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

At last some scrapping!

Hi Scrappers, seems like ages since I posted a scrapbooking layout so I looked to a sketch to kickstart my mojo at Handmade by Suzanne. I'm just loving the sketches on this site, particularly the one for this month:

I made a few changes - masked a star using Glimmer Mist on a kraft background and outlined it in black paint to make it pop a bit, added a few lines of journalling (oops - forgot a date!) and did my own version of bunting with a cuttlebug die and some thread. It came together pretty quickly - you can probably tell! This is the first layout I've done using Kraft as the base and I really like how it's turned out.

So I'm hoping my mojo has had a good kicking and that I can get back into scrapping mode. There's nothing more frustrating than looking at a blank piece of paper and not knowing where to start. Here's hoping that July will be a scrappier (and not crappier) month!

Cheers for stopping by,
Claire xx

It's that time again

Happy Sunday everyone!

I'm beginning to wonder why I call myself a scrapbooker as I seem to be spending most of the time making cards at the moment. I'd love to have done the scrap sketch on the MME blog this month but since we've had a house full of visitors for over a week I only had time for a card. The theme for this month was 'Song Lyrics'. Here's the sketch...

...and here's my version

Star Spangled Banner are the lyrics that have inspired this. With July 4th just round the corner it's my tribute to all things American so what could be more appropriate than using red, white and blue! I mainly used MME's Alphabet Soup for this one and a few red brads I had laying around in my stash. Not sure why I thought this would be quicker than a layout - those flags took forever!

And just to finish - a huge congrats to Kerryn Lawson and Geli Duncan who won Scrapbooking Memories 'Express Yourself' competition (traditional section.) Make sure you check out their blogs to see their beautiful creations.

Cheers and thanks for stopping by,
Claire xx

Green Tara

Hi there Happy Scrappers!
What do you do when a scrapbooking/card company are just down the road from you? Ring them up and ask if you can go and see them of course! How convenient that Green Tara, who import beautiful ribbons, skeleton leaves and other goodies,are based about 2km down the road from me. I met the owners last year at our local preschool where I was selling my cards and, since some of them had Green Tara products on, they very kindly bought a couple and put them up on their blog.

So I popped over last week with the intention of just getting a packet of skeleton leaves (little did I know!) They had lots of gorgeous new products, some of which aren't even in the shops yet. Here's a sneaky peeky at what I bought and how I've used it on a couple of cards I made...

Check out those striped ribbons..perfect for a boy layout or card and the pink, frilled ribbon is just beautiful. I also got some paper string in 4 different colours and of course the skeleton leaves which I've been using for ages.

And here's the cards -

Cheers and thanks for stopping by,
Claire xx

Copic Crazy

Hi fellow scrap addicts!
What a crazy couple of weeks it's been - the preschool fair (where I volunteered to go on the garden stall - pretty dumb when you consider that every plant I've ever owned has died), a kids birthday party, a 40th party and countless kid stuff inbetween. Not much time for scrapping unfortunately!
Its been a while since I went to a card making class but I've been meaning to take a lesson in Copic Markers for months. I bought some of them last year but hadn't a clue how to use them - to me, they just looked like normal markers. I've seen so many beautiful coloured, stamped images on various blogs that I decided to take a lesson so off I went to my local craft shop and had a practice with some cute stamps, supplied by the store. My first attempt was nothing short of pathetic - I completely overdid the colour and saturated the paper but eventually I managed something passable! I've only completed one card so far and it's very simple. But to be honest, I think the images are so vibrant, that not much else is needed.

Anyway, this is my first attempt at colouring with Copics. I've never been a huge stamper but I reckon I could become a little Copic crazy if I'm not careful!

Cheers and thanks for stopping by,
Claire xx