Thursday 31 March 2011

Neighbourhood watch

My naughty dog Bailey sits on the back of the sofa (ruining the cushions) and watches the world go around all day long. He barks at the people. He barks at the cats. He barks at the birds. He barks at the leaves blowing in the wind. My neighbours must despair of him! But here he is in this photo captured in that very position for all eternity: This is one of those projects that you start enthusiastically and then realise the mistake that you've made! I it took me so long to cut this heart made of roses out that I had a little red blister on my finger afterwards. I do think it looks pretty though and therefore it's worth it!The butterflies on this LO are cut, using a punch, from the paper bag that the kit came in. I added a calander to the LO too that wasn't in the kit.Supplies: ScrapaGoGo April kit and hybrids

Wednesday 30 March 2011

April Kit

April's 'Cameos & Roses' kit is gorgeous. It's full of beautiful embellishments and papers. At first glance it's very girlie and romantic and since I live in a world of boys I thought I would struggle. However there are blues and greys in the papers so the photo of Connor with his Wii remote suited it very well. Kirsty has produced some gorgeous hybrids to go with the kit again this month and suggested making flags with pins, which is what I did. I cut out the frame and put some patterned paper behind it for the title, which is Basic Grey alphas with glossy accents over the top. Supplies:
ScrapaGoGo April Kit
Create
My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Hattie Happy Bouquet Paper
My Minds Eye Stella & Rose Hattie Remember Roses Paper
My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Hattie Boy Tapestry Paper
Studio Calico Die Cut Paper Cream
Prima Ribbon Alencon Collection
American Crafts Thickers Mediterranean
My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Happy Label Stickers
G2P

My Mind's Eye Stella And Rose Family Transparent Frame
Maya Road Ribbon Large Daisy
Sassafras Mini Alphas Cool Grey
Hybrids

Maya Road Mist

Tuesday 29 March 2011

Bowled Over!

Having mastered bowling on the Wii we decided to take Connor bowling for real. He found the ball a little heavier than the Wii remote but did so well and was beating us for quite some time! I kept this LO simple with torn strips of patterned paper, layered up and sewn on using my sewing machine. The circular border is from the gorgeous hybrid that Kirsty Wiseman has designed for April and I used some of the stickers too. Supplies: Create My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Hattie Happy Bouquet Paper My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Hattie Happy Polka Dots Paper My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Hattie Remember Roses Paper My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Hattie Boy Tapestry Paper GCD Sweet Surrender From This Day Forward Bazzill Basics Cardstock Avalanche American Crafts Thickers Mediterranean My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose Happy Label Stickers G2P My Minds Eye Stella And Rose Family Transparent Frame Hybrids

Monday 28 March 2011

GoGo Getaway

I've been a bit quiet recently because of the odd bit of exam marking and a busy time at school and home but this weekend was the GoGo Getaway and I was able to find the time to play with the absolutely gorgeous April kit from ScrapaGoGo. The 6th GoGo Getaway seemed to run as clockwork and there was a very nice atmosphere all weekend with people coming out of the classes pleased with their finished LOs, which was fab. It was nice to meet the Clubhouse folk in real life too. I taught two classes. Both were designed by Sarah Youde. Sadly she couldn't come so I was able to get involved and had a great time. The first class was called 'Heart Felt' and was all about making felt embellishments. Sarah had made some wonderful heart embelishments but I went with clouds using the cloud stamp from February as a pattern. The last class on Sunday afternoon was 'Full of Principles'. It was all about the rules of visual arts. Sarah scrapped a photo of her gorgeous Charlotte using the pinks and yellows of the paper. I turned the papers and used the teal and browns instead. Can't wait for the day events coming up now and the Getaway in October! Spaces for 2012 were filling up fast over the weekend :)

Thursday 3 March 2011

Blueprint memories

Each month the ScrapaGoGo team put together a Blueprint to Go. This is a sketch designed from a LO we've loved the month before. Next to the sketch is the colour scheme of the kit so that even non subscribers can play along and use similar colours if they'd like to. And here is my take on the sketch- 'Memories on loan':
My Grandad wrote his memoirs a few years ago. I have been reading it recently and he mentions a day when he watched my Nan and her niece feeding the ducks on a peaceful morning. I recognised the photo as one that he had on his wall of his nursing home and when he died at the beginning of the month I made sure that I got a copy of it.

The original is black and white but the photo looked better in sepia with these lovely yellow elements of the kit.

Between the dolies and the ribbon I inked over the doilies to create an inked pattern. I also cut the letters out of the hybrid alpha to create the squares for the blueprint.




If you'd like to see the February Blueprint creations then why not check out the gallery at the Clubhouse now?

Supplies:
March Kit 'What a Picture'
Create
Basic Grey Wander Doilies Runway
Basic Grey Wander Travel Size
Jillibean Soup Pasta Fagioli Journalling Srouts
May Arts Ribbon Satin Beige (18")
G2P
Jillibean Soup Beanstalks Yellow Orange Bakers Twine
Get more card
Bazzill Cardstock Bazzill White

Wednesday 2 March 2011

Another Chinese Whisper

In ScrapaGoGo Chinese Whispers' Group 2 I receive from Liz. I found that the browns and greens in the February kit with some splashes of other colours looked good with my photo of Connor playing the drums that he got for Christmas. I used acrylic paint rather than the large piece of paper in the original. I'm looking forward to seeing how these LOs end up when they get back to the start and how much the change along the way :)

Supplies:
February 'Happiness Is' ScrapaGoGo kitCreate
Cosmo Cricket Togetherness Birds Of A Feather
October Afternoon Modern Home Maker Flour Sack
May Arts Ribbon Satin Edge Grossgrain Apple (18")
Maya Road Chipboard Mini Sets Mixed Scallop Pennant Banner (hearts and stars)
Fancy Free
Pink Paislee Sweetness Love Letters
My Minds Eye Lost and Found Adore Trims

Dymo and black tape
Acrylic paint

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Ssssh, whisper!

In amidst all this March goodness I've been working on my Chinese Whispers using the February kit. Group One was a LO from fellow ScrapaGoGo teamie Nicola. She'd lifted a stunning butterfly covered LO with photos of Lulu using the January kit 'Elementary my dear'. I think it's a lot of fun to see how each LO changes as the kits change so I used the February kit 'Happiness is' for my lift. I started with some acrylic paints (red, blue & white), which I splodged on the top third of the LO directly from the bottle in big dollops. I then laid a piece of cardstock over the top and put pressure on it so that the paint squidged and merged (like when you're making butterflies in preschool!). I'd seen a lovely LO in Scrapbook Magazine where the designer had wrapped threads around a frame and it looked fab so I cut a frame from my pizza box and painted it black before wrapping the floss around it and sticking it on top of the acrylic paint. The circles are cut out using two different sizes of circles and layered on top of each other using foam squares. Finally I cut the title from the hybrid alphas sheet. The photos of Connor were taken at the park where there is a graffiti wall for the kids to play with. It's supposed to cut down on the amount of graffiti else where and for the most part it works in our town. I love how it changes so regularly and the colours matched what Connor was wearing that day beautifully. Supplies: ScrapaGoGo February Kit: Create Cosmo Cricket Togetherness Birds Of A Feather Cosmo Cricket Togetherness Reunion October Afternoon Modern Home Maker Flour Sack Bazzill Cardstock Classic Yellow Green We Are Memory Keepers Sew Easy Aqua Floss Hybrids Acrylic paints Glimmer mist graphite