Laura Rumble - Crafter

Last months Like For Ever kit is still going strong... It included this pack of acetate triangles and I had a real struggle getting them to work.  Eventually I went all out on one layout - 'it's a waste to use them all in one go' said half of me.  'It'll be a waste if you don't use any of them!' tutted the other half of me. I wasn't sure of attaching them with no glue showing was possible by any means other than sewing.  What adhesive do you use for clear products? I've had a bit of a fail on the wood veneer front.  This is only the second piece from the kit that I have used... If they were all like this maybe I'd be having better luck using them up!! Thanks for stopping by!

Linking up at Annie 's...

The challenges at Crafty Ribbons Challenges have restarted after a little summer holiday.  This fortnight it is my choice of theme and I've gone with Butterflies and Birds...  any handmade creation that uses ribbon and includes at least one butterfly and one bird is welcome - Mr Linky is here !  (p.s. it has been changed to either a bird or a butterfly) On to my make... I've had some free papers (sorry, I don't know where they came from) sitting around for a while and decided now was the time to pull them out for  play.   Of course I used copious amounts of ribbon, buttons and lace from Crafty Ribbons too. If you want to replicate this you'll need these ingredients; white ric rac , white sheer organza , lace , swiss dots , buttons (I used several different Basics2Go packs). Thanks for stopping by!

Goodness, it feels ages since I have been up to desking .  Glad to be back with you all! As you can see not much changes... it's still messy and cluttered with loveliness.  I have a card on the go, and a button experiment, and paint palettes of embellishments because you never know when you are going to need something sparkly to add! I'm also in the middle of making samples for Crafty Ribbons ... It is simple to make with a keyring blank from a pound shop, a ribbon crimp from ebay and some of the new Summer Festival ribbon exclusive to Crafty Ribbons.  I've used Caravans and Holiday Message in sky . Thanks for stopping by!

He asked.  He really did, he walk in to my room, chuckled and said, "Did you arrive backwards via the hedge?!"  Just as well I hadn't awoken grumpy! I pulled out the left overs from a Like For Ever kit from a few months back.  I had a good ferret around in my alpha stash and thought these sets matched the patterned paper well. And I added in some flair from this months Like For Ever kit... and this is the layout I created.  I added tangles of messy thread here and there to echo the messy hair :) Thanks for stopping by today!

Recently I found Ursula Markgraf who runs a swap for handmade postcards.  I signed up and set to work...  I was very unhappy with the darker purple poppy (the stem is in the wrong place and the flower feels unbalanced) so I tried again on the paler poppy.  I'm still unsure about it and will keep trying until I master it (I have someone in mind you see, and she rather likes purple and poppies!) but here are the three I sent off in a bit more detail... This is the first time I used watercolour markers.  I had intended the whole work to be watercolour markers but I ended up adding regular watercolour paint, acrylic paint, India ink and coloured pencil.  I learnt I need to practice with the watercolour markers!! This one is mainly watercolour markers.  Instead of using them direct to the paper though I scribbled them on to my glass cutting mat and picked up the colour with a water brush.  I had to work really hard to get the paint to bloom...

This weeks smile comes in the form of these basil plants.  I have grown them from seed and I'm jolly chuffed!!  They taste good too, I had a few leaves with my tomato soup yesterday lunchtime. Linking up at Annie 's

I've been working on a couple of swaps recently.  I'll tell you about Jessica Brogan 's Card Deck Swap first, as there is still time for you to sign up and join in!  You can find the details here but my summary is; You alter a deck of playing cards.  You put some inspiring words on each card.  You post them to USA.  Shuffling happens.  You get sent a 52 different cards made by different people from all over the world. Here are a few of mine.  I went with the sequin/shaker trend. As you can see most of mine are slightly different but in the past I have made 52 of the same design. I have parcelled mine deck up ready to be posted and at the end of October my swaps should arrive with me... not sure I can wait that long!!  You have until the end of September to join in and post your cards off - will you join me? Thanks for stopping by!

I'm continuing my blitz on the word stickers in last months Like For Ever kit.  They originlly said happy things - the name of the collection by Pink Fresh.  I had no photo to work with that title - but one snip and happy thing became the perfect title for Nephy Dude.  He is always a happy little thing... I went for a loose grid over a background of Shimmerz. It's so hard to capture just how shimmery the shimmer is!! Thanks for stopping by

I am determined to use these script thicker words that came in my Like For Ever kit.  I'm struggling but I'll get there!  This one is quite simple... I originally had stopped at the cluster, title and journalling but it was a little too 'white space-y' and I decided to add a strip at the top.  I went over most of the pink in the patterned paper with a blueish pro marker, which turned it a rather pleasing shade of lilac. Black stitching and a few lines of enamel dots finish it off well, I think. And I did 'proper' journalling!!  Just a few bits to remember about little one reading with Grandad.  Perhaps channelling Wilna Furstenburg I wrote as if I was speaking to Bob, rather than trying to tell the story.  More natural, I think, and much more me. Thanks for stopping by

I took these cords out of the fabric tags I used on my last layout .  You know me, I don't throw anything away...  I decided to make them in to bracelets.  And, what do you know, they fit me perfectly! I decided the plain cream was not enough for me so I used my inktense pencils to add some colour.  Inktense, once wet and dried, are permanent.  I added a few little crochet charms my Pet Crocheter whipped up and hey presto!  A wrist full of fun! I get a real kick making something from nothing, and from making something non-scrapbook-y with my Like For Ever scrapbook kit. Thanks for stopping by!

I'm sneaking in late this Friday...  It's been jam packed full of 'book', 'hand' and 'no no no'.  Tomorrow will be a wipe out day but boy is he worth it! I often look enviously at our Kate 's sky photos.  I was so happy to see this much colour in 'my' sky last night and immediately thought of Kate. Linking up at Annie 's p.s. can anyone tell me if the comma should go before the ' or after the ' in the second sentence?!  It looks wrong...

My Daisy Bun is not very in to cuddles.  I can only get cuddles if I bribe her with food.  So I made a layout about it... I've used the contents of my Like For Ever kit, some washi from my stash and some 3mm grosgrain ribbon from Crafty Ribbons .  I love 3mm, it seriously comes in every colour and the four that I picked out perfectly matched the Pink Fresh Studios tags. I'm enchanted by these enamel frames - but I am finding them a tad tricky to use.  I found mounting my picture over the frame gave me the best result... but you know I'm not one to do things the 'normal' way! I also noticed the plastic backing that the frame came on had the shape of the hearts imprinted in to it... a perfect addition to my side strip!  It is subtle, it shows better in real life than it does on the photo. And a little heads up in case you were thinking about trying it, I learnt from this layout that rub ons don't work on fabric.  Thanks for stopping by...

This layout is documenting my 30th birthday cake... you gotta get the important things down on a layout!! I wanted to use the balloon paper from Pink Fresh that is in July's Like For Ever kit.  I tried to get two photos and the balloons to sit nicely but couldn't.  So I went with a flap to hide one photo and the journalling... It was easy to construct using washi for the hinge. While filling in my journalling I ran out of space for the last word.  I think I managed to get away with it though - there is never an unsolvable problem! Aren't the balloons lovely? I had this sheet of cardstock ready.  I hate to waste leftover paint and often look for something to use it up on.  It usually goes in my art journal but this time I watered it down slightly to get an ink-like consistency and splattered an L shape on some white 12x12.  I didn't know what the layout would look like at the time of splattering but I knew I could use it some how. ...