Lindsey - World Traveler range by Teresa Collins

Hi  - Lindsey here.

I'm sorry but I'm really not in the mood for Christmas yet. It's just too early. I prefer that last minute panic personally. Anyway, before we get to 25th December, I have my son's 30th birthday, two granddaughters have their birthdays (on the same day!) and my husband's birthday two days before Christmas. So, forgive me, but I just can't think about Christmas yet.

Therefore, I present to you today, a layout about Travel. Hope you don't mind ... ... ...

Old friends of ours from "Way-Back-When" (prior to the arrival of the grey hairs and before we all started wearing elasticated waistbands) and from half a world away came to visit recently. I am sure that the fact that their visit coincided with a certain World Cup event which we (ahem) won, had nothing to do with it. Despite the fact that they are mad-keen rugby fans - Glynis supports the Welsh, John supports the Scots, my husband still deluding himself that England had a chance and me, of course, cheering for the Mighty All Blacks.

I have used the World Traveler range by Teresa Collins. I couldn't believe the quality of this paper. Thick and textured just crying out to be ripped, layered, distressed and inked up - it was a joy to work with. I added the title to a Dusty Attic bit of chipboard which I had painted. Tim Holtz' fabulous tickets and rosette flower were perfect embellishments along with a couple of leaves and a bit of pearly bling. Done!

On completion of this layout, I learned that we are shortly to have another visitor from the UK and also my Martha Stewart Scoreboard arrived. I had been wanting one of these for ages - mainly because I wanted to be able to make my own envelopes. I had bought an extremely large and aged Readers Digest World Atlas from a charity shop and had planned to use the pages for envelopes for my Christmas cards (if I ever get around to making any cards).

Anyway, in the meantime I noticed that the scoreboard also enables you to make little boxes so I just had to have a go. Pity I didn't read the instructions before I got started so the finished box isn't perfect. The next one will be though.

Isn't it cute? Just 4 inches square and made from an 8 inch square of paper in a matter of seconds.  Usually when we have jet-lagged visitors, I leave a box of nibbles in their rooms for those middle of the night tummies who are still thinking it's midday and not midnight. This box is going to be perfect, lined with a bit of tissue paper and some tasty treats within. It could very well make me look like the perfect hostess and compensate for the fact that I will soon lose interest, start serving them beans on toast instead of "proper" dinners and drift on back to my scrapbooking room.

Oh, I was just going to finish when I remembered that I wanted to show you this too:

There were quite a few bits of paper left on my desk after completing the "Welcome Old Friends" layout and also - very happily laying on the desk too - Becky Fleck's November Pagemaps. Hmmmm - "Rather than pack away the papers, make another layout" I thought to myself.  DH went on a golf tour to England, Scotland and France in June and I seem to remember some really grim photos of him and chums with the Eiffel Tower although I can't remember if they are landscape or portrait photos. So, somewhat brilliantly I thought, the layout has been made to accommodate either. The three embellishments have not been stuck down so can easily be rearranged (sorry these photos are a bit dark but the chipboard square has the Eiffel Tower on it). The "Remember This" chipboard is attached to a tag under the photo mat and can go either end.

I think Monsieur Eiffel would be spinning in his grave if he could see my sketch but I reckon Becky Fleck would say I've done "un bon travail"  (a good job). 

Incidentally, if I have lost my mojo or if my brain has a Teflon moment (where nothing sticks) I often reach for a pile of lovely papers and a Pagemap sketch and just do a layout without a photo. It's so easy and liberating (and I have to confess I am often tempted to leave the thing without the photo as it's so pretty and the photographs I am given often contain out of focus people with no feet - which is challenging). Give it a try sometime!

Thanks for looking.

Lindsey x