Penguins!

Another page done at the retreat - this layout had been on the back burner for quite a while, as I had picked the background paper months ago but got stuck on how to use it without overpowering the photo.  Finally I found a sketch, picked some other more neutral papers, and was ready to go!

The photo is of the penguins at Berlin Zoo.  They stand so still it's difficult to tell if they are real, until they move!!
I cut down the Authentique background paper, inked the edges and framed with a sheet of Bazzill.   Then I cut the various panels, I think the papers (from top down) are HoTP, Graphic 45 and possibly Simple Stories.  The title is done with some tiny letter stickers (American crafts?).  Although, I couldn't remember how many p-p-p's were needed and after some discussion round the table, we had to Google the original advert to find out (thank you Lyn)!!
This layout came together really well, once I had a plan, I am really pleased with it :-)

Bear Necessities

I finished off this layout at the Littlegreen retreat a couple of weekends ago.  All it needed was the small journalling banner at the top .... LOL.

The photo was taken outside the Berlin Olympic stadium in April last year.  The papers are a mix from stash, I think there may be Prima and Kaisercraft amongst them!
The title was done on the Silhouette, in black and green and layered to give a shadow effect.  I actually had to cut it twice, the first time I cut each letter far too big to be able to fit such a long title on the page, so had to scale it down :-)

A cautionary tale....

Well here I am, back from Berlin, having had a good time .... except for the incident below....

We were walking through a park in Berlin when a girl with a clipboard holding what appeared to be a petition approached me. I said No, walked on, but she kept shoving this clipboard at me. I kept walking, said No four times and she gave up.
At least that's what I thought had happened.
When we got to the café, I discovered my purse was missing. That clipboard had been shoved over the top of my bag - a messenger bag, mind you, hard to get into - and in those few seconds whilst the bag was obscured from view, she had lifted my purse right out of it. I didn't feel a thing, didn't realise what was happening, neither did the others walking with me, we all just thought she was just being really persistent with the "Sign, sign". They are professional thieves, these people, which doesn't make me feel any less stupid.
So that was 350 euros gone, and all my cards. We cancelled the cards whilst at the cafe, but I had a card which is linked with DH's, and they wouldn't cancel just mine, no they had to do his too, which left us with not much cash and no usable credit cards. Good job we were with friends.
The police were sympathetic and helpful, but obviously nothing they could do. It's a known organised theft problem, apparently, we were told it's young Romanian girls stealing from tourists. I don't suppose it's unique to Berlin, these things go on everywhere. All I can say is don't let anyone make physical contact with you which results in your bag being out of sight, even for a few seconds.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing .....