August Frog Hop

Welcome to the August BananaFrog blog hop. I'm really pleased to be joining in with this to round of my guest designer month. It was difficult to get in the mood for the 'Summer Vacation' theme when I spent my summer avoiding rust rather than sun burn, but after making these cutesy little Totally Tropical notelets, I felt a little more summery!

I took some mini pre folded black cards and used the border stamp from Totally Tropical to stamp and emboss a panel through the middle of the card.
Next I stamped some of the mini flowers in different coloured inks and stamped and embossed some of the bigger flowers.

For the next bit you'll need a sharp pair of scissors, a cup of tea and something good on the telly!!! You need to cut out all of the flowers you've just stamped....

The last bit is the fun bit, you want to create as much depth and texture as you can by layering up the large flowers and then sticking the smaller ones in between, popping some up on foam pads. Finally add some sparkle with some stickles.

I hope I've left you feeling Totally Tropical! Leave a comment and at the end of Tuesday I will pick a winner to recieve some lovely Banana Frog stamps.

Now hop on over to Anthea's blog.

TFL xx

From Christening to Christmas!

I've had a lovely day today at the Christening of my gorgeous cousins Mollie and Will. It's now kind of expected of me to make presents for these occasions! Unfortunately I forgot to photograph Mollie's present which was a little altered trinket box but I did photograph Will's which was a big chunky 'W' for his bedroom.
I didn't really want to fall into that trap of using blue for a boy so I made it all bright and colourful instead.

I had a good sort through my, once again, overflowing, scraps box this week and put together a couple of page kits. I found this a really good way of doing things as the layouts I ended up making involved hardly any cutting cos I just used the pieces more or less the way they came out of the box.

I was fairly pleased with this one although the bubble wrap printing didn't really work as I would have liked and I'm not really happy with the border. I did like the colours and the little cluster of embellies...

Next is a couple of layouts I did with my August Gogo kit. I wasn't sure if I was gonna like it but actually it was perfect for a couple of photos that I've been struggling to match up with papers. The first one is my one illegal photo from the Strictly show.

I made pockets for the ticket and flyer.

I was a bit reluctant to use this lush Hambly doily up all on one layout so quickly cos it was so yummy but it went so well with this photo that I just had to. I'm glad I did too cos it all came together so well.

I love this Crate chipboard, think I might have to get the Christmas ones for my Journal this year.

And...on the subject of Christmas (please don't shout at me!!) I made these this week. 60 dinky little cards for the children I work with. I stamped and cut the images, stamped a polka dot background onto ATC's folded them in half and the stuck on the picture. The good thing is that the ATC's come with little envelopes too. It feels so good to have them sorted as I just know I'm not gonna have that much time to do these things once I start uni.

They have little liquid pearl noses which look soooo cute!!

Pop back tomorrow to join in with the Banana Frog Blog Hop xxx

Great British Seaside

I've made a bit of a pact with myself that if I buy any project add ons with my Gogo kit, I have to use it before I can buy another! As I have my eye on the September one I had to get on and use June's up. It was a fab Maya Road canvas book and I had plans to document a seaside trip in it so I just had to print the photos and get on.

The cover.....
The kraft tickets fitted in so well...

I wanted to make it nice and full and busy, using lots of embellies and details....

I used the Smooch spritz that came with the kit to add interest to the pages....

The crackle medium didn't quite have the desired effect, crackling a bit too much, but it was fun to try something new....

Had to use that 'zoom' cos Max had a whale of a time driving fast down the pier. It made me nervous cos it felt so rickety!

With the fashion for union jacks at the moment I had to take a pic of the boys next to the flag on the end of the pier.

And I kept the back cover simple.

I'm having a busy week, really concentrating on getting myself ready for the start of my course, making sure I'm really organised. Thank you for the lovely comments on my new togs! I haven't had the hair cut yet, am waiting until nearer the time cos my hair grows so fast it'll look like it needs doing again by the time I start.

I'm waiting on a couple of bits of stash, I haven't bought any papers apart from my kit for 2 or 3 months so I am being quite good and using stuff up but I need something new! I've only ordered a few sheets tho as the CHA collections that I am really waiting for haven't hit our shores yet.

Hope you're having a good week xx

Summertime

This is the 6th of my holiday layouts and I wanted to share it seperately as it's for the Sarahs Cards challenge which this month is to scrap something summery. I chose our day out at Clevedon.
I was pleased with the way my union jack turned out.

Scroll down to see my other holiday creations xxx

Loadsa Layouts

You'll all be pleased to know that my holiday was a creative one. It was only a short break but I managed to fit in a few crafty hours (esp when raining!) and got 3 12x12's and 3 8.5x11's.

The first one is a bit of a scraplift of one of Sarah Youde's girly layouts from Issue 48 of The Scrapbook Magazine. I used Autumn Leaves Heather Bailey collection.
A mixture of homemade and bought flower embellies.

I forgot my ribbon bag so improvised a bow using Pink Paislee Artisan tape. These are the smallest rose buds I have ever made and boy were they fiddly!

I love this photo of my cousin Will, isn't it just what a baby should look like? All round and squidgy and big eyes! I used Echo Park Sweet Summertime.

Love the juicy rainbow colours and am proud of myself for using a flower on a boy layout!

This one is a simple but effective. I won these papers and probably wouldn't have chosen them but I thought they were quite 70's and would suit these photos of my family pre-me!

Another inspired by Sarah Youde's article in Issue 48. I just thought the way she used border punches to make a background was totally inspired and had to have a go.

Finally another simple one using AC Abode. My nephews call my Mum Polly Pocket cos she is tiny and they all tower over her! Bless.

So there you go. There is one more but I'll share that seperately xxx

Candy

ooooh and check out this fab giveaway xxx

Summer Antics

Before I go on my hols in the morning I thought I'd catch you up on the non-crafty exploits that have kept me busy this week.

As a present for getting my place at uni, Mum and Dad gave me some money to get some new clothes so I put it with some money I had and have bought myself a capsule wardrobe that Aunty Gok would be proud of! Here are a couple of photos from my trying on session, apologies for the quality, they are iPhone photos.....
Because I won't actually be spending that much time at uni, the majority is school based, I have to be fairly smart.

I am so pleased with what I've got, I have stuck to a colour scheme of purples, greens and blues with navy and grey, (hardly any black!) so everything coordinates so well that I will never feel as though I am wearing the same outfit twice! I even managed to get a bag, 3 pairs of shoes and a couple of bits of jewellery to accessorize it all!

On Thursday, Mum, Dad and me went to Bath to see the 'Pride of Bath' exhibition. There are 100 lions dotted in and around Bath that have been sponsored and decorated by local artists/businesses and celebrities. They are so cool, we only managed to see a handful but I have another trip planned to see more when I get back. These are a few of my faves......

Dad and Wayne Roarney!!

This one is a depiction of Lord Bath of Longleat painted by one of the keepers at the Safari park. I had to take this pic cos I loved the two old ladies sat next to it!!!!

I thought this was sooooo funky!

En route we stopped of at the Assembly Rooms, as a result it is now my aim in life to find a man rich enough to pay for a wedding here!!! I was almost waiting for Colin Firth to walk in....so very Jane Austen.

Saving the best lion until last, 'Imperial' designed by Cath Kidston, this isn't the best pic of it but it had the must beautiful floral union jack on it's back and I LOVED it! (I am sporting another item from my new wardrobe too!!)

And finally today we had a lovely day in my bro's garden in the sunshine. My neice's OH was cutting my nephews and SIL's hair and whilst he did it, I chose my new do from a magazine. It's gonna be this style......

With this colour.....

All ready to finish off my new look and make me feel fab for my fresh new start.

I also had a stroke of luck with a photo op today. I had my camera in hand ready to take a photo of my nephews new do when these guys flew overhead.....

I know you can't really see them but they are the Red Arrows on their way to the Bristol Balloon Fiesta (which I have seen no evidence of due to the wrong wind direction!)

And finally, my sis arrived back from her hols where she bought me this cute pressie. A tin......

With some teachery goodies in, a heart shaped pencil, some fancy tissues, a rubber duck shaped rubber and a box of chalks! So cool and will one day have a place in my first classroom.

There have been some crafty moments too and if I get time in the morning I will share before I go.

Thanks for sticking with me if you've made it this far!! xxx

Back Home

Now the Gogo Celebrate CJ's are gradually arriving home, I can share with you the pages that I did in other journals. Don't worry if you haven't had yours yet, I won't spoil it, these are just the ones that I know are home.

In no particular order....

Yvonne's Where in The World? I went with the theme of the kit and did on pages on the fact that I would love a cosy Christmas in a holiday cottage somewhere. I used a photo of the cottage in the film 'The Holiday'
This one was my personal fave. Sarah's If I Were.... Everyone else was quite deep and meaningful with their entries so I decided to be playful. It should speak for itself....

Then Jane's Summer Days, that sadly wasn't finished but I got my entry in as I had it first. I scrapped a gorgeous picture that I took in Padstow last summer.

Again, with Jade's 'Quotes' journal I went with the April showers theme of the kit. I was especially pleased with the rain drops made from Glossy Accents and glitter.

I went to town on Jackie's 'Techniques' great idea for a journal, I loved having a nosey through this one. Again it coincided with a really suitable kit.

My entry for Ally's 'Favourite Childrens Book' was an obvious choice. I own 7 copies of The Tiger Who Came To Tea because I just can't walk past it in a charity shop or car boot sale!

That's it for now, when I know the others are in the hands of their owners I will share the rest.

TFL

P.S Check out this giveaway xx

Putting on A Show (Home!)

Ages ago I won a little challenge over on the Gogo blog. The prize was some AC Abode papers which I absolutely loved but haven't had the right photos for until now. I spent a very silly half hour in some show homes with my Mum and SIL and when I came to scrap the photos I remembered these papers which were absolutely perfect!
I love the bright freshness of it and the slightly unusual colour combo. I also added a couple of MS doilies for a homely touch.

TFL xx