Layout share...

This layout was inspired by Sketch #62 at My Scraps and More:



I made my own title using gesso'd bookpage paper.  I still love doodling on my layouts.

Materials:
Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden - Dragonflies patterned paer
K&Company Blue Awning patterned paper
Cosmo Cricket Earth Love - Borders patterned paper
Carolee's Creations AdornIt - Cheerful alphabet stickers

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This layout was created using Sketch #118 at Inspired Blueprints:


Materials:
Echo Park Victoria Gardens - Picket Fence patterned paper
7 Gypsies Avignon - Ecriture patterned paper
Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden - Dragonflies patterned paper
Crate Paper Emma's Shoppe - Sweets patterned paper
EK Success Whale of a Punch - Retro Flower punch
Bazzill Basics Primula - Slate Blue paper flowers
Bazzill cardstock
Tim Holtz Grungeboard flourishes
ColorBox CatsEye - Olive fluid chalk
American Crafts Thickers - Poolside vinyl alphabets

My first card for 2014

I still don't consider myself a "cardmaker" but I do enjoy the results sometimes!  Mostly I make cards as a productive way of using up the scraps on my desk, and it's always nice to have some cards on hand for special occasions or 'just in case'.

I made this one for the January card sketch at Scrapbook Fantasies.  I really like the simplicity of the design (= aligns with my cardmaking ability).  I've discovered a way to use the miscellaneous leftovers from the sheets of journal cards that seem to accompany many patterned paper collections!  (I'm a bit slow on the uptake - I've finally realised I'll never use them all on my scrap pages.)



Materials:
K&Company Carolyn Gavin - Greenhouse patterned paper
Echo Park Life is Good - Journal patterned paper
Green Tara 1cm roses - orange

I received the ribbon in a RAK gift - does anyone know where it is from?  It's 1" wide grosgrain.

07/03/2014 edit to add:   My card was the winner in the challenge at Scrapbook Fantasies!

Getting messy

This is the January mood board challenge at Inkido:

I was inspired by the whites and natural muted colours, and I also loved the soft blue with a splash of red.

I don't have any Inkido products so I just used some older papers from my stash and whitewashed over the top.   I'm not very confident with "messy" techniques but I've been inspired by so many amazing scrapbookers who use paint and texture so masterfully.
 
Scrapbook Fantasies Challenge #04/2014 is to create a layout with a textured background so that was another incentive to try it for this layout.  I took photographs of each step so I'll remember what I did and maybe learn from the process.

First I chose some really old papers (so I wouldn't feel too devastated if I had to bin the lot!) and some chipboard swirls (I wasn't sure yet if I would use them).   Then I painted everything with gesso to get a whitewash effect:



 

So far, so good.  But I still didn't know if I would like it when it dried!

While it was drying I made a heart and journalling strips from a gesso'd book page and offcuts of the patterned paper.  I trimmed my photo, wrote my journalling and selected a title.  I used the sketch from Anna's Craft Cupboard to arrange my page, then put everything together and finished off with machine stitching:



I'm really happy with the result and I think I'll be trying some messy stuff again. 


Materials:
Bella! Happy Holiday patterned paper
Cherry Arte East of India - Sari Dreams patterned paper
Black Market Paper Society Vintage Romance - Appledore patterned paper
Martha Stewart Garden Trellis border punch
Tattered Angels Glimmermist - Denim Blue
Bazzill Basics Primula - Slate Blue paper flowers
Maya Road chipboard scrolls
A2Z Scraplets lasercut word - Beautiful 

Mood board challenges (Part 1)

I've been doing a bunch of sketch challenges this month, but I also LOVE mood board challenges.

From the January mood board at Jot Magazine I used the elements of yellow gingham, red/white spots, blue denim hearts, photo filters and beach theme.  I tied them altogether using the January sketch at Purple Pumpkin.

This is the layout I created -



I love stitching and I made some little denim hearts for the embellishments:



Materials:
Cosmo Cricket Material Girl - Calico patterned paper
Ruby Rock-it Vintage Beauty diecut journalling card
Bella! Denim alphabet stickers

To achieve the photo filter effect I applied a Photoshop action to my photograph.  I used Golden Afternoon - a free action from The CoffeeShop Blog.


02/02/14 edit to add:  
I was selected as the winner at Jot Magazine for my layout - I am so thrilled!  I'll be going shopping soon, thanks to the lovely sponsor Lulu Art.

Mood board challenges (Part 2)

 This is the mood board for the January challenge at Scrap Around the World:

I took inspiration from the lighthouse, the whites and muted colours.  I combined these elements with Sketch #107 at Sketchabilities and this is the layout I created:



Materials:
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Denim Blue
Carolee's Creations AdornIt alphabet stickers
Ruby Rock-it Vintage Beauty journalling card
K&Company Blue Awning patterned paper

Life. Paper. Scrapbook. Santa.

As soon as I saw this mood board at Life Paper Scrapbook I knew I wanted to try it:

The colours are so fresh and and I really wanted to try using paper chevrons.  I also combined the challenge with the January sketch and it was perfect for using up some of the bits and pieces on my scrap desk.  This is what I came up with:



Materials:
Kaisercraft Flutterby - Spring Azure patterned paper
Dream Street The Menagerie - Foliage patterned paper
Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type alphabet and word stickers
Prima Essentials 9 paper flowers
Green Tara 4cm petals - turquoise

Solved my first case!

I joined in at a CSI challenge for the first time this week, and it was really FUN trying to combine so many required elements to produce a layout.

This is the case file:



This is how I solved the case:

Scene - I was inspired by the phrase "Be Happy. Be Bright. Be You."
Scheme - I used all five colours.
Evidence - Speech bubble, clouds, arrow 
Testimony - Handwrite in a bubble or cloud

This is my layout:

 

Materials:
Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg - Cinnamon patterned paper
Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg - Borders patterned paper
Cosmo Cricket Earth Love - Elements journalling card
Cosmo Cricket Earth Love - Borders patterned paper
Bazzill cardstock
Carolee's Creations AdornIt - Lower Case foam alphabets
American Crafts Thickers - Cream Soda foam alphabets

Sketches and book pages

I'm still on a roll with my return to scrapbooking... driven mostly by sketches at the moment.  I'm so thrilled that I'm getting so many pages done and starting to fill some of the gaps in my albums. I finished another two pages today.

These two layouts have nothing in common, except they are both based on sketches, and they both use book pages.

This one is based on Inspired Blueprints Sketch 117 AND I'm also submitting it for the Frosted Designs Friday challenge, which is to use polka dots:



Materials:
Pink Paislee Pop Fashion patterned paper
Prime E Line - Brown Mix flowers
Kaisercraft Pearls - Pearl
October Afternoon Fly a Kite label sticker
American Crafts Thickers - Giggles foam alphabets
Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type alphabet stickers

As well as using the sketch as a starting point for this layout, I was also inspired by Andrea Gomoll's Daily Booksketch.  Andrea suggests having some old book pages already prepped with a thin layer of gesso, so they are at hand when you feel inspired to use them ~ what a fabulous idea.  I like the way that gesso softens the look of the text but still allows it to show through.  I think I'll be using more of these book pages on my layouts.

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This layout is based on a sketch by Diana Fisher for Lily Bee Designs:



I found it challenging to use the papers in the same way as the sketch, but I did my best with what I had.  I used some offcuts of Lily Bee Designs Picket Fence papers - it's one of the earlier collections so I've had it in my stash for quite a while.  I also used another piece of gesso'd book page which I think complements the Lily Bee papers well.

Other materials:
Prima Essentials paper flower
American Crafts Thickers - Cream Soda foam alphabets

Amaroo Tavern and the C47

Today I scrapped two more pages for our family vacation album.

I realised I need to keep it simple if I have any hope of finishing the album this year.  So this one is a very basic 3-photo page.  The photos were taken at night without a tripod so aren't the best, but I still wanted to record the memory:




Challenge #3/2014 at Scrapbook Fantasies is to create a layout using transparency. I really like how the silver foil photo border on this transparency adds interest to an otherwise plain page:



Materials:
Pink Paislee Pop Fashion patterned papers
Lil Davis Away We Go cardstock journalling sticker
American Crafts Thickers - Smoothie foam alphabets
Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type alphabet stickers
Ruby Rock-it Vintage Beauty Foil ATC transparency

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The second page is a single photo layout based on Sketch #116 at Inspired Blueprints:



I kept the page very simple to keep the focus on the photograph.  My husband is an aviation buff so the C47 Dakota demanded a page of its own!

Materials:
Pink Paislee Pop Fashion patterned papers
Lil Davis Away We Go cardstock journalling stickers
American Crafts Thickers - Subway foam alphabets

Another sketch challenge

I found another fun sketch to try - this one is from the January 1st challenge at Stuck? Sketches.  I turned the sketch on its side, and I used a journalling block instead of a third photograph:



This is also a joint challenge with Frosted Designs. The additional criteria from Frosted Designs is to use paint, mist or ink. I misted the tag to match my papers, and I also painted the larger buttons:



Materials:
Cosmo Cricket Material Girl - In Stitches patterned paper
Rouge de Garance Sylvestre patterned paper
Three Bugs in a Rug Rhapsody patterned paper
Cosmo Cricket Ready-Set-Chipboard alphabet letters
Little Yellow Bicycle Clothesline journalling card
Prima product packaging
Lil Davis Glitter Glaze - Ice
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Denim Blue 
Green Tara paper flowers
Prima E Line flower - Aqua

30/01/2014 Edit to add:  My layout was featured as one of the Top 3 at Frosted Designs!

Sketch inspiration

Some of the lovely ladies over at Scrap Boutique suggested doing some sketch challenges to kickstart my scrapping, so that's been my MO for January:  grab some sketches and scrap, scrap, scrap!

This one is for the January challenge at Scrap Boutique, and is based on a sketch from Sketchabilities:



Materials: 
Basic Grey Two Scoops patterned paper
Glitz Designs Distressed Couture patterned paper
Three Bugs in a Rug Coco Rhapsody patterned paper
Jenni Bowlin Apothecary journalling sticker
American Crafts Thickers - Giggles foam alphabets
Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type alphabet stickers
Kaisercolour paint - Dusty Pink and Raw Umber

This one is based on a 2013 sketch from Scrap Idees:

 

I used Glimmer Mist Dazzling Diamonds as the background on this page.  It looks really pretty up close but unfortunately it doesn't photograph well :(   And I still haven't managed to find out the source of the cutout Kraft design - this is the piece leftover from my Live Simply layout.  What I enjoyed most was doing the blanket stitching around the edge - I haven't hand-stitched like this for a long time; I think it frames the layout nicely without detracting from the subject.

Other materials:
American Crafts Thickers - Subway foam number
Rose Moka Appel de la nature alphabet stickers
Prima Say it in Crystals iridescent gems

Live Simply

I really enjoyed the 123 Challenge for January:



Colour:  I love orange!  The hardest part was choosing which orange products to use from my stash.
Technique: I used a butterfly embellishment made from feathers.
Word:  I used the word "live" in my title:





The beautiful Kraft diecut cardstock was a gift in a RAK package a few years ago.  I don't recognise the pattern but my guess is it's been made with a Silhouette, maybe (??) but I really don't know. I'd love to find out!

I didn't add journalling to this layout because it will be part of a series about our new ducklings and will be in the same album.  I've written the date on the back with the duckling's name (Topple - November 2013).

Materials:
Bazzill cardstock
Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type alphabet stickers
Kaisercraft Rhinestones - deep yellow

Show Us Your Stuff

This is the inspiration board for the January Challenge at Show Us Your Stuff:

This is my layout, which will be the opening page in my 2014 layouts album:



My handmade embellishments are the starbursts, which I made from paper strips.



Materials:
Junkitz Swatchz - Home fabric swatch
American Crafts  Thickers - Jewelry Box alphabets
Vintage music sheet

New ducklings

In November we got some new pets at our place... two gorgeous Muscovy ducklings!   We've never had ducks before so we are still marvelling at how cute they are, how they behave, how fast they grow, and the fact they try to eat everything!  I've built up quite a collection of photographs and now it's time to start scrapping some.

Flourish with a Bling has a very pretty colour palette this month ~

Here's my layout:

 

And a closeup of the flowers and pearls:



Materials:
Flourish with a Bling adhesive pearls
Kaisercolour Spearmint paint
Jo Sonja's Unbleached Titanium paint
Echo Park Life is Good - Grandma's Quilt patterned paper
Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden - Nature Sanctuary patterned paper
October Afternoon Fly a Kite label sticker
Green Tara Apple Blossom - pink
Green Tara 1cm roses - ivory
Prima Essentials paper flower
Kaisercraft paper flowers - ivory
Basic Grey Beckham - White Chocolate alphabets

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This layout is for Scrap the Boys - it's about my husband and the ducklings.  He really is a big softie (shhh... it's a secret) when it comes to all creatures great and small:



I didn't have the letters I needed in white or cream, so I painted some brown felt alphabets.  I had to cut up some brackets to make the two l's and the 'e' is a reshaped 'c'.  I arranged the title on the non-stick backing paper and painted the whole word, then stuck it onto the photograph when it was dry.



The white paint over brown resulted in a nice creamy latte colour.

Materials:
Echo Park Life is Good - Grandma's Quilt patterned paper
Making Memories Noteworthy Glitter diecut journalling card
Prairie Bird Boutique Sincerely Yours wrinkled ribbon
Kaisercraft Fozz Fontz - Fonzo felt alphas
Kaisercolour paint - white

The banners are made from paper strips salvaged from my scraps folders - I have used:  (unknown) - Cosmo Cricket Earth Love - Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden - Basic Grey Two Scoops - Rouge de Garance Sylvestre - Cosmo Cricket Earth Love

Another dolphin kiss

It's been a while since Jasmine scrapped with me, but over the past few weeks of the school holidays we've spent some time crafting together.   I printed a few extra copies of my photos and found a simple sketch at Purple Pumpkin to get her started.  This is what she created:



Jasmine has her own stash of cardstock and hand-me-down papers (3 full pizza boxes!) but she uses my stamps and tools. 

Materials:
Spellbinders Nestabilities - Labels 4
Making Memories foam alphabet stamps
Carl CP-1 butterfly punch
Bella! fabric alpha stickers

Green and white

Over at Scrapbook Fantasies, this week's challenge is to create a layout using only green and white.  This is my layout, a simple one to add to my daytripping album:



Materials:
Lily Bee Picket Fence - Cottage Garden patterned paper
Lime Tree Creations crochet trim
Little Yellow Bicycle Clothesline journalling card
Green Tara 4cm petals - pale green
Prima Essentials paper flower

Something new

I took a peek at the A2Z Scraplets blog and noticed the January challenge is to "do something you've never done before".  I thought about the myriad of scrapbooking and other projects I've done over the years and wondered where the creative gaps were.  Several things came to mind:   
      washi tape   
      texture paste
      papers/products from certain scrap brands

I don't have any washi tape or texture paste, and I don't want to go out and spend up on new products right now (though the notion is VERY tempting and has endless possibilities!)  I have a mountain of stash already, so... I went searching for a technique I could try using my existing stash.

After browsing online and in some magazines, I decided to try adding paper rolls to my layout.  I started by selecting some older paper scraps that matched my colour scheme, and then I just played around to see what worked.  It was a bit of trial and error, but basically I rolled the paper pieces around a bamboo skewer, then removed the skewer and fastened with double sided tape.  I found that rolling parallel to the paper edge was too hard and it didn't hold shape.  It was easier to roll the paper diagonally - it held shape much better BUT made the rolls a bit bulkier that I originally envisaged.

I think perhaps this technique is better suited to cards or canvas projects, and I'm not likely to do it again on a layout.  But anyways... I tried something new and I'm reasonably happy with the result.

My embellishment is made from an A2Z Scraplets Paisley 46 chipboard flourish - which I painted with Jo Sonja's Unbleached Titanium paint and coated with Dimensional Magic:



 This is my layout:



Other materials:
Echo Park Life is Good patterned paper
Lil Davis Crillon patterned paper
K&Company Blue Awning patterned paper
Three Bugs in a Rug Rhapsody patterned paper
American Crafts Thickers - Shoebox alphabets
Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type alphabet stickers
Lil Davis Away We Go journalling sticker

Digital brushes used on photograph:
Baroque frames by Lileya
Border brushes by Piyocola

Beach Love

I love the colour combination at Black with 2 this month, and I like the addition of the extra criteria too.

Instead of a second photograph I substituted a journalling block, but apart from that I remained fairly faithful to the sketch.  The inspiration image was easy - I used a beach photograph; I used the word "love" in the combined journalling/title.  This is my layout:



Materials:
Cordinations Nightfall cardstock
Echo Park Victoria Gardens patterned paper
Daisy Bucket Newbury Court patterned paper
Prima Essentials 9 paper flowers
Kaisercraft paper flower - taupe
Jo Sonja's Unbleached Titanium paint
Kaisercolour Mocha paint
Kaisercraft Journal Boxes acrylic stamp
Close to My Heart ink - black
Carolee's Creations AdornIt - Tiny Etched Natural alphabet stickers
American Crafts pearl brad
EK Success Double Morocco Lace edger punch

Lilac Haze

 I found a fun "Inspiration Board" challenge at D-Lish Scraps:


I've always been a bit averse to purple - not because I dislike the colour, but because I find it really hard to coordinate the different shades.  So this really was a challenge for me!  I added a smidgen of teal/turquoise as a minor accent colour just like the photos in the inspiration board, and I 'm happy with the result.  Here's my layout:



This is one of my favourite photographs from 2013 - taken at the Creekside Cafe at Dolphin Marine Magic in Coffs Harbour, on my daughter's birthday.

Materials:
Spellbinders Nestabilities - Beaded Oval
Bazzill Basics cardstock
Three Bugs in a Rug Rhapsody patterned paper
Sassafras Lass In a Stitch blossoms - purple
Bo Bunny Jazmine stickers
Prima Homespun Elegance burlap flower
Kaisercraft rhinestones - turquoise
American Crafts Thickers - Shoebox alphabets
Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type alphabet stickers
Signo gel pen - Violet

Scrap the Girls

Today I finished my layout entry for Scrap the Girls.  The January challenge is a sketch, and this is what I created:



Materials:
Echo Park Life is Good patterned paper
American Crafts/Dear Lizzy Thickers - Glitter letters
Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type alphabet stickers
Martha Stewart Garden Trellis punch
American Crafts pearl brad
Prima Essentials flower
Making Memories Hydrangea blossom
Kaisercraft Snow White paper flower
Kaisercolour paint - white
May Arts plaid ruffle ribbon

Blue Fern Studios

I've been blog hopping this month. A lot. Having just returned to scrapping after quite a long break, I've been having a poke around, checking out my old favourites and discovering some new ones. I'd forgotten how addictive it can be.

I have to admit, I never heard of Blue Fern Studios before I came across Valerie Serfozo's blog.  (Thank you to Valerie for your kind comment on one of my layouts - which prompted me to link back to your blog. )  This US company has just released their first patterned paper collection - Blue Fern Garden - and it's beautiful.



The great news is that they have a very generous GIVEAWAY to celebrate the release - with chances to win the entire collection.  I've entered, keeping my fingers crossed, and also hoping I can source this collection in Australia!

C'est Magnifique

I'm a girl on a mission - I'm going to scrap as much as I can before I have to go back to work on Monday!  This layout was inspired by the Pink & Ribbon themed challenge at Really Reasonable Ribbons, and based on the January sketch at C'est Magnifique:



Here's a little detail shot of the lace, which is my favourite part of the layout:



Materials: I used lots of bits and pieces from my "pink" folder of scraps and oddments

And speaking of bits and pieces... C'est Magnifique is having a January 'Bits and Pieces' giveaway - how amazing is this?