Christmas Tree

I had the pleasure of attending a class at Bella Paperie recently - our project this lovely Christmas 'Tag' Tree. Created by the ever delightful 'Pink Donna' nine of us beavered away under her excellent tutelage for about seven hours to produce our medley of tags. There were lots of special little hints and tips - as well as some excellent recipes for sprays (you've just got to love Isocol).

Now I've completed by first one I can't wait to make several more as gifts to friends. I've placed my order for several more trees (made privately) and intend to commence work in late September. We were extremely lucky in our class - Donna and her very supportive husband completed all the die cutting before we had arrived - there are around 200 die cuts in the project ....... multiplying that by nine is mind boggling. The photos aren't the best - I needed ore light - but I'm sure you can see all the details.

The tag dies are both from Sizzix - a couple of the old thick red ones. You just can't get a good clean cut in thick chipboard using the new thin dies on the market now. Products included Shaved Ice, Folk Paint, Inka Gold and a varied collection of bling and metal embellishments.

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.

Stuck?! Sketches - 15 June 2015 Challenge

Once again I've completed the second challenge before the first this month at Stuck Sketches ?!

I always enjoy the challenge of multiple photos - I've been a little sneaky with this one .... I've printed a photo a little larger than usual and then trimmed it into three pieces.  I rather like the outcome.

I'm afraid the photo doesn't do the paper justice - light backgrounds can be tricky.  Perhaps the following close-ups will give a better idea of just how pretty this paper is - another First Edition paper pad (Isabelle). The flowers are all Prima and the pearls are Kaisercraft.

Thank you for stopping by .......

Scrapbookit June Challenge

My dear friend Heather is always telling me to pop over to Scrapbookit - which will be one of my local scrapbook stores when I relocate next year ..... and what a lovely surprise it was. I really look forward to joining the crafting community and I LOVE being able to go to a real store and shop online when I need to :)  The monthly challenge for June must include the following Adventure, Animals and Arrows - so off I went to find these great little photos of little Bree having the time of her life at at Australia Zoo.

I've used a lovely collection of prints from  a First Edition paper pad. I've added a little inking and layering with a Martha Stewart punch and a set of brown 'Thickers' (I love these alpha sets). A few word stickers from 7 Dots and some TLC assembly.

Of course it wouldn't be a page of mine without at least a couple of flowers ..... and a little pearl bling.  Hope you enjoy it ....thanks for stopping by.

Frosted Designs - Fabric Challenge

What a fun night I've had ..... !!  I'm off to hospital later today for a few routine tests (having been up all night taking my 'medicine' and enjoying the side effects). What's a girl to do??  Why scrapbook of course.  I'd noticed the lovely challenge at Frosted Designs last week but hadn't had a chance to do anything.  Well .... here it is - bright, flowery and loaded with lace and bling. Two of my favourite things.
 

One of Emi's favourite things to do is dig in Grandma's garden ... generally using my cooking utensils for tools.  

I've used bits of pieces from Prima, Bo Bunny, Zva and Making Memories ..... really bright pretty florals from K&Coy and Prima.

Thank you for stopping by .....

1 2 3 Get Scrappy - June Challenge

 
This months board at 1 2 3 Get Scrappy was a challenge in itself .... so many great lines to choose from - I eventually settled for polka dots, scalloped edge and a camera.

 I've used lots of pretty bits and pieces from all over the place.

 Found this wonderful old camera tag with my Graphic 45 stash. It seemed perfect for the old world look I was after.

123 Challenge Blog - June 2015

This months offering at 123 Challenge Blog is a great combo - I ALWAYS love using gold.








I seem to be getting into really bright pages of late. I usually like soft muted colours in the vintage shabby chic style but these terrific challenges are bringing out a new side to my scrapping. This is a wonderful photo of my three little Hill Fairies taken whilst they were laying on a trampoline.  It seems a million years ago - they are growing up so fast.

I've created a collage of Prima flowers, Kaisercraft pearls and some small metal embellishments. There is also some pretty Bo Bunny bling and a few scraps of pink muslin tucked around the photo with lace to soften the edges. I have a box full of WRMK tags - they are wonderful for cards and pages alike.  I couldn't resist this one - it pretty much sums up just how I feel about my little grand-babies. I added a little gold bling to the border.

There's lots of colourful stitching on the page - red, green and turquoise.

A few finishing touches to the corner of the page with some muslin and metal embellishments.

I hope you like it ....... It really was wonderful fun to interpret the guidelines.

Scrap the Girls - June Challenge

Once again Scrap the Girls has issued a wonderful (and very colourful) challenge for the month.  I confess I felt a little intimidated at first - although I loved the palette it was well and truly outside my usual comfort zone.

Notwithstanding I dived into the stash and pulled out some wonderful (old) and bold Daisy Dee papers that encompassed the bright and vibrant colours of the challenge.  I added a lovely piece of butterfly print from a Craftwork paper pad called Paradise to complete the look.

I adore this photo of Bree - she is a natural when it comes to photos.  She just has to look at the camera and you get a great visual.  She was poking her heard around a tree when this was taken.

Really enjoyed using some of my HUGE stash of metallic stickers - I added some Prima bling to add to the sparkle.

Martha Stewart 'around the page' punches and doily cutter with a little added dimension using layering and double sided foam tape.

 I mixed in a few pearls and added my signature white blossoms to complete the look.

Certainly not my usual vintage or shabby chic look - but i really did have some fun creating it.

The title says it all - she really is perfect .... the dearest little girl in the world.

She just LOVES to see my scrapbook pages .... especially when they feature her.

Thank you for stopping by ......

1~2~3 Get Scrappy . . . . May Challenge #22

I've just spent a lovely morning putting the finishing touches to my page of Cait to enter into the 1~2~3 Get Scrappy May challenge.  I love the whole concept of a tic tac toe board. This month I have chosen the diagonal line - 1 circle shaped photo, 2 lots of flowers, 3 die cut piece. 

The photo was taken whilst the children were camping at
Bestbrook.  Cait loves nature, flowers and sunshine.

 I've used my medallion and banner dies from LaLa Land.  Some fussy cutting of a hydrangea print paper.

The gold embellishment is a hand-made piece using fine beading wire and small bead caps.

There are lots of small pieces from bling from Kaisercraft, Prima and Zva.

A collections of flowers from Petaloo, Prima and my favourite wholesaler.

Thank you for stopping by .... I hope you like it.

White with 1 (May Challenge) - Raspberry Wine

It was lovely to have a few hours to spare and pop over to WW1 May Challenge (Raspberry Wine).  As usual I had all kinds of problems photographing the page (white backgrounds always prove difficult for me).

The photo is a great favourite - it was taken the day before I flew to the USA in 2009. I had just returned from an overseas deployment to the Middle East - the holiday was a great chance to relax. I took my eldest girl along with me (her first overseas trip) and my little 'Hill Fairies' spent nearly three weeks home with Daddy (the world's best son-in-law).

Emi and Cait were showing me all sorts of tricks on the trampoline - so I grabbed my camera for a photo only to have Bree yell out 'Me too' and dive into the middle of her sisters.  Life is full of all kinds of blessings (if you take the time to look for them) but having grand-daughters is surely one of my greatest.

I had a lovely collection of suitably coloured papers and I'm mad about my La La Land zigzag die.  Papers are an assortment of Lily of the Valley (from the UK) and a small piece of Bazzill. The small white flowers are Prima.

It's difficult to see the lovely stitching finish on this die - some of the pieces are double matted to add dimension.  Thank you for taking the time to look.

Where have the years gone .........

As I enter the last twelve months of my military service I am beginning to get quite excited about the idea of a new home - a lovely big craft studio and hours and hours to scrap, sew, design and just enjoy myself. Of course once you start planning ahead you often slip into reminiscing . . . .  so here I am at 40 - a photo shoot 'strongly' encouraged by my daughters (and I must confess I had fun). 

Flowers, bling, vintage and lovely papers.  I think its one of my favourite pages ...... or maybe it is just the trip down memory lane :)

+

I really love to create little details - I know most people don't notice them, but I just enjoy putting them there. Especially lace and bling.

I just love digging around for little bits of vintage looking metal embellishments.  Added to ink and vintage papers the theme comes together nicely (after all I am 'very old' according to my much loved and adored grand-daughters).

I have a wonderful flower stash - some of it Ive had for ten years or more.  I spent so long collecting bits and pieces before I ever got a chance to use any of it.  Some of my scrap pals shake their heads and wonder where it all came from :)







Well . . . . as always thank you for looking - after 18, 21 and 40 I'm guessing the next big birthday will be 60.