WELCOME

Thanks for taking the time to have a read of my Heart & Soul blog. You are welcome to leave a comment & any tips about scrapbooking or anything at all really!
LIVE WELL, LAUGH OFTEN, LOVE MUCH.
Happy Scrapping from Susan.

Monday, December 30, 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Well this is it....the year is almost over. We wish everyone a safe New Years Eve and wonderful things for 2014. I am looking forward to a few new changes and challenges next year and having fun while I am doing them! So what are your New Years resolutions or are you like me and don't make any! LOL! I have found a saying that suits what I intend to do, so here it is.
"Life is about using the whole box of crayons!".........and the paint and pencils too!



Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Merry Christmas



Wow only 1 sleep to go!!!!! How excited is everyone? My Christmas celebrations will be lasting over a week as we catch up with family and friends..I can't wait.
Memory Maze Designs keep coming up with such great designs and I love all their Christmas ones. I've been catching up on some old photos before the ones for this year are taken.
NAUGHTY OR NICE?
Both of the titles on this layout suit my husband and our sons!
Both of these titles go together quite well and the Santa stuck in the chimney was perfect to fit above our own fireplace in the photo! The frame was wrapped in Washi Tape.

This title comes already coloured in the green and applied glitter glue straight over the top. The tree was coloured in with marker pens then gems were adhered on it.

The Santa piece was coloured in with marker pens then coated with crystal glaze. The "snow" is Stickles in Picket Fence.
 

This title was painted with Smooch in Siren, Green and Solar Gold.

The swirl was misted in gold then embossed in patches with gold embossing powder. Clear Utee was embossed over the whole piece to make it nice and shiny.
All these pieces were quick and easy to do and very effective.
MEMORY MAZE PRODUCTS USED
Santa let me explain KW006
Naughty or nice CO093
Tree CO096
Santa in Chimney
Frame
Swirl LO057
 
Other Products used
Kaisercraft Christmas Carol collection-Away In A Manager, Graphic 45 Christmas Past- Letter to Santa
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CHRISTMAS

I love the snowflake frame with the inner frame as part of the set. As Christmas in Australia is hot I decided to make the colours I chose warm and not the cool ones normally associated with snow.
The frame was misted with Perfect Pearls Mist in Heirloom Gold then sprayed in patches over the snowflakes with Radiant Rain Mist in Persimmon and Solar gold. Small pearls were stuck in the middle of the snowflakes.

Since the frame is quite elaborate I kept the embellishments simple to balance it all out. I sprayed white flowers with the same mists so they would match in perfectly.
MEMORY MAZE PRODUCTS USED
Christmas Frame
Other products used
Flourish With A Bling-Chloe-Antique Gold, Green Tara
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MERRY CHRISTMAS
 
 
The frame was coated with Adiriondack dabber in pearl and the window in Distress Stain in black soot with Distress Stickles in gunmetal. The top part of the frame was covered in Petal Soft in polar white to make it look like snow had settled there. The snowflakes were base coated in Distress Stain in Brushed Pewter and Stickles in frosted lace were applied over the top. The Merry Christmas is already coloured so I  applied Distress Stickles in clear rock candy over the top.
 
 
Wishing everyone a very safe and Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2014.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Christmas Wishes

Wishing everyone a safe and very Merry Christmas.
I hope you all have some special memories to cherish this season......
and remember to photograph it all!!
 


Monday, December 9, 2013

December Goodies

It's how many days 'till Christmas!! I love this time of year and always take lots of photos so now I have a few Christmas albums. I have found that Memory Maze chipboard features in a lot of my layouts as it is so easy to work with and you can do so much with it.
Best Buddies
As I often take series of photos I like to make double layouts to fit in all the photos. These photos are of my husband and grandson and I love the interaction they are having.

I layered the fussy cut flowers with the chipboard pieces to create a frame around the photos.

This word banner is part of a set of 9 banners. I used marker pens to colour it in....quick and easy!

The large lily was coloured in with a marker pen to give it a base coat of colour then painted with glitter paint. The center was embossed with embossing powder.

The 2 corner pieces are from a larger set so you get lots of wonderful pieces. I embossed this with Distress embossing powder then embossed in patches with the glitter embossing powder for a rustic look.

Another quick way to embellish the chipboard is to ink it in one colour and then ink the edges in a darker colour to give it a shadow effect.
Memory Maze Products used
Lily (150x150) LO060
Swirl corners ZO029
Best Buddies SO048
 
Other Products Used
Kaisercraft Rhinestones & Just Believe-Hymn & Glisten, Christmas Carol-Away in a Manager.
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CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS
Each Christmas I like to make a decoration or two for our home. I used the same base piece for each of these decorations but did a girl and a boy theme. The other chipboard pieces are not Christmas themed but were painted to fit in with the decoration colours.

The decoration on the left was base coated in Distress Stain in brushed pewter. The frame was painted in Smooch-taffy and the swirl in Smooch-grape.
The decoration on the right was base coated in Distress Stain in tarnished brass. The star was made from a banner that was cut down and bent to create the star frame. It was coated with Radian Rain in spiced pumpkin. The small plaque was painted with Adirondack Acrylic dabber-snowcap. The numbers and the crown were painted with Smooch in blue and gold.
Memory Maze Products Used
Christmas Candel SO108
Frame
Small Swirl
Banner
 
Other products used
Ribbon, holly. paper flowers and angel.
 
With only a couple of weeks until Christmas I hope that these help to bring the Christmas spirit to you. Have a safe and Merry Christmas.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

24 Days To Go

This is the inspirational picture from Archiscraps for their December challenge. The added criteria is Christmas.

 Here is my take on this layout.
I used gingerbread as inspiration for the colours in the layout and the thin cork reminded me of gingerbread.
Happy scrapping and remember to take lots of photos this Christmas season.