Circle Journal - "Seasons" - my pages

This is my double page layout for a circle journal entitled "Seasons". Bascially asking "what is your favourite season and why?".

Click on the image for a bigger version! The photograph has come in a little bit small on this here blog! LOL

I kept this double page layout simple.. in keeping with the entries before mine in this particular journal, so there are no hidden bits such as hidden journaling. I did dust off the Craft Robo to cut the title though.

The Sunset was taken a few years ago by leaning out of my then craft room window and looking to the west (of course! LOL) one autumn evening. The tree in thre second photograph is at the front of the house we moved to and are living in at the moment. I think the red leaves against the blue sky are fantastic.

The paper used at the top of both (6x6) pages was a freebie from a magazine. It was a UK publication called "12x12 Scrapbooking Magazine". So you can guess what size the magazine was!

Unfortunately I don't think it lasted long as a publication as it's long since disappeared. I bought my copy of the magazine at a scrapbooking fair back in 2004 and I haven't seen hide nor hair of it since!

This is a shame because it's selling point was the free papers within the magazine and, of course they were supposed to be 12x12". However when I came to actually use the paper in the circle journal above, I couldn't cut 2 full pieces of 6x6 paper from it!

Therefore the useable paper was obviously not 12x12"... maybe that's why it is no more!

Search your Stash!

Sounds a bit like a game show doesn't it... "Search your Stash"?!

But actually, this is just a little reminder to look through what you already have!

"What for?" you may ask.

Well because a lot of us actually forget what we have, especially when we have recently acquired new stash and have been avidly using. But when the mojo goes... sometimes just reopening all those boxes and folders and little containers inspires us into action.

So don't forget to "Search your Stash" (said in your best "Come on down", game show host sort of way - voice! LOL).

There's lots of inspiration right there in your craft room/spare room/or wherever you keep it all!


Oh and don't forget the bits you stuffed in a cupboard quickly so that your other half didn't see you'd bought "yet more" stash! LOL

Advertisement Inspiration!

It's funny how trends come and go! The Scrapbooking trend is definitely come to stay for the moment.

These are some pages I found recently. The first is from a clothes catalogue which came through the post. I think they are trying to appeal to us scrapbookers... what do you think?

The inside front cover (left page) is "trying" to be a scrapbooking layout, me thinks... and the facing page looks like a cross between a scrapbooking page and a sketch for one.

Anyway, I tore them out of the catalogue as I thought I may "Scraplift" them for the fun of it... I'll find some summery pictures and copy these pages.

But there is a lot of it about... inspiration I mean! Look at the second photograph here.

I tore this one out of a magazine (a home decor mag I think it was). It's a lovely graphic design page with some of the images "spilling" out of the borders of their pictures.

And, if you look carefully, the borders cut through a larger picture in the middle... a techique I have seen on a number of scrapbooking layouts, a lot of those being digital.

Anyway, again I fancy scraplifting this one!

6x6 Christmas Album in progress

I have been in the process of creating this 6x6" album for some time!

You may look at the pages and think that these are odd colours for a christmas album, but it was a challenge to myself to use the contents of a kit I bought!

Yes I know... You'd think I LIKE to make life difficult for myself wouldn't you! LOL

Anyway... the kit is by Inspirations (which I think is Aha! Designs Ltd) and is actually called "Floral Scrapbooking Kit"! I bought it in Tesco for about £4.99 about a year or 18 months ago. There were 6 12x12 papers, 5 metres of ribbon, some embossed paper frames, 8 (12") embossed borders and 4 vellum envelopes! Not bad for the price.

Anyway... I plan to finish this album shortly, the only thing the pages are waiting for now is some journaling, and possibly a few embellishments, although I want to keep this pretty simple, so most of the embellishment is via ribbons.

Then there is the covers and hey presto... it shall be completed! ok, ok... I'll finish it by the end of June! (she says ever hopeful!)

Swirls like Two Scoops

Apparently it was National Vegetarian Week last week here in the UK!

Did anyone else know that!

Hmmm... I think it's a classic case of "Notta lotta people know that!" (spoken in Cockney London accent) to quote our famous Michael Caine (although I understand that he didn't actually say that! LOL... a bit like the infamous "Beam me up Scottie" quote that never actually happened either!) But I digress!

Anyway... the reason for bringing this up, has nothing to do with vegetarianism... I for one, have always been, and always will be a meat-eater... sorry all you veggies out there!

Nope, I witter on here because when I saw the pamphlet for the event, I thought the graphics looked somewhat familiar!

As you can see from the photograph... the swirls are very similar to the Basic Grey "Two Scoops" c0llection, and I have placed the packaging for the stamps beside the pamphlet!

What d'ya fink then? Are they extremely alike or am I losing it? LOL

ScrapBuddies Sketch 2 Finished Layout

This is my interpretation of the ScrapBuddies Sketch number 2 which I posted yesterday!

I have also deliberately included some buttons as I said I would do some more layouts with buttons in my post last Monday.

The patterned paper is from Basic Grey's "Sugared" collection, using their 6x6" pad.

I wasn't sure how to fix the 8 ribbons (bottom right corner of the layout), but I managed to use double sided tape on the right side of the photograph to which they are stuck and then I stapled the other ends (2 ribbons at a time).

I then glued the flowers over the top to cover the staples. The middles of the flowers have pearlised self adhesive studs, just to finish them off.

ScrapBuddies Sketch number 2

Right then... here is the next ScrapBuddies Sketch for you!

It's a simple design... classic 9 squares grid, can be used on 12x12 or 8x8", in fact any square layout.

I have marked places for 3 photos, but of course there are 9 squares so by all means, add more if you need to!

Then there are 2 squares of patterned paper and two squares which are embellished. I have ribbons on one and a page accent on the other, and my title and journaling are in the middle square.

Well that's the sketch... now for the scrapbooking layout!

Scrapbooking Taster Workshop more pictures

As promised, here are the rest of the pictures from the ladies who took part in the Workshop last Tuesday.

As you can see from these (and those posted yesterday) even real beginners, who have never done anything like scrapbooking before, can achieve great results for their photographs.

I always demonstrate, and make up kits for, 8x8" scrapbooking pages. It is so much more satisfying for beginners, and much easier to achieve fast results.

And don't forget that you can actually get quite a lot of photographs on an 8x8" page, just print your pictures smaller, or crop originals down. There is usually quite a lot of background you can crop off photos to get in tight to your subject thus making the pictures dimensions much smaller.

Great news for all those photos where you are "somewhere" in the picture! - oh and don't be afraid to shave off a bit of head, arm or body either... just makes the focus on the face/expression much stronger... trust me, it works!

Anyway... once again, well done to all the ladies who took part on Tuesday at Bungay.

Beginners Taster Workshop - Scrapbooking

Well the Adult Learner's Scrapbooking Workshop which I held on Tuesday afternoon went well, with everyone making at least one, and some making two pages in less than an hour and a half!

So well done ladies!

Here are some of the layouts - some of them are not finished (second pages were taken to finish at home!), but everyone got stuck in to the cutting and sticking and, for beginners, made some lovely layouts!

I will post the remainder of the photos tomorrow.

Sadly it was all a rush at the end and I didn't take any names to put with the photos, and a couple of the ladies had to leave promptly (collect children from school, etc!) so I was unable to take a photo of their pages.

Keeping "Open" Albums

You may well ask..."what's an 'open' Album?"

Well by that I mean that you have an album that may have a theme, but you don't make it all in one go, you add pages to it as and when the muse takes you or an the next even has happened for which to make a layout.

This is different from just an album of page protectors into which you place your latest random layouts.

I am referring to albums with titles such as... "Things about Me" (or Book of Me, general thoughts, wishes, information about you and your life) , or "Birthdays" (a double page layout for each birthday party each year), or "Book of Firsts" (first foods, bus ride, first day at school, first award, first pet)... they are ongoing books.

And, of course, don't get hung up on the word "Album" - a lot of people mistakenly think that an album is a huge 12x12" brute! It's not, your album can be as small as 3x3" and still only add to it once a year, say after each anniversary!

I think 6x6 and 8x8 are brilliant sizes for albums, just big enough to hold lots of photos (if you want to use lots), but small enough that you don't feel overwhelmed with a piece of paper that can sometimes feel the size of a field when you start! LOL

I meet beginners who start their scrapbooking journey on a HUGE project, usually a "whole life gift album". Gosh what a daunting task! No wonder they get despondent half way through! So take a break and just build your albums a little at a time. Especially if you have children... start with the scrap pages now... a few each year, yes, I said a few a YEAR... will mean by the time they are 18 or 21 or much older... you will have the album basically finished when it's time to hand it over.

As for those of you thinking of making a gift album... even if the event, (landmark birthday or anniversary, or whatever) is a couple of years away, why not start now and pace yourself!

Masculine scrapbooking page

This is page I made up as part of the demo for the Adult learners week workshop held in Bungay yesterday afternoon (see previous posts).

It is page 4 from the kit contents. I have used browns, blues and green for this one as my husband is in the photo. Although my daughter loves pink, I thought the weight of this photo was with my husband, hence the choice of patterned paper!

Another very simple page with just a strip of contrasting paper (stripes) off to one side and some rikrak wrapped around the "exapnse of green" in the photo, secured into place with 3 staples.

This layout is a horizontal version of one of the others, and I have used an "interactive" tag for hidden journaling.

In fact there is a hidden mini photo inside it too!

Torn Paper scrapbooking layout

This is the third layout made from the Adult Learners week kit!

I have in fact made 4 whole pages and have enough left over from the 10 pages of 8x8 patterned paper to make another layout and I would think a couple of cards!

However, this layout is made using the tearing technique! All the papers are torn (apart from the edge along the edge of the card at the bottom.

It's a very easy, yet effective techique to give some depth to the papers. It does this by creating a random white frame around the end of the paper.

It's done in a very similar way t0 tearing a piece of paper by pulling the paper against a ruler, however, I have used my finger nail to run along the paper tear as this gives a softer edge.

The other tip you can gain from this layout is the journaling layout. Journaling strips are a great, non-formal way of adding journaling to your layouts. Just write a line of writing to whatever width will fitthe space on your page and then draw a box around it. Then cut it out... even the cuts don't have to be straight.

Then continue till you have finished your journaling and adhere the strips to your page wth some of the background showing between each. A quick and easy technique.

And finally, not only are these photos in colour (as opposed to black and white with the ease of being able to use any colours) but also ths layout, despite it being only 8x8", actually holds 3 photos.

Button challenge

Ok this week, I shall be challenging myself to use some of my buttons!

Want to join me?

A very versatile embellishment - just adding a few to a layout can make all the difference you know.

I like to group them for best effect, but they can be used as centres for flowers, or even matting single ones on patterned or plain contrasting paper can make a lovely feature on a page.

For the larger and less colourful buttons, I have seen patterned paper added to the middles of buttons to "pep" them up. Colours such as black that may not ordinarily be used on a layout as they are because they are just "too" dark make good subjects as outlines for patterned paper.

So... now to make a few more pages to house my lovely buttons!

Very Simple Scrapbook Page

This the lastest 8x8 offering using the contents of the kit I have put together for the Adult Learners Week Scrapbooking workshops I'm holding next week. (see previous posts.)

A very simple page with an opening tag which is hinged at the side for hidden journaling (great for those who loathe their own handwriting!).

And just a simple knot in a strip of ribbons adds interest!

Frog cakes...?

My goodness, it was all I could do to stop Honey eating the "frog cake" she made at school, before I had taken a picture of it!

It seems to have been "all about frogs" week at H's nursery this week... what with the tank of tadpoles in the classroom and all!

I read on the board (that is written up with "what the children did today" each day) that they made frog cakes, but that some of the children were a bit concerned that they would have actual frogs IN them! Ah bless!

Anyway, H had the hump most of the way home in the car, because of the ban from scoffing her green and sticky creation, but managed to crack a smile for a quick photo which saw me dashing up the stairs to grab my camera while she was hastily washing her hands as this was the proviso for being able to eat said green, googly-eyed sticky, sweet thing!

Once the wrapping was off, it didn't last long!

New Scrapbooking Wheelable Tote

Ah... my new toy! I bought it from a mega sized shop called "The Range" near Norwich (England). It was only £29.99, so I couldn't really leave without one!

I have a wheelable "workshop box" - is wheelable a word??? It's another Americanism isn't it?! I would call it a Rolling Tote... anyway I digress!

My workshop box is for DIY tools etc, it's not specifically for scrapbooking and it was a third of the price! But because of that it doesn't accommodate 12x12 stuff! So my papers and cardstock have been carried to crops in canvas type bags, within their convertina folders.

So here it the new storage device for crops. It will accompany my other wheelie, so look out all those in the corridors, I'm packing a duo! LOL

It's from Papermania and has LOADS of pockets, some are detachable and most are made of clear plastic so you can see what's inside!

But the bestpart is that I can get my 12x12 albums in, let alone 12x12 papers... now I just have to pack it all! Hmmmm.... what shall I take tomorrow!

This is Me... Simple 8x8 Scrapbook page

This my layout for this evening!

Still "keeping it simple" as is the theme for the week... or, as it is an easy way of completing lots of layouts... maybe the month!

This page is specifically made with the contents of the kit for the workshops next week, which is 8x8 and uses patterned paper from the Papermania Colossal Paper pack "Retro Floral"

The stamped journaling block is by Studio G - and belongs to my personal stash but will be available for attendees to borrow during the workshop.

Classic grid design scrapbooking page layout

This is the page I have made this evening! It's an 8x8 and I have made use of a classic grid design... very simple, but when using patterned paper, looks quite complicated!

I've used "old style" papers as the subject matter is that of an old dog, so I was going for a sort of "heritage" feel.

The papers are from Papermania from the 8x8" (Colossal Paper Pack) - "Simply Elegant".

And you will note that the photograph is black and white... taking my lead from Cathy Zielske again! In the photograph Harley's (the dog!) collar is a royal blue!

The Title was added to the photo before it was printed. The Font is "Porcelain" which is a free downloadable font.

I've got a luverly bunch of coconuts!

Right... some news of a personal nature today... no scrapbooking particularly, but I have no doubt the photograph will end up on a layout sometime soon!

This is daughter Honey shaking the coconut that she legitimately one at a coconut shy on Saturday. She had no help and managed to wallop this unsuspecting hairy ball off its perch all by herself! She unseated it with the first ball and finished with the second - a real pro!

Unfortunately it was proved a bit of a fluke as many attempts at a repeat performance faile dmiserably as she threw ball after ball trying to win a coconut for both mummy and daddy!

For some reason we ended up bringing 3 of the things home... mainly because it was the end of the day and they couldn't give them away! LOL.

The Fete where this coconut stand resided was at the School which Honey will be starting to attend in September, so she was very excited about it all!

Always Smiling

This is page created this evening.

It's basically a "scraplift" from Cathy Zielske, from her book "Clean and Simple Scrapbooking" (see picture below). The only difference is that I have used a colour photograph and matched in the paper colours!

I am preparing layouts for the demo at the weekend and so am making a few - simple - scrapbook pages.

My layout (here) was created in Microsoft Word. I used text boxes for the journaling and date and "WordArt" for the title (So that I could turn it 90 degrees).

This is the first A4 scrapbooking layout I have created I have reaslised! Well actually technically it's not A4... as the cardstock is from Bazzil, the size is the American letter size which is 8.5"x11".

The patterned paper is from Basic Grey - Pheobe 6x6 pad.

Free Scrapbooking Workshop including Materials!!!!

Wow... you can't get better than that! - A real "Make 'n' Take" at no cost to you!

The only proviso is that you have to make your way to either Bungay Youth Centre in Suffolk on Tuesday 20th May at 1pm-3pm OR Halesworth Community Centre (in Suffolk) on Friday 23rd May at 10am-12 noon.

It's Adult Learner's week in Suffolk (England!) 17th-24th May this year and Suffolk County Council are footing the bill for your workshop... which is being held by yours truly... yep... ME!

The photo shows the patterned paper in the kit. There will be some other bits and pieces such as ribbons, card, etc and I will be demonstrating a few layouts for you to make.

Get in touch to book a place or tell someone you know who would like to give it a try, (as it is ALL FREE). The number is 01502 538228.

Places are VERY limited, so act quickly.

ScrapBuddies Sketch number 1

Well I thought I would start posting some of my own sketches! So here is the ScrapBuddies Sketch Number 1.

It is basically the sketch for the "We three" layout I posted a couple of days ago (pictured here too). As I said in that post it was based on a layout by Cathy Zielske, but I have Tweaked it a bit!

I hope you have fun with this graphic design.

I will be posting more sketches as I finish my pages, so do check back. I would be grateful, if you create a page layout from one of my sketches and publish it anywhere, that you mention this blog... cheers!

Birthday card

This is a birthday card made using Basic Grey "Scarlett's letter" patterned paper (6x6") Couple of stamps used too... See D's "Happy Birthday" and Inkadinkado's ""World Map"... which is under the "Happy Birthday" just in case you were wondering ..."What world map?" LOL.

A few gem style brads in the centre of yet more disassembled fabric flowers and a single dragonfly brad (which I bought from Lakeland).

Can you keep it simple?

Simple Scrapbooking... can you keep it all down to a minimum? Can you stop yourself from over embellishment?

Are you page layouts clutter free?

Well personally I like the touchy feeliness of it all, but it's good to simplify once in a while.

As I mentioned in the last post, I am creating some layouts for my demo to the ScrapBuddies Group in a couple of weeks and they will be based on the book "Clean and Simple Scrapbooking" and "Clean and Simple Scrapbooking - the Sequel" by Cathy Zielske.

Cathy's design style (are there's that style thingy again!) is more often than not, to use black and white photographs on her layouts. Of course, when you use B&W photos, the choice of colours for the rest of the page is entirely up to you... bascially anything goes!

Well I have to say (and sorry Cathy, but...) I think that's a bit of an "easy way out".

I know scrapbooking is supposed to be enjoyable and not a chore, and B&W obviously works well for Cathy, but most of our photos are in colour are they not?

Of course, we can drain the colour from any of our digital photos in a snap (or should I say, a click) but we are stuck with all those taken prior to the age of Digital photography.

So the real challenge is to get the colour ones to look good in a "graphic design".

Is it Inspiration or scraplifting?

Here is my scrapbooking page layout based on one by Cathy Zielske from her book "Clean and Simple Scrapbooking" (see below).

Would you say it was a scraplift… or would you say that Cathy’s layout merely inspired mine?

It is a 12x12 layout and so I did have to cut the white card to print onto it with my printer, Cathy on the other hand prefers to scrap on A4 size as she knows that it will fit through her printer without have to fiddle.

So what do you reckon then? Scraplift or just inspired?

I am planning on making a few "graphic design" style pages at the moment as my next demonstration at the ScrapBuddies crop in May is based on the books by Cathy Zielske.

I thought it would do my group good to cut back on the embellies for a change and get all "graphic"!

Small details

Following on from the posts re my entry in a circle journal (see previous posts), I'm just highlighting a couple of features here.

The top picture shows a close up of the printed words on the right hand page.

The hidden journaling under the flap and the words down the side of the page were arranged in "Word" on my computer and then the 6x6" piece of pink Basic Grey Paper (Phoebe collection) was put through my printer. This was done after putting through a test piece of scrap 6x6 first, of course!

Anyway, it's a fairly well used technique to take advantage of all the different fonts out there (on the internet) to add variety to a layout... but here I have deliberately used a different font for each word, to portray the "mixed up" nature of my "style".

The other photograph here shows a flower (which cost one or two pennies as it was a bloom I "disassembled" - or is that "reverse engineered"? LOL), which I have stamped using a "Two Scoops" stamp with StazOn black ink.

I think the StazOn gives a fine detailing to the stamped image which is not quite so sharp using other, water based, inks.

Circle Journal - "What's Your Style" - my pages continued

Well as promised in yesterday's post... here are the pictures showing the contents of the squares on the left hand page of my circle journal entry.

I thought showing some of my existing work would bring home the point that I like to try "a bit of everything"!

Oh... and the hidden journaling under the flap (see yesterday's post and pictures) reads as follows:

I’m not sure I have one because I like to try all sort of styles –
traditional/modern, busy/simple, bright/soft, angular/swirly.

I like to try new techniques all the time and my pages reflect
that.

I do like interactive layouts (such as tags and flaps for
hidden journaling) and I love the “touchy feeliness” of it all. It’s a
tactile hobby!

I’m drawn to the red side of the colour spectrum
from pink through to deep burgundies and rich autumn colours (but I enjoy using
all sorts of colours together).

But I suppose if you look at my
work, it does reflect my personality in a way! It’s mixed up, a bit of
everything!
There is a slight common thread running through a lot of
my pages however, and it is that I enjoy curves much more than angles. I
like organic, round, swirling forms and flourishes.

So I think my
Style would have to be “FreeStyle” – free to do Everything!

Circle Journal - "What's Your Style" - my pages

This is my Double Page Spread in the Circle Journal I was telling you about yesterday.

I have used exclusively Basic Grey "Pheobe" 6x6" papers.

The left hand page, however, was actually the pink card as supplied in the journal, blank, and I used 3 different ink colours to print swirls to create a patterned background directly onto the cardstock. The stamp is from the Basic Grey "Two Scoops" collection.

The right hand side has a flap which opens to reveal the journaling... basically me waffling on about the fact that I don't really have a style LOL!

Tomorrow I will post the other pics showing what is inside each of the 2inch squares on the left hand page. And possibly the transcript of the journaling, as you probably won't be able to read even with clicking on the picture here to get a bigger image!

Oooohh are you excited?! LOL

Circle Journal "What's your Style" my entry

I have finished my double page layout in my UKS Team member's CJ with a theme of "What's your Style".

It has been interesting to attempt to find out what my style is... do I have a style?

Well, my scrapbooking is very much like my personality... I like variety, which is why I have moved house 8 times in 18 years!

My motto is "Variety is the Spice of Life"

But that's not a "style" really is it. I like to be free to choose what I do, I like to try new things all the time... so I have declared my style as "FreeStyle".

I think many of us are similar... to me a style just means that you are very "samey" and although I can be very samey at times, I get bored easily so it wouldn't last! LOL

I hope to post pictures shortly!

Scrapbooking the Ups and Downs of Life

This is a picture of my daughter asleep on the sofa, kept away from nursery due to a cold.

Usually a very healthy girl, she has come down with another illness this week and our plans for a weekend away have been cancelled.

Whilst making hotel cancellations, etc, I was reminded that although we tend to scrapbook all the big events and happy days of our lives, we often do not think to take photos or document the less happy moments, which, I believe are just as important.

Now that is not to dwell on such unhappy things, merely to document them to show them as contrast, or to be able to look back and see that we triumphed over adversity... and therefore could do so again.

So I shall be creating the odd page about out trials and tribulations, along with all the lovely things we get to do and I shall with this photo too.

And I bet you're saying to yourself... "yeah good luck with colour matching that gorgeous blanket!" LOL

Hmmm! I may chicken out and drain the colour to black and white! LOL

Spring is here

Ah... spring is here... the sun is shining (in between the rain clouds, LOL), the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming!

This is a photograph of the fresh iris leaves in our pond with the sun shining through them.

It may well end up being used as another background for you to download for free.