Iris Fox's Blog Posts

09.18.18

Hello friends, thanks for joining me for my first fall layout.  I noticed a paper folding trend a few months ago that I’ve been wanting to try involving a cascade of folded paper strips.  When thinking of autumn, my first thought is always of falling leaves, so I thought this would be a good technique to pair with a fall photo.  I pulled out my trimmer, score board, and the Forever Fall collection for this layout celebrating things I love about autumn.  Fall tends to come late in California, and at the first signs I can’t get into cozy sweaters and mittens fast enough.

The layouts I’d seen using these folded paper strips were pastel colors and I wanted to put my spin on it with darker colors.  I started off with the denim side of the Be Grateful paper as my background.  It already has stitching and splatter details, so I knew I could concentrate on all the goodies on top.

I cut strips from several of the papers in the collection in varying widths from one to two inches, then cut all of them into three inch lengths.  I scored them in the middle to have crisp folds, then ran the cut ends through my sewing machine to make them into little folded banners.  I placed my photo just off center because I knew I wanted a cascade of the papers coming down from the top in diagonal across the corners of the photo. This is a favorite design layout of mine.  I played with overlapping the folded banners upwards and downwards from the photo, then embellished them with chipboard, die-cuts, and square stickers from the 4x6 Stickers pack.

I clustered pairs of die-cut and chipboard leaves in three spots to reinforce the diagonal. You’ll note that the bottom pile of papers and embellishments doesn’t extend to the bottom diagonal.  I like a bit of asymmetry and often have one side closer to the corners and edges of my page than the other. The large “happy autumn” from the Combo Stickers were the perfect size to lay across the bottom edge of the photo.  They stand out from all the busy layers.  Since the folded papers have stitching that shows through in random areas, I added stitching to the title to tie it in.  Plus who doesn't like a stitched title? :)

For my journaling, I just used word strips. The sheet had all my favorite things and more!  I nestled them in the space under the title and finished off with a date label from the Bits & Pieces pack. 

There was a space to the left of the photo under the top cascade of papers that felt empty, so I filled it with the chipboard mason jar.  This also helps balance out the other end of the stitched title.  Most of the layout is made up of horizontal lines.  To break that up, I filled in spaces next to the leaf clusters with little round stickers.  For added interest,  I stapled a few elements with my tiny attacher.

I struggled a bit because I wanted to add all the cute fall stickers to this layout, but I pared it down since the folded papers provided quite a bit of visual weight.  That just means that I can go crazy with the embellishments in my next Forever Fall layout! :)

Supplies
09.02.18

Hello friends. Iris here with a back-to-school layout that goes back to some basics: the SN@P! Basics Maple/Cream Notebook paper, an easy cut file, a few embellishment clusters, a little stitching, some ink splatters, and the fabulous School Rocks! collection.

Using a modified cut file from the Silhouette store, I cut four rows of chevrons from the Notebook paper.  Notebook paper always makes a great neutral to pair with colorful papers, and it's especially awesome with a school collection. 

To capture the mixed feelings my daughter had on her first day of 2nd Grade, which is what the journaling is about, I printed a 4x6 photo of my daughter smiling as she waited outside, and also a 3x4 photo showing her sitting at her desk with an uncertain look.  I placed them a little off-center opposite the journaling, and united them with a cluster of circles.  The "FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL" circle - how awesome is the letterboard look! - is meant to be the title, so I popped it up on foam to make it stand out. I also added a staple to the cork circle for interest.

The chevrons give motion to the page and I accented that motion by stitching down the center of each row where the points are.  I wasn't concerned about making the stitching perfectly straight. It adds to the fun if it's a little crooked. ;)  

The bottom right had a natural spot to build up a cluster of icons.  To add depth, I popped up the globe on foam. I also added a stapled the star.

In each row, I placed word strips in random places.  So that they don't look like they are floating, each is anchored by another sticker element. Since the bottom star has a staple, I added staples to the other stars, which also help anchor those strips. The apple and paper airplane are up on foam so that they continue to grab the eye up the page. 

I added my date at the top right of the page, just like they teach us in school. The pencil journaling stickers in the collection fit the roller date stamp perfectly.  For the finishing touch, I picked a yellow mist (SC Mister Huey's in Custard) because it helps fill in the blanks around the three main areas but doesn't compete with the rest of the background.

Back-to-school time for kids means more scrap time for moms, am I right?! What better way to start than with some back-to-school scrapping with the School Rocks! collection. :)

Supplies
08.04.18

Hi everyone, Iris here with a layout using the new Lil' Dude collection. Sure, the primary colors, animals, toys, and playful fonts are great for scrapping all the lil' dudes out there, but I'm here to show you that it's perfect for all the strong, adventurous girls too. 

As soon as I saw the Never Grow Up teepee paper, I knew I'd scrap these photos of my daughter pretending to be a wild tribeswoman with paint markings. I started off fussy-cutting the teepees in tiers, and backed them with triangles cut from the corners of No Limits. It's nice to see such a vibrant true blue in a collection, and what's really awesome are the light blue splatters.  Mixed media without having to do the work!

I lined up four pictures just under the mountain scene. She had so many great poses that I wanted to include. I printed my favorite as a 4x6 and placed the bold title banner next to it, so that although this layout is chock full of colors and little bits sprinkled all around, the eye is drawn back to the center banner and my daughter's cute face next to it.

The supporting photos are printed as 3x4's and matted in alternating orange and yellow patterns from Never Grow Up and 2x2 Elements.  They fit perfectly across the page, staggered so I could nestle clusters of flat and puffy stickers where the photos overlap.  And of course she's a Fox girl, so that puffy fox had to make it on the page.

Who can resist buffalo plaid? Not me!  I love the addition of the text mixed into the plaid of the Hear Me Roar paper, and the black and white help ground all the bright colors. For my journaling I found a free font called "Blackout Two AM" that is very similar to the font with the filled-in letters.  And because it's a white on black, it blends in with the plaid, so that it doesn't distract from the rest of the layout.

Can't have mountains without a sky, and how pretty are those distressed plus signs on the blue of the "Boy Oh Boy" paper? The puffy moon and the black stars are some of my favorite elements in the whole collection, and add the perfect touch rising above the mountain to balance out all the black from the bottom of the page.

I finished it off sprinkling more puffy stickers and hearts all around to fill in little gaps.  I'm really loving that Simple Stories collections now include puffy stickers!

 Lil' Dude is perfect to document all our playful kids, boys and girls alike.

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