loving the traditional...

something wicked this way comes...

2010-10-08T06:00:00.005+01:00

hiya! and a big sticky-spider's-web-across-the-face-when-you're-walking-down-a-path welcome to the srm stickers halloween hop.

if you've made it over from becky's blog then hello and i hope you're enjoying hopping so far. if you've just stumbled on here by chance then why not join in? the details are all posted here on the srm blog, but all you need to do is:

- jump from designer blog to designer blog

- follow said blogs (there's usually a little box in the sidebar to click on)

- comment on the posts

- pop on over to the srm stickers blog and leave a comment to say you've completed hopping

you've got until the end of the weekend to complete the hop and a winner will be chosen completely proper totally at random to receive some srm goodness, to be announced on tuesday, 12th of october on the srm blog.

now let's get hopping!

it's no fib that the stickers in the srm collection are completely versatile, and since the summer cha arrival of the new brown and white versions, they're even more usable than ever. for these projects though, i've stuck with good ol' traditional hallows black.

here's a confession, i struggle with spooky related stash. i produce very few halloween projects annually and figure buying excessive amounts of ghosts, witches and scary stuff a little, well, shall we say, silly. especially since every new summer cha release brings even more fabulous spidery product to dribble over. so i tend to stick to usable basics, like the srm stickers, which can be used year after year if you fail to use all the sentiments on all the sheets.

i approached the subject a tad differently this year though, with no specific halloweeney papers. i used an oldey but a goody, basic grey's 'indian summer' line. unashamedly autumnal but perfecto colours for such papercrafting.

i just love the branch print sticking out all evil-like from the top of the photo. matching bazzill acted as a great colour combo for my pieced ghosty. i swooshed a curvy border across the bottom section of the page and plastered loads of these sticker sentiments...

...over one of the sides. layering these up looks awesome! the date sticker gives the, er, date. i stapled some black string across the page, all web-like when secured part way with a brad. the title was missing something, and so i reached for these beauties...

...and used the little image just to finish the design.

i had tons of stickers left over so set about making a card/invite. since the stickers are transparent, they work fabulously on acetate. using a hambly overlay as my base, i stuck some 'get candy' and 'trick or treat' sentiments onto the brick print. adding some more basic grey on the inside, i had somewhere to write. i built up a collage on the front using papers and embellishments from the same collection along with some jillybean canvas flowers and bazzill strips...

...i'm honestly, totally and completely feeling those little spiders from the same sticker sheet and wanted to make an issue out of them, especially since they're the only halloween image on the project. i mounted them onto some paper, trimmed around the spid, and glued them onto some more black string, which has been wrapped around the card and knotted. by first sticking them to paper also lets them sit on the string, rather than melt into the card design.

srm also have other halloween designs to choose from, check them out here if you fancy.

so what's next? hop on over to nina's blog here for some more menacing and totally chillin' projects.

have a non-trapping-a-spider-under-a-glass-and-releasing-it-into-the-wild kinda day :)

re-acquainting myself...

2010-09-29T17:46:00.003+01:00

...with the fabulous area that is paper products.

since the demise of my internet connection due to a house move, i've been kinda out of the loop new release wise. so now i'm re-connected, i figured i'd spend yesterday browsing blogs and manufacturers sites checking out the cha releases from the last show.

and i wasn't disappointed. at all. not even a smidgen.

first port of call was prima and after much research, this is my personal favourite; 'jack and jill'.

this is so ludicrously gorgeous that i need it in my life. i mean, check out this one sheet alone...

lush.

and there's journaling tags...

and awesomeness that is pebbles, oh yes people, avec le gems...

scrumptious stuff.

oh sweet interweb...

2010-09-27T10:58:00.005+01:00

...i've missed you so.

i have internet in my home, again. today is a truly happy day in the miles household, normality has officially been restored. no longer am i at the mercy of my poor-reception blackberry for email updates and facebook browsing.

which also means i can now blog stuff :)

starting off with this, in association with the lovely people over at srm stickers...

'operation write home' began in 2007 with just a few cards made by friends on a message board; what began as an outlet for a hobby has become a much larger mission to help heroes keep in touch with home - and the effort has been joined by thousands of cardmakers!

cards are mailed to one of our volunteer shippers in quanities both small and large. the shippers process, sort, repair, and document each donation, and then pack and ship boxes of over 300 cards each to our contacts. our heroes request cards, families may also request on their behalf; we serve all branches in all deployed locations.

pretty cool idea huh? so what's srm got to do with this? well, they've got a lil challenge going on...

1: create a card using the sketch below, which adheres to the 'owh' general rules found here. enter your card via mr. linky at the bottom of this post on the srm stickers blog by september 30th at midnight, pst.

2: send your card to one of the 'owh' shipper addresses listed here.

and there's a prize! srm have put together a package of new srm stickers, released at cha chicago. the challenge winner will be announced and featured over on the srm stickers blog on monday, october 4th.

here's my sketch interpretation...

using these beauties...

i'm loving that these stickers now come in brown and white, aswell as the black. they are to cards what jeans are to trainers. totally essential.

happy 'procrastinating-on-the-internet-while-i-should-be-doing-other-proactive-things' day.

so what exactly...

2010-09-23T14:48:00.000+01:00

...have i been doing with my time? well, since i last inter-posted lots has changed. i've moved house, got some new wheels and am waiting for what seems like an eternity for my internet to be connected. i'm getting the shakes it's been so long; twitches, cold sweats, that kinda thing.

is it just me or does a change of address also bring about a complete lack of creativity? the stash is willing but the mind and body is unable. that is if i can find the products i actually want to use.

and so i've been turning my attentions to other happy things. believe or not, this girl, yes me, went camping, yep, camping. i know, shocker. for those of you that know me, you will immediately understand what a huge thing this is for me.

helen doesn't do dirt. or cold. or midges. end of.

but surprisingly, i kinda liked it.

the girl loved it... and found a worm in the process. lovely.

in other news, the release of scrapagogo's october kit came at a welcomed time, i'm seriously feeling these pixies from cosmo cricket.

it's not too long now until the gogo getaway at theobald's park, from the 29th to the 31st of october. as a footnote to this, i'm having to physically write down the dates as i keep forgetting, methinks i need a diary, an electronic one maybe, like an ipad :) a totally worthy reason/excuse for buying one, surely?!?

the powers that be have saw fit to let me loose on four classes with tons of mucky stuff to be getting on with. for those who've signed up, a big thank you and i only hope you will get something out of it, failing that there will be chocolate.

lost in translation...

2010-07-15T18:07:00.000+01:00

recently, i've been thinking about layouts and albums.

i had these, until yesterday...

a firm favourite of mine for page storage for a few years now. i do major bulky pages as a rule and find the d-ring albums much more accommodating than their post-bound counterparts.

but i have now found issues with these, and the traditional scrapbook albums in general.

is it just me or does something get lost once you've slipped a layout in between the sleeves of a page protector? is it just me that thinks you're onto a design winner while composing a layout; colour, textures, embellishing, which all seems to fade once put away into books.

maybe it's the shiny plastic of the protector, maybe the term 'protecting' needs to be abolished with a craft as touchy-feely as scrapbooking. surely our pages are meant to be held and admired; to see the reality of the work, not hidden away behind the synthetic.

i've found this with mini-books, the ones that are just 'as is', without any security. in my opinion, they're much more appealing to hold and look through; you can feel the textures, the layers and can appreciate the amount of time and effort that's gone into the project.

so i'm now on the lookout for an alternative, something with pages i can stick my layouts to, bulk and all. the only solution i can think of is cutting the side off a standard page protector, the one with the holes and leaving about an inch, and sandwiching it between two layouts. hmm...

seriously...

2010-07-08T09:27:00.000+01:00

...yep, it's been 20 days since i last blogged, naughty girl.

i've been up to lots which is great, i feel so pointless when i'm bored! remember a while ago i blogged that i had turned my make and do room backed into it's original usage as a bedroom? well, i'm kinda regretting that decision. not because my girly's now taken it upon herself to move half her stuff into said room, so now effectively she has two bedrooms, but because every time i have work to do, my bedroom turns into what looks like a paper/sticker bomb disposal unit.

i've spent the last two weeks sharing my bed with my cuttlebug, we're getting quite close as it goes, we talk about our feelings and share cuddles at two in the morning.

so what have i been up to that warrants such a long blog holiday? well firstly, i've been getting busy with srm stickers, namely making anniversary cards. i'm still loving these vintage images from a cd a bought a while ago from 'create & craft', and yep, there it is, papers from prima... shocker right?!?

talking of 'create and craft', i've also been doing some samples for 'docrafts' for their shows, and i've loved every second of it, totally surreal seeing your stuff on air. My girly was momentarily amused to see her photo on screen, but not enough to put down her DSi.and of course i got cracking on scrapagogo's july greetings kit...
...some of the products are so delicious i could cry. lush. and i dunno what it is about little knotted ribbon bows trimmed off with pinking sheers, i'm thinking it's because they look like little sweeties.
check out those totally awesome sassafras images...and in other news, another project us at gogo have had up our sleeves for a while has been a challenge blog, which came into action last friday. you never quite know how something like this will work out but we've had quite a positive response so far, so feel free to come along and have a play...it's called 'paper proposals', get it? lol!

so see, i have been busy, and have, in no way, been sitting down drinking copious amounts of tea and noshing on hoi sin duck wraps and reeses pieces.

when srm met cosmo delovely :)

2010-06-18T08:01:00.000+01:00

which, by the way, is a lovely thing. welcome to the srm and delovely blog hop!

just a few things to mention if you fancy taking part, you'll have until the end of the weekend to complete the hop and the lovely people at srm will be choosing three random prize package winners, to be announced on the 22nd of june, tuesday coming.

sound good?!? all you need to do to be in with a chance is:

- 'follow' the blogs in the hop

- leave a comment (doesn't need to be nice lol!)

- and then report back to the srm blog to say you've hopped... simples!

now on with the goodness! we all got to play with the supremely gorgeous 'delovely' range, and can i tell you, those chipboard stickers below are. freaking. amazing.

and officially my favourite amongst teeny alphas around, the 'tiny type'...

so i got cracking on a layout, slapping on as much product as humanly possible :)

along with some srm stickers, freestyle 'spring'...

of course i HAD to make some cards!

using quick cards 'thanks'...

and, because i love vintage, i needed to impose some distress inks on the deloveliness...

also using sticker sentiments 'baby'...

the next stop of the hop is at the equally lovely tanis's blog, i hope you enjoy the rest of the hop!

just piddling around...

2010-06-15T19:17:00.000+01:00

with the angry granny effect and broken glass effect on photofunia, i was highly amused with the results :)

just thought i'd share, love the grumpy old dude. what's that about simple things pleasing simple minds?!? :)

would like to thank...

2010-06-07T21:51:00.012+01:00

the lovely jenny has deemed this little blog worthy of this...

...i'm not quite sure of it's original source, although it looks quite humorous whatever it is :D

along with said award comes a list of requirements:

express gratitude to the blogger who bestowed the award unto you:

cheers jen! mucho love vibing your way

display the picture on your blog proudly:

ta da!

be nice and provide a link to the person who gave it to you:

the fabulous jenny :)

tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself, and at least one outrageous truth, or switch it around and tell six outrageous truths and one outrageous lie:

okay, here we go...

1. the thought of eating baked beans makes me physically sick, dunno what it is about the slimy little buggers that gets under my skin

2. i'm a published poet, in like a proper published book, for real

3. i've seen this version pride and prejudice over 100 times...

4. i absolutely hate being told what to do, or how to do it

5. i've always wanted a ford puma. yes, they're old, yes they're obsolete but i still want one, i'm willing to give a little on the colour and model :)

6. i whine far too much about things i can't control, like, everyday

7. i look like this...

sorry, no prizes for guessing the fib :)

nominate seven creative writers who might be into doing this:

1. julia: this fabulous person is responsible for me doing what i do, she gave me drive when i had none, her work is brilliant and i can always relate to her writing :)

2. sandra: truly inspirational, she must spend an age on her work

3. danielle: i love her bright, fun designs

4. ingvild: i've yet to not warm to any of her work

5. jenyfur: paying homage to all the srm designers, i've picked one of the big cheese's blogs :) they're all amazing people to chat to and to be inspired by

6. lorraine: in a similar style to above, one of the bosses at gogo hq to symbolise all the loveliness that flutters around the design team, they're all brilliant and can't pick just the one

7. cake wrecks: cake related, i'm not a cake maker but this site makes me howl

post links to the seven blogs you nominate and let the owners of those blogs know:

i would do, but i'm totally lazy :D

cheers jen for the blog award!

ain't the interweb a wonderful thing...

2010-05-29T14:52:00.006+01:00

...see, i recently stumbled across this thread while perusing uks, and was instantly curious. i like to play around with my pics, rarely opting for the straight-off-the-camera option for printing. i need to potch. it's one of life's necessities for me.

the one that i tried out was photofunia.com, i thought i'd let y'all know about this just in case, like me, you hadn't heard of it before, i was hooked after about 5 seconds.

naturally, i started off with a vintage effect using a pic of my ma and pa with the girl, you can also add text to this one...

then a totally cracking stamp effect, my total, total favourite...

i love this one, it adds a funky dusty and scratchy film effect, like old photos. this one's using the 'lomo' option...

i can't wait to try out some of the other sites mentioned in the thread, thanks girls for the info, mucho appreciation vibing your way :)

some cards from the vault...

2010-05-27T14:24:00.002+01:00

...so for new-and-fresh slideshow gallery reasons, i found these little blasts from the past in my box o' cards. my gallery was looking considerably, er, bare on the card front so figured i'd stop procrastinating and sort it out.

this chatterbox paper still remains a firm favourite, dunno what it is about it, i think it's the chintzy floral, yum. and corrugated cardstock, my total favourite, which i can't find anywhere anymore, poo bum...

blimey, here's an old one, using anna griffin cardstock and a retro christmas design i got from somewhere or another. i love the little dude pushing the dog, although i'm not quite sure why he's doing such a thing, i'm sure he has his reasons. oh, and those prima flowers are all glittery and to... die... for...

not such an old card, more like my old style. i'm all for product overload nowadays, i love the feel of a heavyweight and substantial card! using some cosmo 'earth love' and i remember this being the second time that i've used that cuttlebug folder in the two years or so i've owned it. and check out those prima reed things, omg, totally awesome for shameless texture...

they're not my very favourite examples of my cardmaking but there's elements of them that i love and may use again in future paper adventures. if you fancy taking a look, the new slideshows are over there on the right, in the sidebar, hope you enjoy :)

dontcha just love...

2010-05-26T17:01:00.009+01:00

...being busy. i do. it kinda gives me a purpose! i've been nice and busy this week producing paper stuff, including working with the scrapagogo june kit, yum. as i said in the last post, i'm totally luvin' these colours together...

did i mention there's some smooch spritz in this month's g2p's add on? i made a lil drop shadow effect using the reverse of the photos as masks.

there's also some cosmo cricket alphas in the main kit, and i found if you push them through the sheet, you can easily use the peel off backing off and use them aswell, like i did here with the 'you', dual-function baby!

and i covered the cute maya road chipboard car with stickeroos...

ooh, the hybrids, nearly forgot about those! check out the fuel gauge, innit fab! the green scallop frame is also a hybrid element, matted onto red cardstock for added oomph...and then i used the american crafts puffy shapes to make a border, and slapped lots of stuff on top...

alas, my kit is almost gone, but hey, still yet to get my mitts going on the greetings kit, woo!!!

hope you're all sufficiently busy and enjoying the weather :)

that time of the month...

2010-05-24T20:10:00.004+01:00

...and i'm not referring to nasty womanly afflictions, no no no no no (said in best churchill dog voice), something much more fun! it's gogo time and this month doesn't disappoint, again :)

here's one just using the 'create' kit, seriously, how fab are those colours in the kit? i know, i know, i'm sounding like last months post, but honestly, check it out!

i've been hankering after the cosmo cricket 'round about' paper for a while, ever since i saw it on a layout one of my buddies done. totally in love with those circles, aceroo for cutting out and dribbling down your page in an eye-inducing manner.

and, of course, great for an 'o' substitute. i shall be uploading more gogo goodness tomorroz, too much lushness may cause fainting of some description...

...i'll be quiet now :)

i came, i saw...

2010-05-18T08:03:00.008+01:00

...i altered.

from time to time, i find something that's just gagging to be altered. i found this little bare beauty in hobbycraft and thought it would be great for this month's contribution to the srm blog, along with some cosmo cricket papers and some prima goodness, naturally...

the theme this month is 'celebrating life' so i figured i'd use some pics of my girly celebrating life, otherwise know as mucking around, in the garden. honestly though, i cannot believe how lush these stickers go onto wood. i've yet to find a material these stickers don't sink into. i've used them on the outer edges, on the patterned paper inserts and to decorate the sides of the 'walls' (bottom row, middle box), oh, and finished off with a tag from one of the sticker sheets.

i used a mix of 'everyday life'...and 'explore'...

and lastly 'outdoors'...

i'm finding that there seems to be a set of stickers that i always steer towards when i'm making and doing, and for me it's the 'everyday life' ones (the first ones shown). i love the fonts, the images, the phrases... so completely usable on anything, especially great ones for scrapping.

happy aimlessly-sticking-stuff-to-paper day :)

a question for cardmakers...

2010-05-17T00:11:00.006+01:00

since the demise of my craft room, in order to make space for a proper, dare i say it, BED room, i'm finding it quite liberating de-stashing and sorting my goodness to the bare essentials. creativity's flowing and i'm actually locating stuff a lot quicker, god i hate knowing i've got something and not being able to find it, gah!

anyways, along the way i've come across some cards, cards i've made but without a reason, just for fun kinda thing or because i need to showcase a certain product, like these ones for 'creativity' magazine (i just love these stamps from papermania by the way, omg, lush, jesse edwards has quickly become one of my favourite designers). dilemma. what i would love to know from all you lovely cardmakers is what do you do with your cards?

i've got a bucket full of the buggers.

see now i would give them away as and when occasions arise but the sheer amount i produce simply over-cover said events.

i really should stop making them! so that's the question i'm sending out into the void, hopeful for answers to this issue, what do you do with yours? i seriously would love to know!

motivation...

2010-05-12T10:15:00.005+01:00

...and inspiration are key in this game, in case you haven't already figured it out! which means when you get sick, or life gets generally crappy, or you want things to progress quicker than they are doing, creativity kinda takes a back seat. whether you want it to or not. i've learned over the last couple of weeks that this part of me cannot be forced, if it is, the result is usually pants.

but d'you know what, there's always something that can kick-start you again, whether it's a quote...

a poster...

or remembering where you've come from. see, my roots are in art & design, my first love was in illustration. creating characters or just sketching what i see, a crisp blank sheet of white paper and a black drawing pen and i was a happy girl.

and i'm not quite sure at what point i stopped.

but i really need to get back to it, it's a bit of me that's missing at the minute. don't get me wrong, paper crafting fills a massive creative void and is deeply satisfying...

...but i miss this, i miss getting lost in drawing something.

i get like this from time to time, maybe i feel stagnant? maybe i like variety? maybe i want a new challenge?

who knows...

happy discovering-the-lost-you day!

and then came the mini kit...

2010-05-01T15:02:00.005+01:00

in addition to my previous post on may's gogo goodness, enter the mini kit...

a totally delicious combo which naturally matches the create, and other may options, to a tee.

and let's not forget the cardmakers amongst us...yup, more coordinating lushness, in the form of a greetings kit. and here's my contribution to the gallery this month...

i just love the umbrella stamp! background-a-rooney prettiness...
ahh... and mucho bling... mmm...

so there you have it, scrapagogo's may loveliness. i'm seriously excited for june's offering after seeing the previews!

happy not-having-to-use-an-actual-umbrella day :)

bunny hopping with srm stickers and bo bunny!

2010-04-29T15:52:00.010+01:00

hiya! and welcome to the srm stickers and bo bunny, er, bunny hop! such a great name for a blog hop i think you'll agree :)

so, after much gorgeousness displayed by the super srm design team on day one, day two starts off with some more lushness from the girls, scootch on over to the srm stickers blog for the full info on the hop if you fancy joining in, there's inspiration, challenges and prizes to be had!

so here's my contribution to the hoppity hop using the fabulous 'flower child' release from the bunny...

...ain't she pretty?!? totally bright, totally funky, and totally match the srm sticker choices...

49011 Live Life 'Water Fun'

42039 Express Yourself 'Wet 'n' Wild'

and 50003 Freestyle 'Summer'... mmm... so much goodness that i think a layout was called for. stacks of layering of the die cut paper, to make a sun effect in the corner, tons of bling and mucho button action...

i came up with a project using stacks of the stickers as a space filler on the photos...

cheers for checking out my post, your next stop is to the super talented carole, enjoy!

happy bunny-hopping day!

i just know i'm going to jinx this wonderful weather...

2010-04-24T08:44:00.013+01:00

...kinda like that rihanna song when it hit number one for a kerjillion weeks...

...but blogging about this 'spring showers bring may showers' kit from scrapagogo needs to be done since it's so ace! so forgive me...

...ain't she pretty?!? it's always different seeing an image and then actually working with the products, sometimes the pictures don't do the kit any justice. the co-ordination of this month's offering is impeccable. sooo one of my favourite months to date. and the accompanying stamp is also just as cute...

with so many great embellishing options in the kit, and in the add-on go2pieces and stamp options, altering the photos becomes so much fun! replacing parts with patterned papers and adding die cuts adds a great sense of whimsy!

and of course there's the hybrids, such a fabulous concept!

i just love these huge raindrops that come on the printable hybrids sheets, and the bazzill buttons from the go2pieces add-on kit fit so sweetly in the drop.

ahh... hambly rub-ons. need i say more? they release beautifully and are completely opaque, so adding some detail and pattern to the white space of dark photos is so simple, like you've painted them on yourself.

one of my favourite recent additions to the gogo kits are the bespoke cards that the lovely sam ball designed herself, one clever dude...

i've loved working with this kit, these colours are so bright and funky and completely awesome as a scheme together. next up is the greetings kit! i know, i know, how much lushness can one creatively consume?!?

happy sun-shiny (and definitely not rainy) day :)

ahh... calendars...

2010-04-22T21:13:00.009+01:00

where would we be without them?!? they organise our lives, allow us to recall what day it actually is and remind us when it's aunt mildred's birthday. a completely utilitarian tool. but that doesn't mean that function should overlook aesthetics.

srm stickers produce some of the loveliest blank calendars i've had the pleasure to get my hands on. they're a very decent weight, come in a range of sizes and also include a baby option, for documenting your little baba's first year.

they're blank up top for you to decorate as you wish, with the obligatory grid on the lower half for date writing. you could use photos to create a scrapbook page (which could be later detached and put into an album) or just decorate as you would a card front.
because they come in white, this makes it super easy to add whatever colour scheme you like without it clashing with any background distractions.
for this project, i've used the 8x8 option, they also come in a very cute 6x6 size and fabulously large 12x12 size.
srm also produce date and month stickers, so you've got a whole sheet of numbers or months to complete the full 12 months of your calendar.
also, handily enough, they have a range of stickers called 'monthly memories', which makes decorating each month a complete doddle.
they include a title, a monthly description and even some images. try trimming around the motifs to make little embellishments to enhance your design.
with the smaller calendars, they're so perfect for making use of your favourite remaining stash and scraps. no longer throw away those much coveted patterns, put them to good use, and feel all proud that you've used up those pesky leftovers!
adding themes to the pages to compliment the seasonal tone is also complete fun, using co-ordinating colour schemes works really well so set the monthly mood.
also try mirroring the events thoughout the particular month, kicking leaves and general frolicking around goes down well with the designs!
calendars are a great creative outlet. sure, they're time consuming with 12 pages to decorate but, at the end of it you have a creation that lasts a whole year and is a constant reminder of something you've created yourself, something personal and cheerful which needs no other reason to be displayed other than it's pretty and useful!

scrapbook pages and cards are all well and good, i'm not in any way dismissing their loveliness, i love to do both and get such a creative fix out of them, but they're usually confined to the boundaries of albums or other people's mantlepieces for a short time. calendar's are always on display and are the gift that keeps giving!

for more calendar inspiration, be sure to check out the srm stickers blog!

happy monthly planning day :)

has it really been that long?

2010-04-20T17:44:00.006+01:00

well, it looks as though i'm a lame blogger, but i do have my reasons, mostly me doing stuff that i can't share as yet, bummer, and mostly me sorting out my work room and mostly me procrastinating. all very good reasons i think you'll agree!

as part of the putting-off-stuff-that-needs-to-be-done process, mucho internet browsing has been achieved, and as usual i've been perusing imgfave.com. here's some of my favs this week...

first up, we have this beauty, wouldn't this look amazing as a scrapbook layout?

this is so so true...
and me summed up this week...
i hopefully will be back soon with something creative myself!

happy avoiding-the-point day :)

hey hoppers!

2010-04-05T23:54:00.010+01:00

howdy folks! and welcome to the srm stickers spring break blog hop! to start hopping, please visit the srm stickers blog for today's blog hop order. the hop is going on all week, so check back for more fun :)

i've used some of the cute 'what's cookin' set of stickers with some equally fabulous melody ross thrown in!

you can find the goodness of these stickers here!

freestyle 'cookin'

live life 'what's cookin'

your next stop for the this glorious wednesday is the talented tanis's blog.

happy hopping :)

happy easter!

2010-04-04T12:47:00.006+01:00

...and happy over-indulging on the chocolate :)

i love this time of year. the introduction of open windows, the forgotten concept of line drying and dressing your kid up like a bunny... as you do.

so as i sit here and type, mentally figuring out what photos to take to mark the occasion, i shall leave you with a recent project i did for docrafts, for their 'scrapbook of the week' slot on their website...

i've used the gorgeous v&a collection of papers and floral punch, mixed in with some core'dinations, raffia and papermania's brad maker brads and alphas.
totally loving this collection! the wood mounted rubber stamps are amazingly intricate and completely lush also. i've just reminded myself i really need to use them more.

happy hoppy day :)

when srm met cosmo...

2010-04-02T00:18:00.014+01:00

a little time ago, the lovely people at cosmo cricket were kind enough to let the srm girls loose on their crafting kits, they are beautiful people :)

i was lucky enough to get my mucky mitts on this stunner of a kit...

material girl, oh yeah, you feeling the love?!?

first up, i wanted to get to work on an altered frame. i just love how the chipboard adds stacks of dimension and mixed in with the srm stickers, which work amazingly on glass, you're sure to get something lush at the end of it. the frame is from ikea...

i added a little journaling tag with some of the tiny alphas and other cut outs from the kit. the month and year stickers are a fab addition for the date...altogether for this project, i used express yourself 'everyday life'...

year of memories '2010'...

and sticker months small 'snappy'...

i really wanted to do a layout aswell, so i had great fun cutting into the patterned papers and embellishing each line of paper tape with a chipboard outfit, how cute are those little clothes?!?

for the layout, i used quick cards 'happy'...sticker sentiments 'baby'...

and sticker sentiments 'love'...

don't forget to check out the srm stickers blog where it's cosmo cricket week and see what the other girls have been up to, there's some truly marvellous inspiration to be had :)

happy sticking-and-cutting day :)

retreats, rambles and sandwiches...

2010-03-28T22:10:00.008+01:00

so i'm back from the...

...and i had a fabulous weekend! everyone was super friendly and made the whole weekend what is was. so after a quick de-brief with da bosses, in which me, nicola and janice made a sandwich monster (grr)...
...we set to work! (well, it's not 'proper' work really is it when you enjoy it more than bathing in melted chocolate) which leads me nicely onto this...
the powers that be got us all thornton's eggs with our names on, mine lasted a whole 12 hours...
and my scrapping buddy chloe kindly gave hers to my girly, cheers chloe! you're now her personal hero!

onto saturday and the teaching began! my first class was the 'tale of three parts' in which we cut up and stuck various page protectors with the super-sticky-static prima tape!

they all did amazingly and i was so chuffed when everyone started to make it their own by switching the front pages to suit their design...

after a little sleep, it was sunday, and time for another class. this time getting mucky with paints, glitter and flocking. again i was so proud that they embraced the whole 'handwriting-your-own-title' concept and they all did brilliantly :)
i figured i'd better actually leave the hotel to get some fresh air, so went on a little bit of a ramble. i wanted to get some pics of the deer, since one casually strolled past me on the friday while i was drinking a cuppa. so on my travels i found these little dudes scrambling about...
a beautiful field of daffs...
aww, and some fluffy bunnies...
after much searching, and much running away of said deer, i managed to get this one right outside the main reception, munching on some foliage...
schaweeet.

so all in all, it was ace. lots of shopping in the newly relocated shop, make and take easter goodness and huge bathroom clocks. roll on october!

special thanks to everyone who took my classes or got the kits, if you have any questions at all just give me a shout. also a huge squidge to my scrappy neighbours who tolerated my little weekend obsession with using up as much of the april kit as possible, you're all fab!

the one with mama's day and card patterns...

2010-03-24T08:28:00.008Z

remember a while ago i mentioned a vintage children cd-rom i'd purchased? well, it just keeps on giving! to pay homage to all things that are 'alice in wonderland' at the minute, i made a suitably themed card for my mama, for mother's day...

i just LOVE those little dudes in the roses. i also used my deep edge martha punch, which looks spectacular on anything, it's so, um, big! and it wouldn't be complete without a dashing of prima rose flowers. ahh vintage, i love you so much...

moving on, have you checked out the card patterns sketch blog? well, srm stickers are sponsoring sketch 56, ta da...there's some awesome examples on the card blog, seriously stunning stuff. i figured i'd play along with some dcwv 'far east', i know, an oldie but a goodie :)

i'm so all over my scallop edge nestabilities at the minute, lushness. and i wish i could lay claim to the japanese knot embellishment, but i can't, it was shop bought :) it's incredibly beautiful.

happy card-making day :)

kit time...

2010-03-23T08:02:00.007Z

...one of my favourite times, for i get to play with some of the latest stashness, courtesy of scrapagogo. and april's kit really sings (loudly in the key of c) to me. as you may have gathered, i be loving the vintage and this combo turned out great for that kinda look.

the little maya road chipboard shapes are perfecto for adding detail...

and the funky vintage imaging on the cosmo cricket papers is simply delish. babies in bonnets, genius...

and jenni bowlin pins... need i say more...

and sam ball also designed some funky little cards, i've used the butterfly one under the pics on the right, preeety...
and, steady now, are you prepared for this, there's also a mini canvas in the kit! this little beauty measures just two inches square... two inches! super cute or what!
i loved working with april's kit, just up my street with the jenni bowlin pins and buttons and prima pebbles. one happy, satisfied scrapper.

happy paper-tearing day :)

easter is fast approaching...

2010-03-22T08:08:00.004Z

...and the fluffy fun's begun over at the srm blog! i love springy colours, it makes such a lush change from the manky winter weather we've had, so i was more than happy to crack open the happy stash. i made this easter party planner for my girly (the chick loves to plan parties!)

i've included some cork board circles complete with pins, headed notecards for each party section and a place for a pencil, naturally...

that's the thing with these stickers, they all mix and match from different themes so you can pick words and images to suit your project, like i used little pencils from a school sticker sheet to mark the jotting space on each card, and the 'party' sticker for the title came from a birthday set. oh, and i gave the sassafras bunny an egg to nibble on. he looks grateful.

the team's also done some lush bunny related stuff so be sure to check it out if you fancy. i just need to get hold of some more happy stash now, since all my dear lizzy has been used up on various projects, seriously, i can't get enough of that bunting!

happy hippity hopping day :)

i am not responsible...

2010-03-19T08:21:00.003Z

...for these falling into my virtual basket yesterday, i blame glitz and k & co. seriously, they've come up trumps with this vintage goodness, ahhhhh...

love those girl boy stickers, and check out these paper layers...

everyone should have a balloon boat in their lives. and these...

nuff said methinks :) ooh, and circular, yes circular, typewriter alphas...

oh yeah baby. i'm also seriously loving k & company's 'handmade' collections, including these beauties...

i know, i know... incredible! AND a stamp pad...

a basket well filled i reckon :D job well done helen, well done **pats back**

happy vintage-stash-loving day :)

happy st. paddy's day!

2010-03-17T08:11:00.011Z

...and as my buddy pointed out, an excellent reason to drink mid-week :)

celebrations are underway on the srm stickers blog, and here's my contribution to the cause!

it's a collage one using these stickers...

and this cd-rom i mentioned before...

there's a few other good stuff i've thrown into the mix; making memories die-cut note paper, anna griffin and making memories paper, a basic grey sticker, hambly overlay, martha stewart adhesive ribbon and a blossom.

okay, i admit, i am lacking in clover embellishments! my need has never been great for such greenery.

but, alas, i needed one. so i cut up a five leave flower, and folded the centre to form a clover shape and glued. i made a stem from a scrap of paper, and trimmed the petals. the lace i picked up in spain on hols last year, it's actually made of plastic and is used to edge shelves, i'm all up for that!

happy leprechaun loving day :)

the countdown begins...

2010-03-15T13:44:00.013Z

until it's getaway time! just 11 days and off i travel to hertfordshire...

there's a shed load of reasons why i look forward to these weekends; the company, the break, the stash, and another reason, i will be teaching two classes which i'm completely psyched and totally excited about!

the first's on saturday morning and one on sunday morning, the products are fresh and gorgeous, and we will be getting v-e-r-y painty and glittery in one!

time for me to start reading up and memorising the class notes backwards, the delegate list is looking super fine and i can't wait to meet y'all! if you've got any questions about the classes in the meantime, please feel free to email me direct (address over on the sidebar -->) or leave a message on the getaway forum.

just a little note aswell, visit on saturday for a video using scrapagogo's march kit if you fancy!

happy printing-photos day :)

so i figured...

2010-03-13T10:43:00.011Z

...we all have scraps of paper hanging round, the stuff that was either pretty, or expensive, or both! so, i thought i'd make some mini books out of mine, just so i ease the guilt about purchasing any of the recent cha goodness to hit the uk, my cunning plan :) so i made another video, as you do!

i hope you enjoyed!

happy guilt-free-stash-shopping day :)

hello thursday...

2010-03-11T12:43:00.005Z

and the spring is trying it's best to burst into my garden. as i type through major inky fingers, much creativeness is happening this morning. two projects down for srm and packages from mister postman, i love packages.

so what landed on my door this morning you may be asking? well... a poo load of prima stuff and some dear lizzy, which i might add i've been coveting for ages, so the cost was well justified :)

so just a quick post today, so i can try and get tim holtz's finest ink off my hands. i shall leave you with one of my week's imgfave favorites...

happy getting-mucky day :)

so, what exactly is on my workdesk...

2010-03-10T15:35:00.011Z

...this wednesday? well, i thought i'd get creative over the last couple of days and knocked out a couple of projects using the very last of my wrmk 'tiffany' collection. innit funny though that you're always left with SOMETHING. you never completely use up a collection of stash.

isn't it also funny that no matter how much workspace you have, you only ever seem to have a six inch square to actually work in, what's up with that?!? i shall send that question out into the void. here's a layout a came up with from said stash...

...all about the girl who likes to tick off stuff in argos and elc brochures, something i asked her to do one christmas which seems to have stuck!

in other news, there's been lots of finishing off jobs this week, you know, the stuff you start and put aside because something much more interesting has jumped in there. this week though i'm planning on playing a bit more with this beauty...

i've already cracked it open and made a sweet little st patrick's day card for srm stickers, the images are freaking awesome!

i shall leave you with some love from imgfave...

looks kinda stalker-ish, but wouldn't it be great to have ALL your photos on your wall?!? and polaroids... genius!too, too awesome for words.ahhhhh, so... preeeeetty.

happy putting-pencils-in-rainbow-order day :)

crafting with cd-roms...

2010-03-09T08:41:00.005Z

...was not something i was initially interested in. i much preferred the readiness of at-hand stash, open and willing to be sliced up when i fancied a quick dabble. the thought of having to look through pages of images, then printing them off, seemed a little time consuming.

for a bit of background noise in the day, i tend to flick on the craft channels on the telly, and they tend to have a lot of cd's demonstrated. aaaaanyways, as you know, i loves the traditional so when i saw this one...

i ordered it, it was delivered, it was opened... and lay unloved for many months. so after i changed over desks a week ago, i figured i would put aside my cd prejudice and give it a blast. i spent a good half hour just going through the images, and there's some gorgeous images on there, and picked out a few to print off. it was actually quite fun looking at all the different themes, i think it allowed my thought process to free up a bit, and i found myself thinking of possible projects as i went along.

the ones that really jumped out at me were the circus ones, seriously, they're awesome! circus stuff isn't heavily available in stash options, i think anna griffin did one once but the vintage loveliness of these particular pics are ace.

after playing around, i decided to make a little happy bunting as a feature on a card (i'm seeing bunting everywhere at the minute so thought i'd jump on the bandwagon!) and team it up with the mini posters and some srm stickers.

i'm also misting everything in sight at the minute, so splattered some on the card base, inked up the edges and slapped on some 7gypsies and buttons to tie it all in.

i now want a circus themed party.

have a happy clown loving day :)

my new favourite place...

2010-03-05T11:31:00.006Z

i've only ever been here once before, so today i decided to revisit the pumping station in cardiff, chock full of lushness i can't describe, so i took some pics to help illustrate. immediately i saw something so beautiful i felt compelled to welcome it into my life... one day you will be mine, oh yes, you will be mine...

and how immensely cool is this?!? a car for the garden! complete with steering wheel and shelves for beverages, ace...

inside, the awesomeness continued with this metal bike...

and this completely gorgeous wash stand (i NEED it)...

this vintage suitcase (i'm imagining my stamps stored in here)...

fabulously lush photo frames...

i remember these! i also remember mis-dialling and having to start all over again. (does that make me old?!?)...

come on now, how amazing would these look filled with stash?

i left before i bought this, honestly, it sent me right back and i know chloe would LOVE it...

well, it was rude to leave empty handed, so i picked up a photo frame and some weights, which i'm thinking would make great paper weights in the scrap space. here they are in situ on my mantlepiece, preeeedy. i have no idea who the people in the photos are, but i'm enjoying their company...

happy reminiscing peeps :)

then and now...

2010-03-04T08:36:00.006Z

baby month continues over at srm stickers, and these are a few more projects i made for the event, using some baby pics of girly...

come on, how much do you love the new prima aswell?!? mmm... i made a 3d butterfly by cutting out three butterflies and sticking them back to back, adhering the two end wings to the layout. and i also made a card...
yup, another doily! well, two actually :) the papers are from 'pretty little studio' on etsy.com, they do these gorgeous vintage products which i can't get enough of. and do you remember a few posts ago when i mentioned i HAD to get round to using printed words in photos? well...
i finally got round to it! although girly wasn't entirely game, which worked out great in the end as her 'mum-your-nuts-so-i'm-humouring-you' expression shows in the pic :) see, i love the 'blown-out-and-blurred' look to photos, there's something beautifully retro about them. i added a grey vignette and a grain effect to the image to get the result i wanted, boosting the brightness and contrast as i went along.

it's kind of a marmite look, but i loves it!

happy day people :)

brad's balls...

2010-03-03T09:48:00.004Z

...my pet name for these beauties...

i had some strange looks walking round hobbycraft last night nursing these 12cm polystyrene balls to my chest. see, i've had issues with brad storage since the dawn of crafting time, well, ever since i emptied them all into a bowl, chucked the packaging, followed by the stark realisation that i really should have kept them in their original storage.

i could never find the one i wanted.

enter said balls, and a sore thumb from lots of pinning, and i'm left with a pretty storage solution for those pesky brads.

happy balls everyone :)

i would like to thank...

2010-03-02T13:56:00.004Z

just an add on to today's post but something i really feel chuffed about :)

see i have this very good buddy who's kinda mentored me through these crafty years, and without whom some of the ventures i've been on wouldn't have been possible, dear jules :)

she seems to have made it public that she thinks my blog is, in fact, worth reading and has awarded me!

apparently, there's certain rules which must be obeyed in order to collect said award!

rule number one: 'thank the person who gave you the award' - easy, cheers matey! :)

rule number two: 'place the logo on your blog' - nuff said!

rule number three: 'link to the person who nominated you' - easy peasy!

rule number four: 'name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting' - i'm not a terrible interesting person it would seem but...

1. i hate beans, seriously, total fear ;(

2. i'm so competitive in mario kart

3. i have a very technical camera, but it's always set on macro mode

4. i like to take naps

5. tea is my favourite beverage... ever

6. i'm extremely impulsive

7. i think my little girl is one of the funniest people i've ever met

rule number five: 'nominate 7 bloggers for this award and post links to their blogs' - okay this is going to be difficult since i read so many fabulous and inspiring blogs everyday, there's more than seven but just for the sake of this award, here goes!...

1. first up, lorraine, she's like a loyal ex-boyfriend who takes me back no matter how much i pee her off! her blog's pretty new but her work is beautiful and she inspires me in so many ways

2. then because i couldn't possible pick just a few gogo girls, i nominate them all :p

3. and in honour of all the girls over at srm stickers, i'm going to cheat and nominate all the talent there aswell :)

4. then there's caz, i've had the pleasure of working with her with scrapagogo and little musings, and find her cards so so beautiful

5. and sj, i'm so incredibly proud of her for starting up 'little musings' and her artwork is fantastic.

6. and laura, i love seeing what she's been making... and buying!

7. i new this would go fast... last one, which always makes me happy to look at, super cute kawaii, such a happy place to visit :)

rule number six: 'send a message to let them know they've been nominated' - i will get round to doing this, i promise... maybe!

thanks again jules! x

all about the babies...

2010-03-02T08:49:00.007Z

baby month started over on the srm stickers blog yesterday and already the gorgeous projects from the team are being uploaded! it never ceases to amaze me how when you give different people the same products, how different the results are, which totally inspires me :)

today's the turn of layouts, and this is my offering. now you may be wondering why that beautiful scallop paper is covering half the photo, well, it's actually covering a comedy sized thumb which was covering the lens at the time, but i love this pic so figured it was worth attention in the ol' album :)...

i got to work using these completely versatile beauties...

they're printed on a clear film, which makes them totally brilliant for doing things like this...

cutting them up and putting them on pretty paper flowers, these are from making memories. the papers are also from making memories and prima. the larger one on the sheet also made for a faberoo title.

there'll also be other random themed beautifulness popping up on the srm blog over the month aswell in case the little ones aren't your thang.

in other news, my non stick craft mat has been ordered in preparation for much inkiness thanks to tim holtz so hopefully i will be getting mucky be the end of the week.

happy nice smelling baby powder loving day :)

some monday inspiration...

2010-03-01T14:16:00.004Z

...from imgfave.com. i'm still getting completely creatively inspired by this site and i've picked some favs to share :) first up, some fun illustrations...

tea is my favourite beverage, so i love this one :) there's just something about it being drawn on grid paper aswell that makes me happy. this next one is just fun and can be applied to so many things!

and this one is just sweet, love the little foot peeping in...

i've seen lots of versions of the 'keep calm and carry on' poster, all equally ace, especially this one...

...am i'm still wanting to take a series of photos including printed and written text!!!

happy day peeps :)

i am now in receipt of...

2010-02-27T10:30:00.010Z

this little bit of sunshine...

...and after a quick read last night i immediately felt compelled to go and order everything used in the book to try out the techniques! (i didn't though, i came back down to earth this morning)

the best thing about the book for me is the section where he takes you through a technique, one technique - one page. so to me this feels completely doable, and the photography of the step by steps is exceptional, it really is. so now all the funky effects i've seen online i feel i can now recreate myself, using the proper methods and not just winging it!

i love the vintage look and look forward to getting all inky :)

in other news, i thought i'd share these projects i recently did for the 'creativity' magazine. there's something very cath kidson-ey about these papers, yum! and the flowers are made from layer style stamps, very time consuming but i think the effect it well worth it...

and one from the recent issue where the idea was doing funky foldey stuff with paper...

on this one i plaited cardstock to make a little tree and made some folded cardstock leaves. and this one...

i did a simple pleated rainbow type thing. this happens to be one of my favourite paper ranges from docrafts, those little animals are mega cute :)

so crafty plans this week include:

- getting a non stick craft sheet

- cracking open my tattered angels stash

- ooh, and some maya mists

have a happy weekend :)

srm love...

2010-02-26T15:24:00.005Z

...i'm not just saying this but i'm having a great time designing with these stickers. even though it's great being on a design team, i couldn't work with a product i thought was pants, my heart wouldn't be in it and it would show, seriously, i'd be like wtf am i doing?!?

some of my favs are the ones with this typewriter font, a font which has always been a firm favourite of mine with whatever project i'm working on, it goes with everything, but more often than not i like to slap it on a vintage card or layout...

it's mini card friday today and there's loads of other ideas on the srm stickers blog for these diddy delights, there's also other daily inspiration for using the clear stickers :) we've all been busy working for baby month aswell, which starts on monday, happy times!

have happy thoughts :)

about time...

2010-02-24T08:43:00.008Z

you may remember this post in which i purchased the ever gorgeous cabinet cards, and fluffed around with one of my fav pics from 2007, well i figured it was high time i scrapped said photo, using some of my favourite stash range ever, k & co's 'que sera', i love those colours...

and the obligatory close up of my favourite bits!...

those alpha stamps are from hero arts, i've had them for years and still remain my go-to stamps for a quick complimentary title, they seem to go with anything. as do those prima swirls, another purchase from years gone by, although i do prefer the more updated tighter versions from prima, these huge ones are still a favourite.

not much else to share this week, i'm well into finishing the two classes for the gogo getaway in march and having an illegal amount of fun with the srm stickers, projects i'm hopefully going to be sharing soon.

thanks for reading and have a happy day :)

photo inspiration...

2010-02-19T12:35:00.004Z

= layout inspiration. lately i've been pondering over new ways to take photographs, or new ways for photographs... whatever.

see, i'm one of those scrappers who has very little in the way of images to use on layouts. i'm from the small minority who's parents, grandparents, ancestors just didn't do photography... nope, nothing. and even though i love it, i have very little in the way of actual layout-worthy pictures, or any pictures come to think of it.

so i find myself not only carrying my camera around with me more, but looking for alternatives to the traditional 'stand-by-big-important-building' shots, which are great also. anything's better than nothing right?!?

i'm also a huge fan of text on photos, and playing with fonts, which leads me nicely onto found internet research (read 'imgfave' again, really, this site never gets boring for me)

okay, so i want to concentrate on text first of all, because that's mainly my starting point for layouts, what do i want to say on the page? so i came across this which can be easily adapted, as it would need to be since i don't bake... ever...

or the question and answer scenario. i love how this is just based around the one word, okay, so in this instance it's 'pain' but imagine replacing it with 'chocolate' or 'tea'... yum...

and of course we all know it's important to include your own handwriting blah blah blah, so i reckon writing it and then taking a photo is perfectly acceptable, and terribly arty :)...

okay, so enter the image. i can imagine doing this with like a broken tea bag (i love tea by the way) and writing something funky, all on top of a photo...

i also reckon doing your own little drawings, say of your mates or family people, would be equally ace...

i like this mix of image and text...

include a little bit of yourself and your other chosen model, even if it is just a pinky, there's so many endless possibilities with this one!...

remember a pretty significant moment with just a single relevant image and a single relevant memory, brilliant...

completely unrelated but who wouldn't want one of these in their house, mental...

have a great day peeps :)

ah, gogo goodness...

2010-02-17T21:17:00.009Z

so, creative normality has resumed in the miles household with the monthly addition of the postman plus yellow box, and this month brings 'turn it up!' cool name, cool colours.

see now, i'm well into lumpy bumpy pages, making sure they don't squish in my books with an illegal amount of 3d foam, and this star is mega, um, dimensional, i think you'd call it! Easy peasy to do, cut a star and fold along the middle of each point towards the centre of the star, plonking some of the 3d stuff right in the middle. voila......anyone remember 'button moon'? i know, i know... it rocks. it was one of my favourite programmes as a kid, along with 'dungeons and dragons' and 'ghostbusters' (they just don't make them like that anymore!) and i'm pleased to say girly also appreciates the classics...

unusual for me but i've gone all graphic and minimal for this one, well, as minimal as i get anyway. just paying homage to the ordinary afternoon...

yup, the girl gets to make gogo cards aswell, woo hoo! and yes, feel free to bask in the glory that is that piano stamp, i have no other words to say about it...

and the beauty of word fetti stickers is the ability to make up complete nonsense sentences (say that three times fast) and get away with it, of course with the addition of a clown sticker...

clowns are freakish scary and should be stopped! (but are perfectly acceptable on sassafras stickers)

have a great day y'all.

totally exciting news update...

2010-02-15T17:21:00.006Z

...well, for me anyway! i just about peed myself when i got the happy email from these guys...

and they've asked me to be part of their awesome design team, seriously, i'm super excited about this! check out their blog to see the other wickedness who i will have the pleasure of working with, i can't believe it! can i get a 'woo hoo!'

i'm hopefully going to be sharing some projects soon :)

so it's the 15th of february...

2010-02-15T11:22:00.012Z

...and i managed to avoid happy couples on valentine's day, mainly by visiting the cinema to see 'astro boy', brilliant film, although the dude dies twice which took much explaining to my girly!

in the absence of any creative work to show this week, i've uploaded some of the stuff from imgfave.com that's been inspiring me lately. first up, check out the pussy cat. how totally awesome would this photo look if you adapted it to include the lovely people in your life...

...and i so totally want to try this out, maybe on one of those crappy school textbooks in an attempt to make them look vaguely interesting...

...and i really want to do this with all of my mates shoes...

...and i'm so liking the idea of doing this one, possibly with one of my girly's infamous quotations, "smell my finger" comes to mind... best not to ask about that one...

...and one more using written or typed text...

...and just because i thought it was fitting...

...have a good day people :)

so as we get closer...

2010-02-11T12:44:00.009Z

...to this sunday, aka valentine's day, our thoughts start to turn to the person we love, our significant other. cardmaking, layouts adorned with glittery red hearts and 'cherishing the moment' sentiments...

...pah...

...i'm single, and valentine's day officially sucks! thanks to imgfave.com, i'm able to share some suitable photos to mark this crappy annual event...

...so for all those single ladies out there, this post is for you...

...and a photo of brad pitt, just because :)

sometimes, you get lucky...

2010-02-09T16:33:00.008Z

...this, my friends, is one of those times...

see, i left the gogo fold last year after two years, my final kit being the september 09 'seasonal soiree'. my reasons were somewhat mixed up at the time, part of me wanted to try something new, part of me wanted to stick with what i know. dilemma.

and yes, less than five months later, it's finally clicked. this is where i need to be creatively, and it feels good :) i'm just so thankful that the i've been welcomed back by all the girls there, but i'm also hoping the lovely subscribers to the kit will like my stuff, so although i'm excited, i'm also bricking it.

so, as i wait for march's talent to land on my doorstep (or for the postman to leave a red card) i shall leave you with these gogo layouts from the vault!

thanks to the gogo girlies, i really appreciate this :)

once in a while...

2010-02-07T22:19:00.007Z

...i stumble haphazardly upon a completely inspirational website, the kind that makes you want to grab your pencil and (pretty) notebook and start scribbling...

enter imgfave.com, and images like this...

it's a website where peeps post their fav web images from other sites, kinda like filtering out the numerous bumph (read pornographic) you tend to find on these addresses.

it's great for inspiring marvellous photography ideas...

brilliant ideas for layouts of your family or mates...

papercrafting ideas...

and pretty cool quotes...

find some eye candy and inspire yourself, it's a beautiful feeling :)

adios twenties, hellooooo thirties...

2010-02-06T08:53:00.005Z

yes, on this day, the 6th of february 2010, i turn 30. do i feel any different? you betcha! apart from the fact that i still have no desire to grow to up, and am making very little attempts to do so, i kinda see where and what i want to be doing now, and feeling kind of optimistic about the whole thing.

anyways, enough of the deep stuff and back to pretty things, namely shimelle's new digi kit 'can't buy me love' (you wanna bet!)...

i went all out simple and graphic on this one, just for a change! i just love the colour combo she's put together; the teals, pinks and whites... lush! and i had to use one of my favourite snow day photos from january.

it's friday...

2010-02-05T00:09:00.012Z

...and time for another one of sj's 'little musings' freebies!

this is the lovely amelia (and my cute little puppy). i've mixed her in with some making memories 'love notes' and my mind's eye 'pretty please' papers. and, yes, another doily! (i do hereby solemnly swear not to use any more doilies... for at least a week) i've embellished the page with some papermania buttons and some anna griffin crocheted flowers. the twine is from ikea, which makes a border above the thickers and jenni bowlin title... yum, texture...

and i've also plonked the dear on a co-ordinating card (a square doily this time, check me out!) ah and of course, a cuttlebug background on gold mirrored card. the plastic alphas are from heidi swapp (one of my favourite products of hers)...

and some bling pin goodness...

in other news, i finally got round to ordering the kaisercraft mags. i've got great expectations since i've read some ace reviews. i picked mine up from 'merly impressions'.

in other kaiser news, i'm eagerly awaiting the 'devonshire' range to hit this country, which, i have been informed, the beautiful people at merly will also be stocking :) mmm...

...please don't make me wait too long dear distributors!

other crafting plans for the week include scrapping super old photos with basic grey's 'indian summer', delish, and more than likely some more cardmaking with cute little images, oh dear, i think i'm hooked :)

and, thanks to this post by my lovely friend julia, i will be decorating my recent humongous peg purchase from hobbycraft, lord knows what i'm going to use it for!

happy crafting people!

knowing when to stop...

2010-02-04T09:21:00.004Z

...do you ever have one of those projects, you know, the ones where you have to physically and mentally withdraw yourself from your work area?!?

well, this is one of those projects...

further from yesterday's post, and the discovery of 'some odd girl' digi stamps feb freebie, i set about colouring the chick in, as you do.

see, this card turned out COMPLETELY different from how i planned. i had intended on using some cosmo cricket with some little acetate printed houses blah blah, it just wasn't working out. bum.

plan b. i decided to rummage in my paper draw and came across, and dusted off, some dcwv 'rockstar' collection. then came the many, many font selections for the sentiment. then came the circle bits, then came the larger green insert, then came... you can see where this is going, right?!?
...time to leave the card, and the building.

upon sleeping, and waking this morning, i figured our affair was over, and that indeed the time had come to part ways. alas poor card, i knew him well.

so can you relate to this dilemma?!? happy 'knowing-when-to-stop' day!

the majority of my t'internet time...

2010-02-03T07:34:00.012Z

...is taken up looking for inspiration and just plain funky stuff. and what with this recent cardmaking stint i've been on, most of said time has been on blogs. see, after much blog-hopping, i'm still not down-with-the-kids on the whole cute stamps thing, but seriously......how cute is that image?!? and yes, i bought the stamp :) see, there's literally loads to choose from but i picked annika here from 'bunny zoe's crafts' because she's holding books, and as i have this strange obsession with all things notebook, i figured she was a good one to kick me off.

another site i stumbled across on my travels and am totally into is 'some odd girl.com' (i think it's because i could relate to the store name), anyways, they have these anime-esque style digi stamps which are ace. i've found out that there's a freebie every month aswell, here's february's...

...sweet huh?!? i was just in time to download january's, which is this little cupcake, brilliant!

i've coloured the little guy in with pencil, and using loads of doodlebug papers and cardstock alphas, along with some creative imaginations red spotty felt, making memories alphas and, surprise surprise, another doily, well it had to be done with cakes surely?!?
...and of course i HAD to glitter the sprinkles! t'was rude not to.

i've checked out their homepage and they're having an ongoing design team call, just in case anyone is interested :)

naughty, naughty...

2010-02-02T09:30:00.000Z

...see, i went to new york in 2007 and have managed to muster up a meager two layouts? seriously, a trip of a lifetime and i summon up... two... layouts.

*goes to sit on the naughty step*

BUT, it's never too late i declare!

sassafras' 'monstrosity' papers and stickers landed on my doormat (thanks to a recent online sale) and out they came from the hard drive, and what better ones than those taken in fao schwarz. anyone old enough to remember the film 'big' will understand why a visit here was sooo damn necessary! honestly, if you ever get the chance to go there, it really must be done, it shoots you straight back to your childhood. brilliant!

i wanted a fun, super busy, whimsical kinda feel to this layout, just like the store, so cut all the pics in circles using a quickutz nesting die on the cuttlebug using the a, b and c plates. the one of the outside of the store is highlighted on the right within a co-ordinating sticker and gold frame.

i just love this sassafras line, so made a card just for the hell of it. i spritzed some orange maya mist onto the background paper before layering everything up...

...and scrumpled the border papers for some funky texture...
i also squidged some red glitter stickles onto the little dude's cape, love this guy!

so, have you got any pics you've yet to scrap?

have you ever coveted a collection...

2010-01-30T14:26:00.000Z

...of stash so badly that you've sourced it from several places to get the majority of it?!? well, this is a story of me and prima's 'nursery tales collection'.

*flashback moment*

it's early 2009 and i catch a glimpse of this collection on ebay, after doing my regular search for prima goods. scrolling down the page, there is was, *ping*, the whole feel of the range got me going. i love vintage as it is so when i saw the traditional style illustrations and the muted colour scheme, i fell in love, dribble dribble.

after much research, i discovered somewhere that it was quite possibly exclusive to michael's... about a million miles away in the states... poo.

anyways, enter my new search results on ebay, the site where i'm quite sure you can find anything. so after much strenuous searching, not to mention the postage and packing costs, i managed to accumulate just enough to satisfy. i've made this card to pay homage to all things mouse and bunny...

i also love glimmer mists, so for the main background i spritzed some over a doily, (stuck down temporary then removed when dry) and layered up with two differing patterned papers, distressing the edges of a couple as i went.

that envelope from maya road was just gagging to be filled with something, cue some hero arts stamps, and some favour coupons...

s'up to you what you write on them i guess!

a new creative adventure...

2010-01-29T14:15:00.002Z

do you remember in this post when i mentioned about sj and her 'little musings'? well, i'm chuffed to say she's added me to her already vibrant creative team, caroline and leann. i'm a happy girl :)

this is jennifer, today's friday freebie, ain't she sweet?!?

such a classy bird could only be teamed with some jenni bowlin, obviously...

...and a shedload of bling. i've sparkled her up with some adhesive gems and mucho stickles on her dress, (rubbed in with my pinky so as not to be so 'in yer face') and because she deserves such attention, popped her up with dimensional adhesive...

in the meantime, happy downloading! :)

i'm on a veritable roll...

2010-01-28T16:09:00.000Z

...cardmaking wise, that is. i seem to have caught this style of papercrafting bug over the last few days. it may have something to do with my unfortunate lack of photographs for scrapping, but in the meantime, this form is tiding me over.

remember yesterday how i mentioned that i never get to do stamping? well, today i cracked open some vintage stamp classics, courtesy of autumn leaves. can you believe i've had this stamp set for like, two years? and have never, ever, ever used this bird stamp... i should be in jail...

see, now, i have this thing, a love affair if you will, with colouring pencils. don't get me wrong, anyone that can use copic markers are genius in my book, i tend to shy away from them since i overused such pens back in my school design technology years.

i instead love colouring pencils. and after all these years i still find crayola ones to be champion. i did however intend on watercolouring these little tweeters, so i used my watercolour pencils, (which, by the way, cost about two quid from tesco and blend beeeeeautifully) but after i saw the colouring i figured it looked alright as it was, coupled with the fact that my dear clo has nicked all my paint brushes.

i've mainly used some immensely fabulous doodlebug papers with a slithering of core'dinations for the cuttlebug embossed background, i thought the 'birds and swirls' folder suited quite nicely, (see what i did there?!?) and edged it with the beautiful martha stewarts 'arched lattice' border punch... love that punch...

hey, i've even included a bottle of homemade 'love dust' attached with some string twine type stuff! (okay, it's glitter in a 7gypsies bottle, shh, don't tell anyone)...

so there you have it, another card, man i need to get me some photos!

sugary, sugar rush sweet...

2010-01-27T09:26:00.001Z

okay, so i have this friend sj who's, well, quite frankly, talented. i met her back on the design team in the gogo days, where she also rocks their kits. anyways, she has this blog where you can download her images to use on your projects, get this, for free :)

so i promptly downloaded them and set to work, well, it's rude not to really!

so here's tabitha :) i've been itching to crack open some more basic grey, this time it's the turn for 'sugar rush', i don't think it's a coincidence that it rhymes with 'lush'. i also stamped some flower petals, using 'pick a petal' from stampin' up...

i've also got a new favourite colorbox fluid chalk ink colour, charcoal, seriously, it's much less harsher than traditional old black for inking the edges. i've also layered up the lovely lady's scarf and added some 'frosted lace' stickles to her little hearts and buttons...and here's ollie and bea :) i've twinned this up with shimelle's 'can't buy me love' digi kit and a corrugated card base. i've printed ollie and bea onto glossy photo paper (after dropping the image onto the pink heart paper in photoshop) and printed the rest of the papers onto a matt card, the contrast between the gloss and matt is immense, you have to trust me on that!

i've twisted the ribbon tail and glued it further down just for some added funk, oh, and of course added some sparkle with some papermania glitter dots...

i just love the scalloped edging to the hearts on that paper, yum.

anyways, i'm planning on doing some more stamping projects this week. i don't do it often enough.

before the influx...

2010-01-25T11:45:00.001Z

...of new basic grey graces the table of my craft room, i've cracked into some 'origins'. i love this line. the colours are out of this world and, dare i say, my favourite bg collection to date. this is the best colour combo i've ever seen in a paper line; the greens, browns and yellows are immensely useable, even on cold day photos, quite possibly because of the white. and check out those felt woolies and paper doily, oh my word...

okay, calm down chick. back to the layout, i've added a 7gypsies scalloped book edge border, which i cut in half to make to separate elements, they're made of like a thick foil and really pretty with a matt metallic finish. along with some making memories tiny alphas and american crafts glitter thickers for the title. mmm... glitter.like most of us, i have a few selected online stores which are always my first port of call for any supplies, you know the ones, they stock your favourite brands and some other unusual bits. whilst browsing with intent some time ago, i came across a brand at indigo mill called bella. personally, i think the papers are delicious. i'm not sure if they're stocked anymore though but they are some of my favourite papers i've used...

i've also mixed in some webster's pages, because it's rude not to with such prettiness. i went all out dark on the photo contrasts, i love the shadows in the images and wanted to accentuate the effect, i think they tone better with the colour scheme this way aswell.

off now to dribble a bit more over the new basic grey :)

i'm in love...

2010-01-24T20:50:00.001Z

...yes, it had to happen sooner or later.

after reading the lovely katherine's blog and seeing her lush examples on a recent blog-hop, i immediately went and downloaded these complete beauties by danielle thompson from over at jessicasprague.com, seriously swoon. i love vintage at the best of times but these are too immense to ignore... i love them... honestly.

they obviously needed to be used, like, straight away so i went about finding an image to suit, as you do. enter a photo of girly at the hairdressers, wondering what the hell that spaceman-esque helmet is, cracking photo...

however, it didn't quite say 'vintage chic' to me so i figured i'd mix up my photo with an overlay from jen allyson's adorn antique-it, also bringing the contrast down, desaturating the pic to about 20% and increasing the yellow tones to get a kind of seventies-retro look going on.

too cool for school, seriously. cheers katherine for your post! off to find some more vintage lushness :)

this is why i scrapbook... book!

2010-01-21T14:58:00.001Z

yay! it's finished! shimelle's 'this is why i scrapbook' project. i had such a blast making this, a culmination of all my old art stuff, trade show badges and some wicked images from my childhood, not to mention a shedload of journaling. from my previous post about this project, i decided to add an acetate cover on top of the main cover, decorated in all sorts of prettiness. a chipboard frame from sassafras highlights the title of the book on the following page...

i decided to include the strong acetate addition mainly to give stability and continuity to the book. there's one for the cover, one in the middle of the book and one on the back cover. the book is made up of multi media; acetate, chipboard and felt. the main basis being sections of a fancy pants 8x8 mixed media book, also using square and scalloped chipboard covers from papermania 6x6 albums.

the whole book is bound together with string. the papermania chipboard pages had pre-punched holes at differing places so a sturdy book ring wouldn't have been suitable. something flexible, like this string from ikea, was an ace alternative.

i spilt the contents of the book into three stages of my creative life so far:

1) my childhood influences

2) my schooling influences and trends

3) my current influences and reasoning

the first couple of pages of the book are a brief intro into why i scrapbook, and the date. the little pic on the left hand page is a cropped down one of me teaching, a kind of 'where i am now' kinda photo.

turning over the pages, i shooted back to the past and included a photo of little me, and the fact that i have always loved stationery and pretty paper :) on the opposite page, i listed a few influences from my youth, namely tony hart and blue peter, ah, sticky backed plastic... it took me years to realize they were on about sellotape, duh!

i've twisted some twine around the page just for a bit of decoration, i didn't want to go overboard since the little photos were colourful enough...

moving on, i noted school influences and how my love of photography started with those 35mm cameras... ah, those were the days! i've included photos of the art class and a pic i took with my own handmade camera, (read cardboard box with a pinhole!) one super cool project that was!

and then i documented about where this faberooney craft has taken me, all over the country and all over the world. i've included a cha guest badge and photos of various craft-related events i've attended.

to mirror the scalloped chipboard page, which has been dry-brushed like the cover, i used scalloped paper on the opposite side...
of course the most important thing is all beautiful, inspirational people i've met along the way, without who i wouldn't have done half the stuff, fabulous! i've included lots of little pics and some journaling about their aceness.

so there you have it! a little book all about why i scrapbook :)

supplies: making memories, fancy pants, papermania, anna griffin, american crafts, scenic route, anita's, jenni bowlin, sassafras, tim holtz.

some more cha that's rocking my world...

2010-01-20T17:30:00.000Z

mmm... kaiser 'devonshire'. ooh... creamy. i just love these colours, the pearly strands, the lace doodaas, that graphic rose, the flowers, brads... mmm...

studio calico's 'anthology' journaling cards. take a look, need i say more?!? i have to be honest and say i've been well impressed with calico's releases. their mix of vintage and funky colour schemes gets me all excited...

followed by my little shoebox's 'lil' critter'. yup, i'm a sucker for hedgehogs...

lusher than the average...

2010-01-17T20:25:00.000Z

...what a combo, jenni bowlin 'homespun'...

et journaling cards...

...and nikki sivils 'willow bee'

immense, drool drool, dribble dribble... new for cha 2010... i need this selection NOW!

further to yesterday's post...

2010-01-15T21:16:00.000Z

...i got cracking on the cover for the 'why do you scrapbook' project. i figured i would keep it pretty consistent throughout, concentrating mostly on using making memories 'vintage findings', 1) because it's lush and 2) because i have accumulated sooo much of the stuff!

mmm... ain't she pretty?!? anyways, i digress. for the main basis of the project, i will be using a papermania 6x6 chipboard mini album, mainly so i could do this...

...to the cover. i fancied dry brushing the base mainly because i wanted a vintaged effect, without the whole aged thing, you know, distressed edges and ink everywhere. i love that look but felt a change coming on for this project.

a tip i found is that when you're painting something, just use an a4 sheet of copier paper to work on, it saves the whole clean up process of palettes when you're done, just bin the sheet and rinse the brush.

i wanted to add a die cut sheet over the top of the dry brushing and since it's the cover, the paper needs to stay put. pva glue works ace for this and, using the same principle as before, out came the copier paper. i've found that if i'm wanting to cover a large area, i use a wide paintbrush and paint the glue on...

i stuck this to the front and added one of the basic grey doilies, along with a hambly transparency. it added much needed colour and gave me plenty of scope to change the colour tones throughout the project.

bung on some fluff in the form of pleated and stitched crepe paper, prima swirls and a sweet vintage image and there you have it, a finished cover.

i love that shimelle added a little photo to her cover, i used an old passport photo for mine as it has some pretty special sentimental stuff attached to it. you see, i needed to renew my passport to go to the cha with scrapagogo and this was one of the many, many attempts at getting the right image that the passport office would accept!

i really can't wait to see what the next steps are :)

2010-01-15T01:44:00.001Z

okay, so i thought i'd mention a free project for january shimelle has going on, as it completely sings to me at the minute, documenting why you scrapbook. i'm so psyched to get started on it!

here's a little video the lovely shimelle's put together... essential viewing, please do watch it and feel all warm and fluffy inside :)

so my reasons? easy:

i scrapbook as a creative outlet, a means of making something from nothing, picking a piece of helen and mingling it with materials that make me glow.

i scrapbook to make a diary, to make me open my eyes to the gorgeousness that's all around me, appreciate the people in my life and document my ever changing journey.

i scrapbook for myself, so i can see where i've been, how far i've come and where i hope to go, what i want to see in my pages next week, month and season. it's a process, it's ever changing, it's unpredictable, it's life affirming. and it's me :)

i'd love to know everyone else's reasons.

uks weekly mini-book pages for 2010

2010-01-10T10:44:00.000Z

have you checked out the home page on uks yet this year? well, i used to bookmark the forums page until one of my buddies pointed out that the main page gets updated rather a lot, duh right?!? all that stuff i've missed!

anyways, this year uks is running a couple of rather fabulous project ideas, here's the first one...

it's basically to make a mini book focusing on different techniques and styles, you know, freestyle, simple, artsy. on a rotating basis, a page from each style will be published every monday, and the examples are all the same size so will fit lovely altogether!

there will be five different styles in all for you to pick and follow:

1. freestyle/artsy - this a more messy and experimental (basically 6x6 but some shaped pages)

2. simple - think cathy z and simple scrapbooking at it's best. (6x8 landscape)

3. vintage - shabby chic, distressed, tim holtz-y (6x8 portrait)

4. kid friendly - as it says, more playful and fun-loving style (6x6)

5. pretty, pretty - flowery, glittery, blingy (6x6)

you so totally have the creativity to make this project your own, you could mix and match the vintage with the pretty pretty to make a funky little different sized page book, or mix up the kid friendly with the artsy and get the little 'uns involved, lush!

or, if you're feeling rather brave, you could make five little books based on each style!

there will also be a gallery and a forum ready for posting by the 11th january when it starts.

...and if that wasn't enough, the lovely shimelle has also put together a lush class for 2010 with monthly updates so completely doable! cor blimey! i hope to see you there!

cha time people!

2010-01-09T21:32:00.000Z

so every six months or so, along with other crafters, i get all gooey with the prospect of new product to touchy feel. after scouting around on t'internet, i stumbled across these beauties, completely immense i think you'll agree.

okay, so first up we have, always a pleasure never a chore, 7gyspies... check it out, little notebooks!!!! i need one in everyone style please...

tim holtz + sizzix = genius...

ahh, gcd studios, i salute you...and of course, all hail prima...

quiver quiver drool drool. end of.

happy new fresh start!

2010-01-02T13:03:00.001Z

okay, come on, who's feeling completely brilliant that it's the new year?!? adios crappy 2009 and hellooo 2010! let's kick things off with a couple of digi layouts, courtesy of the lovely stash by the equally lovely shimelle...

...ahh, snow days! it's started to re-snow in my neck of the woods this year, we had something like 2 inches in an hour! obviously today has seen my little 'un embrace the cold and make the obligatory snowballs :)

...and one paying homage to all that is children's fads, namely the DSi. i'm totally into fonts at the moment and throwing as many as i can at my digi efforts!

well, as promised i've started to log my year. granted it's only like the 2nd of january but still, i've done day 1, that's progress in my book. i'm not sure if i will start the photo-a-day project but i've taken photos today and yesterday so hey, you never know, it may just happen!

i shall leave you with a snowy picture that makes me smile :)

happy day people :)

trying something different...

2009-12-17T00:31:00.001Z

...i had a blast at hybrid back in the gogo days and thoroughly enjoyed it, so what with the recent appointment to shimelle's team, i figured i'd put together a hybrid effort using her delicious 'long and winding road' kit, definitely my favourite from the bunch.

...i think it goes surprisingly well with k & co's wild raspberry, delish. with the leaf, i bent it along it's main veins and rubbed some tim holtz distress stickles along the fold, completely 3d goodness.

there was a neat tip i picked up from kristina werner's you tube vids about using liquid pearls, that if you tap underneath after application, it takes the peaks of the pearl, sweet tip, and a nice addition to the butterflies methinks.

so what else is new this week, well, i've been working on some projects for upcoming publications and mainly been applying far too much glue to stuff. this may be due to my aggressive glue bottle-tip cutting, luckily it's like pva so much fun has been had peeling it from my fingers.

i shall finish up with three reasons to be cheerful :)

1. copious amounts of tea in big, pretty mugs from whittards

2. crunchy nut cornflakes and wii-fit

3. online job search engines

have a happy day :)

man i looove da cake...

2009-12-11T22:05:00.000Z

yep, it's no fibaroo, i love cake. or more specifically cake icing, i don't care too much for sponge. and whilst nibbling on some rather glorious examples of the stuff, i figured i would do this passion justice and document said fixation on all things soft and squidgey.

see now it appears that, along with my gummy smile and cruddy immune system, this joyful gene has been passed on to the little one, just look at the love.

anyways, i digress, i figured i would paper piece a big, huge, frosted cupcake using some equally yum anna griffin 'flora', with the photos making up the sponge. for the sprinkles i've just dotted some faux adhesive pearls around the title.

see now i have a craving for cake and tea :)

hello dear friend...

2009-12-02T09:02:00.001Z

...yep, i'm referring to good ol' fashioned paper scrapping. see that embossed background cardstock? that's the jenni bowlin core'dinations cardstock, yum.

the little dude on the bike picture is a postcard i picked up in amsterdam some three years ago with the scope of using it on a layout. so there we are, finally! i paper pieced the umbrella mainly because i wanted a big umbrella to put everything under, i like the way it frames everything aswell. i'm kinda loving the red and blue combo also.

so what else is planned for the week, well, as it's wednesday and my workspace needs documenting, i figured it needing tidying first, it's kinda been in the same state since my last update so i thought re-photographing is futile!

another thing on the agenda is to find some photos. i've got a hard drive full of them and they need organising badly, i'm hoping to find a few gems in amongst the blurry ones, wish me luck :)

something for the weekend sir?

2009-11-29T16:09:00.000Z

so i downloaded this kit by the ever brilliant brandy buffington, with all it's wicked 'spray paint' elements i was bound to love working with it, seriously, it's lush, just my thing.

i threw in a funky western font and for a bit of 'what-the-hell' i used an edwardian script, just for giggles. i'm also particularly loving the whole hang-it-off-the-edge look of late, not sure why but hey, it kinda works! i love the colours of this kit and the twisted string is so strangely useable.

so what other creative stuff has been happening? well, my room's a tip, which is always a good sign for me, it means i've been busy. the next issue of 'creativity' is out on 1st of january, and i've had the pleasure of working with a new collection from stephanie dyment. stoopidly cute and utterly sweet with it. here's a glimpse of the range from the current issue...

...ain't she pretty?!?

back to more paper scrapping this week after overdosing on digi for the best part of november, i've missed you old friend :)

font lists...

2009-11-23T21:43:00.000Z

...are my saviour.it's time consuming, boring to maintain and supremely anal retentive but, for me, a complete necessity. they're obviously ace for initial reference and re-referencing when making supplies lists and such.

okay okay, and they look real pretty in list form :)

another day...

2009-11-14T15:13:00.000Z

...and another reason to get of my backside and do a slideshow. so it's started now, not a good time for my camera battery to die but while that's recharging, i shall share one i stumbled across which was in scrapbook inspirations a few issues ago....

...i really must stop procrastinating now and get back to it :)

do y'all like day events..?

2009-11-08T16:10:00.001Z

well... i have two very dear friends who run some, check out their blog here for some of the stuff they do. jules was merrily creating one of the event projects yesterday at the crop and i thought it needed a mention, cause it's ace.

the girly's who run it are lush, totally not up themselves and generally all round fabness, and they can travel so do let them know if you want an event near you, i think they only need about six people to make it worthwhile, aces!

in other news, yesterday i bought this...

...after seeing it on ali edwards' facebook page, such a neat idea! i haven't been this excited about a book in ages, well, apart from elizabeth kartchner's 52 challenges (which amazon have annoyingly delayed the dispatch of). look at all those cool organised boxes and things! woo!

oh, and today is happy digital scrapbooking day! check out two peas for some free stuff courtesy of shimelle!

have fun :)

what's on my workdesk (friday)...

2009-11-06T13:07:00.001Z

...there's a whole load of crap going on there, leftover scraps etc so i thought i'd show you the layout that's sitting on top instead.

so this week i FINALLY figured out how to reduce pics and then get them printed professionally on 6x4 and i do prefer the result. anyways, i finally got round to using the ultimately immense making memories 'vintage findings' range...

...there's a whole load of stash sneezed up on this one, that little mirrored corner frame (around the main photo) is actually a wall decoration cut on the corners and some bazzill halloween trims for the title and the dangly spider, and the cork letters are from making memories.

i've been wanting to try this rolled paper technique for a while and i love how it adds that weird funky look to the pics.

i do solemnly promise to post my workdesk on a wednesday in future, well, maybe...

journaling christmas...

2009-11-04T20:16:00.000Z

...how do you do yours? that's if you do do it. me? well, i tried it a couple of years back with a little 6x6 album. shocker but i didn't finish it. i just cannot commit to a mini album over a period of time. believe me, i've tried.

still though, i kinda like the idea of journaling christmas, and after reading ali edwards' blog and the intro to shimelle's class i figured i would adapt it to suit my style o' scrapping, as i don't really dig the whole mini book thing. i need a plan. hello notebook...

...so i've started scribbling down some ideas to fall in line with the various prompts, but to go on a 12x12 page. i'm currently debating whether to go single, double or single and photo pocket thingy.

i also figured i will use a mix of photos rather than a photo for each day.

anyone else planning on journaling chrimbo?

this...

2009-10-31T00:07:00.001Z

this makes me happy, with a big :)...i need this in my life

i love paper...

2009-10-17T14:05:00.000+01:00

...and it doesn't confine itself to 12x12 sheets. like many other papercrafters i have a deep rooted passion for notebooks and stationery so imagine my joy when i discovered another outlet of gorgeous paper goods other than paperchase... you ready? tk maxx people! did you know they sell notebooks and journals?!? well, i didn't until i wandered across this beauty...

seriously, at £5.99 it would have been rude to leave it there. they had tons of different designs, but i managed to settle on this one. inside the book it has a lined page and a plain page opposite, with a fabulous scroll on the corner, lush...
i already have a stupid amount of unused notebooks and journals, i like to think of myself as a collector, it stops me sounding nuts when i convince myself to get another.

planning... and the argument for...

2009-09-29T18:15:00.001+01:00

...yep, i'm kind of in planning mode for upcoming projects. don't get me wrong now, i love 12x12 but more recently i've been leaning more towards other papercrafts, like mini books and cardmaking, which is kind of against my ethos of fibrous fun. i'm a scrapbooker/photo journalist/visual diarist/paper engineer... whatever...

...but i can be swayed and cardmaking has kind of grown on me. but, and there's a big but, what are you supposed to do with the cards once they're made and the initial glow of being creative and the sit-back-and-admire-your-handiworkness of the outcome has long worn off? i s'pose you could do the traditional thing and give them away but i mean if you were to do this as like a full time hobby then surely you would end up with a stack of the buggers with not enough birthdays/weddings/thank you's in a year.

but on the other hand they do serve a purpose, i guess. the humble card can provide an excellent base for technique-trials, like a kind of mini version or a practice run for when i come to repeat on a larger project. if it turns out pants, i just toss it. they can also provide a useful place for the scraps and homeless embellishments lying around my desk after layout building. and they can provide a productive quick-fix when your creatively stumped elsewhere.

of course, i know i'm only looking for a reason to justify this happy waste of time! anyways, above are some cards i made for 'creativity!' magazine :)

i love vintage but occasionally...

2009-09-26T16:44:00.000+01:00

...there's paper i come across that makes me smile. cue 'lime rickey'. i mean, come one, that duck's not for real...

...the best thing about themes like vintage and bright etc is that matching similar themed stuff becomes foolproof, well, i even snuck some vintage parcel tags in on this one so scrap that. what i mean is cardstock and fun photos can be thrown into the mix easily.

i kinda like the odd bright layout.

oh my word...

2009-09-13T09:09:00.000+01:00

...it's a mini book. as most people close to me will testify, i don't generally enjoy these pesky projects, but this one may be the birth of a beautiful relationship. you see, it all started after a recent re-sort of journaling blocks. i discovered i have faaar too many teresa collins versions. so i figured i would make a little book to sit neatly on a 12x12 next to a equally sized photo, simples.

so off i went, choosing patterned papers from the 'crush' range (everything from her ranges mix seamlessly, ace) and chopping up a corrugated card to make the base of the book, binding with a long reach stapler (from amazon) and cutting out a little window in the front....

...so, the original idea was a slimline little flippy thing with nothing bulky on it. however it didn't quite turn out like that. i chose different photos and kept finding co-ordinating fabrics, flowers and buttons to throw in...
...then all of a sudden, a minibook was born. going against my usual crafting grain, i went with it...
...i was very restrained and didn't use any 3d foam, shocker.
i actually quite like it even though it's not my usual brew, ooh i feel dirty.
...and the obligatory, somewhat eclectic, card with, get this, 'faux' stitching. i may grow to like this technique also, since i'm pants with a sewing machine. let's hear it for decent gel pens.

you know those mat stacks and small pads...

2009-09-08T09:00:00.000+01:00

...that are becoming increasing popular with manufacturers, well, i love them. the little scaled down designs are really sweet and excellent for a layering, product addict like myself. but there comes a dilemma with these pesky papers after a while, what do you do with all those little scraps left in the pad? because i'm mostly a scrapper and very ocassionally make cards, i figured i would try and use them on layouts instead. throw in a square punch and voila, a patchwork effect background. because the patterns are smaller than your average 12x12, it makes it great for this kind of project.

i'm also a huge fan of etsy, shocker right. i came across these vintage french book pages a while back while looking for bunny embellishments (which i also found punched out of old books, lush) and thought they went well with the whole 'eurodisney in france' kinda thing. it also helped the theme of oldey days of yore in a far off castle etc. i should mention that the paper pad i used on the layout is the dcwv 'once upon a time' stack, with some of the line's chipboard thrown in for good measure, with some prima, heidi grace and making memories alphas :)

manila envelope monday...

2009-09-07T09:51:00.000+01:00

...one of my favourite things is a manila envelope, the ones with a customs form slapped to the front with a little side note stating 'scrapbooking supplies'... ahh... so i figured i would share what's my fav finds on etsy this week:)

this is such a gorgeous combo from 'seasonal delights', ribbon trim and gift tag. completely lush and makes me want to finishing scrapping this year's summer pics. i fancy it'll make a nice big bow on the page... mmm....
i love vintage, i know, duh. especially vintage with shedloads of colour :) these victorian inspired tags from 'petite paperie shoppe' are just delish, there's even some glitter strewn across the front. more mmm...
finally there's these vintage beauties from 'ps its in the details', black cat stamps. i really must get these soon, ooh and there's also matching journaling tags as well. bonus. i think i may need both :)

okay, i know it's an old product but...

2009-09-06T14:53:00.001+01:00

...i've only just discovered this technique to add to my distressing repertoire, glimmer misting! okay, okay, this stuff has been around since forever but i was a tad dubious about it and i can't really put my finger on why. i mean, i'd seen demos of it and the amazing results but i guess i was kind of concerned about the pattern it would leave on my desk when i picked up whatever it is i'd sprayed. that was until i used it with a mahousive royal mail box, job done. the unfortunate thing about discovering a new product that is immense is that you end up wanting to use it on every project from then on in.

this layout was kind of an experiment, like i did the background, a tag, and then used it with a mask. ooh, the mask, yes, another thing i must now use forever and ever. this one is from the laurence llewelyn-bowen mask box (yes, he is lush as well) and it's yum.

i also saw that tattered angels also released some stamps to go over the top of their masks but, as this first mist purchase was merely for bonding purposes, i didn't want to invest in the stamps just then. so i set about finding a remedy, which was conveniently stowed in a black gel pen. i outlined sections of the masked image to give a kind of similar effect, although i do crave the real thing now :)

sometimes there's a line of supplies...

2009-09-05T16:38:00.000+01:00

...which are completely timeless and lush. like this 'margo' range from k & company teamed with some oldie but goodie polar bear press. i've had it for ages and it never fails to fit any photo i throw at it. and who couldn't love that felt and twill ribbon and die cut journaling blocks? it's also ace with any other vintagesque stash, like a jenni bowlin bingo card. delish products indeed.