Seal it With a Kiss 2016 digi layout

I had a go at a new challenge site that I tripped over (a friend of a friend had a link to it on their blog). I really have no idea what I'm doing but I really liked the sound of the challenge, and I've always enjoyed using my own stash and twisting it to match themes, photos, or styles.

This page is for the Forgeries on the Fourth. (Counterfeit Kit Challenge Feb 2016)

I really enjoyed faking the hearts to look like the ones in the kit and the ones that Leslie had created. I also had a go at making the repetitive background with a daisy and leaf outline.

The colours of the kit was the most challenging - so many colours. Which to highlight, which to leave in the background or to a minimum. I loved the stitching component and went a bit mad with that. It was also tricky in the end because I knew the page needed a lot of white, but at the same time, because the blues reminded me of the nautical theme I ended up going with, there had to be enough of them to capture that too. I ended up getting most of the white from the patterned papers. I also had to trade off the envelope I wanted to use with a postcard. All my envelopes are very antique style and just didn't go with this layout. I loved how the fringe had been used on those hearts and had to use the closest I could get to that - a material fringe - but very happy with the results.

This set of photos I took on my Christmas Break on a day trip to Orbost and Marlo in Victoria, Australia. I got some really good photos on that day trip with Mum and Dad (it was Mum's birthday). I also got to see where the Snowy River enters the ocean.

If I could have jumped in and kissed this seal I would have - the experience was unbelievable and very memorable - but being wild he would have maimed me, so best just to remember him by these pics! (He was BIG - over 2 meters long).

Seal it With a Kiss 2016 digi layout

Ingredients :

American Crafts - City Park Paper Pack no 2  | American Crafts - Becky Higgins Baby 4 Him Papers  | CSI Coordinates #13 - Spotty Paper  | DigiChick - Akizo Designs - Wishing & Hoping  | DigiChick - Vero Designs Hello Autumn Rosettes & Assorted Buttons  | Sweet Shoppe Designs - Traci Reed Bad Sewing Machine No 18 Kinda Kleen  | Sugar Hill Co - Rachael’s Scraps - Pleated Trims Set  | Scrap Art Studio - Cilenia Curtis - Fly With Me | Pickleberrypop - Lorie M Designs - Doodle Flowers Collection 3  | Pickleberrypop - Armina Designs I Wanna Be  | Scanned myself - orange paper flower sprig, postcard, first day of issue stamp, pleated ribbon,  Australian Stamps - Christmas 2015

I also created this card using most of the elements from the page above!

'Love You' digi card - Forgeries on the 4th - Counterfeit Kit Feb 2016

What I do with leftover alphas letters in scrapbooking

As a scrapper who loves Alpha I always come up the problem of running out of E's or O's before anything else and always being down to a handful of letters in some packs, which appear hopeless and will never get used. However, there's a way around everything!

This is what I used to do to get around that :

* Use one lone letter as the first letter of a title word (and other letters thereafter) ie Example A - A Bit of Blue
* Use 2 different letter packs for two words of a title rather than try and use the same pack for a 2 word title ie Example A A Bit of Blue, Example B Daddy's Girl
* Use number one's as i's or l's and visa versa (or zero's as O's and O's as zero's - it's really not that noticeable) ie Example A Bit of Blue
* Use left over letters (or reuse letters over and over) by sitting them down on the page and spraying or painting over them, then lift them off and re-use at a later stage (example C has black chalk ink over the top) ie Example C Nature Sings
* Trace around letters on the page, then remove them!
* Only use fancy alpha for the start of every paragraph and handwrite or doodle the rest - Example D Tattoos of Memories (my title is also the last line of the journaling which down plays it on the page)
* Use leftover alpha packs to create a page of journaling. They stand out less in a crowd! - Example E I Remember When
* Put your mixed letters down and then draw circles or squares around them and colour them in to make them appear uniform, when in actual fact they are not - Example F Zing
* Use shorter titles rather than the whole alpha soup
* Find a word starting with the letter you get stuck with most and get it out on the page
*  Use full word stickers in your journaling ie "remember" - this takes away 8 letter alpha that you need to take from an alpha kit - Example E I Remember When
* Use stamping letters - you have them forever and in any colour you can get an ink pad in - Example G Freedom - used stamping for the journaling which was words from a song

Example A - A Bit of Blue 2011

Example B - Daddy's Girl 2011

Example C - Nature Sings 2011

Example D - Tattoos of Memories 2011

Example E - I remember when 2010

Example F - Zing 2012

Example G - Freedom 2011

Palms and Puppy Therapy Feb 2016

I'm back into the rhythm of things now after  a break away from work. Back into painting (two on the go at the moment), and now doing yoga twice a week. The yoga is improving in leaps and bounds and things I struggled to do last year I can now do. Last weekend I actually got my palms onto the floor and put weight onto them from a standing position. Sure, my legs were not straight, but this is the first time since I was like 8 that I've been able to do that. I feel, in my body, the best I've ever felt.

I am also extending my morning walks to 3-4kms and being 'adventurous' for the first time ever. Going into new subdivision areas, seeing a path and following it to see where it goes, and things like that. This is all new to me.

The other day at work someone bought in their new puppy; a Cavdoodle (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel cross miniature poodle). I had a play and a hold. It was just WONDERFUL. The puppy teared around like a freight train, and needled everything in sight with its teeth, but when I picked it up and massaged its little muscles, it flopped its head down on my arm and its whole body relaxed. Later I also taught it to 'drop' said toy so I could throw it again, as everyone else was having a tug of war to release. It's been a long time since I've played with a puppy. All my friends are cat people!

part of a pelican painting I'm currently working on (acrylic on paper)
My first attempt on paper this time around.