Yay, Yay, YAY!!!

I am excited to tell you that I was asked and honoured to be asked to submit my work to the new Innovations Publication. The newest New Zealand publication to hit our magazine stands soon. Although I can not reveal to you what I submitted yet, I was successful in having three pieces requested. If you have considered being published, then give it ago as calls are being taken now for issues 2 and 3.

New Colour Challenge

I am a few days early, but I'm going away tomorrow so I'm putting up the new colour challenge now so you have a couple of extra days to mull over it. This colour challenge runs from Monday 2nd Feb till Sunday 15th Feb. Thought that since it's vallentines day in a couple of weeks that this was a great colour combination for all those new, gorgeous papers out (although I've used older ones in mine).



Here is my take on the colours, a simple quick layout of my new niece, Keira (isn't she just gorgeous).

Also a new card swap is on the forum. The theme this month is friendship cards. So if you're interested add your name to the list and get creating!

Only 3 Days Left...

There is only 3 days left in the SALE-a-Bration sale, and there are now further reductions on most product lines until the 31st January. 40% off all papers (except 7gypsies), and between 25% and 40% off most other items. Does exclude Gift Vouchers, cardstock and Preorders. Be quick while stocks last.

I've Been AWOL...

yeh, yeh, I know. Haven't updated my blog for a couple of days. But the Ryder family just had to escape for a couple of days. Very on the spot really. But with Phil only having Christmas Day off work and me just doing the same old thing and the kids at each others throats. We just needed to run away from the daily grind and cellphone. So we have given the kids a taste for some Kiwi great outdoors. No TV, no computer, no playstation, no cellphone and no clock (except for the one in the car) which we couldn't be bothered turning on to check the time. We had no idea what time we had tea, what time we went to bed. Just did it when we felt like it. A great mini break, just a refresher before Kindy goes back tomorrow and school next Wednesday. AND only six weeks until we take the kids on a adventure of a life time... The Gold Coast for 9 days.

I also have this link that I can now share with you. Submissions are now open for issues 2 and 3. Have a go, you might surprise yourself.

First Fortnightly Colour Challenge...

...for the year. To celebrate summer, I have chosen bright vibrant colours. I thought it was quite fitting for the representation of sun, sand, sea etc. So you have until Monday 2nd February to upload your creation to the gallery.

Don't Forget Valentines Day...

Although Valentines Day is not usually widely celebrated in NZ as much as it is in the US. I thought that since I've seen some fantastic creations on blogs from the US, that I just had to put a little romantic twist on an old favourite.I have made this little origami gift box base, then added one piece of patterned paper to make a bottom and lid. The lid actually hinges on the back. The paper is an older range from Imaginisce, with a hint of sparkle. The satin flowers and ribbon are from the store also. The rest of the items are from my own stash. Can you tell that I like glitter and layers?
Then there are these two cards that I have also made. Aren't the colours striking? I remember being told once that black and blue do not go together, however there are no rules in scrapbooking. I have gone mad again with the glitter. So much so that I think that I have just about every colour imaginable, including black. So now that I have shared these with you, it's back to work now.

January's Kit is here!

January's kit is a wonderful acrylic album project. With 7 6x6 acrylic pages there is lots of room to record your summer memories. I was lucky enough to play with the kit this month and I've created an album and also a wall hanging with 1 of the pages.

Here is a look at them.

I used 6 of the pages to do the album and the 7th I made a wall hanging for my new neice.

Kits go on sale tomorrow and are a heap of fun.

Happy creating!!

**NEW** To Scrap Box NZ

The Making Memories Slice Cordless Design Cutter. Preorders are being taken now through the store. All Preorders received by the 31st January will receive a Spatula absolutely FREE valued at $10-00. The Machine is available now for preorder, and accessories will be loaded in the next couple of days. Most of these items will also be on a Preorder basis. A Demo of the Slice can be found here

Be quick, first in first served.

A Card or two and a Mini Album

A couple of things to share with you tonight. The first being a mini album/photo frame that I have constructed of my two darlings. Love all the bling and dimension in this project.

This one is of the last two photos on the end of the album. It needed balancing with the flower folded in half on the last page.

This second one is of the first few pages of the album, which can also stand up as a frame.

This is the first page, you can now see what I mean by the last page needing balancing out. As this front page is just dimension and more dimension.

This first card was actually built around the flower. The flower was the first piece I constructed using scraps. The teal butterfly is cut out of a plastic tag that was attached to a travel umbrella bought at The Warehouse. I have used the butterfly tag team die and embossing folder for the cuttlebug.

This last card is just an experiment that I was playing around with. I have used my Nestabilities to make the outer shape, then just built it up from there. I have placed rhinestones around each of the scalloped edge to give it the lift it needed.

SALE-a-Bration...

madness. For this weekend only, 30% off most product lines. Excludes Prima, Cardstock, Gift Vouchers and Preorders. But there is still 10% off Prima and Cardstock. Be quick while stocks last.

Inspiration Creation...

As promised, this is my inspiration for the following creations. This a top of my daughter's that I was folding the other day.

So I have recreated it into a layout and a card. This first layout is of my Son and Daughter on Christmas morning. I have used non-traditional Christmas colours and lots of hand stitching. (either I had had too much to drink on New Years eve, or I was just completely bonkers.) As I don't stitch on my layouts (normally). I have used Primrose from Fleuriste by Cosmo Cricket and some scraps from Prudence by Crate Paper for the journalling blocks, some Prima collage flowers, Embroidery thread (all six strands) and pearls from KaiserCRAFT. Thats it. Easy.
The card is made using some of my stash (scraps) and I have taken the design literally. The orange heart, I have used dimensional magic and beads, glitter on the pink heart, brads on the teal heart, a Basic Grey button on the green heart, stitched on the black, cuttlebug (swissdots) on the yellow and stamped on the purple heart. All on a piece of 'Morning Glory' cardstock. Then just a simple stamped sentiment on the bottom right.

PS; the stitching on my layout does not come from a template, it is my own design and I used the kids' spirograph to draw the outline of the flower first. TFL:)

A little something to share...

I know Easter seems a little far away after just getting over the indulgence of Christmas, but I have been asked to run a workshop for the mothers' and teachers' at my daughters Kindergarten. As most of them (I am assuming) are beginners, I thought the I would start off with a few favour boxes for the Easter season. The class will be run in term one so I thought that this would be a great opportunity. This is one that I have put together, I have based it (with a little modification on this design) You will have noticed that Claire has used triangular favor boxes and constructed 3 to make the three kings. I thought that it was absolutely stunning, so had to have ago with my own twist. Mine is the same template modified to five sides for an easter feel instead of Christmas. Now that I have made the template, it is now alot quicker to construct. The hardest part is actually constructing the template.

As this will need to be approved by Kindy Commitee, I thought that a sample will be a great selling point. Have fun looking. And I haven't forgotten about the inspiration sample I was going to show. Most of it is completed, I just need to finish it.