Saturday 30 November 2013

CSI Case File #100

I was so chuffed to be asked by Debbi Tehrani over at CSI: Colour, Stories, Inspiration to be a Special Investigator for November and now I can't believe the month has already gone! At first I was quite daunted as there were 5 Challenges for this month and I was about to travel to London in the middle of it all, but Debbi is so organised and gave me the Challenges well in advance so I could at least get the early ones done before I left. I had so much fun doing them that I couldn't wait to get home to complete the remainder of the Case Files. Here is this weeks beauty:


And here is my design:



I've embossed the background pattern using a CW stencil & gold embossing powder then I stamped over it with various background stamps. I also included the entrance ticket from The Royal Mews, tucking it in behind the photo, and I made the little flags myself & stamped several of them.


The Royal Mews is so interesting and I'm so glad we made the effort to visit. I'm not sure if it's on the list for a lot of tourists in London because the day we visited there were only about half a dozen visitors including us. It is home to the staff and their families who look after the Royal carriages, horses and cars. The crafts that they use are handed down through the generations, therefore many of the families have been working and living at The Mews for quite a few generations. I never expected to see this magnificent Coach there and we were totally blown away when we came across it. We could also walk through the stables where the horses are kept (very swanky by horse standards) and we eye-balled all the ceremonial coaches and the stories behind them. If you ever visit London it is worth the 8 pound entrance fee. It's tucked in behind Buckingham Palace with the entrance being on Buckingham Palace Road.

So go on over CSI and have a go at this weeks Case File - lots of fun to be had :)  Until next time, happy creating!

Friday 29 November 2013

Specialty Card....


Hello everyone!  I've really missed my scrapbooking time this week but I managed to get lots of Xmas cards made for selling. A local boutique sells them for me and I also sell them from my place of work so I've had to make double the amount this year, but hey! it keeps me off the streets ;) chuckle.  But thrown into the mix this week was a request from a lovely lady for a birthday card for her Grandmother - the catch being that she needed it the day after she ordered it.....eeek! So luckily it wasn't my day on at work so I pushed aside the Xmas stash and created this for her.



I really enjoy making "one off special request" cards as I tend to put lots more effort and creativity into them so that they are a unique keepsake for the receiver.  I hand made the little pink flowers & sprayed them with a bit of Glimmer Mist & the tiny white flowers are made of satin which I've had in my stash for yonks. I'm loving my new little leafy vine die, I think it will be making an appearance on a lot of my creations from now on. After I took this pic I added a tiny butterfly to finish it off, after I eye-balled it for a few hours wondering why I thought it needed something else & if so, what?

Well thanks for dropping by. I'll be back soon with my design for this weeks Case File for CSI #100 (my last as "Special Investigator" for November) and next week the new challenge for The Orange Paperie & Co will be up and running, and there is still time to enter this months challenge too. Hope to see you there :)

Saturday 23 November 2013

CSI Case File #99

Well hidey ho fellow scrappers! Another Case File is up and running for this week over at CSI and what a beauty it is too! The colours are lovely and quite challenging and just the thing to get you out of your comfort zone.



It's hard to believe that we are up to Case File #99 already. Keep an eye out for #100 next week it's sure to get your mojo flowing.  Here is my design for this week as Special Investigator. When I saw that orange was included in this week's scheme I knew which photo I wanted to use - well how could I not?! We came across this magnificent pumpkin display while visiting Kew Gardens. There were pumpkins as far as the eye could see and many of which I've never seen in my life. It was good to see that the good old Queensland Blue was included :)





I found these cute pictures of pumpkins on the internet, I fussy cut them, used 3D foam underneath & wrapped some green wire around the stems.


The lovely window frame is from ScrapFX which I've layered with Structure paste to give it a rustic feel & then inked it up. The flowers are from Petaloo. They are really pretty because they have a velvety feel & a hint of glitter on them. The little "Seed Annual" button tucked in amongst the flowers are from Tattered Inspirations. And of course you can't go wrong with Kasier "Base Coat" in the background.

Thanks for dropping by. I'd love to see your creations over at CSI this week.

Saturday 16 November 2013

CSI #98 Special Investigator

Well hello again. Another week, another CSI: Colour, Stories Inspiration challenge. This is my Special Investigator design for this week. Now the colour scheme really took me out of my comfort zone. Mainly because I very rarely use mauve or purple in a layout, let alone combine it with these colours. When Debbi sent me the Case File my first reaction was "What the?!!! what on earth am I going to do with those colours?"  But once I sat down & did a bit of brain storming (I know! a miracle in itself!) I realised that if I used a small amount of mauve/purple as a highlight, it would go quite nicely with the other colours in the scheme. And of course I just love aqua blue, so that combined with my other fave colour of green I found that I wasn't so daunted by the Challenge. Another important aspect for me was incorporating my journalling. So this time I started with the story & then worked the design around that.

Here is the Case File:


And here is my take. And a big thank you to Steve Hill for providing the photo :)




I hope you have time to have a go at the challenge this week. Thanks for calling in :)

Friday 15 November 2013

Once Upon A Sketch...


Happy Friday everyone! It's been a while since I've entered a challenge over at Once Upon A Sketch, but I need a bit of help to get going of late & this month's sketch is any easy way of getting started. The sketch comes with a theme: "My happy place".


Here is what I've made of the challenge:


I've been wanting to scrap this photo for ages but was a bit worried that I wouldn't do it justice. I'm still not convinced that I have achieved what I set out to do, but here it is anyway. The journalling is below:


The background paper is from the Kaiser Craft Base Coat collection which is so versatile. A little bit of Twiddlybitz & 2Crafty chipboard, twine, button & American Craft alphas.

Thanks for looking. Please feel free to leave some sugar :)

Saturday 9 November 2013

CSI: Colour, Stories, Inspiration # 96 & #97


I'm over the moon to be asked to be a "Guest Detective" for CSI: Colour, Stories, Inspiration for November. The challenges this month are truly inspiring so call in and have a look. Here are my layouts for last weeks challenge (which closes 10th Nov) and the current one.

                                    





And here is Case File #97 along with an amazing sketch:


This is what I came up with:




I really love the colour scheme for this challenge. But the best thing is that I don't usually cut my photos into circles so this took me out of my comfort zone, which is the whole point of the challenge! I hope I've inspired you to have a go at either of these challenges.
Thanks for dropping by xx

Orange Paperie & Co November Challenge

Well it's been a while between posts due to my travelling overseas. So without further ado here is the new challenge over at Orange Paperie & Co  It was my turn to set the challenge this month so I thought a sketch was due plus die cutting. If you'd like to have a go pop on over & check out the challenge. Here is my take:


There is a lot happening on this page, but I really love the Kaiser Craft "Sweet Pea" collection. The colours are lovely as are the little animal die cuts.

Thanks for looking & keep an eye out for my posts for CSI this month as I am a "Special Investigator" for November which I'm very chuffed about. Until next time.....