February Crafternoon

Last Saturday was a great day to be inside and scrapping - wet and dreary - no sports or outdoor activities to distract and no jobs like washing getting in the way. Then it absolutely poured, and boy were we glad to be inside!

We braved the rain and headed to our lovely little hall at Caringbah to set up shop and scrap for  about 12 hours accompanied by some lovely scrappers.  Fleur and I even got be a little crafty!

Each scrapper received a lovely little Valentine, filled with lollies and hand made embellies. Aren't they just cute?

 Recent renovations to the hall meant that Fleur, Matt and I had to do a quick rethink as to how to set up the room and the shop, but I think it came up nicely. Do you agree?

Elaine checks out the cardstock tubs

Our sale racks for paper were full!

Of course, we had a few competitions, congratulations to Rachel and Belinda for being this months winners - as usual everyone does such lovely work its always hard to vote for just one!

Rachel won the Sketch comp!

Belinda won our Emboss or Stamp Competition!

I hope you will be joining us in March for the next Crafternoon. Email us or check our facebook page for more info!

Tracey* xo

I got published!

I am very excited and humbled that one of my beyond the page projects was selected for publication in this months edition of Scrapbooking Memories Magazine (Vol 15 #6).

The magazine only showed a few of the pages from my mini album and funnily enough Seanne (my best friend and subject matter for this project) and I both agree that they had the worst photo selection from the entire album. So I thought I would share some of the other pages with you.

I hid my journalling in this album so somewhere (somehow) on each page I have managed to disguise some special memories from 30 years of friendship.

Its been a little while waiting for this project to be published, however now that it is I am inspired to start submitting more of my work. If you ever want to submit your work to the magazine you just need to forward a photo in a jpeg format to submissions@scrapbookingmemories.com.au or you can post in originals (at your own risk). Generally the magazine seems to be on the hunt for engaging cover layouts (5"x7" photos) and beyond the page projects, however each month they do a call out for themed projects this month the themes are 'encore' (that means anything), 'digital', 'winter', 'sports & hobbies' and simple and stylish. Be sure to note the submission theme in the subject line of your email.

Another sweetener is that if your work gets published they will pay you a small amount - which means - more scrapping supplies! 

Happy scrapping all

Fleur x

February Crafternoon

Things have been a little quiet from us lately.

We are hard at work on some secret projects and can't wait till they are ready to announce.

In the meantime, are you joining us at our Crafternoon in Caringbah this Saturday? Fleur and I would love to craft with you. If you are interested, send us an email or leave a message on our Facebook page.

Happy Scrapping,

Tracey xxoo

Upcycling with Washi Tape

Recently my mother in law gave me some of her older Tupperware pieces. You know the ones - the large, white bowls with the white lids. From back in the days before Tupperware embraced colours. 

I haven't decided what I will do with the other pieces, but as soon as I saw this one I immediately thought:

Tupperfriends out there - what did this start its life as?

PENCIL HOLDER.

So I got out my washi tape and went to town, upcycling it to fit the decor of my (newly reorganised) scrap desk.

Which to choose? Which to choose?

Here's a few tips on how I did it.

Because the base was wider than my tape, i used a pattern that would blend when using a top and bottom layer. 

To get into the corners and other angles, I tore the tape or used small pieces that would get covered by the larger strips.

Rolling the washi tape over the lip ensures you cover it all
and gives it a neater finish

For the handle I layered long strips down the main part, and then wound pieces around the shaped handle. The washi tape was really forgiving so if I missed a spot I could just peel it back up have another go (or stick another piece over the top to cover my mistake) and with the cups back in the holder, noone will be looking to closely at the base (hopefully)

For the cups I kept it pretty simple and just put the tape along the top, folding it over as I went.

And there you have it - my upcycled pencil holder! 

Voilà!!! Totes cute!

I must say, it was fun and easy and I recommend using your washi tape hoard to change the look of your desk. I know there's a few of you out there with enough washi to wall paper a room! (Kate? Kristen? Anyone else?) If you do use washi to upcycle something, send us a photo and we will add it to the blog. 

Tracey's new pencil holder in action

Happy crafting, 

Tracey xox

It's A New Year!

Happy New Year!

The Dizzy Izzy Team had such a great 2012. I mean really, what an awesome year. So many lovely scrappers joined us at our Retreats and our new Crafternoons. How could it possibly get better?

2013 is going to be HUGE!

We have even more Crafternoons booked in for you to enjoy, including one in the Wollongong area for all our lovely scrappers from 'down south'. And our May Retreat is going to be epic - Thursday Night until Sunday afternoon! So many extra classes! Get into your scrapping groove earlier and still have time left to create!

We have more new Kits coming for our Kit-aholic scrappers. Watch out for new challenges and tips that we will be posting online to keep you (and us!) inspired.

Make sure to keep up to date with our news either via our blog here, our facebook page or our email newsletter (or all three!)

Oh, and a little birdie told me.... some big news is coming!

HAPPY 2013 from the Dizzy Izzy Girls!

Scrap Your Stash - Tracey's Pages

A while back I wanted to try to de-clutter my life, so I set myself a challenge to scrap and craft more and to use more of my stash. We had a little sketch competition here on the blog to try to help you all out there to clear your stash too!

I wanted to show you a couple of the pages (and a card!) that I created based on the sketch from the comp - hopefully you will be inspired to get more done! Leave me a comment below to tell me what you have been up to lately or what you think of the pages.

Because I was limited in what I could use (I told myself to use open packs, off cuts and scraps) I found that my pages came together quicker. NO hours of agonising if this was the right tone, or wondering if I used a different pattern would the page seem less busy. And because I had my design already done, all I had to do was work out if I was using the sketch straight up, or flipping it in some way! Easy! This also meant that I played with things I haven't used in a while, like rub-ons, letter stickers, and stamps.

The first page was a bit of a tribute to my dog Wendal, who passed away earlier this year.

Next is a page for my American Holiday album. If you've scrapped with me any time over the past few years, you will know I've been working on this album for a LOOOOOONG time, so anything to help get the pages done quicker is awesome!  I wanted this page to be all black and white, but the photos had a creamy-yellow tone so I pulled in some other neutrals to make it work. Even thought the photos are blurry and not the best, they are the only ones I have so they are still making it to the album.  I try not to limit myself to only scrapping perfect photos - I'm not a perfect photographer so I would have nothing to scrap if I did! If it captures the moment and the emotion of the event I use it no matter what. 

I'm really not a card maker, probably because I'm not much of a card user. I'm pretty famous for forgetting cards at weddings and forgetting to send cards for birthdays. On the odd occasion that I do want to make a card, I find myself in a panic, 4 minutes before we leave the house, scrambling through some papers to try to put something together that fits the occasion.  So I'm trying to get a few cards made in advance that I can have in my card box, that simply need perhaps a stamp or sticker to make them suit the need. 

Happy Scrapping!

Tracey xox 

Goodie Box Fun!

Now its my turn to show you what I have been creating from the Retreat goodie box.

It was fun setting myself the challenge of highlighting what was in the box, and I was really pleased with what I was able to create and how much I was able to get out of it! With the addition of some cardstock, some mists and inks, and the use of tools like my sewing machine, stamps, cuttlebug and some templates, I was able to create 4 12x12 pages, a card and a mini album! AND I still have leftovers for more!

Check out my creations below, and be sure to leave me a comment with what you think! (Its a photo heavy post - sorry! But hopefully worth it!)

I used Amy Tangerine and Stamping Up stamps from my stash plus Die-Namics Dies in the cluster on the right.

I just love that rolled rose die!

Another page for my travel album - I covered some chipboard circles with washi tape for the flower centers. I'm really loving my sewing machine at the moment, you'll notice it on lots of my pages!

Another travel album page, this time from my first trip to the USA in 1995. Since I never scrap anything in order, I had never done anything with this photo, so I thought some paper strips and a chevron template might jazz it up. I've used those washi covered chipboard circles again!

This page turned out to be my favourite. I misted and dropped on the background with Heidi Swapp Primrose Color Shine, hand sewed the little heart and machine sewed the border. Done!

I did a quick card, ready to be pulled out of my card box and have a sentiment added when I need it, using one of the pre-cut dies we included in the goodie box and the same chevron template from the zoo page above - yes, I hand drew the chevrons and the the little pink dots!

Last but not least I have a little clear Kaiser mini album that's been sitting in my stash waiting for me to do something with it. Now I have a gift album thats just waiting for me to add photos and a few extra embellishments and its a perfect handmade gift for Christmas or a birthday and I am already halfway there!

 

Happy Scrapping!

Tracey xo