Missing things from back home

I was in the UK last week seeing family, friends and "home".

After 15 years living in Germany, it's always interesting to notice what things I miss the most when I'm back there.

Of course, I miss the people - that goes without saying. But apart from that, most of the time it's Marks & Spencer's, Sainsbury's supermarket and British TV.  Funny, isn't it?

There's always a moment when I wish I could bring a little bit of that culture with me and while I was there, we'd reminisced a little about a classic comedy sketch that is surely one of the UK's favourites by The Two Ronnies - very old now, but known by young and old alike. So it was particularly sad tonight to find out that the second Ronnie (Ronnie Corbett) died today. It's been a hard year so far with the loss of so many much-loved figures.




Many international readers might not get this British humour with all that word play but it never fails to make me laugh.

I had a wonderful time in the UK, meeting old friends and making new ones in real life. There were many, many photos that I forgot to take (as a scrapbooker, that's a bit embarrassing!) and I will have to record those meetings in words as soon as possible so I don't forget the details.

But it was fabulous to meet fellow Master Forger Jemma and a much-missed ex-Master Forger Lesley in person and I received thoughtful gifts from both - thanks to them for thinking of me!

So after feeling a little sad with the loss of a prominent figure this evening, I will end with a couple of photos that make me happy - a new, special friendship and somewhere that earned a special place in my heart when I worked there back in the 90s.

Cambridge - King's College

This trip made me realise that next time I have more than a weekend there, I need to be a tourist again - both in places I know well such as Cambridge and Birmingham, but also places I've always wanted to visit. A layout in the making I think.

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for the new Counterfeit Kit Challenge April kit reveal. It's an interesting one this month and I can't wait to share.

Stylish Scrapbook Storage in a Snap - my take

Over on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog today, it's part four of Stylish Scrapbook Storage in a Snap where the Master Forgers are sharing sneaks into their own storage solutions.

I'm showing three ideas over there and would just like to give you a few more close up shots here today.

First up is the Ikea plastic divider container (Antonius) which is very nearly the perfect solution for pocket page cards - both 6x4 and 3x4. The tapered bottom of the sections makes each pocket a few millimetres off perfect but for the very very very low cost, it's perfect enough for me!

I just love these different sized Ikea plant and candle holders (Skurar). They come in a range of colours which include this gorgeous white and pink and I also have a few other styles in a gunmetal grey and a lovely sage green. There are several different items in the range but this small selection shows how great they are. I store ribbons, flowers, buttons, brads and metal items in these pretty containers.

 

And my favourite storage solution is this gorgeous étagère that my sister made for me. It's made using a vintage teacup, saucer and plate and I just have it close to hand to pop whatever little items end up on the table that I don't want to miss or lose.

Perfect for my Scrapabilly exclusive flair that I collect, my favourite glitter washi, gifted hand made wooden buttons, left over punched shapes, sequins and veneer.

Look at all those little items that would be sure to go amiss if I tidied them away into sealed containers or don't even have a settled place to store. See that die-cut word? That "might" be making an appearance in next month's kit - watch this space.

And the cup on the top is perfect for the larger items that can be tucked in there but still visible. That brooch? It's not exactly an Aladine Sane lightening bolt but a homage to it at least. I wondered about wearing it but having it right there makes me smile when I see it.

You can find out more about this series over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge today - this is post number four - so go and check out all the solutions that have been presented. Organisation and storage really doesn't have to be boring and we prove that we are resourceful and stylish at the same time!

What is your favourite idea that we've offered over the weeks?

Counterfeit Kit Challenge March member blog hop

Another month, another hop. Time is flying but we are still having fun, aren't we? Thanks for dropping by today for the March Counterfeit Kit Challenge member blog hop. You should have reached my via Margie today and if not, why not head back to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog to start at the beginning. We have two new members on the hop today so make sure you say hello to Natalie & Sally, and welcome back to Elaine who joins us again after some time away from counterfeiting!

Now, let's see where inspiration might have come this month over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge.

This month's challenges were:

• Challenge #1 - May you live in Pinteresting times 
• Challenge #2 - Media Studies
• Challenge #3 - Insta Inspiration

And of course, this hop is also to share anything made with our Counterfeit kits.

As you know, my kits have been a little smaller since January and I am thrilled to be able to say that for the second month running, I've already completely used up my kit! This time around, I got four layouts, 3 of which I'm going to share with you. Layout number four can be found over at the Whimsical Musings blog.

So let's start off with seeing if any of the three layouts fulfil any of the challenges?

This first one is a layout featuring some romantic words and a suddenly camera-shy husband (hence the cover up right there on the photo)! It's not an instagram photo as such but it's square and with a filter so pretty Instagramish!

I've said it before but one of the things I love the most about working with kits - especially kits I've made from my own supplies - is the unexpected looks that can come from combining the products in different ways. I knew that the kit had limited colours but really picking out only the black, white, grey and silver elements to make this monochrome layout was such fun.

The whole layout started off when I saw this large 6x4 card which drove the direction I decided to take to make a layout with some hidden words of romance.

I am in love with shaker elements and keeping the contents simple seemed to work so well here.

So next time I decided to pick out the colours from the kit for the next layout and when I realised how many orange and yellow tones there were it seemed to make sense to pick out some "stolen" IG piccies of my new nice - aha! Challenge #3 - check! (even if it's not exactly a mini book!)

Using the wooden veneer word along with a printed element on the pocket card makes a perfect title. And with gorgeous photos like these, who needs pages and pages of journalling?  A few lines were more than enough to allow the photos to just shine.

Last up to share this month is the first layout I made this month, sitting in a hotel room, with some random photos and limited supplies as part of LOAD216! But it was done and even though I think it needs a bit of pepping up, it used up bits of the kit and features some of the small Hipstamatic photos I took in Dresden some years ago (so not IG but pre-IG equivalent!)

The layout photos are not perfect but you get the idea.

There are an awful lot of letter saves over these layouts as I had these gorgeous silver letters but none of them were useful! I had to really thing outside the box of which letters could become which other letters.

What was inspiring you to create this month?

I'm at the end of the hop this month but if you got lost along the way, here's the full list.

CKCB    http://www.counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com
Jemma    http://just-jimjams.blogspot.co.uk
Sally    http://sallyschallengechatter.blogspot.com
Natalie    http://thebigdills.blogspot.com
Susanne    http://snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com
Tina    http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com
Elaine    http://chidkids26.blogspot.co.uk
Margie    http://scrappinmargie.blogspot.com
Lisa    http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de

March at Simple Scrapper #2

I'm back with my second share of the month for Simple Scrapper, this time using a sketch from May 2015 (#248) and the March 2016 Story Starter on the subject of "Hard Work".

As soon as I saw all the prompts around working, entrepreneurship and lessons learnt, I knew I wanted to make a Paragon page. It was a time of incredible hard work, and hours and hours of graft with little in return which was ok because I was young and naive enough to deal with it. I'm not sure I could do that today.

This page is anything but "simple" to be honest but the story I wanted to tell was one of chaos and hectic so I picked out a sketch that was quite busy. And it's set at the end of the 1980s which was a time full of colour, big shapes and designs, and "bigger is better" attitude. My dresses were bright and garish with lots and lots of roses and layers and embellished parts. My workshop was small and crowded and cramped but cosy too. So in addition to the busy sketch, I picked out mis-matched patterns and lots of chaotic colours to layer up and give all that feeling of busy-ness. It looks more chaotic and busy here in the photos than it is in real life but it sums up those days perfectly.

To be honest, almost every item and piece of paper on this page "means" something and there's a lot of symbolism that's not automatically obvious but I see it all - even the little line of sequins down there in the bottom left hand corner are a nod to all the sequins dresses I made at that time.

I used my Counterfeit Kit Challenge March 2015 kit Drift with all those bright papers. I loved the fact that there were so many different designs and patterns as well as colours and texture.

This quote seemed perfect and is a saying very often used in Germany as well as being true. I was certainly stronger coming out of this time than when I started the business.

To find out more about the many resources and inspiration - including the sketches and story starters I use each month - available to encourage you to create beautiful pages and tell meaningful stories in a supportive, communicative community environment, check out the Simple Scrapper premium membership here.

March at Simple Scrapper #1

It's March so it's time for a new Story Starter theme over at Simple Scrapper and a new set of wonderful templates and sketches.

I am enjoying using both these scrapbooking and inspiration tools so much and today, I'd like to share my first layout which uses one of the March 2016 sketches and a story starter from February 2015 on the theme of "What kind of day"

My "The best 10 seconds of the day" is definitely the moment my head hits the pillow at night . And for someone who loves this moment more than any other, it's kind of crazy that I never give myself enough sleep, going to bed way too late every night.

I kept pretty close to the original sketch, adding in a few layered elements to give it a "Lisa" feel.

These lovely neutral supplies came from my November 2015 Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit, Remembrance which I'll be really sad when it's all used up. I think I have one or two layouts left in there as it was a particularly huge kit to begin with.

To find out more about the many resources and inspiration - including the sketches and story starters I use each month - available to inspire you to create beautiful pages and tell meaningful stories in a supportive, communicative community environment, check out the Simple Scrapper premium membership here.

Scrapabilly March Kit des Monats shares (part 2)

A reminder for you about the gorgeous Scrapabilly March Kit des Monats featuring Simple Stories "You Are Here" and "We Are Family".

As you know, I am a little obsessed with map and globe papers so there was no way I was going to be cutting up that gorgeous blue map paper included. Decorating along the two edges was the best way to preserve the middle of the map. It was particularly relevant too as this map shows the North Pole and the northern part of Canada so the starting point of our Yukon adventure seemed the idea subject matter.

And of course, the main theme of the kit papers was definitely hot, tropical beaches so a layout about the Philippines seemed suitable. I decided to fussy cut some flowers and leaves from the large floral print and scatter them across the page.

Varying the dimension of the fussy cut elements using foam dots gives texture and interest to the page and is the main reason this activity is something I love to make the time to do. And it takes you far less time than you think.

Another great kit and another great month of layouts.

You can find the full Design Team work over at the Scrapabilly gallery here - make sure you check out all three teams because there's a lot of gorgeous stuff out there.

Scrapabilly March Kit des Monats shares (part 1)

The March Scrapabilly Kit des Monats features the Simple Stories collection "You Are Here" and "We Are Family" and with the map and globe elements, I was in my element.

Here's the kit. There are 8 sheets of paper from the two collections; matching washi tape strips, chipboard frames, self-adhesive brads and matching die-cuts from "You Are Here"; black Thickers, twine and a mobile phone charm. The colours were fresh and proved versatile as you'll see below.

I'm sharing two layouts today along with a couple of cards I made. Check in again in a day or two for the second part which will feature layouts three and four.

I couldn't bear to cut up this gorgeous map paper so I just left it as one piece and focussed my photo block and embellishments so that the main part of the paper could still be seen.

I added in a pack of collection enamel dots into my kit - the colours were too perfect not to. For this first layout, I also cadged a small amount of teal metallic threat to add to the twine.

There was a cute cocktail die in the pack so I knew that I had to bring together some photos my favourite cocktails from my home bar!

I also made up two cards which once again, add to my little pile of ready to go cards in a great way.

You can find the full Design Team work over at the Scrapabilly gallery here - make sure you check out all three teams because there's a lot of gorgeous stuff out there!