PRETTY BOY!

Hello, it's almost the New Year and although 2013 has been a bit testing for me health wise it has also been wonderful and exciting at times. I am hoping 2014 will a year where I will achieve much and enjoy more, with the possibility of exciting new happenings and wonderful people to experience them with.

I managed to get the last of my scrapping for this year done last night and what better way to see out the old year than to scrap a cute photo!!!
My layout was done using the Sarah's Cards December sketch Challenge.

Here is the sketch and it is perfect for the photo I had to scrap.

 

As you can see our big teddy bear of a cat was in the wrong place at the wrong time as my girls were decorating the Christmas tree and decided that Ginger needed dressing up too!

Don't you think he has a resigned look on his face as if to say 'why me?'.

 

As the tinsel around Gingers neck has holly leaves on it I kept with the theme and cut some out using a stencil from my children's craft stash!

I loved the smattering of stars on the sketch so decided to carry them onto my layout after spritzing them with some Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Gold that I treated myself to when I placed an order to Sarah's Cards Shop recently. Seriously shiny - just what I was hoping for when I ordered it.

Well I hope you enjoyed seeing our sweet boy in the spirit of Christmas even if it was forced upon him! I know the Sarah's Cards challenge finishes today but there is still time to enter if you're quick!
All the details and the awesome DT inspiration can be found HERE.

Just leaves me to wish all of you a very special 2014.

 

Last of 2013.

The card I have to share with you today is my last Christmas card of 2013 and was based on the December 20th card sketch over at Sketch N Scrap.

 

Slight change to the sketch in that I put the sentiment at the top but hey that's the beauty of sketches - open to interpretation!

 

I am entering this card into Scrapology's Christmas card challenge. This month it is as simple as that, create a Christmas card using any colours and any design!

I am still hoping to get some crafty time to myself over the next couple of days as I have shopped and wrapped all that I can! I have a trip to my allotment scheduled for today (in between the rain showers!) to pick sprouts and leeks for the 'big day', but that's about the extent of my Christmas preparations left to do (yay!).

I am off to browse Pinterest now to see what has been going on there in the last couple of days, so if I don't see you before hand I would just like to wish you a fabulous Christmas and hope Santa brings you plenty of crafty goodies!!

Bye for now. xx

Happy Girls.

Hello and happy Saturday to you!
I have just a few minutes before I need to get ready for a party so I will quickly share my layout with you that I created for the sketch with stash challenge over at Scrap Our Stash.

 

Here is the sketch and if you are thinking I have already shown you this sketch you would be right! Scrap Our Stash are joining forces with Sketch N Scrap for this challenge and we are also required to use punches on our layouts.

 

Here is my page and it shows my youngest daughter and her friend who were playing at dressing up one day a few years ago. I followed the sketch more or less although I substituted the baubles for some swirly stitching.

 

This photo shows the stitching.

The large border punch which you can see here is a Martha Stewart one and the glitter rik rac was made using a scalloped one.

 

I also punched out these small tags to make the embellishment at the top.

 

Another border punch used on the backing papers.

 

Just a last close up of the flower die with the added sticky pearls.

 

Have you finished your Christmas preparations? If so why not spend a few minutes (or more!) and have a little crafty 'me' time. You could then join us girls at Scrap Our Stash and Sketch N Scrap with this fun sketch and punch challenge and link it into both blogs for two chances to win!

 

All the challenge details can be found on the Scrap Our Stash Blog HERE. 

 

 

Would You Rather?

Back again with a card today as I had a friend's Birthday card to make. I thought I could use the third festive crop challenge over at Sketch N Scrap. This game by Lisa is to use one of each of the following prompts for your project.

WOULD YOU RATHER:

1) use a sketch on your creative project OR go it on your own with your own design?

2) use card stock as your background OR use a patterned background?

3) use stamps OR stickers on your project?

4) use squares/rectangles OR circles on your project?

5) use your own handwriting OR a typed sentiment or journaling on your project?

6) Used a punched border OR a washi tape border on your project?

7) Use enamel dots OR rhinestones on your project?  

 

 

Here is my card and here are the options I went with..

1) Own design.

2) Cardstock background.

3) Hello sticker.

4) Circles.

5) Handwritten sentiment inside.

6) Punched border.

7) Rhinestones.

 

Here is proof of the rhinestones, the circles and the punched border.

The flowers were coloured in with Promarkers and I also coloured the (once white) punched border to match the flower leaves.

 

And lastly the proof of my handwritten sentiment inside.

 

There is just one more crop challenge left for me to try and find time to complete and it is a colour inspiration.

 

Gorgeous colour combo and not sure yet whether I will go with the festive theme or not yet but I do hope I find the time in the next couple of days to make a layout.
The crop challenges are open until midnight on 21st December so if you have a spare few minutes to craft why not give one of the fun challenges a go! You can link up and be in for a chance to win a special prize.
Details of all the festive crop challenges can be found on the Sketch N Scrap blog  HERE.

Back soon hopefully. xx

 

 

Holiday Fruitcake Recipe Challenge.

I am happy to say that I took some time out from my busy schedule to relax and create last night. It's so nice to switch off from the endless list checking and worrying that you have everything ready for the big day!
I picked out a couple of photo's of our little old lady and listed all the 'recipe ingredients' from Sketch N Scraps Holiday Fruitcake Challenge.......

 

Holiday Fruitcake Recipe Challenge . By Kelly Holifield.(Pick 4 ingredients for your layout):

Red and green candied cherries – choose the color red or green 

Candied pineapple – choose the color yellow or gold

Walnuts – use wood veneers or woodgrain papers, etc.

Raisins – use something sweet (the word Sweet, food related items or photos, etc.)

Sugar – use sprinkles of round embellishments in any color (brads, buttons, confetti, etc)

Eggs – use some form of ribbon as a binding agent

Vanilla – use any type of liquid medium (can be ice or snow related photos, spritz, paints, etc)

Flour - Use any white embellishment (clouds, flowers, doilies, snowflakes, etc.) 

 

Now not only did I complete this challenge but I also challenged myself to use all eight of the ingredients instead of the four that's required!

 

 

Here is my layout staring our little cat Molly who in her old age (15) has started sleeping in the strangest of places! These photo's show her making a bed out of my eldest daughters college bag!

Red and green candied cherries - red papers.

Candied pineapple  - gold glitter foam letters.

Walnuts  - wood effect paper.

 

 

Raisins - the word 'sweet' in my title.

Eggs – I bound my tag with ribbon.

Sugar - sequin sprinkles.

Vanilla – two colours of mists.

 

 

Flour - white doily tucked behind the photo's (although after I spritz the page it wasn't very white!).

 

And there you have it! So are you going to give yourself some 'down time' and create a project for Sketch N Scraps festive crop? Go on you deserve it!

 

There are four challenges in the crop and all of them can be found over at the Sketch N Scrap blog HERE.

It runs until the 21st, so plenty od time to have a little play with the challenges, which are so fun!

 

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting. xx

 

Lets Crop with Sketch N Scrap!

Amidst all the hustle a bustle of  Christmas I have found time for a little scrapbooking! What better way to celebrate some crafty time than with a crop and Sketch N Scrap are having their first ever!

The first challenge was from Lisa and one of my favourite scrappy games, bingo, as I love that you can mix and match to suit your style or even take yourself out of the box!

 

So here is the grid and I chose to go straight through the middle from top left to bottom right.

 

 

So here is my layout and I very rarely scrap older photo's but this is little ole me at one month old being held by my mum at our home in Berlin.

All the papers are from the delicious Kaisercraft Madame Boutique Collection. 

Please excuse the bad images as the weather outside is frightful! Not so good for taking photo's.

 

 

The flowers were made using a Martha Stewart punch and some inky edges. I adhered buttons to the centres for my grid ingredient to use buttons or flair.

 

The 'two alphas' are in my title and for my 'free' square I used washi tape.

 

 

A fun challenge and I'm hoping to try the 'day two' in the crop, this one is Kelly's Fruitcake Recipe Challenge and it looks great too! 

There are going to be four challenges finishing on the 18th December and you will have until 21st December to play along and be in for the chance to win a prize! Below are the links to the challenges so far and of course there are our normal sketches for this month too! Hop on over to the Sketch N Scrap blog to join in all the festive fun.

 

 

Here is the link for the Scrappy Bingo.

 

Here is the link for Kelly's Holiday Fruitcake Recipe Challenge.

 

The link for todays 'Would You Rather' Challenge.

 

 

Homemade, with Color Me Scrappy.

I love to make homemade meals using the fruit and vegetables from my allotment, so I took some photo's this year of some of the recipes I make when I bring home some of the produce I grow.

Luckily there is a challenge at Color Me Scrappy revealed today that not only has a lovely colour palette but we ask you to make the subject of your page about food.

Here are the yummy colours and inspiring picture which are perfect for a foodie challenge!

 

 

Here is my take on the challenge and as you can see the colours were perfect for my photo's as my apron has some of the colours from the palette.

The photo's show me making plum jam, tomato sauce for pasta and butternut squash soup.

I love banners (who doesn't!) and wanted to make a feature of  it so I placed quite a large one across the middle of my layout.

 

To go with the homemade theme I added this crochet flower I made recently at one end of the banner.

 

 

At the other end of the banner I tied a double bow in the twine and adhered it to my page with a brad that mirrors the one in the centre of my flower.

 

I hope your (creative) juices are flowing and you will join me and the rest of the Color Me Scrappy design team with this challenge. Perhaps you have some Thanksgiving photo's to scrap or perhaps a summer picnic, if so this is the perfect challenge for you! 

To see the rest of the DT's scrumptious takes on this fun food reveal head on over to the Color Me Scrappy blog HERE.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by and please scroll down to see my first layout of the day!

 



Why Is There A Panda on Your Head?

Well time certainly is flying around here, I have been so busy lately that I don't know whether I'm coming or going. Christmas seemed so far away and now there are just ten sleeps left, Eek!
I am so far behind with my cards and pressie's I may have to postpone Christmas until at least New Year!
I'm so glad that I got some of my DT layouts finished in November, so all I have to do is share them with you, my dear crafty friends.

My first layout today is the 2nd challenge for December over at Sketch N Scrap.

Here is the sketch we have revealed today and it was designed by the super creative Kelly Holifield.
Sketch N Scrap has also teamed up with Scrap Our Stash for this challenge and so we have the added requirement to used at least two border punches and one other punch on our layout.

 

This is a super fun layout of my youngest daughter who as you can see is wearing her panda plush toy on her head whilst playing on the computer! She loves her soft toys and didn't want to put this cute panda down, so she managed to wedge it on her head (like you do!).

 

 

My first border punch is a scalloped/hole punch from Martha Stewart.

 

I used a Fiskars punch for the top of my patterned paper behind the photo and the pink rik rak was made using a scalloped border punch twice.

 

For my 'other' punch I used a simple small heart punch and used the positive and negative pieces.

 

As this sketch/ punch challenge is on both the Sketch N Scrap and the Scrap Our Stash blogs it means that you could create one layout but enter it into both blogs! We are saving you some time during this busy month so I hope you will be able to indulge in some crafty escapism and join us in this fun challenge! 

 

Don't forget to check out the other SNS design team takes on the blog HERE.

 

I will be back later today with another layout to show you. Hope you can make it back here soon, coz you know I love having you around!

 

 

Love at Home.

It's my turn today to reveal the page I created using this month's challenge over at Scrap Our Stash.

 

In addition to using one of the quotes from the word art above you must add 4 or more pre-made photo corners.

 

 

Here is my page and for inspiration I used 'Love at Home' from the  word art and this photo of my daughter telling us she loves us all! I couldn't resist adding lots of stitched hearts across my page and a little bit of paint splats.

 

I also stitched some of my title onto a tag.

 



I enjoyed sewing the hearts in different coloured threads and overlapping some of them to blend them together.

 

I know it's a BUSY time of year for all of us to say the least but I hope you can sneak a little craft time in amongst the many jobs still to be done! If you find time to play along with this challenge all the details and other DT members takes on the challenge can be found on the Scrap Our Stash blog HERE. 

 

Thanks so much for dropping in. xx 

Simply Me. Challenge YOUrself Reveal.

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

 

Hello if you have never visited my blog before and if you have - I'm so happy to see you again!

 

There is a new challenge blog on the block called Challenge YOUrself and as the name suggests it's all about documenting the most important person...YOU!

 

 

To start the ball rolling the first challenge is super easy and that is to basically tell us a bit about yourself but don't forget that You must be in the photo! 

You can write a little or a lot but you must include at least three random facts about yourself, for example you might be a collector of teapots, have a passion for cheese and sing in the shower! If there are some facts you don't want the whole world to know you could of course use hidden journaling just for your family's eyes only.

 

 

Here is my take on the challenge with ME in the photo! and my friend bear of course.

I chose to use these beautiful My Minds Eye papers as the background had 'Unique' already printed in the corner so I thought it was appropriate as we are all unique in our own way.

The facts I wrote about me on the page are......wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, scrapbooker, reader, gardener, blogger, worker, cat owner, photographer, blood giver, optimist and dreamer. So now you know all about me in one go.  

I am a Jack of all trades and master of none!

 

 

Here are some close up's of the rest of the layout starting with this freebie black and white butterfly image that I coloured with my Promarkers. As I am an avid reader I thought it fitting that I add some book paper shapes to the page.

 

 

These flower images are another great find on the internet, again coloured with pens and embellished with brads.

 

Now these are metal letters that used to have a ring at the top to hang them but I cut those off and coloured them black.

Lastly the top corner cluster with a little bit of everything and a home printed quote.

 

Now hands up you ladies out there who are the photo takers in the family........ well you need to be in the scrapbooks too! So make it a New Years resolution to document about YOU once in a while, you could join us girls at Challenge YOUrself  this month to get yourself started and then every month (on the 7th) to make it fun experience.

Did you know the word 'selfie' is now in the dictionary? So have a go at pointing the camera the other way and SMILE.

 

Now you just need to follow this LINK to the Challenge YOUrself blog to see the rest of the design team's layouts and find the details for the challenge. Go on, you know you should!

I am looking forward to my 'selfie' journey and would love for you to join me.

 

Friendly Challenge - Masking.

Good evening scrappy friends! I hope your Christmas preparations are going well and you are nearly ready for the visit of the year!
I took a break from the frantic hustle and bustle of the shops today by visiting with my dear friend Helen and partaking in some crafty therapy!
Our challenge this time around was to use masking on our pages and I have to admit my masking skills are not the best!

 

Here is my page showing some older photo's of the family trip to a safari park here in the UK, with some glitter masking behind the flowers.

 

I had envisioned the masking to be a bit finer in detail but I thought I could cheat and use a mask that I made using a die and some cardstock. Only to find that my homemade paste was a bit too thick and just didn't want to spread nicely! But as I had already put it onto the page I couldn't take it off again so I just sprinkled my glitter and covered the worst with the flowers! 

 

My title was made up of chopped about left over glitter thickers, making the letter A's from D and Q!

The centre of the flowers are the leftover full stops and the flowers are coloured with Promarkers.

 

Helen went one better and used two masking techniques to showcase her bunny's snowy photo's! (so cute!).

 

 

The first masking is using star sequin waste, texture paste and added glitter (we are glitter girls).

 

Helen's second masking was to use letters as the mask and to spray ink around them leaving the word relief when the letters were taken away! Not a title technique I have used yet but will definitely be doing in the future!

 

Well that's us done with our show and tell. I hope you enjoyed seeing our little friendly challenge, the next one is to do a minimalist page!

 

Tomorrow I have the brand new blog reveal for Challenge Yourself to share with you, but you could check out the blog tonight and get to know the DT ahead of tomorrows excitement - just follow this link. xx

 

Wishing you a Fabulous Weekend. xx