5th May - Sketch

A new month means a new challenge and today we have another lovely sketch from Valerie to share with you, she took inspiration from a layout DT member Hilde created for a previous challenge.

Anna

I found this sketch a bit of a challenge as it not my normal style but I like doing something different so it was good to be pushed!

Chantelle

When I do a sketch challenge I pretty much stay true to the design - for this challenge I've flipped the sketch over to it's side so that I could use a vertical photo.  I really enjoyed putting this one together and loved the cluster element of the sketch with the strips and embellishments.

Daphne

 I always love a good sketch. And with this one there was no exception! The background paper with the red, white and blue frame was also perfect and the page was done in a short time!

All the papers are by Simple Stories - Urban Traveler. I found the page Lets Go very helpful because it comes with all of those little chevron strips already! And for now - if you wish - you can call me a cheater ;)

Hilde

Journaling says: "More than just a place with a lovely view - it's engineer art as well!"

Some close up photos on the lovely chipboard from our sponsor Memory Maze:

Cogs and words

Cogs Corner & cogs

Katherine

Here is my take on the lovely sketch, and this is not the best photo, it was just after we had persuaded some of the kids to sit and have a little photo snapping done.  Then I noticed my son and the picture still makes me laugh every time - I think he was trying to make some of the littler ones laugh!

Petra

I decided to accept the challenge and add journaling to my page for the first time in a very long time. And that is not all, I also wrote by hand... and I do a lot to avoid that LOL.
The pic is from when we left my 2 boys on the bus to go their first ever gymnastics camp. 

May's Guest Designer - Anastasia

I am a fan of sketches as they usually inspire me for my layouts. I found this sketch very inspiring indeed and I knew which photo I wanted to use as soon as I saw it. As I loved the colours of the photo, I decided to use neutral background and papers to let the photo pop out. I added some small wooden embellishments which I painted in the colours of the photo to bring everything together.

 Our sponsor for this month is:

Memory Maze which is Wholesale supplier of  Laser cut chipboard, glass engraving, 3D Stackums card making designs, for scrapbooking, cardmaking and paper craft.

The lovely Sally has kindly said she will give a $20 voucher to the lucky winner so make sure you join in with us this month for a chance to win!

We look forward to seeing what you do with the sketch, happy scrapping!

February Winner

The winner of  February's challenges is ........... Anastasia

This is her amazing layout getting creative using washi tape, she did such a great job!

Please contact me, Anastasia at makeandcreate @hotmail.com

Thank you to everyone who played along, there were lots of great entries!

21st April - Masks

Today we challenge you to get messy by using masks and stencils. Have you got some masks hiding away that you haven't used for a while? If so it's time to get them out!

Anna

 I used a stencils to make my background for this layout, then I used another one to create the chevron shapes too! Don't worry this layout is not really about fish brains, that's just what my sister called the empty fish eggs cases that we saw on the beach!!

Chantelle

I love using templates/mists/texture paste to my page to give it that mixed media feel.  For this page I've used some light mist in the background and texture paste with a template.

Daphne

I have a few masks at home I must admit, but haven't used them with texture paint very often!

But have a look - this is such an easy and effective technique, right?

I used a mask by Studio Calico and white texture paste on a light blue background. Looks a bit like clouds there, don't you think?

Hilde

I love when people use mist on their layouts, but for some reason it doesn't work for me - I have no idea how many times I have tried, but I just can't get it right. But the combinations of stencils and ink, masks and modelling paste work as a charm, so I stick to that :-)  

All the dots (except the transparent rain drops) are made with the same mask (Prima). I have inked, doodled and used modelling paste to make the patterns and texture. The same techniques are used with two other chevron stencils: I covered parts of them with washi tape to leave the arrows only.

Katherine

I love masks and stencils, and they can be used in lots of different ways.  I started with some blue and brown glimmer mist, then I also used the cog masks to print on the page as well.  Using texture paste with masks is also a favourite, so I added some bricks and then layered up all my papers and the photos on top.

Kat

I had a lot of fun with this.  I used a mask from Studio Calico and I used the majority of mists from my stash...love the colorful result!

Petra

For some reason this page was a bit hard for me to make, perhaps because I chose to use a tiny bit purple which is a color that I prefer not to use LOL. The picture is when me and my best scrappy friend took a fish spa. One of my kids came with us and he found it hillarious.

Guest designer - Mandy Dodd

Don't forget our lovely sponsor this month is Bellaboo, if you join in with either of our April challenges before the end of the month you could win a £15 voucher to use in their shop. 

Getting creating, we would love to see what you came up with!

7th April - Colour

Today DT member Chantelle has come up with this pallet of colours to inspire you!

Here are what the design team created with these lovely colours:

Anna

I love these colours, they work so well together. The photo is of my nephew, he loved having things in his pocket and you never knew what he was going to pull out!

Chantelle

I really wanted the colours to pop off the page, so I've used a white background and picked out pieces of coloured cardstock to mat the photo's. - the pink really compliments the photo's!

Daphne

How do I start a colour challenge? I start pulling out my scraps drawer and look for the colours I need! Simple, right?

This time was no different. And what great paper scraps I found! I really have to use my left overs more often!

I used scraps and embellishments by lots of different companies: October Afternoon, Pebbles, BoBunny, My Mind's Eye, Bella Boulevard, Cosmo Cricket, American Crafts, DCWV

Hilde
Title: Spring?

Journaling: When is it really spring? A certain date? When the mid temperature is above a certain level? When you can jump wearing only a t-shirt? When somebody wears crocks?"
The flowers are chipboard painted with acrylic paint:

Painting chipboard is the perfect way to make the colors match the papers or flowers.

Kat

Loved this fun color combo.  I don't think I would have normally put these colors together, but I love the combination!

Katherine

I love a colour challenge and started the page with some ink, and then layered up lots of different papers as well as some chipboard butterflies.

Petra
I had this strong colored photo I wanted to use for this challenge. I matted down the intensity of the colors to make the background using a stencile.Then I just picked out every scrappy supply I had in the three colors and started to build around the picture. This is what I ended up with LOL.

Supply: Crafter's workshop stencile, PP from EP, distress ink, Decorations from SMACH, Studio Calico, Panduro, Cre8tive Cre8tions, Stamp from Studio Calico, doily, WAshi from YouDo, Basic Grey and more. Using the Silhouette for the arrows and title.  

Tessa
I love the color palette but tweaked it just a bit - I chose to use a more minty green than lime green. One green or the other, I love these fresh hues together!

Our Guest Designer for April is - Mandy Dodd. 
Here's her lovely layout:

Our great sponsor this month is Bellaboo

'Bellaboo is an online papercrafting company based in the UK. We stock gorgeous papers,
ribbons, stamps and many other products from lots of the top-named
manufacturers for all your paper crafting needs. We have an excellent
reputation for our friendly and efficient service and will always try to
help.'

They also have a blog which is full of creations to inspire you.

The lovely Kate will kindly donate a £15 voucher to winner of this months challenges to spend at Bellaboo, how great is that?!

Please link up your creations to the side bar and don't forget you have until the end of the month to enter the two challenges this month and every month!
Happy scrapping!

17th March- Sketch

Valerie has created another lovely sketch for us this month it was inspired by Daphne's no patterned paper layout from a few of weeks ago.

Anna

It was a great sketch to use, I adapted it to suit my style, I just shrank it a bit! I loved the scattered confetti, I used mostly stamps to create mine.

Chantelle

This was a great sketch to work with - I love that you could use multiple photo's and fill the page with pattern paper - which is pretty much what I did using papers from MME.

Daphne

Do you remember my layout with the Washi-Tapes?! It was just four weeks ago when I did the No-PP-Challenge - and today?! Val did a sketch out of my layout and re-scrapping it is not that easy as I thought! But I managed it last minute!

 I used the new paper collection by American Crafts Dear Lizzy "Lucky Charm" - the colours fit perfectly with my shopping experience ;)

Hilde

Materials: Card stock: Bazill. Large alpha: MME Small Alpha: Cosmo Cricket. Twine & fiber: Unknown
The rest (patterned papers, border strips, washi, flags,envelope,  note stickers, brads): Teresa Collins 

Youngest kid learning the kitty to skate board. 
Details:

Kat

I loved Daphne's original layout, so I was very excited to see the sketch that Valerie created.  I modified the sketch a bit by using 4 photos, instead of 3.  I'm also not that great at the "scattered confetti effect," so I kept my scattering a lot smaller and simpler.

Katherine

A super sketch which took me out of my comfort zone, as I don't usually fill pages up anymore :)!  I did some embossing and stitching, replaced the circles with hexagons to match with the papers, and then a few sequins amongst them.  I had a go at stitching some arrows in embroidery thread which I really enjoyed.

Petra
This months sketch was so inspiring and easy to work with. I used a photo of my son showing his "baby monkey face".

Supply:
Teresa Collins Memories collection, Silhouette, Adornit mini alphas and Kraft CS

Tessa

I love my white space, so I shrunk down the sketch and essentially placed it in the center of my page, giving me white space around the edges. I stayed true to the diagonal line of embellishments, as well as the arrows.

Guest designer - Nikki Birch

The journalling reads "Just days from being 2 years old you really are not saying as much as I thought you would at this age...but you are making all the right noises.  You like to play with cars, trucks and trains.  You like to do the sound effects, Brrrmm!!"

I made the inked lines by pressing a distress inkpad onto a craft sheet and spritzing with water, I then used an acrylic sheet approx 5mm in depth and pressed it into the ink and then onto my card stick, I did this with a few different colours, allowing the inks to bleed into each other before drying off with a heat gun.

What a great job everyone did, to get so many different layouts out of one sketch! What would you do with it? We would love to see so please link up your creations to the side bar!