Scrap the Boys April Challenge

STB has a photo prompt challenge this month.

Here's my take on it. I used some Kaiser papers, Mister Huey's calico mist, a couple of D-lish Scraps tabs and a large enamel dot, some SU candy dots, a Charms Creation star and a Studio Fourteen40 flair. I finished off with some computer journalling for a change. 

This challenge was a lot of fun as it's completely open to individual interpretation. 

Thanks for stopping by :)

Ali 

SBT50 November Challenge

The SBT50 challenge this month was a fab mood board. I loved the colours and they worked perfectly with my Scrappy Canary October kit. It even included pineapple paper!

So, here's the mood board:

And my take:

And some close ups. The doily came in my pocket letter (a swap being run over at Scrapping Clearly) from Jen Hall, the camera diecut was part of the kit and that's a Flutterby flair.

I also added a Charms Creations chevron in two shades of pink, a fabulous glittery cog from Burdy's Embellies and a cute heart button I've had since the dawn of my scrapbooking life.

Thanks for stopping by. Tomorrow is a new month and that means new challenges :)

Charms Creations November Challenge

Angus and his friends are taking part in November to raise money awareness for prostate cancer. So the Charms Creations challenged seemed like a perfect match.

Unfortunately as Angus isn't a hairy dude, there hasn't been a lot of mo action! Our weekly progress photo showed little progress so Angus used snapchat to create a mo every man would proud of!

Some close ups. I used a Charms Creations pink and denim arrow.

Part of the challenge was also to use a mo that Charm had included as a little extra in her October orders, I painted this one yellow so it match my LO and the quirky water colour zebra just seemed to suit the page!

Such a fun challenge!

Scrapbooking Top 50 September Challenge

This month SBT50 has a tic tac toe challenge:

Here's my take:

Just like in the real game I had a few false starts before I completed a row. I started with glitter, moved to arrows and then completed leaves, washi and strip journalling.

The funky paper and moulded flowers are part of a new release from CTMH, The bow, doily and arrow are from D-lish Scraps.

And the awesome leaf is from Rainbow Splendour. In excellent news Rainbow Splendour is having a new release tomorrow. New goodies and old favourites - yay!

I took this selfie as I headed back to work after 175 long days of medically-enforced leave. The strip journalling gives a glimpse of what I was thinking and feeling but I also included some journalling on the project life card tucked behind the photo.

The journalling reads: Gosh! Look at those wrinkles... I guess that's what happens when you have a knee replacement that goes wrong, lose (and then find) your daughter in a cyclone, have another knee procedure - more painful than the last, your son starts Year 11 and more. So much more...

This year has been tough. My knee still isn't right. I don't know if it ever will be but on this day it was nothing but blue skies!

I hope you've been celebrating the blue sky days too. Life is short and can change in an instant, don't take it for granted xx

Paper Dvizhnik September Challenge

Every month Charm posts a list of challenges in a facebook event. And this challenge by Paper Dvizhnik was included:

I loved the colours in this moodboard and they were perfect with a bunch of photos that I had ready to scrap. I've been doing a mix of traditional and PL pages in Zoe's album. Here's what I came up with using the moodboard:

And a close up featuring a new Charms Creation Terrific Tab:

This was a great challenge and I'll definitely be checking out what they have on offer next month.

Thanks for stopping by.

Scrap the Boys September

This month Scrap the Boys had a funky sketch:

My take:

And a close up:

The journalling is on the tag behind the photo and tells the story of how my son ended up with these slippers. I took him and my mum shopping for slippers, Mum wanted moccasins and Angus wanted ugg boots but they didn't have any in his size. He seized upon these slippers claiming them to be both 'old man slippers' and 'nifty' - funny kid.

I used my newest CTMH stamps and inks to create the background and then added the Lawn Fawn papers, a D-lish flair, some enamel dots, sequins and cotton as well as some random stickers and tags from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by.

D-lish Scraps monthly moodboard - August

Every month I purchase a D-lish Scraps Just Add Paper kit and every month I admire the gorgeous moodboard inspired by the colours in the kit. Most months I join the D-lish scraps cyber crop, sometimes I even finish all four challenges, I always use lots of my D-lish goodies but, I have never actually entered the moodboard challenge. Until now.

The colours in is this board are gorgeous and that sketch got me thinking... I have a photo of my daughter and her boyfriend dancing in the rain, it's a beautiful candid shot that captures the joy of the moment and also their feelings of freedom as they had just finished Year 12. I kept getting that photo out and smiling at it - especially since my beautiful girl is far away on her gap year adventure. But I just never had the right paper or the right sketch to do something special with that special photo. but then that moodboard spoke to me!

I've added some journalling on the little card in the chevron bag and used lots of gorgeous bits out of the JAP kit. Gosh I love that photo!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Charms Creations August challenge

You may have worked out by now that I have a wee addiction to Charms Creations. It's true I haven't seen one I don't love. Each time Charm has a sale I tell myself I'm going to be strong and resist and that I have enough in my stash to last a lifetime but then she brings out a new design and I am lost. But in reality it's money well spent, Charm's gorgeous creations go with everything - no matter what your scrappy style. I went on a retreat last weekend and all but two of my layouts featured a Charms Creation - putting that stash to good work!

Charms had another sale this week with a tantalising new embellie - the terrific tab - and I could shop without fear as I was lucky enough to win a Charms voucher over at SBT50. Yay! I can't wait for that happy mail to arrive :)

But in the meantime, I'm going to share my creation for Charm's August challenge. This month it was DYI and the creative team created the most divine examples of how you can alter a these fab embellies.

I decided to go with a straight inking option. I applied ink to my messy mat and spritzed it with water and then patted my arrow down. The colour came up perfectly!

And here's the whole layout.

These photos are pretty special, my first week back at running group after my knee replacement and I love the colours in these CTMH papers and those  thicker words are fab too. Most of all I love that cute cloud - also a Charms Creations but I just don't love this LO. It looks really flat, I added the pen outlines and that help lift it but it's still missing something - not sure what - any ideas gratefully received! It makes me a bit sad that I don't love it but you can only spend so much time staring at one LO and at least I have plenty more Charms Creations to be getting on with :)

Thanks for stopping by.

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!

SBT50 June Challenge

I managed to squeeze one last challenge in today. I love the bright colours of the SBT50's mood board.

This challenge was a perfect match for a photo I took on Saturday. 117 days after my surgery the swelling in my knee had finally gone enough to fit back into my jeans - oh happy day!

The photo is a bit dark and shadowy as I took it inside after dark but that's what you get when you finish a challenge right at the last minute ;-)

Thanks for stopping by.

Off the Rails Scrapbooking June Challenge

This is the first time I've completed an Off the Rails Scrapbooking challenge. They had a fun mood board.

When I gathered my supplies together I had some things in each of the colours of the board but as my LO came together the blue and red dropped off. So, at the end of the day I was inspired by the green and mustard colours, the brick and wood grain of the house and the veneer figures.

I used some Kaisercraft paper (more of my 50c stash) and alphas, a Charms Creation plus the gold doily, veneer figures and PL card that came with it, a D-Lish Scraps tab and arrow, a smattering of embellies from a My Mind's Eye pack (I bought recently with no particular use in mind), a couple of enamel dots and a cool chicken wire die cut.

Here's a couple of close ups of my embellies.

Thanks for stopping by.

Scrap the Girls June Challenge

This month Scrap the Girls had a mood board. It was a gorgeous mix of purple, orange and pink with a hit of green. It also has a great quote which although I didn't use directly was perfect for these photos of my sister who recently lost 25kgs. The pics were taken at Christmas time and I love how happy and healthy she looks.

So, here's my take,

When I was looking for some cardstock to get started, I found this background I created for another challenge and then didn't use. It picked up the greeny blue in the bowl in the mood board and also worked really well my with my pool photos.

Since I was scrapping with a friend at the time I created this LO, I stole her paper scraps as they were exactly the colours I was looking for. Then I started embellishing - I added an Instagram tag that came with my Wish jacket, a vintage Charms Creation, some bits and pieces from D-lish Scraps - veneer word, cork heart and star paperclip. An Ah!Scraps felt star and pieces of a Flourish with a Bling that I chopped up.

I then finished off with a sprinkle of enamel dots, dribbles of grape ape Tattered Angels mist and some doodling in purple, orange and pink. I couldn't work out where to journal so I went old school and whipped up some strips. I had planned to do these on the printer but a flurry of end-of-semester printing by my son had left the printer without both ink and paper (got to love teenage students on a mission!).

Thanks for stopping by.

Kraft + June Challenge

Kraft + has another fun challenge this month.

I started with my kraft base and added some circles using some ink and an old olive jar. Then I added some Stampin' Up paper, Jillibean journalling spots, Heidi Swapp stickers, a D-lish Scraps flair, two fabulous Charms Creations in teal animal print (perfect, perfect, perfect!), CTMH and Doodlebug sequins and some cotton thread. To finish I added two types of alphas and some simple journalling.

These photos were taken years ago and I just never quite got around to scrapping them. Back in the day when Zoe still wanted to be a vet, her NZ Grandma arranged a special trip to the Wellington Zoo to spend the day with the zoo vets - she had a fantastic time and among other things got to examine a dingo.

And since everyone loves a Charms Creation here's a couple of close ups.

Thanks for stopping by.