I'm back. If only for a week or so.
Cant wait to hear how your Christmas was.
xx
mwah.

Some Xmas news.

A while back we had a spring challenge and Marika created a fantastic page with a really big photo of a child in the canola crop. It was absolutely stunning and it seems that I am not the only one that thought so...

yep Marika's page has been accepted into the Aussie gallery of Creating Keepsakes!!

This is her first acceptance which is so exciting and you should be really proud of it Marika! Particularly when CK is notoriously hard to get an acceptance from - one of the most difficult!


I think this brings our tally to 5 girls who are E2C participants who have had pages from various challenges from here published (or will have in 2009)

WOW! Great work girls.

Have a lovely day tomorrow and i hope you have been good enough for a visit from Santa!

merry xmas

Thank you girls for all your inspiration and support this year. I know that Sue, Meredith, Tiff and myself have been absolutely blown away by the encouragement we have recieved both with the blog and also with the retreat since our last Escape 2 Create weekend.

I am not sure if anyone has noticed but there are 82 days left until the next retreat!! WOW. It certainly wont take long for those 82 days to click down and then the fun will begin again.

I hope all our visitors come back again in 2009 (or continue to post your pages to Meredith during the xmas / new year break) all refreshed and raring to go.

Meredith's email is now listed down the sidebar of this blog so please forward anything you would like posted to her......i hope we see a few new pages soon as it has been very quiet!

Wishing you a very merry Xmas and i hope you have a fun, safe day filled with love, laughter and family.

Scrappy Christmas

As I am 'out of office' for a week after Friday 19th, I would like to wish all the bloggers, challenge takers and lurkers a very Scrappy Christmas and a Creative New Year.

stay safe and see you the other side of Christmas.

Tiff

challenge 24

Ok now we are all busy. This is a given for this time of year.



The majority of local people head to the beach or holiday houses in January.



We are all feeling the pressure.



So the E2C team dont want to add to that pressure........so we will post an extended challenge here. One to get you through this Christmas period and also the January holidays.



This is something that you can pick elements out to do - whenever you like! One or two things per layout - or if you want to spread them out - do one at a time. (of course we dont expect the number of the items on your page - eeeek at fitting them all in)

Just might be a little bit of inspiration you need and they are fairly general so as you dont feel boxed in or obliged to do anything.


On the first day of Christmas,
a scrapper sent to me
nice paper the colour of a pea


On the second day of Christmas,
a scrapper sent to me
Two hearts of love,
And nice paper the colour of a pea

On the third day of Christmas,
a scrapper sent to me
Three journaling spots,
Two hearts of love,
And nice paper the colour of a pea

On the fourth day of Christmas,
a scrapper sent to me
Four bright buttons,
Three journaling spots,
Two hearts of love,
And nice paper the colour of a pea

On the fifth day of Christmas,
a scrapper sent to me
Five tiny letters,
Four bright buttons
Three journaling spots,
Two hearts of love,
And nice paper the colour of a pea

On the sixth day of Christmas,
a scrapper sent to me
Six staples gleaming,
Five tiny letters,
Four bright buttons
Three journaling spots,
Two hearts of love,
And nice paper the colour of a pea.

On the seventh day of Christmas,
a scrapper sent to me
Seven flowers a-blooming,
Six staples gleaming,
Five tiny letters,
Four bright buttons,
Three journaling spots,
Two hearts of love,
And nice paper the colour of a pea.

On the eighth day of Christmas,
a scrapper sent to me
Eight curly rub-ons,
Seven flowers a-blooming,
Six staples gleaming,
Five tiny letters,
Four bright buttons
Three journaling spots,
Two hearts of love,
And nice paper the colour of a pea.

On the ninth day of Christmas,
a scrapper sent to me
Nine strips of blue,
Eight curly rub-ons,
Seven flowers a-blooming,
Six staples gleaming,
Five tiny letters,
Four bright buttons
Three journaling spots,
Two hearts of love,
And nice paper the colour of a pea.

On the tenth day of Christmas,
a scrapper sent to me
Ten bracket shapes
Nine strips of blue,
Eight curly rub-ons,
Seven flowers a-blooming,
Six staples gleaming,
Five tiny letters,
Four bright buttons
Three journaling spots,
Two hearts of love,
And nice paper the colour of a pea.

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
a scrapper sent to me
Eleven stamps stamping ,
Ten bracket shapes
Nine strips of blue,
Eight curly rub-ons,
Seven flowers a-blooming,
Six staples gleaming,
Five tiny letters,
Four bright buttons,
Three journaling spots,
Two hearts of love,
And nice paper the colour of a pea.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
a scrapper sent to me
Twelve handwritten notes,
Eleven stamps stamping ,
Ten bracket shapes,
Nine strips of blue,
Eight curly rub-ons,
Seven flowers a-blooming,
Six staples gleaming,
Five tiny letters,
Four bright buttons,
Three journaling spots,
Two hearts of love,
And nice paper the colour of a pea.

On the thirteeth day of Christmas
she sat back and had lots of wine and chocolate!


The most reliable option for getting your pages posted on the blog over the xmas and January period would be emailing them to Meredith.

At this stage we project to be fully functioning again with challenges etc mid January. By that time it will be even CLOSER to the retreat and we will get back into preparation for that exciting time in March (kits have already been ordered and are well on their way to us!)

We hope everyone has a brilliant and safe Christmas - count your blessings, spend time with your loved ones and take lots of photos!

sew far, sew good

Sew loving the word play happening.
Janice has risen to the challenge and has done it sew well. The stitching of the lines and the long threads from the buttons looks sew good. I'm not sure what the journaling says but I am sew sure it would be wise words.
EDITED to add:journalling says
Today’s special achievements
are
Tomorrows wonderful Memories.

Great match up with the jade too.






Janice tells me that the layout idea is from the latest Scrapbooking Memories Magazine (pg 129).

Marika and Sandra are sew clever

Wow wow wow. Sandra has come sew far (lol) in sew little time. This page really does have wow factor and even though she said she feels a little unsure about it - i am SEW impressed!

And Marika has gone very subtle with her delicate stitching - zig zag which finishes off a beautiful page which really looks so beachy and fresh.

lovely work girls.

doubled up

LOL.

Damasks and sewing.

The green damask PP is American Craft which are the exact same colour as the Daiquiri thickers. (gee funny about that.) and the Prima hydrangea and artful leaves are perfect too.

And before anyone asks the rubon alphas are no longer available. They were by Creative Imagination Art Warehouse Danielle Johnson Alpha Swatchbook and I had the devil of a time getting some ages ago.

sew what?

nah nah nah nah nah nah nah na nah na nah na nah

(think Pink lyrics)

which is a nice segue to my page for this challenge. Yep whipped it up tonight after i saw Tiffs post. Not a very tricky one - lots of white space.

Inspired from one of the pages in a mag of Merediths i was looking at yesterday .....i can't remember who the original artist was so i may need to use one of my lifelines and phone a friend to get some help LOL.

Have machine sewed on this very messily - in which you do not have to bugger around tying anything off or using sticky tape (i never have tbh and i machine stitch a lot on my pages!) If it unravels a bit after time - sew what? LOL (deliberate typo there!)

I have also doubled up and used some plastic sheets that Meredith gave me to use about 6 months ago = hmm they are things stamp or coin collectors use to display their bits and make very interesting pockets on your layouts! Ali Edwards uses them quite a bit in a lot of really cool ways.

So yeah... this page goes to show that i do eventually use what is given to me :)

Challenge 23

Righto scrappers.

new challenge.

As I was finishing a LO last night I thought it a perfect example for the next challenge.

So if Sue and Meredith don't mind I'll post the next one.

sew sew sew.

Whether you machine sew (zig zag, straight, decorative or combination), sew on buttons or material, embroider or hand stitch, these all qualify for the challenge.

A couple of tips for along the way.

1. if u machine sew, use nylon on your bobbin. Because its see through u wont need to change the bobbin thread every time u change the top thread. BIG time saver.


2. Another time saver. Use sticky tape to secure any threads on the back of the LO. Quick, and no lumps show where a knot may have been


3. If hand sewing, 3 strands of DMC stranded thread is about the right thickness. use all 6 for a really textured look or one for a very delicate look.


4. There is no reason why u cant knot the threads on top of the button for a 'homemade' look and for interest


5. If sewing onto really thin paper I back the area of the LO I'm about to sew with some cardstock just to reinforce the paper otherwise the thread may tear straight thru.
6. If sewing a large piece of material onto PP or cardstock I have found it much easier if I have first fixed it with some adhesive spray. No wrinkles or that annoying little pleat at the end.

So grab the trusty sewing machine out of the mothballs, acquire some new sharp needles or invest in some DMC thread (Lookin Good Fashion-Cummins, PatchWork Pear-Port Lincoln)

and get going... er I meant sewing. LOL

this is mine for the challenge

addiction

Trish has a camera addiction.

She is so LOVIN her new best friend.

She has just sent me these shots. They are straight off her camera, not touched up at all. These are the real deal. I reckon these would make awesome postcards of Coffin Bay.

This first one reminds me of hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil.

And when I first clapped my eyes on this on I wondered if she had cloned the pelican 3 times. (only the one bouy gave that away). But how amazing is the mirror like of each other.

And this one reminded me of Mr Percival from the movie Storm Boy. Book authored by South Australian Colin Thiele.

accidentlty

I was in Lincoln last night at Scrapworkz (Hi Leonie) and did this LO. While pulling it together (near the end actually), I noticed the green PP actually had damasks on it. Very faintly and so not obvious, which is probably why it had slipped my attention.

so 'ere tis

happened

Trish happened to be in Coffins during the week and happened to take her noice camera. And she happened to remember to take a pic of the Marble Ranges from down there. Then she happened to remember to send it to me who happened to post it on the blog.

It's a happening thing

great pic Trish. You happened to have observed the rule of thirds. Foreground, then South Block then the skyline. Well done.

golly

just how beautiful is this.

1. perfect photo of Sarah. Her personality really shines thru. And I love the casual pose with the chair as the prop. Did u snap this one Janice.

2. The Damask. I noticed the slightly eroded look of the PP. The torn rolled edges with the sewing. Even the frame around the title has a portion of a damask peeking out.

Janice says : Hello, hello....its me, remember who I am? Finally a challenge done and it didn't take me very long to do either.Had trouble cropping, this was the best I could do.Also the colours lookabit olive in the scan but are actually more lime irl.Yah!!! Yah!!! so happy Ive finally finished a challenge at last, Ive lots tocatch up on. Digi scrapping is much tidier, only have the laptop outbut must say I have really enjoyed doing this one, just have to puteverything away now before I start the next layout.

I say yay for getting your hands back on the paper. but I know some of the girls are pretty keen to see some of your digi work!!!

gee whilikars

I am totally LOVING what is coming in my inbox atm! lots and lots and LOTS of damask!! woohoo.

first up we have Maryanne who totally blew my socks off with this one. I just adore every single bit of it - just yummy in the extreme.

then came Karen. So lovely and pink - with that hint of damask on the paper. Lovely and so very Karen-ish in style....which is a great thing! LOL at that photo - looks like a lot of fun!

Finally we have Sandra who has shown us her damask style and mixed it with a bit of vintage. This is really breath-taking Sandra - beautiful.

Thanks girls - glad you all understood my damask babble - these are great examples!

damask done

each letter is individually stamped. Took ages but very happy with the results.

Ps. I found a silver damask in my stash so yay, E2C challenge completed.

LO inspired by Peg Manrique

Marika's damask and the hill

Marika has captured an amazing shot of Marble Range - a rainbow AND a bird! I just love this!!!!

and her two entries in the damask challenge. Like Sandra and myself she was surprised to see how much she had of that type of pattern in her stash.

The journalling on the happy girl page says -

finally after 5 and a half months of screaming half of the day and night we have found out that you are lactose intollerant. Now that you are on lactose free milk you are so happy, like we swapped you for a new baby. You never cry and you are sleeping all night. What a difference it has made to our family and to you, you poor little thing."

This is fabulous marika. Love the tones in both the pages - the inked alphas on the wheat crop page and the blues in the happy girl layout.

Thanks for participating!

Chris's soap BOX

Hi Chris.

Met her the other night at Scrapworkz. What a pocket rocket.

So great to see you here chick.

She sent me her pic via my phone so the quality isnt that great but u can see the idea.

The PP is Kaiser Craft and i forget the name of which range.

To explain a previous comment from Chris about the bottom of the box.

I'll quote her txt on my phone to you.

'dis it Chris, the one whose box lid wouldn't stay up LOL...'

I'm a bit hazy on the details (it was very late by then) but i think she was a bit top heavy. The box that is, not Chris * LOL*

hope to see more of you on here Chris. Really do.

dont box Jancie in

YaY. YaY. YaY.
Great to see you Janice.

easy boxes arent they. A bit addictive arent they. So noice arent they. this first one has a vellum lid. Very elegant esp with the gold ribbon and Xmas tag.

Just gorgeous colours.

Well done chick. trying out the damask challenge??? or grab a pic of the Marble Ranges from the Cummins perspective.

boxing ring

I am so OVER boxes.
*roll eyes*
I have just finished 16 of them. so glad i did them now and not later.

next... the damask......hmmmmm