American Crafts Paige Evans - Adventurous - Beautiful Place

For this layout using Paige Evans Adventurous Collection for American Crafts I chose to scrapbook a photo collage using some photos from our summer holiday last year.

I started by layering onto a sheet of 12x12 white cardstock, squares of papers #18 & #19 with more white cardstock between. I used the B sides of the patterned papers but because I want to use the A sides on another project, I carefully gutted the papers before sticking  them down. Using white thread I machine stitched a straight stitch around the edges of the papers.

On top of the patterned papers I placed my square photo collage which I created on my phone in the Google Photos app.

Using one of Paige's older 'layered flowers' digital cut files and some scraps of paper, I created some three dimensional layered flowers to embellish the layout.

I used some white chalk ink to add some interest to the flowers and curled up the petals a little too.

The flowers were placed in the corners of the photo collage with some leaves from the Icon (Floral) Ephemera pack. I like the pop of turquoise the leaves give the layout.

Two tags from the Journalling Ephemera pack were strung with some twine and then added to the layout. I added journalling to one of the tags.

I stamped the date onto a tab and placed this at the top of the layout together with a word cut from paper #1. As the collection has gold foil accents, I matted the word onto some gold mirror card to echo the gold on the tag I had already added to the layout.

I used a word from the sheet of Phrase Thickers and the gold Mini Alphabet Thickers to cerate a title at the bottom of the page.

Finally I fussy cut two butterflies from paper #19, added them to the layout and hand stitched some butterfly trails with turquoise embroidery floss.

Pretty Little Studio - Good Vibrations - Gardeners World Live

Today I have a multi-photo layout to share using the Good Vibrations collection from Pretty Little Studio.

I started with a sheet of black and white paper from the 12x12 paper pack and after trimming 1/4 inch from each edge I matted it onto a sheet of black 12x12 cardstock leaving a narrow border.

I then tore a couple of strips from a sheet of the Happiness paper and placed these at the top and bottom of the layout.

I printed three photo collages to just under 6x4 with 6 photos on each. The collages were then placed side by side across the centre of the layout.

To create some embelishments, I fussy cut flowers from the Think Positive paper. In my stash I found some matching embroidery threads and using three strands of thread stitched onto the fussy cut flowers using a Lazy Daisy stitch. I love the texture this added to the flowers.

The stitched flowers were placed horizontally across the layout in roughly rainbow order and I added some 3D foam underneath each flower to add some extra dimension.



Below the flowers, the title was added using letters die cut from black cardstock.

On the computer I printed my journalling on white cardstock, put it into one of the frames from the Picture Day Frames Die-Cuts pack and tucked the framed journalling behind the photos at the top of the layout.

I matted one of the Seize the Day Die-Cuts with black cardstock and then placed this beside the journalling with 3D foam underneath.

Simple Stories - Boho Sunshine - Slide into Summer

Today I have a project to share using the Boho Sunshine collection from Simple Stories. This summery collection is described by Simple Stories as being a " whimsical collection filled with good vibes, rainbows and sunshine. A hipster collection filled with all of the goodness of summer and “be happy” thoughts". I couldn't agree more! It's such a bright, happy collection.

For this layout I chose to use photos taken at a funfair in the summer of 1973.

I teamed the bright colours in the collection with black and matted all the papers I used with smooth black cardstock. I started by matting a sheet of the Groovy paper, which had been trimmed to 11"x11" and then machine stitched round the edges with black thread,

I printed four photos with white borders onto one sheet of 5x7 photo paper and matted them onto black cardstock and then onto a piece of the Happy Day paper. 

The photos were then layered onto pieces of the Smile Big (A & B Side) paper and placed onto the layout. with 3D foam underneath to lift them up a little.

Using my Silhouette Cameo and a retro font I die cut the title from more black cardstock and stuck this to the left side of the layout.

Using one of the tags from the sheet of Tag Elements as a base, I created a cluster of  embellishments using pieces from the Floral Bits & Pieces pack and Sticker Book.  I chose pieces which reminded me of summer holidays - sunglasses, ice-creams, cameras, etc and also used alphabet stickers from the sticker book to create a sub-title. The tag was tied with some white string and added to the layout with 3D foam underneath for a little extra dimension.

Next to the photos I placed my journalling using word strips printed on the computer.

Finally, I added a few die cut flowers from the Bits & Pieces pack and flower stickers from the sticker book.

Simple Stories Baking Spirits Bright - Walking with The Snowman

Today I have a final layout using the Simple Stories Baking Spirits Bright collection. My layout isn't about baking but instead records memories of a festive sculpture trail which came to our local town this past Christmas.

I have to admit that when I came to create this layout I didn't have a lot of my design team kit left so I have cheated and added a sheet of Simple Stories Sn@p Basics woodgrain paper from my stash. 

I started with a 12x12 sheet of Bazill Maraschino (red) cardstock and onto this I layered a sheet of 11.75x11.75 white cardstock and  a 10x10 sheet of the Simple Stories Sn@p Basics 'Birch' paper. I machine stitched around all the edges with white sewing thread to add some texture. 

A strip of the Sweet Holiday Wishes paper was then placed horizontally on the layout and also machine stitched.

So that I could include lots of photos on the layout, 12 photos were printed onto a 7x5 piece of photo paper using a collage app. The printed collage was then matted with a piece of the Merry & Bright paper and attached to the layout.

Using a free printable children's colouring page from the internet I created my own cut file of Raymond Briggs' The Snowman. The outline was cut from black cardstock and then backed with some white glitter cardstock and scraps of the Merry & Bright paper. The backed cut file was then tucked under the left edge of the photo collage.

One of the foam stickers from the Foam Sticker Sheet was used to embellish the Snowman's hat and the title was created with another foam sticker and some black cardstock stickers form my stash.

An image from some of the publicity material for the sculpture trail was printed onto some photo paper and, with the addition of some clear number stickers, was used as a sub-title.

Journalling strips printed on the computer were added.

Finally, a couple of foam stars from the stickers sheet were added to the bottom of the layout.

Pinkfresh Studio Happy Heart - Beautiful Spring

Today I'm sharing another scrapbook layout using Pinkfresh Studio's Happy Heart collection and some photos taken last May. The colours in this collection are predominantly pastels and teamed with white cardstock appear very soft but, team the collection with some bright cardstock and the colours come to life.

For this layout I first created a photo collage using five photos from a day out and attached this to a piece of white cardstock onto which I had already typed my journalling and tied a piece of pink bakers twine. 

The white cardtock, which was a little larger than A4 size, was then stuck to a sheet of the Keep Growing paper.

Next to the journalling I added the title with the word 'Spring' cut from bright Pink Cardstock and the word 'Beautiful' taken from the Ephemera Titles Pack. 

The words 'at Herstmonceux' completed the title using some white Pink Paislee Foam Thickers from my stash.

To pick out the pink in the patterned paper and to add some of the bright pink colour to the top half of the layout I added a punched border above the photo collage using more of the bright pink cardstock. 

The layout was embellished using one of the Ephemera pieces and a fussy cut butterfly from the Beautiful Moments paper.

Carry on Nursing

A slightly unusual layout from me today. Apart from a tiny little strip of patterned paper at the bottom of this layout I only used card stock. I really love patterned paper and so to use so little on this layout is quite rare for me.

The photo collage was made in Picasa and I cut various nursing bits and pieces on the Craft Robo as embelishments. The title was made from BasicGrey stickers and the strip of stripe paper at the bottom was, I think, from Bella Press.

Hunstanton Rocks

Another layout for last weeks Scrapbooking weekend using photos from a trip to Hunstanton, Norfolk in 2009.

I used a real mixture of papers for this layout - Scenic Route Grafton (Orange), BasicGrey Ambrosia (white), BasicGrey Marrakech (green) and My Little Shoebox (Ledger). I also used Bazzill cardstock, BasicGrey lettering , an MME die cut Calendar journalling card and a few buttons. The photo collage was created in Piccasa.

Last Few Layouts

Here are the last few layouts from last weekend get-together.

This first one is of the day we took the stabilisers off of her bicycle. I used Patterned Papers from Scenic Route, cardstock from Bazzill, Brads and the title lettering and swirls were cut on the Cricut. (Oops just realised I've lost the letter 'i' from the layout. Hmmm I wonder where that is?)



The flower embelishments were hand made lollipop flowers - just three graduating sized circles of cardstoock which was crumpled up, layered and then fixed with a brad through the centre. A simple way of making a handmade embelishment to co-ordinate with your layout and only needs tiny scraps of paper.



This next layout is of an afternoon last summer spent at Hitchin Lavender. I used patterned papers from BasicGrey and Prima, cardstock from Bazzill, various flowers, self adhesive pearls and the title was cut on the Cricut and then coated in Doodlebug glitter. The photo collage was created in Picasa.



The final layout is of Lara in her High School Musical cheer leaders outfit. On July 4th 2009, Lara's Rainbow unit joined with other Rainbows from the area for their summer celebrations. As the event was held on Independence Day the theme was 'America' and they all had to dress up based on that theme. There was no way that Lara was going to wear anything other than the HSM costume.

For the layout I used patterned paper from Adornit Carolees Creations and Teressa Collins, cardstock from Bazzill, a few buttons, a bling swirl from Prima, some velvet paper and American Crafts Thickers for the title



The flowers were another handmade embelishment. Yo-Yo flowers made using netting. I've never made them from net before but wanted to try and create a pom pom effect. They didn't turn out too bad.

I have one more layout to post but I still need to do some work on that one so

Seems ages since I up dated this blog. I'm afraid I've neglected it a it in favour of my 365 blog but I promise I'll try and be a better blogger in future.

On May 1st the Mojoholder challenge #107 was to scraplift a lovely LO by the author and scrap artist Sherry Steveson. I really, REALLY loved Sherry's LO and hope my lift of Lara on Christmas Day morning did it justice.

The following week on May 8th, Australian scrapbooker Chris Miller provided us with a LO to lift. Chris has been widely published in the Australian scrapbooking magazines and is a former member of the Chatterbox design team. Chris' LO was another multi photo LO and I used some photos taken at RHS Rosemore in Devon last summer.

Tonight, challenge #108 featured a LO by Lizzy Wurman. Lizzy lives in Chile and is on the Cottage Arts.net design team. I used a photo of Steven taken recently at Wrest Park on my LO.

I promised that I would post some more LO from my weekend away last month. This LO of Lara used papers fromTeressa Collins' Crush Collection. I created the photo collage using one fo the free collage templates from BHG Scrapbooks etc website ( I love that magazine!).

Last night the Mojo DT scraplifted a layout by Tammy Tutterow. Tammy is an American scrapper who has worked with some of the big names in scrapbooking - BasicGrey, Pink Paislee, Provo Craft, Sweetwater, Prima, and Glitz Designs. Her layout was absolutely gorgeous and incorporated 7 photos. Check out her blog it is truly inspiring. Here's Tammy's layout and mine.

Last weekend I went to my regular crop at Stamp Addicts. As well as the above layout I also created two more.

The first used some of the gorgeous My Little Shoebox papers. It involved lots of handcutting to create embelishments from some of the paper and I used photos taken last year of Lara helping to water the flowers in the garden. I used a collage template downloaded from the BHG Scrapbooks etc website to make a grid of photos.

The second layout was so simple. I took lots of photos of the house and garden when it snowed in February as part of the 365 A Photo a Day project and wanted to make a layout of them. I used some BasicGrey paper and placed a printed transparency on top. I used some really cool Prima Galaxy Stars to embelish plus some silver coloured ribbon, a few brads, a charm and a tag. So simple but I wanted to keep the focus on the photos. I used another collage template from BHG Scrapbooks etc on this layout too

Well I think that's all for now. Hopefully be back again next week.