The next great Ticklez kit

from Scrapz.biz features the lovely Prima Meadow Lark collection. Here's a look at what it contains...

For a full list of the contents click here. 

Or to go about getting your hands on this gorgeous kit, find out all the details here.

And we'd love it if you would join us in April for Baby Month. We're going to be having a new challenge every single day with some great prizes on offer. Layouts, cards, home decor, canvases, albums and more... all about those precious little babies in our lives. I can't wait!

All Smiles

I've still got quite a few Jenni Bowlin projects to share with you from my stint as a Guest DT there this month. What I loved most of all about the main Papercrafting kit is it's versatility to make either girl or boy layouts. So I put that theory to the test by scrapping this photo of my smiley nephew.

'Cos I'm naturally inclined to make sweety girly layouts about my gorgeous girls all the time. And there's plenty of the new Magpie papers that are perfectly suited to do that - just like the first page I made which I shared here.

But the bold graphic designs of some of these others were just made for more masculine pages. It was such a refreshing change for me to match grey with blue and red and kraft. The graph paper I used in the background then inspired me to make my own pie-chart. Mainly because I've been looking for an excuse to do just that :-)

And I like how it turned out. It doesn't have much relevance to the page I'll admit 'cos I didn't really label any of the pieces or explain what it represents. In fact, I was thinking of it more like a sun, that's why I went and misted in some 'sunrays'. And I had to laugh when The Man looked at the finished page and remarked that it looked more like a Powerpoint Presentation than a layout!!

But I'll still count it as a success. Here's to doing many more boy layouts in the future!

Supplies:

JBS Mini-Album Kit March 2012

JBS Papercrafting Kit March 2012

JBS Artisan Add-On March 2012

InLinkz.com

Fascinated...

I certainly wasn't surprised when I saw Moxie Fab World was doing a "Fascination with Feathers" challenge as I can see this is a real trend right now. I for one definitely love it, and instantly wanted to play along.

I know I only just recently shared a feathery card I made, and only wished I could have used it for this challenge as it's one of my recent favourites. But I took that same concept and used it to inspire some new cards instead.

Yes, I made these feathers from scratch! Just hand-drew a design I liked and glued some floral wire between two layers of them. It's simple enough that Munchy made her own along with me - it was some wonderful bonding mother and daughter scrapping time :-)

I then Glimmermisted to my hearts content (yes I think Glimmermisted should be a verb!) and smothered them in fine crystal glitter. The chipboard hearts are a cute touch, and it's mainly because I've got two more weddings coming up that I thought I could use these for so I had to add something a little more 'romantic' than feathers.

I only just realised I used my last feathery card for a wedding too. I wonder what it is about feathers that make me think they're appropriate wedding embellishments? Hhhhmmmmm....

And just to remind myself later of what Glimmermist colours I used, I took this photo too :-)
Key Lime Pie, Sapphire and Pink Taffy in case you're wondering!

I've been up all night

that's true!
Still on night duty for another week :-(
Maybe that's why I'm inclined to cover the background of this layout in stars despite the photo being taken on a bright summery day. Oh how I long for the sunshine again.

I've been following the Aussie Scrap Jack blog for the longest time, but I don't think I've ever participated before. Can you believe it? So much inspiration over there, so it's about time I changed that!!

I lifted the page by DT member Jeanenne which you can see here. I loved the title all down the right side, the layers of embellishments and the stitched square framing it all.

But I also took my inspiration from the very T-shirt Munchy is wearing in this photo which is covered in rows of houses..... et voila.. my street scene was created. Does it have anything to do with the journaling? No! Except that it's cute and whimsical much like my funny little girl.

This is what she said to me.... "Mummy, can you spend all night thinking about what clothes I can wear and how I can do my hair so that I can be the pretties girl in the world tomorrow when Harley comes over?" Harley is her favourite uncle whom she's desperate to impress :-)

Supplies: 

Studio Calico Daydream Believer kit February 2012	Studio Calico Stepping Stone Addon February 2012	Studio Calico Wood Vaneer Houses	Studio Calico Mister Huey Cameo
Crafters Workshop Punchinella	Crafters Workshop Mini Clouds stencil	Gesso

InLinkz.com

The Creative Type

It's been way too long since I last joined in with The Creative Type challenges, but I simply had to succumb to the magazine inspiration challenge they're currently running.

The magazine page I used for my inspiration actually came from the October Afternoon blog where they're having a similar challenge with a particular article. Now I would have killed two birds with one stone and entered the layout into both challenges..... except it totally slipped my mind to use any October Afternoon products. DUH!!

Probably because I grabbed my latest Studio Calico kit "Story Hour" which had pretty much everything I needed in it to whip up this layout about my nephew. So in fact, I've mainly used Crate Paper here...... with no complaints :-)

I even cut up the big shipping tag that came with my Studio Calico order and used it both as my photo mat, and as the giant M beside it. It's my nephew's initial so it makes perfect sense, and it makes quite a statement don't you think?

I'm so chuffed that even though I was making a boy page I still managed to incorporate quite a bit of pink, and flowers and keep it masculine. Here's the inspiration piece that I found on the OA blog. It's a page from the latest Madewell catalogue.

Calvinball points = 33.5

You're Beautiful

I told you recently how I had the revelation that to increase my card stash I should just make one with the scraps of the layout I've just finished making. Takes all the hard work out of making paper and embellishment choices from scratch. I've still been pretty slack in that area, but here's a card I made out of the remains of this layout I shared here.

I'm still in love with those Sassafras papers so lucky for me I've got quite the hoard to get through. But I think it's the fuzzy cloud from ScrAp This! that was the perfect finishing touch :-)

This card barely made it to my pile though..... I've already sent it off to a dear friend!

Calvinball points = 31

You Make Me Smile

My Munchy has such a big personality in her little body. She's loud and insistant and speaks her mind. She's bossy at times and sure can throw a tantrum! It's because she's so strong-willed and goes after exactly what she wants.
........I don't know where she gets that from ;-)

But she's also carrying a whole lot of love, and is overwhelmingly affectionate. She's not afraid to express that too. We sometimes have to remind her that not everyone wants to be hugged and kissed every time she sees them!!

When I spent my stint in the country last year the hospital also provided us with a cleaner that came once a week. She came for a couple of hours on a Thursday afternoon and Munchy struck up quite the friendship with her. All Munchy requires is someone who will talk to her really!!

But I guess I didn't quite realise how deep her affections run. When we were packing the moving van and saw our cleaner about to pay a visit to next door, Munchy quickly asked me if she could go and say goodbye to her. So off she ran whilst I watched from a distance. After a little chat she made to come back when she suddenly turned around and said "oh and there's one more thing......... I love you" and she flung her little arms around the knees of our cleaner and squeezed hard!

It sure did melt my heart.
A moment in time that I captured in the journaling on this page which I made with last year's Paper Moon kit from Studio Calico. I orignally thought this kit was too 'boyish' for me.... but it turns out I really enjoyed the bright primary colours here. It got a little painty and messy here, but much fun was had :-)

Calvinball points = 30

Look Above and Beyond

Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows that I'm a huge Michael and Janet Jackson fan. In my teens I was one of those crazy crying-screaming-fainting die-hard fanatics. These days I've got a little more self control, but there was still no way I was going to miss the Janet Jackson concert when she toured Australia late last year.

My darling husband went above and beyond though by combining it into my birthday celebrations and staying up late to purchase VIP tickets to her concert at the Sydney Opera House, staying in a 5-star hotel and flying first class. EEeekeeeekkkkkkK!!! That was worth a scream!

As it happened, the night of our concert was also the same day the verdict in the Michael Jackson manslaughter trial came in. So whilst she didn't make any obvious reference to it when she came to sing her song "Together Again" the screen behind her was filled with photos of them together. And you could see right in that moment what you sometimes overlook..... that she's just a normal person mourning the tragic loss of her brother.

So when I saw the journaling criteria of our new challenge over at Once Upon a Sketch was to finish the sentence "I miss......" I decided to do this page from Miss J's perspective.

And the sketch associated with the journal challenge continues to inspire. I have a hunch that beautiful Nadia will never run out of brilliant ideas!

I'm using some fabulous Imaginarium Designs chippies on my page - that awesome heart shape was just perfect for my "rock-star" theme don't you think? They continue to sponsor prizes on the OUAS blog, but we've also got a truck-load of other prizes too. You really must check out all the details on how to play along here.

Supplies:

Studio Calico Field Guide Kit October 2011	Studio Calico Perinnial Addon October 2011	Imaginarium Designs capital letters	Imaginarium Designs lower case
Imginarium Designs Two Hearts with Cross Flourish	Imaginarium Designs Clouds

InLinkz.com

Calvinball points: 28