Idea Thief!

Here's another little project I've worked on this week.  Kim has a whole basket of beautiful mini books so while I was here I thought I'd try some of her ideas.  This one is made mainly from shapes cut on the Slice, file tabs for the pages, cut at the largest size (4").......

I embossed each page using Cuttlebug embossing folders to add lots of texture.....

Each page is two pieces of card stuck together so I could use brads etc and the backs would be covered up.

The paper I used is all from the OA Detours collection, the colours were nice and bright (but not too bright) and the patterns suitably outdoorsy!

I only used a tiny bit of journalling to tie it together but the pics are so fun they kind of speak for themselves.

What I like most about this book is it's cute little size, it would make a sweet gift.  I have taken templates of the pages so I can make more. 

I really enjoyed making this, I've been in the mini book mood for ages but not been inspired so I'm really pleased I discovered this.  I took templates from a few other books so hopefully over the coming weeks I'll get a chance to make some more.

Thats all for now, back to nursing my snotty nose (again!)

B xx

Cold Feet

Went home first thing this morning, just can't be without my mobile for long, feels like I've lost a limb.  While I was there I photographed and uploaded some of what I've been working on this week.  

I've been joining in the Birthday Bash Challenges over on the gogo clubhouse.  I finished the 4th yesterday.  The challenge was to use a fairytale in the title.  When I looked at this photo one sprang to mind immediately.....

My Dad having his Christmas day snooze (don't know what makes it different from his Saturday afternoon snooze 0r his Sunday one or the ones he sneaks in during the week, bless him).

A close up of some detail.  Am working on this weeks Twisted Sketch now.  Am in the process of watching Cold Feet start to finish, Kim has every episode in her iTunes, I've got until lunchtime tomorrow to watch a series and a half! Wish me luck, or wish Kim luck cos if I haven't finished she may not be able to move me from her desk!!

Back later xx

Still Here.....Just About

Hey everyone, just a quick hello to let you know I haven't dissappeared.  It's difficult to share any pics of what I've been up to this week as I don't have my own computer with me but, believe me, I have lots to show you!  Am going home in the morning, as I have been inadvertantly seperated from my mobile (shock horror) and need to pick it up, so hopefully will upload a few pics then and update you properly.

I am having a whale of a time housesitting so was chuffed to find out that they are staying away an extra day, yay!!!  It's dangerous business though, I am now in desperate NEED of a Macbook and a MM Slice. Problem is when I am finally earning enough to buy these things I won't have a second to use them! Ah well that's life huh?

Had a fab day today.  It's my big sis's bday, I won't embarrass Clare by telling you how old she is but I will say that as of next year, all my siblings will be in their 40's!! Sorry sis, at least you don't look it!!!  We celebrated with lunch at Zizzi's which was lovely, as was the bottle of Prosecco, what was not so fun was a hangover in the evening!

Anyhow, I am now wide awake after recovering from it so need to go chill out and try and get myself some rest otherwise I'll suffer tomorrow.

Night xx

Small Holding

So I've set up home for the week at my lovely friends Kim and Rich's while they are on holiday.  I am in sole charge of 2 chickens, 3 cats, 1 tortoise, 2 rats and lots of tropical fish!  It's quite a routine in the morning, mixing foods, defrosting foods, adding calcium powders for shells and clearing out chicken poop but I don't mind, especially because when it's all done I can settle down in the best craft room in town!

I am loving it and fully intend to stay in most of the week and make the most of it.  The evenings are a slightly different story, last night I was joined by my friends for tea, tonight is girly Take That dvd night, tomorrow more friends for tea, it's the kind of house that needs to have people in it!

Anyway, I popped home this aft as I knew there would be some post for me, and there was! A photobox order and a couple of bits I was waiting on from Joanna Sheen.  Also there was this....

I went online to order a big BIA wire and had to spend a minimum of £10 so just HAD to buy some more flowers and a top up of Puffy Thickers.  Don't you think all stash should come wrapped in leopard print tissue?!

I started this LO yesterday and finished it off this morning.  It's for this months Gogo academy, I deviated slightly from the prompt but hey, the prompt started the idea off so I'm sure that counts!

Bit of a close up...

I am spending some time pinching some ideas while I'm here, Kim is the queen of the mini book and I've been desperate for some ideas so I spent most of today looking at books and making up templates so I can try some different book ideas out.  Hopefully will have more to share on this subject soon.

Off to get the nibbles out and get the surround sound on for our evening with 4 lovely boys!!

B xxxx

Small Packages

I'm gonna make this quick cos I'm really tired from not sleeping for two nights. Here is what I did for the Gogo Birthday Bash Challenge #3. The challenge was to use the title 'Once Upon A Time...' use a decorative border and make use of some prima packaging that came in the kit. I used the packaging as a template for the cut work down the side of the pic.
Love this photo of Frank, so sweet.

More tomorrow.
Night xx

Incognito

Just a quick post this morning to share my version of this weeks Twisted sketch. I didn't change much of the sketch this week, just shrunk it down a bit so I could do 8.5x11. The twist was to use buttons or brads so I used both and even managed to find a button shaped brad!
Used a complete mix of papers, some of which had been sitting in my paper stash for god knows how long! When I saw that the sketch called for 3 photos I just had to use these ones of me, messing around at our photo shoot. You can't really tell but the middle photo is black and white but the glasses are still gold, too cool!

Gonna spend some time scrapping today so hopefully I'll have more to share later.

Happy Saturday xx

Schools Out

Finally I can put my feet up, it has been such a busy week but I should get used to it cos it'll only get busier when I'm a teacher! Last night I went to a leaving do at Mum and Dad's school, I've helped the teacher out with a couple of things so I was invited too. It was at the school, we had an amazing supper then played Singstar which was very funny. After that someone started a game of sardines, which was soooo much fun but also a little bit scary wandering around a dark school! I was stiff as anything this morning from spending ages curled up under desks and standing in a cupboard with about 20 people!

Anyway, today was the last day of term at my school so I decided to stay in all day, I'll suffer for it but hey, I have six weeks to recover! The day started off with a leavers service for three teachers although it was mainly focused on the one who was leaving after 18 years. It was very emotional but the kids did such a great job with their songs and poems. Paula was so grateful for her book and gift, I was so pleased to see her finally recieve it, it feels like it's been a really long job. After that I had loads to get done in the classroom to get prepared for the new little ones in September. I felt really awful re-labelling the drawers and coat pegs, like I was throwing our existing class out!

After school I popped home to get Mum and went back for a fairwell afternoon tea, it was really lovely to see quite a few of my old teachers and reminisce about fun times. One of my teachers left planning to hunt out some photos of a school play I was in, if she finds them they will be appearing in a layout or two!

Enough of that though, I have had a little splurge this week, well if I'm gonna have all this time to fill I need some stash with which to fill it!

Firstly a much needed D ring album which was actually a bit of a bargain.......
Then some rub ons, I'm usually a bit tight to buy rub ons, I think they can be a bit pricey and the same effect can be achieved with stamps, but I just fancied trying some again. Some of these were from ebay and some were in a sale....

Yet more OA papers, realised I never tried all of this collection and I have some plans for these..

Then these AC Flair badges, another thing I'm too tight to buy but these were a BARGAIN on ebay!

And some Prima flowers, also an ebay purchase!

So, as you can see I have plenty to keep me going. I have had a few plans for a couple of big projects that I have been saving until the holidays so I can't wait to get stuck in now. Also need to get on with this weeks Twisted sketch and Gogo birthday bash challenge. See, I won't have time to miss school!

Watch this space! xx

And More......

The gifts are now getting there, they've driven me round the bend, but they are almost finished and will be out of my hands by tomorrow! I've made these two boxes full of hand made cards. One for the staff I work with.....
And one for a teacher leaving Mum and Dad's school whose leaving party I'm going to tonight....

At first I was a little worried if they were good enough presents or that it was a bit of a cop out, but when I thought about it and the value of 15 hand made cards, I realised that actually it's a gift that will save them anything up to and beyond £50!!!! Aside from the fact that it is a completely handmade gift and thought and time has been put into it.

Finally, I wanted to get something for the children in class that was a bit different from a mini bag of Haribo but cheap enough that I ould afford 29 of them! So when I went to the Cadburys Factory Shop and found these babies, I was chuffed.

Of course, me being me, I couldn't just hand them out as they were. I saw the plain purple boxes as a canvas ripe for altering, so I personalised each box with their names. I can't wait to give them out tomorrow, they will love them. OMG I am so gonna cry!

Back Later xx

Gifts

Today I went to help out at school, because of my trip last week it's been over a week since I've been in and it was lovely to know that I was missed, the children absolutely mobbed me when they came in after lunch, telling me their news and proudly showing me their 'superhero' costumes (t-shirts we tie dyed last week). We had a lovely afternoon and at the end of the day they presented me with a card and present. The card is so sweet it brought tears to my eyes....

Sorry that the pics aren't great. There was a picture of each child inside. It's gorgeous and I will treasure it. I will miss these little peeps so much, I haven't been working with them long but you sure do get attached, they make me look forward to having my own class so much.
The gift was a beautiful set of earrings and a necklace. I'm gonna wear the necklace to school on Thursday.

I knew that the last week of term would be busy in school but I didn't realise it would be so busy out of school! All I can say is I'm glad I finished the leavers book and a few other things last week! In school today I was asked to create a gift for the teacher that I made the book for. The staff have bought her two tickets for the Prom in the Park (she's a big Barry Manilow fan!) but the tickets haven't arrived so they wanted something to present to her on Thursday. So I made this.....

This is the inside......

I've also been making gifts for the staff that I've worked with. Their very own personalised note books.....

Again, sorry for the poor photos, I didn't realise they were bad til I uploaded them and am far too tired to get up and take them again!

I am also making them a box of greetings cards to keep in the cupboard in the classroom as on several occasions they've realised it's someones birthday and not had a card for them. So I'm churning out more cards than a busy day at Hallmark, or so it feels!

Off for my BB fix

Night xxx

Two Birds

I missed out on a lot of my usual scrapping time being away last week so today I wanted to catch up with some challenges. I try and do the Twisted sketch each week so I wanted to get that done but I was also desperate to get properly stuck into my gogo kit so I did both in one LO....
I turned the sketch around and changed a few bits and it's ended up looking quite different from the original but I am quite pleased with that cos I think I tend to take sketches a little too literally.

The twist was to use a stamp so I used this cute little hand print which was one of the first few stamps I ever bought!

When I got this photo printed the lady in Asda said what a lovely photo it was and showed it to her colleagues before giving it to me. It is so Max, he gets completely absorbed in whatever he's doing whether it's watching tv or a bucket of slimy things!!

Anyway, am off to link this to the Twisted site.

TFL xx

Long Time No see

It's been a busy week and I'm glad that today I've finally had time (and energy) to do something blog worthy! I spent the beginning of the week preparing to go to London on Wednesday, as well as finishing some DT work, helping at school and watching sports day. With all that and then being too exhausted yesterday, I haven't scrapped for almost a week!

On Wednesday I went to London with a friend, she was taking an exam and I went for moral support. We stayed in a fab hotel, which unfortunately was not in the nicest of areas but it was perfectly located for travel etc and we had everything we needed in the hotel. All went without a hitch apart from missing our coach home, but it only set us back 40 mins so wasn't too much of a problem. Will tell you a bit more about it once results are through, am sworn to secrecy atm!

So back to scrapping, before I left on Wednesday my gogo kit arrived. It was absolute torture to have to open it and then leave it behind for 3 days as I am always raring to cut into it. The box did contain this month's Trends Mag so I took that with me. The yellow box was, as ever, packed with loveliness.....

A gorgeous fairy tale theme with some really fab embellishments. Finally today I got stuck into it by doing this weeks Birthday Bash challenge from the Gogo clubhouse. The challenge set by SJ was to use a transparency as the base of the LO. Sorry about the poor photos but transparent LO's are pretty hard to snap!

My cousins on their wedding day seemed like a perfect subject with this kit. I just kept it simple using clear acetate and a bit of stamping, very little paper.

I added a couple of Bazzill flowers which I glitzed up with some glitter (very brave!) and a couple of buttons. I also cut the Prima bling into two bits cos I couldn't bare to use it up in one go!

TFL

B xx

A Pear of Layouts

Just a quickie to share some LO's I've been working on over the weekend. This one of Jake, I wanted to document some of his funny sayings and use up some number stickers so it worked out well!! Have had this piece of paper for AGES so was glad to use it up.
Then this one of Sarah and Lol at their photo shoot, the title inspired by this fab card that I was given....

Please note my funky new hot pink vinyl Thickers, purchased in Hobbycraft on Saturday. Would never normally buy Thickers there, too expensive, but they were too gorgeous and I had to have them!

Thats all for now, there's a queue for the laptop!

Night xx

Scrap with Scraps

I've had a very crafty evening, it's been really satisfying as I have been using things up. I absolutely have to be frugal at the moment and have been really good, have barely bought any stash this month so it feels good to use some stuff up so that when I can afford some stash I will feel perfectly justified.

Firstly I did this week's Twisted sketch, the twist was to use fabric which worked out well as I had the rest of the kit I bought for the SLYMI scrap with fabric challenge to use up.
I also used a scrap of Sassafrass paper and some Creative Imaginations chipboard letters which came with a kit and just keep going, another pack of those will be on my shopping list.

I loved this bit of lace trim, it gives the layout a lovely eclectic feel. Also did a bit of stitching as I thought it was quite fitting.

Also added some bling for a different texture and more colour. Was going for a Kirstie Allsopp 'Slob with Colour' approach on this one.

Next I did the Scrapagogo July Use it Up challenge. Technically you are supposed to use the kit from 1 year ago but as I haven't been subbing that long, I used the May kit as I still had quite a bit left. I found it quite refreshing to go back to this kit as it was one I struggled with a bit, but by adding a sheet of white cs I found that it changed the dynamics and made it more 'me'.

Finally a couple of cards made entirely from scraps and using my fab new fruity stamps from SU.

A couple of useful ones to have in reserve as they will suit most occasions.

So thats my productive day! Looking forward to school tomorrow, can't wait to see how the kids are getting on with their Superhero project. I've made them a cd of Superhero theme tunes to play in the garden, they're gonna love it cos they just adore dancing.

Night xx

Orange Wednesday

I've been to the cinema today, we went to see My Sister's Keeper. It was really good, very sad but the only time I cried was with laughter when this woman in the cinema was sobbing out loud and blowing her nose in the quiet bits!! When I came back I was in the mood to scrap so I did a layout for the Scrapagogo Birthday Bash sketch challenge.

I am still loving this kit, so many cool embellies that are a bit different from anything I have already. Less than a week and the July kit will be here so hope to get at least one more LO out of June's before I get tempted away by fresh new stash! I'll not be able to get stuck in immediately as I am going to London the day it is due, it's gonna be tough not to take it with me! Will be taking my copy of SBT with me though.

Thats all for now, am thinking of making a start on the new Twisted sketch tonight, tried these yet? They are wicked, I've been really inspired so far. Will share when I'm done.

Bye x

The Lighter Way To Enjoy Scrapbooking!

Sorry I haven't been blogged much lately, I have been scrapping but mainly stuff I can't share. Today however, I've been working on a bit of a collaboration project, and I've not been collaborating with one or two people but over 200! The project is a book for a teacher who is leaving school after 18 years, I was at the school when she started. Every class has put together a few pages of pictures and messages and it was my job to put it all together.
Paula is really into music, drama etc so I decided to go with that as a theme for the book.

I used rainbow colours as I thought they set off the black and white manuscript paper really nicely.

This one's not a great photo but it shows the little tabs I added to each page to seperate each classes pages.

I also made a box for the book to be presented in....

There's a bit of a story behind this, over the years Paula has become famous for her Malteser addiction, every year at the end of term her pupils buy her boxes and boxes of them so I thought there was only one way to decorate this box....

I can't take a lot of the credit for this, my Graphic Designer best friend very kindly scanned and manipulated the Maltesers font to spell out the name for me. Then after having a bit of help from a lovely lady called Tina on UKS I cut it out on the Robo and added some shading and some photocopied choccies to make it authentic.

I must say that after lots of preparation and hard work, I am really pleased with it. I can't take it into school until Monday cos she's not in then so there's no chance of her seeing it, then it will be presented to her on Thurs 23rd, the last day of term. I just hope now that everyone, especially Paula, likes it!

TFL xx

Twins

I've had a productive day at our Scrapaholix club. I wasn't a major fan of the kit but that only makes me more determined to find a way of using it in a way that I do like. So when I didn't like the cardstock colours and didn't like the paper as a background I decided to use part of a box that I had with me....
I've been wanting to experiment more with corrugated card so I had fun playing and was pleased with the result. I thought the grungey effect was perfect for the photo.

I used stamping, stitching and paper beads to create depth.

I finished with some time to spare so did this LO. I'd been planning it since my kit arrived but hadn't got round to sorting the smaller photos so it was good to finally get it down on paper.

I used glimmer mists to create a colourful background to compliment the colourful toys in the picture. I love these photos of my twin cousins Ed and Chloe, they are fascinated by bugs at the moment or 'beasties' as they call them!

I just love these chipboard arrows and the Thickers work so well with the white pen.
I thought the journalling block was too big and dominant and would be better off hidden but the bit sticking out works well.

So from one set of twin cousins to another, our big twins Emily and Amy are 20 today, we went out celebrating last night but I'm off to see them this eve for a few birthday drinkies at home.

Have a lovely eve everyone xx

p.s Almost forgot about the prize winner, thanks for your comments but the one picked at random was Nat (natzini). Well done Nat, please let me have your address so I can pop your prize in the post xxx