Girly Layouts

I made both of these quite some time ago but we have had the busiest last two months that they just sat there waiting to be photographed and put into an album, kind of like the laundry and all the junk in garage, just sitting there waiting to be dealt with.... 

The Pose.  I have been a real pink, girly kind of kick recently and I think that that comes across in this layout.  Flowers and butterfly's, pearls and lace, you don't get much more girly than that.  The best thing about this layout in particular is that all the papers except the Sassafras foldies have come from paper and cardstock bought from Big W.  As much as I love going to my LSS I also love being able to get more "bang for my buck" and brands such as Grace Taylor and DCWV do offer that.

How cute is this stack?  I like most of the papers in this pack as they are perfect for little girl pages but what I really, really loved was the yellow chevron paper and the pink polka dot that they had in the back.

Simple Pleasures.  This layout was done using some of that left over chevron and some papers from the Crate paper pretty party line, surprisingly I loved a lot of that line as normally I am more about the brights.  This layout has a lot of bits and pieces in it from a few manufactures and as per my normal scrapbooking procedures is a mixture of new and really old, everything from Queen and Co corner stickers, eight year old brads and brand new paper.

Crafting to report....

I am going to let you in on a little secret, most often than not my pages sit for a few days or even weeks stuck in unfinished limbo.  Titles, journalling and adding those final touches are something that I really struggle with.  I am okay with this but am trying to fit in more crafting time so maybe I can push through the road blocks that are the final important touches to my layouts.  The two layouts below are two that I have been working on for a few weeks now.

 Behind That Smile

I have had these photos for quite some time now and I really struggled trying to find some papers that seemed to work.

Well that is some seriously old paper right there....

Remember when Making Memories was actually making consumable products and the paper had bar code stickers on the back?  I scored this paper in my local RSPCA thrift store in a bundle with some other old papers.  I was rather uninterested in the double orange and olive green block pattern but the plain olive coloured side was the perfect shade for this layout.  

 I usually don't mix my alphas up so this is a nice change, I used Echo Park, Sassafras Lass which I inked brown and covered in glossy accents and font cut with the Cricut, I think it was Happy Phantom.

This is actually a really nice and simple layout, not too much going on just took forever to get finished as I was too lazy to print out the journalling.

Layout Complete....

I have no idea how it can take me over two weeks to print off and attach journaling but I swear that is the most painful part for me in getting a layout finished.

I have had this layout finished and sitting on my desk for a few days now and finally with a wee bit of sun out I actually managed to get a decent shot

I found this positively ancient and original year 2000 photo in a pile. 

Don't worry I always had doubles printed off so it was in my scrapbook photos. 

The photo is an unedited from the days of film cameras and it had a bit going on in the background so it needed to be cropped down.  I am not a fan of the small photo in the corner and lot of white space so I turned my small photo into a fake Polaroid.  the dimensions are just slightly off but I tried to make it as close as possible to the real thing.  I actually really love this layout and it's purple, purple has always been a bit of a scrapbooking nemesis for me but I love how this turned out.... 

Layout to share....

The wedding album.
Here is a little story, I was so determined to have the cheapest but beautiful budget friendly wedding possible and I believe that I had exactly that.  In saying that having a cheap wedding often means doing a lot DIY and boy did we DIY.  I made all the wedding and hens invitations, the food and decorations for the hens, my dress was made by a friend, we did the flowers, I did all the candy buffet, I made the the cupcakes and the 100's of flowers and monogrammed hearts for the top etc.....

Basically it was an entire year of wedding planning, preparations, shopping, e-bay buying, Internet comparing, find storage room for a whole wedding of decorations kind of event,  and apart from a wee little bit of rain on the day it was amazing and went off perfectly.

As soon as that wedding was over however I wanted nothing, absolutely nothing to do with weddings ever again, I have still not looked at all the photos, I have still not watched the video and I still have not done thank you's (very naughty and a wee bit rude and I think that ship has sailed).  I was so over weddings that I never wanted to have ANYTHING to do with another wedding again, ever.

Last week 11 months since the big day I finally got the empty wedding photo album out and started adding photos to it.  I also paid for an online class and one of the prompts was using multiple photos, I only had leftover wedding photos lying around so a wedding scrapbook page was made

I am really pleased with this layout, it ticks all the right boxes, the right colours, its nice and simple and I managed to use the paper from our wedding invites on there, perfect.  Now that I have actually got a start at the album I now need to sort out what photos I  want to use and I need to order the paper, and then maybe I just might have the start of an actual scrapbooked wedding album.

Posing, Dancing, Twirling....

Ohhh guess what, I finally have a layout to share.

I have been working on this layout on and off for a couple of weeks now just doing little bits and pieces when I get a moment of inspiration or time.

Inspiration for this layout came from here- 4x6 photo love March.
I absolutely love just how simple Shimelle makes her layouts to look and how straight forward her instructions are.  I have never really got into the whole online class or challenges, I did try a few years ago with a now defunct challenge site but I just could not find that place or class that clicked with me, until now.
I am trying to go back through the year and do the ones that I have missed and I like and luckily for me I had 3 portrait 4x6 in my to scrap pile, awesome :D

Naughty But Cute

This is possibly one of my favourite photos of Teela, all covered in hot pink lipstick and thinking that she was so special, as the layout title suggests, naughty but cute.

(Paper: Grant Studios, DCWV, lexel, Kaisercraft- Pina Colada)

(Other: Chipboard Alpha, Stickers- Craft Affair, Doodlebug -Sweet 16, Grant Paper Die Cuts)

So yet again and true to my form this was a layout made entirely from my stash and the best part was that it included my beloved budget friendly Grant Studios products, really old and cheap stash (the Doodlebug stickers which I swear I have owned for six or more years and the Craft affair buttons that I bought from The Reject Store for $2 a pack) and some of that recycled/saved paper from my old work.

The other thing that I am really happy with is the alteration of the lipstick sticker on the layout.  When I pulled this photo out I just knew that I had the perfect sticker for it, the only downside was that the black and white polka dots did not match in with the colour scheme of the layout and had to go so in order to change that I took some coordinating paper and glued over the base of the lipstick sticker, covered it with the paper and then cut around the edges, and voila a matchy matchy lipstick for my layout in under one minute.

Girly Cards

I generally don't make all that much in the way pretty girly cards but over the last couple of weeks I have made a few that fall into that category

 (Paper: Grant Studios, Lexel)

(Stamp: Melissa Fances, Fiskers-Baby)

(Other: Velvet Ribbon, Satin Ribbon, Versacolr Ink, Kaiser Pearls, Kindy Glitz)

Do you have scrapbooking paper that just wont work for you in a layout?  This paper was exactly that, I loved the design but I personally just can't fit paper with a big print into my style so instead of giving the paper away I decided to make a card from it, yes it is much taller than a standard card but I was lucky enough to have a matching envelope from a card that I was given that was the perfect fit.

(Paper: Grant Studios, Lexel, Cristina Re)

(Stamps: Kaisercraft- CS707 & After Five)

(Other: Kaisercraft Gems, Ribbon, Satzon, Adirondack & Brilliance Ink, Kindyglitz, Foam Tape)

This card was made using some left over scraps from when I was trialing my wedding invitations.   A fairly simple card the only thing that I did a little different from normal was stamp the pink background with white flourishes.  The plain pink was just too harsh so I added a contrasting pattern to make it softer.

 (Paper: Kraft Card Base, DCWV, Grant Studios, Bazzill, Lexel)

(Stamps: Bella Blvd- Flirty Clear)

(Other: Paper Mania Glitter, Zing Embossing Powder, Versacolor & Brilliance Ink, Pearl Ex, Teresa Collins Blingage)

I visited a scrap store I had not yet been to last week and manged to pick up the Bella Blvd Flirt stamps for $3.50 and I could not wait to play with them.

Ohhhh shiny Card.......

How lovely is that tinsel glitter, I have only used loose glitter once or twice before and it was not a good expeience, the Papermania glitter seems to be a bit more user friendly than the last lot I tried, can't wait to try the others I have.

Long forgotten scrapping....

I have been meaning to get on here and post a few layouts that I have done recently within the last few months and longer and have just not got around to posting them.

(Paper: Bazzill, Grant, Fiskers, Lexel)

(Other: Rubons: Love Elsie - Heidi Grace, Stickers: Ek Success, Stamp: Kelly Panacci) 

This was my most recent layout, I don't scrap all that many layouts of J and I, it always seems that we are behind the camera and we don't really like having our photos taken all that much.  I used a great mixture of new and old products in this layout, both rub ons I have had for years and the ticket stickers I have had for ever, the I love you title is a  sillhouette file. 

 (Paper: Echo Park, DCWV, Scenic Route, Mica paper & flocked paper- unknown)

(Other: Stickers: Heidi Grace alphas - Echo Park, Craft Affair, Stamp: Autumn Leaves, Distress Ink)  

This was the first of two layouts that I did in fairly neutral colours.  I have always loved bright colours and most of my scrapbooking and cards are a testament to that but occasionally you get photos or a theme to scrap that does not lend itself to the bright colours or overly busy papers, it was nice to mix things up a bit.  As usual I used a good mix of new and older products, the green/khaki flocked paper and the mica paper are seriously old and are from the very early days of this hobby.  

 (Paper: Bazzill, DCWV, Grant, Love Elsie, Handmade - unknown source)

(Other: Stickers: Cloud 9 - Chatterbox felt, Stamps: Kelly Panacci, Distress Ink, Buttons, Glossy Accents, Embroidery Thread) 

  I have been holding onto the DCWV Green stack paper for so long now waiting for the right type of layouts for its use, I am so glad that my kids are at the age now where it seems appropriate to use this paper. 

(Paper: Creative Imaginations, Grant, Bazzill, corrugated paper)

(Other: Ribbon, SVG files for Cricut)

I love this page, in fact it up there with some of my favourites but apart from the colours and just the way that it all came together the thing that I love the most about this layout is the fact that all it is is paper and a bit of ribbon, sure I got some help with the Cricut and some punches but once upon a time I would have hand cut all that.  I also believe that I scraplifted this from a layout that I saw somewhere, sadly it has been a few months since I made this layout and I can't for the life of me remember where I got the inspiration or who the creater was. 

 When I first started scrapbooking there was not the over abundance of pre made goodies to use in fact there was very little to choose from unless you were into Suzie's Zoo or Mrs Grossman so you had to make your own embellishments, and sometimes that meant cutting out for hours.  I just love the fact that it shows that you don't need expensive and pre made embellishments to make a good layout.

(Paper: Grant, Kaisercraft, Corrugated Card)

(Other: Sticker: Craft Affair, Stickles, Twine, Cricut)

This one is OLD, really, really old in fact I think it could even be two years old, I have no idea how it slipped past me documenting it.  Not exactly the nicest of experiences to document but lets face it anyone who  has kids had felt the dreaded tanty and I try to document our lives the good and the bad. 

How I love old stash....

You know what I love?

Actually do you know what two things I love?

Saving money/buying bargains and using my old stash.  I actually find rather a lot of pleasure in being able to re-use or re purpose something, breathing new life into something that was on its way to the bin or taking something that is old and making it look new or fit in with new products.

This is reflected a lot in my crafty endeavours, take this layout below, some of that paper is about 8 years old, some of it was rescued from going to the bin at my old work, the button came from a jar of vintage goodies found at the op shop and the pretty pink die cut paper came from a cheap multi pack of die cuts at Big W for about $5.  I did not have to buy a single a thing for this layout, it was all product that I had at home, some new and some old, some at the higher end price wise and some right at the bottom, I love it when a layout comes together like that especially when I can use paper that is from my earlier days of scrapping.   

Amazing

(Paper: K&Co, Paper Salon, GCD Studios, Lexel, Bazzill, Grant Archival)

(Other: Kaiser Pearls, Ribbon, Lace Trim, Button, Sam & Lucy Tiny Types, K&Co Stickers, Kindy Glitz, Butterfly Punch-Heidi Grace)