Sweet Tiny Butterfly | CSI Case File No. 432

I made this layout for CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration's first April scrapbooking challenge. I have to say I was a little nervous about the red with the pastel colors (see Case File below), but I decided to embrace the red, and I really love how this turned out!

Here are the Case File and Clues. I usually choose the images, but this time, I invited my design team to select the images. Cassie chose this image and I made the clues, so it was my fault, LOL, that the red was a part of the palette, but like I said, I'm happy for the red!

I used the basic color scheme and most of the Evidence clues (my favorite part--I always like to try to get them all on my page. So fun going through my stash!): solid background, polka dots, spring-themed items, flowers, butterflies, strawberries, ribbon, bows, bicycle, sprinkle something, watercolor, metal, and circles.

Here are some details. I looked through my photos for some spring pictures that would go with the palette and came up with these three sweet pictures. I sometimes find multi-photo layouts a challenge in terms of composing the design. I decided three horizontal strips would be the way to go. I searched my paper collections for the colors and nothing really had all the colors, but the New Day collection from Echo Park had pink, green, and yellow, and I decided I could draw from another collection for the aqua.

I tore strips of paper (polka dots were one of the clues) to spread across the page in three sections on a solid white background (another clue). The layout was already looking crowded and I had to think of where to put the title. I settled on making a 3-word title that I could spread down the page.

Once I had the papers in place, I was still left with what to do with red. I couldn't quite find a good red paper to match, so that's when I thought of using a film-strip die in red. Once I made that decision, I could start adhering things and looking for embellishments. If you look closely, you can see I used the packaging technique with some pink watercolor (a clue). I did some stamping in the background for the circles clue with the Bramble Fox Doodles stamp and sprinkled (another clue) some pink splatters. I found a bicycle and some flowers on the Echo Park sticker sheet, two more clues. I added some ribbon (another clue) that had green and aqua from the colors. I added a bow to the basket on the bike (two more clus). The Bramble Fox heart wasn't a clue, but I always add hearts to the pages I give away, and it added more red. Metal was a clue, so I added some silver brads to the bike tires.

Butterflies were a clue, so I added a butterfly charm to this jar of flowers and punched some butterflies and added some metal dots to their centers. Strawberries or other fruit was a clue and I thought maybe that would be a stupid addition to my page, but I thought, what the heck, let me fussy-cut some from a paper in my stash and see how they look, and I really like how they look on my page--a perfect bit of whimsy.

Here's one last close-up. These plastic letters are from Heidi Swapp and the packaging says they're from 2005! That's almost 20 years they've been in my stashing waiting for me to make this layout. See, this is why I never purge!

If you've read this far, I hope you'll come play with us at CSI and would you please jot a note in the comments that you've read this post? Just curious to see if scrappers are still reading blogs... I feel like blogs are sort of the old-school version of process videos. I'd love to create videos, but this page literally took me all day to make!

Better Together | Bramble Fox

It's my turn on the Bramble Fox blog today. Here's my post:

Hey, Bramble Fox friends! Today I'm sharing a delightful layout using products from the June Fox Box, plus a whole bunch of other goodies you can find in the shop. (Please remember that since I scrap 8 x 8, the products look a bit larger on my layouts--but of Bramble Fox products are a perfect fit for any size project, from cards to 12 x 12 layouts, and beyond.)

The New Day collection from Echo Park Paper goes really well with the Bramble Fox products and complements the photos.

How gorgeous is the title Perspextive from the Fox Box? That beautiful font and the rich raspberry color are divine! That was my starting point, and I picked these delightful pictures of my friend and her daughter. I used some coral pink stamp ink with the Brick Wall Fox Cut Stencil #49 to mimic the brick path in the pictures. The phrases and butterflies were cut from the Paper Snips from the June Fox Box, but you can also buy them in the shop--Butterflies & Blooms - Paper Snips 027.

I layered the photos over top of a film strip I made with blue cardstock and Fox Dies #14 | Film Strip. I find myself using this awesome die so much because it's versatile and neutral, I can make it in any color, and it just adds an interesting layer. The large flowers I used are also from the Paper Snips, and the leaves were made with green distress ink and the Leaves Fox Cut Stencil #23. I stamped them on white paper, fussy cut them, pinched them with my fingers for added dimension, and drew some veins with a fine-tipped pen. Another very versatile product that I highly recommend!

There's a sweet raspberry heart that coordinates with the title in the Fox Box, and I added it to a tag ('cuz you know I always add a heart to the layouts I give away). Both tags were created with Fox Dies #6 | Tags, which I use on the majority of my layouts. They just add that extra little something anywhere on any page. You can see I topped some of the flowers with some brads that have been in my stash for eons. I was looking for a bit of yellow to go with my flower border. By the way, I used my Torn Edge Border Template, an indispensable tool for getting that perfect torn edge that I have a hard time achieving on my own.

Speaking of indispensable tools, the Blending Brushes in the shop are so perfect for detail work, like making the trails for my butterflies, which I made with the Fox Cut Stencil #67 | Butterfly Trails. These blending brushes are smaller than regular blending brushes, so perfect for smaller stencils or details on any stencil. I used blue ink for the trail I made on the white cardstock and white embossing powder to make the trail visible on the dark blue paper.

The Bramble Fox Products are all so beautiful, versatile, and of amazing quality. I hope I've given you a few good ideas today! Please do share what you create by tagging us on Instagram and adding your creations to our Bramble Fox Friends Facebook Group. We love to see what you make with our products!

Until next time, have fun scrapping!

Cozy Days | Bramble Fox

Yesterday I was up on the Bramble Fox blog. Here's my post.

Hey, Bramble Fox fans! Today I'm sharing a layout using the November Fox Box Plus. You may have seen it in the FoxZine if you're a subscriber, but I thought I'd give some more details about how this layout came together--and don't worry if you didn't receive the Fox Box, all of the items I used on my page are now in the shop. I focused on the purples from the Fox Box to highlight the plums and purples in my photos, and complemented them with the oranges and golds of a classic autumn palette. The Cozy Days title and accompanying lantern are the star of the show here.

Please note that I scrap 8 x 8, so the products look a bit larger on my layouts.

I started with the beautiful Fox Cut Stencil #50 | Skinny Chevron, adding color to the background as a backdrop for my photos, using two colors of Tim Holtz Distress ink and a blending brush. I searched my fall paper collections to see if I could find any that had purples, and I found The Four Seasons Autumn collection by P13, and I fussy-cut some of the florals from the papers. The "Noteworthy" label is from Paper Snips 014 | Cozy Autumn.

Stencils are such a great product to have in my stash--they can be used in so many ways! Besides using one stencil for a background, I used Fox Cut Stencil #47 | Leaves & Branches for embellishments. I used four different colors of Tim Holtz Distress Ink and a blending brush on scraps of white paper, added veins with a black fine-tip pen, and fussy cut them. Using my fingers to bend the edges gave the leaves a bit of dimension. The great part about using a stencil for embellishments is I can customize them with any colors to suit my layout, and a stencil will never be used up so I can make infinite layouts with one stencil! The rust fall phrase strips are from Paper Snips 014 | Cozy Days and the "autumn leaves" phrase is from Paper Snips 011 | Autumn.

How sweet is this lantern? You get several in the pack with the Cozy Days title Perspextive. I used yellow vellum behind the lantern and elevated it with adhesive foam. I placed one of the leaves partially behind the lantern so you could see that it is sheer. A piece of purple jute adds an extra texture and a lovely detail.

The matte finish on these Perspextives is so pretty, and I just adore the mix of fonts on this title piece. I fussy cut the "Autumn Days" from the Paper Snips 014 | Cozy Days as a subtitle, adding another shade of purple. And of course I couldn't forget to add a heart from the Hearts Special Edition pack to my page since I do that with all the pages I give away. A few Nuvo Drops around the embellishment clusters were a finishing touch, and when I finished, I felt like my page still needed something to tie it all together, and I searched my paper stash for a purple paper I could use to frame the whole page. This piece of paper from My Mind's Eye's Bohemia collection has been in my stash for eons and it was perfect here.

Even though winter is upon us, there are still so many beautiful pieces from the Autumn Collection still in the shop to scrap all those fall photos you took. I hope I've given you some ideas and inspiration for using them!

Please make sure to tag us on Instagram and share your work in the Bramble Fox Friends Facebook group. We love to see what you make with our products!

Until next time, have fun scrapping!