A Crafty challenge ...

I've not done a challenge on Crafty Sketches to date but liked the sketch for this month as it was just that little bit different.  Some of the DT layouts were truly beautiful and I was inspired.  It has been horrible here again today - very wet and dark and I'm afraid the photograph of my layout leaves something to be desired (now where is the sun when you need it?) - still I think you get the general idea.

My take on this ...

Challenging May ...

I can't believe I picked today of all days to take photographs of my layouts for May challenges I have participated in.  It was absolutely bucketing down here, in fact the term "torrential rain" doesn't even seem to come close to describing it.  It was horribly wet and cold and really dark and my layouts tell this sad story even with some photoshop help.

The May challenge at Scrap the Boys was to scrap a layout about a collection of something your "boy" has.  One of the suggestions was of course Lego.  What boy doesn't like Lego I ask you and my son certainly is no exception.  Collecting Lego is a little scary.  Once you break down the original kit and the pieces all end up together in tubs and boxes you don't fully realise just how many very expensive sets of the little bricks you have - and truth be known you probably are better off remaining ignorant!!  Like my son keeps telling me "You can never have too much Lego Mum!".

Over on Kraft It Up they were asking us all to create a layout without patterned paper suggesting instead to use anything from fabric to paints - whatever we liked really just so long as it wasn't patterned paper.  I decided to use up some cardstock offcuts from my scrap bin and created this layout about my dd learning to drive.

123 had three criteria ...

WORD : FUN

COLOUR: Fire Engine Red

TECHNIQUE: Stitched Title

I had a bit of fun with this one deciding to use the fire engine red as my accent colour and also on the hand stitching on the word FUN.  It seems ages since we had this really great day out at Luna Park with friends.  All the kids had a ball and Coney Island was actually the hit of the day.  Goes to show that old fashioned fun can be just as much a draw card as computers and playstations.



Shimelle weekly magic ...

I loved Shimelle's sketch this week and her delightful accompanying layout - she is certainly rocking all those pictures from her world trip.  I think we will be treated to more insights of her journeys for many months to come.  Should I tell her I'm still scrapping world trip pictures from 20 years ago lol!!

The photos I used aren't from 20 years ago (thank goodness) - these are from our family holiday to Coffs Harbour in January this year and the day trip we took out to Dorrigo and the tablelands area.

Moving on ...

For so many year now ds has taken a stuffed animal to bed with him.  A special friend has travelled to every sleep-over and to every school excursion and camp since he commenced doing these in early primary school.  The last few years he has done this quietly, selecting the smaller less obtrusive of his collection worried about what others might say but returning relieved as he discovered other like minded kids in his shared accommodation.

Today he was packing for an overnight stay at his friends place when I asked him if he had put in a cuddly.

He looked at me with a wry smile and shook his head.  "I don't need to so much now Mum", he said.

Part of me rejoiced in his maturity, he is growing up and moving on.  Another part of me cried for the little boy that was.

The art of mothers ...

Everyone seems to be offering challenges involving mothers this month - I wonder why:).

ARTastic is no exception and has offered up an inspirational artwork called "Mother and Sarah admiring the baby" by Mary Cassat.

The added criteria for this months challenge is ...

 1. Single photo of a mother, grandma, child etc....holding a baby = 1pt

2. Lace somewhere on the page = 2pts

3. Something orange = 3pts

I have very few photographs of my own mother holding me and those I do have I have already scrapped.  I have even less photographs of my mother with her mother and none of her being held as a small baby or child.  The photo I have used is a rare one of my mother sitting next to my grandmother.  I have given this picture a copper colour hew and used a blue, cream and orange colour scheme for the layout with cream coloured lace accents.

18 little candles ...

Another lovely sketch and inspiration layout from Shimelle this week although I'm late getting this onto the challenge site but will upload it anyway.



I tend to mix my scrapping methods between full paper, hybrid and digital depending on how much time I have available and how I'm feeling at the time.  This week I have been in a distinctly digi mood and this sketch with it's enlarged focal photo certainly worked well with my set of pictures I intended to use.  I could have replaced the large photo with patterned paper but I very much liked the look and feel of having a bigger picture in this space.  I'm very happy with the end result.

NSD challenges with Shimelle ...

I love this time of year when National Scrapbooking Day (or in my case International Scrapbooking Day) rolls around. There is just so much inspiration available on blogs and websites all over the world – free downloads, crops, challenges and project material - it is very hard to make a decision on what exactly to do for this special day.

This year I decided not to cyber crop as such but to paricipate on a few set challenges that appealed to me with Shimelle rather than spread myself  far and wide.  I took her advice and used a set of co-ordinating papers (Lemonade by Basic Gray) plus a couple of ring-in's from my scrap stash.

Scrapbooking Day Challenge 1: Use patterned paper for your page background.

Scrapbooking Day Challenge 2: Create a triangle.

Scrapbooking Day Challenge 3:  Add a border between two photos.

Scrapbooking Day Challenge 4: Scrap a photo that needs an explantion.

Scrapbooking Day Challenge 5: Try a photo edit.

A little photoshop magic and hey presto .....



Original



Black and white



Gaussian blurr



Increase midtones



flim grain



Life is ...

Life is an Adventure ... Dare it

Life is a Beauty ... Praise it

Life is a Challenge ... Meet it

Life is a Duty ... Perform it

Life is a Love ... Enjoy it

Life is a Tragedy ... Face it

Life is a Struggle ... Fight it

Life is a Promise ... Fulfill it

Life is a Game ... Play it

Life is a Gift ... Accept it

Life is a Journey ... Complete it

Life is a Mystery ... Unfold it

Life is a Goal ... Achieve it

Life is an Opportunity ... Take it

Life is a Puzzle ... Solve it

Life is a Song ... Sing it

Life is a Sorrow ... Overcome it

Life is a Spirit ... Realize it

Anonymous

Doing it just because ...

One of my frequently visited web sites is by Shimelle. I love her style and effervescent take on life - guess she reminds me a little of myself at a similar age. It's become a habit now to download her weekly sketches, thinking to myself that I'll get to do that one this week. Naturally the next sketch time rolls around and sees yet another layout less effort from me. Yet they are all there - happy little sketches and beautifully compiled sample layouts by Shimelle (her blog and 6x4 at 2peas) neatly put away in my inspiration file just waiting for me to get my act together and create something from them.

So I've turned over a new leaf. If I like them so much why aren't I doing them? Instead I'm doing challenge layouts from sketches I don't particularly like because they are from challenge sites I do like ... and I'm doing a lot of them every month. That is hard to understand - even for me lol! I don't need to do a challenge each month just because it is there, I don't have to work with a sketch I see little design merit in or use a prompt criteria I can't associate with, purely to say I’ve done “X” challenge layouts this month. I can pick and choose what I do and where I participate !! So I will …

Shimelle's scrapbooking-sketch-of-the-week this week was a sweet one ...
 
 

 

I'm in the process of sorting out my craft room - I have way too much stuff like most of us, I'm sure, and I felt it was time to purge some older supplies, embellishments and papers that have been sitting there unused for, in some cases, years.  So purge I did.  I now have a small pile of old papers sitting in a box ready to be donated somewhere useful and I am very happy with that.

I decide to challenge myself to use only what I was intending to throw away.  I pull out this hideously bright pink floral paper and flip it over - bright pink but plain on the other side, perfect for the base.  A pretty paper in the right colour combinations but with friendship quotes all over it which I've always bypassed because of this fact but really, does that matter?  No it doesn't - so use it.  A couple of strips of left over paper from my scrap box - set aside for cards which I know I'll never get to do.  Some die cut tags from a sheet that has sat in my stash for years and never been used because I'm not a huge tag fan.  A couple of buttons, a tiny flower and some alpha stickers and I'm finished ... and I love it!  A layout from cast off's!

The moral of the story ...

Do what you want to do because you want to do it.

Look again at things in your stash you have never used  .. and find ways to work with them.

Luna fun ...

Ds went to Luna Park today with school - yep school, a science excursion can you believe??  Why didn't we get to go on fun trips like this when I was at school  - all I recall about science excursions was going out of town to a property to see rock formations!!!

Ds isn't adventurous at all - hates the really fast rides, doesn't like heights - bit like me really but what he did go on he had fun with.  He took his camera and this is some of what he saw and did ...

Just perfect ...

Cobwebs

The spider as an artist

Has never been employed

Though his surpassing merit

Is freely certified


By every broom and Bridget

Throughout a Christian land.

Neglected son of genius,

I take thee by the hand.

Emily Dickinson

What I love about you right now …

How you love to read .. on the way to school, on the way home from school, in bed, on the lounge - wherever you can really.

How you love to snuggle up with dad in bed together and watch “Bear Grilles” – it’s a Father/Son thing.

How you love to make cakes – chocolate is best … laptop with recipe on screen propped up on the bench (we used books!)

How you love to swim – doing many kilometres every week just because you want to.

How you love to cuddle and give and receive affection even though it probably isn’t cool at your age.

How you are such a good kid, with a positive attitude and outlook on life even though it isn’t easy for you.

YOU …. Just because.