A new start - Project Life pages

Wow, it's been ages since I've written a blog post. Things have been busy and complicated as family life usually is. I agree to do things and then other things happen (poorly children etc) and everything can spiral out from there. So, time for a new start.

I've got lots of things to blog about but this page seems a good place to begin. I love scrapbooking but have been feeling a little uninspired so I decided to give the Project Life style pages a go. I have tried in the past and I did not like how they turned out. I signed up for a "Pocket Pages" class on the True Scrap website, which I found quite interesting to get me started. 

I was also very inspired by the pages from Magda Bolinska. Her pages are fabulous and vibrant and I love the use of paint.

So here's my first go. I mostly used supplies from a "Day in the Life" kit from Cocoa Daisy. The page came together really easily and I like how it looks. I will definitely try a few more PL style pages.

I am currently taking some time to ponder where I am going to be taking my artwork as I'm not sure magazine writing has long term potential. I've taken a few months off writing at the moment, but having said that, a little peek of one of my projects is on the front cover of the latest issue of Scrap365.

It's the star in the bottom right hand corner! I'm on the front cover - woohoo! It feels like my very own Mike Wazowski moment... 

Playing Poohsticks - a textured page

I've finally finished this scrapbook page which I started sometime last year.  I created the textured background using some die cut card and moulding paste and then coloured it with watercolours. I did a whole batch of backgrounds like this and then I have been slowly working back through them.

I used one of my Cocoa Daisy kits to finish the page, including these woodgrain alphabet Thickers (perfect for a page about playing in the woods).

The kit included the twine, sequins, woodgrain notecard and wooden veneer "page". The packet of embellishments in the kit was sealed with a tiny bit of woodgrain washi tape and I think it looks great on the top right edge of the photo.

Happy Days

I made this page using my Cocoa Daisy kit from September. This kit had the perfect colours to go with photos for redheaded children! 

I used a Crafter's Workshop stencil and Distress Inks to make the background.

I had to add a little stitching...

The fun thing about using a kit is that you end up with items you may not usually have bought, like these cuties cut from a sheet of paper. I think they look at home on this page.

Castles and Layers

More cardboard box castles here, but this time they are on a layout.I created this page for a layers challenge on last week's Cocoa Daisy online crop. It has layers of moulding paste, watercolours, papers, stickers, chipboard and stitching.

I used a Crafter's Workshop Brick stencil with moulding paste to make this background.

I continued the layering theme by layering up Maya Road letter rub-ons for my title.

A journalling challenge

Lisa Saunders set a journalling challenge over on Cocoa Daisy and so here is my page with a thankful theme and lots of journalling. I collected the bits and pieces for this page a little while ago and added the moulding paste but this challenge helped me to bring it all together and with a lot more journalling than I would have included before.

I love this chip board piece from American Crafts and I think it works so well with some papers from Cosmo Cricket's Summer Love collection behind it.

I included journalling around the edge of the page, by the photos, on a ticket and on the wooden hexagons too.

I have really enjoyed following these challenges as it is a great starting point for layouts. The challenges are well worth a look with lots of fantastic inspiration from a very talented design team.

Sunbathing - a stitching challenge

Here's another page I made for the Cocoa Daisy online crop and this time it was a challenge from Emily Pitts to use sewing on a layout. I sew on my pages quite frequently and so I tried to go with the idea of it being a challenge and I learnt a new decorative stitch.

I started off by adding some colour to the background. I love patterned paper, but I like it even more when I've added a bit of paint or texture to it. This time I used a Studio Calico hexagon stencil and coloured in some of the shaped with my Neocolor watercolour crayons. Then  I blitzed them with a water spray until the colours started to run and left it to dry.

Part of the challenge was to include a stitched title. I used some Thickers alphabet stickers as a stitching guide and made holes around each letter with a pin before putting the letters back into the packet for another day. You can see here that I stitched on some sequins too.

So here's my new decorative stitch. It's called fly stitch and I watched a video on Youtube to learn how to do it. I think it works really well as the sun's rays and definitely adds something to the page.