Better Late Than Never! Part 1 (Chinese Whispers)

Today I am going to share the first of the Chinese Whisper Groups from our Retreat - hence the title Better Late Than Never as I had intended to add these in the weeks after the retreat rather than months after!

So for those of you unfamiliar with the Chinese Whispers Challenge it goes like this:

The group starts off with a sketch. This group started with this sketch used with the kind permission of Miyuki Kawakami.

The first person in the group works from this sketch to make their layout and then photographs it and posts the picture of just their layout to the next person who uses that as the basis for their layout.

As the chain progresses elements will inevitably be moved around, swapped for other items and the layout design is tweaked.

When the retreat comes around everyone puts their layouts for the challenge up on the wall in order and we all get to see how the design has evolved as the challenge has progressed.

So without further ado here are the layouts from this group.

Layout 1 by Mel Hand

Layout 2 by Antonia Sturt Hammond



















Layout 3 by Flick Rogers

Layout 4 by Louise Squires



















Layout 5 by Tracy Annunziato



















Layout 6 by Mel Eagles



















Layout 7 by Debbie Jewell



















Layout 8 by Helen Howden


















 
Layout 9 by Erin Muir




















I think you will agree that it is fascinating to see which elements have been taken by each designer to use in their own layout and which have been set aside. The final layout is very different from the starting sketch and that is the fun of the Chinese Whispers challenge!

I have two more groups to post, it's taken me a couple of months to post these but hopefully the wait for group 2 will be a little shorter!!

May Virtual Crop Class 2 with Mel

Hello and welcome to class two from todays Virtual Crop. This month I challenged myself to work with the Graphic 45 Flutter collection. Graphic 45 and me are not natural bedfellows, I admire the things other people make with it, I often love a couple of the patterns but I struggle to make it fit with my style. However, I really liked some of the florals in this collection and the bold colours were right up my street so I threw caution to the wind and signed myself up for this kit!

I made three layouts and am really pleased with the outcome. For this class I made a basic sketch and then altered it three ways to get my three layouts.

Click Here for the sketch and full instructions

Here are two of the layouts...

Don't forget to share your creations over on the ATDML # Create Facebook page and join us at 2pm for our final class of the day with Debbie.

Virtual Crop Weekend Challenge - Album Covers Edition 2

Hello and welcome back to the Album Covers Challenge. It was great to see several people joining in and posting their layouts based on The Beach Boys' That's Why God Made The Radio from our January challenge. (It's not too late to go back and have a go at that one!)

This month our album cover is No Doubt's "Tragic Kingdom" Album. It was their third studio album and was released in October 1995 - for me that meant it coincided with my first term in sixth form and I can remember "Don't Speak" one of the tracks on this album playing on our sixth form common room speakers quite a lot!

I am a fan of a big circle so I loved this album cover and, as before I found it helpful to make a sketch to plan my layout. In this instance I substituted a 4x6 photo in place of the foreground figure.

I sorted through and wanted to use some of the Paige Evans Whimsical collection but took nods from the blue and yellow in the album artwork. When it started to come together I had to flip my design so that the photo was on the right and the embellishment cluster on the left as the photo I wanted to use had Olivia looking towards the left and I usually prefer my subject to look towards the middle of the page rather than off to the side.

For the title I dug out some Thickers in a blocky font to match those on the album artwork and, although they didn't make it onto the sketch I noticed the flies on the edge of the circle on the album cover and added some clouds to echo their placement.

I hope this gives you a little inspiration before the Virtual Crop tomorrow. Don't forget to join us tomorrow morning at 10am for our first class. Over on the ATDML # Create Facebook Page we would love to see what you are scrapping and if you have a go at this challenge please do upload it to the Album Covers Challenge Gallery.

November 2018 Sketch Challenge

Dolly here again with a new sketch challenge for you. There will be a sketch for you every month, featuring on the second Saturday of the month.

I hope that you find the sketches useful and remember, a sketch is just like a starting block for your own creative process. Sometimes a sketch will inspire you to create a page that looks very similar to the sketch. Sometimes it will just be something within the sketch that inspires you such as the colours, the photo placement, the grouping of embellishments. Your Page may end up looking very different to the sketch. It doesn’t matter at all. If it inspires you to create something it has fulfilled it’s sketch destiny!

So here is the November sketch.

My pages will always look very like the sketch … yours does not have to.

This month I used papers from Simple Stories A Charmed Life found here 

I love the Simple Stories papers as they are really good quality, are double-sided and I love the cards that come with each collection.

Have fun with the sketch and do share what you create on our facebook page.

October 2018 Sketch Challenge

Hi Everyone. Dolly here and this is my first blog post so treat me gently! 

I don’t know about you, but I love a sketch to get my mojo started. Sometimes my finished page looks a lot like the sketch, and at others, it is hard to see where the sketch has gone. But actually, that doesn’t matter. The sketch has done its job if it sparks that creative process, no matter how you use it.

I am thrilled to be back as a part of the team at ATDML and one of the things I would like to do is bring you a new sketch each month in the hope that it will spark your creative process. Sometimes it might be a very traditional sketch, as this one is. Other times, well I might just be a little more ‘off the wall’.

Anyway, here is a very simple sketch for my first month. I hope you enjoy creating something based on it, no matter how loosely.

I used it as the inspiration for this page using the gorgeous Come Away With Me papers by Graphic 45. It is also a sketch that is great for using up scraps of papers. For example, the strip down the left-hand side was a small strip I had but worked perfectly as a side border. The two strips of vertical map paper tucked under the right-hand side and the strip under the dotted paper at the bottom are really little strips (no I don’t throw anything away) just inked and tucked under.

Finally, the journaling block I had, from the same set of papers, was too big for the page so I cut the middle section out, stuck it back together to make a smaller journaling block and covered the join with a word strip. Yes, I cheat – all of the time!

This is my page 

Have fun with the sketch and I look forward to seeing what you create. Do come over to the ATDML # Create Facebook page and share your pages!

UKScrappers Sponsor's Hide & Seek - Challenge 1

UKScrappers has joined with ATDML to bring you this challenge.

Karen AKA Scrapdolly has provided this sketch for you to use as the basis for a scrapbook page.

It should work quite easily and we hope you have fun with it.

Don't forget to come over to the ATDML # Create Facebook page and leave a comment on the post related to this challenge to show you have participated and to upload your completed page to the UKS Gallery - We will be choosing a favourite to win a £10 voucher to spend at ATDML

Retreat Sketch challenge

I always have liked a sketch to kick start a layout and at the retreat last weekend we had a sketch as one of the challenges. I rotated the sketch 180 degrees so most of those shared over the weekend had the pair of photos in the bottom right corner whilst mine sit in the top left.

I sprayed some ink on the background cardstock and added some distress stain splats/ I then mounted each of my photos and added them to a larger photo mat but offset them from each other. I then used the elements pack that came with these Kaisercraft papers to embellish around the photos and cut the title from a paper in the same collection.

If you created a page based on the sketch why not share it below ( or a link to it) so we can see how varied they all are. And if you have't had a go, it's not too late, go be inspired!

Going Underground - Cybercrop Sketch Challenge

We thought you might like a little sketch challenge to warm you up for the cybercrop weekend and with the underground theme what would you expect from a sketch other than one based on the famous logo?

If you fancy playing along just grab whatever supplies you have to hand and interpret the sketch however you like. I have shared a layout based on the sketch (using October Afternoon papers) but you could do a card or a minibook cover or even a tweak it for a 4x6 page to include on a project life page.

Here is my illustrated layout based on the sketch featuring my favourite Mr Cardle. I'm a little in love with my Distress Stains right now, maybe almost as much as Mr C. I've used them in ink the edges and make the ink splats on this page.

We have a challenge folder over on our Facebook page if you fancy sharing your challenge with us or leave a comment below with a link to your page. Have fun!

**Cybercrop Challenge 4** SKETCH IT!

Shhh, almost time for bed, but before you go, or maybe first thing tomorrow here is a sketch challenge for you. Take the sketch below, supplied by our very own Jane, and use it to inspire a layout or card.

Of course we have a couple of Design Team illustrations for you. 

Karen Moss uses Simple Stories Destinations papers in her Bologna Babes layout replacing the circle with a giant luggage tag and swaps the photo placement on the far right with the journalling block on the far left.

Katherine's Jet Ski Layout

For this challenge I shrunk down the sketch and placed the circle up in the top section of the page. I used the lovely Websters Pages Sunday picnic papers to document our family fun at legoland

Jane's Canvas 

For this challenge I was keen to use my latest photos of my niece Daisy who is now back in our lives after a 4 year absence. I made my layout on a canvas that had been painted with a dark cream acrylic paint. I chose the Echo Park 'Times and Seasons' papers because I wanted a daisy design but my niece is not a 'girly' girl so I didn't want a pink or overly flowery theme. Some plain white 'daisy like' paper flowers and 'Roller Rink' Thickers completed my canvas.

Dawn's Happy Days layout features Simple Stories papers and sticking pretty close to the original sketch format for a fresh summary page.

As always we'd love to see your creations so when you are done, some share them on this post using the inlinkz tool and maybe win a little something crafty from us. We will be back again tomorrow morning for the final day of our cybercrop. Enjoy and feel free to post some late night chat telling us how you are getting along this weekend. Just leave us a comment!

February Sketch

For the February sketch, Ann and I have used the beautiful Lost and Found 2 range by My Mind's Eye.

Ann has moved her photographs down the page and centralised the bottom photo. She used her page to celebrate her meeting with Matt Cardle.

I took the sketch more literally and positioned my photographs as in the sketch but I decided to mount my photos and embellishments onto blocks of patterned paper.

My page was used to celebrate a fabulous family walk a couple of years ago.

So there you are two very different layouts from the same sketch.

Musings on Sketches and a Challenge

I have signed up for an online course that focuses on developing your sketches and that made me wonder. How many of you use sketches. Are they your own sketches or do you use well know sketch sites for inspiration. I do both but I also 'scrap from scratch' too. The first task, for the online course, was to think about things you like about your pages and to incorporate them into a sketch. After doing this I made this sketch and then this made me think - how do you make your sketches, do you make them in a computer program or do you draw them.

I do both of these too. I sometimes use Word to make my sketches but equally I have little note books and scraps of paper with sketches on - sometimes you don't have your laptop with you when inspiration hits.

So this is my interpretation of the sketch - it has things I like such as journaling strips, layering, buttons and pearls and 1 large photo.

I have stuck pretty rigidly to the sketch (something I don't usually do) and the MME Madison Avenue papers worked perfectly with the photo.

So tell us - to sketch or not to sketch, that is the question?

***Added by Mel***

I love Karens layout and the accompanying sketch. We have a £10 ATDML shopping voucher to giveaway to one blog reader who uses Karens sketch to create their own layout. I will hold my hand up and say that Ann is the whizz with the link tool thing not me and I don't know how to add that sooooo.... upload your page to your blog or online gallery and link in the comments box to be entered. We will pick a winner on Sunday 29th January at 8pm

Sketch Challenge - Are you playing along?

Mel posted the sketch challenge for February earlier this week and I noticed that a layout I did at the last ATDML retreat could very well have been inspired by this sketch. The strips are a great way of using up scraps of paper and card with your border punches, or maybe you have some off cuts of lace or ribbon that could be used?


My Pizza layout uses Basic Grey paper ribbons from the Max & Whiskars collection. These are great for adding to your layouts and cards and last forever! I thought this pack was a nice neutral set that could be used for many occasions and it coordinates well with the Crate Paper School Spirit range as well.

I used both the paper ribbons and the Crate paper collection on this layout which I also created at the last retreat based on a scraplift from fellow DT member Suzanne Torr.


The sketch challenge is open until March 5th so why not set aside some time to play along in the next few weeks? You could win a £10 ATDML voucher too!

Sketch Challenge

We haven't had a sketch challenge for a while so here is another for you. Just use the sketch below as inspiration and create a layout or card with it. Upload to your blog or online gallery (UKS, 2Peas etc) and post a comment on this post with a link to your entry. Closing date is 5th March 2011.

We will pick a winner and send them a £10 ATDML shopping voucher which should be just in time to use it on some brand new CHA goodies!

November Sketch Winner!

Our sketch winner this month was Scrappy Sarah with her bright and funky layout. Sarah drop me an email and i will send you your gift voucher!

Remember Remember The Sketch of November

In THIS POST Ann posted our retreat sketch challenge and opened it up to blog readers. You have got to be in it to win it so get creating with the sketch and link to it in the comments on that post!

Happy Scrapping!

The retreat news continues & the November sketch

As promised I'm back bringing you more news from the 7th ATDML retreat last weekend. Sunday morning saw the crop room in rays of glorious autumn sunshine and after a hearty full english breakfast it was crafting time again, the classroom filling up this time for a festive minibook taught by yours truly. Known amongst those who took the class as "the class the just keeps on giving!" the lovely Echo Park Merry Christmas papers, a few sheets of cardstock and some serious cutting out lead to this 12 tales of Christmas minibook being made - all ready for photos from the forthcoming holiday season.

Clare taught next in the classroom with her ATC/Mini Album class using 7Gypsies products. Again lots of lovely variations of this created by class attendees, all very happy with their projects.

Sunday lunch up next, always a very popular roast and this year did not disappoint. The dessert did cause quite a bit of a stir with waiters almost being bowled over in the rush to secure one of the very pretty cheesecake desserts that were initally in short supply!

The raffle was drawn just after lunch and over £400!! was raised for Cancer Research which included proceeds from the sale of raffle tickets, from the silent auction bids and from the sale of Christmas cards some delegates had made in advance. Many thanks to everyone for their generosity in both donating raffle prizes and cards, and indeed in purchasing tickets.

Tomorrow we will share the last of the classes for the weekend and some more challenge layouts, but to close for today, the sketch challenge entries and of course the sketch.
Congrats to Jackie who won this challenge with her Princess layout - especially nice as she had to leave the retreat early due to feeling unwell.

We haven't forgotten that we need to post the winner for the September sketch challenge, that will follow next week when normal blog business resumes after all this delicious retreat news! Until then let this be your November sketch, post your layout or card inspired by this sketch here to be in with a chance to win a £10 ATDML Store voucher. You have until November 30th to play along! Back tomorrow with the penultimate day of retreat news

September Sketch 2

Here is the second sketch for September. I love this sketch for using up lots of photos from a single event or place where you don't have a stand out photo that can carry a whole layout on it's own.

Remember, if you have a go at this sketch load it to an online gallery or your blog and post a link on this post (or the post for September Sketch 1) Deadline for linking is Midnight on September 30th.

Enjoy!

PS New stuff being added as we speak to New Products, some of it is showing but there is more that is uploaded but turned off as it is due in on Monday!