In celebration of...

...the launch of Ruby Loves!  A gorgeous girly door plaque!

 

I made this for the new Ruby Loves magazine! Normally I never mix business with pleasure here on my blog, but fate has made these paths cross and kind of become one for the moment. As you may have noticed, according to my profile I am actually a magazine/graphic designer to trade and for quite sometime I have been beavering away at work with my colleagues, helping to make this project become real and yay - we launched nationally on Wed 27th March there. It's been a busy old time preparing crafty bits and pieces at home and inventing a style/identity for Ruby at work, but one thing I know is that creativity encourages more creativity and sometimes when you're on a roll, the inspiration just flows. So, she's out there as of now and she is a thing of beauty (well, I think she is and I hope you agree)! Her mission is to get everyone crafting, baking, being creative - especially mums with young daughters like myself, spending time together, not only making and sharing crafty goodies but memories too.
Here's a link to the website - you could pop by for a nosey to see what Ruby Loves. This post isn't meant to be an ad - just sharing the joy of crafting!
Ruby Loves
I hope you'll love Ruby too!
Happy crafting every one!
Jak
xxx

A 12 x12 of Mog...

...the beautiful little Princess Snow Tiger at large in the garden. Awww, she looks so kittenish and skinny - she'd only just started going outside and was still to reveal her murderous, dark side -  a wild animal waiting to pounce when the time is right... It was about this time that she brought home a "present" every time she went out. Seriously, there wasn't a mouse left in the street at one point. However, she's calmed down a lot since she was neutered, thank goodness!
Anyhoo I thought I'd try another loose style of LO again and yet again it was finished pretty quickly. I think these one photo layouts are definitely a lot easier to do than 2 or 3 photo types as there's a bit more breathing space around everything which helps guide the eye to the focal point - the photo. I've used all sorts of odds and ends again and yep - more washi tape sticking things down. The photo of it isn't that great as the bird and butterfly Anna Griffin stamps are a lot clearer in real life but hey, it gives you a flavour. I'm enjoying the zingy colours that are in here - the pinks, cyans and different greens are cheery and just the thing to remind us that spring is very hopefully round the corner soon. All this snow and coldness is just too much now and I long for a bit of sunshine and a cuppa out in the garden. Must get some photo's of Pablo and Rocky when they start their adventures soon too!
Have lots of crafting fun everyone!
Jak
xxx

Altered photo album...

Ahh! Much better!

...this has been kicking around in an old drawer for aeons and it had a really boring, plain, black cover on it, so I thought before I start putting some photos in it, it needs a little something, a little lift to make it a bit more inspiring. Not every photo you take will be worth spending the effort scrapping - especially if you're as bad at taking photos as me, but, that doesn't mean that those photos have to live in an old shoebox under the bed gathering dust. So, I have "decopatched" this cover within an inch of it's life and then gone to work pimping it into a thing of beauty using bits and pieces from all sorts of places - there's Anna Griffin in there, Martha Stewart punching, recycled ribbon, twine, all sorts of stuff happenning. Phew, I actually feel like putting some photos in it now. Whilst I was working on this I was a bit side-tracked and got carried away making some paper flowers - you know the kind - the circular ones that have a cut that spirals into the middle, which you start by rolling the outside and work your way into the centre. Anyoo, once I'd got the knack, I ended up with quite a little stash of them which will more than likely find their way stuck to a 12x12 layout sometime soon! The one I stuck to the photo album has been painted with sparkly Mod Podge - a new investment which I'm just loving! Watch out everything if you stay still too long, you will be Mod Podged too!
Thankyou for stopping by to take a look,
keep creating!
Jak,
xxx

Close up of Mod Podged flower. Sparkly!

One more hug for the road...

Thought I'd messy things up with this layout. The photo is Sadie's first day at school and I am the proud mummy wondering where on earth that last few years has gone and how my baby got to be 5 years old already! Phew! This kind of messy, less structured layout is always a bit daunting for me as throwing paint/ink at cardstock is always a bit worrying - what if you don't like the results? Anyway I pressed on and it came together so quickly... and the bits of patterned paper were all leftover scraps  so that's always a bonus! Oh and I used some washi tape for a bit of interest too. Yay! Washi Rocks!
Might do a few more this style! Oh and I just noticed it kinda matches the mini book I made just a few months back - not sure if subconsciously that was intentional!
Thanks for popping by - have a cool, crafty weekend everyone!
Jak
xxx

 

The Gingerbread House...

...was a case of style over substance if ever their was one! It looked really good but was totally rubbish to eat and went out to the garden for the birds, who themselves were distinctly "meh" about it too! But hey - The Girlz enjoyed making it and were really proud of it and I took advantage of a photo opportunity... Millie, typically couldn't wait to get her sweet tooth into it - Sadie as usual will do anything her sister does as she hero worships her and always looks to her to lead the way. (That's when they're not squabbling and squawking...)
     So, The gingerbread bit of the title is hand cut (- ohh how I would love a Silhouette Cameo/Portrait). I kinda struggle a bit here for supplies of alphas so I try to find a way to customise what I've got or print out stuff from my Mac. I'd really like to rattle off a few 12x12's as I have neglected my scrapbooking duties of late, plus I could do with sorting out some photos for various albums and get on top of things. Who am I kidding - does anyone ever get on top of scrapbooking, ha ha those photos opportunities just keep coming atcha!!
Keep on scrapping!
Jak

A few more cards...

...don't know why but I have a bee in my bonnet about getting on top of the card making... thankfully, I'm nearly at the stage where I actually like some of the ones I've made... my theory being if I wouldn't buy one why would anyone else want to? So these ones are just about there...I think! For me it's about finding the best way to make a card look like a lot of work has gone into it without spending too much time on each one. And like anything it's a learning curve just building a repertoire of layouts/design elements that you know work well together. So, cardmakers out there, I salute your art! What you make look so easy is actually harder to nail than first meets the eye. One big lesson learned - tape adhesive reigns over the lowly glue stick which just makes your cardstock buckle and look wonky!!! Plus - don't you get through a lot of adhesive while cardmaking, compared to scrapbooking?
Happy crafting folks!
Jak
xxx 

Quickie gift envelopes....

....you know the kind of thing - when you want to give a gift but just aren't sure what to give! A lovely envelope with cash or a gift card to spend - always a winner. My mum asked me to make some of these and she knows what her ladies like so, no harm in making a few for the troops. Haven't gone too crazy with decorating but I did make up the sentiments in adobe illustrator which took a while to source the right kind of typefaces. These have been cut out with my sizzix framelits and are kept on file ready to print, resize anytime I need them! Job done!
Happy Sunday folks!
Jak
xxx