Big Picture Festival

I had a fabulous time at Big Picture Festival. I gained so much from every challenge.  WOW. What can I say, it was just mind blowing and freed me up to scrap in a way I haven't before. You won't necessarily see it in what I create but believe me I'll feel it while I'm putting my pages together. A big huge thanks to all the teachers for giving us Big Picture Festival and an extra big hug for the transcripts provided!!  LOVED it and I'm looking forward to next years already. Awesome. 

I didn't complete all of the challenges that called for a layout. There was no way I was going to be able to create a page a day. I mean are you kidding me? With all the moving of our various scrap stash around on a sheet of paper and the ummming and aaaahing that goes with it, uh huh. No way. Couldn't do it. But I'm happy with what I have done which is more pages than I've completed in a while. 

Big Picture Festival!

I'm having fun with BIG PICTURE!  From the 4th of September to the 17th there's a Festival Happening. A prize everyday, give aways and looks like to me some very cool prizes and it's not too late to register so come and visit!!

Today is #2 Day and we need to take a fun pic. I was worried about it for a little while 'cos I'm at home alone so didn't know where to draw my inspiration from (and hadn't read the details thoroughly so it seems!!).  But hey, it's my birthday today and I had a couple of visitors to help me out. Thanks Taryn and Kruize.

This is me with my birthday happy Apron from Taryn. Taryn has one and I've always loved it, such a cool design! Her Nan does lovely needle/sewing work. I'd asked  Taryn a while back if her Nan had one I could buy for a friend? "No" was the answer ..."and there will  be no more 'cos they're too fiddly and I bought the last one for your birthday!" Lol.  Does this count for a Fun photo? I just love the bright colours. And Louise, if you ever visit here....please note my shoes! Haha.

PaperChase Challenge

I haven't completed a layout for PaperChase in a long while but when I saw some of the entries it inspired me to give July's sketch challenge a go. Although this started out looking similar - truly... I ended up taking things away when I felt they didn't sit together nicely.  

Another photo taken at the beach in the middle of winter.

 I still can't get over how much a beautiful day it was.

Three layouts for Challenge Me Happy's 1st Year Anniversary Hoopla!
I haven't been in the mood for scrapping and my scrapspace is sooo cold during winter I hate going in there for longer than is absolute necessary, usually just to dump something or find my shoes!  But I received some Washi tape from Nic Howard this week and it inspired me to create a few layouts.


Hannah's Recipe Challenge

Michelle's Word Challenge - Happy

Marie's Sketch Challenge (photo taken on a very wet day - today!)

I was still wanting to complete a few layouts today but a visit to SENZ in Hamilton won out hands down! 

The remaining challenges have given me ideas for other layouts I plan on completing one day, maybe even this week :D 

I've got some layouts to share. Three of them, count it: one, two, three! Wow!
Sorry about the crappy photo's. I'm still using the same photo manager software.

I started this one for Scrappin Patch comp but I found it difficult to channel Missy Whidden and put it aside, picking it up a few days later - not wanting to waste the cardstock and all the GlimmerGlam.  I love it how Missy uses  smaller photo's so this is what I tried to do here. I completed the layout after the deadline date and that's a good thing 'cos it was looking a bit more of a lift than anything else don't you think?

The pics were taken before I asked Dd to remind me about the journaling - when she saw these lollipops for sale she exclaimed it would take days to finish one but it didn't after all....figures.

 And this one was just for me - AMAZING! Normally I need a challenge or a comp to get me going. I visited Missy Whidden for inspiration to complete the torn top edge. I love how she fills those babies up!  Yeah I know, more sugar! After the Christmas parade we visited a couple of stalls along the road. I have no idea how she ended up with sugar in both hands! Journaling's  going to go on the lined paper below the photo.

Another layout using a Basic Grey kit and look at the similarity to the one above! I went along to Aussie Scrap Source for a visit and they had a sketch by Becky Fleck up for a challenge. 

There's a readers design challenge happening over there and I'm learning stuff! :D 

Stars in their Eyes with Scrappin' Patch!

Scrappin' Patch has another comp going. It's similar to the television program but you're scrapping (obviously) another scrappers style rather than singing :D

That bit of Mojo hiding under the dust bunny the other day snuck back there and I didn't think I was going to submit an entry this week but it (she?) popped out for a few minutes on the final day and I gleefully grabbed her!

For the first week we were to use Jenny Evan's style and this is my result. I would've liked to do something with black matting as to me that is Jenny's signature but as there's only one sheet left  in my stash until I dunno when, I didn't want to use it up so soon in the competition. I've used brown instead with one of  Basic Greys kits that I've had a while.

This is a much better photo than the one I loaded to Scrappin' Patch's Gallery which was taken at night 30mins before the deadline. Yep, leave it to the last minute Me and that dang mojo :P

This week our Star is Missy Whidden. It sure looks like lot's of fun! I just need to go practise some paint flinging  - a lot. I'm not too hot on that technique. 

CUL8r :D 

#22 Challenge Me Happy

Wow, it's been so long since I've blogged posting a new post (if that's the term one uses) has changed. I think I like it!  Anyway, I've tried to scrap this pic quite a few times but nothing seemed to gel until I saw #22 challenge over at Challenge Me Happy. Finally done! The tiny script beneath the red tickets say's "..and two embarrassed cousins" Lol.

There are more layouts to come. Thanks to Sue at The Crop Room for setting up a little crop for NSD, I found some mojo hiding under a dust bunny under my scrap table :D

March photo a day 1, 2, 3

March 1st UP
Our cat's love the cabbage trees....I do too except for the leaves that end up over the ground - in the garden and especially on the lawn. We have four cats, Peanut is too old for climbing but the other three are frisky, not yet 2 year olds and chase one another UP and down our two cabbage trees. Gizmo was looking straight at me but was easily distracted when I clicked the shutter. 

March 2nd  Fruit

 A bucket of Pears we collected the day before at friends of my Mums. Going back for more this week :D This is the first time EVER I've collected a pear from the tree it has fallen from. When I was much younger they would come from the many fruit sellers around Henderson or further out in the country, wrapped in tissue paper or in a moulded tray similar to what egg cartons are made of today but  in wooden boxes. These day's it's from the supermarket. So quite a novelty for us to collect them ourselves.

March 3rd  Your Neighbourhood. 

Lol. What neighbourhood?  This neighbour is behind us. I love the view when I hang out my washing anytime of day. I've taken many pics of this home over the years. One of my favourites is when a rainbow appeared over the house, perfectly framed. The background was dark with grey clouds and the sun shone full onto the front. It looked amazing....but that was last year not yesterday. In my dreams I have a new home and I paint it black so we will have a sign next to theirs.  Their sign says The White House and ours will say The Noir House perhaps...in my dreams. 

An award!

What an absolutely beautiful surprise to find in my comments that I had won the Liebster Blog Award. Wow!! 

Thanku very much Francine

The Liebster Blog Award is meant for those blogs in Blog Land that have 200 or less followers. Liebster comes from German, meaning dearest or beloved but can also mean favourite. This award is such a wonderful way to show appreciation for those people who do beautiful work and inspire you but have a small following. As part of the tradition the award is passed along to five other blogs that have motivated and inspired you. To accept the award you must:

1. Link back to the person's blog who gave it to you and thank them.

2. Post the award on your blog.

3. Give the award to 5 bloggers (less than 200 followers) that you appreciate and value.

4. Leave a comment on the five blogs you chose to let them know.

So not quite following with tradition I've chosen 6 blogs that motivate and inspire me craft wise (and otherwise): 

1. Jenny E

2. Sonya Pickles 

3. Carol

4. Nicki Vallance

5. Heidi 
6.   Raewyn

The last week....

The last week of Scrappin Patch's 6 Week competition. 

We had to make a Paperbag or Envelope album. I'd never made an album out of envelopes so I was keen to give it a go. Thanks to the ladies at CR for helpful links to various instructions on the web. I had a lot of fun making this but I admit it was hard to know when to stop adding the envelopes! My stash of scraps and older embellishments got a good work out though.

Include 4 buttons - 2 tiny buttons anchor the metal bookplate. 

Include cardstock - the 'envelope' for this page was made with Jenni Bowlin embossed cardstock and glimmermist - the background from a discarded ufo! 

Include a diecut :D 

Include tags - one of two

The circle mat used on the left side envelope flap is a chocolate wrapper! 

Two more buttons and - finally a special place for the movie tickets my 11yr old brings home for me. 

The last 'pages' and #2 of two labels to be included. The beautiful card used to hold the tag came from a swap at last years Rotorua Scrapbook Dreams Retreat 

I'll post our layout for this week in a bit...

got to scram back soonish.

#4 Week at Scrappin' Patch Comp

Create a layout about your country and include the name on your layout.  What do you love about your country? What is special or different? Include 2 items specific to NZ; a photograph or a piece of memorabilia. You must use the colours of your flag.


I used a Poppy from Anzac day going back a few years and an old phone card that has New Zealand on the side of the boat. Always knew those cards would come in handy one day, I use to find them on the side of the road.


Land of the Lucky started out as a two page layout with 18x 3 almost 1/4 inch squares in blue, red, white, and black in a grid pattern. I only had scraps of red cardstock, one sheet of blue bazzil and one of white to work with. Basic Grey and Autumn Leaves to the rescue but heck I seriously need a cardstock restock! 
 Too tired to finish the revamp after 1am I had early riser Dh wake me up to ink, stick down the journaling and upload before 9am monday morning. Panic! Stupid photo manager hates me!  I used this photo of Dd and her school mates to show the bi-cultural part of my journaling. I thought it was pretty apt.

#4 OTP Create a Journaling Notebook or Diary: you must use fabric, a button, twine or string and stamping. 

I picked up the last 2 $7 Das books at a sale for $3 each. I love that the pages are blank and good quality artist paper. Maybe I'll be tempted to pick up a pencil. Ha!

 I used muslin for my fabric both on the tag and the background where it was smooshed (lol) with glue and texture paste and lastly sprayed with Glimmermist. There's dimensional magic on the wings of the awesomely beautiful Graphic45 Steampunk Collection. I've used one half of a zip along the left handside, if you look very closely you can just make out the teeth. 

I took my current journal on Dd's school camp last year and collected a few leaves and a flower that was given to me.  But I lost some of them between Bushaven and home so I thought to add a few transparency pockets machine stitched to cardstock  inside the next book I made. The idea stemmed from Nic Howards' class held at Autumn Escape in 2009, similar to the Card Buffet but with Journals! We decorated the cover and made 'dividers' for inside.  

My no.2 Journal. 

I stitched onto the cardstock after attaching the squares of fabric and patterned paper. I used a single photo split per square in the centre to give the appearance of them 'floating' 'cos if  you haven't noticed there's a transparency piece stitched over the front cover. To hold it altogether is a length of elastic. Another idea from Nic Howards Journal Buffet class. The elastic is held on the back with two eyelets. I liked this idea so much I decided to do it on this. Just flip the elastic off and away you go but it's still attached to the back. Note the stamping? Nic Howards own design bought a while ago from Kiwi Scraps aka Craft House in Wellington. It's so very versatile! 

And that's it from me this week :D 

Scrappin Patch Competition

Two new challenges each week over 6 weeks at Scrappin Patch

Currently at #4

These are my first entries starting on the 3rd week.  Yes week 3! No chance of winning  but I'll be putting more memories into albums and this week called on you to create a set of cards and a box to put them in - so that's cards for my stash too.

Challenge #3 Find inspiration from one of Scrappin' Patch new Design Team members. I chose Erin Blegen and her layout Putting on the Spritz. I can see a patterned background with a heavily distressed 12x12 over the top and in her yummy layers I see tissue paper, crocheted lace,'spritzed' glimmermist and bling bodied butterflies...b.b.b!:D I love bakers twine but sadly can't find mine amongst the mess in my scrapspace!!  I throughly enjoyed making the cards - the only new thing is the kraft cardstock for the base. 

For my layout I drew my inspiration from

 Nina Ostermann. I love her clean and spacious layouts, her use of light coloured papers on white backgrounds, less embellishments and dare I say it her trade mark paint/ink splat! 

Gorgeous huh? 

And my attempt.....

This kiddo is so cute, the son of a friend who's garden I was working in last year. His Mum says he does this all the time...so I took along my camera one day hoping to capture him When he was suppose to be sleeping. 

Challenge Me Happy Challenge!

Finally!! I've spent all weekend with this new software......it won't crop where you want it to and after hitting save I spend a half an age trying to find  the photo under My Pictures 'cos it's never where I want it. 


Anywho,  this is my entry for #14 over at Challenge Me Happy, and my first layout for the year. A lift of Trina McClune's beautiful layout. You can see it here titled Time to Spare. It's really lovely and the misting is gorgeous. 

Posting these again....

I just posted these, edited them. Published them...again. Ran out to bring the washing in. Came back to post a layout for Challenge me Happy and it's all gone...........!


Here we again....I hope they stick! 

Using Fancy Pants Oct 31st for Scrapbook Outlet. 

We don't do Halloween so I wanted to show this collection could be used for other topics. It wasn't hard to do!  A selection of these papers were also in our challenge pack while in Rotorua during Scrapbook Dreams retreat. I don't remember seeing any Halloween layouts so it goes to show it's a very versatile collection of cool papers. 

I have played under and over the transparency above; for example....tearing the background paper but stapling the transparency. I just loved all the product included in this collection!

For the centre piece that says love potion; I cut it out from the centre of the background paper and adhered it on to chipboard. Inked the edges, 'painted' it with Dimensional Magic and let the ink 'run'.

I covered it in Diamond Dust and when the DM was dry I bent it a little this way and that to get a few cracks.

For the 6x6 mini album I used the spider web transparency as interleaving between the acrylic pages but I also embellished one side.  I just loved using the diecuts! 

The End ....again  :D