New Fabric for New Project

I don't know about you but the heat we've had this summer has made me not feel like doing too much of anything! I know we shouldn't complain, as it's the best summer we've had in years, and I'm not complaining - honest! :) I'm just saying it's made me feel a bit more lethargic than usual!

However, I have been doing some scrapping and the Smash book I bought at Ally Pally earlier in the year is getting nicely full with little mementos of the year. Not that we've done all that much but even small things, like going for a cup of tea and lunch at the adorable tea shop we found in Brighton is definitely something I like to record and pop in there.

I also finally got around to recording the story that surrounded a funny picture my husband had. It took me a while because I wasn't involved in the story so I needed to get it from him and him finding the time to sit down and tell me about it wasn't the easiest. But we got there eventually. I used this paper, because it was about a helicopter flight.

 

I jazzed up the heli itself with some diamond stickles and there's now a 4x6 photo in the bottom left corner with a few embellishments and a title. For the most part, the paper is covered in journaling as there was quite a long story to tell but it made the picture make sense and was really something I wanted to put in the album. I think it's important to try and include other people's days in your scrapbooks. Even if it means you have to really work at trying to get the story out of them, it's worth it in the end! :)

 

 

And sticking with the helicopter theme, I recently bought this fabric:

 

 

 

Hubby has asked me to make a cover for a mini tablet type thing and I knew about this fabric, so thought it would be fun to use. It comes in a blue colourway which was what I originally wanted, but unfortunately couldn't find any in the UK at the time, so I've gone with the cream background instead.

 

The project itself will be along the lines of the Kindle cover I made here, just slightly different in size. I'll post a picture when I'm done. It's a case of trying to find a time when he's not using the thing in order to measure it at the moment! Also, I have to admit, it's been a case of trying to finish the above layout and find my desk in order to be able to make space to sew.

 

It's going to be a bit of an adventure, because for those of you that follow this blog, you may remember that I got a new sewing machine last year. So far, I've sewn precisely two small things on it. One was a super quite felt cover for hubby's phone when he cycles and has to put it in his rucksack and the other was blind hemming a lined wool skirt from a suit my Mum had bought for herself that was longer than she wanted. That was my first project on the machine and I wish I'd kept going because my confidence has plummeted again now. I don't want to mess up this project so it'll be a case of fingers crossed!

 

Wish me luck and any tips would be much appreciated!

 





Scrapbooking with Scenic Paper - Part 2

On the last post, I showed what I had in mind for the piece of October Afternoon 'Gravel Road' scenic style paper I had bought on sale, as a bit of an experiment.

This is the final result:

 

Apologies for the slight reflection in the top left corner, as this was photographed once I'd put it into the page protector.

 

I'm not one for leaving off journaling but this paper makes it a bit difficult to put much writing in, without it feeling overcrowded, to me at least, but I'm sure that's a personal thing. I do have information that I'd like to include about the place - some facts and figures, as I like that sort of thing, plus our own feelings about what we thought of the place, and how it was a little different from what I was expecting. I haven't yet decided as to whether to go ahead with the divided page protector style or another 'standard' layout, possibly a double one in order to get some more of the photos on show that helps show the total abandonment of the place.

 

I chose this photo to go on the first layout because I thought it gave an idea as to how out in the middle of nowhere this place was. The background layer (that you can just see beneath the brown cardstock) is an Echo Park paper I think, from the Everyday Eclectic collection. Then the cardstock, just from stash but most of mine is DCWV stock piled from a while ago that I'm trying to gradually use up.

 

The embellishments are some I've had for quite some time; I cannot remember where I got the little camera from. It's actually a charm, and came in a pack with an old fashioned car, plane, and suitcase. I snipped off the 'hole' bit that you would thread twine or ribbon through off, and stuck it on with a couple of foam pads. The 'scenery' sticker is from a pack I bought out in the States at a little shop we visited and the metal 'California' charm is from Eyelet Outlet. Again, these are several years old so I don't know if they still do them. At the time, they did various States, so you may see some Florida ones popping up as I try and use up some of the stash I've had for far too long.

 

I hope you like the layout!

 

 

Love, Maxi



Scrapbooking with October Afternoon 'Gravel Road'

What happens when you see a piece of scrapbook paper that you really like, but aren't sure how to use? Quite often, I won't actually buy it. If I can't see a way of using it, then although it's pretty, it's not really something I can afford to spend out on.

A while ago, I saw this video and found it pretty interesting. Even though I didn't have any scenic style paper to use, it was good to see information showing how it's possible to use it. So, when I had to order a new ring binder for my layouts, I had a quick flip through the 'sale' items (it'd be rude not to!) and I came across one of the papers Shimelle used in this video, 'Gravel Road', by October Afternoon. When I saw the video originally, I thought it might be good for use with some pictures of a old gold mining ghost town we'd visited. As it was only 23p in the sale, I didn't think there was too much to lose!

I trimmed it down, similar to the video, but not so much...

I then took the grey in the design and went rummaging for a mat for the photo. I found something from a travel themed kit I've had for years. I'm not so keen on the part that shows the washing line, and river, and bearing in mind there was no river at the place we visited (or washing!) I thought that would be a good place to put the mat. So, it currently looks like this...

 

The script bit of it will most likely be covered, or at least the best part of it will. I'm thinking about using this as a sort of intro page and then putting a few more photos and some journaling in a divided page protector following it in the album. That's not something I've done before so we'll see how that goes. I've got to fish out any info I have on the place, and see what else there is to add, and find out some facts about it and note them down to add to the layout. The picture I'm thinking of using is a plaque that's on a pillar there that says about the founding, and subsequent abandonment of the town, so it might be a case of the picture serving as some of the journaling.

These sort of papers don't seem to need a lot of embellishment, but of course, that depends on your style. At present, I have a couple of little things I think I might add, but they may end up on the additional pages, rather than this one.

 

I tried to ink the middle one, and scruff it up a bit, but I don't have any staz-on type stuff in brown, so it pretty much just came off again, as did the alcohol inks I tried. I hadn't really planned for any shiny silver metal so we'll see if that makes it in.

 

 

I like these little transport charms that, again, I've had for too long. One of the pictures I know I have is of a really broken down old car/truck type thing so that might be good. I need to research a bit more and see if the railroads of the time were part of this settlement. It was really in the middle of nowhere!

 

I'll come back and post the finished layout when it's done. Hope that's given you some inspiration in the meantime!

 

 

Love, Maxi