Can't wait...

...until I can get my hands on Elsie's new paper collections. I'm sure most of you have already seen these pictures on her own blog - the new lines for the summer CHA...but I just had to put them here anyway. So exciting!!

Jack & Abby

Noel

Zoe

I think my favourite is the Chirstmas colletion - "Noel". Far too many Christmas paper collections are either very old fashioned looking or very muted. I know we can't see too much of it in these photos but it looks a bit more modern and I love the colours of it!! I'm really excited to see the rest of the "Noel" range!

More Design Team stuff...

I have to show you this cute little chipboard minibook, made as part of my work for the Make The Moment Last Design Team. At first I have to admit I was a little stuck for what to do. The amount of petals the book shape was made up of made it really difficult to think of a nice way to design the cover. Though once I came up with the idea of using the tiny buttons on the front everything else just seemed to fall into place and I had lots of fun designing the pages etc. I love how it turned out in the end :)

Where is the summer weather...

I have no idea where the summer has gone. It's been raining so many times on and off since we got up this morning that I have lost count. I'm starting to think there won't be any nice weather at all this summer...

Thought I'd show you a layout which I did last month as part of my Design Team work for Make The Moment Last. Photos are taken last summer at a castle called Borgholm, on a Swedish island of Öland. Supplies are: Bazzill cardstock, Crate paper, Banana Frog circle stamps, Making Memories chipboard letters, Maya Road velvet ric rac, Prima flowers, Heidi Swapp journaling circle and some jewels.

Finished forever...

So I have finished. No not my blog! And not scrapping!! But the very last Harry Potter book ever. Finished. Read to the end. No more. I can't believe it. That's it. No more Harry & no more adventures....unless you re-read the books of course. Which I will of course do! Only two more films to be released and that's the end. But of course we (having read book 6 and 7) already know what till happen in the upcoming films, so this book really is THE END.

What did I think? (Don't worry - I won't spoil anything). I thought it was a really good book! I liked how the format was different (ie not relying on a "school year for Harry"). The story twisted and turned which made you never quite sure of what would happen next. Yes so I guessed some of the things that might happen as I went along in the book, but there were also a lot of unexpected things and twists you couldn't really have guessed.

If you really had to end the series of Harry Potter, I think this was a great "end book". For me, you didn't stop reading the book feeling that you were still sat there with loads of questionmarks. I liked how a lot of things were explained near the end of the book. And it felt like a real "THE END"...

"Forever Friends" 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 – Betty – “Flowery” paper
Love Elsie – Betty – “Petticoat” paper
Love Elsie – Betty – “Shower” paper
Love Elsie – Betty – Chipboard Rounds
Love Elsie – Betty – Cardstock Stickers Trinkets
Love Elsie – Betty – Tiny Ribbon pack
Autumn Leaves Stamps – “Sentiments Circles” and “Stamped And Coded”

Also needed:
Needle, paper piercer and white embroidery thread
Black inkpad (Colorbox chalk ink is great in “Charcoal”)
Black Staz’On inkpad
Black Medium Slick Writer
Herma (or scrapping glue of your choice)
3 clear flatbacked jewels
A selection of matching buttons (I used 6 buttons)
Stapler

Start by cutting your “Shower” paper to size. This will be your layout background. 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. Also pick your photo. Mine’s a landscape 15x10cm (6x4 inches) photo in black & white. I picked black & white because it works better with the busy patterns on the page.

Cut the other two patterned papers to size. The flower paper is cut to 15x15 cm. For the other paper please see below. I have cut off the strip at the bottom of the paper and then followed the line just above the pink section. You should end up with the following pieces:

I have edged my paper pieces with black chalk ink to make them stand out a bit more. Glue the long strip of paper near the bottom of your layout (mine starts 1,5 cm from the bottom). Then glue the flower paper and the photo at an angle onto the layout. Please see photo below for the placement that I choose to use.

Grab the cardstock stickers and add the border to the right side of your photo. Also add the “I love” sticker to the other side and use the Slick Writer pen to add the text of your choice.

Outline the stickers with your Slick Writer pen to make them stand out a bit more. Add some journaling to your photo and cut small pieces of 5 of the ribbons and staple to the top left side of the layout.

Glue three jewels to the “I love” cardstock sticker.

Add chipboard buttons and normal buttons randomly spread around the right corner and the right side of your photo. Use your paper piercer to make holes and thread some white embroidery thread through the buttons holes & tie. Outline some of the chipboard buttons with your black Slick Writer to make them stand out a little more.

Finally finish off by stamping a barcode stamp onto your photo (be sure to use your Staz’On pad or similar so the ink dries on the photo surface!) and a suitable circle stamp to the bottom left corner of your photo.

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

Anso

"Bang!" - new layout class...

Please head over to A Trip Down Memory Lane to see my latest step-by-step layout class (inc step-by-step photos!) using the "Love Elsie" - "Toby" range of papers, ribbons and chipboard :)

Enjoying my book...

Had connection problems yesterday so I had no way of accessing my e-mail or blog...

I'm really enjoying my Harry Potter book. As I said on Saturday, I really don't want it to end, so I'm trying to take it slowly...yet I can't resist picking up the book and reading it all the time. So I'm very torn! LOL! I like it how this book is quite different to the rest (don't worry, I won't post any spoilers!)...it's not the normal "one book is one school year and something major happens at the end". I'm really enjoying it so far. Have read just less than half of the book as I type this.

...and I can't get enough of the "Love Elsie" collections so I have yet another layout to show you on here. This one is a photo of my Mum & Dad taken last summer. Cardstock is by Bazzill and the papers, ribbons & stickers are "Love Elsie" - "Betty". Felt and plastic flowers by American Crafts and some brads to finish them off.

Got it...

So I have got it. THE book! The book we all have been waiting for for years - it's mine!! We hadn't pre-ordered so I was a little concerned whether the shop would have sold out but it was fine. And I now have my very own copy in my hand.

I kept looking at the cover this morning when I was going to start reading it. Part of me didn't want to open it because I knew it was the end. Once I have read it, that's it - no more Harry Potter books! Aaaaah!! It was like ---> nooo I don't want it to be the end, I want more books. But it IS the end. And I opened the cover and started reading...

...which I will continue doing now...

Early-AM...

Just a fun little layout I did using the "Love Elsie" - "Toby" papers. The photo is taken, last Christmas, up in the air (on a plane) on an early flight to Sweden after being up since 4-something-am travelling. We were sooooo tired LOL!

Supplies: "Love Elsie" - "Toby" papers, ribbons and chipboard buttons, Heidi Swapp and Scenic Route chipboard letters, Bazzill cardstock and staples.

Hope you're all having a great day! The sun is shining here and we're off out for a nice walk...

New Scenic Route...

New items from Scenic Route! I have to say I had VERY high expectations of them...

Ashville...

Sumner...

What do you think? I first saw these a week or two ago and I was instantly disappointed. Don't get me wrong - I DO like them and I will most likely enjoy scrapping with them a lot. However for me they had a LOT to live up to after the fantastic collections of "Laurel" and "Metropolis" which I think has to be my most favourite papers of all last year. I loved the patterns and the colours!! They just made you smile and want to scrap...


These new ones...they have the same type of great patterns etc (and that's why I know I will like them once I get over my initial disappointment) but they are lacking that something extra which the "older" collections had because of the colours. These are a bit too muted for my liking. Nothing wrong with muted, but I think you can make muted really "pop" by adding an extra brighter colour as an accent colour. But of course you can do this yourself...so I'm sure I will find myself matching these with a bright accent colour in form of cardstock, brads etc and make myself happy anyway LOL!

Thanks for the well wishes yesterday. When I get a migraine it usually last for a few days (going better and worse during that time) and once it's starting to go I usually have a "fuzzy" head (kinda like "heavy, blurry, pressured" head) for a few days. So I'm making this a quite quick blog entry and I will be trying to take it easy for the next few days and stay off the computer where possible. I took my medicine as soon as I got up this morning so it's not too bad right now but I know it will get worse as the day goes on. Anyway, onto something more fun...

...scrapping! I have been playing a lot with my "Love Elsie" collections lately. There's just something with the way they look that instantly makes you want to start to scrap! This layout is made using the "Roxie" papers/stickers and features a photo of Ross from last Christmas. As most males struggle to wrap presents and curling ribbon (why is this? LOL!) I gave him a quick lesson in how to do it as we were wrapping Christmas presents. He soon came up with this present which he was really proud of and which looked great!

Migraine alert...

Sorry no update today. :( But I will show you my latest layout tomorrow... :)

Harry Potter...

I couldn't resist picking a Swedish poster for the movie...

...which we just went to watch this morning. Yep we set the alarm (the cinema we wanted to go to is not that near) and we went for the 09:30 showing in the morning. Thought there would be hardly any people there considering the time on a Sunday morning...and I guess compared to an evening showing it wasn't - but there were far more people there than you would have thought.

So the film...I'm not going to spoil it for anyone, but it was great! I'm not so keen on dark films though (I don't mean dark=evil, but dark as in colours) so I wish it would have been a bit lighter/brighter. Yes I know it has some "dark parts" in it so it's suitable there...but I still think the show film could have been a bit brighter at least in places. Apart from that I thought it was great.

One thing though, everytime I watch an Harry Potter movie I really wonder how much sense the story would make to anyone who hasn't read the books before. No explanations are ever given to anything and the film jumps quickly from one thing to another without telling you why (which of course you know if you have read the book). I have felt this ever since the first film...though I do think the later ones are even more so. Then again, would you go and watch the films if you haven't read the books? Probably not...

Can't wait for the book next week...

Cupcakes...

Well I can't eat them (food intolerances) so I guess I have to satisfy my "appetite" with some nice cupcake papers instead. After all they are at least a lot healthier LOL (or so you can tell yourself when you're not allowed to have any)! I think I mentioned that I'd got them earlier in the week and intended to put a photo up then...but I totally got sidetracked and forgot to take a photo. So I have done now. How cute are these...?

I love the combination of the pinks with the different shades of blue and the pale yellow (and I don't even like yellow!!) not to mention the brown/blue/yellow combination. It really works.

Hope you all get the chance to do some fun scrapping today. I'm off to have a little play with the "Roxie" collection by Elsie...

Phew...

I have had a really, really stressful week this week. Not stress in a good way (a little can be good) but just faaar too much so I feel seriously stressed to the point of feeling unwell. ---deep breath, in and out--- So time to try and slow down a little. Feels like we're just been rushing around everywhere to get things done (you know what it's like sometimes!) I have just spent some time doing the grocery shopping on-line for the next week - that should save us a good hour, hour-and-a-half tonight. Really need that ---slow deep breath, in and out--- and going to sit down tonight and work out a plan to priorotise more relaxing things! Easier said than done LOL! But it will be good...

And talking about realxing things ---> scrapping! :) The photo is take in Sweden last summer. I have used Scenic Route papers and sticker, Autumn Leaves stamps, Doodlebug "paper frills" and a transparency flower that I have made myself.

Mmm...new Elsie lines...

Sorry I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday even though I wanted to. I was out all day and didn't even get to check my e-mails. Amazing how one day without a computer can make you feel that you're "soooo out of touch and miss soooo much" LOL!

Anyway I got some cool news when I turned on the computer this morning (thanks Margaret for letting me know!) Elsie has two new scrapbooking ranges coming out very soon. In fact it seems like they are out in the US later this week!! How exciting - really can't wait!! "Lola" and "Riley" they are called and they look sooooo yummy (pics are from Elsie's blog):

Baby card...

Been busy doing a baby card this morning for my brother and his girlfriend who had their first baby - a little daughter yesterday. So exciting!! I already had an idea of what card I wanted to make (I'm sure I have seen this idea somewhere before, but despite checking in magazines etc I can't find where I have seen it now). And I even got to use some old Hot Off The Press papers too - which were just perfect for the colours and patterns I was after. Anyway I got it done this morning and have already got it in the post so I feel really happy about that. :)

Tagging - I know I have been tagged twice in the last week. I don't want to spoil the fun - but sorry I don't do tagging. I know it's lots of fun to read as a reader but sorry it's just not for me. Hope you can understand :)

Going to finish off my Design Team work and then I'm off out to buy some yummy strawberries...

Yummy CHA stuff...

There has been so many links for the upcoming stuff released at CHA. Not good. You want it ALL!! Or at least half of it!! Some nice stuff by Scenic Route (though I'm not sure it's as good as the last two collections - in fact I do prefer those), Autumn Leaves (a nice collection of green/blue papers amongst others) and several new collections by Basic Grey etc.

I have recently "discovered" the Heidi Grace collections and bought some papers the other day. So cute!! Will try and take a pic and show you tomorrow. Anyway, she's got some new collections for the upcoming CHA too - these are two of my favourites I think. A little hard to tell the exact patterns in the small pics - but they look great :)

Cool tools...

I bought the Basic Grey "Precision File Set" a few weeks ago. It was more added to the order to reach a certain order limit rather than anything else. Anyway...

How cool are these files?!? I have only really started using them this week but they are so handy for chipboard. I have got into painting my own chipboard a bit more and then sometimes you get little bits of dried paint hanging off the edges. Perfect to remove that. Or to sand down already printed/coloured chipboard to give it a worn look. Love the narrow round and square files for reaching into the inside of letters like "A", "B", "O" etc - places where you can't fit a normal sanding file.

Soooo nice when you suddenly "discover" something great that you have...

Abstract photos...

Been playing with my camera today....

I'm still doing my photography class and this week's subject was to get really close to items and create abstract photos that you could put on your wall. We're talking macro.

At first it's really hard to start thinking about items so close-up and what would make a good pattern etc. You have to try and see them in a different light and not for what they obviously are. I started out with my green photo (close-up of the top of my iPod speakers!) which I guess was an okay attempt. After some more photos, I ended up with the "hook" photo which is actually the end of a curtain pole. I really like the effect of this one once you get close-up!

Messy table...

Been doing Design Team work yesterday and today. My table is full of papers, inkpads, ruler, pens, glue, flowers, ribbons and other little bits. Yesterday was pretty slow and I couldn't really get things right. But today it's going a lot better. I added a few bits to my work yesterday, which now made my projects look "complete" to me (yay!), and I have made a really cute card this morning. Going to start another layout soon but I wanted to come and make a little post on here first :)

Unfortunately I can't show my DT work here yet, but I can show you a layout I did last week. This is a scraplift from the Autumn Leaves "Designing With..." calendar (the 27th of June page)...I'm actually not too sure what I think of my page, but I'm putting it on here anyway. LOL! I have used "Love Elsie" Toby papers, fabric paper and ribbons. Doodlebug paper Frills, jewels, Basic Grey rub-ons, Heidi Swapp bling square, Making Memories chipboard star and some staples.

Cool technique...

I learnt this cool technique with paint in my "52 Card Pickup" Big Picture Scrapbooking class last week. You kinda write in the wet paint and you get this really nice effect. Anyway, of course I just had to try it on a layout straight away too and here is my result.

Supplies: Scenic Route papers, Plaid acrylic paint, Doodlebug paper Frills and Autumn Leaves stamps. Plus some buttons, ribbons and staples.

Where is the summer...

Seriously - it's the 1st of July and still no sign of the summer! Where has it gone?! We haven't even had a single BBQ this year yet - I think that must be a record (in a very negative way). Normally by this time of the year you try to think about cool food to make - but when you do your shopping list now you want to have something warm to eat. How bad is that?! LOL!

Anyway, enough of complaining about the weather. After all the weather is what it is without me being able to do anything about it so...

Onto scrapping! Yay! And a summery layout which I made using the following supplies: Basic Grey and Junkitz patterned papers, Junkitz chipboard and stickers, Autumn Leaves stamps, Doodlebug Paper Frills (anyone noticed I love these?! LOL!) and some Doodlebug jewels. Photos are taken in Sweden last year. In fact I have just realised that they were taken TODAY one year ago (1st July 2006) - what a co-incidence! (And it looks like all my lines - papers and photo - are not straight in the layout, but they are, just a bad photo I'm afraid)