Lamenting the demise of Scrapbook Inspirations...

I used to love Scrapbook Inspirations, and I know a lot of my followers did too, I used to look forward to it arriving on my doorstep every month and was even known to shout in exclamation a few times (*ahem* every month!) I would pour over each issue and devour all the delish layouts. I would often post-it note my favs and plan on using them as inspiration later. So when I had some quite dark, very red and pink pics from a fab mocktail night with my fav girlies Hester and Anna I knew which layout to scraplift. It's a Shimelle originial fro the February 2009 issue. I loved everything about her page (I tried to take a pic but it didn't come out very well) and so used it all - the shaped paper, the clashing prints, the haphazard and random font title and the two pics with little circle embellies. I am so pleased with the final product. In fact it is my fav page in ages! My fav part was making the title and I am defo gonna use that technique again.

So all you SI fans let me know if you ever scraplifted a layout from there. Does anyone know why it stopped being published? I think it was cos there weren't enough buyers....I was super annoyed cos they started sending me this rubbish card mag and I am so not into making cards at all. I think it was partly my fault for not replying to this form...but I am rubbish about forms and I think it is cheeky just to switch you to another random mag.

Hold me closer...

Totally love the song Tiny Dancer, but didn't have any cute pics of kiddies dancing. I was thinking of using the lyric "Blue Jean baby" but then went for Hold me closer...babe! A modern twist on it. These are pics of the sunset we took after a date one night. I kept the page quite simple but clashed papers a lot more than I normally would - I was going for sunset colours. I bordered the main pic with paint to make it stand out and give it texture - I also had to paint the 'e' black as I had run out as usual!!! The challenge is here. I like this layout as it is simple and keeps the focus on the pictures. These challenges help me to be more creative and to get past the wall that sometimes stands in my way!

Tropical celebrations...

So I have been having a scrap attack since I got back from school camp - I was having withdrawals from my scrap room for sure as I patrolled the girls tents in the pouring rain! So here is a little page i whipped up using the sketch challenge on Sarah's Cards. I wanted to scrap the pics of my school friends stay with me in Leeds. We went to Tropical world a butterfly and other tropical animal sanctuary. The second layout is quite unlike any other page I have made, but that is why I take part in challenges. I got the funky border put on at snapfish and then thought the American crafts embossed heart cardstock made the perfect addition to the page. This is a picture of my sisters who share a birthday in June and so always have a joint celebration. It looks a bit bare to me, but I couldn't think what else to add and didn't want to ruin it as I have done with pages in the past. It was completed for Twisted Sketches - the twist was red. Hope that your Monday wasn't too blue! Other than the sight of my classroom this morning, after a week of supply teachers whilst I was on camp, my day has been okay.

First love and a nifty website...

Who was your first love? Some spotty faced boy who held your hand in the back of a biology lesson or the man you said "I do" to across the marriage altar?? My first love was sadly not my husband (although I often wish looking back at some of the others that he had been!) so I couldn't have taken this poem and scrapped about one of the others as Arne is not keen on that!! I do have a sneaky little book with pics scrapped of all my old crushes and teen year boyfriends and I will one day show it to my daughter(s), but for now it is well hidden in my scrapping room. This was in fact the poem that Arne's sister Zara read out at our wedding. I decided the best way to get it on the page was to use one of my fav websites - wordle.net and create a beautiful word cloud with the verses. It is soooo fun and you can choose the colours and the layout. I used it as my photo mat:- I painstakingly sewed all these buttons onto the ribbon border. The photo is bordered with silver heart wrapping paper - I always stash all ribbons and wrappings for LOs. The title is a combo of stickers and lettering from an SEI set and then stickles round the edge. I wanted this page to be quite simple and to focus on the word cloud and the black and white photo from our wedding.

Ahhh what a great layout to create a few weeks before our first anniversary!

The other DT members scrapped about kids, dogs and even Twilight so I cannot wait to see what you all create. There are some cute prizes to win too - so get involved you have until July 14th! x

Doing the double...

I am not referring to Wimbledon or the world cup instead the double is my layout. I was inspired by this sketch from here and got the idea for title from the lyrics of this weeks scrapping the music challenge. I have done double layouts in the past but it always * seems * like more work, however I had loads of pics from a recent trip to my parents and so used them and am very pleased with the results. Here is the complete finished product: I stamped the title and then used some lettering to emphasise the words home and belong and it was from an SEI set which co-ordinated with the polka dot runner. My trustee Martha Stewart border punch edged the middle panel. I also stamped flowers all along the top and bottom to jazz up the kraft cardstock, I then embossed a few with glittery powder to make them stand out.

You may notice that in the above pic I added a "tail" to my L as I felt it looked funny as it was...but I am a bit tired and so didn't bother to retake all the pics.

I used a few journalling spots and a date stamp to add some details about the weekend. I also added a polka dot button in the middle of the three flowers - gotta love the polka dots!

So I urge you all to have a go at a double layout as it is great for multi photos and for stretching your supplies. My next post will be a closer look at my LO for scrap that poetry - it's another great challenge and a poem that I chose as it was read out at my wedding, so give it a go...

Thumbs up for a photo evening extravaganza...

So I mentioned in my last post that we were going out for dinner. We went to Westbourne Spice in Otley and are still undecided about it. We have had two great meals there and one average and last night fell into the latter category. Arne ordered a * really * spicy dish by accident but was too manly to ask for yogurt to cool it down and so ordered a lassy instead. To walk dinner off we headed up the Chevin and wandered around and then discovered the timer of our camera. We wish we had found it on honeymoon and got more couple shots! So we had fun with that and here are the results (soon to be scrapped thanks to snapfish!) The sunset was difficult to capture, as it was way more beautiful than this! I like how the sun looks like it is rising out of heads here:-

I think I look like my sister Gems in this one:-

Now for the timer action - admittedly not the most flattering pose for me, but there you go...the junk in the trunk!

This is a bit washed out, but we had fun experimenting with it!

I have spent most of the day making a mini album with Arne's baby pics. It is so much easier making mini layouts and I have completed ten already. I will share them with you tomorrow. It is a project i have been meaning to complete since his gran gave me a whole load of his pics for the wedding.

I hope you all had a fab saturday! x

Welcome to the 60's - woo hoo!

So typical blogger - all the pics are in the wrong order. I have been meaning to blog this all for a while so here goes.... I saw this amazing show on Wednesday night at the Grand Theatre with my old housemates. It was sooooo fab! We loved the movie and loved this even more and were singing along and dancing in the aisles. Easily the best thing I have seen for ages! Secondly a quick layout I made with my sexy new stash (see below!) one that didn't take too much thought I just threw it together. An ode to road tripping in my car Harry that we just part exchanged * sob *

My amazing and very bargaintastic new stash from the QVC shop in Shrewsbury. All this lot only cost me £16!!! So much cool paper and stickers and stamps with the date on....drool...the best thing about going home - jokes!

The mandatory pic of the girls and daddy on Father's Day.

A nice pose shame my sisters have their eyes closed!!

Do you like my new maxi dress? A bargain from TK Maxx I wasn't sure I could get away with it being such a shortie, but now I love it! I even wore it to work today as the classroom has been sweltering!

Now am off out for dinner with the hubster as we just got paid this week! Ha! I am loving life at the mo and looking forward to the fast approaching summer hols...hope you all have exciting plans for this weekend!

Ducks and Doll....

Here is a little project I was working on last week.... Scrapping about my South African grandparents and all my happy memories of them. My granny is still alive, but due to the distance we don't get to see her very often. The happiest time we spent together (and the only time I met my grandad) was a holiday in France together. These pics aren't very good quality, but I was keen to blog as its been a while! The title was a bit of a happy accident as i glimmer misted over stickers then glitter glued the edge but it all started to run...i then smeared the glitter glue over the white space and left it and once dried felt that it looked quite arty. I layered lots of different papers that I had cut into and sewed button on top. I added purple organza ribbon and strip journalling to add some more interest and contrast. A close-up of the glimmer mist / glitter lettering:-

I am glad to have this now in my scrapbook!

Stuck in the marsh (mallow!)

So these are my little creations for Iron Cupcake. Sadly I didn't attend in the end, following in the footsteps of my sis Gem. (Although she roused herself from her sick bed I didn't!!) Basically I left it to the last minute due to watching the England game with friends last night etc and so it was all a rush and I didn't think they were that good. Altho once they were refridgerated they did taste yum. The recipe is here they are pink velvet cupcakes with white chocalate ganache - with my added secret ingredient of melted marshmallow in the middle of the cupcake.

I was put off by the rain and lack of company and was defo not in a sociable mood so... I will just give them to my collegues tomorrow or to the ladies I visiting teach. The fluffy pink cakes did not match my mood today! I felt grim :(

Hope you all had a great day! x

Here we go, here we go, here we go...

So rather than becoming a sad and lonely World Cup Widow I have decided to go with it and am watching the match with the hubster...whilst blogging of course! I am realising munchies during the game is the fun part. We strolled on over to Waitrose * just * to get the secret ingredient for Iron Cupcake, but ended up getting this.... and decided to make it Fajita Friday!!! My sister, Gem, and her hubby have special named days for food - like Sundae Sundays and Mexican Mondays...so I think we will begin having Fajita Fridays. Are we alone in this or do you all have special food days??! At our school Friday is always fish and chips day - I think this is a Catholic thing - even though our school isn't Catholic. But seriously this is the best invention ever.... We got a sour cream one too...love that stuff and then I made several bowls of goodies and we loaded it up into these...

The most successful snack was homemade salsa (a first for me!) with plenty of fresh coriander - love that stuff! So maybe the world cup won't be that awful....

I am off to make a trial run for Iron cupcake...

Don't forget to get your layouts in for Scrap that Poetry as Monday is the deadline and we only have a few entries. It's a seriously great poem and would be perfect for pages about your nearest and dearest!

Have a fab world cup weekend...

* Lost in Music! *

So I have always loved Aerosmith's Don't wanna miss a thing and am still trying to scrap my wedding pics. I do love scrapping them, but they are quite samey so I need to break it up a bit or be really inspired to scrap it. This challenge certainly inspired me! My sister, Tamara, is obsessed with movie soundtracks and I guess some of that has stuck with me. How could I not use my gorgeous new round page??! I was trying to avoid purple, but I couldn't help it - most of my stash is this colour. I thought that this lyric really complimented the photo.

I made this frame using a cardboard frame and then I wrapped it in tissue paper and then stamped with my new INK IT (hmm maybe it isn't called this but my scrap room is sooo far away and I am sooo comfy in my throw!) gold stamp pad. I got a pack of 20 of them and they are so juicy and really stand out. A glimmer mist heart to emphasise the word LOSE. Looking at it now it isn't very straight, but I prefer the grungy look!

I made a little flower out of tissue paper and inked edges. I felt the top corner was a bit bare without it!

Then I added some buttons on the bottom for a bit of interest.

Thanks for the inspiration Mr Tyler and your big lips! x

Row, row, row your boat gently down the glee...

So my half term has mainly looked like this... Crazy golfing on our secret date on Saturday with one of our fav couple to hang out with - the Flinns. Here Arne is trying to encorporate snooker into his mini-golfing! Hannah and Jon rowing on the river Nidd in Knaresborough:

The girls just chilling as the boys rowed. It was perfect weather for this date!

My school friend Suz came to visit on Thurs / Fri (this post goes backwards in order!!!) and we went to a pub quiz in Otley on the Thursday night. It is one of our traditions as we used to go to them during sixth form. We didn't win for our knowledge, but did win for our raffle ticket! I don't drink so she took it home for her dad!

We went to the super tropical Tropical World on the Thursday and a big walk round Roundhay park and the chilled in a cafe with cake and a cold drink. Lush!

So all in all a fab week and I don't want to go back to school tomorrow! :(

It has just started raining loads here and so it is like an omen for back to school! Pathetic fallacy working at its best!

I will post my STM layout tomorrow which features a cute photo frame which involves gold stamps and magenta tissue paper..I am loving it!

P.S The Glee reference is the other thing I have been catching up with this half term. Don't you just love it? My highlights so far have been the Madonna, Vanilla Ice and the Gaga!

Hitting the triple..quite a "feet"!

So with this one humble LO I have hit the triple. I have used the paint challenge from Sarah's cards blog and I couldn't resist the current challenge on Mission to Create and finally the picture was inspired by the fab favourite things blog. The shoes were a bargain find at a charity shop in Ilkley. However, I have always had a thing for stripy shoes and was always known at uni for my funky, bright shoes. The kids I teach always marvel at the crazy shoes I have. I have inherited the need to colour co-ordinate and so have to have shoes in every colour. I always get quite cheap ones though and rarely spend over £30 on them. So this LO celebrates that... The cupcake was easy to encorporate as it is my current obsession and circles are a fav feature of mine. The cupcake buttons are new stash I treated myself to on Saturday (as are the cute polka dot buttons!) I stamped with the lid of tin.

I had the usual thickers issues. They should put more e's and s' in their packs as they always run out first. I had to paint the last two with acrylic paint as they were originally lime green and didn't fit. Don't you just love the stripy lettering too??? That was a bargain from sat too. Notice Sarah's cards DT the use of paint as a mat for the title and also the liberal spray of glimmer mist round the edge.

I rediscovered my mini alpha stamps recently and so stamped onto ribbon and the journalling spot which I cut from polka dot cardstock. This pic is a it blurry, but you may notice the little owl in the bottom left hand corner (don't you love it Gem??)

And finally the whole LO in its full glory. It was one of those pages that just came together and I couldn't believe how many diff challanges I managed to hit. The heart is cut from cardstock and edged in acrylic paint too.

So what are you waiting for ladies? Get over to these blogs and get scrapping!!! Don't forget the fab challenge at scrap that poetry that has just started - time is running out! Scrap about your nearest and dearest! Right I am off to enjoy the sunshine!

The fruit never falls far from the tree...

Soooo excited to see my first DT LO on this great blog. I started this blog just for fun at Christmas as my lil sis had one and you know what girls are like...always want what they don't have. I never thought I would get so involved with the online scrapping community. It's been great though and really inspiring. My competative side means that making a LO for a challenge is more fun than just because. So tbh this poem baffled me at first and I was struggling to see how I could create a LO from it, but then I realised the main message was about selfless love and you don't get more selfless than parents. I felt since the title of the poem was The Giving Tree I needed to include a tree (something I had been planning to do for a while!) The backing paper was daubed to create the apple-like polka-dots. The tree was made of corrugated card that was originally used to package up my lush new whittard plates. I painted it wth acrylic paint and then cut apples from a Saffrass page. I also embossed some apples from a stamp I got at a little postcard shop in Holland. The awesome gold leaf brads were a christmas pressie from my sister Gem.

The title was also made from card. I painted it green and then gave it a light misting.

The cute pic of mini-me was backed with my fav Martha Stewart border punch and then edges with a red stamp pad. I thought that the fact I was clutching my free Natwest piggy bank fitted in with the theme of the page. Isn't the crayon bottle top lush?? I got a pack of 6 for a bargaintastic 50p at the Great Northern Craft Show (or whatever it was called!)

I was really pleased with the homespun feel of this LO. I am glad that the poems have inspired me to scrap some of my older pics as they all need scrapping before I have bubbies of my own!

SO ladies go check it out - you have until the 13th June. The DT are REALLY generous with leaving love on your blogs - which always makes it more worth your while. Or am I the only one who LOVES blog love??!!