Confessions of a Closet Scrapper

back to the grind stone

2008-06-22T18:29:00.003+10:00

It's been quite a while since I updated...sorry about that. But there is a good reason - I've been on hiatus while I've been dealing with the extreme tiredness of early pregnancy. Yes, our fertility treatment was successful on the first go & we're pregnant with one little bub, due 2 Jan 2009, but will arrive sometime between 22-24 Dec 2008 (elective c-section after complications that have come to light after 2 prior c-sections). I'm sure there's a layout in there somewhere :)

Anyway...I was going through my previous entries & realised I hadn't posted all my ADSR layouts. So this will be a wee bit out of sync but I doubt anyone is worried about that...

Challenge Eleven was another roadblock & since my partner did the last one, I did this one. The challenge was create a layout that included wings & at least 3 different types of fonts. Of course anything with wings right now means babies & cuteness. I actually really like this layout - it's nice & simple...& I'd totally forgotten about it until I was going back through my pages!

Credits: Papers by Christina Renee, Nikki Painter, Wendyzine Scraps; Overlay by Michelle Coleman; Wings by Christina Renee; Clouds by Jofia Devoe; Alpha by Eugenia Bacon; Fonts: Dali, VT Portable Remington, Beyond Wonderland

The Digi in Deep class has finished. I still have one layout that I haven't completed (but will get done sometime)...but here are two of the others we did:

Credits: coming soon

Credits: coming soon

Finally...here's a template I created as part of the Digi in Deep Class. You can download a copy of it here (download link coming soon).

2008-04-02T12:53:00.003+11:00

I'm doing another class...a follow up to Jessica Sprague's Now We're Rockin'. It's called Digi in Deep & is an advanced scrapping class.

I finished lesson 1 yesterday - I'm learning heaps (yay). There's a lot in each lesson & it's pretty full-on (2 LOs a week!) but so I'm really pleased with it so far (even if it does take me 4 hours to get through the lesson!!).

Here's my LO:

Credits: Papers by Jen Wilson, Katie Pertiet & Trish Jones; Tag by Linda Gil Billdal; String by Katie Pertiet; Button by Lynn Grievson (altered); Stamps by Mary Ann Wise & Nancie Rowe Janitz; Fonts: One Fell Swoop, Texas Hero, & VT Portable Remington

the race continues

2008-04-01T09:08:00.000+11:00

So I thought I'd better update my ADSR layouts. This week is the last week. Unfortunately, due to unforeseeable circumstances, my partner was unable to get her last LO up in time, so was disqualified. So I've found another partner to finish the race with. Below are my LOs so far. Only two more to go!

Challenge Five was to create a LO featuring an interview with an inanimate object. I chose Wee Man's Cat in the Hat toy. All the cat's answers are lines from "The Cat inthe Hat" & "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back" by Dr. Seuss. I don't particularly like the way this LO has turned out...but it fulfilled the race requirements. So it has done it's job (I'm just unlikely to print it out).

Credits: Paper by Graziela Mendes (altered); Overlay by Michelle Coleman (altered); Fonts: Adobe Caslon Pro, Grinched, & Arial

Challenge Six was a roadblock where only one person had to do it. Tinkerbel73 did this challenge - scraplifting a LO by your partner & doing the opposite theme. I got a bit of time off :)

Challenge Seven was split into two...one person had to do one & the other had to do the other challenge. The one I did was to write a letter to yourself when you were 17 but you also had to use an huge list of different amounts of papers & embellishments & no more than 2 items per designer. And the LO had to be "clean" & have lots of white space. A fun challenge...yay for having a large digi stash!

Credits: Papers by Creative Confusion, Vera Lim, Julie Kelley, Danielle Engebretson, Amanda Rockwell, Gypsy Chick, & Graziela Mendes; Overlay by Vera Lim; Embellishments by Bren Boon, Broken Jar Creations, Cafe Digi, Christina Renee, Cori Gammon, Flergs, Jeannie Papai, Jessica Bolton, Jofia Devoe, Kim Christensen, Kirsty Wiseman, Leora Sandford, Lindsay Jane Designs, Lisa Whitney, Michelle Coleman, Michelle Underwood, Miss HuniBuni, Misty Cato Designs, Nikki Painter, Nina Scraps, Ruby Rynne, Weeds & Wildflowers, WenchD Grafix; Fonts: Rhino Dino & Arial

Challenge Eight was to create a LO about travel but to use a B&W photo & to not have any travel papers, etc, on the LO. We also had to incorporate lyrics somewhere on the LO & only have a one-word title. The photo I used was actually taken on our first trip to Melbourne in 2002 but I thought it was quite fitting as a representation of our final trip to Melbourne, when we moved here permanently from New Zealand. I incorporated lyrics from "Leaving on a Jetplane" by John Denver & added my own to change the verse to being about my trip.

Credits: Template by Emily Powers (heavily altered from original); Papers by Gypsy Chick, Aja Abney, Nikki Painter, and Wendyzine scraps; Overlay by Michelle Coleman; Alpha by Melissa Bennett; Butterflies & star overlays (altered) by Jofia Devoe; Font: Pea Kareen

Challenge Nine was easy - to create some altered art. I did an ATC using some cute butterflies by Christina Renee that I was RAKed with.

Credits: Papers, crown, key, lock and butterflies by Christina Renee (butterflies from her Flutterflies collection avail soon!); Lady from Dover Designs; Tear templates by Jen Caputo

Challenge Ten was similar to Challenge Seven & was also a roadblock (so, as Tinks had done the last one, I did this one). The theme was about our future hopes, dreams & plans & we had to scrap a LO using 50 different embellishments from at least 10 different designers. I wanted to keep it as uncluttered as possible.

Credits: Credits: Paper by Nikki Painter; Overlay by Michelle Coleman; Embellishments by Valerie Fowler (recoloured), Weeds and Wildflowers, Jofia Devoe, Janet Lynn Brokken, Flergs, Julie Mead, Andrea Burns, Michelle Underwood, Christina Renee, Cori Gammon, Sherri Tierney, Theresa H. Hernandez, Nikki Painter, Stephanie Ogren, Ruby Rynne, Unnamed (from "Cottage Chic" collab kit at Elemental Scraps); Alpha by Luiza Garay; Fonts: The King and Queen Font, Pea Kareen, Eight Fifteen, 1942 Report, & Arial

ADSR

2008-03-15T00:15:00.006+11:00

So, as promised, here are my LOs for ADSR so far.

Challenge One was to create a LO using a particular template,include our favourite colour & favourite embellishment (which we had to use 3 times). I even went so far as to write a wee song for this LO.

The journaling reads (feel free to hum along as you read...lol):
babies and outings and opportune moments
florals and vintage and lyric atonements
dark moody backgrounds with sprinklings of bling
these are a few of my favourite {scrapping} things

Credits: template by Christy Haig; Paper by Michelle Coleman (recoloured); overlays by Michelle Coleman and Christina Renee (altered); frames by Christina Renee and Jofia Devoe; flowers by Vanilla Hush; ribbon by Grazieli Niclass; alpha by Flergs; text paths by Jen Caputo (altered); fonts: ribbon happy, pea gretchie print, starry night, and the king and queen font.

Challenge Two was to work with your partner to create a single LO. Tinkerbel73 did the top half, I did the bottom:

Credits: Papers by JillDZ and Christina Renee; Embellishments by JillDZ, Christina Renee and Jofia Devoe; Paper fold template by Vera Lim; Fonts: Pristina and Pea Sue's Print

Challenge Three was probably my favourite so far. We had to do an "all about me" LO...but at least half of the page had to be journaling about ourselves.

Journaling reads:
1. I’m an ex-pat Kiwi living in Aussie.
2. I used to work in marketing.
3. I’m currently a SAHM.
4. I like chocolate.
5. I suffer from PCOS.
6. I’m currently trying to get pregnant again.
7. I have a cat and three chickens.
8. Did I mention I like chocolate?
9. I’m currently listening to David Bowie.
10. I don’t eat pork - I don’t like how it tastes.
11. My hubby won’t eat red meat (tastes yucky, apparently)...which means I don’t eat red meat by default.
12. My favourite chocolate would probably have to be dark, bittersweet choccie (kid-proof choccie!).
13. I wanted to be an embalmer when I was a kid.
14. I also wanted to learn taxidermy.
15. No, I’m not weird!
16. I also quite like white chocolate but it gives me headaches if I eat too much.
17. My favourite colour is purple.
18. Now I’m listening to Rammstein.
19. I don’t speak German.
20. My favourite fruits are feijoas, peaches and tamarillos.
21. When I was younger, I went through a stage where I couldn’t eat chocolate at all because it gave me migraines. It was a tough time.
22. The first album I ever bought was by the Pet Shop Boys.
23. I hate ironing, almonds and whingy people.
24. The only chocolate I won’t eat is Dairy Milk (plain) or one with nuts in it.
25. No, I am not fixated with food!
26. I designed one of my tattoos.
27. I miss the chocolate made from home...Aussie chocolate just isn’t the same.
28. I sing in the car.
29. I don’t like beetles.
30. I almost always order the salmon.
31. My weirdest chocolate experience was when I was halfway through a box of chocolates and I unwrapped one - it had a big bite out of it! The chocolate had been bitten into, wrapped back up and the box was sealed! Ick!
32. I wish I’d learnt to play the flute.
33. My favourite subject at school was art history.
34. I graduated with a hospitality management and marketing degree (double major).
35. My hubby never buys me chocolate
36. I like to turn the music up loud when no one else is around.
37. I organised my wedding in 4 days.
38. I wasn’t pregnant when I got married.
39. I have to hide my chocolate because otherwise my hubby eats it all.
40. My favourite number is 4.
41. And 12.
42. I’d like to go to Easter Island one day.
43. People say I have a good sense of humour.
44. I think I get it from my Dad.
45. I currently have no chocolate in the house.

Credits: Papers by Jofia Devoe, Vera Lim and Penny Springmann (altered); Paper fold templates by Vera Lim; Embellishments by Jofia Devoe; Alpha by Andrea L. Burns; Fonts: a little pot, arial, caligula dodgy and unnamed melody

Challenge Four was similar but this time had to be about something significant (good, bad or ugly). LOs were supposed to have one major image, some blending, minimal embellishments (although this requirement was later removed) & at least 1/4 of the page as journaling.

Journaling reads:

For over 10 years, I thought this moment was going to elude me: the birth of my second child. My own personal victory over secondary infertility.

I suffer from secondary infertility as a result of PCOS. Initially, it wasn’t an issue - there are some serious advantages to not being able to conceive naturally. But it was not so much the fact that I couldn’t have kids that used to upset me...it was more that my choice in the matter had been taken away.

I definitely wanted more children but had resigned myself to not having any more - although we weren’t actively trying to conceive, nothing had happened after 9 years.

It wasn’t until 2005 that we decided to seek help. There are several options for PCOS sufferers wanting to conceive, so our first step was seeking guidance from a wonderful OB/GYN in Melbourne.

What followed was months of tests, frustration and pill popping (ahhhh, those little white pills every month. How I don’t miss those!). Only someone who has been through fertility treatment of some sort can truly appreciate the frustration, anger, hope turning to despair...the gamut of emotions one experiences. Our Clomid cycles were up. This was the last month...the last pregnancy test...the last chance before reconsidering our options.

The test was negative.

I stood and wept. I was exhausted and emotionally drained. I felt as if the baby we so desperately wanted had been snatched from our grasp.

But then a thought occurred to me...in my haste, I had forgotten to leave the test for 10 minutes before checking it. I took it out of the rubbish. Sure enough, there was a thin second line. Faint, but I was sure it was there...but I needed confirmation (just in case my eyes were deceiving me).

I went rushing into the bathroom. I pulled my husband out of the shower. “Can you see a second line?” I demanded. Quickly followed by: “We’re pregnant! We’re pregnant! I’m sure we’re pregnant!”

“Maybe,” he answered, a bit bemusedly. I still remember that small smile on his face. I felt the same - happy but not quite wanting to believe it in case it wasn’t true. In case we jinxed it, somehow.

On 29 December, 2006 our beautiful son was born.

Prayers really do get answered.

Credits: Paper by Jeannie Papai; Overlay by Michelle Coleman; Alphas by Miss HuniBuni and Christina Renee; Fonts: Pea Kim and Arial

long time, no see

2008-03-11T14:51:00.006+11:00

Wow...it's been a wee while since I last posted something (although not as long as on my personal blog...ooops!). Life gets a bit busy round here sometimes :)

We're now halfway through ADSR. Time has gone so quickly! The challenges have been fun & I've particularly enjoyed the last two: they focussed on journaling, which is not something I tend to do a lot of. But they were a blast to do & I've definately been inspired to do more (journaling, that is). I'm going to post my ADSR layouts thus far in a separate post.

Here's a look at some of the layouts I've been doing recently:

This LO was done as part of the wonderful classes over at DSAG. I have to confess, I was naughty & didn't do all my homework (I've been sooooo busy this month!!) but this was one I did manage to complete - using text on the background page, etc. I just love Jophia's beautiful papers & Nichole Van's photo actions are simply to die for - they make a very ordinary photo look super-yummy with very little other processing required. The text round the edge & in the background is from the song "Precious" by Annie Lennox.

Credits: Paper & embellishments by Jofia Devoe; Alpha by Doreen Stolz; Text path by Jen Caputo; RAW preset by Nicole Van; Fonts: Olho de Boi, The Blue Cabin, Prissy Frat Boy

The end of February featured a fun little game over at DST: the Trash to Treasure Hunt. Participating designers had a few little goodies avail for free...if you could find them! Participants were then asked to create a LO with some of the goodies they had snagged. Of course, I had to do something about my own wee treasure: Wee Man. The journaling reads: My Greatest Treasure (where your treasure is, there your heart will lie also).

Credits: Paper by Heather Manning (with text overlay); Overlays by K-Joi Designs & Jofia Devoe (altered from original...not in T2T); Frame by Dawn Wilson; Swirls by Sherrie Piegdon & April Staker (altered from original); Flowers by Broken Jar Creations & Blush Butter; Fonts: Unnamed Melody, Seraphim, The King & Queen Font, & Dali

The next three LOs are CT LOs for K-Joi. Yummy templates by Dragon's Lair Designs & a divine kit by mlwCustom Designs...such fun :) I should point out, the first LO looks really simple...but I played with the photo for absolutely ages - the original is very poor & the light Wee Man is reaching for is actually a lot smaller. All I can say is - yay for blending modes!!!

Credits: Wish & Believe kit by mlwCustom Designs (available at K-Joi Studios).

Credits: Template by Dragon's Lair Designs (avail at K-Joi Studios); Papers by Jofia Devoe & Jennie Papai; Overlay by K. Pertiet (altered from original); Embellishments by Jofia Devoe; Fonts: Pea Beth R & 1942 Report

Credits: Template by Dragon's Lair Designs (avail at K-Joi Studios); Wish & Believe kit by mlwCustom Designs (available at K-Joi Studios); Font: The King & Queen Font

I did this last LO last year. It was submitted to a couple of magazines but, since I haven't heard back from them, I think it's probably safe to post it now. I loved it at the time but I think my work has improved a lot since then. It looks a bit unfinished to me.

Credits: Paper by Christina Renee; Embellishments by Berna Datema & Jofia Devoe; Font: sandals

I do

2008-02-16T00:07:00.004+11:00

What a busy few weeks I've had! Lot of catching up with various things round the home I needed to do (nothing exciting...just time consuming).

I also have had a bit of scrapper's block. It took me two weeks to finish this layout for the Layout Design class. We had to design a template (containing 1 large rectangle, 3 smaller ones & 3 circles), thinking about how size, proximity, etc, effect the overall look of the finished page. It was actually a lot harder than it seems!

Credits: Paper by Michelle Coleman (altered from original); Overlays by Suzanne C Walker & Trish Jones; Embellishments by Amanda Rockwell, Cori Gammon (altered), Theresa Borntreger, & Christina Renee; Frame by Andrea L Burns; Stitching by Lori Barnhurst; Alphas by Amy Teets & Cinzia Loosemore; Photo Actions by Nicole Van

full-on

2008-01-28T01:36:00.000+11:00

Well, its been a full-on week! I've been so busy!

The LO Design & Typography classes are going really well - I'm really enjoying them & am getting so much out of them. Jessica Sprague's Now We're Rockin' class also started this week, so that's been fun to get into.

I've also made the decision to participate in ADSR3 this year. My partner is the lovely tinkerbel73. We're currently trying to think up a name so we can register our team (oh...decisions, decisions!!).

And, of course, I've got all my CT layouts for January finally done & dusted.

So here are a few piccies for you...

First up is my second layout for Ruby Rynne's fantastic Joyeaux Noel kit (plus some homework for my typography class). Wee Man is looking all cute (as usual), while he plays in a puddle of water at my in-laws when we were back in NZ. And yes, he got completely soaking wet!!

Credits: Paper from Joyeaux Noel Kit by Ruby Rynne; Template by Shandy Vogt; Fonts: Freeze! & Papyrus

Next is my weekly assignment for the NWR class. The text blocks need to be separated more (so there's a bigger gap between the two columns) but I haven't gone back to redo it since I originally created it.

Credits: coming soon

Finally are my two layouts for K-Joi for this month. Both were done with Scrapassie's very cool Wild Ocean kit. I particularly like the metal frames in this kit. The second layout was done for BrigittevT as part of the January Photo Exchange over at K-Joi.

Credits: Paper & embellishments from Wild Ocean kit by Scrappassie Designs; Overlay & stamp by Michelle Coleman; Fonts: 1942 Report & Pea Tammy

Credits: Papers & embellishments from Wild Ocean kit by Scrappassie Designs; Template by Andrea Gold (altered from original); Stitching by Luiza Garay (altered from original); Fonts: Pea Janelle & Journal

chocolate & strawberries

2008-01-17T13:12:00.001+11:00

Flergs (the queen of all things flowery & shiny) is having a CT call over at her blog. She has a lovely kit available for download until Friday & if you upload a layout & post the link, she'll consider you for a spot on her CT.

The kit is yummy...all pink & brown & sparkles (love that glitter). Very feminine.

Here's what I did with it:

Credits: Paper & embellishments by Flergs; Fonts: The King & Queen Font, Halbstarke, Helvetica.

we don't need no education

2008-01-16T12:50:00.000+11:00

Back to school I go :)

In a bid to improve my layouts, I've enrolled in a couple of classes. I'm currently participating in two fantastic classes over at Digital Scrapbook Artisan Guild - Intro to Layout Design and Introduction to Typography & Journaling. And next week Jessica Spragues' Now We're Rockin' class begins (which I'm also enrolled in).

I'm always hard on myself, I know...but there is a lot of room for improvement on my LOs & I want to break my love affair with templates. I want my LOs to allow me to be creative...not dictate how I should be placing my papers. I also want to improve my currently non-existant journaling. So the typography class will help that a lot.

This is my homework from week 1...the title is from the typography class, the LO itself from the LO Design class. I just love this precious photo of Wee Man on his first birthday (which is just after christmas) & Ruby's Joyeaux Noel kit works really well with it - subtle & festive all at once:

Credits: Paper & embellishments from Joyeaux Noel kit by Ruby Rynne; Fold template by Vera Lim; Fonts=Seeing Stars, You are Loved, Century Gothic, & Enchanted Prairie Dog

happy new year

2008-01-07T09:45:00.001+11:00

We're back from holidays in NZ over Christmas & Wee Man's 1st birthday. It's good to be back & I'm looking forward to scrapping some beautiful photos that I took over the break.

Here are some LOs I did before we left...

I was playing with the idea of turning a photo into a drawing (based loosely on some LOs done by Annie Manning/Paint the Moon Designs & some great photoshop tutorials I'd read). The LO itself really needs some work but I like the way the photo turned out. I think I'll play with this style again sometime.

Credits: Papers from Blessings of Thanksgiving kit by AlabamaStoneThrower; Template by Janet Phillips (altered from original); Stitching by Jana McCarthy and Weeds & Wildflowers; Font = Pea Cara.

I am also the hostess of the monthly Photo Exchange challenge over at K-Joi Studios. I did a 2-page spread for Creatively Obsessed (her photos & captions, my LO) as part of the December challenge...these are the pages:

Credits: Template by Lindsay Jane; Papers by Jophia Devoe & Ruby Rynne; Embellishments by Jophia Devoe; Frame by Christina Renee; Overlay by Jodie Patterson; Alpha by Christine Borgfeld

Credits: Template by Lindsay Jane; Papers by Jophia Devoe & Ruby Rynne; Embellishments by Jophia Devoe; Frame by Christina Renee; Overlay by Jodie Patterson; Alpha by Christine Borgfeld

autumn love song

2007-12-11T10:57:00.000+11:00

Here's a LO of my daughter when she was 2. I particularly like how the photo has turned out, actually. It's amazing what a bit of tweaking with levels will do for your photos. And Spike Milligan's poem "Love Song" works particularly well :)

Credits: Papers (altered from original) & embellishments from Blessings of Thanksgiving kit by AlabamaStoneThrower; Frame (altered from original) by Jophia Devoe; Text path & bend action by Jen Caputo; Font = Glider Girls..

scrap & relaxation

2007-11-30T00:46:00.000+11:00

What better way to spend a relaxing evening than doing a spot of scrapping. This time for the weekly challenge over Christina Renee's blog Authentic Artistry. This time, I was really just playing round with layers & making things move round objects in front of them...shadows became a bit of a nightmare to play with, so I think I'm going to have to find a different technique. Oh well.

Credits: Papers & embellishments by Christina Renee; Alpha & floral frame by Kim Christensen; String by Jophia Devoe.

sunshine & irises

2007-11-26T18:16:00.000+11:00

We're coming into summer here in Australia...& that means iris season! We got some lovely flowers this year - lots of coffee browns, vibrant pinks & divine shades of blue. Plus a dark, almost black purple - as seen in this photo of Wee Man & DD taken today:

Credits: Papers, flowers & ribbon from Tropical Cocktail kit by Ruby Rynne; Template by Andrea Gold (altered slightly); Stitching by Lori Barnhurst; Overlays by Michelle Coleman & Vera Lim (both altered from original); Font = Hello Sark.

hot & steamy

2007-11-17T17:57:00.000+11:00

Today was too hot to do anything but lounge round inside. So I took the opportunity to do one of my CT LOs for Ruby Rynne. This LO isn't a good example but the papers in the Tropical Cocktail kit are scrummy - really hot & wild colours. I'll be doing the 2nd of the LOs in a few days.

Credits: Paper & embellishments from Tropical Cocktail kit by Ruby Rynne; Tear template & bend action by Jen Caputo; Fonts: Rebekah's Birthday & Dali

A few days ago, I experimented with making blinkies. Here's one I came up for my blog. It's a bit rudimentary but not too bad for my first, I think:

on a roll

2007-11-15T12:37:00.001+11:00

Did I mention I'm really liking the new Mac?! I'm on a bit of a scrapping roll today. Here are a few random photos of Wee Man (another CT LO for K-Joi):

Credits: Paper & embellishments from LuAnn's Dream Garden kit by Ma Aimee Designs; Template (altered slightly) by Christine Borgfeld

the joy of scrap

2007-11-14T00:04:00.000+11:00

I finally have my new computer! Hooorah! It only took 2 & a bit weeks (& the only reason we have our computers now & aren't waiting for yet another week is because we canceled our original order with DS & went into another Apple reseller & got them right off the shelf - I have no idea why DS insist that no one in VIC has any 24" iMacs - obviously the other resellers aren't aware of this!).

Anyhow, I finally got Photoshop installed & I'm trying to work out all the different keyboard shortcuts (because they're different on a Mac). But I'm enjoying being able to scrap again :)

Here's a wee layout I whipped up tonight (my first CT LO for K-Joi!):

Credits: Paper & embellishments from LuAnn's Dream Garden kit by Ma Aimee Designs; Grunge overlay & definition brush (altered) by Michelle Coleman

revelations

2007-11-06T17:04:00.000+11:00

It's been a hectic few days. Nov 3 was the first ever Digital Scrapbooking Day. Or, as hubby likes to call it National Timewasters Day (sigh - there's no convincing him).

Yes, I couldn't quite believe there was a DSD either but I took the opportunity to snag myself a few bargains (ok, a lot). Unfortunately, because of my timezone, I missed out on most of the fun &, because of my stupid computer (my nice shiny one hasn't arrived yet), I was unable to do any actual scrapping...but I still managed to get a bit of a scrapping hangover from all the browsing & it took me until today to finish downloading everything.

I am a happy scrapper.

Today is also the day the results of Stand Up & Scrap were announced. Congrats to all the worthy winners!

This also means I can now (finally) share my layouts. I'm not 100% happy with a few of them but it was all good practise & I had lots of fun (& I even got into the top 10 in Week 5!!). For each week's brief, check out the Stand Up & Scrap blog.

Week One Credits: Papers by Meredith Fenwick and Weeds & Wildflowers; Paper fold template & grunge overlay by Vera Lim; Sparkly star embellishment & overlay by Christina Renee; Flourish brush from deviantArt; Star doodle (heavily altered & used as a brush) by Weeds & Wildflowers; Font: Just Me Again Down Here.

Week Two Credits: Papers by Weeds & Wildflowers, Tracy Lee, Lori Barnhurst, & Miriam Lima (altered significantly from original & used as overlay); Overlay by Michelle Coleman (altered from original); Fonts: Dali & Rub This!

Week Three Credits: Paper, overlay (altered) & acrylic lettering by Michelle Coleman; Font: Rub This!

Week Four Credits: Papers by Andrea Burns (recoloured) & Zoe Pearn (recoloured); Overlays by Carla Gibson (altered slightly from original) & Michelle Coleman; Tear templates by Vera Lim; Brushes by Nancie Rowe Janitz & from DeviantArt; Stitching by Lori Barnhurst & Lisa Whitney (recoloured & altered from original); Glitter splats by Amber Clegg (recoloured); String by Michelle Coleman (altered from original); Staples by Christina Renee; Alpha by Christina Renee (recoloured); Font: 1942 Report.

Week Five Credits: Overlays/frames by Vera Lim & Michelle Coleman; Fonts: Pea Sue's Print & Prissy Frat Boy.

Week Six Credits: Flowers by Weeds & Wildflowers and Andrea Burns; Embellishments by Nancie Rowe Janitz, Heather Ann Melzer & Lisa Whitney; Paper by Meredith Fenwick; Fonts: Flores, Dali & Aleia.

endings, beginnings & blue screens

2007-11-01T08:30:00.000+11:00

Well...SUAS has finished. It was a fun, sometimes mentally taxing 6 weeks...& I even lost my mojo along the way (but it has since found it's way home). But I'm really glad I participated. I even got in the top 10 once! Judging finishes next week & after that we are free to post up our layouts - so stay tuned.

A few other things have happened in the last few weeks. I've been invited to join two creative teams: K-Joi Studios and Ruby Rynne. I've also done a page for She's Full of Scrap (I was going to do more but I've been having computer issues - see below). Here's the layout:

Credits: all items from Two Solitudes kit by She's Full of Scrap; template by Andrea Gold (altered from original)

As I mentioned above, I've been having computer issues. In other words, it has died a million blue-screens-of-death. I can't open Photoshop without it freezing. Heck, I can't send an email without it freezing. Sometimes I am lucky enough to get 5 minutes of scrapping done before it dies. It took me a week to do the page above.

Hubby & I have bought new computers. I'm getting a shiny new 24" IMac. It's purrrty. But it hasn't arrived yet & the shop we got them from seems to be a bit confused as to when Apple will deign them with the honour of new supplies. So we're considering cancelling the order & getting them from Apple directly. All this means is that my scrapping gratification must be delayed. Which is very frustrating.

competition break

2007-10-10T20:34:00.000+10:00

Well, it's been a few weeks. Stand Up & Scrap has been taking up most of my scrapping time & I haven't wanted to do anything else because it's a bit distracting when you're trying to concentrate on producing a particular layout.

We're only halfway through the competition. It's been great so far but I've felt quite intimidated by the level of brilliance displayed in the other layouts. I feel very humbled. Which is not a bad thing.

Unfortunately, I can't post my completed layouts yet because the anonymous aspect of SUAS means if I revealed them to you, I'd have to kill you afterwards. So you'll have to wait for another 3 weeks when it's all over & I can post them.

However, I do have something to show you today. I was playing with some recent acquisitions (a scrap comp is such a good enabler) because I felt in a bit of a black hole after posting my last SUAS layout for some reason. So I wanted to do something that was quick & unrestricted...& I wanted to go back to using a template for a bit of fun. Templates are so good - you don't really have to think to use them. And the results are quick & easy (& don't look half bad). So here's something I whipped up tonight:

Credits: Papers by Jodie Patterson and Weeds & Wildflowers; Button swirls by Nina Scraps (altered from original); Frame by Doreen Stolz; Based on Template by Shandy Vogt (altered from original).

stand up

2007-09-15T21:33:00.001+10:00

There's an exciting 6 week event about to start called Stand Up & Scrap. I hummed & haared & decided to join in.

I have no illusions - I'm very unlikely to do particularly well. But it's for a good cause & it sounds fun.

I'm currently downloading the massive registration kit so I can have a play. I'll post something here later.

------------ edited to add ------------

What a great kit! Lots of fun stuff to play with. Here's a wee layout I put together with just items from the kit (apart from the template & the fonts):

Credits: Template by Andrea Gold (altered from original); Papers by Heidi Williams, Gina Huff & Anna Aspnes; Frame overlay (heavily altered from original), stitching & doodles (altered from original) by Meredith Fenwick; Ribbon by Christina Renee; Fonts: Seraphim, Dali & Blacksmith’s Delight

news

2007-09-14T01:59:00.000+10:00

Awwww...I've just had some good news. My layout for the Friday Freebie Challenge at Digital Freebies won the August challenge. Yay.

It's some good news amongst a week of frustration. My computer has all but died. There's something weird going on with it that even my geek of a hubby can't fix. I can't access the internet, send email or do any scrapping (because the disk with my scrapping files is temporarily out of commission on top of all the computer trouble). The computer itself keeps crashing uncontrollably & firing up Photoshop seems to give it a bit of a brain aneurysm or something. It's most frustrating.

So this was a nice piece of news :) It also does a lot to boost morale - I don't get much feedback on my layouts...so it's nice to think I must have done something good!!

busy weekend

2007-09-09T16:24:00.000+10:00

It's been a busy weekend. Hubby has been busy with work...which means I get more time to sit at the computer & scrap.

Last night, I did this layout with Kaye Winiecki's Iddy Biddy Set 2. I love her cardboard stars.

Credits: Template from Digiscrap; Papers by Kaye Winiecki & Kim Broedelet (heavily altered from original); Embellishments by Kaye Winiecki, Amelie Scrap, Kim Broedelet & Mz Cora; Overlay by Kaye Winiecki; Font: rub this!

On Friday I did this layout for both the quote challenge & the heritage challenge at Digital Freebies. I really like this template - it's nice & simple. And the woman in the photos is my great grandmother (& great grandfather, obviously...lol).

Credits: Template by Mrs Wresh; Papers by Kim Broedelet & Pam Lefars Designs; Overlay by Suzanne C. Walker (altered); Font: Georgia.

Earlier in the week, I also did a layout for the doodle challenge at Digital Freebies. The colours in the kit aren't really what I use most of the time but it's bright & cheerful.

Template by Kim Broedelet (altered from original); Papers & embellishments by Melanie Ann Designs; Datewheel by Simply Sarah (altered from original); Journaling frame by Amélie Scrap (altered from original); Font: Script of Sheep.

lengthy

2007-09-08T14:25:00.000+10:00

This post is going to be a bit long. I thought I'd start with a few layouts I've done in the last month or so. I'm having a bit of a template frenzy at the moment. Maybe I'm just being lazy but I really like the finished result. And there are so many nice ones out there!

First up, we have a layout I did with the Friday Freebie over at Digital Freebies. I love the colours in the Aidan Again bonus kit. Very restful.

Credits: Credits: Template by Andrea Gold (altered from original); kit by retrodiva

Then we have another layout I did at Digital Freebies, this time for Maree's monthly photo challenge. September's theme is big expressions.

In the photos I used, Wee Man was having a day where all his smiles involved lots of wide-mouthed grins & yelling. The resulting photos always remind me of someone doing the haka...& the fact he's wearing a wee All Blacks T-shirt just reinforces that image. I've included the words for the old All Black's haka (Ka Mate) in the background paper. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, a haka is a type of Maori dance, typically done before going into battle (& done by the All Blacks before a game)...& the All Blacks are New Zealand's rugby team.

Credits: Template by Simply Sarah Designs (altered); Papers by Mermaid's Haven, Sasha Jane Designs, Gina Huff, Sandra Krieger, Kate Hadfield, and Shabby Princess; Frame by Jessica Sprague; Font: impact

This next layout was done as part of Challenge Wednesday at DSSA (on their blog). The challenge? To write a letter to your younger self. And yes, that's a photo of me :)

Credits: Template by Colleen Brady; Papers by Lisa Witney & Alexa B.; Embellishments by SJM (sorry - unsure who this was now) & Pillowgirl (altered from original); Alpha by Leah Riordan; Journal block by Gina Huff; Font: Roddy.

The next ones are older again. These four layouts were done during a couple of cybercrops at Scrapbooking Top 50 (Australia), so they have certain guidelines that need to be followed for each layout.

Credits: Papers by Linda Gill Billdat & Retrodiva (Tracy Collins) (altered from original); Frame by mzpimptress; Embellishments & journalling spots by Shabby Princess, Mermaid's Haven, LaWanna Desjardin & Tracy Drane; Brush from seishido.biz; Fonts: freak, virgin, Barbarjowe Pisanki, & 1942 report

Credits: Papers by Leah Riordan; Embellishments by Pam Lefars Designs & Weeds & Wildflowers (altered); Font: Yank

Credits: Papers by Shabby Princess; Wordart by Rhonna Farrer; Embellishments by Weeds & Wildflowers, Amber Clegg, Sausan Designs & from Digital Scrapbook Place; Frames by Shabby Princess (altered) & Princess Pamela

Credits: Papers by Jill D-Zines, Rhonna Farrer (heavily altered), & mzpimptress; Embellishments by Shabby Princess, mzpimptress, & from Digital Scrapbook Place; Wordart from Digital Scrapbook Place

This layout was for nothing in particular - I was just playing with some photos I'd taken of Wee Man. It's also the last layout I did in Paint Shop Pro (I use Photoshop CS3 now).

Credits: Template by Colleen Brady (altered from original); Papers by Mermaid's Haven, & Shabby Princess (heavily altered from original); Wordart from Digital Scrapbook Place; Brush by Jan Crawley ("Queen of Quirk")

And, finally, here's a LO of Wee Man & my hubby using Tasha's amazing Aquastatic template.

Credits: Template by Tasha Stanton; Papers by Shabby Princess, Tracy Drane, and from Digital Scrapbook Place; Alphas from Digital Scrapbook Place; Stamp by Shabby Princess; Font: Dali

Those are just some of my layouts from the gallery thus far. There are heaps more (mostly older) but they'll do for now - this post is already more than long enough!

out of the closet

2007-09-07T14:03:00.000+10:00

Ok. So I thought it was high time I had a better place to put my digital scrapping stuff rather than hidden away in a gallery I never link to.

This blog isn't about my life - no one is interested in that (except maybe my mum)...& anyway, I have a separate blog for that (my mum is my biggest fan). Instead, it's somewhere to put up my layouts & have a bit of a natter about scrapping.

I don't do scrapbooking. Not the pen & paper stuff, anyway. I like playing round on the computer & giving a nice backdrop to all the photos I have of my kids (& others). Hubby calls it My Big Waste of Time. Everyone else calls it digital scrapbooking. Virtually none of my friends know I do it. It's kind of my dirty little secret that I partake in at night when the kids have gone to bed.

So, I'm officially stepping out of the closet. Online anyway. Even if only my mum reads it :)