Summer trip in 10 photos...

That's what I'm doing for the "A Picture..." class by Shimelle. You were supposed to use 10 photos (not that it's deadly important that it's 10 or anything...LOL!) and I decided to try and pic out 10 photos which would sum up our 3 week holiday in Sweden.

I started out with about 500 photos. How on earth do you get 500+ down to 10? 10 photos that tells the story. Tricky! But once I started it wasn't half as tricky as I first thought. I basically went through and picked one photo - the one that told the story best or brought back most memories - from each "major event". Maybe going somewhere, seeing someone etc. Once I got the idea in my head to think: "which photo would be most relevant in my book when I look at it in a few years?" it got a LOT easier.

So my photos were picked. I chose my format and printed my photos. I cut my pages for the book to the right size, and... Here's a little sneak peak of the cover so far.

I hope to have all the pages inside finished by tomorrow so I can show you the rest then.

I'm so looking forward to tonight. We're going to have pizza night and watch the final of Big Brother. "Who wins - you decide"...

Work In Progress...

I don't know about you, but I really find it very intersting to see "work in progress" photos on people's crafty blogs. It's so much fun to see how/where people do their work, what they use etc. So as I was making birthday cards yesterday I stopped mid-project and took a photo.

And below is the finished card which will be sent off to Sweden next week. And for those who are wondering, time for a language course ---> "grattis på födelsedagen" is Swedish for "happy birthday". I used mainly scraps for the card so I have forgotten who makes the patterned paper...anyway the turquoise paper is by Basic Grey, the flowers are by American Crafts and the brads by Junkitz.

Last night I signed up for a class by Shimelle. It's called "A Picture Is Worth More Than A Thousand Words". It was run at the end of July when we were in Sweden (=no stash!). I really wanted to take it. So I e-mailed her and asked if I could take it now instead. I could - yay! I downloaded all the prompts yesterday and now I'm going to start going through them. I have already picked my 10 photos :)

I did it...

Well I did it. What I have been meaning to do for days and days. Yesterday I sat down and sorted all my stash that was not yet sorted and put everything in it's place. It makes a huge difference when you get rid of some empty boxes when you have such a small scraproom as I do. It was such a great feeling walking into my little room this morning without having to walk as if you're in a Formula 1 race LOL! And if I inspired (persuaded?) some of you to do the same yesterday - all the better :)

This is another layout which I made as part of my Design Team work for Make The Moment Last. Photo is of my brother and his girlfriend and it's taken in Sweden last summer. Supplies: Bazzill cardstock, Dream Street papers, Hambly transparency, Making Memories metal embellishments, Maya Road ribbon & ribbons slides, Making Memories glitter sticker and Fontwerks journaling stamp.

So please take a moment and share with me - what crafty thing are you working on at the moment? Or what was your last crafty project? It's always so inspiring to hear what other people are making :)

Right, I'm off to start to make some birthday cards which I need to have ready for posting next week... Wishing you all a creative day!

Time to sort stash...

When you get new stash do you put it away in it's place straight away? Or does it tend to hang around on your desk etc like mine does...? LOL! This of course means that sometime you get to a point when you just have to stop and put away things, where they belong, to make it easier to work. And such a time is today. So when I have made this post I'm going to stop and file away papers where they belong, put embellishments in their containers and hang up my ribbons. Maybe, just maybe, it's time for you to do the same...? :) Makes you feel sooo good when it's done. :)

I want to share with you this Flower Birthday Card which I did as part of my Design Team work for Make The Moment Last in July. May I suggest a visit over there as they have some yummy Basic Grey collections (and individual papers!) in stock. Not to mention some gorgeous Dream Street papers, including the Cinnamon & Sugar collection that I used as part of my DT work. Tell Jackie that Anso sent you. :)

Anyway, time to make some order in my stash. Or at least attampt to...

Feeling miserable...

Feeling a little miserable today. Got a sore throat yesterday evening. It came on really fast and I kept hoping it would be one of those things when you wake up in the morning and it's gone. Instead it's got worse (it's only on one side) and I feel it going all up into my ear with a slight earache too. Really painful to swallow and if I touch my throat I'm a bit swollen too. Head feels hot and heavy and in the last few minutes my nose is starting to feel quite tickly and inflamed too. I hate sore throats...they just really get to me. :(

Right enough of complaining! LOL! Can I just send a little thank you to "grungedandy" for all the comments you left on different posts yesterday - made me smile :) And thanks to Margaret and everyone else for your comments too - I love it when I get to read a line from someone. Otherwise it's easy to think you're just sitting here blogging and no-one is actually out there reading it LOL! So I love all your comments - thank you.

Supplies for layout above: "Love Elsie - Lola" papers, epoxy stickers & alphabet stickers, black Bazzill card and jewels. The title box I have made myself with the Elsie letter stickers and a black Slick Writer.

“Bang!” layout class...

Please feel free to use these instructions to make your own layout. You are free to link to this page from any forum etc if you wish. Please do NOT copy this information and/or photos to use for your own classes/forums/webpages without permission.

This is a quick and simple class which I designed for A Trip Down Memory Lane and at the time of writing this they stock all the supplies you need to make this layout.

Supplies needed:
Love Elsie – Toby – “Go” (embossed) paper
Love Elsie – Toby – “Carry On” paper
Love Elsie – Toby – “City Blocks” paper
Love Elsie – Toby – “Basic Mix” alphabet stickers
Love Elsie – Toby – “Blocks” chipboard sticker shapes
Love Elsie – Toby – “Big Ribbon” pack
Black journaling pen (I use Zig Millennium)
Autumn Leaves “For The Record” journaling stamps
Doodlebug “Paper Frills” in lilac

Also needed:
Scalloped scissors
Black inkpad (Colorbox chalk ink is great in “Charcoal”)
Herma (or scrapping glue of your choice)
Stapler
White embroidery thread + needle
Glossy Accents and a few jewels (optional)

Start by cutting your “Go” paper to size. I scrap in true A4 size, so I cut mine to 29,7x21 centimetres (cm). You can of course adapt the class to another format if you like.

Cut a piece from the “Carry On” paper that measures 11x17,5 cm (we’ll use the stripy side for this piece so pick a part of the paper that you specifically like). Then cut one piece that measures 11x11 cm, we’ll use the lilac side with the lime dots for this piece, which will now be referred to as the “lilac piece”.

Use scalloped scissors to cut ONE edge of your lilac piece of paper and edge both pieces of patterned paper with your black inkpad. Attach the lilac paper, with the scalloped edge at the top, approx 2 cm from the top and 0,5cm from the right side of the layout. Now attach your stripy paper, level with the right side of the layout, 10 cm from the top of the layout. Put your chosen photo in place (I have used a 15x11 cm photo).

Pick one piece of the “paper frills” (I chose a scalloped one to match the scallop at the top of the layout), cut it about a cm shorter than your stripy paper and attach right underneath it. Pick a ribbon from the “big ribbon” pack (I went for the brown with the coloured stripes) and cut it slightly shorter than the width of your layout. Attach just overlapping the bottom of your photo. Then pick another ribbon (I went for the one with the words) and cut to 15 cm. Glue in place half overlapping the previous ribbon. Use a few staples for decoration and to keep in place.

Use the alphabet stickers to spell out your title. I split mine and put it in two places. Outline with the black pen to make the letters stand out a bit more (do this slowly so you don’t slip and go over your letters with your pen).

Stamp your chosen journaling stamp, vertically, half overlapping the stripy paper on the left side of the layout. Add your journaling. Now pick a square from the “City Blocks” layout and cut out. Glue in place, half overlapping the photo on the left side.

I added some white dots and stripes, some blue little jewels and covered the square in Glossy Accents – this is of course totally optional – just go with what you like.

Finally finish off by doing a few cross stitches, half overlapping the photo, using white embroidery thread. A good tip is to use a paper piercer first to pierce the holes – this makes your stitching look a lot neater. Then add some of the chipboard blocks of your choice to the top right of your photo and use your embroidery thread to make little knots.

I hope you enjoyed my class! Wishing you lots of fun creating your own version!

The box...

The sky is blue and the sun is shining! Yay!! I'm sitting here with a big, cold, glass of water...I have some happy music playing and I'm scrapping away - such a nice Friday :)

Got a few bits and pieces that I need to get done now (like take advantage of the nice weather by drying washing outside etc!!) but I hope to do a little more scrapping later...

Here's a box which I have made using "Love Elsie - Roxie" papers, lots and lots of little buttons and a few jewels...

My August class...

Please head over to A Trip Down Memory Lane (they have got lots of yummy goodies in!!) for my August layout class. It's easy to follow and there are lots of photos to help you on the way too :)

See the swirly transparency stars? You'll find step-by-step instructions on how to make your own too! Honestly, they are really easy and quick to make :) Go on, have a look - you know you want to. LOL!

Brighter...

Today it's a lot nicer and brighter here. Soooo nice! Still not so warm because it's very windy, but I'm not going to complain. It's very nice to see some bits of blue sky again. Long may it last. :)

Here is the layout which I did yesterday. The one that was impossible to photograph yesterday. I was playing with my new "Riley" papers. I really like them, in fact I like all the "Love Elsie" lines. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something about them that just make them so easy and fun to scrap with. I just love the "free" and "playful" look about them.

Supplies for my layout: "Love Elsie" - "Riley" papers, chipboard stickers and epoxy stickers, blue ric rac, staples, jewels and a colorbox black chalk inkpad.

Scrapping in the dark...

It's soooo dark here and yet it's only just after eight in the evening. Most of the day has been pretty dark and rain-threatening (no rain though) But since about five this afternoon it's been so incredibly dark we just can't understand how it can't be raining considering how the sky looks. I can hardly see the keys on my keyboard (okay so I should go and put the light on, but...LOL!)

I have been scrapping with my new "Love Elsie" papers (the "Riley" collection) this afternoon, but there's no way I can get a photo taken of it now so that will have to wait until tomorrow... Will be back to show you then :)

It's here...

Yum, yum, yum!! Got a knock on the door just after lunch. A parcel firm with a parcel to sign for. I was really confused what it might be. Couldn't think of a parcel that we were expecting. Anyway, I signed and as I took the parcel and saw the sender I became a very happy girl LOL! Crafts Etc = Hobby Lobby!! Yes - my "Love Elsie" stash from the US!! I guess I just thought it might take a few days longer and also come with the normal postman rather than by courier.

And what do I think? Looooove it!! The "Lola" collection is soooooo "me" at the moment - I just love the colours and brightness of it!! It just makes me smile and makes me want to create something there and then. The "Riley" collection I love too! The combination of blue/turquoise, green and orange is something I can't resist at the moment (and that comes from someone who used to hate the colour orange for most of her life until about a year ago). I wish "Riley" was a little bit brighter if anything, but it's not like I can really complain because it's not totally muted either.

Why is it so dark that I can't take photos...

I wanted to show you this layout yesterday but it was so dark and rainy that it was impossible to get a good photo. The weather isn't much better today either unfortunately. I wanted to avoid using the flash, so in the end I had to take this with some strategically placed/aimed lights and at least got a half decent shot of the layout this morning.

And look ----> staples in the middle of the page!! Yay! Thanks to my new long reach stapler - that just wasn't possible before. Supplies are: Cosmo Cricket and Love Elsie papers, Maya Road (I think?) ribbon, Love Elsie alphabet stickers, Autumn Leaves stamp plus some staples and jewels.

These make me smile...

Went to IKEA today. I just loooove that place!! Especially the "Sweden Shop" at the end - it's so nice to be able to buy some Swedish food which I'm used to...not to mention reading all the Swedish names for the different furniture etc!! We went there to get a lamp and ended up coming out of there with lots more...like you always do LOL! I just couldn't resist these cute and colourful postcard prints. I bought some (cheap!) frames for them and they are now sitting on the wall in my little scrapping room - makes me smile :)

Thanks to Gems for the info on Hobby Lobby - that sounds great - hopefully my order might be here pretty soon then.

Question & bling...

First of all a question to anyone outside the US - have you ever ordered from Hobby Lobby on-line (=Crafts Etc) and if so how long did the international delivery take for you please? I placed an order on Saturday for the new Hobby Lobby exclusive lines "Lola" and "Riley" by Elsie. But I have no idea how long their international orders take, I have had no "dispatch mail" (though I don't know if they do one?) and there's no way of tracking an order. Basically I just want to know if they are quick so I can expect my order very soon, or if they take a long time... LOL!

And guess what? I had nearly given up hope for today when the postal van came with both my long reach stapler and my bejeweler. Yay!! The pic above is borrowed from the internet as I only just received my tools and haven't even had time to test my bejeweler yet. Off to open and have a little play...

Waiting...

* drums fingers against desk *

...and waits (im?)patiently for the long reach stapler and bejeweler to turn up. Hopefully today...

But in the meantime I have been scrapping. I did the layout above this morning. Supplies: "Love Elsie" - "Roxie": papers, cardstock stickers and ribbons. Bazzill cardstock and Autumn Leaves stamp + buttons.

This will be a short post but I want to get back to the class I'm working on for A Trip Down Memory Lane. I need to take advantage of the light, in this generally bad weather, for my step-by-step progress photos...

Scrap-Room yummies...

So I had just finished my Design Team projects (well apart from photographing and sending off - which might just be this afternoon's little mission) and what happens? First the parcel van arrives with August's Scrap-Room kit - Yay!!!

4-in-1 kit:

Embellishment Add-on:

Stamp Add-on:

And then one hour later the postman turns up with July's Scrap-Room kit - Double yay!!

4-in-1 kit:

Embellishment Add-on:

Stamp Add-on:

Guess who might just be in stash heaven today?! :) I'd asked them to please hold my July kit due to going to Sweden for three weeks so that's why I only got it now. No sign of my long reach stapler yet...but hopefully tomorrow. Also I was told that my Bejeweler should be posted today so I guess that means it's a pretty good chance it will turn up tomorrow. Fingers crossed!!

Another one...

I have just made another one of those purchases. The "tool kind"...where it seems a lot of money "for nothing" (=more fun to buy pretty papers etc)...yet it will be sooooo worth it once you have it and you will use it lots. LOL! So what have I gone and ordered? One of these:

...a Bejeweler! I'm not sure if you have noticed but lately I'm using loads of jewels on my layouts...at least on every second one I would say. And this Bejeweler has been tempting me on and off for months. Basically it melts the glue on the back of the jewels and it makes them a lot easier for you to attach rather than fiddling with glue and tweezers. It's now been ordered this afternoon and I really can't wait for it to arrive!

And regarding some of your comments:

Sarah - thanks for the tip about the photo printing. I got mine delivered from Photobox this morning.

Jean - If you see this, I got an e-mail notification of you commenting on an old post and asking if "I have the recipe?". If you can let me know what recipe it was you were interested in I'll see if I can help :)

Right, back to some Design Team work that I'm doing. I'm working with some yummy Basic Grey at the moment...

It WILL be mine...

In a few days I should finally have a long reach stapler in my hand. I say "finally" because I have been wanting one for months and months...easily over a year if not two. It should not have taken me this long to buy one considering H-O-W much I know I will use it. Everytime I use my normal stapler I get "upset" because I can't reach a certain place. And considering I must be using my stapler at least on every second layout - that's a lot!!

But I guess it's just one of those things to buy ...like glue. How boring is it to buy glue?! It feels like such a waste of money when you can buy some beautiful yummy stash instead. I really, really dislike buying glue LOL! So I buy about 6-7 packs of Herma at a time so I don't have to do it so often...yet spending double figures JUST on GLUE seems like madness LOL! Still it's a necessity to use yours stash. So it's been just as hard for me to actually buy a long reach stapler. I just wish I had done it earlier because I know I will use it sooooo much :)

Scrapping again...

So today I have finally done my first lot of scrapping since we came back from holiday. I have been in one of those moods...I'm sure you know it yourself... You have all these great ideas and all this inspiration, new photos and everything...but you just can't be bothered to get all your scrapping stuff out. See, I knew you'd know what I meant :)

Anyway today I'd had enough of it. I wanted to scrap, I really did, I just didn't want to get my stash out. So I just went "RIGHT!" (to myself) and poured out a ziplock bag of "Love Elsie" stuff on my little scrapping desk. That was all I needed - and I was off! Yay!!

...and this is what I came up with...

I used our boarding cards stapled to the side of the layout (I have just digitally added the black lines to cover names etc for uploading on the net), and then lots of items from the "Toby" range by Elsie: patterned papers, cardstock stickers, alphabet stickers, chipboard buttons etc.

Now I'm off to search for a good deal on the internet for having our holiday photos printed...

Catching up on getting back...

Looks like it could turn out to be a really nice day here today. It's still quite hazy out there, but warm and the sun it trying to get through the clouds. I'm still catching up on getting back, working through the mountain of clothes washing to do etc. But I'm getting there...I think! LOL!

Got some nice magazines full of inspiration while we were away. Latest issue of Scrapbooks Etc, August issue of Creating Keepsakes and Aug/Sep issue of Paper Crafts. I really can't wait to sit down and have a good browse!!

*** break to fetch the post which I just heard arriving. The SEPTEMBER Creating Keepsakes just arrived too!!! Now I have got LOTS to read!! ***

And here's another quite "retro looking" card I've made. Because I took advantage of the pattern in the paper by Pink Martini this card was super quick to do. I just made a base card, added the patterned paper to the front of it, used the "Build-A-Bloom" stampset by Banana Frog (the "flower centres" and "flower stem") to stamp onto the cover and then added the text with my Dymo machine. Done!

Back in the UK...

...we got back from our 3-week-trip to Sweden late last night. We had such a great time away and it was so nice to see my family again not to mention finally getting to see my brother's newborn baby girl!

I do wish we could have packed the weather though. We had the nicest sunniest weather with a gorgeous blue sky for the last week or so in Sweden and now I'm sitting looking out through the window and all I see is the sky full of clouds! Someone needs to invent a way of packing some sun. LOL!

I'm still catching up from the travelling. After 3 weeks you have a lot to unpack, not to mention a mountain of clothes to wash. I'm already on my second load of clothes in the washing machine...which should be finished soon I hope.

Before I finish this and get back to the last bit of unpacking: thanks to both "Paula" and "Lisa Peppers" who have awarded me...

Time flies...

Well now we have been in Sweden for 3 weeks and today it's time to fly back to the UK. Feels both good and bad. Sad to leave my family but I guess also nice to get home to your own house and your own things in a way. It would feel a lot harder if I didn't know that mum and dad are coming over to the UK to visit at the end of September. We're looking forward to that a lot!

Anyway time to start packing our bags as the plane leaves this afternoon...

Kerry - the beach photo was taken on the south east coast of Sweden (my parents have a summer house there only about 600 metres walk from the beach - it's paradise!)

Hot, hot, hot...

Wow it's hot here today! It's 28 degrees in the shade and totally unbearable in the sun!! If it's not one thing it's the other... Either no summer weather at all or just too hot LOL! Madness!

I'm sitting here trying to keep cool in front of an open window while I type this. Fortunately there's a bit of a breeze coming in through the window. I'm not sure why but we have made the crazy decision to go to an outlet centre right now. Well...hopefully it won't be too busy because people might be put off by the heat...or so you can hope at least LOL!

Going retro...

Going retro with a quick little greeting card using the different flower centre stamps from the "Build-A-Bloom" stampset by Banana Frog. The rest of the card is made using Bazzill cardstock and Pink Martini patterned paper.

Summer...

What a fantastic day we're having here today!!! Blue sky, not a cloud, sunny and a nice breeze. Just perfect! This is where we had breakfast this morning:

And below is a layout of a fun photo taken on a picnic last summer in Sweden. Papers are Narratives, Basic Grey and Bazzill. Doodlebug frills, Banana Frog stamps, Heidi Swapp giant photo corner and 7 Gypsies journaling card.

More card making...

This is another great card to make using the "Build-A-Bloom" stampset by Banana Frog. And what's the great thing you ask? That it's made using paper scraps only! I love it when I can create items from scraps only. I started with a piece of natural brown card which I folded into a greeting card. Then I picked different pieces of paper scraps which I liked from my 12x12 ziplock bag of patterned paper scraps.

I stamped the flower petal in black ink on each little paper piece and cut out around the pattern leaving a small border. Then I stamped the stem onto the card blank, glued my petals in place, stamped a title (Hero Arts stamps), drew around the petals to create a "stitched effect" and finished off with a button in the centre of the flower.

Quick card...

Thanks for the nice comments on my work for Banana Frog. Here's another little project I also did with the "Build-A-Bloom" stampset by Banana Frog. A quick card using the flower petal stamps, two different colours of inkpads, some black ric rac and a sheet of paper by Rouge de Garance...

Stamps...

...can you ever get enough of them? I don't think so...especially not acrylic self-cling stamps...once you start using them there's no turning back. And let's face it, they are a very good investment for scrapping. Once you have bought them you can use them forever, over and over again...in different ways...making up different designs and combinations...not to mention colours. And having been a little put off by the old fashioned wood-mounted stamps and the space they took - acrylic stamps suit me perfectly!

So I felt very honoured when I was asked by Bev at Banana Frog a little while back if I wanted to design a few things for them. Banana Frog stamps!! I love Banana Frog stamps!! I won't admit to how many sets I have, but we are talking double figures.

Anyway, I was sent a few sets to work with and the first one was the "Build-A-Bloom" stamp set which is really fun to work with and I can really recommend it! Here's the first layout I made using this set...