And the winner is...

We got some gorgeous double pages for our competition. I have put them all in the slide show for you to see, and i think you will agree they are all stunning.

The winner for this months competition is - Sue with this double page...

i love how she did all the journaling on the stars and the gorgeous colours on this page. Sue email me on wendy@bbbweb.com.

Thanks to all of you girls that entered and i will see you at the end of the month for another competition.

A Little More FP Daily Grind.....

My last blog post here this month, and today I thought I'd show you a layout that is little different from me.
I had some lovely bits still left from the other layout I did using the Daily Grind range, and wanted to do something in a different kind of style to my usual work.

You may by now have noticed that all pieces of paper I touch, just have to be inked around the edges.
It is like a compulsion. They do not look finished to me if they are just clean.

So for this layout, I made myself promise not to touch an inkpad.
And I didn't!!

I had quite a lot of the Cards paper left, so I cut it into all the individual card pieces.
I chose the 8 I wanted to use, and laid them out on the cardstock in the order I wanted to stick them down.
As each card measures 3 inches across, and I wanted to have 4 cards across the page and small gaps between them to show the base cardstock, I had to trim them all down a bit- on both of the longer edges.
Then using my corner rounder I rounded the top corners of the cards at the top of the page, and the bottom corners of the cards at the bottom of the page.

The cards were all then stuck to the page, trying to leave even gaps between and around them.
In the middle of the page I stuck down some of the Office Space paper. The piece I had left wasn't actually anything like wide enough to fit across the whole page, so I cut a small strip of one side, and stuck this to the very right of the page, and the rest to the left of the page. This gave the effect of the strip across the whole width.
I used a 6"x4" landscape photo, and stuck this to the right hand edge of the page in the middle between the two rows of cards.
Next I used two strips of some co-ordinating blue Bazzill card. I made decorative edges using the Fiskars Threading Water Border punch, and stuck these above and below the photo.

Lastly I added my title, using Pink Paislee cardstock alphabet stickers; and American Crafts Platforms Thickers in Red. I stuck these all on top of another of the Cards, trimmed after the word Love had been stuck onto it.

I wrote my journalling below the title.
And here is the completed page...

This layout is so different to me, but I love how it turned out.
It is a clean simple design, no fuss, no frills... and it used up a few scraps into the bargain.

Ok, so I have now gone and ordered some more of this range from Vanessa... but we can keep that between ourselves... can't we?!

Fancy Pants... "The Daily Grind"

Oooooh.... a fabulously lovely bright and bold range here, this time from Fancy Pants.
We are talking the "Daily Grind" range.
I love the quality of these great heavyweight papers- and best of all, they are double sided.

I asked Wendy if I could have a play with some.... these are the sheets she sent me
And here is what I did with them...

I chose my background sheet, which is Notebook Doodles

I chose to use the reverse, I totally love the beautiful blue colour, it is covered in dots, and the doodling around the edges is great.

The next paper I used is Break Time

This paper I loved both sides in equal measure, but first used the black dotty side- I started by drawing a bracket shaped edged piece on the front side, (avoiding the flowery bottom section, as I was going to use that next) which I then cut out; I then inked around the edges of the reverse side.

Using the bottom part of this sheet, I carefully cut around some of the flowers and doodles....



Now go back to the first sheet of paper.
What I wanted to do, was to cut a slot in the blue paper, along the doodled line, to slip the flowery paper behind.

To do this. first lie the flowery piece over the blue paper, to see where you need to cut from and to... I marked both ends with a pin prick.
Carefully cut long this line with a craft knife.
Slip the flowery paper through the slit you have cut.
I also wanted to have the flowers overlapping the edge I had just put the paper through, so had to cut small slits in that paper to to make it fit.

Next I started to build up the layers.
Taking the Office Space sheet,

I cut two pieces, one about 8 " by 8"; the other about 1 1/2" by 6". I inked the edges on the stripey side of the larger one, and the grid side of the smaller one.

Now it was time to stick these two pieces, and the bracket, into place.

I sanded the edges of the photo, inked around the edges, and matted it onto another piece of the Break Time paper.

Next I used the Cards paper....

... and I chose two to cut out. One I then trimmed a little to add more interest, rather than just having them the same size.

Add the photo and cards to the page. The smaller card I fixed down with foam pads to add a little height.

Now it was time to add the details.
In the the centre of the two biggest flowers, I added a Prima flower, and a button... I tied the centres with a small piece of embroidery thread.

I also added two Fancy Pants pins to one of them.
For the title i used American Crafts Thickers

The journalling was written on thin strips of card, inked around the edges.

Lastly I added a little doodling to the page, some dots around the edges of the photo, and a few extra outlined edges here and there to make things like the edges of the flowers stand out more.

And here is the completed page...

This is such a fun range of papers to work with, I can't wait to see what I can create with what I have left.

Autumn Leaves CuteWorld

I'm not normally an Autumn Leaves fan, mainly due to their papers being lightweight- (I prefer heavyweight), nor am I a fan of overly cutesy baby papers.
But when I saw this range up on the Papermaze store I decided I had to give them a try.
My brother and his fiancee recently had an adorable baby girl, and these papers are just oh so cute- I had to scrap a page featuring her with this range.
When the package arrived the colours immediately told me exactly which photo to use, so I set to work.

Here are the basics I had to use to make my page, some Bazzill cardstock and a selection of girls papers from the Autumn Leaves Cuteworld range.

The papers seemed to remind me of a soft baby patchwork blanket, their lovely pastel colours, so to show this idea on my page I decided to get my sewing machine out and use lots of stitching- something I haven't used on my pages for quite some time!

I started my page with the Die Cut Flower Blossom paper. It is a beautiful big shape, and at first I really wasn't sure quite how I was going to include it on my page.
I'm a big fan of layering, but I needed to keep as much of this paper on show as I could, yet without it totally dominating the page.
I inked the edges using a cats eye chalk inkpad- these are my favourite inks to edge with as the shape means you can get into all the little nooks and crannies of all sorts of shaped items.
Then I sewed all around the edge.

To carry on the blanket idea, I decided to cut lots of squares from the other two papers- Adorable and Precious. On the computer you can't see the beautiful pearly sheen of the "Adorable" paper- trust me, it is lovely.

Next I spaced out all the squares on my base cardstock, lying the die cut flower over the top. There is no point covering the base with squares when half of them wouldn't be seen!

I then inked all the squares edges.
Using a small piece of double sided tape in the middle of each square fix them down.

To carry on the patchwork blanket idea I wanted to sew around the edges of each square using my sewing machine. This adds interest and texture.
Whilst quite a tricky and time consuming technique, it was worth all the effort.
After sewing tidy up by pulling all the threads through to the back, trim, and secure with tape.

As I already said, I do like my layers, so I added a two pieces on top of the die cut flower as a mat for the photo.

I also cut a small white mat of cardstock for the photo, and again I sewed around the edges.

The photo I then stuck onto the layers.

For the title, I chose Scenic Route Capitol Hill chipboard letters To carry on the stitching theme, I doodled stitches around the edges with a brown zig pen.

I felt the page didn't need to be overly embellished as there is alot of pattern in the papers, so I simply stamped a heart onto transparancy, and cut out; then punched a small retro flower from one of the papers.

Strips for the journalling, date and first word of the title I cut from the white cardstock, inked the edges, wrote on, then mounted onto the page using foam pads.

I love the resulting page, and have proved to myself I can happily use Atumn Leaves papers.

Here are a couple of detail shots...

.... and the finished page...



I hope you feel inspired to go get the sewing machine out and add some extra texture to your pages.

workshops.

So the workshops for November are up on the website. There are no pictures up at the minute, but the images will be up shortly. But i thought i would show you them on here and give you so information on what each will be about.

Accordian Album - Wednesday 5th november and starts at 7.30 - 9.30.

The workshop will show you how to make this from scratch.It is made up from one sheet of card, using the new Ambrosia line from Basic Grey. It comes with four folds for space for photos and journaling.2 hour class includes all materials you need, but you do need to bring tools and glue etc etc, and refreshments 9 if Vanessa has been baking the refreshments are normally homemade and extremely scrummy!!! and the workshop takes place in the shop . Takes place in the shop.

the imagine shown is just the front cover.

One sheet box - 12th November -

this workshop take you from beginning to end of making the box. These boxes are made out of one sheet of pattern paper or card and are a great idea for present giving. once you know how to make them, you can use the idea over and over again. There is a matching card to go with it to use up the scraps. This workshop is in the shop and you need to bring your general cropping stuff, scissors, glue etc.
Crafters Workshop page - 20th November -

I love the crafters workshop templates, but i have had a few conversations with people who find them daunting. So i have put together a workshop with tops and ideas of how to get the best out of these templates. During this class you will put together a page using this template. This class is being held at the shop and starts at 7.30. bring your general cropping tools and glues with you.


Advent Calender - 29th November

This is the Saturday class for the month of November. The advent calender is put together using the Making Memories Fa la la La line. You will make is from scratch, it also comes with a matching origami box to keep the tags in when you take them out over the month ( so you dont lose them as i know i would!!! lol.

I dont have a photo of this one yet as i am tweeking it , but the photo will be up over the next week.
The December classes are up as well, but i dont have any photos to share of them at the moment, but i will have shortly.

If you have any questions regarding any of the classes please let me know. I have my fingers crossed that all the supplies are going to be in next week so i can get the workshops up online for you to buy. i will keep you updated!!!!