Let's Get Scrappy

Saturday scrapping: Layouts inspired by Jennifer Grace Creates

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Sun, 19 May 2013 02:40:00 +0000

Didn't you all just love Jennifer Grace's Onwards and Upwards blog hop last weekend?

One of her challenges was to go up, and up, and up. There was a few options and I went with the one to use a photo inspired with the idea of flight - I immeadiately thought of some photos from a trip to London earlier this year to visit my sister. We went to a food show and as we left we noticed that we were at the launch pad for the Emirates cable cars across the Thames.
I used American Crafts and other travel ranges and layered 'up' as was one of the other prompts in this challenge.

I also used the Dear Lizzie Range to create the layout below of our Mother's Day celebrations. I keep meaning to post the recipe for the honey cake pictured below top - it was so yummy and I was so impressed that I could create an actual layer cake as opposed to cupcakes. This layout was also created with the 'up' prompt in mind and I used the chevron paper to use arrows on the page.

Lastly the above layout of our mother's day meal. I used the 'to be inspired' prompt of using triangles to create direction on a page. I used Studio Calico wood veneers and Amy Tangerine stamps to decorate this layout and some other American Crafts papers to layer it up. I have a thickers and lettering shortage at the moment and so created the title using leftovers from several sheets.
These prompts all worked well with the way that I like to scrap and I am pleased with them.

Future dad: Note to Self Layout

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Sun, 12 May 2013 19:26:00 +0000

I created the basis for this layout a few weeks ago and felt it was a bit bland. I liked the yellows and pinks and the layering, but it was lacking something and so I left it for a while. Then last week on NSD some of Shimelle's and Studio Calico's challenges gave me some ideas for how to jazz it up.
Firstly on Studio Calico they challenged us to use buttons on a layout and that gave me the idea to embellish the speech bubbles patterned paper. I stuck them on with modge podge and felt that this gave the layout some of the much needed dimension, as you can see....

Shimelle's scrapbooking challenge to use spray inks caught my eye and helped me to fill some of the white spaces - I also painted little hearts with the wand on my spray ink.

So now I was feeling a lot happier about design - what about the title and journalling. Initially it was going to be a 'holiday' layout about our trip to Tintagel Castle in Cornwall - but then I realised that there is another story to tell.
So inspired by Shimelle's prompt to scrapbook a milestone and to journal in a letter form the idea of the 'future dad' title was born and the journalling round the edge of the page is all about my husband's fears and excitement over becoming a dad in July.

So thanks everyone for the inspiration and for helping me to complete this layout!

Bumper Scrapping Saturday...

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Sat, 11 May 2013 16:51:00 +0000

So I have been finishing off, photographing and editing some layouts that I started a while ago but got a new lease of life with National Scrapbooking Day last week and the challenges up on Shimelle's blog and also at Two Peas. Then this weekend I have been treated to lots of exciting tutorials and challenges over at Jennifer Grace Creates. So in order to meet all the deadlines of the challenges and to be in with a chance of winning more stash (having just flogged loads of old stuff at a car boot sale) I have to go against Julie Kirk's advice and do a bumper post.

1) Challenge 1: Shimelle challenged us to make the most of our tools and scrappy investmentsas did the Two Peas girls with the Tool School by Jen. I got the Making Memories Slice for Christmas years ago and used it for a while and then it got consigned to its box and never used again.

So I unearthed it and used it to cut out the words 'fun' and 'enjoy' on this layout. I inked the edges of the words to make sure that they popped out of the page. The papers are from a 6 by 6 Studio Calico pad and also some the American Crafts 'Dear Lizzie' range. I also used my Martha Stewart star punch. Below is a closer look...

Challenge 2: Shimelle also challenged us to create a layout using our favourite paper line. It seems that we are both American Crafts fans and so I used some of the Dear Lizzie range to create this layout about our trip to the Farmer's Market in LA. I created a cluster using some of the die cuts and the thickers from this range too.

Challenge 3: Shimelle challenged us to use smaller photos and Jennifer Grace challenged us to use a big bold black title with lighter colours.
This photo of us at the hand ball at the Olympics last summer was taken on my phone as he doesn't like to get the 'big' camera out in public and finds a quick mobile picture doesn't draw quite so much attention! I cropped it so that I could fit the journalling and another little picture of the hand ball stadium behind it. This polka dot paper is really old, but it seemed to work well with the orange washi tape and ledger paper. I also added some smash washi tape to ensure that I had the date etc on the layout. I think the bright colours reflect the energy of the game and of the whole event.

Phew - I wish I could say that that was it (well actually its better to have too much to share than too little, surely?) but I still have some messy misting and paint layouts to share. I will save it for another post though. I will also be sharing some more 'bump' layouts - its really massive now and have less than nine weeks left till D-Day!

NSD with Shimelle and Two Peas and a lot of pink...

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:59:00 +0000

I was so excited last Saturday to be woken up with a Facebook status linking Shimelle's first challenge of the day - scrapping with pink. I recently had the gruelling task of clearing out my scrap room to turn it into a nursery and it helped me to rediscover some older supplies and put together some of my own kits. I made up a pack of pink fabric, cardstock and ribbon scraps but then wondered what pictures to use?
I don't really wear pink. I don't have any 'girl's night out' pics to scrap. I don't know if we're having a baby girl. Then I remembered a random snap my mom had sent me from her wear pink to work for Breast Cancer day - she is posing with her favourite postie! She is quite a flirt and always loves 'chatting up' the postmen.

Journalling about her charity fancy dress day and the postman of course!

Embellished with squares of different pink patterned paper and then given some dimension with Studio Calico veneers, bling and buttons.

I have to admit that I'm a little bit in love with this layout and feel that it captures the moment and my mom's fun loving personality perfectly!

______________________________________________________

The composition was inspired by Wilna's video on twopeas

Steaming towards three years: Anniversary Layout

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Sat, 04 May 2013 09:48:00 +0000

You may recall last July (I'd be impressed if you do!) we celebrated our three year anniversary in Howarth. A blissful day spent on steam trains, painting pottery and enjoying a delicious lunch.
So inspired by Shimelle's prompt to use 4 by 6 photos I have scrapped the pics this morning of the steam train journey and museum. I always tend to use 4 by 6 photos and I like to use them 'Shimelle style' in a line all and all the same way up. I then like to layer papers and washi tape to create interest around them and I like to add little journalling spots and embellishments to finish the layout off.

A close-up of the pictures:

The title and journalling spots - inlcuding the ticket for the train - which I wasn't entirely convinced went with the colour scheme of the layout, but it seems to go with the lined patterned paper which has green pastel tones in it.

So there you go...

One challenge down and another one to come shortly...

Stars in the Sunshine with Martha Stewart punch...

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Thu, 02 May 2013 19:15:00 +0000

This layout sums up my mood on this sunny Thursday.

I am happy because:

I only have ten weeks to go till I have my baby (hopefully!)
The sun is shining
We went to the ice-cream farm for a cone after work
We just purchased a cot for the nursery
I only have eight weeks left of work including a bank holiday and a weeks half term holiday
The end of coursework marking and moderation is almost here (phew!)
The Great Gatsby film is almost out in England and I am loving the sneaks online!
I have stocked up on some new stash recently having sold some of my older craft stuff

How are you feeling today?

Loving instagram

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:42:00 +0000

I'm always last to the party. In fact often the party is over by the time i arrive. Metaphorically speaking.
So last weekend we got new his'n'hers android phones and i am excited to have a better camera, faster internet and apps like instagram.
Here are some things i have been snapping and instagramming about...

Sunday night treat by The Belgian

I had to treat myself after a blood test this week!


A sneak peak of a layout I made about Christmas 2012

Bargains picked up at the NCT sale yesterday - don't you just love the little shoes. I was super pleased to get the Next babygrows at £1 each as my friend said they are the best ones as they have pull down sleep mits attached.

So feel free to follow me on melmakes21 and let me know if you're on instagram and I will follow you back!

Maternity Mondays: Bump at 28 weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Finally - after being subjected to hours of slide show reels at my family's house - he has realised the importance of taking pictures and recording things for our future posterity - hurrah! So he even agreed to taking some self timer pics of our new family of three.

As I have entered the third trimester I have found that:

I can no longer see my toes when I look down!
It is getting harder to bend down and pick up stray exercise books, glue sticks or discarded worksheets at work
It is taking a lot more effort to get out of bed or up off the sofa
I am shorter of breath when climbing stairs or doing too much (like walking up the Chevin to take these pics)
I somehow have loads of second hand baby clothes from friends, a buy, sell and swap forum on facebook for my local area and charity shops - here's hoping we have enough!
I am slowly, but surely, getting over my fear of needles - more blood tests due this week.
The baby is enjoying beating out a dawn chorus for me every morning!

I have been packing up my hospital bags ready just in case- any advice fellow bloggers? What should I pack?

Trending - triangles...

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:10:00 +0000

I must be so forward thinking as triangles seem to be a current scrapbooking trend - but I completed this layout about six month's ago and included the shape. I think I needed some embellishment for the top corner and so just cut out f a few triangles and then anchored them with an Amy Tan stamp.
The layout is about the clam chowder the Belgian sampled on Monterey Bay Pier in California a few summers ago.

It uses lots of scraps for a border and a photo mat, a bit of washi and an Amy Tan stamp too.

I know some scrappers, like Shimelle, have issues with scrapping a landscape and portrait picture on the same layout and to be honest I generally do stick to one or the other and even take pictures with this in mind - but these were the only two shots I have of our afternoon of treats on the pier.

I further embellished by sticking the lid to something (perhaps glue or the paint itself) into black paint and stamping with it. I also bordered the American Crafts foam thickers to make them pop against the photo.

Eden in bloom...

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:18:00 +0000

When I was ill a few weeks back I spent a lot of time with my laptop in bed catching up with scrapping videos on Two Peas in a Bucket and one of the mood to scrap videos by Lizzy particularly inspired me as I liked the composition, the misting and the border effect on her finished layout.

On our recent pre-baby trip to Cornwall we were lucky enough to visit the Eden Project and I particularly loved all the colourful flowers and so we both posed for a picture in front of the blooms which co-ordinated best with our outfits! What a scrapper hey?


I liked the idea of getting messy with paint and stencils and so used a doilie as a mask	and	smooshed yellow paint on.

I was hesitant about using purple, yellow and red together but I love it.

I used the rule of three with Amy Tan embellishments to add interest to the page.

I liked the idea of creating washi tape flags to embellish the photo.

Hopefully it doesn't look like too much of a scraplift - I just really loved the original layout and it worked really well with the bits and pieces that I picked out from my stash.
Thanks Lizzy and Two Peas for the inspiration.

Maternity Mondays: The bump at 26 weeks!

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:22:00 +0000

And here it is in all its stripy glory...

Soon to be found on a layout near you...although one of my Easter holiday projects has been packing up my scrap room (sob) and so all of my crafty supplies are now in Ikea boxes on a bookshelf in our hallway. The nursery is being painted and then hopefully it will start to take shape.
I think it will be harder to scrapbook now that its not all out on show or easily accessible, I liked to be able to just leave a project and come back to it. Luckily I have lots of layouts stacked up, photographed, edited and ready to be blogged so in between pics of my rapidly growing bump there will be still be some scrappy goodness.

The satisfactory surprise!

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:13:00 +0000

So you may recall back in October I hit the big 30 and my husband whisked me off to London for the weekend to see Matilda and eat lots of yummy food.
Now when I was a teen my dad used to refer to me as High Maintenance Mel - I have no idea why. But I had a bit of a rep for having high expectations from boyfriends and just life in general. I think I'm pretty chilled, but there you go...
So a weekend in London would have been great if he hadn't tried to throw me off the scent by hinting at a weekend mini break on the continent somewhere. I think it was at the moment that I was putting all of my liquids into plastic bags that he realised perhaps his 'surprise' was going to backfire. Needless to say having grown up 20 mins from London and having a sister living there meant that London was no *quite* as exciting!
But it made for some good hidden journalling and here are two mini layouts from the trip.

Click on them to see them in more detail.

Both of these layouts used lots of paper scraps that were leftover on my desk and so were quite thrifty - I was pretty happy with both of them though.
Have any of you experienced a surprise that backfired?

Maternity Mondays: The bump at 16 weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:48:00 +0000

So, the sister who is abroad, has been nagging for more bump layouts or pics. Even though she has seen my vast girth via skype - I prefer it when it is on a layout!

So here is my 16 weeks layout:

This layout was largely completed using American Crafts Dear Lizzie range. I created a paint frame for the photo mat - a technique I picked up from watching one of Shimelle's many online tutorials. A lot of my recent layouts feature paint effects as once i have a certain supply out I tend to use it more often. I even painted the little Studio Calico wood veneers - cute huh?

Now for some musings, or mumblings, about pregnancy in general from an almost 27 weeks along pregnant lady:

Why, oh why, is the maternity section always on the top floor of the shop? Don't they know that pregnant ladies and stairs are not a great combo?
Why, oh why, have so many high street stores confined their maternity wear to online only? Don't they know that we like to try things on and see how stretchy they are?
Why, oh why, have I got lots of little spots undcer the skin on my face? I have always had a good complexion and suddenly it is blotchy and enflamed. However my hair is doing very well and I am not having to wash it as often as it is shinier and healthier looking in general - win!
Why do people think its funny to call you chubby or say that you are looking fat?
Why do other women think I want to hear their nightmare stories of childbirth?
Why does everyone want to rain on your parade by telling you all the negative things about having children?
Why don't men, or husbands more specifically, understand that you after working a full week its normal to fall asleep at 8'o'clock in front of Question of Sport and then sleep in till 10?

On a more positive note though I can now feel the bubbs kicking a lot and I find that quite reassuring and I am really excited to see the little human being that we created in about 13 weeks or so. Yay!
More recent bump pictures to follow.
Feel free to add some of your own pregnancy gripes...

Hello bump...layout!

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 18:15:00 +0000

So I wanted to take pics of my growing bump during my pregnancy, but we haven't proved that good at it. The lack of sunshine has hindered post-work photo shoots and so I have just about got a pic a month. This was a hastily snapped pic at 12 weeks - taken on my phone.

You may have noticed that I am totally in love with my Amy Tan 'hello' stamp and it is featuring on a lot of my recent layouts. It just makes titles fun! In fact I think all of my 'baby' pages so far use it -perhaps it can be a 'thing'. Y'know like Shimelle uses kraft for all of her travel pages - I use 'hello' for all my baby pages.

It's funny that I thought that was bump. Now I am 25 weeks and am having to get an even bigger pair of maternity jeans I know what a real bump is. Photos and layouts to follow eventually... My year 11's enquired the other day whether I would balance my cereal bowl on my bump like Phoebe from Friends! They just ask the most random questions. In fact they were getting so distracted in lessons suggesting baby names so I flippantly suggested that write them on a postcard and send them to me - so at the end of the lesson my desk was bombarded with little yellow post-its with an array of baby names from the cute - Ava - to the ridiculous - Mario! No offence if your kid is called Mario. It just makes me think of Nintendo!

I think the 'IT'S HERE' arrow post-it works perfectly with it.

I tried two new techniques:

the cluster of bling. This was created using lots of glossy accents and sequins to emphasise the mannequin.
The border created by circle punches cut in half. I think its an easy, but effective technique.

The supplies I used are mainly American Crafts - I love the floral and peach together accented with the turquoise. In fact I think its a very 'spring' coloured layout - all I need now is the sunshine and blue skies to go with it!

In other news its Easter holidays - yay! We are off to Cornwall on Sunday night for a pre-baby mini break. I haven't been to Cornwall since a family holiday when I was about ten so any recommendations for places to eat, good tea rooms (love cake!) or places to eat would be very welcome. I think 'Once Upon a Time' will have outgrown me by now!

Elephant canvas for the nursery...

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 12:26:00 +0000

I mentioned in a few previous posts my intentions to make canvas' for our nursery - ready for our new arrival in July. We are only in rented accommodation so I don't want to commit to a project too big - like wallpapering or painting a feature wall. So canvas' seems like the happy medium.
There are many tutorials on blogs and youtube and I took inspiration from these but went my own way with it too. Below is a step-by-step tutorial - including lessons that I learned along the way.

Step 1 - Decide upon your colour scheme. Prep canvas with gesso allow to dry. Paint one coat of acrylic paint - I applied mine with a foam applicator, but a sponge would work as well. Allow to dry. Apply second coat.

Step 2 - Decide upon your design. We originally wanted elephants and giraffes, but the giraffe silhouettes looked a bit strange and didn't look as cute or convincing as the elephant - so we went for one big elephant and then two little ones. I just got the picture from google.

Step 3 - Cut the design out and then trace in pencil onto chosen fabric. Remember that it will be in mirror image. Cut the design carefully out of the fabric - my fiskars scissors come in hand here.

Step 4 - Attach the fabric with modge podge to the dried canvas. Modge podge all over the top (see third picture) don't worry it will dry clear. I added heart buttons for the eyes with modge podge too.

Step 5 - Allow the whole thing to dry. On the top canvas I decided to outline the elephants in black fabric paint to add more definition.

Tips:

Pick a dark coloured fabric as the yellow was a bit see through and up close you can see some of the glue underneath.
Be very careful that you flatten the fabric down before the clue dries - as you can see the second elephant has a bit of a crease on it. Some bloggers recommended reinforcing it with modge podge first or backing with cardboard.
The yellow canvas also shows up some of the plush from the fabric and it dried into the modge podge. This, as I am sure that you can tell, was the first one and I might redo it as I think the little imperfections will annoy me.

I made some canvas' of our wedding in the summer and the tutorial for these can be found here.

Messy Mondays: Painting with American Crafts and Amy Tan

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:04:00 +0000

So as July 10th approaches and the little baby in my belly is wriggling away and making itself known I am becoming increasingly aware of the decline in our 'us' time. We often go on spontaneous dates - trips to the cinema, meals out, snacks like ice-cream or smoothie dates and I am sure that this will change as us becomes a three!
So I made the most of our recent 'donut date' and got a picture of the usually reluctant 'model.

I wanted this layout to be pretty with florals and hearts. I went for Dear Lizzie paper, mixed up turquoise paint to create a border and then created little clusters with washi tape, bling and strips of patterned paper.

Please tell me that this won't be the end of it all...that we will fade into the backround. Haha!

What to do with paper too pretty to hide?

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 22:00:00 +0000

Are you like me? Do you have some pages you'd just like to stroke and admire and are always reluctant to actually use? I've been hoarding this gorgeous camera paper for ages and so was delighted when Shimelle's most recent sketch to scrapbook page was all about making the most of a really great patterned paper.
I used a picture from our honeymoon and used my travel stamps washi tape. I kinda messed up the page trying to do a line of embossed Amy Tan cameras, that turned out not to be very straight and so I tried to salvage it with a Martha Stewart star punch.
I'm not entirely sold on the pink and the green together, but I think it works.

The second layout I tried with this sketch is also a travel one. It is all about how the desserts in Thailand were often a dissapointment - until we got to MBK centre. It puts English food courts to shame and the desserts were all beautifully presented - as we do eat with our eyes after all.
I am a lot happier with the colour scheme on this one - I've never really paired brown and purple before, but I think it really works. A technique I've picked up watching lots of scrapping videos over at two peas is distressing, tearing and rolling the edges of the photo mat to make it really stand out. I have been watching a lot of scrapping tutorials as I have had a really bad cold and hacking cough - the poor baby!

What techniques have you been loving recently?
I've been getting messy with paints and have lots of brand new layouts to share with you soon!

Precious Pictures...

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 23:33:00 +0000

Since storytelling Sunday is all about stories gather round, get comfy and listen...

My favourite classes to teach at school are often the smaller groups.
The nurture groups.
The ones who are not reaching for the stars academically.
And often don't have many (if any) positive role models in their lives.
Why do I like teaching these groups so much?
They have heart.
You get to know them a lot better as there are less of them.
You have to show them you care or you lose them.
So you use little quizzes (they love my Friday celebrity quizzes), sometimes treats and mostly anecdotes to win them round.
So last week we were studying a poem about a hurricane.
I asked what they would save from their houses in a natural disaster.
First answer,
"my computer games miss."
"Hmm nice try, but I honestly don't think most people would care about plasma screens and play stations - they can be replaced."
"My family then."
"My mum," chipped in the Burly Boy.
"I said it had to be a possession - an object." I reminded them.
"Money?" Cheeky One tentatively put forward.
"No," Trendy Boy interrupted knowingly. "Insurance will cover this."
"Photo's then, memories?" Suggests the only girl in the group.
"Bingo," I smiled.

So my 'precious' this month are the baby books I have made for The Belgian.

My mum did fill in a baby book for me and this is precious and I love to read the funny stories about my first birthday and first Christmas (where apparently all I was interested in was the selection box - no changes there then!) But there were lots of pics still to be scrapped and I had a mini album to fill.

I asked the in-laws for some pics of The Mini Belgian and I scrapped them in a little book - which is the only scrapbook I have ever made which he will proudly show to any visitors. When we entertain little kids too they love to look through it.
Also a scrapbook I made from my youth - more info and pictures of which can be found in this post.

These are all photo's that are irreplaceable.
In the days before digital.
These photos and albums are definitely very precious.

Half term highlights...

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 18:01:00 +0000

To combat the back to school blues I will share some of what my half term looked like...

Baked some blueberry scones

Went to a certain Swedish furniture store and indulged in my fav treat

Along with some tasty donuts from a certain America donut place

I think The Belgian looks hot here - but then I am bias!

Did some crafting on a onesie - I shared this earlier in the week

Impressed myself with my chevron creating skills

Ate at So Bar in Knaresborough getting two-for-one using our new free trial Tastecard - fellow Brits sign up now!


Creating his 'n' hers lamps on our bedside tables - Homebase were selling these Habitat lamps at better than half price.

Did some more crafting for the babies nursery - I will share a DIY for this later in the week.

Picked these up at Ikea as well for the nursery - we are thinking of a 'feature' wall of pictures rather than painting

In other news:

Saw Beautiful Creatures on Orange Wednesday - not usually our cup of tea but we enjoyed it
Had our 20 week scan and all is well - we are Team Yellow and waiting to find out
I am totally loving Pink's new song with the guy from FUN
Watched Nashville for the first time today and think I could really get into it - always been a closet country music fan
Found Paige's blog through Shimelle and have been having a real nosy around - am totally inspired by her use of hearts, confetti and layering

What have you guys been up to recently?

Diy chevron cushion cover

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 19:01:00 +0000

So earlier in the week I declared my intentions to actually do some crafty projects this week.
When I started to think about the fun of designing a nursery I started scanning pinterest.
I was in love with this cushion from Etsy and this is partly what inspired the yellow and grey colour scheme
and the elephant theme.
But it was made in America and this equals large postage costs so I thought I'd have a go at creating a chevron pattern myself.

1) First I brought a yellow cushion cover for £3 at Ikea.
2) I created a chevron pattern with masking tape. Most blogs and tutorials advise you to use electrical tape as this eliminates the chance of the colour bleeding, but I found that masking tape worked fine. Also you a-types out there would definitley bust out a tape measure - but i just eye-balled it and the end result (pictured below) is accurate enough - so long as you don't look at it too closely!
3) Using grey fabric paint purchased at Hobby Craft and the sponge applicator (pictured at the bottom) I applied a generous layer of paint trying to go with the grain of the fibres on the pillow cover.
4) I had to wait patiently for the paint to dry. The Belgian found this very difficult and I had to swot his hands away many times.
5) Peel back when you are sure it is dry.
6) Stand back and check for any small errors - I then corrected these with a small paintbrush.
7) I then ironed it with a sheet of paper over it on a low heat. I should have ironed it first and would advise this to be your first tip.
I still need to buy a pillow to go in it and a rocking chair for it to rest on. I might do a smaller plain grey one and iron on a yellow polka dot elephant. I will do a photo shoot when its all ready, but for now you get the impression!

Stamping on fabric...

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 18:44:00 +0000

Playing around with my amy tan stamps and a onesie. Do you like?

Pinning Projects to Paint...and other things!

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:00:00 +0000

It's no secret that I have been having a crafty drought these past say four and a half months.
I think there are many reasons - mostly relating to the baby growing in my belly.
For instance:

feeling too sick and lethargic to do anything more creative than channel and web surf
barely having any photo's from the last few months
especially lacking pictures of Christmas - where I was being sick a few times a day
realising a distinct lack of storage space and rapidly accumulating scrap albums
trying to clear out my scrapbooking room - ready to transform into a nursery

However the nursery is giving me some creative yearnings and I have spent the week pinning craft projects that I hope to work on over this half term holiday.
I will post the top four here to share with you all and to commit myself to completing at least two!

1) Firstly since we don't want to find out the sex of the baby we have decided that colour scheme will be yellow and grey with polka dots and a jungle theme. I loved these spray painted and decorated zoo animals over at Spearmint baby and think this would be a fun project and would look great displayed on the window still or book shelf. With yellow and grey accents of course.

2) For me the most ambitious project (since I am useless with a sewing machine) and the one I will probably save for nearer to the birth when I may be able to get some direction from the lovely textiles teacher at my school. I love this honeycomb material - any ideas where to source it in England? Elephants and giraffes are going to feature most heavily in the decor. The tutorial is found here at Sew 4 Home.

3) I love this shadow box idea from Our Day by Design. I have ordered some elephants punched out in greys, blues and yellows from ebay - cheaper than the actual Martha Stewart punch which is £15. I just need to get the shadow box - I seem to think that Ikea stock these quite cheaply? Am I right?

4) And lastly the project I will be tackling first I think is this animal painted canvas - here is the youtube link. I brought the supplies yesterday and have printed the pictures off ready to roll. I think I might make the silouette with material and have ordered some grey and yellow fat quarters off ebay this morning. So it may look more like this...

How cute is this? From here.

So there you have it. I do pin a lot, but I also try to actually make some of the things I pin. Hopefully I will have some projects to share with you all by the end of the week,

The Precious Little Wriggler...

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:26:00 +0000

So I am a bit late joining Sian's storytelling Sunday party, but I thought that the theme of sharing your precious would work well with my exciting news (that I hinted at last week).
My 'precious' is my 12 week scan pictures.
It's been a bumpy journey getting there.
I was pregnant last April, but sadly lost the baby in June - a week before our scan was due.
I struggled afterwards with anxiety and sleeping at night.
For a while life was pretty hard.
So when I fell pregnant in October I took some convincing that it was true.
So I couldn't quite believe it when I saw the little heartbeat at eleven weeks.
I am due the 10th of July.
A summer baby.
I have been very sick, tired and constantly nauseous.
But it will all be worth it when we get to meet the 'Little Wriggler.'
This is what the doctor dubbed the baby when it wouldn't stay still during the scan.
In fact my husband said it was doing jumping jacks in my belly!
This suggests that it will take after him.

Layout mainly completed using Amy Tangerine goodies - my first actual layout in four months!

Here I am at four month's pregnant....

with a rapidly expanding belly that is getting trickier and tricker to conceal from the kids that I teach at school!
I hope that my story brings hope to other couples who are trying for a baby, or who have suffered from similar setbacks.
I found support and inspiration from complete blogging strangers who shared their stories and one in particular who helped me to admit how I was feeling.
Now that the sickness is subsiding I hope to blog more.

Memory Monday: Pie Charts and self timer fun...

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 08:00:00 +0000

Now those of you who knew me in school would know that pie charts and fun were never two concepts I connected. Apple pie and fun maybe...but maths - shudder! A strange trend to hit scrapping in 2012, but one I was keen to have a go at.
This page uses lots of American Crafts and especially Amy Tan. I created the pie chart with cardboard and scraps of paper - embellished with an Amy Tan stamp and a Studio Calico wooden camera stamped in black ink.

The memory is of our trip to Barcelona August 2012. When there are just two of you on holiday, you always have the drama of trying to get a picture of you as a 'couple' and in Barca you have to be aware of pickpockets and people liable to run off with your camera.
So we turned to the slightly hit and miss method of self timer. With the camera precariously balanced on some rocks. I like this pic as it is a fun angle and I think shows the energy and fun of our trip.

Back next week with some exciting news and an actual layout that I actually created yesterday (after a four month scrapping drought!)

Me right now...

noreply@blogger.com (Mel) — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 20:48:00 +0000

Digging: Les Mis
Drinking: ginger beer and strawberry smoothie
Eating: Almond Magnums
Listening: Eddie Reymayne singing Les Mis
Wearing: PJ's and a hoody
Reading: A really sad book, but I can't think of the title now...
Feeling: relaxed
Weather: was snowing now slush
Wanting:another snow day
Needing: a good back massage
Wishing: I had more energy
Thinking: I need to start listing some stuff on ebay - we had a big snow day clear out
Enjoying: Don't Tell the Bride
Loving: Almond Magnums