Welcome 2018 - sharing my One Little Word

Happy New Year everyone!!

I go into each new year filled with optimism and a feeling of wonder about what the year will hold.

So many possibilities, so many chances.

I relish the chance to press 'restart'.

In fact I love the time between Christmas and New Year for this very reason - it gives me a chance to reflect on the previous year, and recharge ready for the upcoming 12 months.  I always feel a little emotional and feel a real sense of shift and inner change.

This is usually the time that my word comes to me. My One Little Word. (This was created by the super inspiring Ali Edwards - you can read about it here)

Many years ago I gave up on the idea of New Year's Resolutions - Instead of making resolutions, which let's face it, we rarely achieve, which then causes guilt, which creates negativity, I prefer to select a word, to have as a guide throughout the year. I think it's a more positive way of thinking plus I adore words.

I've been selecting a word each year for a while now.
Some have been hugely powerful, and really caused a year of self reflection and personal growth.  Some are still a big part of my life, and I continue to focus on them regularly.

Sometimes these words present themselves loudly and boldly and other years they are more of a gentle whisper, and I find I really need to quiet myself and listen.

Previous words that I have connected with are:
Peace
Balance
Forward
Connect
Create
Play
Brave (my absolute favourite)
Adventure
Light

This year I've had a couple popping in to grab my attention, but I've decided to go with......

This word has settled in for a number of reasons.

Firstly this

This really speaks to me.

And this.

This has always been one of my favourite quotes. 

 

I have always struggled with my past, with what has happened to me, with things out of my control.

Sometimes it becomes too much for me.

It paralyses me.

Sometimes I need to regain control, to feel safe, to feel connected with the world.

 

Having that ability to choose gives me back my power, it empowers me.

 

 

 

 

I also want to choose wisely. 

To make a conscious effort to choose, and not to go on 'autopilot'. Because it's up to me.  I get to choose how I am going to react to the big things, the little things and all the medium things inbetween.

I want to choose to be kind. To others and to myself.

I want to choose to see the natural beauty in the world.

I want to continue to choose gratitude - to notice and be thankful for all the little things.

I want to choose mindfulness - to be conscious of my thoughts and inner monologue.

I want to choose joy and happiness and cause a shift in my thinking.  A deep appreciation for life.

I want to choose me. Make time for the things I love.

 

 

So here's to 2018 and choosing to make it a great year.

 

I invite you to find your word.

 

I'd love you to share it with me.

 

Much love

xxx

 

 

January Scrap the Girls Challenge

Welcome 2018!!!!!

Happy New Year to you.....I really hope it's a year of happiness, creativity and Inspiration, with some laughter and joy thrown in there too.

So a New Year means a new challenge over at the fabulous Scrap the Girls.

Wait til you see the challenges coming up. 
I squealed at some of them.....yep they are really cool, and there's a few that are really outside of the box. I really love that......they push me creatively to try something different, to experiment, to play....and that is often when the BEST ideas happen.
So I encourage you to play along this year, it's going to be lots of FUN!

Anyway lets get on with the current challenge.....

Here it is......

Gorgeous Blues!! Love Love Love

Here's my take on it...

I took inspiration from the Blues colour palette, and the music theme, and also the circles.

To create the circles I used the Interlocking Scribble Circles Metal Die from Uniquely Creative.

 

These are great Dies that cut beautifully and I'm really loving using my Cuttlebug again.  I'd forgotten how much I loved it.

I cut some circles with black cardstock, and some with white cardstock to which I added a few flicks of London Blue Dylusions Spray Ink.

I also used 13 Arts paper for my background and added a few flicks of the Dylusions Spray.  Both of these are available from Scrap Matrix.

I added a few embellishments from Kit the Habit - the flair, the acrylic music notes and the quotes. They are just perfect for this layout and this challenge.

This month our sponsor is The Resin Rainbow.

Janet has some really cool embellishments, so head over and check them out.

Don't forget to join in our challenge - just head to the blog and link up your layout, or pop it on our facebook site.

 

For more inspiration, click HERE to see the other Design Team's take on the challenge.  They sure are one talented bunch!  I'm pretty honoured to be joining them again for this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first Paper Artsy Share for Scrap Matrix

Hi everyone

I've popped in today to share the layout I created for Scrap Matrix and their awesome PaperArtsy Challenge.

I just love being on this Design Team.  I get to play with the most amazing products!

Last month 7Dots Studio, and this month Paper Artsy Stamps! One happy girl here.

So here's what I came up with:

Yep my usual bright style again.

 

A happy, bright creation about the silliness and fun the kids and I have together.  We do try sometimes to be serious, but it never lasts long.  

Love them to bits.

 

This is the stamp set I used:

 

Love it so much!!

So I started with some 7Dots Paper.

I stamped lots of background stamps using some 7Dots Stamps.

I then gathered my favourite colours in Dylusions Ink Sprays.

I randomly splodged them onto some white cardstock using my favourite technique that I like to call the 'packaging' technique.

I grab some plastic from the packaging.....the part you usually throw away.  I add a few squirts of Dylusions Ink Spray (one colour at a time only).  I then add a spritz or two of water and then simply place it onto my cardstock in a random splodgy way.

 

I continue with various colours until I'm happy with the result, making sure each colour dries inbetween.

I used the following Dylusions colours - Polished Jade, London Blue, Lemon Zest, Fresh Lime and Bubblegum Pink.

I adore Dylusions Ink Sprays - the colours are just so bright! I love that they dry bright too, so many spritzes lose their colour vibrancy once dry.

 

 

 

I then stamped some of the gorgeous funky flowers.

I then cut these out.

What a gorgeous little pile of happiness!!

I began to add a few tags and layers behind my photo.

I added black gesso to some metal flowers

I then added the stamped and metal flowers to my layout.  I wanted them to look like they were trailing down the layout.

I added some German Scrap to the top and bottom of my layout.

I added some Word stickers from 7Dots and 13Arts.

For my title, I added some Heidi Swapp word Stickers - they work perfectly for this layout as they go with the 'fun theme'.

I adhered some of the flowers with foam tape to give them dimension and I tucked some underneath the photos.  I also made sure some of them were trailing off the page.

I love all the different colours on the flowers, and teamed with black and white they just POP right off the page!

Such a simple and fun technique.  I hope you give it a go.

I hope this has inspired you to get creating.

You've got until the 14th of January at midnight to load your PaperArtsy Creations into the Album over at Scrap Matrix Shares.
Don't forget to let us know which Paper Artsy products you have used on your layout.

There's a Scrap Matrix voucher up for grabs.  Woohoo! What have you got to lose?

I'll pop back again later in the month to share another Paper Artsy Creation.

Until then, may creativity flood your soul.

Scrap Matrix Products used:

Marshmallow Cardstock
PaperArtsy Stamps - Tracey Scott 09
Dylusions Ink Spray
7Dots Stamp - Dreamscapes
7Dots Paper - Writers Block - Burden
7Dots Tags - Writers block
7Dots Word Stickers - Hazy Days
German Scrap - Renaissance Black
Heidi Swapp Buzz Epoxy Words - Friends
Heidi Swapp Buzz Epoxy Words - Celebrate
Large Brass Metal Flower #7
Black Gesso
13 Arts Stickers - Martas small messages
American Crafts Plus One - Assistant Paper

 

My second December share for 2Crafty Chipboard.....

Hi all

Just popping in again with another 2Crafty Chipboard creation.

This one is titled:

"Ugly Sweater Love"

My daughter and I have a big crush on Ugly Sweaters. 

 

On our recent trip to USA we had a lot of fun and lots of laughs finding them.

This layout is all about this and features us in our thongs (or should I say flip flops) and ugly sweaters!! Yep such a great combination.

I used the following 2Crafty Chipboard:

 

"Grid Bits"

"Linear Snowflakes"

"Majestic Reindeer Set"

"Fine Word Set 1"

"Starbright Snowflakes"

I applied a gorgeous emboss powder to the "Grid Bits" that has a hint of  blue and gold in it.....it almost looks white but not quite, so subtle, and so gorgeous.

 

I also did the same to the "Starbright Snowflakes"

To the "Majestic Reindeer" I added white emboss powder.  You can see the pale blue a bit more as it contrasts against the white of the deer.

To the "Linear Snowflakes" I embossed some in the pale blue and some in white.

I selected the 'love' from the "Fine Word Set 1" and painted it black.

I popped this on top of the photo, and added some letter stickers to finish off the title.

I just love the texture that chipboard adds to my projects, and I love that I can do so much to alter them!

 

 

 

My first December 2Crafty share

Hello everybody

 

I've popped in today to share my latest creation for 2Crafty Chipboard.

 

It's titled:

 

"A Christmas Tradition"

It's all about baking and decorating the Gingerbread biscuits every year at Christmas time.  It's one of the many things we do as a family to celebrate this time of year. 

The kids look forward to it and spend ages decorating their various shapes, and yep then I spend ages afterwards cleaning up the MESS!!

 

I used the following 2Crafty Chipboard:

 

"Grid Bits"

"Wire Stars"

"Stars"

"ATC Tiny Stars and Hearts"

"A Christmas Tradition Title"

"Star Circular Frames"

I added a lot of different finishes to the Chipboard.

The "Grid Bits" are heat embossed with a chunky white emboss powder.

The "Wire Stars" are heat embossed with a gorgeous white emboss powder with flecks of gold through it.  There are shimmers of gold that really jump off the page.

Hard to capture the beautiful shine.

I used some 7Dots paper from my favourite scrappy store Scrap Matrix.
I also used lots of tags from 7Dots too - I can't get enough of these, they are appearing on all my layouts at the moment -  I love the layers it gives my creations.

I also added some 13 Arts fibres, also available from yep you guessed it...Scrap Matrix.

To the "Stars Circlular Frame", the "Stars" the "Mini Stars" and the "A Christmas Tradition" I applied white gesso, and then added some Mica Powder and some water to create the colour.

 

They have a lovely subtle metallic sheen.

The blue and the green look just lovely together.

Love the little pops of red too.

The frame around the photo really draws your eye into the layout and the details of the photo.

That's it for today. I'll be back real soon to share my next creation.