Challenge YOUrself #74

Hello friends, it's long overdue but I've created something! And what better way to begin again than by entering a challenge at Challenge YOUrself. The due date is almost upon me so I knuckled down and got this one done in 45 minutes....a true record for me!

The challenge criteria is to find inspiration in the lyrics of the song "Hero" by Mariah Carey. This layout is in keeping with my current personal growth journey.  When I printed this photo of myself in front of this lovely mural in Canberra I knew that I had the perfect papers and embellishments to match. That doesn't happen very often for me hence why I completed it in super quick time.

Thanks for looking guys!  xx

One little word...

Hello, hello and welcome back. Instead of getting on to my memory keeping of some older photos, I decided to try my hand at the challenge over at Challenge YOUrself

It took me until now to work out what my "word" for 2019 would be, but like most things, it just came to me at the most random moment. I'm going to try to work more with 9 x 12in pages this year. They are so much easier and take up less space as well, and I pulled this layout together is super quick time. Also I couldn't resist using the "More than Words" kit from Cocoa Vanilla.....a truly beautiful collection and very appropriate for this Challenge.

So this year I've just got to remember to keep on keepin' on.  Thanks for visiting xx

Sketchabilities #152

I'm so happy to see Sketchabilities Challenges up and running again. I love using their sketches to give me a kick start and as a previous design team member I'm so happy to continue following the current design team's projects. 

Here is the current sketch:

I chose to use a photo I snapped whilst wandering along a bush track near the Blue Lake at Jenolan Caves, just before my brown snake encounter....eeeek! Lucky this water dragon posed for me beforehand, because a few minutes later I sprinted past him so fast that he wouldn't have been able to see me for dust! 

I've used the Kaisercraft "Road Trip" papers along with a few of my own die cuts. I also took a full-length photo of this little guy that turned out perfectly as well. Taken with just my old Sony point-and-shoot camera. Anyway this is the first challenge I've entered in almost 2 years, so it's nice to get back in the saddle :)

Stuck?! November Sketch

Hello again. I can't believe a whole month has gone by since I've posted here. Last month was quite busy in my neck of the woods with work, birthday celebrations and preparing for my annual scrapbooking weekend away. Hence there was no time to enter Challenges. So I'm determined to have a go at a few of them this month before the "silly season" decends upon us.

I always enjoy joining in on the sketch challenges over at Stuck?!  Here is the current sketch inspiration:

The Design Team inspo is amazing, so I do hope you get a chance to pop on over & check them out.
I decided to go with a large, single photo. I've hidden my story on a tag behind the photo at the top of the page. I've used the beautiful "Rose Avenue" collection from Kaisercraft along with some Kaisercraft stamps.

I've used quite a lot of 3D foam mount tape to make all the roses "pop".

Hopefully this will be the first of a few Challenges that I have on my "to do" list this month, but I'll wait & see if time permits because I'm in the midst of recording our trip to France (via PL) from earlier in the year. As usual it has become bigger than Ben Hur & I have quite a lot of work to do on it.  Thanks for looking xx

                           

Stuck?!

G'day everyone and welcome back. Today I'm sharing my take on the mid-month sketch over at Stuck?! Sketches.   This one took me out of my comfort zone a tad which is always a good thing. However it turned out a lot busier than I originally intended. Once I started playing with some Colour Blast texture paste and the Flutterby Designs goodies I just kept going.

It's very rare that we get a chance to have these cousins photographed together, so when the occasion presents itself we really make the most of it.

I used a stencil to throw some texture paste and Flutterby Design paint onto the background and then got out a border punch that I haven't used for ages, plus a few Kaisercraft dies. I've also used Flutterby Designs cards, Flair and Tags. I'm trying to really use lots more colour in my layouts this year, even though it makes me nervous :)  It's a sad fact that I'm really not good at colour coordination.

There is lots of inspiration over at the Stuck?! blog if you are Stuck for ideas :D  

Thanks for looking xx

Kraft Plus August Challenge

Hello again fellow paper lovers! Sandra and the team from Kraft Plus Challenges set a very interesting Challenge this month. When I first looked at the inspo board I really didn't think I would enter this time around. But after some consideration I decided that I shouldn't let it daunt me so here is my take...

After making a complete mess of my first attempt and having to completely start over, this is the finished layout.

The journalling reads "These lovely palm tress in Barcelona really captured my eye until I noticed they were guarding a magnificent frescoed wall".  We were escaping the heat and  having a sneaky drink in a cute little bar just near the Palau de la Musica, when I found myself staring at these trees. It took my mind a few minutes to register that the building behind them was covered in some amazing paintings. Below is a photo I took of the Palau de la Musica Catalan, just opposite the bar.

Thank you once again for looking xx

July Challenges

Hello again and thank you for calling in. While I'm finally on a roll with my creativity I wanted to have a crack at doing a few more challenges but the month is almost up so I'm combining this layout with three Challenges. I don't normally do this but time is of the essence. When I saw the new Challenge over at More Than Words I just had to join in with one of my recent travel photos. Criteria: the word "Explore" and the use of Arrows. I've used the word "explore" at the bottom of the photo of me if you look closely.

The next Challenge I wanted to join in on is the one over at  Challenge YOUrself. Criteria: Use your own handwriting in your journalling.

Now to achieve the first two challenges I needed some sketch inspiration, so I'm also joining the mid-month challenge over at Stuck?!   I can always rely on the girls at Stuck?! to get my imagination into gear and this one's a beauty!

So here is my entry.  I've used two photos on my layout because I wanted to use the full size pic of the Cathedral as well as the close up of me resting at the entrance. I kinda got carried away with my ink splats...eeek! I do love getting messy with ink though :D

So there you have it. It's so therapeutic being able to create again.

STAYED TUNED as tomorrow I'll be posting a review on how I went with journalling my travels whilst on the go...achievable?  You'll find out the answer right here tomorrow :)

Back to reality...

Well hello everyone! It's been a few months but after galavanting around France and Barcelona for six weeks, then a family wedding away and work committments I've finally been able to do some creating. There are so many wonderful challenges out there this month I didn't know where to start! I haven't created a layout for many, many months so I kept procrastinating about it until I forced myself to just sit down and start something. I can always rely on Kraft+ to give me a kickstart. Here is their July Challenge:

This was more difficult than I first realised, mainly because I haven't used flowers for quite a while let alone with a Kraft background. But whilst in Singapore we visited the beautiful Gardens by the Bay and I took this photo in the Bloom Dome. I think it is the most perfect Rose and the colour is so very pretty and of course I wanted to showcase this magnificent bloom.

 Nature in all her stunning glory

I haven't used any pattern paper on this layout at all because I didn't want to distract the eye from the photo and the die cut is quite busy in the background.

The inspiration over at K+ is amazing so if you haven't visited them this month yet, pop on over and take a look.

I'll be back later with photos of my travel journal in its finished state and if you're interested I have posted a few photos from our travels on my FB page, but I'm sure you'll be seeing them here as I get them ready into my PL albums. Thanks for looking! xx

D-lish Scraps Pretty in Pink

Two blog posts in one day! It's an absolute miracle :D  I love D-lish Scraps' Challenges but I rarely get to participate, like most other Challenges. However, I knuckled down today and got this one done.

Isn't it pretty!!  I don't usually use a lot of pink in my layouts but I had the perfect photo for this Challenge. The sketch helped as well.

I've pretty much followed the sketch as is and included the required shades of pink and added some butterflies. Of course I had to include a D-lish Typewriter Flair as well :)

This photo is all about the pink hat. DD's dress was white lace and her newly acquired hot pink hat gave her quite a "boho" look. I added some white lace to the page inspired by her dress.

I'm sure that'll be enough pink to last me a while now :D   Thanks for looking xx

Scrap the Girls March Challenge

Hello everyone! It's been quite a while since I've joined in on a Challenge over at Scrap the Girls, and so while browsing a few of my favourite online Challenge sites, this particular Challenge jumped out at me.

Let me assure you that I do not do Selfies. Mainly because I'm useless at it and manage to make myself look like either a criminal, deformed or something the cat has dragged in off the street. But my DD however is great at it and she took the most amazing Selfie whilst on a recent trip to Cambodia and Vietnam. Her and her partner we invited to a local Cambodian home for dinner. The house was full of extended family and as usual my girl was a magnet for all the children of the household (hence why she's a teacher).  This is the result of her whipping out her phone to amuse them:

Such gorgeous little faces!  I've used the Kaisercraft Hanami Garden Collection for this layout and the beautiful lace was an added addition to the Kit from the February Creative Kit Club.

Thanks for looking once again xx

Kraft Plus March Challenge

Finally I've had the time to sit down and just create! Oh the freedom!!! It's so good for the Soul. After attending to a few committments this morning I jumped into the latest Challenge over at Kraft Plus - A Denim Revolution.

I didn't have any old denim fabric lying around so I went with the Denim paper. It's not very often I get a photo with my Dad, so I will cherish this recent photo of the two of us.

I used some Colour Blast Shimmer Dust in Navy on the background along with white paint and red ink. I also die cut the Mandala with the Kaisercraft Mandala Die.  I hope you get a chance to join in this month over at K+.  Thanks for looking xx

Kraft Plus February Challenge

Hello everyone. You know, living in the 21st Century has its advantages most of the time. Hell, they even put a man on the moon almost 50 years ago for goodness sake. You can even get internet service on the back roads of Vietnam whilst risking your life in their dodgy public transport. So I ask you....how is that when I request  my telco provider in a civilised Country like ours to connect me to the "new whiz-bang NBN" the outcome is that they cut off my landline and internet completely!! Yes folks, the reason for my online absence is that for more than a week now I have been without internet/phone service.  WTF!!!  I know I live in a regional area, but I do live in a significantly large town that now supposedly has NBN connectivity. Why, why, why is it so hard for someone to do the job that they're being paid to do?!  So this little rant is coming to you from a borrowed service, so I must get on with it.

My entry for this month's Kraft Plus Challenge:

This did not have to be a beach theme, but I get so very few chances to scrap beach photos that I just had to go with that theme.

It's been a little while between layouts, so I really relaxed into this and had it done in no time.

I'm not usually big on the story-telling side of things, but I wanted to stick with the sketch as much as possible.

Thanks for looking. Until next time when I'll hopefully have internet service in this Century sometime xx

Last minute Challenges

I hope you're all having a great weekend so far. The relentless heat has kept me indoors most of the day so that means I can visit my creation station without the guilt. This time I'm entering two Challenges. The first one is for Challenge YOUrself.  This one jumped out at me because of the song lyrics. I mean who doesn't like Louis Armstrong I ask you?!! And this is such an iconic song known the World over. My inspiration is the word "Wonderful" and how I'm trying to appreciate the fantastic Country that I live in as well as my own personal World. When I'm visiting places in my own Country I really do sometimes think to myself how wonderful it is and how lucky we are.

The second Challenge is from Picture This! Challenges. A chance to play with some mixed media....yay!! soooo much fun.

Here is my entry with a background of texture paste, stamping, Dylusions Paint and something new for me...glue from my new cordless hot glue gun. I've used the glue to add dimension to the page.

I painted the glue with Dylusions Paint "Dirty Martini".  I also watered down some of the paint and let it run over the textured background.

There's a lot of layering on this page, which I normally struggle with and I'm not afraid to admit that this was my second attempt. My first was a complete disaster but I managed to pull it apart and salvage a few things to add to the new page.

This photo of me was taken almost a year ago when we took time off to visit our Nation's Capital. I specifically went to enjoy a art exhibition that was running at the time and while we were there we were lucky enough to see Rob Thomas in concert. One of the best concerts we've been to. Such a nice guy and fantastic entertainer. I can't wait for him to come back to Australia again.

So that's my labour of love for today. If you have a couple of minutes to spare jump on over to both of the above Challenge blogs and check out the "wonderful" inspiration from the design teams. Thanks for looking xx

Summer Squeeze

Happy Australia Day to my Aussie followers and welcome everyone. I really wanted to join in on some challenges this month and the challenge over at D-lish Scraps really jumped out at me with all the beautiful colours. So here is the Mood Board:

Isn't it so pretty! And here is my take on it. Quite a busy layout for me, but I've been itching to use the Kaisercraft die cut circles. I've covered all the colour criteria as well.

A very different page to my usual but it was so much fun. Thanks for looking xx

Weekend Getaway Projects

Hello again everyone, it's been a bit long-winded between blog posts I'm sorry. However I'm just back from a wonderful weekend in the Blue Mountains with my scrapping kindred spirits. I just want to quickly share with you a couple of the projects that I made over the weekend. The first is my entry for the challenge at More Than Words .  For my "recipe" I used Die cuts (skeleton leaves), Flair, Flowers and Mist and of course the word "Delight".

Here is how I cooked it up:

I love an Aqua and White colour combo. The flowers, sequined bow & arrow are from D-lish Scraps. The photo is a one of my DD & her partner on their recent trip to Thailand. The photo isn't perfect, but it captures their "delight" at travelling to foreign shores once again. 

Again I've included a pretty cluster using my die cut skeleton leaves - one of my favourite dies.


The other project I achieved over the weekend was a canvas that I've been wanting to do for a very long time.

The paint brush is an old one of my Dad's which I grabbed from him before he threw it out. It has some lovely bits of rust and calcium build-up on it so I've tried to reproduce that on the canvas. Thank you to Mary Bennetts for the Title inspiration, Lizzy Hill for her colour and texture guidance and Cheryl O'Brien for coming to the rescue with the perfect Mist. It was a real team effort :)

The background is stenciled with texure paste and coated with a thick layer of Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint.

I had so much fun creating this and I can't wait to do another.  I'll be back in the next few days with a few of the other projects from our weekend away.  Thanks for calling in xx