Scrap the Boys

Hi Scrappers,

Hope your Sunday is going well - we've had a birthday party this morning where my two boys gorged themselves on all kinds of sugary treats...and did I pay for it! I'm seriously considering selling them on Ebay...any offers?

Speaking of boys, it's been so long since I did a Scrap the Boys challenge but I've just managed to fit one in before the month ends. There were two rules - the word 'play' had to be in the title and we had to make use of tape. The moral to this story is read the instructions properly before doing the layout. I just finished the layout, went back to the site and then realised I hadn't used the tape. Oops! What did I do? I stamped on a strip of masking tape and used it to embellish a piece of natural twine ribbon from Green Tara - I think I got away with it -

And here's a couple of close ups...

I used some October Afternoon paper for this one which I've had for ages. I drew the cardboard letters by hand as a girl can only have so many Thickers! I thought it gave the page a bit more of a rustic feel.

Anyway, I'm off to sell the boys now. Bidding starts at $1.00.

Cheers and thanks for stopping by,
Claire xx

A Busy Little Scrapper

Hi Scrappers,

I've been such a busy little scrapper in the past couple of days - I've just finished a Scrap the Boys challenge which I'll upload tomorrow but here's one I did earlier in the week. I've scrapped this photo before but wasn't happy with it so this is my second attempt. There'll probably be a third and a fourth because I absolutely love the photo for several reasons -

1) it shows me and hubby having a bit of a romantic moment, completely unaware that there was a huge camera lens pointing in our direction. For us, this is a momentous occasion as we are, quite possibly, the LEAST romantic couple on the planet.

2) hubbie is wearing a suit. Bear in mind this is a man who thinks that wearing jeans and a T-shirt from Big W is making a considerable effort. He wears suits on only two occasions - weddings and job interviews. For me to have a decent picture of him in one is quite an achievement.

3) I am wearing a dress. Bear in mind I am a woman who lives in jeans/trousers/jogging pants/PJ's. The last time I wore a smart dress was at my own wedding 7 years ago.

4) We are at my brother-in-law's wedding in Caerphilly Castle in Wales - we now have photographic evidence that it does stop raining in Wales. Again, another major achievement, almost on a par with attaining world peace.

5) It is the calm before the storm - about 10 minutes after the photo was taken my youngest son fell over and cut his head open. My beautiful new dress had blood over it and I spent the next 4 hours in the local hospital getting him taped up!

Anyway, here it is....

Image courtesy of LSBS

Cheers and thanks for stopping by,
Claire xx

Card and a Half Challenge

Hi Scrappers,
Have you checked out the brand new card challenge blog Card and a Half? So great to see a challenge blog specifically for cards - there just aren't enough of them around! It's been set up by the very talented Helen Jolly - I was lucky enough to take a card class taught by Helen at the LSBS retreat a couple of years ago. She is one truly talented lady so send some love her way and leave a comment on her new blog.

The third sketch challenge has a truly awesome prize from Imaginisce. This is the sketch....

...and this is what I've done with it....

I used some beautiful oriental inspired paper from Kaisercraft, mixed in with a couple of scraps of Graphic 45. I stamped and embossed the dragonfly image from Stamping Up and punched some flowers, stuck a bit of bling on and added some Dimensional Magic. I'm pleased with how it's turned out - now I just have to find someone to send it to!

Cheers and thanks for stopping by,
Claire xx

Stuck Sketches

Hi there happy scrappers,
Thought I'd try my hand at a different challenge this month over at Stuck Sketches. I love this website but whenever I go over to check it out I always get caught up in looking at how everyone else has interpreted the sketch, which doesn't leave me time to do my own! The July 1st sketch looks like this -

And here's my version -

I wish I'd not used a white background...I think it would have looked better with some simple patterned paper. Anyway, I added a few lime green paint sprays and painted round the edges of the card stock to make it a bit more interesting. (Hubbie was so pleased that I managed to spray lime green paint all over the brand new stone benchtop in the kitchen...oops!) The photo is of my second son, Tom. He may be cute but he's truly a devil in disguise, with a definite glint in his eye...obviously from his father's side of the family. Since mine's perfect and all..LOL.

Cheers and thanks for stopping by,
Claire xx

Hi Happy Scrappers!

How excited was I to get the latest issue of Scrapbooking Memories this week? A few months ago there was a lovely surprise email from Cassie Bellemore, asking me to take part in an SBM challenge. The challenge was to make one layout and one card using the free paper set, designed by Nikki Sivils. I was pretty nervous in case I had a mental block when it arrived but I had heaps of fun playing around with the paper and embellishments. In fact, in some ways it was easier than using my own stash - sometimes you can just have way too much scrap crap with this addiction of ours!
Anyway, since I'm not allowed to put the layout on my blog for a couple of months, here's a sneaky peaky from the magazine itself:

I was also thrilled to have a layout of my other son in the magazine but I guess I'll have to save that one for a later date....

On a similar note I had my first layout published in Australian Scrapbooking Ideas this month as well -

It was a very quick layout of my two boys just before heading off to a pirate party. I actually managed to get a decent photo of them, before the scarves came off their heads and party food got smeared all over them.

So I'm a very happy little scrapper at the moment...it's always lovely to see your name in print but I know there are heaps of amazing scrappers out there who haven't got published. It took me 2 years of submitting to see my stuff in print - but I guess my persistence paid off. Either that or they just printed a layout out of sympathy...


Cheers and thanks for stopping by,
Claire xx