New layouts

This past week I've gone scrap crazy!! I've completed a total of five layouts, a card and a clock all within the past week. Some I can't share on here as they'll be in magazines.... But check out what I can! :)

Dear Brad layout: Just a little layout to my sweetie. How I love him even when he's got sleep in his eyes and hair scruffy in the mornings (this photo was taken at Easter this year, camping).





Meeting Mickey layout:I was lucky enough to go to Disneyland while I was in California in Janurary and meet Mickey Mouse!! :)



'Today' layout: The call out for retro layouts in the latest SC magazine inspired me to scrap this photo of Dad when he was younger. I'd been waiting on the right papers to use, and when I flipped over Kaisercraft's Christmas carnival range and saw the cute red polka dot paper - I knew it was perfect!





I also created a Christmas layout in Belle and a matching card for the Kaisercraft Blog, for the 'staff scrapping' weekly blog post. Make sure you head on over to check out the card too!! :)



Until tomorrow (I'll be back with "Five things on a Friday" post. xx take care

Everyone deals in their own way...

I'm an avid fan of 'Mama Mia' - a brilliant blog from past magazine editor extraordinaire, Mia Freedman.

I read this 'guest post' from another avid fan, Gina, with wonder, but also with compassion and acknowledgement; acknowledgment that anxiety and depression is dibilitating...

A few things stood out for me...

"My head was spinning and my world went with it."

"I learned maintaining good mental health is a lot like maintaining good physical health."

"If I feed my mind a constant stream of negative morsels - dwelling on all the things I don’t do well, don’t have, can’t do … I will feel like crap."

"The most effective tool I was taught to overcome anxiety or feelings of inadequacy, was also the simplest. At night when you put your head on your pillow think of three things you did that day that made you laugh or feel happy, proud or positive."

During the last few months of 2007 and the majority of 2008 I went through a lot - too much too discuss openly on here. But reading the post brought back a few memories that really made me think through what I went through in a positive light. I've come to realise, only those who believe in themselves first can then believe in others.

What I do want to share on here is that when your body is sick it is trying to tell you something, to slow down and think. This week I had a migrane, something I never have, so I took a detox, took a big breath, had a little cry, a little cuddle and just relaxed - something I don't do often enough on weekends.

A lot of the time we find ourselves wound up in other people's problems, work stress, life stress, whatever. But it always comes back to YOU - what you put into your body results in how you live, act and feel.

I have such a HUGE amount of positvie energy around me right now, my wonderful family, loving boyfriend, exciting plans for the future, good friends and good times - I can't be any happier right now.

I was thinking these thoughts over the weekend, and was inspired to create this layout. I was inspired by the effer girls, to create a layout based on 'Change' - fitting indeed!

I got a bit arty with this layout, "Change for the best" using a little paint, gesso, and crackle painted over a photo, sanding, inking and decorating a cute little hidden journalling envelope and vintage treasures. :)






Also.... Just a little thank you to all who helped me get to this place. xx "Love youse all"

Five things on a friday...'that bag' edition

Sorry for not posting last week! My bad!!
Here's one for this week!


1. Feeling a bit like 'scroogey McScrooge' at the moment while I'm trying to save as much as i can RIGHT NOW to save for the important things in life.... :)

2.Oh hello!! The cutest messenger or laptop bags from this etsy store, Stash!! How cute is they black&plaid print??? LOVE!! The messenger bag is perfect!


3.My three favourite desserts of all time: Chocolate Moose, Lemon meringue pie & ice cream!!

4. Feeling inspired, but too tired to create. A couple of scrappy loves right now...

Loving this patterned paper junkcollector has used....


Love the use of journalling blocks here to frame the photo (made by livingroomfloor)


I totally need to get arty, and break out of my comfort zone, just like jeremyk123 has done!!


5. I totally loved the Scenic Route clear out sale!! I spent about $60 and got ALL this (A saving I think of around $30 - $40!!) - and this is considering aussie retailers are still selling it full price!! OMG!!



Also Bon's scrap's has an awesome giveaway on her blog for her 100th post celebrations!! Gotta be in it to win it!! :)

Till next week, Happy scrapping!! :)
Also check out my other new blog, Scrapbook Insight for all the Aussie scrapbooking goss!!

a wonderful weekend...

I had a weekend filled with sunshine, laughter, scrapbooking, good friends, good food and good movies.

Saturday I spent with Skye scrapbooking at the Kaiser Outlet in Geelong. We launghed, caught up on all the goss, grabbed a yummy lunch at a Bakery down the street, were annoyed at noisy/bossy little kids at a scrapbooking party and chatted probably more than we scrapped!!

I managed to get the three layouts completed. The first layout is an 8.5 x 11.5 layout to fill an old album!! The photos were taken in 2005 and I couldn't believe how young Brad and I look!! I also can't believe next February we'll be celbrating our 5 year anniversary!! :)

Here are the other two layouts I made....








After a LONG drive back to Melbourne (Argggg road works on the Westgate) Brad and I went out for a lovely dinner to one of our favourite restuarants, Tom Phat on Sydney rd.

On Sunday we went for a 3.5km run :) and then enjoyed a lazy breakfast down Lygon St!! :) MMM!! We went to St Kilda, went to the markets, drove around Melbourne looking at houses and apartments :) and then relaxed at home!! :)

In case you were wondering... that dress I wanted?? Brad brought me that dress from Anthro!!A good friend, Amy agreed to have it posted to her house!! :) How awesome are good friends?!!!?

The best thing about Amy is her awesome artwork! Not only does she make awesome scrapbook layout....but cute as canvases and prints too!! :) I've been eyeing off a few of her artworks, my favourites are....



Make sure you check out her etsy store to pick up some of her amazing creations!!

Oh and hello? Have you seen the prima blog lately?? I found a cute selection of their yellow/orange flowers!!



I'm in love!! Especially after Skye showed me her cute alphas she brought the other day and gave me a cute little squishy bird (i'm yet to use on a layout). I definitely need MORE prima!! :)

i also wanted to do a big shout out to Aga!! She sent me a couple of her CUTE little trees I featured on my 'Five things...' post the other week! Thanks so much - just trying to find a cute layout to pop them on now!! :)

Bits and pieces

Today is a higgely-piggeldy kind of post.
Creativeness.
Shopping.
News.
Ideas.

First, I really really really wants THIS dress from Anthro!! It's the one of my previous blog post, and It's on SALE for $69 (down from $138)! Why dont they ship to Australia?? Can someone help me out please?


I'm willing to have it shipped to a country they DO ship to... and me pay you the postal cost to get it to Australia!! :)

Second, TWO new layouts:
The first, I was inspired from Nicole S to scrap those events. So I scrapped my birthday this year!!

Materials: Basic grey pp, Kaisercraft Pp, Sass lass pp, 7 gypsies brads, Kaisercraft alphas & rhinestone strips, datestamp.


Another monthly layout, April this year:

Materials: Chatterbox spot varnish pp, 7 gypsies pp & tag, Ormolu kraft button, heidi swapp & AC alphas, Basic Grey pp, Kaisercraft pp and alphas, hambly rubon.

I'm also heading here again next January!! :) SUPER EXCITED!! Yep CHA again! :)


This weekend I'm catching up with my good friend Skye for some much needed girl time, scrapbooking at the Kaiser Outlet! Can't wait!!

Until Friday.... Happy scrapping, I'll be back then with my 'five favourite things on a friday' post!!

Five things on a Friday

1.Anthropologie I so love Anthropolgie....can we bring it to Australia...pretty please!! I did a little browsing last night.... OMG!! My wish list could be never ending!!
Here's a few of my faves!! (BTW if I ever get back to the US...I am SO going to an Anthro store!!)






2. Love exposed beams and black floorboards
From Design Sponge The apartment belongs to a reader of Design Sponge. I love the black and white pallet with pops of BRIGHT colour!



3.Dreaming of a European holiday.... (one can dream right??)



4.Feeling inspired by various scrapbooking challenges to broaden my horizons....
The creative type
Creative Therapy
Categories stories


5.On repeat on my ipod right now....
Simian mobile Disco


Silversun pickups


Phoenix


Until next week, when I'm likely to have snaps from the weekend adventures in Geelong and Melbourne and more scrappy pleasures.... have a great weekend!!

A little revision...

After reading your comments and thinking through my reasons for blogging and for scrapbooking.
I've come to the conclusion....
+ I scrapbook for my, for my current family and future family.
+ I scrapbook to record my past, current and future thoughts, memories, goals, ambitions, photos and moments.
+ I really don't care if it takes me a week to create a layout - at least it's one I didn't have before.

I will keep scrapbooking and keep blogging...
The other night after having a bad week (work wise) and after my rambling blog post I created. I visited a few challenge sites to see what was inspiring me...
The first what Creative Therapy, their latest 'catalyst', number 81 - "Who's the person who supports you the most in your life emotionally and intellectually?" and that person is my boyfriend... I'd had this photo printed (of a shirt we saw in Myer) that is a little saying of ours... and then came across the creative type challenge blog to have a go at their latest prompt...masking...

I thought I'd get a little funky and creative.... and came up with this layout....
Can you believe that when i made this i spilt paint and then 1/2 a tube of kindy glitz ALL over the bottom of this layout!! I had to remake the cupcake and add the large paper stip down the bottom!!


In other news... to challenge myself, and fight back against all the bad bits about scrapbook communities....and what has been happening.... I decided to start another blog. This had been on my mind for a little while so I thought, WHY NOT??

You can check out my new 'venture' here


Until tomorrow (back with my 'Five thins on a friday') happy scrapping!!

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."
I found this quote pertinent today after doing a little relecting lately.....

Firstly, here are a few layouts to share that I promised from Friday...
The first is my 'monthly layouts' I do to track how things change over time.... This if from March (obviously I'm a little behind). It's good to look back and see what happened that month, what was going on and what I was thinking!

The next is a cute layout I made of my boyfriend and his little nephew, Ill get Brad to journal his thoughts on this layout. But the title is my thoughts.... it was a perfect moment and I love seeing how much Brad adores his nephew!
I was totally inspired by Lou Nelson's latest creations... her work on Embellished Idol and the random stitching and distressing she always incorporates into her layouts.


It seems I'm struggling to find time to scrapbook lately. I'm inspired and want to....during the day, but not when I get home... I have to cook dinner and lately have been trying to go for a run most nights (up to 5.3km) :). So by the time I finish dinner, clean up and relax, it's too late for me to start a page....

Lately it takes me about a week to complete a layout (afrer a couple of sittings)..I had a layout accepted for publication for SBM the other week that lifted my spirits...Don't get me wrong i DONT scrap to be published AT ALL, it seems like that's what every one is on about lately....
- Scrapping to be published
- Going for Design Teams
- Gossiping on smack sites

I think I'm just feeling a little disillusioned by the scrapbooking "industry" of late. I've been writing an article for the Scrapbook Update website and doing a lot of research...

By "industry" I mean a collective of manufactuers, publications, retailers, consumers etc... A lot of what is said and discussed online or in person only reflects a minority of enthusiasts (or obsessors)... I think a lot of people are overly concerned with what goes on in Design Teams and Publications.

However, the heart of scrapbooking lies within ourselves, our family, our family's moments and our photos, heritage and thoughts. It's not about being published, or showcasing our work on shop/manufacturer or Challenge site as a Design Team member.

I create layouts for me, I pick a photo I love and create from the heart. These two layouts I've put up here today I created because I want to record a moment. I don't scrap for submission, I scrap because I want to.If a layout is accepted for something that's extra. The stuff I do for work, is WORK.

I'm feeling that with less and less time to scrapbook, I don't really need this blog. Im feeling that with less and less crafty items to share, that it's not necessary for me to have a blog.

Don't get me wrong I love blogs and finding inspiring things, I just feel like this shoudln't be one of the MILLIONS of blogs out there cluttering up cyberspace!

That's all for today.
Sorry for the long and emotional post!!

Five things on a friday 02 Oct 2009

1.Running/walking/cycling distance calculator.
A cool little website that uses google maps to work out how far it is from Point A - Point B....

This week I've run a total of 10.6km... My running track is gorgeous... down along the waterfront in Geelong, it's a total of 5.3km. And last night I ran more and didn't even feel as sore (yay I'm getting fitter) :).

2. The new Cosmo cricket line.... :) Nutmeg Holey crap it's cute!! Woodgrain, furry friends, autumn leaves!! :) YUM!



3.The new Kaisercraft collections... may fav (non-Christmas) would have to be 'Pack your bags'. I've got a ton of photos left to scrap from my trip to America in Janurary....so I'll be using this up heaps!




How cool is that embellishment pack??? Die cut rip-off tags and acetate shapes!! To see all Kaiser's Q2 collections, head to their website :)

4. These GORGEOUS little trees made by Agnus!! How cute are they??

How does she get these so neat...and the same!! I'm so trying this idea - have to get out my old quilling gear!! (Yes my nan taught me to quill quite a few years ago!!

5. Cool desktop images.
Like this FREE one I found over at oh, hello friend


Till next week when I share some new scrappy projects, have a great weekend! :)