Girls' Day Out Folios # 2

Hello again everyone and welcome to my blog.  So happy to have you visit and hope you are having a fabulous day!

In a previous post I explained about a fabulous day out I had recently with some wonderful scrapping friends of mine .. Adriana Bolzon, Astrid Maclean, Heather Jacob and Helen Wallace.    We all exchanged handmade gifts on the day.  I shared the gifts I received in this post HERE and the first of the photo folios I made HERE and now I would like to share the second of my folios.  This one was made for Astrid Maclean.

The papers used are from Kaisercraft's Heirloom 6.5 x6.5 Paper Pad.

The design is similar to the Tim Holtz Collection Folios but my version is smaller.  The outside measurement is 6.75" x 5". 

 As in the first folio I shared, I only added some stamping, stenciling, washi tape and a few chipboard pieces from Scrapmatts.
The pocket on the inside front cover holds a photo mat ..
 

.. and the first page is a pocket that holds a small folded card ..

.. which was ideal for all of us to write a personal message.  The paper on the inside of the card is from Prima.

Next are two small half pockets ..

.. each holds a journaling card which, I thought, would be ideal for recording the details of the day.

The next page is a full sized pocket.  The flap is held down with a magnet ..

 
.. and there is another photo mat inside.

The last page folds out ..

.. once ..

.. twice, so there is plenty of room on both sides for photos.

The last page ..

 .. and the back cover.

Not much in the way of embellishment in these booklets as I feel it is much easier to add them after the photos are in and, besides, the ladies know what they themselves prefer and can decide whether they want to embellish, or not.

So, this was the second of my folios.  I will share the other in the next week or so and then, hopefully, soon after that I will share the final ones and the step by step instructions.  Hope you will return to take a look.

Thank you so much for dropping by and, if you would like to take a look at the work done by these fabulous ladies here, in alphabetical order, are the links.

Adriana Bolzon - AB Inspirations
Astrid Maclean - Astrid's Artistic Efforts
Heather Jacob - Art and Life
Helen Wallace - Textures and Tales

Hope you enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.

My first Christmas Card for 2016 and an Update on my Planner

Hello everyone and welcome to my Blog.  I hope you are all having a wonderful day.

I am in shock!!!  I have actually made my very first Christmas Card for this year  ..  I think I might be really sick and just don't realise it yet!!  LOL!!

For a long time now I've been  trying to convince myself that I should be making Christmas cards right through the year and I have finally listened!!  I actually found a Challenge site for making Christmas Cards and that has given me the incentive to get cracking on this.  The site is called Christmas Card Challenges (surprise! surprise!  LOL!!) and the current Challenge is Anything Goes!

HERE is the link and here is my card ..

Used some Kaisercraft papers on this one and actually popped it through my sewing machine to stitch the edges.

The chippie is from 2Crafty Chipboard.  I simply painted it with a paint dauber and, while it was still wet, sprinkled it with some glitter.

Used crackle paste through a stencil and again, while it was still wet, sprinkled on some micro beads.

The larger bloom is the Carabella Rose which is available through Megs Garden.   It was pink originally .. I simply sprayed it with a mix of acrylic paint and Cherry Pie Dylusion spray.

The inside with some blank space for a personal message ..

.. and my first Christmas card for 2016 done and dusted!!!  So now I just need to stay focused and make sure I make at least two per month.  Then, hopefully, I won't be so rushed at the end of the year.
With that out of the way, I thought I would give you a little update on my 2016 Planner.  I haven't done a great deal on it yet but I have completed the dividers for January and February and decorated a few of the January weekly pages.  

This is the January divider ..

.. and the full month on two pages.

The little plastic pocket was meant to hold some photos but, as I keep forgetting to take photos (Duhh!!), I have inserted a couple of quotes instead.

So, on the full month pages I will record appointments and reminders, etc.

and then on the week pages, I will write about  those in more detail and, hopefully, remember to take some photos and place them in there as well.  By the end of the year, I should have a really good record of what we actually did.  

Here is the divider for February.

 The plastic pocket here holds the strips and quotes I will use for that particular month.  I have decided to colour code each month to match with the tabs on the side.

I was going to purchase a whole heap of Washi Tape to decorate these pages but , as that would be quite an expensive exercise, decided to simply use strips of scrap paper from my stash.  A little more work but will look just as effective and I get to use up all of those pesky scraps!!

I should point out that I'm not really happy with those dividers and I may yet decide to create some art journal-like pages instead.  Will have to see how enthusiastic I am whether that happens or not.  LOL!!

That's about all for now folks.  Just a reminder about the Christmas Card Challenge Blog.  Why not join in and start making your Chrissy cards now.  Would save a lot of hassle at the end of the year!!  HERE is the link again.

Thank you so much for visiting and do enjoy the rest of your day.  Happy crafting everyone!!

Take care and God Bless.

Feeling Sketchy #122

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog.  A very special welcome to my new followers .. so pleased and honoured that you decided to join me.

After being out of action for a few days due to a sore back (no more housework for me .. LOL!!! ..  I wish ..) yesterday I felt I needed some crafty time  and so I decided to join the Feeling Sketchy Challenge which finishes today.  I would have had this post up this morning but my monitor decided it didn't want to play and had to be re-calibrated so I could get my photos ready.  Hubby fixed it for me and then we had to go out so I thought I had missed the deadline.  Just checked it and I have an hour left .. talk about leaving it to the last minute!!  LOL!!  So here is the sketch ..

.. and here is my entry

As you can see, I followed the sketch pretty closely.  The papers are from Kaisercraft's Antique Bazaar Mini Pad and I did a little stamping and also some stenciling with Distress Ink.

The large bloom is from Megs Garden.  It was originally white with blue edges and I had it sprayed for a previous project but hadn't actually used it.  It was perfect for this card.

 

The circles were made with some string and I also added some seed beads.

 

The die cut quote is from the same KC collection as the papers.  As is my habit, when it was all assembled, I added some random swipes of gesso.

Decorated the inside with some strips of the same papers and also added another quote from this collection.

 

And there you have it.  My entry for the Feeling Sketchy Challenge #122.  HERE is the link if you'd like to take a look at the next Challenge. 

Thank you so much for visiting and leaving me some love.  I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care and God Bless.

Flowers - Just for Me!

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  Hope you are all having a fabulous day!!

I have another card to share.  Haven't really been in "the crafting zone' lately and was getting a bit down about it but things have picked up again and I decided to make something 'just for me'.  Didn't care if it was good or bad, just wanted to get my fingers dirty so to speak.   I had started another Art Journal page but got stuck and it's still waiting for me to finish it so, in the meantime, I made this card.

The papers I used are from Meg's Garden's 'Gentlemen's Collection' and, though they are certainly wonderful for masculine projects, they also work just as well for feminine ones.

Did a little bit of stamping  with a text stamp and black archival ink and also added a bit of texture through a stencil.  I actually wanted to drizzle some paint over the papers, but had a lot of trouble getting it right so used the stencil instead.  Also sprinkled the background with watered down Black Soot D.I.

The wooden flourish is from Kaisercraft.  Coloured it with Distress Inks and lightly swiped it with gesso.

The large flowers are from Kaisercraft, the small roses from Meg's Garden and the rest are from my stash.  The metal leaves were lightly swiped with gesso.

The ticket was fussy cut from Prima's Engraver Collection, edged with Distress Ink and, again, swiped with gesso.  Love that gesso!!!

The inside was decorated with some strips of the same papers and stenciled with Tea Stain D.I.

I may have to make a few more of these 'random' cards just to perk up the old 'mojo'.  It didn't take a lot of time to do and I just went with the flow and did whatever I felt like.  Must say, I thoroughly enjoyed the process.  Sometimes you've just got to please yourself!!

Thank you so much for visiting and I do hope you like my little floral make.  I'll probably give it away to someone but, for the moment, it's there to remind me why I love crafting so much.

Take care, lovely people and enjoy the rest of your day.
God Bless.