BoBunny Design Team December Blog Hop

Welcome to the BoBunny Design Team December Blog Hop! 

Today six of my fellow DT members at BoBunny  are sharing a little bit more about themselves on their  blogs so that you get to know more about us.  The blog hop begins on the BoBunny blog, and there you will see a question next to each designers name. Click on their name to visit each of the designer's blogs and look for the answer to their question. Collect the correct answer to each of the questions and enter them below using the Rafflecopter widget for your chance to win. One lucky winner will be randomly selected to receive an amazing BoBunny prize package!!!  Having seen a prize provided by BoBunny at Scrapfest this year I can say they are very generous! :)

If theres one time of year thats my favourite time, its Christmas :) I love decorating the house and picking out gifts for friends and family.  In New Zealand its summer this time of year which is quite a bit different for those of you currently having a white Christmas.  Its not unusual here to have an outdoor barbecue dinner on Christmas Day.  This year we are spending the day at my sisters down in Pleasant Point, and like most Christmas's we will all be together :)

If theres one thing Im always drawn to with decorations, not matter if its scrapbooking embellishments or Christmas decorations, when it comes to snowflakes Im like a bear to a honey pot, I LOVE them!!  Which is weird I guess when Ive never had a white Christmas ;)

This year I made a new decoration for the door, using Elf Magic.  Its such a fun range with its quirky little elves :)  I picked this dimensional star up in a sales bin at a department store in Invercargill - it was pretty boring just painted plain old aqua/green, with no decorations at all - absolutely perfect for me to transform!

Ive used the front and back of one piece of paper to create the background, and layered some large glittered snowflakes on top.  To create the cluster I have taken two elves from the noteworthy range and arranged them to peek out from behind clusters of layered poinsettia's, which Ive made from double dot.

Aren't they so cute?!

BoBunny Supplies:

Patterned Paper: Chorus, Mischief/Elf Magic

Double Dot: Wild Berry

Chipboard: 12 x 12 Elf Magic

Noteworthy: Elf Magic

Jewels: Elf Magic

As promised, here is the blog hop list. Be sure to find the answer to the question that each of us asked at the BoBunny blog.   When you are done collecting all the answers to the questions, enter them on the BoBunny blog using the Rafflecopter widget for your chance to win.  A random draw will be made and the winner will recieve a lovely Bo Bunny prize! The giveaway will be open until December 23rd 1200 AM MST.

Blog Hop Order:

1. BoBunny Blog

2. Keri Babbitt

3. Lisa Gregory

4. Lisa Novogrodski

5. Lynn Shokoples

6. Maria Potapovich

7. Megan Gourlay (Me!)

Good luck and Merry Christmas everyone!

We have a winner!

At the end of November I promised to giveaway the Misc Me diary I had made for 2014.  I must apologise for the delay!  Theres been the usual Christmas dramas going on in my house with - nothing unusual there, it isn't called the silly season for nothing! ;) but added in along the way were some other not so nice dramas that because of the awfulness of what they are, just end up bringing a family closer together, especially knowing that family will always be there to help pick up the pieces.

So, enough with the drama!  I have gone back over the comments from my blog and those comments left on the BoBunny blog and asked my gorgeous husband to pick  a number between 1-7.  Could the lucky winner please email me with their address so I can send some happy mail their way :)

The winning person is……………………………………………………………………

 helly1 said...

What a wonderful idea. I have only seen this diary on blogs so would love to see the real thing!

December 1, 2013 at 10:32 PM

MISC Me! - BoBunny DT

Today over at BoBunny Lynn and I are sharing our ideas on using Misc Me.  The thing I like about Misc Me is, it is so versatile - heavens knows I tend to alter things to suit my needs anyway but the beauty of this is that all the hard work is done for you!
So what is Misc Me?  Its a bit like Project Life really but different.  Some of the paper ranges this year also come in the Misc Me range, like The Avenues, Zip-a-Dee Doodle and Elf Magic.  It also comes in a couple of other ranges, Family is, and one of my fav ranges last year C'est La Vie.  Basically pick the binder you want - these are 8x9" and then decide what you want your contents to include e.g: the calendar pack, the journal pack or go way different and use the recipe packs - then decide what page protectors you want and theres four different types of those to choose from.  Simple eh?  If you were after a clean and simple layout then its all done for you, just add your photos, recipes and journalling and you're done!

I was looking at the pack of Calendar Dividers and the Weekly Contents and thought they would be perfect for a diary for 2014.

For the cover Ive use an old album I had, covered it with background paper and randomly stamped with the Stained Textures stamp.  The flowers are cut from one sheet of paper and added to a piece from the Noteworthy Collection, some are popped up with chipboard, others left flat to create dimension, before adding the year.

To separate each section for easier use I made a bookmark adhered at the back of the binder with a brad and decorated with jewels and a metal trinket.

At the back of the binder I made a separate section for notes and messages using a piece of card stock.

Easy peasy!  All the work was done for me, I just had to come up with the idea and how I wanted to decorate it.  It also gave me an idea.  This week is my 10th wedding anniversary so I thought it would be nice to give something away :)  Leave me a comment, or comment over at BoBunny and I'll do a random draw at the end of next week for someone to win the Diary!

Thanks for popping by!

Family - BoBunny DT

This week the theme at BoBunny is family, which is really appropriate considering this month is Thanks Giving and nothing expresses how important family is like having a natural disaster tear it away from you like in the Phillipines.  Events like that make you appreciate family that much more.

To coinside with our theme this week BoBunny are guest designing at  Scrap Around the World this month.  This is the mood board and optional sketch.

And heres my layout based on the mood board.  You can see the rest of the DT's layouts here

These little cherubs are on the train at Rathwood in Ireland getting into the spirit of Halloween.
If you pop over to SATW BoBunny is sponsoring a pretty awesome prize, the entire Silver & Gold collection!! to a randomly selected winner :) so pop on over!

Ive also posted over at BoBunny today, another layout based on the same theme.  This time its a bit cute ;) this is my husband at about 5 or 6yrs old - the traditional family portrait back in the 70's!  The paper is Zip-a-Dee Doodle which just screams 70's to me with its paislee patterns and doodling, and not a traditional type of paper range to use for a heritage type photo but I think it works :)

Ive diecut some flowers from Double Dot card stock and added jewels or buttons to their centres.  Ive arranged my cluster to cover the verse "All you need is love" and still follow the natural pattern of the doodle flowers on the paper.  The whole layout is then layered onto a piece of liquorice double dot.

Thanks for popping by, now pop on over to SATW to win that prize! :)

Cards Cards and more Cards!

I seem to have been on a roll with cards lately, some for birthdays, new babies, weddings and staff leaving at work.  Ive used a whole different range of products and whole bunch of scraps.
Be warned theres more than a few to share!

One of the girls at work had a wee girl shes called Elodie :)  This is old Websters Pages paper. with an even older Basic Grey rubon in the corner ;)

Another baby card using scraps from MME and yes another old BG rub on :)

A card for work for a very good friend and great nurse, I did not want to leave :(  I finally used up the last of my scraps of this Prima range, it was one of my favourites!

For some reason I seem to have deleted the 'straight on' view of this card :( but you get the picture lol. I used the paper that came with Australian Scrapbook Ideas magazine.

Birthday card for a little boy - this is BoBunny Surprise! Ive used the packaging for the green background - they have the coolest packaging and I use it a lot :)

Another card for a little boy - some Kaisercraft paper this time.  The stamp is Stampin Up and a very old dimensional sticker from Kay & Co.

This cards is one of favourites.  I love the soft pastel colours of it - scraps from Websters pages, and I mean scraps!, this was all I had of this particular range left.

Another birthday card, again with BoBunny Surprise!

Another favourite, this time for a wedding recently, using Teresa Collins Memorabilia, such a beautiful range :)

Quite a variety there!
Thanks for popping by :)

Happy Halloween! - BoBunny DT

For most New Zealanders Halloween is not something we really celebrate - we have the odd trick or treaters knock at the door but thats about it.  I do have some friends though that love it and really get into it.  So this post is for them and those of you out there that celebrate Halloween.

BoBunny's range this year was pretty cool, even if Halloween does'nt really float my boat I can still appreciate the colours and art behind it.  This range had loads of lime green, purple, orange and black with everything you would associate with Halloween; bats, skulls, skeletons, spiders and tombstones.
I decorated some Kaisercraft wooden letters, firstly BOO! which you can see here on the BoBunny blog.

I then decided to decorate some more letters spelling WICKED! This time I made use of the chipboard embellishments and the decorative elements on the papers - another words  lots of fussy cutting!

I chose to photograph each letter individually because too much detail was missing when photographed as a group - they are left singular to display on the mantle over the fireplace, or they could be strung together like BOO has been.

 

Some of the layered stickers and chipboard I have altered.  Just because something is presented in whatever way I reckon does'nt mean it has to stay like that, afterall is'nt that what creativity is all about?  On the E the trick or treat tombstone was attached to three chipboard banners, I just removed them and saved them for later use; the dimensional October 31 sticker was actually a tag, I just cut that section off; on the C the skull beware sticker was part of a yellow background, and I cut that off as well, the banners underneath were'nt actually banners they were tags attached to a much larger tag - part of the Noteworthy collection - I cut off the larger tag and made the remaining tags into banners.  Nothing often looks as it seems ;)
Both of these are winging their way to some friends as I type this, I hope you like :)
Happy Halloween everyone!

Scrappin Patch Retreat

Back in September I was teaching a class at Scrappin Patch Retreat.  Its the second time Ive taught a class there - the venue is at Glentui, out the back of Oxford nestled in the hills, its just beautiful with spectacular views and absolutely delicious food :)
Anyway, back to class!  This time people were asking for heritage layouts so I chose to use Kaisercraft 75cents and created two layouts.  Usually layouts of mine have heaps of flowers which makes the cost per page high, but this time I purposely did'nt want to do that.  I really wanted to show how to use the Collections pieces and not just using them as they are.  I got a bit carried away with all the layering lol and one layout had 21 pieces of collections on it!

This layout is the culprit, 21little items layered in there!  The photo is my Grandmother and Great-Grandmother on the train to Kaikoura, the person you can see in the background is my mum :)

The second layout I made for a friend of mine, and Ive attached a tag in behind the photo for him to place his journalling of his Great-Grandfather during WWI.

This was a small class this time, just 9 pupils which was probably just as well separating out all those Collections items and then layering them all!  They all got a wee treat as well thanks to a very generous friend who created cupcakes for all of them - themed just for me, blue icing and little paws - blues my favourite colour and we have two little white fur babies :)

And the little gift bags Francine helped me to get done :) to put them in.  Can I just say the cupcakes were absolutely devine!!

Here at the attendees - great bunch of ladies to teach :)

Ive been asked to teach again at retreat next year in May, which Im thrilled about!  Its a great place to crop with a nice friendly atmosphere.  At the moment Im deciding on whether to do two or one class, mini album or layouts, or one of each - decisions decisions!

Thanks for popping by!

Zip-A-Dee Doodle - BoBunny DT

I love the 70's which is no surprise since I was born during that era.  The fashion style does'nt do anything for me at all! but I love the patterns and the music.  LOVE the music! :)  Bit of a bone of contention when Forbes and I go away, he hates it, he's into the 80's - yick!
The Zip-A-Dee Doodle collection reminded me of that with its doodles and paisley patterns.  It does'nt have  that eclectic mix of colours that you would associate with that era but it does have my all time favourite colour, blue and Forbes's favourite colour, green so its gotta be good right?!  Of course, those of you who know me know Im really not a doodle chick, Im a neat freak, with just a tad of analness :)  yes Im happy to admit Im anal, about somethings!

This week its a card themed week over at BoBunny, with Sunday 29th Sept being international card making day.  This week we are bringing you a whole range of ideas using the different collections - there'll be something there for everyone!

I used the Collage sheet of paper for both my cards - I had spotted this saying on the reverse and thought it was a perfect 'cutesy' saying for Forbes's birthday card.  I might not have the perfect husband but he's always there for me when I need him.  I'ved fussy cut the white rectangle out from the green background paper and layered it onto chipboard, placing it off centre.  The heart and banner are also cut fussy cut from the same piece and layered with foam before adding a jewel, dimensional sticker and bakers twine in a double bow.

The second card I had in mind for a friends birthday - and before some of you get excited I have a few friends celebrating birthdays in the next month or so :)  so that will keep a handful of you guessing lol.   I wanted it to have feminine look to it, so out came the dies to make some flowers.  Ive used Tim Holtz's tattered florals and My Favourite Things and used double dot card stock.  I love this stuff it comes in a huge variety of colours with either a fine polka dot, stripe, flourish or heritage design.  The flatter flowers on the bottom of the cluster are a mixture of old and new BoBunny.

Ive done the same technique here, separating the base of the design from the white bracket, and then distressed the edges before popping it up with chipboard.
Rhonda, Ulrika and Ilene have created some equally fabulous cards, and you can see them here
Thanks for popping by!

Autumn Song - BoBunny DT

Ive been to that Typo shop AGAIN!  Seriously they have some cool stuff there just perfect for scrapping :) I saw this caddy there and realised when I got it home, and was trying to sort out what to scrap it with, thought it would go perfectly with Autumn Song and the bonus is I did'nt have to paint it!, the whole rough wooden look matches in with the paper really well.

So Autumn Song.  Its gorgeous!  Beautiful hues of reds, golds, greens and browns, true autumnal colours - reminds of Central Otago here in NZ, which is just gorgeous at that time of year.  Sadly this is probably a range that won't be bought in by retailers in NZ I don't think - I could be wrong, hoping I am! - mostly because its the wrong time of year for us, its spring here now, which is a shame its become one of my favourite ranges, and as bonus purely just for me, it contains my favourite colours :)  

So a few closeups of the caddy for you complete with mini gardening tools and coriander - I had no idea it came in purple too!

A smidgen of Dusty Attic and wooden Prima leaves.  The flowers are BoBunny, and to make them go further Ive split them in half.

Here Ive used one of my favourite stamps from BoBunny, the brick wall!  It comes with two others in the set, wooden fence palings and cobble stones.

 And a simple tag with the perfect sentiment to finish!
Thanks for popping by :)

San Francisco - BoBunny DT

Way back in 2004 my sister asked if I was interested in going to San Francisco for a couple of weeks holiday.  I was soooo keen it was'nt funny!  All the travelling I did in my twenties I loved but had never been to the States before,  and San Francisco was just one on my wish list to visit.  She wanted to go in November just before Thanks Giving did I have any issues with those dates?  No, could'nt think of anything, so we booked the tickets.  And then I remembered..................................my first wedding anniversary was Nov 29th!!!  Thankfully I have a very understanding husband because the tickets were non-refundable, non-transferable, and it could've turned into a bit of a nightmare!  9years later and I still had'nt got round to scrapping those photos :(  and then BoBunny asked me to create my first project using travel as my theme, problem solved!  

So what to do?  Well, you need a suitcase don't you?  So I covered a wooden box I found at Typo, and added a strap of leather to make my handle.  I also wanted it to be a battered suitcase.  The papers I picked were from the The Avenues range and Double Dot Vintage.

Ive used BoBunny texture stamps to create the water mark effect  and inked around the edges with Frayed Burlap distress ink.

On the inside of the lid I created an 'pocket' to hold brochures and postcards that I had purchased.  Ive also added a custom made envelope from the The Avenues papers to store the extra photos I had.

On the cover I have split the flowers to make them go even further, and used the new Kraft collection embellishments, wooden clocks.

Bubba Gump's restaurant in Monteray Bay was very cool, there was even a bench seat outside with Forrest's shoes and suitcase and box of chocolates - do you think I can find that photo?!!

Tip: change paper patterns to suit your own needs.  This little pennant on the birdcage has been altered, by using a pennant from another page and placing it on top with some foam for dimension.  Now it says amazing, instead of love.  Perfect!

The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose.  I found this house fascinating, and the history behind its owner Sara Winchester quite sad.  Overcome with grief from the death of her baby daughter and 15yrs later her husband, Sara Winchester began building this house, and kept going for 38 years!  By the time she passed away, she had built, 160 rooms, nine kitchens, 10,000 windows, 47 fireplaces - no two carved a like.  There were a few quirks too; a spiral staircase has 42 steps, each two inches high.  Other stairways melt into blank walls.  A fascinating place to visit!

The next day we were off to the tourist attractions in San Francisco.  First stop was Alcatraz.  It opened as a federal penitentiary in 1934 and of the 1545 inmates who did time on Alcatraz, only a handful were notorious, one of them being Al Capone.  One of the bits of information I was amazed with was the families who lived there rarely locked their doors!  The average stay for an inmate was 8-10 years.

I had quite a few photos I wanted to include here, so I created a flap.

Golden Gate Bridge.  When we got to the view point to get a good photo, we found a group of highway patrol men gathered.  Perfect photo opportunity!  Their bikes looked just like they did in Chips!  remember that programme?

The Arts Centre. A glorious place, some amazing architecture, just beautiful.

Pop on over to the BoBunny blog today and you'll see another example of travel.  Tracee has done an awesome travel layout using Elf Magic.
Thanks for popping by :)