Stopping the moment

... at night. Lesson 5 of the CIS 'Stop the Moment' photography competition focussed on night time photography. This is something I really struggle with, so I enjoyed the chance to practise in this area.

Here are my entries:

Part 1 - Night time scene photography:

Part 2 - Photographing people at night:

Part 2 - Low light in-home photography:

I chose the first photograph for my layout. The layout I planned was totally different but didn't come together at all like I expected, so I threw it all aside and went with blue, green and simple:

Some layouts to share

With so much going on in my family life, my scrapping has become extremely sporadic over the past few weeks. I have a few layouts to share though...

Yesterday I went to the Brisbane Papercraft Festival with some of the CISters, and we attended the "Bit of Bling" class presented by Andrea Thompson. Not only did Andrea present the content in a fun way, it was also fun to hang out with Jolene, Liz and Leone - these girls are so much fun to scrap and shop with. We also met up with Marni for lunch, and she is every bit as nice in person as she is online.
This is my layout... pretty much a copy of the class layout, but it was so relaxing to just sit back and get tactile without thinking too much about the design process:



The class rekindled my love of bling, and I enjoyed trying some new ways to "bling up" my layouts. I especially loved the Jo Sonja's Opal Dust - big glittery pieces in a quick-dry gel - another thing for my wishlist *sigh*


I also finished an entry for the September 123 Challenge. I've had this one sitting on my coffee table for a few weeks, just pondering on how to finish it off. Last night it all fell into place - a Buzz & Bloom chipboard shape (got some yesterday) and some KindyGlitz (inspired by yesterday's bling overload).

The criteria - no flowers, torn paper, a transparency:



And just some close-up details... I really did go to town on the bling:

Inspired...

I have been tagged by Vicki, to submit a LO to the INSPIRE ME blog. So I have :) And I tag...

Liz
Manon
Lee

More spring cyber cropping

I finished three layouts at the weekend cyber crop over at Crafting in Style.

Challenge 1 - Use bright colours, doodling and the word "happy" in the title:



Thank you Miss D for the Prima patterned paper, just perfect for this layout.


Challenge 2 - Use lots of flowers, a bird and a spring quote:



And thank you Julie for the little chipboard birdie. The quote is a line from the lyrics of Elvis Presley's 'Spring Fever': Open your eyes, the sky is full of butterflies. Small piece of trivia... that song appeared in his 1965 movie "Girl Happy".


Challenge 3 - Based on the Jolene's sketch, and spring-clean your stash (no new products):



I used some of my older Junkitz patterned paper and Li'l Davis slash pockets, which I've had for ages.


Over at Chook Scraps September cyber crop, I managed to complete one layout:



This one had to use green/black/white (one of my current favourite colour combinations) , bling, and a quote. I chose the quote, "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams" - by Henry David Thoreau.


And I was thrilled to win a prize over at Scrap Therapy for my lime green layout "I Love You". Thank you Nat, I can't wait to go shopping...

'Friends' Kit

My 'Friends' layout kit is up in the Scrap with V store now... the kit includes materials for two single page layouts with full step-by-step photographic instructions, suitable for beginners or those who want to fast-track the scrapping process with colours and patterns and materials all ready to go in one easy kit. There's also lots of scope for adding extra items from your stash or changing the layouts around to suit your own photographs.

Some more sneak peeks...

More orange... teamed with pink...
This kit will contain instructions for two single page layouts... coming soon to Scrap with V...

Spring cyber cropping

September marks the beginning of spring... so there's really no escaping the "Spring" theme anywhere in the Australian online scrapping scene!

Over at Scrap with V it has been a huge weekend at the inaugural cyber crop, with six scrapping challenges, a photography challenge, two kid's challenges, a make-and-take class, mini-class, technique class, games and lots of chatting.

The mini-class was all about making spring flower embellishments, and these are the class samples that I prepared:



As I pointed out in the class, I don't know who started the idea, but it is a style made popular by various scrap artists, including Rebecca Sower, whose craftsmanship is just amazing.

This is the layout I prepared as a class sample:



And this is a layout I entered for a cyber-challenge over at Scrap Therapy:



I used my sample flowers from the class to scrap another layout. It had to include flowers, something new, and use bright colours. Bright enough, do you think??? The 'new' products are the Making Memories Shimmer alphabet stickers and the Prima 'Say it in Crystals' large flourish.

Back at Scrap with V, Donna challenged us to choose a song or quote that 'defines' us, and include a photograph of ourselves. This is my layout:



And another layout for the weekend - based on a Scrap Therapy sketch and Scrap with V criteria to include six circles, five squares or rectangles, four hearts, three flourishes, two stars and one other shape (diamond)...



First time ever that I have opened my packet of Heidi Swapp ghost alphas. I bought them a-g-e-s ago and they got lost somewhere in my stash... just surfaced again and I think I'm addicted.

Spring is here

... and Scrap with V is holding its very first cyber crop. The forum is young and fresh and growing... so a spring theme is just perfect.

We have some fun challenges planned, as well as some games, a 'make and take' class and a mini-class, and prizes too. Come along from Friday 7th to Sunday 9th September and join in the fun. PS... there's a lucky door prize too, so don't forget to register and sign in.

And speaking of fun and spring and Scrap with V... here are some sneak peeks for one of the new kit layouts I'm working on:

Some class layouts

This week I've been polishing off some unfinished class layouts. For one reason or another these ones were started and then they got lower and lower on the 'to do' list...

This one was from a workshop at the Crafting in Style online retreat at the end of July. I actually finished most of my layout on the day, but misplaced my chipboard title (that I had so carefully altered with patterned paper and distressed edges)... I found my title on Sunday :) The class kit used 'Beadiful' seed beads, but I used items from my own stash and substituted with KindyGlitz.



And last week I did a free Basic Grey online class at ScrapWorld. I didn't use all of the same papers but I did stick to Basic Grey as in the sample. The class is still available to view on the forum.



I still have a few unfinished layouts on the pile... hoping to finish those this week and clear my workspace.

More layouts

I used Jenni Bowlin patterned paper for the first time this week. I'm really liking the black and white look and I think I'd like to try some more now. This layout was based on a Becky Fleck sketch and I completed it for Charm's challenge over at Bon's Scraps:



And this one was for the August monthly challenge at Top 50 Scrapbooking - I had to use orange, green and brown: