A Wednesday Recipe

Can it really be time for Wednesday's Jingle Belles again already?


Well, it's the middle of the week so it must be although it's hard to keep up with the days right now. Weeks are simply flying by and it really is week #15 over at Jingle Belles - The Ghost of Christmas Present.


This week's challenge was set by Clare over at Miscanthus Crafts and she decided we needed to cook up a bit of a card recipe...


The ingredients are:

1 - as white as a ghost

2 - a present

3 - a bow or knot

4 - a touch of traditional Christmas colours

Having just discovered that my embossing folders do, in fact, work (long story for another time!), I decided to do a bit of white on white with some texture added on for interest and then just the tiniest splash of colour.

All four ingredients? Tick, tick, tick, yes, and tick!

Following a sketch or a recipe like this certainly helps me to come up with something more quickly than when I am left to my own devices! And this one was a lot of fun.

So impressed with my little pile of cards!

What have you done this week that you have impressed yourself with?

The April Counterfeit Kit Challenge begins...

April 5th came and went.


I think there were lots of us were waiting for this day so that we could jump onto the Counterfeit Kit Challenge site to see which kit had been chosen for our forgery work to begin.


The inspiration kit this month has been created by a brand new kit club called Front Porch Kits  - this kit was their first and it totally sold out on its FIRST day! This über-popular kit, A Little Birdie Told Me, is gorgeously full of a great mix of papers by Echo Park, Fancy Pants and Bella Blvd and a wonderfully colourful collection of embellishments.


Now I know this sounds a bit lame but I have some of the papers from the kit in my stash (Echo Park, For The Record) and I couldn't bring myself to break up my collection pack and put just one or two of these papers into my kit!


And one of my main objectives in playing along with this challenge is to use up old and older product and For The Record is way too new for me to include! Weird but true!


Anyway, I put together a set of papers taking inspiration from several of the wonderful Mater Forgers (the CKC design team - check out their kits here) such as including BG Urban Prairie papers, and pulled together a large embellishment selection to go with it. I love the original kit from Front Porch Kits but if I had had the original kit, I would have needed more alphabet! There was only one in the kit. I have decided to add in all three of the BG alphas I had, some Crate Paper chipboard letters and some Tiny Type from CC. Better to have too many letter than not enough! And then lots and lots of bits and pieces including a pile of buttons and brads. I seem to have way too many of both and I hardly ever use brads, so this month I want to find ways of including brads into my designs.

So if anyone has any ideas for how I can use brads in new and/or interesting ways, please let me know - I've literally got hundreds.

Anyway, I decided to dive right in, grab a photo and get going. I challenged myself to use a mix of papers and this background paper was my least favourite so that had to be first. And I kind of like it after all! I cut the banners from a sheet of AC (sometimes I seem to give myself work!)

And I used 12 brads (only another Xhundred to go!)

The layout is ok - although I feel it's missing something. I had wanted to use two photos but couldn't put my hands on a second so filled the space with some words. Maybe that block should have been central?

My target for this kit?At least the same as last month (6 single layouts) but I'd also like to make up a few cards and I have been thinking about using up a batch of photos at once by making a photo-album scrapbook - quick and easy.

Watch this space for progress!

An Experiment in Purple

Recently, I wrote about catching up with my "Colour! or is it Color?" class. I had lost my momentum when I was originally part of the class and had only managed two of the layouts which was such a shame. 

I shared green and blue with you in that last post. (I blogged about red and yellow last year).

Well, next on the rainbow comes indigo and violet, ie. purple. Do you like purple? Do you scrap with purple? I can't say that I had ever thought about it before but if I had thought about it, I would have said, neh, not my thing. I'm a pink girl. 

But purple was the colour we should use and we should see if we could be converted to loving purple. I was sceptical. But decided to jump in anyway.

I had used BG Euphoria during LOAD last month and it's soooo hard to use - or it is for me at least. Knowing it had a lot of purple in it, I challenged myself to use it. I tried not to think too much about it and really go for the stronger tones of purple in the collection. 

I grabbed these three adorable photos and just decided not to worry about the colours in them but just make it work. And I had a set of the chipboard pieces and threw on a whole load of them instead of lots of layered clustering. I took Nic H's advice to throw in some other colours (I chose blue and green and just a bit of pink) and a splash of something quite bright (that red paper). Nothing would have possessed me to use these colours together before and I am still really unsure about what to think of it, but you know what? I don't dislike it as much as I thought I would. Now that is something I wasn't expecting.

I followed the sketch quite closely because I love the three photo design. Mine looks nothing like Nic's, but I think it is quite me!

Once I had done one purple layout in really bright shades, I wondered if I would like it if I made one with softer shades - BG Wisteria.

Again, I followed the sketch quite closely, just mirrored it to the left. I made the flowers and leaves that Nic had suggested but less product in the cluster itself. And I always need a little bit of journalling so a sticker journalling block was perfect. I just grabbed some pretty flower photos as the layout was more of an experiment than anything too serious. 

I like this one more than the last - the shades are more what I use usually, but I am really surprised at how purple I can go.

Like it or not, it's great to take the challenge to select product that wouldn't normally be used. These purple buttons were unlikely to be anywhere on any layout without this challenge, nor the lilac gems. And I think they work really well.

One last thing? When I had finished the first purple layout using Euphoria, I decided to make a couple of cards using some scraps. I've heard from lots of card makers that they make one or two cards from whatever is left on the table and decided that it was a great idea. And it was. Within a couple of minutes, I had two simple cards. I am trying to make more and more cards at the moment. First, practice makes perfect (I'm not a good card maker yet!) and second, I really hate to hand over so much money for nice cards when I have all the necessary right here in my room. I really must try this technique more often as I was very pleased with myself.

The moral of the story? I can be very prejudiced about colours and maybe I just need to select odd papers and make them work, regardless of the colours. I have way too many papers to be fussy!

What is the colour that you avoid the most? Care to share and then make a layout using exactly that?

Give it a try!

Joking around...

There's a funny challenge over at Jingle Belles this week. 


Funny as in "ha ha" not "um, strange"!


The challenge landed on April 1st so they April Fooled us by giving us a "Jingle Belles, Batman Smells" theme, asking us to make a humorous card for the holidays. "It can be a bit twisted, silly, or just plain laugh-out-loud funny ... just incorporate some holiday levity into your design."


Those of you who know me, know that I'm not all that funny! So this one tested my somewhat already limited abilities and I knew I wouldn't be able to carry off anything really comical.


So I tracked down some free vintage images featuring Christmas kitties mixing the pudding, Santa checking his list, kiddies hiding under the tree and finally decided to use a doggy challenged Santa. It made me smile so I figured it would fulfill the challenge!

Here's a closer look at the image - love the fact that Father Christmas has a dog biscuit in his sack!

Deb suggested I use some vintage images for my Easter cards and after this, I will definitely be following her suggestion - love how this turned out!

A Cheery Post

Well, I got some lovely ideas about what cheers you all up! 

Thanks for joining in the fun.

Here's your list of happy-makers:

1. shopping
2. purchasing scrapbooking supplies
3. a nice dinner out
4. getting messy creating something from a piece of pretty paper
5. fossil hunting
6. a finished LO that looks pretty and featured one of my lovely children
7. sunshine after a gray yucky day
8. a clean scrap area
9. a smile from one of my boys first thing in the morning when they are sleepy and happy
10. my family 
11. my friends 
12. the promise of brighter days ahead
13. chocolate 
14. wine
15. great pictures 
16. good food (especially chocolate!)
17. hearing from my daughter or son just for the heck of it
18. having an evening to myself to get one of those it-seems-neverending-projects done
19. recently my youngest daughter discovered a Jack in the Box. We were out shopping yesterday when I showed it to her. When it (a sock monkey) popped up, she said "That scared me. Again!" This continued numerous times and we ended up buying it. She was so cute
20. a bit of sunshine
21. spending time with my girls
22. a shiny new magazine
23. lazy sunny days spent with friends & family, 
    days where nobody has a care in the world and is totally relaxed and having fun
24. popping in to others' blog homes: it's like having a cup of tea on their veranda
25. a visit to a very well-stocked bookshop, with some money in my pocket to spend, preferably 
26. a cup of chai tea: my most recent taste sensation

So, it's pretty clear that we get a lot of joy from family and friends, sunny days and being outside, scrapbooking or other crafty/creative activities, and not to forget food and drink!

And I agree with all of you! 

Here's just a few of mine - in no particular order!

• A good book, a glass of wine (or even better, a cocktail from my own "personal" cocktail bar) and some Cadbury's

 

• A cuddle from adorable little ones 

• A cuddle from an adorable big one

• Good food - asparagus season is just about to start and I have some of the early crop ready for dinner tonight... I can't wait!

• Sitting on the balcony, just taking in the life around me

• Experimenting with my camera and taking photos that I love

 

• Some new scrapbooking products

• Scrapping my stories, showcasing my photos and feeling a sense of satisfaction when I see completed pages

• Sweet memories of favourite places

So I promised a giveaway and using Random.org (and I promise that I put 1-12 not the 100 that it shows here!)  the lucky winner is commenter number 4:

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:4Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Congratulations Erin!!  

Erin, email me your snail mail address using the link at the top of the right-hand sidebar and I will get a little parcel of goodies out to you.

Thanks to all of you for joining in and sharing your ideas.

I feel a lot more cheerful now and each comment made me nod and smile! (It also helps that my cold is on the way out and my voice is almost back!).

Feeling lucky?

Want the chance to win some goodies?

Earlier this week, I celebrated 300 blog posts and wanted to share the love!

I was feeling a bit under the weather and asked you to share something that cheers you up - I have had some lovely comments already but a couple more would be even better.

Go to this post (Help Me Celebrate!) and leave me a comment. Your chance of winning is high!

The sun is shining today and I am sitting out on my balcony, soaking in a few healthy rays. Now that cheeps me up!

Come and join in the fun...

You know a kit has run its course when...

.... you create something that you look at and think... bleh!

This is exactly such a layout. I like the colours. I like the papers. I like the design (courtesy of Page Maps 2). I like the photos. But all together, it does nothing for me at all!

Anyway, more photos used up and almost all these products are ancient! Old Fancy Pant papers, Heidi Swapp tapes, KI journalling spots and a scrabble alphabet which had never been used and is probably 4 years old. So good in a way but bad that the combination leaves me somewhat cold. :-)

So, I guess it's time to move on then. To break up the rest of my March Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit and put the pieces where they belong so that I can move on. Move on to a new month and a new challenge kit. And also to move on to some of the still unfinished kits I have sitting around here.

I can see 5 on the floor (it really is reducing!) and I think there are three or four mini-kits left over from my Bellaboo days. So the overall kit usage is getting better as I really work through what I have and there are no new kits coming through the door. Although I really hope to be able to subscribe to one again sometime in the future.

I made a total of 6 layouts from this kit which is 6 more than I probably would have made without it! My kit was filled with some really old stuff and to see it being used up felt really good. In April, I might try to whip up a card or two as well before I put it all away.

And the verdict? This is a great incentive to shop your stash and then use it! The mini challenges were great and really got me moving. And there are some wonderful fellow forgers out there which was really inspirational. Count me in for the next kit.

PS. Don't forget to check out my post (Help Me Celebrate!) to share what cheers you up and to be entered into my mini-prize draw to celebrate 300 blog posts! It would be lovely to hear from you!

I want to make the draw at the weekend so there's still a few days - it's been lovely to hear from you and to hear what cheers you up. I am still feeling under the weather and have now lost my voice :-( so you've been helping me feel a bit better. 

Keep it coming!

Going Green for Christmas

Well, it's Wednesday which tends to mean it's my day to post my Jingle Belles Christmas card.


Week 13 is all about "The Holly and The Ivy".  To incorporate holiday foliage onto our cards - holly, ivy, mistletoe or even poinsettias - anything considered leaves and not flowers.


Each week the first thing I do is to have a rummage through my overflowing Christmas drawer for anything which might fit the challenge. This week, I was surprised to find loads of bits and pieces I could use and ended up over-achieving (again) and making four cards! Yes, I surprise myself sometimes!


Two were identical so here are the three:

Ok, so this is my least favourite and also the one I did two of, but I liked extending the cut-out off the card.

I have been enjoying just delving into my scraps bag and mixing up patterns and manufacturers. 

I love CC - this is just so pretty! 

So another set of cards sitting pretty in my drawer. 

 Thanks for looking and what's your pile of cards looking like? So great isn't it? Thanks Jingle Belles!

PS. Don't forget to check out my post (Help Me Celebrate!) to share what cheers you up and to be entered into my mini-prize draw to celebrate 300 blog posts! It would be lovely to hear from you!


I intend to make the draw at the weekend so there's still a few days - the more the merrier!

Mini-challenge - You've Been Framed

The Counterfeit Kit Challenge site is proving so much fun this month. Maybe it's because it's following on from LOAD last month and I am still on a challenge kick, but I have really loved diving in to the challenges as they come up.

The kit is still going strong and I think I might have one more layout to make with it and then I will break out the bits back into my stash ready for next month.

The latest mini-challenge was to use a frame in your work somehow. Frame the photo, frame the journalling, frame an element, use a frame as a main design feature - whatever.

I had my hands on a bright blue sparkly bling frame from MM that came in a kit last year that I wanted to use, but it just didn't inspire me so back it went.

Then I looked at the papers I had in my kit and decided to go for a completely different direction by picking out the darker colours and using my woodgrain (which is BG is actually a dark grey rather than brown) as my main background. The other side of a bright orange was a black and white spot, and I had put in a couple of pieces of BG basics in cream and kraft which looked like it could all work.

But the photos proved a bit tricky for this darker idea. No jolly, kiddie photos or flowers or most general topics would look good based on a nearly black background.

Then I came across some architectural photos I had taken (or maybe Ted had) in Düsseldorf when we took Ted there for him to take pictures and inspiration for an architectural project he was working on for school.

In this part of town there are three totally funky buildings designed by Frank O. Gehry and the metal covered one is just so great that I thought I would use those. Limited journalling, just giving the architect's name and where they are was all it needed.

As for my frame, I tried to get a bit funky myself and create an odd shaped frame to mirror the curves of the building and used it as a base for my title.

I just adore the lines of this building. 

I am really pleased with myself for getting this totally different design out of my kit which is so predominantly full of nature's colours. (I needed to add in the alphas and the ribbon). The challenge really got me thinking and it forced me to do something I wouldn't normally. I love it!

Do you like to be pushed outside the box?


PS. Don't forget to check out my previous post (Help Me Celebrate!) to share what cheers you up and to be entered into my mini-prize draw to celebrate 300 blog posts! It would be lovely to hear from you!

Help Me Celebrate!

First things first...

I have been such a creative bunny recently. Joining in on challenges, making cards, scrapping lots, catching up with missed assignments from past classes. And of course there is the reading. That could be considered creative if you stretch the meaning a bit :-)

And last week I ventured out into the world of other crafty people, to my local craft trade fair Creativa. I don't have a very local LSS so once a year, I brave the crowds to this fair and when I say crowds, I mean it. I am always surprised by just how many people are there even on workday afternoons.

It's a huge fair covering everything from scrapbooking to card making, from serviette technique (!?) to painting, from patchwork to doll making, and everything in between. The good, the bad and the downright bizarre!

Quilting seemed to be a main topic this year and a patchwork quilt in the colours of a local, rather passionate football club caught my eye (for good or bad, I'm not quite sure!):

Then there was the artistic display made entirely of paper (I think these were made of some sort of mushed up paper pulp):

Don't ask me what these insect looking wall things were supposed to be - I suspect they might have had lights inside but I don't think I will be rushing to get them on my wall. They remind me too much of some creepy crawly horror movie!

Mmmm? Really not sure about this.  Environmentally friendly, it might be. But it's a bit creepy!

And Easter was definitely in the air with so many bunnies and eggs and everything you need to make your own Easter decorations:

Even though the show itself seemed to be bigger than last year and there seemed to be more people there, I was a bit disappointed at the scrapbooking stands. Not as many real scrapbook stores represented and then the range of products was quite limited. Lots of really old products mainly reduced, much of which I already had and have even been purging from my supplies recently, and the new stuff was mostly Prima and Tim Holtz. No BG Luscious, no Echo Park, not even much American Crafts.

I was a bit disappointed. Not disappointed enough to have saved my money mind you!

I still managed to come home with a bad chock full of scrumptious supplies that cost waaaay toooo much!

I concentrated on embellishments as I have so much paper already and stocked up on lots and lots of Prima flowers, some bling and then other interesting bits and pieces I saw along the way. Of course, I got home and thought that I should have taken the plunge and got X or Y or why didn't I get two Z. But on the whole, I am really pleased with what I got. I picked up just a few sheets of paper (MME Stella & Rose) and a few alphas including 4 packs of Thickers but the rest is all embellishments. Pretty stuff!

Every year I come home vowing not to go again next year but with the lack of a good local shop, I find myself drawn to it each year again! And it's always fun to see some of the "interesting" hobbies that are out there.


Anyway, onto the celebrate mentioned in my blog post title.

This blog post is my 300th!!!!

I first started the blog back in 2006 so that means I'm obviously not posting often enough, but 300 sounds like quite a big number to me!

And it so happens that this weekend is the weekend of a retreat that I should have been at but which I needed to cancel. So I'm sitting here, nursing an icky cold but needing to do something to cheer me up.

So, in celebration of 300 blog posts, I'm going to do a little giveaway.

I have a little pile of goodies here (some Graphic 45 Le' Romantique papers and some La Blanche fairy rub ons) which I will be adding to with some bits and pieces that I round up from my room and I would love to share them with one of you.

To be entered into my first ever draw, just leave me a comment telling me something that cheers you up!

I'll pick a winner next weekend.