October at the CG Scrapbook challenge

This month for the CG Scrapbook challenge we have the theme of Autumn and a wonderful sponsor with some lovely digi scrap kits for us to use from Stamping Dragon Designs. Now if like me you go DIGI ahh no and run and hide don't be scared as I will talk you through how a comitted paper scrapper who can't craft without getting messy can still use the gorgeous digi kits out there to create a hybrid page :)

Here is my page as you can see I was not literal with Autumn but adapted it to what I wanted to use this kit with, this gorgeous picture of my Nan who we sadly lost a few months ago;

To start with I decided I wanted to use the pretty frame that came with the kit and using photo editing software I added it to the photo. It is very simple to do all you need is to use your photo as the background then create a second layer and add your frame (or other element) to that layer. You can then size, and move the element to how you want it. Whilst you are fiddling with it don't worry if your photo in the background looks blurry once you are done it will sort it self out.
I printed out two of the pretty papers onto to normal printer paper and used some deckle edge scissors to pretty the edges up. The well what I call "The Bookmark" lol, the lady stamp and the boot (times 2) I printed onto plain white card as I knew I wanted to fussy cut them and pop them up. The "Bookmark" and lady stamp were simply cut out but the boot I had printed twice and cut out the rose on the second one to give an extra layer and dimension. I added a paper doily, Butterfly (it's a hat pin bought for £1.50 from a local haberdashery then the pin removed) and my title from my stash.
I am now far more confident to use some of the fabulous digi kits that are out there and hope you visit our sponsor and give them a go too x

CG Scrapbook Challenge

I am over the moon to announce that I have been asked to join the DT at the Card's Galore Scrapbook challenge and here is my first DT page for them. To join in the fun head over to CG Scrapbooking Challenge and give it a go. The challenge this month is to use Patchwork and is sponsored by the wonderful Judie at Crafty Emblies which is a site you should really check out.

Anyhow without further gassing from me here is my layout for this challenge;

The layout feature my daughter having a teenage strop at age 7 last year. It started off very patchworky then I kind of got carried away with it being the first time I had my scrapping stuff out since the move and used plenty of my new Quirky Kits kit, masks, mists and gesso and some Purple Pumpkin sneaked in there too. I followed the sketch at Scrapology and added hexagons to enter this into their challenge this month.

I hope you like my 1st project back in scrapping land and would love to hear your thoughts thank you for taking time to visit me x

CCW September Scrapmap

I am a little late in posting my layout this month all the new school stuff is taking up so much of my time. If you pop over to the Creative Craft World challenge blog you will see the sketch and wonderful pages from the DT. Here is mine;

My layout demonstrates my youngest having one of his now all too common tantrums! He was not impressed we wouldn't let him take Lightening home but he grows so quickly he probably wouldn't fit in it now! I hope you will all join in the fun and maybe win a prize :)

Creative Craftworld Blog hop winner

Just a quick post from me to announce the winner from the Rainbow bloghop. All names were put in a hat and the winner chosen by my three year old was.........

QWIKSAVE aka NICKY

Congratulations Nicky I chose some fab sunshiney goods from Creative Craft World and Lou is going to post them directly to you so if you can email enquiries@creativecraftworld.co.uk let Lou know you won my (Michelle's) giveaway on the blog hop and include your address she will get your prize out to you :)

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful comments x

WOYWW

This is my first ever attempt at joining in with the "What's on your workdesk Wednesday". I have finally got my scrapping stuff out after the move and have my first Quirky Kits Kit, the Epiphany crafts tool I won and lots of inspiration along with some photo's I think will work;

I doubt it will ever look quite this tidy again but seeing as my "workdesk" is also the dining table it won't be too bad or else we won't eat lol.

Don't forget you still have time to enter the Creative Craft World bloghop giveaway and my own giveaway here so pop along and look at all the posts now they are up a couple of the other DT are doing little giveaways too so I think there are 4 chance to win over all :D

You are our Sunshine - Creative Craft World Birthday Blog Hop

Today it is my turn to share a yellow creation with you for the Creative Craft World Birthday Blog Hop.

As soon as I knew I had the colour Yellow the song "You are my Sunshine" jumped into my head, I remember my mum singing it to me and my brother and I always sang it to my monkeys it is a family tradition  which I hope my monkeys will continue as well  :)

I decided to make a canvas of my sunshine - my four monkeys and used a photo I made using Photoshop for the new facebook timeline big picture on the top of your page. Each of the photo's were from our trip out for Alex's 3rd birthday and show all my monkeys posing away especially the younger two!

I coloured the canvas using Dylusions inks and stencils and a white journalling pen for the stenciling. 

I deocrated the canvas with some American Crafts Amy Tangerine Sketchbook papers and trims with a bit of fussy cutting, some Purple Pumpkin buttons and a stamp about family. With the title I wanted to follow the sun rays and changed the my to our so that my husband didn't feel left out :)

I hope you like the project and it gives you the push to try taking your scrapping off the page :) You should have already seen the wondrous creations of Susi on day one with Red and Sarah on day two with Orange if you missed them then head back to Creative Craft World to start at the begining there are some wonderful prizes along the way and a grand prize if you comment on each day's post during the week. Tomorrow you have a wonderful project from Trish for Green and believe me you don't want to miss it!

Finally as well as everyone who comments on all the blogs over the week being in a chance to win their own pot of gold everyone who comments on my post during the week will be entered into a sunshine prize from me. All comments must be in by 6th September and I will random.org and announce a winner on the 7th September. Good Luck to everyone :)

Creative Craft World Birthday Blog Hop

Get excited there will be a week of great projects, prizes and fun go to the Creative Craft World Blog for all the details on the 29th :)

Creative Craft World August Scrapmap

It is that time of the month and we have another great sketch from Sue for the Creative Craft World Scrapmap;

I turned it round a little for my layout and used all the pictures of the rainbow birthday cake I made for my daughter's birthday in May;

I used Webster's Pages Sunday picnic range and mixed some clean and simple and fussy cutting and added some of their great embellies. Pop over to CCW and look at the other great DT examples and have a go at the challenge and give yourself a chance to win a great prize x

A little catch up part two

As well as my scrapping I have been cross stitching again so here are a couple of finishes and a couple of works in progress for you;

They are all charts from Heaven and Earth Designs

TT chart Letter M artwork by Selina Fenech

Tree Frog artwork by Jo Lynch stitched in Dinky Dye Silks

Serengeti Glow artwork by Schim Schimmel

Sea of Roses artwork by Selina Fenech

A little catch up part one

I have been very busy recently as we are moving house again soon so my poor blog has been neglected :(

I have a few different LO's to share with you so am splitting it into 2 posts. Here are the first 2 LO's done for 2 weekly challenges on UKScrappers.

My challenge on Craftymess

Well it is finally my turn to choose the challenge at Craftymess :) I chose to challenge everyone to use paint in their entries and we had some lovely stamps to use from Desmet Designs including my favourite this lovely little beach hut;

I Painted 3 mini canvases with a combination of Dylusions inks and Cosmic shimmer and set them aside to dry. I painted some white card and once dry stamped HOME SWEET HOME on it and cut them out by hand as I wanted an imperfect rustic look. I printed out 4 beach huts, 3 I painted and the final one I cut up to use as templates and then cut roofs and doors and bunting from some of the fab Amy Tangerine Range. Finally everything was stuck down onto the canvases and it now hangs in my home.

I love how it is bright and cheerful and very reflective of my crafting personality, well it certainly doesn't reflect a british summer!

Hugemungous giveaway!

Samantha Hauzer one of the very talented DT members at Purple Pumpkin is having a huge giveaway on her blog. She is in Aus but will post worldwide so get over for a peek at what she has to giveaway now you won't regret it :)

http://justlovescrappin.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/check-it-out-its-huge.html

CCW June scrapmap

Sue has once again come up with a fantastic sketch for June at Creative Craft World;

I chose to use it to make this layout of my eldest when he was only 6 eating an icecream on holiday. I used AC Amy Tangerine papers and stamps with some AC Dear Lizzy ribbons and thickers;

I spent ages trying to figure out a title but my husband and I had just watched a programme about Will Smith and his song kept coming into my head so my subconcious was obviously pointing the way for me :) I used the ribbons to make these little flags;

I love the chevron stamp in the Amy Tan range it is different from the other ones I have and I used it to enhance the sunburst effect; 

Thanks for popping by I hope you like my page and I encourage you to give the sketch a go you could win a great kit :)

Craftymess challenge

The challenge over at Craftymess this fortnight is fantasy and we were given some images to use by Robyn's fetish. I chose the angel stamp which I printed on card and coloured with pencils to keep it soft. I used it to embellish this layout of my second son asleep on his Nana;

Please pop over and join in the fun there is always a great prize up for grabs :)

Candid Camera

I wanted to try another "thrown together" page but this time I went with no sketch and no colour theme but used the requirements for the May week 2 challenge on UKScrappers which was to have a Before and After theme, use a frame, use fussy cutting and have something hidden. Here is my finished LO which apart from the wonky lettering (oh I wish I could blame it on a kid but no it was me lol) I am very pleased with;

I used the American Crafts Amy Tangerine Sketchbook range and some misting. I used the frame stamp and a white journalling pen to frame the earlier picture of Dylan;

I fussy cut some of the camera's from the bright camera paper;

and the journalling is hidden on this card tucked behind the more recent photo;

It is funny to think that between these two photo's Dylan went from an 18 month old little brother in nappies to a 7 year old big brother to 2 who thankfully was no longer in nappies lol. Dylan is amazingly photogenic and always looks lovely in photos.

Thank you as ever for popping by and leaving all the lovely comments you leave for me when you can I really appreciate each and every one of them x

Craftymess christmas in May

Well let's face it the weather certainly is more like our gloomy December's than May lol. This fortnight at Craftymess our challenge set by the lovely Shirley-Anne is to make a Christmas (card) in non-traditional colours. I don't generally make many cards so I scrapped and here is my layout;

I used My Mind's Eye wonderful 12 days of christmas range which uses pink, bright red, lime green, white, aqua and a touch of pine green instead of the more traditional deep red, dark green, cream and gold. 

The page shows my eldest in his first nativity aged 3 (he is in the orange) and even though the photo is terrible (the hall was not condusive to good photography and all but this one pic came out very dark) I wanted to record the memory of my little shepherd :)

Thanks for popping by please do have a go at the challenge x

Dandan's boy

I set myself a little challenge today, I wanted to scrap but have a poorly 3 year old at home and so not a lot of time so I gave myself an hour's time limit whilst the little guy sat beside me colouring. To make sure I stuck to my time I used the sketch from Sarah's Cards May Challenge and the colour combination from May's UKScrappers house challenge. This is the result;

The colour combination was deep red, yellow green and brown and instantly made me think of the papers I had from Crate Farmhouse and so that was all I got out and the Sarah's Cards sketch called for 2 photos which meant I could finally scrap these pictures of my eldest aged 4 in 2004 with my Dad luckily the colours and sketch suited the pics :)
The photo's were from when my parents came and looked after Joel and Dylan while Phil was in the hospital with me laughing at my pain as I gave birth to Kari (and yes he did laugh the git!). Joel was always a Dandan's boy and indeed was the one who named him Dandan when he couldn't say grandad.
I will have to try this time limit scrapping again I might actually get caught up on my photos :) Thanks for popping by x

Su's entry to CCW scrapmap May

I am a member of a local scrapping group and as part of that I run a weekly challenge on our facebook group. Last week I challenged the ladies to follow the CCW May Scrapmap and this is Su's finished layout;

Su has only been scrapping for a very short time and I am sure you will agree has produced a gorgeous layout here :) I am posting this for her so it can be entered into the CCW challenge as Su doesn't yet have a blog or online album. I hope that my lovely followers will show Su some love x

Jersey

I have been waiting and waiting for this month's kit from Sandra at Gottacraft as I knew it contained one of my favourite of the recent CHA releases- Buttercup by LilyBee. I have been in love with LilyBee ever snce my last Gottacraft kit with the Memorandum papers in and so had to cut into the kit and do the LilyBee sketch challenge with it right away;

I had already bought the LilyBee Buttercup stamps and a 6x6 pad in anticipation of the kit so could use those to add to the layout whilst being on the same theme and colour scheme. I have been waiting for months for the right setting for this cherished photo of me with my Nan and Gramps when they took me to Jersey in 1982 and this was it not too girly but feminine enough. I hope you like the layout I am in love with it at the moment as the photo is so very special to me. Thank you for popping by xxx

Our first Christmas

Over at My Mind's Eye this month they challenged us to use our MME brads in unique and inventive ways. I won a parcel of "The 12 days of Chrictmas" goodies from them last Christmas and instantly thought of christmas tree baubles;

Everything on the layout apart from the lettering is from the range and I was so pleased to see one of the brads had a star on it for the top of the tree :) The photo's show my little sister-in-law Kayteigh who as you can see adores her biggest brother (my husband) :D

Thanks for popping by x

Storytelling Sunday 2 (slightly delayed)

For storytelling sunday this month I wanted to celebrate the other girl in our family of 6 my daughter Kari.

My Doppleganger

Nearly eight years ago our family of four became a five and I had another girl in the family at last :)

Now I am facing a little madam who is about to turn 8 later this month but is rapidly turning into a teenager already

I would like to be able to say that I have no idea where she gets her extreme stropiness and argumentiveness from but as you can see she is very much her mother's daughter

It is scary not only how much she looks like me but how much in character we are alike. At least my mum's wish that I had a daughter just like me to "see how I liked it" came true as maybe that means now that I say the exact same thing to my daughter it will come true for me too!

Oh boy!

I was all about favourite photo's this weekend. As you may have noticed my scrapping has died off a little of late as I have had so much going on and it has effected my "mojo" so this weekend at the crop I concentrated on using some photo's that I truly loved.

As luck would have it this month's SJ Papercrafts challenge is to use a favourite and so this third layout is perfect for their challenge. The picture shows my littlest guy Alex when he was a couple of months old, none of my monkeys have had dummies but we had muslin cloths for the inevitable milky sick ups and Alex took to keeping hold of one and chewing on it (a clean one I may add lol). The photo shows Alex impatiently chomping down on his cloth as my hubby grabbed it and the cloth was in the mouth hubbies thumb an all :)

Papers, chipboard and stickers are from Echo Park This & That Charming, ribbon and trims from my stash and the button, heart and hessian flower from Purple Pumpkin;

I added a bit of stitching using the WRMK stitching tool and some twine from MME;

Thanks for dropping by and please go have a look at the challenge too :)

Hero

As you know my husband is in the British Army and he is most definately a hero and absolutely my hero :) I have several in uniform photos and recently Purple Pumpkin had some great jumbo buttons of Army men so for their challenge this month I finally got to scrapping my hunky soldier :)

I used Crate toybox and as well as the fab army button I used one of the heart ones;

and a star covered button

Here is the sketch for their challenge this month why don't you pop over and give it a go yourself?

Thanks for popping by x

Days like this

The May Scrapology challenge C is for Charms is up and it is to use charms and follow this sketch;

Here is my Layout for it using Webster's Pages Sunday picnic and a key charm from a bracelet;

This photo is one of my favourite ever photo's and shows Phil holding Kari when she was only a few days old and we had taken her to visit my Grandparents. I used a lovely charm from a bracelet that I bought solely to use for scrapping lol and a selection of bloomers with a few snipped gems from a gemstrip;

I left the rainbow edge unstuck so that I could slip a journalling card under the edge and added a cameo pin to the orange bloomer;

I cut some of the motifs from their new Perfect Motifs pad;

And used some of the trims tucked in to highlight the layers there was a lot of foam tape used on this LO lol;

I am very happy with the finished product and thanks for popping by x

CCW May Scrapmap

We had a fab sketch for this month's scrapmap and I thought straight away that I wanted to use it to make a canvas of me with my grandparents on my wedding day :)

I loved making this using Dylusions spray inks, masking and gesson and some Glitz Dance in Sunshine papers;

I made a small heart canvas with some stamping and a Tim Holtz die cut;

Why not head over to Creative Craft World and have a go yourself with the chance to win one of our fabulous sell out kits?