Journal Your Christmas - Christmas Cards

Edward started school in September, only afternoons but he loves it.  I worried he wouldn't settle in or I'd be down there every day trying to sort him out but he's settled in perfectly and can't wait to get there every day.  He looks so cute in his little uniform and his little school shoes.  One day when I picked him up he came out with a Christmas card he had made - a blue Christmas tree.......  When I asked him why a blue tree he replied mummy I love dark blue.  The school then sell them to make money for the school and at only £5 for 10 I didn't mind buying them.   I wanted to keep one safe so I could show him in years to come what he had made.

I decided to include his card in my layout, I didn't want to mark or damage the card in any day so I have attached he envelope to the layout and the the card can sit inside nice and safely.  I also wanted to include this years Christmas stamp some where on the page so I attempted to make a cluster of embellishments with the date tag.  The background paper is the same one as my last page, Pebbles Paper,  Christmas Gift paper.  I love the journalling tags from Crate Papers Phrase stickers, problem is I'm not sure I have enough to finish the project with... I can always buy more ;-)

Journal Your Christmas - Winter Weather

I can't believe this time last year every where you looked was white.  I had to move out of my house for a while as I was running low on oil and couldn't heat the house just incase I ran out.  I had nearly forgotten about that until I had picked up my JYC 2010.  That is one of the reasons I love this project and scrapbooking .  I documented events that I will never forget but may well this were further in the past.  The morning this prompt arrived I woke up to my car glistening and the ground looking like it has a light scattering of glitter over it.  As the sun came up it shone through the trees and created a very pretty sight.

This layout was made on kraft.  I love the red spots on the white/cream background of Pebbles Papers - Christmas Gift.  My pages have taken a bit of a more traditional look this year so I needed to add some green to the layout so I cut some thin strips of one of the Crate Paper Peppermint Collection papers and inked them with my early Christmas present from Adam, a distress ink in vintage photo.  I was also lucky enough for him to buy me a EK Success Postage Stamp border punch which I used on this layout.  The pretty journal tag is also from the Crate Paper Peppermit Collection Phrase Stickers.  

Journal Your Christmas - Manifesto

I love this time of year.  The shops begin to sparkle with all the lights twinkling.  Driving home at night becomes magical to with the houses decorated with pretty lights.  Adam and I recently went to the Christmas markets in Birmingham, we ate far to much but it was lovely, especially the Baileys almonds we bought and quickly ate.

This time of year also means the start of Shimelle's class - Journal Your Christmas.  Todays prompt was the Christmas Manifesto.  I decided to use Shimelle's downloadable Manifesto.  I loved the look of last years layouts including them.  I especially love the line about the sugarplum fairies, as a child I love the idea of them dancing around.  This layout was very plain and simple.

Journal Your Christmas - Embellishments and Thickers.

As well as the border and phrase stickers in crates Peppermint collection there is also an alpha sheet of stickers.  They are made up of lovely red large letters and woodgrain little letters with a few tags and word labels.  I have also pulled put a few packets of thickers I'd like to use, they include Garden cafe, in green glitter, Delight in cherry and in Leaf.  I love the foam thickers, you get more letters for your money and they are such a cute size.

Journal Your Christmas - Paper Collection.

This year nothing really jumped out as me like it did last year.  Last year I used Snow Days from crate paper, I love their collections as they have all you need in one place.  This years collection from the entitled Peppermint is more traditional than last year.  The collection kit contains 18 double sided papers, border and phrase stickers and a die cut sheet.  The front sides of the papers are the bolder patterns while the back sides of them are smaller more basic patterns.

Here are the backs of the papers (almost nicer than the fronts).  I especially like the wood grain effect one.  Ive never used it before but always likes what Shimelle does with them.

Journal Your Christmas Date Tags.

I decided it was about time I started on my Journal Your Christmas preparation before the prompts started arriving and I fell behind even before I had started!  I decided to go along the same line as Shimelle did last year.  I loved the tags she made last year and I still love them this year when I sat and watched her video on them.  I don't quite have as many punches as Shimelle so mine are a bit more basic.  I cut the numbers out using my Xyron personal cutting system that I've had for years but very rarely use.  They are cut out of Pebbles Paper -Merry Christmas paper which introduced the green in to the tags.  The snow flakes were a lucky find from Cargo.  The started off as christmas glass coasters which contained 7 small snowflakes each which I carefully cut apart, they were on sale at 49p each so were a real bargain.  I then cut scallops out of kraft card stock and the tags out of some white bobbled card stock and inked all the edges in brown.  The ribbon I was originally using was red but I decided against that as the tags have to fit in with all the pages I do and if they were over red then I was worried they wouldn't look quite right.

And here are the finished tags!  I tried sewing them all together on the sewing machine but it didn't quite work out as I wanted them to so I gave up on that idea.  I have done some one way round and the others the other way round.

Pretty Paper Party - Prompt 07

This is my layout for prompt 7.  A little while back I fell in love with the scalloped edge papers from My Little Shoebox and order quite a few of them.  They have been sat in my draw for probably over a year now.  When I pulled them out I wasn't in love with them as much as I once was so I was very happy to see Shimelle's sketch where she had used half a circle.  It meant I could use these papers rather than them going to waste.  I also sat and watched a tutorial Shimelle did on making the pretty folded flowers that I have made for this layout.

I included my lovely new thickers in turquoise.  I have a huge pile of thickers already but never seem to have the right colour for my layouts but some how turquoise always seems to go.

The photograph was taken of Edward last spring helping me in the garden.  After this was taken he popped on a pair of gardening gloves as he was getting muddy hands, he's defiantly my son!

Pretty Paper Party - Prompt 06

This year I celebrated by 30th birthday.  In the weeks leading up to it I worried about all the things I thought I'd do before I was 30 and hadn't.  I remember back to when I was 11 and having a conversation with my friends about how we would all have houses and be married by the time we were 20!!  We were so wrong!

For my birthday Adam planned a trip to London.  The gift from his sister was a ride on the London Eye.  It wasn't just a normal ride, she had booked us the 'Champagne Experiece'.  We had our own escort who took us from the main building over to the London Eye and straight in to a capsule.  He served us a glass of Champagne while we looked at the sights of London from above.  Adam was acting a little strange and I put it down to him being a little nervous of being up high.  But I was wrong.  When we were almost at the top he called me over to the corner of the capsule and proposed to me........to which I replied yes.........he then slipped a ring on my finger.

I had lots of pictures of the London eye and I wanted to include them all.  This was originally a single page layout but when I had finished the first page I decided to create a second layout with the remaining pictures on using the same papers and format as the first.  The painted border was an after thought as there was to much open space left on the page.

When I saw Shimelle using these Thickers I knew I had to get myself some to use.  They are not like any others I have they have a very delicate pattern on them which makes them quite versatile.

Pretty Paper Party - Prompt 05

Todays prompt was titled "Rough around the edges". I have to admit I'm a bit of a tidy scrapbooker and I don't really do anything with out really thinking it through.  But since watching one of Shimelle's videos where she uses paint to make a border and bring the page together I find myself trying to find space on my layouts to paint on it.  So for this layout I added a green painted border.  I worked out that design first then did the border on another piece of kraft.  When the paint had dried I moved it all over but I wasn't convinced I'd chosen the right colour.  But after walking away and coming back to it, it didn't look to bad!

The picture was taken in the Savernake Forest.  We had been for the day out and decided to have sausage sandwiches out in the country.  Kian had recently been to cub camp and was keen to show us how it was done.

The 'graph' paper is from the new Amy Tangerine line.  The red spots are from Cosmo Crickets Social Club and the Thickers are by American Crafts and have a lovely flocked texture.

Pretty Paper Party - Prompt 04

When I first started scrapbooking I used to go out and buy papers that I liked with big patterns on or papers that were new in to our local store just because I wanted them!  Now when I buy papers I look a the paper and I quite often look at the reverse side instead and see ways of using it.  I always used to think you had to use the front side as this was the side that was being sold to you and the back was just to fill in space.

So todays prompt was all about spots, dots and stripes.  So I dug through my stash of papers and found a kit I had from 2008 from scrapping angels this made the base of my layout.  I then found some green/turquoise spots that were from a My Minds Eye collection (I think) and some stripes from American Crafts City Park collection.  I wasn't sure on the photos I was going to use at first but these photos seemed to match the colours of the papers.  The Thickers picked out the green in the papers and bought the greens from the strip and embellishment spot together. 

The sketch that Shimelle had done was meant to be used with two 2" x 3" but all my pictures were 6" x 4" so I had to crop a few, which I must admit I don't normally like doing but in this case there wasn't a lot to loose on each photo except grass.

Pretty Paper Party - Prompt 03

Here is my first layout using the papers I selected for the 3rd prompt.  I am surprisingly pleased with the layout!  This picture has been sat waiting to be scrapped for a year and a half but ended up at the bottom of the pile.  The papers are from a Frances Meyer pack - Inspired by Hawaii, I bought them a few years ago along with quite a few more pack by the same designer.  The stripes are from America crafts and the green dots are a scenic route paper.   I hope to make a few more layouts using the same selection of papers and making a dent in my pile of photographs I have on my desk.

Pretty Paper Party - Prompt 03 - Paper Selection

When it comes to choosing papers I must admit I normally stick to collections and work from them.  I've never really been any good at seeing the end result just from looking at the papers so this prompt was brilliant for me to help think outside the box and mix papers from different years and different collections.  

Pretty Paper Party - Prompt 02

Looking back over my albums I've never really scrapped with patterned paper as my base.  Recently I've opted for kraft as my background and years gone by its been bazzill card stock.  So this prompt was something a little new for me.

I must admit I'm a little stash hoarder to!!  I bought the papers I used on this layout over a year ago, at the time I loved the colours but didn't have a use for them so they have been in the draw ever since.  They are from one of the 'My Minds Eye' collections that were on sale in Hobbycraft.

I chose the least striking paper for the background and built up on this.  I made the scalloped edges by drawing round a 2p piece then carefully cut them out and inked the edge.  I can now say that I will try patterned paper as a background again.

Pretty Paper Party - Prompt 01

The first prompt arrived today.  We had to make a layout using strips of scrap paper.  So I sorted through the my pack of scrap pieces and found some of the borders I had left from Cosmo Crickets Upcycle range and thought they were ideal for this page.  I matted the photo on to a piece of American Crafts Hello Sunshine and then placed a larger piece of patterned paper behind this .  I wasn't to sure on the colours I'd chosen and sat there for some time trying to bring it all together.  So I left it on the table and went and did a few jobs then came back to it.  I added a small journalling card under the picture and a sticker from Amy Tangerines Remark sticker book.  For the title I used Mini Market Stickers in black and cream and some white thickers.  Even when I thought I'd finished I still wasn't completely happy with it.  There was still to much open space so I painted a border line around the kraft card which some how seemed to bring the whole page back in together.

Paper Collection.

Today is the start of Shimelle Laines new class Pretty Paper Party.  I love her classes they always inspire me to do something I wouldn't normally do and gives me the confidence boost I need to try new things and think beyond my normal scrapping style.  Our first challenge was to share our favourite papers at the moment.  So off I went and took a photo to share with you my current selection I've been working from over the last little while.  Every time I sit and start a new page I open my draw and pull out the stack that is currently living in there.  Over the years I have collected papers, never used them and over time they have become out dated.  So I've decided to turn over a new leaf and actually try and use the papers I buy, maybe keep a few but use what I have.   So here they are, a mixture of Cosmo Crickets Salt Air, Social Club and Upcycle.  A few papers from American crafts Hello Sunshine, which Ive not managed to use any of yet.

Our Hotel.

As it was my 30th birthday this year Adam organised a night away for us, just us, no children!  All I knew about it was we were going to London.  I didn't know where in London or what we were doing when we got there! We set off and Adam wouldn't even have the sat nav on as that would give away what hotel we were going to be staying in!  He did a very good job in finding it though but then how could you miss it!!  It was round and completely covered in windows with multi coloured glass panels running from top to bottom.  We parked the car outside The Park Plaza and some one came along, unloaded our luggage and took the car away!  We went in up the escalators to a very modern reception, booked in then headed off to the 9th floor, luckily there was a lift!  Its always exciting going to a hotel but even more exciting when you don't know what to expect!  We found our room and opened the door, there was a living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom.  But the most amazing part of the room was the view.  We could see Big Ben and the London Eye.  It was truly amazing! 

This layout was created on American Crafts Kraft 12 x 12 card stock.  The papers are from the Social Club collection by Cosmo Crickets.  I used a sticker from Amy Tangerine's  remark pack, which I stuck to card stock first so I could make sure I had it in the correct place before I stuck it down.  The red Thickers are from American Crafts 'Apartment' and have a lovely glossy finish.  I added a few paint dots across the page to fill in the empty space.  I'm not sure if this layout is finished yet or not but I will leave it for now until I can see what its needing.

Covent Garden.

Covent Garden is one of my favourite places in London to visit.  When ever Tracy and I go to London we always end up there at some point!  Adam and I decided that we couldn't visit London without visiting the Apple store which luckily enough for me is in Covent garden.  We caught the tube Covent garden station then decided to do it the healthy way and walk up the 193 stairs to street level!  We popped in to the apple store, where there were more steps and Adam bought me a new cover for my iPhone.  We then walked along to the Disney store and bought a Lots-o-huggin bear who smells of deliciously of strawberry I cuddled him all night long.

Covent garden is full of lovely restaurants and cafes.  We went to the Covent Garden Kitchen and had a lovely pizza and a well deserved drink each.

This layout was created using papers from Cosmo Cricket Upcycle range.  American crafts kraft card stock.  The Thickers are Emerald Black - Flocked and white remarks chipboard.  The buttons are some bazzill basic ones I've had in my draw for a few years!  I painted a border around the large vertical strip to make it look slightly less harsh.

On The Bridge

Its very rare for there to be a photograph taken of the both of us!  This one only came to be taken as a kind passer by saw us trying to take one of ourselves.  Looking at the photos on the camera that evening its a good job he came along as even though we managed to get the London eye in the shot we failed to get any thing other than the tops of our heads.

This layout was put together using papers from the Cosmo Cricket UPcycle collection.  Thickers by American Crafts - Emerald black flocked letters.  The paint around the main block is Jenni Bowlin for Ranger in Malted milk, I used the dabber to apply it on the kraft and allowed it to dry before adhering the patterned paper on the page.