Miss M's finished Room

Finally I have taken a decent photo of the new room.  I am please and so is she on how it has turned out.  Now we are just trying to get everything to fit back in it again. 

We may have to do another sort through of things and find some new storage systems, but I am sure it will come together over the holidays.

the next thing that I would like to work on for Miss M's room is a nice banner with the word "DREAM" on it.  I have some ideas so now I just need to sit down and create it.  Will let you know how I get on.

Post Christmas

I hope you all had a great Christmas.  Once again I ate too much.  I think it was because we had two big Christmas meals almost in a row.  One on Christmas Eve with my family, which was great.  The other on Christmas Day with Simple Church.  One tried not to over eat but with the two so close I don't think I had completely digested the first lot before we had Christmas Day.  Ah Well I will work it off quickly.
 
I have been enjoying the break from work this week and I have even given myself permission to scrapbook for myself and here are a couple of layouts I have done.  It has been just so nice to sit and create with no pressures.

 With this layout I used some of the Imaginisce Wild Things paper with some green and brown plain papers.  I printed many of my photos to 3x4 so that I could get more photos on the layout.  This layout was of the family Christmas Party from my husbands work, it was held at Kiwi Valley which is just around the corner from us.  I had a lot of fun creating the layout in the afternoon on Christmas day.  What a great way to just chill out.  I had a lot of fun inking the edges of the journaling block using the Walnut Ink from the Distress Inks collection.

 This is another layout I created on Christmas day afternoon.  This is of Miss M and her favourite teacher at school.  Here I used the Making Memories Paperie paper for my background and a Kraft Giant tag from Bazzill with some flowers and the lettering is from the Alphlicious cartridge for the Cricut.

This last layout I have used the Modello collection from Upsy Daisy with a splash of bling and some flowers.  This was a lot of fun to create and relatively quick, it just sort of fell together.
I layered some flowers and added some buttons to the centers that were a similar colour to Miss M's top she was wearing.

I went down to my local photo shop and got even more photos printed so no doubt I will have more to share soon.

Also some new product arrived just before Christmas so I will have to put those on the online shop soonish.  Might give you a sneak peak another day - LOL!

Latest Layouts

I love getting a chance to sit down and scrapbook at workshops.  I have not had much time lately so on the weekend when we had our workshop I took advantage of the time and managed to almost complete three layouts.  All that was left to do was to add the titles and bling, so what a shame I just had to do that first thing Monday morning.
Here they are, let me know what you think.  I am trying to get a little more adventurous with inks and different techniques.

 I love this Birch Sparkly starburst paper.  I just matted my photo, added a couple of flowers with a button brad which I sanded the middle for a slightly distressed look.  Using the Distress Inks I inked the edges of the background paper, this seems to have given the layout some definite edge or frame.  Lastly I cut a title using the Cricut (yes I have one of semi-permanent loan).

With this layout I have used the Teresa Collins Freestyle Clocks (available in the latest ScrapPack or on its own) as my background.  I added a half circle which I traced using the Hot Off The Press Circle Template.  I inked the edge of the circle and added some hand made flames and some bling.  For the title I used the Cricut once again and mounted the letters on a slide mount that has been raised using foam tape for some dimension.
All I need to do now is write the journaling for this as to why I had to purchase a new Jug.  I think I might do this on strips of cardstock.

This has to be my favourite layout of the three.  I just love the background paper which is Bella Ancestry Progeny.  All I really needed to do for this layout was add the photos of Miss G, attach a range of flowers in neutral colours using brads and then some bling swirls using the Imaginisce I-Rock and GlamRocks.

The children in my kids classes at the moment are making Advent Calendars using matchboxes.  They are looking really awesome.  As soon as I get a chance I will take a photo of them and post them for you to see what these talented kids have been up to.

So yeah ... let me know what you think of the layouts.

Paint or Draw

We are finally coming up the home stretch of redecorating my youngest daughter's room - Miss M.  It has taken more than a month as we can only do it mainly on the weekend and some week nights.  It has also taken a longer time as we needed to put pink batts in the walls and get the Gibb-stopping done.  But check this out Miss M wanted to help decorate her room.

 She was just so excited that she could help paint her own room.  Last night the first coat went on and tonight hopefully the second coat and the feature wall will get painted.  Then the painting can be just about finished in time for Miss M's 12th birthday tomorrow.

Also yesterday I boiled some eggs as you do ready for some sandwiches for lunches today.  I asked Miss G to mark them so I knew which were hard boiled and which were raw and check out what she did.

 I had to laugh, I will definitely be making a layout with this and other photos of the eggs.  They are Harry and Hailey.  I normally just write an "H" on the hard boiled eggs.  I like this better though, they look so cute in the fridge door.  Unfortunately Harry is no more though as he made a really nice sandwich for hubby today.

Happy Scrappin' everyone.

Samples are fun to create

I have had a bit of fun this week with some of the lovely papers and scrapbooking products that have been arriving lately.  I have made some samples for you to look at, fall in love with and purchase the product for yourself from our online shop - LOL!

It has been great to sit down and create I have to admit.  Here is a layout I have created using the latest Making Memories Reverie range.

The papers and alpha stickers are from the Noir Reverie Range.  For the tag I used the Bazzill Butter Cream cardstock (this used to be made by Prism but now is made by Bazzill, it has to be one of my favourite coloured cardstock)

 I have also made up the Giving Thanks album kit from Teresa Collins which we will be using in our Reflection on ... class this weekend.  Here is a quick look inside too.  As you can see I have used my Bind-It-All to put this album together.  I really love this album and am not sure I will be able to give it away for Christmas (still deciding)

 I had a lot of fun creating and using different sizes for my pages.

Lastly this morning I made a couple of cards to show you the Bazzill Glazed Reindeer Head cardstock and some new stamps that will go up in the online shop early next week if not before - the music note stamp and the stamped circle seals.

 On the second card a add some layered flowers and I-Rock glam rocks in the center of the flower.  I am really pleased with how these have turned out.  The base paper for the cards was the Making Memories Noel poinsettia ledger pattern paper.  A great way to get lots out of your papers.

Happy scrappin'

Taking Lots of Photos

Well it has been a busy couple of weeks what with ScrapPack shipments and newsletter last week.  Over the last couple of weekends I have had a great time taking photos.  I never seems to get tired of taking photos at fun events like the Armageddon Expo and the Auckland Marathon, but then there are the fun family moments - especially with the girls and the cats.  I like to take a lot of photos so then I have a good chance of getting the decent one (or more like 10) that I can use scrapbooking.  It can be funny the ones you do end up with like this one ...

 Poor Brad just before the start of his race was having a banana and I took a photo and this is what I ended up with.  But now is a great time for taking photos.  Do you remember your camera when you go out?  Most of the time I remember, there have been time I have remembered the camera but not the flash card - those days really make me sick.  We now have Miss M with her camera as well so we get double the photos but also double the chance of remembering the camera and getting some good shots.
Here is our family at Armageddon ...

This is an annual event that my family and I enjoy going to - mostly to see the TV and film stars from the SciFi movies and TV programs.  We always have a good time.  I am looking forward to getting some photos printed and layout completed.

New Stamps from Hot Off The Press

Oh wow, these new stamps have just come in and I just couldn't wait to show you.  I love this set.  Personally I think these will be very useful for many of us as we often make cards, scrapbooks or mini books as gifts for loved ones and friends.  What a great way to personalise them so the receiver knows we made them ourselves (like these wouldn't know), but I really think these stamps look so lovely.

These stamps are now available from our online shop, get them while they are hot!

Life is Good

It has been a busy couple of days but still being able to scrapbook does help me to realise that 'Life is Good'.  Over this past weekend I challenged myself to create two more layouts using the Echo Park Life is Good collection.  I am really pleased with the layouts and will now put it all together as a kit.  It is such a fun collection and is so open to many subjects and great for boys as well as girls.  I like that there are some really fun stickers that go with the collection and will also be a part of the kit.

I am working hard to try and have the kit available on the online shop before the end of the week.  I was hoping to have it up by Wednesday but because Wednesday if my eldest's 16th birthday I think I should be more realistic and realise it will be more like Friday for the kit and the online shop.

Now is definately a time to have a camera available most of the time.  On the weekend we visited my in-laws and I did not have a camera with me - and oh I wish I had had one there.  My in-laws are baby-sitting a lovely 9month old boxer dog and she was just gorgeous.  She seemed to get on very well with their two dogs.  My daughters, myself and my mother-in-law all took the dogs for a walk and they were such a hoot.  Next time Miss M's camera comes with us not matter what (she has a nice little camera that is easy to carry round).

2011 Design Team Call

It is that time of year again when we start looking for new members for the 2011 Design Team.  So here is our offical call for Design Team Submissions.

To apply please email:
Headshot or photo of yourself
Short Biography
Resume including any publications (if any)
Address of your Blog

What do we want to see in your submission:

• 2x layout (any size, just tell us the sizes you have sent)
• 2x cards
• 1x Off the Page Project - absolutely anything you like and it does not need to feature photos)

Other requirements are:

• You need to have your own active and up to date blog (please include address with your submission)
• You must complete a minimum of 2 project per month (unless designing for the ScrapPack where you will be required to do at least three projects)
• You must post your projects and details on your personal blog and in the Better Scrapbooking Ltd online gallery.
• Better Scrapbooking Ltd Design Team positions are for a 12 month period.
• You cannot be on another Design Team during your term with Better Scrapbooking Ltd.
• Unfortunately positions are only available to NZ residents.

All submissions are to be emailed to as at: megan@betterscrapbooking.co.nz
Submissions are open until November 30th
Design Tean term is from 1 January 2011 - 31 December 2011.

Good luck and I look forward to receiving your submissions.  This call will also be posted on our Message Board and Facebook page.