Some zebra love ...

As soon as I saw this mood board on SassyScrappers I knew exactly which photograph I just had to use.

My daughter knew her chosen career in mid high school - while many of her friends were umming and ahhing over various subject choices my dd knew exactly which direction she wanted to head.  In Year 10 she completed this graphic design work in her computing studies class.  She did this mostly on her own, reading through texts and viewing online tutorials.  She continued on and has just this month graduated as a graphic designer doing both visual communication and  multimedia design diplomas.  She probably cringes a little when she views this now, seeing all the little mistakes but at the time we were so proud of her for putting so much time and effort into something she loved.

and here is my page documenting her work.  I've used the colours from the mood board, extended the floral theme to my patterned paper and added in hearts and arrows.

Creative Embellishments for June ...

It's cold and miserable this afternoon - perfect weather for a little crafting so I have been doing just that.

This is a card I made for Creative Embellishments June challenge.

I was drawn to the sea theme and the colours in this image so began by using an anchor stamp on a scrap of vintage style paper which was then mounted onto blue cardstock. I then used anchor patterned paper mounted onto sand colour while distressing the paper edges and eventually mounting this onto a peach coloured base.  I tied in the peach theme by using this colour for my twine.

Those were the days ...

I was drawn to the inspiration on Berry71Bleu where this month's theme is Favourite Movie or TV Show and the challenge is to use Multiple Photos. 

Your project must be centered around your favorite movie or TV show & must consist of more than one photo.  You can use the same photo twice or use different photos--the choice is yours.  If you just can't pick one movie or TV show--then feel free to center your project on your favorite actor or actress, this counts as well.

I've done a slightly different take on this challenge by featuring my favourite TV shows from my childhood.  I can remember quite vividly rushing home from school eager to get out of my school uniform and hot, heavy school shoes, grab afternoon snacks and relax in front of the TV for an hours or so before I needed to head off to my room to complete my nightly homework.  What really amuses me though is due to the power of repeats, my own children have enjoyed these shows nearly as much as I did all those years ago.  

Feeling Sketchy #93 ...

Squeezing in another card challenge from Feeling Sketchy.

And my take using some pretty patterned paper from my scrap box, a couple of lovely flowers which I have layered and attached with a flower brad and a "thanks" rub-on.  

A little frosted ...

Playing along with this challenge at Frosted Designs ...

I'm partial to Bingo style challenges - love mixing it up and trying to fit things I wouldn't normally put together ... together!

I've used the first column down - flowers, die-cuts, some sort of animal (bird on one of the labels), stickers and the colour orange.

Lasting Memories for June

Last month I was guest designer for Lasting Memories ... well I'm thrilled to say I have been promoted and am now a fully fledged member of the team - woo hoo.  Thanks lovely ladies for having me :)

Our first challenge for the month is now up on the blog and is #193 'Go Wild With An Animal Layout'

Here is my page ...  I couldn't resist being a little cheeky :)

Our next challenge #194  is to  use blues and whites on our layouts.

And my page is very blue :) just perfect for a boy !

And onto #195 - to use a selfie photo(s) - of yourself or from someone else.

My daughter was right into the selfie and would rope in her brother any chance she got.

Now we have #196 - use banners on your page.

I've used a simple flag banner to go with my nautical theme :)

and finally a happy sketch #197

I've used the left side ...

So hope you can pop over to the blog and join in with us.  We have 4 challenges each month and they are open all month for you to create your pages.  Each challenge entered earns one chance to win. Enter all 4 and you have 4 chances to win an awesome prize!!

Hashtag crazy ...

I'm playing along with Challenge 76 over on Scrapbook Circle which is to create a layout incorporating hashtags.  Interesting.

So what is a hashtag?  

According to Wix.com, a hashtag is a keyword or phrase preceded by the hash symbol (#), that people include in their social media posts. Essentially, it makes the content of your post accessible to all people with similar interests, even if they’re not your followers or fans.  For instance, let’s say you’re an Apple fan and that you’re playing with the idea of buying an iPhone 5. A simple  “#iPhone5″ search on any social network will open a dedicated news feed with all iPhone 5 latest updates, deals, rumors and hacks. The results you see on this feed are the aggregated posts of any users who used “#iPhone5″ in their posts. But usually, users don’t actively search for hashtags, but simply spot them. Hashtags appear as clickable links on posts they see and a mouse click will display a real-time live  feed of every other post tagged with the same hashtag.

Of course in regard to this as a crafting challenge a hashtag could become a symbol # and be used as a featured embellishment on your layout much like Rebecca and Erin have done from the Scrapbook Circle design team or you could use the symbol in place of any other embellishment your would normally use on your page.

Or you could actually use it as it was intended - as a hashtag statement, like I have done on my page.

I sometimes think if you searched #crazy on any social media site you would  soon come up with my son - he's one funny, crazy kid at times :)

It's June on ARTastic ...

This month on ARTastic we are being a little light-hearted with our choice of inspiration.  Every year I like to introduce one artwork that represents the rural Australian landscape - it might be a modern landscape or a more nostalgic look at a time gone by.  This month I am sure you will appreciate this gem and I certainly look forward to seeing how you might be inspired by it.

Introducing Max Mannix with The Jam Session.

Criteria is  to use distressing on your work.

Hint - think colonial Australia, country pubs, shady veranda's, musical instruments, watching bands, weatherboard houses, lanky boys and faithful dogs!

A little about Max Mannix.

Max Mannix is an Australian artist who paints stories or ‘yarns’, based on his years growing up in Victorian country towns and working on cattle stations in the Queensland outback. These experiences and the colourful characters along the way have provided Max with an endless flow of inspiration for his artwork, depicting Australian country life in a light-hearted vein with keen insight and gentle humour. Max is a highly collectable and published artist, whose work is exhibited in one-man and group shows and owned by private and corporate collections around the world. Max’s work is predominantly painted in oil on specially prepared canvas board, but he also uses acrylics and pen and inks as well as creating etchings and figurative sculpture.The Mannix Studio Gallery is located in, ‘The Sandstone Church’, at the front of his residential property in Kenthurst, New South Wales.

http://www.maxmannix.com/

and here is my page ...

This painting is all about country and music so naturally I had to marry them both with a layout celebrating THE country music event in Australia - The Tamworth Country Music Festival.  I used colours from the painting and ink and paint distressing techniques to create my page.

You have the entire month of June to enter.  We'd love to see your new paper, digital, or off the page entries.  Please no back-dated submissions.  You may combine with a sketch and/or colour/technique challenge and international entries are always welcome.    

Some Summer fun ...

It's cold here at the moment - guess that happens when it is the first month of winter :(.

Over on ScrapStuffz however, it is all about SUMMER with this subway art inspirational photo.   

So time to put away my winter blues and scrap something bright and cheerful which will hopefully remind me that summer will be with us all too soon.

How about a little pool play - some splashing and general mayhem one sunny summer afternoon.  As you can see I was inspired by not only the summer theme but the colours in the poster.

Hope you can play along.

Sketch N Scrap with Heather ...

I have been following along with the birthday celebrations on Sketch N Scrap for May and have made these for the challenges hosted by Heather.


For today's challenge you are to use paint, ink, or other mixed media products on a layout.

I used paint on my background for this layout.

Create a project using crepe paper.

I used crepe paper wrapped around the base to help create this card.

Thanks Heather - glad I could play along.

Sketch N Scrap with Evie ...

I have been following along with the birthday celebrations on Sketch N Scrap for May and have made this page for the challenge hosted by Evie.


My challenge is a Word Challenge, where you use things on your project that begin with the letters of the word.  So, like I said “Let’s Party”, cuz the challenge word is P-A-R-T-Y.


Gosh I really needed to put my thinking cap on for this one but finally came up with something.

P = Patterned Paper or Photograph

A = Alphabet

R= Rub-on

T = Twine

Y = Yellow buttons

Sketch N Scrap with Kelly ...

I have been following along with the birthday celebrations on Sketch N Scrap for May and have made these for the challenges hosted by Kelly.


Ok today's Birthday Bash challenge is Party Poppers which means you are only required to add some type of confetti to your layout! Super simple, right? Any kind of layout works.

I've used gold sequins on this page.

Time for a Birthday Word Challenge. I have a list of birthday words you can choose from to use on your layout, card or project. Pick any of these birthday words to use:

I went the obvious route with birthday, highlighting a gift my daughter presented her game playing obsessed  brother for his last birthday.

Feeling Sketch June card ...

Playing along with Feeling Sketchy card challenge this month.  Hopefully I will also find some time to do the layout sketch but will need to play that one by ear.

This is the card sketch we are working on for challenge #91.

and here is my take on it - my apologies for the not so stellar photograph - it is dull and rainy here today and trying to find sufficient lighting was not easy.

I have inked a background with a stencil, used washi tape as my vertical strips and added on a corrugated heart and embellies as the center piece.

Sketch N Scrap with Stephanie ...

I have been following along with the birthday celebrations on Sketch N Scrap for May and have made this for the challenge hosted by Stephanie.

My challenge for you is to create a project that features food in some way - either in the photos themselves or in the paper/embellishments.

My son is the cake maker in this household.  He started quite young and has now got quite a repertoire.  Most weekends he will whip up something - this was a cake he made a few years ago for Easter and as I type this he has a batch of cupcakes cooking in the oven.

Sketch N Scrap with Lisa ...

I have been following along with the birthday celebrations on Sketch N Scrap for May and have made these for the challenges hosted by Lisa.


 Today I am challenging you to "WRAP IT UP" and use 2 different washi tapes on your layout or card!

Initially I wasn't a huge fan of washi - it took me a little time to warm up to them but now I like the look and use them quite a lot on my pages.  This is a page I did celebrating a scrap retreat I went to with a bunch of crazy ladies back in 2010.  I used left over Basic Grey packaging as my feature patterned paper.

Create a layout or card using only scraps (no larger then 6 x 6).

Oh this one is easy - I create pages with leftovers all the time, in fact I think sometimes my "scrappy" scrap pages come out the best!

Today's challenge is a scrapbooking challenge with a card twist...my challenge for you is to create a layout using at least TWO project life type cards on it! 

I love using small pieces of things on my pages so the arrival of Project Life type cards was a real blessing for me - lots of choice, in fact probably too much choice - there are so many fantastic ranges out there.

I have used cards from a set of Pocket Pages by Mambi.


Thanks for the fun Lisa :)

UnstampaBelles for June ...

The challenge on UnstampaBelles this month is to use ...

MIXED MEDIA
with the

TWIST - ALTER SOMETHING

So it can be a card, or a project or a page - as long as it is paper based and does not have stamps (rubber, digi or poly!).  You have a month - until 27th June in fact - to create something, photograph it and uplift it to the blog!

This June we are being 

Sponsored by 

Bizzy Bec

The PRIZE:

This  Marianne  Butterfly Die 

Here is my contribution ....

I used glimmer mist to stencil the inside of a pizza box (the scrapbooking order variety not the ones with left over cheese and crumbs!) then cut out to appropriate size.  I then used inks to stencil designs across the cardboard.  I used an image cut from a magazine and then tizzied this up with some inks and bling and mounted it on glittery card - a crochet piece, heart and a label finished my piece.

 

Sketch N Scrap with Brandi ...

I have been following along with the birthday celebrations on Sketch N Scrap for May and have made this card for the challenge hosted by Brandi.

Since we are celebrating a birthday, I decided to make my challenge all about balloons or pinwheels!!!  Yep...  It's really that easy!! Just add balloons or pinwheels to ANY TYPE OF PROJECT! 


I have done a card using a pinwheel made from bits and pieces from my scrap basket.  Pinwheels are really easy to make and are very effective on cards or even on scrapbooking layouts.  Why not give them a try yourself.

Sketch N Scrap with Tamika ...

I have been following along with the birthday celebrations on Sketch N Scrap for May and have made these for the challenges hosted by Tamika.

The first is to use bling to brighten up your card or layout. 

I have used product packaging to create the background for my card, added some bling, a flower and a phrase sticker and bingo .. one quick and easy card.

The second is to create a tag for any occasion, any size. You can add it to a card, layout gift or it can just be a stand alone tag.

I have made a vintage style tag from a few little bit and bobs that were sitting on my desk.

The third is to use a number on your page in any way shape or form.

I've used a strip of numbered patterned paper.

Hope you can play along with these fun challenges.

In the nick of time ...

I thought I had missed this challenge on Scrapbook Fantasies but when I checked the date I realised it closed off tonight not last night :) - of course now I have had to take a night photo (never the best) but oh well!

I've been trying to use up a lot of old part kits I have filed away in my stash - some have just a few off cuts of paper remaining and little else, others have almost full element sticker sheets and other bits and pieces.  I always seem to have plenty of alpha sheets - I think they must breed in their packets like rabbits!!

Anyway this page came from a very old Basic Grey kit and it feels so good to finally use it up.