The Best Bits!

So for all us us that are lucky enough to attend scrapbooking retreats, what are the best bits??  I know it's awesome to just get away and scrap when we want, laugh, eat, classes........but for me "the best bits" are the people I get to meet or catch up with. Recently I was blessed to be invited to teach at a FANTASTIC retreat "Escape 2 Create" and whilst I was there I got to meet not only this amazingly, talented, funny lady Sharmaine Krujiver but many other online scrap friends! So I loved scrapping this photo and I want to share a few of my tips whilst creating it!
My class at this retreat was all about using up scraps and  mix and  matching your scarps and products  and looking at your products in a different way.So this is what I have done here with this layout.

Lot's of bits and pieces.......

I own a Cricut expression machine and I love using it to create my own masks and stencils and to create interesting effects with my page. Often I will use the off cuts of the things I have cut ot like the star cardstock on this layout! i often have bits of these sitting on my desk and I LOVE just grabbing random things and making them work on my page. I often just have a heap of these off cuts sitting around to easily grab.
So to begin this layout I have sprayed some yellow "mister huey's" yellow mist randomly onto where I want it to be seen. I then wanted to use the 'Heidi Swapp acrylic banners" that were sent in my kit but I don't use pieces this long or even banners in fact . So often for me it is about thinking how to use these products in a way that suits my style. So I cut down two of these banners for my page. I placed them above and blow my photo and then added the star off cut I was talking about before.  I always add in some washi tape ( usually torn into pieces!) I also decided to cut one of the banners into arrows to add as an embellishment on my page! See you can be creative when you think about the products differently!

I then used a "Heidi Swapp butterfly mask", and painted in some butterflies.

I have also used some more of the "Heidi acrylic tags....."

Also provided in my kit are these adorable wooden veneer frames by "freckled Fawn". How cute are these!?

I actually broke mine in half to give a longer appearance and just filled it with some dictionary paper.

I have also finished off with some "Echo park here and Now stickers and alphas, some sequins and some doodling!

Thank you so much for having me here on your blog! I hope I have inspired you in some way! Feel free to ask me any questions! 

Ebony xx