Friday 29 March 2013

Let's end the month with lots of great news!! {a preview, a feature, a couple of publications and a new Design Team term!}





I still have a whole other kit to share with you from My Creative Scrapbook!  As well as the March 2013 Main kit I was also sent their Limited Edition kit to work with this month too!!  It was sooooooo nice...full of new Kaisercraft & Webster's pages goodies. 


 I made tons & tons with it - 3 layouts, a DOUBLE {I know!!  How long has THAT been?!?} a Valentine's card {listen, it's never too early - this year hubby had to get an ecard from me - that was baaaad - hanging head in shame...}  & a couple of oversized tags, which by the way, could become my new thing as they are super fun to make!!  {not to mention super fast too hehehe...}

If you want a sneakie peekie of what's to come next week CLICK HERE! but I will still be sharing each  creation with you here as always!!  You can see I was busy there this month huh?!

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I was so excited to see that I had this layout featured up at PRIMA!!!!  this month!! I REALLY wanted to create with that sketch but sadly time ran out for me last month, BUT I did get to the Product Pick, remember this one?!?  You can see the announcement HERE.


I loooooove this page!  You know sometimes when you make something then look at it and think "how the #$%! did I manage that?!?"   It's all thanks to Mr. Huey Calico White - #cannotlivewithoutthestuffandthatwasthelastofitohboy

So many of my lovely online friends featured there too - woohoo!!  Imagine if we were all together & could go out for a cocktail?!?  
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The next bit of exciting news is that I have TWO layouts on display in ONE issue of a magazine!  Now that is a FIRST for me!!  This is the latest (April/May 2013) issue of Scrap 365 in which they appear. ..


 I just received it myself earlier this week, along with my layouts already returned - those guys are super efficient!  I'm still pouring over everything in there - it's a GREAT mag packed with interesting & useful information & inspirational work from scrapbookers around the world. Check out their blog HERE & consider subscribing to this fab UK publication!

One of my layouts in there was commissioned for their 'Shake it Up' Cocktail Challenge so it got a FULL PAGE - wooooo!!  It's never appeared online but I can't share it online JUST yet :)

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Lastly, I am happy to say {okay I'm ECSTATIC to say!} that I am staying on at Purple Pumpkin for another term!!  So I will be there until the end of September - another 6 months!

I just LOVE it there, I love how my layouts turn out when those Purple Pumpkin embellishment work their magic on them, and I just love Vicky Varvadouka, the DT co-ordinator there.

She is so sweet & funny & we have been very good friends for a very long time.  We have been on so many design teams together I've actually lost count!  Oh and of course she is one HUGELY talented scrapbooker too!!

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Happy Easter Everyone!  Enjoy your long weekend!!
Today is my birthday!  I have my daughter home from university too, so I am one very happy mumma.  My plan for this weekend is to take a scrapbooking break & enjoy every minute with my family.

 Sometimes making memories is more important than recording them.



Thursday 28 March 2013

Guest Designer at Lessology! {What's in your Toolbox? Challenge} GO! Layout - Glitz Design Color Me Happy





***My apologies here - I had to retrieve this post earlier this month before it had been seen by many people, & haven't had a free blog day to republish this again until now.  It's not too late to play though, you still have a couple more days!!***

Hello there!  I was lucky enough to be invited by my dear friend Yvonne Yam {who I had the infinite pleasure of meeting in the flesh earlier this year, in Singapore} to play Guest Designer on her uber-cool challenge site - Lessology - this month.

You can check out the site HERE and the challenge I played along with HERE - "What's in your Toolbox?". What you need to do is use something you have in your toolbox ON your project, or use something from your toolbox to create your project, and - as usual - include a recycled item on your project too.  

The prize this month is a $20 gift certificate from Blue Moon Scrapbooking, sponsored by design team member & wonderful gal, Julie Tucker-Wolek!!  So it's worth a play for sure!


I used 6 brass nuts, which incorporate a lot of trendy elements right now! 

 1)  They're GOLD   2)  They're HEXAGONAL   3)  They're METAL. 

My recycled element is the luggage tag you can see to the left of my layout, together with it's original string.  I left the original sticker with code & barcode on it.


I started my process by selecting my photo first, then my papers.  I chose the circular patterned papers around the border, based on the design on the photo.  I went with black cardstock because it's always dramatic & funky & I knew it would blend seamlessly with the photo background.

This photo is of my eldest son Jack & was edited by my youngest son Reilly, who has some pretty mad Photoshop skills :)


Before adhering the black cardstock to the patterned base I used a Ranger Paint Dabber in GOLD randomly around the edges of the paper.  

Next I made a couple of giant SPLATS on my black base {one of which I ended up almost covering up in it's entirity} although you can still see it peeking out under my clustered elements. 

 The top splat is still very visible and was achieved using Ranger PEARL paint dabber sprayed with water first then SMACKED DOWN straight onto the paper.  


Seeing as die-cut elements are so trendy & I don't own a Cameo I bought myself a couple of packs of pre-cut die-cuts & used them instead.  The white peeking out from under the photo comes from K & Co. 'Handmade' & the polaroid frames come from Studio Calico.


My sentiments come from a piece of paper from the new Glitz Design 'Color Me Happy' collection, as well as some paper offcuts from K & Co, American Crafts & some red glitter cardstock I've had for years. 

 The 'Ready, Set, Smile" card is from My Mind's Eye & I cut it in half and put the bottom piece below my cluster, making it look like one long card. 

The file tabs are from Pink Paislee Portfolio collection & the white thread is a cool & inexpensive way to add a crazy, free look to a page!  Gold Alphas are Thickers from American Crafts & the cool little ones are from Glitz Design 'Color Me Happy' Collection.

Hope some of you may be inspired to play along & join in!
I would be sooo happy if you did ;)




Wednesday 27 March 2013

Bali Memories - Purple Pumpkin {Get Creative Sketch}





Hello!  I shared this layout a while back, at Purple Pumpkin, and need to get it up here before the end of the month BECAUSE I used the lovely sketch at GET CREATIVE & want to link up!  Get Creative is a great little challenge blog owned by a dear friend of mine, Irini Liola, from Greece. 


This sketch challenge is open for another THREE DAYS so anyone still in the mood for creating {as opposed to being 'all scrapped out' like me!!} why not enter?  Up for grabs is a GUEST DESIGNER SPOT & those are always fun for meeting new people & getting your pages out & about to a different audience!

And while I'm at it, don't forget about the sketch challenge held EVERY MONTH at PURPLE PUMPKIN.  No need to use Purple Pumpkin stuff (although of course if you have it we ♥ to see it) & we feature the top 3 each month & the winner gets a pack of Purple Pumpkin goodies.  Who wouldn't want that?  You still have a few more days on that one too and here's the sketch as a reminder...


I've copied & pasted my Purple Pumpkin post below.  

Hi ladies!  Hope you are well!!  We have a public holiday today in South Africa, where I live, so I am soooo happy about that!!!  I am going to spend some of my day scrapping of course!  Today I am sharing a layout with you that I created using the latest sketch at Get Creative.  


I used all sorts of things from Purple Pumpkin on this page, namely the yoyo flower, wooden buttons, fabric buttons, twine, crochet flower & doily.  Hmmm, that's quite a lot isn't it?!


I'm so into yellow at the moment I don't know what to do with myself!  Everything I touch ends up swiped with my yellow inkpad!!  Above you can see a wooden Purple Pumpkin button that I have done just that to!  You can buy them HERE & recolour them to whatever colour you like (psst...I suggest yellow!)


As you can see I used a lot of twine too.  Rather than structured swirls I twisted the twine & let it drop into organic ones instead.  ♥♥♥ !!!  Buy your twine HERE - it's cheap & something with a million uses.  If it ever goes out of fashion in scrapbooking I'll be wrapping my gifts in it :)


The glittery bits you can see on the wooden buttons are Distress Stickles that I added once my inking was dry (just use a heat gun to speed up the process!) & don't worry about the print on the buttons - if you want to paint some up just flip them over & use the plain side!


See the pearl button above?  I took that off the yoyo flower & replaced it with a fabric button instead.  Of course I wasn't going to waste the pearl centre though so there it is!  Buy your patterned fabric buttons in the store HERE.  I don't see the yoyo flowers in stock right now but don't forget about the SALE coming up tomorrow - you may see some there!


Fabric button & twine!  Two very simple "staples" that look good with everything if you ask me!  Well I hope you enjoyed my page today.  It will be up on my blog some time next week. 

Don't forget about the Purple Pumpkin Design Team call as you only have a few days to get your applications in - I hope you try out!!

 If you haven't entered the giveaway on my blog I would love for you to join in - see it on my blog here!

*** Supplies are a mix of 'older'collection papers from Cosmo Cricket, Pink Paislee, My Mind's Eye & Glitz Design.  Chipboard is from the fabulous Scrapmatts.  View their store HERE & SHOP!





Tuesday 26 March 2013

Masculine Layout Masking Tutorial - My Creative Scrapbook March 2013 Main Kit Tutorial





Hi girls!  I'm having a shocking time of it here internet wise.  Our data provider has a serious cable fault & on top of it all our ADSL line is out of order.  Thankfully I have managed to borrow a 3G card for the evening but it is about to get collected so that's me offline again for who knows how long - so far it's been 5 days - sounds like a serious situation to me.  

This is the correspondence we received.  Living at the base of Africa is frustrating!!  Our internet has to come from thousands of miles away {as there is hardly any internet action in the rest of Afica above us...) so is very expensive & often unreliable.  

The Seacom cable, which provides a significant portion of our international capacity, has been damaged off the coast of Egypt in the Mediterranean Sea. Early indications are that it may take up to two weeks to repair the break and restore full capacity. We also have capacity on the WACS cable, which runs up the west coast of Africa, and this is currently able to meet about 45% of our total needs. As a result, most international services will be degraded. We are in ongoing discussions with various operators to secure additional capacity to meet our total requirements until such time as the Seacom cable is fully operational again.

Here is the tutorial I prepared for the My Creative Scrapbook blog this month:-

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I hear so many people say they struggle to create manly layouts so let me show you how easy it is, even from a kit that looks really pretty!

1.    Remember to always keep aside a neutral patterned paper like this one so you can create at least one masculine page per kit.


2.    Print out some photos to match.  Desaturate them so that you can create a more neutral boyish colour palette.


3.    Make use of the elements provided in the kit, that are not especially feminine, like the mask for example.


4.    To make use of a 6” mask on a 12” layout you need to ensure that you mask off the edges of the stencil using so place your mask on a piece of 12” white paper (I use the album inserts that come with my page protectors).  Place your mask in your chosen position.


5.    I chose to centre my mask.  Use a ruler & set square, together with your gridded out working mat, to ensure that you position it correctly.  Secure with masking tape.


6.    Now LIGHTLY score around the edges of your mask with your cutting knife but do NOT cut deeply or you will damage your mask.  Now pull & carefully tear away the paper to reveal your mask again.


7.   This is the area where your mists will not penetrate & the rest of your page will be protected.  Voila!  Using a lightbox makes this step easier or just put your page up against a window like I did!


 8.   Now place your the new 12” mask you have just made OVER your printed paper & mist.  I used the Maya Road Charcoal mist provided in one of my My Creative Scrapbook Kits last year.


9.   And there you have it!  Your masked area is complete!  Now all that you have left is to add your photograph & embellish away!!


10.               Using your dymo for journaling always adds a heavier, more masculine touch.  I still used the glitter thickers though & I think they look great!  All the beige papers you see are cut from the PRIMA PACKAGING (from the flowers) so don’t forget to save that!  Staples & string are inexpensive masculine elements you can also add.

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial!
For many more examples of masculine layouts please visit my blog at http://helentilbury.blogspot.com

Thanks for the visit!!  I have so much to share before the end of the month I don't know how I'm going to fit it all in!  Thank Goodness for kind friends & 3G card loans ♥♥♥


Monday 25 March 2013

Zva Creative March Design Team Blog Hop!






Well what is this doing on MY blog you ask?!  The GREAT news is that I am guesting for Zva for the next THREE months and could NOT be happier about it!!  Just LOVE bling, and Zva, as you know, know how to do bling!!  I discovered their bling quite some years ago & have made the effort ever since to hunt it down & buy it, as I've never seen it for sale here in South Africa.  So here we go!!

Zva Creative, their Design Team members {and ME!} welcome you to their March blog hop! We are excited about this month’s hop and look forward to sharing our new work with you!

Today’s Blog Hop begins at Zva Creative’s blog! Be sure head on over HERE to check it out! You will also find a complete list of all the participating blogs there (in case there is a glitch along the way).

As you know, Zva offers many beautiful color groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals.  If you like what you see along the hop you can find a list of stores and online retailers that sell Zva HERE.

I was sent a nice big bundle FULL of Zva product & this is what I created!


Anyone who knows Paris just knows that this is the right colour scheme for it!  The Parisians love their red!


I used both the red swirls in their entirity & also some of the red bling dots that are lovely!!  And of course that beautiful flower is also from Zva Creative!


I used papers from The Scrap Cake {from Poland - sadly now no longer in existence} 'The Bright Side of Life'.  


I created a lot of texture on this page through the use of gesso & different materials such as chipboard, paint, glitter, varnish, lace, corrugated board, dymo tape & of course the lovely crystals.  


I positioned my photo at an angle so that it looks like my daughter is peeking out from the chipboard arch {which really reminded me of the Arc de Triomphe, which was where we were when I took this photo, on the Champs Elysees!}  


If you would like to play along with our design team, just follow along the blog path.  I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way!

The Blog Hop starts today, March 25th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, March 26th.

***Prizes***

Hidden on FIVE of the designer’s blogs is a Zva Creative prize package! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over. All you need to do is leave a comment on this Blog Hop post... you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. However, the more times you comment along the blog hop path, the more chances you will have to win.

The 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, March 27th on Zva Creative’s blog. We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to Zva’s blog on Wednesday to see if you are a winner!

We also thought it would be more fun to add even more chances to win our blog hop prize!  To increase your chances of winning:

 * Comment to let us know that you posted on your Facebook page about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you "tweeted" about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you asked your local store to carry Zva creative products.  If they already do, that's fantastic, maybe you can suggest other products that they don't carry.

 *Hop over to Zva’s facebook page and “like” our page or leave a comment there to tell us that you stopped by if you already like follow us there!

Your next stop is Christin Gronslett  HERE. Enjoy!

Thank you for joining us!

P.S. Mark your calendar to join us again on April 29th for our next Zva blog hop!



Friday 22 March 2013

'Strong' for My creative Scrapbook {Dear Lizzy/Prima}




Here is my last layout created for My Creative Scrapbook, using their main kit this month.  I made a tutorial to go along with it that I will be sharing here next.  I also have some exciting news about a Guest Designer spot I have at the moment & will be sharing that with you next week!


I try to ensure that I never 'leave anyone out' when I scrapbook.  I would hate for any of my kids to think that I was favouring or disregarding them, so I made sure to include a photo of each one of them in my kit club creations this month.  


This is my eldest son Jack.  I printed out the photographs with a vignette that matched the colour of the base paper, that I reserved from the kit especially for this page.


I used my dymo to journal & lots of little bits of the Prima packaging for my layers.


I cut the penant flag out of the Prima packaging too & attached it with a staple.  The whole concept behind this style of scrapbooking is that it is 'free & easy' - of course everything still needs to be aligned correctly but it is not necessary to use rolls & rolls of double-sided tape or gallons of glue - it is meant to look dimensional so a blob in the middle is just fine.



I used the Lattice mask from Prima, along with some Maya Road mist in Charcoal, to create the strong, dark base on which to ground my photo & other elements.  I also used string for a neutral & casual (not to mention inexpensive!) embellishment. 

Wishing you all a WONDERFUL weekend! Here ours is four days long this week so I am one happy scrapper right now!!




Thursday 21 March 2013

'Home Sweet Home' for My Creative Scrapbook {Dear Lizzy for American Crafts} 5th & Frolic Collection




Happy Thursday to you all!  Today it is a public holiday here in South Africa - Human Rights Day, and tomorrow is a school holiday.  I am so excited to be able to get ahead with all my Design Team assignments as well as have some fun with the kids & enjoy a cappucino out with the hubby!  Wishing you all a wonderful day too, wherever you are in the world!!


This is the fourth layout I created for My Creative Kit Club using their March Main kit.  I loved this pretty floral print but wanted to separate it from my photo collage, so it wouldn't compete with it, so I achieved that by using gesso.  


Now, when I lay my photo cluster on top there is some white space around it that separates it from the background & helps it to 'pop!'  In keeping with the 'Home Sweet Home' theme I decided to use the many little mini-Instax photos we have of our cats.


I wanted to create a casual grid so I cut a piece of plain white paper 20 x 20cm square & adhered my photos & elements to that first, before adhering the entire square to my layout. 


I used a sheet of white corrugated board between my collage & the base paper & made the biggest sticker into my title & focal point by positioning it in the centre & on top of a doily.


Anyone who has animals will surely agree with me that they really change a house into a home...


I'm enjoying doodling little hearts at the moment ♥
{press ALT and 3 (on your numerical keypad) to print a heart!}


Apart from the doily I added & the Prima flower (supplied with the kit) all the little bits you see are stickers from the Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic DOUBLE Sticker sheet.


The 'Key to my Heart' sentiment you see sticking out the top there is cut from the Prima packaging.  I used it all over my layouts this month.  The black often adds the perfect finishing touch to tie things in with the black/shadows in most photos.

Thank you so much for your visit today!



Wednesday 20 March 2013

'Fifteen' for My Creative Scrapbook {Dear Lizzy for American Crafts}




Here is the third layout I created this month for My Creative Scrapbook.  My two previous posts have plenty of information about the kits & kit clubs if you are interested in subscribing, and of course, my sidebar has links to their blog & store too.  So on with the show!


I was so happy with this sweet photo of my younger boy.  He is unfortunately not at all photogenic {fact!} although in real life he is utterly gorgeous.  I took this photo of him on the day of his fifteenth birthday, at night in our kitchen, so the odds were stacked against me, particularly as my external flash is broken.  Anyway, miraculously it turned out so sweetly so it had to be scrapped pronto!


I distressed & tore my papers, which is something I haven't done in a very long time, but I just wanted to create a happy, playful vibe and, along with some staples, I did just that!  There's pink on this page but I concentrated on the darker, fuschia pink to draw attention to the red in the flowers.  


HOW adorable is the owl?!?  Oh my goodness this kit comes with the new Prima wooden embellishments - FORTY FIVE pieces in a cute little printer's tray box that is just crying out to be customised!  I inked him up with Memento Lady Bug.


See how I have used the printed strip along the bottom of the paper? (the identification strip with the paper's details on the reverse side).  If you do this just remember to cut off this amount from the top of the paper so that you are still working with a 12" square!


I've gone crazy for the idea of using 'doodles' of string on my layouts at the moment - it adds a playful touch I think!  Thanks for stopping by & Happy Hump Day to ya!



Tuesday 19 March 2013

'You & Me' for My Creative Scrapbook {Dear Lizzy for American Crafts}




Hi everyone!  I'm back to share my second layout created with the March Main kit at My Creative Scrapbook.  This kit is LUSH & is available for purchase HERE.  If you are looking for a kit club this is it!!   


The kits are always JAM-PACKED with the latest & greatest of everything & there are FOUR different kits for sale each month.  From the main kit you can easily get 4 - 6 layouts.  I did 5 this month & I still have leftovers!  The design team gallery HERE is full of inspiration for you & the BLOG is constantly updated with tips & tricks, tutorials & the many designers innovative works. 


I chose a photo of my daughter & her boyfriend as I noticed that their skin tones, illuminated thanks to flash photography {I didn't take the photo, I 'stole' it off her Facebook page!} matched perfectly with the background paper.  I am 100% IN LOVE with those GOLD title stickers!!


I added the black ink splats to my base paper before anything else {to avoid messing up my photo obviously} Recently I've started putting my paper ON THE FLOOR when doing this - so that the splat! hits the paper from a distance as it ends up being more SPLATTY!!


I used a simple bubble punch design from Martha Stewart, in keeping with the youthful feel of the supplies & page.  I think the typewriter image at the base of the page is just adorable, in fact I think that Liz Kartchner is adorable and anything that she does is just so uber cool!!


I used the Prima Lattice Mask, supplied with the kit, just under my photos (you can see it peeking out top left) but I used it instead as a STAMP by inverting it and simply pressing it onto the paper).  The colour is Shimmerz Eggnog mixed with the greens & yellows that were already on my mask from my previous layout.  It looked metallic & interesting I think.  I love the die-cut look that a doily always adds so I cut one in half & slipped it under my title to ground it.  

Thank you so much for your visit today!  Did you see I have moved over to Blog Lovin'?  You can subscribe to me there if you would like {I have added the button in my sidebar} as rumour has it Google Reader is closing down soon.