Feel the Joy

I quick post today as Im running round like a headless chook! Where has this year gone already? And why is it getting busier and busier?

An easy one for Southern Girls this time...Anything Goes. So my chance to start having a bit more of a play with the watercolours and texture paste..

thanks for stopping by...love Bee

A Sticky little Situation

Ive been stuck in a rut. I looked at this layout. Did it. Pulled it apart. Did it again. Whilst my friend beside me takes leaps and bounds in her creativity, I am stagnant. The layout needed to be looked at differently. I couldn't make it about the washi, the washi had just to complete the layout. So thats what I did.

These photos are very special. Every year we stand the kids in front of the Christmas tree and make them smile. They hate it, and take the Mikey. Some perform, others do not. And its always a treat to see how they have grown from one year to the next...

For the latest Southern Girls Challenge, the theme was Sticky Business, hence the Washi issue. Stickers, washi, glitter tape...give it your all. Ive probably been a wee bit conservative with the theme. But I finished it! Whoop whoop!

Love Bee

Southern Girls Tic Tac Toe

Hi everyone.

I have always loved recipe challenges and loved this game of Tic Tac Toe at Southern Girls Challenge. I chose for my line the Patterned Paper, Gold, and Die/Punch. The Craft Market range when well with these fun photos of my wee man and I snuck in a bit of the Confetti Make a Wish Vellum for the gold along with some Gold misting. For my Die I cut then scalloped edge from my Silhouette with the patterned paper range. I hope you enjoy playing along with the challenge. xx

love Bee

Southern Girls Challenge...Animal Crackers

Well as it turns out, for a household that is full of pets feline, canine, and feathered, there appeared to be a serious lack of photos of all the fur babies residing here. So a fish it was!

James had a slightly unnerving tendency over the last Christmas holidays, for putting wildlife in his mouth, including a rather large crab he found on the beach...strange child. So this kiss for a Salmon was rather tame.

I used a lot of paper cut up to make my embellishments for this layout. The base patterned paper is Rise and Shine - Lucy, and the transparency tags are cut from Isabella, also from the Rise and Shine range. I then used papers from the 6x6 of this range to cut the circles and wee tags for the journalling, and cut the fish out on the Silhouette with vellum..

thanks for stopping by...love Bee

Southern Girls Stars Challenge

Hi guys.

Its challenge time again at Southern Girls Challenge, and this time its all about the STARS. This design team is so diverse with card makers and layouts fanatics coming together, its really cool. So this is my take on the 'Star" theme. Using the gorgeous new Crate Paper Craft Market range. I used the Craftsman paper for the base of my layout and used pieces of the 6x6 pad to layer behind the photo. I then made a stencil with my Silhouette, of the stars, and used texture paste to add these to the layout, along with my Silhouette cut title.

Thanks for stopping by today, go and check out the challenge and join along, cards and layouts alike.

love Bee

Party Time with Crate Paper Confetti

Hi there! I wanted to share with you today a layout I have put together of Louie's third birthday using the gorgeous Crate Paper Confetti range. This range is just delightful and I'm stoked with how well the layout turned out...using 3 pieces of paper!! I know! And it took no time at all.

The base paper is the B-side of the Gala Paper, then I cut up all the little cut aparts of the Party Paper, along with scraps of the Make A Wish Vellum, add the Today title, and a scatter of sequins a ta-da!

There are additional Confetti products in The Paper Doll shop..check them out..

Thanks for stopping by...Love Bee

Southern Girls Challenge Time

Hi girls.

Let me say its been a while since Ive achieved much scrapbooking especially 12x12 layouts, but even my Project Life is a little behind...ummm Nov 2014! GULP! But never fear, Im on a roll and am really pleased with the way this layout with another BOY theme turned out for Southern Girls Challenge.

Im always a little apprehensive when misting, scares the bejesus out of me but this one I nailed! I chose to go with a primary colour theme, reflecting the sunny theme of the photo of my wee man. I stitched on the wee clouds up in the right hand corner for extra texture, and popped an Amy Tangerine stitched tag into the vellum pocket.

This photo absolutely reflects our summer holidays at Kaiteriteri Beach where milkshake from the corner shop are a staple diet. Louie's Uncle AJ calls him "Milkshake" because of how many photos were posted of him consuming them over the previous summer, looks like the habit has stuck...along with the name.

                                   

Let's hear it for the BOYS!

Well as you are probably aware, scrapbooking boys is what I do, there isn't a lot of pink happening round here. I think scrapbooking ranges used to be very gender-orientated but recently there has been a massive change in non gender specific coming out...which is awesome for us Mum's of boys. Plus the boys don't seem to mind a wee bit of pink sneaking into their layouts too..HA.

So here is a quick layout I did for Southern Girls Challenge, to my delight, a boy theme this time! Pop on over and check out the other gorgeous creations the design time have created.

Love Bee

Hopity Hop Hop

So my lovely friend Louise over at Southern Girls Challenge, asked me to join in on this blog hop, to be honest I'd never done one before so thought it was great chance to get to know a lot of other crafty individuals and to see what everyone was up to. Man there is talent out there people, starting with Lou of course! So there are a few questions been asked of me...like a meet and greet, so here goes.

What am I working on?

Currently Im desperately trying to keep up with my Project Life. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of photos in my camera, but sitting down and editing them to have printed is proving a bit of a mission. Thankfully the gorgeous Manu has left our screens for another season of MKR so maybe I'll be able to pull myself together and finally get them done!

I am also working on my online Scrapbook Store The Paper Doll Company, this wee boutique shop has been born through my absolute love for the craft, a need for some great local stores, and the enjoyment I have in retail.

How does my work differ from others in it's Genre?

I don't think anything of my work really differs from anyones else. I create because I love documenting my family's life. I love design and art, and gorgeous pretty things that stick with glue!! I think we all have that problem eh..LOL!

Why do I do what I do?

Not only do I love to document our life as a family, I want to drive my boys insane when they are older by dragging these albums out when their new girlfriends come for dinner. The Crazy Old Scrap Lady they will call me. HAHA

How does your creative process work?

I would like to think that this space looked like this all the time, but alas no. I'm usually a bit messy, and do like to use all my products, I suppose I'm a user not a collector of scrapbooking things.

So thanks for stopping by. I hope you know a wee bit more about me now and hope to see you over at  The Paper Doll sometime, Love Bee xx

123 Get Scrappy Challenge #13

Hi girls,

Yeah I know its been a while eh, but finding time to scrap at the moment is difficult, and its been driving me insane. So today I got a chance to retreat into my craft room and immerse myself in an actual 12 x12 layout! I know! OMG! Thanks to the awesome 123 Get Scrappy, I found the inspiration I needed through their recent challenge board. I went for the line that suggested Stars/Pen or Pencil/ and Crumpled paper. A little stumped at first, but I got experimenting with my Silhouette Pens and loved the end result of journalling directly onto my card stock, I would've never gotten that text so straight! Then crumpled up some of the patterned papers used behind my photo and their edges, and finally used some co ordinating stars to match the papers from the Photo Freedom Boys Rule range.

Im really pleased with the "graphic" feel of the layout and have a feeling those Silhouette Pens are going to get quite the work out on future layouts!

thanks for stopping by, love Bee

Jammies and hotties

In my jammies already, don't you love that! That feeling when you undress all those layers of the day. Bra off! YES! There really is nothing like a pair of flannelettes  and uggs, thats sexy right there people!

I remembered that I have done a couple of layouts from James' birthday with the July kit from Crazy Monday Kits. I loved this month, orange, blacks and blues, and it worked well with being a "boy" scrapper.

I loved the way my mask that I cut on the Silhouette turned out using the texture paste, a cool confetti effect.

thanks for stopping by, love bee

a little news...

So it appears I have a little exciting news. The lovely girls at Southern Girls Challenge, have honoured me with a position on their Design Team! Whoo Hoo. Along with many other talented card makers, scrapbookers, and off the pager's, I going to be part of this fantastic crew and the great challenges they create. Hope to see you all check it out and maybe get involved in a challenge or two..

its a happy sunny day

It is a sunny day, and with that comes a quiet house. Not a squeal, not a whinge, no "MUM!!". I love it, what this neighbourhood brings to my boys childhood. Friends all around, to share a soccer game with or a Nerf gun war. It is what we had as kids.

And so a chance to blog for me whilst Master 2 sleeps...awww he's so cute when he does that!

So I'm loving our new home. It really is like a blank canvas that develops and becomes a whole picture all the time. A cushion there, a frame there. And I've been pleasantly surprised to see how well a few scrapbooking items are making their way out of the craft room to around the house and they just seem to fit so well...here's a couple of examples.

thanks for stopping by..love Bee

Market Street 8x10 prints

I think the thing I love about the MME Market Street prints is that you can do just whatever you like with them. Scrap them. Frame them up. Too cool. When Hayley sent me this gorgeous layout, I just though WOW, she nailed it, using such a large piece beautifully that it didn't take over the whole layout.

check out the shop for the availability of these prints

love Bee

Well hello there!

It is obvious my blog has been neglected, and no excuses, well ok I have been kinda busy with the Paper Doll, note the tab above people to the 'shop', cool huh!

I'm so excited about throwing myself into the business and building it into a successful wee store and I seriously need to keep up with the scrapbooking in support of it. So watch this space, lots of creative energy coming your way.

In the meantime here are a few more layouts that I got achieved at the Scrap Away Retreat.

thanks for stopping by, don't forget to check out the shop love bee xx

Creative Scrappers Sketch #268

I know I know, its been a while. Well thats being kind, it's been an eternity. Life is busy, don't ask me what I do cos I couldn't tell you, but I'm busy. Taking myself out of this mad house and to the Scrap Away Retreat was the best thing I have done not only for myself but especially for my beloved scrapbooking.

Here is my take on Creative Scrappers Sketch #268 that I did while I was away, using the fabulous boys range, "Boys Rule" from Crate Paper. The photo is a special one to James, meeting one of his sporting idols, All Black Captain Kieran Reid.

thanks for stopping by...Bee xx

123 Get Scrappy Challenge #4

Just a quick post today to enter the latest challenge at 123 Get Scrappy. This month from the challenge board I chose the line to use in my layout a mask, birds, and the word family. I always think these challenges are far more challenging than doing layouts, which is great as it gets the juices flowing.

I love this photo of my 3 with my best friends 3 boys. How cool is it that you really are all like family as I feel Jacqui is like a sister to me.

I used my Prima Camera mask with a co-ordinating paint color to tint the modeling paste and create a textured effect, along with my silhouette cut title and the little wood veneer birds to complete the challenge.

love Bee

Scrap Friends Challenge #19

I seem to always go over to the Scrapfriends Blog when searching for ideas and inspiration and enjoyed taking part in their recent sketch challenge. I'm not sure why but I've been a lot more confident to use Pink in layouts of Louie. Not saying that you are more girlie than your brothers darling because you are boisterous beyond belief! But maybe its just becoming a bit cooler…either than or I'm sick to death with scrapping "for the boys". The 'Hello Again' range from Carta Bella was a perfect choice for this gender dilemma. A lot of blue, and a sprinkle of pink…like this household really!

love Bee xx

A very hungry caterpillars party!

Where have these 2 years gone? 2 years filled with love and laughter with having Louie in our lives. I would have a dozen others on the promise that they all would be like this wee guy. Louie has enriched not only mine and Matthews lives, but James and Jesse absolutely adore him, showing him such love and empathy.

So to celebrate this coming of age for Louie, a party was definitely in order! Of course! And I had seen so many wonderful ideas on the fabulous Pinterest for the Hungry Caterpillar theme that I simply couldn't resist! Last year the layered rainbow cake was a hit, so not to be outdone by myself, I chose a polka dot cake this year, it was so cool.

The food theme was based around the items that the caterpillar gets through in the book though we did have a bit of a road block when after trying 4 supermarkets Matt came home without the all important watermelon! He even had the owner of Gordons Groceror off to the buyers market to track one down! Bless! The 15 little hungry caterpillars (i.e. party goers) didn't seem to notice.

So another great year, and another great party. Im looking forward to planning the next one for you darling….

Love Bee

A sketchy challenge

Having 3 boys sometimes can prove difficult as you end up with the same photo for each of the boys albums, thats scrapping one photo, three times, three different ways! Phew! This is where sketches come in handy when the mojo is waning at the 2nd layout! Thanks to Scrapfriends, they came to my rescue with this great sketch that I could use up the smaller photos I had printed.

And remind me next time to co-ordinate the boys outfits a little more, I mean for crying out load, the look like Josephs Technicolour Dream Coat!

So here is the sketch...

And here is my take…

thanks for stopping by, Love Bee