A Fun Challenge

My friend, Alisa, and I scrap together from time and to time. We often look for ways to challenge ourselves and change things up. Something we'd been wanting to do for a while, was see what different layouts we might come up with if we both had to use the same materials in our designs.


Materials used for Challenge, from Scrapbook Essentials' May Pack, Urban Rhapsody

The rules were, we had to use all of these materials shown here (although my journalling spot was ashaped like a flower, not a star), and we both used 6x4 photos from our backlog of pics to be scrapped. We could use any other papers or embellishments that we wanted to, but the paper shown had to be the main paper used in our designs.

We each took a couple of days to plan and come up with our layouts. And this is what we made... hehe...


Alisa's layout: "Where's the Ball?"


My Layout: "Way Up High"

Sing with me... "Our God is an Awesome God..."

I got the job!! I'm so excited. Maybe finally things are looking up. Those of you who pray though, please pray with me that my health is up to the task. I so want to be the best employee they ever had!!

A Cool Project, great to do with older children

This Kaiser brand box comes in a kitset from Spotlight. It's made out of a wood product like MDF, only very thin.

Step 1) I painted all the pieces of the box on both sides. I used two coats of Kaisercolour crafters acrylic Sage.

Step 2) While the paint was drying, I measured up the backing paper. I used a floral design from Spotlight I think. I attached the flowers to the papers by brads. Then I glued a strip of contrasting paper to the bottom, and covered the join with a fine ribbon glued all the way along the join and folded under the papers to hide the ends of the ribbon.

Step 3) When the paint had dried, I put the box together fixing it with Leeho craft glue, and then tacked the parts together with fine nails.

Step 4) I used tiki tape to stick the layout onto the lid of the box, and another strip of matching paper to the front of the box and added an alpha sticker from a Studio K range.

Step 5) Lastly, I used Vintage Photo Distress Ink to age balsa scrolls from Spotlight. When they were dry, I used Tombo craft glue to adhere them to the project, and it was finished.

So I've done the interview... :)

That was my first real job interview in 21 years. Whew!! Am I really that old?? I was so nervous last night, but all my nerves left me this morning praise God, and I think the interview went really well. The typing test sucked, but then it was so cold this morning and my fingers were frozen even with woolley gloves on. However, I think typing tests pretty much suck for everyone, and the panel who interviewed me seemed very positive. I will know by the end of next week, but they want someone urgently so maybe even before then. Anyway tonight I'm celebrating that I got through my first job interview feeling very positively about it.

The difficult thing about the whole situation is that I feel like it all hangs on me, whether the family finances float or sink. And that's a heavy responsibility, given my health. I seriously worry that I won't make it through a day without eating, and that if I do eat, I will become quite ill and not able to work. However, I know it will all work out. It always does.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Big day tomorrow

I am SOOOOOO not blaming the scrapping (hehe, of course not) but we are really struggling to cope financially at the moment. In fact, we're not really coping, so I've started applying for part time jobs that I can fit around my children's needs. And I have my first interview tomorrow. It's been so many years since I've done an interview, and I'm more than nervous. But I'm hopeful that God will go before me, and ace my typing test so that I don't have to worry about fumble fingers.

I'll let you know what happens tomorrow afternoon.

Getting Published - sooooo exciting!!

This is so exciting!! Who'd have thunk after only four years scrapping... little old completely artisically challenged me would have a layout published in a scrapping magazine. Let alone Up2Scrap, my FAVOURITE magazine, let alone the only scrapping mag that I know of published in my country.

So here's what happened....

I did this layout in January for a challenge in a scrapping bebo group. It's all about my darling husband, truly the best man in the world. I wanted to make the layout lovely like he is, and I think I did.



My good friend Alisa really liked it. She said I should submit it for publishing. Of course, I couldn't even consider it. I didn't think my work was nearly good enough. Well, Lisi took it upon herself to take a copy of the layout that I'd posted on Bebo and send it to Up2Scrap, who promptly emailed me and told me that it had been accepted for publishing in the May 2008 issue of their magazine. I was blown away, until I read the fine print on their email. It said that they would not publish a layout that had been posted on any website, no matter how small, or on a Blog. I was gutted. But our scrapping site is very small, so I wrote asking for an exception. They turned me down, but offered me the chance to submit another layout.

This time I was on a time limit and had to do one quickly, but given that this time I was actually knowingly submitting to a magazine, I was so nervous. I decided to do my layout on my friend Alisa, since it was her that got me to this point in the first place.



And wouldn't you know it, the May edition has just hit the shelves and there on a page all of my own, is my layout. I've had the mag for days now, and I still can't get the grin off my face. I may even submit again. hehe.


My layout as it appeared in Up2Scrap, May 2008 edition.

Branching out on my own

I think the biggest problem with my scrapping is a lack of confidence. I don't feel the least bit arty or creative.

I can sing anyone else's songs, but I wouldn't have the first clue how to write them myself. I can sketch a copy of someone else's drawing, quite well in fact, (I have a portfolio of horse sketches that are AMAZING if I do say so myself)... but if you asked me to draw a horse now with nothing to copy off, you wouldn't even be able to tell what it was.

And so when I discovered scraplifting I thought I was made. I had other people's gorgeous layouts that I could copy and learn from. And I did... hehe... see below.

But now I'm doing so much better at making my own way. I can design my own pages and am creating my own elements... and although it takes longer, I'm really proud of what I'm accomplishing.


My first ever off the page project. Four 6x6 canvasses, now on my daughter's wall. I was soooo proud of this.


For this layout I tried journalling onto the photograph. That was neat, although it doesn't make the journalling terribly easy to read, it was fun to do and looks good.


This layout was for a challenge, to do a layout of a song title. My daughter and her friend pictured here are so very different... different races, different hair, different heights, different ages, different temperaments and abilities, and yet they don't see it. They just adore each other and I think that ignorance of racial difference is just beautiful and I wanted the layout to reflect the beauty of their natures.


My first black and white layout.


My first layout without pictures.

Scrapping with kits

This isn't a bad idea, especially when you have a lot to get through and not a lot of time or energy to put into imagination. I have used some TLC (Top Line Creations) and some cheap scrapping kits from department stores like The Warehouse. I'd recommend them for beginners, but I find them very limiting now. I am enjoying the creative process and find scrapping with kits limits me far too much. I also don't know that they're all that good value for money.


Pack from The Warehouse



TLC


K & Co

Okay, I scraplift... I'll admit it.

hehe, here are some of my layouts that have been inspired by the genius of others.

So here I am starting

Hi there everyone and welcome.

My name is Ruthie. I am a thoroughly addicted scrapper and have no desire to give up so don't bother me with a twelve step programme. hehe...

Five years ago my Mother died. She was the most awesome woman in the world, a dear lady and a great friend. Before her funeral my sis and I went through all the family photos to see if we could learn more about her, and put together a picture board for the service. And three things struck me. Firstly, there were masses of photos from her past, but none of them were in albums. They were all piled up in a box in no particular order. To make matters worse, there were no stories attached to them. Not even little notes written on the backs of them. So we had no idea who we were looking at or what the occasions were. And lastly, it became apparent that Mother, busy with four small children, didn't have time for taking photos. There are only a handful of my entire childhood.

So I resolved then that I wouldn't let that be the legacy my children are left with. I found all the photos I had and put them into albums with little cards telling the stories behind them until I could find a better way of displaying them. And a little over a year later, I met a woman who scrapbooked. I loved looking at her albums, but felt that I was nowhere near crafty enough to do anything like that myself. But she kindly let me use her tools and papers one day with some photos and I had a go myself. I've been scrapping ever since.


First ever layouts

I have really enjoyed looking at other people's scrapping blogs. I think it's a great way to show off the work that we do. So here am I posting. I'm sure I'll chat about other things on here too. I'm way too chatty not to.

Anyway, enough for now, I'll go find some more up to date layouts for you to have a squiz at. Thanks for your interest. Ka Kite.