Castle On The Hill || Scrapbook Layout

Happy Saturday!

I have a mixed media layout to share today and it's inspired by 'Castle On The Hill' by Ed Sheeran. If you haven't heard it then a) where have you been for the past 2 months and b) go listen, now! 

When we went to Edinburgh, that song had just come out and it was going through my head when, walking to go out for a drink that evening, the sun was setting over the castle (on the hill). I took a few pictures but there were trees in the way but we got to the art galleries and there was a podium that I climbed on to take this picture (I had to be lifted down).

I still wasn't sure about the picture but I had a play around on my phone on 'Camera 360 Sight' and it has lots of effects to emphasise different weather conditions. This one really brought out the blue and the fire of the sunset. 

For this layout I really wanted to use some orange to bring out the colours of the sky. However, I am repulsed by the colour orange for a silly reason that I don't want to mention...
Anyway, I chose some paper for the background, this is a rather old 'on my desk' paper by Gossamer Blue )which I haven't heard of in ages.) I covered some parts of the paper with gesso and then did the packaging technique with spray ink over the gessoed areas.

The tags/layered papers are from the 'Happy Watercolour' 6x6" paper pad from The Works. It's a real bargain at £1 and the papers are so pretty.

The wood veneer are some form of American Crafts but I can't remember what collection. A lot of my stash is a bit older but that doesn't make it any less wonderful to work with.

The large thickers are from the Paige Evans Fancy Free collections by Pink Paislee and this is the first time I've used them and I love them. They're larger than normal and really grab your attention.

I finished off the layout with some machine stitching and some scrunched up thread.

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

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

Vintage Floral Makes!

Hi all,

Some more makes to share today using products I was kindly sent by The Works.

This first one is my favourite, using the shabby chic cardstock patterns pad, a die cut butterfly and some bits left over from the MDF heart I decorated in a previous post.
Half the papers in the pads are glittery and the other half are embossed.

The next one is a scrapbook layout using another of the cardstock patterns pads, this one is a floral pad with lots of pinks and blues. I chose this picture I took in York at the Treasurer's House near the minster, the back gate was open so we snuck into the garden...! 

The papers are super high quality, they didn't buckle when I added the ink spatters on the layout.

And finally a hexagon box painted with Distress Paint and decorated with more of the shabby chic papers.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Tutorial Tuesday - Shabby Chic Heart Frame by The Works

Hi all,

I was kindly sent some products to blog about from The Works.
I have a new video to share today showing how I decorated this frame - I feel like decoupage can be intimidating when faced with a bare object and a pack of paper so here I show you how easy it is to make a beautiful home decor piece like this.

Stay tuned as I have a few more makes to share soon featuring more products from The Works.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xxx

New Stash....!

....and what makes it even better is that I didn't pay a penny! Rather jammy this week.

Hey gang, 

Friday night stash update.

Lately as you may know I've not made anything because I knew I had things being sent to me and I didn't want to start anything and want to use things I was being sent. Now I have the opposite problem as I have a lot of new stash and I'm not sure where to start!

Firstly, I got Project Of The Month from Trimcraft with this card. 

So today the FedEx lorry came down the street (not sure how he got out again, it was a massive truck and this is a culdesac) and handed me a parcel with these lovely goodies inside. This selection makes me super happy, it feels like time was taken to pick things out that co-ordinated and that just warms my heart, the care that was taken to send this to me, there was a really nice handwritten note in the parcel too. Thanks Trimcraft! Super fast getting it to me as well. 

Next, my docrafts prizes arrived on Wednesday, a selection of dies and a 12x12" paper pack (which I didn't know I was getting - nice surprise. I like the paper pack as it'll be great for steampunk makes. 

The dies are really nice, I had a play with the flowers today and although I got fed up with the dies taking 20 times to run through my xpress, they're pretty and I've a lot of ideas for them. I just need a bit more patience!

Aaaand finally some goodies from The Works. I asked if I could be sent some product to blog about and I was kindly sent these goodies. I have started making a video with the decoupaged heart frame and I will finish that tomorrow, with luck it'll be done for 'Tutorial Tuesday'; I'm on with painting one of the boxes too. 

Thanks for stopping. Tomorrow is a craft day,

Emily xx