Be-YOU-tiful & Pitter Patter Layouts (Artfull Crafts)

Good morning! I'm up on the Artfull Crafts Blog today with two layouts from two new Kaisercraft Collections.  My first layout is made with the Pitter Patter Collection, a baby line with vintage imagery and soft pinks and blues.  Of course I had to put my hand up for this line with our beautiful baby girl!

This line was crying out for mixed media, so I used modelling paste mixed with white acrylic paint and a Heidi Swapp Mask, then I mixed two mists to get a pale pink and applied it with a plastic bag, and my final media was black India ink.  I painted the raw "Adore"chipboard with two coats of white paint.  The background paper is called "Peek-a-boo" and I used the B side, which looks exactly as it does (sheet music on one side, and newspaper print on the other.  

The sweet photo is of Sam's hand holding Brielle's hand in hospital when he first met her.  I was so pleased to capture such a sweet candid moment.  I layered several of the 6 x 6 papers and some vellum, all hand cut and distressed with my scissors.  I kept the embellishment to a minimum on this page.

A close up of the chipboard.  This page is not my normal style, but I must admit I'm really happy with how it turned out.  You can purchase Pitter Patter in the shop here.

My second page was made with the Be-YOU-tiful collection which is described in the shop as "bringing two of our favourite things together, bright colours and enchanting florals."  You can purchase it here. I chose to scrapbook my final pregnancy photo which Shaun took of me in the hospital at 7am, some 50 minutes before we met our baby girl.  Brielle is 15 weeks old now, its amazing how fast time passes once the baby is born, and how you forget being big and pregnant!

For this layout I focussed on white acrylic paint, stamping and machine stitching.

Kaisercraft always produces such awesome die cut collectables that assist in getting the story recorded!

A close up of my cluster of doily, flowers and a charm.

Thanks for looking, make sure you head on over to the shop if you wish to purchase these lovely collections.

Creative Blog Tour

Hello and welcome to the Creative Blog Tour!  I was so honoured to be invited to this tour by Wendi, an amazingly talented scrapbooker who has become a lovely friend, through us both being on the Design Team over at Lets Get Sketchy.  Make sure you check out Wendi's blog, as she's a super talented card and layout designer.

Onto the questions:

1. What am I working on?

In April I joined the Hip Kit Club, with the one proviso that I kept up with the kits and didn't let them stockpile.  Shipping to New Zealand is expensive, and as the kits have the latest and greatest trendy product I want to get layouts made while the product is current.  So, I've nearly finished "killing" my June kit, which means making as many pages as I can.  I'm also working on a Wedding Blessing Album for a lovely couple in our church who just got married, and I a very special mini album that I'm making for a friend.  

Here are a couple of sneaks of my June Hip Kit Layouts:

I love that these kits are so versatile, and no two layouts have to look the same!

My two eldest kids are into Loom Bands, so I've been doing a little bit of that too!

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I guess my work differs because I refuse to change the fact that I always journal on my layouts, and although I dabble in trying new things that are trendy (like water colours, mixed media etc), I will always stay true to my style!  So when I apply for Design Teams I never get upset or disappointed because I figure my style is not fit for them.  

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

When I was a child I suffered from some trauma that affected me later as an adult, such that I can't remember many parts of my childhood.   Scrapbooking is one way that I can record memories for my children (aged 7, 5 and 15 weeks) so that when they're older they'll be able to look through their albums and our family albums and read the stories that I've recorded to accompany the photos.

In this layout I was inspired by Wilna Furstenburg who often journals to her children in the form of a letter on her layouts.

I also love the creative outlet that scrapbooking provides, and it satisfies my love of pretty paper!  This year I'm doing Project Life on a no stress monthly basis to get our family story recorded as this year was always going to be big: My husband started a new job, we had our third baby, and our eldest daughter started school.

4. How does my writing/creating process work?

I don't scrapbook chronologically, I'm either motivated to create with certain photos, or the product will inspire me so I'll find a photo to make work.  I'm on three design teams and have deadlines for projects, so that definitely gets my creative processing going.  My creativity ebbs and flows though, and sometimes when I struggle I play along with a challenge blog.  

Here is a layout I recently created which I haven't shared yet, its the last layout I made with my May Hip Kit, when I was literally down to the scraps.  

I used my star punch a lot!

Creative Bloggers

Here are the creative bloggers I have tagged.  They will be sharing more about themselves next Monday 4 August on their blogs.  They are all amazing and lovely, and I've met them online by being on the Lets Get Sketchy Design Team, so make sure you visit them!

Valerie Huang

I first noticed Valerie's work when she started playing along at LGS.  Then when we had our recent DT call she joined us.  I love her clean yet detailed style, and she has an amazing ability to rock every single layout she makes.  She is also heaps of fun!

Hi, my name is YuNing Huang, AKA Valerie.  I live in the Silicon Valley with my husband and our doe Shiao Meo Tan (Little Charcoal).  I love to travel, photography and enjoy good food.  I was introduced to scrapbooking back in 2005.  I was still new to this country, so I figured this is a good way for me to document my life and express my emotions.  I was hooked ever since.  I am blessed and grateful to know such a hobby, for me scrapbooking is therapeutic to me.

Nadine Carlier

Nadine is also one of our new DT members at LGS.  Nadine has an amazing way of working with mixed media and layering, and definitely has her own awesome style!  Nadine is also a super talented blog designer, and recently gave my blog a makeover.  If you need a blog or a blog makeover definitely consider employing Nadine.

Hello my name is Nadine, I am a stay at home mom of a 19 yr. old son (who is away at college right now) and an 8 yr. old daughter.  My husband, kids and I moved to Texas from Nevada about 4 years ago.  Before moving to Texas I owned my own business as a hairstylist and I was also a part owner to a local scrapbook store.  Since becoming a stay at home mom, I am really enjoying having more time to spend with my family and more time playing and being scrappy.  I have been scrapbooking for about 17 years now with 12 x 12 and cards being my favourite things to create.  I would say my scrappy style would best be described as eclectic with a touch of grunginess.  I made my 1st scrapbook when my son was a toddler because I wanted a way to document his first years of life.  I've been hooked ever since!

Brandi Matos

As well as being a talented scrapbooker, Brandi is also amazing at cards and off the page projects!  Brandi has gorgeous children that are often the subject of her pages, and I love her beautiful girly mixed media style!  

Hello there!! My name is Brandi Matos and I am just another obsessed scrapper in the world of paper crafting!  I live in Florida, also known as "The Sunshine State", with my two beautiful girls and amazing husband!  I literally stumbled across scrapbooking a little over two years ago and completely fell in love with it.  I enjoy doing layouts, cards and mostly off the page projects!  I love to get messy playing with different mediums to make something truly fabulous!  Please feel free to visit my work at luckyflutterbycreations.blogspot.com.

Thanks for visiting today, if you like my work please follow my blog!

Be blessed!

His Girl (Stuck?! Sketches)

Hello Hello!  While it may look like my blog is neglected, I've been furiously scrapping away for a post I'll have up hopefully tomorrow (Tuesday here in NZ).  Now I was visiting my scrappy friend Wendi's blog a few days ago and I loved her page so much that I wanted to scrap lift it!  However, it was based on a sketch over at Stuck?! Sketches owned and run by the lovely Laura Whitaker (who designs gorgeous sketches), as I found out that I still had time to play along!

I used my June Hip Kit, and my page is all about the special relationship between my eldest daughter and my husband.  They have a little game where Shaun says "Are you my princess?" and she says "I'm not your princess" and giggles!  Of course she is his princess!!

Here is my layout, I just loved those triangles, and I predominantly used Elles Studio products. I went to town with my swing machine on this one, I love the texture it adds.

Love those Dear Lizzy yoyo thickers!

Now for confession time!  My India ink splatters were originally done with Heidi Swapp gold Color Shine, but when they dried they left a strange halo that looked like a water line around them. Let me know if you've had this issue too.  It really annoyed me so I tried to cover them with India ink. Now I should have just left them because the mist resisted the black ink!  What to do, what to do? Big gold sequins to the rescue!  I'm not really that happy with the ink and sequins, but I think it looks better than the odd gold mist splats!

Elles Studio have great bits and pieces for embellishing!  The acetate butterfly is from Studio Calico.

And here is the awesome sketch that I fell in love with:

Thanks for looking!

Kaisercraft Bow & Arrow (Artfull Crafts)

Hi all,  and welcome to another layout share of new Kaisercraft products over at Artfull Crafts.  I was so excited to play with Kaisercraft's Bow & Arrow Range as it is so trendy, featuring feathers, aztec patterns and chevrons.  

Sam and Azaria were watching as I sorted through my Design Team package of goodies, and when it came to the embellishments they both started telling me what they wanted on "their page".  At this stage I didn't even know whose pages I would be scrapping!!  But then I had a great idea, I'd challenge myself to make a page for each of them using only the products they had selected.

Sam really surprised me with his page, and chose the large raw chipboard arrow, chevron and arrow die cuts, feathers, the bike charm, arrow charm and some bling!  The Nature Speciality paper made it quick and easy to make his page.  I added some raw chipboard letters from my stash.  I sprayed all chipboard with mist.  

The story behind these cheeky bath photos is that Sam made some bubble facial features and called me in to take photos!  I love it when he assists my scrapbooking as lately he's into pulling silly faces when I ask him to smile nicely!

Azaria choose typical girly embellishments, and I think claimed all of the realistic feathers and flowers!  And of course she choose the wooden bow, which I left raw.  I added a doily and some washi tape from my stash.  I really made the most of the die cut collectables on this one.  

This layout is about Azaria's love for baby sister Brielle.

This collection is versatile and fun!  You can purchase in the online shop here.

Happy scrapping!

Blessed (Lets Get Sketchy)

Hello and welcome to our mid July Reveal over at Lets Get Sketchy!  This week we had an amazing sketch by Bev Code, complete with hints of mixed media and ink splatters (which I love)!

I decided to have another go at mixed media, so I used distress inks applied with a watercolour brush, moulding paste mixed with white acrylic paint, and spatters of India ink.  I used my June Hip Kit, and  a recent photo of my three babes.  I wrote the journalling as a letter to Brielle so that this layout can go into her album.

And here is the sketch:

I haven't been doing much scrapping lately as loom bands have taken over.  My kids are on school holidays and many an hour has been spent at the table making bracelets.  I even made an angry bird, a light sabre, a strawberry and a triple fishtail bracelet (this one was for me)!  Of course everytime I make something I have to make it twice again for Sam and Azaria! 

Make sure you play along with us for a chance to win!

How Lovely (Scrapstuffz "Inspired By" Challenges)

Hello!  Today it's my turn to reveal my layout for July over at Scrapstuffz "Inspired By" Challenges blog.  

The inspiration piece this month is a beautiful photo of some birds at a bird feeder.  When I looked at photo it immediately made me think of Maggie Holme's first collection for Crate Paper, which included a paper with birds all over it, and a gorgeous navy blue polka dot.  I decided to scrap two photos of my three kids, and left them at 4 x 6 size.  The entire layout is made of Maggie Holmes, with the exception of the gold doily and gold labels which are from Studio Calico, and the gold mist is Heidi Swapp.

I started by making the background paper, and I sewed the birds and polka dot together.  Next I layered some of the paper scraps, and then worked out where I wanted the doily.  This was followed by ephemera pieces and stickers, and the resin flowers.  I took a risk and dropped on the Heidi Swapp Colour Shine mist without checking first, and I was so happy with how opaque it turned out, especially on the navy paper.

I just adore these photos of my kids, they show how much love my older two have for their baby sister.  This layout is actually really simple, and came together while Shaun and I were watching a podcast.  It includes my favourite techniques of layering, machine stitching, and drops of mist.  The photos are really the stars of this layout, achieved my minimal embellishing.

The pink resin flower is from Maggie Holmes Flea Market.  I'd been struggling to use the three pieces of pink ephemera, it was great to finally get them on a page!

I adore those resign flower clips, I only have two to use now!

Here is the beautiful inspiration photo:

Make sure you keep checking the blog everyday to see how the other ladies were inspired.  You really should play along, as what I love the most about this site is that there are no restrictions to how you are inspired by the photo, just go for it!

Have a lovely weekend

Using Pocket Page Cards for Traditional Layouts (Artfull Crafts)

Good morning!  I'm up on the Artfull Crafts blog today with some new layouts.  Like many scrapbookers, I've discovered a real love for cards that have been developed for pocket scrapbooking.  The phenomenon really started for me with 12 x 12 cut apart sheets, and then when the American Craft brands, such as Dear Lizzy collaborated with Becky Higgins Project Life I really fell in love with the mini kits (you can also get kits by Amy Tangerine and Maggie Holmes).

This first page is made with the Project Life Dear Lizzy Daydreamer Mini Kit, which you can find in the shop here.  I started with a trimmed down piece of pink cardstock and applied some white acrylic paint to soften it.  Next I went through the kit and selected my favourite cards to work with the sweet photo of Brielle's newborn hand.  I then placed them in a pleasing arrangement, machine stitched them down, and lifted up the edges with my fingernails.  I'd decided early on where to place my photo, and added two doilies behind it to soften it.  I embellished the cards with complimentary coloured embellishments and washi tape, and I hand stitched around the heart on the "Fill your heart" card.  The "Love, Love" sentiment was cut out from one of the cards.  Psalm 139:14 was the perfect journalling for this page.  The page needed something to finish it off, and backing it onto white cardstock provided a frame.

Some close ups:

Always look for ways that you can alter the cards, whether it be cutting them apart, sewing around them, or trimming them down.

For my second layout I used the We Are Memory Keepers Albums Made Easy Journalling Cards, which can be found in the shop here.  These particular cards are the Inked Rose set, and are made especially for Instagram Photos.  I purchased them specifically to use on layouts.

My photos were 6 x 6 sized, and I trimmed them down to fit in the frames.  The pink frame had an arrow attached, but I trimmed it off as I didn't like it across the photo.  This layout is really very simple, and I let the beautiful frames and cards do all the work for me.  I added the doilies and rubons and sequins for extra embellishment, rounded the corners of the black card stock, and backed it on pink cardstock for continuity with the predominant pink frames and cards.

The silver rubons add subtle dimension behind the cards:

This collection provides lovely frames and journalling cards:

I cut this butterfly out from one of the cards:

You can find Project Life products in the shop here and all pocket scrapbooking (including non-PL brand) products here.

I loved creating these pages, thanks for looking!

Here We Go (Lets Get Sketchy)

Hello and welcome to the first reveal for Team A for July over at Lets Get Sketchy!  This week we had an awesome sketch by our fabulous leader Brenshevia.  I used my May Hip Kit to make my layout, and I kept it pretty true to the sketch, except I used two portrait 4 x 6 photos of Shaun and I at the hospital right before Brielle was born.

I used the bike paper to represent the ride that the pregnancy had been!

And here is the fun sketch:

Head on over to the blog to check out how the rest of the DT were inspired by this sketch, and play along!

Have a great rest of your week!

Clean and Simple Layouts

Hello, I'm happy to report that I've used up my May Hip Kit!  Its always such an accomplishment to kill a kit, I just have some scraps of paper and embellishments left.  I've got a large plastic box to keep my leftover embellishments in, and will use them on future layouts.

I made a couple of quick clean and simple layouts, which provide breathing space (a Shimelle term for these types of layouts) in my albums.

The first layout is the first cuddles that my Mother in Law had of Brielle.  She looked after Sam and Azaria, and they came to visit us on the second day.  We live 3 hours from the city where Brielle was born, and I didn't want my older two kids to see me in bed straight after the surgery, as Azaria had struggled with me being in hospital at the beginning of the pregnancy.  

For this layout I cut some banners and placed the photo on top.  I even cut the Amy Tangerine "Hello There" into a banner, and used it as my title.  I used up lots of the Basic Grey Snippets pad on this one.  I just realised that I hadn't finished putting "First Hugs" on the photo with letter stickers!  I'll do this before the layout goes into Brielle's album.

The second layout is my favourite of the two, I love the Pink Paislee patterned paper, and I adore the photo I took of Brielle's legs.  Lamington Socks are only the best baby socks in the world!  They are NZ made, and are merino and stay up! There is nothing worse than baby socks that come off, especially in our harsh winters.

I love hello and pink together, and I kept this one really simple with just a little layering.  The focus really is on the photo and that yummy paper!

I hope you enjoyed these layouts!

Thanks for looking :)