An Emotional Rollercoaster......................

is the only way I can describe the past few weeks, but I made my peace today and buried some demons. I haven't had contact with my Grandmother for 9 years after a nasty family falling out, but in recent months, primarily due to her failing health and her making peace with my Dad, I have felt the need to make my own peace. The reasons have ceased to become important, but it was important to me that she didn't pass away thinking I hated her. So today, with my Dads help, I visited her for the first time in over 9 years and it was hard, but I am so glad I did it, so glad she got to meet my gorgeous DS. And I will visit her again. Only looking forward now, the past is buried......................

As a result of my rollercoaster I haven't done much scrapping, but fate works in mysterious ways and the couple of projects I have completed helped me with clarity regarding what I knew I needed to do.These projects were for the "Crowned" comp at Scrap Dango.
There was a Sparkle and Shine themed challenge and I scrapped a mini album for my Aunt and her family:

 

  

  

  

  

  

This family lost a son and brother in a car accident 10 years ago and have really struggled, but at this event they were shining and the sparkle was back. Although I have always known it, there was a realisation that life is not a dress rehearsal ~ you only get one go!! I have asked Mum to pass the album onto my aunt as I can't deal with anymore rollercoasters at the moment.

The second project was to scrap a memory of the past, and here goes fate again, a photo of me and my brother in 1972 on the front steps of my Grandmothers house:

Anyway, I'm feeling alot better and ready to move forward.........................

Cheers........................Leanne

Prima have a surprise....................

Prima has something really big coming your way….
                                ( Click the purple curtain to reveal a secret)

...but we can’t reveal it just yet! We know you’re going to love it! And don’t worry-we promise to share the big news with you soon. It’s really hard not to spill the beans, but we are sworn to secrecy.

Looks exciting.........................

Cheers.................Leanne

Crowned ~Week 2

at ScrapDango was all about numbers: 5 photos, 4 fonts in the title, 3 patterned papers, 2 other embellishment products only (I chose diecuts and buttons), 1 cardstock. A journaling box and adhesives were free items. As soon as I read the challenge I had an idea for some photos I had already printed off in small format, and the result:

 

and a couple of closeups:

  

I love this layout ~ it's so captures my boy!! Planning on some more scrapping tonight ~ need to work on my 'Sparkle and Shine' random challenge for the Crowned competition.

Cheers..........................Leanne

A Layout.........................

where has this weekend disappeared to???? Probably didn't help that I had a meeting in Sydney yesterday ~ left at 6.00am and didn't return until 7.30pm, but I have had a chance to do some scrapping this afternoon. I am not very good at doing layouts with white space but that was the February Technique challenge set by Karen over at Scrap Pile. And the result:

 

I'm really pleased with the final result as I really am not a minimalist girl!!!

So if you are looking for a challenge head on over to the Scap Pile forum HERE and join in the fun.

Cheers.....................Leanne

I Won.....................

the week 1 challenge in the Crowned contest at ScrapDango with the layout featured in the post below ~ WOOHOO. And the prize ~ a choice of their January sugar or spice kit.

A busy weekend ahead ~ a Teachers Federation council meeting in Sydney will see me on the road at 6.00am, but I am going to catch the train so might be able toget a couple of hours sleep. I then need to complete my layout for week 2 of Crowned and get my March challenges for Scrap Pile sorted.

Cheers..........................Leanne

A New Challenge...............

i found the Scrapdango site recently ~ I love kits and was surfing the net trying to find a monthly kit that might tempt me when I stumbled across ScrapDango and their new "Crowned" competition. I love scrapping to challenges, especialy when I need a bit of a kick start, so decided to sign up for the comp. The first challenge was due today sometime (still haven't worked out the time conversion!!!) and this is the layout I came up with for the first challenge:

 

There was a variety of criteria but the main one was to create embellishments from fabric and ribbon/lace, so except for the small brown roses, all the flowers are handmade by me!! Really looking forward to the next challenge that will be released tomorrow.

Cheers......................Leanne

Lazy Days of Summer......................

comp week four is on now at Scrap Pile. It is my turn to host the comp for the next two weeks. The challenge over the next two weeks is to create a mini album with the theme of "Lazy Days of Summer". The only additional criteria is to have a minimum of 6 (six) pages plus a front and back cover. And my example album:

 

  

I have to say I am really happy with the end result of this album. It has a really happy feel to it!!

Details of Weeks 4 & 5 of the Lazy Days of Summer comp can be found HERE. This is a non elimination competition, so it's never too late to enter.

That's all for tonight, I'm feeling the after effects of being away at a scrapping retreat this past weekend, so think I need to call it a night....................

Cheers......................Leanne

A bit Slack

Yep, that's how I've been since returning to work, but zi think I am on top of everything at work and normal programming should resume!!
Last week was Week 3 of the Lazy Days of Summer comp over at Scrap Pile. The challenge was to create a layout celebrating Xmas 2009 with the added criteria of creating your own embellishment. I created this layout for the challenege:

 

My handmade embellishment was the Xmas tree which was inspired by the Wooloworths 2009 Xmas logo.

Also, this week the February challenges were released at Scrap Pile. This month I was in charge of the Sketch challenge:

and my interpretation:

and a close up of the butterfly cluster

 

all the details can be found HERE, so come on over and join the fun.

Cheers.........................Leanne