Ready & Waiting

Having now finished the Casablancan section of my cruise album, I'm back with a page from the following day as we approached Cádiz. Our day there was a very special one, only the second time that all four ships of the Fred.Olsen fleet have been in the same port at the same time. The photos show Boudicca and Braemar already docked, with Black Watch manoeuvring ahead of us to moor between them.

I used a sketch from Let's Get Sketchy, which I rotated in part. My photos are 4x6 landscapes so I rotated those on the sketch, but I kept the strips behind them as vertical. With my  photo block being taller, I extended the strips to the full height of the page and rotated the ones at the top/bottom to become just one on the right which repeats the stripes in my paper layers on the left. There wasn't really room for my title at the bottom of the page, so I moved it to the right, and added a journalling card below it as there was no space indicated for journalling on the sketch.

I'm also entering my page into this month's moodboard-inspired challenge at Hey Little Magpie. I'm not normally a fan of moodboards but the colours in this one match with those of my cruise album and I also copied the arrow shape from the top of the board onto my journalling card. 

Finally, the page fits perfectly into the latest Alpha Relay challenge at For the Love of Pretty Paper, where it's 'N is for Night' this week.

Supplies
Paper - Basic Grey B Side, Simple Stories Post, One CanoeTwo Creekside
Journalling Card - Project Life
Puffy Stars - Pinkfresh Studio
Enamel Dots - Doodlebug
Washi Tape - Little B
Ink - Memento
Mist - Docrafts

Tools
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch
Big Shot & Little B Arrows Dies

Inner City

This is the last of my pages from Casablanca in both senses of the word, the last one to be made and the last page in this section of the album before we moved on to Cádiz the next day. 

It's a double from the old medina, the original walled city, based on this month's double sketch from Stick It Down. I had more landscape photos than portrait so I cropped some to squares and rearranged them compared to the sketch, but my paper layers are almost the same.

The photos on the left of the page are the quiet residential streets of the medina, while those on the right show the colours and bustle of the market streets.

This was one of those pages where I tried multiple selections of papers with the photographs but nothing looked quite right. The colours in the market really didn't suit the palette that I'd chosen for the album, so eventually I pulled in a couple of ancient papers from my stash for the background, though the rest of them did come from my album kit. 

Supplies
Cardstock - Bazzill
Paper - Bo Bunny Day Dream, Bo Bunny Early Bird, Prima Zella Teal, Kaisercraft Finders Keepers, Studio Calico, 
      My Mind's Eye Just Splendid, American Crafts/Amy Tangerine Better Together
Letters - October Afternoon
Stickers - OneCanoeTwo
Washi Tape - Tesco, Pretty My Page
Gems - Simply Creative
Ink - Memento
Mist - Mister Huey's

Tools
Big Shot
Provocraft Alphabet Dies
X-Cut Hexagon Die
Spellbinders Circle Die
X-Cut Travel Dies

Local Colour

When we were exploring Casablanca, I was struck by the street art on some of the apartment buildings. These artworks were so detailed and totally unexpected. I have four photos to scrap, and printed them at 4x6 even though that meant that they would take up the majority of my page. I could have gone smaller, but these were huge paintings and I didn't want to lose the impact of their size.

I trimmed each photo slightly so that I could mat them, used a border punch on one side of that mat, and ran a washi strip down the other side. I wanted a subtle background paper that wouldn't compete with the photos and was happy to find this soft grey with spots in colours that match the washi people.

Supplies
Paper - American Crafts/Dear Lizzy Serendipity, Pink Paislee Atlas, Crate Paper Snow and Cocoa
Letters - Pebbles
Washi Strip - Crate Paper/Paige Evans Turn the Page
Die Cut - Crate Paper/Paige Evans Turn the Page
Sticker - American Crafts/Dear Lizzy Lovely Day
Enamel Dots - Freckled Fawn, Pretty My Page
Ink - Memento

Tools
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch
Fiskars Shape Cutter & Circles Template

Breathtaking

This is the last of four pages from the King Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca; I think four is enough though there are still some photos that I would have liked to include. This page has three general photos of the interior of the mosque, two of the nave and one of the qibla wall (which indicates the direction of Mecca) and it'll sit opposite a divided page with close-ups of the decorative work. 

I used mostly 6x6 papers on my other mosque pages so I needed to incorporate them again here, which I did via a row of 2x2 squares which almost span the width of the page. Initially I placed that row at the foot of the page below the photos, but then I realised that the placement would push my journalling up to the empty space at the top of the page so I swapped them over. I kept a small border around the edges and rounded the corners to repeat these things from the first mosque page that I made (Be Proud).

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset
Paper - Dovecraft Fairytale Princess 6x6, Simple Stories Sunshine & Happiness
Letters - American Crafts
Word Stickers - Tim Holtz
Washi Tape - Unknown
Enamel Dots - Stampin' Up!
Gems - Simply Creative
Ink - Memento

Tools
Big Shot & Dovecraft Label Die
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch
Craft Creative Flower Punch
X-Cut Corner Punch

Come Inside

The last page that I shared with you was a divided one, with photos of the outside of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. Turning over, I'm filling the other side with pictures from the inside of the mosque. This page focuses on the individual features (doors, ceiling etc) and the very detailed craftsmanship and it will sit opposite a 12x12 with wider views of the prayer hall.

I've repeated the same 6x6 papers in the 4x6 pockets as I used previously, and also repeated the spotty paper and silver letters in the 2x12 title section. There's only a little embellishment, but that too repeats the shapes and motifs used previously.

Supplies
Paper - Dovecraft Fairytale Princess 6x6, OneCanoeTwo Twilight, Crate Paper Snow and Cocoa
Letters - Echo Park This & That 
Stickers - Freckled Fawn
Enamel Shapes - Freckled Fawn
Star Gems - Simply Creative
Pearls - ScrapBerry's
Ink - Memento

Tools
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch
X-Cut Circle Punch

Big Shot, Spellbinders Circle Die & Dovecraft Label Die

Hassan II Mosque

When I was planning this cruise album,  I wasn't sure whether it would be all 12x12 pages, or if I'd be including divided pages too. Having come home and looked through all the photos, there are definitely places that we visited that would benefit from the use of divided pages for the details alongside 12x12 pages for the overview. The first of these places is the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca; I scrapped a couple of photos of the whole mosque on my last page and this one will sit opposite it.

Rather than completely fill the pockets with 4x6 photos, I've decided to print them slightly smaller and mat them on patterned paper. I used the same three 6x6 papers as on the opposite page plus two more from the same pack.

Filling the back of a divided page is often an issue, and is one reason why I was undecided about using them, but next up in this album will be the interior of the mosque and I have plenty more photos for that. 

Supplies
Paper - Dovecraft Fairytale Princess 6x6, OneCanoeTwo Twilight, Simple Stories Sunshine & Happiness
Letters - Echo Park This & That
Stickers - Freckled Fawn
Star Gems - Simply Creative
Pearls - ScrapBerry's
Ink - Memento

Tools
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch
Big Shot, Dovecraft Label Die & X-Cut Bunting Die
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch
Card Factory Roller Stamp

Be Proud

Back to my holiday album now, and I was scrapping photos from Casablanca. The main sight of the city is the Hassan II Mosque, and we headed there first. It'll take more than one page of the album to do it justice so this is just the first with a couple of photos of the whole mosque from the outside. 

I was pondering page design when one of the members of For the Love of Pretty Paper shared a couple of personal challenges recently. One of these was to use four patterned papers on a page and several of us joined in with her. Four papers hinted at quadrants and although I repeated one paper on the diagonal I do have six different papers on the page.

My title may seem a bit strange, but it comes from King Hassan II who said that he wanted Casablanca to be endowed with a large, fine building of which it can be proud until the end of time. The mosque that was named for him is certainly that.

Supplies
Cardstock - Colorset, DCWV
Paper - Dovecraft Princess Fairytale, Simple Stories Sunshine & Happiness
Letters - American Crafts
Stickers - OneCanoeTwo, Freckled Fawn, Tim Holtz
Star Gems - Simply Creative
Pearls - ScrapBerry's
Ink - Memento
Mist - Mister Huey's

Tools
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch
X-Cut Corner Punch
Big Shot & Dovecraft Label Die
Card Factory Roller Stamp
American Crafts/Shimelle Word Stamp

Parkrun - September

More parkrun, before I get back to those holiday photos. I've been referring to various places on the course by name in my journalling so I decided that I should include a map of the course in my album, partly so that other people can make sense of what I am talking about, and partly as a reminder to myself in future years, especially if the course changes or I stop running here. The aeriel photo came from the parkrun website and I added numbers to the course and a key at the side. Very simple, but that is my intention with this album.

I had included the first run of September on my August page and then went on holiday for two weeks, so I only have two weeks of run photos to share this time. I wasn't sure how well I would go after my break, but I ran the furthest so far (about 3k) on my first week back, and then ran the whole 5k without stopping the following week.

From here on, I think my album will get even simpler. I've met my goal of exercising regularly, I've run the whole 5k sooner than I expected, and parkrun is now a staple part of my Saturday mornings. Future pages will need less narrative, but I'll continue with the photos and tickets for the rest of the year. I just need to keep on running every week.

Make a Wish

I'd thought that I'd be scrapping holiday photos for weeks yet, but this sketch from Lottie Loves Paper popped up on my Facebook wall and I had the perfect non-holiday photos to go with it so I diverted.

My mother-in-law recently turned 70 and her sons organised a surprise birthday lunch for her. I only took a few photos, and this one of her blowing out the candles on her cake came out really well.

I started my page by spattering it with four colours of mist which I tried to keep in a central band. Then I sketched and stitched three lines across the page before adding the photos. I copied the stamped butterflies directly from the sketch and then scattered punched flowers and sequins along the stitched lines.

I'm not a great lover of sequins, though they do work well on this page, so I'm also adding this page to one of the Alpha Relay challenges in For the Love of Pretty Paper. S is for Sequins was one of earlier weeks of the relay but I didn't do it at the time and it would be nice to do them all eventually. 

Supplies
Cardstock - Bazzill, Papermania
Paper - Pink Paislee Moonstruck
Letters - Basic Grey
Doily & Sequins - from Advent Swap
Embroidery Thread - DMC
Gems - Cloud 9
Ink - Memento
Mist - Mister Huey's, Cosmic Shimmer, Heidi Swapp, Docrafts

Tools
Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch
Craft Creative Flower Punch
Dovecraft Butterfly Stamp

Parkrun - August/September

Time is getting away from me again. We're already in October and I've yet to share my Parkrun pages for August. I'm still running each week (except for my holiday weeks when it wasn't possible) and there were four Saturdays in August. I decided to continue with a column for each week, as I did in July, but to push  them closer together to get three runs on each 8x8 page. So, my left page has the first three runs of August

and my right page has the final run in August, the first one of September (where I volunteered as tail walker*) and a couple of holiday photos from the weeks I missed. The first one we were in Málaga and I walked eight miles around the city; the second one we were at sea and I joined the parkrunners in spirit, by walking twelve and a half laps of the promenade deck at 9am.

*The tail walker is always last, making sure that everyone gets round safely, and at our course they also collect up the cones, dismantling the course as they go.