Quick Tips to Try by Joan Bronson

My Creative Scrapbook design team member Joan Bronson is up today with some tips featuring our October Album Kit!

Here's Joan:

This month I have a few quick tips for you to try with your layouts.

Turning an ordinary circle into a decorative die cut circle
Don’t have a die cutting machine but want the look of a decorative die cut?  If you have a corner punch you can achieve the same look.   First, cut out a circle in your desired size then use the corner punch to create a decorative punch, rotate the circle and punch again.  Continue punching until you’ve went around the circle.   You might like making each punch close together like I did or space it further apart for different look.

Check out the red decorative circle in my layout.



Altering decorated chipboard and more

I was so excited to try something new when I purchased my Viva Decor Inka Gold in orange about a year ago but once I got home with it I got scared off.  Now I can’t believe what I’ve been missing out on.  I finally gave it a try when I decided that as much as I loved the chipboard letters included in the kit needed more color on my layout.  The Inka Gold is a thick paste like substance with a beautiful shimmer.  To alter the letters I started by sanding them.  Once I sanded my letters, I used my fingers to paint them with the Inka Gold.  Since it is so thick it really covers the letters.  It also dries very quickly.  Once I finished the Inka Gold washed off my hands completely.  It was so easy.

Now that I used it once, I had to try it out in some other ways.  I used my fingers again to rub the tips of my burlap pedals in the same layout.

Lastly, I used the end of a paint brush (not the brush) to add speckles of orange to the Thankful layout.  Even on dark colored paper the Viva Decor Inka-Gold really shimmers.

Now I’m addicted!  I adding Viva Decor Inka-Gold in all colors to my wish list . 

Scrap your professional photos!

Do you include your professional photos in your scrapbook?  Once you replace them with an updated photo what do you do with them?  When my oldest was born I went overboard with the professional pictures.  Every month I had his photo taken at some photography store.  I loved them but quickly ran out of space for all of them.  Even though I wanted to include them in his scrapbook I was concerned about adhering them to the page.  What if I needed that photo again someday?  I hated the thought of tearing up a scrapbook page or worse -ruining the photo.  If you are like me and want to include your professional photos in your scrapbook but still be able to remove the photos I recommend using photo corner (I typically use clear photo corners) or for a fancier look, use a photo corner punch like I did in the Tino layout. The great thing about using an 8x10 photo on a layout is that it doesn’t take much to create the layout.  Just add a photo, a few embellishments, and your layout is finished. 

I hope you'll try out some of these techniques on your layouts too.  If you ever have any questions for me on how I did something in the gallery feel free to leave me a message on my blog www.scrappyjoan.blogspot.com

and I'll be happy to respond.

Joan

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Be sure to take a look at Joan's beautiful work in our Design Team Gallery!

We invite you to join us and experience the possibilities that our coordinated monthly kits offer. To purchase a kit, please visit our website, here.