SNOW DAY LAYOUT

THURSDAY, 5 FEBRUARY, 2015

I haven't had a chance to sit down and document my recent pictures for my Project Life properly so today I am sharing a layout about the recent snowfall we had here in the UK. They have been predicting snow now for over a month but we had yet to receive any until the start of this week. Although I suppose in all fairness, I should clarify to say that we haven't received any down south, in Berkshire but there has been a fair amount up north and in Scotland as well. 

SPACER

 SPACER

You could really feel the temperature drop at the start of the week and then before it snowed it almost seemed to warm up a tiny bit on the day and then went eerily quiet just before it fell. 

Having grown up in California snow is not something I experienced on a yearly basis, so I actually find it quite serene and peaceful. That is, when it's falling. But then having to go out in it and drive around as well as be mindful not to fall down in icy areas can become very bothersome. 

SPACER

SPACER

I hadn't originally intended to scrap this photo in a layout but then I was on Studio Calico and came across a beautiful winter layout by Sherry C. which you can find here. I was so inspired by her beautiful layout that I wanted to create my own wintry layout. If you like, you can also visit her blog here to see what other lovely things she is currently working on! 

SPACER

SPACER

I wanted the photo to be the focus of the layout and had imagined using white wintry colours like Sherry had.  However, I did not have enough supplies to create a look such as this plus I wanted to use an acetate overlay so went with other wintry colours, such as the blue and silver. 

SPACER

SPACER

I knew that I had some silvery gray cardstock and as I mentioned, I wanted to use this acetate winter overlay that I've had for ages by Creative Imaginations so I thought this would be a good start, to help the white script pop off the background. 

I also wanted to use up a few blue paper scraps from my December Daily album along with some snowflake wood veneers so these were incorporated into the layout. 

I wanted to get a bit of sparkle in there so used some glittery silver tape by Paperchase that I had picked up at Christmas. I used a scalloped border from Bella Blvd from their Thankful alphabits sticker sheet by Stephanie Hunt. 

SPACER

SPACER

I added some metal snowflake brads by Papermania and used Glossy Accents on them to give them a bit more depth and sparkle. 

I finished the page off by adding the title with Dymo type words called Label Lingo stickers by EK Success onto a bit of scrap paper also from my December Daily album. 

I also added a further Dymo style label at the top of the page, near the snowflake brad. This is Marcella by Kay. 

And finally, the completed layout.

SPACER

Thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog. 

Hope your Project Life and scrapping for the new year is coming along nicely. 

Summer is Here! (or it WAS here)

(I thought I had already posted this entry but realised today that I still had it sitting in my drafts folder.)

Today I am catching up on some of my pages from June.  As the summers here in the UK are typically short and sometimes non-existent I decided to dedicate a page to the onset of Summer when it arrived, and was it glorious!  As I mentioned sometimes the summers here can be non-existent, like last year when we had a solid month of rain for the month of June.  This year however it has been quite good, not only unusually warm but for more than a week or two!  Pretty much still going strong as I post this now.  

With this layout I wanted it to be representative of the feel of summer so chose to use really bright colours and accents.  The picture was taken at Pinkney's Green and it was a glorious day. Pretty much picture perfect!

The background paper was from a Studio Calico kit and I wanted it to carry through the top and bottom pocket to appear as if one complete page. I also included a screenshot from my phone of the weather for the day. 

The 06 June sticker is from The Daily Grind line by Simple Stories.  I mounted the title "Summer" onto a bingo card by Simple Stories. The colourful chipboard letters are by American Crafts.  The lettering spelling out "is here" is by Simple Stories as is the "breath of fresh air" sticker below that. The green stars are by October Afternoon.  On the bottom pocket the green bliss Dymo style sticker is Marcella by Kay. The "hooray for today" sticker is Simple Stories and the bright yellow "summer" metal tag is an old embellishment I've had for some time by American Crafts. 

Thanks for having a look! 

Have Your Cake and Eat it too!!

Hello All!

Today I am trying the new Simple Stories Insta-squares page protectors.  I have an Instagram account so I do take a few Insta-pictures but I don't always use them in my layouts on a regular basis.  However, I did see these page protectors used in an album on another blog (sorry, can't remember who - more than likely it was probably Kristine Davidson I'm guessing) and I liked that it gave the album another dimension so I thought I would order some, see what I could create.   

 

I am using them for a layout to document a lunch date that I have with my friend Sarah.  Typically we meet once a month but recently, due to a few things going on in her life and mine, it hasn't been as regular as it used to be. I do enjoy my lunches with her as she always manages to put me in a better place once I have spent the afternoon with her so I do miss the time together but as we all know, sometimes life can get in the way!  She is trying to focus on the moment at finishing her curriculum to become a Yoga instructor so I can understand the pressure and need to take time to do this, as I remember what my college days were like (although just between me and you that was a LONG time ago).  

 

For this layout I wanted to use brown as a primary colour to tie in with the chocolate cake - something that is irresistible to me!!  My cryptonite!  Ashamedly I will do just about anything for chocolate cake. I am the epitome of that pin on Pinterest that shows the first picture of a really fit girl with the quote "I'm so doing this" and then the second picture of a baby with cake all over it's face with the quote "did someone says cake?".

 As pink is my go to colour, and I think pink and brown go so well together, pink was the secondary colour I chose for this layout.  Plus I wanted the layout to have a fun element, brighten it up and I also wanted to do a bit of layering with the primary photo as I had a few pink scraps I wanted to try and use up.  I recently purchased some chipboard letters by Basic Grey called Grand Bazaar, that are brown and pink, so thought these would be perfect for this layout, and they were!  They worked so well with the colour scheme.

 

 

You may be wondering why there are just pictures of cake and none of Sarah if I had a lunch date with her.  Some of my friends don't mind being included in the blog but some, like Sarah, would prefer not to be so I respect that and keep the pictures of her and I private as asked.

 

After creating the layout with mostly pink and brown I thought it could use a few highlights so decided to add a bit of gold, as it goes really well with pink and mostly just about anything! Thought it was the perfect final touch. 

The final double page layout

SUPPLIES | For the left page:

The brown background paper is Bazzill. For the various pink paper behind the cake photo - one is Echo Park "Dots & Stripes" (bottom) and one is called Garden Party by Pebbles (top). As for the pink polka dot paper in the middle, not sure as this was a scrap. The pink tag, split in half behind the photo is by American Crafts, very old. The "sweetie" tag down the left hand side of the photo is actually the top of a Bingo card by Simple Stories. The pink tab with "Have Your" on it is the top part of a PL card and the lettering are by Simple Stories Typeset. The wood veneer (painted pink) is by Studio Calico and the gold glitter dot is by Twine & Ink. The "delight" Dymo style tape is Marcella by Kay, the stripe below that is Echo Park, the stripe below that is washi tape stuck to white cardstock (don't know the brand) and the tag below that is from a PL card that was cut up. The "Love This" chevron bubble next to the cake photo is by Mambi Sticks and the gold label at the bottom is Studio Calico as is the gold arrows.  

For the right page: The background paper is old Daisy D's. The letters spelling out "Lunch" are Basic Grey called Grand Bazaar. The wood veneer love hearts are Studio Calico. The "with" letters are Simple Stories Typeset and the letters spelling out "Sarah" are by Bella Blvd called Playdate. 

Thanks for dropping by to have a look!

Christine   : )

Was wondering, for those who have visited my blog before, do I focus too much on the personal side of the story? Too much on the scrapbooking process? Or not enough of both?  Neither? Do let me know. Your comments would be welcome!