Uniko November Release Sneak Peek

I'm back today with the second Uniko November release sneak peek. Two more stamp sets which will be jumping straight onto your wishlist!

      

The introductions will begin tomorrow over on the Uniko blog and I'm hoping to be joining in too at some point over the next few days - so keep your eyes peeled.

Thanks for looking. And keep crafting!

CAS Colours & Sketches #149

The first of November's CAS Colours & Sketches challenge begins today and Louise has chosen some delicious colours. Such gorgeous names as well as colours!

As I'm in Christmas creating mode at the moment my card's theme will be no surprise to you. It was inspired by one of my teammies at Uniko - Deborah. See her card here.  I loved her rows of geometric shapes paired up with the fabulous modern font of the sentiment.

And I actually had a leftover piece of blackberry bliss cardstock which I used as a mat for my stamped panel.

I added some tied twine near the top of the panel just to balance the stamped rows at the bottom.

Supplies:
Stanps: Uniko, Background builders Triangulat, All Occasion Sentiments #4; Simon Says Stamp, Falling Stars
Inks: SU, blackberry bliss, delightful dijon, chocolate chip
Twine from my stash

 
We have Beverley from Uniko as our Guest Designer this month - you're going to love everything she creates - so pop over to her blog and leave some love. Not forgetting my other teammies at CAS Colours & Sketches who always come up with awesome inspiration.

Thanks for visiting today, your time is always valued and appreciated. And keep crafting!

Time Out Challenge Reminder

As it's a Christmas themed challenge and because Uniko are the sponsors I thought I'd join in with Time Out's reminder post.

And I suppose the twist of pink and purple might have something to do with it too!

I started by stamping and heat embossing the tree from Rustic Christmas before brushing the pink and purple over it using a stencil. I did try it the other way round - stencil first then stamping - but ended up with a big smudge of embossing powder all over the inked waves.

I'm still waiting for my masking paper supplies to arrive so I used ordinary masking tape to get my crisp edge. I just took off some of the stickiness first by applying the tape to my trousers a couple of times before putting it on the card.

Loving this rainbow sparkle embossing powder.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Rustic Christmas
Inks: Memento, grape jelly, tuxedo black; SU, strawberry slush; Versamark
Embossing: Crafty Impressions, black rainbow sparkle
Stencil: Memory Box, Texture Wave

Don't forget there are fab prizes up for grabs - all you need to do is enter the challenge for a chance to win. What are you waiting for?

And even more Uniko fabulousness for you today - the first sneak peeks of the November release are out today.

   

They look intriguing don't they? Another two peeks tomorrow and then the introductions begin on Saturday. Can't wait!

Thanks for looking today. And keep crafting!

Let's December Daily - My Journey

More today about my DT involvement at Let's December Daily. They're sharing my journey with December albums over there today and just in case you might miss it I'm sharing it here too!

 My December Daily Journey .....

My journey begins back in 2011 when I discovered Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas class and immediately fell in love with the whole idea of keeping a daily record throughout December. I had  kept a random album of what I thought were significant photos from previous years back to when I first got married, but this every day thing was a new and exciting venture for me.

And yes I was totally overwhelmed! I didn't have a clue what format to use and the choice of colours and papers was all too much. So I just took one day at a time, followed Shimelle's guidelines to the letter and sort of muddled through the presentation side of the album as I went along.

2012

This year I thought I was better prepared and thought I knew exactly what I was doing. Note the use of 'thought'.

I'd discovered that I loved to journal and went with a format that would allow for extended writing, kept in pockets on the right hand page while the left side was all about the photos.

I still kept pretty true to Shimelle's prompts for the theme of each day's page, but I'd prepared all the pockets and page number clusters in advance.

So I started my pages confidently never giving a thought to an album to store them in. Half way through December I realised it would have been better to make the page size fit an album rather than try to find an album to fit my pages - bummer! And as you can see the pocket idea worked really well to store my journalling but made for very bulky pages. I had no choice really, loose rings and a homemade cover were my only option.

2013

With last year's album issue still rankling at the back of my mind I started 2013 by buying the album first! This whole December Daily thing is such a learning curve. So what was this year's big mistake? Well another size related problem. I bought the album online and didn't really take very careful note of just how big it was. But hey it was bought, it was red and it had to be used.

I was still following Shimelle, but I'd discovered Ali Edwards and wanted to use her format making this year's pages more relevant to what was actually happening to me on each day. I'd also really got into taking photographs and planned to put them everywhere!

I prepared quite a lot more in advance this year too. As I was becoming more comfortable and relaxed about my December Daily and knew what to expect I found it easier to get things ready. In fact I'm the complete opposite to the rest of the DT who prefer to do things on the cuff - that is so not me! Best confess I'm a planner addict, super organised and find I can be more creative when the basics are already done.

2014

This was the year that I discovered Let's December Daily and began sharing my pages there and on my blog. I actually purposefully chose colours and a format for the first time. I was inspired by all the DT's creativity at Let's December Daily and my album cover was born.

This year I went back to the loose binder style - the result of another issue with not buying an album first - seems I don't learn from my mistakes!

I was into digital pages and short on time so a 6" x 4" size suited me perfectly. I was able to prepare all the base pages for my journalling and the photographs and a set of embellishment clusters in advance so all I had to do each day was hand write my journalling, add the embellishments and print the photos with digital embellishments. This worked so well for me and I found it relatively easy to keep on top of things.

And as I found spare moments I added in extra little bits peeking through between the pages along the spine like the sequin pocket above and snowflake acetate below.

And of course the best Christmas present for a dedicated December Daily-er was the arrival of a new grandson!

So now I'm wondering what lessons I've learnt - and will try to remember - to take forward to 2015.

• I've bought my album and know the format and size. 
• I will pre-prepare as much as I can - I'd have it all completed in advance if that were possible!
• I've chosen the colours and begun to shop accordingly - something a bit different this year, go see yesterday's sneak peek!
• There will be times when I change things up a bit and go 'off piste' and I'm happy and relaxed about this, but only because the basics will be done.

 Will you join me in 2015? I really hope so - I can't wait!

Thanks for looking today, I do so appreciate your time.  And keep crafting!

Let's December Daily

Hey! And much excitement here today! At last I can reveal something I've been busy with behind the scenes for a while - I've joined the Let's December Daily DT! Much dancing and screaming!

Here's what it's all about:

WE'RE DOING DECEMBER! Whether you pre-plan your December Daily or create as you go along in the Christmas month; make your own covers or decorate ready-made ones, use Project Life style with plastic sleeves and pockets or create your own pages. Maybe you havent made one before and ask 'I cant think what I'd fill a page with everyday?' We'll help with that! Whatever your style we'd love to see it! Here you will find a seasonal blog open from 1st November to 31st January each year. We hope that this will become a wonderful resource of sharing, prompts and inspiration. What is a December Daily? Its a mini-album recording your daily memories capturing the spirit of December. Bring it out with your decorations each year and remember Christmases past.

Today the DT are sharing a sneak peek of what they've got in store. And believe me I can say you're going to love the full reveals later this month. They're such a very artisitc and creative bunch I am deeply honoured and over the moon that I've been asked to join them.

So here's my sneak peek:

And here's where you'll find the rest of the DT's peeks.

Do you keep a December Daily? Whether it's a Yes, or No, I do so hope that you will come along and cheer me on as I embark on this new adventure. Your support and comments will be invaluable.

Thanks for your time today, it's much appreciated.  And keep crafting!

The Memory Nest - Make It Monday #49

One more sketch from The Memory Nest as part of Leslie's Fall Frenzy.

Here's what she has to say about this:

Happy Monday fellow scrappers.  During September and October, our DT is joining up with other challenge blogs for some fun.  So... the Make it Monday challenges will become part of the Fall Frenzy.  We are going to have a different sketch for September, October and November.  You will have until December 1st to link up.  The more you link up the more entries you get in the drawing.  And the final prize will be $15 to shop at The Memory Nest.
1 link up = 1 Entry
2  link ups = 3 entries
3 link ups = 6 entries


And here's that last sketch:

So off I went searching for a pair of photos to use. And I came up with these two taken just seconds apart. I'm particualrly loving how the first one captures my hand showing an earlier photo on my phone.

I used a journalling card in place of the ampersand and added lots of die cut arrows and stamped lines to lead the eye across the page.

The title is also a die cut. I bought it to use in cardmaking, but actually think it suits scrapbooking even more.

Supplies:
Papers: AC, kraft; Jillibean Soup, Neopolitan Bean Bisque, Summer Red Raspberry Soup
Stamps: SU, Gorgeous Grunge
Inks: SU, marina mist, real red
Dies: Technique Tuesday, That Arrow Card; Die-namics, Celebrate

Thanks for looking today. Your visit is really appreciated. Go get your page entered at The Memory Nest and good luck with the prize draw.

And keep crafting!

Let's December Daily

Let's December Daily blog has woken up after its long Summer snooze. Go check it out!

More to come about this in the next few days. Watch this space.

And keep crafting!