2013 Mini Book Madness

I'm trying to be more organised this year.
I love keeping little momentos. Tickets, random notes and certain receipts.
So this year I've made a mini book to store all these bits in safely (rather than them just collate in a basket).

I've used my leftovers from my Cocoa Daisy January 'Pemberley' Kit. One of the addons had these fab papers and stickers from Echo Park 'Todays Story'.

I started off with 12 paper bags and a newspaper.

  The paper bags were quite long so I trimmed off the top and cut the newspaper down to roughly fit each side of the bag leaving a edge of the paper bag showing all the way around. I used mod podge to stick down the paper and brushed some over the top too.

I then got messy and covered the bags in mists, glimmer glaze and glam and sprinkled over some glitter too. Each bag is to be used for a pocket each month. They open out really nicely. I then decided that they would hold better as a book if they were stuck together back to back in pairs. So once dry I did this.

I then used the Echo Park papers and stickers to decorate each page. I also had some MME Washi tape from the kit and a piece of MME paper with numbers too (The Sweetest Thing collection) It all went together so well. Each bag represents one month. So they are decorated Jan through to Dec.

The book needs to be secure both sides so that none of the tickets and notes fall out.
I made a hole one side to thread the ribbon through (this also came with the kit)
Then before it gets tied accross, the pockets are all loose so I can add anything that I want to.

 

The ribbon then gets pulled accross and tied in a pretty bow so anthing inside won't fall out.

I shall keep this on my desk now and keep all my little bits and pieces safe this year : )

We have decided this year over at Cocoa Daisy that we are really going to showcase our Mini Books more. There are alot of us on the team that make these regular, so at the end of each month we will be doing a whole blog post dedicated to the mini books that have been made that month. This will include step by steps, tips and hints and theme ideas too. This month Jody has done the post and Mandy Kay and myself have made mini books too.

If you like Mini Books I think you will love this new feature and if you don't maybe pop along anyway and be inspired to maybe start one. They aren't as scary as some may think : ) 

 

This new blog post 'Mini Book Madness' can be viewed here.

Thanks for stopping by today xxx

 

  

The Best Night (Cocoa Daisy)

On to my next Cocoa Daisy LO from this month.
It was the Best Night Ever

An evening full of giggles, shopping, silliness, more giggles, Good Italian food, Disney fireworks and loads more giggles.

It was myself and Ade along with Sharmaine, MandyK, Denise and Steph in Downtown Disney.
We had so much fun and then ended up at our hotel for cocktails.

I added the 'Now Showing' addon to my kit this month. I love the pack of KI Memories Glitter Stickers that comes with this addon and the mini Lilybee alphas. There's so much in this addon.

 

I cut of some rough circles from the patterned paper and stuck white card to the back and added lots of doodling and some journaling.

 

I love this silly evening : )

I've had a lovely morning meeting up with a really sweet friend at Marks and Spencers for toasties and a latte. It was really good to get away from the studio and  meet up with a good friend. We are going to try and do this more often.

I hope you are having a good day too.
xxxx

Love This - Cocoa Daisy Kit

My Feb Cocoa Daisy finally arrived on Saturday whilst I was out.
I was so pleased : )
I didn't get to start on it until late Sunday and managed to get 3 LO's done and loaded yesterday in time for the reveal.
It was Louis' 11th birthday on Saturday so I started with a LO about his birthday.

I kept to an aqua, yellow and blue colour combo.
I used the little glassine envelope that the bits and pieces from the kit are kept in. I've stuck the photo on top and filled the envelope with tickets, receipts and a journal card from the day.

 

I googled 'star print out'. Copy and pasted a star, cut it out and used this for my template on my pattern paper. Each main kit also comes with one of Ronda's new Crafter's Workshop Stencils. I just love this pie chat so so much.

  If you take a look at this months Cocoa Daisy gallery you can see how many different ways it's been used.

I've got so many more ideas using this kit : )

But for now, it's back to work.

See you tomorrow x

My Cocoa Daisy Sneaks

Yay, I can finally share my sneaks with you.

I am loving this Cocoa Daisy kit so so much.
It finally arrived Saturday whilst I was out but it was Lou's birthday so I couldn't play, then I was away teaching all day yesterday, so it has been a mad rush.
But I've just uploaded my Cocoa Daisy gallery ready for tonights reveal at 9pm EST.
That's 2am for us in the UK.
There will be the full reveal, lots of kit talk and lots of fun happening here.
It's a kit you just won't want to miss, plus my special project kit, don't forget.

Hugs xxx

The Green Umbrella Mini Book

A Happy Weekend to You!!
I hope you are having a good one.

Following on from the SCRAP365 Bloghop this week I thought it would be fun to share something that I made for the magazine quite some time ago. This was back in 2011 infact.
I made a special mini book for my sweet sister, Sarah-Jane.
I love that girl to bits!
I managed to get my hands on an old copy of her favourite childhood book 'The Green Umbrella'.
I gesso'd the pages, misted and added bits and pieces, some photos, some notes and quotes and then I had a very special little book to give to her.

Here are just a few pages.
Us, then and now. (I'm the older one by 5yrs).

I'm so glad we are so close. She really is my best friend.
I love this little book.

Have you got the latest issue of SCRAP365 yet?
It's the new bi monthly larger version. I hope you like it : )
There's some beautiful features in there.

My hubby is running me a bubblebath, so I'm off now.
It's Louis' 11th birthday and it's been a busy one. I'm going for a soak whilst her plays on the ps3 for 30mins.

Thanks for stopping by xxx

SCRAP365

If you haven't seen already SCRAP365 are having a bloghop this week and today is the last day.
There's lots going on there this week and you still have time to join in.
Come and see here.
There is lots of inspiration to be seen there too.

One other thing before I get back to work.
I have finally signed up to Instagram this week. What fun!!
You can follow me here - 
thefunkyfairy

Have a lovely day xxx

Meet Joel & Julia

These were the two big birds that hung out outside our building when we were in Orlando.
They were taller than Louis.
To start with we were scared of them. Expecting them to chase us like geese would, but instead they were the sweetest pair that just went about their own business and were always together.

The kids named them Joel and Julia and made up stories about them being married.
It was so sweet on our last day as we were getting ready to leave we heard this noise outside. We looked over the balcony and it was Joel and Julia calling us to say goodbye : )

 

I was looking forward to documenting these two.
We hope to go back to Orlando next year. It would be so good if they were still there.
I used my Cocoa Daisy 'Pemberley' kit.
And I also made this for the 'Designers Choice Challenge' over at Cocoa Daisy.
I set the challenge to use this colour combo on your LO's.
You can view the challenge here if you fancy playing along. It runs until Tues 29th Feb and the winner gets a $10 voucher to spend in the Cocoa Daisy Store.

I used some Dylusions paints on this page. I really miss those paints. I loved the round tubs they came in. I did think after making this LO that the white paint on the title looked a little like bird poo!!

 

I also used a Cocoa Daisy stamp here. The round ones with arrows.

And my journaling below.

Thanks for stopping by today xxx

Love Letters Project Kit

Hello.
I'm so excited about this.
I have put together my own Project Kit for Cocoa Daisy.
It's the first time : )

I'm feeling so proud of this little project which will be sold as an addon to the main kit to subbers on the 28th Jan and to everyone else on the 1st Feb at Cocoa Daisy here. 

It's full of girliness and oozes out glitz and lurve. Just what 'one' wants in the month on Love
: )

 I shall keep you updated.
Once the kit has gone out at the beginning of Feb there will be a section on the CD message board for support to those who purchased the kits for any questions.

Enjot the snow xxx

Holding Hands & Some Sneaks

Hello to you!!
I hope you are keeping warm if you have snow like us.
It's feeling rather chilly here in England.

I started a new style of challenge at Cocoa Daisy this month.
Whilst away with the Daisies at CHA last week I could really see how the personalities of the girls reflected upon their scrapbooking style.
That's when I thought it would be fun to focus on one DT members style each month and for us to lift their style.

I chose my sweet friend Mandyk to get us started. I didn't Know Mandy so well before meeting up and I would say that Mandy has had the biggest impact on me.
This girl is such a HOOT!! She made Ade and I laugh so much and we both love her to bits.

Mandy has such a fun style. She uses larger photos to scrap and these really long titles. The funny thing was when we mentioned this to her, she had never realised : )

So this month we are scrapping Mandyk style at Cocoa Daisy.   
Here is my LO in honour of sweet, funny Mandy.

I've used bits from my January Cocoa Daisy kit along with some chip board alphas that I had left from an older kit.

The canvas flowers came with the kit too and weren't really my thing. I switched some of them over and stuck them pattern size down and sprayed some mist over.  Now I like them and I love the texture they add.

We'd love you to join in with us at Cocoa Daisy. Please come and see and also take a look at some of Mandyk's amazing work that I've picked out here.

I also have some sneaks of the Feb Cocoa Daisy kit which should be arriving sometimes this week on my door : )
Introducing 'Double Feature'

 

And the Stamps

 Can you see why I'm so excited about my box arriving?
Lucky me : )
You can join us here on the 28th Jan for the full reveal.

Thanks for stopping by today xxx

Bye Bye LA

Hello.
We are home again after the most amazing weeks ever.
We have sone and seen so much in the one week. It's felt like the honeymoon we never had and we got to meet the most wonderful group of ladies that I'm so happy to call my friends.

We started off on the 9th Jan with 2 nights in the quaintest B&B.
The Channel Inn in Santa Monica. 

We highly recommend this place and would go back just to stay here again. It was beyound perfect.
Each room is individual. This was ours. There was a cute desk under the window with a glimpse of the ocean.
There was always homemade cakes and cookies available.
A fridge with sodas, hot drinks, cheese and wine and nibbles table in the afternoon and the most amazing breakfast spread all complimentry. They could not do enough for you.

 
The first morning before breakfast we wandered down the to beach which was just 2mins away.
There is a big walkway within the beach that can take you for miles. After breakfast we walked a mile to Santa Monica Pier.

I was last in Santa Monica in 1996 and it's really improved since then. We loved the shopping. Stopped for lattes. I was thrilled to see an Anthropogie. I treated Hollie and myself to an apron each and bought some cute dishes too.

The following day we enjoyed the sunshine, put the roof down on the car and drove around Beverly Hills and Hollywood.

 

We then had the drive from hell to Anaheim (those LA roads are a nightmare). We met Ade's work collegue at our next hotel, The Sheriton in Anaheim. Him and his wife took us out for a lovely meal.

 They bought us back to the Sheriton where we settled in to our very big room before meeting up with the Cocoa Daisy girls.

 It was so good to meet the girls. We went for an Indian with Emily, Denise, Mandy and Sharmaine.

And the following morning we all met up for CHA.

I went around with Denise and Sharmaine. It was so much fun (despite the pounding headache that I had most of the day).

We met lots of people. I loved Elle from Elle's Studio. What a sweet lady!! She has some wonderful new things instore including paper lines : )

 

We loved Amy Tan and stopped to chat and do a make and take with her. I'm looking forward to her new book.

We stopped by to get messy with our lovely Ronda and admire and play with her new Crafters Workshop Masks.

We then all met up for a meal in the evening and had a good laugh back at the hotel together.

 

Ronda, Stephanie, Sharmaine, Mandy and Denise.

 Myself and Christine the owner of Cocoa Daisy.

The next day Christine, Mandy, Denise, Stephanie, Sharmaine and myself and Ade all had an IHOP breakfast together. The girls all then hit CHA again. It felt like even more fun this time.

 We did this in the photo booth.

And this with Dina Wakely.

 

We played with Claudine Hellmuth.

  

Then Denise, Stephanie, Sharmaine, Mandy, Ade and I went to Downtown Disney for some fun.

I have to say Ade fitted in so well with the girls and they seemed to love him too. He became one of us.

And I think after that evening none of us will ever look at lego in the same light again.
The lego store at Downtown Disney.

We had a lovely Italian meal whilst we were there and all came back for cocktails at our hotel.

Monday was then Denise's last day : (
We all had Starbucks together and a great Cocoa Daisy chat. We have just bonded so much and all had so many ideas that were bouncing between us. It felt like such a great team spirit.

We sadly saw Denise off and then breifly met Julie Tucker-Wolek. I can't find those photos right now, I think they were taken with the other camera. Julie was lovely just as I expected. Thanks for waiting for us Julie x

Ade and I went shopping for the rest of the afternoon and then met up at our hotel again in the evening for more drinks.

Starbucks again in the morning for our last time together. It was so sad having to say goodbye. I feel so close to these girls now : (
Ade and I had planned a day exploring the coast a little. It was roof down and lots of stop offs.

Newport Beach

 Laguna Beach

 Dana Point,

 We stopped at when Ade had worked a few years ago and went to the place he used to eat all the time and had ribs for lunch.

 

And we stopped off at the beach that was closest to him when he was out there. Aliso Beach.

The drive was really beautiful and this part of California was so much prettier.

And we loved our little Mustang.

We ended the day in the hot tub back at our hotel. It felt so strange with all the others gone.
In the morning it was time for us to leave too. Another hot tub (something that Ade and I had done every morning before meeting up with the others). We went to Starbucks for the last time and felt sad at our table without the others and then we headed out to Seal Beach for lunch before going to the airport.

There were dolphins swimming here near the pier.

And then the flight home which was easier than on the way out. We slept a little, it arrived an hour early and Matt le Blanc was on our flight and stood near us when we were waiting for the bags to arrive. Rather a pleasant ending : )

So as you can see it's been the perfect week and we have loved every minute.
Thank you to everyone who helped us do this. Parents who had our children, friends for helping after school, Christie and Simon for having Poppy Dog and to our lovely Cocoa Daisy friends.
Same again next year??????

Big hugs and love from
Lisa and Ade xxx