Slushy stuff!

 I received the most beautiful flowers from my sweetheart for Valentine’s Day. Though I must give him credit, he often buys me flowers, the dark tulips and white roses were a lovely combination.

I was very stuck on this layout to start with: I didn’t want to detract from or overpower the flowers, but I wanted a dramatic and romantic piece too. I thought I might use a little piece of the DCWV 12x12 photo stack red roses paper, but in the end I went big with it instead and I’m glad I did. I like the fact that this piece evolved: I wasted paper cutting pieces I didn’t use in the end, but it’s all part of the process. I also considered at one point using the whole of the paper cellar die-cut hearts sheet, but it looked very pretty cut up as a photo mat. I only wish I’d realised earlier it was self-adhesive as I struggled to try and glue it neatly…silly me!

I don’t get too hung up on journalling if I just have a little to say: sometimes the title is enough. For some reason I stamped the writing straight onto my LO when I’d nearly finished everything else, instead of doing it first: brave? Or stupid? Haha. Either way, it worked, and the fact that I used an inky grungy font anyway meant it wouldn’t have mattered if it had been a little messy. The writing is quite subtle and blends into the background somewhat, but this is what I was trying to achieve. To me, it mimics the words, “the closer I look…” because you have to look a little closer to see.

I was inspired by the Feb week 2 team challenge on UKScrappers, and also by the  SJ Crafts february challenge so I put together a combination of the two. Thanks for the lovely inspiration!

Kitschy Kitchen

Recipe album kit by Melissa Francis: Kitschy Kitchen...the name says it all!

I found this cute kit in my stash after having bought it ages ago- typical me! And as my favourite recipes are mostly scribbled on scraps of paper and chucked in a kitchen drawer I thought it was about time I did something about it. 

As well as the album, I’d bought some of the coordinating bits: tags, cardstock stickers and extra recipe cards: they definitely added a little something. As an experienced crafter I felt afterwards that I could have easily made this album up myself with a couple of D-rings, some chipboard and a few papers, which would have been cheaper and given me more creative freedom (the covers come already printed), but I like how it turned out and that’s the main thing! 

I added some of my own ribbon, a frame sticker and a paper doily to the album to personalise it more. I’m not usually one for kits, but this one was fast and fun so maybe I’ll try a few more…

Scrap-Happy!

 I've always been into papercrafts, but started scrapbooking in earnest about a year ago. Due to time constraints, I haven’t managed to complete that many layouts, but I've had real fun putting pages together, preserving photos in a way that will be lovely to look back on in years to come! The two layouts here are from photos about 4 years old but scrapped at the end of 2011. I have included vintage styling in both, but the effect is completely different! 

With neutral colours and lots of stamping and distress inking, the Mad as a Hatter layout looks like an old piece. There is hidden journalling and another photo behind the main picture: I love to include interactive elements in pages. On both pages I've used Graphic 45 and Tim Holtz products. Both brands are great for vintage-look/ distressed-look pages, Graphic 45 producing exquisite papers, and Tim Holtz specialising in altered art products. I wanted a dramatic look for the Love Story layout, so while the page elements are still mainly in a neutral colour, a black textured background was used, with red accents to compliment the photo. I've also included some mushy journalling about my friends in the photo!

I didn’t want to fill up my posts with product and technical info, but if anyone would like information about the specific products or techniques used, I’m happy to share. Also, this is the first time I've photographed my scrapbook pages, so I'm still getting used to that and the photography isn't great! Still, you get the idea. Now I’m off to think up some scrappy ideas for the collection of Graphic 45 papers I bought recently, gorgeously entitled Steampunk Debutante!