a cherry on top

The lovely Lea has nominated me for a blog award:

Thanks Lea, both for the award and for the lovely comments you always leave on my blog! If you'd like to check out Lea's blog you can find it here: http://finallyscrappin.blogspot.com/, she makes cute cards and pretty scrapbook pages!

To accept the award, I have to do a few of other things. First, list 3 facts about myself, I've gone for some random things I don't think I've mentioned here before:

1. When I got married, a donkey walked past the window halfway through the ceremony and made everyone laugh. I didn't mind being upstaged by a donkey, as my wedding day was all about having fun!

2. I've done a bit of travelling, and one of my favourite days was when I went on my own to an art gallery / museum in Phnom Penh in Cambodia. There was a tropical rainstorm and I sat inside the building sketching the carved stone figures whilst the rain crashed down and swept a refreshing mist through the building (no glass in the windows). Then to find a tuk-tuk to get back to the hostel I had to wade through thigh high water in the flooded streets. It felt like a real adventure.

3. My favourite book is Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis. I first read it when I was about 8, and every time I read it again it brings back the sense of magic that I had then. I can't wait for the film to come out!

I also need to post a picture I love. I have a lot of them, but this one of my daughter is my screen saver at the moment:

Finally, I need to nominate five more people for this award. I know this award has been zooming around blogland for the last week or so, but I don't think any of these people have received it yet:

1. Rosie

2. Meghann

3. Lisa

4. Rachel

5. Adora

Please check their blogs out, I love them all for their mix of posts and various creative ways!

We're having a barbeque tonight as the weather is reasonable here, so I'm off to prep! xxx

Tweet

my time to bloom

I've managed to get another layout done for The Studio Challenges crop last weekend. This one is for the 2pm 'Delicious DIY' challenge by Anna, which included instructions to make some spiral paper flowers.

I have recently been making spiral flowers out of felt, but hadn't actually thought of making them from paper! They were a little fiddly but look really effective so I think they were worth it! I have used them with some other handmade flowers and butterflies. Here's the page (click on photo to see it larger):



The butterflies were made using a Fiskars shapeboss as a stencil as well as an embosser, cutting the butterflies out and scoring either side of the body so the wings can 'flap'.



I also added some old watch parts, to give a bit of contrast with all the floral and flutteryness:



While I was creating this page, my daughter was painting. She loves taking a white sheet of paper and covering it in one colour, and today her shade of choice was black! I have no photos to show, but it's very goth looking. I felt like I was flashing forward to her teenage years as I was watching her create her masterpiece!

Tomorrow hubby has the day off, very unusual for him on a bank holiday monday, but I think we're going to have to spend the day doing housework as there's a lot piled up! xx

Tweet

mummy's girl

It's been a whole week since The Studio Challenges cybercrop, and I've only managed to complete one layout, though I have a few others I'd like to get done. I used the 11am 'In the Frame' challenge for this layout (you can see details here). I'm always a fan of Lisa's pages so it was fun to try and emulate her style, in my own way (click on photo to see it larger):

I love this photo, but hadn't got round to scrapping it because the colours in our coats and scaves all clashed a bit. Painting a frame was a good solution, as I could mix a colour to match my scarf and it draws attention to the pic without being too bold or taking over the page:

I hadn't planned to put anything directly under the photo, but I managed to get a smear of white acrylic paint there and wanted to cover it up. I love it when mistakes end up being inspiring - I like how it ended up with a bit of scalloped card and a cream heart sticker in the bottom left corner of the photo.

We've been to the beach again this morning, and little one is just having a nap. Hopefully I'll squeeze in some more scrapping time this evening! xx

Tweet

Adventures with Auntie

I think I mentioned the other day that my sister has come to stay with us for a week. So, despite the weather, we have been managing to get out and about a bit. Monday night revealed clearer skies,so we went for a little stroll and picked blackberries, which I'm hoping to turn into apple and blackberry pie at some point:

Tuesday looked promising - the skies were bright blue and the sun was shining. Unfortunately though, the wind was blowing a gale! We went to the beach at Swanage but only managed to eat our crunchy sandy-sandwiches and build a quick castle before we retreated!

We passed a play park, so little one had to have a go on the swings:

And then we convinced her it was time to get out of the blustering wind. She approved of the shelter we chose though - a chocolate shop and cafe called Chococo. We shared this rather yummy fondue:

And then went to Durlston Country Park to try and pick more blackberries. They weren't ripe enough there yet though, so we just had a bit of a stroll:

Yesterday the weather decided to switch back to monotonous rain again, so we went to Southampton for the day. We wandered around the shops, and had lunch in an italian cafe:

Can you tell that someone likes pasta?

The main reason we went to Southampton was to take little one to the Disney Store, as she's not been to one before and she LOVES anything Disney at the moment. So of course she had tons of fun running around the shop and playing with all the toys on display:

I was quite impressed that she didn't moan too much when all I bought her was a pack of knickers! (We're potty training at the moment!)

The rain was horrid on the way home, but we got back to slow cooked lamb which I'd put in before we left, so that cheered us up. Then we continued the Disney theme into the evening after little miss had gone to bed - we played Disney Monopoly and Disney Trivial Pursuit. I lost the first horribly, but won the second, so it was all good!!

I have managed to finish one more scrapbook page, which I shall try and post later. Bye for now! xxx

Tweet

wet weekend

Well, the weekend was a bit of a washout. My sister drove down really early Saturday morning, as she's come to stay with us for the week. We had planned to go and see Bournemouth Airshow on Saturday, and we didn't let the drizzle deter us from setting off early, with packed sandwiches and raincoats. Unfortunately, however, airoplanes are a bit more temperamental than I thought, with most of the displays being cancelled due to low cloud.

Oh well, we still had a great day out. We saw the Royal Navy display which kicked off the day:

Me and my little girl got close to a Golden Eagle:

And then she giggled a lot whilst dancing to music in the gardens:

Followed by a browse around the shops and dinner at McDonalds, before catching the train home. Actually, it was quite nice taking the train somewhere with hubby, we almost always drive everywhere, so it felt like more of an adventure!

Yesterday we barely left the house as it was so miserable, and hubby had returned to work. Me, sis, and little one spent the morning being creative - I made a card. I based it on this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch:

Here's the card (click on photo to see it larger):

It features one of my five petal flowers, the tutorial for these can be found here if you missed it. I'm going to send it to my sister-in-law for her b'day next month. So at least Sunday was mildly productive. And we had a scrummy roast dinner too, so can't complain!

Now I'm just waiting for my driving lesson. I've had about 10 hours of lessons so far, and sometimes it feels like it's getting easier, other times I wonder if I'll ever be able to get the hang of it! Fingers crossed I won't stall today! xx

Tweet

let me look

Here's a page I've completed for the Sketchy Thursdays Sept guest DT challenge (click photo to see it larger):



Had a few minor disasters with this page but I think I fixed them all! xx

Tweet

more cards!

Well, I've finally finished the list of cards I had to make this week, the last one was this card for my Mother-in-law's birthday:

I had to make it pink and purple - her favourite colours! I used another of the paper flowers which I showed you a tutorial for (if you missed the tutorial you can see it here). The little deer and flower stickers were from a pack bought in Paperchase, I love their stickers!

And, because I'm on a bit of a card-making run, I created another yesterday. This one is just a 'hello!' card to send to someone for fun:

I posted more details for this one on the Fiskarettes blog, as I made it in response to their Monday Challenge this week - brads and ribbons. You can see my card on their site here, but you should also have a look around, there's lots of sharing and inspiration to be found!

Now, I really should get some housework done. No, of course I won't go and make more cards instead. Not me! xx

Tweet

100th post!

Wow, my 100th post. It seems fitting that I'm using it to post responses for Shimelle's online crop, as without her 'blogging for scrapbookers' class I would never have got my blog into gear!

So here we are, a few pics for some photo challenges. I love it that Shimelle included photo tasks as well as crafting ones, as it means I've been replenishing my 'to scrap' photo stock as well as using some up!

Challenge: Study Session (include books or literature in some way) ~ taken tonight:

Challenge: At Home (take a photograph of something in your home) ~ taken this afternoon:

Challenge: Smiles (snap a pic with at least one smile) ~ taken on the beach today, I was so pleased to get this as it's hard to get photos of my hubby smiling instead of grimacing:

Challenge: Portrait or Candid (take a photo of a person using your fave style) ~ I like both styles but went for portrait as I love some of the faces my daughter pulls when she sees I have the camera turned her way:

I took the last two at the beach this morning, I was so glad that we got a sunny day as my hubby is off work this week, and I was worried it would rain all week! Tomorrow we're going to finish off some decorating (remember 3 months ago when I was decorating my dining room? Still not finished!) and then at the end of the week we're hopefully going out a couple more days, if the weather cooperates! Off to get the wallpapering stuff ready! xx

Tweet

hello!

My last craft item for Shimelle's online crop - an A6 card for the 'layers' challenge (see here). You can click on the photo to see the card larger:

I layered up papers, stamped swirls, lace trim, glittery ribbon, and more paper! I love layering so I had great fun with this one!

I'm going upload the last of my entries for the photo challenges on a seperate post now. I've had such a productive weekend! xx

Tweet

playing pirates

I've just finished another layout for one of Shimelle's challenges, this time it's for her sketch challenge from Sunday (click the picture to go to the challenge):



And here's my layout (click to see it larger):


It's about Harry Paye Day, a pirate celebration which happens in Poole every June. We went a couple of years ago, when my little girl was only 4 months old. I had a lot of fun with my friend Rosie, stomping around in our costumes and shouting 'arrggh' and 'shiver me timbers' in rough voices. My hubby and her boyfriend were less than impressed!

I enjoyed making this heart embellishment. I cut it from 'all about boys' paper stack by DCWV, roughed up the edges a little and inked them, then glued around some inked string with a bead charm attached. I'd like to make some more in different colours to use on other pages:

We've spent the morning at the beach, as hubby has the week off, and it's gorgeously sunny here. I tried to get some more photos for Shimelle's picture challenges, but the sun was a bit strong so I might try and get some others this afternoon. xxx

Tweet

a couple of cards

I mentioned during the week that I had quite a few cards to make for upcoming birthdays / anniversaries. I thought I'd use a couple of Shimelle's challenges from the weekend to get some of these done! Firstly I used the 'create with heart' challenge (see shimelle's post here) to make an anniversary card for my in-laws:

Secondly I took the challenge to use squares in your design (see challenge here), to make a card for my foster sister. I struggled a bit with this one, and it's not the best card I ever made, but I'm sure she'll like it!

At least that's some of the cards off my list. I'm off to clear up my study, it's a big mess! To prove it, here's a picture of crafting-in-progress (another photo challenge, see here):

Time to tidy! xx

Tweet

hair and shoes

Important things to us girls! The 'hair' in the post title refers to my wedding hair-ups, which were done by my sister Katy. I've had the photos of this printed for ages, and have just scrapped them in answer to Shimelle's challenge to scrapbook with black and white photos (see challenge here). Here's the layout (click on the photo to see it larger):

I love these photos, because you can see the steam rising from the curlers in the pic on the left, and my sister is pulling a fab face in the pic top right - I don't think I was being gentle enough putting the clip in her hair!

I had fun spritzing yellow card and roughing up the edge of the page, paint techniques and distressing are definitely my favourite scrap techniques at the moment! I also love these Thickers that I used for the title:

After I finished the page I checked what other photo challenges of Shimelle's I wanted to complete, and I quickly got my daughter to put her favourite shoes on for the challenge to photograph some feet (see challenge here):

This picture will definitely end up on a scrapbook page, as these are the first shoes little one has learnt to put on by herself. And she's very proud of it, every time she's put them on she shouts 'look, I did it myself!' She puts them on every now and then just to walk around the house - looking pleased with herself! xxx

Tweet

up in the air!

A couple more Shimelle photo challenges for you, and for both of them I couldn't choose just one picture!

The first is to take a photo of the sky, you can see the challenge here. I picked up my camera and snapped this as soon as I read the post, and I'm very glad I did, as it was about the only half hour when it hasn't been raining here today! I leant out of my window to take these, as there was a good break in the clouds with blue sky peeping though, and I liked the way the telephone wires created a pattern across it. I can't decide if I like it best in portrait or landscape though:

The other challenge I have ready to share is to take a photograph that shows explosive energy! (See Shimelle's post here.) Now I knew what I wanted to do for this one, and boy was my daughter excited when she heard it too. I imagine she was thinking something like: 'What? Wait a minute mum, you actually want me to jump on the bed? Hell yeah!'

I think this is a photoshoot she'd be happy to repeat any day!

I'm halfway through scrapping with black and white photos, so I'm off to get little one to bed and then craft till I drop! xx

Tweet

bubbly bath

One of Shimelle's challenges is to scrapbook with circles, and I knew I had to use this photo with my daughter in her first swimming costume, I think it's the only photo I have of her wearing it and it was so cute! (Click on photo to see the page larger.)

I think I went a bit circle crazy! I tried to break up the circles by adding a horizontal strip of wrinkled ribbon along the bottom, but you can't really see it as it's too transparent. I need some opaque white ribbon! I also need some repositionable tape as I kept sticking things down in slightly the wrong place on this one - but it all turned out okay in the end!

Though it wasn't until I'd nearly finished that I realised the photo doesn't show any bubbles in the bath - oops! Never mind, the spots on her swimming costume look bubbly!

If you want to join in, or see what others have created, you can see Shimelle's post here. xx

Tweet

through the glass

One of Shimelle's photo challenges this week is to take a picture through a window. It's been raining since yesterday, so the view was decidedly gloomy, until my daughter decided she wanted to go out and splash. Her sweet smile and spotty coat brightened it up! I've also used this picture to create a haiku for Rinda:

splattering raindrops

are giggles, tickles and fun

when you are so young

You can see Shimelle's photo challenge here, and Rinda's haiku challenge here. xx

Tweet

The commando crawl

When my daughter was little she liked to get around by lying on her tummy, and using her elbows to propell her along - commando style. It was suprising how quickly she could shuffle about!

I've been waiting to scrap a photo to tell that story, so I used it to follow Shimelle's sketch challenge from yesterday. Here's my layout (click on the photo to see it larger):

.

.

Here's Shimelle's sketch, you can click on the photo to go straight to her blog post about it. It's a good sketch, with plenty of room to make it your own! Remember you have until tuesday am to play along and be in the chance of winning prizes!

.

I'm working on another layout for her 'scrapbook with circles' challenge, so watch this space! xx

Tweet

Red, White and Aqua

Shimelle's first challenge of the weekend was to scrap with the colours red, white and aqua (or turquoise). Here's my interpretation (click on the photo to see it larger):



The journaling reads:

'This was the first time you had seen a snowfall, and you were fascinated! I don't think you could quite make up your mind about it, even after prodding it and watching it swirl past the window!'

I'm glad I was prompted to use these colours, they really pop from the page! I was also pleased as it pushed me to finally use these huge white alphas - they were the only alphas in my stash the right colour and I didn't want to faff around trying to paint or stamp others. To make them a bit more interesting I added some Glamour Dust along the edges where snow might settle!


Shimelle is mixing it up this crop, by including photo challenges as well as crafting ones, and the first is to take a close-up photograph. I was playing with my little girl all afternoon, so I decided to get some snaps of her toys, as I'd normally focus on her instead. I took quite a few of her train set, and this is my favourite. It's not the best picture of the train, but I like it because you can see her hand in the background pushing it along!



Gotta go, time for more scrapping! xx

Tweet