After All These Years

{The Sweetest Thing}

It's been a while since I've shared a layout with you. Here's one that I worked on at the last Blossie's crop. I've had these photos of Amelia for almost a year now (taken by Rachel Richter) and was just waiting for the right . . . products . . . to come along. As soon as I saw the range 'Flutter' from Making Memories I was glad I waited!

 

This is yet another layout where I just kept adding little bits and pieces that I love such as the doily, swirl stamps and lace border. I love the cute leaves simply handcut from patterned paper, inked lightly and scored and creased down the centre (idea from Christine Middlecamp).

I have to say, I think that ladybug paper is the cutest paper I've ever seen. And I'm ashamed to admit that I have a little stash of it!

Thanks for looking!

{Want a Clip It Up?}

If you've ever wanted a Clip It Up organiser, or need another Clip It Up, here's how you could get one at 50% off!

Read this post on the Simply Renee blog and follow the link to become a fan of them on Facebook (really easy and takes about 2 minutes to do). If they get enough followers, they will offer a 50% discount for one day in April.

That's a very good deal people.

I'm *needing* a couple of upper tiers to add to my existing Clip It Ups - they are rather full at the moment!

**Scraproom Update**

I've nearly finished painting my new scraproom so then it's just a matter of putting up new window coverings (curtains or blinds) and moving in! Yipee! And it can't come soon enough as my current scraproom is sooo messy believe it or not. It's at the stage where I don't want to spend the time tidying it, I'll just move rooms! Hehe!

 

{Two Years On}

Two years ago today, this little girl entered our lives.

 

In true Amelia style, she is not too well (another dose of tonsilitis - remember Christmas?), so unfortunately we did not have her little party yesterday but after a couple of quiet days, she is doing a little better today and in fact told me she wanted to go to the shops this morning. 

This last year has been a HUGE year for her. To think that last year when she turned one she wasn't yet walking or talking. She's at such a fun stage too as a lot of her playing now consists of role playing (dressing up, pretending to cook etc) as well as LOTS of playdough and drawing with crayons.

We are making sure to spoil her today . . .

{Mini Album: Welcome Gail Louise}

I didn't manage to get this post up the day like I wanted as my husband is on holidays for the first time in a year so we're enjoying some family time - trips to the park, going out for lunch and some work around the house thrown in too!

Today I want to share some pages from my own completed version of the Welcome Mini Album that I'm selling in my Etsy shop. I've suggested they are perfect for keeping up to date with a new baby's first year but I've used one to showcase my baby photos from my first year!

 

My album cover is different quite simply because I ran out of the gorgeous animal paper. I wanted to share my cover with you anyway so you can see the finished result after I added my name and a few other bits and pieces as well as finishing it off nicely with some fabric strips tied to the rings.

 

I moved the tag to the front of the book and used it to record the all important arrival facts. I'm working on a set of journaling tags with room for this information. You can also see how I used one of my embellishments from the Little One embellishment set on the page underneath.

 

Here's one of the album pages that comes with those beautiful swirls stamped on them. All I did here was add my photo, month journaling circle and a couple of sweet roses.

I've used the envelope to hold a couple of little health books that Mum kept - containing weights and other details. A coloured paperclip ensures that the envelope contents are secure and another little embellishment from the set finishes is off nicely.

This was another pre-stamped page that I've kept quite simple. I love using up bits and pieces from my stash such as the chipboard glitter stars that I've used here!

Ooooh! How nice is that heart paper doily? It certainly makes for a nice and easy mini album page.

Again, using up random letters and other bits and pieces which work well with the corner embellishments from the set.

I'm not actually sure that this was from my eleventh month. Just an estimate. See how I've tucked the journaling spot under the photo so only the month is showing?

And lastly, I just wanted to show you what I put in the pocket - an ID tag from the hospital and the card that came with flowers that my Dad sent to my Mum. Sweet isn't it? I have two older brothers and my parents were hoping for a girl. That's what the card means in case you were wondering! I LOVE being able to include items such as this in my album. 

This isn't all the pages from the mini album but I didn't want to overload you so I shared my favourites.

So often I hear scrapbookers worry too much about being 'caught up' with their photos and do you know what? If you were caught up what would you scrapbook? That's where I think a mini album like this is perfect. You've got a tangible album with some of your precious photos  and the most important details are recorded. Then you can go back and create some layouts when the inspiration strikes, without the pressure of just 'getting it done'.

I certainly haven't got all of my baby photos in a scrapbook. I have a few layouts using the photos that are most precious to me and now I have a record of my first year. I'm happy.

And I hope I've inspired you today.

{More Etsy Shares}

Today I want to introduce you to some of the other items in my brand new Etsy shop Greatest View. But first, a quick background story:

My favourite project in the whole world is a mini album of Amelia's that documents her first year - read all about it here. I'm so grateful that I did it and I want to help other new Mums do the same.

The trick is to have the album already made before baby arrives and stick to a nice, simple design throughout the mini album.

That's where Greatest View comes in.

I have designed a simple mini album for baby with a page for each month as well as a pocket for memorabilia such as hospital bands, an envelope for precious material such as a letter, cards, birth certificate and tag for extra journaling.

I've added some embellishing to the front cover (shown above) as well as some of the pages. The added details include border punching, stamping and ribbon. You can view all the pages here.

I've also designed a set of handmade embellishments to match these albums (or for use on other cards/layouts also of course).  

Cute hey! But wait . . . there's more! Also to coordinate with the mini albums are journaling spots for each month. These make is so easy to record those little details from each month.

And you can see by the photos above that there are three colours to choose from: pink, blue and aqua.

I'm thinking that a mini album, embellishments and journaling tags would make a perfect gift for a new mum - scrapbooker or non-scrapbooker.  I think that a non-scrapbooker could easily tackle this project.

To see these handmade goodies in action, come back tomorrow as I have a completed album to share!

Thanks for the great comments on my previous post!

{Introducing My Etsy Shop}

One of my goals this year was to open my own Etsy shop . . . and I've finally done it! I would love to introduce you to Greatest View!

Basically, I love making stuff. And I would love to share some of the stuff I've loved making. And by stuff I mean embellishments and other items such as handmade mini albums and journaling spots for scrapbooking.

From my 10+ years working and teaching in the scrapbooking industry, I believe there is still a shortage of embellishments for certain things such as TRAVEL, BOYS, BABIES etc. I'm hoping my handiwork will help and inspire.

Listed in my Etsy shop at the moment are only a few items to start with and they are mostly themed around baby. But let me tell you, I have lots more goodies in the works and buzzing around in my head so stay tuned . . .

To give you an idea of what on earth I'm talking about, here is one of my sets Baby Button Embellishments:

 

A cute little set of stamped, punched, coloured and sewn embellishments that can be used on cards, scrapbook layouts, whatever you like. They are backed with glue dots/mounting tape as well so are super easy to just adhere to your project!

Of course, I've used them myself in a few projects recently:

And in this last project I punched a hole in the larger embellishment and turned it into a gift tag for a pressie that I popped in a decorated bag. Cute!

***A little word on Etsy - just in case you didn't know, it's a site (a teensy bit similar to Ebay) where you can "open" your own online shop without having to build your own website. Payments are processed through Paypal so it's very secure. I have purchased through Etsy before and it's easy to navigate and communicate with the seller. And everything sold on Etsy is either handmade or vintage - it's like an online market!

All prices are in US dollars which can be a little frustrating for us Aussies. BUT (and I can only speak for myself here) I wil be keeping my eye on the dollar and if it changes dramatically, I will adjust my prices accordingly. I have taken the exchange rate into consideration when working out my prices.

 

I've got so many ideas and I really can't wait to share them with you all! This truly is something I've been wanting to do for the longest time. I would be thrilled if you would leave me a comment telling me what you think - I may just send a little surprise to a random commenter!

Be sure also to check back in a day or so as I will introduce you to my other Etsy shop goodies and the inspiration behind them.

By the way, you will find a button in my sidebar that is linked to my shop:)

{The Before}

I spent some time on the weekend doing the dreaded clean of my soon-to-be painted, new scraproom. So (hopefully) I'll start painting this week!

After emptying it out, I've realized that it's quite a large space! Can't wait to have a new view while I scrap. There's something about having a change around that is so invigorating! So if the blog's a little bit quiet this week, you'll know why . . .

  

{Scrapbooker In Training}

Here's my little scrapbooker in training . . .

She got a packet of stickers (lovely elephants) and then proceeded to put them on her nose and face. I say that it's very creative. She obviously has a flair for using stickers.

Happy Sunday!

 

{Music or Movies?}

Which do you play while you create? Or maybe you prefer silence. I'm totally a movie person. I'll happily put on a DVD, preferably one I've seen HEAPS, and have it playing in the background as I scrapbook. I don't put on a movie that I have to concentrate on.

I want to share with you my top 5 movies to play while I create. Just because.

Number 5: Mamma Mia! I can happily sing along to this one.

Number 4: Love Actually! This movie is brilliant. And funny. And a bit of eye candy too.

Number 3: The Wedding Singer! Hands down, one of my all time favourites. So funny and has a great soundtrack.

Number 2: Suddenly 30! Such a girly movie but I love it! A bit of 80's never hurts . .

And my number 1 movie that I love to watch while I scrapbook is . . . drumroll please . . .

Twilight! This is the sort of movie that I can watch over and over again and never tire of. Never ever. Can't wait to add New Moon to this list!

I would love to know what you watch or listen to while you create. Please leave a comment and let me know!

  

{Banana & Raspberry Loaf}

Here's something I've never done on my blog before - share a recipe! But this one is so easy and yummy I had to share!

Banana and Raspberry Loaf

I found this recipe in New Idea and adapted it slighty to use what I had on hand. I'm not a fan of bananas and neither is Amelia so I thought that by putting it in a yummy cake would disguise it - and it does!

I was able to use soy milk and Nutellex (dairy free spread) so it Amelia friendly (she's allergic to dairy). Click on the link below to download the recipe in a word document.

Download Banana And Raspberry Loaf 

It's nice and moist and is especially nice with butter on it (naughty!)

Enjoy!