Shuffle, Shuffle: Finding Room for More Cards..

So every month when my box from Gossamer Blue arrives and I open it and begin to think about what I might make for my contribution to the blog, I tell myself  to come up with a plan which doesn't involve cards. Something new would be nice, Sian! But this time round I couldn't help myself. I looked at all the pretty new die cuts, all exclusive, all waiting to be gathered up and clustered and I made this:

I turned a blank journaling spot sideways to make a resting place for a butterfly and some flowers. Then I used a picture frame to give a home to a little pink bird:

and then I found his friend and another frame but also a stamp, which I used to mark out a stitching line.

Gossamer Blue found room for my cards and now I must find a space in my card drawer too. Or maybe I would be better finding a couple of stamps and a pillar box?

See you Monday!

Have Notebook, Will Travel

On the day I wore this sweater and ate this fish and chip supper and was caught taking pictures of my dinner with a view to posting them on instagram (though in the end I didn't because it turns out a piece of cod in a mini metal frying basket is quite hard to capture in its full glory), I made a note in my diary

Supplies from the May kits at Gossamer Blue

I had booked myself a place on a phone photo course. And this weekend, it has finally come time! I've been looking forward to it and to the road trip we have planned around the journey. A two hour class a couple of hours from home has turned into two nights away, with plans for a yarn splurge and a museum or three. 

So I suppose what I'm really trying to say is that I may be Monday-ing on Tuesday next week. Don't wait for me! I'll be back!

With ideas for more pictures, I hope, and a story or two, and pages I can show you, instead of the bare bones

of an entry, which will turn into a record of a Formal, with a black dress and red lipstick and a boyfriend in a very tight jacket (why does he have his shirt tail untucked? asked Granny. That's rock n roll, we said..)

If you are celebrating Mother's Day this weekend, I hope it's a lovely one. See you..maybe, Tuesday?

Happy (Inter) National Scrapbooking Day

....one of our favourite days of the year! (especially when combined with Yarn Shop Day, as it is today in the UK...)

If you are looking for somewhere to hang out, may I suggest the We Love GB! (Gossamer Blue Fans) FB page, where there will be a series of challenges with gift certificates for winners and an overall grand prize of a 3 month Gossamer Blue subscription for the person who completes the highest number of challenges. 

While you pull together your photos, and maybe a pair of scissors, I'd like to share what I've been scrapbooking this week. I'm not going to call it a cautionary tale, because it's meant to encourage, but I'm going to warn you that it's not easy viewing. If you are sensitive to scrapbooking-gone-awry, probably you should look away now. No- not quite yet, I'll show you the version I LIKE first:

Now, before that it looked like this:

Not much different? There's one change: the piece of rumpled up green (GB exclusive) paper I took from the side of that photo above and slipped underneath the little orange house, just to hold it down on the page. The ripped and torn paper might be a hint of what actually happened. It wasn't pretty...

On Wednesday afternoon I got stuck into some scrapbooking. My May Gossamer Blue kits arrived and I couldn't wait to get started. So I went in hard and fast and I made this:

It has all the elements I had wanted and planned for on my page: stitching with tiny embellishments added (because I wanted to showcase all the lovely pieces in the kits), a progression in the story, from the shop to home; and colours from the kit which picked up the colours in the photos. I even gutted that border paper so I could flip it over and use the brown dotted reverse side for my title. First page finished! I posted it on IG. And about an hour later I decided that I didn't like it one bit. 

Now, this has never happened to me before. I've had plenty of pages that haven't turned out the way I planned, some I've been able to remake before I've stuck anything down, a few I've added to at a later date, even pages I've simply said "you'll do, you are just for me to look at, and you tell the story, so you'll just have to go in my album the way you are". But I've never had a page I wanted to disown and then rip apart completely. So I thought today of all days would be a good one to own up to it, to say - if you've had fun making it and you love the result? Perfect; if you've had a good time at your desk and you aren't so sure about the end product? No worries, it was a great way to spend an afternoon; and if you want to take it apart, do it. It's paper. We play with it. That's what it's there for.

I played. I took everything apart. I chose a smaller canvas to see if that would help me decide what I really wanted: the smaller you work, the less room there is for extras you don't need. I changed the border paper for one with a higher contrast. I kept the idea of the stitching, but I used it more sparingly. I even took away a photo (just gives me an excuse to make a little entry in my Traveler's Notebook instead). It started to look like this:

And I knew I'd done the right thing. A few extra touches - more black to hold it all down - and I was..

...home. I wanted to make a layout to show off the beautiful things in the May Gossamer Blue scrapbook kit. I hope I got there in the end. And I hope I've inspired you to dig into your supplies today. Happy Scrapbooking Day!

April Projects at Gossamer Blue

And there I was, just about to yell hurray! Spring has sprung! when I looked out of the window and realised that the rain was on and all my washing was getting wet. That's April. And I'm happy to see it. Pretty happy, too, I was, to crack open a box of Gossamer Blue kits and start thinking about some new season projects.

First up, some green for my Traveller's Notebook. You know, if it hadn't been for the December Memories kit last Christmas, with the Traveller's Notebook inclded, I might never have discovered the simple pleasure of pasting pictures into a little brown book. I have my sock notebook, of course, but it's all about the details, the nitty gritty: an everyday notebook , instead, can be about anything at all. There doesn't have to be a story, although that's always good; a sudden thought, a pithy saying, a verse, a picture without any other home...they're all welcome here. A quick page in a  notebook is an excellent warm up for an afternoon of scrapbooking...

and so I followed it with a page about a trip we took last summer, when we were touring Scotland. We made it all the way to the Isle of Skye for the day and it was just as beautiful as we'd hoped. What we hadn't expected to find was a sunny, laid back surfer feel to the coffee stops and little shops scattered along the main tourist routes. Time to break out the Crate Paper Oasis collection from this month's Main Kit.

My second page was crafted around that "Bloom" acrylic piece. I had to squeeze it on somewhere, so I paired those "o"'s with a photo punched into a circle, and then added some more, from the Planner Kit.

I was going to make this a smaller sized layout, until at the last minute I found myself drawn to that

black and white print (from the Main Kit) as a background.

And those are my projects for today. But no fooling, I haven't packed April at Gossamer Blue away. More to come.

Not a Get Well Card Anywhere

Careful! Don't come too close! Unless you have already had Chicken Pox, in which case it's lovely to see you. I got an emergency call on Monday, from Studentland, from a girl who was covered in spots..

...there has been calamine lotion and bicarbonate of soda and many, many baths since then. So today I'm just jumping in quickly to post the cards I made for the Gossamer Blue blog this month. And not a Get Well card among them.

Lucky she's on the mend, then.

More soon!

March Projects at Gossamer Blue

There's a stiff breeze blowing round here today: just the kind I love to see at the beginning of March. It's brisk, it's an energy boost, it's just what I need, because I still have lots of paper I'd like to play with. The March kits from Gossamer Blue 

- all fresh greens and pops of yellow and shots of blue - are perfect for pages about getting outside, so I looked for out and about pictures and first of all I found this one, which I took last summer when we were stuck in a traffic jam. I have a thing for Highland cattle, so I couldn't resist.

For my other projects this month I tried something something new. I have a Traveller's Notebook! And it now has two pages. This one:

Out and about, see?

And this one:

in which I paired a photo of Molly Malone with a note of our favourite St. Patrick's Day feast. It'll soon be time to fry up a batch (and what this page really should note is that it has to be eaten fresh for best deliciousness). I don't often do themed embellishments, but how could I possibly resist? 

We're off on a road trip this weekend and I'm hoping to collect some more lucky green stories. See you soon?

Everything today made with Main, Life Pages and Planner kits from March at Gossamer Blue.

To Post This Spring..

It was my turn over on the Gossamer Blue blog yesterday. I made cards again. Again! Something about working on that small canvas is really appealing right now. And, of course, the more cards I make, the more post I can conjure up. So..

...this is the first one I did. I started with a white background, but eventually decided that the textured kraft looked nicer with the cork shapes. Ah, but then I had to think of a way of making the cork stand out. So I drew round the shapes and stitched before I stuck down the butterflies.

Next I went back to those little birds (from Simple Stories The Reset Girl) again ... 

...and added a little touch of gold to accent the kraft this time.

And finally I tried one on a white canvas...

...and as I stacked up my layers and stuck them down I started to wonder: do you think much about the thickness of your cards, the bulk, when you are making them? Or do you pile it on and then wonder how it will fit in the envelope?

More mail on Monday...

February Projects at Gossamer Blue

That's it, over and done. Any Christmas decorations not back in the attic by the end of January have to content themselves with a spare bedroom resting place for the next ten months. It's February! Time to move on!

I always find the month of love an interesting one in the scrapbook kit club world. Of course I'm on the lookout for a pretty kit; but at the same time round here we don't traditionally send more than one single Valentine each, and we don't decorate for the day; so I look forward to getting inventive with my supplies and my stories. I like Valentines with a twist. Gossamer Blue, bring it on!

Remember this story? Maybe you were in, when we did a Valentines postcard swap here on the blog and made sure that over fifty of us each had a rattling letterbox that February.

I still had a little stack of photos of some of the cards I received, so I put together a page (and of course, as I made it, I thought about how we really need to do it again some time soon).

Next, a page about a labour of love: the pokemon socks I knitted for Little E. He sent me a neat picture

of his feet all cosily striped up in the self patterning wool which

used broad bands of red and white and narrower rows of pastel pokemon colours. The big "X" and "O" you can see tucked behind the diecut clusters are all cut from a single sheet of patterned paper in the Main Kit.

So, that was two pages. And then I guess I got round to feeling the love after all. Maybe this is a real Valentines page

which was inspired by the eighties colours I found in the pink and black of the Simple Stories sticker sheet in the Main Kit and by a conversation I had with The (Not So) Small One (believe me, there's a lot of love going on round here at the minute, but I'd need all kinds of security clearance to tell you) and by our old student cards. I backed some stickers with the black card from the Main Kit and of course

I had to include Bowie. It's full eighties, or nothing at all. Which reminds me, someone here wanted me to look out some old Morrissey albums. Keep a good thing long enough, as my Grandma used to say.

Everything today is made with the February kits at Gossamer Blue. There's a new planner kit this month. Watch this space.

December Projects at Gossamer Blue

My sister and I went Christmas shopping yesterday. It's our special annual tradition and this year it felt as if we had got in there early: that is until, in one of our favourite shops, we were given Advent calendars. "You're going to need those tomorrow!" the girl said. 

Of course! How could I have spent last week making pages with the beautiful December Gossamer Blue kits without registering just how close we are getting? 

I made this one:

because I wanted to use the pompom hat card from the Life Pages kit. It's true. I can hear myself sounding more and more like my own mum, especially now that I'm doing a lot more knitting. "You need a hat! You should pull that down over your ears! You aren't going out without a coat! Let me hold this up against you to see if it's long enough yet.."

The little ink splash stamp is from last month's kit. I like a touch of black to hold everything down on the page and this is the perfect size. The woodgrain layering piece I cut from some Fancy Pants packaging.

Then I made this one:

I hope the close up gives a better view of the dimension..

Those are Pink Paislee rub ons underneath a couple of the diecut butterflies.

And finally I made this one:

Because Christmas tree embellishments aren't just for Christmas... 

...and the pieces from Pink Paislee's Moonstruck collection have more than a little magic about them!

Maybe you remember how excited I was when we spotted what looked like the Hogwarts Express? 

Next stop: recording my December Memories. 

All of a Cluster

It's my turn on the Gossamer Blue blog today and I'm sharing a new page

which I made using a patterned paper  (by Shimelle, from her GoNowGo collection for American Crafts) as a design inspiration

rather than a design element. Some papers are for cutting up and some papers are for admiring; and some can teach us a thing or two about putting a page together. More here

November Projects at Gossamer Blue

Oh, I'm so glad I'm talking about scrapbooking today! That way I don't have to tell you about knitting, yesterday, and the 246 stitch pick up. That's a whole lot of sweater to get back on a needle again..

So, scrapbooking. It's November, she said, stating the obvious, but, hurray! I have always looked forward to autumn kits most keenly. I can't wait for a rifle through the paper to see if there any leaves to cut out, any embellishments to help me record my favourite stay-inside activities, any hints of what we might expect of December. And November at Gossamer Blue has it all. This is what I made:

First of all

I did a diary page. Yes: an excuse to use the leaf rub ons and cut out some leafy stamped images; but, after a couple of weeks of no real scrapbooking I did so want to cut paper, so I began without any real plan in mind. At one point this was almost a photo less page; but at the last minute I trimmed a picture of me holding an autumn leaf (taken from my instagram feed) into a little banner.

More and more, these days, my pages are turning into diary entries rather than the stories I began my scrapbooking by recording. I suppose I've told lots of the family tales I've had stored up and now we're all moving forwards.

Or perhaps looking forward, to our next adventure

I also made this one:

which came about because I wanted to see what I could do with the map printed on a 6x6 piece of patterned paper from the Shimelle GoNowGo pad in this month's Bits & Pieces kit. Of course I cut round it! I mean every word of the journaling: it could have been easy to look at this pair, on their phones, instead of looking up and around on a walk round Berlin, and roll my eyes. But although, of course, I do shout look at that! all the time when we're away, I'm still glad to see them happy to stay in touch with friends. When I was that age we didn't have that opportunity and a long summer holiday could feel isolating for a gregarious teenager. I don't mind the phones, honestly, most of the time. Unless someone feels compelled to keep up a running commentary of cricket scores..

So far,then, that's what I've scrapbooked for November. I still have a clutch of red and natural toned pages on my desk, from the Main Kit, because I'm starting to think about Christmas cards..maybe..just a little..

You?

Everything here made with the beautiful November selections at Gossamer Blue right here.

Taking It From the Top..A Few Cards

It's my turn on the Gossamer Blue blog today. I have a new

set of cards to share. These were a lot of fun to make!

And you can read more about them right here at Let's Take It From the Top

Just one thing, though: after I had finished up making and writing we heard that the Amy Tangerine tiny puffy stickers I had used (in the Project Life kit)  had been substituted with an equally cute set by Dear Lizzy. 

Keep an eye out, though. I think they'll be back.

Extra, Extra...

...Extra, extra...I'd love you to be able to read all about it. But it turns out that I have really quite a sick husband to care for. We are waiting for more test results. So I don't have a lot of words today, just a few quick pictures of a couple of extra projects I made with the October Gossamer Blue kits. I hope you like them.

I have a card:

The background is done with a Maggie Holmes rub on pen. Honestly? It started out as an experiment and then when that went slightly awry, I kept going to see what would happen next.

And a layout:

about a visit to Anthropologie. The paper cutting came first

before I'd even decided on my subject, because I wanted to take this sheet of Amy Tangerine paper and trim round lots of the leaves. Once I'd made a jungle, I realised that it reminded me of the kind of thing you might see as a display in Anthropologie.

The gold letters I pieced together from a whole selection of phrase stickers I knew I wouldn't use separately. And the tassel? Well, it wouldn't be Anthro without a tassel.

See you soon!

October Projects at Gossamer Blue

October has always been a favourite month for me. The crisp air! The colours! That hint of new beginnings wrapped up in tradition. It's everything at once. And a good time to be a scrapbooker. 

And, maybe, a cardmaker? As it's World Cardmaking Day today, I'd better start my Gossamer Blue October projects with

 ...a card. I made a set for my GB blog post later in the month, but this one has a slightly different look so I pulled it and here it is. It's mostly Crate Paper Gather collection and the sentiment is from a rub on pen , in the Life Pages Main Add on. I used some chipboard pieces on this one and I do have a tip: if you want to reduce the dimension a little bit for a card going in the post, take the chipboard piece, adhere it to some waxed paper (or a glassine kit packaging bag) and then try to peel if off again. You should find a couple of layers of chipboard want to stay behind on the paper, and that's great because you can leave them there and stick a reduced height embellishment onto your card.

Next I made this page:

about our summer trip to Berlin. We had a great time, as long as we kept our blood sugar levels topped up. For this one I took my cue from the peeling posters in the photo (you can't really see it here, but that photo is popped off the page, slightly higher than the other) and I ripped and wrinkled a selection of paper from the Main and Add On kits

to combine with embellishments from the Amy Tangerine diecut ephemera pack in the Main Add On.

And finally, I went back to my new favourite size, 8.5x11, for this page:

This one uses a couple of cards from the Life Pages kit, and the big wood veneer numbers - for the year - from Dear Lizzy in the Main Kit. For my journaling, I marked on my card where I wanted my words to sit, put it through the typewriter and then stuck the black frame (from Amy Tangerine) down afterwards. I added a doily from my stash. Those little birds! They're by Maggie Holmes and I think I used every last one. You can find it all at Gossamer Blue.