How Much Is Too Much 179

My last layout as guest designer for HMITM. It's been a pleasure to design for them this month
The criteria this time was
Challenge 179 - August 29 school's back
It's that time of year, school is back in session...so let's use
* 1 lined paper
* 7 paper clips
* 9 staples
* and use the primary colours, red, blue, and yellow.

I havn't had the chance to scrap any of Star's school pics yet so this was the perfect opportunity.
I  found some large yellow paper clips and wanted to use them in a different way and came up with idea of fanning them out into a flower shape behind the pic. So then that got me thinking of the staples and how I could mix those up a bit, I actually ended up using 10 red ones and formed a star shape in the title. I enjoyed adding lots of little elements to this layout to make it schooly (if thats a word!)
Lots of scraps from different manufacters including Sass, Cosmo & Echo Park. The lined paper is Collage press

Had lots of fun with this one, hope you all play along too
Toodle Pip xxx

Another for Mother

Mum loves these cards with the dress form this one is for a very special lady who will be 90 years young on Monday

using Websters Hollywood Vogue, Tim Holtz dress form die cosmo cricket alpha Stampin Up background stamp and bits from my stash

Toodle Pip X

Black with 2

Found this new (to me) challenge blog which is similar to white with 1 only it's black with 2 lol
I showed it to Fi as she has been using black more lately which has led to me being a big sheep and using it too!! This time it was black with Green and no flowers easy for me as I'm not a great flower user!
Here is my layout just using scraps the word dressed is made up from vellum letter stickers and hasn't photographed that well but they are green and look much prettier in real life.

Toodle Pip x

Once upon a sketch 15th Aug

This was the sketch over at OUAS

and this is my take

I used papers and embellishments from a studio calico kit, and the scalloped piece is from my little shoebox. The cloud is cosmo cricket togetherness and the journalling spot at the bottom is bo bunny which I yellowed with distress ink to match the rest of the papers, the word stickers are from Authentique.

I mixed up some paint to match the blue and then gently spattered it.

The criteria with the sketch this time was 2 sentences from a song, I chose Hero by Maria Carey and the lines "and then a hero comes along, with the strength to carry on, and I know i will survive" I did edit them slightly and it now reads.

"And then a Hero came along, with the strength to carry on, and I knew I would survive, with you right by my side"

Hope you like it

Toodle Pip xxx

HMITM 178

Challenge 178 - August 15, Just relax

 15 August is ‘Relaxation Day’, which is a fun theme for challenge. We all need to relax now and then and summer time is a particularly great time for relaxation. This week’s challenge is also to take a relaxed approach to scrapbooking and using some of your scraps. The challenge is to do a layout:
- About something that you find relaxing.
- Close your eyes and dig into your stash of scrap patterned papers and randomly pick out at 6 or more pieces of paper and use those on your layout. No peeking!
- Do the same thing and pick 10 or more random buttons, ribbons or pearls.
- Use 3 bits and pieces lying around on your desk (not patterned papers). If you have a clean desk, use 3 left-overs from your last project.
- 1 recycled item

About something that you find relaxing - Writing notes & and planning layouts in my notepad
Close your eyes and dig into your stash of scrap patterned papers and randomly pick out at 6 or more pieces of paper and use those on your layout. No peeking! - This proved a tad more difficult to not cheat! so I waited until Fi & Deb were online and I labelled random scraps with numbers 1 - 25 and got the girls to pick a number for me, to show there was no cheating I took a pic to prove I didnt just swap numbers lol All this was done under their watchful eyes on webcam! Let me tell you they didnt pick the pieces I wanted lol but on 3 of the scraps I used the backside and all in all my random was pretty co-ordinating!
Do the same thing and pick 10 or more random buttons, ribbons or pearls - I dont have anything organised(bad I know) so I just picked 10 random things that were in my "bits" box on the window sill it contains anything from die cuts to buttons to fabric scraps. I dipped my hand into my ribbon bag and pulled out a couple of things too!
Use 3 bits and pieces lying around on your desk (not patterned papers). If you have a clean desk, use 3 left-overs from your last project. - Lucky I do have a very messy desk so I tucked my hand under the top layer and picked lol
1 recycled item -  I accidentally picked 2 so I rolled with that
This is what I finally ended up with

And from that I created this

My only additions were the alphas for the title - Creative Process

This was real fun what with all the skyping and stuff, why don't you give it a try!

Toodle Pip xxx

My Minds Eye - August sketch challenge

My Scrapbook Nook Kit this month had the rather delicious My Minds Eye Lime Twist range in it. I decided to use these for the sketch challenge over on the MME blog this month
This was the sketch

And this is my take on it

I started off by deconstructing the die cut paper and added a border of white cardstock before handstitching it back together around the edges, I then glossy accented the kites and the title die cut which I have cut into a pennant shape, I then layered up the paper staying quite true to the orginal sketch I added twine and a couple of brads to complete it.

All Supplies used are MME (apart from the border of white cardstock & Glossy accents)

Lime twist - Fly a Kite, Soar die cut paper

Lime twist - Fly a Kite, spring Stars paper

Lime twist - Fly a Kite, Everyday lines paper

Lime twist - Fly a Kite, spring zag paper

Lime twist - Fly a Kite, wish ribbon paper

Lime twist - Fly a Kite, spring accessories sheet

Breaking Free lighten up baby Best Buds Small accessories

Breaking Free lighten up baby Best Buds Small accessories title

Stella Rose decorative brads

Twine

Hope you like it

Toodle Pip X

CCG 204 - Featured Member

I was very honoured to be asked to be featured member for the 204 combo week over at CCG.

It's always a great pleasure to play there when I finally select my papers to match the  colours that week.

I always try to add the designers challenge as well just to make it that little bit more challenging, mind you I find just picking the correct matches in the first place a hard enough challenge lol

This weeks challenge was easy! Hmm so I thought yep I have the perfect pics lots of nice beachy ones but when I started to go through my pics I suddenly remembered this great pic I had of Leon when we were at Challaborough.

He had had enough of getting lost when he took the dogs out for a hike (unfortunately my back problem wont allow me to go with him but oopsy that leaves me much more time to scrap in the accomodation) that he decided to get a map, this one his mum gave him on a string in a protective plastic that hung around his neck! Anyways I sort of digress as soon as I saw this I though of GRID in a whole different way, grids on the map!

I used Basic Grey Pheriphery range and the backing paper has a grid imprint on it,which I coated with a whitewash as I thought it was a couple of shades darker than the light greeny/yellow colour.

 I faux stitched some blue gridlines around the edge and the map paper I used is from an old A-Z address book. The blue grid behind the pictures I handcut then ran through the embosser with a woodgrain folder finally painted blue with acrylic paint.

I used a few different alphas to make up the title "I would be lost without you" and the word lost I cut on my sizzix and the used glossy accents to make them shiny. Some distressing and string and a few other bits from my stash.

As I thought I had gone rather offtrack I thought I would make a card with more of a regular grid design to it. I quite often struggle for masculine cards but these Hero Arts sillouette stamps make for  a simple and effective design.

Hope you like both and I thought I would give a bit more of a detailed view into the process of the layout/colour combo

It was a pleasure to design for CCG this week and I want to thank them for the opportunity

Toodle Pip xxx

Once upon a sketch

This was the sketch

and here is my take using October Afternoon 5 & Dime range

Toodle Pip xxx

White with 1 - August

This was the criteria this month

WHITE + PURPLE + DOODLING
and here is my take:

Using Echo Park & lilly bee pp I stamped a prima swirl stamp cut the title on my sizzix, ribbon and other bits from my stash.

I doodled around the pic with a silver and white pen I also doodled down some of the strips in a white pen and I doodled a dotty border around the larger journalling block

The picture is of Tara, we got her from a friend when she was 5 months old and her name was Fluffy, she said she was a girl and it wasn't until we had renamed her and taken her to the vets to get spayed that the vet told us she was a Boy!! we considered renaming her/him but instead of that we just never told her she was really a boy! LOL We lost her earlier this year to cancer but she was a character never to be forgotten. Miss you Tara XXX

Toodle pip x

Guest Designer - HMITM 177

I was totally stoked to be chosen as Guest designer for How Much is too Much for the month of August.

I have been following this site for some time now and I really look forward to the challenges every 2 weeks, they push you too the edge and beyond using up all your older and forgotten stash, of course you could use new too but I love to use something that has sat around for ages (makes me feel like I was right to buy 2 of them after all lol) Really if you have never been across to see what it's all about I would get your mouse scurrying over there right now!!!

Challenge 177 goes like this:

 Challenge # 177 Clowning Around

Did you know today is the first day of International Clown Week? Using this picture as inspiration,

 create a layout using:

* 8 buttons
* 1 flower
* 11 different patterned papers
* 1 red circle
* mist or paint

I always scrap when we go away in the Uk and I created the background in stripes,to represent the clowns top, using all strips from the papers I had used on my layouts on one of our holidays, plus a picture of us in our favourite spot on that holiday.I just dotted the buttons around in a random fashion like juggling balls in the air. The big bold black title reminded me of the great big shoes the clown in the picture is wearing.I added the flower and the red circle down at the bottom in a cluster with some of the buttons. I whitewashed over the strips and although you cant see it clearly in this picture i did splash some white paint onto the white background and also added some liquid pearls dotted about. Although this layout hasnt got a clowning around theme I always remember the fun we had in our time spent at Challabourough Bay in the UK. While at first this seemed like a daunting challenge once I started it all started to come together quite nicely.

                                       Hope you are inspired to play along
                                                    Toodle Pip XXX