Holidays are coming...

So before I tell you all about my exciting, stressful and festive weekend I will share a page I completed last week for the Sarah's cards blog. It was quite an easy layout to put together and I got to use some of my new stash. The journalling is written in gel pen and is better irl. So this weekend saw me London bound for a festive jaunt with my mom and sister. If we gloss over the part when I was stranded at Kings Cross station for three hours and got home at 2am then it was a fab weekend. Here is my wish list from Urban Outfitters:

I have been lusting after these ear muffs for ages - but no-one has got the message yet! :(

We stopped for many hot choc breaks to warm us up.

Loving this pic of the elfs outside of M&S. All the shops on Oxford Street had outdone themselves and there were lots of promotions and freebies and displays and spectacles to behold. It was a merry lark! This pic will defo be scrapped soon...

As you can see lots of other shoppers had the same idea as us on this one...

I did really well for myself and did a lot of my Christmas shopping and even got myself a sexy black dress for my staff Christmas do. Spittlefields market was one of the highlights, when you are next in London check it out as it has loads of fab stalls with unique items and quirky little trinkets and things...It was great to catch up with my family and as for the delays..I met some cool people and chatted the evening away. Not bad. Not at all bad...

Thankful for Gems and shopping...

My little sister Gem's posted this cute photo collage of the two of us on her blog. She also did a gushing entry about how grateful she is for her family now she's moved away. These pics have me craving for the bleach bottle...what do you reckon readers - do blondes have more fun?

So couldn't resist the challenge over at The Studio to scrap about shopping. I have been keen to scrap a pic of my Gems recently, since she moved to a tropical island I don't get to see or speak to her much. This pic is of her standing at the smallest street in Brugges. We went away with our hubby's, but managed to ditch them for a morning and do some proper shopping without their watch watching or tutting. We had a fab time gossiping and buying what we wanted. I have just got an AC kit from TKMaxx and so this layout features lots of me new stash, including spangly thickers and a cute little rosette. Love it!

Mexican madness...

My regular readers will remember the fancy dress Mexican pics. I finally got round to scrapping it. Here is a close-up... I had neglected my poor mists for too long and so fished them out again. I went for the colours of the Mexican flag and glammed it up with the glitter thickers and lots of cute little embellies. I made it a celebratory layout with balloons and an explosion of colour.

Enjoy!

She's so lucky, she's a star!

As promised here are a few of the layouts I have been working on recently. The poem over at Scrap that Poem is about gratitude to mother earth. I thought of these pictures we took of the gorgeous autumn colours. I love my leaf brads that my sister got me and used as many as poss. I kept the layout quite plain for a change and let all the colours and textures just speak for themselves! So get on over to the blog and have a go - it's a great challenge and there is a fab prize up for grabs. In the same vein was the theme for the studio challenge which was: lucky. I immeadiately thought of these pics of how much Arne spoilt me for my birthday. I even used some of the tsash I got for my birthday including the ribbon and rhinestones. Check out the huge box of chocs in the main pic! Wow!

The journalling is all about the party he threw for me and what we did.

I combined the layout with the use of circle journalling and polka dot cardstock.

November seems to be the month for gratitude! It's always good to count your blessings...

One year old and wiser too...

It's birthday fever in our household in Autumn and today is his turn... Looking like his'n'hers in our new purple tops. I went crazy at Debenhams 25% off sale and even got a mini cupcake pan I have been after for ages. Here is the cheesy birthday candle pic...

This carrot cake was made with a little help from Betty Crocker. I added pineapple and coconut to make it a tropical version. Despite following the cream cheese icing recipe to the letter and letting the cake cool down the icing still melted a bit - but it did taste yummy.

I got him a very good quality meat cleaver from Debs, may seem like a strange pressie but he has been after one for a while as he fancies himself as the next Jamie Oliver. I also got him a hoody and this cool board game called Nab It which is like scrabble with a twist.

More posts to follow with some scrapping - I have been running on empy after ofsted last week and was too lazy to post them!

An Inspector Calls...

So there was rather stressful announcement Monday lunchtime...Ofsted were coming Wednesday and Thursday to inspect our school. Cue panic and hysteria. Ridiculous late nights, lack of sleep due to stress, a mini heart attack everytime someone walked past my door, the most resource heavy and detailed lessons and lesson plans. They came to my Year 8 lesson and I came out with a good, although I usually get outstandings I was happy enough. Our school came out with a 'good' overall, which we were delighted about! Yay! All the hard work paid off. So this explains my absense from blogland. I am turning this post into a tribute to school. Here is my food (or home ec for all you statesiders) A few weeks ago I finally got hold of Libby's pumpkin pie filling and played with pumpkin cupcakes and decided they were my best ever and most moist cakes. Here is the recipe - good old Martha Stewart! The edible glitter didn't look very good on the cream cheese frosting, but would look better on chocolate frosting. I made some with swirly icing all nicely piped on, but forgot to photograph them. Also in half term I came across this pic of my friends and I at St.Georges. We liked to do random photo shoots at lunch time and this pic was taken in the changing rooms. Here is a close-up of the pic:

IRL the gold stamped title stands out and looks great. The backing 'paper' is actually fabric I picked up for a bargain at the Harrogate Scrapping Fair thingie.

Last, but not least, a tribute to our least fav lesson - science!!! However, we both really enjoyed out last visit to the Glasgow Science Museum and I have been keen to scrap these pics since then. I used this sketch from Twisted Sketches as I love circles and it fitted well with our hats and the fun feel of the page. I used bright colours and cute little mosters cut out of cardstock.

I think the paint border brings it all together and gives it a tactile feel.

So the bells gone it's break time...I am thinking one of the choc chip and peanut butter cookies I just whipped up in my sisters kitchen aid and an episode of Gossip Girl Season 3 I just got...

What are you doing with your play time this weekend?

Keep the Faith...

So hitting the double...glad that scrapping the music extended their challenge for another week as I was keen to get involved. I love Bon Jovi and listened to his music a lot growing up, plus my faith is a big part of who I am. I was also interested in the challenges on Mission to Create: Deborah: use an item from the $ store (the butterly stickers) Jocie: use a tree (it's in the pic!) Nicole: rolled paper pieces (see the top) Vanessa: at least 3 butterflies (stickers and rub ons) Karola: twine (stapled on) I like the dreamt effect of the backing papers contrasted with the purple and brightly coloured butterflies.

My fav glittery thickers stand out nicely on the worded backing paper.

The journalling is all about how perfect and peaceful the Inglebrook Waterfalls are.

I am pleased with this layout and was glad to get back to some scrapping!

McFlyday Friday...

Get on over to scrapping the poetry to join in the lastest challenge using Robert Burns' poem - Love is red, red rose...