What has caught our eye in February ...

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 lovely bright and happy page from Natsuko ...

and this super creative, well thought out page from Shazza.

You still have a few days in which to submit an entry - we'd love to see your interpretation of our challenge this month.

Team Training for February ...

Welcome to our February edition of Team Training brought to you this month by team member, Lynne Joncas.

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

TEXTURE PASTE - the homemade variety by Lynne Joncas

Hi there, if you've seen much of my work you'll notice that I LOVE to use texture paste, usually with stencils. I make my own paste and it's super-easy!

I don't measure my ingredients but start with about 4 Tbsp of baby powder and add 1 Tbsp of acrylic paint (whatever colour you want your texture paste to be) and about half a Tbsp of white glue (kids' school glue or any other kind works fine) Stir til it's combined; I like my paste fairly thick so it won't bleed under the stencils-I love a clean and crisp design. The stiffness of cake frosting is about right; you can add a more powder or paint until you get the consistency you want.

I use a palette knife like you'd use to spread frosting but a lot of people like to use an old plastic card (like a credit card or gift card) Place your stencil on the paper where you want your pattern and spread evenly scraping off any excess. You may want to hold the stencil down or tape it on the corner to keep it from shifting.

 Here I used coloured acrylic paint to tint the paste:

Substitute baking soda for baby powder for a rougher texture...that's what I did for these bricks:

I started out with a thinner paste and added some sand to it for extra texture on my starfish:

In a sealed container it will keep for a long time. I usually just make up a bit at a time because I often colour it but you can make a larger batch-just be sure it's well sealed! It dries quickly-which is great on your project but not so great if you leave sitting out for a while....take it from me-trying to chip hardened paste off of your dish is less than thrilling! It washes easily with warm soapy water though, and if you ever do forget to wash it out or cover it, soaking it for while in hot water will soften it enough for clean up.

 Here's a recent page I made using several different stencils:

I hope you found this helpful and that you'll try making your own texture paste - I would be lost without this wonderful concoction!!

Thanks Lynne, I can't wait to try this out.  This little trick will save me lots of money.

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.

Our February Guest ...

In February we welcome Sandy Ross as our guest designer with her wonderful layout based on our image for this month. 

I took my inspiration from the theme of Travel, and the colours from the photo, the red, white and blue nautical feel. The photos are from a trip to Frankenmuth, Michigan that my hubby & I took a couple of years ago.

Hi! I'm Sandy.  I live in a small village in Ontario, Canada. My husband and I have 3 grown children and two adorable grandsons. My family is my favourite subject to scrap. I have been crafty since I was a child. My Mom, Sister and I went to our first weekend scrapbooking retreat 6 years ago and have been hooked ever since. I don't have a particular "style"- I like to try it all!!! My other crafting passion is quilting. Thanks for the opportunity to guest design this month at Pixels and Paper.

My blog can be found at : http://itsafamilyaffairwithscrappynana.blogspot.ca/

Here are some more pages I have done ...

Thank you for being part of the team this month Sandy !

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.

January winners ...

Some really lovely entries for January so many thanks to those who played along with us.

We were working from this colourful photograph ...

CRITERIA was to use PAINT on your entry

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 January is Christel.

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

and our random draw winner is #8 AnnaU.

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, Sandy Ross.

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 - no other combining will be accepted.  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. 

And now it's February ...

This month we are going travelling using this image as your inspiration ...

CRITERIA is a travel theme.

Your page doesn't have to be about travel to exotic locations although it can be if you wish :)  Perhaps you would like to document a car trip to Grandma's or the route you take for school drop off each day.  Maybe you took a recent journey on a train or a ferry or packed the family into the car for a day trip to the beach or local tourist attraction.  

Let's see how our design team was inspired ...

PHILLIS

I was inspired by the map and the blue and red pins. I thought immediately of our summer cruise to Alaska and actually scrapped a photo from our stop at Victoria, Canada. I had a map from there and wanted to use this on my LO. I used a photo of my hubby and my teenagers and used lots of layers and gems to add some depth to my page

LYNNE

I was inspired by the map (my background paper has a map design) and the colours; The travel theme was perfect to showcase one of the photos sent to me by my son, who is attending university in Shanghai this year!

DEB

I've only travelled once in my life, and that was to the USA in June of 2014 with my bestie for our joint 40th's... So it was easy for me to create this page about Atlanta, GA. It was such a wonderful place! grin emoticon

REBECCA

I was inspired by the blues and whites and the roads 

smile emoticon The photos were taken last Christmas when we were driving through Jasper National Park on our way home from holidays.

REGINA

DI

The map from the inspiration photo inspired me to use a map from one of our favourite Australian holiday destinations as a focus for this month's layout. We love visiting Tasmania and this part of the state is great to explore and not far from Hobart.

KAREN

I love creating layouts to remember our family travels. This page is another to add to our 2015 road trip album. I cut up a map page, and used map marker flair to highlight the travel theme.

JANE 

Inspired by the map print and use of blue from the inspirational image to document part of our recent Pacific Ocean cruise.

NOW IT IS UP TO YOU ...

Whatever your inspiration we would love to see your take on this photograph - please share your work with us this month.

Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry to the link tool on the LEFT by 11.55pm on February 29th - yes it is a leap year!

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 January.