First Date

It's our 8yr anniversary of our first date today.
I used my August Cocoa Daisy Kit to make him this.

A tiny little mini book using the Fancy Pants papers from the main kit.

Just a quick and simple book with a few snapshots of us.

 With our favourite ever memory being in LA this January.

And the back of the book.
There are more photos of the inside in my Cocoa Daisy gallery here.

We are taking my niece and nephew home this morning and then heading out for a childfree afternoon. We are going to Bristol for the first time for a wander and some lunch.
Our first ever date was the movies 'War of the Worlds' and dinner at Wagamamas where Ade introduced me to Japanese Noodles : )

Have a fab day xxx

Breath...and start again

That's what I need to do this morning.
Things haven't gone to plan.
I missed an appointment yesterday, I thought it was for today and now I'm feeling rubbish.
I'm having one of those 'bad mother moments'. I had an evening out on Wednesday. I got taken to a spa by a lovely friend and had the most awful migraine : ( 
I seem to rush around, work long hours running my own business, keep a clean tidy house, make nice meals with  home baking inbetween, have the kid's friends over. .... I'm trying to be the perfect mother, wife, friend and business woman. I don't think it's possible to be perfect at everything. As much as I would like and try to.

So I've taken a deep breath this morning, made a latte, toasted a hot cross bun amd I'm going to strat all over again.

I did make a couple of LO's that I'm so happy with yesterday afternoon.
I had some gorgeous goodies this week from Chic Tags and a lovely box from Papermaze too with loads of Pink Paislee - Secret Crush. I had the LO's on the side of my desk and I've been laying bits here and there and swapping over these past couple of days. So yesterday I finally stuck it all in place and that felt good. I haven't had so much scrappy time this week.

Today though I'm going to dream of our 'happy place' and that is Orlando.
We are planning on an Oct 2014 visit and my heart just flutters thinking about it. It's just over 3mth since we've been back and that's all we talk about.
We love this place.
Here is a LO that I made for the magazine SCRAP365 some time ago.

At the resort where we stay there's a really quiet kiddie play area. We often start our day by wandering here with a mug of tea and some books. There's a play frame/slide, kiddie splash pool, loungers and this fab gazebo. And we've never seen anyone else in this spot : )
It's a lovely start to the day.

I dug out some old foam stamps for this page and made my own title. I stamped with paint on to white card stock and cut out once dry leaving a white edge. I used the Fancy Pants collection 'back to school'.

**sigh** how we love this place.

Right back to reality and back to work now : )
I'm teaching and cropping tomorrow near me and I can not wait.
It's such a lovely group of ladies and I'm taking a good friend along too, so even better and my sweet friend Anne has had her baby and both will be coming.
It's going to be a good weekend.

Hope you have a lovely weekend too.
Lots of love xxx

Good Ol' Gesso

Gesso is one of those products that I just can't be without anymore.
It's a must for me.
I use it on it's own as a base or I mix it with other products too such as paints or sprinkle over some glitter. It's so fun and versatile.
I get asked so often during classes what I use it for.
Here's a couple of projects that I've used it on. 

Here is an older LO that I made for the Craft Stamper Magazine last year.

Papers:Fancy Pants Designs - Summers End

I loved the old wall that Hollie was stood up against. It's like an old tunnel at the Royal Virgina Gardens. It was a fun afternoon with Dad and my sister and her family. We got a bit lost, the little boys needed a wee ( and a #2) and there was no toilet in sight. Not like you can just let them go behind the bushes eh!! It's funny the things you remember : )

I wanted to bring out the old brick wall and had a really good Cocoa Daisy Wall Stamp. I laid on some gesso for my background and added some molding paste too. I used a little orange ink on the brick wall stamp and pressed it in to the gesso and paste to get this great effect. I splashed a little gesso around too.

I also altered this old table last year.
I bought it from a thrifty store. It was dark brown and rather boring. 

 Ade was always complaining that we needed a coffee table, but I didn't want one stuck in the middle of the room. So this seemed like the perfect idea. It's small enough to pop around the side of the sofa, but he pulls it out when we have a coffee.

I cleaned and sanded it down a little and then covered it in old book pages and painted over with gesso once dry. I hand cut a big heart and misted over and typed up these words to add. I covered it in modge podge and it was finished. I have to say I'm so pleased with it. It fits in with our lounge room perfectly and over a year later still looks as good.

I also added some Bakers Twine to the table legs and used gesso over the top.

It makes a great primer. I always use it on canvases before I start painting. I also enjoy adding it to patterned papers if they are really busy. It tones them down a little.
 There are lots of different types to buy.
Just experiment and have fun.
That's what this is all about eh?!!
  
xxx

Deck the Halls

Yesterday we decked the halls with Michael Buble playing in the background.
I get very excited by this event every year. It needs to be perfect.
I baked mince pies before we started (fruit pies for the kids using my friend Chris' homemade apple and blueberry jam) so we had them warm whilst decorating.

Louis still loves the playmobil nativity set. He's in charge of this every year. He sets it up infront of the fireplace. We needed some new fabric for baby Jesus manger this year and he added gifts too.
It's now feeling very Christmassy and cozy at home : )


I've been making lots lately and feel much more organised than usual.
I have lots of homemade gifts ready to go.
Personalised jute shopping bags, funky tea towels. Canvases, mini books and some other stuff.

I made this for someone recently and forgot to share here.
I used the Baby Mine collection from Fancy Pants.
When I received it all earlier this year I didn't think I would use much of it as the kids are older now, but I've almost finished the whole lot now.
It's so easy to use.

Thanks for stopping by today.
Hope you had a good weekend x

It's a Sketchy Thursday

After taking some time over Thanks Giving Sketchy Thursdays are back again.

Here's my take on this weeks sketch.


Using pretty Oct 31 papers from Fancy Pants along with some Sassafras. Pretty colours.
The photos are abit naff, but they tell a story of how Hollie is so self consious when she has her glasses on. Poor baby.
I've used some Crafter Workshop templates for my misting along with some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists and some Glimmer Glam.


And here's this weeks sketch.
If you fancy playing along with us, come and join is here.
We are sponsored by ILOVEITALL this week. Who have kindly given a $20 voucher to the winner.


Off to fix dinner now.
Enjoy your evening and thanks for stopping by xxx

Desk Calender and Crimbo Cards

Another flying visit I'm afraid.
It's that time of year isn't it?! So much going on.
I'm feeling pretty organised for Christmas though.

I made this little desk calender for my Dad to send so the US.


I used thick card to back it with so it stands neatly on it's own.


I love the pom pom trimming from Fancy Pants.


I've used up various Fancy Pants scraps to make this.
So each page is completely different which I love as the project is so colourful.

As the papers are double sided there's no covering up to do and I've made some little notes for Dad on the back of each page.

Full details with instructions and supplies list are on the Fancy Pants blog here.

I've been doing a '12 techniques of Christmas' over at Cocoa Daisy.
Every other day we use a new technique to make something Christmassy.
Here are some cards I made using the 'faux stitching' tecnique.



You can see the challenges here at Cocoa Daisy.
There will be a new one later today.


So Christmas preps are in fully swing in this house.
We got our tree yesterday which is soaking in water until she goes up at the weekend.
Shopping is almost done. Ade and I saved some bits to get on Friday when we have a day shopping in Basingstoke.
It's all so exciting.

I did find this fab little crafty shop on Ebay recently.
Take a look here.
I treated myself to some nice bits. Prices are fab!! I will never buy embroidery thread elsewhere from now on.
And the seller is super sweet too when I've emailed.

Does anyone else end up treating themselves when Christmas shopping?

We are going to watch Hollie in her drama production tonight.
Should be fun.

I have an hour before the school run now.
Lots to do.
See you soon xxx

Ways to use Stickers

Hi!!!

I hope you've had a good weekend.
It was a busy but fun one for us.
More about that in a bit.
I have some Fancy Pants LO's to share first.

It was my turn on the Fancy Pants Blog on Friday.
I was asked to display 2 ways of using the OCT 31 Element Stickers.
You can read the full blog post here which includes 'how to' instructions.



I created this LO using the OCT31 papers. I backed some of the stickers onto black card and stuck them on to the LO using 3d foam tape to help them stand out more and add depth to the page. (I played with the photo in picnik.com to give it a spookier look)



It really gives the stickers a bit of life. They can just look flat otherwise. Which is what they really are I guess.


After making that LO I was left with the negative strip of stickers and decided to use this too by turning them into masking stencils. Again if you haven't done this before, take a look on the FP blog.



I also used some of these stickers from the 'Off to School' range. I cut them in half and stuck them on to white card before cutting out again. Then by punching 2 holes into each flag I could turn them into a string of bunting.
You can see above the bunting here how well the masking works.




So the weekend.
It started by me teaching at Sparkle Dreams in Swindon which was such a lovely day.
Does it get any better than meeting new people, talking craft and making too??

A family evening infront of XFactor and then yesterday my Hollie went off on her school trip to Bude in Cornwall. I miss her but I know she'll be having so much fun.
We had friends over in the afternoon. Their son is close friends with Louis and their older son is on the same trip with Hollie. So I did a full roast. Whole leg of lamb, roasties, yorkies, roasted root veg, honey roasted carrots, minted pea puree and tons of homemade gravey.
Louis and I also made our Christmas Brownies. Made with best choccie, orange zest, with cream, ice cream and hot berries. Yum!!
I still feel full today. (it's been a fruit only day so far today)
Louis went back to theirs for a sleepover, so Ade and I did what any normal parent would do with an evening to themselves. Fell asleep infront of the tv : )
I had a crap nights sleep though. The rain and winds were so hard. I always get scared that the neighbours trees will fall on us so I tend to sit up and watch. Then I lay there worrying that we had packed Hollie enough warm clothes. I know we have and she has more that was advised to take, but I will worry all week anyway. What if she gets wet and soaked through each day??
I hope she's enjoying it.

Louis is at a friends today til later, so a work day for me. Tomorrow it's just the two of us. I quite fancy the movies.

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by xxx

Gotta Laugh!!

It's Friday 5pm and I'm only just blogging my Sketchy Thursdays Challenge.
That's what this week has been like. If I had a tail, I would be chasing it!!
All good stuff, just super busy.

Here is my take.
(click to enlarge)



I first had the idea of printing on the side on my pp, but then whilst going through some Fancy Pants papers for another project I saw this paper from the 'Summers End' collection and though 'BINGO' . It was perfect! I also had a mask that I han't used before. I won some vouchers from scrapbook.com a while ago and got it thinking it would be small. But its a biggie, but I like it. It's been sitting here some quite some time waiting to be used.



And now for the story.
My sister is stupid. Crazy stupid. We laugh so much when we are together. I really do pee myself at times. The tears stream and I can no longer stand. The kind of laughing that makes you ache. We were already at that stage in a garden centre in August and then I came around the corner and saw her like this. She was just hanging and completely silent. I still giggle now when I think about it.
I love being a kid again. I love sillyness.

So here it is, this weeks sketch.
You can play here.


I'm off to Sue's tomorrow with Steph and Nicky. It's become a twice yearly meet. I love it.
I must get my arse into gear now and decide what to take. I feel like I have a ton of deadlines looming. A lovely new CD did arrive this week though. Along with addons and full of scrummy yummyness.
LOVE!!!!
I must print off some photos and think of some stories to scrap.
I fancy doing some funny ones.
I love laughing whilst scrapping : )
There will be plenty of that tomorrow.
I shall try not to be too rude. I forget myself sometimes when I am with these girls. I've become slightly too comfortable. I think they are used to my sense of humour now though : )

Talking of laughing tis The Middle and Modern Family tonight Yay!!
We've become so addicted to Modern Family the kids and I.
We watch them over and over and still laugh.
Louis does a wicked 'Cam' impression.

Well, enjoy your weekend.
I'm doing a wedding Fayre on Sunday, so a busy one for me.
Bye
xxx

Arty Crafty Workshop

Hello Monday Morning!!

I hope the weekend was a good one for you.

I'm really excited to announce today that I'm teaching at Arty Crafty in Goldalming, Surrey on Saturday 12th November.
It's a wall hanging workshop.


It's a 2hr tutorial in the store. (very limited spaces)
£17.50 per person which includes the full kit.
Nothing for you to bring at all.
You will make this lovely wall hanging and be able to take it away on the day with you.
Tea/Coffee and homemade cupcakes too.
If you are local and interested please call up Arty Crafty on 01483 427133
For more details on the store, take a look here.
The time still needs to be confirmed, but it will start sometime in the morning.

I've been making some LO's for the store this past week.


I love these foody/kitchen themed papers from Kaisercraft.
They are so fun to cut up.


I used a journal note from a little journal tag book to match and ran it through my printer to print the recipe on.




Lots of Crate Paper in this store : )
And I love Emma's Shoppe. So pretty.



Fancy Pants, Saint Nick is one of the newest collections to arrive.


More pretty papers to cut up and I added some stickles to this LO to bring some Christmas sparkle to the LO.


More Kaisercraft.
But not quite so busy as the first : )

If you are local, pop in and say 'Hi'. Its such a lovely store with a lovely collection of scrappy goodness.

xxx

Man of the Match

It's now definitely Autumn, don't you agree?!!
It's chilly and blowy and I just want to stay in and be cozy.
Ade has just bought me a latte. mmmmmmmm

I meant to post this Sketchy Thursdays LO last night, but I ended up with a horrible headache yesterday. I even went for a lay down after the school run to try and clear it.
So here it is this morning instead.



I've used the Fancy Pants 'to the moon' line. I hardly have any of this left : (
It's funny, I would never have picked out this line for me, but being on the Fancy Pants team and just being sent it back earlier this year, I would say I have made some of my fave LO's with it. I often find that, lines that I wouldn't neccesarily pick out myself often end up being a fave of mine.


I love Louis' attitude when it comes to footy.
He's by no means a natural sporty person, but he never gives up and never complains.
I felt when he was awarded the Man of the Match award a couple of weeks ago that it was really deserved.
I've teamed the patterned papers with the journal emellishments to match, some chipboard, stickers and the alpha's. I love having everything matching. It all comes together so nicely.


This week we have the whole Sketchy Thursdays Team playing along as it's the first one with the new DT members. Come and see.
Ashley Horton is this months Guest Designer. I love her blog : )
I always look forward to seeing her work when she's played along with us.
And this week we are sponsored by Paper Lovelies.
They have kindly donated a kit this week.


Now for other stuff.
You know I said I had a headache yesterday. Well it all started when I visited a little store that I hadn't been in before.
My friend Steph popped over and we took a drive over to Holme Grange Craft Village.
I hadn't been for a year and I was so excited to find this store.
Shirleyz

A little loft room in a barn. Painted white inside and just full of the most fun and funky household goodies. I wanted to move straight in. I was giddy with excitement and wanted to buy everything. (the owner is the sweetest lady too)
I came home with this little house (and a headache through all the excitement)
It's very 'lisa'.



Look how cute!!


And this is now the home of all my mini books : )



I also picked up the cutest tea towel.
It has crotched cherries hanging from it.
It's home is on the range and everyone has had strict instructions not to use it.
It's there to look pretty and nothing else!!

Steph and I popped into a couple of thrifty stores then.
Vintage cups and saucers for Steph and this mini wooden drawer sate for me.
Ugly isn't it?!! But in my head it's a mini piece of art waiting to happen.

I have to get on now.
I have a mini workshop coming up next month in Godalming on Sat Nov 12th.
Let me know if you are interested. The Craft Store is super cute but not too many spaces unfortunately.
I will announce full details next week.

Have a lovely Friday and thanks for stopping by xxx

World Card Making Day

Today is World Card Making Day.
Have you made any?

Check out Fancy Pants if you are up for a card challenge.

I made a card using each of the new Fancy Pants lines.

Summers End


Oct 31


Saint Nick



Off to School

You have until 8th Oct to play along.
xxx