Scrapbooking with Studio Calico - Pink & Glitter for Boys

Today I'm sharing a layout I made a couple of weeks back - I finally got to dig into a couple of my recent Studio Calico Kits (yay!) and scrapbook this sweet picture of my nephew. I must admit, until my nephew came along all of my scrapbooking was pretty girly, I've since bought a few 'boy' collections to try and better scrap his pictures but I find it harder to make it flow somehow and have to work a little harder at pulling the pages together. Anyhow, this time I had the papers in mind I wanted to use which were pink and glittery, even though the picture is not girly at all I think I pulled it off OK!

I used a strip of this triangle paper from Crate Paper's 'Notes and Things' collection down the centre, there is another strip of a text paper underneath, this was from a Studio Calico kit and is actually place names which make no sense to the story of the picture, however, I thought it would toughen up the pink a little so I put just a hint peeking out so you can't see the text - it gives a graffiti kind of look!

The other side is a strip of gold dots paper from MME for a hint of metallic and I've used these grey rubber Thickers also from a Studio Calico kit - I had to adjust the 'K' slightly to allow for the tail of the 'Y' but being so flexible it was super simple to do - you couldn't do that with cardboard letter stickers!

The embellishments used are from Studio Calico Kits and a recent Simple Stories collection - the bright colours really pulled everything together - and I used some gold glitter and black and white chevron washi tape to accent the paper layers.

I finished it with these vellum leaves tucked under the picture and just a couple of gold sequins...

So there you have, my take on a boy layout with Pink, Sequins, Glitter and Hearts but without being too girly! I think the geometric shapes and painter / graffiti style text of the papers really helped and I'm super in love with those Thickers (I'm always chopping mine up to make them do what I want!) so I'll definitely be needing more - I'm off to CHA tomorrow so I hope to spot some of those in lots of other colours, will keep you posted!!

Thank you for dropping by today - I'm off to pack now, eeeeek!
Sarah x

Inspired by... Hexagons

One of the recent trends I LOVE and have even incorporated into my own product ranges is honeycomb / hexagons, I may be a little bit obsessed! I've been hunting high and low for a hexagon shaped punch but haven't found one *sob* but then last night while messing about with my Cricut I found on my 'Once Upon a Princess' cartridge some Hexagons - yay! It didn't matter that it was around 2am and my cricut is a bit noisy I had to cut them out right then (sorry neighbours! - actually I take that back, one of my neighbours has drums *sigh*)

I then stayed up into the wee small hours to put together this layout...

I cut my hexagons out of some old book pages from a french book I thrifted ages ago, and some scraps of Studio Calico and Amy Tangerine paper. Once I worked out my pattern I glued down my pictured and then added all my hexagons. As a finishing touch I stitched over some of them with brown embroidery thread.

here are a couple of close ups... (click to see them bigger!)

It was great to get back to crafting after a week or so of being too busy to get in my studio - I ended up making (or at least starting!) lots of projects. Today I was back to book research, product design and catching up on tons of emails after my email broke this morning! Lots of cups of Earl Grey have kept me going though and I think I might even make it back into my studio tomorrow night :o)

Thanks so much for dropping by
Sarah x

Scrapbooking with my Cricut

Today I'm sharing a scrapbook page I made using my Cricut Expression - this was an idea I had a while ago and finally got round to last night - I loved making it :o)

 Supply List - Once upon a Princess cartridge, Woodgrain Paper (light - Dream Street, dark - Crate Paper, textured - Coredinations) Cream bazzill Cardstock, Studio Calico Chipboard Butterflies, Miscellany Frame & Woodgrain Alpha Stickers - October Afternoon, Bird Paper - American Crafts, Twine, Acrylic Paint, Brown Journaling Pen, embroidery floss, Instax Picture

First I cut a square of the Light Woodgrain paper approx 8" x 7.5" and stuck it to my cricut mat. I lined up 9 Hearts on the screen and autofilled them to the paper - it evenly spaces them and fits them to the page - a brilliant feature!! I then cut 3 smaller hearts from the darker woodgrain paper.

I backed four of the hearts with the bird paper from American Crafts - this was my last sheet, I need some more of this, fast! its such a great paper from a few collections back. I stuck my completed square to my Bazzill Card Stock. I hand stitched the darker hearts in the remaining gaps with embroidery floss. Lightly sanded the coredinations cardstock and added my instax picture. The frame I painted with cream acrylic paint before adhering on top.

As a finishing touch I added the butterflies from Studio Calico to the top corner, I stacked two of them and added a button and some twine. Then I used the woodgrain alpha's and my brown journaling pen for my title and journaling.

I love the fact that despite only using one small picture the rest of the layout doesn't detract from it, the focus is all on her (my little sister)

I can't wait to try some more experiments with the autofill to see what other effects I can make on my layouts!

Thanks for dropping by today :o)

Sarah x

Harley's Egg Scrapbook Layout

Today after running a few errands and popping into the library I ended up on the phone for a few hours! So fried was my brain after that with everything bouncing around in my head, I felt like I had fireworks going off in my head! I decided to retreat to my studio to 'craft out' my stress - works every time!

I made this rather soothing layout (it makes me relaxed just looking at it!) of one of the days leading up to Christmas when we were at my mums, the snow was almost to the top of my wellies and I was ill from waiting around for trains for 9 hours (grrr!) but my little sisters really wanted me to go and see their animals, the chickens and ducks and rabbits, so off we trudged in the snow and cold, I could barely breathe! but it was so sweet to watch them cleaning up after them all and stroking them, making sure they were all happy. Harley was so happy one of her chickens had laid an egg, she wanted me to feel how warm it was but I could see a little bit of chicken poop on it and I knew where that warmth had come from - no thanks!! LOL

The paper is from My Minds Eye 'Quite Contrary' I got this in a Studio Calico kit and haven't been able to get it messy, but I thought it worked really well for this LO.

 

        

 Bits and bobs are from October Afternoon, Crate Paper and American Crafts, also used my Ranger Paint Dabber to run round the edge of the kraft cardstock and the LO.

This is also my first 2 picture layout! All of my layouts are usually just one picture but I was brave and I don't think it looks cluttered - I think there will be more to come!

Sarah x

New things....

What a bizarre day, one minute torrential rain and thunder and lightning and the next brilliant sunshine, don't know how things are in your part of the country / world but its kinda strange here! I am happy to be back in my snuggly winter clothes though! Woolly dress, jumper, woolly tights and uggs - lovely!! We even had the heating on for a bit earlier - woo! I LOVE winter, can you tell?? ;o)

I managed a bit of scrappy time as well and made a couple of layouts mostly from my Studio Calico kit - my little box of happiness!

my pics still aren't great and I'm really not happy with my camera, I've got my eye on a Canon G11 which I'm told is fab so fingers crossed you will be seeing some better photography from me soon!!

Today is Craft Day on QVC, I must admit I sky +'ed it and then whizzed through it as I didn't have time to watch the whole thing but there isn't anything thats tempted me so far!

I managed to upload the first lot of Digi Stamps to my website today - just £0.50p each!! What art you waiting for?! pop over and grab yourself a Bargain! :o)

OH is making me lamb chops tonight, I've never really liked lamb but he thinks I will if its cooked right, we shall see whos right won't we!! Wish me luck! I'm sure Fuzzybutt will happy with her dinner (she loves lamb) and the bones of course!

I've now contacted everyone who has applied for the Design Team so far so if you sent me an email or facebook message and havent heard anything please check your junk folder and holler if you havent been included. I find the whole process so difficult, everyone is so talented but I can't say yes to everyone, always makes me sad to say no as I know how horrible I have felt when I've not made teams I've applied for.

See you tomorrow with a freebie download!!

Sarah x

A little box of happiness....

Today I received a little (well, quite big actually) box of happiness in the mail all the way from the USA - my Studio Calico kit - yay! guaranteed to cheer a girl up any day and well deserved I think!

Yesterday I had yet ANOTHER doctors appointment, although this time with a bit of a breakthrough, after almost a year I finally have a diagnosis, not a great one but at least now I know I can deal with it! I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or ME as some of you may know it. It was a bit of a shock as I thought I just had a virus or something I could take some antibiotics for! Anyway... I won't dwell too much as I'm trying not to think about it too much at the moment!

I've been working really hard to finish up the latest CD - they should be going out to the Design Team next week, all being well, I've loved working on this one so much! Details and sneaky peeks coming soon :o)

Don't forget I'm still looking for some DT peeps - see this post - UK and International welcome - thank you to everyone who has emailed me, I will be in touch VERY soon!

I hope you will all join in the challenge this week as we have a wonderful sponsor this week who has donated a lovely prize!! I will post all the info on Thursday with the new challenge (there is still a few days to enter the latest one as well!)

Hugs and Stuff
Sarah x

End of the Week....

......and to be honest it'll be a relief! With one thing and another this week has not been a great one! and I'll be glad to see the back of it (not that I'm usually one for wishing my life away) anyway, I've decided every day is another chance for a clean slate and i'm trying not to let things get me down. I've been through worse than this and know that every bad thing has led me to a better thing, even if that has taken some time, I have to remain patient and be grateful for the many good things I do have. I'm digging out my copy of 'The Secret' tonight and giving it a jolly good read!! it always picks me up and refocuses my mind. If you haven't heard of it, try it! Its a great book on the Law of Attraction by Rhonda Byrne, and will help you to think positively, not that by sitting back and imagining I have a Bentley outside I imagine one will suddenly appear!!! But by thinking positively it helps you to deal with problems more constructively instead of being worn down by it all as I was this week!

Now onto crafty stuff! My sneak peek for tomorrow is almost ready! can't wait to show it and get some feedback :o)

Secondly, I was asked on my blog and by e-mail yesterday the best place to get Promarkers - at the moment Hobbycraft are having a half price sale and I hear on the grapevine that they have just re-stocked! So make sure you get to your local one or to their website quick and order up - you won't be sorry!

Once you've got them have a look at Debs blog as she has posted a fab Promarker tutorial with the Woodland Whimsies designs - love the cute feathery effect on the owl - will definitely get round to trying that this week! if you want to get your hand on the owl design, you can get your CD here!

I also managed another Layout - can you believe it! thats two in as many days!! some kind of record for me recently!

This one was done with a past Studio Calico kit and some lovely Adirondack inkpads from Ranger.

Now I must get on with that sneaky peek!

Sarah x

Emotional Rollercoaster!

Ive just read over some of my blog posts from the last few days and realise just how chirpy I sound, just so you don't get the wrong idea and think I'm one of those annoyingly 'perfect happy people', I dont live on a fluffy cloud being fed cherry bakewells and stroking puppies! I can honestly say that the last few weeks and months (and probably years!) have been a total emotional rollercoaster and I have my bad days as well as my good, in fact they seem to follow one another into massive highs and lows!! So to those friends of mine who seem to stay up to date with my life entirely through my blog these days, I apologise, its not that Im avoiding you, its just that my massive highs (for which I am truly grateful - I do realise how lucky I am) are almost inevitably followed by crashing lows of misery and self doubt where I don't want to talk to anyone, sometimes not even my OH! The journey to this point has not always been an easy one and none of this "dropped in my lap" I have worked and worked and will continue to do so until I feel I've achieved enough (ha!) nothing short of perfection is good enough and I'm my own worst critic. So a big THANK YOU to all my supporters and cheerleaders who share both the good times and the bad with me - you know who you are and I feel blessed to know each and every one of you!

Now I'll stop babbling on and post some pretty pics, thats what you're here for right? LOL

Here are some layouts done recently that I hadn't yet shared.....

The first one is of my my little sisters - you're probably very familiar with them by now as they are my main scrapbook topic! and the second is one of me with my teddy (thats not quite as recent.... LOL) I still have him, although he hasn't fared quite as well as me over the years (if I do say so myself!) he's not bad for an old bear though!

I am also counting down to the release of the Studio Calico kit on Monday - another 5am start for me!! Its soooooo gorge though - check it out here

Sarah x

Studio Reorganised - Again!

Today I spent some time re-organising my studio (again!) but I actually feel this time it's "done" the cupboard is fixed, everything is back in and now everything looks clean and bright and spacious - no clutter to mess with my head when I'm trying to be creative! I'm still waiting on my new furniture though so it will change a little bit soon - but for now, here is where I work.....

Heres a close up of the bunting in the corner that I made from a Maya Road Pennant Album strung onto Studio Calico twine - I just love that stuff!

Here is the view from my window - I just love this view - its the top floor of my house so I'm high up and look right over the green out front and the forest (at the back of the house is where I originally had my studio but thats right in the forest so it was far too dark!)

And here is my fave Living Dead Doll! I collect them but she's the only one that lives in my studio at the moment, my sister says this is what I will actually look like when I'm dead - I can definitely see the resemblance!! LOL

Tomorrow my sis and her boyfriend arrive - yay! and are staying for the weekend - the beginning of my birthday celebrations, it's finally here - woo! I'm so excited to see them :o)

As you can tell I didn't do much work today as the CD is done now! I did automatically open the folder this morning then remembered I was done! Instead I done the studio then worked on some illustrations for a children's book before crashing out with a crunchie (they should really come in twos like Twixes don't you think?!), very relaxing!

Sarah x

New Layouts

Firstly I would like to thank everybody for their congratulations, their blog comments, messages via facebook and twitter and all the lovely emails I've received. Doing something like this is obviously very very nerve wracking and to feel like there are people rooting for you makes all the difference. Obviously you can't please all of the people all of the time and I fully expect to receive some critiscism and harsh words at some point (Ive seen and heard some awful things said about some fantastic people so know it happens to everyone!) - but having all the lovely messages will make that easier to deal with! In my moments of self doubt I've been re-reading all of them, so thank you!!

Today I spent the whole day in my studio making samples for the Create and Craft shows from my new CD (Woodland Whimsies)- it's so exciting to work with my own line of products!! I just hope everyone else likes them as much as I (obviously!) do. I'm hoping to do a sneaky peek on my blog in the next day or two so keep your eyes peeled for that - I will also be posting some more news (yes, there's more! LOL)

Today I also got the chance to (finally!) break open my Studio Calico kit - its just so lovely I almost couldn't cut them up! But luckily my OH had been up in his mums loft just the day before and bought home some lovely pics of him and his family which gave me the incentive to go ahead! I also done a layout of my little sister from when she was just 2! soooo hard to remember her when she was all cute (and quiet - ha!)

He also found an old craft book - I think from the 60s or 70s while he was up there and his mum said to give it to me - I was THRILLED! - the projects in there are so delightfully retro and the pictures are gorgeous and hilarious at the same time - I will be sharing as I work my way through it!!

Back to the grindstone now - have a screen test next Friday so have a demo and some samples to prepare - think I'm going to need some people to help me before long!!!

Sarah x

National Scrapbooking Day

So today is National Scrapbooking Day, in case you didn't know! but unfortunately I have had no chance to actually scrapbook - how shocking is that! Im on a VERY tight deadline for one of my future projects (more details to come very soon!) and have spent all day doing things for that (and reading the new Martina Cole book - fabby!) I hope you have had more luck than me and have lots of time to scrap.

Yesterday I visited ScrapShed and picked up the new Girls Paperie range - I'm in LOVE already! its sooo lovely and I can't wait to get my hands on it - definitely tomorrow, I'll have to make some time!

I also managed to bag myself a Studio Calico kit in the week (by getting up at stupid o'clock in the morning - seriously, like 4.30am!) but I'm soooo excited to receive it, I'm pressing send / receive constantly waiting for my despatch notice and will be stalking the postman after that until its arrival (it's OK he's used to it now.... LOL) I've never had their kit before but heard so many good things and admired their kits and DT work for AGES - when I grow up I want to be a Studio Calico DT girl!

Right, back to the drawing board now - that deadline is screeching up fast!

x