Messy Mondays: Painting with American Crafts and Amy Tan

So as July 10th approaches and the little baby in my belly is wriggling away and making itself known I am becoming increasingly aware of the decline in our 'us' time. We often go on spontaneous dates - trips to the cinema, meals out, snacks like ice-cream or smoothie dates and I am sure that this will change as us becomes a three!
So I made the most of our recent 'donut date' and got a picture of the usually reluctant 'model.

I wanted this layout to be pretty with florals and hearts. I went for Dear Lizzie paper, mixed up turquoise paint to create a border and then created little clusters with washi tape, bling and strips of patterned paper.

Please tell me that this won't be the end of it all...that we will fade into the backround. Haha!

Pinning Projects to Paint...and other things!

It's no secret that I have been having a crafty drought these past say four and a half months.
I think there are many reasons - mostly relating to the baby growing in my belly.
For instance:

• feeling too sick and lethargic to do anything more creative than channel and web surf
• barely having any photo's from the last few months
• especially lacking pictures of Christmas - where I was being sick a few times a day
• realising a distinct lack of storage space and rapidly accumulating scrap albums
• trying to clear out my scrapbooking room - ready to transform into a nursery

However the nursery is giving me some creative yearnings and I have spent the week pinning craft projects that I hope to work on over this half term holiday.
I will post the top four here to share with you all and to commit myself to completing at least two!

1) Firstly since we don't want to find out the sex of the baby we have decided that colour scheme will be yellow and grey with polka dots and a jungle theme. I loved these spray painted and decorated zoo animals over at Spearmint baby and think this would be a fun project and would look great displayed on the window still or book shelf. With yellow and grey accents of course.

 

2) For me the most ambitious project (since I am useless with a sewing machine) and the one I will probably save for nearer to the birth when I may be able to get some direction from the lovely textiles teacher at my school. I love this honeycomb material - any ideas where to source it in England? Elephants and giraffes are going to feature most heavily in the decor. The tutorial is found here at Sew 4 Home.

 

 3) I love this shadow box idea from Our Day by Design. I have ordered some elephants punched out in greys, blues and yellows from ebay - cheaper than the actual Martha Stewart punch which is £15. I just need to get the shadow box - I seem to think that Ikea stock these quite cheaply? Am I right? 

4) And lastly the project I will be tackling first I think is this animal painted canvas - here is the youtube link. I brought the supplies yesterday and have printed the pictures off ready to roll.  I think I might make the silouette with material and have ordered some grey and yellow fat quarters off ebay this morning. So it may look more like this...

How cute is this? From here.

So there you have it. I do pin a lot, but I also try to actually make some of the things I pin. Hopefully I will have some projects to share with you all by the end of the week,

Scrapping a family day out...

Last February half term we took a family day out to Botley Water Gardens and we snapped this rare picture of all of the crew.
I have been wanting to scrap it for a while and was waiting for inspiration.
I saw the idea of creating a border from punched out circles - which I inked the edges of to make them pop.
I used a 12 by 12 with border stripes to create a border and washi tape.
I like the polka dots with all of the patterned cardstock and stripy washi tape.
The main focus of the layout is the big wooden heart, which is part of a necklace that I broke and decided to stash for a good opportunity.
Click on the pictures to see the details better.

 

Messy Mondays: Scrapbook layout using up scraps

 I love how Shimelle (and other scrappers) use enlarged pictures for layouts. I think its great as it makes the photo the focus and can really showpiece a photo you are proud of.
I used the white space in this photo to put a journalling mat and my title.
I used several different washi tapes to affix the picture.
I used my Studio Calico abroad range to create some scraps to embellish the layout.
Some close-ups below:

 The funny thing about this layout is that the day after my sister and I were doing a 'photo shoot' on the rocks at the beach and I put down my glasses for a second - next minute they had fallen down a crack between the rocks and were gone into the oblivion on the beach. I loved those glasses too. I had spent more than I normally do on sunglasses too. My other pair were free in a magazine, but these were Quicksilver and they were purple and big and I loved them. :(
Perhaps the layout should have been ode to my sunglasses.

As the nights get darker and the temperature has dropped to 5 degrees - its nice to think back to sunnier days in Barcelona.
What do you do with your leftover scraps?

You might need somebody too...

Above is the proof that I still do scrap 12 by 12. My California 2011 album and my wedding album are still in 12 by 12 and so when I want a challenge (as I now find it!) I pull out one of the pics I haven't scrapped yet and give it a go.
I used a Shimelle sketch as her sketches really fit with my way of scrapping - lots of clashing prints and lots of little bits and bobs and border stickers and washi tape.
I called this layout 'Adopted Parents' as this couple from church were like our Leeds parents when we first got together and they mean a lot to us as couple.
I liked that the layout had lots of space for journalling as I wanted to explain the connection:

A close-up of the title work and the picture.

I was really pleased with this layout and it was great to use up lots of little bits and pieces and try out some of new washi tapes too.
I have a few more 12 by 12 layouts to share with you soon - so look out for them!
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Inspired by Shimelle's July Glitter Girl video and sketch

Step-by-step tutorial for making a canvas...

Have you seen those cute canvas' on pinterest with quotations to put up in your hallway?
I was forever pinning them and eyeballing them in shops - but they always seemed too pricey for what they were.
My solution?
Make some myself and here they are...

If you want to see my step-by-step tutorial - check it out here. I am doing another guest post over at Sumo's sweet stuff blog....yep now I have time in the summer I am sharing the love - or 'pimping myself out' as i have heard it referred too. Ohh err!

Olympic challenge: Black and Blue Club Bruges

Lots of my favourite crafty bogs have challenges linking to sports and the the Olympics and SJ Crafts was no exception. I have plenty of Olympic pics to scrap but haven't had time yet, but before I left I made this layout which I had wanted to make for a while.
My husband (aka The Belgian) is obsessed with his home team Club Bruges and so every trip to visit his family has to coincide with a match. I was a little surprised when we spent boxing day at a match as usually my family spend the day together - but he doesn't want to miss a moment!
The team kit is black and blue - hence the title. I used lots of coordinating authentique papers.

 Thrifty tip: I used up a few different coloured thickers and letter stickers to make this title. I included the ticket as well - something that I always keep and then forget to include in the layout. I put pearls onto the polka dot pattern of the backing paper so that it would have more dimension and bling.
I created lots of layers with washi tape and leftover bits of cardstock. The bottom layer with the scalloped edge is from packaging for letter stickers. A true scrapper should never throw anything pretty away!

What are your thrifty tips for scrapbooking?

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?!

Sunday session: Care packages giveaway!

 I have been musing over the last few weeks how it really is the small and thoughtful things which means the most. I recieved these three care packages over the last month and they really made my day and cheered me up when I recieved them. The third was biscotti all the way from New York and it was delish! Do you know the funniest thing two of the senders were total strangers and they were just blog related RAKs? So I think I am going to pass along the love...first to people I actually know and then to...well...relative strangers via a giveaway. So make sure that you comment on this post to qualify.

 I got some of the ideas for my care packages from this blog she sent some friends packages of sunshine and I felt that my fellow Brits would appreciate some sunshine in all this rain. Although today the sun has made an appearance an the pub gardens are overflowing and badly fake tanned flesh is endemic in the high streets of a town near YOU!
So I headed to Wilkinsons to get some cheap and cheerful yellow coloured little pressies to fill these packages. And oh my gosh how cool have Wilkos gone? They even have some scrapbook worthy stationary like these post-its for a pound and lightbulb shaped paper clips - yay! Those were MY treat!

 So recipient number who has two little boys is getting this stash of goodies...

 Recipient two, who is off on a camping trip with her daughter, is getting these goodies...

 I packaged them like this...

So if you want to recieve a package filled with sunshine then comment below...will draw the winner NEXT SUNDAY at 8pm!
International friends welcome. Real friends welcome too!

Amy Tangerine 6 by 6 LOVE!

So have you worked out what my new fav supply is? No, not my dynamo. Well it kinda is! No, not my JB paint dauber - although that is amazing! No, it's my 6 by 6 paper pads. Why do I love them so? Let me count the ways:

• Very versatille
• Perfects for oodles of layering
• Takes the guess work out of coordinating a layout
• Perfect for my new smaller scrapping
• Often when I have a pretty sheet of 12 by 12 I am reluctant to cut into it - but not with these smaller versions
• Perfect for embellishments and little journalling spots
• The border page is great for edging pics
• Perfect for cardmaking (which I rarely do, but you know - just saying'!)

So the other night I was playing with this:

 By the ever creative and funky Amy Tangerine and I discovered a photo from our English department's murder mystery party that I hadn't scrapped yet and so I played around and made this:

The greatest thing about the 6 by 6 pads is that you can just cut bits and match bits and it all coorindaes already and so you end up with a true 'scrap'book page. I went for the rule of three with the punched out and inked hearts. I also created the little rosettes using my fiskars punches.
In other news:

• Last day of school yesterday. Woo hoo! The Belgian is leaving his job at Primary School (or elementary for all you Americans) and coming back to work at my High School and so he came home laden with chocolates - some of which we are going to have to 'regift' otherwise I will just eat them all. I have already made a sizeable dent in a chocolate orange!
• The Belgian is very busy organsing a boy's camp for next week. I am loving how focused he is over it, but it is driving me potty having to proof read emails, help with timetables and abuse my ebay ordering large marquis and other items. We've been having a nightmare with couriers this week - they are such a pain and don't seem to realise that people do actually work (well during term time at least!)
• This Wednesday is our three year wedding anniversary and so to make up for the fact he is on said camp I am being taken away to the Lake District this weekend. Expect some pretty photos if the weather stays good (always a risky business in Sunny England!)
• Next weekend we are off to London for the Olympics - so this first week of the holidays it is all go and everything seems to be crammed in. Just think of all the laundry when we get back from all these mini breaks, *Shudder!*

Right folks we are off to the dizzying heights of pound land to load up on water guns, toilet rolls and other such excting items. for his camp of course - not our romantic weekend away!

Messy Mondays: Creating borders with paints and stamps!

So last week I shared some ideas for using paint to create backing paper for your layouts. This Monday I am bringing you some ideas of how to use paint with stamps to jazz up the borders of your layouts.
The first layout is created using a humble sponge, lid of tin (as a mixing palette), green acrylic paint and a really old stamp which cost me no more than a pound. I very simply created a recurring motif with it - refuelling on paint with each stamp.

A closer look at my handiwork and all the layering. The title is stamped too in the same method.

The second layout was sat 'finished' in my scrap room - but I felt it was lacking something. One Jenni Bowlin paint dabber and a swirl stamp later and I now feel it is finished properly and framed effectively. I just placed newspaper behind the layout and let it hang off the page.

 A closer look at those swirls...

The third layout was less messy than paint as I used my Maya Road mist. I sprayed some mist into the lid and then used my paint dauber and inked the edges to make it stand out more - click on the image for a closer look as this picture wasn't edited first!

Do you like the secret picture between the pritt pads?

Lastly - perhaps my favourite of the four a New Year's Eve layout. I hope my sister forgives me as she thought that this pic wasn't very flattering - but it was all I had. I used my JB ink dauber and a star stamp to create a border around the top. I like the contrast of the black with the bright colours. I also created a 'shaker box' using the packaging from some stickers and lots of confetti and punched out stars - I attached it with washi tape and a paper clip and I was very pleased with the results and think I will play with shaker boxes again soon.

 

Next Monday  I will be showing you a step-by-step how to for creating a mini canvas with paint - till then have a great week and happy crafting. Go get those hands messy...

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I am linking up with a challenge over at Fiskars to use stamping in a project.