Nat Noted -- October 1/12

 

Hello! This is Natalie. I'm a part-time blogger, half-time scrapbooker and full-time mom.

"Nat Noted" will be coming to you every week on this blog. I'm so happy to be able to share all of the interesting paper crafting ideas, tips, tools, techniques, and other cool things that I find online. I would love to hear of any sites or blogs that you keep up with.

So without further ado, here are 12 of things I found online that I had to share with you. I hope you like them!

1. I love the cover of this mini-album. Kerryn Lawson did an awesome job painting and distressing the chipboard to make it look like a weather-worn metal gate.

Photo credit: Kerryn Lawson (asterixlawson)

2. Sketches are a big part of my scrapbooking process. I love how they inspire me and allow me to focus my creativity on colours, papers, embellishments and techniques. I usually go to PageMaps for sketches, but Basic Grey also shares sketches on their blog. This time they posted a sketch by designer Susan Stringfellow. Her blog is full of great sketches too! I love this one because I love double layouts.

Photo credit: Susan Stringfellow/Basic Grey

3. Love this card!

Photo credit: Carina Lindholm (Carinas scrapblog)

4. The ombre trend is popping up everywhere. Zoe Nemburt aka Ceydaboo has a great post on how to create this look with Glimmer Mists. If you have every shade of blue, pink and purple Glimmer Mists -- and I may have more than a few colours in my Glimmer Mist collection -- the ombre look seems pretty easy to achieve. Love Ceydaboo's canvas. 

Photo credit: Zoe Nemburt/Ceydaboo (From the Inside Out)

5. Starbucks has a Pumpkin Spice Latte and Lily Bee Design has an Autumn Spice collection. I can't wait to get my hands on both! Love this great layout by Lisa Dickinson featuring this great collection.

Photo credit: Lisa Dickinson (getting by)

6. I've made a few mini-albums and have even started an art journal. Minis make great gifts. Kids love making them. And they're a quick way to get your pictures into an album. Plus, they're short and sweet like me. ;-)  But rarely do I see binding that is this beautiful.


Photo credit: Janna Warner (papiersalat)

7. The new Studio Calico wood veneer embellishments are fantastic. Not only are they cute, but I just learned how to use them as masks when misting. They're also made for colouring and stamping. Love how Julia Stainton transformed these wood tags with stamps.

Photo credit: Julia Stainton (Belle Papier)

8. Confetti is trending right now and it looks great on layouts and cards. I love how Paige Evans used flower confetti to frame her layout. Isn't this wonderful? 

Photo credit: Paige Evans

9. Donna Downey is showcasing altered brushes in her studio and on her blog. You have to visit her blog these to see these amazing brushes. Her last post included so many good ones. If I have to pick a favourite, it would be this one because "I am enough" resonates with me right now.

Photo credit: Croppin' Spree (Donna Downey - simply me)

10. There were so many great Hallowe'en collections released at CHA, but the Lost and Found Hallowe'en from My Mind's Eye was my favourite. I don't know if it was because of the soft orange in the paper or the bling or the embellies, but I just loved it and can't wait to use it. Found this cool pennant from Thienly Azim.

Photo credit: Thienly Azim (Mod Paperie)

11. My Mind's Eye just released a new collection -- Lost & Found 3 Ruby. Featuring a gorgeous palette of pink, red, gray and cream, it's easy to imagine using this collection in Christmas layouts. But I think it would work well for everyday moments, picnics and Valentine's Day. I think it's gorgeous!

Photo credit: My Mind's Eye Blog

12. Stephanie Ackerman makes some beautiful art. I believe she's coming to Canada in 2013 to teach. I hope she's close to Ottawa so I can take one of her classes!! I love her "love."

Photo credit: Stephanie Ackerman

I hope you loved the first Nat Noted as much as I loved writing it. See you next week!

Pretty Girl

For this months design team layout, I once again used pictures of my niece.  She is usually my subject of choice when I have girly paper, or embellishments to use.  It also helps that she enjoys getting her picture taken, unlike my son who either makes a silly face or places his hands in front of it.  

This month the PageMaps challenge is to create a Flag or Pendant on your layout based on the August PageMaps sketch from the Scrapbook & Cards Today calendar.  I couldn't figure out where to put the chipboard bird, so I decided to use it to create my flag.  I wanted it to look like he was holding one end of the tread and wrapped the other end around the wooden buttons.  I guess it's not really a flag in the traditional sense, but hey... scrapbooking isn't about being traditional and always following the rules.  

  
A little iridescent embossing on the chipboard letters and of course some stickles on the pink flowers of the pattern paper, and voila... Done!

Sunshine Girl

I love this months paper line Basic Grey's Hello Luscious.  It's really girly so I used photos of my niece from our summer holidays.  It didn't hurt that her bikini matched the paper perfectly. 

For this month's challenge we had to create dimension.  I did this by using chipboard, button, and layering ribbon.  I also added Stickles and Glossy Accents to the chipboard.  My title was created using the Cricut with the Robotz font.

Stephanie