so much news

Super duper delayed post..... as I had a couple of things on ... and as you know I am always late.... but never forgetful.... so here it is .....it's definitely an OMG moment - how bloody lucky am I.

I had a crack at the Scrapping Clearly cybercrop .... and who'd have thunk it ... I had a win.... there were so many great challenges.... and I have enjoeyed the Scrapping Clearly's challenges for a quite a few months... awesome prompts  and great online support..... as well as a great online shop...

so without further ado... this is one of my winning layouts.... This was challenge 1 - a sketch ...

oh did I forget to mention I won Queen of the Crop...which is right up my ally ... as I own so many crowns I was super chuffed to add this to my collection ..... so here are the rest of the layouts that got me over the line....

A big shout out to Kylie and her great team for creating a fun and challenging cybercrop.... If you love creating or are in need of a little inspiration you can join in over at Scrapping Clearly Share & Inspire Group on Facebook and don't forget to shop as Kylie has a great range of products that are available online from her shop...

until next time...

"It's impossible," said pride. "It's risky," said experience. "It's pointless," said reason. "Give it a try," whispered the heart.

Got me some good crafty love news

soooo... I am extremely excited to join the Scrap the Girls design team.

Scrap the Girls  is an awesome creative challenge blog that focuses on creating with pics of all of our beautiful girls.... If you are a crafter and love to create with your photos and have an influx of photos of your special girl this is a great way to gather inspiration from all the amazing creatives who are on the team & at the same time share your finished creation with a chance to win a prize.

Each month a new challenge is loaded up to the blog and there are awesome sponsors to help fuel the energy of your creations ... this months challenge over at The Scrap the Girls blog is an amazing moodboard full of vibrancy and colour... click on the link to go take a look ... below is my take on the moodboard... enjoy and I hope to see you load up your creation this month.

stay wild and sassy

until next time 

her heart is wild, 

but i didn't want to catch it, 

i wanted to run with it, 

to set mine free. 

atticus

a little creating...

So I have been having a great time on holidays ... I know, I know holidays yet again ... and snuck in some crafting time... I stumbled across the challenge over at Scrap the Girls and fell in love with it... I swiped the desk clean and got started on my layout ...I have all these fantastic pics of Em from a photo shoot we did back in 2012 that I still have to create with ... and this was the perfect nudge and perfect challenge for them...

Love her but leave her wild

Scrap the Girls challenge - July 

If  you get the chance sneak on over and check out the challenge, it's worth it... so many different aspects to incorporate into your layout and give you inspiration, especially if the mojo needs a bit of a nudge.... till next time... 

"I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people"
Vincent van Gogh

Journal pages galore

I bought a few journals to work  in a few years back and it wasn't until last year I finally dusted one off and cracked it open to have a play whilst away at a scrap retreat. Once the retreat was over the poor journal was left unopened for months. Then in February I decided to do a couple of single pages and then it sat again... until a couple of weeks ago when I was spirited on by  Lisa Oxley and Leanne Jago and their fabulous process videos... it was time to get crackalackin and start creating again... Here are a few pages I have been tinkering with over the past couple of months...

till next time 

tracey 

we rise by lifting others... 

boom.... still on holidays

This consistency thing is working well for me at the minute. I think that mornings are a little better to get things done... and if I don't start in the morning nothing will happen until about 2.30pm then everything from there is downhill until everyone is in bed and I can pretend it is early morning again... which it usually is when I do a regular update.

So a few more challenges have been uploaded today and uploaded and all were for The Scrap Suite...

Wisdom Teeth - no problem 

The Scrap Suite Challenge #1 - using butterflies

Love Ya Guts 

The Scrap Suite challenge #2 - inspired by clothing

Remember  beauty

The Scrap Suite Challenge #3 - using stars & hearts

till next time enjoy your creativity...

tracey

"Don't think about your errors or failures, otherwise you will never do a thing."

Bill Murray

It's holidays again....

I'm having a quiet giggle to myself as my last post was 'holidays are over' and now it seems I am on holidays yet again.... it seems to be the only time I can find time to catch up on the Blog at the moment. So here is a quick catch up on past layouts and challenges over the past couple of months & what I have been up to.

I've entered a few scrappy challenges during February and March and even had a little win which I am very grateful for. If you have never had a crack at challenges please do... I find them a great source of inspiration and they help me out of those dreadful creative ruts.

Hello Sunshine - The Scrap Suite - February challenge #1

What makes you happy - The Scrap Suite - February Challenge #3

Norah Head - ScrappingClearly  February Challenge

Enjoy - ScrappingClearly  March Challenge

Oh and there are lots more but they are for later or this will be a tad bit of an overload.  I've even dusted off my art journal and having a play in there... a share shall be in order of all of that soon.

At the end of February I had a fun getaway to Buderim with a few of the girls who travel to Melbourne each year to craft together... a plan was hatched for the girls from the plane to catch up and create ... hence the Buderim Bitches were born thanks to two crazy sisters Sue & Mandy... it was an awesome creative getaway that the girls strung together & I cannot wait till we can all get together again to fuel each others inspiration.

till next time...


ability is what you're capable of doing.
motivation determines what you do.
attitude determines how well you do it. 
~Lou Holtz

holidays are over

So the holidays are over for this little duck and I am back at work... looking forward to another glorious year helping all those little kidlets navigate life and emotions. My two are all grown up and out in the big world ... Ryan is almost a third year apprentice and Emily has just enrolled in Certificate III in Office Admin... this year will be big.... The husband and I are looking at a little long service leave this year too ... not sure when or where but it is all in our big plan for the year.

We like to write up an action plan every year... what we would like to do or achieve and then tick it off as we go along... so far things are looking bright ... inside the house has been painted, we did a little culling of clutter (with a lot more to go), new cars, new workloads, children happy with their respective partners... exercise program is on pointe...

I was just talking with a friend and it came to me ... my word... a lot of people I know find a word to focus and bring on the new year ... mine is CONSISTENT...

So to continue with my consistent theme ... I still have my arty supplies dusted off and created some layouts for January comps over at The Scrap Suite , Scrap the Boys and Scrap the Girls blogs...

Scrap the Girls -- Shine Bright ...

 they had a prompt of a blue mood board & I have used the quote that was on the board too.

Scrap the Boys - Heartbreaker... 

I loved this little theme of using flowers on a boy layout

The Scrap Suite  - Foxy

  I chose Challenge 1 from the December challenges by Jasmine

Until next time have a fabulous week.

When it comes to art it's important not to hide the madness

~Atticus

challenges galore

There have been so many great challenges lately ... I found 19 that I want to do this month and I really want to do them all ... last weekend away at retreat gave me a great start to get a lot of projects done but I still have a lot to do ... I love setting myself personal challenges also ... and I have only a few weeks left to reach it ... i'm a dreamer.... 

Scrap the Girls November Challenge - the mood board for scrap the girls this month was a lot of shoe pics and a great quote "give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world." I finished my challenge layout while away on retreat, it was my first layout to unwind and relax too... very symbolic as I was away with a great group of girlfriends. During renovations a couple of years ago I wore my trusty pluggers to get the outside work done, day in day out, for 6 weeks. We were working in black sand and it was a dirty job...but I conquered everything I had to get done. 

Dirty Feet - Scrap the Girls Challenge

The Scrap Suite - The D-lish October challenges are awesome this month and are due on the 17th of this month. I am still working on one but at retreat I got two done and finished the third off this weekend. There are four challenges in total - hot or cold, sketch, strips & stripes and the last scrap your selfie...

Moments like this 

 D-lish October Cybercrop Challenge #1

Choose 2 or more colors from either side of the color wheel to create your own warm or cool color palette.

Love Life 

 D-lish October Cybercrop Challenge #3

Sketch Challenge

Today open every door

 D-lish October Cybercrop Challenge #4

Scrap your selfie - create a project that features a photo of yourself

... that's all for now... i need to get back to the creative desk and tick off a few more of these amazing challenges.

Your life unfolds in proportion to your courage... 

Danielle LaPorte

Scrapchat Retreat 2017

Last weekend I was blessed to get away with a great group of friends and had some quality time to  create. I worked on layouts for challenges which I will put up during the week when I finally photograph them and upload them to the challenge sites. It has taken me this long to recover from being away and I still have not unpacked all of my gear.... but it is neat and tidy 😉...

The weekend was special for many reasons, we held our own Dinner En Blanc, we had a farewell for our beautiful friend Lisa who is moving interstate and it will be the last retreat at the Warana beach house as they will be doing renovations. I finally got to the photos from the dinner and did a little editing... I really need to take more of the food prep next time... Amanda & I worked seamlessly as a team & the food was fabulous. We missed a few of our friends this weekend and wished they could have been with us... but next year beckons and plans are being made....

  

dinner begins                                 the beautiful lisa 

I have been very lucky to spend many wonderful weekends away with these wonderful women... creating, laughing and sharing many meals... unfortunately it is our last one in this house by the beach where I have made many beautiful memories ...

The best kind of friendships are fierce lady friendships where you aggressively believe in each other, 
defend each other and think the other deserves the world. 
c/o pinterest

ciao
tracey

love pink!

Last weekend was a busy one for creating, everything was coming up pink ... PINK announced her Australian concert dates for 2018.... it was time to CHECK YOUR BOOBIES for breast cancer & Scrap the Girls' October Challenge was mine to have fun with.

Scrap the Girls moodboard was full of lush hot pink, black and white... i had a lot of fun playing with the color and used one of my favourite pics of my girl Em.

it is in her eyes  - live

Also over the weekend I had a play with the A2Z Scraplets October Challenge. The color palette was divine and I used Doodlet 12 and some offcuts from another to complete the flourish on the page. When coloring the Scraplet I used gesso and then stamped the blue to tie in with the tones of the challenge. I find stamping on the Scraplet gives it a nice soft tone and helps it blend with the feel of the layout. 

love 

thought for the day ...

Ultimately, it’s up to each of us to choose how we will live our lives, hold ourselves to high

standards, and continually evaluate what’s inside the image we see in the mirror.

– Eric Harvey –

have a fabulous friday

tracey

Two more challenges complete

I entered two of my layouts from last weekend over on The Scrap Suite. They had some amazing challenges set for the month of September and I wish I had more time to do the other ones set by the team. I entered Challenge 3 created & inspired by Jasmine & Challenge 4 created and inspired by Anthea. Today I was lucky enough to find out I won challenge 3 .... so excited.... i loved the challenges & i kinda loved creating with pics of some of my birds 😍

Challenge 2 -- This was a great challenge - create a layout using birds or butterflies or bows or use any combo of the three. This was my take on the challenge... I was so lucky to find an A2ZScraplet bird on a wire in my stash and a cute little bow hiding on my scrap desk... it hit the brief perfectly as well as the pic of sunbeam and moonshine... 

This was Challenge 4 - I loved creating with green. I don't think I have used green in such a long time and i love how this pic tells the story of my life ... we had to create a layout using green as the main colour and use a list or lots of journalling.  I loved pulling out the old typewriter for this layout ... my fingers are a tad sore from hitting the keys so hard... but i loved that i had this awesome shade of green hidden away in the copious amounts of paper i have stored ... BTW the pic is of my baby sister trish & I watching tv and chilling in the mismatched lounge room that we called home... 

I am feeling uber inspired for a big weekend of creating ... lots to do ... and lots of great inspirational challenges to open up my creative self to. I hope you find your little bit of creative time this weekend too. 

thought for today...

It's not what we have in life, but who we have in our life that matters most.

enjoy the weekend 

tracey xx

a creative but messy weekend...

Over the past few weeks I have been getting my groove on and making a heap of mess in my creative space which spans across the whole house.... obviously this is not a plan of mine to spread out but I just can't help it. 

I plan on trying to get my art 'spaces' organised by Christmas. As my ever patient husband tells me that i have been doing this for the past 10 years and then kisses me and says goodnight.... I truly need to accomplish this... and the I CAN DO IT girl in me has been slowly whittling away at it over the past week. .. this will take up to Christmas and maybe even longer -- after all I have to stop and create along the way.😉

yes it really is this bad... and that is only one of the spaces... 

The past two weeks I have created a whopping 9 layouts and one lonely card... two layouts were entered into challenges over at Scrap the Girls and Scrap the Boys. I'm very thankful that I won a challenge over at Scrap the Boys with the layout i posted in my previous post... If you get a chance and you love to create there are new challenges up for the month of October now on both sites.

Unfortunately I have not been able to go to one of my favourite retreats in NSW run by Sandra from Scrapbooking Delights for the past couple of years but she was kind enough to let me have a little banter and play along with a couple of the challenges that she had in store for her retreat guests... it helped me get back into it all and find a little creative flow ... these were the two layouts I had a play with a couple of weeks ago and the card.

Challenge 2 - this was a sketch challenge - it was my warm up 

Challenge 20 - this was a color challenge 

 Challenge 1 - Card challenge -- using foam dots- i think? 

I had a play with my gelli plate and a new Fiskars Teresa Collins Stamp. 

This weekend just gone I was working on trying to complete some of the Dlish Scraps Challenges set over on The Scrap Suite facebook page - so far i only have this picture and will be taking more to try and get them uploaded by this Friday... 

This is Challenge #4 set by Anthea - project using green and lots of journalling

thought for the day...

to be part of the 1% you must be prepared to do what the other 99% do not 

- business mindset 101

Definitely in the groove

The past week I have immersed myself in a plethora of fabulous paint ,ink and arty, scrappy fun. I even pushed the boundaries and tried my hand at two challenges. I have not had a crack at a scrappy challenge in such a long time... must say that holidays agrees with me and it has been extremely productive.

The first challenge 

This challenge was from the Scrap the Girls blog. You needed to create a girly layout using the sketch provided... STG September challenge . 

I have used Ceramacoat paint, gelliplate, muslin, bling, stitching, Liquitex modelling paste, Prills, stencils, bling, washi tape, Flutterby designs flair,  Kaisercraft printed paper, Cocoa Vanilla word beautiflul & timber hearts.

Be your own kind of Beautiful 

The second challenge 

This challenge was over at  Scrap the Boys blog. This month the challenge is to create a layout of  Dads, grandfathers or father figures in celebration of Father's Day.

I have used Dina Wakley heavy body paint, Stampers Anonymous & Kaisercraft stamps, Ranger ink, stitching, printed  papers, flair, timber hand, D-lish enamel dots, Cocoa Vanilla embellishments

Fit for a King

I loved having a go at both challenges. I found them to be a great way to dust off the supplies and getting my hands dirty over this set of holidays. ... I truly have too much stuff and now its time to clean up for the next crafty challenge I set for myself. 

thought for today...

Set goals that scare you and excite you all at the same time.

---thinkgrowprosper

It's been a long time ....

I have not posted for 5 years... lots of exciting things have happened and lots of really troubling and extremely hard roadblocks have come our way as a family... i feel we have overcome them as they have been thrown at us,  it has been hardwork, overall each day we grow & learn from this amazing journey called life...

This is the other side of the rainbow for now and it's good... 

It's now time to get things back on track .... both peeps have finished their schooling... woohoo... one word... 'hard work' ... they are finding their way in the big wide world and I could not be more prouder of the people they are still fashioning themselves into... makes my heart happy. 

Daniel and I are loving life... there is always something keeping us busy - kids, work or social life. 

Crafting has been dusted off over the past few months... i am trying to get my head back in the game and create to the level i used to .... I still attend some of the most amazing retreats, meeting amazing people who inspire me... welcome to the new rekindled blog .... hopefully a makeover will ensue in the next few days ... and i will embark on sharing some crafting goodness.... 

thought for today......

The comeback is always stronger than the setback

--inspirational quotes magazine.com

Post 3 2013

Welcome to my blog for A2Z Scraplets Blog Hop

We are happy that you can join us for this fun filled event.

You should have arrived to my blog from Monica's Blog.

 If that is not where you arrived from, then please join us at the A2Z Scraplets Blog to start the hop from the beginning so you don’t miss a thing!

All the Designers will showcase their take on July’s Quote Challenge.

A few things to remember to join in and be eligible for prizes

You must be a follower of A2Z Scraplets, visit all the blogs on the list and comment on every blog at least once through in the 8 days in order

 to be entered to win the fantastic Grand Prize! 

You will also get an extra entry if you share this post on your blog/facebook page (leave a link in comments) and an extra entry if you enter this months quote challenge.

You have until Sunday night 4th August 2013 to leave all your comments and be entered to win the Grand Prize.  We will draw the winners of the prizes and will be announced by Julie.

This is my take on the quote challenge……………. 

Don't forget to use the quote 'Days like this' on your page

 I can't wait to see what you all come up with - Good Luck!

Here is the list

Amy Prior

Carolyn Zabel

Holly Conners

Michelle Hodges

Monica Burns

Tracey Thorne

Belinda Scott

Have fun visiting Belinda's Blog

ooh i forgot to mention ... i will have a random draw with one of those integer thingy's at the end of the Blog Hop for all the people who leave a comment... i'll pop up a pic of the goodies you could win over the next couple of days... Good Luck!

tracey

xx

Post 2 2013

oooh A2Z Scraplets are having a Blog Hop real soon .....

The Hop will START on the 27th of July and FINISH at midnight on the 4th of August. 

We hope to see you there as there is LOADS of prizes up for grabs.

And don't forget the DT call out. If you would like to try out for the A2Z Dt call out just email a few pieces of your work to:

blog@a2zscraplets.com.au

 

you never know if you don't give it a go!

Post 1 2013

So I guess its time i blogged....

It's been a crazy almost 6 months since i blogged... lots of things have happened

The peeps have started a new school, lots of appointments for children & sport has started again... life is good. There has been a lot of crafting & travelling to retreats... oh yes life is good.

Now a little crafting share is in order....

First up is the June challenge over at A2Z Scraplets -- heaps of fun and ends at the end of June, don't forget to join in

and then i had a bit of a play with some more recycled aluminium and came up with this as well. I love how the stencil has come up and the texture that the impasto has left ... yum

I also joined in on some fun with the Scrapping Outback blogs Chime in with Chipboard Blog Hop last week ... this is the creation I came up with. It was focusing on techniques with chipboard.... something i love to play with 

So that's it for me today ...  back on the wagon i climb... oh and a nice little quote to leave you all with ... 

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.

Pablo Picasso 

ciao
tracey

Post 12 2012

It's been a long time... there has been so much going on with this past year - I guess its easier to put a few sentences into a Facebook status than write on the blog... This is something I enjoy to do more but find the verbal diarrhoea free flows with randomness better in short bursts. When I sit to write a post on my blog it has to be more structured and not as random I guess.

So here is the update...


To all my relatives that may have been doing it tough this year ... i believe that 2013 will rock ... you will all overcome your hurdles... there is no time for all the toxic crap that has come your way ... you are good people and you all deserve to be swamped with love, long life and good fortune... all my love to you.. xxx

Family life has been super challenging here at our house, but there are always more people who have more troubles than yourself so there is no point in lingering on that... all I want to say is that I have fantastic friends whose ears must be overjoyed when I walk in a room... not.... I am grateful to them for all their support, understanding & help. Thank you to my super dooper in-laws who have been so helpful to us in the past few months, not sure we would have kept our sanity if they had not lent a hand every time we had asked. They continue to overwhelm me with their love and support and I am eternally grateful for that.

My two beautiful children who are both growing up so fast and are now teenagers start at a new school in 2013 - the last one i could describe with a few choice words but will finish that sentence with - disappointed. I am super excited about their future at the new school and they both cannot wait to hit the books and turn 2013 into 'their' year.

My amazing husband and friend is a tower of strength and the sounding block of reason, even if its not what i want to hear.... nor him when he is wrong... i think this year we have grown even more in our relationship but have had so many more hurdles and things to overcome as parents... kudos to him and to us.

I have had the opportunity - - because i have an amazing husband... to travel to a couple of Scrap retreats this year ... gosh i love him... and i have been blessed to hang with many amazing crafters -- 2013 will be no different ... i am booked in to go to at least 3 retreats and two will be in other states... i will be creating havoc Thelma and Louise style with Sue Smith... who can i just add i am so proud of for taking up one of the positions for 2013 Scrapbooking Memories Master... uber excited for her.

This year i received an Honourable mention in the Scrapbooking Memories Magazine comp and was a little stunned to do so but still very humbled by it ... my little peeps were a tad excited to see themselves in print again ...

I am still honoured to be on the A2Z Scraplets design team and have got to play with some fun Chipboard products all year .. thank you Julie for this opportunity over the past few years... it keeps my mind constantly working to create, create, create.

We have had a great family holiday this year at Thredbo & Kiama and the weather was divine. We were blessed to have fantastic weather follow us everywhere, so everything has a lovely balance of great and not so great in our lives...  Life is fabulous in this respect.... it is a nice balance. I've conquered one of my fears by getting on a big airplane to the big smoke of Sydney and travelled all by myself. What a big girl I am, so much so that i will be doing it again twice in 2013.

Life is good... my eyes are open... everyday is a blessing.... i am blessed with fabulous friends and family and cannot wait for the year 2013 and the adventure that it will bestow on me... from my family to yours ... Happy New Year 

love to you all
tracey
xx