Where'd that mojo go?

Hi Scrappers,

Happy Tuesday! I really thought I'd be posting countless photos of layouts from my scrappy weekend away today. But no. What happened? Well the minute I arrived at retreat my mojo decided to stay locked in the car for the entire weekend. Don't you just hate it when that happens? The other thing that remained locked in my car was my camera so I'm afraid I've very little evidence to show for my scrapbooking weekend away. Not to worry, there's always next year, although I've promised myself that I'm just going to take enough stuff to do my Christmas cards, rather than stress about packing every last bit of my stash!

I did at least manage to start a layout for a Stuck! challenge - I managed to finish it last night but that mojo didn't reappear unfortunately so I'm really not too happy with it.

Luckily we had some great classes so I did come away with something which I'll upload in a couple of days!

Cheers and thanks for stopping by,
Claire xx

Retreat panic!

Hi Scrappers,

Not much scrapping going on this week - I'm trying to get organised for the LSBS retreat this weekend. This is my third year and I always come back with enough products to open my own scrapbooking shop. Last year I promised myself I'd not take much stuff again - I'm really trying to keep it all in one trolley but failing miserably. I keep thinking that it's stuff I just HAVE to have with me but I know damn well when I get there I won't touch any of it, as there will be lots of new goodies for me to get my sticky mitts on!

I've at least managed to do one challenge this week - my very first go at Kraft it Up. I'm still a bit of a Kraft virgin I'm afraid and this is only my second attempt at using it. I'm still not too sure about it as a background. To me the layout still looks a bit dull - maybe I need to use brighter paint!

I bought some fab boyish embellishments last week from D-lish Scraps which are on the layout. How excited was I to find this store! I always struggle to find different boy embies and since I'm not that great at making my own I was really pleased to find someone to do it for me!

Well, I'm off to continue packing - hope everyone has a great weekend!
Cheers and thanks for stopping by,
Claire xx

Crazy for Colour

Hi Scrappers,

Scrap the Boys challenge this month is to take inspiration from this photo -

What isn't there to like about it? How I would love this bedroom for my boys! In fact, how I'd love this room for myself...think of all the toiletries you could get in that ferris wheel, never mind the shoes!
I've just taken inspiration from the colours - red, pale blue, a dash of yellow and a smidgen of navy. If you think the layout seems a bit familiar, I based it on the card I made for the LSBS challenge for this month.

There's a real mix of papers on this one - Echo Park, MME, October Afternoon, Sassafras, The Girls Paperie... I attempted to make my own kind of 'wheels' with a couple of cocktail sticks, brads and some chipboard gears. They've sort of worked I guess! I probably have enough embies to open my own shop but always seem to resort to making my own (maybe I should leave it to the experts.)

Anyway, take a look at the Scrap the Boys blog this month as there are some absolutely stunning pages and heaps of inspiration from fellow scrappers.

I'm off to put the rugrats to bed.

Cheers and thanks for stopping by,
Claire xx

Time for a card

Hi Scrappers,

It's been a while since I did a challenge over at The Little Scrapbook Shop so I decided to take up Deanne's August card challenge. The theme for this month is 'time' and we have to get at least one clock on the card - not something I usually put on my cards or even have in my stash! Luckily I had some Graphic 45 lurking under my scrap heap and this is what I came up with....

It's for my uncle who's been unwell recently, so it's pretty manly. The flowers are from some older Scenic Route papers which a friend gave to me about 3 years ago. I remember taking one look at them and thinking I'd never touch them but I've used them over and over again...

I guess it just goes to show we should all get out of our comfort zone when we go shopping and buy something a little different to our usual style!

Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend - or what's left of it!
Cheers and thanks for stopping by,
Claire xx

MME Sketch Challenge (again!)

Hi Scrappers,

Couldn't resist doing the MME sketch challenge this month as the theme is 'Anything Goes' which means we can scrap about anything we like. It's also nice and simple which is just how I like my sketches! Here it is:

And here's what I did with it...

Image courtesy of LSBS

I'm loving making my own buttons out of patterned paper at the moment - they seem to end up on every layout. They're guaranteed to be a perfect match to your layout and best of all they're cheap! You can see how to make them here


For the first time ever I've used nothing but MME - their luscious Lime Twist collection. Perfect for scrapping the little mischief makers in our lives! The bunting is just a layer of patterned paper on top of some denim triangles, on top of more patterned paper. Like I keep saying, I love simple!

Anyway, happy scrapping!
Cheers and thanks for stopping by,
Claire xx

Merry Christmas

Well alright...maybe not in August.

Scrapbooking Memories are on the hunt for Christmas layouts this month so I thought I'd attempt only my second ever Christmas layout. Yep, 5 years of scrapping and I've only ever done one Christmas themed layout! I don't know what it is - every year I'm like the paparazzi and take a ridiculous amount of photos. And I'm never happy with any of them! There's always way too much Christmas crap in the background, the kids faces are always hidden when they're unwrapping their presents, the shots are blurred....just nothing works. On top of this I find it REALLY hard to find Christmas papers that I actually like. Last year I really struggled, although I did love Echo Park's range which I used for my Christmas cards.

So, in an attempt to give myself some Christmas cheer in August, I did a layout using Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding range from a couple of years ago -

If you can't read the journalling, I'm basically saying I'm a bit of a Bah Humbug when it comes to Christmas in Australia. I really struggle to feel 'Christmassy' in the heat and long for cold weather, the Queens Speech at 3 o'clock on the BBC and that completely over-bloated feeling after a massive lunch of roast turkey and Christmas pud. Any Brits out there will know what I mean - a seafood lunch just doesn't do it for me!
Luckily with the kids I find it a lot easier now, so manage to keep a smile on my face. A chilled bottle of Chardy always helps too!

Anyway, cheers and thanks for stopping by,
Claire xx

I hear the pitter patter of tiny feet....

Hi Scrappers,
No, there isn't going to be any more pitter patter from tiny feet in our household (thank goodness!). There do seem to be quite a few babies on the way though, so I thought I'd better stock up on some baby cards ready for the new additions. Julie's July card challenge over at Scraptherapy was to make a set of two cards using both die cuts and punches -

There's a Nestabilities die cut on there, (so have to invest in some more shapes!), a Sizzix die cut of kiddies overalls and I used a corner punch. The patterned paper is the gorgeous Alphabet Soup range from MME - perfect for kids cards. Not a great pic I'm afraid but I needed to get the boy card in the post ASAP!

Cheers and thanks for stopping by,
Claire xx