Hello and good morning dear friends!

Raksha Bandhan is just around the corner and how awesome it'd be if you could handcraft something special for your brother? ^__^

I'm Halak and today we're going to be doing just that!

I have a masculine layout tutorial for you folks packed with tips so let's get started.

These are the 4 sheets of paper that I used from The Gentleman Paper Pack by Papericious.

Tip : Once you select the papers, before you begin working on them, always have a rough layout in mind. Call it a blueprint of sorts, it's what helps you move ahead without getting overwhelmed and confused.

I always chalk out a rough idea no matter what project I am doing. Then, I click a picture of it and work step by step.

Here's how I wanted my layout to look :

Tip : We're working with masculine theme so I selected a stamp set that'd go well with it.
Here's a list of stuff that goes perfect with such layouts : Gears (Could be a stamp / stencil / die-cut shapes or even miniature metal charms), Grunge themed stamps, Geometric stencil designs, Colors like black, brown & grey etc.

What I love about these layouts is the fact that it lets your creativity run free. You don't have to be perfect. It's all about having fun.

Once I was satisfied with what my blueprint looked like, it was time to trim the sheets.

Measurements :

Outermost Sheet = 22 cm x Original Length

Middle Sheet = 18 cm x Original Length

Central Sheet = 16 cm x 30 cm

(Papericious papers are a little longer than 30 cm so when I mention original length / size, it means I did not trim down that portion.)

I cut these two pieces from the 4th sheet (extreme right in pic #2) because I wanted to layer them among the other sheets.

This is how I wanted to layer :

The basic look of the base achieved, I moved on to the next bit.

I wanted a rough look so I went with random stitched border stamps and abstract stencils.

Tip : If you don't have grunge themed stencils and stamps, think outside the box. Think of all the day to day objects that you can use like bubble wrap, a fine tooth comb, generic white and grey shirt buttons or string dipped in black paint!

After the background was done, I moved on to decorating the page.

The sentiment and those really cool glasses are from the Die-cut sheet which is provided with The Gentleman Paper Pack. (Yep, the awesome folks at the product designing end over at Papericious really do think of everything!)

I used a geometric pattern stencil with the classic gears stencil + assorted bunch of stamps to add detail.

Apart from that, I have also used three clock images which are from the Papericious Circular Collage Sheet line. (Product name : Vintage Time)

And there you have it folks, one layout which would make a really nice present!

Tip : I used the sentiment as the focal image but if you want to personalize it you can adhere your brother's picture and elements that he likes. Example : Miniature sports embellishments, pictures of places he likes to visit or even his favorite dessert!

Tip : Just because it's a masculine layout, it doesn't mean you need to lose the bling completely. Just make sure you don't go over the top.

In the above two images, you can see a few elements that I covered in black glitter.

Signing off with my favorite closeup.

The Kala Chashma! (Dark Glasses) ^__^
I covered up the fussy-cut image in glossy accents! The picture does not do it justice but I tried my best to capture that glossy look.

Thank you so much for taking time out to check my tutorial!

Have a lovely day! *Hugs*

Hello and good morning! ^__^

I'm Halak and today I'm gonna be talking about the Little Star paper collection by Papericious and the Layout I made using it.

I used 3 paper sheets out of the Little Star paper collection which were the die-cut sheet, the red polka dot sheet and the green one with the super cute dinosaurs!

Check them out! So pretty and vibrant!

This paper collection is ideal for baby boy projects. If you are looking for themed projects then, it has papers for making the following themes : Dinosaur, Space, Kite-flying and Nautical.
Along with that the pack comes with a set of 2 sheets of die-cuts!

Very quickly, here are the steps on making this :

1. Took green dinosaur pattern paper and adhered it to white cardstock.

2. Cut up die-cut design sheet and adhered the die-cut (top LHS) and patterned strip (bottom strips) to the project.

3. Added a bit more pattern through washi tape.

4. Stenciled a design onto the white portion using green, purple and blue dye inks.

5. Stamped sentiment using grey die ink.

6. Added sticker sentiments and dinosaur embellishments.

7. After that, I  added a couple of enamel dots, sequins and some faux paw-prints using black ink with a teeny tiny stencil.

8. Finally, matted the project onto red polka dotted paper for that vibrant look! ^__^

And that's how I did it!

Before I sign off, here's a fun close up :

I hope you liked it and thank you so much for stopping by! Till next time dear friends! *Hugs*

Hello, good morning! ^__^

I'm Halak and today I'll be taking you through a masculine layout tutorial.

Making masculine projects is just so damn hard, right?!

Glitter or no glitter, sequins or no sequins.... what about flowers! Yikes! So many options and before you know it, boom, it's become a feminine project.

The Papericious Naturals collection is your answer to making stunning masculine and neutral themed projects!

So, let's get crafting!

Steps :

First I selected the pattern paper sheet I wanted to work with. I selected the light denim pattern design and stenciled the sentiment onto it.

Tip : There is an awesome collection of different textural denim patterns  in the Naturals collection that are great not only for Masculine themed projects but also look stunning with the Retro Chic style of papercrafting.

Once the sentiment was stenciled, I took some distress inks in the same color family as the pattern paper and stenciled in some designs.

Also added some washi tape bits.

Tip : Using stencils is a great way to add dimension and texture to your project without increasing it's weight. So if you are sending happy mail out to friends and family in different parts of the world, befriend the stencils and pattern papers. They will give you some stunning results in unison!

Took a darker denim sheet from the Naturals collection and hand-tore a strip from it.

Positioned the strip roughly where I wanted and added some more stenciling and washi tape.

Finally, added some sequins and a circle medallion that I hand-cut from Papericious Often collection.

I made a bunch of these medallions from the paper sheets and it was really simple :
Cut out the medallions, adhered a sticker to some and left some as-is.
Gave it a coat of glossy accents and sprinkled glitter over it.

Papericious papers play really nicely with each other and thus, a fusion of papers from different Papericious collections also looks great!

Have a look at the bunch of some more medallions I made :

Sparkly! ^__^

Bonus Project

Oh yeah! I have a bonus project tutorial for you!

A beautiful neutral birthday card thats super easy to make!

Pretty eh? Simple too! Let me show you how :

First I took this gorgeous wood plank style pattern paper from Papericious Naturals collection and stenciled + roughly stamped a script design stamp to select areas.

I took these 4 die-cuts from the Papericious Ephemera collection.

Hand-tore two pieces of pattern paper from Ephemera collection and stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment onto one piece (left the second piece as-is) and adhered both the pieces to paper.

Positioned the Ephemera die-cut embellishments roughly where I wanted them placed.

Tip : Always position your pieces before you glue / tape them down, because sometimes what's in your mind, might not necessarily look great in actuality! To be on a safer side, I photograph the placement I like and then move the pieces and work by looking at the photograph for adhering the elements to project.

Finally adhered the pieces and added some pink colored sequins.

Matted it onto white cardstock and... done!

That's that dear friends! I hope you enjoyed reading and thank you so much for stopping by! *Hugs*

Hello and good morning! I'm Halak and today I'm gonna be talking about a layout I made. ^__^

This is made using the brand new January 2016 Papericious Paper Pack - If Only.

This love themed paper pack has a gorgeous mix of pastels with a beautiful set of papers that sport the vintage look.

So, if you are the classic vintage lover looking for some pop of pastel in your creations, this pack is perfect!

Also, it has enough modern elements so for someone like me, who does not dabble much into Vintage, this works equally well.

The papers are great not just for layouts, altered art, cards etc. but these would also be fantastic for the Planner series that Papericious has come up with.

The color scheme matches beautifully with both the planners, Color Splash and Vintage Chic so irrespective of which planner you get, this paper pack will go with it.

Also in this pack is one design that consists many small notecards / labels and strips etc. of different designs and colors so what I did was cut up some of those pretty labels and use it as my focal point.

I fussy cut out the hearts from another sheet, coated them in glitter dust and added them to my layout because let's face it, a love themed layout without hearts... who are we kidding?! Lol! It's gotta have hearts!!! ^__^

Of course, where there is love, there there are the flowers.

Rose is my favorite flower, so I took a stencil having the pattern I wanted and inked it in two tones, pale pink and cool grey.

I did add a few sequins initially, but then I realized that they made the project look cluttered. So I just let the sparkly hearts and the beautiful quotes do the talking.

That's how this project came together. I hope you enjoyed looking at it.

Have a lovely day! *Hugs*