Chocolate overload

On a coldish day in spring down under it seemed like a good idea to have a hot chocolate, but after ordering I saw these delicious looking chocolate brownies.  That purchase really wasn't a good idea!  It tasted fantastic, don't get me wrong, but considering I have the sweetest tooth I know, it was just too much!

This layout documents my chocolate overload and the fact that I'm addicted to my butterfly punch at the moment!

If you happen to find yourself in Sydney near the Hyde Park Barracks I can well and truly recommend a visit to the cafe, but perhaps try the hot chocolate and brownie on separate occasions!

Happy Crafting
Debz

Happy belated national scrapbooking day

Last week we had national scrapbooking day and I was at my monthly crop all day so I took the opportunity to get involved in a challenge or two.

There were 10 challenges throughout the day.  I particularly loved the challenge to do something new and to scrap using your own handwriting.  I love journalling on my layouts, mostly because I think it's really important.  Not everyone likes to journal on layouts and that's fine too, but I love to record the small memories associated with a photo.  I'm not saying I do this for every photo, some are introductions to sections in my albums and some pages have really brief details of an event.  However a lot of my journalling tells you about how I felt somewhere or about someone, the memories invoked from the experience or just plain silly thoughts about something.  Admittedly most of those silly thoughts relate to the Ginger monster and what I think he is thinking.  Yes I do know that cats think about catching birds, sleeping and food, although not in that order, but occasionally I like to think to think there is more going on in that little brain.

Enough ramblings from me, instead I will show you two layouts that I created whilst challenging myself to do something different, but also to challenge myself to use up my scrap paper.

The first took me forever as I kept finding bits to add.  This is definitely a well padded page, but they were scraps so I felt frugal at the end rather than extremely extravagant.

The second layout is the opposite. It is really sparse and clean in design, but I love it just as much.  This was the biggest challenge of the two as I really had to think about what I could put where. Both are going to become part of my scrapping repertoire as they were so fun to do.  In an 8 hour crop I only did 3 layouts, but I loved taking the time over a layout and not feeling like there was a goal post.

The photo on this layout is the worse photo I have ever taken, but the tank was so dirty and the platypus was swimming so fast.  I decided that documenting the event was more important than having a fantastic photo. An important lesson to learn.

Happy crafting
Debz
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Metal-tastic

Over at UPA headquarters this month we are all about metal.  Being a bit of a magpie this subject was right up my street.

I've been collecting lots of images on pinterest recently showing how to create different flowers for scrapbook or card projects, but then I got thinking.  That's known to be a bit dangerous in my world.

The result of my thinking was a little collection of products.  A hot glue gun, some scissors, buttons, skewers and some metal.

Want to know what I made?  Here's a hint, but if you want to see the full result pop on over to the UPA blog.

New Life

It was a little profound when my Cornwall journey was about rediscovering life to find new life at Poldark Mine.  Sat up in the rafters, none of the staff new they were there, until I pointed them out.  It was so amazing to watch them waiting for mum to return and feed them.  They were certainly very hungry little chicks.

This ribbon was a devil to fold back on itself, but I'm glad I persevered as I think it looks really pretty.

I love using little flags, but one on it's own looks a little lonely and doesn't look right, in my opinion.  I thought I would make these flags as part of the title.

Happy Crafting
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Hi Ho, Hi Ho

Part of our Cornwall holiday in 2012 was about reliving childhood memories, memories which included dad and that until recently had been too painful to relive.  I finally feel at peace with his death, so going back to Cornwall and visiting places we went to on holiday was so therapeutic and fun.

We did "dad" things like taking a detour to see where a road went!  One particular detour took us down a really narrow lane with high hedges, which was a tad scary for me now as I'm use to motorways more than narrow lanes.  I find going back to Somerset strange now - suddenly you have to remember how to put the lights on full beam!

This particular day we went to Poldark mine as I wanted to see whether it was what I remembered.  I'm sure it's more commercialised, but I overcame my fear of being underground in narrow spaces.  Dad would have been proud that I could do it without him holding my hand!  It poured all morning so it was raining underground, which was funny.

As the layout was about mining and I wanted to included 4 photo's I needed to find a way of making the page more masculine and find a way of using embellishments which wouldn't overwhelm the photo's.  After a bit of digging I came across some Tim Holtz bits and pieces which were perfect.

Washi tape, photo negative and the metal embellishments helped me to create the feel of a notice board.

These keys have been sat around for ages, so it feels great to find new ways to use them.

The edge of the negative gave a perfect hold for some twine and I found some lovely beads to use to add an interactive element.

I love how this page has turned out even if I do say so myself!

Happy crafting
x

Precious time with you

I've always been a family person, but when you lose a parent it makes the time you spend with family even more precious.  In 2012 mum and I went to Cornwall for a week.  Admittedly going in August was probably the stupidest time to go, but go we did!

This year I have decided to concentrate on an scrapbook album at a time and have a theme running through my albums.  In the past I've scrapped photo's as and when I've felt like it, but I found the challenge of limiting the photo's I used to document the week a challenge.  It was also a very relaxing experience replaying the fun we had.

Over the coming weeks I'll show you a few more layouts but I wanted to show the final page as it summarised the holiday for me.  It was all about spending precious time with mum away from life.

It was great to reminisce and spend quality time together.  I'm loving longer titles at the moment and using multiple fonts.  The little polaroids were picked up in Australia, sorry friends they didn't quite make it to Christmas presents as I couldn't bear to give them away!

This album has really inspired me to use up lots of bits and pieces with newer items.  The flower stickers are fairly new (less than 12 months old) but I just didn't know what to use them on until now, but the buttons and grid material have been sat around for a loooooong time!

Happy crafting
xx

Ravishing ribbons

Over at Unruly Paperarts this month it's all about ribbon.  My fellow columnists have been showing some amazing uses for ribbon including some stunning flowers.  I thought I would show you all different ways of using ribbon on cards and scrapbook pages, especially leftover ribbon.

Here's an sneaky peek of one of the layouts I created:



Pop on over here to see more.

Thanks for looking and happy crafting

Debz
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Oz Winter 2012

One minute it's October and the next were in February.  Scary, time has flown so quickly.

I've been away in Oz, then it was Christmas and then the dreaded year end hit the accounts department at work.  Now that I've come up for breath I've gotten the lurgy, so I sit here on my sick bed looking at photo's of Oz.

I thought I'd share some with you before offering up some of my crafting experminents.

I went out to see a friend who emigrated during the Summer.  I missed most of the floods which was lucky for me, but whilst the weather was hot most days, be warned, the early summer isn't rainproof in Australia!

 

Thank you Bondi beach for allowing graffiti artists along the beachfront.  Stunning artwork and now I have the perfect opening photo for my scrapbook album.  There were some beautiful pieces some in memory of people lost during rescues and one dedicated to war hero's. 

 

 

I stayed in Bondi about 15 minutes from the beach.  Such a hardship being able to wander down to a beautiful beach each day.  Whilst really touristy, it was still a great place to people watch, practise drawing and read whiling away the day.  The famous Bondi iceberg swimming club was to the right of this photo.  Apparently to become a member you have to swim in the open pool every day for 4 years - nutters!

On my first weekend, my friend and I escaped the city for some fresh air in the Blue Mountains.  It was a little overcast, but it was still a stunning place to visit.  We trekked for two days taking in some beautiful waterfalls before heading down under the canopy via an old open mine train.  It was like being on an old roller coaster, but a very short ride.



I love culture so when I saw a show about the Aboriginal tribes I had to go and see it, dragging a reluctant friend with me. We watched and listened to tribal dance and music before heading off for more trekking.

 

I wanted to play with my tripod, but the one night I took it into the city it poured with rain.  This was the only shot I got, but I love it!  It was pitch dark at the time, we had had a lovely seafood meal and dashed over to the Opera bar for a quick photo before heading home.  

 This friendly boy lived just outside of Sydney in an animal park which specialised in conservation along with his Koala and Cockatoo friends.  Watching them being fed was hilarious.  They all rushed up behind the keeper waiting in a massive group following her around like she was the pied piper.

 

 

After a long and strenuous journey into the Hunter Valley it was only right to cool down with a taster or two of wine.  If you ever find yourself in Sydney and want a great tour guide I recommend Kangorific Tours. During the tour we visited a chocolate maker, a cheese maker and 3 wineries. 

 

What can I say, so cute!

 

 

 But not as cute as this boy!

 

 

I loved Oz, especially the time spent with Cas and walks along the coast.  I'll be back soon with some scrapbook pages and altered art.

 

Happy Crafting

Debz

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