A couple of scraplifts

Some more of my recent playing has revolved round scraplifting some of my scrapbooking heroes.  Firstly Kinsey Wilson whose blog I love to look at for inspiration.  This is her Design Team work for Studio Calico's City of Lights Kit here  and I had to take some inspiration from this layout.  OK, I've strayed far from the delicate pastels of her layout, but I just loved the sections of buttons and applied them to my layers of brown for a Center Parcs layout of DH being daft!

My stash is considerably lighter after this layout which weighs a ton! The papers are mainly old too and come from my scraps box, along with vellum and a serendipity square which I had from a swap many moons ago.  A dash of washi tape just to make it 2012 and my layout was done, and no! I didn't sew them all on - though I have done in the past!

The second one comes from Creating Keepsakes from last autumn and I'm only sorry I can't locate it to give the lady her due credit (if I find it I'll update), but be assured this is scraplifted from that source and again, I loved the idea of masking off patterned paper and sewing.

Again, all the bits are from my scrap box and are old, I can see Chatterbox paper for one!  I added mini ricrac, a few handcut hearts and a button for embellishments, and the alphas are a mix of old Basic Grey chipboard and Lilybee Buttercup.  The title reads 'So proud of where you're going and proud of where you've been' and the journalling describes how my DS2 moved from his year of home schooling into high school.
Thanks for looking.

All in a weekend's work

I had a bit of a scrapbook this weekend and managed to do a few layouts.  It's not often that I stick to a single manufacturer's collection in a layout, but this time I did two!  Both are using ranges by Authentique that I bought from Gottacraft recently.  The first is pretty and pink and not my usual thing but it was perfect for a layout I wanted to do about my sister's wedding, and one photo in particular that I had been musing over for ages - I love the photo, she looks so pretty.

In my usual thrifty fashion, I managed to find an offcut of  Bazzill that matched so I didn't have to cut into a new one lol, and apart from the chipboard alpha by Chatterbox, brads from Basic Grey (ancient! and Making Memories, a bit of twine and the little padlock charm, everything is from the Delightful range of papers and they are so beautiful.  I'm glad I have some left to play with.

The second one uses the Loyal range, and I blitzed out and invested in the stickers as well.  I've used quite a few already. I also had a little play with some new masks I bought at Ally Pally - the woodgrain one didn't work too well with a Distress Stain, but the brick one covered up my mess, and I used an inkpad and sponge to get a better coverage.  The letters are from MME I think, and are flocked and delicious.

Try something new every week

The kids went away for the weekend and we were left in the very unusual position of having some time to ourselves.  As it was quite last minute we'd already made some plans (separately!) and we went ahead with those - but we managed a film together, dinner on Saturday night at home with candles, and Sunday lunch.

We went out to the Ramblers Rest which is a pub in an ancient Elizabethan dwelling for Sunday lunch.  DH realised that in its previous incarnation, he had been there before for his sister's 18th - many moons ago.
We ordered a roast lunch and enjoyed every bite.

Then we headed out into the woods to see the bluebells (again! for me). I had my camera with me and the sun was kind enough to come out.  It was such a treat to wander around with my lovely H, without any kids moaning about how pointless family walks are!  And it was a joy to welcome them home afterwards!  Besides, the rain had started by then!  We definitely had the best of the day.

Twisted Sketch # 148

This week I decided to use this lovely perforated paper I found in a local scrapbook shop.  I've not seen it anywhere else, but it was just screaming out to be sewn on, so I did!  The original sketch is here

Materials Used:  Bazzill Basics Black Cardstock, Perforated Paper - LSS, Chipboard embellishments - Jenni Bowlin and Crate Paper, Alpha stickers - Scenic Route, Flowers - Prima, Clip - Basic Grey Oliver, Phrases - Authentique, Other: Pearls, Twine, Embroidery Silk.

I've been printing out slides that I've scanned from my parents' collection and this one is of me and my little sister, with my mum and grandparents at their house in Wales.  We had wonderful holidays here, near the seaside and I've made a 6x12 page to accompany it, full of journalled memories of our stay there, and using the offcuts from the perforated paper and coordinating embellishments so it all looks nice. The other thing that makes it special for me is that I used embroidery silks that belonged to my Granny on the layout.  The title is the name of the house.

Do head over to Twisted Sketches and see what the rest of the team have got up to with this sketch. Thanks for looking.

Finishing up!

I'm determined to finish up some of my unfinished layouts, and these came from 2009 and have just been waiting for some final touches.

I finally found the perfect embellishment with a set from Echo Park that I bought a week or two ago and voila! the layout is finished.

It fits in perfectly with the mini photo challenge from Counterfeit Kits - although obviously I didn't use my kit for it!  I do like using mini photos though, they allow you to tell the whole story on a single page.

The second layout took me ages.  I rarely stick to a single paper collection but the Basic Grey one (can't remember the name, but it was something natural) spoke to me in the context of the amazing ski jacket that Hannes had when he came to visit.  I faffed around with papers, sewed onto the layout and used my craft robo for the tiny beautiful letters.  I finally added a few embellishments some BG, and the old tag from my stash, and finished off with tiny pearls in a swirly shape.

I think it's finished now.

Finally some scrapping!

It's been a busy time lately and my scrapping has suffered.  I haven't managed to do much at all, so it was a welcome Saturday crop last week and I finally managed to do a couple of layouts.

The first is a counterfeit paper, based on the MME Miss Caroline Dolled Up paper.  I haven't quite got the density of butterflies, but I do love the mixture and tried to create a similar theme, using up my scraps as ever!  However many I seem to use, there are always more in the growing pile!  I made the paper before I decided on the photo, something I don't do too often. I am pleased with the result, although I would have liked to add a bit more journalling in retrospect but I couldn't bear to cover up all the butterflies!!

Second up is a paper I was almost about to pass on, until sheer serendipity intervened and I saw how it went with the wallpaper in the photo!  Sad reason maybe, but it did fit with my philosophy of using up my old stash, and I added a MME frame I've had for a while, a Crate border sticker, punched stars and some Fancy Pants banner strips, before deciding to accent with a little aqua.  The letters are Doodlebug (old) and foam Thickers.

Finally, Lorna (of My Little Blogette fame) was sitting next to me at the crop and was using Shimelle's starting point from a week ago and made such a lovely layout I felt compelled to this for my next layout.  I have wanted to scrap this photo for ever - it was taken nearly 20 years ago, long before I scrapbooked, and way before digital cameras and I am absurdly pleased with my one chance print.  I couldn't really get DH to skip down a meadow - Laura Ingalls style - more than once!!

I bought the gorgeous papers a couple of weeks ago from Gottacraft and was thrilled to have the chance for a real play.  Strangely, using a starting point made me dither much more than when a layout comes out of my head!  I couldn't decide on the placement of papers, but finally settled for this, although I think I may add a loop of twine to it at some point.

More Shimelle Online...

I don't normally blog twice in a day but as I've completed another couple of layouts for the Shimelle Online challenge I thought I would update them as I'm busy tomorrow.

This challenge was to use one photo twice, and I was wandering around trying to work out if I actually had two photos the same when I spied these old passport photos that DH had injudiciously left lying around!  They have to be the most unflattering photos of his life!  Well, I couldn't resist them.

I had an old sheet of Bo Bunny stickers out with my rather newer Authentique Loyal papers, and I love this cardstock that came from an LSS and has a different texture to the usual brands.  I decided after experimenting that tone on tone lettering kept the title from being too dominant, then topped it up with Glitz, Jillibean Soup and MM letter stickers.  I sewed onto the embellishments and in the spirit of extreme thrift, cut out the outline left from a border sticker to use.  Authentique stickers and a couple of resin flowers.

Hope DH forgives me!

The second layout is for the Stamp Just Once challenge. I think this might count as overkill but it is only one set of stamps and they are severely under used for something so beautiful that I just had to have before I bought them!  No two photos, but it didn't really suit my plans to use two!

I have been playing with my watercolour paints, and created a sheet of random colour which I then overstamped with these Technique Tuesday stamps and Stazon ink. I then cut the petals out and arranged them in an exploding flower pattern.

I then inked and misted two lengths of Pink Paisley mistables scalloped calico and drew them into the flower centre. I cut a circle of felt (unseen) to raise the photo above the calico, and backed it with a doily.  A couple of rubons and letter stickers by Making Memories for the '15'.

This is way different to anything I've done before, and I've had a lovely time playing in a much more messy way than I'm used to, but ending up with a not messy layout.