Sketch-y Friday at Scrapmuch? - Lucy

Well unlike the title suggests....it's obviously not Friday, but as usual I seem to be playing a game of catch-up for the current Scrapmuch? sketch challenge!

Relatives arrived from England a few days ago and are staying with us for a month which pleases me no end, but means the house is generally busy (crazy at times) and quite often loud!

I am going to try and carve out my own little crafty time, but find myself drawn to the adult conversation and goings on in the house (Lol)

Hence.....my post this week is late.....apologies!

The sketch this time around however was another lovely little bit of inspiration, and I decided to go the vintage route.

I dug into a tattered envelope of old photographs my FIL had brought over a few years ago and found a beauty of my husbands Grandmother (or Nan as we like to say).

Lucy

I believe she was around 18 at the time and this photograph I'm guessing, was probably in a small oval frame on a mantel or some such place, as it was quite jaggedly cut by hand.

I cut a vintage style frame using my Silhouette to hide those edges.

Layered papers, flowers, glittered chipboard and mesh ribbon.......

Here's Laura's sketch before I forget!

As you can see there is a larger panel in the background of the sketch, which I felt would probably overpower my page.  I wanted to keep some of the white space, but needed a little something.

If all else fails......doodle I say!

OK so this was the final Scrapmuch? sketch for the month of June, but we'll be back this Friday with another round of inspiration for you.....feel free to play along for a chance of winning a prize.

Have a great day,
Jayne.x.

Sketch-y Friday at Scrapmuch? - Hello Handsome

Good morning!

Here I am again trying to dust off my lonely little blog and bring you this weeks post for Sketch-y Friday over at Scrapmuch?

My new job is keeping me pretty busy, so definitely not much time (or energy!) for crafting.  Toss in a little March break (trying to keep the kiddo's happy/busy/exhausted) activity and I've got no chance really.

Once I got started on this page though, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I was just surprised how long it took me to complete.  For a relatively simple looking layout, this one took forever, probably because of my constant need to add more elements to the background!

Anyhow, enough chit chat, let's get down to business.

Hello Handsome

Awwwww isn't he cute, that handsome chappie in the photo there?

My hubby aged approximately 5 or 6 I'm guessing.  My girls had a little trouble recognizing him, probably due to all that hair that they're not used to seeing!

Before we move on, here is this weeks wonderful Sketch provided by the ever talented Laura Whitaker.

OK, so that background I was talking about......

The Sketch inspired me to start randomly punching holes from my paper, but one size of hole punch wasn't enough...........no we had to go with 5 just to make sure it looked totally random!

I inked the edge then added a few different sizes of metal gears. After reviewing again, I decided we needed more holes (of course!) and started to add eyelets in various sizes and metals.

It was at this point I decided 'no more.....time to move on or it will never get finished"!

There's the usual bunch of layers around the photograph.....

and a nice little group of grunged/vintage elements at the bottom - chipboard from Creative Embellishments (love their products!), vintage film strip and a heart charm by Tim Holtz.

Finally, the title started with a pre-made metal word from Jillibean Soup.

It was originally silver coloured but I decided that looked far too clean and polished, so I set to work with a brown Copic marker and ended up with old Copper wiring - perfect!
The second part of the title was cut using my Silhouette and Kraft cardstock.

So that just about covers everything, except for the part where you now head to your craft room to create something spectacular using this weeks Sketch, then link up over on the Scrapmuch? blog to be in with a chance of winning a prize.......yes?

Phew, glad we got that sorted!

Don't forget to check out a little more inspiration provided for you by the rest of the Scrapmuch? Team, whilst you're there.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.....I'll be working (surprise, surprise!) but I'll be seeing you again next week.

Take care out there,
Jayne.x.

Little Red Wagon #214 - Here Comes Santa!

Hi there, it's that time of the week........

Yep, time for another creation to satisfy this weeks challenge and today it's Jan's turn holding the reigns.

We are officially into the festive month of December, so she'd like to see the jolly old elf himself.......Santa!

I've had a busy week so far with the usual Christmas panic that the 1st of December brings. Throw in a sick kid too, and I'm back to the usual scramble to find my creativeness the night before my projects are due!

Never fear, I completed the task (at 12.40am to be precise) and here's the outcome:

Isn't it strange how I like this one better than a fair few I've pondered over for a few hours?  There's a message in there somewhere!

A bit of a mixing pot on here really - cheesecloth, fabric snowflakes, glitter, sequins.  I like to call it the "throw it all on there and hope for the best" approach!

Papers are last years Christmas collection from Authentique, and the vintage Santa digi is a really old freebie I snared once upon a time from Digital Two For Tuesday.

Hop on over to the Little Red Wagon blog and check out what the rest of the Girlfriends have been up to.  You can enter your own creation whilst you're there......no excuses - 'Tis the season and you know you have loads of Christmas creations in the works!

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be seeing you tomorrow......I have a layout in mind!

Enjoy the day,
Jayne.x.

Way Back When.........

Happy Friday to you!

We braved the awful weather last night for a little wet and windy Trick or Treating.  My youngest got half way down the street and decided that was enough.........this from the one with the sweet tooth, but absolutely no complaints from her soggy wet chaperon!  Even so, I think we have enough of a stash to keep them on a sugar high for a little while still!

I'm back today with a layout as promised - the final page from my Two Scrapbook Friends DT Kit using the 'Trail Mix' collection from Bo Bunny.

As mentioned in my first post here, I like the challenge of taking a particular themed collection and using it for something totally different........this page is no exception.

I avoided the outdoorsy/fishing/camping type of theme (cause anyone that knows me will know that's definitely not me.....too many bugs!) and took the vintage/eclectic/industrial route on this one.

Inspiration is the sole courtesy of the genuinely original 60+ year old photo's, passed to me by my Father-In-Law.

Here's 'Way Back When'.

Hmmm where to start?

I finished this page around 3 months ago so I have to remind myself what I put on there!  I do love the patterned background though......'Parquet' flooring I believe.......reminds me of the gym floor at my Elementary school back in England, many moons ago!

Let's start at the top shall we?

Metal gears/cogs, a die cut doily and cute Maya Road pennant paper clip, layered over distressed papers.

In the next section, pretty brads and a border of pleated paper (attacked with my Crop-a-dile!) together with journalling printed onto vellum.

Finally, some of my faves.........a pin, leaves and fabric flower combo, together with a gorgeous antique key, tied with the cutest ribbon onto a fabulous vintage photo slide frame........love them all!

I have to give thanks to my scrapping buddy Carola for the key, whose love of shopping for crafty goodies ensures my pages are probably far more interesting than they would normally be!

I also added a little more texture around the edge of the page, by spreading a little molding paste onto a faux cardboard stamp and slapping it down onto the page here and there.

Well I think I've covered all of the important bits, so time for me to go.

I'm pleased I've actually stuck with the plan this week and got my posts on here regularly.

Maybe this will rub off onto next week too.....ya never know!

Have a great weekend, see you soon,

Jayne.x. 

Little Red Wagon #204 - Back In Time!

Hi there, it's Wednesday which means it's Little Red Wagon Day.........

As it's my turn to host this weeks challenge, I thought I'd better actually post on time (for once!), so here goes.

This week I want to roll back the years and see a little 'vintage' or 'retro'!

I stumped myself with this one initially as I couldn't quite decide which route to take!

Eventually though, a little 'vintage' came through.........

Apologies for the poor lighting in this photo.......the consequence of forgetting to take a photograph of your creation til there is absolutely no natural daylight!

I'll try to get a decent shot later today.

EDIT: Done!!

Both digi's are freebies from Create With TLC and papers are an oldie but goodie from Cosmo Cricket......'Circa 1934'

Hopefully you'll get a chance to be inspired by the rest of the 'Girlfriends' and link up your own 'golden oldie' over on the Blog.

Have fun and I'll be seeing you soon,
Jayne.x.

Cherish.

Hi there.

A layout today I think.

It feels like this one was completed eons ago, as I've been so sporadic with my blogging!  It was actually one of the creations from my previous DT Kit from Two Scrapbook Friends using the 'Bumble' collection by Adorn It.

This page is fairly vintage, completely different from the first page I produced, which you can check out here.

The background paper is not my usual taste and one I would normally have skipped right past and probably used the reverse, but when I saw it I knew I had the perfect photo to pair with it........one my In-laws had left with me during their visit last Christmas.  It captures the youthful image of my hubby's Nan around the age of 18 or 19, circa 1935!

Scrapbooking these types of photographs makes me nervous, even though I love the history involved and feel they're always guaranteed to be pretty cool.........no pressure huh!

Anyhow, enough chit-chat:

Elizabeth Kinsey Fieldhouse.

This collection includes a great co-ordinating set of die cuts, so I put the flowers and foliage to good use, together with one of their stickers and some bling from my stash.

I layered up some more embellies over a piece of cheesecloth..........

and I was so glad to finally be able to use these cute 'pennant' Thickers I've been hoarding!

The inked doily fits in nicely with the vintage theme and the lacy border around the photograph if fussy cut from another sheet of patterned paper, then hand stitched on there.

This one will definitely be entered in the album as I'm not gettin' fussy with it no more!

Have a great day and I'll be seeing you around the middle of the week.

Take care,
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.

Knitting and Crochet vintage style.

Monday seems to have rolled around again....it's amazing how quickly the weeks are flying by!

I had a busy but fun weekend.....Scrapfest on Friday and Saturday, did some shopping there, met loads of new and familiar faces, folded many paper flowers for a demo, and generally had a blast!  Sunday was payback.....a sore stiff neck and had to be at work for 8.00am....can't have it all I guess!

Today I'm showing the last of my recent Design Team creations for Two Scrapbook Friends, using the Echo Park "This & That - Charming" collection, and this one's a card...........

A touch of vintage for this one.  The image is actually cut from the reverse side of one of the sheets of  patterned paper.  I used my Copic markers on there to add to the vintage feel, together with a little distressing ink.

The canvas flower is another lovely from Prima, to which I added a teeny spool of thread, and a couple of stick pins..........

Some delicate pink lace makes an appearance, together with a paper strip also cut from another sheet of PP.  A die cut (Spellbinder), sticker (available in this collection) and machine stitching, finish the job............

So that's all from Echo Park for now.....can't wait to see which collection I get to play with next time.

I'll be back later this week with a little of this and that.......just have to create something first!
Have a great day and I'll see you soon,
Jayne.x.
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Challenges entered:
Craft your Passion Challenges - #106 Die Cuts and Punches
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything Goes
Catered Crop - Use Kraft (I used this for the base of my card)
Dream Valley Challenges - #30 Earth Tones
Sugar Creek Hollow - #7 Die Cits or Punches (with vintage or shabby chic)
Alphabet Challenge Blog - E is for Embroidery (or stitching)
ATC's and Cards with Attitude - #11 Anything Goes/Faces
Joyful Stamper Inspire Me Fridays - #54 Anything Goes
Lily Pad Cards - Simon Says Stamp presents a Flower Challenge
365 Cards - Day 43 Just a touch of Colour
4 Crafty Chicks - #85 Material Girl
Crafty Purple Frog Challenge - #38 Let's Get Distressed
Delightful Challenges - Delightful Stitches
Moving Along With The Times - #144 Shabby Chic and/or Vintage
Rainbow Lady's Challenge Blog - A touch of Vintage
Crafts and Me Challenges - 3D Embellishments
Crafty Creations Challenges - #165 Flower Power
Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog - April Showers Bring Spring Flowers

Pappy played Soccer?!

Hi there, how's it going?

As promised I'm here with a scrapbook layout today as I've been trying to join in a few of the challenges over on the Two Scrapbook Friends forum. Shelby posted a a challenge last week to create a layout using 'Itty Bitty Pic's" no larger than 3"x3", so last night I finally got down to business.

Here goes................

Now, there's a story behind the LO and a story behind the photograph.....which shall we start with? The photo I think.

This photograph arrived in the mail a few weeks ago from my father-in-law, as a little quiz shall we say, for our girls. As you can see it was taken a fair few years ago (50 to be precise!) and shows a few of the family in their......ahem....younger days. The question was 'Can you find Pappy?'

As the title suggests, I think their first question was "Pappy played soccer?!", closely followed by "Where's his moustache?"

Joking aside, I love these old photo's as I don't have many of them, and this one even shows a Great Uncle and Great Grandfather who are sadly no longer with us. Although I'm no expert at vintage layouts, I'm hoping I've done a decent enough job.

Now onto the challenge - ''Itty Bitty Pic's".....well I guess you could say I took a few liberties!

When I sat down to craft last night, I realized I didn't have enough small photo's printed for what I wanted to do, so I attacked one with my trimmer instead! At least they're all 2"x2"!

Here's a few more close-ups before I leave.

A nice little tag cut using my new 'Slice' .......did I mention I had a 'Slice' for my Birthday (ssshhhh it's not my Birthday till next week!)

Found this perfect 'Family' plate, which I've had forever, hiding in my stash.


Another cute tab to hold the date, again cut using my new 'Slice', which I will share deets about once I officially receive it!

I guess I should mention before I go that papers are a mixture from Graphic 45 and Prima.

Well that's it from me, so enjoy your day and I'll see what I can come up with next......I have no clue really, but I'm sure I'll find something.
Take care
Jayne.x.

Life is a mystery..........

Good morning. I'm being a well behaved 'blogger' at the moment, by putting in my second appearance this week! A card of course, but a card with no image! Wow.....unusual for me, and I bet you can hardly stand the suspense of what it looks like ( hee hee!), so here it is............

A little vintage.....Victorian maybe? I have no clue, my History was never that good, but it looks pretty so who cares!

I created this card a little while ago, for a fun challenge over on the Two Scrapbook Friends forum called '5 for 5'. Head on over there if you feel like checking it out as they have one each month. Basically, when the challenge is posted, the first 5 people to sign up, will be sent 5 mystery items with which to create a masterpiece, and post on a certain date. Then everyone gets to see the awesome variety of projects people produce, using the same 5 things.

The 5 items for this card were:

A length of green ribbon

A die cut key

An unfinished chipboard swirl

2 pearl embellishments

A small piece of patterned paper

I added the doily, button, floss, accordion heart and stitching, then made up a sentiment to finish. It was fun and I'm pretty pleased with the result.

Have a happy day, and who knows, you may see me again this week...........maybe!

Jayne.x.

A touch of 'Vintage'........

Good morning, it's Sunday, so here I am again with another DT creation for a brand new challenge over at OSAAT. First off, I have to say 'Happy 1st Birthday' OSAAT! Yep today we are celebrating our Big Birthday Bash, which basically means more prizes for you this week, from a whole array of sponsors, so you won't want to miss entering.

Our theme for this weeks challenge is to celebrate with 'Girlie Things'.....you know the ones........ribbon, flowers, bling, pins......all the stuff we love to play with.

So, I have two projects to show you today, the second will be following in the next post. First up, a touch of vintage using an image from one of our sponsors.......Dezina World, together with some lovely papers from Floppy Latte Designs......'Vintage Vision' (which you can find at the Stitchy Bear store).............

Well, I've never actually created a grunged up, vintage style of.............well....box before, so I'm fairly pleased with how it's turned out. I guess a $1.25 box from the $$ store can be a good investment.

The deets are pretty obvious with this one.......I covered with papers, added my image, lace, bling, flowers, Tim Holtz ticket, grunged everything up a little with distress inks and there we are. This has already been claimed by my youngest for her special things........hairbands, an elastic, a half eaten lollipop, a favourite cheerio! I dare not dig any deeper!!

Make sure you hop over to the OSAAT blog this week to catch up on the major creativity presented by the DT and don't forget to enter this weeks challenge.

I'll be back in a little while with some challenge entries, and even sooner with my second creation...........see you in a jiffy.

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Challenges entered:

Paper Sundaes - #56 Pick your toppings (I used flowers, lace and distressing)

Aly's Sunday Sketch - #35 Bling Bling

Simon Says Stamp - Anything But A Card

Digi Stamps 4 Joy - #12 Flower Power

Frosted Designs - Use the word LOVE

Craft Us Crazy - Anything Goes

Love is.............

Hello again, another Sunday has rolled around, which means it's time for a new challenge over at the One Stitch At A Time Challenge Blog. Our sponsor this week, who is offering a gift voucher to their on-line store is........

The theme of this weeks challenge is 'New Beginnings', that could be New Home, New Baby, New Love/Engagement/Wedding, or even just using your vast amount of 'New Stash'......you get the picture?

So, onto my DT project for this week, here's at least one guy who is gearing up for Valentines' Day..........'Lil' Cupid'.............

Fairly vintage this week. I worked with an image from Floppy Latte Designs called, as previously mentioned, Lil' Cupid, and you can find him over at the Stitchy Bear Stamps Store. He was coloured, as per usual with a combination of Prisma pencils and Copic markers, and there is quite a scattering of ultra fine glitter on there too. The sentiment is another digi I picked up a while ago through the Free Digital Stamps blog, and was created by Raindrop Echo Designs. I'm not sure which song John Lennon included these words in, but I thought how lovely they were, and would fit perfectly with what I was intending here.

I should have maybe mentioned, that the 'New Beginning' I had in mind was probably an Engagement. The papers I've used are from Basic Grey's Cappella line, together with plenty of ink and distressing. I had this idea of Cupid delivering an ancient message of love, so that's where the 'scroll' idea comes in. I added various bits of bling, ribbon and flowers and used foam dots in places, to get the dimension I wanted.

I'm not too pleased with the photo I've used here, as the light picked up the transparent bling swirl sticker, which in real life is pretty sheer. Oh well, it was too late to take another, so you'll just have to take my word for how good it looks really! (lol)

Well, that's it from me, so go visit the OSAAT blog and check out the other DT creations. I'll be entering this into a few challenges I'm sure, so I'll be back later with the deets.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

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Challenges entered:

Ooh La La Creations - #71 Bling It On

Lexi's Creations - #31 Say It With Love

Karber Weekly Challenge - Pearls (must use a digi)

Paperplay Challenges - Cutie Patootie

Meljen's Designs - #41 Square or Round shaped cards

Southern Girls Challenge - #10 Totally Loved Up

Wags 'n Whiskers - #44 With Love

The Stamp Man - #14 Distress

Mark's Finest Papers - #38 Have hearts on your project

Do You Stack Up - #2 Distress It

Love...........

OK, for today's card, something waaaaay different from my 'Lollipop's' and 'Bella' stamps I usually grab for. We're going..........Vintage! I love this style of card but never make one very often, cause I think I'm scared of messing it up. Anyhow, when I saw this beautiful image...........'LOVE' by Stitchy Stamps, (which you can find at the Stitchy Bear Store right here) I knew I needed to roll back the years and go for it. I know it's not perfect, as I kept itching to add a little more, but I am pleased with it, so here goes..............

Did I mention that I 'LOVE' this image.....so classic. I also 'LOVE' the papers from Graphic 45.........been hoarding them forever!

I coloured the image of course with my Prisma pencils, and a touch of Copic markers for skin tones and the word "love". I glittered the letters and fur and then fussy cut around the image. The telegram is cut from a sheet of the DP then inked, and the ticket is from a K&Company vintage pack. Ribbon and the pearly swirl are from a $$$$ store and the stick pins are from Jenni Bowlin. I also stitched and distressed the edge of the papers, and the sentiment is cut from a Nestie, printed from Word, and inked. Phew, that's all the 'deets' over with.

This classy Lady will be entered into a number of challenges of course, one being over at Flourishes Timeless Tuesday, whose challenge this week is to chose a particular print from Cafe Baudelaire Prints, as inspiration. I chose the following, so I'm hoping you can see a connection.............
The other challenges being entered are as follows:

Creative Craft Challenges - Anniversary/Celebration........It's their 1st year 'blogiversary' so lots of prizes up for grabs!

The Crafty Pad - #95 Stitching

Incy Wincy Designs - #66 Anything Goes

Crafty Cardmakers - #33 Stitching

Kaboodle Doodles - #43 Make It Vintage

A Spoonful Of Sugar - #128 Relish to Embellish

Cooking It Up With Katie - #36 Texture/Swirls/Black

Creative Inspirations Challenge Blog - #46 Glitter, Glamour, Girlie

Crafty Emma's Store Challenges - #10 Chocolate Caramel

See you tomorrow.........I'm actually organized and have something else prepared!!!! Also, don't forget the current challenge (Christmas-traditional or modern) over at the OSAAT Challenge Blog is still open til Saturday midnight!