i could be scrapbooking instead

love

2012-02-13T07:21:00.000Z

why do I never seem to have a minute for scrapping anymore- oh yes its because I'm working full time- I had a couple of hours on Saturday and managed a few LOs for my design teams and only one for a challenge- this one is for Kraft it Up= the challenge- love, pink and kraft- a perfect chance to doa bit of the quilting thing that seems to be everywhere at the moment

the title- love silly photos

Leap jump bounce

2012-02-09T16:44:00.000Z

The February challenge at Scrap Our Stash this month is another one that leaves you with plenty of free reign to use your imagination.... Its February of a leap year so the challenge is LEAP- in whichever way you want to interpret it

I've been a little bit literal and used some photos of Nancy on the bouncy castle at my Sister's wedding ( hence the inappropriate dress)

I used a barcode strip to underline the title and that's where I used the word leap to fit with the challenge

choice

2012-02-02T11:30:00.000Z

So the Scrapping the Music challenges for this month are all taken from Oscar winning songs- it was hard to narrow down our choices from the list of past winners but we have some great ones lined up- the first is FAlling slowly from the movie "Once"

I chose the line "you have a choice" I thought it was a great sentiment for a beautiful picture of my son-

promise

2012-02-01T21:52:00.000Z

I hate the winter nights- I hate that I am working full time and I can't get a good photo of my LOs until the weekends- I can't wait until I can get some lighter evenings for both my LO photos and my project 366 photos

This LO is for the latest challenge at Twisted sketches- the twist is Promise- the photos are of our recent trip to London- I am desperate to go back again with the kids to see some of the sights again- so the title of this is "Promise we can go back soon"

EDit- a new improved better daylight photo- you can now see the man with the magnificent beard

If you want to see the inspiration from all the other DT members- follow the link at the side- you can get to see the sketch there too

Valentine challenge From Screen 2 Scrap

2012-02-01T19:38:00.000Z

the latest challenge at From Screen 2 Scrap for February has to have a valentines theme- what else- so Shazza has chosen the poster for VAlenitne's day the movie

This LO uses photos from our recent visit to see my sister and her new baby- my three were desperate to have a hold and were crowding round a screaming baby trying to get a cuddle!

Shazza'a criteria are

black card

10 little photos (at least)

and two hearts

I had run out of black card so I had to use the back of a page I started a long time ago but never finished! so that's one of the criteria- I printed out 10 tiny pictures as a contact sheet and cut them up to make a pattern with them and then hand cut a couple of hearts in the right colour

this is the poster

love hearts

2012-02-01T16:44:00.000Z

This one is the Scrapbookers AnonymousFebruary challenge- agreValentines challenge- use at least three hearts and some stitching

- I cut out four large hearts from coordinating October Afternoon paper and then stuck them to some kraft cardstock and cut them out- I then stitched round the inside of the heart ( you can just about see the threads dangling) and stuck the whole lot onto a lighter shade of kraft card

I used a couple of photos of Nancy and a few embellies- simple

Why not go over to the Scrapbookers Anonymous blog and have a look at all the other inspiration- use the link at the side

7.26

2012-01-28T20:31:00.000Z

and this one used Shimelle's other starting point. Every morning i drop the children off at before school care- usually we are there at the dot of 7.30- straight out of the car and I'm shoving them through the door so I can get going- one morning last week we were there early so I took a picture of Nancy in the orange car light in her little hat

rear view

2012-01-28T20:25:00.000Z

A Lo using the starting point from Shimelle shown below- I used a sheet of flowered paper even though its a LO about Arthur- its just the paper went with the colours of the photo- its Arthur reflected in the wing mirror of the hire car during our last week in Holland

I got you

2012-01-28T20:19:00.003Z

A page for Scrapping the Music- a great song this week- James Brown - I feel good

I changed a photo of Nancy on James' shoulders to a sepia tone and then layered up some Chap paper and dictionary pages with some various bits and bobs.

new adventurous shoes

2012-01-26T11:57:00.000Z

Arthur's new shoes with dinosaur bones on the bottom- made this for a DT call- gave up on the idea still love the LO

6 o'clock

2012-01-25T21:55:00.000Z

This one is the other Scrapping the MUsic LO- a line from REM- its the End of the World as we know it- sorry about the flash- can't wait for light evenings for taking photos in! the photo is Nancy watching a recording of Dancing on Ice while I was cooking dinner

January- sick and tired

2012-01-23T20:22:00.000Z

How hopeless am I? I made this LO in a rush for Scrapping the MUsic and then failed miserably to post it! I've also realised I haven't posted the other LO I made for the next challenge either- I'll get that ready for later in the week.

The New Year challenge was to scrap any kind of New Year/ January song. I chose the 70s song January by Pilot with the LIne "sick and tired"- mainly because I'm sick and tired of my January birthday- Its never worth the bother of going out for dinner as restaurants are always empty and I always remember a lot of snow clearing for my parties- in this photo I must be about 8- I had to go outside for a photo as my Nan had no flash on the camera- you can see my birthday balloons hanging in the window

rewind

2012-01-22T19:39:00.001Z

This one is for White with one- the challenge this month is white with lime and buttons- Its called Rewind because it would be nice to rewind back to last summer- a warm day swimming in the lake- especially on a day like yesterday when I was sitting shivering in my study with the wind howling round outside the windows

you and me

2012-01-22T19:34:00.001Z

Punky Scraps has a pick and mix challenge at the moment with a long list of possible things to add to your LO. I chose the following things from the list- masking- some gold (flair/ brad) and something booky- i have a page from a dictionary in the top corner

the photo is Nancy and my shadows on the beach on holiday- I scrap lifted this from a talented scrapper called Nina- her blog is here

thanks grandma

2012-01-22T19:15:00.000Z

This is for SHimelle's 20 steps challenge- Mine is VERY similar to hers as I had been wondering how to use this paper from October Afternoon for some time

The Lo is about Arthur's bad new hair cut- Grandma took him to the hairdressers for the very first time- she'd promised just a trim- the hairdresser got carried away and put in layers all over the place which are now sticking themsleves up in random directions all over the place

masterpiece and number one boy

2012-01-22T18:45:00.001Z

This one is for the January challenge at Kraft it Up- it was a colour scheme challenge- red, green, yellow and blue. I started with the patterned American Crafts kraft card with the blue raindrops- and then layered on bits and bobs that were on my desk in the right colours- I love a LO where you can use up some of your scraps the title is Masterpiece and number one boy- Arthur's badge says Masterpice- we'll ignore the badge that says I am Square!

quit stressin

2012-01-21T22:07:00.001Z

Here's my LO based on the song Care by Kid Rock for Scrapping the Music- I chose the line "quit Stressin"

Arthur is a sweetie but he quite often gets himself in a grump and a stress- he likes to stomp off or squeeze himself between the sofa and the table- so this is a call to him to quit stressin' and be more joyful

Room 429

2012-01-18T20:22:00.000Z

The latest challenge over at Twisted sketches is out- the twist this time is sparkle- I used a few sparkly embellishments to fill the requirements, letters, ribbon and gems.

The photo which has a horrible flash glare on it -sorry- shows the London Eye by the river Thames and the lighted window you can see was our hotel room for the night- My birthday treat was a night in London and a trip to the theatre- so lucky- just wished we could have stayed longer

If you want to see the Twisted sketch and the other fabulous inspiration- follow the link at the side of the page

F is for difficult

2012-01-15T16:44:00.000Z

The Scrapbookers Anonymous F challenge is live- and OH my goodness did I find this one tricky! I realise I have no products that begin with an f - apart from two Fiskars punches- the cloud and the border so that's what i based my LO around- once I decided that then the best photos I had for the cloud punch was a series of photos I took of the sky on holiday a couple of years ago- I took one a day to record the weather on our holiday

I used blues and cream to reflect the cloud colours and a border down the side to offset the photos- and to finish it off with another F some grey felt alphas

Why not nip over to the Scrapbookers Anonymous blog to see the other inspiration

squeezing in

2012-01-11T20:27:00.001Z

I am so busy at the moment- I am sitting on the sofa with a pile of essays to mark on each side of me- and I feel that the only scrapping I manage to squeeze in is stuff for my design teams..../ however today I took half an hour to do a super simple version of the Sketchy Thursday sketch for this week- unfortunately it was dark by the time I was ready to photograph

this was the sketch

I missed it!

2012-01-08T17:39:00.002Z

I seemed to have managed to miss the 15th in my JYC posts so here it is just for completion! I wrote about our visitors and visits and ended up using a download from the Internet of the local church- the children had a concert there- Stanley was playing his guitar- but I couldn't go so I had to resort to this to tell the story of the day

a sigh of relief

2012-01-08T17:30:00.000Z

And it's done- I managed to finish my JYC before the middle of January- a minor miracle considering I was finishing off last year's in November!

I think it was easier for a number of reasons- i won the class pass last year but not until the first of DEcember so I didn't have chance to prepare early

this year I had my album and my paper cut to size and dates made ready to go

I liked the fact that I kept it very simple but because I used a mix of 12x6 pages and a strip of three 4x6 I had some freedom to do my own thing

on the 12x6 page I followed Shimelle's prompt and on the 4x6 I journalled about the events of the day and added a picture however mundane of what was going on.

so here are the last few pages finished today

the 2nd of JAn

the prompt was about Innocence

I chose to write about NAncy at the Pantomime- she spent the whole performance petrified that Snow White really was in mortal peril from the Wicked Queen

she only relaxed at the end when Snow White was woken with a kiss

the 3rd of Jan

the prompt was to record a favourite memories

I wrote a list of the tiny moments that I wanted to remember

Nancy and Arthur playing Cinderella

and laying a pretend Christmas dinner

finding Stanley's secret letter to Santa

the 4th of Jan

I took down the tree today

the only thing on my list of what to remember for next year

do not ask my husband to buy his Father's present unless I want to go last minute shopping again

the 5th of JAn

a page about taking the tree down

the 6th of Jan

a page about the fact that I wish I'd been able to see the Christmas decorations at Covent Garden in all their glory instead of seeing them in daylight on the 7th of January

the other photo is about the trip to London to see Hamlet for my birthday

the light in the building is our hotel room directly next to the London Eye

the end

More photos from 12th night in London

and then a final signing of page to commemorate that I completed the album at 2.25 pm on the 8th

and finally

in the back I tucked the bits and bobs I wanted to keep like programmes from the children's concerts

and in case you missed the rest you can find the links to the posts below

1st Dec- 4th are HERE
5th and 6th are here
7th is here
8th- 14th December is HERE
15th is here
16th-19th December is HERE
20th Dec- 1st Jan is HERE

Birthday weekend

2012-01-07T20:11:00.000Z

Just a few photos of my birthday weekend ( well 24 hours in LOndon is not quite a weekend)

they're not in the right order but here you go

an early morning walk before we checked out of the hotel took us past Big Ben, down Whitehall, past Downing Street, a quick view of Trafalgar Square and the banquet House, back across the river and to the London Eye

then it was off to my favourite Museum- the British Museum- a whole Roman temple inside

and they had the London 2012 Olympic Gold medals on show- this is as close as I'm ever going to get

this was the London Eye when we arrived at our hotel on Friday night

and again with the houses of Parliament in the background

and the Eye with our hotel next to it- that lighted window was our room

one of my favourite things at the British Museum has to be the Lewis chess men- they just make me smile

and this is the view from our room- wave at the people in the LOndon Eye- the reflection is me in the window of our room

new baby

2012-01-03T16:44:00.000Z

the January challenge at Scrap OUr Stash is live and this is my version- the challenge for the new month and the new year is NEW- any way you want

This challenge was an easy one for me- my sister had a baby in October so this was the perfect opportunity to scrap another photo of the little one

Recently we went on a family visit to see my sister and the baby and my three were just so excited and desperate to give her a cuddle- at the end of the day I got this photo of Stanley and Arthur almost fighting to get her on their lap and Nancy reaching in for good measure- poor little one was none to pleased as you can see

miracle on the E40

2012-01-01T14:31:00.000Z

Shazza's challenge at From Screen to Scrap this month comes from the movie poster- Miracle on 34th Street-

Shazza has added the following criteria

a brown and yellow colour scheme

a santa on the page

and a title- Miracle on ...... street- using your house number or some such

I have the colour scheme and I hand cut a tiny little Santa flying in the corner. I ahve to admit I changed the title a tiny bit- I've called it miracle on the E40- that is not my street or my house number but last Christmas was almost a disaster-

we had a massive snow fall a few days before we were due to drive back to the UK. it was so bad that huge lorries were skidding along my street _- a major trunk road- and if the stopped they just couldn't get going again.

it was touch and go whether we were going to leave or not. In the end we decided to go for it and make an overnight stop in Calais on the way. we had to dig the car out and push it to get it out of the snow but once we were out of our town we were on the way and absolutely fine! So this is called Miracle on the E40 because for me it was a miracle we got to Calais- this photo was taken in our overnight hotel- a bit spartan but it was a real relief to get there! the E40 is the european motorway going past Calais in case you were wondering

almost done

2012-01-01T14:04:00.001Z

I am so pleased with myself- its the first of JAnuary and I am still up to date with my JYC album- I intend to go through until the 6th as I have exciting plans for the day that it will be great to document in the album.

the 20th

Tiny surprises- I photographed all the Christmas postcards I received via Postcrossing

and Arthur and NAncy setting up their own Christmas dinner in the bedroom with hand made crakers

the 21st

home made mince pies

and the mess of my scrap room which is the main hiding place for packets and parcels before they are wrapped

extra photos from the mince pie making session

the 22nd

a photo of Stanley's note for Santa

and the front cover of the radio Times- one of the things still to do was to go through it and decide what to record

the 23rd

the stockings- hand made by Grandma and wiating to take up their position by the fireplace

and the children posing with their gingerbread house

the 24th

posing in Santa hats

and today we watched "its a Wonderful Life" for the first time

25th

Arhtur literally just running around in circles because he was so excited

the 26th

our traditional Boxing day trip to the Pantomime- this time Snow White

the 27th

Our morning walk in the sunshine

and journalling about how good the children have been about sleeping

the 28th

A car picninc from McDonlads after our trip to see Tin Tin at the cinema

and the almost empty box of Elizabeth Shaw mint thins- something my Nan always bought me and now my sister does

the 29th

another trip to the cinema- Puss in Boots

and one tiny moment captured as Nancy and arthur fell asleep on their nests

the 30th

a visit from a friend from Holland

and a summary of my photos for the year

5875

and over 500 of them are photos of LOs

the 31st

10.45 the time I went to bed

and |Nancy colour co-ordinated the tin of Quality Street

more random pictures from the 31st

including the premeirship league table

the 1st

about my plan to take part in project 365 ( or 366 this leap year)

my first photo

and if you want to look there is a link to my project 365 blog at the top

Snowflake

2012-01-01T05:00:00.000Z

The latest challenge is up at Scrapbookers Anonymous- this month it is to get grubby with some paint, ink and mist- I have to say this is not one of my favourite techniques - but this is what I came up with

I decided to mist through a doily with some blue and white to use as a background for a winter snow LO- i then layered up another few with some tonal blue papers

Nancy loves to eat snow- and this is her with some snow on her tongue- its hard to stop her- last year she would pick snow up from walls and the floor to eat- the only hope is that it doesn't snow this year ( fingers crossed)

Why not go over to the Scrapbookers Anonymous blog to look at the other inspiration

not a cloud

2011-12-29T18:06:00.001Z

I have four days before I have to go back to work- I have two sets of exam papers to mark and some course work that needs marking but I haven't got my hands on yet- but do I feel like marking and preparing lessons- no - so when I had a few moments of quiet away from the children I made this for the latest Sketchy Thursday challenge

like a diamond in the sky

2011-12-23T08:39:00.000Z

This is my design team submission for the latest challenge at Twisted sketches- the twist this time is jewel so I used a picture of Nancy as a little star during her Christmas Nativity and used a line from the song Twinkle Twinkle that she had to sing

If you want to have a look at the sketch and all the other inspiration why not nip over to Twisted sketches and take a look- just follow the link at the side

Little Santa and his Helper

2011-12-22T19:43:00.000Z

I found a new challenge to have a go at- white with one- the challenge is to use white with one other item/colour/suggestion- this month its Christmas themed and you can use lots of colours but I used white card as my base and then the Christmas tree paper with a white background-

I didn't quite have enough space across the top for the better title of Little SAnta and his helper but its OK as is

I used a picture of Arthur dressed specially to make mince pies with me and his sister- he wore his red pyjamas and a santa hat to make a mess in the kitchen

blue face- bad photo

2011-12-21T20:38:00.000Z

I apologise for the bad photo but once the sun has set there's no chance of getting a good shot in our house of anything- LO or child

I was quite happy with the blue tinge to the photo of Arthur playing on the computer - but I'm not so happy with the shadow of me taking the photo across the LO- the title ( if you can see the small letters ) is Blue Face

This one is for Stuck sketches

when Nancy gets hold of the camera

2011-12-20T20:41:00.001Z

This LO is for Get Picky - Nancy loves to get her hand on the camera and take her own pictures- the problem is the outcome is always quite bonkers ( or is that a benefit) any way I put three of her pictures together on this- one of her face blurred- one of the Christmas tree blurred and only the top of the tree- and one of her legs!

this was the sketch

Happy hand- unhappy Anne

2011-12-20T20:30:00.004Z

I made a bit of a boo boo when I made this LO- I was using the sketch from Another Freakin Scrappy challenge- but I failed to realise the key part was to make a LO about a recipe- I thought I'd post it anyway with numerous apologies along with it

I also had in mind the Scrap Your Crap challenge to use a handful or more of buttons on your LO

I hope I haven't upset anyone by combining challenges

beauty

2011-12-20T20:16:00.001Z

This is a LO a simple picture of my daughter with her head in my lap- hence the odd angle of the photo-
I used the sketch from Pencil Lines for this one but I've switched it about a bit- one photo- ditched the banner, moved the journalling and because I liked both sides of the paper I punched a strip down the side and then folded it back on itself rather than have the border facing out.

darts!

2011-12-20T19:37:00.000Z

A LO for Creative Scrappers

I went with a very literal version of the sketch and used it to make a Lo about the boys playing darts on Stanley's new board- It has been a bit of a mini disaster so far- one dart in the wall despite the massive board its stuck on- rather a lot of fights, tears and arguments

still goiong

2011-12-20T19:15:00.000Z

I'm quite pleased with the fact that I am still up to date with my JYC album- the pages would not win prizes and I might not have made pages about the things Shimelle suggests- but I'm getting them done and I'm quite pleased with it all

So this is a bit of a catch up

the 16th

Nancy as a star at her Nativity and a page about what I am thankful for at Christmas

the 17th

Stanley's photo from the football

and I page about the things I have bought from Folksy this year

the 18th

Arthur playing on Stanley's dart board

and a picture of our already started Christmas cake

the 19th

an envelope with a letter for Santa

and NAncy in the outfit she wore for her Christmas Disco

the 20th

the LO is about tiny surprises in the post this month

I take part in Postcrossing and these are the postcards I recieved this month with CHristmas themes as well as the two that arrived today- one from Holland and one from Finland

warm

2011-12-19T20:26:00.000Z

I seem to have forgotten to post this one! I looked at my post list and saw two drafts and could'nt work out what the other draft was- it was this!

The LO was made using the Pencil lines sketch 262- the photo is me warming my feet by a huge fire at the open air museum in Arnhem that we visited last year

child's play

2011-12-19T19:59:00.000Z

I could not help but be inspired by a new challenge blog I came across- its so new that they are on their first challenge- and looking for a design team as well- the idea behind the blog is to be inspired by toys- when I saw what the first toy was- I just had to take part- it's this rattle toy- Stanley had one of them for his first Christmas ( he's nine now) so I had to print out a picture of him with the toy to use on the LO- here is the toy- and here is the blog- Child's play challenges

This is the LO I made- I used the idea of the balls connected by lines and surrounded my picture with circles and buttons linked by string and dotted lines of fake stitching

bright lights

2011-12-19T19:50:00.001Z

The latest challenge over at Artastic is A painting by Thomas KInkade (below)

I decided to use a photo of our tree from outside our house as my photo inspired by they way he uses light in his picture

the other requirements were- a snowman - I made one from kraft paper

a tree- in the picture

and Christmas in the title- I forgot about that one but it is a CHristmas LO- so Shazza will just have to dock the points- sorry Shazza

Here's the picture

tree 2012

2011-12-19T19:44:00.002Z

This one is for the latest Sketch at Sketchy Thursday- I loved the Christmas tree shape of the photos so I used the various CHristmas tree photos from this year- what with doing JYC, a daily CHristmas photo album, my obsession with my camera and Nancy taking any opportunity to take her own photos I have quite a few

All paper is October Afternoon

step into Christmas

2011-12-15T18:26:00.000Z

aren't they gorgeous? these are some of the baubles from my tree this year- tipped into a box so the children could easily get to them

This is the photo that I used for my Lo for Scrap it with a song- the challenge now is to make a LO using your favourite Christmas song- I love Christmas songs- love love love them and there is a long list of my faves.....

TOP five

Pogues- Fairytale of New York
Slade- So here it is Merry Christmas
Wizzard- I wish it could be Christmas everyday
Elton John - Step into Christmas ( also covered by the Wedding Present- one of my favourite bands when I was young)
Band Aid-do they know its Christmas

well I thought about these and guessed ( maybe someone can tell me ) that most of these were UK bands that didn't make it in the US and therefore a lot of Scrappers would have no idea of what they were so I decided to make a LO with lyrics from Step into Christmas because surely everyone knows Elton John!

Here it is

I tried to pick out colours from the photo- I used a Christmas label that I bought in WHSmith for the word CHristmas

just enormous!

2011-12-15T14:34:00.000Z

We are up to E on our alphabet challenge at Scrapbookers Anonymous

my E's are
Echo Park Paper
EK success punches
and Enormous

this photo was taken at the Liberty Park museum in Overloon Netherlands- it was the sight of one of the biggest tank battles in the second world war and house huge numbers of tanks and other vehicles from the war

The photo is Stanley standing next to the wheel of the most enormous amphibious vehicle called a LARC-60 used in the Vietnam war

and it goes on

2011-12-14T20:32:00.000Z

I'm still up to date with my CHristmas journal and with only two more days of work left before CHristmas I think I might be on track for getting this one done before next November!

the eighth

signs of Christmas from around our house and Arthur doing his tongue work on his cards

The Ninth

Christmas traditions tucked into pockets

there are posters from the pantos we have been to and visits to my sister

the photo is me preparing for another tradition- the works do

the tenth

my Christmas wrap and our vist to my Sister

the eleventh

my new fake tree and decorations

plus a close up of our decorations

the eleventh

photos of Christmases past with the children

and "floor pizza" pizza on the floor by the TV- special treat

the twelfth

\Christmas music

my top 10

1. Slade

2. Wizzard

3. The Pogues

4. elton John

5. Wham

6. Mariah Cary

7. Band Aid

8. Paul McCartney

9. Dean MArtin

10. Jona Lewie

and the children with their letters from Santa

the fourteenth

a long description of present giving

and Arthur on the computer

outings

2011-12-08T21:19:00.000Z

this LO is for Kraft it Up this month- the challenge is to make a LO about Christmas traditions- we always like to have a special Christmas outing somewhere- we've been to York, London, Thomas land and last year we went to the outdoor museum in Arnhem where they had a skating ring set up and sledging in rubber innertubes- super cool fun- this year I don't know- but the boys are off to a special football match this weekend

I think maybe I'll make another about pantomimes- we always go to one in the days after Christmas- need to find a picture to use

oh my darling

2011-12-08T21:10:00.000Z

I made this as a LO for Scrap the Girls this month they're challenging you to scrap a baby girl this month- this is the newest baby girl in the family- Ivy Clementine born in October- my little niece

brotherly love?

2011-12-08T21:03:00.000Z

This one is for Sketchy Thursday

I love these photos of Stanley on the beach last October

I didn't ask them to put their arms round each other - they just did- how super cute is that

by the third photo they were fighting again

but the love's there- even if its deep down

this photo is so that you can get a better look at the picture

the flash glare is a pain but its so hard getting a good photo on these dark nights

and on the seventh

2011-12-08T20:56:00.000Z

I have three to do lists on my page for the 7th- one for the day like post the cards in the photo- on for the rest of the week- before we go to Manchester on Saturday to see my sister and one for things before Christmas
the other photo is the tree from outside our house

details

2011-12-08T13:48:00.000Z

Here is my submission for the December challenge over at Scrap Our Stash

the challenge is anything goes - so this is a great way to submit and show us your stuff

I decided to use up some photos that I took months ago before we left the Netherlands and I hadn't found a way to use them

One day on a trip to Amsterdam I decided to take close up photos of various walls, graffiti, posters, street signs and floors. I wanted a record of the tiny details of Amsterdam but its taken me since MAy to find a way to scrap them.

I chose to print off 16 at the smallest size from Picassa and made a montage of them in the centre of my page- that didn't give me much space to embellish so I stuck a strip of washi tape across the middle and combined title and embellishment by making a small banner with the title on it

Hope you like it

hotel adventure

2011-12-07T17:12:00.000Z

this is my design team submission for the latest challenge over at Twisted Sketches- the twist this time is red- so I gathered a collection of red papers together and came up with this- I can't for the life of me find a hole punch in my house at the moment so I can't punch a hole in the tags!

the sketch is over at Twisted sketches if you want to take a look

I used a photo of Nancy during our great summer holiday hotel adventure where we spent three weeks in hotels while we were in the process of moving. the photo is Nancy in the middle of a king size bed reading the Gideons bible!

still doing OK

2011-12-07T17:09:00.000Z

I'm trying to keep up with my JYC pages here are my latest few

the 5th- advent calendar

we have still misplaced our refillable chocolate calendar so the favourite in our house at the moment is the playmobil one- it's knights not Christmassy at all but the love it

the 6th- Christmas memories
the photo on the daily journal page is the wreath on my door- I managed to buy a hook for it today
the prompt LO is about Christmas memories-

I had this photo of me and my Dad dressed as Santa on my desk so I was looking for a newer memory to go with it- this photo of my three with Santa at Thomas land had similar memories- disappointing Santa's!
My three were not impressed with the Thomas Land santa- Stanley was seven and was almost as tall as him- he was really not impressed by a short Santa - and the photo form 30 years before is me looking very unimpressed with my |Dad dressed as Santa- my Dad never refused an offer of being Santa or showing off and being loud- this was one of those occasions

good idea bad photo

2011-12-04T20:35:00.000Z

as you may be aware- I am trying to keep up to date with the JYC class from Shimelle but my problem is BAD photos- I'm at work all daylight hours apart from the weekends- my children are at school all daylight hours apart from the weekend so that means all photos I take on weekdays end up a bit like this- flash beach- everyone looking a bit weird and bright with a dark background ( alternatively madly blurred!)

so this LO for Sketchy Thursday is using one of those bad photos- they both look slightly crazy- no they look totally mental

this is the sketch

what a face

2011-12-04T20:24:00.000Z

the challenge at Studio challenges at the moment is Christmas paper on a non Christmas Lo- this one is about Nancy and Stanley having a cuddle on the floor- while NAncy was covered in biro face tattoos.

On here are five different Christmas papers from 3 different manufacturers- there's some.....
Making Memories
Cosmo Cricket x 2
bella bOulevard x 2

as well as scraps from other lines and manufacturers

cracking time

2011-12-04T20:09:00.000Z

This one is for Shimelle's sketch of the week-I went with a Christmas theme because Shimelle did too.

These two photo are from yesterday- our friend came round ( and our son's Godfather) for our Christmas dinner tradition and exchange of gifts- the LO is about the Crackers we had- I bought them from poundland so I wasn't expecting much ( not even a bang really) but in the end they were OK- hats ( too small but they always are) jokes bad ( but they always are) and rubbish gifts ( but they always are unless you spend a fortune!) Nancy is posing with one of the terrible gifts... the worlds smallest and therefore to most useless comb in the world

getting going

2011-12-04T19:12:00.000Z

Ok this year I am DETERMINED to keep up to date with my Journal YOur CHristmas Album- well so far so good. This is what I have come up with so far

MY album is a combination of 6x12 LOs for the Prompts and 3 4x6 spaces for a photo of the day and some journalling about the events of the day

The first

I stuck in the manifesto and journalled about how grateful I am to have my children to cuddle

( we had had really awful news at school about a boy who was killed on the way to the bus so I was so glad to get home and hold my children)

I used a photo of Nancy and JAmes having a cuddle on the sofa-

the second

Nancy was going on in the car about how everything was frosting- how appropriate for the day I have to journal about the weather

the third

My card= I journalled inside the card and added a row of old stamps in red and green- I am nowhere near ready to write my cards- must do that this week

Because I am using a combination of 6x12 and 4x6 pages I thought I could add extra pages for photo heavy days

this weekend we had the children's Godfather round for a christmas dinner and to exchange presents

we also put up the tree so on this double page spread are photos of

contents of the Chrismas crackers

decorating the tree

the dinner table

an empty plate

and the most hideous door wreath we found in the loft- left by the tenants ( a bigger picture of it it below- its off to the charity shop)

the fourth

Another day another tree- we put up the tree in the conservatory today

I made a LO about my CHristmas wishes today

basically all I want is some nice surprises

NOT surprise gifts

just random surprises

like last weekend when the Santa Fun Run went unexpectedly past my house- so I had an hour of Santas running past my house

OMG

the door wreath we found!

a 2 trophy weekend

2011-12-04T18:28:00.005Z

a Lo using the Pencil Lines sketch from a couple of weeks ago- this weekend Stanley won two trophies- one for man of the session for his football training yesterday- and one for man of the match for his match today- they drew 2-2 - he didn't score but he did play well and stop the other team from scoring and preventing a loss- he's so proud- and so am I

pretty

2011-12-02T16:17:00.000Z

I loved the colours of the tags that I used for my Scrapbookers Anonymous Design team Lo so I made another LO using them and a few more- the challenge for this month at SA is a great one for Christmas even though my LO is not Christmassy at all- its tags and glitter- perfect for Christmas Los or not as you can see from mine

2011-12-01T20:12:00.001Z

Ok bad bad photo but I feel the need to attempt to keep up to date with my JYC on the blog as well as in the journal

My chose format this year is 12x6 but every other page is 4x6 photo pages so I printed off the mainifesto- had one space for the date and one space for a tag with journalling on- I think I can change things round day by day- add more photos or more photo pages if I need to

I managed to get a reasonable photo today of James and Nancy having a cuddle- but its so annoying trying to take pictures in the dark and really I don't want pages of me at work in my journal just because I can take a picture in the daylight!

journalling is about the need to have a cuddle with my little ones today- had very bad news today at work about a very sudden death- makes you realise how precious people are

journal your christmas- three questions

2011-12-01T18:15:00.001Z

These are my first thoughts for Shimelle's JYC- i kinda wish I had put Mum and Nan for question three but today has been a very emotional day that I will never forget and it was what was in my mind today. But then again its always worth remembering today is important don't you think.

I'm feeling quite proud today that I have managed to take a photo- print it- journal and almost finish my page for today- my last JYC album was only finished in November!

sparkle at the molineux

2011-12-01T16:18:00.000Z

here is my submission for the December challenge at Scrapbookers Anonymous- the challenge is a great Christmas challenge - you need to use tags and glitter- perfect for this gift giving season

Glitter is not my thing but I do have some glitter thickers so I used those- I used my tag punch to create some embellishments

The Photos are from Nancy's first trip to the Molineux- if you don't know Molineux is the home ground for the Wolves ( and if you don't know who they are they are Wolverhampton Wanderers and the play football in the English Premier League- well at the moment)

She wasn't really happy- when the opposition scored- she cried and when they went 2-0 ahead she decided to start making up her own score. i think she decided Wolves won 1800-0 ( the real score was 2-2)

just the wrong moment

2011-12-01T16:17:00.000Z

Here is my submission for the From Screen 2 Scrap December Challenge- the Poster this month is

I've got all the added criteria that Shazza has included - white card- a two colour title- and I'm wearing a Christmas hat with added plaits in the photo.

I tried to give a Christmassy feel with the red and green colour scheme and I punched some circles and added a touch of gold card and string to imitate baubles.

The photo is if me last Christmas- I took it myself ( hence the wonky angle and the slight blurring) Just as the Christmas dinner was being laid on the table and we were all being called to eat Nancy fell asleep in my arms- just the wrong moment.

You might guess from that that I wasn't in charge of cooking the Christmas dinner :) Although I do make the Christmas cake and Christmas pudding-

Here's the poster

your doodles

2011-12-01T14:34:00.000Z

when i first saw the tag challenge at Scrapbookers Anonymous I had some American crafts tags in mind to use- but no amount of searching would help me find them- at the weekend I spent about 4 hours sorting my craft room and finally found them so I made another LO for the tag challenge which is what I really wanted to make in the first place

the trouble is after I'd photographed it, uploaded it , cropped it and attached it to my e-mail to submit it to the girls I realised there was no glitter!

I'll show you anyway

Its called your doodles- Nancy asked me if she could use a tag that was laying on the kitchen table left over from my successful ( but far too late ) efforts to finish my JYC

a couple of hours later I found the tag on the kitchen chair with a cute drawing on it- so I had to scrap it

and a close up of the tag ( for some reason blogger keeps flipping it when it uploads this picture- its the right way round on my computer!)

thankful

2011-11-24T16:13:00.000Z

this is for the latest challenge at Scrap it With a Song-

Being that Thanksgiving time of year the challenge is Kelly Clarkson - Thankful

I decided to go a little unusual and make a LO without any photos

Instead I made myself a banner and attached journalling strips on each flag with something I am grateful for- i also added something in the little envelope the bird is holding

my list

my children

my sister

my husband

chocolate

the Internet

Scrapbooking

Sky + ( our equivalent of Tivo)

Its a LO about my son- last year he brought this turkey home- he added things he's grateful for on the wings

his list was

my fish

my car

paper

my tv

my shelf

cute or what?

I really need them all to write a list this year- in their own handwriting-

honestly I am hopeless- I knew this was supposed to be the Blog hop but then I SCHEDULED IT WITHOUT THE HOP BIT!

so here is where you are supposed to go next- the delightful Dana

you and me

2011-11-23T09:30:00.000Z

My latest submission for the design team at Twisted sketches. the twist is ribbon - I've managed to squeeze on two kinds- the pink polka dot in two places and the ribbon flowers across the journalling.

if you want to have a look at the sketch hop over to Twisted sketches by clicking on the link at the side- go on you know you want to.

the photo is quite self explanatory- a photo of me and Nancy- its a bit blurred but I took it myself so I can't expect much more!

the aliens have landed

2011-11-22T17:12:00.001Z

this is my take on the latest Dutch Dares sketch- I've used some photos from Utrecht- just round the corner from our friend's apartment is this fabulous sculpture - its on a building known as the inkpot. I can't remember who it's by but I did write it on my LO

I feel really glad about the bad photo but I've just started back to work this week full time for the first time in nine years and at the moment I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. I thought if I leave this photo to take until the weekend i'll forget and be too late. So here it is

the sketch

playing keep

2011-11-20T17:30:00.000Z

using the October Afternoon sketch

the LO is about Arthur's first match playing in goal when he stayed rooted to his line and looked petrified for the whole of his 20 minutes in that position- at least he saved a penalty!

freedom

2011-11-20T17:26:00.000Z

the kids running free on the beach after three hours in the car

using the Sketchy Thursdays sketch ( a second one)

subdued colours using some Chap paper from AC

photo booth

2011-11-20T17:23:00.000Z

using the sketchy Thursday sketch- a picture of me and Nancy at my Sister's wedding in the photo booth!

the sketch

Hope Springs eternal

2011-11-18T17:05:00.000Z

Ok so I might have been clutching at straws but I entered in the design team call for Hambly Screen prints- I can think of nothing better than getting on a manufacturers design team- I would love to have enough stash to use huge numbers of papers and embellishments on one LO- instead of saving them up and using them sparingly!

the call asked for at least on LO that hadn't been seen before- here are the three that I made

1. I'll have a Utrecht

while we were on our last holiday in the Netherlands we went to a very splendid ice Cream parlour- they had so many to choose from including ones named after all the Dutch provinces- we lived in Noord Holland but we were very close to Utrecht- the Utrecht Ice cream was right up his street- raspberry and lemon ice cream topped with orange juice and then covered in whipped cream- I used the apothecary jar rub ons as they looked like the ice cream serving dishes

2. Camera shy

had to go with some chevrons- and here's me using my Hambly papers sparingly

3. One I made for Sarah's cards- already posted

4. memory store deposit

A few not so good photos in a handmade envelope- with a few rub on embellishments

waves

2011-11-17T21:44:00.000Z

this one is for Get Picky

I changed it a little bit as I had this left over paper from a punched out sheet- so I punched out parts of the photo to fill the gaps and then punched out more circles to overlap

the sketch

making a splash

2011-11-17T21:30:00.000Z

this one is a lovely simple sketch from Stuck sketches

the photo is the two boys throwing stones into lake Como on our holiday last year- the title refers to the fact they are making a splash with the stones

this is the sketch

climb high

2011-11-17T21:28:00.000Z

this LO is for the challenge over at Pencil Lines

The photo is Nancy and Arthur climbing on the rocks on the beach at Perranporth in Cornwall. the journalling is about the fact that the tide was coming in and the children were still climbing on the slippery rocks- Its more about my paranoia as a parent than what they were doing!

this is the sketch

more numbers

2011-11-17T14:33:00.003Z

These numbers are for my JYC with Shimelle

I only just finished the album from last year so this year I am determined to finish earlier- lets say the end of January at the latest- there deadline set!

I made these using a sheet of the new Christmas line from American crafts

unfortunately they numbers only go up to 25 but the sheet did have extra shapes so what I did was stamp some small numbers to stick on the shapes for the rest of the month and into January ( not all of them would fit on the chair so these show only up to 30)

this is a close up of number three

Numbers

2011-11-17T14:33:00.001Z

Ok so Blogger's messing me around at the moment. These photos were the right way up in Picassa, the right way up stored on my hard drive BUT Blogger decides they need to be upside down or sideways! grrrr.

I have decided to do two Christmas albums this year! ! Two!

this one is going to be a Ali Edwars December Daily style one- as (correct me If I'm wrong) it seems to be a much more simple idea than JYC- I intended to choose one photo for each day and write a little about each photo- maybe on the hpoto itself before I print it

I decided to use up some old papers for this album- mostly stuff that was not Christmas paper .

I also decided on five different styles for my numbers- but all of them using the Ormolu flair dates I bought a while back

the first using these great wooden gift tags I found in Marks and Spencers- I used the back side of them as they are printed on the front- this is the title page

the second using doilies ( upside down)

the third using a piece of Websters Pages paper that has front doors on it ( sorry its sideways)

the wooden tags again as a page number

the fourth using gift tags in the shape of Gingerbread men

and the fifth design is with kraft luggage tags

color

2011-11-16T18:58:00.000Z

This was the my failed effort for the D challenge at Scrapbookers Anonymous- all the paper is DCWV from various stacks that I have languishing in a box! but the printer went mental a the photo ended up over two pages so its glued together. In the end I thought it was a little plain for a design team submission but I love the simplicity of it

thankful 1,2,3,4

2011-11-16T14:31:00.000Z

the latest challenge at Journaling Junkie is a Thanksgiving one- you have to choose inspiration from the list of

colours- yellow, teal, and cream

multiple photos

a list of things you're grateful for.

or any combination of! I did all three

I decided to make a LO about the bits of Nancy I am thankful for as I just made a Thankful LO for another DT project

the journaling reads

there are so many things I love about Nancy 1. the cute face, freckles, big eyes, just adorable 2. her odd little felt pen tattoos- these look like measles 3. that she likes me to do her hair in the morning 4. her imagination- at the Wolves she decided to make up the score as she didn't like the real one

thankful 2

2011-11-15T18:49:00.000Z

but I decided to make another thankful LO inspired by a LO i made of my daughter's Christmas list where I photographed her handwritten Christmas list

I asked my three to hand write a list of the things they are grateful for

this is what they said

Nancy (age 4)

telly

shoes

food

santa

chairs

eyes

school

Stanley (age 9)

wii

play station

computer

electric guitar

dsi

ipod

kitchen

house

parents

grandparents

food

drinks

toilet

bed

school

friends

football club

cricket club

Santa

birthdays

life

brother

sister

name

Arthur (age 6)

bed

treasure box

guitar

kitchen

computer

Santa

Grandma

Grandpa

chocolate

for Arthur and Nancy I rewrote their list underneath the handwritten list so we would still be able to read and understand it in a few years

Decorations

2011-11-15T18:40:00.000Z

Its getting to that time of the year and I am still no where near having scrapped all of last year's photos!

I have to say I am SOOOOO fed up with the plastic tree we have- we have been talking about getting rid of it for about six years- but for the last three years we have been away from home for over a week around Christmas because we have been travelling back to the UK so there was no point in getting a real one- we talked about getting a new fake one but they were very expensive in the Netherlands- so maybe this year......

Anyway the photos are of the decorations on our tree - this year I AM changing them- I love the pale blue, white and crystal that we have but for the last few years I have been buying bits in bright colours to go on the little tree in the hall- this year i think I have hoarded enough to put them on the BIG tree.

This Lo was for the Scrapbookers Anonymous mid month alphabet challenge! this month we are up to the letter D- so the Lo is about Decorations and I used DCWV paper to make the tree and the background paper- I cheated a bit by using some American Crafts washi to make my decorations- so this might not be the main contribution for the challenge!

SPARKLE

2011-11-15T16:31:00.000Z

this one may be my main submission for the D challenge at SCrapbookers Anonymous- I left it to Lea nad Theresa to decide- because I couldn't!I'm hopeless at making decisions!

All the papers are DCWV and the subject is Nancy Decorating the Christmas tree last year-

at the works "do"

2011-11-15T15:51:00.000Z

this LO is for Shimelle's sketch of the week and also part of her Christmas crafting weekend - so the added twist was to make a Christmas LO

The sketch was designed around those pages with a border round them- the ones- it turns out- that many of us aren't very good at using- I'm also hopeless with papers that have a big design across one corner- I never know where to put the picture and can't work out how to embellish over the designs!

Anyway back to the Lo

this photo is of me aged about 4 at my Dad's work's Christmas "do". ( is that a particularly British turn of phrase?) My Dad was playing Father Christmas that year so that might explain the look of confusion on my face

And if you think the reindeer looks slightly odd it's because it's a mirror and its reflecting the underside of my conservatory door!

all the tiny little silvery dots are from a packet of thickers- no I didn't steal all the dots from the i's but there were loads of little full stops on the sheets so I used them

old gold

2011-11-14T14:30:00.007Z

Another using the Scrap the Boys challenge for Inspiration- they asked you to scrap your bys team colours

Our team is Wolves- Wolverhampton Wanderers- and they play in Old Gold- AKA orange! hence the orange papers- the boys are posing in their Wolves Kits at the start of the Almere City Run they competed in last year

the list

2011-11-14T14:30:00.005Z

This LO is about Nancy's Christmas List this year- its a doozy

she wrote it in her own hand and if you look carefully you can see she's getting the hang of writing

her list reads

a computer
3 dollies
8 dolly heads
smart man
sun glasses
13 houses

I'm not sure about the dolly heads! but the smart man is not a real man its a Prince Nicholas doll and the 13 house is a set of Peppa Pig houses that nest inside each other-

I'm hoping this qualifies for Shimelle's challenge about journalling to document holiday memories that are missing from our albums!

getting started

2011-11-14T14:30:00.003Z

this weekend Shimelle had a Christmas craft weekend- to help us all get ready with cards and ready for Journal Your Christmas if you happen to be getting involved

Last year I won a class pass for the class on the day it started so I was nowhere near ready for it- In fact I only finished it yesterday- I put a concerted effort to get something down for every day even if it wasn't what I really wanted- at least its done ( well as done as its gonna be- I went back through my photos and found I didn't take any photos on the 28th and 29th so I had no idea what we did!)

Anyway this year I shall be prepared- well vaguely

I've chosen to use a 6x12 American crafts album

and yesterday I cut down some photo protectors to go in between the 6X12 page protectors ( I had some for 12x12 albums so I cut them in half)

I thought this would give me the flexibility to add some 4x6 photos or journalling and I could put three pages on one or use the three spaces for one day- we'll see how it goes

I also ordered some papers from AC so hopefully by the end of the week I'll be able to cut some papers down to size ready and make my page numbers!

tag your it

2011-11-14T14:30:00.001Z

the first challenge to help you use your Counterfeit kIt is up- and its called tag you're it- the challenge is to use tags- simple as that

So here is my version- I cut some tags out of my kit papers- added some string with staples- I really need a hole punch that can do individual holes!

hope you like it

only read this if you are over 18- 11.11 11.11.11

2011-11-11T19:05:00.001Z

Ok so Dear Lizzy had a challenge to photograph what you were doing at 11.11 on 11.11.11

and this is where I have to be careful what I'm saying- at 11.11 this morning I was just returning from the supermarket and hiding the Christmas presents I had bought! this explains the need to keep the post away from small believers in the fat guy in red (IYKWIM)

I really wish I had been doing something more exciting but I had to go and collect a parcel from the post office and by the time I got there it was 11 am- time for 2 minutes silence for remembrance day in the UK

so I observed the silence in the car and then rushed home for 11.11 as I didn't have my camera with me

anyway by the time I got home there was no time to get organised and do something interesting

so this was it

colour challenge

2011-11-10T20:03:00.000Z

This is what I put together for the Crate Paper Colour Challenge- this month the colours are, pink, orange and blue

I used some of the many photos I took of odd details in Amsterdam, walls, graffiti , posters etc

these three went well with the colour scheme- I thought

I added some Crate chipboard in matching colours

I also came up with this but I'm not so happy with the LO

the photo is Nancy dressed as a real medieval princess- in a hairnet, and wimple- literally pinned in

she wasn't impressed- she wanted pink and pointy- if you know what I mean!

TREASURED GOLD

2011-11-10T18:47:00.000Z

This Lo is mt DT submission for the latest challenge over at Scrap it with a song- the song is Rolling in the Deep by Adele

sometimes I think I'm not quite the person for this challenge blog-! there was me thinking I didn't know what this song was and then I watched it on you tube and realised I did know it and in fact i really like it! shows what attention I pay to music these days!

I chose the line from the song- treasured gold- my sister just had a baby (in October) and she posted this picture of her and the little one on facebook- she used Incredibooth on her I-phone to get the effect which I love- the golden tones of the photo also worked well with the line I chose

so high

2011-11-10T17:53:00.000Z

a quick post- this photo is of the viewing platform at the very top of the tropical biodome at the Eden Project in Cornwall- I took this photo while Stanley and James were right at the top. they were the only two of us brave enough to to go up and then they didn't stay for very long!

i think I cheated

2011-11-10T13:52:00.002Z

No I don't really move at the speed of lightening but Julie T-W had revealed her LO for this sketch from Sketchy Thursday a little early

So I got ahead of the game and whipped one up!

This LO is of photos I took of flowers at the Eden Project in Cornwall last month

unfortunately I only know the name of one of the flowers- top left is a Dahlia- they happen to be one of my favourites

the others are all tropical flowers from the tropical biome

naturally chilled

2011-11-09T16:46:00.001Z

Ok this Lo is also using the same design as the last two but this one is for Shazza over at Artastic

this month the inspiration is from the painting Bacchus by Caravaggio. Shazza has three criteria- a bow, a wine glass or bottle and some grapes ( or fruit) I have been thinking about this for days- started it twice and in the end thought hey I can live with the extra diva point for the grapes ( sorry Shazza- naught I know) but I just couldn't find anything that fitted with what I had

The Lo is a photo of some wine that i had chilling in the garden - in the snow- last winter- hence the title "Naturally Chilled"

this is the painting

new inspiration

2011-11-09T16:42:00.003Z

I found a new blog today and OMG I am in love with this ladies work- I saw her LO on Flickr and thank goodness she had a link to her blog- you can find it here her name is Natt Smith

My fave Lo of hers ( the one on Flickr) has inspired me to make 4- yes $_ Los based on the same design but they all look different

this first one is using my counterfeit kit

its called street art- the photo is of one of those electrical sub stations on the street that control the traffic lights etc This one is in Hilversum and its been transformed by painting/ spraying it to look like a miniature block of flats complete with satellite dishes

the second one is for Dutch dares- their latest challenge is toys

I know I should probably stop now as I am no longer living in the Netherlands but I can't resist and I think if I use my Dutch photos then I'm ok.

this LO show Nancy with her complete collection of Monskeys- they were given away free in our local Hoogvliet supermarket and it took a lot of shopping, swapping and negotiating on Markplaats to get them all!

happy times

2011-11-09T12:00:00.000Z

here is my DT submission for the latest sketch at Twisted sketches- its a great sketch this week with a simple twist- chipboard- so a great reason to but out my lovely new Crate Paper chipboard stickers- I am still saving one for something special- I just don't know what yet!

You'll need to hop over to Twisted sketches to see the sketch- follow the link at the side.

My Lo shows Nancy on the beach in Cornwall last week- just strolling in the waves in her red spotty wellies- I love her wellies

the bright papers seem to go well with the bright colours of her dress

Paris

2011-11-08T17:46:00.002Z

This Lo was inspired by a LO on the October Afternoon blog this week with a huge hand cut title- I started sorting through my October Afternoon papers and found this die cut paper of the Paris transport system- well it so happens there has been a photo of me laying on the floor in my scrap room taken in Paris-

we were on a school trip and this is me sitting under the Eiffel tower at our group meeting point- I cut the photo down as I was sitting next to my boyfriend of the time!

I hand drew and cut my own title so I am submitting this to the Studio Challenges whose latest challenge is all about hand cutting.

muddy butts

2011-11-08T17:32:00.004Z

Last weekend we visited Kenilworth Castle- the children love going there and one of their fave things to do is slide down the motte ( or the large embankment that the castle sits on) the problem was that Arthur ended up with the dirtiest butt imaginable- in fact the trousers have been through the wash twice and they're still dirty.

I made this LO for the Creative Scrappers sketch- (see below) Instead of chevrons i made a checkerboard pattern using squares I cut from my Counterfeit kit- they inspired me to make a checkerboard pattern as that was part of the kit to counterfeit

cornwall

2011-11-08T08:30:00.000Z

This Lo is from our holiday in Cornwall last week- a day trip to Newquay- a few hours on the beach and a cornish pasty - perfect

The photos are of Arthur playing on the rocks- he got stranded about 30 seconds later for all of about 10 seconds but it must have felt like an eternity for him as he really frightened himself

I got a bit brave this week and started cutting into my favourite new papers- I'd already cut a few circles out of this and then decided to use the rest of the paper on this- I covered up the hole with the layers of tags and embellishments

And a close up of the layers

writing in the sand

2011-11-07T19:19:00.000Z

So a new challenge for me- Scrapjacked- where they give you a LO to use as inspiration-and see what you can come up with- The Jackee this month is Tara Anderson her the LO for inspiration is below-

What I made is above- using the same colour palette and over all design-

the photo is Arthur with his name drawn in the sand- I tried to get his whole face in- failed miserably and then he ran off - so I was left with this- still like it though

view

2011-11-07T19:14:00.001Z

A LO using my Counterfeit kit for this month and a challenge from the Studio Challenges

The photo is Arthur- taken at our friends house- he has an ENORMOUS garden including three or four ponds of which this is one- Arthur ran off ahead of us as we were exploring the garden - I took this snap as we approached him- standing looking out over the lake

The Studio Challenges challenge is to hand cut something- well I hand cut the leaves out of the patterned paper- but then I thought that might be cheating- having a shape to follow- so I hand cut the scalloped border

another kit another month

2011-11-07T19:07:00.002Z

When I looked at the kit chosen for Counterfeit Kit this month I realised i had almost all of the papers that the kit contained! But the papers are new and I didn't really want to use them in my kit so instead I went through my older papers to replicate the kit

the three main colours of the kit are pale blue, orange and brown so I found myself a palette of papers using the same colours including some American Crafts, Studio Calico, Brenda Pinninck, Anna Griffin, October Afternoon and Basic grey

Embellishments are my weak point so I pulled out the basics, tags, butterflies, some label stickers, bingo cards and Jillibean report cards

This is the original kit

wind

2011-11-07T08:30:00.000Z

Oh I do love these simple pages- just some white card and in my card bits of paper that I found on the floor by my desk ( there happens to be quite a choice of paper on the floor though-it wasn't just colour co-ordinated already
three pictures of Arthur on a very windswept beach enjoying himself despite the weather

drawing in the sand

2011-11-06T19:33:00.000Z

Do you ever look at some people's LOs and think blimey I wouldn't need to buy much stash if I made LOs Like that!

I really love those LOs that that just have tiny elements of patterned paper and then lots of white space so I thought I'd make a couple this week- this is my first effort

the photos are from our holiday to Cornwall last week- Nancy spent a lot of time drawing in the sand- her name- pictures of people - faces all kinds of stuff

I think I need to make more LOs like this- they are quick- simple and I can use up my little scraps- however I think I'll need to buy some more white card!

been meaning to for ages

2011-11-05T20:06:00.000Z

I have seen so many LOs where these book papers were used as books on a shelf and I have been meaning to do the same for months and months- finally I got round to it this week- I used an old photo of Nancy "reading" one of my books- of you look closely she is reading backwards and upside down!

I think I was inspired to get on with this LO by the fact that Nancy is starting to read properly now- she is sounding out letters and words in the simple books she's bringing home from school- I don't think it will be long before she is ahead of her brother who is a reluctant reader to say the least- even bribery is not working!