Fun Trip

Hey there scrappy friends,

Zsoka here with you today with my last before one layout for The Cut Shoppe! However, this is my last blog post here, my last layout will only be posted on my own blog in two weeks. I hope you'll check it out, it will be a special one ;P.

As I was browsing through my cut files, I realized I still haven't used the Hul-La-Ba-Zoo cut file even though I've been wanting to for ages.

While on Spring Break in April, we went on a Safari in Italy and we took many photos of all the different animals. For whatever reason I didn't take more than 2 photos of my favourite giraffes! Either way, I decided to use the giraffe cut file to go with my giraffe pictures and document this memory.

I chose the wonderful Crate Paper Oasis collection which reminded me of Safaris, trips and getaways. Then I cut two giraffes in two different sizes (one image I mirrored so they are facing each other) then backed them with two patterned papers from the collection.

For my background I picked a wood grain paper and I used a very limited color palette, which I find matches the Safari theme. I used embellishments from the Oasis collection: die cuts, chipboard stickers, a chipboard frame and stickers as well as some wood veneers and plain chipboards from other manufacturers. 

 

I created two clusters with tropical leaves, most of these came from the ephemera pack, some I fussy cut from a patterned paper. I also added some chipboard leaves for additional dimension. 

For my title I used the gold phrase stickers from the Oasis collection. I just love the font!

I hope you like how this layout turned out! I will be honest, I promised myself earlier to never use another animal cut file on a layout (long story!) but with these pictures this file was kind of the obvious choice right?! :)

Thank you for stopping by today and also for all the support in the past! I'm also thanking Ashley from the bottom of my heart for this wonderful year that went by way too quickly! I am grateful for having been a part of the last TCS DT. I sure will miss it!

Have a great day and see you around X

Hey hey my my

Hi guys,

Zsoka back today with a new layout!

I've picked the All Heart Remix cut file which is one of my favourites ever from The Cut Shoppe and I've used it many times too. In fact I've used it in this form as well, cropped into two semi-circles, but I do like this design so I don't mind doing it more than once. The end result is always different since I use different collections, decorate differently and so on.

I've chosen the stunning Wild at Heart collection from Cocoa Vanilla Studio - now that CVS is finally available in Germany (at Scrapbook Werkstatt) I can't stay away :).

I very often go with white card stock for my cut file because I generally don't have a plan in my head when I start a layout. And with a white cut file one can go in many directions!

I backed the bigger semi-circle with different patterned papers from the collection and glued it down on the right top side of my page. I didn't glue down the biggest hearts so they add a bit of dimension.

I layered some tissue paper and a couple of the frame ephemera pieces behind my photo and placed these on the big semi-circle. I added some phrase stickers, chipboards, ephemera, fussy cut butterfly and a flair button to embellish this side. I wrote my journaling here too.

Don't ask about the title...I just had this song on my mind when I was working on the layout :).

As for the smaller semi-circle. I cut this from the same white card stock and glued it down completely so it is flush against the background. I hand stitched a few of the hearts and did some string art.

I filled some hearts with those fabulous glitter enamel dots, some wood veneer hearts and I added a couple more fussy cut butterflies.

I splattered some blue paint across my page to finish it off. I hope I could inspire today in some small way!

Thank you for stopping by X

This sweet face

Hi there scrappy peeps,

Zsoka back with you today with a new layout. 

For today's layout I picked one of the more recent cut files, the Spiral Scallop. I love circles and I love scallops so this was a no brainer!

I decided to use the cut file in two ways: as a stitching template and as a normal cut file.

I used my sketch pen on my Cameo to draw the lines of 4 circles that I arranged the way I wanted them in my Studio program. I then pierced  holes along the lines. You can use the perforate option in the Studio program to do this for you, but I prefer to do it by hand.

I used different color embroidery floss for each circle, all matching the collection I chose to work with: Oh my heart from Paige Evans / Pink Paislee. The smaller circles were a nightmare to stitch to be honest! The lines were so close and I broke my smallest needle a while back so I had to use a bigger one which didn't make my life easier. Or the paper prettier!

I added patterned papers and a photo in the middle of the circles, then embellished them with stickers, ephemera pieces, chipboard stickers, charms, puffy stickers...Then I moved onto the next section of my layout, the die cut scallops.

I printed 4 different sized scallops and apart from the biggest one, I backed them all with patterned papers. Then I just layered them on top of each other, using foam tape between each layer. There's no reason for my doing this, other than I really love layers!

I mixed and matched some thickers and alpha stickers for my title and wrote my journaling along the biggest circle. 

I splattered some bronze ink around my page then I was done!

Hope you like my project and I could inspire you in some small way! See you soon!

X

Thumbs Up

Hi guys,

Zsoka back with you today with a new layout.

I used a cut file that I've been meaning to use for ages, though not the way I ended up using it :).

I wanted to go with a geometric type background cut file and then just use the outer parts of it. The Quirky Quilt cut file was perfect for this!

I traced the whole cut file and then I just kept deleting the shapes until I had the design left that I had on mind.

 

I used the wonderful Oh My Heart collection from Paige Evans for Pink Paislee. I chose two patterned papers: the little heart design for my cut file and the ombre paper for backing this. Since this was not a terribly time consuming activity, I thought I'd add a little something to it. I busted out my embroidery floss stash and looked for colors that matched the background paper. Then I spent some time on hand stitching around each shape. This adds some texture and interest to the layout.

I was actually going to go with Pancakes for title (or something along those lines) using the adorable, colourful alpha thickers from this collection. And they fit really well too! But then I saw the Thumbs Up phrase thickers, and I knew I had to go with those. Not that I wouldn't find another photo of my kid where he gives me thumbs up... In almost every picture he does that :D.

Photographing metallics is my pet peeve really...But these rose gold chipboards are so pretty, I had to use them! Besides, I was so happy I found the one that says Eat dessert first! I don't mind using random things on my layouts, but 'm totally excited when I find something that matches my theme! This was meant to be!  

I had a part of another cut file left (Spin Circle) that I used the same day and I added it here as a layer behind my photo. I don't like to throw things away! I also used some tissue paper and an ephemera piece for layers. I didn't go crazy on embellishing around my photo because my background was so busy. Instead I added a lot of enamel dots to my cut file in coordinating colors.

I typed up my journaling on white cardstock and cut it into several pieces which I glued down below my photo. I can't for the life of me find the date on this layout, it looks like I forgot to add it?! This doesn't happen often! So I'd better go now and find this page before I forget about it, again!

I hope I could inspire you today in one way or the other! Thanks for stopping by! X

Loved

Hi there,

Zsoka here with you today with a new layout!

I have so many collections I haven’t used before (surely you guys are familiar with this issue?!) and lately I’ve been so frustrated by this. So I decided to use something new on every layout where I don’t have any specific requirements as to what I can use. I mean, cut files are not a problem ;P. I have a few papers from the Gather collection from Maggie Holmes and some chipboards. I did not buy the whole collection as an exception, as I generally can’t use so much pink. But sometimes I, too, need a bit of pink and flowers in my life! So I grabbed these papers and the heart cut file from the Over the Moon cut file set and got to work!

 

I knew I wanted to use this soft pink paper as my background, the cobalt blue paper for pops of a contrasting color and I knew I finally wanted to fussy cut out those beautiful mint flowers! I wasn’t quite sure if all these would work well together but I was determined to try ha!
 

I backed my cut file as usual, with different patterned papers. Then I machine stitched over the cut file with cobalt blue thread to add some texture. And because I like sewing! This did not take long but to clean up the mess on the back…thread tangling up everywhere…I’m not going to lie, it must have taken close to an hour to do this! But I like the look so it was worth it.

 

I put my heart on 3d foam adhesive to add some dimension to my layout and tucked in my fussy cut flowers under it in two clusters. I added a third cluster of flowers next to my photo for a balanced look. I don’t always follow the visual triangle rule because I don’t think every design needs it, but this one did.  To me, anyway!

I pulled out some chipboard pieces (the ones in this collection are so awesome!) and added them around the page. For my title I could have chosen something more meaningful, but I really loved the font, the color and the texture of this sentiment so I went with this. Again some machine stitching at the bottom to ground my title. At the top I also added some chipboard pieces for interest.
I added my date and journaling to finish off my layout. I used some labels in matching colors for these.
 

 

 

I hope you like how it turned out! Thank you for stopping by today X

Adventure Awaits

Hi there,

Zsoka here with you today to share my latest layout with you. This is one of the 4-5 hand stitched layouts I have been sitting on since July, waiting to be finished! I recently had to reorganize my craft space and finally sorted out some papers that were just lying around and found my stitched backgrounds. Finally I felt inspired to finish this one! It's such a good feeling!

I chose this paper from Paige Evans/Pink Paislee's Take me away collection. I loved the divided pattern and thought I could use the yellow part for a big title. I chose the Adventure Awaits set, which is one of the Exclusive ScrapbookNerd cut files, designed by The Cut Shoppe. I've used it before and I love it for a big bold title! I decided to go with a tone on tone look and stitched my title with yellow embroidery floss. I love how that looks!

The problem I often face with hand stitched layouts is how to embellish them. I find simple is the best in this case! I decided to keep all my embellishments on the striped part of the paper, together with my photo. I really didn't use much, I chose some wood veneers, clips, chipboard pieces, thickers and a journaling card and that was it! It ended up being a very quick layout (apart from the stitching!), but I needed to sit on it for months to be able to finish it! Sometimes you just need to come back to a layout with fresh eyes!

I hope I could inspire you today in one way or another! Thanks for stopping by and see you soon X