I have a couple of layouts that I did way back in September last year, around the time of my new catalogue launch, and I thought it was about time I shared them here…

This one was based on a layout I found in a magazine and loved, but do you think I can – for the life of me – find it now?!  It’s very likely to have been from the pages of a Scrapbook Trends mag (rather a fave!) and if I can track down the actual issue, I will be sure to edit this post with the info.

The oldy-worldy map paper from the Newsprint DSP was perfect for this layout about the little girl from Ethiopia that we started sponsoring last year.  The story of how it came about is written in the background of the layout and reads like this…

“For the past few months, every time the World Vision commercial came onto the TV, you would stop everything you were doing to watch.  And every time the commercial was over, you would ask “Mummy can we sponsor a child..?”  We would talk about all the things we have – simple things that we don’t even think about, like clothes, food, clean water – and how some people in the world don’t have those things. Last week the ad came on TV again, and this time, as I waited for the question to come, I thought to myself that this time when you asked, the answer would be YES.  I love the way you are so thoughtful and sensitive to the needs of others and I love that you are always looking for ways to help.  We went onto the World Vision website and found Biftu – a seven year old girl in Ethiopia, who is born on the exact same day as you.  We completed all the sponsorship details and read how the little bit of money that it costs can help Biftu with her education and her family with food and water.  When the information came in the mail, you opened it up to read all about Biftu and you put her picture by your bed.  Thank you, my angel, for having such a big, beautiful heart…”

Next week I’ll show you the other layout that is also very close to my heart

Speaking of scrapbooking, with the poppets now happily back at school, or off to school for the first time, as is the case with my small girl, I’m dipping my toes back into the waters of the stamping class!

If you get my newsletter, you will have seen in last month’s edition that I am offering two classes this month, one of which is a scrapbooking class next Monday night.

I have three places left in this class and am SO excited about the layout, so would love you to join me if you can!

Here’s a peek at the layout we’ll be doing…

I used a pic of my scrumptious baby nephew for my layout, but it’s not specifically designed as a baby layout – any pic that will fit with the delicious colours of the Elegant Soiree DSP will do the job!

The class is $15, with all materials provided and will be held at my house in Perth next Monday, 21 February at 7.30pm.  Be sure to let me know if you’d like to nab one of the remaining places!

And don’t forget to pop back here tomorrow for the latest installment of Challenge Chewsday…!

“One World 12×12 Layout”
Stamps: Circle Circus
Paper: Garden Green, Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Old Olive, Newsprint DSP
Ink: Garden Green
Accessories: 1-3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Edge Border Punch, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Sizzlits, Cropadile

Right on the tail of the previous post, here comes the next one with my entry for Helping Hudson challenge #5!

This time it was a sketch…

And here’s my entry…

I just love the big flower from Petal Pizzazz and paired it on this occasion with the gorgeous big flower filled circle from Circle Circus.

The colour combination is from nowhere in particular, I just wanted something bright and funky and kept pulling ink pads out of my cabinet until I was happy with the look

Right, that’s me for the evening.  I am off to scan my new catalogue for  the 178th time to see if there is anything I have neglected to add to my wishlist.

You just can’t be too careful with some things….

Stamps: Petal Pizzazz, Circle Circus, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Paper: Old Olive, Melon Mambo, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Cottage Garden DSP
Ink: Old Olive, Melon Mambo, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Tempting Turquoise, StazOn Jet Black
Accessories: 1-3/4″ Circle Punch, Whisper White 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder

It’s been a very long time since I participated in one of Kristina’s colour inspiration challenges!  In fact I just did a bit of digging and determined that my last effort was a whopping 26 challenges ago!

So a few days ago, having cleared and tidied my craft desk (and my floor – yep it was that bad!) I had no more excuses not to sit and stamp, so I decided that I would have a crack at the next colour inspiration.

Then yesterday, up went the colours….

Holy cow, those there are some bright colours!  I almost re-thought my determination to take part, but then I started formulating a plan…

The plan involved playing around with one of my current absolute FAVE stamp sets – Circle Circus - and instead of stamping it randomly as I have done previously, I decided on a more ordered approach.

This is what resulted:

What I love about Circle Circus is that it looks great all random and everywhere, but equally fun all lined up and regular.  This sure gave the ol’ Stamp-a-ma-jig a good working out I have to tell you!

For the colours, I used a tiny bit of Tempting Turquoise as the Sky Blue that was called for in the challenge.  Over my way, the sky is quite often turquoise, so I used a bit of artistic licence there, and aside from that I’m all out of Soft Sky since it’s been retired and I couldn’t let that pesky detail get in the way of my resolve to have a play with this challenge!

Here’s a bit of a close up of the detail….

At this angle you can see the crimping of the Green Galore flaggy thing a bit better and also the ‘thread’ that I have used in the button.  I mentioned this idea in a post a few months back where you cut tiny thin strips of cardstock and pop it through your button holes for perfectly co-ordinated ‘thread’!

There are still a couple of days to have a play with the colour inspiration, so go on, challenge yourself!  It’s a great way to have a go at something you would probably not usually choose for yourself, so a handy method to extend your stamping skills and step outside of your comfort zone a little

“Kristina’s Colour Inspiration #54″
Stamps: Circle Circus, Upsy Daisy (greeting)
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Taken with Teal, Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Taken with Teal, Green Galore
Accessories: Crimper, Pumpkin Pie Striped Grosgrain, Button Latte, Stampin’ Dimensionals