Magnificent Seven layout

My last post for Blogtober :-)  At the moment I am at the ATDML retreat, so it seems appropriate to post a layout using a photo from a previous retreat, April 2014.  This is actually one of my many almost-done layouts which are languishing in my albums, in need of title and /or journaling.  This one actually only needed the title!

I cut the title with Memory Box 'Alphabet Soup', using Stick It as the letters are quite small and fiddly.  The papers are from Marian Smith.

So that's Blogtober over and done with ... for this year....  I have enjoyed it, though it has got a bit stressy toward the very end, but next time I can be more prepared for that.  I have tried several new ideas and made good use of my Pinterest board - also I have managed to use new stash as it comes in and have pulled quite a lot of things out of the drawer.  I even took part in some challenges and I must try and do more of that, going forward.  Roll on next year :-)

Three Happy Scrappers

A few years ago, Karen, Sy and I scrapped the same photo of the three of us and we thought it would be a nice idea to do the same thing for Blogtober and post it on the same day.  Karen's layout is here and Sy's is here.

The background paper is, I think, from Studio Light and I found two journalling cards and some toning patterned papers from an old class kit.  The large doily is Silhouette cut and the clock, gears, borders, butterfly and title are all die-cut.
This page is probably unique, since it deliberately includes a flower, something I never do ...... LOL.  That's because the gears are for me, the butterfly is for Karen and the flower is for Sy :-)

Out of the Drawer - Cards from the UFO box

I have found it a little difficult over the last few days, to combine Blogtober with prepping for the retreat :-)  I have today off work, so for today's post I have taken two half-made cards from the UFO box and completed those LOL.
Both cards had a matted piece of patterned paper from a 6" paper pad and that was it. I stamped and embossed a large sentiment from Woodware in two different colours, matted those and attached to the prepped bases.  It took longer than it should have, I couldn't seem to get a decent embossed image, think I might be feeling a little stressed!

The OotD items are the card bases and the embossing powders - the orange is American Crafts 'Apricot', not previously used, and the purple is Stampendous 'Metallic Purple'  which I may have used once before but am not quite sure LOL.
I must dig further into that UFO card box - there were some in there I had forgotten about and now have ideas for..... :-)

Embossed, inked, panelled card - Pinterest challenge four of four

This is the final one of Sy's Pinterest challenge for this month.  She did ask at the start, what happens if she picks one of my Pins which I have done before and I said that's fine, I can always do it again, but differently.  So yes, I have done this one before, but it's worth doing again, I love the split panel layout.  The original Pin is here.
This is my take on it:

I took some cardstock which I had previously embossed with a folder and smoosh-inked, cut it into panels and arranged those on a mat.  I think the embossing folder is from Taylored Expressions. 
I wanted to keep it quite uncluttered as I love the elegant simplicity of the four panels and didn't want to cover them up too much.  So I die-cut a Dienamics twirly circle for a sentiment mat, stamped & heat embossed a sentiment (Stamping all Day) in a Wow embossing powder, a lovely colour called Paprika. Then I punched it out into a circle and attached to the mat, and put the whole thing onto the card with some 2mm foam pads.
Really like this one - will definitely use the design again!

Beat the Christmas Rush - October

Is this a first?  Completing Krafty Karen's BtCR challenge in the same month it goes live???  LOL.
I have gone for white and silver for these and used new stash to boot :-)

The stamps and embossing folder are new - stamps from Stampin' Up and folder from Crafter's Companion.  I embossed some Bazzill Bling in Diamond and stamped/heat embossed the snowflakes and sentiment in silver.  Then it was a case of cutting to size, cutting mirri mats and putting them all together - four times :-)

I like this simple central square layout, and I think I will try this particular design again, maybe in aqua ...... :-)

Retreat Preparation

Yesterday I started printing out photos for next weekend's ATDML retreat.  Most of them will be for pocket pages, but I covered the dining table and the top of my printer ......

...... I haven't finished yet :-)

Autumn at Wakehurst Place

A very early start this morning - Wakehurst Place were opening at 6:30 am for season ticket holders, so we could enjoy seeing all the trees in the early Autumn morning mists.  So we set the alarm to 6:00 am - unfortunately the clocks went back last night and the mist was already burning off!  So we didn't get any 'misty ' photos ..... but early morning sun on Autumn foliage is just as good :-)

We had a full English breakfast at the end of our wander, which was lovely, then looked for Christmas presents in the shop.  Sadly it was an hour and a half before they were able to open (Sunday trading laws) so we made a note of what we wanted and will go back in a few weeks.
All in all, worth the early start .... and we have 250+ photos to prove it!