It's a Creative World

A really quick scrapbook page

Hello & Merry Christmas!!! Claire here. I can't believe its the end of the year already I had so many plans in January... most of which are still in the planning stage, & the thought thats its Christmas next week makes me panic, my cake is un-iced, some cards unposted & no presents are wrapped (at least I've bought them all, I finished that this morning).

I never have much spare time in December, like most people, but I like to try & scrap regularly so I get time to myself, but I'm not normally a fast scrapper so I can't usually finish a page in 20 minutes, so I was surprised when I put this together in under half an hour.

The 3 photos are almost identical, one rectangle of Cosmo Cricket paper & 2 smaller rectangles of October Afternoon... really quickly done. I embellished it with a hybrid flourish, ribbon & Die Cut Scroll, Thickers & smaller chipboard letter, finished with a hand stitched border.

I wonder if anyone will notice if I slip away from cooking Christmas Dinner for 30 minutes to do some scrapping?

I hope you all get some "me time" this Christmas & that Santa brings you all that you have asked for.

Have a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year

See you in January 2010.

Claire

xx

My Christmas Album

Oh my goodness... where did November go? I really can't believe its December already & I still have so much to do, including my Christmas album. There are loads of different ideas out there for Christmas albums, You could do a A-Z of Christmas or the 12 days of Christmas, you could take part in an online workshop or class, or simply record your Christmas your way. I first made a Christmas album last year & I have to say that despite all the mayhem that December brings, I found room for a little more & thoroughly enjoyed it. This was last years album....

I really didn't think I'd have that much in it by the end of December, I was wrong.

My Christmases are red & gold in colour, but to use up some papers I was given (& rather than buying additional stash that I don't really need) I ventured away from my comfort zone with this years album...

Its lovely to be able to look back at a previous Christmas in so much detail. I'd really recommend making a Christmas album, you may enjoy it so much that you turn it into part of your Christmas traditions & preparations (I know I have).

I will be back before Christmas but just want to say:

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year & that Santa brings you all of the crafty goodies  on your list.

Take care & see you soon

Claire xx

Inspiration!!

Hi Julia here and I was wondering where you get your inspiration for your layouts from. Is it sketches, online galleries magazines....or what?

Well the layout I have done for this month was inspired by this picture.

 

Now I just loved the clean lines and colours of this picture, so that gave me my colour pallette. Those gorgeous cushions say squares so ideas began for form in my mind. This is what I came up with.

 

I used the November kit from The Craft Boutique  the Basic Grey Indian summer range gave me the colours I wanted for this layout and I think they work perfectly.

I would love to see what you come up with using this picture, post a link back here so we can share.

Happy scrapping see you next month. Love Julia

Display your art

Perhaps I ought to start this post with a photo of my 'stuff cupboard' or should that be 'stuffed too full cupboard'?

I have taken the challenge to use the 'stuff' in this cupboard and if I really can't feel the inspiration then i'm afraid it HAS TO GO!

I bought 2 12 x12 canvasses YEARS AGO. And my intention was to make them into canvas layouts for my brother and sister in law for Christmas. Obviously using photos of their girls. This just didn't ever happen and actually I didn't know how they would be received. I love my artwork but does anyone else ;)

So I decided to use them for me :) And I love the result.

(crappy photo - sorry!) I started with two layers of red MM acrylic paint. Then using a plastic water bottle top I 'stamped' circles. Thankfully the paint doesn't take too long to dry!

I used some plain chipboard letters which I painted white and hand drew an outline just to give them a bit of definition. A script stamped (thanks for the great idea Lems!!) flower layered with a smaller red flower and brad finished off the embellishment.

I was keen to ensure I rounded off the pattern and didn't just use the front.

The second canvas is a less in your face. For this one I used some distress ink and dry brushed paint for the background. Some painted chipboard letters again and for the 'dots' the back of my paintbrush :)

 
 
I have proudly displayed them in my house and smile each time I pass by.

Lets use our stash and proudly show off our art work!
Caz
xx
 

Patterned paper overload

Hi from Caz. Just dropping in to leave you with a little inspiration!

I love patterned paper, so I love to use loads of different patterns on my layouts. And I love sketches.

Today i'm mixing the two and i'm loving the result.

 

I was so chuffed when I received this kit as the colours on this photo matched so well!

And i'm branching out by designing a sketch to share. Please excuse how rudimentary it is, but i'm only just learning to do them on the old pc. I much prefer hand drawn in my sketch book :)

Each different colour denotes a different pattern.

I find it much easier to use lots of patterns when they all come from the same manufacturer and the same line. Mixing from different lines is a maybe, but, goodness, to mix manufacturers scares me silly!! I'm not a brave scrapper i'm afraid!

I wonder how many of us are too scared to try? Let me know...maybe we'll take the plunge together!

Please leave us a link if you use the sketch, i'd love to see your interpretation.

haPPy dAy!!
Caz
xx
 

Hybrid Scrapping

Hiya Claire here.

One thing I've never been able to get the hang of is digital scrapping, I just can't do it (unless its a template where all you have to do is insert the photos, but that feels a bit like cheating to me). There are so many lovely digi elements out there that I would love to use so I tried Hybrid scrapping - choosing a digi element I like , printing it out & sticking it onto one of my layouts. Hybrid seems to be becoming one of the next big things. The other major plus with hybrid stash... it never runs out & you only have to buy it the once, you can print it over & over again - I find journaling spots particularly useful.

Here is my latest hybrid layout (featuring DD with chickenpox) The journaling reads Whenever you are poorly you always snuggle up on the sofa with Snuffy Bear under my fluffy pink dressing gown & watch DVDs

These hybrid swirls (or flourishes, if you like :)) were perfect for this Layout. If you are nifty with Photoshop or Paintshop Pro - unlike me - you can change the size & colour of digi elements to suit your project.

So go on give Hybrid scrapping a go... I can't wait to see what you create.

Bye Bye for now & see you soon

Claire

xx
 

Hanging Table Decoration

Hiya Claire here again, with a table decoration with a twist.

At Christmas dinner the table is usually full of food leaving minimal space for festive decoration, so I decided to make a hanging table decoration to hang over the table whilst not being in the way. I used a Lampshade, some ribbons, some feathers & some crystal droplets from an old chandelier that had seen better days.

I hand sewed some beaded trim around the bottom of the lampshade, this was really easy as you sew between the holes in the lampshade. And then hand stitched a small pieces of an old feather boa around the top & bottom of the lampshade.

 

Then I tied some silver rope to each of the four struts inside the lampshade (this is to hang it with)

 

To make sure I got the height right I attached the crystal droplets whilst the decoration was in situ (to make sure it wasn't hanging in anybodys way)

I then cut ribbons to different lengths, threaded on the droplets & threaded them up through the lampshade & tied onto the struts inside the lampshade .

 

And there you go, one very pretty, very quick Hanging Table decoration. I also forgot to say it cost less than £7.50 to make.

Hope you enjoyed this & see you soon

Claire

xx

 

Sssh, its a present...

Hiya Claire here,

The kids are getting ready to go back to school, college  & university, as is my best friend Carolyn, she leaves work next week to start university & her new life learning how to be a teacher. I introduced her to scrapbooking 3 years ago & we've been best friends ever since. I know there will be a collection at work for her leaving gift but I wanted to get her a little something... but not too much or she'll tell me off, so I bought these 2 little books, one is an academic diary (August to August) & one is a notebook, they cost £1.87 for the 2 from Wilkinsons but they're not very attractive

however with some paper, some book binding tape, self adhesive ribbon & 10 minutes I was able to recover them, so they now look like this...

 

I even used some of my Thickers on the diary. It was just like covering books for school - except we used to use wallpaper back in the day. The patterned paper was cut down to size of the front page leaving an inch or so at either end to fold & stick to the inside cover, the back was done the same way, I used a smaller piece of cardstock on the inside covers to hide the paper that was folded over, the book binding tape was just stuck over the spine of the books & the self adhesive ribbon hid the join of the paper & book binding tape. It was very easy & each book only took 10 minutes.

 

I hope you all enjoyed reading this & I hope Carolyn will like her present.

See you later in the month

Take care & keep coming back

Claire xx

Keeping inspiration handy

Like most of us crafters I have so many magazines that I want to keep because they have some card making or scrapbooking ideas and techniques that I like and fancy using one day (when I get around to it!). Unfortunately this has led to a huge stack of magazines lying around and I've decided that now is the time to be ruthless and get rid of ones I won't use.

For the first time ever I have been through all my old magazines and cut out articles I wanted to keep! The problem then was "what do I do with them?"

The answer came in the form of some very cheap (a bargain at the time) SEI 8" x 8" albums. I stuck all my cut-out articles on to the white backing in the page protectors

 

 

I can then write any notes or extra ideas on the white paper backing.

How about you? Do you keep all your magazines, give them away, sell them or get nifty with the scissors and cut out articles? If you do snip out things where do you put them?

Jo x

A Re-Vamped Album (with no sewing required)

Hiya, Claire here, just wanted to share this with you all...

I bought this little pink 8x8 album when I started scrapping & have never used it so, in the attempt to use up old stuff before buying new I decided to give it a face lift with some courduroy & some UHU glue. I took the album to pieces then cut two pieces of fabric big enough to wrap around the outside of the album leaving just over an inch of fabric to attach it to the the album. ( I didnt measure I just laid the album cover on the fabric & got busy with the scissors.)

 

I glued on edge of fabric to the side of the album that folds & held in place whilst the glue dried, then I folded in the corners & glued those down too

 

Then I folded over the the remaining edges & glued those down & held them in place with some clips whilst they dried (this bit reminded me of hospital corners when making a bed) When this dries you can punch the holes needed to reassemble the album with a Crop-a-Dile or any other hole punch that will go through fabric.

 

To make the spine I cut a strip of fabric (shown larger here for the photos) just over 2 inches by just over 8 inches, to stop the fabric fraying, I slightly turned over the edge of the fabric & glued it down. Line this up with the album & punch the 4 holes that will hold the screws to re- assemble the album.

TIP: if your going to use page expanders on a post bound album, expand the album first otherwise the spine will be too small.

 

I covered the inside with a rectangle of fabric - again just glued down & re punched the holes covered by the inside fabric & then I glued on some ribbon to hide the joins in the fabric

 

You can now re-assemble the album in this order, back cover, place the right hand holes on the spine fabric onto the posts of the album, insert page protectors onto the posts, then fold over spine & put the left hand holes onto the post... you may need an extra pair of hands at this point ( I could have used them) put your front cover back on & screw posts together - et Voila - one covered album. Now I said no sewing required ... it isn't but I used it for decoration... I cut 2 birdie templates onto card...

 

& then drew around them onto felt, to create these little fellas. The branches were made from ribbon that I ruched as I sewed, the leaves were cut from felt using a Sizzix Machine & Jungle Leaves Die. I stuffed the birds with some wadding & handstitched the lot to the album... so now I just need some 8x8 pages to go in it.

 

Really hope you like this & enjoyed reading.

I'll be back soon with other crafty bits but in the meantime take care

Claire xxx