The Adventure Starts Here

"Here" being Liverpool, the embarkation port for our cruise this summer. The cruise terminal is at the Pier Head, close to the Three Graces (the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool building).

I'm working with Heidi Swapp's No Limits collection (plus other co-ordinating papers) for this album and I have her wood veneer pieces, including the word 'Adventure' which I used in my title. The natural colour didn't show up very well against my paper so I coloured it with a black ink pad. The tag reads 'The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page' which was perfect for the start of our cruise.

I used the latest sketch from Scrap Much? for my page, but the page layout wasn't quite working with my title below the photo as pictured, and I wasted a lot of time fiddling around with it. Once I decided to move the title up above the photo it came together at last. 

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset, Bazzill
Paper - Heidi Swapp No Limits, Colorbok Travel
Vellum - Crate Paper
Tag & Tab - Colorset Travel
Globe - Echo Park
Wood Veneer - Heidi Swapp, Studio Calico
Ink - Docrafts, Ink It Up!
Mist - Docrafts

Tools
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch
Scrapberry's 'Around the World' Stamps
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch

Safety First

We've been home from our cruise to Canada for a few weeks now, and I'm ready to tackle the album. As I posted previously, I have a kit of papers ready for this album, based around Heidi Swapp's No Limits collection. 

I have already made my title page but I won't be working chronologically; I'll make random pages at first, and then later on I'll fill in the gaps.

This page does come from our first day, and first few hours, on board. There is always a safety drill before a ship can sail, where all the passengers gather at the emergency muster points and then go on deck up to the lifeboats. I actually remembered my camera this time, so I have the first photo of us in our lifejackets. Hopefully we will never need them for real.

I used a sketch from Let's Get Sketchy for my page. It was part of their August Week 5 challenge, which I knew I wouldn't have time to do, but I liked the sketch so I bookmarked it for later. 

I have a couple of stamp sets that I intend to use throughout the album. I've used a compass stamp twice on this page.

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset
Paper - Heidi Swapp No Limits, Colorbok Travel
Letters - American Crafts
Ink - Docrafts
Mist - Docrafts

Tools
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch
Scrapberry's 'Around the World' Compass Stamp

Tumbling Towers

I have another page from our visit to Lyme Park today. There were games laid out in the croquet lawn, so my daughter and I played Jenga and then quoits (though I only have photos of the first). I decided to stack my photos in a column to echo the pieces in the game, and used some Project Life cards for photo mats. I didn't have a suitable background paper, so I made my own from white cardstock and chalks. I journalled on another PL card, and tumbled my title down the page.

Supplies
Cardstock - Bazzill
Chalk - Readicut Crafts
Cards - Project Life Summer Edition
Enamel Dot - Teresa Collins
Letters - Docrafts
Ink - Docrafts

Tools
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch

Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt - The Finale

It's officially autumn now, and Rinda's Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt has come to an end. It's time for one last check-in and to share this year's pictures.

As always there was a good mixture of items that were easy to find, that had to be tracked down, or that relied on a modicum of luck.

My hunt has taken me far and wide, with photos from five different countries this year, and I managed to find all 21 items, plus one of the substitutes (although I didn't need it in the end). I've shared some of these pictures previously, and some are new; this is my final selection for 2015.


1. A bouquet of flowers
On board MS Black Watch - 21 August

2. An ornate door knocker
Corner Brook (Canada) - 23 August

3. A person walking a dog (or other animal)
Runnymede (England) - 13 June

4. People playing a board game or card game
28 July

5. Architectural columns
Royal Exchange, London - 8 June

6. A metal bridge
Victoria Park, London - 8 June

7. A turtle
On board MS Black Watch - 22 August

8. Someone "plugged in" to social media
Corner Brook (Canada) - 23 August 

9. A tent
Peak District (England) - 18 July

10. A college or university
Belfast (Northern Ireland) - 29 August

11. A cellular tower or television satellite dish
Killybegs (Republic of Ireland) - 15 August

12. A public restroom, bathroom, or toilet
Sydney (Canada) - 22 August

13. A merry-go-round or carousel
Saint-Pierre (France) - 21 August

14. A traffic signal
"Traffic Light Tree", Docklands, London - 18 September

15. A flag pole with at least three flags on it
Sydney (Canada) - 22 August

16. A panoramic view, taken while standing someplace high in the air
From Signal Hill, St John's (Canada) - 20 August

17. At least two people wearing matching outfits or uniforms
On board MS Black Watch - 28 August

18. An overloaded truck, car, bicycle or other vehicle
Mile End Park, London - 8 June

19. A ticket booth
Runnymede (England) - 13 June

20. A natural body of water
The Atlantic Ocean (and a whale) off the Canadian coast- 24 August

21. A photograph of you with a sign reading "2015 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt". 

Alternative A: People eating outside
Runnymede (England) - 13 June

Rinda is holding a party to celebrate the end of the Scavenger Hunt - a linky party - where we can all share our finds. Why not hop over and see how everyone else got on?

Typical Teenager?

Back in the summer, we spent a weekend camping in the Peak District, and my daughter and I visited Lyme Park, which doubled as Pemberley in the BBC's adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

We wandered through the grounds after visiting the house, and my daughter enjoyed climbing every suitable tree she could find. Obviously I took photos of her up each one, but at the top of this particular tree, she pulled out her phone and took a series of selfies. I envisioned scrapbooking my photo of her taking a selfie in the tree alongside her selfie photo, and last weekend I managed to raid her phone to retrieve her picture.

I used the latest sketch from Scrap Our Stash for my page. It came with the additional requirement of using three types of school supplies, which I've followed rather loosely; I have a paper clip, some sticky tape and notebook paper punched edges.

I used a leaf print paper from Basic Grey for my background, but although I bought several other sheets from the collection, most of them didn't actually work for this page. The arrow print is by Echo Park, and the colours are a perfect match.

Supplies
Paper - Basic Grey Mon Ami, Echo Park Boys Rule, My Mind's Eye Now & Then
Letters - October Afternoon
Stickers - American Crafts Shimelle True Stories, Anita's Glitterations
Paperclip - Doodlebug
Enamel Dots - Trimcraft, Simple Stories
Washi Tape - Unknown
Ink - Docrafts

Tools
American Crafts Notebook Border Punch

Scrapbooking with Shimelle

About six weeks ago, Shimelle Laine posted on Facebook that she would be teaching a Scrapbooking class at the Spiegeltent in Canary Wharf. This was one of a series of cultural and entertainment events taking place in a special tent in Canada Square Park.

I ummed and aahed about going. On the one hand, Shimelle herself said that "It is not an in-depth, serious and life-changing scrapbooking workshop for people with lots of scrapping experience! It's a fun taster session as part of a family fun event." On the other hand, it was a chance to attend a real class, to meet Shimelle herself and to scrap along with other people. Also, if this one proved popular then perhaps we might get that in-depth, serious and life-changing scrapbooking workshop in the future.

Anyway, I pondered whether to go or not, went away on holiday, came back, got stuck into overtime at work, and decided that I needed some 'me time'. I don't work on Fridays so I booked the workshop a few days in advance and tipped up to Canary Wharf at the allotted time yesterday. The tent itself was rather impressive, but also somewhat smaller than I was expecting.

There were about a dozen people there and we gathered around one big table to make mini-books with supplies mostly from Shimelle's True Stories Collection. The books were really quite simple, made with one sheet of 12x12 cardstock, scored and folded into six sections. Shimelle took photos of us all and printed out a selection for our books. We were supposed to have 45 minutes, and we stretched it to an hour before we had to pack away, but it really wasn't long enough. I finished my book last night, with a few extra photos and a few more supplies of my own.

Supplies from Shimelle
Kraft Cardstock
True Stories Paper, Die-Cuts and Stickers

Supplies Added by Me
Shimelle Paper and Rub-On
My Mind's Eye Chipboard Button
Elle's Studio Label Stickers
Paper Scraps

Tor Bagging

I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again, but I really don't enjoy making double pages. Occasionally I'll see a great sketch and really like the page that I make from it, but more often I have the photos first and can't find a sketch to suit them. I tend to put off making double pages and hope that a good sketch comes along, but it rarely happens.

I've kept fairly up-to-date with my 2015 scrapping, but there is a growing list of double pages that I need to make. I decided to tackle one of those last weekend, a set of photos from Dartmoor taken during our Easter holiday. 

I chose and printed my photos and then looked for a sketch, despite knowing that this is the wrong way to do it. I eventually settled on one from the archive at Stick It Down. My photos don't fit it, but I thought I could copy the paper layers behind them.

There is one thing that I wish I'd done differently on this page, and that's to have placed the title higher and journalled underneath it. The TOR letters are die-cut and glued down, and although I tried to unstick them they weren't going to budge. 

Supplies
Paper - Basic Grey Hipster, HOTP Ivory Sarabook, My Mind's Eye Now & Then
Letters - Basic Grey
Washi Tape - Efco
Epoxy Stickers - Ebay
Ink - Ranger

Tools
Big Shot, X-Cut Headliner Alphabet Die & Quickutz Tab Die
X-Cut Small Circle Die

The Morning After Gilwell 24

Gilwell 24 is an annual event for Explorer Scouts, 24 hours of activities at Gilwell Park, the former home of Robert Baden-Powell. Our daughter has just completed her first year as an Explorer Scout so this was her first time at Gilwell 24, and once she was home she crashed out while checking her laptop. The photos I took of her sleeping are all slightly out of focus so I printed three of them quite small (2" high) in a strip for this page.

A photo strip made me think of an old class of Shimelle's, & Now for Something Completely Different, which ran on UK Scrappers during 2012. I've used the May class as it stands twice before (Stealth and Powerlifting), but this time I played with the layout a bit more.

Supplies
Paper - Various My Mind's Eye including Cut & Paste, Bo Bunny Forever Young, Simple Stories Good Day Sunshine
Letters - American Crafts, October Afternoon
Stickers - Elle's Studio Hello 2015
Gems - KaiserCraft Droplets
Ink - Docrafts

Tools
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch

Hello Summer

I think that I must have been channelling my inner Shimelle Laine when I was scrapping this page in my head* last week, as she published a similar page before I finished getting mine down on paper. 

* Some days the only scrapping that I manage is in my head - thinking about layouts, choosing co-ordinating photos and papers, or working out my journalling in my head while my body is busy doing something else (especially during the commute to work). 

I started my page from the title piece - Hello Summer - that came with my May/June Quirky Kit. I wasn't sure how I was going to use it when I received it, but we went camping in the Peak District for the very first weekend of the school holidays. The weather wasn't great but this was the start of our summer; if I didn't use the title for this page then I don't know when I would have used it. Most of the other papers came from that kit too; my main addition was the yellow paper to match the title colour.

Supplies
Paper - Pink Paislee Citrus Bliss, Bo Bunny Forever Young, Doodlebug Petite Prints, My Mind's Eye Now and Then
Title - Quirky Kit Exclusive
Wood Veneer - Studio Calico, Creative Embellishments
Word Sticker - Elle's Studio
Washi Tape - The Range
Gems - Papermania
Ink - Docrafts
Mist - Docrafts

Tools
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch

From This Day Forward

Two of the challenge blogs that I follow have got together for a combined challenge this month. Stuck?! Sketches provided the sketch and Scrap Our Stash added a stash challenge to use items representing each of the letters in the word LAYERS. I used the word Love (on the hearts paper), an Ampersand, the Year, Enamel dots, Red cardstock and Stitching on my page. 

I moved everything on the sketch down the page (and omitted the bottom part) as my photos are taller than the ones in the sketch. I decided to machine-stitch the circles with gold blending filament which turned out to be a bit of a mistake. The thread is so fine and snags so easily that it kept breaking as I stitched.

My photos are from a cousin's wedding earlier this summer. The couple's colour theme for the day was red and cream, so I used those colours for my page, with the addition of gold. My background is a lacy/doily print, but the detail's been lost in the photo below.

Supplies
Cardstock - Papermania
Paper - Crate Paper Story Teller, Paper Adventures Love Hearts
Border - Bazzill Just the Edge
Letters - Anita's Glitterations
Thread - Kreinik
Mesh & Peel-Off Stickers - Unknown
Flower Stickers - Kit 'n' Kraft
Heart - Hobbycraft
Enamel Dots - Simple Stories
Ink - Docrafts

Tools
Sewing Machine
X-Cut Corner Punch

18 Bumps

I have a page from another birthday to share today; this time it's our son's eighteenth birthday, when the family gathered together and managed to give him the bumps.

I used this month's 'Scrappy Friends' sketch from Brenda for my page, though I rotated it to suit my landscape photos, moved some of the elements about and dropped the bunting. 

Supplies
Paper - Basic Grey Life of the Part, Chickaniddy Crafts Scrumptious, Craft Creations Happy Birthday
Letters - American Crafts
Ink - Docrafts

Tools
Big Shot & Ticket Stubs Die
Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch
Hobbycraft Star Punch
Woodware Tiny Star Punch

The Big 4-0

I have a page with a rare photo of my brother to share today. He normally shies away from the camera but couldn't do so on his fortieth birthday.

My page was inspired by the latest sketch at Sketch-n-Scrap, even if there's not much similarity between the two now. I was originally going to follow it more closely despite the change to a portrait photo, but once I chose my background paper I really didn't want to cover much of it up. I used a square of vellum in the centre to soften things around the photos, then layered strips of paper and washi tape over some of the printed strips on the paper.

Supplies
Paper - Crate Paper Craft Market, Crate Paper The Pier, Crate Paper Mia
Numbers - American Crafts
Letters - October Afternoon
Ticket - Fancy Pants
Enamel Dots - Doodlebug
Washi Tape - Unknown
Ink - Docrafts

Stick It Down - Alex

It's single page reveal day over Stick It Down, with a single photo sketch. When I first saw it, I thought of washi tape, then paper scraps, but ultimately I used 6x6 papers for my page.

The photo is a recent one of my nephew, all dressed up on the night of his Year 6 Prom. I picked the background paper first and then chose a 6x6 pad with greys to match it. I used the plainer papers so that the photo would stand out from them.

I outlined all the papers and the page itself with a black pen and tried to sprinkle mist along the diagonal. I say tried because mist has a mind of its own sometimes and mine is more widespread than I intended. 

Supplies
Paper - We R Memory Keepers Quoted, My Mind's Eye Quilting Bee
Letters - American Crafts Thickers
Gems - ZVA Creative
Mist - Docrafts, Cosmic Shimmer

Tools
Big Shot & X-Cut Tickets Die
Woodware Tiny Star Punch

Journey to Ireland & Canada

I published this month's Scraplift Challenge a couple of days ago, and I chose my Olympic Park layout because I wanted to do something similar as the title page for our holiday album this year. We cruised from Liverpool to Canada and Ireland this summer, and I wrote a post about my album preparations yesterday. 

My original page featured an A4 photo, but this one actually has no photo at all. I received a sheet of map paper in my March/April Quirky Kit which I thought would be perfect as part of the title page for this album and which I'm using instead of the photo. I've used tiny brads to mark our port of departure and our seven ports of call and added a ship to the Atlantic Ocean.

I'm basing this album around Heidi Swapp's No Limits collection from which I have the 12x12 paper pad and the wood veneer pieces. I decided that this would be my best chance to use the 'Journey' word so incorporated it in my title. I placed the rest of the wording on a tag to help it stand out from the map paper. It's made for a larger title cluster than on the original page, but there's nothing important on the map paper behind it, and this is a title page after all.

If you'd like to give my Scraplift Challenge a go, I'd love you to join in. Please post your version of my page somewhere online, link back to my blog and link up via the gadget in my sidebar.

Full rules are here, but briefly the challenge is for paper pages only and closes at 10pm (BST) on 30th September.

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset
Paper - Heidi Swapp No Limits, My Mind's Eye Hello World
Letters - American Crafts, Basic Grey, October Afternoon, Lily Bee Design, Jenni Bowlin
Wood Veneer - Heidi Swapp
Ship/Suitcase - from Stash
Brads - Papermania
Washi Tape
Ink - Docrafts

Tools
Fiskars Bracket Border Punch
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch
Stamp Connection Tag (used as a Template)
X-Cut Small Circle Punch
Office Hole Punch

Album Preparations

We've recently returned from a cruise, mostly to Canada, but with a couple of stops in Ireland (North and South). It was our fifth cruise and each one so far has its own album (or will have when I finish them).

I'm taking the same approach for this holiday's album as I took for my Harry Potter album and my London 2012 album. In both cases I assembled a core kit of papers and embellishments to use for the whole project, and if I used something else from my stash then that got added to my kit box too. This time I started from Heidi Swapp's No Limits paper pad which I picked up from Homesense back in March as I thought it would be perfect for this album.

I have the Heidi Swapp wood veneer pack too, and I've added co-ordinating papers from my stash, plus a 6x6 pad from Graphic 45 and an ivory Sarabook for some neutral papers. I have a couple of washi tapes picked out (and I can always add more) plus some travel embellishments, a pack of tags and some pearls and gems.

I've decided on grey for my background papers this time; I used cream for Harry Potter and kraft for London 2012 but grey seems most suitable with these papers. 

I've made the title page for my album (come back tomorrow for that one) but it will be a little while before I do any more. I've decided to get the photos professionally printed and it will take some time to sort through them all, pick the ones I want, edit them and choose the appropriate sizes for printing. I know it's a mammoth task, but I did this for Harry Potter and it paid off in the long run. Having a pile of printed photos to flip through is much more inspiring than scrolling through them on a computer screen.

September Scraplift Challenge

I generally choose the pages for my Scraplift Challenges when I actually find myself scraplifting a previous page and that's what happened this month. I wanted to scraplift 'Olympic Park' for the title page of a new album, so that's the page I'm picking for my challenge this month.

That large photo might look scary, but it could easily be replaced with a row of 4x6's or a collage of smaller photos.

I have TWO Guest Designers this month, following a request that I put out to the For the Love of Pretty Paper group on Facebook. First up is Laura who adapted the page for a smaller photo by placing it on a 12" mat.

My second guest is Becky, who rotated my page for a vertical photo from her holiday home.

I love both interpretations, and they show just how flexible scraplifting can be.

Now I challenge YOU to make your own version of my page, taking as much or as little from it as you like, so long as I can see a likeness between the two. Post it somewhere online and link up to the gadget in my sidebar. Paper pages only please; entries close at 10pm (BST) on 30 September.

I had fewer than five entries last month, so the prize will be rolling over to this month. There's a selection of 6x6 papers from Studio Calico plus assorted other pieces.

Full rules are linked in the sidebar.