Farewell 2011 . . . .

Well its the end of the year . . . finally!  I for one am glad to see the back of 2011. It hasn’t been the best of years for me for one reason or another . . . but thats life I suppose, we have to take the ups and downs , the rough with the smooth. Here’s hoping that 2012 is going to be a better year for us all.

No scrapping has been done over the  holiday period apart from my Sketch & Scap LO which I can’t upload yet but I have been crafty – what do you think of my altered magic tape dispenser ?  DH thinks it was a step too far . . .lol  he thinks I am obsessed with pretty paper and I dont know for the life of me how he came to that conclusion!

This time last year I was searching the internet for various projects to do / take part in during 2011 and I chose a few to play along with. I failed to keep up with them all!  So disappointing really . . .   some of them I just got bored with, others I fell behind on and then lost the will to play catch-up, so this time around I am not committing myself to any projects. No goals, no deadlines, no worries!  2012 is set to be a busy year for us so I thought I would just go with the flow and do what I can when I can and just enjoy my crafting.I do intend to keep a record of 2012 in the mini album I made and have promised myself to take more photo’s but other than that I have made no commitments.

So all that is left to say is . . .
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE,
MAY IT BE HAPPY AND HEALTHY FOR US ALL

XXX

Photo Finish! Week 2

I am so far behind with this class!!  Nothing new I suppose . . .   the good thing about the classes at Big Picture though is you can jump in and out as time permits which is perfect for me.

The class for week 2 was amazing!  I’ve seen many photo’s with a ‘pop’ of colour on and B&W pic and never quite managed to achieve a clear result – until now. I suppose its like anything really, its easy when you know how.

So here are a couple of photo’s I played with for this class. First we had to convert to B&W then decide on the ‘pop’ of colour we wanted to keep:

Joe dressed up for his formal back in October

Love this one. I took this pic of a thistle while on holiday in Scotland back in June.

The course is now in its fourth and final week but I still have the week 3 assignment to do first!

Thanks for stopping by,
Hugs
Dee
xx

Websters Pages and Dusty Attic . . .

After getting some Websters Pages products in one of my MCS kits recently I have become addicted. The same kit also introduced to me Dusty Attic chipboard products.

Here a 2 LO’s I have done with the All About Me range from Websters Pages.

Formal Wear

Joe all dressed up for his Formal (school prom – here in Ireland it is called a Formal instead) hence the title which I thought fitting giving the clothes he is wearing too.

The ornate swirly on the bottom of the page is by Dusty Attic. It actually came as one whole piece but was configured differently so I cut it and repositioned it how I wanted it. I coloured and embossed it to match the papers.

I used this sketch from the Dusty Attic forum:

This second LO was done for the Dec week 1 challenge on UKS.

I love Your Smile

The criteria here was to use the sketch provided, stamping and dimension. I used a rubber stamp which complimented the images on the green WP paper to create the white / blue background. I also stamped the blooms onto WP paper and arranged them to give the LO dimension.

I think I will be doing  many LO’s with products from both of these manufacturers during 2012!!

Thanks for stopping by,
Hugs
Dee
xx

Flood Fun

The weekly challenge on  UKS this week incorporated this sketch along with the criteria of using only scraps and 2 photos.

I had 2 photo’s ready and waiting to be scrapped so that was easy, the sketch is pretty much OK too and its always great to use up some of those scraps so all in all a pretty good challenge.

Here is what I came up with:

My crazy son Joe making the most of the flood waters from last years flooding. Everyone else was worried and stressed out by the rising waters but not Joe. He saw the newly flooded back yard as a play zone.  And as you can probably tell from the photo’s he is not a little boy . . . .   more like a big kid!

These were the  biggest pieces of scraps I could find in the colours I wanted to match the photo. As I didn’t have a piece big enough for the main background I drew it on with a marker instead to give the same effect.

Thanks for stopping by,
Hugs
Dee
xx

Happy Faces

The 3rd and final sketch on the My Creative Sketches blog is up and running and this is my take on the sketch. I really liked this sketch just the way it was so I haven’t changed things much at all.

And here is my LO – Happy Faces

You wouldn’t believe how long it took to get the kids to sit still for this photo!  I have lots of outtakes and I really likes some of them so I wanted to scrap the silly photo with the nice one but without the silly pic being too visible so I opted for a flap:

And a few close-ups of the embellies:

Thanks for stopping by,
Hugs
Dee
xx

Teddy & Toby–Our Story

Toby ~ October 2010 – September 2011       Teddy ~ October 2010 – October 2011

Most people already know through UKS or my furbaby blog (which I have now closed) that back in September & October I lost 2 of my precious kitties, Teddy & Toby. I was devastated. Many people don’t understand the bond between humans and animals, and they certainly don’t understand me and my love for my furbabys and thats fine, but to me personally it was a very big blow and I still shed many a tear when I think of them.

I had photo’s ready to scrap of both boys as I have a dedicated album just for our furry family but then when they passed away I didn’t have the heart to scrap them, until I saw a challenge on the My Creative Scrapbook forum to create a layout with a hidden pocket. I thought it would be perfect for my photo’s and I could create an ‘In Memory’ style page for the boys using my favourite pics.

This is Teddy & Toby – Our Story

I created the pocket with a gusset as I wanted it to hold quite a thick booklet style insert

This is the booklet insert:

And the reverse side of the booklet with the journaling about their story and the time they spent in our lives. I changed the journaling many times in between a tear or two.

Im really pleased with my finished page, and even more pleased that I  have now scrapped these photo’s and the layout has taken its place in my furbaby album.

Thanks for stopping by,
Hugs
Dee
xx

Ship of Dreams

Its Sketch and Scrap time – well it was last week, Im just a bit behind uploading to my blog!

This months sketch was chosen by Jo and had lots of layers to work with which I like:

I wanted to use up the Bo Bunny Etc. papers that I got in a Scraps of Darkness kit and found this photo from back in 2006 when Eugene and I visited The Titanic Experience while we were in Las Vegas. The famous staircase has been replicated and we couldn’t resist a photo opportunity.

One of the papers had these faux postcards printed on them so I decided to cut one out as a mat for the photo then do my journaling on the back.

Since being introduced to the Dusty Attic products in a recent My Creative Scrapbook kit I am hooked. The two ornate corners were embossed with copper to coordinate them with the papers.

Thanks for stopping by,
Hugs
Dee
xx

Getting Ready for 2012!

While most people at the moment are preparing for Christmas Im preparing for 2012. Im not a great fan of Christmas and therefore I dont do any Christmas crafting, although I have been know to make the odd Christmas card for a select few!

This time last year I was scanning the internet for projects I could do / follow during 2011 and I found the likes of Project 12 and Photography A-Z both of which I started and then failed miserably at finishing. I was so disappointed in myself for not keeping up with these but life never ever goes the way we think it will and I just didn’t have the time or the heart to complete them.

This year I have decided that for 2012 I am not taking on any projects. I am going to do what I can when I can that way I put no pressure on myself to complete things. That said I do want to record my family’s year somehow and while blog-hopping recently I found this inspirational post from Emily Pitts.

The overall size of her album was too small for what I wanted so I adjusted things slightly to suit and so my finished album measures 6¼” x 6¼”. The paper range I used is Crate Paper Farmhouse which I got in my My Creative Scrapbook kit back in October. Its a fabulous collection and lends itself to so many uses.

I started with some kraft cardstock and a few brown cardstock scraps and made the accordion pages:

This is the front of the accordion insert which I decorated:

Next I made the wrap-around cover. Now for the confession!  I actually stuck the cover on upside down so that the larger flap was on the wrong side  but by the time I realised it was stuck firm and I was not about to try to rectify it! So the cover unfolds from the wrong side – but hey, variety is the spice of life!

Here is the finished front cover. See what I mean about opening the wrong way ?  I still think it looks fabulous though.

A cute little 2012 tag attached to the ribbon with a jump-ring:

Inside on the left hand flap is the quote ‘Don’t forget the little things, they’re the one’s that mean the most’

Another pic of the front of the accordion section:

Each month of the year is allocated a double page. On one page the pocket contains two tags which I will stick snapshots to. On the other page the pocket contains a 5”x5” card which is my ‘Graffiti Wall’ this is where I will record the goings on for that month, things I want to remember (or forget as the case me be!) and stick ephemera to.

I have kept the inside quite plain and simple. I want to be able to record each month quickly and easily without too much need for decoration and embellishment which I have done in previous year’s albums.

And finally the back cover:

So I am all set for 2012 – bring it on!!

Thanks for stopping by,
Hugs
Dee
xx

Photo Finish!

Im currently taking a class with the very talented Elisha Snow on Big Picture Classes which is all about the post-processing of our photo’s. I use Photoshop Elements to tweak my photo’s but the program is so intense and capable of so much that its great to have someone show you the basics and the ‘how to'. Elisha has also introduced us to Adobe Lightroom and shooting in RAW format and I am already hooked!  On our walk yesterday with the dogs I snapped a few photo’s to play around with for my week 1 assignment.

The photo of Mia on the left is the original photo I took and the one on the right is the result of some basic editing in Lightroom and Photoshop to give the photo some warmth and correct / improve the lighting.

Here are some more shots from the walk which have not been edited:

And finally another comparison set, this time featuring Amy & Miley:

Its only week one of the class so I’ll be posting more updates and assignments as I go along.

Thanks for stopping by,
Hugs
Dee
xx

Adorable Smile

 

This week I played along with the Bird is The Word challenge  for the first time.  The challenge word is ‘Adore’ although I lengthened mine and went with ‘adorable’ instead.

The papers are Crate Paper Farmhouse and yes, I know I have been using them a lot lately . . .lol.  They are fabulous and so versatile.

This LO is also for last week’s weekly challenge on UKS. The criteria there was to use Autumnal colours, a cut out photo, glitter and/ or bugs and finally paint.

I distressed the yellow paper with 2 different shades of acrylic paint dabbers as well as using paint on the ‘honeycomb’ chipboard. The flowers and chipboard were glittered with stickles and I added a dragonfly for my bug. The photo is of Joe back in 2000. It was perfect for cutting out as there was a lot of background featuring other child from the park.

Over the past few weeks I haven't felt like scrapping much at all but thankfully that feeling is starting to turn and in fact I could quite happily sit in here and scrap all day at the moment!

Thanks for stopping by,
Hugs
Dee
xx

OUAS Giveaway!!!!

I love to follow the challenge blog Once Upon A Sketch – the layouts you see on there are submitted from all over the world and are so inspiring.

Right now they are offering this fabulous prize to one lucky winner -

Oh what a parcel of lushness that would be to receive in the post!
Stop by their blog and check it out for yourselves.

Hugs
Dee
xx

My Creative Sketches #2 – Country Life

Wow there is nothing like an approaching deadline to get me scrapping!  Since my return from the weekend retreat at the end of October I have hardly done any scrapbooking. I did however manager to do 7 layouts at the retreat, didn’t quite beat my personal best of 8 but it was close enough, so I have those still yet to photograph and blog.

Anyway, back to the deadline!  My Creative Sketches Big Fall Contest #2 sketch ends in 2 days so I thought I had better get on with mine. This is the sketch for this month:

And here is my layout – Country Life
I love this photo of Eugene taken earlier this year while we were on one of our many walks.

Thanks for stopping by,
Hugs
Dee
xx

One Sunny Day in Winter . . . . .

. . . .  I took this photo of Amy. We were sitting in the car outside the school waiting for Joe at the end of the day. The warm feel of the photo and the colours were perfect to go with these papers from October Afternoon and Cosmo Cricket which were in my August main kit from My Creative Scrapbook.

Sitting one evening and cutting out all the flowers was very relaxing and I love the look you get when you re-group them. I got so many from the sheet that there are leftovers to use another page or two.

This next page was done for the weekly challenge on UKScrappers which this week involved using no PINK! A challenge for me in itself. We had to use blue, 3 of 3 and a household item.

This is my page featuring a photo of Eugene and the boys taken in WDW Florida back in 2009. The papers are all scrap bits from my scraps box – something I am really conscious about using up at the moment as its getting pretty full!

I used blue, 3 brads, 3 butterflies and 3 hearts and my household item is the string.

Things are slowly getting better as each day passes by and I am really looking forward to my weekend retreat with the wonderful ladies from the Sketch & Scrap group, its just what I need right now. I have put together a few kits in the hope that I can beat my current personal best at a retreat which is standing at 8 layouts! Who knows.

Thanks for stopping by,
Hugs,
Dee
xx

Sketch & Scrap plus . . . . .

some weekly challenges on UKScrappers.

Firstly my Sketch & Scrap LO for September – Casting.

This months sketch was chosen by the lovely Lisa:

I immediately loved the sketch but wanted to step away from the floral feminine feel. I turned the sketch 90 degree’s clockwise to accommodate these photo’s of Joe taken while out fishing during the summer.  I titled my page Casting as its a family joke. The boys have spent many hours fishing without ever catching anything, so I would say to them ‘Oh are you going casting at the weekend’!

The weekly challenge on UKScrappers is a great way to get your mojo flowing and these next few pages were all done for various challenges.

Biscuit

Photo of my adorable Whisker Biscuit, or as she is known at home ‘Biscuit’. The challenge was to use brown, a title beginning with ‘B’, use lots of embellishments beginning with ‘B’ – brads, butterflies, banner, blooms.

The title for this was designed in Photoshop and printed onto Safmat

Super cute resin cat embellishment!

Give Me Cornetto

The twins looking like they were really enjoying their ice cream cones. The challenge here was to use an advertisement logo as your title as this title popped into my head immediately. I cut around the photos to get rid of all the busy background.

Thanks for stopping by,
Hugs
Dee
xx