Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Morning Coffee, Purple Lips....





How much fun I had making this layout.....
This was a real pleasure to make and a real lesson in make do and use what is already in your stash.



 Messy and sticky and drippy and painty and fun, lots of fun.
And Purple, how I have a hard time working with purple but this was a breeze.

All of the pattern paper is off cuts and pocket page cards on this layout, I was so inspired from the Love this city layout that I decided to get messy again and I loved the idea of actually using up and cutting into all those scraps I keep.


The purple water coloured bits behind the photo are just watered down acrylic paint mixed into three different shades of purple and the stencil that I used with texture paste was just a piece of scrap cardstock punched with a hole punch and then thrown away when I was finished.  

The misted droplet bits....just leftover from the painted section and I made a splatter ink in grey to go along too. 

How awesome is that Studio Calico font in the alphas...I am in awe of these ones.


It amazes me that most of the time I am wanting all the new stuff and I sometimes get bothered by the fact that I don't get to buy all the scrappy things I would like to have and then I can make a layout that is so different from my usual style and get so creative with nothing but what I already have and a bit of creativity....mind boggling stuff that.

Friday, November 14, 2014

And Spent

You know how sometimes you have an amazing idea for a layout and it just does not translate well in real life and the layout looks nothing like what you first envisioned and you kinda like but you kind of don't as well.....Yeah that is this layout.

No matter what I did nothing much of the original idea became a reality except maybe where the photo went.  Ohh and please excuse the funny dark patches on the layout.....I may have left it next to the window with some card making stuff laying on top.....note to self so not leave layouts out always put them away when finished.

I think part of the issue here was that one I was making a layout for submission which I have not done in years and secondly they are gorgeous papers (Bo Bunny, Happy Tails) they are in a colour scheme that I usually stay well away from. 



A back story.....Those alphas have seen some action in my craft room, they have been painted and inked and glittered and now misted.  They are a set released by Heidi Grace many, many, many years ago and were the first non raw chipboard alphas I ever bought.  This layout just did not suit any of the styles or colours that I had in my alphas so rather than resorting to getting out the cricut I got these old faithfuls out, ripped off the pattern top and mixed up a custom glimmer mist that was just perfect for this layout.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Long lost layouts....part two







Part two, another couple of layouts that have skipped getting photographed.
I am not the photographer in the house and nor does editing photos appeal to me in the whole scheme of things so I will just use that as my excuse shall I.

These layouts are both from the same day when my brother in law and his girlfriend came over and stayed with us, so we took them out on a bit of a tiki tour as we call it and showed them some of our city.


I decided to try a different approach with this one as most of my layouts are layered and I went with a blocked design instead, I really liked the way it turned out but the only thing that frustrated me was that I still could not get anything straight.  I have no idea how I always muck my measurements up but even with my fancy cutterpillar pro I still get slightly off lines.



Again, Thickers love.....I adore this style.  The other alphas are from Prima and those gorgeous blue enamel dot things, well they are a million years old and are from a company called cloud nine which was owned by Fiskars, lucky I have tons of them as I use them all the time.  


Mixed and layered goodness.  This is a real mix of the old and new, the heart is actually two pieces, a fiskars stamp and a handcut heart stamped with a stampin up stamp, a Kaisercraft diecut, Lil Davis design chipboard heart and a echo park sticker.
Also how amazing is that chevron pattern paper, will be a sad old day in my house when that one runs out.



   
Please excuse the wonky photo angle....
Paint and ink and splattery stuff, it was nice to get all the messy stuff and have a play around.
This is a super, super plain and simple layout but again these were photos that I didn't want to take the focus away from, they are what makes this layout and everything else needs to compliment them. 

I didn't use any pattern paper on this layout just cardstock and some MAMBI (me and my big ideas) Pocket Pages, I bought them with the full intentions of doing project life but it is not for me and this is a great way to get rid of some of those cards.




CITY....would you believe that I have had those sticker for possibly the better part of 8 to ten years and they could very well be the very sheet of alphas that I ever bought.  All these years and I held onto them in the hopes that I would a use for them and what do you know.....perfect.  This goes way back in time to the days when alphas were not all that common, we didn't use chipboard and Thickers were not even a thing, yep that old.  



Thursday, November 6, 2014

Long lost layouts....part one

Well it has been a while since my last post here but never fear I have been doing some scrapbooking here and there I just have been a bit slack getting them posted up, so slack in fact these two quite possibly were startedsometime last year....yep, sigh.

These are both from out first camping trip away of which we have had many adventures since but I really want to have an album dedicated to all of our little and big trips away.



 This is a pretty simple layout which makes it all the more frustrating considering I went back and forth with it for months, in saying that though this a photo that doesn't need to be over embellished or dressed up, simple is best.  



Those Thickers.......I love them, great slim line size and the colour goes with so much.

Now for those stars..... Not wood, nope just kraft cardstock, a star punch double layered and glued.  I would love to have  some of those Studio Calico wooden shapes  that everyone seems to use but at the time of making this layout they were super hard to find in Australia and they were damn expensive so I made do with a much cheaper alternative, will so so this again.





 
This layout was also one that drove me insane trying to get it to work.  It looks 100% different to what I had originally envisioned and I just could not get any of the layers straight.  Again nice and simple and also sticking to a certain colour palette.
 

I used quite a few pieces from the Echo Park mini kit The Great Outdoors and from one of their first collections A Walk In The Park, I love how easy you can mix and match within the lines the release.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Messy Stuff....

This week I discovered ink and paint and texture paste and all things messy, I have made my own mists and stencils.   Getting my creative groove on and enjoying this burst of mojo. 

Monday, July 28, 2014

Haul

So the last scrapbook haul that I posted was totally supposed to be it for the year until I made major dents in my stash....I hang my head in shame because I outrageously failed my spending freeze in spectacular fashion over not one or two trips out and about but on five separate occasions including four to spotlight.  I am ashamed and have subsequently banned myself from travelling anywhere near that side of town so I can avoid the place where my husbands money enters and never returns i.e. SPOTLIGHT.

Stationary is kind of a big deal to me, big deal.  I love it but that's kind of where it ends as I am one of the most disorganised people I know.  My cupboards are immaculate and organised to an inch of there lives but everything else is a mess and all that gorgeous stationary is used for a week and then shoved in the draw of no return until one of the kids needs something to draw in.  No way they are getting there hands on these goodies, I have a thing for floral and bright colours and anything cupcake related....big kid at heart always.

Oh my goodness I am dying from the cuteness...look at those adorable stickers and little plastic envelopes, tooooo cute. 


Fabric goodies.  I love fabric especially printed quilting cotton the trouble is I have grand ideas, limited sewing skills, even less patience and I am fairly lazy when it comes to actually pulling out my sewing machine so I just keep adding to my already sizable stash and I don't make a dent in it.  In my defence I actually do have plans for all of these fabrics and I didn't just buy them because they are pretty *cough cough* all other fabric purchases I have made in the last two years.  I am going to make pretty ruffled edges and trim some white tea towels with the pink kitchen print fabric, I am going to make an apron and a cricut cover out of the cupcakes and I am making a skirt and an apron for my daughter out of the dog print....wish me luck.  


Maggi Holmes Love Notes was all on major clearance and I picked these up for half off the sale price, so the $4 stack was only $2....what these prices are too insane for me not buy them.
 
 
Just a few things that I did pick up throughout my trips back and forth.  The thickers were both on sale and there was no way I was leaving without that map print set.  The Heidi Swapp stuff was on 30% off, Kaiser was 40% off except for the collection pack and the carousel stickers were just too adorable for me to leave behind.  



 

American Crafts goodies.  I bought these on my first trip out to Spotlight when they first started reducing all the older stock, I realise that these are all older stock but I didn't buy into the whole Amy Tan/Dear Lizzy stuff bandwagon when it first came out and at $3 a piece I was happy to pop these into my basket.




Assorted bits and pieces I have picked up from my LSS and from Big W.
I have many photos from our trip years and years ago at the Auckland Zoo and I  have never scrapbooked them but I also have never really found a line of paper or embellishments that I liked enough but this echo park line is perfect.
Albums.   I have been waiting for AGES for a good album sale and finally Spotlight had 50% off so I had to go and buy some.  On the day that I was there I bought two buuutttt when I went back a few days later they had the brown Amy Tan albums at $1 each WHAT THE ACTUAL......seriously $1.  I bought three, I could have bought more but I can't be too greedy, actually I should  have bought them just for the refills which I have already put to good use. 

I seriously need more crafting and less shopping in my life.  Life has been stressful sick and busy lately and my craft space inhabited by a family member staying with us so there hasn't been anything actually happening in the scrapping department.  Bring on the end of the week when my house is actually clean and empty and the kids are not sick and at school.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Say what!!!!

I have been blogging in some form for the past eight years, over three different blogs and two different blog addresses.  Sometimes I blog about food, or things I like or pinterest but one thing is a forever constant, I am primarily a paper craft blogger and a out and proud traditional paper scrapper.  I have seen a million changes in this little hobby of mine from the days of creative memories and primary coloured Canson paper to mixed media type artsy stuff that we see so much of today, I have bought first edition magazines and then in subsequent years bought the last, I have seen scrapbooking stores filled to the brim with the latest and greatest and seen lines out the door for the final day sales but I never ever in all my years thought I would see the day when this happened....







I can't even.....
This was news that had long been rumored on the message boards and it was a reality that I saw coming but the news is still a shock.

 I was a lurker for a few years before I decided to join up and unlike some women I never did find that place where I fit in and made life long friends, no two peas was just a place where I went and sought inspiration and advice but it was my place where I could be free to love my hobby for myself and share with other like minded people with a passion for scrapbooking.


The first layout that I posted on two peas all the way back in 4/5/2007

I will forever remember the days when you could not even keep up with the first three pages on both the general scrap and NSBR and pages upon pages of layouts to drool over, of RAK's and praise trains and Pea Soup, the inspiration that the talented garden girls gave us and introducing me to some of my all time favourite scrapbookers.

I have no idea where I am going or what place I am now going to call home but I will always have those fond memories of when my little hobby was the coolest craft in town.


Friday, June 20, 2014

Instagram love


Hot smoked salmon, sourdough rye, avocado and tomato...simply amazing
 Even on a Saturday Brisbane traffic....sigh
 
Beautiful surprise from my garden this morning 
 
I like lunch too mum 
 

Spent the day with this lovely little lady 
One for the road 
Batman and batgirl  in the house

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Arrrr....

Pirate and princess day at kindy and what better way for a little boy to celebrate but to dress up in his finest pilage and plundering finery.

 This was another one of those layouts that was almost done for a long time but just needed to have the finishing touched added (titles and journaling seems to be my scrapbooking kryptonite).


I finally busted out my cricut and cut the title as I just could not find anything in my stash that would work, I seriously had nothing at all.  One of the best things is that I used paper that is well into its double digits with that orange weave print paper, nothing beats being able to mix vintage and new products.  Another highlight is being able to use that treasure chest sticker, my mum bought me a bucket load of sticker a while back from a cheapie shop and I seriously wondered with these what I could use them for, I am not a huge fan of this style of silhouette stickers but it worked perfectly for this layout.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Instagram love

 
Nap Time 
Some big arse lollipops.... 

I love the belly scratch 
 
 Cupcake
 
The King and I 
 
My pretties 
 
Wait till he finds out what else is going to happen to him 
 
Zach's first night game