The best big brother in the world

I love this portrait of my oldest son! He has such a warm, caring expression on his face - and that very much describes him in the role of being a big brother. He's very caring when it comes to his four year younger brother - he's more than willing to play with him and keep an eye on him. He's overall a very caring person, being a little brother himself and as a son, too.

I wanted to scrap this picture with a rough, but warm look. Even though he's a caring, little boy he's also very much a boy, so something sugar sweet would be totally wrong. A mix of box carton, tulle, screws, swirls, metal, hearts and a distressed paper gave a great blend og soft and rough - both in the look and in the symbolic contence of the LO. When finishing the LO I realized that I had fell into my old habit of scrapping in brown - a habit that I fought for some time to get rid of - but who cares after all....I like brown;)

I also gave myself a challenge with this LO: I hate felt - therefore I had to use it! I don't know why I hate felt - some people love it - I just do. Don't like the look or feel of it. The title is made of some MM felt alphabet that I just had to alter a bit with inks and paint - and it ended up looking not quite so "feltish."

Busy days - barely any scrapping

Oh, my God....... I can tell you all: I really look forward 'till the day I'm no longer a student! These days I've got no time left what so ever to dive in to my scrapping passion. My dedicated corner is for the time being just a giant mess grinning at me with possibilities.....I'm quite sure I hear something giggle in there! Psychotic clearstamps perhaps? I guess doing nothing for a long time can mess with sanity in an ugly way. Well, perhaps that will help me create something crazy the day I actually can allow myself to get creative again. I feel insanity come crawling.....I'm not made for not expressing myself over a long period of time. *h.e.l.p* F*** education?

OK, enough whining. I actually have been scrapping a little bit. I joined the "Mesterscrappen" on Scrapping.no and made the finals, but I had to let the finals go without me because I just didn't have the time to do the 3 final contributions. A bit sad, since the competition made ignore my books and chores. But as the famous say: Always look on the bright side of life - I did scrap!

....perhaps this LO is a result of the insanity growing in my lonely, bored stash? I really liked doing this one - I like to play a bit and find strange twists to things that can tell an underlying story. It's quite a contrast to the baby-LO's I've also been scrapping (and that I'll post a bit later). While scrapping this one I started to wonder: What is my scrapping style? Really? What is my signature? I've no idea - schizofrenic?

Fixing the look of my blog - among other things...

Ok, I think my blog has had the look of a deep black dungeon, så I thought it was time for some change.... I don't know if it's the upcoming valetines day or any hidden romantic venture that has affected me, but somehow I ended up with a candy-cute heart look. So not typical me.

That's not all I've been up to lately. I hardly have time (or energy) to scrap much these days, but something has seen the day of light anyway. I attended the "Mesterscrappen" on scrapping.no with hope to get a kick in my scrapbooking ass, but I guess it'll just be a stressful "Oh, why did I join this??!!"-kind of thing, but at least it made me scrap something!



This LO is of my youngest son, born in june 2008. These are the very first pictures that was taken of him - while I was resting after the c-section. The pictures are taken by his dad, just 9 minutes after he came into this world. It was truly a happy time when he finally came out after a lot of stress and a bit of agony. He almost died during labour due to the fact that he had the cord wrapped 5 (!) times around his neck.

Perhaps it's not that clear on this photo, but I've written all his vital measures on the photos. He was so thin, very affected by the lack of nourishment due to the thightly wrapped cord. This is a LO loaded with emotions, and I guess it is to his father, too. He sat there alone just seconds after these photos, not quite understanding how lucky we were and just starting to take in the emotional rollercoaster we'd just been through. I'm very thankful for the outcome.

Incredible blue eyes.....

The period before christmas - during christmas - and after christmas - just wasn't the most productive time I've had. Almost a month since my last blog update, so: HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all! (blushing)

Ok, let's face it: Not all of us are happy with the way our bodies look - me neither. But: I'm actually very happy with one thing: mye eyes! I bet Victoria Beckham would pour out some bucks to get her hands on them. *ouch* The last challenge on the Papir i Hjertet designteam was about something we didn't quite like about our bodies, so naturally we had to follow up with the opposite!

Some Photoshop playtime, some well used (but expired) creditcards, a little bit of this and that: Voilà! A playful LO about my incredible blue eyes! I honestly think they are my best feature. (Let me know if you don't agree - I'm more than happy to hear a lot of nice things about the rest of me)

Anyone else up for a positive challenge? Show me your best features!

Violence leaves deep marks

This is the most personal LO I've ever scrapped. Actually, I never thought I'd put my behind out on the net *giggle* but in this case I think it's all right;) The designteam at Papir i Hjertet were dared by our wonderful Mona; to scrap a part of our body that we had bad confidence about or just felt bad about. In a way I failed the dare, because I don't have any of those feelings about my now very public bodypart. It'll always remind me of the past, but it can never make the past catch me.



The story behind this LO is that it's showing a part of my life that brought me a lot of pain - both physically and mentally. The journaling tells about my former boyfriend that hit me. "I'll never get a round, nice butt again, but I've actually got a nice life." Why always scrap the sunny part of life? This is just as much a part of as the rest, and it's wonderful to acknowledge that I'm now OK with what happened. Perhaps this could be an inspiration to others who has a story to tell? Remember: You don't have to show it to anyone.

Onesie recycling

Another weekend with social scrapping! Also featuring: gypsie music, karaoke, wine,different types of "dots", a lot of laughter and heart sprinkled cake - that's another story better not shared outside the Papir i hjertet designteam ;) *LOL*

Well, I actually had planned to scrap A LOT (as usual) but AS USUAL the hours seemed to contain jetfuel and went away in a supernatural speed. During this weekend I found my alter ego - that is to be revealed a bit later;) *giggle*

This onesie is the result of the 4th round of LSS. We're now just 8 contestants remaining, so it'll be exciting to see who actually will be the Last Scrapper Standing. This time we were supposed to (ab)use fabric. I wanted to scrap ON fabric instead of using fabric on a LO, so I found one of Jarle's onesies that doesn't fit anymore. It was hard to get a photo that really shows the intention and idea behind this work - the circle down to the right is actually a mirror. The title means "How big I am now:". The picture shows Jarle at 3 months, and he's supposed to look in the mirror as he gets older - always able to see how big he is right now; comparing his look at 3 months.

I've dyed the onsie with different types of ink: Luminarte Shimmering Mist, Distress Ink and Posh Rainbow Dye Ink. You'll also see some hand stitched fabric behind the photo along with some lace and fabric flowers. I added some tulle to the hand made hanger to create some kind of nostalgic look.

So: why scrap on plain paper when there are so many possibilities? My head is spinning with ideas - and a hunger for time to put them to life.....

Just plain eatable!

I guess that most of us who have kids (or just love kids) have had that feeling of "wanting to hug them so hard that they'll crush?" Or have been kissing them so much that you have the feeling of eating them? Well, apart from these being quite horrifying images it's very true - or what?

This LO I made this past weekend at the gathering at Papir i hjertet. I wasn't able to spend as many hours there as I wanted, but oh...it was truly a good injection of scrapping vitamins! It has been way too long since I scrapped together with others! (But next weekend is designers weekend, so "husband" and kids will have to do on their own...) It was very clear to me that it was a long time since I've packed the XXL tote - I filled it - and two big boxes that I had to balance on top of it. Me afraid of leaving anything behind??? You should never underestimate the power of multiple choices when scrapping! OK, perhaps I forgot that I was going to scrap at a store....that has just about everything I need.

On this LO I've been playing a bit with alcohol ink and Black magic carton. Ok: that was just to hide the fact that the photo is not exactly my best shot. WTF - who says a photo has to be studio perfect? I actually love it just the way it is!

A little "kitchen chemistry" is fun!

This picture of my little brother has been awaiting inspiration for some time - and the true inspiration didn`t hit me until round 3 of LSS on "Minneriket." We were supposed to find and make our own colors from whatever we could find in drawers and other strange places in the house. So, this LO is inspired by the term "self made" - it`s about making your life your own.

There`s lot of symbolism on this LO: Time in a small bag, time as watch parts, aqua vita, the keys to life, an adult man lurking in the background, love and broken hearts, blossoming, free as a bird, network, holding on to....many aspects regarding my little brother`s confirmation and his doorway to adulthood.

Enough about that - what about the colors?

-The brown lace i dyed in coffee - I did it two times; the second time I only did he tips of one part of the lace.
-The fiber paper in the background is dyed with dye meant for cake icing.
-The icecream popstick and "math card" is painted with water based furniture milling.
-The circle back and to the right I may say is a part of myself - it`s dyed with the very same color I hide my grey hair with *lol*
-The hearts have their color from a mix of coal from our fireplace, water and gum arabic - fixated to not smear the whole thing.
-The little retro flowers are dyed with a mix of tea bags and red peppers.
-The little plastic bag containing the watch face has its color from rusty, old nails.

Babylaughter

Guess who's the chief of agenda in this house?
That's Jarle all right....Oh, it can certainly be wearing with these little ones who eats away all your energy by nagging, eating, sleeping, crying, cuddling, playing and SMILING! It's a real turning point the day a baby starts smiling, but to me it's an even greater turning point the day they start to LAUGH! Can you think of anything more heartwarming than babylaughter?

I can take a lot of sleepless nights and tiresome days for just a few moments of bubbly laughter. In those moments this little man is my beautiful, little angel. (But yes: I do picture him with devilish horns sometimes too....*lol*)
Jarle is beginning to become a big boy now - well, if a baby at 4,5 months ever can be considered big.He rolls over on the floor, he grasps and holds his toys, he "imitates a banana" trying to squiggle himself forwards and backwards on the floor. I guess I just have to face it: The definitive baby periode has very little sand left in the top part of the hourglas...

This LO is made for the octobergallery at Papir i hjertet and if you want to know more about the products I've used, you may take a closer look in there;)

Litt selvinnsikt?

Jada - man er vel neppe bare det ene eller det andre som menneske. Mon tro hvordan denne ville sett ut om familien min skulle ha lagt til adjektivene? *hehe*

Denne LO`en ble laget til første runde i LSS, og jeg har kost meg masse med litt gammelt stæsj og det sykt kule papiret fra Studio2Mers. I følge LSS-oppgaven skulle man bruke bilde i passfotostørrelse - og hvem sier man ikke kan bruke mange små for å lage et større et? Du kan finne full oversikt over hva jeg har brukt i oktobergalleriet til Papir i hjertet ;)

Så søt! Så søt!

Selvfølgelig er Jarle søt! Selvfølgelig!
Dette bildet ble tatt under den varmeste perioden i sommer, det var hele 32 grader i skyggen og det var plagsomt varmt for en liten mann. Han lå stort sett på et teppe i skyggen og prøvde så godt han kunne å være en grei liten baby. Vi var ille plaget av varmen alle mann, men Jarle var nok den som slet mest. Utrolig nok klarte han å være søt hele tiden, hehe.

Denne LO`en ble laget til septembergalleriet hos Papir i Hjertet, og hvis du lurer på hva det er jeg har brukt så finner du det der.

I mangel på midnattsol.....

Enkelte ting blir rett og slett ikke det samme i sør-Norge som i nord-Norge. Jeg tar meg titt og ofte i å savne midnattsolen. (men jeg elsker mørke kvelder - rart dilemma det der)

Her jeg bor har vi "heldigvis" utsikt til et gassbluss på Rafnes raffineri, og når de fyrer det i gang så er det nesten som å ha et midnattsolsubstitutt! Det blir jo selvsagt ikke helt det samme, men det lager i alle fall en god etterlikning med vakre farger på himmelen.

På dette bildet har jeg fanget husets store musefanger i positur med full oversikt over nabolaget. Jeg hadde jo en mildt sagt lang pause fra scrappingen, så jeg fikk aldri med meg at kraftkartong var stilig, så det måtte jeg jo prøve. Himmel for et stress det skulle blitt hvis jeg skulle scrappe meg gjennom alle "motene" scrappeverdenen gikk gjennom mens jeg hadde pause. Tro meg - det var mye stæsj jeg siklet etter men aldri kjøpte fordi jeg ikke fikk scrappet. Tross alt: Sparte penger - og det kommer ALLTID nytt stæsj man sikler etter. (Hvis noen har for mye penger kan jeg lett opprette mitt eget scrappefond, altså)

LO`en er laget til augustgalleriet til Papir i hjertet, og har du ikke vært innom der enda, så foreslår jeg at du skyndter deg inn og tar en titt på alt det lekre som ligger der. *drømme om bedre tid til å scrappe*

Cry me a river

I den vannvittige varmen,med baby på armen, huset FULLT av besøk og skifting av bordkledning på huset har jeg faktisk klart å spikre sammen en LO. Jeg må nesten si det var med blod, svette og tårer for jeg sliter noe grusomt med scrappingen! Eier ikke driv, så jeg føler scrappingen blir så som så - men ett sted må man jo begynne...

Jeg forestiller meg at alt blir bedre når skolen begynner - dvs. når huset er tomt, huset er ferdigspikret og dagene blir roligere. (Hvordan kan jeg tro det blir roligere dager når vi begge er studenter med tre unger i huset; hvorav en er et knøtt???)

I alle fall - ankomsten av minstemann har inspirert meg til å grave litt i bunken av gamle blider av søsknene. Det blir nok morsomt å sammenlikne bilder av dem nå som tiden går og minstemann forandrer seg :)

Oldemor Ella

Det går absolutt ikke fort med scrappingen for tiden - og Jarle på litt over 1 mnd. må vel ta "skylden" for det. Det har vært noen travle uker med nytt menneske i hus, gråting, bæring og sykehusinnleggelse - men alt ser ut til å gå mye bedre nå.

Denne LOen begynte jeg på under designertreffet i butikken til Papir i Hjertet, men det tok sin tid før den ble ferdig. Jeg har tenkt å dokumentere hele familien slik at barna mine vet hvem alle er - det er jo desverre sli at de treffer dem sjelden i og med at vi bor så langt unna. I og med at scrappingen har ligget på hylla så lenge, har jeg ikke helt dreisen lengre, så det ble en del "ombygging" før jeg kunne si meg sånn rimelig fornøyd. Det er rart å føle seg som en nybegynner igjen.

LOen er en del av juligalleriet hos Papir i Hjertet, så er du interessert i litt inspirasjon i sommervarmen, er du hjertelig velkommen innom der både for inspirasjon og tips om hvilke produkter som er brukt.