Wood slice backgrounds

One of my favourite issues of this year by Tim Holtz is the Wood Slice Bigz die and embossing folder.

 It has made some rustic style cards, but I can see it being really useful throughout the year. 

The die is a great match with an Xcut stag and wreath die set along with the winter greens.

The large Tim Holtz retro sentiment seemed to go well with the background too, so much so, it gave me an idea for my Christmas journal for this year- more about that later!

I also made use of the leftovers to my Christmas Journal from last year (Basic Grey), more cards coming up.

The Green Man

On Apple Day back in October in Castle Bromwich there were lots of things to see and entertainers on hand.  One was this Green Man, a traditional pagan symbol of nature and the changing seasons.

He made for a perfect photo, along with the harvest on display and the flower beds which were still looking lovely.

The layout is made using Paige Evans Turn the Page range,

I used some of the 2x2 squares in each embellishment cluster along with sequins, puffy stickers and some items (birds and the star) cut from papers.

As the backing paper had a geometric theme I chose to add some similar elements from a Papermania range, the title hexagonal title letters and the diamond clip.

New DoCrafts line

I hadn't bought any DoCrafts papers for a while, but when I saw this set of Capsule papers (Pigment) in the style of watercolours, I couldn't resist.  I'm not into mixed-media at all, but I like the look of it, and these papers hit the mark to help me achieve that feel.

The photo is an old one of Weymouth, I loved the sky in it.  I didn't have to do any messy stuff with the background, I simply stacked up 6x6 papers, and added one or two embellishments fussy cut from the Paige Evans Oh My Heart collection.

My favourite part of the layout are the wooden letters in the title, They come as a set of 26.  I chose a short word without vowels to make the best use of them and hand-wrote the rest.  Next pages should be holiday layouts!

Hello 2016

As this page was the reverse of the fused New Year's  Eve page, it didn't leave much room for photos. The day itself was quiet as we spent it at my friends helping her tidy the house and chatting over coffee.

So I made a no photo, no journalling page to welcome the New Year.  I'm  not  one for resolutions so it got my January first page done. The lights are from the Shimelle's Christmas Magic die cut set, and the hello stamp is a freebie with the January DoCrafts magazine.  I can see it being very useful!

Christmas Cards

This set of cards were made using the Papermania Christmas Folk papers which I really love, along with other bits of stash!

The large word is a die cut by Anna Griffin.  I think these will be so useful in the years to come!

I made up quite a few sets of decoupage

and stamped many of the backgrounds.

This modern style card was made using a Tim Holtz stacked up to make a Christmas tree shape, with some added star shaped sequins. More Christmas cards to share later (when I finish them!)

Three Little Chicks

My sister had a big birthday at the end of June and our little brother (who isn't too far behind us as there are less than four years between the three of us) posted this photo of the three of us at the end of the 1960s on Facebook.

 Once I saw it, I had to scrapbook it!

The papers are an old set by Papermania (Mme Payraud) and I added transparency frames over pieces of the papers too (Crate).

Title is stamped and punched out with added Glossy Accents on top.  I also cut out three little birds from the patterned papers too.

Neon cards

I used my Docrafts winnings to make a few cards last weekend.

A larger new die cut alphabet almost fills the front of the card, along with a few punched stars.  I added a few drops of mist under the die cut letters.

The floral and balloons cards also include die-cut shapes, this time I added hand written sentiments to the stems and strings.

Another neon layout.

These brightly coloured, fun photos of Katie and her dad made the perfect subject for another neon layout using my winning stash.

I used kraft misted with chalk ink spray; MME Simple Stories cardstock, and toned down the neon a little with white Mr Huey's mist.

Title is die cut with Tim Holtz carnival and Sizzix Wingo Zingo
.

The hexagons come from an XCut die, I cut it many times and paper pieced the hexgons within the frame.

Father's Day Cards

I made my Father's Day cards this year using a set of papers by Docrafts Papermania called MrMister.

 I started with kraft cardstock, ideal for masculine cards, and used a double sided woodgrain paper, torn to show the reverse.

For my own dad I used sentiments and papers with  crossword motif, he always likes a crossword puzzle.

For my father in law I used maps, as a retired member of the Ordnance Survey I thought he would like them.

Neon Prize

I entered the Docrafts prize draw last month and was lucky enough to win a box full of papercrafting goodies in wildy bright colours.

I decided to use black and kraft cardstock so the neon colours would really pop.. and after searching through my photos I found some exceptionally brightly coloured ones taken in a market in Barcelona.

As I made the layout at a crop and left most of my dies at home so I stitched half of the title..
and added brightly coloured dots and some chalk ink splatters to finish the page.

The squares were punched with a palm punch (large) and the washi tape is from Ikea.

Happy Birthday

Another tool for the garage for Kev today, he has a bigger selection in there for turning wood than I had craft stash (a good thing really, as he can't complain too much!),

He decided he wanted this (no idea what it does) but i hope he enjoys using it.

This is his card made with the Mr Mister range by Papermania.

A Homemade Scrapbook

I teach in a faith school, and we have a mountain of photos taken linked to all the religious activities that go on.

The deputy head had an idea to put them into a scrapbook, so I offered to make a simple one using my Bind it All machine.  Had it not been in a bag I think I would have been blowing dust from it due to lack of use; as it was I had to read the instructions, especially when it came to putting the book together,

Hope she likes the book, it was a good way of using up some older stash (Papers from the 'Lovely' range by Papermania.)

More Storage

I saw an Ikea box on the DoCrafts website that had been decorated with the Roald Dahl papers, and thought that these might be an ideal addition to my classroom for next year.

I picked up a set of the Ultimate Die-cut pack and the cute trims, along with the drawers themselves to make my child friendly storage.

After a coat of white emulsion paint I covered the whole box with various papers, choosing different ones for each drawer.

 I then added flat decoupage and a few trims and ribbons.  A final coat or two of matt varnish makes my furniture ready to withstand the wear of the coming year.

Results Day

A Level results that is, and Katie has got the grades to go to her second choice of University Aberystwyth. She will be studying physics and hopes to specialise later in astrophysics.

I made her a card to celebrate the occasion using a mix the Roald Dahl papers, and some space themed ones by October Afternoon.

The sentiment from the Fantastic Fox seemed appropriate :)

As did the golden ticket to a new stage in her life.

Loved Lyme

I took so many photos in Lyme Regis last year that I have made more than one page about our visit.

In this one I used the ice cream pastels of the beach hut doors to colour-block behind the photos. The title is made using baby blue Baker's twine.

.. and, by the way....

SCHOOL'S OUT!!!

Carousel

I love the carousel, a gentle ride reminding me of bygone days with its colour, lights and the rise and fall of the horses.

When I saw the box dies from XCut entitled 'fairground' I thought they would make the perfect accompanying embellishment to these photos taken last year.

 To make the page I used colourblocks of red and yellow from a Christmas range of papers and the Lovely Papermania papers.

The title is die cut and stamped using the Carnival sets on shrink plastic, and heated to become 1/3 of their original size.

Beautiful Bride

This page appeared in last month's Creativity magazine, I designed the template for other crafters to use, and made use of the sketch for my own layout.

 The page made use of the Oyster Blush Papermania papers which have a lovely pearlescent sheen..

 ..along with Mme Payraud letter stamps and stickers.

 I also included some embellishments from the Vintage Notes collection from last year.

Charades

When the children were smaller we used to play charades every Christmas.

We still do, but less so now, so when we played on my FILs birthday just after Christmas last year I made sure I snapped a few photos.

I made the page as a challenge on UKS, using the Papermania 12 days of Christmas papers and added buttons.

I really like the transparent one as you can see the papers through it. The background card is stamped all over using the stamps that match the papers too. The last of the 2013 christmas layouts?  Maybe.

Bookmark

... Mark 2. I had two goes at the Bookmark layout for the April DoCrafts magazine using the Gorjuss papers,

 -this is my second try using a black and white photo.

In addition to the page I made a stitched pocket at the bottom, and tucked in a little mini-book made using the ever useful packaging from the kits.