My apologies this is a few days late - it should have been posted last Wednesday.
Lots going on here at the moment!
If you missed the first "Inspired By Winter" post you can find that right here!
This week it's the turn of SJ Crafts DT Member, Louise!
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Hello, I'm Louise and I live smack bang in the middle of the country with my husband and three boys.
Lots going on here at the moment!
If you missed the first "Inspired By Winter" post you can find that right here!
This week it's the turn of SJ Crafts DT Member, Louise!
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Hello, I'm Louise and I live smack bang in the middle of the country with my husband and three boys.
I work part-time and when I get a few minutes spare from family life you'll find me cutting and sticking. Unless it's a Sunday then I spend the best part of the day watching, cheering, shouting (words of encouragement) on the sidelines between three rugby pitches.
I've been scrapbooking for over 13 years now. It's been so long that it's now a way of life. It all started when my eldest son was born.......although if I think back it may have all started with my childhood when I became (a Duranie!) infatuated with Duran Duran. Remember this was in the day, pre world wide web! A scrapbook wasn't big enough so I kept everything in an arch lever file. Newspaper/Magazine cuttings, photos, posters (ones that weren't on my bedroom walls), lyrics, concert memorabilia .....I'm sure some of you must have kept something similar! Please say you did!?
The world of scrapbooking has advanced here in the UK since I created my very first layout, there is so much more on offer now. Sarah (SJ Crafts lovely owner) asked me a few scrapbook related questions and this is what I had to say:
- What was your last crafty purchase? Papers are my thing. I would rather buy a pack pack than a set of alphas or embellishments. Hence, my last purchase consisted of two paper packs, the gorgeous Echo Park This & That Christmas collection kit and the stylish Classic 3 kit from Studio Calico.
- Who is your favourite Craft Manufacturer? and why? I imagine we all have our favourites. There are times when one manufacturer releases a new line and for a while they are my favourite. I do have my all time favourites though, they are Lily Bee, My Minds Eye and American Crafts. This year my favourite manufacturer has to be Echo Park. Their collection kits are super value, come with plenty of papers and alpha's and stickers (which is a bonus). When you predominantly scrap with boys, it can be a challenge finding suitable papers...so these kits work perfectly for me.
- What is your favourite technique? Hmmm this is a hard one. Many techniques come and go... at the moment for me it's stitching on layouts. Next month it will no doubt will be something different.
I couldn't finish this post without sharing something pretty with you. Christmas is approaching all too fast and Winter is now upon us. Winter is the best excuse to stay inside, to sit in front of the telly, to create. I spent an evening with a tray full of patterned stars, some seed beads and a score board.
These 3D stars turned out well and made a lovely contributions to the tall dried tree decoration that stands in the corner of my living room. It now looks very christmassy indeed!
These 3D stars can be made to any size.
I used a sizzix die, but you can cut them out by hand.
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All you need to do is score from each star point across to the other side and gently fold the peaks and valleys.
To finish off I added a few seed beads to some cotton to thread through the stars for hanging.
Are you planning on making any Christmas decorations this year?
Have you been inspired today to have a go?
We really would love to see if you have.... so do leave us a link so we can come and see!
Thank you for taking the time to stop by today!
Louise x
Don't forget to visit Louise's blog at Boys, Bugs and ... Beautiful Buttons
7 comments :
They look fab Louise! I love that they are lightweight so can hang on delicate items like those dried twigs.
Ooh, very pretty stars, I shall have a go at these! Every time I see your Echo Park projects it makes me want to buy another collection pack from them! x
Hi Louise, I loved reading your post. And yes, I also used to collect lots of bits and bobs as a child.
I used to love covering shoe boxes in fancy wrapping paper, and also had a huge fancy rubber collection, which I loved!!!! Child of the 70s/80s full of imagination and long before the world wide web :)
I too have boys, so totally know what you mean about scrapping. I sometimes feel it would be so much easier having girls, just pop a love heart or flower on, and away you go. But somehow I also love the challenge of having boys, and having to push myself to be more creative in my layouts. Boys can have flowers and hearts too ;)
I adore the Ecco Park range too.
I recently felt very brave and decided to cut into some old 12 x 12 layouts and create A4 sized ones and also some 12 x 6 sized ones too.
Ofcourse there were some larger layouts I loved, so kept them as they were.
I am so delighted with the result. I keep my layouts in large American Crafts D ring scrapbooks, which I adore!
The effect is fab!!! sort of mixed media, with lots of different sized layouts once you open the scrapbook.
I have also used my sewing machine to create new plastic covers for the layouts, cutting them to size and then sewing to the size I wish, the effect looks great, and I am sooooo much happier with how they look now then before, will take a pic soon and pop on my blog, so you can see what I mean.
My current fave is kraft card, love playing with that stuff :)
Love your stars, they are so festive, but think you could leave them out all year round, they are beautiful!! I too spend a lot of my week-ends on the sidelines of a muddy football pitch, oh the joy, lol!
Thanks for sharing your lovely and interesting post.
Suzie xxx :)
That was a great read Louise - I loved the thought of you with your Lever arch full of cuttings :)
The stars are beautiful
Louise - there was some Duran Duran at the wedding reception last night made me smile and remember wayyy back when. The thought of your organized collection of memorabilia made me smile - hope you've scrapped some of it. Nice to know you've been scrapping about the same amount of time as me too :)
Love those stars, I looked at that die and wasn't certain - these are lovely.
Love those stars Louise!
Alison xx
Beautiful stars Louise :) I enjoyed reading your post!
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