APRIL SKETCH FOR MAD ABOUT SCRAPPIN!

Hi everyone,

The Sketch for this months challenge over at Mad About Scrappin was revealed yesterday. My other site Page Drafts has been commissioned to do the next 6 months worth of sketches and there are some fun ones coming up but this months wont disappoint.

So if your keen for a bit of a challenge all you have to do is create a traditional or digital layout using the sketch below as your inspiration.

Then pop over to Mad About Scrappin' facebook page here and load it into the gallery before midnight Wednesday 25th April to be in the running for a whopping $25 worth of Manor House Creations Flowers.

Here is my dt page and as you can see I quite literally interpreted the sketch as is which is a first for me, I usually try to put my own spin on it, but I guess I can be let off this time since I created the sketch tee hee.

In this one I used some Basic Grey &  Hambly Prints transparent circle paper teamed up with some cardstock.  I also included some customised glass cabachons to add dimension to the circular disc embelishments and printed my journaling on Grafix Rub-Onz to finish it off.

Tip: You don't always have to follow a sketch to the tee, instead of using papers try using a stencil like I have here with the tiger stripe that I created by cutting the pattern out of acetate, it adds more depth and  a varied point of interest.

Happy scrapping everyone, hope you have a crafty week ahead of you and thank you for stopping by xox

7 DOTS STUDIO 'DREAMER' PAPERS

OMGoodness, when Leanne from Mad About Scrappin approached me to Guest DT I was excited but when she showed me the gorgeous papers from 7 Dots Studio latest PP release I was doing cartwheels. These papers are absolutely divine. The A sides are an explosion of colour, layers and textures and the B sides are soft, warm and simply divine. So I had an absolute blast with these papers here's a product image of the range. 


So if you like what you see here and are interested in  buying a kit to create similar projects to the ones below scoot on over to Leannes FB Page and snaffle up a kit before they sell out or buy yourself some of the papers! :)
Here is an image of the 7 Dots Studio release,

and below are my layouts using the 'Dreamer' range.
I used black tea to stain the paper and create some lush grungy drips. I also used a paper doiley as a mask to ink  the background. Tip: To add some extra bling why not glue some beads to your page they are as cheap as chips and are an unexpected little addition to any page.
Below is a close up of the beads I used Dimensional magic to adhere them.

Cut your photos into circles is a great way to add some interest to your page rather than the same old same old standard formats. 

 Tip: Layer lots of different masks, tapes, stamps and stitching to create and interesting focal point.

Cut out some random shapes from card stock and lay them directly onto your paper before inking. This is a perfect way to add some points of interest to an already very busy patterned paper.

 Tip: Try using some transparent embellishments to add a little extra something without being too obvious.

Gesso, Gesso, Gesso, this should be a staple in your scrap stash. Its an awesome way to tone down an intricate paper without detracting from it. Its also a perfect preparation for inking and misting on top of.

 Tip: Layer lots of elements and cluster them tightly, this is a rule of thumb when I create a page. Also consider using lots of different textured materials and fibres, particularly things you can find around the house...Save onion and garlic bags they are priceless! 

And finally, combine all those tips into one page, tee hee. Masking, Inking and gessoing are fantastic techniques and tools to include in all your pages.

 Tip: Dont feel like you always have to have lots on your page, less is more in some instances, often just one embellishment and or one wordart speaks volumes.

Hope you likey! xox

I TRY...

BITW has another ripper of a word prompt for you and this challenge is all about 'TIME' that very precious commodity that eludes most of us. I know it seems I am doing a few pages on me lately,  hope I am not boring you guys with these ones but after this word reveal I promise to stop the self obsession for a little while  tee hee.


I had a small epiphany recently after thinking about what I was going to do for my DT page I realised I spend way too much money and time accumilating papers and scrap related products that most of my allocated scrapping time is spent in complete disarray and of course time is of the essence when you have a busy little adventurous boy on your hands. 


So rather than wasting these valuable minutes sorting, arranging and cleaning my space I have set a challenge 'to use up as much of my stash as possible!' My Scraproom is absolutely chockers I need nothing else except more minutes in the day, so even though this is a small idea it may prove to create 'perfect harmony'  in my life between scrapping more constructively and freeing up more time with Tig-let.

Thats the story behind this DT page, do you think I can do it? To be honest I am not sure I can stick to my guns on this one, I am such a scrapstash hoarder I am one of the worst, tee hee. 
Thank you for stopping by xox

I ADORE THEM

If your looking for a great word prompt to get your started on a new project this fortnights word at Bird is the Word is 'Adore' which has got to get the mojo in full swing. Starting from the 6th and ending on the 20th November, you have plenty of time to create a fun project and sub it using the inlinkz gadget at BITW to be in the running for a fabbo kit from Tidbitz In Time. 


Here's my take I decided to go a little different to what I have been lately and do something simple and relaxed. I finally used the Tim Holtz set of 'Ransom' alpha masks that I have been hoarding for a good year maybe longer and paired that with his Barn Door Distress Ink along with my all time fave Hambly Prints 3/4" Graph Overlay and yeeesh of course Basic Grey as the base. I can't go past their grungy textural B sides they simply rock for me!

Anyways hope you like it and hope you can join us over at BITW I love seeing all the gorgeous pages in the gallery it blows me away how many people play over there. Thank you for stopping by and hope you have a fabulous week:)

DO I SMILE OR DO I CRY?

I know I am so lucky to be soon blessed with the arrival of our special little bubba, its still so surreal and I need to be pinched daily to believe it, thats why I'm smiling...but with such an amazing and incredibly beautiful future I can't help but feel a sadness so painful because of the lose of our most loyal, constant and loving friend Mr Osky our diggy dawg.

Now I know for some people this post may read OTT but for us Oscar was truly an integral part of our family. Not only was he our best friend he was my constant companion for the past 14 years. He showed nothing but loyalty, gentleness and unconditional love, which I can honestly say is more than some people I have crossed paths with in my life have ever offered...he was an awesome dog.

Osky was a stray homeless pup, that found Dan and visited him at the restaurant Dan cheffed at back in Canberra. Osky showed a persistence that all the staff saw. He kept strolling into the restaurant and straight into the kitchen staring up at Dan and wagging his tail. Dan couldn't resist his big brown eyes so brought him home after posting a couple of posters at the local shops. We waited 2 days with our fingers crossed that no-one would claim him and of course no-one did!

Osky was so much fun, he loved his paws being massaged, the perfect solution for calming an energetic puppy, but even as an adult dog Osky loved a paw tickle. Osky ruled the roost..he slept in our bed, told us when it was time to sleep when it was time to get up and when it was time to eat. He kept me sane many a night when Dan was working late and whilst Dan was away with work. He always greeted me at the door with a windmill tail wag the biggest circular rotation that I thought he'd propel off the ground. He leant on me whilst standing, the lean was so severe I reckon you could have measured it at a 45degree angle. I would often get nudged with a paw or wet nose if he wanted my attention. We would sound out 'beep, beep' and he'd walk backwards and he'd stomp his paws on the floor or head butt at the door if he wanted to go out...he just simply was the best dog in the whole wide world!

I am going to miss my boy like there is no tomorrow, I just can't fathom he wont get to meet our baby, that he wont be a part of our new family life, but I know he will always be to Dan and I...   

Our very special and loving friend!

Miss you so much snuggle puggle...

xox

RETREAT FEVER

OOOh I forgot to mention the fun retreat I've just come back from!
I have finally caught up with everything since coming back from Arrawarra nears Coffs Harbour. Its absolutely beautiful down there, I felt like I had come home when I saw the vegetation, the gorgeous beaches and the little towns along the way... hmmmmm brain is a ticking now, could there be a move on the cards??? 

We stayed at the Darlington Beach Resort  in schmicko cabins, its a fabbo place for families as it caters for kiddies, so if your still trying to find a place for the Christmas Holidays have a snoop at the link above.

We had a great time,I got to hang out with my gorgie friend Lisa, caught up with some of the SB Babes and a long lost but recently found school friend Cindy which was an absolute blast we certainly covered a lot of ground and had a lot of laughs in my case massive belly chuckles tee hee.

Here's a few photos and pages I did over the weekend!

This first one was my take on the 

Inspiration Challenge, 

'Fonts and Elements'.

...and the poster that inspired!

This one is a page of my flower 

girl and I.

I used my latest fave scrapbook material 

the Grafix Rub-Onz film, 

you can find the tutorial here. 

This one was the Goodie Bag Challenge...

Finally finished last months Sketch Stash Stomper...hmmmm

a couple of muck around Lo's... 

and this last one that was a bit of a challenge. Cindy saw that I had not used the Budgie Stamp I bought a few months back, so she challenged me to use it in a LO at the retreat ;)think I might have achieved that, tee hee

TFL

A COUPLE OF PAGES TO SHARE

I haven't done many LO's lately its been all systems go with sorting out this house for bubba's arrival. We have managed to squeeze my scrap room into 1/3 the original space I had (I'm sharing a room with a queen bed grumphhhh) But I am more excited about getting the nursery painted before Mr Dan goes back to the mine so I can then totter around decorating the space.


When Dan got back last week all he wanted to do was buy all the big baby items like the car seat, pram and change table so, thankfully we now have a room to house them in, lol.


Other than all this fun excitement I have done a couple of LO's which I thought I'd share with y'all!


Here's one I did at a 'Girls Night In'

where the host Tash of Wise Craft Creations raised a few dollars for Breast Cancer Research. I had so much fun meeting the ladies  and as always spent way too much money! eek


I also surprised myself with actually doing this months Scrapboutique stylist challenges. I am such a shocker, I never seem to find time to do them but this month I loved the girls challenges and given we didn't have the added stylist packs to work through I thought I have got to at least attempt them.


Here's my take on the November Sketch/Stash Stomper set by the lovely Manon. Its all about the cheeky little poppet Miss Teleah.

This next one is my take on Amanda's November Monthly Challenge
the theme being 'Wet, Wet, Wet'. I figured I had to do one of Mr Osky because its been a while since I have made a page of him. I also really wanted to use up those teeny scrap pieces of paper and bits and bob's I keep hoarding.I'm pretty happy to get the old Woodgrain Hambly Prints in there...tee hee

Here is my sample page for the Stylist Challenge I set for November. You can read more about it in the right hand column and link back to Scrapboutique if your interested in participating in it or any of the other challenges...

...and finally last month I hosted the Blind scrap at our CC. The Sunday Roast was all about 'Halloween'. I got the girls to doodle or stitch on the page and create a shaped mount and photo by hand cutting.

Here's what I did for the blind roast a bit of machine stitching for the spiderrrr web and a circular mount to echo the moon theme.

Okay so thats about it everyone, thanks for stopping by hope your having a great week!

We Met Again in 2010

Its been an interesting couple of years for me. I have found some old friends again which has been an absolute blast. Have you ever lost a dear friend and over the years wondered about them, what they are up to and where are they now? 


Thats exactly what has happened to me! 


Brett and I met many moons ago when we worked at the National Press Club together in Canberra. We soon became inseparable, working lots of functions and then partying hard into the early hours dancing our little toots off. We had a saturday morning ritual, dragging ourselves out of bed to fill up on a large cooked brekky with freshly squeezed orange juice at our local cafe in the city and then a spot of retail therapy which always works well for curing a hangover! We'd read the paper or a glossy magazine but mostly people watch...


Dan, Brett and I decided we wanted to live in a fancy apartment so we joined forces and rented a schmick apartment in Kingston, which proved to be heaps of fun. We had lots of parties, poor neighbours and frequented our local hot spots only a hop, skip and a jump from our pad!


Brett moved to Sydney to party hard & Dan and I got ourselves a house, a dog & settle down into domesticity. 

For many years I wondered about Brett and what he was up to, if he was in a good place personally and if we would ever find each other again! It was 13 years later when I got an amazing phone call out of the blue from yes...BRETT! Omgosh I was soooo excited and this funny feeling of a sense of relief came over me...my gorgie bestie was back!


Brett told me that he was at work one day when a lady came in for some coffee. She worked with us at the NPC all those years ago, and kept in contact with another friend mutual friend of ours whom I am still very close to. So there you have it, the numbers were swapped and now Brett is back with gusto! Tee hee

This Easter Brett came and stayed with Dan and I, we spent all weekend swapping stories and reminiscing about the good old days it really was a lot of laughs and I am so happy to have him back! Love ya Bretty...mwah

Here's a piccie of Daniel and Brett...

& here's a little LO I did this morning of Brett and I.

TFL ;)

A Scrapping Fantastic Weekend!

This weekend has been a busy one, lots of scrappy time, gotta get my fix before my gorgeous husband gets home, can't be hiding away in my craft room when he's back!


Saturday the lovely Lisa and I made a huge mess at her place, poor poppet she must of thought thats the last time I invite Em, I had my stuff all over the two trestles she had set up, even brought my sewing machine. Anyways thanks Lis, I love getting together with you, eating choccie and creating. Then Saturday night I went over to Angies, who is now my neighbour, living only 2 doors down from me! So lovin 'Our' Scraproom at her place teehee, I've already alluded to the fact I need more space so now I have claimed Angie's place too, wink wink... Ang and I scrapped until the wee small hours had a few drinks and munched on fondue, talk about a decadent evening of laughter, food and the good ole company. I also discovered my 'Back to School' LO was the winner for the Feb Sketch Challenge at Scrap'n'Art, thank you soo much for the gorgeous Kit Ang, mwah.


Okay well here are the LO's I managed to get done this scrapping fantastic weekend, I was like a woman possessed!

Here's my digi design of my Sis In-law Leonie,

...and this is the traditional Layout, 

using the gorgeous Studio Calico papers and 

the Hambly woodgrain transparencies!

This one is the digi design of Osky our best buddy,

and again the traditional Layout of it!

Here's another page of Osky telling the 

story about him running away!

This one is dedicated to both my boys!

...and lastly one about Mr Dan, I was trying 

for a darkroom look with a deep black chalky background!

Thanks for having a snoop, hope you all had a wonderful weekend albeit all this gloomy weather up here in Qld! :)