Show us your stuff April challenge

April is almost over but there's still plenty of time to join in a few scrapbooking challenges. Of course I recommend SUYS. It would be wrong of me not to! This month the challenge is to get creative with stamps.

Since the prize is some fabulous Stampin Up products, I decided to break out some of my new SU supplies.

The inks, stamps and the paper are all current SU products. The little bag, doily, flower and flair are from D-lish Scraps, the other embellies (except for the Charms Creation luscious lollipop and veneer person) are from CTMH. 

Thanks for popping by to take a peek. Can't wait to see your creation - remember it doesn't have to be a LO. Why not make some cards or a canvas? Don't forget your handmade item! 

SUYS DT reveal

This month's challenge at Show Us Your Stuff is travel themed. All of the design team's creations have been revealed on the blog so I thought I'd share mine with you and encourage you to give it a go!

So, this is the challenge:

And this is my LO. I chose to use a screen shot I took during the time Zoe was missing after Cyclone Pam. She was trending on Twitter and was the top news story on many newspaper sites. This particular one was the Sydney Morning Herald. I took the screen shots because I thought she'd like to see them when she was found safe and well - I never allowed myself to think we might not get her back in one piece.

My title uses a very popular travel word tropical and I also added nightmare - probably quite another fairly common word used to describe a less than perfect holiday lol. The green paper is a topographical map. My handmade items are a Rainbow Splendour Bow and two Burdy's Embellies arrows.

I also added a D-lish Scraps kraft mini bag and tag, some enamel dots and a random selection of brads stickers from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by. Let me know if you have a go at the challenge. Happy creating!

July SUYS Challenge Reveal

Welcome to July! One month of Winter down - yay! Today is super foggy and gloomy and the rest of the week is forecast to have minus six starts - brrr!

But far more importantly, this month at SUYS we're showcasing your handwriting.

The design team all came up with very different takes on this challenge. Goodness me there are some stunning handwriting styles out there! But if you're like me and your handwriting is more serviceable than beautiful you might want to approach this challenge in a different way.

I recently bought a fabulous triangle template and it got me thinking about a LO featuring a triangular design. Which lead to this LO.

I used yet another one of my 50 cents Kaiser papers for the background and applied gel medium using my new template. Once that had dried I misted with Heidi Swapp colour shine in salmon, butter and ocean. I wiped over the gel medium with a baby wipe so I only had colour between the triangles. It's a bit hard to see in the photos but it created a nice shimmery effect and made the triangles stand out.

Once I'd worked out how my triangles of paper were going to work. I stitched between them and along the edges of my journalling triangles - which I created by cutting a PL grid card in two. I can't write in a straight line to save myself so I love these little guys. I tend to blame my writing and my wonky lines on being left handed but I have a feeling it's really about time, motivation and attention to detail. My brain is busy with other stuff!

Anyway I then stuck my triangles and mounted photo in place and added the fun stuff. A couple of crocheted flowers made by my lovely friend Becci and a little camera I created using a Stampin' Up diecut. I also used a D-Lish scraps paperclip, a couple of buttons I stole out of Janina's button bowl (it was on the table when we were scrapping, it was practically begging me to rifle through it) and a smattering of enamel dots.

The photo itself and the journalling are a bit of fun. Anyone who knows me will attest to my slightly obsessive tendencies when it comes to my kitchen bench, I admit to being in love with it and recognise my need for it to be clear of junk at all times (this really doesn't work as it's an excellent dumping ground apparently!).

Hope you're looking forward to a wonderful creative month. Don't forget to link up your take on the challenge over at the SUYS blog 

Stay warm!

SUYS May Challenge

This month at SUYS we have a sketch challenge created by SUYS boss Vicki.

Here's my take on the sketch.

I used a landscape pic so I moved some of the elements around to suit that change. This a very special photo as it is of my daughter, Zoe in a helicopter flying into Pentecost, Vanuatu to deliver aid to the Level School community who had been without food and water since TC Pam flattened their villages and school. You can read more about Zoe's adventure and our continued fundraising efforts on the SUYS blog or leave me a message below and I'll happily add you to our Facebook page.

Here are a couple of close ups of my LO. I used the D-lish Scraps March Just Add Paper Kit - Caribbean Skies and added a Charm's Creation mini super star.

As you can see I also re-purposed the kit's tag to read Vanuatu skies - it was perfect! My photo was a bit lost against the pale background so I added a bolder piece of paper but then it seemed too bright so I toned it down with some gesso.

I really wanted to include a hashtag in my title as we were part of the #renegadeaid effort that was being discussed on social media but after going through almost all my packets of thickers and assorted alphas I was beginning to despair at finding one, But I did, at last, and I now know only the newer thicker packs include hashtags...

Raising money for our aid delivery was the easy part - as the result of a post on Facebook our family and friends donated over $8000 in less than three days. Actually getting the aid delivered was far trickier in part because I was in Australia and the aid and the helicopter company were in Vanuatu and communications were still up and down. During this time I also learnt a lot about Pacific nation politics. Most importantly I learnt that aid is about power and that the Ni-Van Government was determined to show Australia and New Zealand that it was in control even though the aid and personnel to deliver it was being supplied by those countries. This desire for power put a choke-hold on aid deliveries and many remote communities waited for almost a month for official aid to arrive.

Meanwhile the #renegade aid providers sprang up, kindhearted people who slipped through the red tape to help those in need. And that's why using the hashtag was really important to me. Our aid, whilst provided by an sanctioned Australian aid partner was not part of the NDMO aid effort - their aid did not arrive in Zoe's village for another two weeks after ours (more than three weeks after the cyclone). Without the help of many people our aid would not have delivered. We felt firsthand Vangov's attempts to control the aid effort when the President's men threatened our helicopter company and then took our helicopter so that our aid delivery was delayed by a further day. But we got there in the end and our rice and water sustained an entire community for the weeks until official aid arrived.

Zoe leaves us to return to Vanuatu on 3 May for another 10 weeks and she is weighed down with proof that we are a generous society who care about our neighbours. Her bags contain rice, flour, sugar, school and medical supplies, water purification tablets, seeds and clothing - all the things her community needs to rebuild their lives. Zoe is also taking enough money to keep a quarter of the Level School kids in school for the rest of the year. Hopefully when her Dad goes to visit her in a month he can take a further donation that will see all 45 kids' education paid for. One less burden for the families of Level to bear.

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings - if you're interested I intend to blog some more about Vanuatu and to also provide the back story about before the cyclone and what we were really feeling during those crazy eight days while we waited for word that Zoe and her community had survived TC Pam and were all ok.

In the meantime, I really hope you join us at SUYS this month. Don't forget to link your LO back to the blog.

SUYS April Mood Board

This month's SUYS challenge is a gorgeous mood board created by Kim.

And here's my take on it. These are a few photos of Angus and his friends at their Year 10 formal in December last year. They had a great time :)

For more inspiration and to share your LO pop over to the SUYS blog. 

SUYS February Challenge

It was my turn to create a challenge for Show Us Your Stuff this month. I chose a Countdown Challenge - it's far simpler than it looks at first glance and lots of fun too.

Here's my take. I didn't have any recent photos in a smaller size so I stepped back in time to 1998 and scrapped these random shots of Angus' first Christmas. They were taken back in the age of film before I learnt about getting close to your subject and all that other useful stuff that makes for really good photos...these still made me smile though. Angus really wasn't that impressed by all his amazing presents, once he found that little book in the shape of a drill, he stopped looking.

My handmade embellishments are a Rainbow Splendour heart stack and a APOCD flair.

Hope you get a chance to play along. Don't forget to link your creation to the SUYS blog. And while you're there check out the great offer by this month's sponsor - Scrapping Life.

Thanks for stopping by!

SUYS January Challenge

Welcome to 2015!

The January SUYS challenge is up on the blog. It's a great sketch by Amanda - perfect to get you feeling and being creative.

The sketch:

My take:

Hope you can find time to play along, I'd love to see what you do with the sketch.

Show Us Your Stuff November Challenge

It's a new month and the challenge at SUYS is a cracker!

I chose laugh, butterfly, stencilling and a mini print. This is what I came up with:

Since moving house and having the luxury of a dedicated craft room, I've really enjoyed digging into my stash and using all the things I'd forgotten about while they were packed for three long months. My handmade items are the flowers and butterfly from My Vintage Blossoms. The paper, date sticker and buttons are from a Lime Tart kit I got at least two years ago and I used some ancient paint to colour my modelling paste which I used with my favourite TLC template. Still makes me sad that neither MVB or Lime Tart are around any more. But on a more positive note I rarely scrap pink LOs so I was a bit excited that both my sisters were wearing pink in the photo! 

Newer items include the doilies, some D-lish Scraps enamel dots, a Heidi Swap word sticker and the Doodlebug sequins - they come in such cute little jars. I got mine from The Scrapbook Store. 

The wish tag is off my new blazer - so good of them to supply such a scrappable price tag, the little velum pocket came in the kit with the papers.

I hope you'll have a go at the challenge too. I can't wait to see what you come up with - don't forget your handmade item! Visit the SUYS blog to link up your creation.

Have a great month.

Ali xx

SUYS April Update

I'm running a little behind with my SUYS design sample - obviously I've been out and about having too much fun!

Anyway, this month's challenge is a beauty, it uses this fabulous photo as inspiration:

And here's how I interpreted it. I used the colours, circles and layers. My handmade items are a Charms Creation and a Studio Fourteen40 flair.

Can't wait to see what you create with the cake :)

Also the ever-fabulous Sue Plumb has given the SUYS blog a make over. Check it out! See my cool new badge?

SUYS Design Team

Late last year the gorgeous Vicki, of Top 50, contacted me saying she'd taken over the Show Us Your Stuff Challenge Blog and she also asked me to join the design team. Bit chuffed on both accounts :)

Anyway the new year has rolled around and the first challenge is up. It's a mood board:

And here's my take on it, I picked out the blue, green and pink with a splash of gold:

My handmade items are the cork shapes from the Trinket Track (although I must have had them for awhile as I got them when Monica was still known as Apple Tree Lane). 

There's lots of other great inspiration to be had on the blog so, check it out! 

Happy scrapping :)

Ali x