28 Sketches - Day 14 - Signs

Saralee and I were charmed by the quaint and unusual signs and vernacular in New Zealand. This page captures a few of those memories. Layout created on paper from a DCWV stack called Timeless Type. USE YOUR STASH! It's a little busy, I suppose. But it's done. And that makes me happy.
I still have eight sketches to complete. Last night I ordered up some new photos from Shutterfly to accomodate the sizes called for in Lisa Day's sketches. Still have to come up with a slew of 2x2 inch pix. Not my usual size.

28 Sketches - Day 23 - Auckland City

Just some random extra shots of driving around in Auckland City. Used the Ornamental kit from Club Scrap. Not all that thrilled with this particular sketch. But it works for these photos. Thanks for looking.

28 Sketches - Day 18 - The Shire

I love this layout. I love these photos. This time, I was able to follow instructor Lisa Day's sketch quite closely. That's a first!!! In case you don't remember, these sketches are for a Big Picture Class called 28 Days of Sketches. 

Created on Club Scrap's Refresh Design Classic or Remix. Not sure. The photos reflect our drive through the New Zealand countryside later used to depict The Shire and Hobbiton in Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001. We scouted it out ten years before Peter Jackson did. Should I request a Finder's Fee? Thanks for looking.

28 Sketches - Day 28 - Life is a Daring Adventure

Well, the class is over now but I'm not finished. Still have several layouts in various states of completion as well as a few which I haven't tackled yet. This one features photos of Mallory at three months old, swinging in her airplane swing. Love those chubby little legs. Bet she won't. The paper is from a Club Scrap Retreat Remix kit called Aviation. Didn't think I'd really have a use for it until I stumbled across these pix and a lightbulb went on in my head. Thanks for looking.

28 Sketches - Day 16 - Baron von Klenzy

Yes, these are photos of my hubby washing the rental car on the first day of our trip. The unsealed roads of New Zealand were no match for Baron von Klenzy (as he was named by our travelling partners). Papers used are from the Far East collection from DCWV. All edges inked with Distress Inks. Sorry the photo is crooked. Thanks for looking.

28 Sketches - Day 11 - Queue Here

Still working on my Big Picture Class. The sketch for Day 11 was quite straightforward. Unfortunately, I just can't use the minimal number of photos our instructor includes on the sketches. So I have fattened it up a bit by adding all the photos I needed to tell my story. This layout is about our ferry ride across the Bay of Islands in New Zealand. All materials except sticker letters from Club Scrap. Oh, yeah, an old Mrs. Grossman border sticker is also used. Thanks for looking. 

28 Sketches - Day 19 - Lovely Girl

This one is from the sketch for Day 19 of 28 Days of Sketches. I followed it fairly closely and used my August kit from Simon Says Stamp which is called Flower Girl. I have been concentrating on these layout sketches so haven't had time to attack the kit. However, the colors of the kit reminded me of these vintage (?) photos of Mallory from 1997. Perfect, don't you think. The base and orange cardstock are American Crafts. All other paper and the stamp are from the Flower Girl kit. All edges inked with Ripe Persimmon Distress Ink. Thanks for looking.

28 Sketches - Day 22 - Russell

I have been working diligently on my 28 Days of Sketches Class even though you haven't seen results. I have quite a backlog to post here and you will be seeing them over the next few days. This first one is from Day 22 and called for some embellishments scattered up the left side of the layout. Initially, I planned to cut some hexagons to sprinkle on the page. And then I had a lightbulb moment. I dug deep into my old stash and found some naked chipboard seashells. I then dug even deeper (and I mean, waaaay back) to find some Art Accentz Micro Beedz which I bought from QVC who knows when. I applied gesso and then Pool Adirondack Paint Dabber to the naked chipboard. While still wet, I sprinkled them with the micro beads. Let's hope they stay put. Here's a photo of my homemade embellies. 

Layout is about our wonderful visit in Russell in the Bay of Islands on the North Island of New Zealand. A spectacular place. I could have stayed there forever. Materials used (other than the embellies mentioned above are from Club Scrap (By the Seashore remix and Poetic kits). Oh, and some seashell stickers. Thanks for looking.

Hexagon Love - 28 Days of Sketches - Day 13

I am in love with hexagons lately. As are about a million other crafty chicas. Anyway, I created this card based upon a layout sketch from my 28 Days of Sketches at Big Picture Classes. I am struggling with doing a layout for this particular sketch but a guest designer used to to create a card. I pretty much copied her. All materials are Club Scrap (Stratosphere, Lotus Pond, Tilescapes and Dream in Color kits) except for the pearls and the Picked Raspberry Distress Ink. Hexagons were punched with my old Creative Memories punch. Sentiment block cut on Silhouette. Butterfly cut with Spellbinder die. This card is for the August Card Sketch Challenge over at Club Scrap. Take a look. 

28 Sketches - Day 10 - Teacher, Teacher

Layout about an Historic Village in Tauranga. Our friend Saralee who was a teacher at the time enjoyed playing "school" in the old schoolhouse. Hubby is pulling my hair during class. This one is created on DCWV Timeless Type paper stack with ancient Heidi Swapp tape and cork as embellishment. All edges inked with Distress Inks. 

28 Sketches - Day 9 - Drive By Shooting

This sketch worked well for random photos taken from the car window. I struggled with talking Bill into stopping for photos so I finally gave up and just started shooting from the moving vehicle. Not conducive to great photos but captured the memories. Thus the term, Drive By Shooting was coined. This layout is on American Crafts cardstock with embellishments from We R Memory Keepers Travel Light paper pad. All edges inked with Distress Ink. Thanks for looking. 

28 Sketches - Day 8 - Red Hot Poker

Another layout for my 28 Days of Sketches using Club Scrap materials for the sketch on Day 8. This time I used the All That Jazz kit. The colorful Maya Road felt flowers are from a recent Simon Says Stamp card kit for August. Letter stickers are from ancient sticker stash. All edges inked with Distress Inks. Saralee and I were enchanted by these striking flowers we saw in New Zealand. I had never noticed them before. Once I returned to California, I started seeing them everywhere. Selective perception?  Thanks for looking.

28 Sketches - Day 7 - Emily

On to Day 7 of my class. I chose photos of Bill with an emu at Sunshine Plantation. This male emu named Emily (for some strange reason) took a shine to our Bill. And I think Bill returned the affection. Layout created on Refresh the Soul kit from Club Scrap with red accents from the Gratitude kit. Kraft cardstock base was sprayed with Melted Chocolate Dylusions (my first time using them) using old sticker letters as a mask for the title and then outlined with a pen (inspiration from May Flaum at Camp Scrap). Journaling is computer generated from the trip diary. Thanks for looking.

28 Sketches - Day 6

This sketch gave me some fits as I don't have any smaller photos. I trimmed up some of these old 3 1/2x5 photos to make it work. Cardstock is from Club Scrap and American Crafts. I used some ancient stickers from Creative Memories which aren't really my style nowadays but were purchased  specifically for this trip. So, USE YOUR STASH. Text again is copied from my original 1989 trip diary with some info obtained from the 2012 Internet regarding the kauri trees. Thanks for looking. 

28 Sketches - Days 4 and 5

The sketch for Day 4 lent itself well to a grouping of photos of Mallory at one month old. I used cardstock from Club Scrap's Lotus Pond kit with accents from another oldie kit called Tiny Treasures. 

And here's a close up photo of some of the details: inked doily and buttons. Inspiration for these clusters goes to May Flaum and Shimelle Laine. All cardstock edged with Adirondack SnowCap Dabber.

For the Day 5 sketch, I continued my journey in New Zealand with photos from our first day in that country. The layout is built on a Recollections paper collection called Union Square which I believe is unique to Michael's. I was tickled to find the sheet which says Great Southern since this is just about as far south as I'll ever be. I am really enjoying the scrapping of this trip from long ago. Reading the diary and looking at the photos is bringing back so many good memories. This layout had enough going on, being so text-heavy and with all that sparkle, that I didn't feel any further embellishment was necessary. Thanks for looking.

The layout for Day 6 is on my table awaiting text and a bit of embellishment. I still can't believe I'm keeping up with this, although I'm a piker compared to other students of this class who will have layouts for Day 7 up already before I even get out of bed in the morning. Oh, I should repeat here that it's a class from Big Picture Classes called 28 Days of Sketches. And for my friend who asked what I listen to when scraping, here's a link.

28 Days of Sketches

Yes, I know. I’m crazy. Whack me up the side of the head, as my good friend Farley says. Even though I haven’t finished at least three other online classes, I signed up for another. This one is Lisa Day’s 28 Days of Sketches – Round 2 at Big Picture Classes.
As soon as I saw the sketch for Day One, I thought of an old K &Co. paper pad in my stash which included a page of old-fashioned alphabet blocks. Perfect! I cut them into individual images, inked each one with Distress Ink and followed the sketch just about identically. The base cardstock is from Club Scrap (Henna kit).
This layout includes photos of Mallory at the age of twelve months. A ritual of distracting her with a money bag music box while getting her into jammies for the night. So cute.

For the sketch from Day Two, I am back at work on my 1989 album of photos from our trip to New Zealand, I chose photos from our visit to Dargaville. The cardstock is from Club Scrap’s Perfect Ten kit with some embellishments from the We R Memory Keepers Travel Light pad. All edges inked with Distress Ink. Journaling is computer-generated directly from my handwritten trip diary.

On Day Three,I was challenged by circles. I actually like circles a lot but I’m usually too lazy to dig out the circle cutter or Silhouette or other tool. While I was looking through kits for an appropriate cardstock for these photos, in the same Perfect Ten kit mentioned above there was a design WITH circles. How about that? So I cut out the circle images, laid the photos upon them and BAM, the layout is done. These are photos from a visit to Tongariro National Park and Mt. Ngauruhoe on the North Island of New Zealand. Again, the journal strips are from my actual 1989 diary.

I actually have the layout for Day Four nearly completed except for words and a few embellishments so that will have to wait for another night. Of course, there will be a new sketch tomorrow morning. Aaaaack! Can I keep up? No. But I will do my best to stay on top of things. Thanks for looking.