WOYWW 116 and LSNED

Its been a while since I joined in with WOYWW but I felt compelled to share my space this week as I have had a good clear out!  I decided that I needed to make the furniture work for me rather than against me and so I had a sort out, collected a box of stuff to sell, gave some scraps to the kids, colour sorted the scraps I was keeping, colour sorted my cardstock, sorted my PP by manufacturer, sorted my albums chronologically, colour sorted my letter stickers, re-wrapped and sorted all my ribbons and rearranged all my embellishments.  I shall be sharing photos of my newly organised areas in the coming days and I am starting with my desk (obvs!)

It is actually a hugely heavy jali fretwork dining table with a glass top.  It is not ideal - it has a 3 inch lip of wood right the way around to contain the glass which I would rather was totally flat for obvious reasons.  I have my basket for my current project which is my kit and "in progress" album for Shimelle's "Learn Something New Everyday".  Next to that now is my black set of drawers which used to hold scraps and now holds my ribbons, chipboard and die cuts.  The stack of tins holds gems, baker's twine and embellishments for my current project.  I still keep my black crop bag to the right but I still have to stand up to see inside it if I can't find what I want by feeling with my hand!  Under the table there is where I keep my bin and I pull it out when I'm working there but push it in out of the way the rest off the time.  I've sorted things so that the bits and pieces I go to regularly are behind me or all in one cupboard and it seems to be working but boy oh boy this was a tough job.  I had so much stuff across the floor where I had had deliveries just before we went on holiday and where I hadn't put things away after my crop and after the crazy weekend of Shimelle's on-line crop.  I ended up rolling over my photos and finding bent PP so I had to just stop creating more mess and put it all away.  I thought I may as well sort it while I was doing it and I'm glad I did.  I just need to keep it like that.  I love to see other people's ways of organising things so if you know if any good ideas please do let me know.

I'm about to spend some precious one to one time with L (while B is at nursery) before he goes back to school next week.  The summer holidays have just gone far too quickly, most likely blown and washed away! I wonder what lessons I will learn this September and if any of the things I learned last year have actually sunk in to my tiny brain!  Please say hi if you are joining in Shimelle's class too, they are always great fun and so full of inspiration.

And in the meantime, for the list of other workspaces, please drop by Julia's blog and say hi.

I said I wouldn't but....

I did say I was going to clear up my scrap room before I did any more crafting but I forgot that I needed to get this month's 4x6 photo love done.  Luckily I had 7 portrait photos in my pile from Wales last year so that's a few more completed.  What was that?  7 photos you say?  Why yes indeed!  On ONE page!

The photo on the right is attached to the page but the photo on the left is a little concertina book of several more.

One of the panels is used as a journalling block so in theory, you could add 8 photos to this page but I love it just like this.

This is the other side of the book opened out.  Its a great little idea for those situations where you can't choose which photo to use but they are all similar or part of the same aspect of the story.

The papers are My Minds Eye Good Day Sunshine Boy and I love the way they have worked out for this project.  I cut into one of the bigger designs to get the cute little beach hut and surfboard.  I'm so happy with this layout - coordinated packs are great for me.

Sadly I didn't win any of the prizes from Shimelle's cycber crop but all the challenges are still available for you to participate in at your own leisure.  I got 10 layouts completed, plus adding the journalling to one and it encouraged L to do another layout too to I think WE are the real winners.

Now I really MUST clear up as I want to crack on with Explore before LSNED starts - can you believe its only a few days away!

Bye for now.

xx

11 challenges!

Phew!  I did it!  I finished the one from last night and completed another one.  I am really pleased with them both but the pictures are a bit dull as it is obviously later than I would have liked to photograph them! (Edited to include photos now taken in the sunlight!)

They both feature black and white pictures from our Round The World trip taken in Siem Reap, Cambodia where we toured the ruined temples.  We took LOADS of photos and patiently waited for each film to come back before we knew how we had done.  I dread to think how many we would have taken had we had our digital SLR!

This first one is for Shimelle's "Let's Go Retro" challenge where we had to use a picture from before 2011 (as many people just don't have access to old photos, myself included).  We were in Cambodia in 2003 so although not really retro, its retro enough.  I can't recall which temple it was taken at and the dappled light doesn't make it easy for you to see but its our remorque moto driver fast asleep.  The motos are just very small motorbikes with a carriage type bit on the back to carry passengers but they are great fun because you can see around you really well.  The drivers wait around at these temples all the time so they tend to sit about chatting and smoking or catching some zzzz as ours mostly did.

I'm thinking that perhaps the papers are too busy for the picture because of the shading but I still like it and I didn't follow a sketch or anything here!

This next one is probably one of my favourites from the whole weekend and the one I had no plan for at all.  It was for the "Chop Your Paper" challenge and I immediately thought of this layout.  It worked really well last time but I didn't want it to look too similar.  I did however, want to use the same papers.  I cut the flowers and leaves out of the leftovers from last time and the circle was the waste from the ring section.  I wanted to create something where you had to peer through the foliage like we did the first time we saw Angkor Wat.  Because you see it from the end of the pathway first, it is quite far back and you really don't get a sense of scale at all.  We were a bit disappointed as we oulled up as you really don't get the impact of it and we thought we would be blown away the first time it came into view.  Inside though it is amazing, huge, beautiful, intricate, etc, all the things you would expect a world famous temple complex to be

I raised up some of the cut outs on foam tape to give it more depth and dimension.  It was quite therapueatic to sit in the garden in the sun, watching the children poking spiders and bugs, while I cut out the swirls and flowers.

So that's me done for the weekend of challenges.  I completed 11 in the end plus of course the one that L entered.  Of course now my craft room is a total mess and I ended up rolling over photos in my swivel chair so no more scrapping for me until I've had a major clean up.  But I think I'll leave that for a while and go see what everyone else made.

Bye for now
xx

Here's a couple more!

Well I may not get around to the extra one and may not even finish the one I started last night.  Management is not at work as he is feeling "hot and odd" but he is still on call which means that his day off in lieu won't happen and we miss out completely.  I'm trying to keep the children away from him so probably won't get much time at all today.  Just sneaking in a quick few minutes here while they watch a bit of a film

So, the next challenge I completed was a relatively quick one entitled "adding to the story".   We had to find a layout where we wanted to tell more about the memory or event, either by added writing to the layout, to  a facing page, or tucking something in somewhere.  I had created this layout a while back for another Shimelle challenge but I hadn't gotten around to putting something in the envelope.

The challenge back then was to scrap something where the story wasn't obvious from the picture.  Some of you might remember that this layout contains the only photo I had taken while I was pregnant with our first child who we sadly lost at 4 months.  I used some cloudy printed vellum, which seemed really apt, to write the letter to our Little Sammy Sunshine to go inside the pocket.  It was great to give me a push to do it.

I was starting to struggle a bit by now as I had been picking off the challenges I knew I could do with photos I had to hand or ideas I already had etc.  I decided to do the "half page challenge" next and stumbled across a pic of L doing some scrapping.  It was perfect to use this weekend as he has been so involved in my crafting. I had to replace my guillotine and I had to take a trip to Hobbycraft and he got very excited until he realised that Shimelle wasn't go to be there!

It wasn't working for at all during the process but it actually turned out okay in the end.  The title "I'm quite an arty crafty boy!" refers to something that L often says whenever anyone talks about making things and he will proudly tell strangers in shops that too.

I used a tag and lots of gems because that is what he likes to use on his own page, and his fave colour is orange.  I added some bling to the very cheap foam stickers that I got from the kids section at the Range ages ago because I thought they looked a bit like Thickers ;-)

I'd like to get around a lot of the people who have also posted on the challenges, hopefully in the next few days.  Maybe I'll see you soon.

Bye for now xx

A few challenges!

I can't believe how many layouts I've done this week!

I took some photos yesterday of 2 more that I completed and retook photos of the ones from the previous rainy post.  I uploaded them and managed to delete the lot!  I took them again today along with some more layouts that I completed as part of Shimelle's cyber crop.

This first one is for the "Stickery" challenge and the task was to use stickers from more than one manufacturer or collection.  It features B on the beach at, guess where, Newport (of course) last summer, looking gawjuss in her little cossie.  

The stickers, like the papers, are mainly by Cosmo Cricket.  I have added a little something from American Crafts and also the epoxy sticker which is from some magazine thing, maybe Lets Make Cards or something like that.

I used an old sketch of the week as inspiration but I didn't have anything that felt right for the background.  My eye fell on my shocking pile of "stuff to put away" where I saw a doily poking out so I decided to give misting a go.  It did make the cardstock warp a little but I'm kind of happy with how it worked out.  I don't like the title - I outlined it in white to make it stand out better, then tried black and made a right mess of it!

My next humble offering is for the "Hot Pink Hoopla" challenge.  Gotta love some hot pink especially when you are talking about a very small very cute wet suit in said colour.  Can you guess where she is? ;-)  Why yes, its Newport beach last year.  I used a layout from Explore as inspiration but I was trying too hard to use the lovely butterfly paper without covering up the hot pink ones! 

Again a few of the embellishments were from the Lets Make Cards magazine.  I bought it in Wales one summer as something that L and I could play with together but ended up keeping it all to myself!

And the final layout for this post (more to come tomorrow) was for the "Colour Story Challenge" where the task was to craft something using red, white and aqua.  This photo of Management has been sat on top of my pile for a few months, desperate to be scrapped.  I wanted to include something snowy but didn't want to get my Christmas stuff out.  This colour combo was perfect as the aqua and white lend themselves to a chilly feeling without pointing at Christmas, which it wasn't.  Hubs went to stay with his brother in France and took L with him but B and I had to stay home as she has problems with her circulation and was too young to move around enough to counteract it.  I missed my soul-mate SO much!  

I used the 4x6 Photo Love Sketch for January (hence 1 photo), using snowflake brads and punched shapes instead of circles.

I even retrieved some blue snowflake sequins from L's art stash to pop the colours a bit.

I have 2 more to share, plus another one that I'm working on and I hope to squeeze in another one before the deadline tomorrow night but it depends on how tomorrow goes.  Management has to work some weekends, especially in the Summer, so its back to me and the Smalls for the day.  At least it is mean't to be a sunny day - hurrah!

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend.

Bye for now

xx

Another 2 challenges

Crikey you should see the state of my craft room!  I keep trying to take pics but the light is so bad here today that you can't see anything.  As such, I must apologise for the state of the pics of the layouts today.  I tried all manner of contortions but I truly don't know enough about light and photography to account for days like these and light like we have at home.

Today's offerings are both mine although I did have a little assistance with the rosette flower (twitch).  For this layout, I was inspired by the colours in the challenge about Butterflies and Bingo Cards.  I was also inspired by a Sketch of the Week from a while back which used a photo that was almost half the page.  When I saw it, I dismissed me ever using it because I never have photos that big.  When Management came home with this photo from his Thruxton racing day, I knew immediately that I would use this sketch for it.  I used Papermania Capsule collection papers in greys and yellows and I have decided that I love this combination. Ordinarily I would include a close up so you could see the colours or an embellishment better but I couldn't get a pic without my head shadow in the shot! (edited to include shots taken on a sunnier day, including a close up!)

This next layout was for the "Grid it up" challenge.  I loved the sketches using the 9 circle embellishments from the Explore class so I decided to use one of them here.  I made the background for a previous layout but I couldn't make it work and then came across this photo that I had been meaning to scrap for ever.  There were a couple of photos of me and L or of Management and L but this was the first one of all 4 of us.  I had no idea of the horrors of what were to come although I already knew that it didn't feel the way I expected to feel a few hours after L was born.

Although I am still struggling, I can definitely feel a move forward.  The time we have spent together this week has been really great and we are probably closer at this point than we have ever been.  This is a huge deal for us :-)

We're having a TV day today as it is hammering with rain and we didn't have any thing planned that involved other people so we are just slobbing out in the warmth of the front room.  I can't believe I am saying that in the middle of August!  I have had to start using my daylight lamp again too.  On the plus side, I hope to start catching up with all the blogs I have been missing in the next few days.  So put the kettle on, I'll be visiting you soon.

Bye for now.

xx

Scrapping with my boy

L and I both did some scrapping this morning while B was at nursery.  It is truly lovely to spend such quality time with my boy.  I completed another challenge from the weekend's cyber crop, this one was for "From the heart" where we had to choose something we loved without being obvious.  

My trimmer has suddenly gone blunt so I am getting an enforced distressed look on my larger papers or battling with a craft knife.  I've contacted the supplier but I feel a trip to a craft shop coming on... :-)

These photos were actually for last year's cyber crop where Shimelle challenged us to take photos of people below the knees.  Well I couldn't resist this cute pair of tootsies could I?  And as she is wearing jeans, it was another excuse to add a little denim.

And while I was doing mine, L created this one about the seals at Cardigan Island Farm Park.  He automatically asked me for a tag to write on so I think this is his "thing".  He asked if he could show Shimelle and if he could enter the challenge too so this is definitely one for her "Signature Embellishment" post.

This is all his own work, including distressing the edges of the waves.  I'm a proud mummy today :-)

The school holidays are going so quickly but we still have 2 more Wednesdays of just the 2 of us so I hope to get lots more scrapping done then.

Bye for now.

xx

3 is a Magic Number

I decided to start Shimelle's challenges with a page I had partly planned as I was desperate to just get on and scrap!  I went with her "3 is a Magic Number" challenge as I do love to use the visual triangle and / or a set of 3 clusters if I can.

The papers are My Minds Eye Fine and Dandy and the larger print was in my parcel from 2 Peas which I collected yesterday - great timing!  The title was made by covering the letters that I used here and here and ended up not being happy with either of them.  I love them here though - hurrah!

This close up shows the colours better - I would never think of using pink and orange and turquoise together but if MME say its okay then I its jolly well okay!  Don't you just love that pink ribbon ruffle too?!

And here is where we spent the previous couple of weeks.

Just behind the houses to the left, is a view of the sea, about 5 minutes drive away.  We were walking down the street here to the little village to get the papers and the bread which we did pretty much every day.  I find it so peaceful and relaxing there and I have definitely turned a corner and made some big decisions about where I go from here.  Sadly we think that will be our last visit to the house as Management's parents decline in health and old age as they are finding their journey down more and more draining.  They can't do many of the walks now and they feel a lot more isolated after a few illnesses over the previous few years.  They had planned to retire there but it became clear it wouldn't suit their needs as they aged.  Not having somewhere to escape to, especially somewhere so amazing for the children and so refreshing for me, makes my heart heavy and I cried when we left.  On the upside, it has given us many happy years of wonderful memories and plenty of scrapping fodder!  And on that note, I must get back to my craft table for another challenge.

Bye for now.
xx

Straight back to it!

Just a flying visit from me today to say that I am back from my windy Wales, refreshed and renewed.  I am straight back to crafting with the challenges from Shimelle's on-line scrapbooking weekend (otherwise known as a cyber crop) and there are some wonderful layouts to inspire you and some fabulous prizes to be won.  So what are you doing here?  Get on over there and start scrapping!

Bye for now xx