A New Challenge at S.W.A.T - Colour Combo!

There is a new challenge up at S.W.A.T today and it's put me in a Spring-like mood! Intrigued? I won't keep you in suspense. It's a colour combo ... check it out.

The yummy looking cupcakes aside, doesn't that just scream "Spring" to you? 

Unfortunately, it's not quite spring around here. Almost. But not quite. My crocuses are blooming and I have seen some cherry blossoms in the village but the rains continue and with it some stiff winds and cool temperatures. I know, I know, there are blizzards raging across the continent but it was 19 degrees in Osoyoos the other day! Maybe Aunt Moira would like a room mate for a bit? Just kidding!!

I used the colour combo plus a recent layout idea by Shimelle's alter ego Glitter Girl to create this.

Glitter Girl used papers  from 6x6 paper pads to make her patterned paper quadrants but I used my scraps. I found several in the colours from the inspiration picture that were large enough for my purposes and got to work. 

The top was feeling a little barren to me and I wasn't too sure how to fill it but then I got the idea of a banner and made one with lots of different shapes, papers and layers. It was a fair bit of work and took many times of moving things around but in the end I really like it! You may see more fun banners like this from me!!

Fun was the order of the day so I had fun with the title too. Wrapping it around the photo block and using two different letter stickers. 

Usually I plan where my journaling is going to go before I get too far into the process but this time I got sort of carried away and forgot. Whoops! I am not totally in love with how it looks but the more important thing is that it got on the page! This is one of those types of pages that I'll make a new one of each year - the annual measuring of the birthday girl - so I don't anticipate what I say will change too much over the years. "Oh, how you've grown!" can only be said so many ways before you start repeating yourself!!

Thought I'd leave you with another look at my banner. Love the little washi tape pennants!

Okay, now it's your turn. What will you come up with in response to this colour challenge? Can't wait to see your projects posted on the S.W.A.T. site! Have a great weekend everyone!

S.W.A.T Drill #3 - 4 Photo Challenge

It's time for another challenge from your local Scrap Warrior! Oh heck, it's too late in the day to think up witty little lines for a blog post! 

With St. Patty's Day right around the corner we wanted to challenge you with some four focus fun.Just as a four leaf clover brings good fortune, so does this challenge. Simply create a layout using four photos and you could be the lucky winner of a $20 gift card to 3 Scrappy Boys!

Here's my layout - another Disneyland layout. I've been lax on finishing this album but it is slowly coming together. 

I cropped two of the photos to 4x4 to make a even grid. 

Some of my details for you.

Tucked behind the flowers and the red journaling card is one of our Photopass Cards. I like finding new ways to tuck bits of memorabilia into this album.

My letter stickers were not sticking so much, despite additional glue, so I got creative and stitched them down. I don't have a working sewing machine but I do own a Sew Easy (We R Memory Keepers) that got the job done just as well!

Okay, that's it for today. Your challenge is to create a layout with 4 photos on it. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Oh, and if you're looking for my Let's Get Sketchy Birthday Bash Blog Hop post go here.

S.W.A.T Drill #2

Time for our second Drill over at SWAT and this time we have a sketch for you to try. What do you think you can do with this beauty?

I turned it on it's side to make it work with the photos I'd chosen and came up with this.

Fun, huh?

The back ground patterned paper is from Teresa Collins' Spring Fling line (which I received as part of a blog hop prize from Sheila ages ago.) I have been using a lot of the papers when scrapping our recent trip to Puerto Vallarta as the colours are so perfectly tropical!

About the subject matter: I know my toes are not exactly the most photogenic part of my body but I really wanted to capture how relaxing this trip was for all of us. This view seemed to sum it up. Kids pool, palm trees, blue skies and lounge chairs. 'Nuff said, right?!

Here are some detail shots.

Every now and then a layout needs a long title. Thankfully I've got approximately a million alphabet stickers to help me with that! I also had fun finding word stickers in colours and phrases that would work (I've maybe got only a half million of those! Hee, hee!!)

My journaling.

The flower and scalloped circle die cuts are also from the Spring Fling line - the brad is an old Basic Grey one from my stash.

I really felt like the page needed even more texture so I grabbed my Stampin' Up Linen Thread and started wrapping.

I showed the layout to Marley at a point that I was happy with and she said it needed misting. I can't remember what colour she suggested but I knew it wasn't right for this layout. Some Mister Huey Opaque White though? Yes, please!! I think I may have a scrapper in the making!!

You may be wondering what happened to the circular element from the sketch. Well, I had originally placed a sun shaped die cut on the page (an old Little Yellow Bicycle one) and while I loved that it supported my story, the colour was too glaringly off from the rest of the layout. So what's a girl to do? Trace around it with brown ink!! Problem solved!

The last picture I have for you today is a picture of what you can win if you play along with this weeks drill.  Check out these goodies! Worth playing for? I think so!!

You've got until February 25th to link up your entry to be eligible to win this prize. And don't forget about Drill #1. We are still taking entries for the All About You challenge and there's a pretty sweet prize for that one too. So, get moving Scrapper! 

So, Just What is S.W.A.T?

A few days ago I posted to my Facebook page that I was asked to be a member of the design team for a BRAND NEW challenge blog called S.W.A.T (Scrap Warriors Advanced Training). We are spending the last couple weeks of January introducing ourselves before the first official challenge kicks off on February 2nd.

Today is my turn ... you can pop over to the SWAT blog for my bio - if you're a follower of mine then you probably know it all already! While you're over there be sure to start following the blog and our FB page so you won't miss out on any of the challenges. Each designer is sharing 3 of their favourite projects and while the pictures of the projects are included in my intro, I thought maybe a little background on why they are my favourites would be nice. A little context goes a long way!

My first favourite is this layout I did of my 3 girls - they are definitely my favourite scrapping subjects!!

In July of 2011 I became a Demonstrator for Stampin' Up! so this was created to showcase some of the products in a catalogue that was coming out. If you're interested in seeing detail shots you can visit my old SU blog by clicking here. Sometimes our vision meets our needs in an extremely pleasing manner. This was one of those times. I loved the colour combination. I loved how fun the giant accordion rosette was. I loved the way my title turned out and of course, I loved this picture of my girls. In fact, I loved this so much that I framed it and it sits on my kitchen windowsill ... see ...

(The small tile in front is an encaustic tile I made at a class offered by my store - The Upstart Crow. If you are local and crafty, you've got to check out their calendar of classes! I may even get to teach some eventually!)

My second favourite project led to a discovery. Here's the layout.

It was made during LOAD1012 and the prompt was (I think) to use a wood grain or wood element. I didn't have one that I felt went with the photos I wanted to use, so I made one! This was a regular piece of kraft card stock that I added white paint onto using a 1.5" foam roller. To get the wood grain lines I used a combination of a piece of cardboard - separated to show the inner folds - and the end of a paint brush. Here is the paper before adding the pictures etc.

I have since used this same technique to tone down a particularly bright piece of orange card stock.

Pretty cool, eh? Next time you're faced with a garish colour of paper, try putting a paint wash over top! You may be pleasantly surprised at the effect you discover.

My third favourite was a set of cards I made for a class I was promoting during my Stampin' Up days. I'm not the biggest card maker but every now and then I do enjoy the challenge of making cards. I find it a challenge anyway! Here are the cards.

I realize you can't see all the cards in this picture very well and if you're really interested in close ups of them all then please visit my Flickr Gallery here. Why are these a favourite project? Well, I put a lot of time and thought into these cards and I was really pleased with how they turned out. In fact, I think I will be sending them to my kids PAC as a part of a silent auction item for our Parent Dance next month. Assuming I still have them all that is!

Well, thanks for stopping by to check me out! I am looking forward to working with the talented set of designers Lanette has put together and to seeing what you guys come up with!