Ann's crop - Messing

Hello everyone, I have been a little neglectful of my blog and been busy making projects in the background for all sorts of exciting things...I'll keep you in suspense, but there have been videos and instruction writing!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of going to Ann Freeman's crop - Scrapmates and this is one of the pages that I made courtesy of her instructions and inspirations.  It involved a little bit of tearing - I do enjoy it! We also used a large polka dot stamp for the background.  I also loved the way Ann had used some gold wire and hung her title on it, so I did the same, and then added a copper tape/embossed/painted heart I made with Mel Hand at the ATDML retreat too.  Little bits of washi tape, and a stamping up tag punch and it was all together.

The photo is from our recent holiday in the Peak District and my kids and their cousin messing around in a beautiful wild field that was at the top of our campsite.

Retreat pages with MME On Trend 2

I went on the A Trip Down Memory Lane retreat a little while ago and realised I hadn't shown you the classes that I did and also the pages that I taught.  This time I went for a watercolour technique and we did some resist work as well as lots of distressing and embossing.  Here is my first page from my eldest's birthday, although there is quite a lot of pink in the On Trend 2 papers I went with the navy and mint - I love the gold patterning they have on these papers.

We also used some gold wire and gauze.

The next page looked at the striking hear design that is out on the internet a lot, and we also used a watercolour wash on this page too.

This is the third page we made, and again a little watercolour wash and lots of use of the navy and gold paper, which is beautiful.  Having all the gold meant that I dug out my embossing powders, something I need to do a little more of as I hadn't used them in ages and I love the effect that they add.

Sea Love

Here is another of the pages I did at Scrapmates.  I'd picked up a pack of MME Cut and Paste papers from Home Sense and they came with all sorts of lovely stickers and chipboard so I decided to dig into them.  I started the page with a wash of silver distress stain, and then layered up lots of papers - I found my bag of lovely left overs from the last ATDML retreat so dipped into there to use some of the Crate Paper Pretty Party and Craft Market stickers and papers.  There is also another one of the Simple Stories frames - love those, and a prima bark heart (I like that you get to different sides with these and I went for the back which is that gorgeous golden brown).  I cut out the arrow stickers as they were all on one sticker.  Added some of the MME enamel shapes and a little chipboard mason jar.

More summer photos - I will probably have an album full of body-boarding pictures as that is where the kids spent most of their time when we were at the beach!

Scrap mates with Ann

It was Scrapmates 10th anniversary last weekend and we had 2 paper packs to play with - here are the pages that Ann created for us.  I was meant to use less gold ink, but you know when you use an unfamiliar spray....and anyway I added a bit more gold when I got home!!  The papers were by MME and have some lovely foiling.  The first page had the misting and we stamped the scroll leaves, lots of layering and some beautiful golden washi tape too.  The photo is from France and our visit to Puy du Foy with a quick ice-cream stop on the way.

This was the 2nd page, I love grid designs and we had a beautiful foil heart to stick on the cardstock too.  Lots of layering and cutting.  The photo is from Blenheim palace where they have an amazing maze that the kids loved! 

Chatham Docks

This is my take on Ann Freemans interactive cybercrop class - Hyde Park Corner - it uses a MME 6" pad of paper to make all the squares and then has a lift up flap for the journalling.

It's really nice and clean and I resisted the urge to grunge it up at all, I love the little polaroid frame and I cut out my embellishments using balloons and some tickets from the papers, as well as making a little banner of flags.

You can find the class here.

Refresh your Craft and Soul - The little things

 Hello and welcome from  Jacky's   blog, or if you have just come straight here then check out the start of the blog over at www.jennifergracecreates.com .   Jennifer invite me to her Refresh your Craft and Soul blog hop and it marks a weekend of lots of giveaways, inspiration and fun over on her blog so do check it out.

So with the theme being refreshing and cleansing I went with an outdoors shot of my son amongst the bluebells (we love a cycle into the woods when they are out and to snap a few pictures).  It's just a little favourite moment and I tried to keep the page really simple.  I started with some blue gelatos on the white card stock making some swirls and then I used a water brush to blend it all in.  It wasn't quite the right blue for me so I think added some blue patina glimmer mist over the top, and some flicks of dark blue cosmic shimmer mist as I love the sparkle....I even added some more golden sparkle which is another glimmer mist...so there is lots of subtle sparkle there.  I went with just one sheet of patterned paper - it's by MME and I distressed the edges, then used a prima wooden square (again quite simple but goes with the wood theme).  If you follow my blog you'll know that a while back I was sent some air- dry clay by Baker Ross and made some ornaments - for this one I use a heart cookie cutter, and then a small circle cutter to make the main shape, then a wood grain acrylic stamp and some alphabet stamps to add the texture and word.  I then painted it white and picked out the word 'Love' in silver, adding some blue ribbon.  The only other items I added was a sticker by Simple Stories and then a few gems from Hobby House, the alphabet is a thickers set by American Crafts.....and then I stopped there...trying to keep it simple.  

I hope you've enjoyed the page, if you comment on all the blogs in the hop, finishing at www.jennifergracecreates.com to let Jennifer know you've been all the way around, then you'll be in with a chance to win a refreshing prize pack featuring Glitz 77 and My Mind's Eye Izzy items, total worth over £25! All entries must be received by Monday the 9th of June at 10.59pm BST. 

Your next stop along the hop is Linda Auclair.

NHM

This is my last of the MME Cut and Paste post - I love the ombre colour on this sheet of paper, and went with it for the background, the other thing I love is the architecture of the Natural History Museum in London - it is just such a beautiful building, never mind the contents that I also enjoy.  So I indulged myself and the main page is just architectural pictures! - I started with some gesso as a base and then layered up papers, distressing the edges and I also added a punched strip and glassine envelope for more journalling.  I used some hexagonal wood veneers and then cut a heart and the glasses out of the papers as well as adding some chipboard and buttons - a completely eclectic mix of embellishments in the corners!

Then I had to put the actual pictures of what we did, and plenty of journalling - I cut out some of the embellishments like the glasses and speech marks and popped them on foam dots to make it a bit more interesting.

Family

Some more MME Cut and Paste and mixed media from me today.   This page started with a gesso base, and then walnut brown glimmer mist, then some stamping in brown distress ink with a grid and chevron, then the papers.  I layered up a few of the more pastel colours from this range, and then added a medical gauze behind the photo, and a circle of twine in different colours.  I used some of the MME chipboard and prima gems to embellish the page, as well as a Martha Stewart butterfly.  I used a chalkboard saying (which I edged in gesso) as it went perfectly with the photo - which is celebrating my Grandmas 90th birthday.  I also used some cosmo cricket word stickers down the side of the page too.  The title is made from American Crafts Thickers.  The final step was a few drips of black ink.

I love this photo of my Grandma sat between her girls - it was a lovely day.

Show Time

Some more MME Cut and Paste and I used a pocket page with this too for the rest of the photos.  I started the page with my roller doodle chevron glitz stamp - I used white paint on it and made almost a diamond shape on the card stock, I then used another chevron stamp I have which is slightly smaller and stamped in brown ink on the back - after that was done, I then went for more chevrons!!  I cut these out to point to my main photo.  Behind the photo are different strips of paper and then some white medical gauze, I added some of the MME chipboard flowers and then stuck some green, orange and yellow sequins in there too.

For the co-ordinating pockets I kept some of the chevron and tearing theme.  It tells the story of some of the French performances we got to see in the local town square - despite the fact that we didn't understand all of it, he was very good and very funny and even the kids who understood even less were laughing!