Scrappy Easter

Happy Easter to everyone and thanks for stopping by.  We have had a relatively quiet time here for a change.  Our older girls took off to visit their Mum and it was just hubby and I and the two little ones left behind.  We normally have a big Easter Sunday breakfast followed by the egg hunt and for the first time since the kids were babies it was just immediate family here for breakfast.  We were joined by some of our longest serving friends so the kids could do their hunt which made it so much more fun.

The upside to a quiet Easter is that I got some time in the scrap room.  I've completed 2 layouts and a card over the past couple of days - even with youngest daughter in there scrapping with me as well.  Casey completed a layout also and did a damn fine job too I might say!

Here are my efforts

These photos were taken on Australia Dayw hen we were isolated by floodwaters with both the nearby bridges under water.  The rain just kept coming but nothing could keep the kids from their new bikes. 

 

I have played with texture paste here and Dylusions and Glimmermist for the splashes of colour.  The bunting and cogs are all cut from scrap paper - throw in a few buttons and a Basic Grey chipboard flower with a Kaisercraft sparklet and most of the hardwork is done.  The alpha is Bella, painted and with a coating of Glossy Accents from Ranger.

 

 

I took these photos last weekend when we took our A Model ford out to my nephew's wedding.  They used the car for a few of the official bridal pics as well but here are my two babies posing in front of Dad's car.

I have used Kaisercraft's Pickled Pear collection of papers, some washi tape, a few acetate stars edged with mustard coloured Stazon ink, Tim Holtz alterations die - cogs and a Marianne Designs die which cut the gorgeous little old car in the top right corner.

The alpha is Bella cork and the chipboard cogs are Bo Bunny.  I have also used a Martha Stewart border punch.

Lastly, our little brood grew this week with the addition of a beautiful new niece.  Here is the card I made for her family to go with her welcome gift.

that's about all from my end of the world.  Hope your Easter has been happy and safe and loaded with all the goodies the Easter bunny could carry.

Stay safe and for those of you about to start school holidays - I hope you get through them with your sanity xx

Farewells, football and holidays

The end of another school term today and with it our family must say goodbye to Casey's Grade 1 teacher who is retiring :(  This lady is a very dedicated teacher and Casey thoroughly enjoyed her time with her during Grade 1.  The good literacy skills this lady instilled have helped Casey as she has continued her schooling so it is with a heavy heart we see her leave today but with joy for her for the next adventure in her life.  Here is the card I have made to show her how much we will miss her.  I love this quote which I found whilst scanning around the internet.

 

Casey is off playing touch football today as a gala day for school against other schools in the district - not usually the football player I am pleased that with just 30 minutes to school pickup I have not received a phone call advising me she's been carted off to hospital with something broken or sprained!  She was so excited to be playing today so we shall see at pickup time if this newfound excitement for football continues or has been sated.

 

As I head out the door for the usual 2.30 drive to school, it is with relief that it will be the last such trip for a couple of weeks whilst we break for the Easter holidays and with the realisation that those quiet few hours during the day where I get to create and occassionally blog will be minimal for the next couple of weeks.  If you don't see a blog post pop up for a while you know I'm out playing in the park, at the bowling alley throwing a few bowling balls or catching the last swims of the season in the pool with the kids.

 

I wish everyone a happy and above all safe Easter - may the Easter bunny bring you loads of chocolate and may you get to share the special meaning of Easter with those you love most.

Cards and banners

It was back to card making for me on Friday evening at the Scrap of Difference crop/workshop night.  I had my nephew's wedding to attend yesterday and was keen to make a card which matched their wedding invitations which I had made for them late last year.  Sadly, I forgot to photograph this card prior to heading out the door to the wedding so I can't share it with you here.

However, this card did feature banners with the bride and groom's names on one and congratulations on the other.  This got me started on a bit of a banners run and the following 2 cards came whilst I was on the roll.

I had a play with a new stamp - the grandpa kicking up his heels and my American Crafts Chromatix markers - I'm really enjoying these and love the shadings available.

The second card with the butterfly again featured a Purple Pumpkin spotty button - the perfect final touch to this card.

Well the storm is rumbling outside right now and the thunder sounds closer so think I'd best sign off and see if I can go and kit up a scrap project for tomorrow featuring some of the gorgeous photos I got at yesterday's wedding.

Thanks for stopping by.

Live Love Dance

Amazing as it seems I actually spent another afternoon in my scrap room this week and created a new layout - this time of my daughter and her friends, called Live Love Dance.  I used a challenge over at Scrap the Boys (OK so I didn't use boys as my photos so not real suitable, however, this is where the inspiration started.....) to use chipboard, mists or paint and washi tape.

I pulled out some mists which worked with my photo - in this case Dylusions Pillar Box Red and Lindy's Stamp Gang Luscious Lime & Hag's Wart Orange and got to work on a piece of white card - this I then cut into a circle thanks to the Crafter's Workshop Circles 'n' Circles template - love this template - it gives so many different circle sized options, worth having in any scrap tool kit.

Add some patterned paper - in this case Basic Grey Lauderdale cut to shape with the help of a Crafter's Workshop bracket template and a piece of red cardstock run through the cuttlebug with the beautiful Couture Collections Drifting Endless embossing folder and then rubbed down with some sandpaper.

For the pretties I have again been playing with Purple pumpkin products including their small resin flowers, paper doilies and music washi tape.  Some amazing chipboard from Meant to Be along with their felt flower.  I changed the colour of the chipboard with the help of some Adironack Pitch Black Dabber and outlined them with a copper Sakura Gelly Roll pen and then glazed them with some 3D laquer from Scrap Matts .  This 3d glaze is awesome, it comes in a little bottle like nail polish which allows you to add gloss to the tiniest of objects.

Finishing touches included some chipboard leaves from Twiddlybitz also coloured with Sakura gelly roll pens, some Kaisercraft flowers, Say it in Crystals gemstones, a Martha Stewart aster punch and the centre glory floral of a Prima Baroque Sienna flower and a Fairy Flora smaller flower.

Thanks for stopping by

Leibster Award

I was thrilled to receive this lovely award from the beautiful Melissa at http://snipsnapcrop.blogspot.com.au

About the award:  This award was designed to be a blog award in the pay it forward fashion.
Once you have been nominated,  you award it to blogs that you like that have fewer than 200 followers to encourage new visitors to visit these new blogs.

Rules for Acceptance:
thank the person who gave you the award and link it back to their blog.  Post the award onto your blog.  Give the award to 5 bloggers who you appreciate that have fewer than 200 followers.  Leave a comment on their blog letting them know that you have given them this awesome award.

So, here is my pay it forward time and here are the 5 bloggers whom I have given the award to:

Lizzy C at
http://crumbsofcreativity.blogspot.com.au
This lady is so incredibly talented that she only just makes the criteria for a new blog with the 200 followers just over the hill for her.  I hope this award takes her over the mark.  If you have never seen her work - do yourself a favour and follow this link and Lizzy's blog.

Michelle Wallace at
http://theartofscrapbooking.blogspot.com.au/

Michelle fits more into a day than I could dream of and still has time to scrap.  She is on design team for both Helmar products AND Mad About Scrapping.  check out her blog for some wonderful inspiration.

Leah A at
http://leahsscrap-a-holiclife.blogspot.com.au
This lady scraps more in a month than I'd scrap in 6 months!  Her layouts always feature something different and she is a fabulous source of inspiration.  She also designs for a number of online sites.

Heather McMahon at
http://heathermcmahon09.blogspot.com.au
I've been lucky enough to know Heather for many years from a life prior to scrapbooking and am thrilled that her talent has this year been recognised with a Scrapbooking Masters!  Her blog is still relatively new though so go and check out her incredible talent.

and lastly
Scarlett at
http://scarlettsscrapoirs.blogspot.com.au
I recently discovered Scarlett's blog after following a link from the Scrap FX site.  She is an amazing mixed media artist.  So, if you are a little like me and would like to know more about the whole mixed media scene or you are already into it and want some inspiration from a very talented artist - follow Scarlett's link.


Here is the award that Melissa gave me.
 

 

Back to Scrapbooking!

My gosh, it feels like forever since I've had the opportunity to simply sit quietly in my scrapbook room and scrapbook an actual layout.  Cards, off the page etc. have all featured heavily for me this year but this is the first actual scrapbook layout I've produced all year!  That seems incredible to me but felt sooooo good!  Hopefully my layout mojo has returned and I'm ready to scrap the rest of the year away :)

So, here is the resulting layout.  I had fun playing technique with The Crafter's Workshop chicken mesh stencil, some ink, a gorgeous Kaisercraft orange paint and a layer of Dimensional magic to give it some depth.  I also had a blast playing with some Purple Pumpkin products - the gorgeous spotty buttons and the crocheted doilies are from them.

Add in some Basic Grey & Bo Bunny patterned papers, My Little Yellow Bicycle cog brads, Silver Glimmermist, Orange Lindy's Stamp Gang dye spray, We R Memory Keepers twine, corrugated cardboard, Prima alpha stickers, Bella chipboard alpha, and a brad run through the cuttlebug and voila - here is the finished product!

Well the bug has bitten so I'm off to the scrap room to try and get another hour of creative time before school pick up and all the associated after school activities.  Thanks for stopping by xx