My Life in a Scrapbook

Back to university

2012-01-26T13:09:00.000-08:00

We've only been back a week but university life is in full swing. Lots of projects to think about & work on. For the main module we are to design and make a salt & pepper set. These are my preliminary models, very girly & very me I'm sure you'll agree. Pink, turquoise & green even feature in my product designs!My Project Life album is going well. Completed my title page, double spread for New Year & double spread for week 1. Hopefully have time to work on week 2 after university tomorrow then I'll share some photos at the weekend.

Displaced by a mouse

2012-01-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

Unplanned overnight visit to my parents after dad rescued me from the mouse tonight. I saw it last night & twice this morning and was fine during the day. But at dinner I could hear it under the kitchen units moving about a lot & eating so I was feeling a bit uneasy about spending the night in my flat. In the hour between dinner & my dad coming there were fresh dropping in the utility room so I'm glad to be away from it. Going back early tomorrow though as I don't want to leave it undisturbed. Bit paranoid about cleaning at the moment too so want to keep on top of any mess it creates. Seems to like shredding the insulation jacket for my boiler so not only do I have droppings to take care of, there's tiny pieces of red plastic as well. Document September pages held up a bit because of that & being out yesterday but hopefully get them finished off tomorrow.

Had a successful shopping trip yesterday. Got my parents Anniversay gift & the second part of my Mum's Birthday gift, along with two cute gift bags. I made the cards last week so completely ready for the celebrations this weekend & next. Found some bargains for myself too which I'm really pleased with. The recipe file from John Lewis has 27 page protectors & 12 dividers plus some paper. They were £13.50 down to £6.50 but I had vouchers so got two for £1. Plan to decorate the covers & use them as mini albums. The Good & Well binders were from Paperchase & an even bigger bargain - £7.75 down to 25p so I got four for £1! Plan to use them as mini books too.

Documenting August 2011

2012-01-07T14:09:00.000-08:00

Before starting on my 2012 projects I'd really like to finish off the ones I began in 2011. Today I completed my August pages for my Document 2011 album. The card that is blank was originally left to include the books I read in August but as I can't remember what they are any more & I found a spare photo & tag wrongly sorted into the September pile I'm going to add that instead. Much of August for me was filled with flat hunting & moving plans. We did enjoy our annual street BBQ in August too, despite the rain!

Tonight I started the first of my September pages so hopefully get them finished tomorrow although got a lot of other things to do tomorrow & scrapping time will be short.

Still preparing for Project Life

2012-01-04T13:17:00.000-08:00

Four days into the new year and I still haven't started scrapbooking, despite being back in my flat for the past 3 days! Not that I've been in much, still got gifts to buy with birthdays & an anniversary coming up. Any time indoors has been spent sorting & arranging, although I did make and write my thank you cards. I always make sure to thank my friends & family for any gifts and let them know what I spent their Birthday & Christmas money on. This year I am going to include little photos with the cards to let them see too as not all my relatives have access to the internet.

Today felt busy too as I was shopping for gifts. I didn't get anything I was looking for unfortunately but I did come across a few little things in Paperchase that are ideal for my Project Life album.

My favourite of all are these little sticky notes. I love ledger & grid patterns so I can see myself using these a lot for journaling.

These little label tabs are cool too & I must admit I didn't know quite how to use them when I bought them. Upon closer inspection at home I realised they are little white labels that you can write or stamp on then pull the little blue tab to seal it like a sticker (bit like sticky back plastic). With 7 sheets in a pack they were a super bargain for £1!

Also got these fun London bus tabs. Only 4 sheets this time for £1.50 but they are worth it. Love the colours & think Paperchase are going to be stocking more of the range soon in the run up to the Olympics this summer.

Since I'll be recording the everyday little things in my PL album these little grocery stickers I found will be ideal for days when I focus on things like shopping lists, what's in my fridge, favourite snacks etc.

My OLW for 2012 is going to be 'heart' so I couldn't resist these 2 patterned tapes & a pack of heart labels.

Hearts are going to be a running theme throughout my album, can't wait until this stamp set arrives!

Would love to know if anyone else has found some fun stuff to include in their PL albums this year?

My Project Life 2012

2011-12-29T15:20:00.000-08:00

Tonight I sorted my binder & page protectors for Project Life 2012. For the past 2 years I have done Document 2010 & 2011, recording every month. I enjoy looking back at the albums but found creating the pages quite a chore if I didn't keep up to date or make full enough notes in my diary. Felt like trying something different next year so this is what I have come up with. I ordered 3 packs of these 8x12 page protectors & 3 packs of these divided ones with six 4x4 pockets. Quite excited about these ones as they'll be perfect for Instagram photos. I won't put photos in each of the six pockets though, I'll vary them with mini layouts & journaling cards. Each week will have one 8x12 focus page and six 4x4 cards for the other days. I also got one of these kraft lever arch files from Paperchase but I think I may have to search for a foolscap file as the page protectors are slightly larger than the binder. At least I am all ready to start on Sunday though.

Day 29 - Still to do

2011-12-22T14:50:00.000-08:00

Lots still to do before I go home tomorrow for Christmas. Lists everywhere of stuff I need to do. Those actually committed to paper stand a chance of being remembered, the 'mentally noted' ones will be lucky if I even remember to try & recall what is on those lists! Note to future self:(found this here).

Quick post of my Smash! book tonight as I really need to be getting on with other things. Today's pages are my best friends,dream career,Christmas preparations& me with bright and cheerful stamping.

Day 28 - Just 4 more sleeps!!!!

2011-12-21T14:26:00.000-08:00

I'm getting excited, can you tell? Today has been on of reflection & getting in touch with my family to make arrangements for when we will see them on Friday. It was most likely prompted by this page I created in my Smash! book. We all had a great day at the summer fete so I'm hoping the Christmas party is the same. Although, as it will be indoors I'm a bit worried if we'll all fit - our extended family is HUGE!

Today's other pages include festival fireworks& decorating my flat. Love that tape hinges allow for hidden journaling.

Day 27 - Clear out for Christmas

2011-12-20T15:07:00.000-08:00

After finishing my gift wrapping this morning I decided to tidy the flat. I have a huge utility room which is great for storage, but is equally great for shoving things when I can't decide what else to do with them. As a result it has become messy in the past 4 months & full of things I don't really need. Plus, as I ordered most gifts online this year and they all arrived in hugely oversized boxes I had them to dispose of too. Feel so much better now the place is clear & empty of clutter.

Really enjoying working on my Smash! album. Today's pages include

cake baking,Me & my Dadand my flat.

Loving the home decor pages the most. This one is about the decorative elements, still got one to do about all the painting & DIY.

Day 26 - Christmas Wrapping

2011-12-19T14:34:00.000-08:00

Bought the last of my Christmas shopping today. Don't normally leave it this late but haven't been able to get out to the stores I wanted to before now. The 19th is always my day to wrap gifts & I've made a start but still got some to finish off tomorrow morning. Got more gifts for my parents than I intended but I've got some stuff I think they'll really like, including this CD. They had the original in their record collection & apparently it was the best double album EVER! They don't know a CD version exists, can't wait to see their reaction when they open it. I always get more excited about giving gifts than receiving them, it makes me happy to see them happy.

Shopping & wrapping have taken up most of my day, like making the parcels look pretty! Did get some time this morning to work on a page in my Smash! book though. This is our annual summer barbecue in August.

Day 25 - Wishing I Could Slow Time

2011-12-18T13:57:00.000-08:00

Just one week to go now, this next week is the most exciting, I wish I could make it last longer. In a week's time Chistmas Day will almost be over for another year. While there are still lots of other festive things to look forward to, and indeed I look forward to each season throughout the year, there is always something about Christmas night that makes me feel sad. The only remedy is playing games with my family & reading annuals, both Christmas Day traditions we all enjoy.

Today I was out this morning on a fairly unsuccessful shopping trip. Hoping to have more luck tomorrow afternoon. This afternoon & evening I continued to work on my Smash 2011 journal. Been doing a lot of stamping in coloured inks, thankfully I'm not super worried about it being perfect as I managed to drop an inked stamp in the wrong place - twice!

Also because I'm not being overly precious about it I am using up so supplies that I'm not so keen on. However, once I have made the pages I am really pleased with them. These pages are films I've seen & stuff I've listened to (still to add in journaling),a haircut & my favourite puzzles (completely unrelated subjects but they both went well with the purple background) and mini albums I made in April.

Day 24 - Annual Shopping Tradition

2011-12-17T13:19:00.001-08:00

Ever since I can remember we have always had a Christmas shopping trip to Stirling, and almost every time it has snowed! Luckily it didn't snow today but it was cold. We were all in good spirits & even got a mention on the local radio. We parked in our usual place & visited all our favourite shops. Saw lots to add to my own wish list (never should have walked into Fat Face!) but still a few things I would still like to get for my parents so I'll need to try to get out at some point before Friday. Looking forward to Friday as we are going to visit all our extended family who live 90 minutes drive away. My Gran has Alzheimer's and stays in a care home. She is very happy there and we all feel better knowing she is safe and being well cared for. It is the Christmas party on Friday & lots of my aunts, uncles & cousins will be there too so it will be lovely to all get together and spend time with my Gran. After that we are going out for dinner with my Dad's family. His side of the family is much smaller, just 8 of us in total compared to 55!

Day 23 - Favourites of 2011

2011-12-16T12:35:00.000-08:00

This is probably my favourite layout of 2011, I love stitching, stamping & adding little details. Today I have been working on a Smash! journal which I am using to record all my highlights of 2011. The first page is all about moving into my flat & planning the furnishings for it.Got exited when I came across this little sticker from my lunch the day we went to Ikea, forgot I'd saved it!Tomorrow I'm going out to hopefully get the last of my Christmas shopping. Fingers crossed the snow holds off!

Day 22 - Quiet day to catch up

2011-12-15T15:17:00.000-08:00

Had a day to myself with the radio to keep me company so I made the most of the time and caught up with 4 days of my Christmas journal. More mini Instagram photos on these pages. That's me caught up as far as I have photos & I would like to include photos on the next pages so will probably wait until my Christmas order to work on them.

That frees me up to work on other projects now. I made 4 calendars to include with Christmas gifts this evening. The 2 purse calendars in the felt pouches are for my aunties & are the perfect size for their handbags. The desk calendars are for my parents as they like to personalise their office space & loved the calendars I made for them last year.

Day 21 - Radio Times

2011-12-14T13:58:00.000-08:00

Love having my digital radio, only got it last week but it is so much easier to tune into different stations & means I can listen to digital services like Radio 4 Extra. My favourite is the 4 o'clock show but the comedy hours are great too.December 14th is always my day to settle down with the festive edition of the Radio Times & highlight all the shows & movies I'd like to see. I probably end up viewing less than a third of them but I still enjoy marking them off. This year I am actually more excited about the radio listings. On the schedule next week are lots of festive shows & some mysteries I love including Paul Temple, Poirot & another Agatha Christie story. Perfect background listening while I'm crafting.

Today I caught up with 3 days in my Christmas journal. I ordered these mini Instagram pictures from Photobox by making up a collage of 6 photos in Picasa. The little 2x2" squares are a perfect size for these Pink Paislee page protectors.

The patterned washi tape I used as a little flag at the bottom of the first side & down the centre of the second side is actually one I made myself. I just applied some patterned tissue paper to double sided tape & trimmed it from the sheet. It's very easy to apply to projects with no horrible adhesive marks & the tissue keeps its transparency, taking the colour of the background cardstock.

Day 20 - Music

2011-12-13T12:46:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas movies & cartoons too, not just for the stories but the music too. Put Father Christmas on today as it has a couple of songs that take me right back to childhood (it always used to be on tv early Christmas morning while we were opening gifts). Today's journaling topic in my album is music so I'm going to try to print a screenshot of my current iTunes Christmas playlist. It always has the same songs on it but my favourites change every year. At the moment I'm loving this one.

Caught up on a few more days in my Christmas journal today from my Dad's Birthday weekend.

Day 19 - Memories

2011-12-12T14:11:00.000-08:00

Today there were lots of features on the radio reminded me of Christmasses past (my journaling topic for my album today). I still love this time of year but it was even more magical when I was younger. My Birthday gift from my parents was a portable DVD player which is great for listening to DVDs in my room while I'm working on uni or craft projects. I never actually watch anything, just listen, that's why I enjoy audiobooks & the radio so much.

The library is great for audiobooks & they even have DVDs too. Another blast from the past today was this DVD set I borrowed, Maid Marian & her Merry Men. I loved it when I was younger but it failed to meet up to my expectations today. I guess some things are best left in the past, children's comedy being one of them!

Day 18 - Decorations

2011-12-12T14:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the lights & tree went up at my parents' house. It's the third year we've had these sweet reindeer in our garden but the Santa in his sleigh is a new addition. Don't think we'll be adding any more, less is more when it comes to lights. Next time I'm home I'll take photos when it gets dark.

The tree went up too. My parents like the simplicity of a fibre optic tree but I miss all the traditional trimmings & decorations that hold special memories. No space in my flat for a big tree but one day I'll get one. Quite like this, it looks much prettier in store than the online photos show.

Day 17 - A Very Happy Birthday

2011-12-10T15:43:00.000-08:00

Had a great day today. Woke up to a white blanket of snow but luckily that didn't spoil our plans. We met my Auntie in town for lunch, went round some shops & stopped at starbucks before hitting the shops again! We finished the day enjoing a nice chinese meal together before my Auntie caught the train home again.

A wonderful way to begin the next year in my life which I plan to record in this pretty pink Smash! journal.

Day 16 - Secret Santa

2011-12-09T15:45:00.001-08:00

Had the best day with my friends. They came to my flat with birthday surprises then we all swapped our Secret Santa gifts. It was so much fun, we all had a good giggle at the silly gifts & gushed over the sentimental ones. So glad my friend loved the album I made for her, there were tears but the good sort!

We headed to the Christmas market after that, opportunity for lots of photos.

Then ended the day with a final girly catch up before the holidays at Costa Coffee.

We all agreed we need days out like this more often so are planning to go see this movie in January when we are all back together again.

Day 15 - Gingerbread chalet

2011-12-08T14:18:00.000-08:00

So it's more of a chalet than a house but I'm still quite proud of my first gingerbread house. I did make one in hospital 3 years ago but that was shared with another patient so it was nice to have all the creative control this time. Icing was a bit tricky as it was rather gritty, not nice & smooth like the pack suggested. But I managed. Couldn't find the sweets I wanted in the shops either so I improvised with what I had to hand.

Chocolate roll for logsMarshmallow snowman (with brads for an eyes & nose!)

Curlywurly fence

Celebration Mars Bar half for a chimney

I'm already planning a bigger house for next year! Anyone else getting creative in the kitchen this Christmas?

Day 14 - Christmas to do list

2011-12-07T14:32:00.000-08:00

It's time to write down all the things I want to do before Christmas & have the best of intentions of actually getting done! Usually I'm quite good at working through to do lists once I have committed my thoughts to paper. I think that's because once things are written down they don't seem so overwhelming anymore. At the moment all the thoughts flying round in my head repeatedly magnifies things & makes it seem like I have more to do than there actually is.
First thing on the list for tomorrow is to finish off my Secret Santa gifts & get them wrapped for my friends coming around on Friday. We have one main present to give each, and then two little gifts for the others. I'm really looking forward to an afternoon with the girls as it will be our last day to all catch up together before the holidays. Hopefully the weather is good so that we can pay a little visit to the German Market too.
They played the Home Alone theme on the radio today & along with the picture in my advent calendar I was reminded of thescene from Home Alone when Kevin sets up the party with a train set to fool the burglars. Definitely need to watch the first two movies in the series before Christmas!

Day 13 - I want a teddy for Christmas

2011-12-06T14:53:00.000-08:00

I don't really want a teddy but today my advent calendar picture reminded me of a Christmas song I used to sing when I was younger. My journaling theme today was memories so I'm going to write about my memories of sending letters to Santa.
Elsewhere in y little world today this was going on. Creating a new mini book all about my style. Got all the pages cut & punched now so tomorrow I can just enjoy embellishing.

Day 12 - Documenting 2011

2011-12-05T14:39:00.000-08:00

Ordered the final set of photos today for my Document 2011 album (although I may need to add a few to the December pages in the New Year). I enjoyed working on these albums for the past two years but feel I need somthing different for 2012. What that will be though I've still to decide. I quite like the idea of having it ready prepared to just add to as the months pass by. The excitement of all the new projects for next year has me itching to get started, need to be strict with myself to complete all the 2011 ones first or else they'll remain unfinished forever!

Picture in my advent calendar this morning reminded me that I still haven't got a wreath for my door. Seen a few I like, including the one below, but its another case of not being able to decide!

Day 11 - First signs of snow

2011-12-04T14:58:00.000-08:00

After a quick but heavy hail storm this morning we had a little flurry of snow. It didn't last long though, which was lucky as we went out this afternoon to the museum. It has recently been renovated & we were all impressed with the new layout.There's far to much to see in one visit so we focused on the Egyptian & Design exhibits. I love little things like fossils, carvings & jewellry. Having studied bent wood furniture this semester at university it was fascinating to see the sarcophagi knowing how they were made & that the Ancient Egyptians were one of the first to bend wood. Found these festive pieces of tableware from the mid 1800s too, plan to add this photo to my album page for today.Just 21 sleeps until Santa comes by on his sleigh!

Day 10 - With every Christmas card I write

2011-12-03T14:51:00.000-08:00

Sweet geese behind door number three today, reminded me of this scene from Aristocats & a Beatrix Potter nursery rhyme book I had when I was younger, neither of which has anything to do with Christmas!
My attention today turned to Christmas cards. I made & wrote all my hand crafted ones, will rely upon boxed cards for everyone else. I really enjoy making & sending cards to all my friends and family, just don't have time to handmake them all. Recieved my first Christmas card in the post too, before any of my Birthday cards arrived. Just one week until my Birthday now, hope any cards do arrive on time. The bad weather last year meant everything was held up & I waited until the following week for my Birthday cards.Not sure what we're doing for my Birthday yet. I'm going out with friends the day before & my Godmother is coming to spend the day of my Birthday with my parents & I. Hope to go to Starbucks again, it's become a sort of Birthday tradition, and bonus this year is that all the mugs are 50% next Saturday! I've always wanted my own one so hopefully they'll have some nice ones in stock.
Another Birthday tradition is celebration cakes from M&S. I'm probably too old for themed cakes but this one is pretty cute!

Day 9 - Dreaming of a white Christmas

2011-12-02T14:31:00.000-08:00

The snowman behind door number 2 of my advent calendar set me thinking about a white Christmas. As we are having a small family Christmas this year & not planning to travel, snow on Christmas Day would be nice, especially if it is deep enough to go sledging! We have the fastest sledge ever & lots of hills nearby. The only down side is pulling the sledge back up again!Didn't get onto Christmas crafts today as there was a lot going on, but I did get some time to work on the final LO for my OLW album, stating my word for next year.

Day 8 - December Magic

2011-12-01T14:41:00.000-08:00

It's that magical time of year again when we all get to act like big kids & get excited about Christmas. I love December & all the happy times it brings, including my Birthday next week :) Today I opened the first door of my advent calendar that my sweet dad brought last night when he dropped off some work for university. Said work was done today along with more Christmas shopping. Weather is still feeling very wintery but this sight brightened up my day.

Plan to catch up on my Christmas journal tomorrow & Saturday. Today was spent finishing off my OLW album for 2011. Already decided upon my word for 2012, can't wait to start that album!

Day 7 - Something a little different

2011-11-30T14:52:00.000-08:00

Last day of November, happy St Andrew's Day to all my fellow Scots! Lots of Scottish songs on the radio today, including my favourite Caledonia, although it wasn't this version.

Today I did some Christmas crafting for my Secret Santa then I tidied up my Christmas stuff a bit so I could work on some thing different. Took inspiration from the latest Studio Calico Sunday sketch to start this layout. Almost finished it, just a few finishing touches to add in the morning.

Day 6 - Playing catch up already

2011-11-29T13:45:00.001-08:00

Created my layout for Saturday today. I had planned to have a lot of my pages ready in advance but I think it's actually going to be much easier to record the day after it has happened as so many plans have changed already and it's only day 6! Luckily the preparations I have made so far are easily adaptable for more changes.
Saturday was very much family orientated so that's the focus of my layout, with an envelope to hold little bits & pieces from the day. I used an Ali Edwards stamp in the top left corner of the envelope but didn't ink up the final word so that my 'family' title completes the phrase - Nothing better than spending time with family.

Day 5 - Dad's Birthday

2011-11-28T14:08:00.000-08:00

My parents had today off work for my Dad's Birthday so I stayed the night to spend some time with them too. It was nice being there when he opened his gifts & cards. He was really surprised to be given the Take That Progress DVD as he had no idea it was out yet. He was even dropping big hints last night about wanting it for Christmas. Luckily the rain stayed off in the morning to allow him to play a round of golf while mum made some Christmas cards & I worked on my essay. Got back to my flat in the afternoon, so glad to be getting measured for new windows tomorrow as it is still VERY cold. Just hope I don't have a long wait on them being fitted.

Short & sweet post today as the busy weekend has taken it's toll & I'm off to bed for an early night.

Day 4 - A little bit of everything

2011-11-27T15:11:00.000-08:00

Had a busy & varied day. Not all incredibly interesting, won't bore you with the details of my essay editing, but it was better than I thought it was going to be. Just need to write a proper conclusion & title now, plus fully reference it. Hate referencing, it takes sooooooo long to get it right. Worth doing properly though so I'll try to get it finished tomorrow morning.

It's my dad's birthday tomorrow so I baked some cakes for him. His nickname at university was superman because he was the only one to always pass everything, so he likes things with superman on them. It was great to see his expression when I surprised him with the cakes, think he thought I was just baking ordinary cupcakes.

It's St.Andrew's Day on Wednesday so there were celebrations at the castle all weekend. We joined in tonight with the fireworks display. They were fantastic, definitely worth braving the cold for!

Going back to my flat tomorrow, hopefully it's not too cold. Looking forward to recording all the weekend's memories in my Christmas journal.

Day 3 - Family visit

2011-11-26T14:59:00.000-08:00

Had a lovely day out with my family today. My dad's sister came to visit with my Gran. We spent some time (& a LOT of money) Christmas shopping and enjoyed lunch together before taking them to see my flat. Unfortunately my Gran isn't very well at the moment so they went home late afternoon instead of staying for dinner & visiting the Christmas market like we had originally planned. It was still a great day though & good to catch up with them.

The thing that evokes Christmas memories most for me is scent. Every time I use Radox chamomile handwash I am instantly taken back to the year I got my Sylvanian Families windmill & barge, my favourite toy ever! I still remember the pink dressing gown I wore & washing my hands in the bathroom with my mum before going downstairs to see what Santa had brought that Christmas morning. It's such a strong memory & a very happy one, always makes me smile. Another scent I relate to Christmas is this Mandarin Clove & Cinnamon Room Spray from M&S. My mum first bought it when I was 7 & still gets it most years. My auntie surprised me with a bottle today along with the pot pourri so now my flat will smell nice & festive.

Day 2 - Do To or not To Do

2011-11-25T14:19:00.000-08:00

Clearly my mind was elsewhere when spelling out this title backwards today, probably thinking about how cold I was! As much as I love my flat it's not easy to work when the weather is so cold due to very draughty windows. My curtains actually move when the windows are fully closed! Think I may be getting somewhere with the letting agent though. The joiner was up a few weeks ago & confirmed they are rotten beyond repair. So on Tuesday the flat is being measured for new windows & hopefully the landlord will approve the quotation. Fingers crossed please dear readers, definitely need something to help block out the cold this winter.

Anyway, back to scrapping. Day 2 of my winter journal is all about the things I would like to do this year over the festive season. I typed up a list of 12 'hope to do' things & will review them again in January. Last year I never got around to decorating our gingerbread house so that is a must this Christmas! Staying with my parents this weekend as we have a lot going on, plus it's warmer - marginally! Won't get much scrapbooking done this weekend as I have university work & will be out and about enjoying some of the St.Andrew's Day festivities that are going on in the city. Will update with photos tomorrow night, for now I'll leave you with my corrected title. The page isn't fully finished yet.

Day 1 - Giving Thanks

2011-11-24T15:15:00.000-08:00

Firstly thank you to everyone who has left a sweet comment on my previous posts. At last the first day of my journal is here & I wanted to start my recording all the things I am most thankful for at this moment in time. Everyone has struggles in life but most of the time I try to focus on the positive things going on & feel truly blessed for all the wonderful things that I do have.

I have a plan for my journal & plans over Christmas which is now pinned on my notice board. It also acts as a countdown to the new semester at university which I will hopefully be well enough to return to. It's definitely going to be after Christmas now before I get back.

My idea for today's layout started like this. I knew that I wanted to use that pink OA paper I have been saving for a number of years. Each year I use a little bit. Down to my remaining few scraps now, would love to find some more!

This is the completed page. The misting went a bit wrong as it all ran under the mask that I used but it works well with the snowflakes. I printed my journaling, stamped the title using coloured inks & the snowflakes using my watermark pad like the stars yesterday. Think that is becoming one of my new favourite techniques.

Christmas preparations well under way

2011-11-23T16:29:00.000-08:00

Had a bit more time to work on my Christmas journal today so it's really beginning to take shape now. I attached some red gingham paper to the inside covers & it makes such a difference. I'm leaving the outside cover plain until the end as I'll be moving around a lot over the festive period & don't want any decoration I add to get damaged. For that reason I've also decided upon most of my papers & embellishments in advance so I can scrapbook on the go throughout the holidays.

Today I worked on my title page & it's almost complete, just want to add a few finishing touches in the morning like sewing, gems, tape etc. Recently rediscovered my Quickutz so had fun making up this little Santa & reindeer today. Still need to add the reins, think I'll either use hemp or stitching. The star background is simply an assortment of star stamps with watermark ink on kraft.

Christmas starts here

2011-11-21T13:56:00.000-08:00

After an entire weekend woking on university assignments it felt good to take a break today and begin to prepare my Christmas journal. This year I'm going to be using an 8.5x11" album, it's the Pink Paislee portfolio one with the fantastic divided protectors inside. I've added some extra 8.5x11" ones to give myself a few more larger pages for the days I know will be busier.So far I have cut up 6 sheets of kraft & matched some stickers and journal cards to the right days.Have an idea how I'm going to make my date labels, hopefully get much further with everything tomorrow.

Remembering my school days

2011-11-14T14:45:00.000-08:00

I'm currently working on a mini album documenting my school years & it's been fun remembering all the good times and funny stories (of which there are several!) I went through & prepped all the pages first as I am using this Making Memories loose ring album. Having all the pages in order made it much easier to plan my layouts.

Yesterday I finished the basics of each page so today was all about & embellishing. That is my favurite part, although it is also the most time consuming. So I cut, layered, glued, sewed, stamped & punched to my heart's content. Got inky fingers making these date tags. I even had my Quickutz out. Made a bit of a mistake here as I hadn't noticed that the ampersand had fallen on the floor. Never mind, it still looks OK layered on top of the other letters like I always intended it to be that way!

Where did November come from?

2011-11-06T23:59:00.000-08:00

I really don't know where August, September & October went! They seemed to pass me by completely - October especially. Only 48 days until Christmas (which means I can start thinking about Christmas crafts) and 33 until my Birthday - yay!

I am still home sick from university but my friends are being great coming to visit & keep me updated on all the news. Plus my tutors are being very helpful accommodating my working from home. More work to do today but I did get a little break last week to work on a few projects.

Before I share them though, I have this layout I have been saving since the summer. It is my DT piece for Journaling Junkie where the current prompt is One Great Day. This layout is of our first Saturday in France. We visited Nice market early morning then went into the city center. In the afternoon we went to Phenix Parc then had dinner in Cannes before taking the costal road back to our villa. It was definitely a perfect day.

Busy Sunday

2011-10-16T14:19:00.000-07:00

Had a busy but good day. The first major thing is I had my hair cut. That probably isn't a huge thing for a lot of people but it feels like a big step for me. I'm used to having my hair long but it was definitely in need of a trim. Quite often it goes bushy when tied back (think Emma Watson as Hermione in HP1 & you'll be on the right track!) So I decided it was for the chop. Feels strange having it shorter still & a lot colder on the back of my neck, but it looks a lot better so I'm happy.

Did a spot of shopping before lunch then had a clear out of junk that has built up in my flat. Only been here 7 weeks but there were a few piles of things to sort. Mostly it was junk mail & free papers or leaflets. Shudder to think at how much paper is wasted printing things nobody even wants to read. It's all stacked up now waiting to be recycled.

After that it was onto happier things, like scrapbooking! Remembered to bring back a sheet of patterned paper from my parent's house that I had been needing so completed one LO. Only a few more to go then my mini album will be complete. My fave product right now is tape so it features a lot on my pages, especially these pretties from American Crafts.

Still here

2011-10-15T14:47:00.000-07:00

After a long absence from blogging I'm back! It's taken a while but I'm finally starting to settle into a routine in my new flat. Now that most of the decorating is done it feels homely & VERY me. Everywhere you look there's duck egg and that makes me happy :)

Flat photos to follow soon I promise but for now I have some peeks of the scrapbooking I've been getting up to the past few days. Unfortunately I'm not very well at the moment & have been forced to take several weeks off of university. Working from home has been tougher but I've manged to keep caught up. I will be off for at least another week so will be making the most of my free time with some scrapbooking before I start back.

New home, no internet, lots of work

2011-09-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

Quick post as only 5 minutes until uni library closes, been working for the past 2 hours & new semester hasn't even started yet! Got lots to do on my first project & no internet in my new flat yet so this is my only way to access my blog.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to post about the Justin Thyme bookmark competion on September 1st but will be back with a full update when I am able to get online again.

Thyme Running Out - watch this space...

2011-09-02T14:49:00.000-07:00

I heart ART!

2011-08-18T14:48:00.000-07:00

Being a product design student it won't come as a surprise when I say I love most things that involve art & design. After our trip to Callian where we saw Henry Briefau's creations & learned about his work we headed to Draguignan where I had discovered there was a scrapbooking store! I bought 2 wooden journaling stamps that were a French brand I knew I couldn't get back home & the store owner kindly sold me her copy of Histoires de Pages for just 5 Euros. After that we went to a little stationers where I bought a new diary. I still work to the academic year in my head so for me a new start begins in September. I got this cool diary, I love that every single page has a different design, no repeats. Can't wait to write in it for the first time this coming Monday! I certainly had my fill of art that Tuesday so Shimelle's I heart... challenge seemed the perfect one to document my memories of the day.

Callian

2011-08-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

Another challenge from Shimelle with these layouts. I love grids so this was the second project I set to work on over the weekend. It's quite a simple layout, the grid lines were stitched with my sewing machine. I love that these photos turned out so well as they were just quick snaps taken with my phone. I had planned to use the sticker my dad bought me as a title at the top of the page, but when I discovered the background is white rather than a clear sticker I decided to save it for my homemade travel Smash! style journal.

Monday in the Mountains

2011-08-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

Like many other scrapbookers I took part in some of Shimelle's Online Crop Challenges this weekend. The first one I set to work on was the weekly sketch. I'm still using my Studio Calico Mind The Gap kit and it's good to see it diminishing more and more each day as my vacation album fills up.

I love the little Maya Road canvas banners but used them in an unusual way here to create mountains. I enjoy creating up the little 2x3" cards too which make up the facing page.

Favourite place

2011-08-14T14:24:00.000-07:00

I loved Phoenix Park in Nice, we visited it after spending the morning in the city centre. It was so peaceful & beautiful. There were lots of animals, including my favourites - otters & tortoises! The plants provided the perfect backdrop for lots of photo taking, I've still got a big pile left after creating these pages.

The divided page protector allowed me to fit in four 6x4 photos. The title is cut from a map we werre given making it a very simple layout overall.

Sasha's great sketch over on the Studio Calico blog was great for including four smaller photos on a fun, dynamic page.

Lot to catch up on

2011-08-12T02:24:00.000-07:00

Things have been crazily busy this week, finally starting to feel on top of it though. House hunting really got too much for me on Tuesday, been through the entire spectrum of emotions it's possible to experience & back again. From being excited at the prospect of my own place to the despair at not knowing if I can afford to move out. I still think I want to make the move as I feel the time is right, but I've also realised that taking things slowly is the best approach, it'll definitely help ease the strain & feelings of panic if nothing else.

So that explains my absence from blog land and the reason I'm so behind with updates on my France album. Just counted & I have 14 layouts to share including a few doubles. Don't like doing marathon posts with lots of photos as blogger tends to go a bit weird with the layout & adds in lots of extra spaces. Hopefully I'll be able to do a few shorter posts each day until I've caught up.

The cycling layout in the post below is the last in a total of 5 layouts for the 10th June so I thought it would make sense to share the first 4 in this post. The little layouts are in a 5x7 protector which is a great size to highlight a single photo or use as a jornalilng page. As I know the order of the pages in this album won't change, I am able to use both sides of a sheet of card or patterned paper.

Our first Friday in France was quite a disappointment for Dad. He's an architect and likes to read Roman fiction novels about gladiators & battles (I got him this book for Father's Day) so it was no surprise he was interested in seeing the ancient ruins around Frejus. I felt really sorry for him when we found there wasn't much to see.

The evening was better. We went to Luna Parc after a walk along to St Raphelle. Usually Dad & I go on lots of rides together at theme parks. My Mum doesn't like rides but she enjoys the atmoshere so doesn't mind waiting. Unfortunately I think I am getting more like her. Although I'm not afraid of heights & going upside down I seem to suffer from motion sickness now. Two rides seemed to be enough to make me queasy for the rest of the evening :(

Stressful day!

2011-08-09T12:36:00.000-07:00

I'm having the most stressful of days & unfortunatley it's set to continue until bedtime. Whoever said house hunting was the most stressful thing you can do is most definitely correct! If only there was one up to date list of all the properties available then life would be simpler - but alas there's not. Instead there are multiple lists with many properties long since off the market & I need to try to weed through them, identify the ones that are actually in the area I want to live & then co-ordinate viewings (not easy when you don't drive or live anywhere near the potential properties) All in all it's feeling a bit much this evening, especially as what I'm looking for seems to be like gold dust at the moment.

On a lighter not I had fun on Saturday creating this layout inspired by this sketch Shimelle posted last week. I turned the sketch around to work better with my photos. Love how this collage turned out when it was printed, think I'm addicted to Picasa collages now!

In our dreams

2011-08-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the kind comments yeasterday, still awaiting news. St Tropez wasn't as glamorous as I imagined, I prefered the part that was like a quaint old port. Reminded me of the scenes in the Mamma Mia movie. We certainly saw a lot of impressive boats though! I was more interested in the huge flower displays many of them had aboard but for dad it was all about the boats. I know he dreams of owning a boat one day, for now he has to settle for an RC model one! He especially liked the Casino Royale so we had to take some photos of it. This layout is actually on the reverse of the pink St Tropez one I posted yesterday, luckily both sides of the American Crafts patterned paper were perfect for my photos.

Creating faster than I can blog!

2011-08-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

Had a busy weekend with no time to come online so I've got a backlog of layouts to share. First up is this one of St Tropez which I love, the colours are just so me! It's inspired by last week's Sunday Sketch at Studio Calico.

Lots going on here. Picked up one of the Sunday mags to look for something & it fell open on the horoscope page. I don't normally pay much attention (unless it tells me I'm going to have a wonderful day!) but it seemed so fitting for what's going on in my life right now. Hopefully I'll have some good news to share by the end of the week.

A change is as good as a rest and the stars now signal a break from the past. With so much on your plate a schedule is needed, especially on Monday and Tuesday.

Frejus Day 1

2011-08-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

Finished my pages for the first day of our holiday today. After travelling through a lot of bad weather it was nice to spend the late afternoon walking around the port & along the beach front in the sun. The misted layout is loosely based on the sketch for the Scrapology July challenge. I used a combination of Charcoal Maya mist & White Mr Huey's.

Took the photos of yesterday's layout again but in focus this time! Working on day 2 pages now, all pretty pinks & aquas, much more in my comfort zone.

New photos, new album

2011-08-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

July was a very busy month for me, no time to stop & think, let alone even consider scrapbooking. Although I like being busy I'm thankful that things have slowed down a little, especially since I had new photos delivered yesterday. If there's one thing that gets me more excited than new scrapping supplies then it's new photos. I spent ages sorting them into groups for albums I have planned & finally it was time to get creative!

I took out my Studio Calico Mind the Gap kit and couldn't believe that so many of the contents will work perfectly with my France photos. Usually I create a vacation mini album but I have so many photos & haven't worked in 12x12 for so long that I decided 12x12 would make a nice change, although I will add a variety of different page sizes inbetween the 12" layouts. Actually had to go hunt out a 12x12 album to house the contents in. I can't remember the last time I bought one! Ended up relocating the pages of another album so I could use it until the new one arrives. I like the American Crafts modern albums as I can personalise the front covers & inner pages to match the contents.
Only created one layout today, and it took me quite a while, but I enjoyed the process & am happy with it. The stamp from my kit was just perfect for the first page of my album & the start of our journey. I covered some of the words with a photo so that my title follows on. Sorry about the poor quality photos, shaky hands tonight. Played with my wood veneer frames for the first time today. First I inked them with Scattered Straw & Walnut Stain then stamped the pattern in Walnut Stain. I created the little washi tape tabs by applying it to some acetate first then cutting that out & attaching with a staple & brad.

This time...

2011-07-10T14:23:00.000-07:00

I had a great time in France reading some of the FANTASTIC scrapbooking magazines that are on sale over there. In one I came across instructions to make up this template.

It's the four year anniversary over at Studio Calico this month & one of the celebration challenges is to take inspiration from song lyrics. I've taken some of the words from three different Carpenters songs as the journaling, plus written my personal journaling on the back of the pink oval which slips out of the pocket. All the photos can be seen here.

Sunday Night Catch Up

2011-07-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

Got a few challenge layouts to share tonight. I'm a bit later than usual as I have been looking into driving lessons & buying a car. I'm nowhere near ready to buy a car yet but it's nice to have an incentive in mind. Currently got my sights set on one of these.

Back to scrapbooking now. First up is my layout for the Studio Calico weekly challenge, I really enjoyed making this page & used all 3 mediums - ink, paint & mist.

Next is my layout inspired by the Sunday Sketch. Wasn't sure how I was going to use the silver Hambly banner rub-ons but the work quite well with this layout & look good on grey cardstock.

Finally is my layout inspired by Pencil Lines #244. The sketch last Sunday used die-cut card/paper as a base. I used to get really excited about die-cut sheets but now I scrap in smaller sizes more often it seems a shame to cut them up. However I am learning that they work just as well with only part of the page edged with the decorative border & like making mini pages in my albums with die-cut papers now. (Ooops, just realised I didn't take a photo of this so will be back to update this post later)

All set to Smash! July

2011-07-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

Stop & Scrap just revealed sneaks for the new Smash! items coming out this summer, so many lovely products, think I'm going to need one of each (at least!!!!)

Yesterday I began to use my red Smash! journal to document July. I just finished the Sherlock Holmes book A Study In Scarlet on Thursday in which Watson lists Holmes' limits from his observations. Noticing some similarities with my own character, my page for July 1st was inspired by Watson's list.
Everyone who knows me knows I'm a bookworm, so much so that my family nicknamed me Belle because just like the character in Beauty & the Beast I've always got a book in my hand. Yesterday I got a postcard from the author of this book telling me the second in the series is finally being released in October. I'm so excited, I text my friend to tell her and now she can't wait too. I have a huge list of books on my 'To Read' list to work my way through first. Last night I began Black Ice, not sure how far down my list I'll get by the end of July as I have a lot more books on my shelf I want to read too but the little Smash! pad only let me list 8!

Clothing inspired

2011-06-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

The latest Sarah's Cards challenge is to take inspiration from items of clothing so I selected one of my favourite blouses & a striped top from my wardrobe.At first I intended to use the embroidered pattern as my inspiration, but it was actually the wrap style of the blouse that inspired me to turn up the corner of the paper. The striped sweater was my inspiration for the colours as well as using strips of washi tape & border stickers.The little mini page is created on an acetate sheet which looks interesting when it's in the album.

Wish to be less perfectionistic

2011-06-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

I love the style of layouts that look imperfect & a bit like they've been thrown together. I'm sure the people who design them do spend time planning their pages & put a lot of thought and work into them, but I tend to over think things when I'm designing (or doing anything really!) I have never created a project without using my ruler to make sure everything is perfectly lined up. I spend so long making sure everything is perfectly imperfect that my creations lose their dynamic, they look static & staged, plus they take me forever to create.

When I saw Shimelle's layout for her weekly sketch last week I loved it & really wanted to create something that has the same 'wow!' effect. Not very happy with what I came up with. There are parts that I like, but overall it's another one of my static pages.

Because I'm currently working with a 8.5x11" album I stretched the sketch over a double layout. Also, once it is in the album there is a divided page protector between them.

Because of...

2011-06-26T14:06:00.000-07:00

I used to play along with Effer Dares then stopped due to university & work commitments. Glad that I rediscovered them again though thanks to the link with Studio Calico for Dare #178. The theme is to finish this title prompt 'Because of...'

The next pages planned for my Pieces of Me album were to feaure all my notebooks & planners so I completed the sentence with '...my books' Without all my different books for keeping track of everything in my life I'd be completely lost. I still never have time to do everything but at least I know what I should be doing!Not sure about this second page yet, it looks a bit plain to me so I may go back and add a little bit more detail, I'm still undecided.

6 days on

2011-06-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

Can't believe we got home almost a week ago now, I don't know where the time has gone! I've been so busy this week & still don't seem to have caught up. Today was the summer fete at my Gran's care home and luckily it stayed dry, even warm for a while! Everyone enjoyed the afternoon, including this little cutie Sophie, my cousin Natalie's daughter. She's such a happy little girl & loves to dance which is quite funny to watch.Did find some time for more craft projects this week. These layouts are from the Pencil Lines sketch 243 & Studio Calico's Weekly Challenge which was to use 10 patterned papers on a layout.

Back & crafting already

2011-06-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

France was great - very hot & sunny! Nice to be home again though, even if it is grey & wet outside. I've started to edit our photos, think it's going to take a while though as we had about 800 between us. Planning to make an iMovie too, need to get that done before the weekend as our family want to see it & we are going to visit on Saturday. More on France to come in future posts, I'll certainly have enough photos to keep me busy until Christmas now!

Back to creating with my Lawn Party kit today. Had to work fast to make this layout based on last week's sketch from Shimelle before the new one is up tomorrow. I've turned & flipped the sketch and replaced the title block with my photo instead of one large photo. This is the second group of pages for my Pieces of Me album, all about the special people in my life. Got another 8.5x11" layout to create tomorrow plus 18 little 2x3" cards which I love making for my divided page protectors.

This time tomorrow...

2011-06-04T05:55:00.000-07:00

... I'll be in France, hopefully where it's hot & sunny. Still to pack my clothes but they're all laid out in the spare room.

Observations - I like clothes that:

are pink, white or cream

are frilly or flouncy (love skirts that swish)

have embroidered detail

can be described as girly

if not girly, fit into the outdoor adventure category, Lara Croft style

The good thing about everything looking similar is that it all matches so I don't need to plan outfits, I can mix & match as I please. Fewer shoes needed as they all go with everything. Ditto for jewellery, hair accessories & make-up meaning I can travel lighter (until I add the craft stuff!)

This is the title page of my album that I meant to share yesterday. I stayed quite close to this week's Sunday sketch at Studio Calico. The album is called 'Pieces of Me' and will be little snapshots of my persoanlity. I went around the house taking photos of the things that I think describe me quite well. Had to pack my Lawn Party kit away so it doesn't get dusty while we're on holiday & by the time I get back my Paper Moon kit should be here too so I'll have lots to get busy with again.

2 sleeps to go!!!!

2011-06-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

Only 34 hours until our plane takes off for Nice, can't wait! Starting to get really excited & am in the holiday mood now, even more so because of the lovely weather we've had today. Gave my self a mini mani-pedi so shiny nails and pretty feet ready for my sandals.

Got my craft kit ready to pack so no more creating for me this weekend, plenty to be getting on with though. Finished these layouts this morning inspired by Shimelle's weekly sketch. First pages made from my Lawn Party kit & also the first spread of a new album I am making. I have done the title page too & thought I had taken a photo of it, but I didn't so will share that tomorrow in my final post for a fortnight.

My morning...

2011-06-02T03:31:00.000-07:00

... was spent baking these, hopefully they taste as good as they look & smell! We're going to France on Sunday so trying to use up some of the fruit in the fridge. These are apple, pear & oat muffins.

Off to lay out my clothes to pack now, I like to be ready well in advance as there will be no time t grab last minute things on Sunday morning.

Not planning on taking lots of craft stuff with me, just a crochet book & some yarn plus my travel journal. I'll pack a small kit of essentials on Saturday as still got several craft projects I need to finish before we go, including a Father's Day card.

Thing I Love About My Life #3

2011-05-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

For the 3rd topic in my album I chose design as it's such a big part of my life. When I'm not sleeping I'm thinking about design projects, whether they be for university or crafts. I even have dreams about designing! Just got my results for the second semester today, two merits & a pass which I'm pleased with as it was almost a merit grade & in my least important module.

I created two double layouts to celebrate design in my life, the first is about university & the second is crafts. I wish I was free in my crafting more often as I really enjoyed painting & being messy, not really thinking the design through, just putting things where they looked right. Perhaps the accident with tea this morning helped as the white banner got stained & is all crinkled now but that fits with the overall look of the page so I'm trying not to be bothered by it.

More from my homemade kit

2011-05-26T01:06:00.000-07:00

Working with a limited amount of products has really helped me create this mini album faster & kept the pages uniform in design. Definitely going to make up my own kits & play along with Counterfit Kits more often in future.

This is my title page, still loving yellow! I used to hate it so much but really like it paired with pink & teal now.

As the envelope set is just 5 things I love about my life I am going to add some layouts in between because I felt the album would be too thin with just 5 double layouts. These pages come after the parents double spread I shared yesterday.

Counterfit Kit

2011-05-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

This is my first time at playing along with the Counterfit Kit Challenge Blog & I'm really glad that I did. I had an album planned for these Elizabeth Park envelopes but I was lacking inspiration to get started on my project so I decided to make up my own kit. I based it around the June add-on kit from Work In Progress & will be using these items plus off-cuts from the Katlin collection.

The first projects I created from my kit was based on the Studio Calico Sunday sketch. I love using grids & would never have thought to dig out my old Katlin rub-ons or the lilac mini alphabet without having made up this kit.My second project was based upon sketch #238 at Pencil Lines. This photo taken on Mother's Day is one of my favourites with my parents.

Couple of sketch layouts to share

2011-05-23T12:24:00.000-07:00

Not feeling much like summer here today :( Constant rain & winds reported at over 100mph! Quite a few broken pots, plants & hanging baskets in the garden, thankfully no serious damage though. Some of the pictures shown on the news were truly frightening. Plus we've got the flu at our house, hopefully everyone is well for going away at the weekend.
Finished my 'Introducing Me' album last week, I had to wait for the car photo to arrive so I could make the navigator page. I used sketches as a starting point for both of these layouts, the first one was the Sunday Sketch at Studio Calico last week. Just using up the last bits & pieces of my Singin' in the Rain kit.

The second is Shimelle's sketch for the current week. Instead of creating a background of 4 squares of paper, I stitched a cross onto the cardstock.

I made the little doilies with my Gertie 'Girly' stamps from My Mind's Eye & American Crafts Zing! embossing powder. Really wish there was a hot pink or cerise one. For the pink I used an orchid ink pad & Ranger clear powder but the finish isn't as intense.

Documenting Mach 2011

2011-05-20T06:42:00.000-07:00

This will be the final instalment of my Document 2011 project for a while. I'll probably do the pages for May & June at the beginning of July. It's really beginning to feel like summer now. Beautiful day here so I took some quick photos from a window. Might use this as the first photo for May's Document 2011 divided page. I love puffy white clouds & you can just see the wind farm on the middle hill.

March was a very busy month for me. Lots going on at university & going out with friends.

For the bowling night layout I adapted the monthly sketch from Sarah's Cards by turning it sideways. I loved this lace paper from the Dear Lizzy Enchanted collection but I was unsure how to use it as the large roses are quite bold. Layered under the die-cut paper though it adds interest to the page without being too distracting. I've saved the middle part so might cut out some of the roses to use individually on future projects. Used some of my favourite Thickers too, the lullaby font is so pretty & stroll fits with the bowling theme perfectly. My journaling will be in pen but I need to check something before writing with ink.

Documenting January - The first part

2011-05-19T13:43:00.000-07:00

Finally fully caught up with my Document 2011 album today when I completed my March pages. Realised I haven't taken many throughout May, but I'll be going away for a short break next weekend so I'm sure to take lots of photos then.

These are the first of my January pages. My 12x12 layout is inspired by Pencil Lines sketch #237 which I flipped & put my own take on. The photos were taken on New Years Day when we went out for a walk.

I love the photo of the sky & my favourite of the mini layouts is the Hairspray one. We took my Gran to see the show & it was so funny. I'd never seen the movie (I still haven't in fact) so I enjoyed the story too.

18 days & counting

2011-05-18T14:34:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I checked Date Counter on my iPhone so I was surprised (& excited!) to find that it's just 18 days until we go to France. Really looking forward to it. I don't like to plan trips too much before I go, it's more fun to see what we feel like when we get there.

Today I met up with my friend Rosie in town & did a spot of shopping. Everything was either a great bargain or free (even better!), even the Frappuccinos at Starbucks during their 2 hour daily promotion this week.

When I saw Paperchase's new Skyline collection online I knew I would be tempted to buy some & I was right. It was the first thing I saw as I entered the store & I picked up these notebooks straight away. I was disappointed to have missed out on the mini Smash! journals that were given away but I plan to make my own versions with these passport notebooks which have grid paper inside. The long kraft book will go to France with me & be my journal for the trip. And of course I couldn't go to Paperchase without adding to my tape collection, even the sales assistant admitted she's addicted to them too! I did manage to resist buying this pen, although I wish I had got it now as it goes well with the turquoise stitching on the Skyline journal (& I'm a sucker for anthing that coordinates).

In Poundland I noticed some travel guides & was lucky to find one copy of this, the area we're going to in France. I've already read quite a bit & my list of possible places to see is rapidly growing longer.

I had 5 minutes in Lakeland before they closed for the day & a free £3 gift voucher to spend. Now they no longer sell craft supplies I wasn't sure what to get until I came across this brilliant organiser. Originally it should have been £12.99 but it was on the clearance table with a damages sticker & reduced to £2.99 I can't read what the fault is but I certainly can't see anything wrong with it so was very happy to get it in exchange for my voucher. I love little pockets & envelopes so I'll love using this as it's so different from my other albums.

Other bargains of the day were a Star Wars DVD box set for Dad which he has been looking for & I found in the HMV sale and an A5 clear binder which I plan to use as a mini album. When I was out on Sunday I came across this cool travel file. I'd looked at it before & think it's meant to retail at $28 in the US, so I was super pleased to pick it up for £3. Again it's full of pockets, dividers, forms to fill in, check lists etc - all the sort of stuff a stationery fanatic like me gets excited by ;)

Documenting January - Part 2 before part 1!

2011-05-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

39 days into my break from uni and I honestly don't know where the time has gone! I'm into week 6 now and although I have done a lot, there's still a lot I would like to do before starting second year. I have been managing to catch up on my Document 2011 album this past week. Today I completed my January pages and once I finish the March ones which I am working on now then I'll be fully up to date (for about a week then it will be time to do May!)I'm posting pages 3+4 before 1+2 because I used Shimelle's weekly sketch for page 4 and there will be a new sketch tomorrow. For me, much of January was spent working on projects from university. Some I enjoyed more than others. The paper orchid was very difficult to construct. It was actually the pot that was the most difficult to shape. The petals & leaves were intricate but I enjoyed shaping them, the difficulty came in making the stem strong enough to hold the weight of the flowers. The final result was worth it though.I was quite ill for a while in January so on one of the mini layouts I have included the medication packets in a little glasine envelope.

Documenting Feburary with Challenges

2011-05-15T03:07:00.000-07:00

There were so many challenges released last week for NSD that it was difficult to decide which ones to work on & find time to do them. Shimelle hosted several on her blog and there were more at 2Peas & Studio Calico so I have incorporated some into my Document 2011 layouts for February.

Shimelle's first challenge was to use patterned paper instead of cardstock for the background which I have done for both my 12x12 layouts & all my minis. The Sweet Valentine page is also inspired by this sketch at 2Peas. The Evolution of a Shoe Design page is about one of my projects for university. The layout was inspired by this magazine page. I chalked the little blue boxes to add some colour, it's ages since I used chalk! When I first started scrapbooking back in 2003 I used it all the time & it's actually really useful to add some interest to journaling or stamped images so perhaps I should use it more often in future.

Know that the Glee mini is going to be Seonaid's fave of this post, we really need to get together for a sing song on the wii. I came up with the border of folded circles after seeing something similar that Lisa Toronto did.

I made this little embellishment cluster from scraps for another of Shimelle's challenges. The title was pieced together too as I got to the end of the word February and realised I didn't have any Ys left. To solve the problem I stuck a V on top of a J.

I often use triangles in design as they work well tying things together and give balance to the overall composition. This mini layout features a triangle of pink and I've done the same on previous projects with green, purple & cerise.

There's a story behind why I took photos at the museum back in February. We were meant to spend the afternoon sketching exhibits but there was a blizzard outside & I was worried about getting home as there was quite a good chance my buses would be cancelled again (experienced that a few times over the winter). Instead of sketching I took a few quick snaps & worked with them from home to do my drawings. I know it's not as good as seeing things in real life but I didn't fancy being stranded in town, so that's why one of my mini layouts features photos of my favourite exhibits. I love sandstone so it's not surprising that nearly everything I took photos of was made of sandstone & it featured a lot in my own design.

Documenting April - Part 2

2011-05-13T23:44:00.000-07:00

Bit later at sharing this than I intended due to blogger being down, but here is the second instalment of my April Document 2011 pages (& I'm relieved to see that the first part has reappeared!)
Ever since I bought the divided page protectors for Document 2010 I have loved them. Think making the mini layouts has to be my favourite thing, although I sometimes struggle for ideas to make them all a little different.
I find the easiest way to organise things is to lay out 12 index cards then arrange my photos & memorabilia on top until I am happy with the composition. I try to keep everything in chronological order from left to right, top to bottom on each side of the divided sheet, but sometimes I mix things a little if it works better visually.
I also find it easier to make the two 12x12 layouts first as then I can use all the off-cuts on the minis. Another great thing for minis are 6x6 pads, especially ones with ledger & grid style sheets as trimming 2" off leaves you with the perfect sized journaling card. I used the Upcycle Mini Deck for my April cards. The designs are reduced in size too which is great as sometimes the patterns on a 12" sheet can be too much for the mini cards.
Trying something new this year for my 'view out of the window' photo. I have edited the photos to include a date stamp. It's the first time I have tried to include digital brushes on my photos, usually I print them on transparencies, but it was super easy so I'll definitely be doing it more often in the future. Some of the photos didn't print correctly even although I was careful to leave an extra border so I'm just using the ones I have while waiting on the reprints to arrive.

Documenting April - Part 1

2011-05-12T03:45:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how many projects I've created with my Singin' In The Rain kit & I still have quite a bit left! Some products I've saved for projects I have in mind & I want to do a few more layouts for my OLW album with it, after that the bag should be pretty empty. I've put it away for now though as I want to work on my Document 2011 album. I like to use a different kit for each month to fit with the season so my floor is cleared to make way for kits from the start of the year. I still have January, February & March to create.

I started with April because I had the Singin' In The Rain kit out, it's my favourite so far this year. Love pink, turquoise, yellow & lime - and this kit had them all! Can't help but smile when I see them all together.

Each month I will have two 12x12 layouts featuring the highlights, and these will be separated by a divided page protector containing 12 6x4" mini layout cards. April's highlights for me included Mother's Day & the last day of first year at university.

For the Mother's Day layout I took inspiration from Susan's sketch and combined it with the Studio Calico Multi Photo NSD challenge. I'm lucky to have 5 special ladies in my life who all care about me. In addition to my mum I have two grandmothers, my auntie Mo who is also my Godmother & my auntie Jennifer. This year I got to spend time with them all on Mother's Day.

Our last day as first years at university was probably the best one. Everyone had worked hard on our final projects & you coould see how much we've all improved in just 30 academic weeks. I have lots of projects bookmarked over at 2Peas so knew I wanted to take part in the NSD Challenge to Scraplift a Garden Girl. I chose Caroline's Playlist layout which I love for all the little elements. I ordered far too many photos for April & really wanted to include a picture of my final project so I created a little pocket behind the main photo. It also gave me extra journaling space. Love this photo so much, it will be great to take one every year as we go through university.

NSD Challenges So Far

2011-05-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

My May Studio Calico kit arrived yesterday but I haven't had a chance to play yet as I'm trying to use up all of the April kit first. Did have a quick peek before packing it all away again, LOVE these Girl's Paperie products!

Finished documenting April 2011 today, but got older projects to share first. These cards a part of a page in my OLW album & encompass many of the Studio Calico sketches and challenges for NSD.

Dare to Persevere

2011-05-08T14:03:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone enjoyed NSD yesterday. I planned to scrapbook this weekend but was out yesterday & had lots to do today so creative time was at a minimum. Luckily most of the challenges are open until the end of the week so I still have time to take part.

These pages for my OLW album were started last week for other challenges. The Pencil Lines sketch #236 was the inspiration for my main 12x12 page.

This little journaling page is based on the Studio Calico Sunday Sketch from last week.

The weekly challenge over at SC was to create a layout without a photo. I used some of my American Crafts divided page protectors & created these little 6x4" cards. I really enjoy making the mini layouts, can't wait to start my Document 2011 project now that I have my photos ready.

2011-05-07T23:10:00.000-07:00

There's a great new class starting this summer run by Celine & Karine. Class lasts a month from July 28 - August 28 and includes 16 layouts & 2 mini albums. There is a summer theme to the class and it covers techniques, ideas, color combos, design & sketches. Click here to learn more.

Outside Inspiration

2011-05-04T09:38:00.000-07:00

After reading about the 'Outside Inspiration' theme for this week's challenge at 2Peas I thought that my most recent Frame magazine might provide me with some ideas. I came across two adverts I really liked, but decided to go with the second one as it works best with my photo. I'm actually standing under an apple tree which is a happy coincidence.

I took the mosaic idea & stitched a grid on my cardstock then added my embellishments, title & journaling on top. I also used the green with a few touches of red & white, but added in some pink & brown too, to fit with the natural feel to the page.

It's been a while since I created a 12x12 layout and I enjoyed it, although it took me much longer than I expected. Think I'm getting used to working faster with smaller pages. This layout is for my One Little Word album for 2011 - Dare.

Bad start to the day

2011-05-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

Didn't have the best start to the morning. I had only just changed the blade of my craft knife when my hand slipped & I cut myself instead of the card. Because it was so sharp the cut is quite deep. Felt sick & lightheaded for about an hour & was starting to fear it may need stitches. Thankfully no medics were needed. Hasn't been easy today without the use of my thumb though, I didn't realise how much I use it for everything, from holding to eating, everything is more difficult. I'll be glad when it's healed & I have the full use of my hand again.

Impaired by a throbbing thumb I set about reducing my to do list, aided by my new clipboard. I've always been a list maker & having this clipboard around should hopefully help me keep organised. I've already managed to tick off most of my to do list.

In the organisational mood, I also printed off calendars to help me plan the next four months before I go back to university. I can't believe that it is May already and I'm into the fourth week of my break. Two trips coming up so the next few weeks will be spent getting ready for them then I hope to learn to drive & get the final arrangements for my placement with a local design company.

Just like my family - Part 2

2011-05-02T05:49:00.000-07:00

Appologies for the spacing, blogger won't let me change it.

Back with the second half of my album today, hopefully I can keep my blog updated this week as I have a backlog of projects to share & new photos arriving soon so even more projects planned! As I mentioned yesterday, the layouts for this album were inspired by the Sketchbook 3 class sketches. They were all single page layouts which I split to span across my double page. As I always like to do with sketches, I changed them in other ways too so I feel like the design is more my own.

Sketchbook Day 10Sketchbook Day 4

Sketchbook Day 6

Sketchbook day 11

Sketchbook Day 12

The final page has a record of who I am with in all the photos and when they were taken. I made this little flower with a die I have been meaning to try out for a while. Threading the ribbon is a bit fiddly but worth it for the final result.

Just like my family

2011-05-01T14:37:00.000-07:00

Over a week since I've blogged & a very busy week it has been. We're decorating here so everything is in disarray, will be glad when it's all finished!

Had some scrapbooking time today when I managed to complete this little album I have been working on. The front cover inspiration came from this sketch on the Sarah's Cards blog. Instead of the large flower shape behind, I created a small flower in the lower corner. Love the Hello Sunshine collection, used some of the papers & tags here. It works perfectly with Upcycle too.

The album is all about things I share in common with different members of my family. Most of the inner pages are inspired by the sketches from Kelly's Sketchbook 3 class. These two though, are from the Studio Calico Sunday sketch on the left & Pencil Lines #235 on the right.

Sketchbook Day 8

Sketchbook Day 9

All that glitters

2011-04-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Delivered my best friend's Easter gift & card today so I can share it here now. The challenge at My Mum's Craft Shop calls for glittery creations, I know she can't stand the mess loose glitter makes though, so some crystal stickles worked perfectly. I also used these pretty glittery papers from K&Co.

It's the first time I have used my marker pens for a craft project & it's much less stressful than rendering product sketches. Plus I get to use all the pretty shades that I don't get the opportunity to use for university projects. Happy Easter to all in Blogland!

Playing along with the Scrap Factor

2011-04-21T23:18:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I didn't make it into the final 15 of the Scrap Factor contest at UKScrappers but this week I have played along with the contestants challenge. The final 15 are all very talented, I placed my vote last nightfor the week 1 creations & it was a difficult decision to make!

The challenge for week 2 was to take inspiration for a printed advertisment so I had a flick through some magazines and found this ad for Jordans Country Crisp. I liked the colours & layout so taking inspiration from them I created this layout for the little album all about my Mum that I am currently working on.

Been experimenting with stamps & punches to see what different little embellishments I can come up with. The little disc is a flower stamped on kraft & punched out with a 7/16" circle. The green flower in the centre of the doilie is 3 little punched clovers layerd up.

Still love using vellum, especially sewing it onto my pages. It was perfect here to give me added colour for the lower part of my layout without being too intense.

We Are Family mini album

2011-04-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

My Mum's Craft shop started a new challenge blog this week & it's going to be hosting weekly challenges. The first challenge was Anything Goes so my submission is this We Are Family album, a few pages of which are shown below. It is all about my dad's side of the family. My Grandad has passed away now but I have included him as he is such a big part of my family memories. I mostly used the So Sophie collection from My Mind's Eye for this project.

Quick post

2011-04-18T14:28:00.000-07:00

Short post for me tonight, just wanted to share this layout I made yesterday, inspired by the sketches from Day 3 of Kelly's Sketchbook 3 class. Very different to my usual style, much cleaner & more graphic. Although I like it, I enjoyed getting back to lots of layering on today's pages.

Learning French

2011-04-17T11:24:00.000-07:00

My free time this weekend has been split between catching up with Kelly's Sketchbook class & beginning to learn French. I studied German at school & it was great being able to understand so much of the language when we were there two years. We're going to France this year though & I've never studied French. I can understand enough to get by in restaurants & shops, including my two favourite words - soldes & papeterie - especially when the 'SOLDES' sign is in the window of the papeterie!

I want to be able to do more than read menus, signs & manage money this year though so I am determined to get a better understanding of the language. Vocabulary is easy as that just requires memorising spellings and pronounciations, more difficult is grasping the grammer. I have a few books but struggling to get started properly as I'm not quite sure how to structure my learning. I'm used to studying around a set syllabus at school, but the topics and exercises covered in high school text books aren't what I want to learn, and are too advanced for me at the moment anyway. If anyone can offer some advice I'd be really grateful.

Learning French has been fun too though, got this great App - MindSnacks - which has games to play & you need too master the level you are on before you can unlock more words. I'm upto level 3 now & already feel I am improving since I began yesterday. Even more fun than iPhone games though is scrapbooking. I had time to catch up on the Sketchbook 3 classes this weekend. This layout is another for my Introducing Me album & is inspired by the Day 1 sketches. I made two different interpretations of it to create this double layout. Love that striped paper, think it is my favourite from the current Studio Calico kit.

Introducing Me

2011-04-16T13:50:00.000-07:00

Really love this song from Camp Rock 2, it's so catchy & the lyrics are fun. I thought they would make a great journaling theme for a mini album so yesterday I typed out my own version of the song, with a few added verses. These are the first two pages I made today, although they are the last double layout in the album. I made 6 in total & the album has 18 pages, so at that rate I should have it complete by Monday night. The snow layout is inspired by Day 5 of the Sketchbook 3 class and the Starbucks page is based on the Sunday sketch on the Studio Calico blog.

Singin' in the Rain & a bright idea

2011-04-14T06:26:00.000-07:00

My super clear floor space didn't last long because as soon as I had finished hoovering, I sat down and laid my new Studio Calico kit - Singin' in the Rain - out. It is very neatly arranged though!These are some of my favourite items.

For the past 6 months or so I've been enjoying making mini books. During my clear out I came across some interesting blank albums I had forgotten about, plus some other items I had bought with the intention of altering. One of these was this little address box I got in the January sales so yesterday it became my first project of my summer break.

I took it apart completely & recovered it with the Delight paper from American Crafts, then decorated it with some of the Cosmo Cricket Upcycle doilies & stickers, Pink Paislee emphemera, twine and metal flag, Sassafras alpha stickers & a Making Memories flower brad.

I'm going to use the little cards to note down any ideas I have as I am always coming up with things that I mean to write down, but forget them by the time I come to do it. Having this little box by my desk, I'll be more likely to record ideas when I have them.

The first section is for craft ideas. Layouts & mini albums I plan to make or altered projects I want to work on. The second section is for design ideas. Product concepts, presentation layouts & trends in the design industry. The third section is for story ideas. I would really like to write books for children but loose track of all the ideas I have so now I have a neat way of organising them.

Got lots of ideas for more projects I'm eager to create and the rest of my kit is calling to me so I'm away to make something else now!

Two Peas weekly challenge

2011-04-14T04:07:00.000-07:00

Had a big clear out over the weekend that only finished yesterday, my room feels so much bigger & spacious now though and I'm all set for a summer of scrapbooking! Moved my sewing machine onto my desk. It used to sit upon the wooden crate but that meant I wasn't getting the use of the crate as storage space because it was awkward to move and was also in the way of the shelves. Now I have easy access to the shelves & crate so hopefully will keep things organised!

Created this layout as part of my 'We Are Family' album before I started my clearout, inspired by the sketch which has been the weekly challenge at 2peas for the past 7 days. The bird & grasses are embossed on some plain vellum which I inked with chalky brown ink. Now I have more free time I'm looking forward to taking part in lots of challenges this summer.

Summer has started

2011-04-09T02:21:00.000-07:00

First day - Sep 2010 Final day - Apr 2011

It may only be spring but that's me on my summer break now. I finished first year of university yesterday and don't start second year until September! My presentation of my final project went very well yesterday and we had a great last day together. It was really warm so everyone was in high spirits & we ate lunch outside. Someone took photos but they haven't made it to Facebook yet so I'll have to wait before I can share them here. Do have some good ones from Mother's Day though. The first is my Mum's family & the second my Dad's.

Enjoying the lovely weather we're getting at the moment so hopefully going out for a while this weekend. The rest of my time will be spent putting away uni stuff, catching up on stuff that needs doing & of course fitting in some scrapbooking! Entered the Scrap Factor contest on UK Scrappers so anxiously awaiting the announcement of the finalists on Monday.

Got a little project from a few weeks ago to share, this is for the current challenge over at Journaling Junkie. It's a little credit card book about our family & who is most likely to do what.

My Mum loves her garden & now the warmer weather is here she'll spend most of her free time tending to the plants. She is also the most likely to be found on the phone or cleaning.

I'm always going round the house turning switches off & looking for other ways to conserve energy or recycle. I'm also most likely to get home first so it is my task to start preparing dinner.

My dad is a big sports fan, especially golf so there will be no point even trying to prise the tv remote out of his hand while the Masters is on this weekend. He's also really handy around the house though, organising, fixing & building things he's designed.

Getting daring with decorative tape

2011-03-07T14:26:00.000-08:00

I love tape!!! At the moment it is featuring on nearly every layout that I create. Today once my university work was done I had so time to create the journaling pages for the next segment of my Wellness Journal.

The latest challenge over at Moxie Fab World is to get decorative with deco tape, join in if you love tape too! Here are the innovative ways I have used tape recently:

Stamped & punched to create a flower, and as a backing for a Prima flower

Under a bookplate & sewn ribbon tab

As a base for a stamped title & as border accents

Sarah's Cards sketch challenge

2011-03-07T14:13:00.000-08:00

American Crafts are one of my favourite manufacturers, love their products & designs. This is the first time I used the Abode collection, the bookshelf paper proved perfect for the February Sketch Challenge over at Sarah's Cards. I turned it into a double layout for my '10 loves of 2010' album. Reorganising my room last May made such a difference & it's much easier to find things now.

Journaling Junkie Challenge 99

2011-03-07T00:03:00.000-08:00

First of the March challenges over at Journaling Junkie is all about objects that hold a deeper meaning for you. For me this collection of objects remind me of all the hard work I put in last year when preparing my portfolio for university interviews. By coincidence the title of the DVD I watched (several times!) is 'Objectified'. These layouts are also for my '10 loves of 2010' album.

Start of my Wellness Journey albbum

2011-03-04T13:47:00.000-08:00

These are the first 8 pages of my wellness journey album. I've been reflecting a lot recently, there are things in my life I'm not happy with & I want to change. With the help of this book I hope to make those changes & record my journey in this album.

I've used divided page protectors for this album, they're on of the products I love to use most at the moment. These are the Pink Paislee ones which I bought from ScrapRevolution. They're sold out now & no more are being manufactured :( However Lorraine has some great WRMK ones too which I've got another project planned for.Other things I'm loving at the moment are cabachons, rose trim (bargain from Primark!) and washi tape. Love being a student also as it means I get discount on my tape in Paperchase as it counts as art supplies! Really enjoying my course, what other degree does creating this count as work? A few finishing touches to add, then I'll post pictures of my completed project.Spotted this clock in Paperchase too, haven't bought it yet but I really like it...

Scrapbook Stamping - Embossing Powder

2011-02-27T14:42:00.000-08:00

The challenge for the February Scrapbook Stamping class at twopeas is to use embossing powder. I used two on this layout, black for the journaling box & white for the flower centers. This is another double spread for my '10 loves of 2010' album.

Use your words

2011-02-27T14:18:00.000-08:00

Few projects to share this evening. First up is my layout for the Studio Calico weekly challenge, where you had to make words the main focus of your page. I used a mixture of SC letter stickers & stamps for my journaling page as part of this double spread.

Shimelle's 6x4 photo love

2011-02-26T14:26:00.001-08:00

For Shimelle's first class of the year over at twopeas the challenge was to use a line of embellishments. I created a line of bookplates & label stickers onto which I wrote my journaling. Really loving washi tape at the moment, it has so many different uses! #8 of my '10 loves of 2010' was all the good books I read - 44 last year! Haven't had time to pick up any books yet this year, but hoping to change that once uni is finished for the summer break.

Studio Calico Sunday Sketch 20th Feb

2011-02-26T14:10:00.000-08:00

Loved Waleska's layout when I saw it in the February gallery, so when it was made the Sunday sketch last week over at the Studio Calico blog, I knew I had to play along with the challenge. I based my photo layout on the sketch & created a facing journaling page for my '10 Loves of 2010' album. Receiving the top pupil award for my course was highlight #4 for me last year.

Love for old products

2011-02-25T01:16:00.000-08:00

Tracie's challenge inspired me to dig out some of my older stash this week. With all the new collections being released at the moment, it's definitely a good idea to use up some of my old favourites first. I loved the Mia collection from Crate Paper when I got it & still do, the designs are so pretty.

This layout is the first in the album I am currently working on. I haven't decided yet whether to title it - Top 10 of 2010 or 10 Loves of 2010. What do you think? One thing I really loved last year was the long summer break. It was very much welcome after studying so hard for my course & creating a portfolio for university interviews. Only 42 days until summer break 2011 starts! Can hardly believe that! And this year I get 150 days :)

The layout on the right was inspired by the great February Sketch over at the Crate Paper blog. I created a facing page for my journaling. My layouts follow this throughout the album, with the journaling page on the left & a photo page on the right.

Seasons challenge over at Journaling Junkie

2011-02-23T14:13:00.000-08:00

Challenge 98 over at Journaling Junkie is all about seasons. I've been meaning to make up these mini books for ages so this challenge was just the prompt I needed. Will post this project in 3 parts as it is quite large. The two larger albums on the left are filled with my childhood memories from the 4 seasons. Spring & summer are together in the yellow book and autumn & winter together in the teal one.