Creative World - DT layout for Alexandra Renke

Hello there crafty friends,

Today I'm stopping by to share a new layout I've created for the Alexandra Renke Design Team!

We had Creative World (for those of you who are not familiar with it, it's like Creativation just here in Europe. Apparently it's also much larger, it's really impossible to check everything even in 5 days if you ask me...) a month ago and since I had a few friends working the show, my boys and I came over to meet up with them! I also met a few people I haven't met before, Alexandra and a few of her DT girls, like Jana Maiwald-McCarthy! Since she took a couple of pictures, I decided to scrap one with some of Alexandra's beautiful papers!

I've made this type of layout a few times before, also cards (in fact I have one coming up in the next days), but I don't think I will ever get tired of it! I love the dimension and texture, and the fact that you can show off many different papers at the same time. 

I've used the following papers:

• Designpapier Frühling Blumen rosa-rot
• Designpapier Frühling Blumen hellgrau-orange
• Designpapier Frühlingvögel auf Ästen
• Designpapier Frühlingvögel Hintergrund
• Designpapier Frühling Blumenhintergrund rosa
• Designpapier Mimi helle rauchgrüne Streifen
• Designpapier Herbst wild Wellensittich rosa 

The white card stock I'm always using:

• Hauskollektion Unipapier Cremeweiß 200g 25er

I first made a template from a 12x12 heavy weight card stock, cut it apart, then drew each piece on patterned papers. This way I knew exactly what shape to cut from which paper. Then I glued them on a 12x12 white card stock. I only added glue in the middle of each shape, so I could bend up the edges later. I also stitched them down in the middle.

I die cut my title using the following alphabet die sets:

• Die Sans Serif Alphabet
• Die Serifen Alphabet

I die cut each letter 4 times and layered them up. I also die cut this floral shape I used as a journaling spot twice:

• Die Rahmen mit Blättern 

I added some tissue paper behind my photo (when you get a package from Alexandra, everything is packed into white tissue paper, which I always keep and use for matting my photos!), I tucked in a couple of tabs and wrapped some twine around it too. I hung two tassels that I made from the same papers as well as a butterfly charm (from a Paige Evans collection) from the twine, then I adhered all this to my background.

I wrote my journaling on the oval die cut shape, arranged this and the title on my background and once I was happy with the way they looked, I glued them down.

A few enamel dots finish off this layout. And on that note, have you seen all the new enamel dots Alexandra has in her shop?! Check them out, you need them all hehe!

That's it for today! I hope I could inspire you in one way or another!

Happy crafting!

X

Braunfels day trip - Mini album with the gorgeous new Paige Evans Bloom Street collection

Hey crafty friends,

I don't remember when I made a mini album last time! Oh wait, I think I do, it must have been the exploding box mini I made years ago. I also used Paige's collection for that one ha! Holy moly, that was end of 2017, I just checked. OMG, where does time go?! Here's a link to that post, if you're interested!

I love looking at minis, but making them is a whole different story! I'm not big on planning and I feel like minis require quite a lot of planning, if I want to add nice or clever details. Anyway, when I saw the tassels in Paige's new, Bloom Street collection, all I could think of: I NEED to make a mini haha! As luck would have it, we went on a day trip last Saturday, to a nearby castle we've never been to, so I had a million photos for a mini, yay!

I was planning to make all kinds of different shapes for the pages, but somewhere along the way I got lazy so I just kept a simple (mostly) tag format. But hey, at least I made a mini AND that also means I scrapped a lot of photos yay!

For the tag base I've used the Jumbo Tag die from The Stamp Market. It's the perfect size and it comes with the hole reinforcer die too, so you really get a nice, clean finish! You can see that in the detail shots down below. So, what I always do when I make this type of mini album: I use patterned papers on both side AND I also cut the same shape from a heavy weight card stock, which I then layer between the two patterned papers. This way my pages, in this case tags, are sturdy and I don't have to worry they get damaged from flipping through them. I also stitched them together so I can be sure everything stays in place :D.

For the butterflies on the front I've used the Schmetterling ohne Fühler dies from Alexandra Renke. I love that they cut an outline too, so many possibilities!

As you see, I kept most pages really simple, photo plus a couple of stickers or other embellies. Mostly I was worried I'd run out of embellishments on my very first Bloom Street project haha!

The tiny puffy alpha stickers are from Freckled Fawn, from several years ago. I have a love/hate relationship with them! I absolutely love the mixed handwritten font, the color, the texture, so basically everything about the way it looks. However...they don't stick...and there's no glue that would keep puffy stickers in place either (not that I've found and god knows I've tried many). Also, they are way too skinny to apply any glue and achieve a clean finish. So my only option is to stitch them down and hope they won't fall apart! You can see how they curl up, they just don't stick. It's a pity because they look absolutely amazing!

I used some tags and die cuts for my journaling throughout the album.

I've created several pockets for loose photos, because I printed something like 60 and I wasn't going to create 30+ pages...haha! One is a see through pocket I've made from the acetate sheet and patterned paper (I just stitched together two rectangles, leaving an opening on the side, big enough for the photos to go in but small enough so they don't fall out). Do you see the iridescent foil polka dots? So fun! 

Then there is this patterned paper tag with literally a pocket on it, that I stitched down on the sides and bottom for reinforcement.

Here's the back of the above pages:

The stitching is clearly not as nice as on the right side but I really don't mind.

A few more pages and pockets:

This wreath I had left from an upcoming project and didn't have the heart to throw it away! I actually had two, so I added some heavy weight card stock in between the two and stitched them together. The Sakura Blossoms die is from Spellbinders and will soon be available! I had the honor of creating cards for the packaging of the Destination Japan collection last summer, which is why I already have the dies :). This is my most favorite Spellbinders collection to date, be sure to check it out! I'll post my cards with these dies in a few weeks, watch this space!

The little heart die is part of the Büttenrand Herzen die set from Alexandra Renke.

Another pocket I've made, this one is made of 4 layers of paper: 2 heavy weight card stock tags on the inside, 1 patterned paper tag on the front and for the pack I engineered a longer tag from patterned paper, so I could fold it back on the front. So what I did was, using the tag die and a longer strip of paper, I partially die cut the sides and the top - you need to leave the bottom part of the die off your cutting plates. Then I used a circle die to partially die cut the other end of this strip. I hope that makes sense? 

I then just glued and stitched everything together, and added two brads and thread so I can close the pocket.

The back side of these pages:

Lots of iridescent foil details! Really hard to photograph :)

Once done with all my tags, I put them on a pink ring and added the tassel that is solely responsible for me making this whole album haha! Oh and a cute flower charm! Super love that new embellishment in this collection!

That's it guys! I hope you'll be inspired to get crafty now!

Thanks for stopping by! Should you have questions, just comment below and I'll get back to you!

Have a wonderful day!

X

Heights - DT layout for Alexandra Renke

Hi there friends,

Today I'm sharing my first official layout for the Alexandra Renke International Design Team! I'm so excited to be joining this amazing group of ladies!

On today's layout I decided to use the following two die sets (they happen to be my favorites hehe):

• Hexagon (Sechseck)
• Cherry Blossom (3 Kirschblüten)

All these dies are relatively small in size so they were perfect to use with the 12x12" paper that has all these small sections with different designs. Unfortunately it seems this particular paper is not available right now, but here is the 6x6 pad with the same colors and designs!

• Lena's Fall collection (Lena's Herbstkollektion)

These 6x6 papers are also available in the US, at Simon Stays Stamp! Great news, right?!

For my background I chose the subtle yellow striped paper from the Mimi's Stripes collection (it's more like a beige color actually):

• Mimi hellgelbe Streifen

You might have seen me use this paper in various colors, because I love it so much, it's so versatile!