Along with the many different memories and traditions that we capture each season, there are also many different ways to scrapbook any given moment! Scrapbooker's can create entire albums online and print duplicate pages with the press of a button, or they can create their pages with pre-made elements. My personal scrapbook is somewhere in the middle of these choices and combines the versatility of computer-generated images with the huge stash of traditional scrapbook elements I have been collecting over the past few years. Technology combines especially well with my paper supply when I use a black and white HugWare image to create my own paper-piecing patterns. Using the same cardstock or paper patterns that I have on hand for the backgrounds and photo mats on my scrapbook pages, I can print multiple images, piece them together, and create the perfect dimensional embellishment for any page!

Traditional paper-piecing patterns require you to trace the pattern onto your paper, cut the individual pieces, adhere everything together and then detail the finished design. By using a HugWare image as your pattern, you cut the amount of time that this takes in half while maintaining a textured, perfectly sized, dimensional look for your scrapbook page.

Step One: Choose and size your image

Select the black and white format on your HugBug Browser, choose your HugWare image, drag it into any compatible program, and size it so that it will fit onto your scrapbook page. I like to print my image onto plain printer paper to make sure that it is going to fit in its 'spot' on my scrapbook page .

Depending on the size of your image, you may only want to print the sections of your pattern that you need onto each color of paper. For instance, why print my entire bunny design onto green paper, when the only pieces that I need are his mittens? To print only a portion of your paper-piecing design, try cropping the image in the program that you are using, 'whiting out' the unwanted portion of the graphic with a white text box, or printing on scraps of paper (see tip below). Be sure that you don't change the size of your pattern as you print each color of your design!

In my examples, I have printed my bunny onto brown suede textured paper, his sweater onto blue suede textured paper and his mittens onto speckled green cardstock.

*TIP* To use the scraps in your paper pile, or print only a small section of a design, try this: First, print your pattern onto a piece of 8 1/2x11 regular printer paper. Next, use a temporary adhesive (such as Hermafix) to attach a small colored scrap of paper to the 8 1/2 x 11 sheet. With your scrap positioned in the correct spot, run your paper through the printer again. Your image is now printed onto the little scrap of paper! Repeat the process for each of the colors in your paper-piecing pattern!

Step Three: Cut each piece of your pattern.

Cut one color of your pattern so that it has the entire design on it. This will be the base of your paper-piecing and all of your other pieces will be adhered on top of it. Cut the remaining colors of your pattern so that the black outline is intact and surrounds each individual pattern piece. If you have some very small pieces in your pattern, you may want to leave a paper border around the edge of the outline so that you have more room for adhesive. When I cut my pattern, I left an extra edge at the bottom of each mitten. This edge was tucked under the bunny's sweater when I put my paper-piecing together.

Step Four: Adhere your paper-piecing to the base color.

Adhere each cut piece of your pattern to the base. Remember to tuck in any extra borders or edges that you cut (such as the border on my mittens bottom edge). As you layer and position all of your pattern pieces, the black outlines should match your base outlines perfectly!

Step Five: Add extra details to your design with chalks or pens.

As with the snowflake on the bunny's sweater in my examples, some pieces will be too small for you to cut. Use pens or chalks to draw in any extra details on your pattern.

On this pattern I used a gel pen to fill in the white snowflake and stripes on the bunnies sweater, and chalks to detail the cuffs on the sweater.

The Finished Page

(click on sample to see complete page in greater detail)

Your paper-piecing is now ready to go onto your scrapbook page! I printed out blue suede snowflakes to coordinate with my paper pieced bunny sweater and then used the same brown suede 'bunny fur' paper as part of my background. I also used a printable fuzzy paper to create a soft snowflake background that ties the whole page together!

Have fun using images from your HugBug Browser in the black and white format! What will inspire you to create a paper pieced image this Winter?

Supplies for Quin's Wonderland

Paper: Stone Washed Denim Soft Watercolor , Provo Craft, Fuzzy Paper (for snowflake background), The Crafty PC, Brown and Blue Suede Papers, Wintech
HugWare: Critter Wonderland Creatable (Bunny), Christmas Creations Creatable
Pens: The Ultimate Gel Pen, American Crafts
Printer: Epson Stylus Photo 870
Chalks: Craf-T Products
Other: Pop Dots, Stamp It!

For more great ideas about using HugWare be sure to visit PCHugWare.com.

Be sure not to miss the PCHugWare Freebies page!