Brighton MiniBook update...

A lovely, sunny, good Saturday morning to everyone!
Here's a quick update on my holiday minibook. It's going well if a bit slowly, I have to share the computer with 3 other people who all somehow seem to monopolise the computer these days, so when I do eventually get a turn my first priority has been to print my holiday pics... There are quite a lot to choose from and I really must get some proper prints done as they would make a lovely gift for the girls Grandmas. I'll put the on the "things to do" list!
So here's a quick peak at progress... I still have a bit of embellishing to do although I've made a start with some cuts from the Silhouette, layering multi-cuts and sticking them together in layers for a chunky chipboard look!

This year I've included a bit more journaling just because the memories are still quite fresh and it's always nice to read these back years down the line. I think I might have a few more pages to add in yet but the book is filling up nicely with pics, receipts and various bits and bobs! Stay tuned for the completed project where I will go into more detail about embellishments and techniques!

Have a lovely weekend lovely crafters,

Love Jak!

Good Saturday morning to you...

Hello fellow crafters!
I hope you have found time for a bit of crafting this week - I've been a bit busy - back to work from annual leave - car MOT! ( it failed! ) - walking to work etc - car back on the road... Anyways, as a result there's been plenty of paper shuffling go on at the craft table - not much physical creating but, some virtual instead, lol! I have been using my scrappers block wisely though by journaling my holiday and trying out repeat pattern designs in Adobe Illustrator (tricky till the penny drops!) and designs for die cutting on my silhouette.

Morrocan tile repeat pattern

diecut from pattern 

As you can see, the repeat pattern converts well into a diecut panel which will come in handy for cardmaking and scrapbooking. Basic Morrocan style repeat patterns are a great place to start as they are constructed using symmetrical shapes which are easier to work out how they join and repeat. Some people find that kind of thing easy but I'm not a natural at maths oriented stuff I kind of find my way round by trial and error till something in my head clicks then I get it and I'm off... It's like once I know how to do it my way, I can then go back and understand the instructions. I'm a hopeless case!!
And of course the truly brilliant thing about the silhouette is you can use the file at any size so, I'm off to cut these babies out now - I'll post my efforts later. Fingers crossed they work!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Love Jack xxx

I've started my holiday minibook!

I really wanted to get stuck into this before the memories fade... so I made a start this weekend. I wanted the cover to have a seaside/beach theme as we spent so much time there - the weather was so beautiful we just had to make the most of our sunny days. It felt right to get a bit arty with the gel pastels so I've put together a seascape that goes over both the front and back covers. I'm actually waiting on it to dry as I do this quick post. I'm not sure what else is going to happen on the cover in regard to the title - I haven't thought too much about that yet but I'm sure something will evolve as I put together the photos and pages of the book. Speaking of which, they are at the top of this pic. I've gone for sweet, ice-cream colours mixed up with some neutrals inside and those AC Dear Lizzy Neopolitan papers came in handy again for this. As usual, this mini will hopefully have an eclectic mix and match feel to it. I've deliberately made sure none of the pages inside are the same size, some of which have apertures or fold outs or pockets in them. Here's the pic as a taster of what's to come...

Pop by again soon for an update on how things are progressing!
Thanks
Jak! xxx

Oh dear, where did July go?

I'll tell you where it went. It went on holiday with us to .... lets see if anyone can guess by my holiday photos! Don't worry! I've limited the holibobs snaps to 2 - nothing worse than other peoples holiday pics - zzzzzzzz... Just thought I'd post them to let the world know that unlike our usual weather in Dundee, the sun does actually shine, sometimes, in the UK. It's just that you quite literally have to go to the other end of the country to see it! Oh I almost gave our destination away there...

A very busy seafront!!!!

A view from on high...

Do you know where it is yet?

So, holiday aside I've been busy organising a scrapbook of The Girlz Official Nursery and School Photos. I'm not really one for lots of family photos out on display but I do always put their latest school photos in a frame and update them every year. Consequently, there was a little pile of old ones accumulating and I didn't want them gathering dust so I decided I'd get them in an album with the bare minimum of scrapping involved.  The photos are quite large and didn't leave much room for creativity so that made me decide to just stick them on a pretty tame background and let the photos speak for themselves. I'm not uploading them here as there really isn't much to see apart from lots of huge photos and really not much to inspire anyone with.
   However on a more creative front, I have started upcycling some tatty, old, boring, dining room chairs. I'm actually swithering over to add something decorative or just plump for some snazzy new cushion pads. What do you think? I think I want to try out a bit of floral folk art on the backrest...

First coat in!

So, then I got a chance to squeeze in a 12x12 layout and here's where we get back to business as usual! I have only one photo of this event, I don't know why, and this is it. It's a group photo of Sadie's 3rd birthday party taken over 6 years ago now and to be honest, I haven't a clue who half the children are on it now! The moral in this story is to scrap your photos sooner rather than later or you'll forget the whole story which is kind of the point of doing it!

Tiny partiers ahoy!

You know,  I always seem to start with a pretty neutral background these days, be it kraft, black or in this case white. I think it just gives more scope for using patterned papers and embellishments in a round about way. What I mean is, if you start with a patterned paper as your background paper, then it limits what else you can layer on top. It can work if it's a really small, not too colourful design but even that can really confuse your brain about what it's meant to be looking at. Or is that just me?

Close up you can see the 3d of it.

    This LO was put together using American Crafts Dear Lizzy Neapolitan patterned papers and some printed digital elements from the same digital version of the kit. I think these digital kits are great because as I've mentioned before, all the elements can be scaled to your own requirements and used time after time which can't be a bad thing now can it? My only annoyance is my printer really dislikes any cardstock above 160gsm (thick paper basically)! I can sometimes coax through some heavier card if I add a bit of washii tape to the edge of the card that the feeder for the printer grabs onto but it is a bit trial and error. That's my fault tho for having a cheap, crappy printer, ha! The cone at the bottom right corner has been printed out three times so I could layer it decoupage style for dimension. And yep, those are gromlets there on the left also. I remember when I bought my Cropadile Big Bite about 5 years ago, I got really worried - what would happen if I ran out of gromlets and eyelets???? Well all these years on and there doesn't seem to be much danger of that happening even in the next 5 years such is my extensive use of them,  lol!! Has anyone run out of theirs yet I wonder???

Thanks for popping by for a wee look. Please leave a comment if you stop by. That way I'll keep on keeping on with the scrapping stories!

Love to all you crafty peeps,

Jak xxx