I brought a puppy home yesterday and here he is!
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!
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!
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!!
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.
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!
I'm packing (again) for another week away, and have a streaming cold too right now so haven't been able to type up my notes! So here is a little exerpt from the "everything about Scrapbooking site, about some journaling ideas. I think they are quite interesting!
The Layout here is a "Favourite Layout" as published on the above site's pages.
Journaling about Significant "Invisible" Issues
It's unlikely that you'll have a photo for every significant moment or event that happened in your life. OK, maybe you might now arm yourself with a digital camera wherever you are for those "just-in-case" moments.
Still, some of the most impromptu and important moments struck before you can hit the camera's button.
Go ahead and create a scrapbook layout revealing your joy, your triumphs, your failures and the good and bad bits of such moments, without the photos. Don't get stuck marrying photos to every layout.
You can always use a photo from another event for such a layout. Alternatively, simply skip the photo part and let your journaling take the center stage.
Let your memories play full out in words.
Journaling about Little Care Instructions
Create a scrapbook sharing little care instructions for your little boy and little girl. I got this idea from Creating Keepsakes' founder, Lisa Bearnson.
Such a scrapbook containing care instructions can prove to be a life savior in times of emergencies. When mommy isn't around for awhile, daddy or the temporary caretaker can have an "instruction manual" to refer to.
Flipping through the little care instruction scrapbook, the temporary caretaker can quickly know what is your girl's favorite doll that soothes her, what TV program is a must-watch every afternoon at 2pm for your boy, and what's their nap time.
Just getting back to “The Secret” (see Sept 7th Post) for a moment – A pal I have met through UK Scrappers left me a message on that post to say that there is actually a blog specifically re “Scrapbooking the Secret”.
Unfortunately it only appears to have been live for a short while but gives you an idea about it all.
That site goes into scrapping pages about yourself, but I was thinking about how our love of scrapping could help us “attract” more “good” into our lives.
How…?
Well, you probably know all about “affirmations” – the famous one being…
“Every day in Every way, I’m getting better and better”!
Wee we all need to think in a different way – a more positive way – about ourselves, our loved ones and our lives generally.
To this end, and because we are all in the ‘bad habit’ of not being thankful for what we already have, we need to constantly remind ourselves to say thank you.
So I was thinking… why not make up some reminders, some people stick Post Its on their mirrors , put notes on the fridge door, etc…
Why not scrap some and hang them around the place – think how much more aesthetically pleasing they would be.
So… my mission this week… to make at least one reminder – which I shall put by my bed, so I see it when I awake, so it’s the first thing I do, and it will say something like…
“Thank You for all the Good in My Life”.
I will upload a photo of the finished item as soon as I have made it.
In the meantime… here is a layout I did of myself and my trusty camera – something I am truly grateful for. And… what’s more I was given a large amount of the money for it from a friend and some more from my mum and the rest I gathered together, in time for the birth of my daughter. And, of course, ever since scrapbooking came into my life, I use it almost on a daily basis. And my camera is so much more than just something that takes snaps!
Ah, finally home now after a week in Majorca... little pic taken this morning before we left for the airport.
Back with my trust LT now (laptop), and the reason for not being able to post much this week... I was in Majorca!
For security reasons I don't like to "let on" to that fact until I get back to the house and all is well!
However, usually I go away with just my daughter for a few days at a time and can't necessarily post whilst I am away, but my hubby is at home with the animals, so the house is secure from that point of view!
So this is just to say I will be posting some pickies later today!!
BUT did anyone see my item in October's Scrapbook Inspirations magazine just published?
Now for those of you that know me personally... you will know why this is just a "quickie" post.
I just wanted to stay in touch even though I currently have no access to my trusty PC!
Which is why there were no pictures with the last post. I do like to include at least one image with each post, but sometimes, it is just not possible to do so. However, I will have access again shortly and then will be able to upload some pictures! Hoorah!!
However, until then here is just a mini TIP for you...
If you are a beginner and planning to buy some stamps (the ones you stamp images with!) I would advise that you gofor acrylic ones. In other words not the wood mounted ones. This is especially important if you are planning on investing in some alphabet stamps.
The reason...
...because you can see precisely "where" you are about to stamp your image in comparison to other things around it because your mount is transparent. And because you can create a word straight onto the stamping block and test it out before stamping the real thing, thus allowing for adjustment, creating a stamped word(s) nicely spaced. Also and for some most important... they are a LOT cheaper.
I believe that the days of wood mounted stamps are severely numbered.
Now there's an event... hopefully a regular one... which is an event in itself, they usually inpire many snaps of all those things you don't want to forget and so - by "many" snaps I mean LOADS!
I have found it best to create an album dedicated to that one particular holiday.
Now you are probably thinking... " Gosh I don't want to do a whole 12x12 album just for a week in ... blah blah!"
Well by album - I am actually referring to a Paper Bag Book (PBB)!
If you choose to put together 3 paper bags you end up with front and back covers, plus 5 Double Page Spreads (DPS) and 3 pockets.
Now the covers and the DPSs are straight forward enough - just 6x6" pages, but in a PBB it's the pockets which are of particular use, and that's because of the the "stuff" you can get into each pocket.
You can get a number journaling cards/tags in one pocket, thus allowing plenty of room, if you have lots to say. Or of course, you can include yet more photographs.
I will post photos shortly - but in a recent holiday PBB, I placed a pocket on one of the journaling cards into which I "stored" about 8 6x4" photos. They are just "as is" and, if I want to, I can journal on the back of the photos too!
TIP: if you do write on the back of your photos with a biro, it is worth sticking or slipping thin paper between each as atmospherics can make the ink mark the photo beneath. Either that or use a proper photograph marker.
I quite often make up a PBB (or any other type of album with pockets) and leave the journaling tag/cards/inserts (whatever you wish to call them) blank for my journaling later.
Try not to get too caught up with journaling as you go along, if you think of things to say as you make up your page layouts, then by all means, write some notes to remind you, but it is worth leaving the 'full on' journaling till the end.
And if you have "oodles" to say - maybe you wrote a diary whilst you were away - then try typing it into your computer, printing it out smaller than usual (say 9pt instead of the usual 11 or 12pt) and fold the paper into a neat package, tie it with a ribbon and adhere that to one of your cards.
It is surprising just how much journaling you can get int a small space when you try!
Well I was hoping that I would be able to post the completed mini album that I used as a demonstration at the ScrapBuddies Crop yesterday, but I was so busy teaching - which I love to do by the way - that I didn't get to finish sticking it all together.
Normally I would just post it a bit later, but I am off to sunnier climbs for a week now and as I may not have suitable access to the internet, I may well not be able to post here again for a few days now!
However, as soon as everything "scrapbooking" is finished I will post it here first! If I can't have exclusivity on my own blog... where can I have it?!
However, before I go I will give you a TIP...
I have often heard the groan "Oh I have SO many photos to scrap, that I just can't keep track of it all".
Now that to me means "I am feeling overwhelmed by my own unreasonable targets to scrap everything". Everybody gets overwhelmed to the point of inaction, they just don't know where to start.
My advice... Stop telling yourself that you HAVE to scrapbook everything. As an example, if you have a load of photographs from a birthday party, don't think you have to have every single one on a layout. Nor should you worry that you haven't Incorporated them all.
Scrap your favourites, it may only be one large one from the party. That's ok, with the other photographs... you can do one of the following:
1. make a concertina album and place a small pictures onto each of its pages, tie a ribbon around it and adhere it to your layout.
2. place all the unused photos into a suitable pocket/envelope and stick that to the page (OR) stick it to the back of your layout just for storage.
You can always go back at some later date and put more pictures onto more scrapbooking pages, but at least you have some sort of part of the event (or just a set of photos) that has a layout.
I guarantee you will feel better, knowing you have done something rather than nothing because of how daunting it all seemed!
The photograph shows an open concertina booklet on a layout. The photos were'nt good ennough on their own, but together and small they make a good interactive feature to the page.
Mini albums are great for scrapping an entire "mini" event! Something like a day out or just spending time with someone, friends, relatives, etc.
Alright, we have all had them... rubbish photos we have to use for one reason or another.
Sometimes you can end up with a photograph of someone (including yourself) which is a really nice picture if it weren't for the fact that it's a bit blurred or out of focus. Or the portrait is of the whole body and you just want a head and shoulders shot, but when you up the size of the photo, the quality starts to break up (pixelate).
Well there is a solution to those problems.
The fuzziness is less obvious when you change the picture to black and white for a start. But - and this is main bit...
Up the contrast in the picture quite a lot, this can still be done in something like Word, because the program will allow you to slightly fiddle with the settings of the picture, like change it to black and white and fiddle with contrast and brightness.
As you increase the contrast it "whites" out a lot of the imperfections. Also you can use a filter on it to deliberately fuzz (soften) the image. This though has to be done in a photo manipluation program.
The 2 examples - sorry it's my "mug" again - show (TOP) the result of "fiddling" with the original photograph (below). The original was cropped from a fairly low res picture and so was fuzzy when increasing the size, but it was the only picture of me not grinning my head off!
I did use Photoshop Elements in the end to get rid of the background.. I wanted a moody, mysterious feel (it's to go on a particular layout) But I changed the picture to B&W, then increased the contrast, and then used a filter [Filter menu - Distort - Diffuse Glow] which enhances the picture no end!
But just B&W and increased contrast will do a good job.
Well, this is a picture of my neat and tidy desk!!! NOT!
Thought I might as well show you my preparation table. I have a demo to do at the ScrapBuddies Crop this Saturday and my demo is about how to make a mini book. It is based on the Valentine one I made for my husband. You can just make it out in the middle of the picture.
The subject of the demonstration mini book is my daughter and her cousins all washing my car together!
You can see that I have printed out a whole A4 page of little photos. I explained how to do this in the post about Scrapbooking Ourselves - printing photographs.
I am currently in the process of gathering a selection of ribbons, embellishments and other bits and pieces, which I could protentially use in my mini album. In that way I basically make myself up a little kit of co-orinating items. I may well not use them all and I only get out a sample (ie a couple of brads) so that it reminds me what I have, I can always go to my stash to collect some more when I am putting it all together.
Advise I would give to anyone going to a crop, even if not demonstrating. Make a collection of items or yourself for a particular layout. That way you can use the crop time for scrapping and not trawling through your stash looking for inspiration!
Most people think of Scrapbooking as a way of preserving memories. And for the most part this is what most people create albums for.
But there is so much more to it.
We often get hung up on the aesthetics of pages and it becomes all about the photographs. But what about the journaling, eh?
Now I know for a fact that a lot of people groan when you mention journaling because they don’t know what to write or they don’t like their handwriting, etc.
If you don’t like your handwriting, then print out your journaling, or use hidden journaling under photos of inside envelopes, etc. The example above shows hidden journaling that is tucked behind one of the pictures.
There are lots of ways (or types) of journaling, but one that is not done a lot is scrapbooking your thoughts for the future.
This is ideal to do for your children. You can either not use a photograph at all, or use up some of those pictures of your children or grandchildren of which you have hundreds!!
It is actually quite effective to make use of one of those slightly blurred pictures as it brings an air of wistful thought to the layout.
You can write about your hopes for your children, your values and maybe even your experiences from which you hope they will learn.
A fun way of journaling about the future is to try some predictions! Say what you think your baby/child might be when he/she grows up! You can then compare reality to your layout in 20 years time and see how far off you were… or maybe that you obviously have a sixth sense.
Well us mum’s are supposed to be “all knowing” aren’t we!
Now I am aware that in Part 3 of this series I did say that Part 4 would be about a Valentines Mini Book!
Well I will be posting it, I haven’t forgotten! I just need to get around to taking the photos! And I am actually using it by way of a demo item for the next Scrapbuddies crop next weekend – cos they all saw it last time and want to have a go! (Just the mini album bit, you understand, not the valentine bit!! LOL!) That will be in Part 5.
Anyway, this Part 4 is still about scrapbooking yourself, but this time it’s about making a layout that shows your love for someone (or something like a pet or a place).
It is still about you - your likes and dislikes - but it should a positive thing about what you appreciate in others. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about “love”, but it should be a positive feeling. So anything from like, to appreciate about, to really care about, to someone/something you are thankful for… etc.
I have been watching the DVD and reading the book of something called The Secret. It is about the Law of Attraction. Whatever you think and feel about you bring about. There is link to the website at the bottom of this post. I would recommend everybody, even cynics, take a look at this stuff, as I believe it to be helpful even in the smallest way of just getting you to think more positively.
We all know that when we are in a good mood, little troubles don’t seem to stress us out as when we are already wound up and feeling pessimistic.
And one of the best ways to get you in a positive mood is to think about something or someone you like! Now that’s not rocket science, is it? So an album about you, doesn’t just have to be about YOU. It is about YOUR LIFE and appreciating what is good about your life NOW is really important.
Also, your scrapbook can inspire and encourage your family, and friends. And the best way to do this apart from true journaling on your part, is to create layouts that point out the special qualities and talents that you see in them.
In your pages… talk to them, tell them how much you love them, and how special they are, or how grateful you are for them being in your life. Tell them about the good points you see. It doesn’t matter how small, it could be that you just like their hair… doesn’t matter as long as it is a positive feeling.
Be expressive, if you are going to feel embarrassed should the person (who is the focus of the layout) see it then just keep it to one side until you are happy with the idea, but for the purposes of a BOM, don’t hold back. It’s your chance to allow yourself to “feel” these emotions. A BOM is a fantastic way to “give yourself permission” to say how you really feel.
There is also the possibility that a scrapbooking layout about the unique qualities of a certain person could actually be given as a gift – it can help lift them when they aren't feeling so confident about themselves. It is a unique and very special and personal gift.
If you can’t find the words…. Use song lyrics, there are lots out there of things that can be translated to friendship – they are not all about romance!!
So the next time you pick your stash, why not scrap a heartfelt page about your love (or just like) for someone/something.
It can only put you in a good frame of mind!
We see so many layouts with just one photo on them. And yet we have thousands of photographs just busting to be used. Why do we have to choose just one photo from an event or photo session?
Well the answer is you don’t have to at all.
Of course it is a lot easier to create layouts if you have the ability to print out any size, ie you print using your own computer, but it is just as possible using photographs already printed. That is because you can make the most of all the “slightly dodgy” photos by cropping in really tight to someone’s head and shoulders (for instance) and cut out all the other dross!
You can crop in tight to features, like eyes, on portraits that fill a 6x4 photo, and all these little photos enhance the main one or two photographs on your layout to give a much better overall story.
Of course, if you do print your own straight from your computer – you have the huge flexibility to just print out the whole pictures smaller, but even then it is really worth taking the opportunity to crop pictures in interesting ways.
For instance, you may not believe it, but cropping off a third to half of the face in a portrait picture can been really effective! Try it!
And of course, by layout I mean a single page or a DPS (double page spread). Challenge yourself to scrap all the pictures you took at your child’s/grandchild’s last birthday!
This is the link for some sketches using 10 or more photos on DPS. It’s by Becky Higgins and is on the Creating Keepsakes site.
The page here is only an 8x8, and yet I have managed to get 5 photographs on it. And that was because I wanted to use them all, but they didn’t all warrant pages to themselves, especially as they are all on the same theme.
Why not share your favourite layout online? Then we can all take a ganders and appreciate all your hard work!
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Thought I would show you the actual sketch that I used which came from the Little Book of Sketches website, so that you can compare it to my finished layout.
The Squiggly lines (like stitching) on this sketch have been translated to straight ribbons on my layout. Now I could say that this was to reflect the angular form of the car...! But in fact it was because I couldn't be bothered to get the sewing machine out!
I bet you thought I was going to discuss lips!!
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!
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!)
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!
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.
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?
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!
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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 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:
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?
Well this is the card I have made for my hubby for our 15th Wedding Anniversary - which is tomorrow!
Well I feel like I've been sand blasted today!!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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