Scrapbook Challenges Blog Hop

Welcome to the January Scrapbook Challenges Blog Hop! This January we're celebrating more than a new Design Team - there's also the small matter of having moved away from Ning to our very own site. This makes for easier interaction between us all, which means more inspiration for members!

If you're on the Hop, you should have joined me from the talented Anna's blog. Before moving on to the Blog Hop sketch, I'll tell you a little bit about me. I'm a recently married freelance editor living in the inspiring and interesting city of Brussels, Belgium with my dog and my husband. I'm a little bit punk, a little bit rock n roll, and I like to push myself to achieve new techniques and methods. I've been scrapbooking for about five years, but it's only really in the last couple of years that I would venture to call myself an artist. It can take a while to get started and then to keep up with the online community, but I've found that eventually you find your rhythm.

Anyway, onto the customary sketch. SC challenges you to make a layout based on this sketch and upload it to the Forum for the chance to win a prize:

Or the double-page version:

For my take on this sketch, I squished up the two pages into one:

capturing our arrival in London this Christmas

yes - that is a cell phone circuit board under the title!

And now the moment you've been waiting for: the prizes!

1. For completing a layout based on the above sketch and uploading it to the Hop On section in the Forum, you stand to win this pretty prize:

2. For leaving a comment on every blog of the DT, including the start and the end points, you could win this following amazing prize:

3. One new member who joins between 13 and 15 January will be selected at random to win the following sweet prize:

4. Finally, I have a RAK to offer to two lucky readers:

a whole bunch of interesting bits and pieces

To be selected at random for the RAK, you'll have to tell me in your comment on which date I got married. You'll find it here on my blog. Hint: it wasn't this year :-)

So, leave me a comment and then move on to the next blog on the Hop: the amazingly gifted new DT member Livy!

Feedback and Freebies

I'd like to thank everyone who left a comment here when I asked for feedback a few weeks ago.

I let Django Dog pick a winner, and that winner is:

...to whom I will send a small gift of handmade goodness (oh the tension - I'm not going to show you even a peek of what it is!). ScrappyJacky, well done! Thanks for your comments! Please drop me a line with your postal address.

Thanks again everyone!

PS. When I was talking before about this community being so generous, I meant it. I've been proved right by Michelle, a.k.a. the Willieburg Scrapper at My Analog Life, from whom I have just received in the mail from across the ocean this cute and generous gift:

not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR Sass packs!

She even included this incredibly thoughtful card to congratulate us on our marriage:

great colours, huh? ;-)

Thanks Michelle - you're a star!

ScrappyJacky, don't forget to email me your address so I can mail you something handmade!

National Scrapbooking Day: Scrapbook Challenges Blog Hop

Welcome to the Scrapbook Challenges National Scrapbooking Day blog hop! If you're on the hop, you should be joining me from the very talented Marilyn's blog. If you have just stopped in and want to join in the hop, please start at Brynn's blog. There will be RAKs!

I'm Cheryl, Scrapbook Challenges DT member since January this year, lover of all things paper, and staver off of all things Hallmark. I found Scrapbook Challenges about two years ago, when I was still fairly new to the whole online scrapbooking community thing, and I found it such a friendly, lively forum that I stuck around. When the DT call came up I thought I'd go for it, since the team all seemed so nice and so creative. Their encouraging feedback made me feel I could contribute to the community and so I applied. Pamela certainly did a fantastic job of coming up with the idea of Scrapbook Challenges and taking it and turning it into a community - her time, effort, creativity and hard work shows, and will be missed.

Being part of the Scrapbook Challenges DT has made me scrap more than ever before - which I'm thankful for, because often it's all too easy to get distracted by other things in life. It has enabled me to expand my style - purely because of the huge amount of inspiration both the DT and the community have to offer - and it has made me think more deeply about how to construct a page. Especially when interpreting sketches...

...for this NSD/Thank You Pamela blog hop, the DT all chose one of Pamela's old sketches to make another page from. This is the sketch I chose (number 176):

As there always should be a twist, this time, the twist was to make a page along the theme of gratitude, friendship and hope. My take on this sketch looks like this:

The text reads: 'Have faith. The miracle of hope will prevail'. I used some DCWV cardstock and some 7Gypsies masking tape, and just love those Jenni Bowlin bingo cards and the Melody Ross inspiration cards.

Now, I did mention RAKs, so here are the RAKs (they're very good!) and the ways of winning them:

1.  One member who leaves a comment on all the blogs in the hop will get Chipboard Borders, 12x12 Collection Kit and a 6x6 Paper Pad from To The Moon by Fancy Pants.

2.  One member who post a NEW a layout based on one of Pam’s sketches and posts it in the HOP ON section of the Scrapbook Challenges forum will receive a package of Tim Holtz goodies.

3. One new member over the weekend will get the We R Memory Keepers’ Sew Easy Piercer, 4 Piercers, a mixed assortment of Divine Twine and 15 colors of DMC Embroidery Floss.

Well, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Now, hop on over to Ana's inspirational blog to continue your NSD/Thank You Pamela SC blog hop participation!

A Tip and a Winner!

Thank you to those of you who participated in my giveaway last week. I am pleased to announce the winner, picked from a hat by my helpful fiance (who is NOT pictured below, by the way!). The winner is:


To claim your prize, email me your address and I'll put the item in the post for you!

Now, I'd like to share with you a technique I used for painting these hearts. Actually I was told about it by my mum, who was told by the lady in the shop, who was told by... word of mouth is still quite fast - not quite at YouTube or forum speed, but it does work!

If you remember, I said that the hearts had a kind of shabby look to them - not worn, not vintage, but a little aged. The technique I'm talking about is a way to achieve a certain distressed look. In a nutshell, you use a combination of PVA glue and acrylic paint. I've seen a few videos on YouTube, all of which feature slightly different methods of application: some start with PVA, some don't let the PVA dry before applying the paint, and some use a heat tool to dry the layers.

The technique I used was to paint a layer of acrylic onto the heart and let it dry. Then I painted a layer of PVA glue - quite thick - on top and let it dry. Finally I painted a second layer of acrylic on top of the dried PVA and let that dry. I was patient - I didn't try using the heat tool to speed up the drying process, but some people say if you do it increases the 'crackage'. I wanted to keep a very plain base so I used the same colour for both paint layers, but if you wanted to have a more striking effect you should use a darker first layer, which will then show through the cracks. You can also try rubbing ink into the cracks for a more striking effect.

A Note on Crackle Paint

I bought some a few months ago, after resisting the price for a very long time. The first time I opened it, it was way too thick and the first layer I painted crackled off completely. Not happy, I added water and mixed it up, and it seemed to be OK after that. The differences between using Crackle Paint and the PVA-acrylic technique are, of course, the cost, but also the variety you can achieve at a lower cost: you can mix a lot more colours, and colours combinations, with acrylic paints. One other big difference is the type of distress. Crackle paint really gives that classic crazy paving type of crackle, like the type used on furniture. The PVA-acrylic technique doesn't do this - it results in lines, like warped paint on wet wood, and it's an entirely different look. It depends what effect you're looking for, but if you're not fussy, I'd recommend PVA-acrylic every time.

Thanks again for looking. I'll be back on Thursday with a layout or two to share!

I Ain't Gonna Stop the Rain by Complainin'

Now that August is nearly over it's time to celebrate what an awesomely hot, sunny and bright month it was.

Huh?

That's what I'd like to be writing, but unfortunately, the opposite is true: it's time to document, instead, what a disappointingly wet, cold and thoroughly autumnal August it's been this year.

Now, I know I won't stop the rain by complaining. So why not just be practical about it? Make a record of what it's been like and how I've dealt with it. Turn it into a celebration of sorts. Exercise my creativity and make sure that inner summertime is still there somewhere.

I went with a mini-book, inspired by some paper I picked up recently (MME Quite Contrary Jack & Jill: Be Happy 'Gleeful Paper' and My Favourite Thing 'Colourful Umbrellas Paper').

I cut this shape from the two MME papers and also some white and brown cardstock, and some acetate. I used Sassafras Lass cloud stamps and Toga chipboard letters on the front page:

I printed a photo we took at the Belgian Day of Independence in July and inserted it at the beginning. It's the only photo I used - I think it did all the work required from photos, speaking volumes about the weather, about Brussels, about how to deal with the rain. It features a group of drama students arranging themselves into a representation of a thought that was once in Belgian painter René Magritte's head.

I wanted lots of layers, and lots of variety with as few different papers as possible. The MME papers are double-sided, so that meant I had four patterns and two base colours to play with.
Thickers helped raise the relief of the pages:

I incorporated lots of clouds (obviously!) and raindrops (I'm so glad I saved these teardrop gems!). The wellies I cut from foam and drew onto with a thick black pen:

For the acetate page I traced over the umbrellas and coloured them in, using a CD pen (it doesn't come off the acetate):

For one page I stamped around the edges and then painted over most of the page with a layer of acrylic paint (I've seen it around a few times so I wanted to try it myself):

On some leftover acetate I freehanded some swirls and dots with the CD pen, and added a little bit of accent white acrylic paint here and there before cutting around it and sticking it over a page of stamped clouds:
Finally, I couldn't resist including the words of one of my favourite poems, Thomas Hardy's 'A Thunderstorm in Town':
I am proud to say that I have achieved exactly what I wanted from this mini - catharsis, for sure, but it also really makes me smile now when I look at it. A few things I'm really happy with are the layering of the lettering:

Using Glossy Accents over a cut-out umbrella to make a strong, shiny coordinating embie:

And the free-hand acetate swirl:

I hope looking at these bright pictures can put a smile on your face too, even if it's bright and sunny where you are. Thanks for looking, and I'll be back on Tuesday with a little tip I recently came across, and the results of my giveaway.

A Needle, a Donkey and Me

I'd like to start by saying thank you to those of you who commented on my sewing post - the feedback was really useful in planning future projects. Although I would really love to work more on making a bag - ah, who am I kidding... I mean lots of bags, and purses, yes, purses - I sadly don't have enough fabric at the moment to go down that road. I'd like to get some really interesting fabric - like this and this (in fact, if you have deep pockets, a penchant for looking at fabrics, and a few hours to spare, you have to check out the whole of this site!) - but I really prefer to visit fabric shops and actually feel before I buy. I've yet to find the good ones here in Brussels, but to be truthful I haven't looked far beyond Ikea.

Despite the lack of bag fabric, I did pick up the needle again, albeit a giant child's needle because it came with the kit (yes, a child's kit), and made myself a little guard for my craft space. He's almost as cute as our doggie.

I call him Rasta Donkey. There was even more mane and tail in the kit, but he was starting to look silly. I think they were trying to compensate for the insufficient amount of stuffing - he's a bit too... relaxed.
Thanks for looking, and don't forget about my little giveaway in the post below. If you'd like to be in with a chance of winning the free stuff, leave me a comment as per the instructions at the end of the post. I'm off now to try to get Rasta Donkey on his feet.

Do You *Heart* Giveaways?

Hey everyone. So... (drum roll please) ...this is my 100th post! As promised, I'm going to celebrate by running a little giveaway here. But first, let me show you something.

Now, I'm NOT really a huge fan of hearts. NOR am I so very keen on certain shades of pink. But there are exceptions to everything, and I am open to having my mind changed. Months ago I bought some little balsa wood hearts because they were that shape of heart that is a little elongated... basically, not your classic, symmetric, round heart shape. I had only a very vague idea of what I wanted to do with them - I wanted them to hang. But they sat there in my To Do Box - sad, bare, lonely little hearts, wondering why they'd been relegated to a dark cupboard.

Last week I started playing around with colour combos and found that I could quite comfortably tolerate light shades of pink, if they were tempered by off-white and sage(ish) green. Then I remembered my wooden hearts, and my own heart leapt. Perfect. Two days later I had a pretty wall hanging:

To make these, I painted the hearts with white acrylic paint, and then inked around the edges in a sandy colour (Memento Desert Sand). Then I stamped a line of flowers (with an Artemio stamp) in Memento Rhubarb Stalk across the middle of the top and bottom hearts, and stuck some gorgeous gingham ribbon underneath (the ribbon is from All My Memories). After that I cut some teeny scalloped circles with the Cricut (in dark grey), some teenier circles (in dotted green and gingham pink), and some even teenier hearts (again in dark grey). Along with some pink ric rac, I stuck them all together, rounding off with a tiny gem:

For the middle heart I cut some larger scalloped circles (in pink), a large dotted green heart, and some circles in gingham pink and cream writing paper, stuck them all together, and stamped on the central circle (these stamps are from the DoCrafts Papermania Chatsworth collection):

The hearts came with holes in the top, but to get them to hang in a vertical row I had to ask my fiance very nicely if he would drill some extra holes for me. Surprise - I didn't even have to write it on his To Do List. It was done that very afternoon, and I fixed them all together with a very thin pale pink ribbon. From top to bottom this wall hanging measures just under 30cm. I so love the finished article! It is simple, yet very pretty, and certainly a lot prettier than my usual preferences. It also has a certain air of 'age' about it... not wear and tear, and not vintage, but somewhere in between. I'd like to hang it above the bed, that is, if we lived in a nice old country cottage. But in our apartment I'll have to think of somewhere else, since our bedroom is very red. And black. And oriental. Hmmm...

Now, onto the giveaway! Because I bought 6 hearts, and there are only 3 in this wall hanging, I made 2 of them. That means I have 1 to give away, so I hope you like it!

What you'll need to do to be in with a chance to win this lovely line of hearts is leave a comment for me below. But not just any old comment. I'd love it if you could:

• Tell me what creation of mine is your favourite from August and July;
• Describe something that inspired you in August or July to do something you don't normally do; and
  
• If you have a blog or website, stick the image at the top of this post in your sidebar or some other place and link back to this post.

I'll draw randomly at midnight on Monday 3o August. Really looking forward to your comments!

Exploding Box (better late than never) and ***Other News***

A few months ago I constructed the base for a mini-album of sorts - the exploding pyramid box. Well, I've finally finished it. After deciding finally on the contents, I had to run a technological assault course of buying new printer ink, cleaning the printer nozzles, backing up my files, reinstalling Windows, updating all my links and drivers, and building up the computer again to get it to the point where I could actually print the photos I wanted, in the way I wanted. I'm the other side of that now, and despite my brain hurting a little and my patience being tested a lot, am back into the swing of the papercrafing thing.

Here is the exploding pyramid box. I've left the outside blank, except for a short title (yep, that's the person it's for):
And I've kept the embellishments on the inside quite simple, sticking to flowers and buttons:


As I said in the earlier post about this, the two papers I used were Sassafras Lass Life is Beautiful Woodland Whimsy Paper Garden (outside layer) and Scenic Route Garden Grove Brookhurst Street (inside layer). I'm now off to post this to my Nan in time for her birthday.

Other News

Well, first of all, I'm going to be published again in SNR Magazine. Second submission, second acceptance - not bad. If I keep this up I'll have a permanent free subscription :-) This time they've chosen to publish my layouts 'Me' and 'Slide Away' (the yellow and blue page).

Second, I'll be posting my 100th post in five posts' time, and to celebrate that I'll be giving something away - so keep an eye out for news of this in the coming couple of weeks!