Monday, August 29, 2011

BITW & Scrapmatts

Haven't had access to my computer for several days as DH has been changing the motherboard.  I always dread updating the computer as it always means there will be major problems with installing, and of course this time was no different.  It was very frustrating not being able to use my computer, but hopefully everything is running smoothly now.  Have quite a bit of catching up to do and will be around in the next few days to get some blog commenting done.  Thanks to all you lovely ladies for you concern over Brittany.. she's still a bit under the weather as the doctor told us she has a secondary infection, but I think she is turning the corner is is on the mend.

Bird is The Word - Memory/Memories 
First of all I would like to shout out a huge thank you to all out participants in "Dream" word challenge as we had 58 entries, which is absolutely amazing, but the downside is having to choose winners from so many fabulous entries.  We are already up to 36 for the "Today" challenge, but you still have 13 days left to submit your entries.. looks like this will be another big one. The winner will receive a complete Tidbitz in Time  kit of their choice, posted anywhere in the world, while the winner & 4 finalists will all be entitled to display a "Bird is the Word - Featured Winner" badge on their blogs.  Just use the word memory/memories on your creation, whether it is in the title or on your journaling.  Pop on over to the site to see gorgeous DT examples and the exciting news... Wendy will be looking for new DT members as of 1st September.

This fortnight's new word at Bird Is The Word is Memory/Memories and I thought I would create a page on  my dog Louie, who we lost very recently.  It was very difficult to look at his photo whilst creating this LO as I was still feeling quite sad, but I'm really glad I perservered as I love how the page turned out.  When I'm not feeling so raw I will probably create another page with some journaling.

I used some fab chippies from Scrapmatts with the new gorgeous Lost & Found range from MME.. love the beautiful glitter accents on this range!  I used a quote to convey my feelings, which reads "Memories are a way of holding on to the things that you love".


Scrapmatts - All about Dads and Boys
This month at Scrapmatts the theme is Dads and Boys and I have a few things to share so I will try to be brief.
OTP - We Love You
Sofie and Andrew have some new chippie items available in store and one of them is this DAD plaque which makes a perfect gift for Father's Day.  Covered the plaque in paper and used the cog chippies as accents and some of the new word chippies which I painted red.

Ocean Memories
Love the new Nautical Design chippies that Sofie and Andrew sent in my parcel of goodies, and they went beautifully with an old pic of Luke and his dad at the beach and a gorgeous piece of Websters seaside pp.  Altered them with a bit of baker's twine and added some distressed muslin for my background to look a little like sea foam.  My2angels has some lovely new seaside charms which I added to tie in with the beach theme.

Love My Life
Had fun playing with the new large circle and large word chippies on this LO of DH taken on Australia Day last year. I started by used some paint on my background paper.  Then keeping in line with the circular theme, I covered the circle chippies with hessian and embossed the pp inserts with circular designs for some texture.  The title was painted in a navy glimmer paint to tie in with the red white and blue colour scheme and I added some red buttons with blue stitching to make the cogs pop.
Enjoy The Journey
My last creation for Scrapmatts is a quick and easy masculine card using the word and cog chippies.  Found some old Graphic 45 & October Afternoon pp's which had a great masculine feel and just layered them.  The quote sticker is from Simple Stories.. added a cog chippie with a brad to make it look a little like a wheel and painted the word chippie for my sentiment.

Thanks so much for hanging in there for this lengthy post and for taking the time to leave some love :))

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Stuff 2 Scrap Colour Challenge

Follow Your Heart

Have a very sick girl here at the moment... Brittany came home from a ski trip on Saturday and she looked so terrible I was a little bit panicked.  Trying to get to see a Doctor at this time of the year and on a Saturday afternoon is almost impossible, so I ended up getting a Doctor to come for a house call, which was great, but  I had never done this before and didn't realise the wait would be so long.. he arrived at 10.30pm and poor Brittany had a temp of 40 degrees by then and I was having trouble getting it down.  Four days later and she's still not looking very good... so were off for another Doctor's appointment.  I think I have added another 100 grey hairs to my head!!

On a lighter note I decided to have a go at the Stuff 2 Scrap challenge for this month set by the gorgeous Chantal Vandenberg.  The colours are so yummy that I couldn't resist.  You need to create a page/card/otp using some chipboard and these colours...

SUGAR RUSH PINK
TROPICAL WATER BLUE
SPAGHETTI WESTERN RED
PANDA EYES BLACK
SOFT SERVE WHITE


Used some of my old stash for this one with some Fancy Pants, Bo Bunny and Scenic Route pp's. A paper lace doily and some Martha Stewart punches to add a soft lacy feel and some black Prima bling, Rhinestone chain from my2angels and black resin flowers for a little punch.  The title was made from a recycled Mambo clothing tag... I have accumulated quite a few of these now and forget to use them.

My chipboard elements are butterflies and the flowers to tie in with the girly theme. I outlined the butterfly chippies in black and added a centre rhinestone.

A Couple of Sneaks




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





Sunday, August 21, 2011

my2angels - Birthday Cards


Bo Bunny Birthday Cards
As this month is Tracy's 3rd Birthday Celebration at my2angels I thought I would make up a set of cute boy's birthday cards with the Blast Off Bo Bunny range. Don't forget to check out Tracy's store as she has 30% off all items in the birthday section throughout August (excluding the Webster’s Pages new release Let’s Celebrate which is 10% off)

This paper range is perfect for little boy's birthday cards as it's so bright and fun, I also teamed it with some  Pink Paislee Hometown Summer as the star pattern went perfectly with the space theme.

Blast Off
The second card I used one of the larger Bo Bunny cut outs and used glossy accents on the rockets to make them stand out then layered with Pink Paislee paper.  I used a felt star (they come in a set of four) and layered it with a Scrapware chipboard rocket from the Blast Off set which was embossed with a Sizzix Retro circles embossing folder, then painted and covered with glossy accents.  I also painted and glossed the words from the Scrapware chipboard set for my greeting.

Happy Birthday
The first card was made by layering the papers with the central piece being the Bo Bunny cut outs.  I added a red Felt Star and a chipboard spaceship from the Scrapware Blast Off set which I painted, glossed with Inkssentials Glossy Accents and added some topaz rhinestones for the lights.  Just add your own greeting stamp or use some small alphas like Carolee's tiny alpha stickers.


You're A Star
On the last card I used some Teresa Collins Cookbook tags pp  for the star border frame which was the perfect size to use a strip of Felt Star ribbon for the background of the frame.  To make the felt stars shine I used Ranger Ice Stickle Glitter Glue in the centres.  I hand cut some elements from the Bo Bunny papers to make some embellishments and added one of Tracy's Double Star Charms to tie in with the theme and finished off with a few touches of Crystalina Kindyglitz.

Vintage Kits 

Check out these GORGEOUS new vintage kits at my2angels.  There are some REAL vintage items in them including tickets, pen nibs, lace & dictionary pages!!

Here is an example the BLUE kit:


 the kit includes:

3 Sheets of Deja Views Timeless Collection Pattern Paper
1 metre Vintage Lace
2 metres Cream Organza Ribbon
1 metre Brown Rhinestone Chain
2 Pen Nibs
2 Tim Holtz Journaling Tickets
6 Tim Holtz Adage Tickets (titles may vary from the photo)
6 Admit 1 Tickets
3 Brown Resin Flowers
2 Sheets of Dictionary Paper
1 Bingo Card
2 Gold Pins (beads may vary from the photo)
2 Gardenias
2 Handmade Glass Cabochons
1 Script Tempered Glass Cabochon
1 Golden Cameo
2 Antique Bronze Tag Charms (Laughter and Together)
1 Antique Bronze Clock Charm
1 Antique Bronze Oval Frame Charm
1 Large Antique Bronze Key
and here is the BURGUNDY kit:

The kit inclues:

3 Sheets of Deja Views Timeless Collection Pattern Paper
1 metre Vintage Lace
2 metres Cream Organza Ribbon
1m Brown Rhinestone Chain
2 Pen Nibs
2 Tim Holtz Journaling Tickets
6 Tim Holtz Adage Tickets (titles may vary from the photo)
6 Admit 1 Tickets
3 Brown Resin Flowers
2 Sheets of Dictionary Paper
1 Doily
2 Gold Pins (beads may vary from the photo)
2 Gardenias
2 Handmade Glass Cabochons
1 Script Tempered Glass Cabochon
1 Golden Cameo
2 Antique Bronze Tag Charms (Laughter and Together)
1 Antique Bronze Clock Charm
1 Antique Bronze Oval Frame Charm
1 Large Antique Bronze Key
There are only 10 of each kit... so get in quick!!

Cheers
Cathy :)))

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Scrap The Girls

STG Quote Challenge

Feeling a lot better now, so I was able to scrap yesterday and decided to create a LO for Scrap The Girls.  As soon as I saw the quote "Children need love, even when they do not deserve it " , I knew which photo I would scrap.  Once your beautiful little babies turn into teenagers it's so much harder to get them to cooperate when it comes to taking pictures of them.  This is a pic of Brittany giving me her Stink-Eye which she does when she's not in the mood for a photo shoot, which is most of the time!!

I just purchased some of the new MME Lost and Found pp's and they are gorgeous.  I mixed it with some Bo Bunny Gabrielle, some yummy Prima and Petaloo flowers and a beautiful Websters lace trim in aqua.  The chipboard on the corner of the photo is from Scrapmatts which comes already coloured in white mist, I just added a few Kaisercraft pearls to highlight the flourishes.




Scrapmatts Challenge

Don't forget you have til the end of the month to win a prize pack from Scrapmatts if you enter the Paint Challenge.. all you have to do is add some Scrapmatts chippie and add some paint to your creation to be in the running for this fab prize.  Check out the link HERE for more details.

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

Monday, August 15, 2011

Bird Is The Word - LOVE

Thanks so very much to everyone who left such lovely messages for me about losing Louie.. they really helped make me feel a little better.. still trying to get used to not seeing him at the back door every morning to greet me.. I really miss his sweet little face.  I think being stressed out about Louie left me a little run down so it wasn't surprising that I came down with a nasty flu and felt like I had been run over by a bus, so I haven't really had the energy to get much scrapping done, but I do have this fortnight's Bird Is The Word new challenge word which is "LOVE" .  To enter just use the word "Love" on your creation (your title or your journaling).  Pop on over and check out the gorgeous DT examples for some inspiration!!

With Love


This fortnight I decided to create a card using some yummy Websters papers. My layered heart embellishment was the inspiration for this card.  This was made from bits and pieces from a box I have on my work bench for little off cuts I can't bear to throw away.  I went for the feminine look by adding a pretty paper doily, some lace, ribbon and a pearl pin.  Might give this to my MIL for her birthday in October.


Don't Forget
Be in the running for a fabulous kit if you enter the a Birthday Sketch challenge and the Show Us Your Charm challenge at My2Angels.  Check out the blog for details on how to enter.

my2angels is 3 this month
and to celebrate all items in our birthday section are 30% off throughout August
(excluding the Webster's Pages new release Let's Celebrate which is 10% off)

AND

33% off ALL Pattern Papers till 20th August
(excludes any new arrivals)

ALSO

check out the gorgeous new mulberry roses (various colours available) Tracy has in store. They measure 3.5cm in diameter and come posted in a celluloid box to protect them YUMMY!!


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




Tuesday, August 9, 2011

White With 1 Challenge

Haven't been able to motivate myself to blog for the last week and my mojo's is very low at the moment, as I'm still feeling a bit blue.  We had to put our beautiful Cocker Spaniel Louie down on Thursday and it was really upsetting for the whole family.  Hopefully my mojo will be back soon, but in the meantime I  thought I'd share my White With 1 LO for this month's challenge and these two quick birthday cards I made.
 
Live Laugh Love

This month at White With 1 the criteria are:  Purple & White + Doodling.  Had this one sitting on my desk and wasn't sure how to add some doodling to it.  I always get nervous with doodling as I'm not very confident with this style, so I just added a scribble doodle around the LO and on the journal spot.

Had a bit of a play with textures on my background for this one.  I scrunched up some tissue paper to add some dimension and sprayed over the top with Fully Purple glimmermist.  To create a circular design I painted around the edges with white paint leaving a rough circle of the misting exposed, then scrunched up some Tim Holtz tissue tape around the circle to create a border.  I also stamped randomly with a music stamp and instead of ink I used some purple Smooch pearlized accent ink for a little shimmer.  The smooch was also used on the Scrapmatts word chippies to tie in with the purple theme.

The central circular design was created with a paper doily and I misted a Prima mask onto white cardstock with the purple glimmermist and hand cut the masked image to create a soft dreamy feel.

A Couple of Birthday Cards
This card was made for my nephew's 20th birthday using some Graphic 45, Basic Grey and Cosmo Cricket pp's, with a little bit of hessian and Tim Holtz tissue tape for a some texture.  I inked the tape with some Distress Ink to tone in with my papers and embossed the Cosmo Cricket paper with a Tim Holtz embossing folder for a little added grunge.

The second card was made for my daughters friend Holly who just turned 15.  I usually make very feminine cards with lots of gorgeous flowers for Brittany's friends but Holly is not a girly girl so I toned it down and kept it simple.  Took all my willpower not to add flowers, but I did add the doily elements.


A Little Toot!
Only just found out a few days ago that the Websters InspireMe blog site have used one of my LO's as their "Banner of the Week".. and also got a little blurb written by Brandin about my work on the side of their blog.. was very excited when I found out and it made my day a little brighter which was nice.  Check it out HERE not sure how much longer it will be up there.

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

Friday, August 5, 2011

my2angels - 3rd Birthday Celebrations


my2angels is 3 this month
and to celebrate all items in our birthday section are 30% off throughout August
(excluding the Webster's Pages new release Let's Celebrate which is 10% off)
AND

33% off ALL Pattern Papers till 20th August
(excludes any new arrivals)



Everyone deserves a bunch of flowers on their birthday so with your first paid purchase this month you will receive a bouquet of flowers FREE
(is not included if ONLY purchasing gift certificates or our embellishment kit club)
AND

for your first paid order OVER $50.00 (not including postage) you will also receive FREE a bottle of diamond stickles ... cause we all deserve diamonds on our birthday
(while stocks last)
(not included if ONLY purchasing our subscription kit club and gift certificates)

and do you want to win a September subscription to our embellishment kit club?
We have 2 prize packs to give away for the following competitions during August
(sorry no overseas entries due to high postage costs)

Birthday Sketch
Upload your version of Jess's sketch (see below) to our gallery to be in to win
(a majority of products used on your entry must be available from my2angels
and please add BIRTHDAY SKETCH to your title when uploading)

AND

Show us your Charm
Upload your most unique idea, creation, examples of using my2angels charms to our gallery
along with a description of your creation to be into win a 1 month subscription

DON'T FORGET

you have until the 10th August to subscribe for the opening special of a 1 month subscription of our Embellish Me Kit Club .... we have had to restock extra products due to the demand of our first kit (THANK YOU to everyone who has subscribed so far ... you WILL NOT be disappointed)

All paid kits are posted on the 20th of each month
It’s amazing value – all that yumminess and creativity -for less than $19 a month (average kit RRP $30.00) 


Birthday Sketch - Make a Wish

Here is my take on the birthday celebrations sketch this month.  I changed it up a little and flipped the sketch on its side to fit in with my portrait photo of Brittany on her 15th birthday.  Decided to use a mix of  Prima Reflections, Prima Madeline for the background and the hand cut letters in my title and also Prima Sweet Fairy for the frame around my photo.  I love Prima papers for fussy cutting and used them here to cut out some of the pretty flowers and butterflies to sprinkle over my page.
Some of my favourite Scrapware chipboard pieces are the doily frames.. just perfect for a girly page and I decided to cover the centre circle piece with the Prima paper to match in with my LO and added the cute present charm which I coloured with Tim Holtz alcohol ink.   The paper behind the photo was sprayed with water and crumpled, then swiped over with Tim Holtz vintage photo distress ink and framed with some of Tracy's gorgeous rhinestone chain to add a bit of bling.  To finish off my title was made with the hand cut alphas from the Prima paper and some American Crafts Jewellery Box white alphas which wer inked and coated with Inkssentials crackle medium.
I hope my LO inspires you to have a go at our sketch challenge and can't wait to see some fabulous entries in our gallery.



 
Cheers
Cathy :)))

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

KIU and BTD new challenges

Well girls you know how it is with DT work at the beginning of the month, so here are the new challenges and my Design Team LO's for Kraft It Up and Beyond The Door this month.

Beyond The Door
First up is Beyond The Door... be sure to keep an eye on the blog, as things will be changing in the near future, and we'll be mixing things up a bit with exciting new ideas in store. One of the main changes is that from this month, BTD will not be a competition site, but rather an inspiration site. That means, there are NO PRIZES this month.

Catie would rather this site inspire you to scrap the photos YOU WANT to scrap and for you to be inspired by the rooms, scrapping your photos just to preserve your precious memories. Sometimes people feel overwhelmed trying to scrap a page for the sake of a competition, so she will be removing the competition element from this site. I really hope you will all continue to be inspired and will still play along and share your creations with us.

Here is the LO I was inspired to create with this month's yummy room.  There are also 2 OPTIONAL criteria to accompany the room which are:  1. Use a black and white photo  2. Use fabric.

Make The Most of Yourself 

Totally love the colours in this room and decided to go with a white background which I glimmermisted in green using a Basic Grey doily lace paper as a mask.  The fabric elements came from the lace and cotton doilies and I also twisted some muslin to make a frame for my b&w photo.  You have probably all noticed by now that I love beautiful flowers and butterflies, so of course I had to add a few to my page.

Hope to see some fabulous entries inspired by this month's gorgeous room!!

Kraft It Up - Sketch Challenge
This month at Kraft It Up is a sketch challenge, a fabulous multiphoto sketch from PAGE MAPS  www.pagemaps.com.  Feel free to interpret this sketch however you like but your creation must be based on Kraft Cardstock or Kraft Patterned Paper.  We have some fabulous prizes up for grabs this month from Scrap Therapy, 2Crafty and Wicked Princessess.

This is my take on the sketch, using Kraft of course and some yummy papers from Simple Stories called Summertime and I used my new Dienamics doily dies.. absolutely adore them!!  A lace doily, some buttons, brads and paint to tie in with the papers and the cutest little ladybug charm from my2angels.

Can't Wait to Share My News!!!
I have the most exciting news which I am busting to tell, but won't be able to share for a little while and other wonderful news which I can share at the beginning of next month.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and leave some love.  I truly appreciate all your beautiful comments.

Cheers
Cathy :)) 

Monday, August 1, 2011

Bird Is The Word - Dream

This fortnight over at Bird Is The Word the wonderful Helen Tilbury has volunteered to post our challenge, as Wendy Otterness, the owner of BITW & our sponsor, Tidbitz in Time Kits, is due to give birth to a baby boy tomorrow!!  So very excited for you Wendy!!

Our new word for this fortnight is DREAM.
Of course DREAMS, DREAMED and DREAMING are also acceptable!

What you are required to do for this challenge is to create a layout, card or off-the-page/altered art project using the word DREAM {or other examples mentioned above}.

There is also a fabulous sketch to inspire you designed by Nadia Cannizzo if you choose to use it.  Use of this sketch is not a requirement for the challenge.  

You have 4 weeks to complete your project & load it in our sidebar using the Inlinkz tool under the correct word DREAM.  You also have 2 weeks left to enter into our previous fortnights challenge with the word TODAY.

At the end of the challenge our Design Team will vote for their top 5 layouts & the winner & 4 featured projects will be displayed on the BITW blog site, together with links to their respective blogs.

The winner will receive a complete Tidbitz in Time kit of their choice, posted anywhere in the world, while the winner & 4 finalists will all be entitled to display a "Bird is the Word - Featured Winner" badge on their blogs, that will be supplied here when the winners are announced.

Believe In Your Dreams
Here is my example for this fortnights challenge.  I decided to use Nadia's sketch with some Websters pp's, a beautiful chipboard clock from Scrapmatts and a touch of lace.  




The winner for the HOPE challenge will be announced one day this week.  Can't wait to see all your beautiful entries in our gallery... it gets more and more difficult every fortnight to choose our winners as the talent is absolutely amazing!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving some love.

Cheers
Cathy :))