Sue's October sketch with a twist

Today i have just spent the Parsons' boys here at the farm with me. After lunch Ethan said "Granny can i do some scrapping with you".

So out in my scrap room we went, rummage thru many photos until he found one of him that he liked. I gently directed him with papers, he chose from various colours for the background. He found my punches that he wanted to know what they did....so we punched the border. I got out various thickers and he chose which colour. He wanted to use the hammer....so i showed him the eyelets, he chose the colours. He saw pin wheels sitting on my desk, and he told me he had made some at school, so he wanted to make some of them too. And i thought well we need some of his own hand written journalling....which he did, and isn't it just beautiful?



Now, that they have gone home.....i thought that this could make our October sketch challenge....a basic style page....but the twist is.....with school holidays still on, you too could get you kiddies to scrap a page like this. Kids love to create just like us grown ups....and Ethan's face when it was finshed and he showed his dad with the " it's proper scrapping Dad!" comment, was just priceless.



So here's the sketch....have fun!!

Here's Ethan's page.....as you can see there was some granny help....but he loved it!!



Can't wait to see them,

Sue xx

Michelle's September colour challenge

Just got this one in my mail box from Michelle....for the Septmeber challenge!

Wow, Michelle, Thank-you for sharing with us....a beautiful page!!! Love your way of doing the colour combo....just looove the cream background....and the patterned paper with the distressed edges. Love the rubons and the elements that you have added. All looks just perfect!

World Card Making Day

Hi Amanda!

Have just seen that it's World Cardmaking Day....
Well I think I can say I have done my bit...lol


Take care
Sandra


Great job Sandra - wow you have been so super busy cardmaking. Well done for being so pro-active on this special day!

Sue's September Stamping!

The aug/sept issue of Scrapbooks etc.. has a section on stamping techniques,...so when i saw Vicki Boutin's page, i was inspired to get out my circle stamps too!!... As well as using the Kaiser ReWind stamps from the new Q2 range, and do some masking (arrows) and stamping!!!

October challenges ...

So another month has flown by and now it's time for some new challenges ...

1. A hand cut title ...

Check out this link for one way of creating your title ... http://studiocalico.blogspot.com/2009/09/tutorial-handcut-titles.html

Here is my example ...


I would love to see lots of different techniques - if you use an idea you have found on the Internet send us the link along with your layout!

2. Your favourite drink or food documented on a layout ...

Over the last few days Amanda has been enjoying the sights of Clare and I am sure trying a few cold beverages along the way!! She may even have found a new favourite!!

Sue is heading away over the weekend so I'm sure she may be enjoying some nice drinks and nibbles!!

In our house we have a "birthday week" ... it starts when you want it to and includes the day of your birthday!! (To be honest it is usually John and I that have the birthday week!!) It's my turn right now!!

I have been choosing a few yummy meals to eat this week - Smoked salmon and asparagus with angel hair pasta, stirred mussel risotto, Madras beef curry and tonight I think one of my favourite steaks - Porterhouse with mashed potato and haloumi cheese and maybe some home grown broccoli!!

So record your favourite/s on a layout!! Recipes optional!!

3. Sue's sketch - to come


4. Amanda's choice - to come

Looking forward to seeing some layouts in the Inbox soon!!

Stamping more than 7 times - Meredith

Well it isn't very exciting stamping but I have achieved a lot more then 7 stampings!!

Colour challenge - Sue

There's mocha brown, burnt orange, olive green , some cream, and a little bit of pink. On boys pages i struggle to put pink and flowers....and on this one i have both....eeek.

But at least i have scrapped....a rare thing of late!!

Kitchen inspiration - Marika

Just sending this layout nothing fantastic of my kitchen inspiration



... traced around 3 plates to make my circles of patterned paper.



Didn't come out that great as I scanned it and it was a bit bumpy and therefore shadowy.

Wow Marika ... love it - great way to get perfect circles with plates! Lovely colours too! Oh and you used the felt ... I must use some of mine!!

A great layout to remember the event - you are very good to take your children, I didn't get organised enough!

Photo challenge - Meredith

On Amanda's suggestion!!

Hannah's birthday - 1/2 served - not sure how much cake was eaten as it was really dry - the recipe said to cook for 1 hour ... I think it was way too long.

Need to remember ... don't try a new recipe on a special occasion!!

Kitchen inspiration - Meredith

I think this might also qualify for the stamping challenge!!

Karen - stamp challenge

Hi Amanda,
I am sending a layout I did at our scrap night last week, I thought Id send it in for the stamp challenge. II scraplifted it from Kerry Lynn Yeary out of the Scrapbook Trends magazine (Jan 2009), I loved it that much I bought the exact stamp and the photo was taken by Tiff (thanks :)
Cheers
Karen D

oh Karen this is so cute. Love the owls and also the colour that you have stamped them in (teal). The mix colours work so well on here too! Great job stamping!

Amanda - more stamping

This one has 9 lots of stamping on it.

Inspired by Piper and her use of my versamark inks :- The little squares are the inks pressed directly onto the cardstock. (Five colours there)

I have also stamped the word FAIL (Four letters)

The scan is a bit blurry due to bumps with the buttons sorry!

Maryanne

Maryanne is sharing a fantastic new layout with us. This is brilliantly done...i am oohing over every inch!

She said that it isn't really fitting any challenge themes we have going but i say that it is nice to see something on the blog here whatever it may be!!

and this is FANTASTIC!

you do grunge so well Mary!

Marika

Hi Amanda,

hasn't been much on the blog lately just finished this one which I was pleased with how it came out.

Thanks Marika

ooh this looks great with the jumbo sized photo! What a very blustery day!! The red alphas totally pop on the green grass!

lovely and thanks for sharing your work Marika. Any pages welcome I say!

Retreat email list....are you on it?

Not only have the E2C girls been busy with the scrapathon in October but we have been thinking and planning our big March retreat also.

More news to come on this - soon!

In the past, the way we have opened registrations is by sending out a group email and blogging the details on here. This will be how details are circulated again this year.

I would like to ensure i have everyone's email address WHO IS INTERESTED in coming or getting retreat news as it breaks. Please note that this is NOT a registration to attend. I do have a list already but would like to double, triple check that you are on it.

If you are not on my mailing list for the retreat you might miss the breaking news! !

Last year our retreat was totally full, sold out, all seats taken within 2 days. In fact it was a frenzy of bookings in the first 24 hours with the bare minimum seats available on that second day.

Please ensure you are on my retreat email list by dropping me a quick line on ga.hall@bigpond.com . I would hate anyone to miss out by not having your name down!

Details for our major March E2C retreat will be revealed soon........ and registrations will be very soon afterwards.

Don't miss out!

Amanda - colour challenge

ok... not a lot of action on here and i haven't been feeling much desire to scrap either............



so i decided to scrap lift just to get the mojo and creative juices flowing! It worked for me so if you are feeling a bit scrap flat why not give it a go too?!



This was inspired and loosely lifted from the September Scrapbook Trends - a layout by Linda Sobolewski (page 65)



The journaling says :

We are lucky enough to have a wonderful bakery in our little town. It has the yummiest coffee in super, gigantic mugs.

Many lazy afternoons are spent in there with friends, sipping coffee, chatting and laughing.

I love my skim cappuccino so much i could have one 5 days a week!


I am definately going to scraplift again soon. I need a bomb under me to get motivated / inspired to scrap at the moment and it might just have to be a special scraplift bomb!

Kaboom!

Amanda - stamp challenge

Hello yes i am back in the world of the www and computers - woohoo!

I finally managed to scrap this afternoon and it sure felt good!

This is for the stamping challenge. The circles are stamped (four of those), the big letters are stamped (another four) and also the date (two numerals)

A bit boring but at least i know that i *can* actually still manage to scrap!

Okay ... confession time ...

So I was thinking the other day about scrapbooking products that I have bought that I really

haven't utilised as much as the quantity I purchased ... get my jist?

Bought a bit but have hardly used any??!!

Mine is felt lace ... you know the stuff, really hard to peel off the backing and then even harder to stick on to your layout!!

So here begins the confessions ... post a comment on your guilty over exuberant purchases!!

1/2 and 1/2 Photo challenge - Tanya

Tanya said ...

"Couldn't resist putting this pic in for the photo challenge of Half & Half! Stella, today - Half dressed!!!".

Oh Tanya what a beautiful photo! Love how the colours under the tulle circle around Stella! And her eyes look great too! Very cute!

September Colour Challenge - Marika

Marika said ...

"I have just finished this page which fits the colour challenge. It is a lift from a page in the September ST Magazine. "

Thank you for getting it to us so quickly - lovely to have one of your layouts to have a look at!

Great photo, love the buttons and brads and the knot / bow above the journalling!!

And a really recent photo - oh I remember now that you were heading to Streaky Bay when I saw you last!! Hope you had a lovely break away!

Half and half photo challenge - Michelle

Here is my attempt at the Half Challenge. Haven’t had much time to think about it and determine what I could use, then this popped into my mind. Pretty obvious in the end for me.

Half a wall completed/half a house completed.

Thanks
Michelle
Wow that is a very exciting half a house!! Great thinking there Michelle!!

Photo challenge - Tiff's half and half

Tiff said ...

Attached is another photo for the 1/2 challenge.

1/2 black and white, 1/2 in colour.

or there abouts.

Beautiful Tiff!

Must make a daisy chain for Hannah while all those daisies are out at the moment - I'm sure she would love it!!

We interupt this service to announce ...

a text I just received in ...

Amanda ...
"Mercy dash to Port Lincoln - computer ..." unable to be printed ... " Might have lost the lot. Will not be able to access emails for a while."

So if anyone has any thing to be posted please send it to me (Meredith)!!!

Thank you. Here ends this broadcast.

September Colour Challenge

Well the challenges aren't really coming in thick and fast and if you are like me you have barely had time to scratch yourself this month let alone scrap.......but here is another colour challenge which will hopefully kick us all back into that scrapping mode.

Another one based on the colorstory blog.

colours this month - burnt orange, olive green, mocha brown, vintage cream and a cute pink.

Please leave a comment saying hello if you drop by - just so Sue, Meredith and myself are reassured we are not just talking to ourselves!

Also don't forget about our SCRAPATHON in October. Details here Book now to secure a spot! Deadline looming soon!

Sue's -photo challenge

Hello there everyone!! Long time between posts ey??!! Sorry about that.....it's just been a busy and crazy time around here lately.

I have a very unintentional photo to share with you, that maybe could fit the half photo challenge!! If Maryanne can send in butt of a steer (which is just a great photo!).... hopefully this one will certainly be okay too!

You see, I was fiddling with my new SLR camera at footy (at Karkoo), focusing and snapping away on our son-in-law heading off the oval for quater time break in the B's. At the end of the day when going thru my photos (as one does when they got a new camera)....realised the setting i had it on focused on the subject closer than my SIL was......and i got a good shot of some young lads butt!!

Ummmmm......now how could i press delete without sharing this with you all!!! :)

Hope you all getting some time for photos and scrapping....love to see it all soon.

(Note: please don't send any to me this coming week to post up as i will be away.)

Catchya all!

Trish - photo challenge

Hi Amanda
Here is the left half of Fletch's head. We had this done while in Cairns in July. We love it.
Cheers Trish

LOL Trish - this is great - what a fun time that must have been, sitting for a cool caricature! Love that big toothy grin too. Fab interpretation of the challenge!

Kicking back at 09.09 090909 - Trish

Hi,
well after Fletch went to school, I made a coffee and sat on my front verandah. What a lovely way to start my day off (sorry Meredith.....).
PS the blog is doing great, fab LO's and photos to admire.
Cheers Trish


That sounds wonderful!!! Isn't coffee a wonderful thing!! Your scene looks very relaxing - good on you!!

It's all in the nines ... Sandra

Sandra said ...

My day off today (Ha! what's that??) and it's washing day.
So at 09:09 today I was washing.... and nearly fell over laughing when I saw the time left on the washing machine... it was not a set up I promise!! and sorry for the crap photo... embarrasing having this on the blog after Maryanne's stunner!


Good one Sandra ... aren't front loaders great although they do seem to take longer!

Maryanne - photo challenge

This one has totally blown me away (no pun intended) A FANTASTIC photo with some BRILLIANT processing. I just love the antique effects (it is very detailed close up) and how you have done the 'choose to be positive'.

This is amazing Maryanne. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

Mini Photo challenge ... 09.09.09

In 2 days time it will be ... 09.09.09!!

So how about another mini photo challenge

... take a photo of what you are doing at 9.09am on Wednesday 9th Sept 2009.

Email them to me and I'll put them up here on the blog!

Once again I'll be at work but I'll try and be creative!! Stay tuned!!

Oh I think we need a photo ... makes a post a bit more interesting hey!!

The top photo is of the sage, in my herb patch, in flower - pretty isn't it?!

This one is our broccoli on 1st August 2008 ...

And this is our current crop of brocolli today!!

Just to keep you geared up for the kitchen layout challenge!! ;-)

Tiff - 7 stamping challenge

Hiya A.

This card for Fathers Day started off with the painted hand print by Sean. Then remembering the stamp challenge there was no holding me back. The zig zag stamp is a bit faint but its there.
Happy Father's Day to all Dads. I hope they all get breakfast in bed.
cheers
t

sorry this didn't go up earlier Tiff - been out spending time with Dad and Greg instead of infront of the computer.

I bet Kym loved it.

Maryanne - photo challenge

Hi amanda -Took this recently[and accidentally, not a deliberate ass shot]. of one of the school led steers. thought it fit the challenge.
cheers maryanne

fantastic! What a classic interpretation! Love it Maryanne!

Marika - Sue's sketch AND colour challenge

Goodness all you girls are quick off the mark today!

She says:

Have just done Sues sketch - love them Sue they get me to do a page. I have also used pink and red which went well with this layout. I have a thing for those big ribbons at the moment love this stampin up one

I totally adore this one Marika! Awesome spotting with the red and pink paper! And oooh yes at that delicious ribbon!

Sandra - photo challenge

Hi Amanda

Here is my entry for the photo challenge. Do you see the cup as half empty or half full?

and also about another HALF a year to wait until the next retreat!! :(

cheers for now

Sandra

LOL clever Sandra! Great out of the square thinking!

Here it is - Sue's sketch

Well, i got cracking on this late yesterday!! It came together quite easily with the new October Afternoon 'Road Map' papers....they are very yummy, they are good for boys pages!!

Can't wait to see your pages soon.

Photos by Tiff Firth.

Kylie - photo challenge

Photo 1: Max our Whippet - half dog, half kid ! Harry didn't want his jumper on during an afternoon walk this afternoon so we popped it on the dog just for fun !! It created a great laugh !

Photo 2: Half of Bree ... (I might just add - she can be half ratbag, half princess depending on her mood for the day !! lol)

ooh great shots Kylie. I really laughed at your dog all dressed up and your explaination 'half dog half kid'. Great 'creative' interpretation of the challenge!

Tiff - colour and photo challenge.

This is a frame Tiff made for Annie's birthday. She placed it on a red towel to photograph. Red can also be seen on Annie's collar in the photo. I am sure Annie will love it Tiff.

A great half of Sean! Lovely clear photo Tiff. His eyes look amazing.

Sue's September sketch

September is here already!!!! When the girls said the other day if i had my sketch ready, i almost freaked!! And over the past few days my brain has been a fuzz and not feeling like doing anything....but yesterday when i was in lincoln in the newsagents, i happened to pick up a scrap magazine (surprise surprise...me pick up a scrap magazine)......(not even sure which one....a UK one i think) and saw something like this sketch.... so i have just drawn it up.... have a go. Hope it's not too simple....feel free to add some extras. The fine squiggly bits are rubon optionals....

Sorry i don't have an example to post as well.....but that will be a challenge for me to get it done in the next couple of days. :)

Wow, what a great selections of challenges here this month!!?? Good ones girls!!

Can't wait to see all your creations!!

SuePxx

Hello September!

Amanda's challenge.

Stamping - you will need to use those things that we all buy and collect but don't use that often!! For this challenge you will need to stamp at least 7 (seven) times on one page!!! Believe me that this will be as much a challenge for me as it is you as i love collecting stamps but don't use them like i should. Bonus points for using a stamp that is very old in your stash or has never been used before. Individual numbers and letters count seperately but it would be great if we could really stretch ourselves to be brave!

Sue's Sketch.

stay tuned!

Meredith's Challenge.

Okay here is something really off the radar!!

Use something in your kitchen to embellish or influence your layout.

Okay so I'm thinking you could use a docket from shopping or trace around an item to make a shape for you layout or a photo of some baking or a special meal that you love to cook

(don't want to give you girls too many examples - need to save something for me to try!!!!

;-)

Colour Challenge.

Since i forgot to change this one mid August(sorry!) i will do a little mini colour challenge for two weeks so i can get back on track. This mini colour challenge is inspired by our Scrapathon ad - use pink and red on a page TOGETHER. As usual you can add white, black or kraft if needed. Vintage roses are optional ;)

Photo Challenge.

this month is ........ one half.

Interpret it how you will. Think outside the square, be creative and show us your photos!

also don't forget to book into our awesome Scrapathon in October! Reserve your seat today as we have had heaps of interest already!

Amanda - photo challenge

I have only just realized that it is the end of the month and i haven't even done the photo challenge yet!!



oopsie.

ok the first person i thought of when setting this challenge was someone that i admired when i was younger. I kinda started collecting a few posters and books in my young tween / teen days.


This was my favourite image of her:




I am not sure why i liked her... i think I envied how desired she was, how she made a fuller figure look fantastic and her power over men. In the end though i guess i feel sorry for her as she seemed to lead a very lonely life in which she was desperate to be loved and never found happiness within herself.




Another person i really liked and did collect a few things was Princess Diana. I would have forgotten to pop her in her but the midday movie today reminded me. I remember watching the royal wedding on TV with mum and eating Girl Guide biscuits and drinking milo in the lounge while it was on. Back then i thought the whole thing was the most romantic thing on earth.


Again, another sad person who was desperate to be loved and never seemed to find happiness within herself.



*sigh*



Now onto more uplifting things (LOL) all the previous talk about books has made this month VERY expensive for me!! It made me start thinking of my teen books that i devoured back then and i have ended up finding and buying some favourites! Some were only available in the USA so it has been a bit of a costly way to remember!




An author that brings back strong memories for me is Judy Blume. I really loved all her books when i was 12, 13, 14 years old and had quite a collection. Recently i found Tiger Eyes on ebay so i have bought that and i read it within hours of it hitting our house. I also remember Forever which was quite sexual and i am not at all certain i want my 12 year old reading that!!!




Finally i will remember two more books - one called Amanda and the other called Jessica. They were part of the sunfire romances that were available from the school book club. Each novel was a historical romance. I think i got the Amanda one first just because it was my name, totally loved it when i read it and then got the Jessica book. Amanda was set in the wild west and her and her father traveled on the Oregon Trail in wagons and horses. Jessica was also set in pioneer America and she falls in love with an Indian......... In all of the Sunfire romance series each woman falls for two guys (one a bad boy and one the 'good sensible choice') and she has to pick who she will end up with.

I have also ordered these (from the US) and can't wait to revisit my teen reading!!

I think this is where my love of historical fiction began :)






Thanks for the memories this month girls! I have loved chuckling over the photos you have all sent in and I have sat here nodding and saying 'yes' to most of the pictures too as i can totally relate (in particular to the ADIDAS Romes! - oh i laughed when i saw those!)


Fantastic memories of the 80's.

Karen - colour challenge

Hi Amanda,
Just emailing a couple of things, firstly my attempt at the colour challenge. I did lift the basic concept from a LO in Scrapbook Trends (I cant remember who, so if anyone recognizes it let me know please :)) And second a LO I did the other day of the retreat photo, which I must say is completely inspired by your blocky style ATM (which I LOVE)
TFL
Cheers
Karen D

Oh Karen. These pages are fantastic. Love the colour in the first one - and those cool overlapping alphas and also that semicircle with the rubon behind in the second. Those green alphas are totally yum too! In fact how you have used green in that page is great - it really draws the eye down the page!

fabulous!!

to clarify...

After a chat with Sue last night, we decided that perhaps we should clarify exactly what this scrapathon is about.

While we had been discussing it for a while (Sue, Meredith and myself) the whole idea seemed a bit daunting.....

there was a date that had to be decided and booked. With footy, local shows and then windrowing we knew it would be tricky to fit it in.

and then there was the pressure of it all and this is basically what this post is about.

If you are coming along to this please do not expect a retreat like we have in March. There will be no goodie bags, no classes, no competitions, no prizes. It is quite simply an opportunity to sit and scrap as long as you want, sleep over and scrap again the next day. You will be disappointed if you expect all the bells and whistles of our March retreat.

Sue, Meredith and myself would love to go to a retreat where we can just sit and scrap with the rest of you. Kick back and enjoy without the pressure of organizing classes, food, kits, goodies, giveaways etc. Don't get me wrong - we love doing this for our March retreat but it is a big stress time. Nothing at all relaxing for us about it.

This is a total NO FRILLS basic scrapathon.

At Karkoo there is also no bed situation. We will be camping out in an old hall - in swags on the floor. (byo swags!) Unless you want to bring your own caravan or sleep in the car. Again - nothing fancy. It is very basic and that old hall is very cold so bring lots of blankets!!!

We would love as many people to come as possible and i know it will be a great success with everyone pitching in but we wanted to clarify that everyone is on the same page with how basic this will be.

Just a big girls sleep over with no frills.

Hope to see you there!