What a HOOT!

What a fantastic afternoon/evening we had yesterday with the Scrap Pile girls! It was so lovely to meet you all in person and have the pleasure of scrapping with you for 9 whole hours, give or take a few of chatting & eating!! Thanks everyone who bought the yummy nibblies too! Mmmm... gave way to my diet for the evening, but well worth it!!

Mel & Helen left early this morning, headed for Cairns. Hope you had a great trip home, girls. I bet you are both resting up big time, after your weekend in the big smoke!! We're gonna miss you girls!

Linda, this little teaser of pics is for you! Now, these are the ones you are behaving in, do you still want me to post the others????





Still trying to work out how I'm going to post the rest without crashing blogger.... but they are coming very soon!!!

More Mumma Bushka creations...

I am soooo loving these Kaisercraft papers at the moment. Can you tell????
A little card made with the scraps from my layout. I had actually punched this paper to be the backing for the photo on the previous layout, but it just didn't work like the white. So, I thought I'd put it to good use!!

and the inside...


I just couldn't stop creating with these gorgeous papers, so I moved on to making some thank you cards for Erin's Birthday party. Aren't they just so cute. They are only small (3x2.5in), but I loved the way I could use the back or front coordinating paper and they all still looked gorgeous. Plus, I only used about 2-3 pieces of PP for the layout, the card above and these cards, and I still have heaps left over!

Go kart graphics...

Here's what I've been up to in the wee hours for the past week :)



Designing go kart graphics for Al's kart. I've learnt heaps about Illustrator CS4 in the process, although at one stage wanted to kick its butt, but I refrained, and asked an expert, who set me on the right track. Ended up saving me many hours! Thanks Cam!

My strict instructions were to use light blue, NO FLOWERS (see comment below), no orange and I don't care what else you do, just make it look good!

So, having said that, here' s the previous version.



Al wasn't impressed with the attention the gerbera brought him at the karting meetings :) hehehe... but baby, it's my signature flower!!! LOL! He also didn't like the black and orange, as most karts have those colours. He wanted something a little different that would stand out, but in a good way!!

Here's the old graphics on the kart :)


Can't wait to see how the new ones turn out :)

Loving Kaisercraft's Mumma Bushka

First of all I just want to thank each and every one of you for leaving such beautiful comments on my blog. I must admit, I tend to neglect my poor little blog from time to time, but your lovely comments keep me going. So a heartfelt thanks for taking the time to drop by and leave your little mark here :)

Now, as for the scrapping, I've been a teensy eansy bit busy today, doing not much of what I should have been doing, but just couldn't resist using these awesome Mumma Bushka papers from Kaisercraft. I so wish I had visited my LSS before the DT call was due. The grey background paper is actually from a really old Kaisercraft range that I had in my stash. I added a Prima crystal flourish and have revived my old retro flower punches with some new ideas from Gabrielle Pollaco's blog (link on sidebar). Mel introduced me to her blog a little while ago, and her work is just so gorgeous and rich. Her pages are like individual works of art, and have so much detail in each one. I also tried her technique of tearing the paper on the side to reveal another layer of scrumptious paper, and loved how it added some balance with the bottom right corner. I also used a gorgeous Stampendous butterfly stamp inked with versamark and chalked with various shades of yellow/oranges.






This cutsie little card was the result of a challenge over at Scrap Pile to create a shaped card (do I get bonus points for using up my scraps???). I am sooo in love with these gorgeous rich papers atm. I just drew the outline on a card freehand, and cut it out, then covered with the 2 different papers.

Card fest

I had heaps of fun yesterday arvo making some cards using offcuts from a layout, thanks to Mel's super idea! Thanks also to Linda, who supplied some inspiring sketches, which kick-started me.

I used mostly Kaiser PP here with a few of my fav stamps and bling here and there! If you look closely, you'll even notice I even whipped out my retro flower punch girls! :)

I got the idea for this patchwork design from my Mother in law, Jenny. It didn't quite turn out as I expected, but it's still quite a nice effect.

Still loving these BG papers. So pretty and girly!

I got the idea for using a journalling card as a base from Linda. What a fabo idea! I love how easy it was to make too!

So, from now on, I'm going to try and use up my scraps as I go, so hopefully my "scrap" box doesn't get any fuller! After all, it is "Scrap" booking, right!

Cuttlebug Challenge -- Spa Retreat [ 1- 3 May ]

Check out these awesome prizes!

Everyday they will be giving out 1 cuttlebug machine and folders, so you have 3 chances of winning 1 :)
* restrictions applies..

Major Grand Prize!
1 Epson 900 Printer including 3 months worth of cartridges..
* restrictions applies..

Runner Up
1 Cricut Expression Machine including the New cartridge not out yet, Home Decor..
* restrictions applies..

CPS #110

Here's the CPS sketch

and my interpretation of it.

Here's my first card using a Card Positioning System (CPS) sketch. I had great fun playing with this one. Tried to keep it as simple as possible for my first go. I just couldn't resist using these gorgeous Kaiser papers. I've had them sitting in my drawer for way too long.

Happy Birthday Nick!!

It was Al's brother's birthday last Thursday, and we totally missed it. Naughty us! So, we went round for a belated happy birthday BBQ last night, and I whipped up this card for him from some scraps of a layout I've been working on.

I bought some metallic rub-ons at the Scrapbook Expo last year and I just found them in my drawer and they were just what this grungeboard arrow needed to make it pop. Not sure how you're supposed to stop it from rubbing off though?

Love these photos of the kids...

We got home from playgroup on Tuesday, and the kids were really happy and just mucking around out the front of the house, so I thought, what the heck, and grabbed my camera, and what do you know, they actually turned out okay! It really was the perfect day for it, nice bright blue sky etc. etc....

Anyway, I've been having a play in Photoshop and here's what I came up with.


^Love this one. I was lying on the ground and Erin was actually jumping on my tummy! LOL!! This is probably one of the best photos I've ever taken - a big fluke though! Love it with the blue sky behind her.


Here's Aiden mucking around with the rings that came with a maccas toy from the party :) Couldn't have timed this shot better, again, a big fluke :) OMG though, I just realised how much his teeth have moved from sucking his thumb, have to get him out of that habit quick smart!!

and this is the original photo I took of the kids in front of the garage door...


which I played around with in photoshop til it looked like this...

I adjusted the curves, then exposure to give it that washed out look. I love the end result, and can't wait to scrap them now :) I have the perfect papers in mind. Maybe this is just what I need to get my mojo going again!

No mojo...

Is it the weather? Is it lack of sleep, or is it just that I have too much going on in my life at the moment?

Whatever it is, it's really bugging me! I usually love to create in my scrap room, but I haven't ventured, or wanted to venture there for quite a while now, and I'm just not feeling good about that.

I want to scrap, but when I do, I just end up sitting there like a school kid in an exam, mind wandering, looking out the window, anything but the task at hand, is a welcome distraction. I think I might have to flick through some old mags to see if some inspiration strikes. Wish me luck...