Half a cup of coffee...

Scrapbooking and Craft Fairs

It's been a little while since I updated my blog, encountered problems posting with Typepad. Anyhow, it doesn't mean I having been doing anything, quite the contrary - I been so busy I've not had time to post. I've loads of scrapbooking pages to show you, all from my Design Your Life class with Cathy Zielske, great scrapbooker and funny writer of blogs. Here's what I've done so far...

Week One - Symmetrical Balance

Week 2 - Asymetrical Balance

 

Week 3 - Repetition

Real World Colour - CZ picks a colour scheme from the 'Real World' and we use those colours to produce a layout.

I have been super busy making things for Hearts & Flowers, and have had 2 craft fairs over the last two weekends. The first one wasn't great, poorly marketed but the second one on Saturday 'Cornflower Country Crafts' (which I help to organise) was fantastic. I sold all of my felted bags (including 3 to one lady), all of my mini christmas books, more doorstops, lots of wooden hearts etc. Plus got a couple of orders too, a really great day. Of course really great days mean really busy weeks making more stock for the next few fairs in the lead up to Christmas. More wool arrived in the post last Monday so I'll be knitting madly to make at least 3 more bags ready for the next fair in 2 1/2 weeks time.
I've begun to make new additions to my range; baby 0 to 12 months albums, Christmas mini books, gorgeous stockings in Laura Ashley red gingham and a more manly version in charcoal gingham which are lined and have a lovely cream crushed velvet cuff to them, I'll post a photo another time. I also intend to make wooden christmas tree decorations again this year as they were really popular last year. I've bought the wooden hearts and stars but haven't done anymore with them just yet!

Well I'm going to leave it there for now. Have a good weekend.

Playing with Photoshop

I've been playing with Photoshop Elements trying to achieve more than just basic cropping and editing - I am a complete novice. The other day I was having major problems trying to re-size a photo so that I could upload it to the Design Your Life gallery - thank you Janine for helping me at such a late hour! Anyway, undeterred I ventured into the 'editing suite' again the next day and played around to get these images - thought I'd share them with you.

 

I plan to use these in two layouts that I'm doing for my Design Your Life course, but as I mentioned in my last post I have run out of printer ink, hopefully it will arrive tomorrow. Yesterday I finally ordered my photos online for my 'Week in the Life' project along with the 'bike' photos of Callum, hopefully they'll arrive tomorrow too.

This afternoon I'm helping in Matthew's school, his class are making butter, so I'm sure I'll be doing lot's of shaking! I've a Craft Fair this weekend and I have lots of things to make still. So today I'll make this post super short.

Happy Thursday, especially you Janine - Happy Birthday!

Week in the Life - part two

My 'week in the life' has come to an end, so my camera's (I used two; my Canon SLR and a compact Panasonic) will be wondering what has happened as they get a wee bit of a break. The family will be glad not to having photo's taken of them at any given opportunity too! So here's some of the photo's I took in the second half of the week.

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Very late last night I was trying to upload the final photos when my camera battery died and the ink in the printer ran out. I guess it may take me a while (whilst I wait for delivery of cartridges) before I can actually put the project together, it also means I can't print photos for my DYL course layouts either or maybe I'll get them printed at Photobox instead!

Have a good week.

Week in the Life - Part 1

This week I am joining in with Ali Edward's, scrapbooking genius (yes, I wish she was my friend) to document a week in my life. This basically means taking a load of photos of everyday events, things, routines etc and journaling what happens each day. It will be a great way to look back in years to come and see / remember what our lives were like in Sept / Oct 2008. Here's some from the first half of the week.

Monday

    

Tuesday

 

Wednesday

As if this wasn't enough creativity I found this cute little project by Stacy Julian on Cathy Zielske's blog last night. Naturally I had to start making it straight away!

 

And this is what part of the finished album looks like...

Oh, AND my scrapbook course 'Design your Life' with Cathy Zielske started today!

Proof

Well yesterdays post certainly seemed to bring a smile to your faces, so glad for that. Those photos from yesterday were certainly destined to be a scrapbook page. With an hour to spare before I had to go and get Matthew from school, Callum was playing upstairs with the Thomas wooden train track in the same room as my scrap space. I had the perfect opportunity to scrapbook it right away!

I used Kraft cardstock (my favourite), thicker sticker letters from American Crafts, Gaffer tape, journaling spot and journaling stamp by 7 gypsies, Chipboard accents by Scenic Route, 'Take Note' stamp by Fontwerks and Word strip and Paper by Creative Imaginations.

Last week Jeff and I celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary, I say 'celebrated' in the loosest sense of the word because it was a day of needles for us both. I had a minor op at the Doctors requiring 6 stitches and Jeff had acupuncture for his ongoing illness. So that night we had a Curry takeaway at home, hopefully we may get out another day / night instead. I promised I'd show you the little project I made for him, so here it is; a tag album '7 Things'.

     

I've started Christmas craft projects for 'Hearts & Flowers', so far 3 mini accordian books and some gift tags. I'll show you those another time when I have made more.

Until next time, have a good week.

School Photos Monday

Always good to start a new week with some happiness, unfortunately it was somewhat lacking this morning with our boys. The school photographer is at Matthew's school today and we had the chance to have 'siblings' photos early this morning. We had them dressed in their uniforms, Matthew even had a nice new jumper bought especially for the photos (his other one has black permanant pen marks on it). We waited for ages in line and then it was our turn and this is what we got...

     

Somehow I don't think we'll be buying these!

Callum sat and had some photos taken on his own, which came out ok and Matthew will be having individual photos later with the rest of his class. Hope he holds it together, as you'll see from my last post they actually have a special album to go in now. However, should they come back rubbish we can go to Callum's pre-school and have photos taken during the October half term, which I think is where we may be heading if these are anything to go by.

I can't really blame Matthew, the photographer was the same photographer who used to take my school photos when I was his age and I never liked him either! Infact I think he took this one, way back in 1980 (or 1981?), I would have been about the same age as Matthew, I think.

 

Want to see some more? Whilst I had the scanner out this morning I scanned these in too, can you tell our parents used to cut our hair?

   

Above Left - photo taken at Playschool, age 3. Above Right - First school, age 4.

 

Our siblings photo, me and my sister Janet - me aged 4, Janet aged 6, 1979. I even remember this photo being taken.

Hopefully this has given you some smiles, happy Monday!

4

Why 4? Here's why...

The other morning I was putting cream on Callum and I said to him "I need to put cream on your forehead". He replied "Four heads? I've only got one!"

Last weekend the four of us went to the driving range. Matthew with his child sized golf clubs and Callum with his plastic set. We got two baskets of balls and Matthew, Jeff and I hit the real ones, whilst Callum practised hitting his plastic golf ball against the wall. Unfortunately I completely forgot to take the camera, such a shame because it really was a great afternoon.

Jeff and I have been taking advantage of the boys being at school and went by ourselves to play a 9 hole golf course nearby. I am not very good, infact some of my shots are rubbish. In particular one of my drives, which had I had enough time I should have shouted "Fore!" as it missed a groundsman by about a metre. I totally miss hit the ball and sent it flying off to the right of the tee. Of course I apologised and when I was about to take my drive again I noticed that he was standing behind a tree for protection!

Well I guess I'd better have a 4th thing involving 4. Here's '4' scrap related things I've been up to since I last blogged...

1. Scrapbook Pages - 'Back to School'. Love how this one turned out, even though in my mind it was going to be a 8.5 x 11 inch page. But I printed the photos too big so changed to a 12 x 12. I kept it simple by using just one type of patterned paper; Scenic Route 'Worn Lines' (one of my fav's), red vinyl letter stickers by American Crafts, alphabet gaffer tape by 7gypsies, some red brads and a 7gypsies label sticker.

 'Repeat prescriptions'. I decided to make a page about Callum's long list of repeat prescriptions. I knew that he needed lots of medicines and creams to help keep his eczema and asthma at bay, but was surprised that it was 2 pages! Supplies; patterned paper - Pink Paisley, chipboard letter stickers - Heidi Swapp, letter stickers - Crate Paper, journal label - 7gypsies, embellishments - Making Memories, Heidi Swapp and Autumn Leaves, 'take a look' stamp - Fontwerks.

2. A 12 x 12 Album - 'The School Years' for Matthew. For those of you who are into scrapping you may have seen this idea in Cathy Zielske 'Sequel' book, and she in turn had taken it from Stacey Julian. For those of you who aren't; basically the idea is to make 4 pages for each year of your child's school life, which you complete just once a year. Here's what's in Matthew's so far; pre-school and reception. I have bought enough Scenic Route lined paper for the 15 years that he will be in education (up to A-levels) so that I can maintain the scheme. The only thing that will change will be the accent strip of patterned paper on each page, which I plan to match to his uniform. Blue spot (KI Memories) for pre-school and red spot (Scenic Route) for his first school. Also added 7gypsies report cards just because they look so cute!

Pre-school.

Reception.

 
3. Mini Album - When I was over in Northern Ireland in the summer, Janine and I encouraged each other to order a mini album, along with a signed Ali Edwards book 'Sharing Your Story' from an American company called Cocoa Daisy (such a cool name). I decided to make a mini-album about our 'One Day at the North Coast'. We had such an amazing day (sand dunes etc) and I had taken nearly 200 photos so I had plenty of material to work with (thanks goodness for digital cameras). Here's how it came out...

   

 

 

 

 

 

(Supplies - Tinkering Ink Peek-a-boo Mini-album with acrylic dividers, patterned paper - Scenic Route (stuck 2 pieces back to back to make it studier), Paint - Making Memories, Sealer - Modge Podge, Arrows - 7gypsies, Brads - Making Memories, Stickers - Jenni Bowlin & 7gypsies, Rub-ons - Scenic Route & Making Memories. Plus crop-a-dile for punching a holes, which Janine you'll find are slightly wider than a conventional hole punch). Apart from the album, all the other items I used I really had in my stash.

4. Scrapbooking Course - I have enrolled in an on-line scrapbook course run by Cathy Zielske (an American scrapbooker, graphic designer and Art Director for Simple Scrapbook magazine). I have never done a course before but I love Cathy's style and thought 'why not?'. Course starts beginning of October for 12 weeks, producing 3 layouts a week. Really looking forward to it, just hope I can keep on top of it what with having 4 craft fairs in the build up to Christmas. Better start to make some Christmas related stock soon! Anyway I digress, here's my prework layout for the course; why I love scrapbooking.

Supplies; Patterned paper - Ki Memories, Scenic Route & Anna Griffin, Tag - 7gypsies, Letter stickers - 'Tiny' Making Memories, 'life' American Crafts, 'create' Basic Grey and 'J' Making Memories. Stamps - ALi Edwards, Fontwerks and 7gypsies, Brads - American Crafts, Overlay - Hambly Screen Prints, Words Sticker - 7gypsies, Chipboard accent - Scenic Route, Butterfly - KI Memories, Ribbon - American Crafts. Kraft Cardstock - Paper Reflections (bulk pack of 25 sheets from Artbase).

And unrelated to the number 4 or word 'fore' some very important news. Callum had his regular hospital appointment to check on his eczema, he had recently had quite a bad flare up so I again asked if we could get some allergy tests done. To my surprise she said 'yes', I had asked for this last year and for some reason they wouldn't do it. Anyway, that same afternoon Callum had some blood taken which they will test for a number of things; dairy, nuts, cats, dogs, house dust, house dust mites, grass and tree pollen, plus some others. We should get the results back next week, it will mean so much to us to know which of the things we suspect are causing his eczema (and possibly his asthma) are and which aren't. Here's a photo of him with Grandad, my Dad helping to do the mowing last Thursday - check out that excited face!

Matthew received a Headteachers Award last Friday in assembly for 'Trying his best in all his writing'. Two children from each year receive an award every friday, there are 60 children in his year. He had his picture taken with the other seven children and it will be on display in the school foyer for the next week - must remember to go in and see it.

Finally, tomorrow Monday 15th September, Jeff and I will be celebrating our 7th Wedding Anniversary. I've made him a little 'something' which naturally I can't show you yet, but next week I will. Happy Wedding Anniversary!

Thank you Hilda and Denis (my Mother-in-law and Father-in-law) for the beautiful flowers we received yesterday. Here's a photo of them taken my Matthew.

That's it, hope you're having a great weekend.

Scrapbooking Everyday Life

My blogging may have been poor over the summer, but thankfully my scrapping hasn't been as infrequent! Loving this super cool hobby and I can only imagine I'll get even more done now that Callum is at pre-school for 5 sessions a week. I will of course get more housework done too!

The above page is one of my all times favourites - both the topic and design and it's currently displayed on the mantlepiece in the lounge. We had such a great time running down those sand dunes at Portstewart Strand, N Ireland. It was one of the families most favourite things we've done together. Notice Callum's head in the sand in one picture - even that didn't dampen his enjoyment! I based the layout on a Cathy Zielske page in the most recent Simple Scrapbooks magazine issue. Bought a bit of Ali Edwards inspiration in there too with the 'Today' stamp from her CK KOTM kit and the little 'Good Stuff' stamp from Fontwerks. I imagine I'll be using that design layout again soon! (Other supplies - Patterned Paper - Scenic Route, Foam Letter Stickers, Brad - American Crafts, Metal Clip, little Letter Stickers - Making Memories, Tag Punch - Hobbycraft).

 

Very simple page about shopping in a real Cath Kidston shop rather than on-line. (Supplies - Tag - Making Memories, 'Lucky Me' sticker - Creative Imaginations)

A page focusing on homemade treats. Layout based on a Tina Cockburn page in Simple Scrapbook magazine (couple of issues ago). (Supplies - Rub-on's - K & Co & American Crafts, paper trim - Doodlebug (thanks Sheila), foam letter stickers - American Crafts, journaling paper - Making Memories, Journaling Stickers - 7gypsies)

Page dedicated to the very early collection of cars from the Disney / Pixar film. We have over double the number of cars you can see in that photo now! (Supplies - Metal letters, Brad - American Crafts, Patterned Paper - Scenic Route, Journaling cards - 7gypsies & My Minds Eye, Little Letter Stickers - Making Memories (I love these - could use them on every layout!), Arrow - 7gypsies)

A page about Callum picking daisies for me.(Supplies - Letter stickers - American Crafts, Journaling Tag - My Minds Eye, Journal Sticker - Scenic Route, Paper Trims - Doodlebug, Plastic flowers - American Crafts, Softie Flower - KI Memories, Brads - Making Memories)

After licking the beaters from the chocolate cake mixture, the boys looked even more like Jeff! (Supplies - Patterned Paper - KI Memories, Overlays - Hambly Studios, Journaling Tag - My Minds Eye, Letter Stickers - American Crafts.)

This page came about after seeing the photo Jeff had taken of me with my camera whilst we were on holiday In Northern Ireland. I immediately thought of the advice sticker by 7gypsies which reads "Objects closest to the lens appear largest in the final photo. Something to keep in mind when turning one's back to the camera". Well I just had to make a layout out with that photo and that sticker! (Other supplies - Lace Cardstock - KI Memories, Ribbon - Making Memories, Patterned Paper - Scenic Route, Word Stickers - 7gypsies, Letter Stickers - Making Memories (yep - there they are again).

And another page based on our visit to the sand dunes in Portstewart. I had such a great time; I seriously haven't felt that relaxed and carefree in ages, especially with the kids present. (Supplies - Letter Stickers & Rub-on's - American Crafts, Journaling Spot - 7gypsies, Stamp - Autumn Leaves, Softies - KI Memories, Word Rub-on's (Relaxed & Carefree) - K & Co, Word Stickers - Creative Imaginations & 7gypsies.)

I promised I'd show the rest of this...

 

If you are familiar with either Ali Edwards or Creating Keepsakes magazine you will have seen this book advertised, if not I'll explain a little. The book was designed by Ali Edwards, amazing US scrapbooker for American photo company Shutterfly. It's purpose is to celebrate everyday life, so includes photos from the everyday, around the home, routines like school, etc, etc. You'll get the picture when you see the rest of the book. Anyhow I had been wanting to do this for ages and finally at the beginning of August I decided that I should just do it. Yes shipping from the States wasn't cheap but it will be a book that we will keep forever and look at for years to come. Everyone who has looked at it thinks it's really lovely - so glad I spent the numerous hours uploading and fiddling to get such a wonderful memory of our everyday life. It too now resides on the mantlepiece in the lounge for people to pick up and look at. Some of the photo's (including the front and back cover shots) were taken by Janine, fantastic family photographer in Northern Ireland and very good friend.

  

And with that I'm off, to print photos for more layouts and then to get the boys from school and pre-school.

September 1st - 1st day...

...back to school for Matthew and pre-school for Callum.

AND my 1st day (well morning) alone in the house. As I type this they are both away and the house in empty and quiet. Well almost quiet except for the sound of the washing machine and the dishwasher doing their 'thing' downstairs and the hum of the computer and the tapping of my typing. Catching up on the blog - that means lot's of photos again, then later this week I plan to finally get my web site up and running for Hearts & Flowers. Will let you know when it's ready so that you can take a look.

So what have we been up to?

I went horse-riding with my friend, watched by the my boys and her girls. Even though I used to have two horses of my own I haven't been riding since having children and boy was I sore for days afterwards!

 

I had a night away at my friends Sara's house; we went to Ikea (see photos below of table, chairs & dinner set for the playhouse), played pool at the pub, played music on the jukebox and had a pub lunch on the Sunday. Had a great time Sara, thank you!

The boys had friends round to play.

Spent time at Grandma's and Grandad's (my Mum and Dad). Doing with a bit of brick laying, picking vegetables and sweetpeas from their garden.

A day trip into London. I drove all the way to Pimlico (yes in my car!) to visit our friend Laura, her husband David and son Zack. We also met up with our friends Janine and Michael who happened by chance to be in London the same day as us. They were over from Northern Ireland for a weekend away without the kids, lucky them! So good to catch up with all of you.

Whilst in London we visited the Natural History Museum to see the big dinosaur skeleton, the queues however were too long so we looked through the door instead. A trip on an underground train, very exciting for the little boys.

A look around Cath Kidston in Covent Garden. Then on to the London Eye, where we met up with Janine and Michael.

 

Check out the way our men are standing - it must be a man thing!

The sights - Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

Spending time with our friends, including dinner at Pizza Express complete with Bambinocino's.

AND this weekend we went to the beach in Bournemouth and saw the Red Arrows.

 

In my next post I'll show you some of the scrapbook pages I've done over the last few weeks, plus a more detailed look at this...

(photo on book cover taken by Janine Boyd).

Summer 2008

I cannot believe that the summer holidays are almost over, where has the time gone? Infact where did the sun go? It's not only the weather that has been rubbish this summer, my blogging has been rubbish too - apologies. I haven't blogged about Matthew's last day of school, Callum's 3rd birthday, recent scrapbooking or the great time we had on holiday in Northern Ireland - shame on me. I'll try to make amends...

Matthew's last day of his first year at school...

  

Callum's 3rd birthday - three birthday cakes and lots of Car's.

 A great holiday in Northern Ireland...

The North Coast in one day...

 

        

Belfast by train...

   

And everything in between...

      

And with that I bid you goodnight! The scrapbooking will have to wait for another post.