Team Training for August ...

Welcome to our August edition of Team Training brought to you this month by team member, Karen Brierley.

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

Working with pizza mesh by Karen Brierley

Today I'd like to share a new "tool" that I found in my local dollar-store. (You may even have it in your kitchen already!)

Baking mesh, also sold as pizza mesh:

Simply cut off a piece in a size that is easy to handle, and suitable for the project sizes that you usually work with. 

I tested my new tool in three different ways:

1>  Stamp (with paint)

I applied paint to the mesh with a soft brush, and stamped directly onto cardstock. I used my fingers to press down onto the areas of the page I wanted to stamp.  It was easy to lift and reposition.

This is the finished layout:

I only used one colour, but you could achieve some totally different effects by using more colours, or by building up layers.

2> Stencil (with texture paste)

I applied tinted texture paste though the mesh using a wide palette knife:

The flexible mesh makes it easy to hold in place, and it's also very easy to position for small areas.

This is the finished layout:

3> Mask (with spray mist)

I started with a smaller art journal page, and overlayed the whole page with the mesh, then sprayed two different colours:

How I used it on my layout:

It's really fun and satisfying to find everyday items to experiment with mixed media techniques, especially when you're starting out.  I still consider myself a novice in this area, so I've been reluctant to spend up big on tools I might not use often. I hope I've inspired you to think outside the box a little, and try something new.

Thanks Karen,  guess where I am heading next time I am out shopping!

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.

Welcome to our August guest ...

This month we welcome Wendy O'Keefe as our guest designer with her delightful layout based on her interpretation of our image this month.  Christel (our GDT winner from July will join us next month).

I was inspired by the contrast between the bleak background and the bright colours of the umbrella. With this in mind, I scrapped some old skiing photos of my boys.  Their snow gear is brightly coloured, just like the umbrella in the inspirational picture, and it contrasts starkly with the black and white, snowy  background I created. I wanted the layout to look fairly simple, even though I added a lot to the background, so that the photos would stand out.

Hello, I’m Wendy and I live in Melbourne with my husband and two young adult (22 and 19) sons.

I was introduced to scrapbooking about 10 years ago, but I was only half-hearted about it and didn’t really follow through. Then about four years ago I discovered digital scrapbooking and, from then on, I’ve been slightly obsessed.  The discovery of digital scrapbooking also renewed my interest in traditional scrapbooking. Now I do digi, traditional and hybrid and I’ve been known to make the occasional card too.

My style changes constantly, depending on the subject matter. So, I guess you could say that I don’t have a particular style. I’ve always enjoyed doing family history research and gathering old family photos, so I do tend to do a lot of heritage/vintage layouts. I’m also inspired by my many travels and, of course, by my family and friends.

You can see more of my work on my blog http://scrapbookingandmixedmediabywendy.blogspot.com.au/

Here are some samples of some of my work...

Thank you so much for joining us this month Wendy - it was lovely to have you with us.

You have 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.  Thank you for your continued support.

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.

Don't forget our August challenge ...

... using this inspiration photograph.

Interpret this how you wish.  We'd love to see your entry.

Our July winners ...

Thank you to those who played along with us for our July challenge.  Some more lovely entries again last month. 

In July we were working from this photograph ...

and all wishing we could head for warmer climates :)

While two of our monthly prizes are 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 July is Dolly Bee (aka Mary) with this gorgeous page.  

We would like to ask Carolyn Johnson with this wonderful bright and cheery page to guest with us for September and will send her a small prize for her efforts.

and our random draw winner is #7 Kat

Ladies, please email me 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 Wendy O'Keefe, our guest designer this month with her take on our challenge image.  Our winner of the GDT spot last month, Christel was unable to join us in August due to vacation plans but will be along in September to inspire you.

And don't forget you have until the end off the month to play along with us with our challenge.  Just a quick reminder about combining challenges - we are happy for you to do this but ask that you only combine with two (2) additional challenges - so ours plus two (2) others please - so if you are on another DT and you use your layout for that DT submission you can then only enter ours plus one other challenge.   A full description of the Pixels and Papers rules can be found on the right side or under our Rules page at the top.

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

Here comes August ...

Ahhh August - it could be cold, it could be wet, it may even snow or might be fine and sunny or  blowing a gale - in fact it could well do this all in the one day !!  The most you can say about August is she is unpredictable!

So this month we thought we might put some colour into our last official month of winter.  I am sure you can be inspired by all or any of these bright and happy hews or cut right to the chase and scrap some of our recent unusual snow falls along the east coast or perhaps you have been happily heading up and down the official ski slopes enjoying the white stuff with family and friends.

Our team has some wonderful takes on the inspiration this month.  

We'd love to give a big warm welcome to our newest team member Anna Uhras (Sweden) who comes to join us here at Pixels and Paper this month.

ANNA

I was inspired by the snowy glistening path the person walked by. I have had a perfect photo of my youngest daughter walking in the snow. Also I was inspired by that colourful umbrella. The title says: " her own path". She often chooses her own way of doing things and I wrote about that in my journaling.

TONE-LILL

This gorgeous winter inspiration picture for August, made me look for some photos of my daughter from when we went skiing in Switzerland 2012. She was wearing a bright multi coloured ski jacket, just like the bright colours on the umbrella. 

Bring out your bright coloured papers, colours,inks, stamps and bling and join in on our Bright challenge this month :)

KAREN

I was inspired by the rainbow colours against the white background. I used plain white cardstock and some bright paper scraps to add splashes of colour to my layout.

LYNNE
 
 I did a canvas for this month's project. I was inspired by the idea of the person standing out in a black-and-white world and by the rainbow of colours on the umbrella!

REGINA

PHILLIS

 

I was drawn to the white of the snow background. That drew me to this photo of my son wearing his black suit coat on Prom night. I added the red to pull out the red in his flower.

JANE

I was drawn to the wintery background of the inspiration photo and decided to use some photos of my son's school trip to Perisher last winter. It was his first time seeing snow and trying out skiing so his week of cold was quite a highlight for him.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN ...

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

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

  I am happy for you to combine with two other challenges but the essence of the Pixels and Paper inspiration must be clear in your work. Combining with a sketch and technique/product challenge would be preferred. 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 the winners for July.