Looking Forward to 2015

There are going to be a few changes around here for next year, and I'm excited about what's to come in 2015. 

Firstly, as a member of the new Design Team at Stick It Down, I'll be sharing their sketches and the reveals of my pages as and when they go live. This will be the first of January, then the fifth of each month until June. 

Secondly, I love scraplifting. I often start a new page by scraplifting my own pages, or other people's pages, and the new ones don't necessarily look much like the originals by the time I've finished. Scraplifting challenges don't come up very often, so I've decided to run my own. I've been fortunate enough to win a few times on others' blogs and I love that winning feeling, so I will be offering prizes! Please come back on Friday for the first challenge.

Thirdly, a change that you probably won't even notice. I've always scheduled my posts for the evenings and I'm changing that to the early mornings. This is partly to fit in with the schedule at Stick It Down, but also because I love to start the day with reading other peoples' blogs over a cup of coffee, so posting mine earlier makes sense. 

Looking Back at 2014

I thought I'd do an end-of-the-year post with the top pages from 2014, as 'voted' by you. I've trawled through my blog stats and these are the ten pages with the most views. Obviously, there's some bias - if I enter a page in multiple challenges than it will generate a lot of views and January pages have had longer to collect views than December pages have had. Nevertheless, some of my favourite pages are in the list and it's been interesting to see which pages are most popular. You can click on any page title to re-visit the original post.

10. Bundle

9. Xmas 2002

8. The Smallest House

7. Space Mountain

6. Creepy Crawly

5. Meet the Characters

4. Rodelbahn

3. Joust

2. Hello Christmas

1. Wonderful Day

Thanks for joining me on this look back at the past year. Please come back tomorrow when I'll be sharing my first page as part of the new Design Team at Stick It Down.

Stick It Down - Dobby

It's the fifth Tuesday of the month which is traditionally a 'You Pick the Sketch' challenge over at Stick It Down. Although we don't officially start our DT duties for another few days, Darcy invited the new team members to join in.

I've picked a single photo sketch from November and turned it into a two photo page about Dobby the house elf from Harry Potter. The left photo is the concept artwork and the right photo is one of the models they worked with; Dobby in the films was completely computer-generated.

I'll be back in a couple of days with the January sketch, as we switch from weekly to monthly for the new year.

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset, Bo Bunny
Paper - October Afternoon Witch Hazel, OA Sidewalks
Vellum - Crate Paper Boys Rule
Doily - Dovecraft
Letters - American Crafts Thickers
Washi Tape - OA Woodland Park
Ink - Docrafts
Mist - Docrafts
Gems - Mark Richards

Tools
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch
Fiskars Shape Cutter & Circle Template
Woodware Tiny Star Punch

Thoughts on "52 Walks" and the Jubilee Greenway

52 Walks was a project that I started at the beginning of the year in order to get more exercise, in a greater variety of places. I was planning to scrap all the walks in 6x6 format, and I thought that making the scrapbook would keep me on course with the walking, and it worked for a couple of months.

However, as the year went by, I was doing the walks for the sake of the walks themselves; for fresh air and exercise, to explore new places, for the peace and solitude, for the freedom to please myself for a few hours.

The scrapbook fell by the wayside, but I do have the photos if I choose to go back and complete it. However the project achieved its aim of making me more active, and walking is now a bigger part of my life than it was a year ago, so much so that I am planning a new adventure.

The Jubilee Greenway was devised in 2012 to celebrate both the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics. It runs for 60km (one for each year of the Queen's reign) around London, linking the major venues used for the Olympic Games. The walk is divided into 10 sections, and I thought that they would be easy to pick off one-by-one, but looking closer I discovered a few flaws with that idea.

• I will be using public transport, and the 'official' sections don't start and finish at stations. It's quite annoying to read the instructions 'retrace your steps...' at the end of a section.
• 60km. 10 sectors. So they should all be around 6km, shouldn't they? You'd have thought so, but they aren't. The shortest official section is 3.5km (2.2 miles) which would mean spending longer travelling to and from the walk than actually walking; the longest is 10km (6.2 miles) which would be a struggle, especially when you take into account that I'd have to walk to/from the stations on top of that.
• Sections 1-9 run in a full 'circle' and then there's section 10 which is a spur that runs from the end of 3/start of 4 along the Regent's Canal to Limehouse.

So, I spent this morning with all official route section guides (and a tube map) laid out on the dining room table, planning my own version of the Jubilee Greenway walk.

I wanted:

• 8-10 roughly equal length walks
• each sector to start and finish at convenient stations
• to start or finish the whole walk at the end of the spur to Limehouse
• to walk in a clockwise direction as it's the way that the guide is written
• to walk the length of the Regent's Canal in consecutive sections

I initially considered 8 sections of around 8km (5 miles) each but I soon realised that I want to be able to explore places en route such as the Olympic Park at Stratford and the Royal Observatory at Greenwich without exerting myself too much. Five miles is about my limit for a comfortable walk (though I'm hoping to extend that over time) so I went for 10 sections in the end. 

I'll be starting from Victoria Park near Bethnal Green tube, walking east via Stratford and Plaistow to cross the Thames at Woolwich. Then I'll follow the river west through Greenwich and Rotherhithe along the South Bank to Westminster. There I'll head through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens to Paddington where I'll pick up the Regent's Canal at Little Venice and follow it past my start point and down to the Limehouse Basin.

Now I'm just hoping for some decent weather so I can make a start.

Wish me luck!

Welcome to Hogwarts

The latest team scraplifting game at Scrap Whispers came to an end recently, and all three teams' pages have now been revealed. I was 4th to play on Georgina's team and when I received the page to scraplift, it was rather similar to one that I had in my head for my Harry Potter Studio Tour album.

This page is one of my sub-section header pages and will be followed by all the sets that were on display from Hogwarts. You've seen most of those pages already - the Great Hall, the Gryffindor Common Room, Dumbledore's Office, the Boys' Dormitory and the Potions Classroom. The photo is from the beginning of the tour; we watched an introductory film, and then the screen lifted and we entered the Great Hall through these doors.

Angie's page that I was scraplifting has a single photo with several layers of patterned paper behind it, and I was more than happy to do the same thing, though I made the angles smaller in my version. Her word stickers became my file tab, and her rosettes turned into stamped circles, which I balanced with more circles on the opposite corner. I moved my title down and finished with a smattering of stars. 

You can see the three chains of scraplifted pages on the Scrap Whispers blog: Georgina's team; Rosey's team; Nilsa's team.

Supplies

Cardstock - Colorset

Paper - October Afternoon Witch Hazel, OA 9 to 5

Vellum - My Mind's Eye Necesseties

Letters - American Crafts Thickers, OA Witch Hazel

Die Cut - OA Witch Hazel

Wood Veneer Stars - Studio Calico

Photo Turn - 7Gypsies

Gem - Dovecraft

Twine - Unknown

Staples - Making Memories

Mist - Docrafts

Ink - Docrafts

Tools

Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch

Lid (used as a Stamp)

The Order of the Phoenix

I have a pile of two-photo pages to do for my Harry Potter Studio Tour album, so I was pleased to see a two-photo sketch at Let's Get Sketchy last week. 

I picked two of my smaller photos, the costumes for some of the Order of the Phoenix members and set to work. I did jiggle some of the elements about, adding an extra vertical paper, dropping the banner and moving my title to run around the photo block.

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset, Bazzill
Paper - October Afternoon Witch Hazel, OA Sidewalks, OA 5 & Dime, First Edition Noir et Chic
Letters - Anita's Glitterations
Wood Veneer Stars - Studio Calico
Brad - OA Witch Hazel
Ink - Docrafts
Mist - Docrafts

Tools
Fiskars Shape Cutter & Circle Template

Merry Christmas

I haven't done much Christmas crafting here this year, but I did make this banner three years ago as part of a Christmas Crafting Weekend with Shimelle Laine. After a few minor repairs it is once again hanging above our fireplace this Christmas. I find it amazing that every November the original post for this garland starts creeping up the list of 'most page views this month' on my blog; in fact, it currently has the most views of all time.

Quidditch

It's been a while since I did a challenge page, as I'm concentrating on finishing my Harry Potter album. I liked this one at Stuck?! Sketches at the beginning of the month, but I didn't think I had Harry Potter pictures to fit to it. Roll on a few weeks, and I realised that I could adapt it to these photos of the Quidditch costumes and balls on the Studio Tour. They are different sizes and orientations, but they fill a broadly similar space on the page. I just extended my paper panels to fill the full width of the page.

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset, Bo Bunny, Bazzill
Paper - October Afternoon Witch Hazel, OA Road Map, OA Cakewalk
Vellum - My Mind's Eye
Letters - OA Daily Flash
Wood Veneer Stars - Studio Calico
Brad - OA Witch Hazel
Ink - Docrafts
Mist - Docrafts

Tools
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch
Big Shot & Concentric Circles Die
Lid (used as a Stamp)

Props

This page will be one of the sub-section header pages in my Harry Potter Studio Tour album, and has photos of three of the larger props from the films - the door to the Chamber of Secrets, the pendulum from the Clock Tower and the armillary sphere from the Astronomy Tower.

I was looking for a specific page that I wanted to scraplift here, when I came across another one, and decided to pick it instead. My photo dimensions are slightly different here from the original page (Chelmorton), but both sets stack up to 12" high with 24 1" punched squares in two columns. This is a great design for using up loads of scraps. I used eyelets among the squares on my original page, but this time it's brads.

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset
Paper - OA Witch Hazel, OA 5 & Dime, OA Holiday Style, OA 9 to 5, OA Cakewalk
Letters - American Crafts Thickers
Brads - Papermania
Washi Tape - OA Woodland Park
Twine - Unknown
Ink - Docrafts
Mist - Docrafts

Tools
Woodware Square Punch

Slug & Jiggers

It took me quite a while of juggling papers and photos for this page before I settled on a layout. It's of Slug & Jiggers, one of the apothecaries in Diagon Alley on the Harry Potter Studio Tour. I've committed to putting the shop names on these tags, and I had two different-sized landscape photos; I just couldn't fit the three things together nicely until I hit on this diagonal layout.

I have several more pages to do, with similar photos (one larger and one smaller, both landscape) and I can feel that they are going to be troublesome. I'm hoping that some interesting sketches pop up in the  blogs that I follow.

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset, Bazzill
Paper - October Afternoon Witch Hazel
Lettters - OA Witch Hazel
Washi Tape - The Range
Mist - Docrafts
Ink - Docrafts

Tools
Big Shot & Tag Die
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch
Hobbycraft Star Punch

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

This is the last double page that I need to do for my Harry Potter Studio Tour album, and I'm glad to have it done as I normally put off doing doubles for as long as possible. 

This was the finale of the tour - the 1:24 scale model of Hogwarts Castle that was used for filming exterior shots of the school. It's an intricate work of art, with all the buildings, towers, courtyards and greenhouses laid out before us.

I used the September double page sketch from Stick It Down for my page. While I stuck fairly close to the right hand side of the sketch, I did play with the left hand side, where I wanted a larger photo of the castle.

Terrible photo - I'll take another one when we have decent daylight.

There's no embellishment yet, and I'm not sure whether the page really needs any. I may just scatter a few wood veneer stars around. I will be revisting all my pages before I finish off the album, and adding extras to those pages that need them.

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset, Bazzill
Paper - October Afternoon Witch Hazel, Bazzill Basics
Letters - American Crafts Thickers, OA Witch Hazel
Rub-Ons - Basic Grey
Glitter Tape - Making Memories
Ink - Docrafts
Mist - Docrafts

School Robes

These photos sort of go with the last page, because they were all taken in the Great Hall set at the Harry Potter Studio tour, but they will actually be going in the costumes sub-section of my album. I have three photos of the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin school uniforms; somehow I missed out Ravenclaw. I assume that Ravenclaw robes were on display, but I don't remember seeing them.

It's a simple layout, with the three photos staggered in a column, one that I have used before and will, no doubt, use again. I've added a small, circular embellishment cluster to each photo, and copied it across to the opposite side of the page, next to the title.

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset
Paper - October Afternoon Witch Hazel, OA Holiday Style
Letters - Anita's Glitterations
Washi Tape - OA Woodland Park
Label Stickers - Tim Holtz Idea-Ology
Glitter Tape - Making Memories
Gems - ZVA Creative
Rub-On - Basic Grey
Mist - Docrafts
Ink - Docrafts

Tools
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch

The Great Hall

Another double page for you today. This is the Great Hall set from the Harry Potter Studio Tour. I took loads of photos in the hall, but many of them were of the staff and pupils' costumes so they will appear on other pages. This turned into rather a plain and simple page, and I may well add more to it before I finish the album.

I've had that piece of chipboard sat on my desk for a while now, and I decided to use it here as it fits between the vertical papers. Not sure whether it was the right decision, but what's done is done.

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset
Paper - October Afternoon Witch Hazel, OA 5 & Dime, OA Road Map
Doilies - Dovecraft
Letters - American Crafts Thickers
Chipboard - Papermania
Die-Cuts - OA Witch Hazel
Gems - Mark Richards
Mist - Docrafts
Ink - Docrafts

Tools
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch

Potions Classroom

I've had the second batch of Harry Potter Studio Tour photos printed now (with a Black Friday deal from Photobox) and I've decided to tackle the double pages while I still have enough large pieces of paper left.

First up is the Potions Classroom, and I've been holding on to two 8x8 sheets of ledger paper for this page. They are from October Afternoon's Witch Hazel collection and are headed Date, Quantity, Item No, Potion Ingredients, Magical Implements. Perfect for this page!

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset, Papermania
Paper - October Afternoon Witch Hazel
Vellum - Crate Paper Boys Rule
Letters - OA Witch Hazel
Ink - Docrafts
Mist - Docrafts

Tools
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch

Hogwarts Bridge

This page is quite similar to the last one, with machine stitching between irregular quadrants. However, since I am creating pages in no particular order, they won't actually be near each other in my completed album, and I like the sense of continuity that repeating things brings.

It's a minimal-paper page as I wanted to use three photos of Hogwarts Bridge from the Harry Potter Studio Tour and these took up a lot of the space on my page. I just filled in the edges with three different orange patterned papers, and made sure my embellishments overlapped the outside edges to break up any boxiness.

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset
Paper - October Afternoon Witch Hazel, OA 5 & Dime
Label Stickers - Tim Holtz Idea-ology
Letters - OA Daily Flash
Washi Tape - OA Woodland Park
Gems - The Hobby House
Ink - Docrafts
Mist - Docrafts

Tools
Fiskars Shape Cutter & Circles Template
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch
X-Cut Small Circle Punch

Flourish & Blotts

I have another Diagon Alley page for you today, with photos from Flourish & Blotts, the book shop. With three photos and a title tag, I decided on a page of uneven quadrants, and machine-stitched dividing lines between the four areas. I matted two of the photos on plain cardstock and placed them diagonally opposite each other, and used more layers and embellishments in the other two sections. I finished off with multi-coloured strips at the top and bottom of the page to tie the colours together.

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset, Bazzill
Paper - October Afternoon Witch Hazel
Letters - OA Witch Hazel
Die Cuts - OA Witch Hazel
Brads - OA Witch Hazel
Gems - ZVA Creative
Mist - Docrafts
Ink - Docrafts

Tools
Sewing Machine
Big Shot & Tag Die
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch
Fiskars Shape Cutter & Circles Template
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch
X-Cut Small Circle Punch

The Whomping Willow

No, not the real one, but the concept artwork from the Harry Potter Studio Tour. 

I scrapped the photo using the current sketch from Let's Get Sketchy. I was quite pleased to see the diagonal design of this sketch, as so far I only have one similar page in this album (Hot off the Press) and I do like to repeat things for a sense of continuity. My only dilemma was whether to cut the polka dot paper from corner to corner, or to follow the line of dots in the pattern.

I'm running low on papers from my original kit now, so I've pulled in a few more from my stash. One of them is this polka dot paper from Bazzill. It's a bit more distressed than the October Afternoon papers that I have been using, but I think they will work together. A distinct advantage of doing my pages in random order is that I can still spread this paper throughout the album, it won't be making a sudden appearance part way through.

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset, DCWV
Paper - October Afternoon Witch Hazel, Bazzill Basics
Vellum - MME Necessities
Letters - OA Daily Flash, Tim Holtz Idea-Ology
Doily - Dovecraft
Die-Cut - OA Witch Hazel
Wood Veneer Stars - Studio Calico
Mist - Docrafts
Ink - Docrafts

Tools
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

Glitter Girl / Shimelle Laine

I'm continuing with Diagon Alley pages from the Harry Potter Studio Tour with a page for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, Fred and George's joke shop. I initially had two 4x6 photos, one portrait and one landscape, and I started by scraplifting a page from Glitter Girl (her two photo page in Adventure 65) but I cut my landscape photo down to a square once I got started.

I didn't have enough papers left in my kit to copy Glitter Girl's large boxes of paper, but I got a similar effect by machine-stitching around my page. I also wrote a list of Weasleys' products along the stitched lines.

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset, Bazzill
Paper - October Afternoon Witch Hazel, OA 9 to 5, OA Midway
Letters - OA Witch Hazel
Washi Tape - Pink Paislee
Glitter Tape - Making Memories
Brads - Papermania
Ink - Docrafts
Mist - Docrafts

Tools
Big Shot & Tag Die
Sewing Machine
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch
X-Cut Small Circle Punch
Hobbycraft Star Punch
Woodware Tiny Star Punch

Stick It Down Design Team

I am very proud and excited to announce that I will be joining the new Design Team at Stick It Down next month. They offer sketches for single pages, double pages and cards, and I'll be on the single page team. 

The term officially begins on 1 January, but I'll be joining in with the final challenge of this year on 30 December. Please come back then to see my first page. Will it be Harry Potter themed? You'll have to wait and see!

In the meantime, please hop over to Stick It Down and meet the rest of the new team.

Ollivanders

I'm returning to shop pages for my Harry Potter album now, in particular Ollivanders, the wand shop. I've been using quotes from the books on my pages, and going back to The Philosophers Stone, the section where Harry gets his wand is rather long. I have cut it down, but the journalling still makes up a large part of my page. I've tried to minimise its visual impact by placing it directly on the background cardstock, which is the same colour, and layering my photos over the top.

Those photos are the front of the shop, plus close-ups of the windows, contrasting the single wand on display on the lower window with the boxes of wands piled high in the upper windows.

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset, DCWV
Paper - October Afternoon Witch Hazel, OA Sidewalks, OA Holiday Style
Vellum - MME Necessities
Doily - Dovecraft
Washi Tape - OA Woodland Park
Letters - OA Witch Hazel, Tim Holtz Idea-Ology
Wood Veneer Stars - Studio Calico
Ink - Docrafts
Mist - Docrafts

Tools
Big Shot & Tag Die
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch