Oh, its been a long time coming ...

This update, that is!!
I have actually been scrapping up a storm recently (and tidied up my scrap space a little too ... at least I can walk to the shelves now where the paints etc. are stored, even if I do need a ladder to get up that high!!)
This first layout is a colour combination I find very hard to use ... red, orange & pink. But the photos of Miss A in her gorgeous hat just had to be scrapped!! So I threw caution to the wind and found some reddish pattered paper, layered it on red cardstock, added hot pink and orange ribbon (just love how the velvet ribbon feels to the touch ...) with a fancy ribbon buckle, some bright coloured silk flowers from the Kaiser range with some bling brads and an MME title die-cut.
Whilst looking through my albums one day, I discovered I had absolutely no layouts for 2006. I know we went on a huge trip to Cape York that year, and Miss A graced us with her very beautiful presence ... but how did I manage to miss an entire year's worth of layouts?? So I set about putting that right!

Allcraftz had a cybercrop to celebrate the Australia Day weekend, with themes of green & gold and red/white/blue amongst others. I didn't get to complete these layouts in time for the CC, however they gave me inspiration to scrap these photos. The first is a set of photos for Mr C and his best mate at the cricket in Sydney - C'mon Aussies indeed!

The second layout is Mr C in his cricket gear - ready, set to play! I used Kaiser PP and felt, Bella fabric letters, Jenni Bowlin 4x4 paper as a journalling block and hand-cut felt star with some machine stitching as a border. I have several sheets of felt here in my stash, but seeing as fussy-cutting isn't my "thing" I Have been reluctant to get it out and use it. But what's the point of it just sitting there?? Absolutely none!! And it was the perfect red colour for this layout too.

I have had some Basic Grey Urban Prairie papers sitting there in my stash for a while now, just waiting for a photo to do it justice. And look what this little birdie came up with!! During our long hot summer, Miss A had a ball in our spa with Nan, and of course she loves to dress for the occasion. Here she is trying out Nan's glasses in the spa. She certainly does have her own free style!! The chip stickers looked gorgeous all by themselves so I didn't add much else except the hand-coloured journalling block and some bling.

I have had this SEI Paper in my stash also for a while, which came with a monthly kit I subscribe to. It was shown with vintage photos (which I don't have any of) and I thought it extremely hard to use. However one day Miss A popped herself up at the piano and started to play - the dark wood of the piano just cried out for these elegant PP and thus this layout was born. Adding the little sheet music was inspirational - I love how it turned out.

Scrapboxx is running a free intermediate scrapbooking course with Sheree McGee - the first class was blocking, and this is my layout using the kit and techniques taught by Sheree. Super-easy to follow, and the effect is really easy to achieve as well. I had to add the big flower at the bottom - it just matched the PP perfectly. The photos are my 3 Christmas angels from 2008 - all cheeky little monkeys indeed. I wouldn't be without them for the world.

Also from Allcraftz, the generous Ebony sent out a heap of Making Memories paper samples from the recently released Paperie range, then set us 3 challenegs to complete using the samples with 5 rules to follow. This layout uses 3 of those rules - a photo showing the back of something, 3 things matted on the layout and a one-word title ending with a ? I painted the chip letters, and love how they turned out. I will definitely be using that technique more often!
Finally, my second layout using the blocking technique from Sheree's classes at Scrapboxx. This time I used Basic Grey Euphoria PP, chip stickers and rub-ons. I added Core-d'inations cardstock which had been run through the Cuttlebug and sanded back to show the core colour. And there is a little bling here & there as well. My tiny dancer swirled around on the floor of my scrap room before she could walk - now she twirls around in the lounge room to the Spice Girls (among others ...)
Thanks for looking, and thanks also to those who leave a comment - especially the ladies from overseas!! It really is a small world these days ..
Take care, keep safe and love life.