Christmas!!

Things are slowly getting back to normal around here. Our visitors have gone home. H can sleep in her own room again. All the turkey has finally been eaten and my fridge is no longer crammed with food.

 

Christmas was lovely. We had quite a houseful. 7 of us on Christmas Day for a traditional lunch and 9 of us for dinner (a huge buffet) on Boxing Day.

 

I ate far too much chocolate, cooked lots, played games, watched rubbish tv, received lovely gifts, drowned in giftwrap and enjoyed having all my family around me.

 

 

Hannah left out her sack and some refreshments for Santa on Christmas Eve.

I love that she woke early (just before 7am) and climbed into bed beside me but waited until 7.30 before whispering to me "Can I go downstairs and see if he's been?" She still loves the magic at 9 years old!

 

 

Later in the morning we opened our presents with my in-laws. I love this photo of H, looking so grown up. Yes, that big bag was full of pressies for her!

And this pic just captures the delight on her face as she opens her gift from us .... a Little Mix Annual and tickets to go and see them in concert!!

What more could a 9 year old want?! Oh yes, a One Direction annual and CD!!

 

Sorry I haven't been around much lately - life and all the Christmas prep just took over for a little while.

 

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas time too.

Frosty Festivities Blog Hop

I am delighted to be participating in Jennifer's Frosty Festivities Blog Hop this evening! 

Jennifer is hosting a fabulous blog event all this weekend with posts every hour all on the theme of winter including tips, tutorials, challenges, crafting, and lots of giveaways!!

Hopefully you have have arrived here from Gallo Organico where I hope you enjoyed your visit to Rinda's lovely blog! If not, welcome and if you want to join in the blog hop from the start there is a complete list over on Jennifer's blog. 

If you've been following the blog hop, you will know by now that one lucky winner will win this amazing prize. At the end of this post I'll remind you how you can win it! 

Carta Bella Winter Fun and Basic Grey Aspen Frost Goodies to be won!!

When I started thinking about Winter and Frosty and planned this blog hop post, my mind went back to one of our visits to family in Northern Ireland when the weather was particularly chilly and "snow was in the air". My daughter was 6 at the time and hadn't really seen a lot of snow up until then. We live on the south coast of England, very close to the sea and even when the rest of the county, further inland, is snow covered we might get just a sprinkling if we're (un)lucky!

A few days before Christmas Day, the white stuff started to come down thick and fast and H wasted no time in getting wrapped up and went out in Granny's garden to play.

I used mostly Carta Bella's winter fun collection for this layout, adding just a few buttons and white brads, Studio Calico aqua thickers letters, Mister Huey white mist and faded jeans distress ink (to ink the edges of my papers).

I've been wanting to use my sewing machine and hexagons for a while and recently came across this layout by Pam Brown and took my inspiration from it to combine the sewing and hexagons on my layout!

A few days later, still in Northern Ireland, as we sat down to our Christmas dinner, fresh snow began to fall again and we had a true "white Christmas"!

H was back outside in the garden as soon as dinner was over!
She didn't even stop to change out of her Christmas party dress!!

A White Christmas!

So details of how to win that fabulous prize!

To be in with a chance of wining you will need to comment on all the blogs in the hop, finishing at www.jennifersjumbles.blogspot.com and let Jennifer know you've been all the way around. All entries must be received by Monday 19th November 10.59pm GMT. Good luck!

Thanks for hopping to my blog today .... your next stop is with the lovely Sian at From High In The Sky

Sarah x

Frosty Festivities

4pm - Friday 16th November ... Yes, tomorrow!!

Go mark it on the calendar now!!

Because that's when all the fun starts over on Jennifer Jumbles with her Frosty Festivities Blog Event!

There will be posts every hour 4pm-10pm on Friday and 10am-10pm on Saturday and Sunday, all on a Winter theme. 

There's going to be tips,tutorials, challenegs, a blog hop, crafting and prizes to be won! I can't wait! I hope to see you there!

Before I go, thank you so much for all your kind words on yesterday's post. The house seems very strange today without Dougal. For the last 2 years he has been a house cat and so I kinda got used to him being around - he would often curl up in a favourite spot near me whilst I work or craft. Thank you to those of you that have e mailed me - your kindness is much appreciated. x

RIP Dougal :(

RIP My beautiful Boy!

Dougal 

July 2001 - 14 November 2012

Taken very poorly yesterday teatime and sadly lost his fight at 8am this morning! 

We all loved you so very much!

Tree Decorating!

Hello Sunday!

A very quick post from me today - whilst dinner is cooking - to show you another Christmas layout!

*Tree Decorating*

I used lots of pop dots to give some dimension!

It's tradition in this house that we all help to decorate the tree and H loves to carefully hang the decorations! I love the look of concentration on her face in these photos.

They're not the best photos but I think they capture the moment perfectly!

The papers and stickers are a mix of Simple Stories and This & That Christmas. The tag is Jenni Bowlin and I've used my gorgeous woodgrain thickers for the title. I added a few Jenni Bowlin red rhinestone stars scattered across the page to finish.

Very simple page!

Right, must go and check on that dinner!

Christmas Scrapping

Gosh, almost a month since I last posted on my little blog! I have been busy crafting. I've just not had time to take photos of my layouts and blog them!

So, last weekend I headed off to the Artful Angels Crop and spent a very enjoyable day scrapping some Christmas photos. Well, actually it was just a few hours! It was my birthday and I arrived late (after H had insisted on making me a birthday breakfast!) and left early as hubby and H wanted to take me out for a yummy cream tea!!

But, anyway I still managed a couple of pages at the crop.

I take a hundred million photographs at Christmas but hardly ever scrap them. I'm not sure why that is, but whilst looking through my albums a couple of weeks ago, I realised I had big gaps and a serious lack of Christmas layouts. I decided to fill those gaps and reduce the pile of photos!

For my first page I used a panel of Simple Stories paper, a border and  stickers from Echo Park This and That Christmas, Fancy Pants alphas, stickers and alphas from Studio Calico's Yearbook collection and a few gems. 

Sorry for the dreadful photo of this page! There is hardly any decent light at this time of year. 

These photos were taken last Christmas whilst we were waiting with H to see Santa. The approach to his grotto, where we had to queue was decorated as a beautiful Winter Wonderland. I still need to add some journalling to this layout in the space over on the right hand side!

A close up of the overlapped border stickers, alphas and gems! I also put gems in the centre of the snowflakes - I think you can see them better in the first picture!

For my next layout I wanted to record how H always leaves out drink and snacks for Santa for on Christmas Eve. This particular photo was taken a few years ago when we spent the holidays, staying with family.

This one was quite quick to do, a few strips of EP This & That paper (with the edges inked), green washi tape, a title created with an EP This & That "Christmas" sticker and black glitter thickers, a few buttons, green twine, a journalling card and I was done. Although I think I will add the year the photo was taken.

Do you have photos still to scrap from Christmas past? Or do you scrap them as soon as the festive season is over?

Before I go, don't forget to pop over to the S J Crafts Blog - the new challenge has just gone live and this month there's a prize of a £5 voucher to spend in the shop!

Thanks for stopping by xx

One Girl and her DS - Shimelle's Starting Point

I based this layout on Shimelle's Starting Point. I wanted to document my daughter's love for her DS and record some of her current favourite games!

This was how I started:

And my finished layout

I'm still stash busting and using up paper scraps and old "stuff" including this Girl's Paperie flower embellishment and a "cool" chipboard piece (I've no idea of the manufacturer) that have been in my stash for years!

I'm really enjoying mixing up my old stash with some newer products at the moment.

New Challenge at S J Crafts

Hello 

I hope your week is going well!

It's time for a new monthly challenge at S J Crafts and this time the theme is SCHOOL And/Or LEARNING

More details and Design Team samples are right here.

This was a fairly easy one for me. I wanted to make a layout featuring two photos taken 5 years apart. Both school photos. Both taken on my daughter's first day of a new school year. One when she started in Reception and the other taken just a couple of weeks ago!

She's hardly changed has she? Well, apart from the fringe is gone and she's a little taller! Note how her socks are falling down in both photos - her socks are forever "half asleep"!! 

Still aware of my stash busting promise I used up more scraps. I did use a whole sheet of blue bazzill cardstock for the background but I had a piece of white that was just the right size and I punched the scalloped border with my favourite Fiskars punch. The red gingham and the flower paper is Fancy Pants Childish Things and just about everything else is scraps of Note to Self papers and stickers. I rounded the corners with a punch similar to this one.

I hope you'll enter the challenge  - you have until 17th October!

Craft Space Reorganisation - The Before!

So, as I mentioned on my last few posts I have been thinking about reorganising my craft space to make it work better for me. I want to spend less time rummaging for supplies and more time actually creating!! 

My craft space is in our dining area. I scrapbook on the dining table. We rarely eat at the table in this house. Good job really!! My stash is stored in the corner, just behind where I sit.

Earlier this year I got a 2 x 2 Expedit unit (see this post) and although I love it, a lot of my stash was stored on shelves that are too narrow to be useful.

So, over the weekend hubby and I had a conversation about how we could reorganise the room better - it also stores some of our daughter's books and board games on more shelves that really are too narrow, and agreed another Expedit unit would work better. So off to Ikea we went!! No point wasting time!

Before photos of my craft corner!

It is hard to reach stuff at the back of the bottom 2 shelves but this is the only way they would fit into the space. The boxes in the Expedit unit are also in a bit of a mess!

Today, I have built my lovely new Expedit and moved the room around so that the two units fit next to each other.

I will be using 4 cubes for stash and 4 cubes will be for family books and the board games so that both the "too narrow" shelves can be got rid of.

I'll show you some after pics when it's all done!!

Do you store your craft stash in the expedit system or a similar units? I'd love to see so please do leave a link or any tips you can give for organising craft supplies.

You Can Sit Up!

I'm continuing with my stash busting and using up my paper scraps and half used sticker sheets.

Also, still working through the baby photos of H. This one was taken in 2004 on one of the first times that she sat up for more than a minute or two without support. Up until then she had been supported with a cushion or had fallen over within 20 seconds or so.

It is very similar to the "You Are One" layout I did last week, with lots of white space and a cluster to the top right of the page but as the pages will be away from each other in my album it doesn't matter to me that they are similar.

I used a full sheet of So Happy - criss cross paper for my background (which I flicked some red paint onto) and the blue chevron paper,  stickers and journal card are all from the same collection. The cute little clip on the jouranlling card is a SMASH flag clip. I used up some old Jenni Bowlin circle stickers that I've had for years and added a few more stickers from Little Bo Peep.  The title is a real mix of Studio Calico thickers, a Dear Lizzy word sticker and some tiny alphas. A few pearls and gems scattered around to finish off.

The journalling reads "This was one of the first times you sat up on your own, with no support for more than a minute or 2!! The photo was taken when you were 6 1/2 months old and I can remember just after it was taken you toppled over!!" 

Thanks for stopping by today!

WOYWW 171

I'm very pleased to report that with the house all to myself again I have been scrapping quite a lot lately!! Anyone else pleased schools are back?!

I don't think I joined in with Julia's weekly round up of crafty places all summer so I thought it was high time I played along.

So, as mentioned back here I did have a good tidy up last week but this week I'm back to pulling out boxes (see that tower I'm starting to build on the left!) and rummaging for supplies. I'm still unsure how best to organise my craft space - I'm now thinking I "need" another Ikea expedit unit!

There's my bag at the back which still needs unpacking from a crop I went to at the weekend and next to that a pile of magazines (with my button box on top!) that I had been looking through and are now awaiting a new home - maybe in a new expedit unit?!! 

The rest is just various papers, stickers and stuff I've pulled out of the boxes that I might use on the layout that you can see in progress.

Right, I'm going to make another cuppa and go visit some crafty desks!! 

Happy WOYWW x

You Are One!

Happy Monday to you! 

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! On Saturday I was at the Littlegreen Crop, with my shop and had once the shop was all set up I had a little time to do some scrapping alongside the lovely ladies that were there!

Inspired by Lisa-Jane's recent blog posts on using 6 x 6 papers which in case you missed them are here, here and here! and in line with my current Stash busting efforts - I grabbed a half used Crate Random 6 x 6 pad (with a fair few part used sheets in it!!) and came up with this layout.

Sorry, it's not a great photo - there is no decent daylight here today! 

I picked out a 6 x 6 sheet of denim paper to match H's little dress in the photo and trimmed it for a photo mat. I then added a "ruler" sticker, pink washi tape and a scrap of patterned paper from the pad which I punched with a Stampin Up border punch underneath the photo of H on her first birthday

I trimmed some more of the 6 x 6 papers and tucked them under the top of the photo. In the top right hand corner  2 more little stips of paper and some washi tape create a cluster to balance the layout.

My title is Dear Lizzy Glitter Thickers and I added some punched butterflies, tiny alpha stickers for the date, some little pink gems and a few "flicks" of pink paint!

Don't forget to add your projects made with 6" x 6" papers to this blog post by 16th September to be in with a chance of a prize!

I did start another layout at the crop but just need to finish it off before I can show you.

I'm also linking up with the September Soiree - a fun place to link up your projects hosted by the lovely Jennifer.

Bouncy Chair Layout & Stash Busting!

So with H back to school yesterday and hubby back to work after a few days holiday, it's back to normal (whatever that is?!) in this house. 

With a quiet house yesterday and a couple of hours to myself I tackled my craft area and had a good sort through my stash and a much needed tidy up. I badly need to review my craft storage as I've a tendency to "not use it if I can't see it". 

I'm not quite sure how to make "my space" work for me at the moment. I know I need to have more of my supplies within reach and better organised so I can easily see what I have. But for now, I've sorted out the "piles of stash" and discovered lots of buried pretty things!!

I love the idea of Niki's "Only Scraps Allowed" challenge where she uses just one 12 x 12 sheet and the rest is all scraps and off cuts. So I've challenged myself to use up more of my scraps and "old stuff".

So with this idea in mind, I gathered together some supplies I've had a while and rummaged through my (now sorted! bag of paper scraps. I chose some older photos too - when H was a baby in her little bouncy chair!

The only complete sheet of paper I used was the cream bazzill for the background. Everything else was off cuts of paper, stickers from half used sheets, alphas from packs with most of the letters missing. I resisted cutting into anything new and used up lots of flowers, pearls and brads I've had for ages.

Looking at these photos now, I can hardly believe they were taken nearly 9 years ago! 

Do you use up your scraps or do you prefer to use new supplies?

How do you store your stash so that your older supplies don't get forgotten - any tips and ideas?

London!!

Is it really September? Yes!!!! Can you believe it?

We have been looking forward to September for ages .... and our few days away .... just the 3 of Us!! We caught an early train on Sunday morning and arrived into a beautiful sunny London!

Dumping our bags at our hotel, which was right opposite Kensington Gardens we strolled through the park enjoying the good weather.

The gates to Kensington Palace were adorned with flowers and tributes to Diana for the 15th anniversary of her death. 

I actually felt quite emotional and choked up!

We packed in a lot during our 3 days .....

Knightsbridge and Harrods followed by dinner at TGI Fridays!

Monday morning. I loved wandering around Portobello Road and Notting Hill. Just taking in the atmosphere. Enjoying the sunshine. Relaxing.

Of course, we couldn't resist a photo outside the bookshop that featured in the film! After a late brunch we took Hannah to Oxford Street for some serious shopping!

Whilst we were away it was my hubby's birthday so it seemed only fair the choice of show should be his!! He chose well!! Wicked was fantastic!! 

Hannah enjoyed her first experience of seeing a London Show!!

Tuesday morning was another gorgeous day with blue skies. Perfect for a lazy (and late!) breakfast at The Orangery, in Kensington Palace gardens!

There was just time for a wander around Convent Garden before catching our train home!

Shall I???

Shimelle's Learn something New class starts tomorrow!!

I signed up for this last year but only did about 3 pages!!

I'm so tempted to join in again as once you've joined up you automatically get the prompts each year. 

Do I really need another pressure in my already crazy busy life?

Wouldn't it be wonderful to do something just for me?

Have I got time? Am i mad to even think about it?

If I keep it simple I could do it, couldn't I?

.... Decisions? .... Shall I? .... Are you?

Scrapbook Magazine

Hi and thanks for stopping by today!

Those of you that follow my blog may recall my excitement when this layout and these layouts were published in Scrapbook Magazine!! 

So you can imagine my squeals of delight to see my very first magazine commission in print!!

I was asked to make a layout for the Four Ways Challenge article for issue 66 of Scrapbook Magazine and this is the layout I made.

Morelli's is a very well known ice cream parlour on the promenade at Portstewart, Northern Ireland and we look forward to our visits whenever we go and stay with our relatives who live about 45 minutes drive away!

For some reason the green border doesn't look straight in the photo but I assure you it definately is!! lol!

The papers, embellishments and ice cream sticker are all American Crafts Dear Lizzy and I added some pink twine, washi tape and white Mister Huey.

I hope you have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend!!

Chasing Waves

Hi everyone, I hope you've had a lovely weekend - it's been a hot and sunny one down here on the south coast!

The new challenge went live over on the S J Crafts Blog a few days ago.

The theme this month is "Summer Time"!!

I chose to scrap some photos taken a few years ago on H's birthday when we were on the beach and she was having so much fun running in and out of the sea, chasing the waves!! I rarely use multiple photos on my layouts so using 4 made a nice change.

I used papers and stickers from Echo Park's collections - Paradise Beach and Hello Summer and Thickers letters for my title.

I used lots of foam dots to raise up some of the elements.

I'd love to see more scrapbook entries in the challenge so why not create a layout along the theme of summer time and upload it. There is a pack of mixed embellishments for one random winner!!

Birthday Girl!!

Sorry I've not been around blogland as much as usual ..... I've been busy with the 9th birthday celebrations for this young lady!!!

Photo taken on 9th birthday!!

A few days before her birthday, she invited 3 friends for a BBQ and Sleepover!! They had so much fun playing in the sunshine, painting their nails, eating BBQ food in the garden, eating birthday cake, drinking lemonade and watching DVDs with a big bag of popcorn to share!!

On her birthday we enjoyed a lovely evening out at Frankie and Bennys restaurant with family, followed by more cake!!

Good Times!!

x