Another layout...

...possibly the last one of the month LOL. This LO is done using Pencillines Sketch 62 - never used one of their sketches before :) I used Bazzill card, Scenic Route paper and arrows, and title is Nouveau Sizzlits. I used a zig pen to journal and doodle.

Wow what a busy old scrapping month it has been, I am wondering if this pace is going to be kept up all year... probably not, which is good, or else I will be breaking my stash diet!! Mind you, using stash is good, and I am hoping that 2008 is a great scrapping year for me... But I am not doing so well with the balance thing right now, as my scrapping seems to have taken over a bit, so maybe its time to do some card making again, or maybe just time to take a break and watch tv.....

ttfn

xxxx

Mini books...

... these are the two mini books I have been slaving over this past week. The first one I used the January Scrapagogo kit - lots of yummy MM Noteworthy papers and glittered chipboard, supplemented by lots of prima flowers and buttons and some 3D paint :)




I used a Bazzill accordion album that I had stashed away from ages back. The idea for the album came from the Jan/Feb issue of Simple Scrapbooks - I saw an album someone had done that documented lots of basic info, plus stuff that may get forgotten over time, like addresses and schools. I had fun doing this one :)

Then I got the Bind it All out and made this mini flip book - its only 4" x 4" - and for this one I used the December Scrapagogo kit.

The instructions I used to make this book came from here and it is really simple to do:)

ttfn

xxxx

More layouts to share...

... I hadn't realised I hadn't updated for a while, and here's me being so productive right now, that I have lots to share!!
I seem to be getting lots of heritage scrapping done at the moment, not old old photos, but my childhood photos, and I am really enjoying it.

A cute looking me - it didn't last you know... I scraplifted this LO from madhattermillie's gallery on UKS, part of a challenge set on the Lets get Scrapping thread. I used Crate paper, Chatterbox and Sassafrass lass papers on this LO, plus a couple of flowers, a jewelled brad, 2 flower eyelets and a length of ribbon :)

I loved doing this LO, simple and clean, and getting 8 photos on one page is a first :) I used a sketch by Beth Proudfoot in the Jan/Feb issue of Simple Scrapbooks - part of the 8 in 8 challenge (but I don't think I shall be doing it somehow LOL). I found lots of photos of me when I was little wearing red shoes, so had to document this... And now whenever I colour in a Sugar Nellie or Magnolia stamped image, if it is a girl, the shoes are always red LOL
I just used cardstock, 3 flowers and 3 sugar coated brads on this LO - simple through and through :)

This LO I used a December 2007 pagemap :) Papers are Artic Frog and the title is cut using sizzlit Nouveau font :)

Away from heritage now, I did another LO using some New Zealand photos. This is Mark being his usual daft self on a bouncing pillow - and I think it looks like he is trying to do the YMCA - LOL!! I used Creative imaginations paper, Heidi Swapp chipboard stars and the title is my new Chunkidelic thin cuts dies :)

This final LO was done for the weekly team challenge on UKS - I don't do alot of these challenges, but when I saw this one, I knew I had the perfect photo for it - it was a frosty theme, using chipboard, something "too good to use" and something representing my house on UKS (in my case Red ribbon House). The papers are Sassafrass Lass, chipboard alphas from Scenic Route (which were also my too good to use bit, as I hate using them up preferring to draw round them LOL) and some spotty red ribbon :) The photo is of my whirligig dryer, on a cold December morning - the morning after a very hard frost - and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw how the cobwebs had frozen... Quite beautiful I think ;)

So they are my LOs, and I have also completed 2 mini books this week too, will share those photos another time ;)

ttfn

Sarah x

Reminders of Christmas past...

... and of fluffy slippers, and frilly collared dresses......



Yes, the horrors of 1980s Christmasses come back to haunt me.....

This is me, Ewan and Kathryn Christmas Day 1984 *I think* when Kathryn became the owner of what was once my dolls house. I loved that Dolls house - my Papa made it for me, it had working electrics (sometimes) and he had decorated the inside of the house with wallpaper and carpet offcuts, and had also made most of the furniture in it too. But as the teenage years came closer, my parents decided that maybe it was time for Kathryn to inherit it... So it went back to Papa for a penthouse extension!!

This was a common occurence in my house - toys being handed down through the generations, I suppose a form of recycling.... Jemma has never expressed an interest in a dolls house - she did have one, but it was donated to the thrift shop before coming back from Gibraltar as she never played with it. Mind you, Papa died 2 years before she was born, I think if he was still here, he would have made her one whether she liked it or not... and I know I would have liked it ....

Back to the LO, the papers and card are all from the December Scrapagogo kit, and the title is cut using my new Ellison Thin cuts alpha - Chunkidelic - and Bosskuts Apricot alpha. The chipboard "k" is Maya Road, and is painted and glittered. (K is for Kirk - my maiden name ;) ) I used a January 2008 pagemap for this one too...

Talking of Scrapagogo, my January kit turned up this week, and it is lush - all Making Memories "Noteworthy" range :) I have already cut up 2 sheets, making a mini book, its a work in progress right now, but it looks fab (even if I do say so myself :P )

ttfn

xx

A one woman scrapping machine

That seems to be me this week LOL. This week so far I have done 8 LOs - I think a record for me! I got very organised, and sorted out page kits for 13 LOs, so half the work has already been done :) It was a case of sticking, journalling and adding a title - then putting them into albums LOL

These first 2 LOs I did using an Amanda Probst sketch that was in one of last years Creating Keepsakes - I did 3 LOs using this sketch, but can't show the 3rd one as it has someone else's child in it, and haven't asked permission to post it.

This next LO I used a pagemap from January 2006, and my yummy Scenic Route papers LOL. My sewing machine decided to play silly beggars and the tension was all wrong, so it doesn't look much like zig-zag stitch, but I liked it anyway, even if it isn't perfect...

I used an August 2005 pagemap for this next LO :)

These last 3 LOs were done for the Stash Addict Dieters week 3 challenge -

The first LO uses a November 2007 pagemap. Papers are sassafrass lass, and I just love this photo of me helping Grandad push the car back into the garage after washing it!

The next 2 I did under the multi-photo LO criteria :) And they are both done using October 2006 pagemaps:)

I am really enjoying my scrapping at the moment, and I am loving how my albums are filling up :) I am also using up the stash, and I think at some point I will reward myself for all this scrapping by breaking my diet LOL - mind you, at the rate I am going I will be running out of cardstock LOL. I am using a lot of pagemaps right now, but I am feeling fine about that - I am getting the pages done, and I like what I am producing, even if it isn't entirely my design. At the end of the day, they are my albums, and how I make them is my choice - I am not doing this to get noticed, just to enjoy the journey that is scrapbooking!

ttfn xx

Paper bag books and more layouts....

... I finally finished it - yay me !! The infamous paper bag book of our cat, Pickles. It covers the first year of her life, but somehow I don't think it'll be a yearly occurence, seeing as it took me nearly a year to finish it ROFL!!



I used 3 paper bags for this book, and the main thing I used for decorating the book was a DCWV cat stack, plus some extra cardstock, and some ribbons.

Managed to do 2 more LOs this week, so my LO totals are looking pretty healthy at the moment :)
This is another LO using my 1973 Christmas photos....

I based this LO on a Jan 08 pagemap, converting a 12 x12 map to 8.5 x 11 :) The card is bazzill, the paper and alpha stickers are Basic Grey Fruitcake, and then lots of blossoms, primas, snowflake brads and a bit 'o bling!!

This next LO is based on a December 07 Pagemap (that Becky Fleck is a heroine/genius in my eyes!) The photo was taken in the Storm Room in the Antartic visitor centre in Christchurch, New Zealand. I don't think Mark was quite prepared for how cold the wind machine would be LOL. Plus he was at a small disadvantage in that the coats the centre provided for you to go into this room were too small for him and it didn't do up at the front.....

The card is bazill again, the papers are Sassafrass Lass, and the alpha stickers are Making Memories velvet stickers....

I also managed to use my Sugar Nellie stamps to do the Christmas thank yous from the kids - I printed a short letter on the back of a 6 x 4 plain index card, and then added a stamped image and "thank you" on the other side :) Typically I was in such a hurry to get them in the post, I forgot to take photos.....

Scraplifting...

This is another LO I did yesterday, for a Stash Addicted Dieters challenge - which was to scraplift a LO from another dieter, and I chose Debly to scraplift from. I was blown away by some of the LOs she had done using heritage photographs, so was inspired to use one of my older photos. Check out her work, it is truly stunning :)


This is my Nana, aged 4, in 1926. She looks so folorn, bless her, maybe she didn't like having her photo taken....
I used bazill card, Daisy D papers, some prima flowers and some buttons :) The large bloom I think came from Sarah's Cards, and the journalling stamp is Autumn Leaves :)

Not done a LO today - first day this year ROFL - but I have been finishing off a paper bag book I started last year of Pickles, our cat. Just need to get the sewing machine out to add some stitching, and that'll be a project crossed off my to do list. I sat and made a list of things that needed finishing (the other major thing is my Christmas Journal...ooops!) and things that I need to do this month. So seeing as I am up to date with my LO targets, I can do some of this other stuff too :) Well that is the theory anyway. And I am pleased with myself for managing to keep my diary for a whole week (nearly) and also for blogging a bit more regularly - but it helps when I have things to show, as I am not really one for blogging about the everyday goings on around here... that'd really put you all to sleep..!!!

ttfn

xxx

Scrapping the past...

Another one of my goals this year is to scrap more old photos - and I don't mean Jemma's baby pics (although I do have loads of them to do LOL) but my baby pics, and further back from there too. I inherited a large number of photos from my Gran, and have spent a lot of time scanning them in. And some are really old...

But these ones are not that old... really, they're not..! This is me, aged 15 months, enjoying my second Christmas, but my first proper one - ie I kinda knew what was going on LOL. The thing is, I can remember these toys all through my childhood, and some were passed down to my brother and sister, but I could never remember where or when they came from... Now I know...


Card is bazill, paper I got from Tescos in their "craft" department (!) and there are a few flowers and a prima birdie:)

ttfn

xxx

More layouts, and a little word....

First off, the LOs - 2 more to my 2008 tally, and 2 more using January 2008 pagemaps :)

Here is Mark, at Tree Adventures (again, I know I took far too many photos LOL)

The papers are old - I bought them job lot from someone off UKS about a year ago, and some of them were old then LOL. The brown is Scrapworks, and the blue/green is Rhonna Farrer. Card is Bazzill, and the title is Scenic Route chipboard:) The arrow is just one from a collection in my stash... as are the brads :)

This is Jemma at Halloween this year :) Card is Prism and Bazzill, paper is Creative Imaginations, the ribbon, rik rak and ribbon holder thingies are from Little Silver Hat :)

Secondly, the little word.... Well I have been a reader of Ali Edwards' blog for a while now, and I know each year she picks a word - 2 years ago it was PLAY, and I think last years was PEACE, well this year she has picked VITALITY. I am not sure about the vitality bit in my life, but I thought I would pick my own word and try to use it as a reminder in my everyday life - the word I have chosen is BALANCE. I am rubbish at balancing everything in my life, so this year I plan to do better :) If you have ever seen the Anadin advert with the woman juggling her DH and 2 kids, then I think you know where I am coming from - but that woman isn't juggling her craft in there I see....! So for 2008 I am choosing to find BALANCE in my life, wish me luck ....!!

ttfn

xxx

A New Year, a New Diet, and a New Lay out....

... firstly, Happy New Year to one and all!!

Next, the new diet - now anyone that knows me in real life will know that I don't really need to be on a food diet, but I do need to be on a Stash Diet!! So I am planning on cutting down my spending on the old paper and stuff... I am keeping my sub to Scrapagogo, and I am allowed to buy glue and DST, but otherwise I am abstaining until I have made a considerable dent in my supplies. There is a group of us on UKS doing this, and supporting each other, and trying not to encourage more spending (although there are some slippages...) and there are some challenges being set for us as well to encourage us to use up our mountains of stash :)

This LO is for one of those challenges - to use a Pagemap from January 2008 . I love using pagemaps :)


The cardstock is bazill, and I used Basic Grey alpha stickers, and Doodlebug flowers and butterflies, and the ribbon and rik rak are from my Little Silver Hat ribbon kit mountain!! The large flower is from a lei I took to bits, and the round buttons are papermania.

I have also signed up for a Layout total of 52 LOs and 12 heritage LOs for 2008, so this LO is this weeks, and anymore I do is a bonus :) I will keep a total at the side here, to keep me on track ;)

All I have to do now is decorate my journal for the A-Z of everyday life I am doing for 2008, with the girls at It's a Creative World blog :) Can't wait for the first prompt on Saturday..

ttfn

xxx