graduation phot, 2 pages for Mo's album and 2 pages for Anita's album

We have finally received the official graduation photograph of us with our son Dan who graduated this June.

 

My twin little sisters albums which I am making for their Christmas presents are coming on well, I have til 27th December to finish them before we take them when we go and stay in a rented cottage in Pagham, Sussex. Yesterday I made 2 double layouts. Anita's favourite colours are chocolate and cream so that's the colour scheme for her album with a little blue added, her identical twin Mo loves bright pinks as well as blues and greens, so the albums have very different feels.

This is a 12" x 12" 7Gypsies double sided paper, and I cut out the journal tag and sentiment from the Recollections signature 'Memories Documented' paper pad, and finished the page with 2 Papermania Capsule Collection blooms and an adhesive pearl, the photo is of Fraser, who is 17 months older than the twins, then Anita in the middle and Mo.  I am journaling about where we lived and our relatives for not only my sisters but also for them to pass down to their children to show them our childhoods.

this page is another 12" x 12" double sided 7Gypsies paper, and I cut out and added the 'don't forget', bunting and journal tag from the same Recollections paper pad as before. From left to right its Mo, Ian, Fraser, Anita then me.

Above, how the pages are laid out in a double layout in Anita's album. I think the muted tones work well with the black and white photographs.

these are 2 of my favourite photos of Mo, the paper is 12" x 12" K & Co Addison Stitched Strips Flat Paper, I embellished the page with blue textured paper behind the photos, Papermania star brads,
Kraft card for journal tag, pink adhesive gems. Her name was made using a Brenda Pinnick 'Posies' pink adhesive letter and a pink button.

This page has 2 photos of our parents along with the details of when they renewed their wedding vows, all the more poignant as dad collapsed with a massive stroke 2 weeks later and was unable to speak until his death 7 months later, I miss his smile and humour. the page is 12" x 12" K & Co Classic K Margo Multicolored Plaid Flat Paper, I also used blue textured card, blue glitter card, hearts and swirls paper and a diecut journal tag which I was sent in a swap on docrafts forum. you can't see the acetate sentiment (bottom right) well, its adhered to the page with 2 Papermania khaki brads and reads "We were two and had but ONE heart", so true of them who were devoted to each other for over 40 years of marriage, I finished the page with cream adhesive pearls.

how they appear in the album as a double layout.

I am really enjoying going down memory lane and making these albums, thanks for any comments you may leave, fi xx

Three 12" x 12" scrapbook layouts for my sisters album, its her Christmas present

I have made 40th birthday albums for both my brothers and had aimed to make them for my twin little sisters for last October, but poor health put paid to that plan so instead I am finishing them for this years Christmas presents and am enjoying scrapping for the first time in a long time, I got so worried bout them being perfect that it put me off doing them, now I am just going with the flow, I know they will enjoy them as they have both loved previous albums I have made for them.

My sister Anita loves chocolate brown and cream colours the best so I am using that as the basis for my album for her, the 3 layouts I am uploading today are using photographs taken decades ago, 2 of our mum with our late dad, and 2 of us with our Scottish relatives, dad's side. One photograph is quite orange, as it was over-exposed, in the good old days you had to be so careful taking films out of cameras and you had no idea how the photographs would turn out til they came back from being developed, but I chose to use it as its the only one I own showing us with our great aunt Ella, so it has sentimental value despite being not very good quality, digital photography makes scrapbooking so much easier these days.

this page features a 7 Gypsies double sided paper, and Brenda Pinnick 'Posies' letters, a photo of my sisters with our granny and a photo of the 5 of us with our great aunt, I wrote a lot of journaling about where our grandparents lived, on the same road as granddads brother and sister, and also included their real names and what they were known as, information my sisters may not know, I am keeping the scrapbook pages fairly simple to focus on the photos rather than lots of embellishments.

this layout features Recollection Signature 'Memories Documented' backing papers and co-ordinating journaling features cut out from the same paper pad, I bought this specifically for this album at Michael's in Canada this year as I love the colour palette, the vintage style and the fact that the paper pad included so many journaling features I can cut out and use in my scrapbooking . The photo is of our parents, the matt behind the photo, the J for Journey, the large sentiment and the tall thin Happiness sentiment were from other pages in the same pad.

The 2nd page of this double layout used the same papers, and linked to this page by using  L for Love sentiment, and another matt behind the photo of our mum and dad, it is already glittered. Making these 3 pages brought back happy family memories. They were so in love and had 40 wonderful married years together before my dad died so young at just 69 years old, we miss him so much but scrapbooking photos of him and mum is easier now, its almost 9 years since we lost him and I was only able to scrapbook using a photo of him just this year. Crafting is a true therapy and so enjoyable too, thanks for any comments you may leave. I have many more pages to make in the next 2 weeks, my kitchen table is full of photographs which took ages to sort into categories.

5 cards made with my new Hunkydory kits

This week I bought the Hunkydory Touch of Class kit which features 'Champagne Bubbles' for wedding anniversaries, Handbag Heaven (along with cupcake designs - not used them yet).
I made 3 anniversary cards using the Champagne Bubbles printed cardstock, foiled toppers and sentiments, paper ribbons and just added a little extra foiled backing paper and glitter card and matt pearl cardstock to matt and layer the designs onto.

 

I also made a birthday card using the Handbag Heaven cardstock, foiled topper and foiled sentiment and an A4 sheet of black glitter card folded in half to make an A5 card base.

 This last card combines 2 Hunkydory kits, the topper and gold foiled sentiment came in a goodybag swap on DOcrafts and feature 'The First Dance', I trimmed down the topper so it would fit an A5 cardbase, made from my new Hunkydory Antique Flourish 'The Manor House' mini kit, and a co-ordinating foiled sentiment.

 

 

thanks for any comments

Christmas bauble made at a class in Canada (mislaid it and only found it whilst tidying my craftroom today!)

Whilst staying in Canada this September I got cabin fever and was terribly homesick as I'd never been so far away from my grand-daughter but also my daughter, who works full-time but 2 weeks before we flew to Canada she broke her arm and was off sick, so I knew she would struggle as she couldn't do anything and has no coping strategies and was terribly bored, she learned how to type with her left hand so she could get online or she would have gone stir crazy. I amassed a massive phonebill but a dear friend paid it for me, knowing the reason for it, which was a real blessing.

Anyway we weren't getting out as much as we had hoped and on the drive to our host's home we had driven past a small scrapbook store, so I asked our host's housekeeper and it was only one block away, just 5 minutes walk on a lovely country path so I went there with my hubby Andy and met Herb and Lyn the proprieters, such lovely people, there was a cardmaking class taking place but they were happy for me to browse around them. I bought quite a bit of stash from them as they sell loads of Graphic45 and Bobunny products and its all up to date, not like my outdated craft store back home. Herb told me about 2 classes they were running and I decided to do them both, the first one was to decorate a christmas bauble, the 2nd class later in the week was to make and decorate an autumnal Bobunny tag book, I shall upload the pictures when its finished, I had to leave the class early as our hosts dog died suddenly and he wanted to go and say goodbye to her and then take us out to take his mind off it, so June the lady who ran the classes, Herb and Lynn's DIL took my email address and emailed me all the photos of how each page of the book should look like, but its not finished yet, so that will be for a later post.

the bauble class was great fun, we chose a Christmas themed peel-off that had room to be coloured in, and stuck it on the Perspex bauble. I have never used Sakura pens before, we used a combination of sakura glaze and Sakura soufflé pens and I found it hard to get a smooth finish to the white soufflé pen, but it is a handmade item and I enjoyed making it even if its not perfect!

We then tore and curled musical score papers, as well as lots of thin curling ribbon, another first for me, never curled ribbon before, we popped them inside the bauble then added the metal hanging cover, and we finished off by adding thin red ribbon and a loop of patterned organza ribbon to hang the bauble from, I really enjoyed the class and was pleased with my first ever decorated bauble, if I can source some more I shall make some with my grand-daughter Carrie.

                                                                  front of bauble

                                                                back of bauble

A busy week crafting whilst at my daughters flat, 5 forever friends cards and 1 cross-stitch card

This week I have spent 4 whole days sitting in my daughters flat as her new kitchen is being installed, I had to hide away in her front room away from the noise and dust and to keep out of the way of all the comings and goings in her small flat. The kitchen is now installed and looks gorgeous and all the tiling has been done by lovely workmen, but we still have to wait til next week for the washing machine to be plumbed in,  all the sockets to be installed along with an extractor fan, the ceiling will be replastered, then new lighting installed, the walls will be decorated then the floor will be retiled.
hopefully the work will be completed by the end of next week, and I shall do some more crafting whilst waiting for it to be finished.

The reason I'm telling you al this is because being stuck in the flat with nothing to do it was the perfect opportunity to craft and not feel guilty that I should be doing something else, I spent 4 days watching craft tv and crafting.

for the first 3 days I stitched a Christmas cross-stich card, it came free with this months World of Cross-stitch magazine, which is normally £4.99 per issue but the publishers gave me a very special offer of 3 issues for 33p each, along with 3 other cross-stitch magazines and quick cards magazines.
The cross-stitch was quite intricate but it was very enjoyable and it helped the 24 hours I took to sew it pass so much more quickly than they would have without this distraction.

Earlier this week I purchased some craft items from a fellow docrafter, they were 2 Creativity magazines with their free gifts, and lots of Forever Friends Christmas stash, epoxy stickers, papers and die-cut toppers and sentiments, the parcel was waiting for me when I got home Wednesday evening and I couldn't wait to start crafting with them, so on Thursday I took all the FF items to the flat and I made 5 Christmas cards with them, the card blanks were sent to me by a docrafter recently.

 

 

title page from BoBunny tag album class taken in Canada (album unfinished so far)

whilst in Canada on holiday last month I discovered we were staying just one block ( 5 minutes walk from a lovely independent scrapbook store with lovely owners who held weekly classes, I joined 2 of them. This class was to make a tag album using BoBunny's brand new Autumn Song 12 x 12 paper range, love the rich colours, they are fab!

Pre-cut chipboard album used, drew round many papers in the Autumn song range for each page cover and distressed the edges with Ranger Walnut Stain distress ink. The title 'dream', was cut out twice for each letter, once on chipboard and once on the Autumn song paper using Sizzix Bigz dies and adhered using Zip Dry scrapbook glue. Netting rosette was attached to the back of Sizzix dies flowers whose edges had been distressed and curled, using extra strong DST, then attached tot he cover with a metallic brad, will add the other pages as I finish them, I have covered all the pages of the album, they just need the embellishments added. The album wasn't finished in the class as the day I was on the class our friend who were staying with had his dog die so we had to take him to say goodybye to her, thankfully the lady running the course, emailed me the finished pages from her book so I can complete the album back home, jetlag has prevented me from scrapping since our return from holiday on 1st October but I shall get on with it very soon.

Loving paper piecing, my 2nd attempt, a Humphrey's corner Christmas card

I tried paper piecing for the first time last week and really enjoyed it, so much so that I hunted out some of my acrylic stamps that I have never used, if you could see my craftroom you would see why I can't find them all but I've got a few to be going on with until I can unearth the rest. The best thing about doing a massive sort out/reorganisation in my craftroom is that I ALWAYS find stash I never knew I had, so its a bit like Christmas morning each time!

I decided to make a Christmas card this time and used a Humphrey's Corner stamp as I thought it lent itself well to paper piecing his clothing, the acrylic stamp set probably came free from a magazine or won in a draw, can't remember which, but I didn't buy it separately.

Stamped the image 4 times using Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto 3 different sheets from the K & Co 'Roam' 6" x 6" paper pad I bought on eBay last week, also onto grey textured card for the face and pale blue doily paper from my stash for the snowy background, cut out layers and stuck them all together using silicone glue.

Also used 2 different brown papers and blue/brown polka dot paper from the 'Sew Pretty' designer paper collection which came free with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine earlier this year.
Added docrafts foiled sentiment from last year's Christmas goodybag, all mounted onto white 4" x 4" card.

2 stamped cards using new stamps, inks, pens and paper pads (as well as promarkers), very different to my usual style

Do you buy new stash and then not get around to using it, and it sits on a shelf or desk just waiting to be used, well today I have used a combination of new brand new stash along with unused stash I've never used before and the result was 2 stamped cards. I have kept them both simple, so its just about the stamping as I am new to both techniques.

the first card is a Four Seasons card featuring the same tree stamp from my brand new Woodware Woodland stamp set which arrived today as well as Dew Drop Memento inks and Spectrum Noir pens I've had for some months but never used, and a few Promarkers from my older stash.

                                                             'FOUR SEASONS'

I stamped the tree trunk four times onto white card with Rich Cocoa Memento ink then coloured the trunks with Cinnamon and Satin Promarkers, but changed the seasons of each tree with different dew drop Memento inks and Spectrum Noir and Promarker pens for the leaves to mark the four seasons, I was inspired to make this card as its coming to the end of summer and I just love the rich colours of autumn.

The Spring leaves were stamped with Bamboo Leaves Memento ink and coloured with LG1  Spectrum Noir pen; the summer leaves were stamped with Cottage Ivy Memento ink and coloured with LG2 (greens) Spectrum noir pen, the butterfly from the same stamp set was stamped with Rhubarb Stalk Memento ink and coloured with Poppy and FS8 (pink) Spectrum noir Pen; the autumn leaves were stamped with Rhubarb Stalk Memento ink and coloured with Cadnum Red Aqua Promarker pen, and the fallen winter leaves were stamped with Rich Cocoa & Tangelo Memento inks and coloured with Cinnamon Promarker and Cadnum red Aqua Promarker pens.

All the elements were cut out and adhered to a cream 4" x 4" card base using Wackytac adhesive sheet.

                                                       ''SPEEDY RECOVERY'
                                              (marks are on scanner, not on card)

the 2nd card is my first attempt at patterned paper piecing and features the owl on branch and mushrooms from my new Woodware Woodland stamp set, stamped with Rich Cocoa Memento ink onto white card and 3 different patterned papers from the K & Co 'Amy Butler Belle' 6" x 6" paper pad which arrived yesterday, bought on ebay last week. I cut out all the owl elements and adhered them using Wackytac adhesive sheet which is great for fiddly pieces which it is hard to use glue with. the mushrooms were stamped twice onto white card using Cottage Ivy and Rhubarb Stalk Dew Drop Memento inks and coloured with LG1, LG2 and FS8 Spectrum Noir pens and Gold, Poppy and Cream Promarkers, cut out, layered together and adhered onto a 4" x 4" black scalloped edge card with foiled sentiment added.

Just one card this week!

Its been a very quiet week craft wise for me and I have just made one card. I love my 8" x 8" scalloped edge cards I bought on sale after Christmas from the Range, (got 40 cards for £2!) as they give plenty of room for large images and this card features the die-cut oriental fan decoupage from Create and Craft (I bought the kit in a massive box of craft stash on ebay last year, my son picked the box up for me as it was so heavy and large) that I have used in several cards recently, its so beautiful. For this card I cut out the decoupage to remove the background fan shape to reveal more of the details and the background paper I've used too, I think it will be an anniversary card as it looks like two love birds, though I've not added a sentiment yet so it could possible also work well for a birthday card. The polka dot paper is from the free Hunkydory Flutterby Wishes kit I have loved using in many of my recent cards, never had a HD kit before but last week I took the plunge and joined hunky-dory Platinum club and am looking forward to receiving my free membership gift soon. I am also loving using the foiled Christmas 'mirror' card from Carley, also from C & C. I don't think it looks mirrored at all, more foiled, but it is very rich and a lovely backdrop to my cards. So this card has come from 3 great craft bargains, my type of crafting.

busy week crafting anniversary cards, christmas cards, birthday cards and a sympathy card (11 in total)

I have had several late night crafting sessions this week and made a total of 11 cards. the first 3 are anniversary cards.

they feature Flutterby Wishes and other decoupage, Papermania Vintage notes die-cut hearts, peel-offs and patterned papers and mirror card all from my stash.

the next 2 cards are birthday cards for docraft friends, the housemouse decoupage card was for Emma (Trenouth) whose birthday was on 14th august and the Create and Craft oriental floral decoupage card was for Angie's birthday (JustAng) which is today (16th August), happy birthday ladies x

this next card is a  Flutterby wishes sympathy card for Joy a Docrafts friend who lost her husband recently.

These last 3 cards are all Christmas decoupage cards. They feature Carley's Christmas mirror card (from Create and Craft, not really mirror, more like foiled card, but none the less gorgeous) in their backgrounds. for this first card I used a Chrsitmas tree peel-off, backed it with green pearl card, cut it out and added lots of tiny adhesive gems for the baubles.

 

I also made 2 other cards but cannot get them on the right orientation, sorry. they are a House Mouse decoupage birthday card and an 8" x 8" Christmas decoupage card.

 

 

Graduation celebration card and photos and 10 other cards made this week

It was such a joy to travel to Bristol Cathedral on Friday 26th July for our son and his partners graduation ceremony. Dan gained a first class Honours in his LLB (Law Degree), sorrel did the same degree and gained a 2:1, we are very proud of both their achievements, and needless to say both sets of parents took many photographs, not seen most of them yet as they are on Dan's camera (and they are on holiday in lake Como in Italy, an end of degree holiday with her family and we are also waiting for the official photographs we ordered, but I do have 3 lovely photos which sum up a day we shall never forget.

The first photo is Dan and Sorrel with Andy and myself outside the cathedral before the ceremony.

the 2nd photo is of us and Sorrel's family, back at Dan and Sorrel's home toasting their success with champagne.

 

This last photo is my favourite and now my pc wallpaper, it is of Dan and Sorrel just outside the cathedral after their graduation ceremony.

 

this is my graduation card to Dan and Sorrel, its made from Funky Hands Word Book CDRom, using the Bad Ted set.

 

As the large letters stand proud of each letter page, the pages had to be cut out individually, as did the co-ordinating lower case letters on the front page, this took hours but it was a labour of love, the card ended up being over 1 foot long and not too stable but it looked good resting on their bookshelves in front of photos they had framed. Each page was decorated with congratulation messages and a photo of the graduates but I have not uploaded these.

 I'd not got around to much blogging last month, mainly due to the heat especially upstairs in my craftroom, so I thought I would blog early today before the heat arrives. Last week I was unable to sleep at all one night so I sat on my recliner chair catching up on craft tv shows and made lots of cards, featuring House Mouse, Kanban kits and Hunkydory Flutterby Wishes kit

You can't tell the depth of the decoupage on this adorable image, it has 4 layers and was one of the easier sheets to cut out, some HM images are very fiddly especially their tiny long tails but this one wasn't too bad, its a birthday card for my dear friend Lynda who loves all shades of lilac and purple. the glittery paper came from Poundland and the purple and patterned papers came from my stash along with the 6" x 6" scalloped card.


The next 4 cards are all made from the Hunkydory Flutterby wishes cardmaking kit which came free with a craft mag a couple of months ago, the kit has gone a long way and so far I have made 13 cards from it and I still have one large decoupage topper and several backing papers to use up.

1) 18th birthday card for Jaz, Carrie's big sister.

 

2) quick birthday card for my friend Noreen who doesn't like fancy cards.

3) This card  features a FW floral topper as well as  Papermania vintage notes die-cut hearts from a docrafts goodybag bought earlier this year for mothers day by my daughter Anne-Marie.

4) This is an anniversary card featuring a FW butterfly and Papermania Vintage notes die-cut doily and 'Love' sentiment.

the next  4 cards are made from Kanban kits bought recently on offer from CraftyDevils website.

1) New home card for Pam (Pamsie) a doCrafts forum friend and her husband Roy.

 

this card features die-cut decoupage topper as well as Posies scrapbook kit alphas bought years ago from QVC.

2)

Kanban die-cut decoupage topper, not sure if this will be a birthday or anniversary card yet.

3)

 

Cute rein-dog Christmas card featuring die-cut decoupage and co-ordinating topper along with green Kanban Merry Christmas backing card.

4)

this card features Kanban die-cut beach theme hearts, the pink glitter paper is from Poundland, the rest of the card is made from my stash.

 

thanks for any comments you may leave.