A scrappy Saturday

For some reason I woke up at the crack of dawn today - I do vaguely remember hearing my phone beep some time during the night - a text from hubby at 4am (he has been in the Far East for a week and is struggling to remember what day it is let alone work out the time difference!!)

So I made a cup of tea and make a start on Shimelles latest Scrapbook Starting Point that I had seen the previous evening. Earlier in the week I was looking through a box of older photos and found loads I now want to scrap - including this gorgeous one of Callum taken several years ago during a walk on a local beach. Then I found a bag of scraps of October Afternoon papers left over from previous projects - different collections but they all seem to go together - and this is what I came up with. You can see Shimelles original blog post here.

The alphabet stickers are by Doodlebug (I didn't realise till the other day that this company is still alive and kicking - their papers were some of the very first I bought when I started this hobby.) The leaf is a Stampin Up die.

Then I had a look at this weeks challenge over on UKS - this week it is to use the colour green, use at least 2 pearls and a quote by Shakespeare. I usually avoid quotes on my pages as they often seem a bit contrived - but I did a Google search and came up with "Off with his head" which is from King Richard III, Act III, Scene IV. It fitted my photos of the boys perfectly. They were taken at Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness back in 2008 - their cousins had come over from the US and they had all met up for the very first time. Luckily they all got on like a house on fire but some ill advised adult bought them all a plastic sword each!! I apologise to anyone who was at the castle that day who was subject to their running battles - but they had a ball!!.

October Afternoon papers again, the border is an EK Success giant scallop punch and the title is a Sizzix die set called Go Go Boots.

267/365+1 : On Your Desk

I have to admit my desk isn't usually this tidy - but my computer screen has been playing up (flashing on and off for 10 minutes before it warms up and stays on) so I had to clear some of the clutter off it so Andy could have a look. But it is terminal and a new screen is required :-(

I thought I would make the most of some clear space on my desk and actually do some crafting. I dug out some very old papers and a couple of photos from last summer to have a go at Shimelle's latest Starting Point Challenge. It is finished and I will pop back tomorrow to show you the result.

Scrapbook Starting Point

I have to admit when I saw this weeks Starting Point Challenge from Shimelle I wasn't over struck by it - maybe it was her black and white colour scheme I'm not sure. Saying that we haven't yet seen her finished page which will no doubt be stunning.

Here is her starting point:



And here is mine:



And this is the finished page. I have used old October Afternoon Detours papers. October Afternoon has to be one of my favourite manufacturers and I have bought several sets of this line over the years. I love the bold flowery paper but think it is just too "in your Face.But as the background to this page I think it looks fine - with the grid paper in the centre it seems to tone it down a bit.

I love my new accordion flower dies from Sizzix - have a feeling I will be using these lots.







Now for the story behind the photo: After just over a week in the US Sam was growing a bit tired of the food - even a 14 year old gets fed up with the "fries with everything" style of cuisine. When we arrived at our apartment in Destin we had to head out to Walmart for provisions and Sam specifically asked for yogurt and fruit as he was really missing it. So we came back with apples, bananas, grapes and strawberries and a hug pot of strawberry yogurt. We really miss the orange juice they have over there - it was beautiful and so cheap - and to Sam's delight it came in 5 litre containers!!

And what a view when you are eating your breakfast!!

Scrapbook Starting Point

Another fab challenge from Shimelle. Here is her starting point:



And here is mine:




































I used October Afternoon Weathervane papers which I found tucked away in an old pizza box. The large flower is thanks to Irene at my local crop last Sunday. I have 4 sizes of the EK Success retro flower punches - but she had a fifth and so much bigger one that I had never seen before - and she had brought it along with her so that I could have a shot!! I also used a sizzix die for the swirls and an X Cut punch for the butterfly.

The photo is of my niece Laura taken at a viewpoint as we drove up to our cabin in The Smoky Mountains during our holiday.

Scrapbook Starting Points

Today is the last day to upload entries for last weeks Scrapbook Starting Point - here is what Shimelle gave us:




And here is my starting point:




And this is the finished page. It is of my niece Laura taken on Destin Beach in Florida a month before her 16th birthday.





The papers 365 Degrees by Pink Paislee as are the alphabet stickers - I rarely buy stickers - as much as I love the speed of using a sticker I always think they are quite expensive and I usually end up with a third of a sheet of odd letters left over.

Red Ribbons September Fun Weekend

Challenge six was to scrap a LO in under an hour. Now I am the worlds worst faffer and can leave a page on my desk for days and every time I look at it I will move something or add something until I am happy with it.

For this page I went back to one of Shimelles Scrapbook starting points - you can see it here. One 6x6 Basic Grey Offbeat paper pad and a few punches and the page was complete. I love these papers but I think I now only have scraps left - I wonder if I will be able to find any 12x12 sheets of them anywhere.........

Photos taken of the boys at Culloden Battlefield last month when Gramps was staying with us.

♥D♥ Thirsty Thursday/Red Ribbons September Fun Weekend

I am combining two challenges with this page.

Over on the A Trip Down Memory Lane we are up to letter D in the alphabet. My inspiration came from this photo of my Dad taken when he came up to visit last month. We went to Culloden and the reason he is wearing headphones is that when you get out onto the battlefield you get a commentary as you walk around - along with sound effects. I have to admit it does make the place come alive and you do get a sense of what it must have been like back in 1745. The papers I have used are ones that I have had for a long long time - Remember The Moments by Dream Street Papers. I used them on both this and the previous page and now only have a few scraps left - wonder if I can use them up on another page?

This page is also my take on the 2nd challenge set by the Red Ribbons house as part of their fun weekend. Shimelle gave us our very own starting point challenge - and I love these challenges so had to play along.

Scrapbook Starting Point

Here is Shimelle's latest starting point challenge - with a twist.

Oooh, hello there Saturday. You’re looking rather lovely indeed! And just because, I have a little twist for this week’s starting point.

Recently I noticed I love striped papers when I’m shopping and I often use them in small pieces but I still have a sizeable stack of full sheets and I wondered if maybe I should use them as backgrounds more often. Trouble is, a full sheet of 12×2 stripes is quite a statement – either you can go with that or find something to give it a bit of balance – and lately I’m loving the idea of layering a 10×10 box of something more subtle over a boldly striped 12×12 background. So much so that I’ve actually made two layouts from the same starting point this week.

Here is her starting point and her finished page:






























And here is my page:

I'm not convinced about it to be honest - but I think that is because to me the whole page looks way too busy - I am a fan of plenty of white space on my pages.








The papers were unearthed from one of my RUBs that I very rarely venture into - these papers are by Gin X and are called Find Your Identity. I even found I had the chipboard circles to match - I'm not sure if this company is even still in existence - that's how old they are. But another page for my holiday album completed.

♥B♥ Thirsty Thursday/Scrapbook Starting Points

One scrapbook page - two challenges.

This page started off as this weeks Scrapbook Starting Point but halfway through I realised it would also fit in with this weeks ♥B♥ Thirsty Thursday challenge.

This was Shimelles starting point:




For the ♥B♥ challenge I used an old Basic Grey Offbeat paper pad - I have had it for a ages and only used it once before. The strip across the middle of the page is one of those Bazzill Just The Edge Strips that I have had for yonks and never used (I think they were from swap over on UK Scrappers where everyone bought a different packet and then they were all divided up so we all got a selection - seemed like a good idea at the time!!)And for good measure I used some Buttons!

The photo is of Callum taken at the Cherokee Indian Village we visited while we were on holiday - not sure what there was too actually look at through that viewfinder things!

Sccrapbook Starting Points

This is my take on the second of Shimelles Starting Point Challenges. I really should have taken a photo before I stuck my photo and flowers on to show that my starting point for the page was similar to Shimelles.

This is the basic page idea we were provided with:




And this is what I came up with:





The papers are Farmyard Fresh by October Afternoon (I was gutted I couldn't fins any October Afternoon stuff while I was in the states - it was top of my wish list)which I have had ever since they first came out! I used the largest of the EK Success retro flower punches and the Martha Stewart button punch for the flowers and I think it is a Woodware punch for the leaves.

Really enjoyed making this page and couldn't believe how quick it was to put together. Looking forward to the next one now.

Scrapbook Starting Points

Following on from one of Shimelles classes last weekend she has decided to do a regular starting point challenge on a Saturday.

The idea is that Shimelle gives a starting idea for a page and then we take it from there as follows:

It’s a take your pick challenge – you can enter by creating a page with either paint, hidden writing or trying this grey/turquoise/yellow/black colour scheme. And there you can win a prize. So consider the starting point a little kickstart toward that challenge perhaps!

Here is Shimelles starting point:




And here is mine:




And this is how it ended up:







I am really pleased with the overall effect. I managed colour challenge minus the yellow with these Amy Butler papers - I picked them up while I was in the States in a fab scrapbook clearance store I found with my SIL - I think they were about 25p a sheet! And the photo was taken on the balcony of our our lodge in The Smoky Mountain and the hidden journalling explains why I was drinking coffee instead of my usual cup of tea.

I even made a quick birthday card out of the scraps.



And the final billy bonus was that whilst I was hunting for those yummy Thickers (I have had them for several years and hoarded them as I thought they were too nice to use!) I came across a box of stash I had forgotten all about. So my motto will be "use it up" instead of keeping things and not using them - what is the point of hoarding stuff in boxes and never letting any of it see the light of day??