Elle's Studio | Guest Designer!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I have contributed to the mini course for October, over at Elle's Studio. I got to play alongside fellow Aussies - Natalie Elphinstone & Joy Taylor, who I think are extremely talented!! 

Here's a little sneak peek of what I've created...

You can find more details here. I hope you will go and check it out. Thanks for visiting..x

Bella BLVD | Snap...

This week over at Bella Blvd, the design team are looking beyond at the Campout Collection to create projects that possibly don't match up with the Great Outdoors!  I wanted to document Liam's accident on the hockey field which ruled him out of playing for his team during the State Titles... three days later.

"Snap"

Products Used: cs - American Crafts; pp - Bella Blvd | Campout: Under The Stars, In The Woods, Daily Details, Borders, Go Jump In The Lake, Trail Mix; Alphas - Bella Blvd | Campout Treasures&Text; other - Bella Blvd: Color Chaos Clear Cut | Pickle Juice Confetti; water colour paint; tools - silhouette portrait, typewriter.

When using the Campout collection to help convey the story on my layout, I've looked beyond the normal concepts for putting a page together and refocused on the colors and patterns.  My son had a terrible accident during a sporting event leaving him unable to play for the rest of the season but even worse than that, completely eliminating him from participating in State Titles the very next week end. For a 12 year old, it was the end of the world!

I wanted to share his devastation on the page by adding sharp angles, as seen in the triangle paper sharpening the soft lines of the cut out letter 'S' and broken lines which are layered beneath the photo. The stars and spots were also added to relate the idea of what he saw in front of his eyes, at the time of the break, while the flowers signify the many get well wishes.

Sometimes I wonder if I read too much into patterned paper when I put my layouts together. But ultimately everything on my page supports the story I want to document, regardless of the specific collection I am creating with.

If you would like to see what the others design team members are creating, don't forget to head on over to the Bella blog.  Thanks for visiting..x

Bella Blvd | Free for All...

Hello Friends!  Sorry for the lack of blogging lately.  I've been neither here nor there and ultimately just plain busy with everyday stuff.  Of course it doesn't help when the kids are sick right along side of hubby.  Someone has to pick up the slack right?! LOL!

Anyway... Over on the Bella Blvd blog recently I shared this PL2015 spread. I broke out the gorgeous Illustrated Faith | Whatever is Lovely collection and decided I could use it on my pages to help me document.

I keep saying how versatile any of the Bella Blvd collections are, and truly it really is applicable.  Who thought I could add a Bible Journaling product to PL spreads, mostly about my boys and their hockey??!! *grin*

Of course, I've mixed in other collections too - such as Family Frenzy, but predominately, most product is from Whatever is Lovely.

If you want to catch up on my thought process, please head on over to the Bella blog here.  Thanks for visiting today...x

Jot Magazine | October Mood Board!

Hello Friends!  I am pretty excited about this month's mood board over at Jot Magazine because I had the pleasure of selecting a few Pinterest images to be brought together to try and inspire! I must of had water colour on the mind particularly as the inspiration pieces, that made it to the board, came together.. *grin*

In truth, it really was the water colour world map that started my journey through the myriad of goodness on Pinterest. I just knew that I had to incorporate the same (or similar) process on a page. Here's what I came up with..

"Happy"

products used: cs - American Crafts; pp - October Afternoon; alpha - American Crafts thickers; other - water colour paint, Heidi Swapp colorshine, black sharpie pen, OA stickers and chipboard; tools - silhouette portrait, typewriter, sewing machine.

I started out by searching for a free downloadable image via Google for a "flat world map". After saving the image and converting it to a .jpg file, I was then able to trace the outside image of the map in my silhouette software.

A lot of the detail was too fine for my cutting machine, so I removed any great lakes or small islands from the image before I sent it to be cut out from sturdy cardstock.

This then left the basic outline to use as a water colour stencil directly onto my background layout cardstock.

From my collection of Heidi Swapp colorshine mist and water colour paint palette, I proceeded to lightly brush over the openings in the stencil - allowing drying time between each colour. Add some water to your mist on a separate palette to achieve a washed out look.  Tip: Use washi tape to secure the stencil/mask to the back ground cardstock to prevent movement between each paint layer. To obtain a softness between the colours, brush the cardstock with water before adding the paint.

After my background technique was completed, I started to take other elements from the moodboard. Especially the hand drawn circles with the "focus on happy" theme.

The remainder of the layout came together very easily by adding a touch of florals (fussy cut from the October Afternoon patterned paper) and grounding all the elements with the black die cut heart shapes.

If you would like to play along with this mood board challenge... (and I'd really love for you to try it out!! *grin*) Please, come and visit the Jot Magazine blog to check out the details.  Happy scrapping and thanks for visiting here today.

Sassy Scrappers | Project Life Weeks 28 & 29...

Hello Friends! Up on the Sassy Scrapper blog today I am sharing two weeks of PL2015! I've got to catch up on 10 weeks so I think I might need to start combining spreads! LOL!

Anyway... I hope you get the chance to come over and check out the details.

Thanks for visiting..x