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. 

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! 

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 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. 

Is there something on my face: Life.paper.scrapbook June sketch

After missing out on Life.Paper.Scrapbook's May's sketch I jumped straight into June's as soon as I could.

I was also keen to use my prize from another blog challenge. As soon as I saw the Pink Paislee kit I knew which photo I wanted to scrap first! The kit features lots of moustache and glasses so it only seemed natural to make this layout featuring myself and fellow Meadow Barner Lee

I used a number if different embellishments to act as the horizontal strips next to the photo as shown on the sketch. 

Everything used came from the kit making this a quick layout to make, a rarity for me lol! 

This is layout 26/30

Free Cycle: The Studio Challenges May Sketch

I've recently started following The Studio Challenges Blog where every second Sunday of the month they set a new challenge. The first challenge for May was this sketch

I'm an over thinking Scrapbooker in that I overthink everything hence the reason why it takes me ages to do a layout! So I decided this time as the sketch was fairly simple to just go for it and not overthink things too much. I knew straight away I was going to scrap two photos I'd wanted to scrap for a while but the right occasion had never arisen, even knowing what the title would be, so I went with these

These photos were taken last summer on my day trio to London. The main routes in the city were closed to traffic for Boris's Free Cycle event to encourage people to get on their bikes. It was quite nice having to wait at crossings for cyclists to go by, watching people trying to do their best Mark Cavendish impressions sprinting across the start/finish line on the Mall. 

While at Meadow Barn in March I pinched one of Gemma's branding strips from her papers as it had bicycles on and was too good to throw away! I had thought I would use it on a card but it was great for this layout. The other papers are a scrap from my scraps bag and some cut a parts from Amy Tangerine and Echo Park. I don't know if it's just me but if I use card stock for my background I have to add ink splats to make it less plain, this is probably why I prefer using patterned paper for a background lol! 

This is layout 22/30 

Sketchy Scrappers: Roll with it!

This months sketch on Sketchy Scrappers was set by yours truly who decided to add an extra twist. As well as setting the sketch below I also asked everyone to use a song title as their title   

I nearly asked for it to be a Bon Jovi title but decided not to be so mean! I then didn't even choose a Bon Jovi myself, instead opting for an Oasis song lol!

I had chosen my papers, photo and title a couple of weeks ago but didn't have the time to do a layout. Then last weeks events happened and I nearly abandoned the whole layout. But after taking time out and talking to Gemma, on Sunday I sat down and set to work and I'm pleased I did as it came together quickly and brought my mojo back. 

It's hard to believe that this photo was only taken last year. The first warm sunny day we had and Buster was straight out rolling around in the grass. 

The papers are all Crate Paper Close Knit with one little bit of Amy Tann Ready, Set, Go. A while ago Gemma picked up some Washi Tape from TK Maxx which had 4 or 5 different designs throughout the roll, so I used this for the three strips shown on the sketch. I then punched some grey chevrons from a scrap from my scraps bag with my Stampin Up chevron punch. The title is made using wood grain Thickers 

This is layout 20/30

52 Cards Wk17: Pick a Pocket

Week 17's prompt for the 52 Card Challenge was another sketch which included adding a pocket or envelope to our card 

I knew in my stash somewhere I had some pockets from Papermania's All Aboard collection which I had brought last year. If I'm honest I must have had a mad moment last year as not only did I buy the pockets but also the die cut pack, tags and 6x6 papers. In fairness it was all reduced but why oh why did I buy it? We don't travel so it has all just been sitting there doing nothing so this seemed the perfect opportunity to use some of it up. 

I added a luggage label to the pocket but stuck it in so it is just for show and not serving a purpose. The tickets are a combination of a MME ticket from a strip I received in a grab box and an actual train ticket from a railway in Norfolk my parents had visited. 

Using a kraft card base means the inside is not smooth so any writing inside is not easy to read. In an attempt to actually use this collection up I took another piece of paper and made an insert

The morale of this blog post: think before you buy! Don't buy just because something is reduced! 

Sketchy Scrappers: Not London Bridge!

This months sketch on a Sketchy Scrappers was set my Alison, who chose this sketch from an Australian Scrapbooking magazine. 

I wasn't sure how to interpret this sketch at first but decided to rotate it and use three photos rather than two photos and three tiny photos. 

I did struggle with this layout and in hindsight probably should have used smaller photos, but it is what it is. 

In this layout I take the mick out of myself as when we went to London last year I kept calling Westminster bridge London bridge! The papers are all scraps I had from Maggie Holmes Flea Market. I cut the top one into an arrow to add a bit of interest and added the Found it cut apart from the same collection again to poke fun at me! The title is made with Amy Tangerine Thickers. 

This is layout 18/30 

Introducing Amelie-Rose: My Creative Sketches Challenge

As some of you know I became a first time proper auntie (I'm auntie to my friends children but they are not family) back in October to Amelie-Rose. I'm starting to collect a few photos of her now and thought it was time to give her her first scrapbook page. I also wanted to have a go at entering my first My Creative Sketches challenge so without further ado here is February's sketch

I decided to rotate the sketch to accommodate a portrait photo which I then chopped down to a 4x4 square photo. This is the layout I made

The majority of the papers are scraps from my scraps bag, the MME butterfly paper in particular has been in there for ages and is a section of fancy edged paper. The only paper which was a new sheet I cut into is the aqua spot paper which is from Pebbles Front Porch. 

The embellishment cluster below the photo is made up of an Elle's Studio tag, a doily cut in half with the other half being at the top of the page, a flower I received in a grab bag sometime ago, a chipboard butterfly I painted with Picked Raspberry Distress Paint, and a Fancy Pants sticker. 

The top cluster is made up of the second half of the doily and arrows cut from a scrap of Dear Lizzy paper. I finished up by adding some spots of pink Mister Huey's. 

52 Cards Wk8: Sketch number 2

For this weeks 52 cards prompt Nat set us another sketch

Seeing the sketch I knew straight away that I wanted to use a doily for the circular element, you can't go wrong with a doily! I must admit I cheated a bit, if you are a regular reader this card may be ever so slightly similar to another I made last month even down to the papers! 

I used papers from American Crafts Mayberry collection. The butterfly was a white die cut I received in a swap sometime ago misted with some Mister Huey's. For the sentiment I cut part of a manufacturers strip from one of the papers. 

Don't look back!

Happy Halloween folks! Already some goodies meant for trick or treaters have jumped into my mouth, I have no idea how that happened! As not to scare too many people today I had the day off work  and shut myself away at my desk and did some scrapping before going to have my wig touched up this afternoon! This month I set myself & Gemma the challenge to use this sketch & to include some ribbon on the layout. 

After looking through my photos I decided to make a different type of layout  to my normal layouts. Usually I scrap photos from holidays, walks, of family, events, etc. But I came across a photo I took of myself shortly after getting my iPhone when I was trying to be arty playing with the camera and decided to make an inspirational type layout especially as Ian & I have reached a time where we are making plans for the future & putting the past behind us. 

I'd been hoarding the Dear Lizzy arrow paper since it came in February's Quirky Kit as I knew I wanted to use it as a background and now seemed the perfect time. The other papers are another piece of Dear Lizzy & Echo Park. I have had some Seam Binding in my ribbon box for ages but didn't know how to use it so I experimented with some mist and altered it to fit with my colour scheme. I'm impressed with how it came out and will definetly try it again maybe with more than one colour. 

I thought a white doily would be too harsh on the layout so I used a kraft diecut doily I've had in my stash for ages instead. For the title I used Poolside Thickers & October Afternoon mini market stickers. To finish I searched online for a quote to fit my "moving on" theme. 

Back in the Scrapping groove

I've been lucky enough to have another weekend off this weekend and with no jobs which needed doing I finally managed to sit down and do some scrapping! I haven't scrapped in AGES and with challenges waiting to be done, two kits waiting to be used and another being shipped soon I was starting to panic that my mojo had gone on holiday and was never coming back! The first layout I did was for a challenge my friend Gemma had set for us. She wanted both of us to make a layout based on this sketch and to use something round

I decided to rotate the sketch, pulled out a photo from my brothers wedding last year and came up with this layout 

This photo is of my dad's side of the family, the Greys (I'll introduce them later). I decided to use card stock for the background as I felt as though I've been using patterned paper a lot lately as backgrounds, but me being me I had to add some sprinkles of Mister Huey's Boss Lady, Powder Blue & Seafoam as it felt to plain to me! I used Kesi Art, Studio Calico, Echo Park & Dear Lizzy papers, and fussy cut some note lets from an old Quirky Kit. The note lets came in the February kit and have been in my stash since then as I had no idea how to use them as they annoyingly had a copyright thing printed on the bottom! 

I added a doily, some washi, buttons & Dear Lizzy thickers. Now for the family:

From left to right: my cousin Nicola, Auntie Val, Uncle Norman, Auntie Wendy, my brother Vincent, SIL Penny, Uncle Steve, cousin Emma, me, cousin Adam, Auntie Barbara, Uncle Ron, my mum, Emma's partner John, my dad & Ian. 

The second layout I managed today is a companion layout to this featuring my mums side of the family. For this layout I used this sketch set by Caz for Sketchy Scrappers. 

I tried to use similar colours and papers as they sit side by side in my album for some continuity. I don't normally do this, my albums are a mix of colours, papers and products but for occasions such as this and the jubilee I tried to keep them similar. Anyway this is the layout I made

Papers used are Kesi Art, Studio Calico, Crate Paper & MME. More doilies and Dear Lizzy thickers were used but this time instead of ink splatters I tried something different and misted a white tag, nothing amazing and innovative but different for me! 

Roll call again. There are some family members missing as my mums aunt & uncle had wondered back to the car, and one brother and family didn't bother coming at all as they were appalled that children were not allowed! I don't know my cousins kids, but anyway... 

From left to right: my auntie Linda, Uncle Mark, cousin Naomi, her boyfriend Rory, Vincent, Penny, me, mums Uncle John, her Auntie Marie, Ian, mum & dad. 

So there you are I'm back in the scrapping groove and you've met my family!