Be .. with More than Words

I was inspired by the More than Words challenge to create this layout. This month's challenge is about all things sparkly and the word 'wonderful'. I figured I could work with that ..

Be

More than words challenge ..

a few close ups ..

Once up a time, mindfulness saved my life. Whilst I don't practice it every day anymore, I do still use it to get through difficult times, going to the dentist and getting through lengthy MRIs. LOL I meant the latter two genuinely! I'm hoping to find more balance in my life this year so I can practice meditation and mindfulness every day again. So, also knowing how much Buddhism intrigues me, and how much these garden statues (I have two) mean to me, GB, ever so very thoughtfully, one day, took photos of them for me. Like lying on the granite ground to get great shots of them, for me. Yep my GB is a sweetheart. Hence the hearts. They're symbolic of my spiritual heart and also how much love I have for my GB. Plus, conveniently, they sort of mirror the the shape of the flowers.

Anyways, enough of my rambling! There is still time to get this challenge done. Remember folks, its a leap year! For all the details of the latest challenge at More than Words pop on over HERE.

Happy scrapping peeps!

\

A stitch in time

I still remember my girlfriend (heh SJ!) teaching me how to do back stitch (or is it running stitch?) over the phone from Canberra. She had me get out a piece of cardstock and pierce four holes in it, which I numbered one through to four. She told me to "come up through one, go down through two, then up through three and back down through two, then up through four, and down through three." Huh?!?! LOL!!!! But I got it! I guess the fact that her instructions were very clear and that when I was a lot younger I knew how to embroider helped.

Who knew where that lesson in hand stitching for my LOs would eventually lead!!!

Postcards from Phoenix

published in Scrapbook Creations issue 65

Bendoc's Biggen

published in Scrapbook Creations issue 72

I confess my stitches aren't always the neatest, the same size or even (when required) necessarily straight. But I love the texture and dimension they add to a LO. As I write this post I realise however that I haven't hand stitched on a page in quite some time. For a long while I desperately wanted to use my sewing machine to add stitching but, now seriously don't laugh LOL, was ever so slightly terrified of doing so. Once I got over that 'hurdle' I didn't look back and now when I want to add stitching to my pages I always turn to my sewing machine. Although certainly using the sewing machine is quicker, it achieves an altogether different effect though doesn't it? Note to self .. incorporate some hand stitching on my next project(s).

Meanwhile, thanks SJ for teaching me how to do whatever stitch it is I've used on these LOs all those years ago.    :)

One sketch .. two layouts

Was Easter really only just last weekend?? Where has the time gone? I had the pleasure of the company of a very, very special, dear friend for the Easter break. Sandy (heh Sandy!!!) came to stay. We had such a great time. Chatting, eating, drinking, shopping, scrapping, laughing, crying. It was just wonderful. It also reminded me of the last time Sandy was here ..

A couple of months back when Sandy was here for another weekend break she used one of my Alz Sketchz to create a layout ..

Maaate ... by Sandy

products used:

cardstock - SU Confetti White cardstock

patterned paper - Basic Grey Marrakesh collection

other - Tim Holtz Distress embossing powder, chipboard flourish

This is the sketch Sandy used ..

Alz Sketchz

Christmas (Memories)

I love Sandy's layout. The simplicity works so well for a male based page, and the title is perfect. You can just picture (or hear) the guys saying "maaate". What a priceless photo! Thanks Sandy.

I had also wanted to give this sketch a go so figured I'd whip up something to share before I post this post. Here's what I came up with ..

Adorable

products used:

cardstock - SU Naturals Ivory

patterned paper - Pink Paislee Prairie Hill: Spool, Country Meadow, Sun Spot, Hilltop, Kite Strings, Flight Pattern (including reverses)

embellishments - Pink Paislee Prairie Hill shipping tags and chipboard pops, Prima flowers - Tattered Treasures (wheat) and Tasha (Gold), Polly! felt butterfly, Jules Gems' resin flowers, A Lil Somethin' mistable cogs and mistable banner, Charms Creations {fabulous} flowers, crochet flower, twine, sewing machine thread, bottle cap

alphas - Quickutz Mini alpha dies, American Crafts Thickers - Giggles, Foam, Cream

other - Inkssentials Glossy Accents, VersaMagic Jumbo Java chalk ink pad

font - Optima

"It's not to my liking" said GB. LOL, that's okay GB because I love it!!! I'm in such a more is more phase at the moment. LOL can you tell? GB's tastes run to the more clean and simple, perhaps a little graphic. Too bad GB .. if you want clean and graphic take up scrapping!!!!!  :p

Oh and this is the original layout from which my friend Kylie (heh K!!) of {Yillup Designs} created the digital sketch for me ..

Memories (Christmas)

products used:

patterned paper - Bo Bunny Tis the Season collection

alphas - Carolee Creations sleek red alphas

embellishments - Hambly Collections journaling spots, Zva pearl flourish, Kaiser pearls

punches/dies - Big Shot Thick Cuts Circles die

other - Sharpie journaling pen

So there you go, one sketch two ways. Thanks as always to K for being so generous with her time and making up my Alz Sketchz and for Sandy testing them out for me.   :)

"It's just a mish mash"

No, GB wasn't referring to the Monster Mash he was referring to my latest LO ..

published in Scrapbook Creations No. 94

At first I agreed with him, it did seem to be kind of a mish mash of 'stuff', but a couple of days later and it's now grown on me. I like it.  :)

Important .. would you prefer the long or short story of this LO? If you would prefer the short LOL, just scroll to the bottom of this post!!!

The long story ..

I haven't been able to create anything for nigh on a month and it has been driving me (and GB as a consequence LOL!) crazy. The hand which was healing oh so nicely, very inconveniently became infected and as a result slowed the recovery period. There is still a long road ahead before my hand is 100% back to normal but I can scrap again!!!!!

So anyways, not having been able to create for a while the above LO did become a bit of a mish mash. I wanted to play. I wanted to scrap this photo of Bear doing what he does best .. sitting back and observing what's going on around him (he's a Kelpie to his core!). I had some clean gauze left over in my dressings kit which I wanted to experiment with. Have I mentioned I wanted to play? Well play I did. After mixing up a watery base of glue and paint to soak the gauze in and force drying it on my cardstock, I kept on building my layers .. the texture gels, the paints, the recycled materials. The photo was on. Everything was looking great. But it needed something to the right of the photo. I had the perfect flourish rub-on. It wasn't a 'solid' rub-on so wouldn't be too heavy. About now is when I should have walked away!!!

Instead I decided to colour in the rub-on flourish with a pink marker. Big mistake .. huge!!! I sulked for a while until GB suggested I re-colour it in black. Brilliant idea GB. Perfect! Except it turned out the black marker wouldn't set. Plus, in the process of seeing just how wet it was, it smudged, badly. The LO was ruined. I was gutted. Seriously gutted. I couldn't sleep that night. Honestly. I woke up at 2am thinking about the LO and wondering how on earth I could fix it. I did not want to go back through all the stages of layering with mixed media all over again. At 4.30am I gave up, and got up. This LO was not going to get the best of me.

I figured out with a generous spray of Charms Creations 'Fabulous Flowers' and other embellishments I could cover the disgusting, smudgy mess for the most part. But what about the enormous (so it seemed LOL) part of the flourish in the clouds??? Finally it came to me. All I had to do was 'sponge' another cloud over the top. It sounds easy enough doesn't it? Wrong! The hideous, smudged flourish kept on shining through. Was I honestly going to have to throw this in the trash? It was at about 7am the answer came to me. Cut out a cloud and stick it on top of the whole bloomin' mess. So I did and it worked. Big sigh! Huge!!!

But then I stepped back and looked at the end result and, I admit, was disappointed. I had created a mish mash. But I was also tired. So very tired. After almost 12 hours (or so it seemed) of playing with this LO I was more than prepared for it to look like a mish mash. Yet I had so wanted the photo to be the focus of attention on this LO, and now it's practically half covered in flowers (as gorgeous as they are). I had really wanted the textures and mixed media to shine through, and now you can scarcely see (and if you can, recognise) the book page and gels. One thing I felt I had got right was the whimsical element. But it was done, and my hand had officially healed sufficiently for me to start scrapping again. I had scrapped .. and I was happy!

The short story .. I scrapped .. and I was happy!!!!!!!!!!

:)

How do I love thee?

Today I'd like to share a very old, very special layout of my beloved Max. Max passed away at home, peacefully in my arms, on Saturday, 17th September 2011.

Thank god for scrapbooking; for without it I would never have created the layout How do I love thee? which says exactly what I am unable, just now, to say.

How do I love thee?

published in For Keeps Scrapbooking, Issue 57 (August 2007)

Max

(Wellie, Magoo, Maxwell)

25th June 1994 ~ 17th September 2011

How will I love you Max? Until the end of days. xx

Curiosity killed the cat

But (LOL) ... luckily for us Magoo is a dog!  :)

GB took the photos on this next layout a couple of Christmases ago. I had bought him one of those super duper Panasonic Lumix cameras (top of the range of course ... LOL what else could I do considering he uses top of the range SLRs in his job?!) and Max was completely intrigued. LOL it was unlike any camera he had ever seen before and was certainly different to my bulky number! Once he heard the usual camera noises though he figured it out and was less than impressed. LOL I think the photos tell the story perfectly ...

Curious Max

products used:

Jillibean Soup Talk Soup jibber jabber patterned cardstock; Stampin' Up! Whisper White cardstock; Stampin' Up Soft Suede DSP from patterns stack;  Prima Artful Collage and White Wildflowers Pillar Pack flowers; Purple Pumpkin black crocheted doily; Stampin' Up! Neutrals Collection designer buttons; Maya Road white pom pom trim; black German Scraps; American Crafts Thickers - Daiquiri, foam, black; Dymo and black label; mesh tape; embroidery cotton; Stampin' Up! Marina Mist stampin' pad; Stampin' Up! Love & Care stamp set; Uni-ball Signo white pen and black Zig Writer; dies - Sizzix Circle, Scallop, Sizzix/Stampin' Up! Top Note, Sizzix Boss-O alphas; Stampin' Up! square lattice embossing folder; upcycled corrugated cardboard

I've used Kraft It Up!'s August challenge to create Curious Max. The challenge this month was a PageMaps sketch ...

I really enjoyed this sketch ... lots of details to play with, plenty of photos, and yet still plenty of white space!! You can read all about the Kraft It Up! challenge blog HERE.

That's it for me today. I've got unpacking to do! Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.   :) xx

8.5x11 or thereabouts

As some of you would know, I'm working on a weekly challenges journal this year at ScrapChat based around our favourites of varying things. Right now I am sooooooo far behind in these challenges it's not funny. At all. But when the Mac was out of action I figured I'd have a go at playing catch up. Amongst (many) other things I completed three of the challenges (favourite ... photo, piece of clothing and city). Catching up completely started to feel within my grasp LOL. That was until Kylie (heh K!) put up two weeks' challenges in one hit. Plus another one this week! Noice one K!!! LOL!!!

Anyways the pages in the Visual Arts Diary I am using for my challenge journal are kind of similar in size to an 8.5x11 layout. So that's how I've decided to 'label' them. Being a 12x12 scrapper I've found it challenging and interesting working in an 8.5x11 format. I must confess though, it's growing on me. These are the three pages I have recently completed ...

Once were pink

(Week 20 - favourite piece of clothing)

products used:

Stampin' Up! Whisper White cardstock; Doodlebug Designs Inc crushed velvet Bubblegum cardstock; patterned paper - something seriously ancient from my stash (no LOL, that's not a brand!!); American Crafts Thickers - Delight, Fabric, Black; lilybeedesign ABC stickers; Queen & Co brads; dies - Sizzix Boss-O alphas, Sizzix Arrows #2, Big Shot Thick Cuts Circles; recycled flannelette fabric and buttons from my pjs; upcycled pink chenille; upcycled vintage shipping tags and cotton string; black Zig Writer; black embroidery cotton and sewing machine thread

Tranquil

(Week 18 - favourite photo)

products used:

Bazzill Swiss Dots cardstock; patterned paper - Making Memories and Chatterbox; American Crafts Thickers - Gift Box and Shoe Box both in raw chipboard; Sassafras Lass chipboard sticker shapes - Woody Pal Around; Martha Stewart border punch; washi tape; upcycled vintage shipping tag and cotton string; Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake classic stampin' pad; Chocolate Zig Writer;

Key West

(Week 28 - favourite city)

products used:

Bazzill cardstock; American Crafts Thickers - Daiquiri, Foam, White; Prima Lisle Multi flowers; Queen & Co brads; Paper Raffia in Pistachio and White; Green Tara White paper string; white German Scraps; Kaisercolour White acrylic paint; Black and Denim Zig Writers

What's next? There are a multitude of challenges 'out there' which I'd love to give a go. I'm still waaaay behind in my weekly favourites challenge journal. I owe at least two people CJ pages. I had planned to make some Christmas cards 'for the troops'. Sigh (LOL) ... what's a girl to do? I think I'll go with some more weekly favourites challenges.  Perhaps catch up a little more ... maybe ...

est. 365

When GB and I were renting (in between having sold our old home and waiting for construction of the new one to be completed) we rented a home in a new estate with enormous, empty paddocks behind us with the most vast, open skies.  Skies larger than anything we had ever seen before in Melbourne.  Well at least compared to those we had grown accustomed to seeing from our backyard at our previous inner city home where the nights were never truly dark because of all the city lights.  These unobstructed skies out west were like those from the country ... possibly even better, because they were in our own backyard!!!

The living end of our home faced directly west.  We had really, really large sliding glass doors which faced directly west.  It was hot.  Hotter than hot.  We had no shade.  Nothing at all.  Even in the middle of a freezing cold Melbourne's winter it was hot.  Too hot.  In summer it bordered on unbearable.  But every single night nature put on a spectacular show, seemingly just for us.  I don't know how many other people (if any) living on our side of the street with the same western aspect stopped to enjoy these magical moments in each night.  But when GB was home we certainly did.  Oh and did we photograph them ... much?  LOL it almost became a competition between the two of us to see who could get the better photos.  Don't tell GB but I'll confess that without the use of a tripod his top of the range Panasonic Lumix took some pretty darn amazing photos and the one on this LO is one of his.

So yep, we sweltered.  So much so I lost weight ROFL!!!  I don't miss the sweltering now that we're in our new home; but I sure do miss the spectacular sunsets.  And those quiet moments standing together, in each other's arms, watching the day slowly come to an end.

Thanks Lucy (Crazymumm) for a fabulous sketch to work with for the ScrapChat February sketch challenge.  It was exactly what this photo needed.

products include a Rhonna Farrer digital frame, Bo Bunny dots cardstock, various dies, a gorgeous {Yillup Designs} beaded crocheted flower, and a handmade and designed stick pin by Leababy (thanks for the RAK Leanne and yes please ... LOL I'm begging you ... do hold a stick pin swap!!!)

Lucy's sketch

Wishing everyone the start to a fabulous weekend.  Hugs ...

PS:  Does anyone have any tips for photographing LOs with large (or small for that matter) transparencies on them without (a) getting yourself in the reflection of the transparency and (b) without getting any shading or grey areas on the transparency?  This is an appallingly bad photo of my LO but I'm otherwise at a loss.  Any and all tips and techniques would be gratefully received.  :)