Getting Inkie with it

Sleep is something which eludes me at times. Usually this happens during stressful periods of time at work - report-writing time, exam block or a huge -to-do list that never seems to get any shorter. When I can't sleep, one thing that I love to do is check out scrapbooking process videos on YouTube. About four months ago, I discovered the channel of Australian Scrapbooker Adele Toomey, aka Inkie Quill. I fell in love with her work instantly and spent the next few nights watching all of her YouTube scrapbooking videos and checking out her blog. She has other channels devoted to art journalling and planners, but I tend to only watch the scrapbooking ones.

Recently, Adele held a live scrap stream on her channel - OMG 12+ hours of Inkie Quill goodness = BLISS. I am not sure what my husband and the boys thought of my constant giggling throughout the day. It was like being on retreat but in my own house. I scrapped along with Adele and created these layouts.
Layout 1: 5 & Seven - finally getting around to scrapping the annual back-to-school photo from 2015 just in time for the 2016 photo.

Layout 2: 2016 Creed. The quote came up on my Pinterest feed and it perfectly sums up how I would like to live this year.

Layout 3: My Main Squeeze - a 'just because layout' using up a pile of scraps.

Layout 4: This Watch. During Adele's stream, the topic of scrapping the difficult moments was discussed. Too often, our scrapbooks are filled with moments and memories of happy times but life is real, life is tough, sometimes bad stuff happens. This was the basis of the discussion - whether or not the 'bad stuff' has a place in our albums. I think they do - they can help change our perspective on situations, help us see the silver lining when things aren't going so well, as well as being cathartic in the sense that we can get things off our chests instead of bottling them up. Last year, our house was broken into and all of my jewellery was stolen, including a watch that was my mother's. It held so much sentimental value which can never be replaced. I used this layout as a way of reminding myself that while the watch may be gone, all that it means can never be taken from me.

That's it for now. Scrapping has taken a back seat over the last few days as I have been getting ready for the start of another school year.

Thanks for stopping by.

S xoxo

Random Creating

While I loved my time on the Scrap the Boys team and was honoured to be a Scrapbooking Memories Master in 2015, I have missed creating just for the fun of it. There were many times last year when scrapping took a very distant backseat to my work and some months the only scrapping I did was for STB or for the magazine. The challenges were awesome and the products often put me out of my comfort zone so right now, I am relishing in digging through my stash and creating layouts for the fun of it.

Layout One: Oh So Fancy. This photo dates back to 1999 (OMG that is 17 years ago!) and is of my mother, sister and I at my hen's night.

Layout Two: Best Present Ever. There is no patterned paper on this layout - just a bag that was from a recent shopping trip and tags/labels from my stash. My son must like it - he took it off my desk and blu-tacked it to his wall before I could put it in my album.

Layout Three: Yet another swimming layout. Not 100% happy with how this layout turned out, but I do love the texture in the background. My favourite element is the Flutterby Designs flair badge. I need to get some more of these. 

Thanks for stopping by.
S xoxo

Kraft+ January Challenge

Hi everyone, back with another share of a layout I create last week for the Kraft+ Challenge blog. The challenge for this month was to use your handwriting. I will be the first to admit that I don't love my own handwriting, but I do like to use it on my layouts from time to time. I go through stages where all of my journalling will be handwritten and other times where I will use my vintage typewriter or my computer. Here is what I came up with:

Photo credit: Leanne Jago. Thanks Leanne :)

I have been crafting up a storm these holidays - making the most of time at my scrap desk before school starts again at the end of the month.

S xoxo

White with 1 - January Challenge

After a short break from all things scrapping related, I am making the most of the summer holidays here in Australia. By making the most of it I mean lots of time spent at the pool with the boys while they train and time spent scrapping. I thought the best way to find my scrapping groove again would be to see what challenges are out and about.
Here is what I created for White with 1 for this month, featuring the colour green - photos of our youngest son present his speech for school captain voting last year. He was super proud to be elected as Vice Captain of his school for 2016!

And some close-ups:

Thanks for stopping by. 
S xoxo

Saying Goodbye

There's an old saying that all good things must come to an end and the close of 2015 was more than just the end of another year, but also the end of my time as a Scrapbooking Memories Master and Design Team Member of Scrap the Boys.
While being selected as a Master was definitely a highlight of my scrapping life, I had wanted to be on a DT for the longest time. Scrap the Boys was the perfect home for me - as the mother sons, the site was an awesome hub of inspiration. I will definitely miss being on the DT but I cannot wait to see what the new team members come up with over the following months.
Here is my final DT layout based on this mood board:

To step way outside of my comfort zone, I chose to focus on the greens and purples on the board. I didn't have the right shade of purple, but went with what I found in my stash.

I loved the way this layout turned out, especially considering it had been well over two months since I last had the time, motivation and opportunity to scrap. Here's hoping that 2016 will be calmer than 2015 so I can have more time for pretty paper play.
Love
S xoxo

Scrap the Boys October

This month at Scrap the Boys, the challenge is based on this mood board:

And here is my take on the challenge. This design is something I have seen used before - not 100% sure who by, but I think perhaps Jen Schow or Adele (from Inkie Quill).

And some close-ups: 

Don't forget to link up your layout to the website before the end of the month to be in the running for great prizes.
S xoxo

Scrap the Boys - September

Hello there.
Welcome to the start of another month over at Scrap the Boys. This month, we have a sketch challenge for you.
This is the sketch:

And here is my take on the challenge:

You have until the end of the month to link your take on the sketch to the STB blog.
Thanks for stopping by.
S xoxo

Stuck?! Sketches August Challenges

Today I am sharing the layouts that I have created for this month's challenges over at Stuck?! Sketches. Here is a look at the first sketch:

And this is my take on it. The weather here has been very overcast so getting clear pictures has been very challenging.

This is the second sketch for the month:

And here is my take on it - rotated 90 degrees: 
  

I have a few other layouts to share so will be back when I have a few spare moments.
S xoxo

Home

Last year, talented photographer and scrapper Leanne Jago paid a visit to the farm to take some photos of the boys.  She also snapped a few random pictures of the crops. I have used one of my favourite photos from the day on this layout:

A super simple layout but I love it.
Thanks for stopping by.
S xoxo

Meeting Taylor

Back in March we travelled to Toowoomba for the district's annual swimming presentation dinner. Lachlan won an award for the junior distance champion at the regional titles. The guest speaker was Taylor McKeown, a gold medalist from the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

She was so awesome to listen to and had lots of great advice for everyone. The boys were so excited to meet her and it blew their mind to watch her on TV a few weeks later at the National Titles as she competed for a spot in the Australian Team for the World Championships. I love girl-ifying' this layout ;)

A few weeks later, we headed off on holidays to Caloundra were we spent one of our days at Aussie World. This layout is all about the boys going on the Redback - watching them was a total crack-up.

Thanks for stopping by.

S xoxo

Let's Celebrate

Our youngest son turned 10 a few months ago. I am sure all of the parents out there can relate to me when I question where those years have gone.  Lachie had a quiet birthday at home with the family. His favourite part about his birthday? The cake ... always the cake.  This year was the year of many cakes - cake for his classmates at school, cake with his squad mates at swimming training, cake at home the night of his birthday with his brother and I, and finally, cake the following night because Dad was home to celebrate with him.

A few weeks later he was awarded 'Student of the Week'. He was pretty chuffed with this as his teacher was married the previous weekend so he was the first person to be given the award by Mrs O - apparently there is a big difference between getting an award from Ms H and Mrs O ... even if they are the same person. This layout was based on a sketch from October Afternoon's blog.

Thanks for stopping by.
S xoxo

2015 - The Year that Kicked my Butt

I always knew that 2015 was going to be a monster year work-wise. I thought I was prepared. I thought I had the year all mapped out. I thought I was on top of things. How wrong I was.
The upside of all this is that I am fortunate enough to have a job I love and to live in a country where I get to enjoy so many freedoms that a lot of women can never image. OK, enough philosophising and on with the scrapbook shares.
Layout One: Scrap the Boys June
This was a sketch challenge. I used photos from Lachlan's first competitive swim at the State Relay Titles at the end of last year.

Layout Two: Scrap the Boys July
This layout was a mood board challenge. I love this photo of my littlest man.

Layout Three: Scrap the Boys August

This is my take on the current challenge.

Well, that's me all caught up with my shares for Scrap the Boys. Stay tuned over the coming days for more layout shares.
S xoxo