4th of July (Simple Stories)

Today I am sharing a recent layout I created about the 4th of July. Living in the UK the 4th of July is something I really miss celebrating.  Friends here say "you can still celebrate, if you want to."  Yes, this is true but it is just not the same when 1) everyone else isn't celebrating as well and 2) you don't get the big fireworks display somewhere or can go to an open air 4th of July concert.

 This year I was planning on getting back to the states to celebrate properly but unfortunately it just didn't come about for a couple of reasons, so I was quite disappointed about that.  

 

So here is my layout dedicated to the 4th of July.

 At least the day turned out to be sunny, which is always a good thing here in the UK so Rupert and I spent the afternoon at the park, on a long walk.

 

Then in the evening I joined Simon for a round of golf, in the buggy, at the golf club with a nice dinner afterwards.  Going out with him in the buggy is always good for a laugh or two.  So although I didn't get to celebrate "American style", it was all in all a great day.

 Left Page

SUPPLIES | Background paper is Simple Stories I {Heart Summer}. I cut a 6x8 piece and then mounted it on a bit of white cardstock, running Studio Calico washi tape (from Sugar Rush) around the edges.  Wanted to bring out some of the stripes in the bunting banner on the paper. The little gold stars are Studio Calico. The yellow sun face in the I heart Summer banner is soo old I wouldn't even know the brand, from my super early days of scrapbooking.  The "Sunny Day" tag on top of the Keep Calm photo is by Bella Blvd from their Playdate sticker sheet.  The gold glittery arrow is by Freckled Fawn. The blue "completely awesome" round sticker is from the Simple Stories D.I.Y. line and the red star from the Daily Grind pack. The blue star is Studio Calico and the white enamel dot is also Simple Stories D.I.Y. as is the "look" sticker. The green "park" sticker is from Bella Blvd. Playdate.

 

 Right Page

SUPPLIES | Background paper is Simple Stories I {Heart} Summer. Again I cut a 6x8 piece and mounted it on the reverse of Fancy Pants Be.Loved. Sentiments paper.  The "celebrate" banner at the top is from Studio Calico as is the blue star.  The red glittery #4 is an American Crafts Thicker called Pantry as is the J in July.  The other lettering is from Bella Blvd. off the Playdate sticker sheet.  The t&h are Simple Stories Typecast.  The red & white striped journaling card is by Teresa Collins Stationery Noted. The "freedom" sticker is a super old Making Memories Defined sticker that I painted with blue watercolours. The blue circular star sticker is Studio Calico and the blue Friday tag is Simple Stories Daily Grind. The red "smile" tag and the blue "real life" tag I cut out from Simple Stories paper.  The corner of the lined card with the red star on it is a snippet of a 7 Gypsies card and the dark grey geotag is by Studio Calico.

 

Not sure why my pictures look so washed out today, don't know if its the light I used or if my camera is playing up.  Tried retaking them but they seemed to come out the same.  

 

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

 

Christine  : )

February PL (with Simple Stories Sn@p) - part 1

So happy to be finishing my February PL as well! February wasn't nearly as busy a month as January (although in truth, January did not seem that busy when it was happening so was surprised with how many pages I ended up with) so there are not as many pages to document for this month.  Hopefully I can crack on over the next week or so and get up to date with March.  Probably wishful thinking there on my part as I'm sure something will keep me from accomplishing that task.  I'm such the optimist, aren't I?!

We were lucky enough to get a few good days of sunshiny weather so thought it was worth documenting. Very rare for February.  Lucky enough that it wasn't snowing really at this time of year.  Took Rupert over to Cookham now that the flood waters are gone and this is what we were left with! Picture perfect.

SUPPLIES | The background grid paper is the hard card inserts that come with the Simple Stories Sn@p albums. The multi-coloured striped paper is super old from my stash. The Captured tab behind the top of the picture is a PL card from the Honey line with two yellow brads by Papermania. I have added some enamel dots (gold glitter & yellow) by Studio Calico. The gold arrows are Freckled Fawn Dew Drops from the Studio Calico Sugar Rush kit. The "sweet sunshine" and "hello" sticker are by Simple Stories.  The yellow "sunny day" sticker is by Studio Calico. The red "Saturday" tag at the bottom is by Jillibean Soup called "days of the week" soup labels.

 

On the back of the above page I created a collage of sorts with another photo taken at Cookham that day, where a small area of the fields were still flooded.  I also included a picture of Simon and Rupert after our walk.  Not only does it wear Rupert out but apparently Simon as well. Too funny! Not sure why I chose it but I wanted to do this layout all in varying tones of blue.  I really like how it turned out.

SUPPLIES | Background paper (grid paper) is simply the back of the previous page. I know paint chip cards are so last decade and so very passe, but I still like using them when I want to add a little colour to my page. The "Noted" tab stapled to the picture at the top of the page is PL card from the Honey line.  The "Love This" blue circle and the camera strips at the bottom of the page and along the top side are a PL card from the Blush kit cut up. All the stickers (Today-Documented, Life is Good, This is the Good Stuff) are Simple Stories.  The "Day Dream" Dymo style sticker is an embossed sticker from the Marcella line by Kay. The "Friends" flair is by American Crafts and the "best" stickers above it are by Simple Stories. The round "Today is the Day" tag is by Jillibean Soup called Journaling Sprouts. The silver & blue polka dot foil, peaking out from behind the paint chip card is from an old, old kit that I picked up at TK Maxx (the UK equivalent of TJ Maxx). The blue chipboard stars are by Studio Calico.

 

We're not always able to get out with Rupert during the week when the evenings get dark so early but we definitely make a habit of taking him out for a long walk at the park on the weekends.  An added bonus was that we had good weather with a bit of sun as well.  Whilst walking at Braywick on this day Rupert happened to find a ball that another dog had left behind, so a very long game of fetch ensued, to the point where he was so tired he just flopped down on the ground till he caught his breath.  Always a good sign of a great walk.

(left page)

SUPPLIES-Left page | Green polka dot paper is very old and from my stash. The gray "Today" tab is the top of a PL card stuck behind the photo. The "good day" sticker, "tired" letters and the banner are all Simple Stories.

SUPPLIES | With this picture I altered it a bit with one of my photo apps (BeFunky), to give it a blurred effect around the edges, which is called Tiltshift. The "heart this" green sticker is by Simple Stories.

 

As the sun here is brief, by the time we finished our walk the weather had turned a bit cold so we stopped for our favourite, a Ho Cho at Costa.

(right page)

SUPPLIES-Right page | The "Here's the Story" journaling card is a PL card and the insert card on the bottom "Saturday Sunday in the Park" I created myself in Word (only Chicago fans will get the reference!).  I just added a bit of Queen & Co washi tape to the bottom to give it a bit more colour. 

SUPPLIES | All the stickers on this page (the multi-coloured arrow on the top right, the green arrow on the bottom "Look @ This" and the "Messy" letters are all Simple Stories.  The "documented" card is a PL Honey card mounted on patterned paper by Dovercraft called Garden Party from a 6x6 pack.  The "This is a dog's life" insert card is by Simple Stories from the new Dog pack.

 

I think Rupert and Simon are so cute together. Don't know if Simon is even aware of how much he cuddles Rupert when they are both asleep.  Absolutely adorable!

SUPPLIES | All supplies on this page (two insert cards and the one sticker) are all Simple Stories.
 

Below is a goofy page I did on taking selfies.  As I am trying to include more bits of myself in my album I was just playing around with my phone and sending silly pictures to Simon one night.  Thought it would be fun to include these in my album.  The small one on the top left I turned B&W and then altered with a soft focus with one of my editing apps.

 SUPPLIES | Background paper is simple black Bazzill cardstock. The black & white patterned paper is by Teresa Collins. The large pink glitter chipboard stickers are by Making Memories called Shimmer Jigsaw pink/rose.  When I saw them I instantly loved them but didn't now what I would ever use them for as they're quite big but I thought they were perfect for this page. The pink glitter stars are by Studio Calico. The little pink felt flowers are from a craft kit by WHSmith, believe it or not. The white brad with the little heart are Bodacious Brads by BoBunny, the pink checkered brad is by cart-us called Baby and the white button brad are mini button brads by Making Memories.

 

Close up of detail in upper left hand corner of page

 

Rupert is quite cheeky and wanted to get in on the action so he stole my camera to take his own version of a selfie - a "pelfie", which I have scrapped below. Quite cute!

SUPPLIES | All the stickers used come from various different lines by Simple Stories (24/7, Travel, The Daily Grind & D.I.Y.)  The pink glitter star is from the Double Scoop Studio Calico kit I do believe. And the B&W background paper is by Teresa Collins.

(full page below)

After reading through my post one last time I've come to realise that this is a Rupert heavy post. Maybe I need to stop focusing so much on my dog....

 

I am determined to get my February PL part 2 done and had hoped to upload it this weekend as well but I think that was probably a lofty goal.

 

Thanks for stopping by to have a look!

Would love to hear a few comments on what you all think, even if its I should give up crafting forever, burn all my paper and never look back!  ; )

 

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!

 

Making a Valentine for my Valentine!

 

I am not much of a card-maker and have always been a scrapping girl through and through.  However, having done PL this last year and continuing with it this year I have found that I do enjoy working on a smaller scale than the traditional 12x12 layouts that I am accustomed to.  So I thought with Valentines Day coming up and having quite a few bits and pieces to hand (and a massive stash that needs to be used up) that I would give it a go to see what kind of Valentines Day card I could create.

 

It's probably not as good as some of the phenomenally talented card-makers out there but I think it is a good job for my first official attempt.  With the "3-D" heart I wanted to create something similar to those old style tissue paper hearts & bells you used to see at weddings.  They would come flat, just two pieces of card and a wedge of tissue paper but once you clipped the front & back card together, voila - you had yourself a very cheap but easily made, somewhat... tacky craft paper decoration that looked like it came from your 8th grade home economics classroom.  Don't expect you see those much now at current day weddings.   Although in saying that, those giant tissue paper flowers are quite popular right now.

 

 

 I wanted to try my hand at sewing on the card as well as I need to improve my sewing skills (having just received
 my mini sewing machine at Christmas), so thought it would be cute to create bunting with heart shapes and banners along the top of the card.  For any of you who are more than decent at sewing, you will be able to see that I probably need loads more practice, but I just decided to embrace the crappiness of it and go with it!

For the main bit of card I simply cut a 12x12 white piece of Bazzill cardstock down to 5 1/2 by 11.  For the pink strip across the bottom of the card that I placed the Love letters on, as an afterthought I am now thinking that I should have distressed it or added something to it as it seems quite plain compared to the rest of the card.  Maybe something to experiment with next time.

Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Valentines Day! x
Christine

 

SUPPLIES | Bazzill cardstock - white, pink and red. The brown & pink polka dot paper is by Making Memories - Love Struck, for the pink and white polka dot paper I don't have the manufacturer, just the name which is Up in the Trees and the "Love" lettering are Thickers by American Crafts called Jewelry Box. The "True" letters were in my Studio Calico PL Sugar Rush kit. The red glitter puffy heart is a no name brand and something that was sent to me by my best friend last Valentines Day. The background paper for the card is from a no-name kit that I picked up at TK Maxx so don't have a manufacturer there either.