Chantalle McDaniel's Blog Posts

10.17.16

Howdy!  Layle here with you today.  We have a fun week planned for you - a Simple Stories & JustNick Digital Cut Files Team Up!

Both design teams have swapped 'products' and will be sharing on our blogs all week long for some great inspiration!  Let me tell you, if you fancy digital cut files then you're in for a treat!  Nicole Nowosad, creator of JustNick, is super talented and has a fabulous library of cut files available! 

Today creative team member Chantalle McDaniel joins us with two Hello Fall layouts -

Hello Simple Stories fans and welcome back to the blog today for a special JustNick swap. I’m a big fan of Nicole’s designs and am very happy to be able to work with her cut files again!

I’ve created two projects to share with you, both using the beautiful new Hello Fall collection and the JustNick Stems 2 and Rustic Leaf Frame cut files.

This page captures a little family escape after my DD was ill with a week-long bout of fevers a couple of years ago. Inspired by the beautiful colour palette in the Hello Fall line, I have used a touch of mixed media to add a bit of rustic charm to my page.

Unfortunately, capturing the true sheen of metallic paint on camera continues to elude me! I have used some copper and bronze acrylic paints with a brayer on some heavy duty cardstock.

I really like the way these stems are arranged in a grid pattern for display. It definately influenced the way I laid them out after I had cut them on the Silhouette Cameo. TIP: To save time, I trimmed my chosen sheets from a Hello Fall 6x6 pad down a bit and laid a piece in each of the four corners of my cutting mat. This way, I was able to cut four different shapes in one run.

 
These awesome large letters are from a pack of Hello Fall Chipboard Stickers. I’ve left out the ‘F’ so it just spells ‘all’. (In Australia we use Autumn more commonly, so I will keep my big ‘F’ for another project.) Behind the lettering, you can see a snip of the die cuts and metallic paint peeking through. 
 
 
To complete my title, I have used the word ‘together’, which is a chipboard sticker from an older 'We are Family’ collection. It was just the right phrase, size and colour. Lucky me!
 
 
To document the day, I’ve run some white cardstock through my typewriter and then stitched the journalling to my page using a sewing machine.
 
 
You’ll notice a few more details behind that journalling… some fine golden thread and some crackle texture paste which has been applied through a botanically themed stencil. I just love the way one can see a bit of the bottom layers through the fine cracks.
 
 
These Stem cut files are so versatile. Change up the colours and you’ve got spring/summer foliage or add a touch of glitter for a festive touch.
 

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My second page captures the moment my Sister’s dog met a hedgehog for the first time. I sincerely hope that one day, I too, will get to meet one of these cuties in real life!

For this page, I have used the Just Nick Rustic Frame cut file with some white cardstock. I’ve rotated it slightly and snipped it in half, arranging each half on opposite sides of the page.

Before I adhered my cut files down, I ran a sheet of Hello Fall ‘Piles of Smiles’ through my typewriter to add some notes directly to my page. As a guide, I drew some light pencil marks beforehand, so I would knew exactly where to type.

I then adhered the cut file frame and built my other elements around them.

It was so only after I was pretty much done that I realised the page was missing something… a few splashes of colour applied with a water brush pen and some watercolour paints really tied all the elements together and made the white cut files feel less stark.

There are few finer details on this page like fine mist work and some mini stickers. I created these little DIY numbers by using a punch and some Hello Fall Stickers. 

Being self adhesive, as soon as I had peeled away the backing paper, these guys were ready to go!

I just adore this little prickly fellow!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Until next time.

Head over to the JustNick blog & check out what her team has created with our products!

Love what you've seen so far & want to see more?  You can find JustNick here - 

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Check back in tomorrow for great inspiration using JustNick cut files!

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Supplies
10.01.16
Hi there and thank you for stopping by today, as I share something a little leafy with you.
 
The super sweet characters and versatile neutrals in the Hello Fall collection have stolen my heart. Perfectly paired with some warm and cozy shots of a (then very little) niece of mine, it makes me wish our Autumns were a bit more dramatic here in sunny Queensland!
 
 
Over an awesome woodgrain print, I have used a cut file created by a friend of mine as a starting point for my page design. I love the way the floral cut matched so perfectly with the swirly Hello Fall blooms. It also gave me lots of open areas where I could tuck bits and pieces.
 
 
The neutral base also allowed me build up lots of interest in and around the die cut. These simple leaf illustrations from a sheet of Harvest Season must be one of my favourites. Repetitive shapes always make me happy - A sheet of this paper would give you a pile of embellishments! What’s even more fun about this paper is that it’s got both earthy tones as well as pops of colour, like these red and blue acorn shapes. How cute are the miniature floral prints on them!
 
 
The leaf shapes are balanced out with some smaller details like some enamel dots and a few speckles of coordinating mist. 
 
 
You’ll notice the second photo has been printed off inside a circular shape. I created a circular photo box with a very fine stroke, before printing off. The stroke gives me a great guide so I can cut out the shape by hand. Slow and steady is the way, hehe. It also echoes the large circular shape which ties the elements together.
Far too nice to throw out, I’ve also used the left overs from the die cut here and there, to bring in a bit more of that pretty red shade. I’ve also raised a number of elements up with foam tape. On a busy page like this, I think it’s important to add dimension, otherwise things will start to all blend in to each other. It’s also important to remember to vary the sizes of elements to create balance. If all the leaves were the same size and shape, it would overwhelm the design. Some printed phrases and word labels add a nice amount of chatter to finish off my layout.
 
 
Thank you so much for joining me today.  Until next time.. Happy creating!

 

Supplies
09.16.16

I’m sure you will agree with me when I say that there are some pretty strong views in the scrapbooking community when it comes to journalling.

Now I might be wrong, but personally, I enjoy both the pleasure of creating a beautiful visual memory and capturing the details, but not always at the same time. Am I ‘wrong’ to think like that? Well that is up to personal preference, but I will say, that I feel incredibly lucky to have this creative outlet. We are able to express ourselves with beautiful and functional products that help us capture exactly what we need, depending on how we are feeling at the time. I’m a firm believer in there not being any rules in scrapbooking. If it makes sense to you, that is what is important. They are your memories, in your albums. If you want to paint today and fussy cut tomorrow, go for it! If a project turns out to have more artwork than documentation, does it really matter? This beautiful life hands us fresh starts and new experiences every day. How wonderful to be able to capture them all.

Dear Jaime

I knew from the start that I wanted to tell a story with this project. The photo of my beautiful niece taken on holiday recently, really made me realise just how quickly time passes. It feels like it was just the other day that I was holding a bouncing baby J in my arms! The tones of The Reset Girl collection were a perfect match to boot!

I started off by feeding a 12x12 sheet of ‘Get Your Crafty On’ into my typewriter. I already had the design sort of worked out in my head, so I typed my journalling where I thought it would work best. I then went about creatine some soft detail with the help of some texture paste and stencil. This bird detail serves to strengthen the them as well as serve as a branchy base for my fine feathered friends.
 
 
I warned in my little highlights video that I had the urge to fussy cut aaalllll the birdies out of a sheet of Ready, Set, Reset! hehe. I just love them!
 
 
I’ve arranged them on a ‘wire’ of sorts. Growing and spreading their wings, just like my niece.
 
 
That cute paper airplane is from a pack of So Rad Clear Stickers.
 
 
One of my many favourites from The Reset Girl collection are the Library Pockets. How fabulously nostalgic they are! Took me straight back to my primary school borrowing days. I’ve popped my photo inside the pocket and then punched a little hole in the top right corner. For a bit of youthful fun, I’ve threaded a small ball chain through the hole and connected it to a die cut shape from the Bits & Pieces pack.
 
 
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By comparison, this next page has very little journalling. Instead, I have chosen some very fitting word labels from the new Carpe Diem Posh collection, to convey my story.
There is LOTS to love about Posh. The gold foil detail, script elements… the pops of yellow. I also love the feather shapes, which turned out to be the main design element in this project.
 
To begin with, I cut some feather elements using a metal die and Posh 6x6 pad. The leftovers were too pretty so waste, so I used them as a stencil! Using some double thick cardstock (which is great for wet media) I went over the shapes loosely with a water brush pen and some watercolours. 
 
 
I focused the watercolour feathers in a vertical line through the centre of my page. This allowed me to build up more and more elements around them, using the same shape but in different weights and media.
 
 
Some vellum feathers added lots of interest to the background, without overwhelming the eye. I think they add a good sense of movement to the page too - like the many thoughts we have in our heads sometimes.
 
 
Another feathery element I added were some washi tape feathers. These are super quick to create yourself. Simply lay a length of washi along some fine beading/floristry wire. (Make sure you have enough so that when it’s folded over in half, your feather is not too short.) Then cut a leaflike shape using some scissors. Finally, cut in at an angle to create the barbs.
 
 
TIP: Bend your wire a bit so it’s not perfectly flat and fluff your feather up so you can see the details. 
 
 
This large stitched feather on the RHS also adds some texture and interest to the page while keeping a low profile in muted tones.
 
 
These word labels say it all at the moment!
 
 
Thank you so much for stopping by today and allowing me to share my thought-to-page projects. Wishing you many hours of happy  crafting.

 

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