The Gang's Almost All Here: Oct Sketchy Scrappers

Well as I write this winter is definetly here. We had snow Thursday night, approx 3 inches on top of the car, which is slowly thawing and looking outside it seems easier going getting around than yesterday when it was icy first thing. I'm more or less up to date with things too, only a few more Christmas presents to buy, a couple of days planned back in Stamford to get my decs, and I'm nearly up to date with Sketchy Scrappers. Octobers sketch was set by yours truly and I chose this one from my Pinterest board. 

I like the embellishments running down the side of the page, an ideal opportunity to use some ephemera packs especially those die cuts which you have no idea how to use. 

I chose to scrap a group photo from our scrappy getaway in 2015. Not everyone is in the photo as we only remembered to take a group photo after a couple of people had left, that's what happens when you have too much fun! For this reason I nearly didn't scrap it as I felt guilty for not having a photo including them but I changed my mind as this is the story behind the photo and adds to the memories of the weekend which I wanted to document.  After choosing my photo I decided to use some die cuts from a Fancy Pants collection (I can't remember the name) as the colours seemed to suit the photo. As I mentioned before this was an ideal opportunity to use those die cuts you wouldn't normally use, when else would I use a hot air balloon? 

Let's Roll: Sketchy Scrappers September Sketch

I'm slowly working my way through the Sketchy Scrappers sketches over on the Facebook group. This was the sketch for September. 

I actually chose my photo and papers a couple of weeks ago but only got the chance to actually scrap this week! All the papers apart from the background paper are from my scraps basket which I keep on my desk in front of me. I'm challenging myself to rummage through this before looking for any other papers for my cards and layouts and I've made a huge dent in it...who am I kidding it's still bursting but I'm glad to get them used up. Anyway, back to the layout...

The photo is of my niece Boo and her dinosaur Cera. I'm not entirely sure what was going on here but sometimes it's best not to ask! 

Also on my desk is little tub with odds and ends in which I've pulled for previous projects but not used. Rather than put them away I pop them in here in the hope of using them up sooner rather than later! I used a dimensional heart button from this and some wood veneer from Coso Cricket. 

Cards for Boo

Two of the most recent cards I've made lately have been for my niece Boo. The first was because she was a big brake girl when she had her tonsils taken out, the second for her third (where has the time gone) birthday.  For her get well card I used one of my favourite stamp sets from Love Cynthia who I found on Instagram. 

 

How cute is the unicorn?? I coloured it with promarkers which I always find therapeutic. I decided to go for a soft pastel colour theme   As much as I love this stamp set I always struggle with what colour to use on the unicorn. This time I went for a creamy colour but I need to think of a way colour her white without just leaving the card plain, maybe a Wink of Stella pen or something? 

I then chose some papers from Dear Lizzy to compliment the image and voila, finished. 

For Boo's birthday card I looked through my stash and found some old die cuts from Fancy Pants, I forget the name of the collection now I think it was True Friends or something like that. I chose a selection of scraps from my scraps box, including some gorgeous Stampin Up gold heart vellum, and made this. 

Have to say I'm rather chuffed with this card. I think because of the combination of the die cuts and the vellum clouds. Those clouds are so cute, I think they'll definetly be something I repeat again on a card or layout. 

HLM challenge layouts

 

Woohoo I'm still blogging! Back again to share the remaining two layouts I made for the Hey Little Magpie challenge weekend. The next challenge I did was to use the colours of a magpie and one other colour of our choice. I decided, purely by accident when looking for black and white papers, to add turquoise to the mix which meant I actually used the colours from HLM logo! 

 

I rummaged through my stash for black and white papers and found my 6x6 Amy Tangerine Plus One pad which has lots of black and white. I found the turquoise scrap which I used and went from there. I added a doily, a Flair for Buttons flair, Elle's Studio label and Pink Paislee tag. 

I also continued on the messy stamping background theme I seemed to be on too! I liked this layout so much I brought a 12x12 box frame from the Range and have hung it in the living room. Top tip: if you do buy one of these frames make sure your layout is approx 11.5x11.5 as it is not a true 12x12 inside and I had to cut my layout down. 

The final challenge I had time to do was to start with a square photo in the centre of the page and to work out from there. Sounds easy enough. 

 

 

 

I decided to do something a bit different for me and use a solid piece of card with no paper frame as my background. I also decided to go a bit messy and use some distress paint through a stencil. Granted it didn't turn out how I pictured it would in my mind but I kind of like it. I stuck with the bright colours and used papers from WRMK Hello Darling (I'm sure it's called that) collection. 

Lazy Sunday Craft Catch Up

 

Welcome to a typical lazy, autumnal Sunday. The cleaning has been done, only a few odd jobs left to do so thought I'd start a little crafty catch up while the kettle is boiling and Midsomer Murders is on. Yes I am an old lady!  A couple months ago Hey Little Magpie started a Facebook group and had a challenge weekend to go along with it. I think there were 12 or 13 challenges in total, I did not manage all of these only completing 3 but I'm happy with that. The first challenge was a bingo challenge where we had to pick a line or go for a full house from this card. 

I opted for the bottom line and scrapped this layout using only PL Cards for my paper layers, with the exception of the background paper obviously! 

I jumped on the Snapchat bandwagon over the summer and chose these silly photos of me using some of the filters. These layout took me ages to make, I hadn't scrapped in a while so I trying to tempt my mojo to come out of hiding! I think because of this I'm not overly keen on it, buts it's scrapped now and that's the main thing! 

Stickers are some old Kesi Art ones I've had for a while. I also used some dies cuts from Fancy Pants, I'd treated myself to a couple of ephemera packs that week using money from some stash I'd sold on Facebook. I even got a bit messy (well for me) with some random stamping in the background. 

Well the kettle has boiled so I'm off to make a brew but i'lol share challenge number two with you in my next post xx

Long time no blog

So..... long time no blog again! I admit I'm having something of a blogging crisis! I have projects to blog about but do I get around to doing it....no! I enjoy blogging but sometimes wonder if anyone is actually reading it? But I am going to try and get back on the wagon, even if it is writing a post with no photos, not scrappy related just to get some of my thoughts and feelings off my chest cos let's face it if no ones reading it then it means i won't be judged and I can just get it out there.

So if you are out there, hi! Stay tuned and some posts will hopefully be appearing soon xx

Challenge catch up

To be honest this post could also be called a blog post catch up too as I made these layouts (well one of them, the other was started ages ago but only completed recently) a while ago but haven't gotten around to sharing them with you.   

This first layout I made for the June mid month challenge on Sketchy Scrappers. The challenge was to make a layout with two photos and a two word title. I decided to scrap these cute photos of Skip when he was a puppy. 

The background paper is from Alison Kreft, the other papers were scraps from Carta Bella and Recollections I think. I cut some sentiments from a scrap of Teresa Collins paper and embellished with a tag and some flowers from Fancy Pants. 

This layout is the one I started weeks ago but only finished yesterday thanks to a combination of life and inspiration going walkies! This was for the July mid month challenge where we had to use our summer themed stash. What's more summery than ice cream, so I scrapped a photo of the ice creams we had when we went to Wales for my birthday. 

The background paper is from Crate Paper Pier and the others are Pink Paislee Solstice. I decided to use some texture paste on the background, this was the part I did weeks ago and left to dry for that long just to make sure it was dry! I embellished with ephemera from the same Pink Paislee collection and a Dear Lizzy Project Life Card. 

August Anniversary Cards

Hey! Long time no blog! I have no excuses other than time running away with me! Anyway I'm back and thought I would share the anniversary cards I mentioned a couple of posts ago. August is a busy month for anniversaries as I have my parents and brother & SIL's anniversaries a couple of days apart. 

The first card I made was for Vincent and Penny. I decided to use my Hatter Gorjuss girl stamp. 

I used papers from American Crafts and Stampin Up and went for a bold colour scheme. The challenge on the Daring Cardmakers blog the week I made this was to crochet or lace so I used the last of a blue crochet trim I had and a crochet heart from Bella Boulevard. 

This year was mum and dads Ruby Anniversary so I wanted to use red on their card, but not go OTT with it. 

I used papers and a rosette from Crate Paper Hello Love. The rosette originally had a Valentines sentiment on it which I took off and replaced with a sticker from Tim Holtz. 

Dress Robes: Sketchy Scrappers August Sketch

Return of the scrappy mojo part two! The next layout I made as part of my mojo's return was for the August Sketchy Scrappers sketch.

I picked two more photos from the Harry Potter Studio (trust me I have loads) and scrapped this layout. 

I keep my scraps in a basket on my desk and while sitting at it watching American Horror Story (my current binge watch) on Netflix while Ian was asleep I randomly pulled the grey polka dot paper thinking it would be good for matting my photo on. On the back of this was the blue star pattern; even better. This paper was from a pad my SIL split with me so I pulled the rest of the papers and chose another for my background. I added the peachy pattern from Maggie Holmes Flea Market to help brighten it a bit, plus it helped pick out the dresses. 

I cut some small scallops with my new Diamond Press to make some embellishments and added some cut aparts from Maggie Holmes and some Crate paper tiny word stickers. 

And in typical Jess fashion I managed to get a big blob of gold mist on my photo! 

My Scrappy Mojo has returned!

Yes you've read the title correct, my scrappy mojo has returned! After a couple months of not feeling inspired I've sat down and scrapped three layouts in a week! I'm not entirely sure why my mojo went, I think it was partly due to needing more albums and page protectors meaning that I've got a box of layouts waiting to be filed and I didn't want to add any more to this to try and find a home for at a later date. All I know is that while making an anniversary card (which I'll show in a later post) last week I was cutting a sentiment from a cut apart sheet of paper and something just clicked, I looked at the sheet and thought cut a parts would be perfect for July's Sketchy Scrappers sketch (below) and just went for it. 

The first paper pad I picked up for inspiration was Maggie Holmes Flea Market and I immediately thought of a photo I've had for ages from when I went to an antiques fair with mum three years ago. 

I cut some random cut aparts and placed them diagonally as shown in the sketch and added some news print Card Candi I've had for ages. 

Card Catch Up

My scrappy mojo is still on holiday but I have managed to do some crafting with making the odd card here and there. I've mentioned them before, but I'm finding the Daring Cardmakers blog a great blog to keep the creative juices flowing and I'm gradually getting a good stock of cards made to have on standby. 

This first card was not for a challenge on the blog but for Gemma's birthday. I recently brought a mystery card kit from Studio Calico in their sale and used papers and the stamp set which came with it. 

This card was made for the Summer Party challenge on the blog where we had to use elements you'd expect to find at a summer barbecue or party. I used some ice creams from the Pink Paislee Solstice ephemera pack along with a chevron paper from the collection and a polka dot paper from Simple Stories. The starts and tag again came from the Studio Calico kit, and the Hi came from a Simple Stories project life pack. 

This next card was from the Strawberries and Cream challenge where we were challenged to use either strawberries or a strawberries and cream colour scheme in honour of Wimbledon. I went rummaging through my stash for strawberries and found a couple of Dear Lizzy Neopolitan project life cards and a cut apart from Simple Stories Homespun which had a jar on it making me think of strawberry jam. I teamed these up with papers from American Crafts Autumn Crisp and a Lilybee sticker I've had for ages. 

The most recent challenge has been to get doodley on our cards. I'm not much of a drawer, I struggle to draw a straight line most of the time, so I kept things simple. I used a balloon punch I brought recently from Stampin Up and decided to doodle the balloon strings and a border around the card. I used coloured card from American Crafts and paper from Pebbles. 

Finally (thank god for that you're saying) I made a card for a friend who recently moved house. I used some ephemera from Dear Lizzy Fine & Dandy and paper from her Daydreamer collection. 

Behind the Magic: Sketchy Scrappers June Sketch

Hello poor neglected blog! Sorry I've not been around, time seems to have run away from me and with it my mojo to blog or create. But I'm back and determined to get out of the rut by sharing with you my layout I made for the June Sketchy Scrappers sketch which I made before the mojo was gone. The June sketch was set by by Sue who made this sketch. 

I picked four random photos from when I went to the Harry Potter Studio of some of the props. They weren't the best taken photos so I was able to cut them down a lot to be smaller than they were. 

The papers used are from Pebbles, I can't remember the collection. For my title I used some cheap Thicker type alphas I brought from the Range, a bargain at £2.99 a pack! On one of the Facebook groups I'm in there were comments from others who had brought them that they weren't very adhesive. I personally didn't think they were that bad, I added some glossy accents to them to reinforce them but to be honest I do that with my regular Thickers anyway! 

Happy Day: Scrap it with a Song June Challenge

You may remember last month Challenge YOUrself teamed up with the Scrap it with a Song blog. I like the idea of this blog so much I decided to join in with their challenge for June. For those who don't know each month the blog give you two song, one pop one rock, to inspire you to make a layout or whatever you want to make.

This month the rock song was The Best of You by Foo Fighters which I thought would be the song to inspire me as I LOVE the Foo's, but instead I was inspired by the pop choice Staring at the Sun by Mika. I was inspired by the lyric "Send my love down in those rays of light" and scraped this photo I took last summer while walking home from town.

 I also made this layout for the mid month challenge for May over on Sketchy Scrappers where we were asked to simply get messy! I used some mists to create a messy background using the packaging technique. I then used papers from Amy Tan Stitched collection. 

I found a Flair badge which was the perfect colour for my layout but had an aeroplane on it. Knowing I wasn't likely to be needing an aeroplane Flair I adapted this a stuck a word sticker from Crate Paper over it! 

      

Happy Fathers Day!

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there, especially Poppa G and Poppa B both of whom are on holiday down in Devon and Cornwall at the moment. I was actually organised for once and made both of them cards, although Poppa B won't get his until he gets back as they had left in the camper before I'd even sat down to make the card! 

Poppa G

For Poppa G's card I used Pink Paislee Hey Kid collection as I knew it had some "Rock Star" elements. I layered up some different papers from the collection and finished with some stickers fm it too. 

Poppa B 

For Poppa B I used a cheap camper stamp I got from Hobbycraft and coloured it with Promarkers to match the Camper Ian had as a child. I then used papers from Pink Paislee Soltise & Simple Stories. I finshed using letter stickers from Alison Kreft and a banner sticker from the same Pink Paislee collection I used for the other card. 

Beach Finds: Sketchy Scrappers May Sketch

My scrappy mojo has come back to me slowly and I've actually sat down and scrapped three layouts in the past two weeks! The first layout I scrapped was for the May Sketchy Scrappers sketch which was set by Nikki. 

I chose a photo for this layout when the sketch went up but I wasn't feeling inspired to scrap it, then we had National Scrapbooking Day which I got sidetracked with and then my mojo went completely! But I was determined to use the photo I'd chosen, persevered and scrapped this layout. 

The photo is of some of the shells I collected on Shell Island last year. To stick with the beach feel I used papers from Crate Paper Pier collection for the base and layered papers from Studio Calico (the anchor paper was perfect) on top. I used some ephemera from Pink Paisley Soltise collection and a label I had said years ago from a purse, I knew it would come in handy!