Hey Girl (SNSKC)

Hello!! Yes I'm back after weeks (months) of burying myself under piles of work.  But all work and no play isn't good, so I thought I'd check in and share a layout that I made in May, but only just uploaded to YouTube yesterday.

I made this one with my Secret Not Secret Kit Club kit, and it features Dear Lizzy's Stargazer collection.  What mostly inspired this one was my Instagram squares.  I was looking at them and it hit me that I've been gravitating towards my favourite white backgrounds far too often.  So I decided to break it up with a bold patterned paper background.  The flower cut file is by Paige Evans from the Silhouette Design Store.

I used the entire cut file, and rather than back it with paper I watercoloured the negative pieces and plued them back in.  The photos are of Brielle getting her face painted for the first times a couple of years ago.

I used dimensional adhesive to give the petals some lift!

Gold is so hard to photograph, but the photo above shows the words in the middle of the rosette which the first photo doesn't.

The 6x6 cut apart page was perfect for embellishing.  I kept my embellishment to a minimum to let the flower be the star of the layout!

And here is my process video:

Thanks for looking!

"Strong" - My Word for 2018 (SpeigelMom Scraps GD)

Hello!  I nearly forgot to share my final project for my Guest Design spot over at SpeigelMom Scraps.  For this layout I decided I'd better finally create my word for the year which is "Strong".  Last year was a tough year, but through all of it I came out a much stronger person, and I wanted to carry that theme into this year.

I used my July 2017 Hip Kit (I'm slowly making my way through it) which features Maggie Homes' "Carousel" collection for Crate Paper.

I did the packaging technique and splatters with my watercolours and some Heidi Swapp Colourshine.

I used the sequins more subtly for this layout, as the finishing touch to my embellishment clusters.

I love banners, but often struggle to use them.  This chipboard banner was perfect for the grounding of my title.

I didn't make a process video for this one because I was short of time.  

Thanks for looking!

Year 4 (The Scrappery CT)

Hello hello!  Two days in a row!!  Today I'm sharing my latest layout that I made with my Willow Kit from The Scrappery Kit Club.  For this layout I used a free cut file from Paper Issues called "Floral Heart", which you can find here.  This was perfect for scrapping a photo of Azaria on the first day of school this year.  I love taking these photos and scrapping them each year so that I (and the kids) can look back and see how much they've grown and changed!

I loved backing the cut file with the gorgeous papers in the kit.  A hint is to use patterns that are smaller, repeating and in only a couple of tones to ensure the cut file isn't overwhelmed by colour and pattern.  I also cut my cut file from one of the navy patterned papers in the kit, it has a subtle spot on it.

I tucked in some ephemera to the left of the heart.

You can watch my process video below.

Thanks for looking!

SpeigelMom Scraps Guest Design Spot

Hello!  I'm so excited to share that for the month of March 2018 I'm the Guest Designer over at the SpeigelMom Scraps Blog!!  Jody makes the most gorgeous sequin mixes, and its been an absolute joy thinking of fun and innovative ways to incorporate them into my scrapbooking.  I've shared three creations on her blog already for the month, and I thought it was about time I shared them all here.

For my first layout, I used a free cut file from Paper Issues called the "I Love More Circle" cut file, which you can find here.  I used the "Hello Colourful You" and "Wild & Free" sequin mixes to back the stars in the cut file.  I scrapped a sweet photo of Ava this past summer at our local Lake.  I used my Secret Not Secret Kit Club kit, which features Dear Lizzy's "Stargazer" collection.

You can watch the process video for this layout below.

For my second layout, I used a cut file designed by Paige Evans that I purchased from the Silhouette Design Store called "Polaroid Frame Border".  I cut it four times, and then layered two on top of each other to create a thicker row of frames.  I used my Secret Not Secret Kit Club kit again, and was excited to scrap a series of 6 photos of Sam, Ava and our cat Charlie.

You can watch my process video below.

My third project was just shared today, and for this one I was super keen to use one of the free cut files from SpeigelMom Scraps, which you can find here.  I love using stars on baby layouts, and I used lots of the "Hello Colourful You" sequins to add some whimsy!  The collection I used is Crate Paper's "Cute Girl" which I adore, and was perfect for scrapping this sweet photo of Ava.

You can watch my process video below.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing these projects, I'll have another one to share next week.  

Jody has very generously given me a discount code which you can use in her shop to get 15% off.  Make sure you head on over there and check it out!

Thanks for looking!

Tanya Leigh Designz Projects

Hello again!  I'm back again today to share the layouts that I've made as part of the Design Team for Tanya Leigh Designz.  Tanya is a New Zealand paper crafter who designs digital kits, and also sells embellishments.  She approached me late last year and asked me to be on her design team.  As a huge supporter of supporting local I was very keen to accept.

Each month Tanya designs a digital kit full of papers, embellishments like labels and tiny words, 4x6 cards and digital stamps.  I love converting her digital stamps into cut files in my Silhouette Cameo design studio.

The first layout was made with January's Summer-themed kit, and for this one I converted the umbrella digital stamp into a cut file, backed it with my favourite papers from the kit, and hand stitched around the outside.  

February's kit was Valentine themed called "I Heart", and I used it to scrap a photo of Brielle ice-skating for the first time. I loved the black and white stripped paper with pink hearts, and in order to make it work (because I can only print at A4) I made an 8.5x11 page.  For this one I altered her digital tag and turned it into a cut file.

I also made a process video for this layout:

March's kit is Easter-themed and is called "Some Bunny Loves You". Its so super cute, and I had to turn the bunny ears into a cut file.  I fussy cut the tulips from one of the papers, and did lots of splatters on my background with watercolours, Heidi Swapp Colourshine and Studio Calico's Mr Hueys.  

It's at this point that I've just realised that I've scrapped Brielle for all of these layouts!  Not exactly even when you have 4 kids!!

Thanks for looking!

Violet Kit Projects (The Scrappery Creative Team)

Hello again!  Told you I'd be back :)

Today I want to share with you the projects I made with the Violet Kit from The Scrappery Kit Club.  This gorgeous kit featured the Bohemian Dreams collection by Cocoa Vanilla Studio, and of course had beautiful Scrappery exclusives.

This first layout features a cut file from Paper Issues.  In this layout I documented a scan that Ava had to have at 10 weeks old.

This layout is a mixed media layout, and I used the paint in the colour kit to add colour to my texture paste.

For this layout I wanted to use as many flowers as possible with a stiched frame.  I added dimension to the frame with foam.

And this final layout features lots of fussy cut butterflies from one of the papers.  I wanted to them to be flying in a swarm over my photos.

You can see process videos for all of these layouts on my YouTube Channel.

Thanks for looking

Resurecting my Blog!!

Hello Hello!! Yes I'm actually here sharing something!!

Now that it's a New Year, and my 4th and final baby is 1 year old I thought it was time I paid my poor neglected blog some attention.  It seems that Instagram and YouTube have taken over the social media world, and with things in my world being so busy juggling kids and my business, my blog really didn't get much attention last year.  In retrospect, I did try, but all my promises to be back were never kept.  In all honesty, last year was incredibly difficult, 4 children is a lot, and I went through some very difficult circumstances.  I'm so happy to be back now, and I feel stronger than ever for having gone through what I endured.

I recently killed my July 2017 (yes I'm that far behind) Hip Kit, and so here are the layouts that I made:

I actually thought I'd find this kit difficult to use, so I was happily surprised when I ended up loving it!

I'll be back again really, soon, promise xxx