what a weekend!

Sorry its been a while.... lots to do, people to see and all that

Elsie Moo's first birthday! what could be more important than that?!?!?! nothing in my book.... 

we had a birthday party at home for her with friends and family, and on sunday we went out for lunch and a nice long walk along the waterfront at Portishead. 

wanna see a couple of pics???

the birthday girl after opening presents

a birthday kiss

these are a couple of my have pics from the day and heres a couple from our sunday adventure:

Lola looking cool!

Happy after being taken out of the buggy with Daddy!

it was a lovely weekend, the sun was shining and every one was happy :)

now onto the crafty stuff that you've missed out on.... not that its very exciting I'm afraid!

this first page I did late saturday night after a very long day:

the prompt for this one was I feel like I'm......... it was supposed to be about me but you know I hate those pages, so I found some pics of Lola from last year on the trampoline and chose flying to end the sentence.

I also couldn't be bothered to think about it either so followed s layout by shimelle which site made as a starting point. 

the next is a bit rubbish so i won't show you it. it was a quirky so doesn't have a lot on it, maybe i will play with it  bait and let you see it in a better state xxxxx

numbers numbers everywhere!!!

Today is the 24th February 2012..... I have counted up my layouts for this month and including the one I am about to show you I have done 30 since the 1st Feb!!! how amazing is that!!!! Im very pleased with myself and surprised that I am still going, but I am, and eager too. 

Also more numbers.... Elsie will be 1 tomorrow!!! how scary is that, it seems only yesterday that I was upset and devastated over the trauma we went through with her arm and yet today she is up there with all the rest. and damn quick, cheeky and naughty with it too :)

The prompt for today was also numbers, which got me thinking about all of these things, I chose to do a page about my boys and the magic number 10. There is 10 months, 10 days, 10 hours and 10 minutes between them!! Dan was born on 9th March 2001 at 4:05pm...Mike was born on January 19th 2002 at 2:15 am.... I'm sure if I do the math properly it doesn't work out to be all the tens but it sounds right when you say it. 

so here is my page:

I have always loved this picture, it was taken in Feb 2002 so Mike was maybe a month old if that and Dan 11 months. I love the love between them already, Daniel has always been a cuddly, loving boy and this shows from a very early age.

I chose these colours from a design seeds post called lime tones, as anything would have worked really with a black and white pic. 

thanks for looking today xxxx

what a lovely day :)

It started off very chilled, after I dropped Lola to Zoes for the day I came back and put the kettle on. Elsie was playing really nicely with her toys in the front room and I decided to upload some of my really old photos from discs onto my mac.

for one because I was looking for a certain picture which isn't on my mac, and secondly just because I wanted to broaden my choice of photos over the last remaining days of LOAD.

Elsie went to bed at about 10am and I had a lovely visit from Louisa at half past.

We haven't had a chinwag for weeks, so it was lovely to kick back with a few mugs of tea, natter about crap and not stress about anything. She had also bought us some weight watchers bagels for lunch, they were very yummy and you left the other 2 here babe if you want them :)

after Lou left I chose which pictures I was going to scrap today and printed them off, I found some lovely ones on my discs so expect some oldie photos for a while lol

then I had to collect Lola from Zoe's, and come home to put dinner on. on the way back from Zoes we came across Grandad who was hiding behind the lamp post..... lola found that a great game lol, so we had a cup of tea and a little chat about what had gone on during the day.

after grandad left I started my page as dinner cooked.... we had lemon and herb chicken with roasted carrots and potatoes, with a side of broccoli, it was scrumptious!!! I really enjoyed it and it was healthy too!!

here is my finished page:

Its of Dan when he was just 1, in his new car that Nanny and Grandad bought him, in their back garden.

the prompt today was road trip, I had been looking for photos of myself and Paul on a train to watch the rugby final in Twickenham but I came across these first, maybe I will load more on tomorrow and do another one.

Also this morning I signed up for a new class by Shimelle Laine, called hitch hikers guide to scrapbooking. 

The first chapter talks about papers and how to put them together, whether you use packs as put together by the manufacturer, or mixing kits, or just by randomly choosing colours which is what I always do. 

we also had a challenge which was to show before and after photos of our supplies. This was a challenge for me as its now how I normally work. I can't pick things out and use them for a page, usually I start with my photo, then find a background card stock, then add bits as I go along... choosing title letters and embellishments last. however for this challenge I had to decide what I was going to use before I had done anything..... but I did it...you know me, always up for a challenge!

just incase you are interested this is what the before picture looked like:

See how I missed loads of it off??? I added extra bits incase I did need them, but I did use the blue card stock, its just really hard to see as it only mats the photos, i did use the wash tape, i mean why wouldn't i!!?? I did use a couple of the thickers and def the title letters and I was very good and didn't add any extras too it once I had chosen my stuff. it might look a little plain, and it probably needs a button or 2 but I might add that later on. its done and looking ok, plus I used 5 photos on one layout...go me!!!!! :)

wednesday = craft day :)

So after dropping Lola off at school, doing the food shop and then making lasagne I got down to do some crafting.

I was joined today by Carole and Daphne for our own little online crop. all in separate locations, working on different projects but chatting along as we did it. 

here is what I did today:

Scrap lifted the design from here, as i was completely clueless as to what to do with this photo.

the theme of the day was Holidays, which being American actually meant christmas, valentines, easter etc etc etc ...

I had this picture of Elsie from just before christmas, I went to Phil and mandys to drop off the girls presents and Phil took a photo of Elsie and started messing with it on his iPhone. he later showed me this and I asked him to mail it to me. love how cute she looks as santa

I quite like that I managed to sneak in a few layers of embellishment which is unlike me, but I am sad because on the back of this patterned paper, which i think matches well.... is a golden chevron paper which i was also really looking forward to using, may have to purchase another sheet :(

its a late one!

By my book anyways :)

I have been busy watching (and ordering a little) on qvc... who could resist with mr Timmy on the set??

not that I am obsessed like some of you but I do like his stuff, and actually didn't end up ordering his stuff but did bag myself a martha stewart round the edge punch, another to add to my collection...ooops!!!!

and with a lovely visit from my Grandad and my Aunty Jan, who we haven't seen in ages... I didn't have much time to scrap, plus I had the extra chore today of making pancakes!!1 yum yum yum

So I put the girls to bed and sat down to scrap with my online friend Carole.. (waves) 

I had already chosen a photograph to go with the prompt for today which was My home town... a hard prompt as I didn't have a clue initially, but when I thought about it , things became clear.

I decided to scrap about my mum, my grandparents and their parents and how we were all born in Bristol and still remain here.

I had to find a photo which represented Bristol to me, without being one that I hadn't taken myself, or one that I didn't like and was just scrapping for the sake of it, I really do hate forced pages. 

I found a lovely one taken last year early one morning before school, a beautiful rainbow appeared outside our front door so I managed to get a pic or 2. 

anyways heres the page:

I asked Carole, butterfly or no.... luckily she said yes because by the time she'd replied I had already stuck it with glossy accents lol.... then I told her i was putting clouds along the bottom and she didn't sound too convinced!?!?!? which again was too late as I had already stuck one of those too lol... I don't hang about you know, its almost bed time :)

As usual its not a page overloaded with embellishment, I don't think thats me, and I will have to get used to that but I think its cute and I'm pleased with the colours and how they look together. I wrote the story straight onto the photo, which you probably can't see too well here but its there in white pen honest :)

anyways.... nearly time to go to sleep... ready for a full day of crafting tomorrow when the littlies go to mums :) yay xxxxxx

well that was easier than expected!

I have been to the bank, I've made white chocolate brownies and I've managed a scrap page, as well as eating lunch and playing some iPad games with Lola. 

When I heard the prompt this morning I was worried as it was relating to fashion, I don't do fashion, never have.... I hate old photos, even if I were to find some of myself as a kid in a shell suit, can't believe they were EVER in fashion!!! yuck!!!

So instead I looked through my small photo box to see if anything leapt out at me. 

heres what I came up with:

The photo is of Elsie at maybe a week or 2 old, and as soon as I saw it the title sprang to mind, so that was my decision made for me. 

I have seen a few layouts lately with stacks behind them so I knew I wanted to do that on this page and I knew I wanted quite a bit of 'white space' around it so as to focus on the picture.

I started by diving into my creamy coloured scrap bag and pulled out all the pieces that were about the right size to use, then I knew I wanted a light pink background paper, but as I was looking I remembered this one that came in my studio Calico kit this month, its by basic grey and is lovely!!!!

I got to work distressing some edges, screwing up other pieces of paper and hacking at others with my knife, I actually really like how well it all came together and how quickly it took me to do.

thanks for looking, be back tomorrow with day 21..... don't worry not too long now and it will all be over :)

real quick!!

just a real quick post to show you my page for yesterdays prompt, which I only got to finish this morning.

Its not the best page in the world, my head wasn't really in it, as i still felt rough and my eyes were still sore, and are still hurting today. but tis done, onto the next as I don't want to fall behind anymore.

the prompt for this one was friends old and new. 

I chose to use a picture from my 30th birthday which was also a crop day, a very special crop day at that. 

thanks for stopping by this morning, I've got some running around to do but will hopefully be back later xxxxx

good morning!!!

its Sunday again...how did that happen?!??!?!?!

Today is busier than normal tho as we are off to the zoo for Lolas friends birthday party, I had naughtily forgotten to get a card for her so i made her one.... do you wanna see???

its not amazing, I'm not the best card maker, but I think its quite cute. I got the idea from pinterest again, (love that place).... see here.... its not identical but its ok.

the next thing to show you is my layout from yesterday, the prompt was its your birthday, so I chose to scrap a couple of photos from Dans birthed last year, as I had already used the pic of Michael this year.

I used another Pinterest page as inspiration, find that here

I liked the way the title banner split up the page but didn't take over, again its not exactly the same but you can ring the changes. its not my best page ever, but neither is it my worst so in the album it goes.

I was lucky yesterday that I got this page finished when I did as my eye flared up again like the other week and I couldn't see much out of it, I had an emergency appointment at the doctors last night who gave me much more tablets to what I was already on and because of the high dosage that she gave me, when we got to the pharmacy we had to wait almost an hour to get the prescription because he thought it was written wrong, he had to phone the out of hours docs, who then had to phone about themselves and then we had to wait for them to get back to him.

Its been agreed  that I can take the high dosage but must be careful of the affects, I have 2 strong antihistamines, one of which you are only supposed to take 1 a day of, but I am on 3... as well as another in between which again you are supposed to take once and I am on 2.... I hope it works, as this morning i am still puffy... no where near as bad but still swollen. 

I was also told the Urticaria (which is what its called) can last a very long time, originally it had been said up to a year, but the doc yesterday said she knows some people who have had it for 10 years!!! I really hope not, it drives me insane!!!!

anyways, no time to sit here boring you to death about my ailments, I've gotta do todays page, as well as get the girls dressed for the zoo, myself too lol

have a good Sunday.

xxxxx

catching up...

So yesterday i felt really rough, so bad that I was in bed by 7pm last night and slept right through until 7 this morning..bar waking up with elsie for milk at 5 lol.

so today I'm feeling a bit better, my headache/migraine appears to be going which is good, I still have a very sore, stiff shoulder but I'm getting on with it, us women have no choice :)

Im also back on the diet today, I can't ever seem to eat well when I feel rubbish so ate a whole load of bad stuff last week, I put on a pound which is bad but not the end of the world, so today...this week I pull it back and more!

I made myself and my grandad some tomato and chilli soup for lunch, it was delicious and free on weight watchers!!! yum yum! and for dinner we are having barbecue chicken(which is cooking in the slow cooker as we speak!) with maybe some potato wedges and veg, it smells gorgeous so can't wait for that.

anyways now onto the important stuff:

so this is yesterdays page, the prompt was' people in my neighbourhood'

I really HATE scrapping old pictures, of myself or anybody really. they always have loads of background stuff, that you don't really wanna see, and I just can never get my head around them, but here it is..its not so great cause my head was really bad yesterday but I didn't wanna get behind on LOAd so I just did a quick and easy one.

the pic is of myself (in purple and the only girl, altho i might not look it) and my cousins with our friends... journalling explains how i was always a tomboy and lists the things i got up to as a kid. 

This is todays page, another semi lift from a pin here.

I loved the colour agains the plain background, I was a little scared as the paint dripped where it wanted, and some got a little mixed in with others but now its done I really like it.

I also love the new 'natural' thickers, they came in my studio calico kit and i did think about painting them rainbow colours to match the drops but I actually really like them plain. 

what do you think????

right, must be off, 

catch you later 

xxxxx

uuuggghhh!!!!

So just a little moan about how rubbish i feel before showing you my 2 pages from today.

my eye has puffed up again , weirdly underneath this time tho, it feel horrible and itchy and sore :( and I'm still snuffly with a headache and feeling a  bit yuck...but thats life and when you're a woman you have no choice but to get on with it.

so today I've looked after all the kids, and been food shopping this evening. luckily I didn't have to cook dinner as my mum and grandad were here and we got some fish and chips out, naughty but nice!!!

the prompt for today was about music and songs that we relate to things.... thought of a few ideas but one that stuck in my head the I really wanted to get onto paper, was how Lola is always singing and dancing..and how her favourite song at the moment is Marry you, i don't know who its originally by but we have obviously played the version from the glee 4 cd far too much!!!!

as a result of this song, she asks anyone she meets to marry her, this week she has been married to grandad, nanny, daddy, and Pete lol its quite cute!!!

Which picture i chose here was not important as the story that as told.... I also scrap lifted your page Carole!!! love it!!! 

obviously used more of my studio calico kit, because i can and its so yummy lol

heres my second page:

the pics are of both of the girls last week, wearing nannys scarf and posing!!!

we thought Lola was bad for loving the camera but it appears that Elsie is gonna be much the same. 

I love the simplicity of this page and it was actually taken from a studio calico sketch from the 2nd feb 2012. I loved using my paint dabber and the minimalist style. this is amongst one of my fave pages from this LOAD.

thanks for looking today, I'm off for a sit down, a rest and early to bed!!

goodnight all xxxxxx

happy love day!!!

hope you area ll having a happy valentines day and if you are married, in a relationship...that you are being spoiled rotten. and if you are single that you are living it up as you should be :)

I was very spoilt as Paul bought me a new hot diamonds necklace, I was very surprised as he has bought me loads of jewellery and I only tend to wear it on special occasions, down to having so many kids and the fact that they love to pull it and it just tends to get a bot annoying. plus i wouldn't want it to get broken... so I was very shocked to receive my gift this morning.

It is beautiful and I am wearing it now, and until tonight i would imagine but elsie has already pulled at it a few times so it wi;ll be taken off only to come out when we go somewhere nice.

its this one: aren't i lucky x

So here is my page for today:

the prompt this morning was love lasts... I thought about doing a page of Nan and Bamps wedding anniversary, but couldn't do it, not yet...

then it crossed my mind to do another page of Mike with his disgusting soft toy which is called cow, he's had it since he was 3 months old, its actually a zebra but h has always called it cow so thats what it is. 

you can imagine after 10 years its not looking its best but he still has it and loves it, takes it to bed and all that kinda stuff. its been through the wash a few times and still is hanging!!! but its valentines day so i kinda felt obliged to do a page of me and the man.

I received my studio calico kits whilst thinking about why I was gonna do with my page, I went a bit nuts this months and ordered quite a bit so i had a lovely large parcel to open up and drool over, there was loads in there that would have made this page special so I chose out a couple of patterned papers and just did what sprang to mind.

the extras, like the lanes etc all came from a free printable... find it here

I got it from someone else's pin on pinterest and I am glad I did, they are perfect!!!

thanks for looking today, hope you enjoy your day xxxxx

and another

she's bound to wake up soon!! :)

just had time to finish my second page of the day, i did start this one yesterday so just had to cut the stars and do the title etc this morning. 

It was also another Pinterest inspired page, find the original here.

It was Carole's idea to use stars across the page instead of hearts, so I pointed that idea too!!!

thanks Carole, it looks fab!!! :)

really really quickly!!!

before Elsie wakes up!!!!

heres a page I did for todays prompt, it was hobbies past:

I chose to scrap a page about Michael and his new found love for the piano, which is something that was passed on to me by my grandad and onto Michael through a random christmas present that Lola had last year.

thanks for looking

If I get time to finish the page I have been working on I will post it later if not hope you have a lovely monday and I'll see you tomorrow 

xxxxx

todays prompt

So the prompt arrived after lunch and I didn't need to watch the video before choosing what set of photos I was going to scrap. 

The prompt for today is History repeats itself..... I will show you my page before I explain more.

the large photo is of my mum and my nan in 1962. the small photo is elsie in 2012 s 50 years apart.

My grandad found this slide and was amazed at how much elsie looks like my mum, and she really does. none of the other kids have ever made this face, only Elsie and its funny how the pair of them look identical.

I wasn't sure how I was going to scrap these up until today, and it just kind of happened. the large photot is a little fuzzy as it was blown up from slide quality but i think it just shows the age difference. 

thanks for popping in again today. see you soon xxxxxx

decisions decisions......

morning beautiful people!

I didn't get chance to post anything yesterday as crop days are always manic and I'm always knackered by the time i have gotten home and unpacked, and done accounts etc etc, so have waited til this morning to upload yesterdays creation (which isn't great) and this mornings page, which is slightly better lol

This is yesterdays page, the prompt for LOAd was school days.... I tried to print off pics from Lolas first day at school but the printer was being nice yesterday morning so I ended up going to crop empty handed, however once I got chance to sit down and think about it I came across a couple of photos that were suitable for the prompt, this one of Daniel on sports day being one of them.

It was a very quick page, as i had taught a class and had lunch and was slowly running out of time but it has down the job. It wasn't a picture I thought I ever would get around t scrapping so I guess thats a good bonus.

the second page is a photo that I printed off on Friday evening and have been wanting to scrap since i took it. 

heres Lola posing as usual when the camera comes out. she did a few normal Lola poses and then pulled this face which just makes me laugh. it looks like she has a moustache!! she's so random, but wouldn't be lola if she wasn't.... this morning she was planing with a bead necklace that she was given by one of my crop ladies yesterday and she was thinking of ways she could make it 'stylish'!!!! god know sphere she got that word from, i don't think i've ever been stylish in my life so definitely not from me lol.

anyways thats another one for the ever growing album collection... Im still waiting for todays LOAD prompt to come up, its usually here by 5am, but something is wrong with it and everybody has the email but the link doesn't work... so guess I will have to find something else to work on whilst I'm waiting 

have a good day everyone xxxx

complete scraplift!!!

evening.... its been a bit of a busy day today.

I have caught up with a friend, scrapped a page for LOAD, saw my Grandad, who got Elsie to  sleep, 

2 school runs, plus a bit of lunch and dinner in between and I also helped to make half a moon (out of paper mache) and painted a rocket (empty toilet roll) for a school project!

Ive just finished washing up the dishes that won't fit in the dishwasher and have printed off some photos for tomorrows crop, incase I get time to myself to scrap :)

I really love the page I made today.... I had 2 hours whilst Elsie slept to do it in.... but I kinda knew what I was gonna do so it was just a case of throwing it together. 

I knew I didn't have much time and with the prompt for today being favourite memory I knew what picture I was going to scrap and from that knew how I was going to do it.

look here on my interest board, you will see exactly where this page originated from. I practically copied it all as I loved it so much and i think it works really well with the photo I chose.

The picture is of me on my wedding day, holding hands with Ali (my best mate) as she helped me down the stairs... we shared a bit of a moment.. it was lovely and something I will always remember. I know that sounds a bit dodgy, and lesbian like but it wasn't like that at all...we are very close but not that close lol. 

It was just one of those moments when you realise how important that person is in your life.... I'm her wifey just as she is mine lol, or thats how outsiders see us anyways lol.

anyways....Elsie needs to go to bed now, and i need to prepare for a busy day tomorrow, I have 2 classes to teach, it will be fun...but Im always nervous of how the class will go down... we are making a mini book for the page too so i know some of the girls are gonna be scared lmao..hopefully they will love me afterwards tho 

have a good evening xxxxxx

home sweet home?!?!

afternoon....

todays prompt for LOAD was home sweet home..... but today I'm not really loving the home life, I have very bad pmt this month for unknown reasons, so I am just screaming and shouting at anything that moves or makes a noise.... judge me if you like but I'm only human!!!

The thought of doing a page about how much I love home was just not appealing this morning in my frame of mind so I turned to think outside of the box and scrapped a picture of Lolas playing at Zoes, the childminders...her home away from home.

I sell this paper in my shop, its a making memories piece and is very boyish.... apart from the other side being blocky lines like a jotter (like this side but without the big green robot lol)

The plain side was my intention, I specifically searched it out in my stash cause i thought it would  work well with the number stamp that I wanted to put on it. 

But me being me did try the photo on the 'boy side and kinda liked it so just went with the flow.

obviously i had to girly it up a little, hence the splashes of pink with hopefully also tie in with the pain in the shaving foam... It took me less than an hour and I didn't think about what i was doing, i just did it. I think I scrap better this way, other wise I dwell on what it might look like, it takes me forever and I don't end up liking the end result anyways.

thanks for looking xxxxx

page of the day

todays page could have been another emotional ride, but my head and my heart needs a bit of a break before I go into meltdown, so I hose to take this prompt in another direction.

todays prompt was : I miss....

My first thoughts were of Nan as I do desperately miss her like crazy, but as I said I can't be doing more of that at the moment.... my second thought was that I miss being a size 8.... and am now considerably larger!!! I know I have a photo somewhere from when we first moved in here 5 years ago and i was super skinny and in the garden pegging out my washing lol... sounds glamorous I know but is a shot that sticks in my head, however I couldn't find that picture so had to get thinking....

All of the photos on my computer are post Lola so I'm pretty fat in all of them lol, so I turned to good old Facebook to find some half decent pictures... I found wedding ones, old school ones and eventually a nice one of myself and my friend Rachael at a wedding reception back in 2005.

here it is on my finished page:

I wanted a bright funky page, something that was happy after this weeks miseries...so chose hot pink to match my top and other bright ones to contrast. I also used another sketch from the pencil lines book, gotta love a good sketch!!

hope you like it.... wasn't able to do more today cause I had crop stuff to sort for Saturday but will definitely be back tomorrow with the next instalment of LOAD!!!

take care xxxx

Day 7

so been a bit busy today, got my page finished this morning, and then went out to Cadbury garden centre, for a wander and a bit of lunch.... then home where I tried doing some of my photography course, but failed miserably!!! then back to school to collect kiddos, then home to cook dinner..... thats why I'm late posting today :)

heres my first page:

the prompt for today was " I always thought"

my first thoughts were of Nan, and how I thought ... even at 29 that she would live forever.... that is what I was gonna title this page until I found this picture and it made me laugh and remember what a good night we had for my hen do.... so I wanted to celebrate the good times, I found this page on Pinterest which I immediately fell in love with.... I considered finding a different photo, or changing this one to sepia, but then I decided it didn't need to be a sad page, it could be a happy one. so I kept it in full colour and used bright colours to go with it... it was who she was, fun, amazing, my best friend.... a good laugh and up for anything :)

I miss her like crazy, she was everything to me, still is, so I am glad to have memories like these that I can hold in my heart forever. 

This second page is one i have been working on for a few days, which is never good for me. I tend to like to do them and put them away else I keep adding stuff, or taking stuff away when it doesn't really need it.  but heres how it turned out:

Carole what do you think???

I didn't do my usual trick of matching colours to the photo, in fact I probably did the most opposite that I could, i think thats maybe why it took me so long, my head says it looks right but my mind and how it works says it shouldn't!?!??!!?

thanks for dropping in today xxxxxx

Supermodel!

hooray for a non emotional day!

Todays LOAD prompt was titled "little girls dreams"

so I chose to do about Lola and her posing, I swear she wants to be a model or an actress or something when she grows up, altho when I asked her this morning, she replied that she wants to be a fairy, and then went into a long story about how me and Elsie could be fairies toto, and we would sneak into big girls rooms cause we're really sneaky fairies lol.

her imagination is absolutely amazing!!!

anyways here it is:

I started by flagging up on my mac, all the photos of Lola that showed her posing, and loving the camera, then I whittled it down to my favourite 20 and one by one, made them all square and black and white. 

then I printed them out in strips, I was going to cut them up separately but when I did the first strip and led it on the page I actually quite liked it as it was, plus it was a lot less work lol.

I used wash tape again, its a good job all of these pages are not going in the same album else they'd all look the same, I can't help it I'm just addicted to the stuff.... and as a bonus when I was ordering more stock for shop this morning I searched for it and I will be able to stock some lines of wash tape myself from march!!! woohoo!!!

ooh... and whilst Im here and because I don't want you to miss out or think I have even slacking, heres another page that I finished yesterday:

Im not overly keen on it, think the title gets a bit lost amongst the busy patterned paper but its another one done, and its of Daniel for a change...bonus!!!

you can also see how difficult it is for me to get a photo of him, the pics are of him trying to dodge me in the kitchen!!!

thanks for popping in today

take care

xxxxx

WARNING!!! If you are a close friend or family member this may make you cry xxx

So here I am, 10:25 Sunday morning and already I'm an emotional wreck.

The prompt for LOAD this morning was a continuation of yesterday, in the way that it completed the other half of the sentence. 

"the more they stay the same"

was todays sentence, accompanied by various options in which you could interpret it.... I went with my initial thought, and scrapped a page of Bamps and Elsie... the picture is from our outing before christmas but the journalling is about something completely different. 

Before I go any further with what I am gonna tell you about the page I should first say this to my Grandad who may very well be reading this:

It was really weird this morning, you called me on FaceTime seconds after I had put my pen down from writing on here, you asked if I was tired and I said no, but really what I think you saw in my face was how i had been crying... I should probably have prepared you for posting this page but I didn't wanna get us all upset over FaceTime. I hope thats ok xxx.

yesterdays page was emotional enough for me but this morning has been a roller coaster.

I really love the page and how it looks, and now that i have finished the journalling I am happy with it, but actually doing the journalling took me forever because I had to keep stopping to see what I was writing where I was crying so much, or my hands were shaking too much to write, or i had to move away from the page because I didn't want my tears to fall on anything.

the journalling says this:

A lot of things have changed since Nan passed away in May. All of our lives have been turned upside down and everyday is a struggle without her. But the one thing that hasn't changed is your love for the children. They need and love you as much as you do them. Forever and always xxx

I was worried and apprehensive about doing this page, and about posting it on here, but as Aunty Chris says, I tend to say the things here that we are all thinking and that we never say in person. It was a hard thing to do but I feel better for doing it. 

Hope I haven't upset anyone too much xxxxx

oh my gosh, i made a card!

So my cousin Matty phoned up whilst I was at the checkout in Asda, to ask if I could make his girlfriend a card for valentines day!!

I happily agreed, and then panicked.... I dont usually make cards, and I have already told Paul I'm making his valentines card and haven't started on that yet, but if you know me you know a challenge motivates me.

so the brain started ticking and after lunch i made a start.

here is what I came up with:

I wanted to personalise it, and as :Matt wasn't bothered what I did I had free design reign... but he did need to tell me her pet name. he calls her Bird lol

its simple, but thats my style all over, I hope he, and more importantly, she likes it

xxxxx

too early for deep?

morning everyone xxx

It was so cold last night that I came down at 6 to put the heating on before everyone else woke up, but then couldn't get back to sleep so got up! It meant I got a head start on the day and could watch my LOAD day 4 video in peace and start planning my page before anyone else was awake.... don't worry that aloneness didn't last long :)

anyway the prompt for today was 'the more things change'

and Lain said we should scrap the first thought that comes into our heads as this will be the thing that means most too us, or that we are most emotional about and I think she was right. 

I immediately thought of elsie and how over the last year she has changed my perspective of her future, so I scrapped about it. 

I couldn't find a photo that was good enough to represent what I wanted, until i looked over at her in her high chair, she was eating her toast and drinking her drink and I just thought.... its the most natural thing for someone to do but for her it takes more effort, yet she still does it. 

So out came my camera and I took the pictures today of the page I have just finished.

here it is:

I have been seeing some good ideas lately, both on Pinterest and coming out of the LOAd gallery, and here I have combined a few of them. 

I pinned a page the other day which was neutral in colour, apart from a tiny splash of pink, and that really attracted me, hence the colours of mine.... the other idea i borrowed was the journalling along the bottom block. this is the kind of page that needs a lot of words, thats what its all about so for this page I actually did the complete opposite of what i normally do. I printed my photos first, then I mounted those, as I knew I wanted them doubled up and colourless... then because I knew I was going to journal underneath, the backing piece behind my pictures had to be plain, so I found that next..... then I found my main background (which i normally do first thing) i added layers from there.

Incase you can't read it the journalling says:

All change.

its almost your first birthday and so much has changed in the year since you were born. At first I was worried that your little arm would hold you back in life, but how you have proven me wrong. you do EVERYTHING that any other child your age can do, you have faced every problem and solved it in your own way. Everyday you amaze me more and more. You are so special, I am proud to be your Mama, love you Moomin xxxxxxxxx

So now its only 9:45am, and I'm raring to do my next page, its a bit cold to go out..even tho i do have to get some food shopping!! so might just drag it out a bit longer and make something else pretty.

have a nice day everyone, especially you Carole!!!! hope it goes well today xxx

a tricky one!!!

So.... I finished the LOAD page really early this morning and so was stuck with nothing to do.... last night I had started a page for my chinese whispers group, i know I've told you about it before... ssshhhh remember because I'm not supposed to talk about it :)

well anyways, the page that I have to copy is lovely, but its not my style at all... has lots of faffy bits on it and I find that hard to do, so had to figure out a way to make it more..... bulky I guess and less swooshy... it was beginning to really annoy me as I found the perfect paper to go with the perfect photo and from then on it went down hill.... 

this is what I have ended up with:

im not overly keen on it, but its done... I quite like the title but it only works if you say it right so might confuse a lot of people lol, but hey thats sometimes good for a laugh. 

not sure my faffy bit in the bottom right corner looks quite right but I'm fed up messing with it to be honest. it can stay looking not quite right just so that I can move on and stop stressing over it.

anyways.... time to move on and try something new.... heres hoping it doesn't snow too much tonight, for you guys too (unless you like it of course) xxxxxxx

LOAD 3

so today is the 3rd of Feb and i bring you my (should be third) but 4th layout of the month.

I have managed to do this one in an hour whilst Elsie has been sleeping, so it was quick and is easy but I actually quite like it.

The pic is of Michael at TGI's last month when we went to celebrate his birthday. 

The prompt this morning was: Who are you?

As I don't really wanna do a page about me, it did cross my mind but quickly left..I thought this would be an ideal time to scrap this photo and let him have future reference to what was going on in his life at the age of 10. 

I also (apart from my background card stock.. ALL SCRAPS! well done me.... plus I managed to use old alphabets that have been sat in my alphabet bag for years!! I never thought they would see the light of day, as they aren't my have to look at but I think they work quite well on the page. what do you think?!?!?!?

In other news.... today is stupidly freezing, its -7 here and you can definitely feel it...wish I was with Elsie tucked up in bed nice and warm, but far too much scrapping to do around here to be sleeping lol... I have also not done very well on my diet this week and have put on a pound!!! eeeeeekkkkk.....

Im actually not to worried to be honest tho, as I haven't had a good week, I know I have been eating really bad so I was expecting more, so all in all quite happy that it wasn't more and today I'm feeling positive and am rejoining the band wagon once again

Wish me luck xxxxxx

breaking the rules!!!

ok so second page of the day, this time using Amy Tangerines class by Studio calico which is called stretch your kit.

I was a bit disappointed when i opened the first assignment from her as I love her products but wasn't totally in love with her scrapbook page, plus I was also put off by the fact that I thought it would relate to the new kit that we will receive this month but instead it focuses on last months kit, of which I have already used most of. 

I was not going to be out of pocket tho, i had paid for the class, which runs all month so I'm hoping it might get more inspirational, so I am going to make the most of it. I decided to do my own page based on the steps that she had laid out but with my own products and with my own style in it. 

here it is:

it uses paint swooshes (you'll love that bit Carole!! :) )

and layers of punched strips of paper... she had used one large punch which had a layered effect but I made do with what i had to hand. 

I also just received a new shop delivery and in the box, was new sizzix dies, they are kinda like nestibilities but sizzix own range. love them a lot!!

thats how I managed to stack the stars up and i LOVE how they look!!!

I also didn't have an A in the sparkly alphabet so had to replace it with a tim holtz grunge 'A' which i painted in the same colour as the pink swoosh at the bottom. I also managed to add a little of my other have product at the moment in.... the washi tape! really love it and am likely to use it to death :)

also for Aunty chris here is a picture of Elsie moo with her toy horse in her mouth last night, Mum noticed and said aww look she's so hungry she could eat a horse, so I grabbed a photo and that will be the title when i get around to scrapping it.

its amazing how big her eyes look, especially in that first picture!!! 

anyway enough from me for now...

see you soon xxxxx

LOAD 2!

afternoon!!!

so just a quirky with the second instalment of my layout a day challenge....

the prompt today was favourite photo, so as I always scrap photos that I love straight away I asked my bestie Ali to choose a year and a month, and from that I chose my favourite picture from that folder, and these were them. 

I love them because Lola is not scared of the dragonfly that kept returning to her, and because she was so gentle with it once it had landed. 

I also love it because my Nan is in the background :)

the mahoosive butterfly( which is pretending to be a dragonfly!!) came from the floral centrepiece from our christmas display, I kept it for such an occasion as this, and love how it looks on the page, altho i did have to disect him a little as he was rather bulky!!! 

I have a few more class challenges to do today so might be back later with another instalment.

bye bye for now xxxx

pinch punch....

First of the month!!!

Cannot believe Feb is here already...and what madness that brings with it. this month I have signed up for LOAD which is a class to help make a layout a day... hence the initials!! 

I have already down my first and will post it in just a second for you to see....

I have also signed up for a photography class with Kirsty Wiseman, that starts tonight I think.... altho i don't yet have my camera back, I'm hoping it comes home soon cause I'm really lost without it :(......

and thirdly a class by studio calico about stretching your kit.... i can't really do anything with that until the middle of the month which is when my kit is likely to turn up so I'm good with that for now

then of course its Elsie moos first birthday on the 25th.... can't believe a year has gone by already, and what a year its been. too many tears and upset for my liking which means this year has to be better. time to make the most of what we have and be happy with it. 

right.... so here goes, the first page of LOAD:

The prompt today was titled: I've got good taste... and went on to talk about food obviously, but you could have turned it into anything really. the LOAD this time is trying to get us to look back further than the here and now, so I linked this photo with memories of growing up and how trifle was then and is still now one of my have desserts but how back then we only had it on a sunday dinner time with cakes etc.after having a big roast for lunch. that and at parties obviously yum yum.....

the next layout I finished yesterday actually and was for the next page in the pencil lines sketch book. 

I should probably put some more...or even some at all.... stuff on it, but I know I would only ruin it by what I chose so for now its staying plain...I did achieve something out of my comfort zone by stamping on it, so need a bit of time to get over that first lol.

these are pics of Lola a few days before Elsie was born, all the way through she loved to touch my ever growing tummy and one day I decided to take pics from my viewpoint of her doing it. they've been sat in my collection on the computer for almost a year, but what a fab time to scrap them, just before elsies first birthday. what a difference a year makes!!!

actually just typing that then I realised that I was gonna squeeze a bit of journalling in there somewhere, will have to work on that one!!!!

so now for some horribleness!!!

an update on my mysterious illness / rash / swelling up to look like  monster issues!!

here is a pic of what I looked like yesterday morning:

sorry the pics not great i couldn't really see too well lol.

so my eye was swollen, so much that i couldn't see out of it and this was with tablets!!! so back to the docs i went, i was given different antihistamines which have worked for now, altho my eye is still sore, and I'm currently waiting for the doctor to call with details of how my pictures of my rash went down at the hospital...hopefully someone there would have seen it before and be able to tell me how to cure it cause 8 months down the line I'm really fed up with it now!! anyone have any ideas id love the hear them!!!

right, its lunchtime on my day off this week...yes its wednesday and the girls are at mums again!! yay.... so I'm gonna go eat and then catch up with some more scrapping before having to go to a school meeting tonight to hear all about SATs preparation...cant wait for that one!!!

have a fab wednesday everyone xxxxx