Little Red Wagon #235 - DIY Flower

It's Jodi's turn to host our challenge this week over at.............

and she would like to see a flower or two of the handmade variety.

No excuses......there are thousands of versions to create, from the simple to the extremely intricate, so get cutting folding, scrunching......whatever, so long as it's not plucked straight from the packaging!

I've been hoarding a fair few Silhouette flower cut files from an artist called Jamie Lane which I thought "I'll get around to trying those one day".  They first caught my eye as they are so realistic.  There are a fair few varieties of flower and I'm sure if you are of a green fingered nature you will know the difference.

Me.....I just picked the first one I thought looked pretty!

A Lisianthus apparently!

15 layers of glue, ink and curling later, I decided they were far too pretty (and time consuming!) to just stick on a card so Plan B emerged.

Here's the result:

Who doesn't love Mason jars?

In fact, I decided if I were doing the whole 'wedding' thing over again I would have Mason jars everywhere filled with flowers, candles, seashells, candies etc. etc.

Anyhow, back to the flowers -

Yes, they are pretty time consuming but sooooo worth it in the end as they are gorgeous in real life.

I may even attempt the other eight varieties I have in my stash in say......another six months!

Why not create your own floral embellishment and link up over on the blog.  The Girlfriends are there with a little more inspiration for you.

I'll be back on Saturday because unless you've been living in a cave recently, you'll know it's International Scrapbooking Day!

Yay.....an excuse to craft the day away (if only I didn't have to go to work - boo!).

The gals over at Scrapmuch are hosting an online crop on Facebook all weekend if you care to join them.....

and Two Scrapbook Friends will be hosting a Blog Hop where the team (including myself) will showcase a sampling of crafty goodness.

I hope you can join us for a little inspiration and of course, prizes!

Til then have fun,
Jayne.x.

Songs of Christmas Blog Hop.

Hello and welcome to the Songs of Christmas Blog Hop with Two Scrapbook Friends!

You should have arrived here from the lovely Tracy's blog, who I know had a wonderful project for you to feast your eyes upon.

As I'm sure you're aware by now, our Blog Hop is all about the Songs of Christmas so the inspiration for my project comes from the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas".

Now I'll admit I'm using a loose interpretation of the song, as my creation is more like the '24 days of Christmas', but as there is no festive jingle of that title that I'm aware of, this is close enough!

Yes you may have guessed, my project is an Advent Calendar of sorts........a flip chart countdown to 'the Big Day' if you will!

Here goes:

I was fortunate enough to be re-gifted one of those ornate scrapbook display frames by my girlfriend Carola (she will definitely have something to say if I don't get the obligatory mention in there!), which coincided with me trying to recreate this 'Advent' idea.............a project is born!

A trip into the Two Scrapbook Friends store found me the perfect Christmas papers........Nordic Pines from Bazzill.......non-traditional, a touch of black, a little Kraft........what more could a girl want?

An evening (or two!) of thinking, measuring, re-thinking, re-measuring and more embossing powder than I have used in the last 10 years finally got me to this point.

I liked the idea of a chalkboard background as it is for my kiddo's after all, so I used a white embossing powder to create a chalk-like effect with various glue pens and stamps.

The scrabble letters (never a disappointment!) received a little TLC from various Distress inks and Liquid Applique.

No Christmas project is complete without an appearance from the Jolly Old Elf himself..........

and I used a 'pearl' embossing powder and a steady hand to create the subtle graffiti background.

As far as the 'flip tags' go we started at 24 of course on the 1st of December, are at 19 right now (just in case you weren't aware of that!) and will work our way down to one more day to go.......Christmas Eve!

A little burlap and ribbon finished things nicely and I think that just about covers everything.

Hopefully you've been inspired to run out and create your own Christmas project, or maybe just finish the 101 tasks you have left to do in the remaining 19 days!

Either way, you'll have some wonderful ideas and a few Christmas songs in your head to put a skip in your step.

It's been a pleasure as always, but just a few important tidbits before you leave:

In order to be entered to win the special prize all you have to do is hop from Blog to Blog, and leave a comment on each as you go. Simply check back at the Two Scrapbook Friends blog on December 10th to see if you are the lucky winner!

Here are the featured blogs in our Blog Hop:

Shelby

Joanne

Tracy

             Jayne - that's me!

Darcy

Jodi

Amanda

Christa

Audrey

Janice

Ann

Carolyn

As you can see from the list, your next stop will be with Darcy who I'm sure has a fabulously festive creation in store.

Have fun hopping and I'll be seeing you again soon,

Jayne.x.

Little Red Wagon #200 - Pretty Polka Dots.

Hello.

Well I didn't quite make it back here yesterday now did I?!

Oh well, only one day late.......getting better at least.

Time is still taken up looking after the little guy Charlie........yes he is still sneaking in a few potty breaks in my house!  One rug has already made it's way to the 'Magic Carpet in the Sky' as it seems to be his bathroom of choice.  Since it's disappearance though, things are improving slightly - I see the light at the end of the tunnel........just have to 'train' my girls to pay attention to him rather than the Disney Channel when it's their watch.

Anyhow, on with today's post..........it's Thursday which means I am officially one day late for this weeks Little Red Wagon challenge......

.........but a slight improvement on last week so who knows, I may even post on time next week!

Jan issued our challenge this week and she'd like to see some Polka Dots......large, small, a lot or a little.......doesn't really matter as long as there are some in there somewhere.

I decided to go with a Gift Tag, before realizing my offering of Polka Dots was a little poor to say the least.

So I added a flower, and then decided there were even fewer Polka Dots on display!

Sooooooo I finally concluded with a Gift Bag and made darn sure there were some Polka Dots on there!

Here we go with my Gift Baggy/Taggy kinda thing!

Sorry for the glare in the photo, but you may notice that other than the bag, this is purely made up from the scraps left over from the layout I posted earlier this week.

Nice when that happens.........the 'hoarder' in me can chill knowing I'm no longer compelled to keep those few pieces of patterned paper I may desperately need at some point in the future - a nice clean break!

Here's a close up of those Polka Dots, just in case you're struggling to see them.

Well I'm off to check out what the rest of the Girlfriends have been up to..........please join us for this weeks challenge over on the blog if you get a chance.

Before I go, I can't leave without another cute piccie of Charlie of course.  I'm sensing a little routine here..........every time I bring myself to the PC, he follows and curls up to fall asleep at my feet under the desk.

Go on, you know you can't resist - everyone say Aaaaawwww!

I'll be seeing you soon I hope so enjoy the day,
Jayne.x.

Bees.....what else can I say?!

Hellooee! How's it going?

I probably should warn you that if you have an affliction toward 'bees' in any way, shape or form you may not want to continue reading today's post!

I am not a 'bee lover' myself as such, but when I'd completed 80% of the projects from my last Two Scrapbook Friends DT Kit, using the 'Bumble' collection by Adorn It, I was left with a rather excessive number of bee stickers and die cuts.

What's a girl to do?

Why......what any normal girl would of course, and make yourself a mini hive!

So that's what I did.

Got myself a quaint little paint can from the $$ store and got to work.  Here's the front showing a couple of labels, fussy cut from one of the sheets of patterned paper.

A slightly areal shot showing the pretty lid........

Full on shot of the doilies and pretty die cut flowers........

and........that's where the prettiness stops!

Now we get downs to bugs business.

I stuck a little hive in the Spanish moss there (it's actually a wooden hive shape that I covered with more PP).

Stuck most of those leftover stickers on the outside of the can..........

and the teeny bee die cuts are suspended on thin strips of acetate so that they 'float' as you move the can.......as if things weren't creepy enough!

OK, so I hope I haven't creeped you out completely........points for originality at least please?

I guess there's a first for everything and this is definitely a first (and last) for me.......I can't say I didn't enjoy it though.

Have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday for crafting of the more 'normal' variety!

Bye for now,
Jayne.x.

Butterflies in December!

Good morning.

Every now and then I realize I still have projects to post from my last Two Scrapbook Friends DT Kit, from waaaaaaaay back in October!

So here I am again, remembering such projects.

This one's the penultimate.....still one more to be subjected to after this I'm afraid!

No, it's not a scrapbook page, or a card, it's everyone's fave.....the altered item, although there's nothing 'altered' about it really!

I saw the idea for this in a scrappy magazine (Scrap365) earlier in the year and knew I would have to tuck it away in that part of my brain which gathers cobwebs, then dig it out when I would feel inspired enough (or rather brave enough!) to attempt it.

That day must have finally arrived in October because here we go.....the first day of Winter here today, and we have butterflies!

Like I said, I can't lay claim to this idea, however I am really pleased with my version.

The cage is made from one sheet of white cardstock and decorated with vines and an abundance of patterned paper flowers, all using Authentique's 'Original' collection of course.

 

A couple of jewelled butterflies peek from behind the bars................

The cage is finished with satin ribbon, and the perfect sticker, found on the 'Original' collection sticker sheet.

 

Sweet!

Enjoy the rest of your day and have a great weekend.

A few more Christmas preparations left for me to do, then it's Jingle All The Way!

See you soon,

Jayne.x.

Autumn Colours Blog Hop with Two Scrapbook Friends!

Welcome to the Autumn Colours Blog Hop with Two Scrapbook Friends!

You should have arrived here from the lovely Sharlene's blog, but if you've happened here by chance, you may want to start at the beginning to be in with a chance of winning a prize of course!

So the purpose of today's Blog Hop is to share a little 'Fall' crafty inspiration.

I decided to go the 'Halloween' route as I hardly ever make anything for this annual holiday.  I blame it on my roots, as we Brit's are not known for going to town on this celebration.

No holding back today though, I created a 'Halloween' style wall hanging.......could possibly be the only decoration of this style in my house on the 31st, but it's a start!

I realize it may be a little difficult to see a lot of detail on here, so here's a few close-ups..............

TRICK:

OR:

TREAT:

Papers and most of the embellishment stickers on here are from Authentique's 'Enchanted' collection, which you can of course find over at Two Scrapbook Friends.

That's it from me, so it's time to make your WAY over to Shelby's blog, where I know she'll have something wonderful waiting for you.

Before you go, a few things to remember:
Don't forget - in order to be entered to win a prize:
1. Leave a comment on all the blogs as you go and then go back to the Two Scrapbook Friends blog and leave a final comment there by October 8th at midnight..
2. To have a second chance to win, keep track of the RED HIGHLIGHTED WORDS from each blog and email the phrase to 2friends@execulink.com. Put "Blog Contest" in your subject line.
3. Check back at the Two Scrapbook Friends blog on October 10th to see if you are the winner. (Winners will not be contacted personally.)

Be sure to stop by each on the following blogs, leave a comment and keep track of the secret word!

Two Scrapbook Friends

Carolyn

Ann

Christa

Jan

Amanda

Lynn

Sharlene

Jayne

Shelby

Joanne
Two Scrapbook Friends

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

Friends are like flowers.........

Good morning, it's Monday so I thought I'd start the week with good intentions and post on here.

I'm back today with my second project from my last Two Scrapbook Friends DT Kit, using Prima's Doodle-Deux collection.

One of these days I'm going to remember to take a photo of what's included in my kit before I actually attack it with my scissors.  It hasn't happened so far so you'll just have to use your imagination for now!

Most of the papers in this collection have a lot of pattern on there, beautiful detail but quite busy, so for this project (the altered item!) I got to work with the scissors..........lots of fussy cutting.

I attacked a very inexpensive dollar store canvas, with a combination of a banner stencil and a couple of different shades of mist.  You can also see the variety of fussy cut paper elements, together with a few canvas flowers thrown in.

One of those Michael's $1.50 bin felt birds I'm so fond of, sits on top of a Dienamics die cut branch.............

 A simple combination of alpha stickers finish things nicely.

I'll be back soon with a scrapbook page using this collection, so stay tuned for more Prima goodness.
Have a good one,
Jayne.x.

ABC's and 123's!

Good morning to ya!

I just realised that I hadn't finished showing my final two projects from my last DT kit, from Two Scrapbook Friends. 
So, on that note, I'm here today with the  pen-ultimate, my favourite of course (not!), the altered item!

If you can remember as far back to my first post here, you'll know I was using the Authentique 'Delightful' line, which incorporates a fair amount of 'baby' themed embellishments and sentiments.  My final project here continues the baby theme, and is a set of altered wooden blocks.

The blocks are covered using only patterned paper and a selection of stickers or die cuts............

..........and each face displays a different theme..............

A sweet little addition to any baby's room.

That's all for today, so I'll see you on Friday, I think.
Have a good day.....stay cool!
Jayne.x.

Flowers for Easter

Good morning, hope you're enjoying your Easter weekend so far.

We had fun yesterday hunting for eggs......the Easter Bunny thinks she's smart in our house, by leaving written clues for the kiddo's to try and figure out where the eggs are.  Makes no difference....the stash was still found within 5 minutes, but at least fun was had by all.

The day was rounded off with a trip to the cinema, to see The Lorax.......quite a good movie by adult standards.......I stayed awake which is a good sign!

So today I'm continuing with the projects from my recent  Two Scrapbook Friends DT kit, using Echo Parks "This & That" 'Charmng' collection.  Today's project is every one's favourite (not mine at least!), the altered item.
I saw these paper flowers on the Authentique blog quite some time ago, and knew I wanted to try them some day.  As I had a fair few scraps left over in this kit, the time was now, so I created this little pretty..........

These flowers are a little time consuming to make and use a fair amount of paper, but they are pretty simple and look quite effective.  If you'd like to give them a try, check out the tutorial on the Authentique blog here.

As mentioned before, I used the leftovers from my Echo Park paper and added a variety of buttons, together with a double punched butterfly using a Martha Stewart punch.

The tiny plant pot is a Dollarama bargain.  It was purchased unfinished so I painted it pink, then added a layer of crackle medium, before finishing with a layer of cream paint.  I did cover the whole thing with a layer of ModPodge just to seal things nicely.

The polka dot ribbon ribbon finishes the job......sweet!

I have a couple more projects left to show you from this collection, so I'll be back during the week sometime.
Enjoy the last day of the long weekend, and I'll see you soon,
Jayne.x.
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Challenges entered:
Always crafting - #5 Anything but a Card
Cupcake Craft Challenges - #187 Spring Is In The Air
The Pink Elephant - #143 Flowers
Truly Madly Crafty Challenges - Handmade Flowers
That Craft Place Challenge Blog - #8 All About Spring

All your eggs in one basket!

Well hello.  It's Thursday, only one more work day til the weekend, and the sun is oh so shiny!  I'm not one for just sitting in the sun, and I hate the bugs that warmer weather brings, but there's something about a sunny day that brightens things up and makes you feel.....well.....hot! (lol)

I'm hoping the title of today's post will become clear shortly, but first I have to mention one thing...... as I'm writing this, my blog counter thingy down in the bottom right there shows 9999........WOW!  I hit way from 10,000.  When I started my blog 18 months ago, I was hoping I would gain a sympathy view of maybe 10 hits per week (hopefully!), so I'd like to say a BIG thank you to all of you out there who visit, I really do appreciate it.  Also, to those lovelies who take the time to leave a comment....makes my day believe me, so if you don't mind putting up with me for a little longer.....here's to the next 10,000!

So, on to what we are here for....today's creation.....not a card......not a scrapbook page.....what could it be....can you stand the anticipation?

Well don't get too excited, but I thought I'd show the last of my DT creations for Two Scrapbook Friends, using the We R Memory Keepers 'Cottontail' collection.  As Easter is fast approaching, what could be better than a little basket to keep those eggies safe and sound...........

I love the little sentiment tag on the front there, which is actually cut from one of the sheets of patterned paper.

The main body of the basket is a straight forward box I made, then 'fence' panels which were cut using my Slice, are adhered around the sides.  There's also a border strip from another sheet of PP, on there too.

The handle is made with strips of paper and a border punch, and there's a nice little accordion flower attached.  Here's a close up of one of the chipboard elements in the collection, which I tied on there.......

Well that's it from me, so hope you enjoyed it. Now move away from the computer and go enjoy the sunshine!
Have a great day
Jayne.x.