Layout - Color Pop!

I am so lucky that I have a lovely sister, even better she is pretty and likes to have her photo taken.  We were lucky enough to have her visit us for a brief holiday last year and we ended up with lots of photos...but this is one of my favorites and I have been looking fro the best way to scrap this picture.

Recently I came across Pop and Colour #2 - this blog has tutorials for using color in layouts.  My layout was inspired by the work of Riika and Georgia in their tutorials.

I had a great time playing with color, layers and texture.  

My base page is from this Minds Eye Paper pad

I used scraps cut into various sized strips as the first layer of texture and contrast - I then used a credit card to cover the strips with white Gesso.

I then added some iridescent white paint to texture paste and used a Kaszazz stencil (the best stencil ever - it was very solid and didn't feel like it would break as I dragged the paste across it).

Next I added a couple of drops of Lumiarte Paint to the page and spritzed it with water

The picture above shows what it looked like when the paint was dry.

 Next up I dropped a few drops of Weather Wood Distress reinker on the page

 Then I hit them with the mini mister, lift the page and let it all run...

And here's how it looks now the paints have dried again.

For the next step I used Distress Stain with a Prima Stencil

And ended up with my background looking like this.

To finish I used a text stamp to stamp in a few of the whiter areas, and a grunge stamp in a few other places.  I stamped 'Adorable' on the top of a tag, and glued down some black cotton.  Finally I did a little journalling on the bottom of the tag.

I though about adding some more embellishments but I liked it just like this

I hope you enjoyed this look at how I made this layout.

Hugs and Happy Crafting

Elle

Junk Journal - The journey to 2013

Hey...More about my junk journal journey - This is a big post as I detail my smash book, junk journal journey.

For my first smash book (that's what it started as) I used a cheap art book, I think it cost 2 dollars.  It had a nasty black plastic cover.

To make it more mine I covered the cover with tissue paper and lost of white pearlised paint and a big ribbon which I also painted.  That's where I left the front cover...as least for now!

On the inside (and I did this much later after I had been using the book a while) I spritzed with some Lindy's Stamp gang sprays...well actually on the inside cover I dripped the spray on more then sprayed...but on the back cover I sprayed.

On the first page I made a note that this was my first smash book and that it would hold anything that I couldn't be bothered to scrap.  And that could be anything...which you can see from wrapping paper from a gift to a metro pass.  And I didnt give any thought to keeping things in order.  AS I found stuff it went in.  Witch was a great chance to pop in little memories about the items.

Even from early on some pages I really like and others I wished could be better...but the purpose of this was to not lose the little mementos I had kept.  And I started to enjoy writing the stories that went with them,. 

About Now we also decide to make a big move, and started cleaning out the house ready for packing...this resulted in two things.  Heaps more stuff for the book and the realization I am a pack rat..sigh 

Even as the pile of of old bits and bobs grew, I was creating new moments as we painted the house and made arrangements to move and that's when this started to evolve into what I am calling a junk journal.  I use that phrase to describe the adhoc nature of capturing mementos from the past while noting current happenings.

One page might be a receipt from Girl Guides camp (a long time ago..) and it could be right next to a ticket from a movie a few years back.

I found myself popping the current days polaroid picture (I love the instant gratification), a the receipt for garden supplies with notes about the progress of our plans in the book in between pages that had things from trips a few years ago.

I kept a copy of an old bank statement and one of my early pay slips, and the junk journal gave me a quick place to record the the history of the document or the memory it brought back. 

Where do you keep old pet records...some of my mine found a way into this book and golly it felt good giving them a home.

I mentioned in a previous post how my junk journal has also become my first art book...and I have to say the pages with the pre prepped backgrounds really pop.

Lost of pages are multi layer, ie things open to show more...

Since I started this journey I find myself keeping more small things that I can quickly pop in with notes to remind me why I kept it.

I think my next junk journal will be more current (I think most of my old keepsakes are pretty close to in, or will be int he last few pages in the book) but I really loved  this journey and the memories it let me relive.

I would recommend Smash booking or junk journal to anyone.  It is fun in a different way to scrap booking.

I am already working on creating the basis for my next junk journal...it will be in a post soon.

Thanks for popping past and if I helped inspire even one person to try this journey I will feel pretty awesome.

Happy craftin!

Elle

Mini Book - One page album

I love Polaroid pictures, they are so immediate!  So I recently bought a new camera that would fulfill my need for immediate gratification when it comes to photos.  And that meant I had to take some photos.

Given we are preparing to move overseas shortly there has been a lot of activity at home to pack up, clean up and prepare to move.  So I took a bunch of pictures as we cleaned the house ready for sale.  And that meant I needed to pop em in an album.  For this I made one of those little 12x12 one page mini's...and this is how it came out.

The mess as we started to clean out the kitchen...then the unbelievable neat cupboard ready for sale.  A little lace and the page is complete.

As you can see from this picture, two of the pages in this little book have pockets where you can add extra tags.  I used my tags for journaling and extra photo mounts.

Look how neat my drawers looked once we took everything out..  and again it only took  very little embellishment to complete the pages.

The little star on the photo surround was my little joke as the ceiling being sanded had to be repainted because I had previously stuck a whole bunch of stars to the ceiling and they all had to be removed.  It was a big job.

And some photos of some of the lighter moments that occurred while we did the big clean.  

This is an example of the little tags I made to go in the pocket.  I used the Stampin Up Tag punch to make the little tag top.  

The back cover I left very simple as I think this will end up in a larger mini at some point.

Thanks for popping by and checking out my little mini.

Happy Crafting

Elle

Mini Album - Baby Book

This little 6x6 Gate Fold Mini is completely inspired by Ginger of My Sister's Scrapper  http://youtu.be/-bjZ4bkUKNo.

Ginger provides super awesome instructions and I couldn't resist giving it a go.  This is also the first time I have made a mini for the purpose of giving it away.  It came together much quicker then I expected and I really liked the finished product.

The person I gave it to seemed to really like it - she has a a little girl about 3 yrs old and thought she might use it to pop a few of her pictures in.

The album has 6 pages on each side.

I used a combination of Prima's 6x6 Jack and Jill paper pad as well as some nursery rhyme papers I had from a few years back.

Each page is a pocket and I kept the pages pretty simple,

On the last page or back cover the tab can be lifted for an extra photo

 mat.

And this are the tabs I made for each pocket.  I included little journal tabs on most of these as they act as both an anchor for a photo and or a place to right a little comment.

Off The Page: Creative Card Crew - Red and Gold

Are you ready for a challenge?  I found this weeks theme of Red and Gold over at Creative Card Crew to be a real challenge.  I had a few false starts before this project just all fell together.

We are lucky to have Scrapping Centre on board as the sponsor for this challenge.  Play along with us for your chance to win a voucher to buy your canvas and other crafting supplies from Scrapping Centre,


Supplies:
Mini Canvas
Gold Texture paste
Word Stamp
Flowers
Trinkets
Muslin
Red silk paint
Glossy accents - to glue it all in place
Gold paint to paint the little easel.


Thanks for popping by to visit.

Elle

OTP - Christmas Decorations

I had fun today using Stampin Up supplies to make Christmas decorations.  This is two variations, the blue/purple decoration used just DSP, the beige/blue decoration was stamped on white card stock.  Both were cut using framelits. Also used Tulle and ribbon...as you can see.  All products used were Stampin Up.

Inspiration: Ann Craig - Ann is a SU demonstrator and the best inspiration you can find.

Challenges
Paper play time - Anything Goes
The squirrel and the fox - Anything Goes
Emergency crafters challenge - Anything Goes
Stampin for the weekend - Use Some Texture

Polka doodle - Any Die will do
Craft creatoins - All things Christmas
Craft-room challenge - Punches and die cuts
Loves rubber stamps challenges - Use Ribbons

Thanks for popping in to visit.

Cheers
Elle

Card: Snowflake overload

Supplies

Mpress Dies, Cheery Lyn Dies, Memory Box Dies, Whimsy Stamps, Prima Paper

C'ordinations Card Stock, Lindys Stamp Gang, Pro Markers

Challenges

Crafty catz weekly challenge - Lets have Sparkle

In the pink challenge - Punches or dies

Joyful stamper - Anything Goes

Lady annes challenges - Anything Goes

The squirre land the fox - Anything Goes

Scrap-creations - Winter

Thanks for checking out my Snowflake overload...I am pretty sure I wasn't drinking when I made this...but, well hmm.

Hugs

Elle

Card: Designer Handbag

I had such a lovely time last night making a card for a very good friend.  My friend and work mate Nita is a designer bag fiend.  So when it came to a card idea for her birthday this week it was a no brainer.

With the help of a couple of purse die from Kasazz, some gorgeousness K & Company paper, some charms, pearls and paint I came up with this card.

For Nita it had to be a little bit special so I made her a little designer tag, an address book, she had to have her make-up (there's lipstick to...) and of course a girl needs her keys.  And with a planned holiday just over the horizon one must keep the passport handy...

I originally made the smaller bag to act as a make-up purse, but it was just a little to big.  So some tissue paper and some Hershey Kisses and it is just a little bonus gift.

Here's a little peek inside the back, you can see that the address book fits perfectly (and provides a great place for our team to write little messages).  Tucked in the inside pocket you can see her lipstick...she never goes anywhere without it.  And the make-up is now closed and tucked in ready to be pulled out for a touch up at any time.

Hope she loves it..  I sure had fun making it.

Challenges:

http://scrappers-delights-challenge-blog.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything goes
http://happycamperscc.blogspot.co.uk/ - Bright Colours
http://dreamvalleychallenges.blogspot.com.au/ - Anything Goes
http://divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - Lets get cute

Normally for cute I would think fuzzy animals...But today I am thinking cute in a whole other way.  Hmm...

Hugs
Elle

Card: It's stocking time!

It's been so busy lately I haven't had the time to get into the craft room, and by golly I have missed it.  This past weekend I made time.  I cleaned up the mess out there and I then got down to some playing.

Given it isn't long til Christmas I focused on Christmas cards.  As usual I looked to the blog challenges for inspiration and there was plenty to be be found...

Supplies:

C'ordinations Card Stock
Kaiser 6" Paper pad
Sizziz dies
Embossing folders - various
Ribbon, lace flowers and hidden in there is a brass key.

Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Rustification.
Creative Insprirations - Anything Goes
Fab n Funky Challenges - Vintage
Divas by Design Challenge - Anything Goes

Layout: Warming Up

This layout was inspired by the current sketch challenge over at Creative Scrappers, this one is based on Sketch #214.

The layout is of my nephew James.  He and his dad popped in to show us their new Puppy, Choco.  James is often a bit overwhelmed by my labs, so it takes a little while for him to warm up to them.  In this photo is Amber my 8yr old and Choco.  Ebony must have wandered off, cos she and the pup played pretty much the whole time.

I had fun with this layout and other then turning the sketch sideways I kept pretty close to the original...

The hinge embellishment was inspired by embellishments purchased from Angelica's Little Scrap Shop.

Supplies:

Kaszazz Papers: Castaway collection
Punches:  MArtha Stewart and EK Success
Time Holts Alterations:  Tattered Banners, Hardware
Glossy Accents
Kaiser craft flowers
Lace
Butterfly: littlescrapshop
Sizzix letters

Calendar Swaps 2009

Well, the calendars are complete and most have been handed out to the participants.

Each year it seems like a big task and I wonder why I host two swaps but when it is finished I know it was all worth it. I have posted slide shows of the 2 Calendars for any one who wants to see what we did.

My pages are as follows:

Black and White: April and December

No Theme: February, June, October and November

I also wrote the cover page or introduction for both calendars...

And, I have already found a volunteer to fill in the vacant position on the No Theme calendar, so both swaps will be back for 2009.

All round, it was very rewarding.

2009 calendars

Each year I participate in one and host two other calendar swaps. What happens with a calendar swap is that you get 12 people who each get assigned one month. They then create a page for that month and recreate the page so that there are 12 copies of that month. That's how the swap I am in works.

The two I host are a little different. Instead of 12 people I have 6 people in each swap and they each get assigned two months. Then, instead of recreating the page 12 times they only have to recreate each month 6 times.

All pages are due to my by the end of October. And except for one person all pages were received. Unfortunately I had to remove one person from one of the swaps and so I whipped up the extra pages needed to complete that calendar.

For the two swaps I host, I have one swap where anything goes and one themed swap. The theme for this year was black and white. Let me tell you that this calendar is pretty special both because it was mostly people who had never tried any like this and also because the contributions were fabulous.

As host I do up a little covering page with a bit of a blurb, this year my comments focused on creativity and the pleasure of shared projects. And today is the day I take all the contributions and turn then into a full calendar. And as I type this I have begun the binding process. It's pretty special seeing all the pages first and then seeing the finished product.

In my next post I will start showing my pages.

Well it is back to the work table for me. I need to get these calendars back out before Christmas!

WorkShop with Rachel Greig

A few weeks back I had the opportunity to attend a weekend workshop with Rachel Greig. Rachel is featured regularly in the Australian Stamping and Papercrafts magazine. She was an excellent demonstrator.

One of the things I loved most was that she focused on techniques. I HATE replicating other peoples work. I like to reuse layouts, embelishments or other page elements but I like to make the finished project mine.

One session - my favourite was a technique book. The technigues focused on using Alchohol Inks on different mediums. The finshed product is shown below:

From Card Crafts

Rachel also provided kits for other sessions. The other sessions focused on cards.

From Card Crafts

These card are made stamping onto Muslim:

From Card Crafts

And this card is made using bottle cap embellishments. I really enjoyed this session.

From Card Crafts

I would definately attend another session by Rachel and would recommend anyone who had the chance go for it. You wont regret it.

Cuttlebug

I love the Cuttlebug. I think it is a fantastic tool for any papercraft. I am pretty sure it could be applied beyond paper crafts but I have yet to try. Just this last week I received my order of the new Cuttlebug folders. Not all of them, just the ones I liked. I got Halloween Folders and dies, Christmas Folders and Dies and a few other odds and ends. I guess I should get a move on and use them!

At the very least the Christmas stuff is going to be used in one of my Calendar contributions...And thats something I have to get finished this month. While I have the supplies out I will whip up some Christmas cards. I promise to post pictures.

Happy Cuttlecraft! Hehehehe

Sam's Birthday Surprise

My friend Janine asked me (with 2 weeks notice) to create a scrapbook for her son Sam's 21st Birthday in July this year. I scanned all her photos and burnt them to disk so we could make copies at the photo place then we went shopping and picked up a bunch of embellishments. I know Sam to talk to but wouldn't say that I KNOW him. So I had Janine write a comment on the back of the photos to give me ideas. Then I got to work. It was hard interpreting someone else's life thru photo memories but I had fun. I was happy with the finished product and by all accounts he loved it! And yes it was finished in time for Sam's birthday. Just!

For a short time I will have a slideshow of the album here on my page, but once it goes you will be able to see my work here.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ellenor.gee/ScrapbookProject#5243988391357085714

Cuttlebug creativity

I have been a slug the last few days, I haven't been feeling well and today has been the worst. But while I was home sick today an order I have been waiting for was delivered. A whole bunch of dies and embossing folders for use in the Cuttlebug. I am a HUGE Cuttlebug fan, have even influenced others with my enthusiasm. Well hopefully I will feel better over the weekend and will get some card making done. I have lots of new toys to play with! I will try and post a sample before the end of the weekend.

Crochet

This week I have dragged out my crochet. When I was about 8 a very nice lady showed me how to crochet and got me started on a basic blanket. I have added a little to it every year since. It has about 58 rotations (it's a square), in all sorts of colours. I can't decide whether to put the effort in and finish it or keep it as my life project. It's a tough choice!

I finished a scarf I started last winter and started a new one. Well, I started the new one 3 times, took me a while to work out the pattern. But hey, if I don't mind who else should? I should take a picture of my finished scarf and put it up here. I should also get some juices flowing with card making. Well, whether I take a picture or not I am glad that I got some craft time in.