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!

A Card (Sizzix)

Hello again!  Today I have a quick post to share a card that I made with the same die I used for my layout yesterday.  Its the Sizzix Thinlits Bright Bubbles die, which you can find here.  I dug into my stash of 6x6 paper pads for this one and used the Dear Lizzy "Lucky Charm" collection, which is one of my favourites of all time!

Here is a close up of the bubbles.  Its such a lovely versatile die!

Here is the die.

Thanks so much for looking!

Shopping for Baby (Stuck?! Sketches)

Hello, I'm back again so soon, and today its to share a layout I made for the latest sketch over at Stuck?! Sketches.  I haven't been able to play along for several weeks now due to work and prioritising Design Team commitments, so I was so happy to find some spare time.  I used my September Hip Kit again, and scrapped another photo for my pregnancy album of Sam and Azaria shopping for the baby.

I love all the navy elements in this kit, and the letter stickers from October Afternoon were lovely!  That ampersand paper from Dear Lizzy is so pretty, I almost didn't want to use it!

A close up of my doily and banners, and a die cut arrow by Amy Tangerine.

And here is Laura's lovely sketch.

Thanks for looking!

Sing Me a Rainbow (Clique Kits)

Hello!  Today I'm sharing my first 12x12 layout and process video for with my November Clique Kit "Tapestry".  This kit is stunning, and features We R Memory Keepers Wildflowers collection, as well as Pink Paislee's Cedar Lane and some Dear Lizzy.

Last Friday my early Christmas present arrived, a Silhouette Cameo.  Shaun and I had saved up all year and it was so exciting to get one!  Of course I had to play with the CK exclusive files for November, and this cut file was perfect with this Instagram photo of Brielle last year at Autumn Festival.  

I kept my layout very simple to focus on the photo and the cut file title.  I chose to use the negative of the cut and backed it with a beautiful Wildflowers paper that had an ombre or gradient effect.  Some paper layers, embellishments and ink splatters finished it off.  

A close up pf my layers, the tag is from Wildflowers cut apart sheet, and the flair is exclusive to the kit, and designed by Lora Bailora (and is so pretty).  The ephemera pieces are a mix of Wildflowers and Cedar Lane.

And here is my video:

Have a lovely rest of your Sunday.

One Paper, 3 Layouts!

Hello! It's week two of the school holidays here and I wanted to share with you three layouts that I made with the same piece of paper from my May Hip Kit.  It was this paper from Dear Lizzy "Fine & Dandy" called Lets Party.  I really wanted to focus on the striped side, and rather than use it as a full background or layering piece I really wanted to feature it on three layouts.

I made all of these layouts while we were on holiday in Christchurch last week.  Shaun had to go for a coference so we decided to tag along too!  We stayed at a holiday home, and I just set myself up on the dining room table while Brielle was sleeping,  and in the evening once the kids had gone to bed.

For my first layout I cut apart some of the stripes and then adhered them with the white cardstock background between them.  This created a central focus which was perfect for my photo and embellishments.  I had this funny photo of Azaria posing on the deck at Lonestar Restaurant in Wanaka.  She actually has no idea why she was posing of saluting!  It was also the perfect layout to use the flamingo.

For my second layout I used a piece of the paper on the bottom third of my page, added my photos and build my composition around them.  The photos were taken on Boxing Day when Shaun's brother and family came up to visit.

For my final layout I used the final piece of the paper that was remaining from cutting the stripes for the first layout.  I used two photos of Shaun and I with Brielle, and did the package technique with water colours in the background.    I kept this one really simple, focussing on the photos and with minimal embellishment.

I hope you enjoyed these layouts, I loved creating them!

I Am (Child Free Friday)

Happy Friday!  I have another Child Free layout to share with you today, and this is an unusual one for me because not only am I in it, but I took it so its a true selfie!  I used some new papers that I purchased from Artfull Crafts on our way through Timaru from Dunedin to Christchurch last week!  I got some Dear Lizzy "Fine & Dandy", and Simple Stories "I Am".  All embellishments are from my stash, and boy oh boy it felt great to get them on a page!

The photo is a quick selfie that I took in our local park during our summer earlier in the year.  The flair buttons are from Happy Scatter.

The words in the "I Am" 6x6 pad were perfect to layer over the black and white stripe.

I added pink ribbon to the cute black and white paper clip!

Here is my process video:

Thanks for looking and have an awesome weekend!

Hair By Sam (Sketchabilities)

Hello again so soon! Yes two posts in one day because I really wanted to get this layout onto my blog, and I wanted to keep it separate from my first post!

I made this layout with the latest sketch over at Sketchabilities, and this is my first time playing along!  I've made the sketch work for me because the photo has Brielle looking to the left (of the page), so I wanted her to be looking into the page, not off it (hope that makes sense!).  Sam (aged 8) did her hair with a loom band one day, so of course I had to get a photo, because how often does a big brother do hair styles?!  I used my May Hip Kit.

I loved layering up my papers, and then added some of my favourite embellishments.  This leaf cut was left over from another layout.

I really challenged myself to do some stamping on this one!  At first I wasn't sure about those thickers, but I love how they work with this kit.

And here is the awesome sketch.

Thanks for looking!

Just Add Water (Stuck?! Sketches)

Hello!  I'm playing along over at Stuck?! Sketches today, and I'm not sure if I've already shared, but I'm on a real sketch kick at the moment!

This sketch was awesome, and I made it work for 4 photos of Brielle being cute in the bath!  I used my May Hip Kit and had a blast using all the fun embellishments!  

I went a bit full on with mist splatters on this one, I almost didn't know when to stop!

And yes those home made epoxy stickers are from patterned paper, totally inspired by Adele from Inkie Quill (on YouTube)!

I'm really into outlining and stapling at the moment!

And here is Laura's super fun sketch.

Thanks for looking!