Altenew Academy Stamps Meet Scrapbooks: Create Your Own Patterned Paper

I’m taking several classes at once right now, but only one of them is live.  I’m taking a Stamps Meet Scrapbooks class.  I’ve taught a Stamping and Scrapping class for years.  I actually started out my paper crafting as a scrapbooker more years ago than I want to put in print!

I still find it fun and inspiring to take a class and get fresh ideas, tips and inspiration.  You can check out all the classes at Altenew Academy.  They have so many and they are all less that $10 to take.  I think that is one of the reasons we all enjoy watching crafting videos or organizing videos.  No matter what your skill level, seeing how someone else does something and getting some new tips and ideas is just fun!

The first lesson in this class involved creating your own background paper.  Now, I’ve done this many times before.  The difference is that I created them taking more care to line things up and add some details and I learned that the reason you should always stamp partial images around the edges is to make it look like you actually cut down a large piece of designer patterned paper.

Here is my final scrapbook page:

 

I LOVE this page!!  It was so much fun to create all the details.

I started by creating 4 background papers.  They were supposed to be 6 x 6″, but two of them are 5 x 6″ because that was just the size of the paper that I had sitting on my table and I knew I would cut them down at the end when I used them.

It really was quick and easy to create a 6 x 6″ background paper.

I used two stamp sets to create these background papers:  Altenew’s Build-A-Flower: Sakura Blossoms and Floral Shadow.  You will noticed that I’ve used that Floral Shadow stamp set a tremendous number of times over the last 2 months!  I just love that stamp set!!!

I used Just Green, Sweet Leaf, Minty Mint, Arctic Ice, Aqualicious, Pink Pearl, and Coral Bliss inks from Altenew.  Adding at least one layer to the images that had layers gives quite a bit of dimension to the papers.

My next step was to create my watercolor background on my 12 x 12″ scrapbook page.  I used a squish technique.  I took a window sheet and swished very watered down watercolors on top of it and then flipped it over on my paper and squished it down to transfer the paint to the paper.  I repeated this with several colors and I liked the effect.

I had never tried that on a scrapbook page before and it is a quick and easy background.

It’s looking kind of crazy right now, right?  It all works in the end though and that is what is so fun about it.  Plus, there is something totally freeing about squishing paint onto paper and having no idea how it will look until it dries.

I also created some little floral and leave elements using the same colors, some scrap paper and the coordinating die sets for the two stamp sets.

 

Finally, I had to select a photo or two.  This was a bit tougher.  My husband somehow upended my very organized photo file box and my pictures are in complete disarray!  What better way to tidy them up and than to pull one out and put it in a scrapbook?!

The first picture I pulled out was this picture of my father.  It’s a great picture of him in a straw hat that actually works perfectly for this floral theme.  I don’t know where it was taken.  I’m sure that he and Mom were visiting some scenic site when she snapped this photo.

Finally it was time to put the page together.  I cut down the background papers and played with my arrangement on the page until I found something I liked.

Here is a tip:  I snapped a picture of the layout with my phone so that when I lifted things to add adhesive, I could get them back into the spot I wanted them without too much fussing.

Once I got the papers the way I liked them, I stapled them together and then attached the whole mass to the scrapbook page.

I added the die cuts, some sketchy line details around my papers with the Copic Multiliner and some embellishments for sparkle.

My final step was to stamp a sentiment.  I selected one sentiment from the Sakura Blossom set and then a one line sentiment from the Beautiful Quotes set.  Since the picture, I’ve also added a date and noted that this is Dad.

 

The Smile Script die at the top of the page is a new release from Catherine Pooler’s collection.  The fabulous teal sparkle paper is from Simon Says Stamps.  I love that script die and that glitter paper was just the perfect color!

The final result truly makes me smile!!!

 

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Remember to embrace the imperfections!