Stuck Sketches...

Hi Everyone!  What a whirlwind week it has been!  I have spent the last three days at the Brisbane Quilt and Papercraft Fair helping out at The Papercraft Hub's stand.

There were so many beautiful things to see!  Including the "wall of washi" tape I was standing next to for some of the time!  *grin*  Also, don't forget about the Design Team call over at The Papercraft Hub.  The call finishes soon and I don't want you to miss out!

 

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But today I want to share my layout created for the mid month Stuck?! Sketches challenge.  Here is the sketch...

 

 

and my layout...

 

 

"Bookends"

 

products used: cs - kaisercraft; pp - Bo Bunny, American Crafts; alpha - American Crafts (Amy Tangerine); other - Greatest View sequins, Bo Bunny brad, vellum, ink (versacolor), Mister Huey's color mist, staple; tools - Martha Stewart pinking circle, fiskars: small & medium circle punch, typewriter.

 

I have often referred to my eldest and youngest children as the bookends.  :) Not only do they have two other siblings (Liam and Ethan) between them, but Tahlia and Cam have the same hair and eye colouring as opposed to the other two.  hee hee... Does that make sense?  These two look alike, while the middle two resemble each other.  :)

As you can see from the sketch, I have really condensed it to suit my style.  Lots of layers and plenty of white space.

Please feel free to join in on the fun over at Stuck?!.  Paper Stories is this month's sponsor and there is a great prize up on offer!  So good luck if you are thinking of participating!  And thanks again for visiting..x

 

She is important...

Hello Friends!  Sorry about the lack of blogging over the weekend.  We have just started two weeks of school holidays here.  The kids have been keeping me busy, organising play dates and other activities.  I need to do something to keep them entertained otherwise we each drive the others crazy!  *grin*  Today we are heading off to the netball courts for a bit of exercise and fun with friends.  :)

Today I am also sharing this layout created for Greatest View.  This was a joyful project for me to work on.  It shares the story of my "Masters" journey.  It was also a timely reminder for me to scrap more about myself.  :)  Yes.  I am very guilty of leaving "me" out of the equation when documenting our family stories..  I think I can honestly count on one hand, the number of layouts I have created, that are about me...  whoops!  Here is number... three or maybe four?

"She is Important"

products used: cs - kaisercraft; pp - Echo Park; Greatest View - zebra print bag, flamingo badges/flairs, pale pink bakers twine, flamingo sequins; other - versacolor ink, mister huey's mist, studio calico stickers, typewriter.

 

 

I've added quite a bit of journaling.. not in the "zebra print bag" but in a file folder on the front of it.  In the bag itself, I've added all my bits and pieces that relate to this journey, including photos of my submission layouts..

 

 

If you would like to see a little more of the details, please visit Greatest View.  And while there don't forget to go into the shop and order yourself some of these beautiful badges/flairs! 

 

Thanks for visiting..x

Finally...

yes.  Finally.  I can share some of the inspiration that has hit me since going to expo.  :)  Hello Friends.  I've been scrapping.  :D  And after dragging myself up and out of bed last week, I've found that getting crafty yesterday and today, have left me with itchy fingers.  I just needed to play with some paper.  Forget the housework.

{Sunset}

products used: cs - Stampin' Up, bazzill, kraft; pp - Crate Paper, Bo Bunny; alpha - kaisercraft; FTD - Delightful Doily Duo, High in the Sky,Zippity do da; other - Elle's Studio journal cards, PLS vacation card, twine, Dear Lizzy embellishment, staple, MS pinking circle punch & small circle, black pen (sharpie), Tim Holtz distress ink, Versacolor ink, Kaisercraft ink, Mister Huey's mists. 

Today I pulled out my Fancy That Dies from The Papercraft Hub and played with High in the Sky - a gorgeous little hot air balloon.  I've been wanting to use the silhouette of this die for ages and just couldn't find the photos I wanted to pair it with.  :)  After listening to the other Scrapbooking Memories Masters talk, I realised I just need to stopping holding (hoarding) the photos I want to scrap and just document the story.  I'm sure we all do this from time to time.  Have a fabulous photo and instead of writing down the story of that moment, we wait, until we have the right paper, the right embellishments.  Well today I just wanted to scrap.  And I didn't want to have to go shopping first!

(high in the sky) 

Another "light bulb" moment I had after expo was looking through my layouts and remembering other gorgeous pieces of "art" I had seen and just wished.. I had it in me to use different techniques.  Louise Nelson's art is divine.  I adore her story telling on her pages and believe me she does document her stories in such a unique way, that looking at a colour on a layout will trigger a memory for her.  I love her misting techniques on her backgrounds and the movement she can create from drips of paint.  So uniquely beautiful.  And here I was wishing I could try my hand at that method and still retain a little bit of me.

And then it hit me.  I do that already.  LOL!  Sure, not to the extent that Lou does, but there on my background papers are splashes of paint and mist.  Colours dotted together to help me tell my story.

 (delightful doily duo)

The scary thing for me sometimes, is that I do this in reverse!  I will layer and adhere papers before I pull out the paint.  Just adding a dash here or there always completes a layout for me.  :)

I love how in this industry we can be so inspired and motivated by others to document our own stories that are unique to us.  And I know when the mojo is low, my scrapping friends can lift me.

(zippity do da)

Again I will share, just how wonderful it was to meet up with my on-line friends.  Thanks for the snippets of inspiration that I have gathered from you all.  And hopefully now I can pass along a little inspiration to others.  Thanks for visiting..x

Three days of craziness! (and then some..)

OMGosh!  I'm not even sure I know where to begin!  What a truly amazing and exhilarating long weekend!  And then I get home and it all crashes around me.  LOL!  If you have never been to the Scrapbook and Papercraft Expo before, then you are missing out!  Just meeting many of my beautiful online friends in real life was one of my many, many highlights!  Meeting and making new friends was a little bit of the icing on the top! But the danger of being around sooooo many people during flu season is easy to work out.  :)  I started this post on Tuesday.  Today is Thursday.  I have spent the last two days in bed.  Bleh!  But if that's the price I pay for having a terrific time, I'll take it gladly!

Of course being in attendance as a 2012 Scrapbooking Memories Master and talking to people about my layouts was an "out of this world" experience.  I am so glad I did it.  Nerves and all!  LOL! And I am hoping I inspired a few people to look differently at the items they put on their layouts.  :)  Thanks to both Cassie and Vanessa for all their support!

Because I was talking at the expo, I got to sneak in early (before the crowds) and managed to have a photo taken with Tim Holtz!  And lucky too because there were five to six people deep around him at all times.  He was really lovely and extremely willing to sign autographs and have photos taken with random strangers (!) when he probably was supposed to be setting up his work area for the day.  :)

Without a doubt though, one of the best parts of the week-end was catching up with some of the 2012 Scrapbooking Memories Masters! 

from L to R: Sophie Sim Lawrence, me, Kim Jeffress, Cassie Bellemore (SM editor), Louise Nelson, Renee Iveson.

Another bonus (and there were so many!) was catching up with the Australian contingent (minus one person) of the 2010-11 Kaisercraft contributing team.  Sorry Ladies, if any of you have a non-blurry photo, please pass it along! LOL!

from L to R: Nerrida Mitchell, Trudi Harrison, Kerryn Lawson, Karen Shady & me.

And even though I am still coughing up a lung right now, I am already looking forward to next year.  Thank-you to every one who came to my little chats, stopped me to say hello, admired my work in the gallery and then told me as much (blush), and to Kim, Gail and Kerryn from Greatest View.  Best. Weekend. Ever.