starting early

EEEEKKK!!!!!!!

I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOAD starts again tomorrow, for those of you who don't know, its a challenge called layout a day and its run by Lain Ehmann and her group of girls, and it really does what it says, for me anyways.

every day you get a prompt and a short video, or maybe just talking... with a prompt and sometimes a starting point, or somebody's page to follow.

this is enough to make me do loads of scrapping, it sounds such a simple idea, but to keep that going for a whole month, from Lains point of view must be hard, and from a buyers point of view yeah its challenging but not impossible. 

If you love challenges and are always looking for something new to try with your scrapping I highly recommend you go and sign up and join in with the fun.

this will be my third LOAD and last time I completed 35 pages in 31 days, so an enormous amount of scrapping that I wouldn't have done otherwise.

anyways... here is a page that I finished this morning to get me in the mood to start tomorrow...

the pics are of Elsie and my aunty at a birthday party that we went to a couple of weeks ago. Elsie loved the ballon but didn't really know what to do with it so she tried to bite it... Karen did not like the idea of it going BANG so she tok it from her and rubbed it on her hair to make it static. 

we all found this very funny :)

thanks for looking today.... you will be seeing me a lot over the next month just to warn you :) xxxxx

ickle Michael!

I'm back!

I needed some time out this morning so i chose a challenge that needed doing and got to it with my new papers that have just come into stock. 

its the My minds Eye - Miss Caroline range

if you are interested?!?!? if you want any give me a shout :)

the challenge I chose to do is a sketch challenge from the scrap365 magazine blog. they have always had an internet site for it but now they have launched the challenge blog and you can find it and the challenge i followed here

the sketch was very cool, and i just couldn't wait to get stuck into the Miss Caroline range, its so nice, I squealed a little when I got the delivery. it has different sub sections within the whole range, some are more male orientated and others more feminine, but I like and will use them all.

this morning I chose to do some very old pictures of Michael.

he was just over 1 in these photos, looking all cosy and warm in his huge puffer coat and cute bear hat.

the only piece on here that isn't Miss Caroline, is the x and O sheet, and that was actually packaging from another range that i have in. 

i think amongst all the colour it needed an extra bit of grey to tone it back down. 

I love love love the planks papers in the range, there are a few different ones, but this one worked best for me. 

I added some brads from the same range and also a journalling card. 

thanks for looking today

xxxxx

new class

Morning....

Oooooh.... its a new layout for blogging! bit weird but hopefully it will turn out just the same?!?!?

today I'm feeling a bit under the weather and a bit stressed out so I'm gonna take it easy and catch up on a couple of little things that i have to do.

one of those is blogging to you guys. 

I need to tell you about a weekend class online that I just took, its called True scrap and it is mainly taken by Americans as thats where it is based but anyone can take part. it does cost but you might think that its worth it.

every hour over the weekend there is a class or a make and take and they are all on a live feed via the internet. alongside this you receive the video links to watch back whenever you like, a pdf to print out if you need it and a forum to chat and ask questions.

because of the time difference and other commitments i only made one of the live classes but I have them all on links to watch over and over again. the class I watched live was by Shimelle and she went through how to use a whole pack, yes Carole every single sheet, of an 18 page pack of papers. and actually Carole I think it would scare you but I also think once you got over that you will love it!

firstly she tells you what sizes to cut them all up into, then she shows you a whole album that she has made up from every bit of those papers. 

I did not cut up a load of papers but I did use her layouts as inspiration for a page for a class that I have to teach to the rangers in a few weeks. 

here it is:

the brief ro the class was as follows.

It needs to cost under £5 per page. this includes all papers and alphabets so that they don't have to share. 

it needed to have colours from the badge that they have been working on, which includes pink, green, brown and blue.

I also said i would add a mini book incase they have lots they want to say or more pictures that they want to add. 

and it has to have tulips on it..... i have cut them out for the rangers to use and i have a few places in mind that they could put them but as my page doesn't really relate to tulips i won't add them to mine and once the girls have don their class in a couple of weeks i will finish my page off with extra bits. 

would love to know your thoughts, bearing in mind these girls are around 14, do you think this is ok??? too simple??? too hard????

oooh and one more piece of good news before I leave..... Elsie moo is finally walking!!!! yay!!!!!!

see you all soon xxxxxx

hungry?

I did another quicky!!!

and another Shimelle challenge, I haven't done them all, or as many as I had hoped i would but i have had other things going on, so I'm pleased with the few that I have managed to achieve. 

the criteria for this one was to use bold patterns or colours on the page. 

I was going to follow the scrap lift page provided, I found 2 photos that would have worked, (kind of) but as usual i had to change it up a little.

I knew which paper i was going to use as soon as I chose my photographs. I knew in my paper stash that I had cowboy paper, from one of the DCWV paper stacks, so I searched my box for these.

they are NOT my usual style and I wouldn't normally choose to scrap with this style of paper but the photos screamed for them so here it is:

EEEEKKK!!!! I used THEMED papers!!!!

I NEVER do this, but thought I could try and tone it down a bit, Im not sure I achieved toned down, with bright orange mats but I quite like it.

It took me a while to like it tho, It wasn't until i added the maya road kraft journalling spots that I thought actually its not too bad.... before that it wasn't looking so appealing.

anyways, I'm a bit cold and it getting past my bed time :) 

so will call it a day and hopefully do more of the challenges tomorrow. 

oops best link you up before I forget!!!

look here for some fab inspiration

finally!!!

Good morning. 

So yesterday was a good day and a bad day!

A great day because crop went really well, everyone was happy, 6 people took my class at crop and I've had orders for 6 more kits with instructions so people who weren't there don't miss out. 

everyone that did it seemed to enjoy themselves and Kerri loved the idea so much that she took the idea and changed it up to make a very large birthday card... It makes me feel good that I can pass on techniques to people that they can interpret and use again as they want to. its why I do it. 

we also had another new lady join us yesterday, her name is Jill and she was very very lovely. 

she is our first ever lady in a wheelchair so we were a little worried about how she would get around, but we were happily surprised that how we chose to set up for her was perfect and she could get to everywhere that everyone else could, I hope this made her feel very welcome as it would be great to see her again. 

the down side to yesterday is that elsie moo was sick A LOT!

I got a call from Paul to rush home as he couldn't do a thing with her, luckily it only takes me 2 minutes from the hall to my house so we were back in no time to find a kitchen flooded with yuck and paul drenched in it too!

I stripped elsie and she fell straight asleep on my shoulder, I managed to wrap her up warm and put her to bed without too much trouble. then left Paul to tidy the mess and himself up :)

This happened again during the day but I think it was down to her teeth as she had an appetite when i got home. 

however I was supposed to be out with the girls last night for Lucy's birthday but had to cancel incase we had another sick incident, as I don't drive and we were going quite a way away from home, I'd never had made it home if needed and I would have dragged someone else away with me so I decided to let them get on with their evening and i stayed and looked after my baby. 

I didn't get to do much at crop yesterday, what with teaching class, feeling poorly and having a sick child, so this morning as I was awake early I got up and had some quiet time at my craft table. 

I made this:

I have called my blog title 'finally' as this photo, or group of photos has taken me forever to scrap, I could never find the right paper, or sketch and it never worked out, but this time i love it. 

I used more inspiration from shimelle Laines online crop, challenge 6.

find it here

it was to take a scrap lift and change something dramatic.

I got my inspiration from a few pages, which started with a sketch that I found on 52 sketches blog.

see the original post here

the dramatic changes that i made from the originals are that I used a karge lane shape rather than a circle, my strip runs under the photo not on top of it and I switched the journalling for a large title and added a sub title along the top of the photo. i also added some faff to it, which is unusual for me :)

thanks for looking, I'm off to start my next page before elsie wakes up.

see you soon xxxxx

crop day!

Morning... yes it is only 7:15 am, but I have been up for an hour already, couldn't sleep cause this stupid cough is driving me insane... and I had some stuff to do last minute for todays crop and class that I'm teaching. nothing like a bit of last minute pressure to wake you up and get you moving!!

last night I joined in more of shimelles online crop and made another page, I'm a bit behind now tho as I woke up to another challenge which had been added last night :o

heres the page I came up with:

I used Shimelle's example page as a staring point and scrap lifted my way to this, thanks Shimelle x

The photo is of my gorgeous hubby (don't told him I said that, he'll only get a big head!

when we went for a family walk along portishead, the same day from the elsie buggy blues page from yesterday:)

Shimelles challenge was to use 3 or more papers from different manufacturers, but as I always do this anyway it wasn't much of a challenge to me. i don't scrap in kits or brands, occasionally if i just open a new pack then yes, but I tend to buy sheets singly so it hardly works out that way.

heres the list of papers I used:

the base paper is by Lilybee design - Memorandum range called 9 to 5.

the black chevron is by crate paper - random collection - victorian

the small red block is by echo park - seasons greetings range - small poinsettia

and the red strip is an ancient scrap that I found in my scrap bag, so old I don't remember who its by or anything.

the journal card is by MME - miss caroline - fiddlesticks

(which I will be stocking in my shop from next week!!! - so excited!)

and the paper from which I made the black heart and frame is by crafts house - aniseed, which again is another really old one. 

I have found something out about my style of scrapping whilst doing this challenge.

I tend to use the B sides of papers rather than the A sides.... I guess i prefer the smaller more subtle patterns.

Im not afraid of colour, or patterns but there is a time and a place :)

my next page is what I will be teaching at my crop this morning. The emphasis of the class is technique on making a see though patch in a 12x12 page to fill with confetti, rather than making a stunning, embellishment filled page. see what you think:

I got the idea from a pin on pinterest, a lady filled a whole sunburst paper with alternately confettied pieces, it looked amazing but was far too much work for a morning class. 

So i tamed it down into something achievable, but I believe once you show a person how, they can go on and experiment and take things further, the first step and getting the ideas are always the hardest. 

I have spent this morning, typing up instructions for those people that want kits but can't attend today, and printing those and my newsletters, I'm knackered now and its only half past 7.... with a long hard day at crop and a girly night out tonight, I shall be shattered tomorrow, but watch that stop me scrap?!?!?! I think not!!!!

I am taking my iPad to crop so I can still join in on all things Shimelle, can't wait to see what else she comes up with, will be fun.

see you soon xxxxxx

its been a while :)

Afternoon!!!

as my title says its been a while since i last posted here, life gets in the way I guess so we have lots to catch up on.

I am super excited today as Shimelle Laine has kicked off another of her weekend online crops, aunty chris you should go have a look!! :)

She posted her first challenge at lunchtime today and swotty knickers me has already done it. 

wanna see????

 The first challenge was to scrap lift a super amazing page byJaime Warren. check out the link here

I didn't copy it exactly as the pictures I wanted to use came as a set of 2, so I adapted it to suit me. I did however use the hot pink as Jaime did, and i loved the placement of all the bits and pieces, its unlike anything i normally do so I ran with it. just sticking things that came to me first wherever I wanted. 

usually I like to search in more detail but it just seemed the right way to go about it, else i may not have got it done at all!!

The second page I'm gonna share with you today is also inspired by Shimelle and her sketch of the week.

 Here is the link directly to shimelles post

the pile of labels really spoke to me so again i just happily sat there stacking them up, they were a bargain too, as I got a sticker book from Clarks village the other weekend when i met up with my friend Carole!!!

they were just perfect for this and a bargain at only a few pounds!!!

Talking of Carole, and our lovely day in Street, that brings me nicely to my next page.

 I started this page the last time myself and Carole managed to meet up for a crafting session on the net. we haven't had one in a couple of weeks because we have both been busy, and i do miss them a lot! we set ourselves up on Skype video and have a virtual crop. its easier this way as we don't have to type we can just scrap and chat, its so much fun.... but maybe not for Carole or her daughter Alex, when I forget and start singing lol

I got this idea for a page from a pinterest page that i added a while back, i love how the patterned paper separated just enough to show the blue underneath and how it creates a frame for everything in the middle.

check out the original here

This page is another naughty sneak peak...ssshhh....

its for my UK chinese whispers group and i really love it actually. It is made up using my new studio calico kit, and some pegs that I also bought whilst in Street!

the pic is of elsie moo whilst we were out for a walk in Portishead. she is grumpy because she haes being in her buggy and as the journalling says, she is covered in chocolate because she was being bribed to stay in there!!!

my last page is another naughty post.... above I said my UK chinese whispers group as i started up my own chinese whispers challenge over on the Scraphappy website and forum. It is mainly American people on there with a few europeans to add some extra flavour :)

they are a fab group of ladies and 12 of us have signed up to do this one which I am hosting. 

here is a naughty look at my page to start things off

Don't you just love that big butterfly?!?!?!

when I chose my sketch i was really attracted tot eh large butterfly shape in the background and so had to reproduce. i wonder how much this will change as it passes from person to person?!?!?!

will be interesting to see.

thanks for sticking around to see it all, be back soon with more shimelle loveliness :)

xxxxx