I caved....

...and I started 'Projectlifeish'.

I keep seeing all these pretty papers and journal cards, so I've decided to give it a whirl.
I've started with the 6x4 - 12x12 page protectors to start and made my first page yesterday.
I loved it!!
I've decided to keep it stress free, no commitment and do it as and when I can and see how it goes.

 
It's helped as I've recently started instagramming and I'm loving the little snippets of my life and decided that I wanted these all documented.

I'm keeping it basic.
It's all about the stories after all.

 

All these MMe papers and Journal cards are from the new collection which I bought from 'Papermaze' here. 'Collectable'. I love these collections.

You can follow me on instagram here if you wish.

Do you do project life too? 

She's Easy to Please - My Minds Eye

Good Morning To You!!!
I have a little My Minds Eye to share with you today.
My Minds Eye are one of my faves and have been for a long time. I just find their products so easy to use. Their December challenge is to scrap a wish list.
Hollie's wish list instantly came to mind when I read this as it's such a funny one.
A laundry Bin and Blu Tack.

 

 You might think that the list is easy, but it makes it such hard work. She never really asks for anything. Louis is very precise with what he wants, such detailed lists : ) But not Hollie.

We just always hope that we get it right each year.

I've used a good ol' mish mash of MME products and collections here.

The beautiful papers from 'The Sweetest Thing' that were in my Dec Cocoa Daisy Kit.

I included the trimming from the edge of the paper that shows the collection name. 'the sweetest thing'.

I've added a little '12 Days of Christmas' here and there. The 3d stickers on this photos with some flat backed gems from the same range and brads too.

A little 'Lime Twist' journal tag and some MME twine there too.

Plus some pretty vellum that I added under the paper layers, a Cocoa Daisy Date Tab Stamp, 

Some Maya Road Rubon Butterflies and I also used a Maya White Mist. It's the first time I've used it and it gets the big thumbs up : )

My sweet girl.

Yesterday morning we had a nice surprise.

It snowed!!

We walked to school in it but then the sun came out and it was gone again.

And yes Hollie does own a coat, several infact. Getting her to wear them these days though is a whole new story **rolls eyes**. I've decided it's another battle I'm choosing not to pick.

Work for me again today.

I have some lovely big orders to work on that I shall take in to the family room, sit on the floor with a latte (or 2) and watch Christmas Movies. Gotta love working from home.

I also want to work on some SCRAP365 magazine stuff too.

Happy!!!!

Hope you have a good day too xxx

Sweet Memories : )

This is one of those layouts that makes me go goose bumpy. Such a Happy Day.
We ummed and arrrrd about going to the Mickeys Not so scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom and I so glad we went. It was the best day ever.

 

We all dressed up and collected candy, went on rides, danced with Chip and Dale, watched Fireworks and Parades and had so so much fun.

This is another LO using my December Cocoa Daisy Kit.
I love these whimsy colours.
I used mostly the 'How You've been' addon on this page.

The Pebbles Alpha Stickers come with the main kit and look great with the edge that I doddled. Helped them to stand out a little more.

 
And I cut some really thin strips of MME PP to create the bows.

Happy Happy Days : )

This Cocoa Daisy Kit has been my absolute fave I think.
I just got that one addon and I've now made 6 LO's, a canvas and a card.
Not bad!!
It's on sale today and there are still a few left. Take a peek at how delish it is here.
The addons have sold out fast but a couple are still available.

Off out in the cold for Louis' footy match now followed by a trip to the garden centre to see the reindeer and we are starting our Christmas Movie Marathon today watching The Grinch.
We are definitely Christmas Movie Nerds......I feel another mini book coming on.

Happy December 1st to you.
Big Hugs xxx

The Secrets Out!!

Yesterday we shared a really exciting secret that we've been keeping from the kids.

We took them to The Village Hotel near us for breakfast and over the meal we told them that we are going back to Florida in 10 weeks : )
I've been dying to tell them.

I took my journals with me to show and tell them all our exciting plans and took lots of photos whilst they were looking at my note book and getting very excited.
(click to enlarge)


We are in the midst of a play list to put together for the car and we are planning all the lovely restaurants we want to visit.
After breakfast we hung out in the cozy hotel lobby in the big comfy chairs with Starbucks. It's become a fave weekend past time : )



I saw on MME when we got home yesterday that the August challenge is to scrap 10 photos.
Perfect timing as I'd just taken all of these.
I've used a combo of :
MME - Lost and Found Two and also MME Kraft Fun Day including some of the packaging.
I've also used some MME twine and the Happy Days stamps.

I hope you've had a good weekend too xxx

An Exciting New Sketch Blog

I'm really pleased to announce (incase you haven't seen already) that the UK magazine SCRAP365 have launched their own sketch blog this week. How cool is that??
It's great news too, I think many of us really miss Sketchy Thursdays and Pencil lines each week.

I love being part of this magazine and love being part of this new sketch blog too.
Here's my first LO for this first sketch.


I've used mostly MME FunDay.
I think MME are my faves right now.
This was Hollie being a kid on the beach.
She found a little creature, named him, played with him until he escaped.



I hope you like the new sketch blog. Please do take a look; Sketchbook365
We are sponsored by the very lovely Papermaze.

I'm off to Sparkle Dreams in Swindon tomorrow.
I'm teaching a mixed media canvas class in the morning and a LO class in the afternoon.
You can get all the details here and here if you are local.

Well I hope you have a lovely weekend : )
Lots of love xxx

My Bad!

I'm being abit naughty.
It's half past midnight and I'm still sat here.
Way past my bedtime and I have a very late one planned tomorrow too.
But the kids are sleeping and Ade's out. It's so peaceful and I like sitting here blog hopping and shopping and scrapping. It's so nice : )

I have a soft spot for MME products.
I really love them.
I created this page with them.
Aren't they fun???
I love this colour combo.


I used a 12x12 Crafters Workshop template, some mists, MME Limetwist and used my very lonely and forgotten promarker pens to blend and colour in those Girls Paperie alphas to get the right aqua.



This was all in aid of the latest sketch for the monthly guest designer spot over at Sketchy Thursdays.
Here's the sketch.
And you can upload your LO's here.
The winner will be the GDT for December.
And the lovely Tessa with Precocious Paper is sponsoring this month.


All of my materials (except the template) were bought from Papermaze.
I mentioned the fire recently. We Vanessa has updated the blog here with the latest news and photos : (
Although the actual shop wasn't burnt, there has been smoke damage.
She has reduced everything by 50% if you are interested.
Take a look here.

I guess I should think about some sleep.
Ade's just text and will be homes soon.
We are going to see Alan Carr at the O2 tomorrow night. Should be a giggle.

I hope you are having a lovely weekend.
xxxxx

Farmers Market #1 (Abit Cheeky!!)

Good Morning.
And it really is. Bright and sunny. I can't believe the tempuratures we are having in the UK now.
I want to camp this weekend, but Ade has a cold : (
Such a woss!!

Last night was the reveal of the October Kit 'Farmers Market' at Cocoa Daisy.
I love the reveal nights, they are really fun.
This kit is yum. I wish I had gotten more add ons now, I was trying to be sensible.
But I can now share my DT gallery with you.
I have 2 today.
This ones abit cheeky mind.
I did wonder if I should scrap it or not but it's funny so I though what the heck!!
It's real life.

Give a Man a Camera
and this is what you get!


We went to legoland for the day and had a camera each.
When I checked his photos when we got home I spotted this!! Taken without me knowing whilst we were sat watching the 'Jack and the Beanstalk' puppet show. Totally unappropriate. **ROLLS EYES**



I painted over the Jillibean woodgrain alphas from the main kit. And also drew around them very roughly for the top half of the title.
It was the pp from Crate that gave me inspiration for this LO though. A whole 12x12 paper full of these words. Tut Tut!!!


Next up, I love the pics of Louis and my nephew Charlie.
We had a family outing out to Oxford in August.
Mum had treated the boys to a book each. They started reading straight away : )
We were waiting for the Park and Ride bus in the town centre and they were both fully engrossed. Quite unusual to see 2 9yr old boys like this. But I like it!


We have a Cocoa Daisy honeycomb stamp in the main kit. Great for backgrounds. I stamped it with the green Maya Road stamp (also in the main kit) and pressed it into wet moulding paste.
You get the colours and the texture by doing this.

More bits and pieces from the main kit.
Stickers, Maya Road wooden buttons, Kraft tags.
The kit goes on sale on the 1st October if you don't sub.
Take a look here.
The addons are stunning and the last few months have been selling out super fast.
I know Christine has increased the amount to sell recently, but get in there quick.
I bought Canned Peaches. But now really regret not getting Pumkin Soup and Apple Pie.
The Cocoa Daisy stamps are also dead cute this month.


One last bit of news before I finish here.
As I said goodbye at Cocoa Daisy last night. It was after midnight but before shutting the PC down I had a little blog nosey.
I clicked on MME and saw that I was picked as this months challenge winner.
I was so excited, but then couldn't sleep.
I just adore MME, so I'm really REALLY excited.
This LO really meant alot too.
I took the pic of Hollie and I at the start of the summer.
We were having some tricky times with her. Attitude and acting really out of charachter.
To the extreme that we ended up cancelling her birthday party and main prezzie (ipod touch).
Throughout the summer though she's really come full circle and I have my sweet girl back.
I know there will be more trouble ahead, but right now alls good and it has been the last couple of months. I think she can now have that ipod touch. I wanted to see the attitude remain good throughout the summer and whilst she was back at school. I didn't want her being nice for a week, getting the ipod touch and becoming a cow again.
I always stick to my word!!


I am very excited about lunch today.
Ades been doing lots of overtime at work and coming home late.
They have a Starbucks next door, so him and his collegue who's been working with him go in there on their way home to get goodies for the kids.
Last night they got given loadsa stuff for free as it was going to be thrown away.
We have muffins, cookies and Ade bought me home a tomato and mozzerella salad. Yum!! I can't wait for lunch now. I'm not into the sweet stuff, so this is perfect for me.
Roll on lunch time : )

Have a lovely day and enjoy the sunshine UK girlies xxx

The Weekend

I hope you are having a good weekend.
I had hoped for a slightly more relaxed one but it feels like I haven't stopped.

I have finished this LO over the weekend though inspired by the My Minds Eye sketch on their blog here. Circles and journaling strips are on the sketch, so I had to use it. My favourite things right now : )
And here's my LO.
(click to enlarge)



I love these Lime Twist papers from MME.
Orange and green is a fave combo of mine.
I've teamed them up with a MME Jornal tag, sticker and some twine too.
All these bits and pieces can be bought from Papermaze.


I have so much on this week, my tummy is already tied in knots.
Work is busy, plus I have in total 4 magazine deadlines. Work being collected tomorrow, a wedding fair to attend on Thursday and I have nothing prepared. Plus I have 2 school meetings, our dentist appointments and Hollie's opticans on Tuesday.
I don't like that feeling from rushing from one thing to the next and somethings overlapping.
The menu is prepared for the week, thank goodness for the crockpot.
And Hollie and I have been baking lots today so lunchboxes are organised.
It's all about the organisation, isn't it?!! Lots of lists this week.

Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs xxx

Smurftastic!!

I'm keeping this one short.
Ade and I have a date in a sec. The sofa, a box of Graze and 'Black Swan'.

I wanted to share this LO that I shared over on Papermaze the other day.
(click to enlarge)

My Louis and my nephew Charlie.
Using lots of My Minds Eye - Lime Twist. I love this collection so much!!
Those stickers are so fun to use.


You can view the blog post here with step by step details of how I made it.



And today you can see me over on the new 'Lessology' blog : ) here.
The new design team is being announced this week so come and see.

It's rained all day here. But that was fine as I worked from 4.30am til 1.30pm and then we took the kids to see The Smurfs. It was so so much better than I expected. I LOVED it sooooooo smurfin' much.

I'm sorry that I've been an awful blog visitor lately. I'm really struggling with work and the kids being at home and all the family coming on Friday. All will be back to normal again in a couple of weeks.
Tomorrow we are going to Chessington for the day. So should be fun. Rain Rain now go away!!

Hugs xxx

Favourite Grown Ups

Hello : )

We have just had a REALLY busy weekend. One of those where you feel you need a weekend to get over the weekend.
Firstly though I'll show you this colourful page that I made about my two fave grown ups.
My little sis and my hubby.
(click to enlarge)



It's for this weeks 'The Studio' challenge. The challenge is to use die cuts this week.
I am partial to a die. I do enjoy using them and more often than not it's to mist these days.
I used a large butterfly to mist over and also a large circle die and scalloped circle die by the title.


I was really excited when my package from Papermaze arrived last week. I love this My Minds Eye 'Lime Twist' line. It's so happy. These are my fave colours to play with lately. Aquas, greens, orange and red. I love those contrasts.



And Papermaze are also now stocking a whole load of Bakers Twine too. I picked up some of the My Minds Eye twine. There are loads of colous to choose from.



So the weekend.
After a long day with Hollie on Friday (she had a french trip so we had to get up at 3.45am to take her to school and collect at 11pm) we were tired to start the weekend.
But we've managed footy training, a day with my sister and her family visiting, I baked a huge amount of cupcakes for a friend's 40th birthday party and we had a great time at the party too.
So busy busy busy.
But no down time now I'm afraid. I have a really busy work week ahead of me which really must start NOW!!
See you later xxx

My ATC Tray

I've been dying to show you this, I've been waiting for it to be posted on the Papermaze blog. My ATC tray.

I bought this 7 Gypsies Letterblock Printer Tray last year.
I had so many ideas when it arrived. I covered it in one of my favourite paper collections, Crate, Restoration. It really is a favourite of mine, but then I just felt stumped. It just didn't feel right and wasn't right for my hallway where I wanted it to hang. So sadly, it's been sat on a shelf unfinished and waiting for the inspiration to hit.

So when my Papermaze delivery arrived, now 4 months since starting the tray, I knew instantly that I had found the right collection for me and my tray.
My Minds Eye - Stella and Rose, I thank you.



After all this time, in one evening, this was made.
The mixture of blues, greens and yellows in this collection are just beautiful. I love them.
The papers have been cut to size, inked up and stuck down in place. I did leave a tiny amount of the Crate Restoration in (you may have already clocked it), the colours were a good match for this project.





I've used a few of the heart topped pins on this tray. I love using these on my projects. Here you can see that I've added 3 white buttons. I've stuck 3 blue buttons on top which have had embroidery thread added to them. Once stuck in place I've threaded a pin through. This was abit fiddley, but it's a nice touch.





Thanks for stopping by : )

Today I have mostly been.....

..... making this....





Thanks to a very lovely package from Papermaze today.
I'll post my photos and details once it's on thier blog.

So, what have you been making today?

My My...

I think it's going to be one of those weeks.
One of those weeks where my 'to-do' list is way too big and as I cross one thing off, I add two more to the list.
**Deep Breaths**
It's all about prioritising eh?!!

So, before I wrap up warm and in waterproofs for the school run, I just wanted to add this layout I made this weekend to my little blog diary.
(I never thought of it as a diary until the other day. It's always lovely when people stop by and read and leave lovely comments, but for me it's a great way to share a snippet of our lives with my family and friends who live further afield. Ade and I sat here the other evening and went back a couple of years, randomly selecting posts to read. It bought back some really good memories. It really is like a little diary with piccies : ) )

Anway, here's that LO.
I popped over to the My Minds Eye blog the other day and saw a sketch that really caught my eye. You can see it here.
One of my most recent favourite collections is by MME. Lost and Found.
I had a load in a kit and then had to go and order more as I loved it so much.



The theme of the page was to be 'Winter'. Ade took this photo of me a couple of years ago. The kids got bored in the snow and left us to it. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?



I've cut up the papers enabling me to make lots of little details.





So this week, I have tons of work, accounts still sitting there, a birthday cake to make, a sleepover party still to plan for Friday this week and all the food shopping to go with it. I think I need convincing that the sleepover party of 8-9yr old boys was a good idea. It was, wasn't it??!!

Happy Mondays xxx