Retreat Sponsorship

Hiya girls.



Just a little break in transmission to bring you news from the retreat.



We have all been busy little beavers preparing for our weekend in March (not long now!) The pace has now hit ridiculous speed as we try and make sure every little detail is perfect.



Yep even Val has started stocking up on our food so that means it is very very close! YAY!




I need to mention here that without massive support from our local scrap stores we WOULD NOT be able to run this event. These girls are still running around like mad things organizing stuff for us and have been very patient in our requests.

• Leonie at PL Scrapworkz



• Brigette and Jo and Karen at Lock's Shabby Chic shack



• Ally and her scrapinalia

Items that we have in our kits have all been purchased through these outlets and the girls have done fantastic behind the scenes work trying so hard getting the products to us in time.

Apart from that we have had a huge response from sponsorship requests.

• Michelle at Scrapframes (http://www.scrapframes.com.au/) who will be attending our retreat from interstate.



• Scrapapple (http://www.scrapapple.com.au/)



• Kaisercraft (http://www.kaisercraft.net/au-nz/)



• Scraploot (http://www.scraploot.com.au/)



• Collections (Julie Van Oosten - http://members.westnet.com.au/collections/)

Please visit these ladies at their websites and support them. They have been VERY generous in their support of our retreat!

A special mention here to Toni R who used to run a www. forum and shop called 'Keepin' the memories' which sadly doesn't exist anymore :( but before it shut down Toni very kindly donated some wonderful items for the retreat.......i wont say anymore but I just think they are fabulous ;-) Thank you so much Toni . You will all get a chance to meet Toni and a few other girls from further afield in SA on the retreat weekend!

As always we try and keep most things a surprise but i thought i would give you all a teaser and show you

1. the big big box of retreat goodies and piles and piles of stuff i have in my office waiting to be 'packed up'

2. a little something else from the retreat ;-) Sorry Zanny - you were the guinea pig!

Psst ...

Check out the Port Lincoln Times today for a Feature Photo of pelicans ... great work Trish!!

Maybe a few more could send in their photos!!

It's a double!

Doubles is something i don't do regularly as a rule, but thought this was a good way to spread out lots of photos from our summer holiday down at Coffins Bay. I love to walk to Oyster walk, and the things we see along the way, which we see all the time and can take for granted.

I got my cardboard mounted photo idea from a page of Mel Nunn's in a recent Creative Paper

magazine.

Roll call

rito E2C bloggers.

it s time for a roll call. Lets see who comes out of Lurkdom. Don't worry, we don't bite.

click on comment at the bottom of the post and let me know you are here. Come out of Lurkdom and join us in the weekly challenges or leave a comment on the ones posted.

Tiff's take

Had some fun with Twiddlybitz opening gates on this one.

I really wanted in use it with this double as I had room for it to have the gates always open to show the journaling which is on a transparency.

I loosely used the first sketch that had the damasks on it. After a bit of fiddling and hand sewing the big heart, I think I got it ok.

Marika sent this one in. I like the PP at the top that travels across both sides of the LO. It helps to 'tie' them together. Also I spotted some of the paper ribbon (the brown) to unite it as well. And the journal strips that are so popular atm. well done chick.

I spy with my little eye...

Maryanne has answered the double challenge in style. As you can see its 2 pages of8.5x12 inch LO. And still able to fit 9 pics with plenty of 'negative or white' space left on the grid side and 1 more larger, eye catching pic on the right side of the LO. I think Maryanne is answering several challenges in one go. I spy buttons, I spy ric rac and I spy sewing. Is that doodling too???
The little touches of blue finish it all off nicely.

we have a record.

This must be the quickest response time EVER for this blog. A challenge answered in 1 hour and 6 minutes. And a double LO to boot. I do reckon that Sandra had this one up her sleeve so I would love her to create another masterpiece during this week. ;). only if u have the time chick.

I adore these stars and how they are shooting across the page. And they seem to glow. What a cutie patooie.

Challenge 26. double trouble

righto scrappers.



time to stretch you out a bit.



Let's do a double LO.



Just to make it a bit easier I have a couple of sketches that you may like for a starting point. They have the photo dimensions on each one. If you cant read them after printing it out, (right click/print picture) drop me an email (addy on right sidebar) and I'll send you a copy of the sketches.

You dont have to use these sketches at all. In case you struggle with doubles, these are just to get you kick started.


Sketches from PageMaps


don't forget that these sketches are just for reference. You can faithfully follow it or mix it up a little. There are no rules except to have fun with it.

all aboard the button express

whooweee.

just had a rush in the inbox.

Welcome aboard Kate V. It's so great you sent a couple of LO with buttons on them.

Kate says:

in case the photo comes through so u can't read the txt, it says; "This is you and your new niece, Madison. We visited proud parents, Gav and Kate, and Madison at Gawler Hospital when she was just 3 days old.You didn't seem to fussed about going to visit them, until you had your first hold. Your eyes softened and your big smile revealed a very proud Uncle Ray xo"

Unfortunately the petals on the flower didn't sit down like they're supposed to..u get the idea anyway!

wow at those butterflies Kate. are they rubons or stickers and you sewed as well. And awww, Ray is a big marshmallow inside. Great to see it come out.

The torn paper on this second one is handmade by Kate. I think that is a blog first. Big congrats. I have seen this irl and the hm paper is gorgeous. such texture. Loving the pins ;) the big pic represents then and the little pic is now. What a great idea to show the passage of time.

Thanks Kate for showing us your creations and certainly want to see more. Hope all goes well for you at Uni this year and keep checking back here regularly to see what's going on.

bright as a button

love this Sandra. love the bright colours, the happy pic of the kids (great models) and the co ordinated buttons, the pen dots, and the layered bloom. oh and the handwriting. you are so brave. ;)

whats not to like???

ric rac & buttons all wrapped up

Well, here it is ..... i have scrapped!! This page has been sitting on my desk for weeks and i just couldn't get it together.


It's all fairly basic, but if all else fails, stick to the basics ey??

Photo inspirations - thanks to Amanda.

Buttons buttons buttons

love everything about this one. the colours. the triangulation of the buttons in the right hand corner, the zig zag, Ryan (whats not to love about him)

top stuff Sandra. love it (oh, I already mentioned that didn't I)

bust me buttons, Karen's here too.

wowser's Karen. When do you scrap? What with all the renos and paint job in newly relocated 'Shabby Chic Shack' situated behind the old post office in Lock on the main street (gotta give ya a plug), you mustn't be sleeping much. LOL

the stitching and tear in the PP really leads the eye to the buttons and then down the page to the pic and then over to the journaling with the cluster of embellies. rofl about the trendy teatowels. They remind me of the sort of curtains you might find in Grandma's shack on the beach many, many moons ago.

tfs

button down the hatches, Marika's here

Marika has popped a couple of LO our way to post on the blog.

I reckon its safe to say we all 'adore' your LO's chick. The blue background PP is perfect with this pic. and the red contrasts so well.

and wow. that shade of green alphas and the green button jump out at you. Cute pic too.

buttons galore

Ange sent her 'scruffy haired princess' for the latest challenge. I really like the slightly frayed ends on the ribbon and the heart charm hanging from the button. Oh and the colours (purple is my favourite). I have asked Ange what font she uses as I have admired it for ages and is a great looking hand writing for easy reading.

I'll let u know when I know.

thanks Ange.

Well HeLLO!

Well Hello everyone!! Just popping by to have a looksie, and wow, i just had to post a comment to ya all. I have been ultra quiet on here, just on holidays etc...and no scrapping urge.

BUT...

You have all been busy scrapping GREAT pages, and it's good to see them.

Hoping to see some more soon, and hopefully i will get around to doing a page myself :)

Thanks for the inspiration and i'm off to comment now,

:)

Matthew

I nearly made a faux pas.

Just as well I checked back with Janice as I thought she had gone all digi on me. the torn edge of the notepaper overlapping the portrait tricked me. Looks great doesn't it.

Matthew has captured himself so well. Hasnt he changed heaps, but then again not really much at all.

great cougar colours. Maryanne will be sure to love your colour selection. the torn edges look so real.

I am seeing buttons EVERYWHERE

OMG my inbox is overflowing with button layouts. Let me tell you uploading them into here has become damn near a full time job!

On the other hand it is great to see some of the old familiar faces come back out of the woodwork and participating!

First up Tracey emailed me two pages. The first one she says -

I did this one in harvest when I was having a major scrap session. I did one for each child but the others dont have buttons they have ribbon (alas not ric rac). This is a lift from Belinda Venables (I think), I seriously loved doing these pages and got a great giggle out of journalling the good stuff they do and also the bad. Doing these pages got me scrapping without having to think too much and I had a great deal of fun and really like each one - amazing and rare!!

This is a really lovely photo of your Georgia Trace...stunning! And love the bright funky colours AND the whole idea about journalling about the good and bad stuff that they get up to. Fabulous.

The second one is a late entry into our damask challenge (damn i love this paper!) Simply stunning heritage type page Trace - the browns and blues are perfect for that photo (absolutely adorable picture!) and the journalling spot on there is excellent!

She says -

Attached is one I did for the damask challenge only I was a few weeks late!! But - there are buttons on it so there is a win win situation. Love the colours on this one, I find I'm having a brown and blue fetish at the minute and a love affair with stripes.

Stunning work!

and then came Jenny!

and she has had a similar thought to myself today and combined two challenges into one - ric rac and buttons!

Jenny i really love the red stripes (and stitching) with the staples down the bottom. I may have to borrow that idea! The colours and the dots are also right up my alley. Really awesome page!

and finally i have pulled together a page today and like Jenny managed to pop some ric rac and some buttons on it. There is a cluster of shells/buttons on the bottom as well as some of my fav. photos of the day paperclipped to the top.

more buttons!

Marika has sent in a fabulous button page. I can't say how much i adore this bright yellow background - it is so striking! And the detail in the flowers (in case you can't see they are machine stitched and gathered ribbons for the stems)

and what a cutie patootie baby. She looks so much like Julie C's baby (Matilda?) - must be those strong Giddings genes!

buttons!

photo by Tiff.

Sandra's beating the heat and Marika has ric rac-ed in.

First up we have Sandra with some brilliant scrapping.

She says -

I actually scrapped today!Forgot that my scrap room had an airconditioner!!! doh!So I hid away in there for a couple of hours. lol I did this layout today for a challenge blog (www.puzzlepieces.blogspot.com), Nic Aspinalls site (she is coming to the retreat!) oops sorry, I digress!the reason why I am sharing it with you is because I tried something new today.... Paper Piecing! I hear it is slowly coming back into vogue and I saw this little owl template and thought I might give it a go! Cute huh?oh and the layout was inspired by a Jane Jones layout.

Wow Sandra. This is great! Paper peicing certainly comes in and out of vogue and you have done a fabbo job on that owl! Great colours too!

and Marika has sent me a couple of jems to share. First up is her answer to the ric rac challenge. I love love love the white background on this with the vibrant colours. And omg at the 'haircut' surprise for mothers day :-0 The doodling (wow wow WOW) and the ribbon cluster is nothing short of fantastic.

and she has also sent us an absolutely jaw droppingly beautiful sunset at Farm Beach to aww over.

Cant wait to see everyone's button creations!

Challenge 25

BUTTON IT UP.


Isnt this what we tell our kids all the time??? Well now it's your turn to button up.


these very handy little items are sooo popular right now. You will see them on so many LOs atm. (Nicole Pomeroy's 'Love this Girl' in SBM january issue pg 43)


I would love to see what creations you come up with using buttons. Whether you use a button as a centre for a bloom, as an embellishment on the page or to actually button something up on a page or OTP project. Whatever.


you dont have to sew them conventionly on a page. Have a look at SBM Master Toni Crane's LO of 'My Boy' in January's SBM on Pg 121.


I did this one the other night and is very boring compared to Nic's button tree so I will endevour to get another one done this week.



so use some imgination and button up.

;)

Introducing Ange

Welcome Ange. So great to see you here. Just to intro you to the 'regulars'.

Ange is a digi scrapper. And a very talented one too. Check her out in the SBM Vol 10 no. 11, page 64.

Ange is also involved with Elemental Scraps . I am not sure in what context tho. Praps Ange u may like to enlighten us. :)

I got to know Ange thru an online forum and she is one of the most genuine scrappers I've met. EVER. Hopefully with fingers crossed I'll get to met her irl later this year.

I asked her if she had any LO's with a bit of ric rac on it and this is what landed in my inbox.

Looks so real doesnt it. I adore the torn notebook paper and the doodled arrow. And how about those red undies on the outside of her son's (Coban)outfit. I have to admit I am wondering if they are DH's jocks ;)

Thanks so much Ange. Looking forward to seeing your answer to the next challenge.

Rac the Ric

at last.

I've got round to the ric rac challenge. Sorry it took me a while but the E2C team have been super busy with retreat stuff and trying to not melt in this heat.

If u squint with one eye shut and hold your tongue just in the right spot you should be able to see the mini ric rac I used on both the paperclips. Not very inspiring I know, but I do struggle with using it well. So it was a good challenge to get me to actually use some.

Karen is in da [ric rac] house

oh i just love getting these emails with fabbo pics attached.

this one is NO exception. Karen yet again you have wowed me with your fantastic colour choices, eye for detail and leaving perfect amounts of 'space'

The photo is also cute in the EXTREME! and it goes without saying that your ric rac rocs.

lol.

Great to see some old faces rocking back in here after the silly season.... (well not old as in age but as in familiar!)

Clever clever Sandra!

Sandra has sent me some thing amazing.

This fab. grid type layout.... i have always admired them as they look so tricky. Please dont tell me it is as easy as grabbing your ruler and a pen? It looks very complicated and so bloody effective!

I really have to say that i love everything about it Sandra. The colours, the grid, the RIC RAC, the buttons, the photo, the journalling spot and the rips and dotty paper - what the heck ISN'T there to love about it.

clever clever chook.

a few things to share...

I know we are all super busy at the moment - school going back and just settling back into routine after Xmas and the usual January holiday mode.

Sandra sent me this image for us to laugh at - she says:

Just thought I would share this photo I took at Monarto while we were in Adelaide.
I have it on my desktop and it always makes me smile....
You would almost swear that he's trying to hide, wondering to himself... (well it HAS to be of the male gender, surely!)
Can they see me???

hopefully it will bring a smile to others too

What a cute photo Sandra! And i agree ... it must be a male!

Next thing to share was a page from Janice for the current ric rac challenge. She said:

This is a layout that I did earlier for your December
Challenge (7 Flowers)... it also includes some
Ric Rac so thought I would send it to you for the Ric Rac challenge

What gorgeous hair she has! Love the little flowers and the ric rac. Perfect layering too with the main photo and the papers. Super clever stitching in that circle also!

Janice also sent two amazing pages that she finished for the Xmas challenge i set about a month ago - the one based on the 25 days of Xmas carol. She says:

This is a couple more from your December challenge.Daughter of mine... (6 staples).Matt... (2 hearts).Ive done a few more but thought I would share these 2 with you

WOW WOW WOW Janice, these are stunning! Thanks for taking that mammoth challenge on - not many did so hold your head proud! Fantastic page - i love the green in the daughter page and the red, black and white in Matt's page.... both so striking!

The final thing to share is some great news. Congratulations in fact! I got my hot little hands on an ABB 2009 calendar yesterday and the first thing i noticed was KYLIE SHEPPERD'S children in a massive photo for the month of October. It seems she has won a competition by ABB which was Australia wide in it's entrants and of course only 12 could win. I will also mention here that Jenelle Whelan was also a winner and is a RN at the Cummins Hospital!

Congratulations girls - this is a really incredible acheivement! Both of the photos are totally awesome.

Here is Kylie's photo and month!

I hope everyone has a smooth transition back into school/kindy tomorrow and with any luck our scrapping mojo will come flooding in!

phew.

Well it seems i am NOT talking to myself in here!

woohoo!

Sandra has sent in a fantastic layout - not a ric rac one (she promises us that is still to come!) but one she prepared earlier. I really love the title in this - so catchy!

I think that Sandra has come so far in her scrapping confidence and abilities! I also love how this girl just seems to make circles work for her on her pages - this is a real gift!!!

brilliant stuff.

And Maryanne has sent in two pages.

She says "I have done these 2 last night, ric rac along the bottom.Both pretty boring and a bit "same old",but havent scrapped lately [thats my excuse anyway].all my pages seem "same old "lately, so looking forward to the retreat, and "scrapping outside my box"."

and i say ' pffffffffffft'

Your work is always awesome Maryanne. You doubt yourself too much! I love the photos - brilliant and how you chose the papers - they look so NT with the colours! I also think in the second page that your journaling is a great example of how you can say so much without going ott with words or mushy stuff. Brilliant!

I look forward to some more ric rac pages coming my way!

and

starting to worry here....

Ok.

I am starting to worry myself. It seems i am in here talking to myself the vast majority of the time.... and we all know that is only a hop, skip and jump away from 'hearing voices' or 'talking to yourself'.

well i guess you can book me into Hillcrest right this minute in that case!

Here is another ric rac page WITH IS AN ABSOLUTE DIRECT LIFT FROM THE LINK I SHOWED EARLIER by Wendy Bretz. I can take absolutely NO credit at all here as i loved her page so much i really wanted to make mine exactly the same (well i did put my own photo, title and journalling in cause lets face it.......that would be a little crazy if i copied those bits too!)

I am hoping like mad that Sue didn't want to do the same as i got an email asking me if i had any yellow ric rac. Ummmmmmmm yep Sue - i sure do!

hiya Tanya

Welcome aboard Tanya S.

Tanya is from Alice Springs. I met her at the weekly Thursday scrap nites at Scrapworkz (Hi Leonie) in Port Lincoln.

Tanya is also Tracey W sister in law (I think I have that right).

Tanya has been bitten by the scrap bug. For her first ever scrapping project she created a 50th wedding anniversary album for her inlaws. That's a big project anytime let alone being the first one ever

CONGRATULATIONS Tanya.

You have done a terrific job. I am sure your inlaws will appreciate all the time and love you have poured into it.

Tanya says:

I am SO proud! I completed my first scrap project. An album for my in-laws 5oth Anniversary.
Gee I had fun!
Loads of procrastination + chardonnay!

a little bit of ric rac

it scanned a bit crooked but here is mine.

click on the image to see the journaling

hmmmmmmmmm

hello?

testing testing...

*echo*

well it has been very very quiet in here... too quiet.

I would love all our lurkers to come out of the woodwork and to say hi - particularly if you are coming on our retreat which by the way, in case nobody had noticed is only 54 DAYS AWAY!!!!!!! omg so exciting!!

I thought perhaps we might need a new challenge to get our creative juices flowing again (gawd knows i feel a bit scrappy blah atm).

So this challenge (25) is for ...........ric rac. You know that zig zag type of ribbon trim stuff? Well in case you dont know here is what i mean -

Let's see how we can incorperate some of that on our pages!

I have found some inspiration here but I haven't really found much else with my online search for inspiration. It is something that comes and goes in the scrapping trends but let's see if we can make our pages rock with ric rac!

my summertime photo

Hi girls.... we are home.

Lots of blog activity since i have been away! Thanks so much to Meredith who kept things rolling along. Many fab photos and layouts! I forgot to turn off my email notification so had 83 emails when i logged on today for the first time in 3 or so weeks..... i think about 76 were messages were comments from this blog! Great to see LOL.

I have done the summer photo challenge by picking one of my many that i took while i was away. Nothing says summer time like a runny icecream and messy kid.

Our week ...

Well I'm feeling a bit slack in that I haven't put any shots up so here are two from today.

Jack & Lachlan have done both lots of "learn to swim" these holidays and we can see a definite improvement in their swimming.

Here is Jack today ...

PS: Sue recognise your nephew!!