Layouts 63 and 64

Hi!

I'm nearing the end of my Paris album pages - only a few more weeks to go now!  Today I have some of the last pages from Paris itself.  The first is from Sainte Etienne Du Mont which was a gorgeous church next to the Pantheon that we went into on a whim.  So glad we did!

It is a church devoted to Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris.  It has this huge, carved staircase that lead up to the place where the choir sang. I can't recall the correct name!

It really was a magnificent church, and apparently has featured in a few movies.

These next pages are a heap of random photos of food related things that we took during our time in Paris.  We were quite grossed out by the 'Hummer' which looked like a cross between a hamburger and steak sandwich, but it had 4 layers of meat and cheese in between 5 layers of bread.  Heart attack on a plate!  Rob found Orangina, which was like a fizzy orange juice.  We also tried some Macarons, which were huge, sweet and delicious.  One was more than enough though!

This page showed some of the restaurants we ate at.  Le Moncey was a regular breakfast venue for us, where we ate croissants, juice and hot chocolate each morning.  Real, fresh croissants are devine, and sadly I have yet to find any back home that are as good.  Ours are too bready. Probably a good thing, or I'd be the size of a house!

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 61 and 62

Hi!

It's a picture-heavy post today as I bring you my next two Paris album layouts.  They are of the Catacombes of Paris and the Pantheon, both of which we found to be amazing places.

The Catacombes was one of the only places we had to wait in line to get in.  I think we waited around 30 minutes - luckily there was a crepe vendor nearby! There was a long climb down before we got to the tunnel entrance.  Rob was a bit creeped out by the dripping limestone, but it didn't worry me too much.

 

In case you weren't sure, the Catacombes are where the French government relocated the remains of millions of people were reburied after the cemeteries overflowed.  The tunnels were originally the quarries, and were starting to collapse under the city - so the government solved two problems at once! At first the bones were just thrown in, but then the workers began to arrange them into pretty patterns using the skulls and long bones.

According to the audio guide they even used to hold musical concerts in the part of the tunnels shown above!  We found it to be a very fascinating place, but we were very glad to be above ground again at the end of the tour.

Next stop was the Pantheon, which is this huge, magnificent building that now houses the remains of many of France's most notable citizens.

 

We toured the ground level first.  It was a huge, open area that had many sculptures and artworks.  My favourite was a scale model of the building with cut away sections to view the inside.  We then went underground to explore the crypt, where we viewed the resting places of people such as Voltaire, Dumas, Braille, Cure and Hugo.

Unfortunately the Dome was closed, so we were unable to take in the view from the top.  It was fun to do a little people watching from the steps at the front of the Pantheon.  It is located in a University Precinct so there are a lot of students in the area.  Many of them were enjoying the sunshine on the steps at the front of the building where you got a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower.

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 53 and 54

Hi!

In my last Paris post I showed the layouts about the Eiffel Tower and our behind the scenes tour.  I'd booked a late afternoon tour so that we could watch the sun set from the Tower. We also ascended to the top of the Tower to watch the light display.  Every hour, on the hour, for about 5 minutes the Tower sparkles as thousands of lights twinkle on and off.  It's so very pretty!

After watching it from the top of the Tower we descended and crossed the Seine to watch it again from the huge open space opposite the Tower.  While we settled in to wait we munched on crepes (what else!) and people watched.  It was about 11pm by this stage but the city was still bustling.

The next day we travelled out to Rouen to meet up with Rob's cousin.  Unfortunately the day was a shambles from start to nearly the finish!  We didn't realise it was the start/end (?) of Daylight Savings, so we slept in and only just made it to the train on time.  This was the only day I let Rob organise and he did a pretty poor job of it!  He hadn't managed to get in touch with his cousin before we got on the train, so we didn't even know if we'd meet him or not.  Rouen is a beautiful, old city and is the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.  So much history that we totally missed because we were waiting around!

We did tour their Notre Dame Cathedral, but there was so much more we could have done.  You may notice that in all the photos of me I had my arms crossed and in some I'm even scowling.  I was so very cross at Rob that day!

In the end we did catch up with Rob's cousin and his gorgeous son for a lovely, but very quick, lunch.  We were strongly encouraged to try some of the more rustic local cuisine but after watching a lady on the next table eat her frog's legs I just couldn't face it!  We then had another dash (uphill!) to make the train back into Paris as we had tickets for the Moulin Rouge that night.  I think we got onto the train about 30 seconds before the doors closed!

I can laugh now, another memorable day and memory of Paris!

Bye for now,

Tina

Layouts 43, 44 and 45

Hi!

Are you having a fabulous weekend?  I hope so.  I'm getting a bit of stamping time in, which is lots of fun.  I'm hoping to finish my Paris album soon - I got the last of my photos printed this week ready to scrap.  In the meantime, here's a few more layouts.

We'd done a lot of walking this day and visited a lot of different places, so by the time we got to Notre Dame we were pretty tired!  We decided to sit a people watch a while so that we could rest.  The front courtyard of Notre Dame is a perfect place for people watching!  We were also able to revisit our favourite crepe vendor, so we sat and munched on ham and cheese crepes while we watched the world go by and see how Notre Dame came to life with lights as dusk settled over the city.  We may have also snuck in some lemon and sugar crepes too.

We had been waiting for dark so that we could do the 'love locked' thing on the Pont des Arts.  What you do is buy a padlock, engrave it with your names, lock it to the bridge and throw the keys into the Seine.  The reason you do it is so that you are forever love locked.  How could we go to the world's most romantic city and not do it?

It was a lovely night on the bridge.  It's a pedestrian bridge, so there were many small groups of people picnicking on the bridge and just hanging out. We felt a little self conscious doing it, but no one paid us any attention.  I'm sure they are used to tourists doing it all the time!

Sadly, I saw on the news last week that they have had to cut all of the locks off the bridge as the weight of them had caused a section of the handrail to collapse, making the bridge unsafe.  Just another reason to try to get back to Paris to do it again!

The Pont des Arts is near to the Louvre (and the Metro station we needed to get to).  We had to cross the courtyard to get to the Metro and as we did the Eiffel Tower caught our eye - we saw the sparkling lights for the first time.  We decided to wait and watch it again, as is was so very pretty.  There is also plenty of people watching to do at the Louvre, so we found a quiet corner and settled in.  There are a heap of illegal souvenir sellers in the courtyard.  During the day they sell cheap Eiffel Towers, but at night they sell these little light up things that shoot off into the air. They were lots of fun to watch as we waited.

Thanks for coming on a little more of my Paris journey with me.

Bye for now,

Tina

Male Themed Blog Hop

Hi!

I hope you're having a wonderful start to your weekend - a blog hop's a fabulous way to get the creative energy happening, so I hope we inspire you to get inky and get stampin! You've either come here from the clever Alisha Watson's blog or you're starting here.  Either way just keep hoppin' 'til you get back to where you started!

I have created a layout about my husband Rob to fit with the male theme.  I hardly every scrap about Rob on his own so it was about time I did!

When I make a male themed project there are always a few things I like to use: twine, brads and sanding. I have used a  three on this layout.  I sanded the edges of all of the DSP layers and then mounted them on Early Espresso cardstock for more of a lift.  I also sanded the flags before gluing them onto the twine to create some bunting, which was held down using brads.  I attached the left hand side and just let the twine sit where it wanted to naturally.  It created a pleasing curve so I just adhered the flags to the page and then attached the right side using a second brad.  Easy!  Here's a closer look at the bunting.

I also went for a sanded look on my title.  I adhered some Well Worn DSP to some chipboard and when it was dry I ran it through the Big Shot with my Simple Letters Dies.  I then sanded the edges before adhering the letters to my layout.  The smaller files in the Distressing Kit came in very handy when I was trying to sand these letters!

I hope I inspired you to scrap about the men in your life.  Now you're off to see the fantastic projects Ros Davidson has created.  Thanks for stopping by!

Ink: Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker
DSP/Cardstock: Well Worn DSP, Early Espresso, River Rock
Other: Big Shot, Simple Letters Alphabet Dies, Chipboard, Sanding Block, Distressing Essentials Kit, Owl Builder Punch, Crystal Effects, Hemp Twine, Early Espresso Brads, Glue Dots, Tombow Adhesive Glue

Bye for now,

Tina

List of Blog Hop Participants:
Ros Davidson http://www.rosdavidson.typepad.com
Sue Madex http://www.madexcreations.com
Christine Blain http://www.christineblain.blogspot.com
Kathryn Mangelsdorf: http://klm55.blogspot.com
Nikki Sadler http://www.inkyart.com.au
Di Dunk http://www.stampartbydi.typepad.com
Alisha Watson http://www.ratherbstamping.blogspot.com

JAI Scrapbooking Challenge #7: Hidden Journalling or Memorabilia

Hi!

It's the start of another month, so it's time for a Just Add Ink Scrapbooking Challenge.

This month we are challenging you to scrap a layout that has either hidden journalling or hidden memorabilia.  I decided to scrap a layout of the MeatLoaf concert Rob and I went to last year.

Here's a closer look at the photos I used.  We had nosebleed seats, and the photos were taken on our phones so they aren't the best photos.  For me though, this doesn't matter, as in this case the story is more important than the photos.

When you untie the Baker's Twine bow you uncover a little booklet.  The first thing you see when you flip back the photos is the tickets to the concert, and my hidden memorabilia.

Then you flip over the tickets to find the hidden journalling.

I included a second lot of hidden journalling in the layout in the form of lyrics of my favourite MeatLoaf song.  The base cardstock is white, and I die cut the lyrics "I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday" in white and adhered them to the base cardstock.  I used a mix of Timeless Type and Simple Letters dies.  It is a lovely subtle subway poster effect.  I then sprayed some Smooch spray over the top to distract the eye from the lyrics so the focus is on the title and the photos.

This final picture is a bit of a tip for you.  I kept the box my Simply Scored scoring tool came in and cut off the top of the box so I could use it as a spray booth for my layouts.  I have the Colour Catcher but it is not quite big enough for a 12x12 layout.  Problem solved with my Simply Scored box!

I hope you can play along this month with the Just Add Ink Scrapbooking Challenge.  What do you think you could find to hide on your layout?
Ink: Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker, Silver Foil Smooch spray
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black
Other: Big Shot, Timeless Type Alphabet Dies, Simple Letters Alphabet Dies, White Baker's Twine, Sanding Block
Bye for now,
Tina

Art With Heart Paper Party Blog Hop

Hi!

Happy World Scrapbooking Day!  It's also the first day of a month-long Paper Party at Stampin' Up!  To celebrate this wonderful promotion some of Claire Daly's Art With Heart team decided to do a blog hop featuring our lovely DSP.  There's a lot of fantastic scrapbookers in Claire's team so you're bound to be inspired along the way.  If you're so inspired that you'd like to join Stampin' Up! you'll find you're joining a wonderful team.  If you sign in May you'll have the added bonus of receiving a FREE pack of DSP every month until the end of the year.  Awesome bargain!

Claire's blog was the stop before mine, but you can start and stop anywhere, just keep hopping 'til you get back to where you started.

I chose the rustic Well Worn DSP to use on my double page layout.

Harvey Norman had a promotion a couple of weeks ago where you could get 12"x8" enlargements for only $1.  Hmm, I think I got 40 prints made!  Most were of my recent Paris trip, but I also threw this one in to get done thinking that it would make a fabulous feature photo on my double layout.  I loved that it has plenty of sky section that I knew I could use to place my title in.

Here's a closer look at the left side.

I love how the torn section of DSP at the bottom of the page mirrors the rough tree line and grass line in the photo.  The rustic feel of this paper makes it ideal for tearing.  I carried the same element through to the right side page.

I used regular sized photos on this side and instead of matting them I decided to sand the edges.  I love sanding my photos, and on a layout using the Well Word DSP it fits in well.  I used more of the Baker's Twine around the photo of the flowers to tie it in with the left side of the layout.  And because odd numbers always look best, I also used it on the journalling tag hidden behind one of the photos.

I also used some torn DSP on the tag to tie it in with the rest of the layout.  In case you're curious the rest of the journalling on the back reads: have been.  Rob thinks he found what would have been the garage, and an old washing machine abandoned in the now wild gardens.  it was such a quiet, pretty place and it made me wonder why it was abandoned.  We will probably never know as my internet searches have turned up nothing.

I hope you have found a little inspiration here on my blog.  You're now off to the beautiful Nikki Sadler's blog for even more visual treats.

Ink: Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker
DSP/Cardstock: Well Worn DSP, River Rock, Not Quite Navy
Other: Big Shot, Simple Letters Alpha Dies, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Circle Punch, Sanding Block, Crop-A-Dile

Bye for now,

Tina

A 3D Project

Hi!

When I applied to become a member of the JAI Design Team I decided to apply for both the card making team and the scrapping team.  Part of the application process for the card making team was to design a 3D, off the page item.  I decided to alter a shadow box photo frame I bought from Ikea.  I"d originally bought it to do something for my daughter's room, but it took on a life of it's own and ended up very differently to what I'd planned.

I love how it turned out, and I think it would look great in a little boy's room.  Now I just need someone to have a baby boy so I can give it to them!

I also made a card to match the frame.

Like the frame, I fussy cut one of the balloons from the DSP and popped it up on Dimensionals.

I used the hostess set Ain't Love Grand for the inside.  Here's the two projects together.

Overall, I was very pleased with how they turned out, even if they were nothing like what I had originally planned!

Stamps: Ain't Love Grand (hostess), Happiest Birthday Wishes (hostess)
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Real Red
DSP/Cardstock: Big Top Birthday DSP, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Whisper White
Other: Big Shot, Simple Letters Alpha Dies, Paper Snips, Dimensionals, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Scalloped Ribbon Border Punch, Blender Pen

Bye for now,

Tina

Sale-A-Bration Blog Hop

Hi!
Welcome back to another blog hop.  This time my friends and I are focussing on the fantastic Sale-A-Bration products you can earn free!  The blog before mine was the very talented Christine Blain, but it doesn't really matter where you start, just keep hopping 'til you get back to where you started.

I decided to do a layout using some of the gorgeous Everyday Enchantment DSP.

These are some of the photos I took of my veggie garden that I took a few weeks after I planted it.  I selected the placement of the photos with thoughts of turning this into a double page layout in the future using photos of the produce we collected from the garden.

 To soften the straight lines of the layout I decided to round the corners of the photo panels.

A stamp from the Fresh Vintage stamp set really sets off the jounalling section in the bottom panel of photos.

The next photo shows you how close to the line I flew with this layout.  Thankfully I have a photo tent and some daylight lamps, so it didn't matter that I didn't finish my layout 'til 10pm last night.

I hope you've found some inspiration here on my stop in the blog hop.  Next you're off to see what the very clever Di Dunk has created for you.

Stamps: Fresh Vintage (SAB)
Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede Stampin' Write Marker
DSP/Cardstock: Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB), Very Vanilla, Soft Suede
Other: Big Shot, Simple Letters Dies, Corner Rounder Punch

Bye for now,

Tina

Stops on the hop in case the links aren't working:
Di Dunk http://www.stampartbydi.typepad.com
Kathryn Ruddick http://www.katlodesigns.com
Sue Madex http://www.madexcreations.com
Ros Davidson http://www.rosdavidson.typepad.com
Nikki Sadler http://www.inkyart.com.au
Christine Blain http://www.christineblain.blogspot.com

JAI Scrapbooking Challenge #2: Just Add Holiday Photos

Hi!

How exciting - it's my first post as a member of the Just Add Ink Scrapbook Design Team!  February's challenge is to add holiday photos to your layout.  They layout I have for you today was actually part of my application for the JAI team and I was delighted to find out that it fit into the new challenge, so I was able to start my DT work right away.

I took the photo of my daughter Ada when we were on holidays in October 2011.  Yes October - and my crazy children decide to go swimming at the beach!  It was a lovely day, but not warm enough to tempt me to go into the ocean.

I used the Creative Elements stamp set on my layout.  One of my favourite things to do with this set is to colour the flourish stamp.  It's time consuming, but the end result is worth it.

The scallops at the bottom were made using the Round Tab punch.  I like the flatter scallops it creates.  I just covered the joins with Basic Jewel Rhinestones.

I hope you can find the time to play along with us at Just Add Ink this month.  What a great opportunity to scrap some school holiday photos while the memories are still fresh.  I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Stamps: Creative Elements
Ink: Melon Mambo, Concord Crush
DSP/Cardstock: Cheerful Treat DSP (hostess), Melon Mambo, Concord Crush, Whisper White
Other: Big Shot, Simple Letters Alpha Dies, Paper Snips, Colour Spritzer, Round Tab Punch, Basic Jewel Rhinestones

Bye for now,

Tina

Layout 100: play

Hi!

Or maybe I should be saying Woo Hoo!  I made it to 100 layouts!  Here it is:

It's a bit different to what I'd normally do, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  I don't like the Paisley Petals DSP at all, but I think they suited this double layout well.

The photos are of Hudson and are a sequence I took in October.  I didn't think much of the photos until I laid them out in order and realised they reflected his personality so much. I wrote about it in the journalling:

I love how this sequence of photos of you playing in the surf at Lady Bay so perfectly capture your personality.  You may need a little help getting to where you want to go, but once you're there you live life to the fullest.  You may get knocked over, but you just pick yourself up and get on with things.  And when bigger waves come, you know we're there for you.  I love your joy and your determination Hudson.

You can see all the expressions in his face - the uncertainty, the joy, the fear and finally, the determination.  He's one special little man!

Ink: Always Artichoke
DSP/Cardstock: Paisley Petals DSP, River Rock, Always Artichoke, Whisper White
Other: Big Shot, Simple Letters Alpha Dies, White Baker's Twine, 1/16" Circle Punch

Thanks so much for following my little blog in 2011.  I hope you've enjoyed my cards and my scrapping and found a little bit of inspiration somewhere along the way.  I wish you all a happy and creative 2012 and look forward to reading your comments and visiting your blogs in 2012.

Catch you later,

Tina

Layout 98: At The Beach

Hi!

Oops, this layout published early - I hit the wrong button! It just means the numbers are out of order.  I'll have layout 99 on the 30th and 100 on the 31st.

I realised recently that I don't take as many photos of Alex as I do of Hudson and Ada.  They tend to play up to the camera, but Alex's autism means he doesn't like looking at the camera.  I have a heap of photos of him looking off to the side, but very few of him looking directly at the camera.  This means I usually have to catch him by surprise to get him looking.  The photos I scrapped on this layout were ones I caught using this method.  I love them - they are the best I have taken of Alex for ages.

Once again I am using the Everyday Enchantment DSP that will be one of the Sale-A Bration offerings.  I love that even though the DSP is quite pretty and girly, it doesn't look out of place on a masculine, beachy layout.

I used some of the Blue Denim Jean Ribbon and some Linen Thread to keep the layout masculine.

Ink: Crumb Cake
DSP/Cardstock: Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB), Crumb Cake 12 x 12 Textured, Very Vanilla
Other: Big Shot, Simple Letter Alpha Dies, Blue Denim Jean Ribbon, Linen Thread, Sponge Dauber, Alpha Rub Ons (non SU!)

Catch you later,

Tina

Layout 92: run run run!

Hi!

Are you liking the scrapbooking?  I'm still racing to meet my 100 layouts deadline, but I think I can do it!  Today I have a layout using the Frightful Sight DSP for a non-Halloween project.

You've already seen this photo a few times - it's one of my favourite family photos from this year.  This layout tells the story behind the photo.  We were in the middle of nowhere and decided to take a photo using the timer on our camera.  We set up at one picnic table and I took the camera to the other table, which was far away.  I had just enough time to run back to the family before the timer ran out.  I didn't find out 'til later that Rob was taking pictures of me running back!  Let's just say I'm not much of a runner!

I used the brads to cover up a tear on the circle journalling spot.  What's the saying - there's no mistakes, just creative opportunities!

Ink: Old Olive Stampin' Write Marker
DSP/Cardstock: Frightful Sight DSP, Cherry Cobbler 12 x 12 Textured, Old Olive, Whisper White
Other: Big Shot, Timeless Type Alpha Dies, Simple Letters Dies, Corner Rounder Punch, Flower Brads, Sanding Block, Circle Cutter

Catch you later,

Tina