Feeling Arty

Do you ever get that arty feeling where you just feel like doing something but you don't know what?
You may just have 20mins/half an hour, not really enough time to create a LO but you just feeling like doing something.

I felt like that Friday late afternoon.
The kids were home from school, we were sat together with hot drinks and twinkies that Dad had bought back from the US.

I really had the urge to do something but didn't want to disappear into my studio. So instead I grabbed my art journal, some scraps from my Cocoa Daisy Kit and a black journal pen.

I had already prepped some pages in my journal, they were painted and misted waiting for a moment like this. So I just sat, chatted with the kids, watched tv with them and got arty at the same time.

 

It was just the quick fix that I needed and made me feel so much better : )

 

 

These are my favourite colours right now.

We are decorating the lounge/family room with light neutral colours and pops of teal, green and warm orangey/reds. I'm loving it and it feels so cozy.

I'll share some piccies soon.

 

 

I used this little tree stamp that I got from Cocoa Daisy this month.

And documented why I love Autumn so much.

I like this page in my journal.

 

If you are inspired by art journals or if you fancy giving it a go, I highly recommend you take a look at Anna's monthly Project Art blog posts.

I'm finding them so inspiring and loving all the tips that she gives. There's a video too which I also loved. You can see them all here.

The October Cocoa Daisy Project Art Kit goes on sale here tomorrow.

 

Thanks for stopping by today my arty friends xxx 

 

 

 

Project Life

So, the Cocoa Daisy 'Sweater Weather' Kit was revealed last night.
I've enjoyed this kit so much. I'm currently on my 8th project using it right now.
Not bad going.
It's really inspired me.

One of the things I did do with it was a Project Life page.

 

 

The colours this month really work for me. They are my chosen colours.

I guess that's why I found this kit so easy to work with.

 

 

I grabbed 2 addons this month. Twinset and Cable Knit.

 

 

I love the woodgrain Thickers in the main kit. I teamed them up with the alpha stickers here from the 'Twinset Addon'.

 



And I just love the tree and mini leaf stamps this month too. Cute!!

 

So that's the start of my Cocoa Daisy work this month.

I will share more tomorrow.

 

Off to fix Piri Piri Chicken with Bombay Potatoes.

Fancied a Sunday dinner with a change this week.

 

Hope you've had  a good weekend xx 



Ways with Stamps - Class

Hello : )

Today I'm here to talk about my next class in Swindon, Sparkle Dreams on Sunday October 13th.
I will be doing a class in the afternoon 1pm dedicated to stamping.
Different ways to use stamps, how to get the most out of our stamps and we will be making our own stamps too. We will be creating this LO here and a shaker style card. Both for just £15.

The Sparkle Dream facebook page is here.
Please pop over and give them a lovely 'like'.
Contact details are there if you want to book.

xxx

It's all about the Daisies

Today is all about the Daisies.
My Cocoa Daisies.

My beautiful October Kit arrived last week.
I've been having the kits now since early 2009 and I've been lucky enough to be on the team since 2010. I still get excited when that box arrives.
I've had previous kits in the past and you know the time has come to quit your sub when you take that box from your postie, so matter of fact, pop it to one side with the thought of ''I'll open that later''.

I can honestly say that I never have that feeling with my Cocoa Daisy Kit.
I get butterflies when it arrives and I like to savour my time when I open it.
I would never open it if I'm just about to head out the door for example, I like to have the time to sit down and enjoy it properly.
This is how this months kit opening went.

The doorbell went last Thursday morning and my lovely smilie postie handed it to me.
I carried it through to the kitchen and got the coffee on : )

I then got chance to open the box.
Tissue paper to one side and then I get the first glimpse.
Loving the exclusive papers designed by our Stephanie this month. One of the best quality papers/card I've ever felt. And I love all the pretty stickers : )

 

Alissa had posted the day before on the CD blog how she had started organising her kit. It's the most logical thing to do. I don't know why I didn't think of this idea. As soon as I saw this I had to start scrapping the same way. Take a look here and I know you will be converted too. 

It makes total sense.

 

So I grabbed this old organiser from under my desk. It's been collecting dust for years. It started life as the top layer of Hollie's nappy (diaper) box and ended up becoming a craft box. (in the words of my lovely husband ''it went from a shart box to craft box''. Nice!!

 

 

 I did give it a good clean first : )
I was amazed with what I found in there.
An old cinema ticket from 1995. £2.30. Wow that's some increase.

Scrapping with my kit this month has been so much more enjoyable being this organised and having everything so easy to see and reach. I quite often miss something and forget to use it.
I love the initial part when you open a kit and look at everything.
I go through it once and then the second time turn the papers so that my favourite side is face up.
The second time is when I start making mental notes, gathering my ideas.

Then the real fun starts!

I have since made 2 LO's and 4 little extra pieces.
Here are my sneaks.

 

 

Cute, don't you think?!

 

The reveal will be on Saturday, 28th where you get to see the whole kit.

In the meantime he's a little taster of what's instore for you.

 



There are lots more sneaks on the Cocoa Daisy Facebook page here.

Hope you like it : )
xxx

Love to Write (and a sketch)

I've been meaning to get my bum here and blog for a few days now.
Lots to share and tell.

Today I will start with this.

Yay!! I made the front cover of SCRAP365 again : )
So chuffed!!
We went in to WHSmiths on Friday after school and got excited seeing it on the shelves. There are photos of the kids on there.
If you haven't got a copy yet, I recommend. It's a really good issue.

And I also wanted to share with you the latest SKETCHBOOK365 Challenge here.
I do love a sketch challenge.
The sketch was actually based on one of the LO's I made for the magazine this month.
I then went on to make another LO for the sketch blog. I got sent some rather snazzy Bo Bunny Papers and matching bits and made this.

There's a lovely Bo Bunny prize for the winner, so get your entries in by 10th October.

It's a football training night for us, so that's early dinner.
Better dash.
See you soon xxx

Hello There Sunshine

Hi,
How's the beginning of the week going?
I feel like it should be Thursday already : )

I launched the new 'Scrap Her Style' challenge at Cocoa Daisy this week.  This month we are scraplifting the adorable Alissa known for mini books, project life and cute everyday LO's.
So here's my take to kick start this months challenge.

I used some older bits from my Cocoa Daisy kits. I love having bits of string like this in my kits.
The stickers are from Echo Park and come on a big 12x12 sheet with mini alphas.

I made a little hidden mini book and slipped behind the photo. The bits and pieces in the Cocoa Daisy kits come in little glassine envelopes. I always keep these as they are so handy. I stuck one to the back of the photo and used this as my pocket for the mini book to keep it in one place.

And there's the mini book.

We'd love you to join in with us and play along with this challenge. For more details please check out the Cocoa Daisy blog here.

Have a lovely day xxx

OLW - DO

Hello and a Happy Sunday to you.
Today I have my first ever 'word' LO since being on the DT for 'One Little Word'.
It feels so exciting creating along with this very talented group of ladies.

If you aren't familiar with this challenge blog come an see for yourself.
Each month there will be a new word. You can then create whatever you fancy inspired by that particular word. 

This month the word is 'DO'.
What does this word mean to you?

Here is my LO.

 

With Hollie just starting her GCSE's last week, school has become serious.

I made a 'here is my advice to you...' LO for her.

Life is changing now.

Not only with school now but also with independence, freedom and learning how to manage as a young adult.

It's changing for all of us.

The photo was taken in the summer on her 14th birthday.

 

The LO took me forever. I stitched each line by hand. The clouds were handcut, misted and stamped and I added the journal strips, each one starting with the word 'DO'. The 'GO SEE DO' card is from Cocoa Daisy and those Studio Calico Butterfly Rubbons that I've had for so long now.

 

 I'd love you to see how the other girls have been inspired by this word. Take a look here for LO's, Art Journal Pages and some other fun creations too.  

The challenge will run until 14th October.

 

I hope you've had a fun weekend.

xxx

All for the love of craft!!

It feels like summer has packed up and gone for good.
Where's that sunshine we had last week???????
We are back to drizzle, hot chocolates and hotwater bottles at bedtime (or is that just me?).

I was looking back at some older pages from last year and found this one that was made for the SCRAP365 magazine.
The photos were taken during a weekend to Paris with some lovely scrapbooking girlies.

 

 

It was such a lovely weekend with the perfect traveling companions. 

We stopped off at a big craft expo on the Friday evening which was the reason (excuse) for the trip : )

A couple of the girls bought huge MDF trees. I was tempted but could not be hassled with the thought of carrying it back on the Eurostar.

So on the Sunday when we checked out of the hotel, we did our last stint of sight seeing before taking the metro back to the Eurostar and then walking through London and taking the tube and then train back home.
It was funny and we decided to take photos of the famous MDF trees whilst on their travels.
  

 

 

I used a Cocoa Daisy leaf stamp on my page. I stamped in to patterned paper and stitched through each centre and then just stuck the centres down and curled up the side to give the leaves a little bit of life.

 

 

 

Such happy memories of this weekend.

 

And the next SCRAP365 magazine goes on sale on the 20th Sept.

I can't wait!!

 

Have a great day xx



A Little Road Trip

Whilst we were in Orlando last year we took a little road trip.
We aren't really beach people.
We like the beach, but don't enjoy the whole laying in the sun kind of thing.
So doing a day trip like this is perfect for us.
We try to go somewhere different for a day trip each time we go to Florida.
After lots of research last year I found Anna Maria Island.
A tiny island on the Gulf Coast near Sarasota. Just 7miles in length and at parts you can see both sides of the ocean.

There are a couple of bridges to reach the island, so there's no need to take a boat.

 

The island is left very natural and has a very laid back and rustic feel. Very different to other parts of Florida that we've been to.

 

To the north of the island is the old pier.

 

 

The day that we visited Hurricane Sandy was passing by parts of Florida, so this part was thankfully dry, but a little overcast and very windy today.

 

So this was as far up the pier as we got. We had visions of Louis being blown in : )

 

 

We drove all of 2mins to the other side of the island for a beachside lunch. This place comes highly recommended.

 

 

 

And you really are on the beach.

 

 

 

The seafood was amazing and so much of it.

This was just a starter.

 

 

 

Something else about the island. It's free parking everywhere and there is a free trolley that drives up and down the island free of charge from the early morning until about 10pm.

 

 

The beach was beautiful. The sandy silky soft and the sea lovely clear and warm.

Certain parts of the year you will see dolphins & Manatees swimming from the shore.

 

 

 

The properties on the island are so colourful and sweet.

 

 

 

It was such a lovely day and we'd really recommend a visit if ever you are visiting Orlando.

I have a proper trip report written up here if you would like more details.

 

I made a LO about this day recently using Simple Stories 'Urban Traveler' papers.

These papers are perfect for recording any trip.

Details of this page are on the Papermaze blog here. 

 

Here's the LO. There are close ups and details on the Papermaze Blog.

 

 

 

After a cold and wet start to the week here, I could really do with a little Florida beach trip.

Another year to go....

 

Thanks for stopping by.

See you soon xx

 

 

 

 



A Sketch Challenge, Some Circles & a Sweet Baby Girl

And all in the one LO.

The Cocoa Daisy September sketch challenge has gone live today.
Here is my take... a little far fetched from the original sketch which is here.

I just love circles.
My sweet little niece ‘Millie’ We were waiting at the train station for them to catch a train home. She sat back, raised her arms and feet in the air and said ‘'Look! I can hold on with nonsey feet and nonsey hands’. I love that baby talk.

I used the main kit for this LO and added one of the chipboard Fancy Pants hearts from addon #2. I stuck it on the wrong way as I liked the white backing.

We still have a few on the main kits left here if you are feeling tempted.

The sketch challenge runs for the next 2 weeks if you need something to get you back in to scrapping again after the summer.
You could win $10 to spend in store.

Have fun xx

Mini Book Class

Hello : )

Remember my Mini Book on the cover of the latest SCRAP365 Magazine?
Here's a reminder.

(still on sale)

Well, my next class in Sparkle Dreams in Swindon will be based upon this mini book.
It's such a cute little book with pockets and tags to pull out.

 

 

The class is on Sunday 22nd September from 10.30am- 1.30pm and costs £20.

More details on how to book are here.

 

Thanks xxx

 

Project Life

I've neglected my Project Life pages recently.
There's been a lot going on. But I always promised myself when I decided to scrap this way that I wouldn't number my weekly pages and I wouldn't put any stress on myself. I would just do it as and when I fancied. So I'm ok with missing out a few weeks here and there.

Here is my page that I made using my Cocoa Daisy addon 'Daisy Special' this month.

 

I documented a few days when Dad was over including a day in London.

I used one of the glassine envelopes that comes with the kits to hold our train tickets.

 

 

We have a whole blog page dedicated to these pages over at Cocoa Daisy today.

Come and see here.

 

Off to fix lunch now. We are enjoying the last 3 days of school holiday.

xxx