Wonder … ful
It’s always a great cause for celebration when a new Crate Paper collections is released and WONDER is no exception.
I usually use small pieces of patterned paper and tend to buy the 6 x 6 pads but I couldn’t resist the 12 x 12 pad this time and I’m so glad I did because it is choc full of loveliness – all 48 pages 2 each of 24 designs. There are all 12 designs from the range but as they’re single sided , each side is featured on one side only making 24 in total . Because they’re single sided you don’t mind cutting into them as you’re not spoiling anything on the back and as there’s 2 of each there are loads to play with . They work out at just over 30p per sheet – a bargain .
This plus a pack of stickers , an ephemera pack and the chipboard shapes and you’re good to go . I reckon I could make dozens of layouts from just these items – there’s lots to go round. The colours manage to be muted but vibrant at the same time and will go with absolutely any photo which makes them very versatile.
I’ve been enjoying digging into my mountain of old photos of my boys as the theme is predominantly ( but not exclusively ) childhood .
For this first layout – T is for Tennis – I cut some polaroid frames from the Pebbles – Jen Hadfield Cottage Living – Polaroid Die Set mixing up the insides of the frame cut-outs to create 3 bases for a trio of photos. This is a super little die set – I find myself using it again and again.
The ephemera pack and stickers layer so easily that it’s a breeze to make embellishment clusters to bring everything together .
I rather wished I’d bought the Thickers too but as it happened – there are 2 sheets of ‘Bright Paper’ in the 12 x 12 pad so you can cut those up ( and yes , as there’s 2 you don’t need to feel guilty ! ) to make whatever title you like.
I used the same sheet of letters for the title of my next layout which features the sugared almond pastel hues of the house in Tenby. Just by chance I was leafing through old photos when I came across a photo of the boys in Tenby. It was crying out for use with another paper from the collection called Cheerful – a match made in heaven.
As I used 3 photos and the paper itself is busy and colourful , all the layout needed was a few strips of the houses cut from the patterned paper , a little bit of stamping, some puffy stickers of the same houses and my journalling. I used more letters cut from the paper called Bright and just layered it all up using foam dots.
How cute are those puffy stickers of the houses – I want to live in one !
I love the pared back look – probably my favourite style of scrapbooking . Sometimes less is more . That’s when the ephemera pack comes in handy. Just a plain sheet of white mounted on black to give a thin outline then mounted onto the reverse side of a paper called Dream from the Wonder collection – and that’s all you need. I printed my journalling onto printable vellum then cut it into a strip that straps around the photo so you can still see the photo underneath. The die-cuts from the Wonder ephemera pack are made to be clustered into beautiful little collages of images. I managed to sneak in a couple of stickers from the new Pinkfresh Studio range called Happy Things which complemented the colour scheme perfectly. I also cut a 3×4 card featuring the number 4 ( my son’s age when the photo was taken fortunately ! ) into a circle from the Dream paper and stamped around the perimeter. Now that’s when the 12 x 12 paper pad comes in handy . Had I had to cut into this for just this card I wouldn’t have been able to have used the reverse side as I did to mount the layout onto because you get 2 of every sheet – hurrah !
I love it when you can produce a completely different looking layout using exactly the same collection. This one is my preferred clean look / lots of white space / simple layout which seems to be my default.
Had to end with a cat layout – and what better way to sign off than with a LOLcats picture .
One of these days I’ll work out how to counter the bent line parallax phenomena …. also knows as trying to photograph your layouts without looking like you’ve just put away a whole bottle of wine ! That bottom line is straight as a die – honest ! It just looks like I haven’t mastered my guillotine yet .
Anyway , I’m a big fan of LOLcats – did you know there’a an app which will translate English into LOLcats speak ???
This layout just goes to show how versatile the Wonder collection is because it gives a completely different look in terms of the palette of colours. It teams beautifully with balck and gold and there’s a sheet of acetate cut-apart gold foiled tags in the collection which has perfect phrases and designs for just about every layout you could ever imagine. Better still, the gold doesn’t rub off as I’ve found with some other items from other manufacturers.
The base paper looks like the cardboard box our kitten is sitting in , it’s called My Dear Paper and on top of that is a sheet from Studio Calico’s Baxter Collection – 014 paper – you can’t see from the thumbnail on the site but it the bottom right corner is an adorable pair of cats ears peeping out above the phrase ‘Love Cats’ . I’ve framed that with another of the cut-aparts from the Wonder collection and added a few gold heart rub-ons from Becky Higgins Project Life Gold Foil rub-ons – love these.
There are a few others scattered around the page along with some Heidi Swapp – Hello Beautiful Planner – Gold Foil Chipboard Shapes.
…. and talking of kittens … just been offered this little sweetie ….
… should I say yes or would that turn me into an official ‘mad cat lady’ ?!
Miaow.
Crate Paper – Wonder – 12″ x 12″ Paper Pad
Crate Paper – Wonder – My Dear Paper
Pebbles – Jen Hadfield Cottage Living – Polaroid Die Set
Crate Paper – Wonder – Puffy Stickers
Crate Paper – Wonder – Die Cut Ephemera
Crate Paper – Wonder – 6″ x 12″ Journal & Title Stickers
Crate Paper – Wonder – 12″ x 12″ Chipboard Elements
Pinkfresh Studio – Happy Things – Studio Puffs Puffy Stickers
Becky Higgins – Project Life – Gold Foil Rub Ons
Heidi Swapp – Hello Beautiful Planner – Gold Foil Chipboard Shapes
