Truly Magical: My Creative Sketches October Sketch

While the tail end of hurricane Gonzala blew over on Tuesday I sat and did some scrapping rather than venture out. I decided to have a go at this months sketch on the My Creative Sketches Blog

I like the idea of having the punched out negative space but decided instead of circles I'd pull out my star punch. With the star idea in mind I pulled another Harry Potter photo and scraped this layout. 

This was taken at the end of the tour where you enter a room with a huge model of Hogwarts lit up at night. As you stand and walk around the room gradually lights up to daylight. I think the title says it all because it was amazing, I very nearly cried as it was quite emotional. 

I used papers from Recollections and Studio Calico. Rather than punching another row of stars I decided to use the punched out stars raised on 3d foam. 

I added some cut apart phrases from my embellishment box and finished with a sprinkle of Hedi Swapp gold. 

Forget Everyone & Be Yourself: Challenge YOUrself October Challenge

This months challenge on the Challenge YOUrself blogis to use an affirmation or saying. I had a browse through my sayings board on Pinterest and decided to use this affirmation to inspire me

I've been admiring layouts on Pinterest using circles and decided to dust of my circle punch and make this layout. 

I used a paper collection from Recolections which is based on an old MME collection, punched circles from random papers and arranged them into a grid. The collection also had a sheet of cut aparts which had some sayings on which seemed apt for the layout. 

I finished by adding a scatter of sequins, a couple of embellishments from my box and my trademark doily lol! I used some October Afternoon mini market letters to spell part of my chosen affirmation for the title. 

Overall I love this layout and will use this design again. It may even be one of my favourite layouts of mine. 

Sketchy Scrappers: Anyone for Chess?

This past weekend I went away on a girly, shopping & scrapping weekend with Gemma to Milton Keynes. We booked a Premier Inn about 10 minutes walk from the Shopping centre and just shopped, scrapped and drank wine! Seems as we spent most of Saturday shopping I still managed to make 8 layouts which I'm pleased with. The first layout I made was for this months sketch on Sketchy Scrappers coincidently set by Gemma! 

As the sketch had three photos on it I delved into my Harry Potter photos and pulled three photos of the chess pieces at the entrance to the studio. 

I wasn't short of paper for the weekend as took the mammoth box of paper Gemma had collected for me from various TK Maxx trips. These papers are all from Pink Paislee with various die cuts from my stash. 

For the title I used some Crate Paper stickers and some Thickers. 

Stay tuned for more layouts coming up! 

Fancy a Dip?

Looking through my phone I've just realised I havnt shared this layout I completed during my scrapping therapy weekend with you. 

Another of the recent challenges on the UKS summer cyber crop was to scrap in summer colours or using summer photos. This is just a random pic i snapped over the summer by my MIL's employers pool. I used paper from Crate Paper The Pier as well as some Studio Calico vellum I've had for ages, and die cuts from Echo Park and Simple Stories. 

Chanel Chic: The Studio Challenges

Over on The Studio Challenges Blog this sketch was set

I loved this sketch and was keen to join in. I chose this picture of the Chanel window at Harrods last Christmas. 

I wanted to use the black and gold colours in the photo but was worried this would be too dark and oppressive. So i decided to use them in small doses with a pop of other colours. I mounted some white card onto an old piece of Echo Park paper and then used scraps from my scrap bag. I drew around a plate a couple of times, moving it slightly each time to replicate the circle on the sketch and added some sequins to this. 

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On a roll! Sketchy Scrappers: Grandparents

I have been on a Scrapping roll this weekend as yesterday I managed to catch up and scrap Sketchy Scrappers September layout! After dealing with the seriousness of last week I needed something to clear my mind and get back to normal! Septembers sketch was set by Julia who chose this sketch

I chose a picture from Boo's Christening to go into her album and made this layout of her with her grandparents, I love the expression on my dads face! 

I went with papers from the Maggie Holmes Flea Market collection as they picked up the colours in my mums outfit. I also used bows from the same collection, probably the best embellishment I've ever brought as I only have two left now! The butterfly is Maya Road and came in a kit, as did the frame from Jillybean Soup. 

I then used Elle's Studio alphas for the title. 

Sketchy Scrappers: Magical Treats

Hello Dear Blog, I'm back!! Sorry for the silence but with life, work and jury service (I'm not kidding) getting in the way I've not had the chance or motivation to do anything. But I'm back in the scrapping saddle so hopefully all that will change now. So without further ado, here is my layout for the August Sketchy Scrappers sketch. The lovely Caroline set us this sketch

I struggled to find two landscape photos as I always seem to take mine portrait, but luckily I found two from Harry Potter of some wizard candy. 

The papers I used were from a 6x6 Studio Calico pad so I had to do some secret stretching of them to fit the layout. I also managed to use some Lilybee stickers I'd had laying around for ages but tied in the sweet theme so I was happy

UKS Summer Cyber Crop Challenge 5: I'll be yours & you'll be mine

I'm slowly picking my way through the challenges from the cyber crop on UKS. Challenge 5 was to use the below sketch and to use a Project Life card for your title. 

I started by going through the collection of Project Life Cards I have picking out any with sayings or sentiments on. I looked for any photo which would match any of the cards and went from there. 

I chose a card from Dear Lizzy Daydreamer and pulled a silly photo of me and Ian. I thought the Teresa Collins gold heart paper was not only gorgeous but perfect for the layout after being backed onto coloured card. I also used papers from Maggie Holmes Flea Market and Basic Grey. 

While choosing my papers I came across some stickers from Crate Paper I received in my very first Quirky Kit two years ago and I'm pleased I finally managed to use some on a layout. 

UKS Summer Cyber Crop Challenge 7: Morning View

Challenge seven for the UKS Summer Cyber Crop was to scrap the everyday. Looking through my photos I found one I'd taken of the view I have when I walk to work in the morning so used this. 

I decided to experiment with my mists. I'd seen some Scrappers on YouTube mist onto packaging and rub this onto their background to create a water colour effect so I thought I'd try this. I used Mister Huey's Seafoam & Shell, and I have to say I'm pretty chuffed with how it came out! 

I used scraps from my scraps bag layered under the photo, keeping it fairly minimalistic. I saved a branding strip from a Pebbles paper a couple of layouts back which had the days of the week on, perfect for this layout! I used a doily cut in half and some die cuts from my box and left it at that. 

Weekend Break: Scrap & Play challenge 7

Challenge 7 over on the Scrap & Play blog is a mood board challenge.

After looking at the board I decided to scrap about our weekend camping last summer. We both worked all summer and said we wouldn't have a holiday as we needed to save some money, but by August we needed to get away for a bit so we popped up the road to Wing Hall over the August Bank Holiday weekend and chilled out. 

I used more papers from the Hello Little Magpie grab bag, this time from Fancy Pants and Studio Calico. I layered different cut aparts above the photos from American Crafts, Papermania & MME, and even managed to use some canvas tags from an old kit which I had no idea how to use. 

UKS Summer cyber crop Challenge 1: Bolognese? Nailed it!

A couple of weekends ago UKS held a summer cyber crop. I however only found out about this after it had finished! Not to worry though, as I've written down the challenges to do in my own time. The first challenge was a sketch 

I decided to make another page for Boo's album. At nine months old she is now trying different foods, and boy does she like her food! She's not afraid to try whatever you put in front of her and nine times out of ten she'll wolf it down! These photos were sent to me by my sister in law the first time Boo had Bolognese. 

I used papers from Pebbles, including a branding strip, and Websters pages which I received recently in a grab bag from Hey Little Magpie which was very good value at £3.50 for 20 sheets! I had the What's for Dinner diecut in my stash for ages and now seemed the perfect time to use it. 

I used small letter stickers from Lilybee Designs to add the title to some dead space on te photos. 

Sketchy Scrappers: Uniforms

Today's visit from Bertha had meant that I have been able to spend the day scrapping and first on the agenda was catching up with Sketchy Scrappers. July's sketch was set by Karen who chose a project life style sketch. 

I used the sketch to scrap some more photos from Harry Potter. 

I have a few Project Life mini kits in my stash so I raided these. These cards are all from Maggie Holmes, the two cards on the left are from Styleboard while the one on the right is from her first collection. I added minimal embellishment, picking out the turquoise tones from the camera card in the way of Washi tape and enamel shapes. I also added a touch of gold to match the cork effects on the cards. 

I also added our tickets from the day before they were lost in a drawer somewhere. 

Easy like Sunday morning: Challenge YOUrself July challenge

This months challenge over on the Challenge YOUrself blog is a colour pallette challenge

I'm enjoying these kind of challenges at the moment as they get me looking through all my stash for anything which will match. This one though really had me looking hard as I struggled at first to find anything, in fact I chose my photo before my stash! I was near to giving up but perserveered and eventually made this layout 

The colours in the colour pallette matched the tones in this photo of me in my chilling clothes on a Sunday morning. The papers I used were Carta Bella for the background with Crate Paper, Amy Tangerine and American Crafts layered on top. I used some cut aparts from my die cut box, some stars, a doily and a brad to embellish. As I was scrapping the Faith  No More song Easy kept popping into my head so I used this as my title, using Pink Paislee letter stickers and Thickers to spell it out.