Red White & Blue

We've just come back from a wonderful week away in London - catching up with my family, eating, sightseeing, eating, drinking, eating, shopping, eating and taking lots of photos of course. One of the highlights was going to the Gala for St. George at the Royal Albert Hall with my Dad and his wife - very rousing, very patriotic and not a dry eye in the house!

John, Mary and Dad at Windsor

Me and Tom in London

This being 2012, the year of the London Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, there are loads of GB-themed scrapping goodies around, so I thought it would be fun to do some Red White & Blue layouts...

First, I went shopping for a basic kit
(I only spent about a fiver because I split packs with friends)

• A selection of papers and a die cut from the Portobello Road collection by Papermania (split pack)
• 2 sheets Kraft cardstock (from a pad of assorted designs)
• 1 sheet of red shimmer cardstock (eBay!)
• Some ShrinkArt shrink plastic in cream and clear (been wanting to try it for ages)
• Assorted ribbons, buttons, beads and jewellery findings (from my stockpile)
• Self-adhesive "diamonds"
• Sheet of Grungeboard
• Stick of silver sealing wax

Since my initial shopping trip, I've gradually added bits and pieces as they've come along -

• Some sequins (shiny!)
• A length of Union Jack cotton ribbon (found in a florist outlet)
• 3 rolls of electrical tape (happened to spot them in my son's flat)
• A London-themed stamp set by Kanban Crafts 
• More Portobello Road papers and a stamp set (free on a magazine)

So now I have squirrelled away enough stash to make up three or four patriotic pages - especially if I chuck in a couple of sheets of plain white cardstock. 
Just need to add a sprinkling of memorabilia from and the photos we took in London -

 But first I need a birthday card for my Dad and I've just had an idea....