A couple of boy scrapbook pages ...

One of the things I got to do on our weekend away was some 'just because' scrapbooking - my favourite kind!

I did this page of Josh at eight. I like to record 'bits' about the boys life on an age page each year, and this is his page for eight. How handsome is he?? I took these pics in the backyard in May and just loved how they turned out. They really capture his beautiful nature I think.

Remember the jetty pic from a few posts ago? Here it is scrapbooked. Just capturing a fun school holiday afternoon at the holiday house. I love using this layout style (called colour blocking) on layouts. It's simple and uncluttered and allows me to get lots of pictures onto the page. Kraft is such a good background colour for beach pages isn't it?

I hope you have enjoyed these pages. I have a couple more to finish the jounalling on and I will post them as well.

Have a fabulous day and thanks for popping by,

Claire xx
 
 

Asian Artistry for my Sister ....

My sister Deb has been having a rough time lately with severe back pain. She is getting some pretty full on treatments which are never nice, but hopefully will mean she is feeling a lot better soon. I made her this card to let her know I was thinking about her.

I've used Stampin' Up! Asian Artistry (and the greeting is from a retired Stampin' Up! saleabration set). The colours of cardstock are Tangerine Tango, Always Artichoke and Mellow Moss (retiring). There's also some paper from the Autumn DSP out of the current mini. 

I went away to the family holiday house on the Mornington Peninsula last weekend with my 4 Thursday night stamping buddies, Leanne, Kerry, Judy and Christine.These girls are such fabulous friends and I had a wonderful time. Here's a pic of our finished creations on the mantlepiece. Mine are on the far right and I will show them to you over the coming weeks.

which were all created from this chaos

We had so many supplies at our fingertips, interspersed of course with lots of yummy treats!

including Leanne's DELICIOUS Christmas Cake!

It was so much fun, can't wait to do it again next year!

Back soon with some more creations to show you. have a happy week,

Claire xx  
 
 
 

Ocean Commotion ....

Hello lovelies,

Been a bit longer than planned to get back here! Just busy with 'life' atm, all good stuff with family and friends though My sister and niece from Perth visited for a week which was lovely, the boys started back at school and kinder (and Josh back at OT), we've just been away to celebrate Paul's Dad turning 70, and next weekend I am off to the beach house again for a weekend of stamping and scrapbooking fun with me Thursday night stamping buddies.

I do have a few things to show you though. First I wanted to show you this Christmas card idea. As much as I would love to claim it as my own, it was actually cased from a gorgeous card I received from one of my lovely downlines Kristine Thompson in a team swap a little while back. I just changed the colour combination really! Kristine has done some other fab things with the Medallion card over on her blog, so make sure you head on over for a peek.

My version of Kristines's card used Rich Razzleberry and Always Artichoke with Gold, both in the layers and the embossing. Bits of the Medallion stamp are coloured in and coated with Crystal Effects.

Now these next cards are way different to my normal style but were lots of fun. I help a technique day for my downlines last week and we did Baby Wipe Technique and Wax Paper Resist. This is one of the cards they made.

I like how the wax paper resist technique gave an ocean look (I used Baja Breeze and Not Quite Navy) and the Baby Wipe Technique for the tropical fish from Ocean Commotion (I used Taken with Teal, Kiwi Kiss and Always Artichoke reinkers).

While I was on the ocean theme, I came up with this card, using brayering with reinkers for the background (I think I used Certainly Celery, Kiwi Kiss and Tempting Turquoise reinkers). The seahorse from Ocean Commotion was coloured with markers direct to rubber, and that's Taken with Teal, Certainly Celery and Chocolate Chip cardstock.

 

Finally to finish off the ocean theme, here's one of my fave pics from the school holiday break we had down on the Mornington Peninsular. This is my boys on the Rosebud Pier. It was lovely to be at the beach in winter and there were so many starfish in the water near the pier; all different types and colours much to the boys delight!

and here is Sam checking out the starfish - the water was freezing but that wasn't going to stop him!

 

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you all have a happy week whatever you choose to be doing. I'll be back here when I can, hopefully with some stamping or scrapbook pages from my weekend away (or maybe just photos of us relaxing, laughing, talking and eating!). 

Claire xx
 

  

Art with Heart Team Blog Hop - Christmas in July

Hi there,

Time for another blog hop with the lovely ladies from the Art with Heart team. There's 12 or 13 of us taking place, so as you skip your way along the blog hop have a look around at their blogs, and don't forget to leave a comment at each stop and email [email protected] to be in the running for some blog candy (sorry, demonstrators aren't eligible to win the candy).

You would have come to my blog from Sue Madex, who has a lovely team with regular get togethers in the western suburbs of Melbourne. I love Sue's creativity but she's also a fabulous caring and inspiring team leader too!

My creation is a suggestion for a colour combination for Christmas cards, Rich Razzleberry, Always Artichoke and Very Vanilla. I have also used some gold embossing.

The snowflake design was from Stampin' Up! Winter Post, and the greeting "welcome Christmas into your heart" is from the lovely set in the current mini catalogue Stampin' Up! Heard from the Heart. Here's a summary of the Stampin' Up! supplies I have used on the card:

• Stamps: Vintage Vogue (the background), Winter Post, Heard from the Heart
• Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla
• Ink: Versamark
• Punches: Square Scallop punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8"  Circle, 1 1/4"Circle, 1/2" Circle
• Other: gold embossing powder, Antique Brass build a brad

I have used a dimensionals on quite a few of the layers to give the card some dimension.

It's now time to continue on your merry way (after you leave a comment of course!). Next stop on the hop is the lovely Judy May in Canterbury in Inner East Melbourne. Judy makes some gorgeous creations so I am sure you will be very inspired!

Thanks again for checking out the team creations. Have a lovely weekend! I'm off to the family holiday house on the Mornington Peninsula for the week today - looking forward to some rugged up relaxing!

Claire
 

Just popping in with some creating and a special ....

Hello lovelies, hope you are warm and happy and enjoying the school holidays (if you are in Victoria). Mine got off to a bit of a shaky start with being unwell for a few days but I am back on my feet and raring to go again now. My husband has taken the day off to spend with the boys today, so they are off out and about while I get some work done, and get to do some creating with my gorgeous stamping friends tonight.

Wanted to show you a couple of things I've made over the last few weeks. First up this page of the lovely Keesh. I really liked this photo of us from the Incentive Trip in Noosa last year, and have wanted to scrap it for a while. I love how it turned out and it's a great addition to my friends album!

I've used a range of products on this one, including Stampin' Up!'s Vintage Vogue stamp set, and butterfly punch. I love using this punch with patterned paper to match the pages I am doing.

Next up I have been having a play with the Urban Oasis DSP. I forgot how much I loved using this paper with Kraft, and how much I loved white embossing on Kraft! This one uses Stampin' Up! Starring You and the Stampin' Up! Large Star and Star Punch.

This one is a mix of embellishments which match the colours in the gorgeous Stampin' Up! Urban Oasis DSP; Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Going Gray and Sahara Sand.

Wanted to show you a close up of the Soho Designer Hardware (from the current mini) as it's a great match for this DSP. These are light weight and so easy to set flat using the Cropadile. Love the dimension they give a project.

I'm also LOVING the Stampin' Up! Tiny Tags set, and how you can layer the stamps and punch them out using the Stampin' Up! Medium Jewellry Punch, and Small Heart Punch. 

The great news is, Stampin' Up! have just announced a GREAT special of 20% off a range of 2 step stamping sets, including Tiny Tags - woohoo! Here's a list of what's on special for the month of July.

From 2009/2010 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue (IBC) - On Sale until July 31st

3 Sets we have been told are retiring at end of August (so don't miss out!)

• A Rose is a Rose (Item 115860, page 78) $66.95 Now $53.56 
• Big Bold Birthday (Item 116342, page 42) $53.95 Now $43.16
• Playful Petals (Item 116332, page 86, matches Tea Party DSP) $52.95 Now $42.36

Other sets from 2009/10 Stampin' Up! IBC

• Loads of Love (Item 116386, Page 39) $39.95 Now $31.96
• Cheep Talk (Item 115770, Page 98) $47.95 Now $38.36
• Wonderful Favourites (Item 115946, Page 115) $39.95 Now $31.96

From the Current Stampin' Up! Autumn Winter Mini Catalogue - On Sale from July 31st

• Tiny Tags (wood-mount) (Item 119187, page 14) $38.95 Now $31.16
• Tiny Tags (clear-mount) (Item 118592, page 14) $28.95 Now $23.16
• Cottage Garden (wood-mount) (Item 119163, page 31) $32.95 Now $26.36
• Cottage Garden (clear-mount) (Item 120003, page 31) $24.95 Now $19.96

Great specials hey? I am still placing orders the day they come in right throughout the school holidays, so if you want your stamps sent straight to you from the warehouse quick as a flash, just email me your order, or call me on 03 97352946 and I will get straight onto it for you. As a customer you will then receive my exclusive customer emails with additional samples and offers and technique sheets so you get the most from your Stampin' Up! products. I'll be focusing my customer only samples on these sets over the coming month, so don't miss out on my newsletters.

Phew, if you got this far you might be ready for a cuppa! Just a couple more things. Firstly it's time for Ferdinand to show his friendly froggy face again as it's nearly time for another Art with Heart Blog Hop. Here's the details from Ferdinand:

 
Lastly just a little family snap for you. I've had a fun couple of days with the kids this week. Josh has been getting into his music, and yesterday I offered to take some pics of 2 babies from my school Mum friends. They were so cute and it was so nice to be able to do that for them. Besides the babies there were 5 big kids who managed to have an impromptu disco in paul's office (who luckily was at work) while Josh played them music videos. I think I should add DJ to his list of skills! As I was typing this message, Paul sent me this pic by email that he took on his phone at the Spongebob show he took them to today. They LOVE Patrick and Spongebob. Makes me happy this little family of mine.

 

Hope you are having a good week, back Saturday with by blog hop creation!

Claire xx