Beach Love

I was up on the Tando blog on Saturday and the theme for the week is buttons.  I layer some Tando chippie buttons on some of their stars, and I got to have a play with some gelatos with them too.  I started the page just playing with the gelatos, and went with a circle, making some rough strokes with the gelatos and then smudging it in a bit with a water brush.  I then dug through my little pack of tools and there is a foam circle on the end of pen that you can print with, so I mixed my gelatos with a little water on my craft mat and had a go at some printing too.  I love the easy way that the gelatos add colour to chipboard and that you can mix the colours and add a really nice layer, so on the heart button below I added some silver in the red, the final touch was some rock candy on top.  

I used October Afternoons Farmhouse, an old but favourite collection, and I die cut loads of letters using the large memory box Parker alphabet, I use blue papers for everything except the letters in beach.  I then used some yellow netting and gauze over the top, I added a little card from a crate paper ack and an OA sticker too as well as my chipboard buttons.  I outlined my title in whit gel pen and stamped the second word of the title over the top of my die cuts too.  There is a glassine envelope and tag with all the details behind the photo.

This is a shot from our recent holiday to France and all the kids on the beach hunting through the rock pools.  They found shrimps and hermit crabs, and one of the adults found some large sea slugs too!

Deal Beach

You might notice an inky theme to my latest pages...and this one combines another favourite with it.....the sunbursts!  I made this page for this weeks theme on the Tando Creative blog which is red, yellow and orange and it fits nicely with the messy challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show too.

I started with the ink - I had a nice glimmer mist set in appropriate colours, so I started with a spritz of each of the colours across my page, and then made a little red and orange puddle for the drips.  The papers are all October Afternoon, the red is Cakewalk, the oranges are Midway as well as the 1st hello and then the final yellow is from the Farmhouse range.  I made my sunburst template on a sheet of paper and then cut it out, bent the pieces and stitched them down the middle.  The photo is an instagram of my kids on the beach at deal and the colours went really well...it isn't a super photo but it is a great memory that I detail lots more on the back of the page.  Now onto the Tando goodies - I used 3 of their cogs which I inked and embossed with silver and gold powder, then I added shells and a wood veneer boat and tried to wrap some of the cotton ends around underneath so it looks a little like a fishing net.  The last few touches were the alpha which is a mixture of thickers and prima lettering, some orange lace and sequins too.

In the Grain

Here is a page I loved making...  I was mulling over the subject of my Trends on Tuesday post over at A Trip Down Memory Lane and decided on woodgrain, and then thought I really ought to go all out on wood (not sure what it would end up looking like!).  I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by my page!

My kids obliged me with a lovely shot in front of a beautiful log wall when we were out, and I decided to carry the logs on for the mount around the photo.  I punched 1" circles and then distressed the edges and used a white gel pen for the grain (the paper is Crate's Farmhouse collection).  I added a Simple Stories bingo card, and then some of the Farmhouse stickers and some burlap too.  The alphas are a mix of some woodgrain thickers I picked up on my holiday and a prima pack, I also included some journalling behind the photo.  I had decided the title for my post before I did the page - which was in the grain....and then it turned out to be a great page title too...as the journalling looks at some of the similarities my kids have to me and my husband (like both of our parents reckon both of them look like us when we were kids :) makes me smile every time as I look nothing like my husband!! so I guess they are both a good mixture) and how my eldest gets cold in swimming pools quickly like me and my youngest doesn't...in fact like his father he could wear shorts all year around!

Here is a link the post which has a couple of links to some other lovely woody projects.

Woody, Jessie and Joe

This is a page I did for my Trends on Tuesday over at A Trip Down Memory Lane it's all about ripping and there is a little guide to doing it and some other fantastic sites with examples to visit....so here is the link if you would like to take a look.

You will notice that our summer holidays involved a dream family holiday....we went to Florida and did Disney.  You will also notice in the pages that my youngest absolutely adored having his photo taken with the characters.....it is up there as one of his favourite things!!!  So this was on our first trip to Disney Land and we came off the wonderful log flume ride and noticed Woody and Jessie popping out, so we had to queue and he got his photo taken with them.  I got it printed in sepia to add to that cowboy feel.  The papers are a real mix, the base is one of my favourites and it is Simple Stories Awesome collection (as well as the bingo card), the blue/green and yellow papers are all Cosmo Cricket tea for two and the woodgrain and horse card are part of October Afternoons Farmhouse collection.

So the page started with the ripping and layering of papers behind the rips, I then added a couple of strips of tissue tape above and below where I wanted my photo matt.  I layered up the photo with the Cosmo Cricket papers - which I inked, stitched and distressed.  I slotted in the bingo card and the October Afternoon Miscellany and added a wide band of lace just under the corner.  Stuck this all down and used some staples as sticking onto fabric without using loads of glue and getting messy is tricky!  I layered up a pin with a tando star and a maya road wooden button.  I recently got a couple of alpha sets from kaisercraft and this is the grunge one which I used for the title, I used white cardstock and tea dye distress ink and then mounted it on the yellow Cosmo Cricket paper.  The last bit was to add some flicks of brown cosmic shimmer mist.  I really enjoyed this technique - even ripping one of my favourite pieces of paper (I have decided to use my favourite pieces of paper rather than hang onto them!!! :)) and definitely something I will try again.

Favourite Photo

I wanted to do a post on a trend I haven been noticing called Ombre.....so the full post is here over at Created by A Trip Down Memory Lane.

So a little bit more about the page.  I started with the parquet flooring die cut that was a free download a while back in the silhouette store.  I used some co-ordinations paper for this so I could sand it a little.  I chose a mix of October Afternoon papers to make the graduated colours behind the die cut and carefully glued and cellotaped it down...adding a couple of rows of messy brown stitching to hold it some more.  I cut out some of the house from OA's Farmhouse page, distressed the edges and added some gesso, I then layered up a tag, a chipboard silhouette covered in walnut distress ink and then added a layer of wide lace behind where I wanted the photo.  I mounted and inked the edges of the photo and then to draw attention to it I added a couple of circles of garden twine.  I did stick this down with a wet glue but as it is quite coarse I also stapled it to make sure it held.  I added a banner in the graduated colours and a peg, layered up all the elements, spritzed some little roses from the pound shop with glimmer mist to make them more orange and added my title backed with some tissue tape.  I then added flicks of navy ink too and some random dry brushes of gesso. I loved making the page and getting messy!

The photo is my Mum's favourite shot of her and her Dad, and when she reads my blog she will realise that I will pop it in a frame and give it to her :)

Home Sweet Home

I haven't created any home decor items in ages, so when the challenge to use some bunting came up at the ATDML cybercrop I decided to create a little piece for our house.

I started by die cutting the letters on my silhouette and the tag was a free shape I could play around with.  I coated the Kaisercraft frame in white and then layered up some stitched pieces of Crate Papers Farmhouse Collection on the back of the frame.  I then added twine and threaded it carefully through my tags, sticking down the tags at the same time - this was a little fiddly trying not to move what you had stuck as you went.  I then stuck a button over the end of each piece of twine.  I added a few of the stickers and chipboard pieces to either side of the frame too - I love how quick and easy it is to embellish something using all the little stickers you get in collection packs, which is funny as it isn't something that automatically jumps into my cart when I shop (I mainly go for paper!), so note to self next time to have a browse through all the wonderful stickers.

Even my husband likes this, which is praise indeed from someone that doesn't appreciate the need for pretty non essential things around the house :)

I have a good Bowl

I made this page and used it for my post on chevrons over at Made by ATDML.  I found a zig zag in the free shapes on my silhouette so went about cutting it out in several different colours from Crate Papers Farmhouse collection (I still love this range :))  I stuck and layered up all my pieces of paper and then stitched around the edge (which also helps hold it on really well as there were so many bits).  I then die cut some stars and tried to carefully match them up with places on the chevron pattern so they were camouflaged - this took some time :D  I think an easier shape would have been a circle or not to have them overlapping lots of different colours and patterns!  I also stitched a little banner of stars too for under the photo.  Again my silhouette for the title - don't worry I didn't staple them on to the photo I stapled them before I stuck them down and then just inked the edges.

So that was the construction of the page, the inspiration mostly came from this page  as I loved the camouflage effect, I will have to have another go as I've just seen this which is totally gorgeous too.

The photo is from the cricket club last year and the title is a quote he came back with from it - he was very proud to be told he had a good bowl, and having watched him play cricket again recently he has obviously listened and learned a lot about bowling from the club.

Also my post on trends is up over at ATDML looking at triangles.

The Egg Hunt

Here is the page that I created for the A Trip Down Memory Lane Cyber crop this weekend.  You can download the instructions for this class here.  There are loads of other classes too all listed on the blog from mini albums to pages and lots of challenges too, it's not too late to take part at all and you can pick up the classes whenever you want.

My page uses some of the lovely October Afternoon Farmhouse collection, I love the vintage feel of it and it went well with the photo as this was at a national trust property.  When we went their they were doing an egg hunt and you had to find all the rabbits and then you got a chocolate egg at the end.  Well us adults were gently strolling around the gardens (holding the kids up in their search) and I did try to catch some photos - but most of them look like this as once you've stopped briefly to find one rabbit you then have to run to the next - just makes me laugh it was a great day out and the kids loved it.

Back to the papers - there is lots of inking, a little cutting and stitching and crumpling involved - I had a go at the triangle trend that is going on at the moment too hence the triangles, and I still love some bunting so the doily bunting paper from OA was perfect for cutting.  Behind the photo is the pocket for my journal card which documents the story, and as always my pages just don't look right with out some drips of paint :)

I hope you enjoy the classes and just in case here is another link to them all (look at the list over on the side bar :))  There are also some challenges too which you can join in and post before the 1st July here

The Puffle Story

The A Trip Down Memory Lane Cybercrop is underway, and here  is my page for  the 1st challenge, which is to use your stamps on a page.  I used a swirl set of stamps by Autumn Leaves and stamped some circles in 3 different colour inks.  I started the page by actually having a play with my silhouette and created the circle shape pattern as I don't have a cameo I had to  cut it in half and add it to either side of the photo.  I then stamped up some of the negatives and slotted them in to a few of the circles.  I used Crate Papers Farmhouse collection for this page, and layered up some strips of the green and blue papers behind the photo (all inked and stitched of course) them added some of the sticker strips and a doily chipboard piece.  For the delightful sticker I layered it on 2 papers and just cut around the edge with my pinking shears.  I added some flicks of mist and then use Fancy Pants and Cosmo Cricket stickers for the title.

There is a pocket behind the photo for the journalling tag which is all about this orange piffle.  Puffles are in club penguin and that is about all I know about them, my son got one for Christmas and it was an instant hit.  When we were out for the day visiting a national trust property he accidentally left it in a bush in his cardigan pocket, we only realised this as we got home (some 40 mins) from the property.  My son was quite upset so the next day without much hope I phoned the property and to our delight someone had handed the cardigan with the puffle still in the pocket, so we went back to collect primarily the puffle, not the carry :)

So if you would like to join us in the crop and have a go at some of the challenges then here is the link, there are loads of fantastic classes going up all weekend.

100% Boy

Here is my page from my Trends on Tuesday post over at A Trip Down Memory Lane.  I had a go at using negatives, and the lovely Crate Paper Random collection with a little Farmhouse thrown in.  The picture is of my son just sat on the edge watching some roller skating in a school hall, and I caught his attention to get the photo.

I started the page with some more scrapes of gesso (I now have an old credit card style card to do the scraping rather than the cardboard).  I also added some watered down flicks in either corner.  I cut a yellow strip of the Farmhouse paper and die cut 4 stars which I then stitched together to make a little banner under the photo.  I stitched all my pieces of paper with black cotton this time so it stood out, and inked the edges.  I added a few more stars and used my favourite abstract flower punch by ek success.   The title fits with my son, as he is definitely a boys boy, though in his own words he does play with tom boys too.

Here is the link to the post as it gives some more examples of negative space I found on my blog hopping.

Bursting with Laughter

This is my take on Shimelles 2nd Challenge which was to use papers from 3 or more different manufacturers.  So the papers 1st are Amy Tangerine's, Crate Paper Farmhouse and Sassafras' Indie Girl (I still have a few scraps of it left).  I chose the papers based on the colours in the photo.  

The photo is another shot of me in the park, and it looks like I am playing that slap hand game with my Dad, so my Mum must have snapped this shot.  The original is very orange, so I altered the colours as best as I could on photoshop and got it printed.  I love the photo as I am bursting with laughter and I love these moments.

For a change I didn't distress the edges of my papers on this page, but I had to stitch them :)  I started with several strips of paper and then layered them up behind the photo, I also added some Martha Stewart Paper tape too, and a small ticket I got in a kit.  The die cut clouds are from Amy Tangerine, and the stickers are a mix of Authentique mini alphabets and AC thickets (I had to make the r again, this time out of a b).  I used some pink prima flowers...which I have been looking for a page to use them on, and some flicks of blue patina glimmer mist.

It was a really quick page to put together and I like, and just love all the inspiration from Shimelle.  Not sure whether I will manage any more but I think I will go back and pick up on some of the challenges.

Oh Happy Day

I know Spring is here...it's getting warmer, but I still have some gorgeous winter photos to use on my pages!!!  Here is my page for the latest challenge over at the studio blog....all you have to do is use a song as a title for your page, and you are in with a chance to win a gift voucher for Craft Island.  So my song - Oh Happy Day...it was the one that immediately sprang to mind when I looked at this photo, it is mid snowball fight and I am not sure what my son is giggling at but he is loving it.  This was a good use up page for me, I had some of the hexagons left over from my last snow page, I layered up a mix of Crate Papers Farmhouse and their new Pretty Paper collection.

I start by layering all my pieces on the page 1st, and then decided to free stitch some circles at either corner, so I lightly drew these on and then removed all my bits of paper (I only stick them down when I have to and am totally happy with where bits are).  I just removed the foot from my sewing machine and then stitched away (it did take me the 1st circle to realise that I didn't need to actually turn the paper around in circles to stitch this way too!). I then inked, stitched and distressed all my bits of paper and started sticking them down.  I made some bunting using the lovely chipboard pegs I have been saving, and made some glassine snow flakes.  I also added some hand stitching to the hexagons too.  I picked up some great arrow paper clips from paper chase...and they worked with my colour scheme (that must have happened subconsciously :D), as well as adding a Tim Holtz ticket tag for my journalling.  The alpha is a mix of Amy Tangerines and Echo Park for the record's sticker sheet.  My last additions were some flicks of white acrylic and red glimmer mist.

Here is a link to the blog to see all the other beautiful pages that the ladies have created, hope it inspires you.