...and breathe....

Well I did it.  I can't say it was easy but it was brilliant once I got into it.  What am I talking about?  Stash Diving of course!  If you want to know how to pick the right papers etc then you'll have to sign up for the Pretty Paper Party class over at Shimelle's.  I can honestly say that its the best class I've done of hers (and I've done a few!) and part of what I love is that her classes are always available once you've signed up so you never have to feel behind or worry about not having time etc.

So for the stash diving experiment, we had to take a pile of carefully selected papers and some matching cardstock and chop them up.  Okaaaayyy..... But back up a second, did we miss a step here?  What about choosing the photos or thinking about the page design?  Nope, none of that, no sirree.  Just chop up the papers.  Here is my pile (and those in the know will see I made a mistake by choosing some cream based and some white based but I think I made them work in the end...)

I almost hyperventilated when I started because this concept is alien to me but I trust Shimelle with anything that involves paper and if she told me to set fire to my stash I would.  So I ended up with about 7 pages from the Echo Park Country Drive collection, an odd My Minds Eye, an October Afternoon Boarding Pass and a Jillibean Soup.  I did pick out about 8 pieces of cardstock but I had to add to that a bit in the end.

I cut all the pages except one pattern that I was happy to use as a background and only had one serious wobble which was right at the beginning with my first 4 chops into that stripy paper which I chopped the wrong way!  I almost cried at that point but I turned the paper over and it was orange dots so no big problem except that I had intended to have some 12 inch strips of stripes so I had to do some careful patching.

By the time I left, so within about 5 hours, I had chosen my papers and cardstock, chopped them all, had a few cups of tea to steady my nerves, stuck all the pieces down onto various layouts, chosen photos from a large stack, and stuck them on.  I ended up with 10 single page layouts and a double.  Oh my word, yes!  I just need to "titivate" as Paula (who runs the crop) said and that is easiest to do at home with all my many ribbons and buttons and stickers and what nots.  Its truly a great way to scrap, especially if you are away from home because you don't need to take loads of stuff.  It has been a revelation.  Shimelle, I salute you!

Sadly I couldn't stay till the end because we were dashing out to the Beaulieu fireworks which always has a Halloween theme.  They were totally amazing as always and photos never do fireworks justice but I can't resist sharing these with you.

 
 

It was a little bit drizzly but we didn't mind.  Despite our best intentions to get out today, we seem to all want to stay in the warm and dry!  Suits me, I have 11 layouts to finish ;-)

Bye for now
xx