Imaginarium Design Team 2013

I am very excited and honored to be included in the Design Team for Imaginarium Designs for 2013.

Over the next year I will be using Imaginariums Chipboard and keeping you in the loop with all the new layouts and techniques I come up with, so keep watching lol

I still will be doing work for Down Under Direct so you will have twice the work popping up on my blog as well as imaginarium designs blog and down under inpirations blog  

http://imaginariumdesigns.blogspot.com.au/

http://downunderdirectinspiration.blogspot.com.au/

christmas

I have been busy with christmas preparations and always at this time of year I find very little time for blogging and scrapbooking as I am decorating the house etc. Yesterday all the decorations went away for the year with the help of my little elves, and I can throw my self into another year of scrapbooking, I find it suits me to take a break and do none over christmas, looking forward to when every thing is back to normal and tidy for the new year, by then I cant wait to scrapbook  lol

trinket boxes

I just finished the last of these trinket boxes, they will be gifts for the girls in the family, and are made from Craft Concepts wooden boxes available from print blocks. They were so easy and cheap to decorate, just some old papers, pearls, a little lace and chip corners, and some old earrings or cameos. What better way to recycle and create at the same time, and to blend it all together I have dry brushed them with gesso. I will find a sparkly bracelet to go in each and I have three presents sorted!

Home sweet Home

I had such fun decorating these fun little bird houses from Print Blocks, it is amazing the things you squirrel away for future projects, little feathers pine cones, nests and leaves. I even had the word nest from an old project, and for the tiny eggs I used the tips of cotton buds spritzed with glimmer mist. The nest house has eggshell for the roof which works really well. I have used lots of gesso of course, the pearls I used were black and not the right colour so I swiped some white gesso over them, it took 2 seconds to alter the colour, how easy!

Christmas cheer

Time for Christmas layouts, this one done for Down Under features a hand made heart with eggshell, inspired by Gabrielle Pollacco http://gabriellepollacco.blogspot.com.au/ she has a great tutorial on how to do it and it actually works. I have combined some of the new spellbinders dies, I love the scroll and Persian Accents dies. This time I have been lazy and used ribbon roses, these gorgeous deep red ones were so lovely I had to use them, and I have inserted an altered Maya Rd bead in the centre. Try heating your roses to give them a tighter more vintage look.

happily ever after

This is the last layout from the series fairy tales in Australian Scrapbook Ideas, this shows you don't have to do photos of children and modern weddings to do the fairy tale thing. Older photos can be used just as well, here I have teamed a Dusty Attic frame, picket fence and chandelier and some Couture Creations flowers to create an old world look that would have be popular when this photo was taken.

Finn's CreARTe Tour (Darwin) Countdown Clock | CountingDownTo.com

Finn's CreARTe Tour (Darwin) Countdown Clock | CountingDownTo.com

Fairytale layout

This is the third layout in the Fairy tale series, and it is not specifically about a fairy tale, but still qualifies as it is about the little folk. I was pleased to find that it was chosen for the cover, I dont have as much say as you might think in the cover, lol. I have used lots of Dusty Attic chippie here, and their flowers, instead of making them, as well as gesso spritzed over the layout last minute. All instructions and materials list is in Australian Scrapbook Ideas issue 17 out now

Sleeping Beauty

The second in the series published in Australian Scrapbook Ideas, Sleeping Beauty. When the kids were young I always used to sneak in a night and take photos of them sweet and peaceful, as if to remember them this way instead of the rascals they were during the day. Not really, it was just that I had three children in three years and it was a bit intense sometimes to say the least, you just have to give into it, as there are more of them than you  lol
Out thinking three pretty smart kids can be a challenge I can say! even now as they all go into teenage years.

This layout uses Graphic 45 primrose paper, and you find sleeping beauty just where you would think, behind gates and wrought iron, along with vines and briar roses. I have stitched around the edge and while stitching captured bits of fluffy fibre, to add the layered look. I actually reminds me of a big brass bed, lots of soft layers and the intricate iron work lol. All materials and instructions can be found in issue 17

Once upon a time

It has taken ages for the time to go by until I could share these layouts with you. I wont show you all of them in one day, so for the next four days , I will post a layout a day. All of these are in Australian Scrapbook Ideas issue 17, with full instructions and materials list. This layout inspired by the brothers Grimm DVD cover is of a Snow White theme, the gorgeous frame is Dusty Attic. The layout actually looks better in reality as it has a beautiful flocked background, and yes of course I made the flowers with the Spellbinders Rose Creations die and the chipboard leaves are painted with gesso and dabbed with distress ink before coating in Utee.

natural you

Boy layouts are always a bit of a challenge, so I was happy when this one turned out the way it did. Using spellbinders to create the layered flowers. I love the fact that they look like woodland flowers slightly prehistoric. The picket fence and mushrooms are from Dusty Attic as is the tree in the back ground which I have cut up as it was too big. This is number 2 son who graciously allowed me to take photos for his CV for acting lol

joy to the world

With Christmas coming it is time to do Xmas layouts, this one I am teaching at Paper Trenz tomorrow. I have used one of my favourite photos of the kids at christmas with a candle. Dont try this at home lol

The new kaiser turtle dove range is just beautiful, combined with lots of gesso to reflect the light the whole layout has a glow about it, actually looks better than this photo lol 

Nature's Gifts

Sharing an off the page project today, this wood  frame is from Print Blocks and I have decorated it with a selection of prima flowers and chip. To amalgamate all the colours I have brushed just about everything with gesso, my new best friend. There are loads of things on there like washers and gauze bandage, florist wood fibre, feathers and a cute nest and bird from the show recently. I always see my children as little birds, still so young and tender, but looking towards flying the coop as soon as they can. lol I have decided to make a series of off the page items for the The Scrapbook and Papercraft Expo to display. It will be held from Friday 1st March to Sunday 3rd March at the Royal Exhibitions Building in Carlton Gardens. I will be teaching classes at the event, as will Tracey Orchard, Editor of Australian Simply Cards. so drop in and see us.I think I will do another project like this for my sister for Christmas, for stockists see
 www.printblocks.com.au/

Rockstar

Here is a wonderful boy layout, anybody that knows my middle son, knows this is just him, and when I saw this chip title from Dusty Attic I knew I would do a layout of him. 

What I did want to experiment with this time was using old chip letters to create a dimensional back ground. I have adhered random chip letters to a piece of cream bazzil with texture paste. Once dry use inks like mixed media inx, to highlight the letters, then spray with water to blend, add stamps and sprays as desired. You can really play with the look until you are happy. We will be featuring some of these ideas in Australian Scrapbook Ideas issue 19. I have used Spellbinder stars also to create the star outlines, which I simply embossed with aged silver powder. 

mixed media

Mixed Media I love dabbling with Mixed media, you can do so much with your embellishments and alter them to suit your layout, of course this would not happen with out my fav glimmer mists. In these three layouts I have used glimmer mist to alter the flowers to suit the layout. All three are in Australian Scrapbook Ideas issue 16, complete with step by step instructions.

Angel gift

As Christmas gets closer those that know me know that I go into a Christmas frenzy of creativity, one thing I like to make each years is a little gift that I can give good friends, I have been working on this little angel mini album in my head for awhile, the first attempt did not work, but persevere and you will succeed, this one I am happy with!

You can learn how to make this at Paper Trenz, coming up in November, give them a call and book in lol

We use the Stampendous Cling mount Rubber stamp Crowned Angel to create this cute mini album

halloween box and card

Just a quickie today, as I am busy catching up with the magazine, being sick has put me behind, my own personal schedule, so just want to get things done, to get to some prac work which of course is more fun. this card and box is not over the top halloween but uses the colours and theme. Venetian accents and the square petal box from spellbinders. I am busy making 20 coffin boxes which I will share when done. Not to mention preppin for christmas as usual cheers sue

Adore

Hi everybody I have been very sick lately with a bad version of the flu, it has taken ages for me to feel human again lol. And of course now I am behind in my tasks, blogging being one so here is a belated layout, designed for Down Under Direct. This time I wanted to use poppies, the bright orange and yellows seem to suit vintage layouts, I have used rose creations as usual to create the poppy, but the centres are from the carnations creations set. I have used loads of gesso too, one of my favourite products ATM Again I have made the lovely enameled butterflies, one of fav things to do and also used the Dylusions sprays for the vivid orange in the back ground. check out Down under blog for a list of materials and a tutorial on how to make the poppies http://downunderdirectinspiration.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/tutorial-tuesday-poppy-flower.html

beautiful

At last I can share this layout with you all, I did this for Down Under Direct inspiration blog, I started out with an idea, and half way through I hated the layout it just wasn't working for me, I had made the flowers and all embellishments, but the colours just weren't coming together, until I added the green leaves, hand made vines, the colour green was just what it needed, to balance the burgundy, now I love the layout, it is actually one of my favourite. I have used gesso to soften the flowers, and spritzed white paint mixed with isochol over the back ground to give a patterned look to the plain cardstock. I have also used another fav product muslin, just buy some gauze bandage swatches they are perfect for using as they are already cut into squares and store easily to use when ever you want a softer shabby look

Natures child

This is a layout I did just for the fun of it, using Dusty Attic chip, so I was able to put it on the Dusty site, it is my typical busy madness lol I have used one of the prima papers, I always buy two sheets, as I love to layer one image over another for dimension. Of course I have made my flowers, with Spellbinders Rose Creations and filled every corner with mushrooms and lovely enameled butterflies These can easily be cut out of light weight chip and embossed with coloured embossing powders and Utee, I love to mix the colours, I have some from years ago, that I am using now and rediscovering lol. You can use a bamboo skewer to swirl around the colours almost like copper enameling, from years ago too.

spellbinders event

Earlier in the week I spent the day with the Spellbinders president Stacey Caron and Kym Hupke for a spellbinding workshop, down in Melbourne. As I am on the design team for Down Under Direct (spellbinders Aussie distributor) we got to go to dinner with Stacey and Kym. It was great fun and I learnt so many more things about Spellbinders, if you think that is impossible it isn't lol The photos show some of the work on display, the girls in the workshop, the Down Under design team, Rebbecca Beattie, Teresa Abajo, Tracey Orchard (Simply Cards Editor too now ) and Deb from Down under herself lol

A girl thing

This layout for Down Under inspirations, was inspired by Heather Jacob, who sent in a layout for Australian Scrapbook Ideas designer gallery. I was immediately taken by her layout as it used plain black cardstock for the background, which seems a bit too harsh. But I think it worked so well I had to try it too. The black really allows the white doily dies to show up. I had to spritz it too, I mixed white paint with isochol, and put it in a spritz bottle, to create the splots of white, which soften the black. The black roses are made by Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms, which I have sprayed with adhesive and dipped in black glitter. Along with my usual flowers and of course my new fav die foliage 2 ...enjoy

meadow lark layout

I can finally show you the whole layout of meadow lark, which I taught at Enoggera bowls club yesterday, at Scrapbooking with the stars. It was a great day with loads of technique, fun and ideas, and I was pleased to see most had their page completed and all looked lovely. Hope to meet up with everyone again at the next day with the stars lol

Leave the Nest

I just love this photo of my children off to school, this was Bellamy's first day and they all look so young and fresh faced. I wanted to do something special with it, but it was the only photo I had, and also in Black & White as the uniform is a hard colour to work with. So I did a layout for Down Under Direct, and used the new Foliage 2 dies, which I just love and have used on every layout since getting them. I have also used Bitty Blossoms, which you can make up as a rose as normal, or by cutting them from brown cardstock and allowing them to spiral, down the skewer, you can make a neat pine cone. Just use hot glue to keep in place. Of course the kids are a lot older now, and looking back on photos like this are why we scrapbook lol

revamp

I always love a revamp, especially to my workshop, the large tables I had were over 15 years old, and sadly marked and scrapped to death. I really wanted to freshen them up, so I spray painted them matt black and splashed splots all over them in purple, red and white gloss. They look awesome now, over time they will wear again, but I figure I will just sand lightly and repaint, each time is should look more and more grungy lol I pull out my large shelves too and sprayed them black too, my hands are so sore, from holding the spray can and nozzle (both hands as I used left and right) the black colour makes it seem so much more spacious, it is funny what black and white can do to our perception of space, and technically they are not colours lol I spend a lot of my day in my workshop, so making it inspiring is really a must, to keep up the process of work.

timeless elegance

This timeless layout is using the Graphic 45 Ladies Diary range, it is a beautiful feminine set of papers, perfect for vintage photos and layouts. I will be teaching this at Paper Trenz in september, just call them for a date ..

scraping with the stars

Today I am sharing with you a new one off Class I am doing for Direct Scrapbook Warehouse an online store. Love to do classes at Papercraft shows. If so this will be the day for you. Join us at Enoggera Bowls Club for a day of classes with well known scrapbooking gurus (Kim Jeffress, Michelle Hartjes, and Sue Smyth)Each class will be 2 hrs in length - a great way to complete some more layouts and pick up a new technique or two! Also included is morning tea, afternoon tea, lunch and some fabulous lucky prizes, book now...here is the link http://www.scrapbookingwarehouse.com.au/items.asp?category_id=64 I would love to see you there, if you loved the butterfly layout below, you will love this layout too lol

moments of pure love

My Daughter loves horses, and on the farm next to my brother's there are some gorgeous horses, little ones and large ones, spotted and even sometimes a baby foal. Of course every time I visit my brother, Bella just has to come, with carrots and bread to feed them. This is an older photo, that I picked out and just had to do. I have created a patchwork heart to create a base to work on, first I cut out lots of squares with a spellbinder, inked them and wiped gold paint on them, then glued them to a hand cut chip heart. Here I have also used the Foliage 2 set from spellbinders, I just love the tendril look to them, they are finer and fiddly but so worth it, along with one of my other favourties the bitty blossoms, and glimmer mists, to complete my layout.