Not Quite Halloween

My eldest daughter Mackenzie is OBSESSED with all things scary, spooky, gory, gross, bloody. You get the picture. She has been on at me for a couple of years to celebrate Halloween but because I was brought up with proper puritan Aussie values, that is a mother who convinced me that Halloween was just a load of imported American rubbish I have consistently said NO!

Well this year she got one, sort of. On a technicality. When I asked what kind of party she wanted for her 6th Birthday, in May, without a moments hesitation she responded, "A halloween party". So she got a Halloween party in May! Actually it was heaps of fun dressing up and trying to scare everyone. Don't tell my mum but I think I quite like Halloween now, sure its a load of imported American rubbish, but its fun!

As with most birthday party I took heaps of pictures so invietably the layout is a double. Not my favourite style of layout but I'm coming around to it!

If you celebrate Halloween this Monday have a great time collecting all your treats and dishing out all your tricks!

Stuck Sketches October

I managed to do both of the Stuck Sketches this month and the bonus was they both featured circles and I am mad for circles!

The October 1st sketch

I changed up the sketch a bit because I am obsessed with 8.5"X11" at the moment! I tried to stick pretty closely to the sketch which wasn't hard because it was a great sketch.

Another photo of a sleeping child! I used a good mixture of new and old papers for this layout and managed to use up lots of little scraps. Will definetly use this sketch again!

The October 15th Sketch

This time I stayed true to the 12x12 and pulled a very old photo out of the family vault.

This is my gorgeous sister in law Maxine. She was only 10 or so in this photo and she was the shyest child. She would hardly speak and she was so unsure of herself. But she is all grown up now and she is the most brave, wonderful, confident, beautiful girl, no woman!

I ended up being pretty happy with this layout which is always a nice feeling! I just loved the colour and the sort of retro vibe with the old photo.

Scrap the Girls -October

The challenge for October at Scrap The Girls was to create a layout with the word ‘love’ in the title and to use ‘distressing’ on your layout.

The title "Could not Love her more" stems from the fact that this kid rarely sleeps! When she finally drops at the end of the night and I can relax I feel such love for her!

Angry Boy

My son used to be the most lovely, quiet content boy in the whole world. Then he turned 3! His hormones are so out of control. He gets so angry and aggressive. I have been reassured that it is perfectly normal, but I want my lovely, content, QUIET boy back!

Show us your Stuff - October

The first challenge of the month at SUYS is a sketch challenge.

This is the sketch

The additional TRY IT technique was YARN PLAY! Yikes - I do not knit, do not crochet! But I do have a ball (is that what there called?) of wool. My friends husband found it by the side of the road and bought it home. She took one look at it and thought of me! How sweet!

So here is my layout

I changed up the size of the layout and went with a 8.5"X11". Its my new favourite. Truth is I'm LAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZY and the smaller size is so much easier to work with. I find I am spending way less time moving embellies about and changing my mind. I also think it takes the 4X6 photo well too! And remember because I'm lazy I'm all about the 6X4 photo ;-)! And see that uber cool woollen (um probably acrylic) bow, well that's my YARN PLAY!

Kraft it Up - October

The challenge at Kraft it Up was pretty broad this month. Your layout needed to be created in one of the following styles; Monochromatic, Minimalist, Vintage/Romantic/Shabby Chic.

Guess which one mine is???

Pretty minimalist I reckon. I am LOVIN' these big photos. They'd be better if I could actually use PSE to do proper adjustments, like getting rid of the snot! Maybe one day!

White with One - October

I love doing the White with One challenges and this month's criteria was awesome.

White + Black + Paint/Mists

Here's what I came up with!

I love that stencil from The Crafters Warehouse and how cute is that camera stamp from Studio Calico!