OUAS 1 January 2012 challenge - Thankful

First week in the office and life is starting to assume MACH3 speed again, gone are the lazy days of the Holidays!

CSI was launched on 6 January and got a flying start! really such a fantastic thing with more than 300 people checkin out the site that first day!

While I still had some spare time last weekend, a made a little something for the Once Upon A Sketch 1 January 2012 challenge. First the prompt and Nadia's lovely sketch:

Journalling Criteria/theme: New Years Eve!

Our theme this time is New year's Eve. We would like you to journal about your feelings around this time of year, or tell us about your most memorable New Year's Eve. Where were you? Who were you with? What did you do? Why is this one memorable? Note: the photo that you use for this challenge does not have to necessarily be from New Years Eve. For example, if you spent New Years Eve with your family you can have a photo of your family taken ANY time of the year.
Remember that you are allowed to also create a card or altered project based on this sketch and instead of the journalling criteria you need to use a quote.

You must combine our journalling criteria/theme with this sketch.

Here it is, my Thankful page:



The dotted dark mauve backing paper is from Swedish Maja Design's Let's Have Coffee collection and the rest is from Australian Meg's Garden that I have written about so often of late. They are the January sponsors over at The Color Room.



The photo is not mine, I found it on internet, but it still evokes that happy festive feeling. I actually prefer pink champagne to any kind of wine, just love the fizzy bubbles! lilac matting is also from one of the Maja Design papers. Silver figure 2011 is from American Crafts, a bunch of silver and clear stick pins, a music note piece from DA that I've chalked black. Flowers from Prima.



These birdies are just way too cute and I fussy cut to my heart's content with these papers. Love the bright and vibrant colours of the pinks, fuchsias, reds and dark blue, mauves and purples.



Hubby and I have spent so so many New Year's Eves doing all sorts of fantastic things, really splashing out and having the full monty of both black tail, tuxedo and dark suit. Celebrating in really grand style in many places.

However, as the journalling says, the most memorable one was the one we just had. We spent it at home, together. Instead of making promises for the year to come, we talked about our dreams and plans. It was an emotional evening as we also talked about everything that had happened, both good and not so good, in the year that we were about to leave behind.

We have so so many things to be thankful for, and it's those things that make our life a cornucopia.



I moved the horizontal element in the sketch a bit further up. Here I have used different strips of German scrap and misted them in different hues of lilac and purple. Under it can be seen another layer of stamping.





Thank you so much for popping and having a peek! Wish you a lovely rest of the week!

Cheerio! xoxoxo Eila

TCR 92 Constance and gala opening of CSI celebrating with Tea At Bettys

What a glorious day it has been this day in Stockholm! the sun was shining, the sky was blue and the temperature was springlike and mild. At this time last year, we had a zillion Mount Everests of snow piled up everywhere and it was really cold. Now there are several bushes pushing delicate leaves and I've even heard birds sing! Pray we don't get a freezing surprise over night.

Friday saw the release of palette #92 over at TCR. Gorgeous vintagey colours of Antique Blue, Eggplant, Custard Cream and Rustic Rose.

And as the cherry on our cream cake, we have Meg's Garden as sponsors for the month of January! Meg has very generously sponsored the TCR DT with their gorgeous new paper collection. I have posted about Meg's Garden before and shared both cards and pages that I have made with their yummie romantic papers. I will have the link to ther online store and blog at the end of this post.

Here's first the inspirational palette and Lydell's beautiful sketch:

This is what I made:



The girl in the photo is not unknown, her name was Constance and she lived in Paris with her family during the Belle Epoque. In this pic from 1902 she is about 8 years old.

Double stitching around the border, the eggplant/purple doesn't show here in the photo as it's stitched on the black cardstock. IRL the blue and purple stitching give a nice touch to the page.



The locket and the mauve velvet flower bud are both from Meg's Garden. The photo in the locket is of Constance as a baby and her young mother.



The shabby paper matting has been through quite a bit of working on before looking this way. Check out the plain vanilla card that I started off with!

I saw a cool tut over at Miss Art's a few months ago. Alyssa McGrew showed how to decorate chipboard alphas with this method.

First you smear gesso or molding paste on your plain surface and let it dry just a bit before adhering a ripped off piece from an old book or from a newspaper on it. Wait for a short while, not too long though or the paper will just stay put! gently pull off your paper strip and see how the print transfers onto your gessoed/pasted surface. I also wanted small pieces of the actual book page to stick as well as some of the card to tear off in places so I just repeated the sticking on and pulling off until I was satisfied.

Next step I pulled out my mists. On this one I have used TA Sand + Creme de Cocoa + Tattered Rose + Old Lace + Vintage Pink + Suede and Hydrangea. Might have added a squirt or two of some Creme de Rouge and Timeless Lilac as well :)

The stamping is made with clear acrylics from Elise's Huis. I used ink nbr 171 in Pine Cone from Versa Color. (no, it's not pine green! it has a subtle lovely shabby brownish vintage hue.)

The swirly chippie corners are from Dusty Attic. I painted them in TA Glimmer Glam in Gold and rubbed them slightly in the same Versa Color in Pine Cone to offsett the shine of the gold.



The die cut Eiffel tower and the stamp are both from KaiserCraft's new collection Sweet Nothings. Boy am I longing to start working on the papers, they are gooooorgeous beyond words!



Being me, I had to have flowers of course. Mauve pansy and bejewelled organza flower are both from Meg's Garden, as are the tiny forget-me-nots. The blue border swirl is also from DA. First I dabbed it in a metallic blue hue that I haven't got the name of as the label has fallen off the bottle. Then I randomly used ColorBox pigment chalks in Gold Brocade, Sapphire Silk and Warm Violet all over it.





With the scraps that were left over from making my page, I made a card;



The label is fussy cut from another of the lovely papers that can be found in the online store of Meg's Garden.

Click HERE for Meg's Garden online store where you will also find the link to their blog!




*Drumroll* the waiting is over! finally we have opened up shop at CSI - Color ... Stories ... Inspiration ...!

Check this out!

Welcome to our very first Case File! We are so excited to unveil our challenges. We are thrilled to have The Dusty Attic as our sponsor and delighted that their design team is joining the CSI team as guest designers for the month of January. This week, we have Mistra Hoolahan, Michelle Grant, and Jenny Burns joining us. We also have Nadia Cannizzo joining us as a special guest designer for our launch of CSI.

As you will see from the designers' layouts, the palette is very versatile, perfectly suitable for scrapping your recent holiday photos but also perfect for so many more themes. For the other elements of the challenge, we have a range of options, all inspired by our inspiration image, aka "The Scene." At the bottom of this thread, you will find some more details about this Case File, such as the RGB codes for the colors and more thorough explanations of the journaling prompts.

Since the CSI Case Files are brand-new to everyone, you will want to take some time to read the article "How the Challenge Works." Also, please take a moment to read the guidelines herefor some logistical rules.
In case you haven't figured out from Johnny Depp peeking through the magnifying glass on the front page preview, this month's inspiration images are all inspired by Alice in Wonderlandto celebrate Lewis Carroll's January 27th birthday.

So without further ado, we are pleased to reveal Case File No. 1...



Click  HERE to come to CSI and more of Case File No. 1.

... and here's my page;




I very often journal at the back of my pages but bringing it up on the page itself, really is something that makes it easier to take in the whole layout in one glance. Journalling is also often something that many find difficult.

All papers are from the BoBunny Welcome Home collection.



A swirly frame from Dusty Attic, from the same sheet as the corners I used on my TCR #92 Constance page.

I just love how dainty and cute the waitresses look at Bettys Teahouse, not only in York which is my local hang-out when I'm there. They used to have little lacey flimsy things in their hair but not any longer. You know, the same kind of ruffles the uppstairs maids in the BBC TV series "Downtown Abbey" wear, little cap-like old-fashioned thingies.



Stamps are from Elise's Huis and the metallic embellie is from Meg's Garden. The little tea tag is from one of  my fave morning tea bags, comes from Dilmah (naaaw, seriously does it now?!).




Isn't it silly the little things we sometimes have to do before we can enjoy something! Yup, I need the full trimmings before I'm ready and set to enjoy my visits.



The bling on the chandelier is liquid pearl nr 904 in Bronze from German brand Viva Decor. The overlay is a snippet from a Hambly sheet.



The doily is from Leeann Pearce's Chip Chop Shop on Etsy. The die cut sentiment is from BoBunny Welcome Home collection as is the trinket tucked in at the bottom.





The jewel stick pins are from Meg's Garden and the raw chippie swirl under the cluster is from Dusty Attic.


The flowers are a mix of Petaloo and Prima. The fabric bloom next to the sentiment is from Precocious Paper's Etsy shop.

What a glorious day it is!! Thanks for popping by and for any beautiful comment you might want to leave.

Todeloo! xoxoxo Eila

TCR #91 Sunny Days and a card for a very dear friend

By the time some of you read this, we will have entered into a brand new year - 2012. Wherever you are - a very Happy New Year to you all!

I am really so overwhelmed and infinitely grateful for the beautiful cards and generous gifts that I received from sweet sweet scrappy friends for Christmas. You know who you are ladies!! THANK YOU! Mwah mwah mwah!

Today is Friday and release day over at TCR, we have palette #91 with wonderfully vibrant and happy colours. How about Sunflower Yellow, Poppy Red, Powder Blue and Sunny Orange!

I won't be longwinded, here is my page:



After having made quite a few multi dimensional pages and a substantial number of Christmas cards for the passed few months, I felt like creating something one-dimensional and flat for a change. When I flipped through these October Afternoon papers, I just fell for the cute little old-fashioned country houses and went from there.



There is a Swedish lady who has the most fantastic blog where she writes about her ancestors and their lives. Wonderful research done, colourful encounters with people long gone, and fantastic photos that tell lots of stories too. This photo is from her blog and shows her grandmother and her grandmother's brother sometimes 1910-ish or so.









And then a card for a very special and dear friend.



A little package made from a 20 x 20 cm square doily.



Unwrapping the layers and revealing the card itself.



The doily and the papers are from the Australian online store Meg's Garden which you can find HERE

Meg's Garden is the January sponsor of The Color Room and each week during the month of January, one of their DT girls will be featured with the layout that she has made for that specific palette. The DT of The Color Room will also be showing what we have created with products from Meg's Garden.



Stickles in Star Dust here and there gives a lovely shimmer.



And here you can see the full card with its doily front.



Only a week left to 6 January and the launch of CSI - Color, Stories, Inspiration

The excitement is building up, soon soon soon ... Even before we have gone live, members are increasing in number by every day. The news is spreading in blogland! and the fabulous thing is, I'm on the DT of this new awesome challenge site owned and run by the one and fabulously only Debbi Tehrani.

The challenges consist of three parts: colours, inspiration, and journalling (that's the story). Plenty to set your mojo on fire in other words!

For those of you who cannot wait, here's a top secret sneak preview of our first challenge:

I will remember 2011 as the year when I made so many wonderful scrappy friends throughout the whole wide world. Thank you ladies for your loving support, steadfast encouragement, many giggles, invaluable personal chats, and so many tips and tricks on how to. Simply - thank you for being you!

Hello 2012 - watch out, here we come!

xoxoxo Eila

OUAS 15 December challenge "Sweet Nothing and something just for me

So we've spent the passed few days eating, taking a nap, eating again and drinking some coffee before eating again ... Always love Christmas and am equally happy to see it wave farewell till next year.

Feels good to look forward to an entirely blank page just waiting to be filled with happy new memories and beautiful colours. I just know 2012 will be an awesome year!

Even had time to make a page between taking naps and checking the content of the fridge. It's for the 15 December challenge over at UOAS.

I flipped the sketch and went horizontal instead. I also moved the title more to the right.
So here's first Nadia's sketch and then my page.

Journalling Criteria/theme: Our Christmas traditions.

We would love to hear how everyone spends Christmas Day. Even if you do NOT celebrate Christmas, what do you do on Christmas Day?

Here's our Miss Alice in her favourite chair by our bay window. Just look at that little tummy of hers! This certainly is a picture of total relaxation. Alice makes the most adorable little sounds when she sleeps, almost like snoring.



Christmas Day is the day of Sweet Nothing, we do as little as possible and do it together. Read our new book, see a film on the box, take a bath, drink more coffee and each chocolates.



All the papers on this page are from October Afternoon's Holiday Style.













And then a little something that I made waiting for Christmas, hence its title; "Waiting". It hasn't been shared anywhere before.



Here all the papers are from Maja Design's Vintage Winter collection.



We normally have plenty of snow for Christmas and that's what I thought we would have at the time that I made this page. Nope, none was to be had. It was a sunny day and about -3C, but no snow in Stockholm.

I used the Crafter's Workshop branch and bird template that I have used on several layouts before. Smeared molding paste through it and sprinkled plenty of fine glitter on it before it had dried. I also used a hefty amount of Stickles Diamond and Star Dust around the page to get an icy feeling.



A Dusty Attic chippie frame that I painted in chocolate brown acrylic paint. For matting I used cardboard that I first touched up with TH distress ink in Aged Mahogany before smearing lots of Stickles Gold on it.



I made a little book from white cardstock, it's about 3 cm wide x 4 cm high. The cover I made from brown paper from a paper from Pion Design's Waiting for Santa collection. A Prima trinket and diamond. The key is from Tim Holtz.

The angel wings I bought at a local store, Panduro. The white flower is first a couple of really old plain white Prima Pillar paper flowers that I've touched up with Stickles Star Dust, and then I added a Prima silk bloom on top.



Some Prima leaves and Stickles and white pearls as seen from the other side.



A couple of small brass bells tied together with an organza ribbon in gold and a cut off piece from a Prima winter branch.

I've been asked how long it takes for me to create a page and how I store my layouts. Well, I just pile them up in IKEA cardboard boxes that have a lid. It's impossible to keep them in binders as they are so bulky. As to my creative process, a page normally takes a minimum of one day to create, more often two.

Hope you're having a wonderful time with your families, enjoy the moments of Sweet Nothing!!

I won't wish you Happy New Year not just yet, I'll be back on Friday!

Till then xoxox Eila