Oh So many Layouts for Halloween

There are hundreds are there not? Probably thousands of of scrapbooking layouts for Halloween!

Well I suppose I shall join those ranks soon enough! Today was my first ever "Trick or Treat" outing! This was with my fairly-soon-to-be 4 daughter.

She calls it "Halloween Day".

Sorry about the blurred picture, do you think the camera shake was my husband shaking in fear or two dastardly witches? I think not! Just low light levels and him using the LCD screen on the back of my camera to take the shot. I nearly always use the viewfinder. Having the camera up to the eye helps with stabilisation.

Anyway, I've fiddled with it a bit in Photoshop Elements to improve the blur a bit.

So I suppose I shall be scrapping this picture (or one of the others) in order to record another part of my daughter's life. Talking of which - I managed to finally create a scrapbooking layout of the photos for her 2nd Birthday! And...

I managed to include 14 photographs (or parts thereof)! Rather pleased with myself on that one. I will post the pictures tomorrow.

Quick and Easy Scrapbooking Mini Album - 4x4"

While I was wondering what to teach for the children's workshop (which was last week) I thought a standard scrapbooking layout would be perhaps a little boring. My usual workshop for adults is an 8x8" page and then an A6 card made from the left overs of the kit.

Anyway, I decided that I would show them how to create a mini album.

This mini album is 4x4" and is in fact 2 pieces of 8x4" paper/cardstock stuck together around the edges, apart from the top. This format gives front and back pages and one double page spread, plus 2 pockets for 2 tags.

TIP: There is a trick to this kind of mini album, and that is to make up all the pages first and then and only then, adhere them to the booklet blank. In this way you don't suffer with brads sticking out the other side or the backs of staples showing, etc. Not to mention being able to get your tags in their pockets!

The pictures show the blank mini album, ready for the addition of photos. This type of project is great to give as a gift where the recipient can place his or her photos in the spaces provided.

The link to the photos of the children with their finished work is in the previous post.

I love mini scrapbook albums

On the subject of mini albums, as I was in the last post because of the children's workshop (link here for photos of their work) I held on Thursday, I have included a picture here from a paperbag book, some photos of other pages I have already shown.

The reason for showing this particular page(s) is the "frame" around the photo.

In fact it is a piece of acetate which I dabbed with embossing ink around the end and added gold powder and then heated. Of course the acetate rippled a little bit, but I suppose it all adds character! I have since seen that there is now a heat resistant acetate on the market! Yet to get some and try it though!

Scrapbooking for Children

Yesterday I held a workshop for Kids aged 8 and over at a local library.

Rather than getting them to create a scrapbooking layout I decided to organise a workshop for creating a 4x4 mini album instead.

Now technically it was a card covered on all sides, but we also made 2 pockets for tags.

Anyhow, of the 5 children in the group (aged 8-11) 3 of them were boys! Now I did cater for them in that the kit I produced did have blues and blacks in it, but actually they took to the flowers and girly stuff really well. I was pleased to see how their items turned out and when I post their pictures on the ScrapBuddies website I will post a link over to them.

I think they all did really well. One of the boys flashed through his creation and then wanted something else to do, so I gave him some left over paper and bits and he made me a thank you card! Wasn't that nice.

It was a funny feeling actually, cos I remember doing that sort of thing (making thank you cards for people) when I was the same age! Anyway... it was a pleasant surprise... well done Kynan!

Scrapbooking Chickens - of all things!!

Up near where I live there is a roundabout which is inhabited by chickens! Well actually they are mostly cockerels, which I think are unwanted and just get dumped there!

The chickens have given the area it's name and it is known as "The Chicken Roundabout"!

There is even a "Chicken Roundabout" beer so I understand, although I have no idea what it tastes like!

It always amazes me that none ever seem to get squashed despite it being a busy main 'A' road.

Anyway, on my way home from a crop I decided to stop the car and take some photos. The chickens had just been fed by someone and were all out and about and of course all rushed over to me thinking they were about to get more food.

Instead they got a camera shoved in their faces!

All this was last year. Since then I have been trying to find the right stash for the pictures. And this weekend I finally realised that my new 6x6 pack of "Scarlett's letter" papers from Basic Grey were perfect for the job.

This is a classic case of printing the photos and putting them aside in a folder, gradually adding card and bits and pieces until it all finally came together.

I always advocate just putting bits and pieces together until inspiration strikes, rather than sitting down to a desk full of photos and then going through your stash and trying to match up stuff. Because that way you feel at the end of a couple of hours like you have achieved very little.

Gradually make up "kits" as and when you have a few minutes and then when you have a bit more time, your page elements are ready and waiting.

Oh and by the way... this is my second Chicken layout! The first was of my own Bantams because when we moved house we had to give them away... (to many cats around!!) so I scrapped a page of them.

Challenge and scrapbooking more than one photo

This is an 8x8 layout I made in response to a challenge I set my ScrapBuddies Crop.

The challenge was:

Leave black or white space on your layout

Use circles

Use some bling

Use 3 buttons and/or 3 flowers.

The ribbons on the left of the photograph on this layout are on a tag of some hidden journaling - a technique I use a lot on 8x8 layouts, especially when using a shop printed 6x4" photo (even if cutting down!).

I have set this challenge for my UK Scrappers fellow team members, if they let me I will post a copy of their interpretations when they are done.

For my next project, I am going to scrap some more pages, large and small, with two or more photos included. This is in response to the fact that I am "getting behind" with my scrapping!

All of my photos are digital, but as an added challenge (and so that I can prove to my group that it is possible to get quite a lot of photos onto one layout) I have had a number of them printed (at the chemist) standard 6x4"s.

We seem to get caught up with doing layouts for challenges, and many sketches, which are all about the art of designing a page and not about "storing photos in a pleasing manner".

Which, after all, is what scrapbooking is ultimately about is it not?

Photographing Animals for scrapbooking

Well I finally managed to take a picture of "Inde" (my new puppy) without him freaking out!

He has settled into the household really well... our two other dogs don't appear to be bothered by him at all, but I think that's because he is not an over-exciteable puppy. Which is great!

Took him for his first jab yesterday... I don't think he even felt it, not a squeak! What a good boy! He even ran the gauntlett of meeting some of my daughter's nursery friends before going to the vet!

Anyway, photographing animals. My main tip for that one... get down to their level. I was crouching on the decking when I took this photo. And I have learned to turn on my camera out of his ear-shot (it beeps and whirs when you switch it on and the lens extends).

Flooding the subject with light (ie being outside) is a must for darker coloured animals. Oh and the subject remaining still helps!! LOL!

Environmental Scrapbooking

Well it's 15th October and therefore Blogger "Environmental blog day" So in the spirit of it all here's my two penneth!

I have been trying to do all things environmental for many years in my own little way, was recycling all sorts of stuff before the councils started to do it properly. Why has it been so hard to recycle stuff.

More to the point why is it so difficult to buy stuff without loads of packaging?

Now as a scrapbooker, some packaging can be quite useful for some layouts, of course!! But I bought a packet of worming pills for my new puppy which is a packet a similar size to a pack of 16 paracetamol pills, maybe even a little fatter, yet inside was a very small strip of 3 very small pills rattling around!

Disgraceful, reminded me of Easter eggs! Now that is a dreadful waste of packaging! Every year plastic egg shaped containers are thrown into bins all over the world!

Now you could argue (just getting back to scrapbooking!) that you could be really environmentally friendly and digi scrapbook, and I would have to agree - no trees died in the making and all that - but there is no "touchy feely" to that is there?

So us scrapbookers do our bit for the environment doing something we love (ie scrapbooking) by recycling all sorts of items, like packaging, clothes, etc, and of course we use our scraps, eeking out full value from all our stash. As a famous supermarket slogan goes... "Every Little Helps!"

The card pictured includes recycled buttons and the pearl drop fan is part of a pair of earings found in a charity sale!

Quick Mini Scrapbook Album

Here, as promised, are the photos for the mini (4x4") scrapbook album.

Below I have listed the "Reminders/Instructions" for the album as given in a hand out to the ScrapBuddies Group in September.


One point of note as to the reason for making up the pages complete and then sticking them onto the album pages is that all the items such as brads and eyelets, etc that go through the paper are ultimately covered by the pages of the album.


Thus you not only have neat back to back pages, but your pockets are not obstructed either.


One little touch I quite like to do, if I have the right photo, is place a picture on the back cover which is a picture taken behind the subject... usually people (kids!).


You can see this in the photo of the back cover... one of the children (washing my car yey!!) has her back to the camera.




Reminders
· Print and/or sort your photos – (print loads onto one A4 sheet)
· Cut paper (160gsm ish) ie not think card to 8x4” (4 pieces)
· Fold in half and staple
· Stick middle pages together to form a pocket and then the other 2 pages either side
· Choose your papers and sample embellishments NOW and place beside you (like a mini kit)
· Cover your Covers!
· Make up tag inserts x3 (3¼”w x 3½length) Note – embellishments will catch when sliding into pocket
· Cut 4x4” background sheets for each page.
Can use up scraps for this, backgrounds don’t have to the same throughout, DPS can be effective, use plain and patterned paper.
· Place all 8 “page backgrounds in front of you in DPS’s and place pictures and embellishments, when happy “stick items to backgrounds.
· When pages finished, adhere to book.

TIP – cover unwanted text graphics with placement of photos and embellishments.
TIP – you can also “paint” backgrounds using dry brush technique with poster paints/acrylics.

NOTE - (DPS = double page spread)

One, Two, Three Ahhhhh!

I brought a puppy home yesterday and here he is!

I've named him "Inde" and he is 8 weeks old (ish). He is a Border Collie.

Now I have something else to fill a scrapbook with apart from my daughter! We do have 2 other dogs and I have scrapped our various pets over time, but here is a brand new beginning!

He's not too keen on my camera at the moment so snapping him in a good pose hasn't happened. But I'm sure there will be plently of opportunity!

Blog Action Day - Can we Scrap(book) it?

Well now... I have just signed up to include this blog on Blog Action Day - the theme of which is "The environment".

This is done once a year (different topics each time) as a "mass awareness" exercise on a particular subject, using the power of blogging - in other words - millions of readers.

So on Monday 15th October, I, and all those others who have signed up have to upload a topical post! Mmmm... let me see! !

As for today... well I just bought a new gadget - a wireless tablet... you know the tablet with a pen one uses instead of a mouse! So far it's fun... !

But the reason for buying it is actually because I want to get into Digital Scrapbooking! I've been looking around various sites and boy is there a lot of stuff out there! So that is my new venture - but I will be doing most of it when I go visiting my mum!! Instead of taking a whole carbootful of scrapping stash to heave up her 3 flights of stairs!!, I will just need my Lap Top, tablet and power cables! Trouble is I was taking all my stash to share with her, because she doesn't have that much. But I can always print something out for her can't I!

And I bet you're wondering what all this has to do with the picture of the front cover of a 4x4" mini scrapbook album?! Well nothing actually... the cover shot is a taster of the next post which will be all the pages in the mini album. It was used as a demo at the last Scrapbuddies Crop in September.

Oh and in case anyone is interested... it was my birthday yesterday!

Stark Scrapbooking

You may recognise the photograph used on this layout from a previous post. It is the one I enhanced by first turning it black and white and then used the "Diffuse Glow" option in the "Distort" option of the filter menu (Photoshop Elements).

The page was inspired by the insert found in a box of Black Magic chocolates and the insert (which I have threaded the gold ribbon through) is on the layout. It is the title for the page.

Unfortunately, the type is small and is not readable in the photo... so the title reads...
"WE ALL HAVE DARK SECRETS"

The page idea came from my team challenge (Rockin Ribbon Raiders team on UK Scrappers). Well a couple combined actually.

Black and white layout
Use some silver
Use something "see through".

I'm quite proud of myself actually because the see-through bit is actually the cellophane wrapper from a bunch of flowers. I used 4 silver brads to attach it to the page.

I wanted to keep the scrapbooking layout very simple - it is soooo tempting to put something in the blank (or in this case black!) spaces... but I have stopped myself... so far!!

Paper Bag Book Album

Ok, here is the cover and pages 1-4 of my holiday paper bag book that I was talking about a couple of posts back.

A paper bag book lends itself to a holiday scrapbook album. With the pockets holding quite a lot including an envelope full of more unedited photos, a PBB is a fantastic way to display your photos that would otherwise end up in a drawer or in a folder on your computer scarcely looked at after the initial browse soon after your holiday has ended.

So, keep all the “stuff” from your holiday, tickets, receipts etc… keep it all, because for one all your receipts can be either collaged to make a nice background or (if they are acidic) make the collage and then photocopy it and use that as your background paper.

In fact you can do the above to make up a background paper for your ordinary scrapbooking.

And actually, that has given me an idea to create a scrapbooking layout background from various items including some lovely stamps I acquired recently. See this post

Whoa... I've been away!

Well, I had a last blog post planned for last Thursday and then in the midst of packing, it got overlooked. Then to make matters worse I haven't had access to the internet, tried in one place but the system wasn't working!

All in all then Ihaven't been able to post here while I have been away in the New Forest!

I am still not at home till tomorrow, but I am borrowing a relative's PC whilst I am staying with them tonight.

And this is just to say... I'll be posting something tomorrow, I have some photos of the Holiday Paper bag book for you and hopefully some more of the finished mini album.

So, speak soon!