Delightful

Scrapbooking has had several unexpected side-effects, all of which are wonderful - time for me, therapy, artistic outlet etc - but the best part of all is the friends I have made, friendships I've strengthened or relationships I've rediscovered. We may be different characters, or live in different parts of the world, or have different lifestyles but our love for this hobby has brought us together.

You all know who you are ;-)

Sisters, friends from the Bromsgrove crop, my BPC buddies, fellow LOADsters, Forgers from the Counterfeit site, card-making Belles, my very own "Whimsical Muse", blogosphere friends or friends from my life before scrapbooking. This is such a wonderful side effect of it all and I'd just like to say how lovely it is to have you all in my life - whether that be my real life or my virtual one. :-)

I value these friendships that I have made, kept or rediscovered over the last years.

And when you have creative friends, that means that they are creative in everything they do. And that equals creative gifts.

So, as part of this friendship appreciation, I'd just like to say another huge thank you to two special people who surprised and delighted me with their kind, thoughtful, unexpected gifts earlier this year.

Both of them are in pride on place in my scrap room, where I seem to spend so many hours these days, right alongside some very special items and of course this gorgeous frame from a very special friend (and sister!) .

First, I was delighted and surprised as well as a bit overwhelmed to receive a second simply gorgeous piece of canvas art in the post from my very special blog friend Junelle all the way from Utah. Her signature sheep with the heart nose had won my heart from the first time I saw one and now I had one of my own. I was moved at her thoughtfulness.

And then my (through scrapping) rediscovered school friend Sarah gave me the most sweet thoughtful present of a mound of Cadbury's chocolate ;-) when I last saw her as well as a sweet and pretty "She Art" canvas which I simply adore. The quote is perfect and one for me to remember. When I read it, I try to remember to smile more for the rest of the day. The pink and the blue with the map background is so me!

Anyway, I just felt the need to share the luck and good fortune I have with my friends.

And just to spread the love a little, I'm using this post to announce a giveaway. It's 5 years this month since I started the blog - well the first real post anyway - and I think this is something to celebrate. 

So help me celebrate and leave me a comment here on this post. I'll leave the draw open until the end of the month and then draw a name at random for a little prize!

Whimsy meets Counterfeit

Pam and I are still managing our weekly challenges which ensures that we get at least one layout done each week and that makes us both happy! We might ease off for October as we are both participating in a daily challenge (again!) and it might be a bit too much to try to do both - we'll have to see.

But anyway, last week Pam sent me the most gorgeous picture from Anthropologie for us to take inspiration from. I've heard and seen so much about this wonderful shop while online that I was thrilled to bits to find out that they now have a couple of stores in London and offer a Europe online shop. So, when I win the lottery, I'll be able to order myself some scrumptious goodies. I really recommend checking out the shop - such beautiful clothes and so well photographed. *sigh* ;-)

This is the inspiration photo.

Whimsical Musings Weekly Challenge #5 Inspiration from Anthropologie

I thought about all sorts of different ideas for this one. Using the same photo several times with different photo effects on them, different coloured vellums, just multiple black and white copies of the same photo with one in colour, using strips of paper instead of photos but in the end, decided to just use up some of the photos I have but mute them down with standard vellum, leaving one on the top.

I like the result although I'm not sure about the bottom cluster. Pam has suggested I move it up to the bottom join between the main photo and the one of the left of it and I think that might work better. In the meantime, here is the layout as it is right now.

Whimsical Musings weekly challenge #5

This week, I am ahead of the game! I set us a sketch challenge using a current Page Maps sketch. I thought it was so pretty with the little doily cluster, the multiple photos and the tags/tickets.

Sketch courtesy of Page Maps September 2011 - Whimsical Musings Weekly Challenge #6

I also wanted to make my first Departing Summer (Counterfeit Kit) layout so I combined both the Whimsical Musings weekly challenge and my kit. Strike!

In the end it turned out unpretty and hopefully, a bit boyish instead of the pretty girlie layout I'd had in mind when I first saw the sketch!

Whimsical Musings Weekly challenge #6 and layout #1 for my September Counterfeit Kit "Departing Summer"

Everything is from the kit except a handful of my never-ending brad collection which I thought would be fun to just scatter, and the twine which is a "free" product for me. I used the packaging from my Prima flowers for the journalling block and am pleased with how it fits right in.

I love the sketch so much that I think I am going to try it again using some of the more feminine bits from the kit.

Don't you just love using sketches?

Watch this space for a celebration coming up soon, and more from my Departing Summer kit using stamping techniques. What me? And stamping? Why, yes! I'm giving it a go!

CASEing out my fellow Belles

The Jingle Belles prompt this week is to CASE previous Jingle Belles' cards. Yes, I had to scratch my head and wonder what the card-making insider acronym CASE meant. Luckily they spelt it out for me in the blog post - Copy and Selectively Edit. I was relieved I didn't need to start my own detective agency just to make a card or two :-)

Over the last months, I've been pinning the odd card or two that's caught my eye and knew that I would find something inspirational over there to use. The biggest problem was, which one?

In the end, I decided that this card (from week #29) from Amanda at Craft Paper Girl was the one for me.

I loved the double matting, the ribbon and the cluster. I had also had Jovial envy but not having any in my stash and as ever, determined to use my scraps, I improvised with what I did have. To "selectively edit", I decided to make a landscape card and to make my leaves from paper.

 I think I still like the original best but another card ready to go...

Departing Summer

My month as the Guest Designer over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge begins right here with my kit reveal!

Our inspiration this month comes from the September 2010 Sweet Peach Crop Shop kits.

I started off by concentrating on the main kit which was full of Sassafras Indie Girl product and I immediately knew that I was going to love putting this together but at the same time, knew I didn't have a single sheet of Indie Girl and was going to have to get very creative this time around.

The Sweet Peach Crop Shop main inspiration kit

The kit was full of lovely greens and blues and luckily for me, a touch of pink and romance so I was in love straight away. I wanted to take the colours and items as starting points for my kit and also decided to give myself the added objective of diving into my older stash to give some neglected products an airing. So I chose papers in the colours to match the kit including an extra bit of pink, some blue fabric paper (how should I use it??), music note paper and a pretty Sassafras sheet in honour of the original kit, sorting through the papers until I had 10 sheets. Cardstock then followed in colours to match.

Then came embellishments and I added in items to match the inspiration: alphabet, brads, ribbons, flowers, rub-on stitching and calender die-cuts. You know what's coming now, don't you? Mmmm, yes. Then I added a whole lot more in. Let's face it, you just can't have too many embellishments... So, a tiny alpha, a handful of pins, photo corners, baker's twine and paper trims were all added to the mix. The paper trims have been sitting on my window sill for ages and no two strips are now the same colour. They range from bright green down to just a hint! I'll need to alter them before I can use them but again, that is what this challenge is all about for me - using what I have and making them work.

This kit came together so much faster than usual as the starting point was one I adored and I knew the colours and embellishments would be just what I like to use.

I've started naming my kits and when I looked at it, it looked very summery but somehow not the height of the season and it being now September I decided to call it Departing Summer.

(Actually, I also looked up some September quotes and these were the first two words from a short Shakespeare poem - perfect!)

When I looked at my kit, I loved it but I knew that I would be craving more embellishments. Pretty much more of everything.

And for the first time since I started joining in on the CKC, I created an extra kit! I took the Sweet Peach Crop Shop embellishment add-on kit as inspiration again using the items as my starting points and pulled out another two alphas, flowers, die-cuts and journalling spots before adding in some shipping tags, buttons and some bling. The add-on seemed to be mostly about words so I called this September Notes.

The Sweet Peach Tree Crop Shop add-on embellishment inspiration kit

There is a focus on stamping this month so inks and stamps will be added as and when I need them. And of course, I always find the need to add in one or two items that I can't create a page without!

Looks like it's going to be a busy, fun, creative month so do come over and join in.  It would be lovely to see you there!

Don't forget that there's an added incentive, (not that you need it) with the possibility of winning too. This month is sponsored by Master Forger, Sherri.

 

Unity endorsed, Ippity Chick, Sherri will be sending out a set of stamps from her etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/ShareCroppersKits to one lucky winner.

Go on, give it a try!

I made the team!

As well as being the GD over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge this month, I also have some other CKC news to share with you.

A few weeks ago, there was a Design Team Call for new Master Forgers and you know that I had to apply, don't you? I'm such a fan that it seemed to be the right thing to do and I'm thrilled and quite frankly amazed to have been selected!

I am one of 7 lucky, happy new Master Forgers who will be joining the very talented existing team and I know that we are all excited to get started.

Congrats to my fellow newbies and here's to an exciting time ahead!

Glinda
Helen 
Jennifer 
Julie Ann 
Melissa 
Rebecca 

In the meantime, please come back tomorrow to see my Counterfeit Kit for September and keep checking back over the month to see what I create with it.

Things I've Loved .... August

You all know that I love taking photos. And I love reading blogs. And I'm always the first to jump onto someone else's idea and copy them :-)

Deb posted a great photo review of August on her blog this week and I decided I had to do this straight away! Thanks Deb for the inspiration and for allowing me to be a copy cat!

The funny thing is that I'm not taking many photos these days and I didn't do very much in August. But let me see what I can rustle up.

The highlight of the month was definitely baby brother Ted coming to visit for two weeks. He worked for a week in the office earning some pocket money and worked on school work at least another two days but we did manage to fit in some fun things and lot of culture.

The now traditional "arriving at the airport" photo... (not the best ever but a must have)...

We started off the culture by visiting the Volkwang Museum in Essen which has recently been completely renovated and extended. The Joel Sternfeld photography exhibition was excellent...

Then we went to Düsseldorf to the Kunstsammlung. Caan you see a pattern here? Yes, he's very interested in art...

Can't believe how much he's grown. I'm officially the smallest in the whole family now...

Next up was the Käthe Kollwitz museum in Cologne which was interesting if a bit depressing. There was a lot of Death depicted. But Ted had studied her work before so he was very enthusiastic. The gallery itself was fantastic - all light and space...

A quick dash into Cologne city to catch a glimpse of the cathedral...

We made sure we had a games evening. I was ganged up on by the boys. Monopoly is way too long for me normally, and I always lose but I gave in after being promised and provided with cocktails...

No trip to Germany in August is complete without going to Crange Kirmes (the local famous fun fair which I've talked about before) and this time was no exception...

I noticed that the mornings are now darker when I leave the house but the touch of autumn in the air made me happy...

There was some happy mail from Ginger over in Alberta...

And a lot of creating. Amongst all the regular scrapping for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge and the weekly Whimsical Musings, I joined in on the Big Picture Classes Big Idea Festival to create an adorable little mini book for which I had been lucky enough to win the kit. More happy dances!

Yep, that's about it. There was a lot of work, not much sunshine and plenty of rainy days but all in all, not a bad month!

Tune in next month and in the meantime, I'll try to remember to take some photos!

Guest spot for September!

Just a quickie to say that if you haven't already joined in the fun over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge site, THIS is the month to start as yours truly is the Guest Designer for September!


I am thrilled to say the least! Over the last months, they have had some incredible GDs joining their über-talented Master Forger Design Team and to be asked to be one of them is just an honour!


This month's inspiration kit, revealed on 5th September, is a sure winner for you to dig into your stash and create your own kit. 


You'll find inspiration, challenges, a blog hop, tutorials and not to mention the chance of winning goodies! This month is sponsored by Master Forger Sherri.

 

Unity endorsed, Ippity Chick, Sherri will be sending out a set of stamps from her etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/ShareCroppersKits to one lucky winner.

So come on over, say Hi! and get counterfeiting! You won't regret it!

Lacking the Midas Touch

Joining up with Jingle Belles for this week's prompt is The Crooked Stamper (aka Leslie) who set us the challenge of using Midas for inspiration. So a colour scheme of gold, gold, oh and a bit of gold.

Luckily for me, the colour scheme was widened a bit to include silver, white and cream because when I looked at my Christmas paper drawer there was NO gold and NO silver - nothing at all! I guess I'm not all that surprised as I'm a bit (!yeah right!) of a BG fan for Christmas papers and they don't do metallic. But nothing at all? I had expected to find a scrap or two. But there was really nothing. So I had to get creative.

I started off by finding some creamy gold (at a push) Bazzill bling paper as my base and then cut out a white glitter paper snowflake, adding another snowflake in the centre and a silver CC sentiment.

Ok, I could do better than THAT...

Next up came white cardstock, some white embossed cardstock on top which I brushed over with silver ink, then a pre-made white snowflake I had salvaged from some cards a few years ago on the top and some glitter Thickers.

Better, but still not really what I wanted.

So more Bazzill bling cream paper, the same embossing, this time brushed with gold ink and a gold glittered wooden deer shape that has been hanging around for about 12 months, finished off with some gold glitter letters. The shape reminds me of the Jägermeister stag! (And I need to go back to this one and straighten up those dodgy letters!)

Getting there...

Finally, I grabbed more white cardstock, a nestie shape from white dotted swiss, the inevitable silver ink, a wooden snowflake covered with silver glitter, a gorgeous white ribbon bow and a silver CC sentiment.

Finally I was satisfied!

But hey, all that indecision added four cards to my collection this week! That has to be a good thing, right?!?

Grey, coral and a lot of texture

Week #4 of the weekly Whimsical Musings challenge and we (Pam and myself) are still going strong.

Poor Pam got caught up with the tropical storm Irene and has been without power and/or internet for most of the weekend and hasn't been able to share yet but all has been well in my part of the world - apart from the lack of summer...

I had found this gorgeous photo on Pinterest and immediately knew I wanted to use it one week for my challenge - the colours are just so gorgeous and I loved all the texture and items that could also be used for inspiration.

The challenge proved more difficult than I had anticipated as when I looked through my supplies, I realised that I had very few papers in these tones. I didn't want to go too obvious and just go for BG Ambrosia and was determined to find a few items from different collections. After a lot of rummaging, I did manage to come up with a dozen or so papers in grey and coral tones and figured that when I got to it, I'd manage to rustle up some bits for embellies. In the end I found papers from BG Ambrosia, Marrakech, Oliver and Curio, and Making Memories Paper Reverie Sienne. The embellishments ended up from just about all over my room including some vintage Bellaboo sewing thread, buttons, seam binding that I Glimmer Misted, pins and a flower brad that caught my eye.

Even though I usually shy away from sewing because of the time it takes, I decided to go for it this time around and was happy with the added texture and dimension it added.

Looking at the layout now, I think I will probably change out the journalling for a single strip across the page, but that can wait for now. I also struggle with journalling for these types of pages - what to write when the subject of the page is just a building with not all that much story around it?

This week's challenge from Pam is a gorgeous advertising spread from Anthropologie - my brain is whirring!

Happy Mail

Look what arrived in the post for me on Saturday...

I won this wonderful prize over at Ginger's Life of Spice to celebrate her 300th blog post.

Ginger also organises a Mail Art Exchange over there on her blog and her generous prize has convinced me to give it a go! Now that I have the basics - envelopes, a great pen, a funky little stamp and some gorgeous Martha Stewart stamps - it seemed an opportunity not to pass up. I haven't done anything like this before, so I'm a bit nervous but I have a while to think about what someone would like to get in the post in order to create something fun and happy! Why not join in on the fun?

Thanks Ginger for a great giveaway! I'm thrilled.