True Happiness

Well, it's official.... the first day of Spring!! YAY! And I even managed to get a lunch break and go outside in the sunshine today which was just delightful. The warmth of the sun shining down on me makes me happy :-) Yes it's true, I'm feeling very sentimental and cliched right now! I'll tell you why.

It's because the first day of Spring also marks a more sombre occasion as it means my DT term with Handmade by Suzanne has unfortunately come to an end. Quite a number of the team are leaving, and I tell you with honesty that I'll miss working alongside all these fabulously talented girls. I wish them all the very best success in whatever they choose to do next.
Because where one door closes.......... ;-)

I cannot thank Suzanne enough for the wonderful opportunities she has given me this past year. It has been such a joy and privilege to be part of this crazy successful venture of hers from the very beginning. I have grown so much as a crafter/artist, developed further my own 'style', worked with collections I never would have chosen for myself but have fallen in love with and made some of my most favourite layouts and cards (not to mention I've picked up some fabulous bargains from the shop!!) That's due in a large part because of the unceasing support, encouragement and friendships that I've made along the journey.

So I made this card as my very last DT project to celebrate my time there. It's created with Authentique's Blissful collection paper and stickers and features a fabulous Manor House Creations Whitsundays bloom. The sentiment reflects what comes to my mind when I think about this past year with HBS...... "True Happiness"
:-)

The Great Commissioning

We've got some friends who are organising their long-awaited wedding in a couple of months time. It's a second marriage for one of the pair and they're a little bit older and wiser now, so they aren't planning on doing the whole big formal traditional wedding thing.

But imagine my surprise, and Munchy's delight when they asked her if she could do a drawing to include on their wedding invitation! They didn't have any strict guidelines or direction about the subject matter, they just let her be free to draw whatever makes her happy as she thought about them. How exciting!!

I told Munchy she is now a commissioned artist, and this is her first piece of real artwork!
To mark this event I really wanted to scrap this photo..... I think it captures the essence of the brooding artist within her :-)

I mixed and matched a couple of products here.
The base cardstock in the delightful Core'dinations Cosmo Cricket woodgrain in coconut cream. It really is as yummy as it sounds! All the papers, alphas and label stickers are from the Authentique Blissful collection - I just adore the grey and yellow combination.... but you've probably noticed that by now! The Sassafras Sunshine Broadcast foldies gave it just a touch of pink to warm it up a little :-)

I'm totally digging the hand-cut title trend that seems to be going around lately. And at the time I did this layout I hadn't yet unpacked my Silhouette, so it was the perfect motivation to go the old-fashioned route of my trusty craft knife :-)

 

And for those of you who have asked to see what she drew.... this is it. Hopefully you are able to tell that this is the happy bride and groom getting married underneath a rainbow. The bride has her flowers in one hand and the ring in the other.  Happy days!

Chubby bubby bum

Is there anything cuter than the roly-poly legs of a baby? It's really the only time in your life where leg-rolls are considered an asset! Well what about a toddler in a bathing suit with her little backside hanging out? HHheeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

Our recent beach holiday was Moodles first experience of the sand and surf and she absolutely ADORED it! She squealed with delight at the sand beneath her toes, and you can see her licking her salty fingers and getting such a surprise in the top photo :-)

The Blissful collection by Authentique are the perfect colours for a beachy layout don't you think? Lots of different techniques and tricks in the different sqaures in my grid layout. Let me share a few with you....
I was given a few colours of seam binding which Suzanne has just started stocking and used them here - firstly I ruffled and sewed them in layers beneath my title, and secondly I just did the traditional bow idea (original hey!?)

I made my own fabric covered button and snipped a Manor House Creations Whitsunday flower in half to add to this embellishment cluster above.

Do you want to know the secret behind my seemingly random scattering of pearls in this segment? The secret is.... it really is random! I sprinkled on my pearls in two different colours and then glued them on where they landed :-) Crazily ingenius hey!

And that beautiful Imaginarium Designs chipboard didn't need anything doing to it at all.... perfect just as it was :-)

Aaaaaaahhhh now I'm all nostalgic for my holidays. Good times.

Every Single Day

I've been desperately trying to keep up with my idea to photograph and scrap a family portrait every month this year.......unfortunately I've been failing!

For a start, I totally forgot to take a family portrait in May and so had to go back through all the photos we took (which didn't happen to very many for that month) and try and find one that fit the bill. As it happens this was the closest I could get. It's only got 3 out of the 4 of us, and it's not a particularly good photo..... but... nevermind :-)

I used this fabulous sketch designed by Michelle Fowler for my inspiration. It's the current challenge at Handmade by Suzanne, and this month I was given the wonderfully Blissful collection by Authentique to work with. You can play along with this challenge too for a chance to win a $30 store voucher. If you were lucky enough to win I'd highly recommend any of the new Authentique collections, but it's true that the Blissful collection is my favourite.

I just love the serene vintage colours, the subtle tone-on-tone patterns and the sturdy thickness and texture that these papers carry. I'm really in love with this new company that is Authentique - the papers are a lot heavier than The Girl's Paperie. Think My Mind's Eye if you want a more accurate comparison.

The HBS store is just getting flooded with all the new collections, all your favourites that you picked out from the sneaks of CHA are making their way through the HBS doors. But some things that you might not have seen before that are new in store are these nifty little button makers. They're cheap as chips and allow you to make your own flat-backed fabric covered buttons that you can customise for every one of your projects. What a great idea! You can see two that I made in the close-up above.

So the idea behind my page here is about trying to capture the everyday family moments. Since I obviously couldn't do any major May event (it seems we didn't have any!!) I scrapped this photo of one cloudy afternoon in our garden. That morning Munchy woke up and decided she wanted to do an egg and spoon race. Who knows where she got that crazy idea from?! But it was do-able..... so we did it :-)