Happy Scatter Guest Designer

Good morning on this rainy cold autumn day!  Today I'm super excited to share the layouts and video I made as a Guest Designer for Happy Scatter by Jennifer Grace.  Jennifer makes the most gorgeous stencils and embellishments for paper crafting and mixed media.  You can read the blog post here.

For my main layout (and video) I decided to use the embellishments with the Crate Paper Boys Rule collection (which is older), as it went perfectly with these photos of Sam with his Christmas Minecraft Pick Axe.  

The cork embellishments had green elements on them, and were suitable for this boy page.

This cork bottle and flame reminded me of TNT and Sam blowing up his creations!  I also thought it reflected his excitement over his pick axe!

I coloured the wood veneers with Metallic Mint Gelato.

Here is my video:

I loved the goodies that I received so much that I had to make a second girly layout about Brielle and her cheeks!  I used the frames stencil in the background.  This layout originally had a white cardstock but I spilt India ink above my paper layers, and had to undergo some serious scrappy surgery!  I predominately used Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party.

This flair was perfect for telling the story!

I loved pairing the flair with the wood veneer flowers.

You can find all of these goodies and even more over at the Happy Scatter Etsy shop here.  Thanks for looking and a huge thanks to Jennifer Grace for having me, I had a blast!

Kaisercraft "Say Aloha" Layouts (Artfull Crafts)

Good morning! I'm up on the Artfull Crafts blog today sharing two layouts I made with the Kaisercraft "Say Aloha"collection.  This collection is a tropical and fun with bright colours and of course the most trendy bird in crafting right now - the Flamingo!  

My first layout is all based around the die cut "Be A Flamingo in a flock of Pigeons" and I immediately though of a photo I had of Sam and Azaria taken last June.  They both decided to randomly put their googles on and posed for a quick iPhone photo!  I applied gesso behind my layers and then used the packaging technique to apply mist.  

This die cut from the Collectables was also perfect for this page.

Here is a close up of that die cut!

The "These Moments"title is from a leftover piece of paper from one of my Hip Kits (I can't remember who the manufacturer is), but it was suitable for the colours, photo and theme of the layout.

My second layout is of my oldest daughter at school athletics last year.  I had already scrapped the event, so for this layout chose to write my journalling as a letter.  This month we are using toilet rolls in our crafting, so I decided to use a roll with some paint mixed with mist to create layered circles on my background.

Once the paint was dry I layered up some labels that I cut out of the 6x6 paper pad with a die on my Cuttlebug.  I focussed on using pink and green.

All die cuts are either from the collectables, or from the punch-outs at the back of the 6x6 paper pad.  I love that Kaisercraft include these in their pads.

I layered up die cuts and some special embellishments around the photo.

I outlined all of my label die cuts, and the edge of the white cardstock.  The background paper is an old piece of Echo Park Paper from my stash.

My daughter had specifically told me she wanted the large silver bling embellishment on her page.

I added some watercolours in complimentary colours around the layout, and added some stamping at the end.  Of course I had to add some India ink to tie the page together.

Thanks for looking!  You can purchase the Say Aloha collection in the shop here.

Baby Curls (Lets Get Sketchy)

Hello again.  Today I'm back with the third reveal for May over at Lets Get Sketchy, and this week we have an awesome sketch by Jenessa Franco.  This sketch was my kind of sketch, a tab, lots of strips of paper, and room to play!

I used my March Hip Kit (which I'm frantically trying to use up), and started with my favourite paper in the entire kit (Crate Paper Craft Market) as almost a whole background.  I used a technique that I've learnt from the super talented Missy Whidden, which is to apply gesso with your finger - which creates a thinner layer than a credit card or brush and is very soft on a full-on background.  It also allows ink or paint to be applied, and I used the beloved packaging technique!

I was going through some older photos on Friday, and I came across photos that my Mum-in-law had taken of us having a turn on my sister-in-laws scooter, which at the time was new.    On the edge of one of the photos (all 4x6) was a super cute little Azaria (aged about 3 I think) with the sweetest little curls, and me bending over to pick her up.  A second photo had her and Sam on the edge.  So out came my paper trimmer and I cut them down to 3x2.  They were perfect for this sketch!

I have a thing for bows at the moment, and I made this one with my Couture Creations die and my Cuttlebug.  Love how it turned out, and I cut it from the same paper as the tab (which I also made with a die).  I'd been hanging onto the "you have my heart" chipboard and it was perfect for this layout.

The "Love" cut is another die, this time Paper Smooches.  Because I had no date from these photos, and because my journalling is reflective and written from today, the date I used is the date the layout was created.

The flower chipboard is very "hoardable" (if thats not a word it should be!), and I'm very proud of myself to get it down on the page! Ha!

And of course I'm still crushing on those mini word stickers from Crate Paper Craft Market.  I added the teal enamel dots from my stash of previous Hip Kits - I keep them all together and pull them out when I need a little bit more.

And here is the sketch, make sure you play along as its a good one (they all are)!

Have a fabulous week!

Scrapbooking School Photos (Part 1)

Good afternoon!  Earlier this year our oldest two kids had their annual school photos taken.  I though I'd do a series on how I scrap these photos, because I read in one of the Facebook Groups I'm in that people often find them hard to scrap. 

One of the reasons given was that school photos are often "awful".  This may be for a number of reasons, such as difficult colours of uniform or backdrop, bad poses, or just plain difficult photos.  I've found the opposite for school photos, and I think thats due to the uniform being navy, grey (for boys), blue and white - very easy colours for the scrapbooking Mum to embellish!  It also helps that our photos are taken outside.  (All credit of these photos goes to Des Ellery Photography).

For this photo of Azaria I used my March Hip Kit, and started with the beautiful Crate Paper (Craft Market I think) floral, which was begging to be watercoloured.  Being a beginner painter, I chose a small number of the flowers to paint with watercolours.  Of course I had to use my new notebook edge punch on the vellum, then layered another paper under my photo.

I kept my embellishment very simple and to a minimum to let the water colouring feature and let Azaria's photo shine.  The cluster below includes an exclusive flair badge, exclusive die cut ampersand and a cork heart.

I layered some paper under the "Beautiful" wood veneer to help it stand out.  The "^" shapes are made with a punch I've been neglecting.  

I absolutely love the Crate Paper Craft Market mini words - yes you heard me say that after I've been struggling with word stickers for months!

So the rules I've applied on this school photo layout are the following:

• Keep it simple.
• A non-themed selection of products works well for a non-themed scrapper like me.
• Use one main beautiful piece of paper to assist in keeping it simple.
• Keep embellishments to a minimum.
• Gold accents in three places help provide continuity.
• Vellum helps soften the paper layers, and assists in integrating the photo with the page.
• The notebook edge from the punch adds a "school" feel.
• The doily provides some relief from the very liner square cuts of paper and horizontal design.
• A kraft cardstock helps tie in the natural feel of the photo - being shot outside.

Thanks for looking, I'll be back again with another school photo layout soon!

The Scrappery NSD Vlog Hop

Hello!  Yes I'm back again so soon!  Today I'm sharing a layout that I made in response to being tagged by Kayla Renee who is one of the co-owners and on the Design Team of The Scrappery Kit Club in Australia.  I was also tagged by the lovely Suse Fish from Faith Hope Washi.

The challenge was to incorporate the following:

• Mint & Gold
• A stencil
• Paint
• Stars

And to make a process video or layout share and upload to YouTube, tagging four other YouTubers.  Of course I was super keen to play along.

The word mint always reminds me of mint chocolate chip ice-cream from my childhood!

(Photo courtesy of Pinterest)

I wasn't quite sure what mint was, so I googled "mint colour palette" and found the following:

So then I went through my scrap bag and pulled suitable green papers, and then I went through my embellishments and pulled mint and gold.  I created my background with white acrylic paint mixed with a metallic mint gelato, and once it was dry I used a star stencil and molding paste.  I decided to go with a corner design and layered up my paper scraps.

The photo is of Brielle as a newborn baby and Sam and Azaria lovingly touching her head.  I absolutely adore those Grace Taylor bows!

Of course I'm still to add my date.  I made the star epoxy embellishments with my Epiphany Crafts punch and the other side of the gold doily.

 My title and journaling was inspired by the song Anchor by Hillsong, and you can watch it  below.

That journalling card with the clouds and feather is from Dear Lizzy.

You can watch my process video below or on YouTube here.  You'll also find out who I tag!!!

Thanks for looking!  That wraps up my International Scrapbooking Day (weekend) of crafting!

NSD 2015 Hip Kit Club Challenges

Good morning!  With [I]NSD over for another year I just wanted to share the only page I managed to create for the challenges over on the Hip Kit Club Members Facebook page.  Being a huge fan of Ashley Horton and stitching (both machine and hand) I only had time to choose one challenge, so I chose hers.  

I used my March Hip Kit, and scrapped a photo of Brielle in her pram.  Of course I had to snap a photo because she actually had a head band on!  I knew I wanted to do both hand and machine stitching, so I started by making my layers behind my photo, and then cut out the hexagons from the triangle paper.  When I looked in my stash of thread the pinks and greens were a perfect match.  I love it when the design of paper guides my stitching.  I added machine stitching on my two border pieces, and on the small triangles (which were off cuts from cutting out the hexagons).  

I'd already prepped my cardstock with pale pink acrylic paint (I used a paint dauber) for another layout, but decided it worked really well with colours in my photo, and the paper colours.  Of course adding embellishments was easy with the coordinated kit!

The chipboard title came from the Crate Paper Craft Market 12x12 sheet, which I LOVE!

A close up of my hand stitching.

And of course lovely layers!  The little card with three hearts is from the Project Life kit.

Thanks for looking, and I hope you found some scrappy time over the weekend.

Holiday Hugs (Lets Get Sketchy)

Hello! I know I say this every month, but can you believe its time for our first reveal for May over at Lets Get Sketchy!!

This week we had a fabulous sketch by our leader Brenshevia.  I especially loved the scattering of embellishments.  I used my March Hip Kit - I got the Main Kit and first ever Project Life kit.  I've been working on scrapping a small family holiday we took last September in a PL style, and this photo of Shaun and Brielle is one that I didn't include.  It was perfect for her album on its own.

By the way, here in New Zealand "Holiday" means any vacation, not just Christmas :)

So excited to use my new Stampin' Up notebook edge punch!  I've wanted this for a long time!

Love love the Crate Paper Craft Marked chipboard in the kit.  I especially love the prize ribbons.

I added some machine stitching for extra interest, and in the case of that chevron sticker it holds it down in the centre because I popped up the sides with foam dots.  Also can't get enough of my mini stapler!  That journalling card is also a left over from the PL kit.  I used the pink acrylic paint dauber from the previous month's colour add one to add some colour to the edge of the card - it was looking a bit stark!

And here is the sketch.  I often find that sketches with lots of white space work really well with a patterned paper background.

Play along for a chance to win, and if you need some inspiration make sure you check out the other DT girl's fantastic layouts!

Happy scrapping!

Happy [Inter]national Scrapbook Day 2015!!

Yay our very own holiday (if only it was a public holiday and day off work)!!!

This year I participated in a Video hop over on YouTube with a group of other girls from the nicolejones911 Facebook Group.  It was organised by Hannah Lemieux, and the challenge was to be inspired by the famous The Sound of Music movie song "These are a Few of My Favourite Things".  I was inspired most by the line "brown paper packages tied up with string", and I immediately thought of a photo I had of Brielle during Christmas, of her playing with the packaging and ribbon.

I used my hoarded Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party, which is one of my favourite collections ever (second after Lucky Charm).  I fussy cut the flowers out of one of my favourite papers.

Bows are one of my favourite embellishments at the moment, so I was happy to get this one down.  Interestingly I got it from The Warehouse here in NZ.  I also used up a leftover piece of doily.

Here is my video, which you can either watch below or on YouTube here.  

I had a blast!  I'm looking forward to playing along with some of the other challenges that are happening this weekend, and because I'm in NZ and its now our Sunday night, I still have tomorrow to play!

On a personal recording milestones note, I do want to record on here that Brielle took her first small step today at Church during worship.  It was a little step and she fell down immediately, but it was definitely a step none-the-less!

Have an awesome rest of your scrappy week, and see you in blog/YouTube/FB land really soon!