My Man Sailing in Turkey

Hi all

Good day to you whatever time it is in your corner of the world!

Today I am bringing you another LO I have created from my Summer Swansong CKCB Kit. This one is a very simple LO that focuses on the bright colours of summer before we fade into autumnal hues.

This photo was taken in Turkey 4 years ago but I've been meaning to scrap it for some time because it was such a tricky shot to capture! You can imagine it.. me in one boat him in another whilst bobbing about! I took about 1000 photos to get just half a dozen pictures.... thank goodness for digital photography! LOL

The sketch I used was one from Sues blog, Me and Mine, here. Sue cleverly invents her own sketch each month and runs a contest for her favourite take on it each month. Why not pop over and take a peek.. she also has a great back catalogue of sketches to pool from. 

Anyway, without further ado... here is my simple take on this particular one.

Thanks for popping by.. do come back soon!

Elaine

x

Five Generations

Morning all

I've been so busy the last few days that I have neglected my blog.. I'm having a 'staycation' and time is flying by! Why is it that when you're at work, the days drag by and when you have days off they fly by??  If anyone can tell me, please let me know how I can slow down my holidays! 

Anyway, I digress, here is my effort for the challenge over on Another Freaky Scrapbook Challenge Blog  where we were encouraged to scrap about our ancestors... so I chose this one! I used a sketch from the Lets Get Sketchy Blog here

This photo is of five generations of our family..starting with my Gran (sitting front left) my Mum (middle back row) me (back row left), my sister (back row right) and my sisters daughter (front right) with her son on her knee. 

I entirely used Kaisercraft  Humming Bird collection and I journaled on the back (as I often do). The wooden bird cage is also a Kaisercraft one too and the only deviation I used was to use sequins from my stash (no manufacturer I'm afraid! ) The punch for the banner at the top was a Martha Stewart one.  The rest of the embellishments were fussy cut from the papers including the birds and the birdcages. I had used a lot of these papers in my Counterfeit Kit for September, Summer Swansong, from the CKCB blog.

The photo was taken on the occasion of my Grans 90th birthday and we all visited her at the home she had moved to. Sadly my Gran is no longer with us, but this is a great photo to have now that she isn't around anymore. 

This is the sketch I used 

Do let me know what you think.. and pop back soon! 

Elaine

XX

September Sunsets

Here is another Lo I made with my Summer Swansong CKCB kit. 

This time I concentrated on the beautiful sunset I saw whilst driving home. I stopped to take a picture of it as it was so beautiful and it was reeflected int eh reservoir below! Stunning.. the only roblem was I had no-one to share it with as I was alone in the car.. and by the time I coould have got home and returned to see it with DH... it would have been gone! 

So to reflect my thoughts on this, I adapted a poem and wrote it on the tag hidden in a pocket on the top right.. it says

Listen to the sunset, Hear its silent sigh As it falls down the horizon Warning, the moon is nigh Listen to the sunset The vanity of its words How beautiful this sunset is With its colour, and its birds Listen to the sunset See its pretty hue But I can’t enjoy the sunset If I am not with you Listen to the sunset Enjoy its beauty true When you see it, think of me And I will think of you

Here is the Lo and the sunset

Elaine

Caribbean Colours

Morning all

Today I bring you a LO that was inspired by some wonderful 'licorice allsort' gems that I recently purchased.

I then saw this challenge over on October Afternoon blog.. which was to create a LO inspired by this image.. as it is such a vibrant and colourful image I decided to keep my LO simple and yet, I think, it still packs a punch.

The photo was taken in 2011 when I celebrated my 50th birthday in the beautiful St.Lucia as a special treat. It's the one and only time I have been to the Caribbean and the one thing that really, really caught my attention was the colour in the island. So many beautiful things to see, even the roofs are all different colours! 

I then added coloured alphas around the photo which tells the story and adds the title. 

Anyways.. enough of my blathering, here is the LO 

What do you think???

Elaine
xx

Long lunch

Hi all.. welcome back to my blog!

Back to work for me today, so a very quick post to showcase another of my LO's made with my CKCB blog inspired kit, Summer Swansong.

This time I used a sketch from Scrapology, Adventures in Scrapbooking blog here.

I confess, I went off piste for this challenge though.. the brief was to use three photos, but try as I might, I just couldn't find three photos I wanted to use, so instead, I used two and spread them out a bit! Cheating, I know, but I'm happy with it and that's what matters.. right? 

Anyways, again I used a selection of papers from the Kaisercraft Hummingbird collection, and added a doily instead of a bracket shaped piece of card. I fussy cut the birds and butterflies and added a large elaborate brad, several smaller ones and then added a flair button too.

Overall, I'm so pleased with it, and I am OK that it deosn't fit the brief exactly.. the photos are ones I've been wanting to scrap for a while anyway, so here it is! 

Thanks for looking.. do pop back soon.. I have more the share! 

If you make a comment it'll make my day! 

Elaine

x

Sunny Seville

Evening all.. 

What a beautiful day it's been here in my corner of Kent.. I had a nice pub lunch with hubby and then home for a bit of crafting.. aah..bliss! 

However, I am not choosing to share todays efforts with you yet! I made 5 Christmas Cards for a Chinese Whisper Christmas Card swap, so there's to be no sharing of them just yet!  Instead, I am sharing this LO that I made with my CKCB Kit, Summer Swansong. 

I used a sketch from Stuck?! Blog which is their September challenge sketch here: 

Now, normally, I would try to switch things up a bit and do something that resembles the sketch, but isn't a faithful replica.. but in this case, I rather like it as it is, so I have used it almost exactly as shown. 

There is one exception though! I chose to use one large photo cut into two rather than two smaller photos. The picture is of my sister when we visited Seville in 2000, celebrating my Mums 70th birthday. 

The papers I used were from a selection of scraps from Kaisercraft Hummingbird collection, with the exception of the spotty strip, which I found in a magazine. (I saved it long ago... and just knew it would come in handy one day!) I added a semi-circle of sequins and then added pearl dots as the body of the butterfiles finishing off with a trail of pale blue Stickles as the butterfly trail from the bottom left one. 

Anyways.. enough of my chatting.. here it is.. in all its glory! Hope you like! 

Do pop back soon for more fun and revelations! 

Have a good evening all!

Elaine

x

A Summer Swansong LO

Morning all

Here is a LO I made yesterday at a crop I went to... I have used images from the last days of summer... and called this LO the same as my kit! 

The papers are mainly Kaisercraft Hummingbird and I have added lots of woodland themed embellishments as I took these pictures on a woodland walk last week. It won't be long before the chestnuts are ripened to that rich brown we all love! 

The journalling says: The last of the summer fruit before Autumn arrives with the birth of the dewy mornings and ripening of the chestnuts on the trees' 

Thanks for looking.. (I'm keeping this short and sweet as I have more LO's to add! 

Do pop back soon! 

Elaine

x

Lets Go!

Evening again

Here is the first of my LO's made with my September Kit 'Summer Swansong' ...

The story behind this LO is the football team my youngest son belonged to from ages 3 to 17. The tag behind the photo cluster tells the story of how, every Sunday, we got up early and drove him around the South East of England to play against other teams... sometimes it was wet, miserable, and sometimes we were even hungover! (Terrible parents I know!) ... but this photo is of the year they won the sportsmanship trophy.. and in my book that beats every other trophy they won! 

The papers are mainly Pink Paislee and I added clusters of stars around the edge to form semi- circles... why? Well because the LO is based on this sketch here from Scrap365 Blog which immediately inspired me to create the LO. ..

The title is based on the fact that every Sunday morning in footie season.. for 14 YEARS!... I used to get everyone ready and then I'd say "Let's Go!" 

so here it is... 

Do let me know you've visited today.. and happy scrapping!

Elaine

x

Summer Swansong

Evening all

Today I bring you my take on the CKCB September Kit .. Scrapbook Circles Island Paradise. 

For once I have stayed fairly close to the patterns of the papers and tried to stay as true to the colours as I could.

I am not a huge fan of geometric patterns, so the paper on the top row in the middle was well out of my comfort zone, but whilst digging in my stash I did at least find something with a Pink Paislee diamond shaped pattern paper that I included with the rust and teal/aqua colours that were going to form the rest of my kit.

The two teal pages either side of the middle one was quite easy as I already had a sheet of the right hand Bokeh one.. And I found something close enough to the other one.

As far as the add ons go, I don't have any foxes at all in my stash, so I changed this element to deers, owls and birds, keeping with the 'woodland' theme.  This is where my stash of Kaisercraft Hummingbird collection came in handy. I selected several of these sheets to go with the rest and then I added some coloured card stock. I reserve the right to add more as I go... I'm off to a crop tomorrow and a three day retreat at the end of the month, so I made sure it was a patterned paper 'heavy' kit so here are my papers:

Finally I had some fun delving into my embellishments, which is always the bit I love best! 

I found several chipboard and resin owls, some old broken costume jewellery, sequins, rosettes and all sorts to make up my kit...which I have decided to call Summer Swansong as I can already feel the mornings getting damper and the evenings getting cooler... And I know I have some love autumnal photos from last year that I want to scrap too. 

and here is the close up of the 'woodland' animals and the rest of the embellishments

When I first saw the picture of the kit to forge I admit I was a but stymied...but eventually it all come together..and I've even sneaked a bit of red in as I always love the red and teal combo when scrapping, so here it is.. Whadya think?

Elaine

School Days LO

Hi all

Today I'm bringing you a LO that I created for my youngest sons 30th birthday album (which isn't until November NEXT year). I'm getting started early so I can give each page the attention it deserves. The photo used was on his last day at primary school, way back in 1996! It is especially poignant, as he is standing beside his best friend, Tom, who, tragically, lost his life a few years later.. devastating his family and friends, (us included). He was a big part of our lives and he is still missed to this day.. and always will be. 

The LO has been created for the ScrapStuffz Inspired by Challenges blog, where this photo was used to give me inspiration. My photo is a fun picture with lots of fun and laughter and this image is also bright and fun and cheery so the two go hand in hand. 

Once the inspiration was there, I started off with a piece of navy cardstock (one of his school colours) and used Gesso with a circles stencil for the white grungy dots. Then I layered Dapper Dan (from Glitz) papers beneath the photo and where I was to put the title. 

I then punched dotted circles out of the CS and put scraps of white paper behind to make them more visible. 

Once I had added the photo I used up some ancient embellishments, the 'School Days' and backpack stickers, paper clips etc and I found another old piece of stash.. the 'Partners in Crime' title which was an old rub-on that seemed perfect for the photo! 

I then added an explosion of other embellishments, mini coloured 'doughnuts' (which were from a failed experiment to make my own enamel dots!.. still haven't mastered that one!), coloured buttons and finally the themed sport buttons that have lived in my stash collection since the day dot! 

The layout was borne out of this sketch which originally came from ScrapFriends Sketch blog  where there are a whole array of wonderful sketches that I just love! 

I also used this sketch to set a challenge over on UKS, where several of my friends there created their own versions of it. 

You would be amazed at the differences that came out of this one sketch! 

So go on, jump in, have a go yourself but remember to link back to their blog if you choose to use one of their wonderful sketches and blog about it. 

So that's it for today.. I'm off to work soon, so hope you all have a good day and happy creating!! 

Elaine

PS: Do let me know what you think of my LO.. it'll make my day!

Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Hop

Hi all

Today I hope you'll have found your way here via Suzannes Blog, Snaps and Snippets. If not, and you've got lost along the way, you'll find the whole list of participants below. 

Today my LO has no layers! ... Wowee that was harder than I thought!

As you will see, this is VERY different for me, as I have had a go at Zentangle! Now, don't judge me on my tangle.. it was only the second attempt I'd had at it, and it took me ages to do a whole 12 x 12 to fill it in... I know I have a long way to go, but I've got the book now and I can only get better! 

But anyway... here it is, no paper layering, simply doodling, a photo of my daughter in laws wedding bouquet and the title. 

I played with adding some other embellishments...but tbh, I like it enough as it is without confusing it with more embellishments.. so although it's completely and utterly different and I'm rather pleased with it now... although to begin with I wasn't too sure about it! 

The idea was also inspired by a challenge over on the 'White with One' blog where I was challenged to create a LO with White and Liquorice only.. well I think you can say I've done that here! 

Thanks for stopping by, do continue on the journey and hop on over to Lesleys Blog to see what she's been up to... here's the whole list of participants too in case you get lost along the way.

Happy Hopping!

CKCB

http://www.counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com

Jemma    http://just-jimjams.blogspot.co.uk

Tina         http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com
Susanne  http://snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com

Elaine      http://chidkids26.blogspot.uk

Lesley     http://ohblogitifyoucantbeatthem.blogspot.co.uk

Laura       http://beadsbuttonsandbirds.blogspot.co.uk

Leslie      http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com

Cindy      http://www.cindyscreations-cinmfoster.blogspot.com

Lisa         http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de

Beat the Christmas rush

Good morning everyone

A very quick post from me this morning before my Blog Hop post goes live!

As you can see, for a change, my post is about Christmas Cards. 

Now I don't profess to be much of a card maker...so simple works best for me... but last night I sat down and made 8 cards in honour of my friend Sues', Beat the Christmas Rush challenge on her blog, Me and Mine where she challenges us to make 5 cards a month so it isn't all left until December to catch up!

As I left it so late to come to the party, I decided I'd make 8 instead. So here, they are.. simple trees cut from some ancient MME Lost and Found Christmas papers, cut using the SU pennant punch, and added to a little trunk that I cut from scrap that I had rolled through a crinkle roller (no idea what the real name is but I'm sure you know what I mean!) 

I them heat embossed the Merry Christmas.. and added pearl dots to the 'trees... job done, simple but effective!

Do pop along to Sues blog too as she is a far better card maker than I am, as are some of her visitors, so why not link up your cards too? 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Elaine

Another LO from my August Counterfeit Kit

Hi all

My LO today is created from my August CKCB kit, Girls Aloud, that I chose to have a lot of black and white in (as well as hot pink that isn't represented here) It's been eons since I last did a black and white only LO, and on Saturday I was lucky enough to be invited to a scrap day in honour of my friend Sues' 50th birthday! She had scrapping in the morning, provided us with a lovely lunch, and then we had party games and make and takes in the afternoon! Wasn't that a great idea?? I loved it! 

Anyhow, I digress! When I was there, my friend Suzanne had found a lovely LO she had wanted to scraplift.. and she had a print out of it... I took one look and knew I'd like to use it too, so I borrowed her print out and scraplifted this LO. Now, normally I would give credit here to the originator, but I'm afraid I have no idea where it came from, however, I've done a fairly faithful replica, so if anyone recognises it, please let me know and I will give credit where it is due! 

You may not be able to see from here, but basically I took a Stampin' Up bauble punch and cut out lots of plain white baubles, edged them in black ink and the cut a few more from black and white patterned papers. I then laid them all out to make sure I was happy with the placing, stuck the plain white ones down flat, and then stuck the patterned ones down with Pinflair so they were slightly raised. If I'm honest and I was doing it again, I would use foam pads for regularity of height, but overall, I'm delighted with it!  I finished it off with the photos, mounted on white card, a strip of black and white ribbon and two pennants and a scattering of small flowers and a couple of sequins.. and voila!  All done!  

If you want to scraplift this, I would suggest that you definitely used a wet glue when placing all the white baubles as it's amazing how many times I had to go back and 'just tweak' the angles! 

Finally, I am a recent follower of the 'White with One' blog, which this month challenges you to create a Lo with just White and Liquorice.. so this Lo fits with that brief too! 

I do hope you like the LO.. it's a little different for me, and I confess, it is already one of my favourites! 

Thanks for stopping by.. do let me know if you like it too?

Have a great day!

Elaine

x