Monday 31 March 2014

Goodbye March.

I have been chasing my tail this month! With the start of Spring I find myself outside more trying to battle the weeds before they take over my garden and allotement compIetely. I have had lots of Birthdays including my eldest daughters 18th this weekend and just the little everyday stuff seems to take longer (or I'm getting slower!).
I haven't managed to get much scrapbooking done this month but I have made a few cards, so I thought I would share them with you as my blog seems a bit neglected these days!
I got the tutorial to make this 3D card from the very talented Therese at Lost in Paper.
The tutorial can be found HERE.
A card for a teenage boy using the #22 card sketch from Sketch N Scrap.
The Mothers Day card I made for the best mum in the world.
I had enough papers to make two cards, so this will go into my card box for another Birthday.
Lastly the card I made for my daughters 18th Birthday - a mason jar shaker card. 
Lots of fun to make!
For the free printable mason jars that I used on this card visit the Graphics Fairy HERE.
Well that's it Folks! I hope you liked my cards and found the links helpful, I will be back tomorrow with a page for the 1st April reveal at Sketch N Scrap.
Until then have a fabulous Monday. xx




Thursday 27 March 2014

Celebrate.

It's celebration time over at the Scrap Our Stash blog this month as it's our Birthday month! There are challenges galore and plenty of inspiration to get you up and running.
It's my turn to kick start today's challenge which is to use mini bags on your page.
I used a Birthday photo for my project in keeping with this months theme.
My layout has lots of pretty tags and three of them are inside mini glasine bags, one of which holds my journaling.
You can see the first glasine bag here with the red check tag inside and decorated with washi and paper embellies.
Number two is tucked behind the top corner of the photo.
Number three at the bottom has the journal tag inside.
Lots of cute bows and some mother of pearl sequins give this page a real girly feel, just right for my mum's Birthday page.
I hope you can join me in this challenge. All the details of this and the rest of the challenges so far hop on over to the Scrap Our Stash Blog HERE.

So glad you stopped by. xx


Monday 17 March 2014

Altogether Now!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend, I spent the whole day on Saturday at a crop I organised in Bradfield. The sun was shining and I was spending hours with my dear scrappy friends, doing what we all love - playing with paper and glue!
Amongst the pages I got finished was a layout created for Scrapology's March Scraplift Challenge.
Here is the sketch.
I replaced one large photo for two smaller ones of my girls and their friends jumping altogether into the pool one evening. Although the bottom photo is a bit blurry it shows the movement of the kids jumping which is an effect I like to show.
The sketch had a ribbon ruffle but instead I pleated a paper strip and added it to the bottom of the photo's.
I managed to borrow a palm tree die and it was just what I needed to finish off the sunny holiday page.
Scrapology's March Challenge runs until the end of the month and all details and the original layout that inspired the sketch can be found HERE.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great week. xx


Saturday 15 March 2014

Cocoa Beach.

Hello Sketch N Scrap Fans, today we have another super sketch reveal for you and it's courtesy of Kelly Holifield.
Lots of fun to be had with this sketch!
You can see the basis of the sketch in my beach page with just the odd little change.
I downloaded these really cute free digital papers, they are so bright and cheerful and just the right colours I was looking for. I have kept the scraps to make a card later this week!
I layered two of the fussy cut flowers and added a white Card Candi for a lovely clean look.
Underneath my long title I stitched some waves as I love the effect of this template!
Now that I've shown you my page for the challenge you should hop on over to the Sketch N Scrap Blog and check out the seriously awesome DT inspiration!
All the details can be found on the SNS Blog HERE.
Have yourself a wonderful weekend. xx


Friday 14 March 2014

Love This.

HELLO!
 Back with you today with a page that I created for two different challenges.
The first one is Scrap The Girls whose challenge was to use hearts and/or doilies.
The second one was the 1st March Sketch for Stuck Sketches.
This is the sweet sketch.
I did enjoy this sketch and I stuck to it completely!
The photo's are of my girls with their friends on holiday stealing a few minutes on the computer whilst the grown up's weren't looking! When they saw me with the camera they pretended that they had found something amazing, but it made for sweet photo's even posed like that.
All the papers are Dear Lizzy, Polka Dot Party - such an amazing collection.
The beautiful doily was given to me by a scrappy friend (thanks Jean) it was the perfect size and colour for my layout!
I placed two hearts on my top corner, the paper one was originally white but I coloured it with my Promarkers to give an ombre effect. The other is one of Studio Calico's wooden veneer hearts.
Ok that's all Folks! I am off to pack for a crop tomorrow, so looking forward to a whole day of scrapping!
Thanks so much for stopping by. xx




Monday 10 March 2014

Beautiful Smile.

Hello and I have a quick post today as I am off out to meet up with my scrappy friends, but I wanted to let you know that Sketch N Scrap have revealed their 3rd 'Inspired By' sketch. This time the sketch was inspired by a layout created by DT member Lissa Mitchell.
This is the sketch.
Here is the page I created using the sketch and although I kept to the basics of the sketch I have less detail around the photo as I thought the background papers were so pretty I didn't want to cover them.
Another page featuring my eldest daughter as she is the one who loves to have her photo taken!
The flower is just made up of layers of die-cut paper papers and a sticker in the middle.
I placed my silhouette cut 'smile' on top of a couple of strips of washi and added the stamped 'Beautiful' above it. A gold heart sits inside the black one that replaces the dot above the I.
Now it's your turn to play along so you might want to check out the original layout by Lissa that inspired the sketch and some of the other DT's layout's. Remember the DT had not seen Lissa's page, only the sketch.
All the details on how to play along can be found at the Sketch N Scrap Blog HERE.  
Thanks for dropping by. xx

Sunday 9 March 2014

Summertime Sweetness.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend filled with crafty time and family adventures! Although we had no adventures here in Mistley, I did manage to get a couple of scrapbook pages finished between the chores!
The one that I am sharing with you today is based on the Scrap365 March Sketch Challenge.
This is the amazing sketch, such fun!


This photo of my eldest daughter and our friends eldest on holiday last year shows how relaxed and happy they were to be together in Ibiza!
I just love this mix of Crate Paper 'The Pier' and 'DIY Shop', such gorgeous soft summery colours.
I basically kept to the sketch as you can see, with just the additional frame of hand stitching.  

I love flair buttons but I don't own many, I just couldn't resist adding this camera one though as it looked 'right' on this page.

The sheet of paper from 'The Pier' collection called 'Splash' had lots of cut-outable pieces like the tags I used around my page and these word strips. Love it when there is a sheet in a range that has co-ordinating elements to use. Check it out HERE at Sarah's Cards.

This challenge over at Scrap365 runs until 16th March so there is a few days left for you to play along too. All the details of this challenge and other amazing inspiration from the DT can be found on the Scrap365 Blog HERE.
 
Thanks for stopping by. xx




Friday 7 March 2014

Keep Calm!

A super fun challenge for you this month at Challenge YOUrself, and you just need to KEEP CALM!
We have all heard of the saying but there are so many variations on the theme - Keep Calm and Eat Cake (my favourite!) or Keep Calm and Drink Beer (hubby's favourite!).
What we at Challenge Yourself would love to see is your scrappy take on this famous quote.
BUT IT CAN'T BE SCRAPBOOKING RELATED!
and of course the golden rule of Challenge YOUreslf - YOU MUST BE IN THE PHOTO!
Here is my page, Keep Calm and Enjoy a Hug!
Here, me and my youngest daughter are having a cuddle whilst on holiday last year.
I turned the photo black and white so I could have free choice of colour scheme on my page.
These letter stickers were the most awful purple colour so I changed them to black with my Promarkers.
I have been slowly using up some of my older stash and I found this cute metal Love tag and decided to hang it from some twine that I wrapped around the photo.
I had fun filling the circles with different patterned papers and small embellishments.

So many possibilities for this challenge and we would love to see what Keep Calm quote you use on your page.
To see what quote the rest of the DT have used hop on over to the Challenge YOUrself Blog and get inspired to play along with us.
All the details can be found HERE.
Keep Calm and Have FUN!  

Tuesday 4 March 2014

Friendly Challenge - Page Kits.

Hi crafty friends, my friend Helen and I have had a get together for some scrappy fun and as usual we had given each other a challenge. This time we each made up a page kit from our older stash then passed it on to see what we would do with it.
This is the page kit I made up and passed to Helen.
This is the page kit I received from Helen.
Helen's page is so sweet and girly which I suppose was inevitable given the elements in the kit I gave her!
There is so much lovely detail - the die cut chicken wire, hearts and butterflies.
I knew Helen would cut out some of the cute little birds on one of the sheets of paper! The title looks fabulous on the tag surrounded by lots of spring embellies to compliment the gorgeous photo's of her daughter.
I totally fell in love with the Day Dreamer paper that Helen gave me and knew I had the perfect photo of one of my daughters enjoying the sunshine in our garden several years ago!
There were so many lovely pieces in my page kit that my layout came together quickly and easily. I don't buy printed chipboard and it was wonderful to use it for a change!
In my defence I did fussy cut these hearts from one of the paper sheets! 
Thanks Helen for making my life easier with all the choice of embellishments. xx

I hope you enjoyed seeing the pages that Helen and I made and for our next challenge we have to include a Dr Suess quote on our pages!
Thanks for stopping by. xx




Saturday 1 March 2014

Finding Nemo Show.

Hello March!
Another new month and although the year is coming along in leaps and bounds I am yearning for Spring to get here proper as the rain is still coming down here in the UK!
But on a more cheerful note it is the 1st reveal of the month at Sketch N Scrap and we have a wonderful sketch to kick off with.
Lisa Hidy designed this fab sketch for us to play with.
I turned the sketch clockwise to accommodate my photo's of the Finding Nemo Show at Disney World Florida. Unfortunately these were the only photo's I got as my camera battery decided to die! So I had to sit back, relax and watch the show instead! 
I didn't have any pre-made Nemo embellishments so I printed a few off the internet - such a wonderful invention!
I put my title onto a tag tucked behind the photo (I thought the letters were on straight at the time!).
A bubble die and a shower of sequins were my go to items for decorating the rest of my page.

 Our prize is another great one sponsored by Sketch N Scrap DT member Monique!   
I hope you can play along with us this month and there is plenty of inspiration to be had on the Sketch N Scrap blog from the rest of the DT members.
To find the rules and the details of how to play just head on over to the SNS blog HERE.
Happy Scrapping. xx