Mid Week Sketch 22-13

Week 22 already... this year is just zooming by, it won't be long and we will be half way there! Time to seriously consider all those things we were going to do this year and wonder if they will actually be achieved, lol. I think I need to start over... or work really hard in the remaining weeks... (What's that you say, procrastination isn't really my friend, she's just using me? Oh no... but she's so... friendly!)

So anyway, I have a great little sketch for you this week, one that could be quite masculine or quite feminine, young or older, depending on your papers and chosen embellishments. You could jazzy up the background paper with texture paste or stamping, misting or paint, or use a paper that already has a lot going on. Or maybe go plain and just let your photo do the talking. I think it would work for vintage and for bright and modern equally well. I hope you like it.

Next week I have a double page ready to go, so you can use up some of those multi-shots you have. :-)

love Heather x ..always be a little kinder than necessary..

Mid Week Sketch 21-13

Today we are a sad household. My daughter's friend died last night at the tender age of 15, so I would like to dedicate this sketch to her memory. I don't mean to bring you down, but I do want to remind you that we are all blessed to have people to love in our lives. Now and then we need a little reminder to step back from the daily grind and just appreciate each and every person who touches our lives.

Tiarna's Sketch has a random patchwork of colourful papers in the background - or maybe some lines of stitching for a change - and a cute bouquet of flowers.

And a smaller version especially for my little friends.

love Heather x ..always be a little kinder than necessary..

Not-quite-so Mid Week Sketch 20-13

Yes, I know, late again... I am sure you know that life gets in the way sometimes. Anyway, it did for me this week. Again... lol.

Hope you like this week's sketch, it's a nice easy one really, and will give you the chance to be a little creative with a pretty tag and maybe add a little stamping or texture paste or something to the background down the right hand side. I'd love to see what you come up with.

And a cute little number for our younger set - hope you like it :-)

love Heather x ..always be a little kinder than necessary..

Mid Week Sketch 19-13

Hello all, I hope your week is humming along nicely and without dramas - or at least, without dramas you can't handle. We all have our share of everyday dramas after all.

I have a fun sketch for you this week, that leaves plenty of background to showcase some fun techniques like masking or stamping or just generally grunging up in some way, but also has plenty going on in front. You don't have to use cupcakes for your embellishments of course. Do whatever suits your photos from what you have in stash - get that stash used! I hope you like it.

 It's a fun one for our younger set to enjoy as well, and I am reliably informed that there are several young scrappers out there that love having their own sketches. I would love to see your work sometime, please share so we can all see how clever you are.

love Heather x ..always be a little kinder than necessary..

Mid Week Sketch 18-13

Oh gosh, it's Friday night! How did that happen? Ooopsie, sorry people, I've lost some time somewhere this week. If anyone sees it, please send it home again, lol. The funny/annoying thing is that I had the sketches done in advance. Anyway, here they are, the big one and the little one.There is plenty of space above the setting on this design for you to use either a patterned paper or get busy with some painting or inking techniques and show off your skills. Have fun :-)

love Heather x ..always be a little kinder than necessary..

Mid Week Sketch 17-13

Seventeen weeks gone from this year already! Can you believe that? We'd better start thinking about Christmas soon... lol. Almost... But anyway, we will keep scrapping and playing with paper and with any luck, eventually the year will have something to show for our efforts. Here in Australia and in New Zealand, we have a special day tomorrow: ANZAC Day. This layout is suitable for photos of soldiers, with a poppy and a peace dove, but you could, of course, use it in any way that suits whatever photos and embellishments you have. Gotta love that about sketches, they are so infinitely adaptable.

And here is the smaller version for our young ones, with a bit less to do on the page, but just as much charm.

love Heather x ..always be a little kinder than necessary..

Mid Week Sketch 16-13

Hello all, I hope April is treating you well. It's been a bit of a whirlwind for me, and will be for all the rest of it too I suspect, but oh well, life wasn't meant to be boring ;-)

I have a rather pretty sketch for you this week - feminine rules this one, no boys in sight. Some you can adapt, some are just better left girly, really. Still, if you like a challenge, go right ahead, I would love to see what you can do. But if you just want to play girly stuff, this is the layout for you - ribbons and bows, flowers, scallops, butterflies, pretty shapes and all sorts to set your heart on fire, and good in any colour combo, I'm sure. Only one flower on this one, so make it a pretty one. What do you have lurking in that stash of yours that you've been saving?

And for our little friends, a smaller version, but with just as much girl-power.

love Heather x ..always be a little kinder than necessary..

Sketchy News

I have some exciting news - I answered a Sketch Designer call last week and have been added to the fabulous Design Team at Bird Is The Word! I usually only design for here and Home & Scrapped, so I'm fairly stoked to be deemed acceptable. So... if this blog isn't giving you enough sketches and you want more, go check out Bird Is The Word challenge blog, and you will find a new one every month to add to your list of things to do :-)

love Heather x ..always be a little kinder than necessary..

Flowers For Sale

Hello scrappy friends. I would like to invite you to visit my flower shop and check out the beautiful flower packs I have for sale there. Here is a small selection:

The flowers are all handmade by me and are all acid free on good quality scrapbooking papers and cardstock. They'll look fantastic wherever you want to use them - scrapbook page, card or OTP project. I would love you to come and see, buy some, use them and then show me your gorgeous work :-)

And just for fun, everyone who buys a pack from me before the 15th May will go in the draw to win a random pack from me! Every pack you buy gives you one entry to the draw, so good luck with that :-)

Please visit Flower Shop Pretties on my scrapbooking blog Storm Scraps.

love Heather x ..always be a little kinder than necessary..

Mid Week Sketch 15-13

Time for another sketch already! I hope you are getting some scrapping time lately, in the busy school holiday time. Whether you are at the end of a term, have kids or grandkids on holiday, are studying or whatever, it all seems to be a busy time at this time of year. But we still need our creative time, so I hope yours is available for you.

The sketch this week is a nice cheerful one, perfect for holidays and fun pages. It uses up a few scrappy bits too, and is pretty easy to put together. Enjoy.

And for those younger ones among us, a smaller version:

love Heather x ..always be a little kinder than necessary..

Mid Week Sketch 14-13

If you're anything like me, you like ribbons and have quite a stash lurking there in the background. This layout is just for you (and me). You won't use many, so don't think your stash is all of a sudden going to be busted, lol. But you will get to use a few snips. You might notice that there is a pleated one too. You can pleat ribbon or a strip of fabric or paper, or use a pre-pleated piece you already have.

And if you don't have ribbons, this one goes well with washi tape as well, yummy!

And the smaller version for smaller people :-)

love Heather x ..always be a little kinder than necessary..

Mid Week Sketch 13-13

Well, just as well it isn't a Friday, with a sketch number like that... Thirteen might be unlucky for some, but it's a good number for me, and lots of thirteens happen in my life. If I drop a pile of things, there will be thirteen in the pile, or thirteen left in my hands; if I pick a random number of flowers or grab a handful of napkins, there will be thirteen, 99.9% of the time. It's spooky. My husband reckons we should have been writing them all down all these years, but of course, we didn't. Pity, it probably would have been a fun (if a little weird) read by now.

Anyway, the thirteenth sketch of the year is a good one, I hope you will agree. I managed to make a little dog! I must admit to being fairly impressed with myself for that. I only have a few basic shapes to work with in my program and I am not really very techy at all, so I am always thrilled when I manage to make something interesting.

Lots of scope for nice papers and things here too. Have fun!

And for our younger scrappers, a smaller, simpler version: 

love Heather x ..always be a little kinder than necessary..

Mid Week Sketch 12-13

I wonder how many pages you've managed this year? Is it a good scrappy year for you, or one you'd rather had more time? Time is such a big factor in our pursuit of pleasure and creativity - there is never enough of it. I wish I could have a maid or something... hmm, maybe a maid, a cook, a gardener, an odd jobs person, a secretary and a nanny. That might make a dent in the backlog of things I "should" be doing. Then I could just play... and live in a little cottage with roses around the door, uh huh.. yep, dreaming, lol. It's fun to dream though. ;-)

Oh well, let's dream about getting this layout done today. All you really need is a couple of photos, three circles and some pretties - that should be easy enough for me and you to do, don't you think? I have still to do any of the sketches from this year - eeek! Must do something about that...

And of course the smaller version for our young scrappers. 

love Heather x ..always be a little kinder than necessary..