7Gypsies yumminess

This month Mel and Jill at A Trip Down Memory Lane sent out a selection of 7Gypsies goodies to create with for the shop design team gallery.

I have to admit that 7Gypsies papers aren't the first I think of when creating layouts as I generally like to use more colourful and/or playful papers. However, being given something different from the norm really does help to give a push outside of your comfort zone and normal creative boundaries. And the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so to speak, and I absolutely love all the projects I created this month!

I made three layouts with the Paddington papers, another using the Conservatory papers and then I decorated a beautiful decorative heart I bought from the local garden centre. So double whammy for me then because I don't usually do off the page pieces either!

The gallery is up over at A Trip Down Memory Lane (be sure to click over all three pages to see everything) where you can see a whole range of beautiful pieces created by the design team. Some sneakies from my submissions to whet your appetite are below:

On this page I used the packaging tag from a roll of 7Gypsies tape and added some of the steampunk style rub-ons to it and layered over some of the phrase stickers (I absolutely adore those sheets of 7Gypsies 97% complete stickers, I have LOTS of them and use them LOTS too!).

Here I used some more of the rub-ons, a couple directly onto the sheer journaling block and a third onto a button. Oh, and I wanted that splash of red in the bottom corner but the words on the tape didn't 'fit' the page at all so I simply cut it down into smaller pieces so you get the effect without the distraction of uncomplimentary text.

I already had a pile of these die cut butterflies sitting on my desk from my previous post over at It's a Creative World. Some more of those rub-ons on buttons, layered them on a selection of the journal blocks from a Pink Paislee notebook and there is a very easy (but striking) embellishment for a very simple (but striking) page.

You know, I really probably wouldn't have bought the rub-ons either, I'm not much into the grunge or steampunk look, but I feel a need to buy more of them because I have loved how they add such fun and interesting detail to the pages. The actual ones I used are these but there is a whole range of 7Gypsies rub-ons available in the shop here.

Yet another of those butterflies (well, two actually, the sheet music one was rather flimsy so I layered it over a corrugated card one to make it more sturdy).  I absolutely love these little typewriter words, the set I had was Family but there are other themes too - and just how perfect was the 'gather' one for a page about my daughter's snail collecting habit?!

Finally, a peek at the decorated heart. I  added in quite a few bits and pieces onto this item. The key and quote sticker are 7Gypsies, the bird/oval frame was cut out of some very delicious My Mind's Eye Lost and Found papers, the sticker heart is Webster's Pages and the little love embellishment is from way back when when I first started scrapbooking, as are the little metal pins (which I added some beads to).

The August gallery over at A Trip Down Memory Lane went live a couple of days ago. We had yummy new papers and stickers from Echo Park to play with. Such a fun range!

Here are sneak peeks of some of my pages - I did four layouts altogether - just click on the previous link to go and see them (and the gorgeousness by the other DT members) up close and personal :)

They also have LOTS AND LOTS of yummy new goodies now in stock. I adore the 7Gypsies rubbings (rub-ons in other words), they are such beautiful designs and they actually DO rub-on and so easily too (even the very old ones I have in my stash).

I have my eyes on this set in particular.

And what about the Conservatory collection? I'm still loving butterflies in my scrapbooking so this one caught my eye straight away but, really, all the papers in this range are particularly beautiful and perfect for using on altered projects especially.

And some new stamp sets from Autumn Leaves. Loving this Silhouette Blossom set.













All the new products (this is only a taster) can be found in their New Products section (unsurprisingly!).

Thank you :)

To everyone everywhere for their heartwarming birthday messages yesterday.

Made a snap decision when I collected Josh from swimming to go to the pics, so me and him went to see Inception (was going to be the A Team but I couldn't be bothered to wait until 9.15!). Really enjoyed it, one of those 'huh?!' films but an enjoyable action film which made you think and gave us lots to talk about in the car on the way home.

Yesterday the Creative Scrappers sketch #116 went live, another fabby sketch.

Which I turned upside down cos it suited my photos better doing that.

Products used:

Patterned papers - Fancy Pants, Scenic Route, Sassafrass
Stickers -  Sassafrass, 7Gypsies
Alphas - Doodlebug, Adornit
Fabric brad - Little Yellow Bicycle

Remember, if you join along with any of the sketches for the month, add your links to the blog and be in for a chance to win a prize. Have fun :)

A blast from the past

Another quick share of a page I did for the March gallery over at A Trip Down Memory Lane. Working with the 7gypsies papers again. I had just been given some old photos by my mother in law and really liked this photo of her own father. He had died long before I ever met Len and, truthfully, I don't know much at all about him. Not even his proper first name. Everyone knew him as Bootsy - even his children and grandchildren. I have got to get more details so I can add some journaling to the tags.


The papers were very clean looking, so I dirtied them up by adding Distress ink and spray mist to the papers, adding some ripping, curling and tearing for good measure! I used lots of circles with the stitching, cardstock, buttons and stickers, to echo the tyres of the motorbike. It's quite simply embellished with a variety of buttons, rub-ons (7gypsies) and stickers (7gypsies and Jennie Bowlin). I love using word and label stickers, they are such an easy (as in, lazy) way of layering and adding interest to a page.


The gorgeous American Crafts thickers on here are a cream pearlised finish. Beautiful but, again, too clean looking so I spritzed them with the spray mist again and lightly blottted. I love the effect - a bit like colourful oil splatters! Oh and can you see that there? A blast from the past - a Making Memories metal word washer - and how perfect is it for this page? Just proves having a good old rummage through your stash can reveal treasures indeed.

Oh and check out the A Trip Down Memory Lane blog - giveaways and challenges mean there's plenty of ways to win some lovely goodies :)

Still Scrapping for NSD :)

This is my 10th completed page. It was a struggle finding papers tbh, look at all those contrasting clothes! I didn't want to change it to black and white though - it being an older photo (like about 30 years old) I wanted to keep the detail of the fashions at the time (as they could be called, not that this lot looked at all fashionable, but then again I guess playing darts for the local pub didn't really require it).


I've used the latest sketch over at Creative Scrappers as well as a couple of stamps for the Hero Arts layout challenge and other stuff to fit in with a couple of Two Peas challenges.

I used glimmer/cosmic shimmer mists onto kraft cardstock, a selection of scraps of papers (Chatterbox and 7Gypsies in the main). The smaller tag opens out to reveal several pages for journaling - once I get the story from DH - and I even included a bottle cap in homage to the pub! The picture of the layout isn't so great, but the light has gone here now and I had to rely on flash instead (hence having to photo at an angle).

Happy (Inter)National Scrapbooking Day

There are lots of things happening around scrapbooking land .... many of the manufacturers have giveaways and challenges ... to check them all out scroll down my sidebar and work your way through the list (please excuse a couple of links are still broken, I have fixed quite a few but I still need to research on others).

Have just had an email from Hero Arts that they are having random prizes issued for people uploading layouts to their Flickr gallery so I'm going to get my desk cleared and stamps and inks out at the ready for that one too!

Another new find for me today, Scrapbook Challenges ... it's a Ning community group that has got lots of challenges AND a blog hop (which starts at Pamela's blog), all with great prizes. I'm loving the look of the regular challenges too. I can see this being quite a regular drop in point for me from now on :) And I really want to give that great sketch a go, I think it will be the next on the list after I have finished the one I am working on just now.

ETA have eventually found the list of challenges over at Two Peas in a Bucket. Check it out!

Because of my laziness in blogging recently I have a backlog of pages to share. I will start with one I did for A Trip Down Memory Lane for their April gallery, using papers from the Avignon and Venice ranges. I especially loved the colours in the Venice papers.

This is practically a vintage photograph - one of me in Bodrum, Turkey, not long after we were married, and just before the place became really popular as a tourist resort.




I created some tags by covering cardstock with the Diagram paper and colouring with my distress inks to tone in with the Venice papers. I used a mish mash of embellishments, including the fabulous 7Gypsies stickers (I can barely complete a layout without them).


I used some 7Gpysies rub-ons to add interest to this bottom tag and button. And I have to say that these pearlised chipboard Thickers from American Crafts are just GORGEOUS, love the elegant shimmer of them.