Just Because.......

It was so lovely to just go with the flow on this layout.

The photo is from our holiday last year in Turkey - album still not finished!! I thought I had better get cracking as there will be a new one to start soon :0) So the only thing I had t consider was that it would be sitting next to another page already done in the album.

The green of this Glitz Design paper was perfect but I didn't want the cake stand so out with the paints and ink!!

I started off with white acrylic paint and water in a mister bottle, but it was too subtle

Black and white acrylic paints put on with a credit card (an old one!!) and the good old sewing machine came to my rescue again when I knew it needed something more :)

The chipboard sticker is WRMK with a bit of Bakers Twine

A Glitz Design Glimmer sticker and you can see the white misted paint a bit clearer on this photo

So that's my just because layout....been a while since I worked without a sketch...it's nice.... occasionally!!

Thanks for popping in

Ali x 

LGS #4 'You Are My Sunshine'

Hello from a sunny UK

I am getting super excited only 3 more sleeps and off to Tunisia for 10 days :0)

Today's layout is for the challenge over at Let's Get Sketchy. They have changed the criteria so that the closing date has moved to a Sunday....phew! So still plenty of time for you to have a go :0)

I finally got my new MME Follow Your Heart. Thought I was being super clever ordering it from the States so that I would be one of the first here......sadly massive delays and issues with stock (so they tell me) resulting in a 8 week delay!! I couldn't even cancel the order and get it over here when it showed up in the shops :0( Never mind it's here now and I love it!! Trouble is so does everyone else and I have noticed that our layouts are getting a bit samey.....you know what I mean?? So after this 'pretty' lo I am going to be going back to my paints and inks just to grunge it up a bit!!

I just adore the colour palette of this collection and the layered stickers are heavenly.....but to be used sparingly I think!!!! I really struggled to use this one as it's so new!!! lol

The star stamp is also MME as is the transparency. I know it's an MME fest!!

I layered up a bunch of die cuts and topped them with a MME butterfly button and added some bling

I made this little banner with all the scraps :0)

I did so love playing with this collection and the sketch this week is just fab:




Thanks so much for popping in,

Ali x 

Colour Block Notebooks

Good morning,

just a quickie today! DD#1 wanted some thank you presents to give the TA's that have been helping her out in the classroom for the last few weeks. I had seen the Heidi Swapp tutorial on My Craft Channel so suggested notebooks.

Off to the pound shop to purchase notebooks and whilst passing I noticed that all the clothes shop windows are bedecked with colour blocking.......an idea was born!!

I stamped an image on all of the pages in a corresponding ink. Covered the flappy bit at the top of the page. Made the cover and cigar band, cut some chipboard hearts, covered them, added their initial and a button........easy peasy!!

Love how these turned out :0)

Thanks for popping in,

Ali x 

Scrap365 'Reflect'

Hello all,

it is so lovely to see that scrapbooking is taking off in the UK......finally! The new magazine Scrap365 is super dooper and has some gorgeous sketches :0)

This is the first one I have done for their sketch challenge and I am so pleased with how it came out.

Here is the sketch for April's challenge:



and here is my take of DGD on her 3rd birthday:

Papers are MME So Sophie - the colours are so different to what I would normally use but I wanted to  mirror (pardon the pun!) the colour of her dress.

I have stencilled with an Eggplant ink pad, dripped Aubergine ink and used an ink blending solution

Letters are Prima fabric ones

Hmmm, I really like this minimalist look but an going to have to do something about the background colour on my blog!

Thanks for looking,

Ali x

Last CKC for March 2012 'Birthday Bash'

Good morning,

just a quickie to share my last layout using my Counterfeit Kit, I think 4 is plenty!! I have loved being constrained to a few bits and bobs and having to make it work - I think it has pushed me to make more rather than relying on  what is my stash :0)

So the last one was all about playing with paint and inks......lovely!!

The photo is of my brother's birthday back in September, our birthdays are only 4 days apart so we share a celebration, which means 2 birthday cakes as I love Passion Cake and he loves Dundee!! Good old Mum :0)

No sketch to draw inspiration from just went where the mood took me.....

Tattered Angels Chalkboard Mist, Alcohol Ink, Crackle Paint, White Acrylic Paint...all mixed together!!! The paper was die cut with a Nellie Snellen die.

I originally had the phrase stuck to blue felt bit didn't like it. I peeled it off and some of the fibres stuck to it (really like the look!) The speech bubble stamp is Pink Paislee

Loving the Prima background stamp that I got in the sale :0)

Thanks so much for looking,

Ali x 

LGS #3 'Strong'

Good morning,

my DD#2 is going through a tough time at the moment and recently updated her status on FB to reflect what she considers her strengths. She is in my thoughts constantly at the moment and so no surprise that I chose to do a layout about her.

I used my Counterfeit Kit (I know, this is lo #3!!) and the sketch from Let's Get Sketchy :0)

 

and here is my take:

Just love the Pink Paislee Mistable range - so much fun playing with inks!!

The butterfly is sitting on a mirror tile, the die cut circle is Teresa Collins transparency and the resin flower is Prima

Punched hearts, stamped butterflies, an OAsticker and a TH metal disc

The journaling was typed badly (on purpose!!!) onto an OAjournal card and then I sat it onto wet ink so that it  would soak in from the back. The tag was run through a wood grain inked embossing folder.

Some stitching and some inked Jenny Bowlin Bingo Tiles

I really enjoyed putting this one together :0)

Thanks so much for stopping by, have a wonderful day! We have sunshine and nothing is going to bring me down today, lol.

Ali x 

Frosted Designs #37 'Songbird'

Good morning!!!

I loved this week's sketch from my blog friend Jenny :0) She is such a talented lady and has a very distinctive style - I can spot one of her layouts at 20 paces!! So in homage to her style I have matted some of my pieces (not in black, as she does, but in kraft)

Here is her lovely sketch:




and here is my take with some old photos of my Nana ....I have committed the cardinal sin of scrapping and used originals :0/ but there were loads of them just thrown into an old shoebox (cliched I know!) and as no-one else was cherishing them I thought it would be ok!!!! ????

I have titled it Songbird for two reasons...1. My Nana loved music, all music! She used to sing when she was younger and always played the piano. 2. I love the words in Fleetwood Mac's song and they remind me of my Nana. I have used my favourites on this layout MME, October Afternoon and GCD Studios :0)

Daisy from iamroses.com, GCD chipboard flourish misted with Cosmic Shimmer sprays, Pink Paislee rubber thing and heart hat pins

GCD chipboard bird coverd in paper, Jenny Bowlin button, iamroses.com crochet flower

OA Farmhouse bird sticker

I made a pocket for my journalling using a piece of OA Farmhouse and some kraft paper

Thanks so much for popping in, have a wonderful day :0)

Ali x 

ScrapFit #63 'Fool for You'

Hello all,

well, I think I may have to eat my words regarding Kits!! I have used my Counterfeit Kit to do the fabulous sketch from ScrapFit and I can not believe how quickly it came together! I think it is possible that by having everything in one place and trying not to deviate from the collection I didn't sit there dithering!!

Here is the sketch:



super dooper!!! It's by Diana and I have always loved her sketches :0) there is some fabulous inspiration from the DT too!

My take is using a photo of DH and DGD who were supposed to be getting ready for bed. I could hear lots of giggling and then 'ta daaa', in they walked complete with hats and shades 'ready for our holiday Mamma' LOL

Background Paper is Papermania Kraft

This gorgeous little mason jar is from The Graphics Fairy

Thanks so much for popping in,

Ali x 

CSI Case File #11 'Story?'

Crikey, how can it possible be number 11???? It only seems like five minutes since this wonderful place started!

The colour palette for this week is amazing. I notice that nearly everyone on the DT has chosen to use it in it's most vibrant and cheerful way. Possibly because I am using a vintage photo or maybe because it hasn't stopped raining all day I chose a more muted version :0)

Here is this week's challenge:

 gor

gorgeous eh??

Here is my take along with my evidence, I used a sketch from Scrap365 but I can't show you which one as it won't let me copy!! It was from the April collection so you will just have to guess!:

Pink Paislee Mistables paper inked and sprayed with Tattered Angels Chalkboard and chalk ink pads

Beautiful butterfly vintage image from the Graphic Fairy and some homemade washi tape

An aged ticket from TH 

String through button. Journaling tag was inked and then I sprayed what I thought was water and got this cool bobble effect - no idea what it was!!!

So to sum up, all colours used plus string, butterfly and vintage elements, painted background, journalling springboard was wonder......as in 'I wonder why you are having your photo taken?'

Sadly, there is no one around to tell us why in 1914 my Grandad and his family gathered together to have a photograph taken, hence the title...'Story?'

Thanks so much for looking, and a happy Mothers Day to those in the UK!!!

Ali x 

CKC March Challenge

Good morning from a wet and windy corner of the world :0(

My post today feels very sunny and reminds me of a very happy day so not all doom and gloom!!
The photo was taken on my 30th birthday, my Mum and Dad had a surprise party for me in a marquee in their garden :0) It's so long ago that DH even had hair!!!

I have discovered the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog and love it! I made up my kit last night but was so keen to get started I forgot to take a photo of all my bits (some very old and long forgotten!) I decided that I wouldn't make up a huge one as I think I would get bored - one of the reasons that I am not part of a kit club!!

My papers include Basic Grey: Archaic, Glitz Design, MME: So Sophie, Anna Griffin, Bazill: Denim and a really yucky pearlised yellow card!!!

Stickers are Basic Grey: Lime Rickey, the butterfly rub ons are the oldest in the land!! Buttons and flowers have been knocking about for years as has the ribbon! I can honestly say this has been one of the most satisfying layouts I have ever done :0)

So here is my layout using the sketch they have as inspiration for this month:

Misted using Cosmic Shimmer and Tattered Angel sprays, a bit of chevron stamping a la  the tutorial on CKCblog

really, really old rub on - looks like a stamp eh?

I love that ticket stamp (the other half is on the next photo) bought it from ebay ages ago and have never used it before!

GCD Studio chipboard butterfly covered in paper and distressed with acrylic paint

So, if you fancy rooting around for long forgotten treasures and putting them to good use, not to mention all the wonderful tutorials, skip on over to CKC and check out their loveliness :0)

DH has gone to watch football today in London, it's a corporate do so he will be gone for ages and I am sooo excited to be having yet another crafty day!! It's Mother's Day tomorrow in the UK so going out for lunch with my Mum and Dad, brothers and DH and then home for afternoon tea courtesy of my beautiful girls....hmmm, exercise on Monday methinks!!!

Have a fabulous weekend whatever you are doing and thanks for popping in,

Ali x

The Maxi Mini Album!

Hellooooo,

hooray it's Friday and I have spent the whole day crafting :0)

Today's offering has come as a result of living in the UK.....huh??? I hear you cry! OK, let me explain......

I love Heidi Swapp products, I see them, I want them....oh, I can't find them :0( HS in the UK is as rare as hen's teeth!! So, rather than wait an eternity, if at all, I decided that having fallen in love with the Memory Files I would have to cobble together something similar for DGD's 3rd birthday. Here is the result:

From this;

to (ta daaa) this!!!;

Yes, I know the papers are MME, everything had to be pink!!!

and the inside looks like this;

Get ready for a photo heavy post but I want to show you all the different elements that enabled me to fit 27 photos into what is less surface area than a double page spread!!!

Starting off with a little flip book - super simple! I scored down  one edge of each page and  stuck them together!

I put journalling spots on some of the reverse pages - others have more photos.

A similar thing to the flip book. Scored edges stuck onto the folder, but this time I  die cut different shapes to make it a bit more interesting.

I left this bit flat to the folder - I think it gives this particular photo more impact.

This is a little matchbook about the cakes.

I have filled it with cheap squared paper and added journalling and photos

Can you believe DD#2 made all of these beautiful cupcakes? Every decoration has been made by hand  :0)

This is a 12 x 12 acetate page that has been cut down and stiched to card. The photo at the front sits within the  acetate pocket and then behind that are other photos on mats that pull out.

I left this part flat too and just added an epoxy sticker.

 and there you have it! My take on the gorgeous new memory files from Heidi ........if anyone knows where I can get the real thing in the UK please let me know!!

Thanks for popping in,

Ali x