Louis' Terror

Hi,
I hope you've had a good weekend.
I finished this LO off this morning rather early. Not because of my usual reason because I love early mornings, but as I was so naffed off all night by my snoring and quilt stealing husband. Really not a good start. He did though empty the dishwasher and make the bed this morning, so I'm guessing he feels abit guilty.

So, I'm sharing my Sketchy Thursday LO this morning. You know how much I love these sketches.



And my take. I've pretty much stuck to the sketch this time. My LO's usually end up looking nothing like it:



Poor Louis really wasn't a happy bunny. The rest of us 3 found it hilarious. (the ride, not Louis' upset, that just made us laugh a little)



Look at his little face. I should have done a before and after on those photos. The smile and the sad face.



I changed my mind with the title. I started with some turquoise alpha stickers. But the different shade of blue didn't look quite right. So I plastered some blue paint over top, as you do. Then ended up peeling the stickers off. I'm quite pleased with the accidental title.



That chicken I made yesterday was so so scrummy. Really gave Nandos a run for it's money. 17 different herbs and spices and stuff went into the rub. By the way, if you have any advice on how I can get my lovely pink Le Cruset dish looking lovely again, please let me know. I've soaked and scrubbed and it's got burnt herbs and spices welded on : (
There's still half a happy chook left, so it's fajitas tonight. Yum Yum. And I think I'll bake banana and blueberry muffins later too. I made the best banana frosting the other day. Philadelphia, icing sugar and a drizzle of banana liquor : )
I wonder if that's why the kids slept so well??

TFL xxx

Sunday, the day of rest

As I type this, I have had a lie in. Had my morning latte made and bought to me.
Started up a new blog for my Funky Fairies business . A bit of an experiment. I've listened to Louis read another story he's written. I've laid out some papers and photos for this weeks Sketchy Thursday challenge. and I've used my new mini blender to whizz down lots of fresh herbs and spices to create my own Nandos style rub/marinade that I've just coated a whole chicken in. I plan to do something slightly different for Sunday Dinner today. My spicey/bbq style chicken, rice with kidney beans, green salad and I've made fresh tear and share bread flavoured with pesto and parmesan. And to finish, yesterday I made pumpkin muffins with cream cheese topping : ) I'm so into my cooking again lately.

I think a family film is planned for this afternoon. Not quite sure what that will be yet. This usually kicks off an argument these days.

And as it's Sunday, that means a new challenge from The Studio.
Here's what to do if you want to join in. There's a prize for grabs too:

Metamorphasis – scrap a life-changing event that’s affected you.
How has it changed you as a person?



I've scrapped from the heart this week. Something sentimental and there's a letter inside the pocket for Ade from me.

The Weekend

Yay it's here. I love weekends !!!

The kids have just left for their Dad's, first time in ages. The house feels quiet. It's been a mad dash kind of day. Grocery shopping straight after school drop off, then straight into work, collect kids at 3.15pm and manic rush to get off to swimming lessons. I just feel like a hot bubble bath, glass of wine and my book. Ade has other ideas....not what you may be thinking...he wants me to walk Poppy-Dog with him : (

Thought I'd share these with you.
This was Hollie going in for a snog with a stegasaurus.




And this was my take on the most recent Cocoa Daisy scraplift.



Have a lovely weekend...think I'm going to sneak upstairs and run that bath xx

A bit if this and a bit of that

I really can't be bothered to go out this morning. I'd rather stay home. But my nails desperately need doing and I must must must get passport photos done. My driving license expires on Sunday and I have to get the photo redone. Not that I really look too much different from 10yrs ago to be honest, just longer hair now. Pain in the ar$e! And another bloody £20 to spend + buying photos. Can think of better things to spend that money on.

Anyway, moan over, he's a sketch from Creative Scrappers that I worked on at the weekend.



I played around with the photo abit and ended up with this circular version that fits in well with the sketch.
Felt like a nice change doing something abit different.
Going Underground - Keeps making me sing The Jam's song. I loved Paul Weller. Cool Band!



Another Florida Pic, surprise surprise. This is one using up my Papermaze stash.



I used my new Tim Holz inks and blender, love playing with that.



Louis refused to stand by Minnie. As she is a girl and obviously now as he's 8 it's too embaressing to stand anywhere near a girl. Even if that girl is Minnie Mouse. We told Minnie this and she went really shy and waved to Louis : )

I had a lovely time after school yesterday. My lovely friend Amanda came over with her son and Hollie had a friend over too. I baked lemon drizzle cupcakes, mini victoria sponges with fresh cream and made homemade pizzas for the kids.
It was really nice, kids were good and Mummies were happy too : )

Have a good day xxx

Tuesday

I couldn't think of a title for today, nothing much to tell really. School, work, mealtimes. Nothing majorly exciting.
I have however managed 6 LO's over the past 3 days. I received my April sketches from Sketchy Thursday and got extremely excited and did 3 in a row : )
I love those sketches so much. Yesterday I had a really productive work day, I was really disciplined and still managed 2 LO's before bed. Not bad considering I worked until about 9.30pm. Just kept revisiting my LO's to make little changes.

This is one I made yesterday.Twisted Sketches




I've had the sketch printed and on my desk for a few days now but just couldn't work with it. Then my friend Sue used the sketch and it made me feel inspired to give it another go. I changed my photos and came up with this Rainy Day LO.



Ade bought me some jars of Claudine Hellmuth paints for my birthday (thanks for the recommendation Steph) and I just love them. The thickness is just lush. I've painted over these foam thickers.



The twist with this latest challenge was to used something green. If I'm terribly honest, I did forget this. But have noticed that my Sassafras sticker is a green grid : )
So that was our very rainy day at Magic Kingdom.



The Studio launched a new challenge on Sunday. A lovely one to play along with this week. Buttons and Bows.



I've made these handmade flowers and holed the cardstock to thread my ribbon through.



If you want join in visit here and you'll be in for winning the March Prize.

Back to work for me now. I want to bake some cupcakes too and the kids and I have a friend around after school today : )

Pretty things from Papermaze

Hi,
I hope you are having a lovely weekend. It's a damp grey one here, but that just makes me feel cozy and happy to stay in. It's 9am here and I've just started up my first pot roast in the slowcooker. I'm looking forward to Sunday Dinner today. I'm also planning on making an adaption of the classic Egg Custard Tart. I've decided to make it creamier and add blueberries to it. Dust off with icing sugar once it's baked, served warm with warm custard and cream
: ) mmmmmmmmmm

Anyway, Papermaze.
I received a great package this month to play with. I'm so enjoying scrapping all these Florida photos and have already filled my new red 12x12 album and have now added extra wallets.
I was sent 3 MME Journaling cards. I really love using these. This one had a space for a photo. I tend to find Louis so easy to scrap about lately as he's always up to something (good or bad) So I decided to scrap about Hollie and how easy she was to take on holiday and differences between this trip to Florida and the previous one with her 3 yrs ago.
(feel free to click on the photo to read the journaling (Dad, an instruction for you xx) )



I played about with my mists and added lots of the October Afternoon stickers creating lots of sub titles and then just added journaling accordingly.



Now as you know, Louis keeps us on our toes. He does however have the sweetest side to him and is incredibly loving and caring (to me) in many ways more so than Hollie.
I love this photo of him at Epcot. Although he is actually being quiet, I'm sure there's some crazy plan going on in that little head of his.



Also in my Papermaze package were some MME papers. I've loved using these as greens and browns seem to be my colours lately.
I've cut out the clouds from one piece of pp and stuck in place and added a few stitches here and there.
The buttons and leaves on the right are actually stickers also made by MME to match the papers.



I do believe latte no2 is on it's way and the PS2 is set and ready for a game of monster buzz. I can tell you already, Louis and I won't be the winners, we never are. The other 2 are just so competitive.
It's the joining in that counts eh?!!

Have a fun day of rest xxx

Please Meet...

.... Mr and Mrs Cheese.
Made from Louis' old school socks.
Laura, I love that book : )



I had a lovely birthday yesterday and can not believe I'm 35. Sounds so grown up. Although aren't women supposed to be in their prime during their mid thirties? Maybe it won't be quite so bad : )
We had a coffee in Windsor and a lovely family evening with a cheese picnic.

We are having a lazy weekend. So I need to get back to the others. But this is what I made this morning with this weeks Sketchy Thursday sketch.




I love this story, it makes me laugh.

My 'me' time is over.
A visit to 'Pets at Home' this afternoon ( i love visiting those guinea pigs) followed by cleaning my own piggie out when we get back, family games and a film are in store.

Have a happy Saturday. xx

Swappsies

Just a quick one from me today.

I've just seen on Fay's blog that she's joining in on this really cool swap of
handmade goodies. Not the usual button or stamp swap. This one is more special : )
Take a peak and see what I mean.

If you want to join in, you need to do so by tomorrow and then you have until the end of April to send whatever you end up making.

Sounds like fun xx

Lucky Lucky Me

I'm so pleased to have been picked for the Sketchy Thursday DT : )
I love their sketches and adore Diana. So thank you Diana and Heidi.
I'm looking forward to working with you guys these next few months xx


I had a lovely afternoon yesterday and it wasn't just because Louis was at a friend's and the house was blissfully quiet. Hollie and I got home, we sat on my sofa in my studio, lattes in hand and a blueberry muffin each and talked scrap. Hollie then worked on her latest mini book and I worked on my LO below.
I love having a daughter who scraps : )








Louis can generally be really hard work at meal times. I dread to think what other people think of him when he eats at other people's houses. His manners are dreadful. You wouldn't think that we eat as a family at the table just about every night of the week. We find ourselves repeating the same thing over and over every night.
Monday was a particually bad night. Pasta sauce on the curtains, spaghetti on the floor all over his chair, he was covered, cutlery on the floor. Nightmare.

A short while later he approached with this sorry letter and apologised for his bad behaviour. So included this by making a small pocket on my LO out of a tag.
I really like this Creative Scrappers sketch and found myself delving back into the Cocoa Daisy - Ali Edwards special kit.
I love this kit so much.



Pizza night in our house tonight. Hollie stays late after school on a Wednesday for extra maths and Louis wants to help make dinner tonight. So it's homemade pizza. He'll enjoy making that and hopefully it won't be too messy : )

Inspire me.....

Where do you go for inspiration?
What makes you want to scrap?

I'm loving the blue skies and warmer weather we are having right now. Puts me in such a happy mood. I'm getting out and walking alot more which I think helps too.

I snuck in some sneaky scraptime yesterday. Dinner was prepped, we'd practised spellings and timestables, the kids were watching Hannah Montana, so I sat at my desk ready to start fresh LO. I took this Twisted Sketch. It's the second time I've tried to be inspired by it but again nothing came.
So I took the next step and went to my friend Ronda's blog for a read and a nose.
Ronda never ceases to amaze me with her creations. The artistic touch and honesty, she has such a natural flair. So within minutes I had my January Cocoa Daisy Kit open and I made this.



I saw this sketch in such a different light suddenly.



The twist this week is to add staples.



Another way I always feel inspired is to play along with challenges.
I find it such a quick way to get a LO started.
Butterfly Crafts launched a new challenge yesterday. It's a recipe challenge this time. And the recipe is :

Polka dots
Orange
Gingham Ribbon
Butterfly
Scalloped edge
Turquoise
Cherries
Pins
Felt
Bling

Add as many of those as you can.






I love this photo that Ade took one morning at our resort as the hot air balloons went over.




We really really love it there at Bahama Bay.

Hope you have a lovely day and thank you to all of you who inspire me each day xxxx

The Latest Sudio Challenge

It's that time again. The next challenge over at The Studio.
This weeks challenge is to go Sticker Crazy. Make a LO with lots of stickers.
Here's what I made.



Visit here to join in and see what the other DT members did.

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to all you UK Mummys.
It's also our Wedding Anniversary today.
Here's my card to Ade.



I've used the Sketchy Thursday Sketch again this week. Here's what I've made using a photo taken on holiday at Epcot on Valentines Day.

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I've had a lovely day today. We've been out to the woods for a walk and then I've baked all afternoon. A Blueberry Chocolate Gateau Cake and Blueberry Muffins too.

Mexican is on the menu this evening. I've made chili tacos, fresh salsa, rice and salad. Can't wait.
Hope you've had a good weekend. xxx

My early but very special Mother's Day Gift

I think next time I feel down, I need to look at this LO. I made this yesterday afternoon. Hollie came home from school with a headache and went straight to bed, Ade took Louis to his swimming lesson, so I scrapped this story whilst it was still fresh in my head.

Here's what happened, here's what my journaling reads:

Everyone else came out of school holding a plant. Except for you. You said “I never got one”. . I said maybe it’s only 1 plant per family as Hollie had one for me. You looked sad. You ran upstairs to your room when we got home . A few minutes later you were in floods of tears holding this plant at the top of the stairs with wet tissue paper around it. You were crying as you’d ruined my Mother’s Day present. They told you to water it, so you did and got the tissue paper wet. You said “I was the only one that chose red and blue tissue your’s was original and it was all puffed up and pretty and now it was wet and droopy”.

I said “But this makes it even more special”. “No one else hid their plant in their bag from their Mummmy & the fact that you’ve then tried to water it to keep it fresh shows me how much you care and love me and that means so much more to me”.

As I scrapped this story, I was having one of those feelings of 'Yep, this is why I scrap. This is what it's all about.

xx

Friday Already

Where did this week go? It's just flewn by?
Just a quick post as I've got to go get ready for school and still have lunches to make. Bah!
Above is a sketch from Creative Scrappers and below is my take.

Not quite like the sketch, but isn't that the whole fun of a sketch?

And here's Mum's Mother's Day card.
It make me think of Kit Kats. So there's a Kit Kat and teabag inside too.
Every Mum likes to sit down with a cuppa and choccie, don't they?!

One last thing, have you been over to Butterfly Crafts? Don't forget the challenge from the beginning of the month. The recipe challenge. There's a prize up for grabs. Visit here for details.
The next challenge goes live on Sunday.

Right.....school run here I come.
TFL xxx

Big Brads

Hi, I'm feeling tired today and abit odd. I think I'll feel happy when I've been to the post office, got a couple of worky jobs done that are on my 'to-do' list and then I'll make a latte.

In the meantime, I've uploaded these.
I think this is one of faves from this Florida Album so far. This colour combo of brown, green, red and turquoise is a real favourite of mine right now.
I found this Sketch Challenge Blog this week which I love. Twisted Sketches. Here's the Sketch I worked from.
I used bits and pieces from Cocoa Daisy kits and some October Afternoon stickers too.

The twist in the challenge is to use fabric somewhere on the LO. I used these large fabric covered brads that were in the CD Ali Edwards kit.

The photo was taken in our fave park, Island of Adventures. We love it there. Both times it's been our fave. I've popped a journal tag under the photo of all the reasons we love it so much.

This next one is a sketch from Sketchy Thursday. It's an additional sketch this week sponsered by The Pink Ninja Addicts. Their blog is really cool and definitely worth a visit.

The challenge is :

Prompt - Fill in the blanks: "If I could __________, I would ________."

Technique - Mist or paint IN PINK.

And to use the sketch here.

My pink mist isn't so obvious, but I didn't want it overpowering my page. The smaller pink dots near the photos are Heidi Swapp hot pink paint pushed though a piece of cardstock with holes punched out.
My journaling on all the circles says: Hey Guys!...... If I could join..... You in that pool.... I would but it's Freezin.... You say you get used to it.....But it's far too cold for me.... I prefer the hot tub.

It really was icey cold. I have no idea how they kept playing in there.

I guess that's me done here. Orders to be packed and Post Office here I come !