Scraplifting but using your own style - by CathyS

This month you have no doubt noticed that we have all been scraplifting out teammates. Well I chose to scraplift Lisa-Marie but then added the twist of my own style to the page too:

I really admire Lisa-Marie's many layers that she always uses on her layouts. They are very distinctive and so effective. This is the layout I was inspired by:

My only problem though is that I don't very often scrap single photo layouts so needed to find a way to incorporate multi-photos onto a single photo scraplift. You will see those three small photos on the bottom right, they were added after I had finished most of the layout... more in line with my style and just helped with telling the silly story. I also hand-journalled on my layout after I had photographed the finished page, just so that I would have the story, but it would be too personal to share here.

So my challenge to you is not to be scared of scraplifting a layout, but always remember to somehow make it your own and true to your style too.

Happy scrapping till next time,

CathyS

Seeing out the old year with CathyS

Hi All,

Sure hope you have all had a truly blessed Christmas season. Thank you so much for following us faithfully each month and we hope we have inspired you with all our creations.

To wind out the year I created a scrap layout in keeping with the "old year / new year" theme seeing as we are at the end of 2018.

New Year's layouts don't always have to be made for the 1st of January.... sometimes you need to end the year off too. This layout also has loads of bright colours on it to celebrate the old year finishing.... not always a deary thing.

I used papers from Simple Stories and then added some oldish stickers from my stash which picked up on the colours. My title I cut with my Curio maching and added a few letter & number stickers for contrast.

The technique piece is done by adding three colours of distress ink to a craft sheet (I used pink, blue and green to pick up the colours from the paper). Spray the ink with water to form droplets and then dip the cardstock into it and let dry. Once adhered to the layout, add some contrast in yellow in, y applying the ink to a stencil, spritz with water and then stamp onto the layout in places. Leave to dry. The dots are stencilled in brown in various places on the layout.

From all of us here at Off the Rails we wish you a peaceful and prosperous 2019.

Till next time,

Scrapping about a recycled theme

Hi once again... good to be back and sharing some tips with you.

My layout is inspired by our "reuse" theme from our moodboard. You might ask where I reused anything on my page... well here's the low down for you:
1. The photos are of my son's art project in which he had to make an outfit from recycle stuff.
 - We made the waistcoat from a pair of pants
 - used old buttons and linked them with paperclips
 - made a paper bowtie
 - the fobwatch was a bedside clock that didn't work which he altered
 - his hat used to be a milk box and we covered it with foam and bling
2. The chipboard elements on my layout are all from my stash...leftovers from another kit.
3. My title is made from old rub-ons that I've had for years.... I even had to use a "3" for my "e" in the word Very.
4. The two black thread pieces were originally from gift bags if I remember... anyway they were off something else and fitted perfectly with this theme of reusing stash.

So though I only have a few items that are truly "recycled" on my page, the whole layout fits with the theme. Let the moodboard inspire you in whichever direction you need to go. Remember to share your work with us on the sidebar link every month.

Till next time...

Adding Details To Your Layout - by CathyS

We've been scrapping all month with the lovely moodboard theme of TRIBE. Have you been inspired to scrap your tribe yet?

Well I followed that theme with photos of my brother and family for my layout. I used four photos that tell the story of trying to get just one decent pic of everyone smiling... not so easy when you have an uncooperative little girl... we eventually got a fairly decent pic!

Here is how my layout came together:

The strip with the croc at the bottom of my layout was just the perfect sentiment for my page... it's been in my stash for YEARS!!! It's from a very old Crate Paper range. I let the colours in this strip (and my photos) lead me for the rest of the page.

Then there are lots of the little techniques that I used... all of these add to the detail and interest to the page:

1. Stamped circles
 I made my own stamp using foam - just cut three little circles and adhered them to an acrylic block. I stamped with Versafine Clair ink in Pinecone (Brown). After playing around with things I decided the brown was a bit toooooo dark so overstamped with Versafine Clair in Glamorous (Red) and Blue Belle (Blue). This definitely made a huge difference to my layout.

2. Tissue Paper
I added little strips of tissue paper at random points on the page... these are added by using a glue stick and putting the glue on the page and then laying the tissue paper over the glue.

3. Inking
Once the tissue paper was stuck, I used Brilliance Lightning Black to randomly stamped some text over the area. Then I used  Versafine Clair Morning Mist (grey) to stencil some tiny squares over the tissue paper. Lastly I splattered some Black All Purpose Ink over the same area. All these different ink applications work well together and just add some interest to the page.

4. Die cut Stars
I cut a bunch of different size stars with my nesting dies and once I was happy with them all I felt the layout needed just a few more. As I don't have a tiny star punch I turned to my dies again and found my doily die that has stars in the pattern. Well I just used leftover bits of paper and diecut a few tiny stars which then got scattered around the page.

5. Straws
I have a little jar on my table in which I keep a variety of paper straws. Adding three to my layout tied together just added a base on which everything rests.

The final few bits on my layout are a strip of red dot paper which looks like it runs behind the photos but is in fact just two pieces on either side. I layered a project life card on the right side which again picked up all the colours and sentiment of my layout. Lastly is the strip of film washi tape under the straws.

So there you have it... a layout with lots of little bits and pieces that make one cohesive end result. Hope these tips inspire you to scrap.

Till next time,

How to add extra photos to your layout - by Cathy S

Hi All,

It's good to be sharing again and showing you how to stretch your layouts with a fun little mini-album idea.

I was super inspired by our moodboard this month and chose to scrap some beach photos from a few years back. True to form, there are always more photos that can comfortably fit on a double page spread, so what are you to do? Well this is where the mini-album idea comes in.

You will see the flip flops on my left hand page... well actually the polka-dot one is a little accordian album. I don't like having bulky stuff on my layouts, so I like to make my mini-albums as flat as possible, yet not skimp on the space for photos.

Here you can see the album open:

The album is simply made with the width of a 12x12 cardstock by the height of my photos (plus a little space for matting) and then scored to fold accordian-style. The bottom flap is glued directly to my layout. I didn't embellish anything (though you could add rub-ons or stickers) and so it all folds nice and flat. I printed my photos small so that I could use more and still capture the moment.

On this layout, if I left off the mini-album, the flip-flops would just create an extension of the theme, so by turning one into an album, it just stretches the layout ever so slightly.

Why not give it a try and share with us what you make.

Till next time.
Cathy S