Simple Stories

Simple Basics--Masking with Stickers

Hello, today for Simple Basics, I decided to try out masking with our stickers. Now if you've ever tried masking with stickers, you know there's a small chance that it won't work for one of the following reasons:

1. The stickers won't come off the page after you've misted or painted without ripping in two.
2. The stickers will come off, but they'll rip the paper.

Ever had that happen to you?  I've had it happen plenty of times, but there's usually a way to make your mistakes work, so I still use the masking technique on my pages.

Well, I am very happy to report that Simple Stories knows how to make stickers AND paper that work marvelously for masking. Not only did my stickers not rip when I pulled them off the page, the paper held up as well. No rips or tears at all. That's good stuff. And a bonus? I used mist and the stickers have a slick surface so guess what? The mist isn't absorbed into the sticker which means I can use the stickers again if I quickly wipe the mist off the sticker! Double duty stickers! You've got to love that!

First, you have to preplan your page, knowing where you'd like to put your photo helps with the design. I wanted to use the swirl stickers from the Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers (#1102) in the Life Documented line as mask. I'm not typically a swirls kind of scrapper, but they mimicked the design in the bedspread, and I knew this would be a great way to use those stickers.  Notice I also used a sticker as a place holder for the journaling spot?

When I mist, I have a small box to protect my carpet or desk. Two sides are open so I can have flexibility with the size of project I'm misting. I save this box, can you tell I've used it a lot?

I misted over 100% Real Life (#1107) from the Life Documented line with Bonny Blue Mister Huey from Studio Calico, then quickly wiped the extra mist off the stickers and carefully removed them from the background. I was very impressed by how easily this went.

Then I finished the design of my page, adding the photos, some more stickers (I even reused the two swirls and title I used as masks!), some ribbons, and some bling. I finished off with my journaling and I now have a fancy and elegant layout, with a similar feel to the hotel that we were staying at in Canada.

The Best Day Ever sticker? That's actually a star that I cut into a square so it would better fit into my design. I loved the phrase, but the star didn't have the elegant feel the page did, so I just cut it down. Remember, you don't have to use things as they are, if you can make it work for you, alter it!

 

One more thing to note, I originally planned to have my title be simply the masked letters, but with all the dark wood and swirls, I decided to put the alphabet stickers back, but slightly above and to the left of the misted title. This is an easy way to add dimension to flat stickers.

Try using our stickers as masks, I only have good things to say about the results. That's a nice thing. 

Supplies used:

Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers (#1102) from Life Documented

Expressions Cardstock Stickers (#1103) from Life Documented

100% Real Life (#1107) from Life Documented

Bling from Prima

Bonny Blue Mister Huey from Studio Calico

 

 

Simple Style: RUFFLES!

 

 

I love spending a few minutes every day searching Pinterest for unique design ideas. Lately, I've noticed a trend: ruffles! I've found them adorning shirts, aprons, pillows, and curtains, and I love the look! I have added folded ruffles to my layouts, but they don't look quite like fabric due to the fact they are made out of, well paper. However after seeing all the fun possibilities lately, I decided to try if I could make my paper ruffles look more like the fabric ruffles I'm seeing all over the place.

Enter water. Today's project is something you can easily add to a layout, a card, or an altered item. It's a straight forward technique using water and your sewing machine. Do not be afraid, water and paper do mix in this case.

1. Cut some 1.25" strips of paper, then run one under water for a few seconds. The strip should be wet, but not sopping.

2. Use a scrap strip of paper as backing, then ruffle fold the wet strip and start sewing it to the scrap. Stitch for a few stitches, stop, scrunch again, repeat until you have the length of ruffle you'd like. I made mine 8.5" long to frame my photo. I ended up using two and a half strips to make this size of ruffle. Because the paper is wet, it can tear easily. Be gentle as you are working with it. If it tears, it's not the end of the world, just start ruffling over the torn spot, it's very forgiving.

3. Let the strip dry, this takes a few hours. While still wet, you can play with the look of the ruffle, making it stick up on the edges, after it dries, it retains the wet shape really nicely.

That's it. Very easy to add a trendy look to your next project. I used the 100 Days of Summer line, but this technique would work with any of the papers from Simple Stories.

Supply list:

Simple Stories:

100 Days of Summer Line (Sweet Memories and Simple Pleasures patterned papers, 12x12 Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers, 12x12 Expressions Cardstock Stickers )