Exciting news to announce!!

Hi all

So I've been sitting on a little secret and have been bursting to tell.

Thank goodness I can now share......

I'm on the Scrap Matrix Design Team!!

Yep I'm the DT Co-ordinator!

 

Such awesome news....

 

Scrap Matrix is run by the wonderful Vicki.  She's a special friend of mine. 

 

 

 

Back when I had my own scrapbooking store 'Go Scrap Yourself', Vicki worked for me.  She had not long moved to Clare and when I saw her work I pounced on her and had her designing for me and running classes in no time.

Man did we have some fun times together.

So much laughter and tears shared.

 

So.... the tables have turned!

What makes me really giggle is that 'my girls' who all  helped me out at the shop called me 'Boss Lady'. 

It was a real joke between us all, and now Vicki is my 'Boss Lady'.....oh this is going to be fun.  (Insert evil laugh here).

 

 

Boy do those times have a special place in my heart.

 

In all seriousness though, Scrap Matrix has the most amazing products. 

So many lines that are difficult to get in Australia.....7 Dots, Blue Fern, 13 Arts, Ranger ....so many more. 

Vicki's store is filled to the brim with mixed media goodies and scrappy awesomeness.

 

So what an honour!

 

To combine amazing products and a good friend.....how lucky am I?

To be involved from the very beginning on this new venture for Scrap Matrix.

 

 

 

So as you can see I'll be working alongside the fabulous Lynn Good. 

I met Lynn last year on the Escape 2 Create Retreat, and we hit it off, so to be on this with her is a real bonus.

You can visit her blog HERE.

 

So who else will be on the Design Team?

 

There's spots available.

Will it be You?

Applications are open until the 15th August.

You can find out more HERE

 

 

 

Can't wait to be back here with some awesome Scrap Matrix inspiration soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finger painting fun!!

Currently I'm recovering from surgery.

6 weeks of not doing much. 

Thankfully I'm doing really well.....but you know how after surgery  your brain turns to mush.  So I imagined time for reading, scrapping, netflixing. Woohoo. 

But so far it hasn't happened.  Believe me I've tried.  I think I've read the same page of my book 5 times and still can't tell you what it was about. And as for scrapping.....well I sit at my desk and just stare.

So I decided to totally shake it up.

Finger painting!!

I've always wanted to try painting.  But I've always got a million excuses why I can't.
I've got no time
I can't do it
My paints are old
I can't do it
I need to clean the house
I can't do it
..................yep you get the picture.

So right now I'm all out of excuses. 

No time like the present.

I got out an old book and got started......

Sooo much fun!  All with my fingers! Oh except those lines....I made them using an old credit card.

My gosh did I surprise myself. 

I then created this......

For this I used cotton buds and my fingers.

Time to get serious......so I got out my Dylusions Art Journal that I've been hoarding for years, too scared to use.....

 

My kids were so impressed and desperately want me to try a canvas......oh but a canvas!
That terrifies me!! Paper I know - paper is just paper.

Well they convinced me to have a go, so you know start small....

 

My plan is to graduate to larger canvases.

 

But I'm still scared.

 

So I'll keep practising in my art journal.....

 

 

Love the colours in this one.

Some of my paints were a bit dry and I  had no red (WHAT!!) so I've ordered some lovely fresh paints from my favourite artsy store Scrap Matrix.......can't wait.

I'm quite nervous sharing this post.....oh the critic in me is jumping up and down with all sorts of statements.  But the inner child who so enjoys the mess and focuses on the feeling and the joy that comes when painting is trying desperately to drown her out.......

Watch this space.

 

Kraft plus challenge

Well it's been ages since I've gone in a challenge, but the current one at Kraft Plus is so awesome I just had to give it a go.......

Here it is....

 

Roses 3 ways!

 

Lately I've been playing with paints - finger painting to be exact......I'm hoping to share it all in a blog post real soon.

 

Anyway as soon as I saw this I thought I'd try something a little different.

 

So here's what I came up with....

So my roses 3 ways are:
Rose Stencil - LOVE this so much, it's a new one from Scrap Matrix
Finger painted Roses - those 3 large roses I finger painted onto cardstock and then cut them out.
Fussy Cut Roses - cut from some embossed paper
Resin Roses - black and white ones scattered through
Rose 2Crafty Chipboard - I firstly painted this black and then rubbed over the top in Finnabairs Art Alchemy Opal Magic Pain in Aqua Rose. I love the effect!!  I also got this product from my recent spending spree at Scrap Matrix.

And yep you might have noticed that's roses 5 ways - Maths has never been my strength!

I also journalled, and took my inspiration from the mood board.

 So much fun to get a bit messy with this one and also to go in a challenge again!

 

My second 2Crafty Chipboard share for July!

My second layout for 2Crafty Chipboard this month is about my brother and me.

 

It's titled:

 

"Our Story"

 

 

I used the following 2Crafty Chipboard:

 

'Interlocking Grid Panel'

'Circle Frames'

'Just love our Story title'

 

 

 

 

 

I began by applying some white gesso to my dark background paper.

 

I then added some spritz in bright blue and lime.

 

I used a new stencil and heavy gesso to create the white lines in the background. I got these from Scrap Matrix on a recent shopping spree.  I adore their products - mixed media heaven!

 

 

 

I painted the 'Interlocking Grid Panels' in teal paint and then stamped a random background pattern onto them.

 

Oooh look I spy a 'Kit the Habit' flair!

 

 

I painted the 'Circle Frames' in a bright blue paint and then also added some stamping.

 

 

Underneath the photo, there are lots of layers and strips of patterned paper, and also a pocket.

 

My brother's and my story is quite traumatic, and as it has details in the journaling that I didn't want everybody to read, I tucked it into a pocket.

 

 

A very therapeutic process, getting some of those thoughts down on paper.

 

 I added some quotes that suited the story, and finally I added my title.

 

 I chopped off the 'Just Love' section and left it as 'Our Story', as this suited the layout much better.

 

 

 

I painted the title purple and added Dimensional Magic to give it a glossy shine.

 

A few flicks of coloured paint, some thread and it's all done!!

 

Hope this one has inspired you.

 

I really loved creating with bright colours onto the dark background!

 

Happy creating, see you again soon

 

xxx

 

 

My first 2Crafty Share for July!!

Hi everyone, I'm here to share my first layout for 2Crafty Chipboard for July.

 

We are in the middle of winter here in Australia, and where I live it's freezing!

I always feel a bit flat when it's cold and dreary, so I've created a bright layout, hoping that will offset the cold.......(one can only hope hey).

Colour always makes me feel brighter.

 

It's titled:

 

"Brave"

I used the following 2Crafty Chipboard:

 

'Indian Feathers'

'Soft Feather Set'

'Polaroid Assorted Frames'

'Dreamcatchers'

'Assorted Arrows'

'Brave Title'

 

 

 

I had these photos of my warrior daughter who dressed up for her High School Sports Day.

 

I love them and I adore feathers -  as you can see I've used a lot!

I used a couple of different techniques on them.

 

On the 'Indian Feathers' I applied black paint and then rubbed on some of Finnabair's Acrylic Paint in Opal Magic - Aqua Rose.

 

This is a cool product. 

I purchased it on a recent trip to Scrap Matrix.  Vicki has really cool mixed media products - stuff that is hard to get here in Australia. Plus she's one lovely chick.

 

On lighter backgrounds this product comes out a pinky tone, and on a dark background it's this beautiful teal colour.

It has a beautiful opalescent shine.

 

 

To one of the 'Dreamcatchers' and also one of the 'Soft Feathers' I applied white gesso and then stamped a script stamp with black over the top.

 

I finished off with a bit of ink. 

 

I really love how these turned out.

I painted some of the 'Assorted Arrows' black.

 

 

I painted a 'Polaroid Assorted Frame' in green and then stamped a triangle pattern onto this randomly.

 

 

 

To create my title I painted the 'Brave' with black paint and then added the  product

 (the same technique as with the 'Indian Feathers').

 

 

I added stacks of products from the one and only Kit the Habit.

 

I really love using one or two of these products on my layouts.

 

For those who don't know Kit the Habit is the collaboration of ME and Emzascrapper. 

 

We have loads of fun creating and making our very own scrapping products.

 

 

On this page I used:

 

a 'Find your Wild' flair

an acrylic tepee (so cute!)

lots of feathers

metal arrowheads

a Project Life Card

a couple of quotes from our 'Little Bit of Randoms'.

 

If you want to join our 'Kit the Habit' group for details of releases and just scrappy chit chat go HERE

 

 

 

The final step was to swipe some black paint around the edges of the page, and flick some paint over the layout (don't forget to cover up your photo first!)

 

I hope you've enjoyed this one.....I had a blast creating it!

 

I'll be back with more soon!

 

July Scrap the Girls Challenge!!!

Hi everyone

Yep it's the first of the month again!

Yikes!!

So there's a new challenge over at Scrap the Girls, and it's pretty damn awesome.

I present...... "Dark Moon"......take inspiration from this moodboard to create your layout, and of course your photos must be of girls (no boys allowed)

Well I must admit I found this one daunting.

I think that's because there was not much colour..... and you know how much I love colour!!

But I'm a big fan of feathers!

So this is what I came up with......

I took inspiration from everything!

I created the stripes by simply painting directly onto white cardstock.

I then added some watercolour in the moody maroons and blues featured in the mood board.  I also added these colours by adding paint to some 2Crafty Chipboard and also a Kit the Habit die cut feather.

I knew I  had the perfect photo of my daughter when she recently dressed up for her school sports day.  It was in bright green, so I changed it to black and white.

I created a cluster underneath the photo and added loads of feathers from Kit the Habit, some flowers in the matching colours, a couple of keys, some more 2 crafty chippy and a Kit the Habit flair.

.
I also added some beads, which kind of just sits nicely in the cluster of flowers.  This is another Kit the Habit goody.

I finished off with my journaling (which is inspired by the quote in the moodboard), and a few flicks of watercolour paint.

The prize this month over at Scrap the Girls is donated by:

The Resin Rainbow. An awesome site with lots of great goodies!

So head on over to the Scrap the Girls Blog and checkout the rest of the Design Team's awesome creations, and don't forget to link up your entry by the end of the month!

I can't wait to see what you create.

xxx