Beyond the Deepening Shadow

I'm not working through 2018 photos in order at all, and now I'm jumping from January to November. That month the Tower of London commemorated the centenary of the end of the First World War with a light and sound show called Beyond the Deepening Shadow; the lights were 10,000 torches which were lit each evening in the dry moat, and the sound was a specially composed four hour soundtrack. 

I printed three 4x6 photos and stacked them up for one of my default three-photo page designs. 

I had terrible trouble with reflections on my photo of the page, so apologies that the pictures aren't as clear as they might be. My background is cream and gold, which I chose because the gold catches the light and twinkles in the same way as the torches did in my memory.

Supplies
Paper - Simple Stories Cozy Christmas, Echo Park, Stampin' Up!

Letters - Anita's Glitterations

Journal Card - Project Life

Washi Tape - Hobbycraft

Label Die-Cuts - Unknown

Enamel Shapes - Freckled Fawn, Doodlebug, Echo Park

Ink - Ranger

Tools

Big Shot & Dovecraft Tag Die

Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch

Woodware Tag Punch

Mother's Day Cards

Happy Mother's Day if you are celebrating. I know that it's later in the year in some countries but for us in the UK it's today.

I've made cards for my mother and my mother-in-law, but I was out of new ideas so I copied cards I've made before but chose designs that I don't think they would personally have seen.

First up is this spring flower wreath for my mother-in-law which I copied from a December birthday card. This time I dropped the original butterfly and mounted my sentiment on a tag rather than sticking it directly to the background.

While punching all the flowers for that one, I remembered an older card where I'd added the same flowers to a stamped background, and I decided to repeat that one for my mother. I dug right back in the blog to find that I made the original seven years ago! I used brown ink then, possibly because my choice was that or black, but I've switched to green this time, stamped over subtly patterned paper rather than white cardstock.

Make Your Mark

This is one of those pages which I kept putting off making. I'd printed the photos, chosen the papers (Simple Stories Awesome) and picked a page design (the 'On the Angle' sketch from Shimelle Laine's Start with a Sketch class from this time last year) but I had no ideas for the title, and for a long time I let that stop me from starting.

My photos are from January 2018 and if I'm going to complete that year's album then I need to make this page rather than put it off any longer. The occasion is my daughter and her fellow scouts receiving achievement awards from our mayor. I wanted something encouraging without being schmaltzy but nothing came to mind. 

Starting work on the page, I spotted that one of the papers had the wording 'Take Your Place, Make Your Mark, Live Your Life' printed on it. I earmarked 'Make Your Mark' as my title, initially intending to use letter stickers, but then decided to use the paper itself.

Supplies

Paper - Simple Stories Awesome, Pink Paislee Portfolio

Word Stickers - Tim Holtz

Washi Tape - Unknown

Enamel Dots - Freckled Fawn, Echo Park 

Ink - Ranger

Tools

Big Shot & Dovecraft Label Die

Fiskars Postage Stamp Border Punch

Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch

Tyne Bridges

I'm continuing with my 2018 album for now. We cruised from Newcastle-upon-Tyne that year and spent the morning before embarkation on the waterfront in the city, where the river is crossed by seven different bridges in less than a mile. I chose two photos for this page, one of most of the bridges and one of the newest, the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.

This page will sit opposite one from Durham (Perfect Reflection) where we stayed the night before so I copied the grey, blue and yellow colour scheme from that one, and even pulled in a few of the same papers. 

Supplies

Cardstock - Bazzill

Paper - PhotoPlay Fun with Friends, Simple Stories Heart, My Mind's Eye Lost & Found 3, My Mind's Eye Follow Your Heart, Pink Paislee Portfolio, Pink Paislee Indigo Bleu

Enamel Dots - Studio Calico, Pretty My Page, Eyelet Outlet

Ink - Memento

Mist - Docrafts

Tools

Silhouette Portrait

Fiskars Bracket Border Punch

Woodware Scalloped Circle Punch

Woodware Tag Punch

Big Shot & Dovecraft Label Die

Floral Birthday Card

This card is a bit of a happy accident. I was looking through my 6x6 paper pads for another project when I came across this floral paper from Pink Paislee's Moonstruck collection. It's one that I've never used on a scrapbook page and I can't see myself ever using it in that way, but it was perfect for a quick and easy card. 

I trimmed the paper down to fit a 5½" square card blank leaving a small border, and die-cut a couple of banners from the same pad to go in the top corner. I added a black glittery peel-off sentiment and a couple of stars from the same sheet, and that was that.

Not The Hay Wain

I'm back on The Mad Scrapper blog now with the first of four pages from Flatford in Suffolk, the heart of Constable country, where he painted The Hay Wain.

I used Vintage Artistry papers and ephemera from 49 and Market, a new company to me, but one I would highly recommend for the quality of their products. They have the thickest patterned paper I've ever seen, heavier than some cardstock, and the laser-cutting on their ephemera is faultless.

Please do hop over for more information and close-up photos.

Supplies

Cardstock - Papermania

Paper - 49 and Market Vintage Artistry*

Ephemera - 49 and Market Sage Collage Stack*

Washi Tape - 49 and Market Vintage Artistry*

Word Sticker - Tim Holtz

Letters - Fancy Pants

Epoxy Shapes - 49 and Market Wishing Bubbles*

Gems - Simply Creative

Ink - Ranger

Tools

Silhouette Portrait

Woodware Tag Punch

*Disclosure - I received all the 49 and Market products free of charge from The Mad Scrapper as part of my design team role.

Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt

We're three-quarters of the way through the Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt organised by Eileen at A Bracelet of Days, and I'm very little further forward than I was at the end of December.

Lockdown Lethargy has hit me hard this time round. Last Spring when it was a novelty I took full advantage of the chance to get outside for my daily exercise, replacing my commute with a walk before work. In November, I tasked myself with taking a photo a day as a distraction from the monotony. This time, I really haven't been out much; I've just hunkered down to hibernate and wait for my turn to be vaccinated.

Recently though, perhaps with the change of the seasons, perhaps with the light at the end of the restrictions tunnel, I've been feeling the urge to get back out there. 

So, today is the 1st of March, Spring is here, and I have one month left to find and photograph these twenty things (and/or the three alternatives).

1. A set of three
2. Round and round
3. Peek inside
4. Glass
5. A treasured item
6. Horizontal
7. An opening
8. A sign of the times
9. Weather conditions
10. Work in progress
11. Measures
12. In the distance
13. Something beginning with C
14. One of many
15. Something with legs
16. A face
17. Comfort food
18. Something you do every day
19. Something yellow
20. Marking time

Alt A. In pieces
Alt B. Textured
Alt C. Black and white

Let's see how I get on!

Remember, it's not too late to join in too!