Scrapabilly scrapping for November

Good morning everyone!

Another month is here which means a new Scrapabilly kit and this time around, Sylvia has put together her Christmas kit so that you will be all set up with product and inspiration ahead of getting all those wonderful festive photos or maybe even to get scrapping with last year's photos before you start taking this year's.

It's a very traditional kit full of rich reds and greens, plenty of holly and berries and a smattering of modern shades and designs too. There's plenty of paper and cardstock, loads of die cuts and small items to embellish, a happy red alpha and a tube of the prettiest glitter. I used it lots and the tube is still full - expect to see more. And the best thing of all? Flair buttons created by Sylvia herself - expect to see more of them on my blog as I won't be able to resist them at all. In fact, I begged her to give me a few of the first batch she had created and have already used a few of them on this month's creations

Here's the kit (here) and don't forget to check out the Design Team gallery on the Scapabilly site (here) and the rest of the team's reveal blog posts - check out the team in the right hand sidebar.

Apart from adding in a few sheets of cardstock, I also used a few small alphas (like these), some gorgeous glitter paper that I am totally in love with in both shades of wonderful gold (it's thick but easy to cut, doesn't lose its glitter and is just sumptuous!), a small amount of gold and cream twine and some gold Mr Huey Mist. Everything else is in the kit and I still have quite a lot left - enough for several cards and journalling cards for layouts. This is one big kit.

I am sharing a mini-book with you today but there will be two more posts later in the week with some layouts and cards so please come back again and get your hands on the kit before it's too late :-)

As soon as I saw the kit, I knew that I wanted to break the mold and make a little mini and also knew that I wanted to go back to a design I tried once before and it was such fun - an exploding mini-book.

I don't have so many traditional Christmas coloured photos so I also went back in time to print off some photos from our Sugarmoon in 2002 - at Chateau Lake Louise in Canada. So as you can imagine, lots of snow, Christmas trees, twinkling lights and over the top traditional decorations. Perfect for this kit. This must be the most documented - both in pages and mini-books - holiday in history considering I only have a handful of pre-digital times photos. I think we took three or four films but I have managed to fit so many into my little book that I have it pretty much covered - again!

When you take off the lid, the book falls open to reveal all the pages inside. So much fun!

Both sides of the pages can be used for photos or journalling or other flat embellishments. That gives you a lot of scrapping real estate.

I didn't write so much here as I've already written up bulky journalling in another mini-book a few years ago - I just wanted to make a few notes.

I had printed out a big pile (over 30 I think) small 2x1.5 inch photos and with the left overs I decided to just bind them together and have them as an extra little mini-surprise in the middle of the book.

So simple to make but I just love that all those photos are combined in this project.

Look at that cute flair! Isn't it lovely.

I hope you like my little exploding surprise as much as I enjoyed making it. Why not give it a try yourself - so simple and quick to make and look at all those photos.

Thanks for stopping by and come back again soon.

And just one more

This is it. Really. Honestly. I mean it. No more. Just this last one. Promise.

Personally, I blame S.

She always seems to track down the funnest (not a word I think!) challenges and then, the cheek of it, she posts about it and joins in on all the fun. Without thinking about the consequences... Of me reading it and wanting to join in... What a nerve! :-)

Well, here's another one for me.... Another one and it has to be the last one... No really!

So S was blogging about a reading challenge she had come across via a new visitor to her blog who in turn had heard bout it on the blog Callapidder Days. Confused? You will be! (name that TV show!)

But on a serious note, I love reading and just don't do enough of it these days. I've got really lazy recently and hardly ever pick up a book which is such a shame. But every now and again, I get a bee in my bonnet and grab a book off the shelf (one of the MANY I have but haven't read... ) and get going. When I travel back to the UK I always stock up on chick lit at the airport and get through them so quickly. But the ones on my shelves are a bit more meaty. And it's wicked to have them sitting there unloved (bit like my stash!) so this is an ideal challenge for me.

It's supposed to be a relaxed challenge - make it up for yourself kind of thing so you choose how many books you want to commit to, you post about it, read them and post about them at the end. Easy, huh?

I already had a small pile of books on my bedside table so that was a good start and then I added a couple more to the list to spice it up a bit. Or not, depending on your taste in books!

My pile of  books looks like this:

The Heart of the Antarctic - Ernest Shackleton
The legendary Antarctic explorer is such an interesting story with the loss of his ship to the powerful grip of the southern ocean and yet managing to survive and lead his crew to safety across the ice. It's a story that's fascinated me for a long time and at last I am determined to read the book now.
The Endurance - Caroline Alexander
A gorgeous hard-backed book full of previously unpublished, stunning photography of the expedition by Frank Hurley. Another long timer on my shelf that needs to see the light of day.
The Romance of the Book - edited by Marshall Brooks
A collection of essays and excerpts about the book. This and the next book were both bought when I was writing my MBA dissertation back in 1998 and have been scanned but not read. All about reading and books  and the passion that brings out in people. Looking forward to getting to these books without the urgency of research!
A Passion for Books - edited by Dale Salwak
Another book in the same genre as the last. On the dust jacket it says that it's a celebration of reading as well as a defense against the feeling that the electronic world is going to kill the book. Such an interesting idea. My kind of topic.
The Angel's Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafón
I know nothing about this book. I received it from Dad for my birthday in 2009 so it's way overdue a reading. I have seen it on Amazon with a gazillion good reviews so I think once I get past the first couple of pages, I will love it. Set in Spain at the turn of the last century (I think) which is something that is new for me so another interest factor. Looking forward to getting into this one.
Harmony - A New Way of Looking at Our World - HRH The Prince of Wales, Tony Juniper and Ian Skelly
Definitely not one for everyone, depending on where you sit on the Prince Charles side of things. But I have his first book which is all about his dislike of modern architecture or rather his love of classic design and enjoyed it a lot. This one was bought for me by mum for last year's birthday - it was a case of "I saw this and thought of you" for mum when she first saw it! I loved it. It was a perfect present. It appears to be a philosophical look at the problems with the environment and what we should be thinking about to move to a sustainable life on Earth. Could be heavy but it's one that I want to take my time on. Wish me luck!
Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
On the pile of books in the photo, this is the looking very sorry for itself book at the top. I scrapped about my love of this book (and Rhett) during LOAD which prompted me to pick it up and start reading it again. I think it must be almost 20 years since the last time. It has already gotten under my skin and I have found myself crying several times and sighing with frustration with Scarlet more than once. I love this book. The historical detail is incredible although of course, I have no idea as to its accuracy. It's a monster book (799 pages) and I adore each and every word. Still ever so slightly in love with Rhett.

Two works of fiction, 5 non-fiction. A couple of classics. One or two that are a little "out there". From the south pole through the southern states, on to the south of Europe. From exploration to quiet contemplation taking in war and saving the environment along the way. I'm excited to read these books which have been waiting for me for a long time - some are more than 10 years brand new!

There you go. A list that might say something about me. You tell me!

But definitely the last new challenge I am going to take on.... promise!

St Nicholaus Day Monday musings...

Happy St Nicholaus!

Whilst most of Germany was waking up to boots or boxes full of chocolate and gifts outside their front door this morning, I woke up to the alarm screaming at me to get up and get going at some unearthly time of the morning! When I don't have my 8am Monday class for a few weeks, it's always a bit of a shock to the system when it kicks back in again. And this morning was exactly one of those mornings! Going down the communal stairs, I noticed that one of our neighbours had left out St Nick presents for four other neighbours and it made me a little sad that I wasn't one of them! I bought myself a small chocolate St Nick for myself but not being a huge fan of German chocolate, it's not exactly the best present I ever bought myself! So as a treat for myself, as soon as I get home tonight, I am going to do some scrapping. Sounds like an ideal present, doesn't it?

I have plenty to keep me busy. I have three layouts to do for The Scrapbook Magazine and my December album to update and photograph and I am woefully behind on my BPC class by Nic H. I'd love to do the main layouts before class end at least.

You might have noticed that I have given my blog a bit of a facelift. Thought it was about time having had the same layout and blog banner for the last two years and my intention is to change it up each month with a few photos to represent the month to come - thanks to Danielle for the tutorial about creating such a blog banner that gave me the push to stop thinking about it and finally do it.

And I'm thinking about being a bit more consistent with my posting. Something like a theme for each day of the week (even if I don't post every day) so that I would have some structure to follow when I do want to post. Maybe something like Monday Musings, Tuesday Tips, Layout Wednesday and so on. But I'm not sure - what do you think? Or is this too restrictive? I'm not really sure. Maybe I need to think about it a bit more! Am I perhaps just thinking about this too much?!? Sounds like me though, doesn't it? It's all about the control.

Later...

So, after spending a total of 3.5 hours travelling, 1.5 hours window shopping and more than 3 hours in Starbucks (nursing one single coffee!) for only 4 lessons, I am back home and have managed to catch up a little. I have completed today's December page and photographed them all.

Several things to note that tell me that I should have planned this out a bit more than I did before I launched in:

1. It's enormously thick already and it's only day 6! I can only imagine how huge it will be by the 25th. Mmmm... 
2. The 6x4 format is limiting my journalling and photos so if I have more to say/show, I need to add more pages. And here comes point one into play. Mmmm....
3. I have put the day number on the left which means that when the pages are together like a book, all I can see is the back of the labels. If I had put them on the right, the edges would have been visible from the front of the mini-book. Mmmm....
4. I haven't really decided if I am just winging it and recording the everyday or if I am following Shimelle's prompts. Hope it doesn't turn into a mish mash. Mmmm....
5. I have not decided on a title for the book/album nor have I thought about a cover. At the moment, this part of it looks über-ugly. I really need to decide what is I am making here. Mmmm....

On the positive side, I am chopping up papers and throwing down bits and pieces of Christmas goodness with abandon. It feels good to see these pretty things (and to be honest, some not so pretty things - must sort out and get rid) used up. I have a couple of blank or more blank pages that I will go back to at the end to embellish up. And I have a bag of embellishments to pretty up the whole album at the end (if the binder rings will stand the thickness that is!) The main products I am using here is the Shimelle Christmas kit 2009 which of course, I had to have, but never touched. I have it all in a drawer and am just opening and grabbing. And then all my other Christmas stuff is in another drawer so it has really turned into a bit of a lucky dip. Go me!

Here are the pages so far (apologies for the poor photos - it's late and even though I sorted out extra light and adjusted the white balance, they are pretty groggy) :

 

Weekend creativity

I know you've got them too. Papers you just HAD to have when they came out. Probably a range of embellishments to go with them, an alphabet or two, maybe ribbons or buttons. They are/were gorgeous.  You have put them together in a bag ready for that perfect project. And they are still sitting on the shelf. Untouched. Unloved. Forlorn. Neglected. Forgotten.

Go on, admit it.... I'm not the only one who has these. Am I?

You know what you have to do with these?


Use them or lose them!

No, really.

If you don't love them any more, pass them on or throw them out. If you still love them, then be brave and just jump in and use it.

And of course, I'm not suggesting anything to you that I wouldn't do myself, so that is exactly what I've done.

I've been going through my stash and have a small pile of things to pass on to a card making friend. I have dumped some stuff in the round file. And I have been delving into bags of stash and using it. And it feels gooooood.

This weekend, I was browsing through one of my photo storage binders (à la LOM) and looking at photos from 2007 that I had felt needed to be scrapped - that's why I had printed out the photos. But, you know what? Many of them really don't. Either the story is not something I want to scrap, or it's been done in someway already, or the photos are rather blurghgh now I look at them. I have been taking out those photos fitting the last category and *shock horror* throwing them away. I don't want to scrap them or put them into regular photo albums so what is the point on holding onto them? Then I have been fishing out photos of events that I don't want to scrap and plopping them into regular photo albums.

And the rest?

Grab and scrap. Such as this one using 5 photos that I cut down and used. One or two went in the bin, and a couple have been put in the photo album pile.

** Ok, so I ran out of u's but the v works well enough. And see those doggy embellies? They must be 4 years old. I think Libby got them for me in a pack of themed items from Poundland or some other cheap and cheerful shop. I think they look great here. All the papers in the background came directly out of my scrap box. One trend I have noticed about my scrapping recently is that I borrow kids and dogs very often as subjects for my pages!

And this one uses 9 photos (again, trimmed down) in an adaptation of a sketch from my BPS class by May Flaum. There were a couple of photos which didn't make the cut and yet another half dozen or so to go into a regular photo album. 

** This one is a bit too pink I think but it sums up the day really well in one double layout - it didn't even need any journalling.

And I have just finished this photo album scrapbook about a trip to London I gave my best German friend for her special birthday. I used one of those really cheap, plastic photo albums costing less than €2, prettied it up and I now have a sweet little mini album to record the weekend. It appeared that I had double copies of most of the photos, so the other copy will probably be plopped into a regular photo album or in the bin. And I used some K&Co papers and embellishment that I think are as old as the photos. It's not my favourite paper range now but I still like it enough to use it. And somehow, it seems to match the theme. Then I used up lots of the small embellishments I had bought to go with it - using up nearly two complete packs - liberating! There is enough space in this small album for a few things that I had brought back from the trip - tickets and a couple of postcards - and the rest of the bag of memorabilia? In the bin. Looking through it, I was happy I had kept it but I just didn't need to include it here. (I was inspired by last week's posts on Write. Click. Scrapbook. on this topic - see this post here or this one here for examples.)

There is not a lot of detail in this mini-book, but the places, highlights and a few fun facts are captured and that is enough.

And that 2007 photo storage album is looking a lot less full which can only be a good thing. 

Only 31 months late

I had started this little project waaaaaay back in 2007.

I just thought it would be interesting to make a few notes on the 30 days leading up to my 40th birthday and include some photos (30 to 40). Just a simple, little, easy project that would be done and dusted the day after my birthday - NOT!

I did, however, write the notes each day of those 30 days and I had also formed the basis of my album/mini-book, so all I needed to do this morning was to sort out the photos and then have some fun sticking them down and decorating them up a bit.

I had chosen Amy Butler which I still adore - such bright, gorgeous colours with sparkle and lots of embellishments (I had bought the whole range LOL) so this was easy in principle. Mostly a single page of notes/journalling with a photo on the back - one or two days have two - along with a some pretty paper and one or two embellishments. Date on the journalling page, countdown from 30 on the photo page.

It's done at last and I'm so pleased that it's finished. Tick!

Got unfinished projects on the table? Like to join in the challenge of getting them finished? Let me know and we can motivate each other!