Friday, July 26, 2013

A Pop of COLOUR!

So it's been a while between my day job and all that other stuff that gets in the way I really haven't had much time to post. So today I want to catch up and share some layouts I've recently created using the Heidi Swapp color pop and color shine products.

Oh and a little disclaimer before we go on - I apologise for the interchangeable use of color (the American version) and colour in this post - it was a hard one for me to get my head around as being an American designer Heidi refers to her products as color pop.

In this layout you can see that I've used the Pink Pop resist paper and applied Color Shine to get three different variations which coordinated with the colours in the photo. I used the Black Pop paper to cut out the chevrons.

To get the splatter effect I removed the top of the bottle of the spray and then held the top in my hand and flicked it across the page until I got the desired result. You can see that I've used the same technique below.

So this background completely happened by accident. You know - one of those circumstances where your mistake turns into a masterpiece (well that's what I like to think )! I got my lovely white background dirty so I ended up using the Color Shine mists until I got a result that I was happy with. I layered up a mix of Amy Tangerine - Yes Please and Color Pop papers along with some of the coordinating color pop tags, and Pink Paislee's resist Artisan Hearts.

It pretty amazing to see the large number of products that now incorporate a resist surface so that you can use your mists, inks, sprays and paints to create coordinating pieces. I love this trend and I'm looking forward to seeing how its been adapted in some of the latest CHA (craft and hobby association) releases.

Before I go I want to give a big shout out to my friends Suzie and Taner who have let me use these gorgeous photos of their girls!

Wishing you all a lovely weekend and of course Happy Scrapping!!!

Fleur x

Friday, July 12, 2013

Scrap Your Stash Recipe Challenge

It's been a while since we had an online challenge - with so many Crafternoons on we've certainly gotten busy!

I'm still on my never ending quest to clean up my scrap area and make it a more inspiring environment to achieve more scrapping goals. I'm sure there are a lot of you out there who can sympathise with my hoarding... ahem... 'holding on' to papers and embellishments until the 'perfect' page comes along. It's one habit that I am working hard to break, so to help you (and me!) here is another 'Scrap Your Stash' Challenge.

Your layout can be on any topic you would like to scrap, simply make sure you have the following ingredients on your page.



You can add ink, pen, and any letters you wish.

The main criteria for this challenge is to use your stash! That's right - all of your papers and embellishments must come from your scrapping supplies. Use your scraps, offcuts and half opened packs. NO MORE saving those papers for 'special'. Use them! Every layout is special!

The details - 
- entries must be in by 7pm 28th July 2013 11th August 2013 (deadline extended!)
- To enter, please email a photo of your layout to dizzyizzy@y7mail.com Please try to reduce the size of your photo to no more than 700 pixels. You can find details on how to reduce the size of your photos at www.shrinkpictures.com
- The winner will be announced here on the blog and on our facebook page after a brief judging period 

The Prize
A lovely kit of BoBunny papers, matching cardstock and ribbon (photo to come!)


Happy Scrapping!

Tracey xox

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

May Retreat, Part 2

A certain webstore has had us a little distracted lately, so forgive us for the lateness of this post. 

~~~~~

An extra 24 hours of scrapping meant an extra bunch of classes and scrap challenges. Altogether across the weekend there was 12 classes to choose from, and a total of 12 challenges to try your hand at.

This retreat our classes ranged from simply recreating a beautiful page, to a class making handmade layered embellies, to beyond the page wall art and bespoke gift album. We even had a card class!




Congratulations to all of our challenge winners and check out their winning submissions. The level of entries seems to increase dramatically each retreat, I'm sure it was hard to vote with so many outstanding pages being entered!














Thanks to all our our helpers and teachers - without you our weekend wouldn't run as smoothly as what it did. And thanks to our lovely scrapping community - we love hosting you all at our events. Our scrappers are what make our events so enjoyable, because we get to spend time with the most amazing and inspiring women. THANKYOU!

Our next Retreat is a 2 night stay in the lovely Acacia building at Stanwell Tops, October 25-27. Make sure to book your place early to avoid missing out!

There is one more post to come... about a certain layout that happened to go viral... stay tuned

Monday, July 8, 2013

We're Online!

(Finally!)

It has been the best/worst kept secret around - our 'secret project' that wasn't.




To say we are excited about this next step is an understatement.

Building a solid, secure webstore is a huge task - but the effort has all paid off. I'm so proud of our little store.

You can now shop with Dizzy Izzy from home in your P.J's (as opposed to in your P.J's at Retreat!) and we will ship it straight to you!

Live locally and want to pick it up from one of our Crafternoon's or Retreats - just choose the Click & Pick option to save on postage! Simple!

We have a wide selection of our stock uploaded onto the store, including some items that are available online only. Not of of our stock has been (or will be) uploaded though, so there will always be something new to see at our events.

If you have any questions about anything store related, send me an email to our new store address: dizzyizzyscrapbooking@gmail.com

Happy scrapping!
See you online!

Tracey xox

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

May Retreat, Part 1

Here is the first of a few posts about our May retreat.

The theme for our May Retreat was Beautiful Basics - a focus on using things stamps, templates, punches, cardstock in new ways.

This was our first ever 3 night Retreat and we started with 25 scrappers arriving on Thursday night. By 7pm Friday, a total of 56 lovely scrappers had joined us at Stanwell Tops for a weekend of relaxation and creativity.

Once the scraproom was full and the shop all set up, it was go, go, GO! for the rest of the weekend. Games, classes, massages, our Dizzy Izzy team were never still for long!




Thursday night scrappers had a few little treats just for them - goodie bags filled with lollies and embellies, perfect to get started, plus 2 exclusive challenge competitions.


Once everyone had arrived and settled in on Friday night, there were MORE goodies to hand out - calico bags filled with treats!


The weekend seemed to fly by, but we did manage to squeeze in a few surprises. And our scrappers even managed to surprise us!


Ange's page managed to 'Go Viral' and be scrap lifted across the room, inspiring it's own mini scrap competition and sparking an idea for a new challenge at the next Retreat!  Stay tuned for a blog post all about this to come!


Saturday night we managed to relax even more (if that was possible after those heavenly massages) and everyone dressed down for the pyjama party. The appearance of quite a few 'onesies' sparked a mini photo shoot with hilarious results.


Embellished PJ's just for the retreat!!!

Stay tuned for more Retreat Highlights!

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Crafternoon Soup - Gingered Red Lentil & Sweet Potato

We have had quite a few requests to share the recipes for the soups we serve at the Crafternoons.

Here to start us off is the Gingered Red Lentil & Sweet Potato Soup from the April Crafternoon. I had never cooked this one before, and I was surprised at how simple it was to make and how delicious it turned out to be. Smooth and spicy, topped with a fried onion garnish, you are bound to love it.

I used my slow cooker (it's the best thing in the world for soups, simply prepare and then leave them to cook for you for the rest of the day) but you could easily adapt this to the stove top.  I also didn't add as much milk as in the recipe, only about half as much, so my suggestion would be to add to taste. Don't forget to rinse your lentils thoroughly before you add them and to skim the film off the top of the soup periodically as it cooks.

Gingered Red Lentil & Sweet Potato Soup

Gingered Red Lentil & Sweet Potato Soup

(from 'Ultimate Slow Cooker' by Sara Lewis)

Serves 6
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking Temp (slow cooker): low & high

1 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 t fennel seeds, cushed
4cm fresh root ginger, peeled & finely chopped
900ml vegetable or chicken stock (I used vegetable)
500g sweet potato, diced
150g red lentils
300ml full fat milk
salt & pepper

To garnish
2 T olive oil
1 onion, thinley sliced
1 t fennel seeds, crushed
1/2 t ground cumin
1/4 t ground turmeric
1 t caster sugar

Step 1

Preheat the slow cooker if necessary - see the instructions.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and fry, stirring, for 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add the garlic, fennel seeds & ginger, & cook for 2 minutes.

Step 2

Add the stock and salt & pepper and bring to the boil. Put the sweet potato & lentils in the slow cooker pot, pour over the hot stock mixture, cover & cook on low for 6-8 hours or until the potato & lentils are soft.

Step 3

Puree the soup in batches (I used a stick blender directly in the slow cooker, but beware of splashing) & return it to the slow cooker. Stir in the milk & cook on high for 15 minutes.

Step 4

Meanwhile, make the garnish. Heat the oil in a clean frying pan, add the onion and fry over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until softened. Stir in the spices & sugar, increase the heat slightly & fry for 5 more minutes or until golden brown.

Step 5 

Ladle the soup into bowls & sprinkle the spicy onions over the top. Serve with warm naan bread.


Enjoy!
Tracey xoxox



Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Adventures in SE Asia Travel Album Pt 3: Thailand

So here is my final installment in this series of my travel adventures in SE Asia. What a great trip! I can't wait for the next one. Hubby and I are thinking Vietnam in October as he hasn't had a chance to visit and there is so much more to explore!

Ticket stubbs also make great embellishments -
a lot of them will have information, the date and of
course the correct spelling of the places you have visited.

Did I say I love the WRMK page protectors! - lol.
I used the Amy Tan roller date stamp on a lot of  my pages
- it made for very simple journalling. I have also found
the Amy Tan love-struck stamps (flower & camera) to be
super versatile.
For a lot of the embellishments I cut elements from
the paper lines then added a
bit of mounting tape to the back. 

Fleur x