Waiting for the world to change...

I thought that this layout would be apt for my current situation.
Almost 41 weeks pregnant and sweating it out in this crazy heat wave.
Hello England! Where has this heat wave come from? It normally rains at this time of year.
I have an appointment on Monday, but hope things happen naturally before then.

This picture was taken on our three year anniversary break to the Lake District last summer.
I was sat waiting for the miniature railway train to arrive.
The journalling is about how in 2012 we learned the art of patience as we struggled to get and stay pregnant. The story about this is here.

I made the chevron mask using cardboard packaging from other supplies and thensprayed with bronze mist. It only lasted one spray as the cardboard went soggy and the lines weren't as crisp.

 

It was embellished with cute heart washi tape and an Amy Tan Stamp. Plus I created a tag for the journalling and added some cute flair to give the layout some more dimension.

And the wait continues...

Workspace Wednesday: Getting the paints out on travel layouts

I love to create a paint frame on a nice brightly patterned and coloured piece of card stock.
I don't often use enlarged pictures and find that you can create an easy layout with some washi tape, punched out stars and a nifty title.

Some Amy Tangerine cut out embellishments from a 12 by 12 sheet.

 For more of  my scrapping about Barcelona check out this layout of the cable cars here, for a layout with the view from on top of the cable car see here and one of my personal favourite layouts of the market here.

The top ten things to do in Barcelona (if you're lucky enough to be heading there this summer) check out here. 

For the second layout I used white paint to create a mat for the title and I misted the lettering using letter stickers as a negative mask.

Its all about our adventures on the night train in Thailand when we journeyed from Bangkok to Chang Mai.

A close-up of the title...

For more layouts of my Asian travels see here for a layout about Kota Kinabulu and Thai desserts, here for a layout about pad Thai on the Ko San Road and here for a layout about elephant trekking..

I am so jealous of Amy Tan having her babymoon adventures in Thailand at the moment...

Saturday Scrapping with American Crafts

On National Scrapbooking Weekend a layout and tutorial over at Two Peas caught my eye. I loved the florals, the ruched washi tape and all the texture. I used to avoid scrapping with pinks and florals - as it just didn't seem very me. But recently I have got more into florals and even pink (so long as its hot pink!) and I loved this sheet of cardstock from American Crafts. I think the key is to use it in moderation and combine it with more 'neutral' designs.
The topic of the layout us the constant breaks I had to take from trekking round the tropical rainforest at the Eden Project. The 'R&R' stands for rest and relaxation and i created it using thickers and my fav ampersand stamp from Paperchase.

A close-up of the ruched washi tape - a technique I will definitely be using again. Its perfect as you can peel washi off if you don't like the effect and it doesn't fall quite right on the page.I then used my trusty stapler to create a similar effect with the hot pink ribbon.

In other news:

• I have been investing some much needed attention on my other blog 'Yummy in Yorkshire' and reviewed Reds True BBQ - the new BBQ and ribs American restaurant in Leeds. 
• I was invited to sit at the Chef's table at the Red Hot International Buffet in Leeds and I have also blogged about the delicious meal I had there. It was random to meet other bloggers and media types as I've always been a bit a 'solo' blogger, but it was a really fun night and we found we all had lots in common other than blogging. Discussion ranged from Jordie Shore to Baby G watches to Sylvia Plath! There are several Red Hot World Buffets in England and my post features a promotional code for a discount so be sure to check that out.
• It is only 18 days till my due date - scariness! Excited too to meet our little baby and discover if its Team Blue or Team Pink! 
• I am becoming a real Instagram addict and am finding loads of inspiration over there from fellow scrappers. Follow me on: melmakes21. You will see the new stamps I got on the twopeas sale and how I've unearthed the embossing powders and heat gun! 

What have you all been up to this grey and drizzly (if you're in England!) weekend? 
_______________________________
Linking up with the lovely Ashli over at Purple Mailbox

Eden in bloom...

When I was ill a few weeks back I spent a lot of time with my laptop in bed catching up with scrapping videos on Two Peas in a Bucket and one of the mood to scrap videos by Lizzy particularly inspired me as I liked the composition, the misting and the border effect on her finished layout.

On our recent pre-baby trip to Cornwall we were lucky enough to visit the Eden Project and I particularly loved all the colourful flowers and so we both posed for a picture in front of the blooms which co-ordinated best with our outfits! What a scrapper hey?

I liked the idea of getting messy with paint and stencils and so used a doilie as a mask

 and 

smooshed yellow paint on.

I was hesitant about using purple, yellow and red together but I love it.

I used the rule of three with Amy Tan embellishments to add interest to the page.

I liked the idea of creating washi tape flags to embellish the photo.

Hopefully it doesn't look like too much of a scraplift - I just really loved the original layout and it worked really well with the bits and pieces that I picked out from my stash.
Thanks Lizzy and Two Peas for the inspiration.

The satisfactory surprise!

So you may recall back in October I hit the big 30 and my husband whisked me off to London for the weekend to see Matilda and eat lots of yummy food.
Now when I was a teen my dad used to refer to me as High Maintenance Mel - I have no idea why. But I had a bit of a rep for having high expectations from boyfriends and just life in general. I think I'm pretty chilled, but there you go...
So a weekend in London would have been great if he hadn't tried to throw me off the scent by hinting at a weekend mini break on the continent somewhere. I think it was at the moment that I was putting all of my liquids into plastic bags that he realised perhaps his 'surprise' was going to backfire. Needless to say having grown up 20 mins from London and having a sister living there meant that London was no *quite* as exciting!
But it made for some good hidden journalling and here are two mini layouts from the trip.

 Click on them to see them in more detail.

Both of these layouts used lots of paper scraps that were leftover on my desk and so were quite thrifty - I was pretty happy with both of them though.
Have any of you experienced a surprise that backfired?

What to do with paper too pretty to hide?

Are you like me? Do you have some pages you'd just like to stroke and admire and are always reluctant to actually use? I've been hoarding this gorgeous camera paper for ages and so was delighted when Shimelle's most recent sketch to scrapbook page was all about making the most of a really great patterned paper.
I used a picture from our honeymoon and used my travel stamps washi tape. I kinda messed up the page trying to do a line of embossed Amy Tan cameras, that turned out not to be very straight and so I tried to salvage it with a Martha Stewart star punch.
I'm not entirely sold on the pink and the green together, but I think it works.

The second layout I tried with this sketch is also a travel one. It is all about how the desserts in Thailand were often a dissapointment - until we got to MBK centre. It puts English food courts to shame and the desserts were all beautifully presented - as we do eat with our eyes after all.
I am a lot happier with the colour scheme on this one - I've never really paired brown and purple before, but I think it really works. A technique I've picked up watching lots of scrapping videos over at two peas is distressing, tearing and rolling the edges of the photo mat to make it really stand out. I have been watching a lot of scrapping tutorials as I have had a really bad cold and hacking cough - the poor baby!

What techniques have you been loving recently?
I've been getting messy with paints and have lots of brand new layouts to share with you soon!

Half term highlights...

To combat the back to school blues I will share some of what my half term looked like...

Baked some blueberry scones

Went to a certain Swedish furniture store and indulged in my fav treat

Along with some tasty donuts from a certain America donut place

I think The Belgian looks hot here - but then I am bias!

Did some crafting on a onesie - I shared this earlier in the week

Impressed myself with my chevron creating skills

Ate at So Bar in Knaresborough getting two-for-one using our new free trial Tastecard - fellow Brits sign up now!

Creating his 'n' hers lamps on our bedside tables - Homebase were selling these Habitat lamps at better than half price.

Did some more crafting for the babies nursery - I will share a DIY for this later in the week.

Picked these up at Ikea as well for the nursery - we are thinking of a 'feature' wall of pictures rather than painting

In other news:

• Saw Beautiful Creatures on Orange Wednesday - not usually our cup of tea but we enjoyed it
• Had our 20 week scan and all is well - we are Team Yellow and waiting to find out
• I am totally loving Pink's new song with the guy from FUN
• Watched Nashville for the first time today and think I could really get into it - always been a closet country music fan
• Found Paige's blog through Shimelle and have been having a real nosy around - am totally inspired by her use of hearts, confetti and layering

What have you guys been up to recently?

Memory Monday: Pie Charts and self timer fun...

Now those of you who knew me in school would know that pie charts and fun were never two concepts I connected. Apple pie and fun maybe...but maths - shudder! A strange trend to hit scrapping in 2012, but one I was keen to have a go at.
This page uses lots of American Crafts and especially Amy Tan. I created the pie chart with cardboard and scraps of paper - embellished with an Amy Tan stamp and a Studio Calico wooden camera stamped in black ink.

The memory is of our trip to Barcelona August 2012. When there are just two of you on holiday, you always have the drama of trying to get a picture of you as a 'couple' and in Barca you have to be aware of pickpockets and people liable to run off with your camera.
So we turned to the slightly hit and miss method of self timer. With the camera precariously balanced on some rocks. I like this pic as it is a fun angle and I think shows the energy and fun of our trip.

Back next week with some exciting news and an actual layout that I actually created yesterday (after a four month scrapping drought!)

Memory Mondays: Pad Thai in Thailand!

So in the back end of 2012 I ran a mini series (albeit a bit hit and miss) called Messy Mondays and some of my favourites are here and here. I was trying to think of a new idea for 2013 and have decided that my word of the year will be: REMEMBER.
One of the main reasons that I scrapbook is to capture the memories. I have been ill a lot recently and so have been revisiting some of my old diaries and love to look back at the funny little stories and memories from my teens and early twenties - usually about which boy I was crushing on and what he'd said to me and what he'd worn to a party. Actually I liked to make little sketches of the outfits I wore to big events and these are funny to look back on.
So Memory Mondays will be all about the story behind the layout.

This layout is all about my love of Pad Thai Noodles when I visited Thailand, back in 2007, with some friends.

The journalling reads:
"They were a total steal at only 20p and they were made fresh right in front of you. I liked mine with egg, extra chilli and peanuts. Here Cassie and Emma are enjoying their night time snack."

I busted out some old stash and used lots of stickers and my amazing travel themed washi tape with lots of passport stamps on it. I also used a title, sub title and a little journalling spot to explain the 5 w's behind the layout.

Tuesday trends: Starburst design layout!

So following on from my previous post about keeping up with current scrapbooking trends, I decided (quite a few months ago now) to have a go at the starburst layout. Lisa Truesdell over at two peas made this great layout (top picture) that took all of the guesswork out of it as it included a step-by-step video.
I must admit that it was a very time consumming process and I had to use a ruler and make measurements - something that I NEVER do in my layouts. I've never been a fan of math or being too precise. I used my kraft knife to slice the little sections out - but it doesn't look as though mine are bursting with as many sequins (or punched out circles as I used) as Lisa'a segments.

What I loved about Lisa's layout was:

• all the cute polka dots
• the amazing frosty picture
• the glittery title which pops from the page
• the chevron stamping
• the buttons

Other than obviously copying the whole composition of it I also tried to incorporate a lot of these elements in my layout. It was definititly more of a scraplift than just using a layout for inspiration.
The subject of my layout was my sister's first 'proper' holiday to America. She had been to Chicago on a work trip but had never been on a roadtrip in California and so because I loved this picture of her, I felt that the starburst would reflect her excitment and the shininess of the picture.
It was one of those layouts that I was working on for a few weeks as I had to be really alert and ensure that I got it all right to make it fit together right.

Do you love starbursts, but want to start smaller? Here are some links to other layouts using this fun techniques. Jen at Studio Calico using kraft, Amy Tan rocking a small starburst, Magda went cute with hearts and pastel shades and last but not least October Afternoon ran it as a sketch challenge and you can check out what their design team did with the starburst.

I'd love to see - have any of you used starbursts on your layouts?