Oh Baby! ........Prima 'Heaven Sent'

Hello There,
Anita here today with my final post for September using the adorable Prima Heaven Sent collection.
If you haven't already seen this collection then I can highly recommend it with its delicate pastel shades, vintage playful bunny, teddies and lambs and stunning soft rose gold foiling. I worked originally with it creating a gift basket and card for a new baby HERE
And now I have used it for a layout to showcase that beautiful new arrival.

I based the layout on a sheet of Welcome Baby  which I handcut wavy edges randomly around the entire edge of the page and gently inked with an old brown inkpad. I then stuck this onto a sheet of Heaven Sent and again gently inked the edges.

Around the edge of the photograph I gently ruffled some organza ribbon to make a soft frame and then placed it onto a frilly doily.

 I had a lovely chipboard butterfly by Scrap FX, which I sprinkled with large flake irridescant glitter and although it was pretty it wasn't quite right, so I sprayed over it with a pearlescant spray which also worked as a seal to stop the glitter from migrating.

I cut various bits and peices from the sheets of Sweet Lullaby and Special Delivery and used around the page and used various blossoms and bling.

I then finished the page by adding lots and lots of sprinklings of crystals to the hot air balloon and more crystals and teeny baby blossoms from the Prima Planner flowers Lola and Lucy around the wavy edge of the page.

This is a truly beautiful range of papers and has been a real delight to work with, hopefully you will decide you would like to try some too.

oh Baby
Warmest wishes
Anita xx

A Little bit of Lemoncraft

Hello :) I thought I would share a layout that i have made using some gorgeous papers by a company called Lemoncraft. They have released some beautiful ranges and they are all very much in the shabby chic range of designs. The papers are all double sided and this presents the problem of which side to choose??? They are all gorgeous! I thought they worked well for me to scrap this photo of Chloe and a friends lovely little dog, Dylan, taken in the summer of  2014.

I used a sheet of card-stock to back the layout on and cut away a border from the paper of about 1cm.
I am a bit of a magpie and love all things of a sparkly nature, so this heart shaped dazzler was perfect for popping on the page....along with some small doilies, paper hydrangeas and flat backed crystals

I used a 12 x 12 harlequin mask to make a pattern on the page with some homemade texture paste ( made from baby powder, PVA glue and water) This smells soooo good and I always love a bit of texture and depth on my pages. Sometimes i add a bit of acrylic paint or glitter into the paste too.

I also popped some small pieces of cheesecloth onto my layout, tucking them under flowers and torn edges. Again this is another way to add some dimension, but without actually really adding any bulk.

I am looking forward to playing with some other ranges from Lemoncraft, they all look beautiful.
Thanks for looking xx

S....is for Starburst.......Sept at Scrapology

This month over at Scrapology we have scraplifted the talented Sandie Edwards. Sandie's blog 'Delightfully Crazy' can be found HERE.

Here is my entry for the DT this time....please do pop over to the Scrapology blog and have a look at all the fab examples by the DT once again

  

Here is Sandie's beautiful original page......

                                           and here is the sketch that we all had to work from.

Lynn and Linda have offered a super prize of a kit.....so why not have a look at the DT ideas and hopefully they might inspire you to have a play and enter the challenge....if you do GOOD LUCK!

Warmest wishes Anita xxx

Aug at Scrapology...S is for Shabby Chic

This month over at Scrapology we had the pleasure of lifting a beautiful page created by Sandrine Dawes, you can see her BLOG here 

  Here is my layout I created for the Scrapology dt this month....I used gorgeous papers by My Minds Eye and just added a few flat backed pearls and some vintage lace.
The photograph was taken recently at some stunning poppy fields a few miles away from home....truly a beautiful sight.

 

This is Sandrine's stunning original that we lifted.

If you pop over to the Scrapology blog you can see the rest of the design teams work, there are some truly beautiful variations of the page.

Once again there is a super prize on offer, this time kindly donated by Lynn and Linda . We would love to see you join in this months challenge.....get scrapping!

Warmest wishes Anita xxx

Bo Bunny TimePiece........Adore

I thought I should blog this as I made it ages ago. I really like the Bo Bunny Timepiece collection, its  easy to work with and is quite versatile . I just added some black bazzill, a doily that I inked with antique gold, some gold nail-heads and some organza ribbon and glass pearls.
I cut the title out on the Cricut...added some Platinum Stickles on the clock images and scrapped my favourite photo of Dale :)

I ruffled up and stitched the organza to the page and then sewed on the pearl beads in various
positions along the ribbon.

Thanks for looking xxx

Best Friends.....Lynn's Class Page

This is the beautiful class taught by my lovely and mega talented friend Lynn at Cardinal Colours Autumn Crop Weekend. You can see her original page and her super close ups of the beautiful details here

Although I didn't get to do my page until very recently I really enjoyed creating it. Lynn had given us all a very detailed set of instructions which were easy to follow and it helped me so much with my total lack of mojo!
The photo is of my best friend Sue and I taken at Drusillas a couple of summers ago.
 

I just loved the folded back corner with the flowers and doily, such a pretty touch.

And I loved Lynn's idea to make the trail of flowers down the fountain and to use Glossy accents to create the effect of water trickling down.

Thank you Lynn for a wonderful class and a totally inspirational page xxx

L is for Lace...April at Scrapology.

Be it paper or fabric, over at Scrapology, the DT challenge you to use lace on your layout. This month we are scraplifting a beautiful layout called 'Cherished Memories' by BettyLou1 from Scrapbook.com

Here is my DT offering for this one. I used papers from 7Dots Studio, doily stamps from Stampin Up, stickers from Echo Park, some glitter card for the photo mat, a variety of blossoms and some seed beads.



The beady swirl actually ended up a lot thicker than I wanted :(. I dribbled a swirl of Tacky Glue and dribbled the seed beads onto it, it just decided to spread out a bit LOL. I then sprinkled on some irridescent glitter for a little extra sparkle.



I couldn't decide whether to use paper or fabric lace, so ended up using both! I punched out some paper lace using a MS punch and then took some cream Broderie Anglais lace and sprayed it with various Cosmic Shimmer Mists.


This is the original, beautiful layout by BettyLou1, so pretty isn't it!

And here is the sketch we all worked from and is the one we would like you to use if you decide to play along with us.

As always, we have been very spoilt by Jill from Cardinal Colours, she has once again donated a fabulous prize for the winner. Its Core Impressions -Vintage Brights Collection.

Vintage Brights is an Exclusive collection of Jenni Bowlin Studios designs embossed on Core’dinations, the only sandable Colour Core Cardstock. The Vintage Brights Collection is the perfect compliment to the JBS Front Porch and Tangerine Dream lines. The assorted pack consists of four embossed patterns in five colours totalling 20, 12" x 12" sheets.
What a fab prize!
So, all you have to do is create a layout, using our sketch and some lace on your page....and you have until the 5th May.

Warmest wishes Anita xx

One Layout, 2 Colourways

I thought I would share a couple of layouts with you that I made a few weeks ago. They are the same page, but just completed in different colourways :)
The first one is using papers by GCD Studios and are from the Paris Nights collection. I just added some swirls cut from Bazill, printed out butterflies, large mulberry flat flowers and a little black doily. The mulberry flowers were gently misted with Cosmic Shimmer mists and I used Stickles on the sprial roses and the butterfly wings.



I distressed each layer of paper by picking at the edges once they were stuck done. I finished it off with a few flat backed pearls.





And here it is in the other colourway. This time I used Basic Grey Ambrosia papers and also misted the swirls.




Right, I am off to pack my smallest girlies bag for camp. She is off tomorrow to an activity camp with her class and I am one of the designated drivers Unfortunately not too many miles away from the camp is The Craft Barn ;).....I guess I will just HAVE to force myself to drive on a few miles more and visit....it would be rude not to eh ;) lol.
Have a lovely evening.
Warmest wishes Anita..xxx

Pucker Up!

Here are a couple of pages I thought I would share with you.
This first one, 'Pucker Up' is using papers from the Echo park - Life is Good' Collection. I have also added some Papermania glittery Ribbon and a paper doily...oh yes and a dabbing of Cinnamon Stickles. The photo is my Sister and my youngest Nephew at his Christening......he kept pulling funny faces and pursing his lips as if in a scowl....it made us laugh so much and she decided next time he did it she would mimic him!

I pleated the paper strips around the bottom of the shaped section and then placed an inch wide strip across the width of the layout, under the photo and then cut hundreds of teeny slices along it( then popped the glitter ribbon along the top). Then I just cut and layered lots of flowers and added Stickles ( Gosh! I just luuuuuuurve Stickles....don't you?)

My 2nd layout is of Lauren, just chilling out in the back garden. I have used various bits and bobs on this page

I bought some black Tim Holtz birdcage die cuts on ebay, printed some doilies onto transparency sheets, stamped some swirls and Stickled bits and bobs here and there and then just layered the bits where I wanted them :)

Hope you have a lovely day....the sun has decided to hide behind the clouds here at the moment....maybe they will make an appearance again later...

Warmest wishes
Anita..xxx

Chocolate Nests and Layouts!

Happy Easter Everyone!

I hope you are having a really lovely day today, it's certainly another corker isn't it!

I made some Devils Food Cake choccy nests and took some to our picnic with friends the other day...and we have finished the rest today ;), they were rather yummy.
This morning we went to a huuuuuuuge boot sale. i got a lovely skirt, brand new with the tags still on for Lauren....for the pricely sum of £1!!!!!! I bought 4 rolls of pretty wallpaper for......wait for it.........£1 for all of them!!!!!!! And I bought 2 punnets of strawbs, a bag of grapes and 3 mangoes for....yep....£1!!!!!!! So a lovely fresh fruit bowl will be on the menu later.



I had forgotten that I hadn't posted a couple of my layouts that I made at our Blossoms retreat last month. This first one was made using a paper from Websters pages and is really simple and basic, but i really like it. It shows Chloe picking Blueberries, Loganberries and Strawberries in my Aunt and Uncle's lovely garden in Devon where we were lucky enough to spend a weeks holiday last year.
Here is the other page....another basic one. I used some of the lush papers from Echo Park collection, which i purchased at Cardinal Colours, along with the cardstock. The yellow letters are AC Thickers and the larger doily of the 2 was made by cutting a circle then clipping round the edge with a MS punch, the small doily was made with a MS punch and I also used a MS punch to create the yellow strips down both sides. The photo is of our 2 girlies and their cousins when they were ready to go to my youngest nephews Christening last year....check out that car!!!

Right, thats me done I think, just off to nibble some chocolate.....enjoy the rest of the Easter Weekend everyone

Warmest wishes

Anita..xxx

'Smile please' and a fabulous weekend away.(photo heavy)

I have just been away for our annual retreat with a group of very lovely, talented and inspiring ladies....not to mention the fact thay they are really good friends. We have scrapped, made cards, eaten, laughed and laughed some more...till we ached at times and it was absolutely brilliant!
Between us we made 69 layouts,18 cards, and various mini albums....so not a bad weekends production. I thought I would share my creations over the next few days.

here is my first one. 'Smile Please'
Its based on a sheet of Kraft Bazill which I laid a fancy doily on and sprayed using 2 colours of Cosmic Shimmer Mists ( gosh I just luuuuuurve those things!)

I then took some cream lace and some pale pink chiffon roses( from a £1 hairband from Primark...don'tcha just love a bargain!!) and laid them on some newspaper and sprayed them to co-ordinate with the background colouring.

Now, not wanting to waste the now pretty newspaper, I placed a torn section behind the photo and used the rest to punch out some flower layers using various size Retro flower

punches....and a half pearl for the centres

I then sprinkled a few pearls and crystals about and printed out some butterflies and stickled them and added a few prima flowers. Then finished it off by shimmering the AC thickers title.

oooops, I forgot to say I embossed some gold mirri board, painted it with cream acrylic and then buffed the paint back off when it was dry to create this distressed border.

I am really, REALLY pleased with the results of using the newspaper....it would have been a shame to just throw it away. And yes, I do know that the newspaper isn't acid free and isn;t the best thing to put by my photo....but you know what? I don't mind too much...I am sure it will last ok in my album for a few years :)


Here are a few shots from the weekend. As you can see we were busy beavering away and here are some of the girls looking at our results. Believe me, if you had seen the tables about half an hour before this photo was taken you could hardly see a bare inch of space....the whole hall was overflowing with totes and stash till it came out of our ears LOL.

I will leave you with a few photos that I took very early on saturday morning. Lynn and i went for an early morning walk in the gardens....it was frosty and very pretty ( and VERY cold on sandal clad feet LOL)

The frost on the monkey puzzle tree was amazing, such large crystals.

I think this will appear on a layout at some point :)

What a bizarre ice formation....looks almost like a horny/horned ice slug LOL!

Have a super day whatever you are up to!

Warmest wishes Anita..xxx