Lastly... yep, more flowers :)

I finished the centres of the last flowers last night, deciding to make some mini-scrunchy-roses for the centres. I think these look a little like fancy dog roses...

I used the 'Flower W/Centres' sizzix die in my faithful little sidekick, and inked up five layers for each bloom - bottom two layers in 'Antique Linen', then two layers in 'Weathered Wood', and the top layer in 'Tattered Rose'. Then I scrunched 'em all up, followed by a careful unravelling of them all. Not really a good idea for people with rheumatoid arthritis *lol*

Next step was to twist each petal of every bloom very carefully (I use long-nosed tweezers), as the inking had made the petals slightly damp-ish, and then I set Razzer onto them... drying them all throroughly.

From here, it's just a matter of layering them up and then making the little scrunchy-roses for the centres. These were made by inking up old book paper (I used the Ranger Distress Ink again in 'Antique Linen'), and punching out 1.5cm flower shapes. Layering up five flowers to make one rose, and scrunching up each layer over a small brad used to hold the flowers in place, followed by a blast from Razzer - I tend to use the heat gun on these little blighters until I can smell burning - I like this tatty aged look it can give.

Wait for the roses to cool, and then loosen them a little with your fingertips (or any tool you like to use). Last job with these mini-menaces *lol* is to just ink up the edges to match the colour scheme you'll be using them with. I chose 'Weathered Wood' for the centres of my dog roses.

I really liked the soft colours on these, and am looking forward to creating a layout for them to appear on soon :)

Time on Mothers Day...

Yes, it's that time of year again when Mums all over the country spare a few moments of the day to hug themselves with happiness and love that they had children who trash the kitchen whilst making us a cup of tea that we can drink in bed at seven o'clock on a Sunday morning :) Actually, my youngest waited up last night until the hands of the clock ticked past midnight, and then she presented me with a bouquet of flowers (how had she hidden them from me??) and a beautiful card with a message inside that made me cry (with joy).
Now to the layout I finally finished... It was wonderful to have a spare few hours to do anything I wanted, and so Saturday night I stayed up finishing this layout of my eldest daughter in her prom dress. She looked so amazingly beautiful in her matching blue dress and shoes and even a handbag and tiara to complete her perfect outfit. We spent months searching for "The Dress" - and in the end, she didn't get to go to the Prom at all. She had changed schools, and had decided to go to her old schools prom, not the one held at the new school. At the very last minute, the headmaster of her old school told her that she couldn't go as she wasn't a pupil there any longer (though he had agreed she COULD go beforehand... Mr Schofield, you are an ****!).
I used the Basic Grey "Cashmere" paper (from the Urban Couture Collection) for the background, and a piece of blue Core'dinations paper from the Colour Stack for the middle of the layout. Ranger Inks in China Blue, Faded Jeans and Walnut Stain were used, as well as a lot of distressing with scissors. Lots of flowers and brads, and some ribbon threaded through the plain paper to embellish the page, and I felt quite happy with how it was coming on. Once again, hand stitching was used to finish everything off - a layout seems unfinished to me now without me getting out a sewing needle or the sewing machine. The lettering is acid-free childrens foam shapes I bought very cheaply - love a bargain! I stamped the letters with the same flourish stamp I used for the plain paper - just to tie together all the elements. The added touch was to tear into the background paper and take chunks out, then sew over these gaps with the same thread I used throughout the rest of the layout - I quite liked the effect.

Dreamer

My youngest daughter, Beth - she's 16 this year... how time has flown! I hated these papers when I got them - but then realised that they matched perfectly the colours of Beth's dress in this gorgeous picture of her (and then decided I really liked them after all). The papers are all Jenny Bowlin - "Tangerine Bookprint" "Love Song" and "Flight". I used a mixture of Ranger inks - Faded Jeans and Antique Linen to distress and ink the edges of the pages. The flowers were all made from scraps of the papers I used, and the butterflies are all punched from leftover papers using 3 punches I had bought for 99p each :) Then I used Gold Pearl Liquid Pearls to dollop around on everything *lol* The only thing I'm a bit unhappy with is the large butterflies - the silicone gel left grease marks coming through the papers :(