Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Altenew April 2019 Stamp/Die/Stencil/Paper Pack Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hello friends! I have some awesome and beautiful new releases from Altenew to share with you, along with a few projects.


There are so many awesome products in the April 2019 release. Here's a quick look at all of it!


I am a huge fan of Altenew's stamp sets and there were a few of the 6x6 Paper Packs I had to have! I share my picks and some projects in the video below.


Here's a bit of a closer look at what I created:


I focused on the new Summer Garden Paper Set for this layout and I am in love with the colors of those florals!


For this page, I used the Delicate Flower Bed stamp set to create a base for my photo and the wonderfully artsy Alluring Blooms Paper Stack along with the dies from A Study in Watercolor. Love!


Lastly, I created a couple of cards. The first uses the Weekend Doodles stamps and dies along with a sentiment from Delicate Flower Bed. The second focuses on the Rose Spray stamps and dies with another sentiment from Delicate Flower Bed! 

Now, for the exciting part - prizes and inspiration!

Prizes:
To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Scrapbook Blog by 4/22/2019 for a chance to win.

We’ll also draw a winner to receive a $20 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew Card Blog on 5/4/2019.

Hop List



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Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Altenew 5th Anniversary Blog Hop Day 2 + Giveaway


Thanks for visiting my blog for the Altenew 5th Anniversary Blog Hop! I hope you've been finding lots of great inspiration today! You can find more info on the Altenew Card blog where the hop is hosted. 

Here is the layout I created to share with you today. 



I used the Spring Showers Cover Die and the Altenew Live Your Dream Collection to create lots of beautiful flowers for my background.


It was definitely a labor of love, but I find that kind of thing incredibly relaxing!



I used bits and pieces from the die cuts and puffy alphabet stickers as well to embellish around my photo. It's a picture of me when I was two that I just came across and had to scrap!

I created a process video so you can see just how it all came together.



Here are all the details for the awesome giveaways and the other people who are part of this hop for Day 2!

Special Offer
Enjoy FREE U.S. shipping with code HAPPY9M or $5 OFF international shipping with code SHOPPING9M at checkout. Offer valid from 4/2/2019 at 12:01 am EDT through 4/5/2019 at 11:59 pm EDT. Not valid on prior purchases. Cannot be combined with other promo codes.



Prizes
Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 5 lucky winners and one Altenew Academy class to 10 lucky winners. There are also 14 awesome companies/crafty friends who are celebrating with us, and they are offering the following prizes:


Be sure to leave comments by 4/12/2019 for a chance to win! 33 winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on any of the blogs listed below and will be announced on the Altenew Blog on 4/20/2019.



Blog Hop Order

Jen Schow <<<<


Thanks again for stopping by!




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Monday, April 1, 2019

10 Easy Ways to Add Artful Touches to Your Craft Projects


Do you love all of those gorgeous artistic looks you see in home decor, fashion, and craft projects? Are you a little intimidated by it? I want to show you 10 easy ways to add that artful touch to your projects!

I go over them in detail in the video, or you can scroll through the list below for some inspiration!



1. Acrylic Paint Stripes - Use a large flat brush, your favorite colors of acrylic paint and just swipe them across a piece of paper for some easy home decor or the background of a scrapbook layout or card!


2. Paint Dragging - Use an old gift card, palette knife, or even a thick piece of cardstock to drag paint across a piece of paper. I love doing this with leftover acrylic paint from other projects. Waste not, want not, right? Here are a few examples...


I used several different coordinating colors to drag the paint vertically for the background of this layout.


On this layout, I created an L-shape with two shades of the same color and that created a home from my photo and embellishments.

3. Paint Splatters - This technique is super easy. Just use watered down paint or spray mist and flick on the color. So easy. So effective. I use this on at least half my layouts!


For this layout, I sprinkled paint in the colors of the embellishments and I love the extra pop it gives!


4. Punch or Die Cut Shapes from Painted Backgrounds - Sometimes a painted background just doesn't work out the way I planned. BUT, I always find that if I punch shapes out of it, I get little bits of goodness that are easy to add to my projects.


Circles are my favorite. You can see on this layout that I took a piece of paper where I dragged the paint across and die cut circles from it. You get all the punch without being overwhelmed!


Here's another example where I layered the paint on thick, let it dry overnight, and then punched it. Glorious!

5. Smooshing Paint/Ink with Packaging - This is absolutely one of my favorite ways to add that artsy look with almost no effort. Just take a piece of packaging, add watercolor, ink, or spray mist, turn it over, and smoosh it down on your paper. So easy! (Watch the video for a demo).


In this example, I used the same colors that I wanted to use for my layout and it gives a soft, ethereal look.


Here's another similar look. I find blue smooshing adds a watery look to my ocean photos!

6. Smooshing with a Stamping Block - If you want your smooshing to stay contained within a shape, this is a great way to go. My favorite is my circular stamping block, but you could use anything shaped and plastic-y to get a similar look.



The bright circles of color add so much to this layout (which is actually a little peek at a layout from my Ready, Sketch, Go! Volume 5 Class)!

7. Watercolor Swatches - Do you ever test new watercolors on a piece of paper, just to see what the colors look like? Save that! It makes an excellent card.

8. Squares of Color - Another wonderful and simple way to create a background for a card. Simply paint small squares of coordinating colors.



9. Watercolor Stripes - Similar to the first technique, take a paintbrush (round or flat) and load it up with watercolor. Paint stripes for a card background. I love doing the colors of the rainbow!

10. Pre-made Products - If after all of these examples, paint just isn't for you, you can absolutely use products that already have that awesome look to them! You can find anything from patterned papers, transparency, die cuts, washi tape, stickers, and stamps to give you that awesome painted look without the mess!



The most recent release from Altenew has a lot of papers and embellishments that will give you that artful look - so pretty!


The circles on this layout were actually made by applying some large washi tape with a floral pattern to white cardstock - such an easy way to add that gorgeous look.


This layout is a great showcase of pre-made artsy patterns. The background (a Crate Paper + Scrapbook.com exclusive) has the pink painted circlular strokes and the speech bubbles were a pre-made die cut from Pretty Little Studio. Gorgeous, right?

I hope that I've given you some ideas (and maybe some courage) to go out and try these techniques on your own! And if you want lots of inspiration, be sure to head over to my Facebook group where people are posting new projects all the time!






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Thursday, February 21, 2019

Altenew Live Your Dream Scrapbook Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway


Hello friends! I'm excited to be joining the blog hop for Altenew's newest release, the Live Your Dream Scrapbook Collection! If you're hopping along, you probably came from Kathleen's blog and next you'll head over to Zinia's (but I'll have the full hop list at the end of the post!)

Here's a little peek at the beautiful collection:


Our Live Your Dream Scrapbook Collection is a bright and elegant line that you can use to document any occasion. From the little daily moments, you want to remember forever to bigger milestones like parties and birthdays.
All of the products in this collection are very versatile and you can use them for many different projects such as 12x12 layouts, pocket scrapbooking, cards, home decor, and much more.  
This collection contains
  • 16 sheets of 12x12 double-sided patterned papers (2 of each/16 different designs)
  • 2 6"x12" sheets of puffy alphabet stickers (220 pieces)
  • 2 6"x12" sheets of chipboard stickers (38 pieces)
  • 2 6"x12" sheets of clear stickers (31 pieces)
  • 1 pack of wood epoxy buttons (20 pieces)
  • 1 pack of die-cut cardstock embellishments (32 pieces)   

I just love those colors and the artsy vibe! I created two layouts with the collection + a process video. The first features the gorgeous pink fade paper and came together in just minutes!


I used the chipboard, wood buttons, alpha, and die cuts. I also added in a few stamped leaves from the Indoor Garden stamp set!

The second layout came together fairly quickly as well and was inspired by the colorful circles found in the chipboard and die cut packs.


I embellished tone on tone (one of my fave things to do!) and also added in some florals from the Just Because stamp set that I heat embossed and then watercolored with my Altenew Watercolor 36 Pan Set. So pretty!

You can check out the process here video below!


To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Scrapbook Blog by 2/28/2019 for a chance to win. 6 winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on 3/3/2019.

 AND...if you'd like another chance to win a $30 gift certificate RIGHT HERE, please leave a comment on this post with your favorite thing from the new collection and I'll choose a winner on 2/28/2019!

 Be sure to visit the other people on the hop for more chances to win!
Jen Schow <<<<


 Thanks so much for stopping by, and good luck!

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Tuesday, October 23, 2018

10 Tips for Scrapbooking with Scraps

Hey friends! I have been having a major love affair with my patterned paper scraps - I can't stop making layouts. And that's always a good thing, especially since I feel like my mojo has been lacking lately. 

 A few weeks ago, Use It or Lose It Episode 14 focused on using paper scraps and today, I posted a video sharing seven more layouts! Seriously. Can't stop, won't stop. 

I shared 10 tips for using scraps over in my Crafty Use It or Lose It Facebook group the other day and thought I would post them here as well so they have a more permanent home. I've added photos of my "scrappy" layouts throughout, so enjoy! 
1. Choose a photo that will stand out against your busy background. A photo with few colors, a black and white photo, or a photo with a lot of open space (or white space) work berst. If you want to choose a colorful photo, consider opting for lots of neutral layers or a monochromatic color scheme.






2. Make sure your eye is drawn to the subject matter. On this layout, I chose a photo with lots of white space, which naturally draws the eye, but I also added an arrow pointing to my daughters face and put the title on top of it.






3. Start with your larger scraps, add your photo, and then layer smaller scraps. It's just so much easier this way! Make sure to use a variety of patterns in different scales. Use some that are very saturated in color, and some that have light colored backgrounds. Distribute the colors around in your layers so that your layout doesn't get lopsided with "visual weight", unless that's what you're going for because we all know that rules are meant to be broken, right?






4. When layering your papers, make sure that none of the edges line up. It makes for a much more interesting and eye-pleasing composition. If you look at the layers on my layout, you'll see that I have corners of papers nestling into each other and tiny edges of papers peeking through.





5. Leave in some of the rips, tears, punches, and uneven edges. Again, it just makes it more interesting. Look for ways you can incorporate it into your design. I love little details like that. Also, consider adding in vellum or transparencies. When you add these specialty papers over your layers, you get a cool peek-a-boo effect.






6. Add in something curvy to offset all of those square edges. Your layout can get looking really boxy and I find that adding in icons or embellishments with a different shape really helps. I love using circles, hearts, and flowers. Always flowers.





8. Line things up by color. You'll find you can add in scraps in various styles and make them look good together by simply sorting them into rainbow order and lining them up. Adhere embellishments by color as well to add interest without overwhelm.





9. Add a few embellishments that will change things up a bit. Paper on paper on paper can definitely work, but it's nice to bring in another texture whether it be puffy stickers, stitching, wood veneer, or enamel dots.





10. Use a bunch of one shape. Whether you create a grid style layout (like the one above) or go crazy with a shape like I did below, this is a great way to use up your scraps. Grab your punches or dies and go to town!






I hope those tips have been helpful! I would love to see what you create using your scraps. Join the Facebook group to be inspired and inspire others - I also do giveaways and live videos there too, so you won't want to miss it. :)

Please let me know if you have any questions and I hope to see you again soon!


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