"Inspired by Sophie" - S J Crafts May Challenge

I'm really enjoying designing for Sarah's challenges at S J Crafts every month.  I love the way the challenges are changing each month because there is so much inspiration this way.  I also really love seeing how everyone else interprets the challenge too and I'm always amazed at how different our designs are.  

This month we've gone for a bingo card grid and the idea is that you can draw a line through any three elements to use - vertical, horizontal or diagonal but not going around corners.  You could take a chance and make a stab with a pin to start you off or choose something that tickles your fancy.

For my design this month, I went with the row across the middle.  Can you spot the three elements?

The layout is about my niece, who you may already know is also my Personal Trainer.  I can't really put into words what she has done for me recently but as I mentioned in a previous post, she has literally given me my life back.  As well as boosting my epically failing confidence and energy levels and dragging me out of the depression that had engulfed me.  Of course we have a long way to go but we know we are heading in the right direction.  She is definitely helping me live with my One Little Word (Heart).

I used papers from the Crate Paper Boyz Rule collection to bring out the orange of that scary looking gym equipment.  It goes really well with the slightly retro style (both the gym and the papers!)  Plus we have so many comedy moments together as we are both clumsy and a bit incident prone so the comic book bunting and stickers were a great match too.

 You can see all three elements from the bingo card here - the star printed vellum as part of the messy stack, the blue circular paperclip on the tag and the "Inspired" stamping.

And here again for another example - I'd accidentally torn the vellum so I made a feature of it, I stamped a notebook border near the tape and then added the orange star brad (given to me by a friend on the retreat the other week.)

So now its over to you!  Choose a line, any line, and see where it takes you.  Link up to the challenge on the S J Crafts blog sometime in the next month and you could be one of the featured projects!  We'd love to see what you are inspired to make.

Bye for now
xx

Nisyros

Another one from the Greece collection for you today - this one is about the little village of Mandraki on the island of Nisyros.  This is where you dock into when you visit the volcano on the island and it is so typically Greece!  Lots of white box houses edged with blue and narrow steep paths - perfect for bimbling about.  Which we did.

This was another layout from Shimelle's Return to the Collection class and it is definitely one of my favourites from this series.  I added some cream coloured card to mat the photos and back the circles behind the gorgeous floral paper.  The card has a slight corrugation which adds to the texture a bit and the colour picks up on the cream in the background print.

I also added some Papermania travel related washi tape to the Echo Park collection that I used throughout this series.

Oh how I am yearning to bimble around sun bleached buildings right now!

Bye for now
xx

Welcome Theo!

Happy birthday Theo!  My first Great Nephew is a year old today!  He is such a cheeky chappy, always on the go and loves to be centre of attention.  He flirts with people in shops and knows his smile can melt even the coldest heart and he uses it to his fullest advantage.  We don't get to spend as much time together as we would like because they live a couple of hours away but they are all very very precious to me.  This layout shows him at 4 days old when they finally escaped from hospital near their old home.  They stayed over at our place for a night before heading across to their new place but we were like ships that passed in the night because we were heading to Wales the same day.  It seems so fitting to be sharing this now because we are off to Wales again this very morning.

  

I was inspired by a layout on my Pinterest board but in my haste to get things sorted for the holiday I can't find the link!  I'm so sorry to whoever the original layout belonged to and I will find it and update as soon as I can.

I used the wonderful Studio Calico Snippets collection with some older Papermania letter stickers for a fresh and modern feel that seemed fitting to the new family.  Some funky turquoise washi tape completed the look.

I hope they have a wonderful day together and we will be thinking of them as we wend our way west to Pembrokeshire.  We're back in a couple of weeks so enjoy the peace :-)

Bye for now
xx

S J Crafts Sketch Challenge #1

Are you ready for National Scrapbooking day tomorrow?  

How about a fun sketch challenge to get you started?  S J Crafts are hosting the first of hopefully many sketch challenges and as a special prize for NSD you will be in with a chance of winning £10 to spend in the shop.  The challenge is open until the end of May so pop on over to the blog for more details and to see the sketch and what the rest of the design team have done.

Here's my take on it.  Its a layout for our Aller Farm album from Devon using papers from the Echo Park Birthday Wishes collection.

I just need to add the journalling to the blue box about amazing pizza night at Aller Farm in Devon.  I've added some washi tape, ribbon, wood veneer flowers and pearls.

This page using the sketch will be left hand page and the following project will be the one facing it.  This collection is ideal for the partitioned page protectors that I have used throughout my Aller album.

These pages are ideal for using up smaller pieces and I've tried to ensure some continuity across the page by using the same supplies on both sides.

I'm loving the trend for wood veneers which work really well as a point of continuity throughout an album because they work with any colour scheme or style.  This one was actually broken but it was ideal for using at the top of the page.  I would never have been able to get a clean break like that myself!

Be sure to come by again tomorrow for more NSD celebrations!  What fun things will you be doing?  I hope you have a wonderful weekend, whatever you have planned.

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW198

Good morning Wednesday!  Well who can tell what the weather will do today?  Yesterday we had 4 seasons in one day with tremendous rain and hail and then snow and then sunshine!  I hope its a bit warmer anyway as I really need to get to my desk.  I managed to tidy up after the VERY last minute birthday album which was handed over less embellished that I would like but now its time for the next batch of projects.  I've almost finished a layout from my pile of 19-to-be-completed - you can see that on the left there, its one of Shimelle's 4x6 photo love layouts.  The pile of fabric in the middle is the beginnings of some girly bits for my utility room, (no, not THAT sort of girly bits, you know curtains that don't actually pull and a cushion for a chair we haven't bought yet...  )

The red book is my Creative Writing coursebook and I do really need to get cracking with that because the next assignment is due soon.  The green leaflet on top is for our local leisure centre as I've been trying to fit in some more classes seeing as I love the Body Combat one so much - go me!

I've been meaning to share some new additions to my craft space for a while, so here they are.  This pretty heart shaped bowl from Ikea is perfect for paperclips on my desk.  (Don't panic that there is no tea here as I just went in to take the picture).

This stunning bowl was recently given to me by my Dad.  Apparently it is real gold around the top and it used to belong to my Grandmother and possibly be older than that.  I have no idea why it has been held onto when anything else has long gone but its perfect for my washi tapes and it goes perfectly in my pink and aqua room.

It lives on what looks like a dresser but is actually an old nappy changing station and a door-less bathroom cabinet - both from Ikea, as are the pots underneath the bump cast.  I'm still undecided about what to do with the cast but as I've said before it is safer up on the wall while I think about it and I kinda like it just as it is.  I certainly won't be embellishing it too much I don't think.

So what have you got on the go this week?  Why not share your projects or your space at WOYWW with crafters worldwide - its fun!

Bye for now
xx