Learn Something New Every Day

I am joining Shimelle's 'Learn Something New Every Day' class in September. My prize for winning a class in her 'Month of Colour' was to choose from a selection of classes. Here is what she has to say about it: "September is a special kind of second new year: the time of year when we head back to school, set new goals, live up to our shiny new intentions and embrace the idea of doing a little something to make ourselves a little better somehow.
Around here, we do that with an online class called Learn Something New Every Day.
Now it its fourth year, this online class encourages you to observe the world around you and learn from your daily experiences and surroundings. We work with a small format album to make thirty daily entries, and we adopt a few short cuts and techniques to make those daily entries possible in even the busiest of weeks. And once you’ve joined, you’re welcome to participate for as many years as you like at no extra cost.
The class includes:...preparation notes delivered next week...thirty daily full-colour pdf prompts delivered to your inbox ...access to a private class forum at shimelle.com to chat and share your work...permanent file archive so you can come back to the materials at any time
PLUS New for 2009:Although the principles of the course stay the same each year, the prompts are revamped to show you a new book with a new look. This year’s additional materials include:...for paper scrappers, this year’s featured album is made with repurposed supplies that will encourage you to stretch your supplies by recycling some items from daily life, and the option of a kit for scrapbookers in the UK....for hybrid scrappers, four pages of printable accents to include in your album (available to download on the first day of class)....for digital scrappers, five page templates (layered .psd files) and a mini kit of papers and embellishments designed just for the class, plus the option of additional digital supplies available when class begins.
So you’ll get all that too, whether it’s your first year to sign up or you’re joining us again in 2009"

I love the newness of September, even though I no longer go to school or college, it's still going on for my children. They will be starting their last year of school this September when they enter year 13. It's AS results day for the girls on Thursday. I'mlooking forward to learning some new tricks!

Fabulous Rainbow Colours

No challenge today, just a link to some great digi kits by Tia Bennett's work on Two Peas. Just for fun and because I love colour here are some rainbow shots I have collected together along the way this month. This colourful parrot was outside on of the shops at the Craft Centre we visited at the beginning of the month in Essex. The school shop sign belongs to ASDA!

Repair in my sun umbrella after the moth had chewed it while stored away in shed over the winter.

Emily's watercolours before she opened them.

Playing with Paint

Today’s challenge from Shimelle's Month of Colour is to make something with acrylic paint—in any colour—and share a link. See Shimelle's blog for a tutorial on 'Playing with paint'!

I use acrylic paints with chipboard letters. Here area two lay outs where I painted the letters before treating them with other techniques.

These chipboard letters were painted white acrylic and then stamped with black swirls. I added a layer of Glossy Accents to polish them off!

This LO uses a variety of different Basic Grey papers and is a scrap lift of a LO by Gabrielle Pollacco (having trouble linking to her blog today, but the link is on my list and it's called 'Such a pretty mess'.

The word 'LANE' is created with chipboard letters painted with acrylic paint, then stamped with swirls. The word 'Wisteria' was added with Basic Grey Wisteria alphabet stickers. The whole LO uses Basic Grey Wisteria and several sheets of Bazzill. The photos are of the set of Wisteria Lane, Universal Studios, CA.

Crafting in Earth Tones

Crafting in earth tones is the challenge for today from Shimelle's Month of Colour.


Here is a layout using earthy tones with Crate Papers from two different lines - Little Sprout (Willow and Grove) and Static (Gravity and Torn) plus die cuts and rubons. I used Party Block font Sizzlets for the title. The photo shows my daughter Emily in a recent fashion photo shoot, the photographer is her friend Nadine. More of their photography can be seen on Deviant Art Web site: Nadine or Emily.

I used a sketch from the Mojo Holder Blog, number 109 designed by Lizzy Wurmann.

Inspiration with Kristina Werner

In addition to the Month of Colour Challenge today, Shimelle added a link up with guest Kristina Werner and her 'Color Inspiration Challenge'.




These colours remind me of Basic Grey's Ambrosia papers, and some of the recent photo shoot pictures of my daughter Emily. So I decided to set to work with these items. Here is the resulting layout:



I used Ambrosia papers in Mandarin, quince, smoke, zest, and rind. Three different sticker sheets from the same range - Alphabet stickers (adapted to make numbers), Wilma mini monograms and elements. I used a new butterfly stamp I spotted at Sharon's Card Crafts - the small scroll butterfly. I stamped this onto acetate and onto zest paper.

Light, White Crafting

The challenge for the Month of Colour today is to craft in Light or whites. Shimelle said: "Create something with shades of white and cream, make a page with a white background, scrap the photos you took for last week’s matching photo challenge…or whatever you fancy in light colours!"

So first I looked back at scrapping on white backgrounds, something I don't do very often. I found this double lay out I made after Catherine's school prom last Summer.

The second page is of Emily in a Disney T shirt. It is a design I created for the Crafty Pastimes, DT Gallery.

The next two were made in classes designed and taught by Rachel (Taniwha) at a Crafty Pastimes crop. Both designs use white space in a very clever way. The only papers are cardstock.

The above LO is a photo of my nephew Jamie his back garden. They were digging a hole to put their pool in and Jamie couldn't wait!
Below are three photos my father took of me playing with his chess set.

Crafting with Blue

On 23rd May we took a group of teenagers from the hospice to the Sealife Centre at Brighton. later this month we will have the same group of children into the hospice for a craft session, and we plan to make mini scrapbooks with them to record the memory of the day out. So as today was blue crafting day for the Month of Colour challenge, I thought it would be a good time to make an example. I can't show the inside pages as they contain photos of the children.

The next photo was added on 27th June after the craft session with the youth group at the hospice. It shows a selection of the albums the children made, several had already taken their albums home before I took the photograph. They had great fun getting to know the QuicKutz the Bind it all and the Sizzix.

Red, Rose & Pink Crafting

Today we were challenged to work with red, rose and/or pink, for the Month of Colour challenge. I have done two projects for this challenge, one red and the other pink.

Here is a mini (6X6") layout I made today using a photo from our Blossom Babes Crop, which took place earlier this year. I used Basic Grey, Colour Me Silly papers, Pink Paislee and Provo Craft letter stickers. The photo shows the last time the frog was spotted, in my embellishments tote!

I also altered this Crate Paper cardboard drum. I wanted to create a pretty place for my daughter to store all the hair pins and nets. Catherine uses many hair accessories for her dance lessons and performances. I also used Crate Paper (Katlin Collection) paper and die cuts to decorate the drum. I cut the flowers using a punch, inked ad shaped them and added gems. The string handle was replaced with ribbon, threaded with a selection of pink beads.

A day for cool pastels

Lovely colour theme for today's photo challenge by Shimelle for the Month of Colour. I was busy working today so these are a few blossoms from the garden, and two baby quilts.

Earth Tones

Today Shimelle's Month of Colour Challenge was to photograph all things, indoors and out, in earth tones. Here are my photos taken on our day out and about in Bradwell and Braintree today.

All Things Light and White

Today the Month of Colour challenge is to take pictures of all things light and white:

The BLUES

All things blue today. Shop fronts, patchwork fabrics, my front door from the inside looking out, my Kipling bag, gardening Crocks and Alan's slippers. Also several blue garage doors and gates.

GREYS, SHADOWS AND BLACKS

The colours for today are blacks, greys and shadows. A wet and grey day today.

A day for RED, ROSE and PINK

A day for Red, Rose and Pink. Images from the bathroom, soap and nail brush, pig bin, image on towel an picture on wall.


A jelly frog in my tote (long story)!

My sizzlets tote, and inks tote,

Lovely fabrics for patchwork from Quilters Haven, Wickham Market, Suffolk.