More Than Words October Challenge

Hi all

Here's my entry for the October More Than Words Challenge. You can find out more and join in here.

Here is the October mood board.

I wanted to do an autumn layout as I've not had much chance to make one so far this year. 

I decided to do an ombre of orange-yellow-green like the colours in my photo and I did this by covering a sheet of 12x12" cardstock with gesso and then used watercolours once the gesso was dry.

I tried to keep the ombre going through my embellishments - these wooden stickers by BasicGrey were perfect and I'm so happy I could finally use them - they've been in my stash for a while now. I painted them in the same colours as my background so they blended in. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Gorjuss or Goth-juss?

TRICK OR TREAT?!

(Treat please!)

With Halloween on Monday I decided to make something spooooooooky!

I don't have much spooky stash.

But I did win a Gorjuss stamp set from docrafts a few weeks ago...

It's common knowledge that gorjuss is waaaaay overdone...can we have something new please, docrafts?! .. so I figured I'd do something different with her. Cue printing a sheet of tiny 'day of the dead' skulls and turning 'Gorjuss' into 'Gothjuss'.
I doodled a little pattern onto her face and stuck her onto a mannequin with wings from Things To Alter.

If you want to know how to make the card shape then you can find how to do it here.

Thanks for creepin' by! (Y'know, 'cause it's Halloween...)

Emily xx

Whitby Layout Using Cocoa Vanilla 'Hello Sunshine'

Hi all,

A new layout to share today using a picture I took in Whitby a few weeks ago. Hard to imagine now as the weather's so cold and gloomy.
On the radio on the way there it said that it was the hottest September day in over 100 years. It was really busy there, we nearly turned back after a 2 hour drive as there was a huge queue to the full car park, but we saw a Park and Ride on the outskirts of the town and it cost the same as a car park ticket, plus we could spend all day there without worrying about the time. It was a beautiful day and I got some great pictures. Nathan had never been to Whitby before and was unimpressed by the amount of steps to everything... but we had a lovely day. We had fish n chips from The Fish Box opposite the co-op. Lovely and definitely beats the queue to Trenchers!  Anyway, on to my layout...

The background paper is from an old Elle's Studio collection, I think it's called 'Shine'. I stitched lines of blue, aqua and yellow up some of the.... radiants? I scribbled a blue gelato around where my picture would go, went over with water and then outlined where my picture would go with blue Distress Paint. I used the cut apart sheet from the Hello Sunshine collection by Cocoa Vanilla Studio - I bought it to use with my holiday pictures and never did, but it went really well with this picture. I also used the wood veneers from the same collection. Finally I used my absolute favourite ever Amy Tangerine thickers for the title.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell CRAFT!

Hellooooo!

Christmas card making is in full swing and I have some cards to share using the Simply Creative Jingle Bells 12x12" paper pad by Trimcraft. The colours in this pad are really vibrant and there's some traditional designs in there too. It reminds me of the really old Christmas decorations I used to put up at my grandma's when I was little.

This one is a simple grid design with stitching and cute character stickers.

This one makes a bauble out of an aperture, surrounded by die cut buttons. 

And something a little more CAS - three snowflakes each topper with a sticker.

If you want to find out more about how I made these projects then head over to my Trimcraft gallery.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Islands at Chester Zoo Layout

Hi all,

A new layout to share today using pictures I took at Chester Zoo.

It's the first time we've been since they opened the 'Islands' exhibit and it was so good, it felt like the Bioparc in Fuengirola, a lot more open than the rest of the zoo, less fences, more realistic. There's a whole building that's got monkeys, free flying birds, crocodiles, fish... it was really good. If you get the chance, go! The restaurant there looked really nice too, but we had already brought a picnic! Least we'll know for next time.

I wanted to keep this layout simple to show off my pictures. so I chose this really jazzy black and white background, I think it is from the Jubilee collection by My Mind's Eye. I coloured in bits to match the bright colours in the picture with the boats on. 

I finally got to use my favourite thickers on here too, they matched perfectly. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Have a Gypsy Gypsy Christmas!

Hi all,

A Christmas card to share today using the Gypsy Gypsy paper pad by Craft Consortium, plus some of their Christmas decoupage paper.

The stag's head is painted white and covered with glitter. It's an MDF shape from one of last year's xmas collections from docrafts.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Hello Autumn!

Hi all,

Well, autumn is in full swing.. it's chillier and the leaves are just starting to turn.

I haven't been able to get to a country park yet for a photography day - whenever we've had chance the weather has been dull and gloomy! Fingers crossed we'll make it in the next couple weeks.

To keep me going (I really wanted to get started with some autumn bits), I had a wander to the edge of our estate where there's a green with some trees on up a hill. I piled leaves up with my feet (they're a bit sparse on the ground) and took the picture on my phone... Autumn has just started but already the colours are so beautiful. 

This is my first ever A4 layout and I used a little flicked acrylic paint on the background. The papers are a free download from Trimcraft and you can get them here. 

I made a little card with the papers too. I love love LOVE the colours on the papers. So bright. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

'Explore' Mixed Media Layout

Hi all,

A new mixed media layout to share today.

I made the title by stencilling the letters onto the background paper (from Mr Smith's Workshop by docrafts) and colouring them with watercolour pencils. I then took some embroidery thread and stitched around the edge of the letters, matching the colour of the thread to the colour of the watercolour pencils I had used. Here's a closeup

I started off the background by spreading tacky glue across it and sticking down lengths of twine. Once it dried I sprayed the whole think with Dylusions ink spray in Fresh Lime. The glue I had used created a barrier so the ink did not make the page warp (I really ought to get some gesso but I never get around to it...). I also used a Scrapberry's stencil and used the back as a stamp once I'd done the stencilling.

I backed the paper on more Mr Smith and Country Life papers, with strips of those and odd scraps behind that. The tags are by Gossamer Blue (I think). I added some die cuts from an Xcut woodland themed set, there's also a BoBunny flourish there at the bottom. Finally I covered my picture and again sprayed the whole thing with Fresh Lime. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Craft Consortium Gypsy Gypsy Layout - Let Me Introduce You....

Hi everyone,

A new layout to share today. I'm currently in the midst of Christmas card making for Trimcraft but I found some time to have a play with the Gypsy Gypsy 12x12 collection kit from Craft Consortium.

The papers have a very vintage feel so to complement this I felt I would need an old picture. 

I went through some old pictures with my mum and we decided I would use this one of my great-grandparents, George and Alice Butler. Upon scanning the picture to copy it, I saw on the back: 50th Anniversary, and the date 3rd April 1915, so this would have been taken on the 3rd April 1965. 

I love the Gypsy Gypsy paper pad because it's not just papers. There's a gorgeous rub-on sheet and also little bits and bobs to cut out, as well as cut-apart sheets of vintage postcards. Some papers are from my scrap box, and the embellishments are from The Works.

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily xx

Craft Consortium Kori Kumi 3D Hexagon Box

Hi all,

A new project to share using the Santoro Kori Kumi collection from Craft Consortium.

I love decorating boxes so I was super excited when I saw the decoupage papers in this collection. I used them to decorate a box from The Works. 

I have learnt recently that it is no hardship to get out a screwdriver and remove the fixings from the box first and then put them back once the box is completely dry. 

As you can see, I made the top of the box into a little 3D scene using the wood veneer and some cut up lolly sticks as a little fence. I stuck everything on with hot glue and then added raffia along the top of the fence and pom poms around the bottom of the wooden elements and stuck in some of the heart pins for good measure. The sides of the box looked a bit plain in comparison so to finish I die cut some flowers. 

Now, while I've GRABBED your ATTENTION.....!

Please fill out this short survey about papercraft magazines for my uni project. Yep, I'm making a papercraft magazine, because let's face it, there's not that much on the market that's exciting and innovative! https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3PSXYFR

Thanks for stopping by! And an extra 'thank you so much!' for filling out the survey. 

Emily xx

GOOD NEWS

Hi all,

So, as it has been announced officially...

*DRUM ROLL*

I am now a member of the Trimcraft Design Team!

Yaaaaay!

Here's a video of my first kit unboxing

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Girly MDF Cards!

Hi all,

Some girly cards to share today.

This all started when I was making some steampunk cards and I was colouring in a steampunk stamp. I wanted something a bit different to put behind it and out came my little box of bits from Things To Alter. I found this really cool steampunk piece, a head with gears coming out of the back... I painted it with Distress Paints and stuck the coloured image on top of the head. I used watercolour pencils to colour the image and then went over it with a little water to colour the image. I love how vibrant watercolour pencils are which is why I prefer them over watercolour pens.
The stamp and backing paper are from the Santoro Willow collection by Trimcraft and the sentiment die is by Sizzix.

I used the same watercolour colouring technique with these Belle & Boo stamps (also by Trimcraft, I'm a little addicted to their characters!) This card worked better tiny, it's 4x4" and I would have preferred it on kraft card to match the MDF but I only have white in this size. I layered up the MDF shells, they are the same depth as 3D foam dots so these are perfect to use when you are layering the shapes. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Craft Consortium Kori Kumi Frame Box

Hi all,

A box to share today using the Santoro Kori Kumi collection from Craft Consortium.

As you may know I love decorating boxes and I was in The Works and I saw this one and I thought the frame would look cool with some 3D decoupage inside. 

It didn't take me long at all to decorate the box with the decoupage papers.. they cover really nicely and I love how they're opaque. 

I added in the decoupage and then finished off with some die cut flowers. 

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily xx

Life In A Snapshot Sketch Challenge - October 2016 - Summer In The Square Layout

Hi all,

My friend Katie has set up a brand new sketch challenge. You can find out more on her blog. All you have to do is follow along with a sketch.

I am a member of the Life In A Snapshot Sketch Challenge Design Team and here is my project using the sketch. 

I used a picture I took on a very hot day in Nottingham. Summer seems so long ago now on this foggy, cold October morning, hard to believe that just a few weeks ago we were covered in sun cream and buying iced coffee. 

I used a lot of elements from Pink Paislee 'Take Me Away' on this layout - I love cut apart sheets! I also used chipboard stickers from My Mind's Eye 'Jubliee' and Simple Stories 'Carpe Diem'. 

Here is the sketch if you want to play along.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx