I'VE MOVED!

Hi ladies....

Just wanted to let you know that I decided to start a new blog... currently I'm posting new layouts everyday and trying to boost my blog audience.

I changed addresses and blog style as this one was becoming more about my life than my work and I didn't want to keep doing that.

take a look here and see what you think, please follow me there if you like what you see :)

Hope to see you there xxxxx

Sorry....

I must apologise for being MIA again. Sometimes it's hard enough to find time to scrap and create without the extra pressure of having to blog too but today I have a few minutes so thought I'd let you know what I've been up to lately.
Christmas was HUGE in this house I had no time for anything other than festive related things, but I survived. Then February brought the opposite as it was LOAD (layout a day) month again.
I completed 53 layouts in 28 days which I was very proud of. You are probably wondering how I managed to fit it all in, I'll tell you, it's called routine :) I'm much more a morning person than evening so I know I'm better to get everything done as soon as I get up in the morning. This includes housework, sorting the kids, washing etc and preparing our dinner for that evening, slow cookers are fabulous things :)
Then once the kids are at school I get my pages done so that when they come home I'm free.
It all works very well, everything gets done and all are happy :)

Then when you get to have a weekend away with a few crafty girls thats just a heavenly bonus!
I completed 17 pages this weekend and the one I'm going to show you I just finished this morning. It seemed to take forever but I'm happy with it.
Let me know what you think xxx

Sharing is caring :)

Good almost afternoon!!

Ive been a bit quiet on the blog lately, very much due to the fact that there are an awful lot of things going on at the moment and i haven't had very much time to scrapbook, let alone blog about it. 

I  wanted to share with you my newest blog tho, where I share with you my Stampin Up journey. 

It began a couple of weeks ago when i decided to become an SU consultant and now Im able to share ideas, order you products and help you fall in love with and get great deals from Stampin Up. 

Ive just blogged a step by step scrapbook page using mainly SU goodies so I thought I'd share it with you here so that you can see that I have been a bust bee lately. 

Emma Stampin Up journey

So now that i've shared all of this with you I was wondering if you lovely people could do some sharing of your own and help me to share these things with more fellow crafters, people who love what we do!!

Share my links or just pass the word onto your crafting circles that they can get SU products from me, I'd be very grateful and it would make me happy to know that i'n not just making and sharing projects with myself but that people actually are learning from what I do. 

So use the link, hop onto my new blog page, add yourselves as followers and share a post, I'd love you forever!!!! :)

beware, its a BIG one!!!

Good afternoon everyone, hope you are having a lovely tuesday!

I have, despite a poorly tummy and an on and off voice I've had a lovely crafty tuesday with my lovely friend Carole. 

firstly tho I need to show you my LOAD pages from yesterday as I didn't have time to blog last night, wanna see???

So this is the first one, the prompt for yesterday was stitching, the idea being that we did a page about sewing or actually to sew on a page. I however did neither, in fact I was drawn to this particular picture because of the stitching on the bottom of the leggings in the photo and that was my jumping off point. 

the actual page itself talks about how we went away for our first anniversary and actually got to put our feet up for 5 minutes without any children coming in and interrupting the silence :)

This second page was a project life catch up, another pocket page to document our week 34 from this year. I used my new becky Higgins project life cards to slide straight into the pockets and just added photos and journalling on top to make this a quicker and less thoughtful entry. 

This is the next project life page the I also completed yesterday... and came around because I found a video on the two peas in a bucket website that I fell in love with. as it happens it doesn't look much like theirs did but I still like it.

give it a watch if you're interested:

here

Now on to todays selection of loveliness..... this was the first page that Carole and I worked on at the same time this morning. and it comes from this original post over at pinterest.

This is one of my favourite photos EVER... not only do I love black and white photographs but I love how the girls have naturally got themselves into this stunning pose.... so beautiful.

so it needed a stunning but clean page to make it shine at its best. hopefully this minimal design does just that, showing that its not always about quantity but quality xxx

This lemur page was another from our pinterest stash!!!

it came from this original post: here

and actully for once it looks pretty identical!!! unheard of for me but with a huge amount of hearts across the page theres not an awful lot of room for change, its not a page that i would have naturally done on my own but sometimes thats a good thing, i like it ...how about you???

and onto my last for today for now..... featuring my hubby Paul and my nephew baby Carter.... and yes I probably will call him baby Carter until he's 16 :)

this is yet another pinterest find and the original is here

again another one of my favourite pictures as it shows the love and happiness in both of their faces. its such a simple design but speaks volumes.

id love to hear your feedback on any or all o these pages... let me know what you think xxxxx

uuguhgughguhgughgu!!!

So today I feel a little bit more rubbish than i already was, still life goes on there was food shopping to get and a LOAD page to be done.

and so here it is:

today i just followed a Shimelle video from youtube. and just doing this was hard enough work :)

I used todays prompt from LOAD which was something you couldn't live without, out of all of my children i know that elsie wouldn't wanna live without me and i love that.

I accidentally printed 2 of the same photo, i guess i loved it that much.... so instead of one going to waste i decided to put both on the one page and im happy and comfortable with that.

let me know what you think xxxxx

feels like a sunday

Good morning!

I feel a little under the weather today, still have no voice and i have a high temperature so im not going far today. This gives me a good opportunity to chill out whilst doing a bit of scrapping, dont you agree???

so heres the first page i managed at about 8am this morning, it shows Mike in a towel wrap lol, he once asked me how i did it, so i showed him, on his own head and when opportunity knocks you take it right?? so i grabbed my phone and snapped a pic of him :)

the page is all about weird and wonderful pictures of my kids as they grow up, must say more the boys at this particular moment in time, and how anything goes when it comes to scrapping!!!

I used a pinterest page as inspiration see here

I just had to include the little aeroplane even tho its a bit random for my subject but i fell in love with it.

The next page was just a catch up pocket page for my project life. 

this selection of photos was taken over my birthday week, the second week in august.... so im about 6 or 7 weeks behind, but hopefully ill be able to catch up during the month of LOAD :)

I think its time for a lunch break now and possibly a ittle lie down, but i hope to be back later with some more pages for you to critic :)

see you soon xxxxxx

never say die

Just a quick post today as its almost dinner time so need to get something done around here. 

Ive almost lost my voice so today typing is much easier than talking but i wont do to much of either lol

This is todays LOAD page, it shows Daniel at age 3 when he fractured his wrist... i think it shows his never say die attitude and how he gets on with stuff (more often with moaning since he's gotten older) 

but things never stop him from doing or getting what he wants.

The page is loosely based on a sketch from creative scrappers see here

Im hoping to get another page done tonight but we will see what happens, maybe i should just get an early night and hope my voice is back to normal tomorrow!!!!! fingers crossed xxxxx

2 and 3....

Good evening!!!

Ill be quick tonight as theres a lot of pages to cover and i really should be in the shower getting ready for fat club!!!1

so this first page was actually from day 1and shows my boys when they were a lot younger. i love how the photo captures there closeness that is always there.

the layout was lifted from a pinterest pin, i just gave it an Emma spin :)

so onto day 2.....

this page is about elsie and how crafting runs on our family. in this picture she is sat at the table deco-patching a giraffe at the age of 2!!!

Todays prompt was to use a simple design with clean lines, i think I accomplished that with this straightforward horizontal page :)

another for day 2: this time Carole moaned at me so much to start catching up with my project life that I thought I'd better. so heres week 32 from way back in August!!!! eeeeeekkkk

Finally todays page,..... its been manic today with no real time for scrapping so I chose to get up early to make a start. I finished this after the school run whilst the kids were otherwise occupied :)

It is based on Shimelle Laines new glitter girl video about clusters.... I still struggle with these but I did a couple of layers but in my own way. 

 the photo is of me on my wedding day checking myself one last time in the mirror before showtime!!!

please let me know what you think, id love to know if anyone is also playing along or am i on this crazy train alone?!?!?!? :)

LOAD is back!!!!!!

and wow are you gonna get bored of seeing posts and rabble from me over the next month!!!
Its October the 1st and Ive done 2 pages this morning already.... obviously helped by the fact that its tuesday and I'm joined in my crafting area by Carole on Skype!!! gotta love crafty Tuesdays :)

So today was a sad but inspirational start to LOAD. over the summer one of the scraphappy members, Alison.. sadly passed away and so this first post is in her honour and remembrance.

This first page I scrap lifted from Alisons Flickr gallery. I loved the design as soon as i saw it. it also links to Alison as it talks about enjoying life and laughing at every opportunity, we never know whats around the corner so we should all make the most of every minute.

This second page relates to friendships, old and new...people who come in and out of our lives and touch our hearts, in this photo Keryn and I are taking a selfy..... she loves them and I hate them.... the journalling explains why. but as a scrapbooker i know that its important for us to feature in our own albums, in our own photos else how are people going to remember what we liked, or disliked... or how we looked. its part of the process, whether we (or I) like it or not!!!
The sketch i used as inspiration for this page came from a new sketch site that I was directed to and its called Stuck?!?!? if you get a minute please take a look at Octobers sketch and join in!

thanks for dropping in, i may be back later with some more scrappiness, but if not I will deffo see you tomorrow xxxxx

Pirate party

Evening!!! I thought, whilst watching xfactor, that I'd tell you about the page I created today.
It shows off a photo that I was given yesterday by the lovely leaders at the rainbows group that Lola goes to.
I was inspired to do this layout by the lovely ladies at csi. This is case 91 and as soon as I get on the mac I will post the link and the piece that went with it.
As usual it involves a set of 5 colours and then two selections of things and text options that you can use with it, I was completely in love with all of it so put as much on as I possibly could. I hope it looks ok and not just like I sneezed on it tho :)
Xxxxxx

New class!!!!!!!!

An OMG I love it already!
Here's the page I created in less than an hour with some help from my cricut.



The prompt was to use something that we see in everyday life as inspiration.
One of the given suggestions was to do an eye chart so that's what I did.
I used the cricut and the mac to create the words to say what I wanted it to say. I was able to move the letters around and place them where I wanted. I decide to cut it out of the white so that they would stay in perfect position with the black underneath.
I added the red an green washi to represent the lines on the charts and added my photo of dan in an actual eye test, with paper clips to make it look like they have been clipped on to it.
Thanks for popping in today I hope to see you again soon xxxx

M is for....

So this is today's page, pics of Mike at our Clifton photography shoot in June of last year.
The idea came from case 89 o the Csi site. I loved doing the current challenge so much that I've decided to work back through a couple to see what else I can come up with.
This is definitely unusual for me, this colour palette would not have been one of choice but I love it! And I think it works well with what mike is wearing.

Thanks for dropping in today, see you soon xxx

challenge time!

good afternoon blogettes!!!

as its tuesday I got to spend (half) the day with my fabby friend Carole via Skype as we crafted.... now usually we would do the same sketches together but today was a little different.

I was already through this first page that I'm going to show you so had to get this done before moving on. If you know me at all, you can probably guess that this took me a little while as I had to add faffing and its not my favourite thing in the whole world... but on this occasion and especially for this set of photographs it called for it.

The sketch was the final in the series of 4 by Emma over at page drafts... I'm sad and its a shame that I've done them all , but still Im sure it wont be long until more come along and for that I'm glad.

however..... Emma was so kind as to point me in the direction of THIS SITE

now in order to have a nosey about you do have to sign up but its free and wont be a waste of your time i promise. 

I only signed up this morning and once Carole and I had got to a new starting point that we could do something together , we did this....

Well, we didn't both do this, i did this page based on case file 90 on the above CSI site.

I love how it gives you so many 'clues' (inspirational pointers) to you and me... and yet its still so open to self interpretation that you wouldn't believe. 

For example, Carole and i have completely different scrapping styles and yet we both ended up with pages that we loved and from this same prompt. we even had to use the same palette of colours and yet mine looks bright and vibrant and hers are more muted. its so weird and it still shocks me even after this many years in the game at how different things can be even when given the same tools to work with.

So I used a lot of prompts but I also made up this page for myself, so no sketch or page to follow... it just came together and that makes me happy. 

Sometimes when I follow sketches etc for a long time I often wonder to myself if I actually have any creativity of my own left but things like this help me to find myself again. 

I hope you understand else I'm gonna look like a right weirdo :)

ok so 2 things for you to do NOW.... check out Emmas sketch site, she really is amazing at what she does, and i actually like that there are no other designer pages there to sway you in any direction!

and also sign up for CSI and see how you get on.... Carole was sooooooo not happy in the beginning about doing this with me, but come the end she smashed (her words) the challenge and made a page that she loves which in my mind is what its all about.

see you soon xxxxxxxxxx

Daddy duo

Good evening :)

So Ive just completed the third sketch from Page Drafts so I thought I'd share with you.

Im sorry my picture taking skills are very poor tonight, must be the bad lighting in my kitchen, or thats what i blame anyhow :)

This layout uses a photo of my husband with our youngest daughter on his shoulders, he's the one on the left.... walking alongside Bob, my friend Keryns husband with Isabelle, (his daughter) on his shoulders....

we were out as 2 families together (minus my boys who were at their dads) Gromit hunting in bristol city centre on a Saturday!!! i know tell me about it we must be mad!!!!

ended up being a long but very fun day, for me anyways :)

I love the oversized chevrons, they were smaller on the sketch but as i used a my minds eye paper with chevron pattern on it I just used them as my guide. 

I also love these cool frames that I received in my last Studio Calico kit, I haven't put anything inside them as i just like them as they are. 

Let me know what you think tho, I'd love to hear xxxx

C and E

so this morning I'm posting a page that I finished last night, I only didn't post it last night because I finished it just in time to grab a quick shower and plonk my butt in front of the tv just in time for the new episode of Downton Abbey to start.... love that show :)

this is the second sketch from the new blog I found and told you about in my last post, Page Drafts.

Im loving the fresh ideas that Emma is giving me, I haven't done a page like this in I don't know how long (if ever) so its great to give new things a try. 

As usual (and my apologies Emma) I added a few bits to make it my own and missed the swirly bits which aren't my style, but i do love the end result. 

So if you haven't taken a look yet please do so, you may be inspired to try something new too xxxxx

Three is the magic number

Back again!!

This time with a picture of myself!!!!

Also joined by 2 of my favourite people in the world, keryn on the left an Ali in the middle.

I followed Shimelle laines rules again here an chose a colour palette from Pinterest of grey, green, blue and orange and ten found a sketch to follow.

I've just found a new sketch site called........page drafts, Which is where this came from. Please take a look xxx

I love the colours together even tho none of them are featured into photo. I love the banners and the circles and that the little word stickers bring it all together.

The big 3 is also cool it's a Tim holtz grunge board number which I've inked in white and it's pretty huge!!! Let me know what you think xxxx

girls

Good afternoon bloggers and blog readers!!!

im quite excited today as there are some fab things starting up over the next week or so which means im gonna be a busy scrapper.... so prepare for the overload of inspiration from this corner of the globe :)

on the 1st October, my favourite thing on the planet starts again.... LOAD!!!!!

cant wait to get stuck into this again as they always make me work and think and do things that I wouldn't normally.

another class that I joined a while ago at big picture classes also starts next week, its all about inspiration and finding new ways to scrap so this should be fun also.

fingers crossed!!!!

anyway im here today to show you a page I've just finished, I've missed a few out that i haven't shown you over the past week or so but its ok, I've just been bust with other stuff. including being poorly and having a poorly Lola. must say tho that we are both much better now :)

todays page is because I followed a prompt by Shimelle Laine over on her Glitter girl adventures at two peas in a bucket. 

instead of just going along with her video (which you could do) she also shows another way to scrap... by choosing a colour palette to work from and a sketch too. you could do this before or after choosing photos... mine came mid way through :)

my colour palette was aqua, red pink and navy. 

I would NEVER have chosen red to go with pink but weirdly i think it looks ok, the things you can learn on pinterest :)

xxxxxxxx

Story time

It's not often I do so much journaling on a page but this photograph came with a story that had to be told.

I was majorly inspired by a page on the studio challenges blog.

I love Daphne's page with the writing surrounding the photograph so I chose to give this a go whilst following the same sketch that daphne had used.

I love this old photo of dan as a baby, looking cute but up to no good as usual lol.

Thanks for looking xxx

Come fly with me

Good morning!

Today's page is brought to you by Shimelle laines glitter girl adventures and an old holiday photo from 2005!

The theme or the video that inspired this page was the David Bowie exhibition in London where Shimelle visited and was taken in by the whole thing. She brought elements from what she had seen and converted them into her scrap booking page.

I haven't done many of these pictures in a while. My brain is forgetful of recent activities let alone things that happened 8 years ago but this was a pretty simple one to recall.

I managed to tie in the airport theme with embellishments around the page and used my lovely new stamp by pebbles to create any word stamp that I might need! If you dot have one then you definitely need one. It will be useful on EVERY scrapbook page that you do xxxx

Give me away!

Good afternoon lovely ladies.

I've been feeling a little sorry for myself lately, I have been to the docs and have been told I have labrynthitis! I'd just call it a stupid head myself!!!
I keep spinning out, extreme dizzy spells which have in turn web making me a little sick and unable to concentrate. It's also not allowing me to move quickly, to bend to do everything that you would normally take for granted and it's driving me nuts.

Along side this illness I've been trying to set up a new business with my friend and so this stupid head is preventing me from doing what needs so that's also very frustrating. Hopefully I'll feel much better soon.

Anyways on to something that you may find interesting....




I've managed to do this page today with Carole's help. We squeezed in an hour between my struggle around Asda and Carole's work starting.

I love this photo of my grandad giving me away at my wedding, it's almost 5 years ago now! That's so scary xxxxx