New Year Resolutions

Yesterday I found a note on my ipod of the resolutions I had made at the start of 2010. How did I do?


1. Clear the clutter and make some money in the process - We sold so, so, so much stuff on Ebay during 2010. You name it - we sold it. It was a bit of a joke in our house that if something didn't move it got sold! Seriously though, we have got rid of lots of unwanted 'stuff' and made quite a bit of money in the process but where the money went or where the space created by selling the stuff is I don't know


2. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle more - Yep, I have been doing this. Our recycling bin if used far more than the general waste bin and I have been taking glass bottles, etc to the bottle banks and clothes (that can't be sold on Ebay or passed onto friends) have gone to charity shops. I have swapped 16 books on Read It Swap It this year and made good use of the library rather than buying books.


3. Scrapbook more e.g. one page per week - Hmmmm. I failed on this one. I'm not scrapbooking as much now as I used to but when I do get time to scrap I enjoy it and that's the main thing. Being on the DT for Scrapology is making sure that I do find time, at least once a month, to scrap.


4. Pass my CiLCA (Certificate in Local Council Administration) - I managed after two years of hard work to finally pass my CiLCA in March. A relief to get it out of the way.


5. Remember to take reusable shopping bags to the supermarket - Hmmmm. This is another where I have failed more than succeeded. Even putting a supply of reusable bags in the boot of the car hasn't helped because I still forget to actually take them into the shop! Having said that, I do my grocery shopping online a lot and have it delivered and by handing the plastic bags back to the driver when he next calls I feel I'm doing my bit

6. Bake every week - Unfortunately another failure. I do bake - but not every week. It a shame I failed on this one because everyone loves homemade cake. I will try harder next year.



So, 3 out of 6 resolutions kept. LOL

Favourite layouts of 2010

As 2010 is almost at an end I thought I would look back at the layouts I have created this year and do a 'top 10 layouts'. Coming up with 10 favourite layouts wasn't actually that difficult because as my scrapbooking has slowed down quite a bit recently there weren't that many layouts to choose from. Anyway, in no particular order, here are my favourites:

1. Introducing Tuxedo



2. Naturally Pretty



3. When You Photograph In Black And White (a rare photo of Christopher)



4. Smile



5. The Great Escape

6. You Are So Beautiful To Me.

7. Snow Day

8. Just Add Water

9. 10 Things I Love About You

10. Victorian Day

Handmade Cards

I'm hoping that me crafty friends will by now have received the Christmas cards I made for them so hopefully I'm safe to show and tell you about them.

They all used the same Magnolia 'Tilda as an Angel' stamped images coloured with Promarkers.

Some were pink ...............



Those silver snowflakes were I think from Matalan.



I used the Bazzill Tulle on several of the cards to make lovely floaty bows. I also used flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts on some of the cards.

Some were blue ...........



I can't remember what make those glittery snowflakes were but they really sparkle in real life.



And, some were brown ..........





The gold stars on this car were also from Matalan and I think the ribbon came off of a Christmas gift box last year.

Show and Tell - Christmas Cards

I though today I would show you the wonderful handmade cards I have received this Christmas from some of my crafty friends.

First is this gorgeous flowery, tulle-y (I know that's not a word but it seems right LOL) card from Maria. Maria used some Bazzill tulle on my birthday card a few months ago and as I loved it I went out and bought some too and used it on some of my Christmas cards too he he.



This next card is from Lynn. I'm not a stamp expert but I think the stamp is one of Lynn's Kraftin' Kimmies. Lynn is such a great card maker.



Next was this paper folded card from Anita. That Christmas tree is so clever.



Sue sent me this cute layered bear card - so sweet.



This final card arrived yesterday from Deirdre. I love the stamped elves - so simple in design but so effective.



Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow to show you some of the cards I made and sent this year ....... hopefully the recipients have received them by now.

Happy Birthday Lara

On Thursday my little girl turned 8. Happy Birthday Lara.



As a little extra present I secretly made her a cute little Sock Puppy using this tutorial.

This made me smile

I saw this clip on Jana Eubank's blog and it made me smile so I thought I'd share it with you.

M is for Multiple photos and Mix 'n' Match at Scrapology

This week a new challenge was launched on Scrapology. This was the layout I came up with.

Rather coincidentally, when the challenge was launched much of the country (apart from where I live!) was in the grip of snow although when I created the layout there was none. I used photos of Lara taken almost a year ago when we had snowy weather.

The layout the design team lifted was by Wendy McKee. I have admired Wendy's paper crafts for a long time and was looking forward to creating a layout based on hers. But Oh! how little did I know how long it would take. I don't know how long Wendy spends on a layout but this one took almost a whole day! It looks so simple to emulate, but Oh! I was so wrong.

This was the sketch that went with the layout.

For my layout I used papers from the Echo Park Paper Company's Wintertime collection, Snowflake embelishments from K and Co, Pom Pom trim from Bazzill and self adhesive gems.

Do pop along to Scrapology to have a look at the rest of design teams layouts - there are some real stunners and another great prize up for grabs.

I'll be back soon with some cards to show you. I've been making Christmas cards for a few special crafty friends but can't show you them until they have been posted.

E is for Embellishments at Scrapology

Today the November challenge was launched on Scrapology. Here is my layout.



The layout we lifted was by Cindy Schneider. Cindy's layout was a digital layout and here it is.



And this is the sketch to go with the layout.



For my layout I used photo of Lara taken at Halloween a couple of years ago. I used Bazzill Card stock, Rusty Pickle Pirate Princess Papers, Queen & C0 Sassy Sequins, Prima Flowers, Buttons, gems and Doodlebug Adhesive Transfers and glitter.

Please drop by Scapology - Adventures in Scrapbooking to see all the teams layouts. You'll be glad you did.

Crafty Birthday Wishes

Last week was my birthday so I thought today I would show you the lovely birthday cards I received from some of my very talented scrapping/crafting buddies.

First is this beautiful pink flowery card from my lovely friend Maria. We met on UK Scrappers and have been cyber-friends for a few years now.



Next, is this Mermaid card from Lynn. I also met Lynn via UKScrapper where we were 'Blossom Babes' team mates and then design team members from Crafty Pastimes, Mojo Holder and now Scrapology.



And finally is this really bright and cheerful card from Anita. Another friend from UKScrappers who is also now a design team member on Scrapology.



I am so lucky to have received such wonderful cards and also so lucky to have such wonderful friends.

Finished

This morning I managed to finish two more of the layouts I started at the crop last weekend. I only needed to add the journalling, which in my case is usually just 'Who, When, Where', but finding time to even do that has proved difficult this week. Anyway, this morning I finished the layouts and photographed them.

This first layout is of Lara and her friends at their school sports day in 2009. Not sure if the other parents would want their daughters faces on the internet so I've hidden them and also the name of their school. I used papers, sticker and a journalling card from the October Afternoon 'Report Card' Collection (really liking October Afternoon at the moment), a Bazzill 'Just The Edge' cardstock strip, Prima Flower, Epoxy Brad from Imaginisce, Ribbon and the letter stickers are BasicGrey stickers that I've coloured red with a Promarker.



The second layout was a scraplift of a layout by Suzanna Lee. The photos I used are of Lara on Christmas Day 2006 and like Suzanna I used My Little Shoebox Papers. I bought so many of these My Little Shoebox papers several months ago but have really struggled to use them so when I saw Suzanna's layout I just had to scraplift. The Title letters are BasicGrey and the journalling at the bottom ProvoCraft.

You are so Beautiful to Me

Today I went to my monthly crop at Stamp Addicts . It was the fist opportunity I'd had to scrap since the last crop.

I managed to put together 4 layouts including this one which used a sheet of Prima Wink 'Little Miss Paper'. The paper was so pretty that I didn't think it needed too much embelishment so I just added some flowers and leaves, some swirls using Liquid Pearls and a title.



I used an assortment of flowers from Prima and Wild Orchid Crafts and also made some fabric flowers using a tutorial from Gabrielle Pollacco's blog. They were so easy to make using just a few scraps of cotton fabric and some pretty pearl brads. The leaves were punched from left over packaging - it was just the right colour so, waste not want not.

Scrapology - October Challenge

scToday the October challenge was launched on Scrapology. Here is my layout.



The layout we lifted was by Lynn Biermann, her blog is called Pretty Paper Swirls. This was Lynn's layout



And this was the sketch to go with the layout.



I decided to be a bit different and rather than use 8 circular embelishments, I used 8 circular photos of Lara showing her 8 summer holidays. For my layout I used papers from Fancy Pants, alphabet stickers from BasicGrey, tiny alphabet stickers from Adornit, Swirls cut on my Craft Robo, self adhesive pearls and flowers punched with my Nellie Snellen punch (love that punch!)

Please do pop along to Scrapology and have a look at all the teams layouts and maybe have a go at the layout yourself with the chance of winning a prize.

Scrapology

In a previous post I hinted about a new challenge blog that I am now part of called

"SCRAPOLOGY"

A couple of my friends Lynn and Linda decided to start a new challenge blog and so last month Scrapology was born and I was invited to be a member of the design team. The idea of the blog is that each month the design team will choose a scrapbook layout by an inspirational scrapbooker and the team will then create their own layouts inspired by that original page. The design team's layouts will be posted on the Scrapology blog together with a sketch and readers of the blog can create their own layouts which if they want can be posted on the blog. There will be prizes and from time to time blog candy up for grabs.

I was on holiday and not able to join in with the first challenge 'A is for Apertures' in August but you can see it here.

Just this week the second challenge layout 'S is for Stitching' went live.

I used a photo of our kitten 'Tux' and a variety of papers from several manufacturers. The challenge was all about stitching and I did both hand and machine stitching on my layout.

The original layout was this amazing layout from Alison.



And here is the sketch.



Please do pop along to Scrapology and check out all the other design team layouts as well as readers layouts and if you have a go yourself you may be the luck winner of this prize kindly donated by Cardinal Colours.

Awards

Over the last few months my friend Anita kindly gave me a couple of blog awards but I have been really lapse about posting these. Hopefully I can now put this right.

So in July Anita gave me a 'Versatile Blogger' Award.

The rules were:

* Thank the person who gave it to you...... Thank you Anita.
* Tell seven things about yourself...... see below

* Pass the award of to five other bloggers who you think are fantastic...... well most of my blogging buddies have already been awarded this award so I will suggest that anyone who visits my blog and reads this post can collect the award for them self because to be honest if they read my blog I think that is pretty fantastic.

seven things about me:

1. I have lived all my life in the same village.

2. My first car was a red Peugeot 104 called Wolfie.

3. Despite driving since I was 18 (some 25+ years) I have never ever, ever driven on a motorway.

4. I really like the smell of coffee but hate the taste of it.

5. I'm a Clutter Bug - I hoard everything.

6. I have no real desire to travel worldwide. I love England and all it has to offer.

7. Summer is my favourite season closely followed by Autumn.

Last month Anita gave me a second award, 'The Cherry on Top' Award.

The rules for this were:

* Thank the person who gave it to me .... Thank you again Anita.
* Pop the given award onto my blog..... Done

* I must list 3 things about myself ..... See above (cheating I know but it was hard enough to find the seven things above let alone another 3)

* Post a picture that I love .... I have soooooo many photos I love but this one is a particular favourite of Lara taken summer 2009

* Pass the award of to five other bloggers .... I'm going to cheat on this and again and suggest that anyone who visits my blog and reads this post can collect the award for them self

Sock Monster 2

Oh dear, has it really been THAT long since I blogged? The school summer holidays are nearly over and have gone so very quickly. During that time we spent two weeks in Dorset and with other activities too I've not had a lot of time for crafting. Next week I hope to be able to show you a layout I have created for a new inspiration blog and I'll be back before then with more details.

This week Lara and I revisited Sock Monsters. Last summer we made 'Jessie' and I promised Lara that this summer we would make her a pal. So this week 'Jimmy' was born.

Unlike Jessie who was made from two socks, Jimmy was made with only one sock and cost the princely sum of just 25p to make. The sock was in a pack of two pairs for a £1 from Poundland and the buttons, felt and stuffing were scraps we already had. I think he's quite cute and Steven has already put in his order for one too.

Bird Spotting

A couple of days ago my friend Jill posted a photo on her blog of some Green Woodpeckers in her garden. I was really interested to see her photo because we too have had Green Woodpeckers in our garden this year. We have seen them previous years from time to time but this year we assume they must be nesting nearby because they have been pecking about in the garden almost daily for the last few weeks. Jill's photo was much clearer, but here is our Woody Woodpecker.

We have also had Gold Finches visiting our garden this year for what we think is the first time. We have certainly not noticed them before this year. Early spring we were given a finch feeder and some niger seed to put in it and ever since we have had these beautiful little birds in the garden. Sometimes there's just one , sometime two and on one occasion there were five all trying to get at the seed. Unfortunately the only place to hang the feeder in the back garden where it is in view from the window is on the rotary drier!