Sleep Sweet Boy (Shimelle.com)

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I also played along with Shimelle's Sketch 33, which is all about putting one photo centre stage.  Once again I scrapped a photo of Sam, and once again I used a Paper Bakery kit.

This photo is the final photo that goes with the epic 16km mountain bike ride that Sam and I did with our Church group one Friday night.  This photo is all about Sam falling asleep after the ride with his beloved Spotty Dog on his shoulder!  Its such a great feeling to have a story recorded and complete.

I love that confetti paper, I just softened the edges with some gesso.

As you can see, I stuck pretty closely to the sketch, as I loved it so much.

Thanks for looking.

Be blessed 

Melissa x

Kaisercraft Art of Life Layouts (Artfull Crafts)

Hello hello!  Are you back to work yet?  Yesterday I did my first morning back, and yes it was a bit of a shock to my pregnant self!  I'm nearing the end of the second trimester now, and the exciting end is a tiny bit closer.  I'm up on the Artfull Crafts Blog today with a couple of layouts that I made with Kaisercraft's new Art of Life Collection.  This collection is described as alluring and reflective, with neutral colouring and a strong yesteryear presence.  It's not a collection I would normally be drawn to, but I was interested in challenging myself and loved the neutral colours.

For my first layout I went through all my coloured cardstock and selected a dark red background, and chose to scrap these older photos of Sam reading to Azaria when she was a baby.

I love the transparent frames that come with the collection, and I cut one in half to both use as a layer, and to feature as the title of my layout.  I also love the map and text print papers.

For my second layout I wanted to embrace the neutral feel of the collection, and selected an Instagram picture of my mountain bike, which I knew would work well with the vintage look of the collection.  I chose a kraft cardstock background, and then just started layering elements. I cut out the small elements at the top of the page from the 6x6 paper pad.

Adding my usual machine stitching and ink splatters ensured that the layout was still representative of my style.

You can purchase Art of Life from the shop here.

Have a great Tuesday.

Melissa x

Happiness (Lets Get Sketchy)

Welcome to our third reveal for January over at Lets Get Sketchy.  I decided to scrap a couple of photos I've had printed for a while now, and they are of my kids at our local Coffee Club cafe, which Azaria used to affectionately refer to as "The Fluffy Club".  In my part of the world fluffies are steamed milk in a short black cup with sprinkles or chocolate on top.  My kids have since graduated to hot chocolates!

I used a Paper Bakery kit (plus some washi tape) for this layout, and decided to go somewhat monochromatic with blue and green.  I struggled with this layout, not sure why, but I do know that creativity can ebb and flow.

I started with some Heidi Swapp Colour Shine mist as a background, then added my paper layers and photos.  I finished off with the banners, washi tape and stamping.  I then spent over an hour searching on my laptop for the date that these photos were taken, but with no luck.  I'll add it later on once I find it, so this layout will be added to the "date needed" pile.

Here are some close ups:

And here is the awesome sketch designed by the very talented Bev Code:

It's been so awesome to see so many scrapbookers that are new to LGS playing along with this months sketches, make sure you link up your layout to be in to win a fabulous prize.

Happy scrapping!
Melissa x

Remember You Are Loved (Scrapstuffz)

Its hard to believe that we're nearly two weeks into January already, which means it's my turn to reveal my layout over at Scrapstuffz 'Inspired by" Challenges blog.  I just loved the inspiration photo this month, as it was pretty and girly; my favourite way to create!  The photo immediately made me think about Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm (American Crafts), which was my favourite collection of 2013.  And as I've been really good at hoarding that floral vellum, I knew this was the perfect opportunity to get into onto a page.  Here is my layout:

I layered lots of scraps from a 6x6 pad, and then added some ink spatters, random machine stitching, and the floral sticker and die cut.

Here are some close ups:

And here is the inspiration photo:

Make sure you head on over the blog for more details, and to link up your inspired creation.

Be blessed

Melissa x

My Boy & I (Shimelle.com)

I'm so excited that I actually managed to do some scrapbooking that wasn't Design Team work again!  I love everything that Shimelle does, so I was really keen to play along with her recently posted sketch challenges.  I played a couple of times last year, then got sick and struggled to just get my design team commitments met.

The first sketch that she posted for 2014 was Sketch-Thirty Two, which involved scrapping two photos on a patterned paper background you really love.  This was perfect for the Dear Lizzy paper I've used, and once again I used my August Paper Bakery Kit:

I've been making lots of pages about Sam lately, in my effort to be somewhat caught up before the baby arrives.  I love that Paper Bakery Kits work so well with any photos, whether they be masculine or feminine.  This layout features two photos that my Mum took 5 years ago, I just trimmed them to 4 x 4 to make them work for this sketch.  Very simply embellishment, but I think it compliments the boldness of the script paper.

Here is the sketch:

Thanks for looking.  I'll be back later in the week with my take on Sketch Thirty-Three.

Melissa 

Fun Times!

Two nights ago I wasn't feeling very tired, so I headed into to my craft table and played around with my August Hello You Paper Bakery Kit.  I'd printed off the printables for August, and had already cut them out, so was keen to get them onto a page.  I've also been working my way through a stack of photos that I've had printed for a couple of years, including a fun one which was taken after at Church after Azaria's baby dedication.  I'd pre-splattered my white card stock with some Heidi Swapp Colour Shine mist, and I quickly made this layout in about 25 minutes.

I just love our faces in this one!  Azaria was only about 11 weeks at this stage, and Sam aged 2.5!

Here are some close ups:

I just love the glimmer that the Colour Shine mists have, and if definitely makes a big difference when you give them a good shake up before using!  The "fun" word sticker came from a previous Paper Bakery Kit, and was a perfect colour match for this kit.

I used one of the glassine bags that contained goodies from the kit, and layered it under my paper layers, stapled it closed onto the paper, and then lined up 3 enamel dots.  I love the added texture it adds to what is otherwise a pretty simple layout. 

Thanks for looking

Melissa x

Hello 2014!

It's Tuesday the 7th of January as I write this, and I've just had two days on my own as the kids have been staying at Grandma and Granddad's and Shaun went back to work yesterday.  I've had a lot of time to think, reflect on 2013 and think about what's to come, and what I'd like to see as goals for 2014.  Of course I've also had some creative time at my scrap table, have tidied the house, and have contemplated (delayed) putting the Christmas tree and decorations away!

Well the most exciting thing about what 2014 has in store is something I haven't shared on here yet, but it looked a little like this 5-6 weeks ago, and is arriving in April:

20 Weeks pregnant!!!

We are all very excited about baby number 3, especially me as pregnancy is a challenge!  I haven't shared much about this, but this pregnancy has been so hard as I've suffered from Hyperemesis gravidarum, which is essentially severe morning sickness, which required medication (to try and stop the vomiting), hospitalisation (4 times) and IV fluids for dehydration.  I had to take 8 weeks off from work, and our amazing church family provided evening meals for us for 7 weeks!  It was really hard on my kids, especially Azaria, and we had to tell them I was pregnant at 7 weeks.  My theme song for September became "Wake me up when September Ends"!!

Around 7 weeks pregnant, getting the IV for the first time.  This was just the beginning . . .

I'm a lot better now, thanks to prayer and time.  I'm not 100 percent better yet, and still have not so great days, but I'm 25 weeks tomorrow, and on the countdown.  I'm really grateful as its such a blessing to have been given a third child. And no we didn't find out what we are having!!!

Scrapbooking while sick was one of the hardest challenges in my creativity ever!  I think I missed two DT assignments, mostly due to being in hospital, but I made myself scrap through the lull.  I actually learnt how to create quickly, instead of spending hours (or days) on a layout.  

Last year my word for the year was Grace; for myself, and for other people.

So when it came to my word for 2014, after spending some time thinking about it, the word I kept coming back to was Joy, I think because last year was hard, but it reminded me to find joy in everything, everyday, even the hard stuff.  I'll be creating a layout for my word soon, and will share it here.

So my main creative and blog goals for this year are the following:

• To create because I love it, not because I have to.
• To share more of myself and our life on my blog, because lets face it, this is as close to keeping a diary as I'll get.
• To put my layouts in albums and not let them stack up!
• To learn new techniques and keep exploring my scrapbooking style.
• To take better photos, both of our life and of my layouts.

Now for some family photo shots that we took in the park in the weekend:

Melissa, Shaun, Sam & Azaria.

A selfie of me and my boy!

Photo taken by Sam, he totally directed this shot and told me to take off my hat!

Shaun and his princess!

Thanks for sticking with me and reading this far!  

Be blessed and full of joy!

Melissa x

Sam @ ChCH (Lets Get Sketchy)

Hello and welcome to the first reveal for 2014 over at Lets Get Sketchy. Although I've posted a layout already this year, this layout is officially my first created page for 2014!!

 My layout this week is a really old photo of Sam when he was only 3 months old.  Sam and I flew up to Christchurch (CHCH) for an interview for my professional planning membership, and Mum flew down from Auckland to look after him.  I just loved this velveteen suit that he was wearing, he was just (and still is) so cute!

Here is my layout which I made with my August Hello You! Paper Bakery kit.  I used the Scrapbook Kit and Capture 365 Kit (I don't do Project Life anymore, but loved this kit so much for the extra embellishments it contained that I could add to my pages).

And a couple of close ups:

And here is the sketch designed by our awesome leader Brenshevia Baker:

We all loved the chevron on this one; I extended some layers to the left to provide for journaling and a confetti pocket made from a glassine bag.

Thanks for looking, make sure you play along and link up your layout on the blog.

Be blessed

Melissa x

Kaisercraft Spring Bloom (Artfull Crafts)

Hello, I'm up on the Artfull Crafts Blog today with two layouts I made with Kaisercraft's new Spring Bloom collection.  Spring Bloom is a delightful warm collection that made me feel happy and joyful as I scrapped these photos from Sam's 5th birthday nearly 2 years ago.

The first layout is very girly, and is about Azaria at Sam's party.  Kaisercraft does awesome large stickers, and I placed one at the top of the page.  I coloured some white cardstock with some mist for a large photo mat, stitched around it and then layered some dies cuts, stickers, flowers, leaves, and brads.

With my second layout I challenged myself to use these very girly products to scrap a boy layout. This one will serve as the title page for all the pages I've made about Sam's 5th birthday party.  I made my title with my Amy Tangerine Stitching template, and I love how it worked with this collection.  As you can see, Spring Bloom also has neutral patterns and colours that work for boy layouts too.

Head on over to the online shop to purchase Spring Bloom here.

Hope you are enjoying your holidays, and thanks for looking!
Melissa x

Happy New Year and a Recap

Happy New Year!  Before I get into what the New Year has install for me, I thought I'd share my 13 favourite layouts for 2013.

Me & You - a finalist in Crate Paper's Creative Challenge Weekly, and the first layout I shared on my blog.

Park Fun - My layout for my DT application for Lets Get Sketchy

No School Today - Made for Lets Get Sketchy

 Oh So Lovely - Made for Lets Get Sketchy with yummy American Crafts Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm, my favourite collection of 2013.

Blue Steel & Me - Made for American Crafts DT Submission, and then published in the first Lets Get Sketchy Magazine

#Photo Shoot - as above, and also pinned by Two Peas in a Bucket "The Peas are so Inspiring"

Home - I made this for a sketch challenge at The Paper Bakery

I Believe In Love & Coffee - Made for Use Your Words, using Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic

Dream Big - Made for Artfull Crafts, experimenting with stamping on wet gesso

Escape to the Lake - A finalist in Crate Papers Creative Challenge Weekly

Hello You - Made with a Paper Bakery Kit for Glitter Girl's Scrapbook Survivor Class at 2Peas

 Hello Blue Eyes - My last layout for Lets Get Sketchy for 2013

Oh Snap - Playing around with monotones and watercolours

In 2013 I achieved some major scrappy goals:

• Started this blog.
• Made it onto a Design Team (actually made 4).
• Made a Design Team for a local shop.
• Joined a kit club that I love (Paper Bakery).
• Went to two retreats.
• Made new scrappy friends, both locally, within the region, and online.
• Scrapped more than ever before!

Thanks for looking, I'll share more of what's coming for 2014 soon.

Be blessed
Melissa x