Scrapbooking frenzy!

Last weekend I left the kids with my hubby and sloped off to Birmingham for the 3rd annual Green Buttons scrapbooking retreat. Once a year a bunch of lovely ladies from the UKScrappers website meet up for 2 days of crafting, chatting, drinking and snacking... not necessarily in that order! It's huge amounts of fun and we have a laugh and get creative and shares techniques and ideas and get inspired by everyone else's creativity.

 

I had a great time and I not only learned to crochet a flower (a fairly mis-shapen one but a flower nonetheless - pretty good for someone who had previously only managed to crochet a basic chain stitch) - thank you SOOO much to the very patient Ruth for teaching me! - but I also managed to create a card and a grand total of eight scrapbook pages. That's pretty awesome for me as I am not a particularly fast scrapper.

 

I started my papercrafting journey as a scrapbooker but these days I seem to find less and less time for it - am always too busy making cards and DT projects... plus my craft desk is such a mess there isn't really enough space to get a 12x12" page on there to work on! :lol: So it was great to spend some time getting back into scrapbooking.

 

Here's my collection of creations from the weekend: :)

 

 

The lovely Jo did a great "class" for us on ways to use washi tape and I loved her idea of covering cardstock with strips of washi tape, punching a shape out of it and layering onto coloured cardstock. I then also came across this little metal flower embellishment which fitted just nicely into the punched-out shape. :)

 

This was a lovely photo I took of DD1 last month and I teamed it with coloured cardstock and some stamping. The cardstock, flower stamps (and coordinating punch), alpha dies, alpha stamps and chevron border punch are all by Stampin' Up!

 

 

I love this photo of DD2 dancing. It's technically not a good photo as the light was behind her and she came out in silhouette but I still love it. :) I decided to do a doodley scrapbook page... inspired by a great book I have, Doodling for Papercrafters by Madelynn Cheung. I cut out flowers from various K&Co papers and layered them onto the page and them doodled all around them and the photo. I also drew around Thickers and filled the letters in with doodles before cutting them out and attaching them as my title.

 

This page was done for the sketch challenge provided by Mary. Everyone made a page inspired by the sketch - it's always interesting to see how different, yet similar, they all turn out. I used some scrummy Bo Bunny papers, some paint, some gold embossing and some die-cut leaves for this page of DH at Caerlaverlock Castle.

 

 

This is a page I did using this fab little photo of DD2. I used blue-coloured patterned papers with kraft cardstock (always a great colour combo) and did a lot of stamping on this page... stamping with some Versamark ink under the main photo section and also stamping and heat embossing around the image. I also used another of the fab washi tape ideas we learned at the retreat - sticking washi tape to vellum or tracing paper and die-cutting rosettes with it.

 

 

This page was for a "lucky dip" challenge, where we had to pick at random a selection from each of 4 boxes - one giving the theme of the page, one a tool we had to use, one a technique we had to use and one a design element we had to use, and one . My lucky dips were: Create a layout about a holiday or fun day out (theme parks, beaches etc); Use a scallop circle or scallop oval punch; Include some stamping; Include a symbol (&, @, arrow etc). I used watercolour paint to make the background for these beach photos.

 

 

This was my mystery kit page. At the retreat we each put together a mystery kit containing cardstock and matching papers and embellishments etc and they are all handed in and swapped back out so that we each get a kit full of surprise goodies. The kit I got had wonderful bright colours that were perfect for these photos of my daughters. I also used washi tape again on this page, using it to cover the stylised chipboard flower embellishments.

 

 

This was a fairly quick and simple page using a black and white photograph. I stamped grungy stamps under where my photo was going to go and then spread white gesso through a stencil (that I made using my Stampin' Up! chevron border punch) and left it to dry overnight. I finished things off very simply with a die-cut border and some washi tape flags.

 

 

My final page is not quite finished yet. I still need to add a title and some journaling. I used washi tape again to add borders to the page and layered DVCW Mariposa papers and also added a pretty die-cut.

All in all, it was a great weekend and lovely to see everyone again and I've come home with some really lovely pages. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap Map

It's time for the new Scrap Map challenge at Creative Craft World and this month I've done a digi page again... mainly because I'm on my hols and a couple of hundred miles away from my craft room! :lol:

 

 

For my page I've actually used some photos of myself! *gasp*

 

As the journalling explains, I'm almost never in photos because I'm always the one behind the camera taking the photos. Plus I usually look awful in photos! :lol:

 

However, when we spent a (gorgeous, sunny) morning at the beach this week, my hubby actually picked up the camera - for once! - and snapped some pictures of me paddling in the sea. And I thought they were perfect for this month's sketch. :)

 

I used a Creative Victorian digikit called Visual.

 

The Scrap Map challenge is lots of fun and so easy to enter - just make your own project using the sketch provided and link it up at the CCW blog for a chance to win yourself a prize.

 

 

Sweet Pea Stamps Challenge

Have you seen the fabulous new challenge at the Sweet Pea Stamps blog?

 

It's all about using Sweet Pea Stamps images for scrapbooking and all you have to do to enter is create a 12x12 scrapbook page using photos and using a Sweet Pea Stamps image as a focal point. The winning entry will win a whopping $50 to spend in the Sweet Pea Stamps store!

 

Some of the Design Team have been making scrapbook pages with Sweet Pea Stamps to help give you a bit of inspiration and I knew straight away what stamp I wanted to use:

 

 

I got this stamp a while ago and have been dying to use it. It's by Valarie Wade and it's called Mia. Given that that's my DD2's name, I just had to have it, didn't I? :D

 

And when Mia dressed up in a fairy dress last weekend (she just loves dressing up and often spends most of the day wandering round with a tutu on over her clothes, or wearing a hat, or wellie boots! :D) I snapped a quick photo on my phone and knew it would be perfect for a scrapbook page using the Mia stamp. :)

 

 

I coloured the image to match with the colours in the photo and fussy cut around it. I used some scrummy Basic Grey papers from the Pink Lemonade collection and layered lots of blossoms and foilage before adding the cut-out Mia image on top.

 

 

I used a border punch on the photo mat and my Stampin' Up! Simply Scored embossing plate to emboss the edges of the patterned papers. I also added some Kaiserkraft wooden flourishes.

 

 

For the title I used wooden letters and some teeny tiny alphas that I printed myself on the computer using the BabyBlocks font.

 

You've got until May 6th to enter the competition - an InLinkz will be added to the Sweet Pea Stamps blog on April 30th and the winner will be announced on May 15th. So get creating! :)

 

P.S. If you haven't got any Sweet Pea Stamps yet, now's the time to buy - until Friday there's 25% off all rubber stamps and if you spend $30 on digi stamps, you'll get a gift voucher for $6 to spend in store.

 

My birthday girl

Yesterday was DD1's 4th birthday. Still can't quite believe it... my little girl is getting so grown up! :)

 

I took some really lovely photos of her yesterday - my mum bought her a gorgeous floaty, flowery dress and she just looked adorable in it.

 

So I just couldn't resist doing a quick scrapbook page last night:

 

 

I used paper and elements from the Elegance kit by Valentina's Creations and used Photoshop Elements to put it all together.

 

I know I'm biased - as is every mum - but she really is just beautiful. :)

 

The celebrations continue this afternoon with a birthday party with some of her pre-school friends. Should be fun. :D

 

And I'm sure I'll come away with some more great photos to scrap.

 

Scrap Map Challenge

A new month, a new Scrap Map challenge at Creative Craft World! :)

 

I've gone digi again for my layout this month - much as I love papercrafting, digi is quicker to do and I've been soooooo insanely busy over the past few weeks, mostly due to Easter, school holidays and DD1's birthday! :)

 

 

I used some photos of my two girls having fun hunting for Easter eggs in the garden last weekend and used digi papers and elements from the Sweet Easter kit from Peppermint Creative.

 

We're once again blog hopping around the DT blogs this month, each of whom will be sharing their layout for this challenge. Leave a comment on each blog in the hop to be in with a chance of winning a prize. You should have come here from the Creative Craft World blog and your next stop along the hop is Jen. If you get lost along the way, you'll find a full list of all the blogs in the hop at the CCW blog.

 

Don't forget to enter the challenge yourself to be in with a further chance of winning some goodies - just make a project using the sketch as inspiration - you can check out the sketch at the CCW blog.

 

 

Scrap Map Blog Hop

It's time for the new Scrap Map challenge at Creative Craft World and once again we are adding to the fun by having a DT blog hop.

 

Each of the Design Team will be posting their Scrap Map-inspired layout on their blog and if you follow the hop and comment on each of the blogs, there will be a randomly-drawn prize on offer.

 

And, as ever, if you enter the challenge (by making your own layout inspired by our sketch) you will be in with a chance of winning yourself one of CCW's gorgeous kits and a guest design spot.

 

So here's my page for this month:

 

 

I've had a mad busy couple of weeks and the craft pit is in dire need of a major tidy so I decided to do my page digitally this month. I used Photoshop to fussy cut around a photo of my two daughters and used a gorgeous kit by Anja Schernau for Scrapper's Guide to make the page.

 

Thanks for stopping by - you should have come here from the CCW blog and your next stop along the hop is Jen's blog. If you get lost along the way, there is a full list of participating blogs at the CCW blog.

 

Scrap Map Blog Hop!

Not only is it time for another Scrap Map challenge at Creative Craft World - seriously, where the heck did January go? I feel like I blinked and missed it!! - but this month we're doing a blog hop too!

 

Each of the Design Team have posted their Scrap Map pages on their blogs... not also is there inspiration galore with some gorgeous pages to enjoy but there's also a prize draw... all you gotta do is pop around the hop and leave a comment on each blog and you could could be the lucky winner. :)

 

And don't forget there's another chance to win, by entering your own project into the Scrap Map challenge this month - make a project inspired by the sketch and link it up at the Creative Craft World blog to be entered into the draw to win one of CCW's fabulous kits, a guest DT spot and a store discount!

 

Here's my page for this month's challenge (I loved this sketch by Sue):

 

 

I used one of the gorgeous professional portrait photos we had taken on DD2's birthday... I love the white background and bright colours in this picture and decided to echo this in my layout, using lots of white space, sections cut from a 12x12 die-cut sheet in fresh green, a flowery border punch and some paper flowers.

 

You should have come here from the Creative Craft World blog and your next stop along the hop is Tricia's Doodles and Swirls blog. If you get lost along the way, you'll find a full list of blog hop posts over at the CCW blog. :)

 

My gorgeous girls...

My DD2 turned two on Christmas Eve and on the day of her birthday we took the girls along to have some professional portrait photos taken. They came out gorgeous... which means I now have a bunch of beautiful photos to scrapbook. :)

 

This is one of my favourites:

 

 

I made this digital scrapbook page using the Lovely Visions kit from Creative Victorian Designs. :)

Snowy Fun

I felt like crafting tonight... but... it's cold and snowing and I'm tired and the sofa is comfy.

 

So thank goodness for digi-scrapping! :D

 

I took some gorgeous photos of the girls playing in the snow last weekend so decided to use one of them to make this layout:

The paper is from the Watery set of papers by Agnes Biro for Design House Digital, the stitched label is by Gina Cabrera for Digital Design Essentials and all the other elements are from the Winter's Deep kit from Creative Victorian Designs.

 

Scrappy New Year!

Woohoo! My first scrapbook page of 2013! :)

 

I haven't actually done much scrapbooking recently. It was what got me into papercrafting and will always be my first love but these days I seem to do a lot more cardmaking than scrapbooking... aside from anything, I don't have to clear as much space on my chaotic craft desk to work on a card! :lol:

 

But what better inspiration to get the scrapbooking juices flowing than a challenge... and a scrap map one at that? :)

 

That's right, the new Scrap Map challenge is up at the Creative Craft World blog today with a fab sketch to inspire your pages. Here's what I made:

I scrapped my DD1's first ever school photo. :) I used navy blue and white cardstock, to match her school uniform, and spritzed Glimmer Mist over a doily and through an alphabet stencil.

 

I then stamped a few stars (a freebie stamp from Craft Stamper magazine) and coloured them in with a blue metallic Promarker. I added a title using alpha stickers and Thickers, doodled a border around the photo and around the white cardstock and wrote my journalling in white gel pen.

To join in the challenge, just make a scrapbook page, or other project, inspired by the sketch and link your entry up at the CCW blog. It's great fun and you could win yourself a prize! :)

Scrap that Xmas!

If you're anything like me you've got a bunch of photos from Christmases past still waiting to be scrapped. So to help inspire you, today's offering in the Christmas Countdown at Creative Craft World is a gorgeous Christmas-themed scrapbook page courtesy of Sarah:

 

 

Check back tomorrow for more festive inspiration.

 

Minikit Madness

The title of this post is evidence that motherhood, and cBeebies in particular, has rotted my brain. :D (Anyone with more than a passing acquaintance with the Green Balloon Club will now probably have a song going round and round in their head). :)

 

Anyhoooo, all that aside... the reason for the title is the latest mini challenge at Creative Craft World.

 

The new mini kit is full of gorgeous fresh colours from Echo Park, and this is what I made with it:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I've still got lots of lovely bits left over to play with. :)

 

You could win yourself this lovely kit by entering the Mini Challenge... just make any project at least 6x6" in size and link you entry to the mini challenge blog post on the Creative Craft World blog.

 

Winter Wonderland

Today's Christmas Countdown project at Creative Craft World is another Christmas-themed scrapbook page, this time courtesy of Morag:

 

 

The countdown continues tomorrow with another fabulous festive project. :)

 

Get your scrap on! :)

There's no festive project for the Christmas Countdown at Creative Craft World's blog today... because it's Scrap Map Day! :)

 

Yup, once again it's time for a new Scrap Map challenge. It's simple to enter - check out the sketch at the Creative Craft World blog and make a scrapbook page using the sketch as inspiration. Link up your entry to the CCW blog and you could be a winner!

 

Here's my page for this month's Scrap Map:

 

 

I chose these photos of my DD2 stomping around in the garden with her customary determined expression on her face! :lol: I teamed them with a lovely bright pink paper that was a perfect match for the pink of her t-shirt in the photos and cut long pennant strips from coordinating patterned paper. I also made my own bunting using more of the patterned paper and plain white baker's twine. The title is a mixture of alpha stickers and rub-ons and I added jounalling using a white gel pen.

 

Whole lotta LOs!

This past weekend I left DH in charge of the kiddies and sloped off to sunny Birmingham (no, really - it was! :D) for the Green Buttons scrapbooking retreat. 2 and a bit days of crafting, chatting, giggling, drinking, some singing, and a fair bit of chocolate eating, with 14 lovely ladies from my UKS house.

 

 

We had lots of fun and did a lot of creating - and I made a grand total of 6 scrapbook pages! Which is pretty darn productive for me cos I am not generally a super-quick scrapper (unlike a certain person, who shall remain nameless (Tracey!!), who was churning them out at a rate that put the rest of us to shame! :lol:).

 

I made this page using some scrummy Stampin' Up! papers and some Marianne dies:

 

 

I made this page using goodies from the Mystery Kit swap (we each put together a kit from our stash containing cardstock and papers and coordinating embellies):

 

 

This one was a sketch challenge one:

 

 

This one was for a class about sewing on scrapbook pages (I hand-sewed around the fleur de lys on this page and also hand-sewed a border):

 

 

This page was for a class on using up paper scraps - I chose to punch hexagons from my scraps:

 

 

And for this last page I sponged Distress Ink through the negative of a Tattered Florals die and then doodled all over and around them:

I had such a great weekend, crafting and chatting with like-minded ladies and creating all these pages. I don't seem to have done much scrapbooking lately, have been doing more cardmaking and other projects. So it was lovely to get back into scrapbooking. :)