Workshop Secrets

Hi there,

I'm so sorry I've been a but quiet on the blogging front lately. I've just been busy! I've had a busy time with work, kids and scrapping and something else had to give! Anyway, I am here to make amends.

I thought It's high time I gave an update on my Workshop Secrets articles in Scrapbooking Memories magazine.

Vol 15, No 6
This subject was about using old papers as I felt this is an issue we all have to deal with. Since I wrote that article I haven't thrown out any old papers as I keep using them for backgrounds and in the ways I discussed in my article. Here's my favourite layout from that article.

I used mists over chipboard shapes to create the background and layered strips of old paper along with a painted chipboard border to form the vertical piece. The black ribbon is exactly how it was cut off a present a long time ago and I topped it all with that gorgeous Manor House flower.

Vol 15, No 7
This was hopefully the only time I ever have something published that I'm not happy with! When the magazine offered me this regular article there was so little time to get the first couple of articles done. Neither of the layouts in this edition turned out the way I wanted but I had no time to re-do them. This will be a long post if I put all the layouts up so I'll just leave these ones out!

Vol 15 , No 8 and No 9
These were my articles about photographing your work for blogs and submissions and how to get published in magazines. I hope you got a few ideas from them! In a bit of a twist, the magazine chose some of my layouts that they had already accepted as the ones to publish with the second article. Here's one they chose.

I had fun creating this one. I randomly stuck chipboard letters all over the background but deliberately stuck the x and o where I did. I used Dylusions to spray over the centre of the layout and built the page up over that.

Vol 15, No 10
I chose a somewhat different subject for this one - I discovered that it can be pretty cool to create shadowbox layouts by raising the edges and other parts of a page. Adding 3D elements around the edges can really give the page that extra pop.

For this layout I cut the border from the Graphic 45 paper and added this over another piece of the same paper. To help you pick the detail on a flat photo, the border includes (clockwise from centre top) the trapeze girl, the ringmaster, the running clown, the curtain and the title. The pages are quite stunning in real life but don't show the detail on photos.

I hope you're enjoying the articles. If you have any comments or suggestions, by all means let me know!

Heather

Weekend in Brisvegas

Oh my goodness - what a weekend! I went to the scrap expo in Brisbane. It was so much fun!

I couldn't fly up til the Saturday as we had the Rockwiz crew come to Ballarat for a live performance on the Friday night. It was hysterical!

Beck and I went to the expo together and had to do the obligatory pose out the front thing...

We met up with Kaye Grieve and each did our Masters talk. It was a bit daunting but lots of fun! I'm so appreciative of the people who came to watch. My Ballarat friend, Lisa, even left her class to watch!

Some of the ladies that I with chat with online were there and it was so good to meet them. A special hello to Angela, Wendy and Lizzy C who all went out of their way to catch up.

 A special hi also to my friend Jo who I see once a year at Brisbane. (Good photo Beck!)

To those of you that could only make it on the Saturday, I feel bad that I didn't have enough time to spend with you. I'll have to make it up next year!

That night Karen Shady, Beck and I went to dinner with a bevy of scrapping beauties. Even though it was raining it was still warm so it was lovely to eat in the fresh air. We had a great night.

Scrapbooking Memories magazine was well represented - apart from Beck, Kaye and I there was also Gail Lindner.....

and Peg Hewitt.....

Sunday saw me helping out on the Manor House Creations stand for a while which was a lot of busy fun. Then it was out to explore all the goodies on sale. There was really nothing much that I needed but I managed to spend a small fortune still! Sunday evening saw a crowd pile into our hotel room for an impromptu show and tell session before we hit the town again. Naomi, Michelle and those wild ladies of the north were lots of fun!

A sure sign of a good night out!

Just to finish off a totally indulgent and girly night out, we bought churros and chocolate and ate them in our hotel foyer! Karen showed us how it's done....

The next day, after a final shopping frenzy, Marilize, Karen and I caught the train to the airport where we managed to chat loudly for quite some time before we realised we were in the quiet carriage! Whoops!

I'm so glad I was able to get to she expo and hope I can make it again next year. Woohoo!

Heather

30 Cards In 30 Days

It's the first day of winter and it sure feels like it! It's grey and miserable here.

Here's some news to brighten up the day of the card makers though. Katherine at Scrap Everything! is having her annual 30 Cards In 30 Days challenge.

This is a fun challenge with a prize as well. You can find out more info here.

Hope you can join in. Just think of how much you'll achieve! You might make enough cards to see you through the year!

Have fun!

Heather

I'm A Prizewinner!

Well I'm very excited to announce that I won a prize on the first ever Scrap Around The World challenge! There were 82 entries from at least 19 different countries! There were four winning places and four honourable mentions and I came fourth! Not bad for an Aussie girl from the bush :)

Here's my layout:

If you'd like to see more details on the layout, just scroll down a few posts.

I loved both the sketch and the mood board at Scrap Around The World and can't wait to see what they come up with for June.

Woohoo!

Heather

Scrap Friends Challenge

I always have the best of intentions of submitting to online challenges, but never seem to find the time. I seem to have caught up this month so am thrilled to attempt a Scrap Friends challenge. I haven't done one for ages. I've been particularly trying to do a challenge on this site for a while as they have a seriously interesting DT and I love their sketches and colour challenges.

Me being the colour addict that I am, it seemed logical that I should go with the colour palette challenge. Here's this month's palette:

I was attracted to the deep pink and went straight to a gorgeous new Prima paper I had bought. I then ran with that idea but ended up with more green and less pink than originally planned. That's probably not a bad thing as the photo is of my daughter when she was very little and she now hates pink!

Here's my layout:

There's nothing quite as adorable as a sleeping child. The bg paper is Prima as are the gorgeous banners. To make the flower banner, I pulled out the centres from larger Manor House flowers and only used these. I then "tied them up" with satin ribbon.

Here are some close ups.

I inked each of those pieces of banner and attached them with double sides tape. I then very carefully glued the twine along the top. A labour of love I think!

Thanks for looking!

Heather

Brisbane Expo

Hi Ladies. Well the time is drawing nearer for the Brisbane Expo. I'd love to know who of you are going. It would be wonderful to meet you in real life.

If you haven't booked your accommodation, the special deal I had going at Rydges South Bank is closed I'm afraid. You can still book through the normal channels though.

Hope to see you there!

Heather

Oh Snap! Part 2

Hi all,

If you're in the southern part of this amazing country I hope you've got your winter woollies on! It's freezing! I think we're feeling it more than usual as it's been so warm until now. The good thing about the cold weather though is that it allows me to scrap guilt-free!

You might remember that I made a layout using the new Oh Snap! range from Echo Park a couple of weeks ago for Scrap Everything! At the time I said I would get at least 2 more layouts out of the pack. By adding two pieces of cardstock I have now made a double layout and still have a full sheet, half the stickers and some part sheets left. At $9 this is definitely a great value pack.

Here's what I made:

I think a lot of you might relate to this situation. There's a group of happy people, they're all keen for a photo but none of the photos are perfect. Someone's eyes are shut, someone turns away, the wind blows someone's hair in their face and, in this case, they have a little chat in the middle of it!

Here's the first page:

I wrote the problems that occurred with each photo underneath it, so it told the story of how I had to keep taking another photo and another..... Thanks goodness for the digital age!

The background is quite simple. I just cut a sheet of the Oh Snap! paper in half, put a half on each of the two pages and added a bit of a contrasting colour trim at the top and bottom. I then just took some scraps, cut them into the right size and shape, and created a banner along the bottom of the block. A lot of the banner is hidden by the photos but it creates an extra bit of interest and isn't difficult to do.

That long title is self explanatory really!

 Here's a closie of the second page:

I love that Oh Snap! shape. What do you call that shape? An explosion? I also snuck a date tab onto my banner so it forms a part of it.

Those film strips are so useful - and there's two sheets of them in the pack! I like the way that you could use just about any photos with these. I still have a full sheet left so expect to see these pop up again in my layouts.

And the last close-up:

 If you get this Oh Snap! pack I hope you get the mileage out if it that I have. I'll let you know when I make another layout with it.

Bye for now.

Heather