Sunday 30 January 2011

Sunday Challenge

I can't believe how quickly this month has gone. I can't believe how quickly the year has gone actually and I've come to end of my time on the Design Team at The Studio (sniff!). I've really enjoyed posting the weekly challenges and looking at everyone's creations afterwards- thank you for playing along :) I also want to say a massive thanks to the DT for being fabulous people to work with, and Amanda for giving me the opportunity.

But here, as promised, is our sketch challenge for this month:
The little challenge to go along with your sketch is to use a handmade embellishment in your design.

Amanda:

I made my flower embellishment by cutting strips of patterned paper and cardstock, and layering them into a star/flower shape. The bird image is vintage, and the fabric yo-yo flower is from Precocious Paper.



Anna:
This is a great sketch to use as theres lots you can do with it. I increased the number of photos to 6 as I had lots of photos to chose from of our family picnic. I love making my own embellishments and I use them on almost every layout I make! For this one I used some brown crepe paper to make a rolled flower.

Lisa:


I love sketches and I love making my own page embellishments.
Perfect challenge for me this week : )


Nic:
I really liked the fact this sketch enabled me to use a number of small photographs. I'd taken the photos during a family walk on Christmas day but as it was getting dark, some turned out a bit fuzzier that I'd have liked, but printed at a smaller size, it's not so noticeable. I chopped up and layered a few different papers to create a hand made sub title block.

Rebekah: I decided to use some of the October Afternoon that I've been hoarding since their new ranges look fantabulous once again :) I went with 'Seaside' to match the photo but used shaped stickers instead of squares. I made the 3D starfish for the handmade embellishment element.

Tessa:

Handmade embellishments are kind of my thing, so I took it upon myself to stretch the challenge. I decided that because I often make flowers and feminine accents, I needed to give myself a mandate to create a masculine embellishment. My go-to shape? Stars! I love stars for boy pages and made some layered stars, some regular die-cut stars, and some stars as masks for mist. I loved the sketch, too!

Valerie:
This layout is about our old house - the house we lived in from before my husband and I were married, until after we had our 2 children. I pretty much stuck to the sketch for this page. I made my flower embellishments by first stamping the circle shape on patterned paper and cutting the 'petals' in from the side to the center. For the centers, I punched a second patterned paper with a shape similar to the stamp and cut the same petals. I added small buttons to the centers.

***Please link your Jan challenges in the comments section of the relevant blog post as we are starting over with Mr Linky for Feb. Sorry for the confusion!***

Sunday 23 January 2011

Sunday Challenge

Hello Everyone! Hope you've had a great week and are having some chill time this weekend. If you've not managed to catch any of the CHA sneeks so far then why not head over to our sister site 'Scrap That!' for a few pointers? There is certainly a lot on my shopping list when the new products hit the shops :)

But I digress. Here is our challenge from Amanda this week:
With the new year upon us, a lot of people have been focusing on their resolutions for 2011. With that in mind, we'd like to hear about a LONG TERM goal of yours. Do you have a big ambition? Let's create a layout reflecting on these goals as a reminder of what we one day hope to achieve.

Amanda:One of my long term goals is to make our little family of 3 a family of 4. We have no immediate plans, but it's something we all want, one day.

Anna:
There are a few goals I want to achieve in my life but the main one is just to be happy and healthy.

Fabi:Material: patterned paper from My Minds Eye, Thickers, Prima flowers (and its package);
bubble plastic, white acrilic paint (Acrilex/BR brand), Tombo black pen.

I am really a dreamer, so is not easy for me to pick only one goal. But I've choosen the goal that is on my list for many years now...probably since Im a little girl. Id love to live in Europe (mostly UK) for 1 or 2 years. So I used a picture taken at a London park during my April 10 vacation. I loved this challenge, hope you like it too!

Lisa:

Rebekah:
I'm not sure that you could call mine a long term ambition, it's more of a pipe dream. I'd love to buy a big house or even a hotel and convert it into a Scrappers Retreat. I'd have a shop and a cafe so that people could pop in for the day once the kids were at school but I'd also run retreats with classes running, and weekend crops. My idea of heaven :)

Tessa:

I have wanted to be a school teacher for a long time. I made the decision in high school and entered college fully intending to earn my degree and become a credentialed teacher. However, life had other plans for me and I became a wife and mother before I could finish school. I don't regret the path my life has taken one bit, but I do still dream of becoming a teacher. I will, someday, make that dream a reality. In the meantime, I teach dance, I teach my boys, I volunteer in their classrooms, and I teach at church.

Valerie:I'm sure I am not the only one with this goal but it's gone beyond loosing a few pounds for me. I seriously need to change my ways and get fit this year. A big, long term lifestyle change is in order and there is no time like the present! With so much online support out there, and support from my friends and family, I'm off to a good start. Now for the next 11 months of the year..and beyond!
My journaling is on the back of the title tag. Also in the little pocket is the weight loss program membership card from the first month I joined:
materials: cardstock: American Crafts; patterned paper: October Afternoon, Basic Grey, Sassafrass Lass; pocket: KI; shaped tag, small chipboard tag: Basic Grey; letter stickers: Sassafras Lass, Basic Grey; stamps: Studio Calico


Please add a link to your LO in the comments section below as we'd love to see what your big ambition is and don't forget to join us next weekend for our last challenge of January, which will be our monthly sketch challenge. Have a fantastic week everyone x

Sunday 16 January 2011

Sunday Challenges

Hello People :) I hope that you've had a wonderful week and are raring to go with another challenge. Today Amanda says:

"We all love being with our friends and families, but there are some times when only our own company will do. Create a layout around the things you enjoy doing when you have some time all by yourself"


And here is what our design team did with the challenge:

Anna:

There's 3 things I like to do when I get some me time, I put on my favourite tunes sing along at the top of my voice and scrap, you can't get any better, perfect!

Fabi:
I thought a lot about what to use for this challenge, there are so many things I like to do when Im on my own. But i had this pictures that I love, and shows also how i love eating candies/chocolate maded. So I thought: why not? Usually when on my own I like to scrap, eat, watch Grey's Anatomy...so here goes the "eating' part :)

Lisa:


I love alone time at home. Just pottering. Reading in the bath, a little scrapping but I always look forward to everyone coming home again.

Nic:

Whenever I get a bit of 'me' time the things I generally like to do are to scrapbook, read and just potter around the house.

Tessa:


When I have "me time", I go shopping, especially at craft stores. I LOVE being free from little ones and being able to take my time browsing.

Valerie:

[Val's image will be back soon!]

It doesn't happen very often in my world, so when it does - these are usually the first few things that come to mind when I've got some alone time on my hands: some quality crafty time (with a md/hazelnut/ cream & sugar, of course), a trip into Manhattan with my camera or a road trip to the local Ikea - all top picks for me when I'm on my own.

materials: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: October Afternoon; mist ink: Studio Calico; stamping ink: Jenni Bowlin; stamps: Studio Calico (grid, labels) Close to My Heart (clocks, numbers); embossing powder: Close To My Heart: sticker: KI; letter stickers: Making Memories; clock die cut: Girls Paperie

Sunday 9 January 2011

Sunday Challenge

I do hope that 2011 is going well for everyone so far and that you're finding some time in it to do some scrapping :) Amanda has another cracker of a challenge for us today:
Scrap your passion(s)! What things in your life give you that 'get up and go'? We want to hear about it!


And here is what the design team thought about the challenge:

Amanda:

I decided to scrap about my passions in a broader sense. Over the years I have come to learn that I can choose my own life and what is a part of it. I now try and include in my life only the things I am truly passionate about, and make a conscious effort to remove the negative.

Anna:
I have a passion for anything to do with cupcakes! I love baking cupcakes and anything decorated with cupcakes! I got together some of my collection of cupcake decorated items so I could a photo of them!

Fabi:
This was a fun challenge to do, i loved the theme and was easy to choose the picture. One of me relaxing and having a good time. Im passionated about so many things that in the end my conclusion was that the major one is LIFE.
Material used: pattered papers (Jillebean Soup, My Minds Eye and Pink Paislee),
Foam Alpha/Thickers (American Kraft); gesso and painting (Acrilex/BR brand),
Chalk Mist/Tattered Angels; adhesise/foam adhesive: Tek (BR brand).



Lisa:


I feel so passionate about what we eat. It's so important to me. I go through my cook books each week and plan our menu ahead based on our diaries, giving me enough time to prep and cook each day. I cook everything from scratch. I thoroughly enjoy it.

Nic:
For this challenge I decided to list of some of the things in life I love using a rich, deep colour scheme:





Valerie:
Scrap your passion - loved this challenge!
I've been wanting to make a page about my love of photography for a long time. I kept it simple and even spared the journaling for this one. 
materials: patterned paper: October Afternoon, MME; letter stickers: Making Memories; frames: K & Co.; sticker: Webster's Pages; inks: Jenni Bowlin, Studio Calico; stamps: Studio Calico, Picture Show; washi tape; date stamp


Sorry for those of you who have tried to add an image to inlinkz this month. They've decided to start charging so we're deciding what to do next. Please bare with us whilst we work it out :) If you'd like to post a link in the comments below in the mean time we'd love to see your take on today's challenge. Have a great week everyone x

Sunday 2 January 2011

Sunday Challenge

Happy new year to you all! I hope you enjoyed the celebrations and are looking forward to what 2011 has in store :)

It's time for our first challenge of 2011:

Hindsight is a wonderful thing - it allows you to realise mistakes and grow from them. Have you made a mistake? With hindsight, looking back, is there something that's happened to you that you would deal with differently next time around? Create a page based on your experience and tell us what you'd change, if you could.

Here are some samples from the DT to get your creative juices flowing!

Val

For this page I focused on regret. We lost my former sister-in-law tragically this year. (That is a photo of us on the day she married my brother back in 1996). Although she and my brother were no longer together, her special place in our family was never filled and we always considered her one of us. When I heard she was gone so suddenly, I immediately started to think of all of the things I wish I had said to her. I have so many regrets where she is concerned that I could probably fill the entire back of the 12 x 12 layout with words. I didn't, though. Instead, the few sentences that sum up my feelings are on the back of the tag. Here's a detail:
 Here's the tag out of it's slot:
Materials: all materials Webster's Pages + Tim Holtz Tissue Tape


Tessa


I didn't have a photo that would help tell my story, so I opted for journaling only.  To make my page about a difficult move from Utah to California more interesting, I created a California-shaped journaling space by printing out clipart, using it as a mask for misting, and then stitching the image's edge.  As the journaling reads, I did not do well with a move my family made when I was a teenager.  I went to three different high schools that year - who wouldn't have a rough time? But years later, when my own little family made a big move, I remembered the lessons I had learned and had a much better experience.  I really wish I could go back in time and make lemonade out of that earlier experience, but I am content to know that I learned from my mistakes.

Lisa



I decided to scrap about something that I would love to change, but unfortunately have no control over. That's our British summers. Just a few dry weeks over August please, that's all I ask. It doesn't have to be highs of 30c, just dry so the kids can go out and play. Surely that's no too much to ask, is it???



Nic


I think this quote by Xenocrates " I have often regretted my speech, never my silence" is so true, and decided to base my LO for this challenge around these words of wisdom.  There have been more than a few times in my life when I've inadvertently opened my mouth and said something that afterwards I've really wished I hadn't said, or perhaps I should have phrased slightly differently.  Over the years I'd like to think that I have got got a bit better at thinking before I speak and when in doubt about whether to say something or not, this quote is a great food for thought!

Link your entries up to Inlinkz in the sidebar - you have until 5th Feb to enter for January's prize!