Recklinghausen Musings ...

Such a great combination

2012-02-11T08:00:00.000+01:00

You might have realised that I've gone quiet the last couple of weeks which means that I'm busy doing something that's taking up a lot of my time! Well, as it's February, that would be LOAD!

So far, 9 days in and I've created every day although some days are definitely more difficult than others. But one thing that's helping is the combination of the daily prompts from Lain - this month focussing on our stories from the past - and my Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits. It helps that I have kits ready to go with a mix of newer and older products that I love. I grab a kit (I have a few which are not really quite finished) and off I go.

So today, I just thought I'd share a layout I created using my January "Resolve" kit.

At first, I was skeptical about whether I'd want to follow the prompts which are all helping us to dig up those stories from our recent or distant past, but I've found that each day had brought up a lot of happy memories from eras (60s, 70s, 80s!) that haven't really featured all that much on my pages and that I've wanted to capture.

January "Resolve" kit - layout #4

A layout featuring a photo from my 18th birthday which seems a lifetime ago (well, I suppose it is!) made for the prompt "Who Am I Now?". A bit introspective to cover up the fact that I have serous hair envy - can one actually be envious of one's previous self? Hard to imagine that just 6 months later I chopped it all off to my shoulders when I went off to France. What was I thinking!?

I think that the only thing I added in for this was the fabric brad and the twine but I add twine onto almost every layout so it's a bit of a staple product that I don't put separately in my kits.

More soon...

Re-living the 80s

2012-02-10T17:52:00.000+01:00

Breaking into my February Counterfeit Kit Challenge "Record" kit made me smile. I had a lot to say for the layout I created to the LOAD prompt "Home Sweet Home" and I knew that my products would be great with its focus on story. This lined background paper from BasicGrey is perfect for this and now I need to run out and get another half dozen sheets.

I used a complete 6x6 sheet from my super cute Crate Paper pad that Helen sent me in our Christmas embellie exchange and it was perfect to mirror the pretty flowered wall paper that I used to have in my teenage bedroom which turned. After that, I didn't think it needed much as this was one was all about the journalling. Just a bit about what made up my room and why it was so cool!

I was in love with this room once I had completely grunged it up with all those posters on the walls. My friends and I shared a lot of teenage angst and a whole lot of fun in there and it was nice to look back and remember.

February Record kit layout #1

When's the last time you walked down memory lane while looking through photos from all those years ago? I can totally recommend it. I'm loving making these layouts this month.

Things I Loved... January

2012-02-10T06:59:00.000+01:00

I'm not keen on January. It's long, cold, dark, unexciting and all the fun of Christmas is long behind us - or at least this is how it feels.

We had mild, windy but horribly wet weather this year which certainly didn't help but looking back at my photos, I can see that it isn't all bad and that is one of the reasons I love doing this month in review as inspired by Deb. It shows us the good side of life even if you memory plays tricks with you!

The New Year started off quiet with just the two of us having a cosy evening together until the clock struck 12 when all around our neighbourhood, the fireworks started and went on for almost an hour. I'm terrible at taking these photos and should really prepare a bit more to get better shots.

Pigs are the symbol of good luck at New Year in Germany so there were marzipan ones and the cutest little New Year card from a neighbour to go with the lucky 4 leaf clover that I received as a surprise present. I have high hopes for the good luck that these two items will give me this year!

We kicked off the year in style, if not in a healthy way, with my all time favourite breakfast - french toast with maple syrup and bacon. Mmmmm. Starting off the year how I intend to go on. At least once a week, I try to do a proper cooked breakfast to kick-start the day (and pile on the calories!)

One of the last photos of our pink tree. I left the exposure long (I think) to get this starburst effect on the lights. I was sad but ready when we took it down and packed away all those pretties until next year.

My one little word was hanging around with a few others on stickies on my computer for a few days until "the one" jumped out at me and made its presence known. It's a good word and I have high intentions. :-) A bit of positive proactive decision making is on the cards. And a wonderful pinterest find sent to me by Pam to help that word settle into my life. I've now printed this out in small and have it in my wallet as a constant reminder.

Counterfeiting with glitter for challenges gets me out of my rut and trying new things which is all good fun.

After not managing to make Christmas Plätzchen, I finally got around to an afternoon's baking and thrilled a certain chocolate-loving someone round here with his favourite chocolate hazelnut cookies.

At the end of the month, our granny celebrated her 90th (!!) birthday in style with a party with ALL her children (3), grandchildren (11) and great-grandchildren (7)! What an achievement. This adorable cake was made for her by my very good school friend, Geraldine, who just happens to be an über-talented cake designer. We were all knocked out by how she got my gran and her sofa down to a t, right down to cute Fergus and it was wonderful to see my gran surrounded by family, celebrating this amazing milestone.

These days, no trip back to the UK is complete without a mini photo session with the Chance monsters who are getting more adorable and gorgeous every time I go back. This time was no exception. They like to tease me with the fact that I'm the ONLY one in the family (well, except for my dad) who can't roll their tongue! I have dozens of such taunting photos which seriously need to be turned into a page about this subject sooner rather than later!

Maybe not the most exciting month of the year, but a good one and a nice way to start the year.

Wednesday Jingling

2012-02-08T23:27:00.000+01:00

I really wanted to catch up with the Jingle Belles challenge this week as I mentioned in yesterday's blog post (here) and am thrilled to have managed it this evening.

This week's challenge (a banner holiday) is to use the gorgeous Jingle Belles blog banner as inspiration for our cards.

Today I decided to go with a bright red base along with a touch of mint green and cream and a touch of retro. These wonderful Cosmo papers, which were a sweet pressie from Libby, are perfect for this.

Again, while I had the papers out, I ran off two so I'm even ahead of the game now! 9 cards already! Go me!

Making time for Christmas cards

2012-02-07T20:49:00.000+01:00

I'm still trying to get back into a regular rhythm for the Jingle Belles challenges and I missed a week last week. Ok, so I'm a bit busy with LOAD some of which I'm hoping to share with you soon, but it really doesn't take so much time to run off a card. I just need to get back to seeing Tuesday evening as my Jingle Belles evening and get with it :-)

Anyway, even though I missed last week, their prompts are good for two weeks this year so I still had time to join in on prompt #3 "A Banner Holiday" which is to take inspiration from the Jingle Belles blog banner. It's been updated for the new year and is totally retro-gorgeous!

I spent some time thinking what I could take from this - colour, font, design, any of the elements - and then when I opened my Christmas drawer the first thing I saw was some Sassafras Life At The Pole papers and the colours just reminded me of the blog banner - a sort of minty green and a creamy background. So I went with that. And I decided to get a banner on the card (although that turned out a bit dodgy if you ask me!). In the end, I ran off two cards while I had all the papers out which means that if my plan of making another one tomorrow doesn't happen, then at least that is two cards for the two weeks which is my minimum goal.

Like I said, I'd like to find the time tomorrow to make another one or two from this prompt but we'll have to see if I can fit it in! The banner really is so lovely that I'm sure I can come up with something better than this!

7 down 53 to go to hit my goal!

The February Counterfeit Kit Challenge Kit Reveal Blog Hop

2012-02-06T07:00:00.000+01:00

Hi and welcome to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit reveal blog hop!

It's lovely to see you here for our hop - right here at the beginning of the month - so that we can show you the kits we've created from the Scrapbook Circle inspiration kits chosen by CKC for this romantic month of February.

If you've just arrived here, you might want to think about starting at the beginning of the hop either by going back to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge site or by dropping in at this month's wonderful Guest Designer, Brenda Smith at The Imperfect Scrapper. And if you've come via the talented Julie Ann, then you are on the right track. :-)

We were given two kits to choose from this month, a Valentine themed "You + Me" (here) and a December kit "Note to Self" which rather caught my attention.

"You + Me"

"Note To Self"

I loved the overall feel of the kit with the strong colours and the focus on journalling with themed papers and plenty of journalling cards. While mine hasn't got quite the same colour tone, I went with something quite strong and most definitely NOT Valentine for my kit which I've called "Record".

I added it lots of bright papers and intend to add in some printed journalling spots - just need to get around to going through my pins over at Pinterest to pick out half a dozen or so to print and add in. I kept away from the more yellow tones of the original kit as I've been working so much with yellow recently, so it will be interesting to see how easy I find it to work with what I have picked out. (Again, if anyone is interested to know exactly what's in the kit, let me know in the comments and I'll post the list.)

There's quite a lot of older stash in here as well as some items and some of my precious exhange items that I received from the wonderful Helen. I'm excited to get going with it :-)

And you might wonder why I didn't go for the Valentine themed "You + Me" and all I can say is that there might be something else to share later in the month *wink, wink*!

I hope you feel as inspired as I do to get going with your own inspiration kit. Leave me a comment to let me know you were here! I love to hear from you.

Next stop on the blog is the talented Margie (here) and if you'd like the full list of participants, you can find it below.

Have fun hopping and see you over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog!

Guest Designer: Brenda Smith http://theimperfectscrapper.blogspot.com/

Crystal http://crystalscraftycreations.blogspot.com/

Glinda http://razzledscrapper.blogspot.com/

Helen http://craftimperfect.blogspot.com/

Jemma http://just-jimjams.blogspot.com/

Jen http://mypair-a-dice.blogspot.com/

Julie Ann http://julieannshahin2.blogspot.com/

Lisa http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/ <--- you are here!

Margie http://scrappinmargie.blogspot.com/ <--- your next stop!

Milissa http://millermall.blogspot.com/

Rebecca http://howiburb.blogspot.com/

Susanne http://www.snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com/

Bethany http://inspiredscrapper-bethany.blogspot.com/

Meridy http://www.meridy77.blogspot.com/

Sprinkling the confetti love

2012-01-28T08:00:00.000+01:00

I have to say that I have loved all three of this month's Counterfeit Kit Challenge mini challenges. To recap, we had resolutions {here}, then there was glitter {here} and now we have confetti!

To begin with, I was unsure about what to do. Should I use foil table confetti (of which I have bags and bags and bags) or something a bit different? I've seen quite a few ideas online recently but didn't want to copy anything directly and in the end just went with what I thought would be pretty although it has been inspired by online finds.

One of my favourite border punches is my Martha Stewart heart punch and since the summer, I have also tried to use the tiny hearts that are punched out. They really are tiny and fiddly to ink and glue but it never takes as long as I think it's going to and adds such a pretty touch. I've used them scattered on a minibook and a romantic layout and decided to do something similar turning into a confetti feature.

I started off punches lots of border lengths and then carefully picked the hearts out. At first I put them into a clear mini plastic envelope I've had since way back when but it didn't really fit the style I was looking for so I made a small envelope from vellum and added most of the tiny hearts in there. I secured the envelope with a pin but I don't think those hearts are going anywhere!

Then I painstakingly inked the rest and popped them into my mini Xyron so that they could be more easily attached. I'd already made up the page and decided to splat some Glimmer Mists (granite and apple) across the empty corner. Then came some glue splats covered with glitter just to add another element and also to try this technique that I've seen a couple of times online recently. The hearts were then sprinkled over this area. Pretty pretty pretty!

Yes, the facial expressions are often a bit funny for these self-portraits! Especially as I don't know what faces are being made behind my back so to speak! But I try to use every photo I can - funny faces and all.

I'll definitely be adding glitter splats to my layouts again in the future - I love this look ;-)

Everything is from my Resolve kit except the vellum, the pins and that tiny BG alphabet. I've now added this alpha to my kit as it seemed perfect.

I've now made three layouts from my kit and think there must be at least another three layouts to be made. I will be aiming to finish off this and other kits during LOAD starting February 1st - the kits are the best help when making daily layouts :-)

Pre-LOAD212 Blog Hop

2012-01-27T16:02:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the LOAD 212 Blog Hop!

I'm so thrilled to see you here, whether you are a fellow LOADster or one of my regular blog friends. Please DO leave me a comment to let me know you were here.

If you've arrived here from Jennifer, then you are on the right track and if you've come here directly, you might want to go back to the beginning and drop in on Margie where the hop fun starts. You are bound to pick up a whole LOAD of tips and tricks if you check us all out :-) (pun intended!)

Anyway, it's almost February which means that LOAD 212 is just hours away and this blog hop is not only to get my brain into gear and prepared to start but also to help some of the newbies get to know what to expect. The first time can be a little overwhelming but we are here to help! Many of us have done this several times and it IS possible, as crazy as it sounds. And it's the most fun you'll have scrapping, that's for sure!

February 2011's LOAD wrap up page

So, today I'd again like to repeat, cut and paste and generally offer some of the advice and suggestions I've put forward before for making a layout every single day for a month. I've taken my posts from earlier and updated them a bit it so hopefully there is something for everyone even if you think it looks familiar! I've added in some of my wrap up pages and the beautifully indulgent piles of completed layouts at the end of each LOAD - if those piles don't get you motivated, I don't know what will ;-)

For those of you who are new to the idea of LOAD, it can be done. Many of us have several LOADs under our belt with 100% layout completion! And boy, do we feel good at the end of the month.

But at the same time, it's not essential to commit to a layout a day - some members just join in the fun when they can and find that they get a lot more done than they normally would and that makes them feel good too.

The key is to do what you can. And my number one tip is to keep it fun.

As soon as it's just a slog, that might be a sign to give it a break and maybe try something non-scrappy for a day or two. Life gets in the way - we all understand! Kids need feeding and houses need to be kept, oh and there's that little thing called a job! Life is busy for us all so do what you can and enjoy it.

May 2011 wrap up page

Saying that, I've continued to have fun now for 8 LOADs (which includes two informal LOADs) and have completed more than 250 layouts just in those months. Again, that makes me very happy! I managed FOUR months of daily layouts in 2011 if you can believe it and I'm raring to go again this time around. Even when it feels like it's taking too much time, or I feel a bit uninspired at the start of the day, I always feel good when I've taken the time to create and have uploaded my finished page to Flickr and have taken the time to see what my fellow LOADsters have created! And I feel even better when I look at my pile of creations.

My July 2011 wrap up page

** Even if you are not participating in LOAD, I am sure you can find something here that might help you speed up your process or even something to inspire you to join in next time. I use these techniques pretty much every time I create. I am a very slow scrapper but I still manage to make dozens of pages most months. **

February's LOAD. I really got into my stride this time around and February is a great time of the year to do LOAD - really gets those creative juices flowing.

May was a mixed month with lots and lots of colour and dimension and distressing.

Informal LOAD in July (the one I did with Pam!) Such a bright month - I think I was influenced by Pam's colourful scrapping and her happy personality.

Informal LOAD in October 2011 - so much dimension here!

This is a list you may have seen before but I'm posting it again as it really is the way I approach most of my scrapping. I've edited it a little to keep it updated and have changed the order to reflect the steps that we might have to go through to get our layouts done. Let me know if that makes sense :-)

Clear space:I tidy up my scrapping space after each project. Completely. And for those of you who know me, you'll appreciate this is difficult and unnatural for me. I'm naturally an untidy person! But I put every scrap, pen, glue stick, ruler or ink-pad etc back where they belong - even if I take it back out again after 2 minutes. Clear space = clear mind. Now, if I could only apply that to the rest of my life...
Use that stash: I see this as an opportunity to use up papers and products that have been lying around a long time but that I still love. This is not the time to be precious. I will not be buying any new stash at all for this month but I have several partially used up Counterfeit Kits from August through to January and there will be my February kit, as well as a page kit I've committed to create, to use. Making up your own kits (CKC is a wonderful resource for this) can make your own products feel like new as you combine them in new ways. Make sure you can see the products that are inspiring you at the moment or that you want to use up - if you have them in view, they are more likely to be used up. And think about the excuse you will have to go out and stock up again when you have finished as you will have used up SO much of your stock!
Preparation: Each day I think about what I might scrap. What picture I might use. What I have to say that day. If I have a bit of free time (I travel on public transport and so have a lot of time to kill!), I might even write my journalling out to a story that has come to mind. And I have a pile of photos - good, bad and a lot in between - on my table, and my storage binders to hand. Often, I just have a bit of a rummage, see what catches my eye and am off. This month, Lain has created prompts for us to mine our own stories from the past and I'm excited to see how that works for me. I have a lot of older photos and it would be lovely to remember some stories to go with them. In the past, I've checked out the prompt early in the day and let it stew in my mind until the evening when I will decide if I'm following it or not. I more than not follow the prompt but really, I'm not going to let that stop me if I have a brainwave of another idea. If the prompt doesn't resonate with me, I will either just store the idea for another day or ignore it and do my own thing. I have to say though, that even if the prompt hasn't jumped out at me at first, I will often find that the layout I've made using it is one that I love.
Sketches/Pinterest/Favourites: I have Page Maps 1 & 2 books and I love them. I use them all the time. There are a million and one sources online for sketches including Page Maps itself where you can find all the archives as well as the new month, or another great site is Sketch Support, which also breaks their sketches down into one or two pagers. Pinterest is fabulous as long as it doesn't turn into a time sucker. I have a board just for pages and I have found myself turning to that over and over again in recent months. I've tried out lots of new techniques and styles from this board so I know that I can find inspiration in there. And of course, my Flickr favourites is full to overflowing with favourite layouts and creations from previous LOADs. So so so many beautiful layouts that can give me the inspiration I'm looking for.
Glue & Go: I learned this on my Heidi Swapp class in 2007. Yes, I move things around a bit before I decide on position, but I'm talking 2 or 3 minutes, not all evening. (If that's not working, try walking away for ten minutes then come back and go for it.) Then, it's Glue & Go. And live with the result. And love the result!
Handwritten journalling: In the past, I've hand-written almost all my journalling when time is short. No, I don't particularly like my handwriting. But it's mine and there's not a lot to be done. Hand-writing is quick, easy and I don't need 16 attempts at getting it just so. If the hand-writing goes a bit skew-whiff, I accept it. It's typical Lisa to have a few mistakes in there after all. Saying that, I love strip journalling and with practice this can be done quickly and easily on the computer. But I'm not hooked on only having printed journalling. It's probably a 60% hand written ratio for me.
Quick techniques: I try to return techniques such as border punches, inking the edges, distressing or clustering which give good results with minimum effort and time. Although I might do a bit of stamping you won't find a lot of that on my pages - it's too hit and miss, and very time-consuming for me. Not to mention the fact that the ink ends up in places it really doesn't belong... several ruined tops later...
Perfection is over-rated: I'm not the first to state this (Lain reminds us again and again), but it's so true. If you are doing work for a design team or a magazine, then it might be appropriate to get things just right - I check spelling, straighten things up, write and rewrite my journalling until it's just so. But the layouts for LOAD or in fact, just for me? They very often contain a mistake or ten! Over inked? Not quite straight? Colours not perfectly matched? Glue showing? Embellies not optimally placed? No problem, move on!
Be part of the LOAD community: The community in our LOAD Flickr group is wonderful. I make sure I make the most of it. I spend (way too much) time in the gallery getting inspired and commenting on layouts. I know how thrilled I am when I get supportive positive feedback on my uploads and so I try to pass on the love. Even if you just look at the last 5 or 10 uploads before yours in the gallery you'll be amazed at the talent and creativity out there. I make sure that I "favourite" those that I really love and am inspired by so that I can go back to them again and again. Scraplifting is the highest form of flattery after all! And the message board is great too. I go in and read the latest and use it for tips and tricks or generally connecting with my fellow LOADsters. It's a great resource. I've made some wonderful scrapping friends over the last year through LOAD and this is really special.
Have FUN: Possibly the most important thing that I remind myself is to have fun. I'm supposed to be enjoying myself. No pressure. This is a hobby and nothing to be taken too seriously. Life gets in the way sometimes and if that happens, then I will not stress about it, I will just do what I can. I make sure I'm enjoying the process. I might experiment. I mix it up. I will use different products, different photos, different colours. More or less journalling. 4x6 photos one day and then chopped up or tiny photos the next. This way, I don't feel like I'm slogging through something. Now that might work for you - the target of a completed themed album for example - but I save those kind of projects for when I'm not under time pressure. I like to play and do different things every day. I'll be telling stories, using up product, preserving memories, remembering happy times. And that IS fun!

From back in May 2010

And finally to share with you today, my final page for LOAD October 2010

So, take a deep breath, clear off your scrap space, print off your photos, stock up on your adhesives, collect your supplies so that they are near to hand and enjoy the ride!

The next stop for you will be Monica at her blog Scrap Inspired and the whole list of bloghop participants is...

Margie

Kelli

Jennifer

Lisa <---- You are here

Monica <---- Your next stop

Kimberly

Eileen

Danielle

Pam

Katrina

Cate

Gayle

Heather

Gina

Kristie

Janet

Have fun and thanks so much for dropping by - make sure you let me know you were here!

All that glitters...

2012-01-22T08:00:00.000+01:00

Time for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge mini-challenge #2 and it's a good'un. We are all about the glitter today and you know how sparkle makes me happy :-)

I buy a fair amount of ready glittered items - letters, embellishments or papers - but it's not often that I think about getting the pretty stuff out to add to my pages myself. So this was an even better challenge for me as it got me covered in the stuff and I found that I loved the result.

I had a rather gorgeous sheet of Authentique paper in my Resolve kit and I especially loved the swirly lines in each of the corners.

I decided to turn this into a counterfeit MME sheet of paper by adding some swirls of glitter to some of those lines - counterfeiting the counterfeit, ever the over-achiever ;-) I just followed some of the lines with a glue pen and added the glitter. The pen dries quite quickly so I did it a line or two at a time and then once it was fully dry I went over the whole area with a brush so that the loose glitter was removed.

After that, the layout came together easily. I added in some yellow vellum to my kit for my butterflies, the brown thickers and some yellow doilies that I saw in the local supermarket and couldn't resist for my kit. I've taken to just grabbing the first photo that comes to hand and making it work in some way and this is a perfect example. I just saw this photo and knew I needed to use it as a reminder.

I can't do a layout at the moment without a loopy thread/twine embellishment and a banner so of course, these are both here too. And there's a nice spot there for one of Helen's sweet hand-made fabric flowers - perfect!

What will you be adding glitter to this week?

In the best company

2012-01-19T23:12:00.000+01:00

My very good blog friend S has brought her challenge series, In Good Company, back for the new year and I'm thrilled to have found the time to join in this time around.

Each two weeks S prompts us to reach into the depths of our forgotten stash and scrap "in good company" by challenging us to use a favourite manufacturer.

This time around, we could choose any product designed by or attributed to a girl.

Well, it just so happens that I have a HUGE amount of K&Co designed by Amy Butler - in fact, I bought every piece of the ranges I could when it came out and then hardly ever used it! So Amy it was!

And it also just happened that I wanted to do my OLW layout for the new year too and so it all came together nicely.

I went for something really simple and cut out doilies from one sheet and two very small photo mats from two other pieces - so three sheets of Amy in total! Success! Well ok, to use up all the paper I have in the three ranges I bought, I'd need to make a hundred pages but it's a start, isn't it?!?

I'm struggling with photos of myself at the moment and had to make do with yet another dodgy one - mmm, totally crappy, will have to try to do something about that but I guess it's real at least. ;-)

I included a few little items to support the theme I wanted to convey with my word and am happy to have found a couple of spots for the pretty felt flowers that Helen made for me as well as two of the metal charms she sent.

So happy to have managed to join in this fun challenge and I'm looking forward to which paper line S chooses next. Thanks S for the push to get out my pretty Amy papers!

Sketching through the snow

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000+01:00

Another Wednesday and more Christmas Jingle Belles' cards to add to the new pile. I'm trying to make at least one card per week so that at the end of the year I have more than enough to send out from the 24 prompts and this week, I've managed two. :-) It seemed easier to just run off another one using the same sketch and the papers I had out already so I did. I'm also planning to make another one next week.

We are so lucky that this week Kirsty Vittetoe from the Pixie Dust Paperie provided us with a really pretty sketch to use and if you join in and create a card using her sketch, she's kindly offering a $15 gift certificate to her shop!

There was some gorgeous inspiration provided by Kirsty, Stephanie and Lauren this week week and I recommend you going over to Jingle Belles to check it out. It's never to early to think about starting those cards :-)

Here's the sketch - isn't it pretty?

And here's what I made. Maybe not as pretty as the inspirations but maybe I'll go down the pretty route next week.

Again this year, I'm going down the route of using up cardstock that wouldn't now be used for my layouts and also papers that have been sitting around for a long time such as this Sassafrass "Life At The Pole". That pile of Christmas papers doesn't seem to be getting any less but in reality it must be, mustn't it? ;-)

Want to join in the fun? Come on over! {Jingle Belles}

Counterfeiting for a purpose

2012-01-15T06:00:00.000+01:00

My scrapbooking start to the New Year has felt a little difficult and I'm wondering if my mojo had too many mince pies and has gone off to recover.

But whenever this happens, I always find that challenges (and deadlines) can get me back on track a little. So it was ideal that the Counterfeit Kit Challenge mini-challenge #1 was scheduled for us to complete this week. If you haven't checked the prompt out, you can find it {here} and it's all about resolutions.

I gave up resolutions as such back in 2007 and instead switched to my One Little Word and a few goals for the coming year. Things to work on or improve or to think about. While I document my OLW, I rarely put down the goals on paper. Even though I'm pretty goal oriented, I noticed that this wasn't really working. And then back in February, Pam posted a layout during LOAD that grabbed my attention right away. It was a list of things that she wanted to do before her next birthday. So 27 things before her 28th birthday to be precise. I loved this concept and was thrilled to see her next layout appear soon after her November birthday with the next list. I decided I needed to steal this idea and make my own list. I didn't manage to get around to it right away, so this CKC challenge was a perfect excuse to put pen to paper and come up with my list.

Now I'm a *bit* older than Pam so my list was a *bit* longer than hers and it's amazing how difficult it was to come up with a mix of items that would be fun, useful and manageable by November. But after a few days of tweaking, deleting, editing and adding, I came up with *cough cough* 44 activities and goals for the next months. I recognised from Pam's list that it would be much better to put "12 x something" rather than "do something every month" and to leave some things vague while others are much more specific. I think I've come up with a great jumble of ideas and projects that will encourage me to plan more, get out of the house more and think of others more as well as concentrating on completing some aims for myself. I think that when I combine this with my OLW, I might be able to stay on track and end the year with a smile on my face. When I look at what Pam packs into her year, my list should be attainable ;-)

Not only did I lift her idea, I also lifted her title and even some of my list :-) True counterfeiting at its best methinks! :-) (Oh, and I checked with her and she didn't mind in the slightest!)

Everything on the layout is from my January kit, Resolve, and I love the way I was able to mix the products and colours up to create something that I wasn't expecting when I first put the kit together. And that is the fun of CKC, isn't it?

Um, yes, the photo is horribly goofy but it was the only one that was even the slightest bit acceptable that I had of me in the last few months. I didn't even have one from my birthday ;-(

Do you have any resolutions, goals or general ideas for what you'd like to achieve this year? And have you chosen your One Little Word yet? New year, new beginnings....

The January Counterfeit Kit Challenge Kit Reveal Blog Hop

2012-01-06T06:00:00.000+01:00

Hi and welcome to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit reveal blog hop!

It's lovely to see you here for our newly scheduled hop - right here at the beginning of the month so that we can show you the kits we've created from the Cocoa Daisy inspiration kits chosen by CKC to kick off 2012.

If you've just arrived here, you might want to think about starting at the beginning of the hop at this month's wonderful Guest Designer, Van Nguyen. And if you've come via the talented Kim, then you are on the right track.

We were spoilt for choice this month with a grand total of 5 kits to choose from and it was difficult as each one was as lovely as the next!

Merry & Bright can be seen on their blog {here}
Amber Snowflake can be seen in their shop {here}
Sunshine & Snowflakes can be seen in their shop {here}
Frosty Windowpane can be seen in their shop {here}
Cocoa & Marshmallows can be seen in their shop {here}

I was really tempted to go with the Merry & Bright as I haven't really done much Christmas scrapping this year but then I realised that my this time (January), I probably wouldn't be so much in the mood any more and a different colour scheme would be much more inspiring for me.

In the end, Amber Snowflake won out because I loved the mix of browns and yellows with that splash of red and blue added to the subtlety of the greys. And hey, it has a banner paper in it. What's not to love? :-)

I only had the sheet of red BG paper and a portion of the Authentique Ruler paper in my stash so I started off by dragging those out and based the rest of the kit around that. I added in plenty of vintage browns with some creamy yellows and rather than the starker black, toned it down a little to some deep greys. I'm happy to have managed to include several different manufacturers and lines - BasicGrey, Making Memories, Authentique, Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon and My Mind's Eye. (If anyone wants more details about the contents, just leave me a comment) A selection of cardstock followed and then came the extra fun part - adding in the embellishments.

I've got more than the original kit which won't surprise you and have added a few of the items I received from Helen in our 12 Days of Christmas Embellishment Exchange (mentioned here). I reserve all rights to add in lashings more extras as the month goes on of course. And as for the banner paper and the OA Little Flyers that I loved so much in the inspiration kit? Well I guess I'll be trying to make my own as I go along... So no surprise there either.

Suitably for the start of a new year for this resolution making (and breaking) scrapper, I've decided to call this kit "Resolve".

It's such a positive word and I'm looking forward to creating with it - I have ever so slightly fallen in love with it already although the proof is in the pudding (or rather the scrapping).

Thanks for dropping by. Make sure you say hello in the comments - it's always lovely to hear from you :-)

Your next stop on the blog is the delightful Margie {here} but just in case you need the whole list of bloggers, here it is:

January Guest Designer: Van Nguyen

Crystal

Glinda

Helen

Jemma

Jen

Julie Ann

Kim

Lisa <----- You are here

Margie <---- Go here next!

Milissa

Rebecca

Susanne

Bethany

Meridy

The tree's not even down yet...

2012-01-04T19:50:00.000+01:00

... and I've already got 3 cards ready for Christmas 2012!

Yes, ok it's a bit crazy but I so got into the habit of creating a card every week that I thought, "It's Wednesday, time to get crafty for Christmas." And let's face it, one more isn't going to harm at the end of the year ;-)

So, in response to prompt #1 over at Jingle Belles, No Time Like The Present(s), I decided to go with the present chipboard pieces from BG Wassail to create this super simple card. I was inspired by a hand-made card I received this year and like the off-centre placement. It's a bit different and the card came together in just a few minutes.

Come on over to Jingle Belles and join in the fun. You'll be smiling all year and laughing by the time December comes around. :-)

Sharing

2012-01-03T23:15:00.000+01:00

You may not believe me because it's quite a long time since I shared much here on my blog, but I have been busy scrapping recently - just not over here.

I've been keeping up with the Whimsical Musings challenges but forget to post over here so I just thought I'd do a catch up post.

WM#13 was a challenge to use a triadic colour combination. I decided on an aqua blue, a rich raspberry pink/ red and a creamy yellow. The aqua came out a bit greener than planned but the combination was so bright and fresh that I loved it.

WM#14 was to be inspired by or incorporate maps onto our layouts. I adore maps and atlases and this was a prompt I'd been thinking about for a long time. I adored identifying all the places I'd visited and marking them with a brad. Of course, Europe is much smaller on a world map than you think and not big enough to fit them all - but the general idea is there. I was inspired by a layout I'd seen by new scrapbook hero Rahel Menig.

WM#15 was to reflect on ourselves and think about what aspect we are grateful for. This was an interesting exercise and I was inspired by so many layouts I've seen on Pinterest recently. All layers and papers and stitching - a fun layout to make.

WM#16 was all about birthdays but of course to find a way to record it other than the usual. We had the most amazing November in history and I was thrilled to have blue skies and sunshine on my special day. I chose grey as a base for my layout to reflect what we usually expect for November days.

WM#17 was all about the fun. Take a photo and scrap it - just because. Again inspired by Pinterest, this layout was so much fun to make - all those paint splats and the twine swirly bits.

WM#18 was details of the season. I used a Christmas kit from two Christmases ago which felt good to use up. The paper hats was the one detail that kept coming to the surface and I'm so glad to have recorded this detail of my Christmas celebrations in Germany.

WM#19 was to grab the scraps from our last layout and get creating. Who could resist these pretty papers and embellishments along with that beautiful little face? This was 100% joy to make. Can you tell that the banner thing has taken over my scrappy life at the moment? ;-)

Pam and I would love to see you over at Whimsical Musings for our weekly challenges. No pressure, just creating with friends.

Things I Loved... December

2011-12-31T01:35:00.000+01:00

Ha ha! I'm determined to stay ahead of the game this year on my monthly photo reviews and I'm seriously considering making each one into a scrap page. I figure if I did that as well as my 12 on 12 (woefully behind) then I have the whole review based stuff covered and I can just dabble in whatever I like then. Still working things out in my mind but two spreads per month seems do'able. Anyway, I totally stole this idea of a monthly review from the wonderfully talented Deb *waves* and have so enjoyed looking back and seeing details to the months that might have got missed otherwise.

I participated in a 12 Days of Christmas Embellishment Exchange with the Master Forger girls over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge and it was a blast. I was teamed up with Heavenly Helen and it proved a perfect match. I loved all the little things that she sent to me. I was so excited every day to see what goodies lay in store for me. We had agreed to mix up bought, made and from-our-stash embellies and I was delighted to receive several of Helen's famous (well they are now!) layered hand-made flowers. *sigh*:

In return, I sent her these 12 parcels full of my goodies and both sides were happy and content!

I had visitors the weekend before Christmas and it was lovely to have the chance to catch up and spend a few quiet hours together. A market visit complete with Glühwein was of course, a must:

I managed to sneak in a few of these before the end of the TNL season:

I completed the last of my Jingle Belles cards and was delighted to find that I'd completed 60. It was so great to have them all ready to be written:

There were English lessons at the Christmas Market as well as lots of fun indoor lessons too:

Not as much as last year, but snow was sighted in my neck of the woods the week before Christmas!

And even though the tree stood there au naturel for several days, it finally got its face lift and I was tickled pink (pun intended) with the result:

There were fancy dinners, a perfect turkey and silly party hats:

Completed by all round prettiness:

2012 can come and do its best. I'm ready for it. ;-)

After Christmas is before Christmas

2011-12-30T16:50:00.000+01:00

I'm not sure the translation into English and the move to another event works with the title above, but really when you think about it, with a yearly event like Christmas you can really start the countdown directly after the 25th!

(For those interested, the original quote is by famous German football coach Sepp Herberger "Nach dem Spiel ist vor dem Spiel (After the game is before the game)" and is very on the lips of everyone for all sorts of different events.

So back to my post. Christmas is well and truly over and the new year is knocking at the door which will feature in some future blog posts. But today we are already starting to think about NEXT Christmas with an early start to the Jingle Belles prompts for 2012 and I'm one of the lucky girls they asked to guest design this week!

"No time like the present(s)" is the theme and we were invited to use our gift wrap as a background or as an accent or cut out motifs from the paper, or we could make a card featuring images of presents.

I was very lucky to have received some gifts this year even though we were on a no present kick again so I was able to get crafty with the papers.

I made this card using the brown paper that wrapped each of my 12 embellishment parcels from Helen as part of our Counterfeit Kit Challenge Master Forger DT exchange (and I will be posting about those lovelies soon!). I cut some landscape strips and edged it with glitter after crinkling it up to give it some dimension. I glued down some confetti snowflakes that arrived in one of my Christmas cards and cut out some trees from an older KI sheet of paper.

And this one was using some of the kraft wrapping paper from the little Chance's presents to both of us. It was a lovely design so I decided to make it into a gift on its own and lift myself from one of last year's cards.

Jingle Belles have changed up the format a little for the new year and will be issuing a challenge every two weeks which means that I need to make at least two cards for each one if I'm going to have any chance of having enough at the beginning of December. So I started as I wish to continue.

I know it sounds crazy but it's never too early to start. Why not come on over to Jingle Belles and join in the fun?

Bad blogger catch up #2

2011-12-22T08:00:00.000+01:00

Ha ha! Bet you are surprised to see me back here again aren't you? Well, I did say that I would try to get back here with my November round up (just in time for me to do a December round up!) and then maybe tomorrow or Friday, I'm planning to share some scrapping that I've been doing over at Whimsical Musings.

November is a birthday month in our house but we were both struck down with a horrible winter cold and our special days ended up like a damp squib. A total write off :-( But I did manage to find some photos to represent the better side of the month...

November 2011 was the best November, weather-wise, that I can ever remember. And I'm including my November spent in the South of France back in 1986 and Manila in 1997. It was glorious with blue skies most days and not a single day of rain. Mornings were filled with dew covered spider webs and low, late, colourful sunrises. I was in heaven.

It was warm, sunny and like the most perfect autumn of my imagination, even on my birthday. I had the most perfect weather birthday in history:

I got beautiful, bright, happy flowers for my birthday which helped compensate for the fact that I was as sick as a parrot:

The Christmas Markets opened and I enjoyed my first Poffertjes of the season:

We all stopped for a moment on 11.11.11 and I made sure I recorded the moment:

And I made sure there was a bit of time for scrapping and my current banner obsession:

Last but not least, my personal bar keeper kept the cocktails flowing to help chase away the runny nose blues:

And that was November. Now that I'm caught up, maybe I can keep this going from here on.

Thanks Deb for this great idea - perhaps I should lift the photos and journalling for monthly layouts to support my 12 on 12s. Now there's a thought... ;-)

Bad blogger catch up #1

2011-12-19T14:43:00.000+01:00

December is crazy isn't it? I know it's not only me! I know there are many many of you out there who feel a little out of control and behind on your "to do" list. Please let me know that I'm not alone ;-)

Anyway, AGES ago, I jumped on board to Deb's monthly review and then ran late and now I see that I haven't yet done my October nor my November reviews.

So let me start with October and we will see if I can catch up with November and also some scrap sharing later in the week.

October was a very quiet month with very little going on but it's autumn and my favourite time of year so there were at least a few photos.

There was a lot of blue skies, mild weather and fantastic colours:

Incredible sunrises and gentle sunsets:

I sat out on the balcony soaking up the last rays of warm sunshine:

I celebrated 5 years of blogging with a giveaway and 13 years since I met the love of my life (not necessarily in that order!):

I started working in an office two days a week and recognised that I have to my wear glasses for computer work - no way out of that anymore:

I completed my fourth LOAD of the year:

There was a very cool Mail Art Exchange:

And last but not least there were very dodgy self-portraits along with some rather cute ones (in that order!):

Oh yes, and then Pam and I decided to turn out little weekly inspirational endeavour into something a bit *more* by opening a challenge blog, Whimsical Musings which is proving so inspiring.

So maybe my October wasn't as quiet as I thought :-)

Watch this space for November's review and pop over to Whimsical Musings and join in the fun. It would be great to see you there!

It's the details that count

2011-12-18T11:08:00.001+01:00

I'm guest blogging over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge again and today I'm talking about the details that make up Christmas or this time of year, depending on what and how you celebrate the season.

I also used this idea for Challenge #18 over at the Whimsical Musings blog and Pam has already posted her wonderful layout with several, until now, unrecorded details of Christmas - such a wonderful layout.

I'm hoping to get to mine later today.

For the CKC blog post I made one of my favourite layouts of recent months. All credit goes to October Afternoon as it's a pretty straight direct lift but I still adore the details and it was such fun to make.

Anyway:
Today I’dlike to talk to you a little about scrapping all the small things that make upthis time of year. And I’m not talking about the little scamps that many of youhave running around getting hyper-excited at the thought of all those presents,though.

Yes, todayI’m talking about non-kiddie scrapping! In fact, let’s try scrapping evenwithout people.

Just a few ofthe things that I see right now that make me get into the jolly feeling are:

· The arrival of the Toffee Nut Latte at Starbucks

· The opening of the Christmas markets here in Germany

· The Advent wreath and the lighting of the first candle

· The tree (oh how I love my tree!)

· Cookies, or rather Plätzen in German, preferably home baked if I havetime

· The food and drink that’s only available at the Christmas markets – Poffertjesand Glühwien

· Sparkly fairy lights on the balcony

· My sometimes un-traditional coloured decorations

I find thatmy Christmas scrapping mostly involves these details rather than the mainevents – the dinner, the presents and the people – because these are the thingsthat add the sparkle to Christmas for me. I’m not going to forget the dinnerswe have or the members of my family but I might forget how excited I was when Itasted my first Toffee Nut Latte, or how beautiful my pink baubles were.

So this year,I decided it was time to record the first Poffertjes of the season. Never heardof them? Nor had I before my first Christmas Market. They are a Dutchspeciality and are sort of tiny, mini, puffy pancakes that are served withbutter and icing sugar. They are simply divine! You can read about them here. I was inspired by a layout from the October Afternoon blog featuring an over-ladenbanner and pretty much lifted it completely!

This layoutmakes me smile and is another piece in the puzzle of what makes Christmas forme. I had such fun using up all those bits and pieces on my layout - sprinklesof sequins, buttons, bling, labels and twine. It came together really quicklyand makes me want to do the same over and over again!

What detailsare missing from your scrapbook pages? Try to identify one little thing that ispart of Christmas for you and record it. No kids allowed!

If you do join in, make sure you let us know at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog and also over there at Whimsical Musings! It's never too late to join in and we love to see new faces and challenge creations!

The Traditions of the Season – St Nikolaus Day

2011-12-06T15:46:00.000+01:00

I'm guest blogging over at CKC today:

It’s the 6^th December which means that children all across Germany are waking up to a boot full of chocolate and presents outside their front door after a visit from St Nikolaus (and maybe even a few “big children *wink*). Hopefully! Of course, if they’ve not been good, they might go outside to find nothing but coal and sticks in their boots instead. But since when have children at this time of year ever really found themselves on the naughty list?!?

You can read about the origins of St Nikolaus across the German speaking world here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Nikolaus) but many see this figure as the origin of our English speaking world Father Christmas or Santa Claus. This original figure was a bishop from today’s Turkey called Nikolas of Myra who had a reputation for secret gift giving. I even read somewhere that he was very shy and used to climb up on the roofs and drop sliver coins down the chimney for the poor people below. I’m always fascinated to see where our Anglo-Saxon customs originated from.

My first Christmas in Germany was a cultural experience for me with so many traditions totally different to what I was used to in the UK. And after 10 years here, I’m still learning! I remember my husband being very disappointed to find that St Nikolaus had “forgotten” him that first year so it’s something I try to remember to celebrate every year, even in a small way.

Over the years, we have cherry-picked the customs from both our backgrounds that we like the most and have created our own form of the festive season which is a lot of fun. And I know that most families out there have one or two individual little traditions that might come from their ancestors or have just developed over the years. Don’t forget that these are important to document in our scrapbook pages. Is it food you always eat? Presents you always exchange? Things from other cultures or countries? Perhaps something really quirky that’s unique to you. Or maybe there’s a new tradition you’d like to introduce to your own family?

Here’s my St Nikolaus page that I made to capture a few thoughts about our special day including the first one we celebrated together.

I used Sketch Support One Page Sketch #15 (http://www.sketchsupport.com/2011/11/one-page-week-part-6-guest-designer.html) and some rather older Cosmo Cricket, Jolly By Golly papers for this simple page. Great to allow these papers and product to get an airing!

Why not give it a try and create a page about one of your cultural or family customs?

All done, but feeling a bit sad all the same

2011-11-30T19:48:00.000+01:00

It's the last week for the Jingle Belles challenge this year and I think I wasn't the only one who was mighty relieved to read that they will be continuing again next year! Yeah for Christmas all through the year!

Honestly, I can't tell you how happy I am that I decided to join in the fun way back in January. Of course, now I have to get them written and posted (another humungous hurdle!) but my pile of 60 cards is such a great relief. I love sending home-made cards for Christmas but when you have so many to make, there's not enough time to make them individually and last year I even ended up sending out a Christmas email instead ;-( This year I have more than I need. Now that feels great!

I'm going to get a photo of them all together as soon as I am home in daylight and get that posted here before I start writing them and getting them in the post.

But in the meantime, the prompt this week was "Candy Kisses" or rather food, sweets or drinks! Whatever we like to eat or drink at this time of year.

Seeing as though I couldn't make a Cadbury's chocolate card ;-) I went for my second favourite for this time of the year - a Starbucks Toffee Nut Latte. Oh, ok, I found a sweet cup of steaming coffee on my Cosmo paper and I imagine it to be a TNL!

And with that, I leave you so that I can go and stroke all those cards!

What's your top tip for making them quick to write but still interesting to receive?

Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Hop

2011-11-27T07:00:00.029+01:00

Another month, another blog hop. Welcome, welcome, welcome. This is the November Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Hop and I'm thrilled you are here.

If you have come here directly, you might want to pop back to the Counterfeit site (here) where the blog hop kicks off and we have some special hoppers today thanks to the peeps over at Scraptastic joining in.

If you have arrived here from Kim's blog, you are on the right track and next up after me is Margie. You'll find the complete list at the end of this post but do try and catch up with all today's hoppers as I'm sure you are in for a treat!

We were asked to create a home decor project. I've mentioned before that I was finding this month's kit a bit "tricky" to use. I love all the papers I've chosen but maybe not for using on pages so this challenge seemed perfect.

I was over at the Sketch Support site where their GD this month is the very talented Janice Daquila-Pardo and she'd created the most beautiful door wreath using origami leaves (see here). I decided to totally lift the idea, checked out the link she's included for the leaves, and made my own. I've been seeing these leaves all over the internet recently and have been wanting to give them a go and I'm so pleased I did. It was a super therapeutic process and I think they turned out great. I didn't have a gorgeous twig wreath like Janice had used but I did have a polystyrene one which proved easy to cover and light to hang.

Here is the pile of leaves I created while watching TV.

And then I brushed a little ink across the folds to make them more pronounced and pinned the leaves onto the wreath adding a little hot glue here and there for a bit of extra hold. Some ribbon pinned to the back for hanging and it's complete.

I confess to adding a couple of extra sheets of paper into the kit for this but all those very old Chatterbox papers that were proving a bit difficult have now found a happy home and made me happy in the process. Pat on the back for me ;-) The origami leaves were much easier than I thought they would be and I love the look of them so I may well try some other bits and pieces to see how I get on.

As promised here's the full blog hop list:

Counterfeit Kit Challenge

Scraptastic

Scraptastc DT - Heather Landry

Scraptastc DT - Juliann Marchant

Scraptastic Guest Designer - Melanie Stanczyk

Scraptastc DT - Michelle Unruh

Crystal
Glinda
Helen
Jemma

Jen

Julie Ann
Kim

Lisa <----- You are here!
Margie -------> Go here next!
Milissa
Rebecca
Meridy

Don't forget that this month, Scraptastic Club is not only our inspiration kit but also our sponsor. So check out their site at http://www.scraptasticclub.com/ and they will be giving away a $20 gift certificate to one lucky winner.

All you have to do to be entered in the drawing is either join the blog hop or comment on the blog hop...it's that easy! The blog hops will be on November 27th and 28th.

Thanks for dropping by! Happy hopping.

Nearly there...

2011-11-23T21:20:00.000+01:00

Prompt #47 over at Jingle Belles reminds us that this is almost the end of this year's card creation! I hadn't realised that there would be time off (for good behaviour) at the end of the year but it would appear that prompt #48 is the last one!

I missed one prompt along the way and some weeks made more than one so that means that I now have more than 50 (whooping from the rooftops) cards! Next week, I'll try and get a photo of all that organisation.

But for now, this week's prompt was to make a non-specific Christmas card. Happy Winter, Hanukah, Solstice, New Year... whatever.

Many of my cards this year have been quite neutral so I just did my usual and grabbed some pretty paper and made a snowflake card. Easy. Not award winning, but done.

Now, if only the rest of Christmas preparation was that easy!

Creating to give away

2011-11-23T08:00:00.002+01:00

Living in Germany, I've learnt to follow the rules. Not that I wasn't a rule follower to begin with ;-) But you'll have a hard time fitting in round here if you don't learn to do the right thing.

So you might be a bit shocked to read that for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge mini-challenge #3, I *twisted* the prompt quite a bit. ;-)

We were asked to "Craft It Forward" and be inspired by Scrapbooks Etc. who create a project each month to spread the love and to give away. November's project is placemats and their ideas can be seen here.

But first back to my first point. Well, first of all, we don't celebrate Thanksgiving over here so autumnal mats didn't really apply for me. And my November Glory kit was all fall colours so I broke away from that idea altogether and went instead for the more general idea of the inspiration and made a single mat just for the centre of the table and in a Christmas style. Of course, I needed to chose products from outside my kit but kept with the spirit of CKC by choosing some (much) older BasicGrey as well as a few other festive items.

I covered 6 coasters with paper, decorated each one and finally covered them with Mod Podge before connecting them with some baker's twine. I will be giving this to a friend who I don't see often enough and who needs to know that I'm thinking of her!

What will you make to pass it forward?

Sticking it all together

2011-11-16T22:32:00.000+01:00

Seems these days like I only blog twice a week, and one of those is a short Jingle Belles make. Oh well, I guess that's something at least :-)

This week, the girls over at Jingle Belles challenged us to get out our stickers and get sticking.

Sticker company E.A.D. Designs is sponsoring the challenge and their DT came up with some gorgeously cute cards - I really recommend you popping over to this week's post to check them out.

So, one or more stickers. I have a lot of stickers and find them hard to use so this was a great chance for me to use a couple up. In the end, I went with some still lovely but rather old 7 Gypsies 97% Complete stickers and created something soooo simple.

Cute!

I really need to get the box out now and finish off the insides (yes, I know I said I would do that a few months ago!) and get the card list together. Need to think about getting things written and ready for posting - my biggest procrastination is actually going to the post office so I need to get a head start.

It's the middle of November - Christmas is a coming! :-)

Tagged

2011-11-15T07:00:00.042+01:00

Mini-challenge #1 over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge is about using tags on your layout.

You know that you have them - tags of all sizes, shapes and formats, sitting around doing nothing. They can be chipboard, paper, kraft. Scrapbook product. Plain old shipping tags. Bought as is, decorated up by you, cut out by hand or with a die-cut machine. Large, medium or teeny tiny. When I look around my room, I know that they are in all corners of my stash.

This should be a fun challenge for you all because I know you are all just like me! :-)

I really wanted to use one of my decorated tags from September's kit but my room is in such a state, I couldn't find them! What a terrible admission to make - this must mean I have SO much stash.

Which meant that I had to rethink my strategy. Quick!

And then I completely forgot that I had planned not to use tags as a banner. I think I make way too many banners right now, after all. And what did I do, but make a layout with a tag banner! I have to smile at myself sometimes. Must be a sign that I'm getting old...

I used my November Glory kit and it was fun to mix up the colours and break out some very old product. See that vellum? 5 years old! See that blue rub-on that didn't work so well? 4.5 years old. See those alphas? 1.5 years old.

Well, this might not be the best layout I ever created. But it was fun to mix up the products and use a long overdue photo in the process. And that can only be a good thing :-)

So, what are you going to do with your tags? This is a challenge I could come back to time and time again and seeing what the other DT's made, I have loads of other ideas. Go check them out.

All you have to do to be entered in the drawing is either join the blog hop or comment on the blog hop...it's that easy! The blog hops will be on November 27th and 28th.

Sunday share

2011-11-13T19:52:00.000+01:00

I've been quiet. No particular reason. Just life. Busy busy. I'm sure you can all understand - the list of things to do, people to see, places to go gets longer and longer. Anyway, I have been creating in the background and thought I'd share today.

This first layout was from the last day of October (informal) LOAD and I used my Balmy August kit which is amazing in its ability to keep on going. This is layout #9 and I think I might have one more left. Funny.

I make a final layout each LOAD and I just wanted to capture a few thoughts about this wonderful experience. As the layout says, this might have been the best one yet. Such fun and such a wonderful group of amazing women to share the month with.

Since I created this, I changed it to 32 layouts and 125 photos to include this layout into the count. Such a sense of achievement.

This next layout is my first layout from my Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit, November Glory. And yes, it's a little "out there". I created it for our Whimsical Musings challenge #12 which was all about "Scary" and I decided to document a little known (very peculiar) fact about me.

It was such a coincidence that I had the number die-cut paper in my kit which proved perfect. I wanted to brighten it all up a bit by adding the fussy cutting some of the Urban Lily paper in the kit. I know it's a bit clashy, but I like it.

And one last layout that I created today for day 1 of Lain's latest mini-class, Your Story Matters. As a Scrap Happy member, we were automatically enrolled and it's all about capturing some of our own stories. If you've read my blog for any length of time, you'll know this is no problem at all for me but it's still nice to just create for fun while following a specific prompt.

Sorry for the poor quality of the scan - no way to take a photo in the light we have as this time of year.

Creating this layout I realised that I could easily turn it into a whole series which would be a lot of fun. Maybe one spread for each location so I will give this some thought. I used November Glory again for this layout and based it on a layout I've made before which was designed by Nichol Magouirk.

The journalling is a little hit and miss and this is something I really want to improve. I need to slow down and take more time to handwrite it carefully and think about what I want to write and how before I start. It so often turns out a bit askew like this one!

One thing I've noticed about November Glory is that there are some elements that I keep putting to one side when I flip through the items. This might suggest that these need to be recycled out of my stash and I will be keeping my eye on them for the rest of the month. I'm not forcing myself to use things I don't like but the kit is a good way to really see how I feel about this older stuff.

Anyway, the weekend is almost at an end and I hope you enjoyed it. Such wonderful November weather where we are.

More blog posts to come this week, I hope! :-)

It's clearly getting close to Christmas

2011-11-09T22:42:00.000+01:00

This week, the girls over at Jingle Belles have challenged us with, "It came upon a midnight *clear*", and create a card using at least one see-through element.

I always love the look of transparency cards but mine didn't quite turn out as I'd wanted. Oh well! ;-)

But I am pushed for time and didn't want to miss a week so here it is.

I used some of my favourite MME paper inside a precious sheet of MM Mistletoe (need more!) with a cute felt deer I got for the challenge a few weeks ago and some snowflakes. Some sparkly ribbon and a sentiment finishes off this über-simple design, and another one done. Tick.

November Glory

2011-11-06T11:41:00.000+01:00

Today is the day for the new Counterfeit Kit Challenge November kit reveal. They posted which kit is being used for inspiration yesterday and now it's our turn to show you what we did with it and how we interpreted the colours and products.

And there are some wonderful DT kits out there again this month, so I do recommend you going over to the CKC site and having a look at what we have all created. I definitely want to add in a few things to my kit after seeing what beauties the others have come up with :-)

This month's inspiration kits are the current ones over at Scraptastic Club. You can see both the kits, Autumn Splendour and Home Sweet Home, and their contents here.

Autumn Splendour

Home Sweet Home

After making two kits last month, I wanted to limit myself to one in November but I got carried away and I think it might be the biggest kit I've made so far! But the autumn colours are so MY thing and I just loved the inspiration kits so it was difficult to know when to stop.

I decided on the Autumn Splendour as inspiration and once again, had nothing from the original kit in my stash meaning I had to get creative with what I do have. I really liked the oranges, browns and autumn tones with the splash of bright blue which seemed very fresh and inviting. The die cuts, leaves and flowers also appealed so I knew that I had a good base to start working on.

The result of much pulling and sorting and exchanging is November Glory.

I haven't made a list of the products used but if anyone is interested in this information either for this kit or in the future, just let me know and I'll make one. The main reason I don't do this is that my main focus for these kits is to use up older stash that might have been sitting around for a LONG time. And this kit is no exception.

I started by selecting some cardstock in the base colours of the kit: cream, kraft, brown, rust, blue and green adding in some mustard Dotted Swiss and a sheet of Coredinations in a dusky pink. Then I went to my paper file where I keep the more standard papers (all BasicGrey and special collections are kept separately and everything else goes into a large paper file) and pulled whatever caught my eye. Stripes, spots, oranges, yellows, browns, blues, a few neutrals, a printed vellum and a die-cut sheet. There's a LOT of paper in there but honestly, some of it is years old so my philosophy this time is "use it or lose it".

After that, I added in some alphas but I expect that I will reach for some others along the way because I only added large brown letters and no doubt will need some other colours too.

Next up was embellishments and this is where it all got a bit out of hand! Flowers, buttons, brads, die cuts, wood flourishes, stickers, leaves, paper trims, binding tape, a spinner, glimmer glass, bingo cards, bling... the list goes on and on. Again, quite a few items are really quite old so I want to challenge myself to at least try to use them by mixing them in with newer stuff. We'll see how successful that is.

Inks, mists, and twine are free items this month meaning I'll add them in as and when I want. In fact, there's no ribbon or lace in there either so they might creep in too ;-)

This month Scraptastic Club is not only our inspiration kit but also our sponsor. So check out their site at http://www.scraptasticclub.com/ and they will be giving away a $20 gift certificate to one lucky winner.

All you have to do to be entered in the drawing is either join the blog hop or comment on the blog hop...it's that easy! The blog hops will be on November 27th and 28th.

We have a winner!

2011-11-05T16:26:00.001+01:00

If you remember this post, I promised you a little giveaway courtesy of Bite-sized Scrapbooking

and today I used the random generator to give us a winner.

Sarah! That's you!

I'll forward your email details to Kim and she will send you the pdf link for the BSS Bundle #1.

Enjoy!

To everyone who commented on our new venture over at Whimsical Musings, a big thank you! We had a lot of interest over there and we hope to see some of you join in the challenges. And for those of you who were unlucky this time around, do pop over to Bite-sized Scrapbooking (using the affiliate link in the right side bar) and have a look around. You'll love what you find over there and tell Kim I sent you!

I'll keep it short for today - tomorrow is my November Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit reveal and I love it. Some good layouts and projects in that kit ;-)

Here's a sneak at a little bit of it ...

Not a creature was stirring

2011-11-02T08:00:00.002+01:00

Stephanie and Lauren over at Jingle Belles have been waiting all year to give us this prompt apparently! Perfect for October which is "the month that celebrates creatures, costumes & characters ... Your creature might be an animal ... a mouse ... a bird ... a robot ... elves ... snow-persons ... or yes, even a monstah ... just have fun with it ... you can see we did."

Well, there's a *monstah* crop of cards over on the site so do go and check it out but for now, let me share my little Sassafras card with you.

By my reckoning, three different creatures fulfills the prompt! I still adore the fact that they included the narwhal in this line - who couldn't resist that little face and as for the cutie polar bear? Perfect for the North Pole and Father Christmas. I don't use this line much for scrapping but it's so much fun to include in cards.

I need to go and count my box full of cards now and see if I'm already making for next year! (Trying not to look smug!)

52 days and counting. Tick. Tick. Tick!

Things I Loved... September

2011-11-01T11:05:00.000+01:00

Ok, so I'm a *little* behind on this!

In August, Deb did a wonderful photo round up of the month and posted it on her blog. I jumped onto the idea (of course) and joined in (here).

Then at the end of September, I just didn't get around to it.

And another month goes by. So I'm just going to get back on track and give you the things I loved back in September.

Such gorgeous weather at the beginning of autumn.

A certain little Diva in the family started school and true to German tradition received a Schultüte full of sweets (that she told us off for!) and school supplies.

Somebody special (clue here) had a birthday and received this from me in true scrappy style!

Then I travelled home to Birmingham and caught up with these three darlings...

And met these two cuties for the first time. They are quite adorable but the best thing was seeing how my sister is totally head over heels in love with them!

I met up with some of my school friends (go 3S!), a few of whom I haven't seen for more than 25 years and attended an open day at our school. We exchanged news and laughed about the old times remembering the good and sometimes the downright bad times at King Edward VI Handsworth School.

It was lovely to go back, catch up and look around. But there's no way I'd want to go back in time and be a teenager again!

Our school hall which is as glorious today as it was back in the day.
Never fails to fill you with pride when you walk in there and see this view.

I squeezed in a trip into town and decided to be a tourist in my own hometown with the famous Birmingham Bull at the Bullring. He's quite a handsome chap!

And the main event of the trip back home. Our baby brother turned 18!

And I managed to bully and boss everyone around until they lined up for a group photo. This makes me very happy.

Back home again and the 30th was 13 years since that first day at Aston Uni where destiny brought us together :-) A good day to remember and to celebrate.

And that was September.

I'll post October soon but there's not a lot to say TBH. It was a quiet month.

Happy 1st November!

Jumbled thoughts

2011-10-31T08:00:00.012+01:00

My Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit, Fall In Love, came to the rescue again last week for a fun layout using the LOAD prompt to include a list on our layout.

I was driving to work when I was confronted by one of the most stunning sunrises I have seen and I was compelled to pull over and take an iPhone photo. I promise the photo on the layout is directly uploaded out of my camera and printed! I didn't do any sort of colour editing or actions... The colours really were that incredible. Having the list idea in my head, I noticed how my brain goes off in all sorts of different directions when I'm driving and decided to pay attention to that.

When I got home I was really pleased with just how good the photo turned out and also how it would go with the bright colours in my kit. Because my thoughts had been so jumbled, I continued the theme and used lots of different blocks of paper and a mixed alpha title as well as a bullet point list that was spread out all over the page. For me, it all tied in together.

Layout #6 for my Fall In Love kit

I'm pleased to have completed my target of 6 layouts from this kit but I have enough in there for one or two more so we'll see if that's what I do or if I just move onto making some cards and calling it a day.

The next kit is in the process of being brought together and it's a good one! You won't want to miss the reveal over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge site on the 5th.

Last chance to let me know on this post (here) that you popped over to Whimsical Musings to say hello and to have a chance for the Bite-sized Scrapbooking giveaway!

Digging deep

2011-10-29T08:00:00.001+02:00

I am busy with LOAD and have really been making the most of my Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits. At the beginning of the month, I had leftovers from August (Balmy August) and September (Departing Summer) and my new October kits (Fall in Love and Schrecklich). I'm honestly not sure if I could have kept going day after day without these kits for those days when I didn't want to scour all my papers and just grabbing a ready-made kit has been a lifesaver. 13 counterfeit layouts so far this month in fact ;-)

And here is another one from Fall in Love.

The LOAD prompt was to go for the close up. I decided not only to use a close up photo but also accentuate that with a frame and look into the story in a bit more detail.

Layout #5 from Fall In Love

I've mentioned before that I have lots of random photos that I just take because I like the subject. Then I print it and look at it and wonder why. But there's often something to say about these types of photos. Maybe they sum up a feeling or a mood or they are representative of something. In this case, I looked at these acorns and suddenly remembered playing in the park as a child. Way back when. That was the story.

That's the reason for the page and the reason I scrap.

Love moments like that!

More good company

2011-10-28T07:00:00.000+02:00

Always up for a good challenge, I'm again joining in on a new one set by my blog friend S over at Snaps & Snippets.

Her idea is that we should spend some time in good company with our wonderful stash and become reacquainted with the treasures we possess. I love it and was sold at once.

Week 1 was Cosmo and I posted about this 2 weeks ago.

Week 2 was Making Memories and I missed the deadline - arghghg! I'm so busy scrapping at the moment that I've been neglecting my blogging. But not to be outclassed by mere deadlines, I'm posting it here and have every intention on linking up with this week's ;-). You don't mind, do you?

I used up some of my precious Passport collection, now severely depleted ;-( to pull together a travel layout about Salzburg. Love these papers so much that I'll be really sad when they finally give up. I may have to get some more ;-) (Yes, I know that defeats the object!)

I love MM and have quite a lot of bits and pieces of it in my stash. I don't find myself buying a lot of full collections but odd sheets and lots of embellishments. It's usually pretty, colourful and easy to use. In my top 10 for sure.

Week 3 is now almost at an end and S has challenged us to use Graphic 45. Surprising for me, I appear to have a lot of it in my stash and I have no real idea how to use it! The patterns are so "all over" and themed that I find it tricky to know how to cut, use or build with it. But I'm pleased to say that I gave it a try and surprised myself in the process.

I had a whole collection of papers and had disregarded them as too themed but when I looked through them, I found 4 or 5 sheets with simpler designs that went together beautifully. I suppose I ought to look at the papers more carefully in future!

The LOAD prompt for today was nature and I thought this photo went with the papers I'd chosen really well.

All in all, a fabulous challenge S! Thanks for making me see my suppplies in a new way! I'd never have made this layout without your gentle persuasion :-)

Don't forget to check out this post (here) about our new challenge blog, Whimsical Musings (very exciting!) and the chance to win a giveaway courtesy of Bite-sized Scrapbooking!

It's that time of the month again

2011-10-27T08:00:00.028+02:00

No! Not *that time of the month ;-)

Rather, time for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog hop.

If you have just landed here, you might want to go back to our über-talented Guest Designer Kerri who kicks off the hop. And if you arrived via Kim, you are on the right track and at the end of my post, you can see a full list of the hoppers and your next stop, which will be Margie.

Happy hopping.

Our challenge this month was to dress up some stickers on our projects in honour of Halloween which is now just a few short days away. What will you be? Let me know in the comments as I'm collecting ideas for costumes for future spooky days to come ;-)

Anyway, our official remit was to alter some stickers and use them in an unexpected was on our project. Not as easy as it appears at first!

I decided to break out the Halloween kit I'd made this month, Schrecklich, and pretty up some of the CC stickers I had in there. Nothing ground breaking but adding a bit of glitter to the candy and stickles to the banner and the bat meant that the stickers were much more "me". Let's face it, glitter anything and it's instantly more "me" ;-)

I transformed the bat and the matching banner to a card and the candy found its way onto a layout featuring some of the pretty decorations I made for myself last year.

However, I did do one little thing on my layout which means that you won't even see my stickers on there! I made a title using the stickers as a mask. Black cardstock brushed over with some Stampin' Up Whisper White gives it a *bit* of a spooky look. This would have looked great with a white mist too but unfortunately I don't have one ;-( (adding it to my shopping list while I write!).

What will you do with your stickers? Do you use stickers a lot? Or more like me and just add them from time to time?

With that, thanks for stopping by and I will send you on your spooky way to Margie and the rest of the team.

Here's the full list:

Guest Designer - Kerri
Helen
Jemma
Jen
Jessica
Julie Ann
Kim
Lisa - you are here
Margie - this is your next stop
Milissa
Rebecca
Susanne

One last thing:

This month's sponsor over at CKC is Momenta. You can see their productshere, their YouTube channel here, and their great blog here.

In order to be eligible for their prize package for this month, all you need to do is:

LIKE them on their facebook page (making sure you comment on their page to let them know that CKC sent you! )
Send an email to CKC to let them know that you did this.
Send a friend over too. You'll get an extra entry for each friend who also likes their page, comments on it and let's CKC know that YOU sent them!

Again, happy hopping!

An announcement and a chance to win...

2011-10-26T08:00:00.000+02:00

I've talked about Whimsical Musings a lot recently and you might have been wondering what it's all about...

It all started when Pam (Whimsical Nature) and I set about doing a daily challenge of our own during July. We came up with the name combining Pam's screen name, and my blog. Clever, huh? :-)

When July came to an end, we decided to take it weekly. We alternately create a challenge for the week and then wait to see what gorgeousness each of us creates.

Well, now we've decided to take it one step further and have set up our own challenge blog! And we'd love to see some visitors over there. We've been working hard behind the scenes to get the blog ready and have posted all the previous weekly prompts there and are in the process of uploading our layouts. It's still a work in progress but if I say so myself, it looks pretty darned good!

The concept is simple. Each Monday a "just-for-fun" challenge will be posted and it's designed to really get those creative juices flowing. We have a week to complete the layout and then you will find two posts on Sunday night with our layouts with a small amount of thought process behind it.

And you know what they say, the more the merrier.

Why not pop over to Whimsical Musings Challenge and say hi!

If you join in with the prompts, just let us know in the challenge post comments and we'll drop by and say hello to you too.

And as a little celebration of our launch, I'd like to offer you a little giveaway, courtesy of my "Bite-sized Scrapbooking" friend, Kim. She has bundled up the first 6 months of Bite-sized Scrapbooking prompts into one PDF file - BSS Bundle #1 - and is offering it for sale on her site for $7.99. Do you remember that I had a layout featured a few months ago? My layout is #18!

However, she has generously offered me one to give away to one of my blog readers. You'll love it. So much inspiration, so many layouts and so easy to complete in three easy steps. Kim walks you through each layout right down to the size, number and type of photos you might want to use as well as ways to change it up. You'll love it (have I mentioned that already?!?) and she is now offering FREE membership subscription until the end of January 2012 when the service will come to an end. Get on board while you can!

All you have to do to win a free "BSS bundle #1" is to go over to the new Whimsical Musings challenge blog and say hello! Then come back here and leave me a comment to say you were there! Simple. I'll keep it open to the end of the month and let you know the winner next week.

Softly falling snow

2011-10-25T18:15:00.001+02:00

It's been a long, long time since I posted twice in one day but I just made my Jingle Belles card for this week and wanted to put it up a day earlier than usual as I have a special blog post for tomorrow.

So, I'll keep this short and sweet.

This week's prompt comes from Noelle McAdams over at Paper & ICE. When she thinks of winter, she is reminded of all "softly falling snow, snuggly sweaters and socks, mittens, down parkas, warm, soft cookies and coziness in general." And the idea of setting us a soft Christmas card challenge sprang to mind.

I was looking around on Saturday and picked up some felt thinking I might cut something out and get all crafty, when my eyes alighted on a snowflake hanger made of heavy grey felt. And I knew what I wanted to do. Make a card with this element hanging off it so that the recipient can use it on their own tree or as a present tag. I know that I'd love to receive something like this so why not others?

I simply tied the hanger onto the top of the card using cream twine. Simple. I used a CPS sketch #241

I added a small sentiment underneath the snowflake so the card wouldn't look too bare once it was removed.

I'm sure I now have more cards than I need for this year. One less thing to worry about :-)

Will this kit ever end?

2011-10-25T10:00:00.007+02:00

I am still working on my Counterfeit Kit Challenge August kit, Balmy August. But it's like Mary Poppins bottomless bag. It seems to go on forever.

I have now made 8 layouts and there's at least one more in the kit so that is a target between now and the end of LOAD.

It was also my Whimsical Musings challenge (#10) to make a layout inspired by what's directly outside your door. I was lucky that the weather was as good at the weekend as the previous because I left it quite late to actually do it and I really wanted to use up-to-date, current photos. And the weather really was good. Blue skies, sunshine, jewell-toned leaves, the lot. I struck lucky on my short photo safari.

So, wanting to use up my Balmy August kit, I set myself another challenge of making this autumnal layout with non-autumnal colours and papers.

I found it impossible to limit my photo choices so came up with a photo block to include as many as possible. The usual layering, clustering and tying ensued and the layout was complete.

I'm pleased with how it turned out and that the colours in the photos show as strongly as they do. I hardly edited the photos and didn't need to enhance the colours at all.

Ahh, autumn. Have I told you how much I love autumn? *wink*

Summer has finally departed

2011-10-24T18:34:00.000+02:00

Happy Monday everyone!

I had an unexpectedly short day today which makes me happy and you know what I did with it? Not a lot ;-)

I caught up on the LOAD gallery, I caught up with a gazillion blog posts in my reader and I washed a few glasses (well, there had to be SOME work in there *wink*)

I'm finding the combination of blogging, LOADing, Counterfeiting, Whimsical Musing and blog surfing a bit much at the moment and I was a week behind my reading. That makes a lot of posts that I don't want to miss out on. So those of you reading this, sorry for being slack on commenting and joining in on the fun of your blogs. I'll be back to my normal, irregular schedule in November when LOAD is over.

In the meantime, LOAD has been helping me to work through the leftover Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits I had sitting on my table.

My first focus was my September kit, Departing Summer and I managed another 3 layouts bringing the month total to 7. My usual is 6 so I was pleased with this and now I really only have some scraps to make a handful of cards from. That can wait until after LOAD now though.

So, just to share the ends of this kit:

Layout #5 following the prompt just to make a "me" layout. I was happy to find a way to use the Sassafras background paper that I really love but find tricky to use. The top left and bottom right clusters are all printed as is the gorgeous eyelet lace fabric. I found it didn't need much extra on top to look finished.

I built up my cluster just using up the little bits and pieces that were in the kit and am so happy to have used a few of these really old journalling spots. I still like them, but you know how it is with that older stuff. Gets forgotten...

Layout #6 was a combined challenge layout. I did it for LOAD day 2 to use product you have way too much of, I used my Departing Summer kit, and I fulfilled the Whimsical Musings challenge #7 to use 9 products + 9 techniques + nice words. I've already shared this one with you (here) so moving on...

Layout #7 was really just using up all the larger leftover pieces of paper and throwing them down on the page! But I did manage to use a few of those difficult photo corners (now put into the giveaway box). The LOAD prompt for this was to record a tradition. I have dozens and dozens of these self-portrait photos so it felt good to get a few used up for a reason.

Like I say, this kit has now been officially retired for scrapping and some of the leftover products have already been put somewhere to be given away.

That's another thing I really enjoy about CKC. It gives me the opportunity to fish out the older products and mix them in with the new to see if I still like them and can use them. At the end of the month, if they are still in the box I can decide if that's because I don't want to use them anymore and out they go. Or if I've rediscovered how much I like them, they can go back in the main stash. I really feel like I'm getting so much more out of my products now!

Thank you Counterfeit Kit Challenge :-)

Just layering it up

2011-10-23T08:00:00.001+02:00

Challenge #3 over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge site was all about the layering.

Did they dream this up just for me? It felt that way ;-)

I went to town with one of my "Fall In Love" papers and fussy cut a whole load of tropical flowers and leaves to match my Philippine photos and then layered up papers and a huge (even by my standards!) cluster. The white cardstock (added in to the kit) was the perfect bright backdrop to all these colours.

I know I shouldn't say things like this, but I LOVE this layout (I know, it sounds a bit boastful!). It really makes me happy and makes me realise that I have to get more of my Filipino stories onto my pages.

This is layout #4 from Fall In Love. (I promised the CKC girls that I'd get a better photo than this scan but, as much as I love this time of year, I'm struggling to catch the light to photograph layouts - so apologies for that.)

And this one is a fun, experimental one I made (#3) to see how "whimsical" I could go.

The answer is not all that much before it starts looking a little off!

But I am happy to use up this AC paper that was in my kit and also some of the chipboard die cuts too. I always struggle with these types of products. I added in a couple of the alphas for this multi-alpha, multi-coloured title.

In the future, I think I'll be sticking to the style I know :-)

Singing all the way

2011-10-19T08:00:00.020+02:00

Do you listen to Christmas music? Do you have a favourite? When do you start piping the Christmas tunes into your home?

If you're anything like me, the answers to these questions would be, "Oh yes! White Christmas as an all time number 1, but there are so many up there as faves. Not before November 1st but I'm usually pretty tired of it all by the time Boxing Day comes along!"

I have 520 holiday songs in my iTunes library which is a bit scary! But many many of them are the same song by different artists and there are a few albums in there I don't listen to much any more. And there's LOTS of swing/Rat Pack type Christmas hits which I love!

So when Jingle Belles challenged us this week to make a card featuring our favourite Christmas song, it was so difficult to choose which one. An all white card for White Christmas, something more traditional for Peace on Earth (of course the Bowie/Crosby version) or something funky for one of my Elvis tracks?

In the end, I took the easy option and found a ready printed Cosmo card that I built my card around.

I have to admit though that the Phil Spector version of a A Winter Wonderland is also up there in my top 20 (as is the whole album - my top 20 has WAY more than 20!). It takes me back to being a child, waiting for Father Christmas to come along and fill my sack.

What memories do Christmas tunes bring up for you?

More to share

2011-10-17T08:00:00.002+02:00

I've another two layouts to share with you today.

For these, I used my current Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit, "Fall In Love"

Cha-ching. Today's prompt was to include some sort of reference to prices, receipts, bills etc. I thought of this wonderful, happy family photo immediately and decided to do a spin off from the Master Card ad a few years ago. It's so rare that I can bully all of my brothers and sisters as well as my mum to pose for a group photo! The last one was at my other brother's 18th birthday 5 years ago. So this was long overdue and well worth getting a page done about it straight away. So pleased with how this came out!

The LOAD prompt for today was to change up the size of page. Apart from mini-books, my standard size is 12x12 and I find the 8 1/2x11 really hard but I gave it another try. My mojo was really MIA so I went with something really simple and am not exactly enamoured with the results. But the photo has been hanging around a long time so it's good to have it used. It's all a bit soppy so I blocked out most of the journalling :-)

I'm looking to a full week of work and scrapping - what about you?

Sunday Share

2011-10-16T08:00:00.010+02:00

I've been really productive recently but haven't been blogging all that much and so I haven't shared much.

One thing LOAD is exceptionally good for is using up stash - just think of all those papers cut up, the cardstock backing, so many words made from alphabets and embellishment sprinkles that 31 days of daily scrapping takes up.

So that's what I've been doing. Using up stash. And there's a lot to use up. I had four Counterfeit Kit Challenge kits lying around for example and these were definitely a target.

So for today, I'm going to share 4 layouts that I created using my August kit, "Balmy August". That makes 7 layouts in total with quite a lot still left in my box - maybe two or even three more layouts plus some cards. Hopefully, I can get it finished off before the end of the month.

The LOAD prompt today was compare and contrast. I thought these photos of my two brothers on day trips to Amsterdam with me were good examples. I remain the same, but older while each of them are very different. I only added in a few items in addition to the kit - the film strip and the tape.

Today's prompt was to dig deep and tell the story behind what the photo might tell on the surface. I have many of these retro photos with no specific details and I just wrote down some things that sprung to mind when I looked at them. I love these old photos. Fun times. Everything except the alphas are from the kit

We were challenged to doodle. Ok, I totally wimped out on this one. Doodling just isn't my thing so I just drew a line round the outside of the cardstock.

Today we were asked to journal with purpose. Rather than just talking about our trips to Paris, I wrote a little more about what that means to me. I was so pleased to find a way to use this stunning MME paper and was thrilled at how this turned out.

I added the small canvas label and the small Paris tag to the kit for this layout.

The combination of Counterfeit kits and LOAD works so well for me to use up a mixture of old and new products. And it's great to see those kits being used up in ways I wouldn't normally thought of.

Have you decided to join us yet?

Sweet Inspiration

2011-10-15T10:15:00.000+02:00

Over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge site, we are thinking all about October fun or in other words, Halloween and all the happiness that surrounds it. Like CANDY - or sweets as I am more prone to call it!

Mini challenge #1 is to use candy as inspiration in whatever form that takes - the name, the packaging, how it makes you feel, a memory connected to it, whatever you like!

You know that I am a huge Cadbury's fan and therefore, that was the first place I went to for this but the bright colours in all their packaging just didn't grab me this time around (since then I have been thinking about the fact that I could have used my Halloween kit instead!). So I fished around their website and found this page listing a whole load of fun chocolate quotes!

And this *sweet* card was the result. Simple.

What sweets will you use for inspiring a layout or card? Any other Cadbury fans out there?!?

Don't forget that Momenta is offering a great prize pack this month! All you need to do is friend them on facebook and e-mail CKC to let them know to be entered!!

It's good to know that I'm in good company

2011-10-13T22:22:00.000+02:00

Things are busy round here right now (just for a change) in all sorts of way including scrapping.

I'm in the middle of LOAD and hope to be able to share some of my layouts soon ( as well as some other bits and pieces). But today, I wanted to join in on my blog friend, S's new challenge series "In Good Company".

I'm all for ways of using up old stash and that's exactly what S wants us to do by choosing one manufacturer each week for us to rediscover in our neglected stash.

So today was the day, and even though I don't love this layout and my mojo has been MIA for the last couple of days, I am happy to have captured this story and finally cut in my beloved stash. I love this Dutch Girl as much now as the first day I saw it and it was the first Cosmo I used. I may not love Cosmo as much as BasicGrey, but it's there in my top 5!

Now that the collection has been started, you can be sure it's going to pop up again soon!

Looking forward to S's next choice. Watch this space.

I'm dreaming of a Pink Christmas (& a cure)

2011-10-12T20:22:00.000+02:00

Jingle Belles is supporting Breast Awareness Month this week with their challenge for us to incorporate pink into our Christmas cards.

And wonderful Stephanie and Lauren will be donating $1 each to Susan G Komen for the Cure for each card that hits the gallery this week. And the gallery is looking like it might be a bumper crop already - do go over there and check out all that scrumptious pink.

Pink for Christmas is no problem for me - pink for anytime in fact!

I turned immediately to BG Eskimo Kisses which I still adore as much today as the first moment I saw it. I needed the card to be quick and easy so I turned to Card Positioning Systems sketches, used CPS 239 as the base and just went to town with the pink! It's not the favourite card in my set but I love the pink and I loved that I got it done!

CPS 239

And hump day is already over for me - downhill to the weekend ;-)

Mail Art Exchange

2011-10-09T14:20:00.000+02:00

I wrote a few weeks ago about the Mail Art Exchange I had joined for the first time and which had been organised by Ginger. I nervously sent off my post with the theme of "Earth" all the way across the ocean to Austin, TX and received a lovely email from Amanda to say that it had arrived safe and sound.

And then, a few days ago I also received my mail from St Paul, Minnesota (had to look that up on the map!).

How wonderful it was to open up my mail box and find something so pretty and bright and happy in there rather than the usual grey/white bill-filled envelopes. It was just what I needed to brighten up my day and make me smile.

Carol Anne had covered the envelope with little marching ladybirds and stamped foliage and inside was such a lovely card full of wishes for a happy day and an earth coloured tag inside ready to use on a scrap page someday.

I'm not sure when the next Mail Art Exchange will be, but make sure you are on board for next time because it's such a lot of fun. Wouldn't you prefer to receive something pretty in the post rather than a boring white envelope?

Delightfully happy to announce...

2011-10-08T19:15:00.001+02:00

... the winner to my 5 year anniversary giveaway.

Drum roll please............

And the lucky winner is Danielle!

Congratulations Danielle and thanks so much for your sweet comments on all my blog posts and eco friendly scrapbooking inspiration from your own blog. You have really got my brain working recently and I always feel so pleased with myself when I recycle some packaging or something!

Shoot me a mail with your snail mail address and I'll get your little pack of goodies in the mail to you. I've selected a few products by October Afternoon from their Boarding Pass collection which have a travel theme. I felt this represented my feelings about being so happy to be connected with friends around the world through scrapbooking and blogging. I hope you like them! I'd post a better photo here but I've just missed the light and want to get this up today as I'm already late with announcing this!

Thanks to everyone who commented and congratulated me on my 5 years of blogging - it's always lovely to hear from you.

I have another little giveaway to announce next week so watch this space!

In the meantime, I'm in the middle of LOAD right now and it's scrapping all the way. Then there's Counterfeit Kit Challenge challenges to be finished and a Whimsical Musings layout to be created tomorrow (and news to come from that soon too!).

Busy busy busy. Have a great weekend everyone!

Have stash, will kit

2011-10-06T08:00:00.007+02:00

October is well and truly here and with it comes a new Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit which is extra exciting this month as I start my time with them as part of their design team - I'm officially a Master Forger!

This month's inspiration kit/s are September/October 2010 kits from Little Red Scrapbook (you can see the kits here).

There's a simply stunning, pretty kit which jumped right out at me and shouted "Make me!" and we were also given a wonderfully cute Halloween themed kit which I couldn't resist either.

So I made two kits... it's not as if I don't have enough stuff to put in them after all!

I selected a whole selection of soft colours and papers for my first kit which I have named "Fall in Love" which is of course a play on words because, as you all know, I LOVE autumn.

I like the fact that this autumn kit isn't full of those browns and yellows because I use those all the time anyway. I added in a lot more embellishments and alphas than the original kit, but you knew that I would, didn't you? This might be a challenging kit to make any masculine layouts from, but I feel I'm up to that challenge and it's great to see some golden oldies in here from my seemingly never ending BG collection!

And then I made up a smaller kit of Halloween stash inspired by the selection of items in the original kit. I decided to put in my Cosmo papers, mixed in with some BG alphas and a lot of themed embellishments. Halloween isn't such a big celebration round here but we do get dressed up and have some fun, so there are layouts to be done each year. I figured, if I had a kit ready to go and the incentive of using it up for the Counterfeit challenges, I might get a few old photos down on pages. I have included a lot of felt scraps, inspired by the cutest banner in the inspiration kit. I'm definitely going to be making that to use!

I decided to give it a German name, "Schrecklich" which means "ghastly" but somehow sounds much cooler!

This month's sponsor over at CKC is Momenta. You can see their products here, their YouTube channel here, and their great blog here.

In order to be eligible for their prize package for this month, all you need to do is:

LIKE them on their facebook page (making sure you comment on their page to let them know that CKC sent you! )
Send an email to CKC to let them know that you did this.
Send a friend over too. You'll get an extra entry for each friend who also likes their page, comments on it and let's CKC know that YOU sent them!

Don't forget that Counterfeiting is for you whether you are a scrapbooker or a card maker. It's all about shopping your stash, joining in on some fun challenges and making stuff! Isn't that something that we could do all be doing a bit more of?

It would be lovely if you would join us - pop over to CKC and look around, there's a lot going on over there!

Peace on Earth

2011-10-05T07:00:00.002+02:00

We are all finding our inner peace over at Jingle Belles this week.

Stephanie says, "In the bustle and chaos of the holidays, I think it's important to step back from it all and find peace... both inner peace and world peace."

So the prompt this week is to incorporate a peace symbol, the word or create a card that evokes peace for us.

I did a bit of each, using a calm background paper, a dove and the word Peace, all from BasicGrey Wassail collection.

Simple, quick and done.

Can you believe that it's already October!?!

And one last one

2011-10-03T23:02:00.000+02:00

Just sharing one last layout from my September Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit, Departing Summer.

It's day three over at LOAD and the prompt today was to record a tradition. While I had loads and loads of different ideas for different traditions to record, these photos were pretty much on top of the pile and so, this was the one I chose.

I didn't have much paper left in the kit and decided to just to use what I had and make it work. I think I'll go back and add in the years to give the three photos some context.

Layout #7

I might make a few cards now with the papers and cardstock that's left and then call it a day. But 7 layouts one of which was a double is a good result for me and I feel I can move onto the new kit with a clear (!!) conscience!

The next kit has been made up and is ready to roll which is so exciting now that I'm a member of the team! You will want to join in this month - it's a gorgeous inspiration kit!

Just a few more hours left in my giveaway - if you haven't gone over to "Delightful" and left me a comment, do so now!

LOAD, Counterfeit and Whimsical Musings all rolled into one

2011-10-02T15:58:00.000+02:00

I had a very busy September for some reason and wasn't as productive as usual for my various challenges (hangs head in shame). I was so thrilled at being the GD over at Counterfeit Kit Challenge and had wanted to get more done than I managed which disappointed me. And in the run up to my trip to the UK, I didn't complete Whimsical Musings #7 which Pam had set and then we decided to leave out the week when I was there - and I really missed that too!

So today, I am making amends by trying to combine all three challenges: LOAD day 2, Whimsical Musings #7 and Counterfeit Kit Challenge layout #6. And I think I might have managed it!

Pam had set me the prompt of using a previous Stacy J challenge from National Scrapbooking Day where she had used 10 words + 10 products + 10 techniques to make a layout about someone she loves. Pam's all about the odd numbers so she changed it to 9 of everything.

LOAD day 2's prompt was to chose stash that you have WAY too much of and find a way of using up a whole lot of it at once. Well, I think this applies to all of us really, doesn't it? I can't think of any crafter who doesn't have too much of one or many items (hangs head in shame yet again!).

And I wanted to make layout #6 using Departing Summer as that is my usual layout target each month. And I wanted to get it done before the new month's kit gets published... just a few days now!

So three big challenges and a goal to get them all done today...

LOAD #2, Counterfeit Kit Challenge #6, Whimsical Musings #7

For the LOAD prompt, rather than picking out one item that I have too much of (a pretty tough decision anyway!), I just used a lot of product on one layout.
Then I only used my Departing Summer kit for the Counterfeit challenge (just adding in the alphas).
And finally, for my 9 products, I decided to have 9 different embellishments: buttons, twine, flower, pin, alpha, paper trim, recycled doily, cut-out paper element decoration and a kraft calender spot
And my 9 techniques were: inking, layering, distressing, sanding, clustering, tying, strip journalling, fussy cutting and recycling.

Do you think that I have a challenge problem?

Just about 36 hours left in my giveaway which is open until Monday. Be sure to pop over to my "Delightful" blog post here and leave me a comment to be in with the chance of a small giveaway....

Don't be shy, come on over and leave me a comment - it could be your lucky day!

It's here....

2011-10-01T17:30:00.000+02:00

We've all been waiting for this for ages... 4 months to be honest. Since the last LOAD we all did in May, in fact.

Today is day 1 of our "informal" LOAD.

I talked about this last weekend in my blog hop post so check back there if this is all foreign to you! The post is here.

I think many of us have missed out on being part of the whole LOAD community thing, as well as the productivity it offers. Of course, I did a LOAD in between then and now when Pam and I did our Whimsical Musings daily layout challenge in July so it hasn't been quite so long but I'm excited to get going even though it always takes a day or two to get back into the swing of things.

Today's challenge (each of the month's prompts have been created by the group) was to give ourselves a gold star and just do what we makes us happy - photos, journalling, products, techniques etc.

I don't need to be told twice to make this sort of layout...

This is very much me - single photo (though I am probably a 50/50 single vs multi photo scrapper), layers, distressing, inks, clusters, buttons, bling, flowers, mixed products and handwritten journalling.

I like how it came out. I created the background and one of the clusters before looking for a photo which I found just hanging around on my desk! The scraps came next before the journalling spots and the bottom cluster. Quick and easy.

All the products came from my Departing Summer Counterfeit Kit Challenge September kit. My September and leftovers of the August kit will be my main supply source for the first few days. This makes it so quick and easy to create pages. I am still giddy with excitement about being part of the Counterfeit Kit Challenge design team! This month's kit is of course another winner so watch out for that in a few days.

It's a Bank Holiday weekend here in Germany (Monday is Reunification Day) so I've decided to leave my giveaway open until Monday. Be sure to pop over to my "Delightful" blog post here and leave me a comment to be in with the chance of a small giveaway....

Do you need an incentive? How about a sneak peek?

Tempted? Come on over and leave me a comment - it's that easy!

Recklinghausen Musings ...

Such a great combination

Re-living the 80s

Things I Loved... January

Wednesday Jingling

Making time for Christmas cards

The February Counterfeit Kit Challenge Kit Reveal Blog Hop

Sprinkling the confetti love

Pre-LOAD212 Blog Hop

All that glitters...

In the best company

Sketching through the snow

Counterfeiting for a purpose

The January Counterfeit Kit Challenge Kit Reveal Blog Hop

The tree's not even down yet...

Sharing

Things I Loved... December

After Christmas is before Christmas

Bad blogger catch up #2

Bad blogger catch up #1

It's the details that count

The Traditions of the Season – St Nikolaus Day

All done, but feeling a bit sad all the same

Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Hop

Nearly there...

Creating to give away

Sticking it all together

Tagged

Sunday share

It's *clearly* getting close to Christmas

November Glory

We have a winner!

Not a creature was stirring

Things I Loved... September

Jumbled thoughts

Digging deep

More good company

It's that time of the month again

An announcement and a chance to win...

Softly falling snow

Will this kit ever end?

Summer has finally departed

Just layering it up

Singing all the way

More to share

Sunday Share

Sweet Inspiration

It's good to know that I'm in good company

I'm dreaming of a Pink Christmas (& a cure)

Mail Art Exchange

Delightfully happy to announce...

Have stash, will kit

Peace on Earth

And one last one

LOAD, Counterfeit and Whimsical Musings all rolled into one

It's here....

It's clearly getting close to Christmas