Going, going, gone

We didn't get the second burst of snow that was predicted for today so we have the cold but not the fun. I can't complain though as I am off skiing in a couple of months time so hopefully there will be plenty there! That's had me thinking about holidays and why I love scrapbooking - you can relive those moments anytime of the year just through a layout.

Here are two pieces of work that are beach and holiday related. The first is a quick-make reply card for a nautical-themed party - I found the tiny bottles in a miniature dolls house shop and managed to type a tiny message to insert inside. I used an old piece of cardboard (painted with acrylic paint) and some oddments of string to add to the washed up look.

The layout is from a holiday in the sun in 2005 and features my lovely group of close friends (minus one who couldn't make it). I like what this reminds me of - a week spent relaxing doing not very much at all! I made it for a magazine project last year using the Big Shot dies - the negative strip was the main die used to create the border which was a great way of using up odd photos too. I then die-cut flowers to alternate between the individual photographs too. You could substitute the negative strip for another kind of border, let me know if know other great ways to use lots of little photos! Where would you like to be right now?

I love snow!

I had a bit of a surprise this morning when I opened the door to the postman and realised that it had snowed! We rarely get it here so it was quite exciting.

I had a quick trip to the park first thing to take some photos before it disappeared but I would have preferred to have had people to photograph. Until I learn to use my camera properly, I just play a little with the settings and take pot luck on the results... they weren't too bad. I wish I could take better photographs and one day I will.

What do you wish you could do better? I'm sure I could make a good few scrapbook layouts on that topic. The answers might not be something you want to share but it's definitely something to think about. I'm going to do a photography course at some point so at least I am working on that one.

I'll leave you with a double layout that I made from photographs of our last real snowfall here - that was two years ago!

I like to take photographs of the little details but they don't make good layouts when used alone. To get over this I punched out snippets of the photographs and used them along the bottom of the page instead of embellishments - a cheap alternative and a great way to use more photos on your page. This was for a magazine project using a variety of punches and cutters. I hope you all get good snow photographs!

Getting there

So I've added the main parts to my blog but it looks a little bare. I need to create an exciting banner - I remember reading some instructions somewhere on how to customise your own banner so I will have to have a hunt for them.

This layout is one of my all time favourites. It isn't necessarily the best in terms of balance and page design, but it's just one that I love anyway! I seem to go for pink and brown every time and although I made this layout about a year ago, I still haven't lost my love of these colours.

I am going to try to use my blog to share ideas, tips and any other inspiration that I find useful for crafting. I'm also going to use it to keep track of what I have been doing generally as I tend to forget!

I need to have a good read of the blog prompts that are posted on UKScrappers to get my head around ideas for what to write, I've seen lots of good ones and I am hoping that the more ideas I share on here, the more I will begin using them myself.

I have finally arrived!

I have made it into the world of blogging - finally! There's quite a few blanks to fill in so I can see I will be playing with this for a while before I'm happy with it, but as long as I have started it, that is all that counts! I'll be back soon...