Wednesday 21 October 2015

Instagram & Instalife

Instagram is something I keep telling myself I need to connect to - I do have an account but really don't use it! But I know there are many, many people who constantly upload their photos to Instagram. If you are one of those, how do you keep the photos in hard copy? How do you share them with family and friends who don't use Instagram? How do you plan to keep those photos for the future?

Close To My Heart has just introduced Instalife into the range which consists of two stunning albums, cards, and stamps and protectors that are especially made for Instagram photos.  All these products are for a very little outlay!

These charming little albums are perfect for gift giving as either finished albums or partly completed, with the cards added already, and let the recipient add photos they wish to add.

Here is a video that gives a better view of the Instalife Products - thank you to US consultant, Tina Husong for producing the following video -


I'd love to be able to show you these products so please contact me, either by email or Facebook message.

In the meantime, peruse the following products -

So until next time ...

Friday 16 October 2015

New Layouts

Having just returned to part-time work, I find that my time is more precious and I really need to prioritise my tasks.  But I know many, many women are able to be organised when working, with small (and not so small) children to care for seem to be able to juggle their time effectively ... so I will just do it!

I have been trying to organise my crafting space, in a shared office/play room and will be posting my organised area very soon.  It's a challenge to make sure that what I need is easy to access and that I can pack up things so that my 4yo granddaughter doesn't get into them when I'm not in the room - and that is a challenge!

I have also been organising photographs for both my Project Life Albums and also to re-vitalising my 12x12 journey.  I have found that in the past I have been too critical of my layouts and have also procrastinated too much over the pages. Lately, I have been able to complete the pages quickly (less than 1 day anyway!) and so have felt more like doing 12x12's again.

Her are a couple of 12x12 pages I have completed lately.  I will also post some of my Project Life pages over the next couple of days.



So, until next time ...

Wednesday 30 September 2015

Christmas Craft - Get ready!


Are there really only 85 days to Christmas? Last year I made my own December Daily Album from scratch - this year I am planning a PL one.  I have been just checking the CTMH stock and that's what I will use (together with some of my old stash from last year). Both the Picture My Life Card Set and the papers are awesome! 

As you know, I am a new consultant so I am discovering the beautiful products and building up my stash. I will post the final projects when I am finished.  

Here are the products that I will be ordering now to get my Christmas Cards and Album going. 

Firstly the Picture My Life™ White Pines Set - in each set are -
20 – 4" × 6" Cards 
36 – 3" × 4" Cards
Same design on both sides. One side features the design vertically and the other side features it horizontally
The White Pines Paper Packet - 12x12 papers and cardstock - which includes - 
6 – 12" × 12" B&T Duos™ (2 each of 3 double-sided designs)
6 – 12" × 12" Cardstock Sheets (2 Chocolate, 2 Colonial White, 1 Cranberry, 1 Fern)

The White Pines Complements  - 2 – 6" x 6" Coordinating Sticker Sheets, 1 – Assorted Kraft Die-Cuts and 1 – Assorted Thick Plastic Die-Cuts

The Red Enamel Gems and Red Shimmer Trim are stunning additions to these papers.



I invite you to check out these beautiful products on Annie's Creating Place Website and to get your Christmas projects moving before the time disappears. 

Till next time ...

Friday 25 September 2015

Why Scrapbook?

Be ready for a long post …

Susan Tucker – “Katherine Oh, Patricia Buckler, The Scrapbook in American Life”:
“Why scrapbook? To hold on, to narrate, to select and edit self, to construct identity, cultural moment, family history. To witness and to honor. It becomes “hidden history,” unofficial history.
To collect, document, write: becomes “an act against the fluidity, chaos, and dissembled nature of life.” There’s a “comfort” in holding on, documenting, pasting in, and sometimes sharing the scrapbook.”


When my mother died in 2002, I decided it was really important to tell her story. She came from an Italian family and as an only child who moved to Australia when I was 3, I didn’t know my maternal family. My own children asked about her background and I chose to make sure her history was kept alive. Luckily, my father was able to provide me with information about both himself and my mother which I recorded. Firstly I did the writing thing – boring! And then I discovered ‘scrapbooking’.
Shortly after, I began to record my own life through scrapbooks, my father’s life, my children’s lives. And so this has grown over the past 13 years.

The reasons to keep a scrapbook are many, and each person chooses to record their lives through various means – Handcrafted Albums, Smash Books, Digital Scrapbooking, Pocket Pages etc

So let’s look at the main reasons to scrapbook (and in this I also mean all forms of recording with photos, journalling and other embellishments) -

1: Sharing your story through scrapbooking to share with future generations. 
Think back... what do you remember about your grandparents? How amazing would it be to be able to flip through a book to see a day in their lives? Now think forward... wouldn't it mean a lot to your family to be able to ‘experience’ your/their life in 2015? The photos, the journalling, the ephemera and memorabilia (tickets, brochures, programmes and all the mementoes you wish to include) to provide a visual prompt of what life was like. When you scrapbook, you preserve your unique stories for future generations to enjoy long after you're gone.

2: Photos hold no lasting value when words are not attached. 
When my father died, 10 years after my mother, our family found hundreds of photos in old albums and boxes. There were so many to delve through and most of them had nothing written on them so we didn’t know dates, names, places, events. Where are your photos? Albums, boxes, in a drawer somewhere, on your computer, phone, hard drive or even online photo storage. The journalling is such a big feature of scrapbooking, it keeps the photos meaningful for those who view them later on down the track. It presents ‘The Story’ and reminders of a life lived. 

3: Sharing your story through scrapbooking will mean a lot to your life now. 
Because it supports to you take time to record the experiences in your life, scrapbooking is the perfect way for you to see your life as the precious thing it really is. Scrapbooking reinforces the importance of your experiences, milestones, , helping you gain a greater appreciation for the people and events around you. It's impossible to ‘miss’ life because during the process you are actually living and re-living it as you create your photographic keepsakes. 

4: It can help you develop and sustain an attitude of gratitude. 
Scrapbooking is a very positive process. It allows you to be grateful for the wonderful events you share in your lives. As you travel through the fast paced world, it is easy to lose track of the joy you have in your loved ones, pets, travels, events or everyday living. A scrapbook provides the opportunity to reflect with gratefulness. It also allows sharing of the ‘not so wonderful’ times, but with a different perspective on it. It allows us to grieve, rant, laugh, cry, reflect, remember, express whatever emotion comes up. A reflective, healthy outlets as life presents its ups and downs. 

5: Scrapbooking is a fun, creative outlet. 
 
Studies have shown the physical and emotional health benefits of creativity in our lives. Scrapbooking is a very individual process. There is no right or wrong way to do it. It is a personal journey where the end result is a graphic representation of your life. Whilst on that journey you can ‘play’ with all sorts of creative processes, all sorts of creative ‘mess’ with papers, paints, paste mediums, stamps, embellishments, pens, pencils, crayons, punches – an endless supply of things to ‘get your hands dirty’.
It is also an opportunity to connect with like-minded others who share a common passion, and there is something special about that connection, whether it be at a get-together or through online communication. 

6: It’s a great way to relax. 

Scrapbooking can be a problem solving process where your creativity can blossom but it can also provide an outlet, an escape, an avenue to sit and relax while you explore and play. It provides an opportunity to take yourself into another world when you sit at a table and create a page, an album  - put on some of your favourite music and escape into your paper creations.

So, this is my perspective about why scrapbook. It is a personal, individual and unique journey - and it is a journey as you develop your own style of recording. Trends change, tools change, products change and so will the way that you create.  You will also look back and reflect on how things have changed in relation to how you actually produce your pages and albums and what was going on for you at the time. 

I hope it has helped you reflect on why you scrapbook and also choose to take it up if you have been thinking about it.

I would love to hear your comments on your view of scrapbooking and creating your memories in a visual form!

Till next time ...



Monday 21 September 2015

September - National Stamping Month

September is National Stamping Month, and this year Close To My Heart has something to help every kind of paper crafter say a big “hello” to life!

Available only during the month of September, these exclusive C-size My Acrylix®Hello, Life! stamp sets can be purchased for $21 AUD / $25 NZD each! Or, for an even better deal, you can purchase all three for only $53 AUD / $64 NZD—a savings of $10 AUD / $11 NZD! *Offer valid 1 September 2015 (9:00 am AEST)–30 September 2015 (11:59 pm AEST).

Each stamp set is designed to fit with a specific type of paper crafting, whether that’s traditional scrapbooking, cardmaking, or pocket scrapbooking. However, all the stamp sets coordinate with each other and can be used together to create dynamic artwork. These stamp sets also coordinate with shapes from the new Cricut® Artistry collection to help expand your artwork options even further. 

Remember, these stamp sets are available for one month only, so get your orders in for one stamp set—or all three—before these gorgeous stamps disappear! Make certain to follow Close To My Heart’s blogInstagramand Facebook page for artwork inspiration featuring these lively stamp sets all month long. You can post your own artwork to your social media channels using the hashtag #ctmhHelloLife.

Watch the campaign video and contact me for more details.

Till next time ...

Friday 11 September 2015

Christmas Mini Album - Baby's 1st Album

I had fun making this cute mini album that is specifically for a baby heading into it's first christmas.  I have used various pieces of paper that I have in my stock. I am trying to use up the papers I already have before getting new papers but now that I have some beautiful Close To My Heart papers to choose from, that I have fallen in love, I think I may be donating some of my old stash to the local childcare centre.

I have always loved making mini albums and will be selling off some of them.  I am adding these albums to my other blog - Lime Juice Studio. You can see the various albums on there.

I hope you enjoy the video share -


Till next time ...

Thursday 10 September 2015

Close To My Heart (CTMH) - Exciting News!!

Woo hoo! Am I excited? Yes I am! Yesterday I signed up as a consultant with Close To My Heart company. Their mission - We show you how to celebrate relationships through discovering your creativity, to preserve and share the moments that matter most. I believe, after weighing up pros and cons, that CTMH provide a beautiful range of products at very reasonable prices.  Please check out my CTMH website, full of the most amazing products and ideas.

Rather than just decide on what you want from the internet, ask me about hosting a gathering at your home, club, school, kindergarten or wherever where you can experience, see and feel the products - which are much more dynamic in real life. I am going to put up a video of some of the things that can be made together very soon - stay tuned!

I am so looking forward to being able to be part of an amazing and supportive network and sharing their, and my, passion for all things paper and stamping. And I am looking forward to meeting other amazing women (and crafty men) both as customers and also fellow consultants.

In the meantime, here are some more of the 12x12 layouts I have recently completed.  Please enjoy the inspiration you may get from them and if you feel inclined, leave me a comment or suggestion.







Wednesday 9 September 2015

I'm Back

Well it has been quite an absence - two years! Life got in the way and blogging was something I neglected.  But over the past 10 months I have got my passion back and it's time to share again.

I moved over from 12×12 layouts to doing Project Life as it is quick, simple and I can get the ‘recording’ of life events done without too much stress. So, during 2015, I have focused on Project Life which I have loved, and only recently got the urge to do some 12×12 layouts.

I actually have completed 10 layouts in the past week - an unheard of achievement in the past! I usually prefer simple, clean layouts as I want the focus to be on the photo, but, I have been enjoying playing with layering and mixed media so below are some of the layouts I have done over the past week. But, confession, I still can’t get myself to ‘over embellish’ even though I love the way other crafters do it!

So I hope you enjoy and get some inspiration for your own layouts. I will post some more projects over the next few days - 12x12 and Project Life - as I get back into the world of blogging and sharing.









So, till next time ...