What a fabulous weekend!

We all had such a wonderful time on the weekend at the second RTlicious Weekend Retreat. We were very lucky to have the lovely Julie van Oosten of Collections come and teach us for two days with Rhonda and I giving some other challenges and classes over the weekend also.

The girls did such an amazing job of their projects. We all were very inspired by Julie and I must say.. they have all gone Collections mad! We have a tile frenzy going on. Some of the ladies said they went to bed thinking of tile designs... I must admit, so did I.

Thanks so much to Julie for your wonderful inspiration over the weekend and to all the participants for your humour, company and patience over the weekend. (Check out Julie's pics on her blog at http://www.nirvanaelemetns.blogspot.com/) We also would have to say thanks to Mia Mia, especially to Charmaine, Dustine and the chefs at Mia Mia for hosting a wonderful venue and once again providing scrumptious food.

On a personal level i have now well and truly gotten into my 365 day challenge. We have quite a lot of girls now completing this task at RTlicious. it is going to be so much fun during the year to see what interesting photos we all take.

I have chosen to complete my challenge in a traditional scrap album using digital templates. I am adding a touch of hybrid to my pages by adding a touch of dimension here and there with bling, button, thread etc. I am very proud to say that i am up to date and completing my pages week by week - but it is only January... hopefully I can keep this up. here is a sample of my layout for Week 4 2009.

Today I took a picture of my clothesline - I hung my washing out this morning and noticed that I had nothing but bright pink hanging across my line... product of having two young girls I guess. No doubt though i am sure it will be a picture that I will one day treasure when i look back on their little tops and Cheekah's bibs hanging on the line.

I wanted to use these papers for my eldest daughter playing Snakes and Ladders with my Mum. I used Stampit, Jenny Bowlin and Crate papers; Kaiser flowers; Collecrtions transparency, letters and chipboard; Heidi Swapp letters and Carolees Creations letters.

I had a bit of fun putting this layour below together. I used KI Memoires, Basic Grey papers; Kaiser wood; My Minds Eye diecut; Lisa Bearnson stamps; KI Memories and various other buttons. Was lots of fun playing with doodling, stamps and a bit of paint. And best of all I used my scraps!

Take the Challenge

After reading a recent edition of Creating Keepsakes (January 2009), the team at Rtlicious thought it would be fun for any willing customers to take part in 365 day photo challenge. We thought this would be a great opportunity to support each other with ideas in how we could take a picture a day and scrap it at the end of the year. The best part of this is at the end of the year we will have so much documented.

When Rhonda and I were talking about it we initially discussed that it might be hard for someone without kids. But then we started thinking about the possibilities and the things that we often don't photograph but could be really important in the future. What about things like the view down your street, your backyard, what you cook, where you exercise, your work, friends, your favourite drink - they are so many opportunities out there.

To make it Nice and simple too we are going to encourage everyone to keep their documented year as simple as scrap booking can be - therefore when it comes to putting it together it will not be so overwhelming. I am opting to do the pages as I go so I am up to date each month and scrap a week to a double page.

What did I take a photo of yesterday - the TV! Yesterday they had an inauguration of Obama as the first black US president and I thought this was an important part of history - so I took a photo of it!

If you would like to take part ion the RTlicious challenge and have any ideas of what you think is important to photograph email us at rtlicious@bigpond.com. We would love to hear your views.

Now for another challenge I have decided to partake in...

I saw this challenge on Loretta's (http://scrap.paisleyblues.com/blog) blog and thought it would be a great way of getting my pages done and having a bit of fun at the same. Follow the link below if you want to see the challenge for yourself.

Dawny’s Sketch #6
PaperTake Weekly

Here is my challenge layout. I used papers from Basic Grey, stickers Basic Grey & Creative Imaginations, Letters from Collections, Green Tara Flowers, Red Glimmer Mist, Kaiser bling, ribbon.

4 sleeps to Retreat!

Wow. We are getting excited now. Only 4 more sleeps to our annual weekend retreat. Make sure you check out Julie's blog (http://nirvanaelements.blogspot.com/) for a sneak peak of what we will be doing. She is so clever!

I am about 18 months behind in my photos at the moment so I am trying to get as much done as possible right now why I can. Here are some layouts I have completed this week:This layout was completed using Scenic Route papers and gives you an idea of what you can do with papers that are full of strips. I have also used some buttons, Heidi Swapp clear flowers, kaiser bling flowers and a Making Memories Journalling card. Letters are by Carolee's Creations.

Using different chipboard elements and My Minds Eye and Basic Grey papers.

Using Basic Grey and Creative Imaginations papers. This was really fun. Chipboard Basic Grey, Rubons Hambly.Papers - Flirtini and My Minds Eye, plain chipboard letters painted white, dry brushed with teal paint and then glittered. Kaiser bling, K & Co 3d stickers, Kaiser rubons and stitching (of course).

Papers Junkitz and Bazzil, Kaiser rubons, KI Memories journakl sticker, sewing, Carolee's Creations letters and larger letters are a mixture of different leftover letters. The latest edition of Creating Keepsakes (January 2009) lists mixed multicoloured letters as a trend for 2009 so don't throw away your bits of ABC leftovers - use them in a layout. To save on space, I have kept a small shoebox and placed individual letters in a small Glad seal bag so I have individual leftovers ABC's together. Then when i want a bit of a mix of ABC's they are easy to find. You cant use what you cant find so I try and make it easy to use when I want them.

I had to share this with everyone - it is so cute, This is my baby girl Cheekah with her older sister's cowboy hat on whilst riding on her rocking horse. Love it.

Retreat - only 13 more sleeps!!!

Rhonda, Julie and I have been very busy planning for the RTlicious retreat. We are all so excited. It is now less than two weeks away. There are so many special things planned. If you have not registered yet make sure you do - closing date for registration is the 16th January. Check out the RTlicious web for more details.

The Boys layout was completed with items I found raiding my husbands shed. It was so much fun completing the background. I used items such as cable ties, sand paper and an old garden glove. I sprayed them with Sapphire glimmer mist and also used a radiant rain dauber to bring out the colours I want. See what you can find in your garden shed. Guarantee you will have loads of fun.

I completed the following layout and cards using the latest RTlicious kit.

I completed this clock for my friend Megan using a Kaiser Craft clock, Creative Imaginations paper, a Basic Grey chipboard die, Kaiser flowers and letters and numbers cutout on the Cricut.

I completed this layout using Kaiser paper, Collections chipboard, Kaiser rubons, Kaiser pearls, glimmer mist, Distressed Ink (Faded Jeans), German Scrap, stamps and Basic Grey diecut.