First Blanket of the Year

I started this blanket fairly early in January using the pattern on Attic24, Aran wool and a 6mm crochet hook. I love the rhythm of making the chevron blanket and the blues in this one are gorgeous.

I found the instructions for the edging on the Wires & Yarns blog - the edging instructions on Attic24 required that you started and finished with the same colour and I didn't - and I wanted the darker blue to edge everything.

This will probably go to my sister-in-law to help fundraise for the hospital she's working in.

Go Monochromatic

Shimelle's challenge this week was to pick your favourite colour and go monochromatic on your next scrapbook page. I really didn't think I'd manage this one - I rather enjoy using complementing colours on my scrapbook pages, so I thought that this would be a challenge too far!

I had in my mind that, if there was anything I could do, I would probably use shades of blue (definitely a favourite (scrapbooking) colour), so I had a flip through some photos I already had printed, in the hope that I'd find something suitable. There was nothing that would work with blue. However, there were a couple of photos that I'd taken at the beach at sunrise on Easter Sunday morning a few years ago that I thought I might be able to do something with. The first papers which came to hand were the original Shimelle collection from American crafts and I noticed that the peachy pink papers in that collection were a good match for the light in the photos so, grabbing a piece of white cardstock and some of those papers seemed like a good place to start!

I've taken a bit of a licence by using grey/silver for my title, but the papers were so far to the peachy side of pink that they didn't match any of my pink alphas. Black was looking just a bit too heavy, but the grey complemented the pictures really well. I've also added a few clear gems, some silver-embossed wood veneer, and some sprinkles of Heidi Swapp Color Shine in tinsel to complete the page.

Mix Old Scrapbooking Stash with New Favourites

That's the challenge on Shimelle's blog this week. I have to confess that I don't often use the newest releases in my scrapbooking - even if I buy them, I seem to need to let them mellow in my stash for a while before using them!

With that in mind, it was very easy to use old scrapbooking stash, and there's not a lot of the new on this layout (the newest item is the 'Admit One' chipboard sticker which is from the new Shimelle Starshine collection from American Crafts).

The patterned papers are from the Penny Lane collection from My Mind's Eye from 2009 - but the photos are from 2008, so I guess that works! The letter stickers are 'Kenzie' thickers - they are, by far, the worst thickers I have ever had when it comes to not sticking to layouts! The other embellishments are from random sticker sheets which had been partly used and, once again, I raided my wood veneer stash.

It's not my favourite layout - I think it needs a little something else, but it's done and the pictures are now in an album, rather than just on the computer!

Funeral Cake

One of the lovely ladies from my local crop gave me a recipe ages ago for an absolutely delicious funeral cake. It's so called because it's made from things you have in the cupboard and is easy to whip up when it's needed, such as a gathering at a funeral. I actually only wrote down the ingredients/quantities at the time so the recipe below is how I made it.

Ingredients
2 cups (280g) plain flour
2 cups (400g) caster sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1½ tsp salt
1 390g can of mandarin oranges
2 eggs
1½ tsp vanilla extract

Topping
½ cup (113g) butter
1 cup (170g) soft brown sugar
¾ cup (86g) pecan nuts

Put the flour, caster sugar, baking powder and salt in to a bowl and mix together. Put the mandarins (including the juice), eggs and vanilla extract in to a separate bowl and mix together. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and tip the wet ingredients in to the centre. Mix well so that all the ingredients are combined. Pour in to a lined tray bake tin (mine is approx 9" x 13") and bake in the oven at 180°C for 30 minutes (your oven may vary).

For the topping, put the butter and brown sugar in a saucepan and heat until bubbling. Add the pecans and keep on the heat. Pour over the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven and allow to cool in the tin.

Eat and enjoy!

Scripted Happy Birthday

A quick card today with another brush script sentiment, this time created with watercolour. The paper is from the Becky Higgins Project Life Desktop Edition 6x6 paper pad and the Cheery Lynn Fanciful Flourish die was still close at hand. The card is finished with some Prima flowers I've had for a good while, and some clear gems.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've been taking Jen Schow's Introduction to Brush Script Class, so I thought I'd hand letter Calum's Valentine card and gift.

The swirls on both are the Cheery Lynn Fanciful Flourish die, and the birds are the Bosskut Love Birds die. The lettering was done with the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen.

Scrapbook with Hearts

This week's challenge on Shimelle's blog is to scrapbook with hearts, so this is the layout I've created (faces obscured to protect the innocent!).

I loved this way of using up wood veneer when I saw Jen Schow's video and this picture of my brother and nephew with his collection of football and table tennis trophies seemed ideal.

The layering papers are from scraps of the Imaginisce Perfect Vacation line which were in my scrap box, the alpha stickers are Amy Tangerine Rise & Shine Remarks, the mist is Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels in Patina, and the wood veneer and cork pieces are all from my stash.

Scrapbook a Selfie

Shimelle has started a new series of weekly challenges on her blog. This week's challenge is to scrapbook a selfie and, quite surprisingly, I did have a selfie to scrapbook! It's one that we took at Christmas using the tripod and timer on the camera, so it's a little more posed than you might expect. It's also scrapped with some more of our Christmas photos in a double-layout, mostly using the Simple Stories December Documented line which is a few years old now, and some of the 6 x 6 papers from Shimelle's Christmas Magic line (and, of course, her fab enamel holly).

The layout is much more sparkly in real life - the 'Be Merry' text and the tag on the opposite page are covered with clear Wink of Stella, and the stars are red glitter card.

When I'd finished the layout, I realised it had elements of the flipped-mirror design Noell Hyman showed in a recent Paperclipping member's video (if you're not already a member of Paperclipping, I'd definitely recommend it).