Water Boy

Here's one from the archives for you!  You can tell that I even photographed a while back because there was sun light on that there slate paving.  These days it is a much darker shade of grey and constantly wet!

This layout was completed at Scrap-a-Mia with the lovely Kirsty Wiseman and involves flaps!  You are welcome :-)

I had a range of photos with me with no specific plan but actually the papers that Kirsty had chosen worked really well with a random set of pictures that I ended up putting together about Louis's love of water.His first swimming lesson on the left and dancing with his shadow on the beach on the right.  He was 4 months old and 3 years old respectively.

And then nearly 4 in the final flap playing with the fountains at the local lido.  Isn't that turquoise just perfect! The papers have areas that are embossed with gold and other areas that are flocked.  We did enjoy a few moments of just stroking these papers as I seem to recall.  I was really new to scrapbooking then but I immediately felt a friendship to Kirsty because of this one fact alone!

 I'd read a few of her blog posts since I knew that I would be taking her class so I knew a little bit about her style and her daughter with gorgeous curly hair who seemed different to other children.  I had horrific PMT at the time of the class and she opened by explaining that this layout would leave space for lots of journalling if we wanted it.  She didn't normally journal much but in the case of her example layout she'd had plenty to say about a particularly special friendship that her daughter had.

I learned that Ellie had various special needs with no clear diagnosis and that "normal" friendships were something very rare for her.  Kirsty was visibly choked at recalling these special photos and I had to leave the class to go and have a good blub in the toilets.  Every day is out of the ordinary for parents like Kirsty and yet I had 2 healthy "normal" (I hate that word) children and yet I struggled with the most mundane of things.  At the time I didn't know just how much scrapbooking would help me deal with these feelings or that 4 years later I would be STILL be dealing with them.

I think I'll come back to this topic, it needs to be opened up.  That was going to be what this blog was all about but I found that I just didn't want to harp on about it.  That's not reaching out to people in the same boat though and that's not helping anyone.  I don't want my blog to become a sad place but I do want to hold my hand out to other people who might be helped by crafting.

I'm happy to say that in just a few weeks I will be saying hello to Kirsty again in real life for a girly weekend with other crafters.  THAT sort of thing really helps :-))

Bye for now
xx

Scrap scraps?

I just mentioned to Management that I had made 3 cards this week, "all from scraps!" I said proudly.  He looked confused.  "Don't you always work with scraps?  Isn't that what scrapbooking is?  How do you get scraps from scrapbooking?"  I rolled my eyes, huffed and turned away.

Here they are, new from old.

One for Louis' teacher who has been in hospital.  Old chipboard, old papers, old gems.  It got me thinking about some of the other stash I have that never seems to make it to a layout.

One for a little girl's 4th birthday.  Shocking photo, just couldn't seem to get the light right.  I blame the weather, not my poor photography skills.  I promise you that the gems are straight, I learned something here - never use small round embellishments with polka dot papers.

Lastly one for Bella's ballet teacher.  I am so pleased to have been able to use this fab ballet shoe ribbon.  I used a tutorial by Kirsty Wiseman over at Fantastic Ribbons for the bow so big mmwwaaah to you Kirsty!  The black card is actually embossed with swiss dot but its a bit hard to see here.

You may have noticed in these pictures that things have moved a little in my craft room.  With all the organising that went on in the last 10 days, things got a bit shifted in my room too but I'll save that for another post.

Bye for now
xx

Love is like a butterfly.

My most recent DT package from SJ Crafts was a gorgeous set of Jenni Bowlin vellum butterflies.  They were just in time to feature on my Sister-in-law's special birthday card.  I layered them up on scalloped and embossed circles, inking the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  The butterflies have a wonderful dimension and the vellum allows the shapes and textures to show through.

 I used inspiration from Kirsty Wiseman for this card as I just love her style.

I used the remaining 2 pink butterflies on my layout about the fun of joining in with What's on Your Workspace Wednesday every week and the wonderful friends I have made.

The pops of dimension they give to the bunting really lift the layout and add something special to the pretty papers against the kraft cardstock.

I was also given a pack of blue butterflies and you know me, I like to show the flexibility of a product, so I tried something a bit different.  This is a heartfelt layout about that moment when you realise your children are growing up before your very eyes.

I was inspired by a layout I saw somewhere and it seems to have escaped my frantic Pinning but it was about letting your children fly.  The butterflies were perfect to signify how children grow and suddenly develop into something so much more wonderful than you thought possible.  But also that you can't hold onto them.

I really stepped out of my comfort zone here and I used bubble wrap with acrylic paint (you could use Jenni Bowlin's Dabbers), to stamp the background design.  I used a script stamp (you could use a stamp with any style of script design on) and stamped onto micropore tape from the chemist.

I echoed the vellum butterflies by using punched shapes as a mask (you could use this punch).  Again, the wonderful dimension these beauties supply adds just the right amount of lift for what I wanted.

Its quite a different style for me but it was great fun and its another important moment documented.  And there are butterflies.  Seriously, is there anyone who doesn't like butterflies?!

Bye for now
xx

Baby its cold outside...

There is definitely a distinct nip in the air first thing in the morning and as the evening draws in.  I wonder if we will get the snow that they suggested a few weeks ago, you know back when it was suddenly baking hot again?  It made me think back to March 2008 when L was not quite 2 years old.  On the Saturday we got the garden furniture out because it was lovely and warm and we sat there drinking tea in our te-shirts.  The next morning the boys woke me up early because it had snowed over night and they couldn't wait to show me.  My poor little man had a tummy ache but he still made a huge snowman with Daddy and then walked up the lane to the fields near where we lived until a couple of years ago.  Its a wonderful rural area with hills perfect for sliding down on a plastic bag (if you are caught unawares and don't have a sledge!)

I used the sketch from the wonderful Kirsty Wiseman's Wednesday Night Crop from erm.. Thursday!  Kirsty has been chaotically busy recently with her work on QVC etc and I've really missed her Wednesday night madness.  She crops live on Ustream and there is usually an appearance from Eddie the dog at some point.  The rest of us chat and scrap along or just chat!

The papers are My Mind's Eye, 12 Days of Christmas with their fab modern colours.  I sprayed the background with red Mister Huey over one of the punched snowflakes and  I love the effect it gave - I will definitely do this again.  The whole thing was sprayed with Marshmallow Glimmer Mist which gives a soft sheen to everything but is barely visible.  I was brave and didn't ink the edges of everything with Vintage Photo as I normally do.  But don't worry, I haven't lost the plot!  I used Broken China instead ;-)

I jazzed up some of those ultra cheap foam letter stickers and I'm thinking about a little trip to see if I can get some more as I'm so pleased with how they turn out.  You have to forgive me the clichéd title as it is my first child related snowy layout!

I punched 2 snowflakes for each spot because I wanted some depth so the second layer is vellum which goes through much easier.  Its a lovely punch but very troublesome...

So tell me, are you stockpiling salt?  Have you bought a snow shovel?  Or do you think the anticipated snow will be more like very cold rain instead?  We live on a STEEP incline so we are thinking of investing in snow chains just to get us out onto the main road!

Bye for now
xx

A quick card

Goodness I'm a busy blogger this week!  I just have to post this up quickly before Management sees it.  We're off out tonight to a Michelin starred restaurant (we are avid foodies!) to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  We'll have been married 13 years on Sunday but I'm at Ally Pally then so tonight it is ;-)

I hope he likes it and that its not too girly.  I had the stuff out from MME Good Day Sunshine still and I liked the red and turquoise.  I thought it was a good use of the Love die-cut too.  I don't see why masculine cards should be depressing colours or full of grunge and I hope he agrees!  I was going to buy a card as he's not really a card person but this was so quick and I haven't made a card in a while.  I was inspired by a challenge from Kirsty Wiseman on the QVC Craft Group on Facebook to use 10 items - simples.  Other than the die-cut, the card was made from offcuts from my previous layout from where I had gutted my papers cos I'm so obsessed with getting the most from the papers!

And with that in mind, there are still a few hours left of the discount over at S J Crafts where the new Christmas line from MME has just come in.

"We are celebrating our new design team ~ Enter TEAM5 in the discount code box to receive 15% off your order.
Valid until 11pm Fri 23 Sept only!"


Now its time for me to get ready for a rare night out with my wonderful husband and then I can look forward to Ally Pally.  I hope you all have a great weekend.


Bye for now
xx

Another 7 days of LSNED

First of all I wanted to say thank you for all your lovely words about my new DT role with S J Crafts.  I'm really excited and also a little bit nervous about it but I really appreciated your comments.

*WARNING*  Shocking photo below!

8th - I like this.  (Obviously I'm not talking about the sunburned beetroot look on my face or the rather plump silhouette!)  There are just so many things I have learned in the last couple of weeks about exercise, being in the gym, and running.  Most of all I realised that I actually look forward to my runs.  This needs to be a layout for sure.

9th - Jalapenos Rock.  Although being on a diet means some things are for special occasions only, chillies can liven up many dishes with no calories.  I never used to like omelettes but with jalapanos in I absolutely love them.  I have taught myself to make them so they are light and fluffy and totally delicious with a salad. Chillies are my friend.

10th - B can make a smoothie. The kids had fun at the local agricultural show where one of the stands was about healthy eating and they were encouraged to make wraps and smoothies.  But it didn't mean she had to drink it.

11th - Raspberries are not blueberries.  After running out of blueberries, which I have EVERYDAY in my muesli, I was forced to try raspberries instead.  I love them in yoghurt but they did not work at all with my breakfast.  We must never run out of blueberries again.

12th - She loves corn-on-the-cob.  This is such a great time of year for produce and it looks like B is joining the rest of the family in loving sweetcorn.  Shame it has a rather unfortunate after effect though...

13th - It sort of works.  I've been promising myself one of these garlic crushers for a couple of years now since I first saw them at the local agricultural show.  It makes a paste out of the garlic and things like ginger but it also grates chocolate, nutmeg and nuts quite finely too.  The end bits are tricky though...

14th - I have a new flower.  I saw this flower on Kirsty Wiseman's blog and I love it even though it went a bit wrong.  I have lots of ribbon so I will definitely be using this technique again.  Sometimes doing it wrong can be the right thing.

So that's the first couple of weeks of September done and I am already planning a layout for all the fitness stuff I have learned.  I've got lots of journalling to fit on so while I'm on the treadmill doing my C25k, I'm also mentally working out how I can fit loads of writing on without it becoming a page full of text!  Hey, it makes the time pass and that's all good, yes?!  Crafting on the treadmill, is that extreme scrapping or what?!

Bye for now!

xx

Sketch of the Week 14th September

Just a flying visit to post up this fab sketch from Shimelle from last week.  

The colours are much better IRL but I really wanted to get the photo done and it was awful weather so I had to do it indoors which is not idea.  I decided against using MME again and went for Crate Paper's "Emma's Dresse Shop".   The butterflies are actually patterned and they are Jenni Bowlin.

That title is the thing that held me up for days.  I used some very thin pink and white polka dot letter stickers but they were a bit wishy washy.  I tried to outline them with my American Crafts brown pen but it is has never worked properly.  I swiped it across a Distress ink pad and that seemed to work but it looked crappy so I painted over the letters instead.  It still looked crappy so I put some crackle accent on top.  It still looks crappy but I gave up at that point!

I'm really pleased with this little cluster though.  I've been wanting to use this ballet ticket since I got it and it seemed like a good time to use the larger Emma's Shoppe sticker.  The ribbon flower is a new thing for me and it was something I picked up from Kirsty Wiseman.  Its one of those where you tack along one edge and then pull it tight.  It was a bit too long though and it ended up wrapping around on itself but I love it!

The beautiful cameo was stolen from another layout.  I am looking for something more masculine to replace it as it was a layout about Management.

Right, time to grab a spot of lunch (nothing too heavy as its Slimming World tonight!) and then I have to find out my programme for C25k tomorrow.  I'm now on Week 4!  Yikes!  More on that soon.

Bye for now xx

Crazy?

I guess crazy runs in families because both my kids are totally crackers.  I used a sketch by Kirsty Wiseman from her on-line crop sessions that she holds some Wednesdays (keep an eye on her blog) for this layout about my crazy baby girl.  She must have been about 10 months or so and she used to pull this face a LOT then.  It was sort of a kissy / snorty face and she knew it made people laugh so would do it even more.  

She has stopped pulling that face but she is still completely loopy.

And talking of crazy, I started the Couch to 5k challenge Tuesday and I managed to complete the 3 sessions required for the first week.  Hurrah!  I also managed to stick pretty rigidly to my Slimming World diet too so I was expecting a fantastic loss for my weigh in this evening.  Although I am very pleased that I finally got my 2 and half stone award (that's how much I've lost... not what I weigh...) but I didn't drop enough to see a new number on the scales and only just made my award, a measly 1.5 pound off.  Ho hum, better luck this week and I am trying to be very very good again with the hope that it will combine with the efforts of this week and mean a really good loss that was worth the effort.  A chap lost 6.5lbs this week and he had a few beers.  SO unfair!

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 109 - Two spaces to share today

Good morning Wednesday!  I have 2 spaces to share with you this week

 I finally finished my pirates but I'm not totally happy with them.  I picked up the wrong pen when I was doing the outline and its too thick.  I think I've decided that doing art for other people is too stressful and I'm glad its done and I will be relieved when the little boy has them in his grasp.  If they go on the wall, fine, if not, that's fine too.  Now I can get on with my art journal from Kirsty Wiseman's MIMM class!

And as for my other space.... well let's just say that's a work in progress.  I'm hoping to do an on-line crop with Kirsty this evening so I need to have a bit of a tidy up as I don't have any space at all!

I've got lots of stuff to put away including the layout that B got hold of and ahem.. altered, here. That new stash needs to be put away too which includes my new little brayer - its so cute and it has little feet so you don't put paint on your work surface.

In other news, I started the C25k running program yesterday and I am officially being ultra good with my syns on Slimming World as I'm wasting money and time by doing it half heartedly.  I'm also trying to update my iPod with some tracks that are the right rhythm for me to run to - watch this space to see if I ever make it to the 5k mark!  Today I am feeling sore and stiff from the new release of Body Balance though so I am glad of a day off, aside from the dreaded housework!

But before I start that, I think I'll have a little peruse around some other crafty spaces listed on Julia's blog.

Have fun, bye for now!

WOYWW 108

I am very excited that today is Wednesday!  Wednesday means that my little girl is off having a ball at nursery while I catch up on a few jobs, including of course, WOYWW.  Today though, Wednesday is special for another reason - tonight is the launch of Kirsty Wiseman's MIMM class which starts with a live on-line demo in some of the techniques we can use in our art journals (and anything else later on too).  With my new passion for inks and sprays and paints and messy play, I'm really looking forward to tackling a proper journal.  As such, I felt I should share both spaces this week, my craft room AND my art room.

Working in the art room during broad daylight works well and I'm loving having a sink nearby but daytime play is rare.  Last night I cracked on with the pirates, however, the light is very overhead so I ended up working in the shadows and the result was 4 pirates with decidedly orange skin!  I have just redone one of them and I'm waiting for it to dry to see if that works any better.  You can see the orange and the new tanned version in the pic and also to the left of the pic, all my MIMM goodies including, obvs, the Moleskine itself (wrapped in the pink tissue paper - (loves!)).

My craft room, with a box of new stash (don't tell hubs) and THAT layout still being tweaked.  Must finish it today or it won't go into the round up for the month on 2Peas. Lots of stuff to put away after the crop last week but the pirates and the MIMM come first this week.  Oh and I mustn't forget teacher presents...gah!

For more craft inspiration, whatever your pleasure, please head on over to Julia's blog with her guest poster Jan and her lovely Cath Kidston inspired makes.

I'm off to see what sort of tan my pirate has...

Bye for now! xx

Another one I'm not sure about...

So remember a while back I mentioned about a layout I was working on and it wasn't working (it wasn't the colour one from the other week, that was ANOTHER one...).  This was a sketch from Shimelle that was used as part of the UK Scrap Factor competition and I thought it was really cool and unusual but I just couldn't seem to make it work.  Eventually I flipped it and it looked better but still not right.  I was about to put it away when my circles fell the other way up and it was an immediate improvement.  I do like the overall layout but I was hoping for something as awesome as Shimelle's - how daft is that?!  The woman is a genius, a pro and has been scrapping for many many years.  I'm a PAHM who's not naturally creative and I've been scrapping part time for about 18 months!  Anyway, here it is..

Most of the stash for this came from a Summer kit last year by Stephanie Dymant.  The strong pink was a great match for B's cute wetsuit which is why I bought the kit but it doesn't really fit with the rest of the holiday in Wales that it was supposed to be used for!

I'm trying to use up some older stuff so here I used some Anita's Dimensions flowers and some rub on letters from an Easter Do-Crafts kit, I think it was something to do with Honey and Hugs.  The title there refers to B's huge grin at spending time with Daddy (you can't really see her face that well but it is a corker!) and yet he doesn't think she is much of a Daddy's girl at all.  Given half the chance she would be though!

And talking of Dads, this was the card I made for all the dads in our family - my own Dad, Management's Dad, my step-dad, and of course Management himself (although his said "Daddy").  The papers are from that naughty pack of MME that begged me to take them home from Hobbycraft the other day.  180 sheets for £25 in grubby male style?  Yes please!

I'm off to one of my all day crops tomorrow and with Kirsty Wiseman's class starting next week, I hope to have lots of thing to share in the next few weeks :-)

Bye for now xx

WOYWW 107

So I missed last week for the first time in weeks.  I just couldn't get myself into blogging.  But this week I thought I would share my other space ;-)  A couple of weeks ago I shared my children's art area and thought it might be good for me to use it too as it is all wipeable and there is a sink there.  It has worked out really well.  It means that my scrapping space stays clean and useable and that the children get to see my art work in progress.

(This photo hasn't been here all day as Blogger wouldn't let me post it - gah!)

I'm about to do a class with Kirsty Wiseman on art journalling called Me in my MoleskinE (big E on the end for ME) so it will get well used.  Add to that, I am currently painting 4 pirate canvasses for a friend's little boy's room which you can see in progress on the worktop there.  I painted some for L's room and she saw them and liked them.  It is the first time ANYONE has liked anything I've done enough to ask me to do something for them and I feel really chuffed.  I'm not charging her for a couple of reasons.  Number 1, its not a business and she is a friend.  Number 2, they are not my designs and I can't make any money from them.  Sadly I can't find the seller who was doing the original artwork so I can't tell her how much she inspired me with her fun and quirky pictures but I will keep searching for her.

Anyway, that's all from me today but I have other creations to share tomorrow.  Pop on over to Julia's blog to have a nose at other people's workspaces, whatever their work might be.  As usual, I will get to everyone who gets to me, plus some others depending on time - oh how we crafters wish we could stop the clocks once in a while....

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