Today is a gift...

... that's why they call it the present.  (Love that sentiment!)

This is my layout for Lasting Memories; this week "it's all in the colours" - we'd love to see creative colouring on your embellishments:

 

What I did:  I painted raw chipboard shapes with acrylic paint. When dry, I doodled with my art pen, then painted over the top with Dimensional Magic:






My layout was inspired by the April sketch at The Scrapbook Store.  I left out some of the circle elements but the basic skeleton of the sketch is still there.

I chose some bright spring colours for the challenge over at Scrap Our Stash (turquoise and fuchsia), and also included the other required elements - a paperclip, journalling card, and 3D embellishments (chipboard buttons, pompom trim).

AND I used a little organza craft bag as my background for the April Scrap It Girl Tags & Bags Challenge.  I've had this in my stash for a while just waiting for the right project - it's got space for some hidden journalling behind the photograph.  (PS:  Here's a little secret - the bag wasn't part of my original design plan, but I had a last-minute "mishap" with a leaky doodling pen and had to pull apart my 'Plan-A' layout and toss some of the pieces.  I was at a temporay loss as to what to substitute - then I saw this challenge - serendipitous inspiration, I think.)

Materials:
Echo Park Victoria Gardens - Garden Gate patterned paper
Echo Park Life is Good - Journal Cards patterned paper
Echo Park Life is Good - Happy Borders patterned paper
Dream Street Menagerie - Foliage patterned paper
Bazzill Bling - Shimmer cardstock
Bella! Chipz chipboard shapes
DMC embroidery floss
Craft Works acrylic paint - hot pink
Hobby Craft metallic paint - aqua
Mini pompom trim - aqua
Yellow paper clip from my stash
Organza party treat bag

Once upon a time...

... there was a 30-something year old female whose ENTIRE 12x12 paper collection was contained within this modest 18-page work-in-progress folder:

Fast forward a year or eight or nine... and my paper collection now has its own furniture collection! (That story is for another day.)

The folder now houses my very modest collection of stencils, templates and masks:

As I get more adventurous with paints and mists and texture paste, I imagine this collection will also grow, but for now, this folder is my storage solution to keep them flat and all in one place :)

I'm sharing this post for Kimberly at Scrap It Girl - who is seeking stencil storage solutions.  I'm afraid mine probably isn't big enough for your collection, but it works for me (for now).

I'm also linking up at Craft Hoarders Anonymous for their Fifth Monday feature.  Of all my different scrap supplies, my stencils make up the smallest number.  I'm not even sure they constitute a 'hoard' yet. YET, she says...

Scrap the Boys

At Scrap the Boys this month, the challenge is to use flowers on a boy layout.  I love using flowers on my layouts so I enjoyed this challenge a lot.

I don't tend to overload with flowers even on girl layouts (mostly because of my budget - I'm sure I could Prima-it-up with the best if I had more cash!!) - but I also don't shy away from flowers on my boy layouts either.

Hopefully this is 'flowery' enough:



I used a handful of different flowers, and I made my own title using denim offcuts:



Materials:
Cherry Arte Party Days - Grapevine patterned paper
Scenic Route Sonoma - Journaling Labels diecut
Bella! Chipz chipboard flower
Kaisercraft Flourish Journals stamp

A little note

This is a layout I created for Weekly Challenge #12 at Scrapbook Fantasies:



The requirement was to create a layout using chipboard.  I used a laser cut chipboard, then inked and heat embossed:




Materials:
Lily Bee Designs Picket Fence - Veranda patterned paper
Bo Bunny Mama-razzi - Dot patterned paper
Dusty Attic Lamp Post #4 small
VersaColor Polar Blue ink
Gel-a-tins Gelly Powder - Northern Lights embossing powder
Prima notepaper (I think?)
Prima E-line - Chelsea paper flower
Kaisercraft 5cm paper flowers - lime

Last sketch for March

I created this layout based on the sketch challenge at The Scrapbook Store:

 

I'm also submitting this at Scrap Our Stash for Birthday Challenge #7 - enamel dots.  I don't have any small dots but I did find these larger enamel dots/stickers in my stash.  I hope this is okay!

Materials:
Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg - Autumn patterned paper
Cosmo Cricket Material Girl - Measuring Up patterned paper
Cosmo Cricket Togetherness - Reunion patterned paper
Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type alphabet stickers
Love Elsie Betty gel stickers
Colorbok Delight bubble stickers
Foam alpha raided from daughter's craft stash

01/04/2014 EDIT TO ADD:  I won the random-draw prize at The Scrapbook Store for this layout!

Sketches and minutiae

I'm always inspired by sketches;  I love seeing where the starting point leads me.

The first layout is based on the March sketch challenge at C'est Magnifique.  I kept it really simple to keep the focus on the photographs.  I've been taking more and more 'every day' photos at home and I want to document some of the little moments:

 

And a little close-up of the butterfly which I fussy-cut from a scrap of Prima patterned paper:



I hope this is suitable for Scrap Our Stash Birthday Challenge #10, for the balloons / flying theme.

~~ __ ~~~ __ ~~ __ ~~ __ ~~

The second layout is another minutiae from our summer holiday.  I created this one based on the sketch at Scrapbooking Top 50 Australia:



I'm not all that happy with it and almost didn't share it.  It seems a little "boxy" or something?  I had a picture in my mind how it would turn out, then I lost focus partway through and couldn't get it to flow like I imagined.   Anyway, it is what it is...   I did enjoy the hand stitching!

@LOL!

I enjoyed my stint as the March guest designer at Lasting Memories Scrapbooking Challenges, and I am thrilled say I have been invited to become a member of the design team!  This is so perfect for me, because my paper crafting has always been about layouts first.  I want to scrap my memories, and have some fun along the way.

Of course I've been so focussed on scrapping up a storm that I forgot were five Sundays this month, so I scrambled to get this one done:



As it turns out, this is the layout I had most fun with all month!  The new theme at Lasting Memories is Joke's on You - with a focus on laughter and silly moments.  The photo is a selfie that my daughter took at a recent birthday party, and it made me laugh to find it on my camera!

I used the sketch from Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge - it made the page come together so easily for me.

I also included lots of triangles in the banner for Scrap Our Stash Birthday Challenge #11.

Materials:
Basic Grey Sublime - Cinnamon patterned paper
Lime Tree Creations crocheted doilies
Green Tara 7cm petals - Orange
American Crafts Thickers - Gift Box alphabets
Fancy Pants Dancing Girl - She Can Dance patterned paper
Kaisercraft Flutterby - Spring Azure patterned paper

27/04/2014 Edit to add: My layout was chosen as a FAVE at Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge.

24/07/2014 Edit to add:  I'm linking up my layout at Paper Issues for the Say Cheese link party.  This is one of my favourite layouts this year, and one of the first 'selfies' of my daughter that I swiped to scrap!  I love the blurry, cut off photograph, and the fun, silly moment it captured. Perfect for the theme, I think.

Climb

This is my layout for the Scrapbook Savvy March sketch:



Materials:
American Crafts Chap - Tim patterned paper
Bella Flocked Stickerz alphabet
Basic Grey Wisteria - White Dynasty patterned paper
Basic Grey Nook & Pantry - Rolling Pin patterned paper
Also lots of scraps I don't recognise!

Meeting Alice

I've had a very busy two weeks with not a lot of scrapping time.  Today was my first full day off work in 10 days; it was also rainy for most of the day so I had lots of fun creating this layout, which is based on the sketch at Purple Pumpkin:



The painting in this layout is The Blue Alice by Australian artist Charles Blackman. 


Scrap Our Stash is asking to see paper doilies for their Birthday Challenge #2.  I used a small cafe-sized doily and added some stitching; it was a nice contrast against my Glimmer Mist background, and it also provided a backing for my shimmery title:




On the topic of shimmery things - I used lots more bling for Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge #4 - Show some sparkle, glitz or glam:



I used some very old Making Memories alphabet stickers which I've been hoarding for ummm... maybe 6 years??  There were also some hearts and flowers on the sheet so I used up some of those as well.  The bling on a roll is one of my very latest acquisitions, only part of my stash for about a week!

Materials:
Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden - Dragonflies patterned paper
Basic Grey Vagabond patterned paper
Cuttlebug D'vine Swirls embossing folder
Making Memories Shimmer Alpha - Silver stickers
Pink Paislee Fetching alphabet stickers
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Blue Denim
Darice Bling on a Roll - silver
Martha Stewart Floral Lace border punch
Handmade flowers by me

06/04/2014 edit to add:  My layout was featured at Purple Pumpkin

Life Member

I love working with green so I knew I wanted to participate in this month's mood board challenge at Show us your Stuff:

 

I created this layout as part of a birthday album for my mother-in-law; she turns 85 this year and I hope to scrap some of the highlights of her life in the past decade:



My handmade items are the butterfly and ribbon flower.

Krafting it up

The March challenge at Kraft it Up is to create a layout based around a list.  My layout is based on a list of things that we did on a recent day trip:



Materials:
Vintage newsprint kraft tissue paper
Little Yellow Bicycle Clothesline journalling card
Scenic Route Summer Vacation chipboard shape
Basic Grey Origin patterned papers
Prima product packaging
Scribble Scrabble Bric-a-brac patterned paper
Portacraft paper flowers

06/06/2014, edit to add:  My layout won a prize at Kraft it Up.

Scraps, scraps, scraps

I **love** using up my scraps.  I always have - it gives me a sense of satisfaction to clear my desk of the leftovers from a previous layout.  Quite often, my scraps are my starting point - and I build from there. I've never had a problem with mixing brands and collections.

For many years, I have sorted my scraps by colour.  I have folders and ziplock bags of almost every colour under the sun!  Perfect for making handmade flowers, cutting or punching shapes, or just when I need an extra piece of patterned paper to tuck in somewhere on a layout.

This is my last week as a guest designer at Lasting Memories.  I have had fun creating and sharing my layouts!This week at Lasting Memories the theme is Scraps, scraps, scraps - this is what I created:



Pretty much everything on the layout is scraps - both paper and fabric.

My colour scheme was inspired by the Inkido mood board challenge:

I'm not sure what the yellow gemstone is in the background, but I am a huge fan of citrine and topaz. I wanted to create a layout in those colours because this combo doesn't seem to be commonly seen.

I'm also submitting at Off the Rails Scrapbooking this week for the Free for All challenge - I did go off the rails with lots of tiny scraps and lots of yellow tones :)

Birthday card

Just a quick share of a birthday card I made for my godson's birthday.  I was really stuck with what to create for him - what kind of card appeals to a 16yr old young man?

I started with a sketch from Scrapbook Fantasies, and this is what I came up with:



Some of the details:



I'm also submitting this at Scrap It Girl for their Birthday theme this month.

Materials:
Basic Grey Sultry - Friar patterned paper
Carolee's Creations Nancy Jane - Lazy Daisy patterned paper
SRM Sticker Sentiments - Happy Birthday
Love Elsie Betty gel sticker
Devine Twine Airmail bakers' twine
Vintage music sheet
Kaisercraft inkpad - black

Woo hoo!!

So excited to be selected as the random draw winner at C'est Magnifique!


And also... my prize pack from Scraps of Darkness arrived in the mail today - can't wait to start creating with it!

Some sketch layouts

I do love sketch challenges, and I keep coming back to them as a quick motivator to scrap my pages.

This one is based on the sketch at Life.Paper.Scrapbook, with some misting for Scrap Our Stash birthday challenge #6:



What I enjoyed most about this layout was all the doodling!

Materials:
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Golden Terracotta
Basic Grey Sublime - Strawberry Cream patterned paper
Momotara Disco Trims ribbon
Scenic Route Sonoma journalling card
Lily Bee Designs Picket Fence alphabet stickers

** ^^ ** ^^ ** ^^ **

More fun doodling on this layout too; I was pleased to create this from bits and pieces in my scraps folder.  I used the March sketch at Scrapbooking from Scratch:






Materials:
GCD Glitter Letters alphabet stickers
Scenic Route Sonoma journalling card
Pink Paislee Cupid brads
Basic Grey Sublime - Cinnamon patterned paper
Bella Happy Holiday patterned paper
K&Company Jubilee - Pink & Blue Ornate patterned paper
Junkitz Swatchz - Home fabric

Lots of green...

This week at Lasting Memories the theme is St Paddy's Day, with the challenge to USE SHADES OF GREEN - lime green is one of my favourite colours:



I also added some blue for challenge #10/2014 at Scrapbook Fantasies to "create a layout using blue and green only".

Materials:
Scenic Route Metropolis - Butler Street patterned paper
Provocraft Alphabitties - Girls Are Weird stickers
Provocraft Halfabitties - Girls Are Weird stickers
Bazzill cardstock
?? green translucent flowers
Prima Essentials - Annalee paper flowers

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

Over at Anna's Craft Cupboard I joined in the March sketch challenge with this layout:



Not a flashy layout by any means, but I did manage to use up lots of offcuts so this one too, ended up with lots of blue and green.

Materials:
Basic Grey Urban Prairie - Hayloft patterned paper
Scenic Route Metropolis - Butler Street patterned paper
Memento Pluie/Rain patterned paper
Lil Davis Away We Go journalling sticker
Close to My Heart Stickease - Silhouette Level 1 alphabet stickers
Buttons & twine from my general stash

13 candles

This is the last (I think) birthday photo I have left to scrap from J-girl's 13th birthday:



I don't usually use a lot of bling on my pages but 13 is a special number and J-girl is a self-confessed magpie when it comes to anything shiny, so it was fitting to add some glittery bits:



Materials:
K&Co Jubilee - Pink & Blue Ornate patterned paper
Derivan Kindy Glitz - Hot Pink glitter glue
American Crafts Thickers - Lax glitter alphabets
Making Memories Noteworthy glitter die cuts
Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type alphabet stickers
Green Tara 10cm petals - Plum paper flower

I'm submitting my layout at:
* Scrap It Girl - Birthdays
* Off the Rails Scrapbooking - Bling it Up
* Scrap Our Stash - Candles/Anything that sparkles

Dusty Attic

This is my layout for the sketch challenge at Dusty Attic this month:



My Dusty Attic product is a butterfly from the Flutterbies pack, which I inked with fluid chalk, then heat embossed:



Other materials:
Bella Sarah-Jane - Narratives journalling cards
Colorbox Catseye - Celadon fluid chalk
Tsukineko Dew Drop - Sahara Sand fluid chalk
Moon Glow Angel Wings Jade embossing powder
Celebrations Clear High Gloss embossing powder
Prairie Bird Boutique wrinkled ribbon
Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type alphabet stickers

Blooms

At Lasting Memories there is a new challenge each week, and you have till the end of the month to submit entries.  You can even check the blog sidebar for upcoming themes.

This is my second layout as a guest designer at Lasting Memories - the theme this week is Early Spring.  The challenge is to use flowers on your layout.  I took these photographs during a recent meditation retreat at Chung Tian Temple; enjoying the beauty of flowers is a wonderful way to quieten the mind.



* I created my layout using the first March sketch at Stuck?! 
* I included multiple layers for Scrap Our Stash Birthday Challenge #1 - layering

Materials:
Basic Grey Two Scoops - Very Berry Sundae patterned paper
Basic Grey Blush - Crush patterned paper
Spellbinders Frameabilities - Polka Dot Frame die
Stacy Claire Boyd Pollyanna - Miss Polly patterned paper
Sassafras Lass Royal Bliss - Trims patterned paper 
Gin-X He Sings at Weddings - Table 9 patterned paper (circle motif)
American Crafts Thickers - Lax glitter alphabets
Pebbles Roller Stamp
Tsukineko VersaColor - Orchid inkpad

Rainy days

My husband's work is mostly weekend only, and it is weather-dependent.  So we don't spending many weekends together as a family.  When we do, it's usually terrible weather - not ideal for outings.           Beautiful weather + light winds = perfect work conditions = no family outings.
Rain + cloud and/or strong winds = no work = family weekend!
We usually end up going somewhere anyway, regardless of the weather.

I like using bright colour combinations to lift the 'grey' of all of our rainy day photographs, so I really enjoyed the Scrap the Boys colour challenge this month, with the colours of GREEN BLUE and YELLOW

This is my layout:



It took me ages to fussy-cut the flourishes but I'm really happy with how it turned out:



Materials:
Memento Pluie/Rain patterned paper
Scenic Route Metropolis - Butler Street patterned paper
Pink Paislee Ambrose - Licorice alphabet stickers
Purple Pumpkin Carnival Tickets - blue & green
Sassafras Lass Mix n Mend - Fancy Free patterned paper
Robins' Nest Tear Drops - Sunflower Seeds