Bleurgh!

Well both hubs and I were STARTING to improve a bit but today we have had my princess being sick so its possible that we have yet another bug in our midst.  Honestly its been one thing after another in the last few weeks.  I've spent a lot of time on the sofa though catching up on a few blogs and, to be honest, deleting a few from my Reader.  It was the only spot of decluttering I could manage this week and I am still going through them.  I'm taking off anyone who hasn't posted for ages, people that only do digi, or don't craft in my style at all.  A lot of the blogs are from classes where there was a cross over and we did a group subscription, like Blogging for Scrapbookers, and I just never had the time to go through them.

I did manage to make some progress on my Christmas Journal so I am about to order the photos for that and I did manage to finish the layout from the class the previous week.

The background was something I pulled from my "give it away" pile - oops! All of the strips were scraps.  It turned out better than I thought when I first starting laying it all down but I'm still not totally happy with the colour choices on the background and title though.  But on the positive, a few more memories are recorded, I've used some stash and in particular some scraps, and I'm forever learning about what I do and don't like.

And something I found while blog sorting, that I really really do like, is Nichol Maguoirk's blog.  She is a Garden Girl over at 2Peas and she does great videos and had a really fresh vibe and eclectic style.  I've spent some time Pinning her layouts and I have a stack of her videos to watch.  Which is great today because there is only so much Pingu a person can watch...  Here's to a great weekend for everyone.

Bye for now
xx

10 Birthday Things on the Tenth

Happy Birthday to me!

I thought in celebration of my birthday, that I would share 10 wonderful presents that I have had in adulthood.

This little piece of beached glass in the middle of the photo, was given to me this morning by my wonderful boy.  He found it at the weekend when they went out for a walk while I did some spring cleaning and he knew I would love it and managed to keep it a secret.  He was so proud of his find as he knew I didn't have any in my collections of shells and stone.  I love it.

My locket and chain is one of my very favourite possessions.  My Dad came shopping with Management and I to look for something perfect for my 21st birthday many moons ago and one of them bought the locket and the other the chain.  There is disagreement about who bought which piece and I can't remember and I don't care, I just love it.  I wear it most days.

My passport.  Strange present you might think but it was one of the best birthdays ever.  Management wanted to give me an early birthday present, the evening before my birthday, to cheer me up after a pants day at work.  It was tiny and I duly opened what I thought would be a small in value present.  I was SO cross with him for ruining my birthday by giving me such a big present early!  Then he revealed that I wouldn't be going to work for the next 2 days as we would heading to Paris VERY early the next morning and coming back at the end of the weekend.  But there was more...  He had originally planned to take me to Paris to see France V England in the what was then, 5 Nations, but he hadn't received conformation of tickets (thousands apply and some people are lucky).  He booked this alternative trip for my birthday instead but then got conformation of tickets for the match so we went back to Paris 5 weeks later!

These Promarkers appeared in my previous post. They were the ones sent to me by a fellow QVC Craft Forum member and we had originally planned to swap something but she said she would give them to me as an early birthday present.  It never fails to amaze me, the kindness of the on-line community.

I received this cheque from my Mother-In-Law this morning.  Money is always nice obviously but you can see from the note that it is specifically for crafting supplies!  In the past she has given me tokens for Hobbycraft as it is the shop that she knows.  However, we were talking over Christmas about how I like to shop in various places on-line and from 2Peas in America etc and so she thought money would be better.  She telephoned just now to remind me NOT to spend it on the children or the house.

I love amber, it reminds me of tigers and matches my red hair.  These earrings are the first amber items Management ever bought me.

I was blown away when I got this ticket for Scrap-a-Mia in 2010.  Management had overheard a scrapping buddy and I talking about it and went off to find out more and bought it.  He was a bit worried as he didn't know anything about it or if I would like it etc but he chose so very very well and I had a total blast.  And again in 2011.  Really hoping they run it again this year too.

My cake stand is technically not a present from someone else but bought with birthday money so it counts right?  I love this style and it was just right for my craft room.  It houses my special ribbons and lace offcuts and washy tapes etc.  Shame about the shocking photo.

My favourite thing to make in my Kenwood is Delia Smith's Little Sticky Toffee puddings so I must really find some more low fat recipes to make.  I love baking but I love cake mix too.  Another shocking photo.

My Nikon was a present from Management with some Christmas money added in.  It is now 2 years old and I still don't know how to work it properly (clearly!) but it is on my list of things to do now that B has started pre-school (first morning today and she ran all the way there!)  I did an OU Digitial Photography course but didn't really make the most of it and I've forgotten it all so I will go back through it.  I love digital - the ability to get instant feedback on your shots is something I will never tire of.

And that blurry teal pattern there?  That is the most wonderful card made for me by Jaki - thank you Jaki!  I'm looking forward to a day of pampering tomorrow when Management is off and I'll be opening my presents when he gets home tonight so there is yet more of this birthday to come.

10 on the tenth is brought to you by Shimelle and this month she is sharing her fave layouts from 2011, which are all fabulous, obvs.

Bye for now

xx

4x6 photo love for August

Good morning from a wet and windy south coast of England.  Let me tell you that I am NOT enjoying the school run at the moment!  We shortly have to go out in it again to take B to her first ballet lesson of the new term.  We are both excited about it although it is in a new place and I need to find the building and where to park in a special area etc and that always make me anxious.  She will need new ballet shoes as she has gone up 2 sizes and I really ought to sell her old one,s but I want to keep them as they are her first pair.

A couple of weeks ago I finally got the photos that I took at one of her previous classes.  I've pulled out all my favourite ones and I want to put those on layouts with only 1-3 photos.  I also had a little collection of 2nd best ones that I wanted to put on one layout that was about her class in general.

Cue Shimelle's amazing 4x6 Photo Love class at 2Peas.

Good grief, this was the trickiest one so far and it took me ages.  I had to walk away several times and come back with fresh eyes.  It is arranged over 3 page; one full page, and the back and front of a cut down page.  The tricky part was lining up the cut down page over the final full page so that it still looked pleasing to the eye and not obviously an extra page.

The papers are MME Lost and Found and I may just have gone a little OTT with the very special brads in the same range... ;-)  The title letters are The Girls Paperie.

This is the inside front page featuring a yummy bit of Dear Lizzy ribbon rose trim and some embellishments made from old music paper.

 And then the full page featuring a selection of general things I wanted to remember about the classes.  This is the bit I would rather do again as I should have butted the photos right up together and the embellishment cluster in the middle wouldn't have been needed and so wouldn't have divided the page so obviously.

A close up of the home-made embellishments, the Dear Lizzy aqua music print ribbon and one of the yummy brads.

This is how it looks in the page protectors which are sewn together.  Mine is just attached with DST at the moment but I will sew it next time I get the machine out.  It clearly makes them part of the same layout within the album.

I even threw on a resin flower and a few blingy bits too.

Tomorrow I will endeavour to do an update on my gym training and C25K programme as well as my lessons so far.  I will try.  I will try.....

Bye for now xx

Preparing for LSNED

I can't believe it is September already.  Where did the summer holidays go?  Possibly they got washed away...  We went to the zoo last week and I wore a scarf.  A scarf I tell you, on the south coast of England, in the height of summer!

But alas, these lazy starts are soon to be a thing of the past once more as L goes into year 1.  I can scarcely believe that the time has gone so quickly through his first year and he is now about to enter his second year of actual school.  And of course if school is about to start then that must mean another presentation of Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday.

I had an idea of how I was going to do it this year but then I totally changed my mind!  I thought that this September might be a time of real development for me and so I wanted to make more of it than just noting down a few things.  Also I was swayed by my new papers from 2 peas.  I bought the Pink Paislee Old School collection ready for more school layouts of L but in truth, aside from his first day etc, there are not going to be that many and also I will always want to buy new school themed bits as they come out!

I found some chipboard covers and used the Pink Paislee paper to cover the outsides.  I wanted to liven up the fairly dark colour scheme and discovered that many of the My Mind's Eye All About Boys papers go quite nicely too.  I used some of these papers for the insides of the covers and added some to my basket to make up the rest of the kit for the class.  I went through my scraps to add to the basket too and then I cut up 30 pages of cardstock for the page bases.  I intended to stick these back to back as I went along but I didn't want to do it before making the pages in case I wanted to use different colours or use things that would need to go through.  However, now I think I want to use the backs to do the journalling and just do a title on the front with the photo.

I made a total cock up of the back cover.  I made it match the front which meant that the multi coloured bit was on the wrong edge.  I couldn't have it like that, or the writing upside down, so I had to cut the edge off and stick it on the other side.  Luckily I noticed before I covered the inside so I was able to make it a bit more secure.  I hope!

Now it just remains for me to see what I will learn this September!

Bye for now xx

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

4x6 photo love for May

I think this might be my new favourite layout!

I used Shimelle's "4x6 photo love" sketch for May so we're using 5 photos which is a help to anyone who has loads of photos of the same thing and yet can't bear not to scrap them all!

I couldn't resist using my new wave punch on this layout and I also got to use some dies that I bought last year and haven't touched.  I've been saving the gorgeous aqua woodgrain paper and this was the perfect time to use it.  With all the letters and 3 sheets of patterned paper used, it is probably one of my most expensive layouts ever but there are scraps left over and I didn't use a single "e"!

In keeping with the video of ideas from Shimelle, I painted on some Glimmer Mist around the straight edges.  Except that mine is so subtle that it is pretty much invisible!  I used Dazzling Diamonds, which is the first mist I ever owned, as I didn't want to add colour just glimmer.  I painted the lines and then added some to the clusters but I don't think I will bother with that colour again!

Ample journalling room gave me space to witter on about how much I loved watching the kids poking around in the rockpools, whatever the weather.   The beach at Newport in Pembrokeshire is wide, hard, sandy and quiet so you can drive your car onto it and set up camp for the day with as much stuff as you like.  This is brilliant when you have children and an elderly relative with you and it also means that there is plenty of sand to play on without being near the water.  The rockpools are what the children love best though and we spent many happy hours there pottering about looking for ever bigger crabs or more and more unusual specimens. We can only assume it will be the same again this coming summer.  And that's totally fine with me :-)

Bye for now

Lisa-Jane
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

A bumper crop ;-)

So I promised I would tell you about my crop and how I packed etc.  So grab a cuppa and settle back...

I'm lucky enough to have a craft room (see previous post) and I have a buddy that used to come over and scrap with me so I've never had to move any of my stuff elsewhere.  I went to a retreat back in May last year shortly after I started scrapping, and I literally took a bag of essentials like scissors and DST.  Other people had roller trolleys of stuff and great shopper style bags of kit - it was quite an eye opener!  I was envious of people who gathered together for their craft and shared ideas and equipment with like minded people.  Then a friend of a friend of a friend introduced me to someone who ran crops and scrap booking classes fairly close and so I've had to really think about my scrapping in a different way.

The crops are once a month (ish) and I've now been to two.  In the first one I felt loaded down with stuff but I wasn't a patch on other people! I packed a sectioned 12"x12" crop bag with individual page kits to a degree.  Basically I plopped in my photos and a stack of similar coloured papers and embellishments!  I tend to scrap in limited colours taken firmly from the photos so there wasn't much more planning involved than the gathering stage.

This time however, I had made a few new purchases to help me.  As this crop was for 12 hours, (yes that's right!) I wanted to make sure that I had plenty to keep me going.  I bought project bags so that I could plan plenty of page kits and take a small amount of additional card stock, and I bought a new wheelable tote that matched my carry tote.  It's wonderful as it as loads of pockets but like anything with loads of pockets, I find it hard to remember what I packed where!

I scanned many blogs and the galleries at Two Peas and found lots of inspiration, some a little bit like my style, some not.  However I didn't plan my pages any more than I did before really.  On the day, with my horrid cold interfering with my brain function, things really fell apart.  I had packed a couple of page kits that were very different to my normal style in the choice of colours mixing together but I really wanted to try something like Shimelle or Laura Buckingham (I LOVE Laura's style!).  It was clear that I wouldnt cope with anything new that day though so I left those in the bag.  Then I tried a sketch that I thought would work well with a particular photo and set of papers but was quite graphic and unlike me.  As I started to add my embellishments (love lots of those!), it became clear that it wasn't going to work at all and so I put that away half finished.  Then I started another one that I had a vague idea about but after half an hour of staring at the papers and moving the photos around, I gave up.  I think I managed to almost complete 2 layouts and half start 3 more.  Pretty awful really for a whole day.

However, what is great is that I still have a load of page kits ready for next month or before if I can squeeze something in (although JYC still needs finishing) and this time I intend to really plan the pages a lot better.  Also I think that beginning the day with a quick and easy layout is a great way to start and get the juices flowing, to get a layout under your belt before tackling something more challenging.  I also think that a bulk planning session like this is quite time efficient as it means I am not getting loads of stuff out over and over again.  I lay out a few photos across the floor and then add papers and cardstock etc that I think I might use.  I go to my paper files once for about 15 layouts rather than 15 times!

The crop venue itself is really great and everyone is really friendly.  This layout that I did last time was copied by about 5 people and gave me a real confidence boost.  Its a scraplift from Two Peas gallery and its definitely a technique I'll be using again.  

People wander around at the crop and look at what others are doing and lots of people put their layouts up on the dado rail or take photos of other people's work etc.  There is a little shop which rotates every 3 weeks and there is an assortment of equipment to use including loads of templates and things that I've not seen as the people are connected to Creative Memories.  Its a social club so there is a place to get very nice meals and drinks all day and the afternoon cakes are to die for!

There's loads of space for each person too and you get a chair next to you to put your carry tote on so that the tables are a bit clearer.  Its very well set up and I'm just so happy that I get to do this once a month.  Crafting makes me so happy, even when I don't achieve what I would like to!

So, how do you scrap?  How do you pack if you go on the move?  Are you lucky enough to have like-minded friends?  However it is, I hope it makes you happy :-)

Bye for now xx

Meaning from the Mundane

This post is brought to you by the letters A.N.N.O.Y.E and D. (and with a prompt from BFS).

I was all set to show a little pic of my Smalls (note the capital letter for my children, not a small letter for my knickers) helping me to cook the dinner and tell you what it means to me etc, I was even getting a little whistful about it.  However, far more important events have overtaken and so, doing the prompts out of order, I have to tell you about my parcel, just because I have to tell SOMEone and get it off my chest.

I'll set the scene.  We have several craft shops within 10 miles of here so we are quite lucky.  However they all stock the same thing so there may as well be only one!  I took the plunge and ordered a ahem.. large package from Two Peas in a Bucket in America.  The P&P is astronomical but when you factor it into the price of each item, it still works out that things are generally cheaper.   I have since discovered an on-line store in this country which pretty much sells similar stuff but not all of the wonderful goodies that I crave.  Anyhoo, I sat back and waited for my parcel in great excitement, especially as other than a couple of kits from Shimelle, I haven't done much on-line craft shopping (I know, what HAVE I been doing?!)  You can track your parcel with 2 Peas so every now and then I would check in and see how it was doing.  Okay, every day.  Alright, every hour, you got me!  I got more excited as the status changed, especially when it finally said it had entered customs in Great Britain.

I started stalking the postman, opening the door as I saw him walk up the drive, scanning the local area on the school run in case I missed him.  Yesterday he knocked at the door because he had a parcel!!  Yay!  Except it was just my printer ink.  Boo.  He looked so sad as my face fell at the sight of the small brown parcel and not an overstuffed pizza box.

Then yesterday afternoon the status changed to "Attempted Delivery".  WHAT???  How had I missed them? I had waiting in, not even going into the back garden in this glorious weather in case he happened to sneak up.  It said the time was 6.37am and we are up at that time so I realised it didn't mean here, it meant the holding depot before delivery, maybe, and that it was definitely on its way.

This morning, I did an impression of Vernon Dursley from Harry Potter, sleeping on the doormat to apprehend the postman.  Nothing.  We rush back from the school run.  Nothing.  And then I get this...

It is a bag containing an item of post which has been damaged or has stuff missing in some way, with an apology from Royal Mail. The blue slip of paper inside was just the label with some information about an international parcel from America. Gasp!  Oh no!  I could read no more.  I was hyperventilating.  My precious Cosmo Cricket papers!  My stroke-able Dear Lizzy ribbon ruffles!

I calmed down and looked at the label more closely.  It was actually the customs bill for my package which was sitting in a depot a few stops down the motorway.  Phew!  I waited till B woke up and we put our sunglasses on and whipped down there.  Then we got lost.  Was I ever going to get my package?  I had to call Management to find the way in as I could see the building but I just couldn't get to it.  Eventually I got my hands on my box, I was so desperate to open it but I had to wait just a little bit longer - darn the school run.  We made it home in time for me to have a quick look before dashing back out to get L but its not the same when you are in a rush and have a little helper with you!

My favourite bits are the Cosmo Cricket Salt Air collection which I got with a view to doing holiday stuff (more on that another time as I need some advice!)  However the colours are just so bright and yummy that I want to use it for a layout about B and her painting which I had already sorted ready for tomorrow.  I've packed all my stuff for the crop (10am till 10pm!  Management has the children to himself all day!) but I may just need to add a few more bits from this parcel...  It was such a long time coming (it felt like it but was only 17 days!) but it was worth it. :-)

So I have a question for you fellow scrappers - how do you pack for a crop?  I'll let you know about my packing shenanigans in another post but for now I need to go and stroke some ribbon ;-)

Bye for now!