Echoing The Weather

Hi there, its Lisa-Jane here today with a layout inspired by the awful weather we had for the start of this year! 

I'm a firm believer in scrapping all aspects of life both good and bad and I wanted to remember the incredible floods and damage that we've had. One of the memories I wanted to capture was a walk we did at Christmas in Wales because when I went back a month later there was substantial damage to the dunes and the sea walls. There had already been one storm a couple of days before we got there and it continued to be very wet and very wind for the whole week making it difficult to get out and about.

I'd been using Crate Paper's The Pier collection for the SJ Crafts March Challenge and I thought it would work really well for this topic too, as it is still beach themed but the water colour design adds to the rain-washed feel. The doily paper ('Cotton Candy') echoes the clouds and I was still able to use lots of the bits of the Splash Cut Outs sheet even though it was nothing to do with swimming in the sunshine!

I added some hessian for texture, which is very on trend this season, and some Enamel Dots to echo the droplets of water everywhere.

Funnily enough, the weather has been quite nice since I did this layout and we've started to see lots of daffodils and crocuses popping up everywhere.  I really hope this is a sign of a turnaround in the wet weather and that the people that have been flooded can get back to normal really soon.

Did you record those dramatic weather patterns in any way?  We'd love to see - leave us a link here or post to our Facebook Page!

Bye for now, Lisa-Jane.

Lisa-Jane shares lots of her gorgeous crafty creations at her blog Inside My Head, go check it out!

March Challenge - A Photo Collage For Inspiration!

Welcome to our March challenge! 

Thank you to everyone who joined in with the February challenge, it was fabulous to see all the different takes on the sketch & we will show a few of our the entries and announce the winner here on the blog soon!

Here at S J Crafts we love a challenge. Something to take us out of our comfort zone or to encourage us to try something a little different.

Each month throughout the rest of 2014 we will set a challenge and we'd love it if you would play along and take up the challenge. Each month the challenge will vary - sometimes we'll have a sketch, sometimes a colour palette, a photo inspiration or a "recipe" of stash to use or maybe a technique.

At the end of the post there is "linky tool" for you to link up your challenge entry so we can pop along and see and we will feature a few of our favourite projects next month. We really hope lots of you will play along with us and take up the challenge!

For this challenge you need to use the below photo collage as inspiration, in any way you wish.

Your inspiration might be to scrap a photo of a place you love to visit.

Go for a walk at a location near where you live and take photos of your surroundings to make a layout.

Be inspired by the colours : blues, greys, beige, stone, cream.

Scrap  a photo which has no people in it.

Scrap a photo of a beach, sea, sky, clouds, sunset etc
Or you could take "water" as your theme
Or you could use the design of the collage as inspiration for your photo placement.
....or you may have your own idea!!

The wonderful Design Team have created some samples to get your ideas flowing! Here they are:

Louise

For Louise the photo collage made her think 'weather', 'blue', and 'clouds'. Her supplies include This Sheet of My Mind's Eye paper, and some Wood Veneers.

Annie

The design of the photo collage inspired Annie to make this really quick and simple multi-photo page - her layout has a large 'white space' on the left instead of a large photo, with small photos down the right-hand edge. Annie used the MME Chalk Studio 2 Collection.

Jennifer

Jennifer was inspired to use a photo from the beach, and to use muted colours - with darker colours at the bottom going to lighter 'sky' at the top. Her supplies include some Crate Paper The Pier Paper and Stickers, Prima Canvas Alphas, Jenni Bowlin Tiny Trims Rub Ons, and Simple Stories Chipboard Stickers.

Lisa-Jane

Lisa-Jane was inspired to use wood veneers, woodgrain papers and sandy coloured embellishments to echo the natural textures in the inspiration photos. She also utilised the muted tones of Crate Paper's The Pier collection. 

Jemma

Jemma was inspired by the water ... to scrap an aquatic activity! She used Crate Paper's Boys Rule which was just the perfect colours for her photos - the papers were Zap,  Top Score, and Vellum Stars, and she used some of the Wood Embellishments and Stickers.

So, will you take up our challenge this month?


Our New Design Team member Annie is kindly offering a prize this month to celebrate joining the S J Crafts team. She will select one person at random from all those who link up to win a small prize!

Use the linky tool below to add a link to the blog post (or your gallery) with your layout or card and a link back to this post is much appreciated.

You will need to ensure your link is added by the 31st of March (11.59pm) and we'll select a few favourites to be featured in a post soon after.

Enjoy x

February Challenge - A Sketch!

Welcome to our first challenge of 2014!!

Here at S J Crafts we love a challenge. Something to take us out of our comfort zone or to encourage us to try something a little different.

Each month throughout the rest of 2014 we will set a challenge and we'd love it if you would play along and take up the challenge. Each month the challenge will vary - sometimes we'll have a sketch, sometimes a colour palette, a photo inspiration or a "recipe" of stash to use or maybe a technique.

At the end of the post there is "linky tool" for you to link up your challenge entry so we can pop along and see and we will feature a few of our favourite projects next month. We really hope lots of you will play along with us and take up the challenge!

Our first challenge is a Sketch designed by DT member Jennifer and based on her "Muddy Puddles" scrapbook layout shown below, which was originally featured here!

To get you started here's a few samples from the S J Crafts Design Team:

Louise

Louise adapted the sketch to include more photographs. Her supplies included Simple Stories Say Cheese collection.

Jenny

Jenny used My Minds Eye Cut & Paste 6" x 6" papers and Basic Grey Candy Buttons and shows how a layout sketch can be adapted for a card.

Lisa- Jane

LJ's lovely page tells a great story and uses Echo Park's This and That Graceful collection.

Sarah

This layout uses Simple Stories Daily Grind, Glitz heart washi tape and a sprinkling of enamel dots.

and from one of our new DT members: 

Annie

Annie's cute layout features Glitz Designs "Wild & Free" collection, some snippets from Simple Stories "Say Cheese" and My Mind's Eye "Chalk Studio" label stickers.

And this fab layout by our other new DT member: 

Jemma

Using Simple Stories (Urban Traveller & 24/Seven) and a few Crate Paper scraps, Jemma has created a super affect by dividing her photo into three sections.

So, will you take up our challenge this month?

Will you increase the photos, rotate it, flip it or stay true to the sketch?

Our New Design Team member Jemma is kindly offering a prize to celebrate joining the S J Crafts team. She will select one person at random from all those who link up to win a small prize!

Use the linky tool below to add a link to the blog post (or gallery) with your layout or card and a link back to this post is much appreciated.

You will need to ensure your link is added by 28th February (11.59pm) and we'll select a few favourites to be featured in a post soon after.

Enjoy x

Heart - One Little Word for 2014!!

Hi there, its Lisa-Jane here today to share with you some of my One Little Word project. 

"One Little Word" is a workshop run by Ali Edwards which you can read more about here but basically it's about choosing a word to guide you through the year. Maybe instead of a list of resolutions that will probably be broken and then forgotten all about. There are other ways of combining your resolutions or intentions for the year with creative projects such as making a mini book of resolutions or document your thoughts for the year ahead on a layout,  but I've chosen this method as I also want to record my fortieth year over several layouts and focusing on my word will help me make some changes this year.

This year my word is heart.  

... I want to follow my heart 

... and love what I do and do what I love.  

... I want to love what I have.  

In other words, there are things that I've been neglecting or avoiding and I just have to look after those things (myself and my family) and do the things we all have to do (dreaded housework etc) with love rather than moaning about it.  I'll let you know if it works!

I wanted to have a strong colour scheme for this year long project to inspire me and give me energy in my supplies.  I wanted something with red in it too because I knew I would be using lots of love and heart motifs.  When I saw the Simple Stories Daily Grind collection it was literally an "Aha, that's it!" moment and I may have had to fan myself!!  Its funky, bold and upbeat with lots of references to days and months and the little things that we do regularly.

My project is going to be housed in a section of my normal 12x12 album so I wanted a striking title page.

The dark brown woodgrain Simple Stories paper with the printed elements in the corner was perfect for a one photo layout where I didn't actually want to journal very much.  That all comes later!  I also bought the ephemera pack, the Snap cards and the chipboard stickers to complement the project. All currently available in the shop right here! Working with all the coordinating papers and accessories like this really helps with making your supplies together, especially for a project that I will be dipping into all year.  It also make for speedy scrapping which is always a bonus in my book.

The little alpha stickers I've used for my title are in the collection pack and I've just added a few white Thickers for a bit more dimension.

I'm using one of Ali Edwards's printables to record my thoughts and intentions and attached it to my background and added a few embellishments.  A lot of the project will be in pocket page protectors but as this page is the reverse of the title page, I wanted to make it work on a standard 12x12.

The red background cardstock is the reverse of the title page piece and I matted the "Intentions" sheet onto green cardstock to help it stand out a bit from the busy speech bubbles patterned paper. 

I'm really enjoying using these colourful papers and embellishments and I've already started working on my next pocket page with some definitions and quotes about my word for the year.

Using a collection that you really, really love is important for an ongoing project because it keeps you inspired and makes you WANT to keep using it and recording your journey with it.  I'm sure I will still love using it by the end of the year too.  

You can read more about my One Little Word journey throughout the year on my blog.

How about you?  Are you scrapping your intentions for the year?  How are you getting on with your New Year's Resolutions?  Whatever your plans, I hope 2014 is a great year for you all!

Lisa-Jane

Recording Christmas (Part Two)

Hello! Lisa-Jane here again to show you how I'm getting on with recording my Christmas so far!

How are you getting on with your festive crafting? 
Yesterday I explained a bit about my process for recording this year's Christmas memories. If you missed that post you can catch up on it right here!

I won't say that I'm behind or on target, because there is no ideal speed. I write something everyday and try and take photos when I can, and then I scrap them and write up the journalling the cards when possible, and often do a few days at a time. Even if you start documenting your Christmas from today, don't worry ... the important thing is capturing those memories!

Here's my first page and the first day!

The gorgeous pinky / red snowflake paper is actually the reverse of this page that I shared HERE.

When you are making a continuous album like this it can really help to stretch your stash and when the reverse of the page is so stunning it feels a shame to hide it.

I've used a few of the Crate Paper Bundled Up papers here as well as the Studio Calico Wood Veneer Tiny Stars to give a little bit of texture.

My first divided page is below. The photos are just a temporary print from my home printer so I could see where I wanted to put things, and where I wanted to overlap or use a small photo etc. As I've done each one I've put it into a separate folder on my computer so that when the holidays are finished and there is a suitable printing deal, I have everything that need to do a quick order with everything the right size.

The title pocket uses more of the Bundled Up papers with some ribbon and twine from my stash (actually the ribbon came from a cracker last year!) and the letter stickers are Echo Park's Reflection Falls Alpha Stickers which have that same beautiful deep cream. The dark green spotted paper at the bottom is from another current collection Simple Stories December Documented.

Below is the reverse of that page so far. The mitten print is the back of the ledger pattern that I used for a journalling block in the first side, and I will be using the snowman journalling card which is the reverse of the bottom left journalling card. This really cuts down my options which might not work for everyone, but I find that limiting my choices in this way helps to speed up the process. Of course if I don't want to use them in the end then I don't have to!

The pieces that I've used for the bottom left of this side were all off cuts. When I'm going a project like this I keep an A4 "slippy pocket" for all the scraps and half used pieces and this is where I head to first when I'm creating a new section of the page.

I've been asked a few times about having to make the back of the page work when you have designed around the front of the page. What if its not what you want? Well there are a couple of options here really. For me I will always make it work in the same way I would have done back in the days of only having 1 piece of patterned paper, or if you only had a 12x12 pocket. You design to what you have available! Alternatively you can just fill it with pretty things to make a pleasing section break and continue on with another protector on the facing page instead. 

It's worth keeping in mind that especially with longer term projects like this, we generally aren't looking for awards for our pages. I nearly always make pages that I would have tweaked if I was having another go, but the important things are that the memories are captured, the photographs stored safely and accessibly, and that we enjoyed the process. After all, we mostly do this for fun right?

We finally put our tree up now so I have many more memories to journal about. You'll find me in my craft room with a few festive scented candles and a Christmas CD playing.

Best wishes for Christmas and happy scrapping!

Lisa-Jane x

Lisa-Jane is a keen scrapbooker and crafter and has been posting lots of Christmas projects on her blog Inside My Head.

P.S. Don't forget about the Design Team Call HERE!

Recording Christmas (Part One)

Hello everyone! 

Today Lisa-Jane is here to share her method of recording the festive season!

Over to Lisa-Jane:

There are lots of different ways of recording and scrapbooking your memories of the holiday season .... through a specific class or by just doing your own thing. I tend to do a bit of Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas alongside my own recordings of our daily festive events. For me, documenting the story side of things is really important for taking a breather at this hectic time of year and helps me to focus on what really matters.

Hopefully this post will give you a few ideas to help you to record your Christmas! 

For many Scrappers, including me, scrapping a whole 12" x 12" page every day at this busy time is liable to induce insanity so I'm going to share my process with you - it's worked for me in previous years and keeps me sane and the stress to a minimum.

I find that a little preparation in the set up can help speed things up immensely. Even with eleven days of December already behind us you can still make preparations, because it will definitely help whenever you start.

Firstly, decide on what type and size of album or book you want to create. There's lots of options ... from albums of various sizes and shapes to mini books or envelope books (and more!)
I decided on using divided Page Protectors for a number of reasons. If I only have the time or inclination to do a little story or crafting then so be it, but on those days where I have a lot to record or more time for prettiness then that can be accommodated too. Some days I will fill all the pockets but other days I can just do a part of a page and have a clean separation from the following day which I wouldn't be able to do with a full 12x12.

I also find it helpful to decide on a collection of papers or a colour scheme.

I happened to have the Winter Project Life kit which is identical to Crate Paper's Bundled Up Collection. I really didn't NEED any more Christmas paper and I tend to be a traditional red and greens girl when it comes to Christmas.  However, when Sarah showed me the gorgeous papers and embellishments I let out a very loud "ooooh!" (You know what I mean don't you?  You've done that too, right?!) The B sides of even the full sized 12x12 papers are subtle enough to work really well in small pockets so I knew this collection had the versatility I needed for my eclectic album this year. While perusing the papers I also noticed that some of the new Maggie Holmes collection called Flea Market went really well with it too so I added some of those into the mix.  The deep cream, aqua and range of pinks are a perfect compliment and will really help to tell my story on the days which are not so festive too.

 For speed and preparation, I clear everything away from my desk and just have out the things I intend to use for this project. In addition to the papers above, I went through my stash and picked out some other (sometimes very old!) papers in the same colours. 

Another idea is to select some crafting tools and punches or dies that you will use and keep them close at hand.

I chose a few punches to use throughout the album. This means I don't have to keep returning to my punch draw and deliberating over which one to choose. It also lends continuity to the project as the same shapes crop up across the pages. I find that having the punches out like this also helps to give me a bit of inspiration on what to do in my individual pockets.

 For an ongoing project like this I like to have a few containers for the different elements that I intend to use. I have a bowl of Washi Tapes, a bowl of buttons and embroidery threads and a little heart shaped dish of small items like snowflake brads, sequins and Studio Calico Wood Veneer Tiny Stars. I also have a cake stand with adhesives in the top.  In the middle I have festive trims, ribbons and Enamel Dots, and in the bottom tier I have doilies, stickers, Project Life cards and other plain cards cut to various pocket sizes. This means I can just grab what I need and not have to think too hard about what to use. I also have a little bowl of Bundled Up Ephemera which are so cute and you get so many in the pack.

I also keep a pink pot of my most used tools and a variety of plain Cardstock to hand, some of which I cut to size. And my desk wouldn't be complete without a cup of tea and some Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Inking the edges brings all the collections together and again adds continuity throughout the album.

Here you can see some of the other things I've added from my stash like some old music paper, stickers and gold printed vellum. The album to the left is the one I am using this year. Its an American Crafts Modern Album so I just need to fancy up the plain front however I see fit but that might be a job for the new year.

So, gathering together all your supplies and tools in one place is my tip for scrapping your Christmas.

If you'd like to see how I'm getting on with my album then please do pop back tomorrow for Part Two!

Are you scrapping about the festive season this year? How are you hoping to achieve yours?  We'd love to see some of your ideas too so don't forget to link up in the comments.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Lisa-Jane x

Lisa-Jane is Mum to two small children and adores December and all things Christmas .... she blogs regularly at Inside My Head 

P.S. Want to join the SJ Crafts Design Team? See the DT Call HERE!

December's Six Cards On The 6th!

Hello and welcome to December's Six Card's on the 6th!

This is the last post in our series that's all about getting those Christmas cards made in time. You can link up your own cards at any time throughout the month, and at the end of the series one link-up from all the posts will win a pizza box stuffed full with scrapbook stash! 

 As you may have made most of your Christmas cards by now, this month we'd love you to link up even if you just have one or two cards to show us - or maybe you've made a few tags for Christmas presents? Let us see!

Today we have inspiration from Louise and Lisa-Jane, who have put some festive 6x6 pads to good use!

Louise:

The countdown has commenced and I have a long list of things that I need to do before the big day. Thankfully my Christmas card making has been under way for a while now which has all been down to the 6 on the 6th challenge. I have really enjoyed making a few cards each month!  

The cards I am going to share today have been made using the Teresa Collins Santas List 6x6 pad and stickers sheet. A perfect Christmas collection!

 I've already made cards with Christmas trees, snowflakes and holly, so this time I wanted to use stars.

To start I cut a silver glitter circle and a slightly smaller vellum circle for each of the six cards. These were layered and placed onto a background patterned paper. 

Then on top of each vellum circle I wrapped a circle of either tinsel, wire or twine. These were adhered with Glossy Accents.

Using a die cutting machine I cut six stars... or you could use a template and cut them out by hand.

To make them 3D I scored from the tip of each point across to the other side. By creasing the score lines to create peaks and valleys the star comes to life!

As I wanted the star to appear as though it is hanging...I threaded some cotton through one of the points and a silver bead. The cotton was fixed to the back of the background paper to hold it in place.



Here are some close up photos so you can see a little more of the detail:

Oh.....Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year!

Lisa-Jane:

I've recently been using the Bo Bunny Elf Magic 6x6 Pad to create some really colourful cards. The beauty of this collection is that the designs are so bright that you don't need to add much more to make a striking card.  Also there are some more traditional designs too for a more subtle feel.

I made 2 ranges of cards and chose 3 of each to show you here. 

The top row were made by cutting 5x5" squares of paper a third of the way down, and then swapping two pieces over to make 6 cards out of the 3 original squares. I covered the join with some glitzy trim and added a few sequins (inspired by Jennifer!) and a little arrangement of punched shapes with a pre-made topper:

The second row were made by matting 5x5" white card with slightly smaller papers from the pad. I then attached a strip of coordinating paper and some festive trim. I coloured some stamped images and matted them on coordinating paper before adhering them over the trim with pop dots. 

You can see what a range of looks you get in the Elf Magic collection, especially when you change up the embellishments too!

I also made some cards from the inch that I trimmed off by layering the strips up in a tree shape - even the children helped!

I've loved doing this series because I have a lovely little pile of cards that I otherwise wouldn't have had.

Merry Christmas!

Didn't Louise and Lisa-Jane make some fabulous cards! Do you have a Christmassy 6x6 pad that you could use on a couple of cards or some tags? How about trying Louise's idea to make some 3D stars, or Lisa-Jane's tip to hide paper-joins with glitzy trim? 

Now it's your turn! Link up your cards below for a chance to win the pizza box full of stash (prize will go out in early January). We can't wait to see what you create! Jennifer x 

Christmas Scrapping with Large Photos

A very Happy December and Season's Greetings to you!

It's Lisa-Jane with you today!

I absolutely love this time of year!  I can't wait to start scrapbooking my memories of this Christmas, especially because so much happens that it is easy to forget all the little details.  This is what happened with these photos.  They were taken last year when the children went to visit Warwick Castle with Daddy and Grandma.  While I was scrapping these, I had a real "pang" because I couldn't share the day with them, yet I couldn't remember why I couldn't be there.  Eventually I worked out that I was at a crafting retreat which felt like it was more than just a year ago and I realised that it was so important to get things recorded while they are fresh in your mind.  

I am using Crate Paper's Bundled Up collection for this year's Christmas memory keeping (I'll share more about that with you next week!) and I wanted a double page right near the start of my album to symbolise what Christmas is all about for me .... My two children!

I was recently inspired by this Pin and remembered that I had these two large pictures,  featuring my daughter in one and my son in the other alongside a jolly Santa. I thought the photos would be ideal for a striking entry early in my Christmas journal.

With larger pictures, especially ones so busy and orangey as these are, they needed a calm background with very little reds and pinks so I used a sheet of Noel 12 x 12 Paper from the Bundled Up Collection. The polka dot woodgrain was perfect for my base and I mounted the photos and the Christmas Trees paper onto cream puff bazill cardstock.  Then I brought out the pinks and reds in the embellishment clusters.

 The Season's Greetings label, the tree, ticket and pink snowflake in the picture above are all from the Bundled Up Ephemera pack, as are the tickets and the aqua snowflake in the photo below.  Little packs of co ordinating embellishments make it very easy to build up little groupings for interest and added spots of colour.

With large photographs, you can really let your photo do the talking by keeping the rest of the layout quite minimal, which of course makes for a pretty quick page too - all important at this crazy busy time of year!

Let the photos take centre stage!!

Have you started any festive craft projects yet?  Link up in the comments or tell us about it - we'd love to come and take a look.

Bye for now

Lisa-Jane

xx

Lisa-Jane is Mum to two small children and adores December and all things Christmas .... she blogs regularly at "Inside My Head"