SUYS May group 2 challenge

Show us your stuff  MAY Try This......((which is also the GROUP 2 challenge)).........

is TEXTURED BACKGROUNDS.

10

I created this layout to celebrate my little man turning double digits this past birthday. He gets upset when I make him 'cutesy' layouts now, so a grungy style was called for. He is definately tall, a rollercoaster addict, a little shy and sporty. I didn't want to add too many adjectives that may embarass him as he gets older - I'll save them for another page!

I have created my textured background with lots of elements including gesso, impasto medium, paint, glimmermist, recycled corrugated board, tissue paper and an onion bag.

Nothing was spared in the making of this layout.

I have been experimenting with different methods to create textured backgrounds lately and my research has discovered some phenomonal tutorials. Besides the very talented Stacey Young you can find some terrific tutes by Steph Devlin  and if you visit You Tube be sure to check out Rach0113 for her amazing mixed media techniques - or search texture and sit back with a cuppa, you could be fascinated for quite some time!

 

footy dad

You are playing a very important role in the development of 22 young boys' football careers.

 One day, just maybe, one of these very promising under 10 players might go on to AFL success and think back to their junior footy days and remember the influence you

had on them.

Definately, on Saturday and every Saturday for this season at least, I will see a man put his heart and soul into coaching these Blues boys to be passionate about their game, play fairly and competitively and to always play their best.

You are the best footy dad.

May challenges

We miss you

Margaret was a mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister and friend. 

We certainly didn't always see eye to eye, but she understood that we both loved her son, and so our friendship began.

One year since her passing I feel I can start to record the special memories that our family shares of times spent with Gran and the life she lived.

I have incorporated two challenges in this layout - both Once upon a ... sketch and Scrap for help.

 I have journaled in the form of a letter to Margaret. It was hard to put this journaling into words and since it is very personal I slipped this little tag into a recycled envelope behind the photo. Anyone looking at the layout only need know that we miss her.



I made some simple roses from organza ribbon and a couple of shabby calico leaves. These are stitched onto a twig from the garden which I have attached to my layout with tiny stitches.The twine bow was stiffened with some ModPodge so it holds its shape over time and my trusty Fiskars punch was used... again.  

You can read 'Tudor' on the back of my envelope, just under the twig - courtesy of Gippsland Water - the requirement for Scrap for help this month.

I am not a big fan of banners so have used some fluffy felt clouds by Purple Pumpkin in its place. I also didn't feel a title was necessary, so 3 little words

"we miss you xxx" are all I have used.

Another fantastic sketch from Once upon a ... Sketch
Theme: Mum

We would like you to create a layout and interpret the theme "Mum" however you like based on the following sketch.

Be sure to drop by Scrap for help for a  refreshing take  on scrapbooking - each month a nominated recycled item must be included in your project, and you don't need to create a layout, it can be anything, and you don't need to make a project exclusive for this challenge... sounds pretty good to me!

May Show us your Stuff

You 2 share a love of books

I have photographed my layout again since it had lots of shadows and didn't nearly look its best.

My handmade items are the heart and my red buttons. I cut the heart from some chipboard and painted with my new favorite product, distress crackle paint by Ranger. The buttons were made from Fimo using a great tutorial by the brilliant Leeann Pearce . I made them some time ago for another project but they just didn't work and so I put them away for a rainy day.

I customised all of my 'orphan' alphas with patterned paper, paint or book pages.

 

I took this photo of my kids not long ago and was waiting for the right project idea to come along. Then from outta nowhere this 'Pin-spirational' image from Show us your Stuff and the creative juices just flowed.

My jounaling reads:

4th April 2012

I snapped this picture of you together, completely fascinated by the Book of Guiness World Records and the amazing facts it contains. I hope your love of reading and thirst for knowledge lasts all of your lives.

Love Mum xx

Let's get shabby challenge #34

This month the challenge is:

Create a Shabby Project with a repeated geometrical shape pattern that is very visable  

 (so we dont have to go looking for it)

lol

Can you see all of my rectangles?

I used lots of layers of my favorite Fancy Pants 'its the little things' paper range, distressed and inked the edges and hand stitched them so they would look a bit like a patchwork.  It took so much longer than I anticipated and I had to constantly resist the urge to stitch neatly. I really wanted that cosy, homemade quilt feeling and don't think I could have achieved that with my sewing machine.

The photos are from when my little girl was a kinder kid and the journaling relates to some of the funny little things she used to say. She has grown some and her hair isn't as red now but the funny things keep coming out of her mouth, so a similar layout may be called for in the very near future.

Grab yourself a cuppa and be sure to check out the gorgeous Let's get Shabby DT samples and take the time to visit the other entrants blogs, its truly amazing just how much talent is floating about in cyberspace right now!

Thanks for looking - if you like it leave some love and I'll return the favor
 xxx

Stuck?! sketches April 15

I loved the simpicity of this sketch and had the perfect photo in mind.

First Reconiciliation

I used a pretty patterned blue paper with some vellum over it, some simple floral trim, ribbons and chipboard corners painted white. The Kaisercraft doiley, a flower from I'm not sure where and some pretty pins finished it nicely.

Its hard to read in the photo but the white rubon alphas do look lovely on the vellum, adding to this simple, feminine page.

This is the sketch I was working to:

For those non-Catholics out there, your first reconciliation is a very important step in your religious journey. It is when you ask God for forgiveness of your sins - its what we called confession in years past. We had to have a laugh when she said she was going to ask God to forgive her for fighting with her brother, "because Mum, if God forgives me Connor can't complain any more". So ...we've got a bit of work to do on the whole concept of reconciliation, but it is early days yet.

Hope you like my take on the sketch. It's been a while since I played along, and the layouts I am seeing in the galleries are amazing! There certainly are some very talented ladies (and men) in our scrapping community. You all ought to be proud of yourselves for the inspiration you provide day in - day out!

CSI: Case File No. 16

Phew! Just in time! This is my first attempt at a CSI Challenge and I didn't pay much attention to the closing date. I have edited this post to include some better pictures of my layout, poor late evening light and tired eyes do not really make for great photography.

Sweet

I have used all 5 colors in the palette and my evidence is sparkly things, stacked elements and something sweet. I have used a Fancy Pants glitter die-cut title "Sweet", a stacked title and layered backgound and a photo of sweet marshmallows with my sweetie. My testimony is the word 'sweet' used both in the title and as the subject of my layout.



 

I have 'stacked' the elements that make up the background on my layout. First I scraped a raspberry shade of paint onto the background, then I glued strips of patterned paper randomly over this. The patterned papers were both the mid-shade of pink and the lighter shade of grey. I found a tattered die-cut paper and used it for a mask and tinted  my texture paste to a pale pink, almost white. After this dried I scraped some more paint over the paste.I have wanted to experiment with texture paste for a while now and was thrilled with the result. It looks kind of lush and fluffy, like thick pink icing smeared all over the page, perfect for my Sweet layout.

My journaling reads

sweet

fluffy

fabulous

marshmallows

made by my sweetie

This is what we had to work with on Case File No. 16

 There's no doubting that my sweetie and her marshmallows aren't sweet!

I had a great time following the case file and look forward to playing again - thanks for looking.



Scrap the Boys April Challenge

Scrap the Boys took a different approach to their challenge this month and forced me to think outside the square

RE-CYCLING....

We would like you to re-cycle some form of PACKAGING that is BOY related, this could be toy related, scrapbooking packaging, something from a magazine or book use your imagination....

swim stars

I rummaged through the third drawer in my desk, you know, the one where we put all of the goodies we might use one day, and found a die-cut negative from the kids' Simpsons board game.  When I unpacked the game originally I thought it might be handy since it has the Simpsons characters printed on one side, but I used the reverse on this project. I used it both as a mask for my Glimmermisting and as a photo mat.

I also used some Scrapware chipboard as another mask, a Shabby Chic Crafts journaling tag to house my quote (author unknown unfortunately) and some lovely AC Thickers for my title.

These boys - Liam, Lewis, Matt and Connor - did the school proud, making it all the way to the Regional finals at Sale. They didn't place but had a great day out of class in the sunshine and made a great team. And as always Connor made us proud, not because all those swimming lessons are paying off or because they had to beat so many teams to get this far, but because he tried his hardest and that's all we ever ask of him.

Swim stars, yeah, they are.

Share your comments and I'll be sure to drop by your blog too!

April Once upon a ...Sketch

Another great challenge from Once upon a ... Sketch to get the mojo flowing, well, kinda, sorta.

Home

 The theme of this challenge is HOME. 

We would like you to create a layout and interpret the theme "HOME" however you like based on the following sketch. You can journal as little or as much as you like, but your layout must incorporate this theme  and this sketch. 

These pictures are of our first place together, a little flat that we renovated completely, and then sold. We repeated the process at our next dwelling, and literally had the house on the market and sold within 2 days of completing the reno.

This time we have not done any work to our house. I love our home and where we live, I can see us growing old here with grandchildren and great grandchildren coming to visit. I guess I am a little afraid of starting any renovations because I might get it in my head that we need to move on when they are completed. Its not like they are not needed, believe me they are - some rather desperately - but I'm not ready for any changes here.

We have found our forever home.

I have altered the sketch to suit my layout, turning it anti-clockwise and using 3 photos where Nadia used one.  The die cut is by Making Memories and has lived in my paper stash for many years, just waiting for the right project. I have teamed it with some

Bo Bunny Et cetera papers and a fantastic Crate Paper woodgrain paper that I simply must buy more of - I love it!

I rummaged around to find some neutral fabrics and made some little flowers with Prima wood buttons for centres. My 'journal' button came from Eve at Evalicious, where you can pick up the most darling embellishments and kits. Finally I inked, embossed and distressed a chipboard key , just because I liked the idea of Home and a key, and tied it to my layout with matching ribbon.

Hope you find yourself at HOME here at my blog.

All comments greedily accepted like chocolate on Easter Sunday - thanks for looking.

Lest We Forget

We attended the ANZAC day march and service in Warragul and were grateful for blue skies before the rain set in. It is always wonderful to see how much the crowd numbers have increased compared to last year, particularly the number of children who attend.

My children were in full Cub Scout uniform and felt so proud marching with our brave soldiers and their descendants, alongside other community service organisations and schools.

As usual I had a tear in my eye, thinking of all that was sacrificed for us to live in peace.

After the service we went to the local RSL where my children volunteered to help. It makes me so proud to think they arranged to do this themselves, without any reward other than to know they were helping out. They had a lovely morning chatting with the oldies, clearing away dishes and stacking chairs.

Thank-you to all of our past and current Service Men and Women - your determination and sacrifices are gratefully acknowledged today and everyday.

If my children can already understand the ANZAC spirit I believe that this very important day in our history is in safe hands... and yes, We WILL Remember



Just for the memories...

Sports do not build character

My little girl played basketball for the first time during the Summer 11-12 season for the Gladiators U/10's, in the Waragul and District Amateur Basketball Association.

This cute picture was taken of her on the day of her 8th birthday just after the game.

The 'much loved' dog in her arm is Fleabag, the Grade 2 Kennedy mascot, that she got to take home for the weekend. He couldn't miss her game!

April Kraft It Up

So its a little later than normal, but a challenge worth waiting for!

This month KIU wants you to use Kraft CS or PP as your base and we want to see another THREE kraft items on your layout, these can be anything as long as they are KRAFT, everything is else is up to you!!!

Woo hoo! The perfect challenge for a kraft lover. Kraft, kraft and even more kraft!

The Mob

 

Yep, another holiday layout using the fantastic pics we had taken at Old Time Photos on the 

Gold Coast.

I have used a kraft base with 3 different kraft patterned papers from the MME Life Stories range. Again the Fiskars punch got a real workout and I have created some more little blooms to match. I'm glad I invested in some circle dies for my Cuttlebug, it saves so much time when I am cutting out multiple layers for the flowers.

I can't believe just how grown up my children look in these photos - at the time they were only 8 and 9 (Connor has since had a birthday and now he's in double digits).

The jounalling to the right of my layout reads;
17 January 2012
Reluctant to start, the kids quickly changed thier tune when the guns and loot came out.
Bonnie and Clyde look out!
Pics by Old Time Photos (copyright)

Your comments are always welcome and really appreciated, they are like 

sunshine on a rainy day! 

As always, thanks for looking xx