Sweet About Me

Where Have I Been??

2012-01-28T22:09:00.001+08:00

Hi everyone, that's if there is anyone still reading this! Ok so I think it's time for a bit of an update. I disabled my blog for a little while, reason being that I haven't been crafty and therefore haven't been using it at all (thank you to those who have sent me messages and emails asking me about it and why I had privatised it). I had every intention of opening it back up again once the time felt right and I felt like creating again.

Believe me ALOT has happened in the past 6 months. So what happened and where do I start?

I think this is the best place to begin...

Does anyone remember this layout that I created in August last year? (it is also published in the current issue of Scrapbook Creations Issue 91)

The journalling reads, "I've finally learnt to be true to myself and so I've taken the leap and made a change about something in my life that was making me unhappy. Although I am smiling in these pictures, I am really scared about my future and what it will mean for me and my kids. But I know that I have made the right decision. For once I am thinking of ME. August 2011"

This page was created about a week after I made the decision to end my marriage and become a single parent to my two little boys. Since then, life has been a huge adjustment for all of us and being creative has been the last thing on my mind! I think only now, five months later, am I starting to feel like actually talking about it. I had started writing this post several times and kept it in draft - this is pretty big for me to be "putting it out there" and hitting the "publish" button.

So anyway here's a little of what's been happening the past few months...

my baby turned 2 in November

spent Christmas in my new home with my precious boys

a few lazy summer days spent at the beach

hello 2012 :)

lots of water play this summer

fun times and good memories with friends

Happy Australia Day!!

I put my house on the market for sale in December and it is now SOLD. The end of an era.

All in all, I am now a much happier version of me and I look forward to getting my craft on again very soon.

Thanks so much for still reading :)

Hopefully we won't leave it so long between drinks next time...

Get Picky Catchup and a WINNER

2011-11-04T06:55:00.003+08:00

Hi everyone....umm can someone please tell me where October disappeared to? I don't know how it happens but whenever we hit September, I blink and it is Christmas time *gulp*

Well, if any of you are still around you will have noticed that I only blogged twice (yes TWO times) in the whole month of October. It's very sad really. I am even thinking about closing my blog down (or making it private for a little while)....just thinking, what's the point of having it if it's not being used?

Before I do that though, I need to take care of business ;)

There is a new Inspiration challenge up at Get Picky.

This month it's a photo prompt - be inspired by this photo AND you must include FABRIC on your page. The fabric can be in any way, shape or form (burlap, lace, felt etc)...

(image source: http://vintagerosegarden.tumblr.com/page/2)

And it's time to announce my winner from the Get Picky First Birthday Blog Hop.

Congratulations Sam!

Sam, please email me at tahirfamily@iprimus.com.au with your postal details and I will get your little gift out to you as soon as possible :)

take care and bye for now folks....

Get Picky 1st Birthday Blog Hop!

2011-10-15T07:00:00.002+08:00

Hello everyone!! YAY...happy birthday to us! Over the past year, Get Picky has been my baby together with my gorgeous friend Nikki. I can hardly believe it has been a whole year since we started our challenge site and what a year it has been! We have an incredibly amazing international design team, have had the honour of the company of many awesome guest designers, and a growing list of generous sponsors who have all made our journey that much more special! And of course, Get Picky wouldn't be where it is today without YOU, our followers. So let the celebrations begin.....there's loads of prizes and just check out that major prize!!!!! (Thank you Imaginisce)!!! Read on for more......

Welcome to the Get Picky 1^st Birthday Blog Hop!

We are celebrating our first year with a very exciting reveal as we unveil our 13^th Sketch with you today and share the beautiful creations of both present and past designers from our first year! Some of the team members will be offering prizes so you will want to visit all of the blogs to increase your chances of winning a prize. We are also offering a major prize along with the chance at a Guest Designer spot for the month of November if you visit and leave a comment at all of the blogs in our blog hop and participate in Sketch Challenge #13. The Blog Hop starts today and will remain open until midnight (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on October 28^th so this will give you all plenty of time to visit everyone’s blogs and create a layout for the sketch challenge.

Here is Sketch #13

And here is my layout using Echo Park Happy Days

As we mentioned, there are lots of great birthday pressies up for grabs along our hop today. Some of our designers will be offering a RAK of their own and of course there is the chance to become our Guest Designer for November....but what's a celebration without that very special gift.

We are so very excited to also announce that Imaginisce have been kind enough to sponsor us with an awesome prize for our very special birthday celebration.

Included in the prize is....... the two latest collections with embellishments and stamps from both Geek is Chic and Bon Voyage plus an i-bond cordless glue gun with glitter glue sticks, a d-stress tool and a box of fabric flowers.

I am also offering a RAK for everyone who comments on my blog! Once the hop is over, I will choose one random winner who has commented to receive a gorgeous little stash of scrappy goodies :)

Get Picky is the first stop of our birthday journey where you will find the complete list of all blogs in case there is a glitch along the way. If you would like to play, just follow along the blog path in order so you don’t miss anyone.

Remember, if you want to be considered for the Guest Designer spot in November, once you have visited all the blogs and uploaded your entry for Sketch Challenge #13, please make sure that you go back to the Get Picky Blog and leave a comment on the challenge post.

The blog hop begins here: Get Picky Blog

Your next stop is here: Anna Sigga

Thank you so much for joining us for this very special birthday celebration and for your continued support!

SRM Stickers Altered Calendar

2011-10-05T11:46:00.002+08:00

Hello everyone! My poor blog has been so neglected lately and with two of my DT terms ending last month (My Scrapbook Nook and Zva Creative) I almost feel as though I am running out of steam. Not much creativity has been happening for me lately, aside from DT assignments.

Here is an altered wall calendar I have created for SRM Stickers using a wooden frame originally intended as a clock along with the beautiful Nantucket collection by Pink Paislee.

I used SRM's Decorative Mini Calendar stickers for this project - these stickers are a must-have this season!

Make sure you keep visiting the SRM Blog as it is always being updated with plenty of inspiring projects, and lots of fantastic giveaways too!

Thanks so much for looking :)

September Zva Blog Hop Winners announced

2011-09-28T23:55:00.000+08:00

We'd like to congratulate the FIVE June Zva Blog Hop winners! Their names will be found on the following blogs:

Nancy Doren

Windy Robinson

Camilla Ekman

Jillian Deiling Cassity

Susan Lui

One winner from each of the 5 blogs will receive a Zva prize package worth $30.00. Congrats winners!

Zva Creative September DT Blog Hop!

2011-09-26T21:00:00.001+08:00

Zva Creative and our talented Design Team welcomes you to join us this month for a blog hop that we feel is always extra special! We thought it would be more fun to add even more chances to win our blog hop prize! See details below.

The summer trade show was in July, which means brand new Zva Creative products. So please keep an eye out for them at your local craft stores.

As you know, Zva offers so many beautiful color groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals. We want to make sure that they shine bright for you, so each designer was asked to share a creation using a specific color or color combination on their blog hop project.

The Blog Hop begins at Kim Hughes' blog. She will have the complete list of all blogs that are participating in case there is a glitch along the way. If you would like to play along, just follow along the blog path. I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way. Hidden on FIVE of the blogs is a Zva Creative prize package...YAY! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can along the way.

The Blog Hop starts today, September 26th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, September 27h and the 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, September 28th on each of the five winning blogs. The full list will be found on Kim Hughes‘s blog as well (linked above). We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday...plus, you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there. All you need to do is leave a comment on this Zva Blog Hop post...you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. The more times you leave a comment along the blog hop path though, the more chances you will have to be one of the lucky winners.

To increase your chances of winning:

* Comment to let us know that you posted on your Facebook page about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you "tweeted" about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you asked your local store to carry Zva creative products. If they already do, that's fantastic, maybe you can suggest other products that they don't carry

Sooo, you have FOUR chances on each blog to win one of our FIVE prizes! That's technically OVER 50 chances :)

I have created a matching card and milk carton using Zva's gorgeous brown crystals and flowers.

Here's a close up. The milk carton can be used to fill with sweets ;)

The blog hop begins here: Kim Hughes

Your next stop is here: Maiko Miwa

Thank you SO MUCH for joining us

Zva Layout with Nantucket

2011-09-25T19:46:00.000+08:00

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. Today I have a layout to share that I created for Zva Creative using Pink Paislee's Nantucket collection.

These are photos I took on my phone when I was staying at St Kilda Beach in Melbourne this year. The branch and the pink pearl flourish is by Zva Creative.

Thanks for looking! :)

Teacher Appreciation Cards with SRM Stickers

2011-09-23T06:25:00.000+08:00

Wow, look at me....no posts for almost two weeks and this is my third post this week! I must be making up for lost time...

One of my recent assignments for SRM Stickers was to create some Back to School cards to tie in with the start of the new school year in the states. I decided to make a couple of Teacher Appreciation Cards and presented them on this cute little easel I recently acquired from a little parcel I received for my birthday - thanks Nikki ;)

The stickers used are from this 'Teacher' set

Hope you like them ;) You can see these and many more inspiring projects as well as tons of giveaways on the SRM blog.

Another layout using the Sept Nook Kit :)

2011-09-21T20:42:00.001+08:00

This month at My Scrapbook Nook I signed up for the Technique class. This is my last class and I wasn't sure what I was going to do seeing as I'm not much of a "techniquey" kinda scrapper, but seeing as hexagons are all the rage right now, I thought I'd share the very simple masking technique I used to create the hexagon pattern on the background of this layout (which I created for the Member Inspiration Challenge based on Elizabeth's layout)...

Now I didn't make up this technique, and by no means claim it as my own. It is very simple but it was the only technique I used on this page so decided to share how I did it ;)

Thanks again for stopping by!! :)

My Scrapbook Nook Finale

2011-09-20T13:05:00.000+08:00

YAY I scrapped!! As most of you are probably aware, I decided not to reapply for the design team at My Scrapbook Nook. I have a lot going on right now and need a bit of time out to be able to deal with "stuff". I am sad to be leaving the wonderful Nook team after being there for 1.5 years, but I feel if I can't give 100% (which I can't right now) then it is not fair on them. Hence the (reluctant) decision to step down. And by the way the brand new design team has been announced and it is an awesome list of very talented ladies!

Sooo here are my final Nook projects, all created with the beautiful September kit which features Crate Paper Random Collection.

This first layout "Strong Right Now" is absolutely me at this moment in my life. It was actually inspired by a number of quotes I have pinned on Pinterest. The photo was snapped while visiting Brighton Beach in Melbourne (you can see the bathing boxes in the background).

I added one of my favourite stickers from SRM Stickers - "follow your heart" in white ;)

For my next two layouts I chose to use photos of my gorgeous little niece yet again. The first layout "Beauty" is based on the current Get Picky sketch which can be found here.

And couldn't resist adding another SRM Sticker, this time from one of the latest releases "Princess"

And my last page titled "So Sweet"

I love this quote - it is so her ;)

And lucky last, here is a card I made using the September Colour Card Inspiration

Thanks so much for stopping by and for taking the time to leave any comments. I truly appreciate all your thoughts regarding the passing of my uncle too.

Published Work...and a Catch Up :)

2011-09-18T08:50:00.005+08:00

Wow....when was the last time I was creative? The last layout I made was almost a month ago and I created a card at the beginning of September - but that's about it lately. My life has been SO hectic there really has been very little time to be creative. This past month alone has been quite an upheaval for me personally. As well as all of "that stuff" going on, two weeks ago on Fathers Day my Uncle Bill passed away. I am completely saddened by his passing. Anyone that knows Uncle Bill will say the same thing - he was a good man, genuine, what you see is what you get, he loved his family, he loved his footy (Up the West Coast Eagles) and he loved a good laugh. It was always exciting and fun whenever we went up to visit. I have a million treasured memories. He was battling cancer and at the end he went downhill very fast. We all knew it was going to happen but just didn't expect it to happen that fast in the end. So since then, I have had family from overseas staying with me, the funeral, my baby boy has had surgery this week too so I've been dealing with that. Yep, when it rains it pours for me!

I do have lots of lovely new products here and they are all calling my name....I'm hoping to get to them soon.

In the mean time, seeing as I don't have anything current to share, I thought that I would post up some work that has been published - just so I don't lose all of my loyal followers!!

First up is this layout in Scrapbooking Memories Vol 13 No 11 - it is one of my favourite pages from last year, so I'm happy to be able to share it here again after so long ;)

and another layout (and something completely different to the one above - a vintage layout using a photo of my grandma and her first born son) also appears in Scrapbooking Memories Vol 13 No 11

I have a card making feature article published in Scrapbook Creations Issue 89 - it is all about creating cards "inside and out". Here is the three page spread (click on the image for a closer view). I used SRM Stickers on two out of the three cards too ;)

And here are the cards - I photographed them before I sent them in to the magazine

So that's it from me for now. Hopefully I do still have some people who read my blog! I've just been a really bad blogger lately....

Thanks so much for peeking in if you are still around ;)

The September Kit from My Scrapbook Nook

2011-09-08T17:30:00.000+08:00

The first Nook kit post-CHA is always an exciting one - the September kit features Crate Paper Random!

This kit includes:
Crate Paper Random Paper Line 12 x 12 Papers
Crate Paper Random Collection Electric Buttons
Crate Paper Random Stand Outs
Webster's Pages-Ribbon and Pins
Maya Road Ribbon
American Crafts Thickers

Order quick before this moment is gone- this kit is sure to sell out in a hurry!

You can order yours here for just $29.50 (plus postage).

Sadly, this will be my last kit as a design team member at the Nook. In case you didn't know, I decided not to reapply for the next term. I have enjoyed the last one and a half years on the Nook team, they are my scrappy family and I'll still be hanging out there, just on the 'other' side from next month on!! ;)

SRM Stickers Creations

2011-09-04T20:35:00.002+08:00

I'm back to share some creations I made using SRM Stickers which haven't been shared here on my blog yet.

This first page was one that I created for Scrapbook Creations magazine where I was invited to participate in the regular sketch challenge feature. This was published in Issue 88. I created this months ago when Pink Paislee Hometown Summer had just been released :)

And here are a couple of SRM tube projects.

Here are a pair of thank you tubes I filled with marshmallows. I created the tags using chipboard, rolled flowers, and of course SRM Thank You Stickers

and here are a couple of mini tubes which I filled with blueberry clouds. The circle Fancy Sticker Sentiments are the perfect size for October Afternoon's circle label stickers!

I hope that you have all had a great weekend. Mine started out well but ended badly today with the news of my dear Uncle Bill losing his battle with cancer this morning. On Fathers Day (here in Australia) of all days. He was my favourite uncle and my godfather too and I have so many fond and special memories that I will cherish forever. Rest in peace, Uncle Bill. I will never forget you xx

And I was going to write down this little moment so that I could maybe scrap this one day, but thought I'd share it here too - a beautiful moment shared by my two boys this afternoon. My little one Asher was having a little lie down on the couch and I overheard Jai walking over to him and saying "I've been looking for you" and then he crawled under Asher's blanket and said "I love you". These moments just melt my heart and make me realise that despite what feels like endless fighting all day long, they really do love each other.

Color Combos Galore #207

2011-09-02T21:40:00.000+08:00

Time for another Color Combos Galore Challenge....here is the gorgeous inspiration board

This week's Designer Challenge: Focus on Type - Dictionary or Text type prints. You can use paper, stamps, or products with this type of print on them.

I have to admit that these colours were slightly out of my comfort zone so I decided to create a card this week and used some old book paper for the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by - I know I'm a bit behind with catching up on all of my favourite people's blogs. Life has been just a little bit on the crazy side lately however I am going to do a big catch up this weekend and catch up with everything that's been happening in "blog land" :)

August Zva Blog Hop Winners announced

2011-08-31T21:00:00.015+08:00

We'd like to congratulate the FIVE June Zva Blog Hop winners! Their names will be found on the following blogs:

Julianne McKenna-De Lumen

Tara Orr

Gail Lindner

Susan Lui

Tanya Tahir (that's my blog)!

One winner from each of the 5 blogs will receive a Zva prize package worth $30.00.

The winner from my blog is...

Casey Wright

Congrats Casey!!! Please email me at tahirfamily@iprimus.com.au with your postal details so that we can have your prize sent to you :)

Congrats to all the winners!

And here is a card I made using the tiny pink Zva flowers

thanks for peeking :)

Zva Creative August DT Blog Hop!

2011-08-29T21:00:00.003+08:00

The summer trade show was in July, which means brand new Zva Creative products. So please keep an eye out for them at your local craft stores.

As you know, Zva offers so many beautiful color groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals. We want to make sure that they shine bright for you, so each designer was asked to share a creation using a specific color or color combination on their blog hop project.

The Blog Hop begins at Kim Hughes' blog. She will have the complete list of all blogs that are participating in case there is a glitch along the way. If you would like to play along, just follow along the blog path. I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way. Hidden on FIVE of the blogs is a Zva Creative prize package...YAY! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can along the way.

The Blog Hop starts today, August 29th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, August 3oth and the 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, August 31st on each of the five winning blogs. The full list will be found on Kim Hughes‘s blog as well (linked above). We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday...plus, you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there. All you need to do is leave a comment on this Zva Blog Hop post...you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. The more times you leave a comment along the blog hop path though, the more chances you will have to be one of the lucky winners.

To increase your chances of winning:

* Comment to let us know that you posted on your Facebook page about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you "tweeted" about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you asked your local store to carry Zva creative products. If they already do, that's fantastic, maybe you can suggest other products that they don't carry

Sooo, you have FOUR chances on each blog to win one of our FIVE prizes! That's technically OVER 50 chances :)

Here is my layout using new Zva white pearls and flowers. And using this photo taken while travelling to New York City a few years ago - this is us at Central Park. Sooo many fond memories of NYC :)

The blog hop begins here: Kim Hughes

Your next stop is here: Benedicte Raphalen

Thank you SO MUCH for joining us

Zva Creative Layout

2011-08-28T20:52:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone, hope you are all having a great weekend. Just a quick post to share this layout I created for Zva Creative this month, using lots of Zva felt flowers and pearls.

The photos are of Jai and two of his best friends from playgroup. They have known each other since they were two months old and now they are 5 and the friendship is still going strong - sweet friends :)

Thanks for popping in and for taking the time to leave me some love!

Color Combos Galore #206

2011-08-27T12:51:00.003+08:00

Happy Saturday everyone! Color Combos Galore Challenge #206 is now live!

Here is the gorgeous combo and inspiration board

and here is my layout

The background is Pink Paislee Parisian Anthology which I have inked and the gorgeous flowers are from new Australian flower manufacturer, Manor House Creations. The photos are of my lovely little niece - love that I have a girl to scrap whenever I want (there are only so many times you can scrap yourself, lol)...

This week's designer challenge is a recipe and is inspired by various elements in the Inspiration Photo--use the following on your project: wood, a title in capital letters, a striped item, a transparency, and create the effect of a ledge on your project.

And here a some close ups

Thanks so much for stopping by and for any comments! :)

More August Nook Projects...

2011-08-26T17:03:00.000+08:00

Just wanted to share with you a few more projects I've created using the fun August kit from My Scrapbook Nook.

Here is a layout using the current Get Picky sketch that was inspired by fellow Nook and Get Picky DT member (and who I'd count as one of the sweetest people I know) Carol. The sketch can be viewed here. Since Nikki and I made the decision to concentrate on managing the admin side of things for our Get Picky blog, I have been wanting to play along so I'm glad that I finally got the chance!

Everything here is from the August kit, except for the Kaisercraft rubon and the Pink Paislee Artisan Border.

And here's a close up of some of the details. I am loving punching out parts of my backgrounds lately! It's just something fun to do and I kinda like the look of it too ;)

And here are two cards I made - age birthday cards are a fantastic way of using up those numbers that are always left behind

Check out the adorable Purple Pumpkin fabric button on the second card - perfect for a two year old boy!!

Have a great Friday everyone and thank you so much for visiting :)

SRM Stickers - Paper of the Week

2011-08-23T20:08:00.000+08:00

Every Monday at the SRM Stickers blog, there is a feature post for "Paper of the Week" where each week a SRM Designer showcases a manufacturer's collection along with SRM Stickers. Can you imagine my excitement when I heard that I was going to receive the ENTIRE Rocket Age collection from October Afternoon?!! My projects went up on the blog this week and there is also a chance to WIN the Rocket Age collection PLUS some brand new SRM Stickers!

Here is what I created....

First up are two layouts

some cards...

And lastly, this frame which Jai has already claimed for his bedroom ;)

So if you'd love the chance to win a fabulous prize, head on over to this post here and leave me some love!!

A couple of cards with Nook kits :)

2011-08-23T16:37:00.004+08:00

Hi there...in my last post I said I'd be right back to share with you the card I created for the Nook Virtual Crop. Time got away from me over the weekend and well, here I am to share it now :)

My card challenge was based on this Shakespeare quote from Julius Caesar:

Cassius: Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world / Like a Colossus, and we petty men / Walk under his huge legs and peep about / To find ourselves dishonorable graves.

And the challenge: create a card for a male, using narrow strips in your design.

Here is my card using the August kit

The Virtual Crop is now over and all the points are currently being awarded. We will have our winner announced shortly so stay tuned for the announcement at the forum!

And here is another card I created using the July kit.

This one was for a card challenge hosted by fellow DT member Jessy, where we each created a card without a sentiment and members were asked to suggest a title or sentiment to match our card, and we then chose the sentiment we liked best and added it to our card. I chose one suggested by forum member, Joyce.

I just wanted to thank those of you who commented on my last post with my layout about "Facing Changes". I've also received a few emails and messages wondering if I am okay. Yes I have recently made a huge decision about my life, one that I hope to share with you all here soon when I feel ready to tell the world ;) I created the layout around the time I made the change and it was quite therapeutic for me. So for now, know that I am okay and I truly appreciate your thoughts and concerns. It means alot to know that there are people out there that genuinely care :)

My Layout for the Nook Crop!

2011-08-20T19:35:00.003+08:00

So the virtual crop at My Scrapbook Nook is in full swing and this morning I posted my challenge. The theme of the crop is "A Midsummer Night's Dream" where all of our challenges will be focusedon the works of Shakespeare! Pretty fun eh?

My layout challenge is based on this quote "To Thine Own Self Be True".

Most of us are familiar with the above quote taken from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but how many of us know this verse: “And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou can not then be false to any man.” Unless we can be true to ourselves first, we cannot be true to others.

To thine own self be true…..how profound. How many of us have a hard time being true to ourselves?

Create a layout about yourself with the following criteria

- must include at least one photo of you
- must include journalling which is "true" or "factual" about you

Here is my layout

I used the cute Crate Paper Neighborhood collection for my page.

I'll be back tomorrow to share my card challenge, thanks for visiting!

Color Combos Galore #205

2011-08-19T21:30:00.000+08:00

It's time to share a layout I created for Color Combos Galore Challenge #205.

Here is the inspiration board

And here is my layout

I used Echo Park Victora Gardens along with a photo of my niece. The designer's challenge this week is to use mesh or woven material. I used some white muslin and wanted to colour it with red ink but didn't like how that turned out so ended up covering up most of it ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving me some love!!

Till next time,

Another Nook layout and lots of Nook news!!!

2011-08-18T16:05:00.004+08:00

Grab yourself a cuppa because I have lots of Nook news to share with you today, starting with this layout I created using the August kit.

The layout is based on a sketch by fellow Nook dt member, Jessy. The sketch can be viewed here.

On my layout I have used a few Purple Pumpkin handmade embellies that my friend Sam Hauzer sent to me - she is so sweet for doing that and her embellishments are sooo CUTE!

Now for all that news I mentioned earlier...

In just three days time starting August 21st, Leah's journaling class "Getting the Story Straight" begins and there's also a very sweet deal to go with it.

New Members can get their first kit for only $15 when they sign up for this class.
Current kit club members will get a 5 dollar shop credit at the end of the course!

Here's a sneak peek for ya - doesn't this look AMAZING!!

And we are having a crop at the Nook this weekend, August 19th & 20th, which you DON'T want to miss! The dt have been busy preparing lots of fun and inspiring challenges for you all! Everyone is welcome at the crop - you don't need to be a kit club member to join in the fun! The grand prize is a gift box of Petaloo goodies to the value of $100!

And lastly, the Nook is having a Design Team Call. This is a fantastic team to be on so if you're looking to join a fabulous team on a great international kit club, go here to view all of the details. Applications are accepted until August 28th.

So as you can see there is LOTS going on at My Scrapbook Nook right now!! Hope to see you over there :)

New Get Picky Sketch & Design Team Call

2011-08-18T13:28:00.001+08:00

Hi everyone, just wanted to share with you our latest Get Picky sketch which was posted on Monday. This month's sketch was inspired by DT member Carol Monson and one of her layouts - thanks again Carol for allowing us to use it ;)

Here is the sketch

Scrapmatts is sponsoring us again this month with another fantastic prize

And we are so very lucky to have one of the talented Scrapmatts design team members, Leanne Jago, guest designing for us too! Thanks Leanne, we love your work :)

The current challenge closes at midnight (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on August 28th so head over to the blog here to check out all of our dt's amazing creations using this sketch and to enter.

And just a reminder, that we are looking for a few more designers to add to our talented team. You can view all of the details about our design team call here.

Thanks for popping by! I'll be back in a little bit to share some more things I've been working on :)

Winner of July Nook Kit!

2011-08-17T10:24:00.001+08:00

It's time to announce the winner of the July kit from My Scrapbook Nook which I had running all last month!

The lucky winner of this gorgeous kit is.....

Kirsty Piper

Congratulations Kirsty! I hope that you are enjoying your NEW kit subscription to the Nook.

Please email me at tahirfamily@iprimus.com.au with your postal details and I will get your FREE July kit out to you straight away :)

I Can See Clearly Now at TGF

2011-08-15T13:01:00.003+08:00

It's gonna be a BRIGHT and SUNSHINY day for sure at The Greeting Farm! Hooray!

Today is the day - two new sets are available for purchase as we are proud to debut our new line of CLEAR stamps!

Bantastic and My Fairy Princess

Here is my project using the Bantastic set:

We are SO excited to begin today's hop combining some TGF 'alum' with our Farmers! Be sure to check out the TGF BLOG for a complete list of links, as one lucky winner will receive BOTH sets just for commenting and participating in the hop! And just in case you get lost along the way in all of the excitement that is CLEARLY mounting...here is the list:

and our Farmers!

Kim Yu

That's it for me today, but be sure to head over to the TGF BLOG, where it's ALL beginning!

HAPPY RELEASE DAY, everyone!

CLEARLY Exciting Times at The Greeting Farm!

2011-08-14T13:01:00.003+08:00

Hey, everyone!

I am back to fully reveal what may have been just a cloudy snippet yesterday... did you see through our little surprise or are you CLEARLY stumped?

Well, wonder no more because some of the cherished members of the TGF alum along with the Farmers are thrilled to bring you a BRAND NEW line by TGF:

CLEAR STAMPS!!!!

Before we go any further, these stamps are not replacing our rubber line. We are testing the waters to bring you some fun new designs, and most of all QUALITY stamps! To add to the fun, we also have the opportunity to bring you some RE-RELEASES, in addition to NEW releases and we are excited to get started with our first two sets!

INTRODUCING.....

BANTASTIC and MY FAIRY PRINCESS

I used Bantastic for my card. The possibilities are endless with this sweet set of two different style banners plus sentiments.

So, what do you think? Are you CLEARLY stunned or could you see RIGHT THROUGH our snippet yesterday? Anxious to try the new line? Well, be sure to leave a comment on the TGF BLOG to see who ELSE is previewing the FUN today...you'll see some familiar faces in addition to our Farmers and there's a SET OR TWO UP FOR GRABS there, too!

See you tomorrow for the official release of our first two CLEAR stamp sets, Bantastic and Fairy Princess. Thanks for stopping by!

My Scrapbook Nook August Kit Layout

2011-08-14T09:38:00.003+08:00

Happy Sunday! My August kit from My Scrapbook Nook arrived on Friday. It took a little longer to get to me this time, but it was worth the wait - I LOVE the bright colours in this kit which features My Mind's Eye Lime Twist papers and some fun embellishments from Jillibean Soup.

I have a very busy day ahead of me today, but just had to finish off this layout that I started and share it with you (just a side note - I am still struggling without Picasa and not being able to edit my photos like I usually do, these pics are pretty ordinary I know, and blogger is uploading them out of focus, click on the image for a nice sharp view)!!

The layout is based on My Mind's Eye blog challenge 26 and this sketch by Anam Stubbington

I've started two more pages, but haven't had time to finish them off yet - so stay tuned as I have plenty more to share using this fun kit!

Something delightfully different is coming...to THE GREETING FARM!

2011-08-13T13:01:00.000+08:00

Can you guess what it is?

I'm thrilled to be a part of an exciting preview to be revealed TOMORROW, August 14th!

Some of our dearest TGF alum is back along with the Farmers and we have a surprise for you coming... so be sure to tune into the TGF BLOG today and leave your guess as to what that might be! Are we too transparent? ANY idea as to what this special, mid-month release could be? Well, stay tuned and I'll see you back here tomorrow to see if you're still stumped or if you've seen RIGHT THROUGH to what we're about to reveal!

Clearly excited,

Get Picky Design Team Call!

2011-08-12T22:02:00.003+08:00

Hi everyone, can't believe another 6 months has rolled by and we are having another design team call at Get Picky. We are looking for designers to create multi-photo layouts twice a month. Here are the details which we have just posted on the Get Picky blog too.

It’s that time again here at Get Picky and we are looking to welcome some fantastic new artists to our creative family! We would like to extend our design team so if you think you would be perfect, please read on.

Requirements:

· Designers will be required to complete 2 multi-photo layouts per month.

· Designer should have a blog – posting Get Picky layouts and linking back to our blog will be required. The use of any other online gallery / forum / social network to promote Get Picky or share your work is also very much appreciated.

· Designers will be required to leave comments for participants on their entries.

· Designers will also be required to assist in judging and choosing winners for each challenge.

· Australian and International artists are welcome to apply.

Benefits:

· Designers will be listed on our blog and also on a special designer’s page....along with your headshot and links back to your own blog.

· When appropriate, designers will also receive product from our monthly sponsor to use in the creation of their layouts.

· You will also have a designer blinkie to display on your blog site.

Term:

· Designers will be asked to commit to a six month term commencing October1st 2011 through to March 31st 2012.

To Apply:

· Please email the following details to Nikki and Tanya at getpicky@yahoo.com . Applications close on Monday August 29th 2011.

· Name and location

· Brief biography, including any crafting experience/interests

· A sentence or two about what you could bring to our Get Picky team

· Links to your blog, online galleries and any other places you would be promoting Get Picky.

· A list of past and current design team experience (previous design team experience is not required)

· Photos of three layouts that best represent your style and showcase your abilities. (We are looking specifically for multi-photo layouts)

· Please put “Design Team Call” in the subject line of your email.

· All applicants will receive an email when their application has been received. Successful applicants will be notified via email on Friday September 2nd 2011 and the team will be revealed on our blog on Monday September 5th 2011.

Queries:

· If you have any questions, please email us at getpicky@yahoo.com

Happy Birthday to me!

2011-08-12T14:46:00.000+08:00

It was my birthday last Sunday. I'm not one to make a big deal about my birthday. I mean, yes we always DO something on my birthday whether that be going out for lunch or dinner, or catching up with friends or family members or (as in the past two years) there's been an Eagles game played on my birthday. Anyway they're not usually planned way ahead or anything like that. I usually just go with the flow. I've made plans when it's been a milestone (like my 21st, 25th and 30th birthdays) but when it's just been an "in between" year since I turned 30, I don't like to make a big deal about it. I detest the fact that I'm getting older!

The only reason I'm doing this post is because I wanted to share my lovely birthday cake that I made for myself haha. I attempted a rainbow layer cake and it was so much fun to make (and eat)!

Here it is

The fun part was cutting it up to reveal the fun layers inside. So this year I had a relatively quiet one - just caught up with some of the girls for dinner and a movie on Saturday night, and then on my birthday on Sunday there was an Eagles game where they too, celebrated their 25th year so there were some fun festivities after the match which we hung around for and that was pretty cool.

Here are a couple of photos from the day.

First up is my big boy decked out in his new 25th anniversary jumper which has the name of every player that's ever played for West Coast. I got one too for my birthday, I've wanted one ever since I saw them at the beginning of the year ;) This is him before we left for Auskick that morning. He looks so cute in his footy boots and socks.

And he insisted on taking a photo of me on my birthday, so here it is. I think he did a pretty good job, considering he's only 5 and I let him hold my DSLR for two photos only!

And by the way I turned the ripe age of 36. Eeeek! I'm.getting.old.er. ;)

SRM Stickers - Decorative Mini Calendars!

2011-08-09T20:22:00.003+08:00

Here is a fun "Save the Date" project that I created using SRM Stickers new Decorative Mini Calendar stickers.

I filled a Mini Tube with party confetti, applied the 'September' Mini Calendar Sticker to a library pocket, and filled the pocket with party details.

There are so many fantastic uses for these stickers, I am having alot of fun playing with these!

Thank you for peeking and for any comments, I truly appreciate it!

My First Ever Published Article in SBM!

2011-08-05T16:00:00.004+08:00

I am so excited that I can finally share my first ever published article here with you all. Back in February of this year, the editor of Scrapbooking Memories emailed me asking if I would be interested in writing an article for the regular journalling feature in the mag called "The Write Stuff" and now that the issue is well and truly out, I am pretty sure that I am allowed to share a scanned copy. (It appeared in Vol 13 No 8).

I chose to write about hidden journalling and here is the layout I created for my article;

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I used Crate Paper Portrait Collection and the twine encloses the hidden journalling...

Here's the hidden flap opened up to reveal the journalling - just talking about how hubby and I have been together for so long (12 years) and have had our ups and downs but we have come so far (marriage, house, two kids) and we are still together and that's all that matters :)

And here is the article (you can click on it and zoom in if you'd like to have a read)

I am pretty excited about this, I hope you don't mind me sharing ;)

Thanks for stopping by!!

Color Combos Galore #203

2011-08-05T13:52:00.002+08:00

Happy Friday!! Here is this week's Color Combos Galore Challenge

And the Designer Challenge this week is: Focus on Product - Vellum, Translucent, Tranparent, take your pick and go for it!

Here is what I came up with

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I dug through my stash to find the right paper to use for my background and for the designer's challenge I chose to use a Hamblys transparency. I incorporated the browns by using butterflies, Prima flocked rubons, Zva Creative bling, Scrapmatts chipboard and a Manor House Creations flower.

The photos are of Jai at Santa Monica Beach in Calfornia (that's the pier you can see in the background). I love these photos. I took so many that day, of him running around on the beach and playing on the swings that they have actually on the beach there. Maybe I will use those photos on another layout soon ;)

Here are some close ups

Thanks for looking and I'll be back very soon for another post.

SRM Stickers - Heartfelt Wishes Cards

2011-08-04T16:35:00.001+08:00

Today I have a pair of romantic cards to share, using SRM Stickers "Love" Fancy Sentiments.

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I've used Making Memories 'Je T'adore' papers, along with some Zva Creative crystals, pearls and felt flowers. I just love these new Fancy Sentiments!

Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to leave me some love!

Lily Pad Cards - Sketch by Lucy Abrams

2011-07-31T17:34:00.003+08:00

Hi everyone, just sharing a card I have created for Lily Pad Cards "Lucy's Lovely Lines" challenge.

Here is the sketch created by Lucy Abrams

Loved this sketch as soon as I saw it and came up with this card using the new Echo Park Victoria Gardens line. The butterfly stamp is by Stampin' Up and I also used a SRM Stickers sentiment from one of their new CHA releases: Fancy Sticker Sentiments - Birthday.

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This is only my second time entering the challenges at Lily Pad Cards. I started subscribing to their newsletter early on when I was on The Greeting Farm DT as we were sponsoring one of their first challenges, and I have to say that I am enjoying receiving the emails every week - they are a fantastic read!

Go check them out if you haven't already, there is fabulous inspiration over there!

I made a layer cake (and a new Get Picky challenge)

2011-07-30T10:53:00.007+08:00

Ever since I succumbed to Pinterest I have been intrigued by the beautiful layer cakes that are proving to be such a trend right now. I want to make a rainbow one for my birthday, but wanted to trial it first, I just needed an excuse to bake one. Last weekend, we had Derby Day here in Perth (or the Western Derby as it is known) where the two AFL league teams in our city play each other - this is HUGE over here!! We are West Coast Eagles members but this was our opposition's home game, so we had a little gathering at our house to watch the big game. We figured we may as well get into it, seeing as we'd normally be at the game! What better excuse to make my trial layer cake in West Coast Eagles colours?

The cake was a HUGE hit.....here it is before it was sliced open.

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And here it is a bit later in the day (hence different lighting) after I cut it to reveal the layers inside

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I must say that it was delicious AND it tasted even sweeter with our thrilling ONE POINT victory!!

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Here is one I found on Pinterest - I won't be making one quite this big...but isn't this amazing?

This morning our new inspiration challenge has gone up at Get Picky. Who doesn't love butterflies?

You have to go check out what our amazing design team all created! Hope to see you joining in. As well as our regular prize of a guest dt spot, we are also giving away a beautiful selection of Prima goodies.

You can view all of the details here.

Color Combos Galore #202 & Blog Hop WINNER announced!!!

2011-07-29T09:48:00.012+08:00

Hi everyone, today I have the latest Color Combos Galore challenge to share with you as well as my winner from the 200th Anniversary Blog Hop, but before I get to all of that, I just wanted to say that last night I went and saw Wicked the musical and it was fantastic! Such a great show, I loved it!

These two were SO awesome..

And we can't forget good old Bert Newton too...

(Images sourced from showbiz.com.au)

Okay, now onto the "serious" stuff hehe :)

Here is Color Combos Galore challenge #202.

And here is my layout

I created the background using corrugated cardboard and painted it with white gesso paint to make it look like the wood in the inspiration photo. The closest I have to grey paint is "Black Gold" Glimmer Mist, so I gave it a light spray to tone down the white. I also used the same colour on the chipboard 'wrought iron' fence by Scrapmatts. The background paper and stickers are from the new Echo Park Victoria Gardens collection - this line is so pretty! The rest are bits and pieces that I found while searching my stash for the right colours - Petaloo flowers (green), Basic Grey paper which I have cut the leaves and bird from, the butterfly is a new Stampin' Up stamp I recently bought and stamped onto grey cardstock and the red flowers are ones I bought at Spotlight AGES ago. I also desaturated the colour in the photo, just for fun :)

I had lots of fun putting this layout together. Hope you enjoyed this week's reveal and may even give it a go yourself?

We would like to shout a huge "thank you" to everyone who helped us celebrate Color Combos Galore's 200th "Anniversary." We loved reading the comments you left on our blogs, and we were wowed by all the fantastic creations you added to the Gallery!

We used random.org and other random drawing techniques to select our winners for this celebration.

Winners of prizes provided by individual members of the Design Team have been announced here. And the winner from my blog who will receive a SEI Happy Day Collection Pack which includes 24 sheets of paper and 1 sheet of die cut accents, and a pack of epoxy word stickers is Lizzy Hill. Lizzy please send me an email with your postal details so that I can get your prize to you :)

Thanks again for visiting and for any comments - I love to read them and don't forget to leave your blog addresses so that I can come and visit you too!!

Till next time...

August Nook Kit - updated with some Nook news.....

2011-07-28T13:37:00.001+08:00

Hi everyone, just a quick post today because I wanted to show you the gorgeous August kit from My Scrapbook Nook......featuring My Mind's Eye Lime Twist

Doesn't it look like soo much fun?? Mine should be here any day now.

Don't forget that My Scrapbook Nook is having a design team call right now. You could be receiving these beautiful kits for free as part of your design team position. Go here to see the details about applying.

I have made the decision not to reapply for my spot at the Nook. I have been on the dt now for 1.5 years and I think that my time is up. I have been creating less and less since I started working 3 days a week and I just don't feel that I have the time to commit, I would be letting the team down if I continued. So it is with an extremely heavy heart that I made this decision. Thank you to Leah and Pam for everything and I will most definitely not be a stranger! I have made very good friends over at the Nook and I don't plan on disappearing forever!

July Zva Blog Hop Winners & a Zva Card :)

2011-07-27T21:00:00.001+08:00

We'd like to congratulate the FIVE June Zva Blog Hop winners!

Their names will be found on the following blogs:

One winner from each of the 5 blogs will receive a Zva prize package worth $30.00. Congrats winners!

And here is a card I made using some more Zva crystals :)

Zva Creative July DT Blog Hop!

2011-07-25T21:00:00.002+08:00

Zva Creative and our talented Design Team welcomes you to join us this month for a blog hop that we feel is always extra special!

We know that it's a busy time of year with kids home from school and vacations, so we thought it would be more fun to add even more chances to win our blog hop prize! Details below.

It's CHA time which means brand new products. So please keep an eye out for them at your local stores.

As you know, Zva offers so many beautiful color groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals. We want to make sure that they shine bright for you, so each designer was asked to share a creation using a specific color or color combination on their blog hop project.

The Blog Hop begins at Kim Hughes' blog. She will have the complete list of all blogs that are participating in case there is a glitch along the way. If you would like to play along, just follow along the blog path. I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way. Hidden on FIVE of the blogs is a Zva Creative prize package ...YAY! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can along the way.

The Blog Hop starts today, July 25th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, July 26th and the 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, July 27th on each of the five winning blogs. The full list will be found on Kim Hughes‘s blog as well (linked above). We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday...plus, you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there. All you need to do is leave a comment on this Zva Blog Hop post...you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. The more times you leave a comment along the blog hop path though, the more chances you will have to be one of the lucky winners.

To increase your chances of winning:

Comment to let us know that you posted on your Facebook page about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

Comment to let us know that you "tweeted" about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

Comment to let us know that you asked your local store to carry Zva Creative products. If they already do, that's fantastic, maybe you can suggest other products that they don't carry.

Sooo, you have FOUR chances on each blog to win one of our FIVE prizes! That's technically OVER 50 chances :)

Here is my blog hop project.

Pin It Using another photo of my cute niece, I've used beautiful Zva white pearls and 3d bulky flowers in white and purple.

The blog hop begins here: Kim Hughes

Your next stop is here: Ingrid Danvers

Thank you SO MUCH for joining us!

Another July Nook Layout & lots of Nook News!

2011-07-21T18:16:00.006+08:00

Hi there....I'm back to share another layout created using the July kit from My Scrapbook Nook which features October Afternoon 5&Dime.

This layout is based on a sketch by fellow DT member Jessy. The photos are from our trip to Melbourne in April this year, taken of me and Jai at the Anzac Day Match at the MCG where we were Collingwood fans, just for a day ;) This particular match is played every season on Anzac Day, it is a HUGE game, the atmosphere was amazing and it was such a thrill being there!

And for some exciting news......there is currently a Design Team Call happening at the Nook!! For all of the details, go and check out this thread here. It's a great team to be a part of and the kits are gorgeous!

And in some other news, My Scrapbook Nook presents: A very special Nook event - Getting the Story Straight.

Class members will be invited to their own private message board and will have opportunities for individual teacher coaching. You will learn many different effective approaches to journaling enabling you to tell your story! Class members will be eligible to win fun prizes, participate in special class challenges, all new sketches and see never before seen art by our DT! You will create like you've never created before and your scrapbooks will take on a whole new meaning as you get your own story straight for future generations to treasure! Reserve your space in the class here.

And don't forget that I am also giving away one of these July kits - the giveaway will remain open until July 30th, so there is still time to be in it! You can read all about it here.

Thanks again for visiting! :)

Pinterest :)

2011-07-19T23:17:00.001+08:00

I have a new online love. For awhile it was facebook..now it is Pinterest :) I could literally spend hours either on my laptop or on my phone in the middle of the night pinning stuff when I can't sleep or get woken by little people. It is like an online pinboard or vision board. Like one endless glossy magazine that I can just flick through for hours, looking at pretty things, home decor inspiration, beautiful photography, yummy recipes, inspiring words, gorgeous fashion, shoes, bags, even how to do your hair in different styles or create different looks with makeup, and I have even started creating a visual bucket list. Yep, I'm addicted :)

There is so much inspiration for this wonderful craft, but even if you're not into paper crafting, Pinterest is so inspirational in so many ways. It's changed the way I look at things, it's even changed the way I shop for clothes.

Here's some recent things I've pinned

(this is a great quote and I've found that I am really loving bicycles at the moment)

I am so going to attempt to bake a layer cake!

I've discovered that I want to go to Greece so bad!!

And check this out - little boys can be fashionable too :)

Have you discovered Pinterest yet? If you have, feel free to start following me (I have added a badge to my side bar, just click on it if you want to see my boards) and if you're interested and would like an invitation let me know and I'd be more than happy to send you one to get you started :)

Color Combos Galore 200th "Anniversary" Blog Hop!

2011-07-17T22:00:00.002+08:00

Welcome to the Color Combos Galore 200th "Anniversary" Blog Hop! We hope by visiting the CCG Design Team members' blogs, you will be able to pick up some fun tips and techniques. Many of the team members will be offering prizes, so you will want to visit all of the blogs to increase your chances of winning some fun scrappy stuff. We are also offering a chance at a Guest Designer spot for the month of August if you visit all of the blogs in our Blog Hop and participate in Challenge 200 by uploading your project to the CCG Gallery. It's so fun to get the colors before everyone else! Plus, who doesn't love to see their name in lights! The deadline for the chance to win these prizes is one week from today, Sunday, July 24, EST.

Here is the challenge

I went digging through my stash and found a few bits and pieces mainly from Sassafras and have added some Petaloo, Crate, American Crafts and Prima.

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My background paper from Sassafras Sweetly Smitten already had lots of detail but it didn't have the 'drips' I was after, so for my technique I have used Memories Mists Bright Gold and to get it to actually 'drip' down the page, I had to pour the ink straight from the bottle so that a decent amount was on the page, then I simply held the page up and let it drip down. Once it was dry, I covered up the big mess with my photo and embellishments. The photo is one that I printed when my printer was low on ink - it came out all wishy washy but I kept it and thought I'd use it for this layout to add to the 'artsy grunge' look. When I showed my hubby the page, he immediately said "the photo looks strange, there's something wrong with it"....and I thought about replacing the photo with it printed out correctly, but I quite like it that way so I left it :)

I have a fantastic prize to giveaway. Here I have a SEI Happy Day Collection Pack which includes 24 sheets of paper and 1 sheet of die cut accents, and I will also throw in a pack of epoxy word stickers too. To win, simply leave a comment right here on this post and I will choose one random winner to receive this fabulous prize.

If this is your first stop at our Blog Hop, you'll want to start at Bente's blog, and follow the hop in order so you don't miss anyone. If you've been hopping in order, your next stop is Tina Walker.

Once you have visited all the blogs and uploaded a project to the CCG Gallery using Challenge 200, please make sure you check in at the Blog Hop discussion in the Special Announcements Forum at CCG. We will choose our August Guest Designer from that thread. Individual DT members will be choosing winners for the prizes they are offering. Good luck, and we hope you'll enjoy our blog hop!

New Get Picky Sketch and Purple Pumpkin!

2011-07-17T10:27:00.000+08:00

The new Get Picky sketch challenge is up! Here it is.....

Our amazing dt girls have done it again and we have another spectacular reveal for you! Just head on over and take a look. Everyone's work is so inspiring! I hope that you will give the sketch a go. The deadline is midnight (Australia Eastern Standard Time) on July 28th.

We have Purple Pumpkin sponsoring a prize and Sam (the owner) has also sponsored our design team with some of her beautiful handmade goodies which they are all using in their layouts this month. Also, Sam is running a competition on her blog at the moment and currently searching for 2 Guest Designers - you can head over to the Purple Pumpkin blog for all of the details.

Published Work

2011-07-12T21:55:00.003+08:00

Today I thought I'd add some more of my published work back to my blog. All of these layouts and cards appear in Australian Scrapbooking Memories and Scrapbook Creations and were all created quite some time ago so it was great to finally see them in print and share them here again ;)

Scrapbook Creations Issue 88

Scrapbooking Memories Vol 13 No 9

Scrapbooking Memories Vol 13 No 8

Scrapbooking Memories Vol 13 No 7 - I had two double layouts in this issue and this one is actually a vertical double page, however it was published in the magazine horizontally. It probably wasn't noticeable to anyone, but this is how I designed the page originally ;)

Scrapbooking Memories Vol 13 No 7

And these two cards appear in the last two issues of Scrapbook Creations...

Scrapbook Creations Issue 87

Scrapbook Creations Issue 88

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you're having a great week.

Until next time,

My Scrapbook Nook July Kit

2011-07-10T21:11:00.004+08:00

My July Nook kit arrived on Friday and I have been busy creating. The kit features October Afternooon 5&Dime collection. Here is another look at the gorgeous kit.

The kit includes:

October Afternoon 5&Dime Paper
Binder Clip
American Crafts Picot Trim
Maya Road Canvas Tags
October Afternoon 5&Dime Rubber Charms
American Crafts Thickers
October Afternoon Mini Market Alphabet
October Afternoon 5&Dime 12×12 Vintage Sticker & Border Sheet

Here is the first layout I created using the kit. I made this for my July single layout class.

Do you recognise who is in the photo with me? Yes that is Nadia who I met whilst in Sydney earlier in the week (on the 5th July, which is also the title of my page). Nadia and I have become good friends through this wonderful hobby of ours, through our blogs and we are also both on the Nook design team and have got to know each other well through all the chatting behind the scenes there and emails and are pretty much always in regular contact with each other. So when I said I was heading to Sydney for work, it just felt natural for us to meet up! It was SO COOL meeting her in person and we plan on meeting again the next time I'm over! I think I've found another friend for life. This is one of the things I LOVE about scrapping - all the friends you make.

Next I created this page based on fellow design team member Katarina's sketch class. She created this fun sketch and I was just itching to give it a go.

here is my take on it - I adapted it slightly to fit my photo strips.

We took these photos when we were in Melbourne in April. We were on our way to the Anzac Day AFL football match (which is HUGE - it's the next best thing to attending a grand final). Our little one was being babysat that day and we headed out together with our big boy, Jai who loves footy. We spotted this old fashioned photo booth on the way to the MCG and I insisted we give it a go. I love the old vintage look photos. We were also lucky because the man who owns the machine was there doing a service and while we were waiting for our photos to be printed, he offered us another go for free - so that is why we have two sets of photos!

And lastly, I created this card for fellow design team member Jessy's random card challenge and it is also perfect for the July card colour challenge too.

Sorry for the long post. Before I go, I wanted to remind you about my giveaway where I have one of these July kits up for grabs! You can read all about the details here. The giveaway will remain open until July 30th so there is still plenty of time to think about it, if you are on the fence about subscribing.

Thank you so much for reading and any comments. I have once again fallen behind in getting around to everyone's blogs but I am slowly getting there! Bye for now.

Published in Scrapbook Trends and Cards

2011-07-09T12:25:00.004+08:00

I haven't got anything new to show you so I thought that I would share some published work that I have in Scrapbook Trends and Cards magazines.

Also just wanted to share something that one of my friends said to me recently - she thought that I get ALL of my work published! I seriously laughed when she said this to me!! Of course that is sooooo NOT the case. Maybe one in every hundred submissions gets accepted. No really I have no idea what the acceptance strike rate is, but I definitely get alot more NO than YES....and more so this year than last that is for certain ;)

So if being published is one of your goals, the best advice I can give you is to keep persisting. I submitted ALOT of work before my first one was ever accepted. I was on a roll for a bit last year, but my acceptances have by far slowed down. I'm definitely getting more and more knock backs, but then again I am creating alot less these days and therefore submitting less. Anyways, if you want to be published just keep on submitting and you'll get there. And don't be disheartened by the rejection emails - it happens all too often to ALL of us. Just keep submitting :)

First up I have this layout in Scrapbook Trends June issue

It is one of my favourite layouts "In Daddy's Arms"

And I had these two cards published in Cards May issue

And here is how they appear in the magazine

Hope you are all having a great weekend! I am hoping to get into my craft room today and create. It seems like a lifetime since I have stepped in there!

Thanks so much for peeking :)

The Nook is at Once Upon A..Sketch!

2011-07-08T11:42:00.006+08:00

Hi everyone, what a whirlwind of a week! Spent the first half of the week over in Sydney and now I'm back at home in Perth. Although I was in Sydney for business, I did manage to get one free night, and scooted off to meet my wonderful friend, Nadia who is just awesome, we had a great time together chatting, laughing, trying to take photos in front of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House in the DARK lol...I'm sure I will be sharing some of the photos right here on my blog very soon ;)

Speaking of Nadia, she runs a fantastic sketch challenge blog called Once Upon A..Sketch and invited all of her fellow design team members from My Scrapbook Nook to be her guests this month. Here is the sketch challenge and criteria.

JULY 1st CHALLENGE

Journalling Criteria: Who is in the photo? Name the person in the photo and at least 1 fact about them. This can be personality, character, talent , achievement etc. but it must be at least 2 sentences long.

And here is the layout I created based on this challenge. I used October Afternoon 5&Dime which is featured in the July Nook Kit.

Make sure you head over to Once Upon A..Sketch and check out what the rest of the Nook girls created!

Thanks so much for looking and for any comments :)

Gallery Idol

2011-07-02T19:39:00.001+08:00

Paper Crafts is currently holding open auditions to Gallery Idol 2011 (Season Five) and this is the first year that they are accepting international entries so I thought it might be fun to try. The theme for the Open Auditions round is "Congrats" cards and you can enter multiple congrats-themed cards by uploading to the Flickr gallery. There are only 20 spots available, which are judged on during the auditions. Last year's numbers were staggering (they had over 900 cards entered) so I'm not liking my chances of getting a Top 20 spot, but hey, like my friend Virginia Lu said on her blog, you've got to be in it to win it!

So here are 4 cards that I created - all quite different I think! They all use either Crate Paper or October Afternoon and each of them has sentiments from SRM Stickers #51013 Congratulations Sticker Sentiments and one of them includes a SRM mini tube which I think are super adorable :)

And the auditon process is the only time that 'previously seen' cards are allowed, so I also entered this one which you have seen before. It's a wedding card I created for Zva Creative.

The closing date for entries is 4th of July! As I said, the chances of being chosen for Top 20 are very slim but I think that it is fun to be part of the ride.

Thanks for looking :)

Get Picky Inspiration Challenge!

2011-07-02T16:05:00.001+08:00

Happy Saturday everyone! The new Get Picky Inspiration challenge has been revealed. This time we have this glamourous "Sex and the City 2" movie poster to inspire you all.....

Our design team has also expanded to include Piradee Talvanna and Camilla Ekman who are both INCREDIBLE scrappers and will be a fantastic addition to our team! So why don't you head over to the Get Picky blog and be inspired by all the gorgeous layouts created by our very talented DT.

We also have a random prize on offer for this challenge. All you need to do is enter and you will automatically go into a draw to win this.....

TWO Sassafras Lass Collection Kit packs, plus extra Foldies and Banner Stickers!!

Hope that you will have time this fortnight to play along. The challenge is open to ALL applicants worldwide and closes at midnight (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on July 13th. As usual one lucky winner will get the chance to guest design for our inspiration challenge next month. And another random winner will be chosen to receive this amazing prize pack!

Some exciting news (at long last)!! :)

2011-07-01T17:53:00.003+08:00

The new Color Combos Galore team has been announced and I am so excited that I made the team!!!! I love working with colour combos and I think this will be a great team to be on to help me scrap more!

Here is the 2011 Design Team....

Janet Perafan-Babar - USA
with:
Continuing from our 2010 Team:
Bente Fagerberg - Sweden
Debbi Tehrani - USA
Kaori Watanabe - Japan
Kim Moreno - USA
LG Belarmino - Philippines
Maiko Kosugi - Japan
Nadia Cannizzo - Australia
Ria Mojica - Philippines
Sarah Klemish - USA
Susan Dupre - USA
Susan Stringfellow - USA
Wendy Kwok - Singapore

And Introducing….
Cynthia Lloréns - Brazil
Eva Pizarro - Chile
Fi Kenward - Australia
Helen Tilbury - South Africa
Jasmine Shea - Australia
Kaori Fujimoto - Japan
Karen Watson - Australia
Kelly Holbrook - USA
Lilith Eeckels - Belgium
Marilyn Rivera - Puerto Rico
Melinda Thompson - Australia
Milagros C. Rivera - Puerto Rico
Nancy Burke - USA
Nomura Tomomi - Japan
Tanya Tahir - Australia <------that's me!
Tina Walker - USA

Pretty amazing list isn't it? I am still pinching myself that I am a part of it! And I spy quite a few scrappy friends who made it too - congrats ladies! I'm looking forward to working alongside you all :)

Here is this week's challenge

and here is my interpretation

I decided to scrap this photo of my dad taken in 1940 for my vintage layout and took the "cruisin'" from the image as part of my title. All the red flowers are from Petaloo - aren't they pretty?

I had a lot of fun creating this layout. It's not often I do the vintage ones but I enjoy it when I do :)

Thanks so much for visiting!

FREE Nook July Kit!

2011-07-01T16:31:00.006+08:00

Hi everyone...now that I have some photos of the July kit from My Scrapbook Nook, I thought that I would remind you about my giveaway where I have a FREE July kit up for grabs. You can read all about how to enter my raffle here.

So here are some pictures of the kit and what you have the chance to WIN should you enter.

Time to play! July’s kit is sure to bring back memories of carefree summertime play, small town parades, and childhood innocence! Capture your perfect summer days with this kit including:

October Afternoon 5&Dime Paper
Binder Clip
American Crafts Picot Trim
Maya Road Canvas Tags
October Afternoon 5&Dime Rubber Charms
American Crafts Thickers
October Afternoon Mini Market Alphabet
October Afternoon 5&Dime 12×12 Vintage Sticker & Border Sheet

It is the season for fun, so schedule a playdate with yourself and the July kit today!

So there you have it! The beautiful July kit! And this could be yours absolutely FREE if you sign up for a Nook subscription between now and July 30th as part of my giveaway! Here's the link again if you want to read more about it.

A sad goodbye :(

2011-06-30T12:00:00.002+08:00

It is with a heavy heart that I bid farewell to The Greeting Farm as my 6 month term has come to an end. They say that time flies when you’re having fun and the past 6 months literally flew for me! I really have to say that I have loved every second of this journey. It has been SO much fun! The friendships I have made while being on this team mean so much to me and I have enjoyed being able to showcase the BEST CUTE stamps for you all to see each month. And of course, receiving all the stamps has been an incredible bonus and one I have appreciated so very much. To Jess and Marie, I thank you BOTH from the bottom of my heart for believing in me and giving me the most wonderful and exciting opportunity! I still remember the email inviting me to the design team and that feeling of being on cloud nine is something that I will never forget. And to Emma, Sari and Buttercup, thank you so much for taking the ride with me – it’s been a BLAST!

The new TGF DT were announced a few days ago and are in full swing now with their first preview. I'd like to take this opportunity to wish them all well and I know they are going to LOVE being on the team as much as I did.

I'd also like to thank all the TGF fans out there for all your lovely comments that you left on my blog during my term - you are all fantastic and so very kind :)

So as a toast to TGF, I thought I'd leave you with some of my favourite cards using TGF stamps

June Zva Blog Hop Winners announced

2011-06-29T21:00:00.000+08:00

We'd like to congratulate the FIVE June Zva Blog Hop winners! Their names will be found on the following blogs:

One winner from each of the 5 blogs will receive a Zva prize package worth $30.00. Congrats winners!

And here is a quick card I have created using Zva bling and some Amercian Crafts City Park line. I created the flowers using MFT Rolled Flower die.

Thanks for visiting :)

Zva Creative June DT Blog Hop!

2011-06-27T21:00:00.002+08:00

Zva Creative and the Design Team welcomes you to join us this month for a blog hop that we feel is always extra special!

As you know, Zva offers so many beautiful color groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals. We want to make sure that they shine bright for you, so each designer was asked to share a creation using a specific color or color combination on their blog hop project.

The Blog Hop begins at Kim Hughes' blog. She will have the complete list of all blogs that are participating in case there is a glitch along the way. If you would like to play along, just follow along the blog path. I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way. Hidden on FIVE of the blogs is a Zva Creative prize package ...YAY! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can along the way.

The Blog Hop starts today, June 27th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, June 28th and the 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, June 29th on each of the five winning blogs. The full list will be found on Kim Hughes‘s blog as well (linked above). We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday...plus, you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there. All you need to do is leave a comment on this Zva Blog Hop post...you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. The more times you leave a comment along the blog hop path though, the more chances you will have to be one of the lucky winners.

Here is a layout I have created using Zva flowers, leaves, branch and bling.

The blog hop begins here: Kim Hughes

Your next stop is here: Susan Lui

Thank you SO MUCH for joining us!

Color Combos Galore #197

2011-06-26T16:20:00.002+08:00

Happy Sunday!! Guess what? I have scrapped - yay! Last night was the first Saturday night in a loooooong time that I didn't have any plans so I did a bit of organising and cleaned up my craft room (which sounds boring for a Saturday night, but I really enjoyed just staying at home and spending time with my family). Anyway the organising sparked some inspiration, so I started scrapping. I decided to play along with the current challenge at Color Combos Galore.

Here is the inspiration board

And here's my interpretation

I just love the colours and was inspired by the flowers in the photo. I also took inspiration from the bike and interpretated it as a symbol of "journey" hence the quote I've used (which I absolutely love)...

I've used Crate Paper Portrait and the flowers and bling are from Zva Creative.

The colours are a bit off in my photo. I still can't edit my photos in Picasa - I think I may have used up all the free space. It's driving me insane because I'm so used to everything being done at the click of the mouse. I'll have to clear some space so that I can use it again.

Thanks for stopping by and also thank you for all the comments from my post the other day about not feeling very good about my work lately. I was thinking that sometimes all it takes is to put it out there (as in actually SAY it, but not fishing for compliments in any way at all).....and that can lead to some encouraging words from friends and then it can somehow get you inspired to do something about it. The layouts that I did create are not my favourites by any means, but they are a start in the right direction. So thank you everyone for all your thoughts, it is SO appreciated :)

I'm a Cover Girl!! :)

2011-06-25T12:53:00.002+08:00

I've been meaning to toot about this for so long now, but blogging seems to be one of the last things on my list of priorities lately. But hey, it's Saturday, I have no plans and managed to finally get some photos taken this morning so that I could blog about it.

When I received my contributor's copy of Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft magazine (Vol 17 No 4) I was sooo happy and excited to see that one of my cards made the cover! This is a first for me - at long last I can call myself a COVER GIRL!!! hehe

Here it is in all its glory ;-)

My card is the one on the left using a stamp from The Greeting Farm (the stamps are from the Roll Call Kit and I have mixed and matched the heads and bodies to give them different looks)

Here's my article inside, titled "Cute Kids" along with the set of three cards (click on the images for a closer look).

Not long after this issue came on sale, I was contacted by a friend who said I was "all over this issue". I didn't know what she meant so I had to check....I completely forgot that these were also in there.

I was invited to participate in the Sassafras Lass Product Challenge and created these two cards using the Indie Girl collection

And here they are in the mag

And this tutorial on paper flowers was also in there - my take on the ever popular "twisted paper flowers" technique.

And here's my card

Thank you for letting me brag about this ;-)

Have a great weekend everyone!

SRM Stickers Cards (a bit of a long post)

2011-06-24T17:18:00.006+08:00

Happy Friday everyone! Just thought I'd share with you some cards that I have created using SRM Stickers.

This card is inspired by Card Patterns Sketch #120. Here is the sketch designed by SRM Emeritus Designer Nina Brackett who is SUCH an inspiration to me!

And here is my card - I've used the June kit from My Scrapbook Nook along with a SRM Stickers sentiment and Zva Creative crystals and flower.

And here is another card I made based on the sketch - I am so not sure about this card, and I wasn't even going to share it here on my blog. It is for a friend who often asks me to make cards for her. This time it is her husband's 30th birthday and she was saying how disappointed she is that she can't find a "30th" card that says "husband" or "dad". We joked and said that maybe there aren't many 30 year old husbands and dads out there!!

Anyway, she requested the card to be blue and black and to have "30" and either "dad" or "husband" on it. So I took out my SRM Stickers and used one of the fathers day greetings on this card, as well as We've Got Your Numbers and the birthday sentiment. I am giving it to her on Wednesday - I just hope it's not too feminine for her (or her hubby I should say)! Sorry for the LONG explanation!!

I am still having issues with Picasa - it is not importing any of my new photos so I can't edit them the way I usually do. The main thing is the "sharpen" tool. Both of these cards look so out of focus - I guess I'm lost without Picasa!!

Here are two more cards I created for SRM Stickers. The first one is a summer themed card to celebrate the first day of summer (for the northern hemisphere) which I believe was June 21st.

And finally, do you remember this card I created for the Bazzill feature?

I created a mini tutorial on how I altered the chipboard dressform. You can see my tutorial up on the SRM Blog here.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I know that I haven't been scrapping much apart from DT assignments lately. I am not feeling very good about ANY of my work to be honest (both cards and layouts). I thought it would pass but I have been feeling this way for months now. I guess life has also been quite busy and therefore scrapping has taken a bit of a back seat until I get some things out of the way. Some of you may know that I've recently started a new job so I have had to juggle doing everything as well as work (part-time mind you, but it is still three days less than I used to have before). So thank you for still visiting me and leaving comments. I still get around to comment and look at most of your blogs, just not as often as I used to, so I really do appreciate you taking the time to still visit me. Love to you all xx

More Nook June projects :)

2011-06-23T20:15:00.001+08:00

Here is another layout and card I created using the June kit from My Scrapbook Nook.

Picasa and Blogger are playing up for me which is why the photos of the layout look a bit dodgy!

For this layout I have added lots of Petaloo flowers as well as SRM Stickers and some cute embellies from The Greatest View

This card was created for Danni's Recipe Challenge where a $25 gift certificate to the Nook is up for grabs.

Did you see that I am also giving away a July kit, which features October Afternoon 5 & Dime Collection, absolutely FREE? You can find out all of the details here. The offer will stay open until July 30th! Hope you will take me up on my offer - so far there is only one person in the draw so the odds of winning the FREE KIT are pretty good!! ;)

Designer Spotlight at The Greeting Farm

2011-06-21T19:14:00.001+08:00

Hey everyone! Just have a quick post for you today - I am up for the last Designer Spotlight for the current design team over at The Greeting Farm. Because this is the last spotlight for me I thought I would talk a little bit about how I got started in card making.

It's so sad that my six month term at TGF is coming to a close very soon! I am going to miss showcasing these adorable stamps...but it is time to step aside and let the new team takeover shortly!

Here is a card which I created using the new Ballet Anya Digi. She is just perfect for all those little girls who dream of being a ballerina!

And if you're interested in reading the post, just pop over to the TGF blog here.

So who wants some FREE October Afternoon??

2011-06-17T20:06:00.001+08:00

Yep, you read right!! Coming up next month in the July kit from My Scrapbook Nook is the gorgeous October Afternoon 5 & Dime collection and I have one July kit up for grabs!!! What's the catch, I hear you ask? Well here's the deal.....

If you sign up for a Nook kit subscription anywhere between now and July 30th, I am offering the chance for you to receive a FREE JULY KIT! When you sign up, be sure to tell Pam and Leah that I sent you! Tell me as well by leaving a comment on my blog or emailing me! Once confirmed, that will enter you into a raffle where you could win a JULY KIT!

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of My Scrapbook Nook kits. I've been on the design team now for a year and a half (currently on my third term) but I was a fan even before I was on the design team. The kits are seriously packed with scrappy goodness every month, plus it comes right delivered to your door, no need to shop. The kits are put together by Leah who has this incredible ability of making sure that everything coordinates sooo beautifully and the products inside are always the latest and greatest. On top of ALL of this, you can't beat the price - $29.50 a month (even after taking into consideration the international shipping costs this is a seriously sweet deal). AND there are yummy add-ons available every month too!

So have I convinced you yet? How about a few pictures of the papers to entice you?

So there we have it ladies! If you would love the chance to receive the upcoming July kit for free, then I encourage you to take me up on this amazing deal by heading to this page (be sure to click "international membership" if you are outside the USA)!!! Remember, this is valid for new subscriptions anywhere from today until July 30th!! And don't forget to come back and tell me so that I can enter you into the draw for the July kit that I am giving away!!! And what's even better is that if you sign up for a 12 month subscription, you will receive the 13th kit absolutely FREE! The deal could not get any sweeter than this!!!

New Get Picky Sketch!

2011-06-16T16:06:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone, just wanted to let you all know that the new Get Picky Sketch for June has gone up on the blog.

Here it is

Our sponsor this month is Wicked Princesses, which is owned by the lovely Krissy Christie (who is also our wonderful June Guest Designer) and Krissy has offered a prize to the value of $50.00!!! Is that amazing or what?

That is soo very generous of Krissy to sponsor us for such a big prize and I would love for you all to have a go at the sketch if you have the time. You have until midnight (Australian Eastern Time) on June 28th to load your layouts! Just pop over to this post here and check out what our FABULOUS design team have all created using this sketch. Hope to see alot of you playing along!!! Good luck!

Card Patterns Sketch 119

2011-06-12T17:07:00.001+08:00

Hope you are all having a great weekend. The new sketch is up at Card Patterns and this one is sponsored by SRM Stickers. I thought I'd play along with Nina's gorgeous sketch

And here is my card using some more October Afternoon 5 & Dime, Zva Creative pearls and of course SRM Stickers.

Just a quick post today. Thank you so much for stopping by and for any comments! Have a great day :)

SRM Tubes - Storage Ideas

2011-06-11T16:27:00.000+08:00

Today on the SRM Stickers blog is a feature on how you can use SRM Tubes for storage.

I've used the tubes to store some kids craft items for an on-the-go crafting kit. I kept decorating them to a minimum as kids' messy gluey hands will be all over these ;-) The stickers used on the lids of each tube come from We've Got Your Sticker #53002 Hello.

So here is a 'before' shot of how our crafty supplies were previously stored:

And here's what they look like now:

I wanted everything to be stored in this handy little carry case and the tubes were slightly too long, so I cut about an inch off each tube to make them fit. That's the great thing about the tubes - they are so easy to cut to size.

Be sure to stop by the SRM Stickers blog to see all the ideas the rest of the team came up with!

And some more cards :)

2011-06-10T09:51:00.003+08:00

Ok so I have realised that I haven't yet shared these cards with you.

The first one is based on the June Colour Card Challenge. Every month, at My Scrapbook Nook a new colour card challenge is put together to show off the colours in the month's kit.

Here is June's

And here is my card using the red, blue and white for the challenge. How adorable are the mini wooden spools? They come in the kit and I just added some twine from my own stash (the white doily is also from my stash).

At the Nook, we are always setting lots of fun challenges for both cards and layouts. There is LOTS going on over there at the moment, including a CARD RECIPE Challenge with a $25 Gift Certificate to the store up for grabs! You can read all the details here. So if you are feeling crafty, why don't you head on over to My Scrapbook Nook and play along!

And now for my next card, this time using "Princess 3" which is one of the June release stamps from The Greeting Farm. I created this for the "TGF Royalty Contest" that is happening right now. You can read all about the details of the contest on the TGF Blog.

This card here was used on the TGF Blog for my Thursday Throwback post last week where we use an older TGF stamp. I stamped and coloured Cheeky Rockabilly onto kraft cardstock for something a bit different. The sentiment is from SRM Stickers.

Have a great Friday!!

Until next time,

Sharing some cards

2011-06-08T23:11:00.001+08:00

It seems I managed to get a lot of creating done on my days off last week, even though I had a pretty busy long weekend. Here are some cards I created all using Zva Creative pearls and flowers.

These two are based on the "Stretch Your Sketch" card sketch by Danni Reid on the October Afternoon blog - and the first card is featured on the OA blog today as part of the Flickr Feature - what a LOVELY surprise to be featured....how exciting! :) Both cards use the 5&Dime collection.

And here's a card based on Ingrid's card sketch this week over at the Nook - I used paper from the June kit and added the butterflies, stamps and of course the Zva crystals.

It was only a two-day work week for me due to the long weekend, and hubby had to go away for work too this week, so I have been doing it all on my own - this is hard work and the kiddos are testing me! I can't wait for tomorrow night when he will be home. I am amazed how single mums and mums married to hubbys that travel lots do it! We are ALL super women :)

Thanks so much for peeking in and for any comments - have a great week everyone!

Nook June Sketch Challenge

2011-06-06T09:53:00.003+08:00

Did you know that My Scrapbook Nook hosts a sketch challenge every month? This month's sketch is designed by the lovely Nadia, and she has also added an extra bonus for the winner. As chosen by the Design Team, not only will the winner receive a prize pack of fun goodies from Nadia, but they will be able to come back for the month of July as our Guest Designer and their work will be featured alongside the Design Team's for the July Sketch Challenge. ANYONE can play along - it's time to show off your talents!

Here is the sketch

and here is my take using the June kit

This is another photo from our trip to Melbourne. We were so lucky that my sister-in-law, who is currently living in Melbs, offered to babysit the kids for us a number of times during our stay so we had a few "kid-free" outings!

On this particular night, hubby and I checked out the night life in St Kilda where we were staying. It was such a fun night, we went to a popular nightspot called The Vineyard which was very cool. We ended up meeting a few girls there and then we headed to Veludo with them (which turns into this awesome nightclub/bar upstairs - they had this amazing house band playing that night, I wish I could remember their name, their drummer/percussionist was SO GOOD) and danced the night away! Then we ended our night in the early hours of the morning (as you do) with a burger from Danny's Diner, which is voted best burger by Matt Preston from Masterchef. Such a fun, random night that we don't get to do very often together!

Ok well today my baby boy turns 5 and we have lots of festivities happening. First up his party at a local bowling alley which I should be getting ready for right now. Then out for dinner tonight - can't wait! It's a public holiday here today and since I've started a new job I am really thankful for the long weekend - hope you are having a great weekend! :)

My Scrapbook Nook June Kit

2011-06-05T09:09:00.001+08:00

I received the stunning June kit from My Scrapbook Nook this week.

The kit includes:
2 of each Lily Bee Picket Fence papers
Maya Road mini wooden spools
Pink Paislee wood cuts
Petaloo lace flowers
Petaloo paper flowers
Webster’s Pages doilies
1 Maya Road white ruffle trim

And here is a layout I created using photos from my recent trip to Melbourne. These are the bathing boxes at Brighton Beach.

and here is a quick card - all supplies used are from the kit except for the purple pearls.

My Scrapbook Nook has a "new look" homepage containing links to this month's classes, past kit classes, events calendar and more! So go check it out and have a look around. I love how modern and fresh it is :)

And if you'd like to order a June kit, be sure to check out the kit club page!

Le Shabby Cafe Guest Designer!

2011-06-03T21:56:00.000+08:00

This month I was asked to be Guest Designer at Le Shabby Cafe and I got to play with the beautiful June kit which features Prima Madeline Collection.

You can see a full list of kit contents and place an order here

Is it gorgeous or what!!! LOVE all the Prima!

I created 4 layouts with the kit and there is still plenty leftover for more layouts and/or cards.

The first two pages are of my niece

On this page "Unconditional Love" is an older photo of Jai. I scrapped a similar photo to this a long time ago and thought I'd scrap it again, just for fun!

And for my last page, I have scrapped this photo of me and Piradee - soooo loved meeting up with her, she is such an inspiration to me (the photo was taken by the lovely Pearl who was also awesome to meet in person)!!

Thank you so much Sophia for inviting me to be your June Guest at Le Shabby Cafe! It has been an absolute pleasure and the kit I got to work with is incredible!!

The Greatest View

2011-06-02T21:09:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone, I just wanted to share with you a fantastic Etsy shop called The Greatest View.

The shop owner is Gail Lindner who I am on the Zva Creative DT with and she has just recently listed some awesome new products including these pretty paper doilies

How about some petite paper doilies?

Kraft sampler pack

Lots of bakers twine

matching badges, flag embellies and mini banners!

as well as felt rosettes and doily/flower kits

Lots of cute stuff eh? If you want some you better be quick because they won't last. Head on over to The Greatest View to see more! And you also might want to keep an eye on Gail's blog as this is the best place to stay updated on new products and see samples etc.

SRM Stickers Cards

2011-06-02T07:50:00.003+08:00

Today I have some cards to share using SRM Stickers. First up is a father's day card using a sentiment from Say it with Stickers #39041 Fathers Day. I had this idea to create a shirt card and used these cute papers from October Afternoon 5 & Dime collection. Then I added the little hanky in the pocket using a tiny piece of red tissue paper ;)

And here is a trio of cards I created for the SRM Stickers and Bazzill feature. All of the SRM Designers were treated to Bazzill's new "Grandma's Feather Bed" collection of patterned papers and coordinating cardstock and embellishments.

The sentiments used are all from We've Got Your Sticker #53001 Happy.

I have created a mini tutorial on how I created this card, so stay tuned for that coming up soon!

and some more photos...

We created lots of projects using Grandma's Feather Bed combined with SRM Stickers, so be sure to go check out the SRM Stickers blog to see all of the designers' incredible project ideas!

And don't forget that if you create something using SRM Stickers upload it to the SRM Flickr gallery and share - you never know, you may even be featured on the facebook page :)