No longer MIA

Hello everyone,

Long time no chat (or sharing of any creations). My life is totally different to what it was 3, even 4 years ago. In some ways it is better, and in other ways it’s not.

The good– My daughters are now competing Equestrians. They do predominantly dressage and show jumping. It is so exciting, but very tiring with the long hours training, caring for the horses and competing. We first started with Pony Club events, but last year we also delved into the world of Interschool. So now most of our weekends are spent out and about travelling SE QLD competing. My eldest son is now 19 years old and he is an apprentice plumber, but still lives at home. My youngest son is busy also with his soccer and athletics (he particularly loves his sprints and high jump. So yes, the kids are keeping me super busy…..but wait there’s more. I have also taken on roles within the pony club and school. I am on my third year as treasurer for the PC and my fourth year as vice president at the school as well as the uniform shop convener. I have also achieved my first level in instructing at pony club. See, I’m busy.

The bad– Such a busy life means less time for the crafting, so it has suffered a great deal. I have resigned as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator and I haven’t made a card in nearly two years. I didn’t do last years Christmas in the Country Craft Show for the first time in seven or eight years. I have been doing some Smashbooking and Project Life, but nowhere near enough to keep up. I have realised of late however, that I need to do more of it as it really does keep me sane. I cannot guarantee regular blog posts, but this is a start, right?!

Now to kick us off I have created this Christmas LO, which in itself is also a miracle because I have only ever made one other Christmas LO, and that was back in 2008 (I think).

Pretty basic, just paper layers and a few embellishments. I have a very small amount of mixed media on this page and it is under the title. It’s a little bit of Shimmerz dimensional paste in the colour of Foiled Again. I did not like the plush toys above Santa, they were so distracting. The paste has muted them a bit and now not so obvious.

This page was created solely using the November Hip Kits. I have been buying their kits since September last year. I have to say these are the best kits I have ever purchased. Very happy with them and postage is cheap.

Some close ups

I am now digging into my January kits (yes I am quite behind), and I have some really nice LO’s on their way. So keep tuned.

Thanks for dropping by,

Kirsty

Live the Life You’ve Imagined!

Hello everyone,

Since I did the big move to Southbrook I restarted some workshops and quickly found that a scrapbook workshop is the popular choice here in this quaint little town. I haven’t shared any of these projects on my blog and thought I should start. This particular page I am sharing today was this weeks workshop.

I used quite a few stamp sets, six in fact. It is one of the reasons I love Stampin’ Up! The stamp sets coordinate well with each other. Another item I love about Stampin’ Up!, and it is totally free, is the brown packing paper in the Big Brown Box that is filled with your goodies. I use it on my projects as a DSP (designer series paper). You can tear it, scrunch it, stamp on it, spritz ink on it, anything you can think of really. It’s a great neutral ‘filler’ for your layout. It especially looks good on boy themed layouts. Can you tell I love it?!

I sprinkled Whisper White ink in one of my Stampin’ Spritzer bottles over the layout and added a few Candy Dots for a pop of colour. I also outlined some pieces including the DSP with a Basic Black Stampin’ Write marker. I use this technique to make that particular element stand out, but it’s not too much that it takes away from the photo. I used Dimensionals to lift the photo off the page and slide my three tags beneath it. I will use the white for journalling and the other two will be fillers or you can put some smaller photos on them.

It’s a great simple layout anyone can do and the ladies attending loved the workshop. It also gave me a good excuse to crack open the NEW KRAFT CARDSTOCK!! This stuff is awesome. It is heavier than our regular CS and this is a more natural Kraft colouring. Be sure to check that stuff out, plus any of the other gorgeous products I used.

Thanks for dropping by,

Kirsty