Happy Defined

I did this layout using Heather Bailey patterned papers - love the colours, which were also chosen to match my DD's outfit! And I finally used my Cuttlebug for this one, to die-cut and emboss the butterflies! Three of them I pasted on the cream-coloured backing cardstock to give it a more textured look. I also painted and spread stickles over this backing cardstock. I then mounted the pink-coloured upper cardstock (with a circle cut out in the middle), on this using foam mounting tape to give it a raised effect. And I outlined the floral cut-outs, word "Happy", and blue butterflies with stickles. I also painted the areas where the title words are placed, to highlight the words.

Materials used:
Patterned Papers - Heather Bailey
Cardstock - Bazzill
Crystal Swirls - Prima Say It In Crystals
Title Alphas - American Craft Thickers ("Happy"), Making Memories ("defined")
Others - Folk Art Acrylic Paint, Ranger Stickles

Sweetness

This layout was inspired by a lovely sketch by Becky Fleck at Creative Scrappers. The photo is one of my favourites of my older DD, taken when she was still in kindergarten. And just to note - she's not wearing any lipstick or make-up, because a lot of people have asked me if she was - haha!

I used four different patterned papers from Inque Boutique, and distressed the edges to give them a bit more definition. I also used pop-up dots for the journaling to add dimension, and stickled the flowers and buttons for a sparkly touch.

Materials used:
Patterned Paper - Inque Boutique's Isn't It Romantic range
Cardstock - Bazzill Textured Cardstock
Transparency - Hambly
Flowers - Prima, Unknown
Buttons and Felt Swirl - Creative Imaginations' Creative Cafe
Crystal Swirls - Prima's Say It In Crystals
Title Alpha - American Crafts Glitter Chipboard Thickers
Journaling - Cosmo Cricket Fleuriste Patterned Paper
Others - Lace, Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Ranger Stickles

Creative Scrappers Design Team

Just received some good news a couple of days back - I was invited to join Creative Scrappers' new Design Team! They have some really amazing designers there so I'm really honoured and thrilled to be joining their team starting in September! Really looking forward to this!

Creative LOTD - Bloom

This LO was chosen as Creative LOTD on 10/8/08 at Creative Scrappers. Such an honour!

Friends

Found this old photo of my younger DD and her friends from Nursery class, taken during their kindergarten's Chinese New Year celebrations in 2005. I decided to try a black, red, white layout to match the predominantly red colour of the photo. I used mainly Cosmo Cricket products for this layout, and am trying out their blackboard shapes for the first time, though I bought it ages ago! I painted it white, then stamped on it, stickled it, and finally applied distress ink to it to give it a shade of colour. It's a great medium to play with! I also applied distress ink and stickles to the title alphas to make them stand out from the dark background, and I used the Martha Stewart Crafts Doily Lace Edge Punch on the papers again - I really love the effect!

Materials used:
Patterned Paper - Cosmo Cricket Fleuriste range
Cardstock - Bazzill Textured Cardstock
Title Alphas - Cosmo Cricket
Blackboard Flowers - Cosmo Cricket
Flowers - Prima, Bazzill Basics, Petaloo, Doodlebug Design, Imaginisce
Crystal Swirls - Prima
Brads - Doodlebug Design, Making Memories Crystal Brads
Others - Lace, Ribbon, Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Ranger Stickles, Folk Art Acrylic Paint, Folk Art Gesso, Making Memories Passport Flourish Stamp, Versa Fine Ink

Bloom

The photo on this layout is of my younger DD and two of her best friends taken towards the end of their kindergarten years. They've since gone on to different primary schools this year, but still contact each other now and then. Interestingly, this photo was taken at my place after they had spent the morning at a scrapbooking class together!

The layout was inspired by a beautiful sketch by "Scrappy Donna" on Creative Scrappers, and the journaling on the clear epoxy sticker reads: "Little Girls are heaven's flowers". Thought that was so appropriate for the title - "Bloom". I also tried out my Martha Stewart Crafts Doily Lace Edge Punch on this one, and used Prima's Say It In Studs for the swirls, instead of my usual crystals.



Materials used:
Patterned paper - Heather Bailey
Cardstock - Bazzill
Flowers - Prima, American Crafts, Imaginisce
Swirls - Prima Say It In Studs
Brads - Creative Imaginations
Title Alphas - DCWV All Dressed Up Chipboard alphas
Clear Epoxy Sticker - Cloud 9 Design "All Girl" Clear Epoxy Quote Stickers
Others - Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Ranger Stickles, Lace

The Gift

This layout was inspired by a challenge that was recently held over at Made With Love, where the scrappers had to use at least three different fabric materials and include some form of stitching on their layouts. I didn't enter the challenge but felt compelled to try this, just for the fun of it. I used five different types of ribbons / laces here as well as patterned fabric paper, and hand-embroidered the title (and nearly died doing so - haha!).

The title of this layout holds great meaning for me because my older DD (that's her baby photo on the layout) was born prematurely following major medical complications on my part, and our gynaecologist always referred to her as a "miracle baby" - a gift from God. Hence, "The Gift".

The journaling was taken from one of my favourite songs by one of my favourite singer-composers - "The Gift" by Midge Ure, formerly from the British group Ultravox. For those who are unaware, Midge Ure was the one who, together with Bob Geldof, founded the Band Aid / Live Aid movement in 1984, to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. The journaling reads:

"And when they ask what prize I treasure most
What legacy I cherish
I say from the heart
The passion and art
That's the gift that you gave"

Materials used:
Patterned paper - Amanda Blu
Cardstock - Bazzill
Others - Ribbons, Lace, Pearls, Patterned Fabric Paper, Ranger Stickles, Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Versa Fine Pigment Ink, Birch Embroidery Thread

Daddy's Little Princess

This layout was inspired by a beautiful sketch by Jolene Pienaar for Pencil Lines. I used patterned papers from Cloud 9 Design that I bought ages ago, and stickled the flower embellishments to give them a sparkly feel to match the background papers.

The journaling is from an anonymous poem I found while surfing the net, and which I thought suited this picture of my DH and DD (taken when she was two years old!) perfectly.

Materials used:

Patterned Papers - Cloud 9 Design Sparkle Cardstock - Enchanted Forest - Blue, Enchanted Forest - Pink, and Palace Walls - Periwinkle

Flowers - Imaginisce, American Crafts, Prima

Brads - Doodlebug Design Inc.

Chipboard Flourishes - Maya Road

Title - K&Co. sticker label

Journaling Sheet - Making Memories 5th Avenue Spiral Journaling Book

Others - Bazzill Textured Cardstock, Ranger Stickles, Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Making Memories Scrapbook Colors paint, Ribbons