Total scraplift

There are lots of ideas for scrapbook pages on my Pinterest board that I can turn to when I'm stuck for inspiration. I often look through and pick out one or two ideas, but I rarely scraplift a page completely. This one was an exception, however. Something about the combination of graphic pattern with the textured, artsy background set me thinking...

Every time we see meerkats at any of the zoos or wildlife parks we visit, Chris will tell me how they look innocent and charming but will gladly attack anyone who threatens their family. Including humans, if they happen to get in the way. 

Plain cardstock backgrounds don't seem to be the fashion at the moment, but I still love them. Sometimes I want my page to be restful, and despite the textured white paint, gold paint and liquid pearls (in 'bisque') I do feel that this is a calm, simple page.

Sunnier times

It feels like it hasn't stopped raining since we got back from South Africa. (Spare a thought for the people who have been really suffering). So I've been scrapping a few sunnier photos just to remind me that the sky isn't always grey.

Those bits of blue in the text are an interesting design technique that also conveniently covers up a mistake. Then once I'd done it once, I repeated it a few times to make it look deliberate. Only now I've told you, so that kind of defeats the object of the exercise.

I don't want to think about what the rain is doing to the garden and the allotment. Well, I only have to look outside the door to see that the garden is rapidly turning into a quagmire. Nothing is planted yet and it's too wet to do anything. We can't even inspect the bees when it's raining. When we had a brief sunny moment last weekend; so many bees flew out of the hives in the garden that we thought something was wrong - but they just wanted to enjoy themselves and make the most of it.

And so do we. As soon as the sun comes out again we will be outside digging, planting and growing new things. However wet and miserable things get, there are always sunnier times ahead.

Things I said I'd never do

I know, when Project Life came out I was all "oh, no, I'll never do that."
I should know better really.
I still can't cope with the idea of recording everything on a weekly basis. That's far too much pressure to keep up. But what I have realised I love is the idea of pocket page scrapbooking and using those products to make my albums complete. Why? Because I have barely started my album for last year's summer holiday and now I have our South Africa trip as well. And although I am good at printing my photos, they often end up sitting in a box, but I've run out of space for boxes. I need albums in my life.
So this was the first part of our trip, a visit to Stonehenge. The pockets mean I can put far more photos on a page than usual, and it doesn't look too messy or untidy. I'm using two styles of pocket page - these and the same layout but with vertical pictures. I shall probably use the 6x4 slots for photos and the 3x4 to use up some of the collection of cards I seem to have acquired.

Full size pages are still my favourite, though. So in between the pocket pages there will be 12x12s like this:

The only thing I am not totally thrilled with? The way that the inserts show through to the next side. I just can't get them lined up, and it's especially annoying when the back of a card is brightly coloured (I'm looking at you, red card on the left). Hopefully this is one of those things that has a 'knack' that I can pick up soon.

And there you have it - 12 photos scrapped already. Out of the box and into the album. Feels good!

Rounding up

This year has gone past so quickly, and it is with definite satisfaction that I am seeing my scrapbook albums build up. Now I am trying to round them all up - looking at the albums as a whole, seeing what gaps there are, checking through my photos to see if there's anything obvious I have missed. I never consider an album 'finished' because there are always other stories to tell, but I like to feel that there is a certain completeness to them.

One of my big projects that is still lingering is my album from our holiday to Somerset in August. I have maybe 500 photos lined up ready to go. I took lots of notes at the time, so even the things I have already forgotten won't be lost. To try and make progress with the album I'm trying a new tactic: instead of leaving the photos in envelopes until I'm ready to scrap them, I've put them all into divided page protectors into the album. No embellishment, no writing. This way I can see as I go what I'm dealing with and how much progress I'm making.

I'll be honest, it sort of looks a bit of a mess right now. More than a few photos are stored sideways and there are lots of gaps. Apart from that, an unexpected bonus has been that this method has prompted me to pull out some of my favourite photos for enlargements - and that's what this one is all about. I just love this photo, and I love that Chris and I went somewhere I've been on wonderful family trips to in the past and it was still every bit as good. And the fact this photo was taken on my phone? Cherry on the top.

Scrapbook Sunday ~4~

Hello there folks. Another Sunday means it's time for me to catch up with my scrapbook pages. I'm a bit behind on posting them, mostly because it is so gloomy at the moment that it's really hard to take a decent photo. So here are two pages to make up for it.

When we visited a local animal park, they let us walk through a lemur enclosure and get up close and personal. The lemurs really liked Chris' feet! There's much less patterned paper on this page than I would normally use, but I enjoyed using the journalling cards as elements on the page. I don't really do Project Life or pocket-page scrapbooking (although I reserve the right to change my mind at any point) but I love all the cute graphic elements that are made for those style of pages.

These letters are blank for you to add your own colour, and I couldn't resist getting a bit carried away with the watercolour paints. I do like feeling a bit artistic on my scrapbook pages.

I've started doing more double pages lately, stretching my creativity and helping me to make sure all those photos get in my album. I find something about the format quite challenging but I'm always pleased when one works. It means there's plenty of space for lots of full-size photos as well as lots of writing. And there was a lot to write on this page about another epic walk.

That sentiment card is kind of ironic, because there was definitely no laying around in the sun on this walk.

I am so glad I put dates on all my photos, because even since August I am starting to forget exactly when things happened. Must be a sign of getting old ;) Thanks for stopping by!

Making the best of it

Photos of a small fluffy thing moving quickly? In a cage, in poor light? Never going to be brilliant. But the story was far too important not to record. Little Waldy is one very persistent degu, and quite inspirational.

Loving layered embellishments, stickers and paint splashes. And life with the degus.

Endless sunshine

The mornings are colder, the skies are greyer, and the endless sunshine of summer has come to an end. I've just had a couple of weeks off work and this morning definitely had that back-to-school feeling. The problem is, I just don't feel ready for it. Can we keep summer, please?

I'm still scrapbooking pages from early summer, so I can keep the sunshine feeling for a bit longer. These photos are from July, and I've just had 400-and-something prints of the rest of our summer adventures delivered  to keep me going. I am seriously considering a simpler style of album to get all these memories recorded, maybe with some fancier pages interwoven rather like my Christmas pages. 

Hope you have some happy sunshine-y memories to keep you going through autumn!

Opposite extreme

From the largest size photo to the smallest: a 4x4 print using one of my many photos from Instagram. There are various services out there that will print your Instagram pics, but I've found the best results when I upload them into Photobox on a standard size print and trim off the edges when they arrive. Simples.

Having a smaller photo leaves me more room for embellishment, and in this case also more room for the story of our second date. It's quite a long story, and involves me getting heatstroke and passing out in the middle of a field. Fortunately for me, it didn't put him off :)

I'm all out of enamel dots at the moment, so in a moment of inspiration decided to make my own using Liquid Pearls. This is the White Opal version, and I've discovered that if you put a good fat blob on the page and then flick the back of the paper really hard, the blob flattens out to become a lovely dimensional dot. Perfect for some subtle embellishment layers.

I haven't done so much scrapbooking lately as I've been busy filling my sketchbooks. Those photos aren't going to go anywhere, though!

Big photos

I like 6x4 photos. Or, 6x4.5 if I use the default proportion on a digital camera. One or two fit nicely on a page, leaving me plenty of room to write my story or add embellishment. Printing photos at a standard size means I can get them all done in one batch, without having to think about resizing or cropping or anything complicated. Easy. The vast majority of my scrapbook pages use standard prints.

Every once in a while I take a photo that I really like and kind of want to show it off. But I am decorating-challenged (two and a half years and the walls in this house are still bare) so I print big photos and stick them in a drawer and forget about them. I had this picture from one of our walks in the spring, and decided to make the most of it. It hardly needs a scrapbook page; it's all photo. 

162 days to go...

Yes folks, 162 days is all you've got until Christmas 2013. In the middle of the hottest summer in the UK for the last seven years, some wintery scrapbook pages are just what you need to cool you down.

This bloghop is the brainchild of the lovely Ruth, who has put together an incredible list of ladies all joining to give you inspiration for those Christmas photos that you still haven't scrapped. You should have come here from Catherine, and after me you need to visit Tasha.

The challenge was to create a project that was Christmas-related. And so I turned to me Christmas 2012 album to see what gaps needed filling. Last year as always, I took part in Journal Your Christmas, this time choosing to mix up project-life style divided page protectors with standard 12x12 pages. It began well...using a mix of photos and journalling cards, I put together several layouts that I really love in my album:

Ah, see that there? That's the first gap. And that point around the 17th of December must have been when I lost my way with the project and everything kind of ground to a halt. It gets worse:

That is a divided page protector with two pockets filled and the rest empty, showing the page behind. Grrrrr. It looks unfinished - it is unfinished, and when I look through my album the story of Christmas is incomplete. So this is as good a time as any to crack on and fill in those gaps. I pulled out the stash of paper I was using for this album, and the envelope of photos that I'd had printed and then put away.

First things first. Sort the photos into the ones I want to use, and then start grouping these together. Most of these pictures are from Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and I'm not worrying about the JYC 'daily' format. Then I got to work putting this in to some kind of order!

(Sorry for the strange colours, the light had gone by this point.)

Photos from Christmas Day morning on the left - the back of the previous insert with lots of gaps. I've been using this alternate photos/journalling block layout throughout so I thought I would continue it. The page on the right is a new insert, using three photos I just couldn't choose between. I wanted to make a bit of an emphasis on 'eat, drink and be merry' so I separated each word from the phrase on to a separate insert. To create some repetition, I punched three hearts to embellish the photos, which also filled in the gaps as for some reason I'd had these printed at 5x3.5 inches so they don't quite fill in the spaces. 

One of the best things about picking up this project after such a break, is that I don't feel guilty about doing cards which are simpler. And yet, these are some of my favourites.

Maybe there's a lesson in this: work quickly and worry less. And it's amazing how having a kit can help my creativity.

Am I finished with my Christmas pages? No! I still have another couple of page protectors' worth to do. But now that I've got my stash out and found a working method, I shall probably carry on and do them all. Hopefully thinking about cold winter days will help me keep cool over the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for sharing my contribution to the Christmas in July bloghop. Your next stop is Tasha. Have fun!

A few of my favourite things

Polka dots. Watercolour. Handwriting. Glitter and sparkle. Scenic walks with my love. These things make me very happy indeed. I have stacks of photos waiting to be scrapped, and that makes me happy too.

I seem to get every bug going lately, most recently a kidney infection which has left me lying on the sofa again. I get very frustrated and cross when I am unwell, I think because it reminds me how flippin' fragile I am. I hate being weak and unable to do things. I hate relying on other people. Ugh. All the lessons I have learned over the last three and a half years are forgotten as I wallow in feeling sorry for myself. Maybe it's just a reminder that it is ok to lean on other people. Time still feels like the most precious thing, and I have to remind myself that I don't have to spend every minute in crazy activity. Rest. Relax. It is ok. 

That was (inter)National Scrapbooking Day

Last Saturday, May 4th, was not only Star Wars Day but (inter)National Scrapbooking Day. A holiday celebrating my favourite hobby? I can get on board with that. The websites and forums that I follow host all kinds of challenges and online chats - generally the only problem is keeping up! There were positively hundreds of challenges out there, including a total of 34 from my two favourite sites. The chances of me completing 34 layouts was always going to be slim, even with an extra week to complete them all. However, I did manage to make three layouts - and more important than just completing them, they are three layouts I love.

My take on Two Peas in a Bucket's Challenge #2, to follow a sketch. 

 Inspired by Shimelle's challenge to scrapbook with 6x4 photos.

Two Peas in a Bucket's final challenge, to be inspired by a page we had bookmarked from the gallery - my inspiration was this lovely page from Crystal.

Hope you've all had a good weekend...I am just about to place a big fat order of photos for printing, so there will be more scrapbook pages to come!

Not so different after all

Don't get carried away, now. Just because my last page was properly 'graphic' doesn't mean I am going to abandon layering altogether. Sometimes it's just what comes naturally.

There is something about this page. The edges of the paper are inked. It's been a habit of mine to use some brown ink to softly colour the edges of every paper...well, forever. I've always done it. It works here with the greens and browns and muted earth tones. Lately, though, I have been working with some brighter colours and cleaner patterns, and inked edges haven't felt right. It still feels like my pages are naked but maybe I will get used to it in time.

Another one for the album of our weekends away...and as it says, in Sherwood Forest, one must always look the part!

Something different for a Monday

It sounds a bit pretentious to say I am working on developing my style. This is only scrapbooking, after all. I've mentioned a few times that I am trying to push what I do design-wise, rather than just go with the same-old-same-old. I think it's a success, because I really like the pages I have completed so far. But gosh it's hard to try and do something consciously different.

This page began as something very different indeed. A twee patterned background and a regular 2-up photo layout. After I'd stuck down the third piece of paper, I realised I hated it and tore the whole thing apart. That doesn't happen very often, I tend to be more of the mindset that if I stick enough things on the page eventually it will look ok. That wasn't working this time, though. So - I tore the photos off, discarded the paper, took a sheet of white cardstock and started again. 

This page uses those little index photos that you get when you print with Photobox (other online printers do similar, I think.) I thought they'd be a great way to do an introductory page for our weekend in Nottingham for Chris' birthday. I haven't decided yet  if these pages will have a separate album of their own, but even if I keep them in my regular 2013 album it will be good to have something that divides them from the other layouts. The diagonal design came from something in the back of my mind inspired by this layout and I went from there. I love, love, love that rainbow chevron washi tape (from Glitz Design) and have to stop myself from sticking it on everything. And heat embossing white on coloured card is a new-to-me technique that I am finding quite addictive. So different from my other pages and I love it.

Pink, pink, pink

I think the lack of Spring-like weather has impacted on my scrapbooking...I am using more flowers and bright colours than normal. Wishful thinking. Although the last few days haven't been too bad, so there is hope. Aren't those little girls adorable? They're from a mixed pack of embellishments I bought ages ago, and I nearly got rid of them because I don't do pages about children, but I remembered them as I was doing this page and they fit perfectly.

I am trying to use more stamping, as well, and small text elements are much easier for me to incorporate in my designs. And Primas....who uses them any more? Talk about mixing my trends! But these pages are for me, and in 20 years' time all I will worry about is that I recorded this story.

The pastel colours and floral pattern also help detract attention from the fact that this is a Christmas photo, being used to tell a story that isn't Christmassy at all. I do like Mindy's jumper, though.

Sunday night scrapbook catchup

My scrapbooking/blogging cycle seems to have got a bit out of synch at the moment. Apart from the ones I haven't blogged yet, I also have a big pile of pages waiting to be photographed, plus a slightly smaller pile that are complete but waiting for journalling. Not sure what's happened there but it's most unlike me.

I did this page a little while ago, but it's been sitting out on the side for ages. Sometimes when I do a page I really like, I don't want to put it away immediately so I leave it somewhere nice and visible for a while. This one combines lots of my favourite things - that gold writing, aqua glitter, enamel dots, wooden birds, my favourite paper range (for now - Crate Paper Fourteen) and a tag. I love tags. 

I've been in a bit of a scrapbooking lull of late. Paper and photos aren't making me as excited as they normally do. Yesterday I went through and tidied all my stuff, re-arranged all my embellishments in cute little bowls on my desk, threw out some bits and pieces that had been sitting around for way too long and just weren't my style any more. It feels better - cleaner, tidier - and it stopped my urge to buy more when I realised just how much I already have. But, I still haven't scrapbooked. I'm not sure what is giving me page-fright but something has definitely thrown me off-course. I have a lot of photos just waiting to be scrapped, and plenty of stories to go with them. All my usual philosophies - any story told is better than none, just get it done, etc, - aren't helping at the moment. 

Being so busy is not helping. My evenings and weekends seem so full that I don't have time to sit and contemplate a page like I normally do. I think I'm going to have to start scrapping faster. Or, I need a holiday.Where's that lottery win when you need it, eh?