This is Why

One of the things that I absolutely adore about the Mix and Mend collection from Sassafras is that it's already so textured and embellished before you even do a thing to it! (I imagine the new Sweetly Smitten collection will be very similar and cannot wait to get it in my hands!)

And that's how this layout looks like it took me an eternity to build with all it's various layers, but in reality it came together so quickly. In fact, there's not much more here than just one page of 'Alterations' patterned paper.

Granted I did add a few extra details. Draped some Jillibean Soup bakers twine over it, and scattered some sequins.

The little funny cloud shapes are just made from the die-cut edge at the bottom of the Sass paper, and there's a couple Making Memories butterlies. And that's it!

Why do you scrapbook? For me it's all about capturing the everyday 'ordinary' moments as well as the big events. It's about remembering all those little details that might otherwise be easily forgotten, for my sake as well as for my children. And of course, I do thouroughly enjoy the creative process of it all too, and I love to create with pretty products. But ultimately it's about the memories :-)

Everything and the Girl

Getting some more challenges out of my system. And scrapping some photos that have been in my pile for a  while now.

The February 1,2,3 Challenge is...
the colour cream
the word "about"
and the technique of upcycling which means "the practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use and value"

Talk about a challenging challenge :-) The kind I like best!

So I pulled out a bunch of cream embellishments I had and only a few papers (I didn't really have many of those) but I figured I could always paint them cream. And went to to town, trying to incorporate as much texture as I possible could, because in my mind that's how you tackle a monochromatic layout. If you can't create interest with colour then you need to create interest with dimension :-)

I used a few vintage items on this layout like the music paper, lace trims, old buttons etc, but I'm not sure they strictly fulfil the criteria of upcycling. For that I used a technique of 'plastic fusion' to create the sheer butterflies you see above, and the white frilly flower in the embellishment cluster out of old plastic bags.

But I'll tell you all about that next time........!!!!

Sun-kissed

To create some consistency between my two layouts I do each month, I make sure I use the same collection. For October's layouts I have used the same kit, so they have a very similar colour-scheme and embellishments, even though I haven't used the same papers. You can see the first layout I did here.

The kit I'm using is the fabulous Napa Valley - the November kit from Studio Calico. I have to say that I wasn't 100% convinced with this kit when I saw it in the reveal, but now it's in my hands I have well and truly changed my mind.

I do love the softer muted colours, and even though most of these papers could easily pass for masculine, I think they work well for girl pages too. And I love the extra touch of texture the embossed Jenni Bowlin cardstock adds.

Can you read that journaling?! It says "I've just noticed her nose and cheeks are covered with a sprinkling of freckles" which is one memory I have of Munchy in October.

And have you noticed the sprinkling of Making Memories bling 'freckles' across the page?!

Kreatorville Week (+1) Day Four

Aaahh February - the month of love.
I could tell there was going to be a lot of soppy, lovey, mushy, romantic layouts coming out of the Kreatorville February kit straight away. For a start, all I had to do was look at the title and embellishment choices.....

I had a heck of a time trying to decide between the cupid, the love birds and the dove!  And the title choices were just as hard. I could easily see myself making a layout with every single one of these :-)

And the papers were just as gorgeous too.

I knew the first thing I would do would be to use my handmade Title and Embellishment. So I quickly got to work and whipped out this:

These were pictures of Munchy meeting Moodle for the first time. Yes, they shook hands!! It's a little hard to see, but can you tell I blinged up my brown cardstock by spraying it with Irridescent Gold Glimmermist? It seemed appropriate! And how much did I love that Sassafras sunbeam paper.... the answer is.... a LOT! In fact, I loved it so much I couldn't waste any of it behind my photos, so I cut out that sqaure, and used it on another layout!

I can't show you the whole layout yet though because it's for an upcoming Guest DT spot (it's not too far away - come back in about a week or so and it should be up!)

And then I used my lovely dove on this layout. The journaling is a quote from The Man when he said "I see the Drool Angel has blessed our child again". Hhhhmmmm...... I guess it's just one of those things - both our daughters were dribblers! So even though this wasn't a 'romantic' layout, the dove still seemed appropriate with the whole angel vibe of the page.

And can I tell you something else that I love about the Kreatorville kits? See those red glitter mini-alphas from Making Memories that I've used on the two layouts above? Never in a million years would I have bought them for myself.... but you know what? I ended up loving them! What I think is great about these kits is that 3/4 of the contents I instantly feel a very close affinity for and know straight away what I'm going to do with it, and the other 1/4 which initially makes me go "ummmmm......" eventually makes me go "ahh hah!" I love that it broadens my horizons, makes me reach beyond my own limitations, extends my creativity.
:-)

And lastly today, this funny layout that is a bit of a mixture of the December kit as well as the February kit. But I love that I was able to recycle the packaging from the Prima bird (in December's kit) and the Jenni Bowlin buttons (from this kit) and use them as stand-alone embellishments! Bonus :-)

Ok.
Time for some exciting news for you all.
I sent Keandra a little email asking about whether the past kits were available, and whether they might be available at a special price (can't hurt to ask!) so guess what she did?
She's offering the November, December, January and February kits for 50% off. Now she hasn't given an exact price but I'm pretty sure that's going to be US$18.75 each. And if you're worried about postage (especially if you don't live in the States) then imagine this..... she can fit all 4 of these kits in one package if you want!!! WHAT A DEAL!

All you need to do is head over to the Kreatorville blog to remind yourself of all the goodies in each kit (or just back-track through my posts over the last couple of days) and then once you've decided on which kits you want, drop Keandra an email on: keandra@kreatorvillekraft.com
and she'll hook you up. Don't forget to mention my name when you order :-)

Leave your comments today to go in the draw for the fabulous prize.

And stay tuned for tomorrows kit.

How beadyful

How Beadyful is the etsy shop you needed to pick something from to inspire you this week at Etsy Inspired Challenges. Given they've got over 250 things for sale, the scope is vast!

I ended up choosing these pretty little button earrings as my inspiration piece.

And made a wedding card that's been on my 'to do' list for a week or more.

I used another one of my Christmas papers for the background (can't tell can you?!) by Little Yellow Bicycle, and cut the butterflies from a Making Memories glitter paper. It's so pretty.

It was too hard to cut the butterfly antennae from the paper so I ended up making my own decorative pins. I've got plenty of brand name pins, but they were all a little big for what I wanted. So here's what I did.......

I gathered all my supplies, which was simply all my pretty beads, some ordinary pins and Dimensional Magic (or another fast drying strong clear glue).

(sorry for the fuzzy picture)
The easiest way I found to assemble it was to choose what beads you want and thread them all onto the pin first. Then put a small dollop of glue at the head of the pin and slide the first bead up into it. If you've got more than one bead like I do in the picture above then add another drop of glue under the first bead and slide the second bead up and so on. Use the smallest amount of glue possible so it's not dripping all over the place :-)

And there you have it. Your own set of unique and customisable decorative pins. Very easy.