Sketchbook 365 - July Sketch

Hello peeps! Are you still with me? I know my blog posts have been few and far between of late. I felt that I needed to kick back a little after changing jobs.

Anyway, I still love the Sketchbook365 challenges - they are such a brilliant way of motivating me. The sketches are really varied based on designs from lots of different people. I really love this month's design which was based on a layout by Sheena Rowlands.

My DS celebrated his 13th birthday last week - WOW where did that time go?!

He is turning in to quite the young man and I'm so proud of him! I am waiting for it all to go pear-shaped now that he is a teenager!

I was lucky enough to play with the Bow Ties Collection from Basic Grey (how lush!) I of course love the bright colours and tiny patterns in the collection. I also put the Silhouette to work for this layout.

I also paired the collection with bits and bobs from others - Fact & Fiction die-cuts and overlays.

Yikes - how cute is that chipboard?! Think this is from the Hey You! collection. Also a button from The new Random Musings - Natural set.

I swapped some of Sheena's original chevrons for a little corrugated cardboard and leftover die-cuts. The Boutique Button is from the Flair for Freedom set.

Not one to throw anything away (because I really don't have enough stuff, right?!) the 13 is the waste from the card that I made for his birthday. Stickers - Bow Ties collection.

Well thanks for popping in. I do have some other layouts to share with you.

Don't forget if you fancy doing a mini-book class I'm teaching a fab pocket memory book over at Funky Farm Scrapbook Barn on 29th June.

Happy scrapping!

Sketchbook 365!

Sketchbook365 has a new sketch up today.  It's based on a layout from the April/May issue of Scrap365 by Gabrielle Pollacco who is absolutely awesome!

Here's my take on the sketch.

I took the main elements of the sketch and made it work for me. I used Prima's Pixie Glen as the base for my layout. I've have had this paper in my collection since it was launched but it was just too nice to cut!

The paper definitely called for a shabby chic finish so it was great to go to town with my distresser and gesso.

 I added small roses around the frame just to emphasise the paper. I added gauze and string for more texture as well as tiny weeny leaves.

The adorable birdie is Shabby Chic treasures (Ingvild Bolme). I love the way he is perching on the flowers!

To give everything a little more shabby, I stencilled the background and picked out some of the brickwork.

The Tea Thyme Trinkets are simply fabulous. I added a heart trinket of my own.

Check out all the inspiration from the DT here. Don't forget that the Sketchbook DT call is still open.

Thanks for popping in.

TGIF!

It's always nice to get to the weekend and feel like you've had a busy productive week.

Firstly, I'll start off with a layout for the Sketchbook365 challenge. I didn't quite make it in time for the sketch to go live but here goes anyway:

I went for a few random elements but then decided that I could actually scrap about my DS recent results from school. They get tested each half term so they can measure progress. His target for the year was a 6a but he totally smashed that already in several subjects.

Although I don't agree with tests for test sakes, in his case, he does enjoy the results of the test as he is a little competitive.

I translated some of the elements to make it work for me adding extra bits for my title and journaling.

I have no idea what the hello bit is doing but I just like LOL.

Anyway, if you would like to enter the full details of the December challenge is here.

Sketchbook365

You up for a new challenge?  You may already know that Scrap365 has lots of beautiful layouts from designers all over the world.  Each month, some of those designs are turned into fab sketches making it easier for us to create projects of our own.  Now, Scrap365 is hosting its own sketch challenge and you can take part too.  Check out the new Sketchbook365 blog.

The first sketch is taken from this month's issue of Scrap365 and lucky me it happens to be based upon one my layouts.  Here's the sketch:

You'll have to check out the magazine for my original layout, but to play along I did another one:

I kept to the original pretty much exchanging the two photos for one.

I used a mixture of October Afternoon, Studio Calico and Lily Bee papers for the design.

Hop on over the challenge blog for more inspiration as well as how to enter the challenge.