In with the old... U ♥ Dressing Up

 This week I'm taking a break from the Sheers to use some of the KI Memories Lace Cardstock. This orange one is not in the store but I wanted to share one way you could use one of the sweet heart or daisy styles that is available at Mystical. I completed this page for Kathy's 'Use Orange' Harmony Day Crop challenge. I love the way the swirls complement the movement that Tama is creating with his cape in the photos. For this page I have quite simple mounted my Lace Cardstock on adhesive foam dots onto Bazzill White Cardstock. My alphabet is from Basic Grey. I've mounted some project life cards from my stash on some purple cardstock and added just a few silver stars from my stash to match the stars on the cape. Talking about stars have you seen these lovely ones from Cocoa Daisy? They went directly onto my shopping list!

DT Share ~ Will & Emily

 I have a quick and easy LO to share with you today- I'm mixing up my kit again this week and combining Simple Stories Life in Colour with the Pink Paislee Hey Kid line.

These tags from the Pink Paislee Hey Kid line are just so cool- I love the mixture of fonts and colours. They can be used in place of a title or just as an embellishment that will definitely add some fun to your page. The sentiments on the cards are very versatile- while a couple are for a girl and a couple for a boy most could go either way and you can also cut them up and just use parts of the card.

Supplies Used: Cardstock Bazzill White, Alpha from Jillibean Soup, Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee: Hopscotch, Simple Stories Line in Colour: Love this Life, Tag from Pink Paislee Hey Kid Stickers Simple Stories Life in Colour Cardstock Stickers.

Explore

An unexpected trip to the hospital with my daughter meant that I was able to get my challenge LO done in time for the challenge- but I did get it done and wanted to share it with you!

 

My challenge was to take inspiration from a traditional cultural design. I opted to take my inspiration from indigenous Australian dot art. I haven't stuck closely to the designs of the indigenous artists- but used the concept of repeating circles and earth tones.

My background is the lovely embossed Bazzill Dotted Swiss Cardstock- which has such a lovely feel to it. The circles repeat the shape at the end of the log in my image. I've used 5 patterned papers in varying shades of brown from dark to light, they also have a variety of textures as well to add interest. I've die cut the circles in three different sizes. I laid out the large circles first in triangles by colour (where possible) to make the 'random' design balanced. 

 

Not so random pattern. 

Then filled in the spaces with the medium circles and finally the smaller circles. Then I've added some wooden spots from my stash and a whole packet of Kaisercraft pearls! I've added a double pen line border with a blue pen to match my son's clothing as well as the date. The last thing was the title with some fun brown thickers. 

I don't have any journalling on this page- and I usually add at least a little. But this page has a companion page in Tama's album which talks about his passion for what we calling 'Boying'- getting out and about, making mess, playing with sticks and stones. 

Papers used are from the Carta Bella Rustic Elegance and Echo Park Everyday Eclectic.

Gallery Pick

It was the luscious combination of greens that drew me into this page in the gallery by Jazikt- but then I looked closer and found so much to love! 

1. The hand drawn frames on each photo. 

2. The way the frames are repeated on the patterned paper in a contrasting colour.

3. Minimal embellishing leaves the focus on the photos.

4. The mix of photo sizes- love the enlargement! 

5. The frame that holds the design on the page. 

6. The off set photo arrangement has created a natural line that draws the eye across the page.

7. And of course the use of the PL cards - which was a great way to do the mid-month march challenge!

Altogether it makes a stunning page! Thanks for sharing Jazikt!

Granda Harmony Day Challenge

Hi :)  It's Kathy here, with a page I made using challenges from our Harmony Day Cyber Crop.

I decided to scrap a photo of my daughter with her Granda and tried to do a bit of a mash-up of all the challenges.

For Gypsy's Challenge to use a pattern from another culture, I drew the border at the bottom of the photo.  It is meant to resemble a Celtic Knot type of pattern, it is a very simple one, but it turned out quite effective anyway I think.
My Dad was Irish and so I thought that would be appropriate.
His Grandkids called him Granda, because that's what he called his Grandfather in Ireland and he wanted to continue the tradition.
So I had Granda as the title and it "kind of" fits Donna's challenge to use a non-english word.  It isn't the word most Australians use for Grandfather anyway and is from another culture, it is mainly an Irish thing I believe, although I guess technically it's still an English word.
And finally my challenge to use orange.  There is a bit of it on the page and my daughter is wearing orange again :)

So I haven't checked with Donna to see if she thinks I've used her challenge correctly and there's not heaps of orange, but I do believe I've used elements of all 3 challenges here :)

The paper is from the Free Spirit collection by Cocoa Vanilla and is called Eclectic.  One side of it is this beautiful typed sentiment and on the other are journal cards and other goodies which is where the "this was -" piece was from.  The heart, you and me, star, banner and those were the days, are all from the Free Spirit - Die Cut Ephemera pack.  I also used one of the Free Spirit Little Hearts.

The title was made using the Pink Paislee Hey Kid - Elements Stickers.

There are still a few days left to take part in one of the challenges, I hope you'll join us :)

Kathy

Tip of the Week

OLFA Cutting Mats love moisture!

Did you know that your Self Healing Mats need moistening ? I didn't, and I've been scrapping for years!. I googled it and found out it's true!..

Do you have the big green cutting mat from Olfa? I know I lot of scrapbooks do use this brand, I came across this by accident, and did a bit of googling and found a ton of blog posts about how to clean and look after your Olfa cutting mats.

Here's a Cut & Paste from the Olfa page...

To clean your OLFA® mat, use a generous amount of room-temperature water and a few drops of mild detergent. Use a soft, mild bristle brush such as a toothbrush or mushroom brush to create a lather and gently clean your mat. Rinse with room-temperature water and wipe dry with a cotton towel.

And this is a bit of a amalgamation from half a dozen blogs I read this morning; 

• Soak it in room temp water for 10-15 mins
• Lay it flat in a bath or large tub - this might be hard if you have a large mat!
• Add a squirt of MILD dishwashing liquid, or some say 1/4 cup of vinegar
• Brush over with a soft brush
• Rinse and dry with a soft cotton towel or air dry flat.
• and NO HEAT.....do not iron on or place your coffee cup on, something I do all the time!!

I'm not sure if  my mat is an Olfa one or not....it's doesn't have a name on it, just the size in the top left corner, and I've had it for way to long to remember where I got it from, but I figure it can't hurt, so I'm off to soak my mat!

Happy Scrapping!

March Cyber Crop

Harmony Day is held every year on 21 March to coincide with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
The message of Harmony Day is everyone belongs. It’s a day to celebrate Australia’s diversity – a day of cultural respect for everyone who calls Australia home!

Come join us for a Cyber Crop inspired by Harmony Day!


Challenge #1  
Hi Donna posting on behalf of Gypsy.

Gypsy would like you use patterns from culture another inspire your scrapbook page-  Here is a gathering of possible suggestions- feel free to use your own!
You can doodle, stamp or paper piece or what ever your create mind can come up with! 

Here are some sample to get you started....

Japanese cultural patterns

 Maori



or try googling Mexican, Irish, or where your family history is from.  Patterns are found in a culture's architecture, artwork and even in their jewelry.

Here's my take on this challenge, for my page I've let the  Australia Aboriginal Dot painting inspire me to create this background...

Challenge #2  

Hi :)  It's Kathy here.  
Orange has been the Harmony Day colour since the first day was held in 1999.
So my challenge is to use the colour orange on your page. 

It can be a tricky colour to use I think.  I have used it here as an accent colour and it's in my photos too.  You don't have to make a completely orange page, but kudos to you if you can make that work :)

I didn't have any orange papers so I decided to stencil some Distress Ink onto Bazzill Basic white card. 
I actually just made a little stencil of my own by punching different sized circles out from a piece of card.  Then I stencilled some stars over the top with embossing paste.

I used two different Thickers and Basic Grey - Micro Monograms : pink for the titles.
The orange strip at the bottom, the ticket, "hey girl" and "you are amazing" are all from Pink Paislee's Hey Kid Elements stickers.  The bird and flower are from Doodlebug Hello Spring Cardstock Stickers.

I hope you'll join us and make a page using one of our Harmony Day challenges.

Challenge #3  

Hi Donna here, for my challenge,  I'm taking inspiration from the fact that we here in Australia have such a diverse multicultural culture

So, where is this leading you ask.... My challenge is to use a non-English word, or words, on your layout.  It can be a title, or just a word, it's up to you!

Google translator comes in very handy if, like me, you don't know another language!...

(umm.... wish I noticed how crooked my photo was before I uploaded it!!..lol..)

Hope you have fun with these challenges.  We'd love to see your take on each one in our gallery.

You have a week plus to upload your creations into the correct gallery. 

Due date Sunday, 27th March - Midnight

**All layouts entered must be created for this CC.

We will be giving away 1 shopping voucher valued at $20.00, and each entry receives 1 ticket into the draw.....enter all three challenges and you get 3 chances to win!

We will also have a surprise prize!!  Our DT members will chose their favourite over-all layout and I will send that lucky person a surprise in the mail.

Happy Scrapping.

Mystical Team

In with the old~ KI Memories Sheer Delight- Sweet Girl

 

This week I'm sharing a little girl who is a sheer delight- on the Sheer delights Gizmo design. This design comes in pink and white if you don't want to be quite so girly! The lavender papers are from my stash but if you wanted to pick up something from the store then this Manner House paper would be lovely and this MME Lime Twist paper would work well too. The same goes for the alpha- but this Basic Grey set would be perfect. I've sprinkled my page with a variety of flowers from Green Tara- The minis, the 2cm, 6cm and 7cm. Topped it off with some flowers just like these Kaisercraft Resin Blossoms. Final touch- a sprinkling of pretty pearls for a pretty girl.

Before I added my lavender paper to this page I cut the middle section of my Sheer Delight out in a square that was slightly smaller than my patterned paper.  Then I cut some of the circular designs from this 'scrap' square to add to my embellishment clusters.

 

I loved using the KI Sheer Delights for this layout because I think they have really added to the soft and airy feeling in my photo. I'm still enjoying this page at home but when I do file it in the album I think I'll back it with the palest of pink cardstock. 

March Mid-month challenge

Our second challenge for the month is a super simple one....

We all have these cut-apart sheets with the 'project life' style cards- Like these super lovely ones from Simple Stories. Invariably there might be one or two that we might not use for whatever reason. Today I am challenging you to make a modification to one of those and then use it!

The 6x4 card on the left said 'Share your story' and while that is something as scrapbookers we love to do- I don't see much point in putting that sentiment on a page- where we are quite obviously sharing a story already. :-)  So I've layered some October afternoon label stickers to cover the word 'your' and added a thicker 'a' to change the meaning altogether! 

I'd love to see what you come up with for the challenge in the gallery!

Other supplies used for this page: Cardstock: blue and yellow, Kaisercraft Washi Hearts and Red Pearls, Simple Stories Life in colour Fundamental cardstock stickers, Cocoa Vanilla Free Spirit Little Hearts, Pink Paislee Hey Kid: Marco Polo and Red Rover.

DT Share ~ Pink Paislee - Happy Birthday

I have to admit I've had a piece of this super cool Pink Paislee Hey Kid- Red Rover paper in my stash for a while- just waiting for the right photo- and I think this is it.

Using a base of blue cardstock I've cut out the circles and cut them in half using them on both sides of my LO so that I can maximise the cool designs on my page- the white gutter around the circles felt a bit unfinished so I've added a messy faux stitched border with a red pen. I covered a few circles on the paper to hide the 1 & 3- as this photo is from my little guy's 2nd Birthday- so I just wanted that as part of my design.  I've also kept the top and bottom of the Red Rover paper and added them to my LO. I've used some complimentary papers (Hopscotch and Marco Polo as well as Simple Stories Coral/blue watercolour) from the line to create a home for my text.  Once again I've used the Fancy Pants Happy Place Puffy Sticker Script words. The finishing touches are Simple Stories Enamel Dots, Kaisercraft Sparklets and presents, hearts and stars from my stash.


The black decorative strips are called Dresden Foil trim- they come from Germany and I have had them in my stash for longer than this little guy has been around. They help to balance the black in the circles and move the eye across the page and back again.

Thanks for looking I hope that I've inspired you to give this Hey Kid paper a go- and mix it up with some of your older stash as well. If you've used this paper please come share in the gallery!

Gypsy

In with the old~ KI Memories Sheer Delight- Snow Day

I'm back with another Sheer Delights share- did you see what I did there??

This time I have used 'Delicate' which has a snowflake like pattern. I chose a couple of papers from my stash that repeat the snowflake motif and also pick up the pink in my photo. Once again I've used some foam thickers for my title. Add some warm velvet ribbon to add to that cosy winter bundled up feeling. And finally to accentuate those snow flakes in the sheer design I've added some 'icy' Kaisercraft Rhinestones.

  

I think the Sheer delights worked well with this image because the very dark fence in the background of the photo is balanced out by the real lightness of the sheer background. I also think the snow flakes with the jewels add to the magical feeling of a Snow Day- something I loved way back when I was in high school, as I was in this picture.

Cocoa Vanilla Studio - Totally Rad

Just uploaded and ready to go!!

Totally Rad is just that… It’s rad, awesome, fun, amazing, super – every word you can think of to describe all those guys who you want to get into your scrapbooks!  Fresh colours with pops of black, super trendy brush script, and fun motifs – it’s perfect for boys of any age and any stage!

See the full range in store now!! - Here

Happy Scrapping..

Mystical Team

DT Share ~ Simple Stories - You are my happy

This new line from Simple Stories is so cohesive this page came together in a flash! I've used a 3 by 3 block design leaving one square empty to provide a little white space. My blocks are all 3x3in and only use two sheets of this lovely 'Life in Colour' line- and there's still more for another page or two. Some times when you use a plain cardstock or paper for your background the page can feel a little unfinished or not grounded- by adding simple pen line frames around the page it pulls the whole thing together and finishes the page nicely- another options would have been to ink the edges- but I think the frame works best with this blocky design. 

I've used the Simple Stories Life in Colour: Big Memories and Love this Life papers for the blocks and the  Coral/Lt Blue Watercolor paper to mat my photo. As well as some accents from the Fundamental Cardstock stickers. My 'smile' title is the Puffy Stickers script words from Fancy Pants 'Happy Place' the colours in the line tie in perfectly with Life in Colour. And of course it's all sitting on some Kraft Cardstock.

  ♥

DT Share - Gorgeous

Hi :) It's Kathy here with another scrapbook page to share with you.

I wanted to scrap this photo of my youngest daughter in her pj's.  She had the cutest, curly hair when she was little and I wanted to try to capture her sweetness with a fun page!  I thought this paper from Cocoa Vanilla's  Free Spirit collection would work beautifully. It's called My Way and I love the design on the reverse of this paper too.

I also used the Free Spirit Die Cut Ephemera set.  There are just so many wonderful pieces in this collection!  All the words and the arrow on the left side are from it, plus the pink star.

I mounted the photo and embellishments onto Bazzill white cardstock and sewed around the edge for a bit of extra dimension and coziness :)

The alphabet and number stickers are from Pink Paislee's  Hey Kid - Elements Stickers.  This is a great set and a very close colour match for the blue used in the paper :)

Thanks for dropping by today :)

Kathy

In with the old~ KI Memories Sheer Delight- This is little me.

There is always so much new product coming out that it's easy to dismiss the old stuff in the clamour to get our hands on the 'latest and greatest'. But I think some of the old stuff is still some of the greatest. So I thought it might be fun to share how I am using some older product in my scrapbooking now. These KI Memories Sheer Delights are on sale in the store and there is a huge range that you can snag at an awesome price. 

In the page above I've used it with the new Cocoa Vanilla line- Free Spirit. The arrows in the paper draw attention to my photos and add some lovely colour to my page. I've used some simple thickers foam letters for my title.

 I loved using the Sheer Delights for this page because my late Grandfather's handwriting is on the back of the photos- and with the sheers- and this LO design I can still see it. He originally sent the images to my Great-grandfather and one of them says: "This is little Gypsy". It feels like he was proud of me- which is nice considering my mum was 16 and unmarried in 1974 when the first picture was taken- not really the done thing.  

This is a fun page to have on display in my home- and it will eventually have a place in my album- depending on what it backs onto I will most likely pop it in the photo sleeve with a piece of white Bazzill or I may just leave the next page empty it so I can see my grandfather's handwriting. 

I have a whole bunch more ideas for the KI Sheers- I'll be sharing them on what I'm considering as a sort of 'Throw-back Thursday' in the weeks to come. I hope you'll be inspired to make some older products new to you!

Gallery Pick

Have you had a look in the Gallery lately?
I was wowed when I spent some time there today. It is full of amazing pages!

It was truly very hard to choose just one to feature today but I decided on this wonderful creation by Joolz.



I think this page is so full of interesting features.  She played with my challenge from the CyberCrop to use 1 photo, 7 paper strips and 8 words and created something fabulous.  The photo is an old one and she has captured the vibe of the time with her use of colour and pattern.  I love the way she used the paper strips and the title is really eye-catching, and yet everything compliments each other so well.

Thanks for sharing your wonderfully retro page with us Joolz :)

Kathy :)

New in Store...

Life in Color from Simple Stories - Bold colors meet modern design in the newest ‘everyday’ collection from Simple Stories. Black & white photographic images, polka dots, stripes and touches of florals are the perfect mix for documenting your colorful life.

Find the range in store now!- Here   And our papers and accessories are 10% off all ways!!

Enjoy shopping

Mystical Team