Feeling sketchy:

I am loving the Sunday Sketch over at Studio Calico blog. And here is my latest takes on them:

Both of these layouts are based on this sketch:

Doin' the happy dance:

Never a successful happy dance without  a mouthful of grapes either!
We are happy dancing around here because we have just had some exciting news that cannot be shared just yet.....
I am busting too..But..We'll satisfy ourselves with dancing for now...

Hope your week is happy dance worthy too..
Rod and I off for a weekend away this Saturday..I plan on photographing the weekend - for a change.. Will see how that goes..

XX

Scrapping the boy: NOV

I know I keep saying this...And I am sure that it is running out of me as I type this...But I am on a bit of a crafting high...BUT I have a pastel inspired challenge layout half-finished on my desk - ick - I dislike working with pastels and it sapping the creativity out of me...

But back on track - I have scrapped  my fair share of my son this past week..So boy overload coming on..I am sorry..But boy layouts flowed out of me - so that's what you've got:

Scrap the Boys:

 


It was a colour palette challenge for the month of November.. And a tricky one at that. Not colours that I would normally run with - BUT that is what a challenge is all about I suppose! I had this photo of Rylan and it suited the colour scheme perfectly. The stars were created by cutting out the outline of already used star stickers - if that makes some sense? And I liked the sunburst paper - worked well with the theme..

                     Kraft It Up:                                

 
The challenge this month was to leave white space. Well...No probs there..Most of my layouts have this.. The colours in this layout were much more my kind of deal too! The R..is from YEARS ago and I located them during my big clean up. Score.. This is HIM right now..Always moving...Cutie patootie..

Show Us Your Stuff:

I always like these challenges...This month was to use this combo:

Yellow + washi tape + handmade object

I always like to throw in a bit of yellow these days - when in the past it was pretty much taboo..I have a scrappy friend now moved away who always hated using yellow...Ahhhh...So on that note - One of my handmade objects was my mist. I mixed yellow paint and water to create my own.. I love my coloured stars.. Noice. I also created my own washi tape. I painted masking tape white and while it was wet misted it green and then used the end of a pencil to create the dots before the mist dried...I liked it it so much I made more for another layout I will post later...

This layout also started life on patterned paper but I preferred the stars on the white..So it became what you see...


See?? Boy overload...
Sorry..
More chicks next time..
Promise..

XX

The craft continues:

I am not sure where the burst of energy came from..But I got scrappy again today..And I might add i,t was a much more pleasurable event - I CLEANED MY SPACE - you heard it here...I have given the space a complete overhaul..I can even get to the sewing machine..And I didn't even sew..Ah well....
Anyway here's what I created in CLEAN:

Bird Is The Word challenge:

 

Using the word Summer...I have had these photo's for AGES and have been dying to scrap them.. And this layout came together really easily..Probably because I could put my hand on whatever I wanted..I even sorted the stamps. which was awesome..I found lots that I had forgotten I even had..I think these big circles are Kaisercraft? I hadn't even opened them!

Purple Pumpkin sketch challenge:

 

Well that's my take on the sketch...I love a good Studio Calico Classic patterned paper background..So versatile...Haven't done bunting in a while?? So why not do 2 threads?? More the merrier I say! And I looove the big numbers by Prima..I want one on every layout!

These photos are classic. In the first one my little man was playing it up for the camera - as he knows is expected of him (hehehe)..But Will..Bless him doesn't play by those rules! In the second photo - Rylan is giving him 'the look'...Telling him to get with the program and start laying on the charm for the chick with the big black camera in front of you?? Don't you get it?? I adore these photos...

Kraft It Up: 

The challenge this month over at Kraft it Up was to use misting creatively.

Whoa? Really? My kind of challenge baby! So I got my mists out and went for it! I have used masking and normal spraying.. And I have misted book paper in various colour's and made bunting from them. Got noice and messy...

I used another Page Drafts sketch to boost my mojo with this one too...The photos are from Summer time in Kennett River..This is the first time my girls have let those god-damned birds land on them and we have been going there for at least four years! I had to get photos of that!



Thanks for looking.. Just made it at the end of the month..Phew...

xx

Getting scrappy:

Took the afternoon to puddle about in the mess I call my scrapbook space today. I really should clean it up. I could then locate more embellishments to use - rather than pushing through the mess and using whatever I come up with! But the energy required to do that - well..Let's just show you what I used that for instead:

Scrap the girls:

The challenge was to use:

2 alphas

flowers

more than one photo

staples..

Now at the time of creation..I couldn't put my hand on the stapler. ( Found stapler staples added and they are there to see now!) You can umm..probably work out umm.. why..With the mess I call a scrap space...So it is missing that..I will still enter it and be sure that I will add them later..It relates to the journaling from this post and I have a hidden  behind one of the photos to incorporate it..

Also, I don't know that my images are particularly clear at the moment?? Not sure what's going on there?

Anywho....Felt a bit inspired to mist and stamp today. Possibly because I had a bit more time up my sleeve..But I dug out some old stamps for this one. I started out quite slowly..The first layout I created I dumped. Seriously, struggled with a more 'arty' type of background, so I turned to a sketch to help get me off the ground.. I love Em Straface's Page Drafts sketch blog and I used this one:

  

So feeling inspired and with the children playing happily ( read: making a giant mess) I kept going and fluffed around in an old box of supplies.. I found some old chipboard letters and then came up with this:

This layout is for the Once Upon A Sketch challenge this month:

Again I used some stamps and a pen and bowl from my kitchen...To trace around..I misted on a tag again.. Oh and I flipped this sketch as well..

Thanks for looking...

XX

everyday routines: story time

I created this layout for an everyday routines challenge over at the Studio Calico blog. I had alot of fun with it. A bit of masking and misting..Always a good combo I think.

The mix of colours became a bit bolder than I had originally planned?? The black kinda crept in on me when I found the days of the week on a strip of patterned paper. The red also just appeared?I think it was the 'sit still' sticker? I just had to have it on there. I had to add more to balance it out and that's how the title ended up in red lettering!

I took this photo to remember these little moments that happen inthe evening in our home. I adore that they enjoy reading stories to the littlies..It is definitely one of the bonuses of the large family!

I also took the photo so that in years to come I can let the big girls know how much I appreciated them doing this. It gives us a little respite from the onslaught - yes I said it - onslaught that bed time stories can become after doing it for 11 years!

xx

Photo smarts: Recreation:

 

This is my layout for the Oct 15th sketch over at Stuck.... These photos are really precious to me..It was a regular thing - him playing with the potatoes..But it was night time thing. Needless to say - NOT a fabulous time to capture a candid moment I can assure you.

So as well as showing you this layout I wanted to take the time to tell you that you can capture those little things..but you can make sure you get a 'nice' image at the same time.

I often take a photo to document something. But I will take the time to 'pose' the shot too. The photos in the layout are a prime example. He played at night with these toys. So instead I took them in the morning in his PJ's..I just got the toys out then and let him play, so that I could capture this time - with nice light..

 

Another important memory I wanted to document was his love of banana's.A simple thing really that I could have simply captured whilst he was sitting at the kitchen table, but the light is terrible there, and I didn't want his booster seat in this shot. So, instead I gave his banana and directed him to the playroom. I know this room has the best available natural light in the late afternoon and I also wanted some colour in the background. I positioned him in front of the blue couch so that he would have the light from the window to his left. I made sure the banana was in focus.

Documenting the ordinary doesn't have to be ordinary. A little bit of planning and you can have beautifully posed images, that still carry the message you want:

 

The girls were playing dress-ups quite happily on their own...I saw them out of the corner of my eye and grabbed the camera. I wanted them to know in the future that the 'bigs' played with the 'little's'..The girls were already in the room with the best light and were already using the mirror. I just asked them to 'fake' the zip-up again as I had already missed the magic moment. And I love this photo so much. 

I treat capturing my kids on camera in a similar way to a photoshoot with clients. If I need the to recreate a look..I will do it...Better than missing it altogether or having the shot but with a distracting background or poor light...I am photographer after all!!