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

Introducing TWO New Design Team Members!!

You may recall towards the end of last year I put out a Design Team call.

The response was fantastic and I'd like to thank everyone who applied. There were so many talented Scrapbookers and it was so tough choosing but in the end after much consideration I finally came to a decision and today I'm excited to introduce you to the two talented ladies who will be joining the S J Crafts team for an initial 3 month term, and possibly longer!

So, first up please meet:

Annie Claxton

Hi there, my name is Annie and I’m chuffed to bits to be joining the SJ Crafts Design Team.

I live in a tiny cottage in Norfolk with my husband. I have two sons, a stepdaughter and two step-grandchildren who provide me with a constant source of photos for my scrapbooks.

Scrapbooking is my passion, but I also enjoy all sorts of other arts and crafts such as crochet, bead-making and drawing, and I love incorporating these into my pages. I make cards, tags and mini books too, and more recently I've been experimenting with art journals, smash books and "off-the-page" projects.

"Laugh, Love, Learn, Live" by Annie Claxton

My scrapping style is constantly evolving, but at the moment I love combining bright colours, layering patterns and using lots of contrasting textures to make fun pages like the example above which you can see more of here!. 

I often use recycled and found items and really enjoy creating unique homemade embellishments.

All my crafty ideas and endeavours are recorded on my blog, ArtyFartyAnnie along with a sprinkling of everyday life – I'd love you to pop over and say hello. 

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And please meet our 2nd new DT member:

Jemma Sharrock

 Hello!  I’m Jemma and scrapbooking has been a passion of mine since 2006 when I went to an all-day "crop-in-a-shop" in Holland, raided my Dutch friend’s stash and then discovered the UKScrappers community.  My scrap-subjects are the family, our holidays and milestones and occasional randomness for my BOM (Book of Me).  While I wait for our kids (two boys and a girl) to find partners and produce grandchildren, I have to raid our photo-archives to scrap babies and toddlers.

"Around The World" By Jemma

My other hobbies include reading, vegetable gardening, sewing, the theatre and geocaching ... it's a good job that I only work part-time.
I have a blog - "Just Jimjams" where I post stories and layouts about our adventures in Cheshire (where we now live) and elsewhere.  While the mathematician in me likes clean and simple rather than messy and inky, my inner-crafter loves to hand-make embellishments and titles and sew on my pages. I’m really honoured to be joining the S J Crafts design team and can’t wait to get started!

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So, a huge welcome to Jemma and Annie as they join the existing Design Team of Jennifer, Louise, Lisa-jane and Jenny who are all staying on for 2014!

You will see more of their work right here very soon but in the meantime please do pop over to their blogs and say Hi!!