“Put Your Whole Heart Into It” - Lisa Oxley Curated Collective Team Designer

This mixed media spread centers around emotional authenticity and wholehearted creativity. 

The journal quote, “Put your whole heart into it and watch yourself soar,” anchors the message of this piece—encouraging vulnerability, passion, and growth.

 Focal Point

   •   The central figure is a hand-drawn woman with wide expressive eyes, positioned on the right page.
   •   She wears a white garment with a large painted magenta heart on her chest, symbolizing courage, emotional openness, and intention.
   •   Her thoughtful gaze and serene demeanor add a soulful, introspective tone to the composition.

Background & Visual Texture

   •   The background blends soft pastels with vibrant teals, blues, and magentas, layered with abstract brushwork and botanical motifs.
   •   The left page is garden-like, filled with collaged and stamped florals, delicate vines, and printed paper textures.

   •   The right page features swirling paint, layered transparencies, and intricate leafy silhouettes in black and white.
   •   White space is purposefully left around the figure to let her breathe visually—drawing the eye directly to her.

Typography & Affirmation

   •   The quote is typed in cut-and-paste fashion, broken into two lines:
      •   “Put your whole heart into it”
      •   “and watch yourself soar.”
   •   Positioned above the character’s head, it reads like an inner voice or guiding affirmation.

Artistic Techniques

   •   Acrylics and watercolour washes create depth and motion across the background.
   •   Ink and white gel pen mark-making add whimsy and layering, especially around the florals.
   •   Collaged botanical images mix seamlessly with hand-drawn and painted elements, creating a hybrid of realism and imagination.
   •   Subtle pencil sketching adds softness to the figure’s hair and face.

 Emotional Tone

The overall mood is gentle, reflective, and empowering. It evokes a sense of inner stillness, connection to nature, and artistic freedom. The heart-on-the-chest acts as a literal and symbolic center—a visual reminder to lead with emotion, vulnerability, and soul.

Lisa Oxley

Curated Collective Creator – Scrappingclearly 2025

“Never lose your sense of wonder” - Curated Collective Team Designer Lisa Oxley

 

• The tags evoke a sense of childlike wonder and quiet strength, using soft grayscale portraits contrasted with vibrant rainbow brights.The sentiment “Never lose your sense of wonder” supports the whimsical, dreamlike atmosphere, encouraging curiosity and creativity. The tags feel magical and nostalgic, like pieces from a modern fairytale or a lost childhood dream.

Colour Palette

• Rainbow brights: Layers of warm reds, oranges, yellows, pinks, and cool blues and purples sweep horizontally across each tag.
• The vibrant colours pop dramatically against the monochrome portrait illustrations.
• The addition of sparkling glitter bottles in coordinating colours (pink, turquoise, silver) placed beside the tags reinforces the playful and sparkly vibe.

Focal Imagery

• Tag 1 (Left):
  
• A vintage-style pencil sketch of a young girl stares out with thoughtful eyes.
• She wears a hand-drawn red crown, layered in texture and glitter.
• A mix of book text and film strip imagery add interest and grounding to the bottom.
• Tag 2 (Right):
  
• Another grayscale sketch of a wide-eyed girl with icy blue eyes stares directly at the viewer.
• A soft butterfly lands on her hair—adding gentle surrealism.
• The background shows bold black botanical stencils layered over the rainbow striping.

Techniques & Layers

• Layered backgrounds:
  
• Horizontal brush strokes or gel plate pulls using rainbow acrylics form the base layer.
• Black stencil work (leaves, script) and collage elements (text, film strips, music score) provide depth and contrast.
• Mixed-media touches:
  
• Collage ephemera (labels, tickets, text blocks).
• Glitter accents for dimensional sparkle.
• Scribbled black thread loosely attached to the bottom of Tag 1 for a tactile, whimsical finish.

Typography & Sentiment

• Tag 1 contains a typed quote:
  “Never lose your sense of wonder”
• The message is playful, gentle encouragement—perfectly aligned with the dreamy expressions of the girls.
• The fonts are typewritten, vintage, and add a timeless feel.

Design Tips & Inspiration

• This style could be reinterpreted in a mini album, greeting cards, or even as inspiration for a full art journal spread.
• Using a black-and-white photo or sketch against vivid colour is a great way to direct attention to the face and emotion.
• Don’t be afraid to add unexpected texture—like thread, glitter, or film strip tape—for added narrative layers.

Glitter & Embossing - Festive Magic Made Easy

December crafting is all about sparkle, shine, and texture — the little touches that make every tag, card, journal page, or December Daily entry feel magical.
Glitter and embossing are the perfect festive secret weapons. This post covers the essential products, how to use them, handy tips, and five quick techniques to get you crafting fast and beautifully this season.

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 The Essentials — Glitter & Embossing Products

Loose Glitter is pure sparkle power - it is perfect for perfect for edges, die-cuts, titles, or frosty embellishments. It can be used to create great snow effects, shaker pockets, bauble pages & mixed media textures. 

Tip: Apply with clear-drying glue for clean sparkle.

Suggested Products from the Scrappingclearly shop - 

• Prima/Finnabair Glass Glitter

• Luckyfindings Elixirs 

• 13@RTS Glitter stripes

• Tim Holtz Rock Candy 

• Heidi Swapp - Marquee Love glitter

• Stamperia Sparkles

• Vicki Boutin mixology

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Glitter Pastes are  dimensional & mess-free shine. They are ideal for stencilling and raised textures with zero fallout and are great for snowflake stencils, starbursts, title pages & card borders.

Tip: Spread through a stencil for crisp designs.

Suggested Products from the

 Scrappingclearly shop - 

• Sparkle Paste by Jennifer Long

• Tim Holtz Distress Glitter Dust

• Ranger Simon Hurley Astro Paste

• Nuvo Glitter Glimmer Paste 

• Finnabair Art Extravagance Jewel Texture Paste

• Prima/Finnabair Icing Paste

• Dylusions Dyamond Dust

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Shimmer Sprays  have a soft glow & luminosity. They add fine sparkle for layering, misting, or soft embellishments. Use these for journal backgrounds, white die-cuts, subtle festive sheens.

Tip: Spray lightly and build layers gradually.

Suggested Products from the Scrappingclearly shop - 

• Nuvo Sparkle Spray

• Lindy’s Starburst Sprays 

• Heidi Swapp Color Shine 

• Pink Ink Designs Stardust  

• Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist 

• Perfect Pearls Mists

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Embossing  gives texture, shine & a professional finish

Embossing Powders  raise your designs with glossy, luxurious texture. They are great for titles, snowflakes, borders, mixed media layers.

Tip: Use a clear embossing pen for extra shine.

Suggested Products from the Scrappingclearly shop

• Stampendous Embossing Powder 

• Ranger Distress Embossing Glaze 

Embossing Ink Pads are slow-drying inks that hold detail beautifully for crisp embossing.

• Ranger Emboss It Ink Pad 

• Versamark Watermark Pad 

Embossing Glazes have a translucent color + glossy finish over inks or tags.

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Five Quick & Festive Techniques

Once you’ve chosen your glitters and embossing supplies, it’s time to turn them into beautiful projects quickly. Here are 5 Quick & Festive Techniques to help you achieve that - 

1.  Embossed Edges for Luxe Holiday Cards

Heat emboss edges for instant elegance. This is technique perfect for cards, photo mats, December
Daily title pages

Supplies: Ranger Embossing Powders, VersaMark Ink, Heat Tool

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2. Glitter Paste + Stencils = Instant Festive Flair

Create crisp, sparkling textures in seconds. A great technique for snowflake backgrounds, tags and album dividers.

Supplies: Prima Glitter Paste, Nuvo Glimmer Paste, Stencils

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3. Shimmer Spray Over Embossing (Magic Resist!)

Embossed areas resist spray for magical effects. Use this technique when creating journal backgrounds, title cards, mixed media layers

Supplies: Dylusions Shimmer Sprays, Lindy’s Starburst Sprays, Distress Mica Sprays

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4.  Transform Die Cuts Into Glittered Embellishments

Turn plain die cuts into sparkling focal points. That is right titles, ephemera are perfect for this as well as cluster building.         

Supplies: Loose glitter, glue, die cuts

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5. Heat Embossing Over Texture Paste = Melted Metallic Magic

For bold, textured mixed media pages. This is perfect for mixed media tags, grungy layouts, standout focal points.

Supplies: Texture Paste, Embossing Powders, Stencils

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Final Tip: Mix & Match!

Combine these techniques for maximum impact on your next project - 

• Glitter-paste backgrounds + embossed edges

• Shimmer spray resist + glittered titles

• Texture paste embossing + stencilled shimmer

One or two layers = pretty. Three layers = holiday perfection.

I bet your projects will shimmer and shine this holiday season.

Merry + Bright

December has approached so quickly and I have an inspiring layout for this month’s moodboard for Scrappingclearly. Using the ABM journal to create a festive themed page. Started with a gessoed page to help it take all the colours I have thrown into this. Adhering this Christmas image from the Luckyfindings imageries to start the process. I applied DW paints in Ruby, Aloe, Buff and Fir to blend in the image to this page. Using a stencil for the stars and sentiment from TH along with the Christmas deer stamp painted with Scribble Stick in Ancient and Ruby, how cool does this deer look in the background, this compliments the image and theme here. To finish this off with some white splatters to tie in the page. Hope I have inspired you to head over to the Scrappingclearly website to buy these amazing products to recreate your own. 

DECEMBER challenges - the end of 2025

   Welcome to our DECEMBER 2025 Challenges!

Our last month of new challenges and new inspiration.

Remember, one lucky monthly winner will receive an exclusive Scrapping Clearly Prize Box, that will be filled with premium crafting supplies that will fuel their creative journey.

DECEMBER CHALLENGES

1. Our DECEMBER Moodboard:

This visual mood board  - be inspired by these colours, textures and themes.

For DECEMBER, think: festive, earthy, nostalgic, traditional, magical, creative, merry

2. DECEMBER Sketch:

A Sketch - please use the Sketch as your base design, but interpret it freely into your projects - any paper craft project can apply!

3. Weekly ATC Prompts

Every Monday, we will release a unique ATC prompt. This is a NO-SWAP ATC project. This allows you to create your own mini artworks to keep as your own project. By the end of 2025, you will have your own collection of 52 ATCs that incorporated the weekly theme or technique.

Check out this BLOG, to see the current list of  weekly ATC prompts.

SUBMISSION PROCESS

Participants must upload their completed projects into the DECEMBER Prize Draw Album  in the Scrapping Clearly Share and Inspire Facebook Group.

Please load your entries to this album by the end of the month to be in the running for the Prize box. Please note: Please edit your photo caption in Facebook to give us information about your project and inspiration.

At the end of each month, one overall winner will be chosen across all three challenges, based on creativity, adherence to the challenge brief and effort and originality.

What a year of inspiration and creation! Thank you for being a part of it.

And for all your Mixed Media and Paper Craft needs, make sure you head to our website at: https://scrappingclearly.com.au/

Thank you,

Amanda

On behalf of the Scrapping Clearly team

“With Brave Wings She Flies”

The page centres around feminine strength and freedom, symbolised by the central female figure with angel wings and the empowering phrase “With Brave Wings She Flies.” There is a mystical and steampunk influence, with visual storytelling elements such as wings, keys, and vintage ephemera suggesting transformation and resilience.

Colour Palette

• Dominant hues: Lime green, apple green, chartreuse, and deep mossy green, accented by teal and pops of yellow.
• Contrasts: The greens are softened with neutral tones (beige, black, white), and pops of vintage floral tones (dusty rose, cream).
• Background: Transparent washes of bright green with script overlays provide texture and depth without overpowering the focal elements.

Techniques & Mediums

• Mixed media layering: The background includes blended acrylics or inks with bold brushstrokes and subtle resist or transparency techniques to reveal the layered handwritten text underneath.
• Collage layering:
  
• Central female figure with illustrated angel wings.
• Vintage ephemera elements (ticket stub, measuring tape, butterfly, lock and key, green leaf, florals).
• Hand-drawn/digital florals are collaged in clusters, offering soft organic shapes against geometric and linear elements.

Composition

• Focal Point: The central figure’s intense gaze and symmetrical wings command attention. Positioned slightly left of centre for balance.
• Visual Anchors:
  
• The “With Brave Wings She Flies” sentiment is top-aligned and grounded by the floral collage at bottom right.
• Diagonal movement: Created by the lock, key, and ephemera at the lower left corner, guiding the eye through the page.
• Typography: The script in the background adds a poetic, aged feel, grounding the modern colour palette in nostalgic storytelling.

Elements & Symbolism

• Wings = strength, rising above challenges.
• Key & Lock = unlocking potential or guarding personal growth.
• Vintage florals & ticket = softening, journey, and femininity.
• Ruler (6”) = symbolism of measure and growth

This piece is a layered, confident celebration of individuality and feminine power. It balances whimsical dreamscape elements with nostalgic vintage ephemera, brought together with Lisa Oxley’s signature bold colour blocking and layered mixed media techniques. The page both empowers and enchants.

25 - Christmas Card with Guest Curated Collective Designer Rox Boyce

A quick run through on how I created this card

• Firstly I stamped on the background image and created a distress ink background leaving a few highlights in white
•  I then added a gentle spritz of water. 
• Next I stamped and fussy cut out the numbers. Attaching them with foam dots and adding some TH Christmas ephemera.
•  I used a little Distress Stickles for that extra sparkle
•  A  white gel pen to add some highlights. 
• Finally I mounted on black card and machine stitched around the edges before gluing onto a blank card base.