Jot Magazine Issue 14

Jot Issue 14 2016

STORY TELLERS | PAPER CRAFTERS | MEMORY MAKERS | PHOTO TAKERS

A LOVELY PAPER CRAFTING MAGAZINE FOR THE MODERN DAY MEMORY KEEPER. Jot Magazine 1

A lovely DIY handmade gift ideas e-book.

JOTMAGAZINE.COM

(Not just for Christmas)

THE LOVELY CHRISTMAS GIFT BOOK Not just for Christmas time, Kim Archer and the Jot Girls bring you our gorgeous new e-book is filled with lovely ideas for gift giving.

FIND OUT MORE OR GRAB YOUR COPY HERE>> Jot Magazine 2

Hello..

IF WE DON’T TELL OUR STORY, THEN NO ONE ELSE WILL! Recently I chatted with Charlotte Lam, an avid Project Lifer and someone I’ve followed on social media for a long time. She’s the gorgeous mum to two happy little boys and has been documenting life in the Lam family for the past few years.

Tragically and devastatingly, Charlotte’s husband William passed away suddenly in a fishing accident while the little family were on holiday just 18 months ago.

I remember seeing the happy family selfie of the Lam family on Instagram that Charlotte posted as they headed off on their holiday and just a few days later, William was gone. Now, I didn’t know William and I haven’t even met Charlotte but through the wonder of the internet, I felt connected to Charlotte and her lovely little family and I’ve been totally inspired by Charlotte’s positivity, sunny nature and her determination to continue on with Project Life despite the fact that their lives had changed forever. Charlotte says she continues with Project Life because she loves it so much and she wants to show her boys how they coped with life without their dad around. You can read more about Charlotte and her story here on PAGE 144 We also meet creative business owners Jessica Upton, Ashley Horton, Nikki Black, Janet Bott, Charmane Koch and Nicole Farrell in our regular feature 5 Minutes With... Check it out on page 83.

We welcome new Jot Girl Suse Fish who shares her thoughts and ideas on making a pretty Instagram feed here on page 96 and our Jot Girls are back with so many brilliant and inspiring ideas to share.

We have loads of paper crafting galleries to inspire us and plenty to read, see and make this issue so settle in and start reading!

KIM ARCHER Publisher/Owner © Copyright. Kim Archer | Jot Magazine 2016. All projects in this magazine are for recreational purposes only and are not to be reproduced, distributed or sold without the publisher’s permission. PUBLISHED by Jot Magazine, Newcastle Australia. ABN 88649297554 Jot Magazine 3

Connect with us.

Publisher/Editor Kim Archer Editorial Assistant Anna Allan Writers Kim Archer Anna Allan Shari Brewer

Grab a

cuppa &

head to our blog for more Jot stories and inspiration. or follow us on social media.

SUBMISSIONS Interested in submitting to Jot Magazine? We accept submissions of creative project tutorials or written articles that are in line with our paper crafting/ modern memory keeping theme. We also put out certain gallery calls from time to time (check our site).

Email submissions to: hello@jotmagazine.com

Contact Us hello@jotmagazine.com

Published by Kim Archer ABN: 88 649 297 554

Website:

www.jotmagazine.com

2016 Jot Girls Team Yvette Adams Leanne Allinson Meghann Andrew Anna Allan Raquel Bowman Petra Corcoran Loredana Bucaria Natalie Elphinstone Suse Fish Sheree Forcier Amanda Hall Lauren Hender Kim Jeffress Beshka Kueser Sharmaine Kruijver Jamie Pate Mardi Winen Jodie York

Meet the Jot Team here> *Our cover project is by Jot Girl Leanne Allinson

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014 096

IN THIS ISSUE. 03 06 08 10 14 43 59 83 90 96 102 109 128 144 150 159 174

EDITOR’S LETTER MEET OUR TEAM QUICK LAYOUT Suse Fish CONFETTI with Anna Allan GALLERY Stencils DIY EMBELLISHMENTS GALLERY - Doodling 5 MINUTES WITH... Interview MEET FLÓRA MÓNIKA FARKAS FAKING A PRETTY INSTA FEED JOT SPOTTING GALLERY Adding text to photos STORY TELLING POCKET PAGE - CHARLOTTE LAM POCKET CARDS - Jot Team POCKET PAGE GALLERY DEAR DIARY - Shari Brewer

INSTAGRAM

Don’t you just love an instagram feed that is inspiring, pretty and beautifully coordinated? Suse Fish joins us to share some tips on how she achieves a pretty Instagram feed!

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MEET THE TEAM A

I am .. ANNA a mummy, daughter. sister, friend, crafter, blogger, thrifter and domestic goddess (wanna-be!)

Y

M

P

L

I am .. YVETTE a part time worker, crafter, colour loving mother of one.

R

I am RAQUEL .. a primary school teacher, mummy to Charlotte and Jack, wife to Clint and scrapbook obsessed.

L

I am MEGHANN .. a 30-something mom to a beautiful toddler, wife to a Brit and a maker of many things.

I am PETRA, an all or nothing person from sunny Queensland.

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N

I am LEANNE .. a mother to four children- one daughter and three sons.

I am LOREDANA ..a new mom, wife to my biggest love, a dreamer, cheerful, passionate about crafts and I adore fabric.

I am .. NATALIE. Wife to The Trophy Husband, mum to two beautiful girls and one son, obstetrician and gynaecologist who loves her work.

S

I am .. SUSE, a forty-something mum of one little girl and two cheeky kittens.

S

L

I am SHEREE .. a wife to Paul, mum to three kids, a scrapbooker, card maker, crocheter, knitter, stitcher, soccer mum, blogger, Blythe collector and addicted to Instagram.

A

K

J

I am KIM .. wife, mum to two boys and living in beautiful Brisbane, Australia,.

B

I am AMANDA .. a classic Libra – an indecisive perfectionist with a type A personality.

I am BESHKA ....a wife, a momma, a daughter, a procrastinator, a maker, a baker and often an over thinker.

M I am JAMIE ..wife, mother of five children, a church goer, volunteer, an educator, small business owner and constant thinker of all things creative.

I am LAUREN ..wife, mother of two and super cool step mum to one. I am a crafter, employee, sister and student.

I am MARDI ..wife, mum, nan, a full time Paramedic…and perhaps a jack of many trades….master of none.

S

I am SHARMAINE .. a 40 something, Tarago driving, happily married mum of four girls and I work as a teacher’s aide.

J

I am JODIE, mum to four kids living in a 100 year old cottage that we adore.

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By Suse Fish

QUICK & EASY I love nothing more than using paper scraps in a simple ‘patchwork’ grid design. This idea also works well when your papers are so beautiful that you want to use them all on the one layout!

Varying the dimensions of the shapes and layering some of them up adds interest. I like to add foam pads in places too, to give some areas more height.

Using only your very favourite embellishments can help bring attention to them. I’ve been in love with these sweetie-like Crate Paper resin hearts from the moment I first saw them.

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YOUR CHALLENGE: Your challenge is to use your paper scraps to make a simple grid layout with one or more photos.

Share your work here on our Facebook Page>

Hand-stitching is remarkably easy to do and adds a lovely ‘homespun’ texture to a page.

The sky’s the limit when it comes to which colours to pick, but I tend to stick to white thread to let the papers really ‘sing’.

SUPPLIES | Patterned papers: Felicity Jane.

Cardstock: Hobbycraft. Embellishments: Crate Paper heart, Felicity Jane flair, Elle’s Studio ‘Little Moments’. Other: embroidery thread and tag - Hobbycraft

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CONFETTI Little bits + pieces from around the web. Curated by Anna Allan OUR THEME //CLOUDS

CLOUD PAPER CLIPS

Don’t these adorable cloud paper clips make you swoon!! A delightful little embellishment for any project or how sweet would these look popping out of the pages of your planner!?! From Momo Mints on Etsy here>

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CLOUD MOBILE

CUPCAKE CLOUDS

Check out these cake toppers! These would have anyone floating on cloud nine. Perfect for a baby shower or rainy day party theme, CLOUD CUPCAKE TOPPERS are from Etsy store Unify, right here>

A quirky paper cloud DIY mobile, found on the Handmade By Charlotte blog here>

BABY SHOWER CARD How sweet is this card! A cute puffy white cloud with a showering of tiny paper hearts - perfect to welcome a gorgeous little one. Found on Lisa Storm’s Blog here.

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WASHI TAPE

If you’re ever gonna find a silver lining, it’s in this cloudy washi tape! How dreamy hey! From Etsy store Simply Gilded Co here>

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CONFETTI

WHEN SKIES ARE GRAY Want to know how to create that soft and fluffy cloud background?

Wanda tells all in her how-to blog post. It’s so easy and so effective, you’ll want to have a go! Visit A Blog Called Wanda here>

Anna Allan lives with her family in a small country town near the beautiful Esperance in Western Australia. She loves making pretty things, lots of colour, yummy food, daily cups of coffee, plenty of sunshine, being happy and having fun! You can get to know Anna better on her blog One Big Sunshine Spritzer here.

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STENCILS

G A L L E R Y Stencils have come a LONG way from those plastic alphabet stencils of school days! And the Jot Girls are here to show you a variety of ways to use them to add texture, colour and spice to your next papery project.

FEATURING THE JOT TEAM

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STENCILLED FILLER CARDS Beshka Kueser - The Jot Team

I love using mixed media techniques + stencils to create filler cards for my Project Life pages and while they look time consuming they are really rather quick to make. I made these cards using texture paste, watercolors, + stencils.

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“MY STENCILS ARE OLDER ONES, COLLECTED OVER THE YEARS FROM STUDIO CALICO.” ~BESHKA Jot Magazine 18

HOW TO To make these, I took my cardstock and cut it down to 3x4 and 4x6 cards. Next I took a used plastic gift card (or an old credit card works well) that I dipped into my gesso and spread a thin layer of it across each of my cards. I allowed about 10 minutes drying time.

Next, I grabbed my stencil and placed it where I wanted it on my card. I then grabbed my palette knife loaded with texture paste and began to spread it across the top of my stencil.

Be sure to hold tight to your stencil as you spread - your hands should follow each other as you work across your design.

Spread a thin layer of paste over your design, once done pull up your stencil and allow your card/design to dry. I waited about 30 minutes.

Once dry you can add your color and play.

I used watercolors but you can use other mediums - try whatever you have on hand, play and have fun!

WHAT YOU NEED // gesso | texture paste | palette knife | stencils | heavy weight cardstock | water colours + water + brushes Jot Magazine 19

WE LOVE SHEREE’S BRIGHT AND HAPPY COLOUR SCHEME WASHED ON IN A RAINBOW EFFECT - SO COOL!

SUPPLIES |Cardstock: American Crafts. Patterned Paper: Crate Paper, American Crafts, Simple Stories. Stencil: Typo.

Embellishments: American Crafts, Heidi Swapp. Stamps: Pink Fresh, Kaisercraft. Paint: Kaisercraft, Making Memories, Jo Sonja’s. Other: vellum, date stamp, black ink, Jo Sonja’s Texture Paste, sequins, Project Life card, twine, staples.

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YOU MAKE ME HAPPY EVERY DAY Sheree Forcier - The Jot Team

I don’t often think to dig out my stencils and texture paste when I scrap but I had so much fun playing and getting messy with my paints for this layout. I enjoyed creating something a little different to my usual style!

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MAKE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL Meghann Andrew - The Jot Team

To create my mixed-media word for my title, I made a printable PDF file into a digital cut file to use in my Silhouette Cameo and created my own custom stencil.

I filled it in with modelling paste that I coloured with spray inks!

SUPPLIES | Cardstock: Bazzill Basics. Patterned paper: Studio Calico, Scraptastic Club. Labels & tabs: Scraptastic Club. Stickers: American Crafts (alpha), Studio Calico (dots, crosses). Stamps: Scraptastic Club. Die-cut shapes: Studio Calico (blue circle), Scraptastic Club (red brushstroke). Rub-ons: American Crafts. Digital files: Studio Calico. Die-cutting machine: Silhouette Cameo. Font: Rough Typewriter. Other: Golden (modelling paste), Studio Calico (spray ink).

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GO FOR THE CLEAN APPROACH BY USING AN INEXPENSIVE STENCIL + A BLACK SHARPIE TO TRACE AROUND THE STENCIL.

HELLO

Anna Allan - The Jot Team

I don’t do this very often at all but I made...a card! And I’ve gone with a clean approach to using a stencil - which is something else that doesn’t happen often either. Usually when I use stencils, it’s with inks, texture paint, and/or paints and I get messy! BUT...I had this idea for a card and so I went with it.

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The stencil I’ve used is just an inexpensive letter/number one available at any newsagent or discount store. The numbers worked great for my birthday card idea.

The card is 6x6” in size. I used a pencil to trace random numbers across the front page of the card. I’ve used a Sharpie pen to highlight the number corresponding to the age of the birthday person. I’ve then used some ink sprays to add some colour and penned the outline of the remaining numbers. A small selection of embellishments were added in and that was the card completed.

SUPPLIES | American Crafts cardstock, stencil, Color Shine (pink, butter), Minc arrow, D-lish bow, hello banner, gem stones, pencil, Sharpie pen.

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SUPPLIES | Stencil: WOW Words or Whatever Hearts in a Row. Cardstock: American Crafts, Bazzill Basics. Patterned Paper: Bella Blvd, Becky Higgins Project Life Cards, Simple Stories. Embellishments: Simple Stories stickers & die cuts; Scraptastic Kit Club cut aparts; Studio Calico chipboard; Coco Vanilla stickers. Stamps: Scraptastic Kit Club. Ink: VersaMark. Other: Embroidery thread (various shades), staple, type writer, black paint, foam dots.

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LIFE DOCUMENTED Leanne Allinson - The Jot Team

Using a simple, repetitive stencil can really create fantastic shapes for you to easily embroider directly onto your cardstock. I like to lightly trace the outline with a pencil, on the reverse side of the cardstock and then using a paper piercer, gently follow the lines, puncturing holes as you go.

Adding stitching to your layout is simply a matter of then choosing the right colour thread to match your photos!

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YOU ARE LOVED Jamie Pate - The Jot Team

Playing with stencils and art screens in your planner is always a fun idea. Think of your planner as a scrapbook page, and just have fun.

SUPPLIES | Heidi Swapp: Memory Planner, art screens, word stencil, Art Ink, Metallic Texture Paste, glitter heart. Maggie Holmes: die cut, glitter heart.

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SHE BRINGS SUNSHINE Sharmaine Kruijver - The Jot Team

Stencils are one of my regular go-tos. I love that stencils allow you to live on the creative edge. The inconsistencies and the unknown outcome as you nervously lift a stencil from your page is always exciting.

For this page I used a Flutterby stencil and acrylic paint. I then covered the dried image with some water colour paint.

SUPPLIES |Stencil: Flutterby Designs. Cardstock: Bazzill Basics. Alphabet: American Crafts. Embellishments: Cocoa Daisy printable, DITL card and diecuts, My Mind’s Eye enamel dots, Flutterby Designs wood bits and flair. Other: Circle Punch, thread, type writer, acrylic paint, water colour paint, foam tape, ink.

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IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY Natalie Elphinstone - The Jot Team

I love the look of thick texture paste scraped through a stencil and I considered leaving it as a white-onwhite look, but I really can’t resist the lure of adding bright colours! Once it had dried I used Gelatos to add a rainbow of colours and watched it settle in the spaces between the texture paste to give a lot more definition to the numbers.

SUPPLIES | Cardstock: American Crafts, Stamp and Die: Studio Calico, Stencil: The Crafters Workshop, Other: sequins by Neat and Tangled, texture paste, gelatos, ink

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TODAY

Mardi Winen - The Jot Team

Mardi used several stencils to create her layered background.

SUPPLIES | Canson Watercolour paper. Patterned Papers - American crafts, Jen Hadfield, Studio Calico, Pink Paislee. Stencils - Heidi Swapp. Embellishments - Cocoa Vanilla and Crate Paper ephemera, Heidi Swapp stamps. Other - watercolour paint, machine stitching and handmade texture paint.

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BEAUTIFUL

Kim Jeffress - The Jot Team

I used one of Heidi Swapp’s stencils and sponged on randomly some of the new Minc reactive paint. I then placed over some of pink and ombre foil and ran it through my Minc machine.

To tone down the shine of the foil to coordinate with my layout I layered vellum over it and stitched it to the stencilled card.

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SUPPLIES |Cardstock- American Crafts , Embellishments- Heidi Swapp Minc machine, foil, Reactive paint, patterned paper, glitter stickers, glitter bow, clear stickers, stamps.

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LORY HAS USED A STENCIL TO CREATE A PAINTED FLOWER BACKGROUND AND THEN LAYERED HER ELEMENTS OVER THE TOP Jot Magazine 34

DEAR ME

Loredana Bucaria - The Jot Team

I love to play with different media to add some colourful touches to my pages. Stencils are one of my favorite tools because you can draw whatever you like with magic colors and they work so well with so many materials like gesso or modelling paste or just watercolors.

For this layout I have used the gelatos, so creamy and soft and in colors I adore. I spread them with water and a brush or just with my fingers.

I have chosen three different colors of gelatos: pastel colors like butter cream, peach, orange and a bright fuchsia. My idea was to create a letter to me, so including flowers was just what I had on my mind as something just for me.

HOW TO STEP 1| Just place your stencil and stop it slipping around by using a strip of washi tape to hold it in place. Apply your favorite colours of gelatos.

STEP 2| Dip a soft brush in water and spread the colours, mixing them up if you want.

STEP 3| Set aside to dry.

SUPPLIES | Cardstock: Bazzill. Patterned paper: Studio Calico. Embellishments: Cosmo cricket, Ali Edwards, Studio Calico. Stamps: Ali Edwards. Other: vellum, sewing machine; spray inks: Heidi Swapp.

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SUPPLIES |Flutterby Designs, Teresa Collins and Heidi Swapp,

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WE LOVE HOW LAUREN HAS USED TEXTURE PASTE OVER HER PHOTOS ON HER POCKET PAGE SPREAD.

CHASE YOUR DREAMS

Lauren Hender - The Jot Team

When creating this pocket style layout I wanted to bring each of the components together to create a sense of balance. To achieve this I used a stencil and some texture paste.

It was fun using the paste on the photos, it softened the edges and achieved a fabulous mixed media effect.

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SUPPLIES | Papers: American Crafts, Pink Paislee ‘Fancy Free’. Embellishments: Pink Paislee, stencil: The Crafters Workshop Mini Positive stencil.

Other: Faber Castell Whipped Spackle, sewing machine, white thread, typewriter.

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WE LOVE HOW RAQUEL HAS CREATED HER OWN TEXTURED BACKGROUND USING WHIPPED SPACKLE MEDIUM AND A STENCIL

HIGH 5

Raquel Bowman - The Jot Team

I chose the more masculine colours in the Fancy Free collection by Pink Paislee to document these cute photos of my son. I created my own textured white paper by adding the 6x6� Mini Positive stencil to the page with the light and fluffy Whipped Spackle medium by Faber Castell.

I love the soft and subtle look it brings to the page.

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LOVE LIFE

Mardi Winen - The Jot Team

I had no texture paste left so I made my own using talcum powder (the only one I had was a scented one), white paint and PVC glue. It actually worked brilliantly and had the added bonus of smelling delicious.

SUPPLIES | Canson Watercolour paper. Stencil - Heidi Swapp. Patterned paper- Basic Grey,Crate paper, American crafts. Embellishments Crate paper ephemera, Heidi Swapp chipboard, Pink Fresh veneer, My Mind Eye brads. Other - watercolor paint, machine stitching, Stampin’ Up frond die, black ink.

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2.

1.

3.

STENCIL MUST HAVES 1. Heidi Swapp - 6x6 inch Mixed Media Flower Stencil (set of two). We found ours at Sassy Scrapper here> 2. Donna Downey Signature Stencils - Collage Portrait. We found ours at Craft Online here> 3. Kaisercraft FLUTTER stencil. Find it here at Kaisercraft> 4. Make your own stencils using stencil material from Silhouette and your die cutting machine. We found ours at scrapbooks.com here>

4.

5. Kaisercraft Flora Quarters Template Blue 30 x 30 cm. Four designs in one! We found ours at Spotlight, Australia here>

5.

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Do you own

a creative business or do you sell products for

creatives?

WE WOULD LOVE TO WORK WITH YOU.

We LOVE collaborating with like minded brands and have been fortunate enough to work with such brands as Heidi Swapp, Project Life and Stampin’ Up. TO STAY IN THE JOT BUSINESS LOOP WHY NOT JOIN OUR MAILING LIST AND BE NOTIFIED BY EMAIL when we are looking for businesses to interview, products to include in shopping pages, collaborative projects and advertising opportunities by opting in to our JOT MAGAZINE BUSINESS mailing list.

SIGN UP HERE

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DIY EMBELLISHMENTS

TIP//SPEND A FEW HOURS MAKING A BUNCH OF EMBELLISHMENTS IN ONE GO SO YOU ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING FUN ON HAND WHEN YOU’RE NEXT PAPER CRAFTING.

Using supplies you already have on hand, it’s super easy to create your own custom designed embellishments for your next paper project. The Jot Girls dug deep into their supplies and came up with some innovative and easy ideas for making your own embellishments - let’s take a look.

By The Jot Team

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SHEREE FORCIER

SHEREE FORCIER WHEN IT COMES TO MAKING MY OWN EMBELLISHMENTS I ALWAYS FIND MYSELF REACHING FOR DIES AND STAMPS. The fact that you can cut a variety of different materials with dies makes them so versatile! I’ve used wool felt and Papertrey Ink ‘Clip Tips’ dies to cut the bases for my embellishments, then prettied them up with bits and pieces I had in my stash. I love the texture that felt adds to a page!

SUPPLIES |Dies: Papertrey Ink. Stamps: Papertrey Ink. Ink: Memento, Kaisercraft. Punches: Martha Stewart, Stampin’ Up. Embellishments: Studio Calico, Pink Paislee, Kaisercraft. Other: rhinestones, button, paper scraps.

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TIP//Choose a colour scheme and a similar theme and make a group at a time.

MEGHANN ANDREW

I LOVE MAKING MY OWN EMBELLISHMENTS AND I FIND IT IS EASIEST TO MAKE A GROUP AT A TIME IN ONE COLOUR SCHEME WITH A SIMILAR THEME. With these happy little tags, clips and banners, I was inspired by the colours in the April mood board, and chose a travel theme to tie them all together. 6” x 6” paper pads come in handy when creating such small creations, as their patterns are smaller, too! On most of these, one single piece of 6” x 6” patterned paper cut into pieces formed the base, and I added sequins, washi, punched shapes, labels and crepe paper to take them over the top!

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MEGHANN ANDREW

SUPPLIES |Patterned paper: Shimelle for American Crafts. Punches: Stampin’ Up! Chipboard: Crate Paper. Phrases: Scraptastic Club, Studio Calico, Crate Paper. Clips: Pebbles. Other: Crepe paper, mini stapler, sequins, washi tape.

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ANNA ALLAN

I LOVE THE LOOK OF CORK AND I HAD A SHEET OF IT SITTING IN MY STASH JUST WAITING TO BE USED. So I pulled it out along with some black ink, stamps, and some other decorative pieces. And I pretty much just let it flow...I used stamps and also added in tiny details using a Sharpie pen.

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ANNA ALLAN

SUPPLIES |Cork, stamps, black ink, wood veneer, D-lish Scraps resin butterfly and paper flower, Sharpie pen (fine black), adhesive sequins, scissors.

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LEANNE ALLINSON

I LOVE TO CREATE MY OWN EMBELLISHMENTS SIMPLY BY DUSTING OFF MY TRUSTY PUNCHES AND PULLING OUT SOME PATTERNED PAPERS. With several circle punches and a cute cloud punch I can layer the elements together to create almost anything!

Here I’ve trimmed wedges from the larger circle punch to form the rays of the sun. By simply changing up the patterned paper, I can also create different moods, depending on if I want a bright, sun-shiny or a rainy, overcast day.

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LEANNE ALLINSON

TIP//Use several different sized circle punches to create the sun shape embellishment.

SUPPLIES |Punches: Fiskars circle and cloud punches. Patterned Paper: Bella Blvd, Becky Higgins Project Life Cards. Sticker: Echo Park Photo Freedom. Other: foam dots, Bella Blvd Cute Clips.

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ANNA ALLAN

I HAVE MADE SIMILAR EMBELLISHMENTS BEFORE BUT THIS TIME I WANTED TO EXPERIMENT FURTHER AND TRY SOME DIFFERENT SHAPES AND MEDIUMS. Using balsa wood shapes and acrylic paints, these were a lot of fun to put together.

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ANNA ALLAN

TIP//I used silver liquid gilding to add some silver foil look to some of my balsa pieces.

SUPPLIES |Balsa wood, acrylic paints, silver liquid gilding, Sharpie pen (fine black), wood veneer, D-lish Scraps resin butterfly and paper flowers, stamps, black ink, Stanley knife, scissors.

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KIM ARCHER

KIM ARCHER

THESE ARE SO EASY TO MAKE AND A GREAT USE OF LEFT OVER FABRIC SCRAPS AND RIBBON AND HEY, I’M GOING OLD SCHOOL USING UP THESE OLD CIRCLE CLIPS! THESE WOULD MAKE CUTE LITTLE ADDITIONS FOR YOUR PLANNER! Simply take lengths of fabric or ribbon, loop through each clip and machine (or hand) stitch to keep them secure. Use sharp scissors to cut a notch in the fabric ends or cut off at an angle to finish.

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PAPER BOUQUET

Loredana Bucaria - The Jot Team

I LOVE TO PLAY WITH PAPER, AND I AM IN LOVE WITH ROSETTES! I WANTED TO CREATE A DIFFERENT KIND OF BOUQUET TO GIVE TO MY MOM FOR MOTHER’S DAY! It’s very easy to make and I have used the dies from Sizzix that I love. I formed each rosette by rolling each of them with a pencil and closed them off by gluing within a hot glue gun.

I filled the bouquet with wadding before adding in my rosettes and added a fabric knot using gingham fabric, to finish. And my paper bouquet is ready for gift giving.

Supplies| Cardstock: Bazzill. White cardstock for the base; other: wadding, hot gun glue and a triple of fabric to make a knot; Tools: Sizzix Big Shot and Sizzix rosettes 3D. Jot Magazine 57

Traditions 58 Glebe Road The Junction NSW 2291 (02) 4961 1609

www.sweettraditions.com.au CANDY BAR SUPPLIES | KIDS PARTY BAGS |SWEETS FROM AROUND THE WORLD | SHOP ONLINE OR IN STORE Jot Magazine 58

DOODLE-Y DOO G A L L E R Y

Grab out those pens and let’s start doodling!

Doodling is a relaxing way of adding some cool backgrounds to your layouts and paper projects and the Jot Girls are here to share their doodling ideas with us. Let’s take a look see!

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DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE Leanne Allinson - The Jot Team

There’s always a little madness in an “Alice in Wonderland” quote and my doodling felt representative of that! I started my inspiration with the rabbit, which is a stamped image. From there I built up the doodled background, much as an experimental garden, leaving a halo of white space around the main character. When it came to the title work, I’ve deliberately left the negative spaces in the “o” and “e” in the hole, as a complement to the quirky madness on the page.

SUPPLIES Patterned Paper: Bella Blvd, Amy Tan. Alphabets: Bella Blvd Amorie chipboard alphas & Tiny Text Alphas. Embellishments: Bella Blvd stickers, Bella Blvd Illustrated Faith Enamel Hearts. Other: Scraptastic Club clear stamp, black sharpie pen, typewriter.

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YOU ROCK

Anna Allan - The Jot Team

I can say that once you start this whole doodling thing, it’s quite addictive. I created this piece incorporating the free-drawing as a border for the page. And I’m liking the effect it creates. I can see me using this decorative technique a lot more in future!

SUPPLIES | Ali Edwards cream cardstock. PATTERNED PAPER - Studio Calico journal cards (April 2016 Documenter kit) // ALPHABET - Ali Edwards large alphas, Heidi Swapp glitter alpha stickers // EMBELLISHMENTS - Studio Calico April Documenter Kit // OTHER - Watercolours, Heidi Swapp ColorShine (butter, tinsel), Sharpie pen.

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SMILE. YOU ARE FABULOUS. Amanda Hall - The Jot Team

The thought of drawing directly onto a page scares the pants off the perfectionist in me... so I cheated and cut a mandala design with my Silhouette cutting machine! Too easy. I’ll admit I didn’t love it until I added some vintage Heidi Swapp. Those circle stickers are more treasured than jewels in my house!

SUPPLIES | Patterned paper: Simple Stories. Cardstock: American Crafts. Alphabets: Sassafrass Lass, October Afternoon. Embellishments: Heidi Swapp circle sticker, Studio Calico puffy heart stickers, Kaisercraft camera, Kaisercraft pink doily, washi tape. Other: Silhouette portrait, Photoshop, MS Word, printer, cotton thread, Kmart blackboard paint.

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AYDEN

Sheree Forcier - The Jot Team

I used some old Fontwerks doodle style alphabet stamps to create a tag as part of my title. I then created my own embellishments by drawing some little stars which I simply cut out and adhered to my page with some 3D dots for added dimension.

SUPPLIES | Cardstock: Kaisercraft. Patterned paper: Basic Grey. Embellishments: Pink Fresh, Heidi Swapp, Kaisercraft, Crate Paper. Stamps: Fontwerks, Kaisercraft. Other: paint, Memento blank ink, date stamp, twine, sewing machine, Stampin’ Up punch, vellum, stapler.

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TOGETHER

Anna Allan - The Jot Team

SUPPLIES | Bazzill 12x12” white cardstock, Sharpie pen, ColorShine ink, Stampin’ Up markers, ink, acrylic stamps (Studio Calico + Kellie Stamps), roller sentiment stamp, date stamp, paintbrush, my own hand cut handwriting (title).

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I have always been a bit of a doodler - can’t say the doodling is ‘good’ but it happens anyway.

It’s usually an absent-minded thing to do for me so it felt quite odd to do this with concentrated effort. I began this page by free-drawing a frame where a photo would fit (surprisingly, without measuring, it fit a 3x4” photo perfectly). Then I just started drawing random shapes and patterns.

And as you can see, it definitely was quite random! I didn’t know if I liked it to begin with but once I added the photo, a dash of colour, some stamping and my own handwritten (and hand cut) title it grew on me!

Actually, it was quite a quick layout to put together because once you’ve done the drawing part, there is so much detail that you don’t really need to add much more to call it finished. Love that!

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NOTED

Mardi Winen - The Jot Team

So I had a go at adding a little bit of doodled whimsy to my page with a hand drawn snail to compliment my story. Lets just say....doodling isn’t my strong point on layouts. However..I am quite sure the kids will love this page in their album. (We LOVE your hand drawn snail Mardi!!)

SUPPLIES | White cardstock. Patterned paper: Hip Kit club design by Kim Watson, Crate Paper, Elles Studio. Embellishments - Pink Fresh Acetate word, American crafts date stamp, Pink Fresh washi strips, American crafts rub-ons (Amy Tangerine), Cocoa Vanilla enamel dots, Crate Paper wood veneer arrow. Other - watercolour paint, Papermate ink joy pen.

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FILLER CARD

Beshka Kueser - The Jot Team

In 2014 when I was home schooling my son, we did zentangle as one of our art projects. I was so impressed with how much time and effort my son put into his that I documented in a ‘favorites’ mini album from that year. I figured he would rush through but he spent well over an hour filling up the page. His artwork now hangs on the family gallery wall in our home.

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SPARKLE

Kim Jeffress - The Jot Team

So at first when this doodling/zentangle topic came up I was a bit hesitant to have a go but then I had a brain wave and thought how awesome would a doodled picture look foiled with the Heidi Swapp Minc. I downloaded an outline of a deer head from the internet , traced it onto some white cardstock then using the Minc toner pen filled it with different doodled patterns.

I then foiled it with the new ombre pink and gold foil. I wanted the design to be the star of my layout so I left the rest of the layout fairly simple to keep the focus on the foiled image.

SUPPLIES| Cardstock: American Crafts. Patterned Paper - Heidi Swapp. Embellishments - Heidi Swapp Minc reactive foil, Minc Toner pen, washi tape, Metallic die cuts, Colorshine, glitter bow.

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SHE BLOOMS

Sharmaine Kruijver - The Jot Team

I created this page using a piece of Cocoa Daisy patterned paper. The very cool doodled background was created by Cocoa Daisy’s designer Arliegh, and it was perfect for this page.

SUPPLIES | Patterned paper: Cocoa Daisy. Alphabets: American Crafts. Embellishments: Illustrated Faith enamel heart and packaging, Shimelle stickers, Cocoa Daisy printable, Panda Eight flair. Other: Staples, ink, water colour paint, typewriter.

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POCKET PAGE FILLER CARDS

To create my flower design, I started with one simple circle..and turned that into a flower shape. I then continued to fill the spaces with more flowers, joining them all together with leaves and stems. I varied the size of the flowers and once I had finished, went back and filled any obvious blank spots with little filler flowers or leaves.

Kim Archer - The Jot Team

3x4” Project Life cards were the perfect size for experimenting with this doodling technique! For the white card, I chose the back of a Heidi Swapp gold foiled 3x4” card as it was nice and smooth and easy to write on using a black Sharpie pen. And I finished the card with one of my “rare as hen’s teeth” black Heidi Swapp verb sticker. I LOVE those stickers and I use them sparingly as I have so few left!!

I prefer the white Posca brand pen when it comes to journaling or doodling in white onto a dark background!

SUPPLIES | Heidi Swapp Project Life cards, Sharpie pen, Posca white pen, Heidi Swapp black circle sticker.

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“Drawing is such an easy art form and every design can be different.” ~Grace McCallum, 13 years old

GRACE MCCALLUM Our amazingly talented Jot Kid Grace McCallum is growing up.

She’s turning 14 this year. Isn’t she beautiful?

Grace has been part of all of our Jot Kid features on the blog and we recently chatted with her about her love of drawing. As you can see, she is one very talented young teen!

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WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO DRAW? It is such an easy form of art anyone can learn and every design can be different. When you make a mistake, it’s so easy to fix. Making mistakes has always annoyed me and this just takes that whole stress away.

ANY TIPS OR TRICKS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?

Practice drawing shapes like circles, ovals and triangles. Being inspired by other peoples’ drawings from the internet or Henna designs are a good way to learn more designs.

GRACE USES THE FOLLOWING PENS FOR HER DOODLING Black: Artline - Drawing System 0.8, 0.3 and 0.1 Colour: Papermate - Flair Medium (M) Colour: Stabilo - point 88 Mini 0.4 Jot Magazine 82

Five

MINUTES WITH..

Meet the people behind some of our favourite papery brands and businesses in our fresh new regular feature. This issue we meet Jessica Upton, Ashley Horton, Nikki Black Janet Bott, Charmane Koch and Nicole Farrell.

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“My husband, being the entrepreneur that he is, secretly designed my website and surprised me with it for my birthday.” ~Jessica Upton

COLOR CAST DESIGNS WHY COLOR CAST DESIGNS?

My husband bought a laser to use in his home business a few years ago. I thought that it would be fun to cut a few of the digital files I had from various companies out of acrylic - just for my own use. I posted a photo on Instagram and the response was overwhelming with crafters asking me to make some for them. I just had fun doing it for myself and honestly, never thought of opening a business selling acrylic and wood veneer embellishments. The name ‘Color Cast Designs’ just came to me when looking at all of the beautiful colors of acrylic available.

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU?

You can find my colorful little shop online.

I am also passionate about Instagram and post there regularly.

WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE RIGHT NOW?

I am a wife with a hubby who works full time outside the home and seeks out entrepreneur opportunities like it is his full time business. Love that man so much! I am a momma to three incredible kiddos (6, 12 and 14) who keep me on my toes at all times. It is just about summer vacation here in the United States, so I have the fun, challenging task of running my business and making awesome memories with my kids all at the same time.

WORDS TO LIVE BY?

Never give up on your dream! Know that just because it can’t happen at a certain time, in a certain way, that doesn’t mean it won’t or can’t happen. Always dream. It keeps life all that more amazing.

WHAT SETS YOUR BUSINESS APART?

I think that what sets me apart is that I am a little (when I say little, I mean one woman) shop and I can really listen to what my customers want and design products around that.

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WHO: Jessica owns Color Cast Designs and creates acrylic and wood veneer embellishments.

COLOR CAST DESIGNS WEBSITE.

“I love staying busy and creating, whether it’s working on designs or creating layouts and projects.” ~Ashley Horton

THE CUT SHOPPE WHY THE CUT SHOPPE? The Cut Shoppe offers Digital Die Cut Files and Printables, that can be used to create unique designs on your layouts and projects. All of the die cut files are customizable and can be altered in different ways to coordinate with your projects. The printables can be resized to fit your needs and since it’s a printable product, you never run out of your favorite pieces!

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU? We sell via our Etsy store which carries over 300 digital die cut file designs! Digital Die Cut Files are available in PNG and DXF formats and are compatible with most electronic die cut machines.

We offer a variety of designs to cover holidays, celebrations and the everyday moments you want to document on your paper crafting projects.

WHAT SETS YOUR BUSINESS APART? The Cut Shoppe, not only offers digital die cut files,

but a variety of products. If you don’t own an electronic die cut machine, you can purchase Pre-Cut Die Cut Files from our Pre-Cut Designs shop section, that will be mailed to you. We also have classes that include tips for working with a Silhouette Cameo and exclusive class die cut files. And last, but not least, Digital/Printable Scrapbook Collections are available in the shop! You can print your own papers and embellishments, for your layouts and projects WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE RIGHT NOW? I am currently working on new Digital/Printable Scrapbook Collection designs to offer in the shop and digital die cut designs for the remainder of this year.

WORDS TO LIVE BY? Enjoy what you do, and don’t doubt or second guess yourself!

WHO: Ashley owns The Cut Shoppe and creates digital die cut files and printables. THE CUT SHOPPE WEBSITE. Jot Magazine 85

BLACKBIRD PRINT CO WHY BLACKBIRD PRINT CO? I‘ve always been the kind of person who wanted to be crafty but never quite got there. With planning I’ve found my niche! Beautifully decorated planners aren’t just a diary, they’re a way of journaling your life, like a very organised scrapbook! I was looking for a particular sticker I couldn’t find anywhere, so decided to make my own and it grew from there.

And the name was a given - I have a tattoo on my wrist of three little blackbirds - that tattoo is now my store’s logo.

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU? My store is run through Etsy and you can also find me on Facebook and Instagram.

WHAT SETS YOUR BUSINESS APART? Everyone has their own style of planning. For me it’s about curating beautiful art and colours that pop off Jot Magazine 86

“I’m endlessly thinking of new designs, and also have charitable projects lined up for the future which I’m very passionate about.” ~Nikki Black

a page without making your eyes bleed! I try to make kits that blend functionality and beauty.

WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE RIGHT NOW? More of the same! I’m a growing business and refining my style, and along with that taking requests for custom items - customers have some brilliant ideas!

WORDS TO LIVE BY? This is easy, and my personal mantra is one I found on a Heidi Swap divider.. “Good things come to those who hustle!”

WHO: Nikki from Brisbane, owns Blackbird Print Co and designs and manufactures a range of planner stickers BLACKBIRD PRINT CO WEBSITE.

“ I love experimenting with different materials, buttons and colour combos - if I LOVE it, it goes in the shop!” ~Charmane Koch

CHARMS CREATIONS WHY CHARMS CREATIONS? Two reasons - number one, my name is Charmane, so decided to shorten it to “Charm” and number two, it also had the second meaning of my embellishments as “charms” - as they are like little “charms”.

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU? While I am on many social media platforms, including running an active Facebook community group called Charms Creations Ideas and Inspirations, I sell my products via my online store. I update the store regularly, usually every Friday, which I call Fresh + Free Friday where if you place an order in the shop on a Friday, you receive a free embellishment with your order.

WHAT SETS YOUR BUSINESS APART? Charms Creations is unique as each and every layer of the embellishments are hand cut by ME {yes each and every layer!} and either machine stitched or hand stitched or BOTH by me!

WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE RIGHT NOW? At the moment there are a few changes that are happening and about to happen - I have started a part time job, so am trying to get used to balancing family life, Charms Creations and the JOB, and also in the midst of some Creative Team changes which is EXCITING as I will be adding more members!

I’m currently working on a few more “emoji” embellishment designs and NEW mixed sets too.

Along with special orders for upcoming retreats!

WORDS TO LIVE BY? This has been coming up a lot for me, and is very encouraging... I am constantly telling myself “I CAN DO THIS”! So whenever I think I can’t... these words pop up in my head!

WHO: Charmane designs and hand makes unique embellishments that are hand cut and either machine or hand stitched. CHARMS CREATIONS WEBSITE. Jot Magazine 87

THE RESIN RAINBOW WHY THE RESIN RAINBOW?

The Resin Rainbow started from a need to find unique products for my own work that wasn’t mass produced.

I purchased a few moulds and through trial and error I created products for my own use. Some friends saw my products and placed orders themselves!

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU?

At home, at my desk pouring moulds, creating layouts or projects or packing up products! I’ve just opened a new category on my Etsy store called ‘ready to ship’ where all the goodies listed are ready to leave that same or next business day so I’m adding new listings to Etsy every single day.

WHAT SETS YOUR BUSINESS APART?

There isn’t anyone else (that I can find online or know of) that pours resin moulds to your custom needs and colours! .. Yes, you could buy the moulds yourself and pour them yourself BUT why do that when you can buy the finished product straight from me without having to do any of the hard work?

WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE RIGHT NOW?

I’m on two design teams so I’m constantly creating at my Jot Magazine 88

“What doesn’t challenge you doesn’t change you.

Life is all about being the best you can be and treating everyone equally.

Karma is something I believe is real.” ~Janet Bott

desk. I’m adding to my planner section of the store with miniature resin embellishments that can be used to make planner pins, planner hanging chains or even to attach to hair clips or necklaces with eye hook pins. They are super cute!

There is a big batch of ephemera sitting on one side of my desk that will be soon turned into mini ephemera kits that I hope to photograph and upload very soon and as always there is The Resin Rainbow mystery colour resin kit club and the regular orders for other resin addicts like myself.

I’ve received some new miniature moulds in the last few days for hamburgers, apples and macaroons that I’m dying to play with too.

WHO: Janet owns The Resin Rainbow and makes and sells hand poured resin embellishments - including planner accessories. THE RESIN RAINBOW WEBSITE.

“Take time to do what makes your soul happy.” ~Nicole Farrell

THE CRAFT QUEEN WHY THE CRAFT QUEEN? I’ve always been ‘crafty’ so when I was looking for a career change after 10 years of teaching, I decided to give it a go!

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU? I sell via my own website www.craftqueen. com.au plus exhibiting at various craft shows around Australia.

WHAT SETS YOUR BUSINESS APART? Unique products and excellent customer service.

WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE RIGHT NOW? Preparation for two shows in June; Scrapbook Expo in Brisbane and Craft & Quilt Fair in Sydney.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS. This year we are celebrating 10 years in business. We sell a wide range of craft supplies including ribbon, buttons, charms, flowers, paper craft supplies and washi tape.

“We are continually sourcing new products and this year have introduced cabochons and a range of materials for jewellery design.”

WHO: Nicole, from NSW is the owner of The Craft Queen, an online store selling ribbons, buttons, charms and trims.

THE CRAFT QUEEN WEBSITE Jot Magazine 89

LET’S MEET FLÓRA MÓNIKA FARKAS

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND HOW LONG YOU HAVE BEEN PAPER CRAFTING? I was born and raised in Hungary but I moved to Slovenia to my fiancé a few years ago. I have been doing paper crafting since my childhood but nothing like my huge passion for scrapbooking. In the beginning I made cards, later mini albums and scrapbook layouts. I started blogging in 2015 and work for several design teams.

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FLÓRA MÓNIKA FARKAS

“My number one love is pink but nowadays yellow wants to assume power.”

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“My favourite embellishments are stickers. Every kind .. including chipboard, puffy, foam, cardstock and of course lots of enamel dots.�

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FLÓRA MÓNIKA FARKAS

DESCRIBE YOUR WORK IN THREE WORDS. Pink, lovely and clean.

HOW LONG DO YOU WORK ON A PAGE? ARE YOU A FAST OR SLOW SCRAPBOOKER?

I am a slow scrapbooker. I usually plan everything in my mind, often planning for a few days and then I make the project. Nowadays I record my process as I have to make lots of layouts for design teams, so I am not able to devote so much time now for one single page.

WHEN CREATING, DO YOU START WITH A PHOTO, COLOUR SCHEME OR PRODUCT FIRST?

Hard question. I think I am more complicated. I don’t know totally but the ideas in my head and the products/collections and photos all magically find each other and fit together.

WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT PAPER CRAFTING/MEMORY KEEPING? I love to document my life and I think this will be a huge treasure in the future for my family.

I can’t imagine how exciting it will be to show my albums to my kids… I am just wondering how wonderful it would be to see my own mom’s Project Life album. Breathtaking to think about it. I also love the amazing scrapbooking community. The borders are open, you can have friendships from all over the world. Isn’t that amazing?

“I passionately love all the beautiful products I can get in my hands. They cheer me up every day.”

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FLÓRA MÓNIKA FARKAS

WE LOVE FLORA’S FRINGED HEART BACKGROUND. HOW COOL IS THAT!

Visit Flora and say hello here on her blog. Pink And Paper Gift here>

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JOIN US IN OUR MONTHLY MOOD BOARD CHALLENGE. Every month we release an inspiring and beautiful Mood Board challenge for our Jot readers. Take a look at our June board.. it’s a beauty! Our Jot Girls join in too - you can see their take on the challenge each month right here on our website. Check it out and why not join in! WE WOULD LOVE YOU TO! Visit our Mood Board challenge details right here>

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FAKING A PRETTY INSTAGRAM FEED

BY SUSE FISH

You know my real life’s not really as pretty as my Instagram feed would have you believe.

And to be honest, I had this big wrestle with whether it was even cool to work on making my Instagram feed look so sweet and fragrant when I’m all about keeping it completely real everywhere else.

And taking shots of my everyday life in a thoughtful way provides another creative outlet for me – and you can’t have too many of those, eh?

But you know what?

Here are some random thoughts I have in mind when snapping pics for my Instagram feed.

In the end I decided that the fun for me of being on Instagram is creating: creating something else beautiful.

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BACKGROUNDS Keep an eye on what’s behind your subject… think about going into black and white if the shot’s too busy or colourful for your tastes.

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WHITE White. White. White. Your work, your kid, the donut you just bought… pop it on a white background or in front of a pale wall and it instantly looks fab.

COLOURS Photograph things in ‘your’ colours and leave plenty of white so those colours really pop.

SUBJECTS

See the beauty in the everyday… pretty plates in the sink, the pink water in your brush jar, that halfeaten cupcake: just ordinary things but they can be beautiful too.

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TAKE LOTS..

STAGE IT

SELFIES

BRIGHTEN

For every one pic I upload, I’ve taken at least ten.

Pop your camera on it’s timer setting to record your everyday life or take photos into your mirror whenever you feel pretty: it’s good for self-esteem!

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There’s nothing wrong with setting up a load of your cutest things just for the sake of a photo. And when photographing projects, think about what else is on your ‘desk’.

Photo editing software can work wonders… play with the brightening, contrast and fill light controls until your pic looks fresh and zingy.

REAL LIFE Remember to photograph the everyday stuff, but zoom in tight if it’s all too chaotic to show. Single out just your kids’ shoes, the cat curled on your pillow or that half-drunk cup of tea. No one needs to see all the surrounding mess!

I ought to add that I use my husband’s posh camera.

I haven’t asked what it cost for fear of fainting.

Visit Suse on her blog and say hi right here> Jot Magazine 101

JotSpotting

WHAT HAVE THE JOT GIRLS BEEN SHARING ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

In our regular feature, we get to know the Jot Girls a little better by taking a peek into their daily lives as they share some of their recent Instagram photos with us.

Kim Jeffress What an experience of a lifetime to film a technique with Heidi at the American Crafts film studio while I was visiting her recently! @kimjeffress

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Meghann Andrew I was so excited to be a guest on the Paperclipping Roundtable podcast episode 273! @meghannandrew

Sheree Forcier

After a long overdue clean up I can finally see my desk again! It’s lovely to have it all neat and tidy but I’m sure it won’t stay that way for long.

Leanne Allinson

@leanne_allinson

This girl! We’re missing the beatnik life now that Hairspray is done. Five sold out shows, huge Aussie on screen talent and two weeks of solid musical theatre memories!

Amanda Hall

A big job for our annual scrapbooking retreat (escape2create) ticked off. @apolkadotheart

@shereeforcier Jot Magazine 103

Natalie Elphinstone @natalieelph

We took a family trip over to Adelaide and spent some time in the museum. This rainbow arrangement of minerals was a favourite display for all of us!

Mardi Winen

I couldn’t resist giving these rope baskets a go. I got so excited that I almost cried out loud when the store ran out of rope and I had to wait six weeks for more. @mardi_jane

Suse Fish

Was I a bit mean to stick an ‘lol’ sticker over my Dad’s awesome 70’s flares?

@suse.fish

Loredana Bucaria

I love this picture of my Project Life because it represents a lot of my life right now - how it is a little bit changed with the arriving of my adorable son, how much I love him and love playing with him and how much I love my home which is my safe place. This pic represents the simplicity of how I want to go on this year! @loredanabucaria

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Jodie York

Constantly...CONSTANTLY telling myself this. Everyday. #jodieyork #jodieyorkscript #script #brushscript @aliedwards #keepitsimple @jodie.york

Beshka Kueser Took the kids to a Haribo store and we went on a shopping spree. We had a blast - great way to end our Spring Break!

Jamie Pate This photo taken in Gulu, Uganda in April at Baby Watoto House. Simply captures my heart. @jamiepate

Sharmaine Kruijver

March saw us going away with these two for a long weekend at “Grandma’s shack”.

Great memories made. @4squirts

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Lauren Hender I believe it is important to nurture your creativity and one way to do this is to surround yourself with creative people.

Today I am doing a class with an artist that inspires me daily not only with her products but with her words. Thank you Teresa Collins for your company, your words and your creativity. @lauren_hender

Anna Allan

Yvette Adams

This 40 minute bike ride should bump the stats up for our team in the #getontrackchallenge :-)

I got a bit impatient using pencils in my colouring in book, so I tried water colours. Wow - I was so happy with the result! So vibrant and so quick and satisfying!

@annamayde

@eeveeadams

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Kim Archer Banks + Archers -- this lot have known each other all their lives..

They are such good mates and I love that they always look out for each other! Jammo’s 21st. @jotmagazine @kim__archer

Petra Corcoran I’m also loving using not only the @ beckyhigginsllc Currently Edition Core Kit but the die cut shapes and die cut frames too. Love the way they all match and hang together. #projectlife #cattailnotincluded #bengals #milkshakethebengal

@petracorcoran

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Raquel Bowman Some days I crave some creative time, other days I love nothing more than happy kids playing and a cup of hot coffee. @raquelp

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T O

ADDING TEXT Y O U R

P H O T O S

The Jot Girls share some of their favourite ways for adding journaling directly to their photos for their scrapbooking layouts.

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DETAILS

Mardi Winen - The Jot Team

I love the ease of Photoshop to add text to photos. My tip is to use a photo that has some nice clear space to add the details of a conversation.

SUPPLIES | Canson watercolour paper. Patterned paper - Basic Grey, Pink Paislee, My Minds Eye. Embellishments - Crate Paper ephemera, Pink Paislee hearts.

Other - watercolour paint, machine stitching.

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“Oh to have more time with you. Time to hear you chatter. Time to hear you giggle. Time spent with you is certainly blessed.�

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FRIENDS

Sharmaine Kruijver - The Jot Team

Using a free online editing site, Picmonkey, I added some thoughts to my photo. Picmonkey is a great tool for photo editing and one of the wonderful things about Picmonkey is that it allows you to use your own fonts, alongside their own.

SUPPLIES | Patterned paper: Pink Paislee.

Stencil: Flutterby Designs. Embellishments: Cocoa Daisy printable, Fancy Pants sticker, tags and diecuts, My Mind’s Eye enamel dots.

Font: Emily’s Candy. Other: Texture paste, date stamp, foam tape, ink.

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SUPPLIES | Patterned paper: Pink Paislee. Stencil: Flutterby Designs. Embellishments: Cocoa Daisy printable, Fancy Pants sticker, tags and die-cuts, My Mind’s Eye enamel dots. Font: Emily’s Candy. Other: Texture paste, date stamp, foam tape, ink.

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SUGAR & SPICE

Lauren Hender - The Jot Team

Sugar and Spice and all things nice, that’s what little girls are made of.. and these two are just that.. the sweetest.

Here they are marching to support Melanoma Research and they are carrying flowers to throw over the bridge to remember people who have passed away. They had a little hard time with that part. They didn’t want to let their flowers go.

To add the text to the photo I used the Rhonna Designs app. This app is spectacular with it’s diverse range of features. I didn’t want to take away from the photo so I made the colour of the text light grey so that it’s subtle and blends with the background.

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TRUE FRIENDS

Raquel Bowman - The Jot Team

I wanted to share something different for this gallery and I thought of how easily we are now able to take a selfie and edit our photos right there on our smart phones with all the phone editing apps on the market. I started to think about how many texts and screen shots we all take and I then stumbled across a smart phone cut file and using the cut file, I came up with my layout idea.

SUPPLIES | March ‘Tuesday’ Felicity Jane Kit. Papers; white card stock, Felicity Jane papers. Embellishments: Maggie Holmes ‘Bloom’ stickers, Felicity Jane Alpha Stickers, enamel dots, Heidi Swapp clip, tissue paper. Other: Prima Stencil, Faber Castell Whipped Spackle, Higgins India Ink, sewing machine, white thread, Felicity Jane Stamp, Black Archival Ink, Silhouette Cameo, Scrapbook & Cards Today/Nicole Nowosad Cut file

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I decided to create a layout of a selfie that my friend and I took, and place the photo within the camera phone cut file. Inside, and hidden beneath the camera file is a photo of a text message which contains my journaling. I found a website http:// www.fakephonetext.com where you can generate and create your own text message image. So I was able to type my journaling into the website and make the journaling look like it was a text message straight to my friend.

I then saved the image and printed it on my portable printer, an Epson Picturemate.

The website itself is super easy to navigate around. You simply need to edit the boxes to the left sidebar to input the recipient of the text, your text message, the time, etc. You can even change it to your carrier name (e.g.: Telstra) to make it more authentic. All you need to do then is click download, and right click and save the file on the following page.

Because it saves as a .jpg file, it is as easy as printing it off like you would any other photo.

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“On my last night in Utah, Heidi and I spent a few hours in her studio crafting.

She made a mini album and I made a layout for the blog. It was so nice to just sit and craft and be together.�

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HELLO FUN

Kim Jeffress - The Jot Team

99 percent of my photos I use to scrap are edited on my iPhone using some of my favourite apps. I also love adding words onto my photos using the Beautiful Mess APP. It is so easy to use, you simply upload your photo into the app, then click on your font choice and type your words. You can change the colour as well as stretch the words to become bigger or smaller and move the text anywhere on the photo. You then save the photo to your photo roll and its done!

SUPPLIES |Heidi Swapp patterned paper, wood veneer words, Colorshine, Washi tape, letters, word stickers , Pink Paislee letters.

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BRIGHTON Amanda Hall - The Jot Team

One favourite technique of mine is to make the photo into a whole page feature and insert text for quick, easy journaling or a title with impact. In this layout, I wanted the title to mimic the Brighton Pier…in font and in design. A quick search online found exactly the right font… naturally called “Brighton Pier”. I used warp text to make the title into an arch just like it appears on the famous landmark in Brighton – the only thing missing are the lights!

The line “oh I do love to be beside the seaside” was added in a contrasting cursive font, allowing free space to decorate. The last sentence brings it back so it’s on a more personal level – detail about how we felt at that moment. I added two parallel lines to break up the text and balance the page’s colours.

I loved how all the fonts and colours contrast and compliment on this page.

That extra time searching for just the right font for the Brighton title was totally worth it - to remind me of a very special place that we will always remember.

SUPPLIES | Cardstock – American Craft. Patterned Paper : Echo Park.

Embellishments : Heidi Swapp, Kaisercraft, Pink Paislee, Simple Stories, Studio Calico, Kikki K. Other: cotton thread. Fonts – Brighton Pier, Cutts tram, Chalk hand lettering shaded.

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LOVING IT

Loredana Bucaria - The Jot Team

I usually add digital details in my Project Life spreads and pages since I have discovered the infinite ways to use them and the creative result they bring. I love the touch they give to my pictures. I adore the photos with a lot of empty space where I can play with digitals stamps or just add the story behind that photo. At first I thought it was a very complicated process.

Instead it is super easy and satisfying even if I spend a lot of time editing my pictures.

SUPPLIES | Cardstock: Bazzill. Patterned papers and journaling card: Studio Calico. Stamps: Studio Calico. Embellishments: Studio Calico and Ali Edwards. Spray inks: Studio Calico and Tattered Angels.

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AUSTRALIA DAY

Natalie Elphinstone - The Jot Team

This is rather a simple way of adding text to a photo - just a digital stamp added onto a photo before printing. But I have added extra ‘details’ to it by adding an outline and a drop shadow to the text to give it a bit more dimension.

SUPPLIES | Project Life Cards: Studio Calico and Becky Higgins. Patterned paper: Pink Fresh Studio, Studio Calico, Alphabet Stickers: Studio Calico, Pink Fresh Studio. Embellishments: Studio Calico, Pink Fresh Studio, Olya Smidt, Digital Stamps: Kellie Stamps.

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PHOTO TEXT

Petra Corcoran - The Jot Team

I print all my text directly on the photo by bringing the photo into Photoshop Elements and then creating a text layer over the top to type my text in. I look for ‘white space’ on my photo and sometimes I even stretch or crop a photo out to create the white space to type into.

White space to me is just a blank area with a consistent look so that if I type in white or black it can all be clearly seen and is a contrast to my text colour. For example the sky area of a photo is perfect white space and for sky I would generally use a black font as white could be hard to see.

My go to “typewriter like” font is called Remington Noiseless.

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PHOTO TEXT

Jamie Pate - The Jot Team SUPPLIES | Ali Edwards Story Kit Digital Embellishments. Font: Bromello from DaFont.com.

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STORY TELLING

ONCE UPON A TIME Our STORY TELLING gallery isn’t just about pretty photos and embellishments -- our focus is on the story.

It doesn’t have to be a long story. Just use a few sentences or even a few words if that’s all it takes to tell your story. This issue our theme is -- Once Upon A Time..

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THEN NOW

Sharmaine Kruijver - The Jot Team Using a picture of me when I was three, I’ve created a self-reflective page. Because the story is always unfolding and there is more, so much more to come.

Once upon a time, she was small girl.

And then she grew.. and she always sought adventure...

SUPPLIES | Patterned paper: American Crafts, Cocoa Daisy. Alphabet: Simple Stories. Embellishments: Cocoa Daisy flair and printable, Shimelle washi tape, die cuts and stickers, October Afternoon flair, The Craft Stall enamel dots. Other: Sharpie Pen, typewriter, spray ink.

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SUPPLIES |Patterned paper: Bella Blvd Illustrated Faith, She Blooms. Cardstock: American Crafts. Embellishments: Bella Blvd Illustrated Faith stickers and enamel hearts. Alphabets: Bella Blvd Illustrated Faith Treasures and Text, Bella Blvd Tiny Text Alphas. Other: machine stitching, typewriter, paint, foam dots.

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Once upon a time.. there was a brave performer, who despite a broken ankle, defied those who said she shouldn’t audition and did so. And she was successful.

ONCE UPON A TIME Leanne Allinson - The Jot Team

My beautiful daughter is always willing to go above and beyond what other people think she’s capable of.

I am constantly in awe of her determination even though the road is sometimes made more difficult by negative people. I know I will always be her no. 1 fan!

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AC SERIOUSLY

Kim Jeffress - The Jot Team Once upon a time I dreamed of visiting the American Crafts Office with Heidi Swapp. This year my dream came true when I visited Heidi in April. It was more than I could ever imagine.

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Once upon a time.. there was a talented girl who dreamed of one day crafting along side Heidi Swapp and visiting the American Crafts offices.. and she did.

SUPPLIES | Patterned paper- Heidi Swapp, Crate Paper. Embellishments - Heidi Swapp Minc Machine, Foil, Minc Die Cuts, Water Color Words, Colorshine.

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SUPPLIES | Patterned paper: Pink Paislee. Alphabet: Pink Paislee. Embellishments: Pink Paislee, Typo, American Crafts, Kaisercrafts.

Other: paint, sequins, white tag, Memento black ink, date stamp, sewing machine, twine, Stampin’ Up punch, vellum.

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BEAUTIFUL CRAFTY YOU Sheree Forcier - The Jot Team

Teaching Madison to finger knit over the weekend made me think about the time when my mum taught me how to knit. It’s so lovely having my own daughter now to enjoy crafty time with!

Once upon a time.. a little girl would sit alongside her mum and learn to knit and cross stitch. She longed for the day she would be grown up and her own little girl would be able to do the same with her..

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ONCE UPON A TIME

Amanda Hall - The Jot Team In 1989 I was an AFS exchange student to Peru, South America. This story is about that time and how it was such a steep learning curve for a young country girl from Australia.

Once upon a time.. there was a young girl, just fifteen winters of age, who traveled alone to the other side of the world for an entire year as an exchange student.!

SUPPLIES |Cardstock - American Crafts. Font: Times New Roman, Goudy Initialen Regular. Embellishments: KaiserCraft Bluebell Collectables, Washi Tape, October Afternoon Stickers. Other: cotton thread.

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ENJOYING EVERY MOMENT Meghann Andrew - The Jot Team

To me, the phrase “once upon a time” reminds me of a fairy tale, which brings back memories of our first family trip to Disneyland, and the magic that we all experienced there.

Once upon a time.. there was a sweet little girl who visited a magical place for the very first time..

SUPPLIES |Cardstock: Bazzill. Patterned paper: Simple Stories. Alphabets: Crate Paper, Seven Paper. Embellishments: Elle’s Studio tags, Simple Stories stickers and die-cuts, American Crafts wooden button and washi tape, Scraptastic Club “today” tab. Stamps: Studio Calico alphabet stamp, Big Picture Classes (“this was magic”). Other: Ink by Momento.

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JAZZERCISE

Yvette Adams - The Jot Team I’ve had this photo printed for about a year with an idea to document some of my journey to become a Jazzercise instructor, or my Jazzerjourney, as I call it. This prompt was perfect to help me get this story documented!

Once upon a time.. there was a girl who finally plucked up the courage to attend a jazzercise class...

SUPPLIES |Patterned papers: Heidi Swapp. Stickers: Kikki K, Amy Tangerine. Stamps: Ali Edwards, unknown. Other: Doily, transparency, buttons, thread.

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TEA FOR TWO

Suse Fish - The Jot Team Moments like this remind me how much my daughter is her own little person: I came down one morning to find her at the kitchen table having tea and chatting over her plans for the day with her imaginary friend… I’ll enjoy reminding her of this delightful moment when she’s older.

Once upon a time.. there was a sweet little girl who would chat and have tea with her imaginary friend..

SUPPLIES | Patterned papers: Felicity Jane. Cardstock: Hobbycraft. Alphabets: Amy Tangerine and Felicity Jane. Embellishments: Felicity Jane flair, Crate Paper puffy stickers. Other: stamp and washi tape both Felicity Jane.

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SUPPLIES |Canson Watercolour paper. Patterned papers: American crafts, Pink Paislee. Embellishments: Hip Kit Club exclusive chipboard word, Pink Paislee ephemera, Crate paper ephemera, Wilna Furstenberg Spring Collection print and cut file. Other: Watercolor paint, sewing machine.

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Once upon a time.. there was a lovely little family who lived in a beautiful house with an overgrown garden. One day, they decided to buy a goat named Cannonball...

SO SWEET

Mardi Winen - The Jot Team If there was ever a story to be told it was this one. This brilliant suggestion to add a goat to our crazy family mix turned into the hottest topic in our lives for the next two years and counting.

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SUPPLIES |Cardstock: Bazzill. Embellishments: Studio Calico, Ali Edwards. Stamps: Ali Edwards. Other: sewing machine.

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Once upon a time.. there was a handsome prince who celebrated his first birthday by hosting a huge carnival party.

ONCE UPON A TIME

Loredana Bucaria - The Jot Team I have used this story theme gallery to tell the first birthday of my son. It was the same day as Carnival Day here in Italy and we have celebrated by organizing a big Carnival themed party. He was dressed as Prince Charming and he was really beautiful! I love to tell stories with scrapbooking. This is one of the reasons why I could never stop making scrapbooking layouts.

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POCKET PAGES

DOCUMENTING LIFE Charlotte is mum to two gorgeous little boys aged five and two. She began to document life in the Lam household around three years ago using the Project Life/pocket page system and sees it as an invaluable treasure to be able to look back on the everyday things they enjoyed together as a family.

Eighteen months ago, life took a tragic turn when Charlotte’s husband William passed away suddenly in a fishing accident while they were on holidays.

Despite such devastating sadness, Charlotte chose to continue on with Project Life. “I chose to continue documenting our lives because I enjoy it so much and also to show my boys how we coped with life without Daddy.”

I’ve followed along with Charlotte’s story on social media for many

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years and admire her dedication to her boys, her passion for documenting life and her gorgeous sunny and positive personality. She keeps her posts very real and I love that!

Here we chat with Charlotte about her approach, her love for this form of memory keeping and her well, rather messy but refreshingly real work space!

INTERVIEW BY KIM ARCHER

REAL LIFE Charlotte Lam

This is Charlotte’s 3rd year of doing Project Life and she still loves the process. She says, “I work on my pages a couple of nights a week after my boys have gone to sleep. No matter how tired I am, I use my wind-down time for Project Life.”

Charlotte lives in Sydney with her boys and her inlaws. “There’s actually nine of us living in this house so it’s quite busy.”

She creates in 12x12” size but tends to mix up her page protector styles each week to keep her pages interesting. Charlotte‘s go to camera is her iPhone and she admitted that she doesn’t even know where her SLR camera cord is these days as she always reaches for her iphone for candid snaps of her boys and their adventures.

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WHAT ARE YOUR TOP TIPS FOR STAYING ORGANISED AND UP TO DATE? I feel like I can only work chronologically, and after I lost my husband I ended up being three months behind in my Project Life.

I didn’t want to just jump ahead straight in to the current month, I had to go back and fill in all the missing months! I was dedicated to getting back on track, so I made sure I completed two layouts per week, and slowly, slowly I was able to get back to within three weeks behind!

That’s my standard - three weeks behind.

And I’m quite happy with that!

“I use a Project Life Layout Plan I found on Pinterest. It’s a big time saver for me and really helps me keep organised and on track!”

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For planning my layouts I use a “Project Life Layout Plan” page I found on Pinterest. It’s like a mud-map of different page protector styles and I write in each box which photo that I am printing for that space. That way I don’t get so confused when I get my photos back and I’m not like “where did I want this one to go?”

DO YOU HAVE A DEDICATED PROJECT LIFE SPACE? I’m lucky that I am able to have a craft desk in the garage of our very busy home.

Actually my in-laws are pretty lucky too, because otherwise they would have to contend with my mess.

My desk always looks like a bomb has hit it, but that’s how I work, in a tiny clear space surrounded by all my supplies!

And I surprisingly can find everything I need pretty quickly, despite the apparent chaos! I am not a tidy crafter at all!

Having my own craft desk means I can drop everything and leave it all set up on my desk to come back to another time. So if I find myself with a spare five minutes amongst my busy life with a preschooler and a toddler, I can nip away to my desk and quickly pick up where I left off.

DO YOU DO ANY OTHER SCRAPBOOKING? I used to do 12x12 scrapping, but I haven’t done any for years as Project Life has taken over!

I do make cards though, and I love that too. I find I like to keep my hands busy.

I think it will take me about 100 years to get through all my supplies though!

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“It probably takes me an hour to plan out what photos I’m going to use and where to put them on the layout.”

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU TO PULL A SPREAD TOGETHER?

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE EMBELLISHMENTS?

It probably takes me an hour to plan out what photos I’m going to use and where to put them on the layout.

I use heaps of different embellishments. At the moment I love washi tape, small word or phrase stickers, wood veneers, colourful stickers, journaling spots (can’t do without these!), puffy stickers and enamel dots.

Then I will spend probably another two or three hours putting it all together once I have my photos printed. I usually have the TV on or music playing, so sometimes it takes me longer if I’m distracted.

DO YOU PRINT YOUR OWN PHOTOS AT HOME? No, I get my photos printed at Big W. Because I am usually three weeks behind I will print two or three weeks worth of photos at a time.

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HOW DO YOU ORGANISE YOUR SUPPLIES? Have you seen my desk? It’s organized chaos! I used to subscribe to Studio Calico’s Project Life kits, so I use some of their small kit boxes to keep all my smaller embellishments in. Its so handy to keep them all in one simple spot. As soon as I get a kit I will separate it and put the embellishments in the embellishments box, cards with my Project Life cards, stamps with my stamps etc. I don’t keep the kit all together, otherwise it would take me ages to find anything I wanted to use!

WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT PROJECT LIFE? I love that it is a visual diary of our lives. I have included all the regular day-to-day things I wouldn’t have scrapped in 12x12. I love looking back on all the things we have done as a family. It’s an awesome resource of our ordinary lives - the good and bad things!

WHAT DO YOU FIND THE MOST CHALLENGING? It was very challenging to include the week that my husband passed away. In the end I ended up filling each pocket with a simple plain black card, except one pocket that had a card with a drawn red heart. I didn’t include any words or photos, just that. It was exactly how I felt, darkness with an exposed heart. I like to keep it real in my Project Life.

“I have been a scrapbooker for about 16 years, so when I swapped to Project Life I found it so exciting, new, challenging and interesting to be working in this pocket format! It re energized my love for scrapbooking! I love that my family and friends also enjoy seeing my pages and seeing what we’ve been up to.

I love that it doesn’t take much time; that I can complete a spread of a whole week’s worth of events in only a night or two!”

Find Charlotte on Instagram and meet her gorgeous family + be inspired by her pages, positivity and sunny nature. INSTAGRAM. Jot Magazine 149

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P O C K E T

SCRAPBOOKING

JOURNALING CARDS Beshka Kueser and Leanne Allinson share with us some fun journaling and filler cards for your pocket pages.

PROJECTS & PHOTOGRAPHY: Beshka Kueser + Leanne Allinson

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Jot Girl Pocket page

team

Beshka Kueser

I love my cutting machine and I love it even more when I actually use it.

It sat idle for a long time before I reminded myself that it’s a handy tool full of endless possibilities for creating filler cards for my Project LifeŽ spreads. So I dusted it off and fired it up to create a set of filler cards to use in my pockets.

Supplies// Silhouette Cameo + cuts from the Silhouette store; 7Paper Goldie-007 patterned paper; Pink Paislee - Fancy Free by Paige Evans patterned papers; Studio Calico Far Far Away kit patterned paper; flair by beshkakueser for ScrapbookAndMore.com; Hero Arts alpha stamps; StazOn ink.

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BESHKA KUESER

STEP BY STEP 1. To create these cuts, I started by creating a 3x4 and 4x6 rectangle in my cutting machine software. For the additional 3x4’s I used “Replicate” to create additional 3x4 rectangles (to do this highlight/select your 3x4 rectangle, then from the menu bar select Object > Replicate > Duplicate+direction). Once I had my foundation I selected or made the design for each card.

2. The ‘Dad you’re Rad’ is a Silhouette cut that you can purchase in their shop and the other cuts are fonts from my computer. One of the things I love about creating cuts for my pockets is I often can get two for one - so for the ‘May’ card not only can I use the card itself but also the letters that were cut from it can be used to create another card.

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LEANNE ALLINSON

Leanne Allinson

DIY Project Life filler cards are really easy to personalise so they can suit your spread to perfection. All I needed to do was find some fun dies and break out my Big Shot.

Each of these cards have been created by using the negative space of the dies.

SWEET AS CAN BE ONE// Trim your base cardstock (yellow) to 3x4 and trim the second piece of cardstock (white) slightly smaller to allow a border to be seen when the two pieces are layered. Position your alphabet dies onto the white cardstock. Once you are happy with where they sit, keep the dies in place with a small piece of washi tape..

TWO// Run the dies and cardstock through your manual cutting machine.

THREE// Add a stamped sentiment and/or flicks of paint to the white cardstock. Finally, when the paint is dry, mount the white cardstock layer with foam adhesive and layer directly onto the yellow 3x4 card.

FOUR// Don’t forget to include the negative space of the die cut letters with foam dots as well.

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HAPPY ONE// Trim two pieces of cardstock or patterned paper to 3x4�. Put what will be the lower layer aside.

TWO//Using the top layer and a die cut sentiment/word, run through your manual die cutting machine, allowing the word to go over the edges of the patterned paper if so desired.

THREE// Remove the die cut word and adhere the two patterned paper/cardstock layers together.

FOUR// Add the negative spaces of the dies individual letters aligning them with the patterned paper.

Embellish the rest of the card with stickers and enamel hearts.

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LEANNE ALLINSON

THIS WEEK ONE// Trim a piece of patterned paper to 4x6�.

TWO//Position your alphabet dies and secure in place with washi tape. Run the dies through your manual die cutting machine.

THREE// Layer a piece of cardstock below the patterned paper and adhere the negative spaces from the individual die cut letters in place.

FOUR// Embellish your 4x6 card with alphabet stickers, enamel hearts, chipboard and a die cut banner.

WHAT YOU NEED// Cardstock: American Crafts, Bazzill Basics. Patterned Paper: Bella Blvd. Alphabets: Bella Blvd. Embellishments: Bella Blvd Cute Clips, Bella Blvd Illustrated Faith Enamel Hearts, Bella Blvd stickers, Bella Blvd chipboard. Tools: Heidi Swapp Happy die, MFT Alphabet die, MFT Die-Namics Harlequin die, sewing machine, Big Shot die cutting machine. Other: water colour paint.

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hey mum,

are you busy?

Frazzled?

Need to offload?

Me too!

Grab a cuppa and join me. teenagesurvivalcoach.com.au

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P O C K E T

SCRAPBOOKING G A L L E R Y

We love pocket scrapbooking here at Jot magazine and we have another awesome gallery to share with you showcasing some innovative and gorgeous pocket pages.

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Leanne Allinson The Jot Team - Australia

School holidays always produce a flurry of activities and countless photo opportunities. But it is always remarkable to capture those special events, especially if you aren’t in attendance personally. How do I manage to grab those behindthe-scenes photos? Well, I stalk, plead or beg my children to do it for me!

Jot Girl Pocket page

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Over the Easter school holidays, my daughter was fortunate enough to be a member of the stage production of Hairspray, The Big Fat Arena Spectacular!, featuring many Australian celebrities.

On her phone I managed to find quite a number of selfies with her and the cast members. It was such an amazing opportunity for her to learn about the musical theatre world that this week in our Project Life album, ended up being all about her. I’ve also included promotion photos and detail shots unique to her costume requirements.

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These type of photos fill in the gaps and help share the story. Most of the journaling has been hidden or tucked in behind the photo. She shares her personal memories, trials and triumphs as well. I love that everyone in my family tends to have an active role in helping me create our Project Life stories.

Leanne’s Blog

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Beshka Kueser The Jot Team - Germany

I started this year off with the idea that I would continue with creating 9x12 Project LifeŽ spreads, which is what I did last year, but I couldn’t stop thinking about 6x8 spreads.

Jot Girl Pocket page

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I have only ever created 6x8 albums for my December album but I always have so much fun with them and I wanted something fun. After creating a 2016 intro page for my 9x12 album and not feeling very inspired I thought to myself ‘this is supposed to be fun, why am I forcing a particular size on myself?’.

Right then I started making plans to make the switch and luckily it wasn’t too far into the year. I also decided that I would really like to try 6x12 as well, so I decided I would do both. I started the year with the 6x8. The plan is to do 6x8 spreads until I fill an album (turns out Jan-Mar would pretty much fill one!) and then I would do 6x12.

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Beshka Kueser The Jot Team - Germany

My approach is very relaxed and I don’t really worry about weeks - it is more of a monthly approach bordering on random!

It has been a lot of fun working with a different size and I am excited to try 6x12 next - where I will continue with my monthly/random approach.

Jot Girl Pocket page

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Beshka’s blog

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Petra Corcoran The Jot Team - Australia

I love using the Becky Higgins’ “Currently Edition” Project Life kit.

And I love the co-ordinating embellishments even more that you can get also. They are very clean and easy to use. I just put a foam dot underneath a badge like this and it’s done. Super easy.

I decided to concentrate on the orange tones in the Everyday Moments kit for my spread.

Jot Girl Pocket page

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My inspiration to use the round badge die cuts was the circle on the “poppy rose” card I received with some flowers from hubby.

ABOVE || Sometimes I reach into my stash and find a coordinating colour like these stars. I thought this story really needed 5 stars so I added these chipboard stars on the page that came from Ali Edwards.

LEFT || On this card, I’ve added another badge from the Everyday Moments die cut embellishments just placed on a 3x4 card. I love that they are simple and that they match any layout.

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Loredana Bucaria The Jot Team - Italy

I love, love, love adding text to my photos before printing them out for my Project Life album.

SUPPLIES | Project Life cards: Studio Calico. Embellishments: Studio Calico, Ali Edwards.

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Lauren Hender The Jot Team - NSW

In this project I have combined my two scrapbooking loves which is pocket style scrapbooking and traditional 12x12 single page scrapbooking. Surprisingly this achieved two things, a feature photo for this special occasion and the breaking up the busyness of the pocket style layout.

Lauren’s blog

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This 12x12 layout lives between the two pocket style pages and has created a unique focus point for viewers to enjoy.

SUPPLIES | American Crafts, Flutterby Designs, Teresa Collins, Color Blast Australia, Project Life, Maggie Holmes, Ranger, Coco Vanilla and Heidi Swapp.

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Meghann Andrew

The Jot Team - Houston, Texas USA

I love using one dominant color with small bits of secondary colors on my pocket page spreads. I feel that it makes the spread feel unified. On this spread, I took the colors from the “stories are forever� card and created my color scheme, making green the dominant color. Sometimes just one card can influence a whole design!

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Sometimes just one card can influence a whole design!

Meghann’s Blog

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BY SHARI BREWER

“Do I feel like Superwoman? Hardly.

My current pattern is cope on autopilot.

Rinse. Repeat!”

DEAR DIARY. I’M BACK AGAIN, NOT QUITE WILLING TO BELIEVE HOW MUCH HAS HAPPENED SINCE I’VE LAST WRITTEN HERE. NO DISASTERS, TOUCH WOOD. LITTLE DRAMA. THANK GOODNESS BUT SO MUCH BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

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We women are only telling the truth when sharing stories of juggling far too many balls. In between the day job, helping the farmer with his, growing a small business and to-and-froing kids from their activities (with better social lives than mine I must add) the days have been manic. The nights? Well they bring a little relief but nowhere near enough sleep.

Do I feel like a Superwoman? Hardly.

I sense like the seams are bursting. Current pattern is cope on autopilot, rinse and repeat… and speaking of washing analogies, Mounts Foldmore and Ironmore are yet to be conquered with both almost too high to attempt ascent.

But you know something, dear Diary friend of mine?

I probably wouldn’t have it any other way and I’ll admit much of it is self-inflicted. That said, a week’s rest at a retreat would be a God-sent gift and much appreciated, but the likelihood of such a blessing is slim.

Thankfully amongst the chaos and crazy, the kids are doing really well. Changing universities has been the best thing for Liam, who loves his new course of study and is acing it. He must take after his mum, as he’s combining full time study in a dual degree with holding down two part time jobs and squeezing in some fun times too.

Scott is soaring ahead with his music, and has Grade 7 exams and theory coming up.

He’s possibly more nervous than he says, but he’s been practicing hard and taking extra lessons so should be right. He’s also just bought a first car and now waiting to go for his P-plates. No clapped out beginner’s car like I had, as years of supermarket toil, and a small kick in from his dad and also from me, has afforded him a snazzy little 2-door. Low km’s on the clock and very shiny so

you’ll be able to imagine how proud he is. As I am of him.

Gina has joined a choir and is entertaining us around the clock with rehearsal.

There are 30 wee-ones in her singing group called Little Voices and they practice at lunch times. She was smart enough to realise early in the school year, summer sweating in the playground was trumped by singing inside, lapping up air conditioned comfort. She’s a smart cookie that one and I must say her voice is much better than mine at the same age. Mmmmmm, and probably even now.

Thanks for being here, Diary.

Even the little bit of time I’ve taken to sit down and write with you today has given me a breather from the hustle. Best thing too is you’ve not asked me where your socks are, if I could get you a cold drink or even what we’re having for dinner (ten times!). I think I like you a lot.

Until I’m back again, I appreciate you holding my thoughts safely.

Shari x

Shari Brewer lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland with her family and these diary entries may or may not be a truthful account of her day-to-day experiences. She’s never been shy of a story, so it’s best you decide what’s fact or fiction.

A mother of three (two teens and a preschooler) Shari’s a part time high school teacher who keeps herself busy running a household as well as the parenting website Teenage Survival Coach. In her spare time she clatters on the keyboard and pimps her writing services as a freelancer.

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thank you WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED ISSUE 14 OF JOT MAGAZINE. OUR NEXT ISSUE WILL HIT THE DIGITAL NEWS STANDS IN SEPTEMBER 2016.

IN THE MEANTIME, VISIT US ON THE JOT BLOG AND KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR WORKSHOPS, EBOOKS, MOOD BOARD CHALLENGES AND ALL SORTS OF FUN JOT THINGS! www.jotmagazine.com Jot Magazine 176