Guest Designer at Scrap Our Stash

Hello to all the lovely bloggers out there,

Just wanted to share the news that I am one of the guest designers at Scrap Our Stash in June after being a winner in April. You are going to love the June challenge once its posted. It was perfect for me and you'll know why once you see the theme.

Hope to see you all play along in June and support this super fun challenge blog. Afterall, we all need to use up our stash ;-)

You can check out the GDT post here. It includes a recent layout I created for the May Scrapbooking Haven challenge. Be sure to pop on over there in June too, as the next challenge could possibly be set by me :-D

Have a great day.

Holly xo

Some Quick Shares

TGIF!!!!

How has everyone's week been? I have still been unable to comment on other people's blog posts so sorry for not sending any love to anyone recently. I hope they fix it soon.

I have a couple of layouts I completed through the week. Sorry for the not so great photos. They did not turn out as planned so my mojo must have been low this week.

With the first one, can anyone please give me some tips on how to stop paper curling up with glimmer. You probably cannot see too clearly, but on the black cardstock, I've used some butterfly masks and green glimmer mist but my paper has just warped really bad. This layout was a good way of using up some scrap pieces of paper at least. The photos are from our Engagement party last year. It was for sketch 156 at Creative Scrappers. Its using scraps from the Chapter One collection by kaisercraft that my last few layouts have come from.

The second layout is of my two youngest nieces and includes more journalling than I usually use. Its for the current sketch challenge at Multi-photo scrapbook layouts gallery.Its using a combination of Chanteuse and English rose collections from Kasiercraft.

I fell in love with this sketch but am having some tehnical issues. My printer is being faulty and printing really horrible photos at the moment so the ones I uses were not great quality as it was but the best I could manage at the time and I didn't want to miss out doing this great sketch. So I might have to reprint them once I can find a way to fix the problem.

Laugh Out Loud

Hi everyone,
Blogger is having issues again and I haven't been able to leave comments on most blogs. It is maybe the ones that have the verification word that have the issue...or all. I'm not sure but I hope it comes back soon so I can let you all know what lovely work you have been creating!

I am having a bit of a Kaisercraft Chapter One obsession this week. I've created 2 layouts and an OTP already and its only Wednesday lol Here is the second  layout for the week:

 The layout is of my second youngest nephew, Connor. He lives in Melbourne so I don't get to see him and the rest of the family so often, so whenever I do see him, he's doubled in size again lol And what an intellegent little thing he is. My brothers kids are totally brilliant and it will be interesting to see what the future holds for the 2 of them. What you wouldn't guess is that this gorgeous little guy is half Egyptian. My sister in law is an Australian born Egyptian but quite fair, and it seems my brother's genes won out with Connor anyway with the fair complexion and light hair. I'll have to scrap his big sister soon so you can see how different the two are lol

 I have mounted my photo and some patterend paper on black card stock to give it a bold look as well as splattering some black paint on my background. The chipboard title was painted with Kaisercraft lime paint and then mod podge was added for some shine and a bit more dimension. This was inspired by the current Wicked Princesses DT challenge of chipboard being the main embellishment.

Materials: Kaisercraft Chapter One Afresh, Beginning & Motivate pp; A2Z scraplets chipboard title; Magic Scraps buttons; black cardstock.

I will be doing a few product spotlights relating to this layout and the techniques used as well as some other chapter One creations over at Windsor Cottage Botanicals later in the week. Please become a follower and support me in my posts. You can become a following by going here.

Pretty Maids All In A Row

Hello everyone,
I may have mentioned already, but I really love the new Chapter One collection from Kaisercraft released in March. A lovely combination of my favourite colours...green and blue mixed into a bold black and white. Gorgeous! So of course I have gone a little crazy with this collections. This layout will be the fourth item I have created with this collection. You may have already seen the scrapbooking organiser I made on the day of the paper release. I have also created another OTP project I will share soon and another layout that will be revealed at a later time for a DT challenge.

So here is my latest layout:

It is a photo of my bridesmaids and I on my wedding day. The green in their dresses goes perfectly with the subtle touches of green in this collection. I have also accented this more with green flowers.

Materials: Kaisercraft Chapter One collection: Afresh, Encourage, mini paper pad; mini alphas; paper blooms in green and blue. Prima flower; American Crafts Thickers Patchwork in Aqua; Black cardstock.

I'm A New Contributor at Windsor Cottage

I recently discovered a fabulous online store, Windsor Cottage, with a massive range of scrapbooking items at really awesome pricings. They also have a blog, which has some inspirational posts, sketches and tutorials and the store owner, Linda, has welcomed me on board as a contributor for the blog.

I have just posted up my first blog post, which is an existing OTP project I have shared to get the ball rolling. Please check it out and it would be great if you would become a follower of the blog. Be sure to also check out the bargains in store! They have a customers rewards program as well, so that's another great incentive to go check it out.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend :-)

Fancy Dress & Fun Times

Hi everyone,
Last night was my husband's 30th birthday party, which was a pimp themed party lol He had a great time, with a lot of drinks and good company. It was at our house so quite a mess to clean up this morning but nothing too drastic. Lots of left over food. I can't believe how awesome some of the costumes were though, so I thought I'd share a few for a laugh.

 Birthday boy with his afro wig, excessive bling and even some grillz (the blinged up mouth guard thing worn by homeboys)

 I think I ended up more salloon style than anything LOL We had a lot of eras covered in costume. I got to use my wedding garter again to store some fake cash haha

Hubby's boss and wife

 The boys.... costume of the night was the person on the left. One of our groomsmen and hubby's best friend. He hired a complete outfit that came with leopard print platforms and a cane and hat to match. So funny! And he's already over 6 foot so he towered over everyone.

My in laws...mother in law, brother in law and father in law haha

 My parents... including a fake tattoo sleeve haha

 Cupcakes.... I used green icing to do dollar signs on each of them. Some were a bit more like a green blog haha

The mini album.... now I have to finish it off with some party photos!

Big Brother Hugs

Hi there to all the lovely people in blog land,

A quick share that I finished off yesterday, which is a layout of my niece and nephew. I can't remember when the photo was taken, but the kids are always happy to hug their younger siblings. Its such a precious picture.

I created this layout based on the current sketch on Stuck on You sketches. Great inspiration sketch for this photo I had sitting on my desk ready to be scrapped.


I've managed to play along with both their May sketches, so that's good considering I haven't gotten a lot of challenges done lately. Been a very busy month!

Busy weekend ahead with hubby's birthday party tomorrow. I'm exhausted from an afternoon of baking, cleaning and gardening. Almost organised now. Going to head to bed pretty soon.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone xo

Birthday Surprises

Hey everyone,
Yesterday (Tuesday) was my husbands 30th birthday, so I decided to put together a weekend full of suprises to celebrate his milestone. He had no clue about any of it, other than the need to take 3 days off work on these particular days.

So surprise one was 2 nights booked in at Seaworld Nara Resort on the Gold Coast. He was impressed enough with that LOL On our first night, we got delicious fish and chips and had a very lazy night in our hotel, watching TV, and drinking wine.

Surprise 2 didn't go to plan. It was a private seaplane tour for two from the Gold Coast to Stradbroke Island, with a BBQ buffet and wine. The plane didn't come and when the resort rang, it turns out the plane was broken and someone was supposed to ring the night before. I was so disappointed as I was anticipating the stunned look on my husband's face when the seaplane landed to whisk us away. The owner appologised profusely and told me to ring him direct to re-book and he would throw in a couple of hundred dollars value extra, with an extended tour over the Gold Coast. Still... I was so disappointed but my husband was happy to know we still get to go in the future. So without a plan, we ended up going to Seaworld theme park, as we had half price entry with our resort stay.

Overall, the theme park is not overly exciting compared to the other theme parks nearby. Its more animal based, which suited me better yesterday anyway. Wasn't really up for crazy rides... and of the 3 rides they do have for thrill seekers these days, one was broken. So we had a leisurely day taking in the sites at Seaworld. The highlight was the adorable new penguin exhibit. They were unreal. They liked looking at us through the window as much as we liked looking at them haha And it was weigh in day, and the funny little things actually jump on the scales willingly. Very fascinating!

Unfortunately the failure of surprise 2 meant that my plan to reveal surprise 3 didn't go to plan either, so I ended up handing my husband surprise 3 in the resort room before Seaworld. In a hand made card, I gave him a booking confirmation for our 3 nights to Auckland, New Zealand trip in August. He was a bit stunned but very happy. He's an optimist anyway so the fact that the day didn't go to plan did not phase him at all as he said it was still the best birthday ever and that he gets to extend it for ages with his other presents at least. So while we didn't get to go on our seaplane trip this week, we did get to see some awesome penguins, pat sting rays and watch a polar bear do some crazy things with the lid of a water tank.

Oh and we did a lot of eating. Italian resturant on Tuesday night and a steak and seafood resturant on the way home today. Sooooo fat! Now we have the pimp n ho theme 30th birthday party on Saturday night to prepare for. So much to do... so little time remaining... but at least my costume came ;-)

50% Off Kaisercraft at Scrapbudz

Now that's my kind of sale! I love Kaiser.

Scrapbudz currently has all Kaiser reduced by 50% all month long. So if you're looking to stock up your stash or find some lovely new items to play with, be sure to head on over the Scrapbudz now to get yourself a fabulous bargain!

 Now if that wasn't exciting enough, there is also an awesome blog candy on offer too!

All you have to do to be eligible for the Blog Candy is... 
1. Follow the Scrapbudz Blog 
2. Like the Scrapbudz Facebook Page, 
3. Share this entire post with your friends on your blog, 
4. Leave a comment in this post with a link to your blog post!!  
&
you could win yourself a fantastic $30 Prize Pack jammed packed full of scrapping goodies!
 Random winner of the Blog Candy will be announced on 25th May 
Sale in the store is on now!! so be quick to grab yourself a bargain!! 

Remember "you gotta be in it to win it".  

GOOD LUCK and don't forget to play along with the current challenge while you're visiting!

Mega Happy Mail

Morning everyone,
Just wanted to have a quick share of the wonderful deliveries my parcel man delivered this morning. Sorry the photos are rotten. I'm phone blogging again lol Firstly, my order from Scrapbooking stock. So cheap for Kaisercraft products. I got 4 mini pads for $4 each. Love that price. Plus a couple of freebies thrown in there. Nice!

Then my order from Scrapbooking Haven arrived also. This includes both the birthday sale items I purchased on Amy's birthday and a few normal item things. Look at all those thickers and prima. Lovely. Wish I could play today... but they will have to wait. My DT pack should arrive tomorrow or the next day so more lovely goodies when I get home.

And then there was the unexpected parcel.I opened it thinking hmmm... I don't recall ordering this big bundle of goodies. That's because I didn't. I won them from a competion through Scrapbooking Memories. OMG! How awesome are all those goodies. I could not believe how many stickers, rub ons and stamps were in that gorgeous parcel. What a fabulous Monday morning.

Now the reason I don't get to play with my goodies until later this week, if at all, is because tomorrow is my husband's 30th birthday and I'm taking him away for a lovely little get away on the Gold Coast. He has no clue where we are going or what we are doing. We're about to set off so the GPS will lead him to the destination. Tomorrow we are going on a seaplane trip to another island for a lunch and sight seeing. Then during lunch I will surprise him with the final part of his birthday gift... the booking confirmation for our 3 night trip to Auckland in August. I hope he has a wonderful time! So until I return, have a lovely week everyone in Blogger land.

xo

A Layout to Share

What a relief Blogger is finally back. Life is a little dull without lots of inspirational updates to follow ;-)

Firstly, I want to share the awesome news I woke up to. I won a Mother's Day challenge at Oh My Crafts so can't wait to receive a goody bag from their store in the near future. Yay!

Now, a new layout to share:

 This one is for the May sketch challenge over at Wicked Princesses and is using one of their newer kits, Blue Bird. The photo is of myself and my niece at my engagement party in March last year. I did some masking with glimmer mist in the background with butterflies. I also outlined the pp and photos with a gel pen for more definition. And hand written journalling... eek! Not something I like to do, and that reminds me why. Messy!

 Materials include S.E.I patterened paper - Bridgeport, Pink Paisley Office Lingo collection in cubicle, as well as flowers and ribbons from the kit, stamped birdcage using a Kaisercraft stamp and Kaisercraft rub on.

Hopefully I get some more scrappy time over the weekend, however a lot of it will be spent preparing for my husbands 30th birthday party next weekend. Got a lot of cleaning and preparing to do. And we go away for 2 nights on Monday so no time between Monday and Wednesday before I'm back to work.

Have a great weekend everyone.

In the Mood for a Challenge?

Hello

There are some really great May challenges going on that you should definitely play along with. Over at Scrapbudz we have a sketch challenge going. Check out the gorgeous DT inspiration. Its a mother's day themed sketch, so maybe you even have a new photo from this year with your mum.

Scrapbooking Haven have also released their May sketch:

And Scrappassion is needing some participants for their fun May challenge too. What's great about this one is you have to create  your own material flowers to put on your creation. So you're entering a challenge, and learning how to make new embellishments all in one.Here's the tutorial:

So if you have a bit of free time, be sure to join in on these super fun challenges to get your mojo flowing.

Happy Together Layout

Hi all,
Another one created on National Scrapbooking Day. This one is using materials from my Scrapbooking Haven April DT kit. I actually found these papers really difficult to work with but I am quite happy with the way this layout turned out. I am generally a bit put off by such bold patterns and don't typically work in reds and oranges. I kept my other two layouts so far with these papers quite simple, which were posted up about a week ago, but this one I put a bit more detail into it and it turned out pretty well.

Its another wedding themed layout. Yep, still haven't gotten bored with them lol The title looks lopsided on the photo, but in real life it is straight. Not sure what happened there.

 Materials include Cosmo Cricket Chemistry collection: Flirt, forget me not, wink, fashions, journal cards and striptease patterned papers and die cuts.

Have a great day everyone!