A Colour Reference

As part of the Nic H BPC class "Colour! or is it Color?", there were weekly handouts to make up a small colour reference book. It was such a lot of fun to create a small 6x6 page to go alongside a full description of the colour with all the emotions it creates. 

You would have thought that I could have kept up with this during class, but true to form, I fell behind and soon only had 2 pages done when the class was already over. Typically, it sat on the side neglected and collecting dust for a while (ok, ages!) until I decided to pull myself together and get it finished. 

It's such a great little guide to all the rainbow colours and I included some other handouts Nic gave us regarding the colour wheel and different types of combinations. 

The front and back covers got full colour decoration using up lots and lots of bright, older scraps. How refreshing it was to just mix up colours and patterns, and slap it all on together to make something that is really a joy to look at.

It sits on my window sill which is right above my scrap desk and within easy reach if I want to have a look at the different colour wheel options. It's not that I use it very often, but when I do, it's a small, funky, self-made resource that makes me happy.

That's what it's all about after all!

Other layouts/posts I've written about this wonderfully colourful class can be found here, here, here, or even here!

** And the class is running again over at BPC - info can be found here - and I would really recommend it. Nic is a fantastic instructor and the handouts, assignments, videos and interaction with Nic are fantastic. Such a fun class. I'd love to do it all over again!

More from LOAD soon. Watch this space...

An Experiment in Purple

Recently, I wrote about catching up with my "Colour! or is it Color?" class. I had lost my momentum when I was originally part of the class and had only managed two of the layouts which was such a shame. 

I shared green and blue with you in that last post. (I blogged about red and yellow last year).

Well, next on the rainbow comes indigo and violet, ie. purple. Do you like purple? Do you scrap with purple? I can't say that I had ever thought about it before but if I had thought about it, I would have said, neh, not my thing. I'm a pink girl. 

But purple was the colour we should use and we should see if we could be converted to loving purple. I was sceptical. But decided to jump in anyway.

I had used BG Euphoria during LOAD last month and it's soooo hard to use - or it is for me at least. Knowing it had a lot of purple in it, I challenged myself to use it. I tried not to think too much about it and really go for the stronger tones of purple in the collection. 

I grabbed these three adorable photos and just decided not to worry about the colours in them but just make it work. And I had a set of the chipboard pieces and threw on a whole load of them instead of lots of layered clustering. I took Nic H's advice to throw in some other colours (I chose blue and green and just a bit of pink) and a splash of something quite bright (that red paper). Nothing would have possessed me to use these colours together before and I am still really unsure about what to think of it, but you know what? I don't dislike it as much as I thought I would. Now that is something I wasn't expecting.

I followed the sketch quite closely because I love the three photo design. Mine looks nothing like Nic's, but I think it is quite me!

Once I had done one purple layout in really bright shades, I wondered if I would like it if I made one with softer shades - BG Wisteria.

Again, I followed the sketch quite closely, just mirrored it to the left. I made the flowers and leaves that Nic had suggested but less product in the cluster itself. And I always need a little bit of journalling so a sticker journalling block was perfect. I just grabbed some pretty flower photos as the layout was more of an experiment than anything too serious. 

I like this one more than the last - the shades are more what I use usually, but I am really surprised at how purple I can go.

Like it or not, it's great to take the challenge to select product that wouldn't normally be used. These purple buttons were unlikely to be anywhere on any layout without this challenge, nor the lilac gems. And I think they work really well.

One last thing? When I had finished the first purple layout using Euphoria, I decided to make a couple of cards using some scraps. I've heard from lots of card makers that they make one or two cards from whatever is left on the table and decided that it was a great idea. And it was. Within a couple of minutes, I had two simple cards. I am trying to make more and more cards at the moment. First, practice makes perfect (I'm not a good card maker yet!) and second, I really hate to hand over so much money for nice cards when I have all the necessary right here in my room. I really must try this technique more often as I was very pleased with myself.

The moral of the story? I can be very prejudiced about colours and maybe I just need to select odd papers and make them work, regardless of the colours. I have way too many papers to be fussy!

What is the colour that you avoid the most? Care to share and then make a layout using exactly that?

Give it a try!

Catching up - yet again

As you know, I am a bit of a class junky. Love them, love learning, love being part of the class community, love trying out new things.

Of course, the problem is that I sign up for too many and then don't manage to do some/any of the assignments. But I do most of my classes over at BPC and they offer lifetime access so even if I don't keep up while the class is happening, I can access the classroom as and when I want and try to finish up.

I think I could do nothing but class assignments from previous classes for the next two years if I did that for all that I've missed (!) but every now and again, I get a bee in my bonnet to finish up a particular class. Sometimes it's even a class that I totally adored and I can't even tell you why I didn't keep up.

One such class was "Colour! or is it Color?" by Nic H. I loved her first class, fell in love with this colour class but lost my momentum. Now is the time to make amends! I'm feeling inspired and productive at the moment so I fished out the handouts and have been making some progress.

Actually, this first layout was completed back in January but I haven't shared it here. I think you can see that the colour for this week was green. Lots of layers, lots of distressing, three photos (got to love that multi-photo design), love of dimension and lots and lots of handmade leaves! I love this layout, and I love this little girl. Isn't she gorgeous?

And just one more for today by sharing this layout for the colour blue. I followed the design quite closely, even choosing the same papers as Nic H which is unusual for me. But something I realised when I was looking through my stash, I have very few blue papers - or at least very few that would have worked on a layout like this. I liked the combination of the blue with the orange and these papers from BG's Marrakech hadn't yet been broken into so this was a good opportunity.

It's a great design for a series of 5 photos that are connected, giving lots of space for journalling as well as plenty of room for lots of embellishing. It could be adapted for a single page layout, easily turned 90° or adapted in many different ways. It's a design I will be coming back to again in the future as I really enjoyed the ease of this construction.

Have you got classes lurking in the background that are calling you to get them finished? Try getting one out and trying to get just one missed assignment done! I promise you, it will feel great to get it done. You never know, it might spur you on to get the whole class finished!

Top 3 Classes - and a half (2010 in Review pt3)

Over the year, I did my usual signing up for more classes than I could really deal with! At BPC I took 6 classes, received prompts from Shimelle's LSNED and JYC (you are automatically in the class each year it runs once you have joined the class for the first time), and also joined in various challenges including LOAD. I was successful (!) to a greater (at times when I was über-motivated) or lesser extent (due to my own laziness or lack of concentrated effort), and only really completed one of the classes from beginning to end but I did manage to complete a layout every day for the three months of LOAD (February, May & October) which I am very proud of. A pile of 90 layouts is really something I can tell you! Some of my favourite layouts of the year (to come) came from these classes and from LOAD - they filled me with inspiration and motivation.

My Top 3 Classes of the year were therefore:

1. Dimensional Details by Nic Howard (BPC)

If you are at all familiar with Nic's work (she is on the design team at BasicGrey and also Prima) you will know that she is all about the clustering, distressing and dimension. Originally, I wasn't sure but she was so highly recommended on the LOAD message board that I signed up and it was FANTASTIC. You have to get on board if she ever runs this class again. Every week was stunning: full of inspiration and beautiful layouts as well as great assignments and clear, motivational instructions. I loved every minute of it and completed every assignment which is a real achievement for me. It's really hard to pick a favourite layout from this class as I truly love them all but this one was so much fun to do.

Through this class, I really feel as though I have found my style and that feels great. I love the curled edges and the piles of embellishments and the paint and ink and bits and pieces. I have no idea how I will get them all into albums due to their dimension but I don't care! I haven't put a single layout into an album for more than 18 months and just adore sitting looking at the huge piles of finished layouts I have.

2. Colour! or is it Color? by Nic Howard (BPC)

Once you've done a Nic H class, it will have you coming back for more! She is delightful and fun and inspiring and has a wonderful NZ accent which we all love. She produces just the most gorgeous layouts and has a style all her own (which I want for myself!!). So when this class came up, it was a no brainer for me. Ok, so I haven't managed all the layouts yet but I am working through the assignments in my own time and loved the first couple that I did. As you might have guessed, this class was all about colour and we went through the colours of the rainbow to create a collection of cards and layouts that represent each colour considering the meanings behind each colour and thinking about the mood or feelings they can represent. I just finished green last weekend (so 2011) but managed red and yellow last year. Yellow is therefore my layout of choice to represent this class.

3. Camp Scrap by May Flaum (BPC)

May offers a completely different style of class but is so much fun. The pace is faster. There are always loads of examples, assignments, challenges, handouts, chats and giveaways. She has a great style and loves to make simple but quirky layouts using mostly 6x4 photos either complete or cropped down which I love. Most of her layouts are multi-photo (now there's a topic for a blog post ;-)  ) and are easy but effective. She's not a perfect scrapper which suits me down to the ground. Camp Scrap was a summer class with all the fun of, well, camp! Ok, many of us non-US'ers didn't really know what happened at "camp" but it was all good stuff and we had a ball. Again, I didn't do all the assignments but that's the joy of lifetime access: I can go back over the ones I missed and fill in. I completed 8 specific challenges or assignments but this one of Charlie is my favourite for sure.

And I am going to add in a 3a which would be the October LOAD - it was a wonderful 31 days and I have 31 wonderful layouts to prove it. Check out the link above to find out about LOAD 2/11 and I promise you, you won't regret joining up - if you complete 28 or just 2 layouts! I will be blogging more about LOAD later in the month but this was one of my favourite LOAD layouts where I followed the prompt (purely optional and sometimes I do, sometimes I don't).

Are you a classaholic like me? If so, what is your favourite - I'd love to check it out.

I am currently *shock horror* classless but am planning to join May Flaum again at BPC for her Creative Retreat 2011 starting in Feb - it might be crazy to join at the same time as LOAD, but heck, I am just a crazy girl sometimes ;-)

On my finished pile recently

While I may not be as productive at the moment than in recent months or weeks, there has been some scrapping.

Yet another class. Yet another set of challenges. Yet another bunch of inspirational ideas and fellow scrappers. Yet more stash being used up which is always a good feeling.

Creativa is the only craft fair I go to - it's just up the road from me and you see the most bizarre things there - as well as some really pretty stalls.

** Sketch by May Flaum as part of BPS class Camp Scrap

Just a little tribute to Charlie who now lives with another family who are more able to look after him with regard to his problems. I am sure we all miss him.

I seem to have gazillions of photos from our zoo trips - I seem to have done dozens of layouts about it! I think this has to be the last one now.

** Sketch by May Flaum as part of BPS class Camp Scrap

Lifted from my blog post a couple of weeks ago. Inspired by my Nic Howard class. It felt good to use up some of my Sassafrass stash.

I have wanted to do this layout for some time - the photo of the glass of champagne was taken on the day we booked our trip and I knew I would do this type of comparison.

** Sketch by May Flaum as part of BPS class Camp Scrap

Yes, that is my old stereo which died a few years ago and I was very sad to chuck it out!

** Sketch by May Flaum as part of BPS class Camp Scrap

And I also have hundreds of these types of photos from when we are in the UK. The sketch was a good way of using up a lot of photos. More Sassafrass papers - that pile of paper is now seriously depleted! The kids have grown up so much now but they still leap around in the same way!

** Sketch by May Flaum as part of BPS class Camp Scrap

Yet more finished layouts on the pile.

And yes, I really need to get some more albums in order to get all this year's layouts put away. Seems a shame that they are all lying around. And I think the basket I bought to hold the finished layouts maybe a "little" overwhelmed!

*Sniff*

The extraordinarily good BPS class, Dimensional Details, is over. And we are all a bit sad. Or even a lot sad.

I felt so inspired the whole time and unusually, I completed all the assignments, going back and completing the only missing week just 24 hours after the end of class. The class was fantastic and every week just got better and better. Some of the techniques were just so "me" and you will be seeing this style more and more in the future.

Week 13 - just having fun

** Adorable photos courtesy of Libby!

Week 7 - stitching

** I don't have a functioning sewing machine at the moment which was a bit frustrating and I messed up the sewing a bit, but hey...

Detail shot of my cluster

** I had immediately reached for the flowers and then challenged myself to use anything but - I was pleased with what I managed to turn up amongst all my goodies.

Luckily for us, we have forever access to the class materials, message board and gallery and some of us are still meeting up there from time to time and redoing some of our favourite designs. 

And I am now working my way through some very old uncompleted projects - determined to get them finished! Watch this space!

Happy mail and happy class

Look what arrived through my door last week! A little BG package of happy mail to brighten up my Tuesday! I received this as part of a spot prize in my BPS class Dimensional Details. And this travelled all the way around the world from New Zealand! Thanks Nic, I love it!

I hadn't even realised that BG had started to make little journalling packs - love it and will definitely be looking out for more of these in the future! And this pack is from Sugar Rush which I think I neeeed to get now!

And onto the latest creations for Dimensional Details - this class is brilliant and I have been loving the techniques and designs featured.

I've been really good too, because I have been breaking into all sorts of kits, ranges, packs of papers and products and USING them! Wey, hey! Go me!

I have discovered products that I had forgotten all about and found new ways of combining them or using them in new ways. I really feel like I have made a bit dent into my stash, and that can only be a good thing, right?

This is from week 10 and concentrated on embellishments and clustering, also featured a digital, hybrid element. And yes, you can see Periphery! Only the second time I have ever used it!

Week 11 featuring another gorgeous photo of the photogenically adorable Isabella! Flowers were the main focus of this week although you would not know that from this layout! But I now have a huge list of ideas for making my own flowers in the future. I am really pleased with this layout as it is really my style, but also not my style at the same time. And it features quite a few repurposed embellishment items and relatively new papers which is also a good thing - too often, I keep holding onto new papers for some reason, without using them!

And week 12 is all about bringing it all together. All the techniques, all the design tips, all the fun of the last 12 weeks. Lots of distressing and curling. Lashings of layering. Plenty of texture and a good heap of a cluster. Is that Mellow I can see there? Why yes! Another range of paper that has only been used ONCE before!

*insert "I feel good" by James Brown here!*

During this class, I have learnt so much and have concentrated on the techniques and designs themselves rather than worrying too much about the actual layout I have created. Very often, I just picked up a photo that was lying around (I have loads and loads of such photos, printed multiple times, just looking for a home!) and found papers that matched the feeling. Very often, I haven't done so much journalling or at least far less than usual. But it has been fun and to be honest, many of these layouts have become some of my favourites from recent times.

I'll be sad when the class finishes next week. But I'm feeling very inspired at the moment, so hopefully, I will be able to continue the creative push I have discovered.

What have you been up to recently?

LOAD round-up

Yes, May is over and I did it.

I managed to complete a layout every single day throughout the month, even getting creative on the train to and from London and making the most of short periods during the day to think about what I wanted to do, or to pick out photos or papers.

I used up stash, only using what I had on hand (if you don't include new inks I got from Deb and some Thickers I picked up in the UK) and mostly used up photos that were lying around. I even delved into my photo holding binders (Library of Memories) for a few of the multi-photo layouts. And I managed to get almost up to date with my Dimensional Details class at BPS by Nic Howard along the way. All in all, not a bad month!

May 24th

** Inspired by the quote I saw on WCS the day before.

May 24th no. 2

** Was feeling really inspired to do a second one - using a photo I downloaded from the Berkeley Hotel website and part of my BPS class - design by Nic Howard

May 25th

** Using this fantastic photo of Isabella meant that this bonus design from my BPS class using the digital title element by Louise Williams was a doddle - I can't decide if this one or the previous one is my favourite one of the month - isn't she a beauty?

May 26th

** Prompt on why I scrapbook from LOAD, design inspired by Trina McClune as part of my BPS class

May 27th

** Challenge from the BPS class to use our favourite 5 products on one layout - mine here are kraft, BG papers, buttons, inks and thickers. Lifted my own design from earlier on in the week but general inspiration from the Nic Howard class

May 27th no. 2

** Another Nic Howard layout from her Dimensional Details class - this week was all about clustering - my favourite technique at the moment!

May 28th 

** Bonus assignment on my Nic Howard class with a design by Trina McClune - such a lot of work and effort with all those squares but I love the result!

May 29th

** LOAD prompt was "excess" - could only be one thing for me - Pink with a bit of bling thrown in for good measure. Another delightful photo of Isabella that I took back at Christmas and using a "vintage" Bellaboo kit from Libby's time. Such a pretty page kit.  

May 30th

** The daily LOAD prompt was vintage so how about a vintage building? One of my favourite buildings in Paris.

May 31st 

**The daily LOAD prompt was to use B&W. So I used my wonderful pile of finished layouts as inspiration for this colourful (but still a bit of B&W!) layout - I struggled with this!