Scrapbooking: Family & Friends

The last of the Ironbridge layouts for now, this time from Ruths visit last year.

It seemed very appropriate to not only use Ruths favourite colour to make the page but also the papers she gave me!

Scrapbooking: Christmas Photo Shoot

We are now exactly half way to Christmas!!!! Sorry, didnt you want to hear that word yet. Maybe you'd like to have a laugh at the preparation of last years christmas card instead?

I've been loving the polaroid style embellishments & frames that have been going round, and they are perfect when you want to scrap several photos, especially for a photoshoot!

I wrote under some of the photos, in classical polaroid photo style

I also used simple patterned papers with the polaroid frame to add the journalling onto.

And filled in the gaps by embellishing on other polaroids

These made up a page I loved of how the photoshoot went.

I then turned it into a double page layout by making a simple page using the final photos I used on the Christmas cards for that year.

Crafts & Cards: Textured Canvas Art

While a small group of us crafted at Lynnes house we noticed a gorgeous canvas on her wall and admired it. She explained how she'd made it and asked if we'd like to make one on her next course, oh yes we would!

We started off by edging the canvas in brown acrylic paint, & the a line of white acrylic paint diagonally down the center where we wanted the "river" to flow. On top of the white we put lines of encaustic wax diagonally down the center in blues, white, grey and small amounts of brown & black.

These were then smudge slightly with the encaustic iron.

 From there we began working towards the corners, dripping browns, reds, oranges & purples, then gently blending them together slightly. We built these up a bit along with a few patches of pale blue & peach.

 On the very corners we added coloured polyfiller, this works just as well as texture paint. into this I added curls of copper sheeting, gravel & sand.
A bit of white polyfiller rubbed on with my finger down the "river" gave the image of froth & rapids. I also put glossy accents along this area & sprinkled fine glitter on to give it a shimmer. The glossy accents was also used so I could stick sand along the "river banks"

Once dry I tidied the edges up & recoated with brown acrylic paint.

All done & now hanging in my lounge.

Crafts & Cards: Glitz

I rarely use glitter, but that was the theme for this weeks lesson so I gave it a go.

This card looks like I spent ages colouring with glitter whereas it was so much simpler. The flowers are rub ons on a piece of white card. On top of this I stuck a sheet of double sided sticky and cut it with an oval die. I removed the top layer & sprinkled a fine glitter all over, This was stuck onto an embossed background. Where the embossing folder pattern ended on the paper I wrapped a ribbon around & tied a bow without adding a glittery patterned peel off.

Crafts & cards: Not "large Letter"

This week we looked at making flat cards that can easily go through that tiny letter slot.

Torn paper makes gorgeous waves, and its easy to add die cut shapes out of paper to keep the thickness to a minimum.

But the technique I really enjoyed was using Pan Pastels

 I created this card by using a single blue colour. The background scene was madeby using ripped paper as a stencil and going along from the front to the back without refreshing the pan pastel. This made the colour pale out the further "back" it went.
I then stamped the trees, verse & bird using versamark ink and gently went over with cotton wool rubbed with the same pan pastel.

To finish I used pearl coloured stickles to dot on the cherry blossom.

I started off by masking off a circle and making a night sky before removing the circle and making the masked off area look more moon like.

I stamped a city scene with versa mark & gently rubbed with black pan pastel, I repeated this two more times, going lower each time & trying to make it darker.

Finally I stamped a verse in black ink.

A very simple card, the background done by blending lines of similar coloured pan pastels together. I stamped with versamark and went over with a purple pan pastel. Finally I stamped the verse in silver ink.

Crafts & Cards: Colouring

This has to be one of my favourite cards that I've made. Lynne showed us how to make a lovely easel arch way card with a wedding couple in the centre. With no weddings up & coming I thought it would look nice with a swing under the arch way.
I embossed the archway with a brick embossing folder, the rose vines are florist wire with paper roses & leaves stuck on. I also used paper rose buds infront of the paper grass I used.
I used flower soft for the dirt under the swing & the small flowers around the edge of it.

I stamped a gorgeous girl on a swing & carefully cut her out before sticking the ropes to the card allowing it to swing freely, which it did when put infront of an open window.

Crafts & Cards Class: Time

Lesson 2 was making items linked to time, be that clocks, cogs, dates, tea time etc

I made a date book....

The front is black card with die cut cogs & clock face's stuck on, then painted over with metallic acrylic paint allowing parts of the black to show through.

 Inside has the months stamped on, decorated & acetate pockets ready for birthdays to be slipped in written on a blank tag.

Finally, with a bit of time to spare I made this easel card from a die cut kit.

Crafts & Cards Class: Jewelry Box

As some of you may know, once or twice a year I take a class run by the local college & taught by my talented friend Lynne.
Its always filled with lovely people, eager to play, and learn some new techniques & Lynne never fails to deliver.

The first lesson this time was entitled "Tissue". We start the class by discussing ideas, Lynne showing what she came up with & how to make them & then we do our own thing, whether thats copying what Lynne has done or using what she has brought along to do our own thing.

I started off with a plain wooden chest & white washed it.

Once dry I stuck on a piece of Tim Holtz patterned Tissue Paper which I'd cut to size, ensuring the butterfly was central. I aged it a little and added a small amount of brown & red to the butterfly before stamping on the saying "The Future comes one day at a time"

I then stamped around the sides, and inked the edges slightly. I again added a small amount of red & brown ink detail.

Inside I added some card, similar to the shape of an unstuck together box base, covered in fabric.
I punched holes along the card and filled with eyelets. Ribbon fastened to the sides meant I could easily lift this piece of card in & out. I could then put my piercing bars through the eyelets & do them up meaning I could easily see which one I wanted.

I bought a couple more boxes off Lynne to do some at home so watch this space!

Scrapbooking: Boys will be Boys

 A visit to Enguinuity, there was so much going on there, and we got upto so much I really wanted this double layout to reflect this.
The patterned paper has so much going on that I thought it went perfectly, as did the Chevrons & arrows, giving the feeling of busy, continual movement.

With a lot of the activities being clockwork and the xcut cogs die cut really came in handy, as well as the matching brads and chipboard buttons.

I left a good sized soace for journalling but also added a journalling square to give the main information at a quick glance.

Scrapbooking: Blists Hill Victorian Museum

Last years fashion to have quite "rustic" old looking papers came in very handy for this double layout about a visit to Blists Hill Victorian Museum. I tried to match the colours up with those in the photos - red & blue to match the bunting, and green as there was so much of it.
I removed a flag we were given from its stick & added this to the page, I find collecting & storing a few items from the day such as tickets, leaflets etc can add to the page either physically or by jogging my memory.

I tried to keep things fairly minimum as I had so much journalling I wanted to include, the information on the left being a brief overview of what was going on at Blist Hill that weekend, and on the right it was the more detailed journalling of what we did.

Scrapbooking: Brick Buddies

I took a great deal of inspiration from the bricks in the photos, both for colours, shape & patterns.
Coloured card cut into little rectangles were perfect for a brick effect and somewhere to do the journalling. The lined background sheet complemented the crisp geometric lines of the wall of bricks while not being too strong, or blank a background.