A little breathing space.

Well dancing in the eisteddfod is complete and we only have the choir to go on Thursday night. Was a really busy week, trying to fit in work and be at the eisteddfod with the kids. Totally enjoyed it though as always. Kids did well both in solos and groups and that is all we can ask. They put in the hard work before hand and had no slip ups on stage. Now we prepare for concert and everything that comes after, such as Christmas, aghhhhhhh!!!! Here are my two and their friend ready to do their uptempo modern solos on Friday last.

Surprising myself!

I actually got to do the competition lo for Scrapbooking Premiere, which will be judged at their retreat in October. I just needed to do something for me, as I have been running around for everyone else lately. We had to capture a mood of some description, use black white and red, feather, masking and some sort of bling. The kids birthday was a very happy/party mood, could not resist using a feather as a mask on the white c/s and just love stickles and dimentional magic, not to mention glitter. Had a ball, although the craft table looked a little worse for wear after it was finished!

Sept/Oct Sketch @ Premiere

This challenge sketch is absolutely inspirational and I found myself with a couple of hours before bed last night in which I created from this sketch. It will be pretty hectic in my household for the next 4 weeks so I may not get a lot of scrapping done. Was really glad with the outcome of this one though and even managed to get to bed by 10 p.m. last night.

Kraft it Up August Challenge...

is a colour challenge using black, green and yellow. This is a great combination for reptiles but a little daunting when you want to use wedding photos. However undeterred we soldiered on. i love film strips to use more photos on a page and this was really appropriate for Christie and Robert's nuptial photographs. It is a long time since I used mulberry paper too, but he presto some yellow was in my stock. I love anything Kaiser so the flowers and the wood vines were appropriate in this lo. Kraft c/s is so great to use as a base as it does not interfere with the overall lo's tone, just adds to it, no matter what colour etc.

A Win!

What a boost to my scrapping confidence, I won the sketch challenge for May/June at http://www.scrapbookingpremiere.com.au/ I am basically a solo scrapper due to all my hectic schedule so to get a mention like this just gives the best boost and builds confidence no end!

July/Aug Premiere

This challenge from http://www.scrapbookingpremiere.com.au/ is all about bold and bright colours and different lettering, not to mention stitching and hand altered paper doilies. We also had to make our own background paper. I went a little bit wild with paints and just squiggled paint all over the page. The only disadvantage to this is that it took ages to dry and some of it gets covered by what you are doing on the page. Anyhoo this is what mine looks like!

Let's Get Shabby

The new challenge is up at Let's Get Shabby and the challenge is to use wings and a special verse. My daughter has a very special friend. They dance together and for duos and trios with my son. They do not go to the same school but have found a special friendship which as lead to both families being close. They are there for each other in good times and sad, and this picture of the two of them just shows how happy they are to be friends. The pair of them are angels, even if the devil sometimes raises his ugly head. There are quite a few elements in the lo, but the Prima butterflies are to die for. I also used some acrylic butterflies and adhered them with clear stickles, which I also used to highlight the vine and the edge of the 3D butterfly. I have used some felt flowers and a swirl of pearls to finish it off. I just love the lace border around both the photo and the matting; really makes it girly!

Premiere Sketch

This month's sketch from http://www.scrapbookingpremiere.com.au/ is a beauty. Heaps of opportunity for embellishment. These prima stars were just what the doctor ordered.

Premiere Kit

I have had this lo on my desk half finished for over a fortnight and finally got to finish it this morning before heading off to athletics etc. This is a Kristy Cook kit but I have added a couple of extra things from my stash to personalise it.

Have a great weekend!

A Shabby Birthday

The challenge, to help celebrate their 1st birthday, from Let's Get Shabby, is a layout depicting birthdays and evidence of stamping. I must say I discovered some stamps that I had forgotten I had, and put them to good use on this layout. I love Kraft cardstock and found the Dotted Girl paper great to match colours of inks etc for stamping. The little cup cakes are all embossed with clear embossing powder to help them standout on the page. I thought I was finished the lo and was certain it needed something, but what? The light bulb came on when I saw a packet of party poppers in the drawer. You guessed it, I popped a couple and used their contents on my page as an embellishment. Now it really is a party page!!!!

A Premiere Kit

Bought this kit yesterday from Scrapbooking Premiere. Changed it a little to suit the photograph of Barry and Jan, parents of the bride from my previous post. I had fun doing this as you can just follow the instructions; get a result without too much brain strain.

http://www.scrapbookingpremiere.com.au

Kraft it Up Challenge

Always wanting to use more photos on your page? Kraft it up's challenge is to use 4 to 6 photos on a layout. Having just attended a very special friend's wedding, I used this challenge to scrap some of my photos.

I decided to use a heart as the first base, and forgive me Christie, but I cut you in half, to allow the heart to open and reveal some passport size photos of the parents and the bridesmaids in side. I love the ruffle ribbon and it hides the edge of the heart well. Used a lot of ink and a couple of stamps to embellish the inside of the lay out. Had fun doing this one, thanks for the challenge http://www.kraftitup.blogspot.com/

Hey!! Another one....

I'm on a roll.....Kraft it Up's challenge this month is minimalistic. I don't think I have done any minimal los since I started scrapping so this was a challenge in itself. Had to keep saying "leave it alone, don't touch it!!!" to myself otherwise there would have been more than 3 elements on the page.

Finally a page!!!!!

Seems like forever and it really is but I finally have had some time to myself and did the sketch challenge from Scrapbooking Premiere. Have quite a few photos from Bowen athletics and this sketch allowed me to us a couple.

Bowen Athletics Carnival

A big weekend for us just gone. Our annual trip to Bowen for the Athletics Carnival was quite successful. Kendall had 10 events, which he placed in 6. 1st in 800m walk, 800m run, 400m sprint and 1500m run, 2nd in hurdles and 3rd in 200m run. Dana, who is not really an athlete but does excel in the race walk, placed third in the 800m walk, her first real medal as generally she has only got the participation medal for athletes 7 and under. She was stoked and so were we. It just goes to show you have to find your niche in each area of your endeavours. Kendall and I are off to Rockhampton next Sunday for him to compete in the Caprincornia Cross Country. He will be representing Mackay District. We also have a dance workshop next weekend so everything is on a timetable so we can get to everything. Have a great week!

Let's Get Shabby Challenge

this time is about autumn colours and our inspiration was a beautiful quilt. I decided that both the colours and the quilt were inspiration for me and it reminded me of doing samplers and cross stitch and patchwork all together. I had photos of the family competing in a cross country event recently and suddenly a light bulb went on; the words cross and country could also be used in craft!!! So my layout, which I have designed to hang, is based on patchwork, using the photographs, samplers, using different stitches and buttons, country feel, with cotton laces and fabrics, and of course the beautiful autumn colours both on the base paper from My Minds Eye and the fabrics. I cheated a little and used an X for the word cross, so it could either be a big cross stitch or a shortcut for the word Cross. I really had fun doing it, even if the machine played up a little doing the stitching. Check out Lets Get Shabby's site for more inspirations!!!

Shabby Scrap: April Challenge

Easter photos are always a challenge, but the challenge from Lets Get Shabby was to do an Easter lo. Most of our photos are from the bunny visit, as this is the only time over Easter I remember to get the camera out. It is usually a relaxing weekend at our house, a total opposite from our usual hustle and bustle. I decided to use the kids Easter baskets as an inspiration and have all my eggs in the one basket. Tulle, bows, glitter, stickles, diamentes, fibres and ribbon helped make the lo have the "shabby feel".

April Challenge-Scrapbooking Premiere

Sandra and the girls have once again challenged us to create a lo using a minimum of elements. Colour inclusion needed to be coffee, metal and beads needed to be evident, the word remember had to be in title or journalling and the theme was a place or thing. For one who is used to scrapping people, this became a challenge in itself to find a suitable photograph. Luckily the kids had gone to Eungella with the grands over Easter and Dana had taken this magnificent tree with plaited vines on it.....problem solved!! (I do not want to see another bead for a little while either..

Special night in

Had some friends over last night for dinner. What great company and wonderful way of creating your own entertainment. Kids all got on fab and included all of us in their entertainment. It reinforced for me how lucky we are to have such wonderful friendships and how much I miss those friends who are far away and cannot join in on these evenings. So too my special ones away at the moment, enjoy every moment, make sure you have the best times, but remember those at home love you heaps and would like to see in back safe and sound when you are ready!!!!

Kraft it Up and Scrapbook Premiere Challenges

Well I had time today to manage a couple of challenges.

The first lo is from the Scrapbooking Premiere sketch challenge for April and I could not resist using these two photos of Dana on Easter morning showing just exactly which eggs she likes and which ones she does not prefer....

The second lo is for Kraft it up and they required Kraft as the background and a monochromatic colour scheme. I used a lego brick to create the background in cobalt blue then painted some chipboard letters the same colour and coated them with dimensional magic. I had a pen the same colour so just outlined the word King so it fitted in. Very simple but effective no less.

One day blogger will show me how to get the pictures the right way round....

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