Aloha August

Hello yes it must be the first of the month again! Fancy us already being into the 8th month of the year! Hard to believe that Xmas is a hop step and jump away AGAIN!

without any further ramble, let's get into this months challenges:

Amanda's Challenge.

This month i would like you to either handwrite, journal or place your title ON your photo. Yes directly on the photo.

The best way to do this is to pick a photo where there is a lot of space on one side of the photo - ie. your subject is off centre and nothing much is on the opposite side.

You may like to handwrite on the photo. In my mind there is NO better example of a scrapper who does this handwriting on a photo as Clair Bremner. They always look so damn cool.

layouts by Clair Bremner.

do it via computer like this:

or do journalling strips.(another awesome page by Clair Bremner)

or you might like to pop your whole title on the photo. Here is another fav. scrapper of mine - Fran Tynan.

note: the title is OVER the photo.

Here is another example by Clair Bremner - this is either stamps or rubons for her title on the photo.......... (i told you that she totally rocks at this)

email your finished creations to me to pop onto the blog.

Sue's Sketch.

Stay tuned for Sue's sketch. Coming to you Monday-ish.

Meredith's challenge.

PINWHEELS!!!

Not too long ago Meredith did an awesome page but i cannot show you as it has this sign on it:

what a clever chook she is.................luckily for us she has done another since:

go here for a tutorial on how to make these awesome, hip, and in embellishments. Pop one or two on your layout and email the finished page to Meredith for display on the blog.

or there is another tutorial here which is a step by step with photos and examples of layouts.

Photo Challenge.

Try to think back - we might be talking a young kid or a teenager here. Who or what did you think totally ROCKED. Did you have an idol? Someone that you collected bits of trivia on, or maybe even sticky taped to your wall?

Now this photo challenge is not tricky at all. No need to even get the camera out of the bag.

go to google images and see if you can find an image of your idol. Right click and 'email picture' to me. Then tell us WHY you thought this person/band/group/TV show was awesome. Soooooo easy!

It might have been these guys:

or this one:

or these:
or maybe these people?

or who remembers this guy? Maybe you were his number one fan?

ah ok. No wait. I have found the number one ALF fan.........

jeez lousie what a *ahem* stunning tatt :-

.......anyway back to the challenge....

If you don't want to do it on yourself = tell us why Dora / Thomas / Postman Pat / *insert name* is so important in your childs life.

Email the image and your reason for being a fan to me for display on the blog.

don't forget our colour challenge is still on the go from last month also.

We can't wait to see what you create this month!

Grateful photo challenge ... Meredith

Grateful for ... all this rain to make our crops grow.

Grateful for ... my iPod ... we now dance and sing and have lots of laughs listening to music in our kitchen, dining room and lounge room!!

Grateful for ... a wonderful husband, who does with Hannah what he does with the boys ... even a trip to Port Lincoln to get fertiliser!!

Grateful for ... Rural Care so that I can go to work and give John and Wendy a little break!!

Grateful for ... healthy children.

July colour challenge ... Meredith

Marika - colour challenge

wow! How cool does this colour combo look??!!! I am so impressed by this Marika - the green stitching looks awesome! The yellow letters just pop right off that dotty paper and the photo looks like it was taken especially for the challenge - totally fabulous.

Amanda - music challenge

This is the second go at the music challenge. For this 'page' i wanted to try and think of something different that inspired me from the film clip. I wanted to also try something different.

I had no idea how this one would end up - i just went with the flow and it has been a long flow as i really haven't touched this for two weeks (just too much else happening and too busy to scrap)

I liked the whole 'pop up' idea from the music film clip - the little girl sitting in the bed is looking at a pop up book, and thought that it shouldnt be too hard to make a layout into a pop up type effect.

So this is what i came up with. This is it all folded up - a 12x12 sheet of cardstock.

and opened up.

The trees, grass, mushrooms, clouds and Piper all 'pop up'. The dimension of it all is hard to see here......it just looks like a busy mess!

Maryanne - colour challenge

well Maryanne is right out of the starting blocks very quickly with this one! In fact it was half started already when she saw what the colours for this challenge were - what a great coincidence!

I know that i was 'talked into' buying the Cosmo Cricket papers in that range - i really didn't think i liked them when i first saw them but OMG they are just delicious and i feel a strong urge to use them on every page i do at the moment LOL. I am loving that collection - so bright and cheery!

The photo that Maryanne has used is one from Meredith's grateful photo challenge and a strong favourite from us all here in blogland. It is nice to see that great photo being used again!

This is one fantastic page!

Just for a laugh ...

I saw this and thought ...

If you were to have your wedding again what would you do differently?

I reckon this would be fun ...

okay, okay I can't work out how to do a You Tube video!! So have a look at this post and go down to the You Tube video ...

http://lynettevanbarrelo.typepad.com/did_i_do_that/2009/07/hodge-podge-of-weird-and-funny-things.html

very funny!!!

Tracey's in - sketch challenge

Tracey says:

Howdy Sue,

Attached is a badly photographed layout that is suppose to be based on your sketch. This gave me a great deal of grief and frustration and what I pictured is nothing like it turned out to be. So needless to say if we turn your sketch upside down and inside out with a triple twist, then you get something like this layout. I desperately wanted to use these papers for something, a bit of overkill using most of them on one layout but never mind. Have a fab weekend.

Cheers,
Tracey

Wow Tracey, love everything about it!! Great take on the sketch, i say!! Love those papers and you have done a fabo job of putting it all together, very inspiring!!

Thanks for giving it a go!!

a holiday hello from Sandra

Her email message was short and sweet:

Cheers girls!

LOL. Great to see you having a ball Sandra. You deserve a fab holiday! See you when you get home!

July colour challenge

Firstly - sorry that i have been AWOL so much from the blog of late. There is a fair bit happening in life for me at the moment and i just haven't felt much like being on the blog. VERY VERY soon those things that have been taking so much time and sucking my mojo dry will be all done, finished and complete so i will hopefully slip back into the blogging and scrapping groove again!

YAY!

This colour challenge is a bit of a rip off from the colour story blog which sadly seems not to be functioning anymore but i still love it for inspiration anyway!

I was going to get a bit more sombre colours, a bit more 'wintery' but decided to amp things up a little! I immediately felt happier and a bit warmer when i saw this colour combo. I hope it has the same effect on you too.

I hope you are inspired by these brights - let me know what you think.....let's encourage each other to visit here more often by commenting. It is always nice to see some fresh comments!

Send your finished layouts using this colour combo to me and we can share your cleverness around.

New trends ... what will they be?

I was reading the latest Australian House & Garden (H & G ) magazine at lunch time and saw three articles on decorating that I found interesting
... because there were three things that I think may be popular in scrapping or that I have seen featured in ranges
... not that I am any trend forecaster or anything!!!


1/. The first is a colour ... emerald green

emerald green

I saw a girl on Saturday with a jacket this colour and a boy with a t-shirt that had some emerald green on it.

I'm not sure whether particular colours feature more strongly in scrapping products ... so this might be interesting to see!!

2/. Postage Stamps

Sonia Barnett , a Victorian scrapper, has been using stamps a lot on her scrap layouts.

In H & G there was home decorating items with stamps on them ... candles, pillows, notebooks, plates, lamp shades.


3/. Animals ... zoo animals to be precise

Well we have had deers, owls, birds, butterflies ...

There was a feature on children's decorating with one product being made by Little Chipipi ... zoo animals Moveables.

I have also seen that Maya Road have some zoo animal stamps.
Sassafras Lass has some patterned papers called "Bungle Jungle" at the moment featuring zoo animals as well as matching stamps.


So have you seen any other products that might be the new thing to use in scrapping?


I know we don't have to use these styles but you may see them for sale in your local!!

Leave a comment to let us know what you think!!

Marika - Sue's sketch

Marika says:

A loose take on Sues sketch sorry the colours didn't turn out quite as nice in the photo as the sun is so bright today the card stock is nearly navy

Great job Marika! love the tree and bird. What a cute photo too! That strip of bright red ric rac really pops the whole layout - lovely!

Marika - Marble Ranges!

Another great shot of the Ranges!

Marika took this stunning sunset last Thursday night. WOW at those beautiful rich colours. Another photo that deserves a spot in the PL Times perhaps??

Maryanne - sue's sketch

You have called this one 'not perfect' Maryanne - but my oh my it is SOOOOOOOOOO PERFECT.

This is the best layout i think i have ever seen with that cross word paper - gorgeous. Perfect photo to get your story across too LOL.

Kathryn's - sketch challenge

Kathryn & I had a scrap day Friday.... had a lovely lunch in the bakery, a little shopping in the local scrap cottage.... a day full of good girly stuff!

Hi Sue
Thanks for a lovely relaxing scrapping day, today. Just finished the page,thanks for all the help and inspiration with this one, I wouldn't even thought to use those colours together, even though I have seen it done by others.

Thanks for sending it to show Kathryn, it looks great!! LOVE those bright girly colours - they look fantastic!! I am just amazed at how similar those two girls are, they could be sisters!!

Thanks for a great day!!

Sue :)

New Releases hitting America ...

In America they have an event called CHA ... Craft & Hobbies Association.

This is where new products are released.

This site has sneak peeks of new papers and embellishments from many different companies ... spend a bit of time on the eye candy ... no calories!!

http://www.thescrapreview.com/

Sue's sketch ... Jenny

Jenny said ...

"Here is 'My Hero'. He can never take a serious photo."

Great photo of Scott Jenny!! Love the colours you have used and the background paper with its crumpled look!! And the fonts are great too!

Photo challenge ... Trish

Trish sent her photos through yesterday but somehow I got sidetracked and omitted to put them on the blog. Thank you for the reminder Sandra!!

Trish said ...
I am grateful that I have a lovely house in which to call home, and wonderful landlords.

I am grateful that I have a secure income that allows me to take my family on vacation.
I am grateful that I am capable even though it means sometimes I end up with trendy black fingernails, and yes it did hurt.proper real good like.
I have been lucky enough to enjoy pregnancy and all its joys and the wonderful idea of motherhood, even though the toys take over.
And I am grateful for some of the wonders of modern medicine that allowed my beautiful sister in law to be blessed with motherhood as well.
Wow Trish what a wonderful collection of photos ... and lovely words to go with them.

Thank you for sending them through ... I especially love the last one ... what a beautiful child!!!

Amanda - grateful photo challenge

1. I am grateful for modern conveniences like electricity and running water to the house. This is truely appreciated when we have our regular black outs which leave me frustrated for hours. I cannot imagine living in a time when we couldn't reach a switch on the wall for instant light, throw a quick load of clothes in the washing machine or have communication with the other side of the world via TV, phone or (goodness gracious me) the internet.

2. I am grateful for this moisture that we can see both in our paddocks and also in our rain water tank. I am thankful that it is clean, accessable to the house, is free from the sky, tastes great and is my childrens favourite drink.

3. I am grateful for where we live. Firstly for the country that we live in and secondly for the area that we live in. Australia truely is the 'lucky country' and this is so obvious when you travel overseas. We don't need to live a daily fear of war, pillage, supression, rape or murder. I am fiercely patriotic and hope to instill this quality in my children as well. I love living in our little 'patch'. I am so not a city girl (although i do love a visit every now and again to remind me of how much i dislike it!) and love it that we are a good long walk or drive away from our next door neighbours, don't have to put up with anyone else (traffic or noise) and our way of life is incredibly peaceful.

4. I am incredibly grateful my daughters live in a time where a woman's voice is heard. Where she can do and be anything she wants to be. I am thankful for the equality that we enjoy and perhaps take for granted everyday. I am a strong believer in being accepting of any person no matter race, gender, religion or sexual orientation and hope that i can pass this onto my girls.

5. I am grateful that we have access to good, healthy food, both in our garden and in the stores. How lucky are we that if we run out of something we can quickly pop into the shops to restock? What luxury this must seem to others in 3rd world countries where there is NO fresh food or very little food full stop. Not only does our family have the privilige of store food but we also have a fabulous orchard full of fruits, nuts and vegies planted by my dear old Poppa all those years ago.

Michelle - Sue's sketch

Wowsers Michelle is right on the ball with all her challenges - i think that brings the tally up for all of them done this month is that right Michelle?

Great interpretation of the sketch. LOVELY arrow, and cluster on the left. Those puffy stickers are devine aren't they? Cute photo as she looks so pleased to finally have lost her wiggly tooth!

well done!

Music challenge ... Meredith

Michelle - grateful photo challenge

An email from Michelle with her photos for the challenge.

here are my gratitude photos - apologies for the quality and my husband took my Dig SLR today to take a photo of a home. Oh, I have six grateful photos.

Thanks Michelle

Rain

We so need the rain and I'm so grateful that this winter is turning so far into a wet one. Fingers crossed that our reservoirs are filling up so we can at least stop taking water from the Murray for a while.

Bed

I'm so grateful for a comfy bed at night to rest my body and mind, to recoup for the next day ahead and to take time to dream!

Carseat

Where would we be without one of these for the children. I'm so grateful that these were invented to protect our children in the car. Also so my daughter can see out of the window in the car.

Craft
Grateful for recycling, especially during the school holidays and quiet time - "when I'm bored" statements appear. My daughter loves making things out of boxes and all sorts of things. She loves to make things when I'm scrapping.

Friends
I'm grateful to my friend Fiona - someone I can call and talk to about anything, get wonderful feedback and inspiration.


Family
Where would I be with my Husband. He has been an inspiration and great companion and soul mate. I would be totally lost without him.
My daughter I'm so grateful to have made the decision to have a child. Despite all the complications and health issues surrounding her, she is a very beautiful child.

Fantastic Michelle. Great photos and definately things to be grateful for.

news from Sue in Port Lincoln...

Sue has asked us to pass on the info that Scrapbook Trends magazine - the UK version of the awesome (but frustrating) US magazine is in BEERS NEWSAGENCY.

Apparently they will continue to get it providing they sell and there is a demand for them. At $15 a pop they are not cheap but FAR FAR superior to any Aussie mag and half the price of the US version.

Digi layout by Jenny ...

Jenny has sent this layout in "just because"!!

"This one doesn't apply to any challenge but 'my hands' told me to send it in anyway'
Jen"

Jen's "hands" are a particularly great local scrapper!! ;-)

Jenny I am seeing a real change in your style lately and I have to say I am loving it!!

Thank you for sending in your layout ... look forward to some more soon ... please!!