The grey in the middle...

Hello dear bloggers, just a quick note to show you what I have been up to for the Black with Two DT.  This fortnights challenge is "black and white with stripes".  Hmmmmm black and white with stripes, sounds plain but you should see what the awesome DT has come up with: and here is mine.

I must say I am really happy with how the stamping technique turned out.  I have it hanging on the wall because the effect is best when looked at from a distance.  To be completely biased, how could I not love that layout when my beautiful princess is looking out at me.  There is still time for you to enter for the prize pack for this challenge so hop on over get some ideas and get striping!!

I am going to Perth tomorrow and will be going to a retreat in the south-west where we are being tutored by the most talented Nina Bagley!!!!!!!!!!!  I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think this is what I have been needing for the longest time.  Time for myself to focus, inspiration and nurturing from someone who has beauty emanating from all she does.  After that I will be flying to Camp Mojo with my beautiful soul sisters Jenny Burns and Mel Connell to meet up with all the lovely ladies from around the country to share laughs and layouts and have an experience that I am sure will help to shape the person I am from here.  And a big thanks to Anne-Marie Cox, one of the most fantastic ladies you will ever have the blessing to know for building the excitement and keeping us all focused on the end task: PPPPPAAAAAARRRRRTTTTTYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!  What this all means however is that I will not be around for a while as we will be away from home till the first week of August and while I thought I would endeavour to share along the way, I think I will take this opportunity to put myself in voluntary black out so as to fully commit myself to the goings on around me.  Thank you all for your understanding and support!
While I'm gone:

Take care of each other,
see you soon!
M xx

Baby Blues!

Baby blue would not have been one of the first choices of colour I would normally work with. Actually baby anything isn't really my usual style!! I didn't even dress my babies in baby colours, I was always more inclined to put them in really deep or vibrant colours. But never the less this fortnights challenge at BW2 is "BABY BLUE WITH HEARTS"!! And you should see the girls work!! Pop over and be inspired and get your layout up for your chance to win a great prize!!!!
So do you want to see what I did...?

I used an embossing folder and a rolling pin for the embossing around the edge of the page and then highlighted it with a treasure gold (only a blue one!).  And of course I can't go past a WOW chippy title, they always have the right thing to say!!!  The love hearts are just cut on my Big Shot.  I coloured the large chipboard hearts and title with iridescent medium tinted with paint and I spread it on thickly with a palette knife to give it some texture.  I have to say I love the simplicity of this layout, I think it describes how I feel about those three boys exactly... I just love love love them!!!!!!!!!!!!
Take care of each other, 
see you soon!
Megan B xx

Only a couple of days left!!!!!!!!

Hey girls you've only got a couple of days left to get an entry in to the Black With 2 challenge this month!! The criteria is black with gold and multiple photos!  Easy peasy!  Some great prizes are to be had for those they give it try! 
And here is my attempt:

Lots of pics and shiny gold stickers and of course a very fitting title thanks to WOW chipboard! 
I love this layout because it was such a fantastic day and these pics will forever remind me how lovely it is to be surrounded by true friends and those who share in the same passion as you!
Take care of each other,
see you soon!
M xx

Leaves you feeling dimensional!

Well, I hope everyone is in the middle of a very happy and safe Easter and I hope the Easter Bilby visits you with lots of sweet goodness tomorrow morning!!

I just thought I'd put up a couple of pics of a mirror I have done with some more WOW chipboard. I have used a a bit of chipboard fraying to make the leaves and butterflies look more dimensional and give them a bit of depth and movement. If you'd like to see the technique please drop over to the WOW DT blog and have a look, I have left detailed steps with pics!! I have tried to give you some different views here so you can get the feel for the dimension. The back ground is some lovely printed napkins!

Take care of each other,

see you soon!

Megan x

Black With Two... April 15??

Sorry Girls, I'm a bit late with this again, but better late than never! 

How striking is a black background?  I just love it, it makes everything pop!  I think it can be intimidating sometimes to try using soft colours with black but rather than over powering the gentle hues I actually think it gives a beautiful clean background that helps deepen all of your colours.  So here is my BW2 layout for this challenge...

That is my baby girl meeting my baby boy, seems like only yesterday!

This layout's criteria was black with fabric and yellow!  I truly did struggle with that because yellow is NOT my favourite colour.  But I am pretty pleased with how it come out.  I actually have had a heap of fun getting totally off track with hand dying! As I didn't have any yellow pigments AT ALL (no paint, no ink, no dye, no nothing, not even a piece of yellow paper!!!!) and with no LSS to pop into I had to be a bit creative and so I hand dyed some open weave muslin with some household products and food! It was great fun!! And I think it worked really well!  And I dyed a beautiful piece of vintage floral print fabric I had yellow as well and used it as my mats!  So come on girls get your creative caps on and get over to BW2 with a link to your entry, can't wait to see them all!

Take care of each other,

see you soon.

Megan B xx

April 1 Black with 2

I'm so sorry this didn't go out on the 1st like it was suppose to!  It loaded without pics! But I arrived home last night, so here are the pics!!

The challenge this month was BLACK WITH LAVENDER AND GLITTER!! What an awesome challenge and here is my layout:

I did the background with my Prima masks and Tsukineko glue pad and Mica D'Lights (the bestest most grown up glitter EVER!! Yum!)

I love how this layout turned out.  I am hoping to get the time to explain why I used what I did to create this layout, it completely describes my Kassidy, he is such a complicated, deep boy!  Dressing up and surprising me at the assembly just made him so happy, I love being apart of his journey!!

Hope to see all your layouts up on the Black with 2 site really soon! Don't forget there will be another challenge on the 15th of the month!  

Take care of each other,

see you soon!

Megan B xx

Yeeeehaaaaa!!

Ok, I just wanted to shout out to EVERYBODY who doesn't already know that I have been extremely lucky enough to be appointed to the Black with 2 Challenge Design Team!!!!!!!!! I feel so incredibly lucky to be working with a terrifically talented team on a terrific challenge site!  I really hope you will join in the fun and get in the running for some great prizes from our terrific sponsor, so pop over to the blog and keep up to date with the news and get on board!! Our first challenge is going out on APRIL 1, so get ready girls!!

And to celebrate, here's a layout I have done for the other fantastic design team I am spoilt enough to be involved in: WOW!!  With the chipboard I ran it through my zyron and then dusted it with Perfect Pearls! 

I have to let you in on a little trick I found out too!  I wanted to do a bit of embossing but didn't have any blue embossing powder, SO, I mixed a little Antiquities Frosted White embossing powder with Perfect Pearls Blue Smoke.  I think it worked really well, I was very happy with it!!

Take care of each other,

see you soon!

M xx

Like Lightning!!

Ok, this is gonna be short and sweet!! No seriously!! I really mean it... well if you don't believe me, just look!  

If you want a LO to be eye catching, a FABULISCIOUS title really helps!! So, this is of course a wonderful WOW title and I think it just helps make the whole layout POP!  

I had the same shot printed at two different sizes because, to be honest, at first I had no idea what I was going to do with this pic.  But I just love Kassidy's little baby face and his dead pan expression.  I wanted the big pic but it drowned out everything out.  So that the big picture didn't take over the whole layout, I just put it under some vellum, so it's still there, but him getting his certificate takes your eye first... Well, it would, if I didn't have an almighty flash mark in it! My bad photography :0|

I have some more fantastic news, but I can't share yet! So stay close, I'll be letting you in on the secret really soon!

Take care of each other,

see you soon.

Megan B

xx

Not that room, this room!

This has a multi point start this story.
Road 1. My husband (who is far too opinionated for his own good sometimes, LOL!!) thinks it isn't fair for me to decorate our house.  See, according to him, we should all have some say in the decorations and they should display all of our personalities; we should all feel like this is our space and we should all feel like it is for us and a part of us.  You see I am not the only one living in this house... and you can tell that by the dozens of giant Ford Car posters that decorate my living room that help him feel this is "his" space, you know help him represent "his" personality!  The question is, how to make decorations around the house that aren't just for me?!?!
Road 2. We live in a tiny house, just a wee bit bigger than the even tinier house we lived in whilst we were in Perth.  However, even in this small house my children get lost.  It never happens in the clear light of day, always in the middle of the night when small, soft hands rub at puffy, heavy eyes, or when some scrape or bump brings tears to those eyes and make the world seem blurry and harsh.  So I have put up door plaques to help jog their memories!!  The problem with the "communal" doors is that I have 5 age groups and 6 personalities to deal with -_- ! Not easy, let me tell you.


So, I have made a plaque for the children's bathroom.  I have kept the background earthy and grungy and not too many embellishments, to cater for my two big boys (12 and 8, cause they are far too cool for baby/girlie stuff) and I have used the awesome WOW chipboard word with bubbles and a gorgeous little ducky to cater for my two littlies (5 and 3), and the two biggest in the house will have to make another bathroom plaque for theirs. Tehehe!


Now there are a lot of new paint type products out on the market, and I have to say I am a bit of product junky, BUT I am sort of a bit of a drive away from my local shop so I can't indulge like I would like too! However, while standing at the counter of the local chemist the other day looking at the fabulous discount/discontinued basket on the counter, I had a stroke of... well I nearly had a stroke!  It came to me in a panting, hand flapping, screeching, giggling way, as some good ideas do!  In the basket was a kit that was 60% off!! How can I walk past something that was 60% off?? 6 for $10!!  SIX FOR TEN!!!  Oh I had to had them...  Gorgeous, kitsch, shiny NAIL POLISHES!!!!!!!!  And then what did I do with that nail polish... coloured my chipboard of course!!  And I love the effect, nice and shiny and metallic AND it behaves a bit like Dimensional Magic in that you can drip it on ridiculously thick and the surface tension holds it in a dome shape. And the little bubbles that appeared, just sand down and one more quick thin coat to cover and if only you could see in the pic the effect, really, really happy with it! And some terrific colours to play with!!

It was hard to do the embossing any justice in these pics either. All over the fussy cut embellishment and in that whole bottom right corner I have sprinkled Judikins Extreme Peacock Embossing Powder and heated it because I love the sprinkly rainbow effect. I really think it helps with the "watery" look. With the WOW words so shiny and metallic looking I think the embossed area helps tie in the texture and look of the words, with the backgrounds being rough and grungy.

The little ducky was coloured with Magical Mica's only the most awesome colours I have ever had the joy of using!! He is lovely and shiny too!!

Just one more word to all the friends, family and neighbours of ours that have been suffering through the floods, fires and earthquakes that have rocked the places near and dear to us in recent times. You are very much in our hearts and prayers.


See you soon,
take care of each other,
Megan B xx

Turn the page

Hello my friends! If you would like to see my latest creations please visit the WOW DT Blog!
I just also wanted to say that we hold all the family and friends that are amidst the Christchurch earthquake in our hearts and prayers and are sending love and thoughts to all of their family and friends worrying about them from all corners of the world.
In this time of chaos and destruction, please, please take care of each other.
Megan B xxx

Major, maajjoorr, MAJOR upheaval!

Well this could be a really long post, so I am going to get straight to the point... we have had a major upheaval. I'm not sure if the title gave it away?!?!?
I think everyone who has read my blog or facebook would well and truly know that Kev has been working in a "FIFO" (Fly-in-fly-out) position in the mines in Newman since April this year. When Kev took this job it was for a new lease on life.  After owning our own business or working for himself for the entire time we have been together he had had enough. 14 hour days, 7 day weeks. Never knowing what next week would bring.  We spoke to a lot of people.  We thought getting settled in our business early would mean the time would come when we could step back a bit, but everyone we ever spoke to said the same thing.  It never ends.  Our business did really well, and it was a hard decision to let it go, but he decided being able to spend time with the family was more important, so a job in the mines would suit our needs.  We thought it was definitely best for me to stay in Perth because of the kids (I hadn't really thought about how much I would feel like a single parent because of his absence). Our biggest boy was graduating primary school and we got him into the high school we really like, our baby needed help with a delay in his speech, and we had all those after school activities that they would miss out on if we moved to a small country town.  So, sensible thought won out and off Kev went at the start of the year.  And although I put on a brave face, it was one hell of a year.  Not only was Kev only with me one week out of three but to add a little more to the mix, my mum, who lives with us, fell and broke her arm (for the second time in 6 months) in May.  Now to a normal person this would be an inconvenience.  But in case you've never met me, there is very little "normal" about me and this extends to my mother.  She has Lupus and various serious complications that go along with the title.  Breaking her arm actually meant she was unable to walk because she uses and aide. And due to uber heavy drugs they pump into her she has the immune system of a grain of sand.  Anyway, due to some heavy complications Mum was really very unwell for quite a bit of last year and I felt oddly lonely for most of it because my soul mate was 100's of kms away. Now to fill in that blank I have to let you know that Kevin and I are still majorly in our honeymoon phase (I can hear you A-M, lol!).  Until the first swing, where he was gone for 15 days, we hadn't been apart for 15 days in total since we first met. Literally! We are the kind of couple who still hold hands walking around the shops.  We still sit next to each other on the couch every night. We go to bed at the same time every night, brush our teeth standing together around our tiny little basin.  I think you get the picture.  I almost lost my mum and I felt a bit like I had lost my best friend/lover/partner.  Not only was I feeling lonely and scared but my heart was breaking for my man because of the pain I knew he was in, so very lonely going back every night, after 13 hours of work every day, to an empty room.  Waiting patiently for our phone call every night just to hear our voices and feel like he was still apart of our day.  Feeling miserable and helpless because he couldn't put his arms around me as I sobbed on the phone most nights with fear, loneliness and heart ache.  So we had a change of heart.   We decided to go where the family could be together.  It was always going to be better for the kids to have their parents together as this is the way we work best.  Kev was approached to apply for a couple of jobs from a couple of different company's and that is what he did and then we just waited.  I kept "breaking the news" to everyone but was almost disappointed - no shock value there, everyone who knew me, who knew me & Kev, could see it coming.  Another hiccup- sure why not!! -  I couldn't bring Mum with me.  She can't get her medical treatment here and she needs to stay closer to my Nana.  So it was not an easy decision but it was one we all made.  And now here we are in Newman.  It really has been the best decision we could make.  And thankfully to all the beautiful family and friends that I have, my Mum will never be alone.  They are all chipping in to help keep her company and help her out where needed.  They know who they are and I can't thank them enough from the bottom of my heart, I just couldn't have left without knowing they love and care for my mum just as they do for me.  I know it doesn't make Mum's heart as full as having all of us around but it will only be for a couple of years.


What will I do up here?  Well, Kev thought, considering I have always held down a job (going back after each of our four children) aswell as working in our business,  and looking after the kids and Mum, that now might be the time I could spend on furthering the thing that means the most to me (other than my loved ones)... My art.  But what to do and where to start?  Oh the plans!  Hmmmm... Well, I decided when I saw the call out to drop a quick line to Suzanne from Words or Whatever, and here I am the extremely chuffed last DT member!  So this is a MAJOR good news post.  I have to say a huge thank you to Suzanne for being so patient with me while I fell into the black hole of communication that enveloped me while we were in the process of the relocation, your an absolute GEM xoxo.  I absolutely can't wait to get stuck into that corner of my head where the creative stuff lives and put it to good use.  I can't leave without a picture so I have just put up a couple of sneaky's of my scrap space.  As always it is in the middle of our living area, Kev has allotted me a good space so that I can be right next to him while he is on X-Box or puter or TV!  (*sigh* peace and love reign again)

Man, I love these old faux ivory handles on my vintage buffet!!


Please take care of each other,
see you soon!
M x