Batch scrapping

Just ducking in quickly to finish a post I started writing back in August  ( . . . yikes!) about the progress I've made on my "Kit of Kits"!  I've got a couple of assignments due in December, and I'm resigned to the fact that we won't be seeing each other a lot until then.  But in the meantime, here's what I've been up to . . . 

Seeing I had made my page kits in bulk, I decided maybe I could do a bit of a production line and make the pages themselves in bulk, too!So I started sticking papers and photos down on a whole batch of pages until I got bored. At this stage, the only thing I'd added other than paper and photos was washi, twine and doilies to a couple of layouts.

My next step was to spread all the pages out and go through some embellishments, choosing die-cuts, buttons, and a bit of ribbon. Next, I looked at the pages one at a time and decided on the title, choosing either stickers or finding cardstock scraps to cut the title from on my Silhouette.  Once I got each page to this stage, they went back into the "work in progress" folder, complete with a sticky note outlining anything I needed to make/add.

The next part of the process was making the Silhouette cuts.  It definitely took the longest, although admittedly I was picking up kids from school and making dinner at the same time, and I'm sure it was more efficient than doing all those pages separately.  The other good thing about doing all my cuts at the same time was that it seemed worth doing a second cut of each element in my new Sihouette chipboard to add some dimension, a step that I'm not sure I could be bothered doing if I was making each page separately.

I finished the evening by running all but the largest diecuts through my Xyron sticker machine.  I think that next time I have a small window of time to scrapbook, I'll be able to finish a page or two pretty quickly!

So that's where I got up to, way back in August.  Here's the three pages I've finished since then, and with all that work done, they certainly were quick to finish!

I cut the title a number of times in different colours for this one, then off-set the layers to get the coloured shadow.  I also enjoyed putting the Easter egg die-cuts on the slide frames!

Tags and butterflies, what could be better? 

I love this page, particularly for the fact that it uses all those cut off strips and die-cuts from my stash.  (and it's easier to see the stamping on the DIY flair in real life!) 

Thanks for dropping by, and hopefully I'll get a chance to play with another page kit or two before December, but in the meantime, happy scrapping!

The kit you have when you're not having a kit . . .

Well, I don't know how you other Counterfeiters out there go, but the state of my past Counterfeit Kits is a bit of a mess.  Three kits worth of supplies all mixed up together with any other bits and pieces I had pulled out thrown in as well.

Lots of scrappy offcuts!

Plenty of paper - with plain card-stock filed away but extra Basic Grey "Hey Girl" papers included.

Other bits and pieces

  Now obviously part of the reason for that is the busyness of the last 12 months has left less time than usual for craft, and perhaps I was a little over-enthusiastic in kitting up . . . but regardless, something needed to be done! I'm too lazy busy to put it all away, so I came up with a different plan . . .
I decided to see how many "page kits" I could come up with using only (or mainly) the papers I had out.  Maddy soon joined in the fun, and the kits came together suprisingly quickly . . .

I wasn't sure how it would go at this point . . . I mean, I've made page kits before, and I've even done a few at a time before, but my general rule of thumb is to start with the photos first and pick the colours from there.  So my next step was to go through some albums and find some photos to go with each kit. 
The obvious place to store these "page kits" is a "work in progress" folder which I own.  Of late, it's gone from a place that pages move in and out of fairly regularly, to a bit of a lost corner where the end bits of kits and pages I haven't quite finished go to hide.
So while I was in the kitting up zone, I swapped around some of the papers from kits already in the folder, in the hopes of making those pages more appealing . . . 

So what I've got to play with for the next few months is a mammoth "kit of kits", consisting of a whopping 29 page kits and another 10 half-finished pages!

Silhouette page 10, and some bonus backgrounds . . .

Well it seems that no sooner had I posted my "mixed media" pages last week, but Ashli Oliver posted yet another beautiful page in which she used the "left over" diecuts from her previous page.
You can see that beautiful page (complete with video) here.

And so I was inspired to make a page that resembles Ashli's page . . . not at all!!!! But that's OK, because I had a lot of fun and challenged myself to see what diecuts I had that I could use on a "boy" page (like I said, not like Ashli at all, who has 4 daughters!)

This page for Rohan, back when he was ten, will sit next to a divided page protector with a bunch more photos, journalling and a couple more diecuts.

But then I was feeling in kind of a mixed media frame of mind, so I pulled some more "boy-friendly" diecuts and placed them on a sheet of cardstock in a colour I don't love . . .

and gessoed over the whole lot!

Then, while I had the gesso out, I did another background, using the negative pieces from a stencil I had cut, which I'd saved for just this reason . . .

Can you foresee some more mixed media fun in my future?  I hope so!  And do you think I might have pressed the "checkout" button to purchase my new Silhouette blade before the gesso dried . . . ?  Well you might not be far wrong!

Last question: do you think I've managed to "use up" my die-cuts?  Lets have a look, shall we . . .

Me, attempting to go all mixed-media!

. . . and pages 7 to 9 of my Silhouette challenge.

Can you think of any Scrapbookers out there that you love . . . but your style is nothing like theirs?  I can't get enough of the beautiful Mixed Media work of artists like Wilna Furstenberg and Ashli Oliver . . . but my own work tends towards the Clean And Simple.  I had to have stern words with myself when my local Scrapbooking Shop offered a pre-order discount on gelatos . . . I don't use the media I already own any way near enough to buy any more, no matter how beautiful they are!

But I thought that my Silhouette challenge I've given myself might just be the perfect time to take some inspiration from those lovely ladies I've just mentioned, and see what I can come up with . . . 
(supplies from a range of past Counterfeit Kits, as well as my stash)

This page started with one of the scrap paper backgrounds that I gessoed a couple of months ago.  I tried adding a bit of extra dimension with some stamping, as well as misting over a mask (white mist, so it's a bit hard to see!) Then I went to town with white die-cuts!  I decided it needed a little bit more, so I added paper flowers and kindy glitz, as I was using these quite a bit at the same this photo was taken, so in that respect it will sit quite well chronologically in the album.  Does it look better, worse, or just confused?  I'm not really sure!

This one I am sure about - I absolutely love it!I started out by covering a thin sheet of white card-stock with gesso.  Once it had dried, I used my Inktense pencils, then added enough water to get some flow.  The pencils certainly didn't apply in that beautiful way that I've seen gelatos used, but once there was enough water, I was still plenty happy with the results.  Die-cuts on this page include the kraft "journey" card, vellum doilies and white leaf sprays which I also used Inktense pencils on (note to self, thin white card-stock on its own doesn't cope with watercolour so well, try Wilna's idea of cutting from watercolour paper, or use a drier method of adding colour next time!)

Ok, so this one isn't mixed media, but it is page 9 of my Silhouette challenge, and there is a funny story that goes with it!  Maddy was hanging around as I was doing some work on the computer, and I suggest that she choose some shapes that went with this photo.  She chose an owl with glasses.  I had cut a bunch of owl shapes for a previous Counterfeit Kit, some made up and some still in pieces.  The problem was, I didn't have a piece for the body in a colour that matched the page.  Maddy's solution?  Cut one out. . . 

With scissors. . . .

Oh.  That was easy, wasn't it?

Some of you have been sharing that you're working on your own stash-busting challenges, which always makes me so happy to hear!   If you're not, I dare you to try!

Silhouette challenge, pages 4 to 6

Continuing with my self-appointed challenge to make 10 scrapbook pages using Silhouette cuts, I have three more pages to share . . .

Occasionally I  get an attack of the guilts that Angus, as the "neglected middle child" is missing out in his scrapbooks, so I've pulled a few of his older photos to work on.  This one is about a visit to our local dog beach.

. . . and one showcasing a relationship with a special Uncle.  If it is possible to have a regret which is both intensely deep and incredibly trivial, mine is that I didn't teach my children to call their Uncle Stephen "Uncle Sbg" (his nickname, pronounced Sbug) when they were small.

And another doggy page.  I'm really enjoying the DIY flair at the moment,  and the DIY "enamel" dots continue to get a workout.

Six pages down, four to go. . . if I'd really looked at how many pre-cut shapes I had, I might have challenged myself to do 20 pages instead . . . or even more . . . but I'm starting to miss using my Silhouette for titles, so I think I'll stick to the original challenge!

Silhouette challenge, pages one to three

Back in my pre-blogging days, when my crafting was erratic at best, I used to give myself lots of different challenges to try and use some supplies before spending any more money on craft. Some I stuck with better than others! Then I started this blog, got a lot more regular with my crafting and used the accountability of the blogging to stick to my personal challenges much better.
This year, for a lot of different reasons, my crafting has gotten a lot more erratic, and I don't want my spending to sneak out of control again.
So when I realized I needed to buy a new blade for my Silhouette machine, I knew I couldn't justify buying one straight away (especially when buying online means paying extra for postage or buying enough extra product to qualify for free postage!)
The challenge I've decided to give myself is to make ten scrapbook pages using Silhouette shapes (and believe me I've already cut more than enough to achieve that goal!)

Here are my first three pages:

This page, for Rohan's album about a camping trip from about 5 years ago, comes I think almost entirely from this month's Counterfeit Kit, with the exception of the DIY flair.

 This one for Maddy (about a different old holiday) I started when I first bought the Basic Grey "Hey Girl" papers, and it then sat on my desk for a couple of months.  The addition of the vellum and white die cuts along with some washi and DIY flair was just what this page needed to give it a bit of interest.

This one's the oldest photo of all, from back in 2007, for Angus about a trip (obviously) to Taronga Zoo. The background paper is from my most recent Counterfeit Kit, and the other papers are all from the Kit before.

So that's three pages down, seven to go! Hopefully I'll see you soon with a few more!

July Counterfeit Kit

Wow!!! So hard to believe it's been 3 months since I've posted here . . . I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say I figured the obvious way to break the crafting drought would be with the help of my lovely friends at The Counterfeit Kit Challenge.  This month's forgery inspiration comes from Noel Mignon . . .

. . . and what a lovely bunch of goodies it is!

I wouldn't be able to hold my head up as the writer of this blog if I didn't at least try to keep my spending at a minimum while in the middle of a crafting drought. . . but I did buy a couple of things, including the 12" pad from Basic Grey's "Hey Girl" Collection. With 36 double sided papers, I think you'll be seeing plenty in this kit and probably quite a few kits to come!

 I've called my kit "Winter Warmers" partly for the warm accent colours, and partly because it warms my heart to get back into some crafting . . .
As already mentioned there's quite a bit of Basic Grey "Hey Girl" in this kit, seconded by some Echo Park, coloured cardstock and a few other bits and pieces.

I didn't have a lot of patience for adding embellishments to this kit as I wanted to get straight into creating, but I was inspired by the hearts, circles, speech bubbles and arrows to make these lovely Silhouette cuts from Kraft cardstock. . . I love how those circle elements give me both a positive and a negative to play with!

 
Alphas and stickers . . .

For now I've finished off the kit with some washi and bakers twine, some old Making Memories rub-ons, my left over Jennifer Grace pins, and some cut apart tags:

And to make sure the kit gets at least some use, a page I've already made!

Well it certainly doesn't look like I'm going to find it too hard to use those Kraft die-cuts, does it?  I seriously love, love love that "bird on a wire" cut and that "hello" turned out great as part of my title.
All the papers except the 12" I used on the background are actually from my last kit. It still has plenty of life left in it, so I expect we'll see bits and pieces of that popping up other the next month or so as well!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you for some more crafty goodness soon !

What's been going on around here in (and out of) the craft room . . .

{SIGH} April already, and I still feel like I never make it into the craft room! The room itself is looking better,compared to back here . . .

. . . but the claustrophobic feel of the area, not to mention the weirdness of going in there anytime Angus is home, is not conducive to creativity.  Happily, plans are in motion to rearrange the dining room and give me a new and bigger desk along one wall in there.  If only we had an Ikea just down the road instead of at the other end of the F3, I'd have it already!

In the meantime, I have been loving the "blackboard" labels I made for my Counterfeit Kit "Love in a Moving Box . . . with a Ribbon Round it:.

I've made some sympathy cards:

this page here about the Eastern Rosellas that would nest in the bird house in the tree behind our old house:

and another holiday page, with a "traditional: page combined with a divided page protector:

 Other than that, I don't seem to have had it in me to complete a project.  I did take a few off-cuts that I couldn't imagine ever using as is . . .

. . . and washing over them with watered down gesso.  I'm hoping sometime down the track they'll take on a new life as backgrounds.

Last but not least, I distracted myself a bit more than I should have yesterday, by cutting out some lovely new shapes on my Silhouette . . .

Butterflies, doilies, leaves . . . all in vellum and the thin white cardstock you sometimes get when you buy a pack of page protectors. Hopefully you'll see some of them on a finished project soon!

Thanks for visiting, and I hope to catch up with you soon . . .