Ahoy there - it's Valentine's Day

With a keen sailor for a husband I am gradually building up quite a collection of boat stamps and embellishments in an effort to ring the changes when making his birthday cards etc. However, for this Valentine's Card I simply found an image to copy from clip art and used paper piecing to jazz it up. A couple of strips of ribbon later and...Happy Valentine's Day xxx

 

 

Something Simple...

In my craft room I have a huge box labelled 'Ongoing Projects' (which really means all those layouts that I've started at crops but never quite finished...but I thought 'ongoing projects' sounded more positive!) Anyway, I have finally got around to doing some finishing off... and this is one of those layouts.

Tom isn't really into football - he goes to the little club at school one term and then skips the next..but I love these photos of him in his football kit.  Although I'm an expert at buying ballet shoes and tap shoes etc it was quite daunting to venture into SportsWorld in search of football boots and kit.

(..and sorry...but I started this one so long ago that I can't even remember all the paper manufacturers etc..I'll add to the supplies list as I track the papers down!)

'Football Crazy'

Supplies: Paper and cardstock: Creative Memories, MAMBI; Stickers: American Crafts, Doodlebug, Paperchase; Dymo labeller; gift tags

GoGoGetaway

I'm back! Earlier this year I took the decision to stop running Scrap Happy (my local crop). I ran it for almost four years and have made some lovely friends...and been inspired so many times over by other people's pages. I have really missed having a regular 'slot' in the month to scrap, but have appreciated having a bit more time on my hands as my work hours increased (and the number of clubs my children needed ferrying to also increased!).

Anyway, my scrapping has been almost non-existent...until last weekend! I had my first experience of a GoGoGetaway and I have already booked for next year:) Run by Janice and Lorraine of  the ScrapaGoGo kit club, it was an amazing weekend with 7 classes, challenges, prizes, late night scrapping and loads of chat. I loved that I made layouts using colours I normally don't touch, using techniques I would normally only read about..and I even made a layout with a photo of me on it! I've come home bursting with ideas (and a bit more paper to add to my stash!).

I made these two layouts as part of the (optional) sketch challenges. For each sketch challenge we were given a sketch and an example layout and the rules said we had to use at least one product from the manufacturers range.

My first layout is for the October Afternoon 'Woodland Park' challenge. The inspiration was this layout from the October Afternoon blog. I really love these papers and the range also has some lovely embellishments! These photos are from a family photoshoot we set up in our living room to get a shot for my Mums 70th birthday. None of these photos made the final cut...but they are great fun!

'Photoshoot'

Supplies: Paper & Cardstock - Bazzill swiss dot; October Afternoon, ; Embellishments - October Afternoon; Letter stickers - Prima, October Afternoon

And this layout is inspired by a sketch from this layout from Bean Talk the Jillibean Soup blog...with a strip of burlap thrown in from one of the classes:)

'Beach Boy'

Supplies: Paper - Simple Stories, Echo Park, Heidi Swapp; Alphas - Jillibean Soup; Embellishments - Jillibean Soup; Journaling cards - Lily Bee designs

Another canvas

I promised one of my best friends a canvas for her birthday...last April. Unfortunately life got in the way and I didn't manage to make it until the autumn. The advantage to that is that I was able to use photos from a glorious day during our summer holiday in Wales when we visited the amazing Aberdulais Falls.

Although this is larger (16" x 16"), I used the same basic sketch as in my 'Hannah' canvas. I then used a mixture of acrylic paints and spray inks to create the background. Unfortunately the canvas didn't 'take' the ink terribly well so I ended up splattering acrylic from my paintbrush to create my splashes, instead of spritzing the inks, but I got there in the end!!!

'Waterfall canvas'

Supplies: Paper - Basic Grey, Bo Bunny, My Mind's Eye, Echo Park, Three Bugs in a Rug; Bazzill in stitch'z templates; Die-cut - Sizzix; Acrylic paint; Spray inks - Ranger Perfect Pearls Mists.

Another one...

I have now made so many layouts from this sketch. I have found it's great to use with scrapping beginners, so each time I need to run an intro session at Scrap Happy I pull out this sketch...again! And of course, I end up making another page, so as to provide a step-by-step demonstration. The lovely thing is that although the pages start the same, they always end up so different once I've added my bits and bobs.

Anyway, this is the latest. To make the bubbles I cut circles from vellum which I then ran through my sticker machine before attaching to my layout. I then machine stitched (rather wobbly) round the circles to give them some definition. 

'Bubble'

Supplies: Paper and cardstock - My Mind's eye, Creative Memories; Alphabet stickers - American Crafts Thickers, Sizzix; Border punch - Martha Stewart; Ribbon from stash;

Passport photo

I have been meaning to scrap these photos for ages. I love these tiny photos of my tiny girl...but as the journaling explains, they were not easily taken (and were rejected by the passport office!). This was one of many occasions as a brand new Mum when I discovered that the simplest of things could be really quite tricky with a baby in the mix!
I didn't want my papers to overwhelm the little photos, so I used glimmer mists to create a delicate background and added a few stitched strips of patterned paper. Similarly, as my story is quite long, I added my journaling in strips, so as not to have too heavy a block of writing.

'Passport Photo'

Supplies: Paper – The Girls’ Paperie, Creative Memories, Fancy Pants; Stickers – The Girls’ Paperie; Alphabets – Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type, Paper Cellar Glitter Alphabet; Tickets – Jenni Bowlin; Ribbon – Rex Home, Sass & Belle; Stamps – Studio g alphabet set; Inks - Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists, Creative Memories chalking ink, StazOn.

Festival girl

Well the children don't go back to school 'til tomorrow, so there's no chance of me getting any scrapping done yet....but in the meantime here's a page I finished just before Christmas. I love these pictures of Jessie at Greenbelt the other year, and wanted to create a really colourful, festival feel to the page.

I used paper piecing to create both the background and some embellishments for this layout. First I used Fancy Pants 'Summer Soiree' Paper for the background and cut along the sun's 'rays' with a craft knife. I then stuck a variety of patterned paper pieces behind the holes and machine stitched along the joins, adding ric-rac for extra interest.
To create the girl and rainbow embellishments, I stamped them onto different scraps of patterned paper and then cut out each section, before glueing them back together.

I stepped right out of my comfort zone layering stickers and alphas and journaling boxes...but I loved making this page!

'Festival Girl'

Supplies: Paper & Cardstock – Fancy Pants, Creative Memories, We R Memory Keepers, Love Elsie, Junkitz; Stickers – Cosmo Cricket; Alphabets – American Crafts Thickers, Sticker Trendz; Journaling box – K & Co.

Sketch club challenge @ the Christmas Craft & Crop

In every spare moment I've been getting ready for the Christmas Crop ...and here are the designs for the sketch club challenge. I've loved making these. I kept the sketch simple as I wanted it to be suitable for card-makers too - and I think it worked! If you would like to see the actual sketch look here.

'Snowy friends'

Supplies: Paper & card - Creative Memories, Papermania; Snowflake border punch - Martha Stewart; Stamps - free with 'Papercraft Essentials' magazine.

 

'Frosty the Snowman'

Supplies - Card - Bazzill bling; Sticker - Penny Black; Ribbon - from stash; Gem - Paper cellar; Snowflake border punch - Martha Stewart; Small snowflake punch - Creative Memories

'Probably ...'

Supplies: Carstock - Creative Memories, Bazzill bling; Paper - Basic Grey; Letter stickers - American Crafts 'Thickers', Stickopotamus, Words & Crafts; Brad - American Crafts; Snowflake border punch - Martha Stewart; Small snowflake punch - Creative Memories; Snowflake die - Sizzix; Ribbon - from stash.

Sneak Peek

Only two weeks to go before the Christmas Craft & crop!!! I thought I'd post a quick sneak peek of the acrylic album. If you'd like to book a place, do email me and I'll send you a booking form x

Christmas Craft and Crop 2011

It's that time of year again! The Scrap Happy 'Christmas Craft and Crop' is on Saturday November 19th at Keene Hall in Galleywood, Chelmsford. Whether you are a scrapper, or a card maker, or a bits'n'bobs crafter...this will be a fantastic day.

Running from 10am til 5pm (with half day options available), you can make the day your own! Spend the day scrapping your own projects or use the time to get your Christmas cards made. Alternatively, book into the classes and enjoy the take'n'makes and demonstrations running throughout the day. Have a look here to find out more, and do email me for further info or to book a place.

Books on the go - The Big Book of Scrapbook Pages

Wow - what a fantastic book! (You can find it on Amazon here.)

On my friend Clare's recommendation, I snuck this into my Amazon trolley when no one was looking...and it's fab! There are so so so many beautiful layouts in here and I've been marking pages with post-it notes so I can go back and have a play later. If you love scrapbooking (and if you're in the UK you're probably still missing Scrapbook Inspirations and Scrapbook Trends), then do get your hands on this book:) 

To journal or not to journal???

The big question about this layout was whether or not to add any journaling. I'm a big fan of getting the stories down, especially in the children's albums...but as you can see, on this occasion I opted out. The photos look great but in actual fact Tom didn't have such a good afternoon. Before the races, the children have a choice of about thirty activities dotted around the field...and the real story is that it all proved too much for Tom and he had a huge stroppy meltdown. The happy photos at the end are thanks to the miracle working of his teacher.
So there is a story to tell, but I chose not to tell it. I really do believe in 'warts and all' journaling...but in years to come does Tom need to read that he had a bad day and it was embarassing for me having a wailing son in front of all the other parents? I thought not! I'm sure those of us who had happy childhoods also had 'meltdown' days but our memories filter out some of those bits. I'm happy for Tom's memory to do the same:)

'I ran in a race'

Supplies: Paper and cardstock - Creative Memories, Bazzill, SEI, The Girls Paperie; Stickers - American Crafts 'Thickers', Cosmo Cricket 'Tiny Type', My Little Shoebox 'Mini Alphabet Sticker'; Journaling boxes - October Afternoon, Echo Park; Bunting punch - Woodware

And at last...I have used my new 'bunting' punch on a layout!

Time flies!

Well, time flies! I can't believe I am now the Mum of a ten year old! It's fun (yet scary) to watch her become more independent and grown up. And to think that she has only one more year left at primary school!
Anyway, the challenge for me was what card to make for an "in-betweenie" - not too babyish, but not too grown up. Favourite colours blues and purples...but NOT pink!
I remembered some old Rusty Pickle paper lurking in my stash that seemed suitably 'doodly' and found some cool badges in Paperchase...and this is what I came up with....

Supplies: Cardstock - Bazzill Bling; Paper - Rusty Pickle; Badges - Paperchase; Stamps - Sizzix; Punches - woodware; Die-cut numbers - sizzix 'bigz sassy serif numbers'

I coloured the paper using my pro-markers (fantastic pens btw). I used pliers to remove the pins from the back of the badges, and then attached them to the card using sticky foam pads. The card then opens to reveal a big glittery '10' cut using sizzix dies.

I am now thinking of all the other cards I could make using badges...so watch this space!

July Sketch Club

This month's sketch is based on my 'Keep off the Grass' layout that you can see here...I thought you'd like something nice and summery:) I look forward to seeing your pages!

Books on the go

I love reading! As a child I read under the covers by torchlight (and now tell my children off for the same offence!). Taking inspiration from Shimelle's Blogging for Scrapbookers course I thought I'd try to add a quick weekly post about what I'm reading at the moment. Having always read avidly I have found myself dipping into magazines more in recent years, as life with three small children meant I didn't have the time (or energy) to get properly stuck into a book. I loved Scrapbook Inspirations - and still miss it:(
But now, with the children all at school and all sleeping through the night, I have been making up for lost time. I'm still sometimes limited to grabbing a few pages whilst I clean my teeth but I've enjoyed catching up with a few old favourites and finding some new gems!

And for the past couple of weeks I've been having an Austen fest. I've reread Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma and Persuasion countless times..but can't remember the last time I read Northanger Abbey or Mansfield Park, so I've thoroughly enjoyed it. I love the modernity of the books - I always tend to think that facetious, understated sarcasm is a very modern style of humour...until I read Austen and realise that people have been the same for a long time regardless of the outward trappings. Anyway, I hope to finish Mansfield Park today and then its on to Sense and Sensibility.

The littlest bridesmaid

When I first made this page for the Papermaze blog I ummed and aahhed for ages trying to decide which photo to use...and ever since then I have been meaning to make a second page using the 'other' one!

And I have finally done it! I've changed the colours to match the wedding colour scheme, but other than that it's a straight scraplift (which is ok because one will go in Jessie's album and the other in Hannah's album). I'd love to know what you think x

'The littlest bridesmaid'

Supplies: Paper - Bazzill swiss dot, My Mind's Eye, October Afternoon, The Girls Paperie; Alphabet stickers - Cosmo Cricket, American Crafts 'Thickers'; Flowers - Prima; Ribbon - RexHome; Die cut - Sizzix 'Tattered florals'; Stamps - Sizzix, Hero Arts; Bazzill In Stich'z templates;

Keep off the grass

I've had this layout on the go for a few weeks...but have finally finished it:) I love this picture - Hannah crawled round and round the blanket but wouldn't venture off onto the grass.

'Keep off the grass'

Supplies: Paper - Creative Memories; Stickers - Creative Memories, Echo Park; Glitter border - We R Memory Keepers;

a bit of a birthday layout...and a sketch

...and here's this month's sketch and layout!

I seem to make lots of pages using three photos and this is no exception as I couldn't choose which photo to use. This is Jessie looking ever so grown up on her 7th birthday (in new birthday clothes)...and the photos show her having just blown her candles out before we had had a chance to sing, then joining in singing 'Happy Birthday' to herself, and then finally blowing her candles out at the proper time!

I really enjoyed going all girly, and piling on the bling for this page...and I was pleased with myself for using up some old Creative Memories paper lurking in my stash (the checked pattern) - something I should do more often!

'Cake'

Supplies: Paper and cardstock - Bazzill bling, Creative Memories; Journaling card - Elles studio; Ribbon, flowers and gems - WHSmith; Butterfly border - sizzix; 

Such a long time since I posted anything on here....unfortunately life has been rather manic with builders and family!
But here are a couple of pages I have managed to finish recently. The first I did at Cropping Bug - a new crop held in the Reading Rooms in Billericay. It was lovely to be a punter at a crop instead of running one and I've already paid my money for next month...thanks to Nina for organising a lovely evening.

Using this sketch by Shimelle as a starting point - this page shows photos from a glorious day's sailing (probably the best we've had since having the children) but the hidden journaling tells the story of our later trip to casualty when Tom tripped and ended up underneath the boat and trailer. Thankfully he had no bones broken and although he limped for a couple of weeks he is now fine and back to trampolining lessons....and he also wants to go sailing again which is good:)

'Calm'

Supplies: Paper - Creative Memories, We R Memory Keepers, Echo Park; Stickers & Alphas - We R Memory Keepers, Echo Park, Doodlebug, Artoz; Stamps - Anita's, Danette Johnson; Border punch - Martha Stewart, fiskars 'threading water';

And I made this page as a demo for an 'introduction to scrapbooking' session for the local WI. I had a lovely time on Monday morning with the Tile Kiln Women's Institute (nice cake!)and may have some converts to scrapping. I did a step by step using this sketch and it was lovely to see how different each layout was, even from the same starting point.

'Reach for the skies'

Supplies: Paper & Cardstock - October Afternoon, Creative Memories; Journaling tags - October Afternnon; Alphas - Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket; Punches- fiskars, woodware

Think Pink cancelled

Unfortunately I have had to cancel the Think Pink crop for the 7th May due to family circumstances … hopefully it will be possible to book another date sometime soon.

However Tuesday Scrap Happys ARE still on however so I hope to see some of you on Tuesday 3rd May.

Thanks for your understanding…and sorry for the inconvenience.