My Rosie-Posy

Callie-The-Very-Heavily-Pregnant-And-Oh-So-Annoying-Kitty cat has finally removed herself from between myself and the computer, and I can finally post my most recent layout.  Gotta forgive the kitty - she's due any day now, and is just attention-seeking and wanting lots of time with her furr-mummy (that's me! *lol*)

So... for the layout...

This started off with a set of papers I had in my stash drawer for so long, I thought I'd never use it. The faded rose-hues matched perfectly with the flowers I had made... and so it was finally opened and put to good use! The paper pack is "Rose Pink" (PK004) by 'Crafty Bitz', and I used two sheets of the papers:

Pink Roses (PA027)

and a plainer sheet with hues of peach and green (PA028)

Out came my La Blanche swirly stamp again - how would I ever craft without this? *lol*

I used Distress Inks in Tattered Rose (TIM20240), Victorian Velvet (TIM27195) and Brushed Corduroy (TIM21421) to ink up and distress the edges (and for the swirly stamping too), and I used the 'Angel Mist' Cosmic Shimmer and a couple of masks that I made on the paper too - not that it can be seen in the photograph.

The lettering is PaperMania glitter alpha chipboard (PMA355200)... but everyone knows "I don't do glitter", so I coloured them with copic markers (browns and rusts) and added a bit of distress ink too. Of course, I have to mention that beautiful, beautiful vine.

This is a "Dusty Attic" (Australian company) border vine shape (DA0459) - it's a laser cut die that you colour yourself .... and I got mine from an amazing online shop called "The Craftz Boutique" , whose customer service and online shopping experience is second-to-none.

I coloured the vine with the three distress inks I chose to co-ordinate with this layout, and then spritzed it with the Angel Mist Cosmic Shimmer Spray.  This layout was (as usual!) finished off with hand stitching... but although there's quite a bit, I really enjoyed completing this layout and trying out the different stitches.

Well, that's it from me for a while... the cat is back and mewling like she's ready to drop her kits. Poor kitty - she can't jump or even walk at the moment, she's so huge! I just wish she didn't crave my attention 24 hours a day. Waking up at 3am with a hugely pregnant cat sat on your chest and licking your face is not the most pleasant of experiences :)

Dance Like No One Is Watching...

The layout for inside Naomi's wall box was slow in creation. It started off in my mind as a little, simple layout with the wording "Home Is Where The Heart Is" (or something similar). I knew that a photograph had to be found for the layout, and so I started looking... and looking... and still more looking...

I could find not a single photograph that would match the idea and theme of the layout. There were, however, hundreds of photographs of my bautiful daughter being crazy and funny... dancing like she was the only person in a room seemed a recurrent theme... and so a new idea for the layout came to fruition.

There were so many photographs of  Naomi that I knew would fit into the design... so I decided to make the layout in a way that Naomi could change around the photographs when she wanted to.

I usually create a layout around the photograph... whilst the photo is stuck to the paper. This time I had to make a layout bearing in mind that the photograph had to slp easily in and out of a pocket (I fronted this pocket with acetate).

A MEGA stash-dive ensued to find bits and pieces that would match the design... and I made the paper flowers and roses myself.

The papers (I sewed one piece onto another) are from "g.c.d studios", a Tina Higgins design called "Paris Nights" - really gorgeous paper collection - though a lot of the papers have a 'felt' design in them, and this makes it almost impossible to cut with a punch :) (including Martha Stewart punches).  The photograph is from the "Tesco Totties" holiday to Benidorm last year - my Naomi up on stage having a whale of a time!... Dancing like no-one is watching :) The title lettering is die-cut on my little sizzix sidekick - Tim Holtz "Vintage Market" (a VERY well-used piece of equipment).

Behind the layout is a slit in the backing paper so that the photograph can be changed, and also a pocket to hold all the other photographs that she can interchange. Naomi loved this idea, and the box has been made so that it is easily opened and shut again to change the pictures. The layout is held inside the presentation/wall hanging box with little velcro circles.

I so enjoyed making this - and it only took a couple of days (including waiting for the paint to dry). Naomi now has it up on her wall... and even if I do say so myself, it looks pretty good :)

A Night Spent At Nonna's House

I had both Lily and Alistair stay over last weekend - what a tiring time... but so worth every moment. Lily was as cute as she always is - even when she lets one rip and coyly says "I farted!" with the biggest grin on her face (is she the only child to ever be able to fart on command?). Anyway, Alistair took a little while to get used to his Nonna feeding him and telling him that he was gorgeous (rather than his mummy being there to do it) - but when he did, he was so adorable! He even smiled at me (and, no, it really wasn't wind! lol). I took so many photographs of both my grandchildren... and of course had to have a new layout of Baby Alistair, because he's changed so much in the past month. The photograph I chose probably isn't the most cute one... but I love the expression on his face, as if to show that he was as surprised as me for him to be spending the night at my home.

I used Tim Holtz and Basic Grey (Snow Queen) papers, and stamped along the bottom using an Artemio stamp and on the top left using a Sheena Douglass stamp (A Little Bit Sketchy 2 - "Faith"), with Papermania bright teal and Color Box Chalk Prussian Blue inks. I embossed the bird on a branch and one stalk of meadow flowers with a clear embossing powder. I cut ovals out of the papers and distressed the edges (Tim Holtz distressing tool) and used Broken China distress ink to colour the edges a bit - the photograph also. Stitching by hand with embroidery threads and also cotton was used to add a little texture and interest to the photograph of Alistair, and also to highlight a circle around the letter "A". This letter is a glitter cardboard from Dovecraft. I inked it with the Broken China ink and then used Weathered Wood distress embossing powder over it... then added a little more ink when it was dried fully.

I had quite a few of my handmade flowers left over to match this layout, and I also added some Prima flowers from the Pastiche collection. There were literally hundreds of brads to choose from... and some of the best to match this layout were from Doodlecraft Designs Inc - the Boutique collection, Swimming Pool assortment. There are also Dovecraft brads, and some blue buttons. Some buttons are from the Capsule Collection, but most are plain, everyday buttons - as well as a pretty little blue glittery rocking horse button I just had to use!

The butterflies are called Fly Stickers by a company called KandyToys... they are very similar to the ones you can get from Anita's - but they come in a variety of sizes. I don't like the holographic patterned edges, so I cut them off - this makes the plastic backing quite difficult to peel off, but it is worth it if, like I feel, the sparkly backing doesn't match with your layout design.

I think that's about it - apart from the little blue roses which I buy from a local bookstore that has a small crafting section. They cost £1 for 28 blooms - not a bad price at all. I quite enjoyed the little finishing touches - like all the buttons being hand sewn onto the layout... it was a relaxing process after running around after the grandchildren!

I Can Walk!

No, not me... well I can walk, but this is a layout about my granddaughter. Of course it's from a photograph thats well over a year old - but I'm always catching up!

I used two pages of dELiSH paper from the INdulge Series called La Fraise - Treats: one piece for the background and the other to make all the flowers.

The plain core'dinations cardstock I used for the framing was stitched and I used a border punch of little feet that I got for £1 in a craft sale (bargain!).

The little sneaker buttons I found online - aren't they the most adorable little buttons ever?!  I used a lot of crystal bling I had in a stash box, and brads I'd bought cheaply a long time ago.

This layout is a bit different from my usual style - the colour is quite bright, and it's almost plain for me. One little added extra though... all the little feet punched from the borders were used as a pattern around the cut-out photograph of my granddaughter first steps... as well as for the centres of all the flowers.

First Layout For Alistair

I've been trying to find some papers that would fit in with the layout I had planned for Alistair... but in the end I mish-mashed together bits and pieces of papers I had ... but I'm not unhappy with the finished product. The framing was cut from MME paper, and the rest is Core'dinations and other plain cardstock I had (bought at Pickwells). The background paper (pale blue/grey) was stamped with pale grey swirls, and the photograph of my beautiful Grandson Alistair was cut into a heart shape, and then layered with two other coordinating colours of cardstock also cut into hearts.

On the hearts I added his bithdate (Tesco £3.99 clear alphabet and numbers stamps) and I used clock stamps to add his time of birth.

All the hearts were sewn around by hand - but no added stitched swirls this time... even with the flowers, I didn't want the finished layout to be too OTT.

The flowers and roses were almost all hand-made from spare cardstock by me. I managed to buy some VERY inexpensive brads from the local craft shop (PICKWELL FARM... amazing place) and added these to the centre of the flowers. Some of these brads were Laura Ashley (felt brads) and others from the V&A range. I used permanent ink to colour some plain white sticky pearls, and embellished a little more with these.

It took a few days to finish this layout because I've been looking after Alistair's big sister - my gorgeous Grand-daughter Lily - and she's worn me out!

His First Disco

Oh, the memories! My eldest child's (and only son) first school disco at his 'big school'.

I loved the checked paper I had that matched his shirt so perfectly - but wanted something a little more as well. I love the tactile sense of using stitching, and decided to add to ths with my choice of background... the large background strip behind the photograph is made by weaving two papers together - fiddly, but well worth the effort. Of course, stitching and handmade flowers arepart of this layout...

...and I decided that lollipop flowers would have a more masculine feel. Scrunched and spritzed rougly cut-out circles from co-ordinating papers made these flowers match in with the layout quite nicely :)



Layout!!!

Okay, so this isn't a recent creation - it was made well before the Yuletide holidays, but I've only just had time to upload! My camera (quite a good one a year ago) is apparently outdated, oldfashioned and pretty much useless now *lol* Still, when it does switch on, it seems to work okay for now (hint to Hubby for upcoming birthday ... don't mention my age, but please ask me if a camera would be a good pressie).

My middle daughter is due to have her baby today (I just knew baby Alistair wold be coming late into the world), and this layout was made with a photograph that was taken when she was just five years old. It was so cold and frosty, she could barely smile - we all said she looked like a cute chipmunk. Plain Co'ordinations papers and also MyMndsEye was used, with lots of stitching...

I used the colours in her coat to decide what I wanted to use... and the poinsettia flowers I had made fitted in perfectly with the layout.

I highlighted the wording with a little sparkle - very unusual for me.

"Your Cute SMILE warms up a cold WINTER day".

Summer Of 94

I sorted through a few of my photographs, and chose five to do layouts with - and I finally finished the first one. The photograph was taken at the New Forest in 1994, and is of my eldest child - my son. He's just been made liaison officer for a writers club - so I'm quite proud and puffed-up at the moment.

I used My Minds Eye papers throughout - using a few scraps along the way for photo matting and the corner detail. The Perfect Pearls was a bargain from my local craft supplier at just over £1, and is Emerald Green. I decided with this layout not to pick the colours of what my son wore that day to reflect in the paper choices, but to use the pale browns, bright greens and grey colours of the background of the photograph instead. I thought this might make the photograph stand out more, so I could be less 'flouncy' and feminine with my embellishments, and let the photo be the main focus of what I hoped would be a more masculine-feeling layout.

As you can see, all those pretty flowers I had made are sat in pots, still waiting to be used *lol*

The Wedding...

I scrapped a photograph from my daughters wedding on Friday... I think I would have done a few more, but I ran out of ink... and this page had taken me almost two days to do as it was! I have fiddled with the colour a little on the computer, as my camera seems to wash out the colours and make everything look a bit bland.  Hopefully it's pretty close to how it looks 'in real life'.

I used a Papermania double-sided cardstock called "Wedding Sentiments". I actually preferred the reverse, but thought that the side I did use in the end suited the whole layout best. I did a lot of stitching - most of it is covered with the flowers. Some of the larger lillies are from Papermania - I just cut off all the greenery as it didn't look very nice. The remainder of the flowers - pink lillies and cream roses are all (tediously) cut from some decoupage sheets I had (unfortunately NOT die-cut). The butterflies are material covered balsa embellishments from a company called "Craft For Occasions" - I do get quite a lot of little bits and pieces from this company, as Hobbycraft sell the packets quite cheaply. I found a brilliant bargain at my local shop... Liquid Pearls for £1.70 - the colour is "Pastel Raspberry" and though it looked almost white in the bottle, the colour was a perfect pale pink for this layout. The edges were inked with "Tattered Rose" distress ink, and then sprinkled with another bargain - pale pink embossing powder for £1 a tub. A few brads were used too - also from Papermania.

I still can't believe I'm a mother-in-law now...  But the wedding was lovely - the rain held off for the happy couple, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I didn't get to attend the evening reception - I was ill :( Katie did save some wedding cake for me though, so it's not so bad *lol*

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.

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".

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.

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 ).

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!