have I used this too much already?

The Counterfeit Kit blog always has some good ideas for creating your own versions of recent releases- Gabrielle from the design team posted about how to mace the echo park Stamp of Approval paper on her blog here

She tells you how to mark out the page and do it properly but my paper had a regular pattern of flowers on so I just jumped right in and it turned out OK. the trouble is now I know how to do it I can't stop! Just look at the second LO- I used the technique three times on it! Overload?

The first LO is for Counterfeit kit- their first mini challenge is to use memorabilia on your LO- I've been doing this a lot recently ( see here for example) but i need to make one using my kit so this is what i came up with

I save the train ticket from my trip to Amsterdam last friday and the map from the Hermitage in Amsterdam that I visited- the colours of yellow and teal worked perfectly with some of the colours from my kit- so I added a photo of some canal houses ( I took those a while back but who's checking?)
This one is for Sassy Lil Sketches- instead of the three photos in the sketch I cut up an old photo I had of Arthur blowing on a dandelion. My old camera had a function that would take 16 images within seconds but they would all appear on one print

I used my fun new technique and some new Studio Calico Papers
this was the sketch

Como

I have been so busy these last few days- no time to scrap or post - today I went to Amsterdam wit the sole purpose of taking photos to scrap- the trouble is I'm not a confident photographer at times- I don't want people to look at me strangely when I'm trying to take photos of shop signs and bike seat covers and cyclists- i think I need to try again next week. Why am I taking ( or trying to take)the photos mentioned above? The plan is to move back to the UK in the Summer so I'm trying to gather photos of ordinary things I want to remember.

Anyway back to the LOs they are both with photos from our trip to Lake Como last October-

this one is for Creative Scrappers- its called Mummy Look- and its Nancy wandering up the beach with a stone to show me

using this sketch

This one is for the Paper Trail Makers- their latest challenge is water so i thought this photo of Stanley sitting by Lake Como was appropriate although its not quite April Showers! The red colour of Stanley's t-shirt led me to add the tiny strips of red paper as a highlight.

Shimelle- can't resist

Shimelle's sketches are becoming addictive- i really didn't intend to make two LOs this week but I have ended up with two!

I started with the photo of the three children, the green spotted paper and the flower paper on this LO- but I just didn't think it worked and I found this title from Crate Paper that I really wanted to use,so I printed out a second photo and put it all on a white cardstock- I think it works!
Its called Pretty Funny but the funny is in tiny type

So I was left with the other large photo and the green spotty paper. this is what I came up with- I flipped the sketch because I needed the children's bodies to be coming out from behind the paper otherwise it looked a bit weird. Its called "real love" because I think the children really look like they love each other in this photo. There's some bits from Echo Park For the Record on here
this is the sketch

Beach baby

I found this cute picture of me and had to scrap it ( Is it OK to call yourself cute?) I was 18 months old at the time on holiday, probably in Cornwall.

Its for Show us your stuff and the challenge this week is buttons, with the added element of adding something handmade on the LO- so the little pin wheel is made by me ( I hope this counts) and there is a border of buttons under the picture

Card?

It's my week for the design team over at Twisted sketches this week- go and have a look to see what the sketch is but my version is here.

The twist this week is card- any way any how - and I was racking my brains to think of an idea for this- the brainwave happened when I was searching through a pile of old photos and found a postcard- I had sent it to my Nan in 1980 when I was 6 and she had kept it. I scanned it into the computer and printed a copy of the front of the card to use on my LO- the handwritten back of the card is tucked in the envelope on the LO- it's especially nice because my Mum had written the address so I have her handwriting on it as well as mine age 6.

the postcard a a great tinted effect on it giving it a very vintage feel- I added a vintage cigarette card of a diving lady to add to the vintage feel.
Get to Twisted Sketches here

Sketchy t

Another forlorn attempt at the Sketchy Thursday design team LO- need I say more

too many complaints

I must be in a bad mood today because I have been moaning about everything I've been scrapping with today!

Take this for example it's a nice LO for the Scrappiest and I really seriously love this Jillibean soup paper with the bike and the red polka dot reverse BUT its the bikes- I live in Holland and for my mind these are men's bikes- no woman would ride a bike she couldn't wear a skirt on ( of any length from mini to maxi)- these are men's bikes because they have that bar across from the handle bars to the saddle- but then they look so pretty with the flowers that I can't stay mad at them for long!

Its called" Happiness is a cycle ride in the sun"

using this sketch

Rant number two

I bought these Paper Whimsies from Sassafrass Lass but the came from two peas in the US. When I opened them yesterday there were no number 8s and three number 11s. hmm, can't take them back- can't use them quite how I wanted to.

Anyway this LO is fro the Sassafrass Lass blog- its Stanley describing his cricket match last summer- the top photo he was talking about hitting a six- the second a diving catch he made- it called " he hit a 6"
using this sketch

Rant number three

I had so much trouble with this LO today- It took me almost an hour which is absolutely unheard of from me- I ran out of Kraft Card stock yesterday so I couldn't use that. So I spent ages laying the bits I had onto different colours and shades of cards- cream no too much like the tags, aqua no, brown no, grey no, I'm not really happy with the colour its on but its ok
using this sketch for Creative Scrappers