ScrapLounge

WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE - APRIL 21

Hi there and welcome to this week's
WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE
Scrapping is a great way to capture the memories of your travel adventures and holidays.
Not only can you scrap the photos you have taken and record the memories you have of your travels (I cannot stress enough the importance of keeping a travel/holiday diary while you are away) but another very cool way of remembering your holidays is to scrap any ephemera you may collect along the way.

“Ephemera is a term used to embrace a wide range of minor, everyday documents, most intended for one-time or short-term use, including postcards, menus, tickets, bookmarks, tourist information pamphlets, programs, letters, photographs - and the list goes on”
(The Epherma Society Of America)

With school holidays just finishing for most of us (I can almost here the cheers from here) I thought this week I would show you some of the gorgeous holiday and travel LOs that our Lounge Ladies have loaded into the gallery

(p.s. if you click on the name under the layout it will take you to the layout in The Lounge gallery where you can leave some lovin')

Tammy

Anne-Marie

Ruthy

Charmane

Rondelle

Grace

Renee

Jay

Marie

Julie

Linda

Kirsten

If you have scrapped a holiday or travel and would like to share it with us, we would love you to post the link in the comments section so we can see you work.

Wishing you all a very happy, scrappy Wednesday

~shazz~
xo

SCRAPPER IN THE SPOTLIGHT - 4

Good morning ladies and welcome to another issue of "Scrapper In The Spotlight".
This week's scrapper is another original EMM member.
She has the most gorgeous style of scrapping (her attention to detail is amazing) and you can spend hours drinking in every last detail of her beautiful LOs.
She is a widely published scrapper, has graced many store and manufacturer Design Teams and her blog is a smorgasboard of beautiful LOs.
She has two beautiful little girls and her photographs of them are, at times, breathtaking.

Introducing the lovely
JOLENE

I asked Jolene to share some of her insights into her scrapping world with us.

How long have you been scrapping?
Since I was pregnant with Katie, so around 4.5 years

How would you describe your style?
Girlie, layered with hidden details and just fun

Do you have a designated area for scrapping or is it a shared space
(dining room table, etc)?
I use the dining room table, mind you it has never seen food on it since moving here 3 years ago haha.  But it works beautifully for me as it is a nice big table (I make A LOT of mess) and it is also in the same area as the TV room, so when my baby Lily is sleeping and Katie is contently playing then I can go and sit and fiddle for a while.

What is your favourite patterned paper range at the moment?
Tough Call!!
My favourite line at the moment is the American Crafts Dear Lizzy but I am also loving loving Crate Papers new lines!! 

What is you favourite technique to use?
I go through stages!
My current stage is making my own handmade flowers, I am loving loving it!!
I mostly use tutorials I find online and just play to get the flower I want!

What is your favourite embellishment to use?
For some reason I’m not too big on embellishments at the moment, I seem to use hand cut elements from paper a lot!
But if I have to pick embellishments I usually go with something that gives me a bit of texture and dimension such as fabric brads, little crochet flowers etc.

Do you have any tips you would like to share with your fellow scrappers?
Scrapbook classes or workshops are brilliant for picking up tips and additional skills to help you to mix things up in scrapping when you get a bit bored with your own style … or is it only me that gets a bit bored with the way I scrap sometimes?? hehe

Here are some of Jolene's gorgeous layouts from her personal gallery on The Lounge.

Leave some lovin' here


Leave some lovin' here


Leave some lovin' here


Leave some lovin' here


Leave some lovin' here

To see more of Jolene's amazing work you can visit her personal blog here

Thank you so much Jolene for taking the time to answer our questions and thank you for being a part of The Lounge family.

Wishing you all a very happy, scrappy Tuesday

~shazz~
xo

APRIL 2010 CYBERCROP

THE WAITING IS OVER...!!!

April's Cybercrop starts tonight at 7.30 pm over on The Lounge.
Make sure you check out all the great challenges here
And if you are more of a chatter than a scrapper you can have your say here

Happy scrapping.
Hope you can join us

~shazz~
xo

WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE - APRIL 14

Hello ladies and welcome to this week's
WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE

This week's "captures" are rather distressing....but in a good way...!!!
Distressing is very popular for those of us that love a "shabby chic" look to our layouts and OTPs.
There are many interesting ways to distress your photos, papers and cardstock.
(**Taken from an article written by Robin Michelle King)

Sandpaper: Gently sand the edges or areas you want to look more antique. If you have never done it before, all you need is a nail file (emery board) or small piece of sand paper. Keep in mind that you can do this to any paper or embellishment or even the photos themselves.
Use it on embellishments that you don't use or like the color of - like colored brads or eyelets - this exposes the metal underneath.

  Wrinkle and Crinkle: You can wrinkle and crinkle dry papers and cardstock with no cost at all.
Wrinkle them, ink them lightly or heavily (you can really use any color of ink but the most common colours used are browns and blacks or distressing inks), making sure your ink pad just grazes the raised surfaces of the paper, and then spray them with a fine mist of water to spread the ink and help it to blend into the texture of the paper.
Allow to dry completely before using. Iron flat on backside of paper on low heat, if needed.

Steel Wool: This is kind of the same idea as the sand paper, but it works a lot better for distressing embellishments and photos.
You just rub the steel wool across the desired areas to get the effect you want.

Tea or Coffee Staining: Make yourself a cup of regular tea and use the wet tea bag to stain your paper.
Lightly dab the paper until it reaches the shade you wish your paper to be.
Blow-dry the paper and you're good to go!
For coffee, you can just soak paper in the coffee. Pour coffee into a cake pan and gently lay the paper flat. Soak a minute and take out.
Or you can crumple it into the coffee cup and carefully lay it flat afterward. Rubbing dry or damp coffee grounds onto crinkled paper works well too.
You can also distress items with colored chalks, colored pencils, ink pens, and household items, such as strawberry/apple juice, and much more.

Tearing & Curling: Tearing is another way to get that distressed look. To make a more "real" look, try tearing the paper and then inking the edges. To get the rolled look: just moisten your fingers with water and roll the edges in the direction you want them to go, then let them dry.
This is a fantastic way to add texture.

Paint: Craft paint seems to be coming back, but full circle.
Use the paint just like you would distressing inks.
Use a brush, sponge, a piece of cloth or even your finger to apply.

I have been through the gallery and found loads of lovely layouts using distressing techniques.

(p.s. if you click on the name under the layout it will take you to the layout in The Lounge gallery where you can leave some lovin')

Fran

Karen

Mel

Charmane

Lizzy

Jodi

Kym

Karen

Kathy

Karen B

Gigi

Kathy

If you have used one or more distressing techniques on a LO in The Lounge gallery, we would love for you to post the link in the comments section so we can see you work.

I hope we have encouraged you to use distressing techniques on your LOs by listing the different ways of distressing your layouts and by showing you some the amazing examples in our gallery.

Wishing you all a very happy, scrappy Wednesday

~shazz~
xo

WAITING PATIENTLY FOR....

...this weekend's cybercrop.

For a heads up on what the challenges might be about you can visit The Lounge here and try to decipher the cryptic clues left by the CT.

Hoping you can join us this weekend for a weekend of challenges, chatting and frivolity.
The CC kicks off Friday night at 7.30 pm.
See you there

~shazz~
xo

SCRAPPER IN THE SPOTLIGHT - 3

This week's scrapper in the spotlight is another original Lounge lady - not only as a very active member of the forum and gallery-uploader but she was one of Rondelle's original design team back in the old EMM days.

Introducing the very lovely
MARIE
Marie hasn't been visiting The Lounge as often as she would like these past few years as she has returned to full time work and has recently started studying to fulfill a dream to become a teacher.

I asked Marie to answer some questions for me about her approach to scrapping.

1. How long have you been scrapping?
10 years. I started with Creative Memories as that was the only scrapbooking available. I was a consultant for a little while but found the lure of all the other pretty things too much so stopped. I started out to preserve my family history but it's become a bit more than that. I also scrap to fulfil my urge to create and bring balance to my life.

2. How would you describe your style?
Clean, shabby and linear (I can't for the life of me, tilt photos....lol)
I'm not afraid to use floral embellishments on masculine layouts

3. Do you have a designated area for scrapping or is it a shared space 
(dining room table, etc)?
I used to have a designated area but this had now become my study space. However, I have found that in order to maintain some kind of balance in my life I need to be creative so every so often my study space becomes my scrapping space.

4. What is your favourite patterned paper range at the moment?
I don't really have a favourite PP range. I like a bit from different manufacturers. I've noticed that the last few pps I've bought have been Bo Bunny and Cosmo Cricket. I do have trouble resisting the gorgeous Webster Pages.

5. What is you favourite technique to use?
There are lots of techniques that I love - stamping, stitching, sanding.

6. What is your favourite embellishment to use?
Flowers

7. Do you have any tips you would like to share with your fellow scrappers?
While some photos don't require a story, many do, so don't  forget to add that story. Your family will thank you for it.....after all, isn't that why we begin the process of scrapbooking. ;)
Enjoy the process, just scrap without worrying whether it's 'good' enough or not. If your family love it, then it is good enough.
Above all, have fun!

Here are some of Marie's amazing layouts.

Leave some lovin' here

Leave some lovin' here

Leave some lovin' here

Leave some lovin' here

Leave some lovin' here

You can see more of Marie's wonderful layouts here.
Or you can visit her personal blog here.

Thank you again Marie for being part of our Lounge family and for taking the time to answer our questions.

Wishing you all a happy, scrappy Tuesday

~shazz~
xo

EASTER COMPETITION WINNERS

Well what a great weekend of fun and competitions we had.
I hope that everyone enjoyed what we put together for you all.
It was great seeing so many people getting involved .

Thank you again to our wonderful sponsors for the weekend and to all the lovely Lounge ladies who participated.

Winners for the different competitions are as follows...

Friday's "egg" hunt was won by Lizzy
Lizzy won a voucher from Scrap 'N' Craft With T

 

Saturday's "egg" hunt was won by Kath ("winelover")
Kath won a  voucher from QTea Kits
 

Sunday's "egg" hunt was won by Gaye (nanny_gaye)
Gaye won a scrapping pack from Stick 'n' Giggle

 

Monday's "egg" hunt was own by Kristy ("willow")
Kristy won a scrapping pack from Joyful Scraps

Thank you to all our wonderful sponsors.
I will be contacting all the winners with the details of how to redeem their prizes, in the coming days, if I haven't already done so.

We also ran a gallery upload competition. All you had to do was upload a layout into the gallery over the Easter weekend to be eligible.
The winner of the gallery upload comp was the lovely Miss Kym.
Even though Kym is a member of our CT, she uploaded a layout for one of the challenges and was eligible for the competition.

And this is the gorgeous layout that Kym uploaded.

You can leave some lovin' here

Kym has won  a voucher from  our sponsor
"MAD ABOUT SCRAPPIN' "
I will be in touch with the details of how to redeem your voucher Kym.

We also ran a gallery commenting competition.
So many people left lots of lovin' for the layouts in the gallery, so I decided to giveaway  two RAKs.
And the two lucky winners are...
Rondelle
and
Mel ("greyhoundangel")
Congratulations ladies...you will both be getting a RAK of goodies in the mail.

We also ran two challenge comps in conjunction with the Easter comp.

BE(E) INSPIRED 5 was won by Kristy ("willow") with this LO...

You can leave some lovin' here

You have won a RAK Kristy.
Can you PM me your address please and I will pop it in the mail this week.

And we ran a new challenge comp that had everyone thinking.
The "WHAT'S COOKIN'?" challenge was one by Julie (Tassiemum_3) with this LO...

You can leave some lovin' here

You have won a RAK Julie...it will be in the mail later this week.

Thank you again for joining in the fun.

Wishing you all a happy, scrappy Wednesday

~shazz~
xo

Stamping on clear plastic / acetate

Since April's Technique Challenge here at ScrapLounge is 'STAMPING' I thought it would be a great opportunity to share with you a few little tips for stamping on plastic.

Firstly, you don't have to go out and buy sheets of acetate that have been specifically designed for stamping.  As long as you have an alcohol based ink such as StazOn or Tim Holtz Alcohol inks your ink will stamp nicely onto any clear plastic. 

Why not use some left over packaging that would otherwise end up in landfill?

That's exactly what I've done with this first step by step...

STEP 1

Place your chosen stamps onto your stamping block (if you're using clear stamps that is)

STEP 2

Ink your stamps by dabbing down directly from above.  Lots of small, fast dabs works best I find.

 

STEP 3

Gather your plastic.  I've used the window from an Easter Egg box.  Position your stamps over plastic before pressing down, then firmly press stamps down making sure you don't move them while they're on the plastic because let's face it, no one likes smudgey images!

 

STEP 4

Admire your brilliant work with that steady hand of yours! ...or chuck it and start again if your hand wasn't as steady as it needed to be

 

STEP 5

Cut out your images and get cracking on a layout so you can use them

STEP 6

Pat yourself on the back...good job!  You've just created your very own 'transparencies' that you otherwise would have paid big $$$ for in the shops.  Now go create that layout so you can upload it to the Scraplounge April Challenge Gallery and possibly win a $20 Gift Voucher from Stick 'n' Giggle!

EASTER COMPETITION THANK YOU

A big thank you to all of our Lounge ladies who participated in the competitions and challenges over the Easter weekend.

A LOT of work goes on behind the scenes organising these competitions and although we are realistic enough to know that not EVERYONE can get involved, it is nice to see a small group of hardy Lounge diehards getting in and having a go.

A very HUGE thank you to our wonderful sponsors for the weekend

"SCRAP 'N' CRAFT WITH T"


"QTea KITS"

"STICK "n" GIGGLE"

"JOYFUL SCRAPS"

and

"MAD ABOUT SCRAPPIN'"

These wonderful sponsors were most generous in their prize giving so please support them by visiting their sites.

The gallery is filled with so many lovely layouts that were completed over the weekend.
Make sure you pop on over for a look and leave some lovin' while you are there.

I have to go to Brisbane today to visit my uncle who is very ill so I won't be announcing the winner of Monday's "egg" hunt nor the winners of the gallery upload and commenting competitions until tomorrow.
Sorry to keep you all in suspense but sometimes life has to come first.
Thank you for understanding.

Wishing you all a very happy scrappy Tuesday

~shazz~
xo

**EDITED TO ADD.... MONDAY'S WINNER WAS KRISTY ("willow")
    Congratulations Kristy...I will send you details of how to receive your pack after the Easter break.
Thank you to yesterday's sponsor,
JOYFUL SCRAPS

HAPPY "EGG" HUNTING - MONDAY

Good morning everyone and welcome to our last "egg" hunt for this Easter break.
We will all have to be very very quiet today as we look through the blog so as not to wake this little sleeping beauty.
Isn't she a sweetie...???

You will find her sleeping in FIVE(5) different posts throughout the blog
(not counting this one of course)

To be entered into the draw for a pack from today's sponsor,
JOYFUL SCRAPS

Write down the date (don't forget the year) and the name of the posts where she is sleeping
(*** it is important that you have BOTH
or you won't be eligible for the draw***)
and send those dates and names to me in a PM via The Lounge.

You have until midnight tonight (NSW time) to send me the PM (private message) to be in the draw.

And don't forget the gallery upload and commenting comps which finishes at midnight tonight.

Happy scrapping and happy hunting

~shazz~
xo

SUNDAY'S WINNER WAS GAYE ("nanny_gaye")
    Congratulations Gaye...I will send you details of how to receive your pack after the Easter break.
Thank you to yesterday's sponsor,
STICK 'N' GIGGLE