She Speaks Melsh

Another layout to share with you today, using a background paper from my November Counterfeit Kit and some scraps from my October Counterfeit Kit. Actually, October's Kit may never end. Seriously, I have been using scraps from that kit for the last couple of weeks and I still have a ton of them. It's fun seeing how many different projects I can make out of them though, so I'm not too worried.

Anyway, back to today's layout, which was inspired by - you guessed it - a prompt from Pretty Paper Party. The prompt was to use scraplifting as a starting point so, I was on a look out for the perfect scrapbook layout to emulate, when I spotted this beauty over on An Ounce Of Creativity and decided it was the one.

The dinky, little photograph of Mel was sat on my desk just waiting for inspiration to strike and, it did. Don't you love it when scrapbooking seems effortless? Well, not quite effortless. I did hand sew all of that embroidery thread.

Source: anounceofcreativity.blogspot.com via Clair on Pinterest

The journalling is a little twist on Mel's 'About Me'. It says - "Melsh is what she speaks. It describes what she says (nice things, mostly) and how she says it (her accent is a bit of a mixture.) The word comes from her name and from the fact that she's quarter Welsh. But there's no Welsh in her accent. That's Mel all over - lots of lovely quirks. I'll always be proud to be her first blog follower and, of course, her friend".

Not often that I love a layout, but this one's a definite keeper!

Scrapbook Paper From Scraps

It's one of those ideas that has been on my craft to do list for far too long, so when we were prompted to use quilting as an inspiration during Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party, I knew I had finally been given the 'excuse' I needed to work on a more time intensive project - making my own scrapbook paper from scraps.

So, I gathered together the scraps from my October Counterfeit Kit and pulled out some additional scraps in more neutral colours. I planned a very simple design, no fancy cutting for me - just beautiful papers, colour and stitching.

I cut myself a 12x12 sheet of plain white cardstock, then arranged my scraps in a very rough order before cutting them down to size. Since I knew I would be stitching onto my project, I used a simple glue stick which has the added advantage of keeping the scraps mobile for a moment or two while you manoeuvre them into position.

To finish off the paper, I used a simple zigzag stitch on my sewing machine. And believe me when I tell you that it's not perfectly straight. Still, I seriously couldn't be happier with the results.

Oddly, the morning after I finished my stitching, the Counterfeit Kit Challenge posted a tutorial on creating your own Patchwork Paper Using Scraps. It's a more structured pattern, but it is beautifully made and there's some excellent tips for those of you who might not be confident enough to sit down and just start stitching.

An Autumn Afternoon {November's Counterfeit Kit}

Finally a little bit of me time and I've spent it having some fun putting together my November Counterfeit Kit. This month's inspiration kits were both from The Scraptastic Club and I immediately fell in love with the rich colours of the Autumn Splendor Kit. I don't generally use such rich colours in my scrapbooking, but I knew I had some perfect paper choices hidden away in my stash.

My papers include American Crafts: Hello Sunshine - Spree & Brilliance; Garden Cafe - Petunia's Pastries; Botanique - Amelia; Peachy Keen - Cool Cat, Jitter & You're A Peach; Classics - Huckleberry Finn & Canterbury Tales; Sassafras - Mix and Mend, Fancy Free and Bella Blvd - Finally Fall, Autumn Splendor. There's also three, now nameless, half sheets of American Crafts patterned papers in brown, turquoise and kraft. Many of the papers that I've included have a solid reverse, but I've also added in some plain cardstock in kraft, steel blue, dark grey and turquoise.

I've deliberately kept my embellishments light - including alphas from American Crafts, Sassafras and October Afternoon, along with a half packet of Sunnyside Delights by American Crafts. I'm hoping to pull embellishments from my stash as go along, but I'll also be making an effort to use my stamps this month. I have a few sets that are perfect for autumn. And I promise they're not by American Crafts*

* How many times can I mention their products in one blogpost?