Asia week

This week at Lasting Memories, our challenge is to create an Asian-inspired layout.  I wanted to catch up my January album from this year, so I chose some photographs from the Chinese New Year celebrations at our local Buddhist temple:



I used up lots of old stash for this one - NONE of it is in the least bit "Asian".  I think it shows that  you can achieve a themed result with generic papers and embellishments if you choose the colour scheme carefully.  I chose red and gold tones to match my photographs and the New Year theme.  {The journalling card is actually from an old Christmas collection.}

Materials:
Cosmo Cricket 2wenty-Thr3e - Postcards patterned paper
Basic Grey Sublime - Cinnamon patterned paper
My Minds Eye Signature Life patterned paper {product information strips}
My Memories Chevons - Gold patterned paper
Scenic Route Ashville - Labels sticker
Carolee's Creations AdornIt - Tiny Whoopsy Red mini alphabet stickers
Bella Christmas journalling card
Metallic trim (from my habby stash)

Inspired by Robin Williams

I was very saddened by the passing of Robin Williams, a man who brought so much joy to so many people. It made me smile to see that the August Inspired By... challenge at Mei Li Paperie, is this:

This is what I created:



I was inspired by the black & white photograph {I altered my photograph using Photoshop Elements ~ back to basics with a layer and an eraser brush} and I also took inspiration from Mork's famous rainbow suspenders!  As a child I loved watching Mork & Mindy on television, and like so many people, that fun character was my first introduction to the magic of Robin Williams:

My layout was also inspired by the August challenge at Creative Embellishments.  The picture element is the rainbow, and I used the 1960's song title "Colour My World" (Petula Clark).

Materials:
Echo Park Summertime - Alpha Stickers letters & scallops
Carolee's Creations/AdornIt Dance - Cadence patterned paper
Bella Blvd Sunny Happy Skies - Borders n Blocks patterned paper (fussy cut rainbow)

A little mail art

Just because!  I recycled some business envelopes and created a little bit of mail art to cover up the tell-tale windows in the front:





This was a fun way to use up some of my older stash.

I'll be using these to post some photographs - one batch to my mother-in-law and another to my husband's aunt.  Both of these ladies live without the instant gratification of electronic media, so they will appreciate printed copies of the photographs we took on our recent visit.

And like me, they will appreciate some mail that doesn't have windows in the front!

Materials:
Close to My Heart Silhouette patterned papers
Lil Davis Away We Go journalling stickers
Basic Grey Gamma Series - Hello stamp
Tsukineko Stazon - Jet Black ink

Winter vacation

This is the fourth week of our Lasting Memories challenges for August, and the theme is Vacation Memories - an easy one!  We've all got some of those...

I scrapped some photographs from our recent winter break at Bald Rock National Park:



I'm also submitting my layout at Scrap our Stash for the Selfie challenge.

* Use a selfie: The top photograph is a selfie (I really don't like selfies, but I've found it's a great way to connect with my teen daughter, and lately selfies are the only way I can get photographs of her!)
* Use a frame: I used a chipboard mini polaroid frame, which I lightly inked

Materials:
Words or Whatever Mini Polaroid Frame
Tsukineko Versacube - Polar Ice ink
Bazzill Primula - Slate Blue paper flowers
Kaisercraft Pearls - Pewter
Green Tara 7cm petals - Sky Blue paper flower
Green Tara 2.5cm petals - Lime Green paper flower
Petaloo glitter flower
Heart paper clip (from my stationery supplies)
Base cardstock - RAK from a friend

Black, white and grey

I enjoyed making another double page layout this week, to fit a sequence of larger photographs on my page (click to enlarge): 



What I did:  I used sketch #121 from Sketchabilities.  I started with some cardboard packaging from a pack of album refill sleeves.  I used the plain grey side of the packaging as my base.  I layered some old book pages to form a wide background strip.  I joined the pages together to run the length of the double page, then punched both sides with an edge punch. I painted over everything with a thin coat of gesso primer.

I kept part of the packaging raw to use as a photo mat. I've started (sometimes) matting my photographs again after many years of not doing so, and I really love the extra pop it adds to a plain layout.  I added stitching around the mats to add interest and texture. 

I cut up a lot of old journalling cards to add extra layers, then added my embellishments and title.  I punched lots of small butterflies from the bookpage offcuts, and scattered them around the page.

I'm submitting my layout at:

* Scrapbook Fantasies - Create a layout using black, white and grey
* Less-ology - Fluttering butterflies

Here's a little close up of my bookpage butterflies:





And here's the reverse side, just to show the packaging I used:



Materials:
Product packaging (cardboard)
Vintage book pages
Prima Essentials grey paper flowers
Green Tara 2.5cm petals - White paper flowers
American Crafts Pearl Brads - Elegant
Cre8tiv pearl brads
Bella! Journalling Tagz
Kaisercraft Pearls - Pewter
American Crafts Thickers - Subway foam alphabets 
Martha Stewart Garden Trellis deep edge punch

Lots of alphas...

This week at Lasting Memories, the theme is inspired by Back to School time in the northern hemisphere, with a challenge to feature lots of letters or numbers on your layout.  ** The layout does NOT need to be related to school **

I am away from home with limited supplies, and my layout is a little plainer than usual, but I think that adds to the impact of the letters:



What I did: I kept the 'negative' paper left behind after die-cutting a set of lowercase alphabet letters, and I used it as a feature. I backed my title letters (NSW) with a contrasting colour, and then backed the whole lot with an old book page. Lots and lots of letters!  I used some offcut strips of patterned paper, and framed each piece with some basic doodling and penwork.

This layout is also for the August challenge at Just Two Midwest Girls - Use every letter of the alphabet and for Flying Unicorns Mix'n'Match Your Stash.

Materials:
MFT Die-namics - Little Letters Lower Case dies
Basic Grey Sublime - Raspberry Blue patterned paper
Basic Grey Lime Rickey - Rob Roy patterned paper
American Crafts Chap - Tim patterned paper

Twice as nice

Over at Flying Unicorns, there's a fun challenge called Twice as Nice - where the idea is to create two of something.    Later this month we will be attending two birthday celebrations for extended family members, so I thought this was a great incentive to make some gift bags.

I'm not big on measurements and calculations ~ usually I just eyeball it when I create ~ so this kind of project is NOT my forté.  I don't have any of those fancy scoring boards or tools either, so I just made do with my guillotine and ruler, and custom-made the bags to fit the gifts.  I used one full 12x12 sheet and one 8x4 offcut in a contrasting colour for each gift bag.  One of the gift bags was an experiment a prototype, and the other was (I hope) an improvement.  I'm not telling which is which!






Materials (left):
WRMK Fiesta - Bonita patterned paper
WRMK Fiesta - Nuevo patterned paper
Petaloo Flora Doodles - Layered Daisies brown flower
Green Tara 6cm Petals - Gold paper flower
Sassafras Lass Mix'n'Mend - Sweet Treats sticker
Momotara Disco Lights ribbon

Materials (right):
WRMK Fiesta - Rubia patterned paper
American Crafts Chap - Tim patterned paper
Yellow silk flowers (from discount store)
Green Tara 6cm Petals - Rust paper flower
Spellbinders Frameabilities - Polka Dot Frame die
Momotara Disco Lights ribbon

Right here, right now

I am working at overcoming my purple phobia, so I tried out the August moodboard challenge at Flying Unicorns:

I had a huge 'play' with this layout - messing around with my watercolour pencils (and smudging the layout too... c'est la vie...)



I'm also submitting my layout for these challenges:
* Rochelle's Tic Tac Toe challenge (one photograph, circles, treat bag)
* Scrap it Girl Arrows & Hashtags (I used arrows on the title card)

Materials:
Miss Tiina's Everyday Collection journalling cards (digital printables)
Green Tara 7cm petals - Turquoise paper flower
Faber Castelle watercolour pencils
Sugar packaging from the cafe
Merci glassine treat bag

How to stay cool

It's summer in the northern hemisphere (lucky people!) and our theme at Lasting Memories is Water Fun.   The challenge is to create a layout that includes water - a nice, broad theme so everyone can join in!  Beach, pool, ice, splashing, water sports, or how about water colours?  How about rain, floods, or fire hoses?

Here's my layout:



I built my layout using the August sketch at Blue Fern Studios, and I also chose a summer-themed photograph for the Sizzling Hot Summer Fun challenge at 7 Dots Studios:

How I met the criteria:
* I used patterned paper from 7 Dots Studios {9th Wave - Deep Water}
* I used Blue Fern Studios Bohemain Flowers chipboard {painted with gesso then heat embossed}

Here are some close ups:





Other materials:
MFT Die-namics - Little Letters Lower Case alphabet dies
Basic Grey Sublime - Raspberry Blue patterned paper scraps (to make letters)
Echo Park patterned paper scraps (to make butterfly)
Moon Glow Angel Wings Jade embossing powder
Blue Fern Studios product packaging
Tsukineko VersaMagic - Sahara Sand fluid chalk
Kaisercraft Pearls - Teal
Kaisercraft Rhinestones - Turquoise
Prima E-line - Aqua paper flowers
Zva mini rose
Harlequin washi tape
butterfly punch

Scrappy Friends

I love joining in the challenges at Scrappy Friends, and this month's combination is another fun one.  For this layout I combined two of the challenges:

* Brenda's sketch - I flipped the sketch 90º left
* Kelly's colour challenge -  I used three of the colours (I skipped the green)



Materials:
Bazzill Basics - Starmist cardstock
Crate Paper Brunch - RSVP patterned paper
Basic Grey Sublime - Raspberry Blue patterned paper
American Crafts Chap - Tim patterned paper
MFT Die-namics - Little Letters Lower Case diecut alphabets
Plaid Dimensional Magic
Kaisercraft Rhinestones - Turquoise
Ric rac (from my habby stash)

Tooloom Falls

This layout is based on the current sketch at Chic Tags.  I used three photographs in my photo block instead of the suggested four, but apart from that I stuck to the main elements:



I'm also entering the Mix'n'Match Your Stash challenge at Flying Unicorns this month.  I used up some some old papers, with a lot of mix & match of different collections.

Materials:
Basic Grey Sublime - Raspberry Blue patterned paper
Basic Grey Lily Kate - Chocolate patterned paper
K & Company Blue Awning patterned paper
Scenic Route patterned paper (fussy cut leaves)
American Crafts Thickers - Rootbeer Float foam alphabets
Rose Moka Appel de la nature - Aqua alphabet stickers
Chic Tags Vintage Note Stamps journalling tag
Petaloo Flora Doodles - Embossed Velvet flowers
Prima Vintage Blooms - Green silk flowers
Green Tara 2.5cm petals - Liquid paper flower

Hello little one...

I really enjoyed creating this layout - sometimes the simple ones end up as my favourites.

I started with a pile of offcuts from my VERY old stash of patterned paper.  [I am determined to use up these particular papers by the end of the month!]  I arranged them in strips to to build a background, using sketch #274 from Creative Scrappers.  I stitched everything in place then added a strip of ribbon to fill the gap.

To tell the truth, when I started building the layout, I didn't know which photograph I was going to use ~ I just pulled out a bunch of embellishments that matched the papers, and started playing around, leaving a space for the photograph.

After I chose the photograph, I added a title and journalling, and here it is:




I'm entering my layout at these challenges:
* Flying Unicorns - Use your stash

Materials:
Mod Designs patterned papers (x3)
Stampin' Up! ribbon
Heidi Swapp Ghost Shapes - Pink flowers
Paper doiley
Bazzill Basics Bitty Blossoms - Apple flowers
Basic Grey Sugared mini monogram stickers
Kaisercolour Dusty Pink acrylic paint
Plaid Dimensional Magic
Kaisercraft Mini Alpha - Cream letter stickers
Beutron buttons - grey

It's a heatwave?

It's time again for my DT reveal for Lasting Memories.  This week the theme is "It's a Heatwave" (may I just say, I am suffering through the Australian winter; it's definitely NOT a heatwave here!) The challenge is to use sunshine colours inspired by this picture:

I love using bright, warm colours, and I had fun putting my layout together.  This is it:



And a detail shot of my favourite new products:



I'm entering my layout at Craft Hoarders Anonymous for the embossing challenge.  I dry-embossed some cardstock offcuts to make the pennant strip behind the photograph. (It's actually two pieces - top and bottom ~ I didn't have quite enough to make a single strip.)  I love how a little embossing can add new life to old stash!

I have been very diligent in using my old stash but I recently succumbed to temptation and bought some new handmade flowers from a talented Australian crafter, and some bling from Flourish with a Bling during their sale. 

Materials:
Pink Paislee 365º Degrees - Daydream patterned paper
Basic Grey Sublime - Cinnamon patterned paper
Worldwin Colormates - Orange cardstock
Cuttlebug Floral Fantasy embossing folder
K&Company Mira - Chocolate Rose patterned paper
Carolee's Creations AdornIt -Tiny Whoopsy Red alphabet stickers
FWAB Kate's Corner - Silver rhinestone flourish
Jenni-Anne's Jewels handmade flower
Scenic Route Sonoma diecut journalling card
Collections Elements Window Tags chipboard shape
Kaisercolour Mango acrylic paint
Colorbox Catseye - Warm Red fluid chalk
Fiskars Threading H2O border punch

Winner...

Thank you to the lovely ladies who visited my blog during the Lasting Memories "Buttons" blog hop.  This is the little button-themed giveaway I offered up:

The winner is...  DEBI.  Congratulations Debi, I will be in touch soon.