The Last Of The March Entries...

I have found three more March Challenge entries to share with you. Yes, these are the final entries for March. If, by some chance, I have missed any layouts that were submitted, please send me an email letting me know (scrapbookkitswithjules@gmail.com).

But I am really hoping I haven't missed anyone, lol!

Charlotte - March Inspiration Challenge

Nicole Doiron - March Inspiration Challenge

Nicole Doiron - March Sketch Challenge

Nicole's layouts are both from double page layouts - the full layouts can be found on her blog.

Wow Ladies, such beautiful work. Thank-you so much for sharing these with us.

Stay tuned every one, because we will announce a winner in just a few days. And don't forget, tomorrow our new April Challenges will go live!!!

Anatomy Of A Challenge...

Today, I thought I would shock everyone, and actually show you a layout I completed, combining both the March challenges. The end of the month is fast approaching, so I thought it would be quicker (and more likely to get completed), if I combined the challenges. I don't usually combine my challenges, but since my layout doesn't count, I can get away with it, lol! Ladies, if you would like to combine the challenges in the future, that is fine, I don't have a problem with that, but just be aware it will only be included in one of the categories - either sketch or inspiration, not both.

How do I get my inspiration from the challenges? Let's start with the sketch. In this case, I stayed fairly close to the sketch design. There are two major differences. I added a banner in the top right of the layout. That is not on the sketch. Neither are the roses flowing down the right hand side of the page. But I will usually add to the layout in some manner to make it mine. Just remember, a sketch is a starting point - a jumping off point - it does not have to be identical. Quite often I will flip a sketch, add or remove photos, add or remove embellishments, or make the design larger or smaller than that shown in the sketch. All these elements help to my layout "mine". To make it more individualised.

The inspiration photo held so many elements that inspired me. The beautiful peeling wooden background - I just had to include that in my layout - it was jumping out at me. The colours? Well, I think they speak for themselves. They are just so beautiful and blended together amazingly. Then there were the roses and falling petals. That was my inspiration for the flowers flowing down the right hand side of my layout.

I hope that has helped to explain how my brain operates when it comes to a challenge. I look for things to highlight. To draw attention to the particular elements of a challenge.

Close ups of some of the details on my layout.

A close-up of my journalling. This is something that I always try to do on all my layouts. It is very rare for me to complete a layout without journalling - after all, every photo has a story to tell. Thank-you for taking the time to share this with me, and I hope you all have a happy, scrappy weekend.

More March Challenge Entries

My inbox is getting full again. Time to share what I found.

Pam Casey - March Sketch Challenge

Pam Casey - March Inspiration Challenge

Gillian Hume - March Sketch Challenge

Gillian Hume - March Inspiration Challenge

Beautiful work ladies. I love your take on the challenges.

You still have time to get your entries in - the challenges close on the 31st March at midnight.

Happy scrapping everyone!!!

Imagine wall hanging - fun gift for someone!!

I wanted to make something fun for my mother for her birthday.  I wanted to give her something that I made, but not just a card or a mini book. So with this in mind I made a cute little wall hanging for her.  The picture is of my son Brandon when he was 18 months old, my mother took the picture.  The squares are 3 x 3 inches and holding them together is hemp string. 

The top square is made of cardboard, then the bottom two are chipboard.  I played around with some mixed media Gellato paints from Faber Castelle that I got at a CKC convention class for the top square and some gesso and patterned paper for the middle square.  I did not put any pictures on on the back of the hanging, but you most certainly could and make it two sided.


I hope this inspires you to make a fun little gift for someone special!!

Erin Reed
http://scraps-of-reflections.blogspot.com/

Inbox Update...

The challenge layouts have started to roll in for March.

I found these lovelies in my inbox:

Lauren T - March Inspiration Challenge

Amanda - March Inspiration Challenge

Amanda - March Sketch Challenge

You still have heaps of time to join in the fun - the challenges close on the last day of the month.

Please email your completed layout to scrapbookkitswithjules@gmail.com

February Winners Announced...

Boy, oh boy, you ladies are making this harder and harder every month. This has got to be the closest decision ever - there were so many layouts that deserve to win. But alas, I can only announce two winners.

So for February, or two challenge winners are Pam Casey and Amanda:

Pam Casey - February Sketch Challenge Winner

Amanda - February Inspiration Challenge Winner

Congratulations Ladies! I will send a RAK your way.

Please email your postal address to scrapbookkitswithjules@gmail.com

Thank-you everyone for joining in the February fun! There were so many amazing layouts created, and I look forward to seeing more in March. Go scrap and be happy!!! :-)

Lucky Last...

Here is our lucky last entry for the February Challenges:

Amanda McKenna - February Sketch Challenge

Amanda is a newbie (this is the first layout she has submitted for any of our challenges). So welcome aboard Amanda, I am so pleased that you have decided to join in the fun. And I hope we see many more layouts to come!

Inspiration photo layout

I just loved the inspiration photo thios month! So I took the colors and the texture and tried to recreate them on my page. I used  broken china distress paint on a strong cardstock and after it was dry, I layered on a coat of crackle medium as well. I then placed this down onto a page from Pion designs "Dreamer" collection.
Then I added embellies to match the colors. the flowers are from Manorhouse and Prima.
Well here have a peek

What do you think?

Stamping with stencils and embossing - by Petra

Hi everyone!
Petra from Sweden here and I am going to show you what happens when you use a stencil to stamp. I choose a big swirl and pressed it carefully against a Watermark/embossing ink pad and then I carefully placed it on my page. I then used a brayer to make sure i got a transfer onto my page.
After removing the stencil, I just poured on the embossing powder as normal and heated with an embossing fan. If you do not have that you can hold it over the electric stove - works just as well.

This is the result - do you like it?

March Sketch Challenge...

Woo-hoo! It's time for a new sketch. Are you ready?

Here is the March Sketch Challenge, with this month's sketch having been designed by Julianne McKenna-De Lumen (other wise known as Jules - me!). Hope you like it!

Annette Gearside

Erin Reed

Juanna Sia

Kim Kendall

Michelle Wallace

Nicole Knopke

How absolutely amazing are all these layouts? I think my Design Team has outdone themselves yet again. I know they try extremely hard every month to bring you some fabulous inspiration.

So, are you up for the challenge and a little fun?

The challenge will close at 11:59pm on the 31st March 2012.

Please send your completed layouts to scrapbookkitswithjules@gmail.com

The winner will be announced early April, and will receive a RAK of goodies

(I will try and post a photo soon).

March Inspiration Challenge...

I stumbled across this picture over on Pinterest, and couldn't resist using it for the March Inspiration Challenge. The colours are absolutely gorgeous!!! Don't you agree?

March Inspiration Challenge - teals, blues, greens, and lemon/yellow. Or you could use the roses or textured wall as your inspiration too!

Let's take a look at what my amazing Design Team did with this:

Petra Offrell

Nicole Knopke

Kirsten Casey

Lisa Kamphuis

Annette Gearside

Holly Connors

Erin Reed

Wow! Every month these ladies blow me away with their interpretation of these challenges. They show just how many possibilities there are.

So now it's your turn to join us for some fun.

The challenge will close at 11:59pm on the 31st March 2012.

Please send your completed layouts to scrapbookkitswithjules@gmail.com

The winner will be announced early April, and will receive a RAK full of goodies

(will try and post a picture soon).

One, Two...Three???

I actually have three layouts for the February challenges, but I will have to share the third one at a later as I am having trouble opening the file. Until then, I would love to share these two layouts with you, both for the February Inspiration Challenge:

Amanda - fantastic design and take on the challenge. Love the details and background.

Phillipa Newsham - lovely, soft colours, and love the pleated border.

So stay tuned for the last layout - coming soon.

This competition has now closed, and we will move onto the March challenges.