October Swirlydoos Kit and the first of the Wedding Layouts

Hi Guys, 

Well it seems that i have actually had a good a whole good week of days blocked together for a change and during that time I have managed to play with the October Swirlydoos Kit - Belle Chanson and the Amazing wedding photographs from my fathers recent marriage and taken by the enormously talented and long time family friend Rhiannon Taylor. 

 

Using the reverse of the beautiful Teresa Collins Vintage Finds Music Paper (which came in the October Kit) as a background this page came together reasonably quickly. The beautiful black and white photograph of my father and his bride, is surrounded by the new number *5 Prima door embellishments which i have turned upside down, as it seemed to look and match much better with this layout as the yellow tended to muddy the rest of the colours on the layout. Four teal Petaloo flowers have then been topped with the Kaisercraft roses creating the corner cluster.   

 

Above is a close up of the flower cluster made from a combination of Petaloo flowers, a gorgeous prima diamond dusted rose from the simply irresistible kit a year or so back, and three teal Kaisercraft mini roses. hiding underneath the the cluster is a white Prima SIIC set.  

The corner flags are further embellished with Kaisercraft pearls and miniroses, and again are completed with the addition of one of those gorgeous Prima diamond dusted roses that i have had hanging out in my stash for just the perfect layout.  The Prima Resist Canvas triangle banner pieces have been alternatively coloured with a combination of Tim Holtz Peacock Feathers, and then lightly topped off with Viva Decor Inka Gold Metallics in Metallic Green. A product which was later used on the Fab Scraps header.

 

Martha Stewart punches have also provided a bit of extra design around the edges of the paper and also has been used to highlight the bottom part of the photograph. 

 

Now the most challenging part of the layout and a part which i'm not entirely happy with the way it turned out was the Fab Scraps heading piece - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. The chipboard piece was covered in in a light coating of Viva Decor's Metallic Silver Ferro which when dry was rubbed and coated in different places with Inka Gold Metallics in Green, Blue and a Metallic Purple. Unfortunately i was unable to get a really nice shine from the Inka Gold colours on the chipboard like that of on the canvas which i had previously trialled it on. The chipboard has a rather gritty feel and look to it, which to my liking is perhaps just that little bit too much for the beauty and more elegant feel of this page.

 

Finally to finish the page off i have added a few extra Prima Trinkets both hanging and the lovely new ceramic lady just as a final highlight. 

Well as you can see there is just so much yummy goodness to play with in the October kit from Swirlydoos. And if you look closely i have only actually used one of the gorgeous pieces of paper included this month. This means at this rate i have tonnes more paper and embellies to use on the rest of the wedding photos. It is simply amazing just how versatile, and how far these kits can stretch. 

Thanks for dropping by to take a bit of a look....

Finished Kaisercraft Advent Calendar

Well hello again, bet you didn't think I'd be back for a while.... Well not surprising really given my track record of late.

So the good news is my kaisercraft advent calendar is finally finished! Yay!! Now it did take a bit of time doing it in between this and that, but it really was just so much fun to do... And it has used up quite a few of my supplies that I was having a little trouble getting around to using.

The majority of the unit is covered in Kaisercraft Christmas edition papers from not only this year but also going back to last year and 2010. There is also a lot of new latest release kaisercraft chipboard ornaments and decorations, along with petaloo, prima, and kaiser flowers. Unfortunately the photo (taken on the iPad) just doesn't show how much glitter has been poured over this project but let's just say that even if nothing else is ready for Christmas this year at least I could be mistaken for a sparkling decoration instead.....

The centre of the unit is actually a Christmas scene of a living room all decked out and waiting for santa to arrive. It includes Melissa Frances moulded christmas tree ornaments, moulded picture frames and miniature Christmas trees, alongside new release Prima moulded ornament ceiling rose and hanging chandelier. The little presents in the centre are of course Kaisercraft again, and the table i actually asked my father to knock together out of some scraps of Sassafras timber he happened to be working on the other day. Now my main idea was to be able to use this unit for many christmas's to come so I have made the internal scene on a backing of cardstock rather than directly onto the wood. Meaning next christmas if i want to change the centre image to something else i can just slide out the cardstock and begin again.

So there it is ladies and gents. Not the greatest photos but i will try and take a few more over the next few days with the real camera! 

Now two quick things before i go, firstly i'd like to thank Kaisercraft for  putting out such a great little Christmas project, that was so easy to work with, and that coordinates 100% with their beautiful new release christmas lines. If you haven't seen their christmas collections you simply must pop on over to their website and have a look. And guys they really do look better in person when you have them in your hot little hands. 

And the second thing Krissy over at Swirlydoos has released her christmas add ons to subscribers and all i can say is woweee you really cant afford to miss out on such a gorgeous all inclusive kit. But the extra special announcement this month Krissy herself will be teaching a tutorial on just how to make this very advent calendar with all the latest techniques and products (including moulding paste and viva decor ferro) from CHA just in time for Christmas. So please pop on over to Swirlydoos and check out her tutorial class offering. Honestly you wont be disappointed. 

if you have any questions or want any close ups just drop me a comment and i will bs only too happy to try help out. 

Thanks for stopping by!! 

Kaisercraft Advent Calendar

 These Kaisercraft Advent Draws pictured below are the Kaisercraft 2012 release for the Christmas season.

Given that this one is a little smaller than past editions (the center measuring 5 inch by 5.5 inch) This year i found myself compelled to have a go at it. So far I haven't managed to get very far but u have managed to paint the outsides and pattern paper the draws.

There is still lots to do until it is finished however i am currently well on my way.

Below are some progress pictures of my attempt......

So far i have found this kit so easy to put together, it holds really well with Helmar glue.  I also found that the back can be left unglued and removed during the decorating process to aid in getting into some of the smaller areas, and then simply added later on when the project is complete. And i must admit it has so far come in handy a few times!!! 

The Draws fold up well and again hold well with helmar glue when covered with  a piece of patterned paper in the dimensions 4cm tall by 18cm in length. Just to plug Kaisercraft again, their new range of Christmas papers "Turtle Dove", "Just Believe", "Twig and Berry" and some from last years collection, make absolutely fantastic material for the base of the advent calendar. 

So now while i leave you all to have a bit of a look at the Kaisercraft Website and drool over the Christmas talent over there, im off to try and get a little more done on this Project which i hope will become a Christmas Tradition Piece in itself. 

Thanks for joining me.... 

Tammy     

Sept Swirlydoos Kit and Werribee Zoo

So I know i promised to try and keep this blog a little more up to date but once again i've been a bit slack (well ok not quite slack more sick again).

In between times I have managed to do a little bit of scrapping in the meantime. Starting with the lovely September Inspiration Kit from Krissy over at Swirlydoos, I have put together this layout "Pride of Africa" based upon the lions out at the Werribee Open Range Zoo.

 Sorry for the patchy picture the light has been terrible to photograph this week! 

The green title letters, PRIDE, are made from the Martha Stewart Clay Kit and the MS Alphabet Mould. The little lion cameo is also made from the MS clay mould round frame then filled with one f my favourite new products so far "Ice Resin" to form the domed cameo on the left.

The backing paper is the wonderful Core'dinations Hermit Clocks paper, which has been sanded in differing spots to represent the dusty plains of Africa. I also had a lot of fun playing with the new release blooms from Dusty Attic in the green colour and the new release Prima flower collection.

So thanks again to swirlydoos for an amazing kit to get all the inspiration flowing! Looking forward to the arrival of the next one!! 

Thanks for stopping by!!     

2 Kits in One Day!!! I'm in Heaven

Yes you read it 2 Swirlydoos kits arrived on the same day!! For those of ou who didn't actually hear the whooping with delight already, i can tell you, it was a fantastic moment!! All those goodies YAY...

But before i get into showing you the promotional pics of each kit first i should explain that no its not really normal for 2 kits to arrive at the same time, they really are supposed to arrive month by month, however this July my kit decided it might like to go on a bit of a sightseeing trip to canada, before heading off out here to Aus.... So with all its stealth it tricked Krissy into sending it off in the wrong direction and then attempted to grab her camera so it could take pics on its journey... Luckily for me it was apprehended on Maria's doorstep where it was trying to convince its travel companion and new love interest (Maria's kit) to elope with it on a round the world journey. However Maria's box could simply not imagine leaving her owner desperate to receive the concealed scrapbooking goodies, and thus aided in the capture and rerouting of the said rogue kit back on its course out to Australia.

So with much trouble and a good talking to, the July Swirlydoos Kit - The Paper Doll, as seen below in the promo pic

Has finally arrived. Unfortunately it did not supply me with photographs or postcards of where it had been, but i'm so pleased to actually be able to play with it. The kit is full of beautiful pastel colours and one of the most exciting parts is the Martha Stewart Clay Kit which is included. I cant wait to get my hands into this.

And if that was not enough excitement for one day the second August Swirlydoos kit - Vintage Traditions was also in the same van!! Now this little box behaved itself and made it out here with all haste and is full of all sorts of vintage goodies.

From Kaisercraft, Maya Road, 7 Gypsies, to Prima and Petaloo the kit is full of surprising little bits and pieces. Take a look at the pic below to see how the main kit looks...

Along with a cute little kaisercraft family tree, this kit is sure to keep you going for hours and hours!!

So a big thanks to Krissy over at Swirlydoos for some gorgeous scrappy supplies, and now i'm off to play....

Regards

Tammy

A Little Toot! - Achievement

Okay so i know its been a while again but i just couldn't not share the following fantastic little piece of news with my family and friends!

Simply out of the blue one of my layouts (Kyoto) has been selected and photographed for the August Edition of Australian Scrapbooking Memories! How amazing. I'm a little bit excited!! So if you are interested pop on over to the Magazine and have a bit of a look. There is a tiny version of it on the index page (bottom Left) and then a larger version later on in the magazine. Now i couldn't have achieved this without the amazing talent and encouragement from the girls over at swirlydoo's so a big thanks to them. And another little thank you goes out to the lovely, lovely, staff of  A Scrappangels Heaven, my LSS, who's encouragement really really goes a long way... (Girls you know who you are!!)

So here are a couple of snap pics of the mag! Hope you all enjoy!

Ok so i guess you can all tell i'm just a little bit excited about this achievement, for those of you who know me personally, you'll understand that whilst i know i wont be able to go climbing Mt Everest any time soon, i still have managed to achieve a little goal of having something published... Its so nice to prove myself wrong for a change!! lol...

So a big thanks for dropping by...

Tammy

A new page and its been a long time....

Well its been a long time since posts! Almost two months and well a lot has gone on in those weeks..

With the arrival of my sisters new baby, (and the little man suffering from some mighty colic to present quite a challenge for the new parents), the wedding plans in full force, a couple of rounds of surgery thrown in amongst it, and to top it all off a rather frustrating car purchase, life has been quite interesting if not full on for a while now. Unfortunately the downside of things being so hectic has meant that there has been very little scrap time available.

I have however managed to get a few little things done including this one page dedicated to my wonderfully supportive father, made with the April Swirlydoos kit.

The page is a mixture of Prima papers, flowers, stamps and elements, Kaisercraft stamps and rubbons, dusty attic chipboard elements and martha stewart punches amongst other things.

The four diamond flowers have been stamped with Prima mosaics square stamp and then trimmed up each of the four sides before being folded into triangle flowers. This idea originally came from the most talented Irene Tan also known as scrapperlicious. Please do visit her blog and check out her amazing talent.

Once again thanks to Krissy for a fantastic kit this month.

April Swirlydoos Kit - Remember This Day

Now i do remember saying that the April Swirlydoos Kit was looking amazing! Well after diving in and petting all those goodies i finally managed to put the bits down for long enough so put together this page on my beautiful little newborn nephew.

Remember this day - Cody James

Combining the new Prima Almanac line with, some gorgeous prima oldies, (Such as the vines and the little grey flowers) honestly the kit is just so versatile and has so many different options that can be combined to produce a range of page outcomes.

I hadn't had a real chance to play with the Prima crystal drops so far and this page gave me the opportunity to play with those and the new Prima Almanac line mini rose collection. I am absolutely sold on them!

Thanks for stopping by now!

Tammy

April Swirlydoos Kit!! Its Arrived...

Well i just woke up and surprise surprise on the doorstep was the April Swirlydoos Kit. And woooeee is it Gorgeous filled with a mix of blacks, caramels and soft pinks, this month the kit really packs a punch! 

Have a sneaky peaky below at the main kit (courtesy of the swirlydoos website)

APRIL KIT - WHISPERS OF SPRING

The kit along with the fabulous add on collection contains all sorts of new goodies from the brand new cha prima almanac collection, to all sorts of goodies from petaloo, smooch, etc etc. 

This really is not a kit to miss... head over to the Swirlydoos store for your chance to grab one of the limited remaining kits in the store.. Good luck in getting your hot little hands on em! 

The Yummy Yummy Extras you can add to the main kit. 

 Each month it looks like Krissy has outdone herself but i can definitely vouch for this month being on of the best most versatile kits she has made so far. 

Swirlydoos March Swirlyhues Entry

Hi everyone,

Well i'll admit to being a little tardy with this latest layout. While it was meant to be my entry for the March Swirly hues Competition over at Swirlydoos i kind of missed the deadline, what with the birth of my nephew and the relaying of the carpet in the main living areas of the house. For a good two weeks there, there was no access to the scrap area to actually rescue the page to finish it. Now that a lot of the chaos is over its time to reveal the finished layout!

March Swirly Hues Entry using the March Swirlydoos Kit

The March Kits was just fantastic to work with!! And those new prima 30 flower packs are just brilliant one of my favourite prima products to date i think. They are so versitile can be pulled apart and contain such a range of colours there is now always just the perfect flowers for any job all in the one pack. Congrats Prima and such a fantastic new product.. 

Now the colour scheme for the march challenge was Brown, Green and an Orange colour. The photo of the old trestle bridge was taken up in Noojee, Victoria Australia (hence the title relics of the past) Noojie is famous for its amazing restaurant and accommodation called The Outpost Retreat. Now if you are looking for a calm relaxing weekend getaway, this lace is an absolute gem. The food is just amazing and tucked away in semi rainforest, semi outback conditions it really is worth spending some time at. If you are just up in the area for a day, drop into the outpost grill, restaurant, and bar. As i have said the food is just amazing, and really really well priced. 

Now back to this page!!

The title has been (for want of the correct word which is currently eluding me) roughed up with the new Invild Bolme Craft Tool, and then inked around the sides with another new product, the gathered twigs, seasonal ink release from Tim Holtz, in order to get that murky older kind of look to it.  

Tucked away in the top right corner is a little prima birdcage and a little header tag made from Tim Holtz distress paper inked with a walnut distress stain, and then covered with a small diecut prima tag and the words Noojie 2012 have been added with the new Prima mini alphabet stickers. 

Overall the layout is simply brimming with Prima, Petaloo, Tim Holtz, Martha Stewart, and a little bo bunny goodness thrown in there for good measure.  

And finally on the left hand side the Roses have been cut and stamped with the bella rose collection of dies and stamps from Heartfelt Creations and then water coloured again with the new Distress Markers from Tim Holtz and Ranger.

I must also add here, there is no way i would have attempted this water colouring if it hadn't been for the commitment and teaching provided by Tim Holtz in his Creative Chemistry 101 Class. I just wanted to acknowledge Tim and what i had learned from his class.

If you have any questions please drop me a comment.

Thanks for dropping by.    

Introducing my Nephice - Cody James

After what seems like an eternity of waiting for me, finally last monday my gorgeous little Nephew (Cody James) entered the world. The Squishy Wishy little man wasn't really quite ready to join us but after some complications arose he was induced and is now safe and sound in Mum and Dads arms.

Congrats to my amazing Sister and her fantastic husband (my brother in law) Even though my BIL had a few hard moments to deal with himself, His Strength of character has proven to be just what the pair both needed and we are all so proud of the way they have both coped without the benefits of family help and mainly on their own.

So without further adieu here is a pic of the little man himself. Welcome Cody i cant wait to begin to get to know you little nephew!

 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Tammy

Swirlydoos April Kit Release

Wowee well a happy easter to all. I hope everyone has had a great easter weekend. Around here, after a wonderfully relaxing weekend celebrating the beginning of the week has started in great fashion with the release of the Swirlydoos April Kit.

Filled with some of the amazing yumminess included below, I just cant wait for this one to arrive! For some amazing inspiration, please take a few moments to visit the the blogs of the Design Team, or complete the April Blog Hop.

Swirlydoos April Kit

Creative Chemistry 101 - Day 10

CC101 Our Final Day - Day 10

Well given that today is the final day of teaching from Tim and the gang over at Creative Chemistry 101, it was looking like it would be a bit of a sad occasion. The course has been absolutely fantastic, Tim is an amazing teacher and the effort he has put in along with all his other commitments is just a testament to his personality and willingness to share his art with all. 

So Tim chose to surprise us with a fantastic last project that shimmers and sparkles and wipes all those sad endings away. I think in some ways the fact that i couldn't do all of the techniques in the first few days though is a bit of an extra bonus for me as now i can go back and it will still feel like tim is teaching me a new class even though its all over!! 

Well enough of the prattling here is the final Technique tag made by me for the class

Tech 1. Rock Candy Distress Stickles

And here its is

 My final days tag for CC101. I tried to get the sparkle in the second image but it didn't really capture it all that well. Needless to say this baby really sparkles. 

Once again thanks for checking in

Tammy

Creative Chemistry 101 - Day 8

Day 8 of Creative Chemistry Paints and Primers

Wow this class is absolutely just flying by. Its already day 8 of the second week and WOW has there been so much to learn. I am so very glad that i signed up, as i really have learned not only how to use some of the Ranger products i had hiding all around the scraproom, but also how to apply these techniques to other products i have also hidden away because they kind of terrify me. CC101 Has now given me the confidence to break out some of those supplies and have a bit of a play. I have now been unchained so to speak (i was going to say unhinged but hey we all know that already!!!) 

So back to Day 8.... Today we played with different types of paints, including crackle paints, and seeing how they interact with the distress range of products.  I didn't have quite enough time to get the crackle paint one done, so here are the first two and i'll update the third one later.

Tech 1. Paint Dabber Resist

Tech 3 - Shattered Stains (now this one was really fun)

Now inking and watching these pieces turn into a stained glass effect was just fantastic. I kind of wanted an older steampunky type effect from this tag and thats exactly how it came out. A little worn and hazy, with the brighter colours of the glass effect. 

So stay tuned for an update to this post very soon with the final tag technique... 

Thanks for stopping by 

Tammy 

Creative Chemistry 101 - Day 7

Day 7 of Creative Chemistry 101, was all about Embossing and even though i have tried and tried i still believe i need a bit of practice on this one. I managed to bribe another volunteer for today's class (however this wasn't such an easy task) It seems as soon as i mention anything to do with ink or scrapping all you can see around here is the remains of dust clouds as everyone scarpers to those important appointments they had suddenly remembered!

I actually love embossing and i sure am going to try and continue to improve my technique now that i have developed the other skills to complement the embossing techniques. 

So the line up for today is.........

Tech 1. Nostalgic Batik

   

Tech 2. Rusted Enamel

And Tech 3. Distress Powder Resist  (Not a great Photograph of this one sorry!)

If anyone has any suggestions as to how to resolve the little flecks of missing powder or like splotches of white around some of the inkings and embossing. They appear to make the embossed image look grainey or like you have used a stamp that is not of a very good quality, i would love to hear some suggestions.... 

Thanks again for stopping by....

Tammy

Creative Chemistry 101 Day 5

Hey Guys!!

Well sorry for being a bit slow on the blogging, the whole broken bones thing has really slowed me up a bit!!! In fact it slowed me up so much i couldn't do much of the initial tim holtz course until around Day 5 when i managed to snag a victim ( i mean volunteer, lol) to help out a bit with holding things etc. I tell you ink really is designed for making a mess of both hands not just one!

So without further adieu here are my attempt at Day 5 - Spray Inks and Stains.. Now boy was this element fun!! I don't think Dad (my victim errr i mean volunteer) quite understands my love for all things inky but he sure was thrown in at the deep end!!

     

Now the Stamping with stains technique No 2 above actually looks much better up close. I chose a damask stamp which was then inked with picket fence for the resist part. I have tried to capture a better view of the outcome in the next photo.

In this picture you can see the beautiful pattern the picket fence has made in the background. 

Now i really struggled with the marbled stain technique trying to get anything that didn't look all mucky and brown. My first hint maybe try not to use walnut, or vintage photo in the initial staining unless that really is the look you are after (ie See Below)

Marbled stains technique first attempt.

So i retried this a couple of times until i was happy with the colour outcome.  

So a big thanks to Dad for all his help, i couldn't have done these one handed without him. And all i can say is roll on Day 6!!!

Thanks for stopping by 

Tammy

Aughhhhhhhhhh

So only 3 days out from the Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101 Online course, and disaster!! I have gone and fractured my wrist and arm, cheekbone, toe, torn the ligaments in my shoulder and ended up with multiple bruises to my knees, ribs, chest and arms.

All this with one tiny fall, when my beautiful Cavalier King Charles left a soft toy in the middle of the floor.  I'm convinced the stuffed bear jumped up and grabbed my foot. I'm sure the little devil did it deliberately....

So here are the two culprits looking all innocent!!! if only they knew just how much trouble they have caused!

It wasn't my fault, honest, 

Beware the sleeping dog toy!

So now i am one armed and pretty much out of action but i am still trying to take part in Tim's Classes! Its been quite interesting to try find solution to 

work around so methods, And seeing Tess all pink after the distress stains had a mind of their was quite amusing for me, but maybe not so much for her! So now you have the story on the broken bones and can probably understand why i'm finding things a little difficult right at the moment.!!!

On the good side its only about 6 weeks until my little nephice is born and by then hopefully everything will be healed and i can pick up the gorgeous new addition to the family!!! 

thanks for dropping in

Take care now

Tammy

And Day 1 of Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101 has begun

All i can say is WOW what a fantastic start to Day 1 of Creative Chemistry 101 with Tim Holtz.... His video and teaching style are so simple and clear that even i (who can be creatively challenged at the best of times) could easily follow and i even learned some quite critical information all within the first five minutes of the class.

Now Tim the cheeky monkey set us some homework for the first day, but who could really grumble when it was a free pass to go and play with all your supplies and ink and let loose carte blanch all with his permission. For all those starving husbands, wives, and children this evening blame it all on Tim!!!

Now here are a few of my attempts at just testing out inks on paper. Im sorry that the photo quality isn't that good, as they were taken on a mobile phone, and the swatches are very simple however, at the moment i am severely limited by a broken arm and wrist..(now thats another story!)  Now i did actually try to get the distress stains out but when i ended up with a tattered rose coloured dog i decided it was best not to try experiment with the mists and stains just yet!

  

So even though i'm a bit restricted i did at least attempt to try and get a better understanding of the inks. So stay tuned for more as the course progresses and maybe a bit more using more of the inks if i can persuade someone into being my arms for a few hours!!!

Take Care Now, 

Tammy