JuJu Bee's Sketch Challenge

Evening everyone,

I've managed to sneek a little scrapping time to finish off a layout I started a few days ago. It's of Ethan now that he's lost his two front teeth. He looks so sweet! Bless him.

Anyway, over a JuJu Bee's Scrapbooking Corner they had a sketch challenge here's my take on it.... 

• Cardstock is Bazzill
• Patterned Paper is Autumn Leaves, Paper Adventures and K&Co
• Felt Swirls are Queen and Co.
• Lace cardstock is KI Memories
• Red Chipboard is Lil Davis Designs
• Blue Chipboard is Heidi Swapp

The journalling reads "You could drive a double decker bus through that gap!" He loves it that his two front teeth have come out now. I bet he feels really grown up.

Anyway, I'm off to have some dinner now. Thanks for looking. Take care. x x

A Little Bit of Crafty Time Before Dinner...

Evening everyone,

Now this is why I love making lasagne for dinner. It takes a while to cook in the oven and allows me to finish off a layout! Multitasking of what! LOL

This is a layout of Ethan when I bought him a chefs outfit because he loves to cook and bake. He was over the moon and I couldn't resist taking some photos. The journalling reads "When I bought you this chefs outfit I had no idea you would love it so much! I'm not sure the floor is quiet where Gordon Ramsay cooks though!!"

• 
  
  Cardstock is Bazzill.
• 
  
  Patterned Paper, Die cuts, Letter Stickers and Rubons are Heidi Grace Designs.

Right, off to finish the lasagne. LOL. Take care. x x

Candy Shoppe Designs ~ Lollipop Girl Design Team Call is Closing Soon!

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that the Design Team Call on Candy Shoppe Designs blog is closing on Friday (31st July, 2009) so if you'd love to be a Lollipop Girl (I know i would!) then get your skates on and get those gorgeous entries in. As you know I've been following this blog since it started and have really been inspired by all the Challenges they've set on there. Lynnette and Jennifer are so friendly and the "decor" of the blog rocks as well! There are fab tutorials as well, such as the fan flowers I've been featuring in my layouts and cards lately.

At the moment they have a fantastic Hawaiian themed giveaway featuring not one but 4 prizes. So come on over and get your teeth into the Candy Shoppe, find out how fab it is, and tell your friends.

Nevertheless, if for no other reason, go and check out the awesome talent from the Sweethearts who follow this blog. It's amazing and so inspiring. So click on the link above or the badge in my sidebar and I hope to see you there soon. Take care. x x

A Frame for Linda

Hi everyone,

It's funny how School Holidays really impact on your scrapping time! LOL Keeping Ethan entertained and happy is a daily thought. Thankfully he's crafty like his mum so he loves sticking and gluing and making things.

Yesterday though I managed to get some crafting time to myself while Trace worked out her fantasy football teams for the season. I have a couple of other photos already printed to scrap but thought it would be an ideal time to create my SIL's frame of her baby scan. Here it is....

• 
  
  Cardstock is Bazzill
• 
  
  Patterned paper is Heidi Grace Designs
• 
  
  Ribbon, Chipboard and Quote are Brenda Pinnick Designs
• 
  
  Flower is Bazzill
• 
  
  Brad is Making Memories

We're going to take it round to her today since Trace has a day off. I'd better get going then since I still have to get Ethan and I ready. Thanks for looking. Take care. x x

The Last Day of Year One and Fantastic News!!!

Afternoon Everyone,

Sorry I've been MIA for the last couple of days. Trace and I have both been ill with flu-like symptoms and were a little worried it might be swine flu. Thankfully though I'm feeling much better and Trace just has a normal cold/flu. It's meant though that her asthma is playing up so we've had to sort her out an inhaler to help her.

Nevertheless I've received some fantastic news today. The job interview that I attended last week has gone really well and they've offered me a full time job. I'll be working closely with social services as a clerical officer typing up court reports and other documentation (among other things) to help with adoptions and foster care for children in our community. I think it will be a real challenge for me but at the same time incredibly rewarding.

I don't start until the beginning of September so I still have the summer holidays to spend with Ethan and get the house completely in order before starting full time. Ethan thinks it's great because he gets to go to holiday club in the school holidays and, because its a 8.30am start, he gets to go to breakfast club too. He's really looking forward to it.

It's going to mean a lot for our family and because of the increased income a better standard of living for the three of us..... and of course I may now be able to have some spending money for stash! LOL

Ethan's last day of school was today. They didn't do a lot of work and instead Ethan took some hot wheel cars in to play with. Bless him, he was so proud walking into the school with his teachers presents all wrapped with a card. We like to give teachers presents to both of the Teachers in his year and both of the Teaching Assistants as well. They all have such an influence on Ethan and he enjoys school so much. I can't believe he's going to be in Year Two in September. Seems only a moment ago he was in Nursery. My little man is growing up so fast!

Anyway, I've got another frame to do for my Sister-in-law who is expecting her first baby early next year. She gave me a copy of her first scan picture and asked me to create a frame to put it in. Here's the gorgeous picture....

We don't know if its a boy or a girl yet but Trace and I are just excited that we're going to be Aunties! I'll post a picture of the frame once its finished. Take care. x x

I've Had My Altered Art Head On Today & With New Stash Too....

Afternoon Everyone,

I think the interview for the new job went well yesterday. We had a good chat and I think I said everything I wanted to say. I don't think I could have tried any harder. They said they'd let me know by Friday afternoon so I'm just going to have to cross my arms, legs, eyes and anything else I can until then.

In the meantime I've been trying not to think about it and thought I would get my Altered Art head on today. A friend of our's little girl is turning 13 today so I wanted to make her something special. I have a habit of collecting various frames, clipboards, boxes, etc to make altered art at some stage. I'm sure Trace finds things around the house now and again and thinks to herself... "What on earth????" LOL

Anyway, I got to play with my latest purchases which were some stamps from Unity Stamps. I've seen them being used on various card blogs which I follow and thought they looked really good. Now that I've had a play with them I can definitely say they're amazing! I've already said to Trace that as a reward if I get this job that I want to subscribe to their Kit of the Month. Anyway, here's the frame and layout (minus the photo she can pop in herself)....

I love the fact that the lettering is on the outside of the frame. When I saw these frames in my local 99p store I loved the fact that they have a great space between the glass and the layout which are perfect for more 3D embellishments.

Anyway, I'd best get off here and start cooking dinner. I'd said we'd have dinner before dropping the present off. Thanks for looking. Take care. x x

The Studio~ Challenge One

Evening again,

Here's the second layout I finished today. It was a challenge set by The Studio. We were asked to create a layout using supplies that were six months old or more (most of my stash at the moment then! LOL) and the layout should include something pleated and the title must also be the title of a rock song. How cool is this challenge!!

I had the perfect photo and title in mind because I've been wanted to scrap this layout for ages....

The Cardstock is Bazzill, Patterned Paper is October Afternoon and Chatterbox, Brown Rubons are October Afternoon, White Doodle Rubons are Making Memories, Made by Sticker is 7 Gypsies, Title Cut from Quickutz QuickStripz using Wingo Zingo Sizzix Alphabet.

The Rock Title is from one of my favourite Aerosmith Songs and my "something pleated" are the hand-made fan flowers. Thanks for looking. Take care. x x

Candy Shoppe Designs ~ Somewhere Over The Rainbow Challenge

Evening all,

I've had a lovely day of scrapping today. I've managed to finish two layouts and am really happy with them. The first one was for the Candy Shoppe Designs Challenge Blog. They asked us to create a layout using all the colours of the rainbow. This was a real challenge for me as I don't usually use a lot of different colours all at once. Thankfully I came across a photo I just had to scrap....

My special ingredients were:

Cardstock: Bazzill, Pattern Paper: K&Co (Hopscotch Boy Collection), Flowers: Prima, 2008 Stickers: Making Memories, Reception Letters: Quickutz QuickStripz (Cut using Wingo Zingo Alphabet), Stitching Rubons: Doodlebug, Sun Pens: Marvey Le Plume, Felt Ribbon: Unknown.

Every year the local paper takes photographs of every Reception class starting in every school in Coventry. I contacted the paper and asked for a copy of the photograph of Ethan's class for his scrapbook.

Thanks for looking. Take care. x x

Whew! What a day!

Evening all,

Today has been non-stop and I'm only now sitting down to relax (although once I've finished posting I do have some ironing to be getting on with). I was in at work today to cover staff on holiday and unfortunately today was also the day the school chose to reschedule the sports day from last week. Thankfully though it was also Trace's day off so she was kind enough to drop me into work at 7am, then take Ethan back and get him ready for school. At 9.30am she came to pick me up from work so we could both go and watch Ethan in his sports day (he got a first and a second so he was really happy). Then it was back to work until about 4.3opm when Trace again picked me up from work and we went visiting round her mum's house. Then it was home to cook dinner, wash and put Ethan to bed and get some washing on.

Whew! I'm exhausted! Thankfully I have a lovely day planned tomorrow as I have a trip to the hairdresser planned and then some crafty time. Bliss! I may even decide to go shopping in the afternoon for a new outfit for my interview on Wednesday. I'll decide tomorrow.

Anyway, for now I'm off to iron (ugh! dirty word I know!) and then bed. I've got some scrapping ideas buzzing round my head so I'll post tomorrow with some layouts. Take care. x x

What a busy weekend!

Morning all,

Apologies for not posting yesterday. It's been such a busy weekend. My other half is currently doing the hoovering so I thought I would pop on here before it's my turn to get the mop out! LOL.

Yesterday I came home from work and got straight onto the scrapping. I couldn't wait any longer. I've managed to finish my Rocky Road layout which I was really pleased with. I used the Scrapagogo Kit from September 2008 since I'm still on a mission to use up my stash. Here's the layout I came up with....

... I say layout but it's a layout/recipe. I took photos of every stage during the making of the Rocky Road and listed them down the side of the layout. The cardstock is Bazzill, patterned paper is Crate paper and My Minds Eye and Fancy Pants, letter stickers are GCD Studios and the pen was a Zig Writer. Thanks for looking.

We've got friends coming round this afternoon for a catchup and the never ending pile was washing and ironing is calling me. Nevertheless I'm hoping to get back on here and get some more scrapping done this evening as I have a couple of sketches I want to have a go at so I'll hopefully chat soon. Take care. x x

Shattered after a long day at work....

Evening all,

Do you know sometimes you just seem to have a day at work where you don't stop? And no matter how hard you work you don't seem to get anywhere? I had one of these days today. We're a little short staffed at work at the moment because of holidays and it's just so hectic. I would love to have come home and scrapped a little but I was just too shattered.

Instead I've made a big pizza for both of us and have been relaxing watching telly. Ethan's sports day's been rescheduled for Monday which is great because both Trace and I can attend now. I do have to go into work on Monday though to cover holidays but there's no way I would miss Ethan's sports day. I will be there on the finish line with my camera. LOL

I've been shopping online this evening for a new outfit for my interview. Trace was kind enough to drive me past the place where the interview is and where I would be working if I was lucky enough to get the job. It looks like a nice place and best of all the bus that runs close to our house runs right past the office! I was so pleased when I saw that. Tonight I received an email listing the job description and personnel requirements and I think I have the skills they need. Just need to impress them in the interview.

Anyway, I'm going to go to bed soon because I have to be in at work for 6am. Not looking forward to that but at least we finish at 3pm so I'll have the afternoon to come home and scrap a little. I'm really looking forward to that. I think I'm having withdrawal symptoms already! LOL

Take care. x x

All at the last minute....

Evening all,

Well my plan to do some scrapping today went by the wayside when I had to go and sit around at the in laws to wait for a parcel. It didn't turn up til 2 o'clock. Nevertheless I've come home and have been lucky enough to finish off a layout which I started making things for yesterday and this morning....

I thought I'd give masking a go so I cut out a freestyle flourish and laid it on the card stock then got some Adirondack Colour Wash and spritz it over the page. Then I removed the mask and built my layout up. I've kept it quite simple as the picture was so beautiful. Card stock was Bazzil, Papers were Fancy Pants, Chipboard Letters were Heidi Swapp, Jewels were Prima, Pen was a Zig Writer and the Watch Face was Paper Artsy. Thanks for looking.

I'm hopefully going to get started on my Rocky Road layout since I have the pictures but I think I may be inspired to scrap another photo. Damn this temperamental artistic mind! LOL. Take care. x x

Today has been filled with lovely surprises!!!

Evening all,

Sorry this post has been so late. I've been spending some quality family time. Its been such a lovely day today ~ full of surprises. The first surprise came at lunch time when my gorgeous other half came home for lunch. She comes home everyday for lunch which is always nice but today she bought me home a lovely bunch of flowers for no reason at all ~ just because she loves me she said. Isn't that sweet?

Then my second lovely surprise came just after she went back to work. I got a phone call on my mobile inviting me to attend an interview for a job I've been after. The lady I spoke to is sending me through the details but she's arranged the interview for next Wednesday. I'll keep you posted of course but I must admit to being a little nervous and I have a long time to be nervous before the day. Think I may have to take my mind off it with a lot of scrapping. LOL

And finally my third lovely surprise was a message from a lady called Robin who saw my posts over on the forum at JuJu Bee's Scrapbook Corner. Thank you Robin for popping over to say hi and for adding yourself to my followers section. It means a lot to think that someone likes my pieces enough to follow me. Thank you ~ you made my day.

So I have so many things to be thankful for. I'm hopefully going to get some scrapping done tomorrow. I've made a couple more of the fan flowers to use on a layout I've been planning so hopefully I'll get a chance to piece it all together. I also want to start my "Rocky Road" layout and have the pictures ready for that. However, I'll say goodnight for now and I'll chat tomorrow. Take care. x x

Such a Busy Day....

Evening all,

Today's been such a busy day. This morning I was rushing around getting everyone ready for school and work. Ethan's sports day was today and I wanted to make sure my camera was charged and ready to take some "egg and spoon race" pictures. Unfortunately it started raining on our walk to school and the head teacher came out to announce that Sports Day had to be cancelled. Fingers crossed they can rearrange it for another day before the end of the school year.

Then I got called into work at short notice. I told them that I couldn't come in before Sports Day was finished but since it was cancelled I rang and said I was on my way in early. After a lot of processing, balancing of figures and double checking I managed to get the problems sorted and left there about one.

Then I came home with Trace and made lunch, watched a bit of TV to relax and then decided I needed to iron the rest of Ethan's uniforms and get all Trace's shirts finished. Once that was done it was time to make dinner and while that was cooking I managed to finish off the card that I started last night. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I'd never made paper flowers before but after the tutorial on Candy Shoppe Designs I decided to give it a go. Thanks Jennifer! I loved making them and couldn't believe how easy they were! I'd thought I'd combine them with a challenge from 365 Cards. Anyway, here's the card....

I managed to find a little Christmas bauble button that I've had for about six years that I thought would look good in the centre. Now that I've made it on a card I've got plans for some now a layout (watch this space!). Thanks for looking. Take care. x x

What a nice surprise!

Evening all,

Today I was lucky enough to receive an award for card of the week at 365 Cards! I was so honored as the talent that appears on that site day in and day out is amazing. Thank you so much to everyone over at 365 Cards for the Card of the Week Award. As you can see I have already displayed my "Card of the Week" blinkie in my sidebar and shall show it with pride.

Today, Trace and I sorted out Ethan's room. It amazed me how many soft toys he had. Way too many for one boy to handle. So we "thinned" them out a bit and took them down to the local charity shop along with some craft things. Trace was a little worried that he'd notice so many were gone but strangely enough he hasn't noticed a thing! Fancy that!

I'm sure we're not the only parents who go through their children's bedrooms to get rid of the toys they don't even play with. It drives me nuts the amount of clutter that can build up in a child's room. So many little pieces that don't belong to anything. LOL. Anyway, there will be a lot of other children who will benefit from all his toys he doesn't play with anymore.

Tonight I've decided to cook a roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings while Trace and Ethan play Uno Extreme at the dining table. Ethan seems to be winning by the way but don't tell Trace I said that! LOL

I'm hoping to get on with some crafting either tonight or tomorrow.... probably tomorrow as I have to iron Trace's work shirts tonight. Will post again tomorrow. Take care everyone.... x x

A Sweet Sunday....

Evening all,

Today has been spent sorting out stash again. I honestly didn't think I had this much! LOL. Nevertheless, I've got three piles going.... one to keep, one for charity and one for the recycling/rubbish. I'm sure my other half would have a lot more in the recycling/rubbish pile then I would! LOL

It hasn't all been tidying and housework today though. We decided to have a break and make Rocky Road. Ethan has his school fair on Friday so I was contemplating what to make for the cake stall. I've never made rocky road before so it was a bit daunting. I think Ethan's exclamation of "Perfect!" though may have just tipped the taste test.

I have, of course, taken pictures while making it and a shot of the finished product. Here is it....

Now there are two things you can count on.... 1) There will be a layout and 2) Quite a few pieces have already disappeared!! Mmmmm.... may have to may another batch for the school fete.... LOL.

Anyway, I'm off to start making dinner now. I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Take care. x x

Another working week over with....

Afternoon all,

Another working week is over for me. Apologies for not posting yesterday but I was absolutely shattered after work. I know that I only work two days a week but those two days are enough. Nevertheless, it's all finished now for another week ~ back in next Friday.

Tomorrow I'm going to continue sorting out my stash and clearing the house. We're expecting more of my stuff from my old house on Wednesday so I need to make sure I've cleared all the boxes before then. I think a trip or two down to the local recycling centre may be in order and perhaps a trip to my local charity shop on Monday. I try not to throw anything away that can be used by someone else.

Thank you to everyone who has posted such lovely comments on my blog. I really appreciate it since i haven't been blogging on blogger long. Hopefully, as I progress I'll get to know some of you better. I've already found some amazing blogs out there and am following a few. There certainly are some talented peeps out there.

Anyway, I'm now off to put on some washing. I've got to make sure my other half's shirts are done and Ethan's uniform is ready for school. Ahhhh a womans work is never done. LOL

Have a great weekend everyone! Take care... x x

Last one for today I think....

Evening all,

I've had a lovely day scrapping some of my photos. It's been so nice and relaxing. I've managed to get two layouts done today and a card has been started as well. Anyway, my latest layout is of our cat Lilly who passed away last month. She was a lovely old thing and we all miss her lots. Despite being so old though she was always so much fun as you can probably gather by this layout.....

The journalling reads... "Lilly was always such a character. Always getting into places she shouldn't. One day we all walked into the dining room to find her trying to make herself comfortable in Ethan's lunchbox!"

Cardstock is Bazzill, patterned paper is Basic Grey, flourish is Tim Holtz Grungeboard. I've cut away the patterned paper and stuck a few diamonds on 3D foam. The title is hand cut (I do have a cricut but sometimes I still think old school is more fun) and the font used is CK Retro Block. Thanks for looking. Have a great evening! x x

This one just fell into place....

Hi again,

You know sometimes when you scrapbook or card make and everything just seems to fall into place and you end up with a layout your really happy with? Well I've just finished my first layout for our trip to London book. It's a little 8x8 layout about Camden Town where we stayed. Honestly its an awesome place full of interesting people and outrageous shops. We had a great time. Here's my layout.....

Cardstock is Bazzill, patterned paper and letter stickers are Basic Grey (Recess Collection), hearts are Tim Holtz Grungeboard, pen is a sakura glaze pen. I coloured the hearts with a Brilliance ink pad then, once they were dry, sanded them back a little and brushed a fluid chalk ink pad in creamy brown over them. The Papers I sanded with a file and teared them in places then ran the same creamy brown ink pad around the edges. The base cardstock got the same ink treatment except that I brushed the ink pad lightly over the whole page as well as the edges. Thanks for looking. Have a good day! x x

Getting tired of the heatwave now....

Morning all,

Over here in the UK we've had a heatwave all week. Some people have said that it's hotter than Spain! I don't know about that but it really has been hot. I've sent Ethan off to school every morning with sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat. However, inside out little house it stays quite cool. Ideal scrapping weather really. I've been working away and even tidying up as I go along which is something I usually never do. I'm trying to keep my scrapping space a bit tidy as I get organised.

Anyway, I managed to get a layout done yesterday. I think this may form part of my design team submission for Candy Shoppe Designs. I'll wait and see because I have a pile of photos that I dug out last night to scrap and we'll see how they turn out. Here's the layout I did yesterday....

Cardstock is Bazzill. The trees are from a sheet of Scenic Route paper, as is the waving "field" paper. The spotted ledger paper is from K&Co. The "soft" letters are from American Crafts. The "Chicks" stamps are from Banana Frog and the blue bird is from Prima. Thanks for looking.

I'm now going to see about starting another layout from the pile of photos I was inspired by yesterday. Have a good day everyone. x x

A Classic Example....

Afternoon all,

This morning I've been working on my Design Team Submission for the Candy Shoppe Designs Blog. I have a lot of work to still do but I'm getting there slowly. I've also been continuing to sort out my stash. I think I may have collected all my ribbon together now (apart from the ones in kits and hidden away where I haven't managed to sort so far).

In this instance I think my other half may be right about having too much stash. I now have what I can only describe as a "disco ball" of ribbon hanging from the door of my computer table. Note to self... DON'T BUY ANY MORE RIBBON!!!! LOL

Here's a picture just in case you don't believe me.....

So if this is how much ribbon I have you can imagine the amount of other stash I have. Oh well, you know what they say ~ He who dies with the most stash wins!!! LOL

Anyway, I best keep going with my sorting. I want to sit down and scrap another layout this afternoon if I can. Have a great day everyone. Chat soon.... x x