The Story of My Ghostbusters Tee

This post can be viewed in it's original location on the Polly! Scrap Kits blog here. 
Thanks so much Kayla and Amanda for having me as your Guest Designer. It was such a blast!!

Hello again Polly! fans :-) It's Natalie back one last time (sob, sniff) to share the latest layout I made with the gorgeous Candy Dreams Polly Kit.

Whilst the kit in general was quite brightly coloured (you only have to look back at the other layouts created to see that) there were a few bits and pieces that were a little more toned down, and by focusing on them I've created a page that has an altogether different theme to it!

I started with the Amy Tangerine kraft paper as my background and then picked out the other woodgrain elements from the kit to match with it. That included the gorgeous Thickers of course, but also the wooden tags, toothpick flags and the Fancy Pants chevron paper.

Of course a colour scheme would be rather boring if it were just kraft and woodgrain, so I paired it with all the teal and blue tones, and used red as my highlight colour. I just so happened to have a photo that matched this exact colour scheme - a selphie I took in the bathroom mirror after I discovered an old favourite childhood T-shirt of mine and was checking to see if it still fit. The good news is... it did!! Albeit rather tightly ;-)

It's been an absolute blast working with the Polly! kit this month, and I hope you've enjoyed my little insights into how I create. Thanks so much for having me along for the journey Kayla. I can't wait to see what's coming up next!

xx

The Story of Being Adventurous

I recently shared how stoked I was to win two fabulous "Give a Girl A...." stamp sets and how they made me reach for my stash straight away! Love it when products inspire you like that! I instantly set about making a card which I shared here, but then one thing led to another and I found myself whipping up this matching layout too :-)

Normally for me it's the other way around. I'll sometimes make a card with the scraps of my layout supplies. But this time it was the card which then sparked a whole layout. I stuck with the same ideas of layered papers, some glitter and bling and a little wood veneer. The feathers had to make another appearance too of course!

I'm having so much fun adding stamped details to my layouts lately, and these GAGA sets were perfect for my recent holiday snaps. The thing I love most is the variation of different fonts and fabulous typography that the stamps add. I certainly do "Likie A Lot"!!

I printed the main quote straight onto my photo using the app 'Phoster'. The quote reads, "Live in the sunshine. Swim the sea. Drink the wild air." I just adore it! Whilst I'd never encourage my girls to go crazy, I do like the idea that they should experience life and go on lots of adventures (with plenty of guidance and firm boundaries of course!)

I've still got more beach photos to scrap. Hope you're not sick of them yet?!
xxx



Stamp Supplies:
 

Give a Girl A... Favourite Stamp Set Give a Girl A... Today Stamp Set

InLinkz.com

The Story of Paradise Found *Video Tutorial*

This post was first shared on the Polly! Blog earlier in the month as part of my Guest Designer stint with them. You can see it in it's full context here.

Hello again! It's Natalie back with you to reveal a little more about my scrapping process. This time I thought I would share pretty much exactly what I do by videoing my page in progress.

The layout I'm creating in the video is called "Paradise Found" and features this picture-perfect photo I took on my recent Queensland holiday. Being a tropical pool-side holiday snap I knew I needed my layout design to be light and airy and brightly coloured. Focusing on the yellow, pink and teal in the kit was definitely the way to go.

Working on a base of cream cardstock (not included in the kit) I built up some background layers with gesso and spray mist. You'll have to watch the video to see exactly how I did this. It's probably not the first technique that comes to mind when I use the words gesso and spray mist. In all honestly, I hardly ever actually spray my mists at all!

After a few paper layers (including a layer created by tearing out a piece of the brown bag that the embellishments come in) I created even more depth in my background by punching some stars and backing it with the red Dear Lizzy paper. I'd like to say I was inspired by the star paper in the kit but I think it's actually that I'm quite star-obsessed at the moment. Ha! You'll even notice that the jacket I'm wearing in the video is starry!

Things you might also notice in the video (not that I want to ruin all the surprises)... this is real life scrapping in progress. I lay down embellishments, and then change their position, then contemplate further and shift them back again. I test out paper colours and then swap them at the last minute. And in the interest of full disclosure, if you're really observant you'll also notice that I made this layout is such a sleep-deprived state after my night shifts that I haven't even done my hair! Whhoooooppsss...... I didn't think that you'd ever see my head in the video... but you do!


I'll be back later on with one more Polly! layout to share. I think I've probably saved the best for last ;-)

The Story of Feather Weather

I was recently super lucky enough to win not one but two stamp sets from the amazing Kellie Winnell from "Give a Girl A...." and they quickly arrived in my mailbox this week. I set to work almost straight away creating this card.

I gained ready inspiration from the Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World. The colour scheme, feathers and bling really struck my imagination. And the crisp graphic stamps were the perfect contrasting touch.

In fact, I was so inspired by the products on the card that it triggered a layout! Normally it's the other way around for me, occasionally once I'm done with a layout I'll use the scraps for a card. I'll be back real soon to share my page, and you'll be able to instantly see the similarities.



Stamp Supplies:
 

Give a Girl A... Favourite Stamp Set Give a Girl A... Today Stamp Set

InLinkz.com

The Story of 3 for 3

There's no doubting that I'm not always the world's best mum. My family often pays the price for my career. The Man came into this arrangement willingly, but the kids didn't have a choice. And whilst I try my absolute hardest to make sure they never lack attention, it's simply not possible to spend 100% of my time with them.

I miss out on things naturally. Award ceremonies at school, taking them to friend's houses, dinner-time conversation, putting them to bed, milestones and new words (and those are only things I've missed out on this week). I overhear Munchy saying "I hope God doesn't ask me to be a doctor when I grow up because it's too much hard work", and I overhear Moodles praying "Please God let Mummy stay at home all day tomorrow." It's heartbreaking stuff.

But there are some things which will never be sacrificed. Birthdays of course are always a time for family celebration. A time for parties and lollies and gifts and cake and laughter and fun. Neither set of the kid's grandparents live in Melbourne with us, so an extended family gathering requires travel from at least some of us. On the occasion of Moodle's 3rd birthday we celebrated in stages. She ended up with a party here at home with us, then at The Man's parent's house, and thirdly at my parent's house too.

So sometimes I guess I allow some over-compensation! She had an absolute ball at each and every occasion. I don't mind that they spoil her rotten! 3 parties means an aweful lot of gifts, not to mention candles and cake but she didn't complain one bit ;-) She's growing pretty fast which is scary... and starting to talk about wanting a baby sister which is even scarier!

The inspiration behind this numbers page came from the current challenge at Pages of My Book. Check out the blog post and challenge details here. And thanks for listening to me blog.

xxx

The Story of the Winter Ball

This post first appeared on the Polly! blog earlier in the month. I was so honoured to be a Guest Designer there for the April/May kit. Here's what the kit looked like....

And here's what I created.....

I just adore the products in this month's kit. For a start, any kit that's called Candy Dreams just has to be filled with yumminess doesn't it?! And it didn't disappoint. I started my first layout with a teal, sky blue, hot pink and black colour scheme in mind because I knew it would match perfectly with this photo of me and my girls at last years Winter Ball.

When I crack open a kit I usually look for which patterned papers are subtle enough to be used as a background and I automatically fell upon the b-side of the Dear Lizzy red polka dot paper which has a light blue notepaper design. But I certainly couldn't deny the Fancy Pants star paper a feature too so I worked with both of them as the basis for this page. The only thing I've added to my background that's not from the kit is the pink cardstock edging.

I've found that working with a colour scheme helps me decide which products to focus on from the kit, and also prompts me to get a little creative. For example, once I decided on this colour scheme I knew the Woodgrain Thickers just wouldn't have the impact I was after for my title. So instead I handcut the letters out of the thick Glitter Ribbon from American Crafts. I quite like the 'imperfect' look of them.

Moving onto my embellishments now. I really wanted to make the most out of the amazing teal Corrugated Card by Amy Tangerine and had to spread it out amongst my 3 layouts. Here I've cut it into banners for a fun textural embellishment, and for continuity I also used it as my photo mat.

I always like to add journaling to my layouts and for this page I typed it out onto the Fancy Pants chevron paper and cut it into strips before sewing it down. I finished off my layout with a little bit of stamping, scattered some handcut stars and popped on one of the Basic Grey flags with foam tape.

So that's my first layout. Can't wait to share what else I've done with this kit with you too.
You can see my sneaks on Instagram if you follow me there (user name: natalieelph) ;-)

PS. This fabulously candid photo was taken by my friend and fellow creative Lisa from Loysh Photography. If you're in the Melbourne area and need some family, celebration or portrait shots taken then I highly recommend her. 

The Story of the Missing Starfish

Two exciting things happened this month (or late last month) and I couldn't wait any longer to share my version of events with you. These things aren't secrets, and they're not really things that happened to me... well... maybe they are kind of.

Firstly, Evalicious released a brand new collection! It's called Escape and it was designed as a travel line, but is just as versatile to be used for everyday events too. But given I just got back from a tropical holiday and I have 1000 beach photos to scrap I'm choosing to use them for their original purpose.

The second thing that happened is a new challenge blog has hit the streets. Yep! You know I'm always up for a good challenge. Scrap Around the World has got me suckered in already people!! Especially as their sketch called for 3 photos and as I just mentioned.... I've got a lot of them to get onto layouts.

The colour scheme got me too. It's not a colour challenge as such, but I have to admit that the thought of teal, brown and white with a splash of pink really appealed to me. Not the first thing I think of for beach photos but ultimately I think it really worked.

The story of the page is this: 2 years ago we went on holiday to the exact same beach destination. One of Munchy's fondest memories from that trip was the discovery of a multitude of starfish washed up on the beach. They were in the rock-pools and the little puddles in the sand. Our return visit last month wasn't planned for more than 4 days beforehand. We were blessed with a gift of accomodation that was too good to refuse (that's a whole different story!) She's got a memory like an elephant my little girl, and the thing she wanted to do most of all was go hunting for starfish. Unfortunately there were none to be found on this occasion. Which is probably for the best if you're a starfish.

So I had a tonne of fun playing with my new Evalicious stash on such a fun challenge. I can't wait to see what's coming up next month :-)



Supplies:
 

Evalicious Escape Large Tags Evalicious Badge Buttons: Escape V1 Evalicious Escape Miscellany Tags Evalicious Escape Snipsnip Labels Evalicious Stamps: Hello Photo Set Evalicious Stamps: Cloud Outline

InLinkz.com