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 :)