PTI blog hop

Haven't taken part in a blog hop for a while, but I did manage to get organised this month and make a card! And here's what I came up with for the inspiration photo below:

PTI Stamp-a-Faire - master colour challenge

The challenge - to create a project using one of the 'masters' inspired coloured schemes featured on Nichole's blog.  I chose this scheme, based on the gorgeous work by Renoir.

And here's what I came up with:

PTI Stamp-a-faire - starry night challenge

The challenge - to create a starry night background for a project. I really wanted to give this a go because I think the background would be perfect for Christmas cards.

Turned out to be pretty challenging, and I think a lot more practice is needed before I make any more of these, but this is what I came up with:

Papertrey Ink Masters Stamp-a-Faire - reception event

Yes, it's time for another PTI Stamp-a-Faire event. A day of great inspiration and challenges on Nichole's blog.  Do hope that I'll be able to take part in some of the challenges. First up is the chance to share a project for the Masterpiece Gallery reception.

Not sure that I'd describe this as a 'masterpiece' but here's a card I've always been proud of.

Altenew stamp sets

I recently bought some stamps from Altenew and I have to say I'm very impressed with them. The layering stamps, in particular are so detailed and produce such realistic images. Here's an example with one of my new favourites- Peony Bouquet.

More Italy - Sorrento

I've been having great fun trying out different cut files with my Cameo. Here's a double page layout with some more photos from another trip to Italy - this time Naples and the Amalfi Coast. The script font on the left is 'Bonjour', by Nicky Laatz, which I found on Creative Market a wonderful site for fonts, graphics and more!

Explore Venice

I Italy is definitely one of my favourite places to visit and I've been enjoying reliving some of this memories while working with some older photos from travels in the early 19902. Here's a layout featuring some photos from Venice. And I even managed to include a photo of a postcard I sent home at the time.

Story Kit layouts revisited

I've been enjoying my Story kit subscription, although I haven't done anything with the last few kits yet - too many other projects on the go. But here's a look at a layout using the 'Craft' kit from a few months ago.

I was very pleased to get a craft project from my little niece - a cute handmade penguin. I thought it would be fun to turn it into a layout and made a penguin of my own to accompany it!

Cameo dust cover

When I ordered my Silhouette Cameo recently, I didn't buy a cover for it.  of course, after I hit 'purchase' I saw several owners recommending a dust cover be used. There's nowhere close to me that stocks Silhouette products, and I didn't want to wait until the next time I put in an online order somewhere, so I decided to make my own.

There are several free patterns available online - I used the one from Erin at Schlosser Designs which you can get here. They're pretty easy to make - you just need a rectangular piece of material and two end pieces. I managed to find some fabric in my stash.

Here are my pieces cut and ready.

And here's my finished cover.

It only took about 15 minutes and I saved myself a few dollars I can spend on something more exciting ;) So if you're short of a cover, give it a go!

Silhouette Cameo - cropping background shapes

I love the 12x12 cutting capabilities of my Cameo, but I mostly scrap A4 or 8 1/2 x 11 and was having a hard time finding background cutting files that would work well. Yes, there are a few available in the Silhouette Design Store, or from other sellers, but I also have a lot of 12x12 backgrounds and wasn't sure how to make them work.

Thanks to Vanessa's blog, I came across a great video tutorial on how to crop backgrounds in Silhouette Studio. The example involved making a PL card, but the technique is the same no matter what size you want to work with.

Check out the video here.

And here are a couple of screenshots of my crop in progress:

Hello Florence

I've been to Florence three times and it' still one of my favourite destinations. Lots of fun memories redoing these old photos - it really was a trip of a lifetime, just as my journaling says ;)

Let's be adventurous

Here's another layout from my travel album - reliving a journey through the Canadian Rockies and along the Icefields Parkway. Seems like another life!

Story kit layouts revisited

I've been a  bit slack using my Story Kits from Ali Edwards just recently - my excuse is that I've been concentrating on my travel album and lots of cards. But here's a layout from the 'Craft' kit a few months ago.

Going back and looking at these will hopefully get me motivated again. They are great kits if anyone is considering signing up!

Wonders of the Cameo

I've just taken delivery of a new Silhouette Cameo. My old Cricut was on the way out, and when I saw the Cameo on sale on Amazon, I didn't hesitate!

I'm getting to grips with all the machine can do, and have been on the hunt for cut files. Here's a great circle file posted by Geralyn Sy a while ago - perfect for my travel album and a page about Italy:

And here's a close up of the cut which I backed with patterned paper:

You can find the cut file at the end of Gernlyn's blog post here.

Tell a story

I've been subscribing to Ali Edwards' Story Kits this year, and trying to get better at telling the stories, rather than just minimising the journaling. Here's another layout from my European travel album - the story of a day trip with my favourite aunt.

The beginning

I've mentioned that I'm working on an album documenting my travels in the early 1990s. It's been a lot of fun reliving those days.  And I'm enjoying using product rather than hoarding it!

Here's a double spread from my Canada trip which started my love of travelling ;)

Butterfly card

Here's a card using Papertrey Ink's Beautiful Butterflies inspired by one of Laura Bassen's creations. I cut an inch off the card base so the butterflies could overlap the lining paper. Love this design and think I'll be using it again.

Practice your pirate

As my niece will be off sailing this summer, I thought this would be the perfect card for her - using Studio Calico's kids' Valentines stamp set. Arrr me hearties!

Cards for my stash

I've been catching up on some card making recently. Whenever I add cards to my stash, it seems they're not the cards that I then need to send - if I make some birthday cards, suddenly I need thank you cards, and if I make thank you cards, I don't seem to use them for ages.

So I've decided that unless I'm making a card for a particular upcoming occasion, it's better to stick to plain card fronts. I can then add a sentiment later, when I'm ready to send it.

Go - Madrid

I'm making good progress with my 90's layouts. I've got such a lot of use from Studio Calico's world stamps - here's the Europe stamp in action, paired with a card from Ali Edwards' Go Story kit. The alpha stamp is SC's Wes stamp, which I'm using for most of my titles.