The Freedom Trail

This is the last LO I created for the Gold Coast Show. This year there was a special category of 'Teddy Bears' so I've chosen to do a LO about The Freedom Trail in Boston which Ben and I spent a day exploring earlier in the year. I took photos of out teddy, Boofle, at a number of the stops, so this LO features those photos. One of the judging criteria is originality so I'm not sure if this will score highly or if the judges will think it not appropriate for the category.

 

 You can see I have used a photo copied map of The Freedom Trail as one of the background papers. I have marked the photo stops on the map which correspond to each of the photos. I have also popped removable journalling cards behind each photo. I was initially going to put information about each site on the cards but figured I could look that up any time I wanted so I have recorded my thoughts and memories about each site.

 

I have used the word 'explore' in my journaling, so I will also enter this LO into the current Bird is the Word challenge.  

 

I started this LO with a pretty solid idea of what I wanted it to look like, but the LO itself had a totally different idea. I ended up modifying the design so many different times but I really like the end effect. The pearls on this LO are actually all from a single flourish by Flourish with a Bling. Again, I really love their product and am so happy to have won a prize pack a while ago so I have a fair number of their products in my stash.

Lastly, you know how I was complaining about the craziness of deciding to have so many fussy cut elements on a double LO which had to be completed in 1.5 days? Here is a close up to show that I fussy cut each flower in the embellishment cluster in each corner! I created a wonderful depth to the finished product though so I think it was worth it.  

 

Anyway, I'm heading off to the Gold Coast Show on Saturday so I'll let you know how I go. :)

Sweet

What is this - a LO that's not created with Kaisercraft papers? Yes it is! I purchased the November Ticklez kit from Scrapz.biz with my winnings from the Super Sleuth #2 round and it has the lovely On Trend range from Crate Paper in it. Different to my normal style but I totally loved working with it.

 

 

This was inspired by the fantastic sketch over at Scrap Friends. I play along with their sketches every month and didn't want to miss this one. I love how much detail they put in the sketch and how many layers they always have. Makes it very easy for me to create more complex pages than normal.

 

 

 I've just realised that the word over at Bird is the Word at the moment is 'Sweet' so we'll enter this over there too. Always good when you can double up entries I think. :)

Finally, I just wanted to share the current massive Christmas giveaway over at ScrapFriends. Wouldn't that make a great Christmas present to yourself?!

 

 

Candid Shot

I have had this photo of my sister in my stash to scrap for probably at least 6 years because I thought it was beautiful but nothing really went with the colour combo. Today I remembered the Blae & Ivy collection from Kaisercraft and set to work. :)

 

 

This was created for the Scrapz.biz Super Sleuth competition #2. This time I think the five 'clues' were stitching; the word 'surprise'; twine; spotty paper and a cluster of three buttons. You can see all my elements in the detail shot below. Though the blue spots are faint on the journalling paper they are there.

 

We also had to use this sketch:

 

 

Finally, I've used the word 'Summer' in my journalling which is one of the chosen words over at Bird is the Word. I love how easy it is to incorporate this challenge blog into my layouts and I'm not sure why I dont enter there more often.

How Times Change

I found this photo of my siblings and I a few years ago and just knew I had to scrapbook it! It's taken a while because I don't have any school themed products. It's funny to see how cute we were almost 20 years ago. This was the only year we all attended the same school together.  

Has anyone else had one of those LOs where they think it's finished but they're not quite happy with it? This was one of them for me. I thought I'd finished on Wednesday but it just didn't seem enough. You can see the original version below. I picked it up again this morning and decided to work it over a bit more. I think it pops a bit better now.

This LO was inpsired by the sketch over at ScrapFIT.

 

Bird is the Word has 'Change' as one of their current words.

June 123 has the following criteria - word: change; colour: blue; technique: washi tape. I've had to create my own washi tape again since I don't actually own any, but I think the masking tape with the blue number stamp looks really cute. :)

Smile

So this is actually my third LO for this weekend but the other two were created for The Lollipop Ladies as they have asked me to come back as a guest designer for May so you'll have to wait until later on the month to see those. On to the info about this layout, your eyes are not decieving you, I actually have purchased and scrapped with a new release paper range! The beautiful purple paper and the flower paper is from Basic Grey's Plumeria range and the yellow is from their PB&J range. I originally purchased the purple paper for the orange octagon print on the reverse but it didn't suit my LO in the end. There is some Kaisercraft paper and rubons too because my work just wouldn't be complete without them. Chipboard birdcage is from Kaisercraft, beautiful florish is from Imaginarium Designs (I'm slowly working my way through the incredible prize pack they sent me a few months ago).

I think I'm slowly getting the hang of these busy cluster designs. Basically, I just pull out everything in my stash that colour co-ordinates and then try to stick it down, walk away for a short time to get fresh eyes them come back and repeat x 3! :) If anyone has tips/advice or wants to share how they make their clusters I would love to hear from you. The beautiful hand-made flower is from Lil' Red Rocket, there is a crochet doily from The Chip Chop Shop cut in half and hidden under the cluster. I think the problem might be that I don't like covering up my supplies. Here is a close-up of my cluster:

This LO was created for the May challenge over at Once Upon A... Sketch. This is truly one of my favourite challenge sites and is very popular. They have a fantastic design team. The theme this month is 'Mum': We would like you to create a layout and interpret the theme "Mum" however you like based on the following sketch. You can journal as little or as much as you like, but your layout must incorporate this theme and the sketch. My journalling is hidden on a tag under the photo.

I'm also entering this LO in three other challenges this month. The Paper Variety's May challenge is to include a handmade flower. I also stumbled across a new challenge blog called Southern Girls Challenge for Australian and New Zealand crafters (internationals are still welcome to participate). Their challenge for this month is to create something girls. With all the flowers on this LO I think it fits the bill. Finally, Bird is the Word has 'smile' as their word this month.

Thailand Honeymoon

I have so many wonderful photos and memories of our honeymoon to Thailand but I've only really scrapped one page so far because I'm planning on creating a minialbum instead. There has been very little progress on the album recently so I figured it was time to do up a LO instead. The photos show our treking group at the end of out three-day mountain trek which included the elephant riding, bamboo and white-water rafting and staying with village tribes. On the way up the mountain to start the trek we stopped off at the tiger park. The other photo is from our villa in Koh Samui, a wonderful little relaxing island.

This LO fulfills LOTS of different challenge requirements. Firstly, it is based on Sketch #68 over at Sketchabilities. I've rotated the sketch counterclockwise to better suit my photos and paper. When I first saw this sketch I thought it wasn't for me as it's fairly complicated and details but I've simplified it down for this LO.

The Weekend Warm-up activity # 26 over at ScrapFIT was to use a minimum of four photos on your LO, so I've achieved that.

Bird is the Word has released their new work for the month which is 'future'. I've used that in my journalling below the photos.

And lastly, the Use It Tuesday challenge #29 is 'anything goes'. I have used so very old Kaisercraft patterned paper to create this LO, I think I've had it sitting in my stash for years.

You & Me

This LO is mainly done with papers, stickers and transparencies from the Heidi Grace Sweetest Bug range. I've had all of these materials for so long because I thought they were adorable but struggled to actually scrap with them. The chipboard title is from Imaginarium Designs, as is the butterfly I used as a mask. I received my winners pack in the mail about a week ago and there is SO much chipboard included. I was expecting maybe three pieces but I've received 12!

This LO was created for three challenges. Punky Scraps released a recipe challenge on Friday, you had to use a minimum of three suggestions from: hexagons, white paint, make a grid, use small photos, no pink, use three circles, use three squares, and use something transparent. The white paint, small photos and something transparent should all be obvious. I used rectangles rather than squares for the photos and patterned paper and laid them out in a grid pattern. I've used more than three circles in the turquoise paint background. No hexagons though ad I did use pink, can't win them all I guess. :)

Bird is the Word's challenge word for Feb 12 is 'heart' which I've used in my journalling this time. Finally, ScrapFIT is another new challenge blog I've found. Workout #62 requires some 'xoxo's in your LO, so that's how I've signed off my journalling.

Don't forget I'm giving away some free rubber stamps, details in this post.

Remember 2011 - Mission 7

After the dramas of my last LO, I'm happy to report that I actually LOVE this one! A lot of the challenge blogs have been setting topics of either looking back at 2011 or looking forward to 2012 this month. I was hesitant to do one of these style LO's but recently remembered I enjoyed doing a re-cap for 2009 (completed in 2011 but better late than never I guess) so I decided to give it a go. 2011 really was a big year for me, so I've only been able to include details of the major highlights. There are 5 photos in the pocket and each one has some extra journalling on the back.

For those who like to be able to read journalling, here is what I've written:

I know a lot of people who were happy to see the end of 2011 but for me it was a pretty great year. Health: After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, mum was able to stop chemo by 2011 and appears on the road to recovery. Personally, I was the fittest I’ve even been prior to my wedding but also the heaviest I’ve even been by the end of the year. Career: I started my PO2 permanent position on 3.1.11 and secured a PO3 permanent position by the end of the year, I was also the Court Advisory and Prosecutions officer for Burleigh. Scrapbooking: I started having friends over for crop sessions. I landed a spot on my first Design Team, The Lollypop Ladies. I had my first LO accepted for publication, due out in 2012. I was the most successful exhibitor in Scrapbooking at the Gold Coast Show. Activities: Ben and I spent a day kayaking to South Stradbroke Island in March. I rode Puffing Billing (in April) and went to Werribee Open Range Zoo (in December) with my mum and dad. Ben became a Gold Coast Suns member and we went to six home games together. I continued to play basketball and ten-pin bowling and started playing indoor netball with some girls from work. Wedding: I married the love of my life on 1st May. I had two hen’s parties (one on the Gold Coast and one in Melbourne). We went to Thailand for our honeymoon, which is somewhere I’ve always wanted to travel to and was my first overseas holiday. I can’t wait to see what 2012 will bring!

This one was designed for entry into a few different competitions. Firstly, Once Upon A... Sketch had their journalling criteria as "Hello 2012 or Goodbye 2011".  They were the real inspiration behind me finally completing this LO. I love the style that most of the DT and entries have for this challenge blog, they are all so detailed and full of layers. I always find myself trying the mimic that style with my entries. Of course, I also love the big focus on journalling and think I definately qualified this time. :) You need to combine the journalling criteria with Nadia's lovely sketch below: 

Second challenge entry is an easy one. Bird is the Word's chosen word for this fortnight was 'Remember', which I've used as part of my title. I've never played along at this blog before but a lot of the people I watch do so I thought it was time to try it out.

Finally, this is my last entry into the Scrapz.biz 2012 Biggest Loser competition. This was for Mission 7 which focused on Punches, Dies & Embossing Folders. Given I only have 7 punches and no dies or embossing folders it didn't take me long to tidy my collection. :) The challenge was to use those items to create your own embellishments. I've used my scalloped circle punch to create the paper pattern flowers. I've also used all four of my edge punches.

Biggest Loser 2012 Completion - 8/14!

1. Your Desk - completed.

2. Cardstock - completed.
3. Patterned Paper 1 - completed.
4. Patterned Paper 2 - completed.
5. Scraps - completed.
6. Basic Tools
7. Punches, Dies & Embossing Folders - completed.
8. Stamps, Ink Pads & Embossing Powders
9. Alphas
10. Chipboard
11. Rub-ons, Stickers and Journal Cards - completed.
12. Embellishments
13. Buttons - completed.
14. Ribbons