Dusting off the cobwebs...

...and popping in to say hello :)  More importantly, a very happy New Year to you!  So much has happened since I last checked in that I'm not entirely sure where to start, so I thought that today I would share my New Year's resolutions with you (my One Little Word will follow in the next couple of days).

Last year, I put this layout together to record what I hoped to achieve in 2010.  I've never really been a fan of making 'resolutions' as such, but I do like to have some goals that I can work towards as the year progresses.  I didn't do too badly in 2010, but you'll see below that I carried forward several resolutions into 2011...here's hoping that I finally get round to taking my driving test this year (and, of course, passing it!). 

*Click on the picture to enlarge

Made using Studio Calico's Metropolitan kit (December)

More than anything, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a happy, healthy 2011.  I started 2010 with high hopes and equally high expectations...but for the most part, it was a very hard year, as I think it was for many people.  2011 brings with it many changes and a new beginning of sorts, and I'm excited to share the journey with you as it unfolds over the coming months.  I suppose, like so many others this year, I'm hoping that the best is yet to come.

It's a relationship thing...

{Click to enlarge}  

I often get asked what it's like to live in London.  Usually I come up with a fairly generic response...something along the lines of "it's amazing."  Short and to the point, etc. etc.  You'll find that most Londoners will say something similar...or they'll simply start complaining about tube strikes, which is fair enough.  But after Keshet asked me this very question a couple of months ago, I started thinking....and a layout was born (thank you, Keshet!).  I have a feeling that you might think my answer is a little unconventional, but that's ok :) 

By the way, iPhone/iPod Touch 4 users, have you tried out the new Dali Museum Goodpak for the Hipstamatic app?  I love how surreal and unexpected each photo is: 

Piccadilly Circus, the BT Tower, Big Ben

 {click to enlarge}

The film has a canvas-like texture and looks awesome printed on cardstock.  I'm starting to wonder how I ever lived without Hipstamatic...is anyone else a convert?

Only 24 hours until the start of JYC!  Already there are some seriously inspiring projects appearing in the forum...I can't wait :) 

Drawing inspiration from fall fashion

Now that Autumn is officially (and finally) here, it's time to start thinking about my Autumn/Winter wardrobe!  To be honest, there's only so much that you can achieve when you're a student on a very tight budget, but it's nice to dream...and I have had lots of eye candy drop through my letterbox recently, which only enables me further :) Two of my favourite catalogues so far are from Toast, which is beautifully photographed and full of autumnal goodness...and Jack Wills, featured in the layout above.  I knew I wanted to create some sort of autumnal mood board after flicking through my ever-increasing pile of catalogues, but when I read this week's challenge on the Studio Calico blog, I thought it would be fun to do a layout, too!   

Cardigan & Slippers

The challenge this week is to create a layout or project inspired by fall fashion.  I already knew what I wanted the layout to be about, so I drew inspiration from two of my most recent purchases for the layout itself.  The stripes in the cardigan really appealed to me, so I decided to go for a linear design.  And when I saw these slippers in Accessorize, it was the chain of hearts that swayed me...so I recreated the same effect using my heart punch and the B side of one of the Sassafrass papers from Studio Calico's September kit (love those little hearts!).  This was my first Back 40 layout and I'm loving the kit so far...it was definitely worth the wait!  To finish off the layout, I chose my five favourite outfits from a duplicate Jack Wills catalogue that I had lying around.  Those boots?  They are at the very top of my wish list.  

Source

Also on my wish list...the Sewing Basket Apron from Anthropologie (you can also buy a matching pot holder) and the Continental Hello Wallet, also from Anthro.  This is actually a Hobo International  Lauren Clutch...they were so popular when I was in high school and I've been trying to track them down in the UK ever since so that I can replace my very worn out original.  I practically blew out Jamie's ear drum when I saw them in the store last week!  They're a little pricey, but I'm wondering whether I should splurge anyway...or maybe I should sleep on it.  *Ahem* 

What's on your wish list at the moment?    

Studio Calico Sunday Sketch

I hope everyone's having a fabulous weekend so far!  Just a very quick post today to share my take on Studio Calico's Sunday Sketch (19/09).  To be honest, I'm not entirely happy with how this layout turned out, but I am trying very hard not to let my perfectionism get in the way of my productivity at the moment (if that makes sense).  

I tried to make the overall tone quite subdued because of the subject matter (a trip to the Imperial War Museum a couple of months ago).  The patterned papers are from August's Studio Calico kit...I wasn't immediately drawn to those BasicGrey papers, but they definitely grew on me as time wore on.  Almost everything else on the page is either from Partly Sunny or Continental.  The photos were taken on my Retro Camera app for my HTC Desire...it's not quite the same as the Hipstamatic app for the iPhone, but it does the job :)

Anyhoo, I'm off to watch the X Factor and play around with this.  I have a bit of a thing for gadgets at the moment. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Revisiting my 'roots'

If you look through my albums c. 2004/2005, you will see lots...and lots...of 12 x 12 layouts.  Not only are they 12 x 12, they are also two-pagers (mostly).  Oh, how things have changed!  Since the start of 2010, every single layout that I have worked on has been of the 8.5 x 11 variety.  I'm not entirely sure why I made this leap...I suppose in some ways the smaller size seemed much more manageable after a 4 year scrapbooking hiatus.  But at the same time, I sort of missed creating 12 x 12 layouts...so a few days ago I decided to revisit my 'roots.'  It was a lot less stressful/daunting than expected.  In fact, it was pretty fun :)  And that MME paper from Studio Calico's August kit?  Love it.      

Thank you for looking!

Five years (and two layouts)

This year, I'm celebrating two anniversaries.  Both take place at the end of September.  The first is slightly less conventional than the second, but in many ways it means just as much:

I honestly can't believe that I've been living in London for five years.  It feels like yesterday that I moved here...I had just turned nineteen at the time and I was so. very. NERVOUS!!  I still remember exactly how I felt on that late September evening, so I decided to record these feelings in my journaling (click on the layout to make it bigger). 

This layout turned out very differently to the one that I had envisaged beforehand.  I was really inspired by Vee's challenge on the Studio Calico blog - to create a monochromatic or semi-monochromatic layout using neutrals - but as I started to put everything together I realised that I had a sheet of OA patterned paper that would be perfect for the overall theme!  I particularly love it because if you look very closely, you can see both where I live at the moment and where I lived three years ago.  So, instead of going for complimentary creams, I settled on kraft for the title, journaling and bottom half of the layout and added a splash of colour with the B side of the OA paper.

And for my 'second' anniversary:

 Yup, Jamie and I are celebrating our five year anniversary this month :) This is another one of those 'it feels like yesterday' moments...probably because within a week of moving to London, I accidentally bumped into Jamie (I'm pretty sure it was on a Thursday evening) during Freshers' Week.  I was lost...he was with a couple of people that I recognised from my course...and because we were all going to the same place, I tagged along.  We've been together ever since.  It really goes to show that you can find love in the most unexpected places...

This is another layout inspired by Studio Calico - this time using this week's Sunday Sketch (based on Jen Jockisch's lovely layout).  I wanted this layout to feel warm and homely, so I picked out some corresponding papers from SC's August kit and some embellishments from Partly Sunny and Continental.  The Maya Road envelope will eventually contain some journaling, and I stamped the title using these stamps and then embossed the letters with gold embossing powder.  I can't decide whether to do some stitching on the layout, or leave it as it is...any thoughts?

TFL and have a wonderful weekend!

The anatomy of a night out

I finally got a chance to play with June's Studio Calico kit last night!  As I was looking through my photos from the past couple of months, I couldn't help but chuckle when I saw these. Even though most of my friends from university are *almost* in their mid-20s, we all seem to revert to our inner 19 year old selves when we get together.  So, I thought it might be fun to dedicate a couple of layouts to our various shenanigans (hopefully a couple more to follow!).

I really wanted to emphasise the photos, so I decided on a neutral background and simple colour scheme.  After using the SC stamp (which came with the main kit) with Mustard Seed Distress Ink, I finally understand why everyone is so obsessed with these little ink pads...they are awesome!  And even though I think I might  have gone a bit overboard with the scrapbooking supplies this month, I am totally, unashamedly in love with Studio Calico.  The kits are amazing...I can't wait for July! 

I have so many blogs to catch up on, so expect lots of comments in the next couple of days!  I start my new job this weekend and then I have a week before I start an intensive teacher training course...It 's going to be a busy few weeks!

Thank you so much for looking!

One spring day

Just a quick, colourful layout to share with you on this dreary Sunday! I was really inspired by Stephanie Howell's Studio Calico challenge on National Scrapbook Day...to Scrap your Opposite. As a general rule, I like to use neutral cardstock (white, vanilla, grey, kraft etc.) with just a few embellishments (usually punches). I tend to avoid bright, vivid colours...and even though I LOVE the layered, distressed look on layouts, I find it difficult to recreate myself.

Sooooo, I decided to use some Dear Lizzy patterned papers against a nice, bold background (American Craft cardstock in Grapefruit). I based the overall layout on Sketch 183 from Pencil Lines...

....and pretty much went from there. I did my best to 'scrap outside the box,' with varying degrees of success (I ended up pulling everything off the page and starting over). I don't really have much in the way of co-ordinating embellishments in my stash, so I used several different punches to accent the page, along with a couple of cut-outs from the Dear Lizzy papers. Can you tell that I have a bit of a thing for butterflies at the moment?! Love, LOVE the Martha Stewart Large Double Butterfly punch and her Monarch Butterfly Edge punch. I also used my brand new Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, which was on sale at Craft Obsessions. Those staples really are tiny!

So, does colour scare you too? Do you like lots of white space or do you like to layer different elements on your layouts? I'd love to know!

Happy Sunday!

Revisiting Blogging for Scrapbookers

When I started my blog (in October 2009), I had very little expectation of anyone actually reading it. I suppose you could say that it was an experiment of sorts. A few days later, however, Shimelle announced on shimelle.com that a new class would be starting in November. It was called Blogging for Scrapbookers. I had never taken an online class before...but I decided to take the plunge. I'm SO glad that I did.

Of the classes that I have taken since, Blogging for Scrapbookers left the greatest impression. It helped to cement a whole new dimension of my life...and through it I was lucky enough to 'meet' some incredibly talented and inspiring people. My subscriptions in Google Reader skyrocketed from about 14 to 165...and I realised just how much the blogosphere can compliment and even facilitate scrapbooking.

After the class finished, I decided that I wanted to document it in a mini album. And, since I am redesigning my blog at the moment, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so! I'm using a 7 Gypsies 5x7 Ringed Board Book, Bo Bunny's Kitchen Spice collection, a variety of alpha and letter stickers, and some AC Remarks transparent accents. Here's what I've come up with so far:

It's funny how different things look when they've been scanned! The screenshots and overall detail are a lot clearer on the actual page. For each prompt, I've taken a screenshot of my blog post and the prompt itself, along with one or two comments. Some journaling printed onto note paper and a couple of accents finish each page off.



I didn't want to spend ages arranging the elements on each page, so some things are thrown together in a slightly haphazard way! I wanted to focus instead on the totality of the album...so I'm hoping that it will look semi-presentable when it's finished. I have another 8 prompts to do, and I also want to do a page on my Google Reader and possibly a Wordle of all 12 prompts that I completed (were there 15 or so in total?). I guess I'll have to see how long my supplies last....

Thank you for looking!

One manufacturer per month update

Cardstock: American Crafts; Patterned Paper: Studio Calico; Letter Stickers: Studio Calico, Cosmo Cricket, Jenni Bowlin Studio; Punches: Fiskars and Martha Stewart; Font: Traveling Typewriter (from dafont.com).

Eek! Does anyone else feel like 2010 is flying by? It feels like yesterday that I was munching on a box of Guylian Belgian Chocolates (I'm addicted to the roasted hazelnut praline) that came with my Easter egg...and now it's almost the middle of April. WOW. Anyhoo, after a busy couple of weekends away things are pretty much back to normal, which means that I've had a bit more time to catch up on my 2010 album. As a quick recap, for this album I decided at the beginning of the year to use one manufacturer per month (blogged here). The manufacturers that I have used so far are:

• January - Jenni Bowlin Studio (Town Square and Red/Black Line Extension)
  
• February - Pink Paislee (Cupid)
  
• March - Studio Calico (Home Front)
  
• April - American Crafts (Dear Lizzy)

And for the next few months I'm planning to use:

• May - Basic Grey (Nook and Pantry)
• June - American Crafts (Botanique)
  
• July - Lily Bee (Hello Sunshine)
• August - Cosmo Cricket (Material Girl)

I definitely had some reservations about the idea of limiting myself to just one core manufacturer each month, but so far it has worked out far better than I could have possibly hoped. It has especially helped to constrain my spending on supplies (this was a major motivating factor for using one manufacturer). I'm also enjoying the challenge of using the same patterned paper for multiple layouts in ways that will ensure my album isn't too repetitive. Perhaps the one drawback at the beginning of the year was the monotony of using predominantly the same collection from one manufacturer...but now that it's April (and now that I have collections from four manufacturers), I can switch for a while and work on layouts for February or March, until the 'fatigue' has worn off.

The layout (Muffin's Ritual) at the top of this post was put together using Studio Calico's Home Front. I don't naturally gravitate towards these colours, but I love how they blend together so well...and I love those letter stickers! I should probably mention that Muffin (the chocolate Labrador featured in the layout) is Jamie's family pet. She is quite the character, and over the past few years we've bonded on my visits up to Scotland :) Muffin loves attention, so when I found this apposite quote online I knew I had to create a layout dedicated to her quirks.

Cardstock: American Crafts; Pattered Paper: Pink Paislee; Punches: Ek Success, Fiskars; Letter Stickers: American Crafts, October Afternoon, Jenni Bowlin Studio; Bling: from stash.

I created this layout using Pink Paislee's Cupid collection (to accompany this layout). Jamie and I tried in vain to take a couple of self-portrait photos over the Valentine's Day weekend (the sort where you stick the camera out in front of you and hope for the best), but sadly none of them came out particularly well. I was still keen to document them, so I edited them in Picnik and settled on a unifying black and white for both. I'm still obsessed with those October Afternoon Mini Market Stickers..and I'm super excited about ordering these. I am ridiculously addicted to letter stickers!

I'm spending the rest of the week in the library researching another essay (luckily this one is the last!). I'm also working on a new blog design, which will hopefully be up and running in a couple of weeks....I'm excited!!! I'll keep you updated....And I'm catching up on my Google Reader, so expect lots of comments very soon!

Thank you so much for looking!

Something from Almost Nothing: Prompts 1 & 2

I am so very glad that I took the plunge and signed up to take Something from Almost Nothing. This class is amazing, not only for the inspirational prompts that Shimelle sends us three days a week, but also for the enthusiastic and supportive atmosphere that it has fostered so far. It's so exciting to see so many blogs abuzz with such incredible creativity!

I decided to use an American Crafts 6x6 album with a customisable chipboard cover for my Celebrate Life album. For the theme, I wanted to use some of my favourite photographs from the past four or so years (while I was at university). I realised the other day that I have been so focused on my future that I have been neglecting the past...so this is a good opportunity for me to take stock and remember the good times, while at the same time celebrating what is (hopefully!) to come.

I don't have much in the way of metals, so prompt 1 was a bit of a challenge. I do, however, have a Big Bite and some eyelets, so I played around until I came up with something I liked. I'm still in love with those American Crafts chipboard frames...I originally wanted to use some AC Fabric Thickers (By the Yard in Bubblegum) for the title, but they just didn't sit well with the rest of the layout. Luckily the frames complimented the October Afternoon patterned paper, so I printed off my title and journaling (font used is Learning Curve from dafont.com) and left it at that.

*Apologies for the slightly blurred image - my scanner can't handle raised surfaces or kraft!

For prompt 2, I used the patterned paper scraps from my 'This is Why I Scrapbook' layout. I love Basic Grey's Lemonade collection and was so sad to see so much of it go to waste, so it felt good to stretch it a bit further :) I was really inspired by the circles used by Tara Anderson and Laura Buckingham in the prompt, but struggled to create the same look with such a small medium. I settled on a linear design instead, embellishing each circle with some bling and some butterflies, and used foam pads to give each circle some dimension.

For each prompt I am doing a double layout, so that the 6x6 photo will feature separately:And, because I was the epitome of all things pink at university, I have tried to co-ordinate my layouts with my style and personality as it was between the ages of 19 and 22/23. Needless to say, pink will feature throughout the album to provide some consistency, along with the same title and journaling fonts.

I can't wait to get started on the next prompts! I have some ideas for the ribbon and cardstock prompts, but I am a bit stuck on how to incorporate a page protector into a layout...

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Valentine's Day (ShakeItPhoto style)...

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee; Letter Stickers: American Crafts, Jenni Bowlin Studio, Making Memories, October Afternoon, Cosmo Cricket, Dymo; Punch: Dovecraft; Fonts: Another Typewriter, Traveling Typewriter, American Typewriter; Adhesive: American Crafts

Sometimes (but rarely for me), a layout just falls into place. This was one of those layouts. I spent a good ten minutes staring at the Pink Paislee patterned papers (the 'one manufacturer' for February), my collection of Thickers and letter stickers...and finally the photographs. Oh how I love the ShakeItPhoto app for the iPhone! For those times when it is completely inappropriate to whip out your camera and take 250 photos of the contents of your plate, the ShakeItPhoto app (and the iPhone in general) are a scrapbooker's/aspiring paparazzo's dream. Anyway, ten minutes later the layout was pretty much in place. This is highly unprecedented - it was very much a 'ta-da!'/hallelujah moment. I'm keep my fingers crossed that I have more of them...

I tried three new things on this layout: the new Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type letter stickers; the October Afternoon Mini Market letter stickers; and American Crafts' This to That permanent glue runner. All three are awesome. I would definitely recommend the AC adhesive - it was very smooth, very easy to use...and it actually adhered all of the glue to the page, rather than half of it...although I have a feeling that my problems with glue runners are more to do with the person applying them than with the product itself. *Ahem.* I had a lot of fun putting the grid together - to give it a bit of dimension I used two different sizes of 3D foam dots (applied haphazardly to the page). I think those Lullaby Glitter Thickers are my favourites so far...I just wish they were available in more colours!

We had such an incredible Valentine's weekend. Luckily for me, Jamie figured out pretty early on in our relationship that the fastest way to my heart is through food, so he took me to the Palm restaurant (an American Steakhouse) for dinner on Saturday. WOW. The food there was unforgettable. We did a lot of laughing...I sampled a Razzmopolitan (or two) and the waiter gave us free desserts. We will definitely be going back! On Sunday morning we had bacon sandwiches and exchanged cards, Jamie gave me five beautiful red roses (one for each year of our relationship) and then we wandered off to Starbucks for hot chocolates and mocha frappuccinos before settling down to watch TV.

I may have also themed my socks to the occasion.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Scraplifts and other stories

Cardstock: American Crafts; Patterned paper; Jenni Bowlin Studio; Letter stickers: American Crafts, My Little Shoebox, Jenni Bowlin Studio; Punches: Fiskars, EK Success, Martha Stewart, Woodware; Felt star: Paperchase; Buttons, pearls: from stash.

Owing to the loss of Scrapbook Inspirations and the closure of Borders (pretty much the only stockist of Creating Keepsakes in the UK), I recently started buying the UK edition of Scrapbook Trends. Even though I have a sneaky suspicion that it is a couple of issues behind its US counterpart, I 100% LOVE IT. And I was particularly inspired by Ronda Palazzari's layout, featured on the cover of the February 2010 issue (entitled 'Logan'). I decided that it would be perfect for three photos that I had struggled to incorporate into a layout, so I scraplifted the basic structure of Ronda's page and switched in my own colour scheme (based around JBS papers).

I think what particularly appealed to me about Ronda's layout was the effortless way she combined so many techniques and elements without detracting from her photos. I would definitely recommend taking a peek at her blog, which is full of incredible inspiration.

Anyhoo, I was so obsessed with Scrapbook Trends that I decided to try out an issue of Cards magazine as well (of the same publisher). I should probably mention here that I have never been particularly interested in card making, although I always marvel at what other people produce.

And yes, I may have developed a bit of an obsession with this magazine, too (it's serious eye candy).

So I decided to try my hand at making a card....

This was very much an experiment. It meant that I got to play with my Heat Buddy, which always provides hours of endless embossing entertainment. It also meant that I got to play with these cute little American Crafts chipboard frames (from its Letterbox line) and my new American Crafts 'Thanks' stamps (which are very awesome indeed). But, most exciting of all, I got to play with this:

I have to give a massive shout out to the lovely Meghann for this. Back in November, she posted this gorgeous card, complete with signature stamp. I coveted said stamp. And then I came across Sweet Papery on Etsy, which sells reasonably priced custom made stamps such as the one above...and they ship internationally (this was very much an hallelujah moment). I couldn't resist it! I am totally thrilled with how it turned out....

Sweet Papery also has a website, which has some lovely stamps, many of which are self-inking. It's all very drool-worthy! My current favourite is the abigail stamp, but seriously...there are so many to choose from...

I just beat Jamie at at archery on Wii Resort (this never happens), so I'm off to revel in my glory!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Where has the time gone?!

Wow, has it seriously been over a week already? The last few days have honestly gone by in a blur - after being snowed in for 8 days, things are definitely back to reality! Speaking of being snowed in, I have a couple of layouts to share with you:

Cardstock in Rouge, White and Stone, American Crafts; Kraft and white Dotted Swiss cardstock (inner circle), Bazzill Basics Paper; Apron Lace punch, Fiskars; circles and snowflakes cut using Making Memories Slice Cordless Design Cutter (with Mistletoe Design Card); letter stickers, Jenni Bowlin Studio; snowflake peel offs, Stampendous; font is Another Typewriter from dafont.com; bling and ribbon from stash.

We had a phenomenal amount of snow at the beginning of January! As you can probably imagine, there were plenty of opportunities to photograph the snow-covered landscape/our garden, so I selected a few of my absolute favourites for this particular layout. I was originally thinking of making a grid in Picasa, but then I came across sketch 169 by Susan Dupre over at Pencil Lines....

Image credit

...which seemed to incorporate enough photos without looking too cluttered (if you know what I mean). Susan's own layout was also snow-themed, which pretty much cinched it for me! I scraplifted some elements from her original layout, such as the snowflakes and the ribbon, and then adapted the remainder of the sketch to suit the photos and the overall theme of my layout (I was going for an 'Aspen,' 'log cabin' sort of vibe).

As a side note, I should probably add that I am pretty much obsessed with Pencil Lines at the moment! I love the versatility of their sketches and the incredible inspiration that their design team provides each week. And, I'm SO excited about the release of Pencil Lines, a Sketch Book for Scrapbookers...I'm a big fan of the original Scrapbook Page Maps, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Pencil Lines book will provide some new ideas!

Anyhoo, here is the second layout:

White Dotted Swiss cardstock, Bazzill Basics Paper; patterned paper, all Jenni Bowlin Studio; glitter cardstock from stash; Scallop Sentiment punch, Fiskars; font is Another Typewriter from dafont.com; letter stickers include Jenni Bowlin Tiny Circle Alpha Cardstock stickers, My Little Shoebox Mini Alpha Stickers and American Crafts Thickers (Subway).

I just want to reassure everyone that the hat I'm wearing in these photographs is 100% faux fur!

I was so excited to finally be able to wear my scarf and mittens set that I bought in the January sales last year, hence these photos! It turns out that British winters are ordinarily just a bit too mild for such a big, thick scarf...but the 'big freeze' provided the perfect opportunity to wrap up warm! This layout actually came together quite quickly, which is a bit of a rarity for me...I suppose I love the process as much as the satisfaction of finishing the 'end product'...

And, just in case you were wondering how much snow we had at the beginning of January, here is a 'before and after' comparison of the snow we had in our orchard just before Christmas (blogged here) and the snow during the first week of January:

A little known fact about me: meteorology is my guilty little pleasure...Storm Chasers is one of my absolute favourite TV shows (I have a bit of a thing for Reed Timmer) and I check accuweather.com pretty much everyday. Yup, I'm a self-confessed nerd.

Ooh, and if you want to see some more snow photos, check out my 'Snow' Flickr set.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Snowed in = scrap happy

So, after this post about the snow that we had just before Christmas, it started to snow again...with a vengeance. To date, we've had about 15 inches of snow...and we've been snowed in for the past week (as I might have mentioned, we just can't handle snow in our neck of the woods). And, like most self-respecting scrappers with too much time on their hands, I've been getting busy with my glue stick.

* Once my laptop is fixed I'll scan these layouts and upload them to Flickr - despite my best efforts, Picasa and Photobucket keep removing my edits. I hate technology sometimes...

Cardstock in Rouge and Vanilla, American Crafts; Kraft, Bazzill Basics Paper; patterned papers, all Jenni Bowlin Studio; Subway Thickers, American Crafts; Tiny Circle Alphas, Jenni Bowlin Studio; scalloped circles cut using Spellbinders Nestabilities (Classic Scalloped Circles Small) using a Cuttlebug; font, American Typewriter.

'{2010}': Inspired by a layout featured in the December issue of Creating Keepsakes (I left the magazine in London, so my apologies for not providing specific credit!). My resolutions are organised by theme in each of the scalloped circles, e.g. scrapping, cooking, budgeting etc. - I wanted the layout to be simple and to the point.

For my 2010 album, I've challenged myself to use just one core manufacturer a month. I think this idea might require some explanation, so bear with me...(!) I originally started scrapping in 2004, but took a four year hiatus while I completed my BA. After graduating last year, I resurrected my passion for scrapbooking, only to find that a lot had understandably changed! And so...my experimental phase began. I wanted to try everything...every product...every technique...I was (*shudder*) out of control. More importantly, my endless enthusiasm was costing me a small fortune. But, by using one manufacturer a month, I still get to play with new products and pretty paper lines...my spending is just that little bit more sustainable.

Cardstock in Rouge, Vanilla and Coffee, American Crafts; Apron Lace punch, Fiskars; square punch, Woodware; patterned papers, all Jenni Bowlin Studio; Cardstock Alpha Stickers (Red Bookprint), Jenni Bowlin Studio; tiny Alphabet Stickers, My Little Shoebox.

'Believe': My One Little Word layout - I couldn't find the quite right words for my journaling, so I used some inspirational quotes instead.

I should probably mention that this isn't supposed to be restrictive - it's supposed to be cost effective. There are some products that I know I couldn't live without...including:

• The obligatory Thickers.
• Punches. I. LOVE. THEM.
• Any kind of alphabet stickers. My current favourites are Tiny Alphas (Making Memories), Tiny Circle Alphas (JBS) and Alphabet Stickers (My Little Shoebox).
  
• Bling. I have a sneaky suspicion that I was a magpie in a former life.

I've already included all of these on my 2010 layouts so far (I have a couple more to post later on in the week). I can also pretty much guarantee that this list will get a whole lot bigger as the year progresses, because I'm learning what I love to use (and what suits me best). And, if you're anything like me (a chronic perfectionist), having just a few papers to hand - as well as a limited colourway - makes life a lot easier. I also love the consistency of the layouts...which I'm hoping will work well for Project 12 @ Scrapbook & Cards Today.

Cardstock in Stone and Rouge, American Crafts; Dotted Swiss cardstock, Bazzill; butterfly punch, Martha Stewart; patterned paper, Jenni Bowlin Studio; Tiny Alpha stickers, Making Memories; Effervescence punch, Fiskars; adhesive pearls, from stash.

'2009 Facebook statuses': I originally got this idea from Molly Irwin's blog. I was amazed by how my facebook statuses so accurately depict my 2009 - panicking about my dissertation, booking my first driving lesson, taking my last ever French exam, graduating...the sad passing of both my hamster and my dog (I'd had him since I was five years old!). If you haven't done it yet, you can find it here.

I'm curious - how do you go about accumulating your stash? Do you buy impulsively or do you plan ahead? Do you have a favourite manufacturer? I'd love to get some different perspectives!

Happy Wednesday everyone!