Maya Road Design Team

Maya Road + Paper Crafter's Library Blog Swap Final Day 5!

Hi there!
Welcome back to the final installation of the Maya Road + Paper Crafter's Library blog swap! This is Ania from Norway, here with yet another different take on the same 10 products as the other MR-girls and the gals at PCL!

Curious yet?
When I signed up for this challenge, I thought; Ooh, a challenge, I love them!
Then I got the list over the products and thought; Uhm right, too late to back out, I can't let them down now.....
THEN I got the products in the mail, making me go; Ooookaaaaaaayletseeee...gosh why do I always have to volunteer for challenges?!

And then, once I found the right papers to accompany the products, it all went like a breeze. Now, while I'm typing this post, I have *no* idea how the other gals final products looks like..so I am quite thrilled and curious on how it went for the others (you can scroll down the blog to find out the other gals' take on this challenge), I'm sort of thinking I can't be alone in creating a minibanner of the banners and tags now, can I...?

I used the Vintage Ornament Butterfly stamp quite a bit here; see the mini kraft tags? On the ones to the right and the left I stamped them with white chalk ink pad and embossed with clear detail embossing powder. Yields a fine, sheer look... on the middle one however, I embossed the butterflies with white detail embossing powder. Next to the photo; a regular stamped butterfly onto a piece of paper that's cut out.

And then - on the chipboard letters that I covered with white paint first; Butterflies randomly stamped onto the letters.

Tah-dah.

It was fun doing this challenge, and extra fun knowing the other gals got exactly the same MR-products as me!

Here's the 10 product list we all got to play with:

• love hangers
• canvas triangle banners
• mini kraft tags
• turquoise twine
• coffee brown mini gingham trim
• leaf zipper trim
• turquoise and yellow ruffle flowers
• jonathan alpha chipboard
• Ornate Vintage Butterflies stamp
• Vintage Lace Mums - Apple

Now, don't forget that you still have a chance to win our giveaway! Make sure to go read the details on this post.

Accessorizing with Maya Road

Happy Friday Roadies! My daughter discovered Pinterest and her wardrobe hasn't been the same since. She refers to clothing and accessory combinations as "Pinteresty." She decides to buy a sweater shrug because it would match her yellow flats perfectly and she'll have a "Pinterest" outfit. She loves the coordinated, put together looks that she finds on Pinterest and she's really good at translating the same looks into her own wardrobe, without running out and buying all new clothes.

This layout is about her love of outfits inspired by the site. I thought the dressform from the Sew Cute chipboard set would be perfect as an embellishment on this page. Topped off with a couple of the Yellow Star pins, a Crystal Trinket pin, and a bit of twine to mimic jewelry and a scarf, my mannequin is all dressed up, just like Annie. I completed the outfit with a gingham point blossom. 

 

To ground my photos, I set them on strips of Mega Ric Rac trim and the small organza roses trim in yellow. 

I used a transparency ledger to house my journaling, which once that was in place, things did not feel right. I felt like I needed a little more black, so I slid a kraft scroll frame journaling tag behind the mannequin and voila, the layout felt balanced!

I love that Maya Road has so many fun little embellishments to choose from, it's like accessories for your layouts!

Now, when Annie discovers Polyvore...

Maya Road + Authentique Paper Blog Swap Day 2!

Oy!

Ania here, to continue on the inspiring Blog Swap between Maya Road and Authentique Paper!

To my delight I saw I got to play with the Delightful collection...hm..no pun intended!

Here's what I made, using the 6x6 inch paper pad (they even made these double sided, adding solid colors to the B sides...well, solid-ish, in the way I love solid patterned papers :) ) and one of the die cut cards as well.

See the punched border? Or the chipboard-bird (from the Home Tweet Home Mini chipboard set)? Pretty, solid-ish paper :) All the sheets also got this grey polkadot-border, I liked it so decided to keep it for this layout. Gives the sheets a bit of continuity, hm?

Lots of little bits and pieces added to this cluster. Like the Daisies Vintage Lace Trim in Mauve, it's really growing on me....I wouldn't really have used it on its own, it's not really "me", but as a backing for the other flowers (here: Velvet Pleats in grey) it looks amazing methinks. Oh, and see the pearl butterfly? Cute! (One of the new things from CHA-W - looks darling alongside the Crystal trinket pins). See the "plate" the title (from the Love Words Mini Chipboard set) is adhered to?

It's made by covering the Love Chipboard Banner w/patterned paper then adhering them together upside down to a strip of scrap paper.

The Scroll Corners is covered in crackle paint, softened up w/slight dabbing of ink and backed w/Tulle Pleat Trim in Earl Grey (such a versatile color :) ) and a piece of Mums Vintage Lace Trim in Silver.

Supply list:
Chipboard: Scroll Corners chipboard set, Love Chipboard banner, Love Words Mini chipboard set, Home Tweet Home mini chipboard set, green thumb mini chipboard set
Ribbon: Mums Vintage Lace Trim (silver), Tulle Pleat Trim (Earl Grey), Daisies Vintage Lace Trim (Mauve), Ruffle Edge trim - yellow
Trinkets: Pearl Butterfly trinket pin, Crystal trinket pin, Trinket Love Hangers, Alterable Buttons, Mini tickets transparent - black, Velvet pleats (grey and yellow)
Authentique Paper: Delightful 6x6" bundle paper pad, baby girl "icons"

Made an additional card w/the things I got...using one of the die cut cards from Authentique Paper, along with some of the patterned papers.

The tag is from the Baby girl "headlines" card..I just added patterned paper over the middle where it said "Baby girl"...so the card can be used for whatever occasion.

MR Supplies used:
Tulle Pleat Trim in Earl grey, Felt beaded trinket flower (light/dark pink) and butterfly chipboard set.
Authentique Paper: Delightful 6x6 bundle paper pad, baby girl "headlines"

Thanks much for watching - and by all means, do come back tomorrow - we're not done showcasing the blog swap-projects! :)

Want more inspiration? Now go and visit Authentique Paper's blog and see what they have in store for you! And don't forget that you still have a chance to win our giveaway! Make sure to go read the details on this post.

You don't exactly know how to smile but it is fun to watch you try anyway

Hello Roadies!! It's Karen and I am back with another layout to share with you.

One of the things I discovered in 2011 is that I absolutely love having color on my layouts. The brighter, the better. And because I tend to use white cardstock on my backgrounds, it makes the color pop out that much better.

One of the things I often get hung up on is the tone of the color. I like my reds, really red. My yellows, bright yellow, etc. And sometimes I find an embellishment I love but the tone is just not right. It's an orangey red or pinkish one, etc. When I know I want a specific colors, I turn to chipboard. The great thing about chipboard is that it comes raw and you can make it whatever color you want.  I love that I could paint my hearts so they matched my son's lips exactly how I wanted them to.

I also love that Maya Road has so many differently-sized and textured embellishments so I could couple my chipboard with some ribbon, pins and kraft. I get to have the texture of metal, plastic, organza, paper and chipboard and red, yellow, white, brown, orange, and black in one corner and none of it is overwhelming.

I don't ever hesitate to cut my embellishments either. I cut the kraft tags, roses out of the trim  and even the zipper into tiny bits so I can layer them and use them for texture and small bursts of color.

And, of course, the most important part of any layout, for me, is the story, so the journaling on this page reads:

I love loooking at these photos and seeing all the faces you make. Thay are just a few of many many creative faces you have. I love seeing all of them and love that you don't know how yo smile jus yet but you do know that you should smile when your picture is being taken. Cause yousee your brother do it. Soon you will learn, too. I love you so much, my son.

And there you are.  If you haven't painted your own chipboard, I cannot recommend it enough and I also urge you to mix and match textures and colors and layer those small embellishments to create clusters!

Thank you for letting me share my layout and have a wonderful day!

 

You Love and Hug and Teach Him

Hi everyone! 

One of my favorite layouts from the Winter show was this one I made for my older son:

I love the photos of my kids and I wanted them to stick out so I used only tan, yellow, and black on the whole page. I used minimal elements and a lot of repetition. So the photos stood out more. 

I love how these tickets are small and can be stacked so easily and add a fun but not overwhelming look to the page.

I also made the important parts of my title bigger and more noticeable so you can quickly tell the theme of my page. 

Added some stitching and I was done. 

The journaling on the page reads:

My sweet boy i know that Nathaniel gets on your nerves sometimes. But I also see that you can tell how much her adores you and loves doing anything you do. So I really feel grateful when you ply with him and show him things. And watch out for him and are patient with him. I love that you hug him and help him. Thank you for being such a great big brother. I love you so much.

 

Thank you for letting me share!

 

For the Love of Zipper Trim

Hello everyone!  Have you noticed the latest craze? Zipper Trim is hot in fashion.  You can find it in purses, shoes, clothing, etc.  It is also a big trend in crafting too.  There are so many different ways to use it.  I wanted to share with you a few ideas how to implement it in your own crafts and scrapbook pages. 

Have you seen all the zipper flowers we have created at Maya Road?  Caroline has a multitude of zipper trim videos up at the Maya Road You Tube Channel. 

My personal favorite is the peacock like flower she created in this picture.  I got to wear it at scrapfest.  There is a pin hot glued to the back of it and i attached it to my headband.  So much fun.

As you can see there are many different flowers you can create with the zipper trim.  But what to do with them besides create a stellar wall decor?  Attach a pin to them and add them to a purse, scarf, a canvas messenger bag, headband.  Use them on the front cover of a mini album.  Trim the zipper down and make smaller flowers for a layout.  So many different possibilities.

Another way to add in some zipper trim is to sew it to another piece as an accent.  On my mini album cover i use a canvas heart and stitched the sunshine yellow trim to pop the heart. 

I have a teen boy.  Did you notice there isn't a large variety of teen boy embellishments?  Insert Maya Road Zipper trim.  It reminds me of the jeans laying on his bedroom floor.  Snip it in small pieces and tuck it into your paper.  Stitch it down for a cool finishing touch.

It works beautifully in mini albums too.  On the front cover i trimmed it down to have just a little bit of black showing with the zipper teeth.  Inside my mini album it adorns all the pages bring them together with a common element even though i varied the color.

Guess what?  It works on girl pages too.  Lay down some layers of colors using both trims and patterned papers.  The Sunshine yellow was just the right pop color.

Of course you can join the fashion craze too!  Grab one of the new canvas cuff's from Maya road and cover it your favorite zipper trims. 

You can also turn it into your favorite shapes like the above butterflies which again can adorn a purse, scarf, a canvas messenger bag, headband, tag, mini album, or front cover of a large album.  You can see how to create these butterflies up on the Maya Road You Tube Channel. 

I hope you learned some new ways to add these beautiful trims into all your paper crafting!

Ronda

Chipboard love...

Hello!  Thanks for stopping by.   I have a little Maya Road chipboard love to spread today.  The chipboards are some of my absolute favorite things to work with.  You can do so many things to them using lots of different mediums.



I created this pretty simple layout that really is made special with  all of the little chipboard pieces.  Many of mine were either painted, covered with patterned papers, glittered or distressed.  That list is small compared to the possibilities that  chipboard brings to the creating table.


 
You can leave them plain or add a base of paint or paper and then you can sand them, crackle them, mist them, sew on them... sew over them, fold  and bend them, apply rub ons to them, glitter them, gloss them, stamp on them, grunge them up, sew on a button, stick a pin into them, layer them, splatter them, dye them, emboss them, cover them with fabric and lace, staple them, punch shapes into them or wrap them in ribbon or string and don't forget to bling them up!



Wow!! Like I said so many possibilities and I'm sure that I've forgotten some.  I bet that you can think of more too.  It's a great way to add some unique elements to your scrapbook pages and projects without spending a lot of money or time.

Here is a list of the Maya Road products used on my layout.  Have a wonderful week!   Linda

Mixed Scallop Mini Banner
Mini Scallop chipboard
Motifs Chipboard
Mixed Blossom Mini Chipboard
Tiny Banner Chipboard Bits
Border Scroll Rub Ons
Trinket Pins Crystal Star
Trinket Pins Leaf
Tangerine Metallic Mist
Cotton Candy Metallic Mist
Ruffle Blossoms- cream

On this extra day of the year..

I figured I'd share a recent layout I created. Oh, how I envy my sisters outdoor-all-year-round-jacuzzi! The kids had great fun in the jacuzzi - in minus fifteen degrees celsius! That's 5 degrees fahrenheit to you US peeps!

I decided to do a real snowwy sort of layout. Did you know Maya Road offers lots of different snowflakes? Pictured above are the chipboard one, the white transparent ones, and the awesome vintage wooden ones. And that's not all the snowflakes Maya Road have in their assortment:

On the tags here I used the clear stamp ones as well. They're tucked into the open Kraft-envelope.
Then you have kraft snowflakes, and black transparent ones, and the coaster one, so you can create real big chipboard-snowflakes or a snowflakemini...in short..Maya Road have got lots of great wintery accessories! Speaking of the tags: I tried different approaches to these two seen here: First I stamped the snowflakes w/watermark-stamp, added white fine detail embossing powder to them and embossed the snowflakes onto the tags. Then I sprayed a mix of Popsicle Blue, Earl Gray and Silver Plated Metallic Mist spray onto the top one. The latter made the tag pretty metallic-looking, and the gray spray added shadows to it. For the bottom tag I sprayed Popsicle Blue onto a sponge, added it evenlyish to the tag then smeared white distress stain onto the whole tag, getting a mily white, lovely sheen to the whole tag. I think I really like the latter result the better!

And I adore the new Kraft owls, as well as the larger kraft tickets! I also find the 2012 Kraft Calendar quite handy! It's both informative and pretty-as-an-accessoire at the same time :) Here it's placed upon a whitepainted snowflake-chipboard. Notice the star-pins? I figured purple gemstones in the middle of them would make the whole layout a bit more exciting, breaking with the brown-white-blue colored theme :)

I dabbed some white distress stain on the vintage wooden snowflakes - the whitewashed look added to the vintage feel methinks. The chipboard ones got a coat of white gesso, before adding sugar coating glitter on them. The glitter was then sealed in by a layer of diamond glaze on the top.

Maya Road Supply List:
Maya Mists: Earl Gray, Popsicle Blue, Silver Plated Metallic Mist
Chipboard: Snowflake Chipboard Set, Jonathan Mini Alphabets
Wood: Vintage Wood Snowflakes
Transparent: Let it snowflakes - white,
Kraft: 20120 Kraft Calendar, Kraft Large Ticket Strips - white, Krafty Owls - black, Kraft envelopes - square
Trinkets: Vintage Raspberry beads - clear, Trinket Pins - Stars, Trinket Pins - Crystals, Vintage Paper Roses, Vintage Paper Posies, Gingham Point blossoms - brown & beige
Ribbons: Zipper trim - earl grey, Small organza roses - turquoise, twine - red, burlap trim

Other: Distress stain, gesso, sugar coating glitter, gems from KaiserCraft, doily, diamond glaze, papers from My Little Bicycle, Heidi Swapp heart, Glue Arts adhesives.

Happy Leap Day!

-Ania

Love You to the Moon and Back

Hi everyone!!

This is Karen. I am here to share with you a layout I made for Winter CHA. Two of my favorite Maya Road products are the Kraft envelopes and the awesome trims. I combined both here with some sweet pins and stitching. I love the combination of white, kraft, red and pink. 

I'm often told pink's an unusual choice for boy pages but I use it all the time. Especially when coupled with red and white. 

Here are some more details:

Love those pins.

I tend to put things on the edges of my layouts to ensure your eyes stay within the layout and don't wander off.

and here are the wonderful trims! I layered three of them and I love the motion, texture, and body they give to the page.

The journaling on this page reads:

My sweet, awesome boys, I am so grateful for these photos of the two fof you with me. I love seeing us all laugh together and I hope you can tell how much I love you. I will love you for ever and ever.

Thank you for letting me share! 

Photographing Layouts

I am often asked how I photograph my layouts so I thought I would share with you, some of what works for me. Please know that there are many ways to make this work, I am just going to share my way with some tips I've learned over time.

Many people I know lay their layout on the floor and then use a bird's eye view to take a shot of their page. The reason this doesn't work very well is that you have to be directly over the layout or you end up skewing your image.

In my experience, what works better is to tape the layout to a wall and stand directly in front of it. You need to make sure the layout is at eye-level so that you can take the shot straight on.

The kind of light you have also matters. What works best for me is indirect light coming from the side. Ideally, a lot of light. In my house, I have a large window by my staircase and I use that side light to take my photos. Here's a look at my setup:

It's pretty hard to see but right next to the framed image on the right there's a small piece of tape on the wall, I stick my layout on that tape (I happen to use double-sided dimensional tape. There are some kinds of tape that might ruin the paint on your wall so experiment if you're worried about the paint. I think masking tape might not damage the paint but I am not sure.) I stick my layout on it gently and then I stand with my back to the other wall (where the light is shining.) This window is very large so it gives a lot of light which makes my photo clear and crisp.

It's best to not take photos of layouts in direct sunlight because the dimensional elements on your page will cast shadows on the rest of your page. So find a shade which gets a lot of indirect light.

(For those of you with more advanced cameras: I open my shutter all the way when I take photos because mine don't tend to be very dimensional, however, if yours are, beware. A wide-open shutter will create a very shallow depth of field which basically means only parts of your layout will be in focus. So if you have a lot of dimensional elements, make sure to close your aperture as much as the light will allow.)

I generally take several shots straight-on and then a few from different angles. I then open mine in Photoshop (but you can use any editing software for this step) and make sure the photo is bright and sharp.

And that's it. The biggest trick, really, is to make sure you have indirect light and that you place the layout at eye-level so you can take a straight forward shot instead of at any angle. These two steps will improve your layout photos drastically.

I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments and I will do my best to respond.