Ms Pacman

The wonderful Doris came up with a new stash busting game called Ms Pacman. The details/rules are over at the JBS Mercantile forum here. i thrive on these kinds of challenges because they keep me focused. No indecisiveness about which product to use mid way through a project, because it's not allowed! It pushes me to look creatively at the supplies i do have and figure out ways to make them work for me. i really love seeing how i can get different projects from the same collection of product. Here's my Ms Pacman Kit:

Supplies: Paper: Studio Calico, MME, Pebbles inc, Fabric Swatches: Ormolu, Brads: Jenni Bowlin, Washi Tape: Masking Tape, Border Stickers: Basic Grey, Other: Twine, Buttons

Doris challenged us to create a layout and two cards but i ended up doing two layouts and one card. Rules are meant to be broken, right? Here's the first layout i did:

Although i like the finished layout, i'm not happy that your eye isn't immediately drawn to the photograph. The designs of the papers are too busy and the hand cutting i did is distracting. But i can live with it. i still have lots of photos left to complete the telling of this story so i'll add them into my album in divided page protector right next to this layout.

i am not the greatest artist with my craft knife, i am not a very precise scrapper and eyeball everything. But i can mange fairly straight cuts if they're small enough and i like to add interest to my patterned paper with this technique sometimes.  The graph design from Studio Calico is one of my all time favourites and i grab it in every colour they release. i barely have any of this navy left so i wanted to do something different with it. As triangles are so on trend right now and work well with this pattern that's what i went with. i also like that the sharpness of the angles supports my theme of the page (crocodiles).  i left a couple of the triangles blank so you could see the kraft cardstock and backed some with different papers. They really stand out against the navy. i'd like it if the triangle trend stuck around for a while yet. What do you think the next 'trend' will be, maybe diamonds?

Let me talk you through some of the 'techniques' i used on my pages.

i'm not sure if we were allowed to use punches or not for this challenge, but the yellow paper from Pebbles inc that i had included in  my kit already had lot of starbursts punched out of it from a previous project (in this post). So i decide to try & work that into my design. It seemed natural to house buttons and brads in the negative space. i really love how the brads are bumpy like a crocodile!

One of the things we had to include in the kit was 1 yard of trim, but only 11 inches of any one trim. i'm not sure if twine really counts as trim, but we'll go with it as it's one of my all time favourite items. Something i often like to do is add twine along the top of my page. But as we were only allowed 11 inches of any one trim it wouldn't stretch far enough! uh oh! i ended up tying two ends of  different coloured twine together to get around that. i really like the effect and will be doing this again for sure.

The Heidi Swapp Chipboard letters i picked out were glossy so i wasn't sure how it would take to mist or other mediums. i always experiment with the numbers that come in these types of packs as i hardly ever use them anyway. i tried spraying mist on one to see how it would take. As i was expecting, not very well. But i dabbed it with kitchen roll and found that some of it did get absorbed into the edge of the chipboard number, so some of the white still showed through, giving a kind of mottled effect. i quite liked the distressed look so i ended up using this technique on both of my layouts.

Here's layout number two:

The 'it's a fact' banner on this page is actually from the back of the packaging of my Ormolu fabric swatches. When i received my package from Ormolu i tweeted about my delight at the packaging and that it would be working it's way into one of my projects. Kaitlin told me that they had recently redesigned the packaging with that in mind! So very cool. i am a huge fan of their products and it's a real added bonus that they are earth friendly too! i added a little bit of stamping to one of my swatches using StayzOn and i was really please with how it took, no bleeding at all. Although my stamp wasn't in my original kit, i think i can get away with it under the 'unlimited techniques rule' ;)

There's no reason why you can't use washi tape just like patterned paper. On this page i cut it into short strips and stuck it right down. i also cut up one of the border stickers into three to create a repetitive design.

i also got to work on this green herringbone paper from Studio Calico, and made lots of random cuts. i didn't back it with patterned paper as it would have been too busy, but i think it does add some interest to the page.

 i stuck with triangles for my card. i'm hoping i can get a way with using stamps again!

i didn't even end up using the diagonal striped paper from MME, so that's still waiting to be used on another project. But other then that i don't have much else left from my kit left. i'm hoping Doris sets another stash busting challenge soon because it really keeps me motivated!

March TMC Challenge

There's a new challenge up at the TMC blog & this month there's colour inspiration. Love this selection of colours, they are so pretty and perfect for spring pages. Here's my take on the challenge:

Overlay, Washi Tape, Rub Ons: Hambly, Mist: Maya Road, Studio Calico, Star Pins: Maya Road, Alpha Stickers: Making Memories, Other: Tiny Attacher

Haaaaa! This is my 'crazy excited' face. When i literally can't contain my excitement i get a little OTT! This page is about going to see the last Harry Potter film this past July. i went to a late night screening with some girlfriends to avoid the crowds in opening week. It kind of felt like the end of an era, those books and films have been a part of my life for such a long time. i thought after the last film was released the HP hype would have died down, but it hasn't and now i can see it's never going to. And yeah that is a HP t-shirt i'm wearing in that photo. i'm a self confessed Harry Potter nerd...

I didn't really have any embellishments in the right colour that would fit my theme so I decided to improvise with what I had and made my own. The little yellow star was made by attaching some washi tape to white cardstock and then punching through it. The larger teal star was made using a similar technique, but instead of using washi tape I used a rub-on. i have quite a lot of gorgeous Hambly rub-ons in shapes i find hard to work into my pages so this was a great way to stretch my supplies and get around that. 

TMC February Challenge

This month's challenge over at the Truly Madly Crafty Blog is to use Ribbon & Bling. i am not really a blingy scrapbooker so this challenge stumped me at first. Then when i was riffling through my ribbon jar i came across my sequin strands and i knew they had to be used! i kept this page pretty simple because that Sassafras paper is so pretty.

Supplies: Paper, Alpha stickers, Flowers: Sasaafras Lass, Journalling card: Elle's Studio, Other: Ribbon & Sequins

There was an overwhelming response to our last challenge, i wish i could stop by everybody's blog and leave a comment, but i just don't have the time (there were over 460 entries!). But if you did take part, thank-you so much for playing along! 

OWOT - January

We've introduced a new weekly challenge over at the Truly Madly Crafty Blog called One Word One Technique. We have assigned a different technique to each month of the year and each week has a specific word. The idea is that you create a project, be it a card, layout, art journal page etc based on that weeks word and using that month's technique.This month's technique is paint and my word is GO!

i decided to use paint for my title & finally busted out some Amy Tangerince goodies to do a page about a trip i took to Manchester last June. Does the design of the page maybe look a little bit similar? Perhaps a bit like the last page i posted? i'm ok with not reinventing the wheel every time :)

TMC January Challenge

Happy New Year to you all! i truly hope that 2012 brings wonderful things for you all.

A new year, a new challenge on the Truly Madly Crafty Challenge Blog. There was a huge response to last month's challenge and it would be great if that continued. There's some other fun challenges planned which i am excited about. This month's challenge is nice and easy, the theme is 'anything goes'. So all you have to do is submit a new project. i used it as a chance to use up some of my new goodies from the MME line 'Everyday Fun'. i LOVE this line! i adore the kraft papers, the stamps are right up my alley and the embellishments are so freaking cute, especially that garland. i think it's such a fun twist on the banner trend, i want to use it on every page!

i snapped this instax photo on my 29th birthday (yes it's my last year of my twenties, eek!). And i used a list format to summarise the highlights of my day.

TMC December Challenge

This month's challenge over at Truly Madly Crafty Challenge Blog is to use Christmas images & colours as your inspiration. i decided to use it as an excuse to get started on my Christmas decorations. i mostly used Jenni Bowlin products, a few of which are available in the shop. You've got all month to take part in the challenge and there's a Bo Bunny Project Kit up for grabs as a prize!

TMC are also on the hunt for 2 new members to join the Design Team. Hope over here for the details of how to apply if you're interested!

TMC November Challenge

I was recently asked to join the Design Team over at Truly Madly Crafty & this month's challenge is up on the challenge blog! It's to take inspiration from this photo:

i chose to draw inspiration from the glittery  baubles and added glitter to the back of the Hambly overlay to add some sparkle to my layout. 

Papers: Echo Park Mist: Studio Calico, Pins: Maya Road, Ribbon: Making Memories, Stickers: Sasafrass, Echo Park, Overlay's: Hambly Screenprints, Tag: Elles Studio, Stamps: K&Co, Studio Calico, Other: Tiny Attacher, German Glass Glitter, Tab.

i hope you'll check out the blog to see how the other ladies interpreted this challenge and play along, there's some Bo Bunny up for grabs!

JBS Scrapfest

Yes, it's been a while since i posted. And if you’re wondering why the blog has been so neglected over the last few weeks it’s because i’ve been busy with all my Halloween crafts. i’m REALLY excited to share what i’ve been up to next week in a Handmade Halloween series! So i'll be making it up to you with lots of crafty posts!

But this weekend i'm joining in on all the fun at the JBS forum for their Scrapfest online crop. i loved the last one they hosted and all the challenges that have been posted so far this time around are really motivating. So much so that i actually finished a layout in one sitting last night, which is the first time i've done that in a while! i took Waleska's colour combo challenge of red + black + turquoise as my inspiration.

i thought it was about time i shared my new hair colour :) i had it done about a month ago. i just felt like a change for the new season. When i first had it done it was really bright and i got quite a few stares! Now it has settled down a bit. It's nice being different for a while, but i think i'll go back to my regular colour after christmas. 

i played around with twine a little on this page instead of going with my standard staple it down with my tiny attacher. And there's a real mix of old & new JBS products, i've been hoarding that die cut paper since 2007! i think that's what i love most about Jenni's products, that they are co classic and never go out of trend. Please pop into the forum and play along with us, you have all week to take part in the challenges so there's still lots of time. Hope to see you there!

Shimelle's Blog Party

If you're part of the scrapbooking community you'll probably already be aware of the Blog Party Shimelle hosted last weekend & what an awesome girl she is for organising such an event. Last year's was a lot of fun so i tried to complete as many challenges as i could this week. i think 6 pages in a week is some kind of record for me!

Chop Your Paper Challenge

Paper: October Afternoon. Transparency: Hambly, Alphabet Stickers: Sasafrass, Stamp & Mist: Studio Calico, Ink: JBS, Punch: Martha Stewart, Other: Embroidery Floss, Tiny Attacher

Oh my, how that OA paper scared me! But i was determined to use it. Given that i am not much of an embellisher anyway you'd think this challenge wasn't too hard for me, yet i still couldn't resist adding some hand stitching, stamping and misting. Photos taken with a disposable camera. 

Add to the Story Challenge

Paper: Studio Calico Advert, Stickers: Jillibean Soup, Chipboard Button; Maya Road, Frame: K&Co. 

Above is a layout that i did last year. To add to the story i used an American Crafts divided page protector to include additional photos and journalling. This is something i do a lot in my travel albums. 

Half A Page Challenge

Paper: Crate Paper, Basic Grey, Brads: Basic Grey, Stamp: Studio Calico, Mistable Trim: Pink Paislee, Mist; Studio Calico, Tag: Elles Studio, Alphabet Stickers: Sasafrass, Other: Twine, Eyelet, Tiny Attacher, Kit: Studio Calico, Boardwalk

This is also something i do naturally on my pages from time to time, but i struggled to fit in my journalling on this one so i ended up hiding it away on the Elle's Studio Tag. 

Grid It Up Challange

Paper: Pink Paislee, Other: Twine

Does this count as a grid? i'm not sure. i felt that the paper i conveyed the theme on this page well enough to manage without any photos. 

Bingo Cards & Butterflies

Paper, Button, Sticker, Bingo Card, Journalling Card: Jenni Bowlin Studios,Tape: Pink Paislee, Stamp, Veneer Stars & Rub-Ons: Studio Calico, Ink: Staz-On, Other: Twine. 

This challenge was to draw inspiration from the page that Shimelle posted. i also used a Bingo Card as my base and framed it with tape, like Shimelle did with paint. To carry on the old photo theme, i used a polaroid stamp. As for the butterflies, i'm afraid it's quite tricky to work those into a Halloween theme.

Hot Pink Hoopla

Paper, Chipboard Aphabet, Doilies: Cosmo Cricket, Alphabet stickers: Sasafrass, Stamp: Studio Calico, Ink: JBS, Stickers: Do Crafts Tape: American Crafts Other: Embroidery Floss

i figured hot pink would be fitting for these pictures of a girls night we had recently. And p.s. Kool-Aid works well as a mixer ;)

Getting creative with twine

You may have noticed that this year i've had a slight obsession with twine and it's made it's way on to most of my pages. Last week's challenge over at the SC blog was to use twine on a page and tried come up with a few new ways to use it.

My standard favourite thing to do is just to add twine as a border and use my tiny attacher to adhere it to my page. With this layout i did just that but tied on a few extra bits of twine to change things up a bit.

Paper:  MME & Hambly, Twine: MME, Alpha Stickers: Studio Calico & Sassafras, Mistable Trims: Pink Paislee, Brads; Basic Grey, Mist: Studio Calico, Other: Tiny Attacher, Kit: Studio Calico Boardwalk

For this page i made hoops of twine. It's really easy. Just wind your twine around a circular object. i used an egg cup, but you can use something smaller or larger depending what size you want your hoops to be. i wound mine around the egg cup about 5 or 6 times and then secured it by tying it with more twine. i used a liquid adhesive to attach to my page, but you could also sew them on. 

Paper: Basic Grey, MME, Crate Paper, Twine: MME, Stamp, Mist: Studio Calico, Alpha Stickers: Studio Calico, Sassafras, Border Sticker: Sassafras, Other: tiny Attacher, Kit: Studio Calico Boardwalk

They're messy and imperfect, but that's ok with me!

i really really love this kit! When i first saw the colour combination i knew it would go well with my New Zealand pictures so i'm trying to scrap with some of the 4x6 photos i already have printed. i am so used to scrapping with smaller pictures these days, i'm struggling a bit with the size, but i'm determined to use them!

More iNSD Layouts

A couple more layouts to share for challenges over at Studio Calico...

Kit: Joyride - Studio Calico, Paper: MME, Sassafrass, Studio Calico, Ticket: MME, Gems: MME, Wood Veneer Frame & Stars, Rub-ons: Studio Calico, Alpha Stickers: Sassafrass, Sticker: Jillybean Soup, Other: Embroidery Thread, Twine.

This one counts for the challenge to use wood or woodgrain on your pages the one for  hand stitching and the colour challenge!

Paper: American Crafts, Hambly Tape: American Crafts, Rub-on: Embossing Powder: American Crafts, Ink: JBS for Ranger, Versamark, Mist: Maya Road, Stamp: Studio Calico, Chipboard: Maya Road, Alphabet; Cosmo Cricket, Journalling Card: Elle's Studio, Punch: Martha Stewart, Other: Toothpicks, Buttons, Glitter, Twine.

This one covers the challenge for stamping and using tape. i used one of those Maya Road clouds to make a cupcake this time and added a little glitter. And in case you're wondering...Raspberry and White Chocolate is my favourite flavour cupcake! You can always win me over with one of those ;)

A word on banners. i was not a fan of this trend to begin with and was hoping it would pass quickly, but lately i've found myself wanting to add them to my pages and now i kind of like them a lot. The trends usually get me in the end...

Think i'm going to try and fit in a few more challenges before the week is out, i seem to be a lot more productive that way!

Happy iNSD!

What is iNSD i hear you say? {inter}National Scrapbooking Day of course! And actually yesterday was iNSD, not today, so i'm a little late. But yesterday was all full of fun-ness but no scrapbookey things for me, which a story for another blog post.

Anywho, i hope unlike me you managed to get some scrapbooking done on this wonderful day! i have been celebrating this amazing hobby today instead and getting crafty. This year marks a decade of scrapbooking for me and i am so thankful to have found it, not just for the creative outlet but also the wonderful people i've met along the way. If you'd like a giggle you can check out last year's post in which i shared a few of my very first pages!

This year Big Picture Classes teamed up with Creating Keepsakes for a Creative Crop, in which a different challenge was set every hour for 12 hours. i took part in a few including this one based on a sketch by Lisa Day.

Studio Calico Kit: Partly Sunny. Paper: American Crafts, October Afternoon, Studio Calico, Mist: Studio Calico, Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts, Stickers: October Afternoon, Flowers: Making Memories, Punch: Martha Stewart, Other: Twine, Tiny Attacher.

Around this time last year i started Flat hunting with my Bestie, She Who Must Not Be Named. It was a big decision to move in together, but one that has worked out happily. Mid way through our first day (and what turned out to be the only day) of flat hunting we stopped at a diner for lunch to talk things over. What better way to make a big decision then over pancakes and milkshake?

Some other fun things are going on in celebration of iNSD in a few of my favourite places: Studio Calico, Jenni Bowlin Studio and Elle's Studio. Be sure to check them out if you haven't already as they have challenges open until the end of the week! i'm hoping to complete a few more before the deadline, so i'll be beack during the week with more layouts to share. i hope you had fun on iNSD!

A Sassy Sketch

There's a lot more happening over at the Sassafras Blog these day including monthly challenges. i decided to play along with this month's sketch designed by Valerie Salmon because i loved it so much. i can see myself using this one again, especially as the Paper Whimsies would work so well for this design.

When i was visiting Singapore Zoo, i was most excited to see the Orangutan's. i hung around for a while waiting to get my picture taken. But it turned out i was waiting in the wrong place! Luckily, i saw them all woalking back to their enclosure (hand in hand, so sweet!) and their keepers offered to take a picture for me.

Papers: Sassafras, Cosmo Cricket, American Crafts, Studio Calico, Alpha Stickers: Sassafras, Mist: Studio Calico, Bloom: Sassafras, Brads: American Crafts, Other: Button, Tiny Attacher. 

Speaking of Sassfras, have you seen the new line Sunshine Broadcast? Love it! And they've released some new alpha's including a woodgrain print! Eeep! These alpha's are my most used and i LOVE woodgrain so i am particularly happy about this combo! Can't wait to get them!

Wonder Fish

This week's challenge over at the Studio Calico Blog is to use a background stamp. i must admit, mine have been somewhat neglected, so what better excuse to get some use out of them?

Paper, Stamp, Mist: Studio Calico, Border Sticker: Basic Grey, Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts, Sassafras, Bloom: Sassafras, Ink: Tim Holtz for Ranger, Label Stickers: Li'l Davis Designs Other: Twine, Tiny Attacher.

Back in September i had a lovely trip up to London with my sister. You can read more about it here. One of the things we did was have our feel eaten by fish. Ha! Just kidding, it's a spa treatment in which Gara Rufa Fish nibble on your feet to exfoliate them. it's crazy but cool. 

JBS 'Be Our Guest' Online Crop Part 2!

i had a scrappy day to myself yesterday and it was bliss! i completed a few more pages inspired for the challenges at the JBS online crop. i wish i could have played along with a few more as they were all super inspiring. i had a lot of fun with this crop and can't wait for the next one, big thanks to Doris, Jenni and the Team for putting so much work into the it.

Dina's challenge was to create a page based on the prompt 'this is me...'

Papers, Crepe Ribbon, Ticket: Jenni Bowlin Studios, Frame & Mists: Studio Calico, Twine from own stash. 

i am all to aware of my faults and try hard to work on them to become a better person, the kind of person that i want to be. But we are all have our imperfections and i try to embrace that, so there's a few of my bad traits mixed in with some of my good qualities on this page, because we are are all imperfect - it's what makes us human.

Doris set a challenge to use at least 4 different patterned papers on your page without using a trimmer! eeep! Luckily i had lots of scraps over from my previous pages so this one wasn't as difficult as i was anticipating.

Papers, Crepe Ribbon, Journalling Card: Jenni Bowlin Studios, Alphabet Stickers: Sassafras, Mist: Studio Calico, Twine, Embroidery Floss & Ribbon from own stash. 

These photos were taken in Stratford Upon Avon last April & they're of Shakespeare's Birthplace. i love that we have so much history to explore in this country!

Art Wall *February Crate Sketch*

It's been a while since i played along with a sketch over at the Crate Paper Blog but i couldn't resist this month's designed by Emily Pitt's, it was too fabulous. i scaled it down to 8 1/2"x11" and i also added a border, but otherwise i stuck to the sketch. i knew it was the perfect opportunity to use up some Restoration from Crate Paper and i'm obsessed with my tiny attached at the moment, so that saw some action. And a splattering of some White Mr Huey, of course.

Paper: Crate Paper, Alpha stickers: Basic Grey, Punch: Martha Stewart, Mist: Studio Calico, Buttons: own stash.

This photo was taken by my sister last month in Bournemouth. Check out her fab use of the rule of thirds in this pic, i'd like to think subconsciously some of my photography skills are rubbing off on her! My ma and i went down to celebrate her birthday and we all went out to lunch. On the way back we came across this wall, covered in tiles, each one different and individually hand crafted. It was was so inspiring. And what kind of scrapbooker would i be if i missed out on the opportunity to have a photo taken in front of it?!

What are everyone's plans for the weekend? Hope you all have a fantastic time!

CHA CHA CHAllenges!

The DT over at Studio Calico decided to set some scrappy challenges for those of us not going to CHA this week. You can see them all in the Challenges forum. There's often challenges posted there and sometimes it's just the prompt i need to get motivated.

 Papers, stickers: Sassafras. Brads: American Crafts. Butterfly: Jenni Bowlin, Mist: Maya Road.

The first one i tackled was Tina's challenge to scrap a photo taken in front of a mirror (note the silly face i'm pulling, heee!). My DSLR is still broken but She Who Must Not Be Named is kindly letting me use her point and shoot. The idea for the layout also came from her. She pointed out a while ago what an extreme person i am, in the sense that i usually really love something or really dislike it, there's no real middle ground with me. It's the same for books, films, music, and people. i guess i am just a passionate person, it's the same with my emotions too.

Papers: Basic Grey & Girls Paperie. Brad & Alpha: Making Memories. Stickers: October Afternoon. Mist: Studio Calico

Next up was Sasha's challenge to scraplift a DT layout from the Candy Shoppe Gallery. i chose to lift the design of Stephanie Howell's Sweet Lucy layout., because i loved it so much. i love using those OA stickers as journalling spots. 

8 is enough!

Surprisingly, it is actually more than enough!

If you haven't heard about Ella Publishing then you really must hop over there now, or after you're read this anyway. i totally love their ebooks, they are super stylish, affordable and packed with lovely things by awesome designers. One of my favourite purchases from them was the Eight is Enough ebook, which some of the Studio Calico Designers worked on, and i would highly recommend it. The idea of the book is to choose 8 products and make 4 pages from just those 8 products (but basics like cardstock, pens and trimmers are allowed extras). i decided to take up the challenge. 

These are the products i chose:

Papers: October Afternoon & Studio Calico (kit exclusive), Stickers: Studio Calico, Ribbon: My Minds Eye, Brads: American Crafts, Buttons: Making Memories, Mist: Tattered Angels.

and the B-sides of the papers look like this:

My approach was to pick my supplies and then chose photos to go with them from the hundreds that i already have printed out. i tried to pick colours that i knew would go with my travel photos as i have an endless supply of them, and i figured i'd find this easier if my photos had a common theme, so i went with the blue/cream papers. i then picked out the red to change things up a bit. i liked that the Dear Lizzy brads also had a pop of yellow in them too. Got to love how most manufacturers produce double sided patterned paper these days. Have you been scrapping long enough to remember the days when patterned paper was just that - paper? The thickness of paper and only single sided, say WHAT?! How times have changed. My favourite paper, which i could easily have used on every page was the graph paper from Studio Calico. It came in the Granny's Cupboard, but luckily for me it also appears in their Documentary collection on the B-side of Window Seat. i've already bought quite a few extra sheets of that, it's so usable. Originally i had picked out some cream alphabet stickers and i was planning to change the colour of them with the mist if i wanted to, but i went for the Studio Calico Anthology stickers instead, two different font options and plenty of stickers. i did a title on each page and i never ran out of any of the letters, although i did have to improvise a little bit towards the end :)

In all honesty i didn't think i would find this challenge all that hard because i am not much of an embellishment girl, i love my buttons, brads and ribbons but i can leave all the other pretty things if i need to. And i did find it easy to work with just those 8 products, in fact i didn't even end up using the mist at all on my first 4 pages, so really this post should be title 7 is enough! But i was really surprised at just how far i could stretch my patterned paper and how few embellishments i ended up using. i always knew i had a simple style but i don't think i realised just how simple. So i had a little look through my albums and my favourite pages design wise, the ones i was instantly drawn to, are definitely the uncluttered ones with lots of white space. And don't get me wrong, if you are a scrapper that uses lots of embellies & layers then power to you, i just can't seem to pull it off. The pretty paper and bits are fun to play with, and i DO love the creative process, but when i look over my pages it's the photos + journalling = memories which mean the most to me. So from now on i'm going to try and focus on a more simple approach (although this won't help in my never ending quest to dwindle my supplies!). 

Here's the first page i did:

i kind of scraplifited myself for this one based on the page i did here, but flipped it. i sometimes like to play with angles when i'm shooting photos but it can make scrapping them a bit tricky, so i just opt to scrap at an angle too. 

Page 2. 

The 'freebies' like cardstock came in handy, because it meant i could introduce a whole other colour without using any of my eight supplies. Sneaky! i cut out the patterned paper behind the photo to stretch the paper that bit further. i really like the ribbon on ribbon here. This picture was taken at Lake McKenzie on Fraser Island in Australia. 

Page number 3. 

This is where things started to go a bit pear shaped. i actually redid this page. Not entirely, but where the map paper is now on either side of the photo, i originally had crammed in loads of buttons in an attempt to try and use them all up.

It was just too much, so i cut the layout to pieces, re-jigged and reassembled with the patterned paper in place of the buttons. i also moved the journalling because i wasn't happy with where it was. i am not usually one for re-doing layouts, i'm normally a 'it's done, move on and stop fretting' kind of girl. i can't think of a time where i've done it before, but i was not happy with the way it looked, it was bugging me so i had to change it. i'm happy with how it turned out in the end and i'm glad i re-did it.


Page 4.

i knew some of my Tokyo pictures would go well with the red October Afternoon paper,  and i used the quote paper on the reverse to mat the photo and i also cut it so that i'd preserve the 'sweet memories' quote. 

At the point where i'd done 4 pages i still had lots of paper scraps left + a whole load of buttons, brads and a few bits of ribbon. i didn't want to put the scraps back into my stash so i just carried on making more pages.These pages actually came together the quickest, i think i am more productive when i have less product to work with!

Page 5.

i was annoyed at myself for not using the mist so far. There's so much you can do with mist, i love to spray it on my background card, have fun masking with it, but it's also great for changing the colour of stuff too. i ended up using a few splotches of it on this page, but not much. It's funny because it seems every page i do at the moment has a load of mist on it, but i obviously wan't feeling it for these pages. i tend to have 2 styles of pages, the simple linear/graphic style and the artsy/messy style with little bits and pieces here and there. i like to flit between the two. That's what i love about scrapbooking, that there are no rules! If i chose to have mist as one of my 8 products again, i'd really challenge myself to use it lots of different ways, i was very lazy with the mist this time around!


Page 6.

Photo Credit: Miss

This page came together easily as it was just a case of messing around with the scraps that i had left. i also used some of the packaging from the MME ribbon in the top right hand corner.

And last, but not least: page 7.

Photo Credit: Miss

i really didn't have much patterned paper left at this point. i originally had this picture on my desk intending to do a page about the gig we were at when it was taken. But the October Afternoon map paper i had left over made me think of our life living in our town within a city, so i decided to scrap about that instead. i used some Co'ordinations Cardstock the wrong side up to add a bit of texture. There is minimal product on this one and it was so quick to make, but it turned out to be one of my favourite layouts of the bunch.


i really loved this challenge, it forced me to look at the supplies in a whole different light. i didn't work on these layouts consecutively, i just worked with this 'kit' when i felt like it. My pages came together quite quickly as i didn't waste time faffing over which products to use, and i am all for that. This would definitely be a great way to go if you are someone who goes to crops. The double sided paper meant i had 6 different patterns to choose from so the layouts didn't all end up looking the same. i'm pleased also that i didn't just end up doing travel layouts so it means these will be spread throughout a few different albums. Anyway, i'm sure no one is ever going to look through them and say 'hey, didn't you already use those papers and stickers on another layout?!'. Heeee! All in all, it was a great exercise to use up some stash, so i think i'll try and do it every month or so. Next time i think i'll pick some embellishments that i'm not so comfortable with and see how i go!

Anyone else given this a go? Link me up if you have, i'd love to see!

ETA: i am thrilled to announce that i'm the January winner for the 8 is enough contest!! Check out the lovely things they said about my layouts in this post! If you'd like to enter email entries to submissions@ellapublishing.com, with “Eight is Enough” in the subject line. e-mail pictures of all four of your layouts (each sized to 800 pixels tall maximum), plus a picture of your eight original supplies, and an explanation of how you stretched each layout. Good luck!