The name badge

It was just a name badge for Scrap-a-Mia, nothing to get stressed over really, yet it had me in knots again, just like last year.  Some people are so creative and mine just felt pathetic in comparison last year but I did actually learn a lot.  This year was much the same except that this time I knew there would be some incredible creations. Last year we all got sent different chipboard shapes to play with.  This year we had different mediums but the same scalloped oval shape.  Mine was made from Ten Second Studio metal which is basically extra thick tin foil that you can colour and emboss etc.  I had a few disasters with it, embossing on the wrong side, ink that wouldn't adhere, ink that went a foul colour etc.  I was really stressed as I really wanted to do a good job with it this year and show some evidence of crafting development and it looked worse than the year before.

I was thinking that I would need to make something that wasn't a name badge to wear and then I remembered that I had seen something on a blog somewhere which didn't register at the time sadly.  I'm so sorry that I can't remember where I saw the idea and I can't credit it but I think it was someone from WOYWW.  Someone had kept their child busy with making a pen pot from a tube and I thought I could perhaps do something like that.

I started with this rock salt canister which I stole retrieved from the kids junk modelling box.  It's pretty sturdy and has a plastic bottom which makes it easier to upcycle than a loo roll tube.

I cut it down on the slope (not really that obvious from the photo) and painted the top and bottom edges for a neat finish.

Then I chose some lovely paper which I have loved for ages but found it tricky to use on a scrapbook page and I rolled it around the canister, marking where to cut on the slope, and adhering it with double sided tape (the extra strong one in my ATG).

Then I cut the foil into butterflies on my die-cutter and had a fun time tarting the whole thing up with gems and skeleton leaves.  I distressed and inked inside the rim with a make-up sponge to give it a good finish and added a couple of bows.    You can see the close up of the butterfly here with all its many layers of embossing and inks.  Thankfully the ink only properly adhered in some of the creases so it looked quite grungy and funky in the end.

For the name part (which I almost forgot as I got carried away with my embellishment!)  I used a tag (from Tesco or somewhere like that) and searched for some suitable letter stickers.  I came across a pack of Motifications which I had bought way back when, not realising what they were.  They're adhesive on both sides so you can add flocking or glitter or embossing powder.  They are pale pink (hence me buying them when I had B!) but luckily I had some flocking powder from some goody bag or other from years ago.

So.  I made something purple.  LOVE.
I made something out of a paper I love that was going to waste.  LOVE.
I used some old products.  LOVE.
I recycled something.  LOVE.
I used new techniques.  LOVE.
I had something completely and utterly different to everyone else, that looked good.  LOVE.
It is useful forever, not just for that one retreat.  LOVE.

And more than anything, I loved it and I was proud of what I had made.  HUGE LOVE!

Don't forget it is WOYWW tomorrow and it is PiF day for the 2nd anniversary.

Bye for now xx

4x6 photo love for April

I am really loving the challenges over at 2 Peas, including the 4x6 photo love that is run by Shimelle.  Each month she produces a sketch and layouts for standard sized 4x6 photos, with the number of photos corresponding to the months, hence April was 4 photos.  We have a month to complete them to be in with a chance of the prizes so I am cutting it fine today as is closes tonight.

I used up some American Crafts paper that I wasn't sure about, and some of the Twitterpated range.  I also used, as you can see, a whole load of Thickers on the title.  Normally I would hyperventilate about using so many precious letters but I am trying to actually use my stash and not just keep it and stroke it :-)

There are quite a mix of embellishments here - a Sassafrass cloud, a Dear Lizzy tree,  Papermania buttons, a Jenni Bowlin ticket and the first of many of those stick pins I mentioned yesterday from E-Bay.  I got 90 pins for £2.75 - result!  Of course they are not Jenni Bowlin quality, but who cares for that price?!

As April has 4 photos, one of them is under the title flap.  This layout is about B trying desperately trying to get L's Fruit Flakes off him after she had eaten all of hers.  They started off sitting side by side and ended up turned completely around as she was climbing all over him and he was gently turning away.  They were so sweet and so funny that I thought I could get away with some cutesy papers.  The photo that is hidden under the flap is how they ended up.  The title comes from a family saying that originally came from some nursery school or other.

I'm really pleased with this for a couple of reasons, the main one being that I made the flap!  I could have just put the whole thing in the page protector and left it at that as several others are, it just means that you have to slip them out before you see the interactive bit.  This time however, I used Shimelle's tutorial to make a split in the protector so I could feed the flap through and you don't need to take it out to open it.  It all came together really quickly (other than the embellishing parts!) so I'll definitely use this technique again when I have a lot of photos to show.

I also thought I would share my notebook with you as Gem asked about it the other day (sorry Gem, I mean't to reply sooner).  I made it to take to Scrap-a-Mia last year and it is where I keep all my jottings of ideas and lists of things to create etc.

It is just a cheap spiral bound notebook made of kraft card which is a bit unusual and I wish I could remember where I got them from now.  So often cheap notebooks are covered in that thin shiny paper in bright colours but these ones here were great for tarting up.  I used some of my very favourite things on it - vellum, butterflies, Dear Lizzy music paper, pink gems, and that lovely little envelope embellishment.   I used Ranger Crackle Glaze on the chipboard corners but it didn't adhere well at all.  I have yet to find somewhere where it does stay put :-(

And the back view.  I used Stickles on the butterflies' edges to add a bit of sparkle.

Now I must get on with my PiF for WOYWW which hasn't really progressed at all, oopsie!

Bye for now
xx

A layout from a sketch

Firstly, please forgive me if this post goes awry.  We are having cavity wall insulation fitted and the drilling is going right through me!

So this week I took a little break from my Scrap-a-Mia projects and joined in with Kirsty Wiseman's Sketch.  If you haven't come across this before, every other Wednesday, Kirsty posts a sketch on her blog around 8pm and then scraps live on Ustream.  Some people scrap along with her, others just come and watch and chat.  I learn something every time I watch her, be it a technique or a cheaper way of buying something.  This week it was both and I now have a nice pile of those beautiful stick pins on their way to me for a couple of quid!

So this week I managed to follow the sketch fairly closely.  I had a few piles of photos to hand and I broke into my DCWV stack which I'm not sure I like.  It worked okay for this layout though (I think!)

 I've been meaning to try those lovely twisted ribbon roses for ages so I used those here.  One kept unravelling and is probably a snake of flat ribbon in the page protector as we speak but mostly it was fine.

Its a good way of using up ribbon that isn't to your liking as the pattern is fairly hidden, or you can use strips of fabric.  While sorting out the washing this morning, I have had to ditch another couple of L's school shirts (seriously I think they use him as a floor mop) but as they are a grubby white, I think I might try and spray them to use as these roses again - look at me upcycling!

And talking of upcycling, see that teeny tag there?  It says £2.50 on the back.  It was the price tag from a metal heart I bought last week - I keep so much "rubbish" these days!

Today I'm working on my PiF for WOYWW as it is the 2 year anniversary next week.  I wasn't going to join in because I don't really make things but I thought I ought to try.  Getting something handmade, from someone else you've never met, just because they want to make you happy, seems like a wonderful thing to do doesn't it?

Have a great weekend, bye for now xx

WOYWW 103

Yikes I'm still in such a fug after Scrap-a-Mia (and being in Wales for the rugby but we won't talk about that :-( )!  I did manage to have a bit of a sort out so I could see what needed doing.  So now I have a pile for each of the unfinished projects as well as a pile of things to put away including all my lovely stash that I got while I was there.  Also this morning there were a couple of sheets of card where I have been testing my inks... and I blame Dina Wakley entirely for this new obsession!

The next project to complete is that large H with all the twiddly bits on but firstly I decided to start with the thing that needed the least work to complete it which was Dina's canvas mini-album.  This was our first class of the retreat and it was WAAAAY out of my comfort zone, which is part of the point of these things for me.

 Many months ago I decided to give misting a go and did it outside like I was advised.  Of course, me being me, didn't check what the wind was doing and so it blew back in my face and made me look like I had a hideous disease.  And then of course, a couple of weeks ago, there was this messy layout which I'm still not sure about.  To start with a class that was all about misting and paint flicking was really throwing me in the deep end!  Dina was brilliant though and guided me through getting inky and messy.  And you know what, I had fun!

 My hands were grim by the end of it but Dina calls them happy hands and she was right.  We used a mask that we cut from good old paper which made me think of misting as being a bit more accessible.  Then we let loose with Dina's masks and we were all just blown away by the results.  Sometimes we'd be a bit "hhmm I dunno" and she would come past and say "oh wow!" or "so cool" and we started to realise that this was just the beginning.

 The more bits we added, the more fabby it looked.  We had little silver die-cut crowns, journalling labels, stick pins, crown stamps, dress making paper, ribbon, and our photos obviously.

 We used the mists to make the backgrounds so sometimes you get only a sneak peek, and we dyed the lace for the ties with the mists as well so they looked grungy and shabby - I did grungy, well who knew?!  Imagine how stunned and how pleased I was when she held up my little book to show how I had arranged something!  Seriously, I fell in love with inks and canvas so much that I have since bought several more!

I still need to do the journalling (just trying to find the right words) but this morning was all about getting messy with paint splats.  Oh how I wish Dina was here to old my hand today!  I decided just to do it on the cover in the end.  I used the wrist flick method and the toothbrush method.  Naturally I got more on me than on the mini-book but hey, its about the art right?

And here is where I did it all, the rickety wooden table outside my craft room.  I didn't bother to clean the table afterwards and I have decided to let it show off my arty antics.  We will see how it progresses!

Thanks for looking at my craft space today.  Want to see more?  Head over to Julia's blog for a full list of other desks you can have a nosy at.  I hope to visit lots today as B is at nursery for the first time...

Bye for now xx

What's on your workdesk Wednesday 102

Yikes, time is marching on so fast right now!  I had such a great time at Scrap-a-Mia but I have yet to try and even sort through all the half finished projects.  I'm still catching up on life and organising a 5th birthday party and planning our day trip to Wales for the rugby at the weekend.

So basically that big pile in the middle and off to the right is all stuff from the weekend.  On the corner and just in front of the black bag are the layouts from Emma Trout's class (almost finished) and most of the pile in the middle is the barely started 3D project from MJM.  I'll probably do that last as it is going to be a labour of love and I need to work up to it!

Right back to those party invitations....

Don't forget to check out all the other crafty desks at Julia's Stamping Ground.

Bye for now xx

Returning from Scrap-A-Mia

Oh my goodness I am so tired.  My head is full, my purse is empty and my hands are an inky mess but I had SUCH a ball!

We all signed this huge canvas that one of the teachers, Celine Navarro, misted for us. Creative Moments are going to keep the canvas as a reminder of the fantastic weekend.

The venue was here, the New Place in Wickham, which is in between Portsmouth and Southampton.  We were in conference facilities just behind this beautiful building but the grounds are lovely.

Two of the classes involved misting in a big way which was fantastic as it was something new for me.  There were so many colours and brands and masks to try that would be impossible at home but boy did I get in a mess!  I have a couple of mists but I've always been too scared to try them.  I used them once ages ago and I got in a mess but Dina Wakley was great and helped me to embrace the random effects and the mess.

 The strangest project of the weekend was a 3D construction with Michelle Mogford-Jackson which involved a LOT of cutting with a craft knife.  We got messy again here with Luminesce paints and Stazon inks.  It was an ambitious project and I hope I can finish it because it looked fab.

And I'm afraid that's it for today.  No finished projects to share, just a a couple of sneaks to tease you with.  Hopefully I will have a couple of completed things to share by the end of the week if I can manage to recover my brain.  I think it is in my craft bag somewhere....

Bye for now
xx

Two more NSD challenges

Hurrah!  At last Blogger is back up, I was twitching with the withdrawal!

I have 2 layouts to share here, both were challenges for National Scrapbooking Day on Shimelle's blog.

This one is "A story behind the photo".

I called this "1 Photo" as it is the only picture I have of my being pregnant with our first baby Sammy.  I was 6 weeks pregnant in this photo and we were visiting friend's in France on the way to a rugby match in Toulouse.  I started to get morning sickness while we were there and I found it hard to find anything to eat that I either fancied or could have.  That was over 6 years ago and we've not visited France since and I still can't stomach the thought of anything that reminds me of the food on that trip.  Sadly at almost 16 weeks a scan showed no heartbeat.  Without any warning all our hopes and dreams exploded in front of us.  Our baby girl had various problems with her brain development and another problem called exomphalos which is a defect in the abdominal wall.  We were able to hold our little girl and she has a little grave in a special baby area where people are able to put toys and windmills etc.  Since then we have been blessed with 2 wonderful children but Sammy will always be part of our lives.  She was obviously very tiny and her little face looked like the man in the moon so I always think of her when the moon is full.

 My mother-in-law sent us sunflowers after we lost Sammy and they became a symbol of her, both in the time of year and with the sunshine that she had brought on us.  We wrote her a letter to go with her and addressed it to Sammy Sunshine so the sun and moon are constant reminders that she is with us and I wanted to include something on my layout relating to that.  I bought the 2 different French papers with this photo in mind but I wanted to put some pink and some sunshine on it too.  The journalling, when I work out what I want to say, will go in this cool little envelope, called a Scrap-a-lope.

I tried to join in with Kirsty Wiseman's online crop sketch but I was forcing the photo and the papers and it wouldn't work.  I kept the idea of the twiddly bit down one side and of the strips though and I'll use the sketch more closely at another time.

The second layout was completed at one of Paula's classes.  This is the one where I was struggling to find the right papers the other day.  I'm actually really pleased with how it turned out in the end so once again I've started with something I didn't think I would like and ended with something I love.  Luckily it also fits with another of Shimelle's challenges from the weekend, "a border between two photos".

I flocked the title, which could be neater, and I embossed the dragonflies.

I also used some of that lovely aqua fibre ribbon which is yummy but a bit messy!

You can see the finished article with whatever I come back from Scrap-a-Mia with, hopefully on Sunday evening if I'm not too wiped out.  And on that note, I had better get some sleep.  This weekend is going to be full on!

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 101

Good morning Wednesday!

SO much going on this week on my desk, and look, no JYC (see previous post...)

So, starting at the top working clockwise, my two trimmers and my half packed bag ready for Scrap-a-Mia this weekend (almost did a little wee then).  Cup leftover from last night's hatchet job on the badge which is on the craft mat with various inks.  I've inked it, embossed it, sanded it, sworn at it, wiped it, blah blah and now I'm staring at it, lost as to what to do with it now.

Next to that we have some gorgeous purple and teal papers for a class tomorrow night.  Spent ages choosing stuff for this last night as it's not exactly my style.  I did paint and heat emboss those little dragonflies there though which made me smile.  Good to get back to some old techniques sometimes.  On the edge there, in danger of falling off, a pile of paper to be filed away, and then a basket for the layout I'm thinking about.  Lastly is that glorious die cut paper with some French style papers for a very special but very emotional layout about our angel baby.  It needs to be done but I want it to be great - do you have photos / memories like that?

So that's it.  Much to be done before the weekend, so best crack on.  But first I'll have a sneak at some other crafty desks over at Julia's.  See you there!

PS.  Lost 5 lbs at Slimming World on Monday - go me!!!!!

Bye for now
xx

Photograph woes

Hey, who stole the weekend?  It went by so fast!  The only good thing about that is that it means we are just a few days away from Scrap-a-Mia (I may have mentioned it...)

I managed to finish this layout this morning from Shimelle's challenges for National Scrapbooking Day.  This one was to use the visual triangle, so three clusters of similar embellishments.   

As I mentioned yesterday, I was trying to mix things up a bit this weekend and I have that lovely, but empty, 8.5x11 American Crafts album.  This is my first layout of that size and it felt like I was starting again!  I am so used to working on squares of whatever size that this felt very narrow and I felt I had to have stripes going across to make it look fatter!  It has, in theory, the things that our minds like to see on layouts - texture, repetition, that triangle, alignment, focus on the picture, first cluster leading the eye to the story, etc etc.  But I don't like it.  I used a pack of papers from a magazine, you know those A4 booklets that you get as "free papers" and they are actually American Crafts.  I thought they felt a bit grown up and heritage-y so matched the tone of the photo and they all coo-ordinate but it just never felt right.

Anyway.... the reason I had this photo available (another rare photo of Management but same pose!) was that I had a few incidents with trying to get the right photos for the projects at Scrap-a-Mia.  Let me tell you a little story..... (i.e. get a cuppa, it's a long one!)

I have a photo printer at home, a Kodak something or other.  I have, rarely, got good quality photos from it but my issues with Kodak are another teeth-grinding story, suffice to say home printing was not an option to me.  I wanted super quality images for my super quality projects but the required pictures were VERY non standard.  Firstly I had to select suitable images.  Celine Navarro's class requires 5 mosaics of 6 photos at 6x4 so I had to get to grips with Picasa. Firstly I couldn't find the collage section, then I discovered there are 2 collage sections and I was using the wrong button, then it all looked better but seemed to be using random images instead of the ones I needed.  Eventually, after a few hours of playing, I got it right but the photos looked odd.  Then I realised that having spent hours searching for portrait photos to use, they actually had to be squares rather than rectangles.  Cue much swearing and cropping.  Mosaics completed, we also had to have 6 individual images at 4x4.  I created another mosaic of squares on a standard 10x15 size so that I could chop them up at home.  By now I was feeling quite confident about it all.  And it had only taken me 3 days.

Next I needed at least 5 2"x3" images for Dina Wakley's class.  I wanted to do these in sepia as they came from a variety of sources and so would clash.  Cue much colour changing and more swearing.  And lots and lots of cups of tea.  Eventually I managed to make 2 mosaics to cut up, 1 had portrait shots and the other had landscape shots.  Oooh get me!

Emma Trout's class calls for one 6x9 for one layout, and two 5x5 shots for another.  I made these sepia because I wasn't sure of what colours we would have available and I think this will work having seen her style.  I made another collage for the square ones and added some other pictures in that I thought would look nice in this small square format so as not to waste the space.  Thinking ahead now see.

Lastly, Michelle-Jackon Mogford's class requires very specifically (to fit an aperture) two shots 14x9.5cm.  This was fine as it was almost standard and I could trim a little bit off.  Simples.

So I try upload to photobox (after waiting ages for an invitation from a friend so that she could get a freebie, still no invitation to this day) and I waited patiently.  At the last minute each time, it would say the page was inaccessible and I wondered if my dodgy connection might be to blame.  By this time I was twitching slightly as time was cracking on, the kids hadn't been fed for days and I was getting worried they wouldn't arrive in time (the photos, not the kids).  I decide to pop to Asda and get them printed there.  I couldn't, and still can't, find my pen drive so I managed to find a CD rom eventually.  It was getting like Carry On Techno-phobe.  Asda were very helpful and I waited patiently for 2 days till I could see if everything had worked out as I had hoped.

Saturday morning came and needless to say, it hadn't.

I suddenly realised that I wasn't 100% sure of where I had used inches and where I had used centimetres and sure enough, the squares for Celine's class were wrong.  I had formatted it to a standard 6x4" print but it needed to be double that.  Asda don't do this size as it's non standard.  Also, for some reason, I had it in my head that the single shot for Emma's class was a standard size or thereabouts and it wasn't.  At all.  The chap advised me to go to Jessops a few miles away where they had more sizes available.  There was no way I was going to attempt to take the Smalls to a photography shop while I discussed measurements and prices so I had to wait till Sunday when Management was home from work.  This left me under a week to get this sorted and no chance of relying on a postal service if I still couldn't get it to work.

Sunday morning I was at Jessops with my CD Rom when they opened.  I triple checked my bag as I am well known for leaving things behind.  Luckily I did remember it.  The chap I saw was very camp with floppy bleached blond hair which he kept flicking up with his hand like a shampoo advert.  We ummed and ahhed a bit and finally settled on putting the squares up to 8x12 (which is what I said when I first went in...).  £2.50 if I came back the next day or £5 within the hour.  Yikes!  But wait!  What was the other one I wanted?  I knew which picture it was but couldn't for the life of me remember what size it was except that it was smaller than standard.  I had 2 versions printed at the 2 available sizes.  When I told Mr Campy why I needed these obscure sizes he ended up not charging me for the hour service and giving me 2 sets!

Of course when I got home, neither of the guestimated sizes for the single shot was right so I had to trim a little but off Management's left ear.  I'm sure he won't mind.

So after a week of trying, the house is a mess, the cupboards are empty, the laundry pile is bigger than my mother but I am now in possession of a full set of photos, at the correct sizes, ready for next week.  I wish I had gone with straight black and white rather than sepia but I'm certainly not changing them now!

Phew!  And no I still haven't started my badge... ;-)

Bye for now xx

Scrap-a-Mia ticket available!

Hi there,

Just a quick note to let you know that a ticket for the Scrap-a-Mia retreat has become available at the last minute.  The teachers are Celine Navarro, Dina Wakley, Michelle Jackson-Mogford and Emma Trout.  Check out their fab blogs for more information on their work.  The retreat is in Fareham in Hampshire (in between Southampton and Portsmouth), and it runs for 2 days next weekend.  If you are anyone else you know might be interested, please get in touch with Creative Moments.

I can't wait to go!

Bye for now xx

National Scrapbooking Day

Did you do anything special?

After my great tidy up, I had um.. a large pile of papers to file away.  It was nice to stroke a few pieces I had forgotten about although I didn't get around to filing my scraps, didn't want to over do things... ;-)

Then I read the challenges on Shimelle's blog and started to think about a few ideas.  I finished one of them today and have almost finished another.  I wanted to use the challenges and inspiration to try something different, also because I had a few small photos laying around (more on that tomorrow...)  Last year I made an 8x8 album but I tend to forget about it and automatically reach for the 12x12 so I did one layout in this smaller size.

The challenge was to use patterned paper as the backing sheet and this was a piece I had had for years from some grab-bag or other.  I wanted to convey the windswept ruggedness of the beach rather than a sunshiney swimming layout.  Newport Beach in Pembrokeshire is great for beach-combing and in hindsight "Beachcombing" would have been a good title - doh!

I distressed the edges but the paper is thin so I had to back it onto cardstock.  Looking at it now I think I need to roll the edges more to give them more definition.  The album doesn't use page protectors so the holes have to go through the pages themselves which is a slight pain but it means that I can use chunkier embellishments like these shells ;-)

I really must do more at this size (other than Shimelle classes) to shake things up a bit.  I don't think I've shown the album here before so I took some pics while the sun peeped out

.  

It's covered chipboard with a few pretties and I was pleased to use up some heavyweight papers that I didn't think I would use for layouts.

The cover papers are from a K and Co pack that I bought on a whim when I first started but since last year I have developed a bit with my scrapping (I think!) and I can see more possibilities for different sorts of patterned paper.

It's my first self-made album (as opposed to a mini book) and I'm pleased with the way it came out.  I just need to fill it up a bit!

Time for some ironing now (yippee....) and then I might be able to finish that other layout before bed (can you tell I'm avoiding starting my Scrap-a-Mia badge!!?)  Although I might just check out 2 Peas and see what other challenges they posted this weekend....

Hope you have a great one, bye for now xx

Packing away Christmas!

Sometimes you just have to admit defeat and decide that your priorities are just that, priorities.  We can't always do everything we want to do in the time that we have.  If you've seen any of the WOYWW pictures of my desk then you will have seen the baskets devoted to Journal Your Christmas that have sat there since the beginning of December.  I got a bit behind and then never managed to catch up, like you do, but I kept saying that I would.  I'd promise myself that I'd just finish this layout or that thing, but then something else would come up that I wanted to do first and now here we are in May and I haven't touched those baskets other than to take something out to use some place else.  That basket of loveliness had become like my basket of ironing in that I was finding something else I'd rather do all the time.  The fact that I had compared my scrapbooking to an overflowing pile of crumpled laundry was like a slap in the face with a wet kipper.  It should not be allowed to happen.  I had a little chat with myself about what was important and of course it is my mental state.  I had to admit that the pressure to finish it was overriding the joy of taking part and it had become a chore and not enjoyable which completed defeated the point.  I am disappointed that I didn't even get to Christmas Day but this coming Christmas I won't have any courses on so I WILL get further.  Shimelle would be chewing on her American Crafts pen to know that I have got myself into a knot about finishing because that is SO not what her classes are all about.  I really liked all the pages I did complete though, which is a rarity!

So, all is not lost.  I enjoyed what I did and I developed my crafting a bit more and of course I have loads of stash left over.  And more importantly I have an album of memories to keep forever.  Here are the last 3 pages that I only just got around to photographing.

13th December - rubbish photos but sometimes you gotta work with what you have to preserve the memory right?  L's school had a lantern parade and sang at the local shopping centre and it was really wonderful.

14th December - One benefit to doing some of the pages after Christmas is that I was able to include photos of this Christmas on prompts that came before the big day.  I left my camera in the car overnight so it was full of condensation hence the misty shot.

8th December - Again, not the best photos but I know what they are and that's all that matters!  I really liked the way the stamped title worked out and I really need to do more of this.

The sights of Christmas for me this year were the poinsettias that I buy (and shortly after kill) every year, the new people across the road and their amazing light display, and the chestnut vendor in Winchester centre.

I love this paper - its by Stephanie Dyment for Papermania and the range included pinks, blacks and lime greens alongside the more traditional colours.

This is part of my album with the Notes page.. ahem... empty.  What I had intended to do was really concentrate on the journalling aspect and I didn't want to crowd my pages or feel like I couldn't tell the bigger stories so I made these notes pages to interleave with the page protectors.  I didn't complete any but I want to try and do this again next Christmas as the idea was a good one I think!  (In theory!)

So there we have it.  My desk is almost clear.  Ready to try and create my name badge for Scrap-a-Mia next week!  I can't wait and yet I am a little nervous too.  Any ideas on what I can do with embossing foil for my name badge???

Bye for now xx

"Mummy that's really messy"

So my first attempt at using ink splats didn't go down well with L...

B had her face painted at the creche she goes to while I use the gym and I grabbed a couple of photos before she went for her nap.  Obviously the cream sheets didn't stay cream after that!

I saw this style of paper piecing in a magazine somewhere and it looked really effective.  I'm wondering on mine here though, if it needs outlining in some way, perhaps doodling or stitching each ray?

I used some Sassfrass stickers left over from last year's Scrap-a-Mia (just over a week till I go again!!), some of my Dear Lizzy stickers, and another of those great card charms.  These work out such great value and they add another dimension to my pages.  You get 6 in a pack, 3 different designs on a theme, and they are only £1 per pack.  I can't seem to go into The Works without buying a pack!

And so to the splats.  I tried spraying the mist a little bit on the turquoise heart but the cardstock went green!  I sort of liked the splats but not much but after the ruthless 4 year old critic said he didn't like it, I really went off it!  Hopefully I'll be learning how to splat properly next week at the retreat.  I'll be taking classes with Emma Trout, Michelle Jackson-Mogford, Celine Navarro and Dina Wakley.  Hhhmmm, maybe I'll need to pack an apron ;-)

Tomorrow, something Christmassy....

Bye for now xx

He's still "The One"..

Is it Thursday already?  I can't tell after the crazy bank holidays we've had recently.  We had a very busy weekend with the Royal Wedding and another fabulous rugby match to go to.  I love my children to bits but I do love to spend a little time now and again with just Management.  We've been together nearly 19 years and he is my world.  When we got married, our first dance was to Shania Twain's "You're still the one" as it was just perfect for us.  People didn't think we would last and we took a lot of criticism from all sides about moving in together so quickly (about 2-3 months!), me being a mere 18 at the time, different backgrounds, etc.  Every time I hear that song, with all we have gone through, it becomes more and more relevant and it makes me get all misty eyed just thinking about it.

A photo of my wonderful husband is quite rare so I wanted to do justice to these 2 shots taken last year in Wales.  I used mostly new supplies but I wish I had waited for the other papers in the Circa 1934 range by Cosmo Cricket as it didn't gel as well as I hoped without them.  I used the borders page to choose my colours but ended up not using any of the pieces that showed all the colours anyway!

I chose the script paper to show his intelligence which I greatly admire, and the little mathematical symbol on the right is a chance occurrence that aptly nods to his job.  He is a fan of ginger beer, pretty much the closest he gets to anything alcoholic these days, so that was a good choice of card.  The little gecko is a reminder of our travels and a symbol I try to find on things for him.  We know our car in the car parks as we have a gecko in the front window :-)

For this layout I used another of Shimelle's Sketch of the Week ideas but I ended up with more of a pyramid as I didn't keep to the left enough.  Hopefully you can't see the couple of errors I made though.

And here is a little sneak of that layout that my son thought was messy....

I'll show it in full tomorrow.  Till then, happy crafting.

Bye for now xx