Retreat fun

Recently, just over a week ago, I joined some on line friends in attending a scrapbooking retreat in Qld, on the Sunshine Coast. I've known these girls for some time, but given the distance between us, this is only the third time I have managed to go on retreat with them. They go twice yearly.
Anyway, one of our other on line friends is currently undergoing treatment for leukaemia. She was therefore unable to attend this retreat. We did a couple of things at the retreat to highlight this disease, one of them was to dress in orange, which is the nominated colour (like pink is for breast cancer), and the other was to have a raffle to raise some funds for the leukaemia foundation. We raised something like $340 for the fund, and had a bit of fun dressing in orange. These girls really have a lot of fun with their dress ups, I was only too happy to join in.



The other fun thing we did on the retreat, was to decorate some wooden manequins that one of the girls (heh Tracey), gave us. Initially we kind of all looked at them, and thought what the????????????? But as we relaxed into the weekend, had a few drinks into us and a bit of fun, slowly these little wooden dollies got dressed. I think they are kind of cute, weird, but cute, lol.

Lets Get Shabby Challenge #54

A challenge I decided to do whilst on a scrapbooking retreat in Qld, was the Lets Get Shabby May challenge. Unfortunately, I didn't get this linked up to the challenge site in time, so it won't qualify for the challenge. It was however a very nice challenge to do - to use maps, and a travel photo or bon voyage card. Having been on our holiday in France last year, I decided to scrap with one of those photos, and used this one of the Eiffel Tower, an amazing structure, which I just was in awe of.

Le Tour Eiffel

Scrap the Boys May Challenge

Whilst on retreat in Queensland this month, I decided to pack up some kits according to challenges to take with me on the trek from Melbourne, after all I couldn't take my stash with me. The Scrap the Boys May Challenge was one of the challenges I decided to do on the retreat. This is the first time I have "scrapped the boys".  I managed to do 2  layouts based on this challenge, but have uploaded my favourite of the two. This challenge was to get grungy and messy. So that's what I did. I messed up the background with some paint and stencils, then went over it with texture paste and a bit more paint. I added some straws and washi tape and boyish embellishments. The two little critters in the photos are my nephews Lachlan and Ethan, who I don't get to see very often, as they live in Qld. So whilst there, I managed to get these snaps of them. They are too cute.

Happy Snaps



Scrap the Grls May Challenge

I recently went on a scrapping retreat in Queensland. It's pretty tricky taking supplies for scrapbooking from Melbourne to Brisbane as well as clothing and toiletries, so I had to pack light. This meant scrapping with kits, and what better way to be inspired than by challenges. I chose amongst others to do the Scrap the Girls May Challenge, which was to be inspired by the quote: "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue". Great challenge, and the first Scrap the Girls challenge I have joined in on.

I managed to find all the things I needed for this challenge, in my stash and packed it all up. So, what did I use? Something Old - I used vintage buttons for the flower centres, plus some vintage lace. Something new - I used a new resin flower embellisment, a new flair, and some new petite flowers. Something borrowed - I borrowed the patterned paper from one of the ladies on the retreat. Something blue - blue flowers, blue for title and patterned paper. I think I pulled it all together. The little lady in the layout is our great neice, Chloe, a very cute little 5 year old, here as a flower girl, at her uncle's wedding.

Chloe



Black with 2 May challenge

I recently went to visit family in Queensland, and had a scrappy day with my mother and her friends. I decided to do the Black With 2 challenge. A couple of the other ladies were working on the same challenge, great minds, lol. This is the first time I have done one of the Black With 2 challenges, so it was interesting to try something new. Boy did this one challenge me though. The Black With 2 May challenge was to use mixed media, with the colours black, slate gray and pale gray. This put me right out of my comfort zone, to use such dark colours, but hey a challenge is a challenge, so I gave it a go. I chose a photo I had taken only a couple of nights previously of my step-nephew Jamie, a quiet and reserved 16 year old, who does not like having his photo taken AT ALL. Somehow, with a bit of coaxing, he obliged me, and I was able to incorporate this photo into this challenge.

I played for a while with paints and stencils, incorporated some washi tape, and very male inspired embellishments. The layout was also based on the following sketch, that was to be used as inspiration.

Your Young Life

D'Lish Scraps May Challenge

The D'Lish Scraps May Challenge is a beauty - really loaning itself to prettiness. The colours are so soft and delicate, as can be seen by the attached inspiration board.


So for this layout, I really needed to do a feminine layout, and the photo I chose was one of my daughter and my mother in law, taken at a recent family wedding. I had a lot of fun creating this layout, being able to do some background work, as well as play with some yummy embellishments, many of which are from D'lish Scraps - especially the resin flowers.

 Cherish Love Always

Show us your stuff May challenge

The Show Us Your Stuff May Challenge was to use the attached sketch to inspire a layout, plus lots of flowers. I love to play with lots of flowers, so for me this was a nice challenge to do. What made it even nicer was that I had a recent photo of my parents to scrap with, which suited the sketch perfectly. The other requirement of course was to add a handmade embellishment - I added 3 - 2 handmade hearts, plus the handmade flower paperclip.

Everlasting Love

Removed for Publication



White With 1 May challenge

White With 1 May Challenge, is to use gold. Hmmm, gold, quite tricky, and initially I balked at this challenge, thinking it was too hard. Isn't that what challenges are about? Challenging ourselves to work on something that pushes our experience and minds? So, when I reframed the idea, and thought about autumnal tones, those golden tones that we see here in Melbourne when the leaves are turning just before they fall, I was able to change my thinking about this challenge. The end result was in my opinion very pleasing to the eye, and is another page added to my travel album on France.

Heaven on Earth