18 January 2015

Life Zesters - January Challenge


 A new challenge blog has just started up & it's called
It's purely a Project Life challenge blog & has great prizes every month.
This month's challenge is:
'Showing your style'

Here is a double page spread that represents my style.
I do my Project Life monthly, rather than weekly.
There's no way I could keep up weekly LOL .

This is my September double layout...


I like to mix cards & love bright colours. I have used a mix of
Project Life, Sn@p & Flutterby Designs cards.

Other things I have used to embellish are:
Flutterby Designs - 6x4 Fussy Cut
Flutterby Designs - Mini Card Fussy Cut
Flutterby Designs - Wood veneers
Flutterby Designs - Photo Cut outs
Posca Paint pens
Sn@p - mini alphas
Amy Tangerine - Thickers
Basic Grey - Mini alphas
Dymo labeller
Tim Holtz - Tiny Attacher
Shipping tags
Hole reinforcer stickers


If you're a Project Lifer - check out this blog & why not enter!?

12 January 2015

SBM Masters Entry 2014


So I wasn't successful this year again for Scrapbooking Masters :(
But that's ok - this year is going to be HUGE!!!!
Now the cat's outta the bag about who is, I can now share my entries...

SINGLE LAYOUT USING 5x7 PHOTO
‘Best Friends Are Like...’

This one actually got an honourable mention :)
AND there is SOOOOOO much Flutterby Designs goodness
thoughout the WHOLE magazine it is FANTASTIC to see!!!!

 
Large photos always challenge me!! With my scrappy style, I usually stick
to 6x4 or smaller. As I create a lot of my own unique backgrounds, I hate
having to cover up something great as soon as I’ve finished it. So I find
small photos still allow a lot of the background to be visiable. Making it
just as important as the photo. I made this photo prop for a recent scrap
retreat & the photos we took were priceless! I wanted to create a layout
bright & colourful - which represents exactly how we were feeling in this
photo. There’s just something about scrapbooking retreats, that’s just
simply just good for your soul. I’ve met so many wonderful people thru
them & to this day I get to call them friends. 
 

Close ups...

 Love this quote - it makes me giggle everytime I read it!!
 MATERIALS USED:
Paper; Crate Paper ‘Styleboard’, Heidi Swapp ‘Vintage Chic’, cardstock.
Embellishments; Gesso, Faber Castell Gelatos & Pitt Pens, Dylusions Ink,
Heidi Swapp Color Shine, Kaszazz stamp, Flutterby Designs flair buttons
& photo cuts, 2Crafty Chipboard, enamel dots, thread, India Ink, Tim Holtz
stapler, Stazon Ink & Dymo Labeller.


SINGLE LAYOUT USING UNCONVENTIONAL ELEMENT
‘Hello You’

I’ve had this paper in my stash for awhile & I really wanted to to give it a
purpose for something awesome. This one certainly challenged me.
I choose to use cut up baby wipes & use plasterers joint tape on my
layout as my ‘unconventional’ elements. The photos are of my 2yr old
running wild in our backyard & wanted to capture the movement in the
photos within my layout. By using different stroke directions, the texture
of the plasterer’s tape & baby wipes, the thread & the paint splats - I think
I capture just that.

 Close ups...



 MATERIALS USED:
Paper; Basic Grey ‘Out of Print’.
Embellishments; Gesso, Faber Castell Gelatos, Gel medium, Dylusions Ink,
Heidi Swapp Color Shine, Prima stitch stamps, Flutterby Designs -
Wood Bits, Flair Buttons & Photo Tabs, Baby Wipes, Plasterer’s Joint Tape,
Posca Paint pens, Watercolours, American Craft - Thickers, thread,
Stazon Ink & Tim Holtz Stencil.


SINGLE LAYOUT USING JOURNALLING AS FOCUS
‘To Live A Creative Life...’

I am seriously in love with brush script at the moment!! This quote is
very relatable & true to me. We over think everything these days, so who
says experimenting creatively with our art has to be perfect or right - but
exactly how we see it. With a competition like this, we are critiquing our
entry before we’ve even finished it, with the fear of what others will think.

I’ve used my favourite things at the moment on this layout:
Gelatos, Dylusions & Color Shine. I love how vibrant they all work together.
While the journalling is the main focus, the veneer frame highlights the
photo & draws you’re eye back over to it. I find that creating my own
unique backgrounds, is fulfilling & I can really make it ‘my own’.

Close Ups...
 MATERIALS USED:
Paper; 7 Dots Studio ‘Dreamer’.
Embellishments; Gesso, Faber Castell Gelatos & Big Brush Markers,
Dylusions Ink, Heidi Swapp Color Shine, Denim Tampons stamps, Kaszazz
stamp, Flutterby Designs - Wood Bits, sewing machine, India Ink, paper
scraps, enamel dots, thread, hole reinforcer stickers, washi tape & Stazon Ink.


ART JOURNAL COVER
‘Create Today’ 


This task is what convienced me to have another crack at Masters this year.
I love art journalling - I find it relaxes me when I can’t find the time to scrap.
I decided to make my own journal from stuff I had lying around my craft room.
I LOVE how it turned out!! It completely suits my style - random & full of character.
The cover had to be teal (it’s my fav) & I wanted to keep the cover arty, but not
over embellished. Bulky items on an art journal cover are not practical when
using it.

I’ve used a Flutterby Designs ‘create’ Flair Button, which has a mixed media feel
to it & Wood Bits ‘ Today’ & Confetti Circles. These embellishments are still quite
flat & aren’t an issue when creating. I’ve also done a few pages in it too...

Close ups...


 MATERIALS USED FOR ART JOURNAL:
Paper; Teresa Collins ‘Memorabilia’, Kaisercraft ‘Base Coat’, Crate Paper ‘Styleboard’,
Amy Tangerine ‘Plus One’, Echo Park ‘Times & Seasons’, watercolour paper, vintage
music sheet, velum, paper bag, calico, Project Life lined & grid 6x4 cards, American
Crafts Cardstock.
Embellishments; Black duct tape, sewing machine.

Cover; Vintage lace, Gesso, Liquidtex paint, Dylusions Ink, Faber Castell Gelatos,
Gel Medium, Tim Holtz Stencil, Flutterby Designs Wood Bits & Flair Button,
enamel dots, thread, Kaisercraft small alphas & Glossy Accents.

2Crafty Chipboard - January Share

Let me be the first to say 'HAPPY NEW YEAR'!!!! 
I cannot believe how fast last year went. My little man just turned 3 & #.2
is only weeks away from arriving (arrggg scary LOL).
This layout sort of represents last year in a way. I have met soooo
many wonderful people thru this hobby & I'm lucky enough to have made lots
of new friends.

I have SO many selfie shots just like this from retreats, I thought it was time I scrap
some of them. Of course I have used some AWESOME 2Crafty chippy!! :)

 'You & Me'

Here are some close ups...
 The Hessian Patch, I've used a variety of acrylic paints & sprays to colour it.
I've also layered lots of messy black thread under the chipboard & used
a Flutterby Designs flair button & page tab cut-out to embellish it.

The title 'You & Me', I completely covered in a few coats of gesso
& then used a black posca pen to colour in,as well as the the ampersand.
Once that dried, I used a white Uniball pen to add some faux stitching
to add extra detail. I then grabbed some glossy accents & covered the
two words.
The mini camera was done the same way. I have left the 
bits of the circular panel 'raw' & tucked in behind the other layers.

I love how much texture this layout has!! I've used the 'Words of Wisdom'
Stencil from Flutterby Designs.
Here are the chippy pieces I used to create this layout:
Mini Cameras

Title 'You & Me'

Hessian Patches

Circular Panel
 
  I hope I've inspired you to pull out some 2Crafty chippy & get messy!!


04 January 2015

How I stay up to date with my monthly Project Life



WARNING: Long Post LOL!!!
 Ok so I've wanted to do this blog post for a while now & thought it best to do
it now, as a lot of us are starting our 2015 Project Life albums.

This is my first year of doing PL. When the PL hype it our shores,
I was completely drawn into the frenzy & brought it all LOL. It then sat on my shelves
for months!! It was really really daunting & I had no idea where to even start!?
 I had made a few mini albums of my son's baby pics, but the bulk of his photos
where just chucked into those boring 6x4 photo albums
(pretty sad effort for a scrapbooker I thought).
So I decided to undertake over-hauling that & rather than re-printing photos,
I chopped & cropped & used as many as I could. Some I did have to reprint, but
I managed to repurpose most of them.

I had brought myself a core kit, big variety box of sleeves & an album (or 3).
I began putting all my photos into the sleeves in order & left gaps for cards.
That was a LONG process, but it meant I got all my photos in the right spots.

Then came the embellishing part - I really struggled with this!!
It took a while to find MY STYLE. We all have our own style & take on craft/art,
it's what's so special & makes us different. Once I found 'my happy place' with embellishing,
it all started to work together & come naturally.


Ok so I told you - LONG POST ha ha.
As a busy full-time working mum who also runs her own business from home,
I was always daunted by the task of doing Project Life weekly. There is just NO
physical way I could committ to that sort of undertaking. It wouldn't get done.
So I decided to do to it MONTHLY.
This I could committ to! I'm not a traditional Project Lifer - I like it different, busy & bulky!
I started off by getting a 12 x12 'work in progess' album from the lovely
 This made carrying my unfinished projects to crops & such MUCH easier!
(& I didn't damage my proper album, by lugging it around everywhere)
I then chucked in a mixed variety of sleeves:
- Becky Higgins Project Life
- Ones fron Harvey Norman
- WRMK
 - & some 12 x 12 sleeves.
I didn't like the quality of the American Crafts or Kaisercraft sleeves - but that's
just my personal preference.

I then grabbed some note paper & labeled each page with a month
& drew a rough sketch of the page protector (front & back).
This made it really easy to make notes & plan what photos I wanted to put in
there, without printing 100's of photos! I could also jot down on this if I knew
I wasn't going to get a chance to tackle a spread for this month.
Like below:


 Then as I do - I start with the photos in first. I then fill in the blanks with
LOTS of different card designs.
Some of my favourite cards to use are:
- Flutterby Designs 'Everyday Etc' cards (I am a bit bias LOL)
- Sn@p cards
- Project Life cards
- Handmade ones


 Then comes the decorating!!! Sometimes this may not happen
straight away - the spread may just sit with pics/cards & little bits of paper
with notes until I get a chance to get creative.

These are what I generally ALWAYS go for when embellishing my pages:

 WOOD VENEERS

 - Flutterby Designs
- Studio Calico
- or even 2Crafty Chipboard

 FLAIR BUTTONS 
 As the owner/designer of Flutterby Designs - I always have a
gazillion flair buttons on hand to use :)

BLACK COTTON 

I love to put a messy nest of this under my flair buttons for more texture.

 

POSCA PAINT PENS 

These little babies write on just about EVERYTHING!!!
Great for doodling/journalling on photos.

PAGE TABS
 
 These are from Flutterby Designs, & they are an inexpensive embellishment that
adds detail - without the bulk. Fussy cutting relaxes me, so I will often sitting in front of
the TV with a pair of scissors & cut a heap of these out to use down the track.

 LIQUID PAPER TAPE

 
 I 'borrowed' this idea from my good friend Lauren ;)
Just put down a few stips & journal away - easy peasy!!

HOLE REINFORCERS

These little babies are cheap as chips! You can find them in the cheap
shops & they make for super quick detail with a little bit of doodling around them.
As too are shipping tags great for adding layers without the bulk.


SMALL ALPHABET STICKERS

 I definately have a 'thing' for these little babies!!!
I have an abundance of them - in every shape, font & colour LOL
Brands I love to use are:
- Simple Stories 'Sn@p'
- Jellibean Soup
- Kasiercraft
- Tim Holtz
- even ones you find at cheap shops!

THICKERS

 I love thickers just about as much as the small alpha stickers...
Great for titles!

 ENAMEL DOTS

 I LOVE LOVE LOVE these little babies!!!
I put them on EVERYTHING ha ha.

 This is what's on my desk at the moment. Trying to get the last couple of months
finished in this years PL album. I'm on the home stretch WOO HOO!!!



Here are a few completed pages from earlier this year :)


 Yes as a traditional 12 x12 scrapper I put in a few layouts throughout
my album to find my 'happy place' & balance with doing this style of scrapbooking.





I hope I have helped anyone out there struggling with finding their 'mojo'
with Project Life. Thanks for taking the time to read my long-ass post - 
hope you enjoyed some of my tips & tricks.