Man of Steel - Scrapmatts DT

Does anyone else feel a sense of joy when they know they have the perfect photos for a particular challenge? As soon as I saw the challenge guidelines for this month's CSI challenge, I just knew I had to use these photos of my son with Superman that I'd taken just a few days beforehand.

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Being on the Scrapmatts DT, sometimes Sofie sends out surprises for us to play with. These are normally new products that aren't even listed on the website yet so it's always very exciting to receive these. In my latest package I was lucky enough to receive a couple of the new larger sized stencils and I've used ST9008-A5 for some white-on-white texture in the background.

Chipboard used: CB1233 Film Strips 06, CB6095 Assorted Words 18, CB1162 Assorted Words 08 and CB5138 String Circles.

This is the June challenge over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. Scrapmatts is sponsoring so you could win a great chipboard prize pack if you take part. For my layout, I've obviously been inspired by the superhero characters in the scene. My evidence includes the white background, speech bubble and stars. My testimony uses the inspiration words.

Happy 50th - Scrapmatts DT

I am definitely not a chronological scrapper, I just pick whatever photo feels right to me when I sit down. It was my mum's 50th back in 2010 and I've tried to scrap this photo from my mum's 50th a number of times over the years, but her shirt is a very hard colour to match. It's strange to look back at this photo now and remember the happy occasion of the event given that so much has changed since. I guess that's why it's important to include journaling on your layouts, so you can capture how you felt at the time without it being distorted.

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My second Scrapmatts DT layout is actually the one I created first, so it used the largest sized string circle and I haven't cut this one. I had a lot of fun creating that background circle with Gelatos but it did warp the page a fair bit. Some chipboard butterflies made the perfect scatter embellishments, I've coated them with dimensional magic to make them shine. I also used the poinsettia leaves tucked under everything because I think they look fantastic and I forgot to use them on the layout that I used all my poinsettia flowers. :)

Chipboard used: CB4071 String Circles 07, CB6115 Assorted Words 28, CB5144 Layered Poinsettias 01, CB1158 Butterflies 20.

Friends - Scrapmatts DT

One of the highlights of my recent trip to Hawaii was going to the Kualoa Ranch. Besides the ziplining being AMAZING, it is also just a stunningly beautiful location. We had this lovely photo taken of us during our ATV tour, with the forest and mountains in the background. I couldn't resist scraping up a nature themed monochrome green layout to match.

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I loved the original string circles when Scrapmatts first brought them out. Then Sofie and Andrew made them better by bring out new designs with dots, stars or arrows on the circles. Last month they expanded the range again to release a pack with larger sized circles! I fell in love and knew I had to play with them right away.

My circle for this layout looks a bit more like an oval, because I actually chopped it in half to open up that inside area a bit more. It doesn't go all the way around under the photos or the flower cluster. I love cutting up my chipboard to make it last that little bit longer or get it to suit my layout better. I've done the same thing with the leaves and the diamond background pieces. You can see what I mean in the photo above.

Chipboard used: CB4071 String Circles 07, CB6117 Assorted Words 30, CB1153 Leaf Spray 08, CB5125 Diamond Mesh 01, CB1209 Scrap Words 12. Stencil: ST1002 Stencil Diamonds.   

Just Ride

My mother-in-law is visiting at the moment and she encouraged me to make some more time for crafting while she looked after Harrison, who am I to argue? :) I snapped this photo of Harrison on my phone back in July 2016 and I just love it. It's the view I see so often as Harrison hops on to his trike and takes off down the road. It does matter whether we're just going around the complex or walking to a local park or up the path behind out house, he just loves an excuse to get out and ride.

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I tried my hand at creating a messy background but those cool paint splashes just didn't work for me. I think I might need to thin down my paint first? I've used lots of Scrapmatts goodies on this layout: CB5158 Triangles 03, CB1195 Silhouettes 03, CB1162 Assorted Words 08 and ST5018 Stencil Alphabet

The layout was inspired by the current Kraft+ challenge which was a kraft background and you had to use a bike somewhere on your layout.

Adore You

I was flicking through some old photos to see if I had anything to match the D-lish Scraps mood board when I came across a series of photos from Harrison's first swim. How hilarious does he look with that bald head and so much chubbiness?! This is why I print my photos, rather than just store them on the computer. I need to have them at hand and randomly come across them to scrap.

Chipboard and stencils are from Scrapmatts. Papers, title stickers and die cut frames are from Kaisercraft. I have used D-lish enamel dots and the seahorse flair from a past JAP kit.

I was inspired by all the geometric shapes in the mood board, so kept a lot of them in my layout. I also referenced the arrows and the frames. Such a lovely colour scheme.

Our Family

I saw a sneak peak of Kaisercraft's Sea Breeze range back at the start of the year on Instagram and I've been eagerly awaiting it's release ever since. I just love the large floral patterns, which I immediately thought would be perfect for fussy cutting, plus that beautiful turquoise colour pallet. Here is my first layour using this range, showcasing a beautiful family portrait by Divine Life Photography from Harrison's first birthday shoot.

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I'm trying to scrapbook on a budget at the moment to make me use up some of my supplies. I purchased the Sea Breeze paper pack and everything else came from my stash. I love those rhinestone swirls and even though my stash is running low I happened to have the perfect green shade waiting for this layout. The frames and tags are actually diecuts from the Blue Bay range but the colours matched perfectly. Kaisercraft stamp to add some extra texture to the background.

I based this layout on the April Kaisercraft Challenge sketch.

Love You

The Sweet Nothings Just Add Paper Kit over at D-lish Scraps was too good to pass up! I loved the colour scheme and the love theme, plus it made putting together this layout so easy. The beautiful black and white photo was taken by Divine Life Photography on the Gold Coast for Harrison's first birthday. The papers are a mish-mash of different Kaisercraft scraps I had lying around.

I love using these kits because I normally do alright getting paper layers happening but always struggle with the embellishment side of things. Here you can see the flowers, journal tabs, glitter edging strip, wood veneer, washi tape and doily all being put to good use.

The best part about the Just Add Paper kits is that they always match the mood board for the month, so I'm entering this layout in that too.

At The Beach - Scrapmatts DT

I live on the Gold Coast, which is known for being a coastal tourist attraction centre, so you would think that when Scrapmatts released a new Marine Life chipboard set I would be all over it, right? Wrong, I rarely head to the beach, largely due to my pale skin which goes from white to red in about 10 minutes flat regardless of the amount of sunscreen I slather on. The chipboard did look adorable though so I eventually remembered I had these photos from a morning stroll I did with friends sometime last year and set to work.

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All the chipboard comes from CB4067 Marine Life 02. I have used seven pieces on this layout and there are still fifteen left in the sheet!

I was inspired by the current sketch challenge over at Show Us Your Stuff for this layout. It's been ages since I played along with them. The pink/orange pieces have been coloured with Gelatos, the blue pieces with Glimmermist and the seaweed has been left natural in the white mist finish the sheet came in.

 

Scrapbook Boutique also have a sea themed challenge for January. Those cupcakes look amazing!

Say Cheese LO

 After doing a mini-Christmas photo shoot at home in December I snapped a couple of candid shots of Harrison and myself before I packed everything up. I loved how this one turned out, with his eyes locked on the camera and such a cheeky smile. This is the smile I get so often but it's hard to catch on camera.

I wasn't happy with the first version of this layout but played with it again today to add the title (over the old journaling) and added some new journaling. I like it more now. Does anyone else do that? Think that you're done with a project, only to rework it when you look at it again a few days later.

This layout was inspired by the mood board over at D-lish Scraps for this month. The colours are so bright and cheerful I just couldn't resist them, plus I really liked the sketch. D-lish Scraps is an amazing online store, I love their range of flare buttons and they have just released fantastic monochrome mini-kits. They also have a huge range of very affordable flowers and cheap postage. My flowers on this layout (and most of my recent projects) are from the store.

Love These Gorgeous Girls - Version 2

I originally shared this layout as part of my Scrapmatts DT work for this month. However, due to Harrison going through a grumpy stage I didn't get to quite finish it as I'd imagined it in my head. Today I would like to show you the new finished version, with some paint splatters, builders tape, buttons, crackle accent and journaling added. I also changed the photo over to black and white. You can see the original version here, let me know which one you prefer.

 

 

 

I was originally going to journal about my 30th birthday, which was when this photo was taken, but then I realised the girls meant much more to me than just one night. My journaling speaks about the support these ladies have provided me during my pregnancy (I was 26 weeks in the photo) and becoming a first time mum.

 

Now that I've added the journaling, I can also enter it into the current challenge at Once Upon A Sketch. The theme is "The women/girls etc in our lives...". I have rotated the sketch below counter clockwise to suit my photo.

 

First & Only

What's this, could it be? Yes, it is a layout designed just for fun! After spending the whole weekend creating for DT projects I still felt creative so decided to whip together a layout for a couple of challenges before the month ended. It's been a while since I'd done a wedding photo so decided to whip one of those out and pair it with some beautiful Couture Creations papers and Scrapmatts chipboard.

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Had some fun layering paints and washi tape to create the background. Put some of my new muslin to use for a whispy background. End result is actually pretty girls but I still like it, and surprisingly so does Ben.

Inspiration for this layout came from Once Upon A ... Sketch. It's been too long since I last played over there. The journaling theme was this quote:

My journaling reads: I had a crush on Ben since I was 15. He was my first serious boyfriend, first person I lived with, first husband and soon to be father to our first child. He is my first and only true love.

The sketch for this month:


I also loved the colour challenge over at Kreative Koncepts (formerly Scrap Friends), and it worked perfecting with the Damask Delight paper range.


Now that I've been creative all weekend I think it's time for me to head back to the housework and try to catch up. Wish me luck! 

Snow Season - Scrapmatts DT October

This is the first layout I created at the Noosa Retreat however it is also one of my design team pieces for Scrapmatts so I couldn't share it until my reveal day today. The photos are from my holiday to America in late 2012/early 2013, specifically Boston Common on 30 December 2012. Ben and I were scheduled to drive from Boston to New York that day so it was the ONLY day of the holiday we didn't want snow, in typical fashion a snow emergency was declared the night before and that ended up being the only snowfall we saw all trip. :P

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 The brief for this one was to take something old (chipboard) and make it NEW. I took the old leftover chipboard negative from the snowflake design and turned it into a feature of the layout by painting it with gesso and Gelatos and backing it with gyprock tape. I have also painted up so of the cute snowflakes to run down the left side, used the tree and typewriter letters and used just one half of the 'Seasons Greetings' piece for my title.

The overall technique here was using one I learnt from Georgia Heald's online class. So versatile and a great way to use up the scrap pieces of paper you wouldn't normally use. I was also inspired by the current sketch over at Creative Scrappers #252.

Bonnie LO

I finally got my mojo back and managed to create two projects today. The first one is a DT piece so it will be revealed on Monday. This is the second project and is a tribute to my husband's dog who passed away earlier this year. I have created a number of pet themed layouts over the years for the Gold Coast show and most of them have used pet themed papers and/or embellishments. Today I decided I wanted to go in a different direction so I have actually created a very girly LO to celebrate her memory.

 

 

I started with pieces from a kit I purchased from Paper Stories and then added bits and pieces from my stash as I went. The detail shots show some of the layering which was again a focus for me. I liked playing with the sequins and also got to use some shell pieces I have had in my stash for years.

This LO was inspired by two challenges. The first is Once Upon A... Sketch. Their theme for August is 'I'll never forget'. I have my journaling in the top left corner of the page which talks about how I didn't like dogs when I started dating Ben but I fell in love with Bonnie and how much we miss her now she is gone. This was the sketch:

I also used the current colour challenge over at ScrapFriends. I was doing so well at playing every fortnight over at that site but then life got in the way and it's been a while since the last time I got to play. They always have fantastic sketch challenges and beautiful colour combinations so go check them out (after you leave me a comment, of course). :)

Love a Good Lazy Weekend - Once Upon a Sketch LO

Love a good lazy weekend is the title of this LO and what I got to enjoy this weekend! For the past three months I have had the busiest weekend plans in my life and it was starting to wear me down. We were meant to head out for a BBQ with friends this Sunday but unfortunately the host got sick so we had to cancel. It did free up this weekend though, hence why I managed to create two LOs and finish off one from the expo.

 

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I popped by Spotlight this weekend too and picked up a paper pad of 5th and Frolic by American Crafts. The flowers were just calling out for fussy cutting and it was the perfect way to de-stress. I've worked to build up the layers and finished it all off with a Eloise flourish from Flourish With a Bling.

 

This LO was inspired by the Once Upon A... Sketch challenge for this month. The theme was 'What's your guilty please?' My journalling is on a tag being the photo and talks about how Ben and I will sleep in, relax on the lounge and have breakfast together (hence the photo of the matching tea cups) around 11am when we get a lazy weekend. Here is the sketch:

 

 

It's also pink with spots so fits the criteria for The Lollipop Ladies for this fortnight.

 

 

Lastly, Frosted Designs is also having a polka dot challenge. I've got two sheets of patterned paper with polka dots on it.

Scrapbooking on a Budget - Scrapmatts June DT

One of our June challenges was to scrapbook a page/card on a budget, so it could only include one sheet of cardstock, two patterned papers and NO store bought embellishments. I found this really valuable, as it reminded me that the focus of scrapbooking is capturing the memory and you don't always need to most expensive or newest materials to do that.

 

 

I ended up only using one sheet of cardstock, ric rac, washi tape, gesso, mists, twine and of course Scrapmatts chipboard. Creating your own backgrounds are all the rage at the moment and they let you match your photos perfecting generally for a fraction of the cost of patterned paper. For my background I have applied gesso over a template and then a mixture of mists over the template again once the gesso dried. I didn't need to use any patterned paper, though I did matt my photo using the running number from the race. If you ever have to scrap on a budget, make sure you save memorabilia from any event you plan on scrapping. I have used maps, free postcards, pressed pennies etc on LO's before instead of patterned paper or embellishments.

 

Here is a close up to showcase the chippie. The nestled stars were perfect accents to this LO and the pre-printed metallic gold finish worked so well with the sparkle of the mists. The banners I primed with gesso then painted with the mists before punching holes through for the twine. The chipboard word is just painted black then edged in white pen to match the alphabet on the banners.
 

Scrapmatts chipboard used: CB5021 Nested Shapes 07; CB5101 Flags 02; CB4055 Assorted Words 09.

Scrapmatts DT reveal - Love and Becoming a Mother

One of the things I love most about chipboard is how versatile it is, so I was very excited to see that one of the DT challenges for Scrapmatts this month was to show how you can alter your chipboard. I am quite happy to use my chippie raw but sometimes it's nice to dress it up a bit. Sometimes it can be as easy as cutting up the design so it suits your LO better. I have done that with the layered frame below in that I cut off a third of it, now I can use that part in another LO. I also cut the nested shape around the title because the original shape was too long, so I just trimed out some of the long pieces and re-assembled it.

 

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Techniques shown in the close up below clockwise from left.

1/ The underframe was painted black and left to dry. The top frame is painted with gesso. Once that is dry splotch/stipple on texture paste randomly over the surface (if the shape is more solid you can really create a lot of texture with this technique but because the chipboard is so delicate I was more restrained). Whilst the texture paste is still well, get a contrasting paint colour and apply this randomly with your finger. Sprinkle beads over the design then press them into the paste, this will also blend in the paint colour. Finally, glue the two chipboard pieces together.

2/ For the heart I painted it purple then ran the inner heart through my embossing machine. Dry brush the shape in a contrasting colour, the depressed areas stay purple. I also covered the nestled shape in washi tape which is a very quick, cheap and easy way to alter chipboard.

3/ I used the word scraplet raw because it was perfect already. The leaf sprays have been cut into three pieces from each stem so I could spread them around my cluster more effectively.

 

 

Scrapmatts used: CB8005 Layered Frame 03, CB1146 Leaf Spray 01, CB1199 Scrap Words 07, CB5018 Nested Shapes 04, CB1070 Hearts 03.

 

This LO was insired by the current challenge over at Once Upon A... Sketch. The theme was 'best day of your life'. I wouldn't say my wedding was the best day of my life, because I would hate to think it's all down hill from here, but it certainly was a fantastic day.

 

 

The other challenge for April was to create a project about mothers. I was initially going to do a LO about my mother but couldn't find a photo I wanted to use. I was then going to do a LO about my mother-in-law but as I was searching through my photos I found this one of my friend with her newborn. It was too perfect to pass up and why shouldn't we celebrate the achievements of friends as well as family in our scrapbooking? 

 

You can see I've used the Scrap Words again, I just love this new release. There are 3 or 4 different styles available in both black and natural. I have also used a frame which I loved but never had a photo which fitted before and some butterflies. The frame I have painted in gesso, then misted in three different colours before applying watered down acrylic paint over the top. The butterfly is apinted with acrylic paint and then has a gloss glaze over the top. While the glaze was still wet I sipped the edges of the wings in glitter to add extra sparkle.

 

 

Scrapmatts used: CB1199 Scrap Words 07, CB6041 Arch Window Frame 04, CB4008 Butterflies 01.

 

This LO was inspired by the fantastic sketch over at ScrapFriends. All those diagonals make it a really different kind of LO but I'm happy with the end result.  I kept the main elements but went on a tangent with the embellishments just because I wanted lots of fussy cut flowers. :)

 

 

Love

So I've been stuck inside all day as all of Queensland is currently subject to severe weather warnings. I live on the Gold Coast and we are just about to get possibly the worst four hours of it soon, though possible tornado and flood warnings will remain for the next two days. Kind of ruined our Australia Day long weekend but right now I'm just hoping to get through it without any serious damage.

All of this time inside was the perfect chance to create another LO though. Went with a recent photo of me and my grandparents taken when I was in Melbourne last December. Journalling is hidden behind the layering, the 'love' tag pulls out so you can read it but I wanted to keep this one personal.

I normally avoid flower clusters because they can be very expensive but the sketch I worked from needed some. The green ones I have die-cut from a matching sheet of paper before hand-rolling. The brown one are those simple paper flowers from Kaisercraft but layered up and scrunched.

 

I worked from the Kaisercraft Saturday Sketch #4 for January. Papers are all from the Periwinkle Collection which is beautiful with it's cream/brown/aqua/grey colour scheme and lots of nature images. I've also used rub-ons, chipboard, flowers, mini-alphas and pearl florish from Kaisercraft.

Treking

I originally planned to scrap a mini-album of our honeymoon trip to Thailand however I haven't made any progress on it for months now so have resorted to scrapping single pages instead. We did a trek through the northern mountains in the early days of the honeymoon and it was an incredible experience.

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Oh, I've just realised this could also count as a monochrome LO! Don't forget that is our current theme over at Unstampabelles this month. I would really love to see some more scrapbooking LO entries over there and you have until the 30th of November to get your entry in.

This LO was inspired by the Scrapz.biz Super Sleuth #3. (I won last week and picked up a $20 gift voucher - YAY!) This week was much harder to pick the five common items. I went with 1/ Word – 'Lazy'; 2/ Sticker/rub-on with writing; 3/ Paper scraps circle; 4/ Doily and 5/ Paint splatters. You can see most of those in the close up below and 'lazy' in in my journalling.

Here is the sketch provided for this week.  The sketches at Scrapz.biz are typically very basic and I normally struggle knowing how to expand upon this. However, I think I'm getting better and it's good to be able to compare the sketch to the three DT examples as well to see how they interpret it.

You'll notice lots of chipboard on this LO too (ferns/leaves; butterflies and scroll under title). All of the chipboard has come from my favourite manufacturer, Scrapmatts. Not only do they make fantastic designs out of good quality chipboard, they are also an Australian company and some of the loveliest people. I almost always sign up for one of there classes when I go to a craft show and their kits for those classes are jam packed with goodies. They are currently running a DT call and I'm planning on putting in an entry. You've got to be in it to win it right?

Go Team!

You may not know this about me, but I am a huge Gold Coast Suns supporter. I'm not sure how it happened. I grew up in Melbourne which is the home of AFL so during the football season there probably would have been a game being played each Friday, Saturday and Sunday but I only attended a handful of matches and didn't pay much attention to the games on TV either. Then Ben and I moved to the Gold Coast and suddenly I was forced to watch every Collingwood game that was televised.

 

The Gold Coast Suns are a new franchise having only joined the competition in 2011. Ben's dad gave him a season membership that year as a Christmas present. I initially didn't attend with him but felt bad that he had no one to go with so started tagging along. Metricon Stadium is a brand new stadium and they really put on a show in terms of pre and post match entertainment. I really got into being a supporter and watching the games live. So much so I did a 2011 Season recap LO.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, during the whole of the 2011 season I was unable to see a home game win at Metricon as they only won three games for the whole season. I started this 2012 season full of optimism that I would get to see a win but week after week it wasn't to be. There was improvement by the team and so very narrow loses but it was still heartbreaking. Finally, in Round 20 we managed to score a win again Greater Western Sydney and the crowd went nuts! This LO is celebrating that sweet victory. The win gave the boys so much confidence they won at home last night as well so we've managed to win three games this season too. Looking forward to what 2013 brings now!

 

This LO was inspired by Olympiad event #8 over at Scrapz.biz. Along with using the sketch below I also needed to include the following: flag/s; stickers (lots of them); something round; the word CELEBRATE or CELEBRATION. I have rotated the sketch to the left to suit my photo. I created two flags (one from a membership bumper sticker and one from washi tape). I have used quite a few stickers which is a big change for me, including some membership bumper stickers we were sent. My something round is the 'special moments' sticker. I have used a sticker in the bottom left of my photo which says 'celebrate'.

 

Sisters, Friends

*** Don't forget about my giveaway! ***

The challenge for this month over at UnstampaBelles is 'Paper Flowers'. I have used both die-cut flowes and made some of my own blooms from dress-pattern paper, as well as making some lace flowers for variety. You can create any kind of papercraft you like for this challenge, you're just not allowed to use any stamps in the design. There is a great prize up for grabs from Blue Edge Crafts:

There are paper tole sheets, stickers, ribbon roses and butterflies, a Spellbinders Tulips Pendant die and not shown will be a special pack of our new flower paper.

 

 

Since this is a double LO you have probably also guessed that this was created to be entered into the Gold Coast Show. This will be my entry for the Heritage category. The photos are my mother and aunt when they were 6 and 4 back in 1966. Their aunt took them as part of a photo shoot and I think they are just adorable. As soon as I saw them I just knew I had to use the Lil Primrose range from Kaisercraft with them. I thought using their 'collections' pack would make things easier, but I decided I didn't like the white border around all the pieces so I ended up hand-cutting every single one again!

 

 

Chipboard is all by Scrapmatts. The lace flowers I made, they are really so easy to do and look so effective. I think I'm slowly getting the hang of building up multiple layers in my clusters. The one above in particular has a fair bit going on.

 

I've still got two more doubles and a single LO to do for the Show before the end of the month and I really want to get a chance to play over the Scrapz.biz Olympiad so I'm going to head back to my crafting desk now. Hope you have a great week!

PS: Here is the prize pack up for grabs at UnstampaBelles. Go check out entering, it looks fantastic!