And now for something completely different ...

and a couple of other layouts too! Shimelle posted both November and December's classes late in December and I have only had a chance so far to play with December's challenge. My take on it is this:

I used photos from my evening out  at the Abba tribute with the ladies from work. I had printed out a lot of the photos and used a square punch to get the twelve pictures. Shimelle had suggested using this as a review of 2012, but I am nowhere near close to thinking about that yet! The journalling down the side just relates to each photo, describing who is in it and what they are doing.

This layout is one I didn't scraplift or use a sketch for! However, I am still bearing in mind everything I have learnt in the past year from Shimelle's classes, so somewhere there is probably another layout like this one!

Here Penny took a photo of me taking a photo of the butterfly! This was whilst we were in the Isle of Wight.

The journalling in close up.

This final layout is scraplifted from Nichol Magouirk on Two Peas from her 'From Start to Finish' video series.

 Penny came up with the title! She and Hugh had great fun feeding and tickling the koi at Butterfly Word on the Isle of Wight.

The journalling in close up.

Next week Penny and I are off on a Cupcake and Martini afternoon! It was her Christmas present from me and Hugh, but she asked if I would like to go with her. We get to make and decorate cupcakes and whoopie pies and make and drink a chocolate martini! We are both really looking forward to it and I am hoping that I will be allowed to take lots of photos!

& now for something completely different - October

Shimelle's prompts this month (or should I say last month?) did not include any photos, just word prompts, so everyone could really interpret them as they wished and it has made for some very different layouts!

You can see her 'Getting Ready' prompt here and the instructions are here.

I have spent a happy hour this afternoon doing this layout and thoroughly enjoyed myself! Once I have uploaded this post I shall be back at my scrapping table doing some more. This is a very relaxing week off :)

The journalling tells how we decided to go no further than Monteray, but to stop there and go for a lovely walk as it was such a sunny afternoon.

A Good Chine!

Actually, a terrible pun! Penny came up with this title. Actually she comes up with many of my titles and I have said that when she is at uni I am going to have to Skype her and show her my layouts so that she can come up with the titles!

A chine is 'a steep-sided river valley where the river flows to the sea through, typically, soft eroding coastal cliffs of sandstone or clays' (Wikipedia) and we visited the one in Old Shanklin whilst on the Isle of Wight.

I used the layout from Shimelle's 'And now for something completely different' for August. You can see the suggested 'kit' here and the steps here.

And here is my layout.

I really enjoyed completing this layout and cutting out all the circles - I used my Cricut which made that part very easy! I like that I got four photos on the page but that it doesn't look too busy. Looking forward to seeing what we are doing for September's challenge!

and now for something completely different!

Well, actually, it's just a layout, but based on Shimelle's class over on UKScrappers! This month the idea was to use up your scraps, and use punches and bits and pieces you haven't used in a a while.

I decided to do a layout from our Isle of Wight holiday, taking a break from California for a while. So here it is:

I made the title using my Cricut and then embossing with clear embossing powder - I like the glossy look this gives the letters.

I will be back later in the week - hopefully with the next holiday installment. I am waiting for certain photos to arrive from the States so that I can scan them in and use them in the post. If they don't arrive I will have to change the post a bit!

At last! Some layouts completed!

Although we had a busy weekend, with Ben paying us a flying visit and finally getting around to finishing all those jobs that were hanging over from our return from holiday, I managed to get into the conservatory and scrap!

My first layout is my first page for my USA scrapbook.

This was an amalgam of quite a few bits and pieces from Shimelle layouts! The border across the top was made by cutting out circles from the map we used and then folding them and then attaching with brads. I was pleased with the result.

I then decided to do a couple of layouts from our Isle of Wight holiday.

This layout was done using Shimelle's 'and now for something completely different' class on UKScrappers for June. When I had finished it I wasn't sure if I liked it, but it is growing on me!

The final layout I did was based on a sketch from a blog I stumbled upon. It is called 52sketches52weeks and is actually not running any more, but all the sketches are still available and there are some lovely ones.

I used sketch 47

and came up with this:

This layout I was really pleased with, and I enjoyed doing some stitching on it, so may break out the threads and do some more on the next few layouts!

It is lovely to be back in the swing of scrapbooking again. Before we went away I couldn't settle to it, but with no big events coming up at the moment I seem to be back in my groove!

And now for something completely different

As you know, I am taking part in the challenges/classes from Shimelle over on UKScrappers, called &now for something completely different.

For May, the preparation can be found here. And the 20 steps here.

And here is my layout!

I used the link Shimelle gave to create my photo strip and then printed it at home on 4x6 paper. I quite like the result and will probably use it again. This is definitely not my type of layout, with all the ink splats, but I am quite pleased with the result!

And now for something completely different!

Yes, a couple of layouts from Shimelle's class over on UK Scrappers. I have had the March and April class printed out and sitting on my scrapping desk for ages and have only just got around to doing them.

Firstly the March class. You can see the supplies Shimelle suggests here and the 20 steps here. And my layout is here!

The idea was to use a set of stamps directly onto your page. I used a set which had been sitting gathering dust ever since I won them on a blog hop and I have to say I was really pleased with the result and will probably use this idea again.

The April class supplies are here. The 20 steps can be seen here. The main challenge with this one was to use a large photo. I chose one of our Isle of Wight holidays of the 3 of us, which I can then use as the front page for the holiday album I will do.

 

I really enjoyed both of these challenges/classes and I am looking forward to doing May's which will go 'up' on the 20th May.

And now for something completely different...

The February edition! You can see Shimelle's step by step instructions on UK Scrappers, here.

I made up my kit, way back on the weekend following the 10th February when the kit details went up. I am enjoying this as it is getting me to use up papers that have been sitting around for ages. The layout for February had the option to add a 'mini book' instead of just one photo. I decided to use three photos from a family get together back in December.

The layout

The first photo in the little 'book'

The third photo

Anyway, thanks for looking! Please come back tomorrow to share my story for Story Telling Sunday.

and now for something completely different

Over on UKScrappers, Shimelle is hosting a technique class every month - and now for something completely different (nfscd). On the 10th of the month she puts up a list of the supplies she will be using. You then have 10 days to get everything together before she does the 20 step post on the 20th of the month, walking you through the layout with pictures rather than a video.

So, as you know, I am a sucker for Shimelle led classes/challenges/techniques, so I just had to have a go! This month, the first post was here and Shimelle showed us the papers, embellishments, paint etc we would need. I didn't have the papers she was using and didn't particularly want to use the exact ones anyway as I didn't really have photos to go with them. This was the ideal opportunity to put together a kit using some of the stash I already have (and then I feel virtuous too!). Having got my kit ready I couldn't wait until the 20th when this post was put up. The project, step by step. I got to work on Saturday evening and came up with this layout.

I enjoyed using a technique I hadn't done before, namely splattering a mist on the page! This layout took a while to put together, but I enjoyed every minute of it and loved all the different elements on it - paint, mists, sewing, cutting, writing etc. I also liked the fact that I actually used up some more of my patterned papers!