busy busy busy

I have been busy applying for jobs (that must be about over 10 now - but that doesn't seem like so many over 3 months!) and scrapping whenever I can. I was picked as the random winner for the no. 8 wired dare and then got the email that I was going to be published (must send that page off tomorrow!!) and then I opened up the Blue Bazaar newsletter and found one of my pages as the spotlight layout right at the top!!! and so it feels like I am getting somewhere.

Not sure where... but somewhere for sure! I did a couple of pages to apply to go on the design team for the new Aussie sketch blog and since everything else is going so well - maybe this will too! I have not done too many sketches but it was cool. Deciding which bits to keep and which bits to ignore and which extra bits to add . Here is the first one I did: Farmgirl. I wanted to have the contrast of pretty and functional - thus the flowers and the screw brads. I really like how the yellow came out when i heavily sanded the edges of the photos. It is always a surprise when you do it!! It is a pretty busy page with 5 photos but I think I like it.

then the next sketch was pretty plain, I thought and very controlled... too straight for my current style. So I changed the border to a parallelogram (I know that is spelt wrong but I don't know what is right!! I really like the circle of dots on the flowers. Ali Edwards does those alot, although I am sure she has a stamp and didn't do it by drawing around a lid and then doing the dots by hand like I did!! The colours so didn't scan properly - the frame was a dark maroon and the flowers quite orange but they look almost the same here!then the last item was to send a page of your own and the sketch of it. I chose a page I had done recently - as a Layout comp on SBBD, and the did up the sketch of it afterwards. This page has been really well received on the gallery and Shel helped me decide which one to use.

So heres hoping! I think it would be really fun to be on a design team. and since I am churning out between 4 and 8 pages a week these days, I reckon I could handle the pressure!

I have probably done a lot of pages that I haven't put on here lately - I have been splitting them between SBBD and Blue Bazaar and only adding a page or two each day or few days. I am still doing all the challenges and comps I can find and especially love the scrapjacked ones! It was definitely Adrienne Looman who has inspired my latest development although I looked at her album on 2peas again the other day and my work isn't really that much like hers, but it was seeing her work and trying to 'jack' it that opened me up to new things. I now use a white background alot, have things grouped together instead of spread apart, do a lot of penning - outlines and doodle/drawing of my own design. I also use mixed alphabets a lot - a different font for each word usually. that didn't come from Adrienne I don't think. I also seem to be doing a lot of monochromatic colour schemes. I seem to have to push myself to add more colours! Then occasionally I go back to something more like my older stuff and I don't like it as much.. See here are a few:

This one was for a dare - add a little sparkle , and the PLAY and other dark looking bits area actually bright silver glitter sprinkled onto glue... but you can't tell here!this is one of my favourites - an absolute favourite photo of Nelz and a beautiful paper for the background. I got it cheap because I think it is a deleted line.. I can't believe they would delete the whole line!!! it is just gorgeous!And wo! doesn't this one stand out after all those white and light backgrounds. I like thins , but was not entirely happy with the title and journalling. I think that let it down.Oh well I guess I should go to bed... and wonder if I will get any of the jobs I have applied for!!!