10 Things I love about this epic double page...

All the way back in June this sketch by Shimelle caught my eye and I decided that although I sometimes find double layouts a bit intimidating and laborious I had some photos that I have been keen to scrap and so I decided to give it a go.
So the ten things I love about it:
1) The use of strips from this great cupcake 12 by 12 and how easy it was to also cut cute little embellishments with it.

2) The title - it is a favourite quotation of my sister's and I from the film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. It went so well with these picutres of my husband making his own cupcake in WhoDelicious in Santa Barbara and had to use a 'frostinator' to put the icing on the top.

3) The step-by-step process made by my dymo label maker. It helps to bring the layout together and to tell the story of the visit.

4) That cheesy grin in the first picture. The funniest part is that he usually hates cupcakes and suddenly he turned into a little boy just cos he could decorate it himself.

5) The use of the rule of three with the stamp to guide the eye.
6) The pinkness and girly look of the layout - it matched the vibe of the cupcakerie and the girly topic of cupcakes but then 7) the blue tiny polka dots add a more masculine touch.
8) The border stamp of mini hearts to pull it all together. So cute!

9) The banana frog mini cupcake stamp to create little clusters to guide the eye along the layout.

10) The fact that the lady behind the counter asked him to join her behind the pink curtain - possibly the funniest statement for a cheesy American lady to say to a sarcastic cupcake hating Belgian. My sister and I still laugh about it and it was last summer now!

I also love how different it is to Shimelle's khaki travel layout and that it why I love to use sketches as a starting point and to put my individual stamp on it.

Saturday scraption time...

So I have some new layouts to share with you - well they are new to you but I have probably completed them some time in the last month - with the background noise of one of these chick flicks off netflix:-

• One Fine Day- featuring a very fine George Clooney
• Raising Helen - was so so, I do love Kate Hudson though
• Jersey Girl - again average but watchable, quite sweet
• The Prince and Me - fluff!
• Perfect Opposites - this was shockingly bad
• Prime - I quite enjoyed this, Uma is quite a good female leed
• Stepmom - always makes me cry (loads!)
• The Last Song - very, very cheesy but then it is Nicolas Sparks!
• Whip It - probably my fav out the bunch as I'd never seen it before and I enjoyed the more alternative vibe

 It may seem like a lot but I rarely watched them all in one - instead I would watch half an hour here and there. My timetable's a lot lighter in the summer as three of my classes have finished their exams and left and so I only have two or three classes a day. It's bliss and good for winding down ready for the summer.

But you didn't come here to talk cheesy chick flicks and timetables did you? No you came for some inspiration and nosy at what I have been producing. Most of these layouts only took me about half an hour and I just used the scraps and bits that I had on my crafting desk.
You may notice my slight obsession with my dynamo label maker.
And bling.
And bright and funky patterned paper.
It could be to do with a certain order from gottacraft as they were closing down and were doing grab boxes worth £75 for only £25 and so the Belgian gave my permission to get two and boy was I glad that I did!

Totally and shamelessly scraplifting from October Afternoon's mix and match Monday gallery - I used Amy Tangerine's cute new range

A layout documenting our love for Nando's chicken (well I am a flexitarian so I love their veggie pitas more) but those peri peri chips - say no more! Using gorgeous paper from Lilybee

A double layout about our New Years trip to Hickory's steak house in Chester and how desperately we wanted to try their goodies! Including Oreo shakes and rootbeer!)

It wouldn't be Christmas without a new board game and so we went for Pointless this year and it afforded us hours of fun. I glimmer misted the '&' onto this page - using a negative and just scraps and washi left over from all my other projects.

So bloggers - what do you normally blog and scrap too?

A treat from the Carmel bakery...

So on the return leg of our California trip we stopped off in Carmel for the day. It was an overcast day and so our beach pics were not as stunning as we'd hoped. We wondered all round, along the beach and enjoyed using the self-timer on our camera to get a few 'group' shots.
We stopped off at an exclusive looking bakery. My husband said he didn't really want anything and so he waited outside with our stuff. My sister and I were licking our lips and chose some tasty pastries and cakes for ourselves. At the counter a bowl of colourful gingerbread biscuits caught my eye and so I requested one for my 'husband' who was waiting outside. A very camp shop assistant informed me that unless I was married to a dog they wouldn't be appropriate. My sister and I couldn't stop laughing at the thought that we had almost brought a dog biscuit for Arne! I expressed my surprise that people would actually buy biscuits for their dogs and he shrugged his shoulders and said,
"Welcome to Carmel!"

So I have used a sketch from an old copy of Creating Keepsakes to make this 'epic' double layout. It took me months to complete it and to make sure it was all balanced. I used stickers and lots of punched out butterflies to embellish the layout and give both sides unity.

Would any of you buy a biscuit for your dog from the bakery?

Linking up to Sian's fantastic storytelling Sunday.

Ain't no sunshine...

As the blustery storms descend it's nice to think back to our sunny October half term. Happy times in London.
I made this a double as I had so many good pics of all our adventures.
I used an old Shimmelle sketch as I feel that a double needs some structure.
By doodling round the edges it brings it all together.

What do you think?
Off to do some Christmas baking.

200th Post - woo hoo! Seaside layouts!

So as the sun was setting on Saturday night I suddenly decided I needed to photograph these layouts. It started as a single, inspired by this sketch from Shimelle (ta love!) but then I found another great piece of cardstock and decided to make a double. I thought that the picture below was quite arty, but actually it's not a very good view of the layout.
What I love about Shimelle's sketches is the clusters - they are a great stash buster. I just threw everything at it. The heart was made by one of my students and I kept it at the time and thought it would be a great embellie.

 Thanks to Julie Kirk's latest series of advice for the DT curious I had a go at making my pictures look more professional and dressing them up a bit. (Sadly light was not on my side!)

 Now the rather shady double layout. These layouts aren't necessarily my scrapping style but I feel they compliment the seaside feel.

This is my 200th post and I am keen to do a giveaway soon, however my followers have plateued at 39 and so if you could give me a mention on your blogs and tell your followers that I will be doing a giveaway soon, perhaps I can reach my desired 50 followers - thanks in advance. I will make it worth your while with a great giveaway.

P.S Sorry for the non-existent fit Friday - blogger hasn't been playing nice!

Double wedding layout with Shimelle...

Shimmy to the left, oh double layout of mine. Using the photo love challenge over at Shimelle's fab blog.

Then tilt the hip and show your other side.

I must say I am impressed with this double layout.

I went for an unusual colour combo of brown, yellow, pink and turquoise.

A combo I will use again I think.

 The animal inspired playing cards made an effective embellishment. 

I then cut my brown border sticker in half - a good tip to make your stash stretch.

 The journalling was tricky to line up and especially drawing the lines on with my trusty ruler.

Isn't my new congratulations stamp with bunting cute?? It was buy one get one free at this discount shop called Range in Shrewsbury. A steal at just 50p. I should have brought some to sell on ebay!

 This sketch was so fab as it made me pay close attention to details and balance between both sides of the layout.

I added the middle journalling spot at the last minute when I felt it needed something more, plus a bit of bling!

Stars in their eyes...

So fellow bloggers I had all these great pics of a fancy dress party I went to in early March, but felt they needed something special to scrap them - really bright and striking. So I completed a double layout using this sketch. Below I went crazy with the stamps as I have so many great ones and I rarely use them. I enjoyed making this pattern to border my layout. I also sliced the pic to replicate all the little pics from the sketch. I then emphasised some with pop dots and contrasting colours of cardstock. The second part of the layout I used gesso and masked the title. Although I forgot my own (Tessa's!) little tip of sticking the letters to my jeans first and so they peeled off a bit of the paper too, but it kind of adds to the shabby chic look. I feel this layout should be embellished a bit more, but I was running low on inspiration and everything I added just clashed or looked silly so...this is it. In other news since the weather is usually so overcast in England we headed to the historic and beautiful York for a wonder on Monday and he actually let me take some pics * yay * So I had to really make the most of it and climb the historic walls and strike a pose. There are about thirty of these, but I will spare you all! Well he *let* me take the pic, but smiling clearly wasn't in the bargain! My icecream was toffee honeycomb - yum! In fact today we also had a mini adventure in the sun and took lots of snaps...so more to come later! Thanks for looking and for your much appreciated comments!

I'm so pretty, oh so pretty...

Happy Saturday! I have much to share with you and show you so bear with me. Firstly I did the double with these gorgeous pics taken by my bro-in-law Byron on my wedding day. Gem (my maid of honour, bff and sister!) had our make-up done and I wanted to scrap that moment. I used stamping, painting, staples and all sorts to bring this double page together. It had to be pink as it's such a girly layout and then I used a dash of turquoise to make the colour of my eyes pop! Here is a close-up of the pics... and the other half... Fanfare for the finished result... The P didn't quite line up right, but hopefully you get the idea! I was inspired by this sketch, but instead of the four pics side by side I layered them up on the left hand side. You like??

Singing, singing all the day, giveaway, oh giveaway!

So to thank you all for being such loyal followers and in celebration of my *almost* blogiversary I have decided to do a two-tier giveaway. The first RAK up for grabs is for all the scrappers out there and consists of: * Ten patterned pages in red and green with Christmas phrases * Four sheet of stickers - borders and phrases * One set of silver tag letters and brads The second RAK is for all you bakers out there. It is a gingerbread patterned apron and three different sized gingerbread men cutters. Cute huh?! In order to qualify (and it is open to international friends!) you must leave a comment here and state whether you want to qualify for scrap stash, baking stash or both. Also state whether you are a follower or not as followers will be entered twice. If you "big me up" on your blog then let me know and you will get another entry.

* In your comment either share you fav Christmas pressie you ever received or your biggest baking disaster! *

Good luck!

(It will close on the 28th)

Keep the Faith...

So hitting the double...glad that scrapping the music extended their challenge for another week as I was keen to get involved. I love Bon Jovi and listened to his music a lot growing up, plus my faith is a big part of who I am. I was also interested in the challenges on Mission to Create: Deborah: use an item from the $ store (the butterly stickers) Jocie: use a tree (it's in the pic!) Nicole: rolled paper pieces (see the top) Vanessa: at least 3 butterflies (stickers and rub ons) Karola: twine (stapled on) I like the dreamt effect of the backing papers contrasted with the purple and brightly coloured butterflies.

My fav glittery thickers stand out nicely on the worded backing paper.

The journalling is all about how perfect and peaceful the Inglebrook Waterfalls are.

I am pleased with this layout and was glad to get back to some scrapping!

Doing the double...

I am not referring to Wimbledon or the world cup instead the double is my layout. I was inspired by this sketch from here and got the idea for title from the lyrics of this weeks scrapping the music challenge. I have done double layouts in the past but it always * seems * like more work, however I had loads of pics from a recent trip to my parents and so used them and am very pleased with the results. Here is the complete finished product: I stamped the title and then used some lettering to emphasise the words home and belong and it was from an SEI set which co-ordinated with the polka dot runner. My trustee Martha Stewart border punch edged the middle panel. I also stamped flowers all along the top and bottom to jazz up the kraft cardstock, I then embossed a few with glittery powder to make them stand out.

You may notice that in the above pic I added a "tail" to my L as I felt it looked funny as it was...but I am a bit tired and so didn't bother to retake all the pics.

I used a few journalling spots and a date stamp to add some details about the weekend. I also added a polka dot button in the middle of the three flowers - gotta love the polka dots!

So I urge you all to have a go at a double layout as it is great for multi photos and for stretching your supplies. My next post will be a closer look at my LO for scrap that poetry - it's another great challenge and a poem that I chose as it was read out at my wedding, so give it a go...