Shimelle's Starting Point

I haven't blogged a great deal this year as my computer was very old (bought in 2005) and it was nearing the end of its life.  I had asked it to do far more than it was ever meant to and the old girl never let me down, but she was finally starting to show her age.  The keys were starting to come off, she was very slow and there were times when she just refused to turn on.  As I NEED my computer for work I have had to baby her for the past year and more recently she stayed on my desk at work for when I needed her the most.  As writing on this blog doesn't earn me a living :-) I had to resort to using my trusty iPhone.  I only made an exception for the first Sunday of each month for Storytelling Sunday.

I am typing this from my very beautiful and shiny new (to me!) computer!!!!  This one most certainly trumps the dinosaur I had before.  She is fast, has a crystal clear display and she is now all customised to my way of working :-)  Who would have thought that 512Mb of RAM would be considered so small in only a few years time.  I can now switch between multiple windows without tapping my fingers waiting for it to catch up!  If I seem a little excited here, you should see me in person LOL

So on to some crafting news ...  This week I took Shimelle up on her starting point.  Work has been chaotic and there are times when it is nice to not have to think to get a project started when you have a spare hour or two in the evening.  I love her starting points.  This week it looked like this ...

I printed some photos taken this year when I started Shimelle's class 'Cover to Cover' but I have yet to get beyond the second lesson (that is another story for later).  I used the photos I took of The Princess and her first sewing lesson.  I love the way my daughter has so many ways to smile.  Some remind me of her younger years and some are starting to creep in now as she gets older.  So I decided to use all the photos!  The papers are from My Little Shoe Box and it kind of came together very quickly.

It really suits her personality and as The Princess loves these papers and all things PINK I am happy with it.  I used a piece of Bazzill In-stitch cardstock to stitch the flower.  The holes were already in it and all I had to do was sew it.  A great idea for the tired scrapper :-) and I have had it sitting in my stash since it was released.

There were two more photos from this day so a few nights later I made a complimentary layout using some My Little Shoe Box scraps.  The background is leftover strips that I had from three different papers and I stuck them together to be 12in tall.  Her first sewing project was a nappy (diaper) for her doll Bell.  The pattern we found online ended up being too small and so it was given to Princess.  It now has the velcro sewn in and Princess wears it proudly every day.

I have other projects to start sharing and when the weather picks up I shall photograph them and try to get this blog rolling along.  Happy Sunday everyone :-)

Chipper

Shimelle's Starting Point

Embrace your 'wonkicity'!!!!  I did :-)  Shimelle's starting point this week had a wonky strip of paper.  I kinda altered the placement of the strips of paper to suit my planned page.  Here is the starting point.

And here is mine with a photo of The LOML at the 50's Prime Time Cafe.

My Little Shoe Box 'Sew Cute' & 'Garden Party'

If you knew him you would see the humor in the page :-)  Note the hour hand pointing to the glass of wine.  As this is a series of photos all taken at the same lunch I have decided that they will all be on My Little Shoe Box papers as this is the third layout and it has just worked out that way LOL.  I have also fake stitched as the other pages also have stitching.  The blue stitching around the edge was done with a Sakura Souffle pen.  They look terrible when you first draw with them but once they are dry they are amazing!

When we arrived at the restaurant we all had cocktails with flashing ice blocks in them.  The kids thought they were great!  Along with the fact they were choosing a drink off the 'cocktail' menu.

Chipper

Shimelle's Starting Point

I wasn't a huge fan of Shimelle's last starting point (although I LOVE the papers she chose).  I think that is because I just recently scrapped a double page that was very much like this and I don't like it at all.  In fact I haven't even finished it yet as I am uninspired by it.  So when I saw the following starting point I wasn't very thrilled.

I have a friend who hasn't scrapped much in the past year or so and she is trying to get motivated to get back into it.  So a few weeks ago I asked her if she would do a sketch challenge just between the two of us.  I printed off the weekly sketch by Shimelle for her (she doesn't have internet access) and we gave each other a week to do it.  Sunday came around and our pages couldn't have looked different!!  (mine was the Halloween one I just posted)  It was great and she was so happy.  I told her that this time we would start with a starting point instead and this was the one we were going to use.  So I had to do something :-)

My Little Shoe Box 'Garden Party' & 'Sew Cute'

I got up early this morning and the house was nice and quiet so I finally got a start on it.  I do like how it turned out, but it drove me crazy in the process LOL.  I only finished it this evening when I got home from work.

I love to ink and heat emboss my chipboard and this bag of butterflies are some of my favourite.  I have no idea what happened to this one, but one of the layers wasn't happy and it looks like a furry butterfly.  My daughter says it is her favourite!

For the glitter on the second butterfly I first embossed it with clear and then sprinkled on some holographic silver embossing powder and heated it again.

I still have my few old foam stamps sitting on my desk and so I put them to use again.  I don't think they know what hit them!  They stamped the brackets around the photos.

This page doesn't really need a big title or lots of journaling as it is in the middle of a series of photos all taken at the same place, the 50's Prime Time Cafe.   So I just added bits and pieces of embellishment until I was done.  I had a picture in my mind of how it should look and I couldn't find anything in my stash that fit that image.  Oh well, I have to keep using up what I have if i want to buy more :-)

Neither I nor my friend had our layouts finished today, so we are going to compare them next week.  It was her turn to come up with a challenge for us and she went to the local paint store and brought us back each a set of the mixed colour paint swatches.  You know the ones I mean, with the colour combos already put together for using around our home.  That way we can randomly pick one and go with it.  Boy is that going to be a challenge, some of the combinations are way out there!!!  It is fun to craft with someone though.

Enjoy your week,
Chipper

Shimelle's Starting Point

I did a nice quick layout for Shimelle's starting point this week.  Used up some scraps on my desk and one of the NEW pieces of Basic Grey from my prize :-)  This was the starting point which you can make using any papers you have.

I used a photo from our Florida trip and created this.

Basic Grey 'Picadilly'

I used my trusty old Cuttlebug and a few new embossing folders (I think I have a folder addiction as I brought home 7 more today!) along with a few scraps, some crackle paint and two pieces of card!!  Too easy :-)

Another photo for the album done!!! Thanks Shimelle for this great starting point.

Chipper

Starting Points

This weeks Starting Point Challenge over at Shimelle's was up by the time I got home from work on Sunday.  This is great for me as I get a couple of extra hours on a Sunday evening to craft.  And what an interesting starting point it was!  I love that after putting down my papers for the beginning of the page, my mind can run away with itself and I don't feel like I am scraplifting.  I love this concept more than sketches.  I have only started using sketches recently to help me move a little faster as photos are stacking up everywhere crying out to be scrapped.  But this idea of Shimelle's is speeding up my scraping and I don't feel as constricted as I do at times with a sketch.  However I do still find them a challenge!  Take today's starting point as an example ...

A very symmetrical beginning which you probably all know is not my favourite.  I can't wait to see what Shimelle does with it!  Here is mine ...

My Little Shoe Box papers

These photos were taken at The Princess' party.  They are of my boys and my two beautiful nephews.  These photos have captured each of them in typical poses.  I love them! (the photos and the boys themselves LOL).  I used papers from two different collections by My Little Shoe Box and that is one thing I love about their papers.  The colours often work together across collections.

I discovered something new today ... The felt shapes that Little Yellow Bicycle make DO NOT like distress stain!  I tried to stain some die cut circles and no matter what I did it wouldn't dry.  So I tried wiping off the stain and painting it, but the stain never fully came off and nothing else would dry on them either!  My cute little bird worked though.  I painted him roughly with some distress crackle paint and that dried on the felt!  And in the process of all this experimenting I have died all my fingers GREEN!  If anyone knows how to get it off please tell me!!!!  I have tried lemon juice and that didn't work either, I guess I will be going to work with green fingers tomorrow :-)  The little nest the bird is sitting in is made from the left over stems from my rose heads.  I twisted them together and then turned them brown with a permanent pen.

The title is a laser cut chipboard that I stained (might as well use up all the stain that was everywhere!) and then covered it in UTEE.  I then sprinkled random bits of tarnished gold embossing powder over it and reheated.  Now it looks like it has gold flecks through it.  I bit of machine stitching, a bit of fake stitching, some muslin died with more stain and the page was done.

Oh, and the little semi circles were grunge board that I embossed in one of my new embossing folders to get the sun pattern.  By then I had had my fill of distress stain and so I inked them and sprayed them!

I hope you find time to give this starting point a go this week.  I needed a happy distraction this evening and this worked wonderfully.
Chipper

Starting Points

I really love Shimelle's new weekly challenge, Scrapbook Starting Points!  Each week she posts the start of a page and on the following day she posts how she finished it.  I love this challenge as the finished page doesn't influence how your page develops.  Each of the finished pages look so different.  Here is this weeks starting point.

And here is my completed page.

Basic Grey LilyKate

The photos are from when we set up The Princess' 10th Birthday Craft Party.  Everything was pink and purple and these papers were just perfect.
I was hoping that the banner at the top would reflect the streamers in the room and distract your eye from the VERY busy and ugly back wall of the top photo.  I think it helps nicely!  You can't have a princess without a bit of bling so I jazzed it up a bit.

I really feel the page could use a little more embellishment, but I am not sure how or with what.  Do you have any suggestions?  I have put it to the side for now as nothing I have tried so far is right.  Either way I like it :-)

Chipper