Nuts About Sketches week 341 - Bang bang

Another new sketch today up at Nuts About Sketches. Here is my layout for this week.

These photos were taken at a shooting range by my husband. They went with a friend and his daughter on Father's Day 2012. It was the first time the kids had ever fired a real firearm - our gun control laws in the UK are much more restrictive than those here in the US.

They had a blast. Firing pistols, rifles, and anything else that they got a chance to. It was certainly an experience that they could only really get here in the US.

Head over to the blog to see what the rest of the DT have done with this sketch!

Sarah x

Nuts Aboout Sketches week 340 - Superheroes

Today I'm sharing my layout for this weeks sketch over at Nuts About Sketches. Its a two page sketch this week, but I just used the left hand side of the sketch to do a one page layout.

We are a family of geeks. I mainly keep my inner geek under wraps - as it's not cool to have a geeky Mum when you are a teenager apparently ;) - but we got tickets to see the new live action superhero show Marvel Universe Live! on it's opening weekend down in Tampa. This show is touring the US and Canada over the next couple of years, but seeing as we are not sure when we are leaving the US, we decided to get tickets right at the start of its run.

We all wore Marvel comic t-shirts, and had a great time watching the show. It was a bit like a circus, bit like one of the stunt shows you see in the theme parks, but with superheroes. The costumes were amazing, the stunts and fight scenes were very well done, and there were some great special effects. We had a blast :)

Head over to the sketch blog to see what the rest of the design team have done with the sketch this week :)

Sarah x

Blog tour

I was recently tagged by TinaGale to participate in a blog tour. Now I've never done one of these before, so if you are new to this place then welcome! I was very honoured to be tagged, TinaGale and I belong to the same Design Team, for Nuts About Sketches :)

I have a list of questions to answer, so here goes....

1. What am I working on right now?

I always have a layout on the go - usually it is a Design team assignment - but I also have a bunch of page kits on hand for when I have a really creative spurt. I don't just play with paper, but with fabric and yarn too. I am currently making a baby quilt for a friend who's shower is in 2 weeks. I don't usually leave it this late! I have finished piecing the top, so all I need is the batting and backing and I can go ahead to quilt it.

2. How long does it take me to create a project?

Well, that depends on the project!! A layout usually will take me a couple of hours, unless I decide to do some hand stitching on it, and then it can take longer. Obviously things like quilts take me longer, but I can get one done in a couple of weeks. I am one of those people that can get things finished pretty quickly once I put my mind to it ;)

3. What are my favourite things to create with at the moment?

When I scrapbook, I tend to not use a lot of embellishments, but I have always had a soft spot for buttons. I love to stitch on my layouts - either by hand or machine. I do like to make my own flowers too.

4. How does my creating process work?

First of all I find a sketch, or a pattern. I never scrapbook without a sketch. I may change the sketch to work for me, but I have to have an idea to start off with. Same goes for any of my creative work, I find it very hard to make things up as I go along.
Once I have a sketch, I pick the photos and then the papers. I then put it together, and then I think of the title and journalling.

5. How do I become inspired and stay inspired?

Sketches!!!! And my photos. I have a lot of heritage photographs, which fascinate me, and I love telling the stories behind it. If I am in a slump, I look through my heritage photos to find one that I want to tell the story about.
Staying inspired is something I find difficult. I try to have more than one project on the go, so I can flit back and forth. I find a change often gives me the creative jump start I need. And I do like a good challenge - whether its a new quilt block, or a new technique to try.

6. What is my signature style?

Clean and simple with a ton of journalling ;)
And I love using white as a background - on both my pages and my quilts.

Now to tag 3 people.....

Erika
Kelly
Missy

Tag, you're it ;)

Nuts About Sketches week 339 - Smile

Monday again, and that means another new sketch from Shawn over at the Nuts About Sketches blog. This is my layout based on the sketch :)

Our first trip out on a boat in Florida :) We are very lucky in that we have a couple of friends who own or rent boats out, and they are kind enough to invite us to join them from time to time. The kids had a great time, and it wasn't hard to get them to smile for the camera!

I used a Christmas line of papers on this layout - honestly!!! This is the Snow Day collection from Crate paper - they are so colourful, that it was easy to use them on a summer page. I had a lot of fun doing this page ;)

Head over to the blog to see what the rest of the team did with this sketch!

Sarah x

Better late than never - Nuts About Sketches week 338 - Tubing

Yeah. I'm a little bit late in posting my layout for this weeks sketch over at Nuts About Sketches. I am just back from visiting my family in the UK, and although I did the layout and sent it off to Shawn well in advance, I forgot to schedule a post for it! But, like I said, better late than never.

This layout uses the left hand side of the 2 page sketch posted this week.

I really enjoyed using this sketch, and actually liked the circle photos - usually I am reticent to cut photos into shapes LOL. This is us on the Ichetucknee River in Florida. We have visited here every summer that we have lived here, we don't tire of floating down the river in a rubber ring ;) These photos were from our first visit there. We took a waterproof camera with us, and we got some really fun shots. Neither of us dared to take our phones or a normal camera on to the river!

Nuts About Sketches week 337 - School Days

This is my latest layout for the Design team over at Nuts About Sketches. 

These photos are of my Mum, as a school girl. I don't know why the photos were taken, whether it was for a school newspaper or magazine, or as a project, or for a local newspaper. But I love them. I love seeing my Mum as a girl, and seeing her at her school is just priceless. The school she went to - Henry Cavendish School - no longer exists, either in name or as a building. 

My Nana kept these photos - as she did with many others, and a tons of other things useful or not - and we found them when we were going through her house after she had died. I don't even think Mum can remember why they were taken, or who that other girl is with her. But to have a snapshot of her school day is more than I have of my own school days. 

Check out what the rest of the Design Team has done with the sketch at the Nuts About Sketches blog.

TTFN

Sarah x

Nuts About Sketches week 336 - Baby's Day Out

It's Monday again, so time to share my latest layout using this week's sketch over at Nuts About Sketches. This week is a two page sketch, but I chose to do the left hand side of the sketch as a single layout.

These pictures are of my grandparents and the baby is my Mum :) I'm not too sure about who the other two women are, but I think they are my Nana's "half nieces" - the daughters of a couple of my Nana's half sisters. I'm not sure where the photos are taken either, it could be Leicestershire, or Derbyshire or anywhere really. Just looks like an afternoon out with the baby to get some fresh air LOL.

Take a look over on the Nuts About Sketches blog to see what the rest of the Design Team have been up to with this sketch!


TTFN

Sarah x