1/4 Century Post!

Yep, here it is... post number 25! Small milestone in comparison to some, but I am still very excited to have made it this far with my blogging! To be honest, I wasn't sure how long I'd last!!! Thank you to everyone who stops by my blog - you're love, support, and friendship is much appreciated.

Speaking of love, support, and friendship... my mum, Julie (from Snail Mail), has given me an award...












I'm flattered but at the same time, if she hadn't given me the award she would have been in big trouble, so it kinda doesn't count!!! LOL!

Now I am supposed to pass this award along to 7 of my favourite bloggers, so here goes;

1. Mel Blackburn - my favourite scrapper of all time, a lovely, talented, and generous lady, with the most gorgeous little girls (well, after my DD of course!),
2. Kimber McGray - my fave American scrapper and card-maker,
3. Kirsty Piper - my newset friend in blogland, and fellow SYTYCS contestant. She thinks her blog is "not very exciting", but I definitely beg to differ!
4. Anna Fourie - talented beyond words, as well as being one of my Chook Scraps friends (She also has a crush on Matt Damon, but I think that was meant to be a secret LOL! - SORRY ANNA!),
5. Sarah Schwerin - the very generous and inspiring owner of Inkurable Stampers, the best stamping blog around,
6. Mel Cook - an amazing woman, with incredible talent, and a newly found flair in card-making,
7. And my seventh is Mum - even though she's just received it, I want to return it as I love her blog!!! Her cards rock!

The rules for the award are;
(1) The winner can put the logo on their blog.
(2) Link the person you received your award from.
(3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
(4) Put links of those on yours.
(5) Leave a message on the blogs of the girls or boys you’ve nominated.

Now, with all that mushy stuff out of the way, I have my newest layout to show you. It is my entry for Round #4 of SYTYCS!

For this round, we were challenged by Clair Bremner to create a LO either 12 x 12 or 8.5x11 and include the following on the layout;

• masking tape (or another form of decorative sticky tape)
• rub-ons
• add hand written journalling directly onto your photo
• use bright colors

This was quite a challenge for me - I have always admired Clair's style but have never actually attempted it. In other words, this was a first for me! But as I've found, a bit of experimentation doesn't hurt, and is actually really quite fun!!!

For this layout I have used;

• Rub-ons by SEI (blue leaves and flower)
• Bright pp by Pink Paislee (Office Lingo) and Fancy Pants (Daydreams)
• A black Sharpie to write onto my photo, and
• Masking tape in strips around my photo and in the top right corner as an accent.

Thanks for the challenge Clair!

If you would like to vote for me this week, just head to Scraptacular, sign up to the forum, make at least 30 posts, then vote away!!! All voting details can be found in the SYTYCS 2008 forum under 'SYTYCS Info, Rules & Registrations'.

Well, that's it for me for today!

Thanks again for stopping by!

Round #4... Here I Come!!!

Just a super quick post to again thank everyone who voted for my Round #3 layout over at Scraptacular. I am sooooo happy to be participating in Round #4, as the Scrap-eography has been posted by one of my favourite scrapbookers, Clair Bremner! Her style is so different to mine, but I love experimenting and am up for the challenge!!! I'll post my creation as soon as it's done. Wish me luck!!!

A card (as promised)!

A bit later than I had planned but posted all the same... here it is... the card I made for Challenge 4 of the Chook Scrap's September cybercrop;














The criteria were;
1. A bird
2. A torn edge
3. Alpha stickers

My fiance helped me set up this outdoor pic of my card! He was totally into it, which was funny but also really lovely!














Before I go, I'd just like to remind you that voting for SYTYCS closes at 7pm EST tonight. So, if you would like to vote for my Round #3 entry, please head to Scraptacular and cast your votes. (All voting details can be found in the SYTYCS 2008 forum under 'SYTYCS Info, Rules & Registrations').

Thanks heaps for dropping by!!!

Round #3... Check!

It was tough going this week, but I managed to complete the challenge for Round 3 of SYTYCS! I was having huge trouble getting the courage to just sit down and do it!!! LOL! The pressure of being surrounded by super talent week after week is unavoidable... and it makes my head spin!!! I spent days designing how I wanted my page to look, followed by some procrastination, then all my plans went out the window once I finally sat down to scrap!!! I must say, that I am really happy they did because I love how my layout eventually emerged. Here it is;


















The criteria I had to follow this week were set by Kim, one of Scraptacular's very talented DT members. She asked us to create a single-page layout using;

a piece of patterned paper as the background (not cardstock)

a mix of different of patterned paper (not from the same story)

inked edges on all patterned paper pieces and photos

a cluster of embellishments

staples

a 6x4 photo

These criteria suited me perfectly, especially the staples! As you can probably see, I went to town with them! LOL!

Between freaking out and scrapbooking, I have also managed to complete one of two DT projects for Memories and More. I have made a 4-piece card set using patterned paper and die-cuts taken from the Spring Fling range by Pink Paislee. Here's a peek;

Well, that's it for me! Should hopefully be back tomorrow to share a card or two.

Thank you!!!

I am eternally grateful to everyone who voted for me in Round 2 of 'So You Think You Can Scrap'! Thanks to you, I have made it through to Round 3!!! I am so totally over the moon!!!

This week we have been challenged by the lovely Kim to fulfill the following criteria on a 8.5x11 or 12x12 layout;

- Use a piece of patterned paper as your background, not cardstock
- Use mix of different types of patterned paper (not from the same story)
- Ink the edges of all patterned paper and photos
- Use a cluster of embellishments
- Use staples
- Use a 6x4 photo

I do most of these things on my layouts from time to time, so I am really looking forward to starting this week's challenge! I'll upload a piccie as soon as it's done!

Good news!

I have good news... I made it through to Heat #2 of 'So You Think You Can Scrap'! Sadly, five very talented ladies were eliminated from the competition last Tuesday, but thankfully I managed to survive another day.

The "Scrap-eography" for Heat #2 was announed Tuesday evening. Here are the criteria;
- A mixture of at least 3 patterned papers in various colours, patterns, brands and textures
- Ink (lots of it!)
- Journaling strips
- Everything a little off centre and generally weighted to one side
- Dimension
- One large photo

And here's my take on the challenge;


















To fulfill the criteria, I used;
- pp from Bo Bunny, Little Yellow Bicycle, and Basic Grey,
- Pinecone and Pearlescent Orchid ink,
- journalling strips created from pp strips using my Dymo labeller,
- a design where everything was set toward the left-hand side of the page,
- bling, a button, a flower, and the raised printing on the journalling strips for dimension, and
- one 5x7 photo.

Hopefully this is enough to get me through to the next round!!! Of course, I could always do with a little teeny tiny bit of extra help!!! If you would like to vote for me at any time throughout the comp, just head to Scraptacular, sign up to the forum, make at least 30 posts, then vote away!!! All voting details can be found in the SYTYCS 2008 forum under 'SYTYCS Info, Rules & Registrations'.

I have also created a quick card today. This one uses CPS sketch #81 as inspiration.













I have entered this card into Tarisota's current site competition to make a Thank You card.

Father's Day Stuff!

Thought I'd share with you all the things that I put together for Father's Day this year! Here goes...

First up is a card I made for my Father-in law. I used pps from the Archaic range by Basic Grey together with their matching alpha stickers. The stamped zebra image was done using a stamp taken from the 'In the Wild' set by Stampin' Up!

I have entered my Father-in-law's card into this month's Inkurable Stampers challenge. This month participants must create a man-themed card using at least one stamp. Nice and easy!!! Follow the link at right if you wou;d like to have a go or would just like to check out the other entries.

Next up is a desk clock and matching card that I made for my DD to give to her Daddy.

The wooden clock base is by Kaiser, which I embellished with pp from Scenic Route and Jenni Bowlin, Kaiser bling, Making Memories Chocolate paint, and lots of Glossy Accents. For both the card I have also used pp from Scenic Route and Jenni Bowlin, a Kaiser bling frame, Go Go Boots alpha dies and Primitive Heart die by Sizzix, and assorted ribbon. Both of these projects were taught at the beginning of the month at my place of work, Just Scrapbooking.

Speaking of Just Scrapbooking, I have been asked to announce that on the 14th of September from 10am until 4pm Just Scrapbooking will be holding a Garage Sale. HEAPS of second hand scrapbooking products will be for sale including totes, Cricut machines, tools, patterned paper, and stickers. If you would be interested in being a seller simply contact the store on 08) 9417 3665, otherwise just come along on the day to pick up a bargain!!!

I did not make my Dad a Father's Day card this year because Mum made one as part of her DT commitments at Scrap Pile. She is yet to upload it to her blog, Snail Mail, but I'm sure she'll do so soon so keep popping by to see it for yourself. It's not to be missed!!!

In the spirit of Father's Day, I'd just like to share with you the beautiful gift my two-year-old made for her Daddy. It's a lovely hand-painted canvas! She did it all by herself... and isn't it the greatest?!!! Her Daddy loved it very much!

I Think I can Scrap!!!

You may have noticed the 'So You Think You Can Scrap' blinkie that has been added to my blog's sidebar. I have just commenced a competition called So You Think You Can Scrap, which is being hosted by Scraptacular. Here's how it works; To begin, there are heats where entrants are given scrapeography (yes, just like choreography) to create layouts. After a few rounds of voting the finalists are decided, who will go on, round by round, delving through different ‘genres’ chosen by the Scraptacular Design Team. Eventually, Australia’s voting public (fellow scrappers) will narrow it down to Australia’s Favourite Scrapper... I am hoping it could be me... but we'll just have to wait and see!

Today was the closing date for the first heat of the competition. For this leg of the comp we had to create a single-page layout incorporating the follow criteria;

- Hand cutting of PP designs

- Edge Distressing

- Layering

- Use of 'white/negative' space

- Texture

- Non Standard size photos (eg not 4x6 or 5x7 or 6x8)

- Clustering

I have spent a lot of time over the last few days pushing paper and embellishments about my page but I did manage to get my entry in with just a couple of hours to go. I am really happy with the result! Here it is;

Voting for Heat #1 closes on Tuesday so I'll let you know how I go, then... hopefully I'm not eliminated just yet!!!

Before I go, I just wanted to extend a HUGE hooray to all the wonderful daddies out there who are celebrating Father's Day with their kids today. I hope you have all had a great day!!! I have a few Father's Day related goodies to share with you, but I'll leave those for tomorrow.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!