Look...

what just went live!!

Lynnette has reappeared in blog-land and the October XOXO Scraplift challenge is up!
I've already blogged about my layout here, but here's another quick snap of it:

This was in fact, my second attempt at the criteria since my first layout got picked up for publication whilst waiting for the challenge to go live. Here's some sneaks of that first layout:

 You'll be able to see this in full in an upcoming Scrapbook Creations magazine. But in the meantime,
go and check out all the other Lipstick Chick's layouts, and participate to win some (yet to be decided) prizes!

Curious?

Are you curious to know what happened to the XOXO Challenge blog that I was/am on the current DT for?
Well...... so am I!

After a month of silence in August from our blog's founder and leader we heard that she had her husband return home unexpectedly early from serving overseas and she needed to spend some quality time with him. Very understandable, I've got no problems with that. I figured everything was just going to be delayed by a month. And it worked well for me because I actually had my original August layout picked up for publication, so it allowed me some extra time to make a new one :-)

So you might be able to guess that since I'm showing you this layout without any further prompting to take part in any current challenges it must appear that the XOXO blog is extinct. Well, I cannot be sure since we are still only getting silence from the leadership. But presumably after this long I can only imagine it's not going ahead.

Anyway, on the positive side of things, I'm really happy with how this layout turned out which is why I couldn't wait any longer to share it with you! I made bunches of folded flowers out of a mix and match bundle of old stash (mainly Basic Grey) and that always makes me happy.

I couldn't get those letters to stick very well (cheap $2 shop deal!) so I had to either glue them on, or sew them on and you know I cannot let a layout go by without some messy stitches so the choice was easy :-)

The journallng is about that stage that Moodles went through where she's discovering her hands and is totally facinated by them. She looks at them and turns them around, and picks things up and is learning to clap them and wave them. Isn't it a wonderful time?!

This layout was inspired by a blog post by Evie S where she showed us some baby-shower decorations, which included these kinds of handmade flowers and pinwheels which she used as wall decorations. I didn't realise it as the time but hers were on a massive scale - she later went on to show us how she made them. It's all very interesting, I recommend you go and check out her beautiful blog.

Mmmwwah!

I was so pleased to see a few people choosing to scraplift my layout for last month's XOXO challenge. It's such a thrill to know that some people got a spark of creativity to do their own thing from looking at something I put together. And you know what they say about imitation being the highest form of compliment :-)

Anyway, it's a new month, which means a new set of layouts have just gone up at XOXO for the July challenge. And the Lipstick Chicks have outdone themselves again. I'm so happy to be amongst this group of 25 diverse but all so talented scrappers.

My DT layout this month is this:

Sssshhhh, let me tell you a little secret. Every month all 25 of us Lipstick Chicks make our layout based off the same 10 criteria. Lynnette puts together a list and we're supposed to incorporate at least 5 of them into our layout. That's the reason why you might have noticed some striking similarities between a lot of our layouts. It's not totally random!

And to be totally honest, when I saw July's list I was a bit apprehensive. I wasn't sure how to go about putting these things together and inspiration did not strike immediately. In fact, I did August's layout long before I did this one!

But once I convinced myself to start (with the deadline fast approaching) it actually came together quite quickly and easily. So I'm pretty happy with it.

Munchy wasn't so pleased. She took one look at it and said "but you've already done this one before". Geez, that girl's got a memory on her like an elephant! What she means is she's seen me scrap this photo before..... but seriously..... it was like back in November!

I've gone hybrid on this layout. I had these swirls and hearts printed out already from a previous project, but they never got used so I saved them for such a time as this. The blue and the pink/red hearts matched the colours in the photo exactly so they were just perfect for this layout. They're both from the Peace on Earth kit by CD Muckosky that I got at Little Dreamer Designs. 

Meanwhile, back in XOXO land. This is what you need to do. Pop over to the challenge blog right now. Choose one out of the 25 DT layouts posted and scraplift it. Then link it up! It's that simple. And if you want to increase your chances of winning, choose another one and do it again :-) I'll tell you, some of the girls that took part last month entered 3 or 4 or more (!) times.

And it's worth it. Look at this lovely prize that's up for grabs.

One of our Lipstick Chicks Jessica Stott, who owns Lucky Girl Crafts has donated the "My Summer Vacation" kit to the winner. But if you don't want to take your chances go over and check out her store for yourself!!

Ok. Over and out
:-)

The Lipstick Chicks have hit again

The June challenge has just popped up on the XOXO blog. This is such a good challenge site because it's so easy. You get 25 DT examples to pick from and then all you have to do is scraplift one...... or two...... or as many as you can fit in within the month!!

And you might want to have more than one chance at winning this amazing kit from Divine Designs. Look at the lovely goodies in it. (But even if you aren't lucky enough to win this kit, I would highly recommend checking out the website for even more delightfully yummy kits).

Meanwhile, this is the layout that I did:

I've been meaning to scrap this photo for the longest time! I had the title already chosen in my head for months, and was thoroughly committed once I digitally wrote part of it straight onto my photo before I printed it. Then all I had to do was add the rest the regular way. It's actually a line from a song in the TV show "Red Dwarf" (yes, I'm a total unashamed Dwarfer...... love it!!)

Perhaps you're wondering why I would deliberately try and capture a photo of The Moodle crying her little heart out, but it was actually perfect for this page that I wanted to scrap. It's all about how we had to get her tongue-tie fixed when she was only a few days old. And having her cry is the only real way of getting a photo of her tongue-tie. Of course, by the time I took this photo it had been fixed for a little while so you don't actually see it at all :-)

I'm also pretty happy about using up some of these old Basic Grey papers which have been in my stash for the longest time. Not that they aren't really pretty - I just tend to keep on using the most recent stuff I've bought and it can be hard to dig out some of the old stuff. But very satisfying when I do :-)

So why not join in the challenge this month? Scraplift me or one of the other 24 DT examples. What could be harder? Let me know if you do (I do vote you know! *wink*)

And why not scrap a page using some of those lovely yellow papers you've got lying around? Then you can add it to my Jolly June Challenge as well and have double the chances of winning something!

Proud to be a Lipstick Chick

I'm super excited to be able to finally share with you the little secret I've been holding onto.................
I'm now a Lipstick Chick!! (never thought those words would come out of my mouth, or rather, out of my fingers!)

I've just joined the Design Team on the challenge blog XOXO for the next 4 months and I couldn't be happier :) This is a scraplift challenge blog so on the 7th of every month the new challenge gets issued and you've got until the end of the month to scraplift one (or more) of the DT's submissions. It couldn't be easier, especially when you're stuck for inspiration or your mojo is dwindling. With 25 new Lipstick Chicks starting today you're bound to find something that inspires you!!

So this is my very first submission as a Lipstick Chick and I have made it suitably pretty girly I think (which is a bit out of my ordinary style, but I'll try anything once!)

Supplies: Kaisercraft Devonshire collection papers, American Craft Thickers, October Afternoon mini-market stickers, Kaisercraft Spirograph brads, Maya Road crystal trinkets, Fiskars upper-crest border punch, Tattered Angels glimmermist (peach delight), digital stamp from Karenika.

And I am quite happy with how this layout turned out actually. I do love this collection from Kaisercraft and it suited the theme of my photo perfectly. All sweet and serene. I placed that digital heart stamp on the photo before it was printed out, its from a free collection you can download from Karenika right here. If you want to see how I used another one of these digital stamps from the same collection on a card you can go here.

I've used a double-stencilling technique to create the paint spots and script stamp in the background, as well as some masking to create the misted border around the edge. I'm planning on doing a little tutorial of these processes really soon. Love getting my artsy on!

The new challenge at XOXO has gone live today so pop on over and check it out. There's plenty of inspiration from the Lipstick Chicks to spark your creativity so you won't be disappointed.

But, if you need even more prompting on what to do, why not try out one of these ideas for scrap-lifting my layout:

• Use my layout as a sketch  

•  Use my colour scheme of burnt orange, teal, cream and grass

• Use one of my techniques such as masking, misting, stencilling
• Use one of my embellishments as a feature in your own such as the flowers, bird, butterfly
• Use the theme of my layout to base your own upon ie. scrap about your relationship with your child or scrap about someone you love

The sponsor this month is Color Me Miki, and one lucky winner is going to walk away with the gorgeous May kit 'Alterations', which is full of new release Little Yellow Bicycle, October Afternoon, Hambly, Prima and Sassafras Lass.

So hop to it and join in the XOXO challenge!
There just 'might' be extra giveaway entries for my May Madness De-stash giveaway for anyone who does :)