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Inspired by Evelyn La Fleur

Buzz Lightyear in our house

Throughout June, I’ve had a heap of fun on Instagram with a month-long photo challenge: #scrapbookingismysuperpower. This past weekend one of the prompts was to scrap lift, and I chose a beautiful page by Evelyn La Fleur.

beautifully die cut scrapbook page by Evelyn La Fleur

I love that colourful and detailed cut pattern at the top and came up with a thought to make it go with that Buzz Lightyear photo above – not flowers, stars! Of course. And I also wanted to include some white but mostly a more saturated colour – like purple.

To Infinity and Beyond - Buzz Lightyear scrapbook page by Shimelle Laine

I even gave her way of photographing pages a try and it was so much fun, if a little disconcerting that it would make me want an endless supply of dishes and things to coordinate with every layout.

Star background cut file - free for personal use

I didn’t see a star background like what I was imagining on the Silhouette store or with a quick Google search, so I put together this one. It’s very simple, but I like how it turned out! Click the image to download the PNG and you’re welcome to use it freely for your own pages and projects. I just opened it in Silhouette Studio, made it the size I wanted, then used the ‘trace’ function to add the cut lines.

If you use it, please share – I’d love to see what it inspired on your desk! Happy scrapping!

A Christmas Manifesto + Free Wallpaper

Christmas Manifesto Free Desktop Wallpaper

On the first of December, I always make some sort of promise to myself. It’s a perfect day for declaring intentions for the Christmas season and it’s always been a key to the idea of taking back Christmas for me: a day to be in control and remember the course you want to steer.

This year, I am letting go of the need to go through certain traditions on specific dates, as we won’t be home on Christmas day. At first, that idea really shook me, but the more it has sunk in, the more I have remembered the season is what we make it and there is no reason not to feel that special kind of Christmas happiness throughout December or far away. Christmas is more than than a routine. So this year, I’ve come up with this manifesto to focus my energy on doing good, reflecting and saying thank you.

If you share these wishes for the season, feel free to grab the image above for your blog or save any of these files as wallpaper for your computer desktop or mobile phone. It’s available in three colours: red, green and pink.

Red Desktop Wallpaper – 1024×768
Red Desktop Wallpaper – 1600×1200
Red Desktop Wallpaper – 1900×1200
Red Phone Wallpaper – 320×480

Pink Desktop Wallpaper – 1024×768
Pink Desktop Wallpaper – 1600×1200
Pink Desktop Wallpaper – 1900×1200
Pink Phone Wallpaper – 320×480

Green Desktop Wallpaper – 1024×768
Green Desktop Wallpaper – 1600×1200
Green Desktop Wallpaper – 1900×1200
Green Phone Wallpaper – 320×480

Manifesto Christmas Journal
Of course, December for me is also about keeping a Christmas journal and writing about Christmas past, present and future. I included this manifesto this year, printed on cardstock and sprayed with Calico Cream Mister Huey.

Two questions that always come up today regarding Journal your Christmas have easy answers:
Is it too late to sign up? It’s never too late to sign up! You can join at absolutely any time and have full, permanent access to all the materials. There’s no pressure to finish everything in one month, so we would love for you to join us at any time.
Will you be blogging your journal? Because I include pictures of my journal in the daily prompts, no, I don’t blog my full journal here. I’ll show you a few bits and pieces now and then, but throughout December I have other projects lined up to show you on the blog, including some tutorials and some special guests. There’s a video tutorial tomorrow morning, for example! Many Christmas journal participants blog every day and I love seeing all the albums come to life!

Christmas Manifesto Printable
Getting back to the manifesto image – you can also print it on photo paper and display it somewhere you’ll see it daily to help keep your focus. I’m all about quiet visual reminders to keep me on track.

Of course I also love a good Christmas story, and oh my goodness did you lovelies fill yesterday’s post with beautiful memories. If you need some Christmas spirit, just read through them! I hope they are all stories you tell in your scrapbooks at some point because if they make me emotional and I don’t even know you in real life, well then they would be treasured by your friends and family for sure.

But from all of those comments, one randomly chosen reader had to win the $50 gift card to Two Peas in a Bucket, so a drumroll please:
winner of scrapbooking supplies gift card
Cath, email me to claim your prize! (I’m sorry I couldn’t give $50 to everyone. I would say ‘when I win the lottery…’, but I never play. That’s not going to work then, is it?)

A very merry first of December to you! What are your intentions this holiday season? I’d love to read your take on a Christmas manifesto!

xlovesx

A free digital scrapbooking kit plus a challenge

free digital scrapbooking kit

There are five new free digital scrapbooking kits available at Two Peas this weekend in celebration of National Scrapbooking Day, including this template and set of three papers from Shimelle Digitals.

Download this free kit and use it on a page this week and you can win your choice of any three items from the Shimelle Digitals store. Your project can be digital or hybrid.

To enter, create your project and upload it to the Two Peas Gallery. To upload a project there, click on ‘Member Gallery’ at the top and choose ‘upload a new project’ from the pull-down menu. In the final step of uploading your project, it will ask if you want to add products to show what you used when you made your page. Click yes and add the kit (it’s called Enjoy the Little Things). Then complete the upload. This will enter you in the challenge!

You can leave a link here as well if you would like to share what you made — plus please note the uploading process above is how you’re formally entered to win. Thanks!

This challenge ends next weekend at 11:59pm on the 9th of May. The winner will be posted here on shimelle.com.

Happy scrapping!

xlovesx

A scrapbook from a coffee cup

scrapbook made from a coffee cup

Wilna comes up with some fabulous ideas and this is one I have been meaning to try for ages: an album made from a tall Starbucks takeaway coffee cup! She has three of these in her shop, each with a different theme. Cupcakes and coffee, love and this kit with a garden theme.

The beauty of these is that you don’t have to do anything digital other than print the pages onto cardstock or photo paper. Just like you would print anything else from your computer. If you want to get all digital, she includes PNG files you can use for that, but I used the straight print-and-go PDF files in the kit and did everything else at my scrapping table, not my computer.

scrapbook made from a coffee cup

Well, you will have to do one other thing away from your scrapping table, and that’s order a coffee. (Well, actually you can print that too if you like — she’s included a printable cup too.) I used a tall sized cup from Starbucks, rinsed it out and let it dry, then took it apart following her directions. So easy. I added colour to the cover and some of the pages with Glimmer Mists and added a bit of patterned paper, some trims and some gems, but most everything here is just print it out, stick on a photo and glue and/or sew it all together.

Of course gardening isn’t the most obvious theme for someone who lives in a flat without a garden and hasn’t even managed to keep the herbs alive through the winter, but I have plenty of photos of my favourite nearby green space and maybe this little book can will some blue skies to fruition so it can soon be the perfect place for a picnic. I love few things more than a picnic.

So here’s the inside of the book:
scrapbook made from a coffee cup
scrapbook made from a coffee cup
scrapbook made from a coffee cup
scrapbook made from a coffee cup
scrapbook made from a coffee cup
scrapbook made from a coffee cup
scrapbook made from a coffee cup

The cupcakes and coffee kit is a free download, so go get it, order a hot beverage and get crafty! Soon you’ll want to make one in every theme imaginable…so more coffee for you or you’ll have to invite a friend. Shame!

Also, just a little heads up: I’ll be teaching a 5 hour workshop at Eclectic Keepsakes in Essex for National Scrapbook Day. It’s an album class (not a minibook!) and there shall be a great deal of Dear Lizzy on the premises, along with some other fabulous goodies. The places are very limited, so if you would like to come, book your place soon.

xlovesx

It's Rebekah's birthday... and you get a free printable present!

free happy birthday digital download

The lovely Rebekah is celebrating her birthday with a scrapping blog party all this weekend and you get all the presents. If you visit her blog you’ll find giveaways and special projects from dozens of scrappers. Rebekah is giving away a shimelle.com class pass this weekend and I know you’ll love her blog anyway as her paper projects are delightful, so add her to your reading list. Enjoy!

And for my little stop on the hop, I have a free gift for you to download! Click here to download a free Happy Birthday printable with a full page of birthday accents and journaling boxes that you can print on any paper you like. I hope you find it useful for pages or cards — and if you make something please share a link as I’d love to see!

The next party stop is Annette who will have something new for you at 9 this morning!

And tomorrow I have something so terribly exciting to share with you, so do come back to see!

Right: off to the final day of Stitch & Craft London! See some of you there!

Have a fabulous birthday Rebekah!!!

xlovesx

A Christmas page and a sketch challenge for you

christmas scrapbook page
Supplies include the ever-so-lovely Jolly by Golly collection from Cosmo Cricket and journaling paper by Making Memories.

Throughout 2009, I’ve led a weekly challenge at UKScrappers called Scrap Like You Mean It, and we’re in the final few weeks of that year-long adventure. We’ve scrapped with different materials, different topics, different sizes and different designs to make sure we made time each week for something fun and crafty.

This week’s challenge is a sketch challenge based on the layout above from the December issue of Scrapbook Inspirations. The sketch is also available as a free digital download.

free digital scrapbooking download
Click to download this sketch as a digital page template in psd format.

The challenge runs through the end of next Wednesday and I’d love to see your pages! Paper, hybrid and digital all welcome! Find this week’s challenge discussion here on UKScrappers. UKS members can upload their pages to the Scrap Like You Mean It gallery, or you can play along by leaving a link to your page in the comments here.

If you’re downloading the template, it would be lovely if you said hello! I hope you find it useful.

Happy scrapping!

xlovesx

A challenge for you...and a free digi download

digital scrapbook page

All this weekend there’s a birthday party going on at the Pencil Lines sketch blog. At some point you’ll find a challenge from yours truly, so check their site so you don’t miss it! If you complete the challenge, you might win a little something! But even if you don’t win, there’s a little something for you!

free digital page template to download

Just click to download this free .psd layered page template if you would like to complete the challenge digitally!

Happy Saturday!

xlovesx

More with this month's sketch (and a free digi download)

sketch by Karen Cole - free download
Click to download layered .psd template.

Every month, Scrapbook Inspirations includes a sketch and six corresponding scrapbook pages, but how about a little bit more? Karen Cole contributed the sketch in our October issue, and it’s here today for you to download as a digital template or use as a starting point for a paper page.

scrapbook page from a sketch
Supplies: Cosmo Cricket Earth Love patterned papers, My Little Shoebox Mini Alpha Stickers, Bazzill Basics Dotted Swiss cardstock, and letters from American Crafts and Basic Grey.

Here’s my paper page derived from the sketch — with some Cosmo love, which I do believe has developed into a requirement for every page lately! Quite happily, I might add. Their papers always look so lovely.

digital scrapbook page
Supplies: papers by Meredith Fenwick, Holly McCaig and The Queen of Quirk Worn Frames by Mary Ann Wise Hand-stamped alpha by Meredith Fenwick plus title alpha & flowers from Paislee Press/Audacious Designs collab kit and spatter brush set by Rhonna Farrer.

And a little something digital from the layered template — photos from the Japan Festival held in East London a few weeks back. Crowded but delicious fun.

(By the way, does anyone else suffer from a Juno-induced problem with Benihana? I can’t walk by the place or hear it referenced without saying…either to myself or aloud..that the plan is to go to Benihana, then the prom, then Vijay’s parents’ cabin. Seriously, it’s a problem. Thankfully I am easily distracted back again by Japanese food. Otherwise I will get really angry about Katrina Devorte, perhaps. And no one wants to see that. Wait. It’s just me, isn’t it? Rubbish. Back to scrapbooking now.)

You can also catch Karen’s original layout and Rachel Ward’s layout for more inspiration.

We’re always looking for layouts that our readers create when they’ve been inspired by something in the magazine, like the sketch. If you tell us about them, you might even find your page on the SI blog or on the pages of the magazine. So it’s your turn now: let’s see what you do with this sketch. If you upload your page online, make sure to leave a link in the comments so we can find your page!

xlovesx