April highlights ...

Time to highlight a layout (or two) which has caught our eye over the month. 

We love this beautiful layout from Judy Willey.

and also this wonderful page from Wendy O'Keeffe.

You still have a couple of 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.

Team Training for April ...

Welcome to our April 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.

Planner dividers by Karen Brierley

This year I succumbed to popular culture and bought myself a pretty planner.  A really nice Kikki K one.  (I am going to be more organised.  I am.  I hope.)  We're well into the year, and I'm still using it and loving it. So far, so good!  But I've discovered I don't have enough dividers to categorise  the information I want to keep in there. I know lots of people use mobile apps for this stuff, but there are some things I find easier to deal with on paper.

So I decided to make my own dividers.  It's super simple AND cost effective because I'm using up my old scrapbooking stash.  Here's what I did for my first one:

1>  I took one of the original dividers that came with the planner, and used it as a template.  I traced the design onto my chosen patterned paper, and cut it out.  (Does anyone know how just old this Cloud9 paper is??)  I also added some penwork around the edge, but that's just something I do. For this one, I added a strip of washi tape to cover up the product information strip, and it also helped to reinforce the edge.

2> Next, I added a little title to my divider.  This section of my planner will contain the J-girl's school timetable and extra-curricular activities so I can keep track of my taxi-service commitments. Another opportunity to use up some old stash (Arctic Frog alphabet stickers - and I even used two Z's!!)

3>  Here's what it looks like, inserted in the planner:

4>  I've written "JAZZ" on the tab since taking this photograph:

I enjoyed customising my planner, and I especially enjoyed using up some old stash in the process.  I hope I have inspired you to think differently about your old stash, and find new ways to use it.

Thanks Karen, what a terrific and useful way to use up some of your older supplies.

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.

Introducing our April guest ...

This month we welcome Natsuko Suzuki with her take on our inspiration. 

I love vintage style! I took the inspiration from the chic colors, flowers and lace. I used a picture of my daughter and her friend. They look so cute together !!

Hi, I'm Natsuko from Japan. I immediately fell in love with scrapbooking when I saw one of my friend's beautiful layout 7 years ago ! I have made so many layouts and albums ever since...and I never seem to get tired of it !! Most of my layouts include my loved ones, especially my daughter, who is now 10 years old. I love travelling, taking pictures, and communicating with people from all over the world. I don't have a particular style; I love both colorful and chic layouts and I'm not hesitant to try new techniques. It's such an honor to be the guest this month !! Tons of inspirations here. Thank you !!  

This is my blog: http://natsukoslittlecraftroom.blogspot.jp/

And here are two more of my favourite pages ...

Thank you for joining us as part of the team during April Natsuko!

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 and vintage theme.  

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.

March winners ...

Thank you to everyone who played along with us in March - we loved all your takes on our challenge.

We were working from this striking photograph with a monochromatic colour scheme of your choice as our monthly criteria ...

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 March is Shazza Bishop.

We would like to invite Buffy Burnside to guest with us in May and will send her a small prize for her efforts.

and our random draw winner is #6 Michiele Vargas

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 Natsuko,  our guest designer this month.

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. 

And then it was April ...

Welcome to April at Pixels and Paper where we are feeling a little nostalgic this month.  We have this rather lovely photograph for you and our theme (and I doubt anyone will be surprised here) is VINTAGE style.

Yes it is time to pull out that hoarded lace, rummage through the button jar, secure those hat pins, dust off the paper roses and bring forth those hidden shabby chic tendencies ...

CRITERIA - Vintage style

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

PHILLIS

I was inspired to use some dark colors and make a vintage page. I liked this photo of my daughter from her recent Ice Show. She wears a black dress with the background a winter white scene. I layered flowered background paper on top of black paper. Then used lots of tans, the white doilies, some black string and other embellishments.

LYNNE

I love creating vintage pages and was inspired by the woodgrain of the floor, the flowers, and the lace shawl as well as the whole feel of the photo! The photo is of my grandparents and my grandfather's sister(on the left) around 1920.

DEB

 I've gone with an art journal page this month. "Vintage" is not a style I'm particularly comfortable or familiar with, but I am happy with how this art journal spread turned out (something else I'm learning about!). I really liked the muted colours, the lace shawl and the flowers of the inspiration picture. I've tried to replicate the texture of the picture.

REBECCA

I was inspired by the sign. . .the photo is actually from a birth announcement card I received after this sweet little girl was born

DI

 I loved the inspiration photo for this month: the genteel atmosphere and soft vintage colours had me reaching for gauzes and laces. The colours I've used are soft and dusky pinks, creams and whites. The photo is a copy of one that was taken at my parent's wedding... December 31st, 1929. 

REGINA

 Vintage is my favourite style, so I had great fun doing this. I am very lucky to have a lot of family photos going back generations and I do treasure them all, but this one is really special. I have used 6X6 papers they are a great way to get a paper collection for a budget price. Maybe you could check your stash and use them to join in the challenge this month. Looking forward to your entries!

KAREN

I scrapped some photographs that I took in an old wares store in a local country town. I choose a spotted background like the inside of the chest in the photograph. The vintage elements are book pages, old lace, and torn papers.

JANE

Inspired by the muted Autumn tones in the photograph and the steamer truck.

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 April 30th.

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 March.