Imbolc Inspiration

As the wheel of the year turns towards spring we notice signs around us of earth awakening after her winter slumber. The ancient celts considered this the first day of spring and their traditions centered around new beginnings and clearing out the old in anticipation of the new. Spring-cleaning typically takes place at this time. Imbolc is a festival of lights and candles are lit at dusk on Imbolc eve and placed in every window of the house. They are kept burning until dawn. This is symbolic of lighting the way in to the future and the coming season of spring and renewal. And to celebrate the fresh new energies of this season Lesley over atNutkintailz Designs will be releasing her newest kit Imbolc Inspirations on 1 August! I'm sure you'll agree the soft fresh colors are what we all need after the long dark days of winter, and I've got a couple of teasers for you today but be sure to pop into Nutkintailz Designs in a day or two to see the entire kit.

This second layout was designed for a challenge I entered and it was a perfect chance to test run Imbolc Inspirations.

A Hint of Spring

Theres'a real hint of spring in the air early this year with unseasonably warm temperatures and gorgeous crisp days. I walk in the park each day during my lunch break at work and I can see the signs of this early spring in the buds already opening that we wouldnt expect to see yet for some weeks and when I found this Designer Combo at Digital Craft Cottage with its "beautiful serene colors of green, relaxing colors" I was inspired to use it immediately!

both created using Sea Oats from Digital Craft Cottage

NutkinTailz Designs now For Sale!

Very excited to announce that Nutkintailz Designs (see posts over the last few days) have been released for sale . But for now, here's a taste of Herbal Grimoire

Having so much fun designing layouts for the new kit from Nutkintailz Designs. Blues aren't usually my color of choice for heritage layouts but I was pleasantly surprised to see that "All About Men" lent itself beautifully to the older photos of my uncle I used here. It was time to plan my August desktop and it again was perfect to use for photos of two of the most important men in my life. The deeper colors and textures remind me that my little boys have indeed become men.

kit is "All About Men" from Nutkintailz Designs

available at Digital Craft Cottage Shoppe on 22 July 2009

Countdown to Kit Release by Nutkintailz Designs

On 22 July Lesley over at Nutkintailz Designs will release the first of her kits for sale and I hear she will also be giving away a freebie with each kit! So I've been working on a layout using her kit "All About Men" to give you a taste of things to come. This kit is perfectly suited to all those photos of the men in our lives, but I can see it being used for a lot more than scrapping our men. Be sure to come back next week to see a full preview of this kit.

upcoming kit "All About Men"by Nutkintailz Designs

Blogs n BrainSnaps

Life has a way of getting in the road of doing what we really want to do doesnt it? All I wanted to do this weekend was scrap, scrap, scrap, and scrap some more but alas revamping my blog has taken more time (and brain snaps) than I could ever have anticipated! At any rate thanks to Harmony over at Twilight Harmony Scraps who came up with the gorgeous alpha for my header and Ivy over at Scrappy Blog Backgrounds, I've had a reprieve from having to design my own layout from scratch! Gotta love networking huh? Anyways for now just wanted to share a page I created recently using Joanne Bain's work, its my niece's little girl Jessica with my husband Chris. Don't they look at home with each other? You can see more of the delightful Jessica over at Alicia's Designs

Joanne Bain Designs

Redecorating this weekend

What a week its been! Some of my scrapbooking friends found themselves in a position where they had to find a new home to share their scrapbooks recently and, while it flattened them for a while, all is unfolding as it should. One of them, my favorite Aussie designer - NutkinTailz - has been asked to design for the new site she joined and even more exciting, she's asked that I join her Creative Team, so you'll be seeing a lot more of her work around here in the near future! Meanwhile I will be spending this weekend redecorating my blog so it can showcase her kits as they deserve, so bear with me while I'm renovating and be sure to come back again soon because I can promise you will see some of the most unique and versatile kits around!

Winter Recipes

We've just passed the Winter Solstice here in Australia and the beautiful "Savory" kit over at Raspberry Road Designs has inspired me to get back to scrapbooking some of my family's favorite meals for the family recipe book.

kits: Savory by Raspberry Road Designs

Whats Cooking by Amber Gray Designs

kit: Savory by Raspberry Road Designs

Sail Away - Whale Song

Wow how long has it been since I blogged! I joined a new scrapbooking site recently and the first challenge I joined was to create a page with the lyrics from Sail Away, so I put this together using photos from our honeymoon whale watch (a wedding present from my gorgeous sister Chez). The captain of the boat can be seen here singing the whales home on their journey south for the summer and if you look closely you can see a photo of one of the whales blended into the ocean.

kit: Weathered Beach House from Natural Designs in Scrapbooking