Pin board - before & after

I had an old pin board/ notice board which was coming apart and didn't match my craft room, so I decided to alter it. It had very pretty material on it which I have kept for future projects

Pretty but I could see the potential! It's about 3ft x 2ft in size.

So I took it to pieces and used some hessian I have been itching to use for a while, got out my staple gun and some good old seam binder ribbon and after a flurry of activity came up with this.

But it's not meant to be bare, so I tried a few things out to make sure my little wooden pegs were strong enough...

And then I decided colour was the order of the day, so out came some of my more vibrant art work and voila - good old pin board works a treat!

The hessian background really makes the colours pop - and I couldn't leave my lil' gal out of the picture could I! It's perfect in my craft room and I get to show off some of my projects that are otherwise stuck in an art journal.

PS hope you like my art  :)  and here it is in the "Before" state!

card for Mum

Just a few updates on my projects. I made my Mum's birthday card to her taste  - I'm not particularly flowery myself, but she loves them and I enjoyed making this.

Very pretty My Minds Eye papers, Tim Holtz vellum, Prima flowers & leaves.

Also with my Silhouette Cameo, I designed and made an exploding box card for my friend who has had a beautiful baby girl - I already love her to bits!
I used Teresa Collins papers - gorgeous!

I played with my Silhouette Cameo to produce a card and box for my lovely Mum-in-Law to give to Cara for her 18th birthday - yes she's all grown up!

 I played around with the sizes and gave it 18 candles - why not.

Very dimensional!

I can't show everything I've made because somebody forgot to take photos of everything before she gave it all away ...
However, here's a card I created to go in Docrafts Creativity magazine.

for their Take a template feature.

Here's the inside.

This shows the dimension

I've made a start on Jenniebellie's Journal workshop and I had great fun doing it! I used 7Dots papers, gelatos, stencils, modelling paste, distress paints - let's say I threw loads of different mediums on there and the next step is to fold this up into a journal (if I can, it's very dimensional and I haven't finished with the butterflies yet!). I then need to upload my efforts onto her website, so I hope the next step goes to plan!

I'm loving the gelatos, they are really brilliant fun to work with.

Check out Jenniebellie's workshops on the link to the right ->

Apologies for not being around for a while, there are many reasons, (not all good), but I prefer to concentrate on the positive. 

So here's where I've been for most weekends and the summer hols

The lovely Yorkshire Dales!

I've still been creating, but not as much as I would have liked. Now I've got more time on my hands, I hope to rectify that little matter :0}

Hi it's me, Rona, adding a post as info because I feel like I'm entering a new phase in my creative development. I've joined Jennibellie's Journal Workshops! I have watched her You Tube channel and feel that she is my kind of muse/inspirational artist. Please check the fabulous creations on here http://journalworkshops.ning.com

I hope you are as inspired as I am to grab your stuff and get creating!

Next - I have more time on my hands lately, but my daughter is too busy with her own life to have photos taken (unless it's selfies for Facebook/ instagram/twitter)...
I want to show you one of my favourite things that isn't a photo or creation of afore-mentioned hoobie, one that wakes me up and sets me up for the day :D

Mmm - Blue Mountain coffee - wish this was smelly/tasty-vision! This particular bag has long-gone, but I have replenished my stock :)
Don't get me wrong - I love a good cuppa tea, but if I need a kick-start BM is my Go-to goody!

Admire - 8 x 8 Layout

I'm sorry I haven't been around so much, but I managed to squeeze a layout in using Papermania Eau de Nil range - pretty papers and embellishments and a beautiful colour. I made the butterfly from the crochet trim and brought some pink and kraft colours into the mix which I really like. It got a bit messy, (which I also really like:).  I recycled strips of wax paper left over from some thank you cards I made for a friend. I've used this photo many times...  I need to bribe my daughter into letting me take more photos when we are together - she's flitting about all over the place and I can't pin her down! (Note to self - tie daughter down and make sure camera is handy!)

I've bought some gelatos which I'm dying to start into - I have been eyeballing them for a while and finally took the leap of faith! So I hope to upload my efforts if they are any good. I want to experiment with stamps to give a water colour effect on canvas - can't wait!

Anyway, here is "You I Admire", which is about my daughter's strength of character and ability to deal with the hard knocks of life. The (private) journaling is behind the layout.

Check this new range out - Elena Morgun's Green Cat Story and the Sweetest Thing Collection

Elena Morgun from the Ukraine has created her own paper line and it's really lovely. I wonder if I will ever be able to get my inky mits on this one!

Take  a look here   http://studio-sunshine.blogspot.co.
So pretty!

LIVE Layout

Sorry for neglecting you Blog, but here I am now with a layout! I haven't done a stand-alone scrapbook layout in forever and I enjoyed getting back to basics. 8 x 8 inches of pure enjoyment on my part, using lots of little techniques and products which have been there waiting for me to play.
Tim Holtz Spritzer using distress markers on water colour paper background, with Heidi Swapp Color shine over top. Distress inks, Staz-on, with Tim Holtz & Indigo Blu stamps, Prima cloth tape & Embelli and 7Gypsies washi.
When I say 'Back to basics", I usually mean stamping (my great love) and some kind of paint/ink treatment (I can't help myself :). But it's always, always the photo for me. It's the emotional pull of the image and what it means to me that stirs my creativity.

Nice and simple

Now I am going to play some more and will post the results ASAP!

Wood mini album - Today be amazing

Here's my completed wood Heidi Swapp album - been done a while but I've only just got round to uploading it as I haven't been very well. I had a lot of fun playing with the Color Shine mists and loads of bits and pieces. Sorry about the amateur photography - although the sunshine does show the layering and texture.

This is an envelope

Inside the envelope - some "from the heart" journalling to Cara

Last layout straight onto the wood!

My place at Scrapbook.com - see my old stuff!My place at scrapbook.com

and as I suspected - the quality of the slide show is rubbish! If anyone can let me know a way to upload movies with the quality uncorrupted, please let me know!

Altered Perpetual Calendar

Here is  a perpetual calendar that I bought from a bargain basement and altered using Teresa Collins Memories papers - beautiful. I have one of my tinpot slide show movies to upload with step by step of how I altered the calendar, but I can't seem to get it uploaded properly - all sorts of trouble!

Here's the slide show (hopefully) the photos were all taken with my iPhone x

Box Card for Mother's Day

here's another little box card - I made 3 altogether.
This one uses Echo Park Beautiful Life papers and Lori Whitlock Silhouette cut file.

Box Card

I've seen a few of these little box cards about lately, so I thought I would have a go because I love them and how incredibly neatly they fold flat to go into an envelope. The possibilities are endless. This is my first attempt, using the basic cut file, (Lori Whitlock design), in my Silhouette Cameo.
The papers are DCWV. So much fun, more to come!

Box framed 6 x 6 layout

Here's a little 6x6 layout which I put in a box frame and I'm now going to change for something else. I guess I must have made it a couple of years ago, but I still love these photos. I used some bargain store silk flowers which I cut up and then added little resin flowers to pretty things up. I thought it would be nice to share it with you before it goes into an album.

Star cutout mini album in envelope - 7 Dots Stuudio

Here's a quick little project I did at Christmas 2013, with photos from the previous year. It's not Christmassy because the photos are of varied times. It came together very quickly because there's no room for dimension and I didn't do any inky, painty messy stuff, just clean cutting and sticking! I used only the stuff in the collection kit so I guess it took me about an hour start to finish. I absolutely LOVE these 7 Dots Studio "Messy Head" papers and elements. They speak to me and are incredibly useful. I used a Silhouette Cameo cut file and went from there, knowing I wanted it to have Cara's eyes peeking through the star cut.
Whilst I had my camera out taking photos of a recent project, I thought I would take some of this too.

An old Websters Pages layout that I still love

I'd forgotten how much I love Webster's Pages stuff - I did this layout back in 2011, but I remember enjoying all the paint effects I was inspired to use directly from these papers. I had fun continuing the paper pattern with paint and brush (I think i used distress inks actually) - and look at Cara's eyes! She was so fed up of me saying "let me take a photo", I thought she was going to explode! I originally uploaded this to scrapbook.com gallery and UK Scrappers too I think. Good fun!

Mini album - Cara's test

Here's the next page of my current mini album, using mainly Heidi Swapp product. I've finished the cover also, but I'll show that with the finished article upload. It's been great fun to make, thumbs up especially for Heidi's Color Shine spraymists. These little bottles of awesomeness are by far and away the best shimmer mists I have used, so full of colour pigment and metallic sheen - and no clogging! Gorgeous!

By the way - I am really waiting for my Tim Holtz Marker Spritzer to be delivered so I can get on with it! I am watching videos on You Tube etc and feel quite frustrated that I haven't got one in my inky mucky little mits! I have all the markers, distress paints etc and I love them, but I reckon this will bring a new dimension to my crafting - how about you?

Hi - at last I have been able to upload some of my stuff. I have created a few things since my last post, (of course!), but not been able to show and tell for one reason and another. Here is a sneak peek of my current project - I am so proud of my daughter and the reason for this creation. Of course they go hand in hand, I wouldn't be able to create one without the other.
My core resources are Heidi Swapp inspired - who wouldn't want to use her pretty things? I have to say that HS has always inspired me - I watch her videos and see her dream team at work. Gorgeously gorgeous!
This will be the first inside page of my album -my daughter is amazing and I love her to the sun and back.

This is one of many photos I took on my i phone on New Year's Eve  - she was meeting a friend from way back to watch a movie at Vue in York. We were in a restaurant having lunch together. Most of the time she was texting on her i-phone, (its the way of things isn't it?). She was slightly nervous, but it turned out to be OK because he and she ended up bringing in the new year together with his family. (My loss, their gain). I just kept snapping away cos I don't have many photos of her at 17.
The reason for my album though? She had just passed her driving test theory and was waiting for the date of her practical driving test. She was confident but nervous. I have to say driving is in her genes - both her dad and I are able drivers and she is no exception. I wanted to wish her all the best stuff for her test in February. She had been having lessons since October, when she finally got her driving licence through (she applied on her 17th birthday in August!). She was determined to drive - always!
Anyway - the story unfolds.

Sorry I uploaded the unfinished project originally - but it's all done now :0) x