Who's got Happy Feet?

The March challenge has just been issued at From Screen 2 Scrap and I'm super excited because this is the first month I get to participate as a Design Team member! I've joined in the challenges in the past and so was stoked when Shazza invited me onto the team of talented ladies, I must have taken a whole 2 seconds to make up my mind to join!

So for March you need to take your inspiration from the movie poster for Happy Feet.



Added Criteria for a maximum of 6 points

1. A penguin on the page somewhere = 1pt
2. Must have the word 'Feet' in the title = 2 pts
3. White and Blue to be the dominant colors used = 3pts
You can use other colors but want to see mainly white and shades of blue :)

It is entirely up to you if you want to use the added criteria....but it does give you the extra bonus points.

This is my layout I created for the challenge, meeting all the additional criteria too which I first thought I wouldn't be able to, then it all came together fairly easily.



And a little detail for you.



I've gone a little hybrid on this one, taking all those swirls and snowflakes from a super cute digital kit designed by CD Muckosky which I purchased at Little Dreamer Designs. You can see more of these kits here, they are so fun and cheap too! I simply opened a few of the images in Word (thanks May Flaum for teaching me this trick), sized them up differently, flipped and rotated a few so they didn't all look the same and then just printed them off. Cut them out and voila - instant embellishments! I added a little dimensional magic and glass glitter and rhinestones to bling them up a bit.



As for the penguins - I printed off some pictures of penguins which I found by doing a Google search, cut around them carefully and used them as masks for my Glimmermist. Then traced around them for a bit more definition.



I made some customised masking tape by drawing some stars on it with a sharpie and then colouring them in with some water soluble oil pastels. Took my inspiration for this from CD Muckosky too - have I mentioned how much I love her stuff? The answer is ssooooo much!
The title is just hand drawn and then painted with water pencils, and highlighted with some white gel pen.

It would be absolutely awesome if you could join us at From Screen 2 Scrap for this months challenge - it's always lovely to have new people joining in, and there's a bunch of prizes up for grabs. Don't forget to mention to Shazza that I referred you!

HUGE giveaway right here

(Please note: This competition will remain at the top of my blog until it has finished. Please scroll down for newer posts)



Alright, here it is. The giveaway you've been waiting for!!

The wonderful and generous people at Buyster lighting have offered to give one of my lucky blog readers the chance to win a massive $70 gift voucher to their online store!!


When they first approached me and said they thought their product and my blog would be the perfect match I must admit I thought to myself "really? lights?" But then I realised they were right! For one, what do artsy crafty people like doing other than artsy crafty stuff? They like to make sure their environment is pretty too! How many of you are into home decoration as well? So how would you like to own something like this:


(This is my favourite - and it comes in a few different styles, and in heaps of colours!)

Or this


Or put it towards this stunning Tiffany lamp


Or be entirely practical and get something like this:


In fact, Buyster have over 3000 lights and lamps to choose from, all for great prices. And sales on all the time.


So what do you have to do to win?

1. Leave a comment on this post telling me what you would spend your $70 on. That will earn you one entry.
(Please note, the voucher is only available for Australian residents, as Buyster cannot ship overseas.) If you live overseas leave a comment here telling me where you live and who your favourite scrapping manufacturer is, or what your favourite product is and if your name gets drawn first, I'll send you a mystery RAK instead. Then I'll draw an Australian winner for the voucher.


2. Become a follower of my blog. This will earn you another entry.


3. Post about this giveaway on your blog. For everytime you mention this giveaway with a link here you will earn one more entry. That means if you post everyday on your blog about this giveaway between now and the 28th then you will earn 14 entries!



Please leave a separate comment for every entry you have earned. This competition will end on the 28th February, and I'll draw a random winner on the 1st of March.

ETA - I've heard that some of you haven't been able to leave comments for whatever reason. If that is the case, simply email me your entries instead and I'll still pop your name into the draw.

Have you heard

That Prima has a big secret? Sounds intriguing doesn't it?

In other news I've been trying to keep up with the second 'one week one project' over at lilibee but I'm already two days behind! Over the past few months she has had a couple of blog candy winners who never came forward to claim their prize (how sad for them). With the good news for us being that she's giving them away again. Here's what you can win.




Only two days to go in my own giveaway - better get in quick!

Look what I got!

Yep, my very own i-top by Imaginisce!

I picked this up for a steal at my local scrapbook store (The Scrapbook Scene) because sadly they are closing down. But, what's the only good thing about a scrapbook store closing down? The massive sale they have at the end of it! If you're quick, very very quick you may still be able to catch yourself a bargain if you live in Melbourne.

So I've been playing with it to make some lovely coordinated brads for the layout I worked on today. It's so easy and convenient to be able to simply use some scraps of paper to make a matching embellishment. No more searching around to find something that will make do - this ensures a perfect fit every time.

Anyway, I realise I'm beginning to sound a bit like an ad. But you'll be able to see the results of my experimenting on loads of projects in the future I'm sure. And yes, I've got it ready to go for my next Flowers on Friday which I will be preparing way in advance this time!

PS. The photo was taken in Photo Booth and you can just catch some peaks of my scrap area behind me. Underneath that mess is my desk, but I prefer to think of it as creative chaos!

Flowers on Friday

So I'm totally going to cheat today on my Flowers on Friday. I know, I know, I can hear you saying, but it's only week 3 and already she's run out of ideas?! No, not at all. In fact I've got so many sometimes it's hard just to work out what order to show them in. But the problem is unfortunately it takes time to put it together with photos and explanations. Something which I still have grand plans on doing today so watch out later today for a real Flowers on Friday.

But in the meantime, Cosmo Cricket posted this on their blog today which included this video tutorial to make these cute box flowers. And you all know I absolutely ADORE Cosmo Cricket, so I urge you to go to their blog for some major inspiration, but in the meantime you can watch this.

I have been creating

I promise!
I'm currently working on my upcoming DT commitments so I can't show you the whole pages yet, but I can show you some peaks, and some work in progress.









Intrigued?
All will be revealed soon.

In the meantime, don't forget there is only a few more days to enter the giant Buyster giveaway at the top of my blog!

Prima Product Picks

Go to Prima's blog for your chance to win some prizes. And check out all the awesome inspiration there while you're at it.

Blog Candy Galore (New one added today 24th)

Check this one out here


Win this one here.


Win this one here.


Win this one here.


Win this one here.

And don't forget to enter my own HUGE giveaway posted at the top of my blog. You only need to comment to win. No other requirements!

What would you like to see?

It's been pretty crazy for me even though it's the weekend. Hubby was working all day and we had a kiddy birthday to go to. It was hot, it was windy, it was sandy! I had a cranky baby that required constant cuddling, and a 3 year old that doesn't deal well with crowds. What she is good at though is asking the nice helpful adults around her to pretty please help her get another cupcake, or more juice, or lollies. And everyone feels sorry for her, cos her Mummy obviously has her hands full and can't help. I lost count of how much sugar she consumed. So it lead to some fun adventures this afternoon when we got back home.
Firstly, she knows how to pick her moments. She ALWAYS gets up to mischief when I'm breastfeeding and she knows I can't see what she's doing for a while. Firstly, she decided to make a bath for Elmo by plugging up the sink with toilet paper and turning on the taps. She flooded the bathroom. Then during another feed she decided to play dress-ups with all of her old baby clothes that are all packed in boxes in her closet. She must have tipped out at least 6 boxes of clothes all over her floor. Oh fun times!

Anyway, since I'm not posting any photos (does it sound like I've had time to create today?!!) I thought I would ask you, my lovely and loyal blog readers what you would like to see in the future so I can try and cater to that.
More techniques or tutorials? Of what?
Photos of day to day stuff like cute kids?
More posts about funny family things? Less?
More blogspiration? (Sharing links of blogs that inspire me)
Anything else you would like to see?
Any questions?

Flowers on Friday

Today we're going to make this cute vase of flowers that was featured in the Christmas edition of Better Homes and Gardens. I've taken that project and put my own spin on it.

First, a disclaimer. I put this together while I was away from home, so I didn't have all my materials, nor did I have good places to take proper photos. But you'll get the idea of it all, and then I'm sure you'll be able to complete this project with the love and care it deserves!



1. For this you'll need some scraps of paper (each flower only uses 10 x 10.5cm of paper, or approximately 4 x 4.5inches). Scissors, glue, and a stem for the flowers. I used these wooden skewers, but you could just use dry twigs from the garden, or wire.



2. Cut one strip of paper 10cm x 3.5cm, and 4 strips of paper measuring 5cm x 3.5cm. The long strip will become our bud, and the smaller strips will become petals. You can cut more pieces if you would like more petals for a fuller flower.



3. Round off the bottom corners of the long strip, and the opposite corners of the smaller strips. There's no need to be too exact when doing this - I just free cut them.



(Yes, I changed paper for these photos - I got so carried away making the first flower I forgot to take photos of all the steps!)

4. Curl each petal longways by rolling it around a pen. Curl the bud into a cone (with the rounded edge down so that it becomes the pointy end of the cone) and glue it together.



5. Glue each petal around the bud in a pleasing arrangement. Then attach your stem (I simply slipped my wooden skewer through the bottom of it and glued it in place). If you were using wire you could just wrap it around the bottom of the flower.



6. Finishing touches - make a few of them and arrange in a 'vase'. If you haven't guessed already, what I actually used for this project was an old (and finished) scented room diffuser. You know the kind where it comes with a little container of liquid fragrance and you stick the wooden skewers in it to diffuse the scent throughout the room? You would otherwise just throw it away once it had dried up, so this is a great way to recycle. Plus I figured if there was any scent left in it then it was quite fitting to turn it into a vase of flowers that still smelled nice!

What I would probably also do if I was making this at home - would be to wrap some ribbon at the bottom end of the flowers where they attach to the stem to hide that slightly ugly bit. And you could paint your stems or attach leaves. Wherever your imagination takes you.

Hope you enjoyed this one! Let me know if you end up making this - I would love to see your finished projects.

I've been bitten

by the banner bug.



I have to be honest, when I first noticed the trend for putting banners on layouts and other projects I didn't really find it appealing. But now......

I can't stop making them!

I like to mix it up a little though, and try not to do the same old thing.



There are so many ways to incorporate banners into your projects. I've done them in lots of different shapes and styles. You can just pop in a few little flags, or go crazy like I have on this layout and make it the main focus!



Still loving the Sassafras Lass. Oh, and if you go over to A Million Memories, they're having a banner competition at the moment. It's actually almost over so you may have missed the boat, but if you look through the gallery you're sure to get some major inspiration!

PS. Don't forget to enter the HUGE giveaway which you can see on top of my blog

I'm away from home

at the moment, so I don't have much access to the internet, but I can quickly share this layout with you.



I have this idea that I'm going to be super organised this year and each month I'm going to dedicate one layout to each of my daughters documenting their growth and development, and the the things they get up to. So each month I'm taking a photo of them in approximately the same pose which I'll use on their page so at the end of the year it will be easy to see the ways in which they have grown. This will be especially relevant for my baby of course.



So this is the first one for No. 2 girl. I have managed to finish off my layout for No. 1 girl as well, but I'll have to share that at a later date. All this fussy cutting flowers and lace and ribbon is so girly, which I don't do a lot of so it's good to stretch out of my comfort zone every now and then.

January - check! Just have to make sure I keep up for the rest of the year, (we all know how our good intentions for things like this get diluted over time). To help with my motivation I bought an album which will be dedicated to these layouts, and I've already labelled it so now I'll have to make sure I fill it up!

In Full Bloom (Win Stuff here!)

This post will stay at the top until the challenge is over. Scroll down for newer posts.

It's time for Ad Challenge #7 at Dotty Divas and the ad for your inspiration is a goody.



If you've played along at Dotty Divas before you'll know that they used to post a new ad every month. Now we're going fortnightly. Yes, that's right - that going to be 2 challenges every month! Yay! Twice the fun, twice the adventure, twice the challenge, (twice the prizes!!)
The Design Team have been split up into two groups, and I'm in group 1. That means the first challenge of the month gets posted on the 1st and you have until the 14th to get your entries in, and I'll have my own layout to inspire you. Then a second challenge will get posted on the 15th and you have until the end of the month to complete it. I'm not obligated to do this challenge, but I'm sure I'll still be playing along for the thrill of it.

The prize for Ad Challenge #7 is a RAK of goodness donated by yours truly, full of some beautiful products from Prima, American Crafts, Jenni Bowlin Studios, Heidi Swapp, Kaisercraft and more. I also happen to know that there might be some bonus add-ons to this prize if you play along and mention to Katy when you send in your entry that you heard about the challenge on my blog.



So do send in your entry's, they can be anything, a card, altered project, anything goes as long as you take inspiration from the Ad that's all we ask.

For this challenge I was inspired by the colours of the ad, the field in the background and the title. So I created this....



I thought the field had a bit of a "patchwork" vibe to it, so I wanted to recreate that with my patches of paper behind the photo. And I loved the colours in the Ad and wanted to keep a similar colour scheme. I've used lots of products from my November kit from Kreatorville Krafts with a few extras. Like those buttons I've used for the 'O' in Bloom - they're genuine vintage buttons, or at least that's what I assume when I buy them from an op-shop! I've used the title "you're always in full bloom" to refer to my daughter's crazy hair. She's never had a hair cut and most of the time she refuses to let us do anything with it. She doesn't mind it being in her eyes (I do - it drives me crazy!) and being all wild and wooly. She calls it her "fluffy McDuffy" hair. I'm not sure where that came from or what it means, but when she says she wants her fluffy McDuffy hair it means I can't brush it or tie it up. Frustrating!

Anyway, I can't wait to see what you come up with. Leave a comment here if you plan on playing along. I'll add another prize to the RAK for everyone who does. Spread the word, put it up on your blog and link it back here, refer friends, whatever it takes. I've got a tonne of stuff I can give away! You've got until February 14th to email your entries to Katy at scrapmad@hotmail.co.uk

watch out!

Because coming soon (ie. tomorrow!) there is going to be a giveaway that you will not want to miss.

It is going to be MASSIVE.

Something with over $69 in value. That's right - it's worth $70!!

So come back soon because in less than 24hours I'm going to light up your world.

A bit artsy

Got a bit artsy for this latest challenge at The Creative Type. Prompt #25 was to incorporate type into your embellishments. I do this a bit anyway so I wanted to do something a little different than I've done before (I've done the flowers made from book paper a number of times - very effective. Might have to think about showing you one or two for a Flowers on Friday).

So what I did instead was to cover some chipboard hearts in book paper, then apply a small rub-on, ink around the edges and then cover it with a thick layer of dimensional magic. I did the same thing with just a circle of chipboard, and then poked holes in it to create my own button.
These embellishments became the basis for my layout.



Then I went to town a bit (too much) with the gesso, and paint and masking and misting. Had a lot of fun though.



There's actually journaling there above the date label, and although you can see it a bit better in real life, it's still pretty dark and hard to read. I probably should have done it in white pen instead to make it more obvious, but then it would perhaps look a little funny on the overall layout.



I got this fabulous printed tape recently in a few different patterns. I love how I was able to use it to stick the photo and hearts down with, and although they got a bit covered in the paint I was able to just wipe it off, and you can then see the original patterned paper underneath.

Flowers on Friday

Introducing............. drumroll please ............... "Flowers on Friday" !

I love making my own embellishments, not sure if you've noticed that. I love actually 'creating' something, rather than just sticking down paper in pleasing arrangements. Don't get me wrong, I certainly enjoy that side of scrapbooking too and there's certainly a skill in being able to choose complimentary papers. I'm not sure I'm very good at that, which is perhaps why I think if I can take the focus away from the papers and onto some pretty handmade embellishment I will feel more relieved! But for me, there's nothing like creating something beautiful out of something a bit ordinary. And making flowers is one easy way of doing that. These days there are SoOOoooo many different techniques for making flowery embellishments that I thought I would start a compilation of tutorials running you through some of the ones I make.



So today we start off with a very simple flower that I used on my layout "heart flutter". It's a kind of frayed shabby fabric flower. For this you'll need some pretty fabric, you won't need very much. I used a scrap which measured about 12x5 inches and I made 5 flowers, and had almost half of it left over at the end. Obviously it depends on how big you want to make your flowers. Some pearls or beads to make the centres, and a needle and thread.



Tear your fabric into thin strips. You could cut it if you prefer more perfect lines, but I find it's also just easier to tear it.



Then cut your strips into pieces, approximately 2 inches long. You don't need to be too precise about this, because they'll get trimmed at the end. I generally use 12 pieces to make one flower, but you could use more or less depending on the look you're after.



Arrange 4 pieces in a star formation. Just lay them down, you could sew them together at this stage if you're keen. Do this 3 times.



Then pile them up on top of each other.



Now you can sew the whole lot together. I try and bunch them up a little by pinching the centre together and sewing through it a bit randomly. I don't mind if my flower isn't looking too perfect.



And sew on your pearl into the centre. What I used for this (here's a good tip) is an old pearl necklace I bought at an op-shop. I simply cut it up and slipped all the pearls off it. You obviously don't have to use pearls for this, any beads will do. Or use a button, or brad or pieces of paper.



Now, you can either leave it leave it like this, or you can start trimming the layers like I've done below. Make the layer closest to the centre the shortest, and work your way out. The reason I do this at the end rather than having different lengths of material at the start is because they'll always move around a bit when you're sewing them together. So I prefer to see which bits I need to trim at which lengths once it's all stable at the end. And don't forget to fray the cut edges again if you like that look.



So there you go. Make a few of them in different sizes and layer them up on your layout. This technique obviously has so many other applications. You can mix and match your fabric, make it with paper instead of fabric. Use other centres like I said above. Anything!



So what I plan to do, and the reason I've called it "Flowers on Friday" is because I hope to do a series of different flowers and present them to you on a Friday. Now I certainly can't promise you it will be every Friday, that will depend on time mainly because I won't run out of ideas for tutorials any time soon. Any feedback you've got would be much appreciated. Do you like this idea? How can I do it better? Is there anything in particular you would like to see? I'm sure there will be great improvements as I go along. Thanks for sticking with me!