Hiking with Coffee?

I thought I'd try something a bit different and 'stage' my photo, rather than just go with the close crop of the layout. I see some crafters do it so effortlessly and is really showcases their work. I don't think I quite nailed it, myself. 

Anyway, here is the close crop of the layout which I quite like. I got the roll of hession when my local Kaisercraft was going out of business and it is really so versatile. Background is gesso through a stencil, then some Color Crush powders used as watercolours to drip from the top of the page and flick everywhere, some subtle brown script stamping and then some last flicks of brown ink.

Gumleaves are chipboard by Scrapmatts, painted with acrylic paint. The scribble circles are die-cuts by Uniquely Creative, cut from watercolour paper and painted with brown ink. The sequins come from a cute collection I picked up from Scrapbook Fantasies, I really went nuts with the scattered clusters on this layout.

This layout was inspired by the 1st January sketch over at Stuck?! Sketches. I thought it was such an interesting looking sketch when I first saw it. I really liked the different ways the design team brought it to life.  I've really kept quite close to the design for this one.

I was also inspired by the January Kraft Plus challenge. Initially I couldn't think of any photos I had to match this challenge, then I was going to use some of my son drinking his 'coffee' in the morning before I changed my mind to a photo featuring my sister and I drinking espresso martinis. It was while I was looking for that photo that I came across these ones of us with our coffees before we went for a little hike at Curtis Falls. The memory was too funny not to scrapbook! I've used the scribbled circles to mirror the circle around the bottom right image in the mood board.

Kraft Plus is also challenging people to create cards using their leftover scraps from the layout. I always think this is such a good idea but forget to do it normally. Today I remembered to whip up a little 4"x4" card and it was so simple! I used the exact same layering pattern as I used to mat the main photo on my layout, the leftover watercolour to mirror the drips and I had the extra scribble circle already cut and painted.

I'm happy to have used up some more scraps, including this chipboard piece which I think is technically a milk saucer but was the only piece I had left from an old set. The patterned papers are all actually from Christmas ranges that I'm slowly working my way through.

Crafty Friends

A very Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it! I wasn't able to travel to be with family this year due to my recent knee surgery, so my little immediate family spent it at home. I used the free time to create this layout. I wanted to create something messy with a lot of texture. I can safely say I achieved that. 

Given how intricate the background was, I didn't want to overload it with too many embellishments or layers on top. These die-cut circles and some resin pieces were all it needed. 

The other embellishment cluster:

I was not happy with my cushion cover at the end of the class. I think I had done it much too loosely, so the knitted part drooped and didn't fit snuggly around the cushion. I tried re-making it again once I got home but wasn't happy with how much of the white cushion showed through inbetween gaps of the knitting. I finally made one final attempt last night and it's good enough that I'm not going to do it again. 

I was inspired by two challenges for this layout. Firstly, I based it on the Stuck?! sketch for December:

The second inspiration was the Kraft Plus challenge. The boho feel of the room in the picture reminded me of the classroom for the cushion class, plus the wonderful assortment of cushions against the back wall. 

Wide Brown Land

I managed to find a couple of nights free to whip up a layout that isn't design team related! I have always loved this paper range from Kaisercraft, but struggled to get it to work with any beach papers. I think it worked quite beautifully with these photos from a family holiday to the Northern Territory outback though. I couldn't believe this took place way back in 2005.

Anyway, I have used a sketch from Stuck?! Sketches as the base, rotating it to suit my landscape photos.

Navy Pier

'What is this?' I hear you asking. Yes, I have finally found time to scrap something that isn't for a design team! It somehow still took for three nights, spread out over a week and a half to do, but it's a 'just for fun' layout and I'm happy I got to do it.

Photo is an old one, from our trip to America pre-baby in 2012-2013. Papers are a mixture of different Kaisercraft patterns, had a lot of fun mixing and matching rather than sticking to a collection. There is journaling, it's on a card behind the photo.

I took my inspiration from the Stuck?! Sketches September challenge. This is probably my favourite sketch challenge site. The sketches are always easy to use and the design team is very creative in their interpretations.

Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge has an easy challenge this month, the project just had to include red.

Gingerbread Memories - Scrapmatts DT

Scrapmatts came out with a couple of great new Christmas designs in late 2015 and I couldn't wait to have an excuse to use them. It just happened that my mother-in-law decided to have a gingerbread decorating contest after Christmas lunch this year so I got the perfect photos to use with the CB5145 Christmas Shapes 01. I teamed it up with CB5144 Layered Poinsettias 01.

 

 

I have used the Cocoa Vanilla Studios 'Tis the Season' range and for this layout. I got so much use out of the couple of sheets of 'Flying High' I had previously purchased from them and have great expectations for the versatility of this new range too.

 

I kept a lot of my paper off-cuts from designing the background and added them as extra detail layers under the photos right at the end. I found this to be a great technique both to use up scraps and add extra depth.

 

 This layout shows how many different techniques you can use to colour chipboard. Some parts have been inked with a stamp pad, some have been painted with acrylic paints and some parts have been coloured with pens.

 

I used the current sketch over at Stuck?! Sketches as the basis for this layout. Who says you can't create a double page layout from a single page sketch? :)

 

Sydney Harbour 2012

So I'm actually sticking this up after closing time but I didn't see the sketch until last night and I didn't realise entries closed two day before the end of the month. Silly me, I should really check these things first. I found the sketch over at Stuck Sketches last night and thought it was so amazing I put aside my half-done layout and started this one instead! :) It was a good excuse to scrap some older photos from our trip to Sydney and remember life pre-baby.

 

 

It's amazing what a difference a little bit of misting and paint splashes in the background can make to the finished product. I've used Cocoa Vanilla Studio papers and flair for this layout.

 

Here is the sketch I loved so much:

 

Our First Christmas

This was one of those layouts that fought me the whole way through. Firstly the papers just didn't seem to match, which was odd because they are all from the same collection. Then my sewing machine decided to eat the paper not once but twice. I stuffed-up ruling the border so that's uneven. I eventually reached a point where I was just done with the layout, rather than actually finished it, which is disappointing, because I really like the photo, the papers and the chipboard all individually. If you have any suggestions to make it work I'm all ears.

 

 

Words or Whatever is an Australian chipboard manufacturer who occasionally runs a really cool competition where you send them a stamped self-addressed envelope and they send you back some free chipboard. Everyone gets the same chipboard and you have that month to create a layout with it. I played along last time they did it and enjoyed myself so sent along my envelope again this time and was so happy to get Christmas chipboard back! They sent the stars all in the one piece as a dangly thing which I thought was adorable but it didn't do with my layout so I chopped up my stars. All the chippie just got a coat of embossing powder.

 

I used a sketch from Stuck?! Sketches (yes, they are my go-to sketch site) for this layout. I rotated it clockwise and I'm not sure if that is where my troubles started in not being 100% happy with my layout. I'll ponder it some more I think.

 

The Best Gift Ever - Scrapmatts DT

I was going through my collection of pre-printed photos (which currently occupies TWO shoe-boxes, why do I keep printing more?) and came across this series of Christmas photos I took of Harrison last year. The DIY photoshoot was so much fun and I really liked the results but for some reason I haven't scrapped them yet. I couldn't resist this little face though. :)

 

 

This is my second Scrapmatts DT layout for this month. I loved the plain string circles Andrew and Sofie released a while ago but recently they made them even better by adding stars, dots and arrows to the circles. I've used the stars version here (CB5138 String Circles 02) embossed in gold, along with CB1097 Floral Spray 01, CB1212 Scrap Words 14 and CB6097 Assorted Words 19.

 

 

Kaisercraft has a Christmas-themed mood board as their September challenge, so the photo worked perfectly for this challenge. The layout has to be 80% Kaisercraft products so basically anything that isn't Scrapmatts is by Kaisercraft here. We have cardstock, Mistletoe patterned papers and stickers, lace, stamps, mist, rhinestones and a very old brad.

 

 

I used the current sketch over at Stuck?! Sketches for this layout as well, though I did deviate a bit. I rotated the sketch to the right, and then changed the placement of a few things. I think you can still see how I used the sketch as the basis, hopefully. :)

 

 

Lastly, Stuck?! has combined with Scrap Our Stash who are a new challenge site for me but I decided to give it a go anyway.

L - lace

A - alpha stickers

Y - yellow (gold)

E - embellishments (brad, chipboard)

R - red

S - stickers

 

First Touch - CSI Guest Designer

My term as CSI guest designer is coming to close as the month draws to an end but I had a lot of fun and really like this layout I finished with. This amazing photo of my husband and son was taken by one of the operating nurses during my C-section and I think it is just amazing!

 

 

I wanted the focus to be the photo so kept the papers and embellishments to a minimum. The baby boy chipboard sheet was perfect for my little cluster, I just used some acrylic paint to get them to match the layout.

 

 

I solved the CSI case by using stripes in my blue paper and a cursive font on my journaling card as the evidence. The journaling is my husband's thoughts on his happiness at experiencing the birth of his son, so utilising the inspiration words. I have used a couple of Scrapmatts pieces as the embellishments here: CB6105 Assorted Words 23; CB5139 String Circles 03 and CB5135 Baby Boy 01.

 

 

I also used the current Stuck?! Sketches challenge as the basis for this layout. I love how quickly the page came together using this great sketch.

Ski Camp 2000 - Scrapmatts DT

Despite having so many photos of Harrison and various recent family events, I sometimes like to pull out old photos to scrap and reminisce about. These photos are from my year 11 ski camp way back in 2000 when I only had a film camera so some of the photos are so poorly framed, which makes them perfect for cutting down to smaller sizes.

 

 

Scrapmatts sponsors Stuck?! Sketches every month, offering two large pieces of chipboard. The sketches are fantastic and I have used this month's sketch as my inspiration for my design team layout this month. I have used one of the larger circles from CB8001, painting it with gesso then layering up coats of distress stain before randomly stamping over. The snowflakes are CB1180, painted with gesso before being coated with white glitter.

 

 

 

If you want to give it a try too, here is the sketch:

 

Family Picnic

I am a sucker for anything free so when I heard that the April challenge over at Words or Whatever involved receiving free chipboard I had to take part. Upon signing up I was sent a chipboard sheet with two hearts, the 'Family' title, the scalloped journal spot and frame plus a hashtag. I really enjoyed getting to play with a different company's chipboard and the challenge of incorporating the set pieces into my layout was fun.

 

 

My photo is from a picnic we went on for Valentines Day. There's no journaling because I've already scrapped this event but I might add some later. There is quite a mixture of embellishments from different companies. I also took some inspiration from Linda Eggleton and did two layers of stencil work behind my photo. It's amazing how adding more patterns to a busy background actually makes it less busy.

 

I used the April 1 sketch over at Stuck?! Sketches as inspiration. Simple sketches are great for leaving room to add your own touches and extra details.

 

Here Comes Trouble

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway!**

 

I loved this photo of Harrison and Ben as soon as I took it, it was exactly what I wanted to capture on our family picnic. Harrison can't crawl yet, but he had no problems getting around via rolling and is managing to get into all kinds of mischief hence the title.

 

 

I wanted to include some journaling on this layout, as I think it's something I've been forgetting to include on far too many layouts recently. I decided to hide it in the double matting of the photo, which actually swings open like a book.

 

I used the current sketch over at Stuck?! Sketches as the basis for this one. I actually changed things around a little bit, which is unusual for me, but the main body of the sketch as stayed true.

 

 

Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge's theme for this month is the colour blue, pretty clear how this layout qualifies. :) Use Your Stuff had also posted that their next challenge was going to be monochromatic however the page appears to have gone missing for now? Anyway, if it comes back then my old item is the pebbles which I was so excited to purchased back in June last year and never used until now.

You & Me: Create Life

Whilst pregnant, I had a very fun maternity photoshoot with Rachael Wilson Photography. It is such a freeing experience to look at your body, which is bigger than it has ever been before and possibly covered in stretch marks and swelling yet still love it. I was amazed that I was growing a whole person inside me and wanted to capture the magic of that experience. Rachael certainly delivered and managed to walk the fine line between looking classy in lingerie/semi-nude and just looking cheap. I have chosen a fully clothed photo to photo on this layout though. :)

 

 

I showed this layout to Ben and he got a huge smile on his face. He said it could be one of his favourite layouts I've ever created. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out as well and enjoyed getting messy in the background.

 

Kaisercraft have changed the way their challenges are running this year. Rather than releasing weekly sketches they will be doing one challenge at the start of each month, with the specific type varying. This month they went with a colour challenge which also had to include paper blooms and a stamp. The colour palate just happens to match their new release XO range, which I had been eyeing off anyway so I used this as an excuse to head down to my local store and pick up some papers. The range is so crisp and clean in design, I couldn't resist messying it up a bit on my layout to create a different effect. Since the layout needs to be mainly Kaisercraft products I have used their: cardstock, patterned paper, paper blooms, clear stickers, mini-alphas, 2 texture stamps and pearls.

 

 

 

I told you I was loving the January Stuck?! sketch for my last layout, I've gone with their mid-month release for this one.