Organise your Stuff Challenge - Packing for Crops

As a devotee of the Counterfeit Kit challenge I have been following the Organise your Stuff challenge for the past months and trying to make sense of some of my stash - ergo better use of the above!

I have made some big changes and some smaller ones, aimed at being able to access my stash better when I'm scrapping at home, or when I'm getting ready for a crop.

The recent major change was to my clear stamps which are now all arranged on mounts in a D ring file meaning that it's easy to find any stamp I have - and hopefully will therefore use them more.  Now I don't have the enviable range that I see on many blogs but now I know there is room for more in the file I can invest in some new ones and at least I know where the gaps are in my collection.

So crops?  What to take?

I have been through the kitchen sink stage, but at last week's crop I went with a single bag - amazing I know!

I have a small tote with my very basics in now - adhesive, scissors, journalling pens, stapler, dymo, with a few empty pockets to tuck in a spray, inkpad or other gem I need for a layout that day.  My trimmer is an X-Cut lightweight one which fits in the bag as well.

I also have a tendency to wildly overestimate what I will achieve in a day's cropping and thus have taken far too much.  Now I take 4-6 page kits max.

In my kit is a choice of papers, photos, alphas, journalling options and some statement embellishments.  I have a Craft Mate tote with my brads, buttons and bits in which I take as well usually. I don't stress if I find I don't have exactly the right thing.  Sometimes I can borrow things from other crop friends, sometimes I will compromise and use what I have, and sometimes I take the layout home to finish with the thing I had in mind.

The most important thing is to enjoy it, after all!

The fruit of my crop

I have had a very thin month craft-wise, but the crop finally came last Saturday and I had a lovely time cropping with a select bunch of my friends, due to holidays and other commitments, we were rather short on numbers.

I also had to make an early retreat as my lovely DS2 had a go-karting party - it was so fun!!  I've never done it before but I definitely will again!

Anyway!  before I went I managed two layouts.  The first was based on inspiration from a sneaky peak of a new collection by Basic Grey called Clippings.

Top left is a patchwork page made up of triangles and this led to my layout.  I decided that a counterfeit page of these was too labour intensive and too much, but a frame?  Well that worked for me.  So I set about cutting triangles from my Echo Park papers (I only had 4 from this collection) but that was enough for a good variety.  I then inked each triangle on the square edges and mixed them up into a nice pattern.

A little handful of journalling cards from the same sheets, a little corrugated tag and and some masking tape from the Etsy shop Riky and Nina.  Some Studio Calico veneer cameras and little birds (thanks Claire :)) and a couple of BG brads and I was done.  Alpha from Making Memories.  The photo is my middle sister on her first day at school - bless!

Second up came entirely out of my head, but I did use up a scrap of paper that I was using to play with masks and gesso.  Using the Cricut cart Cindy Loo (thank you Debbie:)), I cut out some shapes, and mounted my stickers on more of it, and cut them round with a border.  The photos were taken with Instagram for that nice aged look - the first time I've actually printed them from my ipod.

More masking tape from riki and nina, a scrap of Sassafras border, a fancy pants ticket and stickers from Echo Park, some EP brads and another veneer camera finished off the supply list, and the journalling is round the edge.  Tfl.

Ten on the Tenth

I'm thinking about music this month - I've been adding things to my ipod and realising that there are lots of tracks that don't yet feature on my digital music archive. Some I need to rip off cd, others to download.  These are my  favourites right now.

1) U2 - One

2) Derek and; the Dominoes - Layla (the long version of course!)
3) Patti Smith - Because the Night
4) Psychedelic Furs - Pretty in Pink
5) B-Movie - Remembrance Day
6) The Clash - London Calling

7) David Bowie - Heroes
8) Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

9) Brian Adams - One Night Love Affair
10) The Killing Moon - Echo and the Bunnymen

I'm in love.... CHA previews

Just seen Studio Calico's new Yearbook line for CHA - so so nice, I need it all!

http://studiocalico.typepad.com/studio_calico/2012/07/cha-s.html

The everyday eclectic range from Echo Park looks pretty versatile as well - picked up a lot of recent trends...

Full pictures here : Echo Park

This from Lilybee is nice as well:  It's called persnickety!  I particularly love those green dots.

I'll update this post if I see anything else sneaky peeked that I love.  - as if I needed any more stash!

Getting messy!

I've been playing with paint and gesso for the last week or so, trying out some techniques that I've seen on various talented people's blogs recently.

I invested in a pack of small canvases from The Works - only 6 x4 sort of size, but big enough for a little play.  One of my friends from church is leaving to move to the Midlands so instead of a card I thought I would see if I could make a little farewell canvas for her.

I learnt a lot!!

I started with a yellow inkpad in the middle of the canvas, then blended paints into the edges in shades of blue and green.  Then I dried it with my heat tool, and stamped with my Kaisercraft script stamp, music stamp and worn grid stamp in various colours randomly across the canvas.  I dried it again.  I added more stamping using a Technique Tuesday petal stamp with the word 'love' scripted across it, then stamped my text.  Huge search for my little wooden alpha - I'm sure I've got more than one but I felt lucky to have found anything at all!

The next move was a bad one.  I sprayed a little mist onto the corners, but that messed up the text, making it run.  Fortunately, as the canvas was gessoed (is that a word?), the ink sponged off and I could do it again, but I won't be trying it again!  Mist before text, and dried I'm guessing.  So the bottom left hand corner is a bit of a repair job but you live and learn.

Materials used: Acrylic Gesso, Adirondack Dabbers - Aqua, Citrus and Pool.  Inkpad - Stampin' Up! Yellow, Vivid! - Cobbles, Versacolor - Marine Blue and Gold. Also pale green and blue chalk inks. Stamps by Woodware, Technique Tuesday, Kaisercraft. Dimensional paint - cream..

I then added some stamping in gold and edged the whole thing to try and 'frame' it a bit better.  Still not happy I added some deep turquoise to the edges and on a tiny stamp.  I still couldn't leave it alone, so I filled in the flower centres with some dimensional paint.  I would have liked more time but I think I could ruin it so I've stuck with this, and I hope she likes it.

But there is definitely more to come, it was such fun.  I've had to scrub my fingers very hard!

More cards

I always seem to make cards in a hurry. I keep promising myself an evening session to get ahead and make a batch of cards so I always have something on hand, or to personalise upcoming card events.  But as usual, I hit a deadline and had to produce instantly.  It is birthday week this week, a friend in France, my Dad and my best friend has a milestone birthday coming up fast.  (Fortunately none of them read this blog!)

First up, my Dad.  I don't have any vintage car paper at the moment so the first idea is out, so I settled for using some Echo Park Times & Seasons which have a suitably masculine colour palate.  I had to use my new Smash dymo - thanks again Claire!  although it would help if I concentrated while printing so I didn't end up with Happy Birtday!!  My tab punch and a few gems, and punched out stars helped to make it more decorative (in a manly sort of way) and I do love that running stitch punch which I backed with a strip of black to make it stand out.

Second, my mate in France (well, Luxembourg this week).  I went for a simple approach - a sheet of Glitz Vintage Vogue, a cardstock offcut which I stamped with presents and a Fancy Pants ticket border, assorted letter stickers (I never seem to have quite the right combination) and some Graphic 45 Eiffel Tower paper finished it all off.  Hopefully sophisticated enough for a friend across the Channel.

Finally the milestone birthday.  I decided that I didn't want to rub it in, so I settled for adding the number to the inside of the card instead!  She loves horses and so these images that I have in a notebook purchased with glee from TKMaxx over a year ago seemed perfect and cheerful to fit the bill.  Scraps of paper lying on my desk - (and although it was Wednesday, I am far too ashamed to show of my desk for WOYWW!) Suffice to say it is a tip! - gave me a base - some ancient Paper Trunk pp and some BG Oliver (the only collection I have bought in full and am gradually using up) provided me with a base.  Some twine - because you have to really - and some letter stickers and all I had to do was to cut round my horses and mount one of them on 3D foam.

Simple, and not much of the messing around with paint that has kept me occupied lately, and away from here - mainly because I haven't actually created anything yet!  Next time I will be more organised - at least that's what I'm telling myself.