Sibling Symmetry

I love this photo of my two eldest children. That year, Naomi copied everything her brother did - it was so sweet! I used basic grey (sultry) and Crate Paper (Trendy) with lots of stamping (La Blanche and Heidi Swapp)... plus all my fave techniques - distressing, inking, handstitching, buttons, flowers, lacing ribbon, Martha Stewart edge punch... and the butterfly was part of a gift tag my youngest daughter gave to me.

Brighton Boats

On 5th February, I went to my very first craft show at Brighton, with my mum. A walk along the beachfront for some fresh air, and I came across these boats with their masts all lined up against the sky - it was about 2.30 in the afternoon, but the light was quite good (even for my phone camera at 1mp!). Plain papers were used for the LO, and I used a Martha Stewart punch for the edges of the inner blue card. The shell was one I picked up from the beach, and the knot is a sailors knot that I learned to tie just for this layout. The small frame is from Wicked Witch embellishments.
The scrolls and swirls were cut from cardstock, using the leftover matt from Tim Holtz Grungeboard as a template... I hate waste!

Take a peek...

I had promised myself I wouldn't do this... but a quick peek at what's going on over at Rosette's Blog is well worth the trip - very creative and fun! As an added incentive, put your name down for a chance to win some really lovely goodies :)

Nonna's Love...

I've had this LO in mind for a while, and finally managed to get it done (in between making gift boxes and sewing pockets into craft bags)... "Nonna" is what my granddaughter calls me - we make a joke that I'm the nanny who says "No!"... hence "Nonna". In all honesty, it's because she's only a year old and can't say much at all, and "Nonna" is easier than "Grannie" - thank goodness! The journalling reads: "Nonna may hold your hand for a little while, but your heart she will hold forever". I started off with plain papers again and used a white gel pen to create the background. The plain black card is a core'dinations plain black sheet, sanded and distressed almost to holes! The sequins are all hand sewn onto the LO, and the gems are cut-offs and leftover "bling". The flowers I made myself using scraps from the rest of the LO, and the two backgrounds are machine-sewn together using white cotton thread.

New Year, LAST year :)

Another LO I decided to re-do... though the finished LO is nothing like I planned it to be at the start. It's a photograph taken of my wonderful Hubby, New Years Day 2009. I used plain papers and card and distressed and patterned them myself. A stamped leaf pattern in many different inks formed the frame, and for the cardstock I layered branch stamps and then clear embossed the images (can't see it here properly). Finally, liquid pearls highlighting the handstitching I had done, and I think the LO is complete... but there are some changes I might make...

My Beautiful Naomi

My eldest daughter - she takes after her nan, who is also absolutely gorgeous! I love the Papermania capsule collection in Heather... it's just a shame they don't supply a 12x12 paper collection. So I used a couple of sheets from the the A4 pad, torn and inked, and then layered this onto a Core'dinations 12x12 piece of cardstock. The flowers are both from the capsule collection, and also handmade ones by me. I used a white gel pen for writing round the edges of the cardstock and also the photograph. Naomi will shoot me when she finds this on the web - she hates this photo! *lol*

Fun In The Sun...

Something a bit brighter this time. My two eldest when they were younger - poor Nomes got soaked by her big brother at least 10 times a day that summer! I don't feel completely comfortable creating the more 'fun' LO's - distressing, grunge and lots of inking is more my style *lol* BUT... I was very heavily influenced after discovering Dawn Inskip's "vegetarian" The blue paper was plain, and then embossed by me, and the yellow patterned paper is from 'Me & My Big Ideas' (CP-10), All 'embellishments' are just piccies found on free clipart sites, and then altered to suit the LO and cut out by myself (argh! *lol*) except for the button bees (from a haberdashery). The lettering is kids foam letters (only 99p per pack of over 300!). More handstitching (again!) to finish the edges.