~ Off the page ~

Hi there, I hope you are embracing the 4 day Easter weekend and managing to get some crafting done or creating memories to scrap. Today I'm on a baking mission ready for work tomorrow, I'll try to photograph and share them tomorrow.

Today I am sharing the 'Off the page' project from Saturday night at GoGoGetaway. It was designed and taught by Esther who is new to the GoGo team.

We decorated a plain back notebook from The Works and made it in to this beautiful useful piece of stationery.

We added white gesso to the cover then Ranger glue and seal covered with white tissue paper. This was then stamped on using stazon and stencilled using distress ink. The book paper was torn and stamped along with the flags. All then layered up and stuck down using the glue and seal product.

I think this is a lovely book which I may try to replicate as Christmas gifts.

Happy Crafting!

~ Life has been a little hectic ~

Hello there,

Life has been a little hectic in the first part of this year following a house move and a couple of holidays. 

I still have my craft room (which is now even bigger!) and I haven't stopped doing what I love. I just haven't had chance to post about it until now.

I have created a couple of wall art pieces for my new home which I thought I would share with you today.

This was made using the lovely Maggie Holmes Confetti collection and a couple of photos from our recent India trip.

I saw something similar to this on Pinterest so decided to have s go at making my own. I used a Stampin' Up embosslits die for the different butterflies.

Now this one I made for the old house using an engagement card we received from my cousin. I love how personal it has become.

Hope to be back again with more to share over the next few days.

~ Day 2 of GogoGetaway ~

So after only 5.5 hours sleep I'm up back ready and raring to go! We have done 4 classes today and I love them all.

The Classes

Busy day with the classes but I must say Janice's Class tonight was very steady and laid back. Lived it.

Sheena's class above was very sticky indeed! We created lots of felt flowers for our layout. (Note: Bostick glue removes nail polish!).

This class by Sam included lots of fussy cutting which was hard going at times. We created this ombré background using beetroot juice, it will change colour as it dries.

I love this piece of home decor created in Eileen's class.magain lots of cutting out by hand in this class. I was ready for a glass of wine by the end.

This class by Janice was lively and laid back. Gentle cutting and sticking. We made our own bobby pin embellishments to adorn the page. It's not a brilliant photo as it was taken on my phone but it suited the layout perfectly.

The Sketch Challenges

So today I have done quite a few sketch challenges and I have lost track as to which design team member they belonged to. So here we go.

I'm really pleased with everything I got done today. I tried to aim to get all the classes and challenges done over the weekend. I love working from sketches, it always gives me inspiration. I was up until 1.30am again (technically 2.30am with the clocks going forward) Saturday night crafting away with some lovely ladies.

Place booked for next March's GogoGetaway! Yey!!!

~ Family Framed ~

Today Mum and I have spent the afternoon crafting together. An occasional treat we try to organise once in a while.

 

We both loved some of the classes from Monica Gale's Retreat that she showcased on her blog so we tried to recreate one of them putting our own spin on it. I bought the frames from The Range for only £2.99 which I thought was a bargain! We both used up papers and embellishments from our stash.

 

I'm really pleased with the result of my afternoon. This is going to take pride of place on the shelf in my craft room. I can't believe how different they both look even though we have essentially created the same thing.

 

 

I've gone for a vintage nature kind of look with butterfly and bird embellishments and patterned papers.

 

Thanks to Monica Gale for her ongoing inspiration.

 

Happy Crafting!

 

~ Gogo name badge ~

Good evening, thought I might post while watching comic relief. My hat goes off to Jessie J for shaving her hair off!

Anyway back to my crafty antics! A usual challenge before the retreat is to make a name badge. This year as its the 10th getaway the theme was to use metal on your badge.

Here is a sneak peek of my attempt:

~ Wall decore ~

I have finally gotten round to updating my decorative frames since moving in a few weeks ago. Didn't reslly want lots of photos of myself around the place so I decided to use holiday snaps for these layouts, even though I have scrapped my tigers numerous times!

I couldn't decide whether or not to put titles on them but decided they looked unfinished without. 'A walk on the wild side' was created using the Scrapagogo March kit, which I think has been my favourite so far. Really versatile. I justadded a couple of extra embellishments from my Tim Holtz collection.

'A little fall of rain' is again created with another Scrapagogo kit but one from a long while ago. I'm really trying to use up some of my stash mountain. I love this photo as it is the Taj Mahal in the rain, stunning even in a monsoon!

Both layouts are quite simple but I didn't want too much as they are going on the wall in my living room. I have a few more frames to jazz up over the next few months.

Happy Crafting!

~ Gogogetaway Saturday Morning Round up ~

Good Afternoon. It's been non-stop here at Gogo Getaway, Lots of fabulous layouts created so far. Here is what I've done so far today:

Class no.2

'First edition'

By Nicola Kerridge

This is an absolutely gorgeous altered book. It was a little fiddly in places but think the effect is amazing!

The indentation is made using foam board which we cut to fit inside the book once 190 pages were removed. It was then covered in those pages pulled out to ensure it flowed.

I chose to scrap my Graduation as the brief was to bring photos of something memorable. I think I might create some more of these for wedding gifts.

This layout is for the Sketch challenge using at least one piece of MME 'Miss Caroline' Collection. The photo is of my kitten Oscar on his first day in our house. I can't believe how little he was!

Class no. 3

'Paperie Patchwork'

By Janice Warren

This class used lots of stickers by 'The Girls Paperie' and faux stitching to create a patchwork quilt effect. The flower was made by sewing along a piece lace and ruching it up. The photo is of my grandad who I didn't really know as he died when I was a baby. I absolutely love this layout and still have lots of stash left.

Well off to class no 4. ...

Happy Crafting

~ Barmy for boxes! ~

I was given Papermania nesting bare essential boxes by my mum and asked to decorate them and plan a little class for her and our friend.

I chose 4 co-ordinating patterned papers from my Scrapagogo kits and covered all 3 boxes.

I used strips of the paper to create ruffles around the bottom of lids (this hides any unsightly bits).

I then used doilies, ribbon, punches, buttons and paper to decorate the tops of the boxes (I will do a tutorial soon showing how to make the bow on the small box).

These are the boxes I made when mym and our friend came to decorate their boxes. I tried to go with a vintage look.

I'm really pleased with all the boxes I made and hope that those that receive presents in them like them as much as I do.

Happy Crafting!

~ Tim's Christmas Journal ~

Some of you may remember that on Christmas Day I posted about the Tim Holtz kit I had managed to buy from his Etsy shop for my mum for Christmas. It would only be right for me to have bought myself one as well.

Well here it is fully completed, well I still need to add photos and some journalling but the book is completed as per the kit instructions.

I'm so pleased with how the book has turned out. It is quite small but is going to be a lovely addition to my Christmas decore.

I was very excited to use my new Distress stains that I got for Christmas from my Mum and Dad. I absolutely love the effect they give the kraft resist paper. Not sure if we have the kraft resist paper in the UK but I absolutely love its effect. By adding tissue tape to the top and bottom of a folded piece of paper it created a pocket for adding mementos, recipes, photos etc...

There were also a number of coredination kraft core embossed pages which I simply distressed to add abit of texture. I'm really pleased with the way it has turned out.

Happy Crafting!

~ Festive gift boxes ~

Here are 3 gift boxes which I decorated at a class at our Local Craft Shop - Craft Box @ Elsecar Heritage centre, Barnsley. I didn't quite get them finished on the day and it has taken a bit of time for me to get them done and photographed.

The papers are all from the MME Lost and found II collection. Even though they are not specifically Christmas papers they lend themselves very nicely to this project.

All the stamps are Molly Blooms stamps from both the Winter 2010 and 2011 collections. All stamped in brown memento ink and coloured with promarkers. I absolutely love the little gingerbread garland which you can see on the largest of the boxes.

I was amazed at how easy it was to create the bow on the top. It is just made from strips of paper glued together. I'll try to do a tutorial in the New Year.

Happy Crafting!



~ Mum's FABULOUS Distress Christmas Present ~

MERRY CHRISTMAS

to all my readers!

This is the amazing present I managed to get my mum for Christmas, I'm sure she is going to love it!

Tim Holtz put 95 of these kits on his etsy store along with some other embellishment packs. They were all sold out within ten minutes. I was fortunate enough to purchase two kits - one for me and one for mum.

Happy Crafting!