My Digi Scrapping Journey

Exciting News

2009-10-26T10:30:00.002Z

Just wanted to share some exciting news......I am one of the lucky ladies chosen to be on the Weeds & Wildflowers Site CT. Check it out here. I am so pleased because I scrap almost entirely with Weeds & Wildflowers products cos I just think they are just so lovely and so versatile. Without Gina's Hodge Podge incentives I would never have managed to keep up to date with Project 365. If you are a digiscrapper who hasn't yet discovered Weeds & Wildflowers, then head on over there now and check it out. As well as fab products to make scrapping fun, there is a lively, friendly forum and loads of challenges to take part in.

A sign of the times

2009-10-14T10:44:00.005+01:00

My latest layout is for a Template Challenge at Weeds & Wildflowers. I have been meaning to scrap these pics of my signs for ages and this gave me the incentive to get on and do it. I love that WW have regular challenges and they even reward you for taking part with points towards a discount voucher for the shop, its a fab way to keep up with my scrapping and get more goodies to scrap with :)

Check out my other blog to see more signs.

Fab ideas from Weeds & Wildflowers

2009-10-10T10:52:00.004+01:00

Those gals at Weeds & Wildflowers have come up with some fantastic new ideas that I know are really going to help me keep my scrapping up to date. Check out the WW blog for the latest news. I have already bought the first three page sets and can't wait to get the masses of photos I have waiting to be scrapped from last Autumn done. Here is my first layout with the new sets, it is my OH and me taken last Halloween. And if you think we look scary there, you should see us when we're not in fancy dress! LOL

The weird and wonderful hat brigade

2009-09-11T22:44:00.005+01:00

I spent last weekend at the Liffey Descent in Dublin with my family. For those who don't know, the Liffey Descent is an international canoe race. It is 17 miles of mayhem, thoroughly enjoyed by all who take part. Needless to say, I was NOT taking part, just taking the photos LOL. Lots of the competitors dress up and wear funny headgear so I have made a layout of some of the weird and wonderful hats seen on the day. Congratulations to all who completed the race, and especially to those who raised a smile from all the spectators with their hat creations. Roll on September 2010!

Colours of Autumn

2009-07-28T00:19:00.003+01:00

I have always loved the colours of Autumn, the rich reds, oranges and golds. There is something so lovely about a crisp Autumn morning and the crunching of leaves underfoot. This layout uses pictures from last Autumn and the Kicking Up the Leaves kit from Weeds & Wildflowers. Isn't it awful that it has taken me nearly a year to scrap these photos!

What's your favourite season?

I've been PUBLISHED!

2009-07-24T17:00:00.006+01:00

I am so excited because I have had a layout published in this month's Scrapbook Inspirations magazine. It's my Winnie the Popped layout and it was the first time I had ever submitted anything to a magazine so I think that's not too bad at all.

Have you had a layout published anywhere? I would love to see if you have so leave a comment and a link.

Thanks

I won, I won!

2009-05-25T15:34:00.003+01:00

I am so excited because I won the Recipe Challenge. I never win anything. I have already spent my gift certificate too, that didn't take me long, did it!!

Recipe Challenge

2009-05-20T16:48:00.005+01:00

Here's the page I did for the May Recipe Challenge at Weeds & Wildflowers.

Great challenge from Kenna and a lot of fun to do.

See the Recipe on the WW Blog.

Exciting news

2009-05-17T22:06:00.002+01:00

I am so excited because I am going to have one of my layouts published in a national magazine. I can hardly believe it. I don't want to say which one until it hits the newstands but when it does I will let you know and put up a few pics - just to show off, of course LOL!

Cards and Etsy

2009-04-27T09:53:00.005+01:00

These last few weeks I have been sorting out all my crafting stash (I had soooo much more than I thought) and making loads of cards. I have really enjoyed it but now I need to decide what to do with all the cards. I could open an eBay shop, or I could use the Etsy shop I set up earlier in the year, or I could set up a website just for selling the cards. I can't decide, each option has things going for it and things against and it is driving me nuts, and all the while the cards just keep coming. A lot of people use eBay but do people really go there if they want to buy a handmade card? Etsy definitely does get people looking for handmade items but most people I know have never heard of it. A purpose built website would be fun to set up but would need alot of marketing etc.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Any and all advice gladly received.

Anyway, here are just a few of the dozens of cards. I am still working my way through photographing each one individually.

I'm forever Blowing Bubbles

2009-04-22T20:49:00.005+01:00

Hey, can you believe it, we have actually had some quite warm weather these past few days. We had to take advantage of the sun cos it may not last long, so out came the bubble machine and the bubble mixture that smells of bubblegum and many a happy hour (well closer to 20 mins really) was spent blowing bubbles.

Well at least it kept me amused anyway.

I've entered this layout in the April Recipe Challenge over at Weeds & Wildflowers. You had to use:

3 papers (1 white & 2 colored)
2 photos 1 frame
2 ribbons/string
1 wordart or title (can be with use of an alpha)
some greenery like leaves
1 date

What do you think? Did I get the recipe right? Leave a comment.

Scraplift Layout

2009-04-15T21:34:00.003+01:00

I did my first ever scraplift challenge this week. It was over at the Weeds & Wildflowers blog . It was alot of fun and I am really happy with the page I did. It is a great reminder of our breakfast with the characters from Winnie the Pooh in Florida in December and it has inspired me to do more pages using these colours and style for all my Character Breakfast pics.

What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know.

Project 365

2009-04-13T10:57:00.005+01:00

These are my first weekly layouts for Project 365. It's a great way to document your life to look back on in years to come. I love looking through the gallery at Weeds & Wildflowers and seeing how different everyone's style is, it's great for inspiration.

Weeds & Wildflowers guest CT challenge

2009-04-07T22:31:00.004+01:00

The fabulous Weeds & Wildflowers have a guest CT challenge on this week and this is the LO I have submitted. The challenge was to scrap LIFE and whatever that means to you. I have only been digiscrapping since October 2008 so I don't expect to win up against so many experienced scrappers but I had loads of fun putting this LO together so it was worth it.

Friends in Hats

2009-04-03T19:01:00.005+01:00

This is my first LO using the fantastic Life 365 kits from Weeds & Wildflowers Design. It was taken during a day at Busch Gardens when we were in Florida over Christmas. I'm not sure why we were all trying on hats but I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time. I love the Weeds & Wildflowers style, it is so colourful and fun. I plan on taking part in Project 365 which means I need to take a photo a day and make up weekly and monthly layouts. At the end of the year I will have a great record to look back on and I will get the LOs bound into a book.

Look what I made

2009-04-01T19:36:00.005+01:00

Well here it is my exploding box. The theme of my box is HATS because when I was looking at photos to use I was flicking through the photos we took in Busch Gardens in December and noticed there were alot of piccies of us all wearing different funny hats - I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time.

These boxes would make really unique birthday cards that you could theme with the interests and hobbies of the birthday boy/girl. They would also be great for Mother's Day and Father's Day.

Credits: Paper - Peace, Love, Happiness from Kathy Ladle at The Latest Scoop, Too
Alpha - Spotty from Cecile Scrap Design
Template - jayediddesigns

I'm off to make another one now, all about my Diva Dog.

Exploding boxes

2009-03-30T10:25:00.004+01:00

I was at Oasis in the City in Lisburn Cathedral on Saturday, which was a kind of relaxation day for ladies. We started the day with delicious coffee and scones with cream and jam - yummy. There were craft stalls from local crafts people and I bought a lovely wall hanging for the kitchen that matches the colours perfectly (see http://jazzywindowontheworld.blogspot.com/ for a pic). There were also stalls for jewellery, Funky Feet lamps, paintings and music. After a leisurely coffee we had a variety of workshops available - I did exploding boxes and I will put up a Layout of the finished one later but for now here is a picture of the outside of the box.

In case you don't already know an exploding box is a scrapbooking project and each box tells a unique story. My story was all about HATS - check back later to see the layout.

Just a quick one...

2009-03-25T14:34:00.003Z

I have been working on a LO of our house extension for the last few days but I can't get it just the way I want it so I took a break and did this quick page instead. This is me and my friend Alison. We have known each other since we were teenagers (yes I know that's not long LOL) and even though she doesn't live in Belfast anymore whenever she comes back for a visit it seems like she has never been away. I would love to see more of her so Alison, if you read this, you need to come over more often!

The quick page is by Digi Designs by Nicole, the Alpha is Pink Cookie from Free Digital Scrapbooking and the flower is by Kate Hadfield.

I am constantly amazed at the talent of all the digiscrap designers out there and the generosity of those who make their creations freely available. The digiscrap community is a lovely, friendly place and if you haven't tried it yet you should just throw caution to the wind and give it a go.

Jewellery Class show off

2009-03-19T12:47:00.006Z

As some of you know I have been going to a Silversmithing course for a few months and I thought I would do a quick LO of the 2 rings I have made. I will photograph some of the other stuff soon too but I did these first cos I am so pleased with them.

The LO is very plain because I didn't want anything to take away from the rings themselves. The Alpha is Earwig Factory by Marie Stones at Free Digital Scrapbooking and it is one of the first ones I found when I was looking for free stuff so that I could give digiscrapping a go. I love the vivid colours against the black background. The overlay used to make the paper aged is by a very talented lady called Gunhild who has some great freebies on her blog. She also has some cool tutorials that show you how to use the overlays etc.

I am really enjoying the jewellery class and would love to try some beading as well. It is lovely to be able to wear something you have made yourself and know it is unique. I am going to have a go at making some pressies for Christmas this year using silver and then I can make scrapped boxes to give them in.

Let me know what you think of the rings and the LO, I love getting feedback.

Yay, we won the cup

2009-03-18T21:26:00.006Z

I was at the School's Cup yesterday to watch my old school play Inst and we won 16:0.
Well done MCB. It was a great match and the crowd at Ravenhill thoroughly enjoyed it. Better luck next year Inst.

Pushed for time today so I just did a very quick LO based on a template from Kimi's Creations
The shamrocks are from Happy Go Lucky by Kate Hadfield available at The Lily Pad

St. Patrick's Day Blogging Carnival

2009-03-17T10:31:00.002Z

JanMary at Welcome to My World JanMary is hosting a St Patrick's Day Blogging Carnival and she has some great prizes up for grabs so hop on over to her blog and have a wee look.

I will be celebrating St Paddy's Day by going to the Ulster School's Rugby Cup to cheer on my old school who have won more times than any other team in its 133 year history (not that I'm bragging LOL).

Playing with photos

2009-03-17T09:36:00.004Z

As some of you know I am very into my photography and no one is safe from my lens LOL. Anyways, I have just been playing about with PSE lately and have found a great site that offers some free actions. Check out the picture of the snowman - isn't it cool. I used the Rubik's Cube action and I just love it.

I had never used actions before but now I am hooked.

Check out PanosFX if you fancy having a go yourself.

2009-03-17T09:20:00.004Z

OK so here is my first LO of 2009. I missed the start of Project 365 but I think it is a fab idea and I am going to do it in my own way by scrapping a monthly LO this year and then maybe next year I can do a weekly one - who knows.

I had such fun looking through my photos from February and trying to decide which one to place where and Karyn's kit was so great for a snowy theme. Thanks to Christine for the brilliant template. She has one for January as well so hop on over to her blog and check it out.

Template used is the Project 365 - February Template Freebie from Christine Newman at http://www.listgirl.com
Papers and elements from the free kit Baby, It’s Cold Outside! by Karyn Clarke
The Life and Times Of Karyn
http://thelifeandtimesofkaryn.blogspot.com

WOW, has it really been that long!

2009-03-17T09:13:00.003Z

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted to my digiblog. I guess life just runs away with you sometimes. I have so many photos of Florida at Christmas to scrap and haven't even started yet. When we came back I was ill for a few weeks and just got behind with everything so I guess it's time to knuckle down and get started. Belated Happy New Year and also Happy St. Patrick's Day.

October Journalling Challenge at DAC

2008-10-23T13:15:00.005+01:00

Here is a LO I made for the October Journalling Challenge at Digitalarts-cafe.
These cookies are so popular in our house and they don't usually last very long.

Shabby Miss Jenn kit layout

2008-10-22T12:44:00.003+01:00

I bought this beautiful kit called Birthday Wishes from Shabby Miss Jenn and this is the first layout I tried with it. I have to stop myself putting too much stuff on but it is all so gorgeous I want to use everything all at once :)

So many layouts so little time:)

2008-10-20T07:58:00.003+01:00

I can't believe the weekend just flew by and I didn't get any new layouts done, I was so busy getting my portfolio done for my photography workshop at Feel Good Photos. I can highly recommend CJs courses to anyone who wants to improve their photography skills.

I entered this too...

2008-10-17T23:56:00.005+01:00

In the October Font Challenge over at DigitalArts-cafe

http://www.digitalarts-cafe.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-4244

Guess what I did??

2008-10-17T21:37:00.004+01:00

I entered the October Colour Challenge at DigitalArts-cafe.
I even made the torn edge paper myself, not perfect but not bad for a first go.

http://www.digitalarts-cafe.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-4236

I don't believe it...

2008-10-16T09:09:00.004+01:00

How quickly I have become addicted to this digi scrapping. It is so cool to be able to make pages and show them so much quicker than scrapping the traditional way. Though I think I want to do both cos I do love to play with all the pretty papers, embellishments, ribbons etc and I do love the little extras you can only get on the 'real' thing such as pull-out books, charms, 3D effects. I have just discovered the DST site so am off now to have a look around there.

Here's another

2008-10-15T19:39:00.003+01:00

Did one for youngest DD so had to do one for eldest DD too.

WooHoo - this is so much fun

2008-10-15T14:57:00.005+01:00

Yey, here is my third layout, all done with free stuff from www.freedigitalscrapbooking.com

I think this is getting better, not so busy as the Halloween one.

Kids scrapping software

2008-10-14T13:43:00.004+01:00

Is there any software out there specifically for kids to scrap with?

Cool scrapping sites

2008-10-14T12:47:00.003+01:00

If anyone has any cool scrapping sites they would like to share let me know and I will list them on the blog. Thanks.

My Layouts

2008-10-14T12:43:00.003+01:00

Layout number 2

2008-10-14T10:57:00.002+01:00

WOW! This is so much fun and highly addictive ;) Here is a Halloween layout all done with freebies off the web, how cool is that. Still probably looks very amateurish but as they say, practice makes perfect so off I go to do another.

You really HAVE to give it a go, you'll love it.

My first attempt at a layout

2008-10-13T13:18:00.000+01:00

I have just discovered digital scrap booking so I am sure what follows in this blog is not going to be of a very high standard but it is just the start of my learning curve so I am sure I will improve as I go along.

Why digital scrap booking?

Well I have tried normal scrapping and managed to do a layout that I was very happy with first time but it is quite time-consuming and I found that lots of little hands suddenly appeared when I got all my papers, embellishments and ribbons out, all wanting to help mummy create something beautiful. Unfortunately by the time the little hands had finished there was often glue, glitter, brads, ribbon etc etc all over the place. Digital scrapping seemed like a much cleaner and tidier solution so I thought I would give it a go.

I spent this morning scouring the web (don't you just LOVE google) for freebies that I could downlaod and have a go with and I found a fantastic site called - would you believe it - http://www.freedigitalscrapbooking.com

I downloaded their free Beach Bum video tutorial and kit and set out to do my first layout. Disaster struck when I could not get the voice on the video to work so I watched it in silence but managed to pick up enough of the gist of what was happening to have a go myself. The kit was a great basic starter kit and using Photoshop Elements 7 I found it really easy to use. The best thing about digital scrapping is that it is so easy to change things so you don't need to be so worried about making mistakes - I made plenty.

Anyway here is my first layout. What do you think?