Catching Up

Have been absent for the past week and have a few challenges to share which I managed to create at the Wicked Princess Retreat on the weekend.  Had an amazing time and met so many wonderful ladies.  Krissy did the most awesome job organising her 1st retreat.. everything was just perfect and she's just the most beautiful person.. such a sweetie.  Was so happy to finally meet Karen Grose who is on the Bird Is The Word DT with me, what a gorgeous girl!! Has some fabulous conversations and she & Tam had me in stitches over the weekend.  Some of the other girls I also had the pleasure to meet in person and see their gorgeous creations up close were Lauren Bell who is on the KIU CT with me, Anne Patterson who's work I admire on Scrapmatts, Lisa K, and Barb Turner.    I don't think there was much sleep had by all and I am so dreading seeing what some of the pics taken of me will look like.  My mojo wasn't really flowing, so I didn't create as many LO's as I would have liked and there were so many lovely ladies to chat with, that I kept getting distracted.  Can't wait to attend Krissy's next retreat.. should be a pro the 2nd time around.

Stuck Sketches 15 May


This was one of the LO's I created at the retreat for Stuck Sketches.  Decided to go for a bit of grunge on this one.  Used some very old FP pp for the background which I masked with a Prima mask and some Tim Holtz ink then overlayed with some sapphire glimmermist.  Distressed, inked and punched the side strips using 7 Gypsies, WRMK & Scrap Within Reach pp's.  Added a few rubons and some hessian bits and also some Tim Holz tape which I purchased from Krissy on the weekend which I absolutely adore.

Show Us Your Stuff - May Sketch

Another LO created on the weekend for SUYS.  Found this very old pic of Brittany which I just adore and used some gorgeous Girls Paperie pp's and a felt frame to accent the photo.  Created the little banner from the paper using a circle punch, twine and buttons.  Just LOVE these new Prima tulle flowers, and had to add one on my LO as it was just the perfect finishing touch.  The adorable felt heart I purchased from Tracy at My2Angels they come in a pack of 4, she also has the felt frames in black.

Don't Forget - You Still Have Time

 Don't forget, you still have time to submit your entries for:

Kraft It Up -  No Pattern Paper & Kraft Cardstock

Beyond The Door - Room Inspiration + extra criteria

Challenge Heaven - Plenty of challenges to get the creative juices flowing

There are some fabulous prizes up for grabs.  Pop on over and check out the challenges.

Sneaky Peeks

A couple sneaks for upcoming challenges

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving some love :))))

Bird Is The Word - Life/Live/Living

Life's Been Busy

Sorry I haven't been around much lately.  Have had a lot on my plate and been very busy with life at the moment.  I am attending my 1st Scrap Retreat this weekend with Krissy at Wicked Princess and am very excited, but still have so much sorting and packing to do.  I want to bring everything with me and it's so difficult to figure out what is most important and what I REALLY need!!!

I am hoping to pop around sometime today and tonight to check out all my fav blogs and leave all you gorgeous girls some love.

New BITW Challenge 

The new challenge is up at Bird is the Word, and the word/s are Life/Live/Living.  All you have to do is use the word Life, Live or Living as part of your title or in your journaling on a LO, card or OTP and enter it for a chance to win a gorgeous kit from Tidbitz in Time.    You can also choose to use the lovely Nadia's sketch for inspiration.    Pop on over to Bird is the Word and check out the DT examples and be inspired by all their gorgeous creations.

Just a reminder to let you know there are still 13 days left to enter your Sun/Sunshine challenge LOs too, we have some beautiful entries in already.

Enjoy Life

Decided to make a card for this challenge using Nadia's sketch for inspiration.  I used some gorgeous Websters pp's which I layered, distressed and inked.  The artisan shape label is a Cuttlebug fancy labels embossing die and the doily stamp is from MME doily stamp set. 

Exciting News

I will have some exciting news I can't wait to share with you at the beginning of the month.... stayed tuned!!!

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave some love :)))

MME Sketch Challenge

It's A Beautiful Day

After seeing Belinda Spencer's gorgeous entry for the My Minds Eye sketch challenge I was inspired to create a LO for this challenge using MME product.

I thought this beautiful pic of Brittany would go perfectly with the MME Meadowlark kit I purchase a little while ago and as red black and white is one of my fav combos I decided to add some hand cut elements with some gorgeous flocked paper from the Lush range and a diecut from the Lost and Found glitter range.  The embellie cluster is a mix of Meadowlark and Lost and found with a Martha Stewart doily and a lovely pin which I won from Tracy at My 2 Angels.  Had to add some ribbon and twine and a stamped phrase from an Ali Edwards stamp set and of course couldn't go past some paint splatters, distressing and inking to finish it off.

Only 4 Days Left

... to get your entry in for Bird is the Word Begin/Beginning word challenge and be in for a chance to win a fabulous kit from Tidbitz in Time.  Pop on over and check out all the beautiful entries and gorgeous DT work for some inspiration.

Sneaky Peek

Here is a sneak of a CT creation I have been working on.

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving some love :)))

Stuck Sketches - May 1st

I'm Back!!

With blogger having troubles and me still not feeling the best I haven't been around very much.  I have my DH away for another 2 weeks and the kids not feeling well.. it's all or nothing!!! Have been plagued with terrible sinus and just haven't been able to concentrate on scrapping, so have only managed a few DT LO's and this LO for Stuck Sketches which I managed to finish today.  I am hoping to get around and check out some of my fav blogs and leaving a bit of love tonight if all goes well.

The Magic of Christmas

 

I have quite a few Christmas snaps that I haven't gotten around to scrapping, so I thought I would use some of them for the Stuck Sketch challenge.. really loved this sketch! I just grabbed a few different trims and paper scraps for this one and used Echo Park For the Record as my background as it's a lovely shade of green and had to finish off with some black paint splats.

Craft Queen - Guest Spot

The lovely Nicole sent me some gorgeous ribbons and embellishments a little while ago to make up a few cards and LO's for a Guest DT spot.  This is one of the cards I came up with using Websters 6x6 papers and some of the ribbons & trims.  I pleated the spotty paper ribbon and gathered the green lace trim to make a layered flower.  I just love the metal butterfly charm!! If you're looking for some gorgeous ribbons, buttons and embellies pop on over to Craft Queen, you're sure to find lots of little pretties to add that special touch to your creations.

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving some love.. really makes my day :)))

123 Challenge

Oh What Fun

 
This month's 123 challenge is:

Word: Fun

Colour:  Fire Engine Red

Technique:  Stitched Title

 

Decided to create a LO with some pics I took for a Christmas photo shoot with Brittany having a bit of fun, making silly faces and wearing some reindeer antlers.  Used some WRMK pp for the background and outlined the flourishes in black pen to make them stand out, slapped on some gesso and a few glimmer mist splats, then layered various embellies under the main photo.  I hand stitched around the title word in black cotton and added a couple of cross stitches.  Just had to used black ink and some black Maya Road doilies for a little contrast.  As you may have noticed I love adding black to my LO's when I use bright colours.

Sneaky Peak

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving some love :))))

New Bird Is The Word Challenge

Sun/Sunshine

Hope all you ladies had a wonderful relaxing Mother's Day.  My hubby is away for 3 weeks at the moment, so I wasn't sure what the children had in store!!  But I received a lovely surprise with breakfast in bed from Luke which was delicious and Brittany decided to use her cooking skills and prepared the most yummy potato and leek soup with some crusty bread for dinner.. no cooking for me... YAY!!!  Was really nice to veg out and relax for the day as I'm still feeling a bit blah at the moment.

First of all I wanted to thank all you lovely ladies who entered in our "Forever" challenge word.  We had 45 entries which is absolutely amazing, the only negative is now we have to vote and it's going to be very difficult to choose out of so many amazing entries.

The new challenge word for this fortnight at Bird Is The Word is Sun/Sunshine this can be in your title or your journaling.  You can create a LO, card or OTP and there is also another fantastic sketch from Nadia to inspire you if you choose to use it.  Pop in and check out HERE to see all the gorgeous DT entries for added inspiration.

 

I chose a quote which I love and have used before, but I had to use it as it was perfect for this challenge... "Turn your face towards the sunshine and the shadows will fall away".  I decided to use a gorgeous pp from Glitz Design which is a glorious grungy yellow and using Nadia's sketch as inspiration added a lace doily and a Hambly transparency for the circular elements and couldn't resist one of my most fav ranges from Websters "Wonderfall" which has these beautiful sunny daisies which I hand cut. Finished off with a touch of ribbon and lace.

A Little Toot
I was very excited to notice last week that Sofie over at Scrapmatts had featured my LO.  This is the 3rd feature I have had here at Scrapmatts and I am always amazed that one of my LO's was chosen as the gallery has so many amazing creations to choose from.  Thanks so very much Sofie.. really made my day.  Pop on over and check out their site.. they have the most gorgeous chippies to choose from and the gallery if full of the most inspirational creations.

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving some love.. every one of your gorgeous comments really makes my day a little bit brighter :))))

Let's Get Shabby

Love Yourself

I haven't been blogging much in the last week as I have been a bit under the weather and just didn't have the energy to sit in front of the computer, but I am almost back to my old self.  I have managed to create this LO for Let's Get Shabby in spits and spurts over the last week. I'm off to leave all your gorgeous girls some blog love.. talk soon.

This month's Let's Get Shabby challenge was a colour inspiration and you also had to use spots on your LO.  This is what I came up with.  I used some new and old Prim pp's which I hand cut, some gorgeous Prima lace as a border around my frame and a lace doily.  The ribbon trim is from Websters and the sweet bird cage chippie is from Scrapmatts.  There are spots on my lace and also my pearls could be interpreted as spots as well as the interlocking spots on my pink background paper.

Don't Forget

Remember you have until May 8th midnight to upload your entries for "Forever" word challenge at Bird is the Word.

Sneaky Peak

Here is an peak for an upcoming CT LO.

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving some love :)

KIU May Challenge

Wave Chasers

The challenge for KIU this month is to create a LO without using pattern papers and of course to use Kraft cardstock.  Pop on over and check out HERE to see all the stunning CT creations.  This challenge was so out of my comfort zone as I love my pp's, but I just loved creating this LO.

I distressed the edges of the Kraft cs and added a black border.  I then used aqua paint and a KI memories lace cardstock to mask the background and black paint for the splatters.  To create a bit of texture I misted some muslin and scrunched and distressed it and painted some corrugated card with white and tore the edges.  Pulled out my BG fibres and twisted a few together and finished off with a few CI stickers and a gorgeous pendant which I purchased in a bead shop.  Not a pp in site and very happy with the finished LO.

Sneaky Peak

Here is a sneak for an upcoming CT LO.

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving some love :)

NEW EXCITING CHALLENGE SITE!!

Beyond The Door

Beyond The Door is a new challenge site run by the lovely Catie Unger, and I was lucky enough to be invited to be part of her new amazingly talented Design Team.  Click HERE to check out the gorgeous creations by the Design Team and here are the challenge details:

On the 1st of each month, a new room will be revealed. Be inspired by the colour combination used in the room, the patterns, the decor, the textures, the objects in the room or by what the room is itself (for example, for a kitchen, create a page about cooking with your kids). You will have until the last day of the month to submit your layout, card or OTP project, and winners will be announced on the 5th of each month.

Here is my interpretation of our 1st room which was a nursery.  I was inspired by the colours and the alphas on the wall.

Here is a pic of the 1st challenge room and there are 3 criteria you must also add to your page:
1. use tags on your project (e.g. office tags etc)
2. handwritten journalling around an element on your project
3. this quote by Elizabeth Stone: "Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide to forever have your heart go walking around outside your body".

New Challenges for Challenge Heaven
The new challenges are up at Challenge Heaven for this month.. there is bound to be a challenge to inspire you here and some great prizes up for grabs.  My DT challenges for this month are:

Number Challenge -  The criteria are:  4 pics, 3 butterflies, 2 word title, 1 kraft as your base and use doodling on your layout.  Here is the LO I created with my fav paper range from Echo Park atm.

Quote Challenge - You are to use the Quote "She's/He's Got the Look" and use a shipping tag.  Here is my take using papers from Crate Paper and some paint for my background to make the colours pop.

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving some love :)