A sketch challenge from the studio ...

Decided I had time for just one more challenge this month so decided on the sketch challenge on The Studio Challenges.

 

I really liked this sketch but decided to rotate it so the photographs were portrait orientation. 

 

 

 

 

Sketches with a twist in July ...

I don't think I have ever played along with a Sketches With a Twist challenge before so there's no good time like the present.

 

The challenge was to use this sketch with the added criteria of a cardstock base.

 

 

 

I've kept close to the original sketch and used black cardstock as my base and washi tape in place of the strips.

 

A snip here and there ...

Child's Play Challenges are having some fun with scissors for their third challenge this month.

I've been wanting to record a small hair cutting episode from my sons' past for a while now so took the opportunity to do just that.

 

 

 

Oh and Child's Play are extending their DT call til the end of July - pop past and check them out.

Pirate mayhem ....

I thought these little guys were rather cute this month over on The Lollipop Ladies.  Now when did they start making lollies that were so dang adorable you can't bring yourself to eat them?  I'd be buying these little cuties just to display!

So this challenge, as you might already have gathered, is all about pirates with the added twist of water.

 

The Lollipop Ladies welcome all manner or entries although they seem to attract mainly cards so to be a little different I decided to use some pirate pictures of my son (and I think these might well be "it" from his childhood) and submit a layout.

 

 

I've hand stitched some navy "waves" on my page as well as using some traditional pirate paper and of course, no pirate layout would be complete without an ARGH somewhere!

 

 

TLL are also having a DT call this month and after much will I? or won't I?,

I finally decided why not! and will throw my hat into the ring!

 

Feeling the heat with Get Creative ...

Get Creative must be feeling the heat over in bright and sunny Greece because this month they seem to be having a bit of a fixation on the colour red.  That is fine by me - I love red.

Each month they host 3 challenges and have a inspiring project tutorial at the end of the month.

LAYOUT challenge

 

RED HOT layout.....

we want to see only 

RED EMBELLISHMENTS

no other colour is allowed

 

 

 

I've done my best but it is extremely difficult to find totally red embellishments unless you use only buttons and brads.

 

 

 

CARD challenge

your challenge is to make a red coloured card
the more red you use the hotter it will be!

 

 

I like "hot" cards and have made a little red and white one for this challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

Some scrapping in the outback ...

Thought I might play along with a colour challenge on Scrapping Outback  this month.  

I've done a vintage layout of my Mother .

Really pleased I managed to use up an American "Mom" by cutting straight across the "O".

123 for July ...

123 Challenge Blog for July is to use these three items on your page.

 

and here is my take (with a little red added in for good measure).  I thought this quote by Jimmy Johnson was perfect for the challenge and rather thought provoking!

 

 

Celebrating with D-Lish ...

D-Lish Scraps is celebrating their 4th birthday with a special challenge which involves finding some inspiration from within this lovely montage. We can take inspiration from any OR all of it to create a layout/card/OTP/project life page.

 

I've gone with a layout using the soft. pastel colours found in all the photos and added a splash of hot pink which appears in those pictures at the bottom.  I've used the one on the bottom right as my main inspiration, using a crochet doily and a flag/banner on my page.

 

 

Feeling sketchy in July ...

Playing along with  Feeling Sketchy  sketch #65 this month and loving the delightful inspiration from the design team.

Most have gone with sweet girly cards so I've taken a different slant and done one for the boys.

A gift or two ...

One Scrappy Doctor (aka Natalie Elphinstone) is doing a lovely giveaway on her blog.   As they say ... you have to be in it to win it - so put your skates on and head on over.  :)

It's winter ...

It's winter - of yes it sure is.  Show us your stuff is a calling for the use of wintery photos for their challenge this month and I am happy to oblige.

 

 

These photos make me smile for many reasons.  Friends of ours moved to Oberon a few years ago and we go up to see them usually once a year.  This particular year is was on a July weekend and it was cold!  My son has never seen "real" snow and was devastated when only two weeks earlier our friends farm looked like this  ...

 

 

but when we got there it had all melted.

 

 

But as luck would have it while we were outside it started to sleet.  Tiny little snowflakes began to fall !!  Sticking your tongue out and letting these precious little flakes land and instantly melt was mandatory practise and a whole lot of fun :)

 

How sweet it is ...

Scrap the Girls is using a song title (either as a title or part of the journaling) for their July challenge. 

HOW SWEET IT IS TO BE LOVED BY YOU

 

I've actually done a layout I have been wanting to do for a long time.  It's the perfect way to use up some of those tiny scraps of patterned paper (and Lord only knows I had plenty of those in my scrap basket).  It's also a great way to put small leftover embellishments to good use - like those solo things left in packets, odd buttons, little bits and pieces of chipboard and flowers.  I have a tendency to pull out a lot of different items when creating and if there are small items remaining after the layout is called "done" they go into a small container which sits on my table - it's a veritable treasure trove of "little" odd things!

 

 

This is my then baby daughter at a whole six weeks of age.  The quote worked well as having her was certainly a sweet experience and being loved by her a wonderful and precious gift.

 

I am actually really thrilled with this layout.  It works for me and I feel extra great knowing that container is now a little less full than it was!

 

 

Getting up close with black and white ...

The July challenge over on Scrap the Boys is to use a black and white headshot of your boy(s) or man with an open criteria for everything else.

Simple eh?

 

I've used a rare photo of my son wearing glasses.  He using the correction lenses now so only pulls out the glasses very occasionally if he's been slack on the weekend or if he wants to give the old eyes a bit of a break.  A bit of misting across the kraft and a couple of Maya Road tags, add in a few bits and pieces and voila - one boy layout.

 

If was a winner on STB last month - just wanted to say "thanks so much" - you made my day!

 

 

Some colour inspiration ...

Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge has posed an interesting question this month.

What is your favourite colour?  Why?  How does it make you feel?  Or make a monochromatic layout from your favourite colour - or journal the challenge or both!!


I have to say in all honesty I don't really have a favourite colour - there are lots of colours I very much like, pinks, lavender, blue, green, red and even yellow.  I tend to wear a lot of navy and blue with a splash of other colours thrown in.  My house is a mix of cool and warm colours and is decorated in what I would call fairly muted, light and airy tones.

When I look through my scrapbooking layouts however another story is told - I seem to have a leaning towards green.  In fact green appears in an awful lot of my pages - both the masculine and the feminine.  I guess it is a colour that works well with most everything since it is the dominant colour in nature and we are so used to seeing it everywhere. 

They say that green occupies more space in the spectrum visible to the human eye than most other colours and is second only to blue as a favourite colour.

Green is seen as a tranquil and refreshing colour - a colour of peace and harmony.  It is a restful, calming colour (no wonder many prison cells are painted in shades of the forest and leaves).

So here is another cool and calming layout featuring my admiration for green.  Aghhh the serenity!

 

The Studio Challenges - Twine

The Studio Challenges has an interesting challenge this month involving twine.

On with today's challenge! We challenge you to get creative with twine! There are so many different types of twine out there and lots of possibilities for using it so we would love to see what you can do with it!

I go through a love/hate relationship with twine.  Some months I will find myself using it on nearly every layout I produce while other months I don't use it at all.  I mostly use it in place of ribbon on a page or by wrapping it around a photo, embellishment or a featured piece of patterned paper much like the DT have with their sample pages.  I've been know to drape it randomly, tie it through tags and into large loopy bows.

This time I decided to use twine to create my background.  I think it is really effective and certainly makes a dull, flat piece of kraft cardstock much more interesting.

 

Shhhh  - this is my daughter caught sleeping - don't tell her I took this photo or there is going to be trouble !!

High tea at Let's Get Shabby ...

Let's Get Shabby has an interesting challenge this month ...

Choose a piece of shabby chic bone china/porcelain dinnerware and be inspired to recreate the pattern/image of that piece into your own work.

 

I've created a card using the above china as inspiration.  I wanted to create the same look of the flowers with their pink centres while also portraying the circular shape of the saucer through the use of the doily.  The inking and bone coloured lace I have used, reflect the gold edging on the china design. 

Some fireworks at Scrap It With a Song ...

I'm guest designing at Scrap It With a Song this month - thank you so much for inviting me.

The first inspiration for July is Fireworks by Katy Perry.

So many great lines of lyrics in this song to use for a page.  I eventually went with "there's a spark in you" and used a photo of my daughter taken when she was sweet 16.

 

 

 

Come over and check us out - we'd love to see your interpretation of the song.

Swinging at Child's Play ...

The first challenge on Child's Play this month involves tyre swings.

I honestly cannot remember my kids ever swinging on one of these - the playgrounds we used had the more conventional variety and if we ever came across these in our travels I certainly didn't get any photographs of our encounters.  Instead I have taken this challenge on face value and made a layout about swings - well the act of swinging to be exact.  This page is for my own Childhood Memories album.

 

Journaling reads ... I can still remember the feeling of the wind rushing into my face as I swung forward, hands gripping the ropes, feet dangling into nothingness and then that single, fragile moment, when I was suspended high in the air ... before hurtling backwards to again push as hard as I could to go higher and yet higher with every swing.

 

A new challenge blog ...

Our very first challenge is up on Pixels and Paper.  It would be wonderful to have you join us. 


Our July challenge ...

 

 

When I look at this photograph I see many different things:-

 A child (girl) alone or a child (girl) and her dog (pet),

Someone fishing,

A bridge,

A river or lake on a sunny day,

Hair in plaits,

Rolled up jeans and sneakers,

 

If I look more closely I might see ..

A hand knitted cardigan/sweater (made for love or necessity?),

Intense concentration,

Companionship and/or love,
 

 

You may well see other things. What story do you wish to tell using this inspiration piece as your starting point? 

 

This is my layout ...

 

 

 

Please come see us at Pixels and paper Challenge Blog.

 

From Screen 2 Scrap for July ...

If you have been hankering to create a page about a blue fairy, the inspiration on  From Screen 2 Scrap may well make YOUR day!

Added Criteria...

1 pt = clouds
2 pts = white title
3pts = lots of blue

 

and here is what I came up with ...

 

 

 

This one is super easy so we'd love to see some inspiring layouts submitted this month.

 

 

Archi-scraps for July ...

How here is something you don't see every day ....

 

and it just so happens to be the inspiration piece on Archi-scraps this month - with the added criteria of using a pin somewhere on your project.


Here is my interpretation ... 

Want to give this a go?  Head over to the blog and upload.

ARTastic for July ...

ARTastic inspiration for July is Rock n Roll Party (charcoal and pastel) by Lorraine Lewitzka.

Criteria - Black and White and predominantly one other colour

A little about  Lorraine Lewitzka
 
Lorraine and her husband Terry have been teaching oil painting and watercolours in Victor Harbour, South Australia, for many years.  Both multi-award winners, Terry specializes in oil and watercolour landscape. He also teaches creative drawing techniques for life drawing and other subjects.  Lorraine teaches watercolour, mixed media portraits and figurative subjects.

You have until the end of the month to submit your layouts.  We'd love to see your pages so why not give this a try.