Playful Playground Antics

I'm loving how the photos and papers complement each other. Since the photos are quite bright and purple, I didn't want to overpower them with too many patterns and papers, so I kept the background as neutral as possible and keeping embellishments to a minimum.

Bright colours complement rather than detract from the photos.

Adding a small smattering of white paint brings an extra dimension to an otherwise neutral background paper.

Products Used
Papers and stickers from Crate Paper Restoration Collection 2010
Opaque white Mister Huey's Color Mist from Studio Calico
Range of distress inks from Tim Holtz for Ranger
Tiny alphas from Making Memories
Larger  alphas from Thickers by American Crafts

Going Back a Year

I am finally, finally caught up with Miss C's birthday pages. Whew, it took a while, but scrapping themed layouts, such as birthdays, Christmas, Halloween and Easter are not my favourite. Maybe because these layouts warrant multiple "busy" photos, which I find harder to put together than just one or two.

For this layout, I had to change out the photos twice as they were too dark and I had to photoshop them repeatedly (I'm not the best of photoshoppers) in order to get the right brightness and contrast to complement the papers. I really do need to practice some more on this.

I used a sunburst template and distress ink for the background. I then sprayed and inked several doilies and staggered them on top of the sunburst. Hearts were stamped around the page for extra detail.

I cut out little banners and stapled them together before sticking them down to the page.

Products Used
Papers from My Mind's Eye Follow Your Heart Collection
Sunburst template from Crafter's Workshop
Distress Inks and Distress Stains from Tim Holtz for Ranger
Perfect Pearls from Ranger Inks
Alphas from Making Memories and Maya Road
Heart stamps selection, doilies and staples from my stash

Treasure Box Class

So, I had my treasure box classes this month. There was alot of measuring, cutting, messy mod-podging and fiddly flower making. I didn't have enough of the big blue flower for the class, so decided to teach everyone how to make their own. There are multiple ways to create your flowers and this is just one of them. I found a pack of loose petals at my local trinket shop and wanted to show how they could be assembled into roses.

Here's my original box (photo courtesy of HKMC)

Lots of cutting and measuring and glueing (photo courtesy of HKMC)

Lots of concentration putting this boxes together. There I am on the left, matching the papers being used. (photo courtesy of HKMC)

Two of my wonderful students, Winnie and Amy, showing off their handmade flowers (photo courtesy of HKMC)

One of the completed creations. I believe this is Winnie's. Love the big blue flower on top (photo courtesy of HKMC)

Don't forget my next class is doing a gel medium on canvas album. Class dates are on the Wednesday 6th and Tuesday 19th June. Both classes run fro 7:30pm - 9:30pm. If you'd like to join in, send an email to HK Memory Chest. Here's a sneak peek although we will be using different papers and flowers.

Sneak peek of my June class. Papers and embellishments will differ from the original album.

Love for Hexagons

I know that Easter has been over for a month and I know I already did an Easter layout last month, but I had to play around with the washi tape that I got in Japan and the colour combinations I wanted to use lent themselves nicely with the Easter photos that I have. These photos were taken from this year's Easter. Since we were on the cruise until the day before Easter Sunday, we didn't get to do an egg hunt, hence only a few pictures of dyeing eggs and the simplest of titles.

I'm loving hexagons at the moment. They are part of the 2012 trend, as is washi tape. So why not incorporate the two?

See the chicken wire hexagons on the background? It's a tongue in cheek take on the title "Eggs".

Chicken wire pattern made with a stencil template and pearl mica flakes.

Large hexagons were covered with strips of washi tape as well as the border around the page. Love the rabble of butterflies flittering all around the page. Trying to escape from the chicken wire, I guess.

Products Used
White cardstock from Bazzill
Chicken wire template from Crafter's Workshop
Pearl mica flakes from Golden
Washi tape selection from MT
3-in-1 class butterfly punch from Martha Stewart
Patterned paper from Kaisercraft Bubblegum Hills Collection
Pink felt alphas from Making Memories

Trip to the Land of the Rising Sun

I know, I know. I've been silent for the last week. I had the opportunity to go to Japan with hubby and his company so, of course I jumped at the chance. We did four days in Osaka with a side day trip to Kyoto.  It's not our first time there, so it was more of a shopping trip rather than a sightseeing one. I had one specific thing that I wanted to get. Washi tape, or masking tape as it is called there. MT and Scrapaholic are two big names when it comes to Japanese washi tape. It's not the cheapest thing in the world, but that didn't stop me from getting almost every colour and style they had.

Drool worthy decorative tape

Now, I am a HUGE fan of sushi, so when we stumbled (after walking around in circles in Shinsaibashi) upon a mega sushi restaurant, we just had to go in. When I say mega sushi, I mean mega sushi. There were pieces that were as large as a deck of cards.

I always love going to Kyoto. It's only half an hour away from Osaka by train but so different. Here, it's not unusual to see ladies tottering around in their kimonos and wooden slippers. I love every little immaculate detail in their dress; from the beautifully coiffed hair to the intricately tied obi sash.

OK, that's enough of this post. I promise the next one will be on a layout or project. Guess what I'll be using on that one.

Tim Holtz's May Tag

I missed out on doing the April tag last month as there was so much going on so I was determined to do the May one. I don't have half of the stamps that he has, but I tried to improvise as best as I could and hopefully, I'll be able to start collecting all of his amazing stamps at some point.

Here is the tag that Tim did for May. And the one below is mine. It's a little different from Tim's but uses a few of the techniques he showcases on his tag.

What I Did
I used a green tissue paper for the base. I then stamped on a variety of stamps in different colours.
I added a trim and measuring tape washi tape.
My dress form is actually a magnet backed die cut which I did a while ago. I pulled it apart to use in this project.
I coiled a length of brown rosette trim in a circle around a Gluber before sewing on a flower centre and pearl.
Instead of using Utee for the green mini flowers, I just used Glossy Accents and let them dry over night.
I stained some kitchen twine and wound it around the flower stems before sticking them with a couple of sewing pins and hot-glueing them to the tag.
Funny thing; the clothes hanger is from one of Miss C's girl's paper doll books. I used alcohol inks to colour it bronze as it was plain wire.
The butterfly pendant and scissors trinket was from my stash.
The green trim at the top was coloured green with Distress Stain.

Products Used
Grunge Paper for the tag, Tag Die, Stampers Anonymous Papillon CMS106 stamps, Dress form die from the Sewing Room die, Distress Stains and Distress Inks, all from Tim Holtz collection.
Brown rosette trim from Webster's Pages Bloomers
Adhesive Gluber dot from Cosmo Cricket
Washi tape, peach trim, tag trim, green flowers, pendant and scissors all sourced locally.

Happy Mother's Day Everyone

I hope all Mums out there are having a wonderful day today being pampered and spoilt. Breakfast in bed? Lunch at your favourite restaurant? Lovely handmade pressies from your little one? All of the above?  I woke up before the first but am waiting for the second and as for the third? Look at this cute little card from my six year old. The teabag is currently being used in my morning cuppa.

And what better layout to do than one of mum and daughter. It's rare that I actually get photos of myself and Miss C as I'm always behind the camera. This time, I grabbed the husband (with his dubious photography skills) and made him take some pics. 

I had to put in all my favourite elements; flowers, bling, mists and distressing. The paper collection is just so gorgeous and I love the colours in this layout. Soft and comforting, like a mother should be.

I cut around the inside of the scalloped paper so I could fit some elements underneath. I traced around the scallop to make a smaller matt for my photos, and layered all other elements on top.

Hand cut flowers and triple punched/trimmed borders and bling. Some of my favourite things.

Do you think I could pile on more flowers?

Extra grouping of elements for this corner to balance things off.

I think this is my most favourite layout so far. Not just because of all the things I stuck to it but because it is a rare glimpse into the beautiful bond between mother and child. I vow to take more pictures of us together from now on.

Products Used
Papers, stickers and letters from Webster's Pages Life's Portrait Collection 2010 (discontinued)

Flowers selection and bling flourishes from Prima Marketing 
Other flowers non-branded
Liquid pearls, Stickles and Distress Ink from Ranger
Glimmer Mists from Tattered Angels

Love You Forever

Look at these amazing bright colours. What a wonderful but simple combo of pink and blue polka dots and hearts.

To be honest, when I received this Valentine's collection in my kit club pack from My Creative Scrapbooks, I was taken aback.  It just seemed too cutesy for the Valentine's day page that I had in mind, so I put it aside thinking I'd do something else with it.  Today, I decided to do a random "draw" on my kit pack stash and this one came up the winner.

Layering the pinks and blues properly will allow each element to stand out individually. I added a double row of baker's twine around the border and matt to add definition. Who said dots and stripes don't mix?

Cute bottle cap embellishment.

I added more twine to the heart to tie it in with the border and blue matting.

Products Used
All papers, bottle caps and chipboard accents from We R Memory Keepers Love Struck Collection
Title letters from American Crafts Puffy Thickers
Baker's twine from Hemptique

Mini Trinket Drawers

I love working with wood as a base. You can sand it, paint it, paper it, ink it, stain it. The possibilities are endless.  Kaisercraft, an Australian company has a huge range of raw wooden products; from embellishments to storage solutions. In this project, I actually took inspiration from the sample shown on the Kaisercraft website, but put my own twist to it.

Just the right size for your jewelry. Such a beautiful addition to your dressing table. I added button brads to the front of the drawers to mimic drawer knobs.

The wood and drawers were painted and stained a lovely warm brown and given a smudge of silver to give it an aged look. After assembling the box and drawers, I covered them in pretty papers. I die-cut the dress form from chipboard and sticky-back canvas before inking and adding other elements.

For the back, I used stencils and Glimmer Mist before adding a little saying and other trinkets. For the side, I added a pendant trinket and also a couple of hooks.

For the top, I again added a flourish mask as well as a few well placed "teacup stains" to finish off the distressed/used look.

Products Used
Wooden Box, pearl flourish, paper flower and brown "mud puddle" paint from Kaisercraft
Papers from Cosmo Cricket Tea for Two and Evangeline lines
Sticky Back Canvas from Claudine Hellmuth for Ranger
Dress form/bobbin die cut from Tim Holtz for Sizzix
Distress inks and stains from Tim Holtz for Ranger
Vintage brass hooks from 7 Gypsies
Button Brads from Imaginisce Trade Winds Collection 2006 (discontinued)
Trinkets, resin flowers, bird and silk flowers sourced locally

Flowers Galore

You know, I thank my lucky stars every day that I have a daughter instead of a son. She's just such a joy and never fails to make me laugh. She loves dressing up, I get to buy her cute little dresses and more importantly (when it comes to my scrapbooking), it allows me to use flowers indiscriminately on my pages.

So, what do I do when one of my past kit club packs was filled with Prima papers and flowers? Prima it up, of course. From a simple half hour layout (see below), comes one that took half the night to cut out and stick down.

I hand cut the oval frame and pop-dot it to bring it off the page and added lots of flowers, bling and butterflies. Using flowers to frame the photo actually draws your eye to it rather than detract from it.

Pretty bling and butterflies climb up the photo. Butterflies are also hand cut and then treated with a thin layer of Stardust Stickles to give them an iridescent shine. I also added a ric-rac border around the turquoise paper to make it stand out.

Prima makes such pretty flowers that you can't help but stick them all onto your page.

Products Used
All papers, chipboard, letters, flowers and bling from Prima Marketing Strawberry Kisses Collection 2010 (discontinued)
Ric-rac ribbon included in kit
Star Dust Stickles by Ranger

Smile Sweet Thing

I originally did this layout with a lighter background and was pretty happy with it. After walking past it for a couple of days though, I felt that it was a little too light with too much white space, so I peeled everything off and turned the inner background paper around to show the brown polkadot pattern instead. It changed the whole look of the layout completely and made it pop so much more. So, don't be afraid to make that change if you feel you have to.

Other than that, this is a very quick layout that can be done within a half hour. Just a little bit of layering, a few flowers and bling and trim to balance it out and you're done.

Just a few elements around your photo helps to draw your eyes to that adorable smiling little face.

Clusters of flowers, buttons and bling are just so pretty.

Oh, and here's the original with a plain blue background. Definitely better with the brown polkadot one, no?

Products Used
Papers, note paper and stickers from Fancy Pants Designs Happy Together Collection 2010
Flowers and bling from Prima Marketing
Glitter sticker letters from American Crafts Dear Lizzy Bliss Thickers in Coffee
Tulle and lace from stash

Something Fishy Going On

Last week Miss C and her class went to Cheung Chau island on a class trip to teach them about the oceans and the effects our environment is having on it. Every three students were led by one parent helper; myself being one of them.

After a one hour ferry ride, we arrived and had a look through the markets and fish restaurants to look at live seafood and dried seafood. Hong Kong has a large fishing community and from the beginning, would preserve excess seafood by drying it out in the sun. The children were treated to the sight (and smell) of rack upon rack of drying fish and shrimps. We also studied what was in the water along the shore and had a quick toe-dip into the water on the other side of the island.

I decided to give this layout a bit of a grungy look which tied in with the papers I chose to use.

I sprayed the background with Glimmer Mists and let it drip down the page and inked around the edges of everything.

Don't have flowers in the right colour? Make your own. I layered up 5-6 flat flowers to make a full rose.

Products Used
All papers and title stickers from My Mind's Eye So Sophie collection 2010
Chipboard accents from Bo Bunny Flower Child (discontinued)
Flowers from Prima Marketing
Glimmer Mists in Forest Green and Burnt Red by Tattered Angels

Love in Black and White

Black and white (and variations of) seem like such non-inspiring colours to use on a scrapbook layout but learning to layer them together will make your page shine just like any other bold colour.  HKMC brought in this Little Yellow Bicycle Swoon Collection, just in time for the wedding season and what could be more elegant than black and white for a wedding layout.

Funnily enough, in all my years of scrapbooking, I have never scrapped any of my wedding photos. They are all in normal albums or on disc. Time to change that with this layout.

Use punches to create your own custom borders on your background papers. Using the black print frame and circle of pearls chipboard puts emphasis on a b/w photo against the rest of the b/w elements.

Can't find the right flowers for your layout? Make it yourself. Add a self-made satin ribbon flower with your own button or bead elements.

Products Used

Papers, chipboard, acetate elements and decorative stick pins from the Little Yellow Bicycle Swoon Collection
Framed Dots punch from Punch around the Page by Martha Stewart
Flowers (except ribbon flower) from a selection by Prima Marketing
Clear bling swirl from Recollections by Michaels
Heart trinket, doilies, ribbons and trims sourced locally