Blog Candy Giveaway...

So who would like a little box of goodies containing some items that arrived in our shipments of new goodies - today Maya Road and Sassafras arrived along with more My Little Shoebox, plus we have had loads of other new things in (stop by the shop to see what's new and take advantage of the free P&P until midnight tonight! - use code: NEWSFREESHIP )

Leave a comment on this post before 6pm on Thursday 2nd September and we will draw one at random to receive a box of new goodies :)

Those Paper Bag Books...

i got an email yesterday from Wendy asking to see the paperbag books i made for my cruise swap gifts.

My camera battery was dead and by the time it was charged the light was appalling so forgive the poor photos but here is the book that I kept for myself. I made 10 more the same for the onboard swap and the people i spoke to from the swap really liked them. We got some really neat gifts in our "Fish Extender" too :)

I left most of the pages quite empty so that they could add either photos, memorabilia or notes about their trip but to add interest i included some tags, journaling spots and embellishments here and there.

They were simple enough to make but of course times it by 11 books and even a relatively simple project takes quite a lot of time but they went down well so it was worth it!

Stapled Paper Ribbon Frame

This layout uses Basic Grey "Phoebe" which, like lots of ranges from Basic Grey and other manufacturers includes some very busy papers. The paper on the left hand side of the page seemed very daunting when sat on the table. It featured a myriad of colours and mixed patterns.

I used the strip on the left cutting across the stripes to create lots of short stripes rather than going along the stripe creating long stripes.

With some of the remaining paper I cut a variety of small pieces a couple of inches long and between 0.5 and 1 inches wide utilising the different patterns and colours.

The small pieces were then folded over and stapled to the mounted photo to frame it and to tie it in with the section of paper on the left hand side of the layout.

Of course this style of frame can be done with folded ribbon pieces as well and is a great way to use up those odds and ends of ribbon that exist in the bottom of your ribbon box!

A Sketch For September

OK OK I know it is still August but with being away and having the children (and Darren!) home all the time I feel like I am a little off kilter with posting!

So to get you started for Septembers sketches here is the first one. As always interpret as you will, use 4 small and one larger photo or substitute photos for extra journaling spaces, embellishments etc....

For the August sketch comp you have until 31st to post a link on the relevant post for the chance to win a £10 shopping voucher and with all the lovely new goodies that have arrived and those that are due in store in the next couple of weeks it will be VERY easy to spend a voucher!

7 Gypsies Receipt Holder

I was talking to Justin at 7 Gypsies the other evening and we were discussing some of the new 7 Gypsies products. I already knew that Justin did some crafting himself and he said he had been playing around with the small version of the Vintage Receipt Holder (and I have to confess that I have plans for one of the ATC 12 card models myself). I always think it is a good thing when those who sell us the product also use it themselves, so I asked him to send us a couple of photos to put up here. Justin has used some of the new mini ephemera, some of the hardware and the Paddington tags. I now need to find some time to play with my own one and am wondering whether to go with months of the year or something else on a '12' theme.......any ideas gratefully received!

Jill

Edited to add - I just e-mailed Justin and apparently the photos are of him (before he joined 7 Gypsies) :)

Crafting Away From Home

Well I am away on the Isle of Wight for a mini break visiting relatives and as I was packing I was wondering about taking something craft wise. In the end I just bought the Cricut and some cardstock to cut some bits and pieces I need to cut because I find it so stressful trying to pack up and take things to craft away from my usual craft area!

Without exeption I plan to be sensible and pack light and EVERY single time I get this overwhelming panic that I will need something that I know I have left at home so I keep on adding stuff to my tote or the many boxes I end up with. Usually by the time I have finished the car is full and I spend half the time unloading and then packing it all back up!!! I suspect this is the reason why I have never regularly attended a crop.

So anyone have any good tips for mobile scrapping that works for them?

New Graphic 45...

The newest Graphic 45 products are now in store. Steampunk Debutante is their new line with a mix of industrial images combined with softer designs like florals and Victorian ephemera.

Each paper is double sided with a less busy side on the reverse. I am looking forward to a play with these when I get back from the Isle of Wight on Thursday.

In addition graphic 45 have released 4 new papers to add to the Christmas Past collection from 2009 to create the 2010 Deluxe collection!

The Holiday Mini Book Class Is Now Online

Anns gorgeous mini book class is now online on our website and as always there is a free PDF with the instructions for you to download.

Click Here To Download Free PDF Instructions

And the winner of the Multi Photo Layout Challenge is...

...This layout by Patty Buckland, it has a striking design and we liked the "signpost" in the centre leading to the photos.



Patty a £25 voucher is heading to you through cyber space!

A Confession!

We have to make a little confession. We read all the comments on the giveaway and we think you ALL deserved the box of stash but sadly there could only be one winner and so we bailed out and let Random.org decide because there were so many great responses!

So Random dot Org selected comment number 12....

lemon said...
because ive just spent the last 8 days decorating and ive got about another 3 to go and then i just have to finish clearing out the tat
14 August 2010 22:40

Lemon a box of goodies will be on it's way to you in the next day or so and we hope it will help you celebrate the end of your decorating!

Hello *Waves*

Just a quick hello from me, I am back at my computer after a wonderful holiday - expect to see lots of holiday photo layouts from me for a while!

Big thanks to those who have done such a great job while I was away keeping the posts coming - your efforts really are appeciated!

Night night!

Frame It!

In todays post we wanted to show some different ways you can highlight your photos using frames created in various ways.

Below are three layouts that feature a different type of frame to add interest and draw the focus to the photo or photos.

"Summertime"
The layout above features a chipboard frame which has been painted and given an aged wood effect. I started by painting the whole frame with a green base colour. Then, using the edge of a scrap of cardstock dipped in brown paint I added diagonal lines in the corners of the frame to look like mitre joins. Add further lines of brown paint with the edge of the card to look like grooves in painted wood. Finally finish by inking the edges with brown ink and aging the whole frame by applying chalk ink to the dried painted surface to grubby it up a little.

"Olivia - Growing and Changing"
In this layout again I used a plain chipboard frame. To jazz it up a little I embossed the whole frame with American Crafts Copper Glitter Zing! Start by applying a clear ink such as Versamark Watermark ink. For the more awkward areas to ink I used the Versamark Watermark pen which makes it easier to get into the corners. Then over a folded piece of clean paper I applied a liberal amount of the embossing powder so it covered the whole frame. I carefully removed the frame and placed it on a heat proof mat and used the folded paper to tip the excess embossing powder back into the pot. Then, using my heat buddy heat gun I embossed the frame to give the lovely copper glitter effect.

"Painted Face"

This is one of my favourite layouts, I just loved the zingy colours and it was fun to do. This was the easiest of all the frames shown as it is a pre made acetate frame cut to size. However you could create a similar frame with a piece of plain acetate and a slick writer. To make the frame feel part of the layout rather than a last minute after thought I overlapped embellishments onto the frame and when doodling the dots to illustrate the path of the butterfly I drew them to look like it had flown around the frame.

Wanted - Guest Designers

If you have been following this blog for a while, you may remember that we put out a call for guest designers when we first started. Each month, we send out kits to our Design Team and usually have a different guest designer too. If you would like to have some of your layouts, cards and altered projects displayed in our gallery, please send us an e-mail to mel@atripdownmemorylane.co.uk with 'Guest Designer' in the subject heading with a link to an online gallery or blog.
You can see our galleries here.
If you haven't yet left a comment for our giveaway later this week, the post is here and you have until 8pm on Wednesday.
Jill

Storage Solutions

There are so many different ways to do title lettering on layouts and other projects, but I must admit, when I want to get a layout finished quickly I turn to 'Thickers' nearly every time. I love the selection of fonts and colours and even the materials they are made from - foam, chipboard, vinyl, felt, fabric - some shiny, some glittery and some plain enough to take paint or ink. Just about whatever your layout there'll be a pack of Thickers to suit it - and Mel and Jill have most of them in the shop! If you're not sure what I'm talking about here are a couple of layouts to show you...

In this layout I used inks to colour plain white Thickers to suit my colour scheme...

And here are some small enough to do the message on the front of a 6" x 6" card...

So, you might have guessed I've bought a lot of Thickers! But I have to admit that I hate the packaging that a lot of scrapbooking supplies come in - they all seem to have that sticky strip and when you're trying to take things in and out of the packaging they get stuck to the strip! So with me as soon as something gets opened the packaging goes in the bin. So I have had to come up with another way to store my Thickers and other letter stickers and my solution has been to file them in a lever arch file inside plastic wallets (actually I have two of them - I have quite a habit!)...

I find this way, when I'm looking for the right lettering to suit my project, I can just flick through a file and easily pick out what I want...

My other favourite storage solution would have to be my ribbon racks. I seem to get a lot of short pieces of ribbon, they come in kits and the end of rolls or I buy just half a metre from a shop. For a while they all lived in a big jumble in a 'really useful' box but one day I bought a couple of baking cooling racks from Tesco (about £1 each I think) and spent a happy hour or two in front of a film tying my ribbons onto the racks - they now hang on the wall in 'ribbon corner' in my craft room - they're easy to see and I can just snip a bit off when I want it...

So, what's your simple but effective storage solution for your scrapbooking stash? Leave a comment telling us your ingenious ideas.

Just For You...

It's giveaway time!

To receive a box of goodies courtesy of ATDML including some new summer releases just leave a comment on this post telling us why you deserve a lovely surprise in the post!

When I return from holiday on August 18th we will read through all the comments and announce the winner on Thursday 19th - so make sure your comment is posted by 8pm on 18th.

Good Luck!

The August Gallery

Some of you may have already seen that the ATDML DT gallery for August is now available for viewing and ooohing and maybe some ahhhing too!

The design team were joined by Laura Johnson this month, and all were working with the lovely and very versatile Echo Park papers and created some fun layouts and some great cards too. The colours are bright and fun and certainly more cheerful than our so called summer with are having! Where have the sunny days disappeared too?

Hopefully the gallery will brighten your day and have you motivated to scrap any sunny summer pictures you may have. This layout created by Dawn certainly makes me want to do just that!

If you are still seeking inspiration after you've been through the gallery don't forget the ChickenSoup challenge at 7pm this evening. Have a crafty weekend everyone!

Mmmmmmmm Prima!

I have spent most of the evening uploading some of the lovely new Prima goodies which are due in tomorrow. I am not entirely sure what will be in the boxes, but I do know that the papers will be there and hopefully the 6 x 6 paper pads, which are new to Prima. As always they have some amazing new goodies to tempt us all, including an Ideas Book. Keep your eye on the site tomorrow and cross your fingers that I have guessed correctly which items will arrive!

Please can I have a small round of applause for managing to upload an image??

Jill

Use your stash...

Ever been left with loads of alphabet sticker sheets where only a few letters have been used and you love them so much you hesitant to use too many in case they run out? Well, my mantra is USE YOUR STASH, if it’s pretty and you love it don’t hoard it – it will look far better in an album than in a box tucked away. With that in mind, I used the entire alphabet in these Basic Grey Max & Whiskers sticker s to create the background and title for this layout. The colours co-ordinated perfectly with the Max & Whiskers – Mittens paper and helped achieve the overall “beachy” effect on this page.

Return to the birdcage

Remember that birdcage I altered? Well, here's what became of it...

I added a painted 'stand' made from chipboard and a cardboard tube. Some lace trim, climbing roses, dangling gems and mounted word stickers .

Inside I put a wooden dowelling 'perch' and perching in the cage is a key with a Tim Holtz set of wings hot glued to it...

I think this will make a nice alternative to a 'new home' card for someone, but for now it's gracing my hall table!

Journaling - Love Your Handwiriting?!

Follwoing on from my post on the 3rd about making journaling a focus on your layouts i wanted to talk about that age old debate... to use your writing or not to.

Now I will hold my hands up and say that i have always thought my handwriting is ok, not great but ok. So in many ways I can't really empathise with those of you who hate your handwriting however I am still going to try to persuade you to use your handwriting, even if it is only in small amounts or only on some of your layouts.

These two photographs are the main pieces of evidence I am going to use in my case for using your handwriting. Photograph one is a photo of me on my wedding day in 2002 with my Gran, the second photo is a page from the guest book we had at our wedding. Two of my ushers went round and took a polaroid photo fo the guests and the photo was added to the book there and then and the guests wrote their comments next to them.

My Gran died in January 2003 so 6 months after my wedding. We were very close and as always when you lose someone close to you it is a time of great sadness. When we were sorting through Grans things we all took some small items that held precious memories but even now, 7 years on, this little piece of handwriting in a book seems like so much more of a tangible connection than an ornament or other keepsake.

Your handwriting is so personal to you that even if you don't like it, it is as much a part of you as your physical appearance and your personality.

In much the same way as I hear people say they can't have photos of themselves in their albums because they don't like photos of themself, we commonly hear, "I don't like my handwriting in my albums as it is not nice enough." But like it or not it is a part of you - and one that will remain when you are no longer here. So morbid though it sounds adding your own handwriting adds a little bit of you as a personal legacy for those who will look at your albums when you are gone.

I hope that one day my children enjoy the handwritten comments as much as I love that single entry in my guest book from my wonderful Gran.

Just a quick post

Helen and I have had a very busy few days and I am so grateful that Jane and Ann have been able to help with the blog posts, thank you both. As you all know, I am not a very techie type and most functions on a pc (and other electronic equipment too) are a complete and utter mystery to me, I really must get to grips with it before Mel goes on her next long holiday.
We have almost got all of the stock in its new home just before all the deliveries start tomorrow -we have two scheduled for the early part of the week and another two mid to later on. Heaven knows how we will find space for it but I am sure we will, it will be mainly paper this week though from four different companies unless there are any hitches with Customs.

August Class Sneak Peak

Just a quick blog post from me today to give you a teaser of the August ATDML Class. For a little something different this month's class is a mini-book and uses lovely warm summery papers from Pink Paislee who have to be one of my favourite manufacturers. Full instructions and photographs will be up later this month, but if you fancy getting yourself prepared here is a sneak peak and a class materials list. This minibook is perfect for showcasing photographs of a special family day out in the sunshine, maybe the coast, or a park? The colours would also suit a young child brag book or even a pet! They really are quite versatile and the minibook is very simple to pull together.



Maya Road Mix-it up Chipboard album
Pink Paislee 365 Degrees Paper – Think Big
Pink Paislee 365 Degrees Paper – Be Free
Pink Paislee 365 Degrees Paper – Imagine
Pink Paislee 365 Degrees Paper – Daydream
Micro Spool White Twill
White acrylic paint
Stickles (Platinum used)
Adhesive (including foam pads)

Scrappy Birthday!

This weeks Chicken Soup recipe was so sweet and immediately I knew i wanted to make a card with it. As I love to do I raided my scraps box to make this little birthday card for my cousin.



About 18 months ago when I was setting up my new craft area I set aside a cube in my expedit unit and one of the large boxes that fit inside it just for scraps. Previously I was rubbish with scraps, it wasn't that I threw them away or was wasteful with the paper I just didn't really have a system for dealing with them. I tried putting them in baggies with the un cut sheets of what ever they went with which seemed like a good idea so that when I worked with a paper I would have some co-ordinating off cuts to hand but in reality it didn't work for me.

Instead I now have a large deep box and all my scraps get chucked into it. I then rummage through it for just the right piece when creating a layout or especially when card making. It has helped me move away from only ever using papers from the same range together and it has made card making much more fun as I was always put off by having to cut into a whole 12x12 sheet to make a card. Now I have plenty of options and feel very good about using up my scraps rather than guilty for "wasting" a sheet of paper on a card!

Alter that!

Like so many other scrap-bookers I am also very keen on other crafts and in particular I love altering things. When I saw this birdcage in the Trip Down Memory Lane shop I decided I had to have one for my next altering project. I also thought it would be a good opportunity to show how to use crackle medium along with acrylic paints and distress inks to create a distressed paint peeling effect.

I started by unpacking the pieces of chipboard and laid them out on a silicone sheet to protect my work surface…

I then painted them a dark brown colour on both sides, I used a brush, though the dabber ‘end’ of a paint dabber would work well too…

Once the paint was dry I assembled the birdcage with PVA glue and found that just a small amount of glue applied in the right place and a little bit of patience was very effective! The instructions were a little hard to see when trying to work out where to put the little round hinge part, but I think this is right...

Gluing the roof together was also a little tricky and I had to sit for a little while with my fingers like this…

Before attaching the roof I decided to continue my paint effect work and the next step was to completely coat the birdcage with a crackle medium. I think Ranger make a version of this, but I still have a lot left in my container that I bought years ago in Do It All so I used that...

Once the crackle medium is completely dry (I went away and left it for a couple of hours, but it doesn’t take that long – only about 20 minutes) I then painted over it with cream coloured paint. This time you DO need to use a brush as the dabber won’t give you a thick enough layer. It is important NOT to go back over a bit you have already painted as the crackle effect starts to work immediately and you could spoil it.

Once crackled paint on the roof and the cage were both dry I glued the roof onto the cage...

Finally I used distress ink pads applied with cut ‘n’ dry foam to the edges of the cage to give it an even more aged feeling.

If you feel that the whole crackle medium technique is a bit taxing, you could always use Ranger’s Tim Holtz crackle paint (I would still paint a different colour underneath to show through the cracks). Alternatively you could paint your cage in a plain colour then cover with Crackle Accents to give a cracked glass effect all over.

I’ll be back on 10^th August to show you what I did with my birdcage next.

Oh – and cat supervision is not recommended, though generally unavoidable in my house!

Sketch Inspiration Number 13

Here is our first sketch for August and as always there is a £10 ATDML Shopping voucher up for grabs to the winner of this months sketch challenge. All you need to do is use one of the sketches from the month in a layout. Post a comment on the relevant blog post with a link to either your blog or your gallery where we can see your take on the sketch.

The layout accompanying this sketch is an older layout but I love the different elements and the placing on this so hope you will enjoy playing along too.

More journalling focused pages

Having read through Mel's post yesterday I wanted to share my thoughts on journalling. I've been scrapbooking for almost six years now and when I look back on my earlier layouts I have done I smile as the photographs re-ignite the memories and I am able to recall the stories behind them, but I didnt always write them down (thought my handwriting would ruin my page!), sometimes I didn't even date my pages to be able to know when the photographs were taken. Recently whilst at my parents we were looking over some old photographs of my grandfathers and every one had a place and date on the back! EVERY ONE! I am so proud to have called that man my grandfather, I treasured seeing his scrawl telling me what I would otherwise not have known.
When I look at my layouts now, I have journalling on almost all of them, at the very least dates and names. Sometime I go into more detail with my story, othertimes not. Here are a couple of pages from me where I journalled more than average. I hope, along with Mel, that you will be inspired to make journalling the focus on a layout you create in the near future.

Journaling - Making It The Focus Of Your Layout

Our approach to journaling has, I think, a lot to do with what our reasons are for scrapbooking. For some they scrap to record memories, for others it is creative therapy and for others it is a chance ot make something pretty.

If you fall into the first two categories your desire to journal is likely to be stronger however all too often we crete a page and then work out wha we will journal and where we can fit it; it becomes the final addition, an after thought.

The two layouts below were examples I used in a class I taught about making the journaling the focus of your layout and using it as a feature rather than added around the other elements.

We discussed ways of making the journaling more interesting. For example by combining hand written journaling with key words added using stickers or stamps.

This layout uses entirely hand written journaling. It isn't perfect, some of the text flow is broken up by the central circle and photo however I love the layout and the effect I got with such a large amount of hand written journaling. To add interest and a little humour I included some little simple child like doodles such as the little boat and the waves.

I hope this has been of interest and maybe will inspire you to really put the focus on the journaling for some of your layouts.

July Challenge and Sketches

Hi, a quick post from Mel - I am taking advantage of the free wi fi offered by the port of Vigo in northern Spain!

We are having a great time on holiday but I realised yesterday that we didn't announce the challenge winners for July - I am very sorry that I didn't do that before I left - you can count on it being top of my job list when I get home!

Apologies.

Mel xx

Busy, busy, busy

Helen and I have been busy stocktaking and moving more products in to their new home. It is a long and slow job and taking much longer than we had expected. I am desperately hoping that most of it will be moved before the chaotic weeks of new product arrival start and that we will be at least semi-organised by then. Some of the new products are with the freight forwarder and will leave the USA next week, so we haven't got too long left. As soon as we get our shipment, the Countdown Offers which have featured in the shop for the last few weeks will come to an end and we will be fully occupied with uploading it all to the website. We have added another couple of manufacturers to the list this time as well as the old favourites. Leave a comment with your guesses and if you are first to guess correctly, we will send out a small sample when the new goods arrive.