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Scrapbooking

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The sun is in the sky, but for some reason I was in the mood to scrapbook a wintery story. As I am sure you will remember, we had a freak level of snowfall earlier in the year, and the abundance of crisp, white snow was so inspiring that it would have been a cruelty against human nature if we had NOT built a snowman in our garden!

To be honest, i’ve never built a snowman quite like this one – he really did do us proud! What I loved most was his personality, created through his button eyes, satsuma nose, and coffee bean smile – and who could forget that pirate hat?! His name was Capt’n Coffeefact snOMAN, and this layout is his story! Scroll down to read the journaling…

Products Used:
Buttons
Woodgrain stamp – heroarts
Making Memories shimmer alpha stickers
photoshop
sewing machine
Making Memories tiny alpha
‘winter’ stamp – SEI
Distress ink – Tumbled glass, broken china
Chipboard – Maya Road
Paint Dabber
Black pigment marker
Snowflake stamps – SEI and Royal & Langnickle
Dream street papers

leave me a comment here ♥

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Journaling reads:
For days there was speculation and rumours of snow, and although there was a definite nip in the air, no one quite believed that we would have any significant coverage. But by the afternoon, a few flakes were appearing & we peered through the glass at reception with childlike awe. I should have hated the cold, wet walk home, but the magic & wonder of the fresh white roads & pathways made the journey quite beautiful. The thought of snow called for a warm dinner in front of the TV, snuggled under a duvet. It must have been 11pm before Craig gasped as he pulled back the bedroom curtains to reveal the untouched blanket of snow, lying inches deep, transforming our humble garden into a winter wonderland. Without hesitation, we rummaged through suitcases & cupboards to find hats, scarfs, salopettes & wellies, before emerging out into the cold. Despite the late hour, the light of the street lamps reflected brilliantly off the pure white snow, creating a magical orange glow to the world around us. Like two eager children, we gave way to our urges and started rolling snowballs into white fluffy boulders, assembling a new friend to live in the garden. It took some time, and a substantial amount of hard work, but after a significant amount of rolling & shoveling, patting & moulding, he was born! Capt’n Coffeefacee was his name – with buttons for eyes, a satsuma nose and coffee beans to make him smile, the Capt’n surely was an accumulation of our personalities – one of the family! Even Miya enjoyed the excitment of a new friend in the garden. The snow remained for a while, some say too long, but inevitably the green started to peek through once again. The hazard warnings & newsflashes ceased, but the Capt’n still stood tall. We would bid him goodnight through the bedroom window and watch every day as he slowly began to shed some pounds, or lose his crooked smile. One day, when the world had returned to normality, we returned from work to discover that the Capt’n was gone. No longer in our garden, but forever in our memories.

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Ever had one of those moments when you look at a scrapbook page or craft project and you clench your fists, grit your teeth, screw up your nose and growl as you suddenly realise: I shouldn’t have put that there or that would have looked better over here instead of there. Don’t worry, we all have these moments, and I have definitely had a few in my time, but I am happy to say that I have not experienced many moments like this recently. Why? Because I always try to learn from my mistakes!!

So today, a video tip for you. I want to share with you a way in which I have changed a piece of waste material into a usable, functionable, practical craft tool/product that will actually help you improve your design skills.

I hope you enjoy the video and like the layout featured in it. The page is, of course, of my furbaby Miya. In complete contrast to her last layout entitled ‘Silver String’, which focused on embellishments and vibrant bursts of colour, this layout is all about the story. I have kept the lines straight and clean, and added just a little touch of colour to make the journaling pop and to add a little interest to the page.

I think this page must take the record for the least amount of pattern paper used on a layout ever, but the little bit that you can see is from Crate paper. Stamps used are Hero Arts Swirl with flowers stamp and Whoo Loves You clear set, Imaginisce, Artemio, and Studio Calico. Letter stickers are doodlebug Loopy lou alpha stickers and Making Memories Cork Alpha and ink used includes Tim Holtz Distress ink in Shabby Shutters, Chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, and Archival ink in brown.

And if you want to have a little giggle, you can read what the journaling from the layout below.

Thanks for popping by and please feel free to share this video with others, linking back to this website or the YouTube page. And feel free to leave me a comment here

Journaling reads:

Having a house with a garden meant it was only a matter of time before you got outside to roam free, but it was still difficult for me. I would worry about you, about other animals, dangerous equipment, tall buildings, and of course the traffic. We thought it would be a good idea to let you get used to outside life by short spells in the garden: five minutes, then ten minutes, then a little longer. It was summer ’09, and when I returned from work you would look forward to a little outside time. I will never forget one particular day.
I was in the craft room, and every 20 minutes I would pop downstairs and give you a call at the back door and you would come running. After a few times, I realised that I hadn’t checked on you in a while. I was just about to go and check on you when I heard a little ‘trrrrrumm’ noise, and then you scurried up the stairs and into the craft room demanding attention.
You had brought back your first present.
Many a story I have heard about cats bringing presents into the house: birds, mice and more, but not you. You brought a tub of fish food! I took it off you to inspect, but you were so proud of yourself, rubbing around my feet and pawing at me to give it back to you. Feeling rather puzzled, I went out into the back garden to have a look around, but I could not for the life of me figure out where this tub of fish food had come from. Where did you get it? In a garage, or were you in someones house? How far did you carry it? You must have had to jump over fences! You complained until I gave you back your prize, and purring with delight you insisted in carrying the little blue tub around with pride. It wasn’t until weeks later we found out that it belonged to our neighbour Sue who told us of the mysterious disappearance of the fish food she had bought to feed the tadpoles in her pond. We were so proud of your hunting skills that we couldn’t help but share the funny story of your first catch.

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Hey everyone,

Today, a scrapbook page about my little furbaby, Miya. She really is my little girl, even though most of you out there with kids will probably roll your eyes, shake your head and let out a little sigh, I can’t help but love my kitty and all the quirky little things that make up her personality.

There are things that she does that makes me smile: she will lick the tomato sauce of a bacon sandwich, and leave the bacon, she also loves sweetcorn (?). She will always be found in the warmest place in the house, usually in our en suite where a hot water pipe runs under the floor, or trying to break into the airing closet. She has figured out how to open drawers (which hold ‘Chicken Lickin’ treats, or ‘Whiskas’ Crunch) and she has also figured out a way of opening the back door, so we have to ensure that it is locked by the key.

We bought her hundreds of toys, but she insists that the most exciting toy is a piece of fusilli pasta! Another one of her favourite toys is a length of silver string. Hence, this scrapbook page today.

This was a happy accident. I was wrapping a present and the reel rolled off the craft table and ‘POUNCE’!! She loves the way it slinks around when we drag it around, with the light catching on the metallic coating. She will chase it all over, and will purr with delight when she catches it. The funniest thing is when you are busy doing your own thing and then you hear ‘ttrruuummmmp’ (because my cat has rejected the normal cat ‘miaow’ noise) and you turn around to see her carrying a piece of silver string in her mouth. Of course she will always want to play at the worst time: in the middle of dinner, in the middle of a movie, or in the middle of a scrapbook layout!!!

So here is my first video of me making a scrapbook page, but first just a few things to share:

-You may notice that the background page actually had a square punched out of it, but rather than dismiss it, I just worked with it, and covered this with an embellishment.
– The words ‘Miya’, ‘simply loves’ and the heart shape are actually digital brushes which I made in photoshop and printed these directly onto the photo. I love the result!
– Because scrapbook pages take a little more time than card making, so i’ve speeded up this video, i hope it it easy to follow, please give me feedback if you have anything you want to share.
– AND FYI, the background music is ‘Summertime cowboy’ from Husky Rescue.

Also, I must apologise that the movie cuts a little short, because ironically I was interrupted by a kitty demanding some play time with silver string.

I hope you enjoy it, and please leave me a comment here. And there are more photos under the video!
Thanks for stopping by!

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