52 Layouts Step-by-Step #13

Friday 31 August 2012

Friday means it's time for another 52 Layouts Step-by-Step and I'm up to number 13.

Here is what you will need to join in this week:
1 x card (there are two pictured but I actually only used one)
3 x patterned papers (again 4 pictured but I only used 3,  6 photos take up a lot of room!)
Alphabet stickers, big & small
A little envelope/bag
A few flower embellishments
6 photos capable of being trimmed. I have actually used one 6x4", two 4x4"s and three 2.5x2.5"

Step 1
Choose a background. Bear in mind that a lot of it is going to be covered up so don't use you favourite piece of paper!

Step 2
Cut a patterned paper to 8x8" and stick in the bottom left corner of the background.

Step 3
Cut another patterned paper to 5 1/2 x 7" and stick to the bottom right corner of the layout.

Step 4
Stick your little bag/envelope to the bottom right corner

Step 5
Trim your photos and mount them. One will be 6x4 and needs to be mounted onto 6 1/4 x 4 1/4, two are 4x4 so need to be mounted onto 4 1/4" square, and thee are 2.5 square which don't need to be mounted.

Step 6
Arrange your photos onto your layout and stick down.

Step 7
Make a journaling card to fit inside your envelope and handwrite on your journaling.

Step 8
Add some pretty flowers to your layout

Step 9
Create numbered labels for your photos using circle punches and your small alphabet stickers, then stick them onto your photos. Also while you're using the small alphabet stickers, also add a subtitle...

Step 10
Add your title using a mix of large and small alpha stickers.

and then you're done! A very busy, multiple photo layout! Multiphoto layouts are not easy simply because the photos take up so much room which doesn't leave much room for embellishment or for showing off the patterned papers below. Overall I was pleased with how it turned out even though it definitely presented me with a challenge! If you join in then please link your layouts below as I would love to see what you made...!

To join in next week you will need:
One sheet of cardstock plus another smaller piece
Two sheets of patterned paper and two smaller pieces
Die cut frame or shape
A few brads in different sizes
two 6x4 photos
Alphabets - big and small which I forgot to photograph!

See you next week!

August Week 5 Kit Release 'You've Been Flagged'

Wednesday 29 August 2012

This week's kit features some of the pretty & bright Echo Park 'Hello Summer' range which is perfect for the lovely sunny days we're having at the moment (alright I know we've only had a few but here's hoping!)
The kit contains 3 x Hello Summer patterned papers
2 x coordinating Bazzill cardstock
a few Maya Road velvet blooms

I took inspiration from the name of the paper range as my title as it summed up my photo quite perfectly.

I really love the journalling cards which were on one of the papers, so much scope for what to do with those.

I had to add a sheet of blue card to the second layout I made but made sure I made full use of those journalling cards again here.

LOVE those flags!


Kirei has also made use of the flags and make a feature out of one of the journalling cards. Have a look at her blog for more details on how she made it.

This week's kit costs just £4.50 and is available to purchase here. If you fancy a nice summery layout then this is the kit for you! Make sure you have a read about how you can get 4 (or 5!) of these kits delivered direct to your door each month for just £25 here.

Happy scrapping everyone!

Craft Room Re-vamp

Tuesday 28 August 2012

I've had a few days without huge amounts to do over the Bank Holiday weekend so I started by clearing out my loft which was a pretty big mission as there was LOADS of junk in there. My husband was very pleased with my efforts, little did he know though the reason I was doing that was so that my craft room could have a re-vamp with me moving a load of stuff into the loft...methinks he may have objected if he knew that was my primary intention but it was certainly a job that needed doing and I definitely did it well.

Moving onto my craft room, it was a bit of a nightmare. No where to put anything because it was full of stuff I rarely used but didn't know what else to do with and all the things I use regularly were in draws which were packed to bursting thus making those things quite inaccessible (or only accessible actually by moving a load of other stuff which usually ended up on the floor...)

These pictures are 'before' pictures although really they are more like 'during' as I had already started pulling stuff off my bookcase, shelves and out of draws:

 Now, take a look at this transformation!

Beautiful isn't it! I had to move furniture (and take everything off of it to do so), throw a lot of stuff out, pack other stuff up in boxes and I even had to do a bit of dusting (a very rare occurrence in my house, usually only worthy of friends or relatives visiting and then they don't visit my craft room really so what's the point?)
I'm making use of my shelves that were before just full of things I'd made which looked nice but didn't serve any practical purpose. Now they house my mists, glues, distress ink pads and ink tools, replacement foams (all of which were in a draw before - you know, one of those junk draws with everything in it and I could never find the colour foam I wanted), as well as stickers, die cuts, ribbons, flowers etc.

This is a very beautiful ribbon rack that my lovely Dad made, I haven't changed much on there but I thought it deserved a photo.

This is the part I am most proud of - I've brought in a new paper rack and all my 12x12 papers are organised by manufacturer, kits a the bottom and the two CD towers have been moved (dusted) and the stamps on them reorgansed. Those two tall shelves in the middle house my Thickers...
 
and now on to my bookshelves which did have an awful lot of magazines on them which are either now stored or disposed of (sob!) to make way for lots of yumminess: dies and clear stamps:
loose ribbons, chipboard shapes, ricrac, bakers twine, buttons, big shot
Copics, buttons, brads, gems, charms, eyelets, more marker pens, and more buttons

and finally a little pic of my adorable tiny tote which didn't get a makeover this weekend but did a couple of weeks ago so I think it deserves to go in there. I've got all my lush washi tape threaded through a ribbon that I can hook over my ruler in my tote so the washis can easily come with me when I go out crafting - the perfect solution!

One last look at my new and improved amazing craft room. In case you were wondering, that contraption on my desk is my video camera as I have now started making crafting videos that you will soon be able to find on here and youtube. I've not quite got to grips with crafting on camera but I'm getting better at it, now once I can master the editing software I'll be away so watch this space!

Thanks for looking and sorry for the epic amount of photos!


Only Scraps Allowed...netting

Monday 27 August 2012

Aaaaagggggghhhhhhhhhhh the Bank Holiday has thrown me - it's quarter past 10 and I've only just remembered I needed to post this week's Only Scraps Allowed challenge - it's normally up at 8am!

So a quick post from me this morning as I am having a productive BH weekend and giving my craft room a complete overhaul. It's currently in a HUGE mess as I'm re organising all my stash, bookshelves, draws and other storage but by the end of the day I'm hoping it will all be beautiful again and much easier for me to find the things I use most often. I have taken 'before' photos (well they are actually 'during' photos as I'd already started the process!) which I will post tomorrow, hopefully with beautiful 'after' photos too - we'll see as not only do I have to do all that today but we're also going to buy a new sofa and go out for lunch. I doubt they'll be time for any scrapping :o(

Anyway, this week's challenge: to use netting on your layout. It's something I have a fair amount of. I never buy it specifically but it tends to come with things and I have accumulated quite a lot of it over time so I thought I would try and put it to some use this wek.

I had a background paper in mind and pulled out some scraps that would match:

and here's my layout. The background paper was lovely (an older My Minds Eye range) so I didn't want to cover too much of it up, hence why everything is pretty much all in one place. I even resisted splattering that black space with ink spots this week!

A few pretty bits in the bottom left corner together with some netting that goes the whole way under my photos:

You can see the netting a bit better here. This is quite a stiff netting and I had a bit of trouble sticking it down. I eventual won by using ds tape under where I knew the title was going to go and using small amounts of glossy accents under the ends.

More netting at the top - this was more of a material type netting and way much easier to stick. I found that for both types, they needed at least two layers for them to show up and even then neither of the show up particularly well in the photos, but they are more obvious in real life I promise.

If you would like to join in this week then please make a layout using your paper scraps (one whole sheet allowed for the background) and add any embellishments and alphabet stickers you like. You must also include netting in your layout as that is this week's challenge. Just link your layouts below xx

Sketch Saturday - Crafting Superstar!

Saturday 25 August 2012

Morning Lovelies

It's Saturday again (where do the days go?!) and that means it's time for another fabulous sketch over at Sketch Saturday:






I made this card for my crafty friend Kirei's birthday, so firstly, happy birthday to her! Secondly, look closely at the girl I've coloured...she's holding a glue gun and has a copic behind her ear, and a reel of ribbon on her belt...she's a craft star! This image was absolutely perfect for Kirei. (It's from KennyK)

She was however tricky to colour. Some of the detail was absolutely tiny and I found those areas very hard to get the shading right. She also has a lot of hair and it had to be blonde as Kirei is blond but I find blonde hair hard to colour, I'm much better at browns! I could definitely improve in this area but hey ho, practice makes perfect!

I altered some prima flowers that were a bit too baby pink for the card and added a green brad to the middle. I also paper pierced holes around the green frame.  I really love the sentiment which I tried to make look as though it was hanging and there's some more of that fantastic pleated ribbon on there too.

This week's Sketch Saturday sketch is sponsored by The Craft Barn who are offering a fab prize of £10 to spend for this week's winner!

I'm entering this one into a few challenges this week: Papercrafting Journey which is 'Anything Goes', Inspired By  which is an inspiration photo, I took inspiration from the colours, Divas By Design  which is also 'Anything Goes', Fab n Funky Challenges which is 'Leaves' and finally Papertake Weekly which is 'Spots & Stripes' (striped background paper and spotty frame around the sentiment!)

Thanks very much for looking and make sure you pop over to join in at Sketch Saturday!