Dolly's Dreamings

UK Scrappers Sketch 1

There is a whole new challenge on UK Scrappers this year and it starts this month.

Follow this link to find out what it is all about. 

There will be two sketches per month that you can play with, released on the first and third Monday of every month. Hosted by Mini Owner, your pages need to be uploaded to the UKS Gallery.

Here is the link to the gallery

Sue will give you a  new sketch and I will aim to provide a very simple digital template for digi scrappers to play with. These will be PSD format and kept basic so you can embellish your heart out.

This is the information for Sketch 1

 

This is Sketch 1

Download UKS Sketch 1

 

 

We can't wait to see what you come up with and let us know what you think. There is a special gallery to upload your creations here

 

And so that I knew it worked this is the page I made using the sketch and template and Dawn Inskip's Secrets Bundle

 

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Free accordion album class

I promised I would celebrate my first month of freedom with some freebies so I have another today - this one made as a part of a blog hop promotion - a very simple accordion album.

 

This is a very simple accordion book to use as a display item at home. I used a Woodware base for mine, but it would be just as easy to cut the squares from a very thick cardboard. If you want it to stand up you need to make sure the card used is reasonably thick and substantial.

The step by step here is very simple as the design is very straightforward. At the end of the post there is also a PDF file you can download that has all of the instructions and pictures and makes for an easy reference sheet if you want to create this project. The supplies given are for the book I made. Obviously you will vary them according to what you want to create.

Supplies

 

• Woodware accordion album (4 sheets of wood with slots pre-cut)  My ‘pages’ were 6” square.
• K and Co Amy Butler papers
• K and Co Amy Butler mat stack
• K and Co Amy Butler chipboard letters
• Assorted ribbons, some of which need to be sheer
• Assorted blooms, stickers, die cuts
• 8 photos
• Journalling pen
• Stickles glue
• Herma permanent adhesive
• Double sided tape
• Sewing machine
• Hole punch/cropadile/sharp knife
• Corner rounder

Step by Step

• When making any sort of mini book I find it is much quicker to assemble all the supplies before you start. That way you have everything coordinated and ready and you can complete the book really quickly.

• Having everything coordinated means that the book works as a whole thing. It doesn’t seem disjointed.

• There are so many coordinated ranges out there that the job is made even more simple, although there is a thrill putting together your own selection mixed and matched from lots of different ranges.

• When making mini books I prefer to think of each page as a separate scrapbook page, work on it as a separate page and then assemble them all together as a final stage.

• I cut all of my background papers first – 8 squares each 6” x 6”. This meant that I knew what colours my 8 bases were and could ensure they were balanced before I started.

• 6” x 6” is a perfect size as it means you get 4 ‘pages’ out of each 12” x 12” sheet.

• One of the things you can do to make a book work better together as a whole is repeat ideas and designs throughout. You might want to have several elements which are used on many of the pages. For this book I used doodled photo mats, doodled flowers, glitter, scalloped edges and stitching as my repeated elements. Not all elements were used on every page, but by mixing and matching them you get a cohesive look at the end of it.

• The doodled mats are simple to do and quite effective when making a mini book.

• Cut the mat to the size you wanted

• Using a black journaling pen draw two parallel lines all round the mat. You are NOT looking for perfection. The beauty of doing this is that it is hand drawn and whimsical. You don’t want ruler straight lines.

• Once you have drawn the lines, use the pen to colour in small blocks between them. Again, you are not looking for a regimented design of small small large etc. Mix the sizes and spaces up so it is as random as possible.

• Once you have finished your mat add the photo to it and you are good to go.

• I didn’t use doodled mats on all of my pages and I did vary some of them using dots and swirls instead.

• One of the ways of tying something like a mini book together as a whole is to use scraps of the papers to make the embellishments.

• In keeping with the doodled theme I drew doodled flowers for many of the pages.

• Again you are not looking for perfection. You are looking for a freestyle where petals are uneven and double lined.

• Once you have doodled them cut them out leaving a small border.

• As the letters I used had little bits of bling on, I added stickled glue to the edges of the petals and to the centres of the smaller flowers. The larger flowers had tiny felt blossoms stuck in the centre.

• I love sewing on pages as it gives extra detail. It is very easy to use a sewing machine, but good effects can be achieved with hand sewing and with faux stitching where you just draw or stamp the stitches on.

• Faux stitching is very simple – if you are going for a faux zigzag just stick the shape to the background and use a regular journaling pen and draw the zigzags over the edge of the shape to make it looks as if it is stitched to the background.

• Big simple shapes make good background detail to the page. I used circles which were sewn on for several of the pages and also used a large heart which was stitched on to the background paper.

• Once you have completed all the pages it is time to assemble the book as a whole.

• The album I used had slots cut in the wood so that the book could be joined together. If you are using a book like this then it is much easier to cut the slots in your pages before you mount it all together. I marked where the slots had to be on each page by using a pricking tool to prick through and then cut the slots with a craft knife.

• If you are making your own base from thick chipboard then you could punch the holes with a crop-a-dile either before you mount the pages to the base or after if they are not too thick.

• You need to make sure that your individual pages are stuck down very well to the album. I prefer to use Herma permanent adhesive as it is just my glue of preference. I lie the page on top of the base as I glue so that I can go right to the edge each time and any spare glue only goes on the base – which is a good thing!

• If you have ‘lumpy’ pages, which I often do, or simply if you prefer to use it, double sided tape is the answer.

• Make sure you lay the tape right up to the edge of the page as you want a good firm stick right along every edge with no loose bits.

• Once you have assemble the individual pages to both sides of the base boards you need to join it all together to make the display album.

• I joined mine with ribbons. I chose to use very sheer ribbons for joining the pages so that if they were in front of pictures they would not detract from them.  I used fancier ribbons on the ends.

• A good tip I was given, and always use, is that I burn the edges of the ribbons,. I keep a lighter in the craft room and just flash the cut edge of the ribbon in front of the flame. This seals the edge and stops it from fraying and is the most effective method I have found.

• Do be CAREFUL though. It is a naked flame and the ribbons catch and melt very quickly.

  I hope that you enjoy making one of these.

If you find these instructions at all useful and if you make one I would love you to let me know and share it with me if possible. Just drop me a line on my blog.

If you want to download the full PDF which can be printed easily then you can download it HERE

Thank you for stopping by and do please visit again. I often have free downloads and classes on the blog.

Epcot - but other uses too

OK - in keeping with my month of giving classes and ideas away now I am enjoying a life of luxury - and I have had a lovely leisurely day today -  this one is perfect for those of you who, like me, love Disney.

 

I knew there was a reason I kept all of this archive material. It was for the days when I had no decent computer to create with. I am missing my digital scrapping enormously and am grateful to Dawn Inskip and also everyone at Pickleberrypop for being so understanding about the fact I cannot keep my commitments at the moment. There is no way this machine could cope with Elements!

 Anyway - on to the class for today ....

It is an Epcot Page that is really simple to do

 

 

 

I often do pages with just one picture, but then I also go to the other extreme and do crazy pages with lots of pictures. There are 11 different countries represented at Epcot and I wanted to use them all and include information about them. Then of course I also needed to include the iconic Epcot image – the geosphere. This page crams it all in. Each of the tags – sewn on at the edges – lifts up to reveal journaling about that land.

It would be a great page to use for maybe a birthday party or event where you had lots of pictures which were not good enough to be included as full size shots but which told a story and needed to be included.

I loved the fact that I could use both portrait and landscape shots. If you have index prints from developed pictures they could be used on the tags, or you could just crop and print your own.

All in all it’s a fun page and a neat way of using 12 pictures and loads of journaling without it looking horribly busy.

 

Supplies

• 1 sheet of patterned paper (I used a K and Co map paper to fit my theme)
• 1 sheet of cardstock  (I used a cream Bazzill)
• Scraps of card for journaling under the pictures
• Rubber stamps
• Journalling pen
• Chalk inks
• Circle cutter
• Sewing machine (optional of course)

 

Step by step

• I printed 11 small pictures (you don’t have to use 11 – use whatever number you fancy)        2 ¼ “ x 1 ½ “ making some portrait and some landscape. You don’t have to use this size – work with what you are planning for your page. Or use ready printed index shots
• I printed one picture 5” x 7” but then I cropped it down a bit.
• Mount the main picture on white card to make it pop.
• Cut a circle from the cardstock approximately 7” in diameter
• Write or stamp your title. I used clear stamps for mine but you could use letter stickers. The Basic Grey stickers would be a fab size for this.
• Slot the picture through the circle and trim off the excess picture from the left hand side so it doesn’t poke out of the circle frame.
• Cut 11 (or however many you are using) strips of cardstock just a tiny bit wider than the pictures and mount the pictures.
• I didn’t want the pictures to look even so I varied the length of the strips.
• Journal a title on each strip if you want one then stick just the very edge of the strip to the background paper.
• I then sewed my strips onto my paper using a simple running stitch. You don’t  have to do this. If you use a small strip of double sided tape it will secure it, but I thought the stitches looked kind of cute.
• I then decorated the blank spaces on the tags with postage stamped impressions. Use whatever suits your theme. Primas would look cute on a girlie page.
• Journal on small strips of scrap card and stick this under the tags. The journaling can be read when the tags are flipped up.
• Stick the main picture and its circular mount onto the backing paper and you are done!
• If you do use this class and upload it anywhere, please credit it as a class and please post a comment on my blog with a link as I really really do like to go and look at what you have done.

 

And just for the heck of it - this is another variation

 

 

 

 

and a third ... I do have a serious number of Disney albums!!!  Including an entire Epcot World Showcase album just showing the features of each country.  I really ought to stop witht he Disney - but let's face it - it is never going to happen.

 

 

Quick and simple mini book

Still trying to post freebies this month as I am really enjoying being free myself.

Some questions first.

Do I have a new mother board .... NO

Is my computer back ....NO

Am I happy about it .... NO

Am I getting better at being chilled about things .... ABSOLUTELY 100% YES

 

However, onto a class.

This is a really simple mini book and it was a class I used at school when I ran scrapping classes for the children. So many girls have made these little books and loved them.

It is a very very simple book and uses many ideas that I have gleaned from around cyber world. I am very keen to stress it is not unique and I owe credit for some of the techniques - the little tab and 'buckle' page to the Sleeping Under canvas mini book by DeeMo that was part of the most recent UKS cyber crop. The flap and fold page was also in that class but I have used that before and I picked that up from another mini book I saw on You Tube. I guess there are few new and unique ideas, the differences are how they are combined.

This mini book uses a very simple binding rather than a stitched or matchbook binding that I usually do.  

 

This is the front of the mini book - cats of course.

I have used the book to record the cats in 2012 so all of the pictures were taken last year.

Here are the rest of the pages

It uses just two sheets of 12" x 12" cardstock, two pieces of chipboard and scraps of card and patterned paper and is really really simple to make. I like simple!

These are the downloadable instructions in a PDF

If you make one I would love to see it so drop me a comment and a link so I can come look.

 

Enjoy creating and celebrating my freedom with me

Saturday specials - a little freebie

I promised that this month I would try and share the love of being a lady of leisure (although I do seem to be awfully busy doing nothing!) by posting some freebies and classes and templates I have made in the past. Note the use of the word 'past'

No new mother board yet! Patience is waning I have to confess.

 

This set of elements was made for a UKS blogathon

Chalkboard elements are still popular and so I thought it would be fun to play with making a few.

I have made two sets in different sizes as a free giveaway today. There is a standard 4" x 6" size and also a smaller 3" x 4" size, though they are all easy to resize to whatever size you want them to be in.

They are all standard png files - but I have also included a jpeg image of each for people who would prefer not to use png files - and they print really nicely as they are high resolution.

Firstly here is a page I have made using two of the files in the freebie collection

The photo was taken on Scarborough seafront on our tour round the UK this summer.

This is one of the elements in the set

This is one of the blank files with just a title - perfect for journalling

The other elements that are printed are from a digital kit called Instalife by Lorie M at Pickleberrypop. Even if you are a paper scrapper, do be aware of digital kits and accessories as they are perfect for printing and adding to projects and the beauty of them is you can use them again and again and again, in whatever size and colour you want.

This is what you get in the set - 10 different chalkboard elements

 You can download the files here

Chalkboard elements set 3" x 4"    Download 3x4 zip file

Chalkboard elemenets set 4" x 6"  Download 4 x 6 zip file

Chalkboard elements set jpeg files Download Jpeg zip file

I hope you have fun with them and would love to see what you make with them. Do come back and link to your creation so I can see them in action.

 

And do check back on other days this month and see what other freebies you can pick up

Template Thursday

I promised that in this first month of being off I would try and share some of the freebies I have made in the past to give people things to play with and try out. My way of celebrating I AM NOT AT WORK! Plus I can use files I have on back up which is way easier in my computer-less state.

OK so I am cheating on this one as I am recycling an older template I shared a while ago but I was going to make a new template - honestly - and I just plain ran out of time.

 

This was made for my first month as a member of the Scrapology Design Team. I am still so proud I was a member and so sad that it all ended and we no longer do scrapology.

This is my page for the challenge - Credits ... all papers and embeliishments are from Pickleberrypop here and are by Fayette, Lorie M, Jumpstart Designs and Stdio Lalie. Don't forget - huge sale going on today as well!

The photo is - of course - the Fiki monster

As it was my first design spot I made a free template for you if you would like to use it.

It is a fully layered PSD template that you can download.

DOWNLOAD free template here

  Download Scrapology Nov 13

I hope you have fun with it and please do share what you create with it

 

Today I am thankful for

external hard drives and the fact I did religiously back up each month

I have FINISHED;a new member of the family and guide to digi scrapping

I have finally finished the photo book

160 pages of hell!

 

If I ever get another special offer of a photobook at a bargain price I have told Nigel to tie my hands behind my back and NOT let me have anything to do with it. EVER. Seriously.

 

It better look good when it arrives.

 

And we have a new member of our family - no... not a fur baby.

We collected our new car and she is called Ruby. And she is magnificient. She is pretty and efficient and cheap to run (no tax, lower insurance, runs on electricity as well as petrol and is super cool. We are very excited. We collected her yesterday andI drove her for the first time today and she drives like a dream.

We took her out to the woods today. Well, when you have a 4 x 4 you have to go walking in wellies - it's the law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yhe nose is healing slowly - part of the scab came off today - plenty more left!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and she is called Ruby because although she is black she is painted in ruby pearl and so when the sun shines on her she sparkles a deep ruby red. Very very pretty but a bit hard to capture.

 

 

 

I have a new page to share today made with a collection called Creating Memories by Lorie M

 

This is what I made with it

 

 

Now some advice

Julie you said you would love to start Digi scrapping but were unsure where to start. If I can do it anyone can.

I use Photoshop elements - the full photoshop programme is really expensive but elements will do everything you need it to do. I have no plans to upgrade.  You can get a free trial here

And it is not too expensive to buy. I still use Elements 5 I am ashamed to say but I have bought elements 12. I see it is now on Elements 14. Crickey!

 

I taught myself but I did do several Jessica Sprague classes and they are brilliant for teaching you how to digi scrap. I highly recommend them. Do check out her website and I suggest taking a course or two. They are really really good when you are starting out.

 

There are lots of free kits out there you can download - though in my experience many are free for a reason. However, at Pickleberrypop you can download this free starter pack and it's very pretty.

Julie I promise if you start you won't look back. I would never give up my paper and glue but I would never give up my digital scrapping either and they are fab once printed out. Ask away if you have more questions

 

Today I am thankful for

• our wonderful new car
• a finished book
• sunshine and a walk in the woods

 

 

 

 

 

 

a different sort of Saturday

I had to work at lunchtime and this afternoon today and so I spent a lot of the morning clock watching which was a bit silly.

Work for a few hours was actually an enjoyable event.

I plan on spending tomorrow vegging out.

 

I have a new page to share today made with a collection called Love Story by Mel Designs

 

 

I love the photo of my favourite little family in the world.

 

Today I am thankful for

• a different Saturday
• colouring
• Amazon Prime - it's back!

 

 

Friday at last

It's been a funny old week. Lots going on - most of which I cannot say yet.

One good piece of news is that I had a blood test today - obviously no results yet but it was at a small cottage hospital and they were so nice. It was easy to park, amazingly quick service, no wait and totally wonderful - well as wonderful as a blood test could be.

I always have dire problems getting blood as apparently I have no veins.

I went into the room and there were two nurses there and I explained my usual issue and they both looked at my hands and arms and said'wow, there really isn't anything there'. Bit worrying that really. Anyway they told me to go to the sink in the corner and run my hands under the hot water for 5 mins which I did. And she was in first time, no collapses, no slips, just straight into a vein and blood out.

Best blood test I have ever had.

Kira also had blood tests this week and her results show a possible kidney issue which was what we expected as she is drinking a lot and she is of that age. We now have the joyous job of collecting a urine sample. That is such fun with cats!

I have new scrapping to share today with a brand new release by Eurdora Designs

 

 

A friend - who has the most gorgeous daughters - has let me have photos of her girls to scrap and this is the first one I have scrapped. She is stunningly pretty and I know I am going to love working with their photos.

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a painless trouble free test
• FRIDAY

 

And it plummets further

We have one of those alarm clocks that projects the time on the ceiling and it also projects the temperature from a sensor outside.

It was a bit sobering lying in bed at 5.30 just before I got up to see it reading -4 degrees. Well sobering for me. Mt friend Barb has temperatures way way lower than that. And more regularly too.

We even heard from our friend Mike in Florida today to say the Orlando area had been very cold too. I cannot imaging cold in Florida ... but I think I'd like it. I think as a Brit I would find it pleasnatly cool.

 

I have new work to share today.

Dawn has a brand new collection out called You Light Up My Life.

 

I guess with a title like that it is kind of obvious what I would scrap

 

 

The colours in the collection are gorgeous and just what you need to lift a dull January and the illustrations, as always, just first class.

 

Today I am thankful for

• a wonderful chiropodist ... I feel all pampered
• furry boats to keep those newly cherished toes warm
• courage