New Copic fan

YEP! I finally got me some Copic markers and I love them already! I am doing a class tonight to learn how to use them properly and their many applications, but I couldn't help myself and had to have a play last night.

Not really sure what I am going to do with the images yet - probably make it onto some of my gift bags or cards, but they are there coloured and cut out ready to go on an appropriate project.

Have a great day everyone.

xxx

Gift bags

Well of late, my new love has been creating these simple little gift bags for when I have a present to give someone, and YEP of late there have been a few. I love creating them and they are just so much more personal. I simply started with some plain brown paper gift bags and decorated them using my current stash and lettering cut out with my pazzles. Here are just a few of the ones I have created recently as I can't seem to locate pics of the others...

Hope you enjoy my share, and you are inspired to go away and create some of your own.

These last two would have to be my favourite, as I just LOVE these cut outs I did with my pazzles using files from 'My Scrap Chic' She is one awesome lady!

Have a great day everyone xxx

Twiddleybitz DT Resignation

Hi Everyone,

I know it has been some time between posts again, but I have some news to share.

I have decided to resign from my spot on the Design Team with Twiddleybitz which will enable me to focus on some other opportunities and commitments I have currently been putting aside.

I have really enjoyed my time on the team and the opportunities it has brought with it, but there is only so much a girl can do, especially with a new bub arriving in less that 3 months time!

I do have some new stuff to post, so look out over the coming week for some new inspiration :)

xxxx

Display at Tomorrow's Memories

The other day I got a lovely e-mail from Vicki one of the owners of Tomorrow's Memories. It contained a pic of a lovely display of recent layouts I sent across to them.

It was so lovely to know that they have done such a pretty display of the layouts with the papers and embellishments, but even nicer to have the photo sent across to me. Although I am so far away from the shop, it is really nice to still feel just as much a part of the team. I just wish I could pop in there and see everyone, as I miss them SO much....... well maybe a can!

YEP in a few weeks time I am heading off to Perth with my little man. I really can't wait to see everyone, and introduce them to the special little man in my life.

Hope you have a great weekend everyone, and I will have some new shares over the weekend. Off to Crop for a Cause tomorrow which will be super fun, hoping to get some of those Christmas cards out of the way early.

xxxx

And the WINNER is......

Firstly I would like to take an opportunity to thank everyone for their support of Twiddleybitz, and my first blog hop. I can't believe how much fun it was and all the beautiful and inspiring ideas that were posted by my fellow DT members. Tiff our coordinator did a wonderful job in organising the event, and well with success like this I am sure there will be more to come.

Now I know I have kept you all waiting LONG enough! So here is the winning number that was generated:

The lucky person to be receiving a pack of goodies from me is:

Lisa Jansen

Congratulations Lisa, and thanks for your lovely comments!

Please e-mail me your postal details so that I can get that surprise package off to you!

xxxx

Not long now till I draw the winner...

OK so I will probably do it in the morning, but you still have a couple of hours to leave a comment and follow my blog.

There are also prizes for leaving comments on all DT members posts as part of the hop... just go to Carol's blog for the start if you have missed all the action over the weekend :) There is SO much inspiring work to check out, some complete with tutorials as well.

xxxxx

Hippity hop and although you are getting tired... keep on hoppin' - only one more to go now

Well I hope all of you are enjoying the blog hop. I know I am!! The ideas, inspiration and chance to win some awesome prizes has just been amazing.... and well now it is my turn :D

For you all, I have created this 12 months of pics of my little man. He is due to go into his new room soon as we have number two on the way at the end of the year. He will be a little young than most (17 months) but we are hoping for a smooth transition to a low toddler bed that my husband and I are currently designing to match in with the linen set that I have purchased for his room. His room will be all about monkeys (his favourite animal at the moment), and so I thought it would be nice to have something already made to go up in his room.

They just grow so quick, so I dug out this Twiddleybitz 'Days to remember' calendar which comes complete with the words that I decided not to use as I wasn't creating a calendar.

Although it was very time consuming to make, it is well worth it when you get to the end and see all those smiling faces looking back at you.

OK, so how to create it. But first some detailed picks....

1. The first job was to cut the blue cardstock to fit each of the wooden pieces. I was only doing one side and therefore only needed 6 + one for the title. I then stiched with white cotton around the edge with a twin needle (this does the 2 lines at once) on the sewing machine. These were all then stuck to the wooden pieces and the slots cut out with my craft knife once dry.

2. The next job was to thread the ribbon. When I threaded it I used a file to space it and then stuck the ribbon to each wooden piece with some double sided tape. This keeps all the wooded pieces even when it is hung.

3. I then cut up the red netting to stick down, and adhered with Helmar 450 glue which is my favourite for making things stick that take a little more effort to stay down. It is also fantastic with ribbon as it doesn't bleed through and show up when dry - even on organza!

4. I then covered all the frames with paper and stuck my photos of choice behind them. These were then adhered to the wooden pieces with some foam tape.

5. The heart swizzle stick has the heart cut off to create a plain wave. I then painted the twiddleybitz arrows, star and the wave with white paint before stamping the light blue on them, to bring out the blue more. You need to wait for the paint to dry before stamping, but it gives a much better base for your chosen colour if it is a bright one.

6. I then embellished the photo hanger with the arrows, titles for the months, some pearls and a title for the top.

I hope you have enjoyed my share, and remember - just because a particular off the page product has a purpose, it doesn't mean it can't be adapted for something different.

GIVEAWAY!!!

I can't let you go without knowing that there will be a giveaway on my blog as well. I will be sending off a lovely pack of assorted goodies, OF COURSE including some yummy twiddleybitz.

To be in the running, you have to have a mailing address in Australia, leave a comment here on my blog and also 'follow' my blog. If you have successfully done this by midnight Monday the 9th August, you will be in the running for this lovely prize.

OK, so the blog hop is still going with one more post to come. The lovely and always inspiring Tiff Sawyer our co-ordinator is the next to share, so make sure you keep following as her post will be up at 8pm tonight.

I would also like to take an opportunity to thank Tiff for organising such wonderful fun for us all to enjoy over this weekend... it has been a BLAST!!

xxx

Twiddleybitz blog hop

Well, ladies the first Twiddleybitz blog hop has begun! There is a heap of inspiration to go around so make sure you check it out!

There are also a heap of giveaways that you can get involved to win on the different blogs. It will be going all weekend and started yesterday. My turn isn't until tomorrow, but in the mean time you can go and check out all the posts for some amazing work and prizes.

Hope you see you back here tomorrow night when I will have my turn.

To see the start of the hop... check out Carol's Paper Pantry

xxx

Twiddleybitz blog hop

Well, ladies the first Twiddleybitz blog hop has begun! There is a heap of inspiration to go around so make sure you check it out!

There are also a heap of giveaways that you can get involved to win on the different blogs. It will be going all weekend and started yesterday. My turn isn't until tomorrow, but in the mean time you can go and check out all the posts for some amazing work and prizes.

Hope you see you back here tomorrow night when I will have my turn.

To see the start of the hop... check out Carol's Paper Pantry

New stuff for TM on the way!

YEP despite being sick I have somehow managed to finish some work for Tomorrow's Memories that was sent off in the mail yesterday, so should hopefully be there late this week or early next week.

I absolutely loved working with the papers and embellishments that I was sent, and thought 'why not knock over some more of those wedding pics that will create my future wedding album when I have finished scrapping them all! These papers suited the photos really well, and I even used some new products and new techniques to complete them :)

There was not much that needed to be done to this paper so I simply tried to accent the beautiful gold detail on the paper but cutting the butterfly wings out and lifting them and adding some Glimmermist and diamond dust. I also used some lovely Twiddleybitz fern leaves & mirror butterfly, and pretty ribbon embellishments. OH and my favourite border punch by Martha Stewart!

In this one I used some of the lovely flowers I learnt to make at a recent retreat. Mel Kennedy showed us how to make them. I then added some diamond dust for a more sparkly effect.


I have been trying to play around trying new styles, and well this one is a little more plain than my usual work, but I think it was enough.

Hope you enjoyed my latest share, and remember if you are in Perth you can check these out in real life at Tomorrows Memories.

xxxx

Blog Awards

I was very surprised to get these lovely blog awards from a friend of mine - the talented Deb Johnston. You must check out her blog, there are SO many inspiring projects on there, and she sells a heap of stuff too!

Check out the link to blog under my blog lists.

Ok, so now it is my turn to nominate some blogs. This is a REALLY hard one.

First I would like to nominate Sonya Thair who has once again taken her scrapping to a new level. I have always loved her work, and just when I thought it couldn't get any better, she does AGAIN. Check out her blog via the link under the Tomorrow's Memories DT girls.

Next I would like to nominate Teresa Abajo. Teresa does some absolutely divine cards and I always enjoy seeing what she has come up with next. So if you are ever after some card idea's check out her blog. Her link is listed under the Twiddleybitz DT girls.

For the third person I want to nominate is Louise Williams. I just love her work and amazing layouts especially. Her use of flowers on her work is absolutely amazing!

Ok lastly I would like to nominate Tracey Holdyk, not only does she keep her blog updated regularly, but she does some really beautiful work in a style that is just so different from mine, and I just love it. She too is listed under the Tomorrow's Memories DT girls.

Well done ladies, your blogs are a pleasure to read.

xxxx

Exciting news to share

OK, well it has nearly killed me keeping this a secret, and well I didn't from everyone. BUT now I am at a stage that I am comfortable sharing with everyone.

On Monday we had an ultrasound to see our second bub to be. YEP Baby Beattie No. 2 is on the way. I always wanted kids close in age, and I am so pleased because there will be only 19months between them.

It has been a very different pregnancy so far so I was looking forward to the scan, just to know all is OK, and well it was awesome to see our little jellybean up on the screen and here is a pic from the scan.

Up until last week had been very tired and felt like I had been hit by a bus. I also had a bad cough as the start of the pregnancy where I cracked a rib and although I couldn't get it confirmed (couldn't get an x-ray because of the possibility of being pregnant) it didn't heal for 8 weeks! So all this combined has meant a huge lack of scrapping being done. I just haven't had the energy to even think about doing much scrapbooking. Just really wanted to crash on the couch whenever I could get a chance.

I have gotten back into the scrapping over the last couple of weeks, but unfortunately it is not work I am allowed to share at this stage :( I will share them as soon as I can. I am off on a retreat this weekend so hoping to get some things done so that I can share them next week. So stay tuned.

Hope you are having a week as good as mine has been.

xxxx

Wedding Carriage

Well this time I have been up to my usual... altering a product to suit what I wanted to do with it. It was the 'Princess Carriage' from Twiddleybitz that I have removed the 'Princess' off the top to replace with one of their beautiful titles 'Our Special Day'.

There are a heap of Twiddleybitz pieces used on this one... There is the title 'our special day', two fern leaves, mirror leaves 4 pieces, Grapevine corner, the fancy flourish long and of course the princess carriage itself. I have uses some beautiful mulberry roses and Prima leaves/vines to accent this piece as well as some Prima pearls that are just divine. The carriage itself has been painted with Tim Holtz crackle paint (picket fences) and then some frayed burlap distress ink lightly rubbed over the top to give more of an aged look.

Sorry you had to be quick with this one :)

It will be nice to FINALLY have a mini wedding album on display at home (after nearly 5 years LOL)

Hope you enjoyed having a look at my latest project.

Remember, if you are wanting some ideas for what to do with your Twiddleybitz pieces, check out the twiddleybitz Ning site at www.twiddleybitz.ning.com as the gallery is full of SO MANY beautiful inspiring pieces that have been done by the Design team and members of the site.

Have a good week everyone!

xxx

New Layouts heading off to Tomorrow's Memories

Ok, I am going to try and keep on a roll with my scrapping and posting for all of you out there that take a squiz at my blog.

Here are a couple of layouts I have done for Tomorrow's Memories in Perth WA. They probably won't arrive over there until late in the week, but if you are in the area, be sure to see them in real life, as photos are never the same if you want to take some ideas from them.

The papers I have used are from TPC Studio, various embellishments from Tomorrow's memories, Twiddleybitz chipboard and some beautiful embossed paper available in the shop as well.

These photos are from my wedding, taken with my parents.

I have gone nude on the title for the above layout (adding nothing to the chipboard) and it went really well

The green glimmer seems to have been picked up a little too much by my flash... but it is too hard to take it without the flash at night :) It looks a great deal more subtle on the actual layout :)

Have a great Sunday everyone

xxxx

SIA Competition Entry

As promised, here is my entry for the SIA sketch challenge. I have used my new favourite BoBunny paper and some Twiddleybitz pieces on this one, with more photos of my son's first trip to the beach.

The theme for the challenges was 'what if' that needed to be tied into the layout, and this was my take.

Have a good weekend everybody

xxxx

Feature on Belgian Inspiration Blog

A friend has just let me know that my work has been featured on a Belgian Inspiration Blog! I am absolutely blown away. I love to share my work, and never thought it would be reaching an audience in over there. Thanks Teresa for sharing.

If you would like to check out some of the amazing work in this blog (there is heaps!) Check it out via this link http://ideespleinscrap.canalblog.com/archives/inspiration_us/index.html It is in categories, and well scrapping has no language, so you don't need to understand French to see some beautiful work

xxxx

SIA

Well firstly I must say I had an ABSOLUTE BLAST at SIA. It was my first time and I felt like a kid in a candy store. It was SO wonderful to meet many of the people I chat to or work with face to face. It was also great to meet some of the more famous international artists that came.

It was a great opportunity to attend with Twiddleybitz, and meet some of my fellow design team members, as well as an opportunity to catch up with Andrew and Nicole again.

Here is the pieces I created to be displayed at this year's Twiddleybitz booth.

This first piece I did was using the Twiddleybitz floating frame. I created it using my favourite BoBunny papers, they just worked SO well with this photo and what I was trying to achieve. I even used REAL sand on the project to give the impression of waves crashing on the sand. I just love this photo of my little boy's first real encounter with sand showing how new some things are to a little one that we take for granted.

I have used 8 pieces on this one (if you count the AUSTIN letters as one) - can you find them all?

This next piece I created using the Twiddleybitz fantasy shadow box that I reduced the depth on by cutting the side pieces in half before putting it together. I have also used some lovely Graphic 45 papers that just suited this photo of a friend's little one just so well!

There are 5 pieces of Twiddleybitz on this one... can you find them all? One is really hard to see but the detail pics may give it away :)

This last one I created with one of my very own wedding photos... I just love this photo and it was a joy to finally put on a layout. Again there are a number of Twiddleybitz pieces on there 6 infact... can you see them all? I have used some of the lovely ebony chips on this one, they are just SO great cause you don't have to colour them at all and they have real impact.

I did learn a lesson with this one though. Don't put pins and needles on a layout that you are wanting to take on as hand luggage. I thought of this the night before I was to leave and although I would have been able to remove the pin, there was no removing the needle that I had left on there for an effect as the thread was stuck down! It had to go in my checked in luggage, but luckily survived the trip.
I hope you enjoy these new layouts, and if you have any questions regarding something I may have done on them, please don't hesitate to leave a comment :)

I will share my SIA competition entries real soon!

xxx

Happy 1st Birthday to AUSTIN!

Yes well this month has really gotten away from me. Besides my little man turning ONE last week, I have been quite sick with a bad cough and REALLY sore throat that has gone on for weeks! On top of that I cracked my rib coughing so have not really felt like doing a great deal including sitting at the computer or scrapping.

Well I do have some scrapping to share that I recently did for Twiddleybitz for SIA that I will share in the coming days, but until then I thought I would share a photo of my little boy cutting his cake and his very special birthday cake that I made for him.

He was really unwell on his birthday having an ear ache as well as having had gastro days prior, but he did really well to get through his party.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE MAN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Tomorrow's Memories!

Well it is that time of year again when Tomorrow's Memories are having some super birthday celebrations, this time 6 years old. There are some fantastic competitions and events throughout the month, so keep an eye on the blog and the website for details! I wish I could be there to celebrate with everyone, but I am sure you all know I am there in spirit :)

Good Times

I have been busy creating with projects that unfortunately I can't share yet.

I am able to share this one though! This layout was recently done for Tomorrow's Memories, and is now available for purchase. This pack was jam packed full of goodies to work with and I have incorporated most of them into the layout giving a nice full pack of goodies for you to re-create this layout with.

I did this layout to celebrate a special time we had with my Mother in-law before she passed away last year. It was so nice to get a good photo of her with my hubby while we were still living in Perth. When I saw this paper I knew it was just the right paper that I have been waiting for to use this photo!

I have another pack coming my way from Tomorrow's Memories, so stay tuned over the coming weeks when I will share what I have come up with! As always, all the work I do for Tomorrow's Memories ends up displayed in the store as soon as it is finished, so if you would like to check them out in real life, pop down to the store (if you are in Perth) and have a look at them along with the other amazing work from the very talented girls on the design team.

Card Packs for Sale....

ALL BOY CARDS

We all know how much more personal it is to give a handmade card. Well here is an easy opportunity to quickly make your own. Sometimes it is a bit more challenging to make those ‘boy’ cards, so I have put together a quick and easy pack which will see you make 5 boy cards in no time!! The pack comes complete with cards and envelopes, all the embellishments and paper needed to create them as well as full photos and instructions printed and placed in the pack.

The cost of the pack is $10 (+$2 postage costs), pick up welcome as well. The card pack along with other packs will always be available for sale at my monthly crops, but why not get in early and secure one of these packs now as numbers are limited.

If you would like to purchase one of these packs, please e-mail me at beck@bceng.com.au and I will forward full payment information to you.

Enjoy your week everyone!

The Perfect present for mum on Mother's Day!

Here is another one of the classes that I will be teaching next month.

Why not come along and create this beautiful birdhouse that you can choose to give to mum on Mother's Day (that is if you can part with it) complete with family photo.

This is an Off the Page project (which means anything not on a scrapbook page) where you will have fun painting, cutting and sanding to produce this cute little creation. It also has hooks that you can hang your keys so they are no longer being lost - or in my case out of the reach of little hands :)

I will be running this one on Wednesday 14th April at 7:00pm , so if you are interested in coming along, please e-mail me at beck@bceng.com.au for further details.

Classes on Saturday and Friday nights

I am busy putting the finishing touches on next month's schedule, and I was wondering if anyone would be interested in me running some of my classes on a Friday night or a Saturday? Would this be easier or more enticing to come along? If you are, please send me an e-mail to beck@bceng.com.au.

Remember, there is ALWAYS a door prise at each class and refreshments and treats supplied. Along with this a great deal of laughter and chatting!

Want to learn to make some cards?

The class schedule for April is coming along nicely, and I hope to have it out to everyone shortly. In the mean time I thought I would share one of the upcoming classes that will take place on Wednesday 7th April at 7:00pm.

YES! It's a card class!

I have used the beautiful Loire Valley range to create this set of 5 cards. You will be learning a few different techniques in this one including using Glossy accents in a few different ways to add that bit of zing to your work. You will leave the night with 5 completed cards ready to give away to some special family and friends!

Here is a sneak peak of the cards you will be creating.

There is nothing to fear about attending a class, I will step you through making them from start to finish. I have a variety of people with different experience levels regularly attending already.

Hope to see you at an upcoming class!

If you are not yet receiving my class schedules, e-mail me at beck@bceng.com.au and I will add you to my mailing list.

Hope you have a great weekend!

A new card

Just a quick post this morning as I am off to celebrate my nephew's 5th Birthday!

It is at a play centre so I am sure it will be lots of fun for the 16 kids attending... I will be painting their faces, which I just can't wait to do! Will post some photos of the faces for you all to see as soon as I get hold of them.

In the mean time, here is the card I have made for the special little birthday boy!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

xxx

Baby Love Album

Tomorrow night I am teaching the the 'Baby Love' mini Album. It takes photos which can be added at a later date which would make the perfect gift for someone special or keepsake for yourself.

I currently have 2 'pink' packs left which you have the opportunity of purchasing which comes complete with materials, photos and instructions. If you are interested in purchasing one, please e-mail me at beck@bceng.com.au.

Cost of the pack is $25.

**above photo is of the green version

Butterfly Album

Recently I made these cute Butterfly album's for two special little girls (Austin's buddies), and thought it was about time I shared a couple of pics of them. I have taken one photo of each of them as they were done pretty much exactly the same.

I made these using some beautiful Acrylic butterfly albums from Twiddleybitz, they have for a LONG time been a favourite of mine :) and some lovely Basic Grey 'Lemonade' paper.

Hope you enjoy my quick share, and have a FANTASTIC long weekend!

March Class specials

Hey everyone... I am offering a special on classes....

If 4 or more of you make a group booking into a class you each will receive 5% of the price of that class. Also you will get 10% off the sale of any packs you purchase while attending the class.

While classes are currently at night, I can run day classes on a Tuesday or Saturday if there is enough interest. If you would prefer these times, please just e-mail me at beck@bceng.com.au noting your interest.

See below post for March Schedule classes...

Thanks,

Hope you are all having a fantastic day!

xxx

March Class Schedule

Yes it is that time again....

This month I am only running two classes as I need to do a heap of Administrative boring stuff to do with my little business, as well as planning to get ahead on the projects for the upcoming months. I do have two great classes though where you will have the opportunity to learn some new techniques, complete some great projects and most of all have some fun in a warm and inspiring atmosphere.

‘Baby Love’ mini album

The first of the classes for this month is the Baby Love mini Album. You have a choice to do your album in Pink or Green. It takes photos which can be added at a later date which would make the perfect gift for someone special or keepsake for yourself.

This class is running on Wednesday March 10th at 7pm and the cost of the class is $30 (includes all materials)

Twiddleybitz ‘Sweet’ layout.

In this class you will be creating this beautiful layout using chipboard pieces by Twiddleybitz. You will be using various mediums to colour the chipboard pieces including colour sprays and markers! You will also be learning some distressing techniques and different ways you can achieve the same result.

This class is running on Wednesday March 31st at 7pm and the cost of the class is $20 (includes all materials)

If you would like further information regarding the above classes or to regularly receive the class schedule e-mailed directly to you, just send me a quick e-mail to beck@bceng.com.au

Hope to see you at an upcoming class! If you can't attend my classes but are interested in purchasing a pack which are complete with instructions and pictures, please e-mail me at the above address.

As it is still the month of love...

Well seeing that it is still the month of love, I thought I would share a layout I did some time ago. I did this layout to remember the fantastic Valentines day my husband and I celebrated last year. I love all the bits a pieces I used on this one, and it was my first go at masking which I enjoyed!

Hope you are having a fantastic weekend!

xxxx