Kool Kitty Musings

Hodge podge books...

So, for my scrappy weekend away I decided to take along a couple of Jenni Bowlin hodge podge books that I liked the look of and intended to use for heritage projects. Well I always like the look of "alterable" things but I'm not so great at envisioning how the finished article should look. In the end I used the pages more as backgrounds that got rather covered up - since they looked a bit out of place when not covered up so much... lol

But this is what I made:

Here are the pics a bit bigger - I still need to work out a way to add accents to the stamped letters, it was enough of a challenge to stamp some of them without getting lost in the consonants!

So yes, this is a Jenni Bowlin hodge podge book combined with Crate Paper Story Teller and some bits and pieces from Crate Paper's Portrait line.

Well, it is a mini book after all - the journalling would never fit in here and would make it as heavy as a phone book, but I can happily report that most info is now recorded on Ancestry by my dad - a lot of great information has recently come to light.

My Great Grandmother Maria Lukasiewicz née Tustanowksa photographed in Sternberg - then in Austro-Hungary.

My Grandfather as a toddler - the prominent family hairline was already in evidence! This photo was taken in 1911 in Lwow or Lemberg if you wanted to know the Austrian name.

Here he is as a young boy - the back of the photo is just as interesting as it is a rather sweet postcard he wrote to his Uncle Romuald in pencil (without a date). This uncle was sadly later shot in the Mednoye-Katyn masacre.

Here we are back with Great Grandma Maria and Great Grandfather Michal Lukasiewicz some time in the 1920/1930s(?). The Lukasiewicz hairline once again on display. The genes must be very strong as I think my Uncle Mark is a dead ringer for Michal Lukasiewicz... minus the moustache!

Judging from the necklace I think this must be from the same photo session as the previous photo of Maria.

We only have photos of two of my Grandfather's three sisters - this is Renia.

And Alicia, who I remember meeting sometime in the early 80s and remembering she had a very high-strung Dachshund that chewed everything within an inch of its life. Glad to say the Lukasiewicz hairline is not passed down on the female side!

My Grandfather after the war having made his way here via Kazakhstan, Italy and who knows where else.

Nice to use that protractor and postage stamp chipboard since he then trained as a graphic designer and indeed designed postage stamps (among a lot of Disney artwork for Waddingtons) for such far flung places as Bermuda.

And his wedding to my Grandma in good old the good ol' West Riding. Here ends that particular Polish adventure...

My weekend looked a bit like this...

So in the run up to my scrappy weekend away I was adding the finishing touches to my packing, the star attractions for my planned projects arrived in the post:

The remaining bits and bobs of Crate Paper's Story Teller and Pretty Party lines. I planned to get at least 2 mini-books made.*

*I always seem to be good at the big thinking, not so hot on the "doing".

Come Friday morning I was packed and ready:

...for what must have looked like a 3 month expedition rather than a 3 day weekend away.

Considering the monsoon weather forecast I didn't think I'd need to pack these:

There was a moment where this was consumed:

Which could have adversely affected productivity, it certainly affected the speed with which I could stamp the individual letters of Polish names! Polish Countdown must be a barrel of laughs... can I have a consonant please Carol, and another.... and another... and another....

But it was probably why I never got round to using these:

We did take a break from scoffing cake and shuffling paper on the Saturday afternoon and even managed to see some of these:

Plus have a moment in the sun:

But then it was back to work in order to actually finish, ok... mostly finish the one and only project I got done!

There are just a couple of little finishing touches needed then I'll get it photographed. :)

The thing I learnt this weekend (apart from the realisation that yes, you can indeed have too much cake) which I shall pass onto any other Crate fans, was not to use Staz-on, chalk ink, dye ink, Versafine or pigment ink to stamp onto the new shiny Journaling stickers.

NO INK dries on these stickers; I went through an entire arsenal of inks trying to find one that worked - nada, zip, zilch.

The only thing that works is a journaling pen. :o( I really wish these stickers were still matt as you could stamp away to your heart's content, but shiny stickers... do not like.

Mini-album finished!

Yay, at last I've finished off my 2010 mini-album that I started at Gibside.

It just needed the cover doing and some bits and bobs inside, and I decided against journaling in the end as all the photos inside it are more the kind that evoke memories for me rather than needing a big explanation...

So here's the finished article:

 

Unfortunately a bit fuzzy in some photos as I was losing decent daylight - but this is a bit clearer with the details:

 

I used three lengths of seam binding from The Ribbon Girl to create the trim effect - I rather like how it turned out. Then a bit of jute twine and a mulberry rose finished off that bit.

The chipboard alpha is a Noteworthy one by Making Memories, I used Doodlebug glitter stickers for the year and the sticker strip is from Cosmo Cricket as the Tiny Type numbers set that I used for the months inside also had some phrase stickers that just fit for this album and I knew I'd not use them on anything else! ;o)

I added little Prima pearls to the cover and the binder tabs as they looked a bit bare.

 

Here's January with the winter snow at the local park and museum - also there's the calendar page I mucked up when punching holes... sigh...

 

February was extra special as I managed to persuade my mum to make Faworki for mardi gras and OMG so delicious. Unfortunately missed my chance this year! Grrrrr....

 

On Mother's Day last March Ma and I went shopping, but also went for some delish ice cream at Marble Slab Creamery... wonder if we can revisit this year! ;o)

 

The Easter Sunday breakfast table all laid out and ready, complete with vodka!

 

May, just before I moved into my house, I added the finishing touches to my bedroom... :happy sigh: I still love my red John Rocha lamp and that lovely cushion from M&S.

 

My brother sporting a souvenir brought back from Oz - and a shot of my favourite time of day, coming home to my house with the sun over the conservatory as I cooked dinner.

 

I just love that time of year when the cherry and almond trees are in blossom - plenty to see in the park around the corner.

 

The first cut rose from my little garden and my brother's birthday - he was looking very happy with the chocolate cake!

 

June weather was fab, and there were plenty of opportunities for me to lounge out on the decking reading my book and eating cherries... ahhhh...

 

July my blueberries started to pop up all over the place, very yummy, and yet another day at the park.

 

Mmmm... summer strawberries, need I say more?

 

Off on our travels to the Baltic coast to visit family in Poland - a few stops on the way at Sellin and Gdansk...

 

A nice cultural trip to Chopin's home...

 

The last trip to the beach for the year.

 

The baking bug started with my first batch of cupcakes - I am seriously glad there is no butter in the house at the moment as I'm very tempted to whip up something right now.

 

The return of the winter snow came early!

 

One of my fave pics of my Christmas decorations...

 

Last but not least one of the many competitive games of Monopoly and my mum, brother and dad somewhere in the shadows on Christmas Eve.

So now I can go and add this little album to the others on my mantle piece. :o)

Yikes, can't believe it's already 5 p.m. - Monday will be here soon enough.

Getting there...

At long last I am starting to feel much better and hoping to get back to normal service now here on the blog.

First up I have played a little catch-up with this week's DCM dare which was to create your own embellishment and use it on a card.

Well sometime at the start of the week I had a really good idea of what I wanted to do for this dare. Then Thursday came and I'd promptly forgotten what I'd wanted to make by then.

Then I went to make my card with a certain embellishment in mind, a DIY crocheted flower I was going to design my card around.

Another spanner in the works happened when the rest of the card just didn't work with the flower on it!

So I have admitted defeat and this card features a little DIY banner that at least adds the finishing touch in a nice way. :o)

 

Papers: Crate Paper
Ribbon and twine: The Ribbon Girl
Stamps: My Cute Stamps
Die: Papertrey Ink
Other: Promarkers, Liquid pearls

 

Also I thought I'd share some odds and ends photos...

 

My Christmas present amaryllis has been doing very well positioned over a radiator and close to the boiler - so much so it has had two sets of flowers and has now moved to the conservatory where it is less hot.

 

Last weekend at our scrapping retreat I had something nice and new to stroke.... mmmm the AC cardstock swatch which is just lovely and means I can now easily identify my favourite shades for when I run out.

Last weekend was rather a productive one. I got my Chicago Mini-album made from scratch including some time spent painting those blessed chipboard pages!

 

But I think the shabby chic white paint look was well worth it - and the mix of Cosmo Togetherness with OA Thrift Shoppe was just perfect for my photos... so here are a few snaps of the inside:

 

That first stop - a trip to Bath and Bodyworks right before a tornado hit and we were evacuated to the basement to wait it out. Never a dull moment shopping with us.

 

That holiday we seemed to go up quite a few tall buildings for a view of the city...

 

Ah that bead shop - an easy way to part with a lot of money in a most pleasant way!

 

My Uncle Wlodek's homemade lemon vodka is famed in his neighbourhood, so he always has mini dixie cups on hand for entertaining... It was very potent but very nice stuff!

 

This photo of me and my cousin Basia really cracks me up as both of us have the exact same pose without having realised it... apparently my mother believes this to be genetic... I just think we'd do quite well at synchronised standing.

And as you saw on the cover of the album I used the Tim Holtz rosette die kindly loaned for the occasion by Gill - well... you know what happened don't you... I just needed that die and the new one to play with:

 

So watch out for these on many more projects to come!

I also started and almost finished my snaps of 2010 mini-album at the weekend too. I had a major boo-boo mistake on punching my jan/feb calendar pages - the kind of boo-boo you can't easily come back from and find yourself having tantrum breakdown and swearing fit over... but it all came good in the end and I paid better attention punching the rest of the calendar pages!

I still need to do the cover and journaling and other bits and bobs but here are a few shots of the inside as it is:

 

Ah, marble slab ice cream and words of wisdom - a perfect combination.

 

I used some filters on my photo prints and was really glad I did as they worked much better with the BG Blush papers I used.

 

I just love that strawberry shot - it just sums up summer for me.

Anyway, depending on my progress with my new read I might finish this album off tomorrow, we'll see!

Christmas Journal: The End

 

OK, so it might be over a month late... but I have finally finished my Christmas journal!

Hurrah!

And it has meant that I have at long last been able to put my Christmas stash away. :o)

So, it was just the January entries left to go - obviously my resolution #2 to stop procrastinating requires some work...

 

And resolution #1 isn't doing so well either... but hey.

 

Some nice fluffy Thickers to start the month, and since it's a tradition to watch the NY's Day concert from Vienna this had to be a wintry/snowy inspired page.

 

The prompt for the second was all about childhood and innocence... well, I cracked open my white chocolate orange... and it made me realise that when we were little, our chocolate selection boxes never lasted into January!

 

Lots of vintage KI on this one...

 

The 3rd was about looking back at Christmas and favourite memories from the season... well I had to get in one of the only family pics to come out ok (oh and a bit of that lovely real tree!).

 

Got to love a bit of Love Elsie "Noel".

 

The 4th was about reminders for next year. Well, I never got a chance to try the Baked Alaska recipe from Sainsbury's this year. I really wanted to try it as I have never ever had Baked Alaska, and well... it sounds very delish!

 

KI Festive and a cute little snow person from MME. :o)

 

The 5th was about packing up and putting things away... All my decorations went back in their boxes, plus a gorgeous Christmas card that arrived in Jan will be coming out next year for maximum festive enjoyment. :o)

 

Crate galore here, and my favourite set of foam Thickers - only have a few numbers left from that set. But I love the font!

 

And the last day of Christmas... well, my Christmas journal is finished for this year, but the stash is ready to come out for Christmas 2011!

 

I went to town a bit with Basic Grey's Eskimo Kisses stash! But what better reason to use it?

 

I had one page left to round off the journal... and used my yummy AC Moxie stickers and glitter MM stickers.

 

So there it is, the whole journal finished. It has had to move out of the 2 Paperchase binders it was living in and is now held together with book rings and I made some acrylic covers... but I just wish my Paperchase binder could hold it all!

Christmas Journal December 31st

 

I know... it's mid-January and yet I am still plugging away with my journal!

But last night I managed to get my retrospective page for 2010 made...

 

Better late than never though, eh? And a chance to use up loads of those KI Festive party/boozy embellishments!

Oh and Stickles galore of course - hence the reason this was still drying last night!

 

Right, I am off to plonk myself in front of the telly and catch up with some of my recorded shows.

Christmas Journal December 24th - December 30th

 

Here I am back with some more pages I made yesterday. So sad the Christmas break is almost over... and it's back to work tomorrow - the time has certainly flown by!

Anyway, the other day I got up to Christmas Eve, and here's my entry for that date with a photo of the dining table before our Wigilia dinner - thankfully it's more small-scale than the ultra-traditional array of dishes served in Poland. We've narrowed it down to just 4 or 5 family favourites and that is more than enough! LOL

 

I had some people photos I wanted to use but in each shot one person's face was either blurred, surly looking, or looking the wrong way. {sigh}

 

And here's the glittery Christmas dinner table (you'd think it was all about food in our house! lol)

 

A happy coincidence that the little plate in the photo matched the background I'd already made for this page - phew!

 

I just had to wheel out the glittery MM letters for this page!

Boxing day was fun - we went over to family friends for lunch (or should that say a feast) followed by some action on the Wii, followed by a buffet, followed by some lounging in front of the TV trying to recover. LOL

 

I managed to quickly snap a photo between one meal and time on the Wii!

 

The 27th was all about lounging about and having a "nothing" day. Which meant that the Monopoly sets got dusted off and we started with the Washington version:

 

My dad joined in and the "rules" got rewritten and more complicated, however it was most entertaining and I think 2011 will see some more Monopoly matches, we certainly have enough sets to play with - next up the Polish version!

 

On the 28th it was time for some indulgence, I think I may have had a PJ day...

 

But I could have done with a nice festive Starbucks!

 

On the 29th I was back at home and played catch-up with my journal, plus I did some investigating in my lovely new books to see what I had in my kitchen cupboards that would work nicely for a certain birthday...

 

They are truly yummy books and far too tempting!

 

And lastly, the end result I made on the 30th using my new Bosch mixer... I had a bit of an overdose with the gel food colouring, but I was just using up the bit on the lid, future cupcakes will be less lurid! LOL

 

They were regular Vanilla cupcakes in the end and went down very well.

 

Right, I'd best go get my 30 mins of this in before I have my tea:

 

Happy New Year & Christmas Journal catch-up

 

Well, I've had a nice rest over the Christmas break and haven't done much else other than enjoy some family time, catch up on my reading, eat, drink and be merry, suffer the return of the Monopoly wars chez the homestead, have a lovely Boxing day spent with family friends (followed by an acute need to purchase Samba de Amigo for the Wii asap), get to grips with my lovely new food processor/mixer, leaf through a stack of new baking books I received for Christmas, dash out to buy Just Dance 2 for the Wii (excellent purchase - much better than the first one!) and... catch up with my Christmas journal a bit.

So on that note, here are the entries I've caught up on.

 

The new addition to my festive playlist this year was Pink Martini's new album - Joy to the World. Excellent tracks for all sorts of moods.

 

Lots of KI Good Tidings on this page.

 

This page is all about gifts... I at least managed to wrap up the items that had arrived...

 

I made the gift bow from scraps of Jolly by Golly.

 

This entry regarding visitors is an homage to the "annual" tradition of driving up to Zoe's to build the gingerbread house with the girls. Well, this tradition has only taken place once so far, the last two years snow has hampered the event... Maybe we'll have more luck next year!

 

October Afternoon had some perfect Gingerbread themed items for this entry... and looking at that photo I now feel a bit peckish - think I'll have to go unearth my stash of Lebküchen!

 

The entry for the 16th was all about being thankful... well I was just happy to have a few evenings where I could relax in front of the telly with just the fairy lights on and a peppermint candy cane to munch on.

 

Jolly by Golly strikes again for this entry.

 

So onto the 17th, and the theme for this prompt was the perfect gift. On my wishlist this year as a compact yet versatile food processor that could be mainly used as a food mixer but also had a blender. Well lo and behold one was found - a nice Bosch model that even had a stainless steel bowl and wasn't overly expensive. It went straight to the top of my letter to Santa!

 

Crate Snow Days on this page in abundance.

 

The prompt for the 18th was supposed to be about Christmas dinner... well, before you get to Christmas dinner in our house, you first have a lovely Polish Christmas breakfast... and become very mellow soon after! ;o)

 

Basic Grey on this page, went great with that little plate from John Lewis - shame they don't still sell them as I'd love a set.

 

The 19th was all about letters to Santa, well.... technically I don't write letters to him any more as I think he generally knows what I'd like what with the hints I drop.... but that doesn't mean Santa doesn't deserve his Mince pie... or cupcake for that matter!

 

Lots of Jolly by Golly on this page plus some KI stickers.

 

The 20th was about unexpected surprises... and yes, the unexpected surprise was that due to the snow some gifts had not yet materialised. In fact one gift still has not turned up and I've had no response from the seller... but that meant I had to write a few IOU notes to make up for the lack of present!

 

Yep, a bit garish as I just wanted to use up as much of my KI Festive stash as I could. LOL

 

On the 21st I went with the to-do list prompt as the colours of my photo were a better fit for the background... so here was my list!

 

American Crafts with a hint of Basic Grey for good measure.

 

On the 22nd I used a photo of "right now" - another relaxing evening with the fire on, my festive candles lit, and the tree and lights providing the only illumination. Quite lovely.

 

Echo Park and glittery KI alpha stickers, plus some Crate chipboard.

 

The 23rd was all about Stockings. Well, I don't actually have a stocking, but I do purchase the odd stocking filler, and the obvious choice is the good old chocolate orange.

 

Plenty of Crate here!

So that's it so far, I have photos printed through to New Year's Eve so will work on those entries tomorrow - off to the homestead this afternoon for dinner, and no doubt more Monopoly - probably the Polish set this time!

Christmas journal catch-up: December 10th, 11th & 12th

 

It's been a funny old day. I woke up very early so started reading a new book, then didn't get up until I'd finished it.

After that I went out to try and clear more ice off the street. We currently have excellent conditions for speed skating down the street - 3 to 4 solid inches of ice. And I mean solid! I managed to clear a bit more from the pavement and area around my car but heaven knows how it will be in the morning and if I will get out OK for work. Fingers crossed as I really need to get into the office this week.

And when it started raining I came in to get on with my Christmas journal. Progress would have been much better had I not been watching Glorious 39 at the same time, I ended up abandoning my stash pile and just watching the film. Despite my reservations about whether it would be for me or not, it was actually really good (a bit gruesome at times) but much better than I'd imagined.

However, I need some light relief now! LOL

So back to the festive spirit and some journal entries to bring me up-to-date.

 

The entry for the 10th is all about this year's gift wrapping plans. Well, I have the paper (kraft and a nice white pattern from Ikea) at the ready, just need the gifts to wrap!

Also have some of my most prized American Crafts gift wrap that I clandestinely brought over from Florida a few years back. Oh and the American Crafts gift bows... Too nice to give away! LOL

 

A mix of Crate and Echo Park on this page.

Next up for the 11th, all about the Christmas tree...

 

I can never get a full length shot of my tree that doesn't make it look ugly. It's silver, very shiny, and fibre optic - it sounds dreadful when you try to describe it, but it's very pretty in real life, and looks lovely  lit up.

 

However I had the joy of decorating a real tree at my mum and dad's last night - and it is very gorgeous - just needs more lights!

For the 12th, it's all about Christmas Past...

 

And for this page, I took a photo of my oldest ornament on my tree. It's a little knitted angel I remember my mum buying us (I got the angel and my brother got a felt panda - go figure!) at a Christmas fayre at one of the local primary schools when I was little. She's been on the tree ever since and now has since moved to my own tree. She's looking pretty good for a twenty-something.

 

So that's it until another Christmas Journal update...

Christmas Journal - December 9th

 

Evening all!

Well, here I am with today's prompt - and it has been one of the pages in this album I've been most looking forward to finishing...

I opened up my pack of Basic Grey journaling overlay sheets and it covered almost the whole page, so thankfully the photo for today has fit in it quite nicely...

 

A bit difficult to photograph without glarey reflections of me trying to snap the photo... but I think it has turned out quite nice considering.

So on the topic of traditions, it has become a serious tradition for me to add to my bauble collection each year. At least one bauble needs to be purchased... however, this was not a problem this year as about a dozen plus baubles were acquired (and have since found a festive new home) when I was out shopping with my partner in bauble acquisition crime, my mother. It was just too difficult to leave these beautiful new additions sitting there on the shelves waiting for a new owner... much better that they end up on my tree and mantelpiece...

It's a bit difficult to see in the pic that the background under the overlay for the houses is frosty glittery cardstock - I also used some co-ordinating Eskimo Kisses dimensional stickers and a KI glittery snowflake.

 

All in all, I'm rather happy with how this one turned out. :o) But my little Paperchase binder is getting rather full - and it's only the 9th!

Something tells me that by the end of this album there will be some giant book rings making an appearance to hold it all together.

Christmas Journal - December 8th

 

Here's my entry for today's prompt - all about the sights of the season.

 

When I was in town on Saturday I took a few snaps of the shop displays, including this one at the florist's - complete with baskets of decorations, lovely looking wreaths and bulbs planted ready to give away as gifts... very rustic and charming - and out of my price range! But pretty to look at nonetheless.

 

Some vintage KI Festive on this page with a dash of Cosmo Cricket.

 

Not bad for an evening's work. :o)

Christmas Journal - December 7th

 

Just playing catch up with yesterday's prompt.

All about to-do lists. And my current non-work-related to-do list has essentially one item on it.

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!

Before the snow hit, I hadn't made much progress - couldn't find just the right thing in the shops... but was hoping come December I'd have everything sorted.

Not so.

Online shopping may be the only option soon... :o(

 

Lots of October Afternoon goodness on this page - and if Santa would make the snow and ice melt, then I could get my shopping done. ;o)

 

Also, just a reminder for this week's DCM dare - there is a very bling-y prize up for grabs!

 

Happy creating!

Christmas Journal - December 6th

 

So today's prompt was all about a tale of two Christmases.

And for me, every Christmas is a tale of two Christmases as we celebrate both Polish and British traditions. And boy do we celebrate Christmas morning over breakfast... anyway... on with the pics!

 

This photo of my wintry Matryoshka collection sums it up best - East meets West in Matryoshka form!

 

This page was brought to you in close association with my BG Jovial stash pile! Oh and there is some KI and Crate mixed in there too. ;o)

Christmas Journal - December 5th

What are the odds? I'm up-to-date with my Christmas Journal - here's the entry for the 5th - the countdown to Christmas!

 

A photo of my lovely new M&S advent calendar chalk board.... Shame about the glare from the window onto the page but I couldn't get a better pic.

 

Lots of Basic Grey Jovial in this one, plus some machine stitching on the photo mat. And I love that robin brad!

Christmas Journal - December 4th

 

December 4th's entry, and it's all about Christmas dreams.

And I know the weather we've had has caused havoc and mayhem and basically ground the country to a halt...

 

BUT I would be very happy indeed if the snow melted for a bit, and we then had a white Christmas!

Very magical to have a blanket of snow on Christmas Eve...

 

I used Echo Park papers for this, some snowflake lace paper from KI, a Basic Grey tab and chipboard, and finally a velvet Thicker. :o)

Christmas Journal - December 3rd

 

As many visitors to this blog will know, cards are what I do. And the prompt for the 3rd was right up my street.

I took a pic of where my handmade Christmas cards have been living these past few months while I've continued to add to the stockpile. Let's just hope I've made enough to go round, as the next task will be writing them and sending them!

 

And it is always fun trying to match a card to the recipient (and in some cases their stash tastes!).

 

Decisions, decisions... Anyway, time for some vintage stash on this page. My most favourite ever glazed snowflake paper from American Crafts and lots of Love Elsie accents. Plus a couple of dew drops from The Ribbon Girl.

Christmas Journal - December 2nd

 

December 2nd, and the prompt was all about the weather... well, there has been little else in the news of late as the entire country has now had a brush with snow.

We've had heavy snow since around the 25th and it's still here. So I had plenty of snaps to choose from!

 

There's something very seasonal about a post box covered in snow... And I just had to add in some snowmen, as I've not had chance to make any myself!

 

The stash is all Echo Park plus a couple of Crate stickers, and of course a Thickers number.

Christmas Journal - December 1st

So here I am playing catch-up with my journal...

I've foregone the Manifesto entry for this year's journal as I've not got much journaling space with the album format I've chosen and my 6x4 snaps... just enough for the odd journaling strip.

 

So my page is a pic of my love desktop calendar and it has reminded me that I seriously need to sort out a desktop calendar for 2011! Etsy here I come!

 

I'm rather in love with the Crate chipboard for this line too - it's the perfect finishing touch...

It's almost here!

And this year I am determined to finish it in album form!

With that in mind I've made my album in advance just ready to add photos and tart up with some embellishments.

The last thing I needed to do in preparation was decorate the cover page:

 

Who knew this would turn into a search for the perfect sized "Christmas" word in my stash... I always get stuck with left-over words on sticker sheets that I hadn't realised I had at the time I NEEDED them so they never get used up.

This time I am determined to use up as many of those random word stickers as I can! OK, so Christmas isn't all that random a word for this project, but there are some interesting ones that will need to be incorporated some how.

 

Anyway, bring on December 1st - I won't be sharing entries every day unless I am able to get my photos printed so I can finish the page off, but hope to play catch-up on the weekend. :)

Counting Thickers is half the battle

Friday night is crop night.

Now, when it comes to packing efficiently for crops I have quite a sketchy background.

Efficiency and forward-planning are not my middle names!

So tonight, in hopes of changing my ways slightly, I have tried to plan my Journal Your Christmas album for 2010 - and as mentioned I am going to try to go the December Daily route where I have the basics of my album ready before the first of December and just need to add pics and embellishments so come January it is done.

Well, that is the plan!

 

I'll be using something old... papers from last year... Yummy Jolly By Golly, October Afternoon, and some My Mind's Eye... ;o) And something new - new Christmas bits from Crate and BG, and Echo Park... my lovely package has arrived, but I need to go pick it up tomorrow!

 

I've created some templates from old Artbin satchel dividers for getting the holes punched in the right places, and for working out photo placement in my little Paperchase A5 binder...

 

I've dug out what seems to be the last of any KI Christmas line that a certain a-million-kinds-of-lovely person sent me last year.

 

And there's always room for some Eskimo kisses...

 

And somewhere along the line, I want to use these...

And counting Thickers?

 

I worked out I need quite a lot of numbers - and thankfully I have enough to cover all of them in my Thickers collection, quite a relief I'm sure!

Anyway, I'm off to finish watching Mansfield Park since it is a bit of bleak night for TV tonight.

 

This version is soooo much better than the recent Billie Piper version. Really recommend it for the Austen fans!

That time fast approaches again...

Yep, Saturday I'm off on holiday and the past week has been fraught with last minute washing, sorting, shopping, and various other pre-holiday chores... I hate the few days before going on holiday as once you've packed you just want to be going already!

But, I am no where near packed, I will be doing that tomorrow night... oh joy.

Instead I have been busy finishing off some projects for various things before I leave.

And what sights will be on the agenda this year?

Well, off to Poland via the Baltic coast this time, so hopefully visiting Rügen in Germany en route:

For some reason the pier at Sellin reminds me of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang...

I think Usedom is also on the planned stop-off route...

We're entering Poland right up at the north, and heading along the coast and staying here:

Hopefully some stops by the seaside en route to Gdansk where we're staying two nights on the waterfront:

Then we head south to visit my Grandma and family... :o)

The camera batteries are all charged so I hope to get some fab pics! Only taking two lenses this year... no zoom this time.

Oh and one of the projects I have been working to finish is a gift for my grandma:

Anyone who goes to my local crop will be amazed to see that I've finished it, because it has come to every crop I've been to since March... gradually being filled up but never finished - until last weekend! LOL

It's a kraft binder from Paperchase filled with their kraft pages (quite thin and I would recommend getting those clear adhesive ring defenders from Smiths to provide added protection for the pages) combined with Basic Grey's Kokeshi and a good many photos from last year. :o)

I am rather partial to these alpha stickers from Prima and the bling/pearls you get with them.

Also I added my first attempts at the Cuttlebug quilled flowers.

The one on the spine isn't great, but I know where I went wrong with this one!

The inside is quite straightforward - same layout on each page...

Plus stickers/rub-ons for extra detail...

And I had and still have a lot of black rub-ons...

...white ones too, to use up!

And there it is standing up...

And now, I'm not sure whether I should head off to bed, or watch episode two of the BBC's recent adaptation of Emma, I really enjoyed it on its original airing, but am loving rewatching the DVD. Excellent cast, wonderful costumes and settings, beautifully filmed... and I just love the silhouette credits at the start and end!

From this

 

And this...

To this:

Yep, almost 60 odd photos, 1 calendar, numerous pieces of Cosmo Cricket paper, a good many sheets of kraft cardstock and 1 roll of ATG gun tape!

Welcome to a snapshot of 2009. :o)

I mounted all the calendar cards back to back on the dividers (I had 2 left over that found another use).

Then spent a while (er, day) cutting, sticking and clagging...

I included a good few "house" photos since I apparently didn't do much else September onwards...

Pretties and fun times... 

And a good excuse to get out the Jolly By Golly stash again. :o)

I've still got to add journaling strips and a few finishing touches but it is essentially done. By the end of Saturday I was ready to move on from the 2009 photos! Perhaps the journaling will be a future crop activity...

But I did have to amend my plans slightly.

Originally that album was going to have a random section at the back for the landscape shots I liked from 2009 - however it was filled to bursting with just the portrait shots. So with the spare divider pages I created another mini book:

 

A much more compact one. ;o)

I found the perfect use for those Maddox alpha stickers. Mmmmm...

More kraft and Cosmo...

Quite a lot of summer photos...

Family pics...

And yes, that John Lewis cushion! 

So there we go, bit of a 2 for 1 mini-book deal on that Maya Road binder album!

I totally enjoyed it despite making a couple of boo boos in my calculations. I may just have to use the same plan for 2010's photos...

Very festive...

I have finally managed to get a garland for my mantle piece that I rather like - alas the TK Maxx berry one I wanted has gone and there were only damaged ones left. So I now have a simple spruce and berry combo that is just waiting for some lights to go with it. Mind you I seem to be filled with optimism at my house being decorated for Christmas - the office light has been put up - another chandelier:

But with shades this time - reasonably priced and the only one that had a big enough enclosure for the cabling would you believe... But house progress will be grinding to a halt soon as I am about to be mega busy with work - got to get it where you can, and will probably need to work some of the next few weekends - the time running up to the 4th is going to be mega stressful! So fingers any ambitious plans involving my spare time will have to go on hold. :o\

But back to the Christmas festiveness...

I finally saw the last issue of Scrapbook Inspirations in Borders the other day - I've still not received a copy so not sure whether to grab one this week... but my ATC spinner has been featured in the issue - although some of my favourite entries didn't get featured, there are a few nice pics ;o) but I didn't have time to look too closely at the article.

But I also had these two featured in another section, and I love how they turned out in the mag - here are some quickie naff scans:

 

Looks like the "D" in Dec got dislodged in transit as it is most wonky in the mag. LOL

But the colours look fab in print, and I am so sad I don't have oodles of the embellishments from Festive, they really are lovely. Probably one of KI's best and most cheery Christmas releases!

Although I am quite bias in my love of festive stash and creations, I have to say there were some stunning projects in that issue, such a shame the mag will not be around in it's usual format.

But back to the festive stuff, a nice surprise was waiting for me when I got home today, my Christmas candles! If nothing else I shall have the smell of Christmas around me (and last Christmas too as I still have my all time favourite Winterland, plus Jack Frost and a couple of other samplers to use up), the new fragrances I've bought are:

And that last one I have in a pillar candle and it smells very similar to Philosophy's Splendor shampoo range, which I just love!
 
So there we have it a few nice things after the carnage that was the drive home - over 1 hour in a stretch that usually takes 20 minutes in rush hour.
 

Waaah!

I can't believe the weekend is almost over! Have had such a busy day today, but have at least managed to finish the LO I started last night once I found the matching chipboard shapes!

 

My brother caught in the act of scoffing some of the fairy cakes I bought at the Comic Relief bake sale we had at work - thankfully I managed to get in there and nab a few before they all went!

 

Anyway, suppose I'd best get my gym bag packed for tomorrow.

Better late than never...

Might as well upload the layout I finished last night - alas the pics are a bit dodgy as I couldn't be bothered to faff with the scanner tonight. ;o)

It was supposed to be Asian inspired, fit the bill of the stamping Scrap Like You Mean It challenge from weeks and weeks ago and fit the colour scheme of the Fat Buddha logo/card. They used aubergine and lime green... so well... what else was I to do?

Not sure how happy I am with the end result as I had no real journaling space that fitted the bill, but I added some dimension to make the journaling, card and some of the paper pop a bit...

BG papers twinned with Hero Arts Asian stamps and some Bazzill bling.

 

As per usual it looks better in real life honest... :oS

But it was a very nice lunch out with Zoe and the girls to Fat Buddha's glitzy restaurant - the girls loved the lime green catwalk with sparkly dangly bits quite a lot and the noodles proved tasty yet challenging! hehe

So now that I have this done, plus finally updated my MS Money with 6 month's worth of data, been to the gym for big workout and crossed a few other things off my to-do list for the weekend, tomorrow I plan to just play and chill!

So off to get back to reading my current book and hoping the weather will be as nice as it was today! ;o)

Where has the time gone?

Well long time no post, but nothing too interesting to report!

Last night was Friday crop night and I finally managed to get some things finished, or at least almost finished including this fab little mini-book designed by Kelly Goree that we started at the Scrappy Boutique. I really loved this one and it was a perfect class for our hols - no stress and something we could just get on with, except I needed to make an extended visit to the Florida Mall while we were over that way so took a shopping trip mid-way through our mini crop. :o)

But here is evidence of almost completion, just need to add some extra photos to the last few pages but not got anything printed out yet.

 

 

Also last night I managed to finally get all the die-cut accents for the Whim-so-doodle album class glued in - my it was a mega marathon of work, so the album is now ready to add photos and journaling. One day... ;o)

But it will be lovely when we go to the next Friday nighter as I will bring a mountain of stash to make nothing in particular and just play play play.... I love that! I am not so big on the organised project approach as I always get bored. I was very envious of Andrea getting her cardmaking groove on while I was sticking piles of QK bits together! Especially as she was in a total glitter zone! hehe

Anyway, it's almost time for Britain's Got Talent and I sorta started a LO last night and think I might take this opportunity to try and finish it.

Or not.

I dunno.

An actual finished project??

It's quite miraculous that this little thing made it back from Florida in one piece. This acrylic wall hanging kit was put together by Gemstone & Bead Imports, which we hit on the first day of our scrapping getaway. The kit included 7Gypsies hardware, but the way you decorated and designed it was totally up to you.

I have to say oodles of thanks to Chris (Posh Totty) P for all her amazing bead work (made to order don't you know!). I chose some pics from last year's trip to Chicago to visit family, and applied my fave photo action (Seventies by Pioneer Woman) to them before printing so they all had an aqua tint, then I just went from there. I'm so pleased with how it turned out, it just needs to find a wall to be hung on and admired... apologies for the rather poor pics, but hey - it's one of the rare completed projects from me this year! LOL

 

My cousin Basia and her BF Matt - and the hammock!

 

Me and Basia...

 

My auntie and my mum (sporting her now threadbare crocs)... And a glam look at some of the bead work from Chris!

Here are some close-ups of that:

 

 

So technically this is kinda scrapbooking right? Anyway, whilst at the store I picked up some wooden scrabble tiles and silver loopy things for making some trendy bespoke pendants sorta like these. The problem now is that I need to decide what paper to use! Oh my....

Long time no post eh?

And not much to report - have been down out with a cold the past week - and even at yesterday's crop I was less than productive on the layout front, but not the shopping front... LOL

But I suppose I should share my meagre output, it was my layout for week four's scrap like you mean it over at UKS.

 

There's little old me in my Mothercare pushchair (not designed with the wonderful suspension of my friend Karolina's Polish push-pram thingy!) tucking into my yummy fresh rye bread.

Lots of American Crafts stash with a dash of October Afternoon!

Today I went for a fast shopping trip - bought a spring coat (turquoise don't ya know! And looks lovely with my red shoes - er kind of like the LO above...) and these took my fancy in Paperchase:

 

Cute eh? Plus this...

 

I wonder what's in there...

 

At last a home for them, where I can easily find the colours I'm after!

And last but not least - I see it's March already!

Sunday catch up

I just love Sundays sometimes! And especially a relaxing one finally spent reading my book from cover to cover!

After finishing that late this afternoon I got got a little card made for a certain new addition to the Banana Frog fan club, Trish's new baby boy!

 

Banana Frog stamps used are Tiny Type and Postage

 

And yesterday's crop did at least end in a layout! LOL It's week 4's Scrap Like You Mean It challenge - and Shimelle's sketch.

 

Afraid the photo isn't too great as it's quite dim lighting in the evening.

Proof....

Oh, poor Zoe last night, having to put up with my creative inadequacies! She did about five billion layouts while I ummed over this one. I had a LO in my mind, then it just all went to pot, it started off being Lily Kate paper, then it wasn't, next I dragged out more paper, October Afternoon, and tried the Lily Kate again, then I added some MM paper, then dragged out the Lily Kate again - still determined to use it!

In the end Scenic Route came to the rescue and we have October Afternoon, MM and Scenic Route in what looks like the simplest LO in the world, yet due to indecision took an entire evening to create! LOL

Anyway, the whole idea behind it was that I wanted to do Shimelle's week 3 challenge - use chipboard but also finally get these photos scrapped before Becky has baby 2 in oh 7 weeks time! hehe

Had a lovely breakfast with Angela and Becky in the morning and so I was off on my creative plans by the time I got my stash packed to head to Zoe's.

The thing doesn't scan well at all due to the lumpy bits and the scallop white background, so here it is photographed - also not the easiest thing to photograph!

 

 

In the meantime I have a fair few things of a creative nature to get done today, so best get dressed and started! ;o)

Crossed off the list!

Back on this page I set out my 10 things to do before popping my clogs... well one of them was to see Pink Martini live in concert. I bet you can guess where this is going!

Wish granted Nov. 2007 at the Sage Gateshead in a totally amazing concert - I can't wait to see them live again and hope they're working on some new material! :oD

Only thing was, I wasn't allowed to take photos in the hall. We had an amazing box so close to the stage, but next to me stood one of the ushers or whatever they're called and he had the eyes of a hawk - this is all I managed to snap!

Oh and the scrap like you mean it challenge included hearts, managed to put a few subtle ones on there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Think I might get on with some cards next...

Oliver Swift

So Shimelle's first challenge was to scrap your favourite colour... hm hard to tell these days, but if it's a Bazzill shade, then the KI Green Tea shade is my all time favourite! And colour set 4 in those American Crafts cardstock stickers are my quickly becoming my favourite alpha stickers!!

 

Bit challenging to remember how to scrap in the style of the rest of this album over a year plus on! I had to dig out all the stash for it too... but I can't believe I've still not scrapped my car, it was such a milestone passing my test and getting little Oliver Swift... :oD Mind you he is in real need of a good wash right now from all the salt on the roads!

 

 

 

Finally - it's done!

After many hours of modge podge and diamond glaze drying, the mini-album for the 4-day trip to "the great Metropols" is finito!

The album is a scalloped 6 x 9 Creative Café binder with chipboard dividers and kraft page inserts. Papers used are a mix of October Afternoon for the dividers, cover and some accents inside with the majority of the contents of the Making Memories Passport Creative kit (alas the paper quality and sticker quality in these value kits isn't as good as the separate bits n pieces). But despite the diamond glaze mishaps and the numerous issues gluing the paper onto the album I am finally happy to have this completed, and who'd have thought I'd manage to use a whole bottle of that 7Gypsies Midnight walnut ink (complete with pipette) that's been sitting around for 3+ years!

Anyway, here are some snaps:

Do you ever wish...

You'd not bothered starting something??

Well as Zoe will attest, since September this project has travelled up to her house for a productive cropping evening only to stay in the boot all evening. Ugh.

I started it at the first crop since getting back from Chicago and after I spent that entire crop just covering the dividers and doing the first couple of pages I have soooooo not wanted to go back to it. But it has been praying on my conscience since Thursday when it once again stayed in my boot.

I am almost done with the "easy" bit of sticking the pp and photos in, just got 6 more sides to do, then I need to have an embellishment and journaling sneeze all over the place and finally cover the chipboard binder! Not much then.

I suppose I should get back to it. :o(

Last LOs for a while!

I some how doubt I'll actually get chance to scrapbook again before I head off on holiday to Chicago in 2 weeks... so to tide me over, here are a couple from today's crop:

Finally managed to use up a few sheets of pp from my Basic Grey Phoebe stash, not to mention some of the lace and buttons from Making Memories and those huuuge MME flowers! And those chipboard Thickers go great with these papers.

Next up, I got out my new July Scarlet Lime kit, which arrived Friday.

Oh and here's a card made using some of the left-over circles I'd cut out of the Phoebe paper, combined with Banana Frog Perfect Paisley stamps:

Scrapbooking, it's a nice hobby ain't it?

I sometimes forget! Because when there is zero inspiration and motivation going on, it's not that nice... so I am still basking in a post-productive glow and thought it high time I uploaded the rest of my Gibside layouts.

More of the beach shots. :o)

• American Crafts scalloped paper, Scenic Route and Narratives patterned paper, plus and Making Memories flocked paper
• Pink Paisley date stamps
• Prima embossed flowers
• Jenni Bowlin and Carolee's alpha stickers
• American Crafts chipboard frame

Rather recent pics of my Polish cousin and his girlfriend at his graduation ceremony:

• Loads of stash from the January Poppy Ink kit!

Love that AC patterned paper, it is so vivid in real life, and finally got to use my fabric button making kit with some of the fabric from the kit.

Another pic from my cousin's graduation - I totally loved his degree project - he is a graphic designer and redesigned all the publicity/displays for Plock Zoo:

Finally, more or less a use for those Obscure papers! And thanks to Sheena for the Polar Bear and numbers from the die cut sheet... alas didn't have a need to use the crutches die cuts! :P

And finally, a layout of my brother, cousin Lukasz and cousin once removed (gawd knows how you work that out) Magda - do not even ask what was going on here, I have no idea... but I am sure my brother will cherish this photo of him wearing a babushka head scarf....

• Another Poppy Ink kit getting used up a bit - can't remember which one though, February's?

Anyway, in other news, my new Lumix TZ5 camera arrived today, complete with US charger, so I just need to master using that before my holiday, but it is most lovely!

Something from the weekend, at last!

So, here's that double layout finished and scanned at last - plenty of October Afternoon Detours papers and even my KI apple lace cardstock finally had an outing. ;o)

Here they are separately:

Have to say I am glad I had those vinyl thickers in my stash - they were perfect with the colours in the Detours line. :o)

Anyway, tomorrow I am expecting delivery (at long last!!!) of my Wii Fit but I will be out in the evening for a meal so will definitely need to try it out Wednesday night. Hopefully I'll be back home in time to catch the repeat of Private Practice on Living+1. Still more LOs to scan at some point, oh and I think I'll be sporting some of my new John Rocha sale items tomorrow night - hope there'll be lots more going into the sale but what an annoyance that Debenhams no longer does Nectar as I'd have loved to use some of my points!

Beach fun...

With some new October Afternoon!

So here's the first LO from the weekend, using October Afternoon Daydreams - thought it worked quite nicely for these recent beach photos! :o)

It's quite disappointing how grey looking the "white" AC poolside thickers are in real life - they should rename the shade M&S grey bra white... hehe

And here's the card to use up some of the scraps...

Can you tell a copy of June Card Trends finally arrived today with the idea to stamp on chipboard. ;o)

Mini-book Monday

So, here's the first project from the weekend. Started off flexing my scrapping muscles with a very recent purchase of a crop in a box kit from Shimelle that included a mini-book project, this one:

Loved the little WRM Keepers mini binder, especially it's teeny page protectors and I am so in love with American Crafts gathered ribbon - and the green one was the only one I'd not managed to get my hands on! :o)

So with the left-overs from the mini-book I made a card:

Will get another project scanned and uploaded tomorrow night, but for now I am off to watch the rest of Mary Queen of Shops!

Hello inspiration my old friend...

Well what can I say, I've just had a totally fab weekend away at Gibside. Despite the back spasms from lugging around stash and having to scrap stood up some of the time I did actually manage to reacquaint myself with my old friend: The Mojo.

In fact, I managed more than the average amount of project output given the average amount of time actually spent dedicated to the art of scrapbooking vs. how many varieties of sweets and cake one can consume within 24 hours.... hm, although it is hard to determine which was the more fun pursuit...

Haven't got time to scan and upload the lot tonight (sleep, must get some sleeeep), but let me just share the joy a little with this photo:

Oh and I have no idea if I've already posted this card or not, but made it over a week ago with scraps left over from that Christmas layout...

Tomorrow night I'll try and upload some pics, and (with any luck!) make a card with some of the left-overs from this weekend... hehe

Long time no post...

I know totally rubbish blogger and scrapper and card maker... but as of late it hasn't been the best time for creativity!

However following on from my one recent layout at the crop, I managed to resort to that age-old emergency solution to a scrapping drought - The Scraplift.

Last night for Scrapping Chez Zoe's (the first such evening intended for us to actually sit and scrap!) I dragged along the same old photos and the same old stash, and decided to finally use something from a Poppy Ink kit that I was putting off in order to scrap other photos. Well there was no time like the present to get this rather embarrassing photo of me and my brother from the 80s into the album - why I am wearing my riding gear to decorate a Christmas tree, I have no idea, but I am just glad to see that my brother is wearing his favourite seal romper that features in practically every photo taken of him that year!

The original page was a gorgeous layout by Celeste Smith with loads of machine stitching - mine contains an annoying typo (don't you just love those on precious handwritten journaling cards!) and wonky cut squares of paper...

• American Crafts, Hambly, and Autumn Leaves patterned paper
• Scenic Route die-cut accents
• Making Memories giant glitter brad
• Carolee's Creations stamp
• Silver frame charm

However, having spent the best part of the day preparing photos for next weekend away at Gibside plus making a start on the stash packing, I am (at present) somewhat optimistic that I'll manage to scrap something! :oD

When life hands you lemons...

We eat lemon drizzle cake!

Well I had a lovely time cropping today, can't believe it's only a week and a bit to Gibside, yeek gads I have noooooo clue just what projects I'll do there much less what to take. But I shall leave that anxiety for another day. lol

Oh and I am pretty sure part of my suspension was left somewhere along the route from the A1. :oS What ghastly weather and even more ghastly bottomless potholes there were to be had.

Anyway, I really tried to rise to Tree's apple challenge, but as I mentioned we were really in the lemon zone today... so this LO doesn't feature the October Afternoon apple paper, I did try to persuade Zoe of the ways of The Cause, that the tree could indeed support some form of apple... but she was not convinced... instead, we have. A. Bird. and other stuff.

Pics from last summer's holiday in Poland and my (kind of once removed?) cousin Tomek deciding he wasn't having his photo taken, no way José! Except for the one I managed to just casually click on the fly when he was running off! So you see him in one pic, hat over face, running off, then we decided to just take a photo without him as there was no coaxing him back! LOL

Most of the stash is from the June Scarlet Lime kit:

• October Afternoon papers
• Heidi Grace chipboard swirl
• American Crafts chipboard ladybird
• Journaling tag
• Plus Maya Road chipboard tree and bird covered with OA, Doodlebug and another paper
• EK Success mini alphas
• American Crafts alpha stickers
• Bev's Threading Water punch :oD

I quite liked the tree, but do still think it could have housed an apple somewhere Zoe!

Ahhh just love those Maya road chipboard trees.

Scrapbooking?

What's that all about??

Well I managed to do a couple of pages today. First up one for Banana Frog:

• Webster's Pages papers
• Build a Bloom Banana Frog stamps
• Narratives rub-on
• Pearl crystals
• SEI brads

It looks so flat in its scanned form, but I curled the petals with a pencil to add some dimension at the corners of the photos:

I also had a play with some papers from an old IT kit and my new AC vinyl thickers, the pink one is a lot more reddy in real life, honest!

• Crate patterned paper
• American Crafts Vinyl Thickers
• AL stamp
• EK Success alpha stickers

So have I actually made anything recently??

Well, 2 weeks ago I went cropping and was in a bit of a despondent mood what with the PC having just died. I ended up trying to do a scrap lift to lift my spirits! :o) Alas it's still not finished as I needed a PC to print the photo and journaling, but I just loved the layout Kelly Noel did for the November Poppy Ink kit, I just had to try my hand at it, and here's as far as I got...

I also managed a couple of cards using scraps, CAD cards of course!

• KI Memories cardstock and papers
• Banana Frog Paper Chains stamps
• Maya Road rub-on

• 7Gypsies patterned papers
• American Crafts alpha stickers
• Scrapagogo stamps

Oh and I hadn't posted this card, which I now consider my CAD for the 10th of April (errrr... still got some catching up to do!)

• Patterned paper from Poppy Ink October kit (Love Elsie and Prima(?))
• KI Memories ribbon
• EK Success and American Crafts alpha stickers

And today, instead of cropping at home for the cyber crop, I went off cropping with friends and well... wasn't really productive, I just managed one layout using my new Scarlet Lime kit that arrived a week or so ago:

Pics of Ma and my Auntie Ula in Torun, Poland, last summer after making a rather sizable purchase of Pierniki (gingerbread) and other treats at Kopernik one of the oldest gingerbread makers in Poland.

Some really nice things in this kit, I like the K&Co. swivel things, but they're a bit too schmaltzy for me, and I will struggle to use the rub-ons, but it'll be fine - and the arrows and heart are pointing to the contents of those bags, hehe!

So doubt I'll be doing much cyber cropping tomorrow, as I have so many cards to catch up on, BUT at least I've managed something for this cyber crop with my beading card class, LOL. Here were the finished cards for the class:

Cor blimey

Another layout today and a couple of cards, I feel exhausted! :oP

It's been a bit of a Banana Frog day:

My poor little brother, forever immortalised in such a photo and sporting such a cute little bib...

• Rouge de Garance papers (including the background sheet)
• Bazzill scalloped cardstock
• Banana Frog Paper Chains, Greenwich Park, and Jeannie Shrimpton stamp sets
• American Crafts Thickers
• KI alpha sticker
• Bling

And a couple of cards for The CAD Project:

• Scraps of left over Pink Martini papers
• Banana Frog Tag IT stamps
• PM button
• Bling!

And today's CAD card:

• Basic Grey papers
• Banana Frog Paper Chains stamp set
• PM button
• Sizzix flower die
• Creative Café scallop chipboard

Day off from work tomorrow, so am out shopping with Zoe in the afternoon after lunch. Looking forward to it!

Playtime mark III

After I got back from my appointment for a facial (the most relaxing hour I've spent in a long while!) I decided I was going to get some scrapping done... well easier said than done.

I sat down, did a little, then got up an ended up being waylaid by other tasks and didn't sit down to actually put my layout together until earlier this evening. Strange how that happens isn't it?

So anyway, I have been playing with my new Banana Frog stash and this is what I came up with, quite a departure from how I originally imagined it, and it looks a lot better in real life than this non-dimensional scan...

• Banana Frog Paper Chains, Tag It, and Postage stamp sets
• Jenni Bowling patterned papers and heart journaling spot
• Making Memories tiny type stickers, trim, flowers, buttons, journaling sheet
• Maya Road chipboard bird
• MME bling
• Creative Café diecut border and holes curtesy of the magical cropodile!

Anyway here are some close-ups with which to better illustrate... :oP

Anyway, the pic is of my Aunty Ula's sister, Yola. She is one of the sweetest, kindest people I know and always as a kid I thought she was the prettiest person I knew! :o) I don't think I've ever seen her without a smile on her face or a twinkle in her eye, even when telling the kids off for fighting...

So, I shall be catching up with some cards tomorrow, who knows, some more Banana Frog projects!

Totally pooped!

I think I shall be having an early night tonight, can't believe how tired I feel and all I've been doing today is cropping! hehe

Anyway, I did manage ONE layout... hm, must try harder next time, or at least bring the right photo configuration to fit some of the sketches in my file! And there were some really fab ones I wanted to try... shame about the photo deficit.

But here is the ONE layout, greatly inspired by Dina Wakely's layouts for the March Poppy Ink Kit (which is what I used!)

• Patterned paper: American Crafts and Scenic Route
• Alpha stickers: Jenni Bowlin and EK Success
• Chipboard: Scenic Route alpha and American Crafts frames/flourishes (they are ultra nice!)
• Doodlebug sequins (I think)

Pics of my auntie Ula and ma in my now most favourite ever café in Płock where they serve the most amazing cakes oh yes... this was mine:

Layers of cake, cream, meringue, nuts, chocolate... oh it was divine.

Anyway, speaking of cake, I managed not to succumb to Gill's cake offering today as I am back on the slimming world waggon but with rigid strictness again! I let it slide too much and really need to just get back on the straight and narrow again.

Day 2 nearly over... :oS

I managed to win the raffle at the crop too, so have a lovely set of Two Scoops alpha rub-ons to play with, and also made some vital "tools" purchases, namely a set of October Afternoon stamps (not the owl set) and a big shot Sizzix die - the essential flower one that Gill has - look forward to playing with it more tomorrow.

But now I'm off to watch the rest of Willy Wonka and fall asleep!

Crikey!

Scrapbooking... such a foreign concept of late, but in between chocolate munching today I managed to scan the layout I did at Center Parcs as well as finally do a scraplift of something I've had in my style file for ages!

So the CP layout is this one of my cousin on my hols to Poland last summer:

Mixture of the Poppy Ink Nov. kit BG Obscure papers and an IT kit, plus thanks to Gill for the loan of her Scrapagogo stamp and her de-eyleting skills for the WRM metal eylet thingy! :oD

And this is the scraplift... unfortunately didn't manage to include the original creator's details in my snipet from the mag this appeared in, but I kept it to use that nice birdie paper from Scenic Route... yes it's been waiting a while to be used.

So a nice and simple way to ease myself back into scrapping... who knows I could do another LO tomorrow... ha! Unlikely!

The first LO of 2008!

OK, brace yourselves... it's nothing special other than being the first layout for the year, but here it is:

I used the January poppy ink kit for everything except the journaling stamp and the alpha is from the December kit. And the owl is apt as the photo was taken outside the owl-ery (as Gill called it) at Krakow zoo!

Here it is - I relly love the chipboard keyring birds from Maya Road - they're all so cute!!

I also used the left-overs to create Thursday's card a day card on the theme of luuuuuuuuuuuurve... ;o)

• Bazzill cardstock to make the card blank
• Sassafras papers
• Narratives die-cut heart sticker
• Hambly rub-ons
• Making Memories flower and button

Right off to bed now!