Project Life week 28

I had some free time this week to do a bit of catching up on my PL pages. I have the whole of the summer to do before I get too far behind

Here's week 28 all finished and for this page I've taken a whole sheet of 12 x 12 and cut it into 4 x 6 cards. The only card not cut from a sheet is the title card taken from one of the last kits from the start of the summer. I've mixed things up a bit with offcuts and a few stamps plus one or two journaling cards from previous kits. I've tried to keep to certain colours as one of my "things" is for a page to be fairly uniform and not to messy.

Something totally new for me is to have a go at sewing on a journaling card and this template makes it super easy.

Hopefully this weekend I'll have some time to catch up a bit more.

Have a good one

Jaine

The Little Book of #Dogstagram Part 2

Hello there! Claire S back again here with the second part of my #Dogstagram book.

If you missed the first part of this project you can check it out here.

The book I've used is one of Sarah's Daybooks, and I've used a selection of all of the papers and journaling cards from Sarah's AFOMFT kits, along with her Everyday Sayings stamps. The photos in the book are all Instagram prints and the book is all about Bailey my badly behaved ginger Labrador (his fur is very ginger now he's older, these photos are from 2013 when he was still a pup)

Bailey seems to like to lie in front of my craft desk, he likes to help, but in reality I can't get to the desk "Hey Mum, can I help you in the studio today? I promise I won't slobber on anything and I'll watch where my tail is wagging"

And on the next page the walk around the park was obviously enough, he was fast asleep in the front seat of the car before we got home.

Caught again with the shoes! Grampa's this time, thankfully these ones didn't get chewed to pieces...yet!

Bailey wasn't to keen on the snow either "What's all this cold stuff? My tail is froze, my little paws are froze and my nose is froze....brrr chilly!"

Bailey likes playing hide and seek, especially when he's chewing on something he shouldn't be, the thing is, it's not easy to hide when your a huge ginger dog, but I did finally get a picture of him chewing something that he was allowed to chew... a large doggy bone.

Bailey does have a tendency to follow me around, he hides in the cupboard under my desk, and runs off with my dressing gown "Erm, oh, is this your dressing gown? Sorry Mum, I thought it was mine. It's pretty snuggly though."

There are also times he thinks he's a cat, he has a real thing for balls of yarn "Hi mum, I found this ball of wool, will you teach me to knit please?" And after a long day doing doggy stuff what more could a tired dog want than to curl up on the sofa...

This final page is my favourite one, the first photo is Bailey chilling out on the conservatory floor, trying to cool off after a walk. 

The second photo? Well, I'll let Bailey tell you about that one "Hehehe,I pinched mums camera and took a couple of selfies, wonder what mum will say when she finds them on her phone teehee!"

And there you have The Little Book of Bailey. I found this one quite easy, mainly as all of the photos were the same size and all of Sarah's papers co-ordinate beautifully even though they're all from different kits. I started the book by sticking my papers and photos in first and then added the doodling and journaling, Finally came the stamping, stickers and Thickers for titles, I was going add embellishments but the book was so thick by this point so I thought I'd leave it as it was. It's a fab little book and a great record of all his mischievous puppy days, I'm sure I'll forget just how much trouble he was when he was a pup (I always do lol)

Thanks for stopping by today, keep checking back for inspiration from all of the team and we've got our new challenge coming up later this week, so stay tuned :)

Hope to see you soon.

Claire S

Altered Clipboard

Morning all. Hope the weather is good where you are. I’m hoping it’s gorgeous and sunny in Cornwall as that’s where I will be when you read this post, enjoying a nice little holiday :-)

We have a fabulous challenge of Favourite Things this month (click the button on the right to go and read all about it). For me I find it so very hard to chose favourites of anything as I’m such a ditherer, but I have a bit of a thing for the colour grey at the moment so I combined that with another fave of mine….making to do lists and used Sarah’s fabulous AFOMFT kit papers to decorate this clipboard.

I have put off decorating this for quite a while as I knew I would get carried away and want to embellish it which would end up making it vey impractical to use. Sarah’s papers are so pretty and perfect for this as it looked fabulous without the need to add anything else.

The clipboard was painted with several coats of yellow acrylic paint and then sanded at the edges and inked with Weathered wood Distress Ink. The papers were stuck to the clipboard with PVA Glue. Lastly adding the ribbon right around the clipboard using Hi-Tac tape and tying a bow at the top.

Supplies:

• A Few of My Favourite Things Kit (Ribbon and Paper)
• MDF Clipboard (a bargain from a Pound Shop, think it was supposed to be a bingo board)
• Yellow Acrylic Paint
• Glitter Glue
• PVA Glue
• Hi-Tac Tape

Thanks for stopping by

Lisa

The Sun has got his hat on…

Hip hip hip hooray!

Morning all! If you are in the UK I hope you are enjoying all this hot weather we have been having. I am, as the kids and I have been outside playing and tending to our vegetable plants…but it sure has put a stop to any crafting.

Talking of the Sunshine our theme for this months challenge is Summer Brights. I thought I would show that you don’t need to cut into a precious 12x12 page to make a card this one uses a couple of journaling cards to make the background:

Here’s what I used:

• A Few of My Favourite Things Kit (patterned papers, heart embellishment and stamps)
• Sentiments Stamps
• Scrap of lace
• Rosebud and Danube Blue Memento Inkpads
• Wink of Stella Clear Brush Pen
• Black Fine line Pen.

If you fancy joining in with our challenge you have until Saturday 28th to join in.

Thanks for stopping by

Lisa

Phone card with a difference.

Hello, it's Carol here today, and I am sharing a card I made using Sarah Hurley Silhouette files and stamps from Sarah's Shop. 

As you know I am trying to use the Cameo more often, so thought I would make a card using one of my favourite files,  Cell phone/mobile phone file. I actually remembered to take a few quick pictures as I was doing the Cameo part of the card. I ungrouped the file and moved it about on the screen so I could cut all the bits out on different papers and card. I actually used on of the 3x4" cards from last months AFOMFT Kit to be my "screen". I popped the papers onto my mat to match up with the screen; 

Once they were cut out I popped them onto a bit of paper  just to have a wee look at them. I decided to use a bit of black Card Candi to be my "button".

Sadly I got carried away with the next bit and forgot to take pictures!! I got a 6x6" card blank and stamped rows of speech bubbles in colours that corresponded with the "screen" the stamp came from a previous AFOMFT. I then stamped random sentiments from the Everyday Sayings Stamp Set. These stamps are great for funkier cards maybe for friends or teenagers, they are clear so ideal to stamp within something else, like the speech bubbles on the phone or the stamped ones. 

I popped some 3d foam under the green and pink speech bubbles and under the phone, just to give the card some dimension.

 I really hope you like the card and will join in with our Summer Brights Challenge this month. And remember there are goodies up for grabs with Sarah's fantastic new World Of Imagination Blog Hop!

Storage...are you Super Organised or a Mix 'n Match kinda Crafter?

Hi Claire N with you today, to share with you a conversation that we had one weekend as a design team, and I'm sure everyone won't mind me saying that we have had many chats that have gotten hilariously out of hand.




Spring is the season that inspires us all to have a good sort out, and that of course extends to our craft rooms. The weather was so bright, and I'd had a relaxing weekend, that I felt compelled to have a good look through all the monthly kits that arrive from Sarah's 'A Few of My Favourite Things' kit club, and re familiarise myself with all the gorgeousness of the papers, embellishments and stamps.

It was then I began thinking about how I stored these kits, and it was then that I put that same question to the rest of the team





'How do you all store your AFOMFT' Kits?' - and I can tell you the banter that sparked as a result was so funny.

I have been a part of the club for 10 months, and from day one I have stored each months offering (including the embellishments, journalling cards,stamps, snip & stick sheets etc) in its own plastic sleeve, which I would then pop into the lever arch file you can see sitting there on the table. Each month was labelled and it meant that all co-coordinating elements stayed together and when writing up my blog posts I could easily reference what I used.
However the last 3-4 months Sarah has swapped the size of the papers from 8x8 (inch) up to 12x12 (inch) and it meant that it now wouldn't fit into my folders (and I was loathed to cut into the papers unnecessarily...a definate no no).

Storage from being coordinated and organised like this ...

So I was having to rethink my storage and the possibility of mixing all the papers and journalling cards together....a concept that completely goes against the grain..hehe!..and I can tell you the thought of which sent various members of the team into a major state of panic LOL!
How could I possibly consider stepping out of the structured order?, but I did and I pulled all the papers out and grouped them in size order, and then grouped all the cards. You will notice also that I was able to get the most from the snip & stick sheets too (and just as a force of habit I couldn't resist pencilling on these sheets the month they come from....oops sorry LOL!)
So I went from the organised folders above, to the mix and match piles below.

I will admit now that it was a liberating experience, because I can now fully appreciate how coordinated, with colour (and design) Sarah has been across all the many months of kits, and I know I will get far more from these beautiful papers (now that I won't be frightened to pull them out of place) and am completely fired up to get going with my Project Life layouts.

Thank you so much for joining me today on my little journey, so I would like to pose the question to you



'What are your storage dilemma's? Are you a stickler for order and coordination (like myself, Carol & Lisa  ) or are you far more relaxed with a mix n match vibe going on (like Jaine & Sharon)

We would love to know, and hear your stories.

Claire N x

Inspiration Notebook

Hello there, Claireliz here.

I thought I'd show you the altered notebook I created for this months challenge - Anything Goes.

I have an obsession with stationery, there we go, I've said it.

I have hundreds of notebooks, which is handy as I'm also a compulsive list maker.

I wanted a little notebook that will fit in my handbag that I can write down ideas, flashes of inspiration and anything like that...

I started by covering the front and back of the notebook with the hot pink paper from the AFOMFT kit, I then used 3 strips of washi tape (from a previous kit) to cover the edge of the paper and the binding of  the book, I used one strip on the back, one on the front and the third on the top overlapping the other two.

I stamped a little border using Sarah's doodled border from the Home stamp set. I used the large Polaroid stamp from the Picture this stamp and cut out the centre of the Polaroid frame which I then filled with paper from a previous AFOMFT kit, I also stamped Inspiration on the frame using the Block Alpha stamps. I stamped a lightbulb using a stamp from another AFOMFT kit, I coloured it with a Pastel Yellow Promarker and coated it in Stickles then stuck it to the centre of the frame, I also added some sequins....

As a finishing touch I added a lightbulb paperclip to the elastic closure on the notebook.

You can find all the details for our latest challenge on this post here.

Have fun creating & good luck!

C xx

It's almost Easter.

Hi, it's Carol here this Good Friday and I thought I would make something to reflect the time of year it is.

 I was lucky enough to be treated to a Cameo electronic cutting machine a few months ago and I still have the new machine "fear" and realised I really had to use it rather than just download lots of Sarah's yummy files.

I thought I would make a card using one of Sarah's new designs and chose the  Easter Page Mat. When you open in onto your "Drawing Area" it opens as a 12"x12", but that is easily sized down and I will try and explain how I did that.

I wanted to use a 6"x6" card, so decided to make the cut out 5.5", to do this I selected the whole image, clicked on the Scale tool, typed in 5.5" and ticked the lock aspect option.  It resized it perfectly to leave me with this. 

I was feeling confident, so decided I wanted to layer the cut out, and knew I could do it easily using the Offset tool.  I wanted it to just have a nice frame, so chose 0.1" as my Internal Offset. The result was this;

You may be wondering why I am working on the right hand side of the page...this next step will explain that. I clicked on the internal image, and dragged it over to the left of the page. That way I could do the two cuts on one pass through, and use two separate colours of card;

I sent them to the Cameo to cut, then went about picking out matching backing paper and some sparkly bits. Et voila, here is the finished card...taaa daaaah!!

Ingredients

Easter Page Mat from Sarah's Silhouette Files

Backing Paper from A Few of My Favourite Things Kit

I hope this shows that once you overcome the new machine fear, you can have lots of fun making pretty things. 

Remember there is still time to enter our challenge, the theme is Stitching - Real or Faux.

Have a great Bank Holiday Weekend, and a lovely Easter, Carol xx