June Digital Scrapbooking Layouts..

Hello!

I have been neglecting my blog a bit...

I know you get my fortnightly challenge cards, but there is SO much more going on.

So I thought I would start a new trend of adding in a few random posts here and there :)

Starting with my faves from my June Scrapbooking layouts.

For Oscraps new release by Natali Designs

I play at Oscraps (where I am on the CT), The Lilypad, The Digital Press, Pixel Scrapper and Sweet Shoppe Designs. And I was on the design team for The Nifty Pixel, the CT for Buzzbee Scraps, and a guest with ninigoesdigi. PHEW!

In June I made 40 layouts - even with a week out for Covid!

I also made a bunch of cards, so I'll get those up in another post :)

For TDP Designer Challenge - Little Lamm Co

For SSD using The Nifty Pixel template and kit

For Buzzbee Scraps using the special Jubilee template and kit

For SSD challenge using a mix of River Rose and Kelly Bangs Creative

So what do you think? 

The main photo was for Oscraps and I used their free with purchase collab kit.

I find scrapping a lot of fun and super rewarding. Not dissimilar to card making.

Cx

November 2021 Layouts...

Hey,

Happy Monday!

It has been a while since I shared any of my digital layouts with you. October and November were CRAZY with NSD (National Scrapbooking Day) and Thanksgiving/Black Friday specials.. I was on fire for my creative team commitments!

Here is a selection of my fave November layouts.

The main photo was for a Digital Scrapbook.com / Pixel Scrapper challenge, only my second time using stock imagery.

The Digital Press - Gone Digital Design Challenge 

The Digital Press - Jimbo Jambo Challenge

The Lilypad - Rachel Jefferies Challenge (I won a prize!)

The Lilypad - BYOC challenge

Sweet Shoppe Designs - One Little Word - Tribe - Challenge

Sweet Shoppe Designs - Typography Challenge

Sweet Shoppe Designs - Seasonal Challenge - Use Buttons

The Nifty Pixel - Creative Team Layout

Studio Liv @Gingerscraps - Creative Team Layout

Buzzbee Scraps - Creative Team layout (template, using kit from Pixel Scrapper)

They are so varied and I love them all for different reasons, I created 40 layouts in November!! I am having a month off of my CT commitments in Jan, so I can play along with the Month of Challenges at The Lilypad! I really enjoyed it this year and I am eager to play this year, with my improved skills.

Cx

Digital Scrapbooking: Bumper iNSD weekend with The Nifty Pixel...

 

Hey!

And welcome to May.. 10 days in.

The last 2 weeks have KICKED MY BUTT!!

First I was prepping for iNSD and then I got really sick and that wiped me out for 7 days. Then it was iNSD and then work just totally slapped me!

As I am a newbie to the digital scrapping world, my first iNSD (international scrapbooking day) was last year and it was SO much fun, games, and new shiny kits and discounts and sales and new friends, and and and...

This year I am on x2 Creative Teams for designers, so this is a big weekend for them and I needed to make a bunch of layouts to showcase their new gorgeous products - it would have been much easier if I hadn't been so unwell :(

Today I am sharing all the layouts I made for the Nifty Pixel - Em had a bumper release that weekend - x2 new kits and x3 new sets of page drafts!

The main photo uses the new Touch of Vintage page drafts with an older kit.

The next two layouts use Pep Talk bundle and the Pep Talk page drafts.

The final two use the Free to Live bundle and Free to Live page drafts.

I am super proud of these layouts, I was sick, feeling a bit of stress because I wanted them to be SO good to repay Em's faith in me. And honestly, they really are some of my best work to date. I just relaxed into it in the end and stopped overthinking it all, a valuable lesson for me!

Cx

Digital Scrapbooking: Flower Queen...

Hey,

Happy Monday!

A bit of a longer absence for me than planned, but I was very, very unwell last week. I am on the mend now!

I wanted to share this beauty that I made for the Sweet Shoppe Designs monthly passport - April prompt was 'Inspired by Flowers'.

So my friend Lisette and I took a road trip in early March this year and on our way to Foxwoods (the resort we were staying at), we stopped at a craft store that had this amazing flower section. I convinced Lisette to pose up a storm for me and ended up with this amazing photo of her.

I really really stepped out of my comfort zone here, with the blending and the giant cluster. There was a lot of anxiety, but I am so pleased at how it came out and it got a GSO, so - yay!

I used -

BLOOMIN LOVELY V.1 | PAGE DRAFTS by The Nifty Pixel (heavily modified)

River Rose - Golden Glow Bundle

That Friyay Feeling Bundle by JoCee Designs and The Nifty Pixel

REMEMBER THEM | BUNDLE by The Nifty Pixel

Digital Scrapbooking: Designed by Soco March...

Hey,

Happy Monday to you!

I thought I would show you a couple of my fave layouts that I made as part of my Designed by Soco creative team commitments in March.

I actually made about 10 layouts, but didn't want this post to be crazy, so chose 2 for you :)

The main photo made me laugh, the minute I saw the 'Weekend Vibes' words and cards, I knew I had to use this crazy photo of Lisette and I that we sent to Hubby to let him know that we had arrived at Foxwoods safely. I used - 

Hello Weekend Words
Hello Weekend Pocket Cards
Cards & Words No.7 template

The next layout makes me smile everytime I see it, as I did an impromptu photoshoot with Hubby and Clint Catwood to get the hilarious photo shown here!

I used a new release - 

Happy Here Mini Kit (add on - Memory Pockets Monthly) 

And I used it with a fave Designed by Soco template that I rotated.
Cards & Words No.7

Fun layouts, I am really enjoying my guest slot with Soco and her team, I'll be sad to leave when June comes around.

Cx

Digital Layouts - Love Our Designers - The Lilypad

 

Hey,

Happy Monday, hope you had a great weekend?

Today I wanted to share just a couple of my fave layouts from the Love Our Designers feature that The Lilypad did during Feb and March.

I find with digital items, that I am drawn to the same designers over and over again, especially if they run a challenge that I can play along with. But every now and then I buy things from other designers. The two layouts shown here were made from kits that I couldn't resist.

Main photo uses a kit by Valerie Wibbens - I love her whimsical illustrations and I fell in love with this 'Let's Get Lost' kit and had been itching to use it. I used one of Valerie's free templates and it came out just as I had imagined - don't you love it when that happens.

The layout below was for The Paislee Press. Their stuff is so clean and elegant, it always reminds me of CAS cards. I used mainly their 'For Like Ever' kit, perfect for one of my fave Wedding photos and just SO clean.

In the year that I have been digitally scrapping, I have learned so much and realised that there is a lot of my cardmaking me in my layouts. I love CAS cards so very much, but I love critters and pattern mixing too and I find I can always sneak these into my layouts!

Cx

Happy Easter (A bit late...)

 

Hey,

Today I have a couple of Easter focused layouts for you.. bit late I know, but better late than never right?

Both were made as part of my Creative Team duties, but I love them both SO much.

The first one was for The Nifty Pixel and I just love the  HAPPY GO LUCKY | BUNDLE and the BLOOMIN LOVELY V.2 | PAGE DRAFTS. They paired so well with my silly photo and I think it is the first time I have attempted a cluster of this size!!

Next up is this beauty for Designed by Soco and it also features me and bunny ears and a silly selfie. 

The great templates Hippity Hoppity were on sale last week (still available in store) and it was great to use them with a non-traditional Easter kit - Sunset Memories - also by Soco.

Two very different layouts, but both equally fun!

Cx

Digital Scrapbooking: Exciting News...

Hey,

Hope you all had a great weekend, I did, I went to Foxwoods with my friend (casino resort) and I won BIG. It was a hilarious weekend and was good to be out of the teeny tiny apartment.

I mentioned that I would have some BIG news for you...

Well hang on to your hats, I was lucky enough to be invited to be on the Creative Team for The Nifty Pixel!! TNP is owned and run by Em and not only is she super talented, but she is super nice too. I have been a very big fan of her designs since I started scrapping last year and I applied on a whim, not really thinking I would have the experience to make the team.

I was SO surprised, but thrilled. The Nifty Gals are a fabulous, supportive, hilarious bunch and it is an honor to be working alongside them.

My first x2 layouts (main photo and below) use the latest release Pick Your Destiny - now available for purchase! 

Then on Thursday, I got an email from Soco of Designed by Soco asking me if I would like to do a guest slot from now until June with her and her CT. WHAT THE HELL!!! Again, I applied on a whim, not thinking I was really ready for any of this. I am still on the fence about my skills. When it comes to cardmaking I am super confident, but I am still a bit surprised when people like my digital layouts lol!

I love Soco's templates and kits - it's the same for me with Em and TNP, templates are my weakness. It's a great way to start a layout, they give me a structure to build upon.

My first outing for Soco was with this little beauty below using the new BYOC Carefree kit - available for purchase now and I combined it with a Simply Clean No.9 template.

All in all the last week was the most amazing one so far and mainly because I didn't expect any of it, so it was all such a lovely surprise.

More layouts for you next week. 

Cx

 

Digital Scrapbooking: All About Me...

 

Hey,

Hope you had a great weekend?

I had a pretty good one, I was on a high due to some good news, coming soon..

I thought it would be fun on Monday's to share some of my digital scrapbooking layouts!

Today I'm sharing just one. It was made for the Sweet Shoppe Design 15th birthday bash and it just makes me smile every time I see it. And it was a great way to document the things I like!

I used a template by The Nifty Pixel and most of the elements are from kits by Amanda Yi.

Jan and Feb were hectic in the digi scrap world, so many great events and challenges at many of the sites. I made myself dizzy trying to keep up!!

But I love documenting my life this way, it's a lot of fun.

Cx

First MOC Completed...

Hey,

So as you know I started digital scrapbooking back in March 2020.

I have honed my skills using challenges, just like I have done for years with my cardmaking. Challenges literally do what they say - challenge you. You have to think about how to interpret the theme, hopefully using what you have (although I do love a bit of spendy spendy!). 

One of the sites I love is The Lilypad, the community there is so warm and encouraging and they are all so talented and have taught me a TON.

Every January they run MOC - Month of Challenges, yep a challenge a day. I was a bit worried, could I fit it in? Did I have the skills? 

It was so much fun and I am so proud of myself for not getting behind and finishing the challenge on time. I learned a lot of new things and I am eager to try them out on my future layouts.

Here are my two fave layouts from all 31 - to be honest I actually love them all.

The theme for this layout was Clean and Simple. What could be easier to scrap than my beautiful boy Clint Catwood napping on his Poppa!

Here we were asked to create a large title, perfect for the silly photo of me eating noodles!! I love noodles!

This is a layout that I was super nervous about, we had to tilt our layout 15degrees. I've never been a fan of tilting my pages and so I was a bit worried, but it's GORGEOUS!!

I realised that sometimes stepping outside of your comfort zone can deliver wonderful things, if you are open enough to open your arms to them.

Cx

Pixel Scrapper, Digital Scrapbooking and Me!

Hey,

Happy Monday!

As you all know, I taught myself Photoshop this year during the lockdown, so I could become a digital scrapbooker.

It has been a really awesome way to flex my creativity and use my HUGE archive of photos.

Over the last 7 month's I have made my home at x4 different scrapbooking sites. 

Today I thought I would talk about Pixel Scrapper, I love their site and I was lucky enough to be asked last month to become part of their Creative Team - WHOOP! Love how much progress I have made in this new hobby.

Pixel Scrapper was the first site that I used when I was starting to digi scrap. Partly because of their free download model (5 free items a day, for members), which was SO handy when I was starting out and didn't know what I needed or why.

I soon progressed to being a patron and bought a year's subscription, because it was such good value for money AND because they have so many goodies there.

The digi scrap world is very similar to my cardmaking one, there are lots of challenges that you can do. Which I have always loved as a cardmaker and now as a digi scrapper, I have found them really helpful, because at first I was getting overwhelmed with 'what to scrap' and challenges help me focus. 

I have been playing along with the Pixel Scrapper Challenges for several months now, here are a few of my layouts.

The mini kit I used here, just brought my honeymoon photo to life, that quote / wordart is amazing.

I seem to be a big fan of Sharon's mini kits, because I used another one for this layout about my 'happy corner' in my craft room.

I really like working with templates, which as a relative newbie just take away all the indecision and fear! I find that I use Marisa's ones even for challenges outside of Pixel Scrapper. This template is amazing and worked really well for a challenge on another site.

My main photo today is one of my fave layouts, the Pixel Scrapper owner / creative director Marisa Lerin makes awesome kits. I used Love Bundle for this layout and it is a kit I use over and over again!

If you are like me and are reasonably new to digital scrapbooking and interested in learning about what goes into making a digital scrapbook, just check out Pixel Scrapper's new article.

Feel free to reach out to me, if you are thinking about starting to digi scrap and want some tips on where to start.

Cx

Happy Birthday to me..2020 style..

 

Hey,

Well, we all know that I love to wish myself a Happy Birthday and write a little post.

2020 is a bit of a different one right?!!

With the global pandemic, this year hasn't been quite what any of us expected.

I won't be out partying this year or traveling somewhere to celebrate, but the truth is I am actually ok with that. I have actually had a really nice 6 months since the lockdown. Hubby and I found a new normal being in our tiny space all the time and we have tried out new recipes and the cake eating has been off the charts. Summer was wonderful, I spent a large amount of it, just sitting outside on a bench in our complex, reading and watching the world go by.

All of my family, chosen family, and friends are safe, happy, and as healthy as they can be right now, so to be honest that is all that matters.

I have learnt how to be at home, I am not always running from thing to thing and that is a really good thing for me. I have also become a digital scrapbooker - because I had time to teach myself Photoshop and it has been very therapeutic to go through my photos and scrap about me and my people. It's also been a great way to revisit fun times and memories, keeping me attached to what is important.

Here is one of my latest layouts - 

I have embraced wearing a mask, it is the right thing to do and I actually like the fun little twist the patterns add to some of my more somber outfits! Note that I had to show you a photo of me in a leopard print mask - if you know me, you know I LOVE Leopard print.

This week I will be at home with Hubby enjoying my week off and turning 47 quietly but happily.

I also have some awesome news to share with you on Thurs..so come back then for an update.

Cx