Honourable mentions

The unthinkable has happened... Two honourable mentions in SBM mag. Wow!!! And now Tasmin is famous!

Kraft it Up - December

This month's theme is lovely - Christmas traditions. I love Christmas and two of my favourite things are giving gifts and the Christmas tree. My layout is based on my favourite photo from last Christmas, of Tasmin delighting in handing out presents. It's a tradition of Ian's family that the children hand out the gifts. I hope it demonstrates the joy of giving.

There are lots of cool scrappy product prizes up for grab. All you have to do is link up your page to Kraft It Up. Have a shot!

My top ten favourite layouts 2011 -- featuring chipboard

Actually, woops, that was 11. Were you counting?

I have shared these scrappy layouts to support my application for a DT spot on the Imaginarium Designs team. How cool would that be? I adore chipboard. One of my fave pieces is their intricate little butterfly - they come in big sizes too but I love the miniature version. How are these tiny chipboard pieces cut with so much fine detail?

Did you spot the butterfly chippie in one of the above pages?

I've enjoyed putting together this little collection of favourite pages. What were your favourite pages from 2011?

Sneak peek

Here's what I've been up to. More on this soon ;-)

Paper, paint, perfect bliss

This is a mini book I made on my last semi-solo retreat in Brisbane in June. I got most of the prep done and photos printed but on arrival back to NL (normal life) I didn't get to complete it.

So here I am on my fully solo retreat right here in Adelaide, just a 20 minute drive from my NL hoping to finish this baby.

Enjoy the ride.

KIU creative team call

KIU Creative Team Call...
It is that time again, we are on the look out for some talented scrappers to join us here on the Kraft It Up Creative Team...

The CT Term will be from February through to the end of July with the option of a further 6 months.

DUTIES: You will need to create one layout per month based on specific criteria which is always emailed in advance, you are required to comment on some users entries, I realise that we all have busy lives and it may be impossible to comment on 40+ entries each month, you are also required to vote for the previous months challenge entries and promote Kraft It Up on your blog and facebook page and anywhere else that is allowed.

To apply for the KIU CT Call please read the below information....

Firstly you MUST LOVE KRAFT, you will need to create your layout examples on Kraft Cardstock or Kraft Patterned Paper.

You need to email Mel 2 layouts, ONE that best showcases your style and the 2ND using the following sketch (see below)..

* Please feel free to interpret the sketch to how you see it, remember your layouts MUST be on Kraft CS or Kraft PP..


** Sketch provided by the wonderful Page Maps website: http://pagemaps.com/

You then need to email Mel your two layouts, a brief bio and headshot that you would be happy to see posted on the KIU blog if you were successful.

Applications close 20th December with the successful applicants notified by the 1st January, you will then be issued with your first challenges, Februarys being due at the end of January.

Email the above to: kraft.it.up@hotmail.com

There is plenty of great inspo this month you must check out the blog and submit an entry. http://kraftitup.blogspot.com/

A weekend away with an art, craft and spiritual purpose

On a whim I decided to take myself away for a weekend of art journalling, and two new crafts to learn: crochet and jewellery making, with just my iPhone (via YouTube) to guide me.

I love that I packed this Sentinel straight out of the letterbox and the front cover says "art and soul - a weekend trip with a spiritual purpose." It was right alongside my new copy of Scrapbook Memories mag! Sometimes the universe sends us little signs to reassure us that we are where we are meant to be!

There's a lot to think about at home at the moment as the needs of our children Angus and Tas pretty much dominate everything. I went to a Mark le Messurier workshop yesterday to learn more about kids on the spectrum and help with parenting and schooling. That guy knows a lot about this area as a counsellor and parent of a girl with Aspergers.

I've bought two of his books which I hope to read and review soon.

Ok now's the part where I log off and get painting.

Happy thanksgiving!

Around here

The one thing I make sure I do everyday is take photos. That's not hard because firstly I'm a bit of a shutterbug and secondly, it's so fun taking pics with the new iPhone. I've found you can print the images as a normal 4"x6" without retouching and the quality is amazingly good.

The whole family is home sick today so I'm enjoying the novelty of blogging in bed with my iPhone. My replacement laptop arrives soon and I'm really looking forward to doing more regular posts.

These are some of the images from this week: a trip to the playground, rediscovering Mum's fancy old Elna sewing machine, a stack of freshly printed photos and Angus in his favourite swing at his Daphne St ELC.

How many pics did you take this week?

Cha cha train

Ian led the kids around the lounge room doing a little cha cha train. Apparently it was Angus who started it. The photo is blurry but what a great moment captured. Not bad for a little boy who doesn't play with other kids (yet).

Yearbook idea

I'm crazy about vintage. DH and I were in fits of laughter last night playing with the Yearbook Me app. We've only just converted to apple's iPhone so I had to save a few.

I so want to scrap these! I'd like to find the one of Mum with her beehive 'do in the 60s and see how alike we look!

Kraft It Up - November challenge is up - journalling

Materials:Bazzill cardstock - kraft, gesso, Kaisercraft paint, Glimmer Mist, twine, fabric, printed masking tape, foam alpha stamps and and Making Memories stamps, Staz On ink.

The new challenge is up at Kraft It Up for November - to find a creative way to show journalling.

This is a topic that's been swirling around in my mind for a while. I love the idea of choosing a meaningful number - my age - and using it as a springboard to come up with ways to describe myself and experiences. I had a lot to write down, so I've used a column of small handwriting (more personal that way I think) and numbered each idea but without starting a new line, so it looks less like a list. Not that there's anything wrong with lists - I love 'em!!

What would you say to describe yourself?

The Thomas-the-Tank-Engine cake adventure

After a 3am finish, I managed to complete a cute Thomas the Tank engine cake in time for Angus's 3rd birthday. It was worth it, because man, he loved that cake! You can find the tutorial here.

On Sunday Angus's Nan and Pa arrived with even more train presents! Now Angus is the proud owner of Thomas, Percy, Gordon, Harold and Wheezy the crane.

I am secretly chuffed that so many friends left lovely comments about the cake effort on Facebook. Thank you all, I loved each and every comment!

Train boy

One of my absolute favourite images of Angus at the moment. How he loves his trains, funny little thing!

Watercolours

Yesterday I had the gorgeous pleasure of taking a watercolour class with an artist, Alan Louis. It was an all day class held at my daughter's kindy, which is a tranquil spot overlooking a valley of trees. Oh, bliss! The image above is my masterpiece - it's meant to be two trees reflected in water. "Technique, technique," Alan would say encouragingly, when I despaired my trees looked more like an octupus. Or maybe pink flamingoes.

He suggested I could cut out the middle and call it "Pink Flamingoes"!

The main thing I took away from this class was the idea of what Alan called values. So, when you start with a colour - say blue, and blot it straight on the page, that's a 5. You add water, to make it a 4, and so on, until you get to 1, which is a "wash". "Values, values, values," he'd say, if we moaned about how terrible our shapes were looking! He was such a generous teacher. And funny! You can see some of his incredible work here.

The Energiser Bunny

Aahh... finally I managed to sit down last night and do a fun scrap page! I just grabbed whatever was close to hand and I had this recent photo of Tas doing her thing, madly racing around, singing, bouncing on the couch. I decided to make my own Tim-Holtz style tissue tape, by covering an A4 thick (80 GSM) page with crafters masking tape, then printing some images of text on top. I love love love the effect of this. I'm going to have to use it on ALL my pages!

Sharmaine... keep an eye on the postie, there's some coming your way!!!

Two years ago