mini scrappin' retreat - going solo

How cute is this picture! Love this little boy. Well, tomorrow is the last day of term and I am taking myself off for a mini break in the city, Friday and Saturday nights. I'm choosing the city because well, why not? It's not too expensive and it's time to have a break. Hubby is feeling confident he can manage for a couple of days, so now's the time. Of course, I'm taking some scrapping with me, for a challenge I set myself. I can take only white cardstock, a pile of photos from my drawer that have been waiting for some attention, my pile of scraps (it's almost too big now), and a few tools (ink, stamps, pens, staples and Glimmer Mist). Should be fun! I'm going to create a "master board" with the leftover scraps - glue them to white paper and cut out embellisments like birds and trees. Promise to post new LO's when I return.

new baby scrapbook layouts - fantastic!

It's so weird to be scrapping these pages of Tasmin, three years after her birth. Yet it makes sense to me. It's taken a bit of courage to go back to that time, which was a difficult and slow recovery after the birth. But a big advantage of doing it now is Tasmin knows when there's a new layout - she rushes over to the mantlepiece and asks to see it. And even though I think it's really important to record memories, it's only now that i really feel I've found my style. I'm so enjoying doing these layouts. I'm enjoying the process. Journalling will come later.

And another one of baby Delilah. Father's Day andn visists with cousin Leon coming up soon.

Back to Tas and Angus

This is one of the first layouts I've completed for Tassie's baby album. I'm actually not terribly happy with it and am almost certainly going to change it. I think I'm going to choose the little black and white photo at the bottom, have it englarged, and go from there. They can't all be masterpieces, I know, but it is a special photo and I think it deserves better.



Now this one I really love. It's baby Tassie (bottom) and baby Angus (top) when they were newborns, the photos taken roughly 15 months apart, but in the same outfit, and the same position. Lovin it!

materials: Bazzill cardstock, Sandylion paper, Fiskars punch, lace, Autumn Leaves stamps, Tim Holtz distress ink, Zig writer, manila folder, Presstik rub-ins, old children's book page.

More baby Delilah scrap pages

This first layout was really fun to make. I used lots of different papers from a 100-page pack pack (Grace Taylor) and loved cutting out and adding on layers. I distressed edges and added stitching for extra dimension. It was such a thrill that day when I had my little travel camera with me and baby Delilah decided to smile at me. She was about eight weeks old - I must add the date to it!

materials: paper all from Grace Taylor, stitching, manila folder, staples, foam dots, foam cut letters, Presstik rub-ons, brads.


This page was made with lots of photos of Gandy and Delilah. The photo at the bottom is my favourite, so it's sort of featured on the page, but sometimes it's necessary to add lots of photos in a sequence. The baby used so many different facial expressions I needed to capture them all!

materials: Bazzill cardstock, Kaisercraft paint (dusky pink), Staz on ink, date stamp, bubble wrap, Copic multiliner journalling pen, white Signo gel pen, Making Memories foam stamps.

Off the page projects

T-shirt fun. A simple koala image, with a circle around it and the baby's name and imprinted on the fabric with an iron-on transfer. Easy! I even added some french knots. My sister's husband needed a gift for a new baby so I was only too happy to help out.

It's only taken me three years to figure out what to do with Tassie's birth cards. There were so many, they were all lovely and of course there was no way I was throwing them out. I did consider punching a square out of each one as I do with Christmas cards. But then the little comments would be lost. So I laid them all out on a blanket and took a photo. Then I got out my Zutter bind-it-all and made them into a book. Easy! And Tassie really likes it.

For Mum's birthday back in June I got all my favourite photos together for the first half of the year - many of which she is in too - and punched holes in them with my bind-it-all. Each month is preceded with a title so you know it's April, May etc. I covered the front and back covers with fabric and used rings to make a book (didn't have Zutter rings quite big enough for such a hefty book). I used rub-ns for the title (Treasures 2010). Mum loves the result and naturally wants another for Christmas. Another easy gift.

Keeping it simple - new scrapbook layouts

This is one of my favourite layouts so far. I've always loved the look of white paint on Kraft cardstock - it's perfect for a soft look. My sister loved this layout of her baby daughter Delilah so much she's asked me to make another to frame.

materials: Bazzill cardstock, white card, muslin, fabric, button, embroidery thread, StazOn ink, date stamp, Making Memories foam stamps, white Signo gel pen, Kaisercraft white paint.

I think it's important to keep pages minimal when you really want to highlight the photo. I made this print black and white when I was unhappy with the original bland colours (which can distract from the image) and WOW! The little embellishment is cut from Grant Archival's scrapbook album packaging. I love that little emblem. The foam flowers were pinched from my daughter's craft stash.

Materials: Bazzill cardstick, Grant Archival packaging, foam flowers, StazOn ink, date stamp, stitching.

5 happy things

I haven't really had a chance to get on this computer all week for various reasons but have many new layouts to upload. Also behind over at Scrap Happy Valley. Coming soon.