Looking @ Houses

This page actually started out based around the blue alphas spelling out the "Looking" part of the title.  I have had these alphas for quite some time but have NEVER used them.  So today I decided I'm going to create a layout using these letters.

It didn't take long for an idea to come to me.  Simply because all I have been doing over the past few days was look at houses, something I never really thought about documenting in a layout.  But as it is my current "now" life, I thought why not!  I suppose events like this should be documented as well.

Once I had the idea I was surprised at how quickly this layout came together for me.  I have to say that it seems like ever since I made the decision to stop documenting my life in a PL style format that the creativity and the ideas have just been flowing out of me.  It just feels so much freer now. No expectation to keep up or on top of things.  I can just create what I want when I want but still keep it in a loose monthly format.  It's great though because I just don't feel the pressure of "it's creeping into next week so I really need to get last week done" and so on.  I feel like I have my mojo back! 

  

I really like the new ticket roll by Fancy Pants that I recently purchased from Hey Little Magpie. Was keen to use them in this layout!  I think they add a very fun element to the page for a life event that has been just the opposite of fun.  

For the background paper I wanted paper that was a bit whitewashed, if that's the right word, that sort of looked like the undercoat of a painted wall when you first move into a house before decorating it.  The blue and yellow colour scheme just sort of came together by itself after that. I added a few embellishments and word stickers, wanting it to be quite a full layout. As for the "still" part of the title, I wanted to include this word in the title as it has been over six months now that we have started looking at rental properties but I didn't want the word to be extremely prominent.  So it may look like the colour I picked didn't work well with the background colour but I pretty much wanted it to blend into the page so the title would kind of appear to be simply "Looking at Houses".  I then picked out my journaling label, typed up my journaling in a text box and ran it through my printer.  That's me done! 

SUPPLIES | Background paper by BasicGrey called Out of Print classifieds, this is the B side.  The blue alphas spelling out "Looking" are Simple Stories Vintage Bliss. The yellow letters spelling out "Still" are by Lilybee Designs called Sweet Shoppe.  The letters spelling out "Houses" are Typeset by Simple Stories. The VIP Pass ticket (at the top right) and the Golden Ticket (in the middle on the bottom) are by Fancy Pants called As You Wish Ticket Roll. The cork @ symbol is by Studio Calico. The "Home, Hope & Wishes" Dymo style tape are Life's Journey Black Labels by K&Co, which are super old.  The "oh what fun" and "this again" stickers are by Simple Stories from Daily Grind. The circular #1 sticker are by My Minds Eye, the Kate & Co line called Cambridge Court.  The teeny tiny alphas spelling out "Not!" are by Kaisercraft.  The blue journal tag and the file tag behind the word "Home" are by Simple Stories. The gold chipboard camera is by Studio Calico and the yellow enamel dot in the centre of it is by Twine & Ink.

Thanks for having a look and letting me
share my layout with you all!
Christine x   : )

Tug of War

This layout is about none other than Rupert!  A subject that I so rarely choose to scrap about.  Ha, you say! 

When we go to the park for his walks one of his favourite games is Tug of War!  Thought it would be cute to take a couple pictures and document this.

 Actually, thinking about it, it is dependent on his moods believe it or not.  If he is quite wound up and full of endless energy, he will want to rampantly play a relentless game of fetch.  However, if he is feeling slightly agitated or annoyed then fetch is off the table and instead he wants to play tug of war with his stick of choice and he can be quite tenacious about it.  His walk isn't complete without either a game of fetch or tug of war, usually the latter.

 

I wanted to use the green Simple Stories paper as my background paper as I thought it would mirror the colour of the grass nicely.  However I wanted to add a bit more colour to the layout and thought the strip of the PL Blush 4x6 card sticking out along the right side of the photo would do nicely.  I then noticed that the "Good Story" 3x4 card in the same line would go well with the colours on the 4x6 card.  So I stuck this along the top of the pocket, between the picture and the background paper.

SUPPLIES USED | The lime green background paper is by Simple Stories from the DIY Boutique line called Boutique Stripes Green and is doubled sided with black & white lines on the other side. I then mounted the photo onto a PL Blush card which I then mounted on the green paper. On the top, on the left, is a "tab" of the top of  PL card from the same Blush line.  The "Life is Good" sticker is by Bella Blvd from their Alpha bits line, this one called Thankful designed by Stephanie Hunt.   The blue and pink stars are by Studio Calico.  The stickers spelling out "Tug" are by Simple Stories called Sn@p Stickers Letters.  The green "of" letters are by LilyBee Designs from the Sweet Shoppe line and the letters spelling out "War" are by the same.

 

 With the letter stickers and the stars for the title I wanted to bring out the colours from the PL card so chose colours that would compliment it or were similar to them.  I like how it all came together. I then added one further sticker "Life is Good" by Bella Blvd along the bottom of the pic.

 

 A shot of the whole page.

 

Thanks for stopping by to have a look!

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

March Simple Stories Sn@p - part 3

SUPPLIES | Tried to use up a few scraps with the insert card above.  The top (lined) half is by Simple Stories and the bottom is Project Life Honey. The stickers spelling out "American BBQ" are called Sweet Shoppe Letter Stickers by Lilybee Designs. The star was cut out of old 7 Gypsies paper and the "It's All Good" red sticker is by Simple Stories.

Finally finishing off my March Project Life.  I had hoped to be half way through April by now, but c'est la vie! Anyway, this is part 3 for March. We returned again to The Bluegrass for another American "southern" meal!  And it was just as good as the last time! This time in addition to dinner we also had some dessert, the salted caramel cheesecake. Absolutely sinful! It was served with a handful of salty popcorn which seemed odd at first, until you had a couple bites of cheesecake & then popped a few pieces of popcorn in your mouth. Perfect together. I also love the old style white & blue enamel dishes they serve them in.

SUPPLIES | The orange "Looking Good" insert card is Project Life Honey.  The brown sticker on the picture in the upper right hand pocket is by Simple Stories as are the stickers spelling out "Salted Caramel" on the picture on the bottom on the left.

A snapshot of Rupert at Braywick, resting from a game of fetch, during a warm sunny afternoon. So warm he had to take a break in the shade underneath a bench until he caught his breath again. A photo opportunity!

SUPPLIES |  On the right the background chevron paper is by Simple Stories.  The giant green arrow card is a 3x4 Project Life card that I cut the bottom inch off of and turned it sideways. The pink heart stickers are by Simple Stories.  The green brads are by Papermania. The bigger pink striped and checked hearts (one on each insert) are punched out from scraps of PL cards.

(Close up of detail on top of photo)

SUPPLIES | The "you make me smile" sticker is by Simple Stories. The green asterisk is by Papermania and the pink enamel dot is by Freckled Fawn from the Studio Calico Sugar Rush kit.

Hard to believe that we were still having roaring fires in the middle of March and Rupert's favourite spot is always directly in front of it.

SUPPLIES | Background Paper from Dovecraft called Garden Party.  All three stickers "charmed life", "delightful" and "fabulous" are by Simple Stories. The blue and pink stars are by Studio Calico. 

 One evening while we were in Marlow for a personal appointment we realised it was getting near dinner time and that by the time we arrived home, made dinner etc. it would be quite late.  So we decided to stop at The Marlow Donkey, which was just around the corner and grab a bite to eat & a drink. It has been a while since we have been there but it always makes for a good night! 

SUPPLIES | Both the blue polka dot paper and the faded blue chevron paper are Project Life cards.  All the alpha stickers are by Simple Stories. The blue starts are Studio Calico. The blue enamel dot is by Freckled Fawn.

Now that I have been working a bit more consistently it is nice to get back in the salon again more regularly.  One way that will definitely always make you feel better about yourself, is to go to the salon to have a cut and style! I was talking to my hairdresser about maybe doing something different, a new style or cutting all my hair off, maybe a radical tint, but she suggested something a bit less radical yet still daring.  A touch of the colour pink in my hair! With all that is going on with me at the moment she suggested that a few streaks like this might be more suitable, and sensible. I like it!

(Close up of detail on insert card)

SUPPLIES | Bunting is by Helz Cuppleditch called Riverbank Revels, something I picked up at Wilkos, believe it or not. The black and white polka dot card is a Project Life insert card.

(Top half of layout)

This is a bit about the bizarre weather that you get here in the UK.  We were standing out in front of the Cox Green post office, on a warm sunny day and all of a sudden a dark gray cloud rolled through the sky over us, raining down small pellets of hail on us, making us quickly retreat to the safety of the car. Moments later, the cloud was gone and the hail quickly melted away on the windscreen.

(Shot of full page layout)

That's it for this post.  Another short one, but at least another completed layout!

Onwards and upwards! 

Thank you for stopping by to have a look and let me share my layout with you!

Christine   : )