A Page Without Photos !

I am taking a class called Just One Sketch.  For this class we had to design a sketch and then we were given 12 different ways of using the sketch.  To begin with I couldn't see how you could get 12 pages from one sketch without them all looking the same.  I was pleased to be proved very wrong and have in fact made 10 of the 12 pages and none of them look alike.

I digress, one of the prompts was to make a page without any photos!  Eeeek - how on earth can any page be made without photos.  I, for one, start with my photo and then build my colour scheme and layout around that.  To start without any photos was a completely alian concept to me and one that I thought I would struggle with. 

But no, I managed it and the page has become one of my favourite pages of all time!  During the week we had had some really good news about my daughter's studies and so I had written her a rather long letter telling her how proud we were of her.  Once I had put it into an envelope I thought that the envelope was the size and shape of a 6 x 4 photo and so copied the letter again, put it into another envelope and used this as the 'photo' on my layout.

 I made the layout in my normal way and then had the pleasure of the extra space on the envelope to embellish too.  So I now have a permenant record of some 'In The Moment' journaling and a very pretty layout to keep it in.

Have you ever considered a layout without any journaling, maybe some theatre/concert tickets that do not have a photo to go with them or just some journaling as the focal point because you never got the chance, or forgot to take that special photo or like me maybe you could scrap a letter that means a lot to you.  Give it a go, I can assure you that it is fun and the results will surprise you.

Papers used for this project:-

How Many Manufacturers?!?! - Challenge Time!

Well I was on a roll last weekend and the third layout I scrapped was this one. I did it directly after I had done the 100 Days of Summer layout so after a nice easy layout with co-ordinating bits from the same range I decided to mix it up a bit with this one,

As I sorted through different boxs and bags of stash I realised there was a huge mix of manufacturers represented on this layout!

1) Simple Stories - Background paper from Yearography, Ventnor letters from 100 Days of Summer

2) Cosmo Cricket - Stripe paper with floral reverse is from Earth Love

3) Basic Grey - Motifica cream grungy plain paper and scalloped border piece also Motifica

4) Maya Rd - Journaling spot & also black flowers on right hand side cut from a journaling spot

5) Prima - Crystals in flowers and trim in top right corner.

6) 7 Gypsies - Bird rub ons and left hand floral rub on.

7) Daisy D's - Middle floral rub on.

8) Paper Adventures - Orange butterfly sticker (ancient - circa 2004!)

9) Memories Complete - Circle stickers to frame photo and cream paper circle

10) October Afternoon - pink letter stickers.

11) Bazzill - tiny orange butterfly punched embellishments.


It was definitely fun doing some mixing and matching for this layout and combining newer stash with things that had been languishing in boxes or on my shelves.

We would love to challenge you to mix up those manufacturers in your layouts. We will give away a £10 ATDML shopping voucher to one lucky winner who uploads a photo using the link tool below. Your layout must feature at least 5 different manufacturers - post in the comments box listing the manufacturers used as I have listed them above.

The challenge closes on 31st March at 8:30pm.

Looking forward to seeing your entries.

The weather outside is frightful....

... well ok the weather outside is a lot better than it was but I still find myself longing for sunny days and short sleeved tops!

So to beat those end of winter blues I cracked open my Simple Stories 100 Days of Summer collection pack to make this summer layout.

I scrapped this at the weekend and it was only my second session of the year so it was nice to have all the matching "go with its" together in the collection pack - I just added Bazzill.

I love the Simple Stories ranges and this one is no exception, the colours, patterns and elements really brightened up a grey day! For extra impact I outlined several of the elements with my journaling pen just to make the stand out a little more.

Come to Mama!

I was wondering around cyberspace, yesterday evening, as I sometimes do whilst preparing dinner and though "Oh! I haven't popped over to ATDML to look at what they have that's new for a while"

Oh My Word! Have you seen the new Prima ranges that are now in stock?  There is one in particular that I instantly fell in love with and, coincidentally as it is pay day on Tuesday, some will have to fall into my shopping basket.

Gorgeous is not an adequate word to describe these little gems of lusciousness. I am not a 'vintage' scrapper but there is just so much potential for the Almanac range.   How gorgeous are these papers?

  
And then there's the blossoms to go with them

 

And if that's not enough - just look at these!

Well, all I can say is "Roll on payday" because these little beauties are all going to be mine   ;0)

Long Time No Scrap!

Aside from my work for the February DT gallery I have got very little scrapping done in 2012 for many (not very exciting) reasons.

LAst night and this morning however I managed a good scrapping session and finished this layout which I started a good few months ago!

I love the photo taken last May on our trip to Windsor but there was no particular story that it told so I used it for a layout to record something Olivia, my youngest daughter, said all the time for a few months.

For a long time she would say "I love you so much and a little bit!" after a while and me saying "only a little bit?" she changed it to "I love you so much and a great big bit!"

She still says her amended version but I am glad I scrapped her first version as it is the sort of quirky little thing that captures her funny personality but that in years to come I might not remember.

We like to think that we will remember every little detail of our kids \ family \ significant other but recently I looked through some layouts from Isabelles early albums and realised that even though she is still only six and a half there are still lots of things that I had forgotten about!

From Pixels to Paper

I like all types of scrapbooking. I like to make pages digitally, when sitting in front of the tv as I can create without having the mess to clear up. I like making hybrid pages when I use conventional supplies teamed up with digital supplies that I print out and of course I like conventional all paper scrapping.

Although, I like digital scrapbooking I am always left with the dilemma of what to do with the page. Sometimes I print them out but I like my pages to have texture and dimension so am usually unhappy with the result. Of late, I have been using the digital pages as a sketch to make a paper page and that is what I have done with this one. I really loved the layout and soft colours of the digital page (Echo Park digital elements) and so used similar papers (from an Echo Park Springtime pack) to recreate the page.

I find the taking a page from pixels to paper very satisfying and often take a digital page to a crop to change into a paper one. It is so quick to pull out the supplies you need because the page has already been planned and made once so it should be a doddle to make again in paper. Often the paper page is so much better than the digital one and for this one I was able to use the little birdies to further illustrate our conversation.

Do you redo pages again or are you a use a photo only once kind of scrapbooker?

*U/V* Thirsty Thursday

We thought we would combine letters U & V this week for our Thirsty Thursday challenge, especially as we didn't post one last week. Only a few more letters left in the alphabet so I am sure you all know how to play along by now. Below we have listed some prompts for you and we challenge you to use to kickstart your next papercrafting project. Incorporate one or more in a layout or card and share your creativity using the link at the end of this blog post for a chance to win a prize in our monthly draw.

U is for University - Have you scrapped your graduation photo, your sons/daughters? Maybe you have fond memories of your time at University that need to be told on a layout. This week we challenge you to create a page linked to University. Karen shares a layout for this challenge where she scrapbooked how hard it was bidding farewell to her daughter returning to University after her Christmas visit.

U is for Upside down - Why not take this month's sketch challenge, turn it upside down and use it for your next project inspiration? Maybe you have some upside down photos to scrap? Kids in the park hanging from the swings, maybe monkeys in the zoo (and can you tell the difference!) Share your upside down projects with us.

U is for Unfinished - Complete a page or project you started and share it with us here, a before and after photo which shows you completed it as part of this challenge. I often start pages at crops and then finish them off at home with those final touches I always omit to take with me!

Last weekend it was my photos I left behind so two pages were created with photos to be added later!

V is for VALENTINE - Have you felt love in the air this week? Maybe you have made a handmade gift for that special someone that you can share for this challenge? Why not scrap a photo that shows much love for this week's Valentine's challenge.

V is for VIOLET - Do you use shades of Violet or mauve in your projects much? I must say I don't tend to use this colour very often so this would be a great challenge for me - maybe an idea to get a head start on a Mothers Day card for next month and some nice Violet coloured flowers!

As always we would love to see how you interpret the challenges this week. If you'd like to be in with a chance to win a prize from the shop simply link your creations using our Inlinkz tool below, or leave us a lovely comment with a link to your page and which of the challenges (one or more) that you have met with your creation. This challenge runs until middnight on March 1st 2012.