It's not bragging if u can do it!

For this layout I used a sketch from scrapbooksetc.com (I used sketch # 36).In the back of my mind I had Irini's challenge(for her get creative blog) and I liked how the sketch in this layout somewhat had a cross like pattern(like our flag).The challenge was also to use the colours of our national flag(blue and white) and to use the word no,either in the title or the journaling.I did cheat a little(I don't know if it counts as cheating since,the challenge doesn't specifically express we have to use ONLY blue and white but that's how I understood it) but it was turning very very one note with only blue so I used the same shade of red as in the picture(at the end of the day,I love a good challenge but I have to make a good layout and showcase the photo as best possible,that's what's my first concern).

So the journaling might leave some of you confused,since it's somewhat of an inside joke.We've been calling our brother Popeye for years,because one day when we were watching it(when he was little) he pronounced it really weird(very literally) and wondered why they called him Popeye(as it's actually pronounced) in Greek!It was so cute and it stuck with him,and both me and my sister have been calling him like that since then!He's even listed that way in my cell phone,lol!So I liked the whole nautical theme and it was working great both with the colours and the picture so I went with it!

I am terrible at remembering the names and brands of the products I've used,but if any of you really wants to know I'll make an effort to list them (I know I should anyway,but meh!)

I hope you like it!

When you be-leave!

Here comes the second post for today!I've made this layout for the get creative October 1st challenge.When I read about it I immediatelly got excited,because like I said in the previous post,autumn is my favorite time of the year!I love all those colours,the fallen leaves and the sound they make when you step on them etc.I feel really unlucky that I live in a part of the world where fall only lasts maybe a bit longer than a heartbeat but also doesn't have all those gorgeous colours I see in pictures/movies from around the world!

This is probably my most time consuming layout ever.I've put a lot of work and different techniques in it and I'm pretty happy with the result(even though when I see all the other layouts I get depressed...I'm such a beginner!).I started with the leaves.I didn't have leaves nor a leaf stamp so that left me with only one other option:The internet!Luckilly there were lots to chose from and I decided on a set from Creativity portal.I printed them out(and almost ruined the printer in the process) and cut them out.Then I painted over them with a medium thick layer of crackle paint.I did this as I wanted cracks that were visible but not too heavy!The really cool thing about crackle paint is that as it dries it kind of shrinks so the leaves already took a really nice,natural,curled up form.Then after they were all dry and ready(that means the next day) I painted them.I used distress ink in the mustard seed colour and also a red alcohol ink and using my ink blending tool it was done easy and mess-free.

After that I decided on the photos.None of the photos I had were really suitable for what I had in mind so I picked two of my favorite photographs from two of my favorite places:Australia and Africa.As I say in the layout itself it's a dream of mine to work and live there for a few years in the future,so it was perfect(since I already had the title in mind).After that it was just a matter of choosing the colours and deciding how to combine them.The letters were of black chipboard so I inked them in a purple colour and then heat embossed them with embossing powder (eggplant colour) and they turned out great(you don't get to see it in the pictures much but they actually have a shiny blue-ish tint over them in the light).I distressed the edges of my green paper I used for matting my photos quite a bit(the fact it was a lighter shade of green inside because it was of the core'dinations range was an added bonus).The strips of paper on the bottom right are from a paper pad my friend Melenia gave me for my birthday(thank you again so much!).

I hope you like it!

Thank you

I made this card for the Stamp Simply challenge.The challenge asks us to be inspired by mother nature and make a card inspired by one of the seasons.Fall is my favorite,so it was obvious I'd go in that direction!It's a pretty simple card,but I hope you'll like it!

Take a break

No not literally,don't worry I'm not going on another hiatus!I told you I was back and I'm planning to keep that promise(both to you and most importantly to myself).The title is simply the layout title I used for my latest layout.With this LO I'm taking part in the Scrapbooking in Greece 12th challenge.

A while ago my laptop died.This caused me much stress,because a. all the learning matter for my exams was on that hard disc,b. most of my photos(including the ones of stuff I've made) were on that hard disc and c. I had no money to get a new one.Fortunatelly the hard disc was salvaged(it turned out the mother board was the cullprint) and my parents got me a new laptop (awww, aren't they sweet??).So I had that previous laptop for a few good years and of course,since I'm not carefull at all wear and tear was showing.There were a few of the keys missing(which happened during an unfortunate attempt to clean them) and that's how I found out something really interesting:Laptop keys are replacable.Which means you can take them off and put new ones in their place.There are actually quite a few sites selling them online.Of course I never replaced mine(see reason c) and at the end that turned out to be a good thing(since my laptop died a few short months later).But it got me thinking...hmmm the laptop died...time for some key harvest methinks!

So I had all these laptop keys and I knew I wanted to use them with scrapbooking but I had no idea how!And then this challenge popped up and it was the perfect solution.The challenge asks us to use only one piece of paper.This means you're stuck with the big empty space of your backing material and you'll have to find a way to fill it because you aren't allowed to use any other form of paper.Since I suck at doodling and my sticker collection is quite limited,the laptop keys were a great solution.

It's a bit grey-ish but that was intentionall(since I wanted to simulate the computer/laptop environment).On a later thought it might have worked out better with a different colour cat(since you could let the cat be it's original colour while the rest of the picrure is black and white) but my cat is black and white anyway so...The 0101 on top is to simulate the binary code computers use and recognise(and later my brother told me it's the number 5,which is one of my favorite numbers for multiple reasons so yay!).I distressed the paper(and the number stickers while I was at it) quite a bit to add a bit of a lighter shade(and also illustrate what happened to aformentioned laptop,lol).I wanted to add a bit of journalling but unfortunatelly the background paper is a bit too dark so black doesn't work and neither does silver.So I left the comments out,it's pretty self explanatory anyway!

So if you've made it this far after my life story,I hope you like it ;)

I'm back!!! (And 2 blog candies and a new blog)

Yeah I know,you've heard it all before...but this time it's for real(I hope).After a really bad month(exam period) which also didn't go according to plan I do feel the creative juices are flowing,even though I'm not entirely sure how to use them yet!I did make a little something,but I haven't taken a picture of it yet,so I will show you in a next post(the fact my camera is busted,also doesn't help).

While I was away a lot has been going on in the greek scrapbooking community.Crops and cyber crops,challenges,new blogs etc.One new blog that my friend Irini has started begins today and it offers us new challenges(two every month) and the chance to win prizes!So if you haven't already check it out here.

Also two of my other friends are having blog give aways.My friend Lena is celebrating her one year blog-aversary and is giving away not one but two complete kits as a present!Also my friend Zeffy has lots of reasons to celebrate so she's giving away a little something something!So check their blogs out,even if you don't win a present you'll deff win on inspiration and ideas from these wonderful two ladies!

Okay,blog you soon,

xx

Happy Birthday :)

I've been gone for a while,but you know how it is,exams,far away from home etc...I do hope I'll get more opportunities to scrap when I go back,even though can't make any promises since it's going to be a busy and (hopefully) fun filled summer!
This post has nothing to do with scrapping but it's my baby's first birthday since starting a blog so I guess I better do right by him and do a post about it :)


I can't believe it's been 8 years since I first held him,so tiny and helpless and cute!He's still cute,somewhat helpless(not the brightest in the bunch) but deff not tiny anymore!!!Especially this year there were moments I wasn't sure we'd even get to celebrate his 8th birthday,since he has diabetes and for a while things weren't going great for us.But I'm happy to announce that not only did we reach his 8th birthday,but we also reached it with him being under full control with his meds,so that gives us hope for a 9th,10th and many more birthdays hopefully!



Moretje,this is your day so enjoy it and relax :)Happy,happy birthday!

I've been bad...

I know,I know...I have neglected my blog for all this time and I don't even have a good excuse for it.I wasn't busy,I wasn't away,I was home and completely unispired...Inspiration still hasn't really come knocking,and these days it seems I only scrap when I've got a reason.
Fortunatelly life never is short of excuses and reasons to scrap,and this was no exception.My dear,dear friend Mary had her beatiful baby boy last Monday and of course,that's reason enough not only to celebrate but to scrap as well!
It started on Monday itself when my friend Eudokia and I made this diaper cake as a present for Mary.We were a little nervous,because neither of us had ever done something like this before,but it turned out to be pretty easy and lots of fun!We caught the diaper cake fever and now we only need a new pregnant friend ;) I think the result came out rather cute,and Mary said she liked it so mission accomplished ;)

Of course a card with my wishes for the baby couldn't be missed!!!I had decided to make another type of card(using the Kirigami technique) but after I made it I wasn't impressed.The card was beatiful(the insert that is) but I had made it on thin paper(because I thought that would be better,in order to do the folding etc) and the weight was too much.I tried correcting it,but there was no saving it,so here I was,a few hours before we would go see Mary and card-less...So off to Youtube for inspiration.Luckily the 'tube is full of wonderfull scrappers,who are kind and gracious enough not only to share their work with us,but give us tutorials as well.One of those wonderfull scrappers I always seem to be going back to is Dawn.She is such an inspiration,and she's shown me some incredible things I can do with cardstock and patterned paper!
Anyway I decided to go for the Shutter card.It looks really complicated but is really easy to make.Of course I made it my own,using baby oriented patterned paper and cute stickers!I hope you like it,but most of all I hope Mary liked it!


Mary I wish you and your wonderful family all the best.I hope you'll enjoy so many sweet,happy,warm,loving memories with your two little boys and you'll let us witness it all through your beautiful scrap-work!!!