Smile - Scrapmatts DT

The last challenge at the Queensland Scrapbooking Retreats getaway to Tamborine Mountain was a sketch challenge. It came with one piece of cardstock and one piece of patterned paper, of which you had to use at least 70%. I made sure to use a number of Scrapmatts chipboard pieces so I could double it up as a design team piece for November too. 

These flowing script words from CB6117 Assorted Words 30 make perfect titles. I've coloured mine using two layers of Versacolor inks to match the background cardstock. I've coloured a medium sized butterfly from CB4008 Butterflies 01 with liquid pearls to add texture and shine.

You can see the largest circle from the CB5139 String Circles 03 set in these close ups, which I've cut in half to use in two spots. This has been inked too, then some pearls glued as accents on all the dots. You can also see a small tab covered in washi tape from CB5117 Tabs 01 and a smaller butterfly from the same set. The flowers are from D-lish Scraps Little Birdie ranges. 

This last cluster is an assortment of Little Birdie flowers, chipboard butterfly, D-lish Scraps tassel and Accent Scrapbooking flair, which was perfect for this layout. 

I'm very proud to say I was voted the winner in the sketch challenge and won a terrific Kaisercraft paper pack. I can't wait to get scrapping with it. 

Tamborine Mountain 2017

At each retreat, Queensland Scrapbooking Retreats takes a group photo and sets a challenge to scrap it. We were given the photo, a sheet of cardstock, a sheet of patterned paper and a custom made chipboard piece to use on the layout, with a requirement to use at least 70% of the material supplied. Normally the group photo is taken first thing on Saturday so we have lots of time to work, but this retreat it rained all Saturday so we didn't get to take the photo until 9am on Sunday, which made for a bit of a rush to make the 11am judging cut-off but I got there in the nick of time. 

The chipboard piece came as one large design but that didn't work for my layout so I cut it up into smaller elements. I hadn't brought my acrylic paints to the retreat, but I had brought my Color Crush powders. I coated the chipboard with gesso then mixed up the powders with some water to create a watercolour paint/wash, which I built up over a couple of layers. 

After doing so many relatively clean layouts, it was nice to finish up with more of a messy/mixed media piece. My background is a mix of gesso wash to tone down the bright cardstock, builders tape for texture, stitched circle stamp from Craft Queen and texture paste through a Scrapmatts stencil. 

I was very pleased to be voted second in this competition against a number of great entries. It's so interesting to see the different ways everyone used the same materials to create very different layouts. 

Leave Ordinary Behind

The Saturday afternoon class is an optional extra at Queensland Scrapbook Retreats, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to trying something in a bit of a different style so I gave it a go. This is a very masculine layout, so a big contrast to the morning class! Initially I was stuck for what pictures I was going to use, until I remembered I had a whole disc of photos of my brother-in-law's rally driving cars. This one is known as the Phoenix and is painted bright Bansagi orange.

While the two pages were created from the same range, Kaisercraft's Factory 42, I didn't feel like they actually worked as a double layout so went a bit rogue and deviated from the instructions provided in the class. It's not like we all want to share the same layout in our albums anyway, right?

There is quite a bit of stencil work in the background with the pipes and cross-hatched bricks. There was yet more fussy cutting on this layout too, which slowed the process down a bit. The pipes are actually cut from the speciality foiled sheet and I've coloured them brown using distress ink applied via a sponge. The foiling works as a resist and the sponging leads to the beautiful variations in colour through the pipes.

I liked the idea of ripping holes into the papers and backing them with some die-cut grid pieces and scrap papers. We were also given a pack of Collectables (die-cuts) and a sticker sheet to use as embellishments, which I've scattered across the layout.

Again, so many techniques on the one layout but that's what you want from class I think. It wouldn't be anywhere near as fun if I ended up with a layout just like what I'd do by myself at home. 

Just Us

There is always a class on Saturday morning at the Queensland Scrapbooking Retreats getaways, hosted by a guest teacher and included in the cost of the retreat. This year we had the lovely Alicia McNamara come and teach this beautiful girly double layout featuring new release Kaisercraft papers from the Rose Avenue collection.

The class went for three hours, with a short break for morning tea. There were quite a lot of different techniques used on this layout: texture paste to create the photo mat paper, die-cutting the flourishes and SO MUCH fussy cutting! I ended up spending some more time finishing it off in the evening because I didn't want to end up with yet another unfinished project.

I thought it was a beautiful layout when I saw the sneaks before the retreat but I must admit I struggled to find four photos that would suit such a pink and feminine layout. I ended up going with some different photos of my sister and I. I love the versatility of using black and white photos.

Just a close up of one of the clusters: paper flowers, sticker, die-cut flourish, sequins, pearls, fussy cut flowers and muslin.

A couple of the Little Birdie flowers from D-lish Scraps managed to find there way onto my layout, along with all the Kaisercraft blooms.

And here I am (in the black jumper) hard at work trying to get the layout finished. :) I love that you get a whole table to yourself at QSR retreats, since I like to spread my stuff out.

The Story

My second unfinished project that finally got completed at the Queensland Scrapbooking Retreats getaway at Tamborine Mountain was this one. Perhaps this time from a 2014 craft expo, this one was designed by Kerri Gurney for Couture Creations. How great does that background look with the embossed surface which has then been sanded for effect?

I didn't still have the instructions for this project, so I had to just make it up as I went. I think there were meant to be a lot more pockets and lift ups, and I know I have two clear arrows left over that were meant to go on there somewhere. Still, you can see how the main photo lifts up and there is some hidden journaling hidden behind that. 

I was really impressed to find that the rub-ons still worked perfectly, even a number of years later!

Below is how far I had managed to get in the class before packing it away for a number of years. You can clearly see that I haven't stuck the main photo mat on straight, but it was adhered so well I couldn't pull it off to fix it. It's less noticeable with the photo stuck on top on an angle though. 

Relationship Goals

I'm back from a lovely weekend retreat at Tamborine Mountain run by Queensland Scrapbooking Retreats. I didn't get anywhere near as many layouts done as I thought I would, but I still had a great time. I took a couple of unfinished projects along in the hopes of finally getting them completed. 

This one was a class taught by Kim Ewins for Craft Queen at a craft expo way back in 2013, I think. Now you see why I needed to finally get it finished! I actually had to re-stick down all the background layers because the glue had deteriorated so much in the intervening time.

Kim's pages always have a beautiful amount of layering and stitching on them. Lovely Scrapmatts chipboard flourish under the photo there too. 

You can see the stencil work in this close up. I also really liked the idea of using distressed fabric circles as part of the background.

Now here is the ridiculous part: The image below is where I left the layout at the end of the class in 2013. Literally, all I needed to do was add a title and it was done! I couldn't resist adding a scattering of sequins to the layout as well, since I was touching it up anyway.

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.

Cherish Forever - RIP Pa

So back on 7 October 2013 I wrote about some issues in real life which had kept me quiet on the blogging front. My grandpa passed away on Tuesday 24 September 2013. He was first diagnosed with prostate cancer back in 2003, treatment was successful and life moved on. However, in 2008 tests showed the cancer had returned and over time, despite multiple treatments, the cancer spread to other parts of his body. In late 2012 it was deemed terminal and it was just a waiting game since then. Towards the end he was in a lot of pain almost constantly so whilst his passing is gut-wrenching there is also a sense of relief.

 

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These photos are two of my favourites from my wedding in 2011. I had held on to them for a special layout and decided they would be perfect for a tribute page. There is no journalling because the pain is still too raw to put into word but I might add some later.

I used the Scrapfriends sketch for October as the inspiration for this layout. The sketch was so fantastic and full of details that I kept to it almost exactly other than to rotate it to the right and remove one of the photos.

Frosted Designs have a fortnightly challenge of kraft, flair and chipboard at the moment, so I'm also entering this LO into their competition.

So Proud - Noosa Retreat Class

Ann ran a series of additional classes at the Noosa Retreat which you could sign up for during the weekend. I only chose to do one extra class but really like the end result. The focus of this class was using different embellishments on your page so this includes metal filigree pieces, press studs, die-cuts, pearls, and irridesent medium.

 

Here are some close ups of all the different hot air balloons we created. Best part of this class was the fact I got to go have a massage during part of it and Ann cut out all the balloons for me! LOL The chipboard letters were part of my lucky door prize, because I forgot to bring ANY of my alpha stickers to the retreat. Certainly added another level of challenge to the weekend. :)

Smile - Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness

I am hosing a Girls Night In to fundraise for the Cancer Council tonight and thought I would do up a pink themed layout to feature on the night. Photos are of my mum when she had to shave her head during her chemotherapy treatment in 2010. Despite undergoing a complete double mastectomy and six months of chemo treatment, she maintained a positive outlook and often had a smile on her face. She remains cancer-free today which is a great result! Unfortunately my paternal grandmother passed away from breast cancer about 20 years ago, early detection and advances in cancer treatment are so important which is why I'm hosting the fundraiser. If anyone is interested in donating, the fundraising page is here:

http://qld.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=647015

 

I used the beautiful Kaisercraft mask and two different coloured inks to create the background. The feathers were my first time using foam stamps from A2Z Scraplets and also the first time I had used some Gelatos I purchased when in Melbourne. I think they will take a bit of getting used to but I'm excited by my initial attempts. I also used a couple of brads from a funky pack I purchased, another Tim Holtz metal tag and a Flourish with a Bling swirl which I coated with gesso to tone down the hot pink colour a bit.

 This layout was inspired by the challenge over at Once Upon A... Sketch. Their journalling challenge was to document "The Journey..." so I chose the start of mum's chemo journey. Nadia created this lovely sketch to work from.

Hens Party - Retreat Class

There is always a class included in the cost of the Noosa Retreat and this year we had the lovely Sue Smyth come to teach us. It was a very intense class with lots of instructions to follow. I have used photos from my hens party back in 2011 which I hadn't gotten around to scrapping yet. We did a burlesque dancing class followed by a life drawing session, hence the costumes and well-muscled gentleman. If anyone is looking for a venue for a hens party around Melbourne I can certainly recommend Hens Love Art in St Kilda. In fact, after checking out their website it looks like they have upgraded their venue since I attended so it would be even better now!

 

 Most of the other ladies at the retreat had never used gesso or templates so this class just blew their mind. LOL I think the layout looks a little bit too busy for my tastes and I'm not really convinced the colours work together but I did learn a couple of new techniques. The colouring technique used on the chipboard gate piece looks amazing and was repeated on a couple of layouts through out the retreat by some of the other participants. We also learned how to make the flowers using die-cuts. There was a lot of painting, misting, scrunching and stamen building involved but they do look pretty incredible.

Peace Love Joy - Rockerfeller Centre Christmas Tree

Here is the second challenge layout from the Noosa Retreat. This one came with a sketch, the green cardstock and the light brown grid paper which had the most beautiful designs on the other side but I just couldn't get them to work for this layout. Does anyone else do that? I've found I have done it a lot recently where I have purchased a paper for the pretty front but ended up scrapping it using the back. LOL

Anyway, photos are from our USA trip at the end of 2012/start of 2013. We went to the Rockerfeller Centre and couldn't resist getting some photos taken with the tree in the background. The rest of the papers and the die-cuts are Kaisercraft's Twig and Berries which I think was a collection from last year. The ornate stars are Scrapmatts and I finally found some of those wood veneer mini stars too so I've sprinkled a small trail.

I rotated the sketch to suit my portrait photos. You can see everyone else's interpretations of the sketch below. You can even see the basic sketch in the second photo.

All the ladies voted for the favourites for this challenge too and I was very surprised to find I came second! Here is a photo of me with the lady who came first, she had very cute photos of a donkey on her layout. I won another Kaisercraft pack so have a lot more scrapping I can do now. :)

Noosaville Retreat 2013

Hello blog reader. It has been a little quite here recently due to some troubles in real life however things are about to get much busier because I have just come back from a retreat in Noosa run by Queensland Scrapbooking Retreats. Long-time readers may recall I participated in this retreat last year and I had such a good time that I just had to go back. I roomed with Chantal again, which was nice, and two of her friends from her home town. I took part in two classes and created seven layouts.

Ann gives everyone goodie bags at the start of the retreat and these contain two challenge packs, amongst other things. The first challenge came with one double-sided piece of greenish paper, one brown cardstock and a raw custom chipboard title for the retreat. You had to use 70% of the supplied material and could add anything you wanted from your stash. Here is the layout I created:

 

If you want to compare it to my layout from last year, you can find that one here. I like the little banner I created. I was in Melbourne last weekend and popped by Paper Squared which claims to be the largest scrapbook store in Australia. While there I picked up some bits and bobs and challenged myself to actually use them on the retreat as I really don't need more things just sitting unused on the shelf. The Tim Holtz metal tags were one I was tossing up on, but I used three this weekend! The tiny pegs are so on trend right now and I found a big pack for $2.

I have used this month's sketch over at Stuck?! for inspiration and just rotated it to suit the photo.

 Here are all the layouts created by everyone at the retreat. Looks like flowers were a pretty popular embellishment. :)

At the end of the retreat everyone voted for their favourite two layouts. I was very happy to have my layout voted in first place! Here I am with the second place winner. I won a great Kaisercraft collection pack.

Directions

This is the last LO I have from the retreat I took part in. I managed to get this one half done and it's just taken me this long to sit down and stick it all into place. The photo is of my parents from when we went exploring at Springbrook National Park and I just thought it was a really nice photo of the two of them.

 

The 'Ritchie explore' referred to in the journalling is a thing of family legend. At some stage we were trying to travel somewhere and Dad managed to get lost however typically didn't want to admit it so we drove around aimlessly for a while until we managed to get back on track. He claimed he was exploring and as our surname is Ritchie any time since when we have taken a needlessly convoluted path to get somewhere or have become hopelessly lost it has been referred to as 'Ritchie exploring'.

 

I was worried we would end up on a Ritchie explore either on the way to the National Park (it was over an hour's drive away through twisty mountain roads) or once we were inside the park itself (an old fear from previously getting lost while bushwalking with dad). I'm pleased to report we actually did quite well and no exploring was necessary. :)

 

 

This LO was inspired by the Kaisercraft October Saturday Sketch #2. I have used the lovely Great Southern Land range, some pearls, some chipboard, alphabet stickers, some fabric and paper flowers and some old-school brads all from Kaisercraft. This is the sketch I was working from:

 

 

Speaking of the retreat, I mentioned that there would be a group photo of us all celebrating the 70's themed night and here it is! I'm a bit upset that I'm hidden away in this photo because I had gone out and purchased a shift especially for this night but it gives you a great idea as to the feel of the night. :) If you are looking for a retreat to attend in South East Queensland I totally recommend signing up for the next one Ann runs. I think dates are May and September 2013 with a cruise in August 2013 as well.