SCRAPBOOK LAYOUT - Swim Gala Twenty12

Hello fellow scrappers!!!

I am very excited to share one of my recent layouts with you.  I have shared before that I am not a fan of sporting, school or Christmas layouts....For some reason I just don't get the results I am looking for when I scrap, so I either do the pages under extreme duress OR I just avoid them altogether.

After tackling the Gymnastics page of Amy, I thought I should give the photos from the Swimming Gala from 2011-2012 a bash.....

I kept it fairly simple, using paper from Paper Inklings, pieces of some chevron journaling cards, printed free with thanks to Findingnana (click for link), and other scraps found in my stash.  My dear little friend the owl is also in this layout....It's been WAY too long since including a wee owl in my layouts!!!

Thanks for stopping by...

Happy Scrapping!!!

Jo

PROJECT LIFE - "Week 6"

Welcome back to Project Life Tuesday!!!

This week I would like to share Week 6 with you (13-20 July 2012).  As is the norm with PL, this post is a little picture heavy...


LEFT PAGE....

RIGHT PAGE....

This is the picture of my husband, son and his dive instructor on the day my son got his Open Water One qualification.

I got given the tea as a gift from one of the children in our class last year.  A good friend of mine came over and I decided to give the loose tea a try....It was great!!

I took my daughter and her friend to Craft Camp.  They made stunning frames while I did some catching up on Project Life. 

This project was a LOOONG work in progress.  Sorting out, clearing out, selling furniture, painting, building new furniture from IKEA....and this was the end result of my son's "new" room...

PL journaling cards made while my daughter was at another session of Creative Camp and a picture of my children looking into the water at Festival Centre.

Yet another dentist visit.  I love the decor in the waiting room at the dentist.  I usually grab an opportunity to snap a shot of Dubai out the window from the 21st floor offices....Today I decided to snap our feet..  I used one of the instagram cameras I made recently using paper scraps.

This was not quite as long a process.  I had recently sorted out my daughters room, so when her new furniture came from IKEA and the room had been painted, it was a quick job to get everything in its right place....Both of the children's rooms sorted and looking great!!

I am pleased I got the time while my daughter was at Craft Camp to catch up on my PL Album.  (Not hugely behind, just a couple of weeks due to the home makeover I undertook).  At the time of writing this post, I am 100% up to date and eagerly look forward to Sunday's when I record the week just gone past!!!

Happy Scrapping!!

Jo

SCRAPBOOK LAYOUT - Proud

Welcome back!!!

Today I would like to share a page I did recently of my daughters Gymnastics Competition.  She competed last year and suffered a little stage fright and didn't complete her floor routine.  We were very nervous that we would have a repeat of last year, but she did us so proud, not only completing the floor routine, but also winning herself a SECOND PLACE!!

There are 3 types of layouts I really, really, really do not look forward to doing.  They are, SCHOOL, SPORTS and CHRISTMAS.... They just never turn out the way I imagine and just end up looking....well......UGH!!

Knowing full well I have to document this momentous occasion, I set about doing some research and reached for the trusty GOOGLE search....and my fears were just enforced as I struggled to find a nice layout for gymnastics.  So I did what I do best, grab a cup of coffee and sit with my thoughts...I then hopped on to the Silhouette site and searched for "gymnast".  I found a couple of things but was truly taken by this silhouette of the gymnast presenting....I had a EUREKA moment!!!

The page pretty much came together quite quickly with a bits of punched out paper, tags, folded silk flowers and a flair button from Findingnana....Shew!!!  I was saved some heartache and headaches!!!

Thanks for stopping by.  Come back on Tuesday where I will be sharing Week 6 of my Project Life Album.

Be Crafty (the creative kind, not the mean kind)!!

Jo

PROJECT LIFE - "Week 5"

Hello!!!  Welcome back to Project Life Tuesday.  If you are here for the first time and wish to see older posts on my PL album, please visit my PROJECT LIFE page HERE.

I would like to share "Week 5" with you today.  As you may know, my PL album runs on an academic year, i.e. JUNE - MAY.  I am currently on my second year of PL and recently ended up being FIVE MONTHS behind on last years album.  You can read about how I went about catching up HERE.  I drew a lot of inspiration from this post by Michelle Wooderson from MishMash.  You can see her post on the same subject HERE.

LEFT PAGE....

RIGHT PAGE....

This was a photo heavy day so I made a flap insert to accommodate all the photographs.  This is as it is in the album.

And this is it with the flap open.

I photographed the packed lunch I made for my husband and son who went off SCUBA diving.  My son was in the process of doing his Open Water 1 Certification (which he has subsequently achieved).  I also had to document a little bit of yummy...Peanut Butter Cups....LOVE.

This sweet little precious girl belongs to good friends of ours.  She was a grand total of 3 days old in this photo.  I am no longer broody, but OH MY GOSH!!!  I just want to hug her and squeeze her and kiss her to bits!!!

It has been reported that Dubai has had one of the sandiest years in many, many years.  We have been plagued with sand storms...which other than being sand blasted each time you leave the house and EVERYTHING being covered in sand, is not such a biggie....BUT when the raging winds shred the gazebo cover....NOT......SO.....HAPPY.....

I loved this mini page.  It was simple yet just right for documenting my daughters day.  We went to craft camp in the morning, and later on that evening, she lost her tooth.  Just a usual day, BUT, the fact that we were getting the inside of the house painted the next morning, and were in the process of moving all the furniture away from the walls, and in the midst of the madness, Amy proudly brought us her tooth....Fortunately the tooth fairy found her tooth in the chaos...we were worried for a little while that she wouldn't find it :D:D

Be sure to pop over again on Saturday where I will be sharing a Scrapbook Layout featuring my daughter and her recent Gymnastics Competition :D

Happy Scrapping!!  

Jo

SCRAPBOOK LAYOUT - Adore

Hello!!!

This is a page I did a while ago and wanted to share....

I took this photo one morning before school.  It was Antarctica Day at school and the children were required to wear blue and white. 

Having fun with Prima paper and flowers :D

I really love the fabric flowers from Prima.  They just seem to make every page a happy page :D  I added some flowers punched using a Martha Stewart punch, some leaves using a EK Success punch and a crochet doily, also Prima,

The page was already printed with the wording "simple & sweet MEMORIES".  I cut bunting from some double sided scrap paper and attached lace as the bunting "rope".  I inked the edges using a Brilliance ink pad in Coffee Bean.

Please remember to stop by again on Tuesday for Week 5 of my Project Life Album.

Happy Scrapping!!

Jo

SMASH* Book - Say It

Welcome to SMASH* Book Thursday....

I would like to share another page from my SMASH* Book.

First up is a page which was literally smashed.  I kept the protective plastic covers off my SMASH* Books in the "Things to smash" folder I had been keeping.  I simply cut out the labels from the covers, stapled them together in their respective "books" using a Tim Holtz tiny attacher (LOVE) and simply stuck them into the book....pretty, layered and easy!!!

This page took a little more time and thought.  I have been pinning quote saying since I started on Pinterest and wanted to have some of them included in my SMASH* Book.  I printed out the ones I liked and also added some other quotes I have been hoarding for some time.

Thanks for stopping by....

Happy Scrapping!!!

Jo

PROJECT LIFE - "week 4"

Welcome to what has now become "PROJECT LIFE TUESDAY".

Week 4 runs through the last few days of June, and the first few days of August.  Just a friendly warning, this is a PICTURE HEAVY post.....

Left Page:

Right Page:

On the last day of school for this academic year, my son was invited to a birthday party.  This is the picture the Birthday Boys' (twins) mum sent out just to let us know the boys were having a blast.

We went to a local family steak house called Spur.  It is a South African chain and when it opened in Dubai 2 years ago we were ecstatic...  We got a little taste of home with the cans of Cream Soda, Fanta Orange and Sparberry....I used half the 4 x 6 insert  for my photos and half for the journal card.

I used this Instagram Collage for this day's pictures....I had to take a photo of my husband installing a new light fitting in the lounge...with the ladder on top of the dining room table.  Enough to make the health and safety officers faint!!!  I also loved capturing my son and his daddy asleep in front of the TV later on that evening.  DIY is a hard day's work :D

This is the page header for July.  I used the free printable calendars I found searching Pinterest.  (see my Printable Things board on Pinterest HERE). 

This is about the time Instagram and I started our love affair :D.  I just insta captured anything and everything!!!  I had a picture heavy day so I printed them out 1.5" square and added all 6 together.  This page was dated by using a cork round with a sticker numeric attached.

Here I needed to use two 4x3 pockets to show one day.  I just split it at the photograph and journaled on the far left hand side.

More days captured using Instagram and Insta-Collage.

Had a little shopping spree at Creative Hands and got some stuff for my PL album.  Here is one of the notorious photos of my 10 year old sun pulling one of his amazing faces for the camera.  When he turns 21 and asks me why there are not photos scrapped of him between the ages of 9 and whenever this stops....I will be bringing out all the evidence of his silly faces....hmm...perhaps there is a scrapbook page in that.....

Thanks for stopping by and remember to keep crafting!!

Jo

SCRAPBOOK LAYOUT - Four

It is not often that I get photographs of my husband, myself and our two children.  My husband travels a lot and if he or I are not behind the lens, he is most likely just not around for the photo.  This photo was taken by my sister-in-law at a recent family wedding and I was itching to scrap it....Until recently I just hadn't found the time :(....

BUT, now I am done with work and the kids are on their uber-long summer holidays and I am stealing a couple of hours here and there to scrap....

I used a sheet of printed paper from the Mariposa Paper Stack.  I have thoroughly enjoyed this pack and utilized almost ever sheet in it.  I added a doily, some tissue paper, paper scraps and stamped onto which I stamped an embellished corner and a journal spot.  (Found some FAN-DABI-DOZI acrylic stamps at Daiso recently - WHO KNEW.  Good quality and just Dhs 7 a set....I procured all 3 sets!!)

Roughed up the tissue paper on the corner for some added texture...

Just used the title "FOUR".  As I said earlier, my husband travels quite a lot and spends weeks away from home, with just a few home days in-between.  It is not often that we are FOUR and I wanted to document that, subtly ;).

Keep crafting!!!!

SMASH* Book - Happy Mail

Hello!!!!!

I am sure you are tired of hearing this statement, but for the benefit of first time visitors (Hey!! BTW :D)....My scrapping took a major hiatus over the last few months due to me starting work....I have recently stopped working and am slowly managing to get back into all the bits and pieces I have wanted to do for ages!!!

I fell in LOVE with the SMASH books when I stumbled on a the K&Co video on them....who wouldn't fall in love with the idea after watching that!!!!

I hopped straight onto their website with full intention to order ONE book and a few accessories.....I THINK NOT!!  I couldn't decide on which book to buy, so I got the Pink one (Pretty Style), the Black one (Mod Style) AND the Mini Book....

I got them in May and have dabbled a bit with a page here and there, but haven't really SMASH*-ed the way I was hoping.  I have been hoarding the "things to smash" in a plastic folder, and it was BURSTING at the seams.  I decided it was high time to get SMASH*-ing.

I didn't dive into decorating the cover, I wanted to see where the book was going before doing it...I got a few Pandora Charms for my birthday and kept the ribbons that the boxes come tied up with, as well as the ribbons that secure the charms in their little boxes.  These proved to be perfect to tie on to the front cover.......**HAPPY PLACE**.  I added a stamp from SwissGirl Designs - Dream Real Big set with the quote "Follow Your Heart".  Appropriate for my idea of this SMASH* book :D

I recently went on an Etsy Shopping spree and kept the envelopes the goodies came in.  I cut out the customs label and stamps and added them to the book under the title of "Happy Mail"  There is space for a couple more of these, thank goodness because I have yet ANOTHER shipment of washi tape on it's way from Hong Kong.....*happy dance!!*

As I add to the book, I will post some of my favorite pages :D

Happy SMASH*-ing!!!

Jo

PROJECT LIFE - "Week 3"

Today I would like to share Project Life - Week 3 with you.  I have had a lot of fun playing with page protectors with different size pockets, but I think I personally still prefer the old 2, 4, 2 layout....


Left Page:

Right Page:

And here is a closer look at a couple of the days :D

Just an amazing day!!  My daughter was in a gymnastics display at school.  Their routine drew gasps of amazement and cheers of joy from the audience.  It was a tear maker moment :D

As an expat living in Dubai, I really miss some of the things you find "back home".  I was super excited to find this orange drink in our local supermarket!!!  It totally earned the spot of "photo-of-the-day" for me :D

It would appear that a lot of Project Lifers often say they are falling behind.  Having fallen behind myself, OFTEN, I just want to add a spot of encouragement for those who are perhaps feeling a bit despondent about being behind....Don't stress it.  Its not something you are going to be judged by or get graded for....If you are months behind and just are not able to make up the weeks....just start again from today....

Happy Scrapping

Jo

HIPSTA Love

Hello, hello!!!

A few weeks ago, I started using Instagram a bit more, and just LOVE the photos.  I was browsing through Becky Higgins blog and saw her post on her recommendation for iPhone Apps.  Amongst them was Hipstamatic.  I decided to take the leap and download the App onto my phone.  OH MY GOSH!!!  I ran my battery flat in about 2 hours just happy snappy-ing anything and everything in site, using all the different films and lenses and flash options.  I am totally in love with this App.

The next day I had a look at the add ons for the "camera" and bought the America HipstaPak.  This included a new lens, 2 new films and a turquoise camera case...(yes, it's all virtual BUT is still fun to do :D).  I had to do a layout on my new "camera"......

I literally threw this page together in about 20 minutes and it is one of my favorite pages at the moment.  

I used paper from a 6" x 6" paper pack by Basic Grey called what's up and some scraps from a Kaiser Craft 6,5" x 6,5" called Humming Bird.  (what I cut off when sizing the pages to fit my PL album).  I added a scallop butterfly tag and the clouds from the Paper Inklings Bright Day die cut sheet and finally some strips of washi tape.  For the title I used Amy Tangerine Thickers called Goodness and added a little punched out heart.

I would like to share with you my personal choice Apps which can be used as a great tool for scrapbooking....

Instagram is a free app and offers many different preset options for pictures.  It is also a mini social network where you can share photos with others on Instagram.  Photos can be shared to severals social networks

Next up is Hipstamatic.  Well, this is a beauty where you can choose your option of lens/film/flash combos to create your very own custom looks.  The App costs $1.99 and comes with several different lenses and film options.  You are also able to buy add on lens/film/camera/flash packs from $0.99.  Photos can be shared to several social networks

BeFunky is a free or Pro App. You can add effects and frames of all kinds to your existing photos.  Photos can be shared to several social networks

iQuickDoF is available in free or Pro is a Tiltshift lens and is great for playing around with your photos to create depth of filed images on your existing photos.

InstaCollage is available in free or PRO and is a great app to create photo collages of your photos and print or share to other social network.

Collage is a free App and allows you to create fun collages.

At this point in time my iPhone is my most useful scrapbooking tool around.  I am amused at the fact that I have been striving for the most pixel per inch, highest definition cameras which offer the most crisp clear photos for years, and now I am, striving for the most vintage looking, grainy photos I can, using my "state of the art" technology....Oh, forever wanting what we don't have :p

Keep Crafting!!!

Jo

PROJECT LIFE - Journaling Cards

Hello!!

Today I would like to share some Project Life journaling cards I made a little while ago.  My daughter was attending the Creative Camp at Creative Hands, and silly me left our photographs at home.  FIRST TIME EVER that has happened.  I couldn't believe that I had done this!!!  Amy was okay because she could do her page and add in photos later, but I was totally stumped...How to update PL without your Photos.  Feeling red faced and hugely annoyed with myself, I decided to embellish a few blank journaling cards to add for my stash.

I started by trimming down the grid index cards I bought from Daiso to the correct size (I love Daiso!!!).  Next I reached into my bag of bits and pieces and added die cut labels and shapes, washi tape and some punched out tags.

Now I have some hand embellished journaling cards to reach for which will help cut down on the time I update Project Life.

Happy Scrapping!!

Jo