It's the craftiest time of the year :)

(Update: Welcome visitors from soapHousemama's LLL! This post shows pictures of my Christmas Cards this year. I was just soooo happy with them I just had to link up :)

Well, I'm getting worse at the old blogging, but it means that I am doing some actual crafting, rather than sitting down at the pc, so I suppose that's good! I've been quiet also as I've been unwell, and so have the kids. Nothing stops normal life in it's tracks quite so effectively as a tummy bug in a house full of children. But everyone is mostly recovered, so things are beginning to get back to normal. Except of course that Christmas has gone and crept up on us...

So, I've been frantically trying to finish up my Christmas cards. I had made up a batch of cards a few weeks ago, but I gave them to my Dad to sell in his shop (I'm not going to retire on the proceeds!) They were of a more traditional style. But I've been looking around Etsy a lot lately and it really inspired me to try something a little different. And so, with the help of a funky online app called 'scribbler' (you can google that and it'll bring you there) I created these cards below. I don't know if anyone who receives them will like them at all, but I do, so hopefully that counts for something!

(And apologies for the preview to those of you who read my blog and who will be receiving one of these cards in the post really soon.)

 

 Reindeer!

 Elf!

 

(Less embarrassed) Elf!

 Virgin and Child

Angels

There we go, they'll be put in the post in the next day or so (hopefully!) And I'm hoping I'll have some time over the holidays to update the blog with all that I've been doing.

Happy Christmas!

The Latest

I've been too busy crafting to blog which is a good complaint I think :) Well, crafting and running around after the kids, turning 40 (!), workshops, kids birthday parties, day trips to the HobbyCraft show in Birmingham (more about that later :) and a million other things. Maybe this is one of the reasons I love scrapbooking so much - it's about the only time I get to sit down and really appreciate those wonderful moments in life.

First up - a Crafty Queens mini-book. Part of the Great Big Craft Extravaganza held each year in Athlone. I wasn't going to go, but I can never resist Eve's classes. And, this class in particular was one for mammys and daughters - so, I brought my mammy and my daughter! We had a blast :) And below is my completed mini-book and I am currently finishing the second one which mum (half) made with Ru.

 The mini book was made using Prima's Fairy Belle collection. I actually had a pad of this paper which I had won and didn't like that much. But once I saw what Eve had done with it, my eyes were opened and now I thinks it's one of the nicest I've seen in ages. I just lack any imagination!

 
 So, I reckon I'll use the book for Lil's christening pictures. It's far too girlie a paper for anything else.









 Next!

A notebook. I stitched the binding for this notebook - sadly all my hard work is hidden! This method of binding is one of the many cool things I've discovered on Pinterest.

I used my leftover Fairy Belle paper to do it. I have no idea what I'll use it for, but I like the look of it and will definitely be using the technique again.







And finally a lot of layouts - it's the usual mishmash of styles...patterned paper here, mists'n'masks there.. a touch of modelling paste, some acrylic paints, stamping... etc, etc - I long for the day that I develop a distinctive style. At the moment my style seems to be that I have no style...

So, there you have it. I'll be back in a while with my tales from the Hobbycraft show at the NEC. Fun and games!

Layout Love Linky

Kids are settled back into school (finally), all extra-curricular activities are up and running. And I've just about re-adjusted. The blog has been quiet, but I have been grabbing some scrapping time here and there. There just hasn't been enough time to post it!

So, to show off everything I've been up to I've decided to link up SoapHousemama's Layout Love Linky. What is SoapHousemama's Layout Love Linky? The idea is that you write a post featuring layouts that you might have done over the month, but not posted on your blog. (Or, you can also linky up with a project you are particularly proud off.)

In my case, seeing as I haven't blogged in over a month I've a lot to show! But there is a slight caveat - I haven't journaled on all of the layouts I'm going to put up. And a layout really isn't finished, holistically, if you will, without it's journaling as far as I'm concerned. But, the way I scrapbook - I do buckets of layouts, and then journal for a few weeks - means if I waited till I journaled, you'd be waiting a while for anything!

And lastly, some of these layouts are from 'Project Scrap!!' What is 'Project Scrap!!'? It is my own invention. I discovered I'd printed out about 500 million photos. Squillions. So, I decided if I was ever going to get even faintly close to being up to date, then I needed clear this backlog. This means I set myself a target of doing four layouts at a time. As a consequence some of them are a lot simpler than I would normally go for. But maybe that isn't a bad thing...

But enough chat, here are the layouts!

 

 

 

 

 

Keep Calm and Scrapbook

Title : 'This is the feelings part'

And now for more Art Journaling... the experiment continues! It dawned on me that the art journaling could be a good way to use up scraps and embellishments I wasn't using, but liked too much to get rid of. (I probably should have realised this before now??) Below are my latest effort...

page 1

page 2

And last, but very much not least, my lovely eldest child sat down with me last night to do a bit of crafting. He's far more talented than me artistically and very sure about what he's doing. So much so that we ended up having a little row over where he should be placing his various elements. Fair play to him, he stood his ground and (begrudgingly) I have to admit he was right! So, here is the result of his efforts. All thought up and designed and produced by him completely. I've been instructed to pin it to Pinterest :)

Alright. I'm off to cook the dinner now - sadly the hungry hordes won't feed themselves...

Canvas

It was crop time a week ago in Donnycarney. I look forward to these days so much and I'm only sorry that the time flys by and it feels like we're there for about 6 minutes, not 6 hours. Lately some members of the group have started to do a little demo at each meeting. People take part if the demo takes their fancy. No pressure to get involved if it doesn't appeal.

This month Jackie offered to walk us through creating an altered canvas. She's a dab hand at them, so above average numbers arrived up on the day, plain canvas in one hand, paint brushes in the other. Well, let's just say it was a huge success. In fact one late arrival was worried she had the wrong day as she could hear no murmer of chat as she approached the room - when she walked through the door she found us all quiet, rendered silent with concentration!

Everyone's canvas was different, but each one was gorgeous. It was a total success. And we were all like excited children, delighted with our works of art. I just couldn't get over how much I liked my own. And high praise indeed, when hubby saw it when I came home, he said we should put it up on the wall!

So, here it is -

And a close up!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Double Trouble

I love printing out pictures. I get excited and imagine all the layouts I'm going to do. But of course I print out too many. So I always have a squillion waiting to be done. Recently though, I've been doing a bit better. Below are five layouts, all of pictures actually taken this year! And printed out in the last month! In fact a number of photos were taken in the last couple of weeks. I've never managed such a short turn around time :)

That said, I shouldn't get too excited, there is still about a decades worth of photo's to catch up with!

So, to the layouts - a couple of double page layouts and a lonely singleton.

Art Journaling... I think...

I've been seeing a lot of pictures of Art Journals around lately. Mostly on Pinterest. I'm always attracted to them, I think they can be quite beautiful. But I haven't quite drilled down to see what they're really all about. Are they meant to just look pretty, or is the idea that you actually record your thoughts and feelings? Of course I could quite easily find the answers to these questions if I could be bothered to do a bit of googling. But me being me, I decided to dive right in without having much of a bogs notion what it's all about....

Here are my first attempts -

A big mess or artistic genius? I'm veering toward the big mess side of the argument, and really, there isn't an original idea there either, but hopefully I'll gradually find my way. I'll keep you posted. (Sorry! :)

I Came, I Saw, I Scrapped

I mentioned in my last post that I've been doing some non-scrapping crafty projects lately. The children may be neglected and hungry but I'm getting a lot of my own stuff done...

One of the lovely members of the Donnycarney Crop Tarts taught me a great distressing technique that I hadn't come across before. Thanks Jackie!

I popped along to the nearest pound shop (euro shop?) and picked up a three pack of small canvases. I painted them green. I impatiently waited for them to dry. Then, I spread a layer of pva glue on them. Before the glue has a chance to dry, I painted on a layer of white paint. The thinner the layer of glue, the subtler the cracks will be. Me being me, slathered it on!

The picture quality isn't great - I just couldn't get the camera to take a good photo. For the record the words say 'Veni, Vidi, Scrappi' (I Came, I Saw, I Scrapped!... I did make up the Latin for 'Scrapped' but I suspect I'll get away with it :)

Some close ups...

I die cut the letters and butterflies with my ailing CraftRobo and coated them with crackle glaze. The letters were edged in white paint. I used a grey washi tape I have for the background behind the letters.

I'm completely delighted with it and it is now hanging on the door of my scrap room.

Keep your hats on - next post, 'Tríona Tries Art Journaling'. It'll be worth the wait. (Maybe.)

Die Cut Envy and Other Fun

I am most definitely going through quite a busy scrapping patch at the moment. Which is great. I only have about ten years worth of family life waiting to be documented! Well, maybe they'll get me through the lean years when the kids are too big to be cute, but there are no grandchildren yet...

And if only the girls could stop being so darned cute at the moment, then I might make more progress. Of course, that isn't to say the lads aren't 'cute'. But they reckon they're teenagers already, so not quite so photogenic. 

Of course it's school holiday time at the moment, so crafting time is a little more precious - not the I craft that much while they're at school, but with them all being home, all the time, the house is just a disaster area. I feel like it'll never be tidy :(

The only reason I'm getting to update my blog now is because the lads are off at computer camp. Oh, the blessed relief.

So, without much further ado...


Here is a layout I did after getting to play with a Big Shot. (Thanks Svjetlana!) So, much fun! I really want one now. I have my Craftrobo - which is great and very versatile - but in the time it took me to cut all the hexagons and other die cuts in the layout below, I'd still be waiting for my laptop to boot. I have a birthday coming up...

This layout took about five minutes... Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Well, it certainly helps with the backlog...
 

A rare double page layout next... I'm pleased with them, and doubly pleased that it used up so much of the paper packs I bought in TK Maxx ages ago. They were amazing value, and lovely paper, but I bought too much. (How was I meant to resist?) I even gave lots of it away. Slowly but surely I'm using it all up. Slowly!

And finally, a nice messy scrappy layout. The photo isn't great, the light is all off, but it was the third time I'd gotten the photo printed so I've just given up. It's a sweet image, even if it's not a great photograph.

So, there you go. I have also been busy making a sign for my craftroom and also doing a bit of Art journaling (really not sure about that, but more on the topic later).

But I will save all that for another post.

See you soon.