The Little Things

in life are often the best, isn't that what they say?

Trying to keep the balance right, it was time for me to do another layout featuring Little Moodles. I've been very conscious that my albums for Munchy seem to fill up faster than they do for Moodles (although there's also plenty of layouts where they feature together of course, and that's in a seperate album).

I'm know it's just because I'm either taking photos of events or incidents (of which Munchy does a whole lot more of) or I'm scrapping layouts about funny things they say or do (and Moodles doesn't really talk yet). But I still feel like I need to balance it out a bit better. To be fair you know?

If I say I threw this layout together with the left-over scraps from my July Tidbitz in Time 'Dream in Colour' kit you might not believe me right? Because the colours just work together perfectly don't they?

And it helps when you've got gorgeous embellishments like this Prima butterfly in the kit. You could slam that baby down on anything and it would make it into something stunning :-)

But actually, with my real scrappy scraps and packaging I made a card too.

You can see that the base of this card is the old-style green Prima packaging (which the flocked orange alpha stickers came on). No need for any of that 'rubbish' to go to waste!

I think you'll agree that Wendy has done a fabulous job putting together this kit, and I want to thank her and the rest of the Tidbitz in Time team for having me as a Guest Designer this month. It's been an absolute pleasure :-)

Your Heart Will Fly

"So come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned. Just think of happy things and your heart will fly on wings, forever, in Never Never Land"

Peter Pan

Isn't it just the most gorgeous quote? And worked so well for the recent photos I have of my girls when we were on holidays in Daydream Island.

Nadia's outdone herself again with this beautiful sketch which just so happens to be the July 15th challenge at Once Upon A Sketch. And the journaling criteria this time around is an easy one...... just use a quote!

So now let me tell you the story of those jaw-dropping flowers because you'll need to know! There's a new Australian manufacturer on the market called Manor House Creations who are producing these divine blooms (part of their Spring 2011 collection).

Not only are they exceptionally good quality but at are at a competitive price compared to other similar products on the market. Incidentally, they're having a DT call at the moment. If you're interested check out the details on thier blog.

I was among the lucky group of the DT girls who got to play with these new products. On my layout here I've used "The Islands - Sunset" (big yellow flower), "Ballroom - Tango" (the little red ones) and a mixture of small and medium rose leaves.

They worked so well with the colours in the Basic Grey "Out of Print" papers I cut up for the swirls and flourishes. I'm so happy with the way this layout turned out.

Now, if you want to play along with us at Once Upon a Sketch then you'll get the chance to win some of your very own Manor House Creation products. Check out this prize......

Plus, there's also fantastic prizes being sponsored by our regular supporters Imaginarium Designs, and an entire Pink Paislee Queen Bee collection pack up for grabs too. See you over there :-)

Easter in July?

Occasionally at this time of year people celebrate 'Christmas in July', but right now I haven't even begun to think about Christmas (I still haven't finished my December Daily from last year!) and I've got a bunch of Easter photos that are waiting to be scrapped.

This was the third page I made with the delicious 'Dream in Colour' July kit from Tidbitz in Time. I was able to pull out some of the lovely pastel shades in this kit which traditionally seem to go with Easter pages.

The Girl's Paperie ribbon pack is gorgeous with a great assortment of different looking ribbons. But I have to admit I was a little cautious about how I was going to use the pink tinsel one - it's quite thick, and makes me think of Christmas not Easter!

Not to be deterred, I simply cut very small pieces and layered them behind my journal spot for a nice little twinkling touch :-)

The pale aqua lace would have made it onto every single one of my layouts if I wasn't trying to be fair to the others! But I couldn't resist adding it along the border of my papers on this page to represent the 'grass' in my little garden scene here.

What do you think of the embellished circles? I've got a thing for beautiful patterns lately and trying to translate them into layout form. If you check out my Pinterest board "Patterny" you'll see where I got the inspiration for this cute and unusual idea.

And I cannot believe it took me until my third layout to use one of those gorgeous Prima butterlies?!! Never mind, because once I used this one I quickly whipped up my fourth layout and used the other butterfly too!!
If you can't wait until I share that, or if you want to check out all the other DT examples made with this delightful kit (and I strongly suggest you do!) then check out the Tidbitz in Time July gallery here. 

What if I fall?

Does anyone remember that old DC Talk song "What if I stumble?" I used to love that song! It sure is a catchy tune. The kind that gets stuck in your head for days. It came to mind when I wanted to scrap this photo of Munchy falling over in the autumn leaves at the farm.

You might have to take my word for it when I say I actually based this layout on the sketch below....which just so happens to be the July challenge at Handmade by Suzanne ;-)

With the eye of faith you can see that I've punched the corners of my black paper to represent the die-cut shape on the sketch. The large round chipboard starburst shape represents the circle behind the photos..... and I just had to move my title over a little bit. You can see it now can't you?!!

I've been working with the deliciously different "Out of Print" collection by Basic Grey this month. The colours are not my usual pick at all. But there is something about the textured, layered, collage-y feel about this collection which really attracts me. It certainly took care of the background details I like to add, without me having to do any more that stick it down. That's a sure winner in my current time-poor books!

 And just when you were thinking "where's the journaling she always has on her pages?" here's my secret. I created a journaling ticket with an attached pull-tab and hid it behind the photo. Not because it's too personal or not for public reading, but more so because I couldn't figure out where to add it otherwise!!

If you want to play along with the July sketch challenge you can find all the details here. I really encourage you to have a go. There's a $30 voucher (plus free shipping) if you win, and it's by random choice so everyone has the same chances. And you really should check out the gallery if you want to see how some of the girls have interpreted the sketch much more accurately than I have :-)

Winner

So I know the very first thing you all want to know is who is the lucky winner of my Two Peas voucher hey?!!
Well..........
it just happens to be................

Jen Shears!! Wooooo hooooo :-)
Jen - I'll be in touch shortly. Unless you email me first?!

For those of you who weren't so lucky this time, feast your eyes on this lovely eye-candy instead (although it might make you feel a little hungry)

So we were up at the farm earlier this week, specifically to celebrate my nephew's 1st birthday.
On the morning of the party my sister rings me up and asks if I can possibly make her some 'name tags' for the food platters.

What?! With only hours to go (and more relatives to visit in the meantime!)!!

Lucky for me (and her) I had my May Kreatorville kit with me which included some perfectly bright and happy papers and some cute Aptly Titled embellishments such as those hearts you see there.

Not to mention the ultra-cool birthday cake that I was able to stick on the centrepiece like it was made especially for the occasion.
Thanks Keandra for saving my butt!!

April Sunshine

brings great photo opportunities.
And a layout about it.
Eventually :-)

I mentioned previously how excited I am to be Guest Designing for Tidbitz in Time this month, and I tell you the truth when I say that their kits are Fab-U-LOUS!

Especially if you love the romantic/shabby-chic/vintage vibe on your pages. If you can't go past a piece of Prima or Webster's Pages paper without drooling then this is the kit club for you :-) Look at all the delicious Prima goodies in the July kit for a start!

Now, if you've followed my blog for long enough you'll probably know that Prima and Webster's (whilst extraordinarily beautiful) aren't the usual way I roll. But I think it's important to remain true to yourself so I had to adapt all the Prima papers to suit my style.

And trust me when I say that, because I first had one very failed attempt with this kit to do a more 'Prima-y' type layout and let's just say I won't be sharing that one in a hurry!

But everything on this layout, with the exeption of the black cardstock, is from the kit. The white grungy background paper is the b-side of one of the Prima papers and it made the perfect blank slate to be misted and stencilled and doodled on, and so it evolved into what you see here.

Same with the Prima candy-gem bead clusters. They're so beautiful, but I just couldn't seem to carry it off adding it to my layout as it was. So I pulled it to pieces and added the beads individually! Voila.... one scrappy scrapper doctors her products :-)

PS. I'll be drawing a winner for my Two Peas voucher tomorrow, so you've got about 24hrs to get your last minute entries in. All the details are here.

All About....... Me!

My Two Peas in a Bucket giveaway is still open. All the details are here.

Meanwhile, in scrappy-land.... the new movie poster is up at From Screen to Scrap. A classic movie this time around, starring Marilyn Munroe, called "All About Eve".

To enter this month's challenge all you need to do is make a project based on this movie poster.

But for an extra 6 bonus points you need to include:
1) Use 4 x colorful Arrows = 1 pt
2) Use Hearts = 2 pts
3) Use 1/2 or 1/4 of a face from a photo = 3 pts

What a great poster to draw inspiration from. Since it was called "All About Eve" I changed it up a little and made my layout 'all about me'! I also gained inspiration from the colour blocking - an easy idea to adapt to layout form.  

And of course I also included my four arrows, plenty of hearts, and used this photo of me and my mum where unfortunately my mum's face got half cut off...... which is often the way when you're taking your own photos!

So pop on over and get all the details for this challenge. Would love to see some of my bloggy friends over there.

Just Call Me....

The Scrap Doctor!!

Soooo..... I have the most exciting news to share. Finally!!
If you've been around my bloggy parts for long enough you'll know how long I've been raving on and on about how wonderful Kreatorville Kraft's kits are. I've been a subscriber since the very beginning. Haven't missed a beat. Haven't wanted to!

Then back in August last year I had the extreme honour of being a Kontributing Kreator (aka: Guest Designer for those not in the know!) and it was wonderful being able to work for Keandra. She's one of the most generous, outlandish, amazing and friendly people I know.

But today surpasses all that........

Because now I am officially a Kore Kreator!!!! (aka: on the DT!!) It was announced on the blog today!
Woooooo hooo!!!!
This is my introductory page. Don't you just LlllooovvveeeEEE the bobblehead me?! I look so sassy..... I like it :-)

In celebration I'm offering up a $15 gift voucher to Two Peas in a Bucket. All the details are here.
(alright so I lied... that giveaway was already open before this announcement) Must be the sassy Scrap Doctor in me coming out :-)

The Greatest Gift

If we're talking about gifts, and before I get into the details of this layout, you should go and check out my current giveaway here - especially if you love Two Peas :-)

I've been saving my favourite layout from my June adventures with The Girl's Paperie Jubilee collection until last. I loved working with this 'kit' for Handmade by Suzanne - the colours and patterns are just so me!!

I'm totally digging giving my background some subtle details with tone-on-tone designs. It's just that making white stencilled cherry blossoms on cream/yellow paper is a little bit too subtle, so I outlined the desings with black pen to give them a little pop.

The delicious flowers I used here are by Prima, they're called Love Note - Celebrate and they coordinated so well. I was pleasantly surprised to find in this single packet of flowers a mix of plain and printed paper flowers, as well as the crochet ones. I also made some of my own out of May Arts pleated satin ribbon and I had an instant eclectic mix of flowers which I simply threw down on my page. Easy done!

I made this page about an ordinary everyday moment of my girls eating apples out of the orchard. A good wholesome moment though! I journaled some thoughts for them about persuing all this life has to offer them, and not to take our blessings for granted. Remember how I made a resolution to write more 'meaningful' journaling on my pages? Prime example :-)

OUAS, TIDT and a Giveaway!!

I'm here, I'm here!! And I've got something to share! (in fact a lot, so maybe grab a cuppa)

The new sketch has gone up at Once Upon A Sketch and the challenge has began! And trust me when I say you need to go over and check this out because our Guest Designer has offered up a prize that's too good to resist! But firstly, here's my page.......

Journalling Criteria: Who is in the photo? Name the person in the photo and at least 1 fact about them. This can be personality, character, talent , achievement etc. but it must be at least 2 sentences long.
And of course, the sketch:

Now usually I'm on the side of the DT who submit pages for the 2nd sketch challenge every month, but this month I am super-duper-ly lucky to be the Guest Designer for Tidbitz in Time and I couldn't resist but use their amazingly fun July kit to whip up a page for this challenge.

This kit is amazing! The colours and textures here are right up my alley! The July kit is called 'Dream in Colour' and contains:
Five sheets 12 x 12 Girls' Paperie Patterned Paper - Jubilee Collection
Four sheets 12 x 12 Prima Marketing Patterned Paper - Melody Collection
Flocked Alphabet Stickers, Orange - Prima Marketing
Market Trims - Four yards - Girls' Paperie
Butterfly Kiss Melody - Two Pieces - Prima Marketing
Candy Gems (beads) - Two Pieces - Prima Marketing
Fabric Brads - Twelve Pieces - Girls' Paperie
Chipboard Pieces Melody - One 12 x 12 Sheet - Prima Marketing
Caboodles Flowers - 36 Pieces - Prima Marketing

So the only thing I've added to this page is the paper doily behind the photo because I needed something round to represent the circle in the sketch. I've journaled about my Mozzy Moo (as we regularly call Moodles) and how she remains quite a happy and joyful little toddler. She's always smiling, and of course, that means people are always happy around her in return.

So lots of wonderful goodies in this kit. And can you believe you will receive THIRTY-SIX gorgeous Prima flowers?! That's enough for me to sprinkle over every single one of my 4 or more projects that I plan on getting out of this kit. I'll be sharing the rest of my pages in the very near future, but in the meantime check out what the other Designers have done with it by looking in the gallery here, or blog here.

So I don't want to keep you in suspense any longer regarding our challenge prize........
Karola Witzcak is our very special Guest Designer at Once Upon a Sketch this month, and not only has she made a spectacular page for the challenge with some of her new papers, but she is sponsoring both the winner and a random participant to receive an entire collection!!! EeekkkkK!!!! I want to win!

Now if that hasn't given you enough to do already then just hold on a little bit longer.........................

As a way of making up for my recent abscences on my blog I'm offering my own GIVEAWAY too!! How about winning a $15 voucher to Two Peas in a Bucket?!! If you're interested then all you have to do is leave a comment on this post and I'll put your name into the draw.
If you're a follower of my blog leave a second comment for another chance to win, and if you blog about this giveaway I'll give you a third chance of winning :-)
I'll draw a winner next weekend on 9th or 10th.

Alrighty. Better hop to it!!