Back to School with BPC - An Instahop!

Hey everyone, I am joining in with a fun instagram hop today along with ten other teachers at Big Picture Classes offering 10 people month long seats in the Big Picture Classroom. 

If you want to enter visit my insta account here and check it out.


Here are the amazing crafters joining in on this hop. I am so honoured to be pictured amongst them and joining in. 


For my contribution I popped over and joined in on Pam Baldwin's class 'Text Tricks' and boy I must say this class was just what I needed to get my mojo flowing. I had taken a short SM and crafting break due to personal loss and this was such a nice and inspirational way to hop back onto the saddle and get creating again. 

In Pam's class I learnt a number of things, but took my main inspiration from Lesson 2 'Text Basics and Lesson 6 'Going Hybrid'. I sort of amalgamated the things I learnt from both of those lessons into the one layout. 

Here is what I created: I delved into my new Crate Paper Carousel collection for this one. 

As you can see this page is unlike any layout I have shared before. For starters it is 8.5x11" in size! and secondly it is pretty much made up of a photo, no white card stock! 

Thanks to Pam's class I was able to clone and turn my landscape photo into a portrait one and also add my journaling directly to my layout without adding typewritten strips later like I normally do. 

Having minimal embellishments or space for embellishing meant that everything that I added needed to have a place and purpose. 

Here is a closer look at my final design: 

And the full layout:

I decided to film a 'real time' process video of how this came together. I will not be teaching you the tips and content of Pam's class in this video, just simply how this layout came together once I had my photo with journaling. 




Don't forget to pop on over to instagram to join in and enter the comp. 

Raquel x

Fabulous You - My Fave Techniques using Pink Paislee



Hey everyone, today I am sharing with you a layout featuring my favourite technique of layering and clustering using my fave things: gorgeous papers and embellishments, cut files, white cardstock, and doilies.

Raquel shares her favourite 'go to' techniques when creating layouts on the blog today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #12x12 #ohmyheart
I couldn’t go past the gorgeous Oh My Heart collection for today’s layout. I used white cardstock for my background and a white floral cut file which is free from the Paper Issues store. To back the main flowers and leaves within the cut file I gathered any pink or green toned patterned papers. I also added pops of yellow to the flower buds to add more contrast. I love how the backed floral pieces against the white of the cardstock really brighten up the page.

raquelbowman-21stjuly- blog2
I love to add layers to my pages and I do this by layering embellishments or patterned papers either within clusters or behind my photo/s. I decided on this page to layer a couple of the patterned papers behind the photo. I love how this just gives the photo a little extra detail. I chose to print my photo in black and white as I knew that this again would really help the colours in my layout pop.

Raquel shares her favourite 'go to' techniques when creating layouts on the blog today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #12x12 #ohmyheart
To embellish the page I added some fussy cut florals from Paper 13. I just love how easy these are to cut out and how perfect they are to add a cute little detail to a page. I also added some teeny tiny flowers from Paper 6.
Raquel shares her favourite 'go to' techniques when creating layouts on the blog today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #12x12 #ohmyheart
I added a small amount of journaling to my page as I always do, with typewritten journaling cut into strip form. I love how convenient and easy it is to add journaling with a typewriter.

Raquel shares her favourite 'go to' techniques when creating layouts on the blog today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #12x12 #ohmyheart
Of course a page of mine isn’t complete without a little machine stitching. I decided to mat my whole layout on the Paper 12 and stitch around the border. To add further detail it is fun to rough up the edges and little too.

Raquel shares her favourite 'go to' techniques when creating layouts on the blog today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #12x12 #ohmyheart
I hope I have been able to share a little insight into my favourite techniques with you today. 

Raquel shares her favourite 'go to' techniques when creating layouts on the blog today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #layout #12x12 #ohmyheart

E2C Mini Album - Pink Paislee

Hey everyone, I'm here on the blog today wrapping up Mini Album week. For today’s album I decided to document a little getaway from last year that I went on. As a busy Mumma of two, I plan a little weekend away once a year. For the last few years it has been on a scrapbooking retreat that is in another state here in Aus. It is an exceptional event, so well run and organised and full of those special treats like delicious meals, beautiful company, and some options like massages, facials, etc. What more could a girl want?!?

Here is the album I created:
raquelbowman-28th july- mini-blogfull
For the mini album today I decided to create a wallet style album approx 4×6″ in size that contained some concertina style inner pages. I went searching YouTube for a good tutorial for the foundation of my album and followed this one by My Sisters Scrapper. I liked that this tutorial gave me the basic design of the album which I could then adapt and use to suit my project. I loved that the design only required a couple of pieces of cardstock too. I was able to run some seam binding along the back section to tie and secure the album at the front.
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I used my We R Memory Keepers Trim and Score board, my new favourite tool, to create the pages and score the folds. Having these tools ‘all in one’ made it super easy to create the album foundation.

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When you open up the top of the album you get a quick recap of what the album contains. It was easy to add my story to this album using typewritten journaling adhered in strip form.

See how Raquel created a fun wallet mini album to document a special event on the blog today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #minialbum #ohmyheart
The album opened up, looks like it does below:

See how Raquel created a fun wallet mini album to document a special event on the blog today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #minialbum #ohmyheart
I was able to use the Paper 21 as a feature and ran the shelves across both the concertina pieces so it looked like on continuous paper. I fussy cut the clip board from Paper 1 and added the text….perfect for a scrapbooking weekend away, don’t you think?
See how Raquel created a fun wallet mini album to document a special event on the blog today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #minialbum #ohmyheart
When you pull on each of the folds the album then opens out to reveal more pages. You can do this on both sides of the album. This gave me more room to add more photos and journaling.
See how Raquel created a fun wallet mini album to document a special event on the blog today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #minialbum #ohmyheart
Here is the album all spread out. I love that within this little 4×6″ wallet I was able to document so much about this event.
See how Raquel created a fun wallet mini album to document a special event on the blog today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #minialbum #ohmyheart
I embellished each page of the concertina folds like a mini layout, using ephemera, stickers, and icons fussy cut from the papers. This album was also a great way for using up scraps as I was able to use my scrap pieces as backgrounds to each 3×4″ piece, or to mat photos.
See how Raquel created a fun wallet mini album to document a special event on the blog today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #minialbum #ohmyheart
I had a few extra photos so I added a pocket to one of the pages and added my extra photos and journaling on tags.
See how Raquel created a fun wallet mini album to document a special event on the blog today. @raquelLbowman @pinkpaislee #pinkpaislee #minialbum #ohmyheart
Here is a short flip through of the album to show you the album in its entirety:

I hope you have enjoyed this final share for Mini Albums week here on the blog. Thanks so much for popping by!
raquelbowman-28th july- mini-blog2