Hoooo Ray!

Last week whilst blog hopping I saw some amazingly cute felt owls on the Anj's Snowy Bliss blog. They were so sweet that I quickly popped along to her Etsy shop and bought a copy of the pattern. Yesterday afternoon after our Easter Egg hunt I set about making my owl and a couple of hours later 'Hoot' had been created. Needless to say he wasn't MY owl for long as he was soon adopted by Lara.



Here he is in all his glory - Really cheap and easy to make and one little girl is very pleased with him.

Book Review - A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern

Fantastic Fiction Review: Since Sandy Shortt's childhood schoolmate disappeared twenty years ago, Sandy has been obsessed with missing things. Finding becomes her goal - whether it's the odd sock that vanished in the washing machine, the car keys she misplaced in her rush to get to work or the graver issue of finding the people who vanish from their lives. Sandy dedicates her life to finding these missing people, offering devastated families a flicker of hope. Jack Ruttle is one of those desperate people. It's been a year since his brother, Donal vanished into thin air and the sleepless nights and frantic days aren't getting any easier. Thinking Sandy Shortt could well be the answer to his prayers, he embarks on a quest to find her. But, when Sandy goes missing too, her search ends when she stumbles upon the place - and people - she's been looking for all of her life. A world away from her loved ones and the home she ran from for so long, Sandy soon resorts to her old habit again, searching. Though this time, she is desperately trying to find her way home!

I loved this book. It was so different to other chic lits I've read - it wasn't a boy meet girl love story. It was an original and imaginative story about being lost and being found. I really liked the main character Sandy Shortt (who was very tall) and sympathised with her obsession with things that go missing. A great read from Cecilia Ahern and thoroughly recommended.

Book Review - A Valentine's Kiss by Lucie Hart

Fantastic Fiction Review: This Valentine's day Imogen is going to meet the man of her dreams. If only she can discover who he is...At a gloriously over-the-top house party in the balmy South of France, British trainee chef Imogen finds herself playing blind man's buff with a host of impossibly handsome men. And then one of them kisses her. It's the most perfect kiss she's ever experienced in her short - and frankly, to date romantically disappointing - life. Sweet, sexy and full of promise. Imogen wants more, but by the time she recovers her wits sufficiently to remove her blindfold her mystery kisser has disappeared. Could her Prince Charming be one of her fellow-chefs, Dimitri or Bastien? Both are clearly interested in her. But there's also enigmatic Latino hunk Enzo, good-times-guy DJ Cheyenne, aristocratic Amaury, and the American visitors - Archer and Everett...So many men, so little time. And Imogen can't just keep kissing men until she finds the right one...can she?

This was another debut novel mentioned on the Chick Lit Plus website and having throughly enjoyed 'Postcards from the Heart' which was also another debut novel mentioned on that website I decided to give this one a try. I'm glad I did.

The story was set in France with a culinary background to the story which made a nice change to the majority of novels which I've read lately which have tended to be set in the US or UK. The book was quick to get into and I liked the main character Imogen and like how her personality developed and grew throughout the story. Once the 'Valentine Kisser' had struck I was eager to find out who he was although the blurb on the back cover did kind of give it away.

A really good read - marks out of 10! 9/10

Scrapology - B is for Bunting

For April the Scrapology design team choose to scraplift a layout by the scrapper Sarah Youde. The layout featured bunting so that was our theme. My layout featured a family photo taken a few years ago, shortly before my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary.



I used patterned papers from Echo Park, some letter stickers from K&Co (which I recoloured), some string and to make my bunting I used the Technique Tuesday's 'message in a banner' stamps.



The spiral flowers on the layout were made from scraps of Echo Park paper. There is a tutorial for making those flowers here on the Technique Tuesday website. This was Sarah's original layout.



And this was Lynn's sketch.



Those Technique Tuesday stamps are great to use and so I went on to create another layout using them.



I used more Echo Park patterned paper, Bazzill card stock, flowers from Petaloo, buttons, American Crafts Thickers and made more of those spiral flowers.

Do pop over to Scrapology to see all the gorgeous layouts the team have created. This months layouts are all so different and real feast for the eyes.

Crop Day

Today was my monthly crop. I hadn't actually been to the crop since January due to other commitments so it was nice to go today and spend a day scrapbooking and catching up with the others. I managed to complete two layouts and part finish two more.

The first layout I actually started at Debden but it needed to be finished.



I used white Bazzill card stock, patterned papers from Scenic Route and Echo Park, ribbon, buttons, self adhesive badge from Flair Designs, a piece of a very, very, VERY old Creative Imaginations transparency and alphabet stickers. I've made several layouts with white card stock backgrounds recently and quite like the effect.



The second layout I put together was based on a layout by Gabrielle Pollacco. I used Patterned Papers from Cosmo Cricket's DeLovely collection, Bazzill card stock, ribbon, a paper doilie (thanks Anita), brads, blossoms, unbranded chipboard accent and Heidi Swapp bling. The title was cut on the Quickutz. The frilled border was cerated by pleating strips of white paper which was punched using a Martha Stewart border punch. It took 8 x 12" strips of paper to go all round the edge! After pleating an sticking the first two strips and realising how much more I had to do I did wonder whether it was worth it, but I do like the end result.

Lulworth Castle

Another layout from Debden.......

Last summer whilst on holiday in Dorset we spent a day at Lulworth Castle. The castle was built in the early 17th Century and has changed little over the years.





During the summer visitors to the castle can watch dramatic battles on horseback at the spectacular summer jousting contests held in the magnificent castle grounds and whilst at Debden I created a layout of a couple of the photos I took of the horse display.



I used some very old patterned papers from Scenic Route and I think 7 Gypsies, a scrap of vellum for the journaling, card stock flourishes and title cut on the Cricut and stickled, a making memories metal frame, photo turns and brads. You can see more of my photos of the castle. park and horses here on my photography blog

Funny Faces

Another layout from the Debden weekend this time using photos of Steven taken nearly 7 years ago. In just over a fortnight this little boy will be a teenager. Yikes!



The layout was based on a layout by Davinie Fiero and I used squares of BasicGrey 'Lucky' paper which were all machine stitched round the edge. More scraps of BasicGrey were used for the title which was cut on the Cricut and to make the concertina flowers

Gibraltar Point

Another layout from Debden.



For this layout I used some photos of Lara taken at the Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve in Lincolnshire last October. I used a sheet of Prima's My Mommy and Me - North Park paper. I didn't feel too much embelishment was needed so I just added some buttons in co-ordinating colours, layered up some images of the owls cut from a second sheet of the paper on 3D foam and added journaling along the bottom on a transparency.

Ice Queen

This layout, which I put together at Debden, was based on a layout I saw on Lisette Gibbons blog. When I saw that Lisette had used papers from the BasicGrey's Offbeat collection with an icy layout I realised what a perfect colour match they would be to some photos I had of Lara playing in the snow on Christmas Eve.



I had intended using several sheets of paper from the collection but in the end used just a tiny piece of the sheet called 'unexpected'. I teamed this with white and pale blue Bazzill card stock, ribbon, lace, 'Swell Noel' Layered Glittered Snowflakes from K&Co (which I seem to use on EVERY snowy layout!) and some unbranded silver alphabet stickers.

I have lots more photos of Lara taken on that day whilst she was playing in the snow so I think the Offbeat collection will come in very useful when scrapping them. Not a collection I would have instantly thought to use with snowy pictures but in this instance they are perfect.

Just the Girls

Here's the first of the layout I created at last weekends retreat.



As the journalling explains, being the photographer of the family means I don't have many photos of myself and have even fewer photos of myself and the children. This photo however of Lara and I, which was taken over four years ago at Bideford in Devon, is one of my favourites and I've been meaning to scrapbook it for ages.

I have been following Nichol Magouirk's weekly 'From Start to Finish' videos on Two Peas in a Bucket since the beginning of the year and when I saw her 'You and Me' video a few weeks ago I just knew it would be great for this photo. Do check out Nichol's videos - I love here style and the videos are excellent with lots of tips and design ideas.

I used patterned papers from Cosmo Crickets Girl Friday Line, Bazzill Card Stock. Date Sticker from October Afternoon, Title cut on the Cricut and various little embelishments (buttons, brads, punches, charms and rub ons). I don't use Kraft card stock very often but I kinda like the look and may try using it more.

Blossom Babes Debden Weekend 2011 - Part III

Having shown you yesterday the gifts I made for my friends at Debden, I thought today I would show you some of the lovely gifts I received. I'm only going to show you the handmade or hand decorated gifts because the other gifts (sweeties, chocolates, soap and stash) although equally lovely have all been eaten or part used! Sorry but chocolate eggs and Haribos were just too yummy to resist. LOL.

This yummy cupcake in a box came from Gilly. Every day whilst I was away I intended eating the cupcake but the food provided at Debden is so filling that I could never find room for the cupcake. I soon remedied that when I got home though and shortly after taking this photo - the cupcake was no more. It was delicious.

Anita gave me these two cuties. A sweet little flip flop shaped decorated box and matching chocolate bar. The sweeties in the flip flop are also no longer with us! LOL

Sue gave me this beautiful heart which she had deco-patched and embelished. So very pretty and I'm sure took a long time to finish. If I had a craft room I would have it on display in that room but as I don't, I've hung it on the inside of the door of my scrap-cupboard so that every time I open the door I see it.



And finally Lynn gave me this teeny, tiny personalised storage box full to the brim with pretty, pink embelishments. A few of the embelishments found their way onto the layouts I created whilst away so thank you Lynn. (Oops just realised I've photographed the lid upside down)

Thank you too to everyone else who gave me a present. I really do have the most thoughtful crafty friends ever.

Blossom Babes Debden Weekend 2011 - Part II

Today I was going to show you one of the layouts I created last weekend at Debden but instead I've decided to show you the little gifts I made for my friends. We often swap little presents at Debden. Sometimes those presents are homemade, sometimes edible (yum yum), sometime useful and sometimes just pretty.

This year I decides to give something edible in a pretty package.

The square acrylic boxes were from Denami Designs and after decorating them with ribbons, a punched butterfly and a scalloped circle stamped with a 'for you' stamp also from Denami Designs I filled them with mint imperials.

I think the girls liked them and they certainly looked pretty altogether.

Blossom Babes Debden Weekend 2011 - Part I

Last weekend I spent a few very happy days in the company of some of my crafty friends. We scrapbooked, made cards, ate, drank, chatted and laughed. Boy did we laugh.

We spent the weekend at Debden House in Loughton, Essex. This was (I think) the fourth or fifth time I had been at Debden with my friends and this years visit was slightly earlier in the year than previous visits.

Signs of spring were already visible with a blanket of small blue flowers beneath this tree.



Not sure what the flowers were but they were really pretty.

There were also daffodils in bloom and tiny narcissus

Primroses were dotted through out the garden.

And on some of the trees blossom was already on show.

I'll be back soon with more photos of the layouts I created whilst at Debden.

Book Review - Spellbound by Jane Green

Fantastic Fiction Review: Alice knows she should be happy. After all she has a handsome husband, a beautiful house and membership to all the most exclusive clubs in London. So what if the rumours about her husband's skirt-chasing are becoming harder to ignore? When Joe's indiscretions force a transfer to New York, Alice hopes it might be a fresh start. And when they find a beautiful old house in Connecticut Alice is overjoyed. For a while she and Joe seem as happy as newlyweds. But then the late nights and unexplained absences start again. What should Alice do? Stay and fight for him? Or leave with her head held high?

I've had this book for sometime and decided now was the time to read it. Jane Green is a writer I am familiar with and whose books I usually enjoy so I was expecting to enjoy this one. The book, Jane Green's sixth book, didn't fail to meet my expectations. It was a real page turner and I couldn't wait to find out what would happen to Alice and whether her suspicions about Joe's infidelity would be confirmed. Predictably it all turns out good for Alice in the end, but when alls said and done ...... we all like a happy ending.

D is for Dimension

This month on Scrapology we have scrap lifted a stunning layout by the very talented scrapbooker Gabrielle Pollacco. I have followed Gabrielle's blog for sometime and am in awe of her layouts and especially her handmade flowers and other embelishments.

Here is my layout.



The young woman in the photo is my paternal grandmother - Fanny Hills (Née Ansell). This was the first time I had scrapped a heritage layout but I felt the style of Gabrielle's original layout lent itself to a heritage layout.

The papers were really, really, REALLY old K&Co papers. The lace was stained with coffee (LOL) and the flowers were handmade using this tutorial by Gabrielle herself. I used a variety of re purposed buttons for the centres of the flowers and I was really pleased how they turned out and I am already planning to make more.

This was Gabrielle's original layout and sketch.





Please visit Scrapology and see the beautiful layouts created by the other members of the design team and to be in with a chance of winning a prize.

Book Review - Postcards from the Heart by Ella Griffin

Fantastic Fiction Review: Life is looking up for Saffy. She has a great job, a gorgeous flat in the most desirable part of Dublin and - after six years - it looks like her boyfriend, Greg, is going to propose. Greg (just voted the 9th most eligible man in Ireland) is on a high, too - he's about to swap his part as a heart-throb in an Irish soap for a break in Hollywood. His best mate Conor wakes up every morning with Jess, the most beautiful woman on the planet but, even after seven years and two kids, she won't get married. He spends his days teaching teenagers and his nights writing the book he hopes will change everything, including Jess's mind. But their happy endings are playing hard to get. It seems everyone's keeping secrets - one night stands, heartbreak, grief and loss are all in the mix. It's going to take some tough questions and even tougher answers before anyone's being honest - even with themselves. POSTCARDS FROM THE HEART is a book about four friends in their thirties. It's about love, lust, life, death, balloon rides and missing hamsters. But most of all it's about figuring out how to stop saying 'I don't' and how to start saying 'I do'

This debut novel was recommended on the Chick Lit Plus and whilst I have a tendency to read books by authors who have a proven track record of writing good stories I was interested to read Ella's first book.

It did take me a while to get into the book but this may have been due to my lack of reading time in recent weeks rather than the story line because once I did got into the story I really enjoyed it. I loved the characters - Saffy who was certainly too good for the ultra-vain Greg, and hard working Conor and Jess who were so right for each other were believable characters. The humour written into the story was witty and had me laughing. Ella Griffin is a great story teller and I look forward with anticipation her next novel.

Book Review - It's a Kind of Magic by Carole Matthews

Fantastic Fiction Review: When Emma's boyfriend Leo turns up at her special birthday dinner unforgivably late and horribly drunk, embarrassing her in front of her family, she decides enough is enough. Why can't someone just wave a magic wand over him and bring him back refurbished as a proper boyfriend and save her the trouble? But when Leo meets Isabel and starts changing before her very eyes, Emma realises she should be careful what she wishes for...

Before reading this book I had only read one other book by Carole Matthews and that was some time ago so wasn't entirely familiar with her books. The inclusion of magic and fairy in the story made for a very witty, fun, light hearted read. The characters were likable and believable. Reading the book was, I felt, like reading a screen play and could easily imagine this book being made into a film.

Stamperama - Retail Therapy

Yesterday, despite suffering from a heavy cold, Lara and I popped along to the Stamperama Rubber Stamp Show at the Stevenage Arts & Leisure Centre. Although advertised as a Rubber Stamp Show there is always loads of other paper crafting goodies for sale and yesterday was no exception.

Having tightened my belt and bought hardly any scrapbooking goodies for ages, I had a little splurge yesterday and came home with some nice bits and pieces.



I particularly liked these packets of Organza Roses from Mei Flowers at only £1 a pack. What a bargain.



These charms, also from Mei Flowers, were also a great buy and I plan to use these on cards. The enamel handbag charms are gorgeous.



On The Hobby House stand I picked up these lovely teeny crochet flowers and more charms. The die cut flowers are from Craftwork Cards .



Having new stash makes me want to get crafting!

P is for Punching your 'art out!

This month at Scrapology we scraplifted a layout by English scrapper Laura Buckingham. The layout featured lots of punched paper strips.

Here's Laura's layout and the sketch.





And, here is my layout. I used papers and stickers from the Echo Park 'Summertime' collection, some punched butterflies and BasicGrey letter stickers.



You can see all the design team layouts at Scrapology and if you have a go at scraplifting Laura's layout you could be in with a chance of winning a prize. Also, if you visit this post and leave a comment and follow the blog before 12th February you could also win some amazing blog candy.

Book Review - The Rose Revived by Katie Fforde

Fantastic Fiction Review: When May teams up with Sally and Harriet it is the best day's work she's ever done. Each of them needs money, badly. Which is why they are reduced to working for Quality Cleaners under the watchful eye of 'Slimeball' Slater. When they discover it is them being taken to the cleaners, they set up as an independent team. And that is when things really begin to take off. With more lucrative jobs coming in, they soon find that they are able to take the first steps towards freedom and independence. For May that means paying the mooring fees for her adored houseboat. Harriet can take art classes and reveal her gift for painting, and Sally can save up for a place of her own. But while they are making a success of their working lives, they risk overlooking the romantic possibilities they have created...

This is a nice easy read and easy to get into from page one. I warmed to the characters and the humour Katie Fforde includes in her books is an added bonus. Lots of feel good factor and happy endings although rather predictable.

Chick Lit Reading Challenge for 2011

Because I don't have enough to do (LOL) I've decided to sign up for the Chick Lit Reading Challenge for 2011. I enjoy reading 'light' books. Books that I can pick up and put down. Books that I can read without needing a dictionary to check the vocabulary! Books with a feel good factor. So when I saw the Chick Lit Reading Challenge that requires participants to read 12 chick lit books including 2 books from debut authors throughout 2011 (plus any other genre that appeals) I thought "Why not".

You can keep track of what I'm reading from my list on the sidebar on the right and any recommendations as to what i should read next would be appreciated. having said that I have acquired quite a few books from Read it Swap it that I already have quite a few books to read.

D is for Double Page Layout

This week a new challenge was launched on Scrapology. We chose a super two page layout by Jana Eubank whose scrapbook pages I have admired for some time.

This was Jana's original sketch and layout.

I used some Teresa Collins and Adornit Christmassy papers for my festive layout which seemed fitting in the week after Christmas. The only embelishments I added were some poinsettia flowers (I think from Papermania), some brads and some BasicGrey letter stickers.

Do pop along to Scrapology to see all the other gorgeous layouts the design team have created and if you send in a layout of your own based on the original sketch you could win a super prize.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE