Cleaning up at a Refreshing Blog Hop!

I was really pleased to be asked by Jennifer Grace, to be involved in one of her blog events again.  Jennifer is one of my co-designers at S J Crafts and her events are always full of inspiration, ideas and prizes and I always find new blogs to follow and projects to try.  

This event focuses on Jennifer's word for the year which is "Cleanse" and so those of us who are guesting on the blog hop this weekend have all made crafty projects to share based on something along those lines.  You can find out more about the blog hop the associated prize at the bottom of this post.   

I pondered Jennifer's word "cleanse" and very much wanted to tie it in to my own word for the year - heart. She suggested water themes, decluttering, healthy living, letting go etc and all those things could fit with my own word in some broad way or another.  I began to tackle a layout on the subject of letting go as a way of allowing myself to register that there was something I had to temporarily put on hold.  Some aspects of my crafting endeavors need to go on the back burner for a bit because my mental health needs to take priority and is taking up a lot of time right now.  I sat down yesterday to put the title on it "Letting Go... For Now!" When I looked at the layout so far though, I didn't like it.  I decided to to start over and the word "clean" kept coming to me, probably because its something I need to focus on in many ways.  However with only a short time available I needed something I could conjure up but that would take me forward in trying to free my mind and my home of some clutter.  I needed something to help me achieve order in the house.  Here's what happened....

Firstly I carried out a partial scrapectomy of the unwanted layout in order to keep the cork print (From Simple Stories, Daily Grind) to attach to a baking tray.

I trimmed the cork paper to fit inside the flat area of the tray.  Then I trimmed it again.  And again.. ahem... I brayered Mod Podge to adhere the paper to the tray and to get a firm flat surface.  I still got air bubbles but you can't see them.  Mod Podge dries clear so you also can't see where you've run the glue along the edges to give them a good seal.

I needed to be able to hang my schedule board up and luckily there were 2 drainage holes in the tray that I could thread ribbon through.  I used bottle tops for my magnets so I punched a pinked circle and added a blob of glue in the centre to adhere them.  

I also wanted to use a few wooden pegs but I didn't have time to wait for paint to try so I added a strip of washi tape to the fronts.

When I bought the bottle tops a while back I also bought some matching epoxy circles so I added one on top of the punched circle.  Then I remembered that I was supposed to put letter stickers on the paper circles first... ahem... Then the circles popped out because the glue in the middle of the tops wasn't touching the paper so I had to redo the glue around the edges...ahem... It was going well at this point, yes?

Next I added some magentic tape to the backs of the bottle tops.  You can see the size that I used here was really small because I only needed them to hold a scrap of paper really.  Later on, when I came to take the photographs I discovered that the magnets were too small  to hold the paper through another layer of paper and Mod Podge.  I discovered this when the wind blew slightly and I spent a while rummaging around the garden for the bits of paper and magnets!

So with those bits done, I could move on finally... I covered the back of an envelope with matching paper (it was actually Christmas paper!) to keep all my bit of paper in.  I folded back the flap and stuck it down then decorated the front.

I started assembling the magnets on the board which proved quite tricky because there was a lot less room than I thought!  I made a title of Chores and added some flowers but there was little room to add anything else that wasn't part of the actual scheduling.  

I pegged the envelope on the board to hold the individual chores and made another magnet from a button to hold the things I need to do every day.  In time I will laminate all the chores and the daily list but I'll wait until we move and have sorted out how different things might or might not be!

So this is the finished article (minus one of the chores that I never found in the garden...) We have a list of the days of the week down the side with room for a chore  (you need to leave enough room on the slip of paper for the magnet to sit on without covering the writing) and then the rest of the chores go in the envelope.  The pegs marked B and L are for little chores for Bella and Louis to complete.  I'll keep these on circles so we can tell the difference when they are in the envelope.  The green theme is to go with our kitchen which is where I will be hanging this pretty schedule.  

Thank you Jennifer for giving me a prompt to do something I've been meaning to do for ages and something that will hopefully help us start sorting out our cupboards ready for moving if / when it happens!

So that's my contribution, I wonder what the other people on the hop have come up with?  As always, if you comment on all the blogs in the hop, finishing at www.jennifergracecreate.com to let Jennifer know you've been all the way around, then you'll be in with a chance to win a refreshing prize pack featuring Glitz 77 and My Mind's Eye Izzy items, total worth over £25. All entries must be received by Monday the 9th of June at 10.59pm BST. 

Your next stop along the hop is Louise: http://scrapbook-me.blogspot.co.uk/

I hope you enjoy the weekend as much I will!

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 257

If it wasn't for the plethora of sharp objects around me this morning then I think I would fall asleep on my desk!  Its been a busy week but today is a day for washing (boo!) and working on One Little Word (Yay!).  The gorgeous rainbow chevron paper is part of the Simple Stories Daily Grind collection that I'm using for this project which has been sadly neglected recently but I'm exciting about doing this month's painty prompts - stand well back, paint will be splashed about!  

On my desk this week there are also some new things - last year's Spring Summer Promarker pens (reduced to £10 for all 12 in Hobbycraft!!) and some things that came free with a magazine (the scrabble tiles, chalk speech bubbles, card pack).  Also these rather yummy bright pink bottle caps which I hope to make something out of very soon.

 One of the many reasons I am so behind with housework and am needing an art day is this....

A very long line of toy cars...  Over 2 kilometers actually we think.  The end result was smashing the World Record for the longest continuous line of toy cars which finished at 24,189 cars!  A team of staff and volunteers (including myself and Management and both children) laid them out all around the Beaulieu Motor Museum, twisting and turning around and about and doubling back, all around the inside and the outside and up and down the paths.

This was part of Bella's area - a line which had to be changed several times as the logistics of counting versus opening doors etc proved very tricky indeed...

 This was the area that I stewarded while the official count took place.  The line at the bottom of the picture went right across the walkway and the rules are that the line cannot be broken until the count has been completed.  Which took nearly two and a half hours.  While people in wheelchairs and mobility scooters were trying to get around!  But they did it!  All the cars will now be sold off to raise money for Naomi House Children's Hospice so I hope they get lots of lots of funds as a result.

My knees, feet, and hands are blistered from crawling and I have sunburned nose.  I'm just pleased it wasn't raining!  Oh and that car there... its a Gordon Bennett!  I couldn't help saying Gordon Bennett, what a lot of cars!  Well... it was a long day...

If you are a crafter of any sort and you'd like to share your work space or whatever you are working on this week with other kindred spirits then please do link up with Julia who is the host of this wonderful world wide snoop entitled What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.

Bye for now

"Inspired by Sophie" - S J Crafts May Challenge

I'm really enjoying designing for Sarah's challenges at S J Crafts every month.  I love the way the challenges are changing each month because there is so much inspiration this way.  I also really love seeing how everyone else interprets the challenge too and I'm always amazed at how different our designs are.  

This month we've gone for a bingo card grid and the idea is that you can draw a line through any three elements to use - vertical, horizontal or diagonal but not going around corners.  You could take a chance and make a stab with a pin to start you off or choose something that tickles your fancy.

For my design this month, I went with the row across the middle.  Can you spot the three elements?

The layout is about my niece, who you may already know is also my Personal Trainer.  I can't really put into words what she has done for me recently but as I mentioned in a previous post, she has literally given me my life back.  As well as boosting my epically failing confidence and energy levels and dragging me out of the depression that had engulfed me.  Of course we have a long way to go but we know we are heading in the right direction.  She is definitely helping me live with my One Little Word (Heart).

I used papers from the Crate Paper Boyz Rule collection to bring out the orange of that scary looking gym equipment.  It goes really well with the slightly retro style (both the gym and the papers!)  Plus we have so many comedy moments together as we are both clumsy and a bit incident prone so the comic book bunting and stickers were a great match too.

 You can see all three elements from the bingo card here - the star printed vellum as part of the messy stack, the blue circular paperclip on the tag and the "Inspired" stamping.

And here again for another example - I'd accidentally torn the vellum so I made a feature of it, I stamped a notebook border near the tape and then added the orange star brad (given to me by a friend on the retreat the other week.)

So now its over to you!  Choose a line, any line, and see where it takes you.  Link up to the challenge on the S J Crafts blog sometime in the next month and you could be one of the featured projects!  We'd love to see what you are inspired to make.

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 255

Well it may not be the messiest desk on the block this week but neither is it the tidiest or the most productive.  The selection of letter stickers was out to finish the little book you can see near the parcels there.  It is not supposed to be visible yet so you'll have to check back of you want to see more :-)  

The packages might seem interesting and you'd be forgiven for thinking that they contain new crafting goodies, however, you'd be wrong.  I'm being exceptionally good about new stash, even in the face of huge sales on my favourite brands.  I simply cannot fit any more into what we hope will be our new house.  No, the packages contain a chocolate protein shake sample and a bag of powdered superfoods.  Both things to be taken together in a shake with oats and peanut butter as a breakfast before training.  I'm really hoping that the green powder (which contains things like spirulina) will boost my system and general health and help me get back into some sort of fit shape.  I'm back at the gum today after over 2 weeks off while the children were on Easter holidays and I know I will hurt tomorrow but I've really missed it.

The magazine cuttings are also going to help towards my goals but they are crafty too.  Its part of Ali Edwards class for One Little Word which I have done nothing about recently.  I'm really hoping to tackle it on Saturday at the Artful Angels 12 hour charity crop.  I'm also hoping to finish the couple of layouts you see on the left there before then so I can start some new ones but one of those is for my OLW album too.

You might be wondering about the white blobs with safety pins on the back.  So am I.  They are fairy badges, created from plaster and painted by Miss Bella but the pins provided won't stick as they are supposed to.  Luckily Mummy has a supply of a variety of glues to try so that I can wear whichever one she chooses for me.  All day.  In public.  With pride. :-)

This post is brought to you by the powers of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday at Julia's Stamping Ground. 

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 245

Its Wednesday, so its WOYWW, so let's get straight down to business - no time to shilly shally.  I have officially finished all of the layouts I can possibly get from the collection I've been working on through Shimelle's class.  The one you can see on the desk is the penultimate layout.  I just about have enough scraps left to eek out a Valentine card for Management - ssshh don't tell him, just between us 'kay?

I was enjoying a little play (hence the full cuppa) Tuesday afternoon when I took this during a brief moment of sunshine - hurrah!  I really feel for anyone experiencing floods etc right now - it is truly awful.  There can't be much more water left in the sky to fall can there?!

Last week I mentioned that I was heroically trying to log all my layouts / blogged projects / photos etc and part of that is filing this pile of layouts!  You can see the spotty tablecloth that I used to have on my desk which some of you might remember.  You can also see why I choose to use Taffy pink albums by American Crafts :-)

Its been a creative hive of activity here at Crazy Towers.  Miss Bella wanted a friend to come over to make a Facebook page!  Kinda cute that she got it mixed up but she did actually mean a scrapbook page obviously. I knew I would have to tackle the children's art room in order for this to take place - gulp!

Being by the back door means all manner of outside items get left here.  It leads through to the utility so it bugs me that it is so messy.

There was nothing else for it.  It had to be done.  I put some funky music on, grabbed another cuppa and set to it.  I'm pretty pleased with the results but I just need to keep on top of it!

The insect home you can see on the windowsill there is patiently awaiting our baby stick insects to be big enough not to be able to squeeze through the holes!  We have 6 so far of just under an inch long.

The trolley on the left is what I sort the washing into, nothing to do with crafts at all.  The basket on top is full of Slimming World magazines that I need to sort through and pull out the recipes.  The shelves there are also the place where I keep my vases etc.

Our little guest took to scrapbooking like a duck to water and was overheard to say "I love your house.. I really love doing this!"  Also Louis finished a lovely page which I promised I would show on the blog very soon and said he had forgotten how much he enjoyed scrapbooking!  This all made my heart literally sing!  I find it hard to have little friends to tea but it is part of my One Little Word progress and I have to say that it was lovely to see the three of them sat there singing along to the radio and cutting and sticking while I pottered about at the stove.

Anyway, enough about the crafting going on here, what's going on where you are?  Pop over to Julia's Stamping Ground to link up with other desks around the world.

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 243

Good morning, good yawning!  It's Wednesday again - time for a snoop around some creative spaces.

I'm scrapping my way out of another crash (depressive low) probably caused by being ill for a few weeks and all the birthday celebrations being over.  Last week I felt so bad that I couldn't even craft and Sunday was spent on the sofa.  This week however it is all change!  I made 2 layouts on Monday and I have another in the offing.  They are all  as a result of Shimelle's class "Return to the Collection" and I am using an old Echo Park collection called For The Record 2.  You can see one of the layouts on the pile in the middle and the next one on the black mat ready to go.

If you look carefully you can see a red word near the pencil case - heart, my word for the year.  I need to get someone to take a pic of me holding the word (which I die-cut on my Silhouette) and then that picture will form part of my One Little Word project.  I'm hoping to get that done before I lose the die-cut under a pile of art sediment! ;-)

This is the first of the layouts from the class.  I'm using an old set of photos from a holiday in Greece, so old in fact that they have the negatives stored with them!

I thought the blue and white colour scheme was very apt for photos of Greece with all the blue seas and the blue and white houses etc.

Nissyross is an island just off Kos in Greece that most people visit because of the volcano.  It's not dormant (I wrote the journalling before checking my facts - rookie error!) but it is not erupting (obviously) and you can walk into the caldera if you are brave enough.  It is hot and you have to wear proper shoes and be careful where you walk but it was an amazing experience.

I've just realised that there is a black gem missing from the flower on the right so I shall rectify that but that was not the only mistake.  Can you spot it?

How about with the following picture?

Yes, that's right, in my fuggy headspace I cut too much off of the ledger paper for the inside so I had to break it up and cover the joins to make it fit!  Thank goodness I have a lot of 12x12 cardstock in colours I don't use so that I can make a patchwork on it!

I think, in the trade, that is known as a partial scrapectomy ;-)

This post is brought to you by the letters WOYWW with the lovely Julia.

Bye for now
xx

One Little Word - Part 1

For my One Little Word project and documenting my 40th year, I knew I wanted something vibrant that I would love using for a long term project.  As part of my birthday present I treated myself to the Daily Grind collection by Simple Stories.  I first saw it when Sarah bought the S J Crafts shop to the local crop and I totally fell in love.  Alongside the full collection pack of papers, cut apart sheets and 2 sets of stickers, I also bought the 6x4 Snap cards, the ephemera pack and the chipboard pieces.  Having everything coordinating like this means I can keep it all together for the year and it also makes for speedy scrapping - win win!

I wanted something striking for the title page to separate it from my normal pages in my 12x12 album (instead of the conventional albums used for this class by Ali Edwards).  The dark woodgrain with the printed elements was perfect for this page which doesn't need journalling because the written parts are all to follow.  

I used the circular calendar sticker to signify the year long project and I obviously used lots of hearts because that is my word for the year.  The little woodgrain letters are part of the collection pack and I added a few Thickers for dimension.

The printables that come as part of the class are meant for specific page protectors but I wanted to make mine work with my normal size of album.  This means I have to tinker with the arrangements a bit and fill in blank pockets etc or, like here, use the printables on a standard layout.  I matted the Intentions page onto green cardstock and then matted that onto that fab speech bubbles paper.  The red frame is the reverse of the title page.

 I am really enjoying using the bold happy colours and I know this will help inspire me to keep up with documenting this project through a year which I hope will be full of positive changes.

I've almost completed the next couple of tasks which are in pocket pages so I'll share that here soon and then it will soon be time for February's prompts!  I'll let you know how I'm getting on with actually living with my word then.  Wish me luck!

Bye for now

xx

WOYWW 242

Brrr!  It's definitely staying in and crafting weather here at Crazy Towers.  It is also staying in and catching up on the cleaning that hasn't been done since I was first feeling poorly at Christmas!  I'm feeling much better now after all your kind wishes and a course of antibiotics and a steroid nasal spray - yuk!

I've been busy in my craft room this week - putting things away and getting other things out!  Top left is the rest of the decoupage from last week.  After the super speedy card I thought I may as well make a couple more with the rest of the kit.  Central is my current album with the beginnings of my One Little Word project.  I am loving using Simple Stories Daily Grind for this - isn't that rainbow chevron paper just amazing!  I've also still got my Christmas stuff on the go in my cake stand to the right and then a new project beginning to the left.  That collection is Echo Park's For the Record 2 and I've pulled that out for Shimelle's class that starts this week called Return to The Collection.

Some of the things I have put away this week include my Christmas and birthday presents.  The Promarkers are in their new aluminium case and next to that is a very solid glass photo frame with a pic of Miss Bella in a rugby shirt and tutu!  That pink box there came inside a vanity case at Christmas filled with Soap and Glory bath stuff.  I love the box and the vanity case and the bath stuff - everyone's a winner!

The last new addition there is a pink glass cake stand which was a birthday present from a very good friend.  I put it together but it needs a little adjustment and it being glass and me being accident prone, I thought it a job for Management :-)

I'm gradually finding my feet again so I hope to be able to visit a few more desks this time on our weekly nose around crafty areas.  Why not join in?  Its fun and easy - just link up with Julia over the Stamping Ground for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday.

Bye for now
xx

One Little Word

So far being forty has been a bit of a mixed bag.  I'm still suffering with this awful cold but I think it is finally on its way out - hurrah - so that wasn't so good.  On the very very up side, my wonderful husband threw a surprise party for me!  Boy was I mad at him, making me get dressed up and go out for dinner when all I wanted to do was have a takeaway in my onesie.  He was so determined to get me out that I suspected he had managed to arrange a late dinner with someone.  Little did I know that it wasn't last minute at all - he'd been planning it for nearly 4 months!!  After lots of hugs with some wonderful people and a couple of glasses of wine, my nose stopped running and my head stopped pounding for a bit and I had a fabulous time with lots of dancing.  

Its a bit odd having a birthday just after Christmas because there's the whole healthy eating / must get fit / New Year's resolutions thing going on.  Not for me though.  I've learned that any new start type things have to wait until after my birthday celebrations have finished!  For me this year with the very extended celebrations it is after next weekend but it won't be a new start with resolutions such as "Run 3 miles every day" or "Only post on Facebook once a week".  No.  Both of those would be very silly for me indeed.  No.  

I wanted to make some big changes this year and I needed some sort of guidance and accountability without the failing side of things you get with very definitive resolutions.  I'd heard things about Ali Edwards One Little Word class before but this year it really grabbed my attention.  You choose a word to kind of "live by", something that embraces the things you want to develop.  People choose words such as flourish, patience, health, up, focus, smile etc, whatever is the area of your life or your self that you might feel needs a bit of work.  

My word is heart.

To...
live with heart
look after my heart
be true to my heart
put my heart into it
make time for love
do what I love
love what I do
love what I have
and to absolutely follow my heart

Each month we have various tasks to try help us live with our words and embrace the changes we want to make.  As the year goes on I'll be sharing more about what my word means to me and how I am living with my word and using it to help my fortieth year be the best year ever.

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 240

Happy New Year!  Lets get life back to some normality shall we?  The children went back to school yesterday but I am suffering with a horrid virus so it doesn't feel quite like normal yet but it is getting there.  Also I am 40 on Friday *twitch* so there are still a few celebrations to come.  I shall be spending the day in my studio, crafting for me, not making things for other people but me!  There will be lots of cups of tea too.

Don't worry that there is no tea in this picture, it was taken in a hurry this morning and I have hardly been in my studio since Christmas.  This photo is as new to me as it is to you!  Lets take a look around.

Top left is my Christmas present - a Selphy printer.  Not had time to try it out at all yet but hoping to very soon.  Sellotape dispenser, which I wouldn't be without, that it looks like Management was using for my birthday presents and couldn't "manage" to put away.  Next to my ATG gun is a Christmas card with what looks like Elvis on.  Its actually a picture of Lord and Lady Montagu dressed as Elvis. In the middle there is my Festive Planner. It is looking a bit worse for wear because it had an entire glass of Bucks Fizz tipped on it on Christmas Day.  Thank goodness for the Mod Podge!

My cake stand with my bits and pieces for Journal Your Christmas is still there and that is ongoing but I do have another project on the go too.  This year I really wanted to make some changes in my life so I signed up for Ali Edwards One Little Word - I thought it would be cool to do this for my fortieth year.  I'll be working on that on Friday, accompanied by tea and biscuits - well it is my birthday ;-)

This post is brought to you by the wonders of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday with the lovely Julia.

Bye for now
xx