Hello, lovely ladies! We are so thrilled to have an amazing Guest Designer this month!

Today, we would like to introduce the incredibly talented Raquel Bowman. Her layouts are pretty, neat, and she enjoys adding little details to them. We are totally amazed at how she creatively used our products. You will absolutely love what she has prepared for you here on the Altenew Scrapbook Blog. But, first, let’s learn more about her!

Get to know Raquel!

Hey everyone, my name is Raquel Bowman. I am a 30 something primary school teacher, mummy to two kiddies (Jack, 4, and Charlotte, nearly 6) and wife to Clint, living in Geelong in Australia. I admit, I am pretty obsessed with scrapbooking and love nothing more than playing with a variety of papers and embellishments and making pretty stuff. I have been scrapping for around fourteen years now and feel I have finally ‘found’ my style. I’m a lover of layers, cut files, and clusters and enjoy adding little details while still maintaining white space, balance and a cleanliness to my layouts. I am so grateful and honored to be able to represent some amazing brands and companies I love through this craft.

Raquel’s “Totally Rad” Scrapbook Layout

For my first project today, I’m sharing a layout that features the Reflection Scrapbook Collection and some of the Mega Alphabet Dies available in the Altenew store. I wanted to use the mega alpha dies (originally intended for a birthday banner) in a different way on my layout. So I cut out the word “rad” and used it as a main feature on my page.

The subject of my layout is my little man Jack. The Reflection Scrapbook Collection can lend itself to more feminine layouts so I wanted to challenge myself by creating a page of my little man and draw the more masculine colors from the kit. I decided to print my photo in black and white so it didn’t compete with the colors of the layout. I wanted to add a splattery frame to the photo so I used the Watercolor Frames Stamp Set and some of the Jet Black Ink to add extra detail.

To back the die-cut letters ‘rad‘ I used some black cardstock. Black is a great choice to add a touch of masculinity to a page but also to help make an aspect of a page really pop. That is what it has achieved on this layout. I complemented the word “rad” with the word “totally” spelled out from the alphabet stickers in the Reflection Scrapbook Collection.

I had not used the cut animal wood veneer pieces in the Reflection Scrapbook Collection so this layout was the perfect opportunity to use some of them to embellish the page. So, so cute!

I am a big documenter on my scrapbook pages and it is rare to see a layout that I have made without some kind of journaling. I added the journaling for this layout using my typewriter and cutting it into strip form.

To finish this layout, I have added a few embellishments found in the Reflection Scrapbook Collection, including the chipboard pieces and wood veneer epoxy buttons. I love that I was able to document about my son and his ‘excess energy’ using this kit and its complementing products. So versatile!

Raquel’s “You are Fabulous” Card

For my second project today I decided to create a card. I have begun of late to create more and more cards using excess items in my stash or just to play with something new I may have received. Creating cards is a nice way to have that bit of a creative outlet without requiring too much of my time, a practice great for mental health.

Here is the card which I created:

To create this card, I have used a couple of my favorite stamp sets and my all-time favorite scrapbooking kit, the Our Family Scrapbook Collection. I absolutely adored the floral image in the Build-A-Flower: Larkspur and knew I wanted to have a play with it again for this card.

To support the floral image, I chose to fussy cut some leaves from one of the floral papers in the kit. I also ended up cutting out a floral build and some more leaf clusters to layer behind the main stamped larkspur flower. I stamped the larkspur flower in Jet Black Ink onto a watercolor look patterned paper. This meant I did not need to color in the image or add any of the layers originally intended for this stamp design. I love being able to change the way I use products and get more out of a design. Stamping just the outlined image of the larkspur is a way to do just that.

The frame die in the Our Family Scrapbook Collection enabled me to add a pop of yellow to the card. I layered that along with some of the patterned papers in the kit and a doily on the base of the card.

Choosing the perfect sentiment for a card is always important. I could not go past the ‘you are fabulous’ stamps from the Fabulous Floral Stamp Set. This sentiment, stamped out and layered onto a tag from my stash, was the finishing touch I was looking for.

I hope that you were inspired and enjoyed my Guest Designer projects here on the Altenew Scrapbook Blog today.

~Raquel xxx

You can watch Raquel’s step-by-step video tutorial below or on our YouTube page.

How fabulous are her projects?! We couldn’t stop admiring her super fun layout and her beautiful handmade card. Make sure to visit Raquel’s blog for more design inspiration. Thank you so much, Raquel, for being our awesome September Guest Designer!

SUPPLIES USED:

Our Family Scrapbook Collection [ ALTN ] Our Family Enamel Dots [ ALTN ] Our Family 12 x 12 Patterned Paper… [ ALTN ] Our Family Frame Die [ ALTN ] Reflection Scrapbook Collection [ ALTN ] Reflection Collection Alphabet Puffy… [ ALTN ] Reflection Collection Epoxy Buttons &… [ ALTN ] Build-A-Flower: Larkspur [ ALTN ] Fabulous Floral Stamp Set [ ALTN ] Watercolor Frames Stamp Set [ ALTN ] Jet Black Crisp Dye Ink [ ALTN ] Mega Alphabet R Die [ ALTN ] Mega Alphabet A Die [ ALTN ] Mega Alphabet D Die [ ALTN ]