We've been away and had fun....

Hiya

It's been a busy month.

DT commitments, school stuff going on, school holidays, and a trip to New Zealand. Busy but fun!

Not much creative time but I did play along with CSI #227

I was on a bit of a stash-busting spree.... so not a style I do very often.

For my 'evidence' I used stripes, flowers, frames. For my 'testimony' I uised a humour prompt and put my journalling in a frame.

And just for fun, here are some photos from our holiday in New Zealand.

Thanks for coming by.

Young, Wild, and Free!

Hi Y'all
This month I had a chance to play with the K+ challenge to use denim on your project. Mine is a pocket from an old pair of black denim jeans, the legs of which have already been made into wheat bags, we can never have too many of those in the house!

 I typed my story on a tag and tucked it in the pocket.

And I wanted to share this page which was up on the Scrapping Clearly blog in February just because I really like it :-)

I made it with the Kaisercraft 'Boho Dreams' collection papers and stickers with some Dylusions ink sprays for colour.

Keep an eye on the Scrapping Clearly blog in the next few days, I'm sharing my new arty love, such a fabulous thing!!
Thanks so much for coming by,

'Til next time, stay arty,

OTR DT Pages

Sharing a couple of DT pages done for Off The Rails challenge blog.

The first one from April, a long story about my Dad and me, rather personal so I have covered most of it with the watermark. 

 And this month's page for the monochromatic challenge, details will be posted on the OTR blog on Saturday.

I'm off to create now as it's cold and windy here today.

Thanks for coming by

New Challenge Blog

A brand new challenge site hit the blogosphere this year, More Than Words.

It's fresh and funky so I thought I'd play along, having extra creative time thanks to school holidays.

I used these Words or Whatever Chippies - Title, summer themed.

This was the challenge, click on the image to go to the page

and come play along too.

Thanks for coming by

Lucky Shot

Playing along with Kraft+ again this month, I scrapped a pic from the Artist retreat at Norah Head last year. This was something I got to cross off my bucket list, an intimate retreat with a spectacular venue, I could've stayed a lot longer!

The tissue paper I used was acquired in a Paris fashion shop 4 years ago,

ain't it gorgeous! And the title I designed and cut with my Silhouette, Words or Whatever now sell them with an added shamrock.

The challenge was to use your own handwriting.

Click on the image to go to the challenge page.

Thanks for coming by

A Weekend in Honkers

Another travel themed page this month, this time for the Kraft+ challenge blog. Using some pics from a weekend trip to Hong Kong in November with my youngest. Yes, it can be done, we had 3 very full days of fun. The flights are not much longer than the train from our place to Sydney, which is easy done for just a weekend, so I thought "why not?".

Eddy had not been so it was his turn. He had a blast hanging out with Mick and Tania's boys and experiencing a different world despite having a nasty head cold the entire time. He was so distracted by his surroundings he completely ignored his headaches and snotty nose for the most part, what a trooper!

The challenge was to use map paper, a kraft base, and travel theme.

I printed out a map of Hong Kong as a reference to places we saw and used some Bazzill Swiss Dot kraft card for the base.

Click on the image below for a link to the challenge post.

Thanks for coming by

My one challenge page for the month!

Hopefully, with school holidays coming up and life slowing down a bit, I might get a few more done next month. I kinda need to get back into it and learn how to have fun with scrapbooking again.

This was inspired by the November challenge over at Show Us Your Stuff.

Requirements - Map paper, travel themed pics, something handmade (Charm's Creations doiley embellishment to which I have added colour.)

The title is a New Release from WoW (not loaded to the shop yet) which I painted and misted, and the arrow is also a WoW chippy.

Thanks for coming by

K+ Challenge

I had some scrapping time yesterday where I actually scrapped! Yep, it kinda surprised me too. Inspiration and motivation has been scarce around here lately so cutting and pasting on a Sunday afternoon was a treat.

After a couple of warm-up pages I had a play with the September Kraft+

tri-hard challenge and came up with this....

This is the sketch, I mirrored it.

T'was fun.

Still time to have a go if you want.

Thanks for coming by

Wonderful Gauche Inspiration

It's such an inspiring mood board at Gauche Alchemy this month, full of bright colours and sunshiney feelings with just a hint of snark. My project is up on the blog and it's a favourite, I love it so much, so head on over and check out the full page. Here is a sneaky peek...

I used some chippies from Words or Whatever and a background technique I learnt recently from the seriously fabulous Naomi Cox. If you want to get your hands on some cool vintage and retro art supplies for your pages check out the Gauche Alchemy shop here.

Thanks for coming by

Special Investigator!

I was so chuffed recently to be asked to be a CSI Special Investigator as a result of this page I did back in July. My first page is up here along with a myriad of exceptional talent from around the world, so exciting! You should head on over, check out the awesomeness, and play along. 

This is my page 

From this inspiration board

I love that they give you journal prompts, I had been struggling to scrap these pics for my youngest boy because I just didn't know how to tie them together, this board made it so easy!

There are plenty of other boards both old and new so if you need a kick start head on over to their ning site or their Facebook page and have a look.

Thanks for coming by

Best Dishpig ;-)

This layout is for the Stamp It Up challenge at Berry71bleu for June.

A story that makes me laugh. Love this boy so much!

I used some Tim Holtz stamps and Ranger Dylusions ink sprays for the background. Correction tape too so you can read the journalling.

Thanks for coming by

It's a Love / Hate Thing

The February challenge over at Gauche Alchemy is a twist on the regular schmaltzy Valentines and gave me something to think about before I came up with this. It's a layout very much in keeping with my warts and all documentation of life. I love and adore this man for so many reasons... 

Smoking is not one of them.

This is the mood board

and you can check out what the other gals are doing on the blog.

We'd love you to join us, the linky tab is looking a little neglected so come and get your gauche on with us! Anything goes, creatively speaking.

Thanks for coming by

Scrapbooking Memories Masters winning submission

I am still gob-smacked about being chosen to be a Scrapbooking Memories Master this year. I have seen some of the unsuccessful subs and know a few amazing artists who also subbed and so I feel humbled and privileged to have been selected. Here today to show you my entry.

Challenge 1 - Use a 5x7 portrait that engages the viewer.

I used a lot of old rub-ons to make a background for the photo. Messy mists and some stamping with bubble wrap, a bit of punchinella from Gauche Alchemy (shop to re-open soon), and some Dymo.

Challenge 2 - Use a non conventional scrapbooking item
I love briefs like this that really get you thinking outside the box. I used a playing card, some gyprock (drywall) tape, and a piece of old 35mm film which I embossed and inked. The background was done using a piece of basket-weave handmade paper as a stamp with black paint. A bit of colour added with some card scraps and spray inks, Hazel & Ruby tape, Prima wood, Heidi Swapp acrylic letters, and some brads and Dymo

Challenge 3 - Focus on Journalling
I love telling stories on my pages too, even if sometimes I have to hide them. This was another opportunity to use my old typewriter (love!), I had to trim the page to fit it through but the join is hardly noticeable. Again a misty background using a heart stencil and spray inks, a gorgeous WoW leaf frame (painted and stamped), Prima flowers painted with Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze, Kaisercraft rhinestone flourishes, Dymo, and old chippy numbers coloured up.

Challenge 4 - Art Journal cover

This was messy and fun. I dug into my Gauche Alchemy stash of vintage book pages and fabric and used similar colours to challenge 1 because I had them out at the time. The wood letters are from Pink Paislee.

And that's it.

It was fun and obviously worth it, although I must admit to feeling completely overwhelmed by the huge amount of prizes so stay tuned this year

for a couple of giveaways.

Thanks so much for coming by

A taste of Halloween

I totally loved the mood board inspiration for October from Gauche Alchemy, it's up here if you want to play along (and I think you should). I could have gone a dozen different ways with it but chose to do a page using creepy photos I have been taking for years because I am just drawn to creepy, it's in my blood (lol) and this page explains why I suppose.

There are some close-ups and a little back story here if you want more :-)

Thanks for coming by

D-lish #8 - Last of the binge posts :-)

Challenge 8 for the D-lish 5th Birthday Bonanza Cybercrop

Last one! 

And I want to say a big thank-you to D-lish scraps for rekindling my passion. Lately it's been a struggle to create and not really something I was enjoying, I would go to my art room and sit and shuffle, not achieve anything at all. The push to create 8 pages in a short space of time has got me back into the right headspace for scrapping and art journalling, so THANK-YOU D-LISH!

And here is my last page

From this

I used an A4 sized plastic bag to 'print' mist all over the background.

Thanks so much for coming to check out my work.

It is so wonderful to be able to share in an online community

of like-minded souls.

D-lish #7 - binge post cont'd

Challenge 7 for the D-lish 5th Birthday Bonanza Cybercrop

From this

I think this is my favourite of all 8 pages, because of the story. This page, to me, gets right to the heart of what scrapbooking is about. The photos are nothing special, having been taken with my (5 year old) phone but together with the words they tell a complete and enchanting story of a chance meeting at the park.