life, love and scrap

Cards and Winter Gloves!

2012-02-05T22:19:00.000Z

I am just sharing a couple of cards today. The first one is one I did for my guest designer spot with Scrapology in January. I was sure I had put this up on my blog but I am obviously going crazy because I hadn't!! We had a love is... theme and the sponsor was Crafty Ribbons so we used some ribbons from there.
I kept my card quite clean and simple and had some fun with my edge punches :)

My second card was done for the Bo Bunny blog for a focus on the stunning Enchanted range! I chose to do a birthday card for my hubby :)

Totally random but we had lots of snow on Saturday and the kids were out playing in it the whole day today so they had each gone through 2 pairs of very wet gloves so I went to go and find them another pair in their drawers and this is what I found...

Now seriously there was not one matching set of gloves in their drawers! What happens to all the other gloves, are they all off living in some invisible land with all the lost socks of the world? My kids end up going through at least 4 sets each through winter, although if I think about it that is probably all my youngest as my eldest son does not really tend to wear gloves except in the snow so my youngest son nicks all of his when he can't find his own. So I do know who the main culprit is :)

My box full of all the new amazingly gorgeous Bo Bunny products arrived this week and my oh my is it all just totally beautiful, I can't wait to get stuck into it all! I just have a couple of commissions to finish and then I can play with all the new goodies! :) :) :)

Garden Girl Mini Album

2012-01-26T22:20:00.000Z

Just sharing a mini album I have up today on the Bo Bunny blog using the gorgeous Garden Girl mini album! This is actually going to be a gift for my parents and is mostly full of pictures of loved ones that are no longer with us and I thought it would be nice to have a little album where there are various photos of all of them in one place for my parents to look at whenever they want. :)

Unfortunately the colours in the photos are not perfect, all part and parcel of living in the UK I suppose, especially in Winter! Of course I have been waiting for some decent light for days and eventually gave up yesterday and just photographed the mini album and of course within half an hour of putting my post up today the sun came out lol. Go figure :)

I added a couple of extra pocket pages in matching paper where some extra photos and journaling tags can be included.

I also have 3 more of the new releases to show you but as this is already quite a heavy picture post I will narrow the pictures down to 2 each! First up is Country Garden which is so beautiful and shabby chic!

Next up is On The Go which is such a cute range and will work for younger and older kiddies!

Last but certainly not least is Serenity which is just Stunning!

Bo Bunny has also released a whole range of their Coordinating Double Dot cardstock in Vintage colours!! They are just gorgeous and you can see them on the blog here.

Thanks for visiting! :)

Bo Bunny Reveals!

2012-01-19T22:53:00.000Z

Don't you just LOVE reveal time! I love seeing all the reveals ! Bo Bunny has six new releases this time and they are all gorgeous!!! :) The first 3 are up and can be seen on the Bo Bunny blog here. Here are a couple of pics from the three reveals so far... First up is Ambrosia which is so beautiful and I just adore the colours in this one!

Next up is Weekend Market, perfect for all those men or heritage layouts!

Then we have Alora which is so quirky and cute I just love, love, love it!

If you would like a chance to win one of these gorgeous collections just pop over to the Bo Bunny blog and leave a comment for each post. Don't forget to keep checking back to see the next 3 new collections! :)

Welcome Home, Home Decor!

2012-01-15T21:47:00.000Z

Today I wanted to share a home decor project I did for the Scrapbook Magazine using Bo Bunny's Welcome Home and a really cute little house from Boxylady

Materials:

Box Lady Wooden House

Bo Bunny Welcome Home patterned papers

Craft Creations Patterned paper

Bo Bunny Olivia flower

Bo Bunny Gabrielle 12x12 chipboard; layered chipboard and Dimensional stickers

Bo Bunny Timepiece stamps

Bo Bunny Vicki B Wraps and Jewels

Bo Bunny Barefoot & Bliss Trinkets

Banana Frog Swirls and Butterflies stamps

Sarah's Cards Butterflies

American Crafts By the Yard Leaf Fabric Thickers

Anita's Glitterations Alphabet stickers

Bakers Twine (Ribbon girl.co.uk)

Mulberry roses (flowers 4 crafts)

Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Broken China and Peeled Paint

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Clear Patina

Beads

Floral tape

Wire

Pins

Tools:

EK Success Bracket Edger Punch and Double Embossed Dotted Lace Edger Punch

Martha Stewart Deep Edger Punch Doily Lace Trim

Woodware Super and large flower punches and scalloped circle

Wire cutters

Thin nosed pliers

Paper piercer

This was such a fun project, I really enjoyed decorating each little square and I love the finished item! :)

Bo Bunny Sketch

2012-01-08T22:04:00.000Z

Well I am really behind with uploading this one as it was last months Bo Bunny sketch challenge that went up two weeks ago!! I am a bit behind with everything at the moment as I managed to come down with a cracker bug on New years and have been totally out of it for the last week!

Anyway better late than never! This is the fantastic sketch done by Debbie Sherman.

And this is my layout using the Garden Girl line.

Supplies Used :
Patterned Paper : Stripe, Magical, Garden Girl, Dot, Wisteria/Garden Girl
Cardstock : Coordinating Double Dot Coffee
Noteworthy : Garden Girl
Chipboard : Garden Girl 12x12 Chipboard
Jewels : Garden Girl

My last kiddiewinkle goes back to school tomorrow (the other one went back on Wednesday) and that will officially be Christmas season over for me! I am always so sad when the kids holidays end! Well that's it for today and if all goes to plan I will be back with an off the page project in a few days. :)

I hope everyone has had a good start to the year so far and thanks for visiting! :)

Scrapology and Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T22:42:00.001Z

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas! Ours was wonderful and we had the biggest family gathering for Christmas we have had for years. :)

I was really happy to be asked to be a guest designer for the Scrapology challenge blog this month where my lovely friend Alison is on the design team. This was the layout by Stacey Hansen that we had to scraplift.

And this is my take on it, I used Basic Grey Picadilly

I totally love these corner stamps from the Bo Bunny Gabrielle collection!!

You can see the design teams wonderful layouts on the Scrapology blog here as well as the details for the challenge, they have a fantastic prize up for grabs! Anyway that is it for today, Happy New Year to everyone, wishing you all a fantastic, happy year ahead! :)

Snow and a Snowfall Layout!

2011-12-19T22:38:00.000Z

Well although it has snowed a few times in the last week none of it has settled but we had our first thickish snow on Friday night and then again on Saturday night much to the childrens delight! I on the other hand wasn't quite so delighted as although Kieran broke up on Friday, Christopher still has a few days of school left and I hate driving in the snow!!! Luckily it rained on Sunday and melted the snow enough to make the roads driveable :)

Of course the kids (ok and the adults) had lots of fun in the snow while it was there! So this is a very photo heavy post! First Kieran throwing snowballs in the backyard!

This is Christopher with his Snowbean which is an 'Epic Snowbean' that you plant when it snows and then it gives you snow in July!

And he even built a fort for the snowbean....

Then of course we had to go sledding!

Then the kids used thier father as a cart horse before pummeling us both with snowballs!

Christopher also made some snow angels :)

And I even let Paul take a photo of me with the kids!

So after all that snow I have a quick and easy snowy layout using the beautiful Snowfall range!

Supplies Used :

Patterned Paper : Snowfall Wintertime, Snowfall Cut-outs/Snowfall ; Enchanted Rose, Enchanted Fairytales/Enchanted
Cardstock : Aquamarine Co-ordinating Double Dot
Stickers : Snowfall Combo Stickers
Trinkets : Snowfall Trinkets
Jewels : Snowfall Jewels ; Enchanted Jewels
Ribbon : 5/8" Aquamarine Double Dot Ribbon

Well it is less than a week till Christmas and I am sooo disorganised, I haven't even started wrapping presents, although I have pretty much bought everthing and the food is organised. We have at least put the tree up although that is the only decorations up really except for the Christmas beanies that the kids love so much :)

Although I have a couple of other things to upload, just incase I don't make it back on before Christmas as often happens these days, I hope everyone that celebrates it has a wonderful, happy Christmas with all your loved ones! :)

Life and a Winter Layout

2011-12-07T23:13:00.000Z

I am going to start with a few photos of little bits from the last few weeks as I have not really done many for ages!

So first up, Kieran went to his first football match! The poor child, neither of his parents are football watchers so we have never taken him to any sort of games but his school got some tickets to a Manchester United game and offered them at a fantastic price to the kids who play football. I think it was 32 kids and 8 teachers that went, of course Kieran was totally thrilled because Man U is his team and he really enjoyed himself, especially as it was on a school night so he got to stay up late! So here he is all ready to leave, wearing his Man U shirt of course :)

More football! Christopher had his first school match recently. Although he played a bit of football at school last year he has only started taking it seriously this year and has been trying really hard so he can play as a goalkeeper on the school team. So here he is in the school goalkeeper jersey, very pleased with himself :)

Next is a photo of Kieran and his experiment for school for a safe landing device! They were given the assignment to design and make a vehicle for landing safely with an egg as a passenger and the egg had to survive the fall! So this is what Kieran made (ahem late the night before as he designed it and then forgot to make it...) and it was a success! The little pod which was a flower pot and a plastic tub is very well lined with cotton pads and paper towels! I would have thought the whole parachute thing would have been pretty standard but apparently not according to Kieran and his was the only egg that survived the landing so they then had to go and launch it off the top of the 3 story school building! So needless to say he was very pleased with himself too :)

We went to Ikea a couple of weeks ago and while we were there we picked up a couple of their gingerbread houses because I knew the kids would love to decorate one. Paul's parents came to stay with us for a few days to look after the kids while we went to our concert and while they were there the kids asked Grandma to do the gingerbread house with them. I must say I was soooo glad that Grandma was there to do it with them because it looked like such hard work and of course the kids went just a tiny bit overboard with the sweets (the ones that went onto the house and the ones that went into their stomachs) ;)

Trust me every inch of that roof is covered in sweets! The silly looks on the faces is probably from a severe sugar high!

Then I have a layout to share that went on the Bo Bunny blog last week using one of the older collections, Midnight Frost, still one of my favourites! This is actually a photo that I have scrapped before on a double layout. I don't often use photos twice but I do love this photo as I don't have many nice ones of me and the kids as I have a tendency to hide when a camera is pulled out.

I don't know if you can see it in these pics but the swirls and snowflakes were done with silver embossing powder and I do love the effect! :)

Products Used :

Patterned Papers : Powder, Crystals, Stripe / Midnight Frost
Cardstock : Powder Blue Dot
Chipboard : Glitter Midnight Frost Layered Chipboard
Noteworthy : Midnight Frost
Stamps : Midnight Frost Stamps
Brads : Midnight Frost
Rub-ons : Midnight Frost

Well that is it for today and I really should go to bed to catch up on some lost sleep, I hope everyone is having a great week! :)

Christmas Decor and a Concert!

2011-11-30T22:28:00.001Z

Ok I have been missing for a while again, unfortunately I haven't been overly well for a while now and it got to the stage where I was actually just quite ill! But I have been into hospital to get things checked out and hopefully it is mostly sorted out now and things can get back to normal, well as normal as my life ever is anyway! ;) But of course I have not gotten around to all sorts of things like blog posts or blog hopping, I have barely even been on Pinterest for a while! :o So I have been missing all my normal fixes and I am looking forward to getting back to them! :)

So something I have not yet uploaded was this Christmas wall hanging I did using Bo Bunny Father Christmas! The chipboard alphabet is Basic Grey and yes that is an L and not a 1! Paul said to me it looks like no e1 and now that is all I can see! (Bet that is all you can see now too!)

Supplies Used :
Patterned Paper : Father Christmas; Berries; Celebrate; Holly; Poinsettia/Father Christmas
Cardstock : Wine Dot
Chipboard : Father Christmas 12x12 Chipboard
Stickers : Father Christmas Dimensional Stickers
Trinkets : Father Christmas
Jewels : Father Christmas
Trim : Olivia Chiffon Rose Trim
Stamps : Enchanted Clear Stamps
Ribbon
Embossing Powder
Distress Inks
Chipboard

Well something good was that me and Paul went to a concert last week! We went to go and see...

Theory of a Deadman was the first support act and I was very excited because I love both of the support acts! I hate my Life by Theory of a Deadman is one of my favourite songs ever, there is no way I can listen to it without singing along and smiling! They werereally great, although man they do swear quite a bit lol!

The second support act was Black Stone Cherry who are just such a fantastic band I really enjoy thier music and they were definitely fantastic live I really enjoyed seeing them!

Alter Bridge was the main act and although I like them and was looking forward to seeing them, except for a couple of songs I have only started listening to them recently so I was more excited about the other two bands that I knew better. But let me tell you Alter Bridge was totally AWESOME they were really amazing live and I would go see them again in a heartbeat! There is nothing quite like going to a concert and the feeling of the music thumping through your whole body! We are going to see Deff Leppard, Motley Crue and Steel Panther in a couple of weeks and I can't wait!

Well thats it for now but will be back with some more general updates in a day or two as my blog has been ending up as mostly just my scrapping stuff and I would like it to cover a lot more things so hopefully once I have recovered a bit more and built myself back up again I will find more energy for all the things I would like to include!

Layout Tutorial

2011-11-07T19:29:00.000Z

Today is my day to do a tutorial on the Bo Bunny blog and this time I chose to do a layout tutorial, I think just because I couldn't wait to use the new Enchanted range!!! Just love, love, love this range, everything in it is so beautiful and I am sooooo loving all the new glittered papers, the glittering on them is so beautiful!! This is my layout for the tutorial.....

I had some fun and made my heart with tin foil and then painted it, I seem to be having a bit of a heart thing going on at the moment! :) I also made the flowers using the Smoochable stamps :)

The tutorial can be found on the Bo Bunny blog here :)

Thanks for visiting! :)

Sew Dang Cute and Scor-Buddy!

2011-11-02T22:59:00.000Z

As I mentioned in my last post Bo Bunny has teamed up with Scor-Pal and are doing a four day blog hop that ends on Friday. Today's post was a 'Sew Dang cute' post but with the addition of the Scor-Buddy which each of the design team was lucky enough to receive to create with and this is my layout for today's post :)

I used the super cute new Smoochable range for these darling pictures of Christopher and his friend when he was little. This was my friends daughter and our kids spent loads of time together and were really good friends. Of course he was completely horrified when I showed these to him the other day because he would never have kissed a girl!!!

Products Used :

Patterned papers : Heartstrings, Huggable, Hot Lips, Lovin You/Smoochable
Cardstock : Coordinating Double Dot Chocolate
Chipboard : Smoochable 12x12 Chipboard
Stickers : Smoochable Combo stickers
Noteworthy : Smoochable Noteworthy
Jewels : Smoochable Jewels
Scor-Buddy

I have used the Scor Buddy to make the ruffle under the heart by scoring every 1/4 and then every 1/2 inch it makes it so much easier and neater than folding it freehand! I also used the Scor Buddy to score patterns on my heart and my title and then accentuated them with some jewels and ink.

So don't forget to pop over to the Bo Bunny blog and the Scor-Pal blog for the chance to win a prize!

Mix it Up!

2011-10-31T22:06:00.000Z

Just a quick post today to share my layout for the Mix it Up post on the Bo Bunny blog. I actually struggled a bit doing this layout, I don't know if I have just gotten used to sticking to collections or if it was because the photos are so bright but I think I need to do a few more layouts mixing collections again so I can get back into it!

Supplies:

Patterned Papers: Freedom/Liberty; Barefoot Bubbles/Barefoot & Bliss; Turtle Doves/Blitzen; Pebbles, Thisn That, Cut Outs/Ad Lib
Stickers: Combo Sticker, Life's Good CS Sticker/Ad Lib
Stamps: Ad Lib; Crazy Love
Jewels: Blitzen

There is a giveaway on the Bo Bunny blog today so be sure to head over there for a chance to win! They are also doing a collaboration with Scor-pal this week using the new smaller Scor-buddy and will be doing a giveaway for that too so don't forget to pop over to both blogs for the rest of the week too! :)

Retreat Layouts and Photos

2011-10-25T23:12:00.000+01:00

I finally managed to get some photos of my layouts from my scrappy weekend away but then just ran out of time to actually upload them! So let me just warn you this is a VERY picture heavy post! First off here are some photos from the weekend. I had a wonderful time and what a fantastic bunch of ladies, they are all so friendly and had me in fits of hysteria a good few times! We went to a wonderful little farm retreat in Scotland called Lochouse Farm and it was brilliant!. Fab little cottages and 3 really yummy, big meals a day for an amazing price! This is a picture of the back of the two cottages.

This was our scrapping room which is separate from the cottages and has a little kitchen, bathroom and another area upstairs.

The lovely Dee, Lesley and Suzy!

Heather (who I just love to bits) and Shirley.

My wonderful friend Lisa who stopped at my house on the way and I then drove up with her. I actually got this photo and a couple of others from Shirley and although I have a couple other ones of Lisa, I just love this photo so I had to use this one :)

Shirley even managed to sneak a photo of me and that doesn't happen very often!

And here is one of me and Lisa together that I nicked from Lisa!

I had to put this other one of Shirley's up as it shows a bit of the laughter that happened!

Unfortunately when I took my photos Jules and Pam were out for a couple of hours so they are not in them but they are in this photo of us at the breakfast table!

And I let Lisa take a photo of me in our cottage, don't you just love the colour coordination happening in my outfit? This would be because the car was sooo packed full of craft things I decided to take as little clothes as possible and only one pair of shoes and this is my most comfortable pair so these are the ones that came with and got worn with everything! :)

Ok now on to the layouts! I was very proud of myself because I managed to do 3 layouts, which may not be a lot to most scrapbookers for a whole weekend but for me that is a lot as I am such a slow scrapbooker! It also beats my last record of a whole 1 from the last scrappy weekend I went on! I decided to use up some of my older papers so I grabbed a couple of my old Scraproom kits and used those up!

I used lisa's dies and masks on this one!

And after doing this layout I so need to buy this Cherish punch around the page set I borrowed from Lesley! I am so happy I have finally done this layout as I have been wantin to document christophers ear habit for ages! I will be going into more detail on another project I am going to be doing, I just need to find the time to do it and then I will share my plans! :)

I am afraid I can't remember any of the paper ranges or manufacturers for that matter and I silly me packed it all away and it is way to late to go hunting for it now!

I definitely can't wait until my next scrappy weekend away in March now! :)

Back from weekend away!

2011-10-19T19:41:00.000+01:00

Well I am back from a fantastic scrappy weekend away with some really lovely ladies up in Scotland! I just need to sort through the photos and photograph the layouts I did and then I will upload those. :) In the meantime I have another layout for my sketch and scrap group to share.

This was the gorgeous sketch, not sure where it is from

And this is my layout which I used Bo Bunny Garden Girl for and is a photo of 3 of my grandparents relaxing in my parents backyard. A very special photo for me as none of them are with us anymore so I am very happy to have it scrapped. :)

I love the bubble effect on my wood word, something I came across by accident a couple of years ago when I was impatient to dry something! I just paint the wooden word and then cover in a thick layer of glossy accents and use a heat gun to dry it and you end up with hundreds of little bubbles!

Lastly I just have one more published layout to share with you. This was done for the Scrapbook Magazine using Bo Bunny's Ad Lib!

That's it for today, I have been having lots of fun catching up on blogs, forums and Pintrest, it is always amazing how much you miss in a few days of no computer so I am off to go and do some more catching up now! :)

A Couple More Published Layouts

2011-10-09T21:42:00.000+01:00

Just sharing a couple more published layouts from the Scrapbook Magazine today! The first one was for a four designers challenge using a fab kit from Scrap Rat. I loved this little kit using The Classics papers from American Crafts and really loved doing this layout :)

The second layout was for the Get the Cover Look page the Scrapbook Magazine usually does. They show you how to make the cover layout and then give you two examples of other layouts you can try and mine was one of those. I actually found this one a bit hard to do as the magazine supplies the photo and you use the free paper that comes with the magazine and as little else as possible but it was still fun! In hindsight and after seeing the other two layouts I would probably have added a few additional items to the layout like alphabet stickers and some more embellies!

And I do like my little sun! :)

I have one more published layout to share and then one for my sketch and scrap group but I just need to get a decent photo of it as we have just had rain and endless dreary light for days here!!!!! I also had my first article in the latest Scrapbook Magazine for a home decor item which I will share in a few weeks, although if you look really closely there is actually a little picture on the cover of the magazine here! :)

Oh well another weekend over again, I hope everyone had a fantastic one though! I do have something to look forward to though as I am away on a retreat next weekend! I really need to get sorting some kits and packing for it, I am so unorganised!

Thanks for visiting and and I hope everyone has a good week! :)

Some published layouts and new releases!!! :)

2011-10-05T23:03:00.000+01:00

I am just going to share a few of my recent published layouts today and then we will move onto the new scrummy Bo Bunny releases!!! :) This is a very picture heavy post!

These were the first layouts I did for the Scrapbook Magazine a few months ago, they were for a budget challenge where you had to do three layouts for under £10 pounds. That was soooo hard as it includes whole pack prices so if you buy a pack of brads and only use two, you still have to count the cost of the whole pack! I couldn't even use edge punches or anything but it was actually quite a fun challenge and these are my three layouts. :)

I will upload some more in a couple of days but for now I can't wait any longer to share some of the new releases!!

Okay I have to start off with my favourite which would be...

Just picture how stunning a layout would be done in this with bright splashes of colour added!! I seriously can't wait to get my hands on this one :D Next up we have...

Totally and utterley adorable don't you think? I am just loving the dangling hearts :) And last but not least we have the gorgeous

You gotta love blue and brown together!! As always if you would like a chance to win one of the gorgeous new ranges don't forget to head over to the Bo Bunny Blog and leave a comment on each new releases post!

Thanks for visiting and good luck if you are entering the giveaway :)

Focus on Et Cetera!

2011-09-29T22:50:00.001+01:00

Just a quick layout to share with you today using the wonderfully versatile Bo Bunny Et Cetera! The layout is about my grandfather and this photo was taken in 1963 by my grandmother as my grandparents did portrait photography for a while! I just love how they have used the light in the photo and the Et Cetera line was just perfect for it! :)

Bo Bunny Supplies used :
Patterned Paper : Mail Room, Geography, Cut Outs, Filigree Die Cut/ Et Cetera
Chipboard : Et Cetera 12x12 Chipboard
Stickers : Et Cetera Combo Sticker
Buttons : Et Cetera
Wraps : Newsprint Wrap/Cambridge
Brads : Timepiece
Jelewls : Et Cetera

I made the two large coffee filter flowers from this fantastic tutorial I stumbled across the other day on Youtube, although I only did two layers instead of the three to keep them flatter and a bit more masculine for this layout :)

Thanks for looking and I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! :)

More Than Four!

2011-09-20T22:59:00.000+01:00

Bad, bad me, totally neglecting my poor blog again! Seems to be a endless thing the last few months, one day I will be more organised and actually fit everything into my day :D (if I tell myself this enough it may come true!) Hee hee maybe I will find something to help me be more organised so I can get everything done on the latest eater of my time Pinterest! That site is terribly addictive and you just sit down to eat your breakfast and decide to go on there for five minutes just while you are eating and the next minute it is half and hour later! So many beautiful things....I tell you whoever thought up that site is a total and utter genius! :)

Today I am sharing a layout done for Bo Bunny's More Than Four feature. These are all the photos I had left over from my beach mini album I did last year. I had them all printed out really small but still couldn't fit them all in the mini book so I was really happy to use them on this as I still like the photos!

Patterned papers : Barefoot Words/Barefoot & Bliss
Coordinating double Dot : Buttercup Double Dot
Stickers : 12" Combo Sticker/Barefoot & Bliss
Chipboard : 12" Chipboard/Barefoot & Bliss
Noteworthy : Barefoot & Bliss
Jewels : Barefoot & Bliss

I also just got a box of magazine layouts back so I need to get those photographed and then I will put those up in a couple of days too. I have also been seriously missing my blog hopping but will hopefully get some time tomorrow night to sit down and visit blog land. :)

Thanks for visiting! :)

Winner and Sketch Challenge

2011-09-03T16:48:00.000+01:00

First up I have a layout for this months sketch challenge on the Bo Bunny blog. I also had to do the sketch this month which can be quite a daunting project to do! I actually do a sketch first each time I do a layout but that is normally with the photos and paper I want to use in mind but I did this sketch before I had chosen any of those so I found it a bit harder! Anyway I wanted to do something different and this was the sketch I came up with.

As you can see, I have no idea how to do the sketches on the computer, I did try with Photoshop, Paintshop and Word and I just couldn't get it right so I gave up and went back to a simple hand drawn one. This is the layout that I did to go with the sketch using the stunningly vibrant Forever Fall. The layout is of my wonderful sister who I am very thankful to still have after almost loosing her a few years ago.W

Supplies:
Patterned paper: Impressions, Forever Fall, Nature, Dot, Dusk/Forever Fall
Stickers: Combo Sticker, Gratitude CS Sticker, Dimensional Stickers/Forever Fall
Noteworthy: Forever Fall
Trinkets: Forever Fall

Brads: Forever Fall

Jewels: Forever Fall

EK Success Slim Edger Punch Bracket and Open scallop

Raffia

If you would like to take part in the sketch challenge for the chance to win a prize from Bo Bunny then head on over the the Bo Bunny Blog to see what you need to do. :)

Ok and now onto the winner of the Forever fall project kit from my blog last week chosen with Random org...

Sandi B said...: Love all your layouts and projects. I enjoyed looking at them and will get much inspiration from them. Nice to get to know you.
27 August 2011 14:17

Congratulations Sandi, please email me your details to carin at corporad.com and I will get your prize off to you. :)

Thanks for visiting and I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend! :)

Bo Bunny Blog!

2011-08-26T14:20:00.000+01:00

Today is my turn to be featured on the Bo Bunny blog so please stop over there if you have come here first for the chance to win a yummy prize! :) If you are here from the Bo Bunny blog then welcome to my blog!

These are the layouts and cards I have done for todays post using the new lines, I will start with a card I made for my sisters birthday that I did not put up on the Bo Bunny blog. If you knew my sister then you would know that this card is just perfect for her as she has a serious sweet tooth!

Supplies used:

Sweet Tooth Yum, Sweet tooth Indulge

Coordinating Double Dot - Passion Fruit Flourish

Sweet Tooth 12x12 Chipboard

Sweet Tooth 12x12 Combo sticker

Sweet Tooth Cherry on Top CS Sticker

Sweet Tooth Jewels

Crazy Love Prink Rose Wraps

Forever Fall

Bo Bunny Supplies used :

Patterned paper : Bouquet, Fall Blaze, Cut Outs, Die Cut/ Forever Fall

Stickers: 12x12 Combo Sticker/ Forever Fall

Chipboard : Layered chipboard/ Forever Fall

Garden Girl

Bo Bunny Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper : Garden Girl, Stripe/ Garden Girl

Cardstock : Coordinating Double Dot in Grape

Stickers : Friendship CS Sticker/ Garden Girl

Chipboard : 12x12 Chipboard/ Garden Girl

Jewels: Garden Girl

Ribbon : Double Dot 3/8" Mint Green Ribbon

Et cetera

Bo Bunny Supplies Used:

Patterned paper : Extra/ et cetera

Cardstock : Coordinating double dot in Chocolate

Stickers : Just Be You CS Sticker, 12x12 Combo Sticker/ et cetera

Don't forget to stop over at the Bo Bunny blog for your chance to win a prize from Bo Bunny and I am also giving away a prize on my blog today! For the chance to win the beautiful project kit from the Forever Fall range just leave a comment on this post and I will pick a winner next Friday!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! :)

Holidays!

2011-08-21T23:52:00.000+01:00

Hee hee, I hadn't even realised that it has been 4 weeks since I last put up a blog post! We have been away on holiday to visit my best friend for a while and then we had family staying over and we have been tiling our bathroom, which is looking fantastic but what a long process! Apparently it was made longer because of the fact that I wanted the tiling done in a brickwork pattern instead of the standard tiling pattern and that involved more cuts! It was also the first time my hubby had done tiling so it was pretty cruel to do that to him but he is always good at all DIY so I knew he could handle it! :)

Anyway here are a few photos from the hundreds I took on our holiday! First off I just have to show you a photo of the view we had from our bedroom window. My friend lives out in the countryside and it is just so wonderful and peaceful there! She has a lovely big garden where the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves and then a lake with ducks at the bottom of her garden to feed!. The quiet was just wonderful and I loved waking up to the sheep noises in the nearby field, I think we neeeeeeed to move to the country! ;)

Of course we had to go down to the beach, even though it did get a bit nippy, poor Kieran even had to wear my jumper after he went swimming!

This is me and my best friend Megan, I was thinking about it the other day and realised that we have been friends for over 20 years now!

These photos were from Drusillas which the kids just loved!

Christopher has not stopped moaning that he wants to go back and we must all go and live at Megans lol!

You would think seeing as I haven't done a blog post for so long that I would have loads of layouts to put up but nope I have had hardly any time for scrapbooking and what I have done is either for magazines or the Bo Bunny blog so I can't share them yet lol. The only thing I can put up is this layout for my Sketch and scrap group, I am not too sure where the sketch was from this month.

I think this is one of the fastest layouts I have ever done as I only had a couple of hours to do it (I even had to photograph it at night!) and it normally takes me ages to do a layout! It was really hard for me to do it that quick as no matter how simple my layouts are I usually mull over everything for ages but it was also kind of freeing. I don't think I could do that too often though as throwing a layout together is really hard on my nerves lol. I used Bo Bunny Mama-razi which is just perfect for these photos :)

I just love the black tape above the buttons that I got in a kit from The Scraproom ages ago but I have no idea who makes it, if anyone else knows please let me know! :)

Bo Bunny is spotlighting design team members this month and doing a get to know each design team member, they are also giving away a prize each day so don't forget to pop over there to meet the design team (they are really the most awesome group of really lovely and talented ladies!) and your chance to win some yummy Bo Bunny prizes. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Step it up!

2011-07-25T22:59:00.000+01:00

Bo Bunny has started a new feature on their blog called Step it Up! There have been a few requests for simple layouts so they decided to take it a step further and start with a simple layout and then add a couple of extra steps to show how you can take your layout to the next level. I was on this assignment this month and really enjoyed doing it! I will admit it was actually quite hard because you have to kind of plan ahead for what you are going to do but can't do the things to see what they will look like as you have to get photos of the simpler versions first (and the fact that we had endless rain for 4 days that was making it really hard to get a good photo didn't help either lol). So this is my take....

I chose to use the beautiful summery Barefoot & Bliss (well I have to get my sunshine somewhere right!) and this is my 'simple' version

My second version has been spiced up a little by distressing the edges of the outer papers, inking some edges, adding a couple of extra layers under the main photo, adding some ribbon which always adds texture and painting my title. It may not show up that clearly in the photo but I painted the title blue to match the papers, added a layer of crackle paint and then added a layer of white paint to achieve the cracked wood effect, a perfect effect for beachy type layouts!

For my final version I took another sheet of the background paper and cut the flowers out and then layered them on top of the background sheet with foam dots to give some dimension as well as adding a few extra flowers. I did the same thing with the dot strip under the two smaller photos and added a photo corner and some buttons under the main photo. Lastly I highlighted the sun by adding a ring of stitching and a ring of bling!

And a few close ups...

Bo Bunny Supply List:
Patterned Paper: Beach Bag, Bubbles, Dot and Cut Out/Barefoot & Bliss
Cardstock: Double Dot in Slate Dot
Noteworthy: Barefoot & Bliss
Jewels: Barefoot & Bliss
Alphabet: Chunky Chips Chipboard Alpha in Chiffon
Buttons: Ad Lib; Bo Bunny
6" Paper Pad: Barefoot & Bliss
Ribbon: 3/8" Double Dot Ribbon in Buttercup

Well you may notice that I copied and pasted most of that write up off the Bo Bunny blog but as I was the one who did the original post anyway I figured that is not being toooo lazy ;)

Thanks for visiting and I hope everyone has a fantastic week that just flies by to bring the weekend as fast as possible! :)

Noteworthy

2011-07-19T21:57:00.000+01:00

My latest assignment for Bo Bunny was to focus on Noteworthy. I have always loved the Noteworthy pads that Bo Bunny make but I am finding the new packs of Noteworthy so versatile! I used the Liberty line for my layout :)

Supplies:

Patterned Paper: Liberty, Freedom, Dot, Sparkler/Liberty
Die Cuts: Liberty Noteworthy
Stamps: Liberty Clear Stamps
Jewels: Liberty Jewels

American Crafts Glitter Thickers - Lax White

Raffia

Martha Stewart PATP Combo Rings

EK Success Slim Edger Punch Bracket

Well it is that time of year again, the end of the school year and the beginning of the wonderfully long summer holidays! I have always loved school holidays because I get to have my kids home more (although not so much now that they are getting older) but also for that extra half an hour in bed and the not having to have the mad rush in the mornings whilst fighting with the kids to get ready!

My eldest who will be going to high school next year (that one still hasn't sunk in!) has already broken up a week early as his school is merging with another one next year and they need time to move everything over, so I had to get his teacher gifts ready early. I usually make things for the teachers but due to some things I read recently and due to my total lack of time at the moment I decided to just play it safe and did 2 small bottles of wine (one red and one white) and a little box of chocolates. I also made these super quick cards (in the morning before school!), which I actually really like. I always like really clean simple cards like these :)

I actually got a thank you card from one of the teachers too for the gifts and a letter I had written her. I thought that was really lovely as I have only had 2 teachers say thank you over the years and 2 teaching assistants, one of which my youngest had for 3 years in a row (she even asked me for recipes!). So then I felt bad that I hadn't put more effort in this time lo, oh well, at least I wrote her a nice letter saying thank you for all she had done!

Thanks for visiting! :)

Previews and some Bounce!!

2011-07-11T13:16:00.001+01:00

First up I have another layout for my sketch and scrap group done using this sketch from page maps.

I am not 100% happy with the layout, you know when something just doesn't feel right! But I was working with a deadline and I haven't had the time since to try and change it a bit so for the moment it is just being left as it is. which is hard for me as I can be a bit OCD with some things lol :)

You may have noticed I have been having lots of fun with my mists and liquid pearls lately! I may even be going a bit overboard but they are sooo much fun, I really neeeeeeed some more!

And most excitingly...have you seen the previews of the new Bo Bunny lines yet?!! Bo Bunny started showing previews on Wednesday starting with one of my favourites of the new lines Forever Fall! I am going to add a couple of papers from each line as papers are my weakness (and it makes it easier when I don't have to choose which of all the yummy product to choose) but you can see the full lines and leave a comment for a chance to win one of them on the Bo Bunny Blog.

Which is your favourite of the new lines? I can't decide between Forever Fall for the gorgeous colours and whimsical feel or Welcome Home for one of my favourite colour combinations, the beautiful images and just because it is home and family based! Nope just can't do it, I love them all!!!! The best part is there are still two more lines to preview! Be still my heart I seriously can't wait to start playing with all this lusciousness, Bo Bunny have outdone themselves again! :)

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone has a great week!

Trinkets!

2011-07-01T11:38:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone!

Today's layout is focusing on Bo Bunny's gorgeous Trinkets! These were such a beautiful addition to Bo Bunny's collections and are so fun to work with! There are so many uses for them and you can see a few on the Bo Bunny blog. I decided to do a layout using Vicki-B and have used four of the Vicki-B trinkets on it!

The journaling is hidden behind one of the photos and is just about how my Mom loves taking photos and me and my elder sister both hate having our photos taken! So every time my Mom tries to take photos of us together we are always pulling faces and acting silly so it is not very often that she manages to get a photo of both of us smiling properly at the same time! (with these photos I think we were feeling sorry for her as I was about to return to the UK from our holiday to SA to visit them) My poor Mommy! Luckily for her, my younger sister has a really soft heart and is way more accommodating than her unruly older kids ;)

For the trim under the photos I wanted the top to be straight and the bottom gathered. To do this I put a strip of double sided running below the photos and then stuck the top of the Vicki-B trim along it. I then folded the fabric up neatly and poked two holes, one through the double sided tape and one a bit lower so I could use a large stitch to hold the fabric up.

I then stuck a piece of double sided tape under the 'hanging' part of the trim and then just manipulated the folds to sit how I wanted them and pushed them down onto the tape so they stay in place.

Then lastly of course added the trinkets with some foam dots to finish it off :)

Supplies:
Vicki B. Trinkets
Vicki B. Stripe
Vicki B. Fabuloso
Vicki B. Wrap
Vicki B. Clear Stamp
Vicki B. Brads
Vicki B. Noteworthy
Vicki B. Jewels
Vicki B. Combo Sticker

Vicki B. 6x6 Paper Pad
Tim Holtz Ideaology regal mini mask
Prima stencils
Tattered Angels Glimmer mist Starfish
Tim Holtz Distress inks - Peeled paint, Walnut stain

Ranger Liquid pearls
Martha Stewart butterfly punch
Kaisercraft Script Clear Stamp

Oh and I have to say I got to see Bo Bunny's new releases the other day and all I can say is WOW they are all totally stunning and you are going to LOVE them!!!!! So don't forget to keep checking in on the Bo Bunny Blog as there will be some reveals very soon! :)

Once Upon a Sketch

2011-06-22T19:04:00.000+01:00

Wow, two posts within a few days, I haven't done that in a while! Well toady's post is for a layout from a sketch over at the Once Upon a Sketch blog. Once Upon a Sketch is run by Nadia Cannizzo who I first came across when she entered a gorgeous layout in a challenge on the Bo Bunny blog and I have been following her blog ever since as her work is just stunning! Nadia started up the Once Upon a Sketch blog recently and it is fantastic with some seriously talented designers. I love sketches and challenges but don't often get time these days to take part in them but when I saw this sketch, the journaling criteria and all the beautiful takes the designers have done for it I just had to make some time to do it and I had such fun doing it too! :)

These are some of my favourite photos (although I say that about lots of them I know, I just love photos! ) and I have been wanting to scrap them for ages but it has never been the right time to scrap them until now. I have loads of older photos like that waiting until I have the perfect paper or inspiration :)

Supplies used:

Bazzill cardstock

Scenic Route Metropolis - Broadway Street, Carter Drive and Scrap strip 3

Kelly Panacci - 360 Degrees -3 ring circus, Hoopsy Daisy and Chipboard Medley

Seit Citrus Kick - Key lime, Clementine

American Crafts Chipboard Thickers - Powder Rocketeer

Scenic Route Alphabet Stickers - Berkely

Tattered Angels Glimmer mist - Apple, Patina clear

Adirondack colour wash - Stream

Ranger Liquid pearls - Ocean Blue, Cantaloupe

Nikki Sivils craft flag

Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Broken China, Peeled Pain, Walnut Stain

Ek Success edger punches - Bubbles,Double Embossed Dotted Lace

Well I hope those pictures are showing up properly for everyone because blogger has decided to try and drive me crazy by not adding any photos to my posts! I have tried a few times today and have eventually given up and just hosted them at Image shack. I know lots of people have been having all sorts of problems with blogger recently but this is the first time I have had any.

Thanks for stopping by!

Rub-ons!

2011-06-20T16:00:00.000+01:00

My latest assignment for Bo Bunny was to focus on rub-ons. I love rub-ons as they are so versatile and can be used on lots of different surfaces so instead of a layout I decided to alter this cute little wooden box I bought from the Range for only £1! Yup only £1 which I thought was pretty amazing and since I bought this one they have added some different shapes instore too so I will definitely be getting some more of those!

Bo Bunny has sooo many gorgeous rub-ons but as I was going to make a little treasure box for my son who is always collecting all sorts of little "treasures", I decided to use the rub-ons from the Zoology line which are just perfect for him! I started off by giving the box a couple of coats of everyday emulsion paints from one of those little tester pots.

Once that was done I inked all the edges and corners using Ranger Distress Inks.

I used a sort of Modge Podge ( I make my own using PVA glue, a small amount of water and a few drops of glossy accents) to coat the sides and then added some pieces of the Zoology papers with the glue and then adding another coat over the top and one more once that was dried. I used the rub-ons on the sides and top of the lid as well as some alphabet stickers and then sealed those all in with the Modge Podge too. I even used some of the Modge Podge on the leaves I cut out to make them more hard wearing too, which is definitely needed with those little fingers!

Lastly I just added a few more embelishments and some pewter liquid pearls around the edges of the lid, and this is the finished box :)

I had to add that coin brad because Christopher was just oohing and aahing over them when he saw them! As I said he just loves "treasures" :)

Well Christopher just loves it and was so excited when he saw his name on it and seeing that happiness over something you have made for someone is always the best feeling in the world! :)

Barefoot and Bliss layout!

2011-06-10T20:14:00.000+01:00

Ok I have been totally AWOL again I know but in my defence I have been as sick as a dog for the last week! I am still not feeling wonderful but am at least on the mend :) I do have a couple of layouts to share though :) The first is my first layout using the new Barefoot and Bliss! This range is just so yummy and warm, it really just makes you want to rush off to the beach and lie in the sun! Of course I will just have to dream of that because even though it is June it is cold and miserable here today!

Supplies used:
Barefoot & Bliss Barefoot Splash
Barefoot & Bliss Clear Stamps
Barefoot & Bliss Dimensional Stickers
Barefoot & Bliss Rub-ons
Barefoot & Bliss Layered Chipboard
Barefoot & Bliss Noteworthy
Barefoot & Bliss 6x6 Paper Pad
Double Dot Buttercup Dot
Double Dot Brilliant Blue Dot

Liquid pearls

Next is a layout done for the Sketch and Scrap group I belong to and it was my turn to choose the sketch this month and this gorgeous sketch from Page Maps is the one I chose.

I used Crate Paper Blue Hill Collection and Prima pearls and bling for this beautiful photo of my Granny when she was young and of course I couldn't resist using butterflies!

And just a close up of my skew sewing! (It is sooo not a good idea to sew when your head is floating all over the place! ;)

I went to the MEN arena in Manchester on Wednesday to see Styx, Foreigner and Journey in concert and it was soooo Awesome!! I have liked Journey for years ever since Paul introduced me to them when we first met 15 years ago but Foreigner and Styx were both fantastic too and their energy is totally amazing when you consider how long they have been going! I was still pretty ill and had no voice so I couldn't cheer or anything but I clapped and danced and waved my arms, it was so much fun! Paul has been to a few concerts recently but it has been years since I have been to one, but I will most definitely be going to some more as I loved every minute! Cd's and radios etc just can't compare to the atmosphere and that thumping that you can feel vibrating through the seats and inside you during a live concert, although it did take about an hour for my hearing to return to normal after the concert! :)

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend that hopefully has better weather than we have had the last few days! :)

Gabrielle Canvas and Liberty Card

2011-05-27T10:21:00.000+01:00

I am so loving the Gabrielle line and got the urge to make a canvas with it the other day as the Aquamarine colour is perfect for home decor and of course I am just a huge fan of butterflies! I just love the Gabrielle Elegance paper and right from the first time I saw it that butterfly has been screaming at me to do something with it so of course I had to use that for my canvas! :)
I have given up on trying to get a better photo as we have forgotten what the sunshine looks like in our area at the moment!! I am hoping that will change this weekend :)

I had so much fun playing around with this, just painting randomly and not worrying about being too neat was fun! lol Seriously I have not really painted anything for years but I am thinking maybe I need to get back into it again, but in the meantime maybe I will just do another couple of canvases to go with this one :) Once I had played around with the paint I used a Tim Holtz mask, and then the Kaiser Craft Script texture stamp and one of the butterfly stamps and a rub on from the Gabrielle collection to decorate the base of the canvas. Then of course those beautiful butterflies and some stamped corners and pearls from the Gabrielle range to decorate and I went over the paper parts with some modge podge to make it a bit more durable and I have to say I actually quite love it lol!

This is a card using the new Liberty line from Bo Bunny and I really adore this line, the papers and images are fantastic! I would quite love to move to America so I could have more chance to use it! Having said that I will still be able to use a good portion of it because most of the papers are quite versatile and would lend themselves perfectly to boy layouts, especially as I love stars, almost as much as I love butterflies ;) I don't really consider myself a card maker as I have not done it for as long as scrapbooking and am not that confidant with it but I had a lot of fun doing this one and it came together so easily using the new Noteworthy that came with the latest collections.

Supplies:
LibertySparkler
Liberty Old Glory
Liberty Noteworthy
Liberty Jewels
Double Dot ribbon

Well I have the kids on school holidays for the next 2 weeks and as much as I love the school holidays my life will be even crazier than usual so I don't know how much scrapping I will get done! I just have to hope the sun comes out so we can spend lots of time outdoors! Don't forget there is still time to hop through this weeks Bo Bunny blog hop here for a chance to win some gorgeous Bo Bunny goodies!

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! :)

Bo Bunny Blog Hop!!

2011-05-18T14:11:00.000+01:00

Wooohooo it is that time again!! Welcome to the second Bo Bunny blog hop for May!

The Bo Bunny designers have put together some amazing work to share on their blogs. Today we have eight featured designers to inspire you to create!

You should have come here from the very talented Romy's blog but if you are just joining us you can start at the Bo Bunny Blog.
Today's designers include:

Tomoko
Debbie
Juliana
Romy
Carin...Thats me!
Samantha
Kathleen
Tara

The Blog Hop begins at Tomoko's blog and then each designer will link you to the next blog, but all of the participating designers' blogs are linked above just in case. If you would like to play along, follow along the blog path and just keep hopping until you reach the end!

This is my project for the blog hop using the beautiful Gabrielle range. This is one of my favourite photos of my son when he was little skipping along happily in our garden. I have wanted to scrapbook this photo for ages and each time I looked at it "There are fairies in the bottom of my garden" always popped into my head so I had a pretty good idea of what sort of page I wanted to do and the Gabrielle papers were just perfect for what I had in mind! :)

The little white roses were store bought but all the other flowers were made using 2 different sized 6 petal flower punches.

To give the tree a bit of dimension I did a few different layers for the leaves, starting with masking some leaves using the negative piece of the punched cardstock and then adding a few leaves in a darker shade of paper and topping that with the lighter patterned paper and using some foam dots to pop those up a bit on the end. I also couldn't resist painting a bit of glitter glue onto some of the leaves to give it a bit more of a magical feel. :)

Bo Bunny Supplies used:

Gabrielle , Gabrielle Flight, Gabrielle Romance, Gabrielle Cameo

Gabrielle 6x6 Paper Pad

Gabrielle Dimensional Stickers

Gabrielle Jewels

Gabrielle Wrap

Gabrielle Clear Stamps

Gabrielle Brads

Gabrielle Rub-ons

Coordinating double dot Chiffon dot and Turquoise Flourish

Others:

Masks

Spray Inks

Jewels

Punches
Alphabets

And now for the Blog Hop prizes! Leave a comment on each designer's blog. One designer's blog will be chosen to pick a comment at random. You don't know which blog we will be picking from so make sure to leave a comment on them all. To be eligible for the second prize leave a comment on the Bo Bunny blog after hopping through all the blogs and one will be chosen at random.

So next you need to hop on over to the lovely Samantha's blog!

The winners will be announced next Wednesday on the Bo Bunny blog. Have fun hopping!

Football mania layout and Bo Bunny blog hop!

2011-05-11T21:59:00.002+01:00

A layout for my sketch and scrap group today! These are some older photos of Kieran from when he first started football/soccer in year1. He just loved football and used to love to go to training every week no matter what the weather, he took it very seriously ;). He still loves football to this day and plays it every chance he gets! This month our group used this lovely sketch which is by Cherie Averill.

And this is my layout...and oh my goodness don't you just love how he is so little his shin pads take up most of his leg!

I used some older papers that I have had for ages! They are mostly Deja Views Sports range and the little footballs were cut out from a Papermania range and I can't remember what make the red paper is, don't you hate it when that happens!!

Now to the exciting news!! Bo Bunny is having another blog hop this month starting today!! My day for the blog hop is only next week but toady's Blog hop starts over at the very talented Agniezska's blog. So for a chance to win some yummy Bo Bunny stash and be inspired along the way, be sure to go and join in the hop! Good luck! :)

Quick Card!

2011-05-01T12:18:00.000+01:00

Well we have had a busy 2 weeks with the kids and Paul on holiday and all the public holidays. We have been been doing all sorts of things including repainting the house! Oh and we went to see Thor at the cinemas the other day and it was freaking AWESOME!! I would definitely recommend it and think we might have to go again :) So alas I have not had much time for scrapbooking, although Paul has taken Kieran to his cricket match this morning and Christopher is currently occupied with a movie so I plan to go and do some scrapbooking for a while now!

So today I just have a quick card done for this sketch by the wonderful Romy Veul

Supplies used:
Timepiece 6x6 Paper Pad
Timepiece Cut Outs
Timepiece Dad Knows Best CS Sticker
Timepiece Wrap
Coordinating Double Dot Sugar Dot
Coordinating Double Dot Licorice Dot

I also have a couple of photos to share, firstly the kiddiewinkles with some of thier easter egg stash :)

And these are the gorgeous flowers Paul got me for our 14 year Anniversary this month :) It is full of South African plants and is just gorgeous!

And....I also have exciting news! Bo Bunny will be showing previews of their new ranges starting tomorrow! So don't forget to check out the Bo Bunny Blog from tomorrow for previews of the new releases, they are amazing as always! :) :) :)

Ad Lib!

2011-04-21T15:15:00.000+01:00

Now for a layout using my favourite of the new Bo Bunny lines, Ad Lib! This is such a fun line to work with :) Well the papers are Ad Lib anyway....this layout was for the same product four designers post on the Bo Bunny blog so it was a mix of a few different collections.

I always love seeing these same product different designers challenges because I always find it so fascinating how different all the layouts come out using the same products! It must just be my month for same product four designers because I also have a layout published in the latest Scrapbook Magazine for that particular challenge using a kit from Scrap Rat which I will upload on here in a few weeks time :)

And these were the supplies we had to use:
Ad Lib Hoopla
Ad Lib Scribbles
Ad Lib This n That
Ad Lib Cut Outs
Gabrielle Trinkets
Timepiece chipboard
Vicki B Wrap
Blast Off! buttons
Wasabi Stripe Double Dot

If you want to see the other 3 gorgeous layouts from my very talented fellow designers, you can see them here.

That's if from me for today, I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend fulled with lots of sunshine :)

Timepiece layout, Ad Lib card and exciting Hybrid Class News!

2011-04-13T20:04:00.000+01:00

Today's layout is one of my wedding photos done with the beautiful Timepiece collection! This is only the second page I have done using my wedding photos as I only started 'proper' scrapbooking long after I was married so I had already made a scrapbook of sorts in a wedding album using bits cut out of the wrapping paper from our wedding gifts and cards etc. I had so many other photos that needed to be scrapped that I just left the wedding photos as they were but with some of the gorgeous recent releases from Bo Bunny I just couldn't resist scrapping a few! :)

Supplies used:
Timepiece
Timepiece 6x6 Paper Pad
12" Timepiece Chipboard
Timepiece Clear Stamp
Timepiece Trinkets
Timepiece Combo Sticker
Timepiece Jewels
Bo Bunny Flowers
American Crafts Thickers

EK Success edge punches

This was a quick card I did using my favourite of Bo Bunny's new releases Ad Lib! Man I love this collection it is just so bright and fun and well just plain cool! ;) It makes me happy every time I look at it :)

Supplies used:
Ad Lib 6x6 Paper Pad
Ad Lib Pebbles
Coordinating Double Dot Ocean Dot
Ad Lib Wrap
Ad Lib Trinkets
Life's Good CS Sticker
Ad Lib 12x12 Combo Sticker

Ad Lib jewels

Then some really exciting news is that if you enjoy craft classes and love Bo Bunny Gabrielle then the super talented Jessica Sprague and Heidi Swapp have put together a fabulous hybrid class for mothers day here using the stunning Gabrielle collection! This is a little sneak peek at the class and it looks amazing!

Thanks for visiting! :)

Prince's and Forts!

2011-04-04T22:50:00.000+01:00

A couple of layouts today, first up is one for Bo Bunny where the Focus was on stamps! I used the Cambridge and Timepiece stamp sets which is definitely two of my favourite stamps sets along with the Gabrielle set!

Supplies used:
Blueberry Stripe Double Dot
Dark Denim Double Dot
Cambridge Crown Die Cut
Cambridge Argyle
Note Worthy Cambridge
Cambridge Newsprint Wrap
Cambridge 12x12 Combo Sticker
Cambrtidge Clearly Stamp
Timepiece Clear Stamp

The saying is taken from the More than a Princess poem by Brian Andreas at The Story People. It is a poem that I have loved for ages but of course with two little boys the Princess doesn't work so I have changed it a bit to work for my boys but still keep the beautiful meaning.

The next one was for a sketch group on UKS I am a part of using the following sketch from Inspired Blueprints

These are my kids sitting in their little Fort made out of our cream lounge suite. We kicked ourselves a good few times for buying a cream lounge suite but it was an amazingly comfortable lounge suite with loads of cushions that was just perfect for making forts and the kids loved to take them apart and play on them! We just had to invest in a carpet and upholstery cleaner :)

The papers are My Minds Eye Penny Lane 'Feeling Groovy' papers.

I will be back in a day or two with a layout using the gorgeous new Bo Bunny Timepiece! :) (and maybe even a couple of photos from our trip to the Lake District if I can get a bit of time to sort through the photos!)

Tfl!

For you card and Butterfly Mobile!

2011-03-18T13:54:00.000Z

Firstly today I have a quick card using one of the new flourish Double Dot papers from Bo Bunny! This was for a challenge to make a bling card :)

Supplies used:
Gabrielle Romance
Gabrielle 6x6 Paper Pad
Gabrielle Jewels
Gabrielle True Friend CS Sticker
Double Dot Turquoise Flourish
Double Dot Coral Dot

Others:
Ranger Liquid pearls
EK Success Bracket Edger Punch
Martha Stewart Rings Punch Around the Page
Cuttlebug Cut and Emboss butterflies

Then today I have done my first tutorial for the Bo Bunny blog for this Butterfly Mobile

So if you would like to see the tutorial please pop over to the Bo Bunny blog here.

Thanks for looking and hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! :)

Bo Bunny Vicki B!

2011-03-09T10:13:00.000Z

Oh dear I have been completely AWOL again! The normal crazy routine but we have also been making the most of and enjoying some actual sunshine!!! Seems like forever since we have had some, so I have not had done much crafting...

I have only one layout to share at the moment using the yummy new Vicki B line from Bo Bunny. This is a really bright and vibrant line but strangely enough I decided to make a really soft monochromatic layout! We had a challenge to recycle on our layouts and I used the packaging from the the stamps and the glittered chipboard as my photo mats. I don't know if you have noticed before but a lot of the Bo Bunny packaging is perfect for reusing on your layouts ;)

Supplies used:
Vicki B. Perky
Vicki B. Floweret
Vicki B. 6x6 paper pad
Vicki B. Layered Chipboard (Packaging)
Vicki B. Clear Stamp (Packaging)
Vicki B. Wrap
Gabrielle Clear Stamp
Coordinating Double Dot Tutu Dot
EK Success Brackets Edger Punch
EK Success Scroll & Dots Edger Punch
Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch
Ranger Liquid Pearls
Stencil

It is not often that I get to do pink girly layouts so I had sooo much fun playing with this one! The stencil I used is just a cheap one I picked up at The Works that had 2 sheets of stencils for only 99p!

As I said we have been trying to take advantage of finally seeing what the sun looks like again so I have been taking the kids to parks after school and then we took their bikes and roller blades along to the park this weekend so here are a couple of pics of them enjoying the sunshine!

Wow, blogger is officially trying to drive me mad! I had to upload the one photo about 5 times as it kept putting it in sideways! I eventually had to turn it upside down before I uploaded it to get it to be the right way round on here lol!

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a good week, I am hoping mine can only get better seeing as I have been down and out with a stomach bug so anything after that should be an improvement! ;)

Blast Off Layout!

2011-02-25T10:07:00.000Z

This is my first layout with the new Blast Off line, done for the Sew Dang Cute post on the Bo Bunny Blog which is one of my favourite posts every month because I love stitching on a layout, I think it just always gives it that something extra :)

Using the Blast off line was so much fun and what is so nice is that the papers are actually quite versatile, it may look at first glance like a range for younger children but the more subtle patterns on the backs of the papers are perfect for older kids and teens too! :)

Supplies used:
Blast off! Orbit; Blast off!; Blast Off! Galaxy; Blast Off! Stripe.
Blast Off! 6x6 paper pad
Blast Off! 12x12 Chipboard
Blast Off! Wrap
Blast Off! Monkeyin Around CS Stickers
Chipboard Alphabet (sorry can't remember who's)
Making Memories Simply stated Expressions Rub ons
EKSuccess Bubbles Edger punch
Embroidery floss

Sorry for the bad pic again I am so over this dreary weather, bring on Summer (all 3 weeks of it ;) ). Does anyone have any tips for taking clearer photos on dark and dull days, remembering I don't have an SLR (well my camera does have a setting where you can change everything but I don't know how to use it! lol). I was thinking of buying a daylight lamp, do any of you know if they would help? Of course I could just move somewhere sunnier or maybe just take a course and learn how to use my camera, might be cheaper ;)

I normally love school holidays but the kids have been driving me a bit crazy this time so I am actually completely worn out and glad it is Friday and that they are coming to an end! Of course I will change my mind again on Monday and wish it was holidays again! ;) Hope you all have a fantastic weekend! :)

Sketch Layout!

2011-02-18T21:11:00.000Z

I am a bit slow with uploading this one! I did the sketch this month for Bo Bunny's monthly sketch challenge and this is what I came up with...

This is the layout I came up with for the sketch.

Supplies used:
Crush, Crush Romeo, Crush Sugar, Crush Smooch, Crush Cut Outs
Crush Noteworthy
Crush 12x12 Chipboard
Crush Stamp
Chunky Chips Alpha Liquorice
American Crafts Alphabet

white cardstock

If you would like to take part in the sketch challenge for the chance to win some yummy Bo Bunny goodies just use the sketch for a layout and post it on this post by the 23 February. Simples! :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I know I will as I plan on playing with all the amazing new Bo Bunny lines, I tell you I am in seventh heaven as they are even more gorgeous in real life! :) :) :)

Publications, altered frame and retreat layout!

2011-02-13T22:50:00.000Z

I have a few things to share today! First up I have a couple of publications starting with the UK's own wonderful Scrapbook Magazine..

I did the budget challenge for issue 52 so I had to do 3 layouts for under £10 which was actually lots of fun because it encourages you to think differently. I am just showing the page spread for now and will show close ups of the layouts in a few weeks.

Then I also had a layout in Esprit Scrapbooking which is a gorgeous French magazine!

I am only allowed to show you a sneak of this one...But I used a beautiful photo of my mother when she was young which Bo Bunny Olivia just suited perfectly!

I finally managed to add a title and photograph my one and only layout from our Twilight Addicts weekend!

I was trying to use up some older papers and do some older photos over the weekend although with only one layout I didn't get very far in that respect! Will have to keep working on that ;)

Lastly today I have a altered frame that I made using Bo Bunny Crush

Supplies used:

Crush Love; Crush Sugar
Glitter Crush Layered Chipboard
Chunky Chips Chipboard Alpha Licorice
Bo Bunny flowers

I hope everyone has a fantastic valentines day tomorrow, and sending out lots of love to all my friends! :) :)

Scrappy Weekend!

2011-02-09T23:10:00.000Z

Oooops been a bit missing in action! The good part of the MIA was that I had a wonderful scrappy week-end away with my fellow Twilight Addicts! :) We had an awsome time, those girls are just sooo much fun and they had me laughing so much I was almost crying, we had plenty of interesting conversations and ate loads of really yummy cakes baked by Karen, including the best coffee walnut cake I have ever had!

This was the group photo

Heather (Heatherblossom), Karen (Badgerleader), Gemma, Jess, Lisa (seated), Dee (seated), Carin (2Angels), Alison (Alibri) (seated), and Jill (Wineshiraz) standing.

Ok and then around the scrapping table starting at my right was the lovely Heather

Then we had Fiddle de Dee and Alison and her bump

Then Karen, the coffee and walnut cake queen

Then Jess

Then Lisa who organised everything and is our TA glue!

(and also encourages my latest punch obsession (that's my excuse and I am sticking to it ;) )

Then Gemma

Then lastly on my left was Jill

I also have to include a photo of the gorgeous Twilight cupcakes made by Karen especially for our Twilight Addicts weekend! With a secret vampire surprise inside!

I discovered that I am not very good at scrapping when there are lots of people around! I don't know if it was that I was too distracted by the talking or what but I only did one layout the whole weekend! I haven't photographed that yet but in the meantime I have a card to share.

We were challenged to make a card including some valentines candy, I used the packaging from a box of Bo Bunny Brads to put some chocolate hearts in, so this is what Paul will be getting this year!

I also had some fun using the stamps and some shrink plastic, I haven't done that in ages!

Supplies used:

Crush Cutie Pie

6x6 Crush Paper Pad

Coordinating Double Dot - Licorice Dot

Glitter Crush Layered Chipboard

Crush Stamps

Crush Rub-ons

Double Dot Ribbon

Packaging from Bo Bunny Brads

Shrink Plastic, ribbon, liquid pearls, Alphabet stickers

Ok I really will be back in a couple of days this time, with some more items, I promise...... ;) (even though blogger is trying to make me old tonight and doing strange layout things!)

2011-01-27T17:37:00.000Z

I am sure everyone is loving all the gorgeous reveals before CHA at the moment, I know I am! I am so super excited about all the gorgeous new ranges Bo Bunny has introduced and can't wait to get my greedy little mitts on them! ;) Here are some links in case you missed them!

Wow, I just love Timepiece, so classic and perfect for vintage layouts and more modern layouts!

I just love, love, love Ad Lib and can't wait to work with it, it is just so fun and has gorgeous colours!

Vicki B is beautiful and I think has quite a retro feel to it with some amazing colour combos!

Oh yes, this is just perfect for all the scrappers of little boys out there and it even works perfectly for older boys too as most of the papers have a super cute side with really adorable pictures and then a more subtle

patterened side so perfect for all ages!

I am soooo excited by the new Double Dot designs, especially the new ledger ones!

I have a easel card to share with you today done for this sketch by Romy Veul, a fellow Bo Bunny designer.

Supplies used: Cambridge Victory, Cambridge Argyle,
Cambridge 12x12 chipboard
Cambridge Rub-ons
Cambridge Combo Sticker
Cambridge iCandy Brads
Newsprint Wrap
Coordinating Double Dot Olive Dot

I will be back tomorrow with some layouts I haven't been able to show until now :)

New Bo Bunny Release Gabrielle!!!

2011-01-18T09:37:00.000Z

I am a bit slow with this as yesterday was a bit crazy but Bo Bunnys latest Release Gabrielle has been revealed on their blog! Wow oh wow this is the most stunning range, beautiful colours and images, I just can't wait to get my hands on it! Doing the happy dance every time I think about it!! :) :) Here are a few samples

And just look at the Die cut paper!

Stunning right!!!! This is a project kit that looks just fab!

Just lookie at the gorgeous mini album!

How cute are these puzzle pieces...

I just adore these stamps and buttons!

These fab new addition Trinkets are stunning, the possibilities with these are just endless! Hee hee!

To see the rest of the range and for a chance to win some of the stunning Gabrielle, just pop over to the Bo Bunny Blog and leave a comment on the Gabrielle post. Even more exciting is Bo Bunny will be revealing new lines for the rest of the week and let me tell you they are all gorgeous!! So don't forget to check back every day for your chance to be one of the first to own some of the new lines :)

Bo Bunny Blog Hop!!

2011-01-12T14:21:00.000Z

Welcome to the second Bo Bunny blog hop for January! Today there will be not one, but two winners for some Bo Bunny goodies!!

The blog hop starts over at the Bo Bunny Blog so if you are starting off here then head over there first to make sure you don't miss any of the blogs!

These are all the designers taking part in todays Blog Hop :

Mahlin Wiggur- Sweden

Carin McDonough- United Kingdom

Patti Milazzo - Pennsylvania

Frances Sylvia- Louisianna

Jolanda Meurs- Netherlands

Kathleen Glossop- Australia

Michele Beck- France

If you would like to play along, just follow along the blog path and just keep hopping until you reach the end!

And now for the Blog Hop prize. One blog hop participant that leaves a comment on each of the designers' blogs will be chosen at random to win a Bo Bunny prize package. When you are done hopping head on over to the Bo Bunny facebook page and leave a comment about the hop on the wall. One comment will be chosen at random to win a Bo Bunny prize.

For my project today I have used Bo Bunny Crazy Love to alter an item for my home! I saw this frame tree in a local shop and immediately bought it then gave it to my husband to give to me for Christmas lol. I forgot to take a before photo so I had to crop this from a photo of my Christmas presents!

And this is the finished project after it has received some Crazy Love treatment :) Now I just need to choose what photos to go into it :)

From here please head over to the very talented Patti Milazzo's Blog to see what gorgeous project she has made for you today!

Good luck and have fun!

New Years Resolutions!

2011-01-10T11:17:00.000Z

One of the latest projects up on the BoBunny blog was to scrap your new years resolutions or goals which I think is a wonderful idea, especially if you are one of those people (like me) who have problems sticking to them! In fact I have not made any resolutions for a few years now but I decided to give it a go this year and I plan on keeping my layout up in my scraproom where I will see it everyday and that should keep reminding me what they are and maybe I will be more likely to keep them ;)

Anyway this is the layout I did using my new favourite Midnight Frost! I had to do this one in a bit of a mad rush so I did it in a few hours but I still really like it, actually maybe that should have been one of my resolutions to stop faffing so much when I scrapbook and just get on with it! Sorry it has also been photographed it in horrific lighting again, roll on spring and summer! That photo is also a few years old because I don't have many photos of me and my printer does not do a wonderful job on photos and as it was a rush I just had to use what I had ;)

Supplies used :

Midnight Frost Snowfall, Midnight Frost Ice, Midnight Frost Crystals

Midnight Frost 12x12 Chipboard, Pin from Frost Wraps

Midnight Frost stamps

Tim Holtz mask

American Crafts Thickers
punches,
liquid crystals,
bling

Tip : I got extra use out of my 12x12 chipboard by cutting off the name strip and using the outside edge too.

My resolutions were...

Be more organised (lol)
Accept what life throws at me and then move on (I have a tendency to keep things with me)
Worry less (snorting as I write this one!)
Trust more (me, everyone else, higher powers!)
Spend more time just playing with the kids (not just being their chauffeur)
Exercise (more snorting)
Everything does not have to be perfect (at least not completely perfect ;) )
Eat healthier (maybe I can leave all the bad things like baked goods and sweets and just add more fruit and veggies??)
Be Braver (I am a wimp!)

I am considering trying out the Be Braver one by driving to a scrapbooking weekend my social group is having in a few weeks....It is a 3 hour drive and I normally hate to drive long distances by myself (I can also get lost anywhere!) but I am seriously considering it as it would be so much quicker and easier than the train...oh well we will see!

Did anyone else make any resolutions this year?

Don't forget that Bo Bunny is having the second part to their blog hop on Wednesday and I will be taking part in this one too, so if you would like a chance to win some Bo Bunny goodies pop back then, starting at the Bo Bunny Blog :)

Tfl!

Paper Jewellery!

2011-01-07T18:13:00.000Z

We recently had a really fun assignment for Bo Bunny, we had to make something to wear! Of course my first instinct was to go with some of the beautiful blooms and trims Bo Bunny makes and make a hair clip or decorate a hat or purse but then decided maybe that was the more obvious route and I wanted to make something different so I decided to make a necklace out of paper beads! This is what I came up with...

The pendant is a chipboard circle that I covered in embossing ink and powder and then heat embossed. I used an Olivia iCandy brad in the middle after taking the prongs off the back and then covered the chipboard circle in glossy accents. This was sooo much fun to make! I have done a mini tutorial on how to make the beads in case anyone would like to give them a try. Sorry about the bad photos but it has been snowing most of the day here so it is really gloomy!

This is what you will need....

Cut a 12 inch thin triangle. For the beads in my necklace the wider edge was 1 1/2 cm but you can obviously vary that depending on the size bead you want.

Then Stick a small piece of double sided tape to the wider edge on the side that you want showing on the bead.

I then used my Making Memories paper piercer to roll the bead on starting on the thickest side.

Just keep rolling tightly trying to keep it in the centre all the time, you might need to take it off at some point to pull it tighter and then just put back on the paper piercer and continue rolling. I find it easiest once you are about halfway through to hold it flat against one of your fingers and roll it there as in the picture above, as this stops it from sliding around and is easier to keep the paper in the centre.

Once you get to the last few centimeters just put some glossy accents along what is left and then carefully roll that on making sure to stay in the centre all the time.

And then you should end up with a bead like this

Once I had finished them all I strung them on a wire and painted them with some mod podge to make them a bit more hard wearing but you could probably put a few layers of varnish on them if you had the time and wanted them glossy.

I hope everyones New year is going wonderfully so far! My kids only go back to school on Monday and I am so not looking forward to it, I always love the holidays (and not only because they have been sleeping in till nine every morning because it is so dark ;) ) and having them home with me :)

TFL! :)

Midnight Frost 2 page layout

2011-01-03T15:56:00.000Z

Today I have a 2pager to share with you made with the stunning Bo Bunny Midnight Frost range! This really is the most beautiful range ever!! :) The papers are really stunning and I had to really force myself to cut into them as I would have liked to have just sat and stroked them forever :)

Some close ups.... the embellies in this range are just gorgeous too

Supplies:

Midnight Frost Crystals
Midnight Frost Moonlight
Midnight Frost Cut Outs
Coordinating Double Dot Shadow Dot, Dark Denim Dot and Powder Blue Dot
Midnight Frost 12x12 Chipboard
Midnight Frost Rub ons
Midnight Frost Glitter Layered Chipboard
Midnight Frost Glitter Dimensional stickers
Midnight Frost Stamps
Ek success edge punches
Alphabet stickers
String
Glitter Glue

I can't wait to do some more layouts with this range! :) Bo Bunny are having 3 blog hops this month on the 5th,12th and 26th so don't forget to check them out to win a prize and there really are some awesome designers on the team! :) My day for the blog hop is the 12th so I will be posting then but I should have another post before then too. Tfl!

Edited to add a smaller version for Karen and anyone else that doesn't have a wide screen monitor :)

Christmas Mini Book!

2010-12-30T21:41:00.000Z

Today I have a Christmas minibook made with the gorgeous Bo Bunny Noel range to share. :) I used one of the Bo Bunny edgy albums which are so easy to work with as they are beautifully finished so you don't need to paint it or completely cover it! I will still be adding a few finishing touches to this like a couple of titles and some pearls etc that I just did not get around to before I photographed it with my crazy life recently! Here's hoping the new year will bring a bit of calmness and order to it!!!!! (well one can only hope! ;) ) Please excuse the dreadful photos but the light has been dreadful with all the lovely weather we have been having!

Supplies used :
Noel; Noel Cheer; Noel Dot; Noel Holly; Noel Joy; Noel Memories; Noel Ornaments; Noel Postcards
Noel Rejoice; Noel stripe; Noel Traditions; Noel Cut Outs
Noel Combo Stickers
Noel 12x12 Chipboard
Traditions CS Sticker
Jolly Old St.Nick CS Sticker
Glitter Noel iCandy Chipboard
Glitter Noel iCandy Stickers
Holly Berry Wrap
Noel Clearly Stamp
Antique Lace Petal
Coordinating Double Dot Almond Dot
EKSuccess edge punches
Ribbon
Brads
Liquid pearls

I want to wish all my lovely friends and followers a Happy New Year and I hope you all have an amazing, happy, prosperous, love and fun filled 2011! :)

Christmas photos!

2010-12-29T15:14:00.000Z

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Except for the fact that we were all still down with various bugs we had a lovely quiet Christmas! :) These are some photos of Kieran and his favourite present a Tony Hawk shred board and game for the PS3 and as happy as anything because he got loads of books (I can never resist The Book People) and he is such a book worm, I wonder where he gets that from ;)

These are of Christopher who was ecstatic with all of his presents because he is a Club Penguin and Puffle fanatic and between us and Santa he got a wealth of Puffle things! It says a lot for how obsessed he is that he stopped to put on the hat (which has been worn non stop ever since) and shirt before opening the rest of his presents and then he stopped to read the some of the Club Penguin books before opening the rest of his presents!

I also had to share some of my presents! I was spoiled rotten again. I am pretty good during the year and have the smallest scrapbooking budget of anyone I know but my hubby does like to spoil me and go crazy at Christmas and my birthday, he really is the sweetest :)

All sorts of scrapbooking things, including some lovely masks, stamps and a new trimmer. A new mobile phone as my old one is about 5 years old now, it is a touchscreen and of course is pink, I just love it! The Twilight calendar and puzzle ball was from the kids. My mixed cd's of downloads that Paul makes for me every year (it has definitely become a bit of a tradition) as well as a couple of other cds (30 Seconds to Mars and The Wanted), the first season of Vampire Diaries on DVD, some books (yay!) and a gorgeous willow tree ornament. The huge black thing at the back is to build puzzles on (and a box of puzzles to go with it) which is something else I love to do! I have to say I did buy the wooden tree in the front and give it to Paul to give to me lol and I can't wait to decorate it! So as you can see I was very spoilt and have loads of lovely new things to play with :)

I also took part in a stocking swap on UKScrappers and wow did my lovely stocking fairy Maxine really spoil me! I got a stocking just jam packed with all sorts of lovely gifts including scrapbooking, sweets and bath treats but my favourite things in the stocking were this gorgeous little Twilight minibook she made for me to fill with my favourite quotes and pictures and this beautiful Twilight bookmark which I am already using. I have seen these sorts of bookmarks before and did not really see how they would work but now that I have tried one they are fantastic and I don't think I will ever go back to a normal bookmark! :)

The kids had PS3 move controllers on their lists to Santa and they each got one and Santa bought one game and we bought another game and we have been having lots of fun trying them out over the last few days and fun as it is it really is pretty much like playing the Wii! I am dreading life going back to normal as the last few quiet relaxed days have been just what we needed after the last few months but I suppose you can only lock the outside world out for so long! Paul goes back to work next week but the kids only go back to school on the 10th so at least we still have some holiday time left :)

I will be back tomorrow with a Christmas mini album! :)

Christmas place setting and Teachers gift.

2010-12-22T14:05:00.000Z

I have a couple of things to share with you today. First up is a Christmas place setting I did for Bo Bunny. I have made it to tie in with my wreath so I have once again using the beautiful Noel collection.

Supplies:
Noel Cheer
Noel Ornaments
Noel Rejoice
Noel Stripe
Holly Berry Wrap
Cranberry Rose Trim
Double Dot Ribbon Olive
Edger punches
Liquid pearls
beads

The other things are some teacher gifts! I kept it simple again as life has been so crazy recently and just made a big batch of fudge and coconut ice and each teacher got a little jar with those in. I normally give the office staff etc but only did the 4 teachers this time as then I was thinking I should also do some for the caretaker who is just the sweetest and then I would also have to do for the headmaster and find or make something to put them in so I just gave up and just did for the 4 teachers!

I did however make a little frame with a teachers prayer in it for Kierans teacher as she has had a lot of extra work so far this year! I used Bo Bunny Learning Curve which was of course perfect for it and a frame from The Range that I adore!

Kieran is really liking his teacher today, probably because it is the last day of school but also because he found out yesterday that she put him forward for a Royal Institution Mathematics master class next year where they will be doing 'material beyond the scope of the national curriculum' and taught by university lecturers. He is so excited because he loves maths and really proud of himself for being one of the 2 kids chosen for it, but.... it is on Saturday mornings for 6 weeks and he is still excited! Only Kieran could be excited about doing maths classes on a Saturday morning, crazy child! Now I just have to talk Paul into taking him every week because they start at 9am and I love my bed on a Saturday morning! Mwahahahaha!

Christmas Wreath Tutorial part 2

2010-12-05T20:33:00.000Z

The second type of flowers I used on my wreath were rolled flowers which I did in two ways. These are the first ones with the flatter edges.

Firstly draw and cut out a spiral, you can draw a circle first if you want and then do the spiral inside but I usually just do a freehand one as I think it makes the flowers more interesting when they are all different. Adjust the size of the spiral to the size flower you would like.

Then use your nails to fold over the outer edge of the spiral like this...

It should look like this once you are done

Then start winding from the outer end, keeping it quite tight, I usually start with winding it around a thin paintbrush for the first few twists.

Then release it to the tightness that you would like it to be wound and put some glue on the circle at the bottom, I usually use Glossy Accents or a glue gun and then just hold it in place until the glue is dry.

Your flower is then finished!

These are the other variation....

So exactly the same as before cut out a spiral but then cut a wavy edge along the outer edges of the spiral. You could of course just cut the spiral with a wavy edge to start off but that makes the base wavy too and it is then harder to stick down.

It should look like this...

Once that is done start winding tightly again from the outer edge. I usually do it in a bit of a cone shape with the bottom edge being tighter.

Then once again apply glue to the bottom circle and stick down. I usually use a pair of tweezers to grab the centre and twist it a bit once I have glued it but before it dries to tweak it to exactly how I want it.

To make the wreath I cut out a circle using a plate and a bowl from the kitchen (very technical I know) and then painted it green so that the background could show through the flowers.

I then chose some matching ribbon and tied some around the circle, leaving it open at the bottom where I knew I would be putting the chipboard plaque.

I then gathered all the elements that I wanted to use together and just laid them out on the wreath until I was happy with the positioning and then just stuck it all down using a hot glue gun.

Of course if you want to make less flowers you could always use some of the beautiful flowers that come with the Noel range like the Cranberry Rose Trim or the Antique Lace Petal which would both look gorgeous on a wreath!

I hope my tutorial was helpful and if you do make your own wreath please leave me a link as I would love to see them! :)

TFL!

Christmas Wreath and Tutorial

2010-12-04T17:20:00.000Z

One of my latest assignments for Bo Bunny was to make an item of home decor for Christmas. I decided to make this Christmas wreath which was so fun to make! I used the totally gorgeous Bo Bunny Noel range which I think works beautifully on this.

There have been a few requests for a tutorial so here goes! As this will be very long with loads of photos I will do the rose and the leaves today and then will do the other 2 flowers and the wreath in another post tomorrow :)

The first flowers I am going to show you are the roses...

I have seen a few tutorials for these now but the first time I saw them and was inspired to make some was after seeing them on a my friend Gemma'a blog My Simple Life that she learned to make at a crop.

Firstly you need to cut out three 6 petal flowers, I use a Woodware punch but you could just make your own template and use that. I have a large and a smaller punch so I can make them in 2 different sizes.

Cut the flowers as in the following photo so that you have cut out a 2 petal from 1 flower, 1 petal from another flower and the last flower just has a slit. I normally fold the flowers in half a few times to work out where to cut evenly.

Take the 3 main flowers and glue the 2 edge petals of each one together so you have 3 full flowers in different sizes, a 5 petal, a 4 petal and a 3 petal. You can peg them while they dry although I use glossy accents and it normally just dries in a few seconds anyway.

I then use a thin paintbrush to curl the edges of each of the petals a bit.

You have 2 options with the base of the 2 bigger flowers, you can either cut a piece away or flatten the bases. I usually use the back of my hole piercer to flatten them so they will sit nicely.

I usually cut a small piece off the end of the 3 petal flower.

Then take the 2 petals you cut off before, curl the petals and then roll them around something (I used my trusty paintbrush again!) and glue the edges together.

Then take the single petal and roll it (you might have to cut a small piece off the bottom). Put a blob of glue inside the 2 petal roll and put the 1 petal roll inside. You will probably need to trim the end of this to fit it neatly in the flower, you just need to test and judge how much to cut off.

Then just start gluing the pieces together with a big blob of glossy accents starting with the biggest at the bottom and moving until you are satisfied that the petals are in the best alignment.

Leaving you with your rose :)

For the leaves I just drew a template on some cardboard and then cut out a whole lot of leaves. I inked all the edges and then embossed them in my cuttlebug with one of the cut and emboss butterfly folders.

Once they are embossed you can either sand or ink the embossing to enhance it or leave as is.

I then just bent the leaves a bit down the middle to give them a bit more shape and depth.

I hope I have explained everything properly, it is quite hard to put down in words, if anyone has any questions just let me know! :) I will be back tomorrow with the rest of the tutorial. :)

TFL!

Christmas treat boxes!

2010-12-01T22:03:00.000Z

Seeing as it is December I think it is safe to mention the C word! ;) I just love Christmas and could happily have it a couple of times a year! We are having loads of lovely Christmas things over on the Bo Bunny blog this month!

My first contribution to the Christmas projects were these cute little treat boxes. I found these little take away boxes at The Works for only 99p for 5 so of course I had to buy them to decorate! I used the beautiful Winter Joy range for these as they match my tree colours beautifully and I was planning on hanging these on the tree with some treats inside for the boys.

Products used:
Winter Joy Snow Angels
Winter Joy Brrrr
Winter Joy Stripe
Winter Joy Clearly Stamp
Winter Joy Purple Pom Pom Wrap
12" Winter Joy Chipboard
Bo Bunny Bling

Others:
Embossing powder
Liquid pearls
Ribbon
Fibres!
Silver balls saved from a Christmas cracker!

You can see the other holders created by my very talented fellow team members here

Just sharing some photos from the last couple of days! The first one is of Kieran before his young voices concert yesterday. We couldn't get him into school because we were snowed in so him and Paul had to walk and then catch a bus to the venue so he could take part. Paul also went to the concert and they both said it was totally awesome! Having watched a clip online for it I can just imaging how fab it must be, it is 10 000 children all singing together with whatever well known singers they can get. Paul actually phoned me from the arena so I could hear and 10 000 kids singing together is very loud but totally amazing, I even got goosebumps over the phone! It was such an amazing experience for Kieran and Paul is such a wonderful father to have put in all that effort to make sure he could take part even when we were snowed in. They left at about 12pm and Paul then dropped him off at the arena with his teachers and then walked around in the freezing cold till 6pm when he could go into the arena. They only got home after 11pm, after walking from the bus stop in the middle of a blizzard! I think they would both do it again in a heart beat though! :)

These next photos are of Christopher yesterday when we went out sledding while Paul and Kieran were out.

That was the snow yesterday and it snowed most of the night and all day today and is currently snowing at the moment! Needless to say as we live on a big hill and the only way out of our area is up or down a very steep hill. We did try yesterday but the car was sliding all over the place and me and the kids got out and walked back home and Paul had to try and get the car back. We were all snowed in again today and by the looks of things it will be the same tomorrow so that will be the 3rd day the kids are off school! The scary thing though is if this is what started in November, what is the next 3 months going to be like!

Will be back tomorrow or the next day with another Christmas project :)

Bo Bunny Card Kits

2010-11-19T23:19:00.000Z

I have been a seriously bad blogger! We are going through some rough times at the moment and life has been very stressful and busy and I have not had much time or energy to do much scrapping or blogging :( And the scrapping that I have done I can't show yet! This is what I do have though..... I just adore the card kits that come with the new Bo Bunny ranges....

They are really beautiful cards and all the hard design work is done for you so you can just throw together a quick card if you want or jazz them up as the design team did in this post or even re-arrange everything and make your own cards. I got the Midnight frost kit and made a couple of the cards.

The only other thing I have done that I can actually show you is two quick pages I did for a cj for a very special ladies birthday! Like me she is a Twilight Fanatic, the leader of our online group and a really lovely lady, so our group got together and made her a twilight cj for her birthday. I kept the pages very simple as I was the last person on the list and only had one night to do them and bind the book so it could be sent off the next day to arrive in time for her birthday (and I am a veeeery slow scrapbooker!) :)

Well I can't really see things calming down around here anytime soon but hopefully I will be able to get a bit more scrapbooking done soon and post a bit more regularly! One thing I am actually quite happy with is that there is another cybercrop on UKS coming up and I think it will maybe be exactly what I need, a weekend of just scrapbooking and forgetting the rest of the world for a couple of days with no stressing and worrying as my wonderful hubby always takes over all the cooking and kids etc for me when there is a cyber crop on :)

TFL! :)

Blog Candy Winner!

2010-11-01T23:00:00.000Z

Well it is finally time to announce my blog candy winner! I had lots of entries and did double entries for all the people who were all ready followers of my blog. I decided to forgo the random org number generator this time and got my youngest DS to pick a winner out of a bowl......so here goes!

So the winner is Sarah ! Congratulations Sarah , please send me your address and I will get your prize off to you in the next few days :)

I also have a layout done by my youngest son who is 8 that I wanted to share because it is just so cute plus he did it and then asked me if I can put it up on my blog like I do with mine and who could resist that!

Isn't it brilliant! :) One of his obsessions is Gogo's and that is a very small sampling of all the Gogo's that he has! Both my kids scrapbook occasionally and for some reason neither of them really uses patterned paper, no idea where they get that from seeing as I am a patterned paperaholic! ;)

We went to Gullivers theme park for Halloween yesterday with my BIL and family. The kids loved it of course and got all dressed up for the occasion. We spent all day going on rides and then it ended with a show and a massive fireworks display which was just amazing. This is the kids in all their gory glory!

I hope everyone else had a great Halloween if you take part in it! Tfl!

A couple of layouts and a card

2010-10-25T21:25:00.000+01:00

Well I have a few design team projects to upload today so quite a few photos! :)

First is a layout using the learning curve range.

Supplies :
Learning Curve Dot
Learning Curve Recess
Learning Curve Letters
Learning Curve Stripe
Glitter Learning Crve iCandy Stickers
Learning Curve iCandy Brads
Learning Curve 12x12 Chipboard
Learning Curve Combo Sticker
First Day of School Cardstock Stickers
Double Dot Ribbon in Kiwi, Buttercup and Blueberry
Bo Bunny Button

Next is a 2 page layout using the Whoo-ligans range :)

Supplies :

Whoo-ligans
Whoo-ligans Spooky Die Cut
Whooligans Rahh
Whoo-ligans Cut Outs
Coordinating Double Dot Grape Dot
Whoo-ligans 12x12 Combo Stickers
Whoo-ligans 12x12 Chipboard
Whoo-ligans Glitter iCandy Stickers
Whoo-ligans Rub-ons
Whoo-ligans Note Worthy

Others:
Purple Pumpkin button
EK Success Edger punch Bubbles
EK Success Edger punch Deco-scallop

The last one is a card using the beautiful Winter Joy.

Supplies:

Winter Joy Brrrr
Winter Joy Snow Angels
Winter Joy Stripe
Coordinating Double Dot Ocean Dot
Glitter Winter Joy iCandy Chipboard
Winter Whimsy Cardstock Stickers
Winter Joy iCandy Brads
Winter Joy Clearly Stamp

Others:
Glitter glue
floss
white ink

I was so pleased last week whilst doing my online grocery shopping to discover a Twilight advent calendar and of course ordered one immediately! Then a couple of days ago when doing the next load of shopping I discovered more twilight things all a part of the Christmas range! A mug with little mallows and a slab of chocolate and little zip up tins full of heart sweets!

My husband just shook his head and rolled his eyes especially when I told him that I think I need to get another cup set so I can keep one and drink out of the other one lol. Definitely a big kid! TFL!

Twilight ATC swap and Some Holiday Photos!

2010-10-12T13:35:00.000+01:00

This is going to be a very picture heavy post!:)

I recently took part in my first ATC swap and of course it just had to be a Twilight one! This was also the first time I have ever made an ATC and although it was fun I don't think it is something I would get really into but just couldn't resist Twilight ones;). These are the fab ATC's that I got back! Mine is the one on the bottom left :)

And just a close up of mine :)

I have been slowly trying to go through the hundreds of photos I took over the holiday and then noticed that one of our camera cards was missing. Of course it just happened to be the one with some of my favourite photos on too!! So I phoned my poor mom to look around the house to see if we had forgotten it there but she couldn't find it either. Luckily I had downloaded all the photos onto my moms computer before we left there anyway so she could have put them on a disc and sent them to me but at the last minute we found the card! So anyway here are some photos of the kids from Ushaka marine world in Durban.

This dolphin they are posing with is Gambit who I used to go and see when I was a child! He is the largest dolphin in any oceanarium in the world and apparently has surprised everyone at how old he is as they did not think dolphins lived that long! We were actually really lucky because Paul used to go to school with the MD there so the kids got to see some extra feedings and things that they would not have normally seen. I love the dolphin shows, dolphins are one of my favourite animals, I actually cried when I was watching the show lol! I always wanted to be a trainer when I was younger they really are the most beautiful, amazing animals! :) :)

Christopher was thrilled because he was selected to be one of the passengers in the boat for the show they do where they get splashed and get to wave to the dolphins and feed them. Kieran was gutted as he was the one who put his hand up and then they took Christopher but was very happy later on as he got chosen for a little part in the seal show :)

Then we went to see the penguins and the kids were thrilled because the penguins decided to follow the kids wherever they went so they had loads of fun walking along the glass and getting the penguins to swim up and down and around in circles wherever they put their hands. Even when more people came along they only followed the kids and all swam to the edge of the glass and stayed there looking after the kids when we left.

The kids loved it and we didn't even get to go the the Wet and Wild water park as there was just so much at the oceanarium side so we had to go back for that the next day. Both my sisters came with to that and that was the most fun I have had in years! This was the kids by the time we arrived home ;)

Don't forget my giveaway on the post under this one, you still have until the 1 November :)

TFL!

Halloween Banner and Giveaway!!!

2010-10-04T20:10:00.000+01:00

Hi! Yes I have been a very bad blogger.... things have been non stop crazy since we have been back and although slightly slower now will probably still be crazy for the next 3 weeks or so!

My youngest son Christopher had his 8th birthday recently and one of the presents he has been wanting for a while now is a Build-a-Bear so we took him and his brother (who insisted on spending some of his birthday money on one too!) to build a bear.

This is them outside the Trafford centre with their "bears" inside their little houses. These are the "bears" they chose, a wolf named Ferrari and a monkey named Cheeky :)

I just love the shoes, especially the monkeys trainers :)

Ok now to share my latest project for Bo Bunny :) This is a Halloween banner made from the super cute Whoo-ligans! I just adore this range it is sooo cute and the papers are really versatile and can be used for any layouts! :)

The saying is from the Whoo-ligans range and I had to use it because I thought it was adorable! Of course when I first made this I didn't think about how hard it would be to photograph lol! Here are a few more photos :)

I just adore those little monsters! Right now would you like a chance to win some of these papers??? Well if you follow my blog you might remember that in August before I found out that I had made the Bo Bunny design team I won a pack of the Whoo-ligans range when they first revealed the new ranges and gave away one of each new range! I found this very funny when I found out I was on the design team! Anyway as Bo Bunny is amazingly generous to their design team and I have all I need of this range I have decided to give away the prize I won to another Bo Bunny fan!!! :) So here it is...

10 sheets of gorgeous double sided paper, 1 cut out paper, 1 die cut paper, 1 12x12 sticker sheet and 2 card stock sticker sheets! You can see more f the papers and stickers on the Bo Bunny website here. So if you would like a chance to win this fab range of papers here is what you need to do.

1. You need to either be or become a follower of my blog
2. You need to link to this post on the sidebar of your blog
3. lastly comment on this post to let me know that you want to win it!

For the people who already follow my blog if you comment on this post that you would like to enter then you will be given 2 entries :) I will draw a winner on the 1st November the day after Halloween! :)

Good luck and TFL!!!

More Bo Bunny items and some photos!

2010-09-24T11:57:00.000+01:00

First off I have a couple more Bo Bunny projects to share! The first is a card using Cambridge, I am still quite new to this card making but I am getting there :)

Supplies:
Coordinating Double Dot - Honey Mustard Dot
Cambridge Victory
Note Worthy Cambridge
Cardstock Stickers - Rock Star
Cambridge 12x12 Chipboard
Cambrige Clearly Stamps

Other Supplies:
Embossing powder

Next we had to do a two page layout and I used Olivia which just went perfectly with my photos! These are photos of me and one of my best Friends Taryn, we have been friends since standard 5 so for about 20 years! These photos were taken 2 years ago about 2 months before she died very unexpectedly. I had a hard time coming to terms with her death which I think is why it took me so long to scrap these photos but now that I have I think it has helped me loads even with the crying involved! Taryn was 31, a school teacher and a wonderful person. I have so many good memories of her, we always had loads of fun together! :)

I painted and inked my chipboard letters to match my papers and then used rub-ons to help co-ordinate them with my layout.

I used the chocolate ruffle wrap and iCandy brads to make these yummy flowers!

Supplies:
Coordinating Double Dot - Deep Sea Dot
Olivia Cameo Die Cut
Olivia
Olivia Honeydew
Olivia Noteworthy
Olivia 12x12 Chipboard
Olivia Chocolate Ruffle Wrap
Olivia iCandy Brads
Olivia Rub-ons
Glitter Olivia iCandy Chipboard
Olivia 12x12 Combo Sticker
A Mothers Love Cardstock Stickers

Others:
Chipboard letters and heart
Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment Border Punch
ADORNit letter stickers

Lol still not sorted through all my photos but as these are on my camera card at the moment thought I would put them up. I usually try to avoid being in front of the camera but decided a little while ago that I need to allow more photos of myself because I have thousands of photos from our life but going through them it is almost like I am not in it because I am never in any of the photos and I want my kids to be able to look back and remember all of us! So I am really happy to have these because I have hardly any photos of me and Paul and of me and my sisters! I have some more with my other sister and my mom but they are on the other cards that I have not sorted yet! These are from when we went out to supper one night it was a really fab restaurant, the food was amazing and the servings were huge!!

My messy hair is because we spent the whole day at Wet & Wild at Usahka, where we had such a ball that I didn't even get to take any photos!!! That is a first, but the camera was locked away in a locker and we were having too much fun to stop and go and get it out. We even ended up leaving late because we didn't want to leave so we had to rush home, get changed and charge out to meet everyone else for supper (no time to do anything like fix your hair ;) ). Definitely have to do that next time, I felt like a kid again!

This is my younger sister Tamlyn and her husband Jaques, shame she had surgery on her gum the day before and her top lip was still all swollen and couldn't move properly here but she is such a good sport that she still came with us to Wet & Wild and then out to supper :)

This is my elder sister Trish and her friend Barbara. And finally I will leave you with a photo of the sunset from our balcony in Umhlanga Rocks :)

TFL!

Bo Bunny Indulgence - Twilight

2010-09-19T20:21:00.000+01:00

We had to do a layout for Bo Bunny about a secret indulgence so of course I had to choose Twilight as mine! Not really a secret indulgence as everyone knows I LOVE Twilight but it is definitely an indulgence to me! I did my layout using the scrummy Cambridge collection :)

I love the effect of punching shapes out of paper and then putting them against the same paper, it also looks fab with card stock!

Supplies:
Cambridge Post
Cambridge Crest
Cambridge 12x12 Chipboard
Cambridge iCandy Brads
Olivia Cream Gardenia
Double Dot Almond Ribbon
Chunky Charms Licorice Swirls & Brackets
Other Supplies:
EK Success Edger Punch - Scroll & Dots
Ranger Liquid pearls - White Opal

Well things have just been crazy busy since we got back and I still haven't had time to go through my photos so none of those to go up yet! My kids have also added new activities to their list and although some have fallen away with the ones they have added we now have something on everyday except Sunday and some days have 2 activities!! I seem to hardly ever be home anymore, think I need to get myself a Chauffeurs outfit! ;) Tfl!

Back Home and Bo Bunny Audition Pieces!

2010-09-09T12:34:00.000+01:00

Hi! Well we are back from our holiday and I am so sad to be home because I am already missing my family but am also so excited to be home because I will soon get to play with loads of gorgeous Bo Bunny products!! I can't wait to start but will just have to wait a couple of days to get my box from my sister in law where I had it delivered while we were away!

In the meantime I thought I would share my Bo Bunny audition pieces. :) We had to do 2 layouts, 2 cards and then a project of our choice.

My first layout was done using the stunning Mama-razzi collection, I really adore this collection!

My second layout was with the wonderfully happy making Flower Child line. :)

My two cards were done with the Sophie and Paradise collections.

And for my final project I chose to do a chipboard and acrylic mini book using the Paradise collection. This is another collection I adore as it really has the most amazing beachy feel to it!

Well I have 3 2GB cards full of photos to sort through but once I am done I will put a few photos up from our holiday!

Tfl!

OMG!! I can't believe it!!!

2010-08-14T12:32:00.000+01:00

Look at this.....

Seriously if we could have 300 Design Team members, we would.

The talent that is out there blows our minds.

We were so excited to see projects from 22 different countries!!!

The entire office has been pouring over audition e-mails and images.

We've heard things like...

"Come look at this one..."

"did you see that one?"

"I said it before, but this really is my favorite."

"Can she come work here?"

You guys did not make this an easy task for us!

Before we announce our new Design Team....

We want to thank our past Design Team members that will

no longer be with us. They have been amazing to work with,

and they will be missed. Please keep in touch and play and post

on the blog and facebook. We have been so inspired by you all!

Thank You!!!

Alrighty.....

Here we go.....

Without further ado.....

In no particular order......

Our returning team members:

Juliana Michaels

Patti Milazzo

Carole Janson

Shanna Vineyard

Our new USA team members:

Becky Williams

Robbie Herring

Debbie Sherman

Sarah Eclavea

Frances Sylvia

Our new members from around the world:

Mireille Divjak - Netherlands

Jolanda - Netherlands

Irene Tan - Malaysia

Tomoko Takahashi - Japan

Luzma Bruna - Chile

Malin Wiggur - Sweden

Agnieska Piskorz - Poland

Christiane Miller - Germany

Kathleen Glossop - Australia

Michele Beck - France

Celi Mara - Brazil

Carin McDonough - UK

Samantha Wright - South Africa

Janis Medina - Philippines

Tara Orr - Canada

Gabrielle Pollacco - Canada

We want to send out a GIANT congrats to all our new Design Team.

We can't wait to see what the next year brings!

I am still in total shock!! I really didn't expect to be chosen I mean this is BO BUNNY but thought I would never know unless I tried and I am so glad I did! Do you see the amazing designers on that list! I am so honoured to be working with them and oh my gosh I can't wait to get some more Bo Bunny yumminess to play with, their new lines are just AMAZING! I actually read through that a couple of times and just didn't see my name at all lol, then I had to refresh the page a couple of times to make sure it didn't disappear!
Nobody pinch me because I don't want to wake up! ;)

Holiday!

2010-08-11T15:02:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post today because I leave this afternoon for our holiday to South Africa!

I am very excited because we only go every second year so although I have seen my parents twice in the last year because they have come over here, it has been 2 years since I have seen my sisters! I am not however looking forward to the flight! Such a long flight with 2 young kids is a bit of a nightmare.

Anyway I will leave you with this...If you go over to Tracie's blog Life and Times of a 12x12 addict she is having some fab giveaways :)

I am not sure if I will manage any blog posts while I am away or get to read any of the wonderful blogs I follow as my moms Internet can be a bit up and down but I will try and catch up as much as possible once I am back :). Four weeks of no blog reading :o!! I will miss browsing every ones blogs!

Sketchy Thursdays

2010-08-04T13:39:00.000+01:00

This was the sketch for this weeks Sketchy Thursdays challenge.

And here is my layout for the challenge. I don't know if it looks all that much like the sketch in the end!

I used A piece of Reminisce Genuine Boy paper that I bought ages ago and just have never got around to using it. It was just one of those pieces of paper I was saving for the right photo so I am glad I have finally used it! Here are some close ups.

I cut some shapes out of acetate and then outlined them in black really like the effect!

I used Memories Mists to colour the chipboard again and then inked the edges. I really like using the mists for the chipboard it is so much quicker than painting them or covering them in paper, I think I need to get myself a few more colours!

It is still raining, so far that is every day of the school holidays so far! Luckily they still play football even when it rains here because the boys have been at football school a couple of days this week. I am just about to go and play some put-put on the Wii with them! Tfl!

A Wonderful Day!

2010-07-31T23:24:00.000+01:00

Well I am having a really good day today! Firstly I went and watched Eclipse for the second time this morning, what a way to start the day off!

Secondly I have just seen that I have won the brand new totally gorgeous Whoo-ligans range from Bo Bunny! I have been having to keep tissues handy to wipe the drool off my keyboard recently after ogling all of the gorgeous new ranges they have been showing us and now I get to have and stroke one of them for myself! I am so excited! Doing the happy dance!!! :)

Thirdly!!! My friend Lisa phoned me earlier to ask if I had checked my blog updates today because my lovely friend Karen from Krafty Karen's Fantastic Place has given me a blog award!

So thank you Karen, you are an angel! :)

The rules of the award are that I have to thank the person who gave it to me, tell you 7 things about myself and pass it on to 5 other people.

Who would have thought it could be so hard to think of 7 random things about myself!

1. Ok probably pretty obvious especially to anyone that knows me but I am a Twilight fanatic! I have read the books 6 or 7 times now ( I am starting to loose count lol), I own hardback copies of all of them as well as the movies and all of the soundtracks amongst other Twilight paraphernalia! 33 going on 13! :)

2. I am also a big music lover and can't make it through the day without music! That is probably what first attracted me to my husband as when I met him he was playing in a band and we would always go and watch them because they were so good!

3. Something I like to eat which most people are horrified by is toast with peanut butter, mashed banana, syrup and cheese on! I craved it often when I was pregnant!

4. I am seriously scared of heights I even have problems with it in games! My kids love to put the high tracks on when we play Mario cart on the Wii because I close my eyes and scream!

5. I am a control freak and the messiest neat freak I have ever come across! I am also married to a control freak so we both KNOW we can do everything better than the other one so...... that can be very funny sometimes!

6. Me and my husband had been dating less than 3 months when he proposed and I was only 20 when we got married so my parents had to sign a consent form! We have now been married over 13 years!

7. I am a massive softie and cry in most movies/TV programmes even when its happy! Me and the kids watched the first Nanny McPhee yesterday and I cried at the end of that! (again)

Well I really had a hard time trying to choose only 5 people to pass the award on to but eventually managed to narrow it down to 6 so I am just going to give it to all of them! (I always have to be different!)

1. Julie - Life with the Tucker and Wolek clan for her lovely work and being a ray of sunshine and always brightening everyone's day!

2. Debbie - Country Heart and Home for such a varied blog full of yummy things, and she is superwoman and has the cutest kids out!

3. Crystal - Crystal's Crafty Creations for her super cute cards and for being amazingly sweet!

4. Lady Grace - LG's Scrapbook World for her seriously gorgeous work which always makes me want to go and scrapbook!

5. Samantha - Me and the Little Rascals for her beautiful work and the gorgeous things she makes for her shop!

6. Stephanie - Just me My Soldier and our 2 little Chicks for her beautiful work and her even more beautiful writing which brings lots of lumps to my throat!

Thanks for visiting and I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! :)

Sketchy Thursdays!

2010-07-28T18:33:00.000+01:00

This was the sketch for the Sketchy Thursdays challenge this week. I love doing the Sketchy Thursdays challenge but have not got around to it for a while so was determined to do this one!

I enjoyed doing this one because I just kept it really really simple so it was pretty quick to do! Sorry about the dreadful photo but it is dismal here and this had to be uploaded by tonight! I think it might just be to simple for me and might end up bugging me too much and then I will add things to later, we'll see! Oh it is also all straight in person I promise, even though a few things appear to be skew in the photo!

I used Fancy Pants Floral Chic paper and Banana Frog Swirls and Butterflies stamps to make the little orange butterflies from shrink plastic. I had to add stitching of course so besides the waves done on the machine I also hand stitched the title.

Alas I think I need a new sewing machine as mine is just stitching terribly as you can see in the photo. The one I am using was my grans machine that she gave to me and if probably older than me so I don't really want to get rid of it but it really is not stitching very well. Then again knowing me I won't get rid of it anyway even if I get a new one!

Four days into the summer holidays and I think I am still sane, even though it has rained every one of those 4 days! We will see if I am still sane by this time next week! Tfl!

Teachers Gifts!

2010-07-23T09:51:00.000+01:00

Yay it is finally the end of the school year and the summer holidays have started! :) I always love the summer holidays, 6 weeks of no school and having the kids home, no having to wake up early and chase the kids around to get ready in the morning. In fact my youngest will usually still crawl into bed and cuddle in the mornings! :)

Things have been hectic with end of term things and all sorts of other things and I have been running around like crazy so I don't have scrapping to show you so thought I would share the little teachers gifts I made.

I have made various teachers gifts over the years but due to lack of time this year they just got a simple one of some home made fudge in a little gift box. They know the fudge because I often make it as one of their Christmas presents, the one teaching assistant that Christopher has had for 2 years is always really excited when there is fudge because she loves it so much. :)

I got the instructions for making the little boxes up here at Split Coast Stampers, they have some really nice things there to make!

I kept the boxes pretty simple as I only started making them the evening before so I was a bit rushed!
The green one was for the one male teacher we gave to, I didn't think the butterfly would go down all that well lol!

The main teachers also got a really cute little quote book that the kids chose for them and then we got the receptionist who is the sweetest person ever some flowers and some wine for the caretaker who has helped out with loads of Kieran's activities this year.:)

I thought I would share the inside of one of Christopher's cards as they were just so cute! He just loves puffles from Club Penguin at the moment and draws them endlessly (definitely his Mommy's child, they even said on his report that he shows a particular talent for drawing!) so he drew a little on for each teacher. I don't know why his writing is so untidy in this because he is normally very neat, maybe because he was doing them in a rush in bed lol.

I will have to translate! This one was for his teaching assistant. Thank you for helping me at every thing Mrs Hadin. You've helped me at lot of things in year 2 and you are very kind and helpful! Thank you. The puffle is saying You're a great helper! Isn't that the cutest! He said more or less the same thing for his main teacher except that he said she was a great teacher and she taught them how to do lots of things like landscape drawings!

Hopefully I will get some time to do some crafting in the next few days! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! :)

UKS week 2 challenge and a card.

2010-07-16T18:58:00.000+01:00

The challenge this week on UKS was to use bright colours, a movie for your title, flowers and buttons. I just loved doing this layout, I think it is one of the quickest layouts I have ever done! Of course that is probably because I have kept it quite simple but this paper from the Bo Bunny Flower Child range is just so gorgeous it didn't need much added to it!

That is my little sister and the lovely vibrant colours of the Flower Child papers just went perfectly with the beautiful colours in this photo! I used my new EK success punch, I am just adoring punches at the moment, I have only just recently discovered them and now can't get enough of them!

I did highlight some of the flowers with some stickles because I couldn't resist and added a glittery button! I actually used a tag off some clothes I bought a couple of years ago (I keep everything!) as a template for the butterfly :)

Lastly this is a card I made for a friend who was having a heavy week, and I used Nikki Sivils Willow Bee line which I adore :)

One of the girls who's blog I follow has opened a new website to sell some of the yummy things that she makes, it is called Purple Pumpkin, you should definitely go and have a look she makes some gorgeous things including the cutest buttons! She also has a fab giveaway at the moment to celebrate the opening. :)

And for anyone that hasn't heard yet, Simply Handmade is back with the lovely Debbie Nicholas as the new editor and it will be in WHSmith for £4.99! You can read about it on Debbie's blog here. She is also the editor of a new crochet magazine that will be coming out, which I am very excited to see! :)

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend! :)

UKScrappers week 1 challenge.

2010-07-11T15:24:00.000+01:00

I haven't had much time to do any crafting in the last week or so and I have been having serious withdrawal symptoms! I did manage to do the UKS weekly challenge yesterday though so I am feeling a bit more relaxed again ;)

The challenge was to use a picture of someone relaxing (I think my picture counts lol), use 7 of something and use the following sketch

This is my layout, I used Daisy Bucket Designs Rock Star range :) Sorry it is not the best of pictures, it is always hard to get a good picture when you write around the edges!

And some close ups because I love close ups!

The chipboard stars are Scenic Route and I used Memories Mists to spritz them (after I had used some of them to spritz the background) and then inked the edges with a ColorBox chalk ink pad. The glittery alphabet stickers are from Anita's that I picked up from The Range and they are just gorgeous, I am really loving them. I have them in white too! :)

Of course I did lots of hand stitching, I do love stitching on layouts, probably half the reason why layouts take me so long!

I also managed a quick card for my Friend who has recently moved into a new home. Just a quick simple one done with Nikki Sivils Victoria street range which is just perfect for a new home card and I didn't think it needed much of anything except the paper. :)

Hopefully next week won't be as crazy as the last 2 have been and I will get more crafting done! Also just want to send out some ((((((((((massive hugs)))))))))) to Lisa and hope things are going well today.