Happy scrappy news, challenges and shares

Hi all,
Hope you have all had a chance to be creative lately...if not I have two fabulous new challenges to share with you today!

First up...some exciting happy, scrappy news!
I'm happy to announce that I'm back to where I first started with the Scrap the Boys challenge blog!

It was many years ago that I started the Scrap the Boys blog however back then it was more like an inspiration blog to get the mojo flowing for those boy layouts. A few scrappy friends were always saying there wasn't enough inspiration for boy pages and the blog was started.
As my life got busier I had to hand it over which I did to the lovely Susan Longman.
WOW was I blown away with what she did with it...turning into one of the most popular challenge blogs ever!
It is now run by her equally lovely sister, Wendy Smith and is still as popular as ever!
So as you can imagine I am absolutely thrilled to be back at Scrap the Boys alongside some very talented scrappy chicks!

This month's theme is BIG BOYS TOYS. Cool right?
Having 5 sons, a husband and little grandson I have copious amounts of boy photos but for this challenge I couldn't go past our bubba sitting on his Uncle's motor bike at the local bike track.
Don't worry...his daddy was holding him up...I just made him get down low so I couldn't see him in the photo LOL

Here is my page:

 Don't forget you have until midnight the 31st of July to have your entries upload to the Scrap the Boys blog.

My second share is this months D-Lish Scraps July Inspiration Board. Gorgeous!

So much inspiration right there.
With this Inspiration Board I decided to challenge myself with a boys layout and not using Kraft as a background which was my instant thought when I first looked at the board.

Our youngest son has a (very unhealthy) love relationship with Coke so for his 16th birthday we had a little party for him that was all Coke themed.
I found this huge Coke bottle at our local party store and filled it up with Cola flavoured cordial.
I'm sure you can imagine his surprise when he came out and saw it!

I have some more very exciting D-Lish Scraps news today!
This weekend we are celebrating and having a 5th Birthday Bonanza!
I can tell you this...you NEED to be there!

I special page has been set up on Facebook and there are already cheat sheets for each challenge being bandied around.
Do yourselves a favour creatives...DON'T MISS THIS ONE!
Head over to the D-Lish Scraps page on Facebook and check out all the excitement!!
It's geared up to be a FABULOUS weekend with even BETTER PRIZES!

Well that's it for me today I'm off to edit some photos from a couple of recent sessions then head over to visit my little man.

Have fun creating,
Shaz
xx

Our MASSIVE but AMAZING weekend

Hi there folks,
Hoping you are warm wherever in the world you may be.
It's freeeeeeeezzzzzing at my house today...pretty sure I've got icicles on my fingers and nose!

Well I have some SUPER EXCITING personal news to share.
Our daughter got MARRIED on the weekend!
Can you believe it? our little girl is all grown up and now a Mrs.

So this is how the story goes.
Rhiannon and Steve chose the date and venue to hold their engagement party and sent out all the invitations.
One day they were discussing the party and one of them said to the other 'Wouldn't it be good if it was our wedding reception?'
The seed was planted and the rest, as they say, was history!

Both of them are very low key, relaxed and casual and neither wanted the big wedding with all the trimmings. They are both quiet and reserved and not 'spotlight' takers at all. So the way they planned their special day was just so 'them'.

They had the ceremony itself at their home in Inner Sydney and this was attended by both couples immediate family: parents, brothers and sisters and a couple of very close friends.
They also have a dog who is the light of their lives so of course he had to be able to attend.
So it was a lovely, intimate ceremony that reflected on both personalities beautifully.

Here's a photo of Ted watching his mum and dad tie the knot:

 Cute huh?

One of our boys and his girlfriend are in America at the moment but they had all planned before they left to Face Time the ceremony so they didn't miss a thing.
I love this photo of Rhiannon and Steve being congratulated after the ceremony by Jayden and Renee:

As I previously mentioned...neither couple are big on fuss and I literally had to beg to get some styled shots of them! Thank goodness Michael and I went over to their house the weekend before and I went for a walk to see what I had to work with!
Being in the Inner City I really wanted to capture that grunge, warehouse, inner city Sydney style. Here are a couple of pics of the newlyweds:

 

The reception was held at The Empire Hotel in Annandale and OMG that place is GORGEOUS!

Such beautiful furniture, very relaxed atmosphere and just a nice place to be. you wouldn't believe it was in such a busy suburb.

Once back at the reception the newlyweds surprised the rest of their guests with: 'Look! We got married BEFORE our engagement party!'.

 A couple of weeks ago we found out that Jye's next fight would be held ON THE SAME DAY AS THE WEDDING!!!

Thank goodness the universe was in our corner time wise and it turned out well.

We travelled from Sydney up to Woy Woy Saturday night and apart from the awful traffic getting out of the city it wasn't too bad at all.

Unfortunately Jye just missed out on the win this time but what an AWESOME fight!

It was 4 rounds and 2 minutes each round this time, both boys winning 2 rounds each but Jye's opponent finishing just a bit stronger in the end.

We are so proud of him, he had the flu the 2 weeks leading up to his fight and although I'd asked him to pull out a couple of times due to him being sick the thought wasn't even entertained by him.

His opponent was 24 (Jye is 18) and this was his 7th fight so he also had a little bit more experience.

All this aside though it was great to watch Jye matched up against someone with that experience and to see how he'd pull through in the end. He did really, really well.

Love that I got this photo of him with Rhiannon just after he'd changed at the reception before he left for Woy Woy:

 

This one with his trainers just before the fight:

 

An action shot:

 

 And both boys after the fight...glad that one was over LOL

So that was our Saturday.

Sunday we spent the afternoon at Josh's helping with the lawns and cleaning the guttering. 

Of course little man helped out...he does love his gardening this kid!

 

After we finished here it was off to watch soccer star Jack play and we got there just in time to watch him score the first goal of the game!

 

There you have our amazing but crazy busy weekend featuring our gorgeous kids.

How was your weekend?

Great I hope!

Chat soon,

Sharryn

xx

 

 

Finalist Entry Kaisercraft DT 2014/15

Hi there folks,
I'm back with some more exciting happy, scrappy news!

If you've visited my blog recently you may have noticed my application for the 2014/15 Kaisercraft DT.
Well guess what? I made it through to the second round! I was so excited to receive the email and kept checking my inbox over and over and over...I noticed I had an email in my junk folder and there it was! LOL

Kaisercraft sent the second rounders two, not even released yet, paper collections and they are both absolutely GORGEOUS!
Both totally right up my alley.
We were to create a minimum of 2 layouts, one with each collection. 

The first collection is just so, so pretty. In fact, it's just stunning and definitely on the top of my new favourite list.
I can't tell you the name of it yet but by looking at this layout I'm sure you'll agree that it's just divine:

 

Isn't it beautiful? I just adore it. 

So I decided to make a step card with it as well. I love these cards but had never made one before but this paper collection is just perfect for what I had in mind.

This is the side view of my card:

 And the view from the front:

 I'll definitely be using these papers again to create more beautiful things.

The other paper collection I was sent is Christmas themed and again, just gorgeous.

The colours are just beautiful and perfect for my style of Christmas creating.

Here's my layout:

Such lovely, vintage hues in this range. The photo is of my husband and our first grandchild just after he was born. 

For something a little different I had a play with this collection and a mini canvas and created something a little whimsical:

Something cute to put on my mantelpiece at Xmas time...or perhaps a handmade gift for a loved one.

I also made a Xmas tag but I forgot to take a photo before I packed it in the box ready to send off to Kaisercraft as part of my finished application. Oops!

I was in such a hurry to get my entry packed and sent off in anticipation of being one of the lucky ones chosen for the 2014/15 DT!

I just know I'll be sitting on top of my inbox for the next couple of weeks and I'll be sure to check each and every email including my junk mail!

I have everything crossed, fingers and toes, that my entries wow the judges enough to be selected for the new design team.

Wish me luck!

I'll be back soon to let you know how I went.

Take care,

Sharryn

xx

Happy Scrappy news and reveal!

Good morning lovelies,
It's a rainy Sunday morning here at the moment...perfect weather to be scrapping in!
And I have the perfect thing to get that mojo of yours kicked into overdrive!

First of all, I have some happy, scrappy news to share with you. I'm so thrilled to have been chosen as one of the Winter CT designers for D-Lish Scraps. Check out the team of talented chicks I'll be creating alongside:

So much talent and inspiration right there in that photo!

D-Lish Scraps specialises in gorgeous embellishments for your projects and over the next three months I'll be sharing and showcasing some of them with you.

Our first Creative Team project was to create something with this SPECTACULAR Mood Board in mind:

Isn't it gorgeous?
I found so much inspiration from this board...love it!
And here is the layout I created with this in mind...jam packed with D-Lish Scraps goodness:

 

D-lish Scraps products used:

Resin birds

Chipboard clouds

Chipboard mini word - HAPPY

Enamel Instaframes

 Flair - JUST A BOY

Journal It's - Pink Jumbo ticket

Resin cabachon - YELLOW (Sold out)

Why not be inspired by this awesome Mood Board and get creating a beautifully bright and funky page?

Don't forget to head over to the D-Lish Scraps blog to check out what the other girls in the CT have come up with...you'll be glad you did!

Simply link up your entry on the blog by the 30th of June for your chance to win a $30- D-Lish Scraps voucher PLUS one lucky randomly drawn entrant will win one of next months JUST ADD PAPER packs! Too easy!

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Sharryn

xx

Boys, boys, boys

Hey folks,
Hope you are well!
What has been happening in your part of the world?
We have been busy, busy, busy as usual in particular with our boys.

One of our sons does Muay Thai and has been training his butt off for his 3rd fight and fighting for his third win in a row.
This happened on May 17th in Marrickville, NSW.

Although his opponent in this promoters Facebook photo pulled out of the fight due to an injury sustained beforehand, Jye was matched up with another opponent for the night. How cool is the promo photo?

I have to say it was an AWESOME night and he took out the WIN by TKO 80 secs into the first round!
Here are a couple of photos I took:

Was the best night and I'm one very proud Muay Thai mum!

In other news...one of our other boys (child number 3) has just turned 21!
I have no idea where the years are going but they are certainly flying past!
We had dinner for him at our local pub on his actual birthday where he was presented with some awesome gifts including this Dodgers baseball top from his girlfriend:

 

They are both off to the US in two weeks and he was given tickets to a baseball game while over there as well. They are both so excited to be going and have spent the past 12 months saving and planning their trip.

We are having a 21st party for him on Friday night so fingers crossed the weather holds out for us!

Scrapping news....well! If anyone had ever told me scrapbooking could be dangerous I would've thought hmmm...not possible.

That was until Friday night!

Sitting at my desk scrapping away when I dropped a pair of small but very sharp scissors. instead of just letting them drop I went for the catch...unfortunately catching in my hand....palm side up! Although it punctured my hand the cuts weren't deep enough for stitches or anything but my ring finger immediately went numb.

Over the course of the night it swelled and swelled and SWELLED!

So off to the doctor the next morning to find out the cause after a long, painful night of throbbing.

At first he thought there was some nerve damage but x-rays showed that wasn't the case.

It was simply a case of infection so after a tetanus shot and a pack of anti-biotics I was sent home only to have the stupid thing swell even more!

In the end I had to get one of my boys to cut a ring off i've worn on my finger for almost 20 years ;/

Wasn't happy with that but it can be saved...unlike a finger!

So this is the layout I was working on and when I say I put blood, sweat and tears (OK not tears) into this...I really mean it!

I've done this page for this months Scrap The Boys challenge which is to create a GRUNGY/MESSY layout.  Thank goodness for that criteria...made it so much easier to hide the blood spots! LOL

 

This handsome young man is our youngest son, Jack all dolled up and ready for his Yr 10 Formal last year. The kid definitely has some swag...don't ya think?

That's it for now I'm off to mind my gorgeous little grandson.

Chat again real soon,

Sharryn

xx

Kaisercraft Design Team Entry 2014

Hi folks,
So I FINALLY got my entry finished very late tonight for the Kaisercraft 2014 DT.
I missed out last year and believe me...I thought I'd almost miss out again this year due to last minute running around. Put simply, if I didn't get it finished tonight I wouldn't have made the cut off time for tomorrow as I'm out all day again!
Starting at around 11.00 a.m this morning and literally just finishing photographing the layout (and let's just say it was no mean feat with the lighting I have here at midnight!)

So without further ado...here is my entry.

For my layout I've used the new release Mister Fox Collection. Love the colours in this range...just perfect for boys!

Lots of layering, distressing and tearing grunged up this page perfectly. Got to love grunge for the guys!

Next project I chose to do is a mixed media canvas. I've been playing around with this particular paper strip technique on a couple of canvases lately and loving it!
I chose the Garage Days Collection pack for this as I had an idea form as soon as I saw it. I wanted to create the feel of inside a vintage garage and love how this turned out.

Last but not least my off the page project.
My son and his girlfriend have been saving and planning for the trip to the USA for months now and I wanted to make something for them that they can store all their memorabilia in.
Plane tickets, theme park passes...anything they want to remember will go in this keepsake.

I chose the Kaisercraft camera album to alter as it reinforces the travel theme.
I've used papers and transparency from the Now Boarding Collection as it has images relevant to where they are travelling to and from.

I kept the album nice and simple so as not to detract from the shape of the camera.
I also know this will be handled quite a lot upon their return.

For the 'lens' and the 'camera bits' at the top of the album I inked and clear embossed them to give a more realistic metallic look.

So there you have my entries for the Kaisercraft 2014 DT.
Amazing what you can do in a day!

Chat soon
Sharryn xx

Fabulous friends and #throwbackthursday

Hi everyone,
Hope the week has been good to you so far...only a couple of days to go before the weekend.
It's Mothers Day here on Sunday and we will be having our Annual BBQ breakfast with family and friends in a local park.
Looking forward to it...it's always a yummy breakfast :)

Last weekend I attended (yet another) high school reunion. I am very blessed to have gone to school with an awesome bunch of people, not only in my grade but other years above and below mine.
So our reunions aren't just for the grade I was in but for anyone that attended the school basically.
We are a pretty tight knit group even after all these years (30+) and I am extremely grateful for the friendships I've kept with some of them.
Friendships like that are very hard to find these days and to have multiple is just a true blessing.
Here are some pics of the night...not great as they were all taken on phones.

A bittersweet week of friendships for me though as I spent Saturday night laughing and dancing with all these wonderful people but this Saturday will mark the 1 year anniversary of my beautiful friend Michelle's passing from cancer.

I met Michelle through my kids primary school many, many years ago and we became very good friends.
I don't think I have ever met anyone like her to be honest and probably never will again.
To have spent her last night in hospital with her and held her hand in her final hours was absolutely heartbreaking but also a privilege and an honour.
Still find it hard to reminisce about her without tearing up and I have still yet to go and visit her resting place. I just can't bring myself to do it. I'm hoping to get out there this Saturday though as hard as I know it's going to be.
RIP my beautiful friend I love you and will never, ever forget the friendship we had and the awesome times we spent together.

Unfortunately I don't have any crafty shares for you today...well recent ones anyway.
I've issued a bit of a fun challenge to scrappy friends on Facebook to create a Throwback Thursday album to share our older layouts and projects.
I think it's a fab way to go over old pages and reminisce about products that once were and to see how our styles have evolved.
So without further ado...here's my #throwbackthursday share for today. The very first layout I ever did in February 2005.

Gosh I was so proud of that page! LOL
Remember the trend of using old CD's as embellishments?
Photos are of my eldest son when he was a newborn.

That's it for me today I'm off to edit some newborn photos for a client.
Take care and have an awesome Mother's Day if you live in Australia or just a wonderful weekend anyway.
Sharryn
xx