We're Off

My final page of the year, and there's quite a story behind it. I actually made it in August but had to keep it secret as it was part of a scraplifting chain of pages at the Scrap Whispers blog. The Scrap Whispers game works in the same way as the old game of Chinese Whispers, with each of us passing our page to the next person to scraplift, so it changes through time.

The 'message' or original page started its journey back in April and should have taken around three to four months to pass through the 15 participants. However what with over-protective spam filters and real life emergencies we were about a month behind schedule by the time Sadie's page (right) reached me at the end of July.

I was initially overwhelmed by the challenge that I had taken on as Sadie's page is completely different from anything I would normally choose to scraplift. However I remember breaking it down into its constituent parts and transferring these to my page.

Basically, Sadie had two photos with a large rectangle of paper behind them, a title across the bottom of the page and an assortment of embellishments including a baseball, a tag and a calender.

My photos were taken as we left Dover for a cruise last year and I kept the same orientations and similar sizes to Sadie but I moved the smaller one across to accommodate the quote on my patterned paper. I copied her calender and used a larger tag for my journalling in the same position as her tag. Sadie's baseball became a circle around my journalling and I added a circle sticker around the cruise start date on my calender.

I think that Sadie has used an electronic die-cutting machine for her title, and I like the way you can see the background through the letter shapes. I don't have one so I chose stickers on a strip of vellum for its translucent qualities.

All the pages in the chain were revealed together on the Scrap Whispers blog on Christmas Eve. Why not hop over there and see what Kathy came up with when she received my page, and how it changed step-by-step 

from this:   into this:

A new game will be starting on 12th January, but this time there will be three teams of five so it should move more swiftly; you can sign up via this blog post or find out more information about how the game works here.

Supplies
Cardstock - Bazzill
Paper - docrafts Spring Chic, Karen Foster Cruise Collage, MME Wild Asparagus
Tag - Making Memories 
Letters - American Crafts Sixth Avenue
Circle Sticker - Flair Designs Anchors Away
Gems - Dovecraft
Ink - Ink It Up!

Tools
Fiskars Shape Cutter & Circle Templates

St Michael's Mount

More old photos today, a trio from St Michael's Mount, a small island off the Cornish coast. I used the November class from the '& Now for Something Completely Different' series at UKScrappers for my page, but I did tweak it to suit me; Shimelle cut her photos into strips but I wanted to leave mine whole. I will probably repeat the class with some Norwegian panoramas at another time.

Supplies
Cardstock - Bazzill?
Paper - Crate Paper Random, Pink Paislee Prairie Hill, 24Heures37 Eiffel Avenue
Cloud Chipboard - 24Heures37 Eiffel Avenue
Letters - Unlabelled 
Gems - Papermania Dew Drops
Ink - Ink It Up!, Papermania

Tools
Unlabelled Flower Stamp (Magazine Freebie)

Babbacombe Model Village

After a break for Christmas preparations and then Christmas itself, I'm back to scrapping again. I have umpteen projects on the go, but right now I'm in the mood to just scrap whatever photos catch my eye.

I keep seeing this quartet of photos when I am looking for singles or doubles for challenges and I feel the need to scrap them rather than keep passing over them. Four 4x6 photos take up a lot of the page, so I kept it really simple, just a border top and bottom and a couple of small embellishment clusters. There's no journalling as I can't actually remember much about our visit to the model village.

Supplies
Cardstock - Bazzill?
Paper - Crate Paper Little Sprout
Letters - American Crafts Remarks, Basic Grey Hopscotch, Lily Bee Double Dutch
Washi Tape - We R Memory Keepers
Butterflies - Prima
Pearls - from a Creative Craft World Kit
Ink - Ink It Up!

Tools
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch

Bondville Model Village

Last week's challenge at UKScrappers was set by the Dizzy Dots, who asked us to use one of three sketches, to use either warm or cold colours and to use some new stash. I chose Sketch 3 and warm colours to scrap a couple of photos of Bondville model village in Bridlington.

My newest stash is a kit containing Teresa Collins papers, which didn't fit the warm/cold criterion. However I did use some of the brown twine that came in the kit, in the places indicated by the rows of dots on the sketch. There's also a misting of paint along the diagonal, but it's blended into the background paper a bit too well.

Supplies

Paper - Bo Bunny Homespun, Pink Paislee Prairie Hill

Letters - American Crafts Dear Lizzy Thickers, Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type

Twine - unlabelled new stash

Paint - Folk Art

Tools

X-Cut Scalloped Border Punch

Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch

Dig It

A second page now from our day at Legoland - this one is based on another of Niki Rowland's 52 Layouts. Her page for Week 27 was a double with four portrait photos, but I've adapted it for a single page with two.

The space next to the title was just begging for some embellishment which I've tried to repeat in a larger size at the bottom right.

Supplies
Cardstock - Fancy Pants Kraft Kuts, DCWV
Paper - MME Howdy Doody, MME Lime Twist
Letters - American Crafts Dear Lizzy
Washi Tape - We R Memory Keepers
Brads - HOTP My Boy Kit
Ribbon - from Stash

Tools
Big Shot & Tickets Die
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch
X-Cut Small Circle Punch

Miniland

Still scrapping my way through this year, we went to Legoland in August. One area that I find fascinating is Miniland with its scale models of European and American landmarks. I picked my favourite five photos for this page and laid them out in a grid. I wanted to use some bright colours to allude to the bright colours of 'standard' lego bricks even though Miniworld uses a lot of neutral coloured bricks. I picked my background and added the stripy piece for my title and journalling. Then I added three small embellishment clusters to pick up on the colours from the stripy paper and spread them around the page a bit. Why butterflies for Legoland? Well, I had a new pack on my desk and they were the right colour...and it was summer...and do I have to have a reason?

Supplies
Paper - Sandylion Star Squares, HOTP My Boy Kit & Scraps
Letters - docrafts/Me To You
Butterflies - Prima

Tools
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch

Olympics For All

This is another case of duplicate scrapping - I made several pages about the marathon and a double for the triathlon for my Olympic and Paralympic album, but this was a major part of our summer and I wanted to include it in my 2012 album too. I picked one photo from each Olympic event for this page; my title and journalling refer to the fact that these events were free and open to everyone even if they didn't manage to get Olympic tickets in the ballot (which we didn't).

Supplies
Paper - K&Co Daydreams
Letters - Anita's Glitterations
Ink - Ink It Up!

In the Stocks

I've left a few gaps in my 2012 album, but I'm up to August now, and a day at Adventure Island in Southend. I have three photos of my daughter, niece and nephew posing in the stocks there, and I adapted another page from Niki Rowland's 52 Layouts series. Her page for Week 23 used a single portrait photo but it was easy to change it to a column of landscape photos in the same space. 

Supplies
Paper - K&Co, Pebbles Fresh Goods, Junkitz Extreme Boy
Letters - Star Form, Craft Creations
Washi Tape - Trimcraft
Ink - Ink It Up!

Tools
Fiskars Shape Cutter & Circles Template
Banana Frog Circus Stories Stamp (for Journalling Spot)
Brackets Template 

The Great Outdoors

When I made my last camping page, I gutted the background paper and I had a plan for where to use it this piece. It's taken a few weeks, but here it is, on a page from June this year. It really doesn't bother me that the paper is in two albums six years apart, and I don't suppose most people will notice as they look through them.

I cut up the camping paper to make it look as though it runs the full width of my page, and matted two 4x6 photos on top. I was going to journal in the bottom right hand corner, but the space was actually a bit small so it is hidden behind the photos and pulls out using the arrow at the top. The title is another rub-on from the same pack as the Happy Campers title that I used before.

Supplies
Paper - Jillibean Soup Macho Nacho, Karen Foster Campground
Rub-On Title - Royal & Langnickel 
Brads - from Stash
Ink - Ink It Up!

Pass It On

Back to 2012 (again) and the Olympic Torch Relay which came to us in July. You might remember a double page that I have already made for my Olympic and Paralympic album, but I decided to make a single page for my 2012 album too. I used the November/December sketch from Creative Craft World for my page, and lined up four photos with strips of the same paper I'm using throughout the other album.

Supplies

Cardstock - Black scraps (for Letters)

Paper - 24heures37 Eiffel Avenue, Papermania Portobello Road, MME Wild Asparagus

Journalling Spot - 24heures37 Eiffel Avenue

Ink - Ink It Up!

Tools

Big Shot & Alphabet Dies

David at 9 Months

After I made 'The Longest Name' last week, I went backwards on Niki Rowland's blog to look at Week 25 of her series "52 Layouts". This was another page that appealed to me, being quite close to my own style, and used three 4x6 portrait photos with border strips. 

I pulled three photos of my son as a baby, and a sheet of paper from Karen Foster that has rows of toys and that I have been hoarding for years, but no longer. It's better in my album than in my paper file.

Supplies
Cardstock - Bazzill Kraft (and red scraps)
Paper - Karen Foster Oh Boy Stripes
Letters - Basic Grey Hopscotch

Tools
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch

Afternoon Nap

I chose another old photo for this week's challenge at UK Scrappers which needed a small square photo. The challenge was set by heatherblossom and she asked us to use her favourite sketch, to use a colour combination of either purple/green or pink/brown and to use at least one brad and one blossom.

I chose pink and brown to go with a photo of my daughter as a baby, asleep in her pushchair. The sketch was rather fussy for me, so I used strips of paper behind the photo rather than the assortment of shapes in the sketch. I have my blossoms - a sprinkling of flower sequins across the diagonal - and just one brad next to the title circle. One thing is missing - my journalling - but I promise to add it later.

Supplies
Paper - Crate Paper Mia, Dovecraft Princess Fairytale, The Paper Loft Flip-Flops, Dovecraft Eastern Promise
Letters - Crate Paper Mia, JoAnn Craft Essentials
Brad - Pebbles New Addition
Ribbon & Sequins - from Stash

Tools
Fiskars Shape Cutter & Circles Template

Play Time

Another page from Penrhyn Castle or, to be more accurate, the adventure playground in the grounds of the castle. I wanted a more vibrant page than the last one, to contrast the sombre nature of the castle with the freedom of the children playing. I picked three photos, one of each child, and decided on uneven quadrants with a big title for my page design. I picked the stripy paper and tried to choose 4 different single-coloured papers that would match the stripes.

Supplies
Paper - Basic Grey Max & Whiskers, HOTP In the Kitchen, Dovecraft Far East, Pebbles New Addition, Daisy D's Butter Polka Dot (plus green from scraps)
Washi Tape - We R Memory Keepers
Letters - American Crafts Foam Thickers
Brads - from Stash

Penrhyn Castle

Back to our Welsh holiday this April, and a trio of photos of Penrhyn Castle. This 'castle' is really a country house built in the 1820s to look like a medieval castle. Internally it's a lot like other country houses (and no photography allowed) but the outside is certainly impressive, and in better condition than a lot of castles.

Supplies
Paper - Pink Paislee Parisian Anthology, First Edition Noir & Chic, K&Co Peabody
Vellum - Anita's
Letters - Paper Cellar

The Longest Name

I was blog-hopping last weekend when I came across a series of posts from Niki Rowland called 52 Layouts. This actually started last June and each week Niki posts step-by-step instructions for a layout. Week 26 was a single photo layout and I decided to join in.

Any regular reader of my blog will know that I can't keep on task for more than a few pages at a time. I'm leaving 2012 for this page and going back 10 years to another Welsh holiday. My photo is of the railway station at Llanfairpwllgwyngyll which was renamed to have the longest name in Great Britain (but I'm not typing it out in full!).

I adapted some of Niki's instructions to suit me and my page. Her tag has a second photo, but mine just has journalling, including the English translation of that very long Welsh name. Why not pop across to see her original layout and join in? 

Supplies
Paper - HOTP In the Kitchen, Sandylion Dots
Letters - KI Memories, Glitz Design
Chipboard Frame - Papermania
Ink - Papermania, Ink It Up!
Ribbon - from Stash
Gem - Dovecraft

Climbing the Walls

Another page from my day in Conwy in April. The town was founded by Edward I and he ordered fortifications to keep the Welsh out. Most of the walls and towers still stand, and it's possible to walk around them.

I scrapped four photos in a page loosely based on one from Shimelle Laine's Scrapbook Remix class, even though all the papers are from one manufacturer.

Supplies
Paper - K&Co Hannah, K&Co Life's Journey
Letters - Anita's Glitterations
Washi Tape - Trimcraft
Gems & Button - from Stash

Tools
Woodware Label & Flower Punch

Conwy Suspension Bridge

Another Welsh page, from Conwy on the north coast. I spent a day there while the others climbed Snowdon. It was really nice to potter around on my own, without having to accommodate anyone else. First stop was the suspension bridge built by Thomas Telford in 1826. It was the only road crossing of the river until 1958 but is now only open to pedestrians.

I chose three landscape photos, which I often stack in a column with borders on one or both sides. I recently saw an alternative arrangement somewhere online, which I decided to try here, though the rest of my page differs from that one. 

Supplies
Paper - K & Co Hannah
Letters - Anita's Glitterations
Gems - Doodelbug

Tools
Fiskars Bracket Border Punch
Big Shot & X-Cut Tickets Die
Woodware Flower Punch

Bodnant Garden

We spent a week in North Wales in April; I've scrapped some of the photos already but there are plenty more, and a lot of them will be double pages. This double has photos from the National Trust garden at Bodnant:

I arranged my photos in a large block with a wide border on the left and a small border on the right. However, the left border seemed a bit too wide, so I added a strip of washi tape and a line of embellishments.

I entered the left page into the November week 3 challenge at UK Scrappers, where we were asked to make our own flower embellishments, use scrunching and use punches and inking. I left out the scrunching, so I can only claim 20 out of 30 points for the challenge.

Supplies
Paper - K&Co Wedding, K&Co Life's Journey
Letters - Basic Grey Periphery
Ink, Washi Tape & Gems - Trimcraft

Tools
Fiskars Bracket Border Punch
Woodware Scalloped Circle, Label & Flower Punches 

Orienteering in the Snow

We're into the final month of the year now, so I will try to concentrate on 2012 pages. I've gone back to February for this one, which I keep looking at and leaving. I originally printed three photos; while these two have autumnal colours, the third was much greyer and I couldn't make them 'fit'. I decided to drop the third picture and used two with papers from one collection.

There's something bugging me about this page but I don't know what. It's not going to be a favourite, but it is another couple of photos scrapped and in the album.

Supplies
Paper - Basic Grey Plumeria
Letters - Doodlebug, October Afternoon

Seal Sanctuary

The November Week 4 challenge at UK Scrappers was set by the Bijoux Belles. It was in three parts as usual and featured the number nine - we were asked to use one of nine possible sketches, to use nine of something and to use an alliterative title.

I started from the title and flipped through my photos, finding some from the Seal Sanctuary in Cornwall this summer. A mundane title, but alliterative. I chose the best sketch for a multi-photo layout, and decided on brads for my nine of something. The photos are from the same day as my Penguin Bay page, so I used the same background paper and similar colours.

I bought quite a few sheets of the sand paper, originally intending them for beach photos, but I discovered that sandy photos and sandy paper don't work well together. This is the last sheet and, while I still like it, I am not sad to see the end of it (unless there are pieces in my scrap box).

Supplies
Paper - Sandylion Sand, MME Follow Your Heart (6x6 Pad), MME Miss Caroline
Letters - Pebbles
Brads - Papermania
Ink - Dovecraft

Tools
Big Shot & Alphabet Dies