Amanda - art challenge

inspired by this months Creating Keepsakes with the stitching and the mini letters.

November!

oh wow - it's November already! How did that happen??!

Amanda's Challenge

i saw this on someone's blog (sorry can't remember who!) and thought it was a great idea.... inspired by art.

So i have picked a painting by Australian artist Chris Wake and would like you to create a page based on a few things that have inspired me from this piece of art.

Your layout must contain the following:

*random green embellishment

*rope or twine

*a photo that is a 'less than perfect' image of you but you love it anyway.

*journalling or title to include a story about a great fun, (perhaps unexpected?) time you had with friends.

* at least 3 papers and one must be black and white spots.




in other news please stay tuned for the date registrations for e2c 2011 will be open. In the past few years spots have been hotly contested and we are usually sold out in a matter of hours. If you think you might come along, or know of anyone else who may be interested... please stay tuned and let them know to keep their eyes peeled also.

Enabling a purchase for scrappers!!

When I was in Port Lincoln today I bought one of these at Kmart ...

Only $49 and the trays fit 12 x 12 inch papers (actually bigger than 12 x 12")

Dee had one of these at the Trinity Scrapathon I think.

And it fits under my trestle table!!

Not sure how long the special is on for but thought it was worth mentioning!!

Drum roll please ...

so after our meeting on Friday we made the huge decision about our logo for the 2011 retreat ...

it was an agonising decision and we argued for a while ...

but in the end we all agreed this is the one we all loved ...

Sue has even said since in her emails to us

"I keep looking at the new logo and just LOVE it.....and can't wait for it to be popped up!!"


so for Sue and everyone else ...


here it is ...


I will leave it to Amanda to change it as our blog header later today ...

On reflection I think the designer has missed the actual reason for the retreat and I have some concerns in that department ...


I mean I am wondering what (or who) they were thinking of when designing ... microphone, iPod dock, wine bottles, vodka, blender, cocktail glasses ...


But I am sure that it will be well received by all of you as our 2011 logo


I bet you can't wait to have this one ironed on your t-shirts hey!!

Non scrapbook related post!

I thought this was funny and very clever - it gave me a giggle so i thought i would share.

From Momicillin - a source of really great articles on being a mum and all the joys that brings. Often written sarcastically as was that last sentence.

Dear husband,

We’ve been together a long time now, and after all these years, I’m happy to report that I’m still crazy about you. You’re my best friend, my favorite hanging buddy, and the man who makes this house my home. I respect and admire you now as always and love the father you are. And, much to my advantage, you’re a good lover, even a great one.

Most of the time.

But, occasionally you mistake me for a car. I am not a car, my darling, and never will be. This means that when you get a hankering for a midnight drive or a sunrise spin, I’m afraid that you cannot start me up by using only the key. It’s just not that simple.

If I were a car, getting this engine from 0 to 60 would take considerably more effort than putting in the key and pushing the gas. For one thing, I’d expect all my parts, exposed and hidden, to be thoroughly lubed and oiled before every driving session. I’d expect you, as driver, to admire the make and model, spit shine the headlights, and caress the steering wheel for a very long while—before pulling out the shiny little key—big key, I mean. Very big key. (No one is complaining about the key here!) I’m just saying that if I were a car and got that kind of treatment, that’d make the engine purr.

It’s important to note that the fact that I’m not a car is not my fault and is nothing I can change. It’s a design issue. I have several parts that need attention and one critical start button located near—but not-quite-near-enough—the ignition. I’m not responsible for this design but hope someday to talk to the Great Engineer in the sky, if only to ask, “Why?”

I’m the first to admit that life would be great for us both if I were a car. In fact, if I were in charge of my own design, I’d be built like our new car: the key to that car only has to be nearby, and it’ll fire up with the push of a button. A single touch, mind you,—not endless minutes of not-too-hard-not-too-soft play.

I think you occasionally mistake me for a Hot Rod car because my body has, once or twice, mislead you by jumpstarting with use of only the key. This is a rarity. I think it happens when Mars is in the house of Venus and the stars are aligned, and the Sun and Saturn are in conjunction. Maybe. I’m not sure.

Finally, know this: I recognize and value your continued, patient attempts to “rev my engine” and pray that, in the immortal words of what’s-his-name, you “Never give up!”

Christmas is coming ...

1.
Last year I did a December Daily album ...

here is the info from Ali Edwards's site about what she is up to this year ...

http://aliedwards.com/2010/10/december-daily-2010-creating-a-foundation.html

There are also more posts on how she created the cover etc.

2.
Over at Maya Road ... http://mayaroad.typepad.com/dt/2010/10/christmas-is-a-coming.html

some fabric banner pennants have been made into tree ... maybe try calico and stiffen it for a similar effect!!

3.
These could be adapted for a Christmas treat ...

http://noelmignontandt.blogspot.com/2010/10/halloween-treat-bags.html

4.
Over at the Kaisercraft blog ...

This would make a gorgeous gift for a little girl ...

http://www.kaisercraft.net/blog/beyond-the-page-with-candy-lane-2/ (scroll down to see more)

And ...

Have you found any great Christmas ideas ...

leave a comment with the link to inspire us!!

Trish - challenges and retreat layouts :)

Hi Amanda, I have sent 3 of my Lo's from the weekend. The one of Georgia,
some new things for me on this page and my apologies in advance if I offend
anyone or reduce anyone to tears. And I have Sue's sketch and the
punctuation challenge as well. Am loving all the pages on the blog and also
I think that the amount of people at the mini retreat and the fact that they
were all really enjoying themselves is a wonderful reflection on the blog
and the women involved.
Cheers
Trish

Sue's sketch.

Punctuation challenge.



Wow Trish you were super busy on the retreat - glad you enjoyed yourself and found some mojo to create these masterpieces!

The layout of Georgia is so sweet and pretty. Photos of your special girl will always be precious and difficult to scrap but you have done an amazing job. Such detail and prettiness is well balanced with the white spaces.  A beautiful girl, beautiful photo and beautifully scrapped xx.

Love the use of kraft in the ready bike ride page- the use of Sue's sketch is perfect! The little piece of book page peeking out the top is great!

Also wow at the punctuation challenge layout. What a cute photo and a great title which says it all! Thickers are so delicious aren't they!? (as well as tiny fingers apparently lol)


Fabulous Trish - thanks so much for showing us your creations. Wonderful work.

Marika - Sue's sketch

Hi Amanda,

Glad to hear everyone had a great weekend at the mini retreat just sending you my layout based on Sues sketch.

Thankyou Marika

oh of course i love the dots and the beautiful brights you have used here Marika - and wowee at that amazing ribbon flower. Looks awesome!!

Cute, cute, cute photo also - Simon's windblown mohawk gave me a giggle though lol.

lovely work!

sandra - punctuation / symbol challenge

Hi Amanda

Thanks girls for an amazing weekend.
Thoroughly enjoyed myself and found my mojo again.
attached is my layout for the punctuation challenge.
Challenged myself also by using wallpaper as the background...LOVED it!
And think I will be using it more often!!

and thanks to Wendy for the turquoise rope...it was perfect!!
cheers
Sandra

wow Sandra - that turquoise really pops against the grainy sandy coloured back ground - and doesn't that look awesome too!!! Wallpaper! Fantastic! Just loving how rustic it looks - which is brilliant when you pair it with the sea collection cluster.  Did you back it with something to add some strength as i am thinking wall paper is pretty thin and flimsy?

Stunning page - really beautiful work. Thanks for sharing :)

Amanda - punctuation symbols

Quick question for Scrapathon attendees ...

if you attended on the weekend and left this hanging by the fire ...

(the maroon one)

I have it, as you can see freshly washed!!

Let me know and I'll get it to you!

Meredith

PS I was going to be silly and post a lingerie photo first but the ones I found online were all a bit too saucy!! LOL

Sue's sketch & Amanda's challenge - Lou

Hi Guys

Please find attached my LO for Sue's sketch [the pink one] and Amanda's challenge.

Once again thank you to you all and sue for a fabulous weekend!! I loved it!

Lou :) xx

First up Sue's sketch ...

and Amanda's punctuation challenge ...

Oh there is a familiar face :-)

Great work Lou - I am intrigued at the "flowers' in the first one - how did you do them?? They look beautiful! The silver birds are gorgeous too (think I commented to you about them!) The pink is yummy too!

I agree with your dog lick sentiments too!! Great use of punctuation / signs!!

Thank you for your on going support!!

Tatum - Sue's sketch

Thankyou (and Sue & Meredith) again for such a fantastic weekend…it was awesome!

I did do Sue’s sketch over the weekend…I flipped it around to suit the photo and added the vertical piece of paper because it fitted well with the LO theme.

…3 years later it is actually Sebastian’s first pre-kindy session on Wednesday arvo.

Have a fantastic week.

Tatum xx

wow wow wow. I saw this irl and it blew my socks right off. The detail is amazing. Lots of creative yummy-ness going on here. Those primary colours, the paper choices and school embellishments are perfection together. Thanks Tatum - you clever chickie.

Julie - Sue's sketch + punctuation

Hi Amanda,
Hope this comes through OK.
Here is my answer to two challenges... Sue's sketch as well as the
punctuation challenge.  I've been wanting to scrap these silly photos for a
while, and this just seemed to fit.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, I'll be thinking of you as we prepare
for shearing next week...
Julie C
x

This is fabulous Julie - love the look on Jess's face and all those pegs is a bit of a 'what the ?' isn't it!!?? Naturally i love the black and white dot - team it with pink and yellow and it is totally WOW.

Awesome stuff!

mini retreat /scrapathon

Well it was called Mini but it was anything but!! So much food, shopping, and scrapping to be done.

There were 30 smiling, happy and relaxed ladies enjoying our weekend and on behalf of Sue, Meredith and myself i would like to thank you all. What a lovely, friendly bunch of scrappers we had at Trinity - just awesome. Walking around the room, talking and looking at the work was just so inspiring!

Massive thanks to our cooks - Tracey M and Kathryn. They provided the most YUMMO food that was a taste sensation.

Thanks also to the shops - how luck were we to  scrap and be able to purchase as we need RIGHT THAT INSTANT. We can appreciate how much work goes into packing up a shop and taking it to our retreats so thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.

We also broke the news about our big retreat....


THE DATE FOR 2011 :  1st, 2nd and 3rd of April.

we will also have 4 special guest teachers.

Registrations are not being taken yet but stay tuned as it will happen within a few weeks - we will announce a date that the registrations will be open in advance so there is no guess work involved this year.

There has been a flurry in my inbox of layouts created over the past weekend so i will post them directly.

What to bring to the Scrapathon ...

Ali - 10.10.10

Hi Amanda, didn't have a photo right at 10:10am but here is Mia a bit later in the day out in the wildflowers just out of Andamooka!

See you soon. Yippee!

Ali

oh WOW Ali. This photo and the colour in the wild flowers and her dress look incredible. What an amazing environment you live in!!

Can't wait to see how you scrap this one...maybe i will see first hand on the weekend?

Kylie's 10/10/10

Hi Amanda,

Here's my photo from 10/10/10 ... (although this was taken in the afternoon ... not at 10am).

'Fun in the Sun' .. This photo cracked me up - Charlie 'airborne' off the end of the slip'n'slide - lucky the grass was soft !

It was such a nice warm sunny day for some water fun on Sunday.

Thanks,

Kylie

A great 'action' shot Kylie!! It was a beautiful day too - great idea getting the kids active and out of the house for their last day of freedom!

10am 10th of the 10th in 2010

Sandra sent in a photo of her very productive morning:

and in complete opposite here are my actions at 10am this morning:

(note price on book is in Fiji $ for those with keen eyes!)

10am 10th of the 10th in 2010

How will you be spending your 10.10.10 at 10am?

Normally this is Meredith's domain but i just noticed this very special date is just around the corner (Man i love October!!)

I will probably still be in bed lol... if you feel enthused maybe a photo of what you are up to at that time!