WOYWW - Exciting News

Hi everyone,
Here we are on another mid-week desk peek, as created by the talented Julia.

Firstly I would like to share my exciting news with you all. I am now a member of the Scrapbudz design team. I have completed my first DT layout for the April sketch challenge, however you will have to wait until Friday to see that one, when the challenge goes live. Scrapbudz has two challenges each month. A sketch challenge on the first of the month, and a latte and cream inspiration challenge mid month. I can't wait to get started on my latte and cream layout. Its going to be a yummy one! Pop on over and check out the blog and linked store. If you're quick, there is still time to finish the March latte and cream challenge... which is a super awesome green dessert inspiration. By now most of you probably know I love green!

So on other news, I completed my first DT layout for Scrapbooking Haven on the weekend. You can find the post here. I am also working on my next layout from my pack of awesome DT goodies.

Here is a sneak peak at my second layout:

 And the bits and pieces of the beautiful papers Amy sent me to work with. I am sooooo in love with these Teresa Collins papers.

 As you can see, my mountain of mess is getting worse. I need to stop buying things. I have several Kaiser OTP item ready to be put together and decorated so overall the floor space around the desk is getting smaller. Poor husband... and poor Felix, who has taken to sleeping in the box. Well actually, she loves that type of thing so at least I'm keeping someone happy.

Otherwise I'm afraid my work desk has been home to a different kind of work this week too. Assignments for the mangement course my work is putting me through. Its kind of cool, as I'm not actually a manager, so its a compliment that I'm being trained up ready for the day that comes that I am a manager. But really... all I want to do is scrapbook. Not type up 2,500 word essays on emotional intelligence ;-)

This coming weekend I'll have to have my camera charged and ready to go as hubby and I are going on a dolphin watching cruise. Kind of funny actually, living in Queensland, that we have never done anything like this before. It was actually from an experience voucher given to us for an engagement present last year so we finally redeemed it for something fun together.

Wow, so many posts from me this week. It's been a busy week of creating. Hopefully you aren't all sick of visiting me yet! Of course I love your comments so please do keep them coming.

Holly xo

Two New Layouts - Overcranked & Villain

Hi all,
I decided to throw together a quick layout of my husband's band last night, but realised I don't have any great recent band photos that I have taken. These ones were from a festival they played in 2006 and has 2 members who are no longer in the band. My husband found that idea difficult to grasp so I explained to him scrapbooking is about capturing all moments... not just the current ones. He want me to do one based on his new album now... but has no photos for me to work with so maybe down the track a bit.

So this one had a bit of a joint inspiration. The first inspiration came from Kerry's challenge for the Wicked Princesses Cyber Crop. We had to use the word 'RAINBOW' and have an item corresponding to each letter, so essentially a recipe challenge. Mine was:
R - Red
A - Alphas
I - Ink
N - Notes (music)
B - Bling (red glitter paint on skull) or band
O - Overcranked
W - White card stock

The second inspiration came from the current challenge at Punky Scraps, which actually motivated me to do my first splash of paint on a scrap layout. I can't say I did it overly well, but that explains the green mess behind my husband's rock star photo. Here is the inspiration pic:

So definitely not my best layout, but I was trying to challenge myself by doing a mega quick layout and using paint. The quick bit was a success. I'll practice the paint bit some more.

My other layout to share for the weekend was another for the cyber crop and is actually of my kitty cat Villain. Some of you have seen my other cat, Felix, featuring in some WOYWW posts, however Villain is a bit more camera shy. She is a siamese, and a little bit rolly polly round the middle. She loves to snuggle and even in the hottest part of summer, will always try and sleep on someone. Doesn't have much luck though.

So this challenge was also a recipe challenge created by Krissy, including 9 embellishments, 4 journal spots, something green, 2 alphas & a stationary item. Luckily I had a random fish shaped paperclip to add.

Again, I was challenging myself to do a quick layout since I can really take forever sometimes. Simple but that's all it needs when scrapping about pets usually.

Tonight I have plans to work on another DT layout for Scrapbooking Haven. Can't believe March is almost over! I am happy with the number of layouts I have squeezed in this month :-)

A Moment In Time

I've got a lot to blog about this week so expect a lot of posts over the coming few days. Including an exciting bit of news later in the week.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, Scrapbooking Haven has just started a new challenge 'A Moment In Time" and its a fab idea. It asks you to post your first and most recent layouts. There is also a $20 prize to be won at the end of the month to spend in store.

Its such an awesome challenge, I thought I'd share my entry with you all. This is my very first scrap layout and the comments I posted on Haven:

"When I started scrapping, all my layouts were doubles. Its only this year I eally learnt that I do not have to create doubles, so I haven't created one since. My layouts were always totally flat and in blocks of paper, and symmetry. However, at least the subject of my scrapping is the same, all these years later with my boyfriend now my hubby. This layout is probably about 4 or 5 years old and is in a full album of equally boring, flat layouts.

Now below is the layout I finished about 2 hours ago and my all time favourite. I'm no longer afraid of texture and dimension. I don't just use blocks of pattern and colour, but happily work with shapes and create my own embellishments. I have come a very long way and most of that has been in the past few months since starting my blog and seeing what amazing things can be done."

The challenge is such a fab way to see how far you have come with your scrapbooking. I am looking forward to seeing many more entries, so if you aren't already a member at Haven, sign up and share your creative journey.

Have a great day! xo

My New Favourite Layout & First DT Project

Hi everyone,
On Friday I received my first Design Team pack from Scrapbooking Haven. It was so exciting because it arrived with a big order I placed at their recent sale, so I got lots of goodies at once.

My design team pack consisted of a lovely set of christmas papers by Teresa Collins. If you have not yet checked on this range, its a must. They are the most stunning christmas papers I have ever worked with (not that I have done a lot of christmas layouts). My pack also included some lovely Kaisercraft christmas embellisments.

As these papers were so lovely, for my first layout, I decided to scrap the most special christmas I have had, and that was the white Christmas my husband and I spent with his family in Zakopane, Poland in 2008. This particular layout includes 2 photos taken on Christmas eve, when the two of us went to the top of one of the mountains by cable car and enjoyed a lovely few hours of "couple" time. The crazy thing was our thermals were in the wash that day and it was about minus 5 degrees or colder up the top of the mountain so wearing normal jeans with our snow jackets didn't quite cut it. Especially not when I stepped in snow up to my knee when moving out of the way of a car. Was pretty funny though. It looked like stable ground until I sunk right down to the knees and needed to be pulled back out again.

So here is my layout:

The materials used for this layout are as follows:
Kaisercraft Aubergine paper blooms
Kaisercraft Dear Santa embellishment pack
Teresa Collins Noel collection papers: Red Damask, Sheet Music, Definitions, Cards & Notes,Tags & Bordes

All of these products are available in store at Scrapbooking Haven, along with many other fab products. The store is closed for a couple of weeks for stocktake and due to illness but there is a great sneak peak of future products on their facebook page.

Also be sure to check out the current challenges running at the Scrapbooking Haven forum. Amy has just released a new April challenge a bit early, A Moment In Time, which encourages you to share your first ever scrap layout with your most recent for a chance to win a prize.

Now off to contemplate my next project with these fab festive products.

WOYWW - Things to Share + Suggestions Wanted

Hi Everyone,
Its that time of the week again when we get to go for a visit to other people's desks. Don't forget to pop over to Julia's to see where it all began.

I had a mammoth online shop at various scrap sites last week so parcels have begun to flow in. Its always exciting to get deliveries. I am keen to get some OTP projects started and ready before Christmas so at least starting now gives me plenty of time to be prepared. So nothing much in progress just yet, but a lot of big plans for this coming week. But where to start... so many options!

My husband turns 30 on 17th May and I want to have a big party for him. I love the idea of theme parties so I suggested a few random themes for him a while ago, one of which was a 'pimp' theme lol He liked this one so we decided that's what we would go with, but I'm coming up a bit short on ideas for invitations. Google isn't all that helpful even though the Pimp & Ho theme is kind of common these days. I will of course make the invitations myself but wanted them to be a little different. I contemplated the idea of editing an image of money to have the party details, but it wasn't looking much good so maybe something else. I also want to make some decorations and have some fun theme games on the night. So please everyone, put on your creative hats for me and give me some suggestions for the party. Invitations... decorations... games and anything else. All suggestions will be very much appreciated since I'm starting to worry as it gets closer and I'm yet to organise a thing.

Ok, now for some pictures. This first photo is of the prize I won from the Scrapmatts blog hop. Looking forward to doing some layouts with these pretty chipboard accents.

 These photos are for the current planned WIP. They are actually for a certain layout that will come with an announcement in time for April. I love the bigger picture of my neice, resting on her hand hehe

 And of course, the desk. This is the other end of the desk today, rather than my computer section. Still messy of couse, but there are a few bits of black desk visible. That's where I keep my guillotine, my bug and a few other odds and ends.

I also wanted to draw all your attention to a new challenge blog starting by the extremely talented Nadia. Its Once Upon A Sketch and they are actually having a fantastic give away to help spread the world on this new site. Be sure to check it out, along with the super talented design team. Here is what you can win if you help spread the world (What an awesome kit!!!):

Thank you to everyone who visits and comments on my blog. Your lovely feedback is always so nice to read and keeps me coming back with new posts.

Have a fab WOYWW!

Brother & Sister

Hi Everyone,
I finished a layout for the Scrapbudz Latte & Cream March challenge the other day and have only just found a spare moment to post it up. It is a wedding layout (surprise) of me with my brother and sister. My brother was our MC and my sister was my maid of honour. She is also the mother of my adorable little niece who's photo's I posted up the other day.

You will probably notice the green streak down one of the photos lol My printer ink has almost run out so once the new one arrives today, I will re-print and stick over those photos. It was just really bad timing.

Here is the inspiration sketch from Scrapbudz:

Looks pretty yummy hey? And my favourite colour so how could I resist playing along with this one.

Just Arrived

Another layout to share this morning. I actually did this one on Thursday night, for The Colour Room, pallette #49. They have since released a new one so I think I got in just in time. Here is the inspiration:

And here is my take on the pallette:

This was my first actual layout on my new niece and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I kept it fairly simple as the photos tend to speak for themselves. They are from the day she was born. I also used the same journalling on vellum as I did on the OTP album I made. That's in the top corner. The black doily was just a painted white paper one and the butterflies were cut and embossed with my cuttlebug. The chipboard title was something I've had in my collection for a really long time and finally had an oppurtunity to use.

Two Hearts

Hi everyone,
Well its the weekend and its quite wet here today in my part of Queensland. My hubby went out for a boys night last night to celebrate the finishing of their new CD recording and he isn't back home yet, so some time to upload my latest layout.

 This layout was completed using the current criteria at 123 Challenge, which was light or medium blue, the word to, two, or too and a doily. I realised I have not really completed any blue layouts recently, so I decided it would be a good opportunity to do so. It was not originally going to be a wedding layout, since our wedding colours are green, but it came together all pretty and did not match the original photos I had so it became a wedding layout lol Currently there is a joint challenge if you enter both this one and one of the March challenges at Savvy you can win a Savvy monthly kit. Great incentive and I'd already done a submission for Savvy at the start of the month.

 I used a very cute chipboard birdcage from A 2 Z scraplets in my layout too, along with various flowers and crotched lace. One of the flowers, the big pretty aqua hand made one was part of a gift from fellow blogger Rachael, so I was eager to use it as soon as it arrived.

What you can't really see is that the plain blue paper actually has a faint stamped swirl design all over it using white versamark ink. I felt it needed a little something more so it actually looks very pretty but subtle in person. I really need a better camera so I can share these little details better.

My Desk & Some Exciting News

Hi everyone,
If you like checking out other people's messy creative spaces, be sure to head to Julia's to find out more. Not a great deal to actually show as far as scrapbooking goes today as I tend to do most of my creating on weekends and towards the start and end of the week. Wednesday may be my most unproductive day of the week. So instead I took a phot of my incredibly messy desk. Pretty awful, hey? But that's kind of how it always looks. I'm a clutter-er! I do have a fab new computer though.


These are a few photos of the new addition to my sister's family that will inspire me to do a layout soon.

So onto my exiting news. Well I'll start with the news I got online today. I won 2 prizes. The first was the Feb/March sketch challenge at http://www.scrapbookit.com.au/ which was a $20 voucher to spend in store. The second was a prize pack from the Scrapmatts blog hop I did on the weekend. Whoooo... chipboard coming my way. Very excited! So that was some nice news for the day.

Now onto my big news. I've wanted to share this one for a couple of weeks now but had to wait for the official announcement, however I am now part of the Design Team over at The Scrapbooking Haven. So excited! I love this store as its so cheap and has a great variety of supplies so I'm very much looking forward to receiving my first DT pack. I hope it would have arrived today but nope... so fingers crossed for tomorrow. Be sure to head on over to the store, as well as to their forum where there are 3 great challenges going for March. Also, become a follower of the blog as there are sure to be some great updates in the near future!

Thanks for stopping by.
Holly xo

Bridesmaid Layout

Wow, I just did the quickest layout of my life. It took about 15-20 minutes which is a record for me. I'm usually so slow!
Its for the new Scrapbookit challenge which started today.

Here's my take on the sketch and some detailed close ups:

My First Off The Page

Hi everyone,
As you may now be aware, I became an auntie again yesterday. For the 9th time in fact. The new arrival Kaleaha is doing very well and so far seems to be a very lazy, sleepy bubs. But who can blame her with all the effort it takes to arrive.

So I started work on my first OTP album on the weekend, thinking I had plenty of time with bubs not due to arrive until the 24th or thereabouts. Its lucky I started when I did, since she was 10 days early. I purchased the Kaiser basics BABY album from Scrapbooking Haven at a bargain price, along with the cute baby charm and the Kaiser chipboards.  The rest was from my stash.

Here is the completed album:

And lots of close up pics:

I printed some details about the birth, including her weight, length and exact time of birth just as a nice keepsake too. This was on vellum with a butterfly print.

Its impossible to see but the butterfly is actually embossed with polka dots. Its part of one of the newer cuttlebug cut and emboss sets. The letters for the name were also made with the cuttlebug.

Here you can see the polka dots a bit better.

So while its fairly basic, I am quite proud of my very first off the page attempt. Not as hard as I expected it would be. Let me know what you think. I'm linking it up to the Memories By Christine March Scrap Party, which is baby themed so get your baby albums linked up.

Can't wait to give it to my sister now, even though its more designed as a keepsake for Kaleaha herself when she is older. I've stated in the wording that these photos were taken on the day she was born, which is pretty special.