Wedding Day Happiness

Here in Melbourne it was Grand Final Day yesterday and, regardless of who is playing, we always watch it.  We took the boys to the Royal Melbourne Show in the morning to keep them happy, so they didnt complain too much at us watching the footy.
I'm not a fan of just sitting watching so I got some more pages done for My Story.....pages of my wedding. Such a happy and fun day that I couldn't fit this day into just one layout.......so here's what I ended up with.  Still fairly simple....the 12x12 pages of my wedding day are much more detailed!

 

Lead up the the ceremony.......we got ready upstairs at the hotel, so just had to take the lift down and through the lobby out onto the deck.....Novotel Wollongong...

And here are snaps from the ceremony itself...

We had photos taken on Wollongong beach......shoes off everyone!

And then the reception started....

.....the partying was great!

Still love looking at the memories!

A Productive 2 weeks

Last weekend I scrapped instead of adding to the blog...so I got a few of the more difficult pages done.  Not difficult in terms of subject matter, just difficult in that there were odd photos, they didn't match etc.  Solution was to concentrate on putting them in, and using bright multi coloured papers to go with them.
First up......the NAB Bank Staff Ball 1997....good night, great friends!

Followed by random photos...of things that were significant in 1997 and 1998 (aside from those with the ex in them)

And then came.....my fist big trip to Europe (which I have 2 very full photo albums for already)

and the NAB Bank Ball 1999....

End of 1999 spent visiting good friends before I moved to the UK....

The start of my big adventure.....training in Boston, winters day in London (again...another 2 full albums for that time away)

And the Cambridge Xmas Party 2000....those were the days....

Top right is me and my now hubby.....so the last 12 years we have lots of photos of our time together.....pages from here in will just be snippets of the really big moments!

Scrapping Exes

While scrappying 'My Story' I kept the photos of my ex-husband to a minimum......not really good memories to look back on.
But this week I was up to a couple of years in my life that included an ex-boyfriend. Apart from the break-up, the time together was very important to me and I have lots of good memories.
So, I selected photos that represented the really good memories. And rather than use lots of different papers and things, I used the Teresa Collins 'Tell Your Story' range......perfectly suited to PL style layouts as it has 6x4 Title Cards and 3x4 journal cards (although all the titles are horizontal and all the journal cards are vertical...fine for some pages but not for others. As well as the cards I used the 6x6 paper pads, and the co-ordinating layered butterfly stickers, washi tape, cardstock stickers and cardstock die cuts and flashcards (what didn't I use???)
Here's what I ended up with after a very productive week.....just journalling to go.....

And after that busy week I doubt that this week will be as productive......I got one page done this morning but have been taking some time out to read a book the rest of the day....bliss.

Approaching 30.......

Last weekend my hubby and eldest son went to Gladstone for 4 days, leaving Samuel (5) and I home alone.  Thursday I worked from home and got caught up on all the housework....leaving Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning free for scrapbooking.
Luckily Samuel is happy to sit and do his own art work with me, or sit and watch kids shows while I scrap.
So, I did some traditional layouts, and some more pages for "The Story of Me".....
First up....friends from NAB, my dog "Mouse" and me being bridesmaid at my sisters wedding...and a road trip across the Nullaboor...There wasnt a lot to see!

Then a trip to NZ to be bridesmaid at my best friend Rachel's wedding...

Next up....photos from my return to Melbourne after separating from my husband and Perth....catching up with friends on the first page, then my housewarming party on the second. (and first use of non 12x12 pages to fit the photos I had)

And finally.....photos from my 30th.....and doesn't that seem like a 1/3 of a lifetime ago....probably cause it is.  That year was the start of lots of good new beginnings.

 

This weekend I will tackle photos from the my 30s.  And this is where SO MUCH happened.  So I'll just be adding selected photos (or I'll be here forever lol).

The Story of me

So, I tried to start some "everyday" pages in PL but just wasn't ready.  I think I need to look at some more online material to get some ideas for WHAT to include.  Cause I know my weeks are pretty much the same as the previous one and the same as what the next one will be. 
I decided that the whole idea was to focus on me...and what better way to do that than tell 'The story of me'.  I've always had old photos of me, my friends etc in a photo drawer (they were in an album until that album started looking shabby) so i thought I would start at the beginning....these photos were taken when I was 6 weeks old and are the earliest ones my parent had of me.

 

 

 Followed by some photos 'when i was a young girl'.  As you can see, these make a double page....which is how the large majority of my traditional scrapping is done. The 70s have a lot to answer for in terms of clothing, hairstyles etc.

For some favourite photos from my early teenage (ie high school and start of uni) I wanted some bright cheerful colours and again, these are a double page in the album.

Next up.......some fav shots of my parents on the left hand page, and me on the other.....my first trip to Oz (this was Newcastle), studying was a big part of life as well. 

And then the 'difficult years'.....I had the red dress made for my 21st.....loved it! The other photos are from my first few years living in Oz....photos with my first hubby....prefer not to include them but I love me in the photos....and that part of my life won't be erased...and I wouldnt have taken the paths that I have taken if that hadn't been what it was.

So, that't the first 23 years of my life covered........lots more to come!

My First PL Pages.....

Well, it was a bit harder than I thought putting my first pages together.  I knew what I wanted, thought it would be pretty quick...but it wasn't.

I started with the title page....first go the title upper left was too plain...then I didn't know what photos but eventually this was what I finished with.
Next page was about receiving the PL goodies......

an extra photo, a PL title card and the addition of some SU paper, a butterfly and some pearls....moving away from straight PL already!
Next up was a page about Me....after all, this is what I want to use PL for..my story rather than pages just focusing on my boys and family.

As you can see....I have used two PL journalling cards which I stuck onto SU papers, and the rest is SU, thickers for the title, ribbons and pearls plus another butterfly to tie the two pages together as they open up together.  (i was a little disappointed there were no landscape journalling cards in the core kit and didnt want to use blank ones, hence why i have journalled the way I have and added a stamped quote and a rub on statement in the smaller pockets).
And then on to the next double pages....my craft room before and after.  Again, this was something I did so that I could do my PL stuff in a relatively small space......well, sometimes anyway!

And as you can see.....pages 4 and 5 not a PL item in sight!  As I wanted to tie in and emphasis the papers I used on my OTP items it was easy enough to make up all my cards using leftovers in the same range.
Sorry if the photos are a bit blurry, using the compact camera at night so I can get this done...never the same quality!.

Thanks for stopping by,

Amanda

The Project Life Core Kit

So, I was pretty excited to get the two Becky Higgins Project Life Core kits and couldn't wait to open them and see all the lovely items inside.
But then I opened them......and, hate to say this, but I was a little underwhelmed and disappointed.
When I read about what you get in the kits, and the whole rationale behind Project Life I thought it would be a great way to supplement my "traditional" scrapping...which take a lot of time and really focuses on the creative side of things rather than journalling.
Maybe it's just me......maybe its because I have been lucky enough in my scrapping to date to be able to use a lot of different products.....but I just expected more variety I think.
Here's what I got in the Clementine core kit (note that I have the 'older' style of core kit.....not sure if the newer ones are any different)...

There were some things I loved.....the title cards (4 "first" page and 4 "last" page in each of 4x6 and 3x4 sizes)....although they indicate for start and end of an album...so why do you need more than 2?  I will be happy enough to ignore the fact they are "first" and "last" page and use them where I please.
The sticker sheets.....arrows, numbers, days, colour and clear.....(I think these are removed from new kits)....although would have been nice to have more variety in the colour of the arrows!

The grid journal cards.....these are great cause you can use as they are or add your own decoration to them.
The 'fold over journalling cards'....these are 4x6, but with a fold down the middle so that you can write lots and then put the card into a 3x4 space. Decorated on both sides........you get 8 of each design...and thats where I start to get disappointed.  I'm not a fan of duplication in my scrapping.
Title cards....you get 6 each of 10 designs in 4x6 size....i guess to use for each layout if you are doing week by week with some spares......again....duplication!

What i call 'filler' cards.... 3x4 size, decorative only.....again 6 each of 10 designs...so more duplication.
3x4 decorative journalling cards....I guess the 'key' to it all....write about your photos, your life.  The kits I got have 380 of these cards, packed into 4 very cute card boxes....like a standard deck of cards.  BUT.....and this is a big BUT..... there are 19 each of 20 designs.....way too much duplication for me!

Yes, I know that these allow you to mix and match, and when you add photos and your journalling no two pages will look the same................but i will KNOW about the duplication.

So......what to do?  Well, a couple of things.  I have already made a couple of 'mini' kits containing some of each of the items in the core kit, and sold them off to other people about to start PL.....one, this deals with the current situation of everything being on pre-order and two, it lets them see what is in the core kits and decide if it's what they want.
And.....I have already had fun creating some filler and journalling cards of my own.  I did this initially because I knew that I wanted my page about re-organising my scrap space to be co-ordinated with the range of papers I used to decorate my OTP items.  But I have to say, it was pretty easy to do, so I am likely to do a lot of "make my own" items, as I know a lot of other PL people do.
Anyway, that's my opinion of the core kit.  What's yours?
 
Happy scrapping,
Amanda

Craft Space...The After Shots!

Friday afternoon I started re-arranging.....starting with pulling things off my desk, from under my desk etc and then moving the desk and the other furniture for my corner.  Out of the closet and into the room (for the last few months my son has had his bed in the guest room as well as the normal bed, so there was no room for me) I went........(oh, except the closet is much roomier and still has all my non SU papers, pnches, SU ink, other inks, embellishments, and lots of other tools I just 'had to have'....this weekend that space will be re-sorted hopefully) and all of the lovely Kaisercraft storage and OTP items I decorated over the Xmas holidays could finally find a proper home.  Here's the corner view..

And the desk....under the desk is just my stampin up 12x12 cardstock and papers... I will use them one day...

and here is my guilty pleasure......thickers....the folders on left are smaller alphas, to the right is SU A4 cardstock.... the rest are thickers arranged by colour...

and here are closer views of the rest of my OTP items, now on the wall where they belong...(oh, and the CD tower holds my SU stamp sets......most yet to be used, one or two sets well used already.

Hello Piglet......this is my bit of whimsy in my space....hubby bought me quite a few of these collectibles over the years.  Sadly all but this one, my fav, are in the hall cupboard at the moment...

So, that's how my space looks......time to scrap!

PL Delivery.....

Thursday was a very exciting day.....look what arrived....all the goodies from Jess from the FB PL group!

Even my son got excited....and who wouldn't when the boxes were this big! Look what they contained.....