Together and Today

These are the last 2 pages from the Windmills of my Mind class over at ATDML.  It's a bit different because it is on a 12" sheet of acetate, so it makes a clear page in your album - I photographed it on white card.  It takes a little bit of thinking because I had to line bits up and make sure things like the title didn't show on the reverse, but I really like that it is something a little different.  The papers are Dear Lizzy's documentary and I used my martha stewart go to punch....doily lace - I still love that one.  I cut quite a lot of hexagons from the papers and matched them up on both sides.

Both photos are from our holiday in the Peak District - a fabulous photo of all of us (we camp together) taken by a passer by - who really deserves more credit for a lovely photo but I don't have her name!  The other photo is sunset in one of the fields at our campsite taken by my good friend Rachel....who also takes fantastic photos too!

Love..

This is another page from the Dear Lizzy Documentary class I taught at the ATDML cybercrop - check the post below for all the links.  Jill always sends some coloured card in our kits - and it's taken me a while to really start to enjoy coloured card stock as it's such a big burst of colour and it's harder to add paints too, but I am really glad she does as I have grown to really enjoy using it, and it makes my albums more interesting with big bursts of colour.  This page was inspired by a beautiful, slightly more inky page from com.16 here is the link.  I drew around plates and all sorts of circles, then added it more circles in buttons and sequins as well as a little bit of mist.  I went with the rule of drawing around something 3 times and slightly off-setting it, which helps mask any imperfections and looks lovely!

The photo is from the top of the Heights of Abraham - my eldest infront of a Laburnum tree that was in full glorious yellow flower - though I hadn't notice that he had been playing with my camera settings so it all has a slightly brown tint to it!!!  I'm glad he really enjoys taking snaps, and still lets me take photos of him.

My Crew

Hi, I wanted to share some of the pages that I made for the A Trip Down Memory Lane Cybercrop - you can find the instructions in the store here and this is from my class - Windmills of Your Mind.  It's quite a quick page to put together once the painted circles have dried and uses lots of papers from the Dear Lizzy Documentary collection - I really like the thicker words! Even though the cybercrop was last weekend the classes stay available and if you are quick you can enter some of the challenges which are all on the blog.  I won't explain too much about how I made this page as you'll be able to read all about it!

The photo is from our May holiday in the Peak District on a walk through Dovedale - it is such a beautiful part of the world.

My Blessings

This is my last challenge over with the ladies at the Studio…and one of the hardest - no photos, which is something I don't do very often!  Since Valentine's day has just past I went with pinks and hearts and looked at some of my blessings in life.

I started the page with gesso, then cut 2" squares from lots of different papers - mainly American Crafts and Crate Paper.  I dug out die cuts, stickers, chipboard, wood veneers and decorated each of my little squares adding words that all mean something to me :)  It was great fun to make and very therapeutic, I liked that I could just pile the page high with different things that I like.  I think this page might have to go in a frame and become so wall art in our house.

There is lots more inspiration for those picture less pages over at the Studio, so here is the link.

On Top of the World

This fortnights challenge over at the Studio blog is to take some inspiration from this pinterest photo.

So my page and inspiration might take a little explaining!  I went a little laterally and started with a different sort of mask - this was another one of the new goodies in my Tando pack and is called Burning Rubber which is 12" by 3".  I rotated it a few times and scrapped texture paste through the mask.  Once this had dried I then added some splashes of distress stains, adding a little water to make some of it drip.  I then layered up with a mixture of Dear Lizzy papers trying to pull some of the rich colours from the photos.  I then dug through my stash and layered up some October Afternoon word stickers, an Amy Tangerine layered sticker and some leaf ribbon too.  Lots of stitching and distressing of my papers, and a glassine pocket for behind the photo with an October Afternoon sticker at the top. I  then added some gold in the form of the gold sequins, and my title which is a mix of Glitz and American Craft thickers.  So lots of layers and details like the masks.

The photo is from a camping weekend where we walked up a massive hill with the kids, and it just felt like you were in the clouds as you could see for miles around.

There is lots of inspiration on the blog today and if you want to join in with us then there is a prize too...here is the link.

Love This with Tando

It is Hearts and Swirls week this week over at the Tando blog so I dug out my Dear Lizzy papers and had a go at a heart filled page.  I started with the Tando heart mask and used 3 different colours of chalk ink, I then hand cut loads of hearts, stuck and stitched some of them down as a background, next layering up a doily and some flowers adding my photo to the middle.  I painted a Tando heart shaped button and then spritzed it with yellow mist, adding a pin behind and some twine to it, and then my journalling underneath.  I used an old Brenda Pinnick acetate style alpha for the word love and then my trusty pack of multicoloured simple stories alphabets.  

The photo is a phone photo taken underneath the Cutty Sark on one of our holiday days out...I had a bit of a play with some of the photo effects and played with over exposing the photo and adding some blue...but I love this shot of us all together.

For lots more inspiration check out the Tando blog here.

Love this Boy and the twine challenge

Hello on a sunny morning and here is my page for this fortnights challenge over at the Studio Challenge blog, and the challenge is twine!  My Mum and I split a pack of American Crafts twine that we came across in TK Maxx and it was perfect for this challenge as there are so many colours.  So the twine on the page, I often use twine to wrap around things, so I wrapped the hearts in twine and then with little glue lines hung the hearts from my photo.  I did also make some twine flowers which will have to appear on another page as despite having me in the photo, so fully justified on having a few flowers on the page....they just didn't go!

The page is a mix of American Crafts Dear Lizzy and also Amy Tangerine's Yes Please collection, I layered up lots of different size papers and inked, stitched and distressed them.  I am also enjoying using vellum on my pages again - funny those loops in scrapping, I embossed it with my cuttlebug swiss dots folder (one of my go to embossing folders) and added that as another layer.  Nearly forgot the start of this page, so I used some texture paste and Tando's Random circle mask, which I let dry.  Then in my experimenting I added some gesso over the top with a palette knife, let it dry....then the chalk inks - I discovered this on Ingvlid Bloms blog, just using coloured chalk inks over gesso to make a cloudy sort of pattern...so easy and beautiful, so I went around the edge of the mask over the gesso with different colours I had pulled from the papers.  Next in an art journally style I stamped with the AC acyrlic grid stamp, doing the rolling stamp thing.  Then a little stamping with some very old Autumn Leaves flourish stamps, and then all the papers and hearts and twine.  I also cut out one of the Dear Lizzy mason jars and filled it with sequins, used some Teresa Collins word stamps and my new smash date stamp.

The photo is from our holiday back in half term, just near a climbing wall - I had a play overexposing it on the computer and making it black and white, and really like the way it turned out.

Happy Snaps

Ages ago I showed you a picture of my son with a silver bowl on his head (here)...well here is one of the more sensible shots!  

The papers are a mix of Fancy Pants Trendsetter and then a beautiful Ombre background from American Crafts Dear Lizzy.  I started the page by taking out the centre of the woodgrain paper so I could save it for another project and then added the Dear Lizzy paper to it, distressing the edges, I also damped the paper and pulled it down on a couple of edges and layered some paper and a punched piece and secured it all with a button.  I made my own bunting with some hand cut triangles and then some of the longer flags that come in their embellishment packs.  I made a little rosette flower with my sizzix die, then used a mix of embellishments from Crate Paper Cake Walk, Simple Stories butterfly sticker, Studio Calico wood veneers, Glitz washi tape, a Teresa Collins photo sticker which is attached to the journalling behind the photo and Prima's alphabet stickers.  It's quite a pink page for me, but with my niece wearing a bright pink cardigan I thought I could get away with it!

If you would like some more Fancy Pants inspiration then check out the gallery over at ATDML - here is the link.

The Studio Blog Hop

Welcome to the next step of the Studio Blog Lift Chain, you should you have come here from Hilde's blog and this is my lift of her layout.  It's really exciting as each of us has only seen the page of the person before us in the chain - so I am looking forward to seeing everyones creations.

I used some of the American Crafts Dear Lizzy papers for my page as one of them has a star chart which was perfect for this page as we met Charlie Walker (astronaut) at the Kennedy Space Centre last summer.  So this page was the perfect excuse to dig out all things starry and rockery - hence some Tando stars and an October Afternoon rocket.  The photos aren't great as we were inside but you got a chance to ask questions at the end of the talk - my eldest loved it (my youngest had a snooze :)) and so I said why don't you ask a question.  So 'cos I just love the space stuff we worked on a question, and then I got to hold up my hand as he still wasn't sure about asking...then just at that last moment he said, I'll do it, and the shot is of the microphone man waiting for him to ask the question and the title is our question.  Charlie said that there were many amazing things about space - the views of Earth being a massive highlight for him, but his favourite thing was being able to fly and feel a little like superman....which is pretty cool!

So the challenge for this fornight is to lift any of the layouts along the way, please link up your creations at the side bar of The Studio blog (link) for a chance to win a great prize from chipboard company Tando

Next on the hop is Anastasia 

and just incase you get lost or want to start from the beginning here is a list of all the links

The Studio -http://thestudio.amandajonesdesigns.com
Anna - www.madetoscrap.blogspot.com
Chantelle - http://chan3boys.blogspot.com.au//
Daphne - http://dapfniedesign.wordpress.com
Hilde -http://www.hildeaaslund.blogspot.co.uk//
Katherine - http://fruitofmyscraps.blogspot.co.uk
Anastasia - http://astero-en.blogspot.co.uk
Petra - http://www.mittkreativakaos.blogspot.co.uk
The Studio -http://thestudio.amandajonesdesigns.com

Baby Chicks

This weeks theme of the Tando blog is Spring Colours....perfect timing really when you consider that the bluebells have finally appeared with the sun.  I used some papers from the American Crafts Dear Lizzy collection - you can propaply tell with the mason jars...and had a go at lots of punched layers (inspired by an article I read by Wendy Mckee).  I simply covered the chipboard in some chalk inks that went with the colours of the papers, they cover really - for the star embellishment I used a chipboard button for the base covered in blue ink, and then added a circle of paper and a chipboard star - I just inked the edges on this one.  For the butterfly embellishment, I punched a circle and wrapped some string around, then just inked the edges of the chipboard butterfly and that was the topper.

The photos are from a trip to a farm last year where my kids got to hold some baby chicks.

And the colour challenge on the Tando blog this month is purple, blue and white - and there are prizes on offer.  I was browsing through a copy of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities and decided to make some tags - covered them in distress ink, and then splatters of water.  I then used a mix of Teresa Collins and Prima Stamps....I inked the Tando compass with gold ink and sprinkled it roughly with silver embossing powder so there were patches not really covered and embossed it.  I added a little pile of cotton behind the compass as well as some dictionary paper.  I'll add a sentiment later, but thought it makes a fairly masculine card.

Also just to remind you that Tando have a DT call on at the moment - they are a fantastic British company specialising in chipboard and masks...you can find all the details here.

A Room With a View

The next fortnights challenge over at the Studio Blog is layering........which is something that I love.  I used a picture taken from my room over a frosty line of roof tops - it is hard to see from the page, the sunset was just beautiful and I tried to echo that in the colours of the papers - so used lots of Studio Calico HeyDay collection, along with some Dear Lizzy papers too.

I started with my parquet flooring style paper as the main matt (I love woodgrain :)), and then distressed the edges and ripped one a little layering lace and papers behind it.  I then cut a few journal tags, and several layers for behind the photo, ruffling, inking and adding lace.  The clouds are from Tando and I covered them in some texture paste to get that lumpy cloud feeling, and then made some banners of punched hearts which I stitched together.  I cut out a little mason jar from the Dear Lizzy papers and added a camera wood veneer - the word photos is from the October Afternoon Mid Way collection.  I stamped the title with Kaisercrafts typewriter stamps and then added my journalling in the bottom corner and a few flicks of white paint.

If you would like to join us this month in layering things up on your pages then here is the link,

Note to Self with the Inspiration Elevator

I was delighted to be asked to join in with the wonderful ladies at the Inspiration Elevator this month, the purpose of the team is to take scrapbooking to the next level and challenge us to grow...so this months challenge is from Cathy Harper, and is as follows

"I have been thinking about my challenge for months now. This is such an amazing team, I am thrilled and humbled to be a part of IE...each of you are amazing designers. I often wonder what I am doing here amongst you.

I scrapbook for the joy of it, the creativity part of it, the love of paper part of it....I hardly ever bare any of my feelings in any of my work! I often tell my kids that they can make up there own stories to their pages..I am that terrible about journaling. I guess it is a bit superficial or a whole lot superficial.

So here is my challenge.

I want you to create a page about REGRET.

“No regrets”…they say we should live our lives without regrets… if it were only that easy, right? Most of us hold onto 1 or 2 (or a mountain full) of things we feel regretful for in our lifetimes. A lost love, those words you WISH you had said, the weight you wish you had lost….you know them, right?

I encourage you to confront them….take those suckers on and scrap about them… or just one.

This can be something superficial to something serious and painful… it’s up to you how far you want to dig. I DO encourage you to use this as an opportunity to really stretch yourself. Journaling is very powerful and you might be surprised by how you feel afterward.

This is going to be super tough for me (I may already regret it, lol )...as I am one who lives with a mountain of regrets and know in my head that I should move on, let it go. I am hoping this challenge will help me actually "let go" of some of these things. Maybe by putting in down in 12x12 form, creating it, seeing it and feeling it, that I can put some of it to rest! It's worth a shot! Pictures, no pictures...that is all up to you!"

This got me thinking a lot and I have hidden the journalling behind my photo...I don't live with lots of regrets (fortunately) - I make loads of mistakes, and regret things all the time but then I learn from them too - so they are valuable lessons to me and change me.  So my take on regret is a page about something that I don't want to regret at the end of my days....which is to make sure that I cherish each moment.  I still remember some words of a friend who was diagnosed with terminal cancer and she spoke about the way that diagnosis makes you look at life and appreciate it and I think sometimes in the busyness of life I forget to appreciate it.  

Gosh very philosophical for a Thursday morning -  as it is a photo of me (for some reason I wear sunglasses in the photos of me that I like! there is probably a subconscious reason for that too :)) I got to use pink and some of the lovely Dear Lizzy papers, and some old sassafrass stickers and studio calico Heyday papers.  There is lots of stitching and I let the threads hang down for a messy effect on this one. I started by dry brushing some white gesso on the background and then layering up my papers.  I love the mason jars in the Dear Lizzy range and have the stamps too - and it seem fitting to have a jar of hearts, like a jar of cherished memories.  Still thinking philosophically, the purpose of scrapping is to cherish memories which part of the reason I love it.  I used some cosmo cricket word phrases too and then stapled on a scrunched up banner in the top right hand corner and added some flicks of glimmer mist too.  

There is lots of inspiration from all the team so here are all the links

I hope you will stop by and see what the designers on this adventure have created:

Cathy Harper

Sue Sykes

Lisa Spiegel

Joanne Burton

Christa Uttley

Laura Whitaker

Audrey Yeager

Lisa Moen

Laurel Seabrook

Ann Jobes

Katherine Sutton, Guest Designer

We would love to see what you are inspired to create.   Add a comment below and we will be sure to drop by and say hello!