TWO MORE PROJECTS FINISHED WOO-HOO

Well as I promised two more projects completed - woo hoo, the first is my first piece of 'art work' for around the home, It's basically card, paper, flowers, stitching, inking, ribbons, wire - pretty much anything I could lay my hands on easily in the right colour scheme. Close ups below


I also used some Tim Holtz swirls and glossy accents, brads and some tiny glass beads in black, the thread I used was out of my embroidery box and it's one of the skeins that changes colour, I never saw the point of them when I used to cross stitch but they kind of come into their own on one of these pieces


My gorgeous other half cut out the chipboard backing, which I painted black and then came up with a fool proof way of hanging it without the need for knots and eyelets, both of which he said may have been difficult to line up!

We then stuck the red card down onto the chipboard with hot glue gun, which caused a few burnt fingers but did the trick!

Really pleased with it!

And finally my canvas it's been a work in progress for the last few weeks, everyone seemed to have been doing canvases, this is mine, all mine! Techniques used included stamping, embossing, painting, cut out tribal heart, blonde moment pigment pearls. It's a good size canvas about 20 inch by 16 inch, want to do a bigger one now!

Hope you are all having a great bank holiday weekend!

A PROJECT FINISHED

Well as I promised myself, first ongoing project finally finished. It's another box frame book, just shows you how versatile they are, all the ones I've made in the larger sizes have been given as gifts, this one however, is for little old me. I've used an Ikea frame that I bought as a twin pack, it's brilliant because the 'glass' is actually plastic! So even if it gets dropped it won't break! I put the book together not quite knowing for what purpose (ie what to document), finally documented my little brother's Christening, he'll be 27 this year and he was about 6 months old when he was Christened. It's strange to scrap something so old, particularly as I have only vague recollections of it but it's also lovely as my Mum's photos tend to just be in a giant box!


The lettering in the book and on the front are the same font, the ones in the frame were cut out on thin chipboard, painted teal and then covered in glossy accents. The frame needed a really good sand to get the paint to adhere well but it was worth it, distressed with teal and silver paint.


Inside the book five pockets with pull out tags, each tag was inked on the edges, I used a paper arsty stamp to highlight the edges, did fake stitching and used the new Jesse Edwards papermania papers together with some K and Company off cuts I had left over!

Simple white ribbons for the tags

Vivaldi font gives it a more classic feel, finished with buttons and stickles

Pale green cardstock backed the photos

Pale blue cardstock for the base

Photos of people like my Nannan who aren't here anymore

And photos of my Dad, so proud on the day

The beginnings of good friendships

And such a happy photo of my Grandad

So a finished project at last, what next?

CITRUS AND MORE WELSH LAYOUTS!

Well more double page layouts for our Welsh album, the first is a double page layout containing loads of photos that we took whilst wandering around Conway castle, the red in my son's coat really seems to lift the photos so I've added the odd red accent to finish it off.


The next photo is using some of the gorgeous citrus papers I was sent - can you spot it? It's actually the paper used across the middle of the layout, once again I've covered up the pre-printed 'border' to give a more uniform look, I've also painted some chipboard letters that I've never used because I didn't like the design! The stars are from a pack I bought down at The Craft Box at Elsecar and the note paper is my own make, simply some white scrapbook paper with hole punched along the top and a piercing tool used to create the ripped look! I wasn't sure if I liked this look initially but now I've grown quite fond of it!

Some up close details of my third citrus layout, this design used the layout that we did at the Craft Box at Elsecar with my own spin on it as usual, utilising a bit of paper weaving, initially I tried to retain the border detail on the citrus paper but eventually gave up and covered with some torn black cardstock. The page was coming together when I found the black cobweb and spider stickers I'd bought from the Craft Box last year, I couldn't believe my luck! They really pulled the page together!

I chose a plain background stamp on the citrus paper to stop it looking quite so plain and used some of the citrus letters Sarah had sent me as the title with added spiders of course! My challenge for this weekend is to try and finish some projects off and once completed I'll obviously photograph and come back to you to show you the detail!

SEEING DOUBLE AND ALL THINGS CITRUS

Well one Saturday morning I happened along to UK Scrappers to find someone giving away two lots of stash! I popped along to the blog http://sarahk-scrapblog.blogspot.com/ and put my comments and believe it or not I was the second person to comment and woo hoo, I actually won something! There were two giveaways including a 12 x 12 album, a pack of citrus papers, citrus brads, citrus flowers and half a pack of letters in citrus of course!

When they first arrived I stroked them (quite happily) and then moved photos around them quite a lot, there was something that didn't quite work, all the pages have a plain background with a design on the side of the page and there are two of each page in the pack, perfect for my double page layouts of my Welsh holiday album, then it dawned on me, this design on the page made the page feel half done and it was driving me mad, so I ripped up some paper, stuck it down and set to with a needle and thread. I stamped the background papers with some gorgeous blonde moments stamps and got out some bright cardstock and bright ribbon! Page one below

Page 2

A view of the double page spread, I was really happy with it once it was done and it fits lovely inside my album (the new one from the give away!)

Monday night came around and it was scrapbook night down at the Craft Box at Elsecar http://www.thecraftbox.biz/ and another fantastic page courtesy of Sandra, now the problem was that I still wasn't quite upright, but my other half thought I was going stir crazy in the house so he drove me there, left me an hour and then picked me back up which meant that I could at least get out of these four walls that feel like they've imprisoned me for the last few weeks whilst I've been suffering with my back. The page was gorgeous using Basic Grey papers and I loved the layout (it's not the next photo but the one after - still can't get used to how blogger loads up the photos lol), the only issue the fact that the title was prepared for a layout in my Welsh holiday album which is primarily double page layouts, so the only way to resolve the issue was to buy extra paper and create a matching page. The page I created when I got home is below followed by the layout we did in class - thank you Sandra - you'll be pleased to know I've used the page again to create something a little different I'll photo that later!

JUST TO FINISH A PROJECT

Occasionally I start a project with only so much of the project in mind, this means that I get to a point when it then stops waiting for the flash of inspiration to finish it off. Problem is my scrapping table is currently full of such project, however here are glimpses of what I'm on with another frame book, using a square frame from Ikea, I wanted to do this to see if I could make it with the cardstock I had, but not sure what I'm going to use it for - LOL so it's stopped for the timebeing.



Got a freebie from UKScrappers recently, someone clearing out their stash and giving it away for free, received some citrus papers, flowers and brads, got stuck initially how to use them but on with a layout now.



A hanging display for the home, spelling out the word home - just not sure how to display it so many options, from backing on chipboard and eyeletting together to sticking each individual piece to individual canvases!




And finally my canvas, still not finished it, work in progress, I get to a point when I think almost done, but then think it's lacking again, considering some modelling paste to finish it now!

My crafting is saving me from the frustration of my bad back, that and the inspirational blogs I get to read, hope everyone is having a good day.

ANOTHER FRAME BOOK

Well I'm finally able to post this box frame book that I made for my sister, she needed it for a wedding she was attending. I love making these, they are so much fun and each one is so very different! This first picture shows inside the book and the first pocket.


A look from the top, showing the frame on the front, the book and the pockets behind, I included the two initials inside the frame which I stamped and then embossed with UTEE


As always when doing something like this I got my other half to make a box for the book to fit in, that way it's made to measure and can be decorated to match the project.


The front cover below gives a slightly better shot of the book, the frame on the front was bought from a pound shop, sanded, painted and distressed to match the gorgeous papers that I bought at the Craft Box at Elsecar, the letters were cut out of thin chipboard, covered in paper, stamped with stazon ink using a magenta stamp (also bought at the Craft Box ages ago - one of my favourite stamps of all time), applied several layers of UTEE before the final touch - a little bit of ribbon wrapped around the letters and then stuck down, before the frame was placed over the top once the glass was secured.

FOR COUSIN'S NEW BABY

Well my cousin has just had a baby girl that she desperately craved for after two boys and so whilst I've been laid up with my bad back I've managed over several days to produce this. It's a book with a frame on the front and inside it has pockets with pull out tags, the original idea came from a Project class run at the Craft Box at Elsecar - http://www.thecraftbox.biz/ where we did a small square frame onto a book.

The frame I've used is 7" x 5" and was bought for a pound, my other half has then removed the metal pegs from the back and sanded it for me! I've then painted the frame with acrylic paints, he made me the book that it attaches to and then I've made five envelopes inside, it's a great size to include photos and even momentos from the hospital like the wrist band etc. Once I've got her new address I'll be safely packing it up to be sent to her - hope she likes it - it's always nice to do something pink for a change!

I'M ALSO UPRIGHT AND I'VE MANAGED TO FINISH A BOOK

Well I'm nearly almost upright which means I can spend more than 5 minutes in a chair at a time, the second trip to the chiropractor seems to have made a BIG difference - hurray! So I managed to finish my "Family" book off, I started it when I was really poorly so didn't really consider the colours which then became an issue. Thankfully I found some photos from a great family get together last year that lent themselves to all things bright and cheerful, so away I went. I've used papers from the Spring Stack from DCWV and added flowers, fibres, and ribbons that I had in my stash. I've definitely got an addiction to the flowers that I bought at Craft Den in Sheffield, http://www.craftden.co.uk because they've already got the bling going on they can be used with great ease. Hope you're all having a fabulous sunday!

WHAT A START TO THE WEEK!

Well Sunday was spent putting up new scrapping storage - which looks adorable, so yesterday was supposed to be the tweaking phase with plenty of chill out time, getting everything just right, with a little scrapping to follow and a scrapbook class to enjoy yesterday evening at the Craft Box at Elsecar - but NO my back had other ideas - I've trapped my sciatic nerve in a monumental way! Cannot sit or lay without being in absolutely awful pain. Spent most of yesterday laid (albeit painfully) on the bed as I couldn't face climbing the stairs to the bathroom again! It got so bad I ended up bent double, watched Over the Hedge followed by Shaun the Sheep!

This morning - no better, so what does that actually mean - it means I can't drag myself out of bed, I can't get dressed, I can't shower without assistance, I can't get little man ready for school, I can't drive pretty much a long list of 'I can'ts' so dear husband phoned work explained situation, took little man to school and I've phoned a chiropractor - who I'm seeing at 11.30am - it's gonna cost £60 and £30 for each appointment thereafter but if she can get me upright again and functioning then I'll gladly pay it question is how long is it going to take to get into the car!

Pray the chiropractor is good and that she does manage to make a difference because I have far too much on at work to have this kind of set back! Dear Husband popped down to Craft Box at Elsecar last nigth to pick up my papers etc for the class I was missing together with copious amounts of photos as a prompt but if I'm honest i'm not sure if I'm going to manage to do it from home! Hey ho - let's hope the day gets better.