Phase two of 2014 Photo scavenger hunt

Well, those of you that know me will know I am now sunning myself if Lanzarote, in the Canary Isles... So that open up many opportunities to me that might otherwise be a challenge if I were still to be at home.

With that in mind I have the next two photos on my scavenger hunt list. See my previous post for the whole list!

These are:

1) a picture painted on the side of a bus
2) a stand of postcards...
I'll leave you to work out which is which!

I'm working on a sign in a foreign language while I'm here, but as I only have my IPhone and iPad with me, my photos are somewhat of a challenge!

Here are what I have found so far.. Two more down!

2014 Photography Scavenger Hunt

Well.. that's it.. I've started!

There is a wonderful Photographic Scavenger Hunt going around that I first spotted on my friend Jemmas blog Just Jimjams .. Apparently she originally got the idea from Gallo Organico  aka Rinda. It is Jemmas second year of doing this (I think) and I know she, like me, loves photography. 

So, (at the risk of being a copy cat), I have decided to have a go at it too. .. well I guess that's the idea of blogging isn't it? To spread the word and encourage others.. 

To that end here are the first two things off my 'list' (which is now tucked into my handbag for future reference)

A Garden Gnome - this one is called Eric (after Eric Cantona who played for Man Utd in the 1990's) My son bought him for me when he was about 7 at a school fair.. I was horrified at the time  and yet he's become one of the family now and he's moved 13 times with me! (FYI my son is still a die hard Man U fan- don't judge me!) :0)

and below is the 'Rural scene'.. I don't think you can get any more 'rural' than this image of my neighbours horse looking out over the gate of his field! 

and here is the rest of the list of things that I will be hunting down this summer... 




1. A sign welcoming people to your home town (or a nearby town)
2. A garden gnome
3. Birds on a wire
4. A group of tourists
5. A rack of post cards
6. An urban street scene
7. A rural landscape
8. A tattoo on a person
9. A bakery
10. A photo bomb (someone found lurking in the background of photo; the lurker may have intended to disrupt the picture or may be doing it unintentionally, but the background lurker is a surprise to the photographer)
11. A horn
12. A mascot
13. A sunrise
14. A parade
15. A juggler
16. A sign in a language other than English
17. A lamp post
18. A water fall
19. A public garden
20. A bus (not a car, truck, lorry, camper or RV) with a picture painted on its sides.
21. A photograph of you with something representing the season (recognizing that the season will be Winter for our friends in the southern hemisphere). Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.
If you find something on the list too difficult, you may substitute one of the following items for anything on the list, except for Item #21:
Alternative A: A kite, hot air balloon or blimp
Alternative B: A bird house


I'll be keeping a tally here if you want to see the whole hunt collection! 

Keep cool Dude

Hey all

Today I'm bringing you this layout that I created for the Scrap our Stash and Stuck?! June challenges and created the LO with my June Joy CKCB kit. 

First I started with this great sketch here from Stuck?! 

and then I decided to do a colour challenge too.. so I headed over to SOS and found this 'Monochromatic' challenge over on SOS. I've never tried a mono look before, so thought this was something I should have a go at.. which is exactly what I've done here. I rummaged through my kit and was just able to find enough Bluey-green papers to replicate the idea of the sketch and I was able to uses some of the photo wheels from
 my kit again too.


In addition I am entering to this in the Challenge YOUrself challenge #7 Oh boy

Finally I also had to add five different type of embellishments, so I added:

10 wooden stars (inked to co-ordinate with the papers)

One paperclip

Two chipboard elements-

Two enamel dots and 

Two brads

and this is the final LO. 

The story behind the photos is this:

My husband had always said he'd like to take up fishing when he retires... so I thought I'd buy him a 'trial' day of fly fishing. I booked it up.. and it must have been the hottest day of the year! We turned up (of course I had to go and watch) and I sat in the shade while he had to stand in the full sun- casting, and casting, and casting, and casting under the watchful eye of his tutor until he'd got his wrist action right! 

After at least an hour of casting in the full sun on the grass, he was allowed to try it out on the water. Only problem was the lake was surrounded by lots and lots of rushes around the edge, and although there were 'landing stages' everywhere, he kept getting his line caught in the surrounding rushes. He was NOT amused.. he was hot, tired, fed up and frustrated... and didn't catch a thing! After the lesson was over, he was told that because the weather was SO hot, he would never have caught anything anyway because all the fish would have dived to the bottom to avoid the heat.. needless to say.. he won't be having another go at fly fishing.. he doesn't have the patience... so now he's looking for another hobby for his retirement.. but he's got another 5 years before he has to worry about it, so he's got plenty of time to rule out other options. Lol

I hope you enjoyed the story and the LO and I look forward to hearing what you think. 

Elaine

x

October Afternoon Sketch

Hi again

My final upload for this evening is this LO here

 

which I made based on the sketch that I found over on October Afternoon blog... I used some papers from my CKCB kit and added a couple of extra pieces too.  

It started life as this sketch here

I used Authentique Suave papers and embellishments. 

The photo is from 1989 when we were off to my husbands cousins wedding.. didn't they look handsome? I know.. I know.. I'm biased.. but I still think they're cute! 

I also linked this up to The Memory Nest blog as an entry into their monthly challenge as suggested by the owner, Leslie. Great idea Leslie.. I've now done as I'm told! lol

Thanks for stopping by.. again! 

Elaine

x

4th and 5th LO's with my June kit

Hi again everyone

Here are two LO's I made on the 1st of June when I first put my kit together. 

Unfortunately I could not share them with you at the time as I needed to save them for a reveal on UKS (UK Scrappers) 

As part of an ongoing commitment, I sometimes set challenges for my fellow scrappers to, hopefully, kickstart their creativity.. and it was my turn again this week. 

Firstly I picked a sketch- (always a good starting point for a challenge I think).. which was this one here


Secondly, as I often struggle with primary colours, I asked them to add primary colours taken from this photo here (which I found on Pinterest) 

I had previously decided to use primary colours in my challenge so I ensured that I included lots of primary coloured papers in my June Joy kit this month. (no point in getting older if you don't get wiser!) 

I then added an extra enticement... to use this quote as something to fuel the imagination:

All things bright and beautiful
All creatures great and small 
All things wise and wonderful
The Lord God made them all. 

I thought this gave everyone a good starting point for a LO.. I hope you agree... 

anyway.. I had to make an example.. and because I loved my kit so much, I decided to make two examples.. so here they are.. 


The first one, to the left, uses all of the colours, shows me enjoying the beautiful surroundings I live in, and uses the sketch (which I rotated) 


The second LO, below, shows me on holiday with my Mum back in 2012 and the most beautiful flower arrangement.. and of course my Mum, who, to me, is beautiful too! 

The saying is so apt too as I am thankful for the things we can take for granted and, of course, my Mum, who is 84 and, of course, won't be around forever! 

I hope you like these examples and approve of the challenge I set. 

Thanks for calling in to see me again.. I look forward to seeing you here again soon.. don't forget to let me know you've dropped by this evening. It'll make my day!

3rd Lo with my CKCB Kit

Good evening everyone

Here is a very brief post as it is late and I am behind with my posts... I also have another couple of LOs to share with you after this, so please excuse the brevity of my descriptions. 

Here is a LO that I made with a sketch from Purple Pumpkin Crafts blog and their monthly challenge. 

Immediately, I realised I loved this sketch as it gave me lots of opportunity to be creative.

Was I going to have a lot of white space?.., was I going to add lots of  texture to the background etc.

As it turned out, I decided to make it a Lo with lots of white space. I used papers from my June Joy, Counterfeit Kit and added some very old photos from a holiday back in 1988 in Greece. 

There is quite a long story behind these lovely photos of my two boys on the beach.. which I won't bore you with now.. (as I say it is late) but I wanted to share the story.. so I have written almost a whole page of journalling on the reverse side of the Lo for future generations to also enjoy... as a family we talk of this story often, so when my youngest son gets given this LO (which I am including in an album to be given to him on his 30th birthday next year) he will remember the story! 

THAT is why I love Scrapbooking!! 

If you want to know more about my love of Scrapbooking please take a peek at my previous post that I have done as part of an expanding blog tour. 

Pop back later too so you can see some other creations too. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Expanding blog hop

Good morning everyone

Today I’m joining with you for a blog hop with a difference where the hop expands out. My friend Karen from UKS invited me to take part. This entails answering four questions and then tagging other people to carry the torch to their own blog hop.

Karens’ answers are here on her blog.. and I think she’s done an amazing job..so do hop on over and have a read once you’re finished here.. and remember to leave her some love.!

So on to the four questions!

 1. What am I working on at present?

Well, to be truthful…nothing! I’m not a ditherer so if I start a LO I finish it at that same sitting.. if I don’t have enough time to sit and make a LO from start to finish.. I don’t sit down at all. I have a craft room that is located at the other side of the house.. so it is easy for me to ignore. That doesn’t mean I don’t have lots of projects in my head.. I just never start something and don’t finish it! My dear husband works shifts as a firefighter and my ‘kids’ have left home so I have plenty of time to sit and scrap per week.

Here is my work desk... neat huh?

2. How does your work differ from any other of it’s genre?

Hmmm… that’s a difficult one! To be honest I don’t think I’m ‘unique’ in any way…but I can pick some things that make me a little different!

1) Firstly I guess you can say I’m fearless! Why? Well, I’m always up for a challenge.. I’m never afraid to ‘have a go’ so I never worry if it turns out to be rubbish! I will try anything scrapbook related.. I rarely, if ever, try anything else.. layouts are what make me tick! I like all forms of scrapbooking, messy, clean, mixed media or anything really.. If I don’t like what I’ve made, I dismantle the parts and use them again elsewhere and throw the card stock away.. it’s only a piece of paper after all said and done! And my time is my own, so I can be ruthless. (TBH, I think I’ve only ever thrown away one or two LO’s so it’s not a bad hit rate.) I think nothing of taking a sketch…whatever the style, and just sitting and creating.. sometime they are quite ‘scary’ looking sketches.. but I’ll still ‘have a bash!’  Take this for example 

which turned into this  

or this:

 

which became this 

I don't think either LO became 'scary' in the end do you?

2) The other thing that makes me unique is perhaps my speed? I am known to be decisive, never prevaricate and ‘just get on with things’- (not just scrapbooking either!). I regularly get comments about how quick I am and I can usually get a LO made in around an hour or sometimes less.. even the more elaborate ones!

This one for example took me a little over the hour.. although I confess it was a kit from Total Papercrafts.. but I still had to fussy cut everything etc etc... 

and this double CJ page took me about 30 minutes plus 5 minutes to make the rosette. 

3) Finally, I’m a scatterer! Whatever the style- messy, clean with lots of white space etc. I often finish it off with a ‘scattering’ of small embellishments.. it’s almost my trademark now… sequins, bead spacers, pearl pen dots, punched shapes, gems, enamel dots, brads etc, etc, etc…. I LOVE a good scatter.. a LO always looks best with a ‘scatter’ in my opinion!

Here are some examples:

To me they look more... well... finished I guess! 

Although I do use border punches I don't use them to excess... sometime a little is just enough.. like this one. 

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

This photograph says why! Give a scrapbook as a gift and look at the reaction it gets! One gift.. 5 people clamouring to get a look! If you gave a bottle of perfume or something similar.. you’d NEVER get this reaction!

As I make lots of LO’s (usually 10-15 a month) I am aware that I can’t keep all of them, (my 16^th Century cottage is already full to bursting with them) so if I create a LO with a person on it, I am always mindful that it may get included as a gift in the future. They make wonderful ‘special’ birthday gifts. 

In 2014/15 I have a 60^th, an 80^th and a 30^th coming up…so I think about those future albums and have already started making LO’s for them... some won't make 'the cut'... but others will...like this one which I made yesterday for my sisters 60th next year (it still has to have the title added but I'm still thinking about that) it is of her on her 40th birthday... any ideas welcome!

4. How does your writing/ creating process work.

My writing process is similar to my scrapbooking process…. I just sit down and type… or craft if I am creating of course! I don’t often think about what I’m going to say until I sit down.. and then it just happens… I’ve never been at a loss for words (as my dear husband will tell you!) LOL!

Normally, when I am writing about a LO I will often explain the ideas behind my decision making process and the techniques, names of papers etc and then, of course, link to any blogs that I have gained inspiration from. At the moment I confess the biggest inspiration I am getting is from the designers over on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog, where they suggest many ideas during the course of the month. In order to keep up with my creativity bent though I need more prompts than any one blog is able to give me, so I visit several others throughout the month..   see my previous posts for the details of them.

For me, tidiness is important, and I can't function in a mess, so I usually always start out with a tidy space or it just doesn't 'happen'.. so here is a peek at my craft room too.

Finally I would like to introduce you to two of my fellow bloggers that I have ‘met’ over at UK Scrappers.. which is a great place to hang out.. (new members are always welcome too.. and not just from the UK!) They have kindly agreed to post a blog answering their questions too.

Firstly, meet Suzy.. she is a wonderfully talented crafter who loved mixed media, paints, inks and generally getting messy! She lives in Scotland and is a lovely lady who is willing to share her love of what I call ‘arty stuff’ over on her blog here. Some awesome inspiration to look at! 

Finally, also let me introduce Janine O’Rourke. She, co-incidentally, lives in Scotland too and is the owner of Scrapaholix and has only recently started expanding her empire to include a blog. She sells kits and runs groups of classes, so a visit to her blog will also be enlightening.

Both of their expanding blog posts go live on the 16^th, so do hop on over to their blogs next Monday to see their answers.

Thanks for popping by.. I look forward to seeing you again soon!

Elaine

2nd Lo with CKCB kit

Hi all

Today I'm sharing with you a LO that I made this morning after seeing the challenge set over on UKS.

As luck would have it, the colours they had chosen included some colours that I had included in my kit... they were green, turquoise, and rose (admittedly rose I hadn't specifically picked but I soon found a piece of CS to add to it.) 

The other inspiration was to scrap a wedding, birthday or birth. Again..luckily I'm (still) scrapping my sons wedding so that was a cinch!   

Finally the last element that needed to be in the design was either pearls, moonstone or turquoise embellishment. Again.. I had added some turquoise sequins into my kit..so they were definitely going to be included! (Now... Let's be honest I don't think I would ever leave turquoise out of my kits!! lol)

Finally, because by now, you all know I love a good sketch, I used this sketch from Me and Mines (aka Sues) blog here 

This is what I eventually came up with by adding a few more embellies, die cuts, and deciding on a design. 

Hope you like! 

Pop back soon for the next instalment... I have two more made already!!