From Little Beginnings .....

So I'm a bit late posting my finished layouts but here they are. Having those Little Beginnings helped these layouts come together so quickly. I think each one only took around half an hour and that's great for me.

Also I really enjoyed making them. It felt like the pressure was off. Hope you were able to take part. If you did, how did you find it?

I struggled at first with this layout. I wanted to cover where the paper joined in the middle and the photo and enveloped allowed me to do this. I knew I wanted to use the tent die cut with this photo but it took me a while to place it on the layout. I intend to journal on the front of the envelope.

I really enjoyed making this layout. It was such a fun beginning point. However, that patterned paper is pretty busy so I didn't want to overload the page with too much embellishing so I kept it pretty simple.

Thanks for stopping by, Sherrie x

Little Beginnings

Hello hello. Hope all is well. I don't know if anyone remembers this but Shimelle Laine used to have a project on her blog called Starting Points. She doesn't do it anymore (I don't think) but I always found these really useful. So of course I'm going to rip off this idea for you but in a kindly honouring sort of way! I think Shimelle is brilliant and she was the first scrapbooker online that I found to be really inspiring and kind of helped me to find my style.

I'm calling it Little Beginnings because it is just that and I really hope you have fun joining in.

I'm giving three Little Beginnings using October's Like For Ever kit which predominantly features the Maggie Holmes Shine collection which is awesome and beautiful but just use whatever product you have. You can do all three or just choose your favourite and go from there. I'll be posting at the end of the week my finished layouts which hopefully will be all three!?

This one simply uses three 6x6 papers from the paper pad. Pretty straight forward.

For this I just cut a 4inch (ish) strip from the 12x12 sheet of paper and then cut one of the rulers from the Cheer paper and slotted it underneath. 

 

This was a part of the Dazzle paper cut along its natural straight line and I added a strip of washi tape underneath.

All pretty simple beginnings. Have fun. Sherrie x

Step by Step

Hello there. How are you? I'm not certain how this is going to go but, as I'm fairly close to delving into making process videos for YouTube, I thought I'd start with a step-by-step process of a layout I recently completed. It was quite fun really although I did keep forgetting to take photos and had to redo a few stages! So here goes ....

I started using white cardstock as I knew I was going to use a lot of different patterns and white is good to back that with. For this layout I've used my Like For Ever Little Acorns kit which I think is from September. I've already completed 7 layouts with this kit so haven't got much paper left. Because of this I thought I'd use some Paige Evans inspiration and picked out a square punch to use up my leftover scraps. I punch lots of squares using the different patterns. I really like the patterns in the Pink Paislee Cedar Lane papers.

Initially I was going to cut the squares in half and use triangles to fill the page but decided I like how the squares looked as diamonds. I completed a couple of lines just using a little bit of tape runner adhesive as I knew I was going to stitch over them.

I wasn't too fussy with lining these up dead straight as I like the handmade imperfect look. I just kind of made sure that the square blanks in between we're fairly even. When I get to the end I did swoon a little.

I stitched through each square using a purple thread and, yes, I was worried that it would look horrid once finished but I just put my head down and got on with it. I was so happy with the result. So effective. 

I then grabbed some items from the kit ephemera and tiny word stickers, an arrow from the kit which didn't make the layout and a deer paper clip, doilie and clothes peg from my stash. I've had those clothes pegs for such a long time! I think they're Crate Paper On Trend that I got from TK Maxx in the days when my local TK Maxx was half decent in the crafting department. 

I also grabbed a leaf that I had cut from watercolour paper using my Silhouette and some gelatos to colour them with.

I spritzed the leaf with water and used the gelatos to add some colour. Then I used my water brush to lightly blend the gelatos. I let this dry for a while. 

I chose a composition that I was happy with. I didn't want to put too much on the page as those sewed on squares are taking up a lot of eye space (as I call it) and too much of anything else would be, we'll just too much. 

The wood veneer word 'story' came from a pack that I bought from LFE and I wanted to give it some colour so I used the same light pink gelato that I used on the leaf.

All that was neededwas to find a place for some tiny word stickers (which also came in the kit and are beautiful) and some black ink splatters using my Windsor ink and the layout is finished. 

I'm really pleased with the end product.

Thanks for stopping by!

Everyday is a Blessing

Like most scrapbookers I find it a little bit daunting breaking into a new kit or collection to do that first layout. There are so many lovely papers and embellishments that it's so hard to choose which ones to use.

Like For Ever's September kit, which features the Cedar Lane collection by Pink Paislee, is so beautiful. The colours are stunning and are perfect for Autumn pictures. I've never really been into purple before but with the gorgeous blue thickers it's just gorgeous.

For this layout I wanted to do quite a simply design. I chose the papers that suited my photo and used an aged book page from a piano music book from my stash to back the photo stack. I love hiding my journalling in an envelope so I tucked that in just behind the photo. I really like how I didn't need to use many patterned papers to layer behind the photo. There are just the two papers and they compliment each other perfectly. I needed some texture so stitched around the purple photo matte using purple thread and again around the whole page using the same thread. I popped my photo up on some foam pads to give it dimension. Those thickers are really sticky which is unusual for thickers and I did consider stitching through the middle of them but thought it might be too much. I popped some of the thread underneath the floral piece and that has foam tabs too. This layout came together in about 30 minutes which is great for me as I tend to scrap in little segments are spare time.

I'm really chuffed with this layout. Maybe the quick and simple ones are the best. 

Spring Clean in Autumn

There's something magical about having a clear out of your craft space. And yet also a little scary. I'm sure we've all been in that moment of will I use this? or shall I throw it away? Yes it's a dilemma. Well I managed to get through the big clear out yesterday and the end result is a wonderfully clean and tidy work space to craft in. How long this will last I don't know. Probably about ten minutes.

I've got a clear desk space and my new Like For Ever kit organised into my chip and dip dish and ready to go. It's so enticing. Now I just need some free time......

Happy scrapping xx

Mrs Mojo

It's gone and come back again and then blow me it blinking went again! What do you do when your mojo disappears for a week's holidaying in Costa Rica?

Personally I used to feel cross, then sulk a bit and then hide in a cupboard for the rest of the week until my mojo made its return. I kinda felt a little bit guilty too. As though I was letting my kids down if I wasn't busy storing memories on layouts. I think that's part of the problem. Maybe we put ourselves under too much pressure with this memory keeping lark. Then we get stressed out about it and it becomes like a kind of chore.

I used to feel like this with card making. When I was selling some cards it then become a little more pressurised to get it right. It took the fun out of playing with crafting goodies.

Nowadays I try and crack on with a layout. I may not always be 100% happy with the end result but hey ho it's another memory documented. Because that's what's important with memory keeping isn't it. Getting the thoughts and memories down on paper. Job done. It is after all what we do this for.

There's something so relaxing about throwing paint and texture paste around, fiddling with and finding that perfect embellishment. Something I'm so comfortable and at ease with. I can sit at my desk and forget about the stresses of my day. That's why I love this hobby.

I've been very busy lately with Crate Paper's Wonder collection. Thankfully there was tonnes of it in our Like For Ever August kit.

I have loved these products and the whole kit was just awesome! 

Best Day Ever

Shimelle's True Stories is the line featured in Like For Ever's May kit. I really like it. I've struggled a little with all the bright colours as I usually use lots of muted Crate Paper but that's the great thing about subscribing to a kit. It forces you to challenge yourself. To combat my fear of all the bright prime colours I've mixed it with lots of white. It seems to work.

This layout was my first with the kit and took quite a while. I struggled with the title (cut using the Silhouette). I cut it twice, once on the tiny polka dot paper and once on watercolour paper. That watercolour version has been painted blue, splashed with gold ink until finally painted red and covered in glossy accent. Phew. Got there in the end. After adding the tear strips I used white gesso over the top to fade it down a bit.

I used inspiration from Like For Ever's Sunday Challenge which was to use 5 or more tear strips. It took me a moment before I realised Nichola meant the manufacture strips! Doh! Nichola also put up a sketch that I loosely followed. As I said I really struggled with all the bright but dark colours. After this layout I started to include lots of white which you'll see shortly.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sherrie