A bit of Facebook inspiration

I found a quote on Facebook this week which really struck a cord with me.  I have a friend going through a bit of a tough time right now and I took the quote and made it into this card - hope it lifts her spirits

Again that gorgeous leafy swirl die from Fancy That dies and the film strip die from Tim Holtz alterations.  Add some of the gorgeous paper blooms available at Scrap of Difference and a Kaisercraft flower and gem and the beautiful damask paper from Teresa Collins and voila.

Thanks for stopping by

More fun with dies

This week feels like one of those where I seem to have been active, but don't feel like I've achieved much.  However, despite that - I did manage to have a play, scrapping with a couple of good friends on Friday night and use my latest purchase from   Fancy That  - a gears and sprockets die.  I discovered this line of dies at the recent Quilting and Papercraft Fair here in Brisbane a couple of weeks back and am really enjoying them.  Throw in some chipboard from both Scrapmatts and Dusty Attic and the gear die from Tim Holtz Alterations range and a few unknown bits and pieces from my stash and that covered the dimensional side of the layout.  For a bit of interest in the background I've used the chicken wire mask/template from The Crafter's Workshop with a black soot distress ink from Tim Holtz.  The tape was another treasure from my stash - in the days before washi :) but it linked well to the aeroplane chippy~

The border punch is from Fiskars and the patterned paper is a Teresa Collins damask range.

Here is the end result

Away from scrapping, I had a lady front on my doorstep the other day as part of her job and it ended up we used to know each other from High School - over 1200 kms and 20 plus years prior and here she was living not more than 10 mins down the road.  It prompted me to sort through some old photos and find our old soccer team photo with us both in it.  I've also found some other treasures in the old photos box (from those days when I was someone thinner I might add :) so expect to see some of those photos gracing my layouts in the coming weeks - time to get back to that Book About Me I'm thinking.

This trip down memory lane has also resulted in me thinking about the special people from my past that I sadly don't see too much of,  or if at all these days.  These people played such important roles in my life at one time or another and it's sad to think that with some of them I have no idea where they are now - I suppose people come in and out of our lives for different reasons at different times but I hope they all know the impact they leave behind. 

So, for those of you who are still a part of my life I take this opportunity to say thank you for the part you play and what you bring to my life xxx

Thanks for stopping by.

Return to normal - or at least my version of it......

The last 4 weeks have been a blur in my household. They included 2 dance eisteddfods, a tap dance exam, a ballet exam, a speech eisteddfod and school holidays with the usual sleepovers and playdates. We are still in preparation for a speech exam and before we know it Christmas concert, carols in the park and the other preparations for the end of year and Christmas will be upon us.

However, for a few brief hours this week my life returned to my version of normal. I even got to take a few hours out and wander around the Craft & Quilt fair here in Brisbane, where I got to see a whole heap of wonderful new dies released onto the market - and of course invest in a few.

My favourite new find of this expo was Fancy That dies on the Papercraft Hub stall. I invested in 2 of their dies and also one of the Dienetics dies - I have already been playing with them :)

Despite the lack of posts to my blog I have been doing some working out in the scrapbook room - 2 lots of wedding invitations (sorry can't post pics yet) and a couple of layouts have kept me busy.

My first layout for the month was Reef Adventure - finally scrapping photos from a trip to Cairns to visit my brother and his family last year.

I've used some of the wonderful Scrapmatts chipboard on this layout - colouring it with the wonderful Sakura gellyroll pens as per instruction by the designers Anne Patterson and Angela Peardon on the Scrapmatts stand at the June papercraft Convention in Brisbane. Love how these pens make colouring chipboard sooooo easy and also how they blend together and leave a beautiful shimmer effect on the surface (though hard to see here).

Add a couple of die cuts using Sizzix sizzlets dies, a transparency for the title and the wonderful May Arts mesh ribbon and some everyday gauze and a few shells to add to the beachy feel.

Today was one of the first days of the many to follow of hot weather, kids swimming in the pool and family popping over for a hello and a swim. Once the hot weather had sapped all our energies the kids and I escaped to the scrap room this afternoon for some time out in the aircond comfort.

I had taken a great photo of my little girl looking ever so grown up at last weekend's speech eisteddfod with her best friend - all ready to go in and perform in their latest pretty dresses.

Again, referring back to product I purchased at the June Papercraft Expo and some techniques I saw on display there - I finally pulled out the sponge dauber tops and some Glimmermist and created my own background to go with the very summery colours the girls were wearing.

The gorgeous swirly vine is using the new Fancy That die I purchased from The Papercraft Hub.

Flowers are cut from papers in the Kaisercraft's Tigerlilly range. I have used a range of Washi tape from both Sawyers and my mate Lisa Kauphius - thanks for aiding my washi addiction Lisa :) The other paper I've used is a freebie which came with one of the Australian Scrapbook Ideas magazines.

So, time to call it a night now - thanks for stopping by and catching up - see you back here when I have some more to share :)

Christmas is just around the corner

and to get us in the zone and prepared, Australian Scrapbook Ideas magazine has just released their issue #16 featuring a free Christmas ideas mini mag attached.  This issue also includes loads of Christmas layouts and off the page ideas inside the magazine also.

I'm thrilled to have 5 layouts featured this issue - four in the 2 or more section showing how to use multiple photos on a layout and one in the designer's gallery - this issue highlighting Grandparents.

Here's a couple to share - for more details on the layouts and for step by step instructions on how to recreate them with your own photos and products - go and grab a copy of the new Australian Scrapbook Ideas magazine on your newsagent stands now.

Thanks for stopping by xx

New tools, old tools or a little bit of both???

I've had some fun this week rediscovering some old scrapping tools and techniques I had long forgotten and playing with some new tools recently acquired - isn't that half the fun of scrapbooking???

The forum over at the Dimensional Details class at Big Picture Classes with Nic Howard has been full of chatter about the good old Crimper.  Come on I'm sure every scrapbooker who has been around for a while has one hidden in the back of the cupboard or drawer? you know the thing that you used to feed cardstock or paper through to create a corrugated finish?  Mine had been relegated to a box which had not seen light of day for quite some years.  I fished it out, eager to join in the fun but alas - mine has died no longer giving an even corrugation across the paper :(  I went looking for a replacement but to date have had no success at all - any links or directions to a local one would be appreciated.  Funny how something you had long forgotten has now become a must have item isn't it......

Another such item was a spritzing tool I bought years ago to use with water colour markers.  Recently a friend returned from the Craft Fair raving about such a tool which Tim Holtz was using with his new distress markers.  I have searched high and low but alas - I obviously threw it out in a no longer used purged box at one stage.  Thankfully, said friend found me a replacement so I can again play with this tool with my new Tim Holtz Distress markers (thank you Michele xxx).  My little one had fun creating a layout with it featuring her friends on a recent playdate - simple, easy and no room covered in dye!

When I first started scrapbooking I would spend hours with a craft knife handcutting titles which I had printed in reverse on my computer.  This week, thanks to a reminder nudge from Nic Howard, I again took to this technique for the title of my latest layout - Colours of the Wind

A play with a new stamp from Kaisercraft (the branch) and my new Tim Holtz Distress Markers and of course some flowers (thanks Prima) and the job was almost done.

Again back to my box of old tricks and out came some Ribbon Stiff - thank goodness this stuff keeps for a while as I think my jar has been going for about 3 years and I regularly forget all about it.  Simply paint onto ribbon - wind around a pencil - paint the reverse side and leave to dry.  Unwind from the pencil and you have instant curly grossgrain ribbon :)

Well off to see what else I can discover hidden in the boxes under the bench in my scraproom.  Thanks for stopping by and hope this might inspire some of you to go on a search for those long forgotten tools or techniques too!

Celebrate!!!

June and July are busy months in our family calendar for birthdays.  My brother-in-law celebrated a "big" birthday this year along with the others we jam into these couple of months.  We headed to a local restaurant to celebrate 2 of the birthdays which fell into the same week and thanks to a lesson from Nic Howard in her Dimensional Details class with Big Picture Classes this was the resulting layout

The scan cut the black border on the left hand side off but you get the drift.  Really enjoying Nic's class as always and knocking out far more layouts than I normally would in a week which is exciting.

Now I've just received the new range of embossing folders from Couture Creations so I'm off to the scrap room to play cards :)  Have a couple of Christmas card workshops to devise - wish me luck  and thanks for stopping by xxxx

When all links lead you somewhere it's time to follow

As I browsed the net this week seeking inspiration for my next scrapbook layout I was presented with the same idea from two of my favourite scrapbookers!  As many of you are aware - I am currently taking Nic Howard's Dimensional Details class over at  Big Picture Classes and one of the lessons Nic has presented was using up old alphas to create a background.

Strolling through the various blogs on my reading list and I found Tiff Sawyer demonstrating the same idea.

I figured that obviously it was time I gave this a try as well.

Thanks Nic for the page design - taken from the Dimensional Details class - here is my version!

Dragging out those old punches!

I completed a fabulous class today designed by Nic Howard for Aussie Scrap Source.  Nic's layout was created as a page for a calendar but mine is a scrapbook layout about my little girl lazing on the beach in Cairns during our holiday last year to visit my little brother and his family.

Love pulling out my basic tools (which I don't do often enough) and finding a new way to use them!  The dimensional circle border which runs portrait style down the page is made from 2 different sized circle punches.  So simple and ever so clever!  Thanks Nic.

Because I enjoyed the technique so much I decided to apply it to a simple masculine card as well

Hope you enjoy these as much as I have enjoyed making them - thanks for stopping by!

Back to the classroom

Whilst school classes were sometimes a bit of a bore - there is nothing I enjoy more these days than being back in the classroom - this time however, it is online and it's scrapbooking!  I'm currently signed up for a 12 week course with the talented Nic Howard who is teaching a Dimensional Details class over at Big Picture Classes - www.bigpictureclasses.com.

One of the things I love about taking part in an online workshop such as this is that it makes me scrap regularly.  Although there is never pressure to "keep up" - it does motivate you to at least attempt to complete each of the week's assignments and get scrapping!  and the talent of the others scrappers from around the world sharing their work is inspirational to the scrapping mojo as well.

Here is a layout I've just created for class where we were working on using ink to shade behind the photos.  I love the soft look it gives instead of a photo mat.  Throw in some sanded edges, layered patterned paper strip and build it all up with the embellishments cluster and there we are.  I'm back in the habit of using baker's twine again too I've noticed - enjoying the movement it gives a page as a finishing touch.  As always the journalling has to be included - this time it's hidden in a little pull out pocket behind the central photo.

Thanks for stopping by - hope you enjoy!

Other scrappers inspiration

I've had one of those weeks where everyone else's scrapping has inspired my layout.  It started with a theme challenge at a Facebook challenge site called Crafty Crops to create a Christmas themed page.  The next inspiration came from Michelle - a DT member for www.my2angels.net who used a Prima brick mask - I love the background look of the bricks so this inspired me to bring out my brick template from The Crafter's Workshop - not the same look but in the same vein.

Next was a challenge in my Big Picture class for Dimensional Details to use scraps and a kraft coloured background - thus the papers used here.  I have altered my background with a background crackle stamp and the brick template and some Gesso but this is where it started.  The papers are all scraps from my scraps folder.  I've applied some new shading techniques from the clever Nic Howard to my wooden title, a new die from Tim Holtz - the lamp post, some Kaiser wood flourishes, two different Martha Stewart border punches, some pearls from Kaisercraft and VOILA!

I hope Christmas isn't creeping up on us too quickly - as you can see, this is only the 2009 version......

Enjoy the Moments that make you smile!

In the past couple of weeks my Mum has lost two of her dearest friends.  I have known both these beautiful women for over 40 years and they have each played a large part in my life.  Sitting in my family church in Avalon Beach in NSW yesterday at one of their funerals,  I listened as family members and friends stood up and remembered the things about one of these women that made them smile.
Simple things like a full table of people sharing a meal and a story, a look that she was able to give her children which spoke volumes, her endless supply of energy for helping other people and how those efforts made those peoples lives richer, lamington drives, time spent with children and someone who was always at the end of the phone if you needed her.  Whilst this day was sad to be saying goodbye - it was also a celebration of all the things in her life which had made us enjoy our moments with her so much more and a reminder of all the things about her which make us smile when we think of her.

When I sat to write this blog post having just returned back to Queensland, I realised that the last layout I completed for the wonderful expanded version of the Dimensional Details class with Nic Howard that I'm doing over at Big Picture Classes is in fact entitled "Enjoy the Moments that make you Smile".  Life has been very hectic of late and perhaps I needed a gentle reminder that there is so much in my life I'm thankful for and sometimes I need to sit back and remember to celebrate those moments.  Thank goodness for my scrapbooking - it allows me to celebrate those moments and keep them on hand as reminders.

Here is my latest scrapping endeavours

The Dimensional Details class has just kicked into Week 2 - I'm not sure if it is still open for new registrations but if you're thinking about it - check it out.  A fantastic class for content and the support of the other participants from all around the world on the gallery and the forums is incredible.  I'm sure you'll love it and make some new scrappy friends along the way! www.bigpictureclasses.com  is the link.

Sorry the photo looks a bit dark - there is a transparency over the top of the photo and it has made it a bit hazy when I scan :(

Thanks for looking and I hope your week is full of moments that make you smile!

Social Media of the past.

I hear so many people these days complaining of how the youth of today are constantly hooked up to an electronic device for their entertainment.  I laugh a little, remembering that I too was guilty of this in my youth. Today we have internet, facebook, video games & mobile phones with a multitude of applications to keep us entertained.  Back in my day it was a C.B radio.  I would spend countless hours in my room with a microphone in my hand and chatting to my friends.  The greatest threat from them was to ring the house if I dared to sign off!  Horrors.....

This layout celebrates the role this radio played in my youth and the friends I am blessed to still have in my life today as a result.

Thanks again go to Nic Howard for design inspiration on this layout.  I recently purchased a class Nic did for True Scrap 3 called Flower Frenzy - check out Nic's blog for details http://nichoward.typepad.com/my_weblog/.  This layout was inspired by Nic's example layout for this class but veered off drastically after the journal block.  Thanks for the kickstart though Nic.

Completely aside from this layout - if you want to learn about how to make some incredible flowers and how to incorporate these and other store purchased flowers into your scrapbooking or cardmaking - make an investment in this class.  I've been playing in the scrap room the past couple of days designing cards for an upcoming workshop and have already used 2 of the handmade flowers Nic taught in this class - simple and quick - even my 9 year old has been out here with me making some!

Of course if you follow the link to Nic's blog you will also see details of the Dimensional Details class Nic is teaching for Big Picture Classes starting on 5th July!  I did this class back in 2010 and it changed the way I scrap forever - 12 weeks of sheer bliss and a wonderful and interactive forum and gallery to boot!

Online Inspiration!

A trip to the recent Scrapbook & Papercraft Expo in Brisbane had me feeling that my scrapbook pages of late were a little lacking.  Off to the internet for inspiration and I was thrilled to find an online class with my favourite instructor - Nic Howard via True Scrap.  Here is the end result of the class - I love it and feel inspired to start scrapping again - thanks Nic~!

Layout is my beautiful girl with one of her besties all dressed up a couple of years ago for dance eisteddfod - how quickly they grow up!

A year in the making

I'm not one to normally have unfinished projects in my scrapbook room - I start and usually finish the layout I'm working on, even if it takes me a few days to do so.  However, this particular layout was one I started whilst away on retreat in May 2011 and have finally this week finished it.  It is the story of my childhood home - a place of many happy memories and some tough times too.   Yes, it did require a lot of journalling - after all it is the place I grew up in and spent 15 years of my life and many many milestones but I think perhaps it was the thought of tackling that journalling that took sooooo long for this layout to come to completion.  All of the journalling is hidden behind the photo blocks on both pages and the journal block which slides out is printed on both sides - so yes, plenty of memories locked away there.

However, it is a layout I'm thrilled to have now in my album about me.  It has reminded me of all the reasons I called this place home and the trials, tribulations and celebrations that took place here.  I'm happy I've recorded it for myself to revisit and also for my children to realise in future years why this place holds such a special part of me.

 

The remainder of this week has disappeared into the world of dance - again my little girl is dancing at the local eisteddfod - this week is solos.  So, it is back to costume adjustments, making sure the tights are all in one piece, the dance shoes are all clean and the hair accessories are all packed.  Tomorrow she will step out on stage and make all the hard work of lessons, taxi service to and from and the costume preparations all worth while.  So, back to the needle and thread for me.

I hope the year's shortest day today is a good one for you!

Australian Scrapbook & Papercraft Convention & Expo

It is with great excitement that I have booked my class schedule for the Australian Scrapbook & Papercraft Expo this weekend here in Brisbane at the Southbank Convention Centre.

I purchased a Pazzles die cutting machine back in 2008 and I confess, have hardly touched it.  The thought of pulling out the 131 page manual and working my way through it was always daunting and other than the occasional title or swirl here and there it has sat looking pretty on the end of my computer desk in the scrap room :(  So, when I saw that Addicted to Craft were bring Klo Oxford - the master of all things Pazzle to Brisbane for the expo I just had to jump online and book my spot in her 2 classes.  I will kick off with the beginners class in the morning - because let's face it that's where my current level of expertise is, despite having owned this machine for 4 years.  I'm then hoping that I have enough know how to go onto the afternoon advanced class (yipes) and learn how to really make the most of this machine.

So, here's hoping that the next few posts to my blog will include some projects and layouts created using my Pazzles!!!

I'm also excited to check out all the wonderful stalls at this year's expo.  I know of many of our friends from the retail stores around S.E Queensland whom we visit on our scrapbooking tours who are going to be there and I'm looking forward to catching up on all the scrap chatter with them.  I'm also looking forward to meeting in person Sue Smyth, the editor of Australian Scrapbook Ideas magazine and perhaps some of the other design team members for the mag at their stall.

To top off what I'm sure is going to be a very full and eventful day I'm blessed to have an old friend and work colleague from my past life (you know the one before kids) coming up from Victoria for the Expo.  She too is a scrapbooker these days and it has been an awfully long time since we last were in the same state let alone room together.  So, after we have learnt all we can for the day we are heading out to dinner and a long overdue dinner and catch up!

So, computer software for the Pazzles is all updated, laptop will be charged and ready to go, leave pass from hubby for the day and evening has been obtained and I'm ready to rock!

Hope to see a few others at the show.  I'll be wearing my Scrap of Difference jumper so if you see the logo - stop me and say Hi!

Memories - from Grandparents to Tea Parties.

One of the wonderful things about scrapbooking is that some of those little daily occurances or funny things that happen, which would normally be forgotten, are recorded and therefore become our memories.  Certainly big events like birthdays, graduations, weddings and the like are recorded and remembered but the ability to record those other stories which would normally be forgotten are there for not only our memory but for future generations.

I'm rather excited to have had my first layout accepted and published in the Australian edition of Creating Keepsakes magazine.  It is a layout of my son and his Grandma entitled Memories and is featured in the Reader's Gallery.  It tells the story of how my Mum worried that she would not have a close relationship with my kids as she lives in another state 1200 kms away but that as they have grown older and she has always come to visit or talk to them on the phone regularly that has never been a reality.  They love their grandparents and enjoy spending special time with them whenever they are able to.  I like that my kids will understand when they get older, how important it was to their Grandma to she have a close relationship with them and how hard she worked to make that a reality.

Here is the cover and it's on the shelves at your local newsagent now

Today I took my son to his under 7's soccer game at the local park.  My 9 year old daughter came along to support her brother and watch as always and set up camp on a rug beside the field playing with one of the boy's younger sisters whilst the game was in motion.  I turned at one stage from the play to check on the girls to find them having their own little play tea party.  On closer inspection, to my horror, I noticed that not only were they using the boy's water bottles as their tea pots but had my fresh packet of tampons open on the rug beside them and were dangling and jiggling a tampon in and out of the water bottle as their tea bag!!!  It was one of those situations were you jump quickly to remove the embarrassment and the poor little ones had no real idea of why I reacted the way I did.  However, on reflection I haven't been able to wipe the smile off my face all afternoon.  This is one of those stories I will record on a scrapbook page so that I can continue to remember and smile about their innocence for many years to come.  I look forward to pulling all these sorts of stories out at her 21st!

Oh my gosh!!!

It seems there really is a desk under all the stuff I've thrown into the scrap room over the past 2 weeks whilst eisteddfod fever has hit my house.  Between dancing and speech & drama and a fundraising night where I took part of the shop with me, my poor scrap studio has not seen a great deal of time to tidy lately.  I did sit for a few hours last week and create a couple of fabulous Family History interview books which I shall photograph and upload in the next day or so but the housekeeping side has been poorly neglected.

However, the good side to this is that when I did find it today I also had time to unpack a box of wonderful new paper ranges from Kaisercraft including this one of the Lakehouse pictured above.  Kaiser have started selling their new ranges as packs as well as individual papers and other embellishments - fabulous news for those of us who like to have the whole range to play with.

Here are some images of the other ranges I've just received in

Dimensional Details Workshop

Anyone who has ever heard me chat scrapbooking will know that I'm a HUGE fan of Nic Howard.  I took her Dimensional Details workshop over at Big Picture classes in 2010 and I'm sooooooo excited to have just heard that she has a new and expanded version of this workshop coming back and starting in July and running through till October 2012.

If you have never had a go at an online class, this is definitely one I would recommend whole heartedly.  Nic's work is incredible, the step by step classes to a huge number of layouts teach technique, technique and more technique and this girl is the Queen of cluster embellishments and dimension.  The last time I did this workshop the forum and the gallery was overflowing and I've made some wonderful international friends through this workshop who all share our passion for scrapbooking. 

I've already signed up but if you would like to join me - follow this link and sign up now - http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/ .  Nic already has a project for us to start with and the class doesn't even start till July.

Leave me a message here if you have signed up so I know to look out for you on the message boards and in the gallery.

Australian Scrapbook Ideas

I know it seems I've been extremely slack on the blogging front but to be honest everything I've been creating lately is stuff I can't yet share with you. 

However, issue 13 of Australian Scrapbook Ideas has some of those layouts.  I was given the opportunity to play with the Wedding stack from Bella's 8x6" pads.  A terrific range of papers which all work so well together.  I had great fun working with photos of my beautiful daughter at her formal with her Dad, a beautiful photo of my Mum and stepdad and also a trip back through memory lane with some dress up photos of my little girl and niece playing weddings.

Amongst the products I was playing with for this issue was the wonderful Bella fancy florals.  Check it out in newsagents now.

I have some deadlines to meet this week but after that I hope to be able to share some Family History workbooks I'm playing with.  Geneology is something I
ve just started playing with and I'm really enjoying it.  These workbooks are designed to use to interview members of your family and keep those special stories all in one place.  Everything from first crush to what sport the interviewee played at school.  So watch this space.....

Here comes the winter spots season

Well we've had our first two training sessions for soccer already and the first game is the week after Easter :)   There is a nip in the air at night and in the early mornings.  All this must mean that Easter is just around the corner.

I thought prior to starting the new soccer season I really should get my little man's first year soccer portrait and team photo scrapbooked.  Inspired by a brick template my dear friend Kylie was using when we scrapped together last week, I pulled out the Distress ink, some Kraft cardstock, a brick template and some arrow dies and went to work.

Here are the results

thanks for looking xx

A change of pace and project

It seems such a long time since I've had the opportunity to share a friend's excitement over an upcoming wedding.  However, hubby's friends are getting married and they asked me to make them their invitations.

I gave them a few different options to choose from and this is the one they chose - including personalising with their choice of purple as their accent colour.   Here are the finished results - hope they like them

Products include Rosie's shimmer cards and envelopes (graphite), White, lilac & forest green cardstock, Kaisercraft bling strips, Sizzix die, ZVA miniature roses 23mm, May Arts lace, Vandaross satin ribbon.

Another layout for my Life Changing Moments Album

I started making an album of my life changing moments over 12 months ago now after reading a blog by Jennifer Mohler - http://www.jenmohler.typepad.com/  Jen teaches at Big Picture Classes http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/ and I was fascinated by her list and subsequent layouts with her 100 Life Changing Moments project.

Scrap of Difference www.scrapofdifference.com.au has this week had their cybercrop in process and the colours in the colour challenge were just the right inspiration for this layout which I have created about becoming a Step Mum and the challenges and rewards that this role has bought to my life.

As with many, if not all, of my Life Changing Moment layouts - there is a sizeable amount of journalling - this is hidden beneath the title block which swivels on a brad in the top right corner.

I have had fun with tools on this one - Martha Stewart punches, Tim Holtz/sizzix dies & aqua pen to name a few.  A play with the Smooch pearlescent and glitter inks I purchased last year and a return of my favourite blooms from Scrap of Difference.  I even got to use up some really OLD product which was nice and teamed it with some new product from the Bella wedding range 6x6" paper stack.
Mix in a bit of Imaginarium chipboard and voila.

Thanks for looking and hope you enjoy!

Cybercrop at Scrap of Difference

Well it's cybercrop time again over at www.scrapofdifference.com.au with 4 terrific new challenges for this week.

The inspiration challenge this week is taken from a lovely little film clip one of our members posted to Facebook recently - if you get a chance follow this link and check it out - very inspiring http://www.tacmovie.com/
It is called "to a child, love is spelled T-I-M-E.

Here is my resulting layout

Richard is a friend of my hubby Adrian - they went to school together.  My kids adore him as he always has time for them - playing games, teaching them to ride a pushbike, setting up a train set - you name it he's always there to help them.  When I sat down with my photos for this challenge, he came to mind immediately.

The inspiration for the layout design itself came from a sketch and layout by Nic Howard from a class of hers I took at Big Picture Classes called Double Take - if you get the chance - take this class, it was fabulous and I'm still using the sketches and examples for mojo kickstarts.

The card challenge for February was inspired by Valentine's Day and the criteria were to use 2 x heart shapes, string, a button and a heartfelt or romantic verse or quotation.
Here is my efforts:

Two more challenges to complete this week - will post these once done.  Hope you can pop over and join in the fun too.

Is it really February already???

Well the children are back to school and all their activities and life seems to be getting back into some routine and I look at the calendar and discover that February is already 1/3 gone :( 

My scrapping endeavours have been absent of recent months but I'm determined that this will change in the coming week.

www.scrapofdifference.com.au has their cybercrop next weekend and some inspiration which will link to the first challenge has just gone up on the forum.  Pop over and check it out and maybe it will get you into a creative frame as well.

Scrappy New Year!

Well it appears that the calendars have all turned over their pages and here we are already 3 days into 2012. I hope that everyone enjoyed their New Year's celebrations and by today have recovered enough to contemplate the year ahead.

2011 for my family and I was a tumultous one and we are hoping for a less "eventful" 2012.  However, we did learn some important lessons last year about the importance of family, friends and never missing the opportunity to tell those we love how much they mean to us whilst we have the chance.

For the past couple of years I have purchased a calendar come planner which had 5 columns allowing most members of the family a column to record their activities or appointments.  It has been wonderful for keeping a track of the daily dance classes, soccer practices and birthdays which fill our lives.

This year however there was no calendar outlet at my local centre so I decided to have a go at making one myself and this way everyone got a column :)

So, here are the January and February pages - hope they inspire you to perhaps have a go at your own calendar for this year or next.

Each month features a different technique to show off your favourite products.