In an Octopus' Garden

I've been working on getting back into a regular scrapping routine since having returned to work recently.  It's not been easy - especially the work; but we won't get into that.  But I do have another new LO to share with you today; this time returning to my Barcelona holiday photos.

In an Octopus' Garden

I am totally in love with these CP retro slide frames.  Not only do they look great and are a great eye-catching feature on a page but I love just how quick and easy they can make a page come together.  I also especially like that these chipboards have a smooth texture, unlike many of the matte/pixelated chipboards used by many companies.

I started by blotting some blue and green spray mists onto my cardstock base, then sprinkled on more blue, green and some white mist and stamped some 'bubble' shapes around the page.  There was a dicey moment when my acrylic block somehow flew out of my hand and landed stamp-side down in the upper right-hand corner but I just rolled with it.

For the title, I reached into my basket of current supplies and just grabbed the first thing that called out to me - Amy Tan's vellum sticker alphas from Yes, Please.  I decided to mix things up and use the orange letters, since there were pops of orange in several of the photos and I liked the idea of using a complimentary colour palette.  I knew I also wanted to use this cute wave border strip so layered it up in the title along with the circular letter stickers and I really like the effect.

I took my time fussing cutting this little octopus from FP's Down by the Shore.  Got to use a new SC cork embellishment and added another pop of orange and some enamel dots.

I've had these adorable fish buttons for a while now, just waiting for the perfect project and when I saw the little fish paper in Down by the Shore, it inspired me to use them here (even though I didn't use that paper on the LO in the end).  A few white enamel dots add some textured air bubbles to each fish.

And I was so thrilled when I discovered that yes, I did have bright orange enamel dots and sprinkled a few in the topmost cluster, along with a piece of flair from a package I hadn't yet broken into.

To finish everything off, I decided to back the page up with some distressed orange watercolour paper, do a little machine sewing around two of the corners and really distress the inner border for some depth and interest.  I also think the distressed edge gives a little impression of an old 'message in a bottle' feeling.

WIP Wednesday

Recently I've been focusing on smaller projects - mostly scrapbooking, as I typically do an entire LO from start to finish in the same day.  However, like many crafters, I have many UFOs patiently waiting to be finished so today I thought I would share one with you.

London Love Jelly Roll Race Quilt

If you're a quilter, you'll know about jelly rolls, but have you heard about jelly roll races?  A fellow quilter friend introduced me to the idea and all we could say was 'SUCH FUN!'  Check out this YouTube video showing a quilt guild in action on a jelly roll race day:

In a nutshell, the idea is that you take the 40 pre-cut strips from a jelly roll and sew all 40 of them together, end to end, using a bias join.  Now, before you go any further, cut off 18" from one of the ends of your strip - only do this ONCE!  Next, take the two ends of your giant stripe (minus 18") and with right sides matching, sew the lengths together - when you get to the end, cut the fold.  Repeat this process for a total of 5 times (or get to the size you want).  The great fun - or at least I think so - is that the pattern is completely random and you don't know what exactly you'll get until the very end!

Here's how my completed quilt top turned out:

And here's a closer shot with better lighting:

Next step is to add borders, buy some backing fabric and decide on a quilting pattern.  Suggestions are welcome - I really haven't decided how to quilt it at all yet.

Like the jelly roll race idea and want to try your own?  Check out this YouTube video by Missouri Quilt Co. - it provides accurate and easy instructions and this gal is just a hoot!

And if you make your own, I'd love to hear about it!

Haberdashery

I broke back into my new box of goodies for a second LO and decided to work on a photo from this summer.  Now, as you may recall, I live in Sweden and belong to the local quilt guild.  There are many lovely ladies in the guild and recently one of them decided that she wanted to practise and improve her English further and what better way to do that than to create a small sewing group where we all speak only in English for the meetings?  Naturally they needed some native English speakers to help so myself, my best friend Ingrid and her mum (Swedish but lived abroad in the UK and English-speaking military bases most of her life) were also asked to join.  We have such a great time together - language is so much fun to play with and use.  Anyway, it only seemed fitting that we should be called the Haberdashery group - so that's the little story behind this LO.

 Haberdashery

So in planning out this LO, I realised that Carta Bella's Hello Again collection would be perfect with all of its cute speech bubbles, friendship quotes/sayings and patchwork hearts.  The sticker sheet was great for those little accents and I also used one of the pink papers in the layering.  I also loved this watercolour floral from Crate Paper's The Pier and decided to put it center stage for the background - you know I must love it because I'm so not a floral person, normally!

You may also have been wondering, after I spent all that time last month gushing over my 'new-to-me' manual Olivetti typewriter, when I would finally start using it with my LOs.  Well, this is the one; the big debut!  I thought it would be fun to add a definition of 'haberdashery' under the title so out came the typewriter and I merrily typed away on some vellum.  I really liked how it turned out.  I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that these green flocked Thickers (that I have a secret loathing towards) perfectly matched - I'm always so thrilled when I find something I can use them on and I usually enjoy them more once they're part of a LO.  And no LO about a sewing group is complete without some stitching, of course.

I have to admit, my embellishment clusters were more eclectic than they usually come together, especially this top piece.  I really loved that twisted arrow with the text and I was over-joyed when I found a small doily (just what I'd been looking for to add there).  I added the red geo tag to bring out a bit more of the red in the background paper, then felt the red needed more balancing in the bottom cluster...

Hello, enamel dots!  The perfect embellishment when you just need that small pop of colour.  You'll notice I also added in buttons and tufts of thread to again re-inforce the sewing theme.

In the center of the page I did a little DIY embellishment.  The speech bubbles sticker was too large to fit so I cut out a set from the paper, then added the 'chit chat' with my Olivetti and layered it up with some other bits and bobs.

And this may sound silly but my favourite part of the page (along with the vellum typed definition) are these little dates I typed onto the journaling card.  I was just so chuffed with myself that I got them lined up so perfectly on the faux tape detailing and they really look like part of the original card.  Small things.

I shared this LO on my FB so many of the ladies in the group have seen it and they're all so tickled about it; none of them scrapbook (it's not overly popular here) and they asked me last month to bring my current album, which was fun and different.  Sharing my creations with others is always such fun!

Pinspiration Sunday

So it's Sunday evening and I have to say, I've had a really enjoyable weekend, complete with sleeping in, scrapbooking, kitten snuggles and chatting up friends and family.  They don't come much better than that in my book.  To be honest, I wasn't home much last week so I haven't done much Internet browsing and pinning so I'm digging deeper into my Pinterest boards.

But before we get to the inspiration, I have something fun to share that I discovered this morning:

Stämpelfabriken Sommar Tävling

My LSS is hosting a summer-themed competition this month.  I sent in 3-4 of my scrapbooking LOs and that's one of mine they're featuring!  I haven't won, this is just a reminder post about the competition but cool nonetheless.  It made my morning.  Now, go grab your hot beverage of choice and cozy up for some photo love.

Currently:

* watching - Anger Management
* making - catching up on scrapbooking LOs
* eating - homemade pizza
* wearing - knit top and jeans
* weather - clear, 17C
* feeling - content
* wanting - the weekend to continue
* needing - to drop the 2kg I put on since returning to work
* loving - getting back to Oskar and crafting time
* enjoying - playing with my new scrappy goodies

Now on to the pins...

Bitty Bunting Quilt

This is so cute.  I love the simple ombre with the detailed quilting and the strings of little bunting for dimension.  This could make a really cute little baby quilt.

Collapsible Storage Bins

We're all looking for cute and functional storage solutions so why not DIY some of your own?  The fact that these are also collapsible is a bonus.

Button Flower Art

I love buttons!  I have fond childhood memories of my mum's button jar - an old Ragu pasta sauce jar - filled with random buttons that I would sift through.  I could spent ages just running them through my fingers.  So it's likely no wonder that I love to see and use buttons on projects and I love the rainbow and layered effect of this piece.

Craftsy

I know this isn't a new site but it's 'new-to-me' so I'm sharing it anyway.  There are a number of crafting interests represented here, including sewing/quilting, papercrafting, knitting, cake decorating and many, many more.  There are tutorials (including free ones), patterns for download and the whole community experience.

Pinterest LO by Renata Moni Bidin

Scrapbooking your social media is a popular trend and I have plans to get on this bandwagon, if I can ever remember to plan out getting some screenshots to print.

Heart Confetti Card

I love the simplicity of this card and the pop of hot pink and red on pure white.

DIY Washi Tape Feathers

I've made these washi tape feathers several times now and they're super quick and easy to make and they turn out really nice.  You can vary the colour, size and shape with your choice of washi.

Colour Fall

Being Canadian and from Ontario, I naturally have a fondness for Niagara Falls, but I also really love this colour palette, especially the use of the warm cream with otherwise cool choices.  Having been using my new Hello Again collection by Carta Bella, many of these lovely colours are represented therein and it would be the perfect choice for re-creating this look.

August Haul & Amsterdam Title Page

Well, I'm happy to say that the first week of classes is over and it's the weekend!  Time for a much-needed rest and a return to crafty goodness.  I have two things to share with you today - the first is a video of my August 2Peas box of goodies (AKA the 'haul' video) and the second is a layout using several of these new supplies - yeah!  So, let's get started, shall we?

My latest purchase has focused on two collections: The Pier by Crate Paper and Hello Again by Carta Bella with a mix of embellishments that will compliment both of these collections and easily be rolled into my existing stash.

Note: My apologies for some of the funky shadows - everything looked fine when I was setting up and of course during filming huge clouds rolled in and blocked out the natural light.  And a freight train chose to pass by half way through, too - the unpredictability of living on an active railway.

And now a new layout using some of these fun, new supplies.  This is a title page to go into my travel album for my Netherlands chapter.

Amsterdam

It features a photo enlargement from Keukenhof Gardens and I chose the large, rainbow chevron paper from The Pier to compliment and draw out the beautiful colours of the flowers in the photo.  I also used the Kensei chipboard Thickers for the title and layered them on top of my photo in some white space.

I wanted to keep the embellishments somewhat simple so as not to detract from the photo but I just couldn't resist clustering in some slide frames.  I backed each of them with coloured paper and layered up stickers, flair and a cork arrow.  I also used a few more of my Amy Tan Yes, Please vellum stickers - the tree was just too perfect for this LO and I loved how perfectly the 'delightful' sticker fit into the frame and paired it with a 'memories' phrase sticker, which leads nicely into the title further along the page.

And that's it - just keeping it simple today.  I feel like I've been out of my scrapping routine for some time now am feeling a little rusty so this was a nice warm up to get back into the groove.  Expect more soon.

WIP Wednesday

Is it only Wednesday?  This week was the start of lessons with my new class for the academic year and I'm exhausted.  It's been an extremely rough start to the year, I'm sad to say.  However, the one shining star this week was the arrival of my new 2Peas order - yeah!  I'll see about getting a little video together later this weekend to share with you.

In the meantime, I've started pulling some supplies for a new layout I have planned, although I just discovered tonight that I haven't printed the photo like I thought I had.  Hmm.  I'm not the type of person who makes layouts without the photos - I like to work from the photo first, then choose papers and then finally embellishments.  However, I'm sure I can manage for just one layout and it will be an interesting exercise for myself.

Supplies pulled so far:

Buried on the bottom of this pile you might be able to make out this lovely photo-realistic chalk pastels paper by Allison Kreft for Webster's Pages.  I've been wanting to challenge myself to use this side of the paper for a layout for some time now and this is it!  I've also pulled a number of goodies from my new goodie box - exclusive 2Peas star paperclips (smaller than I had assumed), SC cork embellishments as well as FP cork arrows, Thickers in the funky Kensie font, SC Sundrifter die cuts, CP The Pier stickers, MME enamel dots, labels and tile phrases - just to name a few!

I was really hoping to get started on this layout now but after the day I've had today, I just need to sit and veg for a bit.  Look for an update come the weekend, though (with any luck).

Pinspiration Sunday

I missed out on last Sunday's Pinspiration (sorry about that) so today's share is likely to be packed double full of goodies.  So, without further ado, go grab your hot beverage of choice and settle in for the weekly dose of photo love.

Currently:
* listening - Let Her Go by Passenger
* reading - Papercraft Inspirations, August issue
* eating - leftover crayfish party food
* drinking - water
* wearing - PJs
* weather - overcast & windy, 19C
* feeling - lazy
* wanting - my new 2Peas order to arrive
* needing - to stop eating crap and get back into a healthy kick
* thinking - about starting the new academic year with my class tomorrow
* loving - having spent time with close friends last night
* enjoying - not having to be anywhere today

On to the pins...

S'more Mountains - Moda Bake Shop Tutorial

This quilt really caught my eye; I love everything about it from the geometric design to the choice of fabrics.  I would probably personally skip the little appliqué camper vans but I love their quirky retro style, if I were to include them.

Hello Canada by Alinor

The pie chart trend is still going strong and I really liked the originality of this idea, using both patterned papers, photos and journaling spots to construct a circular chart.  And hey, you can't argue the awesome choice of country featured.  :P

The Day You Turned 5 by Patricia Roebuck

I liked this twist on the quadrant design concept.  I have to admit, I've never really done a quadrant LO before, perhaps because they can often feel very boxy but I really like this alternative and the use of layering helps to break up that stiff, boxy feel.  I think I'm going to have to give this one a go soon.

Pizza by Lucia

Another circular design.  I really like the delicate effect of the stitching; lightly anchoring the focus but still retained a softness with all the white space.  And the journaling around the circle is just perfect, along with the tall, skinny title and the three asterisks spaced out.

Card by Kelly Slater

This is just such a cute idea - simple but elegant and such versatile possibilities.  I'm thinking it will be perfect for a new home card for a friend.

Dye Wooden Clothes Pegs

This seems so obvious, I'm ashamed I didn't think of it myself.  I recently bought a package of natural wood mini clothes pegs and thought to myself, "I'll just paint them if I want them coloured." but this is a far better idea.  I'm thinking, drop the little guys in a bottle of spray mist, leave until desired colour, remove to dry - done!  And no worrying about the metal hinge getting painted.

Make Tiny Bows with a Fork

So the Maggie Holmes mini bows have been super popular this year so when I cleaned up my ribbon supply, I decided I would have a go at making some DIY versions using this fork technique and yes, it really does work and is ridiculously quick and easy!  You will need to use a fork with 4 tines and the width of your fork will determine the width of the bow (so if you want really tiny ones, using a skinny fork, etc.).  I found the type of ribbon really affects the overall look of the finished bow.  My organza bows turned out the the nicest while the stiffness of grosgrain ribbons didn't work nearly as well.  Standard satin ribbons looked nice, too.

Map Envelopes

Here's another fun map idea provided by Google.  You enter your return address information and the destination address into the generator and Google produces a map with the route between the two locations marked out, which you can then print and fold into a custom envelope.  I'm such a geek.

QR Codes on Your LOs!

OMG, I just stumbled across this idea today on the 2Peas forums and I think I'm hooked before even doing anything.  I'm linking you to Maria Tiara's video tutorial for how to put these QR codes into your scrappy creations.  I can already say that I'm going to work this into a mini album I plan to make for my friend's birthday - we holidayed together in Barcelona earlier this year and she took a number of videos there and it will blow her mind to find them linked into her album.  And can you imagine pairing this idea with your annual Christmas cards?  Amazeballs!

Colour Field

Here's a little colour palette inspiration for you.  You know I love all things orange but also, the photo is just *gorgeous*!

BookCrossing

This is another awesome book community idea (I actually think I might have stumbled across this site several years ago).  The basic idea is to share books freely with others in your community and around the world, with the added bonus of (possibly) tracking the books' journeys.  Here's how it works: you take a book you have and don't plan to keep for yourself, create an ID code from the site's generator and adhere it to the book, then either give it to someone in person or do what's termed a 'wild release' - just leave the book anywhere (in a mall, park bench, museum, playground, community centre - anywhere there are people).  Someone hopefully finds/picks up the book and takes it home to read and enjoy.  Better still, they hopefully notice the ID sticker inside, check out the website and choose to record that they've found the book and where it was found and may continue to send it on its way when they're done with it.  Or not - you never know, but that's also some of the fun and challenge of it.  I have a small collection of books ready for wild release starting later this month and I'm geeked to give it a whirl.  Won't you join and try, too?

WIP Wednesday

So I've been a bit MIA recently due to the fact that I've gone back to work this week for the new academic year.  The summer holiday wasn't nearly long enough.  Le sigh.  Posts might be a bit spottier than the last two months but I'm going to really try making an effort to keep things up and fresh despite the work schedule.  Wish me luck.

Anyway, it's Wednesday today and that means checking in with current works in progress.  I don't have many irons in the fire at the moment but I did recently start a new set of embroidery blocks for my BOM (Ha!  Biggest misnomer ever!) quilt.  I believe this is set 7 of 9 so I'm in the home stretch!

I'm working on the matching text square for this block right now and with my Haberdashery quilt group meeting up next week, I expect I'll get more done on it shortly.

In other news, I've put in my next 2Peas order; taking advantage of the 20%-off sale and am eagerly looking forward to another big box of goodies - squee!  Hopefully it will arrive next week.

Mobile Phone Wristlet

I've not done much sewing this summer but today the motivation hit me like a lorry!  First, a little backstory: on Monday I went shopping for some new work clothes and I bought two beautiful dresses (one was orange *drools* ) and a cute little skirt - none of which contained pockets.  I carry my phone with me at all times, even during work, and it's inconvenient when I don't have a way of carrying my phone and especially my work keys.  So, I decided I would finally make that phone pouch I've been 'planning' on making for oh, say probably three years now, possibly more.

Drum roll, please...

I think what cinched the deal was realising I was never going to use the cute little Buttercup Handbag I had originally bought this fabric to make and decided I should use it instead for this little project and finally enjoy the fabric!  And as you'll notice, it will totally match my pretty new orange dress (and the black/white dress and the black skirt).

I used a free pattern, the Easy iPhone Sleeve tutorial by Erin Erickson and then made a few modifications to it.  First of all, I own a HTC so the dimensions were a little different (cut your fabric pieces 12"x4" for HTC OneX phones).  I also decided I wanted to add a wristlet strap so I could easily carry the pouch and I used a key fob (purchased from A Graff Designs on Etsy) so that I could also easily clip my work keys to it using a split ring or carabiner if I so wished.

I also had this lovely button that matched the flecks of green in the butterfly print perfectly.  Again, I bought it with the intention of using it with the fabric for a Buttercup Handbag and I couldn't part with the idea of not using it here so I added it as a decorative element with an off-cut of the strap.  I really like how it jazzes up the pouch.

And here's a look at the backside:

In other news, I went browsing through the local second-hand shops here yesterday and found some lace doilies on sale for a mere 5:kr (basically $0.75).  Now, I am so not a lace or doily person but I do like to use masks with my spray mists when scrapbooking and I plan on using these for just that purpose.

Not bad, right?  I especially like the medium-sized one of the left.  If you have clear spray gloss, you could also use it to spray the doilies and then make a watercolour resist from the pattern (check it out).  I like when I can make my own masks, such as this sunburst mask made from an old cereal box:

Super easy to make and as you can see, it's been well-used.  The cardboard stands up quite well to spray mists, you just can't get the cuts too close to each other or risk it tearing.  I plan to actually re-make this one using mylar, which I can get for 10:kr from my quilt guild, so that I can make a smaller pinpoint where the rays join up that will be more durable but otherwise it functions great as is.

Box Time Fun

So it's suppose to be WIP Wednesday today but I'm pleased to say that after a week or more of doing nothing creative (or nothing of anything, really), I actually have a completed project to share with you.  Hurrah!

Box Time Fun

If you've been following Shimelle's blog recently, you'll know that she's been on a real vertical design kick and has a number of fun challenges and sketches up and that combination is what helped to get me going on this LO.  I wanted to have a go at this sketch and remembered I had these cool Instagram photos of Oskar.  I also realised it was the perfect opportunity to use this CP kraft chevron paper - like many scrappers, I bought it based on the preview photo that uses the white-based paper from the paper pad collection and was horribly disappointed with how dark it is once I had it in hand.  I remembered wondering how/when I would ever use this paper that I didn't really like but it works perfectly for a story about boxes and now, I actually love it!  Okay, love might be a bit too much but I really like how it works here.

The patterned papers are Plum Seed by Webster's Pages, a collection that was carried (although not in full) at the local Panduro a few months ago and I challenged myself to buy and use these papers.  I haven't cut into them much so again, I was pleased to be able to use them more and I love how they not only work so well with the kraft but they perfectly compliment the slightly over-exposed, muted colours and undertones from the photos.

For my embellishment clusters I used some lime green accents.  My mum calls injecting this sort of 'odd' colour into a palette 'the poison' - there's something just slightly jarring about it that actually works to pull the whole piece together.  Later I realised the lime green matches that of Oskar's eyes, something that my brain must have recognised on a sub-conscious level.  Serendipity again - love it.

I also realised after completing the LO that I used the chevron paper 'up-side-down' from how I would normally use it to help draw in the viewer's eye.  Meaning, the points are leading up rather than down.  Whoops.  Nothing I can do about that now but I think it still works.  I also used one of the Jilliebean Soup wise word stickers and some black enamel dots that I received as a recent Stash Busters prize.

Pinspiration Sunday

I've been a bit pre-occupied with life lately, combined with my wifi router dying on me on Wednesday so I've not been online much recently so I'm afraid the pins will be a bit sparse this week but it's all about balance.  So go grab your hot beverage of choice and settle in for a quick share of photo love.

Currently:
* watching - The Nanny Diaries
* listening - to Oskar nagging me
* making - absolutely nothing lately
* eating - Jacquot truffles (bitter classic - YUM!)
* wearing - shorts & t-shirt
* weather - partly cloudy, 20C
* feeling - bit burnt-out
* wanting - to not return to work next week
* needing - to go clothes shopping (stop being lazy & putting if off!)
* planning - to go back and buy the awesome shoes I saw last week
* enjoying - having found a new home for all of my grab bags :)

And now on to the pins...

Art Deco Signs by Kiwijesta

Another lovely LO by Kiwijesta.  The design is simple but what I really loved about this LO is how her photos work together with the black backgrounds and the pop of neon.  I really haven't gotten into the neon trend at the moment but this is great.

Paper Bag Card

I've made a few paper bag art journals in the past but hadn't considered adapting the idea to cards.  It's a fun idea, though, especially in those circumstances when you may want to include more in with your card (memorabilia, gift certificates, photos, etc.).

Daily Flash Washi Tape by OA

Have you seen this awesome washi tape that's set to release with the Daily Flash collection by OA?  *swoon*  Orange and pink and ombre all wrapped up together?  Seriously?  I might just wallpaper my flat in this...

Tissue Paper Carnation Tutorial

I'm not a big flower-user on my LOs but this is really cute and would be a lovely decoration on gift bags or presents or for table decor at parties, etc.

How to *Properly* Fold a Fitted Sheet (as a single person, even!)

Now, I learnt how to fold a fitted sheet from my mum, as I imagine the rest of you did also.  It's a two-person job.  The problem is, I'm a single-person household and own a queen-sized bed so the sheets are freakishly large.  All of that translates to a laundry nightmare on a fortnightly basis.  So I decided to rectify the situation and learn how to fold a fitted sheet all by me onsie and lo and behold, here it is!  And may I say, while it may be going too far to say this information has been life-changing, it is most certainly absolutely *magical*!  Check it out, give it a try and see if you ever go back to however you used to 'fold' fitted sheets - I dare you!