First Christmas LO - EVER

I dont do Christmas LO's. Too many photos. Too many colours. Too many family members (what if I forget to include someone?). Christmas is just TOO for me. So no layouts. Period.

Until now. A challenge for Jounaling Junkie has forced me to re-look this. Unfortunately I lost most of my Christmas photos when my external drive took a dive....these (rather dismal) pics where stashed in a draw somewhere.

I think I may try gather a few from past Christmas's and just do a generic LO for each year. Just a Where, Who, What vibe. Not a million bells and whistles. (like I ever do that!)

Oh but wait...check out the dimension
on this one baby! KJ will be proud....

The Layered Look

As I 'non-dimensional' scrapper, the layered look kinda escapes me. I always feel if I layer heavily that my photo begins to disappear. Clearly I just dont do it right because I drool over some layered LO's by other artists!

I still gave it a crack though, spurred on by the challenge over on KJ's blog.

Layering to me = patterned paper + paint + rub-ons + gaffer tape etc. In Mel-speak, commonly referred to has 'flat-layering'!!



I had fun doing this LO. The little guy was pottering around, wreaking havoc as he has already figured out that if Mom is scrapping the world can fall down and SHE WONT NOTICE. (or care!)



The girls were upstairs watching morning tv. Since the ban on tv during the week, Saturday morns have become pretty precious to them!

Russ was in PE til lunchtime so I arbed in my VERY UNATTRACTIVE fleece gown and scrapped my little heart out.

Luverly.

Thoughts on the Simple

Journalling : I have found that pursuing a life of simplicity comes at a cost few people care to mention.

I am not saying its not worth it...simply that its not as easy as tossing out a few boxes of unwanted junk or saying no to arbitary requests on your time.

Simplicity is not only decluttering your home and time but also decluttering (renewing) your mind. This is something I find far more challenging but a journey certainly worth travelling.

Challenge Entry

My entry for the challenge on KJ's blog. (take 2!)

- Use 5 patterned papers
- Use the word AMAZE

Kindly note the stitching people....top right corner. Yes, be impressed. And little flower thingies at the bottom? Yes, time consuming and utterly un-Mel. But that is why I love KJ's challenges - she forces (in a lovely way!) me to try new things.

Journalling reads:

I still reckon the best way to embrace and celebrate everyday life is to allow yourself to be amazed by simple things.

Its not easy and I dont get it right very often, but it does add an aura of the extra-ordinary if you allow yourself to be amazed. Every day.



( see blog entry below on Monday 3 Nov for my first attempt at this challenge.....this is the re-do!)

Something New?

So I used paint on this LO which is not unusual for me BUT what is super unusual is that I took the time to STITCH that super- cute butterfly. (if I may say so myself!)

Be amazed people. I sure as heck am! Am still not sold on the stitching game; think I would be more inclined if I had a sewing machine.

Then again, maybe not.

Purging and Sorting

I got stuck into my scrap space recently to try to make it look vaguely organised and attractive.

With the house going on show shortly and the fact that we live in a completely open plan environment....I had to try to organise the chaos.

Its a great space to work especially when it looks like this...!

I did a page for KJ's challenge but HATED it.

Have redone it. Ripped this one to shreds. Still not loving the latest attempt...but will submit it anyway cos am * so* over this LO now!

Watch KJ's space around the 10 November to see the new one I did.

A time to create...

This morning, I dropped my kids and came home to a quiet, tidy home. No housekeeper. Just me and the hounds. (who I am liking at the moment).

I stuck a load of dishes and laundry on. Made the beds, wiped the kitchen surfaces. I knew I would not be able to scrap with a clean conscience if these things werent done! I dont know when I developed my Martha conscience but there you have it.

I then, gleefully, put on some smooth jazz and headed to my workspace. These are what I did. Am pretty much loving them. Which feels good.


Journalling: It has taken me a while to grasp that peace is not about quiet and serene settings. Peace is a state of being - an internal state of serenity and calm, in spite of external chaos.
Phil 2:7 The peace of God which transcends all understanding....




Journalling: Was yet another grey Sept day. Where is Spring? Ever determined, we wall bundled up and headed to the beach. Who needs sun to have fun??

Give Yourself a Gift

A while ago Stacey Julian challenged us to stop and capture life right now. No frills and no fuss. The aim is to keep it in your bag and look at it frequently. (I dont carry a bag; may have to live in the glove compartment!)

Due to technical difficulties I wasnt able to use the 'exact photos' I wanted to but I decided to stop being anal and just use what I had lying around.

Here is a few pages of my matchbox book - aint she sweet?

Delays...

Just when I got myself all sorted with resizing, editing and sorting photos into correct folders for printing.....my laptop died. BEFORE I could transfer them to my stick. I am so bummed. I have creative juice pumping through my veins and little I can do about it!

Suffice to say I have created the album Stacey Julian has on her blog. Check out the challenge there to do a mini of " life - right now". It took m5 30mins to do.I used a Basic Grey Matchbox Mini. Just have to stick pics in when I get them printed. I already LOVE it. Probably just cos its cute, dinky and colourful! LOL

Am also almost finished a 6x6 called "THINGS WE DO."

I realise now that I cannot remember what I did when I had no kids? When I had only one kid? Two? Well, now I have 3 and I want to remember how we filled our days during the course of this year.

Its a super simple, no frills, no heavy journalling, no matting and doodles etc. Its a picture of each activity + a few words about it. Have 3 more mini-spreads to finish and then I promise to share! (assuming my pc is back).

Later guys. (and thanks to my 1 follower....!)

First Haircut

Okay, so this is the LO I did a few weeks back. The one I dont like and didnt want to post.

I still dislike it with considerable intensity. In fact, to say I loathe it would be an understatement....however....it tells the story with all the journalling and it shows the process in pictures.

I dont think my boy will ever care about the lack of balance, design mojo or boring background. I may one day re-do it.

Actually I probably wont.

Sibling Affinity

Have scrapped 3 Lo's in 2 days. Simply unheard of for me but I think it may have to do with the fact that I re-ordered my space (yes, again!). I always discover new stash and old photos and the combination just gets my fingers a-twitching!

I will post a new one every day or so....cant post all 3 now cos then I dont have new material for, like a week!!! So check back again soon...

I didnt say much on this one - I think the LO speaks for itself. I dont see the need to gut myself on every page so the journalling remains sparse here....

A Fan

I am a Jamie Waters fan. I love her easy style. It seems so utterly effortless until you begin to "unpack" one of her layouts!

I especially enjoy her use of colour and word stickers. I am always nervous of using lots of patterned papers/colours as my sense is not great. I tend to use papers from the 'same range' cos my mix n match can look pretty dang awful.

Anyway - here are a few of Jamie's.



I did manage a LO yesteday (Levi's first haircut) but I dont like it.....yup, it went straight into the album....maybe I should share but right now?

Nah!

A fourth child?

I think I did this LO probably about 18mnths ago. I knew there would come a time in my life where I would begin to think about having a fourth baby.

I knew I would FORGET the ramifications and only remember the 'warm and fuzzy' moments of babies. THAT IS WHY I MADE THE LAYOUT.

For this day. No more babies Mel. No more babies.

(click to enlarge and read journalling)

Featured Layout

This was my LO that I did for the DT call on Journaling Junkie.

To my mind its a bit "all over the place" but then again, so is Faith so i will try to convince you that it was planned this way....



The journalling reads:

At 4yrs old you are incredibly in touch with your feelings - and very sensitve to others' too.

We taught you very early to try and articulate your emotions in an effort to help you process the physical intensity that builds up in your little body.

Our lives have improved dramatically - as has yours - with this skill you have mastered.

You are still prone to some serious Grouch-i-ness but you remain super cute!

New Ones!

The Thirties and Me

I scrapped people. I did it. It was a sheer act of will but I did it and stangely enjoyed the moment. I decided to just grab a few pics I already had (from my BOM) and just put together a page of me.

I decided if that US chick with 5 kids can run for VP, then I can scrap this morning INSTEAD of doing laundry. (if you have no idea what I am talking about see my other blog)

On reflection I decided to go back and look at some of my past LO's and I discovered I have done a "Me @ 3--- " since I was 32. It wasnt a calculated thing so its cool for me to see how things (me) have changed and grown.

I was particularly interested to see how each page, in its design, style and colours, seem to really reflect where I was 'in my head' at the time. I have decided to share them with you---bear in mind the one I did today is the last one; me at 35.

32

33

34


Journalling on above page reads as follows:


35

(And just a special thanks to Vicky for always leaving comments here...as well as my other spot...means much to me.)

Happy Mail

Look what arrived today. Just in time to rescue me from my pity party. Am turning in early to suck up all this creativity!

Simple Scrapbooks is my all time favourite mag; my subs is my little indulgence....
Stay tuned for prolific scrapping.

Yes. Well. Maybe.

Cerebral Moment

Do you ever get those weird thoughts about your scrapping and what the heck are you doing?

I sometimes look at my albums and wonder why I am doing all this. The time, the fuss, the expense, the thought, the organising and the hobby in and of itself. I could, after all, just put pics in a photo album with journalling alongside. (i do this aswell....cant scrap everything!)

I have these moments occasionally. They do pass. I realise scrapping is a creative outlet and maybe I am just not feeling that creative lately. Life presses in and creativity is stunted. My space is not working for me and my desk in shared with DH at the moment. I have a tiny desk. All in all - not a happy picture.

I plan to scrap this week. Just something to keep it alive. I did sort all my scraps of paper last week....hoping that would light my fire. It certainly did stoke a spark or two but the wet weekend and the demands of 3 bored little kids stamped it out in a rush!!

And just so this post is not utterly meaningless.... here is a LO I did for a challenge (which I won, woo hoo) sometime back on Dragonfly Time!

Its still a firm favourite of mine. The photo is out of focus yada yada but I love it.


Looking forward to popping in on some of my local scrappy bloggers and see what you have been up to!

Fathers Day in Acrylic

I did this album in 3 hours - 2 days before Fathers Day. It has turned out to be one of the most epic albums I have ever done. Not much in terms of design (its super simple) or supplies but all because of the content of this little gem. The journalling. Pure and simple.

I feel I really managed to capture the spirit of this guy - the father to my kids. Russ is an EPIC dad - he adores his kids and they love him to bits. The kids drew pictures and wrote notes to add to this album; I think Russ will be turning to this one regularly.

He took it to work every day for a week to show different colleagues....speaks volumes huh?

My Glimpses Album

A couple of you know that each year I do a mini-album that I call my "Glimpses 200?" This little album has proved a real treasure - I learnt all about it in a class Stacey Julian taught us in 2005. And I have done one every year since.

The format is super simple, super easy and super cute. It is possible to become overwhelmed at trying to capture the year in a tiny album BUT that is not the point! We scrap all year to do that - this is a 'nutshell album'.I think its easier if I show you some examples from my previous years, these albums were done in 6x6 format : Click to enlarge images.

Mel 2005

Mel 2007

Faith 2005

Faith 2007

As you can see there are set little 'questions' you answer for each member of your family. I also do filler pages with other highlights (or just ordinary lights!) of our year that may not have made it to my other albums but are still noteworthy. These are Russ' favourite albums....he hauls these out regularly!

Stay tuned - will post some filler pages at a later date.