Tuesday 29 March 2016

What has caught our eye in March ...

At the end of each month this year we are going to showcase a layout (or two) which has caught our eye over the month. This submission may not necessarily end up being one of our actual winners - just an entry we think deserves special mention.


This month we love this beautiful layout from Shazza ...


and also this amazing collage from Trisha ...


You still have a few days in which to submit an entry and be in the running for some great prizes - we'd love to see your interpretation of our challenge this month.

Tuesday 22 March 2016

Team Training for March ...

Welcome to our March edition of Team Training brought to you this month by team member, Phillis Walrath.

Each month one of our team will inspire you with a little tutorial, tip or trick to help you in your scrapbooking pursuits.


What can you do with string?  by Phillis Walrath

I usually use string or embroidery floss on my pages as an accent and to add to some depth to my page.  I just lay it down in a swirly line and then staple it down, like I did in my March page.  Today I want to show you how you can use it to make an cardboard embellishment  have more pizazz or make it the color you want for you page.


I started with this cardboard flower that I have never used because the stripes on it didn't fit with my other designs on my pages.  I had it marked to go in the trash, when I thought about how I could transform it to a different color.


I used this green floss to cover up the flower.  I attached some adhesive to the back of the flower and then began twirling the green around the flower.


I continued covering the flower with the green string.  I applied some adhesive on the ends of the petals to help the green staring stay in place.


Once it was covered completely in green I weaved some of the string into the other string on the back of the flower.  Since the flower was very fat I applied it to my LO with adhesive dots 


Here is my finished layout.


Thanks Phillis, what a great way to use up some of your string stash.

Don't forget to have your entry in for our challenge this month.  Some lovely prizes on offer - one prize by vote, another completely by random draw and a guest designer spot with RAK to offer one lucky entrant.  You have until 11.55 on the final day of the month to have your submission linked.







Tuesday 15 March 2016

Say Hi to our March guest ...

In February we welcome Jenessa Franco with her take on our March inspiration. 


The heart in the coffee mug inspired me to layer hearts onto the circles.

Hi! My name is Jenessa, and I'm a misplaced Californian currently living in Dallas, Texas with my husband NoĆ©, our 7-year old son Santiago and our 5-year old daughter Paolina. I discovered scrapbooking in 1995, and I made my first album using construction paper and rubber cement...an absolute archival disaster! Fast forward to the present, and I've become quite passionate about this constantly evolving art form. Having always endeavored in arts & crafts such as drawing, painting and cross-stitching, scrapbooking (as well as other paper crafts) has been such a natural progression for me.  My husband has been incredibly supportive of my hobby obsession by allowing me to utilize most of our family room as my own personal crafting area, as well as hanging out with the kids when I need some creative therapy. Thanks so much for having me as a Guest Designer here at Pixels and Paper!

Blog link:


Here a a couple of my favourite pages ...



Thank you for joining us as part of the team during March Jenessa!

Everyone has until the end off the month to play along with our Pixels and Paper challenge.  We'd love to see how you are inspired by our photograph.  

Next week we have something special to share with you from a member of our design team.  Please call past on the 22nd for some Team Training.


Tuesday 8 March 2016

February winners ...

Thank you to everyone who played along with us in February - so many lovely layouts!

We were working from this wonderful photograph with a travel theme ...


While our main monthly prize is selected by creative team vote, one of our monthly prizes is completely done via random draw so anyone, regardless of style or years of experience can be a winner here on Pixels and Paper - you just need to have an entry in :)

Our MAIN winner for February is Tone.

We would like to invite Natsuko to guest with us in April and will send her a small prize for her efforts.

and our random draw winner is #8 Lili

Ladies, please email me @ jjjustjane@bigpond.com
 with your address and I will make sure your prize gets away to you.

Please pop back on the 15th when we introduce you to our guest designer this month, Jenessa Franco.

And don't forget you have until the end off the month to play along with us with our challenge.  You may combine with a sketch challenge only.

We'd love to see how you are inspired by our photograph this month. 


Tuesday 1 March 2016

Welcome to March ...

and the beginning of cooler days and sleep worthy nights. I personally love this time of year as we leave behind the hot and sometimes humid days of summer.

This month we hope to inspire you with this photograph and ask you to create an entry in a MONO CHROMATIC colour scheme (using a single colour selection in different shades). It doesn't have to be brown - you can use any colour base you like.


As to the actual photograph, perhaps this inspires you to document a favourite drink or a special meal you shared with family or friends.  Maybe you have some cute pics of your children indulging in baby cappuccinos or with frothy milk moustaches.  Perhaps you are drawn to the cup and saucer and remember a time in your past when china was an important element or maybe you just like the image of a heart and wish to use these on your page.  Whatever it is we would love to see your take on our challenge this month.



CRITERIA - A monochromatic colour scheme (can be any colour).


Our team have some amazing layouts to show you ...


KAREN
I do love hot drinks of all kinds, and I don't need much encouragement to take photographs when we go out for a special treat! I used tones of mustard in my layout.

DEB
 I was inspired by the idea of displaying a black and white photo on a black and white monochromatic page, and using grey tones too. Obviously the heart shape needed to make an appearance as well.

REBECCA
I was inspired by the heart and the concept of coffee (because after a day at work I needed coffee to stay awake for late night story time).

DI
This month, I used the brown tones from the inspiration photo to make a page showing one of the spectacular limestone creations at Hastings Caves in south-eastern Tasmania. The inked edges also had a reference to the coffee. The colour used was "Ground Espresso"! I also used this to colour the pieces of gauze and the stamped and stencilled base card stock.

REGINA
 I chose the peach tones simply because I had more of that in my stash! My g.d. selfie, not a fan of selfies, but thought I'd better scrap it or else I'd be in trouble with her!

LYNNE
I was inspired by the mug and the hearts...I took a photo of our mugs when my bestie was over for coffee the other day and this page is a tribute to our friendship.

PHILLIS
I was first inspired by the heart and the coffee. My daughter loves her iced coffee, chai tea, and other fancy drinks. I found this photo of her and my husband when they were using free Wi Fi, and drinking coffee and chai. We were on land from our Alaskan Cruise and the free Wi Fi made them both very happy. It was available when we bought drinks from a small coffee shop in Ketchikan, Alaska.

JANE
Inspired by the drink theme and use of hearts.

NOW IT IS UP TO YOU ...


Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry to the link tool on the LEFT by 11.55pm on March 31st.

You are welcome to submit traditional paper layouts, art journals, divided page protectors, smash books, a mixed media canvas. Digital entries are welcomed and encouraged.  All entries must be new for this challenge and no back-linking please.

  You may combine with a sketch challenge only - no other combining will be accepted. Please include our inspirational picture as well as provide a link back to Pixels and Paper on your blog post and don't forget to tell us how you were inspired. International submissions are welcome.

This year we will have two main prize packs - one will be selected by Creative Team vote and the other purely by random draw - so anyone could be a winner, no matter your style or your level of experience.  All these prizes will be available to anyone, no matter your country of residence.  We will also offer one entrant a chance to guest with us for the following month and they will also receive a small prize.


Please come back on the 8th when we will announce our winners for February.