Layout - love you

Another layout to share with you today, this time featuring Altenew's "Beautiful Day" stamp set.  Isn't it just divine? I hadn't been able to find it anywhere, and then - FOUND IT - and bought it straight away.  Since it arrived on my craft desk I've barely stamped anything else, I love it just so much!

I love this picture of hubby and I, so very happy together as we muddle through this adventure we call life!  The title is just perfect, and I couldn't think of a better one to describe how we felt (and feel) when this picture was taken.

Layout recipe:

Paper: kraft (no brand), whisper white (stamped on, Stampin' Up!)

Stamp set: Beautiful Day (Altenew)

Inks: various (Altenew), white (Stampin' Up!)

Stencil: Theresa Collins

Dies: lovely, thank you (both Heidi Swapp - note I used longer words/phrases and just took what I wanted)

Other: blending tool and foam (Ranger Inc), blending pen (Stampin' Up!), scissors

Techniques:

Background stencilling

Adapting dies

Watercolouring with inks

Stamp layering

Fussy cutting

Challenges entered:

Altenew sketch challenge #9

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Much love,

OMM xox

Layout - who am I?

The challenge this month at Scrap The Girls is "Who am I?" - a question that made me stop and think.  My life has changed so dramatically since last April, with long internal discussions about what direction my life should go in following a redundancy.  Who am I? What do I want to do in life? What is important to me?

So this challenge spoke to me on a few different levels.  I'm now working in a role I find both challenging and fulfilling, and refocusing on my own personal goals which fell by the wayside last year.

BUT the problem was - there are simply no photos of me to be found! Sure, there are my wedding photos, and quite a few selfies with either hubby, or our son (or both), but very very few of just me.  I'll have to remedy that!  Ask hubby to take a few snaps (he'll need some lessons LOL) and document my life rather than just everyone else's.

I found this photo of (just) me from my uni graduation - so very long ago it seems!  I never ended up working in that profession for one reason or another (and deep down I knew I never would), but I like to think of that part of my life as a big learning phase (not just academically, but of life) and a time of change.  I started that course straight out of school, living at home.  I finished as a married woman, with a toddler and of course living with my own little family.  Older and definitely wiser.

Who am I?  Professionally, I am a chameleon.  All of my jobs have been so different from each other, but I have worked hard to evolve and grow in each role.  Personally, I am a rock.  Steadfast and loyal, with all the time in the world for those that I love.  I am creative.  I am an achiever.  I am a warrior.  I am a peacemaker.  I am a wife.  I am a mother.  I am a know-it-all.  I am a lifelong learner.  I am ME.

Layout recipe:
Papers: Ooh La La! (Kaisercraft)
Die: "document" (Heidi Swapp)
Techniques: Fussy cutting, tearing and distressing, die cutting, ephemera layering

Challenge entered:
Scrap the girls: Who am I? 

Who are you?  It's not too late to enter the challenge, but be quick as entries close 30 April.


Much love,
OMM xox

Layout - the bird bites!

Scrap the Boys has a fun challenge on this month, to use geometric shapes on your layout!  I L-O-V-E using blocky shapes on layouts, and I just knew that this gorgeous Happy Snaps paper from Kaisercraft would fit the bill perfectly.  I've had the paper pack for a while, but I have used every square centimetre of it because I love it so much!

These photos were taken at Birdworld in Kuranda, when The Boy met this overly friendly parrot.  He had to wear his hat the whole time not only for sun protection, but also so that the birds wouldn't eat or steal his cochlear implant processors!  Not sure how we would have explained that to Cochlear.... LOL

Recipe:
Papers: Happy Snaps (Kaisercraft)
Dies: "happy" (Heidi Swapp), alpha dies

I always like to get inky on my layouts, but it was fun this time to stay with a clean design with lots of horizontal and vertical lines, as well as those gorgeous chevrons!

Challenge:
Scrap the Boys: Let's go geo!

Layout - enjoy

After a bit of a scrapping hiatus, I was excited this last week to finally find some time to join in on some online challenges.  The current one from Kraft+ was particularly fun, with a recipe challenge featuring four rules:

And here is what I came up with!

Something old - Papers from the Prairie Lane collection (Kaisercraft - released in 2010, and sitting in my stash since then!), Gorgeous Grunge stamp set (Stampin' Up!)
Something new - "enjoy" die from treat bag die set (Stampin' Up!)
Something borrowed - blue pen for journaling (Typo, and borrowed from a friend but I'm gonna need my own now!)
Something blue - TiffanyLou Blue starburst spray (Lindy's Stamp Gang), Sapphire glimmer mist (Tattered Angels), kid in blue onesie (LOL)

Other stuff: stamps (Theresa Collins), gold glimmer mist (Tattered Angels), circle and heart dies (Stampin' Up!), whisper white and early espresso inks (Stampin' Up!), gold brads

Entered into the April Kraft+ challenge.

Thanks for visiting!

Layout - Explore

Another fun Tic Tac Toe challenge is up at Scrap Our Stash this month, which I couldn't wait to have a go at.  The challenge board is:

 

I chose to use MAP PAPER - THE COLOUR BLUE - EMOJI.   Note that I used the map paper to show where we were when we took this photo! (Alotau, PNG).

Layout recipe:
Paper: Atlas (Pink Paislee)
Embellishments: stickers (Simple Stories), cork arrows and chevron (Studio Calico), palm charm (unknown, from stash), paper clip (Stampin' Up!), emoji (printed from internet), rhinestones (Bo Bunny).

Challenges:
Scrap Our Stash: August Tic Tac Toe challenge (see image above)

I hope you find time to join in the challenge before the end of the month!

Until next time!

OMM xo

Layout - happiness [is] you and me: wild, barefoot and free

I'm kinda in love with coordinating papers and embellishments, just like you I'm sure!  And when I saw this stunning collection from Kaisercraft called Island escape I just had to have it - papers, collectables, stamps and all! 

Aren't those hibiscuses just beautiful!?  So tropical!  And perfect for more of our PNG cruise photos.  If you love it too be sure to check out Pinterest for some really awesome layouts for inspiration - just search "Kaisercraft island escape".  The bottom strip is that little bit we often cut off with the branding on one side - I just trimmed the paper a bit from the top instead this time!  Perfect!

Layout recipe:
Paper: Island Escape (Kaisercraft)
Collectibles: Island Escape (Kaisercraft)
Stickers: Island Escape (Kaisercraft)

Challenges:
Stick It Down: August single page sketch

Happy scrapping!

OMM xo

Layout - Discover, Explore, Journey

I knew as soon as I saw that the August layout challenge at Kaisercraft was to use cogs that I wanted to scrap a photo from a trip to the Herberton Historic Village.  I love this picture of my dad and my son, who had a ball checking out all the old vehicles and buildings! 

Layout recipe:
Paper: Salty Kisses (Kaisercraft)
Cardstock: various offcuts
Collectables: Garage Days (Kaisercraft)
Stamps: Polaroid, Pack Your Bags, Just Landed (all Kaisercraft)
Dies: Tim Holtz thinlets - cogs
Inks & pen: Stampin' Up!

Challenges:
Kaisercraft: cogs
Stuck?! Sketches: 15 August  (see below)

There is still time to join in the fun! Check out the challenges via the above links for details.

OMM xo

Layout: Come Fly With Me

The Boy loved his Adventure Pass on our last cruise, apparently it is now an ESSENTIAL component to any holiday we take!  I must have taken a hundred photos of him flying through the air, climbing along the sides of the ship and venturing out onto the plank - he even had a 'Titanic moment' as we left one of the ports!

Today's layout features one of his flying fox adventures, zipping down the length of the Pacific Eden having the time of his life.  Too bad he wouldn't swing around for a lot of it and face the camera haha!

For this layout, I mostly used the Cocoa Vanilla Flying High paper and embellishment collection, but did a lot of grungy inky and textured work to the background - which was so fun! 

Layout recipe:
Paper, stickers, flair, wood veneer: Cocoa Vanilla Flying High collection
Stamps: Off the Grid (Stampin' Up)
Inks: Soft Suede (Stampin' Up!), Vintage Photo (Distress Ink)
Other: texture paste (Jo Sonya, heated with a heat gun and sanded), star stencil (Crafter's Workshop), distressing tool, various spritzers, blue pen for journalling

Challenges:
Scrap The Boys: July sketch challenge

(I tilted the design 45 degrees for something a bit different, and folded the paper over to expose the reverse side/make a pocket in lieu of the long stripey strip on the sketch)

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

OMM xox

Layout: PNG happy snaps

Last year The Boy and I were lucky enough to travel to Papua New Guinea on a P&O cruise out of Cairns.  Yes - just the two of us, we left The Man at home and ventured off by ourselves!  We had a blast, but we'll definitely go as a trio next time.  

I took the opportunity while we were away to take lots of pictures of the two of us, and no doubt will scrap them all over the next little while.  This is the first LO from the trip, and I knew I needed to highlight the beautiful leis we were given when we visited one of the islands (I was given a pink one, and The Boy had a cream one on his hat).  I didn't have any hibiscus stamps or papers, so I picked out some beautiful rose-y paper (Click, Click) from the Kaisercraft Happy Snaps collection in my stash.

This LO is inspired by the challenge over at Kaisercraft this month. The inspo layout is just beautiful (see below, or head over to the blog) and I just loved all the delicious layering with the flowers and embellies.  I hope you will play along if you too feel inspired by Sonia's lovely work.

 

Layout recipe:
Papers and stickers: Kaisercraft Happy Snaps collection
Stamps: Polaroid (Kaisercraft)
Ink: Sweet Sugarplum (Stampin' Up!)
Other: 3D foam and regular tape, fine scissors (for fussy cutting)

Challenges:
Kaisercraft July challenge: LO inspiration

Thank you for visiting!

Layout: such a lovely lady

I admit it - I sometimes scrap the same photo a couple of times because I love it so much!  This photo is just gorgeous, and the lady is a very special one to me - my nanna!  Isn't she a stunner!

Layout recipe:
Cardstock: Very Vanilla and Whisper White, Baked Brown Sugar, Certainly Celery
(Stampin' Up!)
Stamps: Vintage Roses (Altenew)
Inks: Sweet Sugarplum & Blushing Bride (Stampin' Up!), Frayed Leaf & Forest Glades (Altenew)
Dies: "lovely" (Heidi Swapp), So detailed thinlets (Stampin' Up!)
Other: various sprays (Lindy's Gang), paper doily (Stampin' Up!), letter stickers (Kaisercraft), sticky pearls (Stampin' Up!), chipboard circle (unknown, possibly WOW), white acrylic paint, stencil (Theresa Collins), texture paste (Theresa Collins)

Challenges:
I'd like to enter this into the June sketch challenge at Scrap The Girls:

Thanks for visiting my blog today!!

OMM xo

I love you because...

It's cold and wet outside which means perfect crafting weather! This week I have been inspired by the current Altenew card challenge which is a picture inspo challenge:

The DT asked us to be inspired by the arrangement, colours, texture or other element of the photograph, and the name of the challenge is 'white on white focal point'.  The white on white part had me stumped for a bit.  I played with embossing, illuminate ink, and various off-white inks and cards before settling on soft champagne-coloured roses achieved using Antique Linen distress ink.  The flowers and leaves are stamped from Amazing You from Altenew. The soft colouring was achieved using sponging with the same ink as the outline.

The finished card is below: 

 

I am completely in love with this stamp set and have so many ideas to use it!

Card recipe:

Stamps: Amazing You (Altenew) (plus I think a few leaves snuck in from my stamping frenzy of Vintage Roses earlier LOL)

Ink: Antique Linen distress ink (Ranger), Purple Wine, Forest Glades, Sapphire (Altenew), Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!)

Cardstock: Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)

Dies: stitched rectangles (Paper Roses)

Other: sponge, precision stamping tool, 3D tape and adhesive.

Challenges entered:

Altenew June 2017 inspiration challenge (see picture above)

Addicted to Stamps and More Make your mark (sponging)

Thank you for visiting x

{Southern Girls DT} Layout - the joker

Hello crafters!

Can you honestly believe it is December already? Only 5 days of school left for The Boy, and 11 days of work for me before holidays! Where did the year go?  

I will be taking a bit of a break from blogging in the new year to work on some projects.  I am not sure if it's just the time of year, or that I've had such a big year with The Boy's big operation in May, or putting on a huge festival in October, but I am seriously worn out in the motivation and mojo departments.  If you know of any neat inspirational blogs, or some great YouTube how-to clips, please let me know!

Anyway - This fortnight we have a great challenge for you over at Southern Girls - 'do whatever takes your fancy' - so show us your favourite technique or product, or just whatever you feel like!  For me, I knew I wanted to do a layout, and this picture of The Boy enjoying a hot chocolate has been on my must-scrap pile for awhile.  As soon as I saw the picture (taken by The Man) I couldn't stop laughing at his Joker makeup... and so I have been holding on to the photo until I could find the right title.  I ended up using my new baby - my Silhouette Cameo - to make the title, and I used an emerging favourite - gelatos - to make the messy circles, reflecting the messy chocolate smile.

 

Layout recipe 

Cardstock/paper: Pink Paislee 'Atlas', red bazill

Ink: Not Quite Navy (Stampin' Up!)

Dies: Circles (Stampin' Up!)

Other: mini badge (Merci), Gelatos, Distress Stickles - Brushed Pewter (Tim Holtz), water brush, sponge, glossy accents

Thanks for visiting my blog, and I hope to see you again soon!

Love,

OMM xox

{Southern Girls DT} Card - love featuring Sakura

 Hello hello!

I hope you are all well! Is the weather treating you kindly? It's quite pleasant here today, but summer is definitely on its way.

Our challenge this fortnight over at Southern Girls is Twine, tape or ribbon.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy!  

Today I have a CAS card for you featuring Sakura from Chin Chou Kuik - isn't she divine?!  I really enjoyed colouring her up for the card, and I even wrote down all the copic colours for you... and promptly left them on my desk at home.  No matter!  I just used 3 shades of pink in the same family and C1, C3 and C5, with a touch of B000 and BG0000 for the wings.

 

As always our fabulous sponsors are providing some terrific prizes for our winners, and with such an easy challenge there is no excuse not to get your craft on this week!

Card recipe:

Digi stamp: Sakura from Chin Chouc Kuik 

Colouring medium: copics
Cardstock: white, burgundy
Ribbon: burgundy
Other: pink flower, silver charm

Thanks for visiting my blog today and if you join in the challenge leave me a little comment below so I can be sure to call in and say hello!

OMM xox

Off the page - Christmas configurations box

Hello hello!

I've finally managed to wrap up the biggest project of my life - a festival - and brushing away the cobwebs in my craft room and Pinterest board to get enthused and motivated about crafting again!

I had a week off following the festival, and so besides catching up on a lot of TV and R&R (and some angel gown sewing :)) I also finally put together my configurations box that I bought from Kaszazz 2-3 years ago!   The perfect opportunity came up when WOW Chipboard offered up their Triple Treat Challenge again (like their Facebook page to get an update when the next one is).

 

I challenged myself to only use items I already had... which worked FINE until I ran out of paint and needed some 3D decos to really set it off... haha. 

Project recipe:

Configurations box - Kaszazz

Acrylic paint - red and gold

Craft glue

Paper: Christmas Emporium (Graphic 45), Stampin' Up (retired Christmas papers), Kaisercraft (December 25)

Chipboard: WOW Christmas shapes ("Our Christmas", presents, stars)

Dies/cut files: Nativity (Silhouette store), various flowers, tag

Other: Christmas decorations (misc.), cracker from a DIY kit, ribbon,  bells, cork stars

Challenges entered:

WOW - triple treat challenge (October)

I'm working on something delicate for our next Southern Girls challenge... hope to see you join in the fun! The current challenge is here if you want to head over and see what the girls have come up with for our current stripes challenge!

{Southern Girls DT} Card - Merry Christmas

Hi there!

Have you ever lost time?  I swear, it was only a week ago that I posted my last project for Southern Girls, and here I am again with another share for another challenge.  I have been very unmotivated to craft lately, I've just been so tired after work.  We (the micro-company I work for) are putting on a big community festival next weekend, and boy - I don't think people realise how much work goes into them!   

This fortnight's challenge at Southern Girls Challenges is "Let's Celebrate!" so what better time to start (or continue!) your Christmas cards.  We love to see your creations so please go link them up this week - but do remember to follow the rules, including only one entry per person.  Thank you!

Here's today's card, which is the first of this year's Christmas cards.  When I saw Santa spreading joy in our sponsor Lacy Sunshine's store, I just knew he needed to be looking in through a window.  And what an opportunity to create a faux shaker card! (I saw faux because there is no way that glitter is going anywhere haha!)

 

Card recipe:
Stamp: Santa spreading joy (Lacy Sunshine)
Colouring medium: copics
Cardstock: white and green
Silhouette cut file: Christmas window frame
Other: gold stickers, liquid pearls, clear acetate, glitter

Thanks so much for visiting my blog, and I hope you play along with us this fortnight.  When I go through the entries to leave comments I am blown away EVERY time about how creative you all are, and I can't wait for some energy and some downtime to get back to my craft room, inspired by your lovely projects!  So THANKS GUYS! xo

{Southern Girls DT} Hello carousel hanger

Hello crafters!

Well it has been a busy month for me.  The Atherton BikeFest is really starting to come together and so I haven't had much time (or energy) for crafting :(  but on the upside the weekend should be lots of of fun!

Today is reveal day over at Southern Girls Challenges, and this fortnight we want to see your LAYERS!

The first thing I think of when I hear 'layers' in relation to any project is of course paper piecing.  Have you got the patience for cutting out the tiny sections and sticking them together? I am the QUEEN of fiddly work (just ask my stamping friends) and I don't mind sitting in front of the tv cutting out the sections.  Funnily enough though I'm not into paper tole at all! Go figure!  Then I looked at the Doodle Pantry store and gosh, I just love the carousel collection - I already have a couple from a challenge win a year or two ago, and so I added this beauty to my collection.  Eventually I want to use them to make a 3D carousel!

Project recipe:

Stamps: Carousel Horse #3 (Doodle Pantry)

Cardstock: various scraps in brown, pink, dark pink, grey, clear transparency

Other: rhinestones, alphas, Ice stickles 

Challenges:

Addicted to Stamps: #161 ATG 

Craft Your Passion: #278 ATG

Thanks for visiting my blog today - I hope you will join us with our layers challenge!!

OMM

xox

{Southern Girls DT} Layout - happy traveller

Hi!

I've been enjoying getting my scrap on over the last little while, and getting back into the challenges.  Today's layout was inspired by four challenges, and I'm really happy with how it came out.  And how yummy is watercolouring with gelatos??? I'm in deep serious love!

This fortnight's challenge over at Southern Girls is 'shiny stuff' - and what fun I had thinking over all the options!  'Shiny' elements on a layout is really in right now, and without much in my stash that fit the bill I ended up making my own 'happy' shiny title and added some sequins.  I never thought I'd like using sequins, but I really like the subtle glamour and fun they can add to a project. 

 

I hope you will play along with us this time, and don't forget that if you entered the last challenge (anything goes, posted 30/07/15) and you enter this one as well - you get TWO entries into the draw to win a prize from one our great sponsors... just link your project up twice (but the DT will be checking :))

Layout recipe:

Cardstock & paper - Bazzill, Simple Stories, gold card, offcuts

Dies: circles (Stampin' Up!), 'happy' (Heidi Swapp), edgelit (Stampin' Up!)

Stamp: Off the grid (Stampin' Up!)

Other: stickers (Simple Stories), polaroid (La De Dah), bottle caps, button (Stampin' Up!), twine, rhinestones, cork arrow (Studio Calico), gold sequins, gelatos, paper clip (Stampin' Up!), water brush

Challenges entered:

Stuck?! Sketches: August 1st sketch

Scrap Our Stash: PAPER 

P = polaroid frame; A = arrow; P = paper clip; E = edgelit; R = rhinestones

Counterfeit Kit: August challenge #1 blank canvas (see my CFK here)

I hope you will play along with us at Southern Girls this week, and that you have some time out to do some creating this week.

OMM xox

Counterfeit kit challenge - August post #1

Hello!

One of the new-to-me challenges that I'm trying this month is the Counterfeit Kit Chalłenge. I've come across it before but this is the first time I've actually played along. It sounds like fun and what a great way to use up some of my stash! 

So the first step is to dig through the stash and find bits and pieces to put together your own kit, using similar colours, patterns and/or themes. Here's the August inspiration:

And here's what I've put together to start my own kit:

Papers from 

• Stampin Up (I Am Me & Epic Day - both retired)
• Simple Stories (Summer Paradise)
• Kaisercraft (Happy Snaps) 
• and an unnamed piece  

Other stuff

• Alphas from Kaisercraft and Simple Stories
• Travel themed stickers in place of ephemera from Simple Stories
• Cork arrows and chevron from Studio Calico
• Polaroids from La De Dah 
• Kraft pocket/envelope from Paper Fields. 

I also have some Kraft card, my scoring board and an envelope template ready to make some extra envelopes (not pictured).

Now to wait and see what the challenges are this month to use up my "new" goodies :).  We are not really 'travellers' - yet - but I'm sure I have some beach or trip themed photos that will work nicely :)

Are you playing along too? I can't wait to see your kit!

OMM xox

Layout - you rock!

Hello hello!

I'm very happy to finally be sharing some new projects with you between DT shares.  I spent a huge amount of time in the last few weeks tidying and sorting at home so that Sunday afternoon I finally had space and time to get my ink on.  

So I went hunting for some new challenges to play with... I've got a few picked out that I have never played in before - so stay tuned for those over the coming week or two as I get inspired and projects come together.  The layout I'm sharing today was inspired by a challenge at an old favourite Scrapping Outback, who have a monthly "White with a twist" challenge inspired by a photo. This month is a gorgeous blue number:

Isn't it dreamy? Here's my take on the colours, with a fun layout featuring (who else?!) The Boy enjoying an ice cream a few days after his first cochlear implant switch on in January 2013.

 

Layout recipe:

Cardstock & paper -  Bazzill, Doodlebug Designs, Simple Stories

Inky goodness - gold paint, Lindy's Stamp Gang, twinkling H2Os, metallic rub, gelatos

Ephemera - Cocoa Vanilla, Crate Paper, gold heart sequins, bronze curly clips, cardboard tube from roll of rubbish bags (what a great make-do stamp for that glass ring look!),clear transparency sheets, gold pen

Stencil - The Crafter's Workshop

Dies - arrows by Kaisercraft (in clear transparency)

Chipboard - WOW (title "you rock")

Challenge entered:

Scrapping Outback - August 

Thanks for visiting me today, if you drop by please leave me a little note so I can call by your blog tomorrow! 

OMM oxo

{Southern Girls DT} Get inky! challenge

Hi!

Things are so incredibly busy at this time of year, aren't they?  I have been busily working in the background on some upcoming projects, plus some angel gown transformations and working extra hours to get the BikeFest up and running (it's looking good!).

Today we have a fun 'get inky' challenge on over at Southern Girls. We want you to stamp, sponge, spray, splatter, paint or otherwise ink up your projects!  I just knew I had to do a grungy boy layout for my DT project:

I love how this turned out!

Layout recipe:
Cardstock/paper: Kaisercraft, Amy Tangerine
Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge (Stampin' Up!), clock (Kaszazz), Hello Lovely (Stampin' Up!)
Inks: Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black, Not Quite Navy, Marina Mist (all Stampin' Up!), silver
Other: brads, brushed pewter crackle paint (Ranger Inc), black sticky bling, lock wood veneer (Kaisercraft), bronze metallic rub, thickers, ephemera (Cocoa Vanilla)


Thanks for visiting me today, and hope you get a chance to create something fun!

OMM xox