Monday, 27 January 2014

Introducing Heidi ....

to our design team for 2014.

Hi my name is Heidi Williams I've been scrapping for 15 years now,  I love the creativity of it, and to preserve my memories of my family and friends.

I asked Heidi a few scrapbooking related questions in order to get to know her a little better. 
 
Do you have a favourite manufacturer?  My favourite manufacturer is Prima and Kaisercraft and lots of others.


Do you have a must use tool you can't get by without?  I cant live without my distressing tool.

What time of the day do you prefer to work? and why?   I work on projects at night when the house is quiet and everyone is asleep.

Do you have a distinct style or tend to go where your creativity takes you?   I love to create new things all the time and use different mediums and products, I'm starting to slowly find my style as I go along this awesome journey and I feel very excited to be on the Pixels and Paper design team.

Please visit my blog to see more of my work.
http://funkyrosebudcrafts.blogspot.com.au/


Tuesday, 14 January 2014

A December winner ...

My apologies for the late announcement of December winners - a big thank you to our three entrants.  I know how manic the lead up to Christmas can be so thank you so much for taking the time to put in an entry with us.

I have randomly drawn a name to be our winner who will receive a Christmas RAK from me. Congratulations Wendy Crowe

 If you could please email me your details to  jjjustjane@bigpond.com - I will get this away in the mail for you.


Please join in with us this month, we'd love to see your work.

We accept any form of paper craft and digital entries.  International submissions are always welcome.  You have until 11.55pm on January 31st to get your entries in.

Wednesday, 1 January 2014

Welcome to 2014 ...

Welcome to a brand new year and some more delightful inspiration from Pixels and Paper.

Firstly I'd like to welcome our new team member, Heidi Williams, to the fold.  I'll introduce Heidi more fully during the month.

A big warm welcome back to Di, Tone-Lill and Alicia.

Our first inspiration for 2014 is a lovely carefree photograph which reminds me very much of my childhood days of summer where padding and frolicking in the park fountain wasn't frowned upon and kids could be kids regardless :)  I just love how the afternoon sunlight reflects off the water in this picture.



When you look at this photograph what do you see?




 I loved the inspiration photo this month. My son had so many great moments in water, I had a hard time choosing a photo to work with! Once I settled on this one I knew I wanted to include orange from the photo so I used this sunset background paper. I layered a couple of printed papers on the page and used a few of my favorite techniques to make it pop. I inked the edges of everything to create borders so the prints didn't fade away into nothing. I also use my zig glue pen to do some glue tracing on everything that was orange to make it stand out and add a bit of sparkle. I hope you are as inspired as I was to create a layout!


I loved the inspiration photo for P & P with its fun feel: children splashing and enjoying themselves, the light bathing the area, the movement of the water -  all captured my interest.
My layout, hopefully reflects some of these elements. The background paper has been stamped with inked bubblewrap, and stencilled with the use of sequin waste. Circles to represent bubbles, have also been cut from some of the inked bubblewrap. Added to this is a piece of sheer organza, kind of representing the steps in the image. I've also added 'splashes' cut from metallic silver card and blue paper and acetate. The silver card and acetate have been alcohol inked. The other embellishments are discs decorated to look like sea anemone or sand dollar shells. Part of the title was painted with white acrylic paint and then repainted with glitter paint to add the sparkle.
The photos are of our son taken when he was 2 years ol. The splash pool would have been a pressie for Christmas. He was a real water baby at the time and loved nothing better than to splash around in the water and would have stayed there for hours if allowed. 


Here is my page of water fun -my kids love to swim.  I've used various techniques - stamped the background, used liquid pearls, mesh to decorate and give texture plus these lovely bright summer papers ... enjoy :)



I got inspired by children playing in the moving water, so I chose a photo of my niece and daughter playing by the sea where you can see the tiny waves, so  with AC pattern papers "Sketch book" together with spray ink I tried to recreate a summery day by the sea. 



This photograph brought back memories of those days during summer when my friends and I would head down to the river and spend many happy hours swinging off the bank into the cool, lanquid water.  We'd sit on the river bank chatting and chilling as teenagers once did - those were good days!  I've used a mainly olive and gold colour scheme to reflect those used in the photograph. 

Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by 11.55pm on January 31st, 2014. 


Now please remember our December challenge is open until the 6th of January so there is still time to get your Christmas entries in. 



Thursday, 5 December 2013

Our November winners ...

We had some absolutely amazing entries last month - I wish I could award all of you prizes but I will say that I think each and every entry was a winner.

Our main winner for November is Amanda Scott with her amazing mini album all about Itchy and Scratchy.

There are also two RAK prizes - one going to Rita Moore for her delightful mini album she made for her little grandson.
 
The other by random draw has been won by Sharon Andrews with her page about life on the farm..
 
Congratulations everyone.  If you could all please email me  jjjustjane@bigpond.com your postal details I will get your prizes away to you.
 
 
We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a safe and happy Christmas.
 
Please don't forget to play along with us this month with a Christmas layout or two.  We will be back on the 1st of January with more inspiration, a few new changes to the blog and a brand new design team member.  See you then.

Sunday, 1 December 2013

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas on Pixels and Paper ...

Welcome to December.  I'm not sure how we made it to this point in the year so quickly as it seems like yesterday I was writing out Christmas cards and planning my shopping lists for 2012.

This month we have a sweet vintage Christmas photograph for your inspiration and of course it will not be difficult to create a project based on some sort of aspect of Christmas shown here.  In fact we are even making it easier for you by leaving the entries open until the midnight on the 5th of January to give you ample time to experience family and friends and the festive season while still finding some crafty time for yourself.

 
Aren't they adorable !
 
I love the inspiration layouts we have for you this month.
 
JANE 
 
The first thing that caught my attention were the children in their pyjamas.  I think we all have many photographs of our children in pj's at Christmas time.  Images of them getting ready for bed on Christmas eve showing off new sets of pyjamas, sitting under the tree with looks of eager anticipation on their happy faces, opening presents first thing Christmas morning.  Oh yes pyjamas feature heavily in my festive season photography.



TONE-LIL
I got inspired by the Christmas feel in front of the fireplace and a photo of my mom's dog, Aik, posing by the fire place with his Santa hat on. Using gesso and a stencil and a bit of brown glimmer mist  I made a brick wall background to recreate the fireplace.  All the patterned papers I have used are from Basic Grey winter inspired  "Blitzen" collection.
 
 
ALICIA
This took forever to make. I have at least 8 hours into die cutting the hundreds of foliage pieces.  But since Christmas is my favorite holiday I don't mind, and I love the look of this page. I hope it inspires you to take the time to create a Christmas page that you will love too! Merry Christmas! 
 
 
DI
With this layout I had a focus on the stockings being hung and possibly handmade decorations. I remember making strings of bells from the bottle tops that used to come on the glass milk bottles. We'd wash them, turn them inside out and mould them into bells over a lemon squeezer. Paper chains were also made, sometimes out of old cards cut into strips, but more often cut from strips of crepe paper and aluminium foil.
 

I used an Iris Folding technique for the stocking. The decorations were stamped onto foil and heat embossed before cutting out. Stamping and heat embossing was also used for the top border. I've used a small craft peg painted with 3D Stamping Paint and decorated with a tree, to represent the stocking hanging up. The photo is of our son taken in 1990, Christmas morning, and obviously delighted with the cricket bat.
 
 
Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by 11.55pm on January 5th, 2014. We'd love to see your Christmas inspired projects. 

Please stop back later in the week when we will announce our November winners.
 
 
 

Tuesday, 5 November 2013

Our October winners ...


Thank you so much for your entries last month - there were some really delightful layouts so a big round of applause to all of you!

Our winner for October with her lovely page is Leanne Kroschel.

 
Our random draw winner of a little RAK from me goes to Donna Seamon - a first time entrant and a first time win - Woo Hoo!
 
 
 
 
Please join in with us this month - we accept any form of paper craft and digital entries.  International submissions are always welcome.

Friday, 1 November 2013

Hello November ...

Welcome to November on Pixels and Paper.  Can anyone tell me where the year has gone?  I seem to be missing it!!

This month we have an interesting little image of a boy and his chickens.  I have to tell you I love chickens.  People don't realise what terrific pets they make and there is something really cheerful and uplifting hearing the happy clucking of our feathered friends.

Of course your page doesn't have to be about chickens at all - perhaps you see the wider picture of a farmyard and would like to tell the story of a trip to the countryside or visit to a working farm.  Maybe your child has visited a farm as part of a school trip or raised chicks as a classroom project.  You might even like to think laterally on this one and explain your love of egg based dishes!  Bacon and eggs anyone?


 
Our design team have gone all out this month  ...

 
I got inspired by the photo to recreate a new landscape scene with the fuzzy cut photos.
I have used Graphic 45 papers and did some cut out bits of the flowers to give 3D effect. Chicken wire stencil with cupper acrylic paint. Cheese cloth/gauze with Cut Grass Dylusion.
Added some small pieces of wood for the chickens/ roosters to "sit on"
 
 
 

This is a photo of husband and our first car. It was taken about a year after our wedding, when we were renting an old farmhouse. This is the shed on the property. It didn't get used much, particularly when we discovered a red-bellied black snake had taken up residence. The inspiration picture this month reminded me of the seemingly more simple and peaceful lifestyle we had during our time on the farm property. Although we didn't have poultry, we were welcomed each day with the sound of cattle and birdcalls. Quite idyllic!
I have used the Distress Stain, "Picket Fence", as well as experiments with a gelli pad and dried grass heads on this layout.

 
 
 
The inspiration photo seemed to me to show the little boy's love for his chickens, which reminded me of my niece. When we were visiting the zoo a few months ago she spotted her favorite bird, a robin, and I will never forget how excited she got. She got as close as she could and then insisted I take a picture of the bird as I had been taking pictures of the rest of the animals in enclosures. So I titled this "Robin my heart" because it was just such a sweet moment.
 
 
 
I had to use this photo of my father at about age 8.  They lived on a farm at the time and money was scarce so I have about four photographs of him as a child.  This one is a favourite - socks pulled up, hair neatly combed, clutching his cat like his life depended on it (and the cat isn't overly keen by the look of things).  I love the wicker chair he is sitting on, such an unusual design with it's sloping back and the vine in the background looks to be passionfruit or choko which might explain my Grandmother's  lifelong obsession with this fruit (but that's a story for another time!).
 
 
Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by 11.55pm on November 30th,  2013. We'd love to see what you can make of  this photograph. 

Please stop back later in the week when we will announce our October winner.