Scrap Africa Sketch Challenge

It's been a little while between blog posts, I know. However I have been trying to do a bit of creating in the background while keeping up with my extended hours at work. And hopefully with daylight saving about to end here in the land down under, my energy levels and sleeping pattern will return to some kind of normal state. However, life marches on and here we are in April already!

SCRAP AFRICA have a divine new sketch for you to work on over the next few weeks:

Now I could have happily went with a pretty, feminine page for this sketch, but to really challenge myself I decided on masculine.

I love this Smile

I chose do my background in blocks with different stencils for a modern/hand drawn feel. The little wood veneer cogs are from Prima. Some of the labels, Flair and wood veneer title are from Studio Fourteen40.

So as you can see, you can put your own spin on this lovely sketch. And remember that you don't have to create a layout, cards, tags etc. are all welcome. So pop on over to Scrap Africa's blog and check out the wonderful inspo from the other Design Team members.

SCRAP AFRICA #44

I was so excited when I saw Denise's amazing sketch for this new challenge at SCRAP AFRICA, I couldn't wait to use it for some photos I took whilst on our Summer holiday. Here is the wonderful sketch & I'm sure you'd agree that it is quite lovely:

I started with some sea-foam coloured paper from Authentique and added some texture paste with a stencil. The heart is hand-drawn then sprayed and splashed some glimmer mist all over the place. I cut a heart from some fabric and inked, sprayed and distressed it to add more texture to the background.

Behind the photos as well is some paper offcuts in the same sea-foam/pale aqua tones which I also inked. The flowers are Prima and the title is from Words or Whatever. I also used some Kaisercraft rubons on the background and a script stamp. The flair button is from StudioFourteen40.

I really hope that you get a chance to have a go at this sketch challenge. I'd love to see what you can come up with :) TFL xx

ARTastic's February Challenge

Hello again. Well February is here already and I seem to have a full calendar this month, which means I'll have lots of new photos to work with to keep my mojo flowing for the winter months. This month's challenge at ARTASTIC is a colour challenge.  I must admit that when I first looked at these colours I was quite stumped as to what to do with them. However I have this lovely photo of our Son walking along the beach at sunset on our recent holiday. The colours for this challenge reminded me of the sunset in this photo.

                         

I'm pretty sure that this is the first time I've ever incorporated the colour Pink into a masculine page, so hopefully I've pulled it off :D

I love working with white cardstock and as you can see there is lots of stamping, misting and texturing on the background. Here is the list of Products used:

Chipboard "Sketchy" frame: ScrapFX

Chipboard title: 2Crafty

Wood veneer year embellie & flair button: Studio Fourteen40

Lighthouse: Scrapmatts

Wood veneers cogs: Prima

PP: Stampin' Up!

Muslin, Glimmer Mist, Kaisercraft stamps and circle stencil.

Thanks for dropping by and please call over to the ARTastic Blog and check out all the inspiration.

White... with 1 & Sketchabilities

Good morning everyone, just a quick post this morning with my entry for the current combined challenges over at WHITE WITH 1 and SKETCHABILITIES.  These are two of my favourite Challenge sites, so I was very excited when they decided to collaborate for this month's challenges.

Here is the sketch from Sketchabilities:

 And here is the colour challenge from White....with 1

And here is my take:

As you can see I have rotated the sketch. The chippie circle frame is from The Dusty Attic and the wood veneer (Look) and the Flair buttons are from Studio Fourteen40

                                       
The little camera has been in my stash for ages so I'm not sure where it's from.

A few days before Xmas we made the long trip to Wagga Wagga for my nieces 21st birthday party. As you can see our beautiful girl is with us again after living in the UK for the last two years, so it was a very special road trip for the four of us. I think the five and half hour drive was nearly as fun as the destination, and we all took turns in driving (and getting breathalised), playing games, singing and generally bringing our girl up to speed on all the changes since she left Oz and comparing the lifestyles of living in a different country.

I'm pretty chuffed that I was able to get this challenge done this weekend. I hope you are all enjoying your long weekend and Happy Australia Day! Stay safe xx

SCRAP AFRICA #42

Well hello again everyone! I hope you all had a very happy Christmas and are feeling positive about the new year. I've been a bit remiss with my blogging of late as I'm sure you can all relate to given the time of year. Once the holiday season (and my work roster) settles down I'm hoping to be able to spend more time at my creation station. In the mean time I have managed to get my DT submission done for the new Challenge at SCRAP AFRICA.  A nice and easy sketch challenge for you to see out the old year and welcome in the new.

I decided to use this sketch for a few of my Christmas decorating photos. I will also be doing this Christmas' photos in PL style and I'll post some pics of the finished product in the next few weeks. So here is the sketch:

And here is my take:

I've used some items from a kit that I purchased recently from Studio Fourteen40 - labels, sequins, stars, wood veneer "celebrate". Gold is the "in thing" in scrapbooking at the moment and I love the look for special occasions. The pp is Kaisercraft and the gold doilies, arrow paperclip & red spirals are from my D-lish Scraps stash.  I do hope you can play along with us at Scrap Africa and it's a good chance to use some of your recent holiday snaps :)

Until next time....

Having a Flair time!

I'm super excited to be joining the Team at STUDIO FOURTEEN40.  I've been a fan of Sandra's wonderful products for a while now and I have a lot of her Flair buttons in my stash. I love using them in my Project Life travel albums and tucking them into "clusters" on my layouts. There is a Flair for just about every occasion in the shop. But the big news is that you can now get your hands on some wonderfully fun wood veneer products!  Check out the shop and keep checking back because Sandra will be adding some new Christmas products very soon.  In the meantime, here is my first Design Team layout using the "Everyday Hero" Flair.

If you have someone in your life that is a Hero to you, big or small, young or old, the Everyday Hero Flair is the perfect touch for your project. This is my Son goofing around in his Captain America shirt that was given to him as a gift. And apparently this is his Captain America stance! And because he has the ability to make me laugh so hard, I had difficulty in keeping the camera still to get a decent photo. But I managed in the end and ended up with a good pic to go with the Flair.  Here are some closies:

The chippy circles are from Blue Fern Studio which I've gessoed, misted and stamped. I love how the Flair fit inside the circles. I've gessoed the background to tone down the pp, added some plasterers tape and stamped and then flicked some mist and Glimmer Glaze around the page.

The quality of the Flair is exceptional, which is one of the reason I love them and use them so often.

I urge you to call in at the Studio Fourteen40 shop and check out the new Christmas products. And don't forget to follow the Facebook page for all the updates. I'd like to thank Sandra for having me on her Team. I'm really looking forward to creating some inspiration for all her clients.

Thanks for looking :)