A simple gift

I love the spur of the moment ideas that strike when the time is right. This is one such project. Part of the Embrace Imperfection course that I talk about here is making a quote book. One of the quotes struck me as something we have been talking about in the womens life group that I attend and I decided to make a bookmark to pass it on.

The quote reads 'Revel in your imperfections. Be entertained by your problems. And know that once you looked ahead and wished you were where you are now, and once again you will look back and smile'

Celebrate what you have done, dream of what you want to do and get on and do it.

Clean and Simple

While I love to be creative and try different techniques I have really been drawn to the clean simple lines of Melanie Louette. Love her layouts. So I have been trying out some of what I have taken as inspiration from her work. It brings the focus back to the story.

Trying new things

I have definitely been on a roll with my scrapbooking. It started out with a retreat to my mums with her and my sister at the end of last year and again with a retreat to Wanganui. It was great to be able to focus fully on what I am wanting to achieve and try out different things. One of my places for inspiration has been Lain Ehmann at Layout a Day. The biggest thing I took from her was that the more you do the better you get at it. And that you don't actually have to have great amounts of time because you will still be waiting. Her idea of chunking things that can be done into 15 min time slots is great. Because we can't always get away for weekend retreats!

So I have had a go at some things that I have ideas for. Things like using paint on my page, random placing, a magazine cover. And I have been telling more of our story, not just the facts. Something that I keep coming back to as I read blogs like Ali Edwards and Becky Higgins. So much to learn.

Page Maps

One of my best finds has been the Page Maps site that has loads of fabulous sketches and ideas from the talented Becky Fleck. If you scroll down the left hand side you will find PDf archives that you can download to reference. When I am stuck for a starting point or want to try something a bit different for a special photo I have them to hand. You can stick to it exactly or take parts that work for the photos that you have. I just love how they turn out.

Embracing Imperfection

For some time I have been searching as I think a lot of scrappers are to find a way to get more done, to work out how to deal with all the photos that I now have as a result of digital. One of the things that I have come across is Big Picture Scrapbooking. An amazing resource of classes. I started out with their introduction course, Start here with Stacey and have since taken the Embrace Imperfection course with Karen Grunberg. She is so bang on the mark. I would thoroughly recommend taking the time to listen to what she has to say and check out her work.

So these are a couple of layouts that I completed using some of the things that I learnt. I still have a long way to go but at least I am moving forward.

A long overdue project

Well over a year ago we renovated our boys bedrooms. Mainly to get out then 7 month old out of our room and into his own. He is now 2. At the time I decided it would be fun to have a go at some small canvas off the page projects to finish of the rooms. This mainly being because there was a 50% sale on canvases at the time. And that was as far as I got. So the test pots and canvases have sat in a bag on my floor and been shifted around waiting for the motivation to get on to it. The time had come. Last week I finally got them out and got on to it.

So I started and while I had in mind what I was going to do, just a bit of the colour and some basic shapes, it didn't really pan out and look anything like something that I wanted to hang on their walls. Until I found the exact colours in striped patterned paper to add a stripe and tie it together and some rub ons. What had nearly headed for disaster turned into something that I really liked. It certainly helped that I had been learning about embracing the imperfections of our work and working then into the final product.

Now I just need to get them up on the wall.

Bound for Canada

My brother lives in Canada with his wife and two gorgeous boys. Three of them share the same month of birthday and I just had one more card to finish before I sent them away. For a boy who turns one it had to be extra special. I created this one from a card that one of my boys received when they were little {seems like yesterday} and I loved {thanks Tamara}. Because I didn't have the pocket stamp I couldn't recreate it but I found one {jean pocket} at Kiwi Impressions that although bigger worked just as well. I adore my patch pals from Clear Dollar Stamps and use any excuse to use them. The patches from my boys will boys set from Elzybells fitted perfectly for the background.

A birthday not to miss

My amazing husband spoilt me for my birthday so I wanted something a bit different to let him know I was thinking of him. He is a real neutrals boy but I decided to go with a bit of colour. Purple seems to be the new thing. Just the ticket for trying the new DSP that I got as my hostess goodies.

Colours: white, very vanilla, concord crush, peach parfait
Stamps: style beautiful (SU), story time alpha (CDS)
Finishing touches:: in colour DSP, round tab punch, linen thread, twill tape and white signo pen(SU) calendar page, , small tag punch, button

Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays

The month of March is a busy one for birthdays so I have been busy getting cards made. A great chance to try out some of the ideas that I have been inspired by. This one is a card for the daughter of a good friend. She happens to share her birthday with my husband so its easy to remember. The idea came from a card that I saw where they used the butterfly cut and put back together to give it a different dimension. Still not sure I quite got it. Will have to have more of a play.

Colours: rich razzleberry, old olive, white
Stamps: oh so lovely, natural beauty and whimsical words (SU)
Finishing touches: cottage garden DSPand dazzling diamonds (SU), pearls, button, calendar page

March Stamp Club

I set the challenge for this month which was to take a page from a bag of magazine cut outs to use as inspiration. I decided to go royal. The colour and ribbon that are in the hat gave me the starting point with the sheer ribbon. I have recently been on a scrapbooking retreat {I really need to tell about this one!} and bought a new punch from x cut called running stitch. the magazine that everyone seemed to have from do craft had a card using the punch and threading the ribbon through. Mum had a go at it and wasn't successful so I just had to have a go and make her one for her birthday. Having meant to use my calendar books for gifts and not got onto it I figure they will make great birthday cards with the persons birthdate on it {thanks to some inspiration from a card I got for my birthday). Very pleased with the end result.

colours: night of navy, ballet blue, bashful blue, whit
Stamps: baroque motifs and vintage labels (SU)
Finishing touches: calendar page, buttons, white embossing powder, running stitch punch (x cut)

Boys cards

Always on the look out for ideas for boy cards, this one has been sitting there for a while. My sons T-shirt fit perfectly with the monster mash set from Clear Dollar Stamps. I used the same colours and viola!

Colours: elegant eggplant, taken with teal, going grey, basic black
Stamps: monster mash (CDS), gizmos and gears (lizzie anne designs)
Finishing touches: black embossing powder

Itty bitty pieces

I wasn't originally looking at getting this set from the mini catalogue but I like to use my hostess points to choose something I wouldn't have already got. And I thought it would work well with my I-top brad maker to top my brads when they need something to finish them off. So this card was a chance to have a play with the stamps, punches and buttons that come in the series.

Colours: white, pear pizazz
Stamps: itty bitty bits and vintage labels (SU)
Finsihing touches: in colour DSP and stitched poly ribbon, bitty buttons and itty bitty shapes punches (SU) faux stitching,

New goodies to play with

Being hostess for stamp club is always exciting as you get to choose a hostess set and spend so there are more goodies in your bag with the months order. So I just had to break them open and have a play. I had seen this card a while ago and have been meaning to make it so it was the perfect excuse. It isn't often that I manage to keep my cards clean and simple. Now I have some more cards for my birthday stash. My birthday card box is looking better all the time.

Colours: white, blushing bride and concord crush, going grey
Stamps: vintage labels (SU) and prairie lane (kaiser)
Finishing touches: in colour ribbon and DSP (SU), corner rounder (fiskars), , buttons