Thursday, October 31, 2013

Summer photos and a new paper!

Hello! I hope you had a lovely Halloween evening yesterday! We don't really celebrate Halloween in Sweden but the kids like to dress up and today I left a pirate and a witch at day care! They are having a costume party.  
 
Today I'm sharing three new layouts with summer photos and bright fun colors! First is a square design with four 6''x6'' papers. Hubby was holding the camera and taking photos from a distance of our son and me at the play ground.
 
 
Then I'm sharing photos of the kids in the tiny children's pool at my mum's place. The background design is the same as in the Paparazzi layout above but the finished layout is far from the same. It is a very nice starting point, I think. You can do so much from that basic back ground and you get to use those lovely 6''x6'' paper pads that we love so much! When I had placed the PL-cards and the photos it was really hard to know what to do next and all embellishments I tried got lost in the busy page. Then I decided to "think big" and found a bunch of really big and bold paper flowers and added ribbon and buttons in the middle and some dark blue washi to ground the flowers to the background.  I think it turned out pretty well.  
 
 
Last is a photo from "that boat trip of ours" with some pretty papers and some random stuff :)
 
 
Have you guys seen this awesome new paper? Lol, I've made it myself! You know I'm crazy about everything camera patterned and I have collected my fair share of camera stamps. The other day I had an epiphany and realized that you can stamp in other colors than black. I only own black and brown ink pads but I have a couple of small cat eye ones and Versa Color ones that I only have used for inking edges of papers. And I have the white Memento! I selected three camera stamps and started stamping on a smooth piece of black cardstock and I'm actually surprised how good it turned out!
 
 
 I made some frames with the paper trimmer and it was sooo easy and I think they turned out sooo well! I tried stamping with some of my clear stamps and I think the effct was pretty awesome! I will not but frames in the future, I will make them myself!
 
 
 
I hope you will have a wonderful weekend and that you will have the oportunity to scrap alot!
Hugs!
//Åsa
 

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Food, kitten and a view!

 Hello! Today I'm sharing two layouts and two recipe cards! The layouts are first and they are both a lot darker than anything I have made in a long time. In a way it was kind of needed to break the pastel domination, just a tiny bit. Tomorrow I'll be back with soft pastel and aqua, don't worry :)
 
First is a layout with Kosmos! The photos are from his first days with us and he looks all fluffy! Now he is a big cat and I've almsot forgotten that he was a kitten when he moved in. I have used four 6''x6'' papers from Amy Tangerine's "Sketchbook" collection for the circles and the photo mats. I chalked the edges and added sequins in gold and black. The placement of the wood veneers made me think of the James Bond movie intros with the silhouettes :) If I'd made this layout today I would have made it differently and perhaps tried to ground the circles on to the background. Now they are floating around like bubbles, but I think that is kind of fun so I've decided to be pleased with how it turned out.
 
 
Next is an artsy layout here I've gone crazy with acrylic paint and ink spray. I've added rhinestones and washi on white paper. The arrows on the photo are for helping the eye find my daughter and myself where we stand in the outlook tower.
 
 
I've made two new recipe cards and I have a couple of more waiting to be made! Fun fun fun! Today I'm serving grain free lowcarb breakfast buns and grain free low carb berry tarts.
 
 
 
 I hope you'll have a really nice day!
Hugs
//Åsa

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Haul #3

 Hello again, again! This is my haul from Craftie Charlie in UK! For all of it, including shipping to Sweden I paid £55 (600 SEK or $90) which I think is rather expensive...
 
I bought three 6''x6'' paper pads and I will love every minute creating with these lines!
 
I had a small pad from the I {heart} summer collection but I thought it was such a nice collection I wanted the paper pad as well. It might be a silly decision but I just love the colors!
 
 
Our closest Disney is Disneyland in Paris... but I love this collection and it will go fine with just any photos, I think! I love the papers with the stars and the ones with the dots. So fun and bright and happy! I will get myself a sheet of the journaling cards for this collection in the future.
 
 
This collection from Fancy Pants is just lovly and the colors remind me of the collections from October Afternoon. The camera paper is to die for and I will try and get my hands on the 12''x12'' version as well!
 
 
 
It is something with clear stamp manufacturers and the tricks they play that goes straight into my shopping mind and forces me to NEEEED their products like it was the only thing keeping me alive! They are sooo good at it! This time I needed threee sets and the first one is from MME. I love the geotag and the long chevron border. I will use it on every project from now on! At least for a couple of weeks...
 
 
Then I needed the BG stamps from Hero Arts that goes with the Hipster collection. Here I just love the feather and the music tape. The rain cloud is fun too. The clear stamp set from Amy Tangerine is fun and I really like all four of the stamps a lot! 
 
 
I've had my eyes on this set of washi tape from Teresa Collins since it came out and I have thought it was horriby expensive! But I had to own that black camera washi and the other two are really sweet so I finally decided it was time to buy before it was all sold out!
 

Yeah! I've been shopping! I will have sooo much fun with these goodies and I will show you all my projects and share the fun! Thanks for your visit, please come back soon!
 
Hugs!
//Åsa

Hauls #1-2

Hello again! Now I'm back with two of my hauls!
 
My first haul is from Sirap i Paris and it cost me a total of 366 SEK which equals 40 Euro or $54. It was a 20% off sale and I'm quite pleased with the price.
 
First I got a bunch of papers, I'm showing the page that I want to use the most, but some of the papers have really nice second sides as well.  
 
 
 
 

Then I got the empemera pack from The Pier collection. I love it! Especially the pieces with gold!
 
 
I bought three sets of clar stamps. Two jars and a set of hexagon sentiments. I also love the little icons that came with the hexagons! I have a thing for jars as I told you before and I plan to make both cards and layouts using these.
 
 
 
My second haul is from the Swedish auction site Tradera (like eBay). I made two really nice deals. I paid almost nothing for the duck-paper clips, at least I paid more for postage than I paid for the actual items.
 
 
 
I have had my eyes on these camera stamps on Etsy for quite some time now and the shipping cost has prevented me from ordering. I really love everything with cameras on! Now I found them in a Swedish auction and I got them for 28 SEK shipping included (3 Euro or US$ 4.2).
 
 
I think I'll have two cups of coffe tonight so that I have energy to play with all my goodies!
 
Take care!
//Åsa

Three different


Good morning! Today I'm sharing three more layouts from my scrapbooking vacation! The are rather different from eachother and I think it is fun to see that I'm not creating just the same layout over and over again just adding new photos, because it certainly feels that way from time to time. We have actually laughed about it, hubby and I, while I have been unpacking my latest purchases. The colors are all the same (yellow, pink and aqua) and I have totally stuck on cameras and chevron for embellishments - but it is sooo pretty!!!
 
I wonder what my next obs will be, I know it always comes new products and I will think it is the prettiest in the world! I'm starting to get a bit into the feather icons, geotags and frames. I'd love to get my hands on a stamp of a cup with lid, the kind you get "to go".
 
First today is a layout with two photos of my son playing with Duplo Lego.
 


Do you remember my boat trip? These photos were taken when we came back and I tried to capture the feeling of shoreline environment with my camera. The title is an old Swedish expression "captured by stone" that means that you get almost obsessed with something, and I wrote my journaling about how beautiful I think rock can be.  
 
Sweden was more or less ground down by the latest ice age, our rock surfaces are smooth and flat and in some areas you see very obvious furrows where the ice has almost plown the rock. It gives a very special coast line and I think it is very beautiful!
 
 
Here is a sweet photo of my daughter and our kitten Kosmos. I love the color combination pink, sand and white! A while ago when layouts were darker I used to love brown and pink and I think this is the same but more up to date and more summerlike.
 
 
Here is the LINK to my first two hauls and the LINK to my third haul! I'm so plesed with all the goodies I bought and I want to share the fun with someone who knows how fun it can be with a box from a scrap shop!
 
Have a lovely day and thanks for all the sweet comments I got yesterday! It made my day!
//Åsa 

Monday, October 28, 2013

O scrapbook time - where art thou?

Hello! I'm back after more than a week of sick leave, first with the kids and then with myself. Baaah! I feel really off! Now I've been on the phone for a couple of hours and my voice is still holding. So happy about that!

During sick leave I did some scrapbooking between coughing and sneezing and I'm actually quite proud of what I have accomplished.

I started with rearranging some in my scrapbooking cabinet. I took out all the empty jars that I've been hoardin and put them in the basement instead. I sorted my old embellishments and made some inspiring finds. I found new storage for my stamps and for the embellishments that I use often.

I have been watching lots of haul videos and found great inspiration (as always) in my scrapbook idol nicolejones911. I even made a scraplift of one of her layouts! I am also only one layout from finishing the albun for my cousin's son! That really surprises me since I was really prepared to sit during the nights the week before Christmas and scrap in panic to get it done. It has been so much fun and I think some of the pressure I normally feel when I create lifted because it wasn't for my own album and my own super critical fashion/design eyes. Refreshing!  
I still haven't shown you all the layouts I made during my scrapbooking retreat/staycation the other week so you'll have to wait for my most recent layouts a couple of more days, but trust me, they are worth waiting for!  :)

First in today's row of pages is a sunburst layout with 6''x6'' papers from The Pier. My son and I take selfies with the mobile phone camera.



They are building a bridge over the bay where our town i situated and I have taken lots of photos of the project. Bridges inspire me alot and I think it is such a historical thing happening that I want to document it just because I can. It will forever change the view from/on our town and I think it is important. I also think it will be beautiful when it is done! Right now it is just a large work place and it is just amazing how they can get it all in place with such precision!


This layout had me digging through the old sticker sheets from Simple Stories. I think it turned out pretty nice. I try to document my daughter's reading progress. She is 5½ and in the middle of getting her speed up on her reading and writing. We read alot at home and I'm sure she'll become an avid reader as well.  


Now I need to make a confession... During my illness I caved in and invested in some retail therapy... I was a bit disapponted in myself at first but then the joy of waiting for goodies took over, now I'm only happy that I actually pressed the buy-button!

I made three orders and one has already arrived. I think I'll show it tomorrow, or later today. That order was from Swedish web-shop Sirap i Paris which is one of my absolute favorites and they had a 20% off sale! They seem to have all the stuff I like and they are much more up to date than most shops. Then I wanted to place an order with my other favorite shop CiliInPapers but lots of the things I wanted were out of stock so instead I ordered from my new favorite shop in UK Craftie Charlie. Finally I noticed when I was coloring images for the Christmas cards that I had run out or Warm Grey 2 which I use for outlining all my Magnolia and hÄnglar motives so I placed an order and happened to find a shop that had a super duper discount on Gorjuss stamps so I "had to" order a bunch of those... That is perhaps the part of the shopping madness that I feel a bit guilty about still but I know I will have such a great time coloring those cute girls! So stay tuned for some haul posts!

Have a nice day!
//Åsa 

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Party!


Hi there!
Today I have two layouts without kids. Strange, I know. But sometimes grown ups do memorable things without their kids and I have done two such things lately, one in July and one in August. Yeah, really stange! In July we were invited to a BBQ-party and that is such a rare thing in our lives it was something I was looking forward to for a long time! We usually just hang with family and relatives these days and this time we had the kids at their grandparents' and we got to meet lots of our friends and have a great time!
 
The speach bubbles were perfect for this layout and the color even matched the fabric roof over our heads. There was a flag banner over the tables and I felt I just had to decorate the layout with a colorful banner.
 
 
These photos were taken on our kick off with work in late August. We went to a conferens centre out in the country side half an hours drive from town. It was totally wonderful and we had such a good time there. The food was extraordinary and our rooms were so nice! After dinner we sat in an outdoor jacuzzi under the trees and the nights sky. It was such a great happening for all of us and I wasn't the only one taking photos :)
 
 
Tomorrow I'll be back with the normal parent scrapbook pages! Take care!
//Åsa 

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Summertime!

 Good morning!
I'm holding on to summer with two more layouts from earlier this year. But first I'd like to share a photo from when I made the first layout, so that you get to see the lovely company I have when I craft! Say hi to Kosmos! As you can see, he prefers The Pier, just like his "human mum".
 
 
I made a background using 3''x4'' journaling cards from my summer stash. I like the many colors with the summer photos!
 
 
Next is a layout with a background I made using a wood grain template and spray ink. The white whale in the pool is me and the smaller fish is my dear daughter ;)
 

Next post will have more summer layouts! There are plenty to come!
 
Have a nice day!
//Åsa

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Summer memories!

Good morning! It feels so good to be back! Thank you so very much for all the sweet comments on the cards I posted yesterday! Christmas card maiking is just around the corner so you'll soon see more cards and Swedish stamps in the blog! Stay tuned!
 
Today I'm sharing three layouts that I made during my four days off from work, on my lovely scrapbooking retreat - at home! I've had "problems" falling into "the pit of monocolor" lately so when I made these layouts I concentrated on using atleast two colors and I think I did really well for once!
 
First is a layout with a family selfie, I think it is really funny! I love the cut outs I used, they are from a sheet of patterend paper from Teresa Collins.
 
 
Next is a beach layout with sand between my toes! Can northern Sweden really be like this?!? At the moment it feels almost surreal! I had been longing to use these products with these photos and it was so much fun. I have never used a frame like that before and I like it alot. I was a bit surprised that these chipboards were sooo thick! That wasn't necessary, in my opinion.
 
 
My hubby laughs at me when I buy or save empty glass jars. I love them and he knows it. I use them all around the house for various storage, especially in the pantry. When I first saw the paper with the jars I felt they had made it just for me! And hubby got to laugh some more. He can do that, he loves me the way I am. The title for this layout is "Books are candy for fantasy" and the photo is taken one afternoon when I had been to the library borrowing books for the kids. They flipped through all of them before dinner and I had to document it with the camera.
 
 
Yeah, it is me! But it is not monocolor! I can do it! I love it!
 
Have a wonderful day! Hugs!
//Åsa 
 

Monday, October 14, 2013

Cards!

Hi there!
How have you been? It was such a long time since I posted but now I'm back! I was off from work for four days to scrapbook and it was totally wonderful! After that I have had two full weeks without any scrapbooking at all. But now I'm longing to go back to my scrapbooking table soooo much!!
 
During myI worked on the album for my cousin's son and I've got 20 layouts done there now! I made lots of layouts for our family albums and even some pages for our recipe albums.
 
I made a bunch of quick cards without sentiments for all those occasions when you just need a small card and don't have the time to make a new one.
 
All the stamps are Swedish. The ones with the small eyes are from a company called hÄnglar & stÄnglar and the ones with larger eyes are from Magnolia.
 
The images are colored with ProMarkers.
 
 
 
 
 
Next time I'll start showing you the layouts I made for the family albums. Have a nice day! 
//Åsa Malm