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...

Messy Mondays: Fun with misting and masking

I mentioned on my blog recently how Wilkinsons had got a very cool new range of stationary and I loved these cute little arrow post-its.  I misted in turquoise and then splattered some purple ink. I was planning to use the negative, but it wasn't crisp enough and so I kept the arrows there and doodled around the edges. I used washi tape and cardstock to create a background of spots and stripes.
The subject of the layout? My dearly beloved at the Southbank food market trying extra hot salsas - the guys on the stall were really funny and when he was gloating about how mild it was they told him to wait and then the spice would really kick in. And it did...

I layered the photo with stamped images and washi tape.

In other news:

• My little sister has landed in Vancouver and is gloating on facebook every day. Hopefully once the cold front arrives she won't be as smug!
• We saw Lawless at the weekend for date night and despite critics panning it. I thought it was stylish, with interesting characters and that it captured a gory and fascinating time in American history
• Review of Cobbles and Clay on my other blog - Yummy in Yorkshire.
• I am taking part in Shimelle's LSNED for the first time. I joined late and have completed three days already - which I will blog about soon. I am enjoying the chance to think about different prompts and to 'scrap' different topics than I would normally chose. I am also loving all the extra videos and articles linked to each PDF. It's not too late to join in...

Messy Mondays: Masking and misting

So back on the messy Mondays trail...I will probably be squeezed into the stands at the Olympics as you read this post. I'm glad that the Belgian persisted and signed us up for a ridiculous amount of events so that we secured at leats two in the end. I'm not the biggest sports spectator - but I do love an occassion and chance to take pics and scrapbook them afterwards!

Today I want to share a few techniques I have been using with misting.
I have a love / hate relationship with misting.
Sometimes it is the perfect thing to finish off my page.
Sometimes it destroys my page.

Here are some tips that I have learnt the hard way:

• always try to mist FIRST before you lay down your pictures - or if you can't then cover all photos with scrap paper
• if you are using stickers as a mask stick them onto your jeans or a jumper first so that they get wooly and less sticky and then don't pull your page up with them
• you can dilute and mix colours with mists if you use a spare bottle with a spray lid
• always practice first on scrap paper as different mists have different opaqueness and some can crumple your paper so its best to try to use cardstock

My first layout:

I loved this picture of the three of us outside this quaint little B&B in Julian, Calfornia. I had visions of using lots of apples on the layout but then I got my new Maya Road bronze mist and I decided to play around with vintage papers and misting to create a shabby chic layout.
I used the mist ot create a mat for my photo mat and then layered lots of bits of paper and ribbon on the top of it. The mist is quite thick and heavy and I should have diluted it or tried it out first as it was a bit heavy in parts and not as 'fluid' as I would have like - but hey ho! You all benefit from my mistake! I was happy with the overall layout and could have always added more layering at the top to cover it up!

My second layout:

A tribute to the yumminess that is Hummingbird bakery and their special cupcake of the day - Jame Donut. I was very impressed with the technique which I used for this layout and it was a bit of a fluke and a bit of an experiment so I was pleased when it proved successful.
I am a hoarder. Which scrapbooker is not? You always think 'oohh this could look nice on a layout' and so I have boxes and bags of random little tidbits just wating for their moment to shine on a layout! I had these merit stickers that I had used up at school - being the encouraging teacher that I am and all!
So I kept the negatives and I made sure that I got the stickiness out of it by sticking onto my duvet cover (comforter to my friends across the pond) and then stuck it on a plain piece of white card and got busy with the mists. I created a graduation of colour from turquoise to purple to pink and some shimmery silver on top for good measure. I decided that it reminded me of the circular pattern on the Hummingbird bakery walls and so I dug out these photos from last October.
I used lots of cutsey embellishments like my purple heart ribbon and I cut up a layout that was covered in cupcakes and sweet treats - I don't know which make it was.
Overall I was pretty pleased with the effect and now want to get my hands on some other coloured mists to try this out again. The mask was really only good for one use - so my eyes are peeled for a replacement.
I guess next term I'll have to keep being trigger happy with the merit stickers.
Surely it's a win/win situation all round?!

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?

Skinny love...

Ohhh I posted my previous post on facebook and have had loads more pageviews...perhaps I shouldn't keep my little blog all to myself and other scrappers. I sometimes worry that it is a bit geeky to non-scrappers and think they will percieve me as a wierdo who sits in her spare room cutting out flowers and hearts...does anyone else think this? So anyways back to my "geeky" scrapping. I tried two new techniques on this page: 1) Using lace cardstock as a mask and misting with two different colours. The result of which I am totally loving - a lot more interesting than just using the lace cardstock. 2) Julie Kirk's cute little cartoon style stamping technique. I have not described it well so check it out here. I didn't do a strip as I didn't really have space. I also don't have any cute little stamps of people, so had to settle for a squirrel as it's all I had, but it did fit in well with the layout. This is completed using part of the lyrics from Aerosmith's Livin' On the edge for Scrap it with a Song challenge. In my teens I was a big Aerosmith fan and I remember distinctly using one of their albums on random to decide which boy I should go out with. Ahh the innocence of youth! And the joy of having options! If I don't get to blog anymore over the weekend HAPPY EASTER to all my followers and readers of my blog. Hope you all get lots of exciting treats from the easter bunny - check out my previous post for a great easter cookie recipe.

Sketchy Thursday's dt try out...

So I was very attracted to this sketch and was looking forward to getting messy, but the paint was playing up and so I settled for good old glimmer mist. I wanted to make this page as: * I love this bright and airy pic * I wanted to make a layout as a homage to my sister returning from TC * I love the sketch I made this layout quite simple as it all fell into place nicely and I used my fav colours purple and turquoise. Now the question is what do I do for the next two weeks of easter hols...

Baby, baby, baby, ohhh,,,

My title was inspired by a recent episode of Glee I watched where the guys formed a Beiber tribute band. I have to admit I do kinda like this song, even though I do find him a bit annoying. So The Studio inspired me again to include frames and since I dug some out, I have not been able to stop churning out the layouts. This page is using pics taken from our friend's recent visit with their new baby. Arne was a real natural and took to the baby straight away. In this pic the misting looks a bit grubby, it is a lot better irl.

This kiss...

So I *almost* done scrapping my wedding pics just a few more to go (actually the WHOLE reception still to go!!!) I used the studio challenge on masking and decided to use lips to go with the title, which was inspired by Faith Hill lyrics from this challenge. I masked the title too with silver glimmer mist. I had a few issues peeling the stickers off and they ended up taking a layer of the paper with them - but in the end it made a good effect and I edged it in black and filled it with polka dots.

I cropped the picture and then distressed the edges - my usual style.

I filled the lips with the journalling and included a few more quotations from the song. I focused on the "you may now kiss the bride moment." My dad is the Bishop in our church so he married us which made it even more special.

The little picture at the bottom was matted with pink paper and then stamped with my fav polka dot stamp to tie in the whole theme.

This is probably my last post for at least a week as we are off to Malta in the small hours tomorrow. Cannot wait. Got lots of ironing and packing to do. Hope you are all having a great summer holiday filled with scrapping and fun. xoxo

Ducks and Doll....

Here is a little project I was working on last week.... Scrapping about my South African grandparents and all my happy memories of them. My granny is still alive, but due to the distance we don't get to see her very often. The happiest time we spent together (and the only time I met my grandad) was a holiday in France together. These pics aren't very good quality, but I was keen to blog as its been a while! The title was a bit of a happy accident as i glimmer misted over stickers then glitter glued the edge but it all started to run...i then smeared the glitter glue over the white space and left it and once dried felt that it looked quite arty. I layered lots of different papers that I had cut into and sewed button on top. I added purple organza ribbon and strip journalling to add some more interest and contrast. A close-up of the glimmer mist / glitter lettering:-

I am glad to have this now in my scrapbook!

* Lost in Music! *

So I have always loved Aerosmith's Don't wanna miss a thing and am still trying to scrap my wedding pics. I do love scrapping them, but they are quite samey so I need to break it up a bit or be really inspired to scrap it. This challenge certainly inspired me! My sister, Tamara, is obsessed with movie soundtracks and I guess some of that has stuck with me. How could I not use my gorgeous new round page??! I was trying to avoid purple, but I couldn't help it - most of my stash is this colour. I thought that this lyric really complimented the photo.

I made this frame using a cardboard frame and then I wrapped it in tissue paper and then stamped with my new INK IT (hmm maybe it isn't called this but my scrap room is sooo far away and I am sooo comfy in my throw!) gold stamp pad. I got a pack of 20 of them and they are so juicy and really stand out. A glimmer mist heart to emphasise the word LOSE. Looking at it now it isn't very straight, but I prefer the grungy look!

I made a little flower out of tissue paper and inked edges. I felt the top corner was a bit bare without it!

Then I added some buttons on the bottom for a bit of interest.

Thanks for the inspiration Mr Tyler and your big lips! x

Hitting the triple..quite a "feet"!

So with this one humble LO I have hit the triple. I have used the paint challenge from Sarah's cards blog and I couldn't resist the current challenge on Mission to Create and finally the picture was inspired by the fab favourite things blog. The shoes were a bargain find at a charity shop in Ilkley. However, I have always had a thing for stripy shoes and was always known at uni for my funky, bright shoes. The kids I teach always marvel at the crazy shoes I have. I have inherited the need to colour co-ordinate and so have to have shoes in every colour. I always get quite cheap ones though and rarely spend over £30 on them. So this LO celebrates that... The cupcake was easy to encorporate as it is my current obsession and circles are a fav feature of mine. The cupcake buttons are new stash I treated myself to on Saturday (as are the cute polka dot buttons!) I stamped with the lid of tin.

I had the usual thickers issues. They should put more e's and s' in their packs as they always run out first. I had to paint the last two with acrylic paint as they were originally lime green and didn't fit. Don't you just love the stripy lettering too??? That was a bargain from sat too. Notice Sarah's cards DT the use of paint as a mat for the title and also the liberal spray of glimmer mist round the edge.

I rediscovered my mini alpha stamps recently and so stamped onto ribbon and the journalling spot which I cut from polka dot cardstock. This pic is a it blurry, but you may notice the little owl in the bottom left hand corner (don't you love it Gem??)

And finally the whole LO in its full glory. It was one of those pages that just came together and I couldn't believe how many diff challanges I managed to hit. The heart is cut from cardstock and edged in acrylic paint too.

So what are you waiting for ladies? Get over to these blogs and get scrapping!!! Don't forget the fab challenge at scrap that poetry that has just started - time is running out! Scrap about your nearest and dearest! Right I am off to enjoy the sunshine!

Results of my scrap-a-thon....

SO here are three layouts i have been working on for a while - months for some! As I wasn't sure I liked two of them and then just went with it anyway as all I had to do was glue and I was having a creative block last night (at 1 am!) The above layout is one I have had in mind for a while. I like the word mooch! The paper is 7gypsies and I love their grungy papers as they lend themselves to lots of diff colours and patterns and lots of inking - my fav! I also used my fav Martha Stewart stamp to border my photo - it really sets the photos off. I like using ribbon on layouts. I have a whole shoe box full of random bits and bobs from Christmas and birthdays and our wedding invites! This second layout is a homage to our long standing annual Jones parties in Hodnet. We usually end up playing pass the parcel with dares and so these are some shots of the dares. I used glimmer mist and then tried to double up the title to resonate - double dare! The writing does show up when it is in good light. I like the little rosette. I wanted to scrap this father of the bride pic from my wedding and felt this paper was fitting for the colour scheme. My biggest regret is that I didn't mat the ribbon on a plain colour card to make the title pop, but I glued it and so it was too late. Quite minimalist on the embellies as the cardstock is so patterned and loud.

Teenage kicks...

So this is my latest layout of our charity shop outfits in London. I used this fab sketch. Laugh was great twist and I had fun leafing through photos finding one that was fitting. It was a laugh wearing these crazy outfits and seeing all the funny looks we got. I used my trustee glimmer mist - I seem unable to complete a layout without it! Then a hambly overlay and some random snippets of paper. I felt that the more colours I used the better as it's a clashing outfit so a clashing page was fitting. I love making my own flowers too and so this was my main embellie. Hope you like it as much as I do!