Mixed Media Mini Book Class

I'm teaching again this Saturday, in Swindon this time at Sparkle Dreams.
This month we are making this fun mini book.

It's an 8x8'' chipboard album.

What you decide to document is down to you....it's your story.
I've chosen my wedding day. I've never actually documented this properly.

So if you are local and have time this Saturday between 10.30 -1.30pm come and join us.
It will be chatty, messy and lots of fun : )
Here are the booking details:

http://www.funkyfairies.co.uk/Arty_Scrapbooking_Classes/Scrapbooking_in_Swindon

Lots of love xxx

Cat in the Hat & a Sketch

Hello Hello!!

I hope you had a fun weekend.
We were really busy, I had hoped to get this LO finished and ended up adding the finishing touches today.

It's based on this sketch by Stephanie from Cocoa Daisy.
It's this months sketch challenge if you want to play along with us. It will run until 20th November and the winner will receive a CD voucher to spend in the Cocoa Daisy boutique.
You can see Stephanie's sample and the challenge in full here.

I used this months November kit to make my LO.
As it's all about us meeting the Suess characters, I wanted it to be fun and bright.
I cut out and used these tags for my journaling and added photos on the back of the tags too.

I never tire of watching the kids faces during these times. It's priceless.
Hollie decided not to collect autographs this time. She didn't meet all the characters this time either but there were times like this when she was little Hollie again and enjoyed it just as much as Louis.

I used these tab stamps on the page for some extra journaling.

 
We are big Suess fans in this house and this is one of our favourite parts of our Orlando trips. Suess landing in Island of Adventures is so fun and really bright. How can anyone not feel happy here??
We waited around for a bit for the characters to appear. (Ade and the kids may have popped in to the Candy Store to choose some fudge whilst waiting)

(And I think Ade maybe enjoyed the choosing more than the kids did)

Unfortunately the Grinch wasn't there this time. He's the kids absolute fave. That film has already been voted the first Christmas film to watch this year.

I love the stamps in this months main kit. I used a lime ink on them to make this little bit for a kind of sub title. It just needed something in that bottom corner. I used some old Doodlebug Alpha Stickers. I say old, they aren't actually old but I've been buying them for years. The Doodlebug stickers are part of my basic stash that I always keep topped up. I love these alphas. There are a few colours and designs to choose from and they are a really good price too. I buy them from here. 
The black didn't quite stand out enough though so I went over with a white pen which did the trick and then I got abit carried away and started doodling all over with the white pen.  

I hope you like this and feel inspired to play along with us at Cocoa Daisy.
Enjoy the rest of your day xxx

8 Friends & 2 Kitchen Sinks

This really was the case.
We met up with another family and decided to take on the Kitchen Sink Challenge at Beaches and Cream at the Disney Beach Club Resort.

I've used my new Cocoa Daisy kit again for this one. I needed to tone down the background slightly so used some white acrylic paint and then used this fab Crafters Workshop Stencil:
 http://www.cocoadaisy.com/store/crafters-workshop-chevron-stencil-p-1076.html

If you haven't got it already, I recommend you add it to your Christmas list. I use mine loads. I wanted to just use a small bit though and this stencil is a big 12x12, so I used a Prima Chalk Ink.
This one here.
http://www.cocoadaisy.com/store/chalk-fluid-edger-cold-ice-p-1276.html
You wouldn't be able to do this with alot of ink but because of the shape/size and also how juicy these little inks are it works really well and dries well too. They are only $2.25 each. A real bargain. I'm slowly building up a nice collection. I order a few each time I get my Cocoa Daisy kit.

  And this is what the kitchen sink consisted of...see above.
I have to say, I let my side down badly as I don't like ice cream. I did have a brownie, piece of sponge with some  whipped cream and cherries. But we lost. The other team were very competitive. We have some scary photos I have to say : )

 

We also met up with 2 other new friends Susan and Simon who didn't join in but did take these photos for us and looked on in shock and horror. 

At the end another Kitchen Sink came out for another group and Hollie actually left the diner as she felt so sick : ) 

 

Then to work it all off and to get some fresh air we all wandered in to Disney's Epcot Park. The Resort her is very close to the International Gateway if you know the area, so it's a nice little walk. We then watched the Epcot fireworks at 10pm and chatted some more.

The nice Disney Photopass man took this of us all.

It was one of our favourite evening and probably the one we laughed the most on.
I've loved scrapping this LO and remembering this happy and fun evening.

xx

I've made a start

On our Orlando photos. 
I have no plans to scrap in the correct order, but I want to enjoy these photos and the story telling and just scrap what takes my fancy as and when.

The latest November Cocoa Daisy kit was waiting for me when we got back.
I've been itching to get out the scissors and mists so finally at the weekend made these.
It feels so good to make a start on the pics. Around 6997 photos to go : )

  Here we go. LO 1.
  Travel Day. 

I had a few stories to document such as Hollie finding going through security her best bit!! (odd) Me buying Louis a Monkey neck pillow and Louis wearing it all the time and the kids and I find that one of our bags was buzzing and vibrating when we collected it in Orlando to find out later it was Hollie's ladyshave.

I got all the stories down on the Crate paper tags and made a vellum pocket to keep them together. I used the ribbon from the main kit and cut a length into 3 to make it thinner and easier to use.

I also used the Sunburst Stencil which is my fave.
http://www.cocoadaisy.com/store/crafter ... -1328.html

Along with these mists.
http://www.cocoadaisy.com/store/maya-mi ... -1331.html
http://www.cocoadaisy.com/store/maya-mi ... -1085.html

 LO 2.
On this day it was our 4th ever visit to Animal Kingdom but we'd never been on the Primeval Whirl ride. It was so much fun and so much better that we expected with quite a few surprises that had us all screaming and holding on : )

The colours of the funfair matched up with the kit so well. I typed straight onto some patterned paper and also made a little flag.

If you haven't got a larger printer to take 12x12 papers, you can cut them down to fit a regular printer to type on.

If you fancy this kit, we still have some left. You can take a look here.

I'm slowly getting our lives back to normal again. Both kids are finally back in school today, I've been grocery shopping and have actually prepped a meal that's in the crockpot. I need to catch up on all the blog stalking next. I've missed all the reading and inspiration. Have a lovely day xxx

White Bits!!

We are home!!

After a blissful almost 3 weeks in sunny Florida we are now home and set for the winter.
It's been an amazing time with so many stories to tell. I can't wait to get them all down and told. I will be writing a full trip report this time as I've kept a very detailed diary : )

Oh..and we had the best Halloween ever!!
And I even have white bits. Pretty unheard of for me as I don't usually tan, but as well as lots of fun and busy times we also enjoyed the resort and the pool lots too.

Big reality check today, back to work.
I'm teaching in Basingstoke this morning.
I do plan to get back to scrapping this weekend. I bought some very scrummy new stash out there and also have a Cocoa Daisy box that has yet to be opened.
Plus a house that really needs some order.

I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Thanks for stopping by xx 

Cocoa Daisy Crop - Be Inspired

I have another Crop LO for you.

This time I'm playing along with Jody's inspirational challenge.
Jody has a selection of fairground pictures for us to base our LO's on.
You can see them here.

I took the circular shape of the carousel and ferris wheel and came up with this.

I documented the story from a while ago when Hollie no longer wanted homemade treats. She wanted shop bought cakes in her lunchbox at school just like the other kids.

I used to tell her how lucky she was that she had a Mum that wanted to bake nice things. Now though she totally gets it and bakes almost as much as I do now.
I love that full circle thing.
It all comes good in the end.

Enjoy your weekend, I hop you have some treats in store : )
xxx

Cocoa Daisy Crop - I Love Cookies

Day 2 of the Cocoa Daisy Fall Crop.

I'm kick starting the day today with my music inspired challenge.
Please pop in to Cocoa Daisy here to check out my full challenge details and to play along if you wish.

Here is my LO.

I only stuck the very bottom of the flowers down so that the recipe card that I typed could slide out.
It's one of those recipes that's so quick and easy. Both Hollie and myself can whip it up in minutes. But the cookies are so good they don't last long. Hollie quite often makes them when she gets in from school and we eat them whilst they are still warm and gooey : ) 

 

And I love this new mask of mine from Dylusions. A little gift from my lovely friend Steph.

 

Please pop over to Cocoa Daisy today. It's going to be lots of fun and full of inspiration.

Happy Scrapping xxx

Cocoa Daisy Fall Crop & 'Get Off The Dog'

Today is the start of the Cocoa Daisy Fall Crop.

The crops are always so much fun and run all weekend long.
Sadly I can't play along this time as we are away, so I've been playing in advance instead.

If you haven't registered to join in, please do so here.
It's free and lots and lots of fun.

I've played along with Sharmaine's challenge which is the first challenge of the crop.
All about creating movement in your title.
You can see here for more details and ideas.

 Here's my LO 'Get Off The Dog'

Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind him touching her when it's like this.
But what really gets me is 1. when he's in school uniform ready to leave in the morning, 2. when we are all ready to go out, 3 when he's clean and in pj's. The other thing is the way he strokes her. Not soft strokes, but full on so you see the fir fly up off her and then drift around in the air or he lies right down with her so half of his body is on hers and she just looks over as if to say 'help me'.
Now we've had Poppy for 4.5yrs. You'd think it would have sunk in by now, but no. We have to say this to him several times a day **rolls eyes**

They look quite a like, don't they??!!
: )

And my wavey title.

Please visit Cocoa Daisy for some amazing inspiration this weekend.
You won't be disappointed xxx

Our Happy Place

It's almost time to visit our 'Happy Place' again.
I have that feeling of nerves mixed with excitement right now.

I made this LO for Scrap365 a long time ago using a photo that Hollie took of us with Louis last time we were there.

I'm so looking forward to all the new photos to scrap when we get back.
This time we are going 5 cameras.
Louis and Hollie have a little pocket camera each that also does video.
I have a Cannon G10 which I LOVE. A great smaller sized camera but has fab SLR functions at the same time.(plus does videos). We bought this for the trip last time as it's so handy for the parks.
Then Ade has the big Nikon SLR. Lovely but big and heavy. Not so good for the coaster days.
I also bought Ade a cool little aqua camera for his birthday in August.
It's water and shock proof and does vidoes too. Can't wait to take this in the pools and on the water rides : )

Don't forget to register for the Cocoa Daisy Fall Crop whilst I'm away. If you are registered already for Cocoa Daisy then you don't need to do it again.
You can do it here.  
We also still have some kits left here.

Lots to do now : )
See you soon xxx

It's all in the Planning

We are in serious countdown mode now.
Just a matter of a handful of sleeps before we head back to the 'Land of Mouse'.
I have partaken in some serious research and planning with this trip.
It's our third visit to Orlando and I wanted to find different things for us to do.
We are still doing all the parks but with a slightly different spin on them this time.

I've started the memory saving already.
Louis is our slower grower (I have no idea who he takes after!!) we have been measuring him to see which rides he can go on this time. A couple of weeks ago we all got measured. I thought this would be a fun thing to document whilst I journaled about our trip preparations.

Papermaze kindly sent me a very lovely box of goodies recently to design with. You can see the full contents on their site here. There is a lot for £10 and it goes a long way. I love the Echo Park papers. You can read the full blog post on Papermaze here if you wish.

I used picmonkey.com to edit my photos.

Well I'm off now to get some ironing done whilst Ade and I watch the last Harry Potter. It's classed as trip research. We will be visiting the World of Harry Potter in Island of Adventure next Monday after all **big smiles**

xxx

Tips & Tricks with Cocoa Daisy

Hi and welcome to my blog today.


I have some tips and tricks to share today over on the Cocoa Daisy blog.
I dissected this LO that  I made with my October Kit.
I like to try and use stuff more that just the one way.
I get quite a satisfying feeling from doing that.

I used nearly a whole pack of the Amy Tangerine 'Oh Yes' Stickers.
They are fabric and completely lush.
I think Amy Tangerine's collections are top of my list right now. I love how fun her products are to use.
I cut these numbers out from the SC - American Crafts - Yearbook Paper and just went around roughly with a pencil so they stood out more. As the bazzill is textured, you get quite a nice effect.

I used my Amy Tangerine packaging from the alphas and turned the photo into a little pocket.
The alphas come in the main kit. They are almost transparent and come in a brown set and in the aqua that you see here. Both in the one pack. And I used this 'Today' journal stamp here. 
I seem to have found a new love for stamps again.

And there you have my cheeky two.
I played with the photo a little to give it a slightly aged look and a slight orangey tone to match the LO.

I'm feeling abit funny today. My sister is at Gatwick right now waiting for her flight to Orlando.
We are so so close. We both have a very empty feeling when the other isn't around.
Like something is missing.
I got in from the school run this morning and just went to pick up the phone to call her. Habit!! We chat every morning once the kids are at school. As we are heading out next week, we won't have a morning chat now til 1st Nov!!
I'm so excited for them though. This is their first Orlando trip. Her kids are the same age as our's and then there's little Millie too who I scrap about quite abit. She's just turned 4 and is more excited than anyone. She wants to meet all the princesses : )
I can't wait to meet up with them next week. We are meeting at Sea World. Excited!!!

Please see my Cocoa Daisy Blog Post if you want to see this LO dissected.


Thank you for stopping by today xxx

Family History on Osney Island

Hello,

Each year when my Dad visits from USA we take a trip back to our home town Oxford. We drive to Oxford and take a double decker bus from the Park and Ride. The kids love this bit and always rush to the top at the front. Such a novelty to go on a bus : )

We drive past a little Island on the way in. Osney Island. The link is here for you to see. I've known for years that this is where my little Nanny grew up and I know the story of her meeting my Bamppy at a dance on Christmas Eve, but I can't remember ever going on the Island.
So this time Dad took us for a little drive.
We pulled up outside the house where my Mum grew up.
This house here.

Just a few doors down is where my little Nanny grew up as a child and lived with her family.
The roads are so tiny and so are the houses. They had such big families. It's amazing how so many could all live under the one roof. The island is surrounded by the River Thames and Nanny used to swim in there as a child. It was really hard to imagine them as kids playing on this road.
It was lovely to visit, I'm so glad Dad took us here.

I used my October Cocoa Daisy kit for this LO.
I used some Amy Tangerine Embellies from the Trailhead addon.

I used my JB Paint Dabbers for the background.
It's been a while since I used them

 I plan to scrap some more this afternoon.
My friend Anne is popping over, she's making her new baby's mobile whilst I play with papers.
Sounds like a perfect afternoon.

I went to a friends for dinner last night with another friend.
It was really good to catch up. Now the kids are getting older we see less and less of each other.
But it was a late one and I'm soooooo tired today. Worth it though.

Lots of love xxx

Funny Gareth Stories

Hi,

I hope you've enjoyed your weekend.
The Cocoa Daisy October Kits are now on sale today.
As they've been selling out so fast, Christine has added more this month.
I have been having so much fun with this kit. When you first look at it the colours are very Autumnal, but it's a very very FUN kit and very easy to bring out the bright colours.
Take a look at the main kit and the addons here.

The first LO that I made using the kit was this one here.

It's a very silly LO full of very silly stories all geared around my brother this summer. We love him so much, he's the baby of the family and we just love to tease. Isn't that what siblings are for???

 

I love the bit of Sassafras in the kit, a lovely pp to cut up and layer. 

There are 2 sets of Amy Tangerine Alphas in the main kit. One set has two sheets in the one pack. 1 sheet in brown and 1 in turquoise.

 

I used this 'TODAY' journal stamp for one of my stories.
Along with some of the Amy Tangerine embellishments from the 'Tailhead' addon.

 

One of my stories was a little rude to have on full view on the LO, so I slotted it behind the photo out of view from any little eyes around my studio : )

  I've got some more LO's still to do for the Fall crop coming up this month. I need to be organised as we are going away next week. I have to say though, the pages are coming together very well and easy using this kit.

I hope you have a lovely day.

It's so rainy and cold here today : (

It's definitely a latte and homemade strawberry muffin day in this house xxx