its like a nappy advert

this year is the first time in many years that we have missed the Festival of History run by English Heritage so to remind me of all its glory I'm posting this cute LO from a couple of years ago- Arthur had a go at the assault course for kids- his older brother wouldn't have a go- skulked in the background- shoved his younger brother in first- Arthur showed no nerves and threw himself at it- even with the commentary provided by a gruff and rather cheeky drill sergeant. His best phrase as little Arthur crawled under barbed wire " it's like a nappy advert"

here I am

I just loved this picture of Arthur at his friends birthday party- I was e-mailed with various shots from the party and this one was there- really its of Stanley's friend Jeremy but peeking over his shoulder was Arthur - looking adorable-if you could only see him for the flash glare

scared

I loved this photo of Arthur at the zoo- There is a massive window by the lions and its one of their favourite places to lay- this is Arthur posing with a lioness only a few inches away with just the glass separating them- he looks pretty petrified!

The tag on the LO is a clothing tag I kept from one of Nancy's cute T-shirts

Counterfeit blog hop July

Hello- welcome to the latest instalment of the Counterfeit kit blog hop- if you need to go back to the beginning click here

The challenge for this months blog hop was flower power- a creative way to use flowers on a LO- well maybe mine isn't really creative but I found the tutorial for these flower rosettes on Pinterest ( and I pass my version of the instructions on to you below)

The LO- my kit had a lot of yellow and black in that I wasn't using- so I punched my circles out of those papers- with the teal buttons on the black they flowers matched perfectly with some recent photos of the circus that visited our town ( actually it was on our street)

Here's a close up of the flowers

And here's how to make them

1. punch out four scalloped circles from paper- double sided papers look best as you can see the reverse side

2. fold all of the circles in half

3. overlap the halved circles- each half has to go over and under another half

4. stick a button in the middle

your next step on the hop is here at the fabulous Milissa's ( hope this works ok- I am trying to send this from a dodgy wi-fi connection while on holiday- apoligies if it doesn't work.)

FUn Fun FUN

Well I'm not sure about this sketch- it was supposed to be my last LO for Twisted sketches but it looks like I'm hanging on for a few more LOs

So anyway the LOs twist is FUN- I used three photos of NAncy dancing round the zoo and one of my lovely Betsy McCall paper dolls- the book paper is another flea market find- a handbook on piping from the 1940s its full of charts and tables- i thought it would be good for boy LOs but i stuck it on here anyway
Find the sketch HERE

Guitar hero

Soory about the glare from the flash- five days into our summer holiday and we had not had a day of sunshine - only constant rain!

I loved this halloween paper from American crafts with the stars on- not for Halloween pages- we haven't been able to celebrate it properly for the three years we've been in the Netherlands-but it made a great boy LO - with Stanley playing Guitar hero on Wii

bug hunting

recently I've veered away from coloured card as a background for my LOs - this is a LO from back in the day when I liked a coloured background- its Arthur in the garden finding woodlice- the final picture is him rolling one down the slide- on the actual LO you can see a tiny spot as the woodlouse hurtles down the slide at full pelt!

Loudmouth

this is Stanley's normal state of affairs- mouth wide open making noise- by now ( we are two weeks into the summer holidays) I may have been so worn down by the constant chatter , that my ears have stopped functioning- if you need to speak to me it may be better to wave and use sign language

in your imagination

Stanley has a whole world going on in his head- he has particularly detailed football league going on with various teams, all with a list of players, transfers, results and league table going on- I really love the names he has chosen for his players- Fuzzy Hair Fuzzy Hair is a favourite

oldie but goody

I had a look through my old albums this week- from days before I had a blog - and thought maybe I could stick a few- never before seen( at least I hope they haven't!)- LOs on my blog- while I'm busy herding my children and getting ready to move.

This is Arthur- so excited by his new kit that he put it on and started playing with the tag hanging out of the back!

My fave Movie

The latest challenge at journalling Junkie is is to journal about your favourite movie- this is mine- Some like it Hot.

Journalling reads-

I love this movie, Paula and I went to watch it on a big screen in the open air when I visited her in Manchester

The film is so funny, the scrapes they get into, the last moment of the film when Jack Lemmon tries to scare off his sutior by telling him he's a man, all set off with great costumes and music

getting PUnky

This Lo is for the sketch challenge at punky scraps

not sure what else to write at the moment lacking inspiration!

saving these forever

I took these photos last summer and never got round to using them on a LO- and then when Shimelle started her 4x6 photo love I knew I need to wait for the challenge for June- six photos on a LO- Arthur loves playing Jenga with his Grandpa - he never thinks of playing it at home- these photos were taken on our summer holiday with Grandpa but funnily enough he wasn't playing the game with him

I love the way the sun is shining through the window onto the game an d the table- so thanks Shimelle for helping me get them scrapped

button

If you ever get to go to Amsterdam- visit the Albert Cuyp Straat Market and go and visit Jan de Groete Kleinvakman- it is an amazing haberdashery store and at the moment they have loads of buttons they are selling off in their tubes for a Euro each- I visit quite often and pick up a few at a time- this time I plucked up the nerve to take a picture as well

I'm not always very confident about taking pictures of things especially if i think it might bother someone - so although I would love to take close up pictures of all the stalls on the market I don't really dare- i don't want the stall holders shouting at me But as I had just spent a few Euros I didn't think anyone would mind

Anyway when this twist came up for Twisted sketches I knew what my LO would have to be- the twist is Button and My LO "knoppen" is about Jan de groete klienvakman
Find the sketch HERE

( edit- I sent Anam a few LOs at a time a while back and she seems to keep getting them mixed up- this LO was posted last time under the twist flower- I have no idea which Lo will turn up instead of this one for the twist button- why not go and have a look!)

Sketchy swim

this is a second LO using the Sketchy Thursday sketch- find the other one here

The picture here is a little bit obscured by the flash but its Nancy in the paddling pool seemingly alone- even though it was a baking hot day and the pool was packed- I know the States are struggling with baking hot temperatures but here we are on day five of the summer holiday and we have had nothing but rain- I can't remember the last time I put sun cream on. Mind you I think I prefer this to boiling hot temperatures( scratch that I know I prefer it!)

Shimelle

As per usual here is my effort for the Shimelle sketch of the week

Its called Queen of the stilts and its Nancy at our street party last year- you will see these pictures again soon ( in B&W) but i can't resist scrapping things over

I'm happy with the LO but I kind of wish i hadn't covered up so much of the Echo Park paper I used in the background- thankfully I have a second sheet- so mental note next time don't cover up the paper!

And a close up of the flower ( tutorial coming soon)

and the sketch

half done!

As you may or may not know I am in the process of moving house- we aren't moving until the beginning of August but I need to get the house into some form of tidiness ready for the men to come and pack

Anyway that means i have started putting things in boxes in the craft room- but not necessarily in places where I can find them again- hence this LO is half done at the moment- some where is the second half of the sheet of red thickers I used on this LO- I know I haven't used them but can I find them- I've even ordered a second set (at half price) in case they are lost forever but it still means the LO is unfinished. Its for Sketchy Thursday so I thought I'd post as is and hope you could imagine how it will look with a couple of extra red cogs on! The Los called "how does this mind work?"
this is the sketch- really simple- love it lots

using my kit

Not doing very well with my Counterfeit kit this time round - although this is LO number four from it! I'm just too busy with other stuff I have to do to get my teeth into my kit- this is an old set of photos from my old camera. it would take a series of 16 shots and then form them into one- it's Arthur age two blowing ( or trying to blow) a dandelion clock

Remember the time

the Scrap it Wit a Song title for this week is Remember the Time by Michael Jackson- I turned it round a little and called my LO "Will you Remember the Time" the journalling is about the fact that Nancy will remember very little about our time living in Holland- such a momentous thing in her life to liver in a foreign country but she is so young that if she remembers any thing it will be tiny snapshots - Arthur will probably remember very little as well - he is only six- but Stanley may be able to remember more of our life here

Run!

the challenge at the Paper trail Makers is a re run of an old challenge they had but as it was before the time I started participating in their challenges I didn't mind- the challenge make a LO with 4-6 pictures on- I had these printed on my desk waiting for the right moment- perfect for this challenge-

they are of Arthur playing on the beach running through the waves in the very chilly water

I chose the papers as they mirrored the colours of the sea and sand in the photos

Sassafras challenge

The challenge at Sassafras Lass blog is to use a mix of lines on one LO- quite an easy challenge for me as I never scrap a LO that is just one line at a time- I usually mix manufacturers as well so the hardest part for me was scrapping just Sassafrass Lass

I think I have on here paper from

Sweet Marmalade

Vintage Yummy

starters

monstrosity

bungle jungle

and one I can't identify! as well as a paper whimsey and some alphas

the LO is about Nancy collecting Superdieren cards from the supermarket its always very exciting when they get the last one in a collection so we always take a photo to mark the ocassion- Nancy's last Superdiern - wild zwijn

Forest fun Pagerize

This is my effort for the Pagerize this challenge at at Scrap Our Stash- I used three photos of Nancy posing on the hunnebeds here in the Netherlands- in the middle photo she is trying to be a butterfly!

Find the original LO here- I was inspired by the LO of Joni's page- i used the same die cut shape at the top of my LO and the three photos across the middle

regrets?

the challenge over at Journalling Junkie this time is about regrets-things you wish you'd never done or decisions you wish you could change

Well I have sat down to make this LO about ten times over the last few weeks and I just couldn't think of anything I regretted- there are things I wish were different but I never decided on them - so not fitting in with the challenge- in the end i made this

Journalling reads

I don't want to feel, when we go back to the UK in the summer, that i never made the most of living in Holland- so I go out- I go to Amsterdam sometimes just to take pictures of walls and things- so I don't feel like I missed thee best opportunity in my life- July 2011

the photo is indeed a picture of a wall in Amsterdam that I took last week on my very last solo trip ;(

Counterfeit kit

So what did I do with my Counterfeit Kit this month- I started with this LO of Nancy from last summer- we went to the Festival of History and while Nancy was taking part in an activity a professional photographer at the event took a few pictures- he finally sent them to me this week- about a year after the event! Nancy loves to have a go at everything her brothers do hence the title "little Miss have a go" in this picture she was dressing up as a knight to do some jousting on a hobby horse.I made this LO originally for the American Crafts facebook challenge but after two attempts and very few "likes" I gave up on actually sending the LO in- I can't stand the humiliation again!

MY Kit

I'm a bit late getting this up this month- I photographed my kit before the weekend and made a couple of LOs but just hadn't the time to post- it was my son's birthday/leaving party on Saturday

It turns out I have a couple of the papers that were in the original kit- the Studio calico planes and arrows- and for the rest I went with a mix of yellow, red and black patterns- I included some tubes of buttons that I bought from a haberdashers in Amsterdam- Jan de Groet Kleinvakman - I stamped some tags with some images in bright colours

Octoroon Girl (s)

the challenge at Artastic this month is a painting I've never heard of called Octoroon Girl- Shazza has specified the following things on the LO

1. A picture of yourself ( I hope I'm allowed to have a photo of me and someone)

2. colours of red and maroon

3. a hat or gloves- I added the piece of Cosmo cricket specially as she has a hat on in the picture and it was the only thing I could find

The photo is me and Nancy dressed up in our bridesmaids dresses for my sister's wedding last month

the random looking 11 on there was because the wedding was on the 11th of June
This was the inspiration

Wij houden van oranje

The challenge for July over at Scrap Our Stash is red, white and blue- inspired by the 4th of July but I don't live in the US and while red, white and blue may be the colours of the Netherlands ( where I live) the colour they wear to show their patriotism is orange

Its the colour of the sports teams, everyone wears orange on Queen's day and apparently it used to be the colour on the flag instead of red but the orange faded so badly that they changed to to red

these photos are from the world cup final last year. It was great to be living in the Netherlands when they reached the final of the world cup- the boys went to watch it on the big screen in town to enjoy the atmosphere and make their own noise ( unfortunately Holland didn't win)

on one photo if you look carefully you can see a man dressed on the Dutch flag- it even has the words to the national anthem printed on it ( and that's another odd thing- the national anthem I mean)

A blog hop for Theresa!

Just a quick post to say happy birthday to Theresa from Scrapbookers Anonymous- this is the card I sent to her ( no idea if it has arrived yet!) The team are organising a blog hop in order of our founder so the next point on the hop is........ Marit

Twisted flowers

Its Twisted sketch time again and a nice twist to the sketch- flower- I have literally hundreds of pictures of tulips from our trip to the Keukenhof gardens here in Holland - they gardens have hundreds of varieties of bulb flowers and only open during the spring

These beautiful cream tulips looked perfect with this paper from October Afternoon I have also added some buttons - you will be able to see where they came from on my next twisted sketch LO- something to look forward to
Find the sketch HERE

Turn around Bright eyes

Turn around bright eyes- from Total Eclipse of the heart by Bonnie Tyler-

This is the latest challenge from Scrapping the Music- I love the twinkling stars on this paper and I thought they were appropriate with this line from the song- there's no journalling on this LO because I've scrapped this photo before.

Scrapping Stanley

Sometimes I think that I don't scrap enough of Stanley- eventually I'll get round to sorting out my pile of Los ( before it causes a paper avalanche which will end in fatalities) and then I realise that the smallest piles belong to me and Stanley. So a little bit of redress here ( although one of the Los has the other two in as well)

Scrap the boys- their challenge is to use tape on a LO- I used strips of paper and then cut my Pink Paislee tape in half to make narrow strips to add interest to the stripsWhen the Circus came to town- for Shimelle

A couple of weeks ago we were on our way to the supermarket when we drove past the circus- we were shocked to see the animals grazing at the side of the road - so 1 quick U turn later we pulled up and took some photos-with the elephants and the camels-

This one is for Shimelle's latest sketch

Red White and Blue

The challenge for this month at Scrap Our Stash is patriotic colours red, white and BLue -luckily red, white and blue are also the colours for the UK

I decided to make this LO about my son's trip to London with his Dad to watch Wimbledon- they also managed to take in a few sights while they were there

I was inspired by street party banners from the royal wedding on this LO- I used the red and blue on a white background and strung my banners across the middle of the page to line up with the photo of Stanley and big Ben ( no my husband did not intend it to look like a hat. Yes it does look like a hat- yes my husband is a bad photographer)

Scrapbookers Anonymous Colour challenge

My colour nemesis is purple- I have 37 sheets of purple card in my stash and don't think I've used one for at least three years

It's not that I don't like purple but I just can't scrap with it- I've had to steal some buttons from Nancy's clothes to help embellish and make a few of my own as I don't have anything to use

AS I said I don't hate purple- purple and green was the colour scheme at my wedding so I have something to scrap about. (Mind you I haven't been very good at scrapping my wedding which was 12 years ago- so this has been a good challenge in many ways- I think I should make myself a wedding album I now have a total of three LOs to put in it!)

love every detail- FS2S July challenge

This month inspiration for the From Screen 2 Scrap challenge comes from the poster for All About Eve- a movie classic

I was inspired by many of the details on the poster this month as well as the added criteria that Shazza adds to the challenge

I have the coloured arrows ( hooray for free gifts that come with scrapbook orders )

I have the half face photo ( in fact I found about four photos of parts of my childrens' faces but i chose this one)

and I have some hearts

I also used the same format for my title as the movie title on the poster- three squares of colour with one of the words of the title on each sqaure)

and I loved the way the description of the movie was written down the side of the poster in a long strip so i used this idea for my journalling

here's the poster