Frosted designs/ Paperhaus - The simple things

Well its coming very close to the end of the month now and I would really like to complete a few more challenges..... For this layout I decided to combine the July sketch from Paperhaus magazine (above) with a challenge over at Frosted Designs. I was planning to complete this months challenge with an 'outdoor' theme, but saw a blog hop which required the use of the quote ' Its the sweet, simple things in life which are the real ones after all' by LauraIngalls, and knew I had the perfect photos. These rather plain looking pictures have been in the too hard basket for some time, as they are not very good quality and the colours are odd but I thought I might finally use them, as I do want to remember the lovely experience of collecting eggs at Grandmas - and here was the perfect excuse.

I tried to capture the farm feel with nesting type material, lots of duck egg blue, round brads and feathers while keeping to the sketch. Im quite happy with the results!

Just add ink/AFSC/ Lets get sketchy July - My boy

I saw that both the Just add ink challenge and the Another freaking scrappy challenge for July required monochrome, and had to go with blue as, not only is it one of my favourites, but I also have an endless supply of blue scraps. To go with the blue I chose this adorable photo of my son ice skating and made a lot of blue embellishments! Im also entering Lets get sketchy for July 29, as the theme is anything goes.....

The background is by Little yellow bicycle, everything else is unknown from my scraps bag!

Stuck?! July 1st challenge - Im in with Marilyn

 This is my entry for Stuck?! Sketches July 1st sketch challenge (above). Ive had this photo and paper set aside for awhile and was trying to work out what to do with them, when I saw this sketch. I love the colour in the photo and wanted to highlight it, so I used neutral colours except on the background.

Materials used include:

October afternoon (I think) Indian summer paper
WOW chipboard flourish
Kaisercrafts Le chateau and timeless collections
Prima letters and washi tape
American crafts letter stickers
Pebeo pearl whit paint

Skissedilla/ Scrapfriends July challenge - Ali

 

Above is my challenge entry for the two challenges, Skissedilla (used their sketch), and Scrapfriends (for their colour scheme). I was very inspired by the way the colours looked in the layout from their DT, titled 'bubbles' and wanted to capture the dreamy feeling. I really loved these colours, and had the perfect photo to match with them.

Materials used include:

Fabscraps background paper

Scrapmatts wooden flourishes

American crafts Amy Tan papers

Dylusions in turquoise and Tattered angels glimmer mist in chalkboard (blue)

My minds eye Abbey road pink lace

Kaisercraft save the date fussy cut clouds and flowers

Thickers letter stickers

Heidi Swapp mask (hearts)

Prima stamp

Racing the end of the month

I figured that while I have my scrapbooking supplies from one side of the house to the other I may as well get creating as much as possible! These two layouts are tonights effort...... The layout above is for the July challenge over at Scrap the boys. The requirement is to use a black and white headshot. I found this background paper from my Authentique Curious collection which went well with the 'boy' theme.

On the back of this layout was a yellow and grey pattern, so I figured I may as well make another 'boy' layout directly on the reverse. I found a couple of challenges and used a mood board  from Punky scraps, mixed with the colour requirements from Life Paper Scrapbook and the mood board from Inkido to create the layout below....

 

 Above: Inkido mood board, Life Paper Scrapbook colour challenge
Below: Punky scraps mood board

Some more July challenge entries

 I was very disappointed to see that the Challenge Me Happy blog is ending, I have played along for a few months and really enjoyed the challenges and inspiration there! Their final challenge is 'Anything goes' and to show your best work - so I tried hard to create a layout good enough for a finale. I started off with the little mirror I had made and hoarded for the right layout, along with the matching bling and it grew from there. I chose this gorgeous photo of my daughter and her gym friends hanging out after a competition, and I love the soft lighting of the moon and tried to capture it in tones of silver, purple and blue.

To make this layout I used Tim Holtz background paper, DCWVs Once upon a time stack, Kaisercraft mirror stamp with Teresa Collins silver paper, Bella Oriental paper pad (dragonflies), Graphic 45s Nutcracker Sweet Sugar Plum fairy, WOW chipboard flourishes painted silver, Scrapmatts chipboard window mask, Prima resist canvas key, bling and memories chipboard, and a gorgeous Inkido silver flower (from the harmony blue set) which I won last month!

This next layout is for a couple of challenges - the A2Z Scraplets challenge - the theme is to use the quote 'days like this' on your page. Although I have a few of their chipboard products, I didnt have any to go with the theme! I used the quote in my journalling, along with an older photo from 2010 I have been holding onto. I am also entering this layout into the Berry71Bleu challenge for July - anything goes, as well as Scrap your story #21 - My daughter actually made the DIY embellishment on this layout and gave it to me (as a set) on mothers day. She carefully ruled the frame, cut it out and added a hand cut heart and message (laugh). I thought it was very cute, and so appropriate for the layout of her drawing!

To make this layout I used Kaisercraft Magic Happens background paper, Tildas 'Garden party' papers, Francheville washi tapes and fussy cut pencils along with Prima chipboards.

Once upon a sketch/ My sweet Earth July challenge - How does your garden grow?

 

I created this layout using the challenge criteria at My sweet Earth, as well as Once upon a sketch! I decided to take the 'grow' theme literally and used a picture and journalling about my daughters tending to their little vegetable garden. I was so excited to receive a set of Susan Wessecker's Create to live papers - and used them for the first time in this layout. I am absolutely thrilled with the results - the flowers are fussy cut from the papers and they are so bright and cheerful!

My sweet earth/ Once upon a sketch July challenge - Grow

 

 

My daughters are now being homeschooled and we have decided to incorporate scrapbooking challenges with a journalling aspect into our daily schedule.... This my daughter, Michelles (9) entry into the Once upon a sketch and My sweet Earth challenges using the sketch, colours and common theme of 'grow'. Michelles journalling reads: This photo goes with the theme grow because its a picture of an island growing massive trees

My Sweet Earth/ Once upon a sketch July challenge - Growing up fast

 

My children are now homeschooled, and as part of their curriculum we have decided to incorporate scrapbooking challenges with journalling themes that encourage their creative writing! For this challenge we combined the Sketch from Once Upon a Sketch, the colours from My sweet Earth and the combined Journalling theme - growth. This my daughter, Aeliras entry (aged 8). Her journalling reads: We kids are growing up fast!!!! We go camping and then my marshmallow gets on fire so we were brave and blow it out.

Challenge me happy July 1st challenge - Untitled

This is my entry for the 2nd last challenge over at Challenge me happy... the theme is the Rihanna song 'Umbrella'. The theme inspired me to use a patterned paper I had hoarded with lots of parasols (umbrellas) to fussy cut, and the Eastern theme to match. I eventually decided on this photo of my sister and her bridesmaids at her Thai wedding and decorated the age to match the umbrellas! I have left the journalling for my sister to fill in...

I used some Inkido flowers/ sequinned buttons/ crochet (Harmony range in beige) that I was very excited to win last month - the beige and gold matched perfectly with the pinks and golds...

13Arts July challenge - Sleeping beauty

This is my second entry into the 13Arts July challenge. I used the colours along with the stencilled hearts with modelling paste on the chipboard frame, and stencil with pen around the outer frame.

I was creating for the Scrapmatts July challenge using Inkido flowers (Harmony range in beige) which I won last month and realised I was using the colours for this months challenge over at 13 Arts - so I decided to continue with the requirements and try again as Im dying to try some of their amazing products and the colour combination looks quite stunning. I used this gorgeous photo of my daughter sleeping along with some chipboard to frame.

I am also entering this layout into the Scrapmatts July challenge, as I used their "printers tray" chipboard to frame the photo. This chipboard came with 3 pieces I have used on my layouts and has been extremely versatile. You can purchase their products directly online shipping internationally if anyone else wants to enter....

Scrapfriends July sketch - Capture the moment

 
I received some prizes this fortnight, and was so excited to begin using some of the goodies I won!! I started with this months Scrapfriends sketch challenge and went from there. I chose some photos from a night out, as I had three of them and they were smallish enough to work with the sketch. I went for a bright and bold look....

 The background is from The Lucky 7 factory's Funky fall collection and the stickers a RAK from a blog hop!

Screen to scrap July challenge - Lovely

Screen 2 scrap has a gorgeous challenge this month - using the movie poster from "The fairy" as inspiration. The criteria is to use blue, clouds and a white title! I thought it was a great excuse to scrap this altered photo of my daughter blowing bubbles!

13Arts July challenge #9 - XOXO

This is my layout for the July challenge over at 13Arts. The criteria is to use pink, peach and orange (and neutrals) and to use stencils in 2 ways. I used stencils with dylusions spray and with modelling paste. This is my daughter in Thailand being accosted by the Thai people, who adored her blondish hair and fair skin....

Lets get shabby July - Seasons of tea

Lets get shabby take 2! This was just (another) one of those nights where my layout looked just right, then I glued it down, in not quite the same spot..... I started with a small black and white photo in the blue/clear frame but when I glued one of the items on the left wrong it left a large gap and no longer looked right, so I filled the gap with a different photo but then the whole thing didnt work - so these are my attempts  and 2 at fixing it! Damn late nights - nothing ever works well....

The theme of the challenge was to design a layout inspired by the pattern on a piece of crockery. Ive actually had a layout idea on just that set aside for awhile now so I thought this would be a great chance to get it done (at 10pm...) My daughter came up to me one day recently and told me that she had decided teas represent the seasons - Iced tea for winter, black for autumn, chai for summer and green for spring. She often comes out with these odd and creative ideas so I wrote it down to save for a scrapbook page. I bought some embellishments to represent teacups/ the blue patterned china (as shown in the layout) and put everything in my stash, where it sat until tonight!

So despite my difficulties, at least my layout includes all the seasons and the story is told! Or maybe I will try again tomorrow haha

Scrap around the world July challenge - Jump

This is my entry for the July challenge over at Scrap around the world. I was inspired mostly by the first picture from the mood board, the window looking out to a garden with white lace curtains. I decided to recreate the feel by using this Printers tray chipboard by Scrapmatts, surrounded by tulle. I also kept to similar colours and feel. I followed the sketch, replacing the single photo with the printers tray, and the stars with some masked texture paste. I kept one butterfly and used flowers for the hexagon sections. 
The photos are from an afternoon  spent with the kids jumping from a tree into my brother in laws arms by the river. The smaller photos and slight blur worked perfectly for the tray and theme!

Scrap Africa July 1st challenge - Dirt magnet

I followed this months sketch over at Scrap Africa to come up with this layout.... I used this very grubby photo of my son and tried to adapt it for a boys layout. The kids are away tonight so have finally had some scrapping time! The sketch is shown below:

Bird is the word July challenge entries

 My interpretation

 Interpretation by Aelira, aged 8

Interpretation by Michelle, aged 9

 

After a recent decision to begin homeschooling my children, we decided to scrapbook together to fulfil the art and craft side of their studies. We chose a challenge that included a strong journalling theme - Bird is the word made use of the word 'courage' and included the above sketch so we decided this would be a great challenge to complete together. I spoke to the children about what courage means to them: Aelira decided it took her a lot of courage to dance on stage at Disneyland, placing her hands on a boys shoulders - being a very introverted and shy child I can understand how she struggled with that one! Michelle decided her moment of courage was riding down the hills at the BMX track, as she is always very cautious. I decided to combine my layout with the Artastic challenge this month, to use black and white plus one other colour (red), inspiration picture shown below (and it is stunning). My layout is about my daughters gymnastics, and whether it takes her more courage to perform the skills or for us to support her dreams, knowing that we are sacrificing alot of time and money for something that may never lead anywhere.