1~2~3 Get Scrappy . . . . May Challenge #22

I've just spent a lovely morning putting the finishing touches to my page of Cait to enter into the 1~2~3 Get Scrappy May challenge.  I love the whole concept of a tic tac toe board. This month I have chosen the diagonal line - 1 circle shaped photo, 2 lots of flowers, 3 die cut piece. 

The photo was taken whilst the children were camping at
Bestbrook.  Cait loves nature, flowers and sunshine.

 I've used my medallion and banner dies from LaLa Land.  Some fussy cutting of a hydrangea print paper.

The gold embellishment is a hand-made piece using fine beading wire and small bead caps.

There are lots of small pieces from bling from Kaisercraft, Prima and Zva.

A collections of flowers from Petaloo, Prima and my favourite wholesaler.

Thank you for stopping by .... I hope you like it.

White with 1 (May Challenge) - Raspberry Wine

It was lovely to have a few hours to spare and pop over to WW1 May Challenge (Raspberry Wine).  As usual I had all kinds of problems photographing the page (white backgrounds always prove difficult for me).

The photo is a great favourite - it was taken the day before I flew to the USA in 2009. I had just returned from an overseas deployment to the Middle East - the holiday was a great chance to relax. I took my eldest girl along with me (her first overseas trip) and my little 'Hill Fairies' spent nearly three weeks home with Daddy (the world's best son-in-law).

Emi and Cait were showing me all sorts of tricks on the trampoline - so I grabbed my camera for a photo only to have Bree yell out 'Me too' and dive into the middle of her sisters.  Life is full of all kinds of blessings (if you take the time to look for them) but having grand-daughters is surely one of my greatest.

I had a lovely collection of suitably coloured papers and I'm mad about my La La Land zigzag die.  Papers are an assortment of Lily of the Valley (from the UK) and a small piece of Bazzill. The small white flowers are Prima.

It's difficult to see the lovely stitching finish on this die - some of the pieces are double matted to add dimension.  Thank you for taking the time to look.

Where have the years gone .........

As I enter the last twelve months of my military service I am beginning to get quite excited about the idea of a new home - a lovely big craft studio and hours and hours to scrap, sew, design and just enjoy myself. Of course once you start planning ahead you often slip into reminiscing . . . .  so here I am at 40 - a photo shoot 'strongly' encouraged by my daughters (and I must confess I had fun). 

Flowers, bling, vintage and lovely papers.  I think its one of my favourite pages ...... or maybe it is just the trip down memory lane :)

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I really love to create little details - I know most people don't notice them, but I just enjoy putting them there. Especially lace and bling.

I just love digging around for little bits of vintage looking metal embellishments.  Added to ink and vintage papers the theme comes together nicely (after all I am 'very old' according to my much loved and adored grand-daughters).

I have a wonderful flower stash - some of it Ive had for ten years or more.  I spent so long collecting bits and pieces before I ever got a chance to use any of it.  Some of my scrap pals shake their heads and wonder where it all came from :)







Well . . . . as always thank you for looking - after 18, 21 and 40 I'm guessing the next big birthday will be 60.

Stuck!? Sketches - 1st May 2015 Challenge

I had my heart set on completing the other lovely May Stuck!? Sketches - with the added challenge of matching both of the monthly designs to make a double layout. 

Once again I have used the lovely Vintage Rose paper from Couture Creations and added some pretty lavender pearls and vintage labels from my stash.

Martha Stewart punches and Distress Tea Ink to tint the edges.

                       This time the subject is Emi's feet - toes peeping out of her snuggly blanket.                                             

Thank you for taking the time to look at my efforts.

Stuck?! Sketches - 15 May 2015 Challenge

I couldn't resist the new challenge at Stuck?! Sketches this month.  




Despite a tendency for modern layouts I decided to take the challenge and try a vintage theme. I've used the Couture Creations Vintage Rose collection - a little bit of Prima bling and some old flowers from the stash.


The photo is of my eldest grand-daughter Emi - she is just 12 weeks old in the photo and she will be 12 years old next week. There are so many wonderful photos to scrap - I hope I manage to get lots done this year.

I decided to combine my love of flowers and bling to shape the second circle of the sketch.

The first one was created using my Martha Stewart circle punch set.




Thank you for stopping by to look.

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My Creative Space

One of the blessings of my current posting to Brisbane is I'm living in a HUGE house (on my own) which means I have a been able to create a dedicated Crafting Room.  It's very girlie - filled with pretty pieces of coloured glass and lovely tiered cake stands.

Since I love flowers I have large jars filled with them mingled in with containers of pretty ribbons. There are collections of floral cardboard boxes and little timber crates just the right size for my six inch paper pads ( another favourite).

I have drawers filled with bling, embellishments, stickers and rub-ons. Several drawers filled with Stampin Up stamps (which I love) - and enough alphabets to write a book. All tucked away in my old filing drawers (36 of them) lovingly restored and finished off with crystal knobs.

I've combined the charm of old timber sideboards with practical white IKEA storage pieces and somehow it all comes together wonderfully.

  
Even on the longest days, when the challenges or disappointments of the job have outweighed the triumphs - my room waits to welcome me home.  Of course I haven't all the time I'd like to spend creating just now ..... but Christmas 2016 (retirement time) isn't so very far away. Soon after that date I'll move into my own home (once I find it) - and all my pieces will come together in their new space. For my crafting friends it means invitations to create together ...... laughter, chatter and sharing. It's a dream right now - but not so very far away.

Scrap the Girls - May Challenge

Whilst my blog is still not quite finished I just couldn't wait to place an entry into this month's challenge. I love the sketch challenge this month at Scrap the Girls.  I've created a page using a photo of my grand-daughter Cait. She's such a little sweetie - she has big plans to become a designer when she grows up.

I've used some of the lovely Couture Creations 'Vintage Rose Garden' and a few very old scraps of some Daisy Dee's paper.

The masking is done using a home made recipie (many thanks to Gabrielle Pollaco for her genius) it never fails to give a great finish even using the most detailed mask - and it dries in just two minutes ...... love it !!!

I have a wonderful local scrapbook store with the most fabulous lace (Bella Paperie).

I've used a Martha Stewart punch set and inked my edges with Distress Ink (Tea).

The little white flowers are the last of my Prima stash from years ago - I've never been able to locate another bottle.
 
Well - thank you for taking the time to look.  My very first entry using my new blog.