and a few sponging techniques, inspired by the changing colors in the natural world around us. Be sure to visit our website, however, to see all that the Cozy Up collection has to offer. From patterned papers and cardstock to stamps, dies, svg files, and more! This comfy and intimate collection of papercrafting products is one that you will want to bundle your relationships and memories in, whether it’s through cardmaking, scrapbooking, or any other papercrafting project. So, get cozy, and take a look!
The cards made from the Cozy Up cardmaking workshop are absolutely stunning! Even though it’s not quite autumn yet, as creators and artists, we crave to witness and get inspired by these transitional months—and we certainly were! By applying a few ink sponging techniques, we were able to mimic the changing leaf colors we love.
Believe it or not, the leaves in both cards started out white! Using the coordinating set of stamps and dies only available through the workshop kit, we first die cut the shapes out of White Daisy cardstock, then stamped the leafy details with Mocha ink, and finished by sponging on Honey Butter, Paprika, and Rosemary inks.
To achieve the multicolored leaves, we applied one ink color at a time, using the round edge of a wedge cut out from a sponge, overlapping the colors where they meet. This is a technique that really can’t be messed up, and the results are very rewarding!
We used the same sponging technique in this next card.
You’ll notice that we skipped the stamping in one of the leaves on this card and drew stems in with a white gel pen.
Making this one leaf different and then placing it along the bottom, with the others stacked on top with foam tape, adds a different layer of dimension. This time, it’s a visual dimensional effect. This bottom leaf, because it lacks the same level of detail as the ones raised above it, gives the illusion that it must be further away.
Not only did we sponge the leaves, as you’ve seen us do in the other cards from this workshop, but we did so while simultaneously creating the beautiful background!
Our Creative Arts Manager, Karen Pederson, shows us in the video below exactly how to create this look!
Cozy up with this warm and familiar cardmaking workshop and its paper collection, full of autumnal aesthetic favorites, while supplies last!
For additional details on the Cozy Up cardmaking workshop, download the free guide, below!
May is National Scrapbooking month, and we are loving celebrating the worthy pursuit of memory keeping along with you and our beautiful Dream Maker collection, designed especially for this special seasonal occasion!
The exclusive Dream Maker collection features a twelve-sheet paper packet along with several coordinating products—a 12″ x 12″ sticker sheet with gold foil accents, specialty marble-like printed cardstock, exclusive black paperboard die-cuts, a four-pattern stencil, and a stamp set complete with sentiments, accents, and beautiful backgrounds!
And, because creating is our favorite, we went ahead and turned these gorgeous products into projects, putting together three Dream Maker workshops, complete with downloadable instruction guides! The kits for these workshops, paired with a few additional supplies, create some of the dreamiest artwork!
Today, we are hyperfocusing on one of the projects from one of the workshops to really give you a sampling of what you can expect from this Dream Maker collection!
The Perfect Day layout from the Dream Maker scrapbooking workshop is absolutely stunning! Upon first look, the striking background base pages look as if a talented artist spent time water coloring them. If you inspect them closely, you may notice that these backgrounds were actually built using our patterned papers!
The thinner lined patterned paper was used for the 12″ x 12″ base pages. They were layered along the bottom with a zip strip (an extra ½” accent paper found along the top of our pattern papers), followed by an ⅛” wide strip of black cardstock, and completed with a 4¾” wide faux watercolored rainbow striped paper.
Notice how the faux watercolored rainbow stripe paper coordinates perfectly with the base page, with the rainbow progression matching up from left to right. One fun element of this layout is how the right page mirrors this same color scheme, with the color strips going in the opposite direction. The flowers also follow this same color pattern.
Pairing black with the bright colors from our dreamy scape creates a sophisticated contrast that we are here for! Black is an elegant, low-energy shade that provides our eyes and mind a visual place to take a break from the excitement created by all the bright-colored patterns.
No matter how hard we tried, photos just don’t do these beautifully crafted pages justice. We hope you’ll get your hands on these products and create these pages to see them for yourselves. In the meantime, believe when we say that this layout is also packed with dimension!
For starters, the photos were all attached to black cardstock mats with 3-D foam tape. When the matted photos were attached to the base pages, the center mats were attached with foam tape again—the photos are truly popping out at you!
The chic flowers along the top of the photos were also attached with foam tape. They were stamped using the Dream Maker stamp set, hand trimmed, and then curled to create a beautiful, dimensional, more life-like effect.
Even though this curled leaf effect was difficult to photograph, it is quite easy to achieve, so we asked our dear friend, Creative Arts Manager Karen Pedersen, to show us just how to do it. Take a look in the short video below!
We will be making this layout, along with the other two layouts from this workshop, during a free Facebook Live virtual event on July 10, beginning at 2:00 p.m. MT. Visit our Events tab on our Facebook page for the dates and times that we will be hosting free events for the 6″ x 8″ album workshop and the cardmaking workshop, too!
National Scrapbooking Month is almost here! If you’ve been with us for a while, you know that we do a lot to celebrate our love for preserving memories, and this coming May is no exception! In fact, May is so full of creative opportunities that we are spilling over into June with our fabulous virtual May Album Retreat!
Album Retreats are events unique to Close To My Heart, where we get together to make the pages of a 12″ x 12″ album. We offer a bundle of materials you will need to create 11 beautiful 12″ x 12″ two-page layouts over the course of three days of instruction. At May’s Album Retreat, we will be creating a “Core Memories” themed album, where each layout is intended to frame and preserve major moments from our lives that help shape who we are.
Get an up-close look at the pages of the album with our Creative Arts Manager, Karen Pederson:
We love Album Retreat for many reasons. For starters, the albums we make are full of techniques and free instruction! From shading with alcohol markers to distressing embossed paper details, every page in May’s album features a technique that we will teach live, during the event. We pride ourselves in being the “Let Me Show You How” company, and this is a wonderful opportunity to do just that.
Album Retreat also provides an opportunity to share new and exclusive products. In the product bundle for this May’s retreat you will find two exclusive stamp sets, including a reusable versatile alphabet stamp set, exclusive acrylic shapes and die-cuts, a coordinating embossing folder, Thin Cuts die, and stencil set, and a sneak of patterned papers that will not be available for months!
The main reason we enjoy our Album Retreats so much, however, is because we get to spend time creating with all of you! We host the retreat live on Facebook and read every one of your comments and questions. Oftentimes, we’ll read and answer questions on camera for the benefit of everyone participating.
To join us this May, simply purchase the May 2023 Album Retreat Bundle. There is no separate registration fee! As we get closer to the event date, we will invite everyone who has purchased the bundle to join a private Facebook group where the retreat will be hosted virtually.
The retreat will be held May 31–June 2, from 2:00 pm to approximately 8:30 pm (MT) each day. (That’s 1–3 June, 6:00 am–12:30 pm (AEST) for our friends in Australia and New Zealand.) The last day to order your bundle is May 9, and that’s only if we don’t run out of them before then, so mark your calendars if you haven’t ordered yours already!
Hosting a retreat like this virtually has its perks. Not only do we get to have as many of you attend as would like to, because there is no limited seating, but once the feed is no longer live, Facebook saves the videos so you can return to watch them repeatedly at your own convenience!
And, just like last time, we want everyone to have a chance to join us, so we are giving away a FREE Album Retreat product bundle, here on the blog! That means that one lucky reader will not only get a bundle of select and exclusive products, but they will also have access to the private virtual retreat we are hosting on Facebook in May!!
For an entry into this contest, there are two requirements: First, you must be subscribed to this blog. (It’s an easy step that often gets overlooked, so make sure that you are actually subscribed because we do check!) Second, share this blog post on Facebook with the hashtag #ctmhcorememories. That’s it! You have from now until 3 pm (MT) on April 24 (7 am (AEST) on 25 April). The winner will be notified via email later next week! [This contest is now closed.]
Get a quick glimpse at some of the interactive elements from May’s gorgeous album, below!
Easter is one of the most joyous holiday seasons of the year that is often overshadowed, if not overlooked, by our noisy world. It’s a time full of courage, hope, and promise for those with faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In preparation for this commemorative time, we are highlighting two meaningful stamp sets from our January–March catalog along with a few beautiful cards and a scrapbook page we made using them!
The first stamp set we’re looking at is called God Is Love and it is also offered with a coordinating set of Thin Cuts. Thin Cuts are metal dies that are used for cutting shapes out of paper when paired with a die-cutting machine.
The words and designs shown in black represent what you can stamp with our clear polymer stamps and the other shapes you see above are what can be cut with the Thin Cuts.
Using the God Is Love dies paired with a few simple techniques, this lovely scripture card came together with so much ease! One of the first things you might notice is that we didn’t use a lot of patterned paper. We only used one, to be exact, and very little of it at that. The intention was to focus on and not distract from the scripture message that takes up two thirds of the card’s front. The message was stamped in Wisteria ink, a color very similar to the Periwinkle cardstock on which it was stamped, creating a warm, almost tone-on-tone effect. The sentiment is resting on a bar of Ballerina cardstock. The bar below the sentiment is visually important because it creates a place for our eyes to rest after reading this passage, which is longer than typical for a card front. Finally, the card is embellished with gold accents and beautiful die-cut flowers, so that we have something pretty to look at as our eyes rest.
For added dimension, the edges of the layered petal pieces of the center flower were sponged with Ballerina ink, creating the illusion that the flower is at the forefront, when in reality it was attached in the same way, and without any foam tape, as was the second flower.
The God Is Love stamp and Thin Cuts set also comes in especially handy when you’re ready to scrapbook those meaningful religious themed memories!
Just like in the card, this layout was kept free of too many distracting patterns to really focus on the message and feeling behind the day these memories were made. It is still full of beautiful techniques, like the sponging of color in the background that ties the elements in the foreground together, leading the eye from one part of the layout to the next.
In this case, the flower petals were die cut from two different cardstock colors, White Daisy and Ballerina, adding to the flow and visual guide created by the ethereal Wisteria ink in the background. Our eyes begin at the top right, are guided left through the photos, matted on restful solid cardstock colors, and then the journaling, continuing to and stopping at the beautifully decorated cross on the bottom right of the page.
We chose to color the floral designs on the cross with alcohol markers, but color pencils or watercolor paint would be just as beautiful!
As a bonus note, the colors we chose for this card and layout may seem thematic for Easter, but if you’re also familiar with color theory, you will see that this card is made up of double complementary colors. (If you aren’t familiar with color theory, or would like to learn more, revisit a few of our past posts, here: For the Love of Color: A New Color Wheel!)
This next stamp set we absolutely love for Easter and for any time you may need to provide a friend with uplifting, faith filled comfort, is the I Am the Way stamp set.
We got bolder with this next card and used a good amount of patterned paper and a dark (Sapphire) cardstock. To ensure the stamped scripture wouldn’t get lost in our paper choices, we made it literally stand out by heat embossing it in gold! To heat emboss, you must use a clear ink that is designed for embossing, like VersaMark™ ink, and dust it with an embossing powder (we used Princess Gold). Once you clear off any powder that is not stuck to the embossing ink, you set the image with a heat tool that will literally melt the powder into the ink. The result is a stamped image that raises off the page!
Less of a technique, but perhaps a trick that we carry up our sleeves, are the acrylic stars that we used to embellish this card. These little golden stars started out white and were colored with the Liquid Gold metallic paint markers. We offer white acrylic stars, and other shapes, in our catalog for the express reason that white acrylic is easy to color and therefore match to the needs of your projects!
The taller, “I am the way…” scripture from this set is sized to fit on the front of the trendy slimline-style cards.
Our talented Creative Arts Manager, Karen Pedersen, shows how to recreate this amazing background in the video below!
Handmade cards are a surefire way to brighten someone’s day—whether that day is a special occasion like a birthday, anniversary, graduation, holiday or just another ordinary day. Those of us who make our own cards are in on the big secret that making the cards can be every bit as fun and satisfying as receiving them! Today we’re sharing a few cardmaking tricks that can help you create cards for all occasions. The artwork examples we’re using to illustrate these tricks come from our It’s the Little Things Cardmaking workshop, featuring papers embellishments and stamps from this fun and versatile collection!
One thing that these examples will prove is that using products designed specifically for cardmaking can really simplify the creative process! These products are tailor made to provide popular sentiments and are sized perfectly for incorporating into standard card sizes. The It’s the Little Things collection features an incredible 6″ x 6″ paper packet, but the true cardmaking stars are the coordinating stickers, stamp set, and embellishments all designed especially for cardmaking!
Let’s start with patterned papers. These are a cardmaker’s best friend as they can really cut down on the design work that goes into a given card. Whether working with standard 12″ x 12″ papers or the 6″ x 6″ size, a collection of coordinating patterned papers allows you to choose out two or three favorite designs that you’d like to use and let them do the heavy lifting. A large piece of patterned paper does a great job of creating an appealing and eye-catching background for your card, which you can then accent with smaller pieces of coordinating accent papers.
In other instances, you can give two patterns that work well together more or less equal billing. This technique can be used to set up great visual contrast on your card, as in this breathtaking congratulations card, where the white background of the top paper is perfectly balanced by the black background of the bottom paper:
Building up from there, you have a wide variety of ways to top off your card with accents and sentiments. For accents, the It’s the Little Things collection features stickers and embellishments that will bring a smile to any card lover’s face. The cardmaking embellishments pack includes both black die-cuts and white acrylic shapes with options both for accent pieces and sentiments! Take a look at these examples to see these elements used to full effect!
We also love the die-cuts in this collection that are sized to fill up a card, taking the role of sentiment and card design all in one, minimizing the need for any further embellishment!
We also don’t want to leave out the fun sticker sheets that provide more colorful embellishment and sentiment options! Because the stickers are designed to work together with the paper collection, getting a harmonious card design is practically guaranteed!
Finally, when it comes to adding sentiments to our cards, stamping is of course one method that we are especially partial to. A great stamp image lends itself to repeated use, which is what makes stamping a great fit for card sentiments. Different designs can help lend a unique feel to even the most common sentiments! Tailor your sentiment design to the occasion and the tone of the card to strike just the right feeling!
The best cardmaking stamp sets feature interchangeable sentiments. This makes it possible for you to make a batch of cards ahead of time and leave the sentiment area blank. Then, when you’ve got a card giving occasion, you have a few different sentiments you can choose from to match the occasion!
The next time you’ve got a card giving occasion, remember just how easy it can be to make a meaningful gesture with a handmade card when you’re working with the right tools! Let us know in the comments which of the cards above you would be happiest to see in your mailbox, and then put your creativity to work making a card of your own to brighten someone’s day!
With a wonderful array of patterns and a striking color palette, the enchanting Daisy, Daisy collection is a wonderful way to bring your creative dreams from the drawing board into reality. Sometimes all you need to find inspiration and kickstart that creativity is the right collection of products. We want to give you a brief look into all that awaits with the Daisy, Daisy collection, including the cards and scrapbook pages included in the Daisy, Daisy Workshop!
To get started, we want to give you a quick overview of what crafters can expect from Daisy, Daisy. The color palette for this collection is bold, featuring vibrant greens, punchy pinks, and crisp white tones. As the name implies, this collection prominently features a selection of floral elements, perfect for all types of springtime crafts!
Along with the patterned paper, Daisy, Daisy also includes a selection of stickers, stamps, and Thin Cuts*, all of which are designed to coordinate seamlessly with the paper packet, and with each other.
*Thin Cuts are temporarily out of stock, but don’t worry, there will be more available before this special is over!
Each of these elements help you to create cohesive, polished artwork with ease. Not only that, Daisy, Daisy also includes a workshop kit, which includes instructions for creating both scrapbook pages and cards!
To really get to know this collection, we want to highlight four techniques in this post, all of which are visible in the cards and scrapbook pages featured in the Daisy, Daisy workshop. Let’s take a look!
First off, we have an adorable daisy wreath on this 12” x 12” “Life is Beautiful” page. These lovely layered daisies were created using the Daisy, Daisy Thin Cuts set, making them incredibly easy to cut and assemble. This set offers two different styles of petals, which we have cut using a nice assortment of colors, resulting in a lush layered effect for each blossom. Each of these flowers was constructed using just two colors of cardstock. Making good use of our two-toned cardstock, we were able to end up with clear variation apparent in the petals and centers of the flowers.
Once the flowers were assembled, we attached them to the base page with 3-D foam tape for some additional pop. Each of these gorgeous blooms would make a beautiful addition to a scrapbook page or card just on its own, but combining several of them—eight, to be precise—in a wreath like this makes it a striking feature that sets this scrapbook page apart.
Our next technique is found on this 12” x 12” “Sweet Moments” layout. Both pages start with a white cardstock base, most of which we covered with a series of patterned pennant pieces that really show off these adorable paper designs.
What makes this effect unique is the variation in pennant width and length. Rather than cutting these pennants to be the same length, they are slightly varied to accentuate the layering effect, even though the actual overlap of these pennants is relatively minor. These pennants are also varied in their width, adding further to the layered effect. By including these pennants, you preserve continuity by reusing a familiar shape, but avoid monotony by switching up the dimensions and incorporating just the slightest bit of overlap.
These patterned dovetail pennants prove that, like our daisy wreath in the previous example, simple elements repeated throughout a page or layout really help to set these memory keeping pieces apart!
Another favorite element from the Daisy, Daisy workshop is the detailing on this “Lovely You” standard-size card. To complement the bright colors in the patterned paper on this card, we’ve gone in with a few TriBlend™ markers to add coloring and subtle color details to the stamped daisy petals and leaves.
To ensure you get an even finish on the base color, using a light hand with your marker is imperative. This light touch allows you to have greater control as you apply the color, preventing excess color saturation.
Once the base color was applied, our next step was to add small details along the leaf veins and petal creases, using another shade of TriBlend™ marker, deepening the dimensional effect. (If you’re not familiar with TriBlend™ markers, then you’re in for a treat! Each one includes three separate shades, making it a cinch to add various color details to your artwork, all while using the same marker!)
Oftentimes, a beautiful embellishment can be the perfect thing to set a piece apart, and in this 12” x 12” “Together Time” layout, the delicate black floral die-cuts provide an excellent series of focal points throughout the pages.
These embellishments, though small, are grouped together and scattered throughout the layout, helping to draw the eye throughout the pages. With some fun variety in available shapes, the floral theme is reinforced with their inclusion in this layout.
On the whole, the design for this layout is on the simpler side, but the pop and slight dimension generated by the inclusion of these black die-cut flowers allows for some subtle boost on this pair of pages.
As you can see, there’s a veritable garden of potential awaiting with Daisy, Daisy, and we’ve loved sharing just a taste of it with you today! What was your favorite feature from this Daisy, Daisy showcase? Let’s hear about it in the comments below!
When it comes to scrapbooking, one of the biggest deterrents for people is feeling overwhelmed by their copious amounts of unorganized photos. If you have years of memories piled up in your phone’s photo gallery, or spread between multiple devices even, it’s easy to feel discouraged and to put off preserving these moments in a much more user-friendly format. The longer you wait to sort and organize your photos, the more memories you’ll collect, and the more overwhelming the task will get—so let’s not delay and start now. Let us show you how!
Follow the step-by-step outline we’ve created, below, as we walk you through how to efficiently organize your digital photos and get them into a scrapbook! This process may take some commitment, but the journey is worth it—especially when your memories are all in order and in an album where they can be relived and shared!
Step One: Consolidate Your Digital Photos
Upload all of your digital photos to one location—your computer. We recommend using a photo managing system, like Google Photos, Amazon Photos, or iCloud, to easily transfer photos from your phone and other devices onto your computer. Amazon Photos is free* for Amazon Prime members and iCloud is best for those with multiple Apple devices (it is included on iPhones, iPads, and Macs), where it automatically updates between the Apple devices. (*As of the date of this article, this information is correct but is subject to change without our knowledge.)
Step Two: Eliminate Unwanted Photos
Once all of your photos are in one place, go through and eliminate any that aren’t worth keeping: repeats, photos with a blurry finger covering half the lens, photos of your to-do lists, etc.
A few tips: Avoid future photo hoarding by cleansing your digital photo libraries every few weeks. (Set a reminder on your schedule if you have to!) On the same note, while it’s a good idea to get in the habit of deleting subpar photos soon after you take them, don’t consider every photo that isn’t “Instagram worthy” subpar. Pause before you hit delete and allow a photo to sit for a while—especially photos of yourself (we can be so harsh on ourselves!). You might be surprised at how much joy a picture can recall regardless of how unprofessional it may appear or how much you might have hated looking at yourself when you first snapped the photo.
Step Three: Organize Your Digital Photos
In your photo managing system, create folders for each year of photos you have. Then place the corresponding photos in these folders. Once you’ve sorted your photos by year, go into each folder and create subfolders. You can label and further sort your photos by month, event, vacation, etc.
Step Four: Back Up Your Digital Photos
Back up all the photos in your photo managing system onto an external hard drive and/or a safe permanent online cloud service. You may be using a safe online cloud storage solution to sort your photos. Just make sure you also have a backup!
Step Five: Create To-Print Folders
Once you have organized your photos in your photo managing system, you’re ready to start thinking about scrapbooking them—woohoo! Even though all the photos you have left are photos you have deemed worth keeping, you may not want to scrapbook all of them. A great way to figure out which photos you want to scrapbook is to copy and paste a given folder onto your desktop. (Copy and paste, don’t just drag. We don’t want to permanently delete photos in this step.) Go through and delete any photos from this folder you don’t want to print and put in an album. This is also a good time to edit any of the photos you’re going to print, if you want to take that extra step.
Step Six: Upload & Print Photos
Once you’ve gone through all the photos on your desktop folder, you’re ready to print! We recommend creating a table, like the one below, to track each folder’s progress. When you have printed your photos, you can delete the desktop folder you created (remember, you’ve already saved these photos elsewhere!).
Tip: Choose one day every month to do a print run. Some months you may be able to afford printing more photos than other months. Whatever the circumstance, try and get in the habit of printing your photos on the same day each month.
Step Seven: Organize Printed Photos
Option 1: Use our photo organizer to sort and keep your printed photos.
You can organize your photos by date, person, event…whatever you want! Think about the album you want to create with the photos, and sort them into each case that way.
The photo organizer comes with 16 removable snap-close cases that can each hold up to 100 4″ x 6″ photos, while the sturdy large exterior case snaps close and comes with a convenient handle for transport. There is plenty of room to get yourself organized!
Option 2:Create a work-in-progress album.
Use one of our D-ring albums and divided Memory Protectors™ to separate out all the photos you’ll want for an album. You can group like photos together so you know how to plan your layouts.
(Going this route may even help you decide whether pocket scrapbooking is the way to go rather than traditional scrapbook layouts!)
And that’s it! The next step is to start scrapbooking away! If the idea of making the scrapbook pages themselves overwhelms you, a great place to start is with our scrapbooking workshop kits. You can also talk to your Close To My Heart Maker (or find one online!) for additional guidance.
We hope this post helps empower you to start organizing your photos for scrapbooking. We know that when you take that leap of faith, you’ll find so much joy and satisfaction in preserving your family’s memories and stories.
Do you have any additional tips for organizing and printing your photos for scrapbooking? Share them in the comments below!
If you’re like us, the minute you see a gorgeous set of patterned papers, the creative wheels in your mind begin to turn. Before long, you’re designing scrapbook layouts and cards in your head, and you can hardly wait to get your hands on the paper so you can bring your ideas to life! We know this feeling well and for that reason, we can’t wait to share the very special products featured in our post today. This beautiful selection is sure to inspire, so without further ado, let’s take a look at our It’s the Little Things collection!
It’s the Little Things is a unique collection, in the fact that it features a 6″ x 6″ paper packet, as opposed to the typical 12″ x 12″ size offered in the majority of our paper collections. In spite of the size difference, these 6″ x 6″ papers can still be used to great effect in 12″ x 12″ scrapbook layouts in addition to being used to create mini album pages with ease! The variety of patterns and colors included in these papers makes them a great choice to pair with other paper collections as well as plain cardstock.
Along with these 6″ x 6″ mini mix-in style papers, the It’s the Little Things suite also includes three exclusive stamp sets—one each for scrapbooking, cardmaking, and mini albums!
Inspired by the patterns, icons, and sentiments in the papers and stamp sets, this collection also includes multiple sets of stickers, paperboard die-cuts, and assorted acrylic shapes. These embellishment options were designed in sets for scrapbooking, cardmaking, and mini album projects, but they can easily be interchanged, depending on your own preferences and crafting vision!
Rounding out the It’s the Little Things collection are the three workshop kits, which make crafting with this exquisite suite a piece of cake!
Today, we’ll be showing off some of the standout features of the It’s the Little Things Scrapbooking Workshop Kit.
This kit allows crafters to create three 2-page layouts and one single page layout, embracing a beautiful, minimalistic approach in its design. This minimalistic feel is due primarily to the prominent use of white base pages, with much of the background untouched and clearly visible beneath the patterned paper elements. Each kit comes complete with scrapbooking stickers and punch-out die-cut embellishments, along with the It’s the Little Things 6″ x 6″ papers, the scrapbooking stamp set, and a few sheets of black and white cardstock.
To start off our scrapbook adventure today, we’re going to take a look at our single “Remember When” page, which uses a selection of black and white 6″ x 6” floral paper from the It’s the Little Things paper pack at its foundation. The paper sheets have been cut into triangular sections and attached over the corners of the base page, creating a beautiful framing effect. Black and white mix-in details come further into play with dovetailed pennant pieces positioned behind our “Remember when” title at the top of the page, and behind the journaling at the bottom. Rounding out the monochrome theming in this page is a simple layering of black and white cardstock with a border drawn in metallic silver paint marker for an added sparkly touch. This emphasis on a grayscale palette at the foundation of this page sets up a dramatic effect when vibrant colors are added into the center of the page.
The page comes into full color with a rainbow selection of patterned mix-in papers cut into dovetailed pennants and spaced evenly across the width of the page. Each pennant has been given a “shadow effect” by distressing the edges with Black ink to help them stand out even more against the white background.
After putting a few fun photos on the page, the final touches were added using the scrapbooking embellishments, stickers, and stamps, plus black twine, and a couple of Black & White Dots, which were first colored silver with a metallic paint marker. We’ve even given a silver coating to the “LOVE” title stickers for some extra shine. This gorgeous combination of a black and white color scheme at the page’s foundation and the brightly colored pennants and silver sections as accent pieces give you a minimalist effect while still embracing a flurry of bright colors!
Our next layout, “Enjoy the Little Moments”, embraces a greater emphasis on color right from the start, as the base page has been sponged with soft swathes of orange ink as an initial step.
After applying the ink, we attached various pieces of patterned paper from our trusty mix-in pack. This is an excellent example of how the 6″ x 6″ papers can be used to great effect in full-size 12″ x 12″ scrapbooking. Because of their smaller size, the patterned papers used in this layout did not require cutting, making it quick and easy to add them to the page!
Once the patterned paper was attached, we cut ½” strips of black cardstock and attached them along the top and bottom edges of the patterned papers, creating a sharp cutoff and further accentuating the contrast between the patterned sections and the stark white base page. To finish off the foundation of this scrapbook layout, we stamped a black ink border on the base page alongside the black cardstock strips.
After adding photos—attached to patterned paper mats—and a journaling piece, it’s embellishment time! This page is festooned with scrapbooking punch-out die-cuts, stamped die-cuts, and stickers from the It’s the Little Things Scrapbooking Workshop Kit. And once again, we turned to our trusty silver paint marker to add a metallic finish to the enamel dots
While the previous pages we’ve looked at today have all featured a horizontal flow of pattern and color, this next layout takes that approach in a 90° turn with some fun vertical stripes! Similar to our previous layout, the colorful sections on this pair of pages were created by cutting the rainbow stripe 6″ x 6″ patterned paper in half and then attaching them at the top and bottom of the white base page in the center. Thanks to the proportions of these papers, it was then a cinch to attach a single piece of 6″ x 6″ black and white patterned paper in the middle, capping it off at both the top and bottom edges with ½” paper strips trimmed from another black and white patterned piece.
Along the edges of these striped sections, we used a silver paint marker to create a simple, hand-drawn border, running the length of the pages.
With these papers in place, we had a great foundation that we topped with a handful of matted photos, stickers, die-cuts, and a unique sticker title on the right page using the “perfect” letter stickers from the It’s the Little Things scrapbooking selection.
With the vertical orientation of the stripes, this layout stands apart, although the techniques used to create it are easy to replicate. This makes it a great example of how a little bit of out-of-the-box thinking can help you to expand your creative output!
Our last layout on display from the It’s the Little Things Scrapbooking Workshop Kit is this adorable “Shine Bright” layout. These beautiful pages are graced with a spectrum of vibrant rectangular patterned pieces, all edged with black ink for an additional “shadow effect” against the white base pages.
For an additional accent effect, small dotted circles have been stamped so they peek out from behind the rectangular pieces, and each dotted section has been sponged with yellow ink. Clustered around these sections, we’ve also included some small dots, applied with a silver paint marker.
Photos, stickers, stamped die-cuts, and black punch-out die-cuts serve to create focal points, embellished accents, and title sections, all layered on top of and around the aforementioned rectangular pieces.
To finish out this layout, we added a few simple lines of journaling at the bottom of each page, stamped our trusty border in black ink on ¼” pieces of white cardstock, edged them in black ink, attached them above the colorful rectangular pieces, and applied black bow die-cuts and white dots in the center of the stamped pieces. As a final touch, we’ve added a simple silver border with the paint marker, as well as a few distressed elements that take this technique to the next level.
As you can see in the close-up above, a few sections of our white cardstock base pages have been torn slightly, crumpled and worked to achieve a distressed look. These sections were then curled down, and sponged lightly with yellow ink. Behind these sections, we’ve placed a small piece of patterned paper, edged in black ink, to serve as a sort of patch. This effect, when taken all together, results in a unique aged look.
As you can see, there’s a TON of creative potential available through the It’s the Little Things Scrapbooking Workshop Kit, and we can’t wait to hear about all the amazing memories you’ll preserve in your own pages! Comment below and let us know what stories you can’t wait to tell with this scrapbook kit, and stay tuned for even more fun with It’s the Little Things!
