Jumping for {Xmas} Joy

It's my daughter Shiloh's sweet 16th birthday today - she doesn't mind having her birthday this close to Xmas at all 🎂🎅

This page is kind of a continuation of my last share, I've used the same range and a similar theme. The photos from both layouts were all on the same day just before Xmas 2015, where Shiloh, Shannon and Shanae were just having fun on our trampoline before it was dismantled for the last time 😞.

Here's my layout..

I was trying to do a bit of "white on white" for this but as usual I got carried away!

It's getting close to the big day now but this sketch challenge goes to the end of the month so plenty of time yet to enter! Here's the sketch and lists...

I used Stars, Red, Glitter, Green and Gold from the lists.

I feel I have at least one more layout in me from this paper range!

Have a great Xmas everyone, catch you in 2017!

Joy

We picked these hats up last year from one of the cheapie stores - I love them, and so did the kids 😁

This is what I came up with for the December Book Challenge at Scrap Our Stash - 

This was such a fun page to do - and I love stripes, and have either enamel dots or sequins on nearly every page so that wasn't a problem lol.
I thought the gold paper background looked like a frame so I took it one step further and added wire to make it look like it was hanging.

The paper, stickers, Thickers and transparencies are Pinkfresh Oh Joy collection, the rubber is from one of their previous collections. And of course it has Nuvo drops.

New Do

Okay, so it's an old do now, but man what a change when Shiloh first got her hair cut!

From super long, to shoulder length it now sits about halfway between these two and she's happy with that :)

This is my page for the Scrap Our Stash mid November challenge, here's the sketch and lists...

I used Amy Tan Better together collection, ScrapFX and Blue Fern chipboard along with Cocoa Vanilla flair and enamel dots.

Hope you like it!

What's your sign?

Hi all, This is my most recent layout created for the November 1st Scrap Our Stash challenge.

I've been meaning to do a layout about star signs for both my girls since they were little but never quite got there, so this was the perfect time...and how do you like my photo?!? Just as well looks can't kill! It was all just staged really - promise

I really need to take on board the message "less is more" but I just can't stop adding things - if you count the big star I made as part of the background, there are about 26 stars on this layout

 And here's the inspiration...

I started with a wash of Prima watercolour pastels, then added a bit more definition with a Tim Holtz crayon. I then added the brads (I wanted some more blingy ones but didn't have enough, so gold it was), then wound the gold thread around until I was happy with the design.

The chipboard stars are embossed with some of my favourite Blue Fern colours, and then it was just add a bow, title, journalling, and twenty something star sequins lol.

Hope you like it!

Beautiful

I took these photos of Breanna after she had her makeup and hair done before her year 13 formal a couple of months ago.

I used Cocoa Vanilla Love Always on this page, beautiful soft colours in this collection.

This is the Scrap Our Stash sketch that I used as the basis...

Thanks for dropping by!

Mouse Magic

Couldn't not get a photo with Minnie while we were at Disneyland!

I've used two different collections on this page  - Say Cheese II by Simple Stories and Magical Advenure by Echo Park, along with some clips and stickers that were official Disney items.

Love the way it turned out!

Family

My Mum just turned 95 - Wow!

My brothers from either end of the country plus my sister and I went out with her for lunch to mark the occasion.

 The inspiration for this was the October book challenge from Scrap Our Stash, this is it...

I used the Kraft background and teal colour scheme, plus I also used a little gold key charm.

Hope you like it!

Do U Dream?

Woo hoo!! - excited to be asked to guest design for challenge site Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge - they have some great prompts, and this month's one is "Dream".

Here's my take on the challenge...

The background paper is Pink Paislee, all the layers, flair, dots and stickers are Cocoa Vanilla Love Always and I'm a sucker for Charms Creations, in particular hearts.

Hopefully this will give you some inspiration! Thanks for looking

Heart & Soul and Untitled

These two layouts were done in a class at a recent retreat, taught by the talented Julie Best.

Lots happening in the first one, not quite so much in the second (phew!)

 Thanks for looking!

Eat Play Sleep Repeat

Hi all - today I'm sharing a layout of my great nephew Cohen - he visited us in the summer, along with his Mum and big sister. He may not have been really talking but he always made himself understood! So busy too!

Here's the page....

I love the Crate Paper Cool Kid collection, and coupled with this emoji from Charms Creations and the ink spatters I felt like it was really "him".

Thanks for looking!

Sweet Dimples

This page was done for the Scrap Our Stash September sketch challenge..

I met my great niece Imogen for the first time a few weeks ago when she came to visit along with her Mum and Dad, big brother Zavier and sister Savarna.

I flipped the sketch on it's side to do this page to make it suit better. 

From the lists I used Air Balloons (maybe not Hot Air balloons, but still okay in my book ;)), Buttons - some of which have been in my stash for a good 10 years - and Crate Paper for all the patterned papers and woodies.

Thanks for the look!

The Happiest place on Earth

Hi everyone, this is first of my Disney layouts. Walking underneath the archway into Disneyland is one of my favourite experiences as I grew up with The Wonderful World of Disney on TV, and my stack of Disney comics is legendary By the time we left the girls both agreed with me it definitely is the happiest place on Earth

I got in quick with the Echo Park Magical Adventure paper range with all the red and black but of course when we were there it was still the 60th celebrations so everything was blue! It was still fine though . I brought the title back with me from a Michaels store but the edge was bright red so I just coloured it with a vivid to dull it down and was happy with that. And Nuvos make great Mickeys! I think I might put one of those on all my Disney pages as a signature lol.

Thanks for looking!

Love This and Hello

These pages were done at a recent retreat, in a class taken by the gorgeous Belinda Leen . So simple to do but so effective!

The first one is of Shiloh and her friend Taylor when we stopped at the Darfield dairy recently. I've featured these ice creams on layouts before - they're HUGE!

And the second one is at SeaWorld in San Diego, a super hot day...

Loved doing these, very happy with the results, thanks Bee!

Lucky Catch!

This photo is from years ago when we stayed up in Picton over the Xmas holidays. It was Bre's first catch, off the wharf at Waikawa Bay. Don't you love the look on Shiloh's face too?? Just hilarious!

I made this page as inspiration for The Paper Teapot DT September challenge, which is to use this book cover as your inspiration...

The background paper is a very  old Amy Tan one, but apart from that it was all Cocoa Vanilla Colour Me Happy, and the flair was from the Hello Sunshine range. The cut file is from Silhouette Studio.

Thanks for looking!

No Smile

Hi, today I'm sharing this layout of my gorgeous little great niece Imogen. She was so smiley but as soon as the camera came out the smile disappeared lol.

This is for the current challenge at Stuck?! sketches...

...and uses Paige Evans Take Me Away paper - I love that it almost seems like there are two different ranges within one - one with these beautiful warm colours, and the other with lovely natural soft colours. I used watercolours in the background - my first real go at it - and I love how it ended up looking :). Of course my Nuvos made an appearance once again lol!

Thanks for looking!

Year 11

We all get a ton of these posed school photos, so I thought that I should get some out of the box and into the album, starting with Shiloh's most recent one :)

This was done for the September 1st Scrap Our Stash challenge, this is the inspiration book cover - 

I used lots of lovely Tim Holtz products on this page - my new stencil,filmstrip tape, ideaology and distress crayons. I combined this with some very old Basic Grey paper and brand new Go Now by Shimelle.

Thanks for stopping by!

In The Pink

This layout follows on from my last one in that the photos were all on the same night. Bre's friend Malissa came over on the way to Guides. So funny, Malissa is soo chatty! Love hearing them together.

This page is for the Scrap Our Stash September sketch challenge.

From the lists I used Various manufacturers (American Crafts,Kaisercraft,Basic Grey) for the papers; washi tape - I think the neon pink washi was just made for these photos! - and the letter X in the little XO embellie at the bottom.

Thanks for looking!

Pink'd

I came across these old photos I had tucked away in a box that I hadn't scrapped yet and thought they would be great for The Paper Teapot Black+White+one challenge.

Guides were having a pink night and Bre went all out for it. So cool in the neon pink wig! And the pink Miley Cyrus t-shirt was her absolute favourite - until it wasn't lol. 

One of my friends made the cute little crocheted heart for me - doesn't it rock? The +one had to be pink of course with these photos! 

I used texture paste in a diagonal direction and then used a mica spray and Dylusions spray to bring in the pink. The paper was all Kaisercraft, and I lurrrve these Thickers! 

Everything else were bits and pieces from my stash.

Thanks for looking!

LA Vacation

This is the first of what will be many, many, more layouts from our trip to LA and Anaheim in the May school holidays.

One of the first things that struck us as we left the airport were the palm trees - they were everywhere! Possibly not 59 million of them, but I wouldn't be at all surprised!

This was done for the 1 August Scrap Our Stash challenge, here's the book cover and instruction that was the inspiration - 

I used Cocoa Vanilla Hello Sunshine papers and ephemera, Pink Paislee and Recollections stickers, Kaisercraft wood veneer, Shimelle flair, Nuvo Crystal drops, thread and some ancient circular clips.

Thanks for looking!

Class Act

Two cute little girls happy(ish) to be going back to school...

This is for the July 15th Scrap Our Stash Challenge - new for me as while I found the sketch easy to use, it was a bit harder using something from each of the lists below also...

I chose to use the Simple Stories - chipboard and stickers; twine which I have just scrunched and left peeking out; and Ultramarine - this colour is always fantastic for school photos :) I love this stencil for that reason and others too :X

 Plenty of time for you to play along too here!

Tiny Dancer..

Just a quick share to show you what I came up with for a class to be held at The Paper Teapot shortly...

I've always had this idea in my head, and luckily enough, Prima were kind enough to come up the products to make it easy for me!

If you're interested in the class let Joanna know! 

joanna@thepaperteapot.nz

Celebrate 17

Hi all,

I thought I'd better get this page scrapped - it was Breanna's birthday last year and her boyfriend at the time, Aaron, wanted to throw her a surprise party. (Of course it had to be at our house in the sleepout lol). He got together with Maddie and they did a great job, Bre had no idea at all...and thought they were going out for dinner ;).

After prezzies and lots of food they all ended up in the forest playing spotlight - just a heap of great big little kids :D

I used the 1 July Stuck?! sketch as my base for the layout - this is it -

and here's where to go if you want to play along too!

This was a fun "playing with new toys" layout.. I may have gone just a little overboard with the Nuvo Crystal Drops but they're just so easy to use! And did you notice that they match the Tim Holtz Distress Crayons almost exactly! You can get both of these from Joanna at The Paper Teapot.

Thanks for looking :) 

Leave me a comment, or follow my blog if you want to see more!

A Brilliant Day

Hi and welcome to my very first challenge as a design team member for Scrap Our Stash!

There used to be an ad screening on TV whose tag line was

"Don't leave home til you seen the country!"

New Zealand is such a beautiful place, and while our kids are dying to travel the world, we want to show them as much as we can here in "Godzone".

This photo was in the summer holidays down at Bluff - on a good day you can see Stewart Island which is the southernmost part of NZ.

This was the inspiration for my layout...

Both the title and the colours inspired me - and Dr Suess is still one of my favourite authors ;).

I used Cocoa Vanilla "Colour Me Happy" papers - the "B" sides for all the patterned papers - 5 weren't hard to find from this lot, and the one round embellishment is an epoxy sticker inside a pressed bottlecap, plus I got a bit carried away with the circles - patterned paper and fab Tim Holtz stamps too :)

If you would like to play along with the challenge, the link is here.

Thanks for looking!