Oh the places you'll go........

I still have one last layout to reveal from a Two Scrapbook Friends DT Kit, using the 'Pool Party' collection from Pebbles Inc.  It seems such a long time ago, I'd practically forgotten about it!

Anyhow, this ones another bright, summery page perfect for today.

Here's 'Forever Friends':

I used a glassine envelope, scrunched to hold a journal tag.  I couldn't resist using the quote from Dr Seuss.....I just added a little extra on the end, referring to my daughter's bear she takes EVERYWHERE!

This time he's catching a ride in the back of her trike, so I placed a 'Polaroid' style frame over top of the photograph to highlight.

I love the title on this one.

I used one of those chipboard stencils (Fancy Pants I believe), pushed the letters out then used the stencil to first ink, and then stencil with a sharpie pen.  I finally added the original letters themselves.

My Lucky 8 Punch from We R Memory Keepers was used to create the shaped circle, and also their Sew Easy Circle Tool, this time with a 'zig-zag' head to create the stitching.

Finally, an easy peasy vellum banner......I say easy peasy because they're part of this collection and ready made for you......just have to stick em' on there!

I added a couple of pinwheel stickers and lollipop sticks for a little extra.

Wow that was a lot of photographs!

I'll be back next week with something......not sure what yet - I'll see where the creative juices (or time allowance!) take me.

Have a great weekend, enjoying the sunshine I hope.
Take care,
Jayne.x.

Little Red Wagon #187.....Put A Cork In It!

Hello.

Tammy is hosting over on the Little Red Wagon blog this week and she'd like us to 'Put A Cork In It'!

In a polite fashion of course..........anything of the cork variety on your creation.

I haven't put a coloured image on a card for a while, so I dug into my stash and pulled out one I'd coloured a while ago - just hadn't made it to a card, so here goes:

I also found a sheet of cork I've had in my stash forever, so I hand cut myself a little spatula and mixing bowl.

Digi is from Pollycraft and coloured with Copic's.

Papers are MME and the layout was inspired by Jens sketch from last week, over at The Deconstructed Sketch.

Short and sweet today, so why not head over to Little Red Wagon and check out the creations from the rest of the Girlfriends.

Have another great day and I'll see you soon,

Jayne.x.

Summer Fun

Technically I'm a day late in posting this, but I'm sure no-one cares.......hopefully!

It was my turn to host yesterday's Crafty Challenge over on the Two Scrapbook Friends Forum, so here's the spiel I delivered there:

"Today I'd like you to move away from the comfort zone!

Go on.....you can do it........right out of there!

Think of what you usually create......then do the opposite.

Think of the tools or embellies you usually use......then reach for something different.

Think of your style, that comfortable, fabulous niche you've spent years trying to establish and perfect..........then throw it out the window, be brave and try something new!

OK maybe that is all a little OTT - sounds more like a movie trailer than a Crafty Challenge, but you get the general idea I'm sure.

For this challenge, you don't have to do everything completely opposite to what you would normally would.......I don't want to push you over the edge here, but choose at least one element (or maybe more if you're feeling brave enough!) and try another direction.

For example:

If you consider yourself primarily a 'Scrapbooker'........make a card.

If you usually create single layouts..........go for a double.

If you always use a plain cardstock background......get some pattern in there.

If you're generally one for the clean and simple modern look.........go for a layered, vintage feel.

If you hate a particular embellishment/technique and would never consider allowing it near one of your creations..........go wild with it.

I have a girlfriend who hates buttons and would never use them on a card or layout........personally I think anyone of this view is quite possible insane (not the friend in question of course!), however my point is we're not judging today so just try it...........what you hate another will love.  You may have fun and discover a new fave in the process.

So............
I am definitely NOT a double layout kinda gal. I'm lucky if I create one per year, so that's what I did.........think I've satisfied my quota for this year!

Generally, I also rarely use a plain cardstock for backgrounds preferring more subtle patterns/textures.

So there are my opposites, and here's my sample:"

Back to today's 'Live' feed.........

I realised when posting yesterday that I'd forgotten to add the journalling strips, right under the word 'FUN' and yep......still haven't gotten around to doing that!  You'll just have to use your imagination.

I got to work on this layout with the Sew Easy Circles tool from We R Memory Keepers.

If there's anyone out there like myself, who has the Sew Easy tool and heads but didn't really use them all that much, I suggest you go out and buy this thing.  It really does give it a whole new lease of life.

More over here, together with a few pennants.

I found some nicely matching flowers in my stash, and made a couple of flags from toothpicks and paper scraps.

Inspiration for this page was from a sketch by Susan Stringfellow over on Sketch Savvy.......you know there was no way I was attacking a double with no Sketch!

Papers are 'On The Sunny Side' from My Minds Eye.

That's it for today so I'll see you tomorrow for another delve into the Little Red Wagon.

Have a good day,
Jayne.x.

Mini Masterpieces.

It's a happy Friday although just a tad too cool for my liking.

At least I get a day off work today which makes up for....well, everything really!

I remembered that I hadn't posted the final layout from one of my Two Scrapbook Friends DT Kits, using the 'Yes Please' collection by Amy Tangerine.  The first you can see way back here.

The reason I probably pushed it to the back of my mind is because I was never a fan of the finished result.  You know when occasionally you have an idea, a plan of sorts in your head as to how you'd like the layout to end up........then absolutely nothings follows 'the plan' and it ends up a far cry from what you intended?

It's not that I don't like this one as such.......maybe my obsessive, compulsive, perfectionist side just had the bar raised a little too high!

Anyhow, here we go.....Mini Masterpieces.

I do like the photograph at least - happy memories from last Summer when my niece and nephew flew over with their Mom and Dad to visit.

I like the title too......the double meaning referring to the kiddo's and their artwork.

And then I struggle to decide what else I do like!

The whole page was inspired by the background paper, which I wanted to give a messy water coloured effect.  So, I used a water brush and distress inks to randomly paint the clouds.

I also wanted to frame the photograph and hang it 'Gallery' style, so out came the white Paint Sharpie for a little freehand doodling then fussy cutting.

I had a couple of pretty polka dot glassine envelopes included in my kit, so I used them behind the photograph, perfect for holding a wooden embellie.  I also fussy cut the landscape from a sheet of PP, to use as a border strip.

Ooh.....I found something else I like.........the wording on another veneer seemed to tie in perfectly.

And that's about it.

I hope you have a great weekend, don't work too hard.

My muscles are still recovering from last weekends gardening efforts so this week, I'm taking it easy......going to work instead!

Have a good one and I'll see you Monday,
Jayne.x.

Little Red Wagon #186 Make It 'Punny'!

Hi there.

My post is a little late in the day again for me, but I've just got home from work so one thing at a time!

Over at the Little Red Wagon blog today, Jan has challenged us to 'Make It Punny'.........something with a pun or play on words.

I pulled another 11.00pm creation last night (finished at 12.03am!) so my 'pun' isn't overly exciting.......nothing like Jan would produce I'm sure, but at that point in the evening/morning I was quite happy just to find a suitable stamp/sentiment combo sitting in my stash.

Here goes:

'Pear'fect!

CAS all the way for this one.

One of these weeks I might actually be prepared beforehand and......oh I don't know......maybe even get a third layer on there!

I did cut a window in this one just to make myself feel better!

Hopefully you'll get a chance to check out the creations from the rest of the girlfriends, and don't forget to upload your own creation to the blog.

Have a great evening and hopefully I'll be back in the near future.........work tends to get in the way of things, don't you think?

See you soon,
Jayne.x.

@ The Beach

Hi there, how's it going?

Time for another scrapbook layout and a sketch on here today, as it's my turn to host a Sketchy Challenge over on the Two Scrapbook Friends Forum.

For this weeks sketch, I thought I'd use a recent page as inspiration, and as the weather actually feels a little 'summery' once again, the timing is perfect.

Here's  Sketch #16

The circle base grounds things nicely, and there's still plenty of space to add your own flare.

Here's my page using an awesome summer themed collection from Pebbles Inc.......'Pool Party'.

This collection includes a variety of vellum, ready stitched banners which means the hard work is done for you!

I did try out a new Nestability for the flowers and gave them acrylic/pearl centers.

And that's all.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back, sooner rather than later.....hopefully!

Take care,
Jayne.x.

Little Red Wagon #185 - Use a Doily

Good afternoon.

Wednesday has rolled around again which means it's that time..........

Sorry for today's late post but it was my first free day for a while so I took the opportunity to scrap with my crafting buddies.  Thought I'd better post my Little Red Wagon offering now, before I run out to work again.

Two things about today's creation........first, it's not a card!

I thought I'd create a layout for a change in honour of Challenge #185 Use a Doily, originally hosted by Joanne, but as she's soaking up a little sun and R&R, Carolyn is stepping in.

Secondly, I should probably be nominated for the award for using the smallest doily everrrr!

Maybe I'll just post my layout and see if you can actually find it!

The Sweet Life.

Did you find it?

It's actually a cake topper and therefore probably doesn't even qualify as a doily at all, but it's close enough.

Either way, it was given to me by my buddy, Carola, and therefore requires a mention and...........'Yes of course it's the perfect addition and completes the page perfectly'! (Did I say that right Carola?!)

The messy background on this page was created with a combination of texture paste and drizzled Mister Huey's mist to represent the sweet, sticky, popsicle filled days of Summer.

There's also washi tape and a variety of doodling, including a little around the wooden letters to help them stand out.

Finally, one giant pinwheel on a popsicle stick to round things off.

That's about all from me but hopefully you'll get a chance to check out what the other girlfriends have created, and maybe even upload your own creation over on the blog.

Have a great day and hopefully I'll be back again tomorrow.

See you then,
Jayne.x.

Little Red Wagon # 184 - All About Mom

Good morning.

It's Carolyn's turn to host over on the Little Red Wagon blog this week, and as Mother's Day is fast approaching (this Sunday gentlemen in case you didn't know........although I doubt there are any men reading this so.......sorry ladies, I tried!), she has chosen 'All About Mom'.

Nothing like last minute for me, as usual I made this card yesterday for my Mamma and it will be rapidly making it's way across the pond to reach her.   No doubt it will arrive just a tad late.......rather a lot late actually as Mother's Day is celebrated in March in the UK, so what difference will a few more days make?

Here goes:

Everything on this one is from my stash, even the image is one I'd coloured a few months ago and has sat patiently waiting for just the right card.  On that note, don't look to closely at the image as there is a lovely little ink mark on the cap that it seems to  have attracted whilst waiting so nicely!

I'm guessing now that I said that, you had to go and examine it closely.....yes?

The digi is from Pollycraft and papers from a My Minds Eye 'Six By Six' pad.  Colouring is with Copic's and the layout was inspired by this weeks Deconstructed Sketch.

Have yourselves a great day and I'll be back later in the week,
Jayne.x.

Spring......at last!

Well I think it's time we did a little revealing around here .....yes?

Friday was the start of our first Progressive Blog Hop over at Two Scrapbook Friends and much fun was had by all.

Now though, it's time for the final reveal of my completed layout.

If you remember back to Friday's post (here), we started with an awesome sketch from Joanne, then skipped along to Shelby's blog where a little 'striped paper' was added.........check to both of those.

When you arrived at yours truly, I wanted to see 'something wet'........mist, paint, ink......you get the general idea.

So that brought us to a partially completed layout like this:

So.....what happened next?

Well the next stop on the hop was Christa, and she added stitching.....no complaints from me about that one, so there's a little across the pennants and a lot more in a moment.

Then Carolyn decided she'd like to see some distressing, so I kinda went to town on that one too!

I spritzed the edge of the cardstock with a fair amount of water then scrunched up the edges.  When it dries, it's quite sturdy and molded into the shape you've scrunched it.

My other new fave method of distressing via pure trial and error is......white out!  I'm not sure if you can see it around the edge of the photo there, but I really like the look of it........exactly what I was looking to create.

Now before you go getting all indignant on me and muttering that it's probably not 'acid free', you're probably right but who cares!  I'm guessing my scrapbooks will end up in a garbage one day, long after I'm gone, which means I won't be around to witness the deterioration of the photo's, so for now, I think it's pretty cool.

Back to the hop.......next stop was Ann and she wanted to see a quote on there.......done!  In this photograph, you can also see a little (or a lot!) more of the stitching I mentioned.

And finally, Amanda asked us to add 3 buttons on there, so mine are popped onto circles, fussy cut from one of the sheets of patterned paper.........

So, put it all together and what do you get........one completed layout, and a whole lotta fun!

Papers for this one (just in case you're interested) are from Simply Spring by We R Memory Keepers, and you can of course find them at the store.

There's a final reveal of all the Friends/Designer layouts over on the Two Scrapbook Friends blog today which you can check out here.  Such talent and creativity from this group of ladies, you'll not be disappointed!

Thanks to each of them for adding their own ingredient to the pot........I think we finished with one heck of a recipe.

That's it from me, but I'll be back on Wednesday after I've dug into my Little Red Wagon.

Have a good one,
Jayne.

In Honour of NSD, the Two Scrapbook Friends Progressive Blog Hop!

Never heard of a progressive Blog Hop before? Well, its brand new for us too!

All you need to do is move from blog to blog and see how our progressive layout challenge unfolds. We will begin with a stunning sketch from Joanne Burton, and then each designer will incorporate the previous elements and then add a new element to the challenge requirements in her own creation.

If you complete the entire Hop, and you leave a comment on each Friend/Designer’s blog and the Two Scrapbook Friend's blog by 11:59 pm on May 6th, you will be entered in a random drawing for a great prize! In addition, if you accept the challenge and create a design of your own and upload it to the Two Scrapbook Friends Gallery by 11:59 pm on May 31st, you will be eligible to win ANOTHER fabulous prize!

Finally, all the FINISHED TSF/Designer creations will be revealed on the Two Scrapbook Friend's blog on Monday, May 6th.


Here is a list of all the Blogs in order:

Joanne

Shelby

Jayne - that's me!

Christa

Carolyn

Ann

Amanda

Two Scrapbook Friends

So, as you can see I'm at stage three of our journey, which means so far I have to work with one super sketch (wouldn't have expected anything different from Joanne, our resident Queen of Sketches!), then Shelby threw in a little 'striped paper'.........done!

For my addition, I'd like to see (for want of a better word!) something 'wet'.........paint, mist, inks or just plain old water for that matter!

Here goes my layout so far, with my little something added......mist:

Not a whole lot going on so far but it has potential.  I'm not worried just yet as I've seen the end result.....it can only get better!

You'll have to head on over to Christa's blog to find out what special little ingredient she has added to the pot......things could get interesting don't ya think?

Remember also, to check back here and at the Two Scrapbook Friends blog on Monday 6th for a special Designer/Friends reveal of their finished layouts.


Have fun on the hop and I'll see you Monday,
Jayne.x.  
 

My Girl.

Today kicks off the start to a ten day celebration over on the Two Scrapbook Friends Forum, in honour of National Scrapbook Day.

Our online crop begins at 3.00pm today and runs all next week, so if you'd like a little inspiration and a lot of fun, head on over and jump into some of the challenges we have planned.

As always there are prizes involved and to sweeten the deal, there's also a 'Progressive Blog Hop' beginning at 7.00am in the morning........not your ordinary Blog Hop.......nope, a Progressive Blog Hop!

If you don't know what one of those is, you'll just have to join us, starting at the Two Scrapbook Friends blog tomorrow.

Today however, I'm here to deliver my challenge as part of the online crop festivities.

Each of the design team members plus the 'two friends' have posted a challenge relating to Scrapbooking (obviously!) or even cardmaking.

I thought for my challenge I'd concentrate on one element of scrapbooking/cardmaking which can really add a whole load of interest to your creation..........TEXTURE!

I love to add texture to my pages and cards because there's a bunch of ways to do it, from the basic........think crumpling/distressing paper or adding a touch of fabric or ribbon to your project, to the more involved.......using texture pastes and masks etc.

Whichever method or embellishment you choose you certainly won't be disappointed with the results.

Here's my layout for today:

My Girl.

 

There's a whole bunch of texture on here, most of it via pretty simple methods.

First up - cheesecloth, wooden stars, pleated paper strips and an enamel flower.

Next - a linen/crochet flower, some fabric trim and another wooden embellishment.

Finally - micro beads added to some Thickers.

Let's not forget also the torn/distressed edge of the paper and some simple stitching......both easy ways to add a little more texture.

Papers, just in case you need to know are from the My Minds Eye 'Follow Your Heart' collection.

That's about it from me, but I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning for the 'hop'!

Have a great weekend,

Jayne.x.

Little Red Wagon #183 Toothpicks and Lollipops!

Well hello again, how've you been since yesterday?

I'm on a roll this week, the force is with me as far as the old mojo is concerned.  Just as well really as I have plenty to do including playing hostess for today's challenge over at Little Red Wagon.

I'm worried however that I may have everyone stumped with the gauntlet I've thrown down this week......to use a toothpick or lollipop on your crafty creation!

Is it strange to have these little beauties in your crafty stash?

I'd never given it a second thought till now, but with wood still being such a popular embellishment, I figured why not dig deep to the bottom of your wagon (or even your pantry!) to see if you have any and put them to good use.

I opted for the toothpick variety........mint flavoured no less ( and this did kinda confirm that maybe I am just a little strange!)

Here goes:

The final arrangement of this card turned out nothing like originally intended......my initial idea was to go manly and modern, but as you can see it ended up girlie and vintage.  Guess you never know where the creative flow will take you.

Unfortunately it means there's not a whole lot of wood on display, but it's there I promise you.

I gotta say I'm loving this dig into your stash idea - forces me to use things that haven't seen the light of day for quite a while.  You can probably tell I went 'Stickles' crazy on here.......making up for lost time!

Well that's about it but hopefully you too will find a toothpick or lollipop just lying at the bottom of your crafty stash, waiting to take pride of place on your next creation.

Just remember: If you do resort to scouring the house for one, make sure it's not 'second hand'.......that needs to be entered into a whole other challenge!

Don't forget to link up your creations over on the blog and whilst you're there, check out what the other Girlfriends have created.

Have a great day and I'll see you bright and early on Friday as there are things brewing over at Two Scrapbook Friends, in preparation for National Scrapbook Day...........a Blog Hop with a twist!

Stay tuned, see you then,
Jayne.x.