Paper Obsession

Like Mum Like Son?

Here's a layout I made last week... I was really inspired by the style of Emma Trout's layouts in Scrapbook Magazine. She does a lot of paper tearing and inking with black ink and the effect is really striking.

All of the papers are Basic Grey (various ranges) apart from the text one, which is by Doodlebug. The yellow American Crafts Thickers letter stickers were part of my runner-up prize in the Scrapbooker of the Year competition and I am LOVING them so much!

The birdies were cut from patterned paper with the Spellbinders bird dies and Cuttlebug. I stuck on Hero Arts black gems for their eyes.

Happy Anniversary Mum & Dad!

I did this today at the Bromley Scrapaholix crop - happy anniversary Mum and Dad!

It is based on this week's House Challenge sketch on UKScrappers.. the finished article will have some stitching round the edge. I used Doodlebug 'Bumblebee Stripe paper, October Afternoon 'Report Card' paper and My Mind's Eye embellishments. The letter stickers are puffy AC Thickers.

When we were three...

Last week my laptop was away being fixed.. and I managed to get THREE 12x12 layouts done.. coincidence? Or a sign that I usually spend more time surfing the blogs than I do scrapping. As I couldn't print off any recent photos, I turned to my massive pile of 'to-be-scrapped' pictures.

This layout is of me, Gareth and Charlie, when the little 'un was just three months old, on holiday in the Isle of Wight. I was inspired by a page I saw in Scrapbook Trends, December 2009.

Supplies:

Cardstock - Bazzill Kraft

Patterned paper - BasicGrey 'June Bug'

Alphas - American Crafts Thickers (red felt and green vinyl); Doodlebug Loopy Lou (black)

Stamps - Hero Arts 'Decorative Birds'

Punches - Fiskars 'Threading Water' border punch; Woodware scalloped circle

Trim - Bazzill pom-pom trim

I stamped the birdies on to yellow patterned paper, then again on to pink and blue papers, just cutting out and sticking on the wings. I inked the bodies with orange chalk ink for a bit of shading. The little one is mounted on foam pads. I drew the legs on with black pen.

I'll be back soon with the other two layouts.. just need to photograph them in decent light.

Tomorrow it's the Bromley Scrapaholix crop - I always have such a dilemma choosing which supplies to take, and NEVER have exactly what I need when I get there! I guess if I planned a layout in advance it would help.. 

Have a happy scrappy weekend :o)

Banana Frog Guest Designer? Moi?

Well, yes actually!

I've been a fan of Banana Frog for ages.. so when Bev (Head Frog) announced on the FrogBlog last month that she was looking for new Design Team members, I just had to try my luck. And while I didn't make it on to the full-time Design Team, I did manage to be selected as one of their Guest Designers. Wooo-hooo!!!! See this post for the full line-up.

So CONGRATULATIONS to the new Design Team members and all of the other lovely Guest Designers - it's fantastic to get the opportunity to have a little bounce on the lily-pad! :o)

We got the house!!!

Well, we did it.. our offer was accepted and WE ARE MOVING TO EASTBOURNE!!!

I have yearned to live by the sea for sooooo long! I'm so happy that the boys will grow up here.. near their family.. near the countryside and the beach. We still have plenty of hurdles to overcome (especially getting Charlie into the school we want) but this is such a positive start.

And today, just to top off a pretty special day, my layout was featured - as promised - on the Gauche Alchemy blog. Here's a snippet of it:

Oh, the awful irony if we'd not got the house today...

The rest of the layout is on the GA blog here. Also featured was Helen Salthouse, the Scrapbooker of the Year competition winner, who displayed her talent with an amazing layout using GA kit bits. Truly fabulous!!!

Introducing... baby Emma

Here is Emma, my new baby niece.. isn't she a sweetheart!

Supplies:

Cardstock - Bazzill Basics

Papers - My Mind's Eye - free with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine

Stamps - Banana Frog 'Build-a-Bloom' and 'Journaling' sets

Letters - American Crafts Thickers 'Gift Box'

Punch - Fiskars Threading Water Border Punch

Brads, ribbons - from stash

I started by stamping the pink cardstock with petal stamps from the 'Build-a-Bloom' set using Versamark ink. I then dabbed the flowers with chalk to make them show up as if by magic.

I made the butterfly by stamping on patterned paper and cutting out petals, sticking them on a little piece of card and adding a piece of white pipe cleaner.

Who wouldn't want to live here?!

Eastbourne... the beach on Saturday morning... Charlie, Harry and their cousins Caitlan and Kieran, having wonderful fun splashing in the puddles at low tide... all the reasons we are planning to pack up our lives in London and relocate to the south coast.

It's been an exhausting week. On Thursday evening we went to stay with Gareth's parents in Eastbourne, still without an offer on our house, to view some properties and also a nursery school for the boys.

We viewed four houses on Friday but there was one in particular that we both set our hearts on. It's a 1930s-built semi, in desperate need of repair and modernisation, but potentially a wonderful family home that will suit us for years.

I felt moved to do some scrapping this afternoon and produced this.. so that I will never forget how I'm feeling today.. the day before a potentially HUGE turning point in our lives. The journaling tells the story in a nutshell.

Terrible lighting, so here's a couple of close-ups..

Supplies:

Cardstock - Bazzill Basics white

Patterned paper - Basic Grey 'June Bug'

Letter stickers - American Crafts Thickers 'Rain Boots'

Stamps - Banana Frog 'Journaling' and 'Tiny Teen' alphas

I'll keep you posted...