Love cupcakes?

It was February's Iron Cupake contest and obvs the theme was love. I racked my brains over it and decided to avoid the obvious reds and pinks and go for gold with a Romeo and Juliet themed cupcake. I called it "star crossed lovers" and had fondant stars shooting from the cake (the display one!) and gold edible glitter. Above were the winners for the night. I never got to try them as I was all cupcaked out as I always indulge in some of my frosting and then feel all sugared out! Doesn't the sign below remind you of scrapping??! Here are my babies. I used wrappers from Morrissons as they have a really good baking range now, my mom got me them for Christmas. My sign was written in gold pen and star shaped - it was a bit of a rush job and I have big ideas for it too! A close-up of the examplar one which they grade the appearence on. My sisters went on a baking course and saw the idea of winding wire round a cocktail stick to make a little spring. It was tricky to get the fondant star to stick to the wire as it had already dried. Here they were before I started decorating them. Naked. Sorry this post goes backwards (I always forget which order to load them up in) The sponge was chocolate and honeycomb. Just a basic vanilla sponge with a cup of blitzed crunchie bits and a tablespoon of cocoa and two tablespoons of maple syrup. Then it was chocolate frosting (but not very chocolately) and then added glitter and honeycomb crumbs. It was really tasty and different to the others. I came...in third place and so was quite pleased with that!

Life is good...

I turned this sketch sideways as it suited my pics better. Yellow and red is not a colour combo I have used before but I am pleased with the result. These pics were taken at new years and the vellum reminded me of confetti and streamers. I am excited at the news that some of the layouts get published - sketchy thursdays is so good to us!

Snapshot of my week...

The H had had a stressful day at school and so wanted to do something straight after work to take his mind off things. I instantly thought of the amazing Clock Cafe in Headingley that I used to frequent in my student days. Curly fries, smoothies and scrabble - what more can a girl want?? So we had a fab time and I have this pic ready to scrap for my fav games layout on TAAFOMFT! Last night was the first of the Come Dine with me's that a group of 7 friends are doing. Last night it was the Flin's turn and they prepared a tapas style evening. Above was the crowning glory - tirimisu (I know not v.Spanish but so delish!!) Our starter was assorted olives and breads with oils - love this! The chef in action... A classic Est pose! But the setting wasn't quite right and so Jon is quite blurred! We scored them out of ten for starter, main and dessert and then picked out of a hat the next person who will take their turn in a few months. It was a great night and we can't wait for the others.

Walking on sunshine?

Wow Yorkshire has been hit with some terrible storms. I thought that our car was going to blow away at the petrol station yesterday! Yikes! So as the antidote to all this grim winter weather I made a sunny and bright layout of a trip mini golfing we took two summers ago. This pic has been knocking around for a while and I was keen to scrap it as it was great memories. The title comes from the poem May you always feel loved which is the current challenge over at Scrap that Poetry! It is quite a slushy poem so would be perf to scrap about your special someone this valentines period. I, however, wanted to complete a fun and colourful layout. I thought that remember the sunshine was apt to get us through this chilly weather. We are headed to America this summer for my husband's best friends wedding and we really CANNOT WAIT! I love the states. I can't wait to go crazy in the scrapbook stores. Can anyone recommend any good ones in California?? Hope you all have a fab weekend and get on over to the challenge and have a go!

Zulu nation...

As promised I had great fun playing with my slr today during the zulu nation workshop with the kids I teach Their constumes were authentic (except they weren't real animal skin!) Pat your head and rub your tummy...but the choreography got harder than this... Huh!!! All in all a great day had be all. Although I was just as tired as if I had taught a full five period day!

Snow problem?

I had a bit of spare time tonight as I don't have any planning for tomorrow (for a change) as we are off timetable and I am going with my Year 7 form to participate in Zulu nation - music and dance!!! Woohoo! I will try to take some pics! So here is the layout (above as blogger is being difficult) I made using this sketch from stuck. I took inspiration from the circles at the bottom and used non traditional Christmas and snow colours. I am pretty pleased with it! I can't listen to forever young anymore without hearing Jay Z's rapping in my head. So I completed this layout using Get Picky's challenge. This is a pic of the hubster and I at a carvery with my mom. I used lettering cut from a newspaper to give it an eclectic feel. The heart is from a necklace and I have had it hidden away in a drawer for use on a layout for ages. So it's almost hump day and I am feeling h-h-happy!!!

Love you more...

Another layout I completed a few weeks back and forgot to show it to you. As my husband is Belgian I wanted to use one of his traditions for Christmas this year. So they usually open presents and have their Christmas meal of fish on Christmas eve. So we had fish and chips at Loch Fyne on Christmas eve to give him a taste of homel. It was delish. Well the chips were for me as I don't eat fish! I used my new Christmas papers and lots of different lettering like stickers and stamps to give it an eclectic feel. So last Saturday my sister, Mara, and I went to see JLS at Manchester arena. Here we are amonst all the glow sticks and little screaming girls (and boys!)... We HAD to visit this cute cupcakerie we found online. I had white chocolate and raspberry and it even had raspberries in the batter - yum! Happy with the find... Self timer...the milkshakes were guuuud, but not the thick five dollar shake style that was promised on the menu. Love the wooden cabinets...when I open MY cupcakerie I will be sure to have these too. The cupcakes all had very original and funky names like Willy Wonka and Doris Day. All in all a great and tiring weekend full of delicious treats and lots of laughs!

I'm so pretty, oh so pretty...

Happy Saturday! I have much to share with you and show you so bear with me. Firstly I did the double with these gorgeous pics taken by my bro-in-law Byron on my wedding day. Gem (my maid of honour, bff and sister!) had our make-up done and I wanted to scrap that moment. I used stamping, painting, staples and all sorts to bring this double page together. It had to be pink as it's such a girly layout and then I used a dash of turquoise to make the colour of my eyes pop! Here is a close-up of the pics... and the other half... Fanfare for the finished result... The P didn't quite line up right, but hopefully you get the idea! I was inspired by this sketch, but instead of the four pics side by side I layered them up on the left hand side. You like??

Sailing through marriage?

Grr...blogger is being really difficult. I keep losing my post...so for the third time....here is a layout (above) using a photo taken by one of those throwaway cameras which were all the rage in the 90's. But I love it. It makes me happy. Reminds me of family holidays in France. I used the cute pic over at Punky Scraps as inspiration and used the muted pastels and polka dots and way more white space than I usually do. Sometimes simple is best! Love the song. Decided to do some candid journalling about my abilities (or inabilities) as a wife. The things I miss about being single. The things about marriage that drive me (and us) up the wall. But overall a positive message about being in it for the long haul and *trying* to be better! Thanks scrapping the music (cannot link to your blog -is anyone elses blogger being difficult??) I trust that you all had a fab weekend!?

Some "soup"er pages...and a travelling teddy...

The weekend is in sight and not a moment too soon! I made these pages over the last few weeks and have only just got round to finishing and photographing them. Firstly the travelling teddy arrived from New Zealand and here is my friend's baby having a cuddle with it. Anyone want him next? He has already been to france, Luxembourg, Australia, New Zealand and now England. A layout with some paint rings using a tin lid as a stamp of our halloween pumpkin soup.

The new kit I got over Christmas made these pics of our trip to London's West End to see Stomp a bit jazzier. I painted the chipboard letters to make them really stand out.

Last, but not least, a layout of my fav starbucks hot chocolate using a variety of scraps and leftovers and a paint frame. I used the sketch at the scrappiest as inspiration.

V.excited for this weekend as my sister Mara is coming to stay and we are going to hit up a new cupcakerie and milkshake bar in Manchester. Yay!

What are your plans?? Yes that means you...lurkers! Lol!

Baby your a firework...

Hey Scrapaholics! Got some snaps of your new years celebrations you want to scrap?? Get on over to scrap that poetry and take part in the new challenge. The poem also has great potench for snowy pics too. I scrapped our little family do with the sparklers and fireworks. There are many reasons why I LOVE these pics: * They were taken with my (nearly) new SLR camera and I had fun playing with settings and making things blur. * The top picture actually has my dad in - he is NEVER in family pics as he is usually taking them. * They remind me of a fab night with my precious family (with the exception of Gem and By who we missed greatly and skyped! Or did we...??) Don't you just love bunting?? Oh and of course hearts in all colours and varieties!?

Frost yourself...

Iron Cupcake desserts looked like this...knickerbocker glory yum! These little beauts came second, but sadly they weren't mine. These banoffee cheesecake cupcakes were mine and they tasted guuuudd! I even hid a slice of banana inside the banana batter cupcakes and then dulce de leche filled with cream cheese frosting and a generous dous of flake chocolate - yum! A bit of scrapping was achieved this weekend with my newly arrived Christmas pics - yay!!! This layout below is inspired by this sketch and this picture. I used a lot more white space than I usually go for and turquoise paper to make it looks frosty and wintery. (Please excuse the pic it looks better IRL I have a new SLR and haven't got a zoom lens yet!) The second layout is pics of our family on Christmas day. I order them as a montage and then cut them up so I had lots of little shots. Does anyone know a website where you can order pics in wallet sizes for a reasonable price? I used some of my new Christmas stash and was inspired by the sketch at Sketchy Thursdays I used lots of strips of contrasting Christmas patterns and designs. There is more to come so stay tuned...

Duck sauce...

In a back to school blur I haven't had any scrapping time this week, but I have still got some layouts saved up from my big scrap session last week. They are of random content since I have been awaiting the arrival of my new years and christmas pics (which arrived by the postie an hour ago - yay!!) So here is one I have been meaning to scrap for a long time our duck tour in Liverpool. Over Christmas I got two American scrapping mags and have been rediscovering some techniques I haven't used for a while like tags, using the tickets and leaflets i always pick up on trips out. Very happy with the way this turned out. I ordered this photo montage of our holiday in Malta and was going to display it on a wall, but instead decided to turn it into a layout; with inspiration from this challenge blog to try something new. I had been saving this velvet paper for a special occasion and felt this was good enough! Last, but by no means least, is a photo I have been wanting to scrap for some time. I think the composition is really interesting and it is a photo which tells a story. The summer before my husband met me he went to visit his best friend Lewis in America (where he was at BYU uni). They went on a big road trip all round Utah, Nevada and California. Part of thr trip they were accompanied by Lewis' girlfriend Justine and so this photo made me think of him being the odd one out. I feel it is in the spirit of the song Rain on my Parade (a totally fab song!!) as I am sure the boys would have preferred a boys only road trip, as the couple may have sometimes preferred to be left to it!! It also made me think of a John Mayer song where he sings about meeting the girl of his dreams and tells her to hurry up. So it is a combo of those two songs! Hopefully be back later with more layouts for you to feast your eyes on!

Getting the mojo on for 2011...

Only back for a few hours on Saturday and I was back in my happy place - my scrapping room churning out the layouts. I completed this one using a twisted sketches sketch. I really love it, even if I do say so myself. I didn't coordinate as much as I usually do and threw some papers together that I wouldn't normally go for (like the polka dot and the wood grain) I used my gorgeous new banana frog build-a-cupcake stamps (which I won doing a blog hop - woo!) The only problem is that I don't have a close-up lens yet for my ebay bargain slr and so you can't see all the detail. The subtitle reads - sweet, cute, delish, cheeky. Instead of just making new years resolutions I decided to scrap about it. Inspired by the studio challenge I made a layout about the changes I wish to make this year. I used lots of American Crafts stash as it was a teen range and went along the lines of school and making targets. The journalling reads... 1) Lose weight - exercise more and eat more healthier (no more cupcakes :( ) 2) Spend less and save more. No more eating out all the time! 3) Be a better / kinder wife. Nuff said! 4) Be more spiritual. Spend time doing the things that matter most. It is now placed on my wall to motivate me. So far have done well on goal 1 and had a big, fresh, delicious, crunchy salad for tea. Although I haven't quite managed the exercise part yet. I have also tried very hard at goal number 3 and made tea for the hubby and cleaned the kitchen and gave him a back massage. Dunno if it will last when school starts back tomorrow though... Last, but not least, this cute little Christmas layout which I completed for my design team over at Scrap that Poetry. There is a choice of two poems so it's a great challenge to take part of to use up some of your Christmas stash and pics. This is a better pic than the one on the blog as I used my camera phone for that one and it was a bit rubbish! Get over to the Scrap That Poetry blog and take part - we'd love you to join in, it ends on the 14th Jan! Phew I think I have burnt calories just typing up this mammoth post! Happy bank holiday Brits! x

Giveaway results and Happy New Year!

Roll up, roll up the results of the giveaway are here... The winner of the Christmas scrap stash is...Julie! And the winner of the baking stash is...Hippychick! Congrats ladies. Email me your address - melide18@gmail.com. Here are some pics of what our New Years in Shropshire looked like... Sparklers and fireworks were a first for us and made the new year feel a lot more festive - we really enjoyed ourselves and Asda afforded us quite a show! In my sales bargain £7 shirt from H&M. Colour co-ordinating with the drink. In the past I have trekked down to London for parties and waiting in the freezing cold for the fireworks and endured the mad crush on the tubes...in my single days. I am glad I don't have to pretend anymore and can just enjoy a "quiet night in" with the family. It was a fab way to see in 2011. We are back in chilly Otley now and I completed three whole layouts today which I will share with you soon. Thanks for all the comments over the last year they fuel my blog and make my day! Happy New Year!!!