Catching up

Oh my - it's been months since I've posted anything on my blog! I haven't completely given up scrapping, I just haven't been posting about it. Hopefully I'll be better now that things have kind of calmed down in our household.

Here are a few layouts that I've made in the past few months.

This one I made for an online challenge but then didn't have time to post it. I can't even remember any more which challenge it was for! I really like how it turned out though, with the large photograph and the line of smaller ones below it. These photos are fairly old, from our trip to the Amazon in 2007. The small pictures are of a giant river otter (we saw a group of nine of them), a hoatzin, my children in the boat, a caiman (you can just see its eyes) and a heron. All the papers (Kaisercraft) and embellishments are from my stash. 

 

3x (Fancy That) Wildflower Head #3 plus ribbon and rose

This second layout is of my daughter's 18th afternoon tea. I used one of the monthly paper kit from my LSS, Wrapped in Paper. I used a Page Maps sketch (although I don't remember which one now) and several die cuts. The dies I used were Woven Circle 98114 (now discontinued, from Memory Box), Doily Flower 3 and Wildflower Head 3 (from Fancy That Dies), By the Numbers (from MFT Die-namics)  DL112 Exotic Butterflies small, and DL112A Angel Wings (by Cheery Lynn Design).

Folded ribbon, paper banner, woven circle die,
wildflower head #3 die, butterfly die

  

  

Happy in Love is another layout that I made with the monthly paper kit from my LSS. While I like bright colours, these papers were a touch too bight for my liking, but they went well with the photos of my parents I thought. It's a fairly simple layout, with lots of layering of papers (including a doily), ribbon and pearls from the kit along with a bit of washi tape.

This last layout is also one made with a monthly paper kit from Wrapped in Paper. Again these photos are pretty old, dating from our trip to Kangaroo Island in January 2006. Making this layout brought back fond memories of that trip, and especially our visit to Paul's Place. If you ever find yourself on Kangaroo Island, you definitely should make an effort to go visit Paul's Place. Paul is such a character, and if you have young children they will enjoy the multitude of animals he and his family care for. Cutting dies used were the Textile rectangle and Wonky Scallop Border (both from MFT Die-namics) 

Till next time, happy days!

I've Got a Crush on You! October 2013 Contest

Do you like saving memorabilia and documenting everyday events? I do, and love that I can keep it in one place in one of Close to my Heart's "My Crush" books. If you would like chance to win one, why not enter this contest. Simply post a comment on Jeanette Lynton's blog, Facebook, or YouTube from now until Oct 31, 2013 to be one of 20 winners! Good luck!



Till next time, happy days!

National Stamping Month: September 2013

This month, Close to my Heart has a special National Stamping Month offer. Just make a $75 purchase and the "You are my Happy" trio of stamp sets can be yours for just $15. With a retail value of $64 that's a great deal!

Even better, you can also purchase the lovely pinwheel Stamp of the Month set for an extra $5! 

Watch the video below then check out my website at: francine/ctmh/com/au

Till next time, happy days!

Exciting new opportunity

I'm really excited to be starting as a Close to my Heart independent consultant! I've received my starter kit, and even my first order, so now it's time to play. As I'm very busy with family matters in the next few weeks, I can't hold the open house I have planned just yet, but hope to invite all my Canberra friends to come along and view these great products in September. In the meantime though, I invite you to check out the products on my website here. 

If any of you are impatient to see the products "in real life" before my open house, just send me an email or give me a ring and I'd be happy to arrange a time to show you. Here's a great video about the company for you to watch too. 

I look forward to catching up with you next month, or maybe even before then!

Till next time, happy days!

Close to my Heart

2 Page layout using Chantilly papers and Complements (chipboard) assortment

 Complements (chipboard) flowers
topped with pink glitter gems

In mid July I went up to Sydney with a group of ladies to the Sydney launch of Close to My Heart stamping and scrapbooking company into Australia. We had so much fun! Several people from Close to my Heart in the US came to Australia (and New Zealand!) to introduce the company and it's products to new and potential consultants. As well as learning about the business opportunities we got to play and made a cute little Thank You card as well as a two page layout. I couldn't wait to get home to add some photos to my page.

 Complements (chipboard) flowers
topped with pink glitter gems

So, the next day I signed up to become a consultant and now my Close to my Heart journey is about to begin.

The card we made at the launch,
using A True Thank You stamp set

My kit!

My kit has arrived and I'm currently drooling over the contents and trying to work out how best to launch this new venture. I'll be inviting those of you in Canberra to come along to my open house soon! If you're elsewhere in Australia and want to take a look at the products online you can do so by going to my website. As a new company in Australia things are still evolving a little and the website is still changing from time to time.

If you want to find out more about Close to my Heart feel free to email me (link in the sidebar) or check out my website.

Supplies used:
on the layout -
X7163B - Chantilly paper pack
X7163C - Chantilly Complements Dimensional Elements
Z1807 - Pink glitter gems
Z2118 - Desert Sand Exclusive Inks® Stamp Pad 
on the card -
X5666 - Twilight cardstock
1385 - White daisy cardstock
X7163B - Cotton Candy *B&T paper from the Chantilly paper pack
Z1701 - Grey Wool baker's twine from the Neutral Assortment
Z1807 - Pink glitter gems
Z2193 - Cotton Candy Exclusive Inks® Stamp Pad
M1029 - A True Thank You stamp set
Y1003 -  2" × 2" My Acrylix® Block 

*B&T = background and texture - double sided patterned paper

Till next time, happy days!

Black and White Headshot

 This month's Scrap the Boys challenge was to scrap a black and white headshot of your boy/man. With several boys/men to choose from, but having just visited my Dad in Canada, I went with a photograph of him from that trip. I ended up using my monthly LSS kit for the papers and embellishments. It's probably unusual to use more "girly" colours on a male layout, but I like how it turned out.

I started with sketch #105 by Susan Stringfellow which I turned 90 degrees to the right. I like her sketches since they're always fairly clean with an emphasis on the photos, but still have room/scope for embellishment. I loved making the stitched border around the central photograph and patterned papers.

To make the little embellishment cluster, I cut a piece of green ribbon into a banner shape, covered the floss holder with patterned paper and then wrapped it in the ric rac, covered one of the chipboard banner flags with patterned paper, and layered it all on top of a die cut made with my Fancy That doily flower 3 die. I added the circular and heart shaped paper clips, and it was done!

At the bottom of the page I added the flowers using diamond glaze, as I did for the paperclip on top of the large white brad. I think that lifted the brad just a bit. Even though there is an eclectic mix of embellishments on this page. I like how they all work together.

If you come to my blog often, you know that I virtually never make a layout without journalling. This was no exception but since I wanted to keep it private, I wrote it on the back.

Till next time, happy days!

A different type of layout

This month the challenge at Kraft it Up is to make a layout in a style different to your normal style. Well, I'm not really sure what my normal style is as I have tried different styles in the past, but I do seem to keep coming back to simple layouts with some layering and embellishment clusters. Well, that's what a aim for anyway! So, this month I thought I'd have a go at lots of white space à la Louise Nelson. I find it very hard not to fill up almost every corner of the page so it was a challenge for me to actually stop adding stuff! In the end, this is what I ended up with:

While I'm not displeased with the final result, I don't think I'll be doing a layout like this again any time soon. 

Here are a couple of quick close-ups to finish off.

 

Till next time, happy days!