Fabric things

If you follow my blog (or if you read down a few posts) you'll know that I made some pretty little blue flowers out of some organza ribbon that I didn't know what to do with. Well, I came up with something! All I did was buy a cheap plain t-shirt which just happened to match the colour of the flowers nicely (which was pure coincidence because I wasn't planning it), and I sewed them on. My husband now thinks I've gone to the next level of obsession if I'm "scrapping" clothes.



This shirt went to daughter No.1 for Christmas.

I also made a few other different flowers from more ribbon and other fabric scraps which I made into hair clips and headbands. But in the craziness of Christmas I forgot to take photos of them.
But I did keep one for myself. I made some lollipop satin flowers (from some old pj's which were otherwise going to get thrown out, but that's just our little secret ok?) and stuck them on a plain elastic headband.



I used some vintage buttons I bought from an op-shop for the centres. It's all about up-cycling for me at the moment.

Blogspiration

I don't know about you, but when I'm not scrapping up a storm myself I like nothing better than checking out what other people have been up to. I love sitting down at the computer with a cup of coffee and doing some blog hopping. I wanted to share with you what has been inspiring me of late.

1. DJ Pettitt
Does some amazing stuff with Photoshop. Like check this out for example:



She regularly posts the individual photos that she combines in Photoshop to make each masterpiece. And if you know nothing about Photoshop (or even if you only know a tiny amount, like me) but you own it and you want to know how to put it to good use like this, then sign up for an online class she's about to hold in early January. I've been hinting very strongly to my husband that this is what I would like for Christmas! See her blog for all the details.

2. Kreatorville Krafts
Keandra does some amazing stuff with scrapbook kits.



I just signed up for a subscription after debating to myself whether it was going to be worth it to have to pay all that extra for postage (since it's coming from America). But I made a deal with her that I only get it sent every 2 months so I only have to pay half as much for shipping. So yesterday I got my November and December kits together and they are amazing. I've never loved EVERYTHING in a kit before, but I do these! And the best thing about them? Keandra hand-makes a title and embellishment every month to include in the kit, and you get to choose what it is! You seriously have to go and check it out.

3. Alisa Burke
Does amazing stuff with just about everything!



In the last few weeks she's posted a tutorial on making felted hats, a ruffled shirt, recycled gift tags, felt cookies, toilet paper roll angels, push-pin Christmas trees, napkin rings, the list goes on........ But I especially love what she does with Claudine Hellmuth's sticky-back canvas (which is a lot!) She paints it, and cuts it, and stitches it, and then makes it into purses, or placemats, or wreaths....... I told you, everything! These have all been tutorials too. Very talented lady.

Well that should give you enough to do over the Christmas break if you're on the computer at all! Have a wonderful and joyous Christmas, and remember 'Jesus is the reason for the season'.

Stay Tuned

Because of questions I received and other reasons I plan on doing a couple of tutorials about some techniques I used in "Watch Me Grow" from the last post. Of course, we're about to hit Christmas so I imagine it won't happen before the New Year. So.... stay tuned!



I've also just got confirmation about a Guest Designer spot I'll be doing in January. More news on this soon.

First new baby LO

Despite our new bundle of joy being a month old now, this is the first layout I've scrapped with photos of her (other than ultrasound pictures).



No journaling on this one which is unusual for me, but as I've put some vintage book pages in the background as a gel transfer I didn't think I could add more writing on top of it. But this is obviously a photo taken when she was just a few minutes old.



I've added lots of texture and dimension to this layout, which never stands up well once placed into an album and squashed flat, so I thought I would capture a few photos of it now.



Have I told you that I really enjoy making my embellishments (and titles on occasion)? And I love making my pages out of actual scraps, that is, recycled/upcycled materials rather than always using all my brand-name papers. On this layout I've used some corrugated cardboard for the border strip with the stitching, and as the second layer of curly grass. I've used the back of a cereal box for the card to make the title and the stem of the flower, and I've used paper towel sprayed with glimmer mist for the flower itself.



I've tried to put lots of sparkle and shine in this by using many different colours of glimmer mists, and twinkling H2O's for the highlights and to colour the title. Add a splash of paint, rub-ons and some doodling and it's finished!

Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas

I've been following Tim Holtz on his blog as he presented his 12 tags of Christmas for the 3rd year running this year. This is the first time I've seen it, and I was so impressed! He taught a new technique every day and made some outstanding tags along the way. Of course, he uses all his own products, and while I have a few I certainly didn't have everything he used. So I followed along, making the tags as I had the time, taking from his inspiration but certainly not making them the same. (Trust me, even if I had all the products I would never be able to make the tags as good as Tim Holtz!)

So here's what Tim did:

And here's mine set out in the same order so you can compare, or really contrast.

 

Some I was happy with, some not so much! But I sure learnt a lot along the way, stuff that I'll be able to use over and over again. Some techniques that really stand out to me are:

1. Using Perfect Pearls mixed with water and then splashed over the page (Tag 2)
2. I hardly ever use glitter as it's not really my thing, but the Rock Candy Stickles really did add a whole new dimension to a lot of the tags.
3. Making a plaid background with ink and gloss cardstock (Tag 3). I didn't do this myself as I don't have the right ink applicator.
4. Using masks of your stamps (Tag 7)
5. Burning vellum! (Tag 8)
6. Embossing metal (Tag 10)

And so much more that he did with his products that I couldn't do like making metal roses, grungepaper flowers and lots of stuff with plain sheets of grungeboard. You really should check them all out, it's worth reading through the step-by-steps.

I'm a Dotty Diva!!

"Something amazing just happened" were the first words that came out of my mouth after I recovered from my stunned silence.
The other day I applied for a couple of Design Teams for the very first time, and as you may have guessed I was accepted for a position over at Dotty Divas!! You can see my profile here. I was so amazed and excited and I can't wait to get started for them. Dotty Divas is an Ad Challenge blog in the UK. Each month they post an ad for you to get inspiration from and then you just set about creating whatever your heart desires! It doesn't have to be a layout, but can be a card, ATC, OTP or anything (I've already seen that one of the other DT has some stunning wearable art for the January challenge). And of course, there are amazing prizes on offer as well. So come on over and check them (I guess I can now say 'us') out!



This is the current challenge inspiration and you've still got until December 20th to submit an entry. This months sponsor is Tando Creative and they have given us 10 yep 10 amazing packs of Chipboard to give away. We also have a fabulous Bazzill Card stock pack from Cardinal Colours which is just awesome. So to be in with a chance of winner this amazing prize, send your entry's to scrapmad@hotmail.co.uk

Let's Get Shabby for Christmas

I made a little creation for the Let's Get Shabby blog challenge. I have this house obsession at the moment, and if you have seen my post a couple of weeks ago you would have seen one set of vintage houses that I've made for Christmas already. But I also had this chipboard Melissa Francis Vintage Colonial House that just cried out for some decoration too!

So here's what I did with it:







The tree wasn't part of the kit. I added that myself to make it suit the Christmas theme (which is the challenge at Let's Get Shabby this month). I simply got a stick out of the garden and added leaves that I cut out of Tyvek with my Cuttlebug which I painted with some Shimmerz Blingz for some extra sparkle. I added that same paint to the German scrap border, and used it to highlight the silver swirls on the house but it's very hard to see either of these in the photo.

I also added the matchsticks to the fence to make it look more like a picket fence. And the 'snow' on the ground is some kind of packaging material that I found in my stash.

I'll be back soon with some exciting news to share.

Lilibee and Sass Lass, what could be better?

I'm just loving the stuff over at Lilibee Studios. She works with a lot of product from Sassafras Lass which is currently one of my favourite companies. I've just purchased a bunch of their papers, and it's always good to get some inspiration for amazing ways to use them. Lilibee Studios even has a free online video tutorial for making a mini album, plus a giveaway. Here's what she had to say...

HI!As promised the new Sassafras free Video tutorial is on line. Lilibeestudio Forum. It features sassafras Amplify collection and new clear stamps " Songwriters and Stitchery " . And you can win these two clear stamps i used in my project and generously offered by sassafras.

Just click here for all the information and for the video tutorial.

Sharing

Just wanting to share some fairly recent layouts that I haven't put up previously.
I like to 'try out' some different scrapping styles from time to time. I look at plenty of people's galleries whose style is all clean lines and simple elegance, and I think I really want some of my layouts to look like that. Occasionally I can achieve it, or get close to it anyway!
Like this one.



And here's even a double (which I very rarely do).



With a detail shot of the hand-folded flower, and folded paper underneath the ribbon.



But most of the time, even when I'm trying to do clean layouts, I can't help myself but want to add some paint, or doodling, or ink... and just grunge it up a bit. And most of the time they end up more like this!



Not really happy with how this one ended up, but I didn't know how to make it any better. I find that if I keep on trying to add things to make it better I only make it worse. And I think it's important to just play and experiment, and learn from your failures as well as your triumphs.



And lastly for today, here's a more recent LO I did from our 20 week ultrasound with Moriah. You can click on the image to enlarge it and you'll be able to read the journalling, but in a nutshell I wanted to record how it felt when something not-so-perfect was found at the ultrasound. And despite all my medical knowledge, when you're put in this situation you can't help but respond like a mother. So while my calm intellect told me that the chances of this being serious were quite small, the worry and anxiety surface nonetheless. I think it's good for doctors to be a patient once in a while so they can feel what it's like!

Blog Candy

Check out these cute little buttons you could win over at Easily Distracted. Shell has these for sale in her Etsy, plus a whole lot more, so it's worth the look. But if you leave a comment before the 8th you could be in the running to get one of these.



Also; check out LiliBee Studio for your chance to win this:



And lastly, there's a new challenge site starting up in the New Year at Fussy and Fancy Challenges. To celebrate, they are giving away this:

New baby, and new Christmas projects

Yes - the reason for my blogging absence has been because I gave birth to a beautiful little (not so much!) girl whom we called Moriah. She was born only hours after my last post actually! She is doing all the right things - sleeping and eating well, and stacking on the weight already.



Isn't she beautiful? (A mum's biased opinion)
But Bethany is absolutely smitten as well. She keeps wanting to hug her, and kiss her, and pat her, and poke her.......



The other good news is, because Moriah is such a placid baby whom rarely cries, and who I usually have to wake up to feed her, means that I can still get some scrapping done!

Of course, with Christmas coming up so rapidly there is so much focus on getting some festive projects finished.



I decorated this box with some old Basic Grey paper, and made the bow for the top following a tutorial I found on the web. It was pretty easy, really it's just gluing strips of paper together!



And I did up these cute little Scrapware houses with some old book pages, and Creative Memories Starry Night paper for the roofs. Decorate with a few embellishments, spray some Glimmer mist and your done! Or so you think. My husband found Bethany quietly pulling apart the little house on the right after I had finished. She couldn't explain why she was doing that. I have a hunch maybe it was a cry for attention since so much of my time is being taken up by the new baby. Luckily, all I needed to do was simply re-glue everything back down again as she was careful enough not to destroy the bits and pieces.



And with all the presents we've been getting lately comes a lot of wrapping paper and ribbon which is a shame not to reuse in some way. I made these flowers out of some organza ribbon. Just cut some rough circles, melt the edges with a candle and sew some seed beads in the middle which holds it all together. I don't have a project in mind for these yet, but I'm sure I can use them for something!

Well, it's feeding time (which is what my life is dictated by these days!) so must dash.
xxoo

Still waiting..

Well, my due date came and went without any excitement, but given that Bethany was 8 days overdue I wasn't overly surprised. It is, of course, allowing me to get a few more scrappy projects done while I sit and wait patiently.

Here's a LO I did for the monthly sketch challenge at Wicked Princesses.



I got my inspiration (and even step by step instructions!) from a tutorial by CD Muckosky on the American Creating Keepsakes blog called "One Hour Layouts". Now trust me when I say that this took me quite a while longer than just one hour! But I guess that's why CD Muckosky won 'Scrapbooker of the Year' in 2006 and I just do what I do! But I was happy with the end result.

I also finished the "All About Me" challenge at Scrapbook Savvy, which must be the first time I've really scrapped just about me.



I had this idea that I wanted to make the LO very plain and practical (just as I see myself) and entirely out of recycled materials and left-overs. So I used a brown paper bag that once packaged some scrapbook supplies from my LSS as the background and the spots under the numbers, and literally just used scraps for the rest of it. I think the only brand name on this layout would be the AC Thickers I used as the title / numbers, and the Carolee Creations Alphas. Even the rhinestones on the butterfly aren't from my large hoard of Kaisercraft bling!

Otherwise, I'm trying to get a little ahead on Christmas projects. I'm wanting to make some table decorations, and ornaments, and cards, and ...... I know I'll be lucky if any of this gets done!

Another Winner

I was very pleased and surprised to find I had won another challenge this week. This time over at White With 1. The challenge was to create a LO using white, duck-egg blue and distressing. This is what I came up with.




And managed to score myself a $20 voucher at Scrapbook Savvy (which is one of my regular hang-outs anyway!). Needless to say, I've already spent that money, as I have a long list of 'things I would like to purchase'!
The challenge this month is another goody; a LO with white, apricot, and the word 'perfect' in the title. I am currently designing something in my head which will hopefully make it to paper. However, as I am only 2 days away from my official due-date for my second child I can't really anticipate what will happen from here on in!

I did get my ARTastic challenge done today though. Here it is:



And my From Screen 2 Scrap challenge:




And just for good measure here's a couple more layouts just for fun.




and



Until next time (whenever that might be.......)

Some recent LO's

Firstly I really should show you the creation that won the October challenge over at ARTastic. Each month they post a painting from which you take your inspiration to create your own layout. October's masterpiece was Van Gogh's 'Starry Night'. I loved the night sky in this painting and wanted to create my own version, so I put together a nativity scene (a different kind of 'starry night'). It's actually made onto a round slab of wood that I picked up at an op-shop (originally intended as a cheeseboard I think!), with a handle that you can hang it from. I was thinking it could be used on your front door or something similar at Christmas time.

I must say, I was very surprised and honoured to actually win, given that I wasn't altogether happy with how it turned out, and there were so many other beautiful entries. But here it is.


Secondly, this is something I made for the October challenge at From Screen 2 Scrap. The criteria included: a group photo, a yellow/gold title, and be inspired by the poster for the movie “A Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian" using either an element from the poster itself, or be inspired by one of the figures in the poster. I decided to take the character of Pokahontas and create a 'native American' inspired layout. I thought it should have lots of rough textures and neutral colours so this is what I came up with.

The photo is of me with my brother and sister. This layout was also lucky enough to score me a prize of a RAK picked by one of their DT.

And lastly for today, here's another recent layout I made along similar lines to the one above. I loved this photo I took of my beautiful daughter Bethany so much that I included the same photo 3 times!

Will be back shortly with some more.

Hello www

So I decided to start a blog.
My husband thinks it's just a passing phase. I guess we'll see about that.
Since starting maternity leave, it seems I've spent a lot of time browsing through other people's blogs that it only seemed reasonable that I would eventually have the idea to create my own.
I've been inspired by many wonderfully artistic people out there in the papercraft world that hopefully in time I can give a little bit back.
And the final straw that broke the blogger's back was that I was lucky enough to win my first scrapper's challenge over at ARTastic. That's the other thing I've been doing since going on leave - is finally finding the time to enter some challenges. So I'll be showing you some of those entries very soon. Stay tuned.