31 July 2015

Stuck?! Sketches - 1 Aug 15 ..... Inspire


The month of July is traditionally a crazy month in Defence .... there is no time to pursue hobbies or plan any down time .... it's rush rush rush - end of financial year, new budgets, taxes to complete and of course posting season. That time of the year when your next location is sent out and you start to plan another move. It can be really tough for those with children. It means new schools, day-care, friends, medical support - it's very intense. As I approach my retirement I look forward to nesting in my own 'forever' home and scrapping all day if I want to :) What a heavenly thought. This time next year.

 
Notwithstanding I was totally thrilled to be asked as a Guest Designer for Stuck this month. I'm fairly new to Blog competitions and finding Stuck was a wonderful piece of luck. I love everything about the bi-monthy designs Laura creates. You'll see I'm quite literal in my interpretation - I really exercise the OCD part of my brain when I complete my pages.
My style can be somewhat eclectic (depending on the subject) but my preferred style is either vintage shabby chic (I love flowers and bling) or the cleaner style I've used on this page - punch work and a focus on colour/pattern matching. This is a picture of my older daughter Alison (an Army Nurse serving overseas) and it has become something of an 'in joke' between herself and her husband that he takes a photo of her taking photos.  I love this one - and the autumn tones of the papers and flowers seem to mix nicely with the photo.

I've used a Martha Stewart circle punch, and deep border punch for the cut work. Paper is a lovely collection from First Edition called Boho Chic (nice thick cardstock quality double sided papers). The flowers are Prima and the bling is from Kaisercraft. My frames are from a terrific Aussie company called Scrapmatts ..... I've run them through the embosser for added detail. I really love vellum in a big way  - been experimenting over the last twelve months - this paper (which comes in many thicknesses) is wonderful for printing messages or inking. It's amazing to print photos on too.

Well .... thank you for stopping by. I hope you like my interpretation of Laura's lovely sketch for this month.