My gorgeous girl is almost in double digits.  She is counting down the days.

One of the things I enjoy doing with both of the kids is looking at what they are into ‘right now’.  Their tastes change so much from year to year so it is interesting to see what those changes are and what stays the same.

I wanted to make a real feature of the Maya Road journalling spots from the May Full Tart so I kept the layout base relatively simple.  BUT (hehe) I did draw a sunburst background using one of my new Studio Calico templates and stitched the sunburst in a nice subtle cream coloured thread.  I love the interest and texture it adds to the background as well as providing a way to draw the focus to the photo.

One of the things that has not changed over the years is my daughter’s love of horses.  The Dear Lizzy chipboard piece was therefore an absolutely necessity on my page.  I added two chipboard pieces to signify wings on the horse because my daughter is also into all things mythological, including unicorns, so it has double meaning.

These days my daughter quite enjoys having her hair in plaits so a piece of braided paper twine joins that piece of the story.

I love the combination of the mint green with the neutral kraft/brown.  The layout is almost monochromatic in it’s colour scheme.  Subtle patches of yellow add a pop of colour.

Sigh…. these last 10 years have just flown.  She is growing up way too fast.

I have one more layout to share from the May Full Tart….. soon.

Thanks for stopping by .

I have owned a tub of clear embossing powder for months and months.  I have also had a Versamark ink pad for months and months.  What I was missing was the heat gun.  I managed to pick one up for a bargain price in K-mart a few weeks ago and have been itching to try my hand at a bit of embossing.

Choosing the May Full Tart from Lime Tart as my opportunity to experiment I combined embossed sentiments with some of the Dear Lizzy ‘Lucky Charm’ chipboard pieces.

For this card I stamped the sentiment with a coloured ink (water based) and used clear embossing powder.  It worked ok but I wouldn’t say it was the best ink to use.  But nothing ventured nothing gained, right?  (I did later try using a chalk ink with clear embossing powder and that worked far more successfully).

This was actually the first of the cards I made and the embossing is quite patchy and bubbly.  It is still readable but it’s not perfect IYWKIM.  I used a mustard coloured embossing powder with Versamark ink.

I am a bit in love with these chipboard pieces though.  The umbrella is very cute .

This one is my favourite.  I used teal embossing powder with Versamark ink.  I just love the super cute, super simple, super sweet message.

I used one of the journalling spots from the kit but just turned it over so that the printed side didn’t compete with the rest of the card.

The next project I want to share was a big experiment and one that almost didn’t survive the creative process.  The May Full Tart includes some paper twine.  I used some of it on a layout but I had this idea teasing at the back of my mind that I wanted to try.  I plaited the remaining paper twine and then created a little basket by wrapping the plaited twine around and around until I had a circular base – adding glue as I went.  Once my base was built I started to build up the sides, again adding glue to keep it in place.  Once it had dried I added layers of paint and mists until I obtained the colour I was after.  It took a long time to get to that point!

The Prima vine from the kit was wrapped around the top of the basket with extra flowers and punched butterflies added as finishing touches.

It was a fun experiment, although not entirely practical LOL.  But experimenting is definitely a way to open yourself up to new ideas.

I better get back to my scrap desk, I have procrastinated enough .

Thanks for stopping by today!

The heavens have just opened here in Adelaide.  We have had a lovely couple of days so it was bound to happen.  If it clears up for the weekend I will be happy.

Speaking of happy (hehe nice segue….) I would like to share another layout I created using the May Full Tart from Lime Tart.  While the kit has an obvious femininity about it I found it was also just as suitable for using with photos of my boy.

By keeping the background neutral and adding just subtle highlights of colour I was able to draw many of the Full Tart’s elements together without losing the fact that this was a boy themed page.

The Dear Lizzy ‘Lucky Charm’ chipboard pieces are fabulous.  I combined a few of the chipboard elements to create my title feature.

It is a relatively simple layout but it doesn’t feel empty.  I have added lots of all important journalling that also serves as a feature on the page.

I have LOTS more to share using this kit.  I will be back soon to share some more of those projects.

Thanks for stopping by .

The May Full Tart at Lime Tart is gorgeous!  And so me!  I love working with Lime Tart kits but when I get one that is soooooo me it is even more fun.

The May Full Tart includes Dear Lizzy ‘Lucky Charm’ papers and chipboard stickers teamed with some fun co-ordinating embellishments.

For my first page I had the idea to create a background from patterned paper strips only. 

I love the rainbow of colours in the background but it doesn’t feel like it takes over the page.  I have added stitching, ink and embellishments to co-ordinate with each of the different sections of colour.

I love the Dear Lizzy chipboard pieces.  I have combined a few of the chipboard pieces on my page with some twine and a yellow flower that was cut from the Prima vine included in the kit.

The little birdie paperclips are adorable. 

I love the combination of pastels with bright yellow and a touch of black.  Very pretty .

I have created heaps with this kit.  It was one of those kits where I had lots of clear ideas of what I wanted to create.  I will be back to share some more of what I created soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

The latest challenge at Scrap Africa is a chipboard challenge.  Design Worx sent the Design Team some chipboard to use on our samples for this challenge.  They have also provided a fabulous prize for the winner of this challenge.

For my sample layout I scrapped some photos that I have wanted to scrap since the moment they were taken.  But with these photos I didn’t want to just create any old page I wanted it to be the right type of page.  A page where I could really convey just how much the photos mean to me.

Almost twelve months ago I jumped on a plane to Brisbane to attend the Scrapbook Expo.  Those that know me know that I am more than happy to be a wallflower so heading to another state where there would be thousands of people I didn’t know was a big thing for me.  Staying with Kim Jeffress and her family was even bigger.  I’ve known Kim as an online friend for a couple of years and when she first offered a place for me to stay over the June long weekend I was a little unsure.  I didn’t want to barge into her home and her family and besides what if she thought I was a complete nutcase and couldn’t wait to get rid of me! 

Well I needn’t have worried.  Kim and her family opened their home to me and made me feel welcome.  I think it truly made the weekend that much better staying with her and her family rather than in some hotel room on my own.

One of the most fabulous things about the entire weekend was the chance to meet (most of) The Greatest View girls.  By the time I met them we’d been a part of The Greatest View for a number of months so I already felt a bond with them but to meet them in real life cemented that bond. 

When I created this page I wanted to incorporate a little bit of each of the girls into the page.  For Gail I had to use some of her fabulous Greatest View badges.

For Leanne it was all about the journalling.  For Kim it was chevrons and file folders.

And for me, well it has to be butterflies.

I loved that I finally scrapped these photos. I was really happy with the creative direction that the chipboard pieces led me too.  It just felt right.

If you would like to play along with the Scrap Africa chipboard challenge please check out the details (and the rest of the DT samples) on the Scrap Africa blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

I am very excited to share that I am now part of the Design Team at Blue Fern Studios.

Thank you Leslie for this fabulous opportunity .

May is here.  Eek.  I both dread and love May.  So far in the first 6 days of the month we have had a basketball competition, a Taekwondo tournament and my boy turned 8.  Today is my Pa’s birthday.  There are still 24 days to go yet though.  That means another few birthdays, mothers day, a couple of birthday parties and all of the other bits and pieces in between.

With all of this craziness I have not had a chance to hit the scrap table for a few days.  Double eek!  But I do have something new that I can share today.  The third challenge for the Scrapbooking Memories Masters was to create a layout and a card using a very fun pack of Amy Tangerine (for American Crafts) products.  I’ll start with the layout.

When we holidayed on the Gold Coast a couple of years ago we stayed at Ashmore Palms.  It was a really fun place to stay and there were heaps of fun activities for guests to join in with.  One morning my girl and I headed down for morning tea where we had a visit from Macca Macaw.  With his gorgeous bright colouring perfectly matching the Amy Tan papers I was able to capture this fun holiday moment.

I loved the embellishments that came with this collection.  Fun and versatile, I was able to combine elements to add lots of fun details to my page.

The one and only thing that I didn’t like was the American spelling of the word favourite.  I was all set to use a chipboard title for my page until I realised it was spelt “Favorite”.  I just couldn’t do it LOL so I used the fun striped thickers instead.  I layered them on some Kraft card so that they didn’t get lost on the chevron paper.

I loved the combination of bright, fun colours with neutral woodgrain and Kraft. 

As well as creating a layout we also needed to create a card.  I created a Valentine’s card with a twist.

I had not long purchased my heart confetti punch when I made this card.  I punched the hearts out and layered the entire top piece onto the green you can see underneath using foam tape.  I combined fabric stickers, cardstock stickers and layered stickers to reinforce the theme of the card.

I think it’s safe to say I loved this challenge!  From this point on the challenges have really sent me out of my comfort zone.  I look forward to sharing those as the months go on .

Thanks for stopping by!!