Scrap Stash Kit Club

Recently I joined the Scrap Stash Kit Club which I found out about when I joined the nicolejones911 group on Facebook.  The idea is that you make a homemade kit out of your own stash based on the colours that Margareta pulls, and then create pages with it.  This month the kit is called "Surf's Up", and is full of blue, yellow and teal.

The good thing about pulling from your own stash is that you get to use up (finally) old product!

So here are some photos of my kit, and as you can see I pulled a heap, but as I joined part way through the month, I'm only going to make pages until the September kit is revealed, as I also have my Hip Kit and other commitments for Artfull Crafts (with specific product).

Here is the first page I made, all about Sam telling his class the big news about his new baby sister, who we brought along for the news!  I realised that once again I forgot to put the date on.  The photos were taken in May when Brielle was only about 3-4 weeks old.

And here is another page, this time based on this weeks sketch over at Lets Get Sketchy.  It's not Team A's turn to reveal this week, but I loved the sketch so decided to play along again.  This page is  of Brielle at 5 days old, in the sun for mild jaundice.  I love the words on the title, as they speak out what we want her to be.  Such a sweet wee button, so small and not chubby like she is now!

And a close up.  I'd been saving this title cut apart card for the perfect title for a long time!

And here is the awesome sketch by Bev Code:

I'm loving making a home made kit, I've got several other pages to share, and best of all I'm using up old product!

Thanks for looking!

Kaisercraft Mistletoe Project Life Style Layout (Artfull Crafts)

Good morning!  Spring is nearly here yay!  I'm on the Artfull Crafts blog today with some Christmas inspiration.  I got to work with Kaisercraft's new Mistletoe collection, which is fun and colourful.  The papers are lovely, and if the A sides are too "themey", the B sides are perfect.

I decided to scrap a whole pile of photos that I had left from our Christmas in 2012.  If you know me well you'll know that Christmas in our family isn't about the presents, but is about celebrating our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  However, my Mother in law had taken these photos of the presents being opened, and as I had already scraped other pages about the day, I thought Project Life style would be the best way to scrap these photos. 

The pocket page protector (and Winter sun) always makes it difficult to get good photos, even with my DSLR so any advice is welcome.  These photos are also a little blurry, however they are still worth scrapping to ensure the whole story is recorded in my family album.

I used the papers, cut apart sheets, collectables and stickers to embellish my pockets.  I trimmed all my photos down so that I could feature patterned paper behind each photo.

Some close ups:

Thanks for looking.  You can purchase the Mistletoe collection in the Artfull Crafts online shop here.

Snow Day Layouts (Hip Kit Club)

Hello!  I've been scrapping my photos from our May snow storm, and in particular the day off school and childcare that my oldest two children had.  I used my July Hip Kit, which worked really well with these photos.  As always I added in doilies from my stash.

I applied blue Dylusions ink mixed with white Mister Hueys with a plastic bag to add some blue texture into the background.

"Epic" is one of Sam's favourite words at the moment, so this October Afternoon die cut card was perfect.  I stamped "Today" on it with the stamps and chalk ink from the Stamp Add-on.

This layout is for Azaria's album.  The journaling is very similar as its the same story.  This is  a technique I often use when I have photos of the same day/event and I want to make a page for each child.

I added the gold arrows onto the Photo Love die cut card.

Thanks for looking!

Killing a Kit (June Hip Kit)

Yes it does sound a bit scary, but killing a kit pretty much means using it all up until its all gone, and no more layouts can be made.  I've always been one for challenging myself to use up a kit, and once I start I like to use it until all I have left are scraps.  Normally I just make pages and share them as I make them, but with my June Hip Kit I decided to hold off sharing the majority of pages (with the exception of about 3 layouts I made for Design Team work).

First up, here is the Main kit for June, full of Elle's Studio, Echo Park and October Afternoon goodness!

I also got the Stamp Add on, mostly because I wanted the distress inks.

I made a total of 9 layouts, and I love that they are all different, yet all from the same kit!  I added in cardstock and doilies from my stash.

This first one is a mixed media one that I've already shared over at Lets Get Sketchy.  

This one documents the Brielle's birth when she was checked by the Paediatricians after she was born.  I did some water colouring on this.  When I first saw the October Afternoon clock paper I wasn't sure how I would use it, until I saw that it had Brielle's time of birth on it!  Of course I had to cut this out with my circle punch, and include the written time too!  So perfect!!

This is the first layout I made; I often find it hard to start as it means making the first cut!  I also made it at my monthly crop, and I'm so used to scrapping on my own that I find it hard to scrap in a group.  Love my crop though as I've become such good friends with the other girls that go.  I used the distress ink like watercolour paint.

This one was for a sketch challenge over at Stuck?! Sketches, and I just adored all the triangles. 

This one documents Brielle's first trip out after we got home from both hospitals.  We went to our favourite Cafe, and I enjoyed a real coffee!  Of course she slept the entire time!

I was in two minds of how to use the paper with the circle.  Part of me wanted to cut it out, but then I decided to keep it whole and really feature the circle.  I punched out the viewfinder hearts with my punch, and also added the circular wood veneer.  I added the gold resign flower from my stash as I felt that the layout needed something special as it is relatively simple.

This page is all about Azaria's new fringe, which she had to have before her first full day school visit. I used the washi tape, washi stamps, and distress inks on this one.  I added a doily from my stash.

This layout captures my Mother's Day this year, and although I'm not a materialistic person who is "all about the gifts", my kids were so very excited to give me the treats they had made (or gathered), and actually gave these to me two days before!  Of course I had to get a couple of photos!  I especially love the title on this one.

I've saved my favourite for last!  I adored that Echo Park paper, and managed to include it in 5 layouts by cutting it up. I adore this photo of my girls, and the clean and simple design allows the photo and paper to shine!  This photo was from my 2 month photo shoot for Brielle, and Azaria wanted to jump in too.

If you made it to the end of this post, then I truly appreciate you for reading this far!

I've been scrapping with my July Hip Kit, and my August one arrived late last week, so I have lots of product to use up!

Thanks for looking!

Mum and Zuz Date (Lets Get Sketchy)

Hello! Its mid August which means its Team A's turn to reveal this weeks sketch over at Lets Get Sketchy!  This week we had a fabulous sketch by Jenessa Franco!

I used my July Hip Kit, and really anted to feature the gorgeous papers, so this sketch was perfect!  My layout is about a little date that my eldest daughter Azaria and I has after Brielle was born.  I was sick the entire pregnancy and Azaria had suffered the most (besides me).  So as soon as I was up to it we went for a lunch date at our favourite Sushi place, and went shopping at our local $2 shop.

I kept the embellishments minimal on this one as to focus on the paper strips.  As usual I had fun with my India ink too :-)

And here is the sketch:

Make sure you play along, and also head over to the blog and check out the other awesome layouts by the rest of the Design Team!

We are also taking submissions for the next issue of Get Inspired Magazine. More information on the blog.

Be blessed 

Kaisercraft Mix & Match (Artfull Crafts)

Happy Friday from snowy Queenstown!  I'm up on the Artfull Crafts blog today, and I've had some fun this week creating with the fun new Mix & Match range from Kaisercraft.  This range is contemporary in style, and is kraft based papers with pops of white, red and navy.  The embellishments include tags, actual doilies and small clothes pins, and the stickers have hearts, banners and more doilies.  When I first looked at my package of goodies I immediately thought off the page projects, which are more of a challenge for me as I love my traditional 12x12 layouts!

Liz had included a couple of bags, so I decided to decorate them as gift bags.  For both bags I layered a doily, tag, butterfly stickers, twine and fabric embellishments.

For this bag I focussed on white with kraft.  The "Love" is part of a border sticker that I cut apart.

For the glassine bag I went for white and kraft with a pop of red.

Brielle had been given some booties in this cute kraft star box. I always knew I wanted to alter it, but I wasn't sure what product I'd use.

One of the papers had a lot of saying on it, so I cut apart the "Pretty Little Things", matted it on white card stock, then popped it up over the sticker doily, and added the butterfly and fabric flower.

Of course I had to make a layout too, and decided to use the latest sketch from Stuck?! Sketches, and I'll be linking this up.  These photos went perfectly with the collection, and once again I focussed on white and kraft with a pop of red.  These are photos of my husband and daughters on a walk/bike around the Arrow River track in Arrowtown in July.

And here is the sketch, which I rotated to the left.

You can purchase Mix & Match in the shop here.

Be blessed!

First Snow Day 2014 (Lets Get Sketchy)

Happy Wednesday here in NZ! This week is Team B's turn for reveal over at Lets Get Sketchy and even though I'm in Team A I loved the sketch so much I had to play along.  It helps with killing my July Hip kit too!

I decided to scrap this photo of my older two in the first snow day of winter.  Here in Queenstown a "Snow Day" means a huge snow fall that closes schools because there is so much snow on the roads that the buses can't operate.  Brielle was only about 5 weeks old on this day in May and I remember being so very tired.

I finally made a layout without black India ink!

I cut some leaves with my Cuttlebug for another project and had these left over to use up.

I love how this clutter turned out!

And here is the sketch by Laura Whitaker:

Thanks for looking!

Snapshots of a Great Day (Scrapstuffz)

Hello, I'm up on the Scrapstuffz "Inspired By" Challenge blog today with my reveal for August! This month we've changed things up and have an awesome sketch by our very own Adele, and the Design Team used Stacia's custom made die cuts, which you can purchase from her Etsy shop here.  

As I don't have a Silhouette Cameo (yet), and because I live so far away in New Zealand, I wasn't able to feature one of the die cuts.  However, the added twist is to use a handmade/homemade die cut on your project.  Additional points will also be given if you use one of Stacia's die cut pieces.  I have a Cuttlebug, but I only have a couple of dies for it at this stage.  So I stamped the speech bubbles, and cut them out.

I used my June Hip Kit, and mostly used the Studio Calico and October Afternoon pieces for this layout.  This layout is all about my son meeting his new baby sister for the first time.  

Here is a close up of one of the speech bubbles.

And another close up.

And here is the awesome sketch.

Thanks for looking, make sure you play along!

2 Months (Lets Get Sketchy)

Hello!  Its the first August reveal over at Lets Get Sketchy!  

This week I decided to be brave and start scrapbooking Brielle's monthly album photos.  As this was a single photo sketch (by our awesome leader Brenshevia) I started with her 2 month photo.  I was also brave because I cut into (literally) my Websters Pages Sweet Routine collection pack, which I bought especially for this album.  Its such a gorgeous girly collection.

I decided to stick closely to the sketch, but I put the top border strips on the side, as they balanced the large photo.   I also got my scallop border punch out for this layout too.

And here is the awesome sketch:

Make sure you head on over to the blog and play along.

Thanks for looking!

LGS Inspired Magazine Issue 4

Hello and welcome to August!  Well our 4th issue of Lets Get Sketchy "Get Inspired Magazine" is now live, so grab a coffee and enjoy!

The only unshared layout I have in it is my March Project Life spread.  I generally keep it very simple for PL, and use up paper scraps and bits and pieces.  I have the Becky Higgins Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party Mini Kit, and a Kaisercraft set of 3 x 4 cards which I'm using for PL throughout the year.  This spread also has a couple of exclusive printable cards from the Paper Bakery that I hadn't used.

I love to include photos, ephemera from the month, and my kid's art.  I've done some stamping on this spread too.

Doing PL on a monthly basis is a no stress solution to telling the everyday stories.  At the moment I'm 3 months behind, but I'm not concerned as I can do a monthly spread in an evening.

You can check out the magazine here.

Happy viewing!