Hand Crafted Memories

Sometimes you've just got to do it, I need to remember this. Like many scrapbookers out there, I seem to collect more pretty papers than I use. With each new release of paper my resolve not to buy anymore just crumbles once I set eyes on more prettiness. A short while ago I purchased a class from True Scrap featuring Shimelle Laine and great instructions of how to go stash diving. The idea is that you collect a bunch of coordinating papers and plain cardstock, then you just chop the patterned papers into blocks. Because you've cut it you have to use it. I gathered together the My Minds Eye, Lost and Found papers, I used mostly blue based colours and mixed up between the groups. That was as far as I went for a few weeks, I still didn't want to cut the paper, they all looked so lovely together. I watched the video a few more times, then when the craft room needed tidying again I found I was gathering the papers to put them back. Why? So I just did it, I cut them up, some o...

At last I have made time to finish another of my Scrapstars projects. This was a fabulous class taught by Rachel Elliot t and using the gorgeous Country Estate papers from Websters pages . There was lots of cutting in this one, but it really was worth it. I won't be using this photo. I seem to have made a lot of pages with recent photos of me on them. So I'm saving this for 'just the right' picture.  

Here are the last three Frosty and friends cards that I made from last months Craftwork Cards project of the month. These die cut images are just fabulous and for those of you who love your Promarkers or Copics, they are perfect. Once you've got your image coloured for the focal point the rest of the card is easy.

Oh dear I'm a little bit behind with my kits for Craftwork Cards . I received the Frosty and Friends kit a few weeks ago and spent a couple of evenings colouring the lovely images, then I just seemed to stop. It was only this weekend in another attempt to clear the decks in my craft room that I realised I hadn't done anything with them. Then to highlight  the matter even more my next kit has arrived. Oh dear! I had to get my finger out. So here are the first two that I made how lovely is that candi?

Its been a while since I went into my craft room, just to play. I have spent a couple of hours making little boxes to finish off one of my Scrapstars projects I need 36 in total. Its taken me 2 hours to make 18 so I'll continue that another day. I haven't made card that isn't for a request or a design tam for ages. Today I made one just because. I have a card idea in mind and I want a little bird to make it but I can't find what I have in mind. I do have the bird and branch punch from Stampin Up , so I thought I'd make a Robin using it. The boxes I've been making were made using the Kraft cardstock from Papermania, so while I had it out I made my card. I love how it turned out. This week over on Winter Wonderland they want to see a Robin somewhere on the card, so this is perfect for that challenge.

I know that its three weeks since the retreat but the projects are still going, where else do you sing up for a retreat that has three fabulous days of tuition that are followed by weeks of producing beautiful work. I can create a page on my own in a couple of hours but the things that are really worth working on, take a lot longer. One of the projects that just captivated me was a suitcase that had a lovely mini book inside, taught by the amazing Lida De Witte . We used the beautiful Victoria Garden papers, I just love them.I have finished the project, and just now need to find just the right photos.      

Yes this is definitely the retreat that keeps on giving, I still haven't come down from my recent retreat Scrapstars . You will have seen one of the pages we made under the guidance of the fabulous Emma, well here is another one. This page was based on the latest trend of memory jars, where you collect memorabilia and store it in a jar. We were to create this page and the memory jar element was a CD type case to store a memory in. I decided to use a past memory and call it dreams. My wedding day, because although I am no longer married it really was a day full of dreams. I recently followed a thread on UKS where the question was do you record the bad and the good on scrapbook pages. My personal thought is if you can deal with it sensitively and you need to do it why not. I can't ignore the fact that I was married for 6 years, or that I just had the most fabulous wedding day. So here I am talking about the dreams I had on that day. I don't have any mementos from the day bu...