A Snowy Sunrise...

Woke up to a couple inches of snow on the 27th. My dad wanted to go out early to hit the sales. So we got to witness the beautiful sunrise over the snow covered fields.

While we were out I caved and bought a Mambi scrapbook pad, the backing paper is from that.

Paper and tree embellishments came with November's Scrapbook Magazine

\Baker's twine

Papermania pastel buttons and ribbon

Studio Calico veneers

A Belated Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and that Father Christmas brought them what they wanted!
I took the opportunity to do plenty of scrappin'...
They're all sort-of scraplifts, from Scrapbook Magazine. The free papers that came with it were irresistable! (Not that I didn't put any effort in with these, mind. I spent an entire DAY last week cutting out the little embellishments that came with it. So much cutting that I lost all feeling in my thumb and it's only now just returned.) The papers are by Nitwit.
This first page is of the Christmas cake I made with my mum, and our table setting for Christmas Day. The only extras I added here are numbered wood veneers.

Not many photos were taken on Christmas Day. So I just used the photos my dad took of me and my boyfriend and mum. I used sizzix 'life made simple' dies to finish off this layout.

 This last page is my favourite, I loved arranging all of the individual embellishments and this was a great opportunity to use up all the Christmassy bits and bobs which I felt didn't really work for card designs.

Spent the weekend in Chester!

We went to see the Christmas market, the lights and the zoo.
It went far too fast! It was a lot of fun, we stayed at Cheshire Oaks which was lovely. Felt like the Christmas Market had been so much better when we've been before, though. On the Sunday at the zoo it was sunny all day and we spent a good hour watching the Red Pandas... an hour well spent!

DCWV Hey Sailor paper

Papermania Letter To Santa paper

Teresa Collins chipboard

My Mind's Eye Chipboard

Grace Taylor Modern Cabin die cut

Teresa Collins Daily Stories paper

First Edition Neroli paper

Studio Calico wood veneers

Papermania Lace Paper

Kaisercraft die cuts

My Mind's Eye The Sweetest Thing papers

My Mind's Eye On The Bright Side die cuts

Papermania All Aboard tape

Papermania Sew Lovely ribbon

Now all my scrapbooking is up to date...

What am I supposed to do with my time now...

I'll have to do uni work and I don't want to....

Holidays Are Coming!

Last Monday, the Coca Cola truck came to Sheffield.
So I made a scrapbook page using the photos I took, inspired by the design on a coca cola can... Red paper and silver paint!

DCWV paper and overlay

First Edition Neroli paper

Papermania Art Deco paper

Xcut snowflake dies

I got a new hat....

So I put it on Nathan 'cause he's a cutie pie....
And took his photo...
And made a scrapbook page....
Any excuse to use my new ornate frame and life made simple dies and spray ink...!
I used a sizzix die cut as a stencil with my spray ink instead of just sticking the die cut to the page...  think it looks really cool!

Xcut Ornate Frames, oval des

Sizzix Life Made Simple Forever & A Day die

My Mind's Eye papers/embellishments

First Edition Man Made papers

Papermania Happy Days die cut

Papermania All Aboard Tape

Papermania charms/buttons/gems

Sparklers!

Earlier in the month, I bought some sparklers and Nathan and I played around with shapes and took some photos using a slow shutter speed. It was so much fun, and today I finally got around to making a scrapbook page using my favourite shots.

DCWV Gilded paper

My Mind's Eye Chalk Studio II chipboard

Black ribbon

Xcut snowflake dies (they make for great fireworks!)

Teresa Collins Stories letters

Adhesive gems

Made some glittery baubles...

We found a pack of 3 polystyrene balls in the Christmas drawer. We did not know why we had them. 

So we bought some gold spray paint and some glitter.

The gold spray paint did not work...

So I spent my morning covered in glitter and glue... and ended up with three gorgeous baubles!

....also, my leggings are all sparkly now. Bonus! 

All my Christmas cards are DONE.

 I really enjoyed making these. Hunkydory toppers are my new favourite.

Was very disappointed last weekend...

I was so fed up (the weather was bad and I didn't have anything to occupy myself with) so I braved the rain and went up to The Range... to find they didn't have the new docrafts products in. Well, they did, but not the chalkboard and bare basics stuff that I wanted. Then I went to Smiths and they didn't have the new Scrapbook magazine in. So I went home empty handed.... Sad crafter.

But then on Monday I went back and got the magazine.
And I found wood veneers and kaisercraft die cut packs really cheap on Amazon from America... so they should come shortly...
And I ordered some spritzing ink too...
And I won a bid on the new xcut ornate oval frames on ebay... half RRP...
And I found some gorgeous scrapbook supplies in TKMaxx.

So by the end of the week, I was a happy crafter...

More Christmas card making!

This is my favourite so far! 

Feeling autumnal....

Hi everyone!

Stayed home today, apparently some bright spark thought it 'cool' to drop a generator onto the railway line so all trains to Sheffield were cancelled and there is no other way of getting there in an hour....

I am contemplating popping into town to pick up the new issue of Scrapbook magazine (but will they have it in stock?) and maybe up to The Range (but will they have the new docrafts products in stock?). Also I've no one to go with and I'm always paranoid when I'm alone.. wah.

Anyway, I did a spot of scrapbooking earlier this week....

This first page is inspired by autumn, spied these mushrooms on the way back from the supermarket the other day... Experimented more with layering on this, too. 

Mambo paper (orange)

First Edition man made paper (Orange & green stripes)

Studio Calico paper (green with diamonds) and wooden topper

Papermania birdsong letters

K&Co Flora & Fauna borders/toppers

Grace Taylor toppers

Papermania All Aboard calendar and tape

I also drew the mushrooms.... someone on the internet said this is the best mushroom drawing they'd ever seen! 

 And then one misty morning the hanging basket tree was covered with spider webs.... the same week that Nathan and I made Halloween cake pops...  So here's a spooky page... may have gone overboard with sequins....

Trip to Manchester

Went to Manchester for the day last week! We've been meaning to go back as we didn't get much chance to look around when we went in July. We've got a university project to create a documentary video, and I wanted to do mine about dinosaurs... and we'd never been to Manchester Museum... 

It was fantastic! It's as good as the Natural History Museum, if not better. After that, we had a wander around the shops in Manchester.

Die Cuts With A View - Gilded Paper

K&Co border and embellishment bird

Papermania Madame Payraud and All Aboard tape

Grace Taylor die cuts (plus the gridded packaging they came in!)

Recollections 'The Sweetest Thing' paper

Gorjuss memory pocket

Gold skeleton leaves

Using up lots of scraps to make the circles!

Nice surprise!

Postman just handed me a big box with these 12x12 scrapbook pads inside... Guess who's won another giveaway! (This time it's from Scrapbook Magazine)

I had a day off today but I haven't done any crafting... because we're going up to Hobbycraft on Thursday and who knows what goodies I'll pick up... But maybe not more scrapbook paper as I have enough to last a lifetime...!

Made another Christmas Card!

I'm on a roll today... but this is the last one, I'm saving the rest for when mum gets home so we can make some together.

Again I've used mainly Letter To Santa products (decoupage, papers, ribbon, die cut)
Also Create Christmas wooden embellishment and ribbon.

Won a Photography competition!

A few weeks ago we went to the Festival of the Plough... They were running a Photography competition... winner gets their picture on the front of next year's guide book, a bottle of wine, and a framed print of the winning photo.
My parents and I took around a camera each... and snapped away!
We each put our best photo on the FOP facebook page...
Last sunday, this happened....

"And the winner is.......

Emilie Grant. Stunning colour and interest in foreground and background. Nicely done. You're on the front cover next year."

I was in shock... While we were there, we saw so many people with SLR cameras with the big lenses... and then I won it with my little bridge camera.
I did spend some time composing the perfect shot... here it is!

I have yet to hear of that bottle of wine and framed print....
I'll give them another week... if I've heard nothing, I shall enquire...
(I'll be giving the wine to my parents, though; I prefer Cherry Cola...)

First Christmas card of the year!

Hi everyone,
Been absent because uni has started up again... in 5 days a week... tiring. And they're getting everybody up to the same level so right now it's rather zzzzzz. I'm doing Digital Media Production, which is basically video, photography, design etc.

Anyway, my mum won a docrafts prize draw and a big box of christmas goodies came this week  (I won the creativity club draw and won lots of Roald Dahl stuff but I wasn't keen on it so I gave it to my cousin!) These christmas goodies plus the stuff docrafts sent me to say sorry for the website not working for me... means altogether all I've spent on xmas cards this year is just under £5...!

Today I've got a free day, my parents are on holiday and Nathan's gone to Manchester for a gaming tournament... house to myself... means cover the craft room in so much stuff that I can't actually see the desk... right?!

So, first Christmas card...

Used mainly the Papermania Letter To Santa Collection (papers, bows, ribbon, die cut)
Also used Create Christmas jingle bells and wooden shape, and Bellissima papers.
My hexagon die set also came in handy!

Rose lemonade!

Rose lemonade is my favourite drink... but it's incredibly hard to find! I hoped I could find some in London... looked everywhere... Selfridges....sweet shops... had just about given up when went into 'Little Waitrose' in King's Cross station to get a sandwich...  there it was! Got a couple bottles. That was a week go and I've not touched them... because I know it'll be months before I find another bottle! (Fentimans, if you're reading this, please get stores in Doncaster to sell this. I will buy it all.)

Papermania Capsule Greens backing paper, die cut & glitter flowers

Webster's Pages paper

Dovecraft doilies

Papermania Bellissima embellishment & notelet

Santoro brad

Papermania Vintage Notes bloomers

Cath Kidston needle case (upcycled!) 

The Works cameo

Grace Taylor embellishments

Hello! It's been a week or so since I last posted...

On Tuesday we went to London for a day! It was so much fun and flew by. (Scrapbook pages to follow next week!). 

On the bus into town that day to get the train I heard some kids saying 'have you got a sore throat too' 'yeah', so obviously I caught something and spent yesterday feeling poorly and it was horrible and I was so frustrated because I couldn't do anything... Luckily, Nathan came round for a bit to make me feel better. (I didn't ask, he insisted, even though I told him not to because I felt such a mess!) Feeling a lot better now though but getting my appetite back wouldn't go amiss.... There is cake from Betty's Tea Rooms (courtesy of Nathan's mum) sitting on my desk right now and I don't feel like eating it. Hmph

Anyway

I dedicated this morning to getting some scrapbooking done. I've been in a dilemma because my scrapbook has page dividers stuck throughout and they can't be moved so I had one page - divider - another page before I had another double page spread and I've been stuck for something to stick on the single pages. 

So I had a rummage through my pictures folder and found this photo of Nathan modelling the scarf I knitted for him. For some reason I always end up surrounding such photos with flowers and butterflies... but they match the colour scheme. And purple is his favourite colour.

Papers - Mambi/Webster's pages/Papermania Bellissima/Papermania spots and stripes/Aspire crafts

K&Co flora & fauna border/embellishments

The Works embellishments

Papermania chronology die cut

Going to Festival of the Plough in Epworth tomorrow (because there's a craft fair and fluffy chickens) so maybe I'll get a scrapbook page or two from that as well!

Knitted myself a hat!

Now the tops of my ears won't get cold in winter!

Scrapbook pages using photos from our day in Scarborough last month!

It seems so long ago now... It was such a lovely day (bit chilly mind)... but I took my camera and got some lovely photos of the beach and bay (and of course the customary selfie...haha)

(My dad came home with a new printer last week and this is the first time I've printed photos with it. Prints really fast and the quality is phenomenal!)

Nitwit seaside papers and embellishments (free with scrapbook magazine)
American Crafts 'Atlantic' papers
Papermania green paper, pastel die cuts, 'All Aboard' alphabet, 'Alice' alphabet die
Tilda decoupage stickers (been dying to use these for MONTHS!)
K&Co chipboard embellishments

Manchester MCM scrapbook pages!

So a few weeks ago we went to Manchester for Comic-Con.

I kept the first page much brighter than the second, though they share a lovely balloon theme.

The first page features one of my favourite pictures ever. A professional photographer asked to take some photos of Sam and Nathan in their steampunk attire and then offered to take one of the three of us together using my camera. 

I wanted to keep this page fun because of how much we enjoyed the weekend. Put the train tickets there too because the conductor was cool and punched our tickets with a teddy-bear punch... made me smile!

I cut out bits of the balloon paper so it overlaps the photo a bit to bring the page together.

Papers: Webster's pages (balloons) and Grace Taylor 'Parisian Chic' scrapbook kit (embellishments are from this too)

Gorjuss memory pockets

This second page features the best photo I took from the weekend and my steampunk shoot with the guys. (Sam had made steampunk guns by painting Nerf guns and they looked really cool!)

I wanted to use just one photo here because often I use three or four and I want to start focusing more on layouts. On that trip I went to Fred Aldhous and picked up some K&Co goodies and told myself I'd use the clock hands for this page... and I remembered!

Papers: Curiousity Corner/Gorjuss

Black lace

Papermania Chronology papers cut with hexagon die, plus Chronology decoupage and embellishments and Madame Payraud sticker

K&Co clock hands (from Flora & Fauna borders set)

Other embellishments from The Works

Hope everyone's having a good weekend!

Bit shocked!

Yesterday I messaged docrafts saying 'hey your website still won't let me on the members area even though it's said the problem had been fixed', so they fixed it and asked for my address so they could send me something as a 'sorry'. I expected a pack of stickers or something...! This is from the new range that isn't even out yet, too. 

Started knitting a scarf!

Its for my boyfriend, because it wanted a new knitting project and I don't want him being cold while we're waiting for the train to uni in winter. It's only the third thing I've ever made and I found a really cool pattern :) Hopefully I can get it finished before it starts getting colder!

Liverpool scrapbook pages!

I took some fantastic photos of our trip to Liverpool so I picked my favourites and printed them out A5 size..

For the first I started out with Grace Taylor 'Parisian Chic' papers and embellishments... then I found the 6x6 'Darling Dear' Stuido Calico papers so used them too, to coordinate with the colours in my photos.

Also, The Works have some lovely embellishments in at the moment like the wooden ones I've used here.

 The second page is my favourite because that night was beautiful. I used co-ordinating colours and self adhesive fabric paper to add extra texture to the page. I didn't want to have too much going on here as the pictures speak for themselves, really.

Made a few things to sell..

I've no bloody clue what the best way to sell crafts online is so I'm giving ebay a try seeing as they do 20 free listings per month plus (usually) 100 free listings on a weekend at the end of the month.

They're HERE if anyone's interested, plus I'm selling my Spectrum Noir pastel pens set and a few other craft supplies...

Updaaaaaate!

Sorry I've not been around for a week or so. I've been doing lots of crafty things but everything was just half finished... but not anymore!
Lately I've been trying to learn some new crafts. A few months ago I painted some Mandarinfish... so I thought it'd look cool embroidered. I've got it drawn out and since I took the picture I've got a little bit done, but I've never done embroidery before so it may take A While.

 Also just this morning I've completed my second ever knitting project - Hello Kitty! :D

Also had a fun weekend - we went up to Scarborough on Sunday and it was fun (well, apart from seagull attack..) Bit chilly on the beach though! 

Then on Monday it was my 20th birthday. I had no idea what I wanted to do. I considered London to see the Mammoth exhibition at the Natural History Museum but train tickets are stupidly expensive...So Nathan took me up to The Range and I picked up a Gorjuss decoupage pack and some canvas bags to decorate.

I've also had a go at learning to crochet. I asked Nathan to pick me up a book on it in town and he did (cutie pie) but the book is SO confusing so I'm gonna have to take it back :( Knitting is so easy compared to crochet! Still gonna keep at it, but I'm finding youtube tutorials more helpful than a book because I can actually see exactly what they're doing. I managed a tiny flower yesterday...

But mostly this week I've been drawing this and it's the best thing I've ever done...!

Experimenting...

Hello! Hope everyone's having a good weekend.

Seeing as the memory pockets I made sold on eBay, I wanted to make some more.. but I didn't have enough twine... so I had to order more. Not come yet, though!

I also had the idea of making tags. So I ordered a set of Tim Holtz tag dies and seeing as they arrived yesterday, I had a play and came up with this. 

Gonna make a set of different steampunky designs and put them on ebay and see how it goes :D

18th birthday 'Gorjuss' card!

My cousin is going to be 18 soon... So I made her this! She's just getting into crafting and she LOVES Gorjuss! :)

Red Pandas!

Red Pandas are my favourite animal...
So seeing them at Chester Zoo was amazing!

Using Papermania 'Happy Days' range plus K&Co 'Flora & Fauna border and decoupage embellishment..!

Not really craft related, but I went to Manchester Comic-Con at the weekend!

Really I just went because the guys have no sense of direction...
Nah, I'm kidding. Last year I didn't enjoy it much 'cause everything was video game stuff..
But this year there were lots of fashion/art stands.. so my purse came out often! Haha
And I got really excited when we saw some bats from our hotel room! I tweeted Chris Packham about it and he said he didn't know what species they were... -,- Thought he was an expert!
Anyway, on the second day, Nathan and Sam went dressed in their steampunk attire and they looked so darn COOL that I saw the photography opportunity staring me right in the face, so here's a few pictures...

Still got tons of scrapbooking to do so I'll get on with that tomorrow while I'm waiting for the supplies I ordered yesterday/today arrive. I'm making some more memory pockets as they sold on eBay (with more than one bid! cool!) and I need more twine and brads... and I've ordered some tag dies as I want to make and sell gift tags, too! 

Back and scrappin'!

Had a couple nights home from our break in Liverpool and at stupid o clock in the morning we catch a train back west to Manchester for ComicCon... no rest for the wicked...and I have to wear a pink wig which I am NOT looking forward to... but things like this are always more fun that I expect, so... And I get Pizza Hut. :)
Anyway, Liverpool was fantastic, probably the best break ever! Sorted out my 400+ photos when we got home and I spent today making my first three scrapbook pages from it, all using my Chester Zoo pictures.

While in Liverpool we popped into TK Maxx because they often have a nice different selection of craft supplies than what can be found at The Range and whatnot and it's always the 'different' stuff that looks best! It was my lucky day as they must have had 10-15 different 12x12 scrapbook pads at £8 each. After 10 mins deliberation (literally), I went with a 50-ish sheet glitter/foil/UV pack and used it in my Chester Zoo pages! They also had packs of 180 sheets of non-glittery stuff for that price, but I couldn't resist shine and sparkle!
The pages I've done are focused mainly on the photos, as usual.. I can never bring myself to just pick one photo or print tiny...
My first page is just some pictures layered onto co-ordinating First Edition paper with some Grace Taylor flowers. I was happy that different brands use the same colour schemes! One thing I love about Chester Zoo is the gardens as well as the animals... may have to print that lily out big and frame it.

My second page I based around some of the paper that comes free with Scrapbook magazine. This is by Bo Bunny, I believe. I liked how the stripes looked to have different textures so I picked colours from this paper and chose ribbons of the same colour and carried on the stripes across the page. I'd never seen a male orang-utan before and he was just sitting there so high up looking out across the zoo. He was so big and I couldn't believe how long his fur was!

We saw some giraffes too, and it seems that Nathan is as tall as a baby one.... while I'm just past it's shoulder. 

The third page is using the Papermania Botanicals paper as well as my new shiny stuff. The small creatures at the zoo are just as interesting as the big ones and I particularly loved the Parson's Chameleon... because he is Pascal from Tangled! Haha. 

Hope everyone has a nice weekend, (and hello to blog hoppers!) and I'll be back Monday xxx