October Retreat, Part 1

October has been and gone and so has our fabulous October Retreat!

Fleur high-tailed it off to Vietnam within days of the retreat, and I've been madly trying to recover from the craziness of retreat preparations, and get all of our new stock onto our Webstore, so I didn't quite get to blogging about our wonderful weekend yet. (BTW, we have 115 new products in the store as I type, and there are more to come!)

It's 2 years since Fleur and I hosted our first Retreat, with about 20 scrappers (and us!) plus 3 tables of stock. I'm overwhelmed & giddy when I think about how we've grown - 43 scrappers joined us this Retreat (and 55 back in May!).  And we have SO. MUCH. STUFF. I think it took 8 cars to get everything to The Tops this time around. CRAZY.

A few shots of the shop set up

So much cardstock!

I was so excited by our shop set up this retreat!

Since we were so close. we had a Halloween theme, complete with a costume party on Saturday night. Such great costumes! It was fun scrapping with witches, devils, one angel, and even Maleficent! Loads and LOADS of group photos were snapped, and a few classic ones of the Dizzy Izzy team, where we couldn't quite work out where to look....

Robyn gets into character.... 

Check out our facebook page for more photos...

This retreat we had 6 challenges that scrappers could choose to enter. As always, the level of talent in the room was unbelievably high.  I'm so glad we have a peer voting system for the challenges, I would never be able to pick just one!

Congratulations to our winners - especially Sylvia, who joined us for the first time but made a big splash by winning 3 challenges!

Top row , l-r: BoBunny Challenge (Sylvia), 3x4 Journal Card (Karen) Sketch 1 (Sylvia)
Bottom row, l-r: Sketch 2 (Carolyn), The Colour Purple (Sylvia), Recipe Challenge (Michelle)

Stay tuned for more blog posts all about our classes and our awesome Treat Bags!

Happy Scrapping,


Tracey* xox

Scrapping On the Go

As soon as I saw the Amy Tangerine Travel Kit, I knew I would LOVE it.

I just needed to wait for the perfect opportunity to try it out. When my hubby dragged me along to a gaming convention called PAX in Melbourne with our friends, I knew my time had come!

Amy Tangerine Travel Kit Contents

  The Travel Kit comes complete with tools & fun things like rounded scissors, 2 types of adhesive (glue stick & runner), a self inking date stamp, needle & thread, label stickers, and a mini stapler! And it comes with a durable bag to store it in! Pretty much all you need to scrap on the go.

I knew we would be picking up lots of 'swag' (ie freebies), plus advertising, business cards, and who knows what else, so I decided to use a mini album to note down journalling, store any memorabilia we wanted to keep, and later be able to add a few photos to complete it.

My supplies - trying to be prepared for any crafty situation

I chose an Amy Tangerine Day Book from my stash, and decided to add some other supplies like alpha stickers, some stamps, a 6x6 paper pack, tags and of course some washi tape (which came in handy - see below) to add to my travel kit. Everything here except the day book fitted neatly into the bag, which took up hardly any room in the suitcase.

PAX was pretty crowded, but there was certainly lots of opportunities to collect swag and create memories. It was fun following Matt around, picking up fliers and freebies relating to the games we tried out. The stands that gave away flair badges were particularly popular, though I doubt others were grabbing them because 'flairs are so hot right now'.

On the last day of the convention, while Matt and our friends played some board games, I started to create my album. It was fun scrapping in an unusual environment. Very different to being at home or at a Crafternoon. I was glad I prepared by bringing some papers and extra items, and it pushed me to create differently, but I can recommend it especially if you are away on family holidays or travelling and want to get a little bit crafty.

Multitasking - Scrapping & playing Alhambra

I'm pretty sure I'm the only one scrapbooking!

Oh, and the washi tape? Came in handy when someone tried to steal our number plate and we needed a quick fix to keep it attached until we could get it repaired.

Is there nothing this awesome product can't handle?

Happy Scrapping!

Tracey* xox

The layout that went VIRAL!

For those of you at our May retreat you may remember that the very talented Ange created a stunning layout based on the work of  Amy Mallory titled "Red Sox Love" which appeared in Creating Keepsake Magazine.

Red Sox Love

Here is Ange's take on the layout.

You are loved

and here''s what our secret squirrel scrappers created .....

A wall of inspired layouts

A Chinese whispers version of scraplifting as Ange's original layout was copied by scrapper after scrapper around the room. Ange had no idea her scraplift had gone viral through the room until a display was made of all the scraplifts at the end of the room. This inspired an impromptu judging by Ange who awarded Misty a prize for her interpretation of the lift. In honor to Ange's great work all of the entrants created a special grab bag of odds and sods and challenged Ange to make a layout using only what was in the bag. Perhaps if we ask really nicely Ange might let us share that layout on the blog as well.....


Fleur x

Online: All Bo Bunny Products 50% Off!

Make sure to stop by the webstore to pick up some BoBunny paper and embellishments while they are 50% off! This special will only apply until Friday 27th September 2013, so get in quick!

Getting INKY with DYLUSIONS

Dylusions have finally arrived in the Dizzy Izzy store and the very talented Kate Ramsey and I have been having so much fun playing with them! Talk about inky fingers!!!

You can find the full range of Dylusions at the Dizzy Izzy webstore where we have the sprays at a rock bottom introductory rate of $6.50 (rrp $8) until 14 September.

I've shared a few of our layouts below as a little Dyspiration!

'Bertie Beetle' by Fleur

Right Now - by Kate 

So Silly by Kate

This is life - by Fleur

Time Flies - by KAte

Scrap Your Stash Recipe Challenge - Winners

Hi all,

just popping in tonight regarding our most recent Dizzy Izzy Challenge - 'Scrap Your Stash Recipe Challenge'.

We had two gorgeous entries in this months competition;

This first entry is from Gillian Hume

This second entry is from Kerrie Hartin

It was too hard for us to choose just one winner so we have decided to send both Kerrie and Gillian a prize for their efforts this month. Well done to both of you on great layouts and for taking up the challenge! We are sending both Gillian and Kerrie an embellishment pack of approximately $25 retail value!!

Stay tuned for another competition being announced in the coming weeks.

Enjoy this last week of winter - Spring is just around the corner :-)

Fleur

De-constructing Project Life!

Its been hard not to miss all of the hype surrounding project life especially in the lead-up to its release for general retailers in Oz. For the past little while it was mainly a phenomenon in the USA and for those of you who follow some of the celebrity scrapbookers such as Amy Tangerine or Ali Edwards I am sure that you have seen some stellar examples of their take on Project Life.


So what is Project Life? - Lets go through the concept just to make sure we are all clear!!!!

Project Life has been designed by Becky Higgins as a way to simplify the scrapbooking process. Becky's view is that she has taken the hard work out of scrapbooking by designing all the ""bits" (including the layout of your page).  It is meant to be a back to basics approach for the complete novice or scrapbook guru where you can display your photos with as little or as much detail. The way that you may see many scrappers using the system is via a week at a time approach, however it is pretty easy to adapt this system in any way you see fit.

Ok - so I've been hanging out to try this system simply because I've had a project in mind. I want to record the journey of our house as it changes through the years. I've been taking photos as we do various bits and pieces around the place. So here comes the challenge for me. Simplifying things is not my forte and I'm a more is less kinda gal but I'll see how I go. I'm also not so great with ongoing projects but hopefully I can stick with this and make it work with my hectic schedule.

For my Project Life I am using the Becky Higgins Kraft  core kit, the big variety pack #1 of page protectors and a D ring album.

Ok so with a glass of red in reaching distance - I'm all set to go!!!! Let's crack the kraft kit!!!

Ok - inside the core kit you have 616 cards in a combination of 4 x 6, 3 x 4 sizes. Some cards have been specifically designed to be first page or last page cards while others show suggested layout placement.

Inside the page protectors box you get 60 page protectors in 6 different styles so 10 of each.

So now the assembly begins! Let's see how easy this really is!!!

So with the assistance of a kind helper (a.k.a hubby dearest) it appears that this process may work in terms of my poor time management. My downfall will be keeping up with the journalling - but perhaps that's a good on the train job?

So here is my first completed page - with some embellishment.  I just couldn't help myself!! I made the disclaimer earlier I am a more is less kinda girl!

Tracey has recently added all our our Project Life products to our webstore http://www.dizzyizzyscrapbooking.com.au/ .

I'm interested to hear your project life journey's - how are you using it to suit your lifestyle? Please comment in the links below, tag us in pics via facebook (dizzy izzy scrapbooking) or send photos to dizzyizzy@y7mail.com

Happy Project Lifing!

Fleur x

NEWS: Webstore Sale!

It's our first web sale!

Woohoo!

From 10am Friday 9th August until midnight Sunday 11th August you will be able to pick up patterned paper at cardstock prices! 

Thats right - all patterned paper on our webstore will be 80c per piece! Bargain!

While you browse our beautiful new webstore, don't forget about the 'Click & Pick' pickup option for postage - awesome if you are local to the Shire or Wollongong.

NOTE: the webstore will be offline from approx 10pm Thursday night until the sale begins at 10am Friday morning so that we can prepare for the sale. 

Happy shopping!

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

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

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