The Coolest Kid

Happy Monday to you, hope you're having a good one.  Our house is on a weeks vacation which has so far meant finally catching up on laundry with the new washer (that actually works (!!)......three's a charm they say!), and completely decluttering my bedroom.  Yay for vacation....gotta love the rest and recuperation.

Anyhow everyone in the house seems to be doing their thing at present, so hopefully no-one will miss me while I sneak on here.

A card for you today and this one was given to my eldest dd for her Birthday a while ago.  I usually tread on thin ice creating cards for her.....has to be cool.....has to be pretty, you know the drill.  I think I covered the main two criteria with this one, but the real reason I think it's perfect for her is 'the look'.  You know 'the look', the one they give you when (in their opinion) you're being very 'Mom'ish, uncool, generally behaving like......a parent!  Well this image has it to perfection......'the look'!

See what I mean?

It's the first time I've coloured this image, which is a Lil' Lolita digi from Tickled Pink Stamps, even though it's one of my faves and been sitting in my stash forever.

Papers are from Authentique 'Journey' and colouring is with Copic's.

I messed up the hair a little because I chose 3 colours I wanted to use, then immediately paid no attention and coloured her whole head with the medium shade.  I had no choice then but to shade with my darkest colour and also streak a little black through there too.

The sentiment is printed from Word, and a fine line marker adds the final touches.

That's it from me so have an awesome day.  We're hoping to hit the beach at some point......beats doing laundry anyhow!

See you soon,

Jayne.x.
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Challenges entered:
Incy Wincy Designs - Sugar and Spice (Girlie)
Lollipop Crafts - #85 Monochrome
The Poodles Parlour - Anything Goes
Totally Papercrafts - #128 Monochrome 
Digi Doodle Shop Challenges - #119 Ribbons and Bows 
Paper Crafting Journey - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion Challenges - #122 Anything Goes 

The Red, White and Blue.

As I mentioned the other day, for the next couple of weeks over on the Two Scrapbook Friends Forum, we are running a series of challenges in celebration of the 2012 Olympics being held in London, England.

I am up for Challenge #7 today so I'd like to see a little patriotism........a scrapbook page or card showcasing the colours of your countries flag.

The subject can be anything at all, and if you feel a particular attraction to the colours of another countries flag instead of your own.....go for it.  As long as it's obvious as to which country/flag you are representing, your entry will qualify.

For my scrapbook page, being a Brit, I am of course flying the red, white, and blue of the Union Jack so here goes.

Now I realize I'm taking a few liberties here with the light blue.......it's definitely not the royal blue of the Union Jack, but I really just wanted an excuse to use my Authentique papers, so baby blue it is!

The real question here is - How much trouble do you think I'll be in when my Dad catches sight of this posted on the Internet?  The only good thing (which is not usually good) is that we do live 3000 miles apart........well out of arms reach so to speak.  He is however an avid follower of my Blog so he's bound to see it sooner or later..............."Hi Dad.......love ya.........don't do anything hasty here.........remember I am your only daughter!"

As mentioned previously, papers are from the Authentique 'Fresh' line, and my stash of Washi tape came in handy again to create the bunting style banner.

I also saw this idea in a magazine a little while ago, of creating a Union Jack heart, and knew it would fit perfectly with the theme of this page.

I couldn't resist one of the postcard images on the reverse of the patterned papers, so I had to place the lovely lady just so, that she could give that look of awe and amazement! :)

Hop on over to the Forum if you get a chance, to join in with the fun.  We'll be taking a break over the weekend for a much needed rest, but there are lots more challenges and games lined up for next week!

I'll be back here on Monday with..........oh I have no clue, but I'll see you then.

Have a good weekend,

Jayne.x.

A Sketchy Challenge 'Olympic' Style!

Hello there, it's time for another Sketchy Challenge over on the Two Scrapbook Friends Forum, and in the spirit of continuing our 'Olympic' themed challenges we are posting for the duration of the Olympics, I thought I'd add a few elements to this weeks sketch.

More about that in a moment, but first, here's the sketch.........

There are 3 main Olympic themes I incorporated onto this weeks sketch:

#1 The three central elements are inspired by the Olympic podium - every athletes goal for placing 1st, 2nd or 3rd.

#2 There are 5 rings included in the layout, to represent the 5 Olympic rings.

#3 A flag, a symbol representing any one of over 200 countries competing in this years games.

I have a sample layout for you, and the first thing you may notice is that my page is not in the least 'Olympic' related......I have girls who are not interested in anything more aggressive than to float around the house in dance shoes!  The result is not too many 'sporty' type of pics.  However, I think you'll agree, the photo I've used most definitely represents the country in which this years games are being held.

The second thing you may notice is that I veered away from my own sketch (just a little).........the beauty of a sketch I believe........we're allowed to go wherever it takes us!

Here's my page.........

I opted against using two photographs in favour of going with a single over sized (5"x7") instead, and created the three tiered podium by using a stencil and white distress stain.  The rings are there of course........

 as well as the flag........an extra one added for good measure!

 I decided on a little random layering in place of the second photograph, and messy zig-zag stitching finishes the job.

I like the versatility of this sketch in that it could be used for one, two or three photo layouts........make it your own in any way you choose.

I hope you'll get a chance to play along with this weeks challenge, but don't forget to upload your projects to the Two Scrapbook Friends Forum and Gallery, in order to collect those valuable buttons.

Have fun and I'll see you next time,
Jayne.x.

A 'Manly' Birthday.

Good morning.

Time for another card today and this time it's the 'manly' variety!

I don't colour too many male images because they're usually not cute.....obviously (!), and you may have guessed by now, I like cute.  However, one image I quite often colour up, because he is cute in that 'want to rub his bald head' kinda way is 'Maurice' from Pollycraft.

The male members of my family are probably getting a complex by now, wondering why they're quite often sent cards of a man sporting very little hair and a well rounded tum.  No offence to my Dad (although if the cap fits.........), this latest version was given to him for his Birthday.

I did try to soften the blow a little via the sentiment, printed from Word.

Maurice is coloured with Copic's and papers are from a My Minds Eye 'Six by Six' pad.

That's all for today, but I'll be back in a day or two, with scrapbook pages I think.

Till then, have a good one,
Jayne.x.

TGIF and I'm back!

Well it's pretty obvious that my good intentions of 'blogging' regularly did not come to fruition!  However in all fairness.....technology is to blame!  I don't seem to have the magical touch when it comes to anything electrical at the moment (do NOT mention washing machines!!!!) and have been without Internet since the weekend.

However, the lovely people from my cable company have sorted things out (5 days later, but who's counting!) and I'm back baby!

So, I have plenty to show you, but I'm going to be a tease of course and spread things out......that way I have an excuse to visit more regularly!

Starting today with a card.  Another bookmark card to be precise........nothing extravagant, but I did enjoy colouring with my Prisma pencils/OCMS again, so here goes.

The image is another super cute one from Saturated Canary.....I confess I may have purchased one or two new ones recently (!) but this one has actually been sitting in my stash for quite a while, waiting for some colour.

Papers are mostly Prima with a touch of My Minds Eye thrown in there.  I kept things pretty simple, as the bookmark section  will of course eventually be detached and pressed between pages.

Well that's it from me, but before I go, I just wanted to mention there are lots of fun challenges starting today over on the Two Scrapbook Friends Forum, in honour of the 2012 Olympics starting in London, England.  There's sure to be lots of fun and plenty of inspiration to get your mojo moving, plus a little prize or two involved, so head on over to the forum and get started.

See you soon......I am off to the Laundrette again!
Have a good one,
Jayne.x.

Friendzy Friday at Two Scrapbook Friends - Accordion hearts

I know I've been a bad blogger recently, but the sun has been shining so nicely, and we've been enjoying my parents company, so what can I say?!!  I will try to behave from now on and visit regularly.....promise!

It's time for another Friendzy Friday over on the Two Scrapbook Friends Blog and Forum, so I'm here with a quick tutorial for creating accordion hearts.

Most of us have created accordion flowers of varying shapes at some point and Christa gave us a great Freindzy Friday recently for one variety, but I quite often use accordion hearts on cards and scrapbook pages, to add a 'heartfelt' variation to this popular embellishment.

Here goes:

1. First I determine the overall finished size of the heart by deciding upon the width of my strip of paper. For this example I've cut a strip 1 1/2" tall, and as always, I keep the length to 12". This size works great on scrapbook pages as it's quite a good size, however it's probably a little large for cards, so I tend to reduce the measurement to 3/4" or 1" by 12".

2. Score the strip of paper at the 6" point and fold.



3.We then have to create a template, so I cut a piece of cardstock the same size as the folded paper I'm working with.....in this case 1 1/2" by 6".



4. On the 'template' card, we need to freehand draw the following shape.......it doesn't have to be perfect as long a it follows the general outline.




5. Cut out the template, then place on the folded patterned paper and cut around the shape.



6. Open out the paper and proceed to score at regular intervals, as you would to create any accordion flower. I score at 1/4" intervals, but the choice is yours.



7. Accordion fold at the score lines and you should end with something like this.



8. Glue the two ends together to form a circle.



9. Press the circle flat to create the heart shape....remember, the straight edge should be in the center and the curved edge on the outside. The narrowest part of the strip can be a weak point and possibly tear, so I tend to hold this section as I press the heart flat. I also usually cut an extra smaller circle to adhere the heart to and keep things in place.






You can then add gems or buttons etc...........



This little card uses a perfect image and sentiment from Bugaboo , and made it's way to my parents for their wedding anniversary......I know they'll appreciate the humour.........46 years and still going strong (the sentiment says it all! :)

These hearts also look great on layouts where the options are endless for what you can add on there...........

I do hope you'll give these a try as they really are super easy, and you can re-use your template over and over again.
Have fun and I'll see you next time,
Jayne.x.

Snap Happy 'Old School' Style

It's time for another Crafty Challenge over on the Two Scrapbook Friends Forum, and today we're going Snap Happy but with a twist.......we're taking it back a few decades!

For my challenge I'd like to see a card or layout with a 'Polaroid' style shot on there.

Polaroid style photographs are a popular trend in scrapbooking right now, so there are many options available to create this look, without having to scour antique stores for an original camera.

Some paper companies (My Minds Eye for one) are even including images on their patterned papers, which can be easily cut out and used individually.

Picassa has a great tool in their program too, which enables you to print your own photographs in this style.

Another easy way is to create your own, by trimming your photographs and adding a wide matt of cardstock.  I used this method on a recent scrapbook page, and used the following dimensions:

Photograph 2 3/4" by 2 3/4"
Cardstock 3 3/4" by 3 1/8"

I have another scrapbook layout as an example for you today, and this time I used papers from the My Minds Eye 'Follow Your Heart' line.  I was able to cut a Polaroid frame from the images on one of the papers, and I thought it would be fun to lay the frame directly over my 4"x6" photograph without trimming.

 


I also couldn't believe my luck when I found this metal heart embellishment in my stash.........a make n' take from Maya Road at Scrapfest earlier this year, which just happened to have the perfect colours to match the scheme on my page.

All the doily circles are fussy cut from another sheet of PP and there's a variety of fonts, together with stitching and a quick spritz of Maya Road mist.

An abundance of tags and more stitching............

And more of the above!

I hope you'll get to join in with this weeks challenge and don't forget to upload your creations to the Forum and Gallery in order to collect buttons toward your next gift certificate.


Have a great day and I'll see you soon,
Jayne.x.