A Creative Life

Changing It Up

Have you ever found yourself questioning why you do what you do?  I adore the whole concept of the movie "Sliding Doors".  Totally love it, and often find myself pondering what alternate choices would have meant in my life.  Recently I have wondered what my life would be like if I had never discovered scrapbooking.  Would I be more efficient at my home duties, probably, since I wouldn't have to make the choice between household chores or scrapping, and seriously, what would you prefer doing?  Nah, no contest on that score!  Mind you, the same conclusion could be reached if I removed internet from the equation as well! LOL!  So now I have scrapbooking and the internet in my life! No wonder there seems so little time for anything else!  On that last note, I have been trying to reduce the time I spent on the internet (ie, facebook, blogs, pinterest, msn etc) and it really frees up a lot of time.  But then I have to go to pinterest to find a recipe I pinned, which always results in "browsing time"! Oops!  I am by no means perfect when trying to reduce time spent on these activities! :) Having said all that, if it wasn't scrapbooking I am sure I would have found some other artistic outlet, I was always the little girl who wanted to play with her "busy box", and later on dabbled in any craft like activity that crossed my path!

On the scrapbooking front, I have found myself filled with self-doubt about my work.  I feel so stuck in a rut, boring and  my style needs a face lift!  It is hard to be creative when you are so riddled with negative emotions towards what you create.  I just feel like I am re-inventing the same darn wheel over and over again and I am boring myself, let alone anyone else!! LOL!  With this in mind I have been playing with art mediums and experimenting.  Not necessarily (but sometimes it is) for any projects that are due, but just for the sheer joy that learning new techniques bring.  Guess what, it is fun!!  

I know this flies in the face of my previous paragraph when I mentioned that I am reducing internet time, but on one of those times I allowed myself a bit more "viewing" time, I became enthralled with this girls blog and all the artistic goodness she posesses! Czekoczyna I adore her artistic style and her use of colour.  When I look at her pages I feel inspired to go into my room and play with paint, texture paste, gel medium and any other artistic supplies I can get my hands on.  Just for fun, to experiment and enjoy the process. I need to feel refreshed, revitalised in my scrapbooking once more and maybe this is a step in the right direction.

What has been even better is that recently, my Aussie Scrap Source DT assignments have allowed me to have a bit more of a play with different techniques, as I have done in this Smash Album.

For the cover, I painted the album with white gesso and then used gel medium to apply this pretty napkin to it.

 

I wanted to play with merging glimmer mist colours and some embossing enamels.  After applying gesso to the page and sticking down a few random elements, I then applied a thick layer of embossing enamel to the heart area and heated it up until it went molten and the different colours merged together. Then while it was still hot she stamped into it with the bird stamp.  She then used 3 shades of chalkboard glimmer mist on the rest of the page, allowing the pools of colour to blend together.

 

This page had a bold dice paper image on it. I applied gesso liberally to the page and it softened the effect of these papers. I played with glitter effects, from mixing it with white gesso for a grainy effect to applying it onto a thick smear of gel medium. Lots of fun and a great way to experiment.

 

By applying a thick smear of gel medium and then applying glitter on top of it and gently pressing it into the gel medium you can achieve a thick glittered effect on your page as shown here.

 

On this page I was playing with the effects of gesso as a partial resist while using water soluble oil pastels and also the effects of layering tissue tape and napkins with gel medium.

 

You can see how the Tim Holtz tape and the napkin have both "melded" to create a triple layered effect on this page as you can see each of their individual images as well as seeing the layers below. I LOVED this effect.

 

Most of the time I merely uses glimmer mist to add some splatters to her pages of colour flowers and lace.  On these pages I was experimenting with spraying at close range and holding the book upright so that the mist would run downward on the page, creating this fabulous drip effect.  I then went back and highlighted with gentle patches of yellow on an otherwise pink and purple misted page to warm the overall effect. 

Then I had a glimmermist brief for Aussie as well.  Oh gee, that was fortuitious timing indeed!  So I played around with different ways of using glimmermist, just to have some fun.

and a bit of fun mixing and matching a couple of different paper company ranges.  So much of my time is spent using solely from a range it is nice to mix and match.  There was a time when I always mixed and matched and I loved the ecclect feel it provides.

I still love my layers though!   Cant leave that behind!!  Just wish I had a bit more time to just play around but alas, when I am home there are still a couple of small children that need my attention!

Those time constraints will soon change a bit though.  Last week I found out that our department at the University had not been able to secure more funding for ongoing research and I find myself, (along with a lot of others in the department) not having my contract renewed.  I will become unemployed! Eeekkk!  I hate the uncertainty that this brings and hope like crazy that I can find a new job very quickly as our budget does not allow for me to not work.  I really enjoyed my role at the Uni so it is really sad that due to circumstances out of my control that I find myself in this position.  Oh well, onward  I go.  Better to concetrate on the right now than to stress about the unknown!

Finally, don't forget there is a DT call over at The Color Room.  This is the first time there has been an open DT call for the CR so if you have ever thought about being on the DT, now is your time to put in an application.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

Scrap Room, Cute Pics and a Video!

My eldest turned 14 last weekend!  What freaks me out is the notion that in 4 years time I will have an adult son!!  Seriously, I do not feel old enough for that to be approaching so fast!  Most of the time I still feel like I am 29!  So there is a decade on top of that, but who is counting! LOL!  That decade went so quickly, and at times I admit I was hoping it would move along at a good rate, so the kids would get older and easier, but ultimately there is no such thing as easier, just different!  The lesson for me in all of that is to not wish it away quickly and just try and enjoy the moment as they go by so so quickly.  

The year is rushing by and soon this little girl will be starting school!  I had her hair in piggy tails and just had to take some pictures of her cuteness!  She eats up the camera!  It never ceases to amaze me with how photogenic she is!

Oh she had me from the moment I found out I was having her!  But that cute little smile and cheeky little personality always make me smile!  All my children have character to burn!  Ashton is now at that totally adorable age where he pulls the funniest faces, speaks in his cute baby pronunciation but still hugs and cuddles like a baby!  However, he is not one to hang around for photos!!  Tried to get a picture of him this same day, but he did a runner every time the camera was pointed in his direction!! All I could capture were a couple of blurry pics! Sigh!!

Now I have also had my scrap space featured on the Aussie Scrap Source Blog!  It is not a pretty space! LOL!  Pretty much an area that has been jammed from floor to ceiling with products, mostly flowers!

My scrap area is in my bedroom in my bay window as I have a long room I have taken over one end with all my supplies.  Due to such space limitations, my storage all goes upwards!

 

An Ikea shelf contains boxes with punches, dies, chipboard, stamps, fabric glimmermists and on top of it my papers in vertical storage.

 

The big white baskets on top of my dresser contain alphabet stickers and mini albums, some complete, some still needing to be started!

 

Even the dresser drawer has been taken over with scrap supplies!

Shoe boxes have been converted to storage containers for glimmer mist! I am lucky that hubby takes a size 15 shoe and the boxes from his shoes are HUGE!

 

All my printed papers are stored in Cropper Hopper’s brilliant vertical storage.  I recently went through my stash and reduced it by half just so I could fit it all in.

 

I have recycled some of my Prima tins and labelled them for storage. Just used a digital brush label, and added the flower name to the front and printed on Avery label sticker paper.

I got hubby  to help me make the white bookcase style shelf. After we had one made and decided I needed a second!

 

Recycling old Heidi Swapp jars for some of flowers.

 

A4 draws from Big W make a great place for storing Prima SIIC, stamps inks and felts.

 

I have used these hardware drawers from Big W for some of my flowers.  I keep them in ranges rather than just colours as I often has to scrap with certain ranges and it makes it easy to keep it sorted.

 

Ribbons and laces are colour sorted in plastic jars.

 

Punches and Prima Alpha Stickers are kept in tubs under my desk.

Other tips for cheap storage ideas:  I cut down cereal boxes so that they are lower at the front than the back and then cover with scrapbook paper and this is great for storing alphabet sticker sheets.

CD plastic cases are perfect for storing spellbinders dies in.  I usually put 2 sets to one case and cut down the packaging and pop it in there as well so I know which set it is.  Then you can use a CD storage unit to store all the cases in and if you label the spines you know what you have at a glance.  

So that is my space, it isn't pretty, I wish it was but I do not have the space or the budget for beautifucation!  In my dreams I would have a loft style scrap room with all white cupboards, timber flooring, a large island bench in the middle.....ah sigh! You get the idea.  It will take a lotto win for that to ever happen and since I don't buy a ticket for lotto, the chances have slimmed down to non-existant!

Finally, here is a video tutorial I did for Prima......

 

So thanks for stopping by and finishing the marathon post! 

 

A Nostalgic Journey

This year for Easter we didn't do that much.  Usually a camping trip up the river is in order but this year the camping site we stay at was going to end up being isolated and somewhat island like by the time Easter was over, due to rising water level of the Murray River, and we did not want to risk getting stuck!!  Instead we stayed home and just went for a drive on the Saturday to the country areas of Strathalbyn and Langhorne Creek where I grew up as a child.  It was actually a really strange experience seeing the properties I used to live in as I had not been back that way for 16 years.  The home I lived in with Mum and Dad until I left home at 18 looked so different.  The roses that my Mum used to painstakingly look after across the front garden had all been ripped up and replaced with rather ugly conifers (the variety that grow wide and scraggly instead of thin and upward) and the home just looked a bit tired and neglected.  It was a bit sad to see that so little had gone into it's maintenance.

Then we drove onto Langhorne Creek and I was amazed by all the vineyards that had been planted over the years in paddocks which ones were marginal grazing properties.  Quite amazing the changes to the countryside.  Then I discovered that the property I lived in at Langhorne Creek until I was 12 years old had been totally planted to vines as well!  It used to be irrigated parstures, lush green paddocks and now it was all vines.  Quite bizarre to see it so different.  The house that is over 100 years old looked pretty much the same though.  So that was my day of nostaligia, showing the kids where I grew up, went to school and such like!  I think they enjoyed the journey!  Well they seemed interested enough!  

Of course, we stopped at a couple of parks and I took this opportunity to snap some pictures! As you do when you are a scrapbooking Mum!

Ashton being his very cute and cheeky self!

Cameron, looking rather handsome!  He usually pulls silly faces for his photos so this is a rare good shot of him!

Mr Casanova, Ethan is always up for a photo.  He knows he has a winning smile and those eyes are just amazing!  He has used those big blue eyes on many an occasion to get out of trouble!  Well, try to!

Missy with her missing tooth!  You can see the new one growing back.  I have to say though, "what's with that elbow?"  I think she may be double jointed! Ewww! LOL!

This is the "Seriously Mum, no more photos" stare!

Finally a picture of Kaitlyn and Mazzie!  They were so so cute, walking around hugging each other and playing so beautifully together.  I often turned to Lydell and smiled that Mummy smile that says "how cute are our girls together!"

Yes I know there is no photo of Lachlan, that was because he was unco-operative!  He only has himself to blame!

On the scrapping front, I did a Make and Take for Paper Flourish at the Scrapbooking Fair.  So 5 hours later, almost 50 ladies making and taking, on a project that took 30 mins for each lady to complete (oops I have an inability to create something quick), NO moving away from that table for the duration of the fair!!  So so so tired at the end of it all, but hopefully the ladies who did it enjoyed it all.  This is what they created.

 

Lots of beautiful Prima on this and lots of Spellbinders dies!  They were the death of me by the end of the show! I had to clean the Persian Motif die after every use. Painstakingly poke out all the left over bits in the die before the next one was cut.  Because they are so intricate, you cant successfully cut another one if the die is full of paper from the last cut!  Next time some pre-cutting would be a good idea! 

 I have also had a few LO's up on the Prima blog.....

This LO uses the pretty Meadow Lark range of papers and lots of Pan Pastels fun with masking and soft shading under the circles.  Love the colours of this range.

The next LO was my favourite that I created for CHA.  It didn't come easily for me and I worked and worked on it until I was happy, but in the end it was my fave.  This one uses the Songbird collection.  Love this one with all those adorable little bird images!!

I am still madly creating at this end.  I am not so good at updating the blog but I will say I am working on another video tutorial for the Prima blog, which will go up later this month!  So nose back to the grindstone for me to get it edited!!  Thanks for being patient with my lack of updates and still stopping by.

Its Been a While

There are times where my life seems so chaotic that I feel like I can barely catch a breath!  Obviously this little old blog is the first casualty of this chaos!  I don't even need a crystal ball to know  in the future it may not get any better!  At times people will comment to me that they don't know how I manage to do it with 5 kids and all and inwardly I am chuckling away thinking that I must be giving the illusion that I am managing!  No one needs to see the mound of washing piled up at the laundry door, despite doing 6 loads 3 days ago, or the chair covered in clean washing, folded and ready to put away from those 3 days ago!  Not to mention the dishwasher needing to be emptied of yesterdays dishes and the new pile waiting on the edge of the bench to go back in there!  Yet here I sit, at my computer, procrastinating!  Yep, I am managing really well in the procrastination department! LOL!!

To go with these things, my little boy has decided that he now wants to toilet train.  You would think by the time I get to the 5th child that it would be easy peasy, but I have to confess, toilet training is my most loathed developmental stage of childhood (so far, as I am finding the teenage angst a bit difficult too!).  Having said that, we were out all yesterday and I did have a nappy on him but he didn't wet it once, informing us every time he needed to go to the toilet!  What a little champ!

Now, despite my lack of blogging, I have been scrapping!  I had this u-tube video up on the Prima blog showing how to make this LO. Lots of fussy cutting and distressing, sounds just like me! LOL!

 

I also have to share some sad news as well.  Now it came about from a good thing, (that I can't tell you about just yet) but had a sad consequense that I had to give up my role with Websters Pages.  So with saddness I had to resign from my role on the DT with Websters.  This was my last LO created with the beautiful Websters Pages Sunday Picnic line.  I ADORE this line, the colours are just so up my alley!  Please don't laugh too hard at the photo of me!!

These are some cards I created using Sunday Picnic as well....

So on that note, it is time to head off to bed for some sleep!  Thanks for stopping by!

Cards, Cats and Children!

I was a little bored the other day!  Not because I had nothing to do, on the contrary, I had too much to do so I was procrastinating so out came the camera!  Someone asked me this week if I ever take pictures of the other kids.  Yes I do but not that often as the 3 boys are often at school when a moment of procrastination takes over and Ashton, well he is a tricky little kid to capture as he often looks the opposite direction just to avoid me!!  Please note my case in point below!!

and then there is the way Ashton carries poor long suffering Tickles! Again you will notice the obvious refusal to look at the camera!  Oh he has his ..."I am all boy" face on too! Such a little charmer! 

and absolutely no better with his animal handling skills in this picture either! To top it off this time, he totally turned his back on me. No way was he posing for a photograph!!!

So it is little wonder that I resort to photographing this little poser who has some improved animal handling skills over her Brother!

She also seems to enjoy striking a pose! Watch out world!

In the end it is just easier to capture beautiful pictures of Miss Kaitlyn!  I might also enjoy scrapbooking feminine layouts as well!  

My parents came up the other weekend as I had a birthday.  Yep another year older, I just can't slow that progression down!! Darn It!!  Well why they were over I suggested I take a couple of photos of them.  I really don't have that many pictures of Mum and Dad together so it was a good opportunity and also a chance for them to get a nice image for themselves.  I then gave the photo the same attention I would give any photo of myself and erased a few years of experience from their faces and Mum LOVED the results!  I also think that Miss Kaitlyn shares some similarities with my Mum, especially a more square jawline, whereas I have my Fathers very angular face!

Onto the scrapbooking front....I have created a lot of cards lately for the Color Room.  We have had some amazing sponsorship from companies and I really wanted to create with their products but am extremely time poor right now so I opted for cards.  Besides it is always fabulous to have a stash of cards to draw on when necessary!  These first ones are created with papers from a Sweedish company called Maja Designs.  Beautiful papers with lovely fine designs on them.

And these cards using papers from anothe Color Room sponsor, Megs Garden.

So now I have quite a good range in my stash!

I also want to promote a retreat that I will be teaching at in September in.....wait for it..... NEW ZEALAND!!  Woohoo!  Can't wait to go there.  I have been to NZ once before, for all of 1 hour and only got to set foot in their international airport on my way to Los Angeles, so I am a bit excited to be able to venture out of the airport and have the opportunity to meet some fabulous NZ scrappers!  If it is something you are interested in here are some details for you!

If you are wanting to book into this fabulous event just pop by Louises Blog and you can find registration forms!  For anyone who is planning to go I cant wait to see you there in September!  Thanks again for stopping by my blog!!

 

Creating with New Websters Pages

CHA is always such an exciting time of the year!  This year I had projects up in 2 different booths.  Both Prima and Websters.  Not that I ever get to see them on display there, "sigh, I need a money tree out the back."  Sometimes I just wish I had more time to spend online looking at all the new releases! :)  Totally loved playing with a few of Websters Pages new releases though.  I was lucky enough to be able to create LO's with Palm Beach, Everyday Poetry and Sunday Picnic.  They all have such wonderful colours in the ranges and it was such a treat to create layouts with them.

This LO uses the Palm Beach Collection.  It has glorious colours and can work easily with beachy/ holiday pictures (LO below) as well as non-beachy pages like the one above.

 Then I stole this photo from Anabelle showing a couple of my LO's on display in the Websters booth!

This is what i created with the Everyday Poetry Line.  I hand-made all the flowers on this LO. Finally my Sunday Picnic LO. Oh I ADORE the colours in this range.

 So if you wish to check out more wonderful pages with the new Websters lines, just check out the Websters Blog 

On the home front.... the kids went back to school, which means lots of VERY early mornings in our household as we all have to be out the door around 7.30am in the morning as both Paul and I have to be at work by 8am.  Gosh it is so much easier when holidays are on! The boys seem pretty excited to be back at school with their friends.  Lachlan is loving his IT classes as they are working with Photoshop and I have to say it is the most excited I have ever seen Lachlan over learning something!  It seems he has finally found something at school that he is rather passionate about!  Rather a handy skill to develop in this household!  Maybe I will get him to edit my photos soon! 

Kaitlyn and Ashton are both "loving" Tickles the kitten to bits!  Poor kitty keeps coming to me for protection from the constant holding and carting around that Kaitlyn likes to do!  Paul is getting a bit frustrated with Tickles as she keeps going behind his computer desk as well as the television unit and decides to swipe at the cords behind the units.  Unfortunately this often results in the cables coming loose.  As you could imagine that does not go down too well!  Poor kitty is desperate to go outside and I have not let her out yet either.  I really want her to be adjusted to our household before she is allowed out.  She has to know that this is home now to ensure she comes back home! In the meantime, Ashton and Kaitlyn are paying her a little too much attention!

Yes the little lad has had a hair-cut since the last photos I took of him!  He didn't like having it cut much!  He was fine for the first half of the hair-cut and then proceeded to cry his eyes out for the rest of it.  I heard that pitiful cry of "Mummy, Mummy, in that elongated whine/cry that small children use!  It is not like I can stop it half way through though!!!  He does look cute though!  

Thanks again for stopping by my blog.  I know I finished abruptly but if I don't press publish now, it may be another week before I get back here! :)

 

 

I caved in!!

I have listened to the pleas of Miss Kaitlyn for quite some time requesting a "real" dog or a "real" cat and I have been blocking my ears and humming lalalalalalala in an effort to avoid any additional work in our household, but this week I caved!  A new addition has arrived and it is cute, cuddly and rather furry!  Miss Kaitlyn is one VERY happy girl!  There is debate in our household though as to whether it is the entire families pet or Kaitlyns!!  Kaitlyn thinks it is entirely hers and the boys are in quite some disagreement with her, adamant it is all of theirs.  So, when they pester me about it I blatantly tell them, if it weren't for Katilyn's pleading then "Tickles" would never have come to our family!!  I have not gone as far to say it is 'her' kitten, but it kind of is! LOL!

Kaitlyn went to bed the first night with "Tickles" sleeping on the mini couch next to her bed.  Just before I went to bed I popped Tickles in the laundry to prevent any nasty little surprises in the monring. Well, Miss Kaitlyn woke up at 6am, wandering through the house looking for her and promptly popped her into bed and this is how I found them!  Too cute!  Mind you, Kaitlyn looks like she could have done with another couple of hours of sleep in this picture!  (yes I forgot to change the date of my watermark on that first picture!)

 

As you can see, Tickles is providing great amusement for the whole family!  Tonight she decided that my dangly earings made great toys and was swiping away at them!  I quickly took them out before I had a nasty accident involving caught kitten claws and ripped earlobes!

On a seperate note, today was Australia Day and we had a lovely BBQ lunch at the lovely Jane Cocks' house.  I first met Jane years ago when I owned my Scrapbooking Shop and ironically we now work together at Adelaide University.  In fact we share an office together!  Such a small world!  But before we arrived there, I found myself waiting for DH to return from doing some work, so to kill some time, I had Lachlan take some photos! I may have edited them a bit afterwards! ;)

It is so hard to get photos with the kids, but I think I have found the answer now that Lachlan is getting older and is quite good at framing a shot.  He loves to take photos, so that is even better!  For those that know me quite well, you may also notice I have a fringe now!  I was bored the other day so I decided to cut my hair and give myself a fringe!  I am so glad I did as it is so much softer around my face.  Mind you, I have to blow dry that little bit of hair and get the hair straightener onto it every day now, unless I want an unruly mess of frizz around my face!  I suddenly feel 'high maintenance'!  I am quite used to brushing my wet hair into a ponytail, quickly putting on mascara and lipstick and dashing out the door!  I very rarely go to much more trouble than that most days!  Having said that, I do have a full face of make-up on in these pictures!

On the scrapping front, I have done sooooo much this first month of 2012!  With the frantic pace of CHA I have created 18 LO's, 17 cards, 4 OTP's and am now exhausted!  My dining room table has been taken over with my scrap stuff and I have forced the family to eat outside for every meal!  Hopefully things settle down in February!  I can share a few projects with you now....

This LO uses the new Prima En Francais line.

and this LO using Prima Almanac line...

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog, and for all the lovely messages of congratulations on Websters left on both FB and here on my blog.

 

Exciting Times with Websters Pages

Going back before Christmas I was asked to join this amazing team. I am so excited to play with the beautiful papers that Brandin designs, and be a part of such a talented and supportive team!  2012 is going to be a wonderfully exciting and busy year!

CLEAN & SIMPLE DT

Diana Brodeur

Jamie Harder

Jamie Warren

Jill Cornell

Kay Rogers

Nina Ostermann

Stacey Michaud (Special Events Lead)

Classic DT

Anabelle O`Malley (Team Lead)

Emeline Seet

Emma Trout

Gabrielle Pollacco

Gerry van Gent

Julie Walton

Tomoko Takahashi

Iris Babao Uy

Jaz Lee Soo Hui

Larissa Albernaz

Janine Koczwara

Mitsue Iwata

The inclusion of the Clean and Simple team to Websters is going to be such a refreshing change! I really look forward to seeing the fabulous designs that all these wonderful ladies come up with!

Look, I even get my own personally numbered DT Badge!!  Apparently I am member no 25, if only my age matched that! :)

Yes I am Slack!

So, I am becoming one of those blog neglectful people!  I know, it is bad, I haven't updated since before Christmas, but I have been totally swamped with stuff.  Promise!!  Even today I am going to be lazy and just share a couple of projects that were shown on the Prima Blog!  I got to use my new best scrapping friend on this LO - my Prima Distress tool.  If you have not tried it, you need to get your hands on this tool, it is fabulous if you love a distressed Shabby Chic look to your pages.

Just in case you were curious as to how I create a LO.  Here is a really sped up version of the creation of the layout above!

 

 

Now onto a step by step for my second project that focuses on the design elements rather than a lot of techniques to create this elegant page. Getting the design of a page right is extremely important to the overal effectiveness of the Layout.  The design started around the hand cut sprawling vine paper, it provides movement in the layout and draws your eye around the page.

 

 PRODUCTS USED:

843540 - Printery Collection - Love Ledger
843526 - Printery Collection - Page Four
843557 - Printery Collection - Folio
843519 - Printery Collection - Signature
551247 - Printery Chipboard Pieces
890742 - Shabby Chic Resin Treasures
544225 - Alphabet Chipboard - Black
543761 - Orchard Mix - Dewdrop
538637 - Fairytale Roses 
539504 - Primrosa
538675 - Cameo Roses
540456 - Mulberry Rose Leaves
545482 - Alencon Lace
Prima Velvet Ribbon
Special  Edition Gypsophillia, Small Roses and White natural flowers

Other Products Needed: 

Martha Stewart Around the Page Punch
Tim Holts Distress Ink - Walnut Stain
Ranger Glossy Accents
Distress Ink Tool
Tattered Angels Chalkboard Glimmermist - Cotton Candy

• Step 1 - Carefully cut around the patterned paper and trim it back as shown on the LH side, so that it can sit above other elements on your page. The new Prima Craft Knife is perfect for this step.

• Step 2 - Use the Martha Stewart around the page punch to create a decorative edge around your page, Ink edges and stick down onto the black paper.

• Step 3 - From the paper that has several distinct areas on it, cut out the long black damask floral part. Punch across the top edge. Ink edges.

• Step 4 - Cut a strip from the cream left over part of the paper the first cut out came from and punc across one side, ink edged and stick down as shown below.

• Step 5 - Add the two layers of ribbon as shown.

• Step 6 - Arrange the handcut edge and the strip across the page and stick down.

• Step 7 - Cut another section from the patterned paper, the bordered ledger part. Ink edges and stick down just above the top of the punched edge.

• Step 8 - Glimmermist 2 small roses and one fo the white flowers to the delicate pink colour.

• Step 9 - Add your photos, chipboard and floral embellishments and finally your title to finish off the page.  I have printed part of the title onto transparency, cut around it and stuck down with Ranger Glossy Accents.  I used Porcelain font downloaded from the internet.

By placing the emphasis on the large deep pink flower, deep pink velvet ribbon and the deep pink in the colour photograph, a trio of accents has been created to make the whole page pop.

Sizing of flowers is crucial in making a floral cluster work effectively.  Always start with your largest flower/s and work downward in size from there, adding small sprays and leaves as the last touch as this is the best way to ensure balance  in both design and color compsition to the cluster.

The small cluster provides balance to the larger cluster and also helps in creating part of a visual triangle in the design of the LO.

Hopefully I can come back with another post soon!  Crossing my fingers!

 

 

 

 

 

Still Playing...

Still playing around with my new camera a bit.  I always love to see the kids looking cute and from a scrapping perspective it is a necessity to have a good stash of photographs to be able to draw from!  Especially with CHA creating just around the corner!  Sooo looking forward to seeing what Prima have come up with for this CHA!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pictures below were taken at my MIL's place.  Kaitlyn was so funny, she wanted to walk across this fallen log, just like the older boys, but the moment she got a coule of steps in she was too scared to continue until Ethan held her hand!  She was very pleased with herself  

  

 

  

As for this one, this is her utopia!!  In her letter to Santa at Kindy, she said she wants a REAL puppy, a REAL kitten and a REAL Bunny!!  Oh, and a pair of pretty shoes!  Good to see she is fashion conscious in amongst her animal loving heart!  I had to advise her that Santa struggles to keep REAL animals safe on the sleigh journey, so he doesn't usually give "REAL" animals.  I also informed her that they are a little hard to wrap as well, and it is a rule of Santa to wrap all presents!  Did I let her down gently enough?

Is this not the face of trouble??  He is so darn cheeky!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Totally love this picture of Ashton, despite the big smear of dirt on his cheek!  Kind of sums up his little personality really well!!

Steph came over the other day with Madison and the girls had a lovely time playing.  However when we wanted to get a couple of shots of the two of them together they were not so willing. We resorted to bribery and corruption!!  Yes, Hot Milo's were the bribe and then the girls were quite co-operative!  These were a couple of the shots I loved.

Such little cutie pies!!  They really do play so beautifully together and get so excited to see one another.

I had an interesting weekend as well.  I was at Lydell's place with the kids on Saturday along with some other friends of ours and the kids were playing in the pool.  Cameron was being a bit pesky and splashing one of the adults (Derek) with water so he went to poke Cameron with a metal pole.  Well at that precise time, Cam decided to dive underwater and went face first into the forementioned pole!!  A trip to Accident and Emergency and 3 stitches later......

As for a side matter, I can't believe that you can take a picture that is this clear with no flash, straight off your phone!!

Onto scrap related stuff....

On this lollipop posy, I have covered the can with layers of punched paper for a delicate base and mixed lollipops, blooms and some candy gems for the floral display at the top.

 

This is another version using prima papers to create your own flowers ... you can see how this was made in this video...  (my first attempt at a video tutorial!! Luckily practice should make me better!)

  

And a LO created for the Color Room using Prima products...

Love all the layers in this.  Now I just need to be able to find some more time to play a bit more with my scrap supplies.  Feeling like I am always at work and not getting enough creative time!  Got a week off between Christmas and New Years, so I am hoping to break out the creativity then!!  Wish me luck and thanks for stopping by!