I've been procrastinating!

I should be studying for my exams in June next year, but scrapbooking is so much more fun! So here are some more LOs from my trip to Germany. The first LO above is of Berlin. I started with Bazzill c/s which I stamped with various snowflake stamps in white. The PP is Love Elsie, and I've embellished with German scraps and stickers. I created a small pocket behind one of the photos, into which I tucked my Berlin train tickets. The alphas are Carolees.

The photos in this next LO were taken in Mini-Europe, Brussels. I used Fancy Pants, Sei, Love Elsie and SRPC PP, and embellished with ribbon, a definitions sticker, KI Memories bookplate and plastic and chipboard alphas by Colorbok and Craft Affair, respectively.

The pics in this 3rd LO were taken in Nuremberg. Here, I used DaisyD's PP, and embellished with LYB felt shapes, buttons, KI Memories plastic icon, a chipboard swirl painted in white and sprinkled with glitter, some HS bling and a Tim Holtz ticket journalling tag. The rub-on alphas are MM, the small alphas Carolees, and the word sticker is 7G.

The photos above were also taken in Berlin. Here, I've used BasicGrey PP and some leftover PP from a Scraptivate challenge pack, some blooms, a K&Co tag, Kaiser brads and a BG rub-on. I created a pocket, into which I slipped the map I used when I was in Berlin.

The photos in this final LO were taken in Bavaria. I started with BG PP, then used a chipboard flourish as a mask and dabbed white paint onto the top right hand corner. I used LYB embellishments, German scraps and MM rub-on alphas. I really enjoyed creating these "just because" LOs. :)

"All Dressed Up" Card

This card was inspired by the "All Dressed Up" challenge over at MoxieFabWorld. I don't normally make cards, but I was particularly inspired by the lace dress, so decided it was about time to start using up some of my scrapbooking offcuts (this is one of my resolutions for next year). This is a very simple card, but I think it's quite effective. I've used SRPC PP, together with a piece of ribbon, a strip of German scrap, some acetate (I think it's Creative Imaginations), and a little brass brad. I hope you like...and hope I can make more of my own cards next year instead or resorting to store-bought!

More of Germany, less Christmas-y

When I was in Berlin, I took a day trip out to Sanssoucci Park. The words "sans soucci" mean "without worry", and this park/the palaces in it were designed to be a place where one could relax and be "without worry". Definitely a worthwhile place to visit - I loved exploring the various wooded areas and ornate buildings. These photos were taken there.

The first 2 are based on the current monthly sketch over at ForeverAlways. I didn't have enough photos (funny for me to say that!) of any one spot to create a double LO, so have split each sketch and made an individual page with each sketch. The top one, "Dragon Teahouse", is of a lovely teahouse I had lunch in when I was there. I started with HS PP, placed chipboard flowers on the top right corner, Glimmer Misted it, then did the same thing to the Christina Re PP but at the bottom left corner. Added the photos, then embellished with HS flower and felt butterflies, one of the chipboard flowers that I'd used as a mask, lace ribbon, butterflies, HS journalling tag, brads, bling, plastic letters and a clock trinket. I'm particularly proud of my 2nd LO using this sketch, "Schloss Sanssoucci", because I don't often use purple. I haven't liked all of my other purple LOs in the past, but I think I've finally got it right with this combo of purple together with pale yellow, white and gold, with just a dash of pale blue and pale green. I hope you like it too :) Anyway, for this LO, I've used My Memories PP as a base, and recycled the wrapping of a piece of Mor soap that I received as a Christmas present - gotta love that, and I do love the Mor soap papers! I then embellished with lots of blooms, some HS bling, brads, German scraps, and a gold butterfly which I found in my stash but have no idea how I got it!

My 3rd LO, "Amazing" is based on current sketch #51 over at 52Sketches - woohoo, almost done with the 52 sketches for the year! I changed the sketch a bit to suit my needs, ie used 2 photos instead of 1, and stamped around the mounted photos instead of having a straight-edged border. I think you can still see the gist of the original sketch though, ie clusters of 3 embellishments to the left, top and right of the photo(s), piece of PP (I replaced with German scrap) at the bottom of the photo(s), and title to bottom left with journalling to bottom right. I used HS PP again, stamped with Autumn Leaves Rhonna Farrer flourish stamps, and embellished with Prima flowers, Say It In Crystals bling, German Scrap, HS journalling tag, Prima chipboard flower centre embellishments, some cuttlebugged shapes, and Kaiser brads. The rub-on letters are Making Memories, except for the first "A". Not sure what brand that "A" is - I've had it sitting on my desk for some time - if you look closely you can see that some of it has already rubbed off, but I didn't mind as I thought it added to the shabby kind of look.

Hope you like them :)

Christmas in non-traditional colours

Well, as much fun as the more traditional Christmas colours of deep green/red/white, red/gold/ivory and blue/silver/white are, my favourite colour combo is definitely still brights - I'm talking fuschias, lime greens, sunshine yellow and turquoise. I've been spoiling myself with new products lately (it's Christmas after all!), and there's nothing like the arrival of a pizza box at one's doorstep, packed full of goodies, to get one inspired for creating :) So here's one that I created for the {Create} website. Their only criteria this month was "Christmas theme", so I decided it was the perfect chance to create a Christmas LO in non-traditional colours :) It was also liberating to create a LO all my own for once, instead of sticking to a colour theme or a sketch. Anyway, I've used Kaiser and Love Elsie PP, and embellished with Heidi Swapp and other loose flowers, a wooden flower (not sure of the brand) Glimmer Misted in pink, Bella and Craft Affair brads, buttons, Tim Holtz tags and some plastic letters. The title "Kid in a candy store" is about how I felt when I arrived in Berlin, Germany for the Christmas markets. What an awesome experience! Not only were the festivities amazing, I was also enthralled by the mix of old and new in Berlin. That's why I chose an ornate PP (the background Kaiser one), and mixed it with a more whimsical, modern one (the Love Elsie one). It goes without saying that I love the bright colours in this LO - hope you do too :)

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

This LO is based on the current sketch at the BlackMagic blogsite. Very proud of myself with this one, because I normally don't do white space very well! Quite a simple LO, really, with just 2 pieces of Bazzill c/s as the base of the LO. The red one is cuttlebugged and sanded, with some stiching rub-ons along 1 side. Photos were taken in Berlin. I've embellished with Little Yellow Bicycle journalling and chipboard stickers, BG rub-ons, Making Memories alphabet rub-ons and my trusty white pen. Easy! :)

More Christmas LOs!

So glad to be scrapping old Christmas photos. If I keep going at this rate, I might even complete ONE album from my 18 month Europe working/holiday trip! 1 country down, about another 25 to go, lol... Anyway, the above LO was created using the latest 52Weeks sketch. What I am finding is that my photos aren't very good for cutting down in size because I take lots of close-up shots with very little white space. So I had to fiddle around with the sketch a bit to suit my photos. So instead of having the smaller photos surrounding the middle one, I went with 3 same-sized photos in a row. Everything else is pretty similar, ie journalling spot to bottom right, ribbon beneath the photos, and some round embellis. The photos were taken at the Christmas market in Nuremberg town centre. I've used Kaiser, Cosmo Cricket and BG Wassail PP, with Little Yellow Bicycle embellis (love them!), German scrap, and an old scrap of ribbon from one of my previous years' Christmas presents.

This next one uses photos taken at the Alexanderplatz Christmas market in Berlin. I've done this LO based on Kell's ad inspiration challenge over at MysticalScrapbooks. I've taken the colour scheme of predominantly red and whitewith splashes of green and gold, and the presence of a Christmas tree in the ad, as my inspiration. I've used Kaiser and BG PP, with Bo Bunny stickers, Heidi Swapp rub-on letters, some German scrap for the tree trunks, and bits of snowflake lace paper which I think is Little Yellow Bicycle. I topped the snowflakes off with some Heidi Swapp and Kaiser bling. And you can't see it very well, but the background PP was stampedwith Prima build-a-swirl stamps and Glimmer-Misted first, before I built everything else on top. I liked how it turned out :)

Totally addicted to my new Cuttlebug!

Wow - how styles evolve when one discovers new products. With my cuttlebug, I find I am really relishing in textures, and can cheaply create die-cut embellis, so am happily churning out those busy, cluttered LOs I love so much without worrying too much about costs. Doesn't mean I still don't go and splurge on new products I love though... This LO started with a simple piece of Coredinations cardstock, cuttlebugged in spots (not the Swiss dots, but the random spotty one), sanded down, then sprayed over on the bottom left with Glimmer Mists, using the new "winter trees" stencils by the same people that make the Glimmer Mists. I then tore a bit of Love Elsie paper for the ground, decided it looked too bright, so grabbed a thick and stiff bristled brush and stippled white paint over the whole piece of cardstock and the PP, except for the Glimmer Misted part. Then layered some German Scrap trees, a Prima felt tree, and a green tree from a swap at the bottom left corner. Next, I chose my photos. I wanted outdoorsy, snowy type photos, so used these ones taken at Konigstuhl in Heidelberg, Germany. We took the funicular up to see what was there - nothing really in winter, though we read that in summer it turns into some sort of mini theme park. Enjoyed the snowly landscapes though, so we didn't mind. Finally, finished off with the title (quite simply "Konigstuhl Funicular" - I'm running out of phrases like "Winter Wonderland" and "Let It Snow", which I've already used, and anyway, not much room on this LO for a big title), a bit of the same Love Elsie PP turned around to journal on, and some of that gorgeous new KI Memories snowflake lace paper. LOVE how this page turned out, and though I'd created it for myself and not any challenge in particular, this week's SisterhoodofScrap challenge is "anything goes", so thought I'd link it up there. Am so excited to share that I KNOW the pic is not very good with flash and all, but decided to u/l anyway...if not, I'd have to wait till the weekend to share!

Addicted to snow!

Well, if I can't have a snowy Christmas, the next best thing is to relive the experience by scrapping about previous snowy Chistmases I guess. Above pics are still from my German experience - so glad I'm starting to make a dent in that pile of photos! These ones were taken on top of a mountain in Baden-Baden. My friend and I decided to just explore the whole town during the day as we'd decided to head there for the sole purpose of discovering this town's main claim to fame - its spa baths - and we couldn't really spend ALL day there. It's quite a small town which apparently is overrun by tourists wanting to hike through the Black Forest region in summer, but in winter is quite deserted - exactly the way we liked it! :) Anyway, it's a pity it's so dark today, because the 2 LOs I'm posting look a lot prettier in pale blues and pinks IRL. This top one is based on this week's sketch on 52Weeks, and also fulfils the criteria of this week's HMITM challenge - 3 buttons, 2 tags and 1 piece of ribbon, easy! I've used BG and KI Memories PP, some ribbon and felt, and a sticker that's been sitting in my stash for a looong time ("Unforgettable"), which I think is DaisyD's. I think the chipboard buttons, tags and snowman are KI Memories.
In this next LO, the photos were taken in Oberammergau, Bavaria. The large spotty paper is a cheap brand from Riot Art Stores, My Memories, or some such. Pink paper is also a cheap brand that I've had for ages, can't rememberwhat it's called. Small blue and green spotty paper is again an oldie, and it's Bo Bunny. I embellished with ribbon from a present given to me last year (love recycling!), snowflakes cut out from the new KI Memories lace paper, some bling, MM rub-on alphas, and some seal stickers (the round ones) from Officeworks. This one is based on the current mid-month sketch at ForeverAlways.

Here's another one I missed out earlier...

This LO is for AussieScrapjack's last jack of the year. So many awesome LOs to choose from, but I have gone with Sharryn's jack of Mardi Winen. I've used KI Memories PP (it's red with little lighter red snowflakes on it, but you can't see it that well in the pic), Little Yellow Bicycle's journalling block/photo mount and photo corner, Making Memories rub-on alphas, some star stickers, Prima felt Christmas trees, German scrap, Collections sentiments circles, and a piece of vellum under my photos. The vellum also has little stars on it that can't be seen too well in the pic.

It's Christmas time in my scrap room!

I think I've said before - LOVING the Christmas papers and challenges out there right now. This top LO was created for the ForeverAlways colour combo challenge for this month, which was to use any combo of Christmas colours. I went with red, gold, white/ivory and some black, for an elegant and classic look. The photos were taken in Brugges, and I've used BG PP, some ribbon, German scrap, some snowflake stickers I've had for ages, Bo Bunny rub-ons, Bella chipboard letters, some bling and some shapes cut with my new Cuttlebug, which I'm totally addicted to. I've also swiped some Treasure Gold on the edges of my LO.

This next LO was for GotMojo? Their December challenge was to use a Christmas quote from any movie/song etc, together with something sparkly. I wanted to remind myself of the real meaning of Christmas, so chose this nativity scene photo that I took somewhere in Germany in Belgium when I was there for the Christmas markets 3 years ago, and used a quote from the song "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". My quote is the 2nd line of the song, but can you notice I made a slight mistake? It's supposed to be "Remember Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas day", to rhyme with "...let nothing you dismay" - yup, I thought it was "...born on Christmas morn"! By the time it was too late, I'd already rubbed the letters on...n/mind... Anyway, I've used Little Yellow Bicycle PP and shiny photo corner, Heidi Swapp flower centres as bling (I cut out the middle part and stuck it on the top left with the ring left over from the that to use to highlight the baby Jesus), German Scrap which is also shiny and kinda blingy, Collections stars rubbed with Treasure Gold (not as blingy as I thought it would be), Making Memories rub-on alphas, and C. Imaginations epoxy alphas. I finished with a Fiskars punch to the 2 top corners, just to add that little bit of opulence :)

I Love Snow

Am loving all the gorgeous Christmas papers out right now, as well as the various Christmas-themed challenges online right now. It's helping me to scrap my 2005 German Christmas market photos.....sloooowly but surely :) This one is for 123Challenge - the December challenge is to use paint, a Christmas tree and bling. I painted this chipboard tree that I've had in my stash for ages, then sprinkled glitter all over it, to simulate the leaf-less, snow-covered trees in Europe in winter. I've also used scattered Kaiser rhinestones, but unfortunately, my bling didn't photograph too well :( I've also used Prima and Little Yellow Bicycle felt shapes, a Little Yellow Bicycle tag sticker, and the background PP is BG's new Wassail range.

Flurry of Christmas LOs too! :)

All the challenge sites have various permutations of Christmas challenges on at the moment - perfect opportunity to scrap more of my German Christmas markets photos from 2005! These pics were taken in Cologne...obviously... At the bottom is my friend with our purchases from the Chocolate Museum! Above is myself with my Christmas night dinner. I've used SRPC and I think Little Yellow Bicycle PP, together with a LYP journalling sticker. The round embelli on the journalling sticker is KI Memories. Piece of German scrap plus some bling, as well as some cuttlebugged letters and poinsettias to finish off. Brads are Kaiser...and I can't remember what brand the rub-on letters are. Making Memories, I think...the ones that come in swatches? This LO is for Whitewith1. There'll be more to come...

Flurry of colour and activity

Well, after a long silence since I went on holiday to the USA and Canada, then came back to heaps of work, I've finally overcome my scrapper's block. It was all thanks to (1) all the photos I took that I've been dying to scrap, but more importantly (2) a LO class I attended recently taught by the extremely talented and creative MelConnell. The bottom LO is essentially an exact rip of the one we did in her class - had to copy it to match the first page because I loved it so much! Just changed the colours, papers and embellis round a little. Materials used are Hambly screen prints, Little Yellow Bicyle PP, Prima and Heidi Swapp flowers, some brads and bling, Lil Davis letters and I think the rub-ons are Basic Grey - have had them in my stash for some time so high time I dug them out! Sorry the pics look funny - they actually look quite cool in real life, promise! I was experimenting with creating cool effects by snapping photos of my friends on long exposure time while they walked, or while I turned the zoom lens on my digital SLR in/out. FYI, photos were taken at Niagara Falls at night. This LO is soooo much simpler than it looks - thanks Mel for giving me my mojo back! LOVE the colours in this :)

Well, all that colour gave me the right mood, and I've started creating a few more LOs, all fairly colourful. The one above the "Night Out Together" LO is for the BlackMagic site. Here, I've used the new Prima PP, together with Prima flowers and a Prima brad, then topped up with some stamped images of butterflies cut out, bling, a KI Memories quote, Christina Re lace tape, and Tim Holtz ticket tag which I've yet to write on - don't wanna waste time writing when I can keep scrapping, lol! This photo was taken at Brooklyn Bridge, NYC.

The top LO is for ScrappingtheMusic - loved the quote used by one of the DT, "There are places I'll remember". This is exactly how I feel about New York City. In this one, I have used the new BG Wassail PP as a background, then layered with some cheap PP from Riot Art Store, a Kaiser journalling rub-on, some bling, and a couple of sentiments stickers. I created pocket behind my main photo, and this contains the words to John Lennon's "Imagine", written on C. Imaginations journalling page. The photos were taken at Strawberry Fields in Central Park.

I actually have 2 other LOs to show, but the pics didn't turn out well due to flash reflecting off the photos on my LO. Will have to upload them later...

Christmas cards

These are the 2 card designs that I taught at my first card-making class last Sunday. It was a fundraising event organised by my church. For $30, the participants were given tuition and all materials for 10 cards. The money raised then went to some kids in Kenya (a community we have been working closely with recently). Anyway, I was asked to come up with 2 simple designs. The 2 photos show my 2 designs using different papers. I wanted to teach a technique rather than have ladies following blindly, so I gave them choices of different papers to be used. This also allowed me to use up some scraps in my stash instead of buying new papers for them all to work with - sneaky huh? Well, I couldn't resist and some were new products, but still... It was a bit stressful for me, to be honest, but I enjoyed seeing the ladies having fun making the cards.