Blog Hop with SCRAP365 & PanPastels

Hello and welcome to our Back to Basics Blog Hop - part II...Awash With Colour!

Joining us on this hop are the lovely ladies from the Pan Pastel UK design team who work with these glorious dry pigment colours on a daily basis. 

 

We were lucky enough at SCRAP365 to be given some PanPastels to play with - think chalk (without the dust) but creamier and easy to blend, in a host of colours each with four tonal shades; Pan Pastels have had us all ooh and aahing at Scrap365 HQ!

Premium Craft Brands have donated a fantastic set of Donna Downey Pan Pastels for the lucky winner of our Blog Hop prize draw :)

Here is the list just in case you get lost:
 

Scrap365 and Ali's post - HERE!
 

Nikky Hall - http://nikkyhall.com/
 

Riikka Kovasin - http://paperiliitin.blogspot.co.uk/

Lou Sims - http://lulucardmaking.blogspot.com/

Sandra Przbylska - http://sandrap2206.blogspot.co.uk/

Tracy Easson -  http://queeniesscrapmad.blogspot.co.uk/

Lisa Saunders - http://scrappyfairies.blogspot.co.uk/

Terry Wietma Gerbes - http://www.cardscreativity.blogspot.co.uk/

Tracee Provis - http://stresstickled.blogspot.co.uk/

Claire Chapman - http://clairescraftycreations.blogspot.co.uk/

Natalie Macdonald - http://njmacs.blogspot.co.uk/

RETURN to Scrap365 to leave a comment for the prize draw :) -

http://scrap365.blogspot.com/


When choosing our PanPastels that we wanted to use we got asked to pick a colour combo.I went with this one.

It's funny people often assume that I'm a pinky person, but I'm not at all, I love blues and greens. I guess I am a water sign afterall.

I've made a couple of LO's for this blog hop using the PanPastels.
This is the first.

This is how it all started.
I had a couple of pieces of card that I'd kept. I used it to cut some circles and knew it would come in handy for this purpose.

 

Using the sponge I've applied the pastels.

And them moving it around, careful not to smudge, I got this.

 

 

I also took another sponge and my favourite sunburst mask to make this sun with a yellow pastel.

If you do smudge a little you can just use a rubber (eraser) to clean.

I've then worked on top of my pastels with some cute October Afternoon & Simple Stories Goodies.

 

 

The pastels really work well and feel great to use. I love how vibrant the colours are.

 

 

I made second LO here.

 

 

 I used a lime green and blended down the sides of my LO to add an extra touch of colour and them used the same lime green pastel through a star mask.

I love how this worked.

 

I can really see myself getting hooked on these pastels now. They are so fun to use.

I hope you've enjoyed your time on my blog.
It's now time for you to visit:

Terry Wietma Gerbes - http://www.cardscreativity.blogspot.co.uk/

And a big thank you from me to PanPastel for the wonderful pastels. A big thumbs up from me : )

Lisa xx 

My Lovely Scrappy Friend

Her name is Curlywiggles and this is she.

We met at a local crop last year : )
She scrapped this photo of us earlier on in the week and instagrammed it, so I thought I would scarp the photo too.
I used the new sketch on the Chic Tags blog for inspiration along with lots of cute Chic Tags goodies.
  

 

The sketch is a 2 photo sketch, but I replaced the other photo with a journal card.

 

 

You can see the sketch I used here.

 

I'm having one of those crazy busy weeks. Lots going on in every direction. But it's all good. No complaints, just busy trying to be superwoman.

Hey!! Maybe I should make myself a cape??!!

 

Lots of love xxx 

 

I had an idea

Back in 2003.
Patrica, who I work alongside at Cocoa Daisy set us a challenge this month. To scrap about ourselves and use circles too. This is what I came up with.

 

I had so much messy fun making this LO.

 

 

You can read more about this LO here and see Paricia's LO too. 

Lots of love xxx

 

Time Together

Hello.
I hope you had a good weekend.
Ikea, lunch with friends, new bedlinen and a little Spring Cleaning sums my weekend up!

I'm designing for Papermaze today.
Spring is having an effect on my scrapbooking.

You can read about the LO's over on Papermaze here today.

Thanks for stopping by xxx

Hello!! (I have a freebie for you)

It funny how sometimes cousins can be more alike than their siblings.
Hollie and Millie are a great example of that.
Millie, my 5yr old niece is just like Hollie was at that age.
Not only do they look like sisters, but they are so alike in many ways.

 

It's funny as Hollie doesn't like little children, but she is so good with Millie and wants to spend time and to play with her.

These very cool arrows and tags come from the very talented Martha. Martha designs for Cocoa Daisy along with me and is the owner of 'Panda Eight'.

 

These were printables via Cocoa Daisy that I just printed off myself, cut out and stuck to the page with 3d foam tape.

 

 

Martha has a free printable available for you here.

I'm just printing mine off now. They are really cute little journal cards.

 

 

 I hope you like the freebie.
Martha's stuff is pretty cool, I think you'll agree : )

The Cocoa Daisy girls have been playing with these printable too this week.
Come and see here. You can see the link for the same free printables there too.

Enjoy the freebie xxx

A Day in the Life

What does a day in your life look like?
Do you document it?

I'm up to mid Feb in my PL Album.
I really regretted not getting the 'day in the life' kit from Cocoa Daisy this month, but made my page using my main kit and bits and pieces from the Blue Ridge addon.

It was a pretty uneventful week. The rain was still coming down. I took a photo out the front of our house one day. It was so bad.

I documented how awful the late night storms had been and how scary and all the trees that had come down in the village. There was a visit to my sister for her birthday. (that's our hands making a heart together)

 

I love the October Afternoon Washi so much. It's so cool!! 

I made a little pocket with the glassine envelope from the kit.

 

 

So that's what this week looks like.

Pretty uneventful, but I like looking back on the album as it's increasing in size. I'm so pleased that I started it.

 

 

There are some great tips for Project Life on the Cocoa Daisy blog today. 

Thanks for popping in xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Favourite Girls & an Urge to Scrap!

Do you ever find, the less time you have to scrap, the more you feel the need and want to scrap?

That always seems to happen to me.
Take yesterday as an example.
Crazy busy day. A couple of bad nights sleep. Hollie came home from school sick again and my scrappy mojo suddenly kicks in. I need to make pancakes before Louis goes to footy training, I have work to do in the evening, Louis comes home from training hurt.....and my head wants to scrap.

I gave in and allowed myself little scrappy breaks early in the evening.
I went on to the Chic Tags Blog, found a challenge.
Just a few minutes at a time.
And I made this. 

 

The challenge was to use 'green'.

Hollie took this selfie on my IG when we were last at my sister's of her, my Mum and my little niece. Looking at this, my other fave girl isn't there : (   My sis.

 

  

 

Hollie and Millie could pass as sisters. They are so alike in so many ways.

I used lots of Chic Tags goodies on this LO. I love all the tags and bits and pieces. The circles below were made using a punch and the Chic Tags packaging.
Nothing quite like a little recycling!!

It just goes to show that you don't have to spend hours when you have the urge to scrap.
Having a scrap space does help as you can come and go and leave a project out, but this LO was made in just a short space of time in several little scrappy bursts and I finished off with the sewing at the end of the day when the kids were in bed and I'd finished work.
I'm glad I allowed myself this time.
I needed it : )

Hope you are feeling creative and get a scrappy fix today.
Here's that Chic Tags challenge if you fancy a little boost too.

xxx

March Sketch Challenge - He is 12

It's time for another sketch challenge.
The Cocoa Daisy sketch is up here.

I am partial to the odd circle : )
Here's my take using this months lovely kit.

This challenge runs until 18th March if you want to play.
Come and join in.

xxx

Our Gallery Wall

Yes, it's finally finished!!
After months and months of preparation, it's finally finished and up.

I've shared a whole blog post on the stories behind the pieces and how it all came together on Cocoa Daisy here.

Everything has a meaning.... like want to know why foxes?

 

Or the story behind the map?

It's all here.

 

 

And I added an extra bit about using a piece on this wall from this months March Cocoa Daisy kit too.

 

 

I hope you enjoy.

Happy Monday xxx

 

 

My Favourite Times

What and where are your favourite times?

As a family I do love our Friday evenings. We call them 'Comedy Friday'.
We catch up Modern Family, The Middle and Brooklyn 99.
We eat fun foods and have picky bits whilst watching tv.
We all look forward to this evening.
It's a welcome to the weekend.

I also love Sunday mornings if we have nothing planned.
Reading in bed with a latte.

And anyone who knows me in the tinsiest bit knows how much we love our Florida trips.

One of my Cocoa Daisy LO's this month were a series of photos taken on our last day at Disneys Animal Kingdom.

We were getting ready to leave the park. We'd checked all our bags in already and had to leave to get some dinner before heading off for our night flight.
Do you think I could get a serious photo of these two?

The blue sky and the green trees were a perfect match for this kit.
I used some of the Elle's Studio from the Blue Ridge addon along with the foam Thickers from the Emerald Isle addon.
It just all goes so well together. The green tape is October Afternoon washi tape that's in the main kit.
I love it so much!
The kit goes on sale here tomorrow.

Enjoy your Friday evening.
Hopefully will be a fun one here x

Having Fun with Grey Street

I have loved my Cocoa Daisy Kit this month.
I enjoy every kit, but every now and then there is one I particularly enjoy.
This month is one of them.

Here is my gallery.

 

One of my favourites is this one.

She Really Loved that Bird

 

It's come along way and has seen so many changes since it first started out. It's took 3 days worth of jiggling before I started to like it and at one stage was heading for the rubbish.
I'm glad I stuck with it. It was going to have a green border with some dark green on the main parts too. Having the white background and cutting down the main pp and taking away the dark green totally transformed this page in the end.
Sometimes you just have to stick with it and keep coming back until you get it right.

 

I used the CD paper from the Main Kit along with the OA alphas. I also used the SC pp from addon #1 and the Elle's Studio alphas stickers and bits and pieces from addon #2.
Another example on how well it all goes together.

 

 

Since making this LO it's really got me thinking about what a good day this was and how much the kids actually got from this trip. We hadn't planned to visit here again this year, but I think I've convinced myself that we will come back to DC afterall.

Hollie will be happy

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today xxx



Adding a Little Bit of Sunshine

Doesn't a little bit of sunshine make such a big difference?

I didn't feel sad sending Louis off to school in the rain. (he never wants a lift anymore)
I didn't feel guilty about sending Hollie off to school in the rain and then changing my mind and driving her to school with my still wet hair.
I didn't need a jacket to go out today.
It was so good to have to wear sunglasses when driving this morning.
It just lifts your mood.

Maybe that's why I love adding sunshine to my LO's so much.
Because it makes me feel happy.

 

I made this one for Papermaze earlier on in the month when I did the weekend of masking.

There's a step by step on their blog here if you want to see. 

 

Happy Days!!

xxx

Playing with Fabric

Here's one I made recently.
Anna set a Cocoa Daisy challenge to with the theme of clothes.  Part of the challenge was to use fabric on the LO. You can see the full details here along with samples from Anna & Sharmaine.

Here is my LO using the Feb Kit (we still have some for sale here)

 

I love the silly things this little boy does like wearing my pretty scarves : )

He makes me laugh! 

 

So if you feel like joining in, take a look here. The challenge runs until 4th March and one lucky person will win a $10 to spend in the Daisy Boutique.

I hope you have a smiley day xxx

March Sneaks

What a strange month it's been!
It's been a while since I've been here. Not intended, just happened like that.
Been really busy with work, some home décor, family stuff and the kids were off school last week too.

My March Cocoa Daisy kit landed last week. I've just finished my third LO ready for the reveal which is happening on the 26th this month due to the short month.
I do love this month kit.

It looks a little like this.

I just love those greens.

Here are my sneaks so far.

 

 

 

Some fun LO's this month.

I also have this mega mini book planned that I'm ultra excited about.

Might start that tonight.

 

I hope you are keeping well and that February has been kind to you.

It's almost Spring!!!

 

See you soon xx