This Girl is NOT Camera Shy

Another beauty this month at Sketchbook365!

The DT were lucky enough to be given a collection of Basic Grey to play with. I got Knee Highs :0)

I love the colour mix, really bright and cheerful and perfect for a photo of my Goddaughter posing for her school photo (it makes me chuckle every time I see it) check out the carefully positioned hair ;0)

waste not want not...the green semi circles are the waste from a border sticker!

Everything is from the collection with the exception of the MME 'Smile' stamp and the thread.

Thanks for popping in today,

Ali x 

'Pod'

I am a huge fan of Lileth Eckels and she recently hosted a challenge at Scraptastic Kit Club (actually it's because of her that I looked into joining their kit club).

The challenge is

1. Use as many embellishments/die cuts/ letters stickers/mists/stamps/washi ... as you like.
2. You can only use ONE patterned paper
3. and ONE sheet of cardstock. 

So off I went to play and created a lo for my Welsh album.

the patterned paper is an old piece of PP Mistables that I inked and flicked with paint

kaisercraft paint, Ali Edwards stamp, recycled (removed from a mini album I started and never finished and is now in the bin!) Anna Griffin bee

Silhouette shapes, Crate Paper chipbard

Silhouette shapes ....again! Basic Grey letters

Thanks for popping in today,

Ali x 

'Behave!'

It has been some while since I took part in the CSI challenges :0(

This week I found a little bit of time to sit and rifle through my stash and come up with the criteria to solve the case....hooray!

These photos have been hanging around for a while and after seeing one of the journaling prompts was about etiquette (or rather DH's lack of etiquette!) it seemed the perfect chance to scrap them. They were taken in a photo booth at our friends' wedding earlier this year.....you have hats, wigs and various things to put on...then you get a copy of the photo and another copy goes in an album and you write them a message on the page...love that!!

papers are from my scraps folders...so easy to find the right colour now :0) Cosmo Cricket, Pink Paislee, Crate Paper, Webster's Pages

my journaling is on a film reel die tucked behind the mat

Flourish cut on Silhouette, Ali Edwards stamp

stitched fabric and Basic Grey letters....I have just found a whole load under a pile of sticker sheets!

My evidence is patchwork (of sorts), gold accent, flourish, fabric and journaling...oh and obviously the colour scheme!!

Here is the challenge if you would like to play along :0)

Thanks for popping in today,

Ali x 

Because of you 'My Sun Will Always Shine'

Hello,

another She Art canvas today :0) This was has been created for DD#1 and is very much 'her colours'!!

All her life she has chosen hot pink as her colour of choice. She is about to move into her new house and has been choosing soft furnishings and paint colours and her master bedroom is going to be.......white....with teal, aqua and hot pink bedding!!!

So, this is for her to go in her new room...she hasn't seen it yet so I have no idea if she will like it!!

Starting at the top and working down.....

thank you Eila for the idea of putting beads into the paste :0)

I brought a bird in as there are birds on her new bedding

lyrics taken from the song she is named after

and here she is in full :0)

Another long and narrow canvas....lovely on the wall but rubbish for photographing!! LOL

Thanks for popping in today,

Ali x 

Skissedilla #177 'Fabulous Details'

Loved the sketch over at Skissedilla (when do they ever do a bad one??) and managed to find time to do another layout for the Italian album.

These statues are in the garden of le Vittoriale, the home of d'Annunzio. There are amazing pieces all over the place some are crammed into corners, a real place of decadence, including a full size war ship and an aeroplane! I fell in love with these two :0)

new washi tape :0) it was the tape that inspired the misting: Tattered Angels Firefly, Comic Shimmer Pewter Grey with a little copper thrown into the mix and Lake Mist paint watered down and flicked.

Anna Griffin rosette, Heidi Swapp butterfly, Basic Grey journal spot

Heidi Swapp stamp and an Elle Studio tag stamp

Here is the super duper sketch that inspired me:



Thanks for popping in,

Ali x 

Birthday Boys....a couple of cards

Both my Godson and DH celebrate their birthdays next week and here are the cards that I will be sending them :0)

this idea has been pinched from the PLS blog. Paper weaving with old Basic Grey papers and a bit of kraft and a PLS journal card stuck onto a homemade tag. A Spellbinders die cut label, edged in white gel pen and stamped with a Hero Arts stamp and a Anna Griffin star.

weird angle I know but the camera wouldn't focus with all that white! Another bit of lifting from Etsy ;0) I did the graphics in Word and then overstamped. Punched some holes for the tag and then matted onto pop dots. The stamps are Hero Arts and American Crafts...the little insignificant stamps that you don't take much notice of on a sheet!!

Thanks for popping in,

Ali x  

CSI #38 a before and after look at 'Beautiful'

I loved this weeks's Case File at CSI, the colours are so soft and subtle and almost monochromatic...right up my street!

I knew that I had some Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden papers that were perfect for this case, however I kind of forgot my style and was just following all the prompts without really putting my spin on it.

It has taken me a long time to 'know' my style, do you know what I mean? So that you understand where I am coming from I will give you the example of when we got our first home. The only real influence we had was our parents' and extended families' homes, at 20 years old we were the first ones out of friends to set up  a home, they were all living in rented or student accommodation! In effect, our decorating style was to mimic those influences. Over the years we have found 'our style' and it is really quite minimalist. We love wooden floors, white walls, modern art, the odd splash of colour and always, always one piece of object d'art rather than a collection! Poles apart from our parents!!

The same can be said for my scrapbooking style. I love to look and admire other people's work. My blogging friends that I follow avidly are brilliant at covering every inch of paper! However, whilst I can appreciate their style I don't feel comfortable doing it.....I struggle to use a coloured background!! When I first started scrapping I 'mimicked' pages that I loved and once I discovered the land of blog and following, my style was all over the place!! Now, my scrapbook style is reflective of my home, lots of white, minimalist and the odd splash of colour!

So why are you telling us this woman, I hear you cry, just get on with it! Well, dear readers, I am telling you all this in order to set up my post for today and show you 2 versions of the same challenge. The first one.....following the prompts...hating it...ripping all the pieces off......to make the second one.....Ali style!

BP Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden

Pink Paislee Artisan Bird, Flowers from iamroses.com

Mats cut on Silhouette and a little stamping and embossing.....can't remember the last time I did that!

and here is the one that I am happy with:

Evidence: colours and sketch used.

Birds and flowers. I fussy cut the bee from the original BP paper. I didn't notice that I had ripped some of the wording on the banner till writing this post....oh well, call it distressing! The rub on is an old one from Basic Grey.

I added a tag of the BP to my journaling so that it can be pulled out to read. Puffy hearts...so ancient I have no idea where they came from! I have stuck washi tape behind the die cut banner...bet you didn't notice it on the last lo!

Journal about a pet

Ahh, so much calmer :0)

Here is the challenge at CSI, pop over and have a play there is still loads of time!!



Thanks for popping in today, hope to see you soon!

Ali x 

Tunisia Memory File

Hello all,

it feels like ages since I was here as most of the posts recently have been scheduled. I haven't had as much time as I would like in my craft room and I am getting really frustrated as I have a zillion photos to scrap!
Because of time pressures I decided to throw another memory album together to record my holiday with DD#1 and DGD last month. It really was a week by the pool, so, as I didn't need to do much journaling this seemed the best option for bunching similar photos together :0)

There are a lot of photos on this post but as there are so many little bits I thought it might be fun to share them and give you some ideas :0)

I used two of Heidi Swapp's Memory Files and stuck them back to back. I then took a piece of  6"x12" cardstock, folded it in half and stitched it so that I had a flap on the back and front (I shaped the back piece and adhered it to the Memory File...sorry no photo!)
Unless stated all the papers are also from Heidi's Sugar Chic line.

I glittered a piece of a maya Road chipboard keyring

The front then flaps down to reveal a photo and my limited journaling!

Page 1: the photo on the left is stuck flat, on the right I have got 2 flip pages. The stamp is a Fiskars one coloured in with Pro Markers.

Page 2: On the right the photo is flat. On the left I have made a couple of pockets so that the photos can be pulled out. Behind that is another little mini book...see below. Stamps are MME, the bow and frill thing are both forged copies ;0)

This little book holds 3 photos, each page has been scored and glued at 1/2" to make the spine, with a little pull added.

There are 2 mini books on this page. The one on the left opens like a normal book and has been cut on the Silhouette. The one on the right is a flip book - the first two pages flip up and the third flips down to reveal the fourth page. Both of these books have got photos on both sides of the pages. Stamps are Basic Grey journal spot and MME sun. The plane is Studio Calico.

Page 4: This last page has a standard pocket and I have popped the rest of the photos into it, mainly because I was running out of ideas!! A PP rosette was stuck onto a lolly stick and the speech bubble was cut on the Silhouette.

 I have managed to get 30 photos into this album but that could easily have been doubled...they are an amazing idea. I have now bought a wall mounted magazine rack from Ikea to accommodate my Memory Files as they are starting to become a mainstay in my crafting repertoire :0)

I am off to walk the dog now and hoping to get some 12 x 12 layouts done this afternoon...watch this space!!

Thanks for popping in,

Ali x

'Sweet'

Back again!! Told you I had been busy :0)

The photos are not the best. I tried taking them when the sun had gone behind a cloud and that made the lo look like it was grey!! So waited for early morning sun and got this!!

My photography class starts next month....finally, after 30 years DH and I have a shared hobby :0) So looking forward to understanding what all the letters and buttons on my camera are for!!! Yes I know I could read the instructions but...........LOL!

Anyway, this is my take on the fabulous sketch over at Let's Capture These Sketches, I really loved this one, right up my 'white space' street :0)

Glitz paper and splattered chalk ink make up the background.

PP ephemera, TH embossed butterflies, Basic Grey heart stamps and adhesive pearls

The circle is die cut from a Nellie Snellen die

A Nellie Snellen die with a Pro Marker edge and a really old Basic Grey stamp

Thanks for popping in,

Ali x 

Frosted Designs #45 'Hugs and Kisses'

Hello,

got another of Karin's wonderful sketches over at Frosted Designs to play with today :0)

I had a great time messing about with paste, inks, mists and paint!! The overall effect is a lot 'busier' than I would normally go for, but as the sketch took up most of the page I tried to stay true to it, whilst sticking to my style (ish)

The photo is of my youngest cousin and me in 1983. I didn't have as close a bond with this little dot as I did with her brothers and sisters, a. because I was in my late teens when she was born and was out and about all the time and b. I had DD#1 when she was only 4.....hard to believe 2 years after this photo I was a Mummy...I am but a child myself!!!!

As the years have gone by she and I have become really close and having just returned from a 6 month trip around the world I can not wait to give her lots of hugs and kisses :0)

Papers are American Crafts - the old Dear Lizzy line.

The yellow circle is a Prima mask painted, misted and flicked with ink. American Crafts brad

A wooden flower inked, another of my punched tags and a super old Basic Grey chipboard heart and button! More paint flicking and messing about :0)

Pearl embossing paste and acrylic paint through a mask and then I inked through a dotty mask.

Title was cut on the Silhouette....don't know about you but I can't stop using mine these days...they have such brilliant weekly bargains!!! Final little flourish was the blue pearls.

Thanks so much to Karin for providing us with this little beauty to play with:



and thanks to you for popping in today :0)

Ali x