Halloween/Spring with a Sketch YouTube Hop

Wow it is time for our October Hop already, this year has gone so fast.
I am super excited about this Hop as I am participating in it.

We have a Sketch to work with for this hop and the ladies have done a awesome job interpreting it in a variety of ways.

Here is the Hop List.

Amira
Amy
Chrissi
Kristina
Niamh
Raelene (Me)
Wendy


Here is the Playlist I have created so you can easily find all the videos.




In addition to my October Daily Journal this year I am doing a October Daily Mini inside a Personal sized Filofax Domino in Aqua as Aqua/Teal are part of our Halloween as we participate in The Teal Pumpkin Project, so working in this size made this sketch challenging for me.

Head to my video to see my process for making the sketch work in a 41/4 x 7 inch format.



















Here is my video, make sure you hop on to Wendy

October Daily 2019 Preparation & Day 1 - CraftOnline Creative Team

Last year I did my first October Daily project, I decided to do it the way I found success with December Daily and combine it with my journal keeping.  I loved how it turned out and wanted to do the project again this year but I am torn, I love doing my October Daily and December Daily combined with my journal keeping but I also really want to do a cute Halloween mini that is focused on doing Halloween prompts so I decided to prepare for both.




















As I couldn't find my small Halloween stash so I needed to start from scratch this year and ordered some great goodies from CraftOnline.


Items used in this project
Poppy Crafts Candelabra Die
Poppy Crafts Cute Cat Die
Poppy Crafts Blooming 6x6 Paper Pad
Poppy Crafts 6x6 Textured Cardstock Pad
Poppy Crafts Christmas Glitter 6x6 Cardstock Pad
Simple Stories Say Cheese Collection
Doodlebug Planner Insert Daily Dots Daily Doodles Calendar
Tim Holtz Ideaology Countdown Brads
Helmar Acid Free Glue
Helmar Chrystal Kote Matt Varnish
Dorland's Wax Medium
Universal Crafts Embossing Tool
Stickmaster Heat Resistant Double Sided Tape 
Distress Oxide Seedless Preserves
Distress Oxide Carved Pumpkin
Distress Ink Peacock Feathers
Distress Ink Wild Honey
Distress Ink Black Soot
Distress Ink Carved Pumpkin
Vellum
Silhouette Die Cutting Machine
I used the older Universal Crafts Fine Line Applicators but here is a link to the new ones that I can't wait to try.


I adapted Serena Bee's October Daily Prompt List to a list that better suited a Halloween specific project as the Fall prompts don't suit me since I live in the Southern Hemisphere and I wanted to save Spring Prompts for a November project or maybe for September next year.  You can download a copy of my Prompt List here, I also added a October Awareness & Cultural Day List to the document, some Awareness & Cultural Days change each year so some may be incorrect for 2020.

I printed my prompt list on to vellum and distressed it with Distress Oxide in Carved Pumpkin and Seedless Preserves and added some Distress Ink in Black Soot and Peacock Feathers to give it a grungy Halloween look. 
I glued some adorable pumpkin paper from Simple Stories Say Cheese Collection to my page and adhered my list to it with Helmar Acid Free Glue,  washi and stickers from the Simple Stories Say Cheese Collection.

.

 I cut out the Poppy Crafts Candelabra Die from white cardstock and black glitter cardstock and then coloured the flames with Distress Ink in Wild Honey and Carved Pumpkin.
I cut the candles from the black glitter cardstock die cut and glued it to the white cardstock die cut.
I think it turned out super cute.













Click on this photo or the video below to watch my Process Video and see how I created my cover, a pocket inside the pocket, added my lists and completed my Day 1.

October Daily is a lot of fun no matter what format you choose to do it in so why no join in the fun and give it a go, it doesn't matter that it is a few weeks in you can still join in the fun.
Serena has a great Facebook Group that are full of inspiration.

#100outof100 Together Always - Journal tip in

On March 20th I started seeing posts about horrendous, ignorant and ablest advice Dr Phil gave a couple on his show and like every disabled person in my feed that was sharing their outrage and hurt I too was feeling deeply hurt.   
The hashtag #100outof100 started that day with so many lovely interabled couples sharing their successful relationships and I really wanted to share mine but as I was not feeling up to posting a photo of myself that day I took a photo of us holding hands and me wearing my oval8 finger splint. 
I typed up my post that spoke so much of our journey and I wasn't feeling up to sharing all that with the world so I hit delete.  I tried again a few hours later and once it was all typed and I found I wasn't up to hitting publish.  The act of typing up the post was so mentally draining that I couldn't hit publish.  I had this beautiful photo though so I kept it in my phone thinking when I am feeling up to it or can find better words I will hit publish.
When printing my photos on Thursday I included this beautiful photo as a 3x4 thinking I would just add it into my journal and journal about how wonderful it is to see so many people educate Dr Phil on how epically wrong he was, I didn't think I would scrap it though.

On Saturday when I was setting up to make decorations for my Endo High Tea next weekend I had to move the printed photos off my desk and I was drawn to this photo and I just had to scrap it.  I stopped doing everything I was meant to and just zoned out creating something that I feel is beautiful from the harm Dr Phil's words have caused.

I grabbed out my half used sticker sheet from the Simple Stories Kissing Booth range, Doodlebug Designs Petite Prints 6x6 paper pad, a half a red doily from Scrapping Fun Kits Gaming kit, some baby girl thickers, Maggie Holmes Willow Lane alphas, Fundamentals tag, pink twine.

I just played with my supplies but one thing I did know I wanted to do was create a pocket from my photo mat so I could use tags for hidden journalling with what I wanted to say but couldn't publish.
When creating the pocket I used The Stickmaster Heat Resistant tape to ensure it would stand up to the climate here.

I loved all the tiny words on my sticker sheet so used a bunch that seemed appropriate down the left of my layout and cut 2 of them to add to the end of my title so my title read #100outof100 together always.

I finished things off my inking the outer edge and tag edges with a mini Distress Ink in Spun Sugar.

So while I am not up to sharing what I wrote I thought I would share my layout to show that this horrible ableism inspired me to created something out of my and my husband's love.

Galentine's Day Card

The year has just gone so fast, I really wanted to organise something for Galentine's Day this year but before I knew it it was a couple of days away and I hadn't planned anything, so I made a quick Galentine's card with my left overs from the Valentine's card I made for hubby and a few other bits from my stash and I wanted to share it with you but first I think I should give a brief explanation of Galentine's Day for those who are unaware of this fun excuse to eat waffles and hang out with friends.

Galentine's Day is something that the character Leslie Nope created in the TV show Parks and Recreation, if you haven't watched that show yet go check it out, it is a fun show to watch. 
Anyway Galentine's Day is about spending time with your Gal Pals and celebrating each other.  It occurs on February 13th.  Waffles are the must food for the event, cute gifts, cheezy quotes and just celebrating the women in your life.  And a lot of women started having Galentine's Day celebrations after seeing the episode as well why not and every year since I saw the episode I think to myself I should organise something and then every year just runs away from me with recovery from Christmas, the chaos of the start of the school year, 2 Birthdays in the first 2 weeks of the school year, etc.  So I am promising myself next year I will invite my local Gal Pals to have some waffles and celebrate our friendship, fingers crossed I remember early in the year.

To make my card I used
Simple Stories Kissing Booth 12x12 sticker sheet
Poppy Crafts A2 cards
Doodlebug Petite Prints 6x6 paper pad
Lillybee Designs alphas
Scrap from Willow Lane 6x8 paper pad that I used for my Happy Days Diner layouts
Red doily from my Scrapping Fun Kits January Gaming themed kit
Pink spot paper from Dear Lizzy Happy Place 6x6 paper pad
Helmar Acid Free Glue

I cut a piece of bright pink paper from the Doodlebug paper pad to fit my card front.
Then because my scrap from Willow Lane was torn I tore a piece of pink spot paper from Dear Lizzy Happy Place to form a layer between the 2 papers.
I cut my paper doily in half and layered it between the Willow Lane paper and pink spot paper. 
I glued all my papers and paper doily down with Helmar Acid Free Glue.
Next I added the garland sticker from the Simple Stories Kissing Booth sticker sheet and 2 of the envelope stickers.

To create my sentiment I cut the Val from the Valentine's Day word sticker from the Kissing Booth sticker sheet and stuck the remaining word sticker down, then I added Gal where Val was with my Lillybee Designs alpha stickers.  And once this was down I cut the word happy from the happy together word sticker on the Kissing Booth sticker sheet to create Happy Galentine's Day.






And my card is done, I love how it turned out.

After making my card I decided to Google free printables for Galentine's Day and found so many great printables out there but here are a few I found.
Over on Amy Poehler's Smart Girls website you will find this article with links to various artists Galentine's Day works, not all are free but they are soooo cute.
If you don't want to make a card Bravelets has a printable with 4 cute cards to print fold and write a message in and the blog has a great explanation of Galentine's Day.
Flourish and Hope have some cute printable cards and invitations.
Live Laugh Rowe has some cute tags.
And there is so much more out there.

Are you doing anything with your Gal Pals for Galentine's Day this year?

Quick Valentine's Card - CraftOnline Creative Team

I wanted to create a quick and simple Valentine's card for my hubby that was flat so  I could easily slip it into his diary before work on Thursday  so he won't notice it until he opens his diary when he gets to work.  Hopefully he doesn't see my posts or video before then ;)

The 12x12 sticker sheet from Simple Stories Kissing Booth range seemed like the perfect way to be able to create a card that suited my needs in combination with the gorgeous Ornate Heart die from Poppy crafts and paper from Doodlebug Designs Petite Prints 6x6 paper pad.
Other items used in this project include.
Uniball Black Pen 
Poppy Crafts Textured Paper Pad
Poppy Crafts A2 Cards 50 pack Helmar Acid Free Glue 




Here is my video, make sure you check it out to see how I played with my supplies to create this card.

I love how my card turned out.

Scrapping School Memories with Simple Stories School Rocks - CraftOnline Creative Team

I have a lot of school scrapbooking to catch up on so when I saw the new school range from Simple Stories called School Rocks I just had to grab it so I could get some of the layouts done.  Today I have a process video for you of my doing 3 layouts with this collection kit.

I start the video by showing you the supplies and photos I have and talking about how I might use the supplies and how even the supplies are helping prompt memories I need to record.
If you need to find a certain layout then here are the times in the video you can find each layout.  Layout 1 13:20 Layout 2 17:56 Layout 3  23:46

Items used in this project include.
Simple Stories School Rocks Collection Kit 
American Crafts White Cardstock 
American Crafts Straw Cardstock 
American Crafts Olive Cardstock
Uni-Ball black pen 
Helmar Acid Free Glue 

I am loving the journal/title cards from the cut aparts and the the cute stickers in this range.  They helped me smash out my layouts really quickly.

I cut the locker card into the 3 lockers so I would have plenty of lockers for my high school scrapping.
I used the zip strips from the papers to help build layers on all 3 layouts.

Using a sheet of Straw Cardstock really helping this layout pop.

I absolutely loved this border sticker from the moment I saw it on the website and just had to use it as a focal point on a layout.
It really helped this layout come together quickly by staring with the border sticker and just pressing down the straight edge so I could tuck things in as I built the layout.

This pencil sticker for my date in this cluster was the perfect shade to match Mr C's shirt so I selected it to kind of add to the feeling that this layout was about his first day of the school year.

I loved that the sticker sheet included a few science pieces and math pieces in addition to the regular school stuff.  It helped with the high school theme but also the distance ed theme as we do a lot of science in this house now.

I love how my layouts turned out and that the supplies have prompted me to think of several other memories I need to record.
Why don't you check out what school themed supplies CraftOnline has and get some school scrapping done?  It is a fun theme to scrap in my experience.

Beach and Calendar Layouts

This sheet of Seaglass paper was just so gorgeous, I cut it up to create multiple layers.
The leaves were my inspiration for creating the Island.  I punched out 3 circles for coconuts, handcut a Palm tree trunk, tore the sand and waves and added some paint to the cardstock background to create a ocean feel.
The grass chipboard and bird charm really helped finish off the layout.

 I used Distress Stain on the chipboard without a basecoat to created the grassy feel.  I did a second coat on the base for shading.

 While working on the layout I realised this could make a cute Pocket Scrapping card so took this pic with 2 rulers to show it would fit as I didn't have the supplies on hand to make the card as well.

This September Calendar page inspired me. 
I felt it would be a great way to feature a memory.  Though you didn't need to be restricted to the month on the paper as you could simply cover it.
With a single photo over 4 squares and journaling in the relevant squares.
Then I thought a fold out would be fun and would mean you could add more photos.
I went with a monochromatic layout.
It is simple but I love it as the memory is the feature of this layout.

Simple Stories Life Documented Layouts

Simple Stories Life Documented is such a versatile range, you can create so many various types of layouts with it.
I found myself thinking of so many things photos/memories I could get down with these papers as they are so versatile.  From a beach/nautical theme to school, floral layouts to more geometric styles.
There are 5 classes this month so out of the dozens of ideas in my head I am creating 5 of them.
I wanted to have a mix of simple layouts that are reasonably quick to create and more complex layouts.  I wanted to cater for any new beginners but as someone who has scrapped for over 10 years I do enjoy quick and simple layouts when I am time poor so I wanted to give the more experienced scrapbookers some quick and simple layouts so they have some remaining time some weeks to play with tools and catch up on any unfinished pagess they have.

School Layout
I love the graph numbers, this paper has so many uses, my hand was playing up so I couldn't fussy cut them out as I wished but I think it turned out effective.
This layout is a good example of using paper selection and embellishment selection to tell the story, in this case my daughter's change of favourite colour.

Library Pocket LayoutI love these cute metal embellishments, and the mixed bag of flat backed pearls and wanted them to be a feature of this page.
Creating your own Library Pockets is simple and they are so useful for storing extra journaling and photos.

Susan's Garden Nastrutium Dies Layout
I love these dies, they make such cute flowers.
This paper I had a few ideas of what I wanted to do with it but in the end I found with the flowers, photo and butterflies laid out before cutting up my background as intended it didn't need any more work as it just worked for me.
The little flowers have tiny little flat backed pearls in their centres from the mixed bag used on the Library Pocket page.

Nautical Layout
I loved the nautical feel of this paper and the cameras on the back were so cute so where the paper would be covered I cut out 5 cameras for use as embellishments (second pic).
I created a beach themed tag and used the negative space piece of chipboard from Dusty Attic Swirl No 8 to create the waves down the bottom.

Mixed Media Layout
After creating all my layers I tore a squarish shape from the wet wipe used for clean up and created a flower, I stuck another flat backed gem over the brad when finished.

I had a lot of fun with this range and creating this month's series of classes.