Joy...

This layout is another example of what I talked about the other day ---> not a single piece of cardstock in sight! (The pink background is a faint patterned paper and the backside of a more bold pattern).

I've been thinking about this even more since my last post and realised that: not only do I NOT know when I last used cardstock as my background but also I do NOT know when I last purchased cardstock! As in what YEAR even!? Maybe 2009? Or 2008?

Anyway, without even realising this, it seems like I have done the right thing at least. Sometimes, in the pretty stash world we live in, it's easy to buy pretty things without stopping to ask yourself "Do I ACTUALLY use this type of item a lot in my scrapping?". And this time, I have got it right, not buying cardstock when I don't use it - even without realising so. Yay for that :)

Layout backgrounds...

Isn't the Sassafras banner at the top of this page so cute? I've been wanting to use that for a while but not really had the appropriate photos/colours to use it with. Until now :)

Love the blue and white polka dot paper too! It's not a decision that I have made at all, but I have realised that I VERY rarely use cardstock anymore when I scrap...

...and I guess it's been like that for a few years now really, without me even noticing it! In fact I can't even think of when I pulled out a new sheet of cardstock to use last? I don't even think it's this year! 2010? Maybe...? Or not even that...?

I much prefer working with patterned papers as my background for the layouts. Not like the really bold, multicoloured, crazy patterned papers... but the smaller patterns, the monochromatic patterns etc :)

Love it so much :)

Incredible...

Got some more digital scrapping to share today...

The main kit that I have been playing with is the "Be Happy" kit by Jenna Desai. This is available from The Lilypad store:

What appealed to me? What in this kit caught my eye? The cupcake of course!! :) But also the colours. I'm not a huge yellow fan but I love pinks and aquas (not as much as green of course.... but... LOL!)

The rest of the stuff that I used was a great template by Sara Gleason and some awesome doodles by CD Muckosky! Yay for doodles :)

[Supplies: Be Happy - Jenna Desai, Grow With Love Letters Edition May - Sara Gleason, Lookie Here - CD Muckosky (all from the Lilypad)]

Beautiful Day...

Love scrapping with Sassafras papers. :) And especially this collection. The papers are SO very easy to work with. I think Sassafras is one of my favourite paper manufacturers. I think they have something new coming out right about now too, so I'm looking forward to seeing that very much. :)

Smash...

I'm so excited!! You too? The Smash journals have started shipping now - yay :)))

I've had my eye on these since the first whisper around CHA this year... Smash journals by K & Company / EK Success...

(Photos borrowed from the internet/Smashblog)

There seem to be four smash journals available right now (pink, black, blue and red). But the photo above clearly shows 6 different ones. So I'm not sure if two are released later maybe...? I really, really, really need to get my hands on that greeeeeen one!! :)))

First up, the pink one - soooo cute - is the "pretty one" :)

The journals are actually bigger than I first thought. Which I'm really pleased about :) Each journal has 40 pages and a pen and glue stick (this is a cool combined/double-ended pen!). Book size is 7.75" wide x 10.25" high. Which is just less than 20 cm by 26 cm. So nearly European A4 size :)

The black journal is the "mod version" and described as being very "hip"! Love the inside... maybe not so much the outside. I'm a happy bright colour kinda person :) But the pages inside look great!

Then comes the blue one - love this blue colour (!!) - which has a retro feel.

Apart from the journals, the collection also has lots of other fun things: spare pens/glue sticks, huge rubber bands, fun tapes, tabs, envelopes, metal clips etc. Seriously - SO much fun stuff that you don't know where to start looking!
And finally the red one - the doodle version. Even though the blue and pink would be the ones that appeal to me most because of the cover colours, I wonder if the red one might be the one I like best inside...? We'll see. Hard to decide when you have only seen a few sample pictures of it...

Anyway my order is in (though a few of the items I wanted had already sold out *sob*) and I really, really can't wait for it to arrive...!! :))) So excited!! Though it's coming from the US so I guess I have to try and be patient for a while more...

My head is spinning with loads of fun ideas for these Smash journals already :)

More Easter...

I was talking about Easter scrapping the other day and here is my second Easter layout that I have done this year...

[Supplies: Bunny Business - Kaye Winiecki, Hop - Gina Miller, Jaque Larsen, Grow With Love Letters Edition May - Sara Gleason, The Thick & Thin Collection - Heather Hess (all from The Lilypad)]

...this one uses lots of Easter goodies from the Lilypad designers. I especially love Gina Miller's papers (always have done!) and Kaye Winiecki's cute Easter characters :)

I don't normally associate aqua with Easter but I really loved the white and aqua paper by Gina so I decided to use it with the pink (and more Easter-ish) paper on top. Happiness :)

Hello...Summer?...

...I can't wait for you to arrive again! :)

The sun...

The sea...

The blue sky...

Barbecues...

Days at the beach...

Family fun...

And maybe even a bellyflop or two...

Easter Scrapping...

The other day I was talking about cute animal kits by Kay Miller. And I have been playing with another one of those kits...

[Supplies: Easter Smiles - Kay Miller (from A5D)]

As I think I have said before, we don't "celebrate" Easter as such (in a religious way) at all. But I do love all the cuteness around Easter. The eggs, chickens, bunnies etc. And I always make a few Easter cards to use some cute stamps etc.

The "Easter Smiles" kit by Kay Miller was perfect for me to document a little bit about our Easter decorations about the house. Little things that make me smile :)

Remember This Moment...

I love this photo taken in Sweden last summer...

...and I love scrapping using Ali Edwards stamps. When a layout needs "a little something more" and I'm stuck, I always turn to her stamps and they always seem to be the right thing to finish off a layout. What is your go to "little extra" when you need something...?

I had so much fun doing this layout. It's not so easy to see on such a small picture but I used my Sew Easy tool to do the stitching across the layout in two places (the green zig zag). A really fun tool which I definitely intend to use a lot more.

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Scrapbooking - Where To Start?...

I got a comment left on my blog the other day. By someone calling themselves "S", but there was no e-mail address so I can not reply. Instead I thought I would reply on here. The comment left read like this:

"Hey there. I've been looking through your blog and I really love your designs. I was just wondering if you had any tips for beginning scrapbookers. My teacher introduced me to scrapbooking of a sort - I started scrapbooking with notebook designs. I'm really excited to try a full layout but I'm not sure what to do... yeah, it'd be great if you could share a few tips. Take care and thanks."

First of all - thanks for the nice compliments :)

Starting scrapbooking? Hrm... tricky... where DO you indeed start? It's very hard to give advice as with everything, you learn as you go along. Your "style" develops and your taste changes. What scrapbooking supplies you bought when you started you will most likely not like once you have been scrapping for a while. Something that we all go through.

I wish I had a little more information on what you want to know. What is it you want help with? What supplies you need? Where to go for design ideas? How "to dare" starting on that first layout...? Anyway let's see...

Supplies (stash): My advice is not to buy too much until you find your own "style" and know what you really like. Basics you need: some cardstock (whites and krafts are good neutrals to start with), some patterned paper (in colours and patterns that appeal to you), a good black journaling pen (I love the American Crafts Precision Pen in 03 nib), scissors (or trimmer if you want to take it one step further), some glue and some embellishments (alphabet stickers? other stickers? flowers? chipboard?) You really don't need much. Plus some photos of course :)

Ideas: To get some ideas for layouts (and to work out what style you like) I would go out and buy some scrapbooking magazines. I'm not even sure in which country you are, but my favourites are Creating Keepsakes and Scrapbooks Etc.

Where to start: I would either pick a layout in a magazine that you like and try and "scraplift" (=copy) it. Use your supplies and do something similar. Remember that patterned paper and cardstock can be replacements for each other. Don't get hung up on details. A flower on their layout can easily be a sticker on yours etc. Play with what you have and have fun :)

Another thing would be to search online for step-by-step classes on layouts. I have lots here on my blog. Just look on the right side under "free on-line classes". Use whatever supplies you have and follow along. Start with your background. Add a few bits of papers, your photo(s), a title, some journaling and maybe some embellishments.

Important: The most important thing to do is to have FUN :) You CAN'T make "mistakes", it's all about what YOU want and like. Don't be afraid! You can't mess up! What's the worst that can happen? That you have to through a paper in the bin? Not the end of the world at all :) So be free and play - you'll soon get the hang of it. :)

And please get back to me if you have a more specific question after this. Hope this was of some help :)

By The Sea...

I've been working with yet another great release by Kay Miller called "By The Sea"...

I just love Kay's cute designs. Especially any little animals :) And this really is the prefect summer kit. It's available here if you, like me, can't resist it :)

As I said, I love the animals that Kay creates and normally always go for these straight away. For once I made an exception and created using only the other bits. In this case lots of palm trees (very appropriate for my photos!) and flowers. But those cute little fishes etc will definitely be used another time...!

[Supplies: By The Sea - Kay Miller, Studio Flergs (from A5D), Grow With Love Letters Edition May - Sara Gleason, Lookie Here - CD Muckosky (from the Lilypad)]

Really pleased I did LOAD...

A little while ago I set myself a challenge - to do a layout a day (LOAD). It was suggested as a good thing to do as part of the Finding Your Way class that I took at Big Picture Classes. Karen Grunberg was a great teacher :) Anyway, I decided to do the LOAD challenge for 3 weeks...

This layout was one of the one I did during these three weeks. That's 3 weeks of doing one layout each day. No more, no less. But one EVERY day. And after having done it for 3 weeks you really get a even better idea of what scrapping supplies you use a lot and what supplies that you might not really use at all...

They might appeal to you when you go shopping online, but you very rarely actually end up using them. So really not the best purchase for you...

Watching what supplies you reach for on the days when you maybe didn't really have the time to do your LOAD layout (but you have to - to keep the challenge going!)... that really answers what your "go to supplies" are and what you should concentrate on (and maybe what you should avoid!) when you shop for stash next. So useful :)

One Little Word...

I'm not sure I have actually remembered to blog about my One Little Word project this year? No I don't think so...

Anyone else doing this too? I'd love to hear about it :)

I'm also following Ali Edwards' One Little Word class at Big Picture Classes and I'm enjoying it a lot. And this is in fact what I'm working on today. Because of being on holiday + getting ill, I got behind last month, so today I'm working on both the April and May prompts.

My word is Time. And the album I'm using is the Pink Paislee Parisian album with all the fun different sized (and pocketed) page protectors. The same one I used for my Christmas album. It's actually the album that Ali is using for her class and since I had a spare one on my shelf I thought it was easiest (for printable bits from the class) to use this one. Had I not already had one on hand, I think I would have made my own little album from scratch as I really love doing this :)

Finally Found What I'd Been Looking For...

I've had some really awkward iPod speakers. Great sound but just very awkward. Cable in a silly place. The volume buttons are actually the on/off button too etc. When I did some moving around on my little scrapping desk, and put my printer in a different place, I put away my old speakers. I just found them frustrating...

But since then I have also found it very frustrating that I have not been able to use my pretty green iPod Nano for my music (my iPhone is way to filled to have space for much music)...

(photo borrowed from the internet)

...so I finally decided that I'd had enough and needed to look for some new speakers. We spent some time researching different options. I did not want to spend too much as I've discovered that iPod speakers are very irritating and only work perfectly with certain iPod models (like this one's supposed to work with my iPhone and iPod Touch too - but doesn't!) so it's basically a case of: "getting a new/different iPod and you have to buy new speakers again". Grrr! I'm on like... my 4th set of speakers now!

(photo borrowed from the internet)

I ended up with the very handy JBL On Stage IIIP and love it! :) So I'm back to being a happy girl playing my music today :)

Love It...!

Ooops not sure what went wrong there...?

I have been away over the long bank holiday weekend and my pre-written, posts which were scheduled to publish automatically on my blog, seem to have disappeared into thin air! Weird! And so typical LOL!

Anyway, got lots to do today because of having been away so this will now be a very short post with another layout using the kit from Kate Hadfield that I showed you before the weekend. :)

[Supplies: Me, Myself And I - Kate Hadfield, Eva Kipler (from ScrapMatters)]