Sunday 27 January 2013

My Foxy Valentine

Hiya! I had a fancy to make a valentine card for my OH. I didn't want it to be too cutesy, I wanted to do some paper piecing, I wanted to put a fox on it. Fortunately googling paper pieced fox came up with a few options, notably this. Now I love Jo Kill's work, I used to buy paper craft inspirations regularly and found her cards & toppers so inspiring, her blog is here if you fancy a look.

So, I think this card fits the brief don't you?

I'm not sure why blogsy has seen fit to squash the picture so, if you click on it the perspective corrects itself, lol!

edited to add: Ack! Couldn't stand looking at it like that so have cranked up the 'ole PC! Much better :)
See you soon!

Nikki xxx

 

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Our local pleasure beach

Hi There!

I rustled up another LO to play along with a challenge on UKS and thought it would be nice to share here too. The challenge was one of contrasts, light/dark, hot/cold, new/old. So I used warm & cool colours, a photo of DS1 taken into sun which put him into silhouette while at the same time catching all the light on the water and new and old stash. The vellum was one of my first ever purchases from HobbyCraft and the shaped paperclips were a steal from my local discount shop!

We live in the landlocked midlands but close by there is a reservoir that I often take the children to when they need to run off a bit of energy. They love to go down to the water's edge and throw stones in, the bigger splash the better!

So, here is the layout
And here is a close up of the picture

I used a page kit from Crafts 4 Eternity and really all the work was already done for you on the papers so it a page that came together quite easily once I'd decided where to put the hexagons! It's fab getting new scrap supplies each month to play with and at £18 incl P&P for a 4 month subscription, great value for money!

I hope this post finds you well and not too snowy! Where I live there's been a good solid covering since Friday and it just seems to keep on coming! Stay warm & drive safe,

Nikki xxx


Thursday 10 January 2013

Funny Face

Hello!

I'm back with a Quirky Kit main kit/lite kit mash-up to share today. I took these snaps of DS3 just the other day, he looked so cute clutching his teddy with his fingers in his mouth! I printed the picture off in black and white so I had total freedom with my colour scheme. I used ILS pops of PP for the base from the main kit & stenciled a chevron border in mustard seed to tie in the yellow photo mat which is a journalling card from the EP PP in the lite kit.
Here is a closer pic so you can see the layering. Theresa Collins for the ripped paper, a kraft tag, a little EP mint stripe and more of the EP journalling cards cut up and used in various different ways, including for the title. I couldn't resist dipping into a previous kit for the star punchinella, it really helps the photo stand out I think! The punched out circle is a scrap of ILS paper I had left over from a previous layout.
You can see here how I used the Studio Calico letter stickers,die cut arrows, cirles and stars from scraps to embellish along with a few drops of weathered wood distress ink. The way I tend to work is I design my photo mat first and stick it together without sticking it onto my base. I then ink and spatter the base after I have decided where I want to put the mat. After the mat is fixed to the page I can add any other embellishments I want.
I have used the fabulous ScrapFriends sketch to make this layout here...

Thanks for looking!
Nikki xxx

Saturday 5 January 2013

If the cup fits...

Hi there!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. So are you feeling rejuvenated and ready to papercraft your way through 2013? This is my first project of the new year, may it be the first of many!


I LOVE hot chocolate, but it has to have all the trimmings or it just isn't the same, and that includes a pretty cup to drink it out of! For the base of the layout I used ILS 'pops of #3' paper and a strip of AC 'cozy court' along the bottom. I stippled blue distress ink over a chevron mask and spattered brown ink over the stippled areas.


The clouds are die cut out of 'cozy court' and punched with a little star so that you can see a glimpse of PP underneath, they have been raised on pop dots for a little dimension. You can also see I've used little dots of perfect pearls here and there for an extra touch of sugar!


I used glitter foam to make brackets to frame my photo and for my title. Whether you're using a die cutter of craft knife, this foam cuts like butter! You can see also how I added a little touch of scrapping floss and a few sequins.


Here's a closer look at the title and you can just see the star embellishment with a diamante flat back in the centre. You can also see all those layers, lol!

The sketch is taken from ILS



So, I hope this layout hits your hot spot and I will be back with another page soon, Happy Scrapping!

Nikki xxx