Cassandra Chen and her BIRTHDAY BOY {a layout}

Today I'm making up for some lost time and introducing the *cough* August *cough* guest designer! We'll have two fabulous ladies this month -- Stick around to meet Riikka this week -- today please welcome CASSANDRA to the UWS blog!

FB Page - Simply Handmade- https://www.facebook.com/CassandraChenCrafts
Blog: http://www.thescrapperinme.blogspot.sg/
Instagram: cassandrachen

Heyyie! My name is Cassandra Chen and I live in Sunny Singapore! I caught the scrapbooking bug in 2010 and I don’t think I have recovered from it since. Besides drooling over all the paper collections, I love how scrapbooking captures and preserves life's simplest moments! Besides scrapbooking, I love photography, sewing and doing all sorts of crafts!:D 

Warmest regards,
Cassandra Chen

And today she has the sweetest little blue layout :

Something has always struck me about layouts that aren't square, and I'm a total fan of Cassandra's work. It's always so super top notch! The paper clustering in the corner is perfect.

And the golden glitter she's doused the UmWowStudio Layered Triangles in is superb! As the title (Layered Triangles) says, I had originally intended for all the layered pieces to layer on top of each other -- but every time someone staggers them like this, my heart flutters. One of the most rewarding things as a designer and owner of your own company and products is watching people use them in ways they weren't intended. Basically just seeing people be creative makes me happy, throw in my own products and I'm a superbly giddy gal! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your work today Cassandra! It definitely makes me giddy :) -DeeDee

Love This Photo -- {Guest CT Member Tayna Privalova}

Today I'd like you to help me welcome the UmWowStudio July Guest Designer -- Tanya Privalova!

"My name is Tanya. I live in Ukraine (Eastern Europe). In scrapbooking I came 3 years ago. I adore to create mini cards. I love to play with many layers of papers and small details. Not long ago I started to create pages, first 8*8 and now it's full 12 * 12 .. and I'm just in awe of them, in the sense I get great pleasure when I make them. Although for a long time I was terrified of them, from my tiny cards to move to such a huge size .. it was scary .. but it is not difficult! For today I create for Sizzix as a creative blogger, and as a permanent designer for a few European and Australian manufacturers(Scrapmatts, Cre8tive Cre8tions, Studio 75, Papirdesign, Wycinanka). I always was inlove with shabby style..but now..I adore playful and bright american style. Dream to start create something from mixed media, I think it is very interesing style too. Thank you dear Dee for invitation and inspiration! UmWow chipboards are amazing! "

She's brought us a super stunning layout:

Tanya has used our Damaged Punchinella background as a "grounding" piece behind her title. She's inserted pearls and gorgeous beads into the open holes. A super detail!

She's also put this glorious distressing on the Love This Polaroid border. It looks like old weathered paint. The rhinestone and final handwriting journaling is awesome.

This layout is super stunning and I thank you so much for joining us this month Tanya!

Do The Impossible {Guest CT Member : Susan M. Brown}

Please focus your attention on our first Guest CT Member : Susan M. Brown. Susan is a super close friend and a talented creative! She works hard and knows her sh!t♥. I'm super excited to share her and her journal page with you today!! Here she is:

painting in the dark | http://www.sbartist.com 

Susan M. Brown {sbartist}

During the daylight hours... I am a graphic artist working in the fast-paced printing industry – after dark {and a nap}... I create while all the world is asleep. For as long as I can remember, I have loved making things and this is still true today. I'm a painter at heart – but I love to make dimensional things, something that pops-up, not just flat on the page.  I “embrace the unexpected”  – using materials in new and unexpected ways – including recycling and giving a new creative life to something headed for the trash bin.

I am excited and honored to be a Guest Designer for UmWowStudios... have you seen the new FLAIR??!! I created an art journal page, using the UmWowStudio Layered Banners. Let me start out by saying that when creating this I was working on two projects at once, both with UmWowStudio chippies. They are so wonderful I wanted to use them all – so I just gave it a whirl and let my creativity go. I sprayed some of the chippies with black and silver metallic mists on top of some freezer paper to protect my counter. I didn't want the beautiful inky swirls to go to waste so I mopped up the glittery goodness with some blank white cardstock. And the chippies hold up to the mists AMAZINGLY - I sprayed several layers to get the saturation of color and shimmer I desired. This resulted in several interesting graphic B&W backgrounds. One in particular had this negative square area left in the center and it was like a larger version of one of the layered banner chippie shapes. This became the background. I had a scrap piece of blue/green patterned paper {make unknown} that I misted the top edge and printed one of my stash of quotes onto it with my laser printer. Then I set to work on the banner shapes decorating them with various colors and patterns of washi tape {yep, I'm a washi junkie, too}. I ran some stripes of black and white washi tapes across the top to have a place for my banners to hang, and fashioned a faux clothesline out of Mizuhiki paper cord adhered with Diamond Glaze. I mounted this into my black paper base art quote journal using miracle tape and pearly photo corners.

Supplies: UmWowStudio Layered Banners; white cardstock; patterned paper scrap; photo corners; Mizuhiki paper cord; Washi Tape - K & Company and others; Tim Holtz Ideology Tissue Tapes; Stuart Superior Memories Metallic Mist; Ditto Black Mist; Diamond Glaze; and Miracle Tape from Viva Las VegaStamps!.

I love Susan's page! The splotchy artsy background, the covered chip, the color palette.. I love it all! Thanks so much for sharing today, Susan!!