Wedding layouts

In March 2018, my lovely sister got married.  It was a beautiful wedding and I have lots of amazing photos to put in pocket pages in my 2018 scrapbook.  But I wanted to do some special pages with single photos, so it has taken me some time to come up with an idea I was happy with.  The first page is the happy couple and the second is the complete family - my sister, new brother in law and my nieces and nephew.

Both are loosely based on a couple of Pinterest sketches, here and here.  The titles were die-cut, the heart circle was cut on the Silhouette in two different cardstocks, the border under the photo on layout 1 was punched, the flowers and the cogs were die-cut.  Flowers.....?  Me...? Well, I love my sister, she can have flowers for her wedding day .... LOL. 
I am so pleased with these, I wanted the pages to really do the photos justice and I think they do :-)

A couple of layouts

I recently spent the weekend at the Littlegreen retreat near Arundel.  I managed 8 completed pages and 2 mostly done, so I am very pleased :-)  The two below are my favourites.

Papers  Kaisercraft "Wonderland".  Title is cut on the Silhouette.

Papers from Bo Bunny Winter Wishes.  Corners and title cut on the Silhouette, the title is cut in white and black for a shadow effect.  We had a tic-tac-toe challenge, so I got rounded corners, two or more alphas and stamping on this layout!

Retreat Layouts 2

Two more layouts done at the retreat.

Here be Dragons? - G had made some giant eggs, using plaster and balloons, they looked like dragon eggs and one had cracked, giving it the appearance of something having hatched :-)  I used a Kaisercraft background paper, added splatty stamping and some texture paste "eggshell" through stencils.  The title is die-cut, twice, to give a shadow effect.
Look Up is a photo from a few years back, we had taken our visitor to London for the day and went to the London Aquarium.  Next door was a Star Wars exhibition and the stormtroopers were posed above us as we queued, clearly ready to take over the world :-)

Retreat Layouts 1

I got seven layouts completed and a few more partially done at the ADTML retreat.  I hadn't actually scrapped since the previous retreat last April, but it was like meeting up with an old friend, I just took up where we left off!
Here are two:

The photos have come out a little dark!  Silver Birch has a beautiful background paper which didn't really need much adding to it.  I used this sketch from Pinterest, the banners and long strip are punched, the doily is die-cut, as is the title.  It is also straight in real life, not as wonky as it looks, I swear!
The Mad Hatters also lets the background paper do most of the work.  I punched out two different Martha Stewart snowflakes, several times, to make a flurry.  The journalling and date tags at the side of the photo were supposed to be done with a label punch, halved - until I discovered I hadn't packed it!  But in my die folder I had the nestabilities labels four set and it was perfect.  The title is die-cut.

Cocktail Hour

This is a layout done at the Littlegreen retreat in Arundel at the end of January.  A whole page started and finished at one retreat, imagine that!!  Actually I managed to complete 10 pages and work on 7 partial ones, a good total for me.

This page is about our friends coming to visit and deciding to make cocktails.  To save on trips to refill glasses, Gary and John decided on Pina Colada by the pint :-)
Papers are from stash, although I think the woodgrain background is probably Kaisercraft.  I cut the title twice on the Silhouette, using the darker orange as a 'shadow' under the lighter one.  The leafy swirls and the pennants are die-cut, Cheery Lynn and Die'sire respectively, with the pennants also cut twice for a shadow effect.  The journalling lines are done with an SU stamp.
I wanted a beachy tropical feel, but didn't have any suitable papers, so I think this has done quite well LOL.

Layout - #selfie

It's not often I get a good photo of myself........ but this one of DH and I at Wakehurst Place came out rather well and the title was obvious LOL.  I originally made this page with just the photo, a little stamping and splattering and the title.  But it seemed a little too plain, so I added the die cut frame.

Made the world of difference!
The paper is from stash and already had most of the random mottling on it, I added the splatters and cog stamps, which are a little more subtle than I intended, but never mind :-) 
The title is cut on the Silhouette, the font is Segoe script which comes with Windows and welds together really nicely.

Vienna layout

Another layout!  This one was done at the Merly Impressions retreat, back in July.  Chrissy's original design involves much more fussy cutting, but I find that hurts my hands so I simplified it :-)

The Wiener Riesenrad is the oldest ferris wheel in Europe and was restored to fully working condition a few years ago.  I had never been on one, it was an interesting experience and the views were amazing!
The papers are from Kaisercraft as is the circles die.  I cut the gears from a selection of my own dies and the letters are done with an SU die set.  For the mats under the photos I used a punch around the page set by Martha Stewart.

Steampunk-ish layout

I can't remember the last time I shared a layout!  I made this at the April ATDML retreat, but never got around to blogging it.....

I used various papers from Prima, Studio Light, Kaisercraft .... the dies-cuts are some gears from (I think) Memory Box and part of a circle by Tonic.

Christmas Jumper layout

Lately I seem to have done a lot of  'making', but not so much blogging!  Here is a layout done at the retreat I went to in January. 
We had a Christmas Jumper day at work, for charity.  I opted for a penguin tee shirt .... with glitter!!! .... all in a good cause :-)

The papers are from Maja design and I die-cut the title and snowflakes.  Hard to see in the photo, but the alpha is a stitched one from Die-namics, I thought it was appropriate LOL.  The larger snowflake is from Joanna Sheen, but I can't remember what the smaller one is, I've had it a while.

Buy it - Try it: 12 Years

It seems right to start my first blog post of the year with something I got for Christmas..... actually a little after the festivities, because I was waiting for the SU Sale-a-Bration to start on the 4th of January.  DH got me the Large Letters and Large Numbers stamps, along with the matching dies.  These are something of a considered purchase, the price tag for the lot is quite hefty.  But by waiting, I got four free SAB sets, plus making up the order to £200 meant 10% plus £20 in reward points, so I ended up being able to buy another stamp /die bundle.  Also, the SAB card tin, some A4 cardstock and a couple of pens, not shown below.

I decided to christen the letter dies, as I had a layout just needing a short title - needed to be short because the letters are large!

 

The two photos are - surprise! - twelve years apart.  DS1 on the right, DS2 on the left in both photos - the height differential has changed quite a bit! 
The main papers are from Maja Design and Studio Light, the strip is from Kaisercraft and the manufacturer strip is from Studio Light.
The smaller letters are die-cut using Memory Box Alphabet Soup.  I cut the large letters out of embossed cardstock, which flattened it a bit ..... if I had just thought it through, I could have cut the letters and then run them through the embossing folder :-)  Next time ... LOL.

Layouts - Paris and Claude the Octopus

Two more layouts completed at ATDML :-)

The first is a photo of the entrance to the Paris Metro.  The papers are from Kaisercraft, apart from the main background which is Marion Smith.  I die-cut the letters twice for the title, using the darker colour under the lighter for a shadow effect.
The second layout is based on a class taught at the previous retreat, last April!  I finally found some square photos to use it with :-)  Sy crocheted Claude the Octopus and he joined at our last crop at Cardinal Colours.  The papers are Basic Grey.

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 :-)

ATDML class layouts - part one

After some computer problems, finally I can share these....
The two layouts are from a class at the ATDML retreat, taught by Mel, using American Crafts DIY 4 range. 

I made a cutting mistake on the first layout, then decided to change the colour of the vertical panel - it was originally white.  The scalloped border is done using a Die-namics die.  The photo is a collage of details from the Palace of Versailles, which is dripping with gold everywhere you turn!
The second page is a photo of my favourite place :-)  The main focus of the class was to add distress inks for pops of colour, I used ink brushes, stencils and stamps for my muted vintage take on the class.

Homeward Bound layout

I went with Karen to the retreat run by A Trip Down Memory Lane last weekend, a previous post shows the car packed to the gunwales! I managed to complete 8 layouts and some cards, so here is the first of those pages.  It's a re-do of photos from 2015 which I scrapped a while ago but was never really happy with.  Whilst I was prepping for the retreat, I found a sketch which I knew would fit the photos.

The papers are from an old Bo Bunny Christmas range.  The background already had all the detail on it so I just needed to cut strips to back the photos.  I used a typewriter alpha die for the title and the journaling is done with the SU Draw the Line set, the journaling lines are very useful and I have finally used the line of arrows!!  I stamped them in Versafine Smoky Grey and used a black pen to journal, it's a nice combination.
I am happy with it this time :-)

DS2

Another layout to share!  This is the last one from the retreat, or at least the last one that I am happy with, there is one more which I need to re-scrap as it didn't really work LOL.

This one is a photo of DS2, smartly dressed for a day out in London.  Not an 'occasion' as such, so no obvious title .... I decided to just use his name instead.
The background paper is from Kaisercraft and I have used sheets from a 6" paper pad for the panels, which may also be Kaisercraft or possibly Bo Bunny??  The strips of paper are manufacturer strips from the base of some Studio Light papers and the ornate rivets are definitely Bo Bunny, though I can't remember from which collection.
I cut the title on the Silhouette (font: Monster Paparazzi).

Suited and Booted

Another layout, finally finished at the retreat .... in fact it was started at last November's retreat, but (big surprise!) lacked a title.
I now can't find the original sketch I used for this, the horizontal elements were originally paper strips, but I decided that I wanted a completely stamped layout.

Background paper is from Craft Creations, and the stamping is done with a combination of Stampin' Up and Paperartsy grunge stamps in various shades of brown.  I drew the circle around a template, moving it slightly twice so I got the multiple lines.  The title is die-cut - I freely admit I chickened out of stamping it direct to the page I had worked so hard on!!
This is actually my second attempt at this page .... the first time, I managed to complete all the stamping, attach the photo, write the journaling - then I dropped an inkpad on it.  I couldn't find a way to make the resulting ink mark look as if it was meant to be part of the grunge - so I had to start again!  Second time lucky :-)

Three Wise Men

I am not able to do any crafting at the moment due to an inner ear infection - I have actually been officially signed off work, for the first time in my life!!  I have been given tablets to treat the constant dizziness and they seem to be working thank goodness, so that just leaves me feeling completely wiped out :-(  So I am using the opportunity to slowly catch up with blogging everything I finished at the retreat ...... then going back to bed!

This is a photo of DH with DS1 & DS2, taken just before they left after Christmas.  It was mostly done, just needed title and journaling, but I was really stuck for the title!  A few days before the retreat, I fell asleep thinking of page kits to pack - as you do! - and it just came to me, luckily I remembered it when I woke up the next day LOL.
The background paper is quite an old one from stash, I think it may be Prima, the journaling and image panels are Marion Smith.  I made the lines for the journaling using a Stampin' Up line stamp.  The title was cut on the Silhouette, I used the 'weld' function to join the letters.
Pleased with this one :-)

On the Beach

Another 'finished off' page - it only needed journaling, but for a long time I had been stuck on quite how to add it.  At the retreat, I was looking through some papers and found one with a square pattern ..... so I cut out the squares and used those to write on!

The photos are of a very windy day at Eastbourne, I had managed to leave my camera in the car, so we used DS2's phone to get some pictures!
The papers are from Studio Light and the title is cut on the Silhouette.
Quite a simple page, but effective, I think :-)

Space Oddity

Another layout started and finished at the ATDML retreat! 
I am finding that I don't take so many photos nowadays, apart from holidays when we take hundreds, so I am short of material for non-holiday layouts.  Krafty Karen suggested that I try scrapping older photos, or old favourites which may have been scrapped before, but deserve another look.  I found this concept a bit daunting, since I scrap strictly chronologically!  One year, one album.  But I have embraced the step out of the comfort zone and now have an album for a Miscellany of Incidental Pages ...... LOL.
This is the first incidental layout, it's an old favourite photo of mine from 2002, DS2 dressed as an alien for the Scout carnival float.  We sprayed some old clothes and a swimming hat silver, made him a sign and constructed a rocket back pack from sprayed fizzy drink bottles and duct tape!

It's quite a simple page, I have let the background paper (Maja Designs) do all the work and used another of their papers for the central panel carrying the photo and journaling.  The title was cut on the Silhouette, I wanted a font which I had previously seen in passing and thought might be called Bellbottom, but wasn't sure .... happily I found it on one of the free font sites, downloaded it and was ready to go!
I really like the way it has all come together :-)

The Great Outdoors

A month and a half since the last post... oops....  time to catch up a bit :-)
Last weekend, I went to the ATDML retreat in Suffolk.  I got back late Sunday and we flew off to Paris very early on Monday, so this is the first chance I have had to share the pages I got done!
This one is done using the current sketch from My Creative Sketches:



and here is my take on it:

 I didn't like the sketch at first look, I felt that the large block on the right was just too... well, large and blocky!  But I thought about it and decided it could be a lattice to reduce the in-your-face-ness of it.  So I cut a lattice on the Silhouette and packed it into the kit when I was preparing the papers etc.  When I actually came to make the page, I thought I would also try flipping the sketch and I like it much better this way :-)
The papers are from Maja Design, apart from the plain blue from Craft Creations.  I cut the title with an alpha die, from either Memory Box or Dienamics, not sure which.  It just fit across the page!!  The title comes from the fact that we never go outside at a retreat, too busy!  But we were tempted out by a photo opportunity LOL.
This is my second attempt at scrapping this photo and I am much happier with it than previously :-)