Designer Showcase: Dimension/Texture without Bulk

Happy Wednesday!  It's Cathy here with you today to bring you this weeks Designer Showcase. Do you love to add texture to your layouts? But not like all the bulk that goes with it?  We've got a few ideas to share with you that add yummy texture, but keep your layouts on the then side, able to fit nicely in your albums.

Cindy created this really sweet page with some neat tricks to give it dimension. She used tone-on-tone to add dimension to the circles, banner, star and journaling. Gives a really nice deep look without the bulk. Nice, huh?

Check out this two pager. Cindy created a really deep look and gave lots of texture to this page by using a few well coordinated colors. She repeated the pattern at both ends of the page which gives both the look of depth, as well as the feel of texture. There is some hand stitching that really gives nice texture too.  Cindy calls herself a "bulk-phobe" (so cute!), she loves the look of dimension, but not the hassle of bulky layouts. So she finds lots of ways to trim down her layouts. The title on this one is made from chipboard letters. But, Cindy peeled off the bottom layers of them to make them thinner.  So cool!

Doesn't this page by Nancy look so rich and deep? It makes me just want to reach out and touch it! Nancy has some buttons and brads on her page, which area always a great way to add dimension to a page.  The real depth to this page is accomplished through the layering of the papers.  The patterns and colors play together nicely, and the really cool part is the bit of shape that Nancy added to them, She trimmed a pennant edge to the papers. Great way to add detail, dimension and texture to a layout, while still keeping it skinny!

If you've been following our blog, you know that Vicky is well known for you bulky textured dimensional beauties. She even came up with a layout that has lots of detail and texture without a lot of bulk.  Vicky used doilies as the background of your design. They add so much to the page. She also used some thin chipboard and die cuts too. By repeating the pattern of the doilies on teh page, Vicky has created dimension and texture and set up a visual stimulating page!

Lesley has some great techniques for for making your page textures without bulk.  She used a punch to create a border which gives the page intricate detail and texture. She added another border on the left side of the photo mat and ran that through her Cuttlebug to emboss it to give added dimension. Lesley added great dimension and detail to her background paper. It started out white, then she blended Pan Pastels and added some Glimmer Mist. What a great way to add the feel of texture without any bulk.  The title and verson on her page were added using stamps - another great way to add the look of layers and dimension as well as the feel of varying textures with no bulk at all!


Another tip that Lesley shared is that although this page appears to be 5 layers of paper, she actually cut away the hidden parts of paper behind each layer. Making her finish page only 1 paper of thickness!  Clever idea!  Plus you can then use those scraps for other projects!

Sometimes you might have a piece of memorabilia that you want to add that is bulky.  Like I did on this page. I wanted to include the cozy wrap from my coffee.  To keep the page from being too bulky, I carefully pulled apart the cozy and spread it across the page as a large element.  I also included a used gift card. By not layering my elements too much on top of each other, I was able to keep the page from getting too bulky. Ohhh, I used to love coffee. I gave it up cold-turkey 18 months ago.  Glad I made this page before I quit that habit!

Another way to keep your pages skinny is to make hybrid pages. By hybrid, I mean a combination of digital and traditional paper scrapping. That's how I created this page.  The background of this page was created digitally. It includes the large photo at the top merged on to the digital paper on the bottom with the honeycombs, "paint" spray, journaling, smaller photo and date.  I then printed that out as one piece of paper. I layered that on a 12x12 Kraft paper.   The only "bulk" to this page is the pocket that I created for the lower right corner. I again designed that digitally and printed it so it is one piece of paper. I then glued 3 sides of it to the lower layer. I was able to stuff our tickets and wrist bands from this great exhibit into the pocket and still was able to place this layout inside a sleeve in my album. Sorry the photo is so wobbly. I was laid up following surgery when I finished this and actually took the photo while it was laying on my lap!

We would be remiss if we didn't mention digital scrapping as a way to accomplish dimension, and texture without bulk. I created this layout completely digitally.  I created a lot of layers on this page and used elements that have the look of rich grungy, and sharp textures.  The secret to getting this look digitally is playing with shadows.

We hope we've given you a few ideas on how to help your pages lose the bulk, but not the look!

Designer Showcase: Chipboard

Hello!  Welcome to another Designer Showcase Wednesday. Today we are sharing some projects using chipboard. Chipboard is a great way to add texture and dimension to your projects. You can get chipboard that is precut into all sorts of shapes, including alphanumeric.  Or you can get raw chipboard and cut it into shapes.

You can cover your chipboard with paper, ink it, paint it, mist it, or dress it up however you see fit.

You can also make your own chipboard.  By layering several pieces of recycled packaging, like a cereal box, you can make chipboard in the depth that you desire!

Let's take a look at the projects the Contributing Artists have shared today.

 This jaw-dropping beauty was made by Vicky. The fence, lamppost and frame create such a neat scene. The roses at the bottom and the vintage photo behind, really turn that frame into a window.

On this gorgeous page, Vicky has inked the flourishes, clock and title piece. The flourishes flow from the flowers like leaves. They look great on this page!

There is so much to drool over on this page by Heather!  She included the chipboard hearts and chipboard thickers in her title work. She misted the heart with metallic mist.  It gives a great sparkly effect.  I also adore the the black and white treatment of the photo.  It contrast so well with the Valentine pinks and reds of the accent papers.

Cindy shares a neat tip for the use of chipboard alphas on her page. She has used both the positive and negative to create her nifty title!  She also used a heart shaped brad to attached the chipboard house, making a really cute embellishment.

Pam shares 2 pages with us this week. In this first one, I really like the simplicity of the chipboard flowers and title work.  They really blend well with the super cool conversation bubbles.

On this second page, Pam uses a similar color scheme and more sweet chipboard accents. I love the glitter, polka dots and added color. I also really like the way she has accentuated the flow of her floral design by having her journal strips line up along the edge of it.

Chipboard is also great to use for making mini albums. In this first example, I had used an old license plate to create the cover for a mini album of a trip to the Jersey Shore. I cut chipboard to make the pages of the album.

This mini album was plain chipboard. I painted, inked and sparkled it up to create this piece for a friend having a new baby.

We hope these give you some ideas for using chipboard on your projects.

Some Easy Ways to Finish Chipboard

With the growing popularity of chipboard use on projects, I thought I would share some of my favorite ways to finish raw chipboard.

On the shells, I first applied snow writer by Deco Art with my finger for texture, and then added some soft pink and brown chalk ink around the edges.

Here I used Tim Holtz crackle paint and light brown chalk ink on the edges for definition.

Simply pink acrylic paint on the dress form - so easy!

I stained the clock with walnut ink for a vintage look. Gets really dark in the cracks - so awesome!

A little Tim Holtz distress ink and gold Stickles on this flourish.

This rustic look is simply Tim Holtz distress ink applied GENTLY, directly from the ink pad and leaving some spots bare.

Here is Glimmer Mist at it's best - saturated and shimmery.

Here is more Glimmer Mist in a gold and then bronze Stickles over top on the edges.

Two more great ways to finish chipboard are glazing for an epoxy look and stamping painted chipboard - can't wait to try these techniques out too so stay tuned!

Dusty Attic Chipboard shown in this post is available through my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/vickyalberto. Christmas chipboard will be available mid to end of October.

Turn Blah In To TA-DA!!

Many people look at raw chipboard and think 'this looks so blah, how do I use it?'  Well, I happen to like raw chipboard because you can coordinate it to anything your working on!   I recently got some raw chipboard butterflies in my kit from Sweet Peach Crop Shop.  These butterflies were amazing becuase they each had 2 layers so that you could really give them a unique look!  Today I wanted to share one of my butterfly transformation with you.

One of my favorite establishments this months Sweet Kit is the many chipboard butterflies!  I love that they are raw chipboard so you give them any look to coordinate with your layout.  Plus they fact that you get the second layer that goes over the top – great dimension and a unique look!
I am going to show you step by step how I transformed one of my butterflies from blah to ta-da!

 

Here is a base and top layer of a butterfly that coordinate.

 

First I am going to work on altering the base butterfly with these products.

 

I covered the butterfly with yellow ink, then a touch of green and topped it off with copper glimmer mist.

 

Now on to the top layer with these products.

 

First I covered the butterfly with my purple ink and then went back in and added a touch of yellow in to inside and outside edges.

 

I used my black ink with my swirly stamps to give this butterfly a pattern.

 

 Then a touch of glitter!

Now its ready for the layout!  So easy to make!  Now lets see how you can make your butterfly beautiful or ANY raw chipboard for that matter!

Happy Scrappin!

Glimmer Mist Mask

If you are like me you have a TON of raw chipboard in a verity of shapes, styles and sizes. Am I right?  Well I have a new use for that mound of raw chipboard!  I like to use mine as a 'mask' with glimmer mist on my page.

If you are not familar with a mask it is simply a template that you place on a paper and then spray your mist around it. Once you remove the mask the design of the mask is left on paper un-touched by the mist.

On this layout I selected a scrolly heart from my raw chipboard stash and then placed it first at the top right of the layout and misted a few times. Then I moved it down to the bottom right of my layout and misted a few more times.  Now I have 2 heart impressions on my layout! I also have a beautifully misted chipboard heart so I then added that to my layout! 

I hope this idea will help you use up your chipboard stash!