Mad Scrapper's Blog

October's Project 12 Layout

2010-11-07T04:36:00.000-08:00

A beautiful sketch to work with and lovely My Mind's Eye "Fine & Dandy" products to create an LO that I'm rather happy with. I'm definitely going to do another project next year to create an LO per month.

Project 12 September

2010-10-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

I haven't been blogging much lately because I haven't been scrapping much lately. Not like me but I've not been in the best place emotionally but am hoping that I am on the road to recovery. However I decided that if I did nothing else, I would continue my Project 12 and submit my September attempt. It made me realise that although I've been feeling a little sorry for myself (to say the least!!) I have done some amazing things this month and had some really good times. So here it is... and I've used Bella Blvd "All Inclusive" products.

Chicken Soup Recipe #10

2010-09-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

I like how my interpretation turned out, perhaps because I used it to recall my nephew's Barmitzvah but also because I so enjoyed using Echo Park's "Life is Good" range.

I also created another LO using the lovely August Project 12 sketch.

Inspired by the very talented Rachael Elliot

2010-09-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

This month's Scrapbook Magazine had 2 LOs that I had to lift as they were just so eye catching and beautiful. Both of them were created by Rachael.

The 1st, I even used her title as it's one I've not used before (and I do so hate to repeat a title!) and fitted the photo perfectly. It's called Adorable in Every Way and uses Bella Blvd's Sunny Happy Skies.

The 2nd is of Daisy asleep (I have a habit of taking photos of her when she's asleep as she just looks so gorgeous. It's called Remembering the Every Day Moments and uses Bella Blvd (yet again!) Hello Beautiful range.

Project 12 August

2010-09-11T00:05:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed using the sketch this month and found that my new Bella Blvd papers worked really well for August's summery LO.

Missed Me???

2010-09-03T08:24:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged for a while because I haven't been scrapping as much as I usually do. The reason being I now have a dog - a gorgeous King Charles Cavalier cross. I'm absolutely obsessed and he has been taking up a lot of my time. However, things are settling down now and scrapping has resumed.

I just finished this layout today and used a Page Maps September sketch as my inspiration and My Little Shoebox Sunday Market products. It shows what a lovely day the girls had at Paradise Wildlife Park.

This next layout is of my utterly adorable niece Ariella. I took a series of pictures of her a couple of weeks ago and am pleased to have created a page using them that I love. I've used Bella Blvd Sunny Happy Skies products to create the page.

Project 12 July Layout

2010-08-13T13:11:00.001-07:00

Jerusalem Zoo

2010-08-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

Here are 2 new LOs I have created, "Jerusalem Zoo" using Echo Park and "A Pensive Look" using Imaginisce Scooter's Vacation. I was featured this month is the Scrapbook Magazine.

Wow. It's a winning week for me!!!

2010-07-23T23:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to everyone who took time out to take part in Week 3, please can I have a great big-up to Jude, who's the challenge winner. This layout is fabulous on so many levels; the colours, the embellishment layout and, of course, that super cute photo! Awesome Jude, awesome!

Jude, please can you email me at lovingthetraditional@gmail.com if you fancy taking part in Week 5 :)"

Thanks Paper Proposals.

Also just found out yesterday that my son won a competition that I entered him for us to go to a private screening of Nicolas Cage's new film "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", then travel to Barcelona for 3 days to interview the cast and crew as part of the press junkit (5 minutes alone with Nicolas Cage shouldn't be scoffed at!) followed by free entry to a theme park near our hotel. It's all so, so exciting!!!

Paper Proposals "Why I love this photo" & other LOs

2010-07-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

This is my LO of a photo I love very much for a Paper Proposals challenge. It uses gorgeous Making Memories products.

Here are some other LOs I've been working on. The first uses more Elephant Parade photos from when Ann and I were out and about. I used "Rusted Sun" Fancy Pants products.

This one used (yet again) those Echo Park papers I am so in lurve with right now.

And my last LO for the day is another from one of my Elephant days. This LO is of a wonderful friend of mine and "Hope".

Chicken Soup Recipe #3

2010-07-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

This David Bowie album sleeve was the inspiration for this recipe from Chicken Soup.

I had good intentions to maximise white space but once I had printed out all my contact sheet photos and added the 3 main photos, there was little space left. However I actually really like how this LO turned out and have used this page to display some of the "Green Card" photos I have taken so far this year. Taking photos of myself is something quite new to me but it's so much fun and a great thing to do if there's noone else around to take the photo.

I also just finished this LO, finally using the beautifully textured My Mind's Eye (Red) Lush collection. I've had it for quite a long time and thought that this "Black" LO works really well with the red.

Chicken Soup Recipe #2

2010-07-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

Inspiration for Chicken Soup's 2nd recipe was this.

I've been known to make a page or 2 patchwork style layouts so I enjoyed creating one again. Here it is. I used stash from the gorgeous "A Walk in the Park" range from Echo Park Papers bought from Sarah's Cards & it shoes what a lovely time I had with Lou in the New Forest in June this year.

Project 12 LO and some new goodies!

2010-07-09T02:11:00.000-07:00

I loved working with this month's Project 12 sketch from Scrapbook & Cards.

Here's what I created.

My new stash from Sarah's Cards came today and I've been so excited to receive it. Can't wait to start using it. I love Echo Park Paper's 1st range "Sweet Summertime" and "A Walk in the Park" looks just as delicious.

Chicken Soup Recipe #1

2010-07-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

Check out this new inspiration blog "Chicken Soup". My mate Ann is one of the "cooks". Here's my take on the Coca-Cola Fifa World Cup advertisement. What a good idea to suggest that we use this advert as our inspiration. This LO of Daisy uses (yet again..can't help...I love it!) Echo Park paper "Sweet Summertime".

She is perfect in every way

2010-06-30T11:44:00.001-07:00

I used gorgeous Bo Bunny papers to make this LO of Daisy. The title says it all!

I've been scrapping, scrapping, scrapping

2010-06-28T05:27:00.000-07:00

Sadly the scrapping bug left me for a little while, but happily it is back and here is some of what I've been creating lately.

For this page I used the gorgeous new papers from Echo Park. I think I'll be getting a lot of use from these papers and hope they bring out other ranges from this manufacturer. They're so bright and fun and perfect for this page showing a lovely day out with the family searching for London Parade elephants.

Daisy looked so beautiful as Talli & Dan's bridesmaid in Israel. I kept the page simple using Fancy Pants "Wishful Thinking" products.

Lorraine and I had such a fun time searching for elephants around Chelsea and the Natural History Museum.

Claire & Daisy

2010-06-21T03:48:00.000-07:00

I took these photos of Claire and Daisy when we were at Longleat a couple of weeks ago. They were much more interested in each other than all the animals that could be seen out of the window!

This LO was created using the gorgous new Echo Park "Sweet Summertime" range bought from Sarah's Cards.

Elephant Hunt

2010-06-19T01:36:00.000-07:00

This Layout is based on one I saw some time ago in September's Scrapbook Trends page 106. One of the many pages I have created and will continue to create of the beautiful Elephant Parade elephants in London.

May Project 12 LO

2010-06-15T06:52:00.001-07:00

Still Miss You...3 Years on

2010-05-11T23:10:00.000-07:00

Last month saw the 3rd year anniversary of the passing away of my dear friend Sharmla. To celebrate her life a few of us got together with the kids. It was such a lovely evening and I know Sharmla would have loved it. Of course I took a few pics but was really happy with this one (apart from cutting out half of Andrew...Sorry!!!) This page is based on p.68 of Anna Bowlis' Pencil Lines Book using some lovely My Mind's Eye stash.

Project 12 April Sketch

2010-05-03T06:52:00.001-07:00

More Pencil Lines Sketches

2010-05-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

Here are 2 more sketches from this very inspiring book by Anna Bowkis.

"The Green" uses gorgeous stash from the Kaisercraft range La-Di-Da and the sketch can be found on
page 52.

Sassitude uses lovely papers and buttons/rubons from Fancy Pants' About a Girl range. The sketch can be found on page 62.

Some New LOs

2010-04-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

I've been scrapping a little lately. Here is a layout based on a sketche found in Anna Bowkis' Pencil Lines book, one LO for a "Let's Capture these Sketches" challenge and another for "Creative Scrappers"

Sketchy Thursday Sketch

2010-04-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

Sketchy Thursdays

2010-04-16T05:47:00.000-07:00

A GoGo Day

2010-04-12T09:49:00.000-07:00

I had really lovely day on Saturday taking part in the GoGo Spring Clean classes in Ipswich. It was the combination of a fantastic venue (Martlesham Heath Pavilion), the good weather, uncomplicated journey, awesome classes and great girls that made the day so enjoyable. I hadn't been to a crop of any kind for months so was really looking forward to the day and because I've been on GoGo weekend getaways and day classes previously, I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. The GoGo girls are so warm and inviting and genuinely seemed pleased to see me. Nic, Angie and I travelled there together which made the journey go so fast. We also sat together which was nice. There were 5 classes, 4 of which were nearly completed during the day and have since being finished and 1 which will be finished at some time.

Class 1 "Dusted Down" by Lorraine

I really like how this layout turned out. Although Lorraine seemed very proud of herself that she hadn't incorporated any ghastly glitter in this class, she thought that using flock would be ok. She has such funny and warped ideas, that one! Anyhow, needless to say I omitted the flocking but was still happy with the result. I thought my choice of photos worked really well and just added some stitching when I got home (well it had to be done!)

Class 2 De Clutter by Lorraine

Again, I was really happy with my choice of photo. The colour of Daisy's shorts worked really well with the colouring of the cardstock journaling cards. I enjoyed placing the journaling cards in position and the simplicity of the layout. It's true that it's not always necessary to think that for a layout to be nice, it has to be really busy. Again, once I got home I just adding some journaling and of course, my trademark, some stitching.

Class 3 Lick of Paint by Lisa

This is such a pretty layout. The photo doesn't do it justice but the flocked base cardstock and the letter stickers, not to mention the brassy butterflies were gorgeous. It was nice to able to do a really long title for a change. I don't use paint on my work as it's kinda messy but I did follow Lisa's example and it was quite painless and I liked the effect.

Class 4 Organised by Janice

I don't have a photo for this class because it's the only one that I haven't completed yet. It consisted of lots of cards to make and a cute folder in which to keep them all. This class but probably the most ambitious for me. It was a bit complicated making the folder, but with Janice's kind support and encouragement I got it done.

Class 5 Spick & Span by Lisa

I loved the stamped border on the base cardstock of this layout. It's definately an idea I will use in the future.

I just saw the note at the bottom of the info sheet we were given prior to the event which says,"if you have any intolerances please could you let us know..." Next time I'll respond saying I have intolerences to "olives, parmesan cheese, coconut, glitter and flock!"

Here are a few other pics taken on the day. I've since booked up for the GoGo Getaway next October and can't wait!

Decorating Easter Eggs

2010-04-06T06:44:00.000-07:00

Daisy and I had lots of fun decorating these polystyrene eggs from Hobbycraft. I loved them so much I've already created an LO. This one was made using the sketch on page 66 of Anna Bowkis' book Pencil Lines.

An Easter LO and my take on March for Project 12

2010-04-05T06:51:00.000-07:00

I found some old Reminisce papers so used them to create this page of Daisy baking yummy chocolate Easter cakes. I'm hopeless at cooking and baking but these were absolutely gorgeous and made using a video recipe - very easy to follow. I followed a sketch I found on page 56 of Anna Bowkis' Pencil Lines book.

Here is my layout for March's Scrapbook & Cards Project 12.

Some Scrapping!!!

2010-03-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

I've been a bit quiet on the scrapping front lately but I had such an amazing day on Sunday and took so many photos, I've been inspired. It wasn't too hard given the new Bo Bunny Mama-Razzi range to work with. Scrumptious.

Shoot Experience London Treasure Hunt

2010-03-29T06:30:00.000-07:00

I had such a fun day yesterday. Some photography/scrapbooking friends went on a Shoot Experience Treasure Hunt around London. We started off meeting at Embankment. It took us to 7 points around London, the first being the Haywards Gallery at the South Bank, where we also found an amazing chocolate fair and had a mess about at the graffiti-walled skate park. That had to be the best part of the day for me. However it was so nice spending time with like-minded friends, some who I've not seen for some time. The weather was good (no rain!) and we even got some sun for a while. We also covered St Paul's, the Millenium Bridge, Gabriel's Wharf, Guildhall Museum & Ampitheatre, the Golden Hinde and Lincolns Inn Fields. We covered about 10 miles in the 5 hours that we were walking and we hope to do another one or something similar again. Here's a rather large montage of the day. There were so many lovely photos that we all took, I'll have good scrapping material for some time to come.

A Family Gathering and another Postcrossing Postcard

2010-03-22T01:17:00.000-07:00

Although most people who know me, know that I'm not into big gatherings (I find them a bit overwhelming!), having not seen most of the people at Aunty Estelle & Uncle Laurie's Golden Wedding anniversary party for a long time, it was a lovely party and I rather enjoyed showing the kids off. After the event I realised I hadn't taken any photos of the happy couple and they really did look so happy.

I also received a postcrossing postcard. My first from Germany and my 10th postcard so far.

ATDML Sketch Challenge

2010-03-17T00:25:00.000-07:00

I found this lovely sketch on ATDML so here's the original and my take on it. I used my gorgeous new My Little Shoebox papers.

What a Lovely Mother's Day

2010-03-14T12:12:00.000-07:00

I've had a really lovely day thanks to my gorgeous children and sweet husband. The day started with a card and presents. Then we took the tube to the South Bank to see a Funharmonics Concert at the Royal Festival Hall. It was performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and presented by Chris Jarvis of CBeebies. The title of the concert was "Dreams" and it featured the Theme to In the Night Garden. It was the first time it had been performed classical and it was simply beautiful. The composer was also in the audience. Tom's a bit old for these family concerts now so as it was only short, he waited outside for the hour reading and playing with his I-Touch. Then we headed to a surprise restaurant. It turned out to be Livebait at Covent Garden. It's a restaurant that none of us had been to but it was really lovely and hopefully we'll be going back again. I had mussels (surprise surprise) and a gorgeous chocolate melt pudding (not such a great idea as I only restarted WeightWatchers on Friday. But it is Mother's Day so what the heck! Then Simon took Tom off to buy a tshirt and some trainers whilst I took Daisy into Build-A-Bear. I know she doesn't need any more cuddlies but the window display was so inviting and the thought of her making an Easter Bunny was just too tempting. So she chose her bunny, a dress, bag, shoes and knickers (well you have to don't you???!!!) She recorded a little token and stuffed it in her belly (the bunny, that is). It's been such a lovely day. Even the sun was shining. One of the best Mother's Days I can recall. Here's a little montage of the day.

Sketchy Thursdays Sketch

2010-03-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

The original sketch can be found here. Here's the sketch and my interpretation of it. These photos of Tom and Daisy were taken a while ago at a pumpkin patch we were visiting with friends. I thought the whimsical My Little Shoebox papers captured this memory perfectly.

Imaginisce Sketch

2010-03-10T06:03:00.000-08:00

This sketch was created by Erin Bassett for Imaginisce. Here's the original sketch and my take on it.

Cute Embellishment to Make (Blast from the Past) and another Postcrossing Postcard

2010-03-08T08:21:00.000-08:00

I came across this embellishment on Crafting in a Crazy World. I remember making these at school and up to this point hadn't thought of using it on a card or a layout. But it's cute and I have used it on a card.

I received a postcard this morning from Texas.

Sketchy Thursdays Sketch

2010-03-06T11:36:00.000-08:00

I love these Sketchy Thursday sketches. Here's the original sketch and also my take on it.

The Studio Double Page Challenge

2010-03-05T05:16:00.000-08:00

The Studio - Part of Scrapbook-101 challenged us to create a double page layout with at least 6 photos. Here's mine.

Postcrossing Postcard from Finland

2010-03-05T04:40:00.000-08:00

I received a card from Helsinki today with a picture of a brown bear (one of my favourite animals). I didn't know that the bear is the national animal for Finland. There you go...learned something new today.

Project 12 February's LO & some postcards

2010-03-02T01:42:00.000-08:00

Here's my take one the Scrapbook & Cards Today Project 12. I'm really enjoying this challenge.

And here's the original sketch.

I received 2 postcards today, one from New Zealand and one from Finland. Here they are.

February Top Ten Pictures

2010-02-28T12:20:00.000-08:00

Here is my 8x8" LO for February with my 10 favourite fotos from the month. This is my take on the Top Tens of 2010 challenge by My Mind's Eye.

Bo Bunny Scraplift

2010-02-28T02:45:00.000-08:00

I'm really into Bo Bunny right now. I've loved using their Persuasion and Love Bandit collections and am excitedly awaiting their new lines. I spotted this gorgeous LO on the Bo Bunny Blog and decided to lift it immediately. Here's the original followed by my lift.

Postcrossing Card from Taiwan

2010-02-27T00:43:00.000-08:00

Today I received this postcard from Taiwan.

Sketchy Thursdays Sketch

2010-02-26T14:14:00.000-08:00

I saw this cute sketch on the Sketchy Thursdays site and thought I'd have a go. I enjoyed using my new MME products to complete it.

Postcrossing Update

2010-02-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

I've received another postcard. This one arrived a little battered and bruised but at least it got here and is from the Netherlands.

Paper, Scissors, Death

2010-02-19T23:51:00.000-08:00

I just finished a good book that I'd recommend to anyone, especially someone who loves scrapbooking. It's a murder mystery novel involving a woman who works in a scrapbooking shop and there are loads of references to scrapbooking. I'm now off to find another one. Well done Joanna Campbell Slan - such a fab idea for a novel.

Pickleberry Sketch Challenge

2010-02-19T02:31:00.000-08:00

I saw a cute sketch on the Pickleberry blog and decided to have a go. I've had these mad Sassafras papers hanging around for ages and have decided to finally use them. Whilst going through some old photos (which I thought were lost to us forever) I found this one taken at Willows Farm. The outline on the page is using a black Decoart Americana Acrylic Writer. I only bought it recently and love it. I have since ordered the whole range! Well I never do things by half.

Next Postcard from Postcrossing

2010-02-17T08:42:00.000-08:00

Oh I'm liking this. By participating in this project I get to receive some nice mail (with pretty pictures). This one is from Spain. I found some gorgeous Cath Kidston postcards which my lucky recipients will get.

My 1st Blogger Award

2010-02-17T01:36:00.000-08:00

This is the first blogger award I've received so I hope I manage to follow the guidelines correctly. Thanks so much Angie for awarding me with this prestigious award. GUSH GUSH (like at the Oscars?)

This is the award which originates I believe from this lady. What a lovely idea.
For this award I must list 7 interesting things about myself and then pass on this award to 7 other deserved bloggers. So if you've been nominated in this post and want to play, here are the guidelines:

-Thank the person who gave you the award
-Place the logo on your blog
-Link to the person who nominated you
-Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting
-Nominate 7 bloggers for this award and post links to their blogs
-Send a message to let them know they've been nominated

So at the top I thanked Angie for this award, but I thank her again it was so sweet.
I have placed the award on my blog.
I linked to Paige (the originator) and Angie already.

So on to 7 things about me- that people might find interesting?

1) I've created over 1600 12x12" scrapbook layouts
2) I have 2 lists of all my pages (one alphabetical as I don't like to repeat titles and one chronological)
3) This is the 1st month that I have been actively using my blog
4) I am a magistrate
5) I am a chocoholic
6) My favourite musician of all time is Barry Manilow and I used to belong to his fan club (does that count as 2 facts?)
7)In the last couple of months I have started card making

Here are the 7 bloggers I am passing this award onto Ann, Ally, Rach, Denise, Jane, Debbie, Karen.

I enjoy reading your blogs and following what you get up to.
Please accept this award and follow the above rules. Love to you all! xxx

Post Crossing - 1st Postcard received

2010-02-16T10:45:00.000-08:00

I've recently started sending and receiving postcards from around the world. See The Postcard Crossing Project for more details and let me know if you're going to join in. I like the idea of receiving postcards from different countries. It makes me feel part of the bigger picture. Hey, it may even improve my sense of geography and special awareness. I have a self diagnosed condition called Geographical Dyslexia! Anyhow, I leave you with my first postcard - received today from Italy.

How Cool R U?

2010-02-13T11:22:00.000-08:00

This is my take on the sketch challenge provided by Created By ATDML . Here is the original sketch too.

Pagemaps Scrapdango Contest

2010-02-09T08:05:00.000-08:00

There's an awesome prize up for grabs if I win this contest so nothing lost by giving it a go. Here's the sketch and here's my take on it.

If I were a boy...

2010-02-09T07:54:00.000-08:00

Scrapbook-101 have challenged scrapbookers to create a page around "If I were a Boy". What would I miss? What would be better? I'm pretty much happy with being a girl and would so miss girly days out, girl chats, girly books and films.

January Top 10 Pics

2010-02-07T11:53:00.000-08:00

This year I will be picking my Top 10 photos for every month and putting them into a 8x8" Maya Road chipboard album. This is a take on My Mind's Eye Challenge Top Tens of 2010.

Project 12 January's LO

2010-02-04T02:08:00.000-08:00

I'm taking part in Scrapbook & Cards Today Project 12 with monthly sketches provided by Becky Fleck. Here is my take on January's sketch.

My takes on Imaginisce's February Sketch Challenge

2010-02-01T23:12:00.000-08:00

Virgin Blogger

2008-04-08T13:46:00.000-07:00

This feels weird. I love reading other people's blogs so have decided to finally do one myself. Will anyone read it? Does that matter. I'll have a diary to keep forever. Simon doesn't understand what it's all about. He's not interested in reading blogs but hey ho, we're all different aren't we? So, I'm gonna keep it short for today just to make sure it's all working. i'll pop off now to check out settings and profile etc. Wish me luck.

me x