2020…First Layouts of the New Decade!

Happy New Year to all, hope that you all had a lovely time celebrating with family and friends. My New Year celebrations were spent with my girlfriends who help me get through every year with love, laughter and support. None of them are scrapbookers and they don’t really get it, but they are artists and we try to spend arty times together throughout the year. 2019, was a little lacking on our normal arty events with us all dealing with busy lives. I hope to make more effort this year in keeping our creative catch-ups happening with a few arty outings throughout the year.

Anyhow, to kick off my 2020 scrapping, I chose to do a scraplift. The problem I have is that I don’t know who created the original layout, I tried Google image search and had no luck…they linked it to artificial flowers! I wonder why? Haha. So, if you know whose layout this is please let me know, I would like to credit them? What I loved about this layout was the negative space and the layering on both sides of the layout.

My attempt started with building up some background using gesso and a stencil. The main reason I did this was that I didn’t really have a whole heap of embellishments to use with my photos, plus it gave me time to get messy and really play. I wanted to use some new supplies from Santa, the papers, plus use up some neglected products, the ribbon and frames.

I blended out the gesso edges, rubbing it with my fingers. Then, I sponged on some oxide distress ink, as the white gesso was a bit too stark.

Next, I mounted and built up the layers behind the photos and used the same papers to begin the corner embellishment cluster.

I then, layered up my embellishments with some found old Sizzix cut die cuts, wood veneers and die-cut alphas for the title. The last touch was adding some Nuvo Crystal Drops to create enamel dots. I’m slowly getting better at applying the Nuvo drops, though some are trickier than others due to how thick the mix is.

The finished layout is pleasing but I do need to add some journaling about why we have to do this for every new tree planted, one word…kangaroos! They devastate pretty much anything new, if they can reach it they will eat it and the tree guards can not be removed until the tree is well established.

The second layout for 2020 is about my husband’s shoes, not a topic that most people would scrap. The reason I wanted to capture this memory is that he is finishing up his baking career, he did his last shift two days ago. No more flour-dusted shoes and night shift, it will be a change for us all having him home in the evenings and not having him arrive home while I am drinking my morning cup of tea.

The papers I used were from Santa, a mix pulled from several paper pads, including this gorgeous alpha sheet from Maggie Holmes’s Bloom collection. I fussy cut this sheet to use as embellishments and selected four of the alpha cards for this layout.

I smeared some white gesso onto two opposite corners on my background to try and get a floury texture and sprinkled on some white ink for spots of flour. In the end, most of this got covered by embellishments and is hard to see in the finished layout photo.

Then, I went to town mounting and layering papers, adding the photos, embellishments and titles. I quite like how it turned out and think it just needs a thin journal strip at the base outlining the story.

The last two layouts I completed are of my grandson, I tried to add some bling to both and use up some sequins. The top layout is made with a Vicki Boutin, mixed media, printed cardstock. Yep, Santa thought that I needed some time off from creating my own mixed media backgrounds and bought me the paper pad. I couldn’t resist adding a touch of colour and stencilled around the edges using a Uniquely Creative stencil and some TH distress inks. Both layouts have some Maggie Holmes and Shimelle papers/embellishments, and the bottom layout has some more Nuvo drops (don’t look too closely, some of the dots are not round…haha).

I hope you all are getting some time to scrap and have a fabulous crafty year. For some of our Australian friends and crafters, life is tough at the moment with the extreme fires burning across our country. Many have lost homes and loved ones, if you can support them in some way, please do? It may be just in prayers, offering accommodation, food and supplies, or donating cash to one of the many collection funds which have been set up across Australia and the World. Every little bit will help in this intense time of need. Thank you to all our emergency services and volunteers across the country who are working at full capacity, and to the USA firefighters who are coming to help us out. Let us all hope that rain will arrive soon and help quench the flames, it is really the only thing that will stop this firestorm.

Happy scrapping everyone 🙂

Please leave a comment below or share with other creatives, remember you need to open the post by clicking on the title to access the comment box if you are on the home page.

Finish or Fix?

Hello,

Well, in my part of the World there has been very inclement weather, the type that makes you want to stay inside in front of the fire, and that is exactly what I have been doing. When I haven’t been working I’ve been snuggled up reading, scrapbooking or sorting. The sun has been beaming sometimes but it has been bitterly cold and so, I am more than happy to sort and clean spaces.

My studio (aka son’s old bedroom) was one of the areas targeted and I spent a lot of time going through some sets of shelves, looking for completed layouts (yes, I have been known to shove them into spaces to file on another day) and working out what exactly was in some of those pizza boxes. Do any of you have a pizza box problem? I have real dilemmas over keeping them or not keeping them. They are fabulous for storage (as long as you label and remember what the label means) and I have at least two dozen empty ones under my desk…someday I might need them. Not one of them has ever had pizza in them!

Anyway, I’m off track. I found a pizza box labelled ‘layouts to finish & file’. Great I thought, more completed layouts to pop into albums, I have been filing layouts this week. Nope, there was three finished layouts and a dozen not finished! And…they were old! Not just a little old, big old, like 12-15 years old! So, I’m sitting on the floor looking at these layouts and I laughed at how terrible some of them were, and I cringed and questioned what was I thinking? They were terrible, there was no design thought, no embellishments on many, no style what so ever and certainly no mixed media. They were seriously old school and I could see why I hadn’t been interested in finishing them. Hmm… what they did have was photos, not all of them great either but still images of family history which needed to be rescued. So, after pondering on how far I had changed in scrapbooking technique and skill, plus attitude (Yep, at one stage in my life I did not like or see any benefit in scrapbooking, I even complained about having to do it (in my workplace), I was a stamper/artist. My husband loves to remind me about this, now that every spare minute is spent on scrapping.), anyhow, I decided to finish or redo the layouts.

Here we go, with much shame, I present layout one out of the pizza box, unfinished and ugly. A creation with a very seventies colour scheme and very busy pictures filled with my family. You can see that it is so uninspiring, I think that olive green and brown was selected based on the seventies furniture and walls in the photos. It does have a nice frame on the main pic.

So, here is what I changed and what I did. Basically, I took it apart, thinking that I would use some of the cardstock in the new format. I did use a little but not much. I must say that the double-sided tape used to adhere the photos were strong, it was hard work getting it apart. I wish I knew what brand tape I had used.

I started with some mixed media, I wanted to get some colour in the layout and used the party balloons pictured as inspiration. I was after a fun, chaotic, party feel. I applied watercolour paint to my white cardstock in a circular pattern, trying to create a border around my photos. Some of the paint was applied with a brush and some was flicked onto the cardstock. I ended up having to extend the colour further around the edges, so it was peeking outside the photo edges.

Then, I worked on each photo, matting them and building up layers of patterned paper (scraps from previous layouts) and adding some embellishments.

I have been binging on YouTube and watching the HipKit Club team whilst I am cleaning and scrapping and decided to add some thread to my page.

The finished layout is messy, fun and bright and over-embellished. Some may think the simple, clean line which was in the original version was better, I like the fun messy look. Most importantly, I had lots of fun creating it and this layout will finally be put in the family album.

One finished and eleven more to go.

Happy scrapping 🙂

May 2019 CKC Layouts #5-#7

Hello everyone,

Today I am playing catch up on my blog, May is a crazy time of the year for me and my family and finding time to sit and blog is tricky. In May, every weekend is a party! We celebrate three (out of 6) family birthdays, mine included, and we also have Mother’s Day in Australia, add to that NSD (day, week, month…haha), the ACC Cyber Crop and then work stuff (standardised state testing, etc.) and life gets busy!

So, here I am sharing 3 layouts which I have squeezed in over the last few weeks, but haven’t found the time to share on my blog. Working backwards today…

Layout #7

This layout features photos of my friends on holiday with me, we do an Art Trail tour throughout the W.A., South West and Greater Southern Region. As we travel, we stay at different local backpacker accommodation. We prefer cheap accommodation, then we have more money to spend on art/craft supplies, artworks, food and happy juice! These photos are when we arrived home late after a fabulous day out meeting artists and talking and viewing art, then a gourmet meal and plenty of happy juice, and we decided to play Scrabble. Things got a little silly, who knew that such words existed…um, they don’t!

Using papers from my May CKC kit, I decided to create a layered border around my layout. I tend to always cut out the middle of the paper when layering, gives you more paper to use later. I thought the text paper would work well, given we were playing Scrabble in the photos.

Next, I thought I would add some letters to the page using stamps and archival ink. I also splattered on some watercolour paint in turquoise, red and blue.

I added a few tag and quote embellishments, some are from Kaisercraft and the little quotes are from Uniquely Creative. Then, I added my title and some subtitles. The main title is using American Crafts, Jewelry Box, Thickers and the subtitle is also an American Crafts, foam Thickers, called Happy Life, which I love and am trying to buy more of, but finding them sold out at most stores.

The finished layout, I am happy with it, it is fun and a little haphazard, much like the game we were playing.

Layout #6

These photos gave me the opportunity to use some of the tropical papers and embellishments in my kit. Most of what I used came from the DCWV Bahama Mama paper pad which features lots of pineapples, flamingos, bananas and tropical foliage. Some of the papers have pink foil which gives it a little sparkle. I was interested in using the foliage papers, as the local cafe where we were having drinks has lots of these types of plants and you can see them in the photos.

I started by adding some patterned paper (flamingos, which had nothing to do with the photos), a doily and an embellishment 6×4 card which I trimmed down. I thought about where my photos would be placed. I had wanted to include three photos but it just didn’t look right, so one got binned. I ended up trimming down the tropical background and mounting it onto some green cardstock, I seem to have a thing for borders at the moment.

I felt like adding a bit of sparkle to the layout and strategically splashed on some Heidi Swapp, Mustard Color Shine. This would be my next favourite Color Shine, after the gold, it really glows and is vibrant, some of them are not as showy.

Oops…doily wrinkles will need to be covered.

Then I mounted my photos and began building layers of paper and cardstock behind them. I had fun adding the embellishments, I really wanted to use up quite a few of the embellishments from my kit, many of the ones I used are from a Heidi Swapp ephemera pack and some I fussy cut from the AC Bahama Mama papers.

I like how the layout turned out, it is one more layout towards our family moments album, about our long lost relatives who came to visit.

Layout #5

This layout, made from my CKC kit, turned out bright and fun. It is a scraplift from a 2016, Becky Fleck Pagemaps.

The layout features photos of my grandson and his cousin using a bouncy castle at the Simmos Icecreamery. It is a very simple design, no mixed media, but I did try and focus on getting in some movement by using downward strips of paper and layering the photos on the diagonal.

As you can see, all of these layouts still need the dates and journaling added. I am very bad at adding the journaling during the creating process and always end up making the journaling a process in itself, sitting at the computer with a whole stack of layouts and going through them one by one. I very rarely hand journal, as I have terrible handwriting.

Please do keep sharing what you create on the FB Counterfeit Challenge Website and blog? Make sure that you keep up to date with what others are creating on the Monthly Link Up page.

Keep on scrapping everyone 🙂

RTS & CKC Mar. 2019-Layouts #9 & #10

Hello and happy St Pats Day,

Today I am sharing the last two layouts I made using Janet Madison’s RTS 4 for 4 series technique. You can view all of Janet’s videos for the series on her YouTube channel, RTS (Record the Story) Scrapbooking. As usual, I made some changes along the way, something Janet promotes…there is no one way, make it your own!

You can see the collection of papers I started with on my last post, I chose very feminine papers from my March Counterfeit Kit Challenge. Using the 4 for 4 series you end up making 4 layouts using 5 patterned 12×12 pieces of paper cut to different sizes and then working on a cardstock background. The leftover scraps are used to make cards with, something which I haven’t tried yet. Years ago, when I first ventured into papercraft, cards were my main focus. I even sold them through several businesses, was commissioned to create them, taught classes on stamping and cardmaking, and had tutorials published. Now, I just can’t get enthusiastic about making cards, though I do ooh and aah over all the new stamp releases. However, I agree with Janet that we should all be making our own gift cards, we have the skills and loads of scraps to use up!

Layout #9 (for CKC, #3 for RTS-4 for 4)

For this layout, I selected a very light, shell pink cardstock for the background. You can see the patterned papers cut to Janet’s specified sizes, I used a mix of old and new papers. A lovely raspberry pink floral, a text (a recent purchase, Jilliebean – Reap the Grain) and a strip of mint, criss-cross kisses. The butterfly and flowers die cuts are from Tim Holtz’s idea-ology salvaged elements, and I chose a few tags to include from my stash.

I put the background together first. I had an issue with the text paper, it probably wouldn’t have bothered most people but I do suffer a little from perfectionism. If you read the text you can see that there are some words and quotes which don’t fit with my photo. My photo is a 4×4 of my daughter by herself and several parts of the text refer to more than one person…see how picky I am. There is the terms: You & Me, Family, and together. I couldn’t work with this and needed to find ways to cover up these terms. The first thing I did was add the mint criss-cross strip across the term ‘& Me’, it didn’t quite cover it all, so I add a strip of gold, glitter washi tape. Problem solved!

Next, I needed to deal with the large words, ‘Family’and ‘together’, on the right-hand side. Fortunately, my photo would cover this area, but it did mean that the placement was different from Janet’s recommendation.

I then thought the photo needed to stand out more from the background and added a white cardstock border. I wanted to include my handmade gold frames in this layout and mounted them on some scrap pink checked paper. They would do a good job at covering up the text on the left of the layout, and be substituted for the absence of photos. Janet’s #3 layout uses 3 photos and I only had one.

I had wanted to use the teal glitter Thickers from my CKC kit and thought I needed to get some teal colour on the page, as my papers did not include this colour. So, out came some distress ink and a cheap stencil. I focused on stencilling over the areas with the inappropriate (for me) text.

Next, I went to work adding the embellishments strategically placing them to cover up those annoying words. This took me quite a lot of time, I moved things around a lot and it just wasn’t working for me. I also stamped on some distress raspberry pink, little foliage images to try and pull it all together, around the clusters. A few tiny punched out red hearts and flowers were also added.

I’m not completely happy with the end result, but as Janet always tells us ‘the friends and family looking through the albums will not notice’. It is us that is far too critical of our own work. We need to learn to…let it be, let it be!

Layout #10 (for CKC, #4 for RTS-4 for 4)

So, this layout starts out with me scanning and enlarging the photo I want to use. Like my previous layouts, it is an old photo of my daughter which was once framed and hung on our hallway wall. The papers used are the same as Layout #9, except for a little strip of the large flower print (used in Layouts 7 & 8). I chose a few tags and a daisy die cut from my CKC kit and decided to work on white cardstock so I could splash around some ink.

I pulled out my favourite oxide ink, Mustard Seed, it creates an amazing golden yellow, and I used the plastic bag technique, activating the ink with water, to create a vibrant background.

Next, I wanted to include some stencilling on the background, picking up a few of the colours form the ‘LOVE’ tag. I put a few washi tape strips along the base of the page and then got busy stencilling on some simple shaped flowers using a range of distress ink colours. They blended beautifully, creating an almost rainbow coloured effect. I also stencilled a strip of white cardstock to use for some embellishments.

Time to fussy cut out those flowers.

Now, I needed to create some frames from scraps to cover the rough edges and bits of white left around my trimmed down photo. As, previously, I used the old Creative Memories cutting system, it was a quick and easy option.

Then, I mounted the photo and frames onto the layout using foam tape.

Time to build up the layers of embellishments, both handmade (stamped & stencilled) and purchased. A mix of flowers, tags and enamel dots. Then some Thickers for the title.

The end result is a very, bright, colourful layout, a lot more intense than I envisaged. Another layout in the album, happy scrapping everyone.

RTS & CKC March 2019 – Layouts 3-6

Morning all,

I had a lovely day yesterday, the rain was slow and steady for most of the day, and I indulged myself watching my favourite scrap idols on YouTube and finishing off my challenge layouts. I enjoyed completing the Janet Madison, RTS 4 for 4 layouts using some of my March Counterfeit Kit Challenge kit. I ended up with 6 layouts in total, as I didn’t make the cards. I used the scraps I had left to create two more layouts instead.

The first two layouts I made were quite simple using photos from my grandson’s fifth birthday party. I decided to finish off scrapping the other birthday event photos with the rest of the RTS 4 for 4 supplies.

Layout 3.(4for4 Series // Layout #3)

With layout 3, I made a few changes to Janet’s original design. Something which Janet encourages in her videos, make it your own. I flipped how she had laid out the photos, putting two at the top and one photo at the bottom. The reason I did this was that my photos are of my grown, adult children and my husband going down the slides at the Little Monsters indoor fun park where the birthday party was celebrated. I wanted the last photo in the sequence to stand out and be noticed, where my husband nearly wipes out our youngest daughter!

All of us grownups, my children, myself, my husband and some of the parents attending the party had a fun and crazy time trying out the slides. We had been using them for about an hour before we noticed a sign at the top of the slides…No Adults on The Slides!

Oops! Did that stop us? Um, no, we were having way too much fun by then. I guess we regressed to our childhood and the manager did not stop us, well that’s our excuse.

Layout 4. (4for4 Series // Layout #4)

One great thing I am finding with the RTS 4 for 4 series is that I am using up a lot of washi tape. I may finally get to the end of a roll. Layout four includes 4 photos, if you haven’t noticed, each of Janet’s layouts increases by one photo at a time.

For my layout, I used photo’s slightly larger (3×4) than Janet’s. It still worked fine but hid a bit more of the background papers.

I loved that this time I had a thin strip of rainbowed stripe paper to work from. The colours really work with my photos. Janet uses a few other materials for her horizontal strips, ribbon and paper strips, I stuck with my washi tape. Gotta use that stuff up!

You can see in Janet’s layout that she introduces some of the green, 5th paper sheet (check out her video for all the details). I had already eaten into my 5th sheet and had used it for matting photos, I had this odd shaped piece left. It wasn’t long enough to go across the page, so I cut it down into two strips and joined them together.

Once I have the background adhered to the cardstock, I lay out where I think everything else will go. When I’m happy with it I take a quick photo of it with my iPad before pulling it all off again. This helps me remember the layout placement and I get busy sticking everything into place.

The finished layout looks happy and bright, especially on that white cardstock, the colours pop!

So, what do I have left? It is at this stage that Janet goes into a card making tutorial (4for4 Series // 4 Cards). Not being a card maker any longer, even though Janet makes some strong points on why we should be making our own, the cost of cards these days, etc., I decided to make some more layouts. Heres what I had left…

and… of course, I had the rest of my March CKC kit to pull supplies from. I didn’t want to pull any other coloured pattern paper from the kit, but I had included some glitter cardstock to die cut some text/quotes with. Part of the CKC is that you forge, create some of your own embellishments, etc. For March, you needed to include some frames in the kit, something which I have a whole box of, but do you think I could find them to include them in my kit? Nope! This can be one of the downfalls of cleaning and sorting out your craft room, trying to find stuff. In my head, I can clearly see where the box used to sit on the shelf. Grrrr

Anyhow, I decided to make some frames using my gold glitter cardstock and some standard white cardstock. Like any dedicated artisan, I researched online for a DIY video and found a great one by Meg on her YouTube Litlle Hot Tamale channel. The tutorial is called Diy Polaroid Embellishments – Build Your Stash #1. Meg does a great job at sharing two different ways to make your own frames. I went with technique #2 but cut the frames with my Fiskars paper cutter and not scissors.

After cutting the frames, Meg shows you ways to decorate them. I loved the little fringed paper strips and thought that would work beautifully with my festive birthday photos.

Layout 5.

So, layout five is made from the leftover scraps and features photos of my grandson going down the slide. The photos are not of great quality but they capture the excitement and energy of the moment. I cut the three top photos down to 3×3 and topped each with one of the homemade frames (adhered with foam tape).

Layout 6.

This one is super simple, using up the scraps, some washi tape and a few scraps of white cardstock. I used the frame quote embellishment on this layout and a couple of the gold glitter square cutouts leftover from making the frames. I may embellish this further, it is a little too empty for my normally cluttered style. Janet would be asking where are the clusters? The visual triangle? It was late and I had lost my mojo.

Next, I am going to have another go with Janet Madison’s, RTS 4 for 4 using up the rest of my March CKC kit. What I have left in my March CKC kit is a lot more pretty, flower prints, big and small and lots of pinks, yellow and soft greens. This RTS 4 for 4 will definitely be some girly layouts and I will try and get some mixed media happening on these layouts.

Happy Scrapping

Mix it up! RTS 4 for 4 & CKC March 2019

Hey everyone,

as some of you may already know, I am a big fan of RTS Scrapbooking. The amazing Janet Madison shares all her scrapbooking knowledge on her RTS Scrapbooking YouTube channel. She is a wealth of knowledge and so generous with her time and skills. For a while, Janet has been making a series of videos called 4 for 4. The idea is that you use a set amount of papers (5), cut into a specified size, and then add in some alphas and embellishments to create 4 layouts and some cards. Janet talks you through the whole process step by step, through her videos. This month, I decided to give it a go. I hadn’t tried it out before, but have used similar systems to create mini albums (6×6 and 8×8) in the past. Using a system like this can really speed up your productivity and get a whole heap of layouts completed and into albums.

Layout 1.

First, you need to select your papers and cardstock, you need a selection of papers with a range of patterns. Janet talks you through this process and provides all the detailed instructions. She suggests the best patterns to use. I thought it would be fun to use my kit which I had put together for the March Counterfeit Kit Challenge.

A new Facebook group has recently been formed for the scrapbook fans of RTS. It is called love rts and you can access a PDF copy of the 4 for 4 instructions in the group. I printed this out and worked through the instructions while watching the RTS videos and scrapping my layouts.

Janet suggests selecting four alphas for your layout, two large and two small. I chose two glitter alphas to work in with the March CKC.

Also on the material list is washi tape, here is my selection. Once again I went with some glitz selecting three glitter washi tape and a gold metallic to link in with my CKC kit. Janet gives you lots of options to use instead of washi tape.

Cutting up the papers is quite simple, though I would suggest that you watch Janet’s video a few times before starting. You do need to think about which direction you want your patterns to run, this is especially important if you use a paper which has text.

Next, I built up the background following Janet’s recommendations. I started with white cardstock and then changed my mind using green instead. I mounted my photo and begun adding the titles, something I usually do last.

I was short on embellishment in my CKC kit and decided to make some as it was the Forgery on the 4th challenge day. I used some stamps and ink I had included in my kit.

After adding the homemade embellishments, some enamel dots, washi tape and a few other bits and bobs, it was finished. Thanks, Janet 🙂

Happy with the first ‘4 for 4’ RTS layout, I moved onto number two. Once again following Janet’s directions, watching her video and including some handmade embellishments.

Layout 2.

Two more to go 🙂

I have enjoyed the process and may even use the 4 for 4 system with a different set of papers. A great way to get layouts completed quickly and as simply as you like. Janet encourages you to take the process and make it your own, perhaps I will add a little mixed media next time. The skies the limit…oh, the places you can go with Janet’s guidance!

D-Lish Scraps Feb. Challenge 2019

Good morning,

A quick show and tell today. Two layouts for two February challenges fromThe D-lish Scraps team. You can check out their new March inspiration and challenges on their blog and Facebook site.

The first I attempted asked you to add a heart to your layout. An easy enough task, I started with creating a background using a Kaisercraft stencil and some Tim Holtz ink.

I was using some old, cheeky photos of my daughter. I pulled out some patterned paper scraps in colours which matched my photos.

I trimmed down the papers, roughed up the edges and layered them onto the background. I wasn’t happy with how far the stencilling went and added some more on.

A little bit of splatter was needed, out came the watercolour paints.

I was trying to use up some old embellishments and added a couple of vertical stripes to the layout, one sticker and one chipboard. The photos were mounted on cream cardstock.

Time to go old school with some foil embellishments. Anyone remember these?

Using up more old embellishments and some die cut letters for a title.

A few bits of ribbon and washi tape to finish it off. The finished layout is very happy and cheerful.

The second challenge I attempted was to use a frame on your layout, something I haven’t done in a while. I have many old, frame embellishments to use up!

It was a very quick layout, lots of layering but no mixed media! Once again, trying to use up some old supplies, rub ons. Does anyone buy these anymore?

I also included some newish embellishments, lovely blue and white paper flowers.

A simple, easy layout which turned out quite sweet.

Happy scrapping everyone 🙂

Jan. 2019 CKC – Forgery #1.

Hello again.

Here is my first layout featuring my forged paper. I had decided that I wanted to scrap a funny photo of my grandson playing with playdough. He had made a playdough man and his mum sent through the photo for us to view. As boys do, he was being silly when posing for the photo, so the quality is not great. It is a little blurry but does capture his cheekiness. Let me just say that the playdough man is magnificent, a work of art! Well, I may be biased, it does have all the important elements of a human which is the goal when you are four. It was the playdough figure which triggered my idea for the forged paper. The playdough feet are rough circles, much like the black and white circle paper featured in the Felicity Jane ‘Hannah’ kit.

I decided to create my own circle paper to use as a background for the layout. It was a simple process of loosely tracing circles onto to the white cardstock using an Artline permanent marker. I used a washi tape container to trace around. Then, I painted some of the circles with Tim Holtz Oxide inks in colours which matched the theme and photo. Unfortunately, the so-called permanent marker did bleed around the edges when it interacted with the watered down ink. After the first bleed, I was a little more careful when applying the ink.

Then, even though I liked the look of the painted circles I thought it needed something else. I pulled out a Fiskars geometric diamond stamp which was similar to one of the papers in the Felicity Jane kit and stamped the image across the page. Still not happy with the result, I decided it needed more colour and wanted to reduce the white space. I used the Tim Holtz micro glaze to protect my inked circles. I love this product, the tiniest amount makes the inked area waterproof, stopping any colour shifting and allowing you to add colour over the top. After rubbing on the micro glaze I applied the blue watercolour paint.

Next, I selected some patterned paper and coloured cardstock to mount the photos. I prefer to use several mounts on each photo, something which has gone out of fashion these days. In one of the photos, you see the wooden floor in their house, this inspired me to mount the photos on a background of woodgrain paper from my kit.

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, I didn’t have a scallop washi tape to include in my kit. I decided to substitute this with a strip of polka dot paper trimmed down to create a scalloped edge. I attached this to the edge of the woodgrain background.

Including embellishments that reflected the Felicity Jane kit had me troubled. Flowers, love hearts and a bike didn’t really go with my photo choices. I hummed and hawed over this, what to add? Then I decided to go with it and added a few flowers, a tag and the die cut word awesome. I’m not super happy with the result and would have liked to reach for some other embellishments but I was trying to only use things from my kit.

Anyway, it is another layout completed and I did meet the goal of forging some elements for the challenge. Happy scrapping everyone.

CKC – Sprinkle, Sparkle Layouts!

Morning, here are my two layouts which incorporate some sprinkles and sparkles for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge number one. The first layout features my cheeky grandson at 9 mths, the quality of the photos was not great. They are a little blurry but I used them anyway, as they captured his cheeky personality and a happy moment in time on an adventure. The layout itself was fairly quick, some smooshing of oxide inks for the background on a lovely indigo cardstock and a strip of star paper. Then I sprinkled on some gold watercolour paint and mounted the main photo on layered, distressed edged papers. Some fussy cut stars, Citrus Twist Kit cut apart embellishments, enamel crosses, a wood veneer painted star and it was finished!

The next layout has sprinkles and sparkles, this one also features my grandson. One of our favourite things to do at the local park is play on the wizzy dizzy. We always laugh so much and there have been times when Nanny and Granddad fall off! In these photos, Master Four is trying to do it all himself which is no easy feat. My choice of layout design links to the shape and movement of the featured playground equipment. I liked the idea of building up circular layers and creating that sense of being dizzy by ‘seeing stars’.

The background was created by splashing on oxide distress ink mixed with water and then blotting it off with a tissue. Then I used the inky tissue to apply some soft, swirly, whispers of colour. I wet the inky tissue and rubbed it around the page in a circular motion. Next, I raided the kitchen, to add some wine glass circles of ink, a little forgery inspired by the Vicki Boutin patterned paper in the original Citrus Twist Kit. This was topped off with some splashes and sprinkles of watercolour paint.

Step two, another kitchen raid…use a bowl to guide my stamping. I wanted a circle of stars swirling around my background. I used my new Carabelle Studio art stamp which has a really delicate sprinkling of stars. I didn’t use a block with it, so I could bend and manipulate the stamp to fit the curvature of the bowl.

Third kitchen raid…crockery to cut my paper circles! I also dragged out my old Creative Memories cutting system to cut the smaller circles. Because I was layering the papers, I could use some of the papers which didn’t fit my theme/photos or any layout I was likely to do in the future. For example, the white swan paper, swans where I live are black!

I slotted my 4×4 photos in between the circle layers, intentionally making them topsy-turvy to match the theme. It would have looked better with smaller, 3×4 photos but I was too lazy to print any more photos. I mounted the main photo on another paper which didn’t fit the theme, the rain clouds, but the little pops of raindrop colour did match with the other papers.

Next, I added the title and got busy with my Sizzix cutting out sparkly, gold stars with glitter cardstock. I used my new Tim Holtz thinlit die which has a great range of star sizes. I attached the stars with foam tape and glue. Then, I popped on a few handmade text quotes. Finished!

I am pretty happy with this crazy, dizzy, topsy-turvey layout. It does achieve the feeling that I was going for and was fun to create. Happy scrapping everyone.

CKC November Layouts #2 & #3

More mess with inks and watercolours…

Yes, I keep playing around splashing around the colour to make some gorgeous backgrounds. The funny thing is when we do this we often cover it up with our photos and embellishments. Sometimes, for me, I get a little regretful when I have to cover up all the pretty colours. Yesterday, was one of those days.

I was working on two more layouts using my Counterfeit Kit Challenge collection. The first is a layout of my grandson, I am still trying to complete his baby albums. Because the photo is very soft and pretty, I thought the colours in this kit would work well. I began by creating the background using oxide inks, layering the colours and adding a little stamping. The stamp arrived two days ago and my rule is when you purchase anything you must use it! The little stars helped soften the edges of the paper and fitted with the CKC embellishments.

Then, it was a simple process of mounting my photo with a range of patterned papers, each piece was distressed around the edges with my fingernail. Next, I decided to have a go making some thread bows to embellish the layout. I used the fork technique from here. It worked very well and was quick to do.

Adding the embellishments took very little time, I used some forged flowers, stars (wood and paper) and an old, chipboard heart. I think it pulled together well, the pop of pink softens it and draws in the skin tones in the photo. It is kinda girly for a boy, but you can get away with that with baby photos.

Layout #3 is another grandson page when he is a little older and hanging out with his favourite person…Granddad.

More colour was splashed around, this is the one where I didn’t want to cover it up. I used some old heart stamps in this one. See, the yellowed acrylic block…yep, the stamp is so old, it fused to the block! Note to everyone: do not be slack and leave your cling stamps on any acrylic blocks for long periods of time! Pack away properly and use your stash, its been years since this stamp was used.

I used a whole heap of the FREE Citrus Twist Kit cut apart die cuts on this layout and a few of my forged pandas.

Overall, it came together well. I like the embellishment cluster and was pleased to find some way to incorporate the pandas. Thank goodness for cute kids.

P.S. Sorry that the images look cream, the cardstock is a crisp white. I am struggling to get a decent photo, with white it (iPad) always seems to cast yellow or blue light whether I’m inside or out.

CKC Layout #1 – Ma

Good morning, yesterday I had a lovely time playing with my Counterfeit Kit. I got messy with some inks and watercolours and pulled some inspiration from this months focus website, Citrus Twist Kits. They have an amazing design team and I spent a little time pouring over the Creative Team Gallery. Wow, some beautiful work to inspire us CKC scrappers.

I really loved some of the page formats used in the October DT layouts. The work of Nathalie Desousa with her flourish of diagonal flowers made me drool. I decided to see if I could use this inspiration on one of my layouts, using the forged flowers and my CKC papers.

I started off getting messy, building up a background on my white cardstock using some Tim Holtz Oxide Inks and some watercolour paints. In the first layer, I stamped some hearts using a very old, cheap, foam stamp. Then, I layered on the beautiful purples and added some splatters. I dried each layer before adding the next. Next, I pulled out my handmade foam branch stamp and used the beautiful, Dusty Concord oxide ink. I am in love with this colour, full strength you get a dark, dense plum image and activated with water, it creates a musty, dreamy lavender (see the lightest purple, layer 2).

Next, I selected papers to mount my photo. This image is of my mum from last summer (2017) at my grandson’s birthday party. I am one of those lucky daughters, whose mother is their best friend. She can be relied upon to listen to any vent, laugh and cry with me, share guidance and advice, and drink champagne! The photo is quite neutral, you could put any coloured papers with it. I decided to select a floral with some green tones and a bold hit of purple.

Then I spent time fussy cutting flowers form some patterned paper and trimming up some of my forged flowers (FREE cut files from Citrus Twist). I die cut some leaves to add a pop of yellow and jade. It all came together quite quickly after that, building up the layers of flowers, die-cuts and some wood veneer leaves. Then, a few enamel dots sprinkled around the edges of the flowers, title and date.

I love how it turned out and am surprised how the colours worked together so well. I would not have selected to use that colour range in my daily scrapping, the CK challenge is a great way to push you out of your comfort zone. Thank you, Nathalie Desousa, for your inspirational layout design. If you would like to see how Nathalie created her layout check out her video here.

November Counterfeit Kit Challenge

Hello everyone, it’s a new month and once again I am having a go participating in the November Counterfeit Kit Challenge. What I really like about joining in with this challenge is that it makes you look through your supplies and really see what you have. You realise what you don’t need, what you should use up and you see what you are getting low on. That can mean a little shopping without the guilt. For me, this month I realised I really have very little indigo, navy blue to mid blue patterned paper left. Much like the earlier kits, when I had very little woodgrain paper left. It is because, for the last 18 months, I have mostly been scrapping boy layouts for my grandson and son’s albums. There have been some girly layouts along the way (with fussy cut flowers), but the majority have been male. Also, remember that I had a go making my own Indigo Hills 2 collection, well…there goes my indigo coloured papers!

This months CKC inspiration is a good mix of colours and papers for both sexes. It is very contemporary, as it is based on a kit from the wonderful Citrus Twist Kit company, released only last month! Wow, yep, October!

There is a lovely range of papers in this kit, including an Indigo Hills 2 paper, some scrummy Maggie Holmes papers and a gorgeous Vicki Boutin paper. My selection of papers is less indigo and more pinks and greens. I have tried to base mine on picking up the colours and feel of this kit.

*Note: Sorry for the slight blue tinge to the photos, I took them in daylight at 5am. Note to self, DO NOT DO THAT AGAIN!

Because I didn’t have any stars or multi-patterned stripe papers, I decided to select some similar papers with which I could create my own striped paper. Here’s what I came up with…

The embellishments from the Citrus Twist kit is a lovely mix of colours and styles with a little craziness. Pandas, foxes, cats and tassel bows, why not?

My choices are based on colour and using stuff up, I have several packets of mismatched puffy shape stickers. I have thrown in a few stamps and text dies to create embellishments, some wood veneers and some embroidery thread to make tassel bows. I am going to make some die cuts using some FREE cut apart sheets from the Citrus Twist Kite site.

So, my kit is almost complete. I am looking forward to getting started on making some layouts. This month will be a challenge for me, I have a lot of work commitments to get done and a house to get ready for the silly season. It is funny how things finally have to be completed and fixed when you are having long, lost relatives coming for Christmas! Out comes the paint and a major spring clean organised…it is Spring down under.

Mixing Challenges! CKC Layout #5 & #6.

Squeezing in another two layouts before the October Counterfeit Kit Club challenge ends. These two layouts were made during Anna’s Craft Cupboard ‘Old School’ Cyber Crop last weekend. The first one was an ‘English’ (school subject)challenge in which you needed to include a story/text. I used products from my CKC kit to make the layout. The photos in the layout are of me and hubby trying to take a nice selfie, you can tell we haven’t quite mastered the technique. Because, the photos were poor quality, taken in a dark corner with very little light and on my iPad, I tried to edit them and fix the colour/light. I managed to get a better image but they are grainy (you can see in the close-up, above). This is why I went with small photos and used a piece of textured vellum over the larger, main photo. Plain vellum can sometimes hide and enhance a poor quality photo, in this case, the textured vellum masked the graininess and anyone viewing it would think I was trying to be creative with my embellishment. Shhhhh, don’t tell them!

The next was for a blind layout challenge. If you haven’t tried one of these, they are a lot of fun! One of the design members from ACC, this time the very talented Rikki Graziani, releases each process step by step (line by line), you have no image to work from just text. It can be very challenging. Unfortunately, this time I had family visiting and wasn’t able to participate live online but managed to give it a go later in the weekend. I copied all Rikki’s instructions from the FB Community page and printed them out before I started. This made it a whole lot easier than having to wade through mountains of comments (live online). The papers and products were from my CKC and worked very well with my photos. I also made a pocket page, as I had a lot more photos of this event.

Counterfeit Challenge – #2 & #3

Good day to you all. I am way behind with this month’s Counterfeit Kit Challenge and am trying to catch up. Here are my scrapbook layouts, number two and three, using my counterfeit kit.

Layout #2 is worked from photos of my grandson helping me paint and make Christmas decorations. As you can see he got a little excited and carried away, decorating himself. The funny thing was that once the paint dried he didn’t like the sensation of the paint on his face. Kids, live and learn!

I had fun making some little paintbrush embellishments using my Sizzix Big Shot. A little watercolour paint splatter on the background and some small text quotes added some detail.

The finished layout is bright and colourful.

Layout number two is a double spread. The photos used are not mine but are the work of a local photographer who kindly shared them online with the community. I am trying to find his name and will post it once I find out. The photos are a great record of what our little town looks like now. There is a lot of change and growth happening in our town at the moment with new buildings and shops being built. I suspect that this is only the start of the town ‘progress’ and with several shops/buildings owned by my family I wanted to record this moment in time.

I started out with two identical backgrounds, layered with patterned paper, and then added some paint to the left page. I used black gesso which I scrapped across the page, it gave it an old-fashioned blackboard effect. Then, I started to add the title across both pages. Disaster! I didn’t have enough letters and had to make and cut a few more.

I added some splatter and stamped some texture onto the gesso using some distress oxides. They work well on black backgrounds. Overall, it looks ok and has recorded a time in history. I may add the story by handwriting on the black gesso with a white pen.

Fields of Gold…Faking it!

Hi all 🙂

A couple of weeks ago, one of my favourite YouTube bloggers, Janet from RTS Scrapbooking, shared a video on how to make your own Pink Fresh Studio Indigo Hills collection. Janet is all about using up your supplies rather than going out and buying more. Most of us have been drooling over the Pink Fresh Studio Indigo Hills collection but if you have set yourself a challenge to not spend and use up your stash, then Janet has the answer to substituting papers, building a similar colour and feel collection.

After watching her video, I got excited and decided to give it a go. I made my own kit based upon similar colours/theme and even got messy making some watercolour papers.

As you can see, I didn’t have any florals in the right colour range. Unlike Janet, I don’t use a lot of florals in my scrapping. I did have a black & white floral page which I decided to paint with watercolour to bring it into the correct colour range. This turned out really well and will definitely add more floral zing to my collection.

I decided that I would also incorporate some stamps and inks to create more floral papers and embellishments. With my kit organised, I started my first layout using photos taken of my street. It is Spring here and all the flowers are blooming, being rural this also means the paddocks are being swamped with colour. Yellow fields of daisies are popping up everywhere.

I started off by creating my background paper, I wanted to create a similar paper to one of the lovely Pink Fresh papers which have indigo florals on the corners. The patterned paper I chose to use has a soft, shell pink floral print and two butterflies in the top corner. I flipped the page, as I wanted the butterflies in the bottom, right corner. I went through my stamps and found a rose to use as my stamped flower stem image. I used Tim Holtz’s ‘Faded Jeans’distress ink, as it has a lovely dusty blue/indigo tone. After a good rummage through my stamp drawers, I found a very old, leaf spray stamp which I made about 15yrs ago from kids fun foam. It printed really well and achieved the look I was after.

Next, I went on to make some daisy head embellishments to attach to my plant stems. I decided to use a more realistic daisy stamp and fussy cut them out.

Then, choosing papers from my fake kit, I decided to pick up the colours in the photos and selected an apricot floral, a yellow stripe, a shell pink and the black and white floral. I ended up not using the shell pink or the black and white.

I put down some layers under the photos and then got busy adding more stamped images, some watercolour splatter in indigo and metallic shell pink. Then, I topped it off with layers of fussy cut, stamped daisies and some die cut leaf stalks in navy and apricot. The title finished off the layout. I love how this came together using both old and new products. I can’t wait to get started on the next layout using my homemade kit. Thank you, Janet, from RTS Scrapbooking for your inspiration.

Counterfeit Challenge – Forgery #1.

Goodmorning 🙂

Wow, life has been busy and I am very behind with the October CKC. The last two weeks have been a little crazy with the last week of the school holidays and the first week of work/school. I had a beautiful last week break with time spent being ‘Nanny’, spending time with friends and family, and catching up on some crafting. Then, like all teachers, I caught up on marking assignments, set up the classroom and planned new units/lessons and resources for the new term. The first week of the term is always busy with lots of meetings and jobs to do which keep you late at work and leaves very little time in my life for scrapbooking.

So, yesterday was the first day of actually delving into my CKC kit and having a play. I was excited to get started and after breaking my big kit into smaller layout kits with matching photos, I finally got started.

The first layout I decided to work on was my lovely, Dad’s birthday. My sister arranged a party for him and baked the lovely Black Forest Cake…Yum!

For my first forgery, I wanted to try making the little wooden frame embellishment. I had printed out some fun, free, quote cards from Laura Kate is Crafty which are themed around 80’s movies. The ‘Party on dudes!’ card will work well with my birthday layout.

It was a pretty easy process, I just trimmed my quote card around the edges. To reduce the handmade look and create some shadow I ran a black marker around the quote card before applying the adhesive foam. I used a double-sided foam sheet, then I could cut it into very thin strips of adhesive for each edge of the card. I then cut some woodgrain paper to the size of the card and trimmed out the centre, creating a 1/4″ wide thin frame. Voila! One lovely framed quote embellishment ready to use.

Next, I put the layout together using a simple, linear, layered design, overlapping the papers and adding my embellishments. As I don’t have any puffy stickers, I used some wooden cherries which I coloured with Tim Holtz’s red Barn Door ink. It wasn’t the best choice but was sitting on my desk, it rubbed off on my fingers and I had to apply some Microglaze to try and seal it. I should have used a dye ink. I added some small text and alphas from my CKC kit. A fairly quick and simple layout, another one for the family album.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge – October

Hello Scrappers, I am back joining in with the October Counterfeit Kit Challenge. This month’s Counterfeit Kit is based upon the kit club, The Wild Hare Kits. The Wild Hare Kits are different from most kits, as you have a very personal experience. They offer a service where you supply information about what you like and don’t like, your favourite brands, colours, etc., and they make you a kit to suit your needs and wants. Wow, it would be like Christmas every time you place an order, a big surprise based on your wish list.

This month the October Counterfeit Kit Challenge is made from the wish list of Mandi Holmes. You can view the unboxing of the kit here. The kit features many colourful elements, textures and interesting patterns.

I was excited to get started on selecting my papers and embellishments for this counterfeit kit. I worked through my paper stash first, luckily for me I had some Simple Stories ‘Domestic Bliss collection which worked beautifully in hitting some of the thematic elements. I purchased the Domestic Bliss supplies last year from Anna’s Craft Cupboard and had never got around to using them. I had planned to use them for an album on our daily life but life got in the way! This collection has made up the majority of my kit with a range of other brands filling the gaps.

First up, these are my papers 1-3 substitutes…

I didn’t have any quote/block paper in the right colourways so I have used some free download 80’s quote cards.

Then, 4-6 papers…

No frame paper for me houses instead and distressed paint instead of stripes. Two flower papers because I couldn’t decide and a straight woodgrain instead of chevron. I have just stocked up on woodgrains from ACC after I discovered in last months CKC that I had run low.

Next, 7-9…

I struggled with the quilt papers, I found one chevron quilt paper and have added in a city map and a geometric design for that pop of colour. Two text papers, I did have the “Change is Good” text paper but only have very small scraps left over 😦

Embellishments!

I didn’t have any substitutes for the quote frames and have included more alpha stickers and word stickers to make my own. No puffy stickers, I have included some wood veneers instead which I may colour. I will make my own woodgrain Thicker phrases using my Sizzix.

I am looking forward to getting started as I work through the kit and mini-challenges. If you would like to see what other scrappers have gathered together for their kits make sure you follow the hop blog list on Counterfeit Kit blog.

The hop blog list…

Guest Designer Becca Sadler – All About Autumn

Lori – October Kit

Tina – Tainted Love

Cindy – Fun Stuff

Julene – October Kit

Laura – October Kit

Leslie – Shalom

Sept. CKC ends with Layout #9 and #10

Hi all, yesterday I got back into my workspace after having our grandson stay with us for four days. Let me just say that he is a beautiful boy but full of energy and always asking “What are we going to do now?”. He keeps us all on our toes, working and creating.

I walked into my room and nearly walked out as it was pretty messy. In order to finish up my September Counterfeit Kit, I needed to tidy up my desk and unpack some recent purchases. There were paper bits all over the floor, somehow they don’t all make it into the bin. Mixed media products, stamps and inkpads everywhere which needed to go back to their storage homes.

On a clean surface, I managed to complete the very last layouts made from my September Counterfeit Kit. Each layout was a quick and simple design with a little stamping and ink on number ten. Both layouts are inspired by the work of others, as I just wanted to get them done and move onto the October Counterfeit Kit Challenge.

Layout number nine is a scraplift from the work of Kara Henry (circa. 2007). I selected the layout format simply because it had three photos and I had three photos to use. Kara Henry is a very talented and creative artist, she works within a range of artistic disiplines. My layout features photos of my husband and I doing the ritual bedtime stories, reading to our grandson when he was having a sleepover. They are not the best photos but it captures a special moment. We were camped out in the lounge room and my husband was exhausted after being Granddad all day! I really don’t like the background paper I used, too busy and ugly colours but I was using up what was left in the kit. One more page for my grandson’s album.

Layout number ten is a scraplift of a design by Heather Thompson (circa. 2007). Heather’s layout featured beach photos and was a lot cleaner with more negative space. As I was trying to use stuff up and fit in my photos mine became more cluttered. The photos are from a joint bonfire birthday party which I shared with my youngest daughter. Our birthdays are four days apart and we are always debating over which weekend/day we can hold our individual events. She usually gets first pick but she must be a grown up now, she thought we should celebrate together. There are a lot more photos of the occasion, the feast, the cake, etc., which I will scrap into pocket layouts.

So, that’s the end of my September kit. I did have supplies left but I had had enough of using Autumn colours. I sorted through what was left and put everything back in its spot. I am moving on to challenging myself with the October Counterfeit Kit, forging embellishments and using supplies up.

CKC Showcase and #8 Chinese Tallow!

Wow, just wow! Two exciting things happened this week. It is school holidays (term break) in Western Australia and I have had the most lovely five days travelling around the rural Great Southern region of our state. Three of my artist friends and I set off on Sunday to begin our road trip pursuing the 2018 Southern Art and Craft Trail. We saw the most amazing artworks, met fabulous artisans who are passionate about their work and who happily shared their techniques and medium knowledge. It was a great experience and we have all come back inspired by what we saw and heard. We also picked up a few art supplies along the way, after viewing some paintings and speaking with one artist, Terri Pikora, we had to have some cold wax!

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Know idea what that is? We didn’t know either. It is a medium which you can use that gives the appearance of encaustic wax without all the mess and heating. You can create luscious layers of translucent colours, embed materials in your work and if using oil paint, it speeds up the drying process. You can get several different versions/brands, we managed to track down some Langridge Wax Paint Paste. I can’t wait to try it out and see if it works with a range of mixed media techniques.

We also saw lots of amazing scenery, vast farming land, extraordinary coastline and amazing forest. We got lost several times, laughed a lot, ate wonderful meals made from local produce and sampled local wines, whiskey and gin. Here’s a little spot we ended up at after the GPS, nicknamed Roberta, got us lost.

Exciting thing number two… whilst I was away I was selected as the September Counterfeit Kit Challenge showcase member. Given that it is my first attempt at the CKC I was very surprised to be chosen. It has been a great experience joining in with the challenge. I have enjoyed all the little challenges, the sharing of others and the encouragement to use up what you already own. If you haven’t heard of CKC you can check them out on FB, Instagram and their website.

My latest layout, number 8, was created just before I went off on the art trail journey. It is a simple layout. I used one of my leaf stamps to make long strands of leaves, I stamped the leaves onto 12″ strips of patterned paper and then fussy cut them out. I fixed the leaf strands on to the background cardstock and woodgrain paper. Then I added some simple embellishments and the title. The photo is of trees which my husband is growing to later sell as mature trees.

I am looking forward to seeing the October CKC kit, there have been sneak peaks on FB. I am loving those colours and the woodgrain. I can’t wait to see what everyone creates with their version of this month’s challenge kit. Keep creating and enjoy the last day of September. I will be trying to get a couple more layouts completed from my counterfeit kit.

#6 & #7 – Counterfeit Kit

Two quite quick scraplifts today for layouts #6 & #7 using my Counterfeit Kit collection. I am enjoying participating in the Counterfeit Kit Challenge and am finding that it is motivating me to get photos into albums. Sometimes you just want to scrap and not really have to put a lot of time and creative thinking energy into scrapping. It is when I feel like this when I just want to relax and enjoy the process that I scraplift. Both scraplifts were taken from old scrapbook magazines, the first used as inspiration was a layout created by Doris Sander, called Blue Crab Love, 2007. Doris has an online presence, you can check out some of her work here. I selected this design because of the wide border and that it featured three photos.

My photos are of my grandson with my eldest son, his uncle. They both adore each other and love spending time together. There is always lots of rough and tumble play, laughs, chasing and ball games…boys being boys! The paper I used is double-sided, so I cut out the floral frame and flipped the central square and set it back in place to complete the background. Then, I quickly stuck everything down, no playing with mixed media, just good old fashioned scrapbooking.

Layout #7 was also lifted from a magazine, 2008, clearly, circles were all the go then. There is a lot of layouts featuring circle formats or circle embellishments. So, I delved back in time and was inspired by Julie Walton’s, Belly Laugh layout. Julie’s layout is pretty simple with clean lines, as usual, mine turned out very busy with lots of embellishments. Well, I am trying to use things up!

I thought the circle format would go well with my photos, the photos are from about four years ago when we went out to lunch at a Chinese restaurant. The circle representing a dinner plate. As you do, when you have a small child, you need to keep them entertained while you wait for the food to arrive. Out came the book and we read it together, still one of his favourite things to do, read! The messy, circular background was what the highchair table looked like after eating and also his face…wish I had a photo of that! I created the background with Tim Holtz Candy Apple distress stain and some Heidi Swapp gold colour shine, then added all the embellishments and title. It is hard to use red in mixed media without it looking like a forensic scene, let’s pretend it’s Sweet and Sour sauce.