Cards on Sunday - Pop Up Box Cards

One of the most popular things at the retreat was a make & take which Ann led making a box card. Lots of people really enjoyed this card and I was inspired by the creations.

The day after the retreat Elizabeth and Jez sat in our dining room making a beach hut version as a wedding card (I will try to get some photos of that) and I made my Aunties birthday card also in this style.

I used papers from the 6x6 My Minds Eye Record It Pretty Things paper pad to make my card with Kraft Bazzill cardstock as the base.

 

 The card is relatively straight forward to make but very versatile in how your decorate it.

 

Here are a few close ups of some of the details. I used a ticket punch to write on, a Stampin' Up stamp for the greeting and then a cut out flower layered up with the greeting.

 

The butterflies are punched out of co-ordinating paper. To create the illusion of them flying I used strips of acetate to attach them to the card . On the larger butterfly I used some pearls for a body.

 

One of the things that I really like about this type of card is that although it is so dimensional when it is standing up and open it all folds nice and flat to go in the envelope!

One of our retreat delegates was so inspired that she has made several since the retreat and shared them on our facebook group. She has kindly given me permission to share a few of them. I love them both but the bottom one with the flying pigs from the Graphic 45 Curiosity Shoppe range really makes me smile :)

Thanks for allowing me to share them Tina

By Tina Kelson

By Tina Kelson

If you would like a go at making this card you can download Ann's template HERE on our site.

Throw Back Thursday ~ 2 (and a little hint...)

For Throw Back Thursday this week I am sharing this layout which was my class for our June 2012 Cyber Crop. It was a great success and lots of our customers and blog readers really enjoyed the weekend.

Why did I pick this Cyber crop layout? Well let's just say things are very busy at ATDML HQ and on our DT Facebook group there are exciting plans afoot! Watch this space :)

Retreat Photos and the challenge winners

I had a super time at the ATDML retreat, loads of super classes, great food and scrappy friends to share the time with, plus an enormous shop filled with loads of beautiful goodies.  Mel and Jill always set us some challenges to have a go at on the retreat, and here are the pages/project that won.

The first photo is Jackie Da Silva who joined in our photo swap challenge where you scrap someone else's photo making a beautiful page for someone else's album.

Here is Debbie and her lovely calendar page.

This is Denise's page and her take on the sketch challenge, I love the bunting.

Here is Sarah Hunter and her altered butterfly...the photo doesn't do it any justice she turned a wooden butterfly into a jewellery holder....there are rumours she even found a drill to make the holes with!

Sarah Meacher showed us her wonderful doodling - she used some thickers as letter templates and doodled around the edge.

Here is Joanne Perry who's used the mystery kit to create this page, I love all the blocks of colour and different patterned papers.

Here is Carol with her lovely (clever opening) card.

If you want to see some more of the creativity then join our Facebook group here.

Throw Back Thursday ~ 1

Well Ann is doing "Throw Back Thursday" on her blog and now Karen is too. The concept is simple. Throw back Thursday is a chance to take a look back at something from a while back. In my last blog post I included an older layout to illustrate what I was saying and over on the ATDML # Create facebook page I was asked what the papers were. This reminded me that it is often good to take a look back at what has gone before.

So today I am sharing an old layout from 2010 for my first Throw back Thursday.

I love this layout, the grid formation is one that really appeals and I have revisited it as a design feature many times over.

I also dug out papers which, even when I scrapped it back in 2010, were oldies but goodies. I still love the Basic Grey Motifica range as much today as I did back then.

So what can you dig out of your own "archives" and celebrate on Throw Back Thursday? Add a link in the comments, we'd love to take a look.

A Little Upcycling!

As a Mum to two girls I find that periodically I have to take a good look through the wardrobes and rationalise what is hiding in there! Olivia, being the youngest, gets any decent clothes which Isabelle has outgrown but managed not to ruin, however, ever aware that I don't want her to feel like she doesn't get anything of her own I seem to buy just as many clothes for her. Consequently there is a lot of clearing out to do on a regular basis.

I have a few categories when sorting through the old clothes:

• Donate (to friends or to a clothing bank)
• Bin (For stuff that is not in a fit state to donate)
• Upcycle (for items with "embellishments" I can remove and use

Mostly the upcycling category is for things like charms or little appliques that can be cut with a good pair of fabric scissors (or Tim Holtz scissors) however I have been known to keep a few bits where I am not sure how to use them but I was particularly fond of the item or it had a special memory.

Olivia had a top which I just loved her in. She wore it a lot and I can vividly remember some days when she wore it. This layout from a while back was taken on a day when we did a mini photo shoot with her wearing it.
























After we finished she went and played in the sand and I snapped another couple of photos of her.

 

 

So, fast forward a few years and I still hadn't scrapped the photo but the top was long since outgrown.

I decided to cover some chipboard with part of the top and include it on a layout. The hardest part was to make it straight - being stripy any errors are quite easy to spot and it isn't totally straight! I used red terrifically tacky tape to stick it to the chipboard and then onto the layout. In the end the layout is really quite a simple one but I love the memories it holds which, after all, is why I scrap!

New Year New You - March

Helloooooo - checking in a little early as I am sure there will be lots of blog posts about the retreat over the weekend.

Well, March has come and gone in the blink of an eye and this month saw me embarking on a Weight Watchers regime.  It doesn't really feel like a diet and I am pleased with the 9lbs that I have lost ( I'm not mentioning the lbs I expect to put on at the retreat)!

As I am doing it on line I was able to take a screen shot of my achievement star and use that as the photo this month.

As you can see I still have a way to go to reach my goal of 8 stone or there about but it's a start.

 I wanted to look slimmer for my nephew's upcoming wedding as I hated the photos of me from his sister's wedding a couple of years ago.

 We are into April and I have another little 'get fit' project to start after the weekend!  You will have to wait to see what that one is!