Quotes, Smash & a garden?

As you know I've been enjoying my Smash* journalling but to be honest not much else has been happening here creatively, am seriously feeling the pressure, I've Father's Days cards and Birthday cards that need to be made this week and DT projects to do, but do you think I can find the mojo needed to do it? No. My brain is resting in fog, other stuff is playing on my mind too, but hey that's life so I need a good kick up the proverbial backside to get on with it!

So here's some more Smash* pages and a card that I've managed to create over the last few days - 

Pages full of quotes, random things that made me smile or inspire me. Some I stuck in as they are, others I cut up and spread around the page. I added stickers and tickets. I even bought a tub of coloured paper clips to use in my Smash* books, love that idea of just being able to clip something into place.

This card took me ages to decide what to do, I knew it had to have a garden theme so I trawled through all my images till I found this one, then I realised I could combine photo real imagery with art work - Daisies. See the daisies in the pot on the image and then I used the daisies from Sheena Douglas's Paint Fusion CD-ROM for the added decoupage. I added the sentiment and candi, which I chose specifically as each has the words flowers, or blossom on them! 

Inside I used the same image but faded it and then stamped the proverb which is a Creative Expressions stamp to create the matching insert. Job done! Phew.

Right now I need to decide what to make my wonderful dad for Father's Day. 

Oh this will make you laugh - well it did me, especially when I told my mum, my son's school is going all biometric! Ha ha welcome to the future, no longer will money be used or needed in school, oh no, just scan your thumb! 

Obviously money has to be loaded onto children's account so that they have credit but how cool is that?

I told mum and she was bemused and asked what biometric was, so I told her, and said it won't be long and that's what everything will be, no cards and pins any more, just scan your thumb! 

Take care Zo xx

Material Girl

Ha ha wasn't that a Madonna song - hmm yes I remember dancing around my bedroom to that! (Many moons ago I'll add.)

Don't worry I'm not mad.......okay, I see you smiling, so I am a little!. Anyway it's the start of a new challenge over at Crafty Boots and the theme this time was set by the lovely Tracie and she chose Material. So we want to see your entries using material, it can be on a card, a page or anything as long as you use material somewhere.

I confess I was a bit stuck, I'm not into sewing or anything and, to be honest, the only material in my house is, well, my clothes and I wasn't about to cut up any even for this challenge!

A few weeks back I went on a little trip out with my friend Debs during that outing we did wander into a well know crafty store where I purchased 2 pieces of felt, only because I loved the animal print. Thankfully I remembered that I had them so I came up with this bookmark - 

I cut a strip of Zebra Felt wide and long enough for my chosen idea and cut into the top to create a fringed edge.  I stapled a slim piece of card into the middle to create a firm base to glue my image onto. The image (Boobie from Krista Saturated Canary range) was coloured with a mix of markers before being glued onto the card strip and the felt.  I added some Zebra Card Candi and Glossy accents to complete the project. Simple. As you can see from the pictures the bookmark sits perfectly in a book with the fringed edge peeking over the top!

I must confess I love it and I shall be making more of these material bookmarks with different characters on.

Right I must get on with designing my next digital image.......Ssssh don't tell anyone, but it will be making an appearance at the next Crafty Boots challenge! <wink, wink, nod, nod>

Take care Zo xx

Smash* Cover complete!

Well you can't fail to notice that I've been bitten by the Smash* journal bug, I'm so addicted already, anyway as you know I've been doing up the pages in my Blue Retro book but I'd not really finished the cover as I wanted. To be honest I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but then I was colouring away the other day (see my last post!) and thought ' Why not put a favourite character on the front, coloured to suit the colour of the book so that's what I did, I finished it off last night when I added the ric-rac ribbon, put my character on and added some stickers of words that relate to my journal to go with the stamped sentiments.

As you can see I'd already put my name in chipboard silver letters and had stuck the buttons on. 

I coloured 'Boobie' (I love colouring her in) who is one of Krista's amazing characters from Saturated Canary and then I added the gorgeous blue Prima rose, she already had a rose in her hair so I thought it worked a treat! Who knows I may highlight some of the embossing but right now I'm happy as it is.

Anyway I'm going to enter this into the 'Anything Goes' challenge 19 over at Saturated Canary Challenge blog - it just shows how versatile these images are, as they lend themselves to so many uses.  Different characters are already popping up on the pages of my book.

Thanks for looking, take care Zo xx

Colouring meets Smash*

You may have noticed that I do love to colour and as of recent I love all things Smash*, so what better than to combine the 2!

I've wanted to create a colouring reference, in fact I've done so many before but then lost them or whatever, so I decided to dedicate some space in my lush Smash journal to exactly that. Over the last few days (even during the Jubilee, those eagle eyed WOYWWers would've seen) I've coloured the same character a number of times but with different combinations of Copics. Trying out different combos for hair and skin tones. Some I like better, some I know I won't use again, but it's a reference point! Once I'd coloured 6 I smashed them!  I stuck them in my blue Smash journal and wrote down the pen numbers. Scribbling little notes to myself too.

As you can see I used Boobie digital stamp, a freebie from the lovely Krista over at Saturated Canary.  I didn't really plan what I was going to do I just looked at my newly coloured Copics chart and saw what looked like colours that would go together. I concentrated more on the hair and skin rather than the clothes. But to be honest this exercise wasn't about getting my colouring perfect it was about trying out colours to see what I liked.

I think by using the same character it's easier to see what works and what doesn't - some of the skin tones are too orange, though on the photos they don't actually look too bad! I love the 4 shades of hair - blond, mid brown, dark and auburn/reddish brown. I had a funny five minutes and decided to do blue and pink hair too, not sure why, I just fancied doing so!

I can see me doing this again, maybe with my favourite characters - filling a page with a random selection of coloured images. Definitely good fun and a perfect way to forget about the pain and uselessness I'm feeling at present.

Anyway thought I'd share it with you all, feel free to ask about any of it, happy to share what I did if it helps anyone. But then I'm no expert!

Take care Zo xx

WOYWW 157 - changing location

Okay, I know this doesn't fit the 'On my desk today' idea exactly, but I thought I'd share this photo of me that my boy took yesterday. My alternative Jubilee desk! 

I couldn't go a whole day without colouring something so I took my pen boxes and images downstairs, into the lounge where I hijacked the tv table so that I could watch the Jubilee service and parade while doing some colouring.

You can see my boxes stacked up on the sofa, I keep my markers all in colour families. There's the pile of images on the arm of the sofa - yes most are Saturated Canary!

So what's on my actual desk today, well to be honest, there isn't anything. Everything has been put away so the desk is clear (you lot know what a tidy crafter I am!), and I thought a photo of my non stick craft mat might put you off visiting me again.........hmmmm I suppose a photo of me might do that too. Oh well!

Right pop over to Julia's The Stamping Ground to see what everyone else keeps on their desks or wherever they happen to craft!

Apologies for not getting round too many of you last week, I wanted to, believe me, but I just couldn't think straight, what alone type anything worth reading, but if I did visit you but made little sense, well sorry about that too! 

Take care Zo xx

 PS If you want to see a more creative post, have a look at the post below where I share my new found love of Smash Books!

What's keeping me quiet

Well like many, I've been glued to my screen watching the jubilee celebrations, but when I'm not, I can be found colouring, web searching and generally collecting material for my new found love that is SMASH journalling. I really am amazed how much I'm enjoying this considering I've never been one to scrapbook or journal write.  I adore the quirky pages of my blue book, and love how each prompts ideas while others just call out to be covered!  So today I'm sharing a few more pages that I've done over the last few days or so. It's been therapeutic too, I've not been so good so to be able to do something that doesn't take too much effort, but still the end result is fab, made it enjoyable as well as reliving some fun times and exploring what things I'd like to record about myself.

For this first page I wanted to continue on from the previous page in the book with colour - I found this super quote and thought it was perfect for me! So I coloured the Saturated Canary image to match the paper and word colours. I stamped some Tim Holtz ticket stamps, coloured them to match and cut them out, sticking them randomly around the page. I added a few Candi and made the ruffled button embellishment. I added a couple of notes to explain and that was it.

(Yes, that really is me with the dog, much shorter and lighter hair I know!)

As soon as I saw this double spread with maps on it, I knew I'd use it to record the 3 main holidays I've ever taken.  I got to work printing out photos from the trips, as well as printing embellishments from digi-kits I have. I also coloured another Saturated Canary image 'Tourist' to work with it all. I typed up the destination and dates using Craft Artist Pro before colouring them and then going over them with glossy accents.  The laminated luggage tag is the actual one I used for my Paris trip, I threaded some twine and stuck down it with tissue tape. I also added my Orsay Museum (Musee d'Orsay) entrance ticket too. Again a few hand written notes to explain and it's done.

Right time to get some food and await the Queen's address to the nation.

Take care Zo xx

Cos life takes over

Hey everyone!

Well the last few days haven't gone to plan, life took over. Or to be more exact my conditions took over me. It happens. Things like limbs don't work, or the fog in my head descends and everything takes twice as long to do. So I've been quiet. Remarkable really. Me quiet. Well I had to step back from the virtual world, I could read, but found commenting - or to be blunt, putting words together difficult. I did try. Gutted really cos I really wanted to do a 100% WOYWW comment/visit for the 3rd anniversary but I failed. I got to some but not all. 

Anyway I did however have some fun. I got my hands on my first SMASH journal. Oh my giddy aunt. I love it! I've not been a scrap-booker or journal writer. But I do collect bits and bobs, like tickets & random things. So this idea of having a book to smash it all in appealed to me. Somewhere to record random stuff so that in years to come we/my son/future generations could look back and see who I really was, to see what I liked, to see what I did, where I went etc. I like that idea.

So I'll share some (well lots really) pictures with you of my book, the blue one, cos well it's me - 

That was the plain (well not plain cos it has super pages but I mean before I did anything) book, now to show you some of what I've done to it so far - 

I love the idea it can be less perfect than say my picture memory album which just show pictures of certain times. This book can be as random as I like, suits me perfectly. I can share silly stuff like my favourite food, or like the last couple of pics; my favourite colours and things. 

I have a plan - to share. My fav characters to colour, my fab books, my fav people and places. Quotes that speak to me.  Clothes that I love. Shoes I just need but can't wear. It's endless really so I guess I shall need another book or 2 or 3......

Okay so maybe I just need them all, every colour, every style.

Cos do you know - they make me smile!

Take care Zo xx