Scrapbooking Crop - Circle Journal

A catch up from April - November 2011 and a long one too!!

This blog is going to be written as I go along and then posted when all the journals are completed so will take several months...we are doing a circle journal at our crop.  We have each got our journal, picked our topic and the journals will be circulating for about 8 or 9 months until everyone has contributed to everyone's journal.  One of the rules we have is that we cannot see the journals until they are all completed, so you see a little of the one you are working on but will not see anything that comes after yours and you cannot, under any circumstances see your own.

For my journal I picked a Seven Gypsies album like the picture below but the 8 x 8 version.  The first stage was to create the front and back covers and the sign-in page, and then start the whole ball rolling with a layout on my journal's topic, which is favourite flowers, flower arrangements, gardens, plants etc - a vast array of subject matter to scrap and journal about.



So here is my front and inside covers, my back cover, sign-in page and initial layout which started in March.

Journal 1 - Nature's Jewels (April)
The first journal I tackled was M's and her subject was nature and here is the layout that I created for her journal.  It's very bright and colourful for me, as I tend towards the natural colours more, although I have done a few brighter layouts of late.  I picked two favourite flowers, the carnation and the grevillia for the layout and really went to town with pink and lime green, I called the page Nature's Jewels.

 I'm really in doilies at the moment and used them here, I inked them to bring out the patterns on the doilies, cut out sections from papers to layer up and made tags for the journalling and found some flowers which picked out the colour scheme.  Pretty and bright with loads of flower information on the tags!

Journal 2 - My Favourite Bling - Charming (May)

So onto journal 2 and a totally different subject and a very different colour scheme.  This one was very easy to pick the subject, although I had to re-do the photographs twice to get the to the correct size for the page!  The page is called 'Charming' as it is all about my charm bracelet, a very treasured possession.

 My colour scheme was red and black, with a little bit of gold thrown in too, it was meant to look very rich, baroque even, a Georgian feel which I took from the damask style pattern on the October Afternoon paper.  I've also used some Stampin' Up papers, Jenni Bowlin bingo card and some flowers from my scrapcrap.

 I had a go to make a couple of fake charm bracelets for the page and am pleased with them, they work quite well on the page and give it some real dimension and movement.

 The journalling is hidden underneath the red ribbon, which is velcroed and opens all the way out, there was a lot to say, but I didn't want it to dominate the page, so it's all there just neatly hidden away, which is something I do like to do with some journalling, which can be quite personal but then isn't open to all the world to see but is there for those who you want to read it.

Journal 3 - Maria -  My Philosophy - (June)

The next journal was all about our philosophy for life and here are the pages I completed for that journal, I found that one quite hard as putting your life's philosophy into a couple of paragraphs was quite a challenge.  I'm not sure I really discussed my philosophy but included quotes on friendship but they could be also about marriage - well the second one in particular.  The pages are much more my natural colouring and styling - monochromatic - which I am very keen on at the moment, flowers, buttons and some chipboard.

Journal 4 - Vanessa's Journal - July

The next journal for me was V's and her subject was sayings to live by (I think) - this journal was truly stunning and I was worried just having it in the house in case I messed it up!!  I used some pink papers and some feathers and prima flowers to embellish these pages, I also added some pretty gathered ribbon too and made them very girly - not because V is girly but because it seemed to suit the journal.  The quote says "take pride in how far you have come and have faith in how far you can go"

Journal 5 - My Favourite Poem - SC's Journal

The poem for this was an easy choice but it was a very personal couple of pages, I had chosen Remember by Christina Rosetti which is my favourite poem but also a very sad poem and on these pages dedicated to my Mum.  I used papers from My Mind's Eye which are truly lovely and I think the brown, blue, yellow colour balance works really well.  I will at some point post the poem too which is lovely but sad.

Journal 6 - Nadine's Journal

I have got photographs of the pages from Nadine's journal but cannot find them - have no idea where I have filed them so will add them in due course - once I've found them - clearly a senior moment!!

Overall its great to complete a journal because you get the opportunity to see lots of pages completed by your friends and pinch lots of ideas but its also hard work being on a schedule and we did slip in the calendar a few times!!  I will post pictures of my journal too but overall a fun thing to share with scrapbooking friends.

Ciao

Sue

Reading challenge 4/20 - currently reading on Kindle Tower of Silence by Sarah Rayne and in print Drop Dead Beautiful by Jackie Collins