vogue magazine

I’m so sorry to those of you who have been missing my Scrap Social series, I really do apologise for the delay! I was meant to have put an update up a while ago but time flew by… eek! Today I have a round-up of what I use to make my scrapbook pages (sorry if you were expecting a full page-by-page review!). I’ve almost finished up my book so I’ll make sure to note it down as a near future post… I promise! Anyway, here are some of my scrapbook essentials which everyone and anyone should have if they want to start their only little book of scribbles and inspiration…

~ THE BOOK ~

Literally. Any notebook will do! My notebook is a really random one I picked up from a shopping mall in France and cost me about 1 euro. It’s lined, but I don’t mind because I actually really like the way the lines look, sometimes I even incorporate the lines into what I’m doing with everything else. It has that sort of homemade, more scrappy vibe to it, in my opinion. You could go all fancy and get a great big huge (uhum, A4) size one if you like, but A5 is cool too.

~ THE BASICS ~

It may seem silly and pointless to mention these two simple items, but they are absolutely necessary to be able to do any form of scrapbook. Any pair of scissors will do (if you’re headed to IKEA, they do sets of 3 different sizes I believe) and any stick of glue will do too! You may also like to get fabric glue or other more high duty glues to stick down things like sequins, feathers and anything else like that. Simple but vital!

~ THE SOURCE ~

No, not the ketchup of the scrapbook world… the source. The items and places where you get all your pictures and content from. Depending on what style of scrapbook you are doing, depends on where you should look. If it’s a travel scrapbook then you might want to use your own images and things like tickets, but it really does vary from person to person. My scrapbook is an art inspiration/fashion design bible, full of things that catch my eye and inspire me. So I turn to magazines, postcards and Tumblr for all of my content. My Company magazine collection is running on empty (almost) so my other favourites which are still available to buy are Vogue & Glamour.

~ THE DECORATORS: POSCA PENS* & TED BAKER PENS* ~

I’m a big fan of using pens and pencils as a decoration to each page. My favourite method is using biro pen to add scribbles and random details to photographs and writing words that match the mood of what I’m portraying. I recently added these 3 super cute mini pens to my collection (they’re Ted Baker, pretty snazzy if I do say so myself) and I love them. They’re a tiny size so they fit just in the spine of my scrapbook and I can have 1 or 2 on the side for my blogging notebooks too.

I also recently added my other ‘decorator pens’ to my stationery collection and I’m obsessed! These are POSCA pens (from Fat Buddha) and they’re pretty darn awesome. They’re sort of like paint in pen form, brilliantly opaque and they leave no streak marks behind. I’m converted and I would totally recommend!

Make sure to let me know what your scrapbook essentials are in the comments, I’d love to know! Speak to you very soon…

I had an old notebook lying around, a spare few moments and an idea. I took several Company magazine’s, some scissors and a glue stick, and started a little scrapbook. I think I mainly decided to do this as a source of inspiration, but also because I wanted something creative to do instead of reaching to the iPad/internet when I became remotely bored. I decided to call it ‘Scrap Social’.. aka, scrapping social media… whilst scrap booking. Dah-dah! #ScrapSocial ✌ (Cuttings etc are mostly from Company/Vogue etc etc…)

The first few pages are fairly random, but somehow I managed to make the first two look fairly Tumblr-esque which I am quite proud of! I think the fun in scrap-booking is how random it is allowed to be. Let your mind run free! I feel like the more random it looks the better… you can see with my third page it isn’t quite perfect as I attempted to make it look like some kind of story or whatever, in the end it ended up in a mess, but that’s the joy of this idea. You can see how your inspiration becomes even more artistic as the pages go on!

The fourth page is probably my most favourite. It’s super cute, yet the flowers and doodles add a spontaneous twist. I added some nail art pieces to this page to make it more three dimensional and more textured, but if you don’t have anything to use, try different papers… more about that towards the end!  I love how the next page really fits in with the whole feel of the previous one… it’s sort of geometric with a girly edge. I think the best way to make a scrapbook feel more individual is to do spontaneous scribbles. It makes it come to life! I also want to try sewing to make it look like the paper has been stitched… we shall see!

I believe colour and text is another way to really make your scrapbook more fun. I experimented with it in these four pages.. I think I prefer it when it’s already there for you… my doodle-y handwriting is not the best! I also tried felt tips and stickers. I’m all for the stickers, but I’m still deciding on felt tips… what do you think?

Okay I lied about that other page being my favourite. These ones are! As I got more into doing these pages, I feel like I have found my feet. Flower sketches, matching colours and biro pen doodles are my favourite techniques! I just love the way it looks. I even stuck a false flower on the last page… rebel! Even if I am saying it myself… this just looks so pretty!

So we come to the end of the first #ScrapSocial round up! I’ve listed a few tips and tricks below just in case you are interested! I’d love to see some of you lovely people getting involved. Let’s scrap social media (well, not completely), start getting creative and share how we get a long!

• Don’t pay out on a fancy book! Most notebooks will do the job nicely… I actually love the effect it gives.
• Use magazines with matte paper! I think it gives the best effect… but of course you can experiment with different textures.
• Biros are your best friend! Pencils are cool, but pens are better.
• Don’t stick to one theme, let your mind go wild.

Leave a comment letting me know if you have started a scrap book recently and if you will be getting involved with #ScrapSocial!

I was reading an article recently on a journalist’ daughter who received a Vogue Magazine Subscription for Christmas. It was really interesting because it went over how it could cause the young reader to believe they need to grow up and look like the super thin, amazing faced models on the front page. Being an avid fashion magazine reader, I understand all of that, but I’m not sure whether there should be a worry? (Images from Vogue)

Many children now are quite mature with things like this, and I don’t want to sound vain or big headed, but I do understand quite a lot about things like this more than most. I have read Teen Vogue Handbook & In Fashion which both cover things like air brushing, modelling, magazine editing etc and I have learnt quite a lot, so to be honest, I understand that I don’t have to look like the person on the front cover. But, some girls will, and it’s not just girls. Many boys will look at GQ magazine which has been left around from when their dad was reading it, and think, ‘I need to have guns like that!’ (Um, yeah, sorry about the cheesy-ness) But, it’s true! If you have been reading my blog some time now, you may have read my post on Airbrushing in Teen Vogue. I also found that interesting because, why should teens need airbrushing!? It’s a teen magazine! Okay, if they’re well known celebrities then fine, but teenage life is one of the most important times, you don’t want to have to have the pressure of looking like something.

As, I love fashion, I would die to have a subscription of my favourite magazine (preferably Elle or Company Magazine), and I totally agree with it. But, for 9 years of age, and having it in your hands every month, for a year, and perhaps even more, could influence things. Even if they stopped reading it after the first year, it could have some impact. When I, hopefully, have children, I don’t want them to avidly read magazines with stunning models on (unless, it’s an article on me… then, I may change my mind, but that’s thinking a bit too far ahead…), because, how many imperfections they think they may have, they should believe they’re beautiful, they should have confidence & courage in what they look like. Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t let young children and teens read magazines, but at least make something out of it. Discuss things, make collages, don’t just have them stare at an air-brushed ‘angel’ of beauty.

If you have anything to say about this, make sure you click the comment link below!

Now this may have came out like 2 days ago, but I still find it interesting. Firstly, let’s look at the picture…

Kate Upto was given approval by Vogue after the editor saying ‘When I decided to shoot Kate for our first cover of 2013, it was to kick off the year with a young women who is not a stereotypical fashion model – although, lets face it, she’s hardly a heffalump!’ Now, I know that is quite nice, saying she isn’t ugly, or anything, but it’s kinda harsh to all the not such beautiful people, who can’t get on the cover of one of THE biggest magazine’s in the world. It’s like calling all the general public heffalumps. Yes, she isn’t perfectly slim, like they said, but she is amazingly stunning, and she does have great curves, but does that mean they have to call ‘us’ heffalumps? If you’re getting what I mean, then great, otherwise, you are beautiful, and you have probably already been on the cover of a magazine. Oh, and BTW, nobody’s a heffalump. Everybody is beautiful 😉