Scrap Skills

Have you seen all the hexagons everywhere? I did a quick search for hexagons on Pinterest because I had noticed in the digital scrapbooking community that I was seeing a lot of them. They’re everywhere! My Pinterest search turned up hundreds of pins in everything from home décor to board games to quilting, and of course, there were dozens of scrapbook pages that used them. Chelle’s Creations has a great CU item in the market that has lots of hexagon patterns that are extremely versatile. The kit has 8 layered templates, with small and large sized hexagons, some with spaces, and some without. It even includes the lines and stitches that can be used to enhance the patterns. In addition to the PSD files, it includes PNG files of each pattern, which makes it easy for users of SBC+ to add to their pages. It truly should be a staple for your stash of supplies, especially considering how popular hexagons are right now. If there isn’t a hexagon in the kits you are using, you can clip your papers to the templates in Chelle’s CU Hexagon Layered Patterns. Chelle’s Creative Team has been playing with this item so that you can see what I mean.

Patty made a page to showcase her photos she took at a zoo recently. She used some of the layers of the hexagons and clipped papers from the Zoopendous kit to the layers. It makes a perfect background for her photos.

Ronnie also used the Hexagon patterns, but she took it a few steps further making a very intricate and interesting pattern. She made a  patterned paper with the Hexagons. To have even more hexagons, she used a template with hexagons which cut the Big City kit papers into hexagons thus having hexagons within hexagons.

Another CT member, Ophelia, used a template from Fiddle-Dee-Dee Designs to make her page that has a building theme. Hexagon shapes are perfect for this page, and she has filled some of the shapes with papers and some with her photos. Look at how well the road signs blend in with the geometric shapes on the page. Cheryl of Fiddle-Dee-DeeDesigns originally made this set of templates for her Facebook fans, but if you missed it on Facebook, you can find it in the market at Scrap Orchard. The image is linked. I hope you’ve found your inspiration here for getting your memories and precious photos preserved for future generations. Try using the popular hexagons, and see how easily they can be used to make a big visual impact.

I love banners, don’t you? For me, they evoke feelings of celebration and joy and accomplishment because in real life, I see banners at birthday parties, holiday celebrations, and even at the finish line of every race. Lots of Chelle’s digital scrapbooking kits come with banners in them, and Chelle even has a couple of kits available here and here to make your own banners from papers you already own. Today, Chelle’s Creative Team members want to show you some ways to use banners on your pages and creative ways to make your own banners.

First, Heather made a double page layout of her experience seeing Michelle Kwan inducted into the Hall of Fame. Notice how the banner is used on the right half of the layout to hold part of the title letters, and the banner shadowing is so realistic it appears to pop off the page.

Next, Patty used the banner in Chelle’s brand new Hole In One Collection to help frame the entire page for her photos of her favorite guys at the driving range.  Mary also used the same kit, but she used only one banner pennant for a journal spot to include the date on her layout. It highlights the date, and that is sometimes the most difficult thing to place on a page. Next, JennS used tickets from the Ticket to Ride kit and some stitches to make a banner across the bottom of her page in a border fashion. It is the perfect complement to her page. Finally, Jennifer also made a banner from stitches, but then she used word strips instead of banner pennants. It’s an original way to make the journaling fun to read, don’t you think?  Now that I’ve seen these awesome ideas from the team, I am inspired to use a banner on my next page, and if my kit doesn’t have a banner, I see there are many ways to make them and bring a fun and unique look to my creations.

Have you noticed word strips in your scrapbooking kits?  Are you stuck on ideas on how to use them?  Chelle’s Creative team put together some awesome layouts to show how to use these fun little additions to a kit.

Jami has this fantastic page using the strips with her clusters, scattered around the page.

Jan’s page has fun words describing her event going down the side of the page.

Kairyn used the strips in her vacation page to describe the vacation

What ways can you find to use those word strips to spice up your pages!?  Be sure to check out Chelle’s kits to see all the fun word strips that you can add to your layout.

Howdy Scrappers! Just hopping in to inspire you with some Easter goodness:
By Mary using Carrot Patch & an alpha from the Rainbow Blues Collection

By Jenn using the Toadally collection with the alpha from Carrot Patch

By Roxana using Carrot Patch

By Ophelia using Toadally & Carrot Patch

By Stephanie using Carrot Patch

And one by me using the new Gnome Sweet Gnome kit & the grapes from Grandma’s Fruits.

We’d love to see your Easter layouts!  Link us up in the comments!

Hello, Scrap Happy People!  Today we are sharing layouts from a few of Chelle’s Creative Team showing us how to use stitches in ways you may not have thought of or may have forgotten about.  Many, many digital scrapbooking kits have at least one stitch contained within them.  Stitches can add that extra little “umph!” to your layout, as well as be very useful for “tacking” items down.

Here is a layout from Kayla.  This is what she says about her layout and stitching in general:  “I took the x – x – x – x stitching from the Rainbow Collection and used the marquee tool to select an x stitch. Then, I copied the x stitch to it’s own layer and used it to tack down some of the layers on my layout. I love that you don’t have to use stitching as is on digi layouts. You can select the part you want and just use that or combine two different stitches for a whole new look. Like putting zigzag stitching on top of some straight stitching. It’s really fun… give it a try!” This is a double layout from Jenn.  She used parts from Ho Ho Ho, Chocolover, and the Rainbow Collection and a fabric overlay from Happy Scrap Girl for the BG.  She says of stitching, :  “I used stitching to hold paper down, photos and items like that.”This cute layout from Karen uses stitching in a mostly decorative way. She writes, “I used stitching in a bunch of different ways, around the circles, holding down the paper strip, and then I used a swirl stitch to make leaves. ” Credits: blue and orange flowers from The Carrot Patch, white flower from Blessings, green stitches from Something Fishy, orange stitching from Sunny Side Up, green swirl stitching from Holly Jolly,  all by Chelle’s CreationsHow have you used stitches in your layouts? Do these layouts give you any new ideas? Get going and use those ideas, experiment! Don’t forget to upload to Chelle’s Scrap Orchard Gallery so that we can see how you use stitches and so that we can show you some love for your hard work! Have a wonderful day!

Hello! I’m happy to be here today chatting with you about some fun and exciting ways that you can use ribbons on your pages. I know that it’s easy to get stuck in a rut and always use things in predictable ways. So I’m here to share some pages and some ideas for ways to get out of that rut and make your pages stand out! Let’s take a look at some pages from Chelle’s awesome CT:

Jennifer used ribbons on this layout using Gone Fishin as a striking focal point. She placed rows of them at a slant framing her photo.

Kayla used ribbons in this layout using Tutu Cute as a way to hang her photo cluster. It’s definitely too cute!

And Roxana used ribbons in this one with Kick It and Play the Game to fill up an empty corner. Sometimes you just don’t want all that extra space in a layout, so you can fill it up with some slanted ribbons.

So here are some ideas for using ribbons on pages:

use them as framing

hang things off them

fill up those corners

use them in clusters

split up your pages with them

having them peeking out from the edges

line your journaling with them

And there are so many more ways you can use them! See what you can come up with! We love to see those layouts in the gallery!