Mess on my desk challenge

Sasha Farina  inspired by Donna posted  the following challenge in the Studio Calico forum:

"Scrap a layout with the mess on your desk.
Just grab whatever is on your desk and try to create a layout! That is all. Go to town and have fun, that's all I ask. "

I was in the process of tidying up my stuff, so the table was for once empty, but I had piles of scrap in the floor. I was sorting out the papers to make mini cardmaking kits for me.

That was my floor:

I decided for the stuff on the right, blue/orange/greens plus the blue strip of paper in the middle.

Then I went looking for a suitable photo in my box of unused photo, and I found one take a few years ago, with my children and their friends close to the beach. While the 4 kids sitting in a row look very cute, I didn't care much for the busy background, so it never got scrapped. Until now.

Everything in the layout is from the floor mess, except the white cardstock and the "great fun" chipboard. I loved the final result - I'm so glad I took the challenge!

February summary and my funny guy

February summary, I made the whole layout on white cardstock with green mist. Didn't like it at all, stared at it for ages, replaced the white with kraft and it look much better. Still, something was missing, so I made a border with a white pen.  I think I am now hooked with white borders.

The semi-transparent, long strips are from a washi tape. 3 postcards and a few washi tapes - that was all my purchases in Thailand. Very useful for an indecisive scrapper like me, because they stay where you put them but at the same time, they peel off without causing any damage.

And here's where the original background went:

“Luke, this is a wishing stone. If you put your hands on it,  close your eyes and
make a wish, your wish will come true.”
“Really?”
“That’s what it says here, do you want to have a go?”
“Yessss.”
He puts both hands on the stone, closes his eyes and makes a wish.
“Done! Can you buy me a toy now?”
“No.”
“Oh, nooo! It didn’t work!”

Phuket - part 2

I wanted this mini book to have as many photos as possible, as well as hold the postcards, airplane tickets, coins and brochures we got in Thailand. It is 90% finished. Ironically, one item missing is the first thing I did towards making this mini book. On the last day of our trip, sitting in a restaurant, I asked my husband and children what were the highlights of the trip in their opinions. We all wrote our answers in a napkin and I stashed it in my knapsack; can't find if now!

The cover is a postcard; it had to go sideways because I didn't want to trim it. I wish I could draw like that! The girl is from a brochure for a butterfly garden we visited.

Opening page, with a pocket with some arline tickets.

The hotel, map of the island.

The pool. Gorgeous!

One of my son's favourite memories; riding on an elephant.

The colours. The flowers.

My top 3 highlights.

The back is another postcard.

* Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye and paper scraps
* Album: Linda Kelly
* Letter stickers: Basic Grey
* Digital notepaper: Paislee Press