I've Joined The Team...

Over at Sketches With a Twist! 

Yes, it's finally official. I am their new "Sketch Designer" for the next 9 months. 

Tomorrow, I will reveal my first sketch, with a twist of course, and I hope you will all come and join in the fun (of which there will be plenty!!!).

I'm so excited about this little adventure - I've never been a Sketch Designer before!!!

So, are you ready to try something new with me? 

I'll see you tomorrow morning over at Sketches With A Twist!!!

Fold Apart Mini Album

Shock! Horror! I made a mini album, lol! Yes, it's been a while since I've done one of these. And I have Natalie May to thank for the inspiration (she was kind enough to share this mini-album design with me the last time I visited). Everything used to create this album came from the Noel Mignon "Charm School" kit. I've used Pebbles Inc papers, Elle's Studio tags, WRMK embellishments and tags, Hambly rub-ons, and a couple of stick pins (it's been way too long since I've played with these kits). 

Here's the front view of the mini-album. It's 4" x 6". Just wait till you see this unfolded!

(I'll definitely be creating more of these albums. I think they might make a good Christmas gift).

When you remove the paper wrap that holds it all together, you can read the full title - Things That I Love About You. Due to the folding design of this album, the embellishments must be kept flat, and not bulky. Depth and dimension has been added through layers, doodling, and paper embellishments. 

Here's what you see when you open the first page. Yes, large photos - not tiny, teenie, weenie, mini photos. I really enjoyed working with larger photos for a change, and still having room left over to add journalling.

And here is the view when you fold the front cover over. I haven't yet added any journalling to this album for two reasons. 1. I have a splitting head-ache. 2. What I want to say to my daughters is personal and I don't want to share it, in this case. Usually, it doesn't worry me, but this is going to be a little different, and a little more personal. So you will just have to imagine what it looks like with journalling. 

This is what you get when the album is fully opened. 

More photos, and heaps of room for journalling. In total, there are 5 large photos, and four smaller photos in the kraft envelope. 

Here's a close-up of one of the journalling pages. 

I've added several smaller photos to the kraft envelope. 

And more journalling options - or if you are over journalling, you could add words, pictures, 

embellishments, or symbols. 

Thank-you for dropping by today. I hope you have enjoyed this album. I had a lot of fun making it, and sharing it with you. If you are inspired to create your own album, I'd love to see it - just add a link below, linking me to your blog. 

Life Goes By...

Life is passing so quickly, and I haven't shared any family life photos for a while. Time to fix that!

I decided yesterday, that my girls needed to get out of the house. 

So I dragged them down to the local park.

They weren't impressed at first, but they soon forgave me, and got the hang of it, lol!

(Please note - these photos have not yet been edited. You are viewing them straight from the camera).

Swing? What swing? More like trapeze if you ask me. :-)

My babies on the baby slide. Yes, she got stuck. Yes, her sister pushed her off. 

It's the details that amaze me about Adelaide. Little things that make all the difference. In Brisbane, our parks just have boring street lights, nothing sweet and quaint like these beauties. 

And the park. So green, so pretty, even in the middle of winter. I don't know the name of the park, but it is a dog park. So when all the neighborhood dogs arrived at 5pm for their afternoon exercise, my two girls were in heaven!!! They got to pat dogs, throw balls, and generally run around like lunatics. It was fun. Did I mention it was really, really cold? Nope, that didn't stop us.

Kisanji is growing like crazy, and has happily settled into our family. Can you spot the cat amongst all this fur? And she doesn't meow, she mmmrrs. That's the only way I can explain the sound she makes. The girls and hubby have nicknamed her "Raccoon". :-) 

Blonde Moments...

I cannot believe the month is nearly over, and I forgot to share these with you. I must be having a blonde moment (I'm allowed to say that because I am a natural blonde under this red hair). There are two reasons why I wanted to share these layouts with you. Firstly, it has been a long time since I've done class kits. Probably a couple of years. And yes, both these layouts are class kits for Scrapbook Kits With a Difference. (Sorry - sold out).  

And the second reason I wanted to share these layouts with you, is because I have NEVER worked with Graphic 45 papers before. Nope. Never. I've just never been a Graphic 45 kind of girl. But I have a combined Imaginarium Designs - Graphic 45 blog hop coming up soon, so I thought I had better get some practice in with their papers. 

I have to admit, I really had fun working with these papers, and I surprised myself with the end result. Now, all I have to do is keep my fingers crossed and hope that I can do it all again for the up-coming blog hop! Wish me luck! :-)

Sneak Peeks and Give Away Time...

I thought I'd tease you with a little sneak peek of some of my up and coming creations. Yes, I've been busy, but no, I haven't been able to share any of it on my blog yet. You'll just have to be patient, and keep and eye on the Imaginarium Designs blog (it will go up there first).

Talking about Imaginarium Designs - we have an exciting announcement to make. It's give-away time over at the Imaginarium Designs blog!!! Woo-hoo! So, who would like to win a pack of new release Imaginarium Designs chipboard? It's easy to be in the running. Just pop on over to the blog and leave a comment (and don't forget to leave some love for Gerry - she's been busy creating up a storm!

Birthday Invites For A Little Girl...

I'd like to share some sweet little birthday invites I've made for my daughter. Malayla is turning 10 in a few weeks, so I have agreed to a small slumber party. I didn't see the point of buying a pack of invites if she was only inviting 4 girls over for the slumber party. So I opted to create four very unique birthday invites instead. 

I grabbed three large tags, coated them with gesso (on both sides), embossed them, then stuck them together with washi tape. Choosing the colours was the hardest bit - I had no idea what she wanted. So I went with all-out bright colours (how unusual for me, NOT!!!). Once I had decided on the colours I used Tattered Angels Chalkboard mists to create the background, then inked over the top with distress inks in matching colours. I die-cut some doilies, flowers, tickets, and t-shirts. (In case you are wondering what those black lines are on the centre page, I have simply edited out our address and mobile phone number).

I titled the invite VIP (Very Important Princess). To create this title, I used the large alphabet (Code: IDAUC0001) from Imaginarium Designs chipboard. I simply coated it with blue ink, sprayed it with Helmar vellum spray, and sprinkled blue Doodlebug glitter over the top. Once dry, I shook off the excess glitter, and adhered it tot he front of the invite. I used the exact same process for the butterfly (Code: IDT0014). 

And on the last page a put a little reminder of what the girls needs to bring with them. Now the easy part is done. Next I have to organise the food and entertainment, lol! And ear plus - I'm sure I am going to need some of those. 

Wishes And Dreams...

When I first saw this paper from Fancy Pants, I fell in love. It's so cute and darling! But I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it...until now.

I realised as soon as I saw the "Wish Upon A Star" title card, that I had the perfect title for a layout: "When You Wish Upon A Star"...and so this layout was created. 

I had lots of fun with my Imaginarium Chipboard. I painted the branches with Twinkling H2O's. And left them as they were. I painted the stars and alphas with Twinkling H2O's, then covered the stars with Kindy Glitz, and the alphas with Dimensional Magic. I'm not sure why, but every time I cover Twinkling H2O's with Dimensional Magic, it crackles as it dries, and I just love this effect. 

I will let you in on a little secret - these colours were not easy for me to work with, lol! I struggled at first until I found my rhythm. Or maybe it was just that my mojo was a little slow to kick in? But I am happy with the end result - I challenged myself and succeeded. And no, I don't always succeed, lol!!! 

I want my girls to realise how much I did wish for them. They were wanted. Not accidents. Not second thoughts. But well and truly wanted, and wished for. 

Thank-you for stopping by today. I hope I have inspired you to challenge yourself, to grow as an artist, and try something new. It's not always as scary as it seems... :-)

Crafty Sketches June Sketch Challenge...

Welcome to June (and Winter), which means a new sketch is up over at Crafty Sketches. 

This gorgeous June Sketch was created by Team Member Narelle Riley. It has so many possibilities. 

This is my take on the June Sketch. I went with bright, bold and beautiful. Titled: You Are Amazing. As you can see, while I was inspired by the sketch, I also made a few changes, and made it mine. I really enjoyed playing with this sketch - it was so easy to work with. The whole layout just kind of "fell" together, and I managed to use up a whole lot of "leftovers" that I had on my desk. 

Products Used: Imaginarium Designs chipboard alphas and butterflies; Crafter's Workshop template; Pink Paislee papers; Hambly transparency; Prima flowers; and lots and lots of washi tape.