Coincidence

Thanks to Creative Craft World for inspiration for this page.  It records a chance meeting with a friend.  At the time I wrote down how Peter and I had come to be in Windsor that day and recorded odd bits of our conversation.  I have used these as journalling on the tags. 

I mounted my photo onto old packaging and used some wooden embellishments Mum had given me for Christmas to decorate it with.  I left the three main circles plain but dyed the two in the corner with my distress inks.

Jubilee

Once again sorry I can't show the photos here.
I kept this LO very simple but was pleased with the final effect.

The circles around the photos I made by inking the rim of a glass and using it to stamp onto the page.  I then used my sewing machine to stitch the circle.  The title I made by writing it in pencil and then zig zagging over it.

Moving On

My creativity took a walk on this LO but although I struggled to come up with this idea I am moderately pleased with the finished page.  Sorry that I can't publish the photo for this or my next post.  This page celebrates my last day in my job before I moved onto my next one.  I cut the photo into a chevron shape to give the idea of movement and then painted the alphas with stripes to give the same impression.  The small circles have been punched out of netting which I coloured with alcohol inks.

Holiday in a Shed

This layout is based around a holiday on the Welsh Boarders where we stayed in what was grandly described as a log cabin but in reality was a large garden shed.  In my attempt to use up some of my scrap paper I have used multiple strips to layer my photo's onto.  I have also used parts of tourist guides and maps.  A couple of the strips are from cardboard boxes/baskets which contained easter eggs and one piece is from an oat cakes box.  I gutted the base card behind the photos and strips so that I could use it for my title and the mat my photos.

 For my journalling label I cut out the outline left over from a label sticker and stuck it onto and old map.  I then cut out a disc from the map and attached it as as tag.  The label slots behind my photos.

 To attach the tag I used a small piece of recycled cord which was one of many strands which had made up the handle of my old torn shopping bag.  The bag has been used in many layouts as it is a lovely Hessian.

 I was really pleased with the title as when I came to stamp it I found that I had lost the 'a' stamp.  So i made a stencil from another 'a' stamp, and inked over it leaving a silhouette of the a on the card.  I then used my glue pen to fill in the centre and put embossing ink over it all. Then I cut the ragged edges off to form a nice smooth square.

Ducks

These photos were taken in 2009 and I was so pleased with the main one, although I have to admit that a lot of it was luck.  I don't do many family LOs and so was a bit stuck on how to use up this piece of patterned paper, however a family of ducks was just the thing.  I have inked and painted the borders around the photos instead of matting them onto card.

For my main duck I stuck the upper beak onto the lower one and then coated them both with UTEE.  For the eye I stuck a UTEE covered black disc onto a white button.

 My letters are made form covering raw chipboard with the patterned paper and then inking and painting the edges.

Dad

I knew when I visited my father that he was getting more and more infirm and that this could be one of the last times we would walk out together.  I was right I will never walk with him again for more than a few steps.

 For embellishments I used parts of an old iron which I rescued.  I filled this 'frame with embossing powder round the edge and then stamped my title.

 I cut out an arrow from paper which I covered with UTEE and then stuck on this metal disc form the iron.

 Two of my labels are suck down but the top one hold my journalling on the reverse and just slips behind the photo.

January Catch Up

I'm surprised that there are as many as these layouts to upload as I really haven't felt like scrapping for what seems like ages.  There have also been a couple of LOs which I couldn't put on-line so all in all I didn't do as bad as I thought.

My first couple are of my niece.  This one records how she would move over the floor before she learnt to crawl.  I did my journalling as a flow chart as progress across the floor to her boing ball was definitely a repetitive process.

Because I made a spelling mistake I had to cover it some how so I chose to make a paper spring to mount the words on.  This reflected the words 'shake shake shake it'.

I hand drew all the animals and made their tails by plating them out of embroidery silk.

 My second layout was inspired by a James Bond film. The introduction showed bright coloured circles moving across the screen in different formations.  Circles did not work but arranging these punched flowers in different ways did.

 For the larger flowers I stamped onto coloured card and embossed with white powder.  It gave a lovely mottled effect.

 This layout celebrates our Jubilee street party.

In my stash I had a large gold postage stamp.  I mounted it on a pieces of card and used it as a journalling tag.  A fine red gauze bag (another left over squirrelled in my stash)

 I wound ribbon round the jumbo ric rac under my main photo.

 I didn't want to mount my small photos but just sticking them on the page didn't look right so I stitched over each corner.

This layout celebrates the first anniversary of our return to the UK.I coloured the backing doily using my pastel chalks.  I hand made the playing cards and used a stencil and chalks to make the clock paper.

 This photo dosen't show this layout off to it's best.  I have used two subtley different red papers, cutting borders and a journalling block from one.  I also stamped words and flowers onto this card as well as mounting stickers on to it.

I backed this painted chipboard heart with paper ans then stuck on the small hearts.  I filled the whole shape with ultra thick powder and placed it on my craft iron.  When all the powder had melted I pushed the larger heart into it.

Living Art

This was a fun lyout to do.  I painted the background using water colours and acrylics and then hand drew and painted my title.

My embellishments were old computer parts, video tape, metal curtain rings, buttons and a wire hoop.

I used my trusted old shopping bag to back my turned down corner.

99.5 years apart

When I saw the Scrap 365 October Shake It Up Challenge I realised that this was the perfect photo for it.  My 6 month old niece and 100 year old great aunt.  Sorry about the blob on my nieces face but my brother doesn't want her photo on line.

For my journalling I used the back of the group of tags attached to the bottom of the LO.

Having to use a ticket stumped me as I didn't have any.  However I made this one using the bottom edge of one of my tag stamps and punching holes along the edge.  For my wood grain I used a small wooden heart which I lightly smeared with paint.  I haven't taken a close up but I stitched the crochet strip under the photo onto the LO.

Snow

I have finally got round to scrapping these photos form the snow in 2010.

This one it did for the Scrap 365 November Challenge.  A very simple plain layout for me but one I was pleased with.  I used nitwits papers and embellishments which I cut out and layered.  I then added stickles to the snowflakes.  I made a pocket behind my three photos to add a tag with another photo and my journalling on.

Again another simple layout.  I colourised one photo blue and used it to frame my main photo.  The background paper was too good to cover up but I did clear stamp the snow flakes and then use perfect pearls on them.  

I painted some confetti snow flakes painted them and added stickles before sticking them around my photo.   I smeared white thickers letters with silver paint.

Christmas Tree Farm

We are so lucky to have this farm on the edge of town and visiting it is so much part of Christmas.

I made a frame for my main photo using polyfilla mixed with paint and spread over the page.  I placed a piece of card where I wanted my photo to go so that there was a hole there.  While the polyfilla was still wet I pushed the gems into it.  When everything was dry I brushed the frame with green glitter glue.

My main photo opens to show more photos underneath and I secured the flap using a christmas tree brad which I had stained green using alcohol inks.

 Inside the flap I stuck more photos, the label form the tree and the receipt.  I drew over the price on the receipt as it will fade with time and stamped the date onto it.

On Reflection

This layout was purely for fun and having had the restrictions of challenges for the last two layouts I did it was great fun to do anything I wanted.  Having said that the shake it up challenge did inspire me to use the tags.

 The journalling (which I haven't added to the large tag) tells a bitter sweet story and I wanted my embellishments to reflect this.  I covered the back of some sparkly heart stickers with flock so that the sparkle was there only if you really looked for it.

 I wanted to use circles to represent things going round and round and not getting anywhere. The buttons I threaded with some natural raffia and one I coloured with paint so that like the hearts the sparkle and shine was almost hidden but still there.

Shake it Up Challenge

 Here is my interpretation of the  Shake it Up Challenge from Scrap 365 Magazine.

At first I didn't realise that the colours were part of the challenge and then when I did was sure that I had no suitable photos.  However when I looked I was really pleased to find these in my waiting to be scrapped box.  It got even better when I realised that the programme would make a great background.  I decided that this wouldn't count as one of my pattered papers.

For my small tags I used some of my old paint charts.  I stamped them with a random design and embossed with gold.

For my main patterned papers I used one which had word blocks all over it.  I then cut out small squares from a yellow letter sheet and placed them under the corners of the words so that just the edges showed and the letters themselves were hidden.

I left a gap so that this small section showed through showing where we were.

For my fourth tag I used a tag which had contained my cat's collar as a template.  I covered the card with my third patterned paper.  I then inked the edges and embossed them with gold and used this for my journalling.

I painted the back of this tag and I also used a thin line of white acrylic around the edge of my photos instead of matting them.

Sketch Challenge

I did this layout for Scrap 365 magazine sketch challenge

For this layout I inked two pieces of card to go with these photos of my Mum in her garden.

Using ink and a stencil I coloured a semi circle.  I outlined the leaves and stalks and coloured the flowers in using water colour pencils.  I then cut out flowers from patterned paper folded the leaves up slightly and stuck them on the coloured flowers.  I stuck clusters of small beads in their centres to finish them off.

On one of my inked cards I stamped a flower and then decoupaged it with layers stamped onto plain card and coloured with my pro markers.

For my tags I coloured a scrap of slightly textured paper with stain or pastels and then fixed with a brad securing the wool with the brads as I fixed them.

I cut my butterfly from patterned paper, wrapped embroidery silk around the centre and then threaded two small beads onto one strand of silk to form the antenna.