Challenge at Mix It Up!

Mixer #9 at Mix It Up! is to use a recycled item..right up my alley..I'm always incorporating something recycled on my layouts or using my scraps. This is a layout of Cookie, my dog who passed away recently :( .





Used Graphic 45 papers for this layout. My recycled items are a tealight casing...I cut the edges and folded them in...added a pearl strand and circular paper with dates and adhered with glossy accents...And green pull rings (Carlsberg beer). Photo was sanded around the edges.


Journaling was printed on transparency and tabbed (pull each out to read). Some hand stitching around the edges.


Supplies

Patterned paper: Graphic 45
Cardstock: Bazzill
Stickers: EK Success
Others: String, green thread, transparency Pin It

Scrapping out loud challenge - Me right now

The challenge at Scrapping Out Loud is to scrap about "Me right now".I was pretty inspired by this post by Holly at Decor8 about doing something creative this weekend. For myself. So, this is a little self-indulgence or "me" therapy...:) About me. Embracing my life right now. Just as I am.

I've had this Prima Paintable Paper for over a year but never got round to using it because I thought it would be a lot of work. It was surprisingly easy to paint using watercolor crayons and I must say, it was a pretty therapeutic experience. I wanted a little drama so I made some "curtains" out of this beautiful translucent fabric with velvet flowers...The photo was altered in Photoshop and printed on transparency. Tied up the sides of the curtains with lace and ribbons(recycled from an old dress) and some leaves. The curtain rail's this plastic thing that holds new shoes in shape (what's that called?). The "trim" is black gaffer tape from 7G. The descriptive words around the borders are Kaiser rubons. Rubons are really easy to use! :)



Supplies

Paper: Prima
Chipboard: Pressed Petals
Stickers: Toga
Others: Fabric, ribbon, fabric leaves, lace, gaffer tape, Sakura Micron pen 08, watercolor crayons Pin It

Say What You Need To Say - Scrapping the Music challenge

This is my take on Scrapping the Music challenge - Say what you need to say. My nephew Ocean really enjoyed his daddy's chocolate birthday cake. Check out his face! :)

Here's the condensed version ...



I whipped this layout out in 30 minutes because I didn't want to miss out on participating this week and I'm really pressed for time. And I do have cute pictures...:) I just tore the brown cardstock for some interest, sanded the edges of the photos and stamped part of the title with foam stamps and paint.




Supplies

Paper: Bazzill, Teresa Collins, Making Memories
Stamps: Making memories
Stickers: Toga
Pen: Sakura Micron 08 Pin It

Ad This Challenge

So, this is the first time I'm participating in the challenge at Ad This. The ad featured the words Growth, Knowledge, Creativity ...which reminded me of this recent photo of my young nephew who really enjoys reading. The twist is to make your own patterned paper with stamps using at least 2 stamping mediums and make your own embellishments. I stamped the circular patten with white paint and the text with black ink. I used a paper piercer to poke holes in the paper then stitched to create my "handmade embellishment".

Supplies

Paper: Coredinations
Stamps: Junkitz, Technique Tuesday
Others: White paint, black ink, orange thread, American Crafts puffy stickers, Sakura pen Pin It

Method Playground Challenge - 5 different papers from 5 different manufacturers

So, the challenge over at Method Playground is to use 5 different papers from 5 different manufacturers. I used my scraps on this and had fun scrapping this "funny" photo I took of my nephews...they were wearing princess crowns..yeah tiaras...don't get me wrong, they were definitely willing participants in this...

Here's the story:

I was sorting my stash when the older one spied my crowns. His eyes wide open, he asked if those were crowns..like the one the Prince in Cinderella wore (yes, that's his favorite fairy tale). When I said, "yes", he looked at me pleadingly and I had to ask if he wanted to try them on..I had 3 crowns so all 3 of us wore the crowns and had fun taking photos. This will be hilarious now and in the future (LOL)! :)



Supplies

Patterned paper: Making memories, Graphic 45, October Afternoon, Teresa Collins, Basic Grey
Stickers: Toga, EK Success
Brads: Junkitz, American Crafts
Others: Ribbon, skeleton charm, tiara/princess crown, Sakura micro pigment pen, animal stickers Pin It

OLW challenge - See/ Mixer # 8

I combined One Little Word's challenge with mixer #8 over at Mix It Up! with this layout of my nephews having fun as usual. Love the Sassafras paper - the birds are so cute! Also got a chance to play with some Basic Grey stamps - check out the bird cage...so lovely [Thanks to my friend K who let me use her NEW stamps at a recent crop]...:)





The word at OLW is the word "SEE" which I stamped with (my long-lost, almost forgotten Making Memories foam stamps) white paint. I really like the simple effect it produced. And white's always striking on red. Love the red "bumpy" cardstock from Bazzill. Adds just a little more texture than normal cardstock. The puzzle letter was adhered to the round orange puffy sticker. I mimicked the design of the Sassafras paper by doodling the sunburst effect. I used some Graphic 45 paper over the Sassfras paper and added a small round orange puffy sticker for some added dimension. Used Friskers Apron Lace border punch along the top for some added interest. The round shapes I used for the layout was in line with the inspiration over at Mix It Up! Join in the fun!



Supplies


Patterned paper: Sassafras, Graphic 45, K & Co (mat for photos)
Cardstock: Bazzill
Stamps: Basic Grey, Making Memories
Stickers: EK Success
Ink: Brilliance in Poppy
Others: White pen, American Crafts white pen. Pin It

Challenge at Scrapping out loud!

The challenge over at Scrapping out loud is to tear your papers. I did a simple layout of my nephew sitting on his favourite rocking horse. Love the base "paper" which my friend K found at the dollar store - I cut it to 12 x 12 so that it would fit my album. Really gives the layout some texture without the bulk. :)



I stapled the orange ribbon and adhered AdornIt letter stickers for my journaling. I like how it turned out (for very little work!).





Some stitching and buttons. I really love the look of stitching on layouts. And I have a lot of thread...in a lot of colours...my mum had a cross-stitching phase :)


Supplies

Paper: October Afternoon
Stickers: Adorn It
Others: Thread, buttons, ribbon, American Crafts pen in white Pin It

Category Stories February Challenge

This is my first time participating in the challenges over at Category Stories. The availability of a wide variety of scrapbooking materials makes it easy to just pile on the embellishments to make pages look pretty forgetting the actual stories behind the photos. The great thing about challenge sites is that they "force" you not only to use your stash (don't hoard!) but to remember the stories behind the layouts. I journal on every single layout. Sometimes when the design of a layout doesn't permit a lot of journaling, I write at the back because I think that the story behind a photo is really important. Sometimes when I'm lazy, my journaling's part of the title.

A picture of my sweet nephews...so hard to get them both to look at the camera at the same time, let alone smile for me...oh well, I'll take what I can get...used mostly old stash and some recycling goodness - ice-cream sticks! It's super pink and super girly and totally not me at all but I like it!


This PageFrames acrylic frame was inked with Stazon, then mounted on FancyPants felt. So cool that they go well together. Some stitching...:) Photo mounted on cardstock. White lace on edges.



Buttons, ribbons, lace and a little floral tassel from the craft store. The felt piece is from Fancy Pants. The "kiss kiss" paper is from Cosmo Cricket (came free with a magazine)...:)



I used my Making Memories magnetic stamps (there were in cold storage for a while!) with VersaFine ink and stamped on ice-creams sticks. They were adhered on lace and then added to the layout. Also used some pink brads.


Supplies

Paper: K & Co, Cosmo Cricket, Sassafras (the lace-like trim), Bazzill
Acrylic frame: PageFrames
Felt pieces: Fancy Pants
Tags: K & Co
Letter stickers: Adorn It
Brads: American Crafts
Others: Ribbons, buttons, tassel, lace and ice-cream sticks Pin It

Challenges

I decided to combine some challenges on this layout. There are really so many wonderful challenge blogs around. The pictures are of my nephew who doesn't like to smile for the camera but he was having so much FUN that day, he smiled for me and I managed to get a couple of his sweet smiles...:)



First is the challenge over at OLW where the word is FUN. The first picture is of him really having fun and being happy..:) I used the words Have Fun as part journaling, part titling.




Then, there's the challenge over at Scrapping Out Loud where the challenges were to use at least one type of lace [I used three - gray and blue at the bottom of the layout and white lace with which I used to make part of the flowers], use the word of the week - discover [which I used as part journaling, part titling] and incorporate the layout of the week [which I did!].




I also used the lyrics over at Scrapping The Music as part of this layout by incorporating the words "I love you" and "1234" into the layout.

Last but not least, there's the Dreamgirls challenge which was to use 80% American Crafts products on your layout, incorporate a heart and a swirl.

Phew! I saw several scrappers attempt this [combining challenges] and thought I would give it a try but it's really really hard! Hope I did a decent job.


Supplies

Paper: American Crafts, Scenic Route
Puffy Stickers (orange): American Crafts
Other stickers: Toga, Sticko
Ribbon: American Crafts
Blue foam: American Crafts
Journaling pen: American Crafts
Brads: American Crafts (heart), letters (unknown)
Others: Stickles in orange, felt butterfly, lace, thread, black cooker hob Pin It

Mixer # 6

Here is my take on Mixer #6. Love the color palette we had to use. A very simple layout using some Basic Grey papers, some stickers and a little stitching. A picture of my nephews with their Aunts and Uncle...love how the elder one is always posing for the camera...:)




Supplies

Paper: Basic Grey, Die Cuts with a View
Stickers: American Craft, Sticko, AdornIt
Others: Ribbon, lace, button, thread Pin It

Method Playground challenge - Photo Collage

This is my take on Method Playground's challenge - Photo Collage.


The photos were printed on transparency and adhered to white cardstock. Pictures of my nephews having fun on my bed and refusing to pose for me.

Supplies

Paper: Bazzill, scraps from Luxe
Chipboard borders: Fancy Pants (painted black with texture paste)
Duck embellishment: Hama beads
Stickers: American Crafts, EK Success
Others: Thread, twill Pin It

Scrapping the music challenge

Here's my take on the challenge at Scrapping the music.

A picture of my nephew enjoying himself at the playground, laughing and giggling away. Looks much better in reality..not very good photos..

Here are some closeup shots




Supplies:

Clear acrylic - background and photo around frame (cut with Sizzix die)
Paper: DCWV, scraps (can't remember)
Others: EK Success stickers. AdornIt stickers, thread, felt flower (cut with Sizzix die), We R Memory Keepers eyelet, Basic Grey brad, American Crafts ribbon, Stazon in Blue Teal, floral diecut (Quickutz) Pin It

The Story Matters Challenge - Struggle

The challenge at The Story Matters blog is to scrap about what you struggle with most.

Journaling is as follows:


Am I good enough? Am I stretching myself too thin? Am I expecting too much from others? Am I being too cynical? Am I being too optimistic? Am I too much of a doormat? Am I being assertive enough? Am I being overconfident? Am I being too petty? Am I being too generous? Am I good enough?

Here are some closeup shots of the layout


Supplies:

Paper: Die Cuts With a View cardstock
Ink: Distress ink in Dried Marigold, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Brushed Corduroy
Stickers: EK Success, AdornIt
Metal accents: Pressed Petals, American Crafts, Ranger, 7Gypsies
Others: Ribbon, glimmer mist in Bronze, Grungeboard, thread, lace, mask, transparency

Pin It

OLW challenge - Living

The challenge over at One Little Word is the word "Living".

And I'm reminded of this...

"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens."

Lewis L. Dunnington

It was a particularly hard challenge for me because my dog of 14 years passed away on the 3rd.
:( Cookie was a cocker spaniel, loved by all at home. She wasn't ill, just old. In recent weeks, she wasn't eating very well...so unlike her...she ate everything..She couldn't walk very steadily but made the effort to poop and pee at her assigned "toilet" so that we won't have to clean up her mess.. so considerate!

I remember her floppy ears and head sticking out of the gate as she watched people and cars passing by. Or how she would chase the birds in the garden. Or dig holes in the garden. Or salivate when she sees food. And of course, how she would rest her head on my thighs when she senses that I've had a bad day.

She will be missed dearly and remembered for her love of life.

Anyway, I managed to complete this challenge. With my scraps. And a lovely photo of my nephew with his current favourite toy - a Power Puff Girl doll. He couldn't decide whether he liked Blossom or Bubbles more :) In ten years, this will be pretty embarrassing for him..:)

Didn't get round to some fancy techniques. Just sprayed the quote and the chipboard letter G with Glimmer Mist for some shine. Felt flower was cut with a Sizzix die.


Apologies for the bad pics..it's been pretty cloudy these few days...

Supplies
Paper: Sassafras, K & Co, Cosmo Cricket (flourish), Bazzill , love quote (unknown)
Brad: Basic Grey
Chipboard letters: (I & V) Pressed petals, (G) Fancy Pants
Chipboard: K & Co
Ink: Brilliance in Graphic Black
Glimmer mist: Burnt red, Bronze
Stamp: Plaid Media
Others: ribbon, lace Pin It

Purple tag

Just discovered this interesting challenge blog where you are required to make TAGS! Which I try to do with my scraps when I'm done with a project. Most of the pieces already match so it's just a matter of putting them together. Here's my take on the challenge at Tag. You're it!: Purple tag.

Some paper-tearing and a lot of glimmer mist!




Supplies
Paper: Basic Grey, Bazzill
Stickers: AdornIt
Others: Glimmer mist in gold and burnt red, gold trim, Fancypants chipboard tags, paint, bird cut with Sizzix, basic grey brad, brilliance ink in purple Pin It