Echo Park

I'm sure that you must have seen the papers from new company Echo Park.  The minute I laid eyes on them, I knew they had to be mine!

As part of our Scrappin' Escape next week, I'll be showing the girls just how to make these fab flowers.  Such a perfect accessory for any project and the great thing is you'll always have the right colour for the project.

We'll be layering up with pretty things to give lots of depth to the piece.

Of course there is nothing wrong with mixing handmade with pretty Primas.

We're placing another order on Monday, so you'll have the chance to nip in a bag a seat at the all-day workshop & crop.  We'll be starting from 10am with the first of 2 workshops and going all the way through to the evening.  After a hot meal, there will be chance to crop or carry on with other projects from the kit.  The whole day including meals and fabulous kit stuffed full of papers and embellishments is just £40 - what a bargain! 

If you can't get to Solihull next weekend, then kits are available for just £22 including full instructions on all the projects.

If you are interested, just email me, leave me a comment or visit http://www.whathousework.co.uk/ for more info.

School's Out for Summer

I've been MIA here because the kids broke up from school on Friday.  I did the usual of trying to cram everything in before the chaos begins.

We've had a great time so far (but it has only been the first day after the weekend :))  We did Warwick Castle yesterday - just love it there.  So many handsome men, and lots of history of course!  If you have never been there are lots of men on horses, dressed in armour and just generally  looking swarthy. I still have some fab photos from our last visit which I'm not sure what to do, but as soon as I do, I'll be sure to share.

I did this layout last month, but never got around to sharing it.  I have to say the photos make the place look idyllic but the reality was somewhat different.

We had gone to Burnham on Sea but perhaps had not caught it on its best day.  I shall just say that we got there very early and there were a LOT of dog walkers on the beach.  I was thankful that the tide didn't come in all day.

Played with some pretty trimmings that I've hoarded and a few stamps, but if I'm honest, that beautiful paper was enough.

Thanks for popping in.

Pencil Lines Sketch 196

This week's sketch was created by Anna. The team has been sponsored by Nikki Sivils for this one.

 
For my layout, I translated the straight lines for a curved border edged with ric-rac.

The Nikki Sivils flags are adorable.  They are plain white so you can funk them up however you like.  I cut mine into traditional flag shapes before inking.

I made the flower from vintage pages but unfortunately, I had a mishap with my sprays.  I pulled out a copper spray thinking it would give me a light copper finish, but it coloured the whole thing instead!  That will teach me to do swatches of my sprays in future.

I also punched a bunch of leaves from scrap pp for a little glitter.  My bunting is all adorned with the tiniest little pom poms you ever saw.

The label is cut from one of the papers  - I like the way Nikki does all the design work for you so all you need is a pair of scissors.  Cool.

Well, I hope to have lots more to share this week as I finalise teacher gifts, cards and going away cards - I have two friends that are moving abroad at the end of the term :(

Thanks for popping in.

Celebrating 10

I've always been a bit of a tom-boy - I think it is a result of being closer in age to my  brothers than my sister.   I've always loved fast cars and techie stuff so any excuse to put a few cogs on a page.

I have done a layout of Jacob's 10th birthday last month, but this was such a great photo of the podium.  I've used Anam Stubbington's sketch for My Mind's Eye challenge which is fab. 

The papers are from Dreamy collection - one of my favourites.  Just love that colour combo.  You can't see in this photo, but the chipboard numbers have been stencilled then covered with rock candy crackle paint. Yum.

The stars in the paper are my favourite bit - they make such great embellishments.

I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the new collections - they are just so lush.

Thanks for popping in.

Summer Time

Here in the UK we're not actually blessed with a summer usually, but this year, we've had the best start to summer (although it is raining today).

We had our family camp with the cub scouts at the weekend which has always featured rain and gale-force winds.  So what a pleasant change to have beautiful weather!

For the crop this month, we managed to get these beautiful papers from Echo Park (they are just too gorgeous to cut up).  After a lot of stroking though, I did manage to create this layout for the crop on Sunday.

Tiny little bunting is all the rage still and looks even better on bakers twine.

I know we've done windmills before, but who can resist?

Life really doesn't get any better than this.  We had such a fabulous weekend - the kids had a lot of freedom to run around with lots of other children - just how life should be.

I have been putting the finishing touches to my layout class for our August Scrappin' Escape.  I kind of went overboard with the techniques but I'm so pleased with how it is turning out.  The day includes a totally fabulous paper kit with lots of additional bits and pieces as well as 2 fab workshops where you'll not only make some wonderful projects, but learn some really cool stuff too.

We only have a couple of places left so if you are interested, pop along to http://www.whathousework.co.uk/ where you can send us an email and find out more.

I will be back later this week with some very sneaky peaks of my contribution.

Thanks for popping in.

Scrappin' Escape

Every year at our scrap club, we try to organise a special weekend of scrapping during the summer holidays.  This year, we've decided to do a special escape on Saturday, 7th August.

Nicki and I will be teaching two awesome workshops.  I will go first with a layout using Walk in the Park papers from the kit. 

I'll be showing you how to make your own fab flowers amongst other things and just generally adding sweet details to a layout.

Nicki will be making the cutest little suitcase you've ever seen, with an equally cute mini-book to go inside.

We'll be supply all the inspiration, food and refreshments plus loads of extra cropping time too.  And if that wasn't enough, there will be enough left from the huge kit to play even more.  WOO HOO!

So if you are interested and can get to Solihull in August (there are places to stay if you want to make a weekend of it), then please visit http://www.whathousework.co.uk/.  The event including the kit and meals is just £40!

In the meantime, I'll leave you with a LO I did this week with some bits and pieces I have left over from other projects.

I'm such a frugal scrapper - no wonder I have so much stuff in my craft room :) 

Speaking of which, I haven't forgotten about my sketch RAK that I did in June.  I have sorted out some goodies so will be in touch.

Happy scrapping!

Baby Love

Emma comes to our crop gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Lucy.  She is the first new addition to the crop.  Ahhh.  I had to celebrate with a little gift.

I don't have much in the way of baby-related items (shock-horror!) so I used my pretty Papermania papers and favourite animal stamps.

The cartons are made with pearlescent card which has been covered with papers.

The tags and tops are threaded with bows and hemp string.  The cartons sit in their own carry case.

The back of the container has another pretty die-cut

I've used watercolour pencils to colour the images this time, for a lovely soft look.

I did make a card but have used the nearest thing to a baby image that I had.

I think the cow is Nellie Snellen.  Papers are Papermania and Making Memories.  Colouring: Copics

I have another toot to share too.  I have done some projects for Craft Stamper Magazine which is the most awesome mag here in the UK.  Katy has been kind enough to add my to her Design Team list!  Woo Hoo!  check out Craft Stampers blog.

Thanks for popping in.

Pencil Lines 194

Gosh don't the weeks fly past?  I can't believe that it's time for another Pencil Lines sketch already.

Just my kind of sketch - a couple of photos and a key accent.

Jacob celebrated his 10th birthday last month at a karting circuit.  The boys looked so cool in their jump suits.  I turned the sketch 90 degrees and used different sized photos.

The papers are Autumn Leaves which were an absolute bargain from Happy Daze.  The have my favourite colours (orange, blue, green).  I cut out the title from some of the papers.

I love these Tim Holtz texture plates especially the more urban grunge feel to them.  The 10 token is Lil Davis

Trusty dymo tape for journalling.

I have finally photographed everything so I can share a whole bunch of goodies this week.  I'm still in the mood for scrapping so I'm off to play!

Thanks for popping in.

Toot

I received my ezine from Craftroom Door today.  It's so lovely to receive inspiration right through my mailbox.

The reader challenge was handmade embellishments.  I made my large flowers from Bazzill Cardstock.

Making the flowers is more about the fun of it as they take ages to put make.

 

This is of course a Tim Holtz bird and cage (*sigh*). 

Did a bit of stamping in the background and this and that with bits of paper.  Anyway, I not only got the layout in this month's issue, but also won the reader gallery.  Yippee!  Such a lovely surprise.

I have been reassembling my scraproom this week and have done lots of scrapping trying to use items I'd forgotten about.  It's been a bit like Christmas with lots of surprises in my packing boxes.  Hope to get some photos tomorrow and lots of stuff up my sleeve to post.

Have a lovely evening.  Thanks for popping in.