Scrapbook Socialites

It's an exciting day! Today I get to reveal my first post as a design team member for  Let's Craft and Create  and it's Christmas themed my favourite time of year!!!! I just love Christmas time and that excited feeling that floats in the air around this time.  Granted it's a really busy time especially for parents, but I really do enjoy creating and giving my own Christmas cards.  And so the reveal...drum roll please...... Ta da!!! I'm in love with so many of Christmas ranges that are out this year.  My favourite at the moment though is this super cute deer from Avery Elle.  I'm fairly new to this colouring in of stamped images - but I can sense a new addiction coming on. Here are some closer shots Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy crafting new year!

So where I am from it doesn't snow, wind and rain definitely yes but snow nah.  This particular year however we had a very rare event.  We actually got snow!!!!  Granted it wasn't a huge amount but it was enough to cause a lot of excitement - apparently it was the first time in 50 years.  For this layout I have used the left hand side of this double layout sketch from Let's Scrap I had lots of fun using all sorts of different mediums on the background some of which you can't even actually see anymore.  I started the background before I had really worked it out in my mind what I was going to do.  So I have used a Kaisercraft stencil along with Medium gel and also texture paste to create both clear and white snow falls. I was sent some Metallic melts from Tinby Designs and so I had a play with these too.  I hadn't seen them before so had to google it. Here is a link to a you tube video of them actually being used....and a close up of wh...

Do you have those family members that never seem to be around all at the same time...well I do!  Getting a full family photo is out right impossible.  It took like a million years to get one of my sisters and her kids all together to get a family photo.  I love though how this photo has captured a bit of light heartedness in all of them, so I wanted to keep the feel of that in this layout too.  I started with the sketch from Lets scrap   only using the left hand side this time though.   Hope you have a bit of sunshine in your day!

Yip its that time again, reveal time for Lets Scrap Sketches ! I seem to have a tendency where every second challenge I complete a double layout...guess what today follows that same pattern.  So here is what this has all been leading up to.     This was the first year that both of my babies were at the same school - so we had the double pleasure of watching both compete in their school triathlon.  I just love watching how their different personalities shine through - even at a sporting event. This layout was inspired by the following sketch.... Thanks for stopping by!

Hey Everyone - so someone suggested that I join in a L.O.A.D challenge for the month of October, it could be a scrap layout or a card etc a double layout was worth two days.  Sure I thought how hard could this be.....tell you what it's a good thing that I needed to produce a few extra cards for a gala coming up!  I had great fun doing this though, such a good way to work on those decision making skills lol. I know it's not October anymore and even though all my creations were shared with a LOAD Facebook group I thought I'd share a few here too.  Let me know which ones you prefer!     Camera box with mini album   This was from a Trina Mclune kit but I loved the contrast of pretty pink flowery and the typical expression on my daughters face!

I set myself my own challenge within a challenge this time around just to spice things up a little bit.  I decided that while I love building layers on my background that I was going to try for a minimal approach and resist the urge to keep adding those lovely layers!  So here is my inspiration piece for the Lets Scrap Sketches challenge. Here is the sketch that was my inspiration starting point. Now here's hoping that you can tell that it is the left side of the double layout that I have used for this particular layout :)

Life's little moments....we all have them and we all remember how those little moments help to create a bigger picture.  The second challenge for the month at Let's Scrap Sketches provided me with a great sketch in order to celebrate exactly that one of my life's little moments. Here is my take on the sketch challenge I enjoy creating my own backgrounds and building layers.  I started by stamping a chevron pattern in white paint, I wanted it to stand out rather than soak into the paper.  Then I started layering on top of this.  I used a stamp from Kaisercraft Scrap yard along with a stampin up alpha roller stamp.  I concentrated the roller stamp around the edges so as to create a sense of a boarder to the page. I added triangles from the Kaisercraft Attitude range, sewing these in place and leaving the threads for texture.  I again then used the stampin up roller stamp and went over the top of some of these. ...

It's that special time again.....the reveal of the next sketch for the  Let's Scrap  sketches challenge. So here it is....... And my take on this one..... I saw a tutorial the other day for some card backgrounds and this sparked my inspiration for my layout background.  While the tutorial itself was more colour saturated, I did use the colour application technique from it.  If you are interested to see what I am talking about, go to Jennifer Mcguire ink . So I started with the ink application using my fingers, then applied some ink to a stamping block spritzing it with water and pressing this down to create a more washy look.  I used the negative of some lettering chipboard and traced around some of the letters to add some interest.  And finally adding some directional stamping and texture paste and this completes my background. Happy scrapping everyone!

So here we are at the second challenge of  Lets Scrap Sketches .  Have to admit I was really quite torn with this sketch, initially I had intended to use this sketch to document a special event that both of the kids did.....but ....I was out running one dark morning and as I started planning the pages in my head, thinking about the kinds of papers that I had at home and what photo's to use etc and I couldn't seem to get past some old Kaisercraft Miss Match papers + embelishments and a photo of the kids with their cousins.  By the end of my run I had the layout all planned out in my head - completely different to my first idea.  It's amazing what you can achieve with some quiet alone time!  Hope you like it as much as I enjoyed doing it :)  Here is the fab sketch that sparked the inspiration for this.  While I have used the left hand side of this sketch I can also envisage many layout possibilities as a double or another single :) I lov...

Pssst Guess what - Big news..... I have been selected to be part of the Lets Scrap Sketches design team. Very exciting stuff I am looking forward to sharing my work and helping inspire some of you over the next 6 months.  Now for the first sketch for this term from Mich,      And here is my take on the sketch. I got to spend some really good girly time with my 6 year old daughter, it was a fun and some what spontaneous day - I wanted to capture this feeling in my layout with the use of colour and surprise elements. I really liked these hearts but didn't want them to be too bold and detract from the photo's, so I created some shakers out of vellum and for a bit of fun there are white beads floating around inside them too. 'Smile Crazy' I just love my coffee Here is have used some stitched stamps to draw your eye down the page.  I added some texture and softness by including some inked muslin between my layers. ...

I went to a class with the Artfull Crafts roadshow on Wednesday and had a good play with some mixed media products.  It inspired me again to get the canvas out and have a play with my own stash.  Here's what I managed to whip up. I just love the vibrancy that this projects.

Sitting in the office today my mind has wandered a little...ok a lot!  Thoughts have roamed from nagging the husband to finish off my craft room over the weekend, to 'oh I must make some father's day cards'....and then landed at one point to remembering some projects from the past.  So I thought I'd re-live some of those moments today!  Enjoy :)