Half Page Challenge

This challenged frightened the life out of me!  Scrap using only HALF the page!!!!!!!  I didn't think I could do it, so I didn't.  Until last night that is.  On Monday morning I went and looked at the pages other people had done for this one.  I don't remember any one in particular but I was amazed that none of them looked "empty", so I thought I would give it a go.  Originally I was going to use a busy page for the background to make it a feature of the design, but it wasn't happening for me.  As I wandered around the shop looking for inspiration, this UGLY paper jumped off the shelves and into my hands screaming "Please help me!".  It seems there were still lots of them left as no one was liking them.

(You may notice that I used the left over aqua/teal back on my 'Hot pink hoopla' page as it is a beautiful colour)  Then I was inspired.  The pattern in the center is quite pretty but it lacked colour, so I transported myself back to primary school and got out the gel pens.  I cut it just less than half and trimmed off the orange.  I then started colouring the flowers and some of the greenery.  It was such fun, time ran away with me (opps!).

So here is my completed page on a lighter pink background featuring The Princess as a very small girl at Easter.

Prima 'Paisley Road' collection

I really liked this one when I had finished it, even if it did take me longer to colour in the background than to assemble the rest of it LOL  I used glittery gel pens so it has lots of sparkle.  Added a few stickers and scraps of paper and ribbon.  The flourish is a new one by Dusty Attic which I cut a few bits off so that it didn't cover my beautiful colouring :-)  I sprayed it with Glimmer Mist Chalk 'hot chocolate' and it looks good enough to eat.  This weekend I am going to borrow a teeny tiny butterfly punch from a friend and add just a couple weeny butterflies to it, but all in all it is finished.

Two layouts completed in one night!  I think I should find more challenges to do, I seem to be getting lots done.  Perhaps that is because these challenges are not too specific.  They still leave lots to the imagination but give me some focus at the start.

I hope you are having a great week.  Mine seems to be improving day by day:-)
Chipper

Hot Pink Hoopla Challenge

Yesterdays daily challenge over at Shimelle's was all about HOT PINK!!!  The accompanying video was very interesting and it is always amazing to see how someone else puts a page together, especially someone as talented as Shimelle.  So hot pink here we come ...

Paper is Prima 'Paisley Road'

This photo is from The Princess's 10th birthday party this year.  She chose to have a craft party and we decked out the class room at the shop and invited her friends to come for craft, pizza and a movie.  They all had a great time.  We took photos of them all when they arrived and printed them out while we all made a small heart shaped mini album.  Then they were able to stick in the photos and all sign each others books.

This was the only sheet of hot pink that I could find and as it is The Princess's favourite colour it was a natural choice for this photo.  I thought the aqua and orange (can't believe I am using ORANGE again!) livened things up a bit.  A pretty simple layout really.  The flowers were made using Tim Holtz tattered floral die and the die cut layers sprayed with water and scrunched.  When they are dry you then carefully unfold the layers and stick them on top of one another for a fun dimensional flower.  I had run out of the pink and aqua papers so I had to cut some layers from white and spray them pink.  My hands are still stained today!  Add a bit of ribbon, a few stickers and some sprays and I was done.

All in all this page was a bit of fun and came together quickly.  Which was a good thing as it was my second page for the night and it had already become Thursday when I finished and went to bed!  Two layouts in one night, I am amazed!  But feeling so inspired after this past weekend of challenges.  Thank you Shimelle.


Chipper

Colour Story Challenge

When I read the criteria for this challenge I knew it was going to be just that ... a challenge!  I seem to have a love-hate relationship with red.  I love the colour but I can't wear it or I look like Rudolph, I always wanted to add red highlights to my hair but they turned orange.  Not a great track record is it?  For my thirteenth birthday all I wanted was a 50's style skirt with a ruffled petticoat (my friends never understood my facination!).  And so my mom made me one in red with white polka dots, but I had to wear it with a white shirt or I looked terrible.

And this brings me to the details of this challenge.  Create anything in white, red and aqua!!!!!  I love white, I love aqua, but the red has caused me no end of trouble tonight.  After searching for patterned paper in those colours for ages, I gave up.  So then I tried making a background by stamping and heat embossing with white on red card.  It looked very nice, but didn't suit the photo I was working with.  About 50 different options later I found something I liked.  This is another page for my family recipe album and has two recipes from my Great, Great Grandma.

Grandma Itter's Eggnog Recipe

I originally tried painting the background with Distress Ink 'Fired Brick', but it turned ORANGE on the white (a bit like my hair LOL).  Then I remembered that one of the kids had bought me Glimmer Mist 'Mels Diner' which is a beautiful shade of red with silver sparkle.  It looks lovely.  I used lots of my birthday presents in the end on this one.  The glimmer mist, Glimmer Glam on the teal flower, the Martha Stewart deep edge border, diamonte swirls, and the tiny silver butterfly.  I think I shall spend some of my birthday money on a daylight light bulb for my lamp.

I am pleased I finished this one and didn't let it beat me in the end.  As it is now the wee hours of Monday morning here I am headed to bed.  I will have to look at the rest of the challenges in the morning.

I hope you enjoyed the weekend of challenges as much as I did.  Now to try and finish them all during the week...

Chipper

My birthday present from The Princess

I have always encouraged my children to craft while at the same time being careful to not tell them what to do.  I will happily teach them how to use the products but I firmly believe that every person deserves to put their pages together themselves.  I was never very good at art while I was at school, but a critical comment from a teacher about a project that I was very proud of put me of continuing with art.  I dropped the subject as soon as it wasn't compulsory and picked up wood work :-)

Last week The Princess watched Shimelle's sketch of week video with me.  She enjoyed it and once she saw that I had made a layout based on the sketch, but that it wasn't a copy of it, she was hooked!  For my birthday today she presented to me a special wrapped present that was "fragile".  Here is what I received ...

A beautiful layout based on Shimelle's sketch.  She has even added the journaling block at the top left and has a diagonal line of "pretty" embellishments!  I am so proud of my pumpkin :-)  Love you xoxoxo

This will take pride of place in our album.  The photo is of The Princess, The Thinker, and Nephew1.

Now for my special birthday dinner of roast lamb and veg with Yorkshire puddings!!! YUM!  All cooked by The LOML and the kids.  Then more crafting.  What a glorious weekend.

Chipper

P.S. I received LOTS of craft stuff for my birthday including more Glimmer Mist, Glimmer Glam, Martha Stewart punches and bits and bobs.  The kids sure know what I LOVE.  And I got the new Passion CD and some money to buy my own choice of books as the store had run out of the ones I suggested LOL

Add to the story challenge

Since we got a digital camera we seem to take oodles and oodles of photos.  I am sure you do too.  If I was to turn them all into "masterpieces" I would be here all day everyday and never be out there living life.  But I like to have ALL of the photos in my album because after all they each add something to the story.  So I have started using the American Crafts 10x12 divided page protectors.  They make adding more photos in both directions easy as they hold three landscape and two portrait photos on each side.

You may remember this layout here ..

Well we took so many photos from the rain forrest cafe that I have added them in a 10x12 protector in co-ordinating colours.  Most of them were poor quality photos as the restaurant was so dark.  You can just see the next page peeking out from the album.  (sorry but all natural light has gone now. I'm sure you know how it is ... rented house, power saving light bulbs! LOL)

The next page in the album was this one ...

So I added more photos and made this side in the same greens and browns.  The original two pages didn't really go together but now the whole thing flows.  I really like the way this has linked the two pages.  This side even features a flower stuck to the outside of the page protector along with a funny monkey sticker!

The next two pages in the album are also from the same place and I have written out the whole story in length and put it in a 6x12 protector.  But that story is just for us :-)  One more post for now on a different topic and then I am off to work on more challenges.

Chipper