Sketch-y Friday at Scrapmuch? - Oh Charlie!

Good morning.

I realize I've been a pretty bad blogger the last week or two so please forgive me.  I changed jobs a few weeks ago and I'm still trying to get into the new routine.  Unfortunately crafty time always seems to suffer.

Hopefully things will settle down soon and I can get back to it.

Today though, it's Friday and time for a brand new Sketch over on the Scrapmuch? blog together with a little inspiration from Team B.

Here's my effort this week:

Oh Charlie!

I do seem to be scrapping the dog quite a lot these days as I have more photo's of him than anyone! (be warned......there are more to come!)

Here's Laura's awesome sketch for you to take a peek at:

As you can see I stuck to it fairly religiously this time around.

I used a die cut from the Silhouette Store for the background panel and title, and outlined with some doodled lines.

I layered a Polaroid style frame over the photograph which I've hoarded in my stash forever, and added some chipboard and scattered enamel dots (one of my new faves - just as well really seen as I bought a job lot of them!) .

Considering the whole theme of this page ie. the dog destroying every toy he has ever been given within a matter of minutes, I love the fact that in this shot he's licking his lips with anticipation!

Finally, I had to get a little flair in there and a few handmade metal ringed tags - the best ever $2 yard sale purchase as I've used at least a dozen already, and still many more to go!

That just about covers things from me, except of course to mention that you should immediately head over to the Scrapmuch? blog to check out some inspiration from the rest of the team, then  join in with this weeks challenge yourself.

Have a great weekend and I'll see you next week,
Jayne.x.

Inspiration Elevator - New

Good morning, it happens to be the 15th of the month which means it's time for a little........

Our main purpose here at IE is to challenge ourselves, each other and YOU to take the creative process to the next level;  to inspire growth and change in our scrapbooking beyond our usual boundaries.
You can see all of Inspiration Elevator's previous challenges on Facebook .

 This month's challenge is issued by the creative and prolific Lisa Spiegel, a scrapbooker from California who works hard to keep her pages focused on the photos and the story. Here it is in her own words:

" January is a month where we make resolutions, start fresh and have a new outlook towards many things. Our scrapping is the same way! We start new albums, pick "one little word" for new focus and even try new techniques. My challenge this month is to use the word "new" to inspire your page. Try to move beyond new products (although that is fun!) and scrap about something "new" you're committed to (maybe a new diet?), "new" to you experience and while you're at it, use a "new to you" technique. Something you've NEVER tried before this page. Tell us how it goes in your blog post!!"

So.....New huh?

So far I'm slightly unsure of 2015 as there seems to be a little too much 'new' in one form or another!  Makes me realize that I am not overly keen on change.....good or bad......makes me nervous!

For my page this month I decided to play it safe in a way.  I dealt with the obvious instead of delving too deep.......yes, burying my head in the sand but I just wanted to use my scrapping for the therapy it quite often is.  A lighthearted opportunity to let myself go with whatever creative flow I get caught up in.

That said, my 'New' is a 'Do' I'm guessing I will need to explain but my page will do most of that for me!)

A New Do

See.....I told you - nothing deep here, just a new hairstyle for 2015!

My title got me to thinking though, after I'd already got it down on the page, when it's too late to change of course!

I'm not sure the term 'a new do' is commonly used here in North America?  I tried to test out the theory on my daughters, them being born and raised here in Canada, to check if they knew what the heck I meant and they said "Of course.....we listen to you all day".  Hmmm.... I'm not quite sure they are considered a 'controled' experiment!

So just to make things clear - the term 'do' is used pretty commonly in the UK(as far as I'm aware) to refer to your hairstyle (hairdo!) and is quite often shortened to 'do'!

Of course I could be way off and this might only be used by those such as myself from The Midlands or Black Country to be precise......we can be a funny bunch!

On with some deets:

I did try to include a few more 'New' elements, those being my paper collection to start.....fancy that......me buying more paper! Lol

This line is from Pink Paislee's Bella Rouge line.

I also tried a 'new to me' technique for the title (can't believe I haven't tried this before......so not with it!) and cut directly into my background, then layered a co-ordinating paper behind.

A hand-drawn outline helped give a little more definition.

My journalling is written onto vellum (using my Silhouette) - something I love but don't do enough of.

Another 'New' is the style of the page.  I went uber clean and simple for this one - not my usual thing but I actually like it.

Embellishments consist of four things......

a feather tied with jute, a vellum tag, a few enamel dots and a sparse scattering of brads.

I could get used to this if it wasn't for the fact of not making any dent whatsoever in your stash!

(For those that don't realise.....making a dent in your stash means the ability to buy more stash!)

Finally, my background has a mixture of punched circles, stitched lines and doodled pencil drawing.

That's about all from me but we encourage you to check out each designer's creation this month: here's a complete list of this month's participating designers!
  

Lisa Spiegel

Ann Jobes 

Jayne Morgan - that's me!

Wendy Robinson

Lisa Moen

Why not give the challenge a try yourself? Then pop by our Facebook page and share with us what you created!

Have a wonderful day and I'll be back tomorrow.....time to catch up from my slack week of blogging,
Jayne.x.

Sketch-y Friday at Scrapmuch? - Laugh.

Can you believe it's December 5th already?

Are we feeling festive yet?

I'm just about entering a mild festive panic, wondering when I'm going to get all my gift shopping done as I've been working without a day off for the last couple of weeks, and don't have a free day in the near future either.

The joys of working retail.......'tis the Season!!

We have plans to start putting up decorations and the tree tonight at home, and probably for most of the weekend in and around more work shifts.

I think there could be wine involved! (hopefully!)

Today however, it's time for a brand new Sketch-y Friday Challenge and therefore DT Inspiration from Team B over on the Scrapmuch? blog.

I'll go right ahead and fess up what I did before I post my page.

Earlier in the week on the day our DT pages were due, I thought I was well ahead of the game having completed my page a couple of weeks earlier (for once!) at a scrappy retreat.

This theory flew right out of the window when I realised on the day of posting, that I'd actually used the Sketch intended for the for the next reveal......duh!

Plan B - scramble to put a page together that evening after work, to submit the next morning.

The reason I'm sharing this with you is that I've come to a conclusion.

I scrap better under pressure.

I'm not saying my pages are necessarily better, but I always feel happier with the results.  Maybe it's the lack of procrastination that moves the creative process along nicely?

Eh....who cares?!  All I know is I was more than happy to complete a page that didn't look like something from the last period of the day in Kindergarten.

You can make up your own mind. Lol

Laugh.

I love the title alpha's that I've been hoarding forever from Prima - perfect for this page as 'Laugh' is what we did!

My Mom uses a wheelchair for the most part to help her get around, so whenever we're out shopping she becomes our trusty truck/trolley (voluntarily I might add just in case anyone feels they should report me to some sort of society for protection of the elderly!).

We usually start laughing at some point when the pile of goods reaches her chin.  My (older) British friends will appreciate when I say, remember the kids TV show Crackerjack from years ago with Ed Stewart (Stewpot I think we used to call him!)?

At one point in the show, kids had to answer quick fire Quiz questions in order to win, and consequently hold prizes.  We're not talking iTunes or Gift cards here......we're talking good old fashioned actual toys in boxes, so obviously the more answers they got right, the harder it became to hold everything.  If they answered wrongly, they got a Savoy cabbage to hold......drop the cabbage and you loose!

To cut a long story short, in the midst of our laughter and serious loading of our substitute 'truck', my Mom asks "Where's the cabbage?"

This was not very productive!!

Anyhow, back to the page.

Thank goodness for the Silhouette on this one as there are plenty of cut elements.......

I'm also glad I finally got to use another hoard......patterned papers (Fine and Dandy I think!) from My Minds Eye.  Also had to get another one of my faves on there - wood.

Finally.....back to that title and a couple of stamped chevrons which remind me of tire tracks.

Maybe one day I'll share the story of 'Nanna', her wheels, and a little trip to Old Navy.......how one Grandma can bring down a whole store!

Think I'll save that one for another time.

Here is this weeks fabulous Sketch......

Why not join us by linking up your own creation over on the Scrapmuch? blog.  As always , there's a prize to be won!

That's it from me so have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you next week,
Jayne.x.

Sketch-y Friday at Scrapmuch? - Snow

Good morning.

I'm totally flying by the seat of my pants this week.......hubby's away, no day off work this week and of course my girls seem to have more things scheduled than ever!

All this means I'm stretched in 3 different directions and definitely not much time for crafting, but fortunately I did just about manage a layout for this weeks Sketch challenge over at Scrapmuch?

(I'll be back with a second post later today, for this weeks Little Red Wagon......only 2 days late!)

So, another great Sketch provided by Laura and this one was calling for a little mixed media.

Snow.

I'm sure you can tell from my expression that I'm a huge fan of Winter!

This was one of those 'shovel 4 times in a day' kinda days from last year......the best!!!!

I started the page by dabbing Mister Huey's white mist onto the background, with a scrunched up plastic bag.

I then added Martha Stewart Texture Paste through a stencil, and cut a few random sections of hexagons to layer........patterned papers are from Carta Bella.

The snowflakes are cut using a punch and I dotted a few pearls/rhinestones here and there.

Finally a little lace tape along the photographs (which I framed with a coat of White Out) and some journalling to set the mood.

Here is the fourth and final sketch for October's Scrapmuch? Challenges.......

......and you know how much you'd like to play along, so what are ya waiting for?

Just link up your own creation over on the blog, and you could be in with a chance of winning some goodies!

Have a great day, but I'll be back again in a couple of hours for this weeks (late) Little Red Wagon post......just as soon as it's light enough to take a photograph.

Have a good one,
Jayne.x.

Hello Specs!.......and a Sketch.

Hey how's it going?

Time for another layout on here today, and continuing with my theme of sharing my sketch too........I'm sharing the Sketch!

So, this is my final page using the Bo Bunny "Modern Miss' collection, from a recent Two Scrapbook Friends DT Kit.

The whole layout was inspired by a single sheet of patterned paper covered in spectacles........perfect for photo's of my eldest who had just acquired two new pairs!

Hello Specs!

Pocketbooth came through again for the photobooth style pics.......love that App!

I cut a honeycomb background using my Cameo and snipped out random pieces.  There's also plenty of stitching here and there.

Some subtle stamping in the background, and I also made use of a few chipboard elements included in this collection.

Finally, the title is one of my faves cut again with my Cameo using a font called 'Lemondrop' snagged from Dafont (free btw!), and of course I had to add those sequins.......perfect!

Well that's about all for that, but I did promise the Sketch so here goes #23:

I hope you can use it....just drop me a comment if you do and I'll be extremely nosey and come and take a peek! Lol

Have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow as it will be Wednesday already and time to dig into my Little Red Wagon!

Take care,
Jayne.x.

Hakuna Matata........no worries!

How's it going, hope you all had a good weekend?

We spent Saturday buying Halloween candy then filling the little goodie bags we hand out.  I say 'we' but it really involved me buying the candy and the girls filling the bags.......kept them quiet for a good couple of hours at least!

I took them to the Cinema yesterday to see Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2......not bad - I did manage to stay awake for most of it at least!  See.......some would consider it an expensive way to get a catnap, but for those with young children, I know you will agree.....money well spent!!

So, on to today's project - a scrapbook page.

I sort of forgot I hadn't posted this and one other from a DT Kit I received from Two Scrapbook Friends a while back.  I think I've completed two since then so time for 'blogging' catch up!

This kit was using the 'Trail Mix' collection from Bo Bunny, and although it's something I would not normally choose (or rather, would tend to run a million miles from actually!), as it's very 'fishy/outdoorsy' orientated........I have two girls.......there is very little (Translate: NONE!) fishing going on in these parts.  I do however enjoy the challenge of taking a collection like this and using it for something completely different.

Most of the patterns are great ( I say 'most' as I still can't get to grips with that 'fishy' one!) and it has an awesome 'rustic' colour scheme.  There's a fab 'tree bark' pattern on one sheet which was basically the whole inspiration for today's page, so here goes.........

Hakuna Matata.

This is only the second 'Disney' page I've scrapped from our trip 2 years ago......I will get that book done some day!

I figured that tree bark would work wonderfully with these photo's from the Animal Kingdom, so I randomly cut a piece for the background.  There's also a little stamped chicken wire too.

I liked the idea of keeping with 'natural' elements so I have some wood on there (you know I like my wood!) and these awesome burlap covered alpha's for the title.

Those chevrons are made using a Martha Stewart 'photo corner' punch.....I find I use it more this way!

The combination of embellies in the bottom corner consists of a tag fussy cut from one of the sheets of PP, a butterfly paper clip (Maya Road I think), layers of paper die cuts and more burlap topped of with a pretty brad.

I hand cut the fern leaves from PP, glued a little florist wire on the back, folded them in half around the wire then snipped diagonally with scissors.  The wire gives them a sturdiness that you can then manipulate into whatever shape/position you like.......works great as feathers too if you change up the PP.

And that's about all folks!

I'm trying to get a little more organized with my blog posts, so the plan is to be back on Wednesday for Little Red Wagon day, then Friday with the second LO from this collection.........we'll see if that works out!

Have a great day,
Jayne.x.

Adore......and a Sketch!

Hi there, it's puppy's nap time which means I have a little time to post before returning to 'poop scooping' duties!

I'm playing catch up with my posts as usual, so today's originally debuted on the Two Scrapbook Friends blog a couple of weeks ago.

It's my turn to host our Sketch Challenge for the month, and for those who didn't know, we have a new format running these days.  Twice a month we run a Crafty Challenge and a Sketch Challenge and these are now hosted on the blog........you no longer have to be a member of the Two Scrapbook Friends Forum, just link up your entry on the Two Scrapbook Friends blog post and you could be in with a chance of winning a $25 Gift Certificate for the store!

Not bad huh?

So, as mentioned it's my turn to host this months Sketch Challenge.......all we need is a Sketch!

Here goes:

I like this one - easy peasy and doesn't really need a lot of extra effort to complete a page.

I have a sample for you of course, this time using 'Vintage Bliss' from Simple Stories.  I love this collection and you may still be able to grab a few sheets from the store.

Adore.

Don't you just love wood grain?

It adds the perfect balance of pattern to your background whilst helping maintain the idea of white space.

Of course I can never resist adding a little more, so out came the stencils, molding paste and even a little 'White Out' here and there!

Pennants also made an appearance again as they're still pretty popular amongst us crafters.

This paper line lends beautifully to a little fussy cutting of the butterflies, so I added those in place of the flower shapes.

One little tip when adding a 3D butterfly to your page, is that I always glue down the centers, then add a small foam dot just underneath the wings.......helps maintain the 3D effect when they go into your album.

Well that's about all for today.

I hope you'll get a chance to play along and have a little fun with this months Sketch.

See you tomorrow for Little Red Wagon day.
Till then,
Jayne.x.