The Focus Your Craft and Soul bloghop x

Good evening welcome to the next part of Jennifer Grace's bloghop in celebration of her latest blog event.

You should have arrived here from K's Crafty Corner or perhaps you hopped over from Bloglovin. However you arrive, do be sure to hop over to Jennifer's blog and follow all the other lovely blogposts, not only because it'll be a beautiful trip but also because you could win a fabulous giveaway. 

This is the rather aptly named "Shine" Insta album kit set you could win courtesy of  WRK. Enter to win by commenting on all the blogs in the Focus Your Craft & Soul hop! The giveaway closes on Sunday the 24th of May at 10pm BST, and is open internationally".

For me, crafting is all about relaxation and to be honest at the moment, I'm really busy so my relaxation times are small. In order to maintain some semblance of creativity, which helps my mental health no end, and to not get bogged down in the daily routines of life, I began doing a small piece of creative activity everyday after I've had my supper.

I have begun keeping a creative book and I'm following 2 projects on Instagram which I found via Amy Tangerine's blog and Instagram account. These 2 projects help keep me focused on being creative everyday without having to get out a load of scrapbooking supplies or taking a huge amount of time when I'm tired or just unmotivated.

This is one of the great things about blogging and using social media - the joy of finding something which inspired you to be creative in new and interesting ways. 

The first project I'm doing is called the Creative Midori Challenge and is the brainchild of Florence Antonette on Instagram aka livelifeandcreate . Every month she sets a daily topic for you to be creative with, this month's May can be found here . I like the fact that the topics are slightly off the wall some days and I have to think a bit before creating my page but also they are brief and I can do as little or as much as I feel up for.

Here are a couple of my pages............

The second challenge project is by Cori aka  The Reset Girl. Again each month,  Cori compiles a daily listing topic and you base your creative activity on that. I use the same journal for this project and much like Amy Tangerine I have one side of the page for my listing challenge and the other for the creative midori challenge. Here are a few of my lists..........

What really focuses me on these projects is that it is so simple and quick. I have a tray in my lounge with all the basic bits I use for the projects. It has my journal which was 99 pence from The Works, my watercolour paints, brushes, a StazOn ink pad, some washi tapes, some stamps, a stamping block, pens, pencils, a few stickers - alphabets, quotes and sayings, and that is just about it.

Keeping this tray simple has meant I am focused on being creative rather than swamping myself with lots of choices. I can always add some extras on as I go along, but I am pretty much keeping it to those few bits. And so far I've done everyday for 15 days so that makes me very happy indeed.


Your next blogger is Jacky so hop on over and see what she had prepared for you. Have a wonderful time.

Onwards and Upwards blog hop x

Hello and welcome to my post for Jennifer Grace's bloghop ''Onwards and upwards''. If you have arrived here from the hop then hello and if not, then you might like to go visit some old and new friends by visiting the blogs listed towards the end of my post. Jennifer is hosting a fab weekend not only of bloghopping but of challenges and giveaways so it will definately be well worth visiting all the bloggers joining in.

 

So what better way to celebrate crafting than to do some...........................scrapbooking. When Jennifer announced the title, I knew I had some photographs from The Bristol Balloon Fiesta somewhere and spent some time finding them. And this is the layout I made...........................

As the photos were 7 x 5 I decided to do a double page spread so it would make them stand out more. I shopped the stash and found a beautiful red vintage distressed patterned paper which luckily I had 2 sheets of. I then stuck down the photos. Knowing I would have a gap I looked for another patterned paper and found the beautiful lemon and white cloud design which fits in perfectly with the theme of flying onwards and upwards. I then picked out the blue from two of the balloons and used two colours of washi tape and some red, yellow and blue stickers.

Here is a closer look at the left-hand page..........................

....................and the right-hand page........................

I found this great balloon stamp which I think is by House of three and added the word sticker because the stamp had a phrase which didn't fit the theme and was too difficult not to ink. I added in some Studio Calico wood veneers in the shape of butterflies. I coloured these with some Glimmer mists and once dry I added Stickles over the top to add some glimmer.

To neaten the photo edges I added some patterned paper borders, washi tape and used a Fiskars punch

I also found some lovely gems in pale blue to make the butterfly trails.

 If you comment on all the blogs in the hop, finishing at www.jennifergracecreates.com to let Jennifer know you've been all the way around, then you'll be in with a chance to win a prize pack of cheerful Glitz Designs Color Me Happy and Simple Stories 24/7, worth over £25! All entries must be received by Monday the 13th of May at 10.59pm BST. Your next stop along the hop is at Jo B.

Jennifer - http://jennifergracecreates.com/

Rinda - http://gallorganico.blogspot.co.uk/

Meghann - http://www.meghannslittlecorner.blogspot.co.uk/

Louise - http://scrapbook-me.blogspot.co.uk/

Lisa-Jane - http://comeinsidemycrazyhead.blogspot.co.uk/

Julie - http://www.icreatepurtythangs.blogspot.co.uk/

Jo S - http://www.curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.co.uk/

Jo B - http://www.buckinghamspalace.blogspot.co.uk/

Jenny - http://dragonllew.blogspot.co.uk/

Jacky - http://scrappyjackylive.blogspot.co.uk/

Fay - http://beautifullilysramblings.blogspot.co.uk/

Daphne - http://dapfniedesign.wordpress.com/

Abi - http://creatingpaperdreams.blogspot.co.uk/

Jennifer - http://jennifergracecreates.com/

Pass the Page x

Hello and welcome to my section of the blog hop for Pass the Page this fine Sunday. This blog hop has been arranged by the lovely Julie who blogs here
 Her idea was a simple one. Gather together a group of different crafters and send them a scrapbooked page layout which they then scraplift and pass on to the next person. The very clever part of this idea was that only the sender and receiver would see those layouts and so until today no-one has seen any other layout than the one they received. So we are just as excited to see what we've all come up with.

So I received my layout from Alexa who primarily uses digital media to make her layouts and here is her page:

I looked at this and thought ''What shall I do?'' As I was thinking, I came up with the title in my head ''The patchwork of a life'' and from there the page came together. I took Alexa's hexagonal theme and made some hexagonal picture shapes on Photoshop which looked like this:

I also found an advertisement which used hexagons in a similar way:

The next part of the process for me was to choose the coloured papers and other elements I wanted to use. I chose some papers from my scrap basket which I think are from an old Sassafras Lass design, some coloured mists, some chipboards shapes and gems. Because I had already chosen the title, I knew I wanted to include some stitching onto the design and also some hand stitching. Here is my finished layout:

I only used 3 pictures in the end but they are ones I really love. The central picture was taken when I was a year old, the top left picture is me and lil sister playing dress up at my grandparents and the third is of me at age 19 years at my grandparent's golden wedding. I chose to layer the large photo with a yellow lace patterned paper and the other picture of myself I layered on a pink paper at an angle like the advert. The final picture I used within a small selection of patterned papers like a patchwork quilt. I used the smallest zigzag stitch on my machine and a pink variagated thread to machine stitch the pieces down. I did use a small piece of sticky tape in the centre of each shape to adhere it to the page first. I also used 3 shades of mists to make paint splodges in the top right hand corner of the layout to emulate the circular shapes on the advert. The colours I chose were pink, yellow and gold.

I used letter stickers in differing shades to pick out the colours of the patterned papers and also used my Amy Tangerine embroidery stencils to write the word ''Life''. I also added in some embroidered hearts from those stencils to maintain the patchwork and stitching theme.

I also added in some Jenni Bowlin pink and yellow butterfly stickers and some pale pink pearls.

I also wrote a small piece of journalling about the bloghop and how I designed the layout.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the layouts and the process I used. The next page can be found over on Jacky's blog. I'm excited to see what she has lifted from my page.

Here is the full list of blogs if you've started here:

Julie                             jsquaredscrapspot.wordpress.com

Alison                         alisonslife-in-the-slow-lane.blogspot.com

Fay                              beautifullilysramblings.blogspot.com

Ruth                            chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com

Jemma                                    just-jimjams.blogspot.co.uk

Miss Smith                  journalofcuriousthings.co.uk

K                                  www.kscraftycorner.blogspot.com

Missus Wookie          mrswookieswanderings.blogspot.co.uk

Sandie                         itchifingers.blogspot.com

Mel                              www.ispeakmelsh.co.uk

Alexa                           simplyalexa.typepad.com/trimmingthesails

Jo                                 curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.co.uk

Jacky                           

Colour combo bloghop.

Good morning everyone and welcome to my part of the Colour combo bloghop arranged by the lovely Amy and featuring a lovely group of bloggers who apparently met on a Shimelle class called Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers. I have taken part in a number of hops now so I have enjoyed preparing my page for today.
As you have probably gathered the idea is based on a combination of colours which Amy found and sent us, here is the picture and colour combination...............

 You should have arrived from the lovely Rebekah over here , she has the most beautiful blog header and some wonderful tutorials' cards and recipe ideas. Yummy. If not and you are just a routine friend popping to see where I've been please do pop on over to visit the rest of our hop, the list of the whole hop is at the end of this post.

I have been having a rough time recently with my Bipolar and I have wanted to do a page which reflects something simple but important about me. I have been listening alot to Lady Gaga which is pretty cool and love ''Born this way'', the lyrics seemed to have been written for me. So here is my layout entitles Born this Way......

I used a piece of Bassill cardstock and then 2 strips of patterned paper cut using border punches. I inked the edges of these strips to match the colour combo and then added a strip of ruffled ribbon at the bottom and the ricrac for the neutral colour shades.The picture is a favourite of me at my sister's 40th a couple of years ago and I used a Photobooth application.

All you have to do is upload 4 pictures of your choice and hey presto. I used the same one as I only had one but I like the effect. I made the rossettes myself and punched the edges again to reflect the patterned paper background strips. They were inked with a brown soft ink and then I had Tim Holtz button and another from a kit I added. The doilie is neutral lace again, and the flower is from Prima.

I then had some Jenni Bowlin butterfly stickers and some bling for their trails from Basic Grey which I added to pretty them up more. The flower is from a recent Scrapbooking from the Inside out kit. 

 So that's my layout and I enjoyed being restricted to certain colours, it focussed me more so I might have to try this more often. So now I have a small giveaway for you. I have a place on Shimelle's little class called ''When I grow up''. All you have to do is leave me a comment by Monday of this week and I will draw a name out of the hat on Tuesday to let you know who has won.

 The final stop on our hop is over the other side of the world in Asia with the wonderful Xnomads who not only does some brilliant classes and photography, but tells us wonderful tales from her life in Asia with her family.

http://amysoto.blogspot.com

http://scrappin24-7.blogspot.com/

http://scribblesstickingstitchingstroking.blogspot.com/

http://throughthecameralens.typepad.com

http://digipage-blog.everything-digital-scrapbooking.com/

http://blog.mshanhun.com

http://alyssephotographs.blogspot.com/

http://www.calendulafitzpatrick.blogspot.com

http://spud-pickle.blogspot.com

www.scrappingmojo.blogspot.com

www.MichelleRoycroft.blogspot.com

http://handmadebykirsty.blogspot.com

http://www.vsws.typepad.com

http://scrapyourlife.net

http://sugarandscrap.blogspot.com

http://snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com

http://craftygoodies.blogspot.com

http://adriennefalzon.blogspot.com

http://airbs.blogspot.com/

http://1200somemiles.blogspot.com 

http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com

http://www.curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.com

http://xnomads.typepad.com/

Celebrating blog friendships party update.

Here is the final list of bloggers who are taking part in Celebrating blog friendships party on Saturday Novemeber 6th at 8pm GMT. We have some amazing fun planned for you all and some great giveaways and prizes, with 2 secret special prizes to be revealed on the day itself. If you wanted to be in on the party as a host/hostess but your name isn't on the list can you email before tomorrow night at:

josowerby@yahoo.com

www.lizziemade.blogspot.com

http://jennifersjumbles.blogspot.com/

www.ispeakmelsh.blogspot.com

www.overatourplace.blogspot.com       

www.creatingpaperdreams.blogspot.com

www.gallorganico.blogspot.com

http://libertycottage.blogspot.com/

http://scrapadventure.wordpress.com/

http://chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com/

http://mypaperview.blogspot.com/      

www.lifebehindthepurpledoor.com

http://www.clearingthebrambles.blogspot.com

www.fromhighinthesky               

http://scrappyjackylive.blogspot.com/ 

http://www.rachelbsworld.blogspot.com/

http://www.buttongarden.blogspot.com/

http://www.sunlight-simplicity.blogspot.com/

http://journalofcuriousthings.blogspot.com/

http://www.enjoytheridetoday.blogspot.com/

http://thelinarstudio.typepad.com/embracelife              

http://sharyncarlson.typepad.com/living_artfully/

http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/

www.snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com

http://www.scrappyjedi.com/

http://mayadahan.blogspot.com/

http://www.kbwalker.blogs.com/

www.melissagross.blogspot.com

http://www.xnomads.typepad.com/blog           

www.curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.com   

Flower power.

Today has been spent wasteing the morning at the doctor's............1 and a half hours I sat waiting for my appointment, she was having laugh. I had taken my book with me but even that started to become monotonous after 45 minutes of waiting. Anyway at least I only needed some cream which will hopefully work.
Anyway I have getting myself organised for Scrapamia and finished my flower place setting. I am really pleased with it................

So here she is in her full regalia. I made the leaves today from green felt and handstitched veins onto them in green and brown thread. I also stuck some cute butterflies on to the gaps. The pot is an old cardboard coffee cup painted and decprated with ribbon.

Here's my name spelled out in K and Co glittery chipboard and stuck onto wire..........

......................a close up of the leaves and butterflies.
I now have to pack my kitbag and print out my photos oh and sort out my blogpost for Saturday's bloghop but it will be visible from tommorrow as I dont trust the blogger to post correctly as it never has dome before. So u can all have a sneaky peak at my minibook but will have to wait until Saturday to bloghop to enveryone else.