Design Team Special Assignment Day

 Let me introduce you to a new weekly feature on our blog!  Each week one member of the Design Team will bring you a 'special assignment'.  This could be a tutorial, article, video, etc.  Be sure to join us here each Thursday to see what kind of inspiration the Design Team has cooked up!

First up is Michele.  Check out her fabulous paper tutorial below.....

Enhance your layout with paper

Paper is great.  It’s inexpensive and you can do so much with it! Most paper manufacturers give you two sides to a sheet and they usually match so that you can enhance your layout without much effort. There are so many ways of using paper and I am a fond believer that every inch of that paper can be used. Of course, I keep all of my leftovers! So here are 5 simple ways to enhance your layouts with paper...

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1. The quickest way to make paper ornaments is by using the ones that are already printed. Some paper collections offer matching printed items that can be cut out with scissors. A little inking, with Chalk-ink, around the edges gives depth and that’s it! You have ornaments that perfectly match your background.

2. When you have tiny pieces left, like this one which is roughly a half inch x 2 and a half inches:

Again, ink it to give it depth:

And cut it in half, hide one end under another paper and use your tiny pieces in your sketch, it gives it a little punch and helps make every layout unique, how many different ways can you place a 1 inch square piece on your layout?? I know I say this a lot, but... The sky’s the limit, that’s what I LOVE about scrapbooking!!

3.  Now if you have a piece that is an inch and a half wide x 3 inches long (This can be resized to fit your need!!), like this one:

At the back of your piece, mark every half inch with a pen on both top and bottom:

Then trace triangles as shown here:

Cut your triangles, make as many as you want, ink them with your Chalk-ink and add a string to make a little banner. Note here that you could just draw a line and place your triangles on it, use wool, whatever works... And also note that I did not ink two pieces on purpose; I wanted to show you the difference with and without inking the edges:

4.  If you don’t have the right colour paper to place on your layout, use a white piece. You can choose one that has a shiny feature on it to make it even more fun, I chose this polka-dotted one for this example:

You then spray it once or twice with a mister, here I used a «Cherry Ice» Smooch Spritz:

Ink your edges and you’ll find the ink doesn’t settle on the shiny part thus giving a little extra detail to your layout:

Paper can really add a little «funk» to your layouts!

5.  Now, if you have a SQUARE piece of scrap, here is something very simple to make, the pinwheel:

Trace lines on the back of your piece as shown on the picture, don’t go all the way to the center, you will need that center to hold your ornament. Cut on the lines with scissors:

Of course, ink for the finishing touch, and ink on both sides and that’s right! Ink in between, it will look better in the end:

Now, without actually folding, just bend four ends towards the middle (skip one in between each). Glue the ends in the center like this (note that you can use any glue, I personally use Glossy Accents for almost everything, we all have our favourites...   :)

Add a button, or a brad, or Stickles, a jewel, or anything you want to create a center:

And there is your finished little ornament:

Thanks for checking things out!  If you choose to use any of these fantastic techniques, please link up your projects.  We would love to come check them out!