WOYWW 274

Its been a while since I joined in with WOYWW dear readers but this Wednesday marks a very important part of our year - the children go back to school today!  I have such plans!!  Some of my plans for this week involve getting in my studio and making some stuff - woop woop!  Some of my plans involve getting my house back into some sort of order so that we are ready for house viewings at the weekend.  Our house sale fell through recently after waiting since April so we have to start all over again - meh.

So what is on my table of craft after such a long time?  Well...  Top left is my Learn Something New Everyday book that I am determined to put something in this year.  Its a class run by Shimelle every September and I made this book 3 years ago and never put anything in it.  2 years ago I changed the date on the front to start again and never put anything in it.  Last year I didn't even try.  I am keeping a record this year and trying to take daily photos so hopefully something will go in there at some point.

In the centre of the table I have some very exciting things!!  I was picked as a winner in a Cosmo Cricket giveaway on Facebook and within about 4 days I had a parcel arrive from America!  Inside was a wall sconce, 4 matching mason jar lids (I need wide necked jars now!), a sweet little pink hanger with clips on and a pad of 12x12 vellum!  If you know where I can get the jars from then please do let me know (in the UK) because I would love them to go in my new studio, if / when we move!

Right, on with the cleaning.  6 weeks of summer holidays and I don't even recognise my house anymore!  Don't forget to link up with Julia if you want to join in with the desk hop :-)

Bye for now
xx

Mowing Fun

It was supposed to be a very wet day today and goodness knows the garden could do with a good drenching.  Alas it is that sort of weather that is not so good for the garden - warm and overcast.  Our poor grass is not so much a lush green and is more of a parched straw colour.  The only benefit is that it hasn't needed mowing for some time!  

This layout was one of the ones I found during my logging process that has been completed in November last year and hasn't made it as far as the blog.  The photos were taken last summer when we seemed to need to mow the lawn every week.  

Enjoy the wobbly bunting won't you....

The gorgeous papers are Cosmo Cricket's Tea for Two and the pretty little rub on is a very old one by Dear Lizzy's Enchanted range.  I used two different fonts of Thickers, both canvas covered and some of my most favourite ever.

I'm thinking of using a Mister Huey's to make the grass look as green as it did last year.  Waddyafink?

Bye for now

xx

One

How cute is my little man here?  I can't believe this was over 5 years ago and yet he is still as smiley and cheeky as he was back then.  

The journalling, for those without magnifying glasses, reads: I definitely think that I was more excited than anyone about your birthday.  To be honest, I didn't think we'd get there, plus I was bored of the same toys!"

The funny thing is that looking at the toys in the photos here, I remember how little he had back then and how crazy the amount they now have between them.  We had an Adam's style fireplace (a brick opening, as wide as the actual fireplace with nothing inside it) and inside there we had a set of small shelves for his toys.  In front of this was one of those folding plastic baskets where we used to keep his books.  That was it, one bucket of books that we read over and over.  Now we have shelves and shelves and shelves of books for both of them and I still find myself buying more.  When I think of the amount of "schtuff" we have now, I wonder how we would have managed if we hadn't moved into the suburbs.  I certainly wouldn't have my own craft room with approaching 15 albums of layouts that's for sure ;-)

Bye for now

xx

Her faces tell such stories

I'm very lucky that my children still love having their pictures taken.  Sometimes though it can work against me because they are always on the look out for the camera and I prefer the more candid and less cheesy shots!  Miss Bella has such expressive little features and I wanted to capture that on a layout.

Each of these images are very much "her" and yet each one is so different.  They were all taken on a trip to the zoo last April when she had just turned 2.

Her teeth are being affected by her thumb sucking and we are desperately trying to tackle it but she looks so cute!

The photos are perfect IRL, please excuse the mottled light here!  I used the gorgeous Cosmo Cricket "Tea for Two" collection here (on sale at S J Crafts right now) and went for a grid formation so I could use photos of different orientations.

I went to town with punched shapes and gems and some garden twine from the pound shop.

I am really enjoying using the natural twine at the moment as it adds such great texture and interest but works well with the natural floral theme.

I took the photos outside as I often try to do but its getting a bit cold to be laying on my slate tiles path.  Can you believe it is October tomorrow?  This year has just marched right past me!

Bye for now
xx

Summer Time Challenge

What luck that this post should come on a day of glorious sunshine!  I am rather pink myself after our little holiday to Wales and I think, despite going there regularly for the past 20 years, it is the first time I have ever been sunburned!  We had a wonderful time as usual and it was over too quickly as usual so we are pleased to have some sunshine to come home to.  I mean't to schedule this post before we went away but a very special little person finally arrived and I was frantic getting the house ready for them to use while we were away for a few days.  So my apologies for it being a little late and for going so long between posts - this will not do!

My Summer Time layout is about Louis and his friend and how close they are.  They are so similar, both fighting to control their emotions and yet living life to the full every day.  It was a rare sunny day in September last year and it was wonderful to be at Beaulieu in such glorious weather.  I MAY have gone a little mad with my camera that day!  I've used one of my most favourite Summer colour schemes - yellow, aqua and red.

I also made some of my favourite embellishments - windmills, which I think are perfect for summer sun projects.

I'm sure that this weather is inspiring you to make something Summery so why not upload it to the S J Crafts challenge and be in with a chance of winning some embellishments.It can be about Summer, sunshine, beaches, Summer colours or style, anything that makes you think of a little bit of Summer fun.  The challenge is open until 19th September so plenty of time to get busy with making something and enjoying some of this lovely weather too.

I'm using the lovely weather to dry my holiday washing and I think we might just light the barbecue this evening.  Now though I have 2 small people who NEED the paddling pool to be filled up RIGHT NOW.

Bye for now
xx

Inseperable

I've had a bit of a tricky mojo recently.  Its been there, just not working as I would like it.  I'm completing projects but they are leaving me feeling a little disappointed.  This week also, I've had a nasty stomach bug and I'm still not over it, and I'm part way through a blog post about our horrific camping adventures this weekend.  In an effort to turn things a bit positive, I looked through my spreadsheet of layouts (oh yes, you did read that right) which I have to keep now to help me track deadlines, publishing deadlines and when I have blogged projects etc.  I found this layout that I hadn't shared yet and it reminded me that sometimes I can make things that I really love.  I used a sketch that I found on Pinterest and it came together really well with the Salt Air papers from Cosmo Cricket.  The colours were perfect with the photos of Louis and his Grandma (my MIL) who are inseperable when we get to see her, often to the exclusions of everyone else.

I don't often use printed journalling but in this case there wasn't much to say (the photos are from our Wales album) and so it worked well to have it in short phrases on the strips.  I also used a Cricut for the first time ever for my title.  I was at an Artful Angels crop and they have one there with various cartridges for you to use which is really handy if you don't have one of your own.

I liked being able to match the colour to my layout exactly so I would definitely use it again even though it is quite fiddly.

So there you are.  A sunny layout for a day that is not sure if it is sunny or raining stair rods!  Now, I must go and load the washing machine again.  Oh yes, it was THAT sort of camping trip.  More on that very soon.

Bye for now
xx

Life is pretty amazing

She's here again with another page!  Its one from our retreat as I didn't get anything actually finished at the crop on Saturday (despite.. ahem... plenty of planning!)

The page was inspired by a sketch from Shimelle using 2 photos top left.  Its not something I would have done without the sketch but I will definitely use it again.  The papers (This and That Graceful) make me want to lick the screen and I was really pleased to finally put that wonderful Jenni Bowlin butterfly to perfect use.

The chipboard title was perfect to sum up how we felt on the day these photos were taken over 6 years ago.  I was VERY VERY pregnant with Louis and we went on a Babymoon (pre-baby final holiday as a couple) to Bradford-Upon-Avon.  We were excited and nervous and had absolutely no idea just how much our lives were going to be turned upside down.  

And yes, if you can manage to read the journalling, it does say that I had a fight in a car park.  I blame the hormones.... I went into Mummy Tiger mode.... Management was NOT impressed.

This was the first time I used washi tape on a layout!

Despite a cracking headache on Saturday, it was lovely to see Sarah again from S J Crafts and actually stroke, touch and sniff her shop.  We hatched a plan for a series of projects involving the new Everyday Eclectic collection which I'm very excited about.

Talking of hatching and life being amazing, we finally got to release our painted lady butterflies.  I admit, I was quite emotional.  They had lived with us since they were caterpillars and had become part of our family.. sniff.  This was an amazing experience and in Louis' own words "the best birthday present EVER!"

How beautiful is Bob?  Bob was the largest of the caterpillars and the first of the four to hatch.  He was quite happy to sit on Louis' finger while they had a chat about going off into the big wide world.  Bob was less impressed when Bella started shrieking loudly when she tried to cuddle him and he fluttered his wings.

Good luck Bob and friends!

Bye for now
xx

Well Hello Sun!

So yesterday morning we were strawberry picking in the rain (a VERY poor harvest this year) but by the afternoon we were feeling a tad warm.  Today the sun is properly out and I hear rumours of this lasting 4 days.  We shall see.

In celebration of the brief sunny interlude, I have a rather bright layout to share!  I used Shimelle's Starting Point and may actually get this uploaded in the same week it was offered which is a rarity at the moment.  Yet another Pembrokeshire layout featuring Louis, this time telling how he is so desperate to get in the water that he ends up going in with his clothes on for a "paddle" and before we know it he is wet through from head to toe.  How can you resist though when he clearly makes him so happy.

The papers and chipboard are Cosmo Cricket Salt Air, the ribbon is American Crafts and the Playtime rubber charm is October Afternoon Sidewalks.  The gems are Papermania and Louis has asked me to inform you that the ones used as bubbles on the fish was his idea.  Taught him well I have, as Yoda would say.

This is one of nearly 5 layouts I completed at the Artful Angels crop on Saturday so you can expect a flurry of posts in the next couple of weeks.  It was wonderful to be back scrapping, I feel I have been lacking time and motivation recently but a mad Pinning session had me eager to get back to my scissors and glue - huzzah!

Bye for now
xx

You Are So Sweet.

Do you ever have those times when your craft area is such a mess that you can't even bear to go in there?  I'm having one of those times right now.  The craziness of the last couple of weeks has led to things being piled up in my room, both craft and otherwise, and I don't actually know where to start!  I know that I won't get a chance for any real crafting time until Wednesday at least but when I can grab a moment I am doing a few minutes of sorting at a time.  The last few months have been pretty chaotic generally with holidays, operations, birthdays and illness etc, and it will be nice to get back to some sort of normality.  Having said that, normality doesn't seem to be something my family can do very well.  My dear old Dad, after months of us plaguing him, has finally been to the doctors.  As we suspected, he has been diagnosed with Parkinsons which is awful of course but hasn't come as a shock.  His answer to everything is that he is getting old anyway, which makes me laugh as not many 77 year olds still work full time on a farm!  He is at least talking about slowing down and retiring now though... one day.

Of course the other thing adding to the recent craziness was the retreat I attended with Paula (who has just set up a blog, go see her, tell her I sent you).  I still have a few layouts from that weekend that I haven't shared so I've chosen a sunny one to cheer us up after the recent rains.  It features Miss Bella on the beach at Newport, Pembrokeshire, doing what both of my children love best.

Please excuse the funny angle, I think I mush have been slightly inebriated when I took this (I wish!) but I can promise you that the waves on bottom edge are actually straight...  I used This and That Graceful by Echo Park and the gorgeous blue doilies were a perfect match for the small amounts of blue in the collection (thank you Paula!)

I made a rosette flower using some washi tape which really adds interest to these wonderful embellishments. I also used some old flowers and gems for dimension.

More dimension in the shape of chipboard stickers and these groovy buttons which I've been saving for yonks.  Sometimes when you save stuff, you finally find the perfect place for it and this was one of those times.

I could actually lick these papers, they are so wonderful.

Time to catch up on some blog hopping I think!

Bye for now
xx

My Buddy

The challenge this month over at S J Crafts is "About the Boy".  I had these pics in my pile watching to be scrapped and I remember thinking around the time they were taken (last May) that Louis and I had come a long way since our tricky beginnings together.  We love to spend time with just the two of us (pretty difficult!) but we have become friends who enjoy each other's company (most of the time!)

I used the awesome This and Echo Park "This and That-Charming" collection and some stunning new washi tape from Cosmo Cricket, but the added challenge was to use older stuff from your stash too.  The 3 pieces of chipboard are from an old mini album kit but the colours and style fitted really well.  The cardstock is pretty old from a bumper set and the gems are pretty old too!  I mixed white acrylic paint with some Glimmer Mist for a pop of colour and interest - lets not talk about how underused and unloved my mists are...

So now its over to you.  Something masculine or about boys / men and something older from your stash - easy peasy.  Upload it to S J Crafts blog by the middle of June and you could be in the draw for some mini ink pads.  Go.  Get busy!

Bye for now
x

Being challenged.

I'm feeling rather challenged at the moment, both physically and mentally!  Thank you to all the people who sent good wishes after my op.  It went okay but boy did I hurt afterwards!  I am rather bruised and still very woozy so I only managed to stay at my crop for a couple of hours yesterday.  I wouldn't have gone at all if I hadn't been so looking forward to meeting Sarah but she was so lovely that it made it worthwhile.

I half started some layouts and managed to finish a few today.  I think planning to finish all of the challenges for Shimelle's on-line crop was a little optimistic after my hospital stay but here are the ones I managed complete.

Challenge 10 - 2 Photos on a bold background.  Are those apples bold enough for ya?!

I used Crate Paper - Farmhouse for these cute pics of my boy at just a year old.

Challenge 11 - Use 2 contrasting patterns for the background.  Leaves and rulers again from the Farmhouse Collection.

I managed to use some older American Crafts rub-ons here too.  They were perfect for this story about the little house that my Dad got for 2 year old Louis.  They were so proud of their building skills!  Originally the house had belonged to my almost-step-mum's grandchildren but they had outgrown it.  My Dad loved being able to rescue something and provide a wonderful present to his precious only grandson.

Challenge 9 - Take your pick.  Choose any previous challenge and consider it reopened.  I chose the Glitter Girl adventure about scraps.  The main bulk of the page used Rocket Age by October Afternoon but the layers of stars are all scraps from my box.  I think Louis was about 18 months old in this crazy photo which ended up on a mouse mat for a present for Daddy.  A mouse mat???  What a short lived invention that was...

Challenge 14 - Four Sections.  Using inspiration from Jen Gallacher, make 4 separate sections come together for one page.  I love Jen's work and I really admired so many of the elements in her original layout when I saw it a few weeks back.  I took many of those ideas for my Summertime layout featuring Bella and Management wandering off to the rock pools.  

I particularly liked the white embossing on vellum on Jen's layout so I tried it on mine with some flip flops.  I also embossed the title and in both cases this was the first inking for these stamps!

I used Cosmo Cricket's Salt Air and added a few older bits and bobs like shells.  

Challenge 12 - One photo twice.  I chose the only photo I had where I had printed 2 versions.  One of a gajillion ballet photos - Miss Bella gazing in wonder at her ballet teacher's beautifully pointed toes.  There's no title or journalling here because it is part of a series of pages, and to be honest I was in a rush and losing the power to sit up straight!

More Crate Paper Farmhouse, some very old bling that I've been meaning to use for ages and some ballet shoe ribbon that I bought years ago.

I think I might just squeeze in one more before the deadline but then I have to start prepping for next weekend.  3 days of scrapping at a local retreat and I have no idea what to take!  I also have to get better and get the house straight before then and try and get back to some sort of normality.  Hhhmmm, normality... what's that then? ;-)

Bye for now

xx

WOYWW 122

Firstly I wanted to say thank you so much for all the kind messages regarding the sudden death of my Step-Mum (in all but a marriage licence!).  We only got the results of the post mortem so everything is still quite difficult because we all feel like we are in the middle of something bad happening instead of moving on from something, if that makes sense.  It appears that she fell and the resulting head injury was the cause however we will never know why she fell as aside from the head trauma she was apparently very well.  She may have just fainted as she didn't break her fall in anyway so wouldn't have been concious when she went down.  It was a totally freak accident and I know she will be thinking "Well how blooming daft!"

Anyway, onto brighter things!  Here is my desk today.

Art sediment from the following 2 layouts really and the beginnings of another.  You can also see there, just at the top right of the layout, something which looks a little Christmassy.  I must say a humungous THANK YOU to Lunch Lady Jan for sending this adorable Christmas bunting which I will photograph properly when I get better light.  It is wonderful and it will look great hung around the walls and add instant festive cheer.  I never expected a total stranger really, to send me such a lovely gift, just because I made her laugh last week with the titles of her blog posts - go and check it out today to see what we were laughing about!

And these are the layouts which caused the mess above.

This one using Shimelle's Sketch of the Week from a couple of weeks ago and using some Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride.  (Apologies for the reflection in the photo)

See the tongue sticking out there?  Its a family thing.  We can't concentrate or steer if we don't have our tongue out.  My tongue is often out when I craft...  It was out especially when I tried to do the inky dots which went wrong (again!) and I spilled some on my page so I will not be trying it again EVER!

And this one using Shimelle's Starting Point from the weekend.  Its a bit minimal for me but I kind of like it.

I added the stars down the opposite side to the sketch as I didn't intend to use them but then changed my mind when I decided I desperately needed more texture.

So do you want to join in?  Want to upload a picture or just take a sneak at other people's?  Either way, visit Julia and see the many other lovely desks on offer today.

Bye for now xxhttp://www.shimelle.com/paper/1242/scrapbooking-sketch-of-the-week/

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

WOYWW 99

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Time for another What's On Your Workspace Wednesday!

So let's see, what have we here?  General post-crop sediment that needs filing, an ahem.. pizza box with some delicious contents from Sarah's Cards, and a layout in the making using the scrumptious Salt Air collection from Cosmo Cricket.  And yes, that is STILL my JYC stuff on the left there.... one day.... one day...  Oh, and what is this I spy, strategically placed in the centre?  Is that?  Could it be?  YES IT IS!  My Scrap-A-Mia pack!!!  Its only a little envelope but it means that it is getting closer, 2 weeks Saturday to be exact.  Now I can start to plan which photos to take - hurrah!

I'll be back later today with a little journey through my day courtesy of Shimelle's Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers class.  Till then, please check out lots of other crafty desks here at Julia's Blog.

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!