August 21st challenge

Hi folks! We're back with another fun challenge this week and the design team have done a fabulous job with their layouts! Your challenge this week is to create a layout about something you're looking forward to.

And here is a little inspiration from the design team :)

Amanda

Although the area I live in at the moment is quite rural, we're moving somewhere even more remote in a couple of weeks. One thing I'm looking forward to is being surrounded by all the luscious greenery every day! The picture on my page is of one of the little lanes I have to drive down on my new route home :)

Anna

I'm looking forward to my sister and brother-in-law moving to Bristol so they will be closer to home. They have wanted to move for years but it's now finally happening, exciting!

Jules

This was a really tough challenge! I've gone for something that I'm looking forward to hopefully happening one day. I have relatives in Vancouver, and I think I'm the only member of my immediate family who hasn't been out to visit them! This postcard was sent to me by my parents when they went over last - I didn't want to adhere it to the layout as I didn't want to lose what my Mum has written on the back, so it's held on with the mini pegs and tucked into the embellishments at the bottom.

Julie


This was a fun one. I cannot wait for this November, when my friend are I are going on a cruise. I've never cruised before and am so excited! :)

Tessa

We've had a pretty mild summer where I live, but I just can't help but look forward to crisp, colorful fall. One of my favorite things about autumn is the change of wardrobe. I'm already prepping my closet for cardigans and shopping for new scarves.

Val

Right around this time of year it kicks in - my absolute love for all things Halloween. I've always loved it and by the time September rolls around, I'm counting down the days before I can break out the decorations.

So to join in this month you need to link up your project in the comments section of the relevant post. You have until the 31st August to enter for any of the August challenges including last week's mini scraplift challenge, and you could win a gift voucher for Scrap Rat! We can't wait to see your creations!

August 7th Challenge

Hi everyone! It's time for our first August challenge.

Your challenge is to gain you inspiration from books, whether that is a book cover, a title, story or something else...

I can't wait to show you the lyouts from the Design Team, they really rocked it!

This month the sponsor is Scrap Rat Kits. There is already a £10 voucher up for grabs for the scraplift challenge (redeemable against anything in the store) and I'm giving away a £15 voucher for the main August challenges! As always, we welcome international participants!
So on to your inspiration for the book challenge...

Amanda

I wanted to create a layout to inspire me to start reading some of the many non-fiction books I've amassed over the years. I took a snapshot of a small section of my bookshelf and focused on the fact that I have all these books I want to read, but never make the time. I find that, for me, just making myself aware of things that have fallen by the wayside inspires me to pick them up again. Here's hoping!

Anna

When I was looking around at books to inspire I was immediately drawn to this book cover, I love the images around the outside of the book.

 Here is the layout that I created from it!

I couldn't quite stretch to photos of a beach cafe so I did it about the beach instead! I had great fun stenciling and hand painting all the images around the edge! Love this effect! I enjoy reading so maybe now I should actually read this book to see what its like!

Julie

The 'Old' side is based on my love for old dictionaries (I collect them)...and if you flip it, the 'New' side is about my Nook...which I love as well, but lately it gets used mostly when my kids take it to play Angry Birds. :)
The book picture is what I based my layout on. I collect the Companion Library series (old Children's Classics)...if you read them one way, it's one story...if you flip it over, it's another.

Jules

I absolutely love books! I've always been an avid reader, and it's not unusual to see me like this, hidden behind a novel. If I'm not crafting then chances are I'll be reading :D

Tessa

I found my inspiration for this challenge in an actual, vintage book cover. I love the distressing on the left edge caused by being pulled away from the spine, and I love the well-worn edges and imperfections. The book cover in turn inspired my title and journaling. I want my children to remember the precious, random moments from their childhood, and that's why I scrapbook - to tell their story.

Val

I made a page about my favorite books when I was a kid: the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. They became a popular TV show here in the U.S. in the early 70s - when I found the series of books in my school library, I was hooked. I still watch the re-runs of the show and recently found a whole set of the books at a yard sale - the same early 70's editions I used to read. They are featured in the photo on my layout:

So to join in this month you need to link up your project in the comments section of the relevant post. You have until the 31st August to enter for any of the August challenges including last week's mini scraplift challenge!

The time has come...

Well, the time has come to wave goodbye to our DT and welcome the new team! We will be going back to our old format of fortnightly challenges, with a monthly sponsor. Challenges will be posted on the first and third Sundays of each month :)

So in addition to myself, I would like you to welcome back four members of the DT:

Anna White-Sharman
Jules Dix
Tessa Buys
Valerie Mangan

And please give a warm welcome to our new DT member, Julie Jacobs!!

As we are not posting a 'proper' challenge this week, I will share a layout from each member of the team. But, I will make it a little fun... scrap lift one of these layouts for the chance to win a £10 gift voucher from Scrap Rat! Post your entries in the comments section of this post.

***Edited to add, the deadline is 31st Augst for this challenge and all entries for August challenges.***

Amanda

Anna

Jules

Julie

Tessa

Valerie

We can't wait to see your scrap lifts! Have fun :)

24th July - Layout Challenge

Ready for another layout challenge? Hope so! Sadly this is the last challenge with our current design team, next month it will be changing again.
This week Amanda designed a sketch for us to play with!

Here's what the design team came up with.

Anna

I had great fun using this sketch, I love the butterflies so I had to make a feature of those, I used a mask and painted over the edges of it so the outline was left.

Heather

Lisa

I loved this sketch.
I've used mostly Studio Calico supplies on this LO.

This week Jules from the Project team has joined in with her take

I thought I'd join in with the layout challenge this week, as the sketch was perfect for these photos of Mojo that I've had for some time, just waiting for the right project!

We would love to see what you came up with so please link your layouts up!

Wednesday Extra: Altered Chair by Julie

Hi everyone! Julie Tucker-Wolek with you here today and I want to share a chair that belonged to my Father when he was about 3 or 4 years old! :)

I am going to give a spoiler here and show you WHAT I did with his chair! AKA ... the final result first! :)

I just love how this turned out! Now let me show you what I started out with and how I turned this....

Into my "new" chair I have shared above :)

 My Dad's chair started off yellow, and along the way someone tried to paint it blue, but never finished it :)

Now let's see what I did with the chair....

 First, I started by spray painting the chair green :)

Then I got a Prima Mask that I used with white spray paint to create my flowers on the chair :)

Yep! That is me getting down and dirty with the spray paint! :)

Now let's see who it turned out with the"masked" flowers on it :)

I used all Prima goodies on my "new" chair (oh, and some Tattered Angels mists and Tim Holtz distressing ink!)

Prima papers to make my paper flowers-

Then I misted them...

Now, its time to decorate! :)

Prima trim around the edges...

Distress ink around the edges of my Prima paper to make my "bouquet" holder!

Making the paper wrap for my "bouquet"

Some Prima buttons to cover the spot that I stapled the paper together!

Now, to put my bouquet together! I put tissue paper in the base of my Prima paper wrap to fill in some of the gaps and have a place to glue my Prima paper flowers too! 

Some Prima journal cards to help my title stand out... 

These Prima mistable titles are amazing! I love them!

Some of the flowers I made with an added Prima flower!

Almost done! :)

Here she is! :)  My final project! :)

A beautiful Prima butterfly!

A fun Prima birdcage! 

I truly enjoyed sharing this with you! I hope you enjoyed it also! Thanks so much for stopping by! 

~~Julie~~