Happy Easter!

I want to show you my latest card. What with having a week away in South Devon, then the kitchen work tops replaced due to a faulty joint (and I'm not even going into all the hassle that caused), then being away for a family funeral last week, crafting has rather been pushed onto the back burner lately. Oh and I've got shingles. Pfft. Hopefully life will return to normal very soon - whatever normal actually is!

Meanwhile, have a look at these. For Less Is More's "smile" (rainbow colours always make me smile) and Papertake Weekly's "Easter". Also for Pixie's Crafty Workshop's Snippets challenge, because you may recognise the doily as being used as a mask on the Mothering Sunday cards I made a few weeks ago. If that doesn't count as recycling, I don't know what does. Hehee!

Pink all over

#171 is the final Scrap Whispers challenge in this game. It is to create your page from one of the delicious colour palettes provided. That's all! Easy, right?

I chose this sugary pink palette:

to make this LO:

You can play too, for just 2 more days. Actually, you can choose any of the challenges for this game, as long as you enter them within 2 days, and you will be entered in the Grand Prize Draw. Go on over and have a look? http://www.scrapwhispers.com/

I also want to show you this pretty, pretty card that I made for a friend's birthday. I'm entering it into these challenges:

Less Is More: masking/stencils (I used a doily as a mask)
CASology: blush (pink, obviously!)
Simon Says Stamp: glitter (Pink Stickles)

Thanks for looking, and have a happy first day of spring!

Circles!

Over at Scrap Whispers this week, the challenge is a horizontal band of circles, inspired by Jenn K's beautiful LO where she has put her photos in the circles. My inspiration LO goes in a slightly different direction, and is based on one photo and a sketch from this week's UK Scrappers challenge.

I was in the local church choir before we moved to Singapore, and I still kept in touch with them. After two years, one of our dear basses e-mailed me to say that he, his wife and daughter were stopping over in Singapore on their way to Australia, and could we meet up? We had a lovely day walking around Chinatown and taking a boat trip down the Singapore River, before jet-lag took them over and they had to go back to the hotel and rest.

That was 7 years ago, and I'm back in the choir, and that dear bass now sits right behind me. He still talks about that day, but I think his over-riding recollection is of the exhaustion rather than the country!

Isn't the sketch a lovely one? So versatile - I can see myself using that one again, maybe the other way up. I really like those banners.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Mini backpack album

Have a look at this!

I created it as inspiration for Challenge #165 at Scrap Whispers, but I wanted to show it off here as well.

I used the tutorial originally featured back in 2010 here. Back then I used it to make this darling little backpack album for Anmarie, and of course it was to give away, but it was so pretty I didn't want to part with it!

And now all this time later, I've got round to making one for myself. I'm entering it into this week's Papertake Weekly challenge which is "anything goes", so I hope they accept it. And Stampin' for the Weekend's challenge this week is "anything but a card" which this fits neatly.

Want to make your own? Go for it! I've linked the tutorial and my other example, and if you enter it into the Scrap Whispers Challenge, you will be in with a chance of winning the prize in the draw at the end of March.

Updates from the dray

December was pretty much craft-free. Christmas was a busy but lovely time with the family coming to visit, DH having quite a bit of time off, and lots of church work to do. I've been playing catch-up ever since, but the last week or two I've had time to play. The house looks a mess; I had to reduce my ironing pile to almost nothing before I could start, and I couldn't have done it without not being required for quite a lot of church work. It's been such fun to get back into making things again.

Scrap Whispers had a mandatory hiatus over December and January too, and the new game starts this Saturday. We have some great challenges and a wonderful starting LO.

I've also had a bit of a rethink on my blog and challenges, and things are going to change. This is despite my new year's resolution not to have any new year's resolutions - typical eh? A facelift will be next on the list, but for now I want to get back to entering challenges. And actually remembering to check back on them.

Here is today's creation first. It is for Less Is More's sketch challenge, and CASology's purple cue card. DH ordered some card-making packs for me for Christmas and they contained several of these enormous butterflies. They're all glitter-embossed, although that doesn't show up in this photo. The stars are random punches, die-cuts and old embellishments.

This is for Cute Card Thursday's "new" challenge, and Stampin' for the Weekend's "birthday" theme. The new is that precious toadstool paper from the My Mind's Eye "Gnome Sweet Gnome" pad that I got on clearance after Christmas. I just love it!

The Simon Says Stamp team is requesting string or twine for this week's challenge. That needs no explanation! I couldn't wait to use the Darice wood grain embossing folder that I got in my Secret Santa pack - thanks Darla! The tags were in a pack of dies in a goodie bag from the craft retreat I went on last year.

All of today's cards are also for Pixie's Craft Workshop's snippets challenges, because thanks to my punches, my scraps are gradually reducing. I can actually close the lid on my punched leaves box now. Hehee.

Scrap Whispers new game!

The new game on Scrap Whispers is now on!

The first challenge is "minimalist" and the inspiration for it is this little page that I put together after DH's and my afternoon at Westonbirt Arboretum last weekend. It was the first break he has had for such a long time, and we really needed it. These leaves are just stunning in the sunlight.

Do you want to play along with this? Hop over to Scrap Whispers and join in!

Didn't it rain

DH and I went to see Hugh Laurie earlier this year on his "Didn't it rain" blues tour, his second one.

What a gifted man. Seriously. I grew up with a crush on him as a comedian on Fry and Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster and Blackadder, before falling in love with him all over again as House 20 years later. And now to see him singing and playing - and dancing - live on stage was the icing on the cake.

His manner was unexpected quiet. But the self-deprecating, apologetic awkwardness in real life only reinforces the talent behind his portrayal of the brilliant and broken American doctor. And that's another thing, that accent. I have American friends who have been gobsmacked when I proudly claimed him as a fellow Brit. "You mean he's not American?" I can't do accents. I'm in awe of people who can, and he's got it quite perfect.

OK, enough of the hero-worship. Let me show you the LO I did of the show. It was for umpteen challenges: 2 pieces of die-cut paper (SJ CoW), tickets (SJ), autumn colours, misting, book title, sketch (UKS and SoW).

Breaking the drought

I'm entering challenges again. I've still been entering challenges, but I realise that they haven't needed blog entries, they've all had their own galleries to upload to, so I've been neglecting my little blog. Maybe if I give it a make-over, that might remind me to to give it some more attention.

Anyway, this card breaks my blog drought, and I'm so happy with it!

It is for:
Basic Grey - flowers (I used Scarlet's Letter, Sweet Threads and Kioshi papers)
Creative Card Crew - great outdoors
Cute Card Thursday - good luck charm
House Mouse - sparkle
Simon Says Stamp - pins
Sketch Saturday - sketch
Stampin' for the Weekend - pink & green photo inspiration

And this one, my first attempt at a side step card, is for Charisma Cardz - no patterned paper. My nephew really loved it yesterday, despite telling me that Hex is the Skylander Giant that he likes the least. Last time I saw him, she was his favourite. Ho hum. The vagarities of being only-just-7!

Just one more! This is for the first challenge in the new Scrap Whispers game, which is to be completely linear, with no curved lines anywhere. Having set the challenge myself, I then wasn't sure I could pull it off (haha) but I actually love this.

Just a reminder that anyone can join in the weekly challenges, not just the game players, so if you want to be in with the chance of winning a prize, check out the site!

Scrap Whispers Challenge #136 - round the corner

We're powering through the latest Scrap Whispers game, around halfway through, with everyone pretty much on schedule and having lots of fun.

While the game is going on, the weekly challenges continue. These are open to everyone, not just the players, and there will be a prize pack awarded to a random winner at the end of the game. Why not play along?

This week's inspiration is from our Guest Designer Steph McBryne's innovative use of titles. Here is her page:

And the challenge is "round the corner" - to create a page using her title design. Here is what I came up with:

Isn't it effective? Why not join in the challenge as well, and be in with the chance of winning a prize pack? Pop over to Scrap Whispers and take a look around.

Farewell BBQ - SW Mix it Up Challenge #131

We're almost finished with the first Scrap Whispers game of 2013! We just have the final LOs to come in, then there will be the Big Reveal and the announcement of the winning team.

While we're all waiting for that, here is the last challenge of this game, and a reminder that all entries for the challenges must be in by this Sunday.

We have given you Nora's lovely LOs one final time, and asked you to take one element from each to create your LO. I have gone with the big dots from Sassy, the labels from Shucking Peas, and the design from Christmas Day, to create this:

You have one week to show us what you can do, so hope on over to Scrap Whispers and join in with our final challenge!

Pink, black and bling

This week at Scrap Whispers, the challenge is based on Nora's lovely Sassy LO. We challenged you to create a page with the theme of pink, black and bling.

I created this one as inspiration, from photos of our niece's birthday last year. The photos, taken over about a minute plus one from an hour later, tell the story of her favourite present better than any words. Obviously her name is not LLLLL!

Anyone can join in this challenge, just hop over to the blog and have a look around. You never know, you might even win a prize!

An interview

Scrap Whispers is back folks! Back with a vengeance. The game has started, the teams have been allocated and dates decided at record speed. The first secret LOs will be sent out on Friday for the first players to lift.

Meanwhile we have some great challenges in store for you, all inspired by our wonderful Guest Designer Nora Noll. The first one is to scrap an interview. I e-mailed my DH some questions to answer, because he has a way with words and I know he could make me laugh. But he spent most of the weekend battling with our new, improved (NOT) BT hub, so I let the poor man off. Instead I had a nice little chat with our pet gecko. Well he didn't say much, but you can get a lot from body language.

I used sketch #242 from Creative Scrappers, and combined it with the Challenge of the Week #2 from Scrap Jazz which is spots, stripes and brads.

So, are you going to take up the challenge to scrap an interview? You don't have to be a Scrap Whispers player. Just drop in, create your LO and post it on your blog, link back to Scrap Whispers in your post, and then enter using the Challenge Entries button at the top of the blog. Easy. See you over there!

Scrap Whispers new format!

Our furniture is arriving next Tuesday. Probably. And that also happens to be my birthday, so no rest for the wicked here! But it will be SO good to have our possessions back again. I am just intimidated by the amount of work that has to happen in this final week, so this will be my last post for a while.

But I had to tell you about the changes that are happening at Scrap Whispers. With Kelly leaving the DT, me being all but out of action for a while and Georgina trying to launch her new career, it just couldn't carry on going the old way. Instead, Georgina has come up with some clever streamlining which I think is making it a better blog.

There is more going on, LOADS of challenges and inspiration. I've been given a whole bunch of beautiful sketches to put into our trademark purple format - and I will do that once I have a little time to myself. For the next few weeks, to quote my dear Aussie friend Glad,  I haven't time to scratch myself! So pop in and check out the new-look blog.

The latest game has started, and it is now being run as one big team of 15 people, each with a week to play. The forum is no more. All communication is being done by e-mail. You can read about it all on the blog HERE, where you can also find the contact details.

Must dash. I have to take up the hall/stair carpet/underlay and take it to the tip, and gloss paint the stairs skirting board so it is dry before the new carpet arrives on Thursday. Oh and I have to check in to the new hotel, as the old one suddenly got full between when I left the hotel and when I arrived at the house yesterday morning. And it's going to start raining by lunchtime so.... toodle-ooo

Scrap Whispers Challenge #125 - journalling

It's technique time at Scrap Whispers this week, and Georgina has chosen JOURNALLING.

I know this is a challenge in itself to many people. Even I, Mrs Chatterbox, often can't be bothered to include much more than the essentials: the who, the where and the when. I think a lot of this is because I often forget, after 4 years of doing this, to save a space in the design for the words. Yes I know - DUH.

I developed a method to get round this very early on, and I'm finding myself using it more and more to avoid cluttered layouts. For me the photos are nearly always the main focus. So I tuck the journalling behind the photos, and leave a tag at the top to pull it out of the top of the page protector. No messing about with cutting holes in page protectors, no having to pull the LO out to read the journalling. I like to be tidy! Have you noticed? Haha.

This is the other half of a double page spread. I showed the left side a few weeks ago for the red, orange and green challenge, and told you all about Wirra Wirra. This is the cellar door and the actual church block: the piece of land with the church on it (that tiny building at the back) where the very first grenache grapes were grown for the original Church Block wine blend. I made the labels to echo the label on the bottles, and the Wirra Wirra sticker is off the packaging - well-insulated with foam tape and several layers of card-stock because I'll bet my boots it isn't acid-free. Here is the double page. They definitely look better as a pair.

Do you have any good ideas for how to hide or display journalling? What are your pet methods? Maybe you don't journal - well here's your chance to try something new. Share on Scrap Whispers, link us up and link back to the blog, and you will be entered into this month's fabby prize draw.

Scrap Whispers Challenge #124 - sketch

Ooh I love the sketch challenge this week at Scrap Whispers! It was designed by our very own Nilsa (and made pretty and purple on the computer by yours truly) and it was such fun to use. I love all the little details!

I flipped it because my precious little subject was looking the other way, then I had a colour-fest with Echo Park's "Be Mine" collection, some blue card-stock, distressing and doodles. And I have to say, this is now one of my favourites. When we visited Singapore at the beginning of the year we caught up with as many friends as we could. It was just delightful to see how little S has grown, and how she lost almost all her shyness by the end of the evening. This was the first time she had tried sushi, and it was a hit. What a smile!

Over to you - head to Scrap Whispers and have as much fun as I did!

Scrap Whispers Challenge #123 - scraplift

Welcome to another scraplift at Scrap Whispers.

This week we are featuring the lovely Kelly, whose delightfully simple LO was a joy to lift. I dusted off my Silhouette to cut these adorable little cockatoos. The papers are the last (almost - I still have some scraps) from the My Minds Eye collection which was amongst the first paper I ever bought for scrap-booking back in 2008. I loved it so much that I couldn't cut into it! After 4 years I'm over that now, thankfully. The tree is just a simple scalloped flower from my QuicKutz dies, and I hand-cut the trunk and branches.

This is the river Torrens that flows between north and south Adelaide, South Australia. We were walking to evensong on a gloriously sunny Sunday evening, and there was a flock of white birds pecking under a large tree. At first glance I thought they were gulls, but they were sulphur-crested cockatoos, and very noisy. How wonderful to see cockatoos just hanging out, not worried about people, the same way we'd see ducks on a pond.

What would you do with Kelly's design? Flip it? Rotate it? Use the colours, or the theme, or the title? Or keep it the same as I have? Link us up to your entry on your blog, link back to Scrap Whispers and try your luck at this month's prize. See you there!

Scrap Whispers Challenge #122 - colour

It's all about colour at Scrap Whispers this week:

BLUE

GREEN

BEIGE

I went back to our wine trip to Adelaide for this one.

 

I got the gorgeous picture paper when we were in McLaren Vale. It was so pretty that I didn't want to cover it up, but the vineyard is the part that still shows. The bottle top is from the bottle of wine that we're holding in the photos, which we bought at the Visitors' Centre (and drank when we got back to the hotel!) DH trimmed the sharp bottom off it for me, then I ran it through the Cuttlebug. I used two B plates, and it didn't squash it flat, but kept the shape. I photocopied the receipt to make it acid-free. The background paper is from Basic Grey's Kraft collection. DH bought it for me for Christmas.

I'd love to see your take on this colour scheme. Link us up to Scrap Whispers, make sure you link back in your blog post, and you will be in with a chance to win this month's fabby prize. See you over there!

Scrap Whispers Challenge #121 - paper tearing

How about that for a good challenge at Scrap Whispers this week? Paper tearing. That has so much scope.

As soon as I found this paper in McLaren Vale in South Australia on our wine trip, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I drew the circle with a wet paint brush and let it soak in for a few minutes before I started tearing, and that stopped the tear from straying outside the line I wanted. It also made the paper nice and damp so that it curled nicely. Mostly!

The grape stamped images were actually coloured in with Copic markers as well, because I just couldn't get the coverage on the textured card-stock that I wanted. I added white highlights and Glossy Accents and raised them up on foam tape. The receipt is photocopied and matted on the same toning card-stock, and slides behind the photos. I added eyelets to the Barossa Valley which was cut from a sheet of locations in South Australia. I love how the circles echo the shapes in the beautiful building.

Hop on over to Scrap Whispers and show us what you can do. And a personal note from me, PLEASE can you switch off your word verification? Blogger has updated it, and I'll be honest, I can't work out what it's saying half the time - and there's nothing wrong with my eyesight! If the DT can't read the word verification, then I'm afraid our comments won't appear on your blogs. And that would be a shame, when we've gone to the effort of typing them in for you. Besides, unless you get hundreds of spam comments, it's much nicer to moderate personally. Thank you for your consideration!

Scrap Whispers Challenge #120 - Sketch

Here we are again! Just a quick post to remind you to pop over to Scrap Whispers for this week's gorgeous Valentine's sketch challenge by Nilsa. The DT have created some fabby inspiration for you - here's mine:

Aah... aren't we adorable! And how slender I was then. Just goes to show what 4 years can add. I must get back on the diet when we get back.

I'd love to see your Valentine's love stories, so get scrappin' with our sketch!

Scrap Whispers Challenge #119 - Scraplift

Hey, a Scrap Whispers scraplifting challenge! My favourite sort!

Nilsa has provided us with this week's cute LO to be inspired by, take the colour scheme from, use elements from, or copy directly.

My LO is another one using one laser cut rabbits and one of the papers I got from McLaren Vale. I'll be totally honest, I would never have put those colours together, and it's not a favourite page of mine only for those reasons. I painted the chipboard with white acrylic paint and coloured the rabbits with a Copic marker, all but the tails. The dots are Stickles Patina, and the centre of the flower on the wine bottle was made by trimming a top from a bottle that we bought at the Wolf Blass visitors' centre, and running it through the Cuttlebug. How cool is that?

I photocopied the receipt to use on the LO, because although I know that we bought the bottle directly from the vineyard, the receipt is proof that we were there.

What will you do with it? Show us over on Scrap Whispers. See you there!