Right Now

Goodmoring!

Here is the link to the contest details! CLICK! Follow the signup link down the bottom when your ready!

All the best!  Hah! I knew my last post would stir you girls up!

This is it... the contest of the year!

Thats right! A contest! I hope your in a competitive mood!?
Before I type more about the contest,  I would like to first show a few things. A RAK page I did for LDartist. AKA Linda. Its using a special exclusive kit I created for Catscraps Catwalk Challenge.

I hope you like your page Linda? I will send you a high res version soon.

Heres the Kit - Timeout

You can grab this and more in my Catscrap store at a special discounted price, but only for the weekend! Click here to visit the catscrap store

I have a new favorite paper scrapper! 

Kelly Goree

Her mini albums are so stunning! They all flow with emotion and display great photographs! I was so impressed and inspired. Check out her gallery at 2peas!
Here are a few of my favorite images created by her...

She is talented!

OK back to the contest! Its big! And the prizes are huge! As one of my team members put it - You'd be made not to enter!

 

What's the Grand Prize you ask?

-An autographed copy of the book
-A special collaborative kit, involving the contributors to the book
-$100NZD gift certificate to Shutterfly.com
-$100NZD gift voucher to Pixel Canvas as well as a spot on the Guest Creative Team for 6 months, with free access to the kits released during that time
-$20USD Gift Voucher to Catherine Designs Store as well as a spot on her Guest Team for one month
-$20USD Gift Voucher to FEI FEI’s Stuff Store as well as a spot on her Guest Team for one month
-3 Kaiser Craft albums
-Your face and one of your pages on the home page of Pixel Canvas!

Aaaaand. One runner up and 5 honorable mentions! So are you keen? Want to know more? You'll have to wait till I wake up!

I set this post up so it would automatically post at 1am, right now I am most likely in bed catching up on the missed zzz's from last night.

When I wake up in the morning I will go and switch on the special forum I have tucked away for this special event. Here you will find everything you need to know about how to apply and the requirements etc.

So, I guess I'll talk to some of you in the morning! Goodnight! ... this is going to be so much fun!

...so I'm an author...

Most of you all know that I have been working on a book. Well the work is finished and it will be out on the 19th of April in NZ. Random House are working on getting it signed overseas. Heres the cover, if you haven't already seen it! It is aimed at the expert scrapper, but the book still touches on the basics for newbies. Its packed full of never before seen layouts! Ideas for beyond the album and hybrid projects. As well as using design principles.

I can't believe it is actually happening.! It really is hard to accept that I achieved something like this, because I really thought I couldn't. I'll tell you why.

While growing up, I was always into the crafty and artistic things. I loved it! I didn't have much material things in my childhood, so my imagination came in handy. I remember creating paper furniture for my cardboard dolls houses. And painting on paper, thinking one day these would be worth a lot! I cherish these memories! I truly do.
I never once thought that I could use my creative abilities for anything in the future in terms of work. It just wasn't something the teachers encouraged... or parents. There was one day I remember so clearly as a teenager. I was sitting on my bed finishing my art work for school. And my step dad for some reason walked into my room and asked me what I was doing. I told him and as he left my room he looked at me and said, your art will never take you any where in the future. And you know what I wasn't sad or angry at what he said... because I believed him.

That is why to this day, I find it hard to believe that all this has happened. And I haven't had to strive for it. I have simply followed my heart and desires. Doing things, because I truly enjoy doing them, not because I want to be the best or to gain riches.This is just a dream come true, combining both my passions for design and family into a business. I thank God for this. For opening those doors for me, and at the right time.

Another thing I am so grateful for, is the opportunity to work with two talented ladies who have contributed to my book. I have been waiting for this day for such a long time! So with great pleasure I announce my two contributors.  Catherine Paturet and Sharon Lee

These two girls have both worked hard to contribute beautiful and inspiring pages for my Digital Scrapbooking book. You will be blown away, I'm sure! I know I have been! We are working on a very special collaborative kit that will be released the day the book is out. Come back tomorrow for details on how you could win this and much MUCH more!

Now I wanted to talk a little about the shop. I have just released these little cuties

CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW THE FULL RANGE!

This is the last lot of products from me for a month! I need to concentrate on finishing products for the book release. So yes I will be having a huge product release on that day. But don't worry I have something very special and exciting planned for the following month at Pixel Canvas. And I will still be around!

Please check back here tomorrow for more exciting announcements!!!

Creating an Album With Flow

I would like to encourage you to start and finish a mini album. I love the feeling I get when I hold a finished album in my hands. It's addictive, and it makes me want to complete more albums and share them with the people I love. I actually make an event out of it. I will organize a nice meal for my husband and after wards we will sit down together, flick through the album and remember the moments that have been captured. 

Here's a couple of my favorite shutterfly albums -

 

I bet you have tons of finished pages inside your layouts folder, just sitting there. I did, until I decided to bring them all together in a Shutterfly album. I was pleased with the fact I had so many pages with the everyday moments captured. And that's the most important thing. But as a designer I noticed one thing that really bugged me. The pages didn't have flow. Yes, the individual page designs seemed to look balanced and complete. But when they were positioned next to another page with a slightly different style, the two just didn't complement each other, resulting in a album with no flow and no balance. In a way I knew this was going to happen while designing, but I guess I thought it would be alright. And you know what, it is alright. But, if you want to create something with more emotion and flow, you will need to pay better attention to the page designs when creating.  Otherwise the special details you put into each page will be overlooked and not appreciated by the viewer.

I view an album almost like a beautiful song. It has structure.
 

An intro - Cover and Title page of your album.

Your title page should create suspense and curiosity to the viewer (family and friends). And your title page should be the same.  

Pre-Chorus -  The style of these pages should be predominant throughout most of the album.

Bridge - These page designs are made up of two pages, connecting to make one big design.

Breaks - Simple, minimalistic  pages. These act like an interlude between pages that have a lot of text and photos. It's important to throw in pages like this, so the viewer can refresh their eyes and maybe even think more about what they have just viewed.

Chorus - Pages that are heavily layered, artistic, fantasy inspired. These create a sharp contrast to the pages before and after them. You can also, if you want, end and start an album with a page like this.

Tips on creating more flow throughout your pages.

- Always keep in mind what the opposite page will look like when you're designing. If you've already completed one page, pull it up in your image editing program and always refer back to it, comparing it with the page you are working on.

- Make a whole composition flow onto the opposite page by positioning objects and photos so they overlap each page.
- For contrast, try creating a simple white-space page, then on the opposite page fill it with one photo! Make sure you go for a close crop too.
- Create one page where the background is light and the opposite page with a background color that is dark.
- Repeat colors, elements, and textures throughout the album. - Try and stick to no more than 2 different fonts for your journaling.

- Fill 2-3 pages of your album with full photographs that have creative crops.

You don't have to use this way, it's just the way I look at it, and it works. You all know I can't put myself in a box and say "I only create simple pages" or "I only create fantasy pages." Oh no. I want to do both and whatever other style I feel inspired to work with. And this approach seems to create a more balanced project.

A couple of hybrid mini albums.

A finished one with my daughters funny faces, from last year. They had to be scraped!

Jacinda's Funny Face Files (click image to view album)

Here are few snippets of an album I started a year or so ago. I still haven't finished it! I'm like that with hybrid. If I don't finish it on the day then it will take ages to finish, because I find I loose my motivation,  because of the dragging out and cleaning up of supplies. (You don't get that with digital!) Just save and close.

Any way here are a few pages from it...

It will be finished one day!

Tomorrow I will post my article on how to create flow in albums.

Another Finished Album...

 

MORE THAN EARTHLY TREASURES  - Here's the link
I will post a short article next week on how to create pages with flow and how I create my albums.

More than earthly Treasures - CREDITS   

Pg1
Background paper from My Tea Party Kit; Flower, Love rope and brad from Naturals Kit; Basket is a freebie from PixelCanvas; Brackets are a freebie from PixelCanvas.

Pg2
Everything from He's Royalty Kit

Pg3
Everything from He's Royalty Kit

Pg4
Background paper from Naturals Kit; Ruler rub on and stitch from School Days Kit; Page mask from Page Clipping Maks 01.

Pg5
Background paper, white button and frayed fabric from School Days Kit; Clipping Mask 02; flower from Pieces Of Me Kit; Script Brush Set 01; Dandylion Brush from Birgit's Early Fall Brush set.

Pg6
Background paper from The White Foundations Pk; Leaf, Star and Messy Stitching from My First Bike Kit; Clipping mask from Page Clipping Mask 02.

Pg7
Just a blowup of my photo.

Pg8
Blended Crinkle paper from My First Bike Kit. Template from Give Me Simple - 2 Pagers set 01(released next week)

Pg9
Background paper, butterfly, glitter twig from He's Royalty Kit; Stars and star paper from Safari Street Kit; Racing car (re-coloured) from Engines Ready Kit; Sprinkle Me Love Wordart from My Bucket Full Of Sunshine Kit.

Pg10
BAckground paper from Timeout Kit; Wordart from He's Royalty Kit; Frame from Jofia Devoe's Kit For A Cold Days Kit; Sparkle Sticks from He's Royalty Kit.

Pg11
Background paper from School days Kit; Pin Board and Poka dot bow from Catherine Designs; Yellow Plaid Paper from Bucket Full Of Sunshine Kit; Clouds and Hearts from Susan Designs Cloud Seven Kit; Beaded Wire from Purple Phase Kit; Ticket fro My Drama Queen Kit; Bird from He's Royalty Kit; Pin from Playing In The Snow Kit; Boats from Jofia Devoe's Kit For A Cold Days Kit; Umbrella from Paradiso Kit.

Pg12
RicRac from Woodlands Park Kit.

Pg13
Background paper from Pieces Of Me kit; Feather, Photo turn and corner leaves from Birgit and Catrine´s Carousel Kit.

Pg14 & 15
Background Papers from Pieces Of me Kit; Stitches By Syrin, Essentials pk and Amys Stitches Pk. Template from Give Me Simple - 2 Pagers set 01 (released next week)

Pg16
Background paper from The White Foundations Pk; Word Art from Bucket Full Of Sunshine Kit; Paper from Birgit and Catrine´s Carousel Kit; Heart from CD Muckosky's Woody Bits Pk.

Pg17
Background paper from The White Foundations Pk; Patterned paper from Jesse Edwards WhoopdeDoo Pk; Stitches from Amys Stitches Pk by Syrin; Flower from Love, Catscrap Collab Kit; Kite fabric Button form Jofia Devoe; Gem Stones from Bucket Full Of Sunshine Kit; dream Wordart from Wishes and Dreams Kit.

Pg18
Background Paper from Catrine's Explore Solids Nature; Doodle Frame Susan Design's Altarted doodled tags n frames Pk; Syrins Essentail Stitches' Twinklings from He's Royalty Kit; Leather flower, Leather leaf, flowers, button and sparkle wirls from Time Out Kit (released next week); mag wheel from Engines Ready Kit; Decorative grunge Swirls; Paper leaf (re-coloured) from My Drama Queen Kit.

Pg19
Bg paper and TIME Wordart from School Days KIT; Butterfly, embellished wire and glitter circle overlay (recoloured) Purple Phase - FULL KIT; Text Brush from Old Text - BRUSH SET; Stitches from Fun With Stitches Pk (not yet released); Frame and butterflies from White Chocolate Kit by Lily Designs.

Please dont join groups like this....

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ForbiddenFae/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1

Today I discovered that a few of my items are being illegally shared. Laura Wright, pspnuttz@gmail.com, is involved in distributing other designers work, and she's proud of it.
I know theres nothing I can do to stop people like laura. But maybe I can encourage people to stay away. It is theft. Before I entered the world of scrapbook designing I knew this sort of thing would happen. A lot of hard work and thinking goes into producing each kit. It bugs me when others have to pirate, copy or illegibly share. These people will never taste true success.Please.... please don't join groups like this.

OK moving towards more positive things!

Pioneer Women - http://thepioneerwoman.com/ Have you been to that site?
I was directed to it ages ago, like sometime last year and never had enough time to browse it. But today I was on it and, wow! I was so inspired! Ree Drummond, the lady behind the site is an inspiration. She's almost like (dare I say it) A cool version of Martha Stewart! I still love Martha, but I find I can relate to Ree Drummond more. Her photography is outstanding! A few that I love...

Photo Request - OK I have selected the photos I want to scrap with. Here they are...

Thanks to LDArtist

and I had to pick this one too. Thanks Barbara Soke

Check out what I do with these pics in a few weeks time!



Here are a few pages I created this week...
Time

Credits

My A+ Student

Credits

Its a public holiday for us tomorrow, so today is like a Friday. YAY! Have a wonderful weekend everybody!

The winner of the blog challenge....

First I want to show you all the pages that caught my attention. And if I could, I would have chosen all of the below.  They are all outstanding. Thank you to everyone that submitted!

By jencrutcher

By Limaa

By Shellsurfer

By Alice

By crystalbella77

But there can only be one winner and the team voted.....

Limaa! Congratulations! A voucher is coming your way!