When you're not so "stuck!?"

Hi and welcome! I'm back again playing with the second "Stuck!?" sketch for the month . . .

I followed  their last sketch very closely. This time I took a slightly more relaxed approach . . .

Much as I loved the giant star in the sketch, on this occasion I substituted it for a not-quite-so-giant vellum doily.

This page is about my daughter's birthday party last  year.  Sadly, I only took a couple of photos, and they're not great.  But a birthday party must be documented!

I'm still working on using up my September Counterfeit kit, and was pleased with how much I included on this page, including some Basic Grey rub-ons, Crate Paper cut-aparts and especially those gold rhinestones. After sitting in my stash untouched for so long, I've got maybe a quarter of a pack left, and I'll be sad to see them gone!

Thanks for dropping by.  I hope you'll stop and let me know whether you've fallen back in love with any old supplies lately?

Play With Me

Why hello there! Today I'm playing along with Scrap Our Stash, using this lovely sketch:

I found some photos of our dog Hamish, from when he was a puppy, and they fit the sketch perfectly!

I really enjoyed making this page, but I almost forgot the "stash" element of the challenge, which was to use some metal - and that was nearly my undoing. I couldn't find anything in my small metal stash that would go with the gold elements I had already included on my page, and I was loath to take them off.  Eventually though, I settled on the yellow star paper clip, and it turned out to be the perfect finishing touch!

When you're "Stuck?!"

In my last post I mentioned that using a sketch is a great way to push through a creative block.

The strong diagonal elements on this sketch from Stuck!? sketches is something a bit different for me . . .

But I decided to go with it . . .

Right down to the stitching and the stars!

Oh, and the notebook paper, which handily holds my journaling.

And because I don't always need a sketch, here's another page I created, using some of the same elements. . . .

Thanks for visiting, I hope you'll stop and take the time to say hi!

Scraptoberfest

Many times on this blog in the past I've talked about how I love sketch and colour challenges as a way of focussing on using my stash instead of spending money building up my stash. (like here) I've proven this to be true over the last month as I've forced encouraged myself to partake in a number of challenges, instead of spending all my spare time on Youtube, which invariably leads to me looking for particular supplies on my favourite internet Scrapbooking sites.
But I've got another reason to add why I love these challenges so much . . . they can really help when your creativity is low.  A sketch is the perfect solution when you feel like you've gone to your "go to" designs to death, and a colour challenge is a great help when you can't see past the fact that your daughter is wearing (yet again!!!) pink, and you don't want your page to mimic the Barbie isle at Kmart.

This month, I've come across not just a sketch AND a colour challenge, but a chance to participate in 4 challenges AT ONCE!!! If you're visiting from any of the sites involved in Scraptoberfest, you know about this already, but if not, here's all the challenges:

The Memory Nest has this sketch:

My Scraps and More has this colour palette:

Scrap our Stash asks us to use 2 different types of washi tape.

And finally, Challenge YOUrself asks us to "include yourself in the photo".

The option is to do any or all of these challenges individually, but I took the combined option of all 4!
Here it is . . .

I had a photo of myself ready to scrap (tick!), with neutral-enough colours that I could use the colour palette (tick!).  By using two of the three photos from the morning, I was able to easily use the sketch (tick!) and the royal blue and pink washi tapes complete the final challenge (tick, tick, tick, tick!)

 I decided to scrap the final photo from the morning separately, as I had a story I wanted to document but didn't have a specific photo to go with it . . .

. . . about how I worked my childcare magic on my niece that weekend, who's always been really shy with us.  To the amusement of all my family, she now loves her "Uncle Julie".

I'm still working with my September Counterfeit Kit, and both pages use those "Best of" Crate Paper papers, which makes me very happy!

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to let me know you've stopped by.  I'd love to hear what your favourite type of challenge is!

Bunny pages!!!

What's some of the best things about having a new pet?  If you're a scrapbooker like me, then you'll probably include "scrapbooking them" in your list.

I've done two more bunny pages in the last week, including this cheeky last minute page using this "Stuck?!" sketches sketch:

The great thing about having my photos printed out at 4"square is that they go perfectly with the frames I included in my September Counterfeit Kit. The other thing they go perfectly with is, of course, 6" papers for layering, so I've added some of these in with my kit as well.

Scrapbook Boutique September challenge

My eldest son and his friend are getting together to cook for the two families tonight, the theme being "Easter in September".  The company and the main course will be fabulous, but the chocolate dessert isn't the most exciting for me, since I've quit sugar!  But here's the sort of delicious treat I can really appreciate . . . this month's Scrapbook Boutique challenge . . .

Pink and white, doilies and roses . . . I just couldn't wait to get started!

I made a special trip to Domayne to print some phone photos of Maddy and her new bunny, Tibbets.

I started my background once again by applying some white rub-ons, before smooshing gelatos on with the packaging technique.  

I mixed items from both my white- and off white- based Counterfeit Kits this time.  Maddy and I had recently purchased some moulds and paper clay, and this layout features their first appearance on a page.

Before I packed up, I ended up doing a second page. Some of the elements you might recognise, although I didn't stick to the same colour palette.

Same beautiful girl, but slightly younger! This photo was taken at the same time as this one of her brothers.

Thanks for stopping by!

September Counterfeit Kit Challenge Member Blog Hop

 

 Hello scrappy friends and welcome to my stop on the CKCB Blog Hop. 

You should have arrived here from the talented Julene's blog.  If you haven't, you can always hop on back to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog and start from the beginning!

My project today was for Challenge #1: "A Single Pop of Colour on White":

 That adorable baby in the photos will be 17 in a couple of months, can you believe it!?  (Mind you, his mother looks that much older, now, too!!)

This is my third page this month using the "packaging technique" to "smoosh" my gelatos onto the background.  I'm really loving it and I don't think I'll be stopping any time soon!

I hope you'll take the time to leave a comment before you go and let me know you've been, and what techniques you're loving at the moment.

And now it's time to take your last hop to the lovely Lisa . . . have fun!