Some cards

The end of the month is always busy, and I don't get a lot of free time for scrapbooking.  I did manage to made a couple of cards this week (although, making just one card often takes me longer than putting an entire layout together!) 

This is a simple one, based on the card sketch at Pretty Little Studio:



Materials:
Collage Press Scrooge & Marley - December 24th patterned paper
Bella! Happy Holidays patterned paper
Carolee's Creations AdornIt - Tiny Whoopsy Red alphabet stickers
Prima E-line - Brown paper flowers
Kaisercraft Rhinestones - Red


This one was created using the sketch at Scrapbook Fantasies:



I used the following for the Frosted Designs Spring has Sprung challenge:  birds, flowers, blue.


Materials:
Bazzill cardstock
Cosmo Cricket Earth Love - Borders patterned paper
Pink Paislee Fetching alphabet stickers
Junkitz Buttonz - Girl
Kaisercraft paper flower
Kaisercraft pearl
Spellbinders die

Savvy cybercropping

I didn't get a lot of scrappy time this week, but I did manage to squeeze in just one of the challenges at Scrapbook Savvy's April cybercrop.

This is my layout for the colour challenge (black, white, orange, yellow):



Materials:
Echo Park A Walk in the Park - Flutter patterned paper
Echo Park Victoria Gardens - Cheerful Words patterned paper
American Crafts Thickers - Roller Rink glitter alphabets
Smooch Spritz - Sunkissed misting spray
paper clips from my stationary stash
insect screen mesh from shed

Life is...

... sometimes sad :(

This is the layout I created for the April sketch at Scrapbooking Top 50 Australia.  I turned the sketch 90º left.



Materials:
Echo Park Life is Good - Floral Dress patterned paper
Echo Park Life is Good - Journal Cards patterned paper (title)
Echo Park For the Record - Borders patterned paper 
Cosmo Cricket Earth Love - Borders patterned paper (heart)
Making Memories Noteworthy glitter die cuts
October Afternoon Fly a Kite label sticker
Kaisercraft Pearls - Ice Green
Sassafras Lass Mix 'n' Mend - Sweet Treats stickers
Jo Sonja's Unbleached Titanium acrylic paint

Celebrating nature

The theme this week at Lasting Memories is Earth Day.  The challenge is to create a layout celebrating nature in any of its forms.

I took quite a lot of native flora photographs last year during our walk in Dirawong Reserve, Evans Head.  I love banksia, and I'm always intrigued by the forms of the flowers and the spent seed pods.   I couldn't resist the Banksia Man reference in my layout:



My layout is based on the April sketch at Anna's Craft Cupboard.

I'm submitting my layout at Inkido for their current mood board challenge, which encourages us to create a piece about something from our country or culture:

My inspiration was the Snugglepot and Cuddlepie series of classic children's stories, written by May Gibbs.  The stories feature creatures living in the Australian bush. I think most Australian children of primary school age are familiar with the characters.  The banksia men featured on my layout are the "scary bad guys" in the stories!

I used an illustrated book page on my layout, taken from this book:

It was a damaged book, with torn and missing pages, which I purchased at the Lifeline Bookfest for 50c.  I often buy secondhand books to use on my craft projects - just another way to recycle and contribute to Mother Earth.

Other materials:
Echo Park Life is Good - Journal Cards patterned paper
American Crafts Thickers - Sprinkles vinyl alphabets 
Smooch Spritz - Emerald Sprinkle mist
Kaisercraft 5cm Lime paper flower
Prima green mulberry flower

Show us your stuff

Question:  You have a photograph that is (to be blunt) "blah" but it's the only shot you have.  The memory is important.  What do you do?  Do you put it in an envelope and hide it away?  Refuse to scrap it because it's so ordinary?  Over-embellish the page so nobody notices the photograph? Scrap it and never show anyone the layout?  I'm curious about what other scrapbookers do.

I have a photo like that.  I kept putting off scrapping it because I couldn't get anything to work.  I tried various Photoshop edits, including black & white, but the bw actually made it look more mundane...  I tried various colour combos. I tried different papers and layout styles... I almost gave up.  I ran out of ideas.

This week I committed to scrapping the photograph and sharing the result. I'm still not happy with it (or my layout, really, to be truthful).  But if I am to grow as a scrapbooker I think I need to faithfully record all of my creations and hopefully learn something from the experience.

I love joining in at Show Us Your Stuff because I love using handmade embellishments on my layouts.

This is the inspiration picture this month:

I was inspired by the colours, circles and layers, the single purple flower.

This is my layout (the one I'm not so happy about):



The handmade items are the crochet trim from Lime Tree Creations, and my handcut hearts from the leftover embossed cardstock.


Other materials:
Bo Bunny Jazmyne - Wellspring patterned paper
Bazzill Basics - Morning Glory cardstock
Cuttlebug Spots & Dots embossing folder
Prima Homespun Elegance - Vintage burlap flower
Kaisercraft Rhinestones - Light Green
Doodlebug Simply Sweet - Limeade alphabet stickers

Another sketch layout...

... and this one is for Scrapbook Savvy:



Here's a close-up of the shimmery title:



And the cute metal golf club charm:




Materials:
October Afternoon Sasparilla - Tumbleweeds patterned paper
Creative Imaginations Narratives - Blue Bell Noir patterned paper
Memento Pluie/Rain patterned paper
Three Bugs in a Rug Great Outdoors - Gone Fishin' patterned paper
Echo Park For the Record - Borders patterned paper
Making Memories Shimmer Alpha - Silver letter stickers
Making Memories Boho Chic - Tiny Alpha - White letter stickers
Beutron buttons

Birds of a feather

I was a bit stuck for a title for this layout; that was the best I could come up with!

My layout is based on the April sketch at Pretty Little Studio.  (I rotated the sketch 180º)




I embellished with my own handmade paper roses, machine stitching, and lots of doodling: 



I'm submitting my layout at:
Berry7Bleu - Create a project using handmade flowers
Back Porch Memories - Make your own embellishment


Materials:
Bazzill cardstock
Kaisercraft Liore Valley - Japonica patterned paper
Carolee's Creations AdornIt - Tiny Blue alphabet stickers
American Crafts Thickers - Subway foam alphabets
Signo Angelic Colour - Blue gel pen
Signo Angelic Colour - Green gel pen

Stash busting

I couldn't resist joining in another Scrap Our Stash challenge this month - it's been great to use up my offcuts and odds and ends!

This one is based on a "sketch with stash" - using the provided sketch AND the required stash items:



What I did:

The sketch - I mostly kept to the sketch, but I left off the top and bottom strip elements, and substituted with some round-the-edge journalling.

The stash -

Patterned paper:  three different manufacturers/collections
> Basic Grey Lime Rickey - Rob Roy patterned paper
> Creative Imaginations Holey Cardstock - Ocean Blue Swirl
> Arctic Frog (my best guess, but not really sure!!) - the tropical themed paper at the back

Embellishments: three different manufacturers/collections
> Kaisercraft Pearls - Ice Green
> Green Tara 4cm Petals - Liquid
> Prima Got Flowers - Iced Sea Jewel

Corrugated card:
>I used some packaging and painted with Kaisercolour Spearmint acrylic paint.

Other materials:
Carl Mini Daisy punch
American Crafts Thickers - Patchwork fabric alphabets

01/05/2014 EDIT TO ADD:  My layout was selected as one of the Top 3 at Scrap Our Stash.

Echo Park and sketches

I've been using up some of my Echo Park stash - and using some wonderful sketches too:

1>  This layout is based on the sketch layout at C'est Magnifique (I rotated the sketch 90º left, and used rectangles instead of ovals):



Materials:
Echo Park Victoria Gardens - Delightful Doilies patterned paper
Echo Park Victoria Gardens - Garden Gate patterned paper
Echo Park Victoria Gardens - Bluebird patterned paper
Echo Park Victoria Gardens - Elements Stickers



2>  I'm joining in a challenge at Mad About Scrappin for the first time.  This layout is based on the wonderful April sketch:



I left the title off my layout, because I think the sentiment sticker says it all.

Materials:
Echo Park Victoria Gardens - Garden Trellis patterned paper
Echo Park Victoria Gardens - Bluebird patterned paper
Echo Park Victoria Gardens - Elements Sticker
Green Tara 2.5cm flowers - Pink, Pale Pink & Batik Pink
Wild Orchid Open Roses - white

A sketch layout

Making progress on my January 2014 album... only a handful more photographs to go and it's done :) The photograph was taken at our local Chinese New Year Eve celebrations at Chung Tian Temple:

This layout is based on the April sketch at Scrapbooking from Scratch:



Materials:
Glitz Designs Beautiful Dreamer - Floral patterned paper
K&Company patterned paper (I think)
Vintage book page
Making Memories Boho Chic - Tiny Alphas - White stickers

Maltesers and Mars Bars...

An online friend posted a delicious-looking recipe recently, and I knew I just had to try making it as an Easter treat. As J-girl is getting older, we don't buy Easter eggs or commercial treats anymore, but we still indulge our chocolate addictions just a teensy bit!

I used the recipe as the inspiration for my Lasting Memories layout this week; our theme is Easter.  Your layout could be about Easter past or Easter present.




Here's a close up of the ingredients and journalling (click to enlarge):




I'm also entering this layout at Scrap It Girl for the Tags & Bags challenge.
The method is written on a hidden tag behind the photograph (click to enlarge):



My layout was built around layout sketch #86 at Feeling Sketchy.

Recipe and photo credit: Favourite Recipes (but I tweaked the recipe a little bit)

Materials:
Black Market Paper Society Vintage Romance - Appledore patterned paper
Creative Imaginations Narratives - Five Sweet Notes patterned paper
Daisy D's die cut journalling cards
Prairie Bird Boutique wrinkled ribbon
Green Tara 2cm Gerbera Petals - Dark Chocolate paper flowers
Mini pompom trim - pale pink
Jenni Bowlin Apothecary - Brown stickers
Kaisercraft Mini Alpha - Latte stickers

09/05/2014:  Edit to add -  Excited to be a winner at Feeling Sketchy for this layout!

You know you're a scrap addict...

... when you buy a product just so you can cut up the packaging!



The April mood board at Inkido is based on the theme "Our Roots" and they are encouraging participants to scrap about something in their own country, and then blog about it.

I was pleased to see an Australian image in the corner there!  This is the layout I created:



Australia Day means different things to different people, but for me it is a day to celebrate our unique, relaxed lifestyle, and to be grateful for the freedoms that we enjoy in this country. 

I took these photographs on Australia Day this year.  Although Australia is a very young country, we still have some identifiable traditions; enjoying billy tea and damper cooked on an open fire is one of my favourites!

My layout is based on the April sketch at Purple Pumpkin:

I fell in love with the triangle elements, but when it came to putting my layout together, I really struggled with them.  So I changed them all to one orientation and got it working for me.

AND...

Craft Hoarders Anonymous is asking us to "Pick a Stamp, Any Stamp" this week.  My stamp stash is totally disproportionate to the amount of stamping seen on my layouts!  I have a LOT of journalling stamps and an assortment of flowers, birds and swirls.  At the time I had to have them but in reality, I rarely use them (blushes).  The journalling spot I used on this layout is from a Lil Davis stamp set I've had in my stash forever; I think it may have been the first stamp set I ever bought.  I'm guessing circa 2007?



Materials:
Bazzill Basics - Raven cardstock
Crate Paper Pink Plum - Tangerine patterned paper
Basic Grey Sublime - Confused patterned paper
Basic Grey Romani - Amber patterned paper
WRMK White Out - Promenade patterned paper
Kaisercraft 2cm Taupe paper flowers
Kaisercraft Mini Paper Blooms - Honey
Green Tara 1cm roses - orange
American Crafts Thickers - Sprinkles vinyl alphabets 
Lil Davis Journaling1 stamp
Dew Drop Brilliance - Pearlescent Poppy pigment ink
Twinings product packaging

Top 50 cybercropping

The theme at this month's Scrapbooking Top 50 Australia cybercrop is 'Scraplift Fun'- and the criteria for all challenges is to scraplift the original layout and artist.

1>  Scraplifting Raquel Bowman.  This is her amazing layout:

And this is my take:



The elements I lifted were the single photograph, mixed layers of patterned paper (including a triangular piece and penwork borders) and the long title, almost word for word! 

A note about the butterflies - they were a surprise RAK from a dear friend, Miss D, many years ago.  It was long before I had acquired my Cuttlebug or even any punches - I opened the envelope and out fluttered a PILE of beautiful die cut and dry-embossed paper and vellum butterflies.  It still makes me smile when I think about how happy it made me:





2>  Scraplifting Sophie Koschmann. This is her awesome layout:

And this is my take (which in no way at all resembles the original!)



The elements I lifted were the single photograph with layered papers behind the photograph, and mixed font title.. I also used some crocheted flowers and buttons to embellish.

Materials:
Prima Fairy Flora patterned paper
Lime Tree Creations crocheted flowers
American Crafts Thickers - Gift Box alphabets
Die-namics Little Lower Case diecut letters
Scenic Route Sonoma - Diecut Labels journalling card
Crate Paper Crush - Island patterned paper
Bo Bunny Gypsy - Henna patterned paper
Vintage dressmaking pattern



3>  Scraplifting Bernii Miller:

And this is my take:



The elements I lifted were the quadrant-style layout and use of paper doilies.  I also used an assortment of bits and pieces from the 'leftovers' caddy on my desk to mimic the mini-clusters of embellishments.

Materials:
Echo Park Life is Good - Brown Floral patterned paper
Echo Park For the Record 2 - Doily patterned paper
Echo Park A Walk in the Park - Lazy Days patterned paper
American Crafts Thickers - Subway foam numbers
Heidi Swapp Center of Attention - Metallic Pink chipboard alphabets
Pebbles roller stamp
Dew Drop Brilliance - Pearlescent Poppy pigment ink

More green...

This layout was inspired by the sketch at Page Maps:



I included some ribbon too, for this week's Crafty Ribbons Anything Goes challenge:



Materials:
Echo Park Victoria Gardens - Garden Gate patterned paper
American Crafts Elements - Downtown Green ribbon
Echo Park A Walk in the Park - Elements stickers
Echo Park A Walk in the Park - Element Card patterned paper
Kaisercraft 5cm Lime paper flowers
Making Memories Noteworthy - Addie journal page
Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden - Flower Blooms patterned paper
Fancy Pants Kraft Kuts - Green/Blue Alpha letter stickers

Minty fresh...

I just love this month's colour at White with 1:

I started with the patterned paper - the closest colour I had to 'mint' - I gesso'd in white over the top to take out the olive tones and got it pretty close, I think.  After that I did a little background stamping with white paint, and kept the rest simple to let the photograph speak for itself:



I can never seem to get greens to photograph true to life, but hopefully this is close enough!


Materials:
Black Market Paper Society Letters from Paradise - Desert Palm Shores patterned paper
Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden - Flower Blooms patterned paper
Green Tara 1cm roses - mint
Green Tara 7cm petals - white
Green Tara 4cm petals - white
Kaisercraft Rhinestones - Mint Green
Chromacryl paint - white
Prima Alphablends letter stickers
Paper doily 
Vintage lace from my habby stash

Tractor ride

I love the challenges at A2Z Scraplets, not least because I have quite a stash of their products (some is very old and out of production).  This month the challenge is a sketch - double bonus for me because I *love* sketches too.

This is my layout:



I used some pieces from A2Z Scraplets Cog Set 3:






I gesso'd then misted all of the pieces, then gave each a different treatment over the top. I covered the middle-sized cog in patterned paper, then sanded and inked; I gave the other two cogs a smattering of embossing powder which stuck to the residual wet bits of paint, and then I heat embossed them to give a faux-rust appearance.

I'm also submitting my layout at Rhedd & Rosie's for their Anything Goes challenge.


Other materials:
Basic Grey Sublime - Confused patterned paper
Memories Mist Fruit Punch
Tsukineko VersaColor - Sand Beige ink
Cosmo Cricket Togetherness - Birds of a Feather patterned paper
Basic Grey Sugared mini monogram stickers
Doodlebug Beetle Black buttons


25/05/2014 EDIT TO ADD:  My layout was selected as the April winner at A2Z Scraplets.

A fun sketch

Today marked the start of Week 2 of the school holidays, and Day 4 of my (very short) recreational leave.  I managed to scrap a little bit in amongst yard work, housework and general errands...

This is a layout I created using the March sketch at My Creative Scrapbook:



Materials:
Echo Park Walk in the Park - Elements stickers
Echo Park Walk in the Park - Alpha stickers
Echo Park Walk in the Park - Flutter patterned paper
Echo Park Walk in the Park - Playground patterned paper
Echo Park For the Record - Noteworthy journal card
Bella! Bling - turquoise

16/04/2014 EDIT TO ADD:  My layout was selected as a featured layout

Adventure climbing

This month I'm joining in at a Scrappy Friends for the first time, and I've made one layout to meet all three friends' challenges.

1:  Brenda's sketch really grabbed my attention and I wanted to try it
2:  Kelly's word challenge ~ adventure
3:  Rochelle's Tic Tac Toe challenge ~  triangle, journal card, burlap (burlap flower)
 


I'm also sharing my layout at Scrapbook Fantasies Weekly Challenge #14, where the challenge is to create a layout using bright colours.


Materials:
Cosmo Cricket Togetherness - Birds of a Feather patterned paper
American Crafts Everyday - Hola patterned paper
Basic Grey Lime Rickey - Howdy Doody patterned paper
Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety - Sunshine patterned paper
Prima Homespun Elegance - Vintage burlap flower
Echo Park Walk in the Park - Element Card journalling card
Carolee's Creations Boys are Fun - Fun Stars patterned paper
Spellbinders Borderbilities - Classic Lace die
Fancy Pants Kraft Kuts - Green/Blue Alpha letter stickers

Little things

Our theme this week at Lasting Memories is "little things" - scrap about the small moments in time.  Here's my layout:



Materials:
Prima Annalee patterned papers
Spellbinders Nestabilities - Labels 4 die
Kaisercraft paper flowers
Making Memories Tiny Alphas
Mini pompom trim

Beaches...

I finally got around to scrapping one of my favourite photographs from our summer vacation - the beach just south of Woolgoolga Headland.  I used the April sketch from Blue Fern Studios to create my layout:




This is the first time I have I used Blue Fern Studios chipboard, some pieces from the Seaside Seashells set:





I'm also submitting my layout at:

Scrapbook Fantasies - create a beach-themed layout
Rhedd & Rosie's Challenge Blog - anything goes

Other materials:
Cosmo Cricket Social Club - Blue Eyes patterned paper
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Denim Blue
Tsukineko VersaColor - Seafoam ink
Tsukineko VersaColor - Sand Beige ink
Moon Glow King Midas Gold embossing powder
K&Company Blue Awning patterned papers
Chatterbox Scrapbook Walls - Sky Paisley patterned paper
Muslin fabric
The Robin's Nest Dew Drops
Prima Mini rose - sky blue
Green Tara 1cm rose - white
Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type alphabet stickers



05/05/2014 EDIT TO ADD - My layout was selected as a featured layout at Blue Fern Studios.

~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~

 

I scrapped with J-girl this weekend, and this is the layout that she created:



Jasmine used some free papers, alphabets and journalling card that came with a scrapping magazine, as well as some rhinestones and grungeboard swirls from my stash.

I scrapped this photograph in January.

Scrap the girls

... two girls on this layout - me and my daughter :)  I'm usually behind the camera and don't scrap many layouts of myself, so I've been trying to change that.

This is my entry for Scrap the Girls, where the challenge is to use traditional boy colour schemes and some "boyish" embellishments:

(click to enlarge)



Materials:
October Afternoon Sasparilla - Stagecoach patterned paper
Carolee's Creations Ocean Words patterned paper
Memento Pluie/Rain patterned paper border strip
Making Memories Poolside Paperie journalling pages
Bo Bunny Mama-razzi - Dots patterned paper
Maya Road Kraft doilies
Little Yellow Bicycle Traveler cardstock alphabet stickers
GinX Anyone, Anyone patterned paper
EK Success Double Moroccan Lace border punch