Paperific this weekend!

Deep breath now.....I'M READY! I've got my class all planned and almost packed.  Wanna see a sneak peek?

Some gorgeous Basic Grey papers - each participant gets an entire pad in fact, and some beautiful pieces of Twiddleybitz for each card, as well as some other bits and bobs. Enough for way more than the four cards we'll complete in the class.

This Happy Scrappy Cards class will run from 1-3pm on each day of the show. Bookings through Little Bits - ph 03 9798 4122, or if there are spots left you can book at the Little Bits stand at the show.  There's more information on the Paperific website.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you there!

 

Intermediate Copic Certification

I've got a badge:

and I'm not afraid to use it!

Yay! I did the Intermediate Copic Certification class with X-Press Graph-X yesterday. The instructor Mandi was just brilliant, passing on techniques and hints to take my colouring to the next level. We were told that there have only been a couple of these classes run in the US, and this was the first in Australia, so it was extra exciting being one of the first to be awarded the certificate.

Here are some pics of what I coloured in the class:

 

  

I learned some new Copic techniques as well as some art theory.  It made me wish I'd paid more attention in art class at school - this stuff is INTERESTING! Well, science will just have to take a back seat for a while I do some colouring in :)

I look forward to playing and experimenting as well as passing on some of my new knowledge to the very kind people who take my classes. Thanks for stopping by, I'm off to find a frame for this:

 

Calling all Graphic45 fans

Check out what the awesome Sherry Mendoza is organising:

 Now I wish I lived in Sydney!  I wonder if I could slip away for just one day.....

Birdy Birthday card

 I have this card to share today:

Made with Basic Grey paper and Twiddleybitz chipboard. The black bird has been glittered, and the cage has been painted gold. Martha Stewart punches used throughout, and some stitching on my machine.  It's quite dimensional IRL:

Thanks for looking!

 

The Studio Challenges Sketch

This fortnight's layout challenge involves a sketch and some ruffles:

Here's my interpretation:

I used a photo of Elouise in sepia to match the Prima papers. I thought the text on the paper was a good approximation for the stripes on the sketch.  The ruffle ribbon is from Bella, and the resin heart is from Webster's Pages.

I used a My Favorite Things die for the scallops, and a Martha Stewart punch for the butterfly:

Besides the sun hitting her blonde hair at just the right angle, she was particularly radiant that day because she was out to lunch with Mum and Dad, in the mountains (The Dandenongs), while her brother and sister were at school. Hence the cheeky "I've got something you haven't got" grin on her face.

Thanks for stopping in, now pop over to The Studio Challenges blog to see what the other girls did with the sketch.


 

Down Under Direct news

Wahoo! I made it onto the design team for Down Under Direct!

This is one happy little chickie. I adore Bazzill cardstock, and my Nestabilities are never too far away when I'm creating, so you can just imagine my delight when I was chosen. Not to mention that I'll be working with some very talented girls :) This is an awesome opportunity.

I've been told we have a design team blog coming soon, but in the meantime, here's the layout I completed as part of the selection process:

 

Yep - the scrolls are hand drawn. I must have been in a brave mood LOL. Here's a close up of the flowers:

 I coloured them with Distress Inks and my trusty water spray bottle.  The centres are made with knotted ribbon.

Here's the monogram made with one of the new Spellbinders shapes from the Fleur de Lys Doily Accents set with the Justrite Damask Borders stamp set.

I look forward to sharing more work with you soon. Thanks for stopping by!


 

Ahoy there me hearties! T'is a pirate girl card!

Kraftin' Kimmie stamp with loads of Twiddleybitz and Basic Grey papers:

The image and the pirate flag were coloured with Copics, and the anchor and skull were coloured with acrylic paints. The gauze was coloured with Antique Gold Colour Spray:

Turned out to be a chunky card:

Thanks for dropping in, now I'm off to walk the plank (hang out some more washing)..............


 

Party party party!

There's a couple of party projects I did using Rasberry goodies on the Rasberry blog today. 

Remember this banner I made back in November:

It's a cute 4 inches tall. You'll see some close ups on this post here.

For those of us who like to coordinate the whole shebang when organising a party, I designed an invitation to tie in with the theme:

 Teeny little triangles, glued onto some patterned paper and trimmed with some scalloped scissors. Because of the small size, all of this can be done by hand so there's no need for a fancy paper trimmer if you don't have one. Too easy!

 

Princess Rachel with Twiddleybitz

This is a layout  I did of my middle child, Rachel. The chipboard is all Twiddleybitz:

 

I painted, and spritzed and glittered extensively:

You might have seen this layout at the recent Sydney show if you popped in to the Twiddleybitz stand.

Rachel gasped when she saw it. Mission accomplished I say!

 

Jake turned 11!

Where have the past 11 years gone? This birthday more than any other year, I remembered the day Jacob was born with almost crystal clarity. Don't they say that when people get old, they remember the distant past more vividly than the recent past? Hope this doesn't signal the downhill slide to the nursing home! Now what was I talking about?

Oh yeah, Jake's birthday.  Here's the card I made for him:

The gorgeous alpha is from Scrapware, the imagine metal tag is Tim Holtz, embellished with just a little piece of tea stained twill from the very wonderful Melissa Phillips,  and the Colour Spray is Walnut from Twiddleybitz. There's a scrap of muslin and some hessian under a piece of stripped cardboard. Horizontal and vertical stripes in the cardboard, the alpha and the hessian. Hmmmmm......I do love stripes.

I think I love the kraft/cream/white combo! Jake was touched by the card and what his mumma wrote inside - all about us being proud of who he is. I think it's important for boys to hear that.

Thanks for dropping in for a look, and thanks in advance for any comments you care to leave :)


 

Spring in Kraft

The theme for this week's challenge at The Kraft Journal is 'Spring Fling.'  Here's my card:

The topiary tree is a very old stamp by an Australian company called Annaleey Crafts (I think they're no longer around as I can't find them online), and the words are from Hero Arts. The tree is coloured with Copics.

The reason I used this stamp today is I did a big clean out of my craft room. Still a few things to find homes for, but I'm feeling so much better, and oh my goodness, it was like going shopping in a shop that only stocks stuff I like. I'd forgotten what I own! So nice to reconnect with some old (and sometimes dirty) friends - just like our monthly ATC group at Little Bits LOL.

Thanks for stopping by for a look.

 

You make me want to pout!

 I love this photo of Elouise. She never pouts for very long, so you have to be quick with the camera to capture it. In fact, whenever she's pouting and sees the camera, she gets the giggles.

With this layout, I challenged myself to use some of the Twiddleybitz Steampunk range on a layout of a girl. I usually associate Steampunk with masculine stuff, so I wanted to see if it could work with a girly piece too.

The piece I've used are Steampunk butterfly clock, gears border, Nero w/i scroll (from the Fleur de Lys kit), Twiddley Alpha Square, and some colour sprays.

Here's a close up of the butterfly:

Looks rusted, doesn't it?  I started with a mustard colour acrylic paint, and then used some Colour Sprays in Black Tulip and Jaffalicious. I finished it off with some walnut Distress ink to bring out the detail in the clockface.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

Hold my hand LO

I had this A4 layout published in Scrapbooking Memories Vol 13 No3 recently:

Here's the cover of the magazine:

I've got another couple of publications to toot about, I just need to find the magazines. I put them in a safe place :)


 

Button up!

I adore buttons! I was so happy that this week's challenge at The Kraft Journal was just that - buttons.  Here's my card:

That's Basic Grey Kioshi paper on kraft cardstock.  The stamp is Purple Onion Designs, and the little crochet flowers are from a shop on etsy. You can just make it out in the photo above - I embossed the patterned paper before adhering it to my card.  Here's a close up:

 It just gave the card an extra little point of interest.

 Thanks for stopping by - hope your week is wonderful.

 

Me at 38

The challenge this fortnight at The Studio Challenges was to scrap your age.  Challenge was certainly the operative word here - I found this challenge hard in so many ways, but I'm so pleased with the end result.  Here's my layout:

I used some patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket as well as some 7Gypsies newsprint.  The chipboard is Twiddleybitz and the alphas are Basic Grey (large) and Making Memories (small). I used a Darkroom Door stamp from the calendar set for the journaling lines.

Here's a close up of the chipboard bird in its gauze nest:

I made the chipboard look like marble stone.