2013 Advent Calender - UnstampaBelles DT

Ben and I used to buy advent calendars from the supermarket when we first moved in together. Back in 2010 though I decided I wanted to have a more lasting calendar which we could fill with whatever lollies we wanted so I grabbed a Kaisercraft kit and set to work, you can see the end result here. Recently I started to feel like committing to another in-depth project and remembered how much fun it was to create the calendar. I thought I might be able to showcase some new techniques and skills I had picked up in the last three years so decided to buy another kit and create a second calendar.

I went with a silver/white/blue theme this time around rather than more traditional red/green/gold. Painting all the MDF pieces really added to the construction time, project took me two weekends this time around. Most of the embellishment chipboard is from Scrapmatts. Regular blog-followers will know how much I love their products and their Christmas designs are always my favourites. I've used a mixture of old designs and new ones, like the chipboard tree which I just had to pick up as soon as I saw it.

This is also my DT piece for UnstampaBelles this month, our theme is Christmas so I'm really hoping to see lots of entries this month. This will be most last month on their DT as I've decided not to renew my position. The owner, Merry, is also stepping down by one of the other DT members will be stepping up continue running the challenges.

Prize for December Challenge includes:

Laser cut cards and card fronts - Christmas Designs

Card front designs pre-holed ready for stitching.

Card front designs with the stitching pattern printed on the card.

Christmas stickers.

3 types of star brads

Christmas foil shapes

Four pads of Sticky Notes

I am also entering the calendar into two more challenges:

Inkido's December challenge is to use stars and/or snowflakes. I've used multiples of both in this project.

Frosted Designs have a 'Pick 11' challenge running at the moment. From their list of things I have used Stars and Buttons.

Life is Better When You're Laughing

Wow, it's been quite a while between layouts for me. Oops! I have been trying to re-organise my craft room in the hopes that will get me re-motivated. I'm about halfway through so still looks like a bomb has hit it but hopefully I'll finish it off this weekend. Of course, after playing my all my supplies I got the urge to create something so took a quick break to come up with this layout.

 

I was inspired by the current challenge over at Once Upon A ... Sketch. The challenge is 'My Happy Place', so I knew right away I wanted to use a photo of myself and my husband because my happy place is always next to him. This photo was perfect because we had such a good day at the Pet Porpoise Pool. Ben got to play catch with a dolphin and I got to swim with a seal! Here is the sketch:

Don't forget, the challenge for this month over at Unstampabelles is vellum. I recently saw two amazing layouts (by Fiona and Jennifer Grace) which used vellum/transparency to create shaker pockets and I just had to give it a go myself. You can see in the close up the wood veneer and sequins I have included in my pocket. If you want to try it yourself my tip would be to make the vellum slightly larger than the backing paper so it bubbles up slightly. I didn't do this and so my sequins don't have much room to move around in.

Celebrate Beautiful Life Tag - UnstampaBelles DT

The challenge for November over at UnstampaBelles is to use vellum in your project. I have created a happy little tag using Scrapmatts chipboard and some die-cut vellum flowers. All of the colouring is done using Gelatos. I'm still learning how to use these but they are a lot of fun.

 

Here you can see a close up of one of my flowers. I rubbed the edges with the Gelato, then spritzed with water and then lightly scrunched when dry. 

Here is the fantastic prize pack from Beth - Huggies Crafts

 consists of:

·         15 x A4 Sheets of card-stock

·         Jenni B Ovals

·         2 pkts of 12 Felt Christmas Icons

·         1 x Making Memories Sheer Frame

·         1 x 1mx9cm Wide Burlap Ribbon

·         1 pkt crafty bitz

·         1 pk Forever Friends Elements

·          2 Pks say it with Crystals

·         1 Pk Bazzil Basic Organza flowers.

Inspire Journal Cover and Christmas Tags - Scrapmatts DT work

Scrapbooking Creations is an Australian scrapbooking magazine I subscribe to. This month they have started a new feature where all their Design Diva's showcase new techniques in an art journal. The whole project looked like so much fun I decided it was finally time to start my own art journal. I have copied Angella Peardon's technique for my cover using texture paste, mists and salt to create that very funky background.

 

I had the watch hands left over from the large fob watch piece so I painted them with Perfect Pearls and used them as a feature piece. I have also painted some leaf sprays and the Inspire word the same way. 

 

 And here is just a side view to show off the funky washi tape I put down the spine. This is also my mid-month example for UnstampaBelles challenge this month, which was to use us your scraps/stash. The journal book has been sitting in my draw for years without being used and was originally silver before I gesso'd it. The texture paste and mists are also something I have had for years.

 

Our second brief for this month was to create a couple of Christmas themed tags. I had never created a tag prior to joining the Scrapmatts team so I still struggle a bit with them however I like the challenge.  My first tag has a very traditional theme to it, using papers from the Kaisercraft Just Believe range.

 I went in a bit of a different direction with my second tag. This one has some gesso applied over the chipboard before adding some mists and water. The textured/speckled effect was hard to capture in a photo.

 

Hello Friend Card - UnstampaBelles DT

It's a new month and time for a new challenge over at UnstampaBelles! This month our challenge is to use your scraps (or at least something that has been in your stash for a long time). If you are anything like me this should be a very easy challenge, as I have LOTS of scraps and old products sitting around.

 

I decided to go with the left over paper scraps from my last scrapbooking layout. It was quite simple to use the same design and techniques to create a quick friendship card and better than throwing away the left over strips. So easy in fact I might need to consider making more cards with left overs.  The odd shape of the card is because I used a cardstock scrap for the base too.

Dream Canvas - UnstampaBelles Challenge

I have been going through a massive creative slump lately with no motivation to create any layouts, despite a pressing need to get to work on my entries for the Gold Coast Show. Last weekend I also needed to create a project for the August challenge over at UnstampaBelles which is 'Paper Dress'. At first I was confused by what I could create and then thought 'I have the perfect stamp for this' before remembering that the whole point of UnstampaBelles was that no stamps were used! :P I eventually settled on attempting to create my first ever piece of She Art.

I had a 7" x 9" canvas sitting around so decided to use that as my base. I couldn't find a tutorial so just looked at a couple of samples I liked and went from there. It was so much fun to have no right or wrong way of going about it and no real idea of what the end product would end up looking like. 

You can see in the detail show above the raised effect of the texture paste. The whole background has a lovely shimmer to it from the Glimmer Mist, and I've popped rhinestones in the centres of all the rub on flowers. The quote is by Ralph Waldo Emerson, most of my favourite quotes are from him.

Anyway, I would love to see what you create for the Paper Dress theme. Up for grabs this month is a wonderful prize from the Sticker Store.

Wonderland High Tea - Unstampabelles DT

UnstampaBelles is celebrating their second birthday this month so the theme for July is Birthdays! I have created this layout celebrating my 29th birthday which had an Alice in Wonderland High Tea theme. The chipboard fobwatch frame and tea set are both from Scrapmatts. Flowers are from a mixture of designers, patterned paper is from Kaisercraft.

 

You can't see it in the photo but I created a very cool altered tea pot as the centrepiece for this high tea. You can see my blog post about it here.

 

 

You can see in the detail shots below that I have covered the whole fobwatch frame with silver embossing powder. This still let the texture show through but created a very cool effect. I also hand painted on some floral details to the tea cup chipboard pieces.

 

If you're interested in joining us over at UnstampaBelles there is a great prize up for grabs.

 

Wonderful prize offered by Susan for our July Challenge #25 - Birthday Cake

 

SU brads

SU ribbon

SU Dazzling Details Silver Sparkle

Wooden topper

Glitter Butterflies

Some HB Buttons

Forever Friends Toppers (male)

Foam Dots

Rub-ons – Happy Birthday

Paper Doilies

Rhinestones

Total Value around say $80.00

Embrace Card - Unstampabelles DT June

This month's challenge over at Unstampabelles has just gone live! It's an interesting one this month, in that you need to case (or scraplift) one of the Design Team's creations from the past 9 months.

 

 

I went with a card which allowed me to use up some of my paper scraps and a Scrapmatts chipboard butterfly. I was inspired by Merry's creation for our November monochrome theme.

 

 

You can check out all my previous DT work here in case you want to be inspired them. :)

 

Our sponsor is the fantastic Cardmaking Online with a $25.00 gift voucher. :-)

http://www.cardmakingonline.com.au

 

 

I'm also entering this into this fortnights challenge over at the Lollipop Ladies which is inspired by bug lollipops.

 

Baby Boy Easel Card

One of the DT for Unstampabelles was due to give birth to a baby boy this month, so we all made extra easel cards to celebrate. Baby Elijah put a spanner in the works though and decided he was quite comfortable, only being born today on the very last day of the challenge. :)

 

Congratulations Sarah!

 

 

I was able to use up some scraps with this card and a cute Kaisercraft wooden flourish for the safety pin. You can see what it looks like opened up below. If you have a spare hour before 12pm tonight Australian time we would love to have you join us. :)

Baptism Easel Card - Unstampabelles May Challenge

The May challenge is up and running over at Unstampabelles and this month it is to create an easel card. I had never created one of these before but there are a number of tutorials available on the net, just google it.

 

My card is created for little Harvey, my friend's son, who is having his baptism next week. Still struggling along with a lack of baby boy supplies so this was what I cobbled together. Tim Holtz embossing folder, Martha Stewart and Stampin' Up! punches, American Crafts thickers, Kaisercraft run-on and pearls. The ribbon and charm were bits I had on my desk.

The prize this month is from our very own Design Team member - Beth from Huggies Crafts. Stampin Up prize pack includes:- a DSP paper pack ‘Be of Good Cheer’; Jewels Basic Pearls; Jewels basic Rhinestones and a pack of Dimensionals.

 

Butterfly Tag

Oops, I forgot the schedule my post for April's Unstampabelles challenge! :( Challenge #22 is Anything but a Card (remember no stamps though). I thought it would be cheating if I just created another scrapbooking LO so I tried my hand at creating a tag instead. Both the base and the butterfly are from Scrapmatts.

 

 

Our Sponsor this month is Sticker Store:

This store was created to make it easier to track down the stickers needed for your craft projects. Sticker Store is a sister company of Blue Edge Crafts . Blue Edge Crafts have been supplying all sorts of paper craft products to the public including card making and scrapbooking accessories at very affordable prices since 2000.

When we select our products we make sure that they are of the best quality because we want to you be happy with every purchase you make.

They are offering this wonderful prize pack

 

 

Scrapmatts has also re-started their monthly challenges and for April all you need to do is design a tag using Scrapmatts chipboard. $20 gift voucher is available to the winner!

Road Trip

This road trip had so much excitement I knew I was going to have to scrapbook it! The journalling is actually quite long, so I typed it up and printed it onto a hand-made tag to fit it all in. The papers are quite old so I tried to make the page a but more current using new embellishment trends like the flair button, chevron masking and washi tape. Chipboard is by my favourite company, Scrapmatts.

 

 

Don't forget, the current challenge over at Unstampabelles is to use quilling in your project. Doesn't matter if you do layouts, cards, ATCs or any other paper project, you can enter them all. My snowflake was created following a tutorial by Reese Dixon. You can kind of see that I've had to hand roll of my shapes without theuse of a quilling tool and they are a bit more square than perfectly round. :(

 

This LO was also inspired by the current sketch challenge over it Scrap Friends.

 

 

The current challenge over at Inkido is The Great Outdoors. Road trips have to be done outdoors (unless it's entirely in a tunnel I guess) so I thought this LO would be suitable.  

Bar Hop!

This LO is such a mish-mash of different techniques which also made it a lot of fun to create.  I've used eyelets to attach my vellum - when was the last time you dug into your eyelet stash? :) The kit I used came with sequins so I've spread some sequins around which I've never done before. I've also used quilling to create some cloud embellishments. I was also happy to finally use this photo, which I've had printed and sitting on my desk for around a year.

 

 

The quilled clouds are my DT inspiration for the March Unstampabelles challenge. I just used left over printer paper to create these since I've never done quilling before so had no tools. Be sure to check out the blog to see the rest of the DT's work, they have created some fantastic examples to inspire you. There is a Kazzaz prize pack up for grabs this month.

 

My sketch inspiration for this LO comes from the March challenge at Paper Stories. I have also used their Pop Art kit which I purchased a month or so ago. I just loved the colours in the papers. How stunning is the washi tape I've used in this LO? It is also from their store and matched the papers perfectly.

 

 

Lastly, the current challenge over at Frosted Designs is to use chevrons. I've used chevron washi tape on my chipboard banners. These are Scrapmatts products which I've just painted white before carefully applying the washi tape.

Who needs Santa?

I have blogged previously about my love of Santa photos but annoyance at the steep prices that are being charged these days. I was having dinner with my brother and sister when we saw that the Santa set-up was vacant for the night and not roped off. Luckily I had my camera handy, so I set up the auto-timer and snapped a couple of quick shots of us all. :)

 

 

This LO ended up NOTHING like I had imagined when I started it, about the only thing that stayed the same was the photos. This LO was primarily created as my DT piece for UnstampaBelles. The challenge for February is to use at least one doily. I have used three cute crochet dolies from The Chip Chop Shop. I didn't plan to use Scrapmatts chipboard either but they ended up being the perfect embellishments.  

 

I have also used the new sketch over at Sketches with a Twist. The twist this month is to use texture paste. I have used texture paste over a mask and then misted on top with two colours to create the background. My husband thought the end result was very pretty. I'm a bit disappointed I ended up covering up so much of it. I'm not really one for interpreting sketches so this stayed pretty close.

 

 

Lastly, I was inspired by the colour challenge over at ScrapFriends. I love seeing the LO's everyone comes up with and the different effects that result from people chosing different primary colours from the swatch.

 

Die Cut Gift Card Holder

 

The challenge over at Unstampabelles this month is to use one of more die-cuts in your creation. I seem to go through patches where I don't use a single die-cut and then other patches where I use them on everything. My DT sample is a gift card holder I gave my brother for Christmas. It uses Kaisercraft papers and die cuts with some liquid pearl accents.

 

If you're wondering why my blog has been quiet recently it's because I'm actually on holiday in America for 2.5 weeks. I'm sure there will be plenty of photos to share when I get back though. :) Hope everyone is having a great start to the new year!

Santa Visit

Who says only kids can visit Santa? :) (Apparently adults don't qualify for the free gift/lolly though) Here is a quick LO of the photo Ben and I got with Santa last year. We had been checking out the various packages available at diferent shopping centres and decided they were too expensive until we came across this Santa. They didn't sell any packages at all, just took your email address and emailed you the photo they took, plus they took a photo on your own camera if you had brought it along. I had mine in my bag anyway of course, you never know when you might need it in December. ;)

 

 

This is my design team LO for Unstampabelles who have the theme of Christmas for Decemeber. I'm sure you're probably creating Christmas themed papercraft at the moment anyway, so why not pop on over and submit it? We accept any kind of papercraft at all so long as it doesn't contain stamping. There is a great prize pack up for grabs this month too from HuggiesCrafts.

 

All items are from the Raspberry range and are completely co-ordinated:

9 x 12 x 12 papers

1 packet self-adhesive Rhinestones

1 packet self-adhesive Pearls

1 Packet of brads

1 Packet gem brads

1 packet basic brads            

2 packets assorted Ribbon, 5 x 1 metre per pack

2 packets rub on’s

2 packets alpha stickers.

 

 

My LO was also inspired by the fantastic YummyScrap palette over at Scrap Friends this month. Loading it up here though I've just noticed it looks a lot different on my laptop to the colours that were showing on my photo which was what I was working from as I created the LO. :(

 

Cherish

Don't you just love those happy snaps you take that work out even better than expected? This was just a quick snap of my parents while we were ten pin bowling but I love it.

 

 

The challenge over at Unstampabelles this month is monochrome. I took a bit of leniancy and incorporated a fair bit of white and black along with all the red. I took this as the perfect opportunity to use my new rolled flower die from Die-namics, they are so easy to create. The die I purchased creates two sizes and was only $13.

 

The sponsor this month is Anne of Cardmaking Online, who has very kindly offered a $25.00 gift certificate.

 

 

My sketch inspiration this month comes from Once Upon A... Sketch. I haven't played along with them since July so I thought it was definitely time to play with another of Nadia's beautiful sketches. There is no theme for the journalling this month. I have included a rub-on for my journalling in the top left, but also have 'Mum and Dad, Sept 12' under the love journal tag. You can just see it in the detail shot above. I have rotated the sketch to the left and moved the title to suit.