THREE WAY | DRESS UP THOSE ELLIES

Hello ... so excited to share with you a brand new series that will be joining the blog rotation for 2015 ... Three Way. The new Three Way series will be fun and inspirational posts geared towards showing you how to stretch your stash and then showing the stash stretching results on a page three different ways. Always a good thing, right? We hope you are as excited as we are. So pull up your chair, take out your notebook, and hopefully you will start to see your stash grow in clever and creative ways right before your eyes!

Our first Three Way is all about Dressing Up Those Ellies! We will be working primarily with the newly released A Slice of Lemon element pack from the Januaury 2015 BYOC from The Lilypad. If you don't own this kit, don't fret. (Although, why would you not already have this amazing kit in your stash?) Simply pick another Pink Reptile Designs element pack ... and let the creative juices flow. The idea is that these principals can be applied to almost any similar element! Fun, right?!?! Let's get started.

I've grabbed the ampersand and the newsprint paper heart. These ellies are gorgeous and beautiful as is, but ... what if you've already used them a few times on your pages? Hearts and Ampersands are such versatile shapes. Wouldn't it be fun to play "dress up" with them and change their look just a bit, so you can use them over and over on your pages?

If you do not have this kit, find a kit with a paper element and maybe a chipboard shape, or something similar, to play along. The yellow paper is from the matching A Slice of Lemon paper pack.

ONE
Let's start with the ampersand.

I also grabbed the two pieces of washi tape from the A Slice of Lemon element pack. Alternating just these two tapes on the ampersand will look fantastic ... but I decided to grab just a touch of color and added a few washi tapes from the Tape It element pack as well.

I placed one piece of washi tape over the ampersand and then I simply create a clipping mask. I'm sure many of you already have done this a million times, but just in case you have no idea what I am talking about, here is how you do it:

ALT (PC) or Option (MAC) Click on the line between the Ampersand layer and the Washi Tape layer to "clip" the tape layer to the ampersand layer. This is called a clipping mask. The washi tape layer takes the form of the object below it (or whatever it is being “clipped” to). All other areas of the washi tape are “hidden”.  

See the indented tape layer now? It’s above the Ampersand layer. This indicates that a “clipping” mask has been made. You can now see the tape taking the shape of the ampersand! Continue placing different pieces of washi over the ampersand and "clipping it" to the layer underneath it. (The tape layers will pile up on top of each other and they will all be indented. See image below.)

Here's the ampersand "all dressed up" with washi tape and ready for your layout!

TWO
Now let's have a go at dressing up that newsprint heart. I've simply grabbed a few little bits from A Slice of Lemon elements set and placed them on my page. I'm going to do the same thing I did with the washi tape ... placing items over the heart (flip, turn, rotate, resize!) and then "clipping" them to the heart layer.

And here is the new paper heart "dressed up" with little bits from the kit. I loved the newsprint, so I kept some of it showing.

THREE
For the next example, I wanted to use the painty bits and doodles to "dress up" the very same newsprint heart element.

I've recolored the paint and even added the little staple and a few bits from Everyday of the Week element pack. It is just so fun to mix and match different kits. And the possibilities for "dressing up" basic elements becomes endless! 

And here's my page, well 3 different versions of the same page, showing just how versatile "dressing up those ellies" can be for your pages.

WASHI TAPE AMPERSAND

LITTLE BITS NEWSPRINT HEART

 PAINTY & DOODLY NEWSPRINT HEART

I hope you have some fresh ideas for how to Dress Up Those Ellies and stretch your stash. If you have any questions please let us know. We'd love to see any examples you wish to share or feel free to share your ideas for Dressing Up Those Ellies!

Happy Scrappin'!