Memory Mondays: Summer days in London town!

As snow flurries (not enough to close school!) try to make an appearence I long for long summer days.
Full of possibility.
Full of light.
Still, sometimes, full of rain showers.
So the memories and layouts I share this morning are about a week we spent in London during the Olympics.
The above and below layout is of this bike stimulator they had on South Bank during the games. You had to cycle to power a traffic light-o-metre and then the Olympic rings in the middle of the Thames would turn into a water feature.
The problem was that it was mostly kids going on it.
And they can't pedle that fast.
One boy got bored and just abandoned his bike mid-cycle.
So my husband, encouraged by crowds of exasperated mothers, hopped on and really gave it some welly.
It took some puff and he abandoned his coat halfway through as the light seemed stuck on amber.
Then the old ladies in the crowd were chanting, "Come on Wiggins!" At him!
Finally a small fountain appeared as the light turned green.
My layout is entitled 'Come on Higgins!'

The second layout is taken on the same day on the giant chair ride at South Bank.
It was a great view of London from the top.
My sister, who loves a bargain, was most delighted to find a 50 pence piece left behind on the seat for her.
Classic Mara!

Did any of you get involved in the action along South Bank?

Memory Mondays: Pad Thai in Thailand!

So in the back end of 2012 I ran a mini series (albeit a bit hit and miss) called Messy Mondays and some of my favourites are here and here. I was trying to think of a new idea for 2013 and have decided that my word of the year will be: REMEMBER.
One of the main reasons that I scrapbook is to capture the memories. I have been ill a lot recently and so have been revisiting some of my old diaries and love to look back at the funny little stories and memories from my teens and early twenties - usually about which boy I was crushing on and what he'd said to me and what he'd worn to a party. Actually I liked to make little sketches of the outfits I wore to big events and these are funny to look back on.
So Memory Mondays will be all about the story behind the layout.

This layout is all about my love of Pad Thai Noodles when I visited Thailand, back in 2007, with some friends.

The journalling reads:
"They were a total steal at only 20p and they were made fresh right in front of you. I liked mine with egg, extra chilli and peanuts. Here Cassie and Emma are enjoying their night time snack."

I busted out some old stash and used lots of stickers and my amazing travel themed washi tape with lots of passport stamps on it. I also used a title, sub title and a little journalling spot to explain the 5 w's behind the layout.

Storytelling Sunday: Pick your Precious!

When we were first married we were visiting an American friend of ours living at the nearby base. It was December and they had a massive tree full of all sorts of muli-coloured and shaped ornaments. Some of which my mother would have deemed 'tacky.' I grew up in a house that had colour co-ordinated trees - a new theme and colour scheme each year. But as my American friend and her kids pointed out their favourite ornaments on the tree I began to see the appeal: each of these treasures told a story.
A family holiday to Disneyland.
Grandma Ruth's first bauble.
A skiing trip to Whistler.
I wanted our tree to tell a similar story.
And so (even though Christmas is over for another year and I spent an hour yesterday wrapping them all up in tissue) my precious is our growing collection of Christmas tree decorations - each with their own story.

 We painted these gingerbread men on our Three Year Anniversary trip to Howarth last July. My regular followers will be aware that my husband is a very loyal Club Brugge supporter. Not very festive, but hey ho...

 Next up is our personal fav - a camper van from California. Two summer's ago we spent an amazing three weeks road tripping round California. Now it wasn't quite in a camper van, but we picked this up in a store in Julian all the same.

Lastly another of my favs. Can you guess where we got this? I like that it has the the spiritual side of Christmas as although we are not Catholic - we definitely celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

We weren't even going to get a tree this year - as we were away visiting for most of the holidays, but then I found my bag of treasures and knew that we could not resist the trip down memory lane. Every year we build up a few more and I can see it becoming a favourite family tradition.

Linking up with the lovely Sian over at From High in the Sky. A great new idea for the new year...feel free to pick your precious and join us. It's a bit like show and tell!

Messy Mondays: A washi taped up gift of a page!

 Festive greeting blogland! Have had winter sniffles over here and zero motivation to blog despite huge piles of layouts still to be featured. Was motivated by Glitter Girl's latest challenge over at 2peas using 6 by 6 albums to embellish. Those who are my 'regulars' will know that I love a bit of 6 by 6 action on my layouts.

Check out some of my previous pages using 6 by 6 pads here, here and here.

This layout uses lots of Studio Calico and has a funny story behind the title - see below for more details.

Firstly though I used washi tape to separate out the four papers from my SC 6 by 6 pad - I think that it looks a bit like a birthday present.

I have had lots of fun playing with the Studio Calico mistable cameras. I used my Mister Huey mist and then outlined in my black sharpie to make it stand out.

 

Now for the story behind the layout: Do you ever remember very random things? I am one of those people who can still something that my Year 4 teacher said when I was seven and I only have to see a film a couple of times to have memorised a lot of the lines from it. For example 10 Things I hate about you or She's Like That.
So...circa 2009 Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills did a phone in where you had to say "Chi-no!" or "Chi-yes!" Depending upon your opinion of the humble chino as a fashion option.
Now I don't whether its down to five tousle haired tweenie boy banders but suddenly chino's are di-rigour for more than your grandad and so the Belgian jumped on the band wagon and I snapped a blurry pic on my phone.
So the obvious title for my layout was "Chi-yes!" because I think that for him its a good look.

So there you go...what is your verdict? Chi-yes or Chi-no?

Storytelling Sunday: The one with the drunken monkey...

 Picture a dark night in January. In Leeds. The student bit - Hyde Park. One minute you are walking home from a social event chatting away to your housemate. Next minute you are on the side of the pavement wondering how you got there and what happened. The undercover policeman who just happened to be there fills you in that you were hit by the front of a car and flew five feet into the air and landed on your head.
My housemate, Cal, was busy wiping my blood on her jeans as she knew that I hated blood. I got rushes to A&E and they glued my head back together. I was due to start my second teaching practice and had to postpone it a week, whilst I got myself back together.
The above and below pics were the sight that greeted me when I got back from going to my family home for a few days. This monkey is my travelling monkey and has been everywhere with me including my symester studying in America. I thought that it was hilarious and made me feel like everyone cared about me.
The placard reads: Bad accident don't wanna talk about it!
The other special thing about these pictures is the hand knitted rug that was made by my South African gran. The sad things is that I no longer have it as at a picnic is was put into the wrong car and i never saw it again. So I am reminded of the kindness of my gran too.
Here I am looking a bit worse for wear holding the flowers from my mom:

Well I knew that it would make a great story one day. Even if it was a bit scary at the time!
                                              _______________________________
                      Linking up with the lovely Sian at High in the Sky for Storytelling Sunday

Messy Mondays: Jars of fun with American Crafts!

 When first faced with a 12 by 12 sheet with a bold and fussy pattern I used to stroke it admiringly, but not really use it as I found the pattern daunting. However lots of Shimelle stalking has taught me that you fussy cut and use it for embellishments instead.
This layout uses lots of layers and lots of details cut from Studio Calico and American Crafts 6 by 6 pads. I used lots of washi tape to embellish and bakers twine. I stamped the title onto the American Crafts jar.

 How do you handle fussy papers?

Scrapping a family day out...

Last February half term we took a family day out to Botley Water Gardens and we snapped this rare picture of all of the crew.
I have been wanting to scrap it for a while and was waiting for inspiration.
I saw the idea of creating a border from punched out circles - which I inked the edges of to make them pop.
I used a 12 by 12 with border stripes to create a border and washi tape.
I like the polka dots with all of the patterned cardstock and stripy washi tape.
The main focus of the layout is the big wooden heart, which is part of a necklace that I broke and decided to stash for a good opportunity.
Click on the pictures to see the details better.

 

Remembering Remembrance Sunday

Our family tradition was always to go to the cenotaph in London to watch the remembrance day parade. I found this old photograph and decided that it needed scrapping. The journalling reads:
"There are a few things I love about this photo. Firstly we are waiting in the freezing cold to watch the remembrance day parade and that is a family tradition we always loved. Secondly the green jeans, the multi-coloured jumper and baseball cap are 90's fashion all over. Lastly I have my nose stuck in a book and not just any book one of The Babysitter's Club books. I loved those books and got the whole series. It's always the little things that you remember about a big day."

Do you have any family traditions like this?

10 Things I love about this epic double page...

All the way back in June this sketch by Shimelle caught my eye and I decided that although I sometimes find double layouts a bit intimidating and laborious I had some photos that I have been keen to scrap and so I decided to give it a go.
So the ten things I love about it:
1) The use of strips from this great cupcake 12 by 12 and how easy it was to also cut cute little embellishments with it.

2) The title - it is a favourite quotation of my sister's and I from the film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. It went so well with these picutres of my husband making his own cupcake in WhoDelicious in Santa Barbara and had to use a 'frostinator' to put the icing on the top.

3) The step-by-step process made by my dymo label maker. It helps to bring the layout together and to tell the story of the visit.

4) That cheesy grin in the first picture. The funniest part is that he usually hates cupcakes and suddenly he turned into a little boy just cos he could decorate it himself.

5) The use of the rule of three with the stamp to guide the eye.
6) The pinkness and girly look of the layout - it matched the vibe of the cupcakerie and the girly topic of cupcakes but then 7) the blue tiny polka dots add a more masculine touch.
8) The border stamp of mini hearts to pull it all together. So cute!

9) The banana frog mini cupcake stamp to create little clusters to guide the eye along the layout.

10) The fact that the lady behind the counter asked him to join her behind the pink curtain - possibly the funniest statement for a cheesy American lady to say to a sarcastic cupcake hating Belgian. My sister and I still laugh about it and it was last summer now!

I also love how different it is to Shimelle's khaki travel layout and that it why I love to use sketches as a starting point and to put my individual stamp on it.

Happy Bonfire Night!

5th November synonymous with toffee apples, candy floss, hot chocolate and lots of fireworks.
We went to the Bingley Bonfire on Saturday night as my sister was visiting for the weekend.
The Belgian had yet to be initiated into this very British tradition.
Finished off the night with...

Perfect!

Storytelling Sunday: The one where we lost the car park...

What does this fluffy peach layout have to do with a dark and stormy night I hear you say?
Well this layout represents the fluff that came before the storm.
Fluff like girly shopping, consuming the cutest cupcakes with rock star names and then seeing a cheesy boyband sing their best hits at M.E.N.
Fluff that I was so excited at participating in that I neglected to pay attention to where we had parked our car.
It seemed to be in a random car park that was at the opposite end of a long road leading to the arena.
So surely if we just followed that road we would get to the car park?
In the dark it seemed someone had moved that road.
Or the car park.
Or both.
It was approaching midnight.
A storm might be a push, but it was certainly drizzly.
And very scary.
We stopped into a take-away to ask for directions (having not had much luck with the drunks on the street as it seemed a car park at the end of a long road wasn't enough to go on!)
We got chips.
He still couldn't help us though.
Then his South African friend said he had a feeling that he knew where it was and it was just up the road and that he would take us.
Hmm..I felt a bit hesitant about following a stranger into the dark.
The guy behind the counter confirmed 'he's alright' so off we went hesitantly.
We walked a few blocks into the darkness.
I had my phone ready in my pocket.
We found some railway arches, a car park and my little Ford KA.
I had never been so happy to see my car before.
The guy then offered to get into the car with us and direct us out to Leeds.
Vulnerable but not stupid - we said we'd use sat nav but thanks very much.
An hour later I was home in bed.
But a valuable lesson was learnt and now I ALWAYS note down the address or level of the car park.
Has anyone else every lost their car?
                                 ______________________________________________

Linking up with the lovely Sian From High in the Sky

Second starburst of the week...

Procrastination.
That is what this post is really all about.
I have piles of exercise books to mark and essay drafts which give me a headache just looking at them.
So instead I immerse myself in prettiness.
In paper, letter stickers and flair.
Is there a difference between procrastination and just taking a break.
All you teachers out there how do you establish that work/life balance?
I try to keep most of my half term about me and relaxing.
Like eating a delicious toblerone brownies with an enormous hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and mini marshmallows.
Seeing Skyfall. My three word review: action packed, epic and endearing.
Okay so that was four words.
What have you been up to?
I know my sister who teaches in Canada doesn't get a half term.
So back to scrapping...some close-up shots...

I have been wanting to create a layout about where we live and what we like about it, but kept forgetting to take pics. This shows the market which is one of the things we like about where we live.

And a sneak peak of another trend I have been dabbling in...