Then try some of the July sketch challenges that Kathy has set this month. Remember one entry for each sketch will be chosen to go into the sketch gallery. Here are the sketches and a couple of samples to give you some ideas:

And a sample completed by Marion

Voting for our June cybercrop was, as always, hotly contended but the polls have closed and our very talented winners are:

Challenge One:

Epineh (Natalie)

Challenge Two:

Wendyq

Challenge Three:

Sue

Challenge Four:

Ceci

Non-scrapping Challenge:

Donnaby

And the Chicken’s Challenge:

Peggy

Congratulations to everyone. Oh, and because the creative chooks are feeling organised we have set the criteria for next month.. and they are pretty cool

Today the wonderfully talented Marion has shared some of herself with us. I am sure you will enjoy reading her responses and drooling over her gorgeous LO’s:

What initially drew you to begin scrapping?

After my father died I had taken charge of his box of photos and put them into an album. Later I did some research into his family tree, so I bought a scrapbook album with black pages and started to put the photos into some sort of order with a bit of journaling to round it off.

When did you start scrapping?

I started scrapping in 2005, but it really took hold of me in December 2005 when I discovered digital scrapping and Chookscraps on line. I spent that summer holidays learning all I could.

How did you find Chookscraps?

I was talking to one of my classes at school and the subject of scrapbooking came up. Some of the older girls were doing classes with Chookie at a local craft shop. They told me about the website and I lurked for a while.

I bit the bullet and joined once school had finished for the school year.

Do you want to share one of your early LO’s with us?

I went through my first album and chose the LO-“Daylily” which was scrapped in March 2006. My photos were always matted and there was no sign of sanding or distressing-just inked edges.

What is your favourite tool / technique, manufacturer?

My favourite tool has to be my silhouette digital cutter along with my laptop as it won’t work without it.

My favourite technique would be inking and sanding.

My favourite manufacturer would still be BG for pp, Kaiser for bling and Bella for chipboard.

Who do you find inspires you most or, from where do you get your inspiration?

I am inspired by the work of the Chookscraps DT team members ( past and present) as they all offer different perspectives. I also visit the blogs of Ali Edwards, Jessica Sprague and Emily Falconbridge. I also read magazines in the hope of getting a new idea.

What is the most useful piece of advice you have ever been given?

When you have arranged your LO and placed all the embellishments where you want them, take a photo so that you have something to help you get it back together when gluing everything down.

What advice would you give to a beginner scrapper?

Buy some basic tools and take a class if you can, but if that is not possible just have a go-get started.

Why do you scrap now? e.g. for future generations, for relaxation etc.

My reasons for starting was to tell our family story for future generations. My father died before I had children so it was important to tell his story. I am still working on that project. I think I do it more for a creative outlet and relaxation now.

Do you have any scrapping “highlights” you would like to share with us?

Last year I won the “It’s raining sketches” competition and I was a runner up in the last “survivor” competitions.

This week I have had two LO’s accepted for the project’s gallery at Quickutz.com

What else would you like to tell us about yourself?

I have always been encouraged to be creative. As a young child I loved one particular volume of the Arthur Mees Encyclopaedia. This was the one with all the how to make…… instructions. I was also a girl guide and loved camping out in the bush. Some of my early photographs are from guide camps. I always knew that I wanted to teach and after a few years teaching I came back home and went to WAIT (Curtin Uni ) and studied Art Teaching part time. I started quilting, spinning and weaving and ceramics at this time. Now at the end of teaching career I find myself still doing what I love to do- teaching kids to be creative.

Would you please share 3 of your favourite LO’s (please send them at a size suitable for uploading) and let us know what you like about them or why they are special to you.

1. Thinking. I love the black and white patterned papers with the maroon accents. The photo was taken by a high school student doing photography.

2, Wedding Party. I love scrapping old photos. This photo is one I scanned while in new Zealand .

I love using the torn pp’s. These were special because Jem sent them to retreat for us to share.

3. Celebrate. I love the pink and grey colours of these pp’s in this Chookscraps pack. I made this to go with one of the sketches I did for the designing sketches competition.

Thanks so much Marion

It has been a little while since we last checked out the continuous challenge and there have been some gorgeous offerings. Here they are:

This is a photo of Mum taken by the school photographers when she was still teaching at Queen of Apostles school. I have an animal (rubon bird), 3 pps(all BG 2 porcelain and 1 bittersweet), no cardstock and 11.5×8 in size. TFL

My Continuos Challenge Items were
Transperency - I use for my Jounaling
1 Bracket - I have inked and finished it with Dimentional Magic.
Doodling - I used my clear stamp for the first time… as you can see.
Ribbon Bow.

My criteria were - 2 pps, stamping, inking and flowers. Thanks so much, Bernadette. I enjoyed doing this.

my take on the challenge i got from kathy - droplets, transparency, a chipboard embellishment and something blue.

i’m surprisingly happy with this, since i hated it in progress! i think it’s the black background - i rarely use it!

My challenge was to use colours on opposite sides of the colour wheel. I chose red and green. I also had to use 3 photos, ribbon and journalling tags.

Your LO’s are all stunning ladies.. now to sit back and wait for the next installments.

It’s the fortnight of Boy Bands and our first Survivor winner, the very talented Nat is our guest judge for this round. Here are her responses to the questions posed and some gorgeous LO’s of hers that she has been kind enough to share with us. So sit back and enjoy getting to know a bit more about Nat:

What initially drew to to begin scrapping?

I have always enjoyed crafting and I really liked the idea of scrapbooking, I was really attracted to the idea of creating and displaying pictures in such beautiful ways rather then just storing them in an ordinary album or box.

When did you start scrapping?

In highschool I used to stick photos in and decorate my school diary which now I look back and see was the begginings of scrapping. In 2002 I really started to look around what was out there. I held a party plan scrapbook party and got my first taste of scrapping…I have been addicted ever since.

What is your favourite tool / technique, manufacturer?

Favourite Tool of all time is the internet…you can find anything on here..layout inspiration, titles, poems even printables to complete a page. As far as manufacturer’s go if I had to pick one it would be American Craft’s for their Thickers and cardstock…which are awesome…other then that though I really just buy what I like at the time regardless of the manufacturer.

Who do you find inspires you most or, from where do you get your inspiration?

The net and the wonderful forums and gallerys of the everyday scrappers. There are so many talented scrappers out there.

What is the most useful piece of advice you have ever been given?

There is no wrong in scrapping…just go with what you feel you like.

What advice would you give to a beginner scrapper?

See above…just play around with your page…and enjoy the creating process. Each page is your own personal masterpiece.

Why do you scrap now? e.g. for future generations, for relaxation etc.

Really just for the fun of it…its relaxing and fulfilling to create.

Do you have any scrapping “highlights” you would like to share with us?

I have to say for me its actually not the “scrapping” that is my highlight of my scrapping time…it was after Cyclone Larry when I had lost everything, that I felt the support of the girls at Chookscraps…this was a very hard time for my whole community and having such wonderful supportive friends on this forum who propped me up and helped me keep going on the bad days. It’s something that stays in my heart and makes me so grateful to be a part of the whole scrapping community.

What else would you like to tell us about yourself?

I have had a little break from scrapping after a tough year…but guess what…I am BACK…and look forward to being around the forum on a more regular basis.

I just love this layout…I love everything about it….the photo of my eldest Daughter Rebekah growing into such a wonderful lady and the colours of the layout. Defiently a fav of mine.

This one I love as the photos bring back so many memories of a wonderful camping trip…I also love the fact that I got so many photos on one page.

Thanks so much Nat.

The June CC starts today.. sometime around 3 pm WA time. Although if there are enough people about and some gentle pressure, or bribes, directed at certain members of the DT we may be able to start a tad earlier. So here is the timetable for the weekend:

Friday
non-scrapping and chicken’s challenge posted early
3.00pm - chat and 1st challenge
3.30pm - DT challenge thread posted
4.00pm - second challenge posted
4.30pm - third challenge posted
5.00pm - fourth challenge posted
5.30pm - Bingo

Saturday
Chat and Scrap
5.30pm - 20 questions

Sunday
Chat and scrap

Upload deadline is Monday midnight WST

I hope to see you all around. Happy scrapping.

Obviously there is way too much talent in this nest. That is attested by the record number of ties we had in voting this month. The winners are:

Kerry for challenge one:

For challenge two we have:

Jem

& Shara

For challenge 3 we have:

Kay

Marion

And Shara

For the card challenge we have Jem

And for the non-scrapping challenge we have this gorgeous photo of Rach’s:

Congratulations ladies and also well done to everyone who took part. Now I guess the Creative Chooks had better start dreaming up some criteria for the June CC.

The continuous challenge continues to add great inspiration to us all. Here are the latest offerings:

Karen was challenged to use hand cut embellishment, transparency, hidden journalling and eyelets:

She challenged Jan to use Numbers, Two distressing techniques - sanding and paper tearing, Bold Title &
Lace:

Your LO’s are all gorgeous ladies. Stay tuned for the next installments.

And finally Lorraine was challenged to use an animal (rubon bird), 3 pps(all BG 2 porcelain and 1 bittersweet), no cardstock and 11.5×8 in size.

Jan then challenged Amanda to use Handcutting, Ribbon, Large Photo, Leaves

The April Pack certainly was gorgeous so, if you didn’t pick yours up, make sure you do before they are all sold out. Here are some examples that are showcased in the gallery:

The incredibly talented Sandie Mallon is the special guest judge for this round of idol. Here are her responses to the questions and some beautiful and inspiring LO’s to share with you all.

What initially drew to to begin scrapping?
I loved that with all the photos i had.. there was a chance to tell my children’s story of the passing years.

When did you start scrapping?
2004 .. however i was more drawn to the world of Off the page than scrapping i turned my hand to layouts in 2007 with the birth of my last child who is now 2.

Do you want to share one of your early LO’s with us?

What is your favourite tool / technique, manufacturer?
My favourite technique would be Inking & distressing using the hieddi swap distressers and paint with masks..

Who do you find inspires you most or, from where do you get your inspiration?
A lot of my inspiration is drawn from new papers and new photos … i also love blog hopping, forum galleries and tend to draw inspiration there also

What is the most useful piece of advice you have ever been given?
Don’t sweat the small stuff..

What advice would you give to a beginner scrapper?
Classes, classes and more classes.. lol you will meet lots of like minded people and have fun at the same its also a great escape from all things kids and husbands

Why do you scrap now? e.g. for future generations, for relaxation etc.
I tend to scrap more now for the pleasure and relaxation side of it..

Do you have any scrapping “highlights” you would like to share with us?
Some of my highlights would be joining a design team and having my work published. I have made some great friendships on line and IRL that i treasure

What else would you like to tell us about yourself?
When im not scrapping i like to take the chance to get out and get some nice pics and hope my love of photography broadens over the years. I pretty much have my hands full with my kids and husband and try and sneak in a page wherever i can.

DIVAS…I love this page as its my closest girlfriends who i have lived next door too forever

LOVE………….. i love the pic of my hubby and the colours look great with the black and white pic

I AM…i just love all the technique on this and how well it came together

Thanks so much Sandie.. I’m sure everyone will love reading a bit about you.