TUTORIAL TUESDAY - Guest Post, Jodie King

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Hi friends, it's Jodie here today and I'm so excited to bring you my first post as Guest Designer for APOCD's January Releases! I've used the Cupcake Kit and a January release Cut File & Brushes from the Digital Store.

Our DS is about to start Uni, and this weekend he moved out of home so that he can study in Brisbane. I wanted to create a layout to celebrate this incredibly exciting time for him, a time when the whole world just seems to open up and anything is possible.

The January Cupcake Kit has two gorgeous Double Scoop Gelatos, and I've used the Mango Gelato in three ways to create my background. Here's a quick step by step on how I've created it.

Start with a piece of white cardstock and prime it with Gesso. Priming allows the Gelatos to blend more easily over the surface and gives a smoother finish, and it also prevents the cardstock from curling and distorting quite as much.

Allow the Gesso to air dry. When dry apply the Gelato across the page where you want the most vibrant colour to be. As you can see you don't need to be super neat with this step at all.

Take a baby wipe and rub over the Gelato to blend the colour, this creates a watercolour effect. When you have blended where you'd like the most vibrant colour, go over the edges with a clean section of baby wipe for a lighter shade, blending back to the white cardstock.

To use your Gelato to create a droplet or splatter effect, put a very small amount of water into a glass or small container. Rub the Gelato in circles on the bottom of the container to release the colour into the water. This may take a few minutes, but the more you rub the more concentrated the colour becomes.

When you have your desired colour, use a small paintbrush to apply splatters to areas of your background.

The final element to our Gelato background is to use a background stamp for subtle visual texture.

For this technique you will need a background stamp, a Gelato and a spray bottle of water (I've used a background stamp from my stash).

Apply the Gelato directly to the stamp in random sections (to create an imperfect edge). It's okay to get a fair bit of colour onto the stamp as it will be a darker layer over the already-coloured background. Spritz the stamp with water and let it sit for a minute while the Gelato activates, then stamp it on the already coloured section of the background. Repeat to create a random pattern.

And here's the background with our three Gelato techniques.

I've pulled a lot of the brighter papers and embellishments from the kit to match the vibrant Mango Gelato background. These pennant die cuts from the My Mind’s Eye Jubilee mixed bag come together as a quick and easy banner.

I've cut the word "Celebrate" in black cardstock from the Clink Clink Cut Files and Brushes. It doubles as my title and also as part of my journalling. I was curious if the scripty font would cut cleanly on my Cameo and I'm super happy with how it turned out - a beautiful clean cut.

There are lots of woodgrain elements in this kit, some of my faves being the Studio Calico Heyday frame stickers and the Jillibean Soup woodgrain frames.

To finish the layout I've added some black ink splatters using Mr Huey's (from my stash) and a few of the metallic sequins from the kit.

Thanks for dropping by today!

Jodie

Gina Rodgers - Goodbye..x

Hi everyone, I'm signing off today with my very last layout as part of the APOCD design team.. what a fun time it's been creating with these gorgeous kits..a BIG BIG thank you to beautiful Raquel for everything!!.. I will definitely miss being a part of this little team, amongst such lovely and creative ladies in Ebony, Lisa and Nat.. I can't wait to see what the new team creates, I'm sure it's going to be amazing!..

So..on with the page which was created with the September Main kit.. I've done a mixed media background on the kraft card using gesso, mists, black ink, white pen and stamping.. I've used the striking b&w papers together to frame the photo along with some scraps, washi and a few buttons from my stash..

a piece of plain vellum helps add some softness and I've curled up one corner to add interest and texture..

the cute burlap bow completes the page along with some sequins and thread and cork sticker for the title...

thanks for having me!..goodbye and SCRAP ON!..
Gina xox

2 Pages from Gina

Hi everyone, I'm sharing a couple of pages today, created with the beautiful September Main Kit (now sold out).. On this page I've started with a simple watercolour background, then cut a strip of the cork paper and overlaid with the transparency..

an easy way to include texture on your page is to add a couple of folds to a strip of paper and fasten with staples.. I've also cut the sentiment from the barcode strip of paper..

the small buttons came from my stash, for an extra pop of colour..

My second page is a very simple design, I've framed the instagram photo with the striking script paper, contrasted with brights, then embellished with flair, sequins, thread, stickers and twine..

a couple of stamps and a journal sticker from my stash have been added too..

thanks for stopping by...happy scrapping!
Gina x

Designer Inspiration - Lisa Pate. Girly Grunge

Hello Everyone!!!

I'm back to share another project I put together with the August Main Kit.   The kit was full of super pretty colours and embellishments... BUT my 14 year old has morphed from the girliest little girl ... into a music loving, black wearing, combat boot lover kind of teen.  Which I LOVE. 

But the colours in the kit needed a little grunging up to suit her.

So I set to work.

Here is a few ideas on how to turn pretty papers into grungy goodness.

• Gesso.  I slathered it on my base cardstock as well as liberally brushed it over my papers after attaching them to my papers.  It's patchy, and lumpy and bumpy.  Perfect.
• Staples.  They are awesome to attach anything quickly, but they add a little more metal to a pretty page.
• Crumple, fold, tear.  Crumpling, folding, and tearing all add more texture.
• Splatter and spray.  You all have sprays or water colours to splash and spray around,  I used them both on my base cardstock and over the whole layout.
• Scribble it. Grab a pen or pencil and scribble.  A border, a design element (circles were used on my layout) or your journalling.
• Scratch it up.  Those gold alphas were just a little too shiny.  So I took my scissors to them and gave them a scratching up.

 Here is my layout, and lots of other images to show you how it came together.

 

Thanks for stopping by everyone.  I hope it inspires to you take papers and kits and make them suit your theme or personality.

Lisa

Designer Inspo ... Natalie May

 Happy Sunday peeps!

So I have created another page using the August Cupcake Kit!

Gee I have got a lot of totally different pages out of this kit!

So with this page I wanted to use the MME Die Cuts as the main embellishments!

Added a little Lindys Stamp Gang Mist using the water brush technique I used here.

And I'm done!

I love this page .. a new fave for me!

Have a great day

Natalie

Best fun with best friends....

 Hi again everyone!
I have a fun layout to share with you today and it features a fellow designer Nat!
We earlier this year along with Raquel and some other awesomely talented friends rented a holiday unit in Mount Gambier SA. SO much fun and these were just some crazy selfies on my phone! I have used the contents from the August cupcake kit which is now sold out.

Once again the masks were the main feature of my layout! I have used the scalloped edges with some texture paste to create some interest on my background cardstock.
I have also then used the ampersand mask with my black pen as a feature on my layout.

I have also used many of the patterned papers as strips and circles on this layout along with the stickers , alphas and sequins.

I have cut the title from one of the papers  too!!! 

I hope you are enjoying your kit!! til next time, Eb xx

Designer Inspiration - Gina Rodgers - Escape..

Hi everyone, I'm sharing a page today using a couple of cool APOCD products along with some items from my stash.. Firstly I've created the background using gesso, mists and watercolour, then layered a few paper scraps on top. I've used a frame from the Insta-Lovin wood veneer set and stapled straight through to attach the photo..

I've also used a flair along with some messy thread and buttons... finishing off with a title and stamping..

Thanks for stopping by, wishing you a fun and creative weekend ahead!

Gina x

Designer Inspiration - Gina Rodgers - Be Happy..

Happy Friday all, today I'm sharing a fun and quick page using the current main kit..

I've created an arty background by spraying the (double thickness) white card stock with a mist of water then spraying a pink and yellow mist over that.. and let it drip downwards..

a few layers of patterned paper behind the photo and I've cut out the phrases from the Chic Tags 'celebrate' paper.. to finish, I've embellished with glitter dots, sequins and chic tags acetate die-cuts..

the cherry flair is an easy way to incorporate a title too!

Thanks for looking

Gina x