Nomads on Tour

Things have been quiet around here as we've been away on a cruise round the Mediterranean, and then I had to create something to share with you. I'm itching to make a start on my cruise scrapbook but it will have to wait as I have a few things I want to do first, such as finishing my 2023 album and bringing both my parkrun album and my 2024 album up to date.

I'm starting with 2024 and a double page for a weekend in Wales last month. This was organised by a member of Thurrock Nomads, our local running group, with the aim of doing a parkrun on Saturday morning followed by a walk up Pen y Fan in the afternoon. I made both halves of the page using Jenny Wren cut-files from Twilight Crafts as my DT projects this month, with Picture Wheel on the left and Road Sign 2 on the right.

(These are pages 81 & 82 for my page count this year.)

Supplies

Paper - Make & Create Moments, My Mind's Eye Vintage Charm, Make & Create Grunge Dreams, My Mind's Eye Necessities

Letters - American Crafts, Paige Evans

Stickers - OneCanoeTwo, Paige Evans, Pretty Little Studio, 49 & Market

Die-Cuts - OneCanoeTwo

Enamel Dots - Altenew, Maggie Holmes

Disclosure - I receive digital cut-files free of charge from Twilight Crafts as part of my DT role. All other supplies are my own.

Chepstow Castle

I'm filling in another gap in my 2016 album today, with a page from our holiday in Wales at Easter. We visited Chepstow Castle one afternoon, and I had sufficient decent photos to need a double page.

It's a rough scraplift of my 'Lift Me Up' page from last year, mostly flipped from left to right, but with some of the page elements moved around to suit my new set of photos.

Supplies
Paper - We R Memory Keepers Free Spirit
Glitter Tape - Unknown
Pearls - Craft for Occasions, The Hobby House
Ink - Ranger
Mist - Docrafts

Tools
Silhouette Portrait
Fiskars Bracket Border Punch
Woodware Postage Stamp Punch
Hobbycraft Star Punch
Big Shot & Spellbinders Circle Die

Twmpa et al.

I'm filling in another gap in my 2016 album today; we holidayed in Wales last Easter where my husband and some friends walked up Twmpa (or Lord Hereford's Knob) in the Black Mountains. The 'et al' in my page title is for the two other peaks that they bagged, though Twmpa was the main objective that day.

I had four photos that I wanted to use, and I printed one of Twmpa at A4 on cardstock rather than photo paper so that I could use it as part of the page background. I've done this a few times before; printing on cardstock gives the photo a much softer look and it doesn't demand your attention, literally fading into the background.

I chose three other photos of our friends on the three peaks that they visited and printed them at a smaller size to overlap the bottom of the large photo. I used part of this sketch (which was originally published at Sketch Savvy and is one of four sketches for the January challenge in Facebook group For the Love of Pretty Paper) for the layout of the smaller photos and the paper layers behind them, and repeated all the papers at the top right of the page. The final step was to write my journalling directly on the large photo; there's no room elsewhere.

Supplies
Paper - Studio Calico Maycomb, My Mind's Eye Now & Then, My Mind's Eye Cut & Paste, Carta Bella Baby Mine
Letters - Freckled Fawn
Washi Tape - Trimcraft
Flowers - Poundland
Pearls - Mark Richards
Ink - Docrafts

Tools
Big Shot & X-Cut Tags Die

Raglan Castle

Gosh, I'm a slow scrapper - I started this page last weekend and I finished it last night. It's a double from Raglan Castle, which we visited at Easter. I found a sketch on Google that I think originally came from Page Maps, but I flipped the left side vertically so that my title and main photo would be at the top of the page.


I quickly picked the neutral brown and cream papers as being perfect for the castle's colours and pulled in the stripe for a bit of colour. When it came to embellishing, I didn't have much in that jade green, and using more brown would have made for a very dull page. Fortunately Shimelle posted a new prompt in The 20 Project about using a colour wheel to pick new colour combinations. Jade is opposite pink on the wheel, so I pulled in pink as an accent colour and I'm very happy with the look that gives to the page.

Supplies
Paper - K&Company, Melissa Frances, KaiserCraft Madame Boutique, KaiserCraft Secret Bird Society, Basic Grey
Letters - Pink Paislee
Word Sticker - Crate Paper
Pearls - Scrapberry's, Hobby House
Epoxy Circles - Ebay
Ink - Ranger

Tools
Silhouette Portrait
Big Shot & X-Cut Ticket Stubs Die
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch
X-Cut Small Circle Punch
Woodware Daisy Punch
Amy Tangerine Date Stamp

Welsh Memories

I'm continuing with my plan to bring my 2016 album up-to-date, though last week's canal holiday added quite a few more photos to that task.

We also spent a week in South Wales at Easter, and I've pulled together an assortment of 'minor' photos for a divided page. I used a page protector with nine 4x4 pockets on each side, but I cut it down to give me just six. I used papers and coordinating cards from We R Memory Keepers, picking three double-sided papers and positioning them so that the six patterns appeared on both sides of the page protector.

The front has a couple of photos from The Big Pit (which we didn't actually enter since all the day's tours were already booked up) and a couple from Rhymney Brewery which we visited instead.

All of the photos on the front were from one day, but those on the back are a mish-mash from the week. I only had one journalling card, which I used on the front, so I put together something similar for the back using a stamp from Elle's Studio.  

Supplies
Paper - We R memory Keepers, My Mind's Eye, Crate Paper
Letters - American Crafts, October Afternoon, KaiserCraft
Paper Clips - Basic Grey
Word Stickers - My Mind's Eye
Brads - My Mind's Eye
Dots/Shapes - Doodlebug, Papermania
Ink - Docrafts, Ink It Up!

Tools
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch
X-Cut Circle Punches
Crayola Butterfly Punch
Big Shot, Little B Arrows Dies & X-Cut Ticket Stubs Die
Elle's Studio Note Tab Stamp

Tredegar House

I'm sharing another page from our Welsh holiday today, and using another sketch from Laura Whitaker; today it's one that she designed for Stuck?! Sketches.

I flipped the sketch horizontally, and adjusted the dimensions to suit my photos from Tredegar House, a 17th century mansion house near Newport. My background paper has a border all the way round, and the flourish in the corner means that I dropped the row of embellishments at the bottom of the sketch. I didn't have the letter stickers I needed in a suitable colour, so I stamped my title. I really wish that I could remember to do this more often, instead of as a last resort.

Supplies
Paper - My Mind's Eye Vintage Charm, We R Memory Keepers Free Spirit
Pearls - Scrapberrys
Ink - Ranger

Tools
American Crafts Scallop Border Punch
Crayola Butterfly Punch
Craft Creatives Alphabet Stamps

Pentre Farm

We spent a week in Wales at Easter, staying in a cottage on this farm in Monmouthshire so I've scrapped a picture of the cottage and the adjacent church as an introduction to the holiday pages in my 2016 album. I used a sketch that Laura Whitaker designed for Imaginisce, though I flipped it horizontally as I wanted my photos to be the other way around.

I stitched the large circle on the sketch with my sewing machine, going round three times to give the circle some weight. 

There have been 12 prompts so far this year in the Scrap Like You Mean It series at UKScrappers; I've missed a few and need to go back and do them, but this page fits with the current prompt - to use a needle and thread.

Supplies
Paper - My Mind's Eye Vintage Charm
Letters - Elle's Studio
Buttons - Mei Flower
Wood Veneer - Maya Road, Studio Calico
Pearls - Scrapberry's
Ink & Mist - Docrafts

Tools
Sewing Machine
Big Shot & Poppy Stamps Small Leafy Sprig Die

Caernarfon Castle

Last page from our Welsh holiday now. It's another castle, and another three photo page. I was out of layout ideas, so I turned to the 4x6 Photo Sketch Blog and searched for a three photo sketch. There weren't many with all the photos having the same orientation, but I turned up this sketch from 2010.

While I was making the page, I decided that I didn't like the way the right hand photo runs right up to the edge of the page, so I cropped mine down to a square and matted it on coordinating cardstock.

Supplies

Paper - Three Bugs in a Rug Deck the Halls, Authentique Natural, My Mind's Eye Now & Then

Letters - DCWV

Epoxy Stickers - Ebay

Washi Tape & Peel-Off Stickers - from Stash

Tools

Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch

X-Cut Small Circle Punch

Conwy Castle

I'm still working through my 2002 photos, and the end is relatively near, but it seems like I had already scrapbooked most of the single and double photos from that year. This has left me with lots of three and four photo pages to make, all with 4x6 photos because that's the size that they were printed at the time.

I have three photos from Conwy Castle, which I would normally stack in a column, but I've done that too many times recently. I've seen a few pages recently where everything has been slanted on the page, and I decided to try it as something a bit different. I had to trim each photo a little to make it work, but I didn't lose anything important.

I cut a journalling/title card from a scrap and used butterfly washi tape as the only embellishment.

Supplies
Paper - My Mind's Eye Vintage Charm
Letters - Basic Grey
Washi Tape - Teresa Collins
Ink - Ranger

Tools
American Crafts Notebook Border Punch

Plas Mawr

I rarely re-scrap a page; once it's done and in the album, it generally stays there. Trends and tastes change but I generally still like my older pages. However, if there's a page that makes me cringe every time I see it, then I have to have another go at it.

I've been working through my 2002 photos recently, and I scrapped a photo of our children at Plas Mawr (an Elizabethan townhouse in Conwy, Wales) as one of the CHA challenges at Two Peas in January 2013. (The original post is here.)

I suppose that this was at the start of the trend in mixed media, as I have a square of paint on a plain cardstock background behind my papers and photo. I really don't like that paint; it's too thick, you can see the brushstrokes and it's too great a contrast with the cardstock.

I still like the papers, so I decided to see what I could rescue for a new page. The answer was pretty much everything. I use double-sided tape for most of my pages and this pulls apart fairly well with a bit of care. 

My new page has a softer background, and I moved the paper squares closer together this time. I added strips of washi tape to the top and bottom of the page and stuck smaller pieces by the title. I spread out the embellishment clusters and added a word sticker to each one. I also spattered some mist along the diagonal.

Simple changes in the end, but I'm much happier with the new version and can carry on with the album without cringing every time I flip through and see that page.

Supplies
Paper - Glitz Designs Uncharted Waters, Basic Grey Plumeria, K&Co Hannah
Letters - Basic Grey
Word Stickers - Tim Holtz Idea-Ology
Washi Tape - Papermania (Gold) & Unknown Teal
Mist - Mister Huey's
Ink - Docrafts
Pearls - Dovecraft

Tools
EK Success Corner Punch
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch
Woodware Flower Punch

Snowdon

I'm still scrapping my way through old photos, filling in the gaps in my 2002 album. I've reached August, when we spent a week in North Wales. I've already made all of the one-photo and two-photo pages, so stand by for a run of three-photo and four-photo pages over the next week or so.

It's four photos today from Mount Snowdon; we caught the train to the top and then walked down the Llanberis path which runs fairly close to the railway.

Four 4x6 photos take a lot of space, so I didn't feel I had many design options, especially as they all have the same orientation. One block in the middle of the page, with patterned paper above and below.

Supplies
Paper - Cardstock - DCWV
Washi Tape - Efco
Labels - 7Gypsies
Brads - Laura Ashley

Tools
Big Shot & Sizzix Alphabet Dies
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch

Beaumaris Castle

Back to the scrapbooking, after a weekend of card-making, and I've finally finished a page that I started a couple of weeks ago. It's a relatively simple one with a trio of photos from Beaumaris Castle on Anglesey.

Supplies
Paper - Bo Bunny Ambrosia, MME Vintage Charm
Letters - Jillibean Soup
Transparency - Basic Grey Plumeria
Ink - Docrafts
Gems - Hobby House

Tools
Fiskars Bracket Border Punch
Big Shot & Tag Die
Woodware SCalloped Circle Punch

Ffestiniog Railway

I'm jumping forward with the Birthday Stash-a-Thon challenges from Scrap Our Stash. I have already done the first 9 challenges (of 14), so have five to go. When I saw Challenge #12 - use game pieces - I immediately thought of my Scrabble-style letters and decided to use them on my next page if I could.

That next page uses the March Week 3 sketch from Let's Get Sketchy for two old photographs from the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales. Being old photos they were already printed at 4x6, but one was croppable and the sketch worked easily with the larger picture. My main change was just to move the title to the bottom right, where it runs over some empty space in my smaller photo.

Supplies
Cardstock - Chartwell Studio
Paper - Sandylion Green Spice, The Robin's Nest Light Red Plaid, K&Co Hannah, Basic Grey
Letters - Echo Park This & That Charming
Stickers - Bo Bunny Et Cetera
Washi Tape - Efco

Tools
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch
Woodware Label Punch
Woodware Tiny Star Punch

The Smallest House

I'm continuing the dual birthday celebrations at Let's Get Sketchy and Scrap Our Stash today. The second Stash-a-Thon challenge from Scrap Our Stash is to use a paper doily on a page, and I'm combining it with Michelle's challenge from the Let's Get Sketchy blog hop. She gave us a sketch and also asked us to use some bling.

I'm running short of single photos so I went all the way back to 2002 for a picture of the smallest house in Great Britain. It's in Conwy, North Wales, and is just 6 feet wide. I used a doily in my layers and gems to form the bodies of the butterflies in my embellishments.

That border sticker was the last one from the pack and it's been living on my desk for a while in an attempt to use it up. I'm glad that I've found it a home on a page at last.

Supplies
Paper - Unlabelled Background, Crate Paper Restoration, First Edition J'Adore, Various Scraps
Doily - Dovecraft
Border Sticker - Crate Paper Restoration
Letters - Basic Grey Nordic Holiday, Bo Bunny Mama-Razzi
Butterflies - Prima
Gems - Papermania

Tools
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch

At the Top

This is a companion page for Climbing Snowdon which I blogged a few weeks ago, but I couldn't share it then. And the reason that I couldn't share it was that it was made as part of the team scraplifting game at Scrap Whispers. Three teams all start from the same scrapbook page and each team member scraplifts the layout of the person before them. The three end layouts can look very alike, or very different, depending how each team member interprets the page they are given.

This time I was scraplifting Sherri and I used her page as inspiration rather than copying every element. I liked the bracket-shaped square behind her photo and I made this a bigger feature on my page. I also swapped her large journalling block for a second photo. I'm not sure whether her background paper is one piece or whether she layered up strips on the right, but I added paper strips to my plainer background. Sherri has some metal embellishments on her photo, which I mimicked using a tag sticker with a brad and I used another brad as an echo of her flower.

All three chains of pages have been revealed on the Scrap Whispers blog this week - Georgina's Team on Monday, Nilsa's Team on Tuesday and Rosey's Team on Wednesday.

Supplies

Cardstock - Bazzill Dotted Swiss

Paper - Basic Grey, Cloud 9 Designs, Glitz Design

Letters - Making Memories, Jenni Bowlin Studio

Stickers - Simple Stories

Brads - Dear Lizzy, Papermania

Ink - Ink It Up!

Tools

Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch

Bracket Shaped Square Template

Tryfan

I'm filling in another gap in my 2012 album today - with photos from a walk that my husband and our friend did in North Wales. With so many pictures it had to be another double. I do like the Sketch Support website for double page sketches, and this page is based on their Two-Page Sketch #12, though I did change it a bit, especially on the left half.

Supplies
Cardstock - Bazzill, DCWV Linen Stack
Paper - Crate Paper DIY Shop
Letters - American Crafts Thickers
Washi Tape - The Range
Gems - The Hobby House
Buttons - from Stash

Tools
Woodware Postage Stamp Border Punch
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch
X-Cut Small Circle Punch

Great Orme

A quick and simple page page today. I've used Basic Grey's Wisteria collection for a couple of pages in the last few days and I was really just down to scraps. I find the best way to deal with these is to cut them to rectangles and layer them up together for one final page.

I looked for more photos to complement the paper and chose some older ones from a holiday in Wales. I added one other paper from my scraps box for the photo mat, and kept the embellishing quite simple because there are so many patterns on the page.

Supplies
Cardstock - American Crafts
Paper - Basic Grey Wisteria, K&Co Hannah
Letters - American Crafts Thickers
Gems - Making Memories
Ink - docrafts

Climbing Snowdon

This was another UFO that I had lying around. I'd actually done most of it, but I left the journalling for another time. It was to be one of a pair of pages, and I wasn't sure how to divide the journalling across the two. I've made the other one now, and it had more space for writing so it ended up all being on that page. The only things that I did to finish this page were to caption the photos and add a little backpacker sticker.

As the title says, these are photos from climbing Snowdon, which my husband, daughter and friend did last April. The other page has photos of them at the summit, but I can't share it yet. I'll link it up here when I can. It's here.

Supplies
Cardstock - Bazzill Swiss Dot
Paper - Basic Grey, Cloud 9 Designs
Letters - Making Memories, Jenni Bowlin Studio
Sticker - Simple Stories
Labels - 7Gypsies 
Ink - Ink It Up!

Tools
Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch
Bracket-Shaped Square Template

Wild Camp

A new month means a new round of challenges and the first one to catch my eye was the Sketch #42 at Sketch-n-Scrap.

I picked photos from a camping trip and intended to use the Take a Hike collection from Simple Stories for my page. However I found that the colours were too strong and that the papers were fighting with my photos for attention. I ended up using Basic Grey Wisteria with its softer colours, though a few bits of Take a Hike did find their way onto the page too.

Supplies
Cardstock - American Crafts
Paper - Basic Grey Wisteria
Letters - American Crafts Thickers, Simple Stories Take a Hike
Washi Tape - We R Memory Keepers
Brads - Dear Lizzy, Papermania
Stickers - Simple Stories Take a Hike, Anita's Glitterations
Ink - docrafts

Tools
EK Success Corner Punch
Hobbycraft Star Punch
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch
Amy Tangerine Date Stamp

Plas Mawr

This CHA Challenge from Two Peas in a Bucket was probably the hardest of all. Challenge 2 was to scraplift two concepts from other scrappers. I'm fine with scraplifting a whole page but I found it hard to pick elements from two pages and combine them. I spent some time browsing the Two Peas gallery, and it was the backgrounds of the pages that caught my attention. I eventually chose to combine the painted background of this page and the grid of paper squares on this page. 

Plas Mawr is an Elizabethan townhouse in Conwy (North Wales). Most of the building has been restored and furnished with antiques and there are the usual rules about no touching and no photography. However one room had modern replicas that we could touch (and sit on).

Supplies
Cardstock - DCWV
Paper - Basic Grey Plumeria
Letters - Basic Grey Periphery
Paint - Folk Art Yellow Ochre
Gems - Dovecraft
Ink - docrafts

Tools
EK Success Corner Puch
Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch
Woodware Small Flower Punch