Starting Point Pages

Starting Points are a term I pinched from Shimelle Laine, pages that I start without any photos in mind and come back to finish them off later. I generally make them either to kill off collections or to thin out my scraps box a bit. This time, they've all come from my scraps box:

Alphabetical
This one started from two ancient pieces of letter-printed paper, one black and one white. They are bright and bold, and unlikely to be pulled out to match anything else. The white one was about 6x12 so I used it as half my background, paired with a red stripe, and layered the black one on top. I then pulled out as many quiet patterns as I could in matching colours, cut them into boxes and layered them up, tucking the green piece in between my two alphabet prints to separate them.

Papers - The Paper Loft Flip Flops, Studio Calico Snippets, Paige Evans Truly Grateful, Echo Park We Are Family

Geometrics

This page started from an 8x12 scrap which I thought was Basic Grey, but it has its branding strip which says it's from a French company called 4heures37; this dates it to the era when I had a kit subscription, probably 10 years ago. I placed this piece in the top two-thirds of my page and filled the bottom third with strips from coordinating scraps.

Papers - 4heures37 Eiffel Avenue, Bo Bunny Early Bird, Photoplay Paper #thinktoremember, Basic Grey Spice Market

Pink and Brown

My 'starter scrap' this time is from Basic Grey, brown with pink swirls, and with a 2008 date printed on it. I pulled the three pink papers (floral, cameras and polka dot) to go with it, then tracked down a suitable dark brown paper to fill the rest of the 12x12 space. The polka dot paper isn't stuck down yet as I'll decide how to use it when I finish the page. I can also pull in more of the second brown paper if I need to.

Papers - Basic Grey Bittersweet, Maggie Holmes Chasing Dreams, We R Memory Keepers Free Spirit, KaiserCraft Full Bloom, Carta Bella Baby Mine

Blue and Yellow

All the previous pages have started from scraps that were 12" long, which I used as part of the backgrounds. This time I had an 11" square of blue swirly paper which I placed in the middle of a failed mixed media piece, covering up almost all that I had done before. I added more blues and some soft yellow, but I'm not sure I like the results. 

Papers - Craft Creations, and others unknown

Bo Bunny Shabby Princess

I'd started this process with the largest scraps, but struggled with the blue and yellow page because the blue was all I had to start it off. So I changed tack for the next one and started with a multi-coloured print. I had a stripy scrap from Bo Bunny Shabby Princess, found two more from the same collection and built from there. I haven't stuck down the central pieces so I can rotate the photo mat if I need to later on.

Papers - My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose, Bo Bunny Shabby Princess, My Mind's Eye Chalk Studio, Crate Paper Mia, Echo Park 

Will I finish them? Past experience says that I will, but it may take some years for the right photos to come along. If I don't, I haven't really lost anything as these scraps were being wasted before anyway. I'll add links here later when I have finished pages.

Pages for Annual Albums

I'm leaving the cruise pages for this post, and turning my attention to my annual albums. Of course, I've made my usual resolution to keep on top of my 2025 pages as we go along (let's see how long I can keep that up!) but I still have a few gaps from last year to fill in (where I didn't quite keep last year's resolution).

I've also ticked off the last two of the 10th Birthday Challenges from For the Love of Pretty Paper and I'm rather pleased with myself that I got them all done.

(The numbers are my page count for the year.)

11. Hadleigh 10 Miles (2024)

One from last year, and the design was completely inspired by the FTLOPP challenge 'Splatter' - I cut a large star on my Silhouette and used it as a mask while I splattered the page with mists. The droplets weren't really dense enough to show the star shape so I went round the edge afterwards with distress ink. 

Supplies: Paper - Carta Bella All Aboard, DCWV Romantic Life, My Mind's Eye Chalk Studio; Letters - Doodlebug; Acrylic Star - Sheenanigans; Washi Tape - Tesco; Gems - Papermania

12. Victoria Park Half Marathon (2025)

My husband's first running event of this year, as he builds up to a full marathon in April. The weather was awful, so I started with the raindrop paper from Cocoa Vanilla Studio to make a half-and-half background then added all my stray CVS branding strips (from three collections) and a cardstock circle that I cut for another project and didn't use.

Supplies: Cardstock - DCWV, Stampin' Up!; Paper - Cocoa Vanilla Studio Daydream, CVS These Days, CVS Heart and Home; Letters - Violet Studio; Enamel Stars - Altenew

13. Let's Do the Time Warp (2025)

This one was for the FTLOPP 'Stencil' challenge. I cut a square and a rectangle from scrap paper and used them as masks to make four zones on the page to hold my photos and title (from a theatre visit to see The Rocky Horror Show). I also used a Heidi Swapp stencil for all the stars.

Supplies: Paper - 49 & Market Spectrum Gardenia; Letters - American Crafts, Maggie Holmes; Ephemera - 49 & Market; Phrase Stickers - Tim Holtz; Stars - Paperchase

Pages from Gibraltar

Back to the cruise album now and our first port of call, which was Gibraltar. 

5. Gibraltar
This is my subtitle page for this section, using a 6x8 photo of The Rock from Grand Casemates Square, and lots of torn papers for the 'Torn' challenge from For the Love of Pretty Paper.

6 & 7. Europa Point
I had originally planned to avoid double pages in this album, and squeeze every subject onto a single but this proved impossible for Europa Point, the most southerly part of Gibraltar, which has a series of landmark buildings and memorials.

8. Botanic Gardens

I used three large photos in a row again on this page, but made them a bit smaller than 4x6 and angled them rather than a straight row. I also cut the smaller photos into circles along with the title and journalling, to do something a bit different.

9. Trafalgar Cemetery

I scraplifted myself for this page, with four 3x4 photos. The orientations differed this time though, which led to me moving the title, journalling and embellishment compared with the original.

10. The Rock

Last page, with two 4x6 photos of the Rock as we sailed away from Gibraltar, for which I used an old sketch from Shimelle Laines's Sketch to Scrapbook Page series.

Supplies: Paper - Heidi Swapp Set Sail, Cocoa Vanilla Studio Heart & Home, Photoplay Travelogue, Craft Sensations Dreamy Pastels, My Mind's Eye Now and Then, 49 and Market; Letters - American Crafts, Pretty Little Studio, Cocoa Vanilla Studio; Stickers - Heidi Swapp, Photoplay, Studio Calico; Filmstrips - 49 and Market; Washi Tape - Vicki Boutin, Little B; Puffy Hearts - Cocoa Vanilla Studio; Enamel Dots - My Mind's Eye, Simple Stories, Twilight Crafts, Hey Little Magpie

Pages for 2024

Pausing the cruise pages now, to catch up with the end of 2024. I have a few gaps to go back and fill in, but these pages cover most of November and December. Facebook group For the Love of Pretty Paper recently celebrated their tenth birthday with 10 challenges and I've covered a few here.

(The numbers are my page count for this year; I'm aiming to beat the 105 that I managed in 2024.)

1. Delicious Moments

My first DT page of the year for Twilight Crafts and Jenny Wren Cut-Files, which satisfied the 'Circle' challenge from FTLOPP. I cut two of Leaf Wreath and layered them up over a stamped circle of leaves. The photo is from our Christmas lunch in a local pub.

Supplies: Paper - 49 & Market, Kit 'n' Craft; Rub-Ons - 49 & Market; Gems - Papermania, Unknown Stars

2. Penguin Parade

Twelve photos from a penguin statue trail in London, perfect for the 'Repeat' challenge from FTLOPP as they are all basically the same shape. Having chosen a suitable background, I picked out an assortment of ancient stash to go with it.

Supplies: Paper - Echo Park Reflections Christmas, Fancy Pants Winterland, Heidi Swapp No Limits; Washi Tape - Dovecraft, Unknown; Puffy Stickers - MAMBI; Stars - Sheenanigans; Pearls - Mark Richards, The Hobby House; Paint - Golden

3. Christmas Lights
My second January DT page for Twilight Crafts and Jenny Wren Cut-Files uses an older cut-file, the word Christmas, as part of my title and I included machine-stitching for the 'Stitched' challenge from FTLOPP. The photos are from a Christmas Lights Run that one of the members of our running club organised.

Supplies: Cardstock - Bazzill, DCWV; Paper - Simple Stories Jingle all the Way, Carta Bella Hello Christmas; Letters - Studio Calico, We R Memory Keepers; Laser-Cut Baubles - 49 & Market; Sticker - Shimelle; Enamel Dots - Carta Bella

4. Parkrun Tourism 2024

I used to make a 12x12 pages in my annual albums for each parkrun we visited, but they were getting too numerous and duplicating the 8x8 pages in my parkrun album, so I've just done a single roundup page for 2024, using another Jenny Wren Cut-File - 2024 Stacked. Eleven photos for the '3 or More Photos' challenge from FTLOPP.

Supplies: Cardstock - Stampin' Up!; Paper - Sokai SO'BB, My Mind's Eye Jubilee, Simple Stories; Puffy Stars - Rosie's Studio 

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

Other Cruise Pages

A couple of pages now that are from events on board the ship rather than any of the ports we visited.

104. Battle of the Bartenders

This was one of my December DT pages for Twilight Crafts using the Cocktail Glass cut-file, with photos from a cocktail-making competition. I cut the whole shape in white cardstock, then cut the straw in black and the lemon in yellow at a slightly smaller size to layer over the top. I backed the lemon with a lighter yellow and the drink and the glass with layers of vellum.

105. You & Me

I used a Scrap Squad scraplift for this photo of us on Formal Night. The title and people stickers come from Jillibean Soup, an ancient sheet that I am aiming to use up; I have 'smile' and 'today' left.

Supplies: Paper - Heidi Swapp Set Sail, Cocoa Vanilla Studio Heart & Home, Photoplay Travelogue, Pinkfresh Studio Simply the Best; Stickers - Maggie Holmes, Jillibean Soup, Heidi Swapp; Glitter Tape - The Works; Puffy Hearts - Rosie's Studio; Enamel Dots - Twilight Crafts

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

Pages from Ajaccio

I'm moving on from Olbia now to the next day of our cruise and the port of Ajaccio in Corsica. There was a bit more to see here and it runs to six pages:

(The numbers are my page count for last year.)

98. Ajaccio

This is my sub-title page which divides the album into sections for each place we visit. I used a panoramic shot of the port, which I printed as two 4x6 photos then cropped and overlapped them.

99. Au Marché

I went with a French title for a page from a French island, and used the December sketch from the 1 Sketch : 3 Ways Facebook group for my page with a column of smaller photos from the market. The fish print paper is one I didn't think would use from the Set Sail pad, but is just about on theme here.

100. Maison Bonaparte

Ajaccio is the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, and his family home is now a museum. I chose six photos in a mix of sizes and orientations, then laid them out on a grid in the centre of the page.

101. Citadelle d'Ajaccio

This old fortress was recently opened up as a public space, and I printed five photos for my page, but only four made the final cut - a view across the inner courtyard and three of the ramparts. 

102. Catedrale Santa Maria Assunta

Three photos of the cathedral on this page, and my initial thought was to put them in a column overlapping a vertical panel of paper. However that would have been getting repetitive and I wanted some variety; I pushed a few papers around until I hit on a grid of eight patterned papers, something I haven't done before but it will be easy to repeat in different sizes and patterns.

103. Place d'Austerlitz

Last page from Ajaccio, with photos of Napoleon's statue in the Place d'Austerlitz. My page is a version of the March 2011 4x6 Photo Love prompt from Shimelle Laine.

Supplies: Paper - Heidi Swapp Set Sail, Cocoa Vanilla Studio Heart & Home, Photoplay Travelogue, Craft Sensations Dreamy Pastels, Maggie Holmes Sweet Story; Letters - American Crafts, Doodlebug; Die-Cuts - Heidi Swapp; Stickers - Heidi Swapp, Studio Calico, 49 & Market; Filmstrips - 49 & Market; Tickets - 49 & Market; Washi Tape - October Afternoon, Vicki Boutin, Little B, Stampin' Up!; Enamel Shapes - Shimelle, Heidi Swapp, Simple Stories, Cocoa Vanilla Studio, 49 & Market, American Crafts, Pink Paislee, Twilight Crafts, Hey Little Magpie

Pages from Olbia

I'm starting my cruise album in the middle, with the pages from Olbia on the Italian island of Sardinia. It's just a small town which only needed four pages, and less daunting than starting with the title page for the whole album with so many choices in front of me.

(The numbers are my page count for the year.)

94. Olbia

This is my sub-title page; I always make one of these for each port we visit to break the album into distinct sections for each place. We were in Olbia for 12 hours so I have two photos of the town taken from the ship, one in the morning and one close to sunset.

95. San Simplicio Basilica

This is one of two significant churches in Olbia, built in the 11th century in honour of the town's patron saint. I have large photos of the inside and outside, plus two smaller ones of St Simplicio and the Virgin Mary. My page is loosely based on one in a November YouTube video from Shimelle.

96. Chiesa di San Paolo

The second church is St Paul's; again I have photos of the inside and the outside, but this time close-ups of the multi-coloured dome and one of the frescoes. I arranged the photos on a wide band across the page, wanting to get away from stacking the larger ones on top of each other as I did on the last two pages.

97. Parco Fausto Noce

The 'Park of Auspicious Walnuts' (according to Google translate) was a lovely green space in the city. I have two 4x6 photos again which I deliberately split up on the page with the title across a central band. I used natural embellishments with my outdoor photos for the December challenge from Hey Little Magpie.

Supplies: Paper - Heidi Swapp Set Sail, Cocoa Vanilla Studio Heart & Home, Photoplay Travelogue, Craft Sensations Dreamy Pastels; Letters - American Crafts, Cocoa Vanilla Studio, October Afternoon, Jillibean Soup; Die-Cuts - Heidi Swapp; Stickers - Heidi Swapp, Studio Calico, 49 & Market, Jen Hadfield; Tickets - 49 & Market; Washi Tape - Vicki Boutin; Enamel Shapes - Maggie Holmes, Simple Stories, My Mind's Eye, Altenew, Studio Calico