The Art of Clustering

I have so much love for this crew of mine.  We managed to get all the cousins (minus 1 who had to work), in one place, at one time, and it isn't even Christmas.

The Making Waves Collection by Fancy Pants Designs is all about water.  Perfect for pictures by the pool, and especially great to use when you have both genders in the photos.

I have always been a fan of clustering.  I love the way it frames photos and embellishments just perfectly.

The art of clustering lies in grouping together various sizes of the same shape.  It can also be done using different shapes but the shapes must compliment one another, and keep the eye moving.  You can see here the anchor is the largest piece, but the chain keeps your eye moving upward and the placement of each enamel dot also keeps the eye moving in the direction of my photo, the focal point of my layout.

See above, 3 layered pieces, different colours, different shapes, all facing the same direction, and surrounded by a second cluster of coordinating colours and sizes.  They all work together perfectly.

One last cluster, this one, linking the foam thicker title to the typed journaling along the bottom of the page.  Clusters work best when they are close to other elements of your layout, and not just floating out in empty space on your page.

I just love the Dear Lizzy Snapshots Thickers.  The puffy black font is perfect for adding pop to your page.

Looking to finish up some water themed photos from Summer?  Check out the Making Waves button mix, insta pack, and other element from the collection right here in the Paper Issues store.  Use my code and save yourself 20% off everything in your cart at checkout.

If you're more interested in the brand new goodies, they can be found right here on the shop's homepage. 

Happy crafting!

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Good Times September Sketch

We are showcasing layout created with the September sketch over on the Paper Issues blog today.  This is my take on it.

I used Amy Tangerine's Rise and Shine collection.  It's bright and fun just like the photo of these two monkeys.

Here is the original sketch based off a layout by the talented Lisa Dickinson for Elle's Studio.
Hop over to the blog for more inspiration using this sketch.  And link here up for your chance to win.

Thanks for popping in friends!

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Beach Babies

It's been awhile since I've had a chance to play with a Swag Bag, and the The July Swag Bag reminded me of how totally awesome they are.

This photo of my youngest two popped up in my Timehop feed a couple weeks ago, and it brought back so many warm and fuzzy memories of when my babies were babies, that I was compelled to scrap it again.  I can remember this day at the waterpark as clear as day.  It was so terribly hot, and we just had to get out and find some relief.  The girls were so busy having fun in the water that they were a little grumpy about having to stop and pose for me.

The July Swag bag is a glassine bag full of summer awesomeness.  This page came together in about 20 minutes.

The whale and the fishie flair were a perfect way to ground the layout, since the water theme is what the photo was all about.  The outdoors acrylic piece is from Color Cast Designs, a great little shop owned by a Paper Issues friend of ours.

Everything on this layout from the patterned paper pieces to the journaling card, to the chipboard frame, to the teeny tiny enamel dots, to the gorgeous gold glitter bow are all from the July Swag Bag.  My favourite little piece is the felt anchor PaperPop by Parker On The Porch.  If you have yet to try out a Swag Bag this is a great month to give it a go, and there are still a few left in the shop.

Here is is what's in store for you.

You can get your hands on one right here in the Paper Issues store.  Use code:SHERRI to save 20% off, in fact you can save 20% off of everything in your cart with my code.

Happy crafting friends! Pin It

Today

We have a brand new issue up on the Paper Issues blog today.  It's "All About The Face".

I decided to get a little introspective and use a selfie from earlier this summer and document my feelings about where I'm at emotionally at at this stage in my life.  I used the gold metal Tab Clips from the Crate Paper Poolside collection to represent my age.

It's All About The Face: macro photos, portraits, school pictures, team photos, selfies, funny faces, close ups, bad photos, vintage photos, IG photos, etc., use August printables
$20 PI gc
http://paperissues.blogspot.com/2015/08/new-issue-its-all-about-face.html

There is just something about most of the Crate Paper Collections that gets my mojo going.  Layouts are so easy to create when the papers and embellishments work together so nicely and are created using a colour palette that I naturally gravitate toward.

The layered embellishments and wood enamel pieces were perfect for clustering around my photos. 

 I hid some additional journaling that was a little more private on the tiny pink shipping tag.

Here I mixed in some stickers from the Poolside collection with a flair button from A Flair For Buttons.

We would love to have you link up with us on this issue.  It's not just selfies that would work for this issue either.  Hop over to the blog post to see all the other ways you can link up.  There is also a ton of inspiration there to jump start your mojo.  You could win yourself a $20 gift certificate to the Paper Issues store, just for linking up.

And if you're in the market for new goodies, be sure to check out the All New section of the shop.  Be sure to use my code at checkout to save yourself 20% off everything in your cart.

Happy Scrapping, and thank for stopping by today friends!

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Shades

This kid rates high in the sass department.  I kinda love it, since most of the time she is a serious, business first kind of girl.  She places high expectations on herself when it comes to school and dance.  She's a rule follower, and a very loyal friend.  But every once in a while we get to see her sassy side; whether it's a smirk on her face with a half wink, or a full out "too cool for school" pose like this one, she knows how to work it when she wants to.

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of faithandscraphappiness.blogspot.ca. I do receive financial compensation and products from American Crafts to develop certain blog posts, but all of the ideas and opinions are my own.

I used Pink Paislee's Citrus Bliss collection for this layout, mixing and matching different coordinating patterns in strip and pennant shapes to create the background.

You can still get your hands on much of this collection in the Paper Issues store here.  Use my code at check out and save yourself 20% off.

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Sunny Days

Meet Wilson, this guy stole our hearts the moment we laid eyes on him.

In a house teeming with females, my husband is happy that he is not the only male in the house, even if his partner is covered in hair and eats from a dish on the floor.

For someone who never thought she would own a pet, I sure like this little guy, and he has managed to make his way onto a number of pages in the family scrapbooks over the past 6 years.  Here, I used the fabulous boy themed Making Waves Collection (available in the Paper Issues store) to showcase this hilarious photo of him looking too cool for school in the shades. I'm all about spending more time creating and less time coordinating, and just love that Fancy Pants Designs collections come loaded with all my favourite things to use on a layout.  I never have to go digging through my stash to find journaling cards, buttons, or flair.

That fun cut file background was designed by our Fancy Pants Designs friend Ashley Horton, and can be found in the Cut Shoppe store.  I found that filling all the holes with coordinating patterned paper from the Making Waves collection took away from the main focus of my layout, and therefore chose to fill only a few along the left side of the layout.

Thanks for stopping by today friends, hope you're in for a fabulous week! Pin It

Vacation Faces

Summer Vacation could not have some soon enough for my girls.  The end of the school year is always such a whirlwind with the last Dance Competition of the year, and the Kickit Dance Recital following closing behind, all while final exams and projects are being written and presented.

 These two had fun the first day off hanging out, and walking to the corner store to get slushies.  Of course where you have slushies, you have coloured tongues.  And that equals a little photo op.

 I created this layout in 2 steps, first the background using Pink Paislee Atlas Collection.

I then created a photo cluster to place on top.  Here I've layered 2 cards from the Insta Kit pack.  I've set the acetate globe card directly over top of the navy card to use as my base.  Everything else including that fabulous cork, with gold fleck sentiment is layered on top of that.

I tucked a my shipping tag, filled with journaling behind my photo cluster and used this great chipboard piece to create a second cluster to balance out my layout.

Would you like to try your hand at replicating this layout?  Hop over to the Pink Paislee blog to see all the DT layouts shared during our month long Summer Series sessions.  You can find mine here.

Still looking to get your hands on this great collection.  Have a peek in the Paper Issues store.  Use code:SHERRI and you'll save 20% off at the same time.

Thank you for popping in today friends! Pin It