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!