CFC87 Make Your Mark

It's challenge time at Cas-ual Fridays and this week the challenge is to use markers in your Clean And Simple Creation. My friend's father passed away over the weekend so I wanted to make her a Sympathy card.  I decided to stamp some butterflies on pink cardstock in Versamark, then heat emboss them in white.  I coloured the butterflies with markers in three shades of pink. then outlined them with the darkest shade.  I stamped and embossed the sentiment in white.  Some pearls added an elegant finishing touch.

JAI #148 Sketch Challenge

It's time to play along at Just Add Ink again and this week it's a sketch challenge.

I have missed my Perfectly Preserved Set from Stampin' Up so I decided to pull it out and make a Valentine's Day card.  I grabbed some Twitterpated DSP and the co-ordinating inks Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze and Riding Hood Red.  I punched a border from RHR cardstock with a Martha Stewart border punch and stamped my sentiment with an alpha set from Typo (notice it's the same font as the Made at Number 27 font? Cool huh?) and a bow of Island Indigo bakers twine added a finishing touch.  The heart was punched from RHR cardstock and painted with a mixture of Perfect Pearls and water to add some shimmer.

Thanks for stopping by!

Project Life Week Four

Here's Week 4's layout and this week I mostly used Amy Tangerine's Ready, Set, Go Digital Collection available here.  For the second week I printed everything at home with my Epson Picturemate and I am still stunned at the quality of the prints from this little printer.  I had actually finished my layout during Master 2's nap on Sunday, photographed it and was getting ready to post it, when we decided to take a little impromptu outing which of course resulted in more photos being taken.  I toyed with the idea of including those pics in Week 5, but my OCD tendencies got the better of me, and I pulled out a flyer from a performance we saw at the zoo, and a quote card to make room for two photos from our little outing.  It was a pretty routine week with some short outings to let the boys get out and burn off some energy.

In addition to Amy Tangerine's collection there is an Ali Edwards "Circle of Life" Digi Stamp, a Cathy Zielske "For Reals" Journalling Card, a Marcy Penner "Right Now" card, a "Quoted card" from Kimberley Ranieri and a printable I found online to reference Australia Day.  I also included a screen-shot from a Skype conversation between my hubs and Master 6 where they discussed posting some of Daddy's birthday cake from China to Australia.  I love being able to include these little details.

I must also give a shout-out to the Project Life Australia Group on Facebook who celebrated their First Birthday this week with lots of fun and giveaways.  The girls in that group rock my world and they are collectively responsible for me not only being behind on housework, but also for chronic "enabling". Love ya!

Love This Face

Time for another scrapbook layout share.  I have been keen to use my Cameo to create a background for a layout and since herringbone/chevron is popular right now, that's the look I went for. I was inspired by a layout by the very talented Kinsey Wilson, and the cut file was a freebie from her blog. I also created my title with the Cameo- I can see myself doing this A LOT in future.   All papers and die-cuts are from Studio Calico, the arrow stamp from Avery Elle and some machine stitching added just the right amount of texture.

Thanks for stopping by!

AEI♥U January Challenge

The team at Avery Elle have set another challenge.  Here is the inspiration photo.....

I love the raspberry red of the umbrella combined with black and grey so it was a comfortable colour palette for me to work with.  I also love the striped boots so I decided to incorporate some stripes in my background panel.  Here's what I came up with using Avery Elle's Picture It stamp set and inks/cardstocks from Stampin' Up.......

Hope all my fellow Aussies out there are having a great Australia Day!

He Loves Food

Just a quick share of another scrapbooking layout- this one is a little "messier" than my usual C & S style.  My youngest son is an eating machine and it's always a messy affair so that inspired me to create a layout that reflects his enthusiasm for food and eating.  

I used Studio Calico papers/stickers/wood veneers, Mister Hueys spray inks, Avery Elle stamps, Claudine Hellmuth stamps, American Crafts Thickers, some random buttons, brads, staples and machine stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!

Using Up Scraps

I've mentioned before that I'm nearly a year behind in my "regular" scrapping and now I have my new Picturemate, I'm hoping to remedy that by just scrapping when time allows and/or the mood strikes.  I can also choose my papers before I choose/edit my pics which is really helpful when deciding which Photoshop actions to apply.  I'm also trying to clear some clutter from my craft room and that means using up leftover bits and pieces from old collections before I cut into or purchase newer ones.  Today I want to share a couple of scrapbooking layouts I've done in the past couple of days.

This is a really old 3 Bugs in a Rug Collection- possibly 5 years old?- but I still had some good size pieces of patterned paper left as well as some die-cuts and a sheet of alphas.  The Bazzill cardstock was in the sleeve with the collection so I think I probably bought it to match at the same time.  I don't really match cardstocks anymore, preferring to either go with a neutral- white, black or kraft- or use a fairly plain patterned paper as the base for my layouts.

This is a collection from Cosmo Cricket called Circa 1934.  Again, I had some good size sheets and some stickers left and although at first glance the collection is quite feminine, I made it work with these photos of my youngest boy.  Some black distress ink and splatters of Mister Hueys grunged it up a little bit.

I'm going to make a concerted effort to use up  some more of these older collections clogging up my space.  I hate clutter, but I also know I won't be able to resist some of the new lines just released at CHA in the US recently ;-)

Project Life Week Three

It was a pretty dull week as a result of my dodgy back giving me grief.  I spent almost the entire first three days flat on my back (as much as I could given that I have two little boys to look after), and we didn't head out of the house until Thursday.  

This week I used the Clementine Digital Core Kit available from acdigitals.com, and an Ali Edwards overlay and circle element.  Just like I did with Seafoam last week, I opened my photos, edited them and added the digital elements.  I opened my journalling cards, cropped the rounded corners off, typed on them and dropped two cards onto a 6x4 canvas ready for printing.  I added a few little bits and pieces but for the most part, this layout is comprised of digital product.

The only big difference this week is that I bought one of these.......

........and printed everything at home!  It's an Epson Picturemate PM235.  I have always been sceptical about at-home printing, preferring to make the trip every Monday morning to Big W or Harvey Norman to get my photos and journalling cards printed.  After seeing how much other Project Lifers, particularly the ladies on the PLA Facebook Group Page, rave about these little guys, I decided that I would get one. After an awful experience at the store (that's a story for another time) I eventually got it home, plugged it in to the power and started printing- yup, you don't need to hook it up to your computer- just insert your  memory card and print away.  However, since I edit everything in Photoshop, it is easier for me to hook the Picturemate up to my computer and get the photos to the machine that way.  The software was easy to install and is very easy to use.  I had to fiddle around with my borderless/bleed settings a little to avoid the cropping that occurs, but the printer remembers these settings now, and I don't have to re-do them every time I turn it on.  It only prints 6 x 4, but that is perfect for PL and most of my scrapbooking. The other thing I really love about it, is it's small footprint on my desk.  It's a little over 8 x 6, so you don't need much extra space next to your computer.   Now, the prints themselves- I was pleasantly surprised by how fast the photos printed and dried and even more surprised by the quality. It's fantastic.  The cost per print is more than doing it in-store, so I'm sure I won't abandon store trips completely, but considering how much time and effort is saved by printing at home, and the fact that the quality is terrific, I say it's money well-spent.  

I'll be sure to share more about the Picturemate once I've used it more, but for now I give it a huge thumbs-up!

CFC86: Long and Short

This week at CAS-ual Fridays, the challenge is to create a CAS card that has one long side and one short side. So no standard A2 size cards are allowed. I thought I'd get into the Valentine's Day mood and create a card measuring 7.5" x 4".

I started with a crumb cake card base measuring 7.5" x 8", and scored and folded it to form a 7.5" x 4" card. I added a red panel after embossing it with a Sizzix woodgrain folder.  Next, I took a white panel, stamped and white heat embossed my sentiment with alphabet stamps before then adding a few spritzes of Mr Hueys in Schoolhouse. Once dry, I cleaned up the embossed letters to really make them pop and then added a strip of washi tape to the bottom of the panel which I then adhered to the card with foam adhesive. I took a Memory Box die to cut some hearts from red cardstock and adhered those with Glossy Accents.

Just Add Ink #149

Just Add Ink is having a "Big Shot Blog Hop" to kick off 2013, so the challenge this week is  to use the Big Shot or any diecut machine on your card, scrapbooking page or box/project etc. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut a Chrysanthemum in two layers from American Crafts patterned paper, and a punch to cut a butterfly.  A stamped sentiment from Stampin' Up's Sassy Salutations set finished off the card.

Here's a closer look at the diecut and butterfly.....

This next card was a free design from the Silhouette Online Store last week, and I just wanted to share this one to show you what this awesome machine can do.......

Thanks for stopping by!

Proud of You

Another scrapbook layout to share today.  This is a photo from February 2012 of my eldest son and me.  We've been butting heads lately but I want him to always know how much I love him and how proud I am of him.  

I used a 12 x 12 paper pad from Crate Paper, some stamping with distress inks, some Mister Hueys spray inks, Kaisercraft pearls and some random buttons.  I cut the title with my Silhouette Cameo.  Since I was in the photo, I had the perfect excuse to use some floral papers ;-)

Hello Summer

It's been hot here in Perth this week- not just hot, but stinking sticky yucky hot.  So that means staying indoors in the air-conditioning, which of course means more time to scrapbook.  I am nearly a year behind in my "normal" scrapping, but that's OK since Project Life is up-to-date.  Anyways on account of the stinking hot weather, I took these photos from last summer and made this........

I pulled out Studio Calico's Heyday collection, which at first glance looks rather girly, but selected some bits and pieces I thought would work for this Summery layout.  I used my Cameo to cut the sun and the title, added some machine stitching and called it done.  I almost always journal on my layouts, but I think the photos alone tell the story pretty well- Boys+Hot Day+Water= FUN, but of course I added where we were and the date.

Although I'm still a newbie with the Cameo, I am starting to get into the swing of using it on almost every project.  I've learnt a few little tricks to help with intricate cuts courtesy of a squillion pins to my Pinterest board (sorry to all my followers) and a lot of trial-and-error. Best machine ever.

Project Life Week Two

This week I cracked into to my digital supplies and used the Seafoam core kit.  It was so easy to crop the journalling cards to square the corners and then just type away.  I forgot that when I print at my lab, sometimes a little bit of cropping occurs so I will reprint the cards involved next week.  I love the aqua, orange and grey colour combination of Seafoam but I think I will tire of it if I use it every week.  I'm tossing up whether to purchase Clementine and mix that in to my album - you'll have to stay tuned to see if I do LOL!

I've also changed my approach a little for this week.  Rather than giving a day-by-day breakdown of the week, I've simply included some highlights and I think I will continue to do this, especially when school resumes and describing our weekly activities becomes a little repetitive.

Here's Week Two....

Project Life Week One

And so, Week One of Project Life, 2013 is underway! This year, I have far more confidence that I can keep up with this project. It's just part of my weekly routine now, but finishing Week One was still a bit of a buzz because I'm approaching it a little differently this year.

The first page of the album, naturally, is my title page.

I used some digital freebies from around the internet, but most notably from the delightfully generous Cathy Zielske.   I took some of her 3 x 4 cards and changed things just a little, keeping the grey, orange and white colour palette. I gave into temptation and bought the PL Seafoam Digital Kit and I think these colours will go well with Seafoam and the Amy Tangerine digi stuff I already have.

The Seafoam Edition was designed my one of my favourite designers Elise Blaha Cripe and that little quote by C.S.Lewis on my title page was downloaded from Elise's blog.  She scattered some great quotes throughout her 2012 album and then kindly offered them as a freebie.

Here's a look at Week One....

Here's where you'll notice what I've done differently- first of all, all square corners!  I know, what a PL rebel I am, however, when I start using my Seafoam cards, they will have rounded corners unless I can change that somehow in Photoshop......we'll see ;-)

Secondly, I have typed my journalling......you'll remember how bad my handwriting is from my 2012 album, so I'm going digital this year.  I opened my journalling cards, typed right on 'em then printed here at home.  We have a colour laser printer and it's really pretty ordinary for tasks like this.  I'm hoping I can be organised enough to get them done Sunday nights when I do my photos and print them all together at the lab each Monday morning......again, we'll see......

I have also added some Amy Tangerine digital papers and elements to the photos, typing a short message on those too.

So that's how I've started out the year- whether I change it up or not remains to be seen, but that's the great thing about this project. You can do what you like and then you can change your mind and do something else. Even using a core kit, like Seafoam, you can find ways to mix in all sorts of things like other core kits or spare scrapbooking supplies.

Pop back next week to see if those corners are still rounded.......

Project Life Week 52

Well I finally made it-  52 weeks of our daily lives documented- PHEW!  I loved this project and looking back I would say Project Life has well and truly taken over from my "regular" scrapbooking which is sadly nearly a year behind. And that's ok- what is important to me is that our stories are being told.  

We spent Christmas in Queensland with my family and although I didn't manage to get a photo with all four of us in it together, there are lots of photos of my boys with my Dad, and those photos are very precious to me.

As I type this, I have already completed my title page and Week 1 for 2013 and I have tried a different approach.  It was quite time-consuming so although I am sure I will get faster with practice, I am not sure how long I will stick with it.  What I did in 2012 worked for me, so I can always go back to that system.

For my readers who have enjoyed my PL posts and wondered about giving it a go- JUST DO IT!  Becky Higgins has released lots of new kits- both paper and digital, so check them out here, or if you already have plenty of supplies, pull them out and get started.  I am happy to answer any of your questions if I can.

Project Life Week 51

I'm baaaack!  We've been to sunny Queensland to spend Christmas with my side of the family, and it was truly wonderful.  Of course, when we got back I was sweating over getting "caught up" on PL and within a couple of hours of getting off the plane I was getting photos developed at the lab LOL!

Week 51 was the week before we left and I did something a little different as a bit of an experiment.  I purchased some Amy Tangerine digital papers and elements and added the elements to my pics and rescaled the papers in PS and had the lab print them.  I also used matte paper for the first time.  I'm really happy with the results and I think I might do this a lot in my PL for 2013.  I worked my way through a lot of my paper stash in 2012 and was thinking about how I could avoid restocking until I really need to for my traditional 12x12 scrapbooking layouts.  We will probably be moving house twice in the next year or so and therefore reducing "stuff" is high on the agenda for this year.