ATDML Alphabetical Challenge - Letter E

Another challenge is up on Created by ATDML with yours truly and we have moved on to the letter E. There are a set of prompts over on their blog which I illustrated with the layout below which not only met these criteria but also rose on this months #Calvinball2019 challenge.

I really love this grey/white striped background paper which I bought lots of as I think it adds just a little something more than using cardstock which inevitably ends up being my background for 90% of the pages I create. I kept the colours soft and beach line for this page bringing in the sandy colours and blue for the sea. Great to be using up my wooden pieces for the Calvinball challenge - most of which I have had for over 5 years, so at the moment when point stacking is permitted, I get 3 points for using these wooden stars!! 

I'm not competitive at all me(!!)  but wish I could stay home, read all morning and scrap all afternoon whilst the challenge is on - this going to work for a living might pay for all my craft supplies (among other life essentials lol!) but it reduces my crafty hours drastically!!

Calvinball 2019

So I stumbled across a scrapbooking challenge running throughout the month of March based on the Calvin & Hobbes Cartoon. The rules change every day and require you to incorporate certain items on your scrapbook pages for which you score points.  You also get points for sharing on social media platforms, commenting on fellow designers pages and more. It seemed a little complex to start with but I think I am getting the hang of it now and even made myself a spreadsheet to keep track of all the points you can earn!

Of course the main aim is to get you scrapbooking more and prompt using up your supplies which is all good fun. If you want to search for what people are creating for these challenges use the #calvinball2019

My first two pages are below where I made my own floral paper using stamps, then fussy cut them out and added enamel dots and buttons to the centres. I painted my black stripes on both pages (which was inspired by a page I saw but forgot to pin on Pinterest so I can't now give credit to the amazing designer - if you know please tell me!!) and also added flicks of black paint.

Both titles were cut from a pattern paper (Crate paper I think) and lots more stamping of leaves and flowers directly on to the backgrounds.

As I am taking part in this challenge, plus have two crafty days this month away with friends AND a retreat next month to design and prep for expect lots of crafty blog posts this month!

BookClub 8/52 - The Rumour

Next read from me is a Sunday Times best selling Thriller with a twist which several people on my Goodreads up have read and it kept coming up as a recommendation as well so here  are some of the reviews. I will let you know what I think

"In this chilling tale of paranoia, suspicion and accusation, Lesley Kara keeps you guessing until the final page." (Paula Hawkins, No.1 bestselling author of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN and INTO THE WATER)

"A great debut with a slyly clever premise and a rollercoaster ride to the very last sentence." (Fiona Barton, bestselling author of THE WIDOW and THE CHILD)

ATDML Alphabetical Challenge D

We are on to our fourth challenge already in the Created by ATDML Alphabetical challenge and the letter D.

Plenty of options to inspire your next page.... and even I will be joining this one as we go along as I haven't had time just yet to illustrate it.

Book Club 6/52 - Eleanor Oliphant

Another recommendation and as always I am behind the trend as I am aware many of my friends have already devoured this novel. I am about a third of the way though so far and find it so very well written and am chuckling away to myself one moment and holding my hand on my chest the next.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is the 2017 debut novel of Gail Honeyman, and the winner of the 2017 Costa Debut Novel Award. What a debut!

Here's the book blurb

Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive - but not how to live

She leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend. Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything.


One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself.

ATDML Alphabetical Challenge C

Another alphabet challenge over on Created by ATDML today and we are on to letter C. Hop over to the blog to see your options and join in the challenge.

FTLOPP February Sketch Challenge

I was thrilled to be contacted by one of the FTLOPP team over on Facebook and asked if I would guest design for them for one of the 2019 sketch challenges. I have always loved a sketch as a starting point for a layout - almost always going off at a tangent soon enough but they do help start those creative juices flowing.

I also love to see how one sketch gets interpreted so differently when approached by different people so as the illustrated of this one I am especially intrigued to see where people take it - especially the stitching part!!

So here is the sketch designed by the lovely Laura Rumble

And here is my interpretation using a January sale pack of Maggie Holmes vinyl stickers on my page hence the small amount of camera glare as they are shiny (but being vinyl they are flat enough to use on a page as you would paper or card so why not when at a bargain price!)

If you do join in do share your page over on FTLOPP - if you aren't a member yet and love a scrapbook challenge and a like-minded community ask to join.

Here are a few close ups which hopefully show the white stitching better

2019 Reading Challenge - Book Club 5/52

This week see's book 5 for January so far and I am pleased to say a couple of friends are joining in with this reading challenge, either via their Instagram accounts or the Goodreads App.

My choice for this week was something completely different after the intense crime thriller of last week (which I loved and strongly recommend Joy Ellis books if you have not yet read any). 

I haven't read too far in to the book but I'm not particularly impressed so far. Doesn't really flow and is a little repetitive so I am hoping it improve...

RED January - How did I do?

Well not quite the 100% achievement I was aiming for scuppered by a nasty migraine which knocked me out for several days early on, then a few other foot niggles prevented quite as many determined efforts as I had wished but broadly speaking I did OK I guess, and held myself publicly accountable via my Instagram account.

So managed 25 days out of the 31 for a minimum 30 min walk each day which is certainly better than if I'd not signed up to this challenge.

Also my red laces look kinda cool in my grey trainers!

Mind The Scrap Cybercrop

I do love a Mind the Scrap Cyber crop which the very lovely Emma runs every 3 or 4 months. This weekends one was Harry Potter themed, but that just acted as a starting point for the links to the challenges which could all be interpreted even if you had never see the films. 

Here are a few of the pages I created over the weekend from the 19 challenge prompts. 

This first one is probably one of my favourites from the weekend made using Vicki Boutin Art Crayons, a circle dotty mask and some stamps.

Close up of the inky bits

I've gotten a little obsessed with triangles on my pages lately too - this next one is one of three I made over the weekend featuring triangles - one of which is for next month's ATDML virtual crop day so I will share that then.

And one more so I don't bore you all to tears, this one was a scraplift of one Emma shared which I used to kickstart me when I sat down yesterday to play along.

ATDML Alphabetical Challenge B

Time for the second Alphabetical Challenge over on the ATDML Blog today with the letter B which I illustrated with my January DT kit featuring (rather helpfully) Bo Bunny Winter Wishes papers so there was my first B ticked off.

I also focused on the colour Blue and there are Banners under the photo which is Black (&White).  How will you rise to the challenge to scrap using the letter B prompts?

RED Week 1

Successfully completed week 1 of the Run Every Day (RED) challenge albeit with walking and not running but I am pleased with the progress I have been making and whilst my foot injury is making itself VERY known after each walk it's worth it for the feel good factor afterwards. On to week 2 we go :)

ATDML new Alphabetical Challenge for 2019

A new series of scrapbooking challenges is starting over at Created by ATDML blog today where twice a month a letter from the alphabet will be used to prompt a layout. Go take a look and see what they have in store for the letter A which I illustrated in the layout below using predominantly Prima papers and elements from their Flirty Fleur Collection  I used ACETATE to apply watered down distress ink for the painty background , AQUA blue as my main colour  and then a Thickers ALPHABET for my title. 

This layout also fit the bill for one of the For The Love of Pretty Paper (FTLOPP) Winter Olympic challenges they are running over on Facebook. This challenge was  to include a technique that takes time and the inky background plus fussy cutting on this one certainly counted.  I do love a scrapbooking challenge and making one page which rises to more than one challenge makes me a happy girl! I have a few more pages to do to complete the latest FTLOPP series but managed four more today on my last day off before returning to work tomorrow. So that's me signing off for the night. God Bless x

RED January 2019 - Goal for the month

I have signed up with MIND to RED January  which standard for Run Every Day. I can't run at the moment due to an injury but I will be walking every day, where I hope to do at least 30 active minutes a day, only resting a day if my foot injury really plays up.

Made a good start today with a leisurely hour long stroll with hubby and the boys over the local park which certainly blew away a few cobwebs and was a great start to the year and this challenge.

Winter challenges

Finally got some scrapping time yesterday after a busy Christmas lead up, family time and then couple of days back in work. Luckily I'm now off for a few days so can play some more.

Joined in again with the Facebook challenge group "For the love of pretty paper" FTLOPP with their Winter Olympic challenges. The page above was for the Luge challenge where you had to create a page with elements running from left to right. And the page below was a tough challenge, number 3, to create a layout using NO scrapbooking tools! 

I used a background paper with a light spray of white ink (allowed), several project life cards by Kaisercraft, some stickers, wooden festive elements and sequins to create another seasonal page for my album. 

Advent with Kaisercraft and ATDML Scraplift Santa

 

December first and we are all reaching for our advent calendars and that cheeky chocolate that is only acceptable to have for breakfast in December!! I spent a fortune on a fancy beauty advent calendar for my daughter this year (which was her birthday present as requested) so decided to make a small one for myself rather than buy one.  The irony isn't lost on me that I spent more on a set of white blank matchboxes than I could have on a traditional advent calendar but where would the crafting fun have been in that? Plus I saw a design like this on Pinterest last year, if not the year before, and really wanted to recreate it.  ATDML then made that easier for me when they included this delicious foiled Kaisercraft advent paper in my December kit.

So this project features on the ATDML blog today as we kick-started the month of Scraplift Santa challenges.

There are a few more images over there plus a bit of an explanation on how 2 coasters and 24 matchboxes became this advent cube covered in Kaisercraft Wonderland papers

December Scraplift Santa with ATDML

Starting on Saturday, and kicking off with yours truly, the A Trip Down Memory Lane team have a bi-weekly Scraplift Santa challenge going for the month of December.

One of the DT stand in for Santa and bring you a gift of a seasonal project for you to scraplift from the comfort of your own home. No kits, no instructions, just simple images and a whole heap of festive fun every Wednesday and Saturday throughout December.

It's going to be so much fun!!

Another FTLOPP challenge layout

Following my last blog post here is another challenge layout for the FTLOPP winter Olympics challenge 2 on Facebook. I started by lightly spritzing the background piece of white cardstock.   My five main rings were then inked with Distress Oxides through a cardstock template I made punching out a 2" circle. Then I lightly spritzed these with water to allow the Ink to oxidise and then reused the templates to draw on borders.

Several more stamped circles were added along with some enamel stars and star elements from Cocoa Vanilla Boys Rule bits and pieces pack.  I added my journaling inside one of the circles and mounted the 3x4 black and white photo before adding it to the page with the title from Cocoa Vanilla Midnight word pack. The final touch was the two strip of paper at the top and bottom of the page which re also from the Cocoa Vanilla Midnight collection.

For the love of pretty paper

A friend recommended to me a scrapbooking group on Facebook called "for the love of pretty paper" and they have a Winter Olympics challenge going until the new year. Each of the scrapbooking challenges are based on events from the winter Olympics and you simply upload your interpretation to the respective gallery.

One of the bonus challenges was to only scrap in the top half of the paper, feature scallops, zigzags, chevrons and the letter X multiple times.

My stripey background was by American Crafts Dear Lizxie and then I used Cocoa Vanilla Boys Rule bits and pieces along with some Kraft border strips from 2011!

This is the third challenge I have done but I need better light to photograph the others.

Grid format again with RUBIKS cube challenge

No secret I love a grid format layout and so it was easy to rise to the RUBIKS CUBE challenge last weekend with ATDML where I created a very graphic page which is probably one of my favourite layouts I have made this year.

Again using left overs with a FUN bramblefox perspective, stamping, infusion stains, enamel dots, acetate with an ever trusty hand drawn border.

I love this page so much I think I am going to use it as the basis of a layout for the forthcoming ATDML retreat in Autumn.