Stampin' Up! Australia: Claire Daly, Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Melbourne Australia

Layout number 98 .....

I have a digital layout for you tonight, mainly because I am halfway through moving things around in my creating room and I couldn't find a clear space if I tried! I like that about digital - no mess!

This one came about because Madonna challenged a few of us to use song lyrics on a layout. This night in Noosa on the 2009 Incentive Trip immediately came to mind when we had an impromptu Karaoke night which was so much fun! I have used the words "'Cos we all just wanna be big Rockstars" from the song Rockstar by Nickelback as my title.

I am sure you will notice some familiar faces on this layout, Marelle, Vanessa, Sue, Makeesha, Nicki Tidbold and even Aaron and Dave Baugh. Such a fun night and a great memory to record.

Be back soon with layout 99 and 100. Hope to get to post them before we go into the city tomorrow night to see the fireworks from Paul's work building.

Thanks for all the lovely comments to my layouts. I hope I have inspired some of you that have been having a scrapbooking break to get stuck back in recording these precious family memories. It's not just the end product, I think the actual process of scrapbooking and recalling these memories is so good for the soul. So invite time for scrapbooking back into your life in 2012. There's no right or wrong way to scrapbook, just collect the pictures and combine with some words in whatever way makes you happy :)

Claire xx

Layouts 95. 96 and 97 .....

(For those who may have caught my in-between post - I'm having a rethink as I am not sure I have the energy for 2 blogs!. My solution for this dilemma will come to me I'm sure, give me time :) ).

Three more layouts for today, just three to go. I know I will make this goal now (and then take 6 weeks to clean the mess in the house that has developed while I scrapbooked, lol).

Today I have a mix of fun layouts with a heritage style layout. Here's the one of Sam playing Wii with his Grampa. The boys have affectionately called Grampa G'pa since he signed their birthday card with that earlier in the year so I wanted to incorporate that into the title. I have used Stampin' Up!'s Just Add Cake DSP for this layout. It's a great pack of colourful patterns which are perfect for kids pages.

This one is Sam playing with a new Christmas gift - a water slide. My little action man loves this thing and it's a great way to keep them happy on a hot day when we can't get to the beach or pool. For this layout I printed my 4 photos in 2.5 x 6" which was perfect for a series of quick pictures. I have created some bubbles using stamping (Stampin' Up! Circle Circus) and also some epoxy circles.

For this final layout I have created a heritage page using a couple of photos from my Dad's childhood. I have used the Mocha Morning DSP from Stampin' Up! here, plus a few scraps from my stash. When I have scraps of patterned paper which are predominately one colour, I save them in a page protector as they often come in handy for pages like this. I have also used the First Edition DSP from Stampin' Up!. Love that stuff as a neutral on pages!

Only 3 more to go! There might be a digital page or two in that lot as I need to find the top of my desk again! I am going to be having a mega change around in my creating room to organise myself and make more room for a creative year ahead :)

Whichever way they go I will be back tomorrow with the last 3 layouts :) Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Claire xx

 

Three more layouts!

Getting there! I have photographed up to 94 now, nearly finished 95 and have printed photos for 96 and 97 (plus I have a ZILLION pics already printed!). Today was a slower scrapbooking day while I had some fun out and about. I took the boys to see Happy Feet 2 (great movie and loved Pink's voice in it!) and then we had lunch in a cafe together. Then Paul's Dad came over for tea and to stay the night to spend some time with us which is always lovely. I got a fantastic photo of Grampa and Sam playing the Wii which will be next scrapped for sure!

Here is layout 94, again using the gorgeous new DSP from Saleabration. I just love the colours and patterns in this one and can't get enough of it! The layout is of when my nephew Phil came to visit last August. Sam doesn't see him a lot and couldn't stop hugging him!

I liked how I was able to get so many photos onto this layout. I have been printing my own photos for these layouts (I usually get my pics printed but sometimes print my own if I want strange sizes or aren't when the scrapbooking bug takes me by surprise!). I print using a Canon Pixma MP980 printer and use Canon Photo Paper Plus Semi Gloss. I believe you get the best results from a photo printer when you use the same brand photo paper.

Here's what I do to actually create the page to print:

• I plan what size I want the photos to be.
• Crop them to that size in Photoshop (or Photoshop Elements) using a resolution of 300 dpi.
• To maximise the use of my photo paper, I then create a new A4 size document at 300dpi and then drop the photos onto that, rotating where I need to to get as many photos as I can on a page.

Sometimes, like in the layout below; I plan the pictures to fit into a grid like shape. This looks best when you allow the same width between and around the photos. Again I think how I want the grid to look and work the photo cropping around that. In this page, the top photo is 5" x 8". I am glad I was able to get a full shot of the house decorated for Christmas.

Another trick I have used here is printing your title onto your photo before you print it. I sometimes print journalling on empty space in photos too (as on the next layout). I just do this in Photoshop when I am editing the photo.

This last layout is of a photo I caight of Josh watching the Oxley College light and sound show. He was mesmerised by how these lights coordinated with the carols.

I'll be back tomorrow with more layouts to share for sure. I plan to be scrapbooking for a while yet tonight. I find with the boys home all day I appreciate that silence when the whole house is asleep more than ever!

I hope you are doing just what you love doing as well. Thank you for sharing these fun few days of scrapbooking with me, I promise I will make a card one day again soon!

Claire xx

 

Some more scrapbooking ...

Seems I'm not done yet! I had a burst of inspiration to do some scrapbooking and now I've just finished layout number 93! Only 7 to go to meet my goal. I think I can do it!

The last 8 layouts have been paper ones again. Here's a few of them and then I promise to post all the remaining 94-100 layouts for the year.

This first layout is an 'all about me' layout which is the left hand page of my 'reflections on 2011' journalling. I found this fabulous post about reflections and intentions and the documenting your feelings and emotions as you say goodbye to one year and hello to another. Tght up my alley!If you would like to check out the blog post you will find it here. This layout also gives you a sneak peek of the gorgeous new Stampin' Up!DSP which is one of the free product choices for Saleabration. It's so nice!

This one is a very simple layout with my favourite photo of our last dog, Monty who we loved very much. I loved this photo of Paul and Monty at the beach watching the boys swim at the beach near Tootgarook where we go for a week each January. This was January 2010.

This one is pretty self explanatory - the boys 2011 Santa Photo :)

These last two are meant to go together. The single photo on the left hand side and the 4 photos on the right hand side. They are from our Christmas eve family photo shoot.

Be back soon with layouts 94 to 100!

Hope you are having a relaxing few days too,

Claire xx

Merry Christmas and my Heartfelt Gratitude .....

Tis the night before Christmas and all is happy and calm in our house (OK, maybe that's just because Paul has taken the boys to the pool!.

I just wanted to pop in and wish you all a very happy Christmas. I hope your house is overflowing with love, laughter and happiness on Christmas day. I have two very excited biys here, and we have also been enjoying some lovely time in the lead up to Christmas.  Here's some pictures for you (oh and about 3 hours after i wrote my last post Paul walked in the door with a new Canon 60D for me - excitement! Photos make me happy!).

Our tree:

Enjoying the Christmas sound and light display at Oxley College:

The boys with Santa:

and some pics from the fabulous Gingerbread Village display at the Melbourne Town Hall. They had a group of chefs make iconic melbourne buildings out of Gingerbread. It was amazing! Here is the MCG

Tha Arts Centre complete with lit up spire:

and the Melbourne Town Hall.

Finally I just wanted to say thank you for visiting my little space in cyberspace and leaving me a comment, making me smile or following me on my creative journey in 2011. Making things and recording my memories makes me happy, and it's lovely to have you along for the ride as well.

I probably won't get to the 100 layouts (too busy playing with my new camera) but i have had fun putting together a few more digital layouts recording this years Christmas memories.

This layout tells the story of some of the ornaments on my Christmas tree:

This one is about our trip to the city for Santa photos:

Have a great Christmas and I will be back here sometime soon :)

Claire xx

 

Layout number 83 .....

You might remember my scrapbooking goal for 2011 was to complete 100 layouts. I have 10 days left, and I just finished layout number 83 last night. I think I can do it, because this time of the year when I am on holidays from work is when I traditionally seem to get more scrapbooking done. I am sure going to try and will keep you posted!

Layout 83 is one of Josh. A traditional page I try and do at least once a year documenting what he's into at the moment. This goes into an album with his birthday page for each year, so when he is 18 or 21 (or older!) he can look back upon his childhood years. Next year I am also starting a school album for both Josh and Sam where I will put kinder through to high school including pages about school years and events and probably their school photos too. He already enjoys looking back on previous years pages and I love having these stages documented for years to come.

I have used all Stampin' Up! products on this layout, except the die which is an old Quickutz font 'Studio'. The DSP is Stampin' Up! Just Add Cake which is an awesome paper pack - lots of great patterns that suit both girls and boys.

I thought I would also show you a coupleof the previous pages in this series of layouts. Sometimes I ask questions, like in this layout I did when Josh was 6 and a half. At this age you always get some humorous answers (like 'How old is Mum?' and he said 14! or 'Are you good at keeping your room tidy and he said 'yes' - ummmmm are you sure there Josh?. It also includes gems like how he loves playing babies with sam and wants to be a firemen and likes finally being able to reach high things.

Then there's this one which I did when he was three (and I was clearly at the peak of my 'use every type of embellishment on every page' phase, lol). I used little tags with titles like 'people', 'food' 'tv shows' 'things' to document his favourites at this age.

The other thing I have got into this year is digital scrapbooking! I have so much to learn, but I am enjoying experimenting with layered templates and shadowing and photo masks and all these new words in my vocabulary. I don't think digital will ever replace traditional scrapbooking for me, but I love how mess free and quick and easy it is, so I will definitely be continuing to do it. Here is a very simple page I did this week using a Vinnie Pearce photo mask and a photo of Sam and I at the beach in winter2008.

Once this years layouts are completed I plan to launch into 2012. I will be joining my good friends Sue and Nikki on the Project Life bandwagon, and I also will be doing a Stacey Julian  class Twelve thanks to Sue's encouragement! I also will do my own thing with a new One Little Word Ali Edwards style, and see myself doing lots more digital pages too. I especially want to do lots of digital pages using photo collages where I can get lots of photos and stories down. I can't wait! My lovely husband also came home yesterday with some quotes for a new canon 60D Digital SLR camera, which took me by surprise! I had been whingeing about how my old DSLR is playing up and I guess he knows how much I love my photos! I haven't actually got it yet, but am crossing my fingers for his next overtime pay which is coming up!

Also thought I would share some of my fave scrapbooking blogs. I think everyone knows I love Ali Edwards and Cathy Zieleske by now, so here's a few more I often browse to get inspiration and ideas:

Kelly Goree - just LOVE the way she puts her pages together, plus she scrapbooks boys!

Laura Vegas  - makes awesome cards and scrapbook pages

Rachel Tucker - another talented NZ scrapbooker (there's also Nic Howard and Trina McClune)

Evalicious - for awesome mini books

Susan Longman - for her amazing embellishing

I could go on and on, but there's just a taste of some sites to check out if you love to scrapbook or plan to get started. I don't think there is a more gratifying hobby than recording life's stories for your family.

Hope to be back later in the week with more layouts. Hope you are managing to stay calm in the lead up to Christmas,

Claire xx

Big handmade birthday cards .....

Our lovely prep teacher had a birthday last week, and the preps were going to surprise her with a birthday cake, so I volunteered to make a birthday card. It had to be big enough for the preps to be able to all write their names, so an A4 card was called for. I was pleased how it turned out so thought Ii would share it here as I know there are many occasions when big cards are called for.

I decided on a flowers and butterfly theme and based my card around the Cheerful Treat DSP, which is one of the hostess items you can purchase when you host a workshop or put in a $300+ order with some friends. I love the colours in it, Concord Crush, Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Lucky Limeade and Bashful Blue.

To make the card, I stapled 2 A4 sheets at the left side having scored the top sheet about 1/2" in from the edge so it would open easily. I then covered the staples with a strip of DSP which was folded over the join (make sure you only go as far as the score line so it still opens easily). I did my greeting on the computer.

The flowers were cut using the Fun Flowers Bigz die and my Bigshot (love these flowers!) and I used a Filigree brad in the centre of each flower, with a Rhinestone Brad. I also used the Beautiful Wings embosslit to make Pink Pirouette butterflies with adhesive rhinestone centres. The stems and leaves were just cut freehand.

Inside the card I adhered more butterflies, and a sentiment thanking her for giving our preps such a great start to their school life. I put a little strip of DSP (cut with the eyelet border punch) under the greeting to tie it all together.

The card was very well received and the teacher gave me a big hug and told me it's the most beautiful card anyone has ever given her. Lots of people have told me when they gave it to her Sam could hardly wait to tell her his Mum made that and she makes amazing cards, which made me smile. She has been such a fantastic teacher, I enjoyed every second making this card.

The gift of card making really is so much more than the finished product isn't it?

This years Christmas cards ...

The majority of my Christmas cards should have been delivered, so thought I would pop up my designs onto the blog. I have to say though, I ran out of cards wayyyyyy before I ran out of people I wanted to send them to :(.  I have a feeling my friends will understand though, so if you don't receive a card from our family this year please know you are in our hearts as always.

So here are a few of the cards I made this year.

I hope you like them!

I love this time of year. Although it's hectic, it's also a fabulous time to catch up with good friends and family. We have just come home from sharing a picnic dinner with the lovely new friends we have made this year with sam's prep class Mums and Dads. They are such a lovely group of people and we seem to have just clicked. Only 2.5 more days of school for this year - it's a late term end in Victoria. The boys are ready for a few sleep ins that's for sure (and so is Mum!).

Be back soon with a scrapbooking post!

Claire xx

 

Stampin' Up! Fabulous Florets and Beyond the Garden DSP

How about some bright happy flowers for summer? The lovely Fabulous Florets stamp set and the Beyond the Garden Designer Series Paper from the new Stampin' Up! 2012 Summer Mini Catalogue is just what you need. This DSP features lots of bright happy colours like Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango and Wild Wasabi, and repeats the gorgeous pattern in the Fabulous Florets stamp set. Every gardener will love the fabulous quote in this stamp set "The earth laughs in flowers " by E.E. Cummings.

In this card above I have used the Fabulous Florets stamp set, Beyond the Garden DSP, the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Curly Label Punch and the word is from Fabulous Phrases stamp set. I just love this stamp set for greetings. It gives me so many great words to use on cards. Sometimes a single word is all you need.

Now you know how Stampin' Up! loves to coordinate it's products, so we also have a gorgeous embossing folder which matches the Fabulous Florets stamp set and Beyond the Garden DSP. It's called Flower Garden Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.

In this card I have used the embossing folder as the focal point. I trimmed about 1/2" off the right hand side of the front of the card and then used the Scallop Border Punch on that edge. I then placed a 1" wide strip of DSP on the inside back, so that it showed to the right of the border when the card was closed. My greeting is again from Fabulous Phrases, this time embossed in Melon Mambo onto Whisper White, cut out using the Word Window punch and then nested onto a coordinating piece of Wild Wasabi cut from the Modern Label punch . I'd be lost without my punches. They make for such quick and easy cards!

Here is this card again with the exact same card in Daffodil Delight and Wild Wasabi.

You might notice when you get your embossing folder, that the image that will emboss is on the right hand side of the card front. I preferred it on the left, so played around with my trusty BigShot to get the placement where I wanted it. It just meant turning the card and embossing folder on it's side and embossing over the card fold. Here's how it looked when I embossed it (I still had to put the last perspex plate on top in this photo).

and here's the inside of the cards too:

I hope that has given you lots of great ideas for using these fabulous new products. Give me a call or email me if you would like to order these products today by mail order and have them sent straight to you anywhere in Australia. You can view the new Summer Mini catalogue online  to see these gorgeous new products, or email me  and I would be happy to pop a copy of the Summer Mini Catalogue in the mail for you as well.

Be back soon with some more inspiration, until then stay happy!

Claire xx

December Frenzy

Get up to 50% off selected Stampin' Up!products during December! To see everything that's on sale, download the December Frenzy flier which has pictures and prices: Download Stampin' Up! December Frenzy 2011

This post will be featured during December, so scroll down for any new posts :) Happy Christmas!