Shimelle's Sketch of the Week - from last week

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I started mine off with the best of intentions. I was going to participate in Shimelle's Online Scrapbooking Weekend ... high hopes ... other priorities intervened and together with a huge dose of indecision I just about got started Sunday afternoon!

To be honest, it's quite some time since I did any serious scrapbooking and I'm more than a little rusty... but, hey, it's a challenge ... and I thought I'd like to participate in, not least because I need the practice. The first challenge on Shimelle's list was to create a layout from the sketch above - find it here.  So I'm making it even more challenging for myself ... I've never constructed a layout from a sketch ... they've never appealed - until now, that is.

For my subject I opted for our most recent trip ... well, it's fresh in my mind and I'd like to have a record in my scrapbook. So, what took me all weekend to get it together ... deciding! Deciding what photographs to use, deciding what papers would be best, deciding what embellishments I had, and where on earth had I stashed them, deciding what title and how/where was I going to find the letters for the job, etc., etc. Phew! Too many decisions! However, I got there in the end and a scrapbook page was born :)

I used Stampin' Up Crumb Cake, papers from Pink Paislee Twilight Collection, Papermania's Reindeer/Polka Dots and a multi-striped paper is from an unknown source, snippets of red and black card for matting and layering. The embellishments came from a variety of sources too: Joanna Sheen's Nostalgia Collection CD1 for train stamp, the 'Day Out Ticket' topper is a Crafty Individuals Miniature from the People & Places pack; the cigarette card is from stash. The title letters are computer generated and coloured with ProMarkers. 

As you can see I stuck pretty much to Shimelle's sketch ... I don't have the confidence yet to stray too far. And, despite, the time it took, the procrastination, and the humming and hawing, I enjoyed the project and quite like the end result. Will I follow a sketch again .... we will see!

Fortunately, Shimelle has given us until the 21st August to complete the challenges so I plan to carry on and see just how many I can get through in the time.

In the meantime, it's lunchtime for me. Happy crafting to you all,