Author: Trace

Hello everyone!! I’m happy to be back and posting. I can’t believe August is half over already and my kids go back to school in three weeks! I have had a wonderfully busy summer, but in truth, I can’t wait to get some peace and some ME time back! I had a bit of that this morning while the kids slept (after a very late night) so I got to be selfish and take a look at the galleries. Today, my post is full of layouts from ONE gallery. Yep, you read that right. ONE GALLERY. Scrapaneers is hosting a Masters of Scrap tournament and HOLY COW, there are some AMAZING artists participating. I love artsy layouts and the gallery of FREE SPIRIT layouts is right up my alley! I could look at these layouts for hours and see something different every time. So, indulge me while I present to you, these layouts (some from artists who I discovered for the first time!) of exceptional beauty and brilliance. This is Trace, and these are my picks.

 

Enough by Catg0ddess. WOW. WOW is all I can  say. Brilliant. The hands, the stuff, the pushing it away!!! It’s just amazing. The subtle colours with the pops of red. Just blew me away.

Inside by danielles83. I love the white space in the middle of this. I love the journaling in the profile of her face. I love the elements and how random they are but they all work. The black background is striking and the title placement is perfect. This layout is a standout!

 

Whirlwind by Minor Scraps. Another OMG layout! I am so not a pastelly kind of person but this layout is just so beautiful and the subject is one we can all relate to! I love the pinks against the yellows and oranges. I love how it looks so calm, yet the layout is so chaotic. The clock behind the eye in that amazing drawn photo treatment is brilliant. I love the word art scatter all over. Just a winner!

 

Broken by Norma. This layout drew me in because I can so relate to it personally. I really admire artists who can scrap the good and the bad. This layout says so much without saying much at all! It stands on it’s own. My favourite part is the photo shards coming off the woman’s head. It’s so fantastic and so creative and I just adore it. The colours speak for the layout here too. Just amazing.

Dear Mom of Teens by Sonja. This layout made me laugh! The humour is evident and any one can relate to it. I really like how Sonja used the word art to emphasize her point here. The textured background is awesome and the rings around the center representing the whirlwind of emotion is outstanding. I am sure most of us with teens have said these words a hundred times!

Adventure by taxed4ever. I love this layout. I am in awe with the design. The eye peeking out from behind the actual layout blew me away. I love the texture and the paint and the little touches of whimsy. I love the word art and the blending and the scripts in the back. It’s just so fun to look at and see more every time you do.

MUST SEE by tjscraps. OH HOW I CAN RELATE TO THIS! LOL. This page made me smile so big. I really adore how tjscraps took a mundane subject of tv and made it into this masterpiece. The background paper is awesome. The paint and grunge is amazing. The humour in the journaling made me giggle and is so cute. I love the little tv cluster. This layout may be photoless, but it sure does pack a punch visually! I’d love this on my wall right by my TV! Haha.

That’s it for me  today! Thank you for indulging me and allowing me to showcase these amazing layouts. It’s a privilege to be able to scour the galleries for outstanding work like this. Until next time, Happy Scrapping!

Trace

Good Monday Morning and hello to JULY!!! Wow. This is Trace and I am so happy to be posting on my first day of summer. My kids finished school a few days ago and we are ready to have some time off. Searching the galleries is so much fun in the summer because of all the wonderful activity pages to see. However, I am totally in love with the artsy/art journal look, I decided to focus on that today because there were SO many amazing artsy layouts put in the galleries this weekend. So, here we go with my picks…

I love the colour orange and this layout just pulsated at me from the gallery. The way Beaute used the colour orange in this freaktastic layout is just inspiring to me. I love the image. It just blends so well and the white face pops off the page. The music brush is fantastic and I love the scribbles and the cracks. This layout is outstanding!

Next up is a lovely, whimsical piece of art. The background with the butterflies and the dandelion seeds is so adorable but yet keeps the artsy feel. I adore the stamps over the image. That little girl with her big glasses is just as cute as a button. Cinna has knocked this one out of the park!

Not so much artsy in it’s look, but THAT EXTRACTION work by Gina is an art in itself. Look at it!! Look at the perfection here! It’s brilliant. I love the big cluster and the way she framed the photo. It really looks like the girl is sitting along the frame. It’s just so wonderfully done, it makes me smile. Love her outfit too!

This layout is beautiful. So calming, so serene, and so wonderfully put together. I really like how the photos don’t really match the word art, but it just.all.works! I love the blends and layers here. The window blend is perfect. I love the mix of elements and brushes and randomness of the photos. It’s just art….that’s it. Well done LiMa Inspirations!

Okay, can we just pause and look at this layout for a moment? Really LOOK at it. Margje has created magic. From the painted background to the brushes and stamps, to the wild placement of the background images and that AMAZING…truly AMAZING photo treatment!! Not to mention the extraction of said photo! It’s just genius! I love the title on the back white square. I love the hands reaching out to touch you! I just am speechless! Just beautiful.

Finally, this beauty by TrishD. Wow, wow, wow. Is all I can say! The font over the photo is what drew me in and then on closer look, I gasped. This layout is awesome. Just awesome. I love everything about it. The bold treatment on the eyes in the photo is amazing. The shadowing is flawless and the background is super duper! I love the cluster. Mixing the brushes and the actual elements is brilliant and so well done. I just want to hang this layout in my bedroom! It’s so fantastic. Thank you TrishD for sharing it with us!

That’s all for me today! I hope you are all enjoying the summer weather and are making more memories and taking more photos so we can all see your brilliance when you create your layouts! Happy Scrapping..until next time!

 

Trace

Well HI everyone!! It’s so good to be back after a 2 month hiatus. I can’t believe it’s summer already and the kids are almost out of school (here)! It’s been so much fun looking through the galleries again and finding outstanding layouts to post for all to see. I didn’t go with a theme this time, just which layouts caught my attention right away. I really hope you like my picks and again, good to be back! This is Trace, and these are my picks:

My first pick is amazing! I love how graphic this is. Ann06 has done a fantastic job with the blending and the brushes on this layout. It caught my attention immediately. I love the muted background with the pop of the face. It’s just stunning.

My next pick is from dotcomkari. She always has the most brutally honest and in your face journaling on her layouts. I love how she scraps it all..the good, the bad, and the ugly. However, her layouts are NEVER ugly!!! They are always amazing. I love the scribbles here and the way they draw you into the center of the layout with her journaling. The small photo is perfect for the white space she’s created. Just awesome.

This next layout blew me away. I am a HUGE fan of *gina* as most know. She is an artistic genius. This layout is no exception. The blend, the colours, the brush over the profile of the girl. Just outstanding. Gina always knows just how much to embellish and how little too. Her layouts always look like something from an art exhibit or a magazine ad. She is a brilliant, brilliant scrapper. I’m honoured to be able to showcase her layouts.

I really love the simplicity of this layout by isDK. She is a new scrapper to me, but very talented. I am enamoured by the painted background with a simple, but so effective photo of the duck. I love the stitching and the minimal elements here. It’s just such a well rounded, very beautiful layout.

This next scrapper is not only a friend, but she is an amazing artist too. Her clustering is up there with the best. This layout by robinismai makes me smile. Love how she blended the paper over top of the photo and the lipstick on his cheek is just that, very cheeky and fun! I love her clusters and the placement of her elements. The way she filled the wire title with a patterned paper is just smart! All around an amazing tribute and fun layout!

Another new to me scrapper is thuria. I really enjoyed seeing her work in the gallery. This layout stood out for it’s white background and graphic look. I really like how she used the quote brush in the back as an element and as her title. That’s so neat. I love the graffiti look behind the photo.  That photo itself? Adorable!!!! Just a simple but exquisite layout. Well done!

Well that’s it for me today!!! Thank you all for reading the blog and supporting these wonderful scrappers. Please click the link (highlighted names) and leave these wonderful ladies some love. Until  next time, happy scrapping and HAPPY SUMMER!!!

Trace. xx

Hello scrappers! Happy Tuesday! It’s SPRING! I am so glad to be posting today as it’s been awhile. I had a lot of fun looking in the galleries as always. There is so much inspiration in them, that it’s easy to get lost for hours looking at the wonder that is digital scrapping. I am always so amazed at how talented people are with a computer. I love to see new and innovative ways to use the product and today didn’t disappoint me. I also have thing for large photos and once again, I was not disappointed. Without further ado, here are my picks for outstanding layouts for today.

This layout by Audrey* jumped right out of the gallery at me. First of all, lets talk about the GORGEOUS photo of this little girl. Just stunning. The way she blended it into the newsprint is awesome. I love the butterflies all around some blended, some not. It’s so simple, yet so effective and I just love it.

 

I’m not usually one to go the abstract look, but this layout by JeanGriff14 totally intrigued me and I had to look closer. I love the steampunk feel to this layout. I love all the different characters within it. I love the depth and the overall grunge to it. It looks like a poster for an anime movie! I thought it was fantastic. I want to know more and see more.

The photo in this layout by Marylynne is absolutely beautiful. The blend is perfect and she chose the most complimentary background paper to go with it. The simple title says it all. No other journaling needed. I love the simplicity of it, yet it packs a huge punch. The little scribbles and paint spots at the bottom just add to the wonderful composition. Just beautiful..

I want to know more about this little girl and what she’s up to. I love the perspective of the photo. Myssp made a gorgeous layout here. The elements placed perfectly to enhance the eye to the photo and the beautiful script brushes in the background just add to the beauty of this layout. The blending is great and the lighting is spot on. What a stunning layout.

This layout by BlackKathy is superb. I love the depth of field of the background photo and how it ties into the theme so perfectly. I love the raffia around the focal photo of the bike. I love the title superimposed onto the journaling. I love the texture of the background paper. I love it all! LOL….this is a beautifully executed layout.

And, finally, This layout by Ozegirl blew me away. The filter on that photo is absolutely amazing. I love the red colour she chose, it just pops right off the page. The title placement is brilliant and I love how she repeated the photo in the corner with a frame to offset it. The little heart paper is so great with the blending. I just love this.

That’s all for me today. Don’t forget to click on the artist’s names to leave some love for these amazing layouts. As always, keep on scrapping! I love seeing all the layouts in the galleries.

Trace

Good Morning everyone! Can you believe it’s the last day of February already? Where does the time go?

My time this morning flew by while gazing at all the deliciousness in the galleries this week! Wow, the layouts and designs just keep getting better and better. Today, as always, I have a hard time narrowing my choices down to these 6. All of these layouts spoke to me today. I’m Trace and here are my picks.

 

The unique creativity of people always astounds me. This layout by Anika68 made me smile. I love how it looks like a comic and all the little word bubbles she put as the journaling. The treatment of the photos is awesome and lends itself to look like a newspaper. I love the sequence of the photos and I can’t imagine how long it took to get each one just perfect. Her husband looks like he had a great time too! Just a fantastic, creative layout. LOVE IT.

You all know by now that I love an artsy/art journal style. This layout by dalis is no exception. The stamps and the doodled hearts are so well blended here. I love the title overlaid over the brain image. I love the simplicity of this, yet it’s chock full of eye catching colour. Just so very well done.

One of my favourite artsy scrappers is *gina*. She always does such amazing things with blends and masks. This layout blew me away today. The photo is timeless and beautiful I love how she kept the mask edges visible and dark. It add such dimension to the photo. I love the cluster and how she blended some of the elements in and out. I love the background mix of papers and textures. It’s just so wonderful and I strive to scrap like Gina does one day.

I’ve seen a few of these mini inchies layouts in the last few days. This one by mimisgirl caught my attention because I love the Big Bang Theory. This is brilliantly done. I love the references to the show. The quotes and the giant Bazinga title. (is it wrong that I read it in Sheldon’s voice?) The little squares are all just placed so well and the elements are so perfect for the theme. I think I might have to grab this template and try one myself!

Rarely do we see designers in these posts, but today, I have added one of my favourite designers who also happens to be an incredible scrap artist too. Rachel (Seatrout Scraps), doesn’t only make beautiful kits, but she also scraps like a pro. This layout is so pretty. I love the blended photo and how your eye is drawn in by the angle of the beach. I love the touches of spatters here and there. I love the little cluster with the title. Everything about this layout calms me and I want to visit the beach with her dog, Mitzi at my heels.

Lastly today, This amazing layout by weaselwatcher.  That moon photo she took and extracted is outstanding! What a magical but simple statement. The background is perfect, the little light bursts are so appropriate for this layout. It reminds me of a page from a space magazine or textbook. I love the composition and the title. I love how it stands on it’s own without a lot of accents. I just love the whole thing! IT’s brilliant!!!

So that’s it for me today. It was so good to be back and posting these wonderful layouts. Please click the names and give these amazing artists some love. Until next time…keep on scrapping
Trace

Good Morning everyone! Happy 1st Saturday of February! I can’t believe how fast time is flying. Didn’t the kids just go back to school? I’ve been busy this morning going through the galleries and drooling over all the amazing layouts I’ve seen. It is getting harder and harder each week to just pick my 6. Kudos to all the scrappers out there who are so innovative and so talented. Today’s layouts have a common thread for me. Blending. I am in awe of scrappers who are can blend so effortlessly.  So, without further ado, here are my 6 picks for today.

My Heroine by alannabanana is a beautiful tribute to her mom.  I always love Alanna’s work, but this one meant a lot to her and you can tell. It is STUNNING. I love the blending in the background paper and then the panoramic photo of her beautiful mom. The clustering here is out of this world! You can tell how painstakingly she placed each flower and leaf to border the photo. The simplicity of the papers ties it all in beautifully. It’s just gorgeous and deserves the fingerpoint today.

Thankful for you by Anny-Libelle. I love this layout. I love the print paper and how she expertly blended the photo into the background. I love the little offset framed photos at the top and bottom. I love the little  moustaches. (lol) The script brushes add to the print paper and enhance it. This layout just makes me smile, and that is what it’s all about.

Our True Self by Divamom96. Okay, first of all, above all else, I am an owl freak. I have always had a thing for their beauty since seeing one when I was camping out in the woods as a teenager. Then Harry Potter came along and my love for owls just intensified. So, that being said, this layout just jumped out at me and I adore it! I want to put it on my wall in my home! It’s so beautifully done. The blending, the simple background, and the amazing quote all fit together perfectly. The little splat of paint and the doodles placed here and there just add to the wonder. This layout is just awesome.

Perfect by Miki. What can I say. The title says it all. This layout is perfect! Another amazing blending job here. I love the tiny little cluster at the top of the page with the word strip. I really love how the little birdy is sitting on the cross line of the letter T. The placement of the quote is fantastic as it draws your eye down the tree trunk. I want to be Miki when I grow up and learn how to blend like that. Just terrific

This layout by Sylvia, isn’t about the blending. It’s about EVERYTHING. The wonderful use of the brush (which, technically *IS* blended into the background), the little paint spots placed just so, the tiny heart on the outside of the circle. The photo is beautiful and I can’t rave enough about her genius in stitching the inside of the bullseye! I am surely lifting that little gem of a trick! The simple word strip says it all. Sylvia is one of my favourite simple, white space scrappers and this one does not disappoint.

Finally, this layout by Veer. WOW! Again, another master blender. She does it so well and makes it look so easy. I love how she blended the elements into the paper and mixed in the paints and the brushes in layers. The photo treatment is fabulous and the frame draws the eye right to it. I love the little doodles placed to draw your eye into the photo. Finally, the quote is perfect and placed on a splat of paint to highlight it is pretty cool. I love how messy this is but it looks so put together. Effortless. Beautiful.

I hope you enjoyed my picks today! Thank you all for giving me (and everyone else) so much inspiration. Until next time, remember….give the scrappers some love and keep on scrapping!

Trace

Happy New Year everyone! I know it’s been 16 days in January but this is my first post of 2017. I missed posting and am so glad to be back. I had a hard time choosing my layouts today as there are SO many awesome ones in the galleries. The designers are really outdoing themselves already!! I can’t wait to see more. My DH bought me a new laptop as an early birthday present and I cannot wait to scrap on it as it’s lightening fast. I’ve enjoyed looking for now though and here are my picks for today.

I love a vintage looking layout and this one by Beckturn did not disappoint. I love the monotone feel to it. I really love the photo in front of the doily and the blend and extraction are just divine! The text behind the photo is actual handwriting from one of the brothers in the photo. Just amazing what digital can do! I love this one and it deserves the GSO!

This layout by Conny is just exquisite. Conny is a master at the cluster and the colours she uses are always a standout. I Love how she fitted the photos between the gorgeous clusters and the dymo labels in between. The photos, as always, are top notch and adorable, and the paint spatters fit in beautifully with the look without being overwhelming. The newsprint paper background ties it all together. Just outstanding as usual!

This layout caught my eye immediately in the gallery. The blending here is just amazing. I love the whole feel of the layout, it’s dark, but not in a scary way. I love the inking around the photo and the beautiful flower element in her hair. I really like the doodles and how creative this whole layout really is. Props to *gina* for an amazing work of art!

This layout by Gonewiththewind is so well balanced and so well done. I really love how she used the same photo of her beautiful kids each month. What a great way to document their relationship and their changes over a year period. The fact also, that this is a template made by Cheryl herself, is outstanding. The placement of the elements and the shadows are a standout in itself. Love everything about this!

Finally, this wonderful layout could be my new favourite of all time. I just adore the photos in this layout by  mamashade. I love the layering of the old papers and envelopes in the top corner of the large blended photo. I really love the stamp in the corner of the actual photo! The background paper blended is amazing and I love the whole feel of this. It makes me want to go to Venice and take some shots myself! Just outstanding work here!!

Well that’s it for me today. I hope everyone has a wonderful week and as always, keep scrapping and sharing your work for us! We love looking at it! Make sure to leave these amazing layouts some love! Happy Scrapping everyone!

Trace