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Monday

All mine now

All mine now

Ahh..."All mine now..." ..possibly what my father was thinking...;)...as he fetched his bride...

I am playing along with Let's get shabby's latest challenge to incorporate paint, chipboard and lace. Patterned paper is from Graphic 45...edges distressed and inked with the background glimmer misted for a little sparkle! I also added some crackle paint in rock candy for subtle cracks on some parts of the paper [you may have to use your imagination for this...it doesn't show up in the photos!].


The chipboard key (from Delish) was painted with crackle paint and blended with distressed inks. A little tulle! :)


The "frame" for the photo was assembled with 3 pieces of doiley. Some distressed stickles in rock candy for the glass glitter finish...pearls, some gathered lace and 7gypsies velvet flowers. Stickers are from Cosmo Cricket and chipboard from Pink Paislee.

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Saturday

Cherish happy family moments



Cherish happy family moments

Cherish happy family moments! Love this cute digital image by Little Paper Shop who is the sponsor this week at Card Patterns! I coloured mine with copics..added ribbon, lace, clay cherries and stickers...patterned paper is from American Crafts. Do play along for your chance to win $20 store credit to Little Paper Shop! :)

Have a great weekend! :)

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Friday

Upcycled gold tin

Gold tin

It's Theme Day over at Gauche Alchemy and my project is an upcycled gold tin! :) A really easy project using an old tea tin, decoupaged with 7 Gypsies patterned paper, overlayed with yummy punchinella in gold and topped with embellishments from the Yellow Hammock Mixed Media Color kit. I love how gold and sparkly it is...:) Hmmm...what should I put in it?

Do check out what the rest of the Gauche Alchemy DT did with their Theme Day punchinella projects here! :)

P/s: In case you were wondering what punchinella is...it's commonly known as sequin waste.;)

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Thursday

Watching the evening sun

Watching the evening sun

I was watching the evening sun...on board the A380... love this plane...there's this extra compartment to store your stuff when you score the window seat [yeah, I'm one of those big bag ladies...isn't such a hassle to get something from the overhead compartment?]. This layout was inspired by the latest challenge over at Scrapping The Music which is the song Fragile by Sting. Do play along this week for your chance to win a scrapbooking kit from The Little Red Scrapbooking Co.

A really simple and quick layout. Patterned papers are from Jillibean, crepe paper, doiley, MS border punch and felt cherries (Sassafras).





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Wednesday

By the sea

By the sea

Ahhh...I wonder what it would be like to live by the sea..white sandy beach, clear blue waters and the salty air...[even though I'll probably be at the beach at dawn and dusk only! I want to be fair and freckle-free! ;)] This picture was taken along the Great Ocean Road Drive in Australia...and I created this layout with Webster's Pages patterned paper, a little orange mist (my current fave hue!:) and the cute embellishments from the Lady Marmelade Orange Mixed Media Color Kit! Flowers are from Prima, sea creature stickers and for the title, I used SEI stickers. (This post was in the Gauche Alchemy blog earlier this week.)


By the sea closeup 1

I love how vibrant the orange embellishments are! I used the orange fibers to "frame" to photo and embellished with some bling!

By the sea closeup 2

And so totally cute! Check out the stirrer and goggles! And I can't help it...had to add some stickers...in the form of the white cloud and the balloon...:) And some handstitching..

P/s: Thanks for all the lovely comments on my last post. A lot of you commented on how splendid my stamping was...but they were rub-ons! ;)

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Tuesday

When you smile


When you smile

Dear sweet nephew S,
When you smile, you really light up the room! :) I'm happy that it's so easy to coax you out of a bad mood. And that you always make the effort to smile for me when I stick the camera in your face! May you always look on the bright side of life and smile always!
Love, Aunt Y.
 A fun layout using My Little Shoebox papers! How did I not discover MLS till now? I scored some of last year's papers from a friend who sold them to me (thanks Y!)...so I mixed them with the new stuff! :)


Some misting and ink dripping using two different shades of orange mist ...some rubons, stickers (SRM & 7 Gypsies), brads and my MS border punch! :)

Inspired by the sketch at Creative Scrappers.

P/s: Don't forget about the digital layout challenge...you still have time to submit your entries HERE.

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Monday

Fun with dad

Fun with dad

Hi there! Just a simple layout to share today! Fun with dad features my friend K's husband and son enjoying time together at a pool. Lily Bee papers, Hero Arts stamp, ink, ribbon, word stickers (Cosmo Cricket) and lots of buttons! :) The titling work with the chipboard is actually to hide my horrible stamping..*LOL*

Inspired by Creative Scrappers.


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Sunday

Be happy always

Be happy always

Be happy always! :) A fun card to share today...based on the latest sketch over at Card Patterns. This week's sponsor is PaperWorks Co and I got to work with this cute image which I coloured with Copics,,;) I used patterned paper from My Little Shoebox and added some cute stickers..:) Come play along for a chance to win 4 stamp sets!

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Friday

Chic



Chic

Hello friends! Gauche Alchemy's monthly challenge is up! And it's a celebration of mothers! My layout, Chic, features my chic mother back in 1970 when she was a swinging single gal. :) I used the pink, green and yellow mixed media color kits. :)


Patterned paper is from The Girls' Paperie. I made my own button with fabric [okay the butterfly's a little off center]...7Gypsies, stickles...


Some handstitching [cheated a little and poked holes in some of the panels though ;], journaling was written on a piece of doiley...:) Come play along! Check out the details here!

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Thursday

Live a little...

Live a little..

This week's Scrapping the Music challenge is up! And the song is "Somedays you gotta dance" by the Dixie Chicks! My layout, Live a little...features cheese at Victoria Market...I just love cheese...do you? I had a great time just tasting the cheese ...:)...Anyway, I tried this paint splatter technique that I saw here...[okay, so it looks like I had an accident or something but it was my first attempt!] and I used the sketch over at MME and incorporated some of the concepts over at Mission to Create. Papers are from MME, yellow embellishments are from Gauche Alchemy..I just love my new MS border punch! :) And I actually distressed and inked the edges of the paper! :)



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Wednesday

Road trip


Road trip

So I made a mini album last weekend. This road trip album was inspired by these cute papers from My Little Shoebox [You can tell how much I love them!]...for a road trip that hasn't happened yet...I've long admired those who bring a semi-completed album on their travels and just add photos, journaling and ephemera on the trip. Now I'm one trip ahead! :)

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Tuesday

True love endures

True love endures

Hello friends! Just wanted to share this little project I made last night...True love endures...certainly true for my mother's friend, Auntie E who just celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary...:) The frame for this layout is actually this box..

Lots of upcycling in this project...I used wrapping tissue for the base of the box...and doilies..a single sheet of patterned paper (Webster's Pages), bottle cap, pearls, tulle and lace...pins and stickers...

True love endures closeup


All flowers, ribbons and trims were recycled from previous gifts...I love it when gifts come with pretty wrapping that I can re-use (in more creative ways! ;)

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Monday

Milk boys

Milk boys

Check out these milk boys! My three nephews enjoying a before bed snack...;) Just a little fun with papers from Webster's Pages, a little blue Maya mist and Ranger distress inks...prima flowers and embellishments from Gauche Alchemy.

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Sunday

I made a wish & you came true


I made a wish & you came true

This week's sketch at Card Patterns is up! Here's my card, I made a wish & you came true. The design team was sponsored by Gina K Designs and I got to play with a lovely set of stamps designed by fellow design team member Nina! I love how my stamped car works so well with the delightful patterned paper from My Little Shoebox! :)

Have a fabulous Sunday!


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Saturday

U & me




As promised, here's my attempt at a digital layout....I basically played with a lot of digital overlays from House of 3 and Kenner Road. The layout U & me features a photo of my oldest nephew Sean and me, on the bed, taking photos in our jammies...:) If you missed the digital tutorial shared yesterday, see it here. And share your digital creations for a chance at a sponsored RAK! :)

I want to say a big "thank you" to all those who participated in the quilling challenge...I just read the post again and realized that I didn't set a deadline nor announced if there was a RAK and yet you played along! How sweet! Without further ado, the winner is

Anita at Crafting Forever with this labour-intensive piece!


Congratulations Anita! I'll be sending a RAK your way! :)

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Friday

Tutorial on digi scrapping by Creative Casey...in 5 simple steps



Hello friends! I would love for you to get to know my friend Casey Wright from Creative Casey who has so generously used her precious weekend time to put together a tutorial on digi scrapping! Just for us! In 5 simple steps!



First let's look at her digi gallery...





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I'm so excited to be guest blogging for Yvonne today - I love the idea of 'doing more with less' and that's one of the reasons I joined the fun group of people who call themselves digi scrappers! Like many of you scrappers out there, I really started to become obsessed with ALL that is scrapbooking after the birth of my first child. I find that the creative process really offers more to me than just using pretty paper and embellishments - although it is fun to try all of the different and new products. For me, it's a therapeutic process that allows me to document my family's life creatively and that offers me an opportunity to tell those every day stories, that when unwritten may be forgotten. I like to use different forms of mediums on my projects and am inspired by everything around me. Of course, I love going to my local scrapbooking store and buying all of the latest and greatest items, but I also really like the idea of conservation and digital scrapbooking really offers a wide range of solutions for that. I know that some of you out there are probably intimidated by the idea of digital scrapbooking, but follow these quick easy steps below and you will be on your way to digi scrapbooking in no time!


For those of you out there that don't have access to Photoshop Elements, I would recommend visiting their website - Adobe Photoshop Elements Free Trial and trying out the system free for 30 days.

Step 1: My tutorial today is called "Photoshop in Five" and will have you well on your way to using elements to create those digital pages. After downloading the free trial, the first thing you want to do is to open all of the papers, elements, and pictures that you might be interested in using. If you don't have any digital elements, no problem - there are several websites out there that offer free digital kits (Two Peas in a Bucket and Little Dreamer Designs). Simply select 'file' then 'open' and find the elements that you've saved on your computer. Here is a snapshot below of what screenshot should look like and where the elements should show up after opening.


Step 2: The next step is to open up a blank layout to the size that you wish. Traditionally, I used 12x12, but you could make the dimensions whatever size you wish. Simply select 'file' then 'new' and type in your dimensions along with a title and you've got your blank document. Here is a snapshot of what that window looks like:


Step 3: After you've opened up your blank layout, now is a good time to save your document and for now, just save it as a PSE (photoshop elements) file. Now you can simply start dragging items onto your blank layout. You do this by clicking on the item you would like to use and then dragging it from the layers pane (on the left) onto your layout. The most important item to learn in Photoshop is the idea of layers. Just think of it as a stack of papers - one thing layered over the other. You can change the order of what you see by simply moving the layers around in the layers pane. Here is a screen shot of where you will see the layers:

Step 4:Once you've got the idea of layers down, then you can really start to play with the size of the images. You can either use your pointer tool to drag the marquee to a smaller size by clicking on the item and dragging it smaller or you can manually change the size. I actually prefer to do it manually because I typically have an idea of how big I would like my items to me. However, there's no right or wrong way to do it as long as the process works for you! I simply select 'image' then 'resize' and after that I indicate the size and resolution. I would always recommend using 300 dpi for all elements - it just really provides a clear resolution of the elements/pictures. Here is a screen shot of the window used for manual resizing of objects:



Step 5:Once you've got your items on the page and you like the way your layout looks, then you want to move forward with flattening the image. This allows the layers to merge together so that the file can be saved at a reasonable size as a jpeg document. Without flattening, you will find that your file size will be too big and that you won't be able to view without using Photoshop Elements. To flatten images, you simply select 'layer' then 'flatten image.' Now, save the item by selecting 'file' then 'save as.' You will see a window that asks you where you want to save and this is where you select jpeg as a file type. After that, you can select the file size according to how you want to use the file. I actually like to print my layouts for my scrapbook, so I save them at a high resolution. However, if you are only interested in sharing over the computer, I would recommend saving at a medium quality. 


Here is the layout that I created for today's tutorial using the Marks Paper Company digital kit - August.


So there you have it! Five steps to Photoshop! Okay everyone - CHALLENGE TIME! Simply create a 12x12 layout using the steps used above and leave a comment here with a link to your layout - we would love to see what you've made!  
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The deadline is two weeks from today. With a RAK sponsored by Casey! :)

I'll share my inspired piece in my next post. And announce the winner of the last challenge on quilling. Please leave a little love for my guest Casey, okay? :)

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