Hello You Are Loved - Scrapping Fun Kits Design Team

I am up on the Scrapping Fun Kits blog today with my final layout using the April kit.  I created a layout for my daughter's pregnancy album.  I am so close to finishing this project and since Purple is such a big feature of the album this kit was perfect for it.
While working on this layout I was trying to be mindful that I needed to do my Easter layout with the kit as I have no Easter scrapping supplies and this would suit that so I was trying not to use too much of the kit.

I do enjoy working in 8x8 though it is a size that has challenges to work with, I love how quick and simple a 8x8 layout can be.

Butterflies are a feature in this album as there is a butterfly in the awareness logo for hyperemisis gravidarum and so they are helping tell the story of my daughter battle with HG.

The You Are Loved Epoxy Flair helped form the title of this page along with the Purple Shimmer Hello Diecut.

Once I made a decision on which photo I was going to use and played with my supplies for a bit to get a sense of what I wanted to do I put down some strips of the washi that was in the kit to get a base for my layout started.
After some more playing around with the papers and doily I added the 4x6 paper and the floral doily from the kit to the layout.  

I didn't want to lose too much of  the beautiful texture in the paper so I positioned it so it would show off the paper without detracting from the rest of the layout.
I then started creating my Title cluster and finished off with 2 butterflies in the top corner to balance things out.

I am really happy with this layout.

Easter Decorating on a Budget

I decided to do a little decorating for Easter, something we have never done before but the budget for supplies would have to come out of my Easter budget which is usually used only for all the yummy food, the Chocolates, the Hot Cross Buns, dinner on Good Friday and a big family Breakfast on Saturday or Sunday depending on when everyone is available. Being a shift working family sometimes it may be a Famil lunch or dinner instead, we just roll with what works.

I already had 2 tiered cupcake stands that would be perfect, I got them on clearance after Easter about 4 years ago for a High Tea Fundraiser my daughter was hosting for Starlight Foundation.
I wanted a Banner, and some suitable plates, cups & table cloth.  However I had 2 problems budget and there was very little Easter stock when I was trying to shop for supplies that suited decorating available in my town.  It was either travel to another town or make do.

I could not find a Banner I loved so it was time to DIY so I bought this Pastel Burlap Banner from the Reject Shop when I bought a Bright Pink table cloth, Teal cups and Light Pink Serviettes.  To tie in the Bright Pink and Teal I grabbed some Bright Pink and Teal gems from Big W, due to what supplies I could get the decision was now made that except for my cupcake stands I was going with a Bright and Pastel Pink and Teal/Aqua theme.
Total budget spent including the cups, table cloth and banner supplies was $11.

I then shopped my stash for anything that might work for this Banner.  I thought those 2 cute pink rafia flowers would make cute bunny tails.








My work on the Banner had to wait until I had all the prepwork on the food for Easter Breakfast done and all the organising of the house to accomodate our guests done.  We had visitors stop by also so by the time I started working on the Banner it was getting dark and I had to wait until the next morning to take photos, hence the poor lighting of my supplies.

I grabbed out my 6x6 Magnolia Lane paper pad and selected 4 sheets that I decided to tear for layers.  I also had this small piece of acetate I recieved in a RAK a couple of years ago and had not had a use for until now and a gorgeous little wood veneer bunny I recieved in a RAK in Feb.
I worked on each flag individually but tried to line up the letters and tried to make sure that I alternated the main flower's colour.

I used some old Creative Memories Monogram alphas in White for my lettering as they were the only ones I had that were big enough for the Banner.

I also grabbed out 2 sheets of flower stickers from my haul of stickers I got in clearance bundles at Lincraft.

I was short a E so I used a F and cut a piece of a K to make a second E.

I managed to get it 80% done in a very short amount of time before having to leave for a special Good Friday Dinner at my in laws.
I didn't get a chance to finish it before our Easter Breakfast but I love it.
I will finish it for next year with a cute bunny on each end that has a raffia flower for a tail, I think.  I also want to add ribbons between each flag.

Now to share with you the delicious French Toast Casserole I made for Easter Breakfast, I discovered it via Easter Mums.
This is fantastic tasting but also really convenient.  I prepared it the day before and left it in the fridge until a hour before guests were due, then I preheated my oven, made the crumbled, and baked it for 55 minutes.
It was a huge hit.
I didn't have the right sized baking dish so I divided it between 2 dishes.

Due to life events cooking needed to be quick and simple.
The boys loved making chocoloate eggs, noodle nests and decorating milk arrowroot biscuits.

The biscuits on the right in the bottom tier are from Aldi.

The nests were a huge hit with adults and kids.












I placed a fabric table cloth folded thick in the middle for all the hot dishes to go on.
I used every white plate I have, and a white plastic plate for a toddler attending.
I later added a Cadbury Bunny to the place settings.

I am so glad I bought those cupcake stands on clearance 4 years ago, they will be getting a lot more use now.
I am looking forward to building my Easter Decorating Supplies next year as this really did make things more fun.

Hoppy Easter YouTube Hop - Easter at the Call Centre

We have another YouTube Hop for you and it is Easter themed.  I love Easter, I love seeing the kids faces when the Bunny has left eggs for them all over the house and/or yard, and I really love Hot Cross Buns and I am so glad that Mr E's digestive issues have improved enough that he can have them now so this was a Hop I was really excited to do, however I had a issue occur with my photo storage and my back up storage so I thought I didn't have any Easter photosto scrap until I remembered hubby took photos of the Easter Bunny visiting the Call Centre on Easter Sunday last year to give all the people working a Easter Egg, thankfully he still  had them on his phone and I get to scrap this story.

The prize for this Hop's Prize Draw is a April Kit from Scrapping Fun Kits, so if you missed out on subscribing to April make sure you enter, or if you have already got a April Kit why not enter anyway and have a chance to win a second kit.











The floral doily has some little pink flowers so this was a great piece to use in this layout as the Easter Bunny had yellow and pink on her outfit and I wanted to pull yellow and pink into the layout.
The doily pulled the purple of the April kit and the pink I was adding into one element and helped pull the layout together.







I was so indecisive about my background paper and how I wanted to start that in the end I just put 2 pieces of washi down and started.  If you are having a creative block or are finding it hard to decide how you want to start a layout putting something down and committing to it can help get the process going.  Well it works for me.
Then it was just a matter of building from the washi.






I used these beautiful thickers from my March Kitaholic Kits Main Kit for the Easter in my title, some tiny purple felt alphas that have no branding on the packaging and these cute typewriter key style alphas from My Mind's Eye for my title.
The yellow striped paper is from what is one of my favourite 6x6 paper pads, Happy Place from Dear Lizzy.

I will do my journaling and possibly add a doodle around the outside later, I don't want to reveal any Bunny secrets to a little one who might look over Mum's shoulder.

This year will be our first Easter with our Granddaughter so I am really looking forward to recording the memories we create this year.

To enter watch each video in the Hop and leave a commenton each video.

Here is the Hop order
Raelene from Dyspraxic Organised Scrapper
Deb Egan
Rachel from the Closet Scrapbooker

Chrissi Mannix

Morgyn from For the love of paper

April Challenge List

Apologies for posting the April List late, we suffered some flood damage on Thursday from the storm that was a result of the former Cyclone Debbie, Friday was spent cleaning up the damage and I was exhausted Yesterday as you can imagine, though it was my son's birthday so my focus was on him and it was launch day for Scrapping Fun Kits so the little I did do on the computer was focused on that.
I am hoping to be back to normal with my posting and sharing with you as of now.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.

I will continue to update the Challenge List as more challenges go up throughout the month, so please check back regularly and see what wonderful challenges have been added.

Due to positive feedback I will continue to split the list into Australian based challenges and International challenges, so make sure you scroll through and check out all the wonderful challenges as many allow entries from all over the world.

Please if I have put a challenge into the wrong catagory let me know, I worked hard to be correct but we can all make mistakes.

Please if there are any Challenges you are aware of that I have missed let me know.I am really loving participating in Challenges, it is getting me to craft more often, to do projects I may otherwise save to do later, and some there is the added challenge of completing them when I have limited supplies that meet the requirements but that just adds to the fun.
So now for the list, I will provide a link to each challenge that has a direct link for it and either their Facebook page, website, shop, whichever is appropriate so you have all the details you could possibly need.
Those that are in a Facebook Group I will link to the group, please contact admins of the group to let them know you are joining to participate in the challenges or look at the challenges as some admins have requested this due to the waiting list. 

Australian Challenges

Scrapping Good Time - Scrapbooking Group Australia is a Closed Facebook Group that has monthly Scrapbooking Challenges and Card Challenges each month. 

ARTastic Challenge has lovely artwork to inspire us this month.  Here is their Facebook Page.

Kraft+ Challenge has a fun prompt this month.  Here is the Facebook Group.

Aussie Crafters is a Closed Facebook Group that has a monthly challenge and swaps.  Please pm the group owner when you request to join. 

Scrap the Boys has a fun prompt this month, plans hubby has for a project with the boys these school holidays will be perfect for this challenge.

Here is a link to their Facebook Page.Make sure you check their blog for the rules of their Challenges.

Scrap the Girls has a lovely moodboard this month.

Loving that this moodboard is full of one of my favourite colours.

Aussie Scrappers Society is a closed Facebook group that has challenges.

Pixels and Paper has a fun Easter prompt this month.  Here is their Facebook Page.

Off the Rails Scrapbooking has a lovely moodboard this month.  Here is their Facebook Group.  Make sure you check their blog for the rules of their Challenges.

SCRAPBOOKIT has a fun double page sketch this month.

D-lish Scraps has a fun Inspiration Board this month, perfect for those hard to scrap boys photos or some retro photos from the 80's.  Make sure you follow the link for inspiration and the rules of this Challenge.   

Scrapping Clearly has a interesting moodboard and fun sketch this month.

Show us your stuff has a fun recipe this month. Head to their blog for inspiration and rules.  Here is their Facebook Page.

Archie-Scraps has a fun prompt this month.

White with 1 has a fun shade of blue this month and they have added a optional sketch this month.  Here is their Facebook Page. 

Anna's Craft Cupboard have a fun sketch this month.

Aussie Digital Artists Challenge is a fun new challenge featuring Australian artists images.

Dusty Attic has a lovely moodboard up on their Facebook Page and their Blog and for even further information, they also have a Website.

123 Challenge has a fun set of prompts this month.  Here is their Facebook Page. 

Sketchy Boards Challenge has a great Sketch this month and a fun Colour Inspiration this month.  Follow the link for inspiration and rules. 

Scrapbooking Top 50 Australia has a prompt this month, head over to the blog for inspiration and details.  Here is their Facebook Page.

Mystical Scrapbooks has 2 monthly challenges for you and a private chat group, just message them to be added.


Kaisercraft has a lovely moodboard this month.  Here is their Facebook Page.

Jot Magazine has a lovely moodboard this month.  Here is their Facebook Page.  

International Challenges

Counterfiet Kit Challenge is a great concept where you take inspiration from a new kit that is out and create a kit from your supplies using that inspiration and so create layouts with your own kit.  They do a blog hop with their team showing each person's kit and layouts.  Well worth checking it out. 


More than Words has a great prompt this month that features colours that are perfect for a medical zebra like me.  Here are the Rules for their Challenges. Here is their Facebook Page. 

Scrapbooking Challenges have a moodboard and sketches that are posted throughout the month so it is worth checking their blog and Facebook Page throughout the month.

Creative Inspiration is a online forum/group that features multiple challenges throughout the month.








Crafty Creations Challenge is a bimonthly craft challenge.  Make sure you read their rules as entry closing dates are different to most challenges.

Scrap Our Stash has a fun Tic Tac Toe Challenge this month.

















Craft-Dee Bows is a monthly challenge that involves using a bow.  Head to their blog for more details. 

Berry71bleu has a great moodboard this month.

Pixel Scrapper is a Digital Scrapbooking community that has a monthly challenge.  I am so glad I found this wonderful community. 

GrandDiva's Creations have a fun inspiration challenge for this month and a bonus sketch.

Stuck Sketches have a cute sketch to start the month with.

Scrap It With A Song has some fun songs this month.

Connie Can Crop has a fun prompt this month.







Maja Designs has a lovely moodboard this month.

Project Life

Here is a list of Challenges that would suit creating Project Life layouts.  Note I do need to check the challenges that are new to the list and update this sublist.  I will update shortly.

Scrap the Boys have said they will accept PL layouts.

Scrap the Girls have said they will accept PL layouts.
Kraft+ Challenge accepts tradition layouts, art journalling, tags, etc so this challenge would suit PL I think.

Pixels and Paper accepts all forms of Scrapbooking and Memory Keeping.

ARTastic Challenge Blog accepts all forms of Scrapbooking as entries.

Scrapbooking Top 50 Australia accepts PL entries.
Show us your stuff accepts PL entries.

Scrapbook Boutique accepts scrapbooking, off the page, etc so I think it would suit PL.  The new challenge is posted on the 10th of each month.

Dusty Attic states in the August Moodboard Entry Rules (so assuming it is the same) that your project can be anything you desire including layouts, cards or off the page so it sounds like PL will be accepted.

Previous Lists
March 2017

February 2017

January 2017
December 2016

November 2016
October 2016

September 2016

August 2016

My scrappy friends who only scrap when at a crop, or who have stopped or reduced their time scrapping for any reason I think you will love some of these, have a look at each challenge and see what appeals to you.  Try to do one by the end of the month.