Chalk Artist

I've now finished the last of the three layouts I started last weekend. I used photos of Lara chalking on the patio last summer on this final one.

The patterned papers are from the utterly gorgeous MME Quite Contrary line. I also used some Bazzill card stock, Martha Stewart border and and butterfly punches, BasicGrey alphabet stickers for the title and some adhesive pearls and 'tape measure' ribbon from my stash.



The row of flowers along the bottom edge of the layout are handmade spiral flowers made from more MME Quite Contrary paper. So very easy to make - lots of instructions for making these on the internet like this one.

A Birds Eye View

Earlier this evening I finished the second of the layouts I started at the crop last weekend. A very simple layout of a seagull.

The photograph was taken at the Clovelly Gig Regatta in August 2008. Anyone who has ever visited Clovelly in Devon can't fail to remember the incredibly steep walk from the top of the village down to the harbour and back again. As you walk down the cobbled street on occasions you are on a level with the rooftops of some of the houses further down the street. I snapped this seagull during our walk back up the street.



I used a mixture of patterned papers from Making Memories (die cut edge), BasicGrey (clouds) and October Afternoon (bunting and title). The string, brads and buttons were from my stash as were the alphabet stickers from Provo Craft. The title was cut on the Craft Robo. The seagull image in the top right corner was a clip art image printed on card stock and diamond glazed to add some dimension.

Scrapping with Scraps

At my monthly crop last weekend I started three layouts. I managed to find time to finish one of them today. The layout is based heavily on a layout by Helen Croft and uses some scraps of some of my favourite Scenic Route Metropolis papers. The title sticker and chipboard are also from Scenic Route and the flowers are from Prima. The little heart pin came from that well known auction site. Ribbon, brads, buttons and thread from my stash.

A few More Cards

This afternoon I managed to find the time to make a few more cards. I coloured the images a few days ago but hadn't got around to actually putting the cards together.

The first card uses a magnolia Tilda stamped image and some of those gorgeous flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts. The papers were all pieces which have been in my stash for a long, long, long time. I'm on mission to tray and use up as much 'old' stash as possible.



The next card is an Easel Cards and uses a digital 'Star Fairy' image from Pollycraft. I've not made easel cards before and quite enjoyed making something different. Again the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the papers from my stash.

I had hoped to do some crafting this week but somehow time ran away with me. Last week I made this card for my friend Lynn's birthday and as it was her birthday this week and I know she received the card I think it's safe for me to post a picture of it now.

I used these Papermania Papers and flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts.

The End of Lost

We watched the 'Lost' Finale today (didn't get up at 5am - recorded it instead and watched it at a more respectable time). Whilst I enjoyed watching the finale I'm also sad that it is now all over. For six years we have been following the lives of the surviving passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 and I have to admit that the finale left me confused, disappointed and rather deflated. Don't get me wrong, the finale was expertly written and superbly acted but I really wasn't at all happy with the ending. I think I will have to watch it again another day and hope I feel differently then.

And as a Double Whammy I've just found out that 'FlashForward' (The new 'Lost') has been cancelled by ABC and that there will be no more series of that show.

What am I going to do without my weekly fix of confusing, time-warpy TV?

Really Useful Boxes

Thought UK readers of my blog might like to know that whilst I was out shopping this afternoon I noticed that our local QD Store have 7 litre Really Useful Boxes (the shallow ones that hold 12 x 12 papers) for £2.79! I think these usually sell for about £6 so I quickly snapped up 6 and there were still loads and loads left in the shop.

I already have several which I use for storing some of my 12 x 12 papers and now I can get really organised. LOL

Baby Elephant - Ahhhhhhh!

I finally got around to finishing the remaining layout that I started at the crop a couple of weeks ago. Its of the baby elephant that Lara and I saw when we visited Whipsnade Zoo with the school last month. I used papers from the Quite Contrary line by My Minds Eye, Chipboard trees from Maya Road, Letter Stickers from BasicGrey, some ribbon, a few eyelets, a bit of twine and a brad. The elephant embelishment in the bottom right corner was simply clip art that I printed onto patterned paper and then gave it a bit of shine with some glossy accents.

Another Birthday Layout

This evening I have finished the second layout that I started at the weekend. It is a birthday layout of Christopher's 16th Birthday. The design is the same as the layout I created a few weeks ago for Steven's birthday except mirrored and this time I used BasicGrey Color Me Silly papers. Another collection which is bright and ideal for birthday layouts. I have had these papers for quite some time (I actually searched and found out that they were released by BasicGrey at winter 2006 CHA and as I bought them as soon as they were released they must have been hibernating in my paper collection for over 4 years!) Its such a good feeling to use up old stash and some how helps justify buying something new. LOL

Smile!

Yesterday was my monthly crop at Stamp Addicts. It was nice to spend a day scrapbooking especially when just lately I don't seem to find any time to do any crafting at home.

I put together three layouts but two still need the journalling adding so I only have one to show you today. This layout of Lara is an almost complete scrap lift of a layout by Susan Goetter apart from the embelishments and title. I used Papers from the BasicGrey Lemonade collection, an epoxy sticker from Creative Imaginations, Prima 'Say it in Pearls' swirl, Liquid Pearls and BasicGrey letter stickers.



The flowers were handmade using this tutorial on the Whiff of Joy Inspirations blog. I was really pleased how they came out and really like that they cost virtually nothing to make using just some scraps of Bazzill, some stickles and a few brads. Some of the ladies at my crop liked them so much that quite a few of them made some too to add to layouts.

BasicGrey Birthday Layout

Last night I completed the final layout that I started at the Debden weekend. It was a layout of Steven's 12th birthday and I used BasicGrey Lime Rickey papers. The Lime Rickey collection is SO bright and zingy and I thought it was just right for a birthday layout. I handcut the background shape using a die cut sheet of paper as a template. The round yellow circle was cut using fancy cut scissors and the edges coloured with a black pen to add definition. The handcut stars have been mounted on 3D foam.

I felt like playing with my Promarkers last night so decided to make a card.

The image is a Magnolia Tilda and the papers and the sentiment I used were from Papermania. The gorgeous flowers were from Wild Orchid Crafts and the leaves were punched using my friend Sue's Martha Stewart punch (Sue I hope you managed to get it replaced or your money back after I broke it!). I also used my own Martha Steward border punch to create the background for the stamped image - I didn't break that one!



Talking of Wild Orchid Crafts, to celebrate her 2nd blogoversary Bev Rochester is giving away some amazing blog candy that has been sponsored by Wild Orchid Crafts. Pop over to Bev's blog for a chance of winning some fabulous floral goodies.

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

Creative Blogger Award

Today Lynn kindly gave me a Creative Blogger Award. Thank you Lynn. In return I have to list 7 crafty things I have done. So here's my list:

1. Top of the list is obviously Scrapbooking. I've been scrapbooking since 2003 - Wow 7 years. That is most certainly the longest that any craft has kept me hooked.

2. I have and still do some card making. They aren't the prettiest cards but hopefully the recipients like them.

3. I did cross stitch for a number of years and have one or two half finished projects still lurking in a cupboard waiting to be completed. When I was pregnant with Christopher 16 years ago I started a Cross Stitch Kit called 'Calendar Bears' that I bought from QVC and I know for sure that that one is still unfinished.

4. When I was at school I studies O level needlework and achieved a grade A. I bought a sewing machine from the electricity board showroom and paid for it monthly from my pocket money. In my late teens and early twenties I made quite a few skirts, blouses, etc but regrettably all my sewing machine gets used for now is for sewing on scrapbook pages.

5. I had a go at glass painting a few years back and decorated glasses candle holders which were sold at one of the Church's Christmas Fairs.

6. I can knit and crochet although I haven't done either for such a long time that it would be quite interesting to see just how well I could now do either.

7. I like to think that I try to use my creativity in my photography. I certainly think more about composing the shot, background, colours etc when taking photographs than I ever used to.

I would like to pass the award onto two people who I consider to be very creative and inspiring. So Deb and Jakey if you happen to read this - the awards yours.

A few more layouts

I actually managed to complete the journalling on a few more layouts started at Debden. Don't tell anyone but in my craft cupboard I still have layouts from lats years Debden weekend that I still haven't finished so to actually get these layouts finished so soon is amazing.

The first layout is of Lara when she and her classmates went to the Victorian School at Hitchin for the day. I was lucky enough to go along too as a parent helper and took a few photos whilst we were there but the photos on this layout were taken beforehand.

I used Patterned papers by Scenic Route (RIP!) and October Afternoon. The journalling card is also from October Afternoon. To finish off the layout I added some velvet ribbon, lace, antique effect brads, title lettering cut on the Cricut and the flower embelishments were handmade.



The flowers were made by stamping flower and leaf images onto pages of an old book. The stamped images were then stuck onto cardstock to strengthen them before being cut out. I then curled the edges of the flowers slightly before layering them up and adding a self adhesive pearl to the centre of each. (Thanks Joan for the idea ).



This next layout is of Steven. The photo was taken on one of the many Snow Days we had earlier this year (seems ages ago now!). I used Fancy Pants and BasicGrey patterned paper, gorgeous layered snowflake accents from K&Co (the photograph doesn't do them justice because IRL they are so glittery), ric rac, ribbon and American Crafts Thickers for the title. The journalling was added on a transparency.



The last layout today was inspired by a layout by Wendy McKee. I LOVE her work - so inspiring. I used Patterned papers from the Fancy Pants 'About a Girl' collection, ribbon, brads,
buttons and the title was once again cut on the Cricut.



The pin wheel emeblishments were hand made. Really easy. If you don't know how to make them instructions can be found here. Instead of attaching the pinwheels to sticks, I flattened them and used them as embelishments.



I plan to finish the rest of my layouts later today so will be back tomorrow with those.

A weekend of Scrapbooking

Last weekend I spent my time in the company of a group of wonderful friends who all share a love of crafting. We stayed at Debden House in Essex and scrapbooked and made cards all weekend long and had a really lovely time.

I managed to put together quite a few layouts which I will hopefully post over the next week or so.

For this first layout of Christopher I used a photo I took last year as part of the 365 'A photo a Day' project. I altered the photo in PSE to black and white and spot coloured one of his eyes. I used papers from October Afternoon and Sandy Lion Rouge De Garance, a few buttons and quote was partly printed on a transparency and then completed with lettering cut on the Cricut.

This next layout is of Lara. The photo was taken last summer at my Aunt and Uncles 60th wedding anniversary celebrations. I used papers from Rouge De Garance and Websters Pages, Flutter Vine and Chipboard accent from Prima, Rub Ons from MME, Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, lace, trim, ribbon and self adhesive pearls.

Here's a closeup of the chipboard accent with the rub on title.

The next layout is of Tux. I used the same Rouge De Garance patterned paper that I used on the layout of Christopher, Bazzill cardstock, a mixture of BasicGrey stickers and Cricut lettering (flocked with Doodlebug crushed velvet flocking) for the title, dymo tape journalling, brads and some metal paw print embelishments that I have had in my stash for yonks. The cat embelishment was cut using the 'Animal Kingdom' Cricut cartridge and was coloured with promarkers.

Here's a closeup of that cat embelishment.

The last layout I have to show you today is of Steven. The photo was taken last October at Wells-next-the-Sea. The patterned papers are from BasicGrey and JennyBowlin. The title lettering was from American Crafts and the journalling was created using DIY dry rub off decal paper from Crafty Computer Paper.

Be back soon with some more of my layouts - just as soon as I finish the journalling on them. LOL

Happy Birthday Steven

Yesterday my little boy turned 12. Happy Birthday Steven.

Cat 'n' Cards

Yet again I've been a bad blogger and not posted for a while but I've not had anything really worth blogging about!

Tux has settled into the house well although he is always up to mischief!



I do have some handmade cards to show you. Anyone that has ever received one of my handmade cards will know that cardmaking is not my forte but having seen some of Bev Rochester's cards on The Hobby House stand at the Stamperama show last month and also having seen other peoples beautiful cards online (Anita and Lynn's in particular) I thought I would have ago. I actually enjoyed making them and hope that the recipients liked them too.

The first one used a Sarah Kay stamped image whilst the others were Magnolia stamps. I used Promarkers to colour the images. My shading isn't brilliant but hopefully with some practice I might get better.

Introducing Tuxedo

Last night we collected our new kitten and brought him home. We've called him Tuxedo - 'Tux' for short and he is a really cutie.



(don't worry his eyes aren't really that colour but I can't figure out how to adjust the photo to make them the right colour)

He's doing really well. Cries a little when he's left on his own but apart from that he's really friendly and playful.



He spent the best part of this morning asleep on my lap while I tried to get on with my paperwork and at the moment as I type this he is curled up in Lara's dolls pram asleep again no doubt getting lots of energy ready for when the children get home from school and want to play with him.

On Saturday I went to my monthly crop. I managed to complete just two layouts (and a couple of cards but I can't show you those yet).

For this first layout of Lara I used BasicGrey Wisteria papers, BasicGrey letter stickers, Grunge board swirl, MME journalling card, lace and a yo yo flower that I made from a scrap of coordinating fabric.



The second layout of Steven uses Fancy Pants papers, Making Memories glitter letter stickers, Making Memories brads, ribbon and 'music' transparency printed from the Internet.