Fast and Speedy Scrapbooking Layout

Well it must be a first... this layout took about an hour! And that was choosing the photograph as well.

It is an 8x8 layout and it was for a team challenge.

The challenge was to use red on the page and scrap a favourite item/place.

I've used patterned paper from Basic Grey (Scarlet's Letter)- currently my most favourite paper company! Have just bought about 4 of their collections packs from CraftsULove (the shop is quite near my mum in Surrey, so I pop in there when I go to visit, which doesn't do my wallet any good!!)

I scrapped my VW Beetle that I had back in the '80s. As the journalin says - when I was driving the car people always used to see it a give a little smile. I decorated it for various occasions, not just Christmas as in this picture.

Also a few months after this picture was taken I had the words "Baby Girl" sign written on the bonnet and boot, which made people go "Aaahhh" as well as smile!

She was a lovely old car... but comfort got the better of me and I purchased a more modern car a couple of years later. Kept the old banger on in tandem with the newer car for a while, but eventually had to let her go. Hopefully she'll still be making people smile on our roads as "V dubs" do go on forever!

Scrapbooking Sketches

Came across a website recently that has "loads" of sketches for you to choose from. It's called Pagemaps.com (don't forget the 's' otherwise you get a street map website lol! - use the link it's easier!)

There are some sample layouts with some of the sketches, and there are various sizes catered for.

I especially like the Circular page layout sketches - very different.

And it is one of the few sites which actually gives you some sketches for tags AND cards!

Check it out.

Simplify your Layouts

We are all in danger of saying “wow” to some layouts and “gosh I really want to make a layout like that”, but really when you look closely, these fantastic scrapbooking layouts are full of intricate details and loads of embellishments and frankly would have taken a long time to accomplish.

So we think, I can’t do that, or I’m not good enough, or clever enough… sound familiar?

Well I have found that although I like to get “stuck in” to an intricate layout, it is actually the simple pages that hold most impact!

The other point to remember, and it is something we all so easily forget… is that scrapbooking is actually two main forms of craft.

The first, is the one we get into the craft for and that is to make our pictures pretty and archive them for posterity.

The other is the one we end up doing and that is getting overwhelmed by all those luscious products and all those lovely layouts (that take ages) all over the web.

Come on… admit it….

Who hasn’t managed to waste a couple of hours of scrapbooking time online looking for inspiration only to over do it and feel inadequate, and then run out of time to boot!! What a bummer!

So, if you have a huge pile of photos that's getting bigger by the day, simplify your layouts!

Here is a link to an article (well part of an article) with “recipes” for making simple pages. It’s from Creating Keepsakes and is entitled… “Make 12 Layouts in One Night!” It doesn’t show you all twelve, but it does give you an idea of what I mean.

Let’s get back to the simplicity of a few photos, a few papers and embellishments and a snippet of journaling and see how much more we get done!

I had to quickly make an 8x6 layout for my mum-in-law last night before she went home this morning (she was visiting). And because I knew I didn’t have the time to fiddle about and I HAD to make a layout, I kept it simple and felt good because it took all of 30 minutes and that included looking for the right stash too!

The Beauty of White

It was my wedding anniversary the week before last and my husband gave me a big hand tied bouquet of flowers - can't go wrong with flowers, I just love them. And although I do have my preference of colours (I don't really like bouquets of yellows and oranges much) I just love fresh flowers, period.

Anyway, this particular bouquet was blues and whites. Nice combination. And it contained one of my most favourite flowers... lilies. I love lilies because they are big and bold but also simple - they only have 6 petals. I even like the yellow ones! LOL!

So, as I always do, I took some photos of the bouquet, and I will get around to scrapbooking a layout about it.

I am thinking of doing a little book or album about the various bouquets I have been lucky enough to receive over the years... just need to try to find the various photos. All the ones I have taken since I got my digital camera are no probs, it's all those ones before that - taken with... oh... what's it called again... [thinks] oh yes... 35mm film! How quaint, LOL!

In the meantime I thought I would post this close up of a pure white lily from the bouquet.

The inspiration I take from this... that I would like to attempt a layout using only shades of white!! Now that is a challenge!

Calling all Readers - Feedback

I have been staying with my mum for a few days, as I do ever 5-6 weeks with my daughter. Which is why I have not posted here since Tuesday!

That's because despite having my lap top with me, I can't get online at her house. She uses AOL as her provider and I am not prepared to download all the AOL guff onto my LT for it only to put a Gremlin in my system - which is something I have heard frequently from people.

So I will be posting here very shortly - a little gem of information maybe!!

The decision was whether I should make the effort to drive into my mum's nearest town and try to get a connection or just leave it for a few days.... maybe I should have posted here on Tuesday that I was going to be away? What do you think?

That's the trouble... I don't know who (with the exception of a few people) reads this blog, or how often, or what they would like to read about.

So... let me know - is there something you would like me to address? Or maybe just say hi?

Circle Journals and Tag Books - what are they?

I have been in discussion with my new team on UKScrappers about Circle Journals (CJs). I thought I would post basically what I have explained to them here, as I am often asked about them and what they are.

So here is a link to a set of photos of a circle journal which I did with my ladies at the Scrapbuddies January crop.Normally a CJ is started by one person and then posted to the next and the next and so on, but instead of sending it around everywhere, we made the pages there and then (at the crop) and I put them into the book (just stuck the pages back to back). The way we share the book is that I posted these pictures on the website and they can borrow the book if they wish - to show family and friends etc.However, for those of you who don’t know what it’s all about…

The person starting the journal makes the basic blank book/album. That person then makes the covers and inside DPS (double page spread) explaining the content of the book (ie, the theme of the book. In this case it was “Likes and Dislikes about Christmas”).

That person also needs to provide a "sign in" page for each participant to place their identification (photo/words/whatever). And of course make a DPS of their own. It is then sent on to the next person who makes their DPS on the next available pages and also "signs in" on the designated pages.CJs can be any size, but are quite often 6x6 ish!UKScrappers have CJs on all the time in groups of 10 people and so if you are in one of the official CJ groups, you start one off and so do the other 9 people.

On a set date you all have to have finished your contribution and post the CJ on to the next person on the list (to your left as it were!!) each time.

It can take the best part of a year to complete and the reason for that is that if there are 10 of you and you move the journals around every 3-4 weeks - that's 30-40 weeks before you get your completed journals back!

If there is a group of you, a crop group or just a few friends who want to do this, it is great fun. But if the reason to do one is to create a book about all of you (so you can get to know each other a little better) then perhaps a better alternative is to make a tag book.

Each make up a tag about yourselves including some specific info like name, place where you live, who you live with, pets, age, some favourite things maybe, and you made 10 identical ones, you could all end up with an identical tag book each ! As long as you are all working with the same tag template (size especially!!!!) then it should be a breeze!

Scrapbooking out of your "Comfort Zone"

This is a page I created for a "Team Challenge" on UKScrappers.

A teammate set the challenge and, because it contained "use yellow and white papers" I should have groaned (because I don't like yellow as a rule), but I didn't. I was actually looking forward to it!

This is because it gets me "out of my comfort zone". I wouldn't normally like to gather all my yellow bits together and get scrapping, but in this challenge I had to! And I am actually quite pleased with the result.

I have scrapped yellow pages before because (and I did it for the same reason) - my mum-in-law likes yellow and so for Christmas I hand made her a yellow album and inside I made a few pages (not all yellow mind!) every so often I make her a few pages to go into the album.

Although I haven't made them all yellow and orange, I have leant towards the colours she likes in most of them and it makes me use the stash I wouldn't normally - not to mention actually buying it in the first place.

That's why challenges can be great for getting your creative juices flowing, they make you think about stuff you wouldn't normally use. Also great because if you have bought and packs of paper or embellishments or maybe a kit or two, there is usually something in there to which you think "Mmmm, not too sure about that," or, "Oh I won't use that!"

Well maybe take a look on the web, type "scrapbooking challenges" into a search engine to get you started. A good site which posts monthly challenges is an Australian Site called The Scrap Witch and this is their August set of challenges.

You never know - you may a challenge is right up your street! Oh and the rest of the challenge for which this layout was made...
White and Yellow papers
2-3 photos of garden wildlife or flowers
use buttons
use ribbon!

Scrapbooking Albums - 6 Tips for Beginners

I had a conversation with a lady recently, and it is not the first time I have heard this...

But she mentioned that she had started into the world of scrapbooking because she wanted to make an album for her 2 sons. She found the first album really hard going, and like many people, started with the oldest photos first.

Luckily, she was advised that the best way was not to try to do it all in chronological order, but to scrap the big events first. This helped and on putting the pages together (12x12 album - which I always think is a very difficult thing for beginners to do anyway) the pages dovetailed into one another nicely.

Unfortunately, the person who gave her the advice was a consultant of one particular company and so this lady had the constraints of only really being able to use one company's designs. Again a difficult thing for a beginner to do.

However, my advice to all beginners is:

1. DON'T attempt a whole album - start by laying out a single page, then another and then another.


2. Start with your most recent photographs - these memories are fresh in your mind and journaling comes much more easily.


3. If you are doing older photos, then concentrate on the layout leaving space for journaling - or even put your notes/journaling on the back (if only for posterity's sake)


4. Try to start on an 8x8 layout - there isn't so much blank space to cover than 12x12 and the picture takes up more space and has more impact - it's just not so daunting.


5. If you really want to make an album - start by making a paper bag book or a 6x6 album bound with book rings or even ribbon, pages are filled a lot quicker and subsequently your album is finished a lot quicker - this gives you enthusiasm to do more and bigger albums.


6. If you get stuck in a rut when doing an album on a specific theme (like a particular person's album), stop trying and create a layout about something completely different, this will free you from the constraints of your album and let your creativity flow, it should jump start your album pages again.

I love doing paper bag albums of a specific event, I scrapped my last holiday which was a week in Majorca. I will upload the photos of it shortly. But you only need about 12 photos you can make more journaling for the pockets and store other photos inside these pockets too, just add some papers and embellishments, keeping it simple and there you have it.

There are so many ways of creating little mini albums with which I always recommend beginners start.

When I have given a demonstration and the attendees have then made a mini album in a matter of hours, they are always so pleased with what they have achieved and that always makes me happy!

Let me leave you with this question...

Do you really have to make the whole album look the same - why not create layouts of all different styles and colours and then put them in the album?

Wedding Anniversary

Well this is the card I have made for my hubby for our 15th Wedding Anniversary - which is tomorrow!

"Oh no!" I hear you say... "what if he sees it?"

Well excuse me while I roll about on the floor with laughter! The chances of my husband using a computer to view my blog is akin to the chances of Tim Henman winning Wimbledon! Sorry Tim, but I'll give you an "A" for effort!!

My hubby tells everyone that I have a blog and what it's about, but he has only seen it because I showed him on my computer - he's a bit of a technophobe!

Anyway, this was a budget card really (not intentionally - just ended up that way!).

The papers came free with Scrapbooking Inspirations March 2007 issue and the chipboard heart with the June issue (Ellory Designs), and the blue ribbon has been recycled from something, although I can't remember what!!

I quite like the papers, you may remember them from the post re the Paper bag album. They are from "Sassafras Lass". They are not my usual colours (certinaly not usually mixed together) but my top in the photograph kinda lead the way on the colour front.

I'll let you know if, by some miracle, my hubby manages to see this post!!

Good grief it was windy!

Well I feel like I've been sand blasted today!!

I decided in my wisdom to go to the beach this afternoon. There is a nice little beach about 10 miles from me. It's got a little area with bouncy castle, etc for the kiddies and other little amenities.

Anyway, thought it would be nice if we all went, I took my daughter there on Wednesday afternoon, but it was really winding - had fun erecting the little beach shelter (tent thingy) that I had just bought, as you can imagine.

So, we went... to the beach... and it was soooooo windy I can't tell you !!!!!

I think I have been exfoliated, through my clothes!!!!

I was wearing a T-shirt and 3/4 trousers, jumper and had to give in to wearing a light weight coat too.

English beach holidays... stuff of legends! I've got sand in all sorts of places... in my ears, hair... well let's not go anywhere else eh?!

The picture is actually one I took when Honey and I went to the beach on Wednesday which was windy, but not as windy as today... good grief!

So you just know I'm gonna scrap this picture with a comment to how flippin' windy it was, don't you?!!

Scrapbooking Challenge on UKScrappers

Well, it's been a week of firsts for me!

The first "first" is that I have signed up, and now become a member of an online Team on UKScrappers.

I have been a browser for a while, since 2005 in fact, but never really wanted to spend too much time fiddling - gosh you can spend a lifetime just reading and chatting on there!

Anyway, my team name is Rockin Ribbon Raiders!

The second "first" (is that possible?) is that I have entered one of the challenges! The resulting layout is pictured here.

I don't know if I have posted in the right places on the UKS website, but someone will tell me maybe, if I have!

The third "first" is that this is my first ever layout of my sister!

The fourth and final "first" is that I can safely say it is my first ever layout to include a camel!!! LOL!

And for all of those of you who have been on the Scrapbuddies website recently, and are planning to attend the next crop in Ditchingham on Saturday 18th August, this is also a layout to cover the first of the two challenges from which to choose! (as I half-inched it from the UKS site - duly credited, of course!) So you're getting a sneeky peek!

Where's my Memory

I have been trying to venture into the world of Digital Scrapbooking, but despite my laptop being only a year old - I need more memory!

I bought Photoshop Elements a few months ago and created my first page whilst trying to work my way around the new program.

The layout is the one of my daughter riding her new bicycle which I mentioned in an earlier post.

I used free papers and elements from various sources (when I can get the info I will put the credits for the designers on here) Most of it, however, is the "Festival" collection freebie from Shabby Princess.

It is a primitive attempt, but I am quite impressed with the ease of use. BUT...

Getting back to the Memory part... my poor LT (laptop) really didn't like the hefty file sizes and took forever to save the page... and as for printing it... well [rolls eyes!]

So I had been trying to arrange for some more RAM and today it was fitted, meaning I have 3 times the amount of RAM and boy, does it make a difference!

Wouldn't it be good if we humans could just slot in a bit more memory - think how much more we could get done!!

Speed Scrapping!

Phewee, there... I did it! [pant,pant]

From photos taken yesterday afternoon to 12x12" layout this evening!

And... photo then taken, fiddled with in Photoshop Elements and brought to you now!!

I've even impressed myself! Well of course it is at the expense of everything else this evening!!!!

Trick was to "keep it simple". Cos that's my trouble... I get ideas that take an age to figure out, carry out and lay out!

So there is it anyway!

I'm off back to A&E with my daughter tomorrow morning! Yes, not satisfied with her final inspection at the plastic surgery department last Thursday, after nearly taking the whole of the top of one finger off (see post in June) she decided, in her wisdom, to snort a small bead up her right nostril !!

Kids eh [rolls eyes and tuts].

So off we jolly well go again up to the main hospital. I was hoping it would come out on it's own (she did it on Friday evening), but it's still up there. So I took her to the little outpatients in the local town, but they can usually get "items" out of orifices... but not in this case as it's too far up and they would need to give her a bit of anesthetic before they go poking around up there.

Of course, they don't keep any of the "special spray" they use!

What fun we will have at the EN&T department... that's what the nurse kept referring it to. "What is EN&T?" I asked ... "Oh Ear, Nose and Throat".

Obvious when you know, isn't it! LOL

Of course during all this Honey can't feel it up there, she has tried to snort it out, and is actually quite good at snorting now - so the silver lining to this is that she may actually learn how to properly blow her nose!

And bless her... she lies on the sofa (or the bed) and let's me shine my keyfob torch up her snout to check whether it's till there or not!

Watch this space

Here is a photo which I took today of my daughter on Holkham Beach - North Norfolk Coast in England.

In fact I think I'll restate that... a picture of my daughter RACING to the beach! As you can see... the sea is nowhere to be seen!!! (try saying that when you're drunk!) LOL!

I thought I would do a speed scrap, so tomorrow I will post a photo of the layout onto which I am putting this photograph!

Now there's a challenge!

It’s oh so Black and White!

I was inspired by a layout by Kelly Slattery over at the Paperpesto blog. I particularly liked the cut out edge of the flowered paper.

I found some paper of my own which was black and white and so decided to theme the whole page to black and white so that the colours in the photographs could shine through.

The words “ice cream” were stamped with a white opaque ink, however they were anywhere near clear enough so I have gone over them with a white pen.

The “&” (have you spotted it yet? LOL) and the words “Merry-go-Round” are rub ons. The only colour I introduced to the page (apart from the brass eyelets and brads, which I don’t really consider a colour as such) was a metallic finish red brad holding on a pearlescent flower on the photo bottom left.

I felt that corner of the page just needed to be “tied in” (colour-wise) with the photographs a little more and I believe the tiny brad does that.

As for the eyelets… I adhered some white paper to the back of the layout over each of the holes to lighten them, it was a better finish than a dark inner.

Useful TIP: The photographs on this layout date back 2 years. I always write on the back of my layouts the date I actually created the page, I think it will be interesting to see my development in a few years time.

Anyway, thanks Kelly for the inspiration!

Cutting scrapbooking titles by hand

It may sound a bit weird, but I actually enjoy cutting the odd title or letter, by hand! That doesn’t stop me planning on investing on a Craft Robo however! LOL!

Knives
I have already mentioned, in a previous post Essential Tools for Scrapbooking Part 2, that I use a scalpel, and that the reason for this is I find it easier to grip and (like holding a pen) and the point of the blade is more like the nib of a pen to me.

So I find cutting an intricate title much easier with this tool. But of course it is what you are used to – I have been using the same scalpel (with replacement blades of course, LOL!) for nigh on 18 years!

Cutting TIPS
Because of the nature of a title, ie, there are lots of twists and turns to cut, there are a couple of things that make cutting a lot easier.

First – don’t place your work on a normal cutting mat! Use a glass cutting board. I use the back of a glass kitchen chopping board. The front is textured and so useless, but the back does just fine.

Second – Turn the paper as you cut. Your knife should basically stay in the same position, moving only slightly, and your other hand should be moving the paper or card around, so make sure your work surface is clear of obstructions – especially if you are cutting from a 12x12 sheet.

There are various ways of placing your cutting outline onto the paper or cardstock:

1. print out the text and trace onto the card stock using carbon paper, if you can reverse the text before printing, so much the better.

2. freehand draw

3. if it will go through your printer then, obviously, print directly on to the paper, again if you can reverse the text then print onto the back side of your chosen paper.

4. My quicker way (but possibly more difficult for cutting) is to just print the title onto ordinary white paper, tape it to the cardstock and cut through that and the cardstock. As you are going through 2 layers, you definitely need a sharp blade!

Useful TIP: I don’t like my hard work to go to waste, so when I am cutting out letters and titles I like to place them on the paper/cardstock with a decent margin around them. This means that if I cut really carefully, I get the use of the positive and the negative image. And I keep the unused one for another layout. If it’s the wrong colour, I can just recolour it!

Nature's Beauty

I have seen one of these before, but it was only on Friday, when rushing around Tescos that I came across a small box of them for sale... what is it...?

It's a dragon fruit! It wasn't cheap £1.99 each - but I just thought it was sooooooooooooooo beautiful! Just look at those colours. The colour combinations... would you have thought of putting these colours together in a layout? No neither would I, but nature puts such combinations together all the time and they just work!

I just had to share this with you... I am in awe of nature's beauty, that's why I love television programs such as "Survival" and David Attenborough's plethora of nature programs.

I decided it would be a good opportunity to try such a fruit as my sister, bother in law and my two nieces were staying with us this weekend and we all agreed that it was a fascinating fruit to look at both inside and out.

As for the taste... well frankly it didn't have one!!! Funny isn't it, almost like nature put so much energy into making something so beautiful to the eye, that it ran out of oomph when it came to tantalising the taste buds!

Anyway, my little one had a taste... she said "mmmmm" but I suspect it was for effect! Don't think she'll be asking for "more please mummy"!

I just wanted to look at it all the time!

Above left and right: Honey sampling the delights of said Dragon Fruit

above right: her cousin Mea who, at the tender age of 6, already knew what a Dragon Fruit was!!









UPDATE: 16th August 2008
I found another scrapper who "experimented" with a dragon fruit!! It's Jak here in England!
Click here to see the entry in her blog.

Essential Tools for Scrapbooking – Number 2

Scalpel and Steel Rule

Continuing the “Essential Tools” series of blog posts here I want to extol the virtues of my scalpel and steel rule.

Mundane you may think… but at the end of the day, they are very simple, but effective tools of the trade.

I have always used a scalpel myself, but you could lump any suitably sharp craft knife into this category. I just prefer my scalpel because I tend to hold it as if holding a pen, especially for precision cutting around letters, etc, whereas the more bulky craft knives have to be held differently.

Now I know most of you out there have paper trimmers and guillotines and indeed, so do I, but you can’t beat the precision of an extremely sharp blade running down the side of a steel rule to give a really crisp cut.

Now, we shouldn’t forget the cutting surface of course! I have found an A3 sized cutting mat the most useful. A4 is just too small and A2 is too big for most tables/desks.

Useful TIP… the “self healing” cutting mats are great for almost everything, but if you want to cut an intricate design, for instance a title, then use a glass cutting mat.

No… don’t go and buy something special, I use the back of a glass chopping board! I found it absolutely useless (not to mention very noisy) as a chopping board, but it’s fantastic for cutting round corners, etc!

The blade of your knife doesn’t sink in to the glass mat as it does with a self healing mat (ideal for steadying the blade for straight lines) and it’s this that allows you to swivel the paper easily as you cut. It does blunt the blade more quickly, but it’s worth it when you achieve a lovely title with nice crisp edges!

Essential Tools for Scrapbooking – Number 1

We all talk of stash… the huge mountain of stuff we have acquired since we began to scrapbook. The reference is usually referring to papers and embellishments is it not?

Sometimes it includes the odd “special tool” but stash mostly refers to our lovely bits and pieces that make the visual experience we like to call a Scrapbooking Layout.

Well we often overlook and frankly, take for granted, our trusty tools – those tools that we use every day without thinking about them. So I have decided to dedicate a little blogging space to discuss these various bits of essential equipment and I am starting with my trusty…

pH Tester pen

Oh how that has come in handy over and over again. Now if you are like me and feels it’s all part and parcel of crafting to find the bargain alternatives to the “official” supplies, then you too will have delved into the depths of various non-scrapbooking supply shops and found little gems of possible scrapbooking embellishments and papers or cardstock.

Or, even better, have found various bits that you already have in the house.

The pH tester pen comes into it’s own for the budget scrapper. There have been many a material that I have thought worthy of adhering to my scrapbooking layout, only to whip out my pH pen and watch the colour go from purple (which means it’s not acid) to transparent (which means it is VERY acidic) in a split second! “Blink and you miss it” sort of thing!

“Woah,” I say to myself, “can’t use that then!” Which isn’t strictly true, because if it is a particularly attractive piece of paper or something, then I decide to use it on a greetings card instead - not as much longevity in their lifetime is there?!

An eye opener for me was the item in which I was storing my paper and various other “flat” items. This was an expanding file. It was foolscap size and was brilliant because I could put all my paper in there (12x12 included) separated into one colour for each section. I could pull it out to sit on the desktop for easy access when in use, but I could also squeeze it together to a reasonable width to transport to a crop. By the way, I like the fact that the paper sticks out above the top of the container because it’s much easier to flick through the contents – with a 12x12 paper container you have to keep lifting everything up slightly to view it.

Anyway, I digress…

The storage solution was great apart from one thing……it was made of paper (Manilla), and yes, you’ve guessed it was REALLY acid – I hadn’t even taken the pen from the item when the mark disappeared! It couldn’t have been more acid!

The upshot of this is that I bought two smaller versions (couldn't find one large one for a straight swap) of the desktop expanding file (from Woolworths at £2.99 - 13 pockets each) but this time they are made of plastic! My paper is safe!

My trusty pH pen also showed my mum that all the “swatches” of wallpaper she had collected (for something else initially) that she was giving me for scrapbooking, were mostly too acid to use.

The solution to that was to use a photocopy of the original wallpaper!

And some of the paintings my daughter “paints” (ha ha) at nursery, come home on acid paper and others are ok. Significant because I occasionally use them as backgrounds.

So, if you don’t already own one… go get a pH tester pen, it can be revealing!

When Inspiration Strikes!

I have had a photo of myself, my husband and my daughter hanging on my pin board for almost a year waiting for inspiration to strike!

Well it finally did!

I have to say that although I had a vague idea of what sort of layout I thought I would do, it was only when I bought a new piece of equipment that it finally came together.

The piece of equipment in question is an X-Cut circle cutter! I have been toying with the thought of spending some dosh on something that would cut decent circles for me, I am capable of weilding a pair of scissors or a scalpel, but it's never quite right, have you noticed that?

Anyway, I finally bit the bullet, grasped the nettle and bought the cutter and a set of 3 ring templates which means I can cut rings or 6 different sized circles!

I knew I wanted to have a theme of circles for this as the picture lent itself to it, and as soon as I bought the equipment it all fell together.

The paper is from a pack from Basic Grey - (favourite company for papers at the moment) - "Blush". Hand made the "3" and the "US" using chipboard letters as templates, but actually cut from a corrugated cardboard box (checked for acidity) and then covered with the paper.

As for it hanging on my pinboard... well that's something I do! Put the picture or a couple of pictures inside a plastic folder and then pin it to my board. Two benefits... firstly I get to enjoy the photos every day and secondly it reminds me I have to scrap it (them) and keeps it fresh in my mind!

More Layouts - Not quite using a kit!

Now I am a bit of an ecclectic sort! I like a bit of this and a bit of that... I love variety. Which is probably why I find kits a bit restrictive on their own.

However, use one in conjunction with my own "bits" and things begin to unfold! Or fold up depending on what I'm doing!! LOL.

The layout here (I Love Lammie) was made as an experiment to see if I could make a whole page just using a kit.

The kit in question is the "Srap Pad to Go - Peabody" from K&Co.

Unfortunately I couldn't quite manage just using the kit! So no surprise there then! But I made a good attemp.

I also used this pad to make an exploding box for mother's day. I have taken the photos, but haven't got around to formatting them for on here... suppose I'll have to get on with that now then, eh?! I will try to post them shortly.

I used to think that double sided papers/card were a bit of waste (the Scrap Pad to Go sheets are all double sided), but for things like exploding boxes, they are great because you see the pages from all sides (well technically just both sides!).

Good for concertina booklets and the like too. Which reminds me - I will be posting an article about making a "valentines" or "anniversary" booklet shortly. Even the most die hard non-crafty person can't resist one of those... especially if it's about them!!!!!!!

All good Intentions

Well here it is...

This is the car layout.

I was planning to write a load here this evening, but as I have been on my feet since 10 this morning till 5 this evening helping out with the local Carnival Parade I just couldn't keep my eyes open when I got home and still can't.

So this is just a quickie to post the layout as promised! There will be more layouts shortly as I have managed a few more recently.

I must muster up a few more tips for you all too!

This layout is inspired using a sketch from Little book of sketches

Scrapbooking Intention - done it!

Well I've managed to scrap a page of pictures of my car!

As I mentioned on Wednesday I was going to scrap a page about my car, it definitely focuses the mind to get it done!

I have used a sketch (as the theme for the crop tomorrow is about using sketches) - it's from the Little Book of Sketches blog. This is a good site for some quick "sketch" inspiration. I will post the photo of my finished layout after the crop tomorrow, although I do have to help out on a gate tomorrow evening at the local Carnival so may not actually get to take a picture and get it uploaded between the crop and that, but there's always Sunday. Are you in a rush?

I bet by now you have said... "Well why am I looking at a picture of a layout about Koi then?" Well the answer to that one is simple... I can't upload the Car one yet, so I thought I give you something esle to look at!

The method in my madness is that for this layout (because the Koi is orange - it's name is Tango!) I needed to use orange in the layout and so I decided to really go out of my comfort zone and use the blue and green, three colours I am not drawn to - my colours are more reds, browns and pinks.

Anyway, the very tenuous link between this layout and the car one I have just completed is the fact that the latest layout is green and blue only. I keep looking at it and wondering??!!

But... you can judge for yourself soon!

Beginners Scrapbooking workshop

I am holding a demo and workshop at one of the local libraries (Bungay, Suffolk) on Saturday 4th August (2-4pm).

I held a workshop at the end of last year at another local library and we had a number of ladies turn up, of varying ages and abilities. I made a small kit for each of them and they paid £2 for it, only to cover my costs - the demo/workshop was free.

I really enjoy teaching (adults) and seeing how people are "chuffed" (pleased) with their accomplishments at the end of the workshop.

I show them a particular layout design and, I have to say, I expected them to just copy it verbatim, but I was really pleased that each one of them made their own adjustments and at the end of the 2 hour session, all participants went home with their unique version of the demo layout. And they all went away surprised at how easy scrapbooking can actually be when given a little guidance to get them started.

I really want to express that scrapbooking is one of those arts/crafts (whatever you want to call it) that can give someone, who thinks they are not creative at all, a real boost from the knowledge that they can actually create something lovely. And that scrapbooking - the modern way - can REALLY enhance their photographs.

The good thing about scrapbooking is that YOU get to keep your work. I used to make other crafts to sell, which I actually found difficult at times, because of the amount of time and my creativity that had gone into that particular project. With the advent of digital photography at least we can take snaps of our projects before giving things away (like mini albums and cards).

I wish I could teach scrapbooking everyday!

The picture is the 8x8 layout of the first workshop I held when starting up the Scrapbuddies crop. The dog is my dearly departed "Badger" and the words inside the tag (which opens) read...

"Badger...alias Squidge... alias Little Man"

and

"My Darling Badge... How I miss you so."

All mine - Scrapbooking Layout intention

"All Mine" is the title for a page I am about to do! There you are, that's different isn't it!

Normally it's done the other way round, ie... here is a layout I have just made! But this time I have decided it's too late to start afresh at this time of day, and I am taking a break from one I have recently started as I have "backed myself into a corner" so a break will mean when I go back to it, inspiration will strike - hopefully.

In the meantime, and I mean tomorrow evening and possibly Friday evening as well, I have to make up a page as a demo for my Crop on Saturday!

The theme is about using Sketches and I have picked out 3 to choose from for my group. As the demo, I have to produce at least one example from the sketches provided.

So I have just decided that I will scrap a page about my car! I have been wanting to for some time and by that I mean since I got it just before last Christmas! Anyway here is a picture of said dream machine (I am really enjoying driving again!).

Some bright spark told me that these cars were "footballers' wives cars" (having a dig!) Well my answer to that was - "ok, give me the income of the footballer's wife and I'm laughing all the way to the bank!!"

I will post the finished layout on Saturday!

Here's to all those of us who are NOT planning on growing old gracefully!!

All about Stamps – but not those ones!!

Now when we scrapbookers say “stamps” – we usually think of ones which need inks to make an impression of an image on paper… right? Right… well it’s not those I’m going to talk about today!!

And I suppose the photograph probably gave it away didn’t it?!

Anyway, I really like postage stamps (for scrapbooking you understand, I don’t collect them or anything like that!!). I have found small packets of collections of stamps in a couple of local charity shops.

One packet held about 60-70 postage stamps and cost all of 50p and a more recent purchase was a whole £1, held about 45-50 stamps – these were themed, specifically “flowers”. They are the ones pictured.

Now amazingly enough… my husband’s experience as a stamp collector when he was a boy, came in handy. That’s because the second packet of stamps were still attached to their backing, ie they had been cut out from their envelopes.

My husband knew that to get the stamps off the envelope backing I needed to place them into a bowl of hot water (hand hot, don’t start boiling the kettle!! LOL!) and they would peel off!

Hey… what satisfying fun! I did just that and put them in the hot water, waited for a while (only a few minutes) and then was able to easily peel the stamps from their moorings. Some of them fell away by themselves.

They were then laid on some kitchen roll on a tray to dry.

Of course as they dried they curled a little bit, but then Honey and I laid them out on a sheet of A4 paper, put another piece on top and then, after placing them between two scrapbooking magazines, I tucked them underneath a big pile of Honey’s books!

I did this on Sunday… frankly I have to admit to forgetting about them till about half an hour ago when I was hunting the stack of books for a story!... but now I have lovely flat colourful flowery stamps to use. Trouble is they are so nice I may use them all on a layout just to show them off!!

Does that defeat the object do you think?!

Having a Scrapbooking Laugh!

This little set of funnies is from the families.com site. There is a Friday Funny posted… strangely… once a week!! ha ha!

Anyway, I chuckled !!

An excuse for putting in a "happy picture" of myself and Honey playing in our photo session in the mirror.

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Friday Scrapbooking Funnies: Some Giggles and Laughs
by Nicole Humphrey

Enjoy the start of a fabulous weekend with a few laughs I've collected from all over.

Q: If a tree falls onto a scrapbook in the forest, and there's nobody around to hear it, does it make a sound?
A: It all depends. Is the tree made of acid-free bark? Are the leaves made of lignin? What's the pH level of the tree?

Q: Whats the difference between a health freak and a scrapbooker.
A: One lays out her fibre for breakfast the other puts fibre on her breakfast layout.

As seen on Scrapbooking Merchandise:

"Been there, done that, have the Layout!"
Don't just stand there - Scrap Something!
Here a scrap, there a scrap, everywhere there's scraps, scraps.
You better be nice or I will crop you out of my scrapbooks.
When life makes gives you scraps, make scrapbooks.
I scrapbook, therefore I am Creative Obsessed Broke
To Crop or Not To Crop...what a silly question.
Who Says Size Doesn't Matter? 5X7, 6x6, 8x8, 8.5x11, 12x12
Smile nice! Don't make me crop you!
Lord, when my memory goes, please help me find my scrapbook.

and one last thing if you've read this far....

Dianescraps shared this link on her My Site Blog - it was too funny not to share with all of you publicly!!
The Secret Life Of Scrapbooking
Thanks Diane for the laugh!! I cracked up!

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The above link take you to view a short video on You Tube… it is an amusing “micky take” on us scrapbookers.

And on the same note… my husband asked me yesterday, if there was anything he could do for me, as I was having to attend to my coughing daughter in her bedroom… “do your blog for you…!!” said in jest of course.
But that gave me an idea… so I said “I tell you what you could for me...”
He groaned, probably thinking I wanted him to do a chore of some sort…”yes,” he said.
“You could write me an article for my blog on what it’s like to be a scrapbooking widower!”
He didn’t seem too keen!
But then in my experience, such a suggestion needs time to be inwardly digested before I see any results!! Lol !!!

Scrapbooking with my Daughter

My daughter, Honey, is three and a half… she has the attention span of a gnat (don’t they all at that age?).

I have waited for her to be old enough to start to be interested in scrapbooking. It’s felt like a long wait, but then I’m not known for my patience! Bit of a “quick fix” merchant me!!

Anyway, I was forced to stay at home with her the last couple of days as she had been unwell over the weekend and still with a sore throat, I kept her off nursery and rearranged my work (got to go back tomorrow… sigh!) Of course, we have a couple of week days together every week anyway, but we usually have to do “the shopping” or such like, but because I didn’t want her to “over do it” we had to stay at home.

So I decided to try to get her interested in doing a paper bag album with me. I had actually already compiled the papers, embellishments and photos, etc ready to start.

The subject matter of the pictures was my daughter (photos of themselves always go down well with kids don’t they!!) and the time we visited family who were kind enough to “borrow” a little white pony for Honey to ride for the few days we were there (they have their own horses).

I kept the page layouts simple and because I had already thought about the materials with which to build the album I had everything to hand and so could keep the momentum going and therefore the interest.

There were a number of “stickers” (her favourite) from which she could choose, she had fun using the Dymo (I bought a replacement recently which (if you put the batteries in!!) will say each letter as you press the handle – brilliant for kids!).

She learnt what “rub-ons” are and how to use them – well with a little help, of course – how to use my paper trimmer, she already is quite adept with scissors, so she was “allowed” to use grown up scissors – what kudos!

We started on Monday and did the first 2 pages and then she’d had enough. Then yesterday, she said, “Can we do some more scrapbooking please Mummy?”

Well you can imagine my delight can’t you!!!!!

So we managed to do another 4 pages! Now of course, she wafted in and out of direct “hands on” creation, but stayed with me most of the time. I just need to finish it off, but now she can show it to her auntie (with whom we stayed with the little white pony) and genuinely say that she made some of the book.

It was really nice to engage her in something we both liked to do. I really hope she takes to scrapbooking as she gets older. I think maybe scrapbooking will become something that brings us together… how nice is that?!

Book Review – "Book of Me" and "Book of Us"

I thought I would do a review of a couple of books I have had for a while:

The Book of Me and the Book of Us by Angie Pedersen.

Now I probably bought these in the wrong order as I bought the “Book of Us” first, that’s because I couldn’t get hold of the BOM (Book of Me) at the time. But because of that I was disappointed with the BOM.

The layouts in the BOM are what I would call primitive in comparison to the Book of Us (BoU) which is packed full of sophisticated (and sometimes complicated) fantastic layouts and albums.

Of course the BOM was one of Angie Pedersen’s first books and was written before the explosion in all things lovely in the Scrap World!

Book of Me

However, BOM is great for beginners… it will not overwhelm the beginner into inaction. The layouts are fairly simple and should actually coax the beginner into attempting a layout or two.

However, for experienced scrappers too, there are lots of great prompts to trigger journaling, ideas for photos, ideas for memorabilia, website addresses for more information.

It also gives you lots of quotes for different chapters such as, childhood, friendship, homemaker, character, personal power, dreamer. There are 15 chapters in all.

A good start for someone wanting to explore self portrait pages and “get the juices flowing”. 80 pages.

The Book of Us

I particularly liked this book as the example layouts/albums are “sumptuous”… there are some fantastic layout ideas in this book. I actually refer to it a lot.

There are 10 chapters including headings such as: Our Perspectives, Circle Journals, Our Love, My gift to You (about making a mini album for someone).

Again there are lots of quotes for you to use, pages of “journaling prompts” which are very helpful to get you started and the photography of the layouts and albums is sharp so that you can clearly read the journaling, some of which is really touching.

In this book there are also supplies lists for the items displayed. 160 pages.

All in all I would definitely recommend The Book Of Us as a scrapbooking resource of inspiration.

For more information visit the link below:-

The Book of Us: A Guide to Scrapbooking About Relationships

Tips for noting those precious moments

Thought I’d bring these tips to you courtesy of the scrapbooking.families.com site. Can you think of any others?

Remembering The Memories
by Nicole Humphrey

When I am teaching journaling classes, I am often asked, how I go about remembering the memories I've created. It really is not difficult. With any amount of time that goes by, you are sure to forget details and not remember something you might wish you had. There are a few things to help you along.

First, if you hear something funny or that you wish to remember, write it down. On a napkin, or a piece of paper, or whatever you happen to have around. The actual act of writing it down, can sometimes etch it into your brain and its a visual reminder. Not to mention, you won't forget any part of it.
A few other ideas:

Pocket Calendar
I have a calendar I keep in my purse, so that I can write down appointments, events and holidays, and not forget. If my children say or do something funny, or an important thing occurs on any given day, I write it on the calendar. When I sit down to scrapbook, often I will glance through the calendar to obtain ideas. This can work with any type of calendar provided you remember to write it down.

Journal/Diary
If you keep a journal or diary, be sure and keep it handy while you are scrapbooking. If you write down the things you want to remember, it makes it easier to transcribe them onto your layouts.

Pocket Notebook
As a writer, I always have a pocket notebook in my purse or tote bag, wherever I go. I use it to write down inspiration, funny moments and of course, ideas for articles and my books. If you have a small pocket notebook, keep it handy when you are out and write down information as it occurs.

No matter how you choose to remember the event, remember to include things like what you saw, what you smelled and what you heard. These are important aspects to descriptive writing, and can help others who are looking at your layouts and reading your journaling, to remember the same things you did.

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I have a calendar in the kitchen with a month to an A4 sheet which allows space for noting little details, like first walk, first day of nursery and the like along with the boring old dentist appointments! I keep them all in chronological order so that I can refer to them when needed for a date for a particular layout.

http://scrapbooking.families.com/blog/remembering-the-memories

Why we should scrapbook ourselves – extra

I have been talking about scrapbooking myself, in the hope that it would help some of you start to scrapbook yourselves.

Here is a page layout which I found on the One Little Word blog. This is a blog that uses a word for the inspiration of a page layout. A refreshing idea!

Anyway, this particular layout is from the selection of pages made using the word “My” as inspiration.

I thought I would bring it to you as it beautifully illustrates the intimate, personal nature of some layouts. This is a very moving page. The photograph itself hints of the private and personal and the journaling gives an insight to the innermost feelings of this woman.

I for one know exactly how she feels!! You just want to reach out to her and tell her it’s ok!

This particular page shows elegantly how a simple layout can have a powerful effect. Well done Corinne for creating the page, and thank you for sharing your personal layouts with your fellow scrappers!

Scrapbooking Ourselves

Following on from the posts regarding “Why we should scrapbook ourselves”, it seems that it is an interesting subject to a lot of people. I have a feeling this blog may go that way, to try to discuss the various issues people may have about Personal Scrapbooking.

I found this post, over on the “A Life Unrehearsed” blog. It’s about a “Personal page layout” and the explanation of this one woman (the designer of the layout pictured) as to why she is scrapbooking herself – as written in the journaling which is also copied below for easy reading.

Anyway… this is (most) of the content from that post by Bonnie Kempenich on the “A Life Unrehearsed” blog...

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Scrapbooking Ourselves.
This is why we do it, right here.

Her journaling reads:

Scrapbooking myself, taking photos of myself and telling my life story seemed strange to me at first, kind of vain in a way. But when I saw my children and husband's reactions to the pages about me, their genuine interest and my girls telling me how cool it will be to have stuff about their mom when they are older, I threw my inhibitions out the window. Realized telling my story through my scrapping is therapeutic for me. And it's important. I find a lot of inspiration in my life, in my experiences and I now love being able to express who I am, where I've been and where I want to go on the pages I make. And my kids will have these bits and pieces of my life to look back upon.

She said it all.

We're not being vain. We're being real.

Leaving a bit of us behind for our children, after we're long gone.

So important -

That our children not only remember the fun, happy times, the special events - but that, they also get to know the real woman. The real woman they call MOM.

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The inspirational page layout is by Kate O’Brien and she has given me permission to publish it here for you. Not only is she scrapping loads… but she has 7 children!!! Incredible Kate - I take my hat off to you!