Poodle Skirt

For those of you that know me or follow me, which would be my two loyal followers (Tessa! and my other follower who remains anonymous), you know that I love polka dots!!  In fashion they remind me of a time gone by and I am also a bit of a fan of retro rockabilly style. Plus I just find them so fun!

So in my polka dot madness I went and bought a really cute Poodle Skirt that I saw on Ebay.  I have taken my polka dot fondness to new heights! 

I thought that this crazy purchase deserved a layout all itself, so here it is!  And yes, of course, there had to be polka dots involved in the layout.

I really had a lot of fun with this layout and actually pulled it together in under 45 minutes, a rarity for me.  I didn't want a plain background so I glued some paper called BeLoved by Fancy Pants onto the Simple Stories red cardstock insert that comes with the red Sn@p  binder.

Then it was just a matter of adding the picture and the title, which is simple and easy - Poodle Skirt, using polka dot letters of course!

Then a few further embellishments and stickers and voila, I'm done! Easy peasy!

I like the polka dot mad result!

The final page!

SUPPLIES |  I started off by mounting paper called BeLoved by Fancy Pants from a Studio Calico kit onto the heavy cardstock inserts that come with the Simple Stories Sn@p albums, this one being from the red album and also on the backside of the layout I did for Five Guys here. I added a strip of black and white washi tape by Queen & Co. down the right hand side of the page.  I added a black decorative border to the photo to make the picture pop a bit more.  The polka dot puffy letters for the title are by Making Memories and oh so appropriate for this layout. All the enamel dots and the enamel love heart are by October Afternoon. The yellow chipboard circle with the (3) love hearts is by Studio Calico. The yellow "Hello" chipboard piece and the grey "like this" sticker are both Simple Stories. The red chipboard star to the left of the P in Poodle is by Simple Stories. The "Seriously" sticker and the circular sticker with the glasses are both Simple Stories DIY Boutique.

Thanks for dropping in to have a look!

Happy Scrapping!

Christine   : )

Dog Tired & Goofing Around

Well, the Muse is still in the house so I have been scrapping away today. 

 I have actually been contemplating whether I will continue with the whole PL style aspect of scrapbooking.  I was never really a big fan of the actual Project Life product line when it first came out and found that I instead leaned more towards the Simple Stories Life Documented range.  I just preferred the 6 x 8 size, liked the bright colours and the products they had to offer in that line.  However, in the past few days when I've been creating the "traditional" layouts (even though they are only 6 x 8) I find that I am enjoying these more than the detailed pocket page layouts.

 Granted I am already documenting monthly, although I did start out weekly, so this is or should be a more laid back way of keeping track of the day-to-day things.  But I am finding that I still fall behind, even though this is a more looser approach and I just don't like feeling guilty over something that is meant to be relaxing and help me de-stress from the woes of day to day life.  Yes, I know we only put upon ourselves what we allow.  But even the giants, the old pro's and the dinosaurs of the industry (if you read their blogs) they too feel guilty as well when they fall behind or cannot keep up. So it almost seems inevitable, the feeling guilty that is. That's why I've been thinking that I may just go back to scrapping when I feel like it with no time or calendar restraints adhered to. Not keeping track of my day-to-day weekly or monthly but just whenever.  Plus, if you look at the way the PL style was marketed it was supposed to make scrapbooking faster and easier but it has become so involved now (and yes again, it is what you choose to make it).  If you look at all the giants or gurus that everyone follows, most of their PL layouts are not simple and basic, a lot of time and work goes into them.  But again, these are just my thoughts.

 

Moving along.  I have put the journaling about this layout hidden behind it as one, there wasn't enough room to include it along with the photos and two, its kind of a bit private.  In short it talks about how in my 20's I was starting to learn to love myself, figuring out who I was and what I was about, developing self confidence and building my self esteem.  Eventually I got to a place where I liked who I was with a healthy dose of self confidence but not arrogant about it.  However as of late, I haven't been loving myself very much and was pondering as to whether this is due to circumstances - being made redundant over a year ago, struggling with money, have relationship problems and finding a place to live OR whether it is just a stage in my life, such as age and being in my 40's, learning to re-adjust and find myself again.

SUPPLIES | The black and white background paper is from my stash, old 7 Gypsies Paddington Paper called Piccadilly. The stickers spelling out "Goofing" and "Selfies" are both by Simple Stories - the first from the D.I.Y. line and the latter called Typeset.  The pink and white love heart I cut out of the middle of a PL card. The tiny alphas are by Kaisercraft. The "Today" circle, the three pink hearts on the grey background and the pink polka dot paper are all scraps from PL cards that I cut up.  As well, the "Read Me" tab is a scrap from a PL card stuck onto another PL card to create the journaling.  The lettering for that is by Simple Stories. The pink camera is from the Borders paper by Bella Blvd.

 

Nonetheless I am trying to get better, or get back to, loving myself.  As we (scrapbookers) typically don't include ourselves in our scrapping and as well, being our own worst critics I thought it might help me in some way, especially right now to include myself more in my layouts/pages.  So was goofing around (hence the title), taking some pictures of myself and trying to love what I saw or what was captured. I wanted the goof part of goofing to stand out (as that's what I am!) so used the pink letter and grey letters to make it pop more.  Trying to have a bit of fun with it.

 

For something a little bit less "serious" I have also included a layout today called Dog Tired.  Simon has been working really hard lately as he's been full on with work.  He has also been working some Saturday's just to stay on top of it.  This particular Saturday he came home and crashed out on the sofa.  As per usual, whenever and wherever Simon is, Rupert has to be right along side him.  Captured this moment as they were sleeping as I thought it was so heart-warming. Decided to keep this one simple, don't think it needed much detail.  

SUPPLIES | The "Cherish" sticker is by Simple Stories Typeset and the "Life is Ruff" sticker tag is by Simple Stories Dog pack.  The background mock notebook paper that the photo is mounted on came from the original Simple Stories Sn@p kit. The brown and white polka dot washi tape is by Queen & Co.

SUPPLIES | Black alphas spelling "Dog" are by LilyBee Designs called Sweet Shoppe.  The love heart and the letters spelling "Tired" are by Simple Stories Dog pack.

Thanks for stopping by to have a look and letting me share my layouts with you!

Christine  x

January PL (part 3) with Simple Stories Sn@p

I am diligently plugging away at getting January "in the books"!! But so want to be done with February already too.  If this is the pace that I am going to be taking for the New Year, so much for staying on top of things this year.  Can't imagine what state I (or my PL) will be in by August. Yikes!

 

In the top pocket I documented a visit to a local café that we frequent quite often. The picture is of their business card, laid on a green napkin (which is the way the owner placed it on the counter when he was putting my order in a carrier bag) so I quickly took a snapshot.  I thought rather than taking yet another picture of food, as I already take so many, I would capture the moment another way.  Brilliant little Italian place but also does British style breakfast and rolls in the morning, plus a fab cup of Hot Chocolate or Ho Cho as we like to call it now!  (check them out if you like http://www.eatatpalmieris.co.uk/) 

The bottom pocket is pretty self explanatory, when life is horrible, there's always the hope that chocolate will fix it!! And peanut M&M's are my go-to chocolate!

SUPPLIES | Top Pocket - the "Every Little Thing" tag in upper right hand corner is by Simple Stories and the black & white polka dot background card is a Project Life card but I'm not sure which line I took it from, plus black & white Washi tape. Bottom Pocket - yellow background paper is a 6x6 pad by Dovecraft. The "Notes, Notes, Notes" card is a PL card from the Honey line. The peanut M&M stickers are from my stash and very old, believe they are by EK Success.  The pink heart is a wood veneer from Studio Calico, coloured with a marker, from the Sugar Rush kit.

 Again, using my Insta-apps to document my life! This is Insta-place (on the top)!  More pics of Rupert and I enjoying our walks at Braywick Park.

SUPPLIES | Queen & Co brown and white polka dot washi tape. Top page: "currently" sticker is by Simple Stories.  Bottom page: "Enjoy everyday" flag sticker is by Simple Stories, the "Play" sticker is by Studio Calico from American Crafts Accent Stickers and the "You&I" sticker is by Simple Stories Cardstock Stickers Everyday line.

 

 As always, there's nothing better than a game of fetch or tug of war with a stick of the right length and width, carefully chosen by Rupert. Not just any old stick will do!  Sometimes he will pick up 5 or 6 before he decides on the right one.  On occasion, if he becomes obsessed with one of these sticks, I will take it home with us to bring it back next time.  I'm a saddo really, but if it makes him happy! 

 In reading a lot of other blogs and also seeing other peoples Project Life online I've come to realise they seem to include a bit more of themselves in their PL.  I suppose "not including myself" really isn't something new to me as I typically didn't make it a habit to include myself in my regular/traditional scrapbooking.  So.... this is why I am trying to make a conscious effort to include more of myself, in small ways. Thought starting with something like my feet and legs would be easy, still bits of me. Sort of ease myself into it.

 As my father was an avid photographer when I was growing up and considered himself to fall within the rankings of, say maybe David Bailey or Robert Frank or one of the many from National Geographic I constantly had a camera shoved in my face and as well, was put in many mock scenarios to create the right Kodak moment for him to  'candidly' capture it.  Hence the reason that I now, as an adult, don't really like having my picture taken, but I'm still trying to change that.

SUPPLIES | The circular metal clip on the top of the page is very old and from my stash, not sure on brand as had it in one of those plastic sectioned boxes.  All the washi tape is by Queen & Co. The polka dot strips above and below the black & white polka dot tape are simply trimmings from some paper I was using.  The black & white chevron paper on the bottom pocket is by Studio Calico.  The "Sunday" tab on the bottom pocket is actually the top of a PL 3x4 card from the Blush line. The circular pink & black brad is a funky brad by Dovecraft from their Rose Tinted Christmas line. The pink speech bubble card below is a PL card from the Blush line which I have just cut down to fit over the 3x4 pocket. The "selfie" (which I don't really like) is a photo altered with my FXCamera app.

 Still need to include my journaling on the inside of the card, about how I need to start including myself more, it is my life I'm documenting after all.  Take more "selfies"!

An artsy photo of Rupert in the top left pocket, using one of my photo editing apps (FXCamera). Mounted on SC chevron paper with a gold SC chipboard heart sticker..  On the right a screenshot of my FB status for January 23rd, where I was interviewing for various positions at a business park called Stockley Park near Heathrow.  In the bottom pocket a photo taken through the windscreen of my car as I was driving through Burnham Beeches to IHG in Denham, which I altered with one of my editing apps.

 

SUPPLIES | The orange background paper is Bazzill with a PL 4x6 grid card on top of that. A plain large paper tag and then a small pink check tag (old American Crafts, from a kit) split in half, one on each side of the picture plus (2) pink SC chipboard stars.  The letters at the top are rub-ons ("driving" & "IHG") from a random kit I received ages ago whereas the "to" letters are from the Typeset alphas by Simple Stories. The "status update" sticker is by Simple Stories.

 

 This was an easy page, sometimes I think the photos can just speak for themselves and extra embellishments aren't necessary.  Down the left hand side of the page is a photo strip I made using a few extra pictures from when Rupert & I were at Braywick Park.  In the top pocket is a 4x4 photo using my Insta-place app.  This pic is of our front hallway as we are now packing up our life!  Chaos!  Below that is a 4x4 picture using my Insta-food app, told  you I was Insta-crazy!  In all the chaos, running back and forth to the storage company for boxes, etc., packing up the house and trying to get round to house viewings my lunch wasn't the most nutritious, to say the least.  I should really try to do better but sometimes I find myself just eating what is easiest. So shameful when there aren't really any nutritional benefits in stuff like this.  I used one of the skins in Insta-Food and then added text to the bottom of the pic. 

Leading into February....

(front)

 I have added something new this year to my PL.  I don't usually have dividers to separate the months of my PL. I know that you can purchase the Becky Higgins monthly dividers but as I am using the Simple Stories 6x8 album these wouldn't really work size wise.  I was actually inspired to create these after reading a post by Kelly Xenos (which you can find here) a fellow SC'er and someone I follow on Bloglovin. I love her stuff! With her monthly dividers she did choose to continue along with the pocket pages but as I am trying to really work my way through my massive hoard & stash this year I decided to simply use up some scrap pink cardstock and some old pink love heart paper I have taking up space.  Created a tab along the top and then ran the cardstock through my printer to print "February" on it.

 (back)

 
Well that's it for me for January.  Finally!! Hallelujah!  I'm going to consider myself finished.  There are actually other pictures I can add but as I need to feel like I'm moving forward, I'm going to call it finished for now.  If I get the time and the creative inspiration I may come back and add more.

Thanks for stopping by to have a look!
Christine   : )

Onwards and upwards!

 

January PL (via Simple Stories Sn@p) Part 2

Today I am sharing my January Project Life (via Sn@p) part 2, or part deux!

With all the rain and bad weather that we've been having here in the UK I thought it fitting to create a page about it.  We live local to Cookham Moor which is a lovely place to walk Rupert along the Thames, especially when the weather is nice.  The views are beautiful and there are loads of other people there walking their dogs so it is also a good place for social interaction for him. Over the past week (January 6th thru 12th) or so it has been raining nearly non-stop here and as well we have been hit with gale force winds.  We had heard that a lot of low lying local villages had been flooded and also that the river had overflowed, which I've been told is quite common here.  So I went along one afternoon to Cookham to see what all the hub-bub was about and I was shocked to see the road through Cookham was completely underwater, a sight to behold.  Well, sadly for Rupert we won't be walking him at Cookham Moor for quite some time. In this layout I wanted to echo the colours of the outdoors and water so choose the green and blue colour palette.  It also worked well as I had just received a new Washi tape by Queen & Co with a blue background and green dots on it.  I am absolutely dotty for polka dots! (as I'm sure you've noticed by now).  And as you can see, in the lower corner I have included another Insta-Weather snap.  I am just loving my Insta apps!

SUPPLIES | Background paper is heavy cardstock that comes with the Simple Stories Sn@p albums. The pics used are from Insta-Weather. The blue & green polka dot (which I am obsessed with) Washi tape is by Queen & Co, Trendy Tape. "Been There" & "What" sticker are Simple Stories. The blue "Flooded" letters by also Simple Stories from the Sn@p Stickers Letters pack. The multi-colour arrow, gray Sunday tab and both stars are from the Daily Grind Simple Stories bits & pieces pack. The Beech Bend Park ticket tucked in the upper corner of the page is from the SC Double Scoop kit as is the green paper behind the main photo, its by MME called Presh "Right Now" by Jen Allyson. The blue camera brad is by Simple Stories from their Sn@p Brads - Life pack. The "Golly" sticker is Dymo style tape from Marcella by Kay embossed stickers. The "Cookham Moor" green lettering is from a kit (don't think it was a major brand name) that I found at TJ Maxx (the British equivalent of TK Maxx - not sure why they changed the K to J)

 

A Night Out in Windsor (with Big Dan & Sembi)  With this page my main photo was taken with my Insta-place app. I blew it up larger than its usual 4x4 size so that it was almost the full size of the page. I really liked the rich blueness of the night sky in the photo and wanted to accent this with some different colours, sort of step outside my usual comfort scrapping zone so pulled out my handy dandy colour wheel and went with the triad colours for blue - variants of orange and green. I think it looks a bit wild with all the polka dots, green & orange contrasts and it turned out quite psychedelic in the end. Not sure whether I like it or not but at least it's down on paper. I tried spelling out the title with different colour letters but the green didn't seem to work, neither did a shade of blue so I ended up with orange as I thought it looked best. As I didn't think it popped enough against the background I drew around it with a black marker.

SUPPLIES | Orange and white polka dot background paper is by Bo Bunny, think its called "Gift of Life". Very old from my stash.  All the letter stickers are by Simple Stories, from two different packs - Sn@p Stickers Letters (big orange) and Sn@p Stickers Typeset(small orange & green). The ampersand is by lilybee design called Sweet Shoppe letter stickers. The green polka dot Washi tape is Trendy Tape by Queen & Co.

  

For this following layout, as I had picked up the Nando's takeaway menu as a memento from that night I wanted to use it in my layout.  This page actually came together quite quickly.  Once I decided to use the Peri-ometer multi-coloured pepper I knew that I could use these colours in my page. I enjoyed the bright colours used on this page and funny enough I never would have expected to ever use a gold doily in my scrapbooking.  When I received it in my kit, I thought to myself "I am never, like never, ever (in the words of Taylor Swift) going to use a gold doily in my scrapbooking".  Funnily enough, when I was working on this page and had all the elements laid out on the page, I felt I was missing something in the lower left hand corner and it just wasn't tying all together.  And then into my head popped that gold doily.  As I didn't think I was ever going to use it I did have a difficult time finding it as I hadn't put it with my usual stash.  However, I think it worked out quite well in the end with the page layout and colours.  What do you think?

 SUPPLIES |  The base paper is from my stash and is Basic Grey I do believe, called "Out of Print Classifieds" - this is actually side B, if you will, the other side has coloured newsprint strips on it and is why I purchased it in the first place.   As you can see I cut up the takeaway menu from Nando's and used that as the base for my background.  Tucked behind the menu is a gold doily from the SC Double Scoop kit.  The orange heart in the bottom right hand corner is actually something I punched out from the back of the menu.  All the word stickers "Say Cheese; My Life; Its all Good; & Enjoy!" are all by Simple Stories.  The Peri-ometer pepper is cut from the menu.  The orange star is also Simple Stories and the metal art brad (with the brad removed) in the lower left corner is an old, old K& Co product.

For the page opposite I continued to carry on with the same bright colours, I'm thinking I may have gone a bit overboard at this point though.  Upon reflection I do have to say that I did enjoy these pages as they are not the typical colours that I would usually scrap with.

SUPPLIES | The background paper in the top pocket is Bazzill peach cardstock and on this is a scrap of the orange and white polka dot paper by Bo Bunny.  All the embellishments (grid journaling tag, Details arrow, Today chipboard speech bubble and Life brad) are all Simple Stories.  The "Fun" embossed Dymo style sticker is Marcella by Kay and the yellow brad is by MME from The Sweetest Thing pack. For the pocket on the bottom the green polka dot background paper is from a random kit that I found at TK Maxx ages ago. The yellow chipboard "2 of a Kind" number is by K&Co from the Wild Saffron line, the "Been There" green arrow sticker is by Simple Stories, the orange brad by MME Sweetest Thing, the "Awesome" tag is by Simple Stories which is the top of a bingo card that I cut off and the green chipboard button is by Webster's Pages, buttons & twine from the Your Life. Beautiful.

Close up shots of the detail on the page

 

 

   
 

This next layout is about, surprise, surprise, my dog Rupert!  He lets me "torture him" frequently by taking picture after picture of him, I suppose he really is quite good when you think about it.  On this day I was sorting the laundry, putting stuff in the machine and taking damp stuff out, then putting it into the laundry basket.  Rupert was watching me and curious as he is he put his paws up on the edge of the basket to look into it and that's when my "evil plan" hit me.  How cute would he look sitting in the basket with the laundry sign in front of him?  Then I could create a layout titled "Dirty Dog".   So I set up my props and went about conducting my mock photo shoot!

 Below are both pages together, as I felt one picture just didn't truly represent the cuteness of this "photo shoot".  I was amazed at how good he was, just sat in the basket and let me click away, time after time.  I kinda thought that he would try to jump out and run away.  But no, he's a good boy and sat there patiently while his crazy mother humiliated him in front of all the other neighbourhood kids. Gotta love that dog! x

SUPPLIES | The blue polka dot background paper on the left is by Studio Calico, not sure on the name. Blue "Dirty Dog" stickers are by Simple Stories, Daily Grind line. The blue circular tag is by Elle's Studio. The four stickers at the bottom of the left page are all by Simple Stories (Vintage Bliss & Daily Grind lines) and the dog house sticker with a loveheart in it is also by Simple Stories 24/7 but I have placed it on a punched out piece of paper to raise it off the page a bit. On the right side, the background paper is simply a piece of Bazzill cardstock, the vellum lovehearts are from the SC Sugar Rush kit, the other punched lovehearts are punched out from scraps of paper I have, the blue & pink enamel dots are from the SC Double Scoop & Sugar Rush kits. The "Be Unique" bingo card is by Simple Stories and the lined note card is from the SC Sugar Rush kit. The blue lined and polka dot circle at the bottom are both scraps of paper from Simple Stories that I punched with my circular punches to fit together.

 

 

 I've noticed this month that I have really gone with not only quite a few colours, but quite a few bright colours.  Maybe it's a sign that I have had enough of this dreary UK weather and am looking forward to a more colourful time of year. 

Roll on Spring!

(I haven't completely finished part 2 but thought I would post what I have so I can feel like I've accomplished something and stop stressing out.  Can't believe its already March and I haven't even started on February).


Thanks for stopping by to have a look!
Christine  : )