the First of February!

WOW a whole month has sped by and here we are at the second month of 2010! Before we know it Xmas will roll around again!

I am so hoping to see some challenge pages being emailled to us this month, supporting us and this blog. It would be great to get past that holiday blah time.

I am sorry if i have personally been AWOL. My spare time has almost 100% been concentrating on the retreat and less on the blog and challenges. I know Meredith and Sue are feeling similar.

Colour Challenge

It's bright, it's funky, its blue, green, pink and dark brown.

Show me what you have got!




Amanda's Challenge

Now i know already that i am going to totally suck at trying to explain this but what i would like you to do is mat one word of your title.




HUH?

I first saw our very own Brigette S. do this at the October scrapathon. Instead of placing her thicker title directly onto her page, she matted them onto felt (if i remember correctly??!) and then cut around the felt leaving a tiny bit of felt border peeping out around the perimeter of the word. She then affixed the whole thing onto her page. It made the title really pop and gave it quite a unique look.

The layout below by Deena Wuest, featured in January 2010 CK magazine and poorly scanned by myself illustrates what i am trying (and failing) to explain.

Deena has heat embossed her 'candy' title and then cut around it. THIS is what i would like you to do for my challenge this month.

You can stamp, use thickers, print from the computer, whatever way you would like to make your title up BUT then mat it as shown and cut around for WOW impact.

I would definately like to try this and it has been in my 'must do' list since October and i am sure all your examples will inspire me to try it also.

Can't wait to see your work in my inbox!

stay tuned for the other girl's challenges.

hello?

hmmm i wonder if anyone comes in here anymore?

It has all been very quiet - a bit too quiet considering that there are

ONLY 55 DAYS TO GO UNTIL OUR RETREAT!

HOLY SMOKES!

Sue, Meredith and I have been busy as little bees getting things sorted and i am so excited at how things are progressing. I wasn't sure we could ever improve on last year's retreat but BOY OH BOY this is different, unusual and so damn cool! I am loving what we are sorting out for you!!!

(if you aren't coming you are going to KICK yourself!)

To top it all off at a recent scrap event it seemed that the 'direction' that we are taking is all the current rage! OMG who knew that we were soooooo cutting edge!!??

You will also notice that i have added more sponsors to our list down the side - the sponsors have been amazing this year. Very very generous considering the grim financial situation and down turn in scrapping. We thank them so so so much and we know that you will absolutely love what they have done for us. We are SO impressed!

Speaking of sponsors - Memories 2 Remember have a very special deal for our retreat go-ers.

This will be a pre-retreat special... something to wet our whistles so to speak.

This will take effect from FEBRUARY 1st so i will pop the details on what it involves in an email over the weekend. Let me just drop these words as a hint = discount vouchers, free postage, yummy product!

STAY TUNED as i am sure you do not want to miss out!!

Don't forget we love to see what you have been up to scrapping wise. Drop Sue, Meredith or myself an email and we can pop it in the blog and help inspire our little e2c community. (hopefully we still have one out there.....)

the sponsor list --->

Hi all :)

I have just been fiddling with the blog and have popped some links up to some of our 2010 E2C retreat sponsors. As the sponsorship comes in i will be able to add to that list. Check it out from time to time, follow the links and have a little look at what these shops can offer.

We thank them for helping us make our 2010 retreat GREAT!

Marika - Sue's Dec sketch

Hi Amanda,
hope you had a good christmas and new year just sending a very belated sues sketch from December the first thing I have done for weeks feels good pretty hectic like everyone. Can;t wait for school to go back so that maybe I can get back into it.

Thanks Marika

oh this is so cute Marika! Bella was absolutely adorable that day - what a doll! Love the title - awww - and those yummy colours you have used. The pink background certainly makes the photo pop and be the centre of attention! Great job!

I think we can all relate to school going back and the return of creativity / productivity!

No patterned paper ... Sandra

Sandra said ...

Now don't fall over backwards but I have actually scrapped a layout!!

I worked out the other day that the last layout I did was on Rememberence Day!!

No wonder I felt ill ... I thought it was early Menopause but it turns out to be scrapping detox!!



Sandra I think this is amazing!! Love the stamps and stamps iykwim!! LOL!! The Glimmermist is beautiful and perfect photos - Wow, wow, wow!!!
Thank you ... I think we would like to see some more soon please!!

New products galore!!

Have you seen some of the new Scrapbooking Company designs coming out with the Winter CHA (Craft & Hobbies Association) in the USA?

This site has an amazing collection of what's to come ... The Scrap Review

You may have to scroll through to several pages to check it all out!!

I am always a fan of Cosmo Cricket products ...

Their new ranges ...

Happy web surfing!!

So crafty ... LOL

kickstart 2010

If you are anything like me, your paper stash has grown to monster proportions!

2 peas are offering a FREE year long class on using your paper stash.

you can find the details here. They are in the form of a downloadable PDF.

This month's challenge is to use patterned paper as an embellishment. The cute class example is a fantastic demonstration of this technique.

get happy by Shannon Twidwell from 2 peas website.

Even if you don't want to upload them to the 2 peas gallery, a free class is great for inspiration.

I think i may use these classes to kick start my scrapping 2010! How about you?

Summer is ... Marika

Marika has had a lovely week going to Farm Beach ...

Another amazing shot from Farm Beach
... we spent every day there last week
... so lucky to have a beach like that.

Bella after a day at the beach too cute ...

Crabbing at Farm Beach ...

I totally agree Marika ... Farm Beach is one amazing spot to spend the day!

Thank you for the photos!

Summer is ...

impromptu Escape 2 Create meetings at Farm Beach ... complete with swim up bar and personal waiter for drink replenishment and nibbles!

Yes the planning discussions continue and if you hadn't checked the counter lately ... 74 days to go!!

Happy 2010

Just breezing though between shifts but thought i should pop my head in for a 2010 hello!

Hope everyone had a lovely Xmas and a nice quiet start to 2010.

Things for the retreat in March are gearing up - bits and bobs have been ordered and being sent as we speak! Sue, Meredith and I have our brains geared up to work extra hard in the next three months to make sure everything is A-OK, perfecto, fabo-licious for our retreat!! We want this the be the bestest experience for everyone!

It actually shocked me to see that little countdown box tonight when it said 77 days to go!! eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

Anyway i must run as this post really isn't about anything but a general 'hello' to you all. Thanks to Sue and Meredith who have kept the blog pumping along while i have been awol. I will be back soon, hopefully with a scrapping itch that needs to be scratched! (it may even be contagious!)

Summer is ... Marika

Marika sent this in ...

Just sending you a couple of photos from Farm Beach the last few evenings.

Great photos Marika ... Farm Beach is such a wonderful spot! Wouldn't mind that boat either!

I think we might have to head there in the next few days! Along with everyone else!!

Scrapbooking Japanese style ...

I came across a blog for a Japanese scrapper ...

http://chelseavn.blog43.fc2.com/

very little of it is in English but her work is amazing and so different to any style I have seen before.

Today I clicked on a link from her page ...

http://scrapstations.blogspot.com/

from what I can work out it is a team challenge type blog ... even more interesting and inspiring work!

Kathryn's December challenge

Hi,

Here is a photo of the kids decorating the Christmas Tree a couple ofweekends ago. Thought you might like to add it to the blog for Decemberchallenge. Sorry I haven't been involved much, but do enjoy getting ontoblog and seeing what everyone is up to.

Kathryn xx

Thanks for sending in your Christmas tree photo Kathryn, sorry it has taken me a couple days to post it up!! Kids love to put up the Christmas tree....you can see the excitment in their faces,..and they know that surprises are just around the corner once the tree is all ready!! Hope they had lots of fun at Christmas!

Kylie's been busy!

Kylie said ...

I don't 'scrap' as often as I'd like to so while I had a couple of things to share, I thought I would !

I made Ted's Mum (and Dad) an album for Christmas. I started it at a Scrap night at 'Sheoak' back in September, worked on it at the Karkoo Scrap Weekend, then didn't touch it again 'till the week before Christmas (silly me to leave things to the last minute !!).

Anyway, after 3 months, 83 photos and many late nights leading up to Christmas Day, I stuck the final letters on the front on Christmas morning and WA-LAH it was done (yay)! The kids presented it to Nanny after Christmas lunch, she opened it, had a flick through, started to cry and ran over to give me a big hug (then I started to cry too !!). I was so pleased that she loved it, she looked at it on and off throughout the afternoon and passed it around to everyone for a look. Even some of the 'Shep' male relations commented on it which gave me a buzz (normally scrapping's a bit of a 'chick thing' so when a fella comments on something you've made it makes you feel really good!).

I did a page on each of our kids, a few family pages and on one Ted's folks, but won't 'clog the blog' with every page so have just selected a few to share.

WOW, WOW, WOW ... I can see why she cried ... that is a marathon effort and a wonderful collection of photos for Ted's Mum and Dad to have!!! So very special! I am sure many more people will get to see it when they visit them ... it is a very rewarding feeling when someone shows their appreciation for a handmade gift!

Thank you very much for sending that in ... very inspiring! And you have put so much thought into your gifts Kylie ... this one and the scrap kits ... good on you!

Christmas gift idea ...

Kylie S said ...

Happy New Year !

Just thought I'd share these on the blog ... some little craft packs I made up for Christmas to give to some of my teenage nieces (who are getting harder to buy for each year as they get older !).

3 out of the 4 already 'scrap' and the 4th is keen to start (I sussed her out awhile back without giving away what I was doing) so I hope they enjoy them.

I said ...

WOW that is a brilliant idea!! Might have to keep that one in mind for next year!! Thank you so much for sending the photo in Kylie!

Happy New Year everyone!!

So I hope everyone had a great night and if you made any resolutions that they are ones that you can keep!!

So how about a couple of challenges ...

No 1 ... a layout with no patterned paper!!

I posted this one a few days ago on my blog ...

So use your imagination a little and definitely no patterned paper!

I scanned the dockets from the bakery and printed them onto plain paper.

No 2 ... Photo Challenge ... "this says Summer to me" ...

I think we had this last Summer but post a favourite photo of something you have loved doing this Summer ... no rush ... you have the whole month!!

No 3 ... Representation through elements ...

Ooohh that sounds good doesn't it!! ;-)

I have done this a few times lately so though it might be good to explain with this example ...

1. the yellow paper ... the stubble
2. the stitching ... header traveling through the paddock, round and round
3. the clock ... time waiting at the silos
4. blue pearls ... rain
5. yellow and green brad ... colour of the header
6. twine ... harvest wrapping up
7. brads ... a truck looking element ;-)
8. chipboard star ... start of harvest

So if you do this challenge when you send your layout in add an explanation of your elements and what they represent!