Freebie Friday # 2 - Shadow Box Card

Hello crafty peeps!

This is the second in an occasional series I'm calling Freebie Friday, where I show you what I've made using the free gifts on the front of crafty magazines.

Today I have a clever idea to show you - when you open the card, a shadow box pops up, but the whole thing folds flat for posting ...

I followed a tutorial on You Tube by the lovely Jennifer McGuire - check out her channel for LOADS of inspiration - and I used the freebie stamp and die set from the front of Papercraft Essentials #160.

It's a really fun project and much easier to do than it looks - I enjoyed it so much I made three! Here's a ten-minute tutorial on my You Tube so you can see how it was made ...

I hope you enjoy watching and have a go at this yourself - there are so many fun variations you could try :o)

Thanks for popping in today, see you again soon!

Love Annie xxx

CSI Case File #258 - Sweet Memories

Hello!!

The mid-month Case File is open over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration ...

I love this illustration with all those hand painted summery elements, and the colour scheme lends itself very well to nautical/beach themed pages or perhaps layouts about your 4th July or Royal Wedding memories. 

To crack this case, you can either draw your own ideas from the inspiration image, or pop over to the CSI blog to see the full Case File, with all the clues you need to follow and lots of beautiful pages made by other CSI Detectives. 

Here's how I solved the Case ...

This is a picture of Yours Truly, taken by my then Fiance on a day trip to Wells-Next-the-Sea in 2011.

I went old-fashioned (as usual) and followed the traditional clues -

Scheme: All colours are there.

Evidence: Nautical element (boat), animal (red octopus), wet medium (paint splatters), something grainy (glittered word).

Testimony: my journaling is handwritten along the torn edges and documents a day by the sea.

I also used the layout of the inspiration image as a kind of sketch to inspire my design. The torn papers represent the sea and the landscape and the text paper reminds me of the fish and chips we had for lunch - they always taste best wrapped in newspaper and eaten in the fresh air :o)

Why not have a go and solving this Case File yourself? You have until the end of the month and there are lots of fab prizes on offer. Check out the FB page to more news and inspiration.

Thanks for visiting me today, see you again soon!

Love Annie xxx

WOYWW #475 - packing for Art Journal Summer School!

Hello Fellow Deskers and Bloglanders!

It's Wednesday, time to link up for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday over at Julia's Stamping Ground and see what everyone's been up to in their creative spaces all over the world.

Mine's a bit different this week. I've signed up for an online course called Art Journal Summer School - the idea is to pack a limited amount of art supplies into a small bag to take on holidays with you, and then over the course of six weeks, there will be lessons with different teachers to inspire you to work in your art journal every day.

I'm not actually going anywhere this summer, but I loved the idea of being able to work outside in this gorgeous weather we're having in the UK right now, with an easily portable art kit. So here's mine, all ready to go, on a table under a shady tree in our garden ...

To the right you can see hubby's crossword and orange squash - he will be glad when I join him outside instead of going off to my craft room all the time! I made the actual journal myself, using covers from an old children's book and a stack of heavy watercolour paper, all joined together using my Bind-It-All so it will lie nice and flat to work in ...

I love that cover!! I added a few pages from the original book to the inside ...

And just about squeezed everything on the supply list and a FEW tiny extras into my craft tote ...

It makes me itch to get started whenever I look at it - now I just need to make a little bit of time every day ...

I'll be at work when this posts itself,  but I'll be back later to see what other Deskers have been creating this week. See you at Julia's :o)

Love Annie xxx

DIY Pen Clips and Photo Corners from Paper Scraps

Hello!

I have some fun ideas for using up paper scraps to share with you today, with a video tutorial and a sneaky peek at a project I'll be making with some friends later in the year when we get together for a Craftathon for Breast Cancer Care in September.

The kit I put together to make a mini album included 18 sheets of double-sided patterned paper and I ended up with one full sheet and quite a few small scraps left over. Here's the prototype mini book, with some DIY photo corners, pen clips and paperclip flags I made with some of the leftovers ...

If you would like to see how I made them, check out my YouTube video ...

I'll be doing a tutorial to make the mini book a bit later, along with some instructions and templates you could download if you would like to make the mini book. Maybe you would like to join us for the craftathon - check out the Facebook page to find out what it's all about.

Thanks for visiting me today, see you again soon!

Love Annie xxx

CSI #257 - Wild at Heart

Hi Everyone,

The latest Case File #257 went live yesterday over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration ...

I love the combination of pastels, zingy yellow and black/white patterns and there are lots of fun details to pull out of this inspiration image to create a scrapbook page. Hop over to the CSI blog to find all the clues you need and see how the CSI Detectives and Guest Designers cracked this case. 

Here's how I did it ...

The photo shows my gorgeous niece, Alice, who is ten going on fifteen, very beautiful and growing up so fast, but still a little girl who loves to play. I was so lucky to capture this brief moment during our holiday in Cornwall a few weeks ago. 

I used all the colours in the Scheme, from the Evidence I chose several items (leaves, glasses, black/white pattern, stripes) I also pulled out some tiny poms and instead of tiny brads I used enamel dots - I loved the contrast in texture between the fuzzy pompoms and the shiny dots. My journalling is written on the postcard and documents a happy summer moment. 

Why not have a go at solving this Case yourself and maybe win one of the fabulous prizes on offer - you have until the end of July to make a page and link up over at CSI.

Thanks for stopping by today, see you again soon! 

Love Annie xxx

My Top Ten

Hello Everyone,

The challenge for June over at GoGoGetaway was to be inspired by a story and create a layout documenting ten of your favourite things ...

I have JUST finished my page in time for the deadline - this time it's a no-photo layout ...

Inspired by the idea of telling a story, I tried to recreate the feel of a cartoon strip, and I chose to celebrate ten of my most favourite scrapbooking goodies -

1. Stickers
2. Enamel shapes
3. Tiny letters
4. Thread
5. Pretty papers
6. Big Alphas
7. Chippies
8. Diecuts
9. Wood veneers
10. Patterned paper 

Yes, I counted paper twice - well, you can never have too much patterned paper can you?! :o)

Thanks for visiting my blog today. Check out the GoGoGetaway blog or FB page, there will be a new challenge up tomorrow and there are temptacious prizes (temptacious totally SHOULD be a word).

See you again soon! 

Love Annie xxx

WOYWW #473 - Pom-Pom Pile-up

Hellow Fellow Deskers and Bloglanders,

It's Wednesday again already - how on EARTH did that happen?! So it's time for "I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours" - hop on over to Julia's Stamping Ground to read all about it and join in if you dare! :o)

Here's mine today, not my usual desk but the dining-room table which I've commandeered for pom-pom production ..

My mission is to turn all the accumulated stash of yarn into pom-poms for a party garland. As you can see, I'm doing pretty well - at least half, if not two thirds of the yarn has been transformed into pom-pom gold. I feel like Rapunzel.

It's good to have something easy to dip into when I have a few minutes spare though.

I'l be working when this is publishes itself tomorrow, but I'll catch up over the next few days - can't wait to see what everyone else has been up to this week :o)

Thanks for popping in to see me today, see you again soon!

Love Annie xxx

WOYWW #473

Hello Fellow Deskers and Bloggy Mates,

I hope you're all having a wonderful day out there in Blogland. I've been AWOL from my craft room for a while - too much other Stuff going on - but I'm back in the saddle now and I've missed my weekly fix of WOYWW, where we show the world What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday and then have a nosey around other people's crafty spaces to see what they've been up to this week. Visit our Hostess with the Mostest over at Stamping Ground to check out the details and join in.

Here's mine ...

I'm in the throes of putting together a little workshop for our craft group - we're doing a Craftathon for Breast Cancer on 15th September, check out the FaceBook page if you're interested.

Just behind me as I sit at this desk is my repurposed kitchen trolley ...

... which has now become my Cuttlebug Station - the baskets underneath are perfect to hold all the cutting plates, fat dies and embossing folders, and the Cuttlebug itself fits nicely on the tiled surface, with tools, shims and embossing mat stored in the drawer underneath.
I think I will use my dies more now it's easier to access the necessaries :o)

Thanks for visiting me today, I'll see you at Julia's!

Love Annie xxx

In Stitches Part Two!

Hi there,

Yesterday I posted the first four pages from the GoGoGetaway "Stitched Happy" event back in April, which I eventually got around to finishing off a couple of weeks ago. With help and inspiration from GoGo Girls Kirei and Nicki, we tried out lots of different ways to add stitched elements to our scrapbook pages.

Here's another one we made with Nicki ...

I loved the look of these tone-on-tone stitches just accentuating the pattern in the paper, and I will definitely be trying this again. The photo shows Karen, Mel, Emma, Trina and me during a wintery weekend in Wells, when we all got together for a crafty weekend.

This next one with Nicki used paper piecing and hand stitching to create a pretty scene ...

Perfect for this picture of my niece Alice and great-neice Leila playing with their sock puppets.

For this one, Kirei showed us how to stitched around diecut letters to create this huge title ...

In Stitches

Hello everyone,

I haven't had much time for crafting lately, but I did manage to finish off EIGHT pages which I started on the GoGoGetaway"Stitched Happy" workshop with Nicki and Kirei back in April. Trina and I met up with our good friends Emma and Karen and spent a happy weekend learning some different ways to add stitched detail to our scrapbook pages.

For this layout with Nicki, we added tone-on-tone cross-stitch hearts using a template ...

The picture shows Yours Truly with my BFF Trina at another GoGo event in 2017.

Next is a pair of pages which come together to make a double spread with Kirei, where we created a ladder-stitched title spreading across both pages. Took me AGES, but I loved the finished effect ...

The pictures are all featuring my gorgeous step-granddaughter Macy.

Next, a half-empty page which is just waiting for a couple more romantic selfies ... which I will print as soon as I can find them. For this one, Kirei showed us how to add stitching to die-cuts and fussy-cut frames, then we just layered them up with stickers and chipboard pieces to create the design ...

Okay, I think that's probably enough pages for one post - I'll show you the other four tomorrow!

Thanks for popping in to see me - I'm back in my craft room now, so I'll see you again soon :o)

Love Annie xxx

CSI Case File #256 - Smiley Summer Selfies

Hello everyone,

I've been AWOL from Blogland just lately - there is so much going on that I've had hardly any time for arty-farty stuff, let alone time to blog about it! However, I did make time to crack the new Case File over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. Here's the Case File ...

If you pop over to the CSI Blog, you'll find loads of inspiration from the CSI Detectives and Guest Designers, and if you scroll to the bottom, you'll find all the clues you need to crack this case yourself and be in with a chance of winning one of the fab prizes on offer this month.

Here's how I solved this Case ...

This page features some selfies taken by my niece Georgia, along with my son Tom and my sister Mandy, during a recent visit home to Cornwall - here they are strolling in the sunshine after a delicious fish-n-chip lunch by the sea in Falmouth.

I used all the colours in the Scheme, along with some pink and dark blue to suit my pictures. I also used several items from the Evidence list - scallops, bunting, stripes, dots, stars and washi. I'm trying to use long titles as often as possible, as I have a mountain of alphas to use up! :o)

Thanks for popping in today, see you again soon! 

Love Annie xxx

CSI Case File #255 - Big Fungi Foray

Hello Bloggy Friends,

Yesterday was the 1st of June (however did THAT happen?!) so it's time to reveal a new Case File over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. It's a very pretty and fun one this month, celebrating Donut Day on June 1st :o)

If you head over to the CSI blog, you'll find lots of inspiration from the Design Teams as well as plenty of clues to help you solve this Case File yourself. You have until the end of the month and there are loads of prizes to be won, so why not have a go?! 

When I first saw this inspiration image, I thought I'd scrap a pic of one of the little girls in my family, but things ended up taking a completely different turn when I came across this photo of myself during a Fungi Foray in Thetford Forest ...

I swapped the purple in the colour Scheme for navy, and threw in some green. From the list of Evidence, I used scallops, ribbon, stripes and solid white background - well, I started with white cardstock, then layered pp, ribbon and a scalloped border over it and tucked some die-cuts under the edge of the ribbon. From the Testimony clues, I chose to write my journalling on a tag and documented a story about foraging for food - my favourite kind of day!! 

So, an unexpected result, but I was very happy with it in the end :o)

Thanks for popping in to see me today, see you again soon!

Love Annie xxx

Pretty Drawers - playing with Tonic Craft Kit 08

Hello everyone,

I've recently started having the monthly Tonic Craft Kit (as a little reward to myself for walking to work it seemed like a great idea to spend the bus money I've saved on crafty goodies).

The first one I had (back in April) was #08 - the Trinket Drawer Kit. There are just so many things you can do with this set. One idea I had was to make this sweet little Lavender Box ...

I've made a 10 minute video tutorial showing how I made it if you'd like to see ...

There are loads of other ideas on the Tonic Craft Kit website and I have a few more up my sleeve to show you another time ...

That was April's kit, I've hardly touched May yet and June will be on its way next week  - better get my crafty skates on! :o)

Thanks for dropping in to see me today, see you again soon!

Love Annie xxx

Freebie Friday #1 - Pop-up Box Cards

Hey everyone,

Like many of us, I love crafty magazines, but will only let myself buy one if there's a free gift on the cover which really appeals to me, as I reckon that even if I only make 3 or 4 cards with it, I've justified the cost of the magazine :o)

However, I've accumulated a little pile of said magazines, which I haven't even opened yet, let alone tried out the free gifts. So, to motivate myself, I've decided to make a YouTube video every Friday, featuring one of these lovely magazines and showing how I get on with the free gift.

On the top of the pile on my workdesk was the April 2018 issue of Crafts Beautiful, which included a gorgeous Pop-up Box Cards Kit, full of butterflies and flowers, very pretty and surprisingly quick to make. Here are the four cards I made in a couple of hours ...

If you would like to see how I made them, click on the link below to see my YT video ...

It's only about 15 minutes long, so grab a coffee and check it out, let me know what you think :o)

Thanks for dropping in today, see you again soon!

Love Annie xxx

Play - GoGo May Challenge

Hi everyone,

The challenge over at GoGoGetaway this month is to be inspired by this sketch ...

Here's my take on it, featuring a very cute pic of my little step-granddaughter Macy - and LOTS of fussy-cut butterflies.

To make the large circle, I made a mask with my Fiskars Circle Cutter, then applied Distress Inks through it and finished by using the circle as a guide to add scribbly pen lines. The small circle I cut through the white background so that the gingham paper would show through, again finishing with pen lines drawn around one of the Fiskars circle guides. I used Distress Inks to make the splatters as well, then just sprinkled with butterflies which I'd cut the night before whilst binge-watching YT.

You have until the 31st May to have a go at this sketch yourself and be in with a chance of winning a prize - everyone who enters is automatically entered in the big draw to win a place at next year's GoGoGetaway as well, so why not give it a shot?! :o)

Thanks for popping in today, see you again soon!

Love Annie xx

Charming!

Hey everyone,

I've not had much crafting time lately - been busy doing other fun stuff - but I have been working on these little bookcase charms, using a free download from the talented Nik the Booksmith ...

They still need to have some dangles added, but this is how they look so far. Nik's download includes all the tiny book spines and some gorgeous decorative elements to create the dangles. Click on the link below to see her tutorial on YT ...

Mine don't look quite as gorgeous as Nik's, but they were so easy and fun to make. I got carried away and did a couple with little jars made of beads, instead of books. I think these would look great as charms on a handmade book or as wearable art ...

Check out Nik's channel, she is such an inspiration - thanks Nik! :o)

Thanks for visiting my blog today, see you again soon!

Love Annie xxx

CSI Case File #254 - Toofers!!

Hello everyone,

It's the 15th of the month, so it's time to reveal the new Case File over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration ...

Is that a totally lush inspiration image or what?! :o)

I was so keen to make sure I had a page ready for the reveal before we went away on holiday to Cornwall last week, that I inadvertently made TWO pages!! Here's the first one ...

... which documents the moment my crafty BFFs and I realised that the teatowel in our rented holiday cottage exactly matched my shirt :o)

New for 2018 - you can pick and choose which clues to follow, or just pull your own elements from the inspiration image in order to solve the case. I went "old-school" for this page and used several items from the evidence list, added soft turquoise to the colour scheme and for my Testimony I used the inspiration word "Style". 

Here's my second page ..

... this time featuring a photo of the gorgeous goodies awaiting me on a recent Go Go Getaway event - I wanted to capture that feeling of excitement and anticipation when you first find your spot :o)

Old-school again for this page - I added soft aqua/green to the Scheme; used several elements from the Evidence list, including tissue, pleating, stripes, puffy stickers; and for my Testimony I journalled on labels. 

Why not have a go at solving this Case File yourself?! You have until the end of the month and there are loads of prizes up for grabs. Check out the CSI blog for lots of inspiration AND there's a Design Team Call!!

Thanks for popping in today, see you again soon :o) 

Love Annie xxx

Watercolour Weekend

Hi everyone,

A couple of weekends ago, my good friend Trina and I spent a very happy two whole days playing  with watercolour paints. The goal was to make 6 scrapbook pages using our shiny new Prima watercolour paint sets and NO patterned papers at all.

We tried all kinds of techniques - smooshing, spritzing, flicking, washing, lifting, sponging, splattering, stencilling, stamping, dropping, dripping, dipping, resisting, wet-in-wet, wet-in-dry, ombre effects, brush lettering, blowing paint through a straw, altering alphas and wood veneers, and even dying fabric.

Phew!! WHAT a messy weekend :o)

I've already blogged a couple of the pages I made, but here are some more I've just finished off ...

This layout features my step-grandson Bailey a few years back, with his BIIIIIIIIIIGGG happy grin. As well as the paint, we also used up lots of washi tape and eyelets on this one. I was inspired by an Amy Tangerine process video on You Tube, where she first placed the washi, then dropped the paint into the nooks created by the tape and blew it with a drinking straw. I've also been watching Claire of Scrappy Nerd UK, who has made a series called Washi Wednesdays, showing ideas for using this wonderful stuff.

Another little step-grandson, Finley this time, with his cheeky grin. This page used lots of different resist techniques to make our own patterned papers, we also used watercolours to paint the wood pieces, dye some cheesecloth for texture and create a splatters to frame the page.

Finley again, and a very quick and simple page. The title was hand brushed with watercolours, then cut out and doodled. The background colours were dropped straight on to the page with medicine droppers, then allowed to drip down. More eyelets and splatters to finish it off. I love the black and white photo against the bright colours.

That's it for now. Next I need to finish off my GoGo Getaway pages from Stitched Happy - watch this space :o)

Thanks for stopping by today, see you again soon!

Love Annie xxx

WOYWW #465 - the Morning After the Night Before

Hello Fellow Deskers and Bloglanders,

I haven't had time to join in with What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday for a couple of weeks, but today I am on leave, so I get to play :o) If you fancy sharing your Workdesk with the world and checking out what other creative peeps are up to in their craft rooms this week, pop over to Julia's Stamping Ground join the party!

Here's my messy desk as it looks this morning, after a late night craftathon ...

Note the essential piece of equipment - not the ATG, but just to the left of it ... well, I'm in holiday mode! I was trying out my Tonic Craft Kit 08 for the first time, JUST before 09 arrives later this week - time has just got away from me AGAIN this month. This one makes cute little decorative trinket drawers, but there are loads more things you can do with it. I managed to make one little drawer and a LOT of mess (not sure how much the G & T helped), but now I've got my head around it, I will experiment with some more ideas.

I decided to treat myself to these monthly kits as a reward for walking to work instead of taking the bus - the amount I'm saving in bus fares pays for the kit. Now I've given up coffee at work .... hmmmm ..... :o)

Thanks for visiting me today, see you at Julia's!

Love Annie xxx

CSI Case File #253

Hi there everyone,

It's the 1st of the month, so it's time to reveal a new Case File over at CSI:Color, Stories, Inspiration. I loved the colours and the hand cut elements in the inspiration image which Debbi has found for us to investigate this month ...

If you head over to the CSI blog post, you'll see the full Case File, with lots of clues for you to follow if you would like to - or you can just take your own inspiration from the Scene in any way you like. 

I went old school and followed the clues to make my page featuring Yours Truly and my good friends Trina, Karen and Emma at a recent scrapbooking event with GoGo Getaway ...

All the colours in the Scheme are there; from the list of Evidence I chose scallops, wonky dots, handcutting and hand-drawing; for my Testimony I chose to document one of my creative hobbies - scrapbooking of course!! :o)

Why not have a go at solving this case yourself - you have until the end of the month and there are loads of lovely prizes up for grabs. Check out the CSI blog and FB page for lots of inspiration.

Thanks for visiting my today, see you again soon! 

Love Annie xxx

Killing my Counterfeit Kit - Almost!!

Hi everyone,

It's the last day of April, so there will be a new inspiration kit up on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog tomorrow. I've really enjoyed being a Guest Designer and I've made a special effort to use up as much as possible of my kit, which I called Spring is in the Air.

Here's my last page, not quite finished, alongside the remains of my kit ...

Thanks again to Master Forger Tina for inviting me, it's been a blast - if you haven't tried making a Counterfeit Kit before, check it out, it's such a great way to get you looking at that stash in a whole new way and enjoying using it all up! Can't wait to see what's in store for May :o)

It occurred to me that I've been a Guest Forger and a CSI Detective at the same time this month - sounds like I'm some kind of double agent or something hehehe.

Thanks for popping in today, see you again soon!

Love Annie xxx

Killing my Counterfeit Kit

Hi there my Friends in Blogland,

I've been on a mission to use up my April Counterfeit Kit before the end of the month, which is .... tomorrow ... eeek!!

One great way to use up loads of patterned paper and embellishments is to make mini books, so that's what I decided to do. Here are the FIVE little books I finished this weekend ...

These all have loads of space for small photos, notes and mementoes. I think they'll make nice little gifts for friends and family - and they used up LOADS of stuff from my kit.

The two in front are "meandering albums" made from one sheet of 12"x12" double-sided patterned paper. They're very easy and quick to make - you'll find loads of videos on YouTube showing you how - and each has seven pockets for tags.

At the back, you can see three "trifold shutter albums", which are full of interactive elements, and space for pictures and mementoes.

I watched Paige Evans making one of these cute little albums which she calls a Mini Album Card using a clever cut file she designed for the Silhouette store, which cuts the whole base from one sheet of cardstock, so all you have to do is fold it and decorate it. I couldn't resist having a look at the Silhouette Store out of curiosity, even though I don't have a Cameo - there are loads of fantastic cut files on there, I especially loved the 3D ones.

However, I don't have a Silhouette Cameo or other cutting gizmo, so I kind of cobbled it together myself, shamelessly pinching some of Paige's ideas, and putting my own twist on it. It was a bit of a faff and would have been much easier if I could have used a cut file, but I enjoyed the challenge and made two more.

If you fancy having a go at making a trifold shutter album by hand, Helen Griffin has a great tutorial on her You Tube channel, where she explains how to make something very similar.

So, I reckon I can get one more page out of my kit, which would only leave a few odds and ends to rejoin Stash Mountain. If I have time tomorrow after work I will do it before the month is out! Watch this space ...

Thank you for visiting my blog today, see you again soon :o)

Love Annie xxx

It's Cake o'Clock

Hello Bloggy Friends,

Today I've been busy using up my April Counterfeit Kit and I'm very nearly there - I think by tomorrow I'll have just a few bits and bobs left.

Here's a page I made this afternoon - very quickly, because the design was already there on the patterned paper ...

Mind you, as this page is all about my BFF Trina and I enjoying ourselves at a GoGo Dayaway called "Stitched Happy", I am itching to go back in and add some stitched details to this gorgeous paper, one of the techniques we learned at the GoGo event - so it's not really quite finished :o)

I also mixed in some really elderly stickers and and assorted alphas from my stash - so good to enjoy using up all this stuff!!

Thanks for popping in today, see you again soon!

Love Annie xxx

Hey You - GoGoGetaway April Challenge

Hi Guys,

The challenge for April over at GoGoGetaway is to be inspired by the word ...

"Abundance"

I decided to throw together an abundance of washi and watercolour to make a very colourful page featuring my lovely step-granddaughter Macy carefully holding her new little brother Finley ...

I also used some of my abundance of eyelets and a few items from my current Counterfeit Kit "Spring is in the Air". Here are some close-ups ...

Thanks to Claire from Scrappy Nerd UK for sharing lots of creative ideas for using washi tape - she has made a whole series of videos on her You Tube Channel. The great thing is that making this page has made me fall back in love with my eyelets and Cropadile and washi tapes.

Thanks for checking out my blog today. Why not enter the GoGoGetaway challenge yourself? You have until the end of the month - share your page on the FB page and you'll be entered in the Prize Draw :o)

See you again soon!

Love Annie xxx

Counterfeit Kit Challenge #2 - Spring is in the Air

HI everyone,

I've been enjoying playing along with CKC as a Guest Designer for April and today I have a page to show you which I made for Challenge #2.

Our inspiration kit was this one from Button Farm - I loved all the fresh bright colours and watercolour elements. Click here to see my version, and there's a video tutorial showing how I made my Forgeries on the Fourth, playing with my Distress Oxide Inks to create watercolour effect embellishments.

Here's Challenge #2 - As Fresh as Springtime - What is Spring like where you live? Do you do anything special in the Spring that you don’t do throughout the other seasons of the year? Is Spring special to you in any way?. Make a Spring-themed project (layout, card, pocket page, etc.)

One of the things we love about spring is waiting for all the colourful bulbs to start flowering, it's a sign that warmer, longer, brighter days are on the way and the sight of a mass of cheerful daffodils never fails to make us smile. My husband took this photo in the grounds around our home last year.

I typed the word "SPRING" in a font called "Showcard Gothic" into a Word doc, changed the orientation to landscape and cranked up the size of the letters so that they filled two A4 sheets and printed them off to use as templates to cut my photo and some patterened papers from my kit.

The butterflies were punched from paper coloured with Distress Oxides, the wooden birds were coloured in the same way, the flowers and the lace trim were from the sticker sheet in my kit and the final touch was stitched detail around the large letters and through the gold alphas at the bottom, then the whole thing is mounted on another sheet of patterned paper from my kit.

Thanks for visiting my blog today, pop over to the CKC blog for more inspiration!

Love Annie xxx