WOYWW Week 899/119 - Scrapbooking Supplies

Hello Everyone

Happy What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. I hope you've had a lovely week whatever you've been doing, and whatever the weather you've been enduring. Up here in my corner of Scotland it's been cooler but dry forcing me to get the watering can out again. It could be worse. Heavens, it has been worse, so I'm not complaining!

On my desk today a pile of photos. Just a fraction of my entire collection. It's only too evident that I am never going to scrap them all. But, I will do my best. For me it's the photos that come first when it comes to what I need for scrapbooking. That being said, the supplies used in making pages are many and varied. I know I go on about being on a spending freeze because of how much stash I have already but the requirements for scrapbooking are many and varied. For those who are not scrappers, but who might want to give it a go one day, here is a glimpse of just some of what I use in the making of pages.

Cardstock in various colours. Great for backing photos and layouts. Not absolutely essential as a starter, many of the plainer patterned papers make good starting points too.   

Patterned paper. I'd say this is absolutely essential. It can be bought loose or in themed packs. Often the packs contain other supplies, e.g. sheets of stickers, journaling elements, labels, etc.  The sheets can be single or double-sided. I prefer double-sided as it gives more choice. 

Letters, often referred to as 'alphas', and word stickers for creating titles. There are other supplies not shown in this photo - die-cut sets, stamp sets and even ready-made acrylic words to name a few.  

Sticker sheets and books used to create embellishment clusters. Oh, there are so many available to the avid scrapper like me. I'd say they are the sweeties of the scrapping world and just as hard to resist!!!

Die-cuts. Almost as hard to resist as stickers. These can be purchased ready-made in packs or they may be cut out using dies with a die-cutting machine. Alternatively, they can be fussy-cut from pretty patterned papers or downloaded printables that are specifically designed for cutting out. 

And last, but not least, the finishing touches. What some scrapbookers refer to as 'confetti'. For example: enamel dots, rhinestones, pearls, stencils, inks, washi tapes, punches, dies, stamps, Nuvo drops, wooden embellishments. Pens! I've almost forgotten the pens that are essential for journaling.

It's a lot for anyone contemplating becoming a scrapbooker. Be warned! As I know only too well, supplies have a way of multiplying! 

However, it's worth it to be able to create layouts like this one. Another first of the monthly pages for my 2023 album. This time for the month of March. The photos are a wee selection of those taken on walks and a trip to Glasgow during the month. Of course Silver had a starring role. 

She's been busy distracting me from finishing this post this morning. She wants to play.

How can I resist!

And finally a few funnies that I think are appropriate for today.

It's another long post today so if you have got this far this week give yourself another pat on the back. Next week is the big 900 and I'm so looking forward to seeing all your 00 memories. Such fun!  As usual, if you don't already do so, I urge you to join in with WOYWW. You can do this by clicking on this link, Sarah's Craft Shed, where you will be made most welcome.

Take care and have a fabulous week.

Elizabeth

WOYWW 890/110 - We're Having a Heatwave ...

Hello Everyone,

Happy What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday to you all!

Oh my, but it's hot here in Ardrossan! Too hot for comfort. I thought I'd spend the day in the garden yesterday but had to give up as the temperature rose to an uncomfortable high. Today looks as though it's going to be just as hot giving me no option but to stay in the craftroom where it's cool. Oh, what a shame!

This was what was on my desk yesterday. It's what's left of homemade kit no.9. That doesn't mean I've worked my way through nos.1-8 already. I'm just pulling them out of storage in no particular order. More fun that way. This kit had some Disney themed papers and sticker sheets in it which had me stumped for a while. The only time I've ever been to a Disney park was in 1984 and the photos from then were scrapped a long time ago. 

One thing I've learned from following Shimelle's scrapbook videos, it is that it is possible to ignore the theme of a paper collection, in this case Echo Park's 'Magical Adventures', and adapt it for use with non-themed photos. On this page the photos are of Alan cuddling our great-niece way back in 2012. She won his heart from the first too. Her mum has reminded me of how his singing of a naughty ditty made Arihanna laugh much to my embarrassment! Happy days. 

This is what my desk is like this morning. Silver has given it the once over and approved the next kit I'll be using. This one is no.116 and I had the foresight to label it with details of the contents, Echo Park's summer themed papers purchased from Hey Little Magpie in 2022. Just before we moved house. 

I'm still struggling to sort out the garden after months of neglect but despite that the roses are in full bloom and this one is a real favourite with the bees. This is a rose I inherited with the garden and I've no idea what it's name is. It's beautiful whatever it's called. 

You've already seen a pic of Silver today so I thought this week I'd introduce you to Glasgow's Scottie Dogs. 

And finally the one with the cone, of course!

There's a total of 40 giant Scottie sculptures and 52 wee ones on this free art trail around Glasgow. The large Scotties were designed and painted by local artists, the wee ones were created by local schoolchildren. All in support of Maggie's a charity that provides support to people with cancer, their family and friends. They will be on show until 16th August and then the large ones will be auctioned off to raise funds for Maggie's. The wee ones will be returned to the schools. 

Well, I think that's enough from me today.  More than I intended but I hope you enjoyed those photos of the Scottie Dogs. 

To see more creative workdesks pop over to Sarah's blog, Sarah's Craft Shed. If you don't already do so, feel free to join in the fun and show us what's on your workdesk this Wednesday. You'll be made most welcome.

Have a great WOYWW day and a fabulous week everyone,

Take care everyone,

Elizabeth

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 835

Hello Everyone,

I hope you have all had a good week finding lots of time for crafting. There's not been a lot of crafting going on here. Too busy elsewhere, unfortunately. Because of that, all that's different about my desk from last week is a pile of pages waiting to be filed. They are waiting because I can't decide which album to put them in. The photos on the right are old ones found when I was sorting out a box of framed photos brought from the old house. We had a lot more wall space there but it's much more limited here so I've had to decide which to keep and which to sacrifice. Not that I plan to bin the photos, just the frames. I hope to scrap the photos eventually. 

11/2025 - Misty Loch

The two photos of Loch Linnhe were taken on the first morning of the holiday we had in the Scottish Highlands in 1995. The B&B we stayed in was almost on the shore of the loch. Only a road separated the house from the loch shore. That morning we were both enchanted by the sight of the loch partly shrouded in mist. Magical!

The inspiration for the layout was simply the leftovers that had accumulated after making a few earlier pages. After choosing the base sheet, from Jen Hadfield's Peaceful Heart collection, 'New Day' 2021, I juggled the scraps until I was happy with the way they looked. Once I had the photos in place all I had to do was build the embellishment clusters from bits and pieces found in my stash.

Materials - printouts from Scrap-A-Sketch, 49 and Market's Vintage Artistry Mango Ephemera Stack, flowers fussy-cut from various patterned sheets and wooden buttons from Cocoa Vanilla's Storyteller collection. Title made up from Simple Stories Snap Studio's alphas. 

Due to the change in the weather, from heatwave to deluge, not a lot of real gardening has been done. However, I'm pleased to show you the work my daughter and SIL did, while the weather was good, to the patch of garden to the front of the flat. Above is the before shot. That grass was hiding a very uneven base. It was difficult to maintain and equally difficult to walk on for someone like me with dickie hips. 

And here's what they have accomplished so far. They've removed the grass, levelled the ground, cut the hedge, removed the dead ivy that was adhered up the wall, and laid the weed suppressing material. They have done a brilliant job, don't you think? The only thing I've had to do was weed and tidy up the plant pots. The next phase is to choose and order the gravel which will cover the entire garden. The idea being to make it as low maintenance as possible with only the pots to take care of, leaving most of my time for the new back garden. 

Speaking of which I have been enjoying watching and photographing the antics of the starlings that visit the birdfeeder there. Alan bought it when we moved in here but, sadly, never got the chance to see it erected and enjoy his birdwatching. 

And finally, no funnies this week but a photo of Silver out in the garden with me.

She's my constant companion whether inside the house or out in the garden. In fact, she would be happy if I spent much of the day out there with her. 

That's all from me for this week. Apologies yet again to those of your posts that I didn't manage to leave comments on. Life just got in the way. There's a story there but I'm not ready to tell it just yet.

To see more creative workdesks pop over to Sarah's blog, Sarah's Craft Shed. If you don't already do so, feel free to join in the fun and show us what's on your workdesk this Wednesday. You'll be made most welcome.

Have a great WOYWW day and a fabulous week everyone,

Take care everyone,

Elizabeth  

The Rainbow Challenge - For The Record

Hello Everyone,

After a very lengthy time of being unable to carry on with scrapbooking I decided this year that it would do me good to get back into it. First, I decided to record my story of this current year because it was clear it was going to be like no other in my life. To help me with this project I enrolled in Shimelle's excellent class, This Year's Story.  Since then I've been happily trying to catch up with recording 2024 month-by-month. I'm only up to February so far but the problem is that I'd taken very few photos in the first weeks and months of the year. So to fill the gaps I've found myself harking back to happier times. No bad thing. I'm enjoying it. 

This renewed enthusiasm pushed me on to do more so earlier in May, I decided that another challenge was just what I needed. Lisa Sikorski's Scrap-a-Sketch Rainbow Challenge, on Facebook, with it's seven colours and seven sketches was just the thing. A great way, incidentally, to use up leftover stash! For the record I'm listing all seven pages here though the first two have already been in two earlier posts. 

1) At The Family Send Off - the red and pink colour challenge.

2) Visiting Alfie - the blue challenge.

3) A Rare Treat - the purple challenge,

4) Wildflower Study - the green challenge.

5) Driftwood - the yellow and orange challenge.

6) Quality Time With Silver - the black and grey challenge.

7) Florence In Tuscany - the challenge to use all the colours of the rainbow.

I actually managed to complete the challenge successfully! I thoroughly enjoyed sharpening up my scrapbooking skills thanks to Shimelle's class and Lisa's challenge.

Now to catch up with my story album before the year gets much older.

Take care, everyone,

Elizabeth 

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 779

Hello Everyone,

I'm determined to not only join in with WOYWW over on Julia's Stamping Ground this week, but to be bright and early too. It's time to get up, dress up and show up!

But before I get on to this week, let me show you last week's desk which never made it to WOYWW because there's a very important little person in residence. Our lovely Annie, Wipso on here, made this sweet little memory bear from Alan's favourite shirt. The tie, a reminder of his career in chemical research, is pretty special too. Thank you, Annie.

Now on to this week's desk. Photo taken yesterday.

I was putting a page together for a Facebook challenge. The first I've been up to participating in for a very long time. It's proving to be a great way of using up old stash and leftover scraps that I've been hanging on to for no better reason than I can't bear to throw any of it away! 

As can be seen, stickers I think I might include in the embellishment clusters get stuck temporarily to any available surface while I think about where and whether to use them. Not all got used on this layout. 

The finished layout is based on a photo taken of us 22 years ago, when my hair was still dark and Alan still had some! His big sister, Margaret, put on a get-together for the family to wish us good luck when we made the big move from England to Scotland. Margaret loved to entertain and she made the most amazingly tasty pink cake too. 

Silver is still a happy distraction in my life. Here she is cuddling up on my lap, preventing me from doing anything but enjoy the moment. 

And finally:

This is the message printed on the side of the box of tissues that's on my desk today. 

Sent to me on Facebook. So appropriate!

Wishing you all a very creative and wonderful week. 

Take care, everyone

Elizabeth

Beautiful & Tasty Bouquet - A Scrapbook Page

 

As most readers will know, I love having flowers around me, but since Silver, the very curious kitten, joined the family three years ago, I've had to find safer spots in which to display my vases. This beautiful bouquet, a gift from my son and his family, was very quickly tasted, smelled, and finally tipped over, reminding me of how careful I should be. Of course, I just had to make a page to record the story for my 2024 album.

Materials: Heidi Swapp's 'Set Sail' collection; Pebbles' 'Kid At Heart' collection; embellishments from a selection from American Crafts,, Simple Stories, Doodlebug and 49 And Market collections.

Layout inspiration from Lisa Sikorski's Scrap A Sketch.

For the record: I've had to take some extended sick leave. Not so much because of the infection I had but because of my over sensitivity to one of the antibiotics prescribed. I'm not sure which is worse, the infection or the 'cure'! I'm on the mend but it's a slow process - I don't think it helps to be as ancient as I am - and I'm beginning to feel more able to scrap and blog again.  

PS: I wouldn't wish allergic reactions to antibiotics on anyone!

Take care everyone

Elizabeth

Sunday Scraps & Rudolph Day - Christmas Cards 34-37

 Hello and Happy Sunday to you all,

I hope you are all safe and dry. I see from the TV News that many on the East Coast of the UK have suffered badly during the recent storm and now it's snowing. I can only wish any of you that live in the affected areas well. 

I have been making some scrap pages for the Scrap Backwards, a FaceBook group, challenge this week - the aim of which is to use up old scrapping materials, particularly stickers but including other supplies we've had lingering in our stash for some time. One page I made helped me use up quite a bit of an old, 2011, Graphic 45 8x8 pad, Christmas Emporium but, as is always the case, there was a lot of scrappy leftovers. Some scraps were used up for the Christmas Card Club this week but I didn't stop there so here's another four. 

Apologies for the quality of the photos - the lighting, like the weather, has been very poor this week. With the exception of the ribbons, all the materials used were either scraps or leftovers - e.g. the beads were just the last few on a sheet. The stamps and embossing folders are from very old collections - the stamp sets are Docrafts Papermania Noel Christmas Wishes and Marianne Vintage Christmas, the embossing folder is from a Sizzix Christmas set. 

Frankly, almost everything in my craft room is not new. I'm happy with the embossing folders and stamp sets I have and only give in to temptation now if I think I will really make good use of them. I admit to still finding it hard to resist new patterned paper so treat myself to a kit from Mind the Scrap on a monthly basis. Otherwise, the only craft stuff on my shopping list are the necessities such as adhesives, scrap albums & plastic inserts - all those scrap pages have to go somewhere - card blanks & envelopes That sort of thing. In truth, I think I have enough stash at my age to keep me going until I leave this mortal coil. 

It's been a long while but I'm submitting these cards to the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #417 - Ruby's Memory - where anything goes as long as there's scraps used.

ScrappyMo's November Rudolph Days Challenge - a bit late but I think it's okay to enter to the end of the month.

CHNC Challenge 570 - where anything goes as long as it's Christmas

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper November 2021 challenge - a challenge that is always about using patterned paper or patterned cardstock

It's not quite 4pm here on the South West Coast of Scotland and the sun is going down already and just because I can't resist it here's the view from my window right now. 

So that just leaves me to wish you all a very good week and as my late mother would have said, look after yourselves and be good :)

Bye for now, 

Sunday Snippet Card - Joy, Peace, Love

Evening Everyone,

I hope you have had a lovely Sunday and a great weekend. The weather has cheered up over the last few days and yesterday was so lovely we had a trip out - probably one of the last before winter sets in. No sun today but it's been nice enough for me to get into the garden for a bit of pottering early on, then it got a bit chilly so I came indoors, and to my desk to make this card.

I don't like to throw out anything - indeed, snippets leftover from making scrap pages is what got me into cardmaking in the first place - so it's no surprise that the background for this card was made with the texture paste leftover from another project.

Supplies used:
- white A6 card blank
- scrap of black cardstock, Dusty Attic's 'Starry Night' stencil and the leftover opaque texture past which had been lightly tinted with yellow ink, for base of topper
- white vellum trimmed and shaped into the band that's wrapped around the black base
- Penny Black's 'Wonder Collection' stamp set, VersaMark ink pad and gold embossing powder for the sentiment
- green and red card snippets, QuicKutz 'Holly & Berry' die set and 'Xmas Red' Stickles to create the holly embellishment. 

I'm submitting this card to the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #360 - anything goes as long as there's snippets used

Hazel's CHNC challenge 454 - anything goes as long as it's Christmas themed

Merry little Christmas 14: anything Christmas goes

Sparkles Christmas 104: winter wishes

Crimbo crackers 192: anything goes

Winter wonderland September: use your favourite embellishments - die-cut holly & berries & Stickles

That's my card for today. Thanks for popping in.  Hope you have a lovely evening and a great week to come. 

Scrappy Sunday

Hello Everyone,

I hope your weekend has been a good one so far. It's been a fun one for us - we've been celebrating our 22nd wedding anniversary, my cousin Rachel got engaged and ... it rained! Oh happy days!!!

This summer I'm participating in Mind The Scrap's Facebook Group's six week challenge and this week has been the warm-up to it. Each layout had to include as many as possible of the following five points:

1. Doodling
2. At least 3 different embellishment types
3. A photograph with 3 or more people in it
4. A movie quote or a song lyric either as the title or included somewhere on the page
5. Journaling of some sort too

So far I have created four layouts in as many days - I took yesterday off. That's something of a record for me - I am probably the slowest scrapper on the planet - so I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself. Will it last ... that's to be seen!

Here, in no particular order, are the four pages:

Riding Along On A Carousel

The photo, is of my husband's great-nephew and his children on a carousel. The bright colours on the horses prompted my choice of papers and embellishments. And because the horses made me think of unicorns I had to include a couple, as well as the fabulous 'caticorns' in the pink paper - Be Meowgical from the Simple Stories Dream Big collection.

Band of Brothers

The photo on this page is of my late brother Douglas's two sons together with his 'adopted' sons taken after his funeral. It was a bittersweet occasion for them as they don't all get together too often now that Ewan lives in Australia but it was like they'd never been apart. Most of the embellishments are die-cuts made from scraps from older projects. I really enjoyed making this page - I don't make many masculine layouts.

Such A Perfect Day

I've used two photos from my graduation for this layout. They're old, 1997, but then so am I. I particularly like the one of the three of us - my husband, my late mother and me. He, on the other hand, is not keen because of the many times he has been taken to be my father in it!

Blinded by Science

And if the photos in the last page were old then these are even older - 1993. They are of a conference organised and managed by my husband for the company he worked for at the time. Q: what do you call a room full of scientists?  A: a conjecture!

As you can see all pages met the criteria but I found the doodling the most challenging. followed pretty closely by the movie quote/song lyric.

Supplies are either from Mind The Scrap kits or from stash and some of it is almost as old as the photos too.

I'm submitting the last layout entitled Band of Brothers to Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #331 - because the many die-cut embellishments were made from scraps of card. 

There's no danger of me running out of photos to scrap and the challenge is ongoing so I'll be back with more pages fairly soon.

Take care and have a good week ahead.