Dress Ups - Scrap The Girls

Welcome to 2014!
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Do you have any new years resolutions? I have about 50 =/ One of which is to scrap more! So far so good. Which brings me to...
My first layout of the year! I think it is a good one.

Playin' Dress Ups (with nanna)

I love how different Chloe looks in each photo yet it is pretty much just a different hat and minus a skirt.

I was inspired by the current sketch challenge over at Scrap The Girls blog. A scrapping challenge blog that is dedicated to scrappy just the females in our lives!

This sketch went perfectly with these photos as I was able to split the page into two sections which reflect the two different photos, the soft pinks for the 'glam baby' and the wood with cassette tapes for the 'rock chick'. Sad to think Chloe is probably only going to see cassette tapes in museums...

In fact it was the cassette paper in the Websters Pages 'Recorded' line that prompted me to use almost entirely Websters products. All the papers are from Recorded collection and most embellishments from the Postcards From Paris 2 collection.

I played around with the papers for a long long time. Trying different boarder strips and switching the papers over trying to get the straight edge between the papers to work for me. Then inspiration hit. I decided to stagger the transition using the patterns themselves, pieces of wood and strips of 'arrows' overlapping.

So there it is. My first page of the year and hopefully a lot more to come!
Thanks for checking it out!
XoXoX Nicole.

Materials.
White cardstock.
Websters Pages - Recorded - Rewind
Websters Pages - Recorded - To The Point
Websters Pages - Recorded - Flashback
Websters Pages - Recorded - Heart Felt
Websters Pages - Postcards from Paris 2 - Word Stickers
Websters Pages - Postcards from Paris 2 - Tag & Prompt Stickers
Websters Pages - Postcards from Paris 2 -Chipboard Buttons
Websters Pages - Postcards from Paris 2 - Sentiment Stickers
Websters Pages - Postcards from Paris 2 - Charm Balloons
Skipping 5 - Puffy  Things
Pebbles - Gliter Candy Dots
Kaisercraft - Pearls
American Crafts - Thickers - Rockabye
American Crafts - Thickers -

Cuddlier You

Why hello there.
I have a layout to share today which touches on a not so happy moment. Well in fact it was pretty much the worst week of my life ever! It is the story of when Chloe was very sick and had febrile convulsions, they were scary!
I knew it was something that I wanted in her scrap album. It was after all a pretty big something that happened to her. But, like I said, it isn't a happy thing. And lets face it we all like to scrap the good times!! The perfect photos!!
So I continually put it off. That was until I saw this months challenge over at Once.. Upon A Sketch. The topic was 'Journey' and I had recently been talking about Chloes seizures with a friend and how I think she become a bit more affectionate after them. Finally I found a way to have a positive spin on it. So here it is:

The Journey To: A Cuddlier You

Not only did the topic of a journey make me think about this page but each month at Once Upon A... Sketch to journal topic, as the name suggests, comes with a sketch and this also made me think immediately about this story and the photos. The challenge can be found here.

The reason why the sketch jump at me for this layout is the detail in the background, it reminded me of the red plus sign usually associated with a hospital. So I decided to keep that idea going using a red and blue colour scheme like the emergency lights.

The 3 photos I have used are each a collage of the different stages in the story, they are not great photos and I didn't have that many to choose from, taking pictures wasn't really on my mind at the time. The first is Chloe at home on the Monday not looking well at all. The second is in the hospital ward with a Bert balloon that she choose from the gift shop, there were plenty of pretty girly/pink/princess type ones but she wanted the Bert and she loved that him! And the last is her playing in the Pediatric Ward. There are hidden tags behind each photo explaining this.

There are very few embellishments on the page, the story is kinda a design feature by itself. What is there was cut out when I was back home with my Aunts cricut (told you I had been thinking about doing this page for a long time)

I got to this point in the creation of my layout and considering leaving it there, it looks complete enough, possibly journalling on the back. But this time the story was more important to me then the photos. It is the size of an essay for journalling and is not going to win any type of writing award! Its just the facts of what happened. I did want to put feeling and my emotions into it but got teary enough just writing this much.

For those of you who are interested this is what the journalling says (feel free to scroll past though, its kinda long a tedious):
"As a baby you were not very cuddly. Not from lack of love, more the need to move and play. That was up until your first birthday. 
At your party you caught a very nasty flu and by Monday we were off to the Doctors. Panadol and rest were recommended which at first worked a treat but the second dose of Panadol came straight back up along with everything else. So in the bath with you. while getting dressed for bed Suddenly you went completely floppy! I desperately tried to catch your gaze but you stared blankly! It looked as though there was no life in you! My heart sunk! I called for daddy then frantically cuddled you while he rang 000. We followed their instructions and within a minute heard the sirens roaring to our place. 5 ambulances showed up, including one that had actually finished their shift. You had started to move again but your temp was 40.2oC. that is when you had your first ever ride in an ambulance. 
At Sutherland Hospital they told us about ‘febrile convulsions’ - seizures caused by a fever, you were given a different Panadol, some Neruofen and kept for observations until your temp went down. After what felt like forever you were given the all clear to head home with strict instructions to keep up the medication and you shouldn’t have any other seizure in the same illness. 
Dad stayed home from work Tuesday and the day went smoothly but again when getting you ready for bed you convulsed. This time a normal type seizure, full body shaking and jerking, eyes rolling and face going blue. I put you in the recovery position on the floor, assuring you (more myself) that you will be ok and once again dad stayed perfectly calm and called 000 and you got your second ever ride in an ambulance. The doc that night was not very helpful at all! She sent us home even before your temp was down. 
Wednesday went a lot like Tuesday but by this time we had noticed a pattern and it was happening again! So we drove ourselves to the hospital and sure enough your temp was super high again! Although after a few hours it was as if you had never been sick in the first place! “Maybe we over reacted”, home we went. Then that was the worst night ever! Your temp would NOT stay down, you were tired but couldn’t sleep, you wanted cuddles but body heat made you hotter, you needed assistance but had maxed the medication amount. I ended up trying to sleep with you on the floor of the bathroom with a wet face. Whenever I woke (which was a lot) you would be snuggled up to me hot again I’d have to move away and fan you, at one point I vaguely remember waking and seeing your limbs blue! 
When morning finally arrived we went to the usually docs office, you didn’t feel hot to me but the thermometer said 39.6oC. I shudder to think of how high your temp DID get! Dad and I made the decision to take you to the Royal Childrens Hospital. Unfortunately they were extremely busy and it was a long long wait. The entire time all you wanted to do was sleep on one of us, we could not put you down. You were paler then paper, your eyes were red and begun to ooze and you were completely lethargic. You got your first ever X-Ray and the docs agreed you were really sick but wanted us to head home and come back for a checkup tomorrow. This time Daddy was not taking that and insisted that we might aswell stay the night. They put a cannula in your hand (which was horrible to watch) and I asked them to check your temp again as it was around this time each day you were going downhill, reluctantly they did and sure enough it was spiking again. Finally they agreed it would be best to admit you however they were out of beds and we were sent back to Sutherland Hospital. 
The same nurse had been on each day and was disappointed to see that you hadn’t been admitted earlier. They set us up with a cot for you and couch for me in the Paediatric ward, it took you a long time to drift off I think from the discomfort of the cannula. We were both completely exhausted and with the comforting thought of doctors nearby we slept until 10.00am! After another smooth day they sent us home on a ‘leave pass’ so that if we had any concerns later on we would come back and by pass the emergency room. Thankfully we didn’t need it and over the next few days you steadily began to improve. It truly was the worst week ever! 
I hated seeing you like that. But the silver lining is every now and then you don’t mind a lil snuggle!!

So that's the story. She has had another convulsion since then however now that we know what they are and what to do for her its not so bad. I honestly feel for the mothers of epileptic children, they must be some of the strongest women is the world!
Anyway. I must say a huge thankyou to the Once Upon A... Sketch people. If it wasn't for this challenge I might have never got this story down.
XoXoX Nicole

Adore

Did we all have a good weekend? We did absolutely nothing and it was amazing!
I have here a layout featuring Chloe and Jayce. Neither of them is looking at the camera or smiling or doing anything overly special, they are just sitting there staring at each other and that is exactly what I love about this photo!

Adore

The design for this layout came from the Kraft It Up September Challenge which can be found here. This month it is a sketch and you all should by now know how much I love a sketch!

I have again kept really close to the sketch just switching two photos for one and circles for a rainbow of hearts. I knew that just all the same hearts would not be overly interesting so I mixed it up by adding a silhouette heart to each line.

I began by stamping some squares of gesso at random spots before sticking down the hearts. I then added shapes/flower/bling of the same colour in a brighter shade.

I really did krafted it up. I was looking forward to finally using machine stitching on my page, I absolutely love how it looks and have been dying to use it, however the sewing machine at the crop was broken =( so the kraft on kraft looked pretty boring. I fixed this with paint. A dab of each colour matching the hearts at the top and then used an old gift card to scrape it down.

I think 'adore' it the perfect title. They truly do adore each other and the definition from the Kaisercraft rubon sums it up beautifully.

Hope you like it.
XoXoX Nicole.

Materials:
Kraft x2
Amy Tangerine - Ready Set Go - Surrounded
Kaisercraft - Run Ons - Words - Adore
Kaisercraft- Clear Stamps - Serect Admirer - Definitions
Kaisercraft - Take Note - Memo
Kaisercraft - Rhinestones
Gesso, Cricut, Resin Flowers

Bright

Since Jayce was born, and actually while I was pregnant too I think, I have called him My Mr Man. Often with another word inbetween depending what his doing. Eg. My Mr Hungry Man, My Mr Tried Man etc. etc.
Hence I have decided to start scrapping a 'My Mr Man' series, photos of Jayce I like that make him look a certain way.
First cab of the rank is:

My Mr Bright Man

I went to an afternoon crop the other day for only the second time ever. It was good to sit there (well stand actually, I usually end up standing while scraping) and scrap uninterrupted. More often then not a page takes me a few days (if not longer) due to caring for children, housework etc.
I completed one complete page at this crop and wanted to fit another in too.

I had seen this sketch from Ruby Rock-It, so I grabbed all of the papers I had from them and before I knew it, I had completed two complete pages!
The page come together quickly, rather then thinking, moving, thinking, rearranging, thinking, I just sprayed and stuck.

The page began with the Aracdia paper and I sprayed tattered angles mists in colours matching the photo.

Next out came the circle punches. I punched a bunch of them in all sizes from different papers in the Cranival ranges.

I had been thinking about the 'My Mr Man' series since my trip back home and hence had the those three words pre-cut (multiple times) from the cricut. Along with a few other little bits a pieces used here, the smiley face, clouds and balloons.

While packing up at the scrap I came across the PP fabric buttons and with a bit of glue my page was done.
Thanks for popping by.
XoXoX Nicole.

Materials.
Ruby Rock-It - Tranquil - Aracdia
Ruby Rock-It - Carnival Queen - Yackety Yak
Ruby Rock-It - Carnival Queen - Candy Strip
Ruby Rock-It - Carnival Queen - Framed
Ruby Rock-It - Carnival King - A to Z
Ruby Rock-It - Carnival King - Dotti
Ruby Rock-It - Carnival King - Candy Strip
Cardstock - White, Blue, Green, Orange, Yellow, Red, Pink
2 Crafty Chipboard - 2013's
Purple Pumpkin - Fabric Buttons - Dotty
Tattered Angels - Glimmer Mist - Turquoise Blue
Tattered Angels - Glimmer Mist - Rum Punch
Tattered Angels - Glimmer Mist - Sun Sisters
Tattered Angels - Glimmer Mist - Key Lime Pie
Cricut. AccuCut.

Chloe from the Block

Well hello, how are we all?
I've stopped by to share a scrap page with a favorite photo of lil bubba girl.
I started the page with an exact picture in my mind of what I wanted it to look like and it was nothing like this:

The inspiration came from the 1st September sketch over at Stuck?! which can be found here and looks alot like this:

I stayed extremely close to the sketch. Taking it very literal. Stars where there is stars and chevrons where there's chevrons. Two photos, two circles and some paper strips.

I did struggle with the chevrons for quite awhile. The We R paper I have used in the circle is very imposing and didn't give me much room to move in terms of colours and patterns. Everything I put there either completely took away from the photos or could barely be seen hence looked pointless and silly. Eventually I just stuck em all down. I also struggle with the same issue for all the other paper bits and considered backing everything in black, got lazy and just inked all the edges. But it does make a huge difference!

I have started to trust myself with inks lately. I like the way they kinda break up the backing paper a bit and make it more personalised. This time I've taken it a step further and used a technique I picked up from an Australian scrapbooking show called Scrapit TV. I've stamped the image with versa mark embossing ink and then rubbed chalk over the top. The chalk sticks more to the ink then the paper and gives a great effect! I used grey chalk this time and found myself wishing it was a bit darker so I went back and just stamped the image in black as well.

I think Chloe looks a lil bit like a gangster with the hat to the side. I was just going to call the page 'that hat' but the my mum actually came up with 'Chloe from the Block' after a song. At the time I was visiting in Victoria and had access to a cricut cutting machine =D (oh did I have fun with it! More on that another time) and quickly cut out the word block in block looking font. To make it look more realistic I have put foam dots under part of the letter and stuck the edge directly to black cardstock so that it does look like a 3D block.

The rock on hand is another cricut cut out that I just couldn't resist doing. I again have to say a big thank you to my mum who is the extremely patient person that glued the lil teeny tiny fingers down and also some other very fiddly bits that I cut out (included the stars layered stars in the corner of the photos).
Thanks mum and thank you for popping by.
XoXoX Nicole.

Materials:
Crate Paper - Maggie Holmes - Click
We R Memory Keepers - Love 2 Craft - Poplin
Sassafras - Indie Girl - Affection
My Minds Eye - Lime Twist - Happy Go Lucky 'Hello' Bubbles
Cardstock - Black and Purple
Cricut - Printing Press and Rock Princess cartiage
Kaisercraft - Clear Stamp - Retro
Versamark - Embossing Ink
Momento Ink -  Tuxedo Black
Chalk

No Photo

On Chloes 2nd Birthday I took a million photos of her!! However, probably only 10 are any good! About a month ago now she decided she didnt want to smile for the camera anymore. Not happy!
Anyway, thats what this layout is about.

The layout was inspired by the August sketch from sketcbook 365:

I will edit this post with some close-ups  and description for your reading pleasure later on.

My trip to visit family in victoria was extended (more on that later) and its a real battle to make posts with whats avaliable to me here.

XoXoX Nicole.