December Thirsty Thursday's

Given the holiday season, the extra cooking and family time we thought it best to leave you with the existing Thirsty Thursday prompts for December and would remind any of you wanting to enter the draw for an ATDML gift for December you have until Midnight this Sunday. As a reminder here are the December challenge posts (click on links)

The letter M
The letter N
The letter O

Your next challenge will be posted next Thursday, Jan 5th 2012 when we bring you letter P prompts! In the meantime be sure to check out our sale items on the website and grab a bargain or two while you can.

December festive inspiration

Our December design team gallery is up now for your viewing pleasure. The team were joined by Helen Salthouse this month and we have a bulging gallery with over 50 festive papercraft images.



Have a browse through and bookmark any you like ready for some speedy scrap lifting to get you back in the crafting zone after the holiday celebrations.

*O* Thirsty Thursday (Belated)

With less than two weeks to go we move to our penultimate challenge this side of the big day. Of course you will all be busy with your festive preparations, but if you do squeeze in some crafting time we hope that you will join in our challenge this week as we seek inspiration from the letter O.

O is for OCTOBER AFTERNOON - New in the store recently we saw the latest seasonal collection from this popular manufacturer. All the Holiday Style papers can be found here in the shop, or maybe you will create a project this week using existing October Afternoon papers. Mel shares an October Afternoon layout with us this week.

O is for ORANGE - Not always a prominent colour on pages unless you are scrapping the Autumnal season or maybe your pumpkin photos but why not try it as an accent colour on a winter page? Maybe scrap that winter sunset image you took?

O is for OPPOSITE - Naughty or Nice? The question Santa is asking himself this very minute as he receives news from his elves as to the childrens' behaviour. Will you create an interactive page for this challenge showing opposites?

O is for OUT OF PRINT - A bit of a fab collection from Basic Grey, this paper is sure to please. The 6x6 collection pads flew out the doof but there are still a number oif 12x12 collection packs availble. I recently taught a CD Calendar class using these.

If you'd like to be in with a chance to win a prize from the shop this month 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 O challenges (one or more) that you have met with your creation. The O challenge runs until middnight on Jan 1st 2012.

Christmas Crop At Eclectic

Belatedly I thought I would post about the Eclectic Keepsakes Christmas crop I went to a couple of weeks ago. Organised by the lovely Karen Moss the Christmas crop included 3 classes. Two of them were taught by ATDML DT girls and the third was taught by Denise Holmes who has done a few guest DT spots for us.

I knew it would be a good day when on the way despite a cold day with grey skies my journey was brightened up by this sight :)

I was not very sensible and didn't manage to get many photos (I was having such a lovely time scrapping, chatting and eating that I forgot. I did get this one of Debbie teaching her fantastic Simple Stories Advent countdown layout which was such a clever idea and everyone loved it.

Ann taught a lovely CD Calendar class using Basic Grey Out of Print which was also very popular. I haven't finished mine yet but when I do I will upload it! Denise's class was using Tim Holtz Distress inks and stamping to make a stunning card which featured an envelope made with patterned paper using a score board. Denise makes using the distress inks look so simple and urged us to "Just Commit!" Apparently this was Mr Holtz's favourite phrase when she attended one of his workshops!

Lunch was a bring and share style buffet and there was oodles of lovely food. I did remember to take photos of Karens beautiful Christmas cupcakes... I might have indulged in a peppermint one with a candy cane top!

All in all a lovely day was had by all - I worked on a couple of pieces for the Christmas DT gallery which will be going up on or before Sunday 18th December so keep an eye out for that appearing.

Trying To Forget That It Is So Cold!

Back in September I spent a fun day in Trumpington near Cambridge at a crop and class day with two classes by Ifa Xainon. The layouts were summer themed and it was the perfect way to capture some of the fun memories we had from the summer.

I really enjoyed making this layout called "Summer Adventure" and because my photos were from several events and locations I opted for my favourite technique of turning them black and white so I know that they will go with anything!

More inspiration and new in store

Welcome to the weekend everyone! Just wanted to let you know we have the latest wintery offerings from October Afternoon in the shop now, they can all be found here if you haven't seen them already.

I took the liberty of popping over to the October Afternoon blog as well to see what the design team had been creating with this new line. Absolutely love this page and have bookmarked it for a scraplift in the new year when I have my Christmas day images.

The page could so easily be created for a non Xmas day page as well, maybe the date of a birthday, or an anniversary... the possibilities are endless! I certainly feel inspired by this page and also they have a bow making tutorial as well on the blog here - perfect for using up scraps of paper to embellish your presents. Great ideas which I saw and wanted to share!

More inspiration to be found

Two of the manufacturers we stock have teamed up to bring some fabulous crafting inspiration for the season to their blog readers. If you haven't already stumbled across these why not pop over to Simple Stories blog or Maya Road and see what they have been up to. The design team have been working with a variety of Christmas papers ready to inspire you later this month, and these include the Simple Stories 25 days of Christmas paper which can be found here in the store.

*N* Thirsty Thursday

Moving in to the second half of the alphabet today as we look to the letter N for inspiration. You know the challenge rules by now (there are very few) but read back onto any earlier Thirsty Thursday post if this is all new to you. So what do we have for you this week?...

N is for NATIVITY - Yes it is the season for all aspiring Mary and Josephs, Angels, Wise Men and more to have our camera shutters on overdrive! If you are lucky enough to snap a half decent photo of the prestigious event that is the school nativity, or you have an un-scrapped photos from years gone by why not use it in this weeks challenge.

N is for NAVY BLUE - Use Navy Blue cardstock as your background, or as a feature colour on your card/layout this week. Maybe dig out some denim to include on your creation?

N is for NATURE - Maybe a lovely scenery shot depicting the wonders of nature will make it on to your scrapbook page this week. Dig out your leaf stamps, maybe even holly and ivy? Show us how you are inspired by Nature. I created a layout for the October DT gallery here focusing on Autumn or maybe this page by Debbie will inspire?

N is for "NOT" CHRISTMAS - A bit of a fun one this! We challenge you this week to use a Christmas paper collection to make a non-Christmassy project! Karen Moss did exactly that this week and shares her creation below.

If you'd like to be in with a chance to win a prize from the shop this month 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 M challenges (one or more) that you have met with your creation. The M challenge runs until middnight on Jan 1st 2012.

November Thirsty Thursday Winner

Congratulations go to Naomi for her entry into the Thirsty Thursday challenge last month. She was the lucky winner drawn using random.org with her letter L entry below.

Naomi please contact mel@atripdownmemorylane.co.uk with your details and she will let you know what you have won! Thanks for taking part everyone, another prize up for grabs for our December challenges which will close on middnight Jan 1st 2012.

*M* Thirsty Thursday (Sunday!)

As promised yesterday we are back with the next instalment of Thirsty Thursday (albeit Sunday today!) and this week we are looking to the letter M for inspiration. Make a layout, or a card or another crafty project and then share a link to your project to be in with a chance to win a prize.

M is for MY MINDS EYE - We stock over 200 different MME products in the store including the divine Lost and Found ranges. This week use your MME products as part of this challenge.

M is for MONOCHROMATIC - Create a project this week where you focus on different shades of the same colour to achieve a monochromatic look or just stick with predominantly one colour on your creation.

M is for MEL - Once again we challenge you to scraplift a member of the design team, this time the Mel and we have chosen this layout for you to lift.

M is for MUSIC - Have you pictures of a concert you have been to, or of someone playing an instrument? Maybe you have music note paper or stamps you haven't used for a while. Your favourite Christmas Carol maybe and why you love it so? Time to be inspired by music for this week's challenge

M is for MAYA ROAD - Hard not to love the array of wonderful chipboard this company make so why not use some on your project this week.

If you'd like to be in with a chance to win a prize from the shop this month 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 M challenges (one or more) that you have met with your creation. The M challenge runs until middnight on Jan 1st 2012.

Thirsty Thursday Delay

Many apologies one and all for the slight delay in bringing you the next challenge but I have been sadly under the weather this week. Rest assured it will be here tomorrow and following quickly after on Monday with a blog post to announce our winner from November's participants.

Today several of the DT joined the ladies on Eclectic Keepsakes crop for the December celebrations. Both Debbie and I taught classes along with a retreat regular Denise who had us getting inky with Distress Inks to make a fabulous unique card for the season. Here is my version.

"L" Thirsty Thursday

Welcome back to another Thirsty Thursday challenge and may we take the opportunity of wishing a very happy thanksgiving to our American readers. This week we move on to the letter L and task you with taking inspiration from any one (or more) of the prompts below to make a layout, card or another crafty project and then share a link to your project to be in with a chance to win a prize.

L is for LUXE DESIGNS - We stock over 100 different Luxe Designs products in the store including the popular Luxe Jotters which can be found here. If you have some in your stash now is the time to pull them put and use them on your next page.

L is for LAYERS - Create a layered look this week with hand cut detailed papers, die cuts, punched shapes and foam pads as illustrated by Debbie is a former retreat class of hers using Sassafrass.

L is for LONDON - Do you have photos of our Capital waiting to be scrapped? or have you any October Afternoon London Thames printed paper as illustrated by Ann in the layout below featured in September's Design Team Gallery. Share with us your London themed paper craft projects.

L is for LOVE - So many ways this challenge can be interpreted, love of a family member, a pet, a city, a food....the list is endless and this is sure to be a popular choice for those who choose to play along with this challenge. We can't wait to see what you come up with, but if you are stuck for inspiration, or even time in the coming weeks, why not try a smaller project such as this tag by Debbie. It is a great way to use up your odds and ends.

L is for LACE - Pre-made lace blooms, or lace trim how will you feature lace on your challenge project this week.

If you'd like to be in with a chance to win a prize from the shop this month 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 L challenges (one or more) that you have met with your creation. Whilst you can undertake these challenges at your own pace to be in with a chance to win a prize entries for the letters J, K & L have to be shared to the relevant post by midnight Thursday 1st December and we will announce the next winner shortly after. Have fun!

November ATDML Design team gallery

The regular design team plus guest designer Tracy Easson got to create with an array of 7Gypsies products this month. Pop along here to see what they created this month and get inspiration for your next project.

"K" Thirsty Thursday

Welcome back to another Thirsty Thursday challenge, moving on this week to the letter K. Take inspiration from any one (or more) of the prompts below to make a layout, card or another crafty project and then share a link to your project to be in with a chance to win a prize.

K is for KAISERCRAFT- I love the Rhinestone swirls from Kaisercraft, which can be found here in our store, which are perfect for adding a bit of sparkle to your projects (perfect for your festive pages). The red ones are perfect for holly berries.

K is for KIN - Create a scrapbook page about your Kin, or even using the dictionary definition somewhere on your page.

K is for KRAFT - The staple cardstock colour for many crafters . New to the shop this week we have Kraft Core card from coredinations, a coloured cardstock with a Kraft core which becomes visible when you tear, sand etc. We also have Basic Grey Basic Kraft paper collections in 12x12 and 6x6, along with matching items. Maya Road also make many kraft embellishments such as these very popular calendar month spots - ideal for a new 2012 monthly project. Your challenge this week is to feature some Kraft materials on your project.

K is for KAREN(s) - We have the lovely Karen's (Moss & Cole) on our design our team, both of whom taught at our recent retreat. How about scrapping a layout from the lovely Karen Cole this week.

And here is the scraplifted version from Karen Moss using Farmhouse papers by Crate Paper.

K is for KITS - Maybe you subscribe to a monthly kit, or enjoy pulling them together for specific project, show us what you are doing with your kits this week. Both Karen and I are taking part in Shimelle's Journal your Christmas class again this year and have been busy preparing. Here is Karen's kit she has pulled together from items in her stash.

If you'd like to be in with a chance to win a prize from the shop this month 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 K challenges (one or more) that you have met with your creation. Have fun!

Winner of October Thirsty Thursday

I am delighted to announce the winner for the Thirsty Thursday October entries which was layout number 5 belonging to Jane Taylor. We used Random.org once again to select an entry from those who had left links for the letter E, F, G & H.

Here is Jane's lovely page too. F is for Food and Fish!

We have also been able to upgrade the link tool we use each week and the cute boxes with images to projects created inspired by the Thirsty Thursday posts will now be available. We hope this will encourage many more of you to share your work with us, especially knowing you could win a prize!

Congrats once again to Jane, please email mel@atripdownmemorylane.co.uk with your details!

Inspired by Challenge

Thought we could extend one of the recent retreat challenges out to our blog readers. How would you be inspired by these images? Would it be the film trip on the Olympic rings image?, to scrapbook a fabulous hairstyle maybe?, to splash inks and paints on your background per the Mandella image?

I chose to be inspired by the five olympic rings and cut 5 small photo into circles to add to a main image for this layout using Simple Stories YearOGraphy papers that we previous blogged about here. This particular paper is great for a nice simple page where photos, title and journalling can be minimal and yet make a full page with the background paper doing most of the work for you.


Leave us a comment and let us know how you got on with the challenge or you can link directly to your project using our inlinkz tool. We will draw a winner the first week in December and the challenge will stay open until midnight GMT on the last day of November. Enjoy!

"J" Thirsty Thursday

Welcome back to another challenge called Thirsty Thursday where we aim to inspire you with a challenge to quench your creative thirst. You can pick up from here and play along or look back at previous weeks and join in those too. Week 10 this week and we are taking inspiration from the letter J prompts below to make a layout, card or another crafty project. So here we go...

J is for JANE - Our lovely Jane from the Design team invites you to scraplift her for this week's challenge. How about this layout which makes the most of paper strips left over from other projects?

J is for JOURNALLING - Be prepared to share the tales behind your beloved photographs this week. You can choose to hand write your story, or use a computer/typewriter or maybe even small alphabet stamps and lots of patience to journal on your page. Maybe use a journalling template to get creative with your words or a patterned paper with journalling cards such as this one by Simple Stories.

J is for JOURNEY - Travel is always a popular theme amongst scrapbookers with many products dedicated to the subject. This week we challenge you to create a page about a journey which could be interpreted in many ways and we look forward to seeing how you play this one.

J is for JEWELLERY - Do you have a special piece of jewellery that has a story behind it, maybe a family piece that you could create a page about to tell the tale behind it? This would be a great challenge to combine with journalling this week.

J is for JEWELS - Dig out the blingtastic products and jewel up your cards and pages this week, perfect if you are starting those Christmas projects! Take a browse through the jewel/pearl/crystal items we have for sale in the store HERE if you are running low.

This week we are sharing an example from the latest Bo Bunny gallery on our website. Ann shows how handjournalling can be added to a multi-photo autumnal page here.

Tomorrow we will announce the winner of the Thirsty Thursday challenges from last month. If you'd like to be in with a chance to win a prize from the shop this month 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 I challenges (one or more) that you have met with your creation. In the meantime, happy scrapping.

Quick & Easy Childs Birthday Card

Just taking the opportunity to share something from a while back which I forgot to upload...

A few weeks ago we headed up the A1 to spend the day at my neices 5th birthday party. My two girls loved the party and spending time with their two cousins.

Before we went I needed to make a card for Anya, so I set about making something bright and cheerful with a bit of sparkle too.

As ever when I am card making I totally raided the scraps box - I think there is a little October Afternoon on there, some Echo Park Stickers, the bunting is Fancy Pants and the lettering is Doodlebug Just My Type! I am eternally grateful to my sister in law for choosing 4 letter names for my neices - both easily fit on a string of bunting on a card!

7 Gypsies Class - My Original and Denises Version...

Tonight I wanted to share with you one of the class layouts I taught at the retreat. I used the wonderful 7 Gypsies Off The Wall and Global papers and combined these with collage tissue and a few other products to make this layout:

One thing we always make clear to all our delegates is that no one is precious about their class layouts and whether you want to walk out with an identical layout but with your photos, something adapted from the layout or something just loosely inspired by the original it is absolutely fine.

I always find it fascinating to see what the ladies end up with at the end of a class. The layout below is the one by Denise Holmes who took the class and adapted it to suit the photos she had and then made further adjustments to cover up something she didn't like (a wrinkled frame I think) I like to think that was a happy accident because it led to the butterflies flying up the right hand side of the page and the beautiful stamping.

Come back soon to see a little more of what we got up to and of course the fabulous challenge entries and winners :)

Good Students?!

One of the fun things about the retreats is that amongst the many lovely ladies we have attending there are always a few from our Design Team. Spending the year emailing back and forth with them and sending out little packages of loveliness to them it is really nice to spend some time with them.

They are often teaching but they also take classes themselves. This most recent retreat we had Ann, Jane, Suzanne, Karen M & Karen C all teaching plus Debbie with us as a delegate so almost a full house (Dawn was missed by all as she couldn't come this time)

I was trying to get some photos of the delegates working away in classes and this pair were sitting together engaged in a deep and meaningful crafty discussion while working in Suzannes class.


And here they are again teaching their own classes!

Jane was teaching her fabulous ABC Primer pencil bound book...

and Ann was teaching her beautiful My Little Shoebox layout as featured on the blog hop.

More to share over the next week including some more classes and the fabulous challenge winners! Apologies for the photos, I have a new computer and NO photo editing software installed so they are straight out of camera and clearly the setting were a little awry!

Following Up On Those 3D Flowers....

During our retreat the 3D flowers were used by delegates in a variety of ways and I wanted to share a couple of those with you today.

First up is this gorgeous cluster of flowers. I saw Antonia working on this at the retreat and even though she hasn't finished the layout yet I asked her to email me a photo of the progress so far. I am sure you will agree that the effect of the clustering is pretty spectacular!

And to show you that they are not just for layouts here is Debbies fabulous altered pencil pot with a beautiful floral lid!

I hope you have enjoyed seeing what some of the ladies came up with using the My Little Shoebox 3D Flowers, remember we are running a special offer for all orders over £20 placed before Sunday - you will receive a FREE set of 2011 release Christmas papers with all orders over £20.

"I" Thirsty Thursday

Welcome back after a week off from our regular weekly challenge called Thirsty Thursday where we aim to inspire you with a challenge to quench your creative thirst. Don't worry if this is the first you have heard of our challenges. You can pick up from here and play along or look back at previous weeks and join in those too. This week we are up to week 9 and we are taking inspiration from the letter I prompts below to make a layout, card or another crafty project. So here we go...

I is for INTERACTIVE - Can you make your cards pop and flip and fold? Do you have hidden journalling on your page or another interactive element ? This week we challenge your next project to contain an interactive element.

I is for INK - Be these your ordinary ink pads, the very popular distress inks (stocked HERE in the shop), spray inks or your even alcohol inks; it is time to dig them out for this week's challenge.

I is for IVY - Holly and the Ivy Seasonal project prompt perhaps, or maybe include a stamped Ivy leaf on an Autumnal page. This week we challenge you to include Ivy on your project.

I is for IDEA BOOKS - Do you have a selection of these in your craft room, sitting unused on the shelf? Might be time to regenerate them and be inspired by a project within it. We have a selection of Idea Books in the shop also if you are looking for Christmas gift for a fellow crafter?

I is for INDIVIDUAL - A large individual photograph on a layout can make quite the statement and often need little else adding to the page other than pretty paper of course! Why not feature an oversize Individual photograph on a project for this week's challenge.

Before you head off to play we just want to share as always a couple of inspiring projects from our design team, this week from Jane and Ann.

Jane shares with us an inky page with an interesting design element too.

And another from Jane, this time Interactive with pull out tabs beneath the photo and fulfilling the Individual challenge too!

And finally for this week and IVY layout example for you all by Ann using My Little Shoebox papers.

Early next week we will announce the winner of the Thirsty Thursday challenges from last month. If you'd like to be in with a chance to win a prize from the shop this month 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 I challenges (one or more) that you have met with your creation. In the meantime, happy scrapping.