Basic Grey Page of the Month Class: March-May

If you are a Basic Grey fan, but have never heard of their Page-of-the-month kit, I highly recommend looking into it.

I have been lucky, and happy, to teach one of the four sessions of the Basic Grey Page-of-the-Month Class at The NH Scrapbook Cabin. Thank you, Mandy, for giving me this wonderful opportunity!

Basic Grey has long been one of my favorite paper craft companies. They constantly offer beautifully designed, high quality paper and card-stock. So, when given the chance to teach this monthly class, I was thrilled.

Each month, Basic Grey sends us generous kits, with more than enough paper and embellishments, to create vibrant/original 2-page layouts. Along with all this, we get pictures and instructions, to use to create these pre-designed layouts. Even though these pre-designed layouts are fantastic, I am a fan of 'making-it-my-own'. No matter what it is, a Round Robin, a Sketch, or pre-designed craft, I absolutely NEED to put my twist to it, and 'make-it-my-own'. So, I encourage everyone else to do the same.

Here is what we have been up to.....

March Page Layout:

Origins Paper Collection

For March, I changed only the title, and the way that I cropped the tags. I also added some slight distressing to the photo matting edges. The two lines, one on each page, vertical at the tops of the pages, are shadows (I photograph my pages on my window sill).

The subject for my layout was my best friend, Michelle, and me--Forever Friends. These are photographs of us at various locations at the Pike Place Market and Seattle Waterfront. These were taken after I had moved from Seattle to New Hampshire, and was visiting Seattle as a 'tourist'.

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April Page Layout:

Kioshi Paper Collection

I exercised a bit more of 'making-it-my-own' for April's layout. I used different paper in a few places, rounded various corners, edged with chalk ink, and sewed white lines onto various areas of the layout (rather than using a white pen, as suggested).

My dear friends', Sandra and Pascal's, wedding is the subject on this layout. It was a fairytale wedding in the South of France, near their home in Montpellier. When I saw this paper, I knew it was perfect for these fairy tale photos!

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May Page Layout:

Green at Heart Paper Collection

So, this layout had called for tearing of paper. I love that distressed/torn look; however, tearing paper, for me, is a struggle. It seems I end up wasting a lot of paper because I can't get it to be the correct size. I applaud those of you who are experts at tearing! Can you teach me your trick?

To avoid tearing, I used a Fiskar's ruler designed for tearing (called Tear Edgers) wavy edges. If you have never used one of these, they are fantastic. You align the area of the paper you want torn along the desired side of the ruler, and tear it. Simple! Beautiful!

I followed by distressing the edges with my Tim Holtz' Distresser. I did this on all paper except the base pages. After distressing them, I inked the edges with Stampin' Up pens in various colors. Sometimes, I prefer to use pens rather than ink pads for edging. It has a more controlled outcome.

Last, I used different embellishments than those suggested.

My subject of focus for this gorgeous layout is my dd, Sylvia. She was having a tough time waking up, and I couldn't resist documenting this 'everyday moment'.

Now. I know it is tough to compare my interpretation of the layouts, without photos of the suggested/pre-designed layouts. I will try to find some to link here.

Each kit contains more than enough product for the 2-page layout. I enjoy experimenting and finding how many projects I can complete with the left-overs.

Here are a few:

March Extras:

Here is a Basic Grey brown board book covered with Origins paper and Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist. It is not yet finished. I will add photos, ribbon, journaling, and whatever else suits it:)

April Extras

Here is a card made with Kioshi paper, Clear and Simple stamps, Zing embossing powder, and American Crafts gems. I am working on another project with Kioshi left-overs, and will post it when it is closer to being completed.

I have even more left-overs from each month's kit waiting to be torn, distressed, inked, and made into something fun!

I am looking forward to using June's paper, Cappella. It is absolutely, completely, beautiful!

Basic Grey Rocks the paper world!