Sue's - Giggle 'n Play

Here's a page 'just of interest' to show you, one that was a challenge over at Scrapboxx, which was to use a patterned background, larger than 4 x 6 photo and the photo had to be imperfect. So i thought yep, i will do this..... i struggle with patterned backgrounds, so this was quite a challenge for me!! I didn't get it into the boxx in time, so here it is. The photo....well, Evan just kept running towards me giggling, hence why his head is cut off (not really imperfect, but oh well).

And 'notice' it is a smaller size too.....something i don't normally do. An inspiration from those Ali tips!! Hope you have found them inspiring, every one of them, i thought ...."yeah...so true"

So maybe you could try one of these too.... the imperfect photos have a story also to tell.

Ali E's tip of the day

20. Go make something right now. Stop whining. Stop coming up with excuses. Start now.

that wraps up all the 20 tips that Ali Edwards shared on her blog. I hope i haven't bored everyone to tears with these....i find them inspirational and i hope someone out there has too.

Thanks to the girls who have left comments on the tips.

Hopefully we will see lots of scrapping flooding into our inbox to show on here as things have been a little quiet of late!

Dont forget our challenges for this month - Sue's Sketch, Quote from the Book of She and the photography challenge. If you have already participated perhaps you would like to do either another layout OR think outside the square a little for the travel photography challenge. Get out your camera and get creative!

You might like to send in a picture of something that you have been working on at the moment - totally random and unrelated to the challenges. We love seeing what others have been making!

Don't panic - we wont let your scrapping mojo rest as I am certain that there are another one or two challenges just around the corner!

Book of She ... Meredith

This quote stood out to me when I read through the quotes and I immediately thought of this series of photos I took on a weekend away in April at a stitching retreat.

Ali E's tip of the day

19. Create less. Rather than doing a bunch of layouts just for the sake of filling up an album, spend more time on just a few stories that really have meaning for you and your family

Scrapping is such a personal thing. I know scrappers who scrapbook every photo they have ever taken. If you want to do that - great.

I dont.
I do not have time or the money to waste to be bothered scrapping photos that are crappy or have no significance in my life. As Ali has suggested above, i concentrate on the guts of my life - not every single waking moment. And it isn't always the nice fluffy stuff either! This is how *I* scrapbook.

Again if you do not agree - well that is good too. This craft is such a personal thing and that is the great thing about it. How we do it, the process and the end product is different for everyone and that is WONDERFUL.

But if you want to streamline your scrapping take note of Ali's tip today.

I have also read where she writes about scrappers who scrap chronologically........and there are plenty of ladies who do this. There is always this catch cry of 'oh but i am so many years behind'. Why? Why limit yourself like this? Scrap what you want to when you want to. By the time you get to your 'now' photos you will have forgotten the story.

Dont limit yourself.

Ali E's tip of the day

18. Take some time to go back over all the layouts you have created and give yourself a hug for all the stories you have told. Taking a look at the body of your work will give you a whole new perspective on what you have done and where you want to go next.

This is so true. How often have you flicked back through your albums? I know i don't enough but my kids love getting them out and looking through them - remembering the stories and reading about what we were doing a few years back.

I saw a page that had slipped out of my album a couple of days ago which i had done in 2006. It was all about where i hoped i would be in 10 years time. Even though only 3 years had past, i had forgotten the detail of what i had written however i was relieved to read my goals were still the same. It was a strange feeling reading it, as if my 2006 self was sitting there talking to me now (if you get my drift). That is the one reason that i do believe journalling is sooooo important. Yes it is nice to do a few 'adore' 'beautiful' 'sisters' type pages but every now and then get down to the nitty gritty.

and yeah - look back at what you have done and be proud of all those memories that you have preserved!

Book of She ... Jenny

"The challenge is my most favourite photo of my Mama taken at Trafalgar square.
Jenny"

Oh Jenny what an amazing photo ... and the quote is so beautiful. Love your layout ... the birds look fabo and the cluster of embellishments at the bottom left look great. Thank you so much!!

Jenny's travels ...

Jenny said ...

" The photo was from our trip through the Simpson desert, it seems like eons ago."

Great photo Jenny!! Thank you for sending it through!!

Ali E's tip of the day

17. Bring your scrapbook talents into your home environment (also known as living with your art). Create collages to hang in your home. Enlarge and frame your favorite photos or layout. Create cool accents for your mantle with your supplies. There is so much that can be done with all those supplies you have collected to bring your hobby into the living areas in your home.

Do you display your scrapping or photographs in your home? I really hope you do = hang it up, leave an album out on the coffee table to flick through, use your Off the Page items. Be proud of what you make.

Amanda - she

This page is of my brother's girlfriend Emily. She has been a really lovely addition to our family and when i heard this quote she was the first one i thought of. Her joy of life, gorgeous smile and bright, bubbly, happy personality make her a absoulte delight to be around.

In a bit of a corny twist this photo is from 2006 when Rhino and Em were travelling in France. Very faintly in the background is the Eiffel Tower. I debated for a long time wether it was too cheesy using that photo but i was given the green light by a clever scrapper!

Also will add that the journalling block is inspired by the new Tim Holtz stamps - some delicious fonts there!

She - Tracey

Found this in my inbox today - just beautiful Tracey!!

Howdy Sue,

This is my fourth 'She' page I have done (that's what happens when you have three girls). I really like this one as it is a bit different from my normal stuff. Different size page and I also haven't done one landscape this size yet either. Journalling says ' She just has this way of brightening the day. Celebrate her radiance'. Very Charlotte, although as I am doing this she is not so radiant..... in fact she is bawling her eyes out on the lounge!!! Just another day in the Wooley household. Have a great weekend.

Tracey

Just love it Tracey - love the rubon swirl down the side and your stitching!!

Hope your all having a lovely relaxing weekend...and maybe a spare moment to scrap a little!

Sue ;)

Sue's Sketch ... by Meredith

I have turned the sketch side ways ... !!!

Ali E's tip of the day

16. Make sure you are in your scrapbooks. Take photos of yourself. Set your timer. Hand over your camera. Get together with friends to take photos of one another. Your kids and your family will thank you.


Ok so this is basically following on from what Meredith was saying last month. Not only is it important to scrap great times in your life but it is vital, ESSENTIAL for you to feature in there too. Take photos of yourself goofing around with the kids. Take one of you and your husband. Just BE in the shot. Take a photo of YOU by yourself and journal about YOU - just you.

How fascinating for your children to look back on this in years to come. Can you imagine having a scrapbook album in your hands of your own grandmothers, looking at a photo of her and learning about things that she thought at that time. How awesome would that be???!!

What an amazing piece of history you can create.

Karen's Creations ...

Hi Meredith,
Thought I'd share the"LOVE" ;) I haven't gotten to the challenges yet (I will, I will) but yesterday I did some scrapping, YAY!!! (it feels like forever) I have been inspired by some of the other girls who are trying different size LO's and decided to give it a go. I'm hooked!!!! I think you don't feel like you have all this space and need to fill it up, if this makes sense?! LOL. I'm hoping to spend a day just scrapping this weekend with a beverage or two ;)
Cheers have a good weekend.
Karen D

Karen just looking at these layouts fills me with the need to scrap soon!!

Love the colours the A4 type size, the white space, the photos, the embellishments ... just love them both ...

right I'm off to scrap ... !!!

Marika - Sue's sketch

Marika has turned Sue's sketch onto it's side and come up with a fabulous page! Love the embellishment cluster and those papers just pop against the black! Very cute beach photos too = what little surfer boys you have Marika.

And that stripe paper looks familiar too ;-)

beautiful work and great alternative interpretation.

Book of She ... Tracey

Howdy Meredith,

Attached is my layout for the She challenge. I took a photo of it at an angle to avoid the glare and when I cropped it, it now looks entirely crooked. In real life it is all pretty square.

Anyway, this quote is very fitting for my mum, this is her at 17 years old. 'She made the whole world feel like home. Celebrate her warmth.'

I stuck with a layout I've done a few times but enjoy. I am so into this striped paper and I only have a smidgen left.... I'm a bit upset about that!!!
Hope you have had a great day.
Tracey

Oh Tracey what a beautiful photo!! Love the colours you have used, the layed flowers look so effective. Really like the red font too for the quote. Such a stunning layout ... fabo!!

Have you used a rub on in the top right hand corner? And that striped paper looks like a Basic Grey one ... ???

Ali E's tip of the day

15. Read more about the Art of Finding.

Now i have only had time to skim read this but as far as i can see it is about collecting bits of memorabilia from our lives and using them. While this is great for 'memory lane' type scrapping it also strongly advocating the message of 're-use and recycle'.

I am not a huge fan of collage - it just isn't my style - but i do agree a page with lots of interesting bits and peices really makes you want to look at it for hours to see what else you can find hidden!

Further along the road ... Trish's travels ...

Hi Meredith
As promised. The bottom line in red actually says "Germans 4 1/2".
Cheers Trish

Great photography Trish ... you must have known we were going to have a travel photo slot :-)

She ... by Tiff

"Hi Meredith.

Oh I love this one. It came together so well.

Lots of different influences are involved here.

1. Sandra's home made Prima Lollipop Flowers

2. Nic's use of the Prima Flowers on her 'Life with you is Sweet' LO at Puzzle sketches

3. The She...challenge at e2c

4. The gorgeous photo of Annie taken by Amanda Hall.

5. Very loosely based on a sketch from Page Maps. (well it gave me the germ of an idea, but ended up nothing like it lol)

thanks.
Tiff"

Tiff ... the pink and black look stunning together, the flowers are gorgeous with those leaves and the punched decorative border is beautiful. The photo is beautiful too!! You should be so pleased with this layout!!

Sandra - she

Sandra says:

Hi Amanda
Here is my entry for the 'She' challenge...REALLY love these quotes. When I saw this quote in the list Narrelle came to mind...This is a scraplift.....look familiar?? lol
LOVED your Cry layout with young Sean, sooo used this layout as inspiration to try something new (lol.. again) and played with my photoshop.

I used photoshop to erase the background and make the photo lighter... there is a technical term there... but beyond me at the moment, and then printed the photo on to cardstock.Soo much fun... and scared the s#*t out of me too! 3 pieces of cardstock later (lol) and finally got to stick something on the page. Not 100% happy, but as Ali
says... just stick it on and move on!

thanks for the inspiration

Thank YOU Sandra. It is a huge compliment to be scraplifted and what an amazing job you have done. That quote is PERFECT and love the finished effect with the blue/teal papers picking up N's top. Stunning Sandra. You should be 110% happy chook!

Dont forget that you can forward your layouts/ photos / challenges to any one of us (Meredith, Sue and me) I am feeling like a bit of a blog hog atm so sharing out the posts would be fabbo :) We need the other two E2C ladies to feel the love as well!

Tracey - travel

Tracey has forwarded these great travel shots onto me for our travel photo theme.

She says:

Love the background in this one as it looks more like a painting. It was taken during a dust storm, hence the look. This is near Angorichina, Flinders Ranges

This one is taken on the walk into Wilpena Pound. Just love the scenery up there.

Great photos Trace! The trees and path look awesome in this bottom shot and i thought it really was an old painting effect on the top one - fantastic.