CSI Case File #103

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas! Now that it's over and a new year is looming I wanted to get my entry in for the current CSI: Colour, Stories, Inspiration challenge. I don't normally leave it to the last minute but I was waiting on a couple of little embellies that I wanted to use on this page which hadn't turned up before I went away for Chrissy. I've used a lovely sketch from Page Drafts (thanks Em!). If you are trying to find some inspo for your Christmas layouts, pop over to Page Drafts website or have a look at their Facebook page and you'll find quite a few sketches and some wonderful samples. Here is the sketch I chose:

And here is my take on the Case File:

The lovely red check star is from Nicole at Craft Queen (thanks Nicole!). She also sells the same design in a little reindeer.

The title and birdhouse is from WOW (Words or Whatever) and the lovely button is from A Piece of Cake Designs.

Thanks for dropping by. Have a very happy and creative 2014! :)

Scrap Around The World

Despite the crippling heat today, after many days of procrastination about this months challenge, I had an epiphany! The Mood Board over at Scrap Around The World is so very pretty and I really wanted to have a go at it but was quite daunted by the colours and objects. Also the quality of work by the other entrants is so amazing, so I kept telling myself that I didn't have time to fit it in before Xmas. However last week I received some new Mr Huey's mist from Craft Queen and while I was experimenting with them I realised that two of the colours, when sprayed together reminded me of the colours in the Mood Board for Scrap Around The World. I also discovered a few embellies in my stash that would suit the project as well. Once I chose my photo I actually had this page finished in under an hour! A record for me :)

The sketch is optional, and since I've done quite a few sketch challenges of late, I decided to just go with the Mood Board.

My inspiration from the Mood Board was not only the colours, but the books and frames. I thought the books were appropriate for a photo of a University town and the Prima Window embellie reminded me of the windows in some of the Colleges that we saw. I received a gift during the week that was tied together with the cream coloured wire which I've utilised here.

The photo is matted onto a piece of canvas which I've sprayed and the other layers behind the pic are from KaiserCraft, washi tape etc. Check out the cute little wooden boat by Studio Calico (purchased from Craft Queen).  I've gessoed it, sprayed  and added an ink outline.

I'm so glad I bit the bullet and had a go at this. Thanks for looking and I hope you can take the time to leave some blog love :) xx

CSI #102

Three blog posts in one week! Phew! I'm on a roll for once and I've posted my entry into the latest challenge over at CSI: Colour,Stories, Inspiration  This is the Case File including a fantastic sketch from Em Stafrace:

Here is my take:

This is another layout using KaiserCraft Base Coat, perfect for the theme. I've used ScrapFX Gum Leaves and KaiserCraft bird.
This is our girl giving some love to a gum tree that we found at Kew Gardens near London. She said "I can smell home!" and sure enough around the next bend in the path, we came across a stand of gum trees. She couldn't get enough of the smell and even made me take a very small branch of leaves & carry it around in my hand bag all day just so she could put them in a vase in her room. Apparently they lasted for weeks. Note the sunny weather; about an hour after this pic was taken it was positively gloomy, but perfect weather for our stroll through the Gardens :)

Thanks for dropping by, but please let me know that you have :)xx

Once Upon A...Sketch

Here I am back again. I've finally been able to catch up on some of the challenges that I wanted to enter. This one is for Once Upon A.....Sketch  The theme this month is "My favourite month".

This is my layout about my favourite month of the year with a photo I took at Taronga Zoo a few months ago. This little guy was just hanging around begging me to take his photo :)  The journalling reads "October is my favourite month of the year. A time for fresh, new life. It's also the month when I became a Mum for the first time (all those years ago). A Spring baby; perfectly fresh & new."

I'm so glad that I can finally use these Manor House flowers that I've had for yonks. I've sprayed them with a bit of Glimmer Mist & Gesso as well. The page frame is from an old Websters Page which I thought went well will the KaiserCraft Base Coat paper. Take note of the little owl tag - I came across a pack of these in a little gift shop in London & of course couldn't resist because of the owl but also who doesn't love a tag or two? :) I'll be back in a little while with my entry for CSI #102.

Paper Players....

Welcome to Wednesday (already!). It's been a while since I've entered a challenge over at The Paper Players. I love their current challenge. I can't remember ever doing a white-on-white card, but I have a family member celebrating a birthday next week so thought it would be appropriate:

The flowers look a tad cream in this pic, but they are really white :/ anyway thanks for looking xx

Off the Rails Scrapbooking Challenge

It's not often you come across a challenge that is a "free for all". And it's probably perfect for this busy time of year. The Team over at Off the Rails Scrapbooking have some lovely inspiration if you're really stuck but "free for all" means just that.....do whatever takes your fancy. In my entry I've used heaps of goodies from the lovely Nicole at Craft Queen: some new Teresa Collins pp (Memorabilia), Prima flowers & timber word, Craft Queen Ric Rac & bakers twine, American Crafts alphas, WOW Chipboard arrow/word, Scrapmatts word,Washi tape.

Thanks to Steve Hill for the photo once again. This is a pic of my DD when they visited Verona earlier this year for a wedding. The butterfly was from a pack I purchased at the Brisbane Expo but I'm sorry I can't remember which company :(

Thanks for looking. I hope you get a chance to enter this challenge :) xx

Kraft It Up December Challenge

Super Sunday everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your lead up to Christmas. Now that my Card Making Frenzy is over and I have wrapped the pressies, I can now concentrate on this month's challenges.

It's been a while since I've had the time to enter a challenge over at Kraft It Up but when I saw this month's criteria where I could include my fave colour of Aqua, I had to have a go. The current challenge is:
AQUA/KRAFT/WHITE/SILVER or PINK/KRAFT/WHITE/GOLD.

I'd forgotten how well Aqua goes with Kraft. I was inspired by one of my favourite Christmas songs for this layout and I have lots of lovely winter photos of my DD to scrap (thanks once again to Steve Hill for the beautiful photo). For the background I've used a Kaisercraft Diamonds stamp with paint, white tissue paper which I've sprayed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Aqua cardstock, Silver ribbon, corrugated cardboard dabbed with white paint, leaf flourish die, doilies and silver stars.The little Xmas tree is from Craft Queen as is the little Prima key & lock all of which I painted with Pewter Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze. The white metal photo corners are from Scrap Matrix and flair button is from A Piece of Cake Designs. I dug out my white gel pen and used my own hand writing (always risky).

I also doodled around the stars to make them stand out more.

So thanks for calling in. I hope you get a chance to leave a comment. Have a great week! :)

Special Scrap Case File 365 - 3

Hello everyone! It's very unusual for me to be posting this time of week, but my work hours have changed (again!) and found that I had time today to have a go at the Special Scrap 365-3 over at CSI: Colour,Stories, Inspiration in collaboration with the UK Magazine Scrap 365. I was able to pick up this magazine while on my visit to the UK and it is a lovely magazine - I was pleasantly surprised. This is a monthly challenge which gives one a bit more time to play with it.

What a pretty colour scheme! Not my usual palette but it seemed to flow once I decided on my photo & background paper.

This a lovely old bike we came across in Oxford where there are just as many bikes as there are people, but I guess it's the easiest and cheapest way of getting around in this University town. As you can see it has a lovely cane basket attached full of lovely plants and a pretty pink Cyclamen, which grown wild under the trees over there during Autumn.

I've used a CW stencil and mixed yellow paint with the texture paste. Also a bit of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist on the background. This is my last sheet of Kaiser Base Coat in the brick pattern :(  will have to stock up again because it's so versatile. The pretty little bird is from Craft Queen, it's made out of wood but has a lovely fabric texture to it. The large flower is from Manor House and I'm not quite sure about the smaller flowers as I've had them for ages.

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave a comment if you can :)

CSI #101 Fun Together

After a full-on creating day yesterday, I'm surprised to find that I had time to tackle this week's CSI Challenge -
and a lovely palette it is this week!

The Case File was a perfect fit for the photo that I wanted to use. Unfortunately the photo isn't good quality but I did with it what I could.

I've used some of my new washi tape on this which is brilliant when you don't have the appropriate paper for what is required. The cute little Xmas tree is from Craft Queen which I coloured myself. I'm a bit in love with the snowflake die that I invested in from Spellbinders which has 5 different sized snowflakes so they can be layered or used by themselves. Had a lot of fun as usual with this Case File.

And in case you're wondering, I do have more than one child, but my male offspring fails to supply me with a decent photo of himself, so I have placed a special request and hopefully I'll get something I can work with very soon :) Plus our two travellers are supplying me with such wonderful photos I have trouble choosing which ones to scrap :/  Until next time......

White with 1 Dec Challenge

The White with 1 challenge for this month is White + Banana. In the past I've tended to steer away from yellow on my layouts, but I've been forced to use it on several occasions lately and I must say I'm feeling more confident with the colour now. So I was a bit excited to have a go at this challenge.

We visited the Banqueting House on Whitehall in London during out trip, and what a lovely treasure to find!!
It is the only remaining portion of Whitehall Palace, which was burnt to the ground way back when. They now hire this building out for functions, but the most amazing thing about it is that the ceiling is covered with the most beautiful paintings on canvas by Rubens and has been there since 1636 if you can believe! Outside is the spot where poor old Charles I was excuted in 1649 after he lost the Civil War. Anyway enough of the history lesson, they supply bean bags so that visitors can lie on them to gaze at the ceiling while listening to the audio guides. We were so tired this day, and it was a tad cold outside, that we almost fell asleep.
Here is a pic of the ceiling that I took:

Apparently it's a magical place when decorated for weddings :) so romantic! This photo really doesn't do it justice unfortunately.
So back to my layout, I recently purchased some Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze which I've used for the paint drops. It dries quite glossy which doesn't show up here. I also blended some into the background which has a very subtle embossing on it. I'm looking forward to using the Glimmer Glaze on some of my chipboard products. Well thanks for looking once again. Until next time....

ORANGE PAPERIE & CO. DECEMBER CHALLENGE

I'm trying to get my head around the fact that it's December and the very last Challenge for OP&Co 2013.
The very talented Kim Ewins has set a lovely one for this month - WHITE, GOLD & SILVER. It doesn't have to be Christmas related either, so it's super easy. Here is my Design Team contribution:

I love this little ScrapFX chippie heart. I embossed it with silver embossing powder. The silver button I bought at a discount store ages ago & threaded it with gold cord & I've tucked in some muslin as well. The stars I've had for years & I punched some dots from the same glitter paper with a hole punch to mix in with the stars.

In two opposite corners of the page I dotted some glue randomly & added some glitter. I also used texture paste with a couple of CW stencils to give some texture behind the photo.

It would be great to see your creation over at the Orange Paperie & Co this month. You have until the beginning of January, so I'm sure you'll have a precious photo or two of your family and friends over the holiday period. Thanks for dropping by :)