A new week....

This weeks Pencil Lines sketch was sponsored by Scenic Route - one of my favourite manus :D
I loved the sketch that Anna created - its so versatile and can be interpreted in so many ways.
My take on the sketch features my little pal, Max, playing on the swings whilst the "grown ups" talked "grown up" talk.


The final round of Bad Girls Top Designer came to a close yesterday - now comes the tricky part - just how the panel of judges will decide who is crowned The Top Designer is beyond me....all of the altered projects are truly amazing and so inventive...looking in the gallery makes me wanna jump to it and go alter something -just take a quick peep here to see what I mean.....amazing or what?

The guys are on half term from school this week - lazy days are planned for the first couple of days with us heading up North the the Midlands later in the week, as I'm am off to teach at ScrapaJack's Autumn Retreat.



I'm teaching two classes using Daisy D's and Ki Memories papers and I have managed to whizz up some "extras" using the left over stash from the kits....I cant bear to throw away my scraps!



I'm really looking forward to meeting up with everyone at the retreat - especially Rachel (Taniwha on UKS) and Sarah (Gertie) as Ive been a huge fan of their work for ages.

Ive been resting up lots over the weekend - just like the Doc ordered - and I am feeling so much better for having done so - I'm back off to the hospital tomorrow for a scan and my fingers and toes are firmly crossed that I will be given the all clear.

Thanks for dropping by - have a great day.
T.x.x.

Under Orders

I'm under strict instruction to take some time out - so that's what I'm doing - resting up lots and being cared for so lovingly by Hubs, after Ive spent a short spell in hospital this week.

I'm feeling so much better today and am looking forward to eating my first proper meal for what feels like forever - why is hospital food so dire? Lumpy cold porridge for breakfast - er...no thanks!!
I'm sure the NHS would benefit from a visit from Jamie Oliver - I'm loving his Ministry of Food book and have sat in bed reading through his mouthwatering recipes all day...a sure way to kick start my appetite.

Not being able to get to my scraproom is really getting to me - Hubs bought my box of felt and sewing box up to my bedroom and I managed to add the finishing touches to a couple of quirky Christmas Tree's Ive been wanting to make since last year.


I'm hoping I can get back to scrapping tomorrow - the medication I am taking is kinda knocking me for six - thankfully I only have one more day to go on the tablets :D

Nothing else to report - hope your weekend is good for you - thanks for popping by.
T.x.x.x

and another week begins

The weekend passed by so quickly - I had so many plans but ended up doing very little - it just sort of swam along nicely with us not doing very much at all....pottering about in the garden, visiting friends and watching a tons of movies....some good - some not so!

We had planned on taking a pile of junk to a car boot sale on Sunday, but changed our minds and opted to just hang out at home - it was too bloomin windy to be standing in a field for two hours!

This weeks Pencil Lines guest is none other than the ever so talented, and down right lovely lass, Cari Fennell.....she is such a BAD girl and really knows how to work Prima.....go check out the sketch and her page right here.

I used up some of the scraps I had left over from my October Bad Girls kit to create this 6x12 page which is loosely based on the sketch.



The photos are a couple of my favs from my best buds wedding - as I had made a groom page using the same product - I thought I better make her a bride one too!
The rose is real - it was part of my corsage from the day.

Monday Monday - is it me or is this busiest day of the week?
Attacking the house after the weekend - including the never ending washing pile....and then the bloomin ironing is waiting for me!

We are off out tonight to Bobs and J's award ceremony for their participation in representing our area in the Devon Youth Games - both have medals to pick up - J two gold's, Bobs a gold and a bronze - I'm sure it will be a proud Mommy moment, for so many different reasons.

Enjoy your day and thanks for dropping by.

T.x.x.x

Five Faves Friday

OK - so Ive decided to play along with this fun little game that was started by my scrappin pal,Dena.

1. Lovin' the new Christmas releases from Sassafras - Life at the Pole.


Such fun little characters to give a funky, whimsical twist to your Christmas projects.

2. Carlton Ware "Walking" pottery - I love my tiny collection of these quirky little jugs and pots.

I inherited my collection from my Aunt when she passed away a few years ago. Aunt began her collection when I was born and added to it throughout the years. I can remember as a small child being "allowed" to play with the teapot and can recall many a teddy bears tea party with me pouring pretend tea!
As the years have gone by the collection has reduced in size, due to breakages, and all that's left now are 7 pieces...but I simply adore them because they bring back so many happy personal childhood memories.

3. Heather Baileys blog - inspiration in the click of a button.....I love her photography.

4. Daises - I love the simplicity of daisies and these made me smile this morning whilst I was cleaning the windows -

with blue skies up high and the sun shining, it could have almost been a spring day.

5. Our log burner - it certainly keeps us warm and cosy now the evenings are getting chillier.....I love the smell of the logs burning and watching the flames flicker really relaxes me...

Plus the guys love to melt marshmallows whilst watching TV - you don't get the same effect with a gas fire eh?

So tell me, what are you Five Faves on this Friday?

T.x.x

PJ's

Its been a yacky couple of days - I is feeling bleurgh....poor Bobs is nursing a rugby injury and J has got a cold - Hubs is the only one who is 100% fit and healthy and is taking care of his sickly brood...my man is a star.x.x.x

Ive slouched around for most of the day in my Pj's and scrapped a little in between rubbing Bobs sore shoulder and wiping J's snotty nose.....Oh the joys of motherhood :D




Feeling slightly more human this afternoon, we packed ourselves off to the cinema for the tea time screening of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.....we had the entire cinema to ourselves which meant we could hog the VIP seats at no extra cost ;)
Its a good job we were there alone, because I sobbed throughout the entire film - having read the book together, as part of J's termly reading assignment, we knew the fate which lay ahead for Bruno and his Jewish friend, Shmuel.....J, in typical ASD style was shouting throughout the film - telling the boys to run away so they would be safe...bless him.

On the way home we were faced with a thousand and one questions as to why did the horrors of "Out With" happen.....if only we knew how to answer that question!

T.x.x.x

Time Out

Sometimes I wish I could split myself in two....an extra few hours in the day would be good!!

I've not had time to blog this past week, as every spare minute has been eaten up with me dashing from one place to the next....I decided to take some time out over the weekend - my scraproom was in dire need of a good sort out and I needed to finish painting one of the walls.....my room is slowly beginning to take shape and is looking so much nicer now Ive purged the piles of stash :D


Sunday saw us standing on the sidelines watching Bobs and his team mates win their first match of the season 2-0 :D
We even managed to grab some time to chill out and relax with friends and family - a meal out followed by an afternoon of quad bike racing!


Pencil Lines celebrated its 2nd Birthday in style as this weeks guest designers are the girlies from One Little Word - plus the announcement of the arrival of our new team mate, Michlle Fillo :D

To create my take on sketch 106, I used a mix of papers from American Crafts, Fancy Pants and Dream Street - plus a little Hambly too.

The "Tree" was made using a sheet of fine metal mesh, some of which I gave a coating of acrylic paint.

I haven't had chance to share this page either -

I created it using some of the new products from Sassafras' Happy Place collection - it features a photograph of my pal - Max.....I just adore this little fella.


The final class over at The Bad Girls Design Academy went live on Monday - the oh so talented Jeni Boisvert teaches how to "break the rules" and define your style - go check out the class right here
With just 25 scrappers from across the globe left in the contest, we are only days away from discovering who will be The Bad Girls Top Designer of 2008.

BTW - If you want to win yourself some goodies from Scrapbook Adhesives then take a look here.

Have fun
T.x

Love this .....

Little Jackie is the number one album on my ipod atm....I love her tunes....happy go lucky with some amazing lyrics.


I lurve this tune...



What cool tunes are you listening to atm??
Care to share??

T.x.x

Domesticated - me? - NEVER!!

The sun is shining today and I've come over all domesticated!
Help!! I hope its not a lasting episode!

My day started early as we had a log delivery.
Once the logs were stacked, I cleaned house from top to bottom - washing was hung out at 7.30am and ironed and back in the wardrobe by 11 - Yikes!....that's never ever happened before in this house!
I was at the supermarket at 8.30am this morning and returned home with a car load of ingredients to do a little home baking!
Today's culinary offering is an old Italian recipe for Pumpkin Ravioli followed by St Clements cup cakes - which I know wont last long as my guys love cake in any form :D

Hubs is in a state of shock as I'm not usually this domesticated at all - I hate housework - but I hate mess even more!!
With all my jobs done I have spent some time scrapping whilst watching one of my fav movies - Coyote Ugly :D

The day isn't over yet - ummmm maybe I'll go domesticate some more?????

T.x.x

Its been Monday all week!

Its been almost a week since I blogged and I have so much to catch up on.

The reason for my absence - unfortunately J was involved in an accident last week which has meant my days have been filled with seeing to my young mans needs, as well as a couple of interviews with the men in blue!
A silly neighbour decided to run over a couple of the kids as they were waiting for the school bus....*sigh*

J is OK now - the car ran over his foot before squishing his school rucksack.
J was more concerned about his flattened cell phone than he was his foot - which is still sore but thankfully not broken.
The local plod have sorted out the neighbour and action has been taken to make sure he drives with more care in the future.....time will tell because he really is a bit of a nutcase on the road!

Whilst J was home from school I spent some time scrapping with him....he has begun to show a real interest in art at school, so likes to spend some time in my scraproom "messing".
He created a couple of rather funky collages for a school project - silly me forgot to photograph them before he handed them in for marking!

Saturday I went to my crop and taught a minibook class using Rusty Pickle kits -


I loved the mini album I saw back in June, when I met with Lance Anderson at a retailer training day - Lance had some spare kits so I thought the gals who come to my crop might enjoy them - I jazzed the book up a bit and used lots of Stickles, bling and buttons to add plenty of dimension to the pages.







Sunday Hubs and I took some time out down on the beach - its a sure sign winter is on its way - the beach was deserted apart from Hubs and I and a JCB moving the storm defence rocks back into place.

We both sat on a rock and watched - how sad eh?


The Bad Girls Top Designer Contest is heading towards its final stages - class 5 in the Design School went live yesterday - "the queen of paper" - Heidi Sonboul - teaches a great colour theory class, so why not come over and take a look.....the FREE classes have been really inspirational and I for one have learnt so much about applying the design principles to my pages.

Thanks for for dropping by.
T.x.x

Studio 54

Studio 54 went live today over on Bad Girls Kits and is proving to be just as popular as I imagined it would be.

Wendy Rago, the owner of Bad Girls, really has out done her self this month and pulled together the most amazing kit filled with such a diverse selection of papers from the likes of Rose Moka, Basic Grey and Pink Paislee....check the addons out too - they are stunning and have me drooling all over my keyboard!

Here's what I did with my kit....












Check out the DT gallery too - its filled with so much inspiration.

Ive not blogged for a few days as Ive been busy scrapping future classes - some of which were for ScrapaJacks Autumn Retreat.....I'm so looking forward to meeting up with some old pals, as well as getting to meet some new, in just a few weeks time.
As well as scrapping Ive been enjoying some time out with Hubs and the guys....watching DVD's, reading a little, walks on the beach, playing with the camera and just generally winding down after the madness of the past few weeks.


I love escaping to the beach - especially at this time of the year when the sun still has some warmth, but the beach is deserted.

This spot right here is one of my favourite places on earth - is so tranquil and peaceful and inspires me daily.

So what around you, inspires you to create?

T.x.x