Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and a Little Blue

Do you have old stash that has been laying in your storage for eons and never seen the light of day? Those bargains that were too good to miss but then too good to use! Many moons ago I went to a ‘crop and shop’ and the lady who was running it was selling loads of stash at remarkable prices. It was when I was new to scrapping and to be able to afford a whole bottle of Prima flowers, thanks to her generous prices, was a joy. In fact, I brought several!

They have languished in my stash ever since and so I decided to use them to ‘fancy up’ (not that it really needs fancying up) this die cut piece of Bo Bunny paper from the new Vicki B range, with a little sparkle added with Stickles, and additional Prima pearl swirl (also rescued from my 'saving for best' stash) snipped into pieces to fit onto the page.

The title was borrowed from Jill who used it for this page.

The little blue is of course some of the little Prima flowers that I have used around the edge. Then there was the obligatory bling in abundance!

So there we are my Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and a little Blue page. What do you have hiding in your stash that is screaming to be pulled out and used?

Karen M

**Cybercrop Timetable**

Well here it is, your official ATDML Cybercrop Timetable. As promised we will have 12 classes and 6 challenges for you over the weekend of June 17th - 19th, excited? I know we are!

Now you have a timetable why not consider making your planner so you know when each class is and what you have planned for each? Here is a small planner I made using Basic Grey Oliver papers and 7 chipboard coasters.


There is a page for each class with a tag saying the time of the class and space for me to note how many photos I may need and other supplies. You can of course simply print off the timetable, but I don'd need much of an excuse to make a little minibook!

More class details will follow this week, providing you with supplies information and photo requirements in order that you can start to get prepared to join in the crafting fun. As you can see from the timetable classes will be a mixture of layouts, cards, mini books so hopefully something for everyone and of course will feature an array of manufacturers from 7Gypsies to Crate Paper, Echo Park, Bo Bunny and many more!!

Home Alone

Well, not completely alone but Mel, Darren and the girls have all gone away for the first few days of half term, with a visit to Legoland and a picnic in Windsor Great Park planned. I hope the weather stays fine for them. Meanwhile, Helen (my sister) and her daughter Elizabeth have arrived and we will be very busy stocktaking. The shop will remain open, which does make it a little bit trickier but we will cope! I must also get the new 7 Gypsies products on the website which arrived at the end of last week. Above are a quick peek at a couple of the new products, I am pretty hopeless with technology and can never put images where I want them to go. The patterned paper is Delos from the new Mykonos range and the stickers are Cruising - I shall have to count them carefully as Mel has had a number of cruising holidays.

Jill

PS Forgot to add that more Cybercrop info is coming very soon!

Anymore takers for the Cybercrop ATC Swap?

If you missed Jane's post take a look here.
If you want to join in with the ATC swap to celebrate the first ATDML cybercrop drop Jane an email. I know both Jane and I are playing along and maybe a couple of the other design team members too, why not join us?

We will have a timetable for you this weekend so you can start your planning, and class material details will be available soon in order that you can commence gathering your supplies.

Then how about making yourself a cybercrop planner? This can take any form but usually is a small minibook where you can record the class times, teachers, maybe jot some notes down or hold photos that you intend to scrap. I'll be making my planner this evening and will share in the next day or so, then maybe we can share some planner ideas with each other by emailing in photos of your ATDML planner and I will donate a prize to one lucky participant drawn out of a hat. Sound like fun? Time to get creative!!

RHS Chelsea Flower Show Photos

Below are a selection of photos from Chelsea Flower Show taken by Jill - Diarmuid Garvins "Flying" garden was sadly on it's way down to earth when she got there to photograph it.

The colours were, as usual, beautiful and I am sure many of the photos will find their way into a layout or minibook very soon.

There are loads more photos, too many to share here now but they have really given me a renewed enthusiasm to get the floral supplies out!

Favourite Florals

Here at ATDML Wednesday was a busy day on the website with a higher than average number of orders... why would that be? Well because of course on one of the few days where I am in charge of dealing with the orders it is just typical that they come in faster!

The reason I found myself at home, trying to juggle a to do list that was a mile long, pick, pack and post orders and entertain Olivia is that Jill was off on a jolly! To be fair this particular day out comes round once a year and is not to be missed - they went to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and as keen gardeners thoroughly enjoyed it.

She did come back and present me with a camera and ask that I download the photos from the camera but the afore mentioned to do list has somewhat got in the way but I will get the photos upkiaded here soon :)

In the meantime it got me thinking about the floral revolution that has been evident in the past few years. Remember when the first glass bottles of Prima Got Flowers hit the market - remember the layouts covered almost entirely by those flowers? Since then Prima have come in to their own with a vast range of (sometimes pricey but ever so beautiful) flowers, companies like Websters Pages have gone to town on the florals to create their signature look and there are all manner of flower papers, stamps and embellishments available.

Below are a few of our favourite floral items past and present!

The Lost and Found range by My Minds Eye is definitely one of my favourite ranges ever and this shabby chic floral glitter paper is just stunning.

Once Upon A Springtime has been enormously popular and is one of our most restocked lines ever!

These floral stamps that were released with Basic Greys June Bug line are so versatile you can really add depth and interest to your page with stamped and cut out flowers.

These Angelica Rose flowers from Prima are so pretty and each pack comes with a selection of roses in three toning shades so you can add variety of colour but keeping the flowers in perfect harmony with each other.

I will get those Chelsea Flower Show photos up this weekend and who knows, they mighr soon feature in a project using these or any of the other floral products we have in store,

Adding A Little Extra Info...

This is not a new layout but it came to mind when I was watching "The Great British Wedding Cake" from my Sky Plus box this evening. Watching the three contestants create their own wedding cake masterpieces reminded me of how much my older DD LOVES to bake and this layout which not only records her love of baking but also our "go to" recipe for a basic sponge.

I really enjoy recording not only the photos and the memories but also the little extra details that may or may not be interesting to people who might stumble across the albums in years to come. Are there any additional pieces of information you have included on a layout beyond the basic who, what, where, when why, how?

Just Because...

... It is not often I start (and finish) a new layout at the moment with no other reason than because I wanted to. If I am not working with a DT Kit or working on a class I have been working on finishing the anormous pile of part finished projects.

However at the crop last weekend I found a few products that I just love and wanted to use RIGHT THEN! I had to wait until yesterday to paint the frame and embellishments and get everything stuck down but I am really happy with how it turned out. The layout shows Isabelle and her cousin Anya who despite living miles apart are great friends :)

I was also pleased with the combination of several different manufacturers on this layout - Technique Tuesday chipboard frames, Fancy Pants It's The Little Things paper, Bo Bunny Double Dot Cardstock, Sassafras Indie Girl Paper and finally Echo Park For The Record papers and stickers!

**Cybercrop ATC Swap**

To celebrate the first ATDML Cyber Crop I will be hosting an ATC swap. Whether you're new to ATCs (perhaps you're reading this thinking 'what's an ATC?!') or whether you're an old hand, you're welcome to join the swap and in the process get a lovely souvenir of the crop to keep.

So, first of all - what's an ATC?
ATC stands for Artist Trading Card and if you Google 'ATC' you'll get lots of information and images to help you.
Basically there are only 2 rules...
1. ATCs must measure 2.5" x 3.5" - no bigger or smaller (this is important as many people keep their ATCs in albums with plastic pockets sized to fit)
2. ATCs can be swapped/traded but never sold.
You can use any method to decorate your ATC: patterned papers, paint, stamping, embossing, fabric, embellishments, photos, stickers...it really is an endless list.
On the back of your ATC you should write your name, the title of the ATC, the date and whether it is an original (one off) card or one of a set e.g. 3/8 would mean the third card in a set of 8.

To give you some ideas, here are some ATCs which I have received as swaps or made myself...

This is a fabric ATC called 'leaves' made by 'Enfys' on UKScappers

This ATC called 'Lovetile' is by Tina Pemberton and features an embossed and stamped 'stampboard' tile

This is 1 of a set of 2 cards by Alison Lydon called 'meow'

This ATC (and the next one) are both swaps from the UKS Oscars Cybercrop. This one 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' by Amanda S

And this one 'Memoirs of a Geisha' by Y-are-crafty (Yvonne)

This is one of my own ATCs entitled 'Homage to Tim Holtz'

And another of mine, called 'Life's a beach' where the base of the ATC is a photo embellished with sand and shells.

SO...

How to take part in the ATDML Cyber crop ATC swap
1. Send an e-mail to me at janehewitt@btinternet.com to let me know you want to take part - include your full name and address. I will then send you my address to send your ATCs to.
2. Make 3 identical (or similar) ATCs on the theme of 'first' or 'A trip down memory lane'. (You may wish to make a fourth one to keep for yourself!) Remember to write your name etc on the back of your ATCs.
3. Send your 3 ATCs to me by Friday 10th June at the latest along with a stamped and self addressed envelope (for me to send your swaps back to you).

You will receive back 3 different ATCs from 3 other participants in the swap - hopefully before the Cybercrop starts!

I look forward to seeing everyone's ATCs and may feature some on the blog after the Cybercrop.

Happy crafting!
Jane x

Double Take.

Same photos, same paper manufacturer but very different results.

I made this layout in April using Echo Park Be Mine collection and a few buttons from my stash.


The papers were the remains from a class that Ann Freeman had taught at the Eclectic Keepsake crop.


I really loved the photos I used, they were of my daughter and her boyfriend, Josh, on his first day back from a months trip to India where he had carried out voluntary work at an orphanage. They were just sitting in the kitchen, relaxing and thoroughly enjoying each others company.


I made this layout today in response to a blog friend's challenge to scrap the moment. I have used Echo Park For the Record, Springtime and Summer Days collections.


It records some of the conversation I had with my daughter yesterday evening on the drive home from Josh's house.


I told Gracia that I was going to scrap our conversation and she asked me to use the photos from January. I didn't want to use my usual butterflies and flowers (although one butterfly did sneak in) for the page so printed out a copy of the periodic table and punched circles from this.


So there we are - same photos, same paper manufacturer but very different layouts.

Karen M

Can I Quote You On That?

I thought it would be interesting to have a look at layouts with quotes on them. Once upon a time it was the height of fashion to use inspirational quotes on layouts as titles or as the journaling. I have seen a few layouts recently using quotes and thought I would dig out some of mine from sometime ago and revisit the idea.

The layout below was a class I took from one of the UKScrappers Cybercrops and it was a class by our lovely Debbie Jewell.

Looking back I have found quotes as a useful way to eloquently express an idea or emotion when I am scrapping those pictures where there are no event details that need recording or where I couldn't find journaling that worked with the photo and the layout and which seemed appropriate.

For many of us the subject of our layouts may remain the same for many years, basically our family and the life we share. When it comes to scrapping photos of either our children, significant other or even pets, if there is no event to capture the information of, no funny story that goes with a photo then sometimes a quote is a great option for a title or journaling piece. Afterall how many times and different ways can you find to say "I really am quite fond of these people" using just your own words?!

So where to find quotes? Well many of us have personal favurite quotes that we know but if you are looking for a quote on a specific theme then the internet is a gold mine. Google "Motherhood quotes" and you will get approximately 8.1million results and the first page yields plenty of sites dedicated to collecting quotes and then helpfully sub categorising them for your convenience!

The Power of Three

Whilst looking through my layouts for tonights blog post I came across a few sets of layouts which share a common design but (in my opinion) look quite different from one another. The three layouts below are all examples where I used three photos and anchored them with a horizontal strip \ section of paper or, in the case of the Cheerios layout, a strip of trim.

The use of groups of three is common in design in many forms, in interior design items are often grouped in threes, in scrapbooking and photography we are encouraged to consider the rule of thirds because we naturally find things pleasing to look at when the image contains interesting features at the points where the thirds meet.

In addition to all of the above reasons, I like using three photos because where one shot can give a snapshot, with three photos you can start to tell a story. Anyone looking at the layout can see what is happening over the space of a longer time, it maybe a few seconds if the shots were taken rapidly one after another or it could be the highlights of a whole day.

By changing the products used, journaling and title styles and making adjustments such as angling elements you can make several layouts using essentially the same design but which end up looking quite different from one another.

If you have any layouts using a design similar to this that you would care to share please do leave us a link to your blog or online gallery in the comments section - we would love to take a look!

Project: Finish It - Revisited...

Here is the other layout I finished at the crop on Saturday. This is possibly the longest "in progress" layout I have ever done. The photo was taken in October 2005 and I started the process of putting the layout together not long after. I chose papers and mounted the photo and then it sat in the baggie for a while until I added the button border and then left it again. At some point I added the title and the rub ons and finally I added the ticket and the black prima swirl on Saturday!

At long last, another one moved from the "in progress" drawer to the album :)

Project: Finish It!

Way back in spring 2008 Jane Dean came to teach at our second retreat and used K&Co Mira. There was a spare class kit and I spent a little while in the class and took the kit to work on. I did start the layout not long after and the photos, border on the right hand side and the cut out photo on the bottom left were added pretty quickly and are true to the original class instructions. Since then I struggled with what else to add and what to do with the large space on in the middle \ bottom right so it has been sitting at various times in my "Must Finish" bag \ drawer!

Yesterday I added some embellishments (the sun, some of the flowers) and finally a title came to me. As the cut out photo shows her with wings and it is all quite whimsical (I so love that word!) so I thought I would celebrate \ highlight the very vivid imagination that she has.

Although I am posting this and calling it finished I haven't ruled out a little bit of hand written journaling on the green area at the bottom... we'll see!

The First ATDML Cyber Crop!

We are excited to announce the first ATDML Cybercrop to be held the weekend of June 17th-19th 2011.
We will be bringing you 12 classes with free full pdf instructions from our talented design team, along with 6 challenges and the opportunity to share your creations in an interactive gallery!! There will of course be a little prize or two available to win along the way and some pre-crop frenzy here on the blog too!!!

For those of you who have not participated in a Cybercrop before or have no idea what to expect we will be providing a timetable and a suggested supplies list at beginning of June. You will have the opportunity then to gather your supplies or make any desired purchases in plenty of time to join in the fun. Over the Cybercrop weekend we will be scheduling a number of blog posts, each with a link to a fully illustrated PDF class instruction on our main site which you will be able to print off and join in over the weekend, or indeed whenever you feel like!

The design team are all busy scrapping up a creative storm to bring you a suite of classes sure to please and have a couple of pre-crop challenges up their sleeves as well so start getting excited and spread the word!!

Some Bo Bunny Cards

When I was cropping on Saturday one of the challenges was to make a card or cards from your "bag of bits" which for me means the large box which I take when I crop with all my scraps in it.

Recently I had Bo Bunny Gabrielle for my DT kit and I had quite a few scraps left over in the scrap box so I made these two cards.

I have to say that spending the day cropping and mixing up the scrapping with the card making has reignited my desire to make cards and I am going to try and pencil in a few evenings to sit and raid the scraps box and make a few more cards - sometimes a quick and easy card project is just the thing to get the mojo back in gear - after I made these I then finished off two layouts which had been sitting in my "must finish" baggies for longer than I care to admit, then I worked on a minibook project for a while before working on two more layouts and another card!

Phew, for me, a veeeeeery slow worker, that was very productive!

Inspired by PopArt

Issue 55 of The Scrapbook Magazine is now out in the shops and I am thrilled to have two layouts featured in the "Inspired by PopArt" section toward the back of the magazine. Those scrappers who attended the Spring ATDML retreat may recall me working on my labour of love layout using the Graphic 45 Circus papers which took an age and plenty of concentration, but which I love!!


This page only uses a sheet of black cardstock for the background, white for photo mounting and title elements and half a sheet of the Graphic 45 Le Cirque Wizards of Wonders paper and some alphabet stickers.
The rest of the papers in the range can be found here. Have a go at being inspired by PopArt and challenge yourself to try something different - you may be surprised by the results, I know I was!

Save the date

Just to give you all a teaser of a little something we may have up our sleeves!!

Might you be feeling crafty and in need of some inspiration on Friday June 17th through to Sunday June 19th? That's just five weeks today!! We will be asking you to join us here on the blog that weekend....Stay tuned for our reveal next week!!

The Winner Of The Bo Bunny Mini Album

The deadline for comments was this evening at 8pm. Random dot org kindly did it's thing and selected

Comment number 6 which was from Jo.

Please drop me an email with your contact details Jo and we will get your prize sent out to you.

Thanks all for taking part.... :)

Guest Scrapper Profile: Nora Latip

We thought we would introduce you to our guest scrapper for the month - Nora Latip. Here is a short bio from Nora and a photo of her and her son.

Hi! I’m Nora and I’m a SAHM living in London with my husband and 18 month old son. Back home in Brunei Darussalam (on the island of Borneo) I was a secondary teacher teaching English.

I’ve been crafting since I was a teenager but was only exposed to scrapbooking 3 years ago. I’ve never looked back since! I’ve dabbled in other crafts but papercrafting is truly my passion since it showcases both memorable photos as well as the memories behind it.

My typical style is minimalistic although at times I do try different styles just for fun and to explore my own ability and creativity. Once in a while I do get every scrapper’s nightmare of being ‘mojoless’ and that’s when I turn to altering projects and mini albums.

Some of my favourite lines include Basic Grey, Prima, Graphic 45 (for altering most of the time), Webster's Pages, Tim Holtz and Ranger. But of course that's just the tip of the iceberg! I also love to use and recycle items and materials found around the house in my scrapbooking as it gives a unique twist to a layout.

I love scrapbooking because it also gives me an opportunity to meet people in and around the world. It's not often you meet someone who'll go crazy over a piece of paper!

May Design Team Gallery

The May design team gallery has been loaded to our main site and features Nora Latip as the guest designer.


Nora and the design team worked with new papers from Websters Pages this month and created some lovely work! Follow the link in the title to this blog post to see more and be inspired.


Websters Pages products can be found here in the store.

Edgy Giveaway!

Time for another little giveaway for our blog readers...

Just leave us a post on this thread to be entered for a random giveaway of a Bo Bunny Edgy Album. As always we will let random dot org do the honours and pick us a winner. To be included leave your comments by 8pm on Wednesday night.

Prima Melody

I thought I'd share with you some layouts I made with the Melody range by Prima (available in the shop here).

Initially I was overwhelmed by the very busy patterned papers - and that's from someone who loves patterned paper! I figured if I found them daunting then there would be others out there that felt the same, so I wanted to give you an insight into how I overcame that 'eek' feeling and got down to using the papers as opposed to just drooling over their gorgeousness!

I broke myself in gently, so to speak, by using the least busy of the selection and then building up the interest by adding the Cosmic Shimmer spray inks (Mallow Blush and Bronze Blush) over a Prima mask. Then I added balance to the right hand side by cutting up one of the notepapers and tucking them under the photo. I absolutely love using this type of die cut; I think they make a great base for layering titles and embellishments as well as giving a beautiful space for journaling.

The Tim Holtz ornate label frame is the perfect spot for holding my sub title and I've added a range of embellishments around the page to help move the eye across each section.

Next up I thought I would jump in feet first and use a whole range of the patterned papers together. Using a blocked design, or strips as I have here, is an easy way to get a multitude of patterns onto one page -using the tone on tone or more subtle patterns next to the bolder patterns, and making sure that there is a good contrast between each stripe, helps each pattern to stand out in it's own right rather than them all merging together in a confusing pattern jungle. Because there are SO many patterned papers on the background, the embellishing was kept much more low key and the story showcased on the paler journaling block

Finally, I went all out with this absolutely gorgeous, but incredibly busy, patterned paper. A clustered design works well when using a busy background as it provides a strong focal point. The stronger colours and less busy patterns of the paper strips under the photos are a perfect way to 'ground' the cluster and matting the photos gives a little bit of vital white space between them and the background.

I used various dies and punches for my butterflies - using the same patterned paper for all three as well as the paper strip running across the bottom helps to unify the key elements. And I love the new Sugar Blooms flowers Prima have released. They are beautiful yet small enough to add interest to other embellishments without overwhelming them.

I really do love patterned paper backgrounds - if you have shied away from them in the past, I hope that my examples and tips encourage you to spread your wings a little.