Scrap A Sketch Challenge - December 2014

In my last post I reviewed 11 of the LO's that I did last year for the Scrap A Sketch Challenge social group that I manage on the UK Scrappers website. 

The reveal of the year's final challenge had to wait until today, so drum roll please!!

A two page spread to see the year out in style!

Bonne année et bonne santé from Normandy ! 

Counterfeit Kit Challenge # 3 - BIG Title and a Blog Hop!!

Welcome to the Normandy stop on the CKCB blog hop today.
You probably came over from Kim's blog "Texas Cattle Ranching and Scrapbooking" and after you leave me Julene's blog "Julene by Design" over in Oz is the place to go.

This is the page that I did for Challenge #3 BIG title.

“Bonjour Printemps”

I was inspired by Stephanie's example @ Skyline Paperie  “Welcome back Autumn” to say “Hello to Spring” with a photo of our neighbour Jacques’ sheep and lambs, in the field at the side of his little village shop, which I took last weekend.

After already doing 7 layouts using my “Indolence Blues” kit supplies were getting pretty low when it came to this challenge.

I had one full sheet of patterned paper which I stamped willy nilly down the left side before layering scraps of my double sided pp’s, vintage sheet music and vellum, then the photo went on as the final layer.

The tag tucked in behind, the buttons, flower and arrow were all from the kit but I needed to go into my stash for the BIG green alpha stickers, PL “to do”card, washi tape, string and greeting sticker.

Here's another layout that I did for the UKS's April House Challenge of me and my Dad in 2005 and there's one other that I did for my Monthly Scrap-A-Sketch group, which I can't reveal until the 1st May!

Now it’s time for you to hop on over to Julene's to see what she's been up to lately and below you'll find the list of blogs participating in today's blog hop just in case you wander off in the wrong direction!

Home, aka the CKCB, is just a click away here

CKCB           http://www.counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com

Jemma         http://just-jimjams.blogspot.co.uk

Tina              http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com

Isbaha          http://isbahashome.blogspot.fr

Lesley          http://ohblogitifyoucantbeatthem.blogspot.co.uk

Annie            http://www.artyfartyannie.co.uk

Elaine           http://chidkids26.blogspot.co.uk

Leslie           http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com

Kate             http://kateblue.blogspot.com

Virginia         http://celtichouse.blogspot.co.uk

Kim              http://texassantagertrudis.blogspot.com

Maggie         http://maggiebscrapblog.blogspot.fr

Julene          http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com.au

Lisa              http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de

what get's your scrapbooking mojo working

Without the inspiration from outside sources such as the Design Team @ Counterfeit Kit blog and the very talented scrappers at UK Scrappers I think my scrapping mojo would almost disappear.
I also subscribe to a wonderful French scrap booking mag "Carnets de Scrap", leafing through it's pages is my idea of scrapping heaven.
The March House challenge @UKS has been set by Suzy, a lady that I have come to know quite well through the monthly Scrap-A-Sketch group.
This is the sketch she challenged us with this month.

My take on it featuring some of the amazing daffodils blooming in our garden right now, they brighten up my day and tell me that warmer weather is on the way.

Wishing you a great week filled with sunshine and flowers.

February CKCB Members Blog Hop

Welcome to the "Normandy in Spring time" stop, on the CKCB Blog Hop, where hundreds of daffodils are already adding beauty to the gardens.

You probably just left Lesley's UK blog Oh! Blog It and the next stop after here will be Chrissy @ Crafty Chrissie Creates who I think is in New Zealand!

In my last post I revealed my February Counterfeit Kit which I called "It must be Lurve".

Here's another shot of the kit before I started to play.

Despite being sick in bed for 4 days this week, suffering from stomach flu, I have managed to make quite a hole in my kit - 4 LO's and 3 identical tags.

When February's challenge #1 was posted on CKCB those Ugly Sweaters made me cringe, especially when I remembered some of the jumpers and cardigans I'd draped my body with in the oh so un-trendy 1970's.

Thankfully, no photographic evidence of those clothing faux pas remains and I was more than happy to roam around Pinterest to locate someone else's woolly nightmare.

the perfect Christmas gift for the man who has everything?

The patterns and colours are a perfect match for my kit, this is the LO that this Ugly Sweater inspired.

the view from my work table looking out across my very cluttered
attic craft room

as I'd hoped, I was able to use up lots of stash embellies on my page

love the way it all came together so well

The UKS February Tag Swap theme was "Lurrrrve"................ and I had just the kit for it.

and here are my LO's for the UKS weekly challenges - 2 & 3.

week 2
"missus b" (that's me BTW) was our ebay sellers name when we began selling vintage and antique French faience in 1999.
with our 2 dogs Blue & Bess we traveled all over France having the time of our lives for about 5 years

week 3
when an unexpected snowstorm in March 2013 blocked our driveway
the Senior Partner and his dog Fleur were in their element!

That's all I can share for now as the 4th LO that I've made using the kit is part of my Chinese Whispers Circle Journal and I can't, on pain of death, breath a word about it on my blog until all 12 LO's have been completed......I hope to do a full reveal of them at the end of 2014.

I wonder how much they will have changed?

So, thanks for stopping by.

I hope you've enjoyed this visit to Normandy. 

If you get lost anywhere en route you can always check the CKCB where you'll find the full list of blogs participating in today's hop.

Just a quickie.................

I've been prepping my CKCB blog hop post today and there's lots to be revealed on Monday so be sure to come back then for a look.
But...............I really did want to share this LO that I did last weekend (before I got sick and "took to me bed") for The Green Buttons House February Challenge.

The GB's chose a gorgeous colour palette from Design Seeds for us to use and I had some great snaps of the Senior Partner that I'd wanted to scrap for a few years(!) but never had.

the back of the T shirt announces to the world that
"Old Guys Rule" but most importantly labels him as a
"trophy husband".
It may be almost 5 years since he bought it down in Harbour Town, HHI but it's still his favourite T.

I broke open some new stash from the "He Said, She Said" range by Teresa Collins added some old stash bits and pieces et voila!

C'est pret.

Bon weekend.

Boy! doesn't time fly!

I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged on here, or blogged at all come to think of it.
I did finally manage this week to do a couple of posts over on my Normandy Life blog about our trip to Derbyshire, in September, which you might enjoy so just click on the sidebar link and hop over to Normandy for a visit.
Anyhoo...........................
I have done some scrapping this week a couple of circle journal pages for the Flyers CJ which is coming to an end soon and also this LO for the Simple Recipes challenge on the UK Scrappers site.
The criteria set for this month were the following.

Colour palette: Vintage Coral, Burnished Gold & Old Navy, use a poem as inspiration or as part of the page embellishment; use woodgrain or wooden embellishment and make a garland or use garland pieces on the page.

It was a top tip from Leo though that brought everything together on this challenge for me.

The idea of creating an introduction page to show what type of layouts an album contains was a revelation because although I keep my pages in scrapbook albums I never themed them.
I do now!

Memories of Kos.

As promised some LO's showing just what a fabulous time we had on our Kos vacation last month.

poolside shadows, Michelangelo Resort & Spa
my take on the UKS September week 4 challenge

ancient statues & fountains beside the
Tree of Hippocrates, Kos Town.
My LO for the UKS September House Challenge

My LO for the September Scrap a Sketch challenge
newly retired and loving it!

Flyers Circle Journal - the wonders of nature

The Flyers Circle Journal Part Deux concluded this month and we're already talking about going for a third and final round.

For this page I layered fabric, gauze & thread on to vintage sheets of music
covered them with layers of gesso and kept layering until I got the result I wanted

These are the pages that I did for Becky, her theme was "The Wonder of Nature".

Using Photoscape I created some flower collages.

Couldn't resist including one of  my nosy neighbours!

No word yet what the themes for next time will be, watch this space...........................

CKCB members blog hop - just keeps on hopping!

Whilst hopping around the CKCB blog hop last week, admiring all the great master forgeries, I found this fab one on Jemma's blog Just Jimjams.

She had chosen to forge this gorgeous LO from Leslie @ Out of the Mire.

Well, what's a girl to do but have a go herself?

This is my forgery, of Jemma's forgery, of Leslie's LO, which I did for the UKS July week 4 challenge!
Loved the tags in the corner with the stitching and the fabric, so did several others who commented on my LO in the UKS gallery.
I think this is one LO that will keep on hopping for a long time to come.

What summer means to me.

This is the probably the last LO that I will do using my July Counterfeit Kit, looking forward to seeing the August kit very soon.

too darned hot to scrap!

At last summer has arrived in Normandy (yay!) and my days are filled with gardening and tending vegetables.
Or, I might be sitting on the patio with a good book and a cold glass of something, iced tea or coffee or a g&t depending on the time of day.
My craft room is up in the attic of our ancient house and it gets really, really hot up there with only a Velux window in the roof for ventilation.
So, have I given you enough excuses reasons why I'm not getting much scrapping done?
Before the temps started to soar I did manage to do some of the challenges posted on UK Scrappers this month which I'd like to share with you.

My example for week 1

I set the week one challenge, my first solo attempt. The criteria were to use the colour palette, the sketch and a favourite quote or saying.

I was thrilled that so many scrappers joined in, they seem to love the sketch & colour scheme.

when the girl in your arms is the girl in your heart
Cliff Richard sang this song in the Young Ones movie

The journaling tag tucked behind the photograph tells the story:
When I was 11 years old my Aunties took me to see "The Young Ones" and I fell in love for the very first time. When Cliff sang "When the girl in your arms is the girl in your heart" it was the start of a life long crush. About 30 years later living in Germany I went with some girlfriends to see Cliff in concert. The next day the SP and I were flying back to UK for a visit, Cliff was checking in for the same flight! Shaking, I approached him and said "Thanks for last night". He replied "No, thank you"!
The love of my life drew this heart, with our initials inside, in the sand on South Beach, HHI October 2012.

and finally the July House Challenge.

on the final day of our last visit to Cancun it took some very dark storm clouds
to persuade me to leave the beach

I managed to use quite a bit of my July Counterfeit Kit for these LO's, with just a few dips into my scraps and stash for embellies and cardstock.

Before I forget...

Although I've already assembled my July CK, I just want to share the final LO that I did using the June kit.
One of my favourite groups within UK Scrappers is the monthly Scrap - A - Sketch group.

this is the June sketch

and this is my take on it
 using my Counterfeit Kit

The photographs of the espaliered fruit trees on our west facing garden wall were taken last Autumn.

Smile

This is my take on the June House Challenge on UKS which this month has been set by my house The Blue Brads, thanks Sarah (TL) for providing such  great motivational prompts to inspire us.

I chose "Smile and the world smiles with you" as my inspiration for this page, another souvenir of our stay in Swaledale, Yorkshire a couple of months ago.
My sister Kathryn, stepmum Joyce & me practicing our Oprah smile!

Shoulders down; push your face forward and smile! 

Get's rid of any double chins that might make you look less than your best.
It is also guaranteed to set everyone off laughing which always makes for a great photo.
I think little sister may have overdone it though this time!
I created the LO using my 2nd Counterfeit Kit (June) and some bits & pieces from stash
The quote beneath the photo is by Robert Brault:

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.

1st May Daze LO

The challenge over at UK Scrappers this week required us to use this sketch for a masculine layout.

Add some flowers and use an inking technique.

I searched through my photos and found one of my husband with his best mate when they visited New York City to celebrate BM's 60th birthday in 2008.

Using my May Daze Counterfeit Kit, which I put together last week, I completed the challenge in less than 3 hours, which for me is fast!

All I needed to add to the kit was the blue cardstock; Prima flower and Ranger ink.

Flyers CJ - Childhood Memories

Since joining UK Scrappers I have enjoyed doing many of the weekly and monthly challenges and learned lots of new techniques.
I know my style of scrapping has benefited from the input of all the talented people who share their experience in the galleries and in the forums, so inspirational.
I don't think I would have had the confidence to join a circle journal group, a year ago.

For Becky's CJ, theme - Childhood memories - I sorted through some old photos that my mother gave me years ago and the memories just came flooding back.
A very keen dressmaker my mum, like many other 50's housewives, liked to dress my sister Rhonda and I alike and the Simplicity paper patterns made this possible even on a tight budget.

These pages completed our Flyers Newbie Circle Journal but we all enjoyed doing it so much we're decided to go for a second go round beginning 1st May. Part deux!

In the meantime, I have a few finishing touches to add then I can post cover to cover photo's of my very first circle journal.

Joyeuses Paques.