Beach Bum

The guys love hanging out down at the beach, especially when the surf is up - they will spend hours battling against the ocean just to ride that one wave - but of course that one wave never comes, because there will always be a bigger and better one on its way.

I used recent surfing photographs, of Bob, to create my take on this weeks Pencil Lines sketch.

Supplies used - Fancy Pants Beach Bum collection; American Crafts Thickers; Heidi Swapp

I handcut the surfboard stack to sit beneath the photographs - the main image is of Bob as he left the water and its one of my favourite photographs that I have taken - Ive finally sat down and begun to read my camera manual and am getting to grips with lighting etc.
I handcut some of the waves from the paper and positioned them so that they peeped out from behind the images - I highlighted the waves using a white Signo pen and left the tails of the waves unstuck, so that I could gently lift the waves to create additional dimension.

The smaller images show my boy as he is heading in to the sea, attempting to tackle 8 ft waves and then, finally, after 2 hours leaving the water feeling totally surfed out - hence the title which is created using American Crafts Thickers.
Journaling reads -
"eight foot waves didn't deter you from battling against the ocean - in such extreme conditions you were well and truly surfed out"

listening - to the radio
eating - porridge
drinking - tea
wearing - leggings, black tunic and big fluffy slippers!
feeling - excited to be part of this
weather - hello blue skies and sunshine - its so good to see you again :D
wanting - to get my jobs done early today so I can play
needing - to clear my desk
thinking - about my class for here
enjoying - peace and quiet
wondering - if a woman's work is ever done?

Have a wonderful day and thanks for calling by.

The Challenge

Earlier this week I set a mini challenge, which you can read about in this post.

Anita, Sandra and Olivia all rose to the challenge and here's what they created using up their old stash -

Anita used some really old Cosmo Cricket Jitterbug papers to create her patchwork effect page. I love how she repurpose an old manilla envelope to punch out her butterflies. Using the older papers cut in to smaller pieces, really is a great way to use up your forgotten stash.

To create her page  Sandra  used some old Scenic Route papers ( I do miss them :( )
The stunning butterflies were created using a stamp which was purchased way back in 2004!
Using current trends, such as banner bunting, misting and border punches, Sandra gave these old papers a new lease of life.

I love how Sandra used the punched flower heart on her page, which was inspired by this frame

which I created for Valentines day, using product from Glitz Designs.

Olivia used up some of her beloved Mia collection from Crate Paper to create this double page entry for her 2010 album.

Double page layouts are a great way to use up stash - which is one of the reasons Im on a bit of a double page "thing" at the moment :D

Its impossible for me to select just one winner of the challenge, so Ive decided to send all three ladies a prize  :D
Email me your addresses and I'll send the boxes out early next week.

Dont forget to get your submission emailed over to Pencil Lines, as today is your last chance to enter the Pencil Lines DT call - from what Ive heard there have been some pretty amazing entries so far.

Have a wonderful day and thanks for calling by.
T.x.

Refreshed

Its good to take some time out every now and then and remember that I am an human being and not a human doing.
Its a busy scrapping weekend for me - but too many hours at the table makes my back ache - so I took myself off for a walk across the beach - Im feeling totally refreshed and am all ready to get back to my table for another scrapping session :D

listening - to The Specials - a blast from the past :D
eating - nothing - I'm on a 24 hr fast
drinking - water
wearing - jeans, pink top and slaps
feeling - happy
weather - hello blue skies and sunshine
wanting - the sun to stay
needing - to emigrate
thinking - why we didnt emigrate when we had the chance *sigh*
enjoying - the sun being around
wondering - if I should sign up to this online e-course?

Have a great day and thanks for passing by.
T.x.

On a mission

There's a scrap frenzy going on here today.

The weather is awful so I'm locked away in my scraproom, and will be for the next few days, as I'm preparing for upcoming classes :D

listening - to Dido
eating - apple and cucumber
drinking - water
wearing - Jeans, sweater and my favourite duvet boots from Fat Face
feeling - inspired
weather - awful - but nice if you're a duck!
wanting - the rain to go away!
needing - to sort out my desk top - its making a funny whirring sound :S
thinking - of maybe going out tonight - just to the local for a bite to eat (it'll be a salad for me)
still enjoying - the half term break
wondering - when will it stop raining????????

Thanks for dropping by.

T.x.

Final Call

Supplies - Fancy Pants Beach Bum

A sneak of my layout for Pencil Lines sketch 226 which will go live this coming Sunday.

You have only a few days left to get your submissions in for the Pencil Lines call for 12 new design team members.....entries are welcomed from right across the globe - so why not give it a try?
Submission info can be found right here.

24.02.11

listening - to the sweet sound of silence
eating - plain yoghurt sprinkled with dried cranberries
drinking - boiled water with a slice of lemon
wearing - red checked PJ's
feeling - refreshed
weather - undecided
wanting - everyone else in the house to wake up
needing - to get organised
thinking - about which job to tackle first
enjoying - the half term break
wondering - if I'll manage to get all I want to do, done today!
Have a fun day and thanks for passing by.
T.x.

Almost there

The stash sorting is almost there - a second shelved cupboard is in the making - as I need somewhere to store my 12x12 albums - they become quite cumbersome and heavy things when they are full!!

Do you ever go to bed and cant switch off? Thankfully it doesn't happen to me too often - but last night as soon as my head hit the pillow my mind went into overload - I lay there wide awake for an hour.....sleep wasn't going to come - so I got up and spent a couple of hours tidying the last bits in my scrap space.

23.02.2011
listening - to Adele 21 - love this interview with her
eating - low fat cottage cheese - straight from the pot : )
drinking - Tesco's own brand Cranberry juice
wearing - my favourite lime green sweater
feeling - tired - after last nights late night tidying session!
weather - it cant make its mind up today - raining and then the sun peeps out for a wee while
wanting - an early night!
needing - a cup of rosie lee
thinking - I need to get my nails done
enjoying - that Bobs passed his physical and has been offered a place at college, starting September : )
wondering - how many hungry teenagers will be here for a sleepover tonight - do I need to send out for more supplies????

Have a great day and thanks for calling by.
T.x.

Thinking Thoughts

Whilst hopping through some of my favourite blogs I spotted this post by my scrapping friend, Ania, where she had been inspired by Mari and TrudeJulie to document a few feelings each day....I love the idea of doing this and have decided to jump on board and play along too.....its a great way to keep a record of my daily thoughts and I'm thinking that I may turn my "feelings" in to prompts for my art journal pages??

listening - to Mumford and Sons.
eating - a carb free diet and missing bread!
drinking - pukka organic aniseed, fennel and cardamom tea, to detox.
wearing - jeans, green A&C sweater and a pair of Hubs wool socks - its cold today.
feeling - overwhelmed by how much stash sorting I still have left to do.
weather - cold but dry.
wanting - a slice of toast with lashings of honey.
needing - more hours in the day.
thinking - I need to get cracking on sorting out stash!
enjoying - having a full nest :D
wondering - what to cook for lunch??

Yesterday we had a busy day spent at the hospital - Hubs has a screw loose (in his foot) and we will find out in the next couple of days if he needs further surgery, to tighten it up!
When we arrived home, all I wanted to do was curl up on the sofa with a cuppa and veg out - but I'm on a new healthy living regime and instead, I went for a stroll along the beach whilst Bobs went for a surf!

He's a lot braver than I because 1. the surf was huge and 2. it was freeeezing!

I leave you with a LO I created a while ago.

Kit from Crafty Stash

So, what are you thinking today?

T.x.

she laid down the gauntlet

For the past few weeks I have been slowly - and I mean slowly - sorting out my crafting space.
Ive been ruthless and have almost halved what I had - which was not easy as I'd collected an awfully large amount of crafting products over the past 7 years!!!
Anyways, a week or so ago, over on my Facebook page I updated my status to say that  I'd found some scrapping papers that must have been 6 -7 years old and I wondered if that made them almost vintage! LOL!
One of my lovely friends only went and laid down the gauntlet and challenged me to use the old and unloved papers to create a page.....and so I did.

Pencil Lines Sketch 226

Supplies - Scenic Route, Prima Marketing, Urban Lily and Glitz Designs.

I'm so glad that she set me this challenge because I went back through the pile of "to be thrown away papers" and rescued some that I really truly loved - just because its old and no longer in vogue, it doesn't mean its useless..... you can still create with it. Thank you Chrissie .x.x.

People create their scrapbooks/ art journals/ paper projects for so many different reasons - some to preserves memories, others for creativity or "arts" sake - either/ or is fine  - but in 20 years time, when little Johnny is all grown up, is he going to look at your scrapbook/ art journal/ paper project and gasp in horror because you created that said piece with a piece of outdated paper or embellishment - of course he isnt - he wont even bloomin well know!

* Challenge now closed*So now its my turn - I challenge you to go grab your oldest unused stash and create something with it.
Once you are done - leave a comment on this post with a link to your project and I'll pick one winner who will receive a bumper box of stash to play with.
The challenge will end at Midnight GMT 26th Feb 2011......so what are you waiting for go get busy and start creating with that unloved stash you have been hoarding for far too many years.

Have fun and as always, thanks for dropping by.

T.x.

Stitches

The UK's largest wholesale gathering of stitch and crafty types begins today at the NEC - bright and early this morning, I should have been whizzing up the M5 to be there - but things went a bit hectic here - my plans had to be changed - and I needed to stay home - all will be well - thank goodness - that's the excitement of life - you can make plans but you are never quite sure what's going to happen!!

I'll miss catching up with friends - but they understand - real life happens - my family will always come first.

There is just one week left to submit to the Pencil Lines call for 12 new DT members!

It would be wonderful to see more UK girls apply - one layout every two weeks plus there is also the added bonus of free product to scrap with from the many manufacturers, etsy and kit companies who kindly sponsor the team throughout the year. ; D Hop over here to find the details for submitting.....and good luck to all who apply  :D

I'll leave you with a sneak of my layout for this weeks sketch which will go live at 8pm GMT tonight.

Have fun and thanks for dropping by.
T.x.

Reunited

Last night I reunited myself with some of my old favourite scrapping supplies and totally inspired by this easy to follow online tutorial, I created this.

My Mod Podge was almost out, so I had to resort to using some good old PVA....and me, being me, I was far to impatient to wait for each layer to dry..... so I reached for my heat gun and gave everything a blast.....which resulted in a wonderful bumpy texture being created as the acrylic paint dried and cracked and the PVA bubbled and popped.....I love the effect and will use it again and again :D

To create this mini piece I used product from companies that sadly are no longer around and I miss them all - Scenic Route, Urban Lilly and Daisy D's :(

As much as I love this little canvas, I wished I'd used a larger one because as I was putting this one together I had a light bulb moment.....which means I have must NEED to now pop to town to go buy a bigger canvas :D

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for calling by.

T.x.

Playing with Fire

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of spending the day at Mango Beads.

My scrapping pal, Amanda, from The Studio joined me in a days play :D

There is nothing as relaxing as an hour or two working in front of a flame - I find it so therapeutic.

I called in to Mango Beads workshop yesterday, to have a quick catch up chat with the ever so talented Amanda Muddimer and Sarah Wadley - do go check them out to spy just how talented these girls are.

Before I left to head home, Amanda gave me the beads I had made two weeks ago, as they had been baking in the kiln and were to hot to handle when I left.......I love them lots and now feel all fired up to dedicate one night a week to playing with fire.

Thanks for dropping by
T.x.

Bargain Hunting

Whilst the guys were watching a man movie I had a little play with some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and Chipboard and made this tag for a friend.

Supplies - Tattered Angels Tags, Glimmer Mist, Glimmer Glaze & Chipboard.

The pink ribbon, metal heart, crown and "love" are all finds from a quick whizz around our local Primark!
I managed to bag a few pieces of jewellery that I can pull apart to use on my projects - keys, crowns, resin flowers, birds....all at less than half the cost of buying branded scrapping goodies - I love a good bargain find - how about you ?

Thanks for calling by.
T.x.

Oh Boy!

Pencil Lines sketch 225 is now live, with Australian scrapper Anthea Peterson as this weeks guest designer. Take five minutes out to go check out her blog, as she creates such inspirational pages.

For my take on the sketch I took last weeks sketch 224 and merged it with this weeks sketch 225 to create a double page layout. I love how adaptable sketches are and use them as the springboard to kick start my scrapping sessions.

Supplies - Sassafras Apple Jack

I posted a few weeks ago about how I'm scrapping more double pagers than ever before. For me they are great way to use up stash, knock a dent in to the mountain of photographs I want to scrap, plus they helping to fill up my Sisters album a lot quicker! She will be hitting the big 4-0 very soon and I'm in the process of putting an album together for her (I can post this info here, safe in the knowledge that she wont see it, as she is overseas at the moment and has no Internet connection for the duration of her stay :D)

Don't forget that Pencil Lines are holding a DT call for 12 new designers - Internationals are more than welcome to apply - for all the details check here.
A big thank you to everyone who popped by my blog yesterday and left such lovely comments - I really do appreciate each and every one of them.

Have a wonderful day and thanks for passing by.
T.x.

Love is in the Air

Happy Valentines Day to you all....a day to celebrate being in LOVE and being LOVED.

Using the soft tones of Glitz Love Nest and some chipboard pieces, I created this free standing frame as a gift of LOVE for my husband.
The chipboard pieces were covered with patterned papers and layered on top of one another to create this dimensional home decor piece.
The blooms were created using scraps of paper, to which I added puff paint in order to create extra texture.

Supplies - Love Nest Block L2020 and Sky L2006; Scarlet Journaling Stickers C2204; Frosting; Glitz Tulle; Teeny Alpha C2327

My boys are the LOVE of my life - we have a secret code that we use between ourselves, when we are ending SMS text or email messages to one another - 1.4.3 - it means I LOVE YOU.

Supplies - Hoopla Titles C2174; Glitzers G2105; Peek-A-Boo PAB2280; Floral H2969,Frames H2921, Pipework H2945 and Cake H2938; Frosting F2884; Teeny Alpha C2808.

and finally I LOVE my home, its the one place in the world where I know I am LOVED.

Supplies - Hoopla Frames H2921; paper layers; Frosting; Teeny Alphas C2358; Love Nest cardstock stickers.

This box framed home decor piece was created by punching out small blooms from scraps of patterned papers. A single Glitz Frosting gem was added to the center of each bloom, before they were attached to a chipboard heart. The heart was then attached to one of Glitz Paper Layers and simply popped in to an inexpensive box frame.

I hope that your Valentines Day is filled with LOVE and happiness.

Thanks for dropping by.
T.x.

Peeps

Just a few peeps to share of some of the projects I have created over the past few days -

All Valentines projects which will go live tomorrow :D

My scraproom sort out is nearly complete :D
I'm just tidying up those last bits and pieces and then it'll be done - never, ever again will I let it get so unorganised - Ive need to learn to stop hoarding every little snippet of paper "just in case"!!

Finally here's a sneak at my page for Pencil Lines sketch 225 which goes live at 8pm(GMT) tonight.

Don't forget Pencil Lines are holding a call for 12 new DT members - all details can be found right here.

Have a wonderful Sunday and thanks for dropping by.
T.x.

DT Call

Pencil Lines Sketch 224 is live - I'm a little late sharing my take on this weeks sketch as Ive spent the past few days buried underneath a mound of stash!
The stash sorting, organising and de-cluttering is almost done. My scraproom has had a coat of paint and is looking rather tickety boo - Ive put up new blinds and Hubs helped me build a corner shelf unit from scratch (using pieces of reclaimed wood which I have given a white wash) - it looks fantastic and serves as a great place to store my crafting tools....I must have done OK with its construction because its still standing!

*blushes* Opps!  Ive digressed slightly - sorry!

Here is my take on the current Pencil Lines Sketch -

Supplies - Sassafras Apple Jack; Raffia, Foam and Buttons from personal supplies.

The title for this page was punched out of a sheet of foam using a Quickutz Chemistry die.
Both the Raffia, which I wrapped around the page, and the foam had been laying forgotten at the bottom of a box - so thanks to my tidying session they have been given a new lease of life :D

The photograph is of my lil nephew - he came to stay with us for a few days last Summer and loved paddling his toes and building sandcastles down on the beach - it was simply Sandtastic - hence the title!

Did you know that Pencil Lines are holding a call for 12 new DT members - all the details can be found right here.

Thanks for dropping by.
T.x.