Does My .... Look Big In This?

Yes it does! Although that could be because my head is missing since the template division slices right through it.

Why do scrappers think this kind of thing is OK? People cut in half, limbs sliced off, Vincent Van Gogh impressions ... my friends and I call it the Eeek Factor.  I've even seen designers who think that spreading a photo across pockets in trendy manner is more important than not cutting members of  your family in half. Please don't do it!

There are tips in the article HERE on positioning your photo and choosing the right template - plus a tutorial on merging photo boxes in PSE.

Here's a version of the page (I have several, I'm so proud that DH has mastered the Walking Away shot) showing all of me plus some of the woods. You can click on it to see a larger version. The cards are from Becky Higgins Digital Project Life Coral kit and the template is Template B, the embellishments and background papers are from Trixie Scraps' Nature Walk.


Maybe this photo shouldn't be split up at all. Here's a version of the page made with the same kit and a  template from a mystery best-thing-since-sliced-bread program I'll be reviewing in the next few days.

Say it here and it comes out there ...

Do you ever find yourself yelling at the TV for someone to do or say something (usually in my case it's "For goodness' sake, object!" at a defence attorney), then they do it and you claim full credit? That's what happened to me and my friend Ruth Trice last week. Ruth is a very talented paper crafter who can do amazing things with all kinds of paper and stamps.  I'm complete rubbish with stamps but really wanted to include stamping in our tutorials and design ideas pages so I turned to Ruth for help.

Cue husband (well, probably both) wondering how two women can talk for hours about cards, pockets, stamps and the like. Since Ruth is an independent demonstrator for Stampin Up ! we talked about the kind if things she could make - and teach us about - with Stampin' Up products. [OK, they had their one ! after the Up and any more would have my English teacher, who wouldn't be keen on the loss of the g either, spinning in her grave ...] We'd both noticed the occasional pocket-y page layout and how Ruth was able to make the exact size 3 x 4 card with one of the products and wondered how long it would be before they offered more pocket scrapbooking products.

Then the announcement came about Stamping Up working with Becky Higgins to offer Project Life within Stampin Up. It was as if they'd heard us! It makes great sense for both companies and it's great for us! I'm coveting the new corner punch already as I like the fold flat Stampin' Up punches. There's one not even got across the Atlantic yet that has my name on it.

It's interesting that the Stampin Up cards are not going to have rounded corners. It made me wonder if Becky Higgins' company is going to offer an option of square corners at some stage. Folk who like rounded corners can make square corners rounded. Obviously. Those who like square cornered cards cannot do the reverse. There is therefore a section of the market lost to Becky Higgins and it's the people who don't like rounded corners. I would imagine someone has noticed this. Personally I like rounding corners, it's a relatively mindless but vaguely creative activity I can do in the wee small hours when sleep has gone walkabout.

Ruth and I are working on an ever increasing number of projects, including a gazillion ways to alter Project Life cards, but to whet your appetite here's a fabulous page she made using Stampin Up products. You can see more in our Facebook group and on Ruth's Facebook Page Artful Stampin.


Did you know that Ruth has put together some great kits for you to get a head start on your pocket  pages? You can find them and see more of her creations on her blog HERE

Eat More Ice Cream

Well, we could stop right there, with that instruction in the title!

On Shrove Tuesday we took about 100 photos of us making pancakes. Note to self: Must clean kitchen before taking photos in kitchen or it will be embarrassing. I couldn't resist giving this tub of ice cream its own page. I should pin it up in the kitchen as a reminder to get some more of it. I used mostly Just Jaimee's Ice Cream. The rosettes are from Sahlin Studio's Pure Happiness and I used a mask by Lindsay Jane. It didn't take me long to make the basic page but I kept tweaking it for ages moving the embellies around.


 Here's a different version using the same kit:

Those days when nothing happens

I like the idea of documenting our daily lives even though I don't do that PL thing as such. Week numbers?? You won't get anyone who has ever owned a timeshare wanting those on a page!

Some days nothing happens. As in this day when it took two attempts just to get out for a coffee (the UK sunk under all the rain this winter ...) I made a paper and digi version of this. As you can see, in the digi version stuff escaped and biscuits appeared. I used Raspberry Road's Coffee Shop. The February photo overlay is by Ali Edwards. I have SO many coffee kits and even have a Pinterest board about coffee. I should get out more. For coffee.

Click on the photos to see a larger version.


We have so many coffee photos I had to do something different with some of them. here's a hybrid 4" x 6" where I used the photo and an embellishment cluster from ML Designs' Good Morning. I deliberately left some white space around it.   I like white space. Literally WHITE space. It makes the photos stand out. There's a Design Ideas article to follow on that very soon.

It's April!

Our new buffet challenge for April is on the Facebook group and already we have some creative interpretations plus twofers, threefers and more. See if you can beat them!

The rules - even though there aren't any - are on our main site HERE.



Speaking of rules, we do have them for the Facebook groups to make sure they're nice places to be. Otherwise they end up being just another "buy this" group like so many others on Facebook.

You can see our list of groups and find out about how they work on this page. You didn't know we had so many groups? We lose count too! Feel free to join as many as you like and tell your friends!