You Light Up My Life - Stitched Layout

Hi all,

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas Day and Santa brought you what you wanted! I'm now chillin' in the jammies I got in the sales today with a glass of Bailey's.
Here's my latest layout. For our photography project at uni, one aspect was portraits so I wanted to have some interesting lighting going on so I got Nathan to hold some Christmas lights, in the garage with the lights off.
The lightbulb paper from the Heidi Swapp 'September Skies' paper pad was perfect for this layout!

Lately I've been inspired by circular layouts. I always enjoy a bit of stitching too so I got my compass out and drew two circles, one a little smaller than the page and another inside that. I started by stitching around the outer circle in orange but I pulled it out because I didn't like it. Instead I stitched between the circles for part of the way around. I just pierced the paper at points along the outer circle that intersected with the edges on the lightbulbs on the backing paper. I then stitched towards the centre point. For the outside edge I did the same, finishing each stitch 1.5cm from the edge. 

A close up of the title, stamped using the Traditional Alpha stamp set from docrafts. I lined the letters up on the layout before pressing the clear stamp block onto them so they were in perfect alignment with the curve of the circle. 

We're going to the pantomime (Snow White) in Grimsby tomorrow afternoon.

We went every year when we were little, and back in October my cousin said how fun it would be to go again... the next day, my grandma rang to see how many tickets to book...

Also it'll be my first time driving on the motorway... luckily so far my dad has been a good teacher so I can't see there being any problems. I drove to the outlet today with Nathan and it all went fine and we got some things from the Next sale. Super pleased with myself :)

Until next time...!

Emily xx

Christmas Gift Tags

Hi all,

So close to Christmas now and if you're not mega-organised like me and had your presents bought and wrapped in November, there's still a little bit of time to get wrapping. Here's a couple of gift tags that can be put together in 5 minutes.

They are using the Geometric Neon collection by Docrafts, out in January. I had some bits left over from a commission and they went great with the paper straws I cut up to make the tree. 

This second one uses die cut bunting and I've turned them upside down to use as trees. 

Now, I need to get into the Christmas spirit - I passed my driving test yesterday! I've spent the past few months thinking (getting worked up!) about that. Now it's done it's a huge relief and I can be myself again! Hopefully that will include having more creative inspiration. And plenty of trips out to take lots of photographs! 

So, have a very Merry Christmas!

Emily xx

Decopatched Star Button Box!

Hi all,

For as long as I can remember, my mum has been keeping her buttons in either an old sandwich box or a takeaway box.

And I did have a set of three star shaped boxes from Docrafts...

So I decorated the largest one and it's now full of buttons!

It took a full pack of Docrafts Papier Patch papers to decorate the box with it being a funny shape and all but the end result is so pretty!

I finished it off with some decoupage from an older Docrafts collection (Sew Lovely) that had been sitting in my stash for a Long Time.. and then some painted wooden embellishments from the new Bare Basics range.

I trimmed the lid with Craft Collection Pastels trim. I love trims with little bobbles on.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

A Wild Layout!

Hi all,

Stopping by to share a new layout I made using pictures from a recent visit with my better half to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. Nathan has never been before so a uni photography project was the perfect excuse for me to show him around, and do you know what? He really enjoyed it! Think his favourite bit was playing with the resident cat...

For this layout I used 'Now & Then' chipboard stickers by My Mind's Eye, along with layering up various papers from my stash. The postcard is from a set I got from Waterstones. 

If I'm honest I think I printed the pictures out a little too big for the page so I couldn't really do much else with it.... but here's how I printed them. (I used Photoshop but I'm sure there is other free programs to do this in. We only pay for Adobe CSS because we use it a lot for uni)

I decided I wanted the square of pictures to be the width of an A4 sheet, so 21cm square. (I'd recommend between 15 and 17cm, in retrospect) I set up a blank canvas in Photoshop. Then I opened each image and cropped it square, and pasted it onto the canvas. I resized the images so I could get three on each row with a gap between. Then I just printed on photo paper and cut out. It's a great way of displaying a lot of pictures on a layout.

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily xx

Scrap Around The World Mood Board December 2015

Hi all

Here's my entry for the last ever Scrap Around the World. There's lot of prizes on offer this month and you can play along here http://scraparoundtheworld.blogspot.co.uk/
This month's mood board:

It's very purple and gold and sparkly with folksy brush layering and gentle curves...

Here's my layout, featuring a picture I took of my boyfriend. I put it into black and white as the original colours didn't match the colour scheme of the mood board but I really wanted to scrap this picture. I echoed the black in the 'hey there handsome' sentiment and there's little bits of black in the film strip as well as the grey in the background.
The background is a steampunk stencil using gel medium and watered down spray ink rubbed over it.
I wanted to include some of the brush type lettering on this layout too so I stencilled 'love you' with tacky glue and applied glitter. It's quite subtle and I covered a wooden arrow in the same glitter and stuck it on the other side.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Quirky Kit Unboxing! (November/December Embellishment Kit)

Hi all,
I wanted some new supplies to get my crafty mojo back and I stumbled upon Quirky Kits. I'm now a very happy subscriber!
Find out more at http://www.craftytemplates.co.uk/

(I might sound a bit funny 'cause my ear is blocked so I can't 'ear myself talk properly...!)


Here's exactly what's included:

Project Life 'High Five' 12x specialty cards
Elle's Studio 'Thankful' cork shapes
Darice Light Green Glitter
Crate Paper Maggie Holmes 'Shine' standouts
Queen & Co Snowflake Rhinestones
Basic Grey 'Typeset' chipboard stickers
(Unsure on the branding of the ribbons and snowflakes)

The extras -

Thickers - Glitter Foam Imprint
Crate Paper Maggie Holmes 'Shine' papers, 'Brilliant' & 'Dazzle'


Now, to get playing... once I've sorted out the rest of my supplies as I seem to have accumulated a ton of c**p that I don't use so... Procrastination...

Thanks for watching!
Emily xx

Conisbrough Castle layout

Hi all,

Here's a layout I made using pictures from a visit to Conisbrough Castle, a ruin just the other side of Doncaster. The first wooden castle on the site was built by the Normans but then this stone structure was built around it. We visited at the beginning of October when it was still warm out... Oh, how I miss those warm days!

I made the background by drawing vertical and horizontal lines with a biro and then colouring the spaces in between with watercolour pencils and then going over them with water to activate the paint. The rest of the layout uses the new Docrafts ranges - Bare Basics butterflies and ricrac, Creativity Essentials Alphabet and Forest stamps, and the XCut steel embossing folder and adhesive chalkboard sheets.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily

Christmas Mixed Media

Hi all

I wanted to make a mixed media piece that can be displayed at Christmas. I printed small pictures I took of our tree last year and framed them (using the new wooden frames from docrafts, painted gold) to look like hanging decorations.

The background is from a roll of BoBunny paper painted with distress paint and then spattered with ink and watered down acrylic paint.

Until next time....
Emily xx

Decopatched Drawers!

Hi all,

Some decopatching to share using Docrafts Bare Basics and Papier Patch.

I covered a drawer set in nature themed deco papers and then finished off with some little knobs I found on a clearance hardware shop on eBay. Without them I don't think the drawers would want to come out, plus they are a lovely finishing touch.
It took a full pack of deco papers but well worth it.

Until next time...!

Emily xx

An update and a brand new layout!

Hi all

Been so busy lately... uni is such a pain in that you get nothing to do for weeks and then the deadlines approach and it's worth making a start so Nathan and I have been doing some photography and filming this week. Luckily I enjoy the photography aspect (most of the time!). Here's a portrait I took of Nathan. (I had to stand on a bench to get a decent angle. I hate being 4'11") Glad he's still wearing the scarf I knitted for him last year! :)

Also when I was shopping with my parents last week I picked up some new supplies, a set of ink pads and a My Mind's Eye chipboard embellishment set from TKMaxx. It's actually a better store for crafts than Hobbycraft because there's always something that little bit different. I couldn't resist the chipboard, especially as it has lots of gold foiling and I do love some sparkle. 

So, I had to have a picture to make a layout using those embellishments (obviously!) so I asked Nathan if he would take a selfie with me.

It's a bit different to what I usually do, more simple, but it works better that way I think. I tried to do an 'ombre' thing with the papers and embellishments to match the background paper... it kind of worked until I added the chipboard but then having a hint of pink at the bottom and a hint of teal at the top balances it out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

A Gorjuss Layout

Hi all

Sorry it's been a while, I have been crafting but with the new collections from docrafts and I'm waiting to hear what I'm to do with those projects I have made. Hopefully it won't be too soon before I can share them.

In the meantime I realised that I never got around to making anything with the Santoro's Gorjuss collection that came out in September. I got so wrapped up in Christmassy things (if you'll pardon the pun) that I forgot all about it!

So I made this layout. If I'm honest I've never been too fussed about crafting with the Gorjuss characters, but the matching papers and embellishments are fab! I tried to use a little bit of everything I have from that range in this layout and tried to layer them up in the centre. I could have maybe done something at the top edge... but I've a limited attention span and an addiction to watching Time Team, so...

Here's a close up of the stitching where the two papers join. I wanted to do something with the join because sometimes they look a bit odd. I marked the paper at 2cm intervals 2.5cm either side of the join and stitched with silver thread.

Thanks for stopping by...

I'm off to Hobbycraft now, my dad kindly offered to take me there seeing as we're going to Meadowhall anyway, and who am I to say no? :D

Emily xx

Christmas Gift Tags!

Hi everyone

Suffering a bit of crafter's block lately...

But today I made some gift tags using my Christmas supplies from docrafts to try and get back into it...

First I die cut some tags from kraft card.
Then I went around each edge with a small amount of PVA glue and sprinkled white glitter and let it dry overnight.

Then I decorated each one.

Now I'm not sure what to do with these... If I actually use them as gift tags they might get thrown away and they're too nice for that!

Anyway, until next time...!
Emily xx

Mini Thank You Cards

Hi all

This week I have been making some smaller cards. They are 10cmx10cm and great for a smaller greeting such as thank you. You could also use them as larger gift tags. They're super simple and quick to make.

The idea came from this card I made for some relatives.

So I thought I'd make a few and then they're ready to go, and I finally got around to making them.

I just used coloured card, embossing folders and some older docrafts collections.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Scrap Around The World Mood Board November 2015

Hi all

Here's my entry for Scrap Around the World this month.

Here's what I came up with. The picture is of a Red Legged Partridge my mum spotted on her way home, came running for me to bring my camera, and showed me it. Rather odd as this species is normally found in flocks in fields but this one was on its own in someone's front garden. It was there a few days, quite happily feeding under a bird table, but I've not seen it since so hopefully it's found its way back to the flock.

Here's this month's mood board. Why not join in?

 http://scraparoundtheworld.blogspot.co.uk/

When I saw the mood board I instantly thought of the picture I'd taken of the partridge. A Christmassy bird, and the picture had hints of red and blue. I wanted to include those colours and a nice crisp white for a winter themed layout. 

I had some products left over from my docrafts PDT kit so I challenged myself to use mainly these in my project. In fact the only extras I used are distress paint (I can't get enough of it).

I embossed A4 white card and then added the paints and some adhesive gems for some extra sparkle.

The papers are from the Pocket Full Of Posies Collection and the stickers from Folk Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Another Autumn Layout

Hi all,


Here's an autumn layout I have made.

The picture was taken at Walkers Nurseries in Doncaster. There is a show garden there and this beautiful bridge is just outside the cafe. (Nice cafe, too...). The colours this time of year are beautiful, and I picked out the orange and pink and used those colours in my layout.

Speaking of beautiful.. the title is created using gel medium.

I bought it to try out some image transfer. But after watching videos on Youtube, I still can't get it to work so instead I looked at other ways to use gel medium. 

So I grabbed a stencil, put the medium onto it, let it dry and sprayed ink onto my desk-saver and added water and painted a wash over the stencilled area. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Docrafts November Collections Unboxing

Hi all

As you may know, I am on the Project Design Team for Docrafts. Every couple of months, new products come out and we get sent a selection to make some projects for their website with. This time there are new Xcut dies, Creativity Essentials stamps, Bare Basics embellishments and boxes, and Papier Patch decoupage papers.

Halloween Layout

Hi all

Another spooky make to share.

On Saturday we were going to see family in the afternoon. Seeing as it was Halloween, we thought we'd get a little something to dress up with and scare everybody... I took a selfie with my parents in our 'costumes' before we set off.

Like the card I made last week, I used the Halloween download papers from docrafts. I hate fussy cutting but sometimes you just have to...

To make the flowers I painted plain flowers with black acrylic and sprinkled over some glitter before the paint dried. The glitter is just nail glitter I bought on eBay but it's really nice to use.

Until next time...

Emily xx

A Spoooooooky Blog Hop!

Hi all

On the docrafts PDT we're having a Halloween/fall themed blog hop today.
Here's the card I made using download papers from docrafts.com.

I was going to make a layout but we don't have any Halloween pictures. I am seeing family today so hopefully I can take some with Halloween props and make a layout next week.

Don't forget to check out what my fellow PDT members have made!

Heather https://heathermitchelldesign.wordpress.com/

Mags Woodcock https://thetaglady.wordpress.com

Julie Wilson http://newnanny.blogspot.co.uk/

Michelle- http://scrapthology.blogspot.co.uk/

Katie http://whatkatiedid2.blogspot.co.uk/

Sarah Douglas http://stickerkitten.co.uk/

Amy Surey https://amysureycreations.wordpress.com/

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Cat 8x8" Layout

Hi all,


While I was waiting for another project to dry I made a quick 8x8" layout using a picture of a cat I see when I go to the post box. She's so sweet, when she sees me she'll come trotting over and then roll over so I have to stop and tickle her tummy. And then not let me leave!

So here's the layout I made. I wanted to cut the title from paper, but it's not worked that well because of the patterned background. We've got to try things though, haven't we?

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily x

Christmas Tree Scrapbook Layout

Hi all,

Just a quick post from me today, a Christmas layout using Papermania Folk Christmas.

Decoupage is normally something reserved for cardmaking but I think it can work really well on a scrapbook layout too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily x

More Christmas Cards

Hi all

The Christmas card making is in full swing now. Not quite time for Christmas shopping yet, although I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it yet...

This first one is an easel card using foiled decoupage. This robin is my favourite (have I mentioned I'm a wildlife nut..). I wanted to echo the foiling so I die cut some snowflakes from silver mirror board and stuck them around the decoupage and on the bottom part of the easel card. The papers and ribbon are from the Papermania Letter To Santa collection.

For this next card I did a bit of layering using the Papermania Folk Christmas collection. I was glad to use this decoupage, it keeps the card nice and simple without sentiments everywhere. There really aren't enough 'Merry Christmas' sentiments in Christmas papercraft collections...

I cut an aperture in a small rectangle and threaded ribbon though it and finished off with snowflakes before sticking on backing papers and putting the decoupage on top using 3D foam.

And finally a stamped card. I'm not very good at stamping, I can never seem to get the pressure right... So this was my second attempt. I finished it off with some adhesive gems for subtle sparkle.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope I can inspire some of your Christmas cards!

Emily x

(Nearly) Blondes Have More Fun! (Scrapbook Layout)

Hi all

A new layout to share. It's mixed media using a tissue paper background. When I buy something and it comes in tissue paper I always save it, it comes in handy if you're after something unique. (if you'd like to find out how to make the background you can check out Katie's blog HERE). Once the background dried I added touches of distress paint and spray ink.
Here's my layout.

(Anyway...
The story of My Hair goes: Dyed it red at age 14, alternated between that and purple until last year-ish when I thought "hey, blonde would look cool". Red doesn't fade, ever, so 2 applications of 'intensive lightener' later and I'm (nearly) blonde. )

Until next time...!

Scrap Around The World Mood Board October 2015

Hi all,

This is my first time entering the Scrap Around the World challenge. I've followed the challenge for a while and have been so in awe of all the entries, and I thought, it wouldn't hurt to have a go, would it?

So here's what I came up with, using pictures from a day out in the October sunshine with my boyfriend.

Here's this month's mood board. If you want to join in you can find out more here http://scraparoundtheworld.blogspot.co.uk/  The mood board inspired my layout with the vibrant colours, particularly the autumn tree. I had been meaning to make an autumnal layout anyway so this was the perfect opportunity. There's a lot of blue in this mood board so I added blue distress paint to my layout, it really makes the oranges 'pop'.

A close up of the ribbon flower. It's just leftovers glued together. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Supermoon Layout

Hi everyone,

Last week I'd been out driving with my dad when he said 'slow down, slow down'... Why? I was going 25 in a 30 zone... had I hit something?
No, he'd seen the supermoon and I hadn't...
So once we'd put my car away we got my tripod and went to take some pictures... I had to stand in the middle of the road to get a shot.. You can just see the silhouette of houses in the picture, but I like this because it gives a sense of scale.

Here's my layout. I am now once again covered in glitter....

And a close up of the shaker element. A combination of neon glitter, silver stars and glass beads.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily x

Cambridge Floral Stamped Layout

Hi all

Another project made using the docrafts Papermania Folk Floral collection.

In the spring we spent the day in Cambridge, and in a park were lots of flower beds, I couldn't resist photographing them.

The Folk Floral stamp set features lots of little flowers and leaves so you can arrange them however you wish on your clear block before stamping.

Then once stamped and the ink is dry, just colour in! Easy peasy.

To find out more, head over to the docrafts website where you can see a step by step guide (X) 

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Sizzler Docrafts PDT Blog Hop

Hi all

On the Docraft PDT we're having a blog hop, the theme being something that reminds us of summer.
So I went through this year's pictures, printed off the one with the bluest sky, and came up with this mixed media layout.

Don't forget to check out my fellow PDT members' blogs!

Heather https://heathermitchelldesign.wordpress.com/

Mags Woodcock https://thetaglady.wordpress.com

Julie Wilson http://newnanny.blogspot.co.uk/

Michelle- http://scrapthology.blogspot.co.uk/

Katie http://whatkatiedid2.blogspot.co.uk/

Sarah Douglas http://stickerkitten.co.uk/

Amy Surey https://amysureycreations.wordpress.com/

Until next time...!

Fireplace Shadow Box Christmas Card

Hi all,

I've been crafting with the XCut Fireplace Shadow Box die set. It's not the most versatile product in the world, but I wanted to try something a little bit different.

So I made a card. But not just any card. A card that can be used as a Christmas decoration!
It's an easel card. I assembled the die cuts and then taped the top edge to the edge of a 13.5cm square card blank.
The collection I used is the Papermania Pocket Full Of Posies range. I didn't want to do a red and green traditional theme, instead I used pale blue, hot pink, blue-green and pale beige. And yet the card still feels very cosy.
Instead of backing the fireplace with paper or card, I used vellum.
I ordered LED tealights on ebay (2 for 99p! Bargain!) and put one in the gap when the card is stood up.

The tealights even flicker like a real candle. Made a little video.

Thanks for stopping by!

A New Series Of ATCs!

Hi all
I spent the other day (around 6 hours!) making a new series of ATCs. (How is it the week before uni starts again, I get inspiration?!?) I sent a few of my ATCs over to Germany last week so I figured it to be worth restocking.
So I printed some of my drawings (some old, some new) onto vellum, made the cards, printed off titles and designed and printed ATC backs, and here's what I made.

I'm so glad to have found a way of combining art with papercraft.

If anyone is interested in purchasing any of these, then they are available on my Etsy store.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily x

Folk Floral cards

Hi all,

Been trying to up my cardmaking game lately...
I struggle for inspiration - a lot of cards on Pinterest are very simple and I like to have plenty going on...
So I had the idea of a card being a mini scrapbook layout, and had a play with the Papermania Folk Floral collection...

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily x

Pocket Full Of Posies Christmas Layout

Hi all

Been busy with the new docrafts Christmas collections. This time around I've been using the Pocket Full Of Posies collection to make a scrapbook layout.

The photo is just tacked on for the minute. For some reason I don't have many artsy Christmas pictures so I'll take some this year and replace it. 

Here's some close ups of the 'fiddly bits':

Twine twisted with silver string for a festive feel.

I've also recorded all of this in timelapse. I hope you enjoy watching!

Until next time...!