A fond farewell...

Hello everyone & welcome back to my humble blog. Now that December has arrived I can let you know (with a heavy heart) that I am stepping down from the Design Teams of ARTastic & Scrap Africa. It was a very hard decision as I have so loved being involved with these two wonderfully organised challenge blogs. A few months ago I returned to the world of study which is taking up more of my time than I anticipated. An opportunity arose for me to pursue something that I've been interested in for a long time so with that and working outside the home I struggled to give ARTastic & Scrap Africa the attention that they deserve & I am not one for doing things by halves. So to be fair to both Jane & Denise I have given up my Team position. I want to take this opportunity to pubicly thank both Jane Howden (ARTastic) and Denise van Deventer (Scrap Africa) for having me on their teams & for running such fun & inspirational challenges. I do hope that the New Year will bring me a few more hours in each day so that I can participate in their challenges. I hope that all of you will continue to support ARTastic & Scrap Africa & continue to submit your wonderful creations.

So without further ado, here are my final Design Team submissions.  The December challenge over at ARTastic is a Christmas theme with the criteria being GOLD. Here is the lovely artwork by Alice Ju:

Alice has really captured the technique of creating shine on the baubles and ribbons in this piece. Here is my Christmas tag on which I used gold texture paste & Inka Gold for highlights. I die cut the stars & the word "hope" & used aqua, gold & white mists & paint.

You really need to pop on over to the ARTastic blog & check out the beautiful DT inspo! I hope you will find the time to join in on this very easy challenge.

Next up is my final DT submission for SCRAP AFRICA This isn't necessarily a Christmas themed challenge, but another beautiful sketch by Denise. I've gone with a Christmas theme because it is my last submission. Don't let the hexagons put you off though! they are very easy to achieve or you don't have to use them at all, just go with however this sketch inspires you. Easy peasy!

I've gone for a Card using the lovely Kaisercraft paper collection "Silver bells". Lots of die cutting as well.

Check out the inspo over on the Scrap Africa blog! You'll see some amazing creations from the Design Team.

I will still be updating my blog as often as possible, hopefully with some paper creations, & I'm still working on our London album, so please call in from time to time & I would love to hear from you. In the meantime, happy creating! xx

Scrap Africa #63 Mood Board

Hello and welcome back!  This is a pretty mood board for your mid-month challenge with SCRAP AFRICA. If you love using flowers on your creations, well this is the challenge for you! Check it out:

Is was inspired by the pretty, feminine colours in this Board. I've used some lovely chipboard embellies from 2Crafty (one is looking a tad crooked in this pic but not IRL so not sure what has happened) and the chipboard title is from The Dusty Attic. I also used a stencil from Kaisercraft for the background as well as stencil from Donna Downey Studios for the flourish. The lace is from Craft Queen.

Some of the flowers and berry coils are from D-lish Scraps.

I really hope that this Mood Board has given you some ideas & I'd love to see your entries. You have two weeks to enter. Thanks for dropping by :)

November Challenges...

Yes I know! How on earth did November roll around so quickly! The only thing we can do is embrace it and what better way than to join in on some challenges?  Here is the new challenge at SCRAP AFRICA. Another stunning sketch from Denise:

 Here is my take on the challenge:   Wonderful Memories

I've used lots of Kaisercraft ephemera, 2Crafty Chipboard, Prima wood veneer cogs, crochet lace and some fantastic Graphic 45 month stamps. The clock Flair button is from Studio fourteenforty. I urge you all to call into the Scrap Africa blog and check out the most amazing DT inspiration :)


ARTastic NOVEMBER CHALLENGE:

And another truly inspirational piece of art that Jane from ARTastic has given us this month to follow. The ONLY criteria is to use flowers on your project. Have I mentioned before that I'm in love with the Dylusion's paints at the moment? I just had to have another go at them in my Art Journal for this challenge.

Here is the inspo by Emma Uber entitled "Weeds". A beautiful, colourful, whimsical piece I must say by this talented Australian Artist :)

Here is my Art Journal page. The quote reads "Your mind is a garden, your thoughts are the seeds. You can grows flowers or you can grow weeds".

I used my fingers to apply the paint and then added a few sprays of water to spread it around. I added some fluffy white clouds and stamped some birds, butterflies and a music note stamp to the background. The Chameleon Colour Tone pens came in handy to create some of the flowers and I used a punch to created the flowers from a piece of music sheet.

I'd love to see what you can come up with and I'm sure a lot of you just love including flowers in your projects. As a side note, ARTastic is having a Design Team Call for 2016. Jane and all the ladies over at ARTastic are so easy and fun to work with. Pop on over to the blog and check out the details. Applications close on the 15th of THIS month.

Thanks for dropping by and have a fantastic week! xx

Scrap Africa #61

October is flying by and before I know it there is another wonderful mood board to work with over at SCRAP AFRICA.  I'm sure you'll love this bright and pretty Board.

Here is my Design Team Inspiration: "Cambridge"

I really loved working with these colours. I've used the Botanical Tea papers from Graphic 45 and a bit of chippy in a brick design as well as a brick stencil and texture paste.

I fussy cut a rose from one of the G45 sheets, cut some leaves with a die and used 3D foam to mount them. I really hope you get a chance to play along with this beautiful challenge.

While I'm here, I'd also like to share with you another page from my London Pocket Page Album. I had a night shot of Tower Bridge/HMS Belfast enlarged and then I sliced it up to fit the pockets. I was really happy with the way it turned out. Especially the quality of the enlargement, because I took the original photo on my trusty little point-and-shoot camera with no tripod!

The very top of the enlargement was a bit too short to fully fit the top pockets, and it was only black sky anyway, so I cut it off and inserted two 6x4 photos that were taken on the same night. This is one of my favourite ways of displaying my favourite photos as enlargements in my travel albums :)

Thanks for dropping by. I'd love to hear from you, so feel free to leave some love :) xx

Scrap Africa Challenge #60

I'm back again today (can you tell that it's the beginning of a new month!) with the new Challenge over at SCRAP AFRICA and what a beautiful sketch Denise has come up with this time!

Just lovin' the circles! Here is my take using some of the fabulous chippies that I recently recieved from 2Crafty for winning one of their competitions.

I've used the chippy vine circles and chippy flowers from my 2Crafty haul and coloured them with water colours & a dab of Inca Gold here & there.

The pretty Flair buttons and flowers are from D-lish Scraps. I die cut the word "beYOUtiful" using a shining gold cardstock, unfortunately a bit hard to see in these photos.

So there you have it, my design for the current sketch at Scrap Africa. I'd love you to pop on over to their blog and have a go at this Challenge. Thanks for dropping by xx

Scrap Africa Challenge #59...

Well hello again and welcome back. Today I want to share with you the lovely Mood Board for you try your hand at over at SCRAP AFRICA.  Now I don't usually work with these colours very well, but this mood board is so soft and feminine I new exactly what I wanted to do with it when I saw it.

I decided to make a card using the Bokeh technique taught to me by the lovely Lizzy Hill. I was lucky enough to finally meet Lizzy in real life recently and spent a few days in a scrapping frenzy with her. Since then, I've been wanting to have another go at this technique using a different colour theme. Here is my inspo for this Challenge:

These colours lend themselves so well for Bokeh. I then added some die cut leaves and sentiment and a few flowers and silver ribbon. Don't forget you can take your inspiration from anything on this Mood Board, not just the colours if you don't want. Easy Peasy! :D

Go check out the Design Team's creations and we have some great Guest Designers as well. I'm looking forward to seeing your creations and thanks for dropping by!

Scrap Africa #58

Hello fellow crafters and welcome back to my humble blog. Here is another great sketch challenge for  SCRAP AFRICA. Denise continually comes up with the loveliest sketches and mood boards that are so inspiring. You just have to have a play with them!

I knew what I wanted to do with this one as soon as I saw it. I flipped it so that the pattern was vertical.
My inspo for this challenge started as a tag, however it somehow became bigger than "Ben Hur" and I transformed it into a card front, thanks to my tendency to get carried away. I made this at a recent Scrapbooking Retreat and I was so busy talking and sharing ideas that I didn't realise until it was too late that I'd gone a tad overboard for this to be just a small tag. A fellow crafter at the Retreat offered to buy this from me when she saw it sitting on my desk, so I decided maybe I hadn't gone too far after all :D

I've used my favourite Graphic 45 Botanical Tea collection along with a few odds and ends from Stampin' Up! and Scrapmatts. I also used my water colour paints to paint the chipboard pieces. All I need to do now is pop it onto a card ready for a special person to receive.

I hope you find something that will inspire you to have a go at the challenge and please call into the Scrap Africa Blog and leave some blog love in the comments section. TFL xx

Scrap Africa #57 Mood Board

Welcome back my creative friends! I want to share with you the amazing Mood Board for the new challenge at SCRAP AFRICA.  This will really lift you out of the winter blues!

I love these colours and coincidentally I recently recieved some paper from Studio Calico "Brighton Pier" collection and when Denise set this challenge for us I had the perfect paper for it....gotta love that!

I really like Orange and Pink together and it so happens that I have some pink and orange confetti in my stash as well, so I laid down some clear gel medium and stuck the confetti down along with some sequins. To break up the colour I added some black. The chippy circle "love" frame is from ScrapFX.

I added some bright green leaves that match the shirt I am wearing in this pic and of course I just had to add a gorgeous mini sequined bow from D-lish Scraps (one of my favourite products from D-lish).

I'd really love to see your interpretation of this mood board, just to get you into the mood for Summer :)  TFL xx

Scrap Africa #56 Challenge

Well hello once again and thank you for dropping by. Today I'm sharing my take on the new challenge at SCRAP AFRICA. Denise has once again come up with a delicious sketch for us to follow:

I couldn't wait to get stuck into this one, but I did get a tad carried away and my page turned out a bit busier than what I initially wanted.

I've used some old paper from Stampin' Up! which happened to be perfect for this layout.  I don't know about anyone else in the Southern Hemisphere but I am definitely sick of winter now. It has been a particularly bitterly cold time this year and I am more than ready for Summer. I took this photo recently on a trip I did with my daughter. I really like the reflection of the winter trees on the water in this pond.

I've used some green 3D paint on the chipboard branches, texture paste on the background as well as a bit of stamping. Thanks for looking and I really hope you are inspired by the sketch. Until next time...

Scrap Africa sketch Challenge #54

Hidey Ho, just popping back in to share with you the beautiful sketch that is up over at SCRAP AFRICA. Not only do we have a new, beaut Design Team (some of the most amazing scrapbookers from around the World), but our Guest Designer for this challenge is one of my faves, Cathy Cafun.
I have had the pleasure of meeting Cathy a few years back at the Brisbane Expo when I took one of her classes. A very inspirational lady I must say, so I was very excited to see her on our DT for Scrap Africa.

Once again our lovely leader, Denise has provided us with a truly beautiful sketch to follow for this challenge.

I pondered on this for a while and almost rotated it, but in the end I decided on one photo and some journalling. 

I've used Kaisercraft "Sweet Pea" papers for this layout on top of a grey cardstock with some texture paste and stamping on the background.

I have lots of Sweet Pea "collectables" left over from this collection. If you've ever purchased the "collectables" by Kaisercraft you'll already realise how much is in the packs. The bags seem to be bottomless! so great value for money :D

Anyway, it's always a joy to create a layout about my two favourite people. And I really hope you have a play with the sketch and post it on the Scrap Africa blog within the next two weeks. Thanks once again for visiting :)

Scrap Africa Challenge #53

Yes, well...it's Monday again!  But what better way to start a new week than with a new challenge over at the fabulous SCRAP AFRICA blog.  This challenge is so much fun, especially if you do a bit of travelling, check it out:

And here is my design:

This is the matching page to my previous layout for Scrap Africa. I so love this Echo Park Summer Adventure kit :)

The Flair is from D-lish Scraps, Title alphas are American Crafts Thickers.

Thanks for looking and I hope you can play along with this Challenge. Have a great week!

Scrap Africa Sketch Challenge...

Welcome back and thank you once again for visiting my little creative blog. Recently the lovely Denise over at SCRAP AFRICA held a Design Team recruitment call. Here is the new and fabulous line up:

We have some very exciting news...here is our new Design Team for 2015/2016!!!!

Regiane Thahira - Brazil

Anna Solnyshkina - Russia

Salla Porra - Finland

Asmah Zainal Abidin - Malaysia

Christina Panetsou - Greece

Marina Timofeeva - Russia

Yana Novykova - Ukraine

Eirini Tsaima - Greece

Elzbieta Noga - Poland

Marie Friant - Belgium

Jenny Andersson - Sweden

Beatriz Sanchez - Spain

Ana Paula Cardosa - Brazil

Joanna Solecka - Ireland

Jo Tritton - Australia - Returning DT

Asica Panewka - Poland - Returning DT

Ada Nicholls - South Africa - Returning DT

Arantzazu Sangrador - Spain - Returning DT

Julia Tsvetkova - Russia - Returning DT

Marina Gridasova - Russia - Returning DT

Nolene Burnett - South Africa - Returning DT

Olga Chyketa - Ukraine - Returning DT

Teri Reed - California - Returning DT

Channa Suitella - Netherlands - Returning DT

Congratulations everyone! ;-)

Such a wonderful group of talented paper crafters and I can't wait to see what they have in store for Scrap Africa. I'm so chuffed to still be on this Team and even more so because I'm now the only Aussie amongst all these talented people! Thank you Denise for having me for a while longer :)

So on with the new, beaut Sketch Challenge #52:

I love this sketch and you should call into the Scrap Africa Blog to check out how the DT have interpreted this. Here is my take "Cruise" 

I struggle a bit with using multiple photos so this took me out of my comfort zone - which is the whole point of "challenges"  :D  Anyway I used the lovely Echo Park "Summer Adventure" collection kit for the layout. Perfect for my theme. The Flair buttons are from Studio Fourteen40

and flowers are Prima and D-lish Scraps. 

We've always wanted to try an ocean cruise (we are in love with river cruising) but I have a notoriously weak stomach when it comes to the ocean so we decided to just do a 3 night "Sampler Cruise" with Royal Caribbean out of Sydney. I was fine while docked and I had the most marvelous cocktail (not a very flattering photo I'm afraid) but don't let that smile fool you. Once we were through the Heads, and despite medication, I spent the next two days alternating between the bed and the bathroom. DH had a lovely time going to all the shows and socialising....lol!  I ended up resigning myself to the fact that a sailor I do not make, and spent my time reading and watching TV. We had a lovely balcony but sadly the weather let us down. So I will be sticking to river cruising from now on. And as the saying goes "you never know until you go", so "been there, done that!".

I really hope you can join in at Scrap Africa for this challenge. I'd love to see your work. Until next time....Bon Voyage!

Scrap Africa Mid-month Challenge...

There is a new challenge over at SCRAP AFRICA and what a fun challenge it is! It's all about Retro!

 Don't you just love this Inspo Board?!

I used the Board to design a Retro card using the lovely Kaisercraft "Tea Break" collection papers, a doily from D-lish Scraps and the little retro plastic flowers and ric rac are from Craft Queen.

I hope you can join in on this challenge. If you are stuck for ideas call into the Scrap Africa Blog (link is above) and have a look at the fantastic designs from the Team. Until next time have a great week :)

Scrap Africa Sketch Challenge #50

Well hello again fellow crafters!  Finally my "magical May" has rolled around and hopefully I can now get back into some sort of routine with my creating. This new sketch over at SCRAP AFRICA is a real beauty!

I was so excited when I saw this sketch. I love doing feminine pages and I've had this Scrapmatts frame for so long, just waiting for the right project. As it is quite a large frame it took a bit of altering. I used some crackle medium on it to give it a bit of a weathered look (a tad hard to see here in this pic). This photo was taken in London when my girl and I were about to leave for the "Mad Hatter's Tea Party" at the Dorchester. Afterwards we went on to see "Mamma Mia" the stage production. We spent a good part of the afternoon at a local hairdresser being pampered by Romanians/Russians or the like who barely spoke English. They were the slowest hairdressers I've ever experienced! So this is us with our stylish hair and our Glad Rags on, waiting for our little black London taxi to whisk us away :)

The background paper is from the Prima Marketing Inc Romance Novel collection. The title is also by Scrapmatts.

This "You are Loved" flair is from D-lish Scraps.

I really love the little "Big Ben" embellie that my friend Helen Wallace sent me. Thank you Helen, it is perfect for this page!  I encased it inside an altered metal piece to make it stand out. All the flowers are from Prima and the pretty lace is from Stampin' Up!  I can't remember where the lace butterfly is from sorry - it's been in my stash forever.

Please call on over to the Scrap Africa blog and have a go at the new sketch. Until next time... TFL xx

Scrap Africa Challenge #49

It's the middle of the month again and that means a new challenge over at SCRAP AFRICA.
This one is a little different in that it's a "pencil" challenge:

"The challenge is to use pencils on a project". Make a card or layout or even an altered project, as long as somewhere on your project you have used pencils.

To give you some ideas, here is a super article below that was in the Jun/Jul Scrap365 magazine last year.

For this layout "Group Selfie", my title and background flowers are hand-drawn with pencil. I then went over them with a thin, black Sharpie.

I've used some old Websters Pages papers and cut out two frames and layered them using 3D foam.
This is a photo of me with my gal pals when we had a recent weekend away in the beautiful Blue Mountains. We all celebrate our birthdays within the same month so it is always cause for celebration ;) We had a lovely time wandering the boutiques in Leura with High Tea at the Fairmont Resort, followed by a lovely dinner. The following day we stopped in at The Hydro Majestic at Medlow Bath (where this photo is taken) for morning tea & more retail therapy before driving home. You can see some pics at the end of this post.

Champagne was awaiting us in our rooms - gotta love that!

The beautifully restored Hydro Majestic. The views from here over the valley below are stunning!

 

Trying not to act our age :) I fell in love with this huge chair & wondered if it would fit in my car - but the girls wouldn't sacrifice their places for it - how rude!

Inside the magnificent foyer. I think we need to stay here next time.

                                            

Thanks for dropping by & I'd love to see you join in on this new challenge at Scrap Africa. For more inspiration you can go to their blog HERE