All I want for Christmas

... is my two front teeth!

Santa didn't deliver, but it made for a very cute photograph! This is my layout for the December 1,2,3 Challenge.



Criteria: Christmas photograph, mixed alphabet title, handstitching

This is what happens

when Daddy does your hair!

This layout is my take on a challenge set by Renae over at Crafting in Style:



Criteria:
Use chipboard, three different ribbons, doodling and this picture for inspiration. As always, my take on the inspiration is a little 'out there' but I had a lot of fun with the layout. I was also inspired a My Sketch World sketch, which was perfect for the four photographs.

Photoshop lessons for December

The December 'Computer Tricks' at Crafting in Style focussed on altering the colour of photographs. These are my layouts ~

Lesson 3: Sepia photographs



Lesson 4: Black and white, with a touch of colour



I used one of my new Fancy Pants 'Creative Cards' for the journalling on this layout, I love how they are double sided. This one was just perfect, with green motif on one side and the perfect prompt on the back:

'Peek a boo' class

I had fun doing Belinda's free "Peek a Boo" class at Scrap Therapy. This is my layout:

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Today I am inspired by...

** bling ** and the generosity of friends:

Sketch #1

Over at Crafting in Style, there was a little 'surprise challenge' during October. The challenge involved designing some sketches and samples using the sketches.

Here goes, my first ever sketch shared in public:



And my layout based on the sketch:



For the jazzed up, electronic version of the sketch, check out CISters Stylish Sketches where there's some gorgeous layouts created by some of the CISters using my sketch.

Scrapping Christmas this year...

I am usually so slack in scrapping Christmas photos. I think I have maybe six or seven layouts in total with a Christmas theme. So the cyber crop over at Scrap Therapy was perfect inspiration to do another one. AND it's a current Christmas photo.

This was my layout using non-traditional Christmas colours:



Thank you Liz for the Basic Grey alpha negatives.

More stamping

I tried the second of Kaz's stamping technique challenges over at Crafting in Style. This one was to stamp onto a book page or newspaper. I went off on a slight tangent and stamped onto a black-and-white photocopied page:



Just a quick, fun LO about my MP3 player (which I still haven't worked out how to load music onto):

Double Trouble

Over at Crafting in Style, Tatum presented a free online class, "Double Trouble", to create a double layout and use hidden journalling. Also a great opportunity to use up some scraps from the stash. This is my layout from the class:

Sketches

I'm still inspired by sketches...

This one is based on Pencil Lines Sketch #50. This was my first attempt at playing with Love,Elsie patterned paper. I love KI Memories and I love the colours, but I found the pattern was a bit tricky to use. I finished this one weeks and weeks ago but still haven't decided if it suits me or not:



And this is one I finished on the weekend, based on Pencil Lines Sketch #60:



I used one of my favourite ever Scenic Route papers, and red/black/cream is still one of my favourite colour combinations.

Baby-Cino

I was inspired by a very sweet little girl to scrap this layout for Liz:



Hope you like it, Liz. I loved playing around in Photoshop and this was the first time I used my new Fancy Pants "Garden" stamps.

I also used my favourite Li'l Davis journalling stamps, and added some colour with watercolour pencils:



This is one of the techniques that Kaz is showcasing over at Crafting in Style at the moment - amazing what difference a touch of colour can make. With stamps becoming more and more popular in scrapbooking, I'm always up for ideas to make better use of my growing collection. The Tips and Techniques section has more fun ideas - a different technique every week for the next ten weeks.

Scrap with V - December cyber crop

... started tonight. We have a Christmas theme and already tonight I've completed one of the little Christmas ornaments from Vanessa's mini-class. How cute is this?



Challenge #3 "Carol Inspiration" - was set by me, and here is my sample layout:



The other DT members have some fantastic challenges planned too, and I have some serious scrapping planned for my free time this weekend.

Photoshop lessons

Over at Crafting in Style, a new competition started this month, incorporating Photoshop lessons with layout challenges... and it's fun! I am starting to feel more confident with Photoshop but I love learning new tricks and techniques, so this is just perfect.

Lesson 1: Oversize photograph




Lesson 2: Black and white photos

More kit layouts:

These are some of the layouts I have completed for Scrap with V - including full step-by-step instructions, particularly suitable for beginner scrappers:

'Triple Treat' kit:








And a sneak peek for another one coming up:

Pencil Lines

Some happy news for me over the weekend... I received an email from Pencil Lines, letting me know I was one of the monthly winners for October. Quite a surprise for me, since I usually struggle with cards:

Daisy Bucket sneak peeks

For the December class kits over at Scrap with V, I was sent some yummy Daisy Bucket Designs patterned papers and Bazzill Bling cardstock to play with.

Here are my sneaky previews:

Kit 1: (one layout)



Kit 2:( two layouts)



The kits will be up in store in December.

Crop with V

Over at Scrap with V I did some more cropping and chatting, and also hosted a game and a challenge.

Sarah's challenge:




Lea's challenge: Create a layout with a 'creative edge'.

I loved the idea of this but had a hard time coming up with something I was happy with. Lea - you will have to watch this space. I have started this one and it is a double challenge for me because it is purple too!


Annette's class: "Oh Christmas Tree"

I enjoyed the online class but didn't finish it. I have put a kit of materials together and I will sit down with a special little girl a bit closer to Christmas so we can make this together and use it for a table piece.
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Vanessa's OTP challenge:

I just loved Vanessa's OTP challenge - and have started a couple of these ones for extra Christmas gifts. (No sharing yet... one might be for you...)

Cropping with the CISters

Huge weekend of scrapbooking...

The Crafting in Style 'Colour My World' cyber crop started Friday and I completed all three challenges!

Challenge 1: Monochromatic, three different ribbons, use a journalling card of some kind:



I know Lee won't mind me putting this layout on my blog, since she put a similar photo up on hers a few months back.


Challenge 2: Colour scheme of chocolate/cream/teal, stamping, and a frame of some kind:



Thank you Julie for squares of gorgeous Daisy D's patterned paper. I just love brown and teal and these were just perfect.

And just a little close up of my new Catslife Press stamp:




Challenge 3: Using a sketch, and blue/green colour scheme:



I've also entered this one over at Sketches Oz


And there's more...

On Sunday we had another local CISters crop day... it was fun scrapping with Jolene, Liz, and Ngaire, it was fantastic to meet Linda too :) No pizza this time (we forgot to have lunch), just GJ's mudslide coffee, cheese cake and koeksisters (??) - a very sweet South African treat that I can't pronounce.

Feeling blue?

Back in August I purchased the 'Feeling Blue' kit from Crafting in Style. I got busy and only finished one layout:



...and my second half-finished one sat on my coffee table for months. I have no idea why I got stuck, because I am so in love with the CI paper. Anyway, this weekend I found just the right words for the hidden journalling and I finally finished it:



I still have enough product from the kit for two layouts plus extras, but I have something special in mind for those ones and I can't share just yet.

A bit of silliness...

This is the latest layout kit which I created for Scrap with V:

'A Bit of Silliness'



All kits are suitable for beginner level scrappers and contain product shown and full-colour, photographic, step-by-step instructions.

My Triple Treat kit is on hold at the moment due one of the products being out of stock at the wholesaler... hopefully it will be available in December.

Blue and brown... and burgundy...

Over at Crafting in Style, Tam set the monthly theme challenge for October, and here is my layout:



The criteria: Use blue and brown in the layout, one photograph, and strip journalling.


Fast forward to November, and the new criteria includes burgundy. NOT a colour I use a lot. I use reds, and oranges, and browns, but burgundy is not high up there on my list of favourite colours. Anyway, here it is:



The other criteria: fabric, paint or ink, and NO blue.

This layout features another photograph from our recent holiday to Cania Gorge... I took several hundred pics so I think there'll quite a few more 'gorge' themed layouts over the next few months.

Some class layouts

I had fun attending a couple of free online scrapping classes in the past week.

This is my layout based on the October class over at Scrap World:



Melissa's sample layout used some purple papers from Basic Grey, but purple is not really my colour. So I substituted some patterned papers from my own stash, and played around with it a bit. I'm really happy with how it turned out.


And this is my layout based on the Funny Face class by Giovanna Scott at Forever Always:



I changed things around a bit but I did enjoy trying the techniques, especially dry embossing the flowers (which I need a bit more practise at).

Weekend cyber cropping

I did a few cyber crop challenges on the weekend, enjoying my last weekend freedom before returning to work this week.

This was the only challenge I completed over at Forever Always:

Challenge 1: The criteria were based on children's television programs. Wiggles (red, blue & yellow), Hi-5 (5 buttons), Mr Squiggle (doodling - the dots on the buttons and the hand drawn borders). A bit of a frivolous layout, but lots of fun.




And these were the challenges I completed over at Scrap World:

Colour challenge - Black, white and pink:



Manufacturer challenge - Use products from only two manufacturers (not counting cardstock). I used 7Gypsies and Heidi Swapp:

Inspired by sunsets

Lesson Six of the 'Stop the Moment' photography competition over at Crafting in Style, involved tips and techniques for taking photographs of sunrises and sunsets. This is my layout entry:



I was a little bit stuck on how to scrap the photograph, since I take so many sunrise and sunset photographs, and I have already scrapped my favourite ones. So in the end I went with a simple design and hoped for the best. The journalling is written on the notepaper tucked in behind the photograph, and this is (partially) what it says:

I have always had a weakness for sunsets - there is something romantic and mesmerising about the sun slipping below the horizon and leaving behind a sky full of burnt orange tones.

On this particular evening I must have taken 20 or 30 photographs of the setting sun. In our part of Australia there aren't many locations where we can see the sun setting over the ocean, so it was not surprising that I had my camera on hand every evening throughout our holiday to capture whatever sunset colours that nature had in store.

Sunset #11... one image of many, that evoke some very special holiday memories.

This layout combines a lot of my favourite things - sunset, orange and lime, Crate Paper, spots, flowers and buttons, machine stitching, ribbon, simple design - so it is very much a reflection of where my 'comfort zone' scrapping is at right now.

For more sunrise and sunset layouts from the other CISters... head over to the CIS gallery.

Seven random facts

I have been tagged by Jolene, to share seven random things about me:

1> I love orange gazanias (I took this photo at the beginning of spring this year)
2> My favourite colour is blue - any and every shade
3> I would love to travel to Venice... it's my dream holiday destination
4> I can't touch my toes, never been able to
5> My first pet was a Siamese fighting fish called Cousteau
6> I am bilingual
7> I am, and always have been, a night owl
And I tag...
Liz and Dee

1,2,3 Challenge

This is my entry for the October 1,2,3 Challenge blog:

The criteria: 6x8 photograph (mine is a touch larger), pink chipboard alphabets (I used 'Bella') and hearts (handmade from an album insert and doodled with a pink gel pen). This was a really fun layout to do, mostly because of the subject matter :)



And I just realised... no patterned paper!

October Scrapjack

This is my October entry for Aussie Scrapjacked:



It's a really loose interpretation of the original layout by Megan Stephenson, but I just love how it suited these photographs, which I printed out ages ago and never got around to actually scrapping.

Thank you Megan for the inspiration.

Cyber cropping

Busy last weekend cyber cropping (amongst other things). Things did not run smoothly on the work front so I didn't finish many of my planned layouts - I have more incomplete ones than complete at present. Note to self: I really need to make myself do just one thing at a time.

Here are some of my favourite layouts from the weekend - I focussed on some of the men in my life for a change!

My 'Big Softy' - for a challenge over at Scrap with V, set by Kerry. The criteria was to scrap about a man (not a child), include flowers, butterflies and transparencies. I had a play with the transparencies - stamped out some flowers then highlighted with KindyGlitz - something a bit more arty than I usually do:

And for the Crafting in Style cyber crop I did some pages featuring my gorgeous little nephew, can't believe he is one year old already.