Let's Get Messy!: April 2014

Monday, 21 April 2014

Another Birthday Card

So this was a birthday card I created for a friend which I was going to use as a Couture Creations DT project, then thought the flourish was from a July release date and only just realised it's actually an old product so I could have used it. Anyway, if you managed to decipher that rambling then good on you. If you want to just look at the pretty bright birthday card, continue reading. :)

The flower is handmade. They take a little bit of work but I think the end result looks pretty special.

Don't forget about my 5th blogoversary giveaway. Entering is really simple, you just need to leave me a comment on the giveaway post by clicking the image below.

Sunday, 20 April 2014

Craft Queens Christmas Cards

Here are some more cards I created at a class during a craft expo back in October which I only just found again while cleaning this weekend. We made the first three cards during the class from some Graphic 45 papers and washi tape. I added the ink edging and pearls just yesterday after finding them again.

The kit came with enough materials to make a some more cards, so yesterday I sat down and made three more cards of my own design. There are enough materials left that I could probably make a few more if I really wanted to. It's always good to have some spare cards in your stash.

Don't forget about my 5th blogoversary giveaway. Entering is really simple, you just need to leave me a comment on the giveaway post by clicking the image below.

Friday, 18 April 2014

Happy Good Friday Everyone!

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you are enjoying the opportunity to spend time with family or however else you choose to spend the time. I have spent today trying to get on top of cleaning the house, more specifically my craft room. I'm always mildly relieved when I hear other people confess they are a messy scrapper, as it makes me feel better about the fact I seldom put away my tools after finishing one project before moving on to the next.

However, upon viewing my scrap room this morning I decided it was simply out of control (a combination of note tidying up and still moving everything into the garage from the craft room which will become the nursery) and I had to spend today organising everything.

Yes, not only was my entire desk covered many layers high but I also leave things half done on the floor! The good thing about tidying everything up meant I finally got around to putting up a lot of the other display pieces I wanted on the wall. I've also realised I have lots of embellishments that I rarely use yet don't want to get rid of for some reason.

Whilst I was cleaning, I also found so many half-finished projects from various expos I've attended in the past year. I am notoriously bad about forgetting to finish a project if I didn't get it done in the class. To start with, I want to share a set of cards I did at an expo I think in October. I think this might have been a Kaszazz class but I can't exactly remember.

This easel card was fun and easy to create.

Because the expo was in October we did a Christmas card. I liked the idea of the different opening fold.

Lastly was a matching stamped card and envelope. I don't think this one really worked as a design even in the example. Overall it wasn't a class I would have chosen to take but I was at the expo with a friend and they were keen.

Don't forget about my 5th blogoversary giveaway. Entering is really simple, you just need to leave me a comment on the giveaway post by clicking the image below.

Happy Birthday Card - Couture Creations DT

You can never have too many spare birthday cards in your stash for those emergency situations, so that is what I've chosen to create for my second DT project this month.

1/ Trim a piece of black cardstock 13.5cm x 23cm and fold in half.

2/ Die cut the largest Scallop Rectangle from Damask Delight paper and adhere to the front of the card with double sided tape.

3/ Create your flower embellishments:

a) Using the Roses nesting dues, cut 3 x the smallest and 3 x the second smallest shapes per flower you want to create.

b) Paint the edges with white gesso.

c) On the + and X axis of the roses cut halfway to the centre, making eight cuts per die-cut.

d) Spritz all the petals with water.

e) Layer your petals into a cluster and pierce through the centre. Thread a stamen through the hole and adhere at the back to keep the layers together.

f) Curl the individual petals around the stamen and leave to dry.

4/ Cut a 9.5cm x 3.5cm strip of black Core'dinations Cardstock with a blue core, cut into a banner shape. Emboss this with the Jo Jo embossing folder, making sure it comes through with the raised design on the black side. Take your sanding block and gently rub this over the cardstock to reveal the blue core in the embossed areas. Adhere to the left of the card.

5/ Cut a length of pink washi tape into a banner shape and adhere slightly overlapping the black banner.

6/ Stamp your sentiment on white cardstock and cut to size. Apply some Glitzin Glamour to one of the words for added sparkle. Ink the edges of the card. Apply Gems to corners.

7/ Mount the sentiment on double sided foam and adhere overlapping the two banners.

8/ Adhere the flowers over the top right corner of the sentiment.

9/ Doodle a white border around the whole card.

Couture Creations Materials List:

CO723664 Who What Wear Collection, Jo Jo Embossing Folder

CO723545 12" x 12" Paper Pads, Damask Delight
CO723218 Nesting Dies, Roses
CO723047 Nesting Dies, Scallop Rectangle

CO721995 Gemstones Pink Flamingo
CO721971 Glitzin Glamour Crystalina
C0721964 Foam Mounting Tape 12mm
CO721985 Double Sided Tape 6mm

CO723060 Sanding Block

Don't forget about my 5th blogoversary giveaway. Entering is really simple, you just need to leave me a comment on the giveaway post by clicking the image below.

Thursday, 17 April 2014

Sewing Tags - Scrapmatts DT

For my second Scrapmatts DT project this month I finally remembered that I was meant to be creating a tag a month so have created a pair of sewing themed tags. Do you notice the fancy distressing on the dress form chipboard piece? This was created by dropping the chipboard hot embossing powder side down on my leg and then ripping it off, leaving a hash shaped burn mark on my leg. I highly recommend finding an alternative strategy to distress your own chipboard. :)

Scrapmatts chipboard used: CB1194 Sewing 02; CB3007 Tags 03; CB1065 Words 18 Elegance; CB6053 Dress Forms 04.

Don't forget about my 5th blogoversary giveaway. Entering is really simple, you just need to leave me a comment on the giveaway post by clicking the image below.

Wednesday, 16 April 2014

Unforgettable - Scrapmatts DT

I have now officially scrapbooked about scrapbooking - as my husband pointed out to me when I showed him this layout. :) I have had this fantastic photo from the 2012 Noosaville scrapbooking retreat I attended sitting around for a while and decided it was finally time to put it to paper.

Scrapmatts chipboard used: CB2003 Page Borders 02; CB6092 Ornate Frame 20; CB1198Scrap Words 06.

You can see in the close up that I have misted the pink title piece and the flourish has a crackle glaze over the top.

This LO was inspired by the Kreative Koncepts sketch challenge.

Don't forget about my 5th blogoversary giveaway. Entering is really simple, you just need to leave me a comment on the giveaway post by clicking the image below.

Tuesday, 15 April 2014

5 years of blogging and a giveaway!

Wow, can you believe I've been blogging for 5 years now? I know it surprised me to find out it had been that long when I sat down to write this post. I like to take this time to reflect on my scrapbooking achievements of the last year and my goals for the coming year.

So, my goals from 2013 were:

Continue to represent Scrapmatts to the best of my abilities - I had an amazing year in 2013 being on the Scrapmatts team, which was why I accepted a second term this year when they offered. I love their products but most of all I love everyone else on the team that I had have the chance to meet. It was so much fun (and hard work) working on their stand at the two expo's held in Brisbane.
Be in the top 5 at Once Upon A... Sketch - I've had this on my list for two years now and still haven't achieved it. Admittedly, last year it was partially due to how little I participated at that site. The winners are all such lovely, complicated layouts that I think I will have to be happy with just kicking back and admiring the winners rather than being part of them.
Win one of the Kaisercraft Monthly Sketch competitions - achieved! I think it was my 16th entry into their monthly competition but that's just a sign that persistence pays off. I won with Eros in April 2013. Still haven't used the collection I won though...
Work on developing more layers and details into my layouts - I think this is a continual work in progress. I have also accepted that my scrapbooking style just doesn't have as many layers as other people and am more accepting of that too.
Attend more classes and retreats - I returned to the Noosa retreat last year which was so much fun again, especially as I knew some of the other ladies this time around. I'm pretty sad I will miss this year, given I will have a 1 month old baby. I also went to the Brisbane Scrapbook Expo in June and did three classes there (which reminds me, I still need to finish two of those layouts!).

Hmm, what to set as my goals for 2014?

Complete more off-the-page projects - I'm really enjoying working on a variety of off-the-page projects such as tags and canvases so I think I'll try to do more of these.
Complete (ahem, start) Lynda's wedding album - a work colleague asked me to do up her wedding photos in an album before she went on maternity leave over a YEAR ago!
Continue to make time for scrapbooking even while pregnant/after the baby - I know my productivity has dropped recently as I've just been too tired or distracted with other things.
Win a major scrapbooking award at the Gold Coast Show - I have previously won Best Exhibit and Most Successful Exhibitor however these were a few years back. I would love to be able to win one of these awards again.
Apply for Scrapbooking Memories Masters competition - I don't think I will win but I've looked at doing at for a number of years and never given it a try. I think it would be good to stretch myself.

So to compare the statistics of my blog over time, here is a quick snapshop of my progress since I started doing these reviews three years ago:

Date	Pageviews	Posts	Followers
20-Apr-12	5736	264	50
15-Apr-13	26396	382	95
14-Apr-14	41240	454	98 (20 via bloglovin)

Wow, only three more followers in a whole year (two of those in the month too)? I think that definitely surprised me. The slower growth in page views and posts was to be expected though, as I've slowed down in terms of my creations in the past couple of months. Interestingly, stats show my visitors per month peaked in December 2011 and it's just been pretty much down will since then. My most viewed blog post is Playing with Seals and Dolphins from June 2010, which isn't even a crafting post! :(

Anyway, you can't have a birthday without presents so I've decided to host a giveaway which will run from now until midnight Australian Eastern Standard time on 15 May 2014. This includes quite a variety of bits and pieces including paper pads (12x12 and 6x6), chipboard shapes, Prima flowers, crochet doilies, flairs, stamps, brads and some extra embellishments.

The rules:

1/ Leave a comment on this post with either a) your own scrapbooking goal for this year or b) a tip to gain more followers.

2/ Competition is open internationally.

3/ If you share this giveaway (on your own blog, facebook, twitter etc), post another comment to let me know and you'll earn another entry.

4/ If you become a follower and post anther comment to let me know you'll earn other entry.

Friday, 4 April 2014

Laugh - Couture Creations DT Reveal

Hello and welcome to my very first reveal on the Couture Creations Design Team! For this project I have created a layout with a focus on polaroid frames, which seem to be a trend that is here to stay. Couture Creations has a specific Polaroid Film die (CO723525) but I have chosen to create my own using the square and rectangular nesting dies.

So let's get started on how to make this layout yourself:

1/ Cut a 5cm strip of black Core'dinations Cardstock with a blue core. Emboss this with the Jo Jo embossing folder, making sure it comes through with the raised design on the black side. Because of the slit in the top of the folder it's easy to get the whole 12" in a continuous pattern by running it through three times. Take your sanding block and gently rub this over the cardstock to reveal the blue core in the embossed areas.

2/ Tear this strip in half, working diagonally across the length of the stip. Adhere these two strips to the top and bottom of a sheet of white cardstock.

3/ Placed some Gem Stones in the centre of every second 'X' in the embossed design.

4/ Make your polaroid frame by selecting the size square and rectangular nesting dies that best suit your LO. I used the second biggest rectangle and third biggest square. Line them up and then tape the two long sides of the dies together so the frame wont move as you cut (see picture below).

5/ Pick three different double sided papers from the Damask Delight paper pad, chose carefully as we will be using both sides of the paper. I love the vibrant colours of this range so it was hard for me to narrow it down to three. Cut a strip of paper just slightly wider than your rectangle frame and die cut three polaroid frames from each strip. Make sure you keep the inner square as well. If you pick a paper with lines, make sure they are straight (I didn't quite get this right and it's left a confusing optical illusion in my bottom left frame).

6/ The layout only needs six frames so play around with your layout and chose which six you want to keep. You can see I've used the reverse side on some of the frames too. Once you've chosen the six you want to use, ink the inner and outer edges of them all with black ink.

7/ The two photo frames are the simplest one to create. Attach each frame to your photo using double sided foam tape to add dimension. Trim your photo so it doesn't show outside the frame. Adhere Pearls to the corners of one and a rub-on the bottom of the other.

8/ For the rest of the frames pick a contrasting centre square and tape this on the back to form backgrounds.

9/ Two of the frames have used Couture Creations die cut embellishments. The one of the left has a doily attached to the top. I have then cut the classy lady out of black cardstock from the 1950's Albert and Simonetta die. It has a lightly embossed area for the dress and hat which I have outlined in white gel pen and then coloured the interior areas with Glitzin Glamour in Lilac. The one of the left has the other half of the doily attached, along with an embellishment cluster of a Wedding Rose die cut and some flowers, finished off with a washi tape banner.

10/ To create the frame on the left, fussy cut some butterflies from the Damask Delight paper range. Mount them with foam tape to give the wings the illusion of curling up. Take a length of white cotton and curl it around randomly before taping in place to the back of the frame. The one of the right just has a cluster of brads and a vinyl flourish.