kitty hope completed

It's taken a few weeks and alot of experimentation to finish my kitty. I couldn't really find a sealant that wouldn't make the paint run, but this was the best I could do. I'm really happy that I finished it. It was an evil looking cat before - black with white highlights. Now its all brightened up.

kitty hope

I haven't really been able to paint anything for about 2 years now, 5 years for any actual "painting".

Doodling with a gold pen...

I don't really know why, but all of a sudden I got really interested in how porcelain artists in the 1700-1800s painted on gold on plates.

I am 2011

I was really taken with some words in a song at Scrap That Song November 2011 comp (World's Greatest R kelly RedEmziiee). I was looking for an organic kind of feel to the page without using kraft or "the usual suspects".

Still 2011

The Color Room Sketch & Palette #82. I loved these colours and particularly the silver. The purple pink colour was a strain to find anything I had in that shade (and of course, once I was finished the page then I found lots of it, darn it!).

Magical Moment No 1

Black Duck

I'm going to start to record magical moments. These are moments that are special to me, and usually occur when I am out birding or out in the middle of nowhere. (there's lots of no where around where I live).

It was spring a few years ago. I was at a birding site, knee deep in grass and sand surrounded by tall green reeds, off the track, chasing what I thought may be a Little Grassbird (very ellusive stripey bird with a distinctive call). It was very snakey and leechy but I was throwing caution to the wind. I came to a tiny creeklet of water, about a foot wide, and a few inches deep. I put one foot over the water, and took my stance, waiting for the Little Grassbird to emerge from the reeds. As I stood waiting, with my binculars down, I heard a tiny rustle and I looked down. A Black Duck came sailing down the tiny creeklet like a silent ghost. There were two ducklings on her back and one trailing her. She went straight underneath me, and kept going.

It was one of those magical moments I've never forgotten. I didn't get a look at the Little Grassbird that day, but it didn't matter. This experience was much better somehow.

Spring in Miniature 2011

Scrapboxx online class Colour Pattern & Texture Week 2 page (for some odd reason I could only produce this page in miniature - the size of a playing card!) Arrggghhhh. Oh, well, better than nothing!

Babushka 2011 RDA

I spent alot of time, one way or another, with my Nan's best friend who lived around the corner from her. She was a family friend, seamstress and cake maker who did everyone's big birthday cakes, weddings cakes, and dresses for anything formal. She had a set of Matroyshka dolls that I used to play with. I don't know where she got them from. But I always wanted a set of my own. So when I accidentally tripped over a site online, I decided to buy a couple of sets. This was the traditional one I bought.

One Fine Day 2011

My Cousinette Vi in her beautiful world in the US. This layout is from the Scrapboxx Online Workshop - Colour, Pattern & Texture in Sept/Oct. I did alot of hand stitching, but was lucky enough to put the photo down first, and then popped those holes and stitched.  Very time consuming, but I like how it looks. I am struggling with this online course timewise. But now that my RDA is up, I hope to have more time.

Rugged Up For Adventure 2011 Vi

The Color Room Revolving Door Artist palette #79 - palette and sketch. I've had this pic a while but didn't know how to scrap it, then this palette turned up, and it was perfect! I loved the background text on the sketch. The colours were grey, purple, deep blue, cream (you can add white). Every time I tried to put something in or around the stitched squares it looked terrible, so I left them as was! The lettering is hand stamped.

Daddy's Girl 2011 (Vi) RDA

The Color Room palette & sketch #78 I loved this palette so much! Got to use my Fav Miss Nelly Kaisercraft (and some ring ins) including Chip Chop Shop doiley (my last white one!), Martha Stewart paper mini doilies, even butcher's twine! Felt there was a general lack of texture, so I used scissors to cut the fringe everywhere. I love the Bazzill Green Tea background paper. That green is so fresh!
This is my cousin Wayne and my counsinette Violet in Hawaii earlier this year.

Nature Sings 2011 RDA

This is my layout for The Color Room #77 - palette and sketch. I love this palette. The burgundy pink is scrumptious. I'm really enjoying the palettes as a Relvolving Door Artist.

transcendental 2011

For Scrap That Song (Book of Love by Peter Gabriel) for making me look up this word in the dictionary, and Sept Sketch The Boxx. Got this cool 6x6 pad online in yellows an greys and just had to use it immediately. Not well today, but it doesn't matter - got this page done! I thought the songs for this month were really hard for me - mainly I think because I knew them all quite well.

Smile 2011 (1940's style)

Used The Color Room Palette #76 but it kind of came out funny (?) Pink, orange, green and blue are there, but the black seems to overpower them a bit. Also Revolving Door Arist for TCR for 4 weeks - but having some trouble connecting it all up. Darn my lack of Bloggness!!

This is my Dad and his sister in the 1940's. Photos were very rare for them - only at Christmas and only 8 shots I think each year!! (unless very rare occasion (once I think) of family holiday). My Nonna and Pop died when Dad was in his teens and early twenties, so I have no memories of them. They ran a small general store in the middle of a farm belt out in the middle of nowhere (was then, still is). There are very few pictures of my Nonna - she didn't like her double chin to show so all her pics look quite stern with her head held up high.

Camera Shy 2011

I was so frustrated throughout this layout (4 weeks in the making! Unheard of for me!). It just dragged and dragged. The Scrapville Sketch (Aug/Sept) was difficult, but I'm sure it was just my mojoless mood that was making something normally enjoyable like a train wreck. Used The Color Room Palette #73 - I love these colours together, but couldn't rub two sticks together to use more modern paper - so just used these left overs. It's not what I'd call a brilliant page, but it feels good just to get the thing DONE and OFF my scrap table! Of course, it goes to the Scrapville store for 4 weeks now with the other entries. Goodbye and GOOD RIDDANCE!

Even though I'm mojoless, I can still turn out a Digital Layout (my first ever). It just doesn't make sense!!! This was for the Color Room #75. There were so many bits in the kit I just had to cut it down a bit. I did a 70th birthday book for my Auntie a few years ago, and got alot of pics from her friends of when she was young/younger. This is one of my favourites - and it seemed to match the palette.

Still mojoless

I'm trying very hard this weekend to get back into the zone, but although I am getting alot of chores and things done, I am still not getting "a lot" done in scrapping. I have finished one page earlier on in the week which I am REALLY happy with but I can't display it as yet as it is for a comp where I am a guest artist, and it hasn't come up yet. Darn it. But at the same time, its not what I expected and doesn't even look like it meets the criteria, but I have checked it again and again, and it does. It will just look out of place. :(
The other page on the go is a slow, drawn out process.
I've also started a decorated tin inspired by Kerri at the Boxx. (with ribbons)
It sounds like I'm doing alot.. but not really.
I also received a special order in the mail. Once I year I order a goodie bag of Prima (and other) special flowers which last me the whole year and beyond. It's something I don't see much of locally or at my regular scrap store haunts. Just a bit of bling really...

green & orange card

The first thing I've stuck down in 7 days. Made this card for The Color Room Card #73. Love these colours, but lacking in paper skills, so I used my rubber stamps to get patterns. I loved the #73 sketch but lacked the right sized circles to do it complete justice.

AAARRRGGGHHHHH

I've had trouble this past week scrapping. I thought this weekend I would be able to scrap - but no, I could colour match, but unable to stick anything down and start working on anything!!! At 4pm on Sunday I'd had ENOUGH. I took pics of myself with my double sided tape and scrapped a page - "lost 1 mojo". I ripped, pounded and inked my way to a page for The Boxx fortnightly comp ending 28/8/11 set by Julie (I love Julie's comps and will try desperately to get something entered for them). It's not what I wanted to do, but I'm sooooooo frustrated!!!!!!!

Admit One 1969

Style inspired by UK "Emma" at The Color Room, palette and sketch from TCR #70 (the color room http://thecolorroom.ning.com/), and in the Fortnightly Challenge at the Boxx http://www.theboxx.scrapboxx.com/ 

I spent alot of time wondering how to get my pages to look like Emma's and got to pull out a whole mess of old rubber stamps and paint them to fit the palette. I really like how some items on the page hide or blend into the elements and its only when you look closely that you can see everything. I love how using only bits of patterned paper makes it look like the colour is sprayed on. It nearly did my head in to set it all up.

Do you like my pic of a galah?

Tattoos of memories

My entry page for the Scrap That Song August comp & Bird is the Word "Memory" Sept comp. I took my inspiration from the Green Day song, but I feel a bit out on a limb because I connected in this song in a rather dark way, whereas other entries took a happy spin off it. Oh, well. I've always wanted to do a golden page. I was also inspired by a card my brother sent me from England - it's below. Maybe one day I'll do a completely golden page!
Ingredients: ripped up golden envelope, Gold pens, Kaisercraft jewels, Prima flower, Karl leaf punch, Collage Press letters, Bazzill Mystique, American Crafts black ribbed cardstock.

comment away

I think I've fixed the ability for others to comment on my posts... could be wrong. Please test it out !

What's next...?

Well, I guess next I should work out how to add some of my pages! I will read up on that and see if I can get something up on the weekend.

Oh, and I got the editable banner above from a site - but not sure how I link back to there or where I put where I got it from, darn it, though I found it easy to edit with my trusty Fireworks program.

I am a fish out of water!

I have a follower!

It's amazing - but I already have a follower.. just no idea how to thank that poor person. I've had to go into the Scrapboxx where we both have an account to say thank you. Sad, really. It's taken me 15 minutes to remember how to get back into an area to add another post!

I am blogger impaired

I've worked in an IT field for 12 years, but I've never had anything to do with Blogging and have no understanding of it at all. I am lost most days trying to post on other people's blogs, confused over all the log in accounts (why can't I just use my beloved hotmail.com account?) and have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to blogs.
So, I admit - I am Blogger Impaired. But I would like to try and setup a blog so I can communicate with others and add posts to their pages, which at the moment is so hit and miss i usually give up in the sea of log in accounts and errors.