His Brain is too big!

The latest Apron Strings My Croppy Summer Assignment is to make a layout based on a sketch by Gloria Stengel. Here's my take.

And here's the sketch for inspiration.

I wasn't going to enter this challenge because I didn't really have time, but since it was quite a simple sketch, and Logan had made the funniest comment yesterday, I wanted to capture that. Earlier this month we'd gone shopping to find something to buy with an unspent gift card from his birthday. As he still had $5 left on it, I said go look in the clothing, but I doubt you'll find anything under $5. Well, he came back to me a few minutes later and showed me this hat that had been reduced to $1.86!!! It looked good on him, so he bought it. As I'd taken a photo of him in it, it seemed to make sense to use it for the layout. The biggest problem was finding an embellishment that wasn't flowers because I knew he wouldn't like that. Oh well, he ended up with flowers anyway in the end!

The paper is from Stampin Up! (Tea Party), the title used various lettering (Dymo tape, Kaisercraft Fozz Felt, Adornit tiny etched natural, and some rub ons that I had in my stash from the Dollar store when we were living in Canada). The flowers are by Petaloo (Flora doodles, tie-dyed gypsies), and the flourishes were made using Design adhesives (French Swirl) from Kaszazz, which were covered in flocking fibre I purchased at the Canberra Quilt and Craft Fair last August and hadn't yet used. As it was the first time I used this I wasn't quite sure how well it would work. I realise that I rubbed more in on parts of the adhesive than others, but I'll know how to use it better next time.

The journalling reads:
Logan: Mum, I woke up early this morning because I had a bloody nose. Should I take my sheets off the bed?
Me: Yes you better so we can wash them.

A little later …

Logan: Mum a big piece of ear wax fell out of my ear too.
Kyaa: Eewww, that’s disgusting. Why did Logan feel he HAD to share that with me?
Me: Well, maybe the two are related since your ears and nose are connected.
Logan: Yes, it must be my brain getting too big for my head and it’s forcing all the blood and wax out.

Hmmm … so much for our modest son!
Logan assures me he was joking, but sometimes he does have a big head (pun intended!). It was certainly a funny comment, although maybe you had to be there.

Finally, here are some closeups.



Oh yes! Logan is not happy that there are flowers on the paper and in the embellishments!

Till next time - happy days!

Francine

Cairns Layout and Card

Phew - I can't believe it! I finished another Apron Strings challenge. The "My Croppy Summer Assignment #11" was to use a sketch from Nuts About Sketches, AND then create a card from the scraps BUT besides the paper, incorporate an element from the layout onto the card. I found this one quite challenging since I don't really like making cards, and I couldn't find any pictures to use that were in a portrait orientation. So, I turned the sketch 90 degrees and did it that way instead. So, this is what I came up with.

Here's the sketch.

I took a while finding paper that I liked in my stash but finally settled on this striped paper from TLC, and some craft cardstock. The other paper and cardstock are all scraps. I found this fibre in my stash, and for the stitching I used some metallic thread I won from my LSS a while back. I pierced the holes for the stitching using a Mijemoo stitching guide first. After I stitched the pattern I decided to add the seed beads so went over it all again, adding a bead onto each stitch. The title was made with some Kaisercraft Felt alpha stickers for the main title, and a Dymo label made with my Caption Maker for the subtitle.



So, what about the card you ask? Here it is.

I did cut another piece of cardstock for the base, but then used an off cut of the striped paper from the layout. I decided to incorporate the stitching, beads and Dymo label from the layout onto the card. I did use a different flourish than on the layout, and I used sequins and beads, but only on the ends of each stitching line. I also changed the colour of the Dymo tape from black to light blue. It's quite simple, but I like how this card turned out, and I have a birthday coming up soon that I need a card for too!

Well, today may bring my period of prolific scrapbooking (for me at least) to an end as the kids are back at school tomorrow, and I need to go back to work. There is always less time when I'm working, but I do need to fit in my Project 12 layout which is due by the 20th, so I'll be working on that tomorrow night, and probably Tuesday afternoon as well! I have the photos printed already, and the sketch, so I just need to pick the papers and embellishments and put it all together! If I don't get it finished before the deadline, it is unlikely that I'll finish it at all. While I don't enter these challenges for the prizes, the deadlines are always very handy. I seem to work best under pressure. It was the same at school, and I often produce my best work when I have little time to complete something. Anyway, I guess only time will tell.

So, till next time - happy days!

Francine

Preschool letters

The Apron Strings "My Croppy Summer Assignment #10" was a Use-Your-Stash challenge. As Lori said "All those lovely sheets of stickers with the Q's, V's and W's left, numbers, symbols and the one E left because you needed two. . .today use those scraps of alphas on your layout in a non-title, non-journaling way".

Well, this one didn't jump out at me as to how to manage that, but then that's what a challenge is all about isn't it? About the only thing I knew for sure was that it had to be school related. So, I went to bed and thought on it. Then it came to me! (I must admit I get some of my best inspiration either lying in bed, or in the shower!) So, next step was to find the photos, paper and letters. I have always loved these two photos from preschool of my kids (they were so cute back then, not that they aren't now, but teenagers just don't photograph the same as little children!). I found that I had some sticker letters in small, and the same letters in large as well, so that worked perfectly for my idea. The paper from Provo Craft had been in my stash for more than a year, so I just needed to find some cardstock, which has also been in my stash for a very long time! Except for the brads on the magnifying glasses' handles, there is no lumpy bumpy stuff on this layout, but I like it. Logan's response, after "That's me!" was "Cool Mum!". He liked the magnifying glass idea, and I love how it turned out too! Hope you like it as well.


Till next time - happy days!

Francine

Half Map Sketch

The Apron Strings "My Croppy Summer Assignment #9" was to use a PageMap Half Map, to create a layout.
In Lori's words: use it alone, mirror-image it to get a 12x12 size, turn it 90 degrees or use half and create the other half yourself.

What half map you ask? This one.

As you can see, hopefuly(!), I turned the sketch 90 degrees to the right. I used two 4"x6" photos rather than the smaller size and then added a top half to the page. I think it turned out ok, although I'm not completely in love with it. I had a lot of trouble choosing the embellishments, and that took me longer than any other part of putting this page together.

The papers are from Stampin Up! (Haiku), the embellishments on the left are Tim Holtz (Nature) grungeboard painted with Twinkling H2Os (my new favourite), plus punched daisies, some sticker photo corners and little green flowers from my stash. The butterfly is a piece left over from a Kaisercraft Felt border that I used on a 90cm long canvas a couple of years ago. The two prima type flowers are from Kaisercraft too, and are also painted with Twinkling H2Os.

The photos were taken at Waiotapu Thermal Park, in Rotorua, New Zealand. Seeing all the thermal activity was very interesting. The top picture shows the kids in front of the Champagne Pool, where the thermal activity produces little bubbles in water just like in a bottle of champagne. You can't touch it though or you'd burn yourself. Much of the vegetation is covered in orange and yellow from the sulphur gases. If you ever get to New Zealand, it's well worth the trip.

Till next time - happy days!

Francine

My Croppy Summer Assignment #7

Well, I don't believe it but I've actually finished all this week's challenges on the Apron Strings blog! My Croppy Summer Assignment #7 is to select one of your first layouts and use something on it to inspire a new layout. The first scrapbooking layouts that I ever made were my wedding photos. In hindsight that was probably a silly thing to do since I taught myself to scrapbook and never took a class, so maybe I should have started with something less precious. However, when I look at those layouts now, I wouldn't change a thing, even though my style has changed some now. Though, maybe my style hasn't changed that much because, the original layout I chose, and the one I made today are still quite similar in style! Here is my original layout.


I was inspired by the rows of photos across the page, and the different colour cardstock through the centre. This is what I came up with today.


I used the green cardstock with the rust coloured edge to replicate a mini golf course hole. I put some brads in to represent the balls, and used a toothpick as a stick to support the 'flag'. Since the course was all about pirates and there was lots of netting around, I used a piece of an old onion bag to tie together the pictures. I scanned the score card and printed it smaller and in booklet form so I could write the journalling on top. I also scanned the logo from the scorecard and mounted it on foam tape to represent an obstacle on the course. The title used flocked chipboard fonts from Forever in Time. All in all, while the layout is still simple in style, I think it turned out well!


Till next time - happy days!

Francine

Apron Strings Summer challenge #8

My Croppy Summer assignment #8 over at the Apron Strings blog comes from Elizabeth Kartchner's "52 More Scrapbooking Challenges": Use Media to inspire your next layout; books, CD's, DVD's, movies. . .

I found this article in a magazine I was reading and while I like the title, I didn't really notice that till later. What immediately caught my eye was the grid pattern of the photos and the way the words overlapped the photos on the right side. So that is what I mimicked. Here's my layout.

(Sorry about the picture quality - it's night here so there was no natural light!)This layout came together quickly other than the time it took to resize all the photos. I used a scrap of paper (Basic Grey, I think) on white cardstock. The title is made up of letters from ki Memories icicles, Been There Done That (rub ons), and Heidi Swapp ghost alphabet. The embellishment in the top corner is from a2zscraplets. I painted it with Twinkling H2Os. The photos come from our trip to the Amazon in 2007.


Well, I've run out of steam and need to go to bed, so unless I get up early (highly unlikely seeing as I'm a night owl!) I don't think I'll get to assignment #7. I guess only the morning will tell.

Till next time - happy days.

Francine

My Croppy Summer Assignment #6

I decided to do the Apron Strings "My Croppy Summer Assignment #6" as well. I'm not sure if I'll get the other two assignments for this week done as well, so this will have to suffice for now! The challenge was to use the given sketch. I love Page Maps sketches, so this was relatively easy. The hardest part was deciding which photograph to use, since I usually scrap multiple photos rather than just one. (OK, OK, so my last post was a layout of a single photo too :-) I didn't say I always scrap multiple photos!)

Once I decided to use a photograph of my grandparent's house the rest just kind of came together quite quickly. I used a piece of DCWV cardstock, and patterned papers from the Brocade Background Stampin Up! designer series paper. The ribbons and gold brads came from my stash, as did the Cherish embellishment (I think I bought that from the dollar store when we were living in Canada). The hat pin is from CK (and is much greener than it appears to be in the picture), and the chipboard flower is by Porta Craft, and painted with Twinkling H2Os. I punched the centre flowers fom the patterned paper with my Sullivan's daisy punches. I used DMC floss to stitch around the circle, and made the tag with a scrap of kraft coloured cardstock. Since I had too much journalling for the tag, I made it as a fold out booklet/tag and created a kind of sleeve to slide it into on the layout.
The title is simply a photograph of the street sign of the street where they lived.

I think the whole thing turned out very well. What do you think? Now I just need to decide if I've got time to do 2 more layouts before the challenge cut off time!

Till next time - happy days!

Francine

Paper only embellishing

This layout has been in my head for a while, but I tweaked it when I saw "My Croppy Summer Assignment #5" on the Apron Strings blog. I used a sketch from Beggahuna as the basis for the layout. Since the Apron Strings challenge was to use only paper on the layout, that's what I did. I created some kaleidoscopes from the photo I was using and used them as embellishments, but I decided it wasn't really cheating since it was just that I was using a lot of photos! So here's the layout:

I used a piece of kraft cardstock for the background, cut the circular form from a piece of black/cream circle patterned paper from Kaszazz's Ebony & Ivory paper range, as well as the flourish and scallop from the ribbon/script paper from the same range. I used my anywhere hole punch to punch holes in the scallops to gussy it up a bit. I used a Studio G Clear Stamps stamp (VC0012 Series 32) on some of the cream off cut from the circle and interspersed these with my kaleidoscopes which I printed in different sizes. I also used my new extra large two step bird punch from Stampin Up! and punched a number of branches/leaves from some scrap cardstock. I punched a bird as well for the embellishment on the right hand side. I used my jumbo alphabet stamp to stamp the letters of the title on the same scrap cardstock and cut it out by hand (since I don't have a diecutting machine). I outlined it in gold pen and put it onto some scrap cream cardstock. To finish off I wrote the journalling in the top right hand corner.
The layout turned out pretty much as I envisioned in my head so that's great! Here are some close up photos.

I'll post my layout for the #6 challenge soon.

Till next time - happy days!

Francine

Sketch Competition entry x2

OK - so I'm a bit late blogging about these entries, but better late than never as they say! As I've told you before, my Internet scrapping friend Ingeborg has a sketch competition every month on her competition blog here. She picks a sketch from the latest PageMaps sketches and asks her friends all over the world to make a layout based on that sketch. You have a month in which to do it. As is usual for me, I'm normally getting it in on the last day of the month. In June I cut it really close! I actually wasn't going to enter at all as I hadn't made the time to do an entry. But, at the last minute I decided to play with some brushes in Phototshop Elements and make a digital layout. It was actually after midnight on 30 June here, but in the Netherlands where Ingeborg is, it was still the 30th! Anyway, without further ado, here is the June sketch and my layout.





I picked the colours for the background from my photos then added brushes that I had downloaded from the Internet. Problem is I don't have a proper way of recording where I got them from, so unfortunately I can't tell you what they are or who they're by. Very naughty of me I know. If any of you can offer me a good solution for this, please let me know!

The photos were taken on our trip to Cairns in January. They were all taken in the rainforest, on our day tour to Cape Tribulation. The top one is a stick insect, and yes that is the colour it really is, I didn't fiddle with them! The middle one is some little orange bugs in a flower bud, and the bottom one is of fungus/mushrooms on a log. If there are any entomologists out there who can tell me the names of the bugs and the stick insect I'm curious to know.

Anyway, that was June and of course now we're in July, and guess what - I finished the July layout already!!! I guess the sketch just spoke to me, or maybe it's just because it's school holidays and I'm not working at the moment. Whatever the reason, I really like how this layout turned out. Here's the July sketch and my finished layout.











I did another "killing two birds with one stone" and used the Wrapped in Paper page competition pack. It was all dark papers, but I think suited these photos perfectly. The competition pack looked like this:




It had Kaisercraft patterned papers, a piece of A4 cream coloured cardstock, some black 12"x12" cardstock. two pieces of ribbon, 4 buttons two chipboard arrows, and two sheets of diecuts, one black alphabet, and one white diecut shapes. As per the "rules" I used at least a bit of everything.

I punched circles out of one of the papers, cut them in half and made the scalloped border across the top. For the pinked paper edging below the photos I used my new pinking blade for my paper trimmer, and stapled it on with some yellow coloured staples. I used the same coloured staples to attach the ribbons. The orange flower and corners came from the diecut sheet. I painted them using my Twinkling H2Os. The chipboard arrows were painted with the same colour, but being raw chipboard they came out looking more brown than orange.

I also painted the black alpha diecuts for the title with Moonlight coloured Smooch so they look kind of grey. The only things I added from my stash were the circular bling (which was in fact buckle shaped, but I cut the middle buckle part off and put it under the journalling)from TLC/Breezy, some floss to attach the buttons, the blue and brown flowers, and my new 'Caption it' dymo machine for the date.

On a final note, I guess you could say I used this layout for three things! I also took a picture of it for the weekly photo challenge that I enter. A fellow Australian, Gayle, who I found through Ingeborg's competition site, runs two blogs where she challenges you each week with a different word. Your task is to take a photograph of something representative of that word, and she posts it on her blog. It's interesting to see the different takes that people have on the same word. So, if you're interested, get on over to her site: Capture that Word, or the kids one for children under 18: Captured by Kids.

Till next time. Happy days!

Francine

June CRII Challenge

If you've been looking at my blog before you'll know that I participate in a monthly challenge at CRII, a private scrapbooking forum that I belong to. I found this month's layout sketch rather uninspiring.


You'll also know that I participate in the monthly layout challenge at my LSS, Wrapped in Paper at Nicholls. I didn't necessarily find the kit this month terribly inspiring either. Since you have to use at least a little of everything in the kit I really wasn't sure how I was going to use the punched tree, and the small 1/4 piece of patterned paper. I also didn't know what pictures to use with these colours. In the end though I found some pictures from our trip to New Zealand in January that went with the colours of this kit and decided to use this kit with the CRII challenge sketch.

Here's the result:


First I cut eight strips of patterned paper, different widths and lengths. I "cheated" on the middle orange piece since it really doesn't go all the way across the page. Remember that 1/4 piece of patterned paper? I cut a strip from that, then cut it into three pieces and hid the cuts under the photos in the middle of the layout. I laid the photos on top and the layout looked very bland, so I got the sewing machine out and sewed an orange border around each strip of paper.

Hmmm... it was still missing something. I left it alone and went to bed. Lying in bed I wished I had some glimmer mist, but I don't. Then I remembered that I had a couple of bottles of walnut ink that I had never used and went to sleep happy that I could probably make the layout better next day.

Next day I sprayed some terra cotta walnut ink in different places on the page. I don't know why, but it seemed to bring the whole layout to life and the rest was easy. I used the ribbon to make some corners top and bottom, and added a Kaisercraft Elegance epoxy brad to each corner. I used the Delish letters (lower case Alpha, blue)in the kit to make the title. Now...that punched tree! What to do with that? I tried several different things under and around the tree punch, and eventually settled on adding some tiny prima type flowers and flower brads from my stash. Under the tree I used some flower sequins I'd had in my stash seemingly forever. Unfortunately I only had two colours - yellow and pink, neither of which really went with the paper colours. So, I improvised and mixed a kind of orange, by adding a pink sequin on top of a yellow one, and voila!

The only thing left was to find a place for my journalling. The layout was already kind of busy so I couldn't really add it on the page anywhere, so I went for hidden journalling in the end. Not so much because I wanted it hidden, but more because that would work best. So, I punched a pull tab out of paper using Stampin Up!'s round tab punch and attached it to another piece of patterned paper. I sprayed the tag and stamped some lines onto it, then wrote the journalling and tucked the tag under the bottom photo. Can you see the pull out tab sticking out from the side of the photo? Here it is partly pulled out so you can see it clearer.

Considering I disliked the sketch and the papers to begin with I really like how this layout turned out! Gary said it was his favourite layout so far, and one of the women on the forum [hello :-) Kiwi] even suggested she'd like to lift the flowers in the tree idea! That made me proud since her work is always gorgeous!

If you're wondering about the photos themselves, they were taken at the Waikato Museum in Hamilton, NZ. There's a section with information about the settlement of the area and these old time clothes that you can dress up in. The kids went from school children to lady and gentleman in the space of five minutes!

By the way, if any of you live locally, I'd appreciate you visiting Wrapped in Paper and voting for my layout! I need some friends to add some votes:)

Till next time - happy days!

Francine