Love this Life!

Hi everyone
 

As we come to the end of 2016, it's a great time to reflect on the year that was and to start thinking about 2017.

 

This week's layout for All About Scrapbooks is about that......

   

I had so much fun playing with Amy Tangerine's Oh Happy Life range.

 

It's full of bright colours so I decided to pair it with white and black.

I used white as my background, and added some swipes of black paint. 

I then added a few layers of papers on top of the black paint, and then added my photo to this.

 

With some of the leftovers I created a cluster at the bottom of the page.

 

 

For my title I added some 2Crafty chipboard which I painted black, and then I cut 'this life' from one of the papers. 

 

 

 Lastly, I added my journaling.

 

 

I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

I have thoroughly loved showing you my work each week, and hope it has inspired you to get creative.

I look forward to 2017 and sharing more scrappy stuff.

 

Luv Tam

xx

 

Merry Christmas......celebrating with Bella Boulevard

Merry Christmas one and all!   Well tomorrow is Christmas Eve!! How exciting! I absolutely love this time of year. Wishing you the happiest of days and may the joy and magic be in your heart long after the special day has gone.  

  This layout was created using the new Bella Boulevard Christmas range available from All About Scrapbooks I adore this range and I adore Bella Boulevard too. It's the bright colours.   As soon as I saw this range I knew it was for me. Fresh gorgeous Christmas colours mixed with neutral black and white. Absolutely perfect!!   This photo was taken last year on Christmas Day  and it's one of my favourites from the day. I've been wanting to scrap it for some time, and this range made me jump right in.  

  It's a pretty simple page. I used some White cardstock as my base. I added strips of vertical patterned paper, concentrating on the right hand side of the layout. I then added a few layers of papers behind my photo. To finish it off  I added some of the cute stickers from this range clustered around the photo, I cut out a few little Christmas trees from paper, cause they are just the cutest!!  I then painted some 2Crafty Chipboard for the title and snowflakes. And of course, I finished with some black paint splatters!! Simples!   So that's it from me for 2016.   I have loved every minute of sharing my layouts with you and really hope they have given you some inspiration.   Wishing you the loveliest Christmas, and I look forward to sharing with you in 2017!   Luv Tam xxx

December Daily - Day 9

Day 9 already!

Phew, December is flying by. 
The special day will be here before we know it!
Yep, bring it on.

Day 9's word is Advent.
The story of our Advent.

It really is a special part of our Christmas story and a lovely part of December.

It's one of my favourite traditions - something I love planning and preparing.

Something that brings both myself and my children immense joy.

Something worth celebrating and documenting.

 

 

Those little tags you see in the top right pocket are a surprise every now and then spread through the Advent Calendar, which allows the kids to select a gift from underneath our memory tree.

 

Love it, back soon with Day 10!

xx

 



Happy.....using Bella Boulevard

Good morning everyone! 

Can you believe we are halfway through December??

2 more weeks until the end of the year.

Yep mind blown.

 

This week I've been working on a layout for All About Scrapbooks using some of Bella Boulevard's Illustrated Faith range.

Just adore the colours!

 

 

This layout is inspired by the craziness of this time of year.

In our attempt to get everything done, we can lose the joy.

We can lose our focus.

 

So this is about finding happiness in the everyday craziness.

It's about feeling grateful.

It's so important.

 

 

I began by applying some gesso to white cardstock.

 

I then added a few brush strokes of paint.

I wanted to journal on the paint, so I was mindful where I placed it.

I added a few flicks of paint as well.  Love the colour!

 

I added a few strips of paper to the left hand side of my layout.

 

I added some layers behind my photo, and then embellished with a few page tabs and stickers.

 

 

Once this was all stuck down, I journalled.

 

For me this is the most important part.

 

I hope this layout inspires you to not only scrap, but also to stop and be grateful.

So, what are you grateful for?

 

December Daily Day 8

Day 8 of December Daily is all about the tree.

Oh Christmas Tree, how I love you.
Oh Christmas Tree, how you mesmerise me.

I printed a photo of the tree during daylight hours, and a photo of the tree at night time with the lights on.  These are both printed in 5 x 7 inch.
I adhered them back to back, and then added washi tape down the left hand side of the photo.  This created a flap. Underneath this I added my journaling and photos, and I adhered a gift tag as a large index tab.
.

I wanted to include the story of our cat, Maisy and her love for the tree too. So cute.

 

So that's day 8 done.

Back soon for day 9.

xx


 

December Daily Day 7

Hi everyone

I'm back with Day 7 of my December Daily.

I've used no photos for this one.  It's a story about peace.  Day 7 was one of those tough days. 
A day where I needed peace.  I needed calm as I was feeling all my emotions at once.  Overwhelming.  Real.
It is what it is.
After all it's about my stories.

I added one of my favourite quotes and a die cut dove as it symbolises peace.

I cut out the word peace from white card on my Cricut machine. Gosh I haven't used this tool in years!  I then embossed it using my Cuttlebug and adhered the letters to some clear acetate.

Lots of journaling on this one.  Very therapeutic.

I'm really enjoying the journaling part of this project.
It's something I'm passionate about. Words. Stories. Reality.

I've always journalled on my scrapbook layouts.  There's not many layouts of mine with just a title.  If you do find one with no journaling, it's usually hidden somewhere - behind a photo, in a pocket - it's usually there somewhere.
Occasionally I have created a page specifically for a class  and I have left off the journaling as sometimes this seemed to scare people away.

Well I'm glad I shared this story....it's not something I am used to putting out there, but it is all part of the healing process.

I'll be back very soon with Day 8.

 

Little Brooksie....

 Good morning.
 

This week's layout for All About Scrapbooks is a baby boy themed one.

It's about my little nephew who just turned 1....little Brooksie. 

He is just the cutest!

 

I wanted to go non-traditional with my colour palette......

 

 

So I began with a black background.

I added some swipes and flicks of gesso, and then hunted through the

NEW gorgeous Bella Boulevard ranges. 

From here I selected green, yellow, black and white as my colours.

 

 

With these colours in mind I explored my bits and pieces from Oh my Stars, Illustrated Faith and Alex, and found lots of co-ordinating bits and pieces.

 

Deciding on the colours first made it so much quicker as I had a focus.  I wasn't distracted by all the other cool bits and pieces.....if those colours weren't there I ignored them!

It was a bit like following a mood board.

 

I layered up a few bits and pieces, concentrating on just the top right corner and bottom left corner.

I didn't want to add too many bits and pieces, as the photos were just so cute and I didn't want them to get lost in all the 'stuff'.

 

 

I finished off with a 2Crafty title, and that was it!

 

I really like the colours for a baby. 

I think it pops right off the page!

 

I'll be back again real soon!

Day 6 December Daily

Hi everyone.

Just popping in to share Day 6.

For this page I used two full pages already in the album.
No pocket pages.
One large photo.

Really that's all that was needed.

It's about my current goal to get moving. 
Again lots of journaling (I've always got so much to say!)

I love telling the stories focused around just one word.
It really blocks the rest of the day out for me and just helps me to get it done!

Last time I tried to include everything and it was pretty overwhelming.

When I look back at 2014's book, the part that draws me in the most is the words, the stories.....so I knew this was something I really wanted more of this year.

This year I've simplified the process by focusing on one story per day, thanks to the advice of the incredible Ali Edwards.

So far it's working.
And what I love is that I'm journaling.
I'm a big believer in journaling. 
So many don't do it. 
For me, it's the reason I scrap.
It's as simple as that.





 

Day 5 is all about Giving

Hi everyone

Here I am with Day 5.

Day 5 has my jouraling on the full page.  It covers my thoughts on giving, and also our Wishing Tree gift.  This is something we do every year as we have so much to be grateful for each.  There are so many people who go without at Christmas.  Believe me I know, one year the kids and I were in this position, and we had some amazing support and thoughtfulness from a Domestic Violence Unit.  Now that we are back on our feet, and have a home and more than we need, it's an opportunity for us to give back, to give to those in need a helping hand.

I smeared some black paint on the bottom of the page.
I cut the letters out myself, using really old die cuts as a stencil.

On the right I added a pocket page.
I included a quote, a shaker pocket with the date, and also the photos to go with the story. 

I used washi tape on my photos to create a lift the flap - with more photos underneath.

This is really easy to do and creates an interactive page.

So that's another week done.

I'll be back as soon as I can with some more updates,

 

December Daily Day 4

So Day 4 is all about the CRAZY!!

Silliness is something we do well in this household, especially as the kids are growing up, and are teenagers now! Lots of sarcasm and wit used in our daily lives.  I love it and wanted to capture this stage,  so thought I would create a day about it.

I used the back of the Kraft divider from the album.  I applied gesso and added my journaling.  I also included those old die cut letters from 8-9 years ago, but bought them into the now by tracing one of the letters, and cutting it from a bold black and white stripe, which gives it a more modern feel.

On the right hand side I cut a pocked page in half.  I didn't have enough photos to fill the whole pocket, plus the photos didn't fit the configuration.   I will use the other half later.

Here's the back of the trimmed down pocket page, plus I've included my journaling and a few photos that enhance the journaling.

That finishes off my Day 4.

Day 4 won't be long!
 

December Daily Day 3

Hi everyone

I'm back to share Day 3 of December Daily.

Today was all about love.......my partner and I went to a beautiful wedding in the Riverland.  It made me reflect on the love that is in my life.

I included their wedding invite, I love it!

I used a variety of different sized photos to create visual interest.

It truly was a beautiful day.

This page has a Kraft divider that was part of the album.  I painted it with white gesso, and then simply added a large 5x7" photo. 
I added some 2Crafty Chipboard, which I painted white, and really that was all that was needed.

Simple.
Classic.
Love is always the answer.

I'll be back real soon.
 

December Daily Day 1 and Day 2

Hi all

I'm back to share my first page of December Daily, inspired by the fabulous Ali Edwards.

This one is about my kids coming back to me after being at their dad's.

Sorry the photo's a little dark.

I talked about my feelings around this, and how excited I get to have them coming home.

As I'm using up product for this album, I used some left over paper. It was a little too pink so I toned it down with white gesso. I really liked how this looked and decided to journal on that part.

I tied a string around the page and added a 'special delivery' card to signify that they are my greatest present in the whole world!

I used some 2Crafty chipboard for the family title and the quote underneath reads.....
"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much."

Day 2 is about how we travelled to my partner's house in the Riverland and how his neighbours lit up the street with their amazing Christmas Lights!!

 

I again applied some gesso to the reverse of the paper I used in Day 1, which again, I journalled on.

I added a photo sleeve and a couple of photos, and that's about it!

I'll pop back soon when I've had time to photograph the next few pages!
 

December Daily!

Hi everyone

Well a few days ago I decided to jump in and complete a December Daily book for this year!

Yes, call me crazy for adding something else into this month, but there is a reason for my madness.
You see I really want to savour the moments.
I really want to slow down and notice the magic.
I want to take notice of the smaller details in this month that can whizz by in a blur.

I completed my first one two years ago.
Last year I incorporated my festive stuff into my Project Life for the year.

Just a few days ago I grabbed that 2014 book and popped it on display as part of my Christmas decorations. 
Everytime I walked passed it, I felt the stirrings, the little creative voice popping in to say hi (well at first, but eventually it became a pretty demanding holler).
So I stopped and sat down and flicked through the book. 
I was flooded with emotion, with memories, with stories.

Yes, I need to do this again.

Anyone that knows me, knows I'm a big fan of Ali Edwards.  I think it's her words, the way she puts them together, the way she tells the stories.  It speaks to my heart, and I always have this overwhelming urge to go and be creative after reading her stuff.
You can read more about Ali's December Daily here

So before I jumped in, I decided to set myself some ground rules to make this a little easier.

Firstly, I would follow Ali's mantra to just record one story each day.  In 2014 I tried to include everything from everyday and this just felt a bit overwhelming.  This year I plan to focus on a word each day and tell the story from there.  Some maybe Christmas related, some not, but all will capture our lives.

Secondly, I would NOT buy any product for this project. (Really?!? Breathe, Tammy breathe)
Last time I purchased an Ali Edwards December Daily Kit.  Oh man, it was awesome, but I have tonnes of leftovers from all sorts of projects and I just love mixing up my supplies, so I decided to just go for it.

So here goes.....

I found a Simple Stories Snap album I had laying around.

Here's the cover:

I love it!  You may recognise some product on here - those letters are from about 8-9 years ago!
Yay, go me!

Here's a look at my reason's why:

You can see Day 1 peeking through in the background......I'll be back very soon to share that with you all.
 

You Crack Me Up....

Hi everyone!
 

This week for All About Scrapbooks, I'm sharing a boyish page using Bella Boulevard's Alex Collection plus a few bits and pieces from Crate Paper's Cool Kid.

 

I began by applying gesso to white bazzill.

I then added some brush strokes in black.

(I placed these where I knew my photo and layering would go). 

 I also added some essential flicks of paint!

 

Once dry I added a few bits and pieces of papers, cutting some and tearing some

to create interest and texture.

 

 

I then added some co-ordinating embellishments, and a whole variety of word/alpha stickers.

I cut the 'hey' from a 12x12 sheet of paper, and a few of the embellishments too.

 

As the layout was quote busy, I was concerned that the photo was getting lost. 

To counteract this I added a 2Crafty frame to draw the eye into the photo.

 

The final touches included my journaling,

 and I trimmed the layout down a little and adhered it to a background sheet of paper. 

This frames the entire layout.

 

That's it from me.

I hope it's inspired you to get creative.

 

Luv Tam

xx

Scrap the Girls - December Challenge!

Hi everyone!

Well it's the end of the year - we are in that crazy busy month, December! 
I really hope that you can squeeze in some scrappy time during this period.

Here's something to get you inspired.......
This month's challenge over at Scrap the Girls is gorgeous!  Super pretty, super sparkly......

 

 A very lovely mood board.....oh so many possibilities!

The first thing that popped into my head was a wedding!   I recently attended one in America (I know right, super exciting)!  But the colours weren't quite right for the pics I had taken from the wedding. Then I remembered a picture of the bride's daughter (who was also flower girl), taken when she and her Mama went wedding dress shopping.  What a wonderful thing to do together - I tell you this little girl, my niece Iris, is just gonna always dream of weddings.  You see here mama and papa were tying the knot, and she is 8, and she was so involved in everything.  Say no more - wouldn't that have been just the BEST at the age of 8??
This photo captures all that - the joy, the happiness.  I love it - I love the emotion, the movement, the twirling, and yep the colours are perfect for this moodboard

So here's my take on it:

 Here's a bit of a close up of the flowers and sparkly bits:

So pretty. Sigh.

This month's sponsor is Charm's Creations.  I adore her embellishments!  You can find her here

 

I can't wait to see all your entries! 

Don't forget, further inspiration can be found from the awesome team at Scrap the Girls.