Hip Kit Weekend Challenge

Tags

Aqua, Challenge, Gold, Hip Kit Club, Navy, Pink, Triangles

Today I created a layout to share using the following recipe that was posted for the Weekend Challenge on the Hip Kit Club Member Forum Facebook Page.

Recipe: Aqua, Pink, Navy, Gold, Triangles, Something sparkly, Hand or machine stitching

I loved all the colour prompts, so they weren’t a problem, but triangles and stitching were definitely a change from my usual style! I inked some dark wood veneer triangles in a light pink, and stamped a navy triangle stamp to layer behind them. I just love how they came out. As I don’t own a sewing machine, or even a needle and thread, I used stamp which gave the effect of stitching. It is very subtle and stamped in a very light aqua near the wood triangles.

For more information and to follow my process, you can watch my layout video here.

Advertisements

A Bit of Punch

Tags

Challenge, Gray, Navy, Scraptastic, Yellow

I decided to enter Jen Schow’s 500 subscriber challenge over on You Tube, which was to use punches on your layout. I definitely don’t utilise my stash of punches enough. I pulled out these four to use.

I had some pictures from nearly 7 years ago when I attended my first Bon Jovi concert, and I thought they would work well with the Scraptastic September 2014 We Will Rock You Kit and Add On as it had music references throughout.

Everyone who knows me, knows I love Bon Jovi. I have seen them twice in concert, which is lucky as we don’t get too many big acts coming to Christchurch, New Zealand!

You can see above I used the notebook punch on a paper layer, and I also used the ticket punch for the Admit One stamp, which co-ordinates with the punch. I also punched 3 scalloped circles to tuck in to the embellishment clusters, and the tag punch to give some interest to a yellow & grey striped paper.

I had some fabric thickers, which I sprayed with Navy mist for my title. Overall, this is a busier layout than what I usually do, but I really love how it turned out.

Special Investigator for November

Tags

Blue, Brown, Challenge, CSI: Colour Stories Inspiration, Green, Love

I am so thrilled to be a guest designer for November 2014 over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. A lot of my layouts are inspired by their case files, so it was fun being able to be part of the team for this month. Here is the first challenge I’ve designed for.

I start with the colour scheme, and go through my stash to pull out everything in the 5 shades to use. My stash isn’t overly large, so I usually know which collections to look for that will fit the colour requirements. In this case I went straight to the Skylark collection from Close to My Heart. I have actually used this collection for another case file (one of my first blog posts) which you can revisit here, and you will see it has a lot of the same elements, but both pages have a different feel to them.

\

For the evidence, I used bird accents, leaves, dots, mist splatters, and feathers. The feathers are very subtle and are printed in white on the vellum layer, so they are a bit difficult to see in the pictures.

I can’t resist adding doilies to the majority of my layoyuts, and I often die cut leaves to add layers as well. I fussy cut a bird from one of the patterned papers and popped up with foam tape.

This photo is from our wedding, and was taken in an aviary, (as we got married at a zoo) which was very fitting for the Testimony prompts, as well as the feather and bird accents from above. My journaling reads ‘I love that we got married at Orana Park. It was our first pick of venue, and made our day even more special. It was so serene being outside, nature all around us, and all the animals in the background.‘ This fitted with 3 of the prompts; document something about nature, hand write your journaling, and using the inspiration words – outside, first, and nature. I can’t wait to share other layouts for upcoming case files this month, so make sure you check out each reveal. 

Open Book & an Open Door

Tags

Brown, Challenge, Gold, Pink, Teal

I went a bit crazy when I saw the new Open Book collection from Maggie Holmes. Gold, florals, woodgrain, animals… it was like it was created just for me. The item I was most excited for was these absolutely beautiful glitter word thickers.

I created this layout for the October colour challenge at Scrapbook.com, which was to use brown, teal, and pink on your layout. I was inspired by a chipboard sticker of a house in those three colours, and found a picture of me and my good friend outside her house, and wanted to tell the story of how her house was my second home, and the door was always open.

Other embellishments in the collection include rub ons, die cuts, vellum pieces, and fabric brads. I really had to restrain myself from going overboard on this layout as there were so many beautiful bits and pieces to choose from.

Here is the completed layout, I LOVE those flowers at the top. I wasn’t going to include them as I thought they might be a bit much, but ended up just having to use them. 

Happy and Bright, Left and Right

Tags

Blue, Challenge, CSI: Colour Stories Inspiration, Green, Me, Orange, Red, Yellow

Well, another week is coming to a close, and it’s hard to believe we’re in the last third of the year! It’s spring here in New Zealand, so the latest Case File over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration was perfect with its bright & vibrant colour scheme. As usual, there were 5 colours to use on the layout, a selection of Evidence, and a Testimony to use to inspire our journaling. The below photo shows the use of all the colours, and also includes most of the Evidence, being a plain white background, arrows, hearts, circles, word sticker, an ampersand, and enamel dots.

The only evidence that I also used that I haven’t included above, was to incorporate a lightbulb. I had this awesome wood veneer piece from one of my older Scraptastic Kits, and so this was the perfect layout to use it on.

I have mainly used the Simple Stories – Good Day Sunshine Collection, as well as a few pieces from the America Crafts – #Summer Collection. For my title I used another ampersand, and took the colors from each side to dictate my letter sticker choices for my title.

For the Testimony, I chose to take a quiz to find out if my right or left brain was dominant. I wrote down my result (which as you can tell by my title was that I used each side equally) on a project life journaling card, which I then tucked behind my photo. Here is the case file:

And here is the finished layout:

A Touch of Tough

Tags

Black, Challenge, CSI: Colour Stories Inspiration, Green, Me, Purple

When I saw the latest challenge over at CSI: Color Stories Inspiration I definitely thought of Halloween. Here in New Zealand, we don’t really celebrate it though, it’s not at all popular. So I decided to take it in a completely different direction and go girly!

For the evidence I used cogs, birds, leaves, and layers – mostly the feminine aspects. I also added a white doily and a green bow paper clip. I also had green and black sparkly brads, which I placed along plain purple ones.

I wanted another a bit of juxtaposition on the page, so with all the girly touches, for my Testimony I chose to use an Odd Prompt – number 43, which was to write about how many tattoos I have. It reads ‘Most people don’t believe me when I tell them I have four tattoos. I suppose it’s because I’ve always been regarded as sensible, and one to follow all the rules. I have a star on my hip, a music design on my shoulder, a rose on my lower back, and a cross with rosary beads and leaves on my upper back. I usually have to show them before I’m taken seriously!’ I still had some awesome Amy Tan – Twins Thickers in my stash, and was able to repeat the last word of my journaling as my title.

Don’t you just love those little wood veneer birds? I ran a die cut through my cuttlebug for the leaves. I also stamped the cogs under the paper layers before I adhered them down. I used my black ink for the first time, and love how it turned out.

So here’s the finished page! I adore these challenges as they make me do things I normally wouldn’t do, and let me try out different colour schemes than the ones I usually gravitate towards.

A bit of Sparkle!

Tags

Blue, Challenge, Family, Gold, Navy, Pink, Scraptastic

One of the September challenges at Scraptastic Club is to Make it Glittery! I definitely knew I would contribute a layout, as glitter is one of my favourite things to add to a page, whether it be a sparkly font, brad, washi or paper. I had a photo of me and my sister outside the house we grew up in, and I had drafted some journaling for this particular snapshot already, so thought I should get it on a layout. As it was a lot of writing, I popped the photo on some foam tape so I could slip the journaling behind it, and keep it tucked away. I added a tab to the top right corner so it could easily be pulled out and read.

I had some really old glitter brads in my stash, so I mixed these with some sequins and gems to dot around the page. I also added the year the photo was taken with some glitter letter stickers on top of a vellum tag. I had to use that beautiful rose wood veneer too.

I mostly stuck to the September ‘The Girl’ kit for this layout, which had elements from the Pink Paislee – Solstice Collection, Teresa Collins – Something Wonderful Collection, Echo Park – We are Family Collection, Heidi Swapp – Dreamy Collection, and American Crafts – Shimelle Collection. I love how the kits take the guesswork out of mixing and matching supplies, and give such a good range of products. I only added a few bits from my stash, including a doily, the gold Thickers, and the gems.

I love how the soft pinks, blues, and kraft really complement the picture, and let the glitter touches I have added shine. As well as the gems, letter stickers, and Thickers, I also added some pink glitter washi from the kit tucked in as layers, and added a bow from the kit as well that had a touch of gold glitter on it. Here is my finished layout. 

What’s That about Curiosity and the Cat?

Tags

Black, Blue, Challenge, CSI: Colour Stories Inspiration, Green, Pets, Yellow

This is the first CSI Challenge I have entered which was accompanied by a sketch. I usually find sketches easy to adapt to my style, but I have to be honest and say this was a bit of a struggle for me. I really loved the overall look of the sketch, but I never cut my photos into shapes, and don’t use large or full pieces of patterned paper for backgrounds. But, it is good for my creativity to step out of my comfort zone, and I forged ahead!

What I did love was the colour scheme! With every case file, I always think I might not find the right colours in my stash, as I really don’t own a lot of product (my scraproom is actually just a wardrobe with the doors off) so I am always pleasantly surprised when I’m pulling papers and embellishments that I do find bits & pieces that work well.

I used the Amy Tan – Plus One Collection and the Simple Stories – Good Day Sunshine Collection for most of the page, as well as some cute paw print washi.

Here is the Case File – for Evidence I used stripes, mini brads, and two of something (paper clips). For the Testimony, I journaled about my cats, and used the Inspiration words across my title and journaling. It reads ‘Herbie discovered a perfect new hiding spot in the rubbish bin. Myrtle came along to see what he was up to – I love these two kitties!

And here is my finished layout!

Mini Love

Tags

Blue, Challenge, Me, Red, Scrap our Stash, Scraptastic

I think this is one of the fastest layouts I have done for a long time, taking me about 40 minutes. A few things I think helped were the fact I LOVED the August Boys of Summer Kit I used for this layout, which I purchased from Scraptastic Club, I had an awesome challenge to play along with at Scrap our Stash, and that I was scrapping a picture of my beloved Mini! The challenge guidelines were to use an assortment of school themed products, with a list provided. I started with some lined paper, and also used a Library Pocket and Card, a paper clip, alphas, and numbers. I built up some layers behind my picture using red, navy & light blue papers.

My quest to diminish my stash of flair continues, and I found a red one that said ‘Let’s go be adventurous’ which I really loved. It reminded me of all the road trips and fun outings I had taken in my Mini.

I built my title up on top of the Library card, drawing more attention to it by using an arrow paper clip. I used a sticker as a subtitle, and small number stickers to show the years I owned my Mini.

I miss this car so much! Now I can keep on enjoying the memories when I look back through my layouts. It’s not just people that we can scrapbook about!

Brown and Pink and Teal! Oh my!

Tags

Blue, Brown, Challenge, CSI: Colour Stories Inspiration, Family, Kids, Pink, Teal

Time for another weekly CSI challenge submission! When I saw the colours for this weeks challenge, I was so exited. I LOVE brown, pink & teal together, though I haven’t actually used them on my pages together very often. I didn’t think I had a lot of the beautiful, deep teal in my stash, but did manage to find a few bits and pieces to add to the page.

After picking out a photo of me and my twin sister on our first day at a new school, I found a wood veneer title which I really wanted to use. I coloured it a soft blue, and added a beige sticker underneath to complete the title. I also layered the title over a globe I fussy cut from a 3×4 card from the Close to my Heart – Picture my Life Collection.

I had a lone flair from a haul I had purchased from Two Peas in a Bucket before they closed, and both the colour and the woodgrain detail went with the case file. I added the chipboard heart to the page at the last minute and really like how it ended up tying the embellishment cluster together.

One of the journaling prompts was to write about school. I made mention of this in what I wrote, but also focused on meshing the title with my words as well. My journaling reads: Being a twin meant never having to face anything by myself. This was very handy for those big, daunting moments, like our first day of school. Being a twin also meant we had to wear badges with our initials so that the teachers could tell us apart! 

So, as a round up, for the evidence I used woodgrain, a globe, an envelope, and a tag. For my testimony I wrote about school, and tucked my journaling in an envelope.