Black and White

Black and white is quite tricky, and it looks like several of the other Simple girlies had a hard time coming up with something. No worries girls, some weeks, it just doesn't happen! So here are two b/w based layouts. Both fairly old! Hope you like em.  I like the first one the best, but the second one was published in Creating Keepsakes once upon a time.

Some orange (and some graffiti!)

The end of the week of orange.  I love orange, though I have no idea why? I don't like it hugely in real life, but I love it on scrapbook pages.  Just this minute, I have put together a paper layout so I could share it with you. It isn't as blatantly 'orange' as I thought it would turn out, looking at the photo, but there is certainly some orange going on! Here it is, hot off the press.







































On browsing through some older layouts this morning , in the hunt for orange, this one jumped out at me, purely on it's 'orangeness', and coincidentally, happens to be running along a similar theme to the layout above!

(And here's another photo, waiting to be scrapped.....do I have a graffiti issue???)

And do I want to go to this place below? Um...gasp...yes, please?? Sadly I can't, as it's been closed to the public (not that it was ever opened to the public, it was just an abandoned depot, which is now guarded by several large and apparently very aggressive rottweiler guard dogs!)

(Photos by Susan Clark and William Cowan respectively)

Anyway, I have been distracted, and will now return to orange! Will throw you a couple of OLD yet favourite orange pages, these being 12 x 12, a size which I no longer scrap in. I'm a 8.5 x 11 scrapper now, due to it's speediness and ease! These layouts below have some Ali Edwards influence which that circle word stamp - must dig that up out of my supplies!

 

 

See you next week, for a new colour of the rainbow, from which to be inspired!  

PS. Apologies for mid post distraction!

Purple on Friday

The last day of our purple week!

I like purple, and like when I do purple layouts, but I have very few. I have very little purple paper for some unknown reason, and always have to scrounge into the deep depths for purple cardstock scraps or patterned paper. I really have hardly any. Purple seems to have been a challenge for the other Simple girls too.

But today I have, shock and horror, a NEW layout for you, taken with my current favourite type of photos, 'Instagram'!

 

And here is an old 12 x 12 layout that I still haven't put a title on - only 3 years late. Planning, one day, to have a title in white thickers across bottom right hand corner of main photo. Call me lazy. 

This last layout is really really old, about 6 or 7 years, but I love this layout, as it uses 4 photo (one odd shaped) and the colour combo was Cathy Z inspired.  Would do a slightly brighter green if I were to do it again, but it's still one to look back on and be happy!

See you next week!

Last of the greens

 A few more green layouts for you with which to end the week! These two layouts are horizontal 8.5 x 11's - a size that I very rarely do these days.  The second layout only uses a little bit of green pp, yet the layout still looks very green because of the photo.

  This last layout is very green, and is a 12 x 12. I seriously love green and red together!!  Looking forward to a new colour week starting on Monday!

Nicole xx

Last of the pink pages

Well as usual with these colour weeks, I have had some serious decision making issues as I scrolled through all my old pink pages. My three daughters are seriously not into pink now, but of course when they were little we lived in a world of pink.  I did a layout of my clothesline with all the pink clothes hanging on it once, my fellow simple girls might remember it.

So even though my girls mostly refuse anything pink nowadays, I do have a pinkish layout that is new, I only did it a few weeks ago. It uses some Instagram photos that I printed at home myself. If you haven't yet got onto Instagram, wow, you might want to look into it. LOVING it. If you have a smartphone, there's no excuse - do it now, but apparently you can get onto it with out one - Sharon? Is that right?  You don't have to share your photos with the world if you don't want to on instagram (you can be a private user), but if you want to share them, you can.  I choose to share my photos with a select few, and it is so fun to see the photos that my few friends have taken and share mine at the same time with them.  Anyway, I am loving the blur tool, and the filters that instagram allows, and I'm loving taking really cute pics without having to haul out the camera.  I even took the photo of my layout on my phone (by getting directly above it!!).

I find it fascinating, that the world now TRIES to take photos that have heaps of grain and 'noise' and weird colour - that look 1970's ish, considering they spent years trying to get rid of those elements out of photography.

So here's my most recent layout, that has bits of pink.  Watermelon-y warm pinks.  Still finding very old scraps of patterned paper to use!  Can you believe I still have remnants of this old American Crafts paper?? (Black/white one on the right).

This next layout is SIX years old!  That bubby is now eight . I always liked the composition of this layout, and it is decidedly pink, flower and all, so I share it with you.

And this last layout below, is a 'calendar' of the month of February, 2007 for middle daughter. A nice reminder of what we did back then, and how we filled our days.  Also, fairly 'pink'. Might be good to go back and revisit this calendar idea now that life is busier as the kids are older.

 

Hope you have enjoyed our 'pink' week. Next week  - a NEW colour!

Bye, 

Nicole xx

Yellow - day 5

Seriously, I have a big problem when it comes to making a decision. I photograph most of my layouts so I have a big folder of them all on my photo program (iphoto). I was scrolling through the hundreds of layouts looking for something yellow, and found that I have indeed MANY yellow layouts, and that several of them were some of my favourite layouts.  Then came the decision dilema - Which to share with you?  Well I had about six that I couldn't decide between, and I've narrowed it down to two. So that I don't waste more time on procrastinating, I'm just going to throw those two layouts on this post. They are very yellow, and I really did like them both when I did them.
Today is the last of our YELLOW series - we will begin with a new colour next Monday.  Love colour!

The layouts are 4 years old, but each hold a special place in my heart!

The first is of youngest daughter, and this layout brings back so many memories of her last year at home with me, before she started school (she is now in Year 2). How we both miss that year!! Just yesterday, she said, "Can I stay home with you today, and we can be together like we used to be? We can go out to lunch, just you and me".
We have both had colds this week, so I did let her stay home one day, and we both went out for a coffee/babycino, and remembered the good old days.   Loved 2009. 

 

This second layout shows my middle girls first soccer game ever.  It too holds great memories, because she loved that first game and this is 'where it all began'. According to Amelia "Soccer is my life" and she now, 4 years later, does development representative training on Mondays, does her team training on Thursdays, represents her school with all the boys on Fridays, and plays for her local team, plus usually in an extra game for another local team, on Saturdays.  I did the laundry yesterday and was thinking to myself how we went from little pink dresses to a line full of soccer socks and jerseys.  She looks so little here - she is now a tall athletic almost 10 year old! Okay all this reminiscing is making me want to scrap! It really is great to look back on.

Nicole xxx

Red day 5

Thanks for the birthday wishes girls.  Had a fantastic day, with arguably Sydney's most perfect weather  this Autumn.  Another red page from me, done a few years ago. For a more recent red event of mine, see this post here.  

Red rocks!

Nicole x

More Red

A couple of red blasts from the past for you. I love red! These full paper pages are from 2007 - that makes them FIVE years old.  And even though that is paint on that first layout (hello!!!) and I would never do that now the colour red never gets old!! The chubby bubby in the middle of the top photo is now eight, and these are how my other two 'little' girls look now. 

(The layout titled 'You' shows the same girl as the first photo here.  How did that happen in 5 years? )

Slight change? But how good is scrapbooking when you can look back at moments like this.  Red moments!

Nicole x

paper scrappin'

A miracle has occurred. I have scrapped!! Only a page or two, and nothing very exciting (my creativity has currently left the building) but I will take what I can get. It is school holidays, a very rainy day, kids are all here watching old pixar movies, and I decided to sneak an hour and scrap! It was quite a shock to do something that I'd almost forgotten how to do!!  You can see by the date on the layout that I am more than slightly behind in my scrapbooking. I have so much that I want to scrap, that it's all quite overwhelming, but I just decided to pick up some photos and just do it. Not get wrapped up in what I should be scrapping or too overwhelmed at what needs to be scrapped - just pick up the first bundle of pics on my pile and just do it.  Some good old fashioned, quick, paper scrappin'. Wonder if I'll get another page in this afternoon?

I even drew up a very dodgy quick sketch for you in case you, like me, accidentally take way too many photos and need a layout for up to 10 pics!  Measurements of those little photos, to save you the hassle if you use the sketch are 6.5 x 8.5cm. This is my baby girl, who turned 8 yesterday.

Nicole x

scrappin' holiday pics!

Hi all!

I haven't done much scrapping lately, but I did did scrap an event recently that I thought I would share with you.

Each year we go on an annual family holiday down the coast (with 4 other families) and each year I wonder what in the world I am going to do with all the photos. I really haven't got it in me to scrap them individually, and in previous years I have made a mini-album, and also put all the photos in a collage across a double page, which was okay, but left no room to journal.

So this year, using my Cathy Zielske digi templates found here, I chose a template that some room for journaling (not a huge amount, but enough), as well as room for quite a few piccy's.  This is my middle girls pages - a 3 page, so one will go over the page in her album (don't care!) and many of the photos revolve around her.  I got middle girl to help me with the journaling. I chose the photos and then asked her to give me a sentence or two about each one, so most of the journaling was in her words. (I did the same with my other girls' pages).

I don't love digi templates for everything, and they don't do it for me as much as normal scrapping, but they do have their place - they are quick and easy and great for events, where there are lots of pics.  These are 8x10 prints, mounted on 8.5x11 black cardstock. You can get a clearer view if you double click on an image.  The original templates cater for 6 small vertical/portrait orientated photos. As I had some landscape pics in my collection, I altered some of the photo blocks on page 2 and 3 to work for me. Just remember to 'save as', as a seperate file, so you can always keep the original file saved as it originally was! Sometimes I forget....:(

My photos of the layouts are a bit washed out - the journaling blocks are a nice warm cream colour in real life. See the photo of the two kids holding hands in the waves in the middle page? We get that exact same photo every year, so you might think you've seen it before if you've seen my past holiday pages!
Off to tackle my laundry - have a good weekend everyone!!

Nicole

Nicole's photo book

Di has been hounding me, patiently asking, to see my most recent photo book. This is my present to my parents last Christmas. I have been making a photobook of them and mostly their 7 grandchildren each year for the past 5 years or so. It is their favourite Christmas present and they really look forward to it each year. My mum carries it around in her handbag and shows all her friends for months afterwards. I actually order 2, so that I can keep one for our family too.

This book is by 'blurb'. It's quite small, only 7" square. I might go a bit bigger next time, but it is quite cute. I have used snapfish in the past and have been happy, esp with the price, but the quality was a bit nicer with blurb. I was very happy with this book and I like the dust jacket. I went with their basic design, which had pretty limited layouts, but the layouts were nice and graphically pleasing.  I also really like the date on the spine - looks nice in the bookcase.

FYI, I designed a square image on photoshop especially as a cover image, and dropped it on as a jpeg. I've also popped on a screen shot of the book in progress. 

The kids still enjoy looking through this book three months later - they like looking at themselves and their cousins through the months of 2011 - I place them in chronological order starting with the new year and ending with Christmas.
So I'm sharing my last book, just in case you have a holiday to document, or want to start thinking about a present for a grandparent, maybe?

Saturday sketch (no. 4)

Hi all!  Here's a sketch challenge for you. After a rainy RAINY week here in Sydney, today is spectacular, so all Sydney readers, get out there and enjoy it!! Scrapping can wait (til tonight, anyway). Saturday night raging consists of cardstock, a computer, and some patterned paper!

So today's sketch can use as many photos as you like really. You can fill those top three coloured blocks with photos, or just fill two of them, and fill the other with paper, or as I did, I got 5 small photos into the two horizontal blocks.

I also have a 12 x 12 version for you if that is your preference. The main vertical photo would be good as a 5 x 7 or even a 6 x 8 in the 12 x 12 size.  The main photo is approx 4 x 6 in the 8.5x11" layout. 

My take on the sketch is below. Every year we have a gingerbread making Sunday afternoon in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and every year it get scrapped. I like scrapping traditions, and seeing how big the children get in basically the same photos from year to year. If you've known me or my scrapping for several years now, you may well be sick of all my ginger bread pages!

If you give the sketch a go, post a link to your blog or flicker page so we can see!!


Nicole xx


And here's a 'gingerbread tradition' layout from 4 years ago. Similar colours, smallerr kids! (but slightly different sketch!)

Communicate

The title of this post (and the following layout) is actually very ironic as I have been totally out of action the last few weeks and really should not be allowed to post something called 'communicate' but alas, it is the only scrapbooking I have done in a while so I will share it with you anyway. 

Sorry I have been MIA for a while, this life of mine continues to get more hectic with a new high-schooler, me working 3-4 days a week, and all the activities that go with three very active school aged kids. And the food, oh the food - it requires military organisation and precision trying to feed my crowd decent meals with our schedule - feeding just never seems to end. If only it could stop, just for 3 or 4 days, wouldn't that be nice? I do have a layout or two in the works though, so hopefully I can share that soon.

The use of technology by kids in general continues to astound me (and maybe scare me a little) so I thought I would record a stage my youngest went through which lasted a few months.
She would leave typed messages for me on my phone, and then wait anxiously for me to reply to her, the same way, of course. (Though it would have been much easier for me to just answer her, without having to type a message while trying to cook dinner etc!).

I also thought it would be good to record, as my phone will be the subject of hilarity in only a few short years.

 

See you next week, 

Nicole x

First days

Hi all, long time no see!! It's certainly been a while!


Well we are all back from summer holidays and the new year has begun with kids back at school, and the reality of everyday life and rountines awkwardly finding their way back into our worlds.

If you live in our part of the world and if you have kids, chances are you will be experiencing some first days. We just experienced first day of high school this week with my eldest girl, you might be doing first days of preschool, kindy, primary, or university?

My youngest girl is going into year 2, so now that our 'first days of school' are officially well past,  I gathered everybody's first day photos, including my own (most flattering kindy shot ever...) and scrapped them all together on a layout. My mum took the photo of me in the 70's in front of our mail box, so I followed the tradition with my own girls.

Got any 'first days' going on in your life at the moment?

the beanie

Firstly, here, in Australia, a knitted hat is known as the 'beanie'. I know from experience, that it is not called a 'beanie' in North America. In Canada, for example, they are commonly referred to as 'touque's' (pronounced: toooks). In Canada, a beanie refers to a stripey cap with a little comical propeller on top (this Australian learned this the hard way!). If wherever you come has another name for such knitted hats, please enlighten me!

Secondly, I love how this layout turned out, it is one of my most favourite layouts of recent days! My littlest girl went through the winter obsessed with beanies, and even now that the summer temperatures are here she still tries to get away with popping one on her head, before someone, usually me, inevitably yells "Are you aware of the current temperature, child?!'
I love that this current little fad or trend has been recorded and scrapped.
I LOVE these piccy's of her - is she not cute?

Thirdly, note how the background cardstock is split into two colours. I do this every now and then, and although I am happy with how it looks, whenever I do it, it means that I didn't have a full sheet of one of the colours, and therefore had to combine two.  I love this grey colour, and would ordinarily have used a full sheet of it, but alas, I only had 2/3 of a sheet remaining, so one must get creative when supplies are low!

Fourthly, in case you're interested, these photos are each 2"x3"  (5cm x 7.5cm). You can print them that way, or take the photos in a way that allows for them to be cropped.

Nicole x

 Journaling: 

recipe for a layout

Ingredients:

A 5x7 photo
some journaling printed on white cardstock (hint: print journaling first on a larger white sheet then cut it down to fit).
8.5x11 sheet of kraft cardstock
a cardstock punched flower with a brad,
a scrap of patterned paper (1.5 x 5")
Some letter stickers.

Method:

1. Stick photo on the kraft cardstock, so that the heads are approx placed a third of the way down the page. You can use old ingredients for these recipe, a 7 month old photo is still good!
2. Stick the white cardstock with journaling on it below the photo. Stick a 1/4" thin strip of white cardstock across the width of the page, along the top of the photo.
3. Fill in the gap beside the photo with a leftover scrap of pretty paper.
4.  Poke a hole through the white cardstock, anyway you know how, and stick the brad through the flower punch and through the cardstock underneath.
5. Stick on your title, starting with the the last letter first, so it fits and looks good (I always know where I want the title to end, but not necessarily where it will begin!?).
6. Stick a brad at either end of the title if you want to.
7. 15 minutes since you started, sit back and admire your simple, classic layout, that will still look simple and classic in years to come. Lean it up against a lamp or something on a bench or shelf for a week or two, for all to enjoy, then stick it in an album, and do it all again with another photo.
8. Enjoy!

Nicole

Remembering their toys

Meet Jesse and Woody from Toy Story.

Chances are you've already met them if you have kids! These two have been played with in our house for close to eight years now, and they have definitely seen better days. They get put in pot plants, endure makeovers, and have regular excursions to the back yard. They are still played with constantly and much loved. And it is for this reason I have wanted to record them down on paper for my girls. I did a double page layout for each of my younger daughters.

 

Both girls got the same first page (which is a Cathy Z template found here and then printed as an 8x10 photo), and the second page is an 8x10 enlargement of each girl.

Here's the other daughters second page photo.

If you want to see how I scrapped this toy cow for my eldest girl head over here.

 

I think it's a great thing to do, to scrap the play things that mean a lot to your kids. Won't they love to look back on it when they are all big and grown!

What favourite toys could you document for your kids? Or maybe you still have a special toy, from your childhood that you should record? Please share!

Nicole xx