sassafras

august challenge from emily

Hello Sassfras friends! Emily here with the August challenge for you. School is starting this month in my neck of the woods and what better way to celebrate than to use your letters? I have a few sheets of Sassafras alphabets, I just can't help myself. They are the perfect size for making a longer title, not too big, not too little. Last month we asked you to mix up the lines, this month, send us your newly created layouts using at least three different Sassafras alphabets. It doesn't matter how you use them, just have at least three different one on your project.

Here is how it works. Using 90% Sassafras product, create a layout inspired by Emily's idea of mixing alphas. When you are done, email your entry to[email protected] as well as leave a comment on this post saying you entered. The winner of this months challenge will win a $50 box of Sassafras goodies!

DUE DATE: August 30, 9:00 p.m. EST

 

michelle's cha challenge

Hi, guys!

It's Michelle here with a summer-inspired color challenge for you, today! :)

When I'm looking for inspiration - or, perhaps, not even looking intentionally for it - it always seems to jump out at me, anyway. I'm always skimming magazines and noting color combinations or ooh-ing and aah-ing over a beautifully designed lookbook or website.

I peeked at Anthropologie and Ruche's lookbooks last week to get inspired for summer, and it struck me just how well these beautiful photos, sets, and outfits opitimize summer. The colors, the design - it's all there, already coordinated for you on a page - simply pull a few colors from the photos that call out to you, note the lines to use in your design, and you have an instant page idea!

Here are the images that inspired my summer-full page:

All images from Ruche and Anthropologie.

And here's the challenge page I made, with those in mind:

I was mostly inspired by the lovely muted-but-bright pops of color and the vintage feel of the photos, and my idea went really well with this summer photo I took last year and some Sunshine Broadcast (which was perfect!).

I challenge you to be inspired by the images/colors/design lines gathered above - add some ethereal beauty to your next page! I can't wait to see what you make!

marcy's cha challenge

Hello everyone!  Hope you're enjoying our challenges for you this week!

I'll be the first to admit that it's hard for me to think outside the box.  I usually start scrapbooking and glue stuff down.  Then before I know it my page is done and I didn't try something new!  So today I want to challenge you to use letter stickers for something other than a title.  Try using them more as a design element than an actual header.

For my page I decided to run written numbers across the bottom of my page.  (I was super lucky that they fit perfectly).  I highlighted my daughter's age by using a different color of alpha for "eleven".

Here are some close-ups:

Be sure to link your layouts back here to this post... and come back tomorrow for another challenge from Kimberly.

megan's cha challenge

Hi everyone and welcome to todays CHA Week Challenge! Today, I am going to focus on journaling.

It is the "who, what, where, & when" of a scrapbook page that is just as important as that beautiful photo you are focusing on.

Remember that years from now your loved ones will cherish seeing those photos, but they would also love to know who is in them. Or simply where the photo was taken.
 
With that, my challenge to you is to creat a layout that focuses on journaling.
Go ahead, write it down...every wonderful detail!
 
In my example, I knew I wanted the journaling to tell how we were flying over Chicago on our way home from Jamaica. Something no one would know unless I recorded that information.

 

 
I can't wait to see what you all come up with for this challenge!

Happy journaling everyone!

Megan

mark your calendar!

Next week we have some fun challenges planned while others are away at CHA. you don't want to miss the inspiration from the team. Or the prizes! Tune in on Tuesday for your first challenge.

Also thanks for all of the sketch sites. Sassafras blog readers are the best!

technique from emily

Emily on board today with a really basic technique. I love adding twine to my pages and thought I'd give you a quick lesson on how to use it for swirls and titles. All you need is some twine or other thin ribbon, some liquid adhesive, and if you're not sure of your freehanding abilities, a pencil to give you some direction. 

With your pencil, lightly draw some swirls, loops, and curves along your page. I like to start in one corner and work down to the other. I  try to vary the direction of my loops, a few to the right, one to the left, then back to the right. I like to vary the size of them as well. 

I always work on one small section at a time, otherwise your glue will dry before you get to the end of your swirl.  

Lightly press the twine into the glue lines. 

Move onto the next section, repeating these steps until you have your swirls, loops, and curls complete. 




You can follow the same technique to create a title like I did on my layout. I've noticed it works best when you make your words a larger size. 


 

Before long, you'll be doing this technique without the aid of a pencil marking, it's a fun way to add some whimsy to your layouts and cards.  

emily pitts 

technique from the team from gaelle

Hi everyone !

Today I'm proposing you a simple technique to create a cool mini album with squared coasters, masking tape, and the fabulous Indie Girl collection.

Take about 6 coasters, and cover them with printed papers. Then use some large masking tape to bind them all together. Put some tape between each page, and on the edge of the album.
Ink all the borders with a blue ink.

You can put a bit of Mod Podge on the covers to make them a bit shiny.
Now you just have to place your photos and embellishments to finish your cute mini album !

Hugs !
Gaëlle.

technique tuesday with kyoko

Hi everyone. My favorite technique is to "mask". Anything can be used as a mask. Die cuts, punched shapes, buttons, paper flowers...anything! Today I am sharing how to make a title using a mask which uses the "negative" from the mini alpha stickers.   

1. This is a sheet of used Journal Tag Stickers from Sassafras. Peel off the sticker and use the release paper. 

  2. Start by putting the negative of the alphabet sticker on it. 

 

 3. Punch out the circles (including the letters that are used for a title) from the sticker. 

 4. Put the circles on the base cardstock. 

  5. Spray three colors of mists (red, yellow and green) and remove the stickers. 

 

  6. Outline the title with a black pen. It is really simple technique. 

 

     

 

I have also used the negative from Sweet Treats Sticker as a mask.  I hope this inspires you.  Thank you for looking. Kyoko  

may challenge top 20

From Cheryl

From Stephanie

From Sabrina

From Sarah A

From Winnie

From Karen W

From Wendy

From Tina

From Shimelle

From Heather T

From Esther

 

From Megan A

From Kat

From Renee

From Cindy

 

From Chantelle

From Yara

 From Alexa

From Reiko

From Sarah G

technique tuesday with marcy

Hi everyone.

I'm going to start by saying that I don't consider myself to have a ton of techniques in my back pocket.  They're more little tips and tricks...

That said I want to share a little paper flower I made for this page.


I've often made the little paper lollies... you know the ones... they're just a stack of different sized circles on top of each other.  I wanted to see what kind of dimension I would get if I layered tissue paper in them as well. 

Start by cutting a series of different sizes of patterned paper and tissue paper.  I have 3-4 layers of each size tissue paper in each pile.  Don't worry if all your circles aren't perfect!  I cut mine crooked on purpose... it just adds to the final flower!

Stack 'em up.

The colors I chose were very beachy so I decided to sew a sand dollar image into the center.  If you don't want to do this you can just attach them with a large brad or a button.

For the sand dollar design I pierced the flower (and all its layers) with one hole in the center and five around that.

Now sew from the center out to all five points.

Fluff up the layers of the tissue paper.  The more layers of tissue paper you've included the "fluffier" the flower will be.




And here it is on the page.  Just a fun alternative to an all-paper flower. 

Give it a try!