Paper secrets/ Color me scrappy - Porthole

Firstly I have to say, I have had this photo hoarded for a long long time! I blew it up and absolutely loved it, have pulled it out afew times to scrap but replaced it as I dont want to stuff up the layouts for my most precious photos! I saw the challenge over at Color me scrappy this month #38 and decided Im going to get this layout done once and for all! I decided to work to a sketch I found over at Paper secrets also. My layout started off with the fish paper as a background, following the sketch precisely but I just couldnt get it to a point where I was totally happy as the colours didnt allow the photo to stand out enough. In the end I had a flash of inspiration and pulled out this mermaid background from my DCWV Once upon a time stack and started again.As the mermaid was on the other side of the paper I had to reinvent the sketch a lot and flip it so the photo was on the other side! Im finally happy with the result though, I added extra bling to my little cutout treasure chest (the whole page is extremely glittery also but you cant really tell from the photo) and added a splash of blue mist to the top of the page.
Im also entering this layout over at Stephanies nautical challenge, which is part of the Sketch n scraps birthday month of challenges (head over and have a look - its been great fun) as I used afew nautically themed embellishments.

Lets get shabby #46 - Mother

I saw this months colour scheme over at Lets get shabby and had to get in quickly. The blues and pinks were easy as I already had Kaisercrafts Pink gelato papers out from a project last week, so I just had to find the two greys. This stunning background paper by Fabscraps was so perfect, I hardly needed to add anything to it, and love the way this overexposed photo goes with it!

Punky scraps May challenge - Soak up the sun

And the culmination of my nights work.....!!! I found this months challenge over at Punky Scraps highly inspiring (again). The artwork, mood board and sketch are shown below. I took the sun image from the inspiration piece and teamed it with circles in colours of the rainbow to make my background. I added a random photo and voila! I rather like it.....

Im also entering this layout at:

The lucky 7 studios - I used a black and white photo
Scrap it with a song - 'Soak up the sun'
Kerrys Sketch n scrap birthday challenge - I used 1st row down - yellow, flowers (the orange paper) and ink.
Lasting memories - I used stamping and a song title ('Soak up the sun" by Sheryl Crow)

 

Skissedilla/ Lucky 7 factory - Gday

I made this layout  using this weeks sketch from Skissedilla (below) and the Lucky 7 factory requirement to use black and white photo/s. I rarely print anything in black and white, but I had saved this page from the school newsletter showing some pictures of a 'study tour' we went on with some Japanese vistors to our school! They were also the perfect size to be used with the odd shaped sizing from the sketch! I kept to the sketch, adding only the title 'gday' (the classic Australian greeting)

Lets get sketchy/ Scrap it with a song May challenge - Tower

For this layout I used this weeks sketch over at Lets get sketchy (below) I pretty much followed it completely! Theres a funny story behind this photo which I wanted to journal: October 2011 -We had been 'bush' camping near Canberra with no showers or facilities in the pouring rain, when of course my daughter for the first time in years wets the camp bed she was sharing with me and all associated bedding. Due to the rain we had no way of washing the bedding or ourselves and had to bail out of the second night we had had planned. We booked a motel in town last minute but were unable to check in until 2pm so to waste time we visited the Telstra tower on Black Mountain. Stinking and dishevelled we climbed the tower in heavy rain and wind, and stood at the top looking around at all the views (Luckily there werent alot of people around due to the terrible weather). Although its not obvious from the photo the kids had alot of fun being blown around in the strong winds which is why Im also entering this layout over at Scrap it with a song - Blowing in the wind!

Kaisercraft/ Inkido/ Scrap it with a song - lettre d'amour

I had this photo set aside for a different layout, but it failed miserably so I started again with this one. I had a couple of challenges in mind: Inkido requirement to use birds/birdcages and/or feathers. I didnt have any feathers but thought instantly of Kaisercrafts Sweet nothings collection, with its stunning colours and bird motifs. (I use this collection quite alot.)I used a birdcage and a couple of birds in the layout - unfortunately Inkido products are not available anywhere near me so I cannot use any. I figured that while Im using Kaisercraft I may as well try to follow this weeks sketch challenge as well, although Id originally had a go at it using a circle element like the sketch (below) I just couldnt make it work so used a rectangle instead. Everything in the layout is Kaisercraft except the base cardstock and the title sticker. I also went with the theme over at Scrap it with a song. One of this months inspiration songs is "Mr Blue sky", which gave me the idea of using the sky paper directly behind the photo (it may not be obvious that its sky but the white is clouds and the blue the sky with a bird flying)

Sketch n scrap May challenge - STACK

This is my entry for the Sketch n scrap May 1st sketch challenge. Its their birthday this month and they have a challenge for every day of the week and loads of prizes also! This was my only set of photos with 4 pictures small enough to match the design, they show my daughter riding the BMX track and coming  off,  and it was so hard matching them with colours! In the end I went with my MME Lost and found - the neutral colours match almost everything. Sketch is below:

Scrapmatts/ SYS/ Go Fish - Floor routine

This is my entry for the Scrapmatts May challenge. I visited their stall last year at the craft convention and stacked up on a few of their pieces and was thrilled to see they are now hosting challenges if anyone has their products (or you can order them online). This was the creation I came up with using some photos from my daughters level 2 floor routine in 2011! Although the amount of glitter is not so obvious from the lighting in the photo of the layout I used MME Lost and found Portobello road glittered papers, glittery letters, shiny stars and roses and shiny glaze by Pebeo in Azure to glitz in up.

Im also entering the layout at:
Go fish - for glittering creations
Scrap your story - week 5 requires the use of mixed alphas
Papernestdolls - using ribbon

Scrapping everyday miracles - Disney royalty

I love sketches which allow me to use some of my stash of large photos! Ive had this photo and its corresponding sticker pack set aside for over a year waiting to be scrapped and the May sketch over at Scrapping Everyday Miracles inspired me to finally get it done. I paired it up with the Fairy tales paper pad from Kaisercraft, which matched the theme perfectly. Sketch is below:

Scrapmuch Sketchy Friday #4 - Karaoke

This is my last minute entry for Scrapmuch this month.... As the sketch is fairly clean and simple I decided to keepit that way and use a massive photo!

About a girl May challenge - How to catch a water jet

The second challenge this month over at About a girl requires creating a starburst. I definately thought the top photo needed a starburst but wanted to keep the 3 pictures together which minimises the effect a little. My daughter was trying to catch a jet of water which kept flying over her head at Disneyland - but ducked when it came close, so she ended up playing in the puddles instead.....

Im also linking up over at Scrap it with a song for their challenge theme "let it rain".

The Paper Bakery May sketch #4 - Belle of the ball

This is my layout following the Paper bakery second May sketch. Im feeling a little tired tonight and just couldnt seem to get anything cut or attached straight! This is the only set of photos I have remaining with 3 vertical - Im really starting to get through my piles of photos to be scrapped, and even managing to print some new ones.....They are of my mother going to a dress up party and her very cool outfit. The sketch is below:

CSI 73/ WOW May challenge/ SWAT Drill 8 - What are you doing on my trampoline????

I decided to combine afew challenges with this layout! The photos I selected for CSI were perfect to crop and use for the SWAT Sketch challenge(below) so I decided to combine the two. Then I noticed that Words or whatever has a May challenge going which also requires the colour orange (as well as a word containing a W and some WOW chipboard). Since I very rarely use orange I thought I had better incorporate it while in the colour scheme. Go and check out their challenge, you can win lots of chipboard!

 

From Screen to scrap May challenge - Family

While not exactly the greatest photo, it is one of very few I have of my kids playing with their cousin. I stencilled the background paper on this layout as per this months Screen 2 Scrap challenge (The perks of being a wallflower), chose the photo and then left it afew days wondering what to do! Eventually I pulled out this window frame by Scrapmatts and decided to do a secret garden style layout.

The challenge involves green cardstock, brick stencilling and Black lettering - definately a tough one! Some great prizes on offer though....

Life Paper Scrapbook/ Skissedilla - together

I had to take a lot of shots and afew close ups to see any of the colour in this one! I had exactly one set of photos which had any chance of matching the colour scheme this month for the Life Paper Scrapbook May colour challenge. These cute photos my friend took when my daughter held her little kittens. I paired the photos up with this weeks sketch from Skissedilla (they have such gorgeous sketches) and my Kaisercraft Pink gelato and Sweet nothings paper pads. The background paper is by American Crafts Amy Tangerine. I also added a couple of Prima embellishments and washi to finish it off. Im really happy with the soft look -  I had barely touched the pink gelato collection previously!

123 May Challenge - Happily ever after

This months challenge requirements over at 123 Challenges requires the colour red, balloons on the page, and the word 'Happy' (OK so mine uses happily, hopefully thats close enough...). It took me a long time to get any shred of inspiration on this one as most of my photos to be scrapped are travel shots, so no happy birthdays or christmases and not even a 'my happy place' type shot. Eventually I picked up this photo and thought Bingo - Happily ever after. It is a shot of me with Sleeping beauty and her prince after all..... (Will have to do a matching page for this layout soon too, as I have another shot of my daughter with the statue also) The travel theme worked well with the balloons and I mixed and matched afew bits from my cutoffs to give the layout more red.

My minds eye May sketch - sweet girl

The My girl range coordinates perfectly with the MME sketch this month (below)! After a whole lot of fussy cutting the sketch was very easy to pull off and looks really good. I chose a very old photo of my daughter when she was little, with her baby. She was given the baby when her sister was born to focus her attention on helping and being motherly rather than attacking her sister! I decided to write the tale of how she got so attached to her baby doll.....

My sweet Earth/ Keeping the best May challenge - In her element

I made this layout using the colour scheme and theme from My sweet Earth Create to live May challenge and the sketch from Keeping the best. (Both shown below). When I saw the ladybug poem over at My sweet Earth I was thrilled as I have the perfect photo..... This was taken on holidays in Denmark at a garden maze and the children were thrilled to go ladybug and butterfly hunting amongst the lavender.I mixed afew collections to get the right colour scheme, including Bella Oriental, Authentiques Curious and Kaisercrafts Marrakech.I even had some faux lavender in my stash to finish off the layout!

Im also linking up over at XOXO Scrapbooking for this month as the requirement is to use chipboard -and this is one of my beloved WOW nested chipboard circles

13 Arts/Artastic May challenge - Shine bright

I just couldnt seem to photograph this right for the full page..... guess its just too late at night! This is my entry for the 13Arts and the Artastic May challenges. 13Arts required stencilling, pinwheels and the use of a sketch (below), while Artastic required stencilling and use of an inspiration painting. I began with some of the colours from the painting and went from there, and this is how it turned out. I took a couple of close ups to show the pinwheels and stencilling..

Sketches in thyme - W is for winter

I used the  Sketches in Thyme sketch 111 (below) to make this layout, I like the clean and simple look, and the way its easier to make a monotone layout. I took the opportunity to keep this layout to only blue and white so I could also enter the challenge over at About a boy, requiring white plus one other colour. Im also entering this weeks 'alphabet challenge' at Lasting memories.

All the small squares are DCWV Photoreal Seasons Stack, with Heidi Swapp tape - Sports and Kaisercard in Sapphire. The letters and stickers are from the stash.....