Liebster Award

Today I was thrilled to be awarded a blog award from Sarah http://lawlessrose.blogspot.com.au/ , Thank you Sarah I was honoured

About the Award

This award was designed to be a blog award in the pay it forward fashion. Once you have been nominated you award it to blogs that you like that have fewer than 200 followers to encourage new visitors to these blogs.

Rules for Acceptance

Thank the person who gave you the award and link it back to their blog.

Post the award onto your blog.

Give the award to 5 bloggers who you appreciate that have fewer than 200 followers.

Leave a comment on their blog to let them know that you have given them this award.

Here are 5 blogs to inspire  that I know you will enjoy visiting as much as I do

Lizzy Hill~  http://lizzyhill12.blogspot.com.au/

Geli Duncan  ~ http://colourblast.blogspot.com.au/

Janice Nicholls http://janicenicholls.blogspot.com.au/

Sandra ~ http://kiandra-kreations.blogspot.com.au/

Shaunagh~ http://artjournallingscrapbooking1.blogspot.com.au/

Weekends NEARLY here , 

Keep Smiling

Mary x

COLOR ME SCRAPPY

Evening fellow scrappers ,

The new range of Kaisercraft Lulu and Roy has come out and I thought I would use it for my next weeks class and then I realized it fitted in with the colour challange over at Colormescrappy http://color-me-scrappy.blogspot.com.au/

and the criteria was layering , which I have covered , so here is my layout

This is my beautiful sister in law. The quote says "Family by marriage , Friends by heart". This is the way I think of her, we are great friends and I love her to bits

Sorry the picture quality is not so good, it is getting late here and it is a overcast and rainy day.
Hope to see you all joining in over at colormescrappy
Wishing you all a happy week
Peace and Sunshine
Mary x

THE TWO GIRLS I LOVE MOST IN THE WORLD

Hello,
This layout is a just because, a layout of the two girls I love most in the world, my DD and my DGD. The photo was taken at Amelia's Confirmation Day. 

 I saw this gorgeous Prima mask on a beautiful layout of Gwen Wrucks  http://gwenatthisisme.blogspot.com.au/and I knew I needed it, yes definately a need not a want :)
Luckily Nicole from Craftqueen had one :) http://www.craftqueen.com.au/ I was thinking of using a circle chippy around the photo and didn't have one on hand, so I improvised and used the olive Satin Seam binding that I got from Nicole that day as well. The Prima Cherish stamp , yep got that from Nicole on the same day, ( obviously I couldn't wait to play with my new goodies )
The little wooden flower button is also from Craftqueen, the heart brad in the corner is a gift from Jo http://mycherrypiecreations.blogspot.com.au/

The cream fabric flower at the side that you can see peeking out under the satin seam binding was a gift from http://billiebeveridge.blogspot.com.au/ The little bronze charm, again from Nicole at Craftqueen and the Kaiser wooden chippy that I have smudged with Pan Pastels and the flowers are from Marally Craft http://marallycraft.blogspot.com.au/ along with the scrumptious Kaiser Base Pattern Paper, isn't it fabulous !

I had run out of my thick thread to sew around the edge and I once again compromised and was really happy with the effect. I have a reel of  almost like string that I found amongst my Mum's things, its probably like 100 years old, I like it just sitting on my desk , because it's like an antique, anyway , so what I did I just laid it around the edge and adhered it here and there 

Wishing you all a wonderful week. My girls is coming home tonight for a very quick visit, but better than nothing
Peace and Sunshine
Mary x

HOME AND SCRAPPED CC ~ CHARMING MEMORIES

Bula,

Home and scrapped http://homeandscrapped.ning.com/ CC is finishing today and I managed to get one more challenge completed. This was to use Blue/Biege /green, no flowers ,and to have a  title & journalling. I have done another page of our time at Navutu ( the most beautiful place and people ever)

The Teresa Collins Far and Away Range is perfect for travel/holiday photos. The colours are more vibrant IRL, the light is not the best now for taking photo's, but has to be uploaded by tonight

A little banner with satin seam binding 

What a cutie

I hope I can visit here again one day, the island and people are truly special, I think of Navutu often
Nearly the weekend :)
Love and Sunshine
Mary x

HAPPY SHINY PEOPLE ~ colormescrappy

Morning on this lovely day

I thought I would share the layout I sent as part of my DT applications for colormescrappy http://color-me-scrappy.blogspot.com.au/ 

This is the color pallette we were given 

and here is my layout
Happy, Shiny, People

These are some of the beautiful children at Navutu, they are such happy souls

The camera, tag, and the round circle above are both from Amy Tangerine Range, The Star button is from A Piece of Cake Designs http://apieceofcakedesigns.com.au/

A Little bit of washi here and there

I am really looking forward to working with this team and being challenged to come up with layouts  , some with a twist , so hope to see you there :)
This is the current challenge and the twist is to use the word Fresh in your journalling and you have until the 28th Feb to upload your entry

I also ended up reposting my pic "Birthday Wishes" in my last post, as last night while searching through my stash I found some little blue Kaiser flower stickers that went nicely with my layout. I thought they added a nice touch.

Happy day to you
Peace and Sunshine
Mary x

HOME AND SCRAPPED CYBER CROP CHALLENGE ~ BIRTHDAY WISHES

Hello 
As you may or may not know Home and Scrapped is having a Cyber Crop and you have until this Wednesday 20th Feb to complete the challenges http://homeandscrapped.ning.com/

I have completed this layout for Melissa's Challenge http://snipsnapcrop.blogspot.com.au/ and the challenge is , seeing it is the month of love
L ~ lace, 
O ~ Oval
V~ vintage
E~ Edging
Melissa has other options to use for each letter, but they are the options I chose.
I am getting some layouts completed of my Mum's last birthday, so that is good

Lace I have use some of Mum's old lace

Oval ~ the oval stamp shape I have stamped on the tea bag

The sweet little cup and spoon was in my Scrapfriends order :) Thank you for the little gift, perfect for this layout

Vintage ~ the lace's are vintage and I hope I have created a vintage feel to the page

The PP is Prima Fairy Belle Collection and was given to me by Billie Jean, Thank you it added to the vintage feel
http://billiebeveridge.blogspot.com.au/

E ~ Edging ~ I have punched out a decorative edge.
So there you have it. There are plenty of different challenges up , so pop over and have a look.

Also there is a new challenge site starting up called Scrap Your Story http://scrapyourstory.blogspot.com.au/.  Sounds exciting

So Cheers
Big Ears :)
Mary x

BIRTHDAY FLOWERS ~ And some happy news

Hello 

Yesterday we had a lovely day as Susan McGuire a friend we met on the Boxx http://www.theboxx.scrapboxx.com/ , travelled from Sydney to spend the weekend and scrap with us. The Boxx is the site where many of our online scrapbooking journeys began, and many friendships were made.  So we chatted, ate, ( Kim made her delish Pavlova) and scrapped. I was really pleased I actually got two layouts completed .
This layout I did for Scrapfriends Colour Challenge http://blog.scrapfriends.com.au/

When I firs saw the colour challenge I was thinking hmmmm, but the layout actually came together quite quickly and I was really pleased with it.

My brother from Melbourne sent these to Mum on her 95th Birthday

There are some little chocolate flowers under the blue flowers that don't show up in the photo

Had to mix some paints together to get the right colour to paint the raw chippies letters. Annette suggested that I emboss the letters, I liked that idea.

some perfect pearls dotted here there.
NOW..... My happy news :) I am now on the design team for Colormescrappy  http://color-me-scrappy.blogspot.com.au/
so I hope I see some of your fabulous layouts over there joining in the colour challenges.
oh and don't forget the current challenge at Orangepaperie http://orangepaperieandco.blogspot.com.au/ hope to see you there as well.
Back to work tomorrow, but have a fabulous week
Sunshine and Peace
Mary x

HOME AND SCRAPPED FEBRUARY = LOVE BLOG HOP

Seeing it is the month of love, here is a quote to start the post 

I love Winnie the Pooh quotes, they are such a GIFT  to pass onto our children. You may need to collect a special word from each blog as you go along ;)

Home and Scrapped is having is hosting a Cyber Crop  that runs through till Wednesday and that is where you will find all the challenges http://homeandscrapped.ning.com/

You would be visiting my blog via Liz Ashman Liz Ashman -  http://inspiringpapercreations.blogspot.com.au/  and from here you will visit  Melissa Docking -  http://snipsnapcrop.blogspot.com.au/

Heather has set  the challenge to share four things about ourselves that you may not know . Now this may seem to be a easy task and only 4 things shouldn't be hard right? But I find this incredibly hard, I am a pretty open book, so I don't know what there is not to know about me and I think I must be pretty boring, because I do find it really hard to come up with anything slightly interesting, but here goes I will try hmmmm Lets see, well ......

I used to write poetry when I was a teenager (didn't everyone), see told you ...... boring
I have been to a Bob Dylan concert
I was a Hippy
I walked smack bang into a street sign in the main street and the boy (who was to become my boyfriend) was sitting across the road in a cafe and saw it all
see BORING , oh well I did it

I will have a little RAK for the person that uses the above Winnie the Pooh quote on one  the challenges over at the Home and Scrapped Cyber Crop challenges. It will be a random draw if more than one person completes my challenge, just note that you have used the quote as per Mary Bennetts Challenge when you upload it to the gallery , and you can also leave a note on my home page to let me know if you like as well.
Also Heather will be drawing this lovely RAK for one member who completes all the tasks in the blog hop

here is the prize we have on offer for one person who successfully completes all tasks on the Hop, one of my extra large flower packs (Flowers by Heather at Elsie & Grace - http://www.etsy.com/shop/ElsieandGrace  )

So what are you waiting for ? If you are already not a member pop over become a member and join in the  fun. Home and Scrapped is a wonderful community, lots of friendships, challenges , and tips. I love the fact there are tips from scrapbooking, recipes, books to read , a whole range of topics. Look forward to seeing you there.
Here is a list of the blogs you need to visit , incase you miss any

Angie Budden Watt -  http://angiebudden.blogspot.com.au/

Heather Waldron -  http://scrapysketches.blogspot.com.au/

Kerri Smith -  http://myscrapnaddiction.wordpress.com/

P B Libby -  http://northernmainescrappygirl.blogspot.com.au/

Liz Ashman -  http://inspiringpapercreations.blogspot.com.au/

Mary Bennetts -  http://www.mbennetts.blogspot.com.au/

Melissa Docking -  http://snipsnapcrop.blogspot.com.au/

Sarah Rogers -  http://lawlessrose.blogspot.com.au/

Don't forget from here you go onto Melissa's 
Angies is the beginning. Please leave some love on the blogs, so we know you have visited, become a follower of these lovely ladies blogs and me please :) and join us at Home and Scrapped 

Have fun hopping
Mary 

FAR AWAY NAVUTU FIJI ~ CSICOLORSTORIESINSPIRATION CHALLENGE 58

Two posts in one day !
This one is for challenge No 58 over at csicolorstoriesinspiration http://csicolorstoriesinspiration.ning.com/ 
when I received my order from Scrapfriends yesterday the colours and the Far Away Range from Teresa Collins was perfect for the challenge . I really love Teresa Collins Products and then I found the perfect pic from my Fiji Photo's

The travel word is Pink Paislee also from scrapfriends, they come white and can be coloured or left white 

I have used the stamped tea bag again and the brad is MME

Some buttons and washi tape 

The escape button is from scrapfriends and the arrow is Pinkpaislee and it is from the travel range along with the travel word

I have chosen to choose just one photo in my layout and pick out elements of the sketch and for the evidence I have twine and a jagged edge on the canvas and canvas for my fibre.



Thank you for visiting and please let me know you called, my blog is feeling a bit lonely :( Hopefully soon I can share my Happy News :)
Have a great weekend
Mary x

TUSCANY

Buon giorno

I seem to be revisiting Tuscany at the moment, the most beautiful place . 

I wanted to recreate the outside of the building for my background pp & I was really happy how it turned out ,I was happy  the texture & colour . And whilst laying in bed I remembered I had just the perfect colour lace from Craftqueen http://www.craftqueen.com.au/ , the same colour as the shutters ~ Bonus! and then when I was carrying a 6inch pad out to the kitchen the tag I have stuck the Tuscany stickers on fell out onto the floor, same colour as the shutters again! Yay happy days

I soaked the canvas in coffee to get the colour I wanted 

Stamped on a tea bag ( got this idea from Pinterest) I dried the teabag out then opened carefully and removed the tea

Close up of the texture

Don't forget to pop over and join in Orange paperies Challenge this month http://orangepaperieandco.blogspot.com.au/

and yesterday being Valentines Day the Photo A Day prompt was " What is Love " funny that.

Anyway for me Love is a Million little and big things that are felt in the heart

My eldest son now 34 made this for me when he was in infants school, yep I keep all the bits and pieces they made at school. I thought of this heart while laying in bed also, funny when you are not well and in bed what you think of

Take Care

and have a wonderful weekend

filled with smiles and friendship

Mary x

Another Freaking Scrappin Challenge ~ My Happy Place

Afternoon on this lovely day. The Challenge over at Another Freaking Scrapping Challenge http://another-freaking-scrappy-challenge.blogspot.com.au/ is to scrap about your passion, I am just scraping this one in. Besides my Family and scrapping of course, my passion is travel ( just wish I was wealthy to fund it ) But Oh well I am so very grateful for the places I have been and seen and the people I met along the way.
This photo was taken in Tuscany, beauty everywhere you look, seriously gorgeous.
When I started this yesterday it just wasn't working , my photo wasn't the star and no matter what I did I was not happy , until...... I changed the Pattern Paper, as soon as I put it on this Pickle Pear Range it just popped

The button is from a piece of cake http://www.apieceofcakedesigns.com.au/ , they have a range of gorgeous buttons and kits, so have a peek.
I stamped around the photo as well

The chippy vine is Kaiser that I embossed red to pick up the geraniums . Vine and PP is from Marally Craft http://marallycraft.blogspot.com.au/

Chevron Stamp from Scrapfriends , the chippy frame is from Scrapmatts http://scrapmatts.ning.com/ 
Little camera is Pinkpaislee cut out from the Unbelievable range

So after a lot of changing and shifting , I think I am happy with it .

And then I used the original Paper that I had as the base on another layout ( well I had to use It ) 

This is a pic of my hubby, cute little guy isn't he :)

Lots of misting, inking and washi tape 

Thanks for calling, please say Hi and don't forget the challenge at Orange Paperie , we would love your support http://orangepaperieandco.blogspot.com.au/

Love and Peace

Mary x