Monday 4 January 2010

Oooh La La! {Layouts at Last!!!}






When we went away before Christmas I selected some stash to take with me & found I had quite a bit of time to scrapbook while the kids & DH were out participating in more extreme sports!
I won the whole range of My Mind's Eye "Ooh La La!" papers in 2 colourways over at Scrappy Times last year. You can find their blog here & it's worth adding to your Challenge Blog list - the prizes are awesome - I got a whole USPS flatrate box to myself! The papers I received aren't available locally so it was great to get some "impossible-to-buy" stash.

I used this sketch & followed this challenge but with the flurry of festive activity when we returned home less than a week before Christmas I never got to sending in any of the challenges I responded to for December!

A sheet of die-cuts came together with the papers, which I wanted to use, so I didn't follow the journaling idea on the sketch {also had no computer to hand for lengthly journaling).

I used 3 sheets of double-sided co-ordinating papers & inked some edges like the green frame above. The papers were Christmassy in colour but not themed - which I prefer as we have no snow in my part of the world so often the images are inappropriate.

The flourish on the left of the journo-spot is also a die-cut that I inked. I backed the journo-spot with printed paper to give it a spotty border & bumped it up on foamcore for dimension.

Alphas & numbers are American Crafts Thickers, Making Memories {"All"} & Pink Paislee {"that"} & that wicked ribbon is pre-glittered & gathered & from a local habby store {score!} Yeah I noticed that it was higher under the date so I've since pulled it out & straightened it up! So add All About Me to your Challenge Blog list too...always lovely sponsored prizes there aswell...

The above layout I based on the sketch below - from 52 Weeks 52 Sketches which has recently been discontinued. I had already missed the deadline when I created this layout but I still wanted to give it a go just for fun - because I had seen & really liked this layout from a really fab scrapper who's blog I follow - maybe you should too?!


As you can see I added quite a bit to the sketch - the truth being that I was in holiday mode & kept being a clutz & dropping my ink-pad all over the place & having to cover the marks up - lol ;-D

Used the same range of papers as the first layout but this time went for the more subdued ones. My son Jack is there above on the bottom right btw...The date letters & alphas are from Creative Memories.

I inked a lot of the edges again here - the red blocks & the orange circle - to me it just looks a whole lot more finished than if you don't do it...

The title letters are Making Memories Christmas ones {Mistletoe I think?} & I adhered them to paper (the plain colour on the reverse side of these prints) then carefully cut around the whole word using my small scissors).

That is the South African flag you can see in the above corner. I like my little die-cut cluster thingie going on there above & around the title. Who says you can't use bling on a boy's page? Even HE didn't complain!

I'll show you what I did with the other colourway tomorrow.



8 comments:

Pearl said...

I love how you've used these MME papers to scrap a masculine & festive layout ! I wouldn't have thought of that at all ! great designs all !

Do give the Scrappiest prize a whirl who knows ? that MME prize you won is precious alrite !

Stefanie said...

Wow you have been busy.
I so badly need to get started with that.
Sigh.
Thanks also for the links.
I enjoy that immensely too.

Penny said...

Hi Helen - am away from my computer at the moment, using N's to keep in touch! I have this range of paper for sale - if it's okay with you, I'd like to link to your blog from my "business" blog when I get home, to show off these examples?! When do we need to pay again for CD?

Lynette Jacobs said...

Lovely layouts Helen, you have my admiration...I am about 2 months behind with my scrapping at the mo...and mojo has gone on holiday:)

Jessy Christopher said...

Oh wow!! I loved the MME papers & you truly deserve the limited edition! Great take on the sketch & beautiful layouts!! I admire that you have such determination to create even you are away for a break. I can never do that!! LOL!!

Ella Swan said...

Hi girls - thanks for the love! Will try for the challenge Pearl - just busy printing out my Christmas photos & my printer is menopausal - may have to replace her soon! Glad the links are proving popular - I always presume that we all follow the same people & if I know them you do too...which is ridiculous if you think about it - so I like to share when I get a chance as I don't have anyone listed on my blog anymore now that I use my other blog to launch from Stefanie. No problem Penny - would be most honoured for you to link up to my website anytime THANKS!!! Please e mail me with any new ranges you have so I can check them out online & then I'll let you know if I would like any. Lynette & Jessy - sometimes the "holidays" are the best time for me to create because the term times are so busy for me, even without a paying job. If I had to work I have no clue how I would stay sane as I find that I am busy all day with my home & kiddies & get very side-tracked at home with scrappy-related stuff like sorting supplies & blogging, whereas when I'm away from home & the pc I can just enjoy purely creating!

Diana said...

Love what you did with the sketches.
Did you change your blog header? It's hard for me to say because I usually read your posts in my reader. I like the flowers!
How do you travel with stash and tools? That's what always keeps me from taking my SBing stuff when I go anywhere, though I wish I had it with me once I'm there.

tania said...

great layouts helen!!also waiting for my creative juices to return from their vacation!!LOL! shame, poor printer,is it the hot flashes??LOL!!