Introducing Nic Howard ***April Guest Design Team Member***

[Anabelle O'Malley]

Be prepared to be amazed! This month we have Nic Howard as our GDT! Nic is a scrapping super star who creates unbelievably beautiful projects. Her creations with Webster's Pages this month are no less than pure perfection. Just wait until you see! 

Here is what Nic had to say about herself:

 

 

A scrapbooker for thirteen years, Nic Howard lives in New Zealand with her husband Paul, and their three children.  Although residing on the total opposite end of the world, Nic still finds herself heavily involved in the scrapbooking scene in the U.S.A. Her most notable achievements include tutoring alongside the amazing staff at Big Picture Classes and working with several large manufacturers creating artwork for blogs, galleries, trade show booths and catalogs.

 

Nic’s first large scrapbooking achievement was becoming a 2005 Memory Makers Master . Since then Nic's work has been published hundreds of times in numerous books and magazines as well as in advertising and galleries of the manufacturers she works for.  To date, Nic's largest and most fulfilling accomplishment  is the completion of a sole authored book, released mid-2007 through F+W publications, "That's Life, Finding Scrapbooking Inspiration in the Everyday"  It was through writing this book she learnt to appreciate the little things that make her an enthusiastic scrapbooker - and she learnt to create pages about them.

 

As an experienced teacher, Nic travels constantly and enjoys meeting scrapbookers all over the world.   She lists the people she meets on these teaching trips as one of her top forms of inspiration, along with some of the fabulous scrapbooking products she sees along the way.  Her style can be described as detailed and layered.  She loves cutting, crafting and altering paper to create truly dimensional layouts, a style which suits Webster’s pages perfectly.  When not scrapbooking, you can find Nic socialising with friends, hanging out with family or hiding at one of the beautiful beaches NZ has to offer.

 

Nic created projects with Webster's new In Love and Palm Beach lines. Sit back, relax and enjoy these beauties!

 

Here's what Nic had to say about her creations...

I love that the Palm Beach Collection has really cool beach images through it for those that love themed collections, but scrapbookers like me that love subtle imagery can also find everything they need in it too.    I LOVED the little square ‘sun’, sand’ type images, and it sparked the inspiration for this grid layout.  I had done one similar a while back with a printer’s tray but I had all I needed with the Webster’s Pages papers to recreate something similar.  I pulled together little bits and pieces of paper from throughout the collection and added in Webster’s Trim and a whole lot of the Perfect Accents.  This time I’ve used them as a focus next to the title and the smaller ones throughout the layout.  If you look closely I also used a bunch of the fabric tickets and the little pink roses are from an older Webster’s Collection that I just can’t get enough of (that’d be the Ladies & Gents collection!).

 

Tip: When creating a grid layout like this, chose a spot just off-centre for your main title cluster. 

Tip: Always keep leftovers from other layouts.  There are those little dimensional folded hearts I made from the “In Love” layout!

 

 

 

 

 

 

It doesn’t have to be all about weddings, the “In Love” collection is perfect for a huge variety of themes.  I enjoyed pulling together the pink tones in the collection with these photos of best friends, Abby & Jess.  The layering looks fussy, but it’s just some cute images from the papers cut out and layered together with corrugated cardboard in between to add dimension.  The addition of Webster’s ‘Perfect Accents’ throughout the layered images adds extra interest.  I just loved how cute they were and couldn’t wait to incorporate them in!

 

TIP: Use a little water to curl the edges of your paper.  Wet and manipulate with your fingertips and let it dry!

 

 

 

I’ve enjoyed making the occasional card lately, and with a friend’s wedding coming soon I decided it was the perfect opportunity to create something handmade!  I didn’t have to make many choices on paper, with the colours full of gorgeous traditional wedding colours, the carriage was perfect and an easy cut-out with a craft knife and glass mat.  The title was straight from a paper and  little added embellishments were all crafted from patterned paper as well. 

 

TIP: Small hearts cut from images in the papers were inked, folded and layered to create dimensional embellishments.  Easy and effective!

 

 

Are you drooling yet? There's still so much more...

 

The DT had a great time lifting Nic's work. As always, their projects reflect their own personal style but this month they all have a bit of Nic's flair added to them.

 

Here are the layouts we used as inspiration:

 

 

 

Here is what we came up with:

 

 Julie: I really enjoyed lifting Nic and creating a layout with lots of fun layers and textures, thanks for the inspiration!!

 

Emeline: Such a treat to scrap lift Nic ! I had been admiring Nic's layouts for a long while and always adore her use of black. Her pages always look superbly "put-together" and sophisticated. Thanks for inspiring us this month, Nic!

 

 

 

Diana: I was inspired by Nic's linear approach to her layouts and her added texture elements. Thank you so much for the inspiration this month Nic!

Jamie H.-Thanks so much for the inspiration this month Nic! I was initially inspired by the cute photo and found some of my daughter and her puppy! I also loved the mixing of papers and fantastic texture on her layouts!

Gabrielle-I've been a huge fan of Nic's work from when I first started scrapping, so it's an honour to be allowed to create a layout inspired by her work! I used elements from Nic's 'This is Our Year' l/o. I loved the horizontal linear design as well as the use of punched edges, kitchen twine and corrugated cardboard. Thanks for being with us this month Nic! xx

 

Anabelle- I've been such a big fan of Nic's work for a long time. When I think of her gorgeous pages I think of lots of layers, inking and pops of black. That's what I tried to emulate on this page.

Jaz-I am especially inspired by how Nic's use of black and turquoise in her layout, which is such a great combination of colour palette. Her use of banners is awesome and I had such fun lifting her work. Thank you Nic Howard for your lovely inspiration.

Larissa-  I was inspired by Nic´s layout "2012 - this is our year" to create this page. I love the design and the movement she added to her page! Thanks for the inspiration Nic and congrats on being our GDT this month!

Tomoko-I am a huge fan of Nic's work! I was inspired by Nic's layout, "Home". I love the designs of her pages and all the details she puts together! Thank you so much for the inspiration!

Gerry-Love the details, layers and distressing in Nic`s work. I was inspired by her gorgeous layout "Home". Thank you Nic for the inspiration!

Stacey- Nic has a one of a kind style and is so gifted when it comes to layering. I loved her little clusters off to the side of her photos and recreated that...clean and simple style!

 

Emma: I was so inspired by the gorgeous layouts of Nic Howard! Her work is so inspirational. I was drawn to the teal in her work and decided to use this as my background and added lots of layers and black ink too.  Congratulations on being this months guest designer Nic!

 

 

Aren't these amazing???

 

We know you will be as inspired by Nic's work as we were!

If you'd like to see more, head over to her blog www.nichoward.typepad.com

 

Thanks so much, Nic, for all of your hard work! We are so excited to have you here with us this month.

 

All the best,

The Webster's Pages Team

[emeline]

THANKS for inspiring us this month, Nic!! GREAT pages ! :) 

[Gerry van Gent]

Congratulations, Nic, on the GDT spot! Your work with Wbster`s Pages is so beautiful & inspiring!

[Courtney Walsh]

Everything in this thread is SOOO amazing!! I think I'm in loveeeee! :) 

beautiful work, you guys!!

[Gabrielle Pollacco]

Your work with the WP goodies is spectacular Nic! (as I knew it would be!)  Thanks so much for the inpiration for the design team, it was an honor and pleasure creating a page based on your designs! xx

[Diana Brodeur]

Oh my gosh! Nic your WP layouts are gorgeous as are the DT layouts! Thanks so much for inspiring us!

[Em T]

Wow Nic, your projects are stunning! Thank you for the inspiration and congrats on your gdt spot!

[Nic Howard]

Thanks for the opportunity, Websters!   I forgot that there would be a scraplift so literally did a little 'eeeee!" happy squeal when I saw what fabulous work that the design team had created!  I enjoyed working with the collections, it was SO easy to be inspired by the beautiful patterns and designs. Webster's has some amazing designers creating product and I'm honoured to show you what I could do with it all! 

[Jaime Warren]

Absolutely gorgeous work Nic!!!!  And girls you did an incredible job with the lifts!!!!

[Carol Monson]

congratulations.....really amazing stuff!!!!

[Tomoko Takahashi]

Congratulation Nic!! I am a big fan of your work!!! You are amazing!

[jaz]

Congrats Nic and my o my your work is awesome!!!! Thank you for the inspirations!!!

[Nina Ostermann]

Nic, thank you so much for your inspiring work this month! I love your scrapbook style so much!