finally, april 1st, new challenge, and so sorry I've been away!!

first of all, again big big sorry!! I've haven't found the time or energy to update the blog, because when I do it, I want it to be good! but now, I'm back with the april-challenge! and...this month I want you to use BEADS!! any kind of beads, new, old, glittery, matte, but it has to be colourful!

link to your photos in the comment-thread and I'll draw a winner who gets a goodie pack of rainbow beads. last entry date is april 30th.

below are inspiration, there are several ways to use beads on a lay-out!

use the hama-beads of your childhood to make the title. (you know, that's the beads you iron to make them stick together.) it doesn't matter if the letters are not perfect in shape or size, that's just cozy.

you can also make embellishments with these beads, like mushrooms, hearts and birdies.

if you don't have the hama beads, maybe you have other beads? it's a little mean, but it's ok to "borrow" from your children. maybe you can even do this together? here I used normal jewellery beads for the title. you will use a lot of glue dots to fasten them, but it's worth it:)

you can also think of that the use of different beads, can create different moods in a lay-out. here, to create a 1950ies feeling, I found retro looking beads in pastel colours, and even a beads shaped like a sea shell. doesn't it remind you of a 50ies budoir?

then, in a rock'n roll lay-out, I used neon hama beads, to give the lay-out an edge.

and when it comes to colours...even if one colour is dominating...you don't have to completely stick to that colour. a break is so nice, here I used a blue heart pearl with the purple dominance, and still, it doesn't ruin the overall feeling!

I can't wait to see what you're making, have fun with your beads:D:D

mushroom fun!

the mushroom season is here, both in the forest, and in scrapbooking! I was so sure it would be easy to make tons of mushroom-themed lay-outs, but somehow my inspiration left me... I really struggled with this one, even if I love mushrooms, and it was I who came up with the challenge...what a bummer! I guess that's an important lesson too, sometimes scrapbooking is not working out the way you want to, sometimes it's really hard, but don't worry...try something else, be inspired by other colours, other themes, other photos. I went to a crop yesterday, and made lots of lay-outs...none of them with mushrooms lol

still, I have these three...and maybe you are luckier than me, send me your mushroom-lay outs before november 5th! (I'm going to Stavanger on Papirfesten, so I won't be able to do anything useful during the weekend before, so, november 5th it is!)


mushroom nr.1 make your own mushrooms! on this lay-out MINE! I wanted a colour scheme I didn't find in my papers...so...I made my own paper. I drew the mushrooms with pencil first, then I filled in some of the lines with a thin pen. I used tria markers to add colour, I will write about them in a later post, they are very fab indeed! if you find it hard to draw your own mushrooms, look for inspiration in other people art, and draw after them, copying is just fine. or, ask your kids for help, kids draw lovely mushrooms, I know, I work with them at school. scan them in, or scrap directly on the drawings.
remember, a mushroom is not a complicated construction, it has a hat and a stem. any colour and pattern will do, just go wild!
on this lay-out, I cut the title from a plastic bag, and added a robot rub-on from hambly. it's all about the small elements that makes it come together..you don't need much, but it's nice to have something that catches the eye.

if you don't want to draw mushrooms...you can scrapbook a photo of a mushroom instead. my mushroom hunt never has any luck, but I have a mushroom lamp that I love...! notice the balance of this lay-out, it has two heavy clusters, that doesn't kill each other, connected with lighter embellishments. I cut a mushroom from the back of an old playing card, and added buttons and a flower that matched the colours of the photo. the title is hand drawn.

so....now I was going to write about the new, cool papers with mushrooms that are out right now! hm...sassafras has made these lovely lovely design...and I started scrapbooking, so happy and smiling...until I realised the paper was to pretty to cover with anything...I didn't know what to do, I tried a little bit...but I don't know if this can be called a finished lay-out or not... I have some buttons, tulle, rub-ons and paper clips...and my bunny..hm... at least, you can be inspired by the mushrooms, the are cuter than sugarpie!

mushrooms, and a winner:D

my lovely boyfriend again made the draw, and ta-dah: this is Nora's concert lay-out whoa!! I'll send you a Hello Kitty-plektrum in the mail!
thank you so much to everyone who participated, I'll show all your lay-outs soon, I just have to excuse myself, because my internet connection at home really...s*** sorry about that, but it's just not working. it's so frustrating, since I can blog post like I want to, and I can keep the schedules I've made...so, that's why we're at oct 9th, and still no new article...but, it's coming!
the people I rent my flat from promised they would try to get it fixed, so I hope, soon...

anyway, it's autumn, and MUSHROOM TIME***
this months theme is MUSHROOMS!! I'll come back with more lay-outs, this is number one, and it has...MUSHROOMS! they're home made, with a little fabric and white paint. it's very easy, just cut them out like you did in kindergarden, it doesn't have to be perfect.
now, I want mushroom-layouts of all kinds...mushroom photos, mushroom paper, mushroom embellishments, mushroom theme, mushroom shape, mushroom colour, mushroom font...feel free! I promise to be back with more mushroom tips very soon, and I also promise a mushroom-like-prize::):) who can resist mushrooms?? not me! thanks for understanding, I'll be back stronger and stronger!

more inspiration!

I know I promised you a guest designer weeks ago...but my internet connection is terribly unstable, it works whenever it feels like it.... so, finally, here's Elisabeth, the biggest Bon Jovi-fan I know, with the coolest Bon Jovi lay-out I know!




thanks to everybody who has send me your lay-outs so far, I can't wait to get more, just send them to my e-mail adress: kastanjepiken@hotmail.com

and, I know october 1st is not so far away, so, I'm letting this competition run a little longer, I need your work before october 7th.
have a rockin' week:D:D

two winners, and a brand new month!

there's september already!! thank you so much, all of you who scrapbooked your holiday photos, and send them to me! my always lovely boyfriend drew two winners, and they are...:

Sosa and Anne Merete! congrats!
Here are their lay-outs:

the rest of the entries can be seen in our flickr-gallery! (I just did a random draw, you were all great!)


I hope you keep sending me your lay-outs, because here is our september theme, **MUSIC**

this summer, I've been in a studio, singing for real, for the first time, I have played more guitar than ever before, and I've even written a song (about mosquitoes ha ha lol). I've also explored lots of music I haven't known before, so it's time to scrapbook about this!

this month, you can choose between four different challenges.

1. scrapbook a special concert.
this lay-out is from a trip my boyfriend and I made all the way to Tromsø, to see his favourite, russian band, grazdanskaja oborona. we had a great time, strolling around the city, and later at the concert, standing in the front in a very small concert area, dancing and singing. afterwards, it was possible to go backstage and meet the band as well. we were exhausted, but totally happy when we got home. just a few months later, the singer/songwriter/main man of the band, died unexpectedly from a heart attack. after 29 albums and 20 years of rock, there was no more. it was really very sad, and we were so happy they actually came to norway, so we got to see them.

on this lay-out, I remember both the singer and the concert. I know many photographing is prohibited on lots of concerts, but you could always scrapbook a photo from the internett or a magazine or newspaper. it doesn't matter, it's the experience you want to remember. I try to keep my paper and colours so it's true to the sound of the band I'm scrapbooking, I don't use pink for this one lol but the most important thing is that it feels right for you.
2. scrapbook your favourite band
simple as that. this is KENT. I love them. this photo is from the internet somewhere, and I've just written down my fave songs by them. it doesn't have to be complicated at all.




3. use a quote from a song as your title
this line is from "jokke & valentinerne", a norwegian band. it means, take me with you, all I need is this bag.
I've used bold letters to make the title stand out, and made the lay-out for my boyfriend, to show that I really don't need anything but him, we could run away anytime. I made small crosses with masking tape, and wrote directly on the photograph with a uniball pen.

4. use elements from music to scrapbook about something else.

rock music is full of cool patterns. so is the 80'ies. I love cassettes, they are cosy and old fashioned (already), and I grew up with them. here I used different elements, to create a happy feeling. on the first lay-out, I'm inspired by norwegian band "surferosa" who's really into the 80'ies gym style, bubblegum, bright colours and crazy combinations. don't be afraid to experiment, it's so much fun to play. the cassette is cut out from a magazine, and the title is cut by hand from adhesive foil. on the photo, I cut stars with a small punch, and the orange stars are from a childrens jar of plastic beads. tulle is a little hard to adhere, but try to sew it on to your lay-out, or use stables or clips.

here, I'm wearing my cool 50'ies shoes, and I drew a bright pink rockabilly patteren with my crayons. this is a very cheap and easy way to make a lay-out, you hardly need anything, but with cardstock. the clover stickers are bought on sale in a book store, and the clips are from my childhood collections of stash. take a look at home, and see what bright, fun treasures that are hidden in your drawers, it could be a goldmine in there!

so, now I want you to scrapbook again. I didn't write so much about each lay-out this time, I felt the photos spoke for themselves. as I said, there are four task you can follow. send me your lay-outs by e-mail, and I'll draw a random winner among all you who participate, who gets a hello kitty-plektrum, and some fun cassette scraps to use on your pages.

and don't forget to check back, more lay-outs will come, and this month, we also have a very cool and cute guest designer, she's up next week with more music scrapbooking!

summer is over...

hi again everyone, I'm just one day late...I promised to be back by the 15th, today it's the 16th, som almost...I can't believe it can be this busy having holiday! but, I'm blaming the olympics broadcast on tv, and the fact that it actually isn't holiday anymore, I have a new job, I will work at my local school two days a week! the children are very cute and funny, and I already love them a lot! so, that means, summer is over, and I'll make SUMMER the theme for the rest of the month here at 124 dynamite:D

I guess lots of you have holiday and summer pictures loaded on your computer now, you are right back home from vacation, and soon, it will be darker and colder in the evenings, and you're ready to do some scrapbooking??!?! I know I am!

the most important thing: get those photos out of your computer right away! it's really important to print them fast, either at home, or at your local photo store, because if you wait, you'll have more and more photos from other happenings, and soon, it's all forgotten.
you don't have to develop all of course, but pick the ones you love the most, put them in your albums, on the wall, and in your scrapbooks!

when I scrapbook my summer photos, the most important thing is the mood. I want to remember the smells, the breeze, the colours, the magic moments that were created, and so, this article is not so much about techniques, rather about caputure something that's in your heart and your mind.

this lay-out features flowers from my boyfriends garden. I love them so much, they are white znd cosy, and round like snowballs, soft like feathers, and they are so big, who wouldn't want to take their photo when they are blooming?

to not kill the photos, I stuck with one colour, and I chose one that really made the photos pop! try different ones on a blank piece of paper, if you're uncertain of which one to choose. all the embelishments are also pink, to make the lay-out interesting, I added different structures instead, like plastic, paper, paint, tulle, epoxy, floss and metal (the clips)
I tried not to overdo it, because the photos were so extremely fantastic (I don't get tired at looking at them), so try to find the balance. sometimes, less is more.


for this lay-out, I did something I've never done before, I scrapbooked another girls pictures. the lovely silje gave me her permission to use this photos from las vegas, and I'm so happy, thank you, I'm crazy for the pics!! even though I've never been to vegas, the photos was wild and cool, and I tried to make my own vegas font, before hand drawing it. it's a good idea to cluster photos that go together, that makes them the focus point of the lay-out. to not make the lay-out too messy, I group all the other elements in another cluster. the balance then looks good to the eye. the black flower ties the two groups together.
as the mood here is...well...crazy vegas, I used my most crazy yellow happy paint as background.

this page shows me laying in the grass in the garden. it's summer, and this lay-out will always remind me of summer, and my plans and dreams I had, even if it's not a special occasion, or a special holiday. don't forget to scrapbook the everyday moments too!

again, yellow, as it's the colour of summer! the funky pink is for my happiness, as you all know, I'm the pink girl!

this picture was taken on a weekend trip with my boyfriends and our group of friends. one morning, my boyfriend came in with these wild flowers for me. it was a very special moment, very personal, for several reasons, and I really wanted to scrapbook the moment in a happy, but not to wild style.

here I used a childrens theme, I drew the rainbow by hand, and also used crayons for the background.

the next lay-out is from the same trip, it shows summer love, me and my boyfriend's shoes in the grass. when you're on holiday, try to take photos from unusual angles that really shows your feelings. I used this paper that is full of xoxo's to show love, of course;) it's manufactured by SEI, one of the coolest brands out there! when I'm writing this now, I realise that this month, I'm totally into yellow, pink and rainbows, that's the tove-trend at the moment lol

this last lay-out is a real holiday snap, my friend and I travelled through italy by train some years ago, we stayed at camping sites, and they all had a swimming pool! it was lovely! it was so hot, and we were swimming every day!
I wanted to capture all of italy in one lay-out...not easy, but at least, my italy, which was bright and fun and full of sunshine! the sun is made of self adhesive folia, and the letters are cut from a love elsie-fabric.
now, I have printed my photos from ukraine, but no time to scrapbook them yet. in the meantime, start scrapping, I have some really cool chips boxes from ukraine, with kyrilian letters on them in fab colours to give away. so, send me your lay-outs, and I'll draw a winner by september 1st :):)

still on holiday...and a winner****

oh well...it seems like this blog is still on holiday...I'm so sorry, it's just too much now, but as it seems like lots of you is also celebrating the last glimpses of summer, I postpone everything here, and promise to be back on the 15th, with a fun theme and some goodies!

then, we have a winner from last months, it's RENÈEYA:D:D



look at all her fun magpie-stuff!! I have to say...she was the only one who sent me something, but that doesn't make her lay-outs any less fab, WOW girl, you rock!! send me your adress love, and you'll get fun mail soon!!

there will be more competitions soon, as said, I'll be back by the 15th, so watch out** have a great summer till then!!