Scrap365 August Sketch

Good morning! I'm finally back with a post about the new sketch challenge happening over at Scrap365. A very easy sketch to get the mojo flowing but there is heaps of room for interpretation.

And here is my take:                                  "Positively Positano"

Of course I had to use a photo from my DDs recent trip. This is the view from their Villa. Can you imagine waking up to this everyday! sorry about the photo I took of the layout, it's a bit wonky & the colour isn't good (I always struggle with good lighting). The clocks represent the age of this area in Italy and also the time it took for our travellers to actually get there. It was a very long day of travel although they only left from London :/

Products used:
PP - Kaszazz & Kaisercraft "Take off" collection. Kraft doily - Maya Road.
Flowers - Prima & Craft Queen.
Metal embellie - Trinkett Track
Flair - Studio Fourteen40
Washi tape & fabric circles - Craft Queen
Wooden sailboat - Studio Calico
Stencils - Crafters Workshop
Alphas - Carolees Creations
Leaves - Heartfelt Creations/Spellbinders die/stamps
Ink & misting.

As you can see, a very easy sketch to follow & I really enjoyed this process.
Thanks for dropping by & feel free to leave a comment :)

CSI #131

It's been a while since I've tackled a Case File over at CSI: Colour,Stories,Inspiration what with DT commitments, project life albums and the like I kept missing the deadlines. So this week I've made it my first priority. This week included a great sketch by Em Stafrace.

As you can see it's a very unusual Scheme this week, but they are colours that I have in my stash so a good opportunity to use them.

I've written a story about our Belle which I've tucked into the orange bag behind the photos.

Here is my journalling: Belle is such a funny little Staffy. Tim brought her home when she was only 6 weeks old, not much bigger than the palm of his hand. Despite our protest at having another dog, even though China had been very lonely since Sophie passed away, Tim insisted on her being part of our family. As she grew she became more destructive. She chewed everything and anything that was left outside, and even some things inside the house, much to our horror. Before she arrived we finally had our gardens how we wanted them after many years of trial and error and hard work. But our perfectly ordered gardens suddenly became a target for Belle. Dozens of holes dug in the gardens and in the lawns. We have lost count of how many irrigation lines and sprinklers she has destroyed. She pulled washing off the line (always the most expensive items) and chewed holes in them. She destroyed countless shoes until we learnt not to leave them within reach of her short little legs. She even ate her way through a large timber wine barrel that we used as a pot. I won’t even mention the money we have spent on new beds for her. We thought she would grow out of it after she lost her puppy teeth, but 5 years later she still has her “destructive moments”.

She really believes that she’s a whippet just like China, and we haven’t had the heart to tell her otherwise.

She is totally unaware of how strong she could be if she wasn’t such a softy. Her energy levels exhaust us at times but when she rests, she is almost rendered unconscious and snores like a trooper. She isn’t brave and hates being in trouble, which is a regular occurrence.

She is very affectionate and wants to be with her family all the time, but China treats her like a very annoying little sister but Belle is never put off by China’s indifference.

But despite all this and all our frustration at the way she has turned our household upside down at times, she has somehow managed to wangle her way into our hearts.

How can such a not-so-pretty, powerful, highly energetic, destructive dog manage to win everyone’s heart? It must be her ability to give us the “puppy dog eyes” when the situation calls for it.

Thanks for dropping by today....

A bit of Craft Queen work...

I hope you are all enjoying your Sunday. It's all very laid back in my household, but that probably has more to do with the lousy weather than anything else. The lovely Nicole from Craft Queen sent me some goodies to play with a little while ago & I only just realised that I haven't uploaded them.

The pp used here is from Kaisercraft "Bow & Arrow" collection along with some of the matching collectables. I've used a Technique Tuesday "Ali Edwards" stamp (also available from Craft Queen), which I absolutely love. The little pearl flowers are from Craft Queen too so pop on over & check out Nicole's shop.

This is a pic of moi & DD on her birthday; the day after we flew into London to surprise her. This is in a cocktail bar with lovely views of the city. It was a great way to finish off a beautiful day exploring with our beautiful girl.

This next layout is also from the Kaisercraft range of "Be-you-tiful" papers. I've added some fussy cutting from the range as well as some leaves & roses from Craft Queen and some hydrangea flowers from Petaloo. There's also some washi tape added & a little clock & squirrel wooden button - if you can spot it (also from Craft Queen of course!).

I really love the colour tones in this paper as it matched the autumn colours in the photo of the family outing to Cambridge.

Thanks for looking today. Have a great week :)

Scrap Africa Pinterest Challenge #31

It's time again for another creative challenge over at SCRAP AFRICA. A beautiful mood board from Pinterest:

I really love this theme, although I very rarely create with these colours. But I went ahead & took my inspo from the colours, the music notes and the flowers. Here is my take:

                                                 

I had a lot of fun making this card using some lovely handmade flowers & pin from Tattered Inspirations, muslin and lace & ribbon from Craft Queen. I think I really like mauve & green together.

I really hope you get a chance to play along with this challenge. A layout, a card or even a tag. I'd love you to hop on over and have a look at all the DT's inspirations.  Thanks for calling in :)

My Creative Scrapbook Challenge...

Happy Saturday everyone, I hope you are all doing whatever it is that brings you happiness. I found this fantastic sketch challenge over at My Creative Scrapbook and had to give it a go, but the deadline is in a few days, so I had to get my head down. Here is the lovely sketch:

A bit of graphic design in this one and something completely different, hence my eagerness to play along.

Once again I've used the Echo Park Mini Theme collection, which I'm in love with because of its versatility.

The Flair is from Flutterby Designs and the spool top is from D-lish Scraps. I can't remember where I got the cog brad but it's been hiding in my stash for quite a while. Also a bit of hand sewing on this one as well.

Thanks for looking :)

D-lish Cybercrop #5

Just a quick post today with another addition to last weekends cybercrop that I participated in at D-lish Scraps  This was the page that I took a long while pondering on because it was an "ingredient" challenge.

So after I gathered all the ingredients and decided on my photo, this is what eventuated:

And yes most of you folk from the Northern Hemisphere will being rolling your eyes right about now, because squirrels are a nuisance in your area and you see them everyday, just like we think Kangaroos are a nuisance here and where I live we see them everyday too. BUT just like our native friends, squirrels are undeniably cute. And in some areas in London they are downright friendly and obliging when they see a camera. This little guy came right up to me, sat back on his haunches and I'm sure I could see a cheesy smile on his little face :) How can one resist the temptation I ask you?

I'm not sure if I'll get another challenge done before the cut off time, but stay tuned anyway and thanks for calling in xx

D-lish Scraps July Inspiration Board

Well hello on this cold, blustery evening! While I did brave the cold to prune and treat my roses today, I made sure I left enough time to ponder the next challenge for the D-lish Scraps Cybercrop. So I pondered and pondered.... until I decided to tackle their July Inspiration Board instead. The colours required are some of my faves so I thought it was the easier project to tackle. Here is the Board:

I've always liked these colours together and because they can be adapted to a masculine or a feminine page. I took my inspo from the sketch as well as the phone, twine & hearts.

                                                                       "HELLO"

I have so many photos from our trip to London featuring the colour red, this one was perfect for the colour scheme and the theme.  I placed a acetate overlay over the photo, which I've had in my stash for ages.

                             

This came together in under an hour, so by then I was really over the pondering about Challenge #5 for the cybercrop (it's an ingredient challenge) and decided to just jump straight into it once I found a suitable photo. I'll be back on Friday to show you how that turned out :) In the meantime, happy scrapping and thanks for looking.

D-lish Scraps Cybercrop Challenge #4

I'm just losing the light, so I've just scraped in to get this one photographed and uploaded. This is very different to the last challenge - it's a mood board for the cybercrop over at D-lish Scraps:

I was inspired more by the pretty colours than anything else and I wanted to reflect the pretty lights in my photo.

Excuse the warped cardstock but I needed to spray it with heaps of water to get the paint and ink to run, but it was all drying quicker than expected :/

This pic was taken on a very windy, cold night on London Bridge with our girl. I hope you've enjoyed looking at these challenges this weekend as much as I've enjoyed making them. I still have a week to complete the remainder of the challenges but with the daily humdrum getting in the way, I may not get back to them until the end of the week.

Thanks for dropping by :)

D-lish Scraps Cybercrop Challenge #3

I finished this one just in time for lunch. Challenge #3 at D-lish Scraps cybercrop is to use 5 different types of flowers. Seeing as I didn't use any flowers at all on the last 2 challenges, I was really in the mood for some pretty stuff.

I've been dying to use the Kaisercraft "Close to my heart" collection, so when I received this photo I knew straight away that I would try & introduce them :) I've used quite a few different flowers & I've even fussy cut some matching paper flowers at the bottom of the photo. I love that I have so many wonderful photos to work with these days.

For those of you who haven't heard about  the "Blitz Parties" in London (I hadn't until a few months ago) it is an event where everyone dresses in authentic 1940s outfits, it is held in an old tube station/bomb shelter, where it is decorated just like a 1940s bar (e.g. sand bags, smoke/fog, bunting etc etc), you are entertained by 1940s bands and they have old 40s newsreels being shown on the walls. DD was so excited to have had the chance to attend one of these parties and she reports that she honestly thought that they'd "stepped back in time". Everything was so authentic that she felt like she was living in London during the war - minus the bombs & rationing of course! I couldn't wait to scrap this photo. Hopefully I'll be back this afternoon with the next cybercrop challenge. TFL xx

Orange Paperie & Co...

Just one last quick post before bedtime. John's challenge for this month over at Orange Paperie & Co is quite the "challenge". It's a DOUBLE layout. Yes, get your mojo out people and give it a go! Here is my inspo, but please have a look at all the wonderful layouts by the other DT members, they are truly wonderful.

I die cut the flowers, inked & glimmer glazed them and painted the title with 3D stamp paint.
I purchased the MME pp from the Scrapbook Superstore in Penrith a little while ago & it's got lots of lovely silver glitter, which reminded me of the opulence of the Royal State Rooms inside Windsor Castle. Unfortunately photography wasn't allowed inside the castle, but we got some lovely exterior photos. We had a really fun day here with our very own tour guides (aka DD & partner) and even though they had already been to Windsor Castle a few times before this, they were happy to spend the day with us. It just so happened that the State Rooms actually used by the Queen were open at that time, so our tour guides got to see a part of the castle that they hadn't seen before. We then had  lunch in the loveliest pub in Windsor, a browse around the village & then caught a late train back to London. We were astounded at the enormity of this Castle as well as the history. St George's Chapel has to be seen to be believed! It's very surreal being amongst the tombs of so many previous Kings & Queens.

Hop on over the Orange Paperie this month and play along, we'd love to see you there :)

D-lish Scraps Cybercrop Challenge #2

This one is completely different to the last. Challenge #2 at D-lish Scraps is a sketch challenge by Kylie:

I found this funny selfie that DS had taken of himself and his friend last year. It cracked me up when I first saw it & I've had it in the back of my mind to do something with it, even though it isn't the best quality photo. When I saw this sketch I thought I could use it to make a quirky page for said photo.

I've used the PAPERCLIP (FUN) from D-lish Scraps....yay!  I also recently purchased a chalk marker from Stampin' Up which works so much better on black than the white gel pens.  Thanks again for looking :)

D-lish Scraps Cybercrop Challenge #1

I'm back again this morning with my first layout for D-lish Scraps weekend cybercrop. And the first challenge is a scrap lift by Tarrah:

I had a slow start but I think I'm on a roll now. I scrap lifted the design but also put my own little spin on it. I've used a lovely Echo Park mini theme kit "Oh, snap". I didn't really have to think about matching papers so this was a lot of fun.

There is an extra entry into the prize draw if we use D-lish Scraps products. Sorry guys, but I didn't have a D-lish Flair to match so had to use a flair from another company....eek! but it matched perfectly so I had to go with it. I'll see what I can include in the next challenge.  Stay tuned for Challenge #2...

Sketchabilities #118

Wow! Where did the week get to?! I'm participating in a cybercrop this weekend & I'm already behind, but I just wanted to get my entry for Sketchabilities #118 uploaded before I forgot. Another lovely sketch & a photo I've been wanting to scrap for a few months.

Thanks Steve Hill for another great photo. This was taken on their trip to Amsterdam and as soon as I saw the colours of this little boat I just wanted to give it centre stage. I don't think its possible to take a bad photo in Amsterdam. The canals are so pretty and throw a cute little boat into the mix, I can't help but scrap it!

I've used some pp off cuts, Kaisercraft "The Looking Glass" collectables, and a lovely flair from Flutterby Designs. Also American Crafts thickers.

Thanks for looking and I'll be back hopefully soon with my cybercrop projects :)

SCRAP AFRICA SKETCH CHALLENGE #31

Hello all! There is a new sketch challenge over at Scrap Africa and this one's a beauty. I really enjoyed working with it (and have I mentioned how much I love being on their Design Team?!). Denise van Deventer comes up with the most fantastic sketches and I urge you to pop on over and have a go at it.

Not only has the other DT members come up with some wonderful inspo for you, there is also a very talented Guest Designer as well.

I'm so pleased with how the colours worked for this layout, and I just had to use some glitter for the theme (unfortunately this pic doesn't do the colours justice nor the snowflakes made from white glitter paper - it is quite sparkly IRL).

I also added a bit of glitter to the edges of the flowers and the little flair is from Studio Fourteen40 which was a perfect colour match. I've discovered that creating winter layouts are a lot of fun.

I hope you get a chance to play along! Thanks for looking :)