***CLOSED***WINNER ANNOUNCED DIY Frames/Clusters Challenge | DYD 2022

***winner is barbaraj***


Welcome to DOCUMENT YOUR DECEMBER here at The Lilypad! I've got a challenge for you that I think you'll like and I'm going to give you some ideas on how to play along with the challenge which is to create DIY FRAMES/CLUSTERS to use in a holiday, winter or Christmas layout.

There are two steps to this challenge:

• CREATE A FRAME from scratch or use a frame product from the TLP store but alter it in some way to personalize it i.e. use stamps or overlays on it or possibly resizing or recoloring. Anything is ok as long as you alter it to put your own personal touch to it.
• CREATE A CLUSTER that affixes to your frame in some way i.e. on or under the frame, alongside it but at least a bit of the cluster is touching your frame.

Then you'll add your frame and cluster to a holiday, winter or Christmas layout created for this challenge.

Here are some ideas but feel free to create your frame/cluster as you wish. These are ideas to spark your creativity, so use some or none, as you like.

WAYS TO CREATE A FRAME:

• Cut out a shape from paper to use as your frame, placing your photo overtop. You could add another paper layer as a border, larger than the frame and place underneath. Try recoloring with a hue/sat adjustment layer and that is fast and easy to do to achieve a different look.
• Use the shape tool and create a shape, then clip your photo to it.
• Create a frame, cutting out a section inside the shape to have your photo peek through i.e. a journal card with a circle cutout for your photo.
• Use an element to clip your photo to or place overtop i.e. a tag, label, banner or journal card, resize the element if desired.
• Create a frame with RIBBONS or paper strips.
• Customize your frame with STAMPS or OVERLAYS.

WAYS TO CREATE A CLUSTER FOR THE FRAME:

• Start with a base, something big enough to add to but it will still be visible through the other layers you will add to it. Maybe a bit of greenery, a tag, a flower, a shape i.e. a star, snowflake, etc.
• Add additional elements above and/or below your base layer, try varying sizes and shapes. Try duplicating your elements i.e. flowers and greenery and resizing, recoloring and/or rotating to create an individual look.
• Maybe add some thread, yarn, ribbon.
• You could use some FASTENERS to give the appearance of anchoring such as staples, clips, stitches, etc.
• Once you have a few elements layers, having created your cluster, you can add a bit more oomph to it by sprinkling some glitter or paint over it.
• You could add wordart or an alpha letter to your cluster.

I hope that these ideas spark your creativity! Have fun creating your page with your frame and cluster.

*** TIP*** Save your cluster as a jpeg in your digital folder (single merged layer) and you can re-use it multiple times for an album or additional layouts. This can be rotated, resized and recolored. If you save as a psd (all layers are preserved), allowing for turning layers off and on to give a different look to your cluster and also the layers can be moved around to give a different look, as well as rotated, resized and recolored. This is such a time saver for multiple pages.






I saved my clusters are preserved layers (psd files) so that I can re-use them and alter each layer as desired. It's a big time saver, as you don't have to create the cluster each time.

For my samples, I used:
A December To Remember {Artsy Bits & Pieces} and {Paper Mix} | NBK Design
artCRUSH #49 {Paper Pieces} | NBK Design
Just a Note: Scraps | Allison Pennington
Fasten It | Lynn Grieveson Designs
Let's Remember: Journaling Prompts and Numbers and Mixed Media Artistry | Rachel Jefferies

CHALLENGE RULES:

• Create a scrapbook page, adding a frame and cluster in your page design.
• To be eligible in the prize draw of a random winner, you must post your layout in the gallery, following gallery rules, and then post your linked image here in this thread.

This challenge closes on Monday, November 14th at 11:59pm EST. A random entry will win a $3 coupon to The Lilypad store.