Keeping Mummy Awake

This layout is made with a photograph that is nearly sixteen years old - of my youngest daughter and I when she was just a few weeks old, taken my my darling husband at around eleven o'clock at night.

I used papers from two pads I have from My Minds Eye, and also used some of the flowers that I have been making recently. I wanted to use a doily in a layout - don't ask me why... I think I must have just thought that it might look pretty, but chances are I won't be using them again (forty-nine paper doilies to get rid of then *lol*). Of course there's stitching - and Perfect Pearls to add little extra details. The cut out roses and butterflies are all from one sheet of Papermania's Henbury Lane collection, and for the butterflies I added little antenna with just a couple of stitches. The photograph has been distressed with a paint that I used mixing water colours (crimson and white) with some pearly children's paint I bought very cheaply at Tesco.  All the edging of the background papers and thephoto matting has also been 'tarted up' with the paint. I have a 'thing' about corners lately, and so I tried adding something a little different to the layout with a turned corner (decorated with the paint I had made) and torn surround. All the litle roses were touched up with the paint also, just to give them a little glitz.

Even MORE Flowers!

Sorry, I just couldn't help myself...

these flowers are so quick and easy to make and I think they look really amazing, so I made some more in blue this time. Much the same as before, only with just three layers and the glimmer mist I made had some white watercolour paint added, as well as the blue, to knock it back a bit. I have to add here too, that these photographs don't really do justice to how these flowers look.

Bearing in mind that the 6x6 Laura Ashley papers cost me less than £2, and I've made 12 flowers so far with about half the papers, I think this is a really inexpensive way to creat something quite stunning - I'm planning scrapbook layouts now - can't wait to start matching up layouts with those gorgeous colours. My mojo is jiving!

More Flowers!

I just couldn't wait to post a photo or two of the flowers I'd made this evening - in fact, so impatient was I that if you look closely, you'll see the glue is still wet on them! I used the Laura Ashley papers again - some of them are 'felted' - but this time I painted the white backs and used the pattern side upward facing - though I still used water colour paint on the front too. I tried leaving the centrewithout the rose, and instead put some white stamens in the centre - it did look nice, but I preferred the effect the roses gave.

I made five of the reddish brown design in all, and used so little of the paper - four layers to each bloom, so only one 6x6 sheet for each flower. A small admission here... at the moment I think I am preferring making these flowers than I am to creating a scrapbook page for them! BUT I do want to use them on a layout, so I'm pretty sure I'll be scrapping before the Bank Holiday is finished with.

I also made some small pink flowers using four-petal blooms. These were made in the same way, using the dampened paper technique and twisting the paper to make the folds before setting it with a heat gun. The paper used was softer - almost like a handmade or mulberry paper, and I'm not sure if the shape will hold as well as the larger flowers I made. The colouring was inked onto the edges of the petals instead of using watercolour, and then sprayed with water to allow the ink to run.The stamens are simple pushed through a hole made with a cocktail stick, and then hot-glued down with a small circle of card stock to hold it in place. Hope you like them... I know I do :)

Well, that's me finished for the night... Happy Crafting!

Another Flower Tutorial...

Yes, another flower tutorial. Really, most paper flowers used in scrapbooking are made in the same way – we just change petal shapes, or petal numbers and such things tomake different flowers. One of my bargains today was a 6x6 Laura Ashley paper pad (Love Song), and I used some of this paper to make my flowers. First, quarter your 6x6 sheet to make four 3x3 paper squares. Take one of the smaller squares and fold it in half and then into thirds – making a 1/6th pie shape (well, if it was a circle, it would be a pie shape – but I'm guessing you ladies know exactly what I mean).

Now cut out your petal shape. Do this again to two others of the squares (or do the same to all four, if you like), making each subsequent flower shape slightly smaller than the previous one – but not too much of a difference.

Unfold your petals to show your flower shapes- it doesn't matter if any look a bit wonky – in fact, all the better! Now spray the flowers with glimmer mist or something similar (I used a mixture of water, mica powder, gum arabic and crimson water paint). Next you'll need some paint – I use block water colour paint – and using the glimmer mist as a watering down agent, paint the edges of each petal – you don't have to be an expert artist for this, just dab on a bit of colour and then blend it a bit towards the middle. Dry with a heat gun – but still leave damp.

Take a pair of long tweezers or a hairclip – something you can hold each petal with and twist carefully. If a petal tears, don't get worried as this can add to the effect and look quite pretty... but try and be a little careful as you don't want lots of tears. Now dry your flowers with a heat gun. It's easiest to hold the gun steady into the centre of the flower and dry this part first as the petals will curl up slightly and make a slight cup shape. Dry the flowers well. The heat gun will set the colour and also make the paper slightly brittle so it will hold it's shape really well.

Now all you have to do is layer up your blooms – largest as the base, working up to the smallest. I have done these with 7 layers, and they look amazing! Just remember to set each layer on top of the other with the petals NOT directly above each other – off set the petals to the space between the petals of the lower bloom.

If using just three or four layers, it's nice to have something sparkly in the middle – a fancy brad, button – or I use a small rose. I used to make these tiny roses, but it's much easier (and almost as cheap) to buy them ready made. If you spray them a little and water colour the edges of the petals, they will 'loosen' as you dry them with a heat gun and open up a bit – this look is just my personal preference for the centre of the flower I made. Now it's up to you... stickle it, glitter it, emboss the edges – anything to make the flower 'yours' – and then stick it to something pretty!

Happy Crafting!

Catching Up!

I have been spending so much time the last couple of days re-posting an old blog of mine. Not that posting it takes the time, but reading what I was up to five years ago has been an eye-opener, as well as eating up the hours! I was a severe agoraphobic at the time (still am, but cope better with it now), and had a unique sense of humour. I loved writing a blog every day - or in this case it appears several times a day! *lol* I do miss it, and may start again as well as redoing a Christmas recipe blog (if I can find the recipes stowed away in piles of paper and clutter on top of the fridgefreezer). Anyway, I DID have time to do a little stash shopping (don't we ALWAYS have time for that ladies?) and bagged a couple of bargains. Hobbycraft had a cute little cuddly toy dog in his own 'decorate-it-yourself' wooden kennel for just £2.49. Better still, at The Range I managed to pick up some Zutter Perfect Closures for just 99p!

Of the four different kinds that are usually available, I managed to get three - they had none of the silver lock and keys design, and only one of the brass coloured lock and keys design left. I may even go back and buy some more... it's the kind of thing that will definitely come in useful one day. Apparently this range of products has been discontinued - there were a lot of papers too - Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen and Laura Ashley designs, as well as the tins of Laura Ashley embellishments. The more I think about it, the more I just know I shall be at The Range tomorrow morning stash diving like a woman possessed - I can't resist a bargain :)

WWI Family

During 'The Great War' (World War One) my great-nan, Winnifred, was in the Women's National Land Service Corps - the equivalent of the Land Army in WWII. She and her sister Estelle must have been so proud of their contribution, as they posed for a professional photograph in their uniforms.

I absolutely love this photograph - Winnie is on the left, Estelle on the right. They both have a cheeky look on their faces, and despite the hardships and worry they must have suffered, they look happy. My Great-Nan was such a beautiful woman in her youth, and I think both she and her sister even manage to make these unflattering coats and bulky boots (as well as that hat!) look quite fetching.

So this was the photograph I chose for my next layout. I was supposed to be using the flowers and birdcage I had made, but when it came to putting the whole thing together... well, to be honest it looked better without.  I inked up the background paper using a stamp I had recieved in one of those £15 goody bags and one from La Blanche. I sanded and distressed the edges of the paper and then used Ranger inks (shabby shutters) to distress the edges a bit more. Lots of stitched swirls (as always!)  and hand-made flowers. The tiny fabric flowers were just picked off of some sprays I had spare from making my daughters wedding bouquet, and I simply sprayed them with Glimmer Mist.

The title of the page is stamped directly onto the paper. I was so nervous - I didn't want to make a mistake, and yet I didn't even mark out with pencil where the letters should go. It was made easier by the card stock being lined. The clear stamp set I used was bought from Tesco for about £5 - alphabet and numbers as well as the dotty swirls and some butterflies and flowers are in the pack - and you even get an acrylic block - quite a bargain I thought. The stamps are by a company called "Craft Creatives".

The Butterfly Effect... *lol*

Well, I finished that birdcage - only I put a butterfly inside it, and after designing two layouts especially for my little creation I didn't use it. I've decided I don't like it. Oh, well... back to the drawing board.

Ooh... cherries!

A BEAUTIFUL GIFT FROM KAREN

Karen passed this award onto me with the most wonderful words - I'm quite chuffed!
There are 5 conditions to accepting this lovely token of appreciation:
1.) That I thank the person who gave me my award!

2.) That the receiver places it on their blog

3.) Receiver lists 3 things about themselves

4.) Receiver posts a picture that they love

5.) Tag 5 people to pass the award onto, and to keep it going.

Well, THANK YOU!!!! to Karen  - you really have to pop by her blog and see the crafting she does - clean, simple and beautiful  - with an eye for colour that is just outstanding! Put that together with her fantastic family and the fact that this brave woman can SKATE... well, you have a superwoman there :)
Of course the award is posted proudly :)
Oh, my... three things about me...um... Okay - firstly, I was born at home, and have never lived anywhere else but Southampton, always close to my brother and parents (who I adore totally). Secondly (and most importantly) I LOVE Christmas! The tree and decorations go up November the first, but they come down Boxing Day (if the cat hasn't ripped everything apart by then *lol*)  and Christmas represents Family to me - the most important thing in my life. Last but not least... the very first time I met my husband, I told him I would marry him (we had one date and he proposed - it's such a sweet story that I won't bore you with *lol*)

Oh dear, a picture I love...  just one? *lol* I am the keeper of our family history - so I have so many photographs that I love to look at so often. I guess this one is a personal favourite...

It's not a great photo (I was once a professional photographer, and have some amazing photographs...) but this one is special to me as it's all my children together and happy - it's so difficult getting them all in one place at one time! The photograph is over fifteen years old now - I am feeling old all of a sudden *lol*

Now for the five others to recieve this lovely award.

Everyone should visit 'It's All A FiddleFart' - what Helen can do with her amazing bargains is enough to make you green with envy!
I could never forget Sian, from her little room High In The Sky - partly because she read the same book as me and reminded me of it and bought back some lovely memories (Miss Happiness and Miss Flower)... but mostly because her creations are so beautiful and she has a wicked sense of humour :)
Alana at The Little Blue Shed makes the kind of cards I really wish I could - they are so perfect! Also, we took almost identical photographs of ourselves - even down to the pink woolly hat. Okay, that may seem a bit creepy - but it was strangely funny :) She scrapbooked her picture first so I haven't done mine yet (only because it won't turn out as good as hers did *lol*).
Karen has some Tales Of The ScrapHeap... but it's wonderful to go read her blog. She's got a wonderful family and is always happy - maybe this is the reason her crafting is just so good?
Last but not least, Anita has some Inky Blossom she'd like to share ;)  She has a creative streak a mile wide, and you just have to see her layouts!

Oh, I wish I could list at least another ten more :(

More Flowers

Well, I'm just getting over some sort of bug - me, not the computer *lol* - and after being laid up for twenty-four hours, I'm sat back in the dining room crafting again. I'm making another birdcage that basically has a back to it, is reinforced with semi-circles inside, and will be used on my next layout with a butterfly tucked inside (I hope!).

Now for the flowers:
I made these using tissue paper I had leftover from a shoe delivery (wedding shoes...yay!!! No, not MY wedding, but my middle daughters' wedding day *lol*). I don't know what it is about tissue paper, exactly... but I love it – crinkly soft and waiting to be moulded into anything my imagination comes up with – well, that's if Hubby doesn't get hold of it first for model aeroplane wings or just the bin. Anyways... I started off punching several layers of the tissue paper with an old punch I have that's just about ready for the scrapheap (1) – and I mean the rubbish bin by that phrase, not anything to do with scrapbooking :). Several times the punch just jammed, and I had to stand on the darn thing just to punch a few circles! It doesn't really matter if the edges are a bit rough though – and hand cutting them would have probably been a lot easier (and quicker too)! After cutting/punching out the circles, I laid them out one layer deep on a silicon baking mat, allowing five circles for each flower and a couple extra just in case of mistakes. I spritzed the circles with water – please don't be silly and forget that you're working near a computer when spraying water around willy-nilly (just like I did). Next is the fun part... protect the work surface around the area you're working on – this could get seriously messy! I splattered and daubed, misted and spritzed, sprayed and covered each circle with anything I thought would look pretty – Glimmer Mist, MoonGlow, Shimmer Spritz – and then set Razzer onto them. Razzer is my heat gun (2). You only need to dry them to the point where the inks are looking dry – hopefully the actual tissue will still be a little damp, if not then spray them lightly with water.. Pick up a damp circle and fold it in half – inky patterned side outward facing. Fold in half again so you have a quarter-circle 'pie-piece'. Take the curved outer edge and fold it up – just crease it together so as you're making a petal shape, and then hold this part with tweezers and dry each petal with a Razzer (or any other heat tool of any particular name you have handy). The petals needed to be damp because as they are quickly dried with the heat gun, the paper becomes a little brittle, and will hold the shape really well when it's dry (3). Put the finished petals to one side and punch out small shapes – either circles or flower shapes are best – to glue your petals onto (4). I've tried using a large flower shape to give an extra dimension to the finished bloom, but it just doesn't look right if you're using a lot of glimmer sort of inks – it does look good if you're using plainer papers though, and if you are using large flower shapes for a base, it's best to use double-sided papers that are very thin. Back to the petals and punched out shape for the base... I used a Glimmer Mist on the punched flower bases, but it's not really necessary. Glue five petals onto the base shape in a flower shape (obviously!) and allow to dry (5). Pierce through the centre with a piercing tool, and push through a brad for the flower centre. I then push the finished flower into the palm of my hand or onto my foam mat, so that it has a little curve to it – a nice shape. This is why, when using a large flower shaped base, it's best to use double sided papers, as the bottom will show a little – especially if you curl up the edges a bit which looks nice. I have found that these flowers are quite robust – they hold their shape well, and aren't flimsy at all.

Well, that's it... Now I guess I should try and think up a layout on which I can use the birdcage and flowers – It could be a long day *lol*

Happy Crafting!

By the way, if you hadn't guessed by now, I am totally fed up with Blogger and the new way to compose posts - HTML phobics like myself can't compose a post properly with pictures any longer. Bah!

Bird Cage

I shall probably be told that this has been done already, but I'll post anyway...

I've been getting back to basics and trying to create my own embellishments for layouts, and had this idea after receiving my Avon delivery. I had ordered a bird cage necklace - I'm so into bird cages, I love them! - and when it arrived I knew that I'd love to create something on a layout based around a bird cage that really stood out. I have a stamp, but I wanted something more three dimensional. Please bear in mind that this was made in about five minutes, and it's just a basic idea. Although this is just mounted on a card right now, it's easily removed (held on just by the five brads) and I thought it would be fun to cut out a small bird shape, maybe add some little flowers and branches, etc., onto a layout, and then place this birdcage over the top of them - flowers and branches sticking out of the bars. This basic template is approximately ten centimetres when made into the three dimensional model. I'd like to see just how small I could make this, and have an idea of having three across a layout, this size being the biggest, and the smallest possibly about five centimetres in height. It starts off so simply - an easy shape to cut out, though I'm wondering what would be best to use to harden it slightly after it's been made to make it a little more durable.

Well, that's my basic idea... hope it's liked by a few people :)

I'll be posting a quickie tutorial on some flowers I made today - really easy blooms that can look really effective... so until then... Happy Scrapping!

Precious Mother Daughter Moments...

Beth, my youngest daughter, had been on my computer using the webcam and I used it as an opportunity to grab a couple of 'stills' of the two of us together (she is so photo-phobic!). That was in April, and looking through the photographs makes me smile so much - the two of us laughing and giggling, making silly faces and generally mucking around. The cooker timer started beeping, and just as I kissed her cheek before leaving the room to check on dinner she caught the moment ... and although it's not a flattering picture at all, I love the softness and love it shows. This was a rare layout that I had sketched, planned, and ended up almost exactly as I had first planned it. I started off with Core'Dinations card stock and the Papermania Heather Capsule. The edges of everything were frayed and inked and I used purple embroidery thread to stitch swirls (as always *lol*). The three-fold-down corner was just something I thought would look really effective, and I used a resist technique with gold ink and clear detail embossing powder before covering with purple ink and buffing the excess off - this had to be done because the Papermania papers are plain white on the reverse.

The photograph was also 'washed out' slightly, and the purple hues exaggerated to match in with the papers.  The flowers were handmade (see previous post) and the titling hand-written. I was a nervous wreck putting my silver paint pen direct onto the layout- even with a pencilled outline to guide me. I was terrified I would make a mistake on this layout that had taken me days to complete.  Typically for me, even with the amount of stash I have piled up everywhere, I had no Perfect Pearls that would match in with the colour of this layout. So, I mixed a baby blue and pale pink, and used a cocktail stick to dab it around the stitching. Using the cocktail stick wasn't as effective as using Perfect Pearls straight from the applicator bottle, but it's okay.

Well, that's it... one of my absolute favourite layouts to date - not just for the finished look, but for the crafting and creative process that it took me.

Messy! Making Flowers...

I have had such fun, making a whole lot of mess *lol* It started with this layout I've been planning (I'll be posting that later tomorrow) - I guess I was just being fussy with the flowers I wanted to use. I like to make my own flowers - I know it takes time and effort, but I feel like a layout is REALLY mine if I tried to craft as much of what's included on the layout as I possibly can. Anyways... the colour palette was purple - dark, aubergine purple. These flowers also had to be antique looking, sort of dusty and old, and I knew I had nothing with that sort of colour in my scraps bag that I could use to make paper flowers, but I did have some bridal rose petals that I had bought for 99p a while ago (one of those "I might use this one day" purchases). They were a good base colour - browns and creams - and with a little bit of pizzazz, I knew they'd be perfect. At a craft fair I had attented, I had bought a Shimmerz Spritz in 'Purple Passion' that I thought would make the petals into what I needed them to be. The colour was too weak, but I then had a sudden brainwave (those don't happen too often - the shock nearly floored me!) and remembered that I had some Moon Glow's Starburst Stains left over from my card making days. No purples, but two parts 'Frosted Purple Iris' (which is actually bright blue) to one part 'Poinsettia Red Gold' gave me a gorgeous colour! Two days later, and my fingers are still purple from the inks - but part of crafting is making messes and having fun with it all (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!). After a quick drying with the heat gun, the petals were almost perfect - but not quite. More purple! Felt tips seemed a pretty good idea - well, felt tips scribbled onto the petals and then sloshed a bit with a water pen to blend it all a bit. Still, my trusty pink silicone baking mat (Poundland - bargain!) stood up to the ink better than my fingers and nails (will they ever recover?!) and another blast from the heat gun and I was really happy with the result. I decided that sewing the petals together would be best as hot glue can sometimes become a bit bulky. I pleated each petal, stitched once to hold the pleat in place and then added another petal - keeping the same needle and thread, and sewing a pleat first before sewing the petal with one stitch into place. Using five or six petals, I got a nice effect - and then I used a hot glue gun to stick each petal next to it's neighbouring one to make a nice shape. I chose grey accents (half pearls, 5p for about a hundred) as I thought this might keep the 'antiqued' feel going.

Stash diving (my favourite pasttime!) found some little purple paper roses that sat perfectly in the centre of some of the flowers and these, as well as the half pearls, were stuck on with the hot glue gun. I'm really happy with the results - and I can't wait to blog the layout I used them in as it's one of my favourites so far!

Brrr!!

For this layout of my eldest daughter Naomi when she was an ickle wee girly, I used a 12x12 sheet of paper from a 'Sara' pad (hard to see, but it's blue with white skeleton leaves on it). I layered up her photograph first in a clear plastic 'folder' (made from a leftover sticky gems pack), and then onto some card from Papermania - the Henbury Lane A4 set. I drew on the clear cover with a white gel pen – just a few snowflake doodles. Next came the hard part – an hour and a half sewing snowflakes onto the paper – each one hand-pricked out and each one different. It's so much easier sewing through card stock – paper can tear so easily because it's so thin. I placed the photo in the middle of the layout and drew around it with the white gel pen, just to help show it off a little. Blue thread was used for the stitching around the photo and at the top and bottom of the plastic overlay. It was not stitched through at the bottom, so the overlay can still be lifted to see the photograph more clearly. I used the same Papermania card to punch out two sizes of snowflakes that I scattered and glued across the layout, and a couple onto the actual photograph too. The lettering is Sifcon Craft foam alphabet stickers in blue (99p, from The Range – 92 foam alphabet, number, etc:- such a BARGAIN!!), to which I added some Glamour Dust in Crystal from DecoArt, and also highlighted a little with the white gel pen.

The last couple of layouts I've completed are a lot less fussy than my usual style - but the sewing has taken so much longer as it's a lot more intricate and difficult. I do like the 'plainer' style - but I've sketched a couple of ideas that may turn out to be back to my more fussy style - so, time to get back to the scrapping grindstone and get these new ideas onto cardstock :)

Picture Perfect

Another old photograph was used here – my wonderful Hubby, sat at Lepe Beach (I think) in 1995. He's always been an avid photographer, and his enthusiasm rubbed off on me very quickly when we first started dating, and we never went anywhere without a camera or two (or sometimes three or four!).All the papers used are from a pad of My Minds Eye, and I used pale blue, grey, and olive green thread for a LOT of stitching. The triangle shapes around the photograph are supposed to look a bit like a camera shutter – though Hubby says it looks a bit like a flower, and my eldest daughter Naomi said that they looked like (and I quote): “Cool sabre tooths”. I highlighted the swirly stitching and also the triangle pieces in black pen. There are a lot of mistakes in this layout, but not so terrible as to be glaringly obvious, so I can live with it as it is. I do find male layouts very difficult to do, and I do like to try something a little different-looking with each one I try... I really like the way this one turned out.

Usually I make layouts with the mindset that I'm making memories interesting for future generations... this layout however, was done for purely selfish reasons. My husband and I hadn't been married quite a year, and we had taken a day trip to the beach with our baby daughter. The camera he's using is a favourite of mine – he gave it to me shortly after this photo was taken. I loved days like those – blowy and blustery, but so much fun just being together. The photograph brings back such vivid memories, and I wanted to make a layout with it just for me.

A Christmas Dream

I know, it's only August, and I'm doing Christmas layouts already... but it was just an opportunity I had to take after wanting to scrapbook this photograph for so long, and suddenly having the greenery I needed to complete it. This was Christmas 1994...  with my eldest daughter sat at the foot of our Christmas tree (I remember it was a VERY small tree that year). I had the layout planned for a little while, and although it didn't turn out exactly as planned, it's pretty close. I used 'Little Yellow Bicycle” (Christmas Magic Collection), the front of a double-sided paper called “Snowfall”. I liked that it was snowflakes, but in the traditional green and red Christmas colours rather than the expected blues and greys. The title, A Christmas Dream, is made from some kids craft foam sticker alphabets which I coloured with Dovecraft Peel-Off Markers and splashed a bit of glitter on them. The leaves are all leftovers from making my daughters wedding bouquets. The ivy leaves are simply pulled from the green plastic 'branches', and the holly leaves are cut out from a load of bigger leaves that were only going to be thrown away if I hadn't used them up here. The holly leaves were splashed with a hint of green glitter too ( unusual for me – I don't usually like a lot of glitter). Under the holly leaves and red button holly berries is my usual swirly stitching, as well as red stitches around the frame of the photograph. All the little embellishments around the ivy wreath are cut out from some tiles I had laying around. I have a bit of catching up to do with my blog... three layouts completed and ready to show off (unless you've seen them already at UK Scrappers ).

Gorgeous Giveaway

I don't usually go in for blog candy/giveaways (I've never been one to 'win' anything like this)... but this one was a bit hard to resist - I got distracted by pretty flowers and funky alphabets, and before I knew it I was adding a comment and following Tracie's Blog. To be honest, I'd be a follower there anyway - creative designs with understandable explanations on how Tracie got the effects on her layouts. Anyways, pop along, be a follower, add a comment, and... er, no... best not to do all that - gives me less of a chance of getting my grimy mitts on that lovely stash! *lol*

Tracie's Gorgeous GiveAway!

http://lifeandtimesofa12x12addict.blogspot.com/2010/08/and-winners-are.html

Getting ready for the wedding...

Three weeks to go before my daughter Katie gets married, and disaster strikes. Well, it's NOT really a disaster... but you know us 'mother-of-the-bride' types and how we're apt to fret and worry. Anyway, the lady commissioned to create Katie's wedding bouquet couldn't do the job after all, and I didn't know anyone else who could do the job - my daughter has unique (but wonderful) tastes, and I knew how the bouquet needed to be done. So, seeing as I knew what she wanted, I figured the only thing I could do was to make it myself. So star-gazer lilies and pink roses strewn all over the dining room, and I'm trying to figure out how it is you make a cascading effect into a two foot long bunch of pinkiness! I did it though :) And I managed to make a mini version too, for her beautiful daughter to carry so she can be just like mummy. I'm actually quite chuffed with myself. Each and every on of the flowers are glued onto their stems securely, and NOTHING bar a tsunami is gonna budge anything off that bouquet! The choice of flowers is special - Lily-Anne Rose is my granddaughters name... so Lilies and Roses it had to be for the bouquets. Lilys little bunch is pushed and glued into an oasis with a holding handle, and each of those flowers is glued securely into place too - I know exactly how she thinks, and guaranteed she'll spend most of the ceremony trying to pull the flowers off one by one, bless her! I just hope my daughter loves her very special, hand crafted by Mother-of-the-Bride in OTT pinkness :)

Peek-A-Boo!

1994, The New Forest... and my three children (I was pregnant at the time with my fourth) all hid behind a tree each, and I just happened to have my old SLR camera handy and captured the moment. They didn't stay hidden for long when Granny M got out her homemade chocolate cake though :) I used My Minds Eye papers for this layout, and another stash-diving session to find anything green - ribbons, eyelets, brads, flowers and good 'ol Ranger Inks too. I did use a green pearlised glue after a certain crafting celeb on a certain shopping channel said it could be used the same as Liquid Pearls. She was so wrong! The glue just goes flat as it dries (it takes HOURS!!!), and so I dabbed over the flat green (but still pearly) splodges with white liquid pearls. Oh, and I finally got to use my Crop-a-dile II too!

In The Summer Of '64

Actually, this layout is called "Hugs On The Beach"... and I love this photograph of my parents so much! It was taken (I think) at Lulworth, before 1966 (I know this because it was before my parents were married – no wedding rings) and I think it may have been around 64-65-ish. They always have been a very lovey-dovey couple, and it's nice to look back on photographs and see that they were in love from the very start... so sweet! For this layout, I first cut a circle out (using pattern-edge scissors – scallop edged) of 'imaginisce' “Now and Forever” collection (Roman Columns). I edged the circle with burgundy pigment ink, then quickly sprayed onto the edges Ink Potion no.9, holding the paper up and letting the ink run in rivulets over the paper. Next I used a blending tool which had been used with brown ink and blended over the whole paper, edges first and then over the surface so that where the Ink Potion had run, it would pick up some of the ink. Next, I sprayed with 'Ancient Copper' Cosmic Shimmer Mist from a distance of about 12-18 inches or so (outside!). When dry, I pricked out another circle about an inch in from he edge. I folded some almost-sheer scrap ribbon in half and gathered this lightly as I sewed it onto the card stock using the pricked-out inner circle as a guide to where it should go. “Sonnets” (Creative Imaginations) was the next choice – using this as my 12”x12” backing paper (cut into a scalloped circle) and also to mat and layer the choice of photograph. For the photograph and layering I roughed the edges with a scissor blade and used the burgundy ink on the edges too. Burgundy thread was used to circle the photograph, to help pull in the black and white photograph to the colour scheme. This same thread was also used to create some swirls (seems to be quite my trademark now *lol*) from the edging of the photograph, that I decided to offset from the centre towards the right of the layout. Liquid Pearls in “Gold Pearl” was used on every scallop round the edging of both scalloped circles (ever started to do something you wish you hadn't? *lol* It took ages!). Next came the hardest part for me... leaving the Liquid Pearls to dry properly without poking them every few minutes! Now for the absolute favourite part of scrapbooking for me (apart from finding old photographs and finishing a layout)... Stash Diving!!! Brads, Prima flowers, Creative Imaginations chipboard pieces, a lot of bits'n'bobs I got from “Feathers-n-Favours”, and just 'stuff' I've had cut out and floating around for ages. The hardest part here was sewing on the little ribbon roses, but I managed it in the end without tearing or ripping the cardstock. More Liquid Pearls to add a few extra flourishes here and there, and all's finished :)

My Brother, The Superhero!

Is it a bird...? Is it a plane...? Is it faster than a speeding train...? Well, actually, No...
It's my brother in a muscle suit (probably slightly inebriated *lol*) posing outside a police station. Anything for laughs! But he's ALWAYS been my superhero - that's what little sisters always think of their big brothers, isn't it?
I used all plain cardstock, and a lot of punched stars to decorate as well as co-ordinating stitching in red, blue and grey. The stripey band is all hand done, using copic pens (thanks to my sone for letting me borrow them)on grey paperstock.
I spent hours cutting out images of superheroes, and ended up using none of them - as usual, my first idea of how this layout should be bears no resemblance to the end product - but I think what I did get in the end is a more light-hearted feel of my usual style, with circles instead of swirls! I actually find making male-orientated layouts quite difficult (I guess I just like ribbons and flowers too much *lol*), but I'm quite pleased with this one.