Paper or Hybrid?

Yesterday morning there was an announcement on UKScrappers that the Scrap Factor judges were shaking things up: a few entrants in the "Paper" category were being asked if they'd consider switching to "Hybrid" and that one or more of those asked might, just might, make it into the final 15 contestants! 

I entered the "Paper" category - I consider myself to be a paper scrapper.  But then what exactly is "Hybrid" scrapping?  According to Wikipedia we're talking about a digital page, with some ribbons, brads and tags stuck on after printing it out.  That's not me at all.  However the judges over at UKS have decreed it to be any combination of digital and paper elements resulting in a page you can hold and as long as there is at least ONE item (other than journalling or a plain photo) that started life on the computer it will count as "Hybrid".  I can live with that.  I sometimes print out a journalling spot to use, or type (white) text onto a photo before printing it out, or use a dingbat font to add flowers to a page ...  So maybe I can be a "Hybrid" scrapper too.

Some of the words to my favourite song by James Taylor "You've Got A Friend"
Page layout inspired by Tagxedo.com

This is one of my  paper audition pages - the "No Photo" page - it could just have easily been hybrid - in fact it would have been a darn sight easier to do as a hybrid!  Anyway, enough embarrassed, typically British, beating around the bush ... I was asked if I'd consider switching categories, I said "Yes" and I am so HAPPY to share that I made the final cut!  Now comes the scary bit - scrapping, speedily to order!!!!  Oh and the voting ... arghhhh!

Although the finalists for the Scrap Factor have now been announced, anyone and everyone is welcome to play along with the weekly challenges.  There are extra prizes on offer too!  Just check out the challenge, choose a category to scrap in ("Digi", "Paper" or "Hybrid") and upload to the special galleries to be in with a chance of being picked by one of the judges!

The challenge for Week 1 of the Scrap Factor is here - do come and keep me company!

I ♥ Counterfeiting

Are you joining me with Counterfeiting Kits this month?  I've made a start at using my April Kit - two pages to share and another that is 90% complete, plus ideas for a few in the pipeline.  It turns out I don't really mind using pink that much - as long as I can tone it down a LOT ... and I've used hearts too!!!

My first page features my Mum's dog Ebony who was pretty miserable the day after an operation.

I've used just one of my kit's double sided sheets of paper for this page - but did add some brads and substitute some pinky Coredinations cardstock as it matched the carpet colour better than the card in my kit - especially as I could turn it over and stamp on the back with my Banana Frog Tiny Teen stamps!  These matched the Scenic Route chipboard alphas pretty well - they started life as cream/beige and were inked with black Stazon to provide contrast and match Ebony's fur.  Thankfully she was fine after a couple of days of TLC.

My 2nd Counterfeit Page avoids pink completely and uses a photo from last year's Red Sea holiday.  I was also joining in with a challenge on UKS to include a lyric from a song as my title and had a couple of photos of an egret to scrap.  I was tempted by "Egrets, I've seen a few, but then again too few to mention ..." but you were spared this when, thanks to Songlyrics.com, I found that Collapsis (?) had the perfect lyric: "... an egret by the shoreline".

The round rosettes are made from my kit's Scraperdashery paper with a Martha Stewart Arched Lattice punch using a fab tutorial by my friend Siân over on the Gotta Craft Blog.

More pages to come ... watch this space!

P.S. An update on the clean and sparkly mobile phone ... it worked for about 10 minutes after drying out, but won't recharge ... an expensive mistake for No.1 Son, especially as my spare phone isn't anywhere near cool enough to borrow!

A Little Help From My Friends

I love how sharing the world of scrapbooking is.  At my crop I will regularly borrow and lend tools, swap papers and cardstock and use and donate inks and brads.  I'm also amazed by how caring the Blogosphere is - ask and I am answered!  Today I posed a question on the Blogging For Scrapbookers forum about where to find cost-free and royalty-free photos to help illustrate posts.  Within a few hours I'd had plenty of detailed help.  The photo below is from Flickr - and, while I'm not 100% sure if I've managed to link to it in quite the way I wanted, I know I'm 100% nearer to being able to use other people's photos than I was before I asked!

I've managed to include a link to the photo on Flickr in the caption - should that be the Photographer's name rather than just "Source"?  The photo also appears to have a title which is quite funky - hold your mouse over it to see!  You can also jump to the photo on Flickr by clicking on the photo - not really sure if I want that - I wonder how I switch that off?
If any of you have any hints and tips for finding and sharing photos for blog posts, please let me know.

Source

Why the pegs?  Well No.1 Son returned home from Uni today, laden with dirty washing and proceeded to strip down to his boxers in front of the machine.  I do have a photo of that by the way, but thought he might object if I used it on here.  When he came out of the shower, the washing machine was clanking a little!  Oh dear!  In his rush, he hadn't emptied out his pockets before loading the machine ... and now he has a very clean and sparkly mobile phone!!!  We decided NOT to put it in the tumble drier or hang it on the line, but will see if it still works after a night in the airing cupboard.

It's Teally Good!

Not in the kit - just playing!

Who is joining me this month at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog with a bit of forgery?

This month's kit-to-copy comes from Front Porch Kits - a brand new kit club from The Little Blue House in Texas.  The kit sold out before the end of the live Ustream launch on March 18th so the only way to get it now, is to counterfeit it ... which is what we fans of the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog like to do right?!  If you want to get stuck in straight away, the full kit list is here, but do check out the CKCB for the examples of forgery, handy tutorials and other inspirational ideas.

I loved the fresh colours and large doses of teal and chipboard in this kit, but (why is there always a but?) I don't really do birdies on my pagies so I've substituted some hearts and butterflies ... Who am I kidding?  I don't really do hearts either, but I have lots so I'm trying to use some up!

Cardstock:
1½ kraft, 2 AC vanilla, 1 AC black, 2 green, 2 red, 2 blue, 1 yellow Bazzil Dotted Swiss

Papers:
1 yellow grungy paper (pink gingham with lime/pink leaves on reverse) - manufacturer unknown!
¾ Impish by Urban Lily
⅔ Piñata by Basic Grey
1 Sending My Love (bicycle ledger on reverse)
1 Loves Me Loves Me Not (pink on reverse)
1 Dearest (green dots on reverse) by We R Memory Keepers
1 Shakespeare's Robert Burns by Scraperdashery
1 Strips (yellow damask on reverse) all from the Love Birds Collection by Fancy Pants 

Reverse sides plus 3 other papers

1 Sea Glass by K & Co
1 white flowers on black, 1 black flowers on white from a DCWV paper stack
1 Affectionately Yours embossed paper by We R Memory Keepers

Embellishments:
Bag of 2^nd hand Scenic Route chipboard alphas in cream and white
Selection of blooms and two silk butterflies
Teal adhesive flower trim
Chipboard Butterflies & Hearts & Flower
Maya Road key-chain of tickets
Maya Road Build a Bloom (with heart-shaped petals)
Selection of buttons

Aida fabric

Teal fabric

Multi-coloured felt

Various ribbons, trims & lace

Little wooden box (instead of “Hank” the Plank)

Not shown: 4 journalling cards by Jenni Bowlin

MIA: giant bottle caps, glitter, stamp, acetate heart, feathers!

There you have it.  Another kit all ready to go ... cost to me ... £0 / €0 / $0 which is a great feeling!  Better get creating now though!

No Post From Me Today

I won't be posting anything on my blog today as I haven't got anything much to share.  I do have a blog post scheduled for tomorrow though!   Today is the big reveal of the April kit-to-copy over on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog, where I am a Master Forger and I have to wait until tomorrow to share my copycat kit.

While I'm not posting anything, I guess I have room to say a big "THANK YOU" to everyone who wished me a happy and slug-free Mother's Day - it was both :D and I sincerely hope that those of you celebrating along with me also had similarly blessed days!

Right, as I'm not blogging today, I have plenty of time to wander around Blogland and say "Hi" to a few of you - see you soon!

Mothering Sunday

Being the first Sunday in the month, this is Storytelling Sunday and, in the UK at least, it is also Mothering Sunday, so I've been thinking about Mother's Days past (and presents). 

Mothers.  We all had one. Some of us are fortunate enough to be one. Sometimes we gain extra ones along the journey. As I grow older I find I’m turning into mine in many ways, and she, in turn, has become someone else. The dynamic has shifted and now I’m the one asked for advice rather than reluctantly taking it. Eventually, I hope, my daughter will let me lean on her in the same way that I am supporting my mother now.

Today I will be handing over a simple home-made Mother’s Day card and a small token gift. I too will receive a card. Or three. One arrived in the post yesterday and is waiting on the mantelpiece as No.1 Son seems to have rejoined the Human Race - I have a LOT to thank his lovely girlfriend for.

I’ve never expected too much in the way of presents for Mothering Sunday; I’d rather have a bit of TLC than an overpriced bunch of flowers or a calorific box of chocolates. Hubby “helped” the kids to buy me a garden strimmer one year - officially my worst Mother's Day gift - ever!! Conversely, the best present in recent years was this little trolley coin - a daily reminder that I am blessed with loving offspring (especially when they are less than likeable!).

So what am I hoping for today? Well, if my luck is in, I’ll be woken with a plate of Marmite toast and a mug of tea. If I'm really lucky, Child No.3 will check that any flowers she picks from the garden for decorating my tray don’t have any baby slugs clinging to them! That was a memorable breakfast in bed I can tell you!

I'm sure there will be more tales of mothering and other subjects over at High In The Sky - do check out the other Sunday Storytellers.

April Flowers

AND I've used up some Scoubis!

Sorry folks, I've been a BAD blogger!  All but one of the Blogging For Scrapbookers' prompts for week 2 are sitting here, printed out, read, but un-digested.  I have been visiting a few classmates' blogs, but sadly not the forum, nor have I been posting.

BUT I have a good reason - honest!  You see I've been playing around with my latest scrapbooking tool.  It's so clever.  Ever wanted to do lots of journalling on a page, but keep lots of white space too?  Ever got fed up with having to remove pages from an album in order to access the hidden journalling on tags and in pockets?  This clever little device is the answer!  It's a pen that writes in transparent ink!   Take a look at it in action on to top of this page:

And what's more - it comes in several different colours so that you can always have exactly the right shade.  My particular favourite is sky-blue-pink - more details can be found here.  I'm off to play some more - have a great weekend!